Stephen Keshi

1. His full name was Stephen Okechukwu Chinedu Keshi.

2. He was born on January 23, 1962.

3. He hails from Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State.

4. He played as a defender for Super Eagles of Nigerian and several football clubs.

5. Apart from the Nigerian national team, Keshi coached the Togolese and Malian national teams.

6. He is the only coach to have taken the Togolese team to the World cup championship till date.

7. The first football club he ever played for in Nigeria was ACB Football Club, before joining New Nigeria Bank, Stade d’Abidjan, Africa Sports, Lokeren, Anderlecht, RC Strasbourg among other clubs.

8. From 1981 to 1995 when he stopped playing international football for Nigeria, Keshi appeared 64 times in the Eagles colour and scored a total of nine goals.

9. He served as head coach for the Junior Eagles at the 2001 African Youth Championship.

10. He spoke French and English fluently.

11. Keshi was one of the only two soccer stars, along with Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary, to have won the Africa Cup of Nations both as a player and a coach.

12. He won the African Nations Cup in 1994 as a captain and as a coach in 2013.

13. His wife of 33 years, Kate died on December 9, 2015 after losing a long battle with cancer.

14. Keshi is survived by four children and his mother.

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The Defence headquarters had scrapped the Operation Pulo Shield and replaced it with Operation Delta Safe, which was designed to ensure security and protection of oil installations in the Niger Delta.

The new Task Force, with its operational headquarters in Yenagoa, is designed to have three sectors and five operational bases to cover the entire Niger Delta.

The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said the military authorities would ensure effective equipment for the new task force to enable it to achieve the purpose for which it was established.

Although Abubakar neither confirmed nor denied the planned deployment of troops, he explained that the “reorganisation of the task force” was in the interest of the country and would have the best arsenal and equipment.

He said, “The overhauling was meant to ensure pro-activeness of the new outfit. We will, as much as possible, continue to inject new system, new equipment and new prescriptions to ensure that what happened before will not happen now.

“And so, the Defence Headquarters came up with the reorganisation, and it meant well for the country and it meant well for the industries there. So we are doing all these things to ensure that we do our best, with the best arsenal, with the best equipment, so that we can handle the security threat.

“But injecting new men or injecting more men is not the issue. The most important is that the reorganisation has been done and it is for the goodness of country, for the good of that general area.

“And we will do everything to secure all necessary spots, human, equipment and what have you to ensure that it performs optimally.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government will soon publicise its official position as regards the conditions set out by the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, for peace talks on the ongoing security threat in the Niger Delta region.

The NDA had, on Saturday, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to visit the Niger Delta region to see the difficulties the dwellers were experiencing despite the huge revenue accruable to the country from the region.

Buhari had, on Friday, reportedly appealed to the group “in God’s name” to stop destroying oil installations.

On when the government would visit the region officially based on the militants’ request, officials at the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said the Federal Government was working on the issue and would make its position public very soon.

“Any official position from the government will be issued very soon on this development, but I cannot tell when precisely,” the spokesperson for the NNPC, Mr. Garba-Deen Mohammed, told one of our correspondents on Sunday in Abuja.

“It is going to come from the government. This thing is a very delicate issue and it is not something that one will just make or issue a statement about because it concerns all of us.

“So it is not just a petroleum ministry or NNPC issue. It is something that affects us all and so the government is working on the matter.”

Another official at the petroleum ministry told The PUNCH on Sunday that the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Presidency were collaborating with the ministry as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, was among key government officials involved in talks with the militants.

“As you know, the Minister of State (petroleum resources) is among those spearheading talks and, of course, we are working with other agencies of government on this issue and very soon, an official position will be made public,” the official, who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity, said.

The Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has said dialogue remains the only solution to the crisis in the Niger Delta region.

Speaking with reporters after his conferment with a honourary Doctorate Degree in Public Administration by the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, on Saturday, Dickson, while admitting there were grievances in the region, advised parties to embrace peace in resolving the insurgence.

He received the honour alongside the Chancellor of the University and the Alara of Aramoko Ekiti, Oba Abdul Azeez Adeyemi, and the Ekiti State-born legal practitioner, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, who is also involved in banking and oil and gas industries.

Dickson said, “We are all concerned about the development; all the leaders there are concerned about the recent tough surge of insurgency. We are collaborating on the way forward.

“Those of us, who are governors in our states, are working hard with traditional leaders and opinion leaders and security agencies and also collaborating with other private and corporate bodies to ensure that we put it under control.

“The way forward is not war, war. It is jaw-jaw. The way forward is peace and dialogue, it is consensus building and that is quite what some of us are in support of.

 “We are not in support of violence; we are not in support brigandage. We are not in support of destruction of strategic national assets and killings. We know there is an issue and this issue can only be addressed when all stakeholders work together for unity, peace, prosperity and stability and progress of our country.”

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Former Trump super-PAC director: Donald doesn’t even want to be president

Stephanie Cegielski says the Republican frontrunner had no real interest in becoming president. (Photo: XOJane)
The top strategist for Donald Trump’s short-lived super-PAC says the Republican frontrunner does not want to become president — and that he had launched his “protest” bid for the GOP nomination simply to prove a point: that he could come close.
“Almost a year ago,” Stephanie Cegielski writes in an lengthy letter to Trump supporters published by the website XOjane.com, “I sat in Trump Tower being told that the goal was to get The Donald to poll in double digits and come in second in delegate count. That was it.”
Cegielski, former communications director for the Make America Great Again super-PAC, says the expectations for the real estate mogul’s campaign were incredibly low.
“The Trump camp would have been satisfied to see him polling at 12 percent and taking second place to a candidate who might hold 50 percent,” Cegielski writes. “His candidacy was a protest candidacy. It pains me to say, but he is the presidential equivalent of Sanjaya on ‘American Idol.’ President Trump would be President Sanjaya in terms of legitimacy and authority. I am now taking full responsibility for helping create this monster — and reaching out directly to those voters who, like me, wanted Trump to be the real deal.”
Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, dismissed Cegielski’s assertions:

This person was never employed by the Trump campaign. Evidently she worked for a Super PAC which Mr. Trump disavowed and requested the closure of via the FEC. She knows nothing about Mr. Trump or the campaign and her disingenuous and factually inaccurate statements in no way resemble any shred of truth. This is yet another desperate person looking for their fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump is running for President because he is the only one who will Make America Great Again.

Cegielski, who began working for the Trump-connected PAC last summer, said she was inspired by Trump’s performance during the first Republican debate in Cleveland, where he sparred with Fox News host Megyn Kelly.
“The exchange with Megyn Kelly was like manna from heaven for a communications director,” she writes. “She appeared like yet another reporter trying to kick out the guest who wasn’t invited to the party. At the time, I felt excited for the change to the debate he could bring. I began realizing the man really resonates with the masses and would bring people to the process who had never participated before. That was inspiring to me.”
But the inspiration was short-lived.
“It wasn’t long before every day I awoke to a buzzing phone and a shaking head because Trump had said something politically incorrect the night before,” Cegielski writes.

Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Arizona in March. (Photo: Matt York/AP)
Inside the campaign, staffers had a slogan for dealing with the brash billionaire’s belligerent interviews: “Let Trump Be Trump.”
Yet, to Cegielski’s amazement, Trump’s steady rise in the polls continued.
“I don’t think even Trump thought he would get this far,” she continues. “And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all. He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver’s seat, and nothing else matters.”
Cegielski says she was particularly dismayed by Trump’s blustery response to the recent terror attacks in Brussels and Pakistan.

“A devastating terrorist attack in Pakistan targeting Christians occurred on Easter Sunday,” she writes, “and Trump’s response was to tweet.”

Take a moment to appreciate the ridiculous, cartoonish, almost childish arrogance of saying that he alone can solve. Does Trump think that he is making a cameo on Wrestlemania (yes, one of his actual credits)? This is not how foreign policy works. For anyone. Ever. Superhero powers where “I alone can solve” problems are not real. They do not exist for Batman, for Superman, for Wrestlemania and definitely not for Donald Trump.

“He doesn’t want the White House,” Cegielski writes. “He just wants to be able to say that he could have run the White House.”
After the super-PAC was disbanded in October — a decision consistent in keeping with Trump’s “outsider” persona — Cegielski remained a supporter of his campaign. But she slowly realized Trump the candidate was really Trump the reality-show character.
“I wanted Trump to be real, too. He is not,” she writes. “I began to hear and evaluate him more critically and skeptically as a member of the voting public rather than a communications person charged with protecting his positions.”
“I no longer felt that he was the leader the country was looking for, and I found myself longing — aching, really — for policy substance that went beyond building a wall and making Mexico pay for it,” Cegielski continues. “What were once bold — although controversial — statements now seemed to be attempts to please the crowds, not direction to lead this country to a better place.”
Just as troubling for Trump’s former adviser was his arrogant unaccountability:

When there was a tweet that contained an error, he would blame it on an intern; when there was a photo containing a World War II Nazi Germany background, he would blame it on an intern; when he answered questions in an overtly controversial fashion, he would claim he did not properly hear the question. He refused to take responsibility for his actions while frequently demanding apologies from others.

Cegielski is now urging Trump’s supporters not to elevate him to the world’s most powerful position: U.S. commander in chief.

“Don’t let our country pay that price,” she writes.

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President Muhammadu Buhari

Charter airlines operating in Nigeria have been losing at least half a billion naira monthly since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power and started his anti-corruption crusade, findings by Saturday PUNCH have shown.

In the last four months, investigation reveal that 10 charter airlines have lost a combined revenue of $10.395m (N2.048bn).

Subsequently, some of the charter airlines, which used to enjoy the robust patronage of serving and non-serving top government officials, cronies and contractors, are now at the verge of closing shops following a sharp drop in business turnovers.

Sources in the charter airline sub-sector of the country’s aviation industry disclosed to our correspondent under the condition of anonymity that Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign had made most of their clients to boycott flying charter jets.

It was further learnt that serving governors, politicians, immediate past ministers, ex-presidential advisers, top government contractors including subsidy scheme beneficiaries and top civil servants, who used to charter airlines, had all stopped flying private jets.

Findings also revealed that associates of these serving and non-serving government officials, and their associates and family members, both close and distant, had also stopped renting private jets, a usual practice in the past.

A director in one of the aviation agencies who is close to charter jet operators at the Lagos airport, said, “Immediately Buhari took over, charter jet business started witnessing a gradual decline. But it became very worse when Buhari started the anti-corruption crusade.

“The fear of probe by the new government made most of our clients to run away. You know most of our clients are serving and non-serving top government officials, top government contractors and subsidy scheme beneficiaries.”

The CEO of one of the top local charter companies, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, also confirmed the development.

He said most operators were already returning some of the planes they leased from foreign leasing companies following the development.

He said, “The charter businesses have all been affected so badly, I used to do an average of 50 hours in a month. And this is the average for most of us the main operators. Now, I hardly do 10 hours in a month, it’s that bad.”

“I do about 60 hours per month at my peak, and about 43 hours per month at periods before the emergence of the new administration,” he added.

According to him, the condition has made some operators to return planes leased from foreign leasing companies in South Africa and United States back to them.

“Many of us (charter airlines) could not afford lease rentals (fees operators pay on planes to their owners) anymore because businesses are down, I mean virtually down completely.

“The law allows us to lease aircraft that because Nigeria has domesticated the Cape Town Convention. That was even the reason they released the planes to Nigerian operators in the first place.”

Following the downturn in business, he said each operator had returned between one and four aircraft to their owners overseas depending on the number of planes they leased from them.

Findings by our correspondent show that there are about 10 licensed charter airlines operators in Nigeria.

These are Austria-based Vistajets, United Kingdom-based Hanger 8 Aviation, Top Brass Aviation, Skyjet Airlines, Jed Air, Overland Airways, SkyPower Express, Arik Air, King Air and Associated Airlines.

However, there are still a number of charter flights operated by some helicopter companies which also have one or two private jets for charter in their fleet.

Also, there are still a number of companies which do charter under the licences of some of the licensed charter operators.

Further findings from government agencies and chief executive officers of some charter airlines showed that each of the main operators made an average of 50 hours per month before Buhari took over and began the anti-corruption crusade.

Specifically, charter airline operations ranged from 35 to 65 hours per month before the advent of the Buhari administration. This may come from an average of about three or four flights per week with each flight lasting for about two to three hours on the average.

According to the CEOs, the charter airlines charge between $5,000 and $8,000 per hour for the flights or services.

However, businesses have become so bad that most operators do between five hours and 20 hours a month, according to some CEOs who spoke to our correspondent under the condition of anonymity.

Using an average fee of $6,500 per hour and an average of 50 hours per month for each operator, It means that the 10 licensed charter airlines were generating a revenue of $3.25m (N640.25m) every month before the emergence of Buhari.

However, with the downturn in business, it means using an average of 10 hours per month for each operator, the 10 licensed operators are now making approximately $650,000 (N128.05m) every month.

This means that the charter airlines are losing about $2.6m (N512m) in revenue every month with the sharp decline in their business.

This means that between May and September, charter airlines have lost about $10.4m (N2.048bn) in revenue.

The development has made some charter airlines to begin sacking some of their employees.

It was authoritatively gathered that Vistajets had sacked some of its employees in the aftermath of the sharp drop in its business.

Early last year, it was reported that the immediate past Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Alison Madueke, allegedly flew Vistajets for several months and accumulated huge sums of bills that could almost reach half of the amount a private jet is sold.

Vistajets, which parades some of the best upscale and almost brand new Bombardier jets in its fleets, enjoys perhaps the best patronage prior to the downturn in the charter business market.

The Austria-based charter airlines, which used to have about five private jets deployed in Nigeria during the peak of business, had reduced it to just two with only one being in active service, according to a government official close to the company.

The official said a number of workers were laid off after the company redeployed some of its aircraft to other African countries.

The Vistajets’ representative in Nigeria, Mr. Kola Aluko, could not be reached for comments. Calls and text messages sent to his telephone line did not go through.

The CEO of Skypower Express, one of the charter airlines, Capt. Joji Muhammed, said the downturn in the charter business market could be linked to several factors including the downturn in the economy and the fact that elections were over.

Joji, who confirmed that some operators had returned their aircraft overseas, said when planes were no more in use due to low business, it was normal that they would be taken away.

An aviation industry analyst and Chief Executive Officer, Group Captain John Ojikutu (retd), said Buhari needed to investigate those who had used government funds and corrupt money to fly or buy private jets.

He said it was obvious that most of the people who used to fly private jets got the money through corrupt means.

“All the government contractors, ex-government officials must all be investigated; they have stopped because a new government that is interested in seeing how people spend money is in power.”

Industry watcher and CEO, Finum Aviation, an aviation consultancy firm, Mr. Sheri Kyari, said, “People who used to display wealth are no more doing so because they don’t know what will happen next. This is why the charter business market is down. Except there is an economic boom, the charter market may not recover too soon.”

Saturday PUNCH also learnt that some top government officials and beneficiaries of oil subsidy scheme who bought private jets were selling them for fear of being probed.

Some who did not sell them were said to be hiding them in foreign countries. It was gathered that those who leased private jets directly from foreign companies for their private flying had returned them.

An aviation industry analyst and member of the Aviation Round Table, an industry pressure group, Mr. Olumide Ohunayo, said the growth and boom the charter airline sub-sector experienced before the emergence of Buhari was funded by stolen and excess government funds.

He said, “Things have not been done properly in the charter airline sector. For instance, a lot of the operators are not paying taxes. We have some people also offering illegal charter services. You saw how the NCAA recently impounded two foreign planes for doing illegal charter services in Nigeria. Now, a new sheriff is in town and the fear of the new sheriff has slowed down activities in that sector.

“We have come to the time when everybody has to account for their actions and inactions. Before now, you see ministers and top government officials flying private jets and forcing government agencies to foot the bill. That is no longer happening now because all the top civil servants are afraid of Buhari’s probe.”

Ohunayo further explained that. “We used to see a situation where some top government people, their family members or cronies will charter private jet to Dubai or South Africa on a Friday to relax and come back on a Monday. That can no longer happen again so the sector must experience the lull. People must account for things and the fear of probe is making many people to run away now even though they still have the money.”

Industry watcher and former Assistant General Secretary, Airlines Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Tukur Muhammed, said many top Nigerians with links in government who used to fly private jets now fly business class in commercial planes. He noted that the development had made commercial airlines to be making good revenue in their premium classes.

Muhammed said, “People are being forced to change their lifestyles. Come and see the business class cabin of First Nation, Aero contractor and other airlines on the Lagos-Abuja route now, you see the big names that used to fly charter jets there. The fear of Buhari has made everyone to change their lifestyles. I think it is good for the country. However, people who stole money must account for it.

“For the charter airline market, we will start facing the reality now. Private jet is not for everyone. It is for those few who can afford it, and not those who stole government money.”

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