What sort of man is Mike Adenuga Jr (MAJr)? Does it sound like a million-dollar question? Don’t worry, let’s get down to it. In answering the question, a biographical account would be appropriate. Indeed, some great story tellers have produced inspiring pen-portraits on him. In 2011, Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe wrote a book on Adenuga who was born 70 years ago on April 29, 1953.

For a man who is very private and publicity-shy, there’s little he can do in the age of digital technology because information on his family, wealth and fame are available with just a touch of the digital button. A simple Google search will reveal that MAJr is Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr., CSG, GCON; a Nigerian billionaire businessman and the sixth richest person in Africa. He is also a husband and father.

No matter how much he tries to hide himself, MAJr knows he is a gold fish and he loves everything golden. He has the Midas touch, and his entire life’s history and success story are matters of public scrutiny. Today, he stands tall at 70 years and he must be feeling truly fulfilled and thankful to God because of his long list of accomplishments.

MAJr is an exceptional human being and he means different things to different people. He hardly socialises but he loves the good life. However, he believes in the humanity that thrives which explains why the story is often told of his immense generosity. Givers never lack and the hand of the giver is always on top, according to the popular clichés.

Sometimes, you can become rich when you are fortunate to be blessed with a family inheritance or when you win a lottery. In MAJr’s case, he did not win any lottery; he built his wealth from the ground floor up through hardwork. Rich and successful people will remind you that when preparation meets luck and opportunity, you can be sure of making your way to the top.

Long before MAJr made his fortune in telecoms and oil (he was the first Nigerian to strike oil in commercial quantities), he was already into real estate and merchandising (import and export business) and he had warehouses all over Nigeria. He would forever be grateful and loyal to former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), his close confidant, mentor and benefactor.

For some strange reasons, Mike Adenuga was caught in a needless political crossfire between former president Olusegun Obasanjo and IBB. What Obasanjo did was to test Mike Adenuga’s loyalty to IBB and he passed the test graciously.

I don’t know what IBB will write this time, but 10 years ago when MAJr marked his Diamond Jubilee, IBB congratulated the Globacom chairman and his message was instructive: “The fact that you treasure the virtue of true friendship and loyalty to any cause you believe in gives you the cutting edge. I am eternally grateful for all the troubles you had to go through because of me in the hands of a regime that tried to derail our friendship and relationship.

“Even when you came under severe pressure by the same regime which I helped to nurture to blackmail me in order to hang me, you remained eternally loyal and steadfast. Only a businessman of character, sound upbringing and virtue could choose friendship instead of his economic empire.”

IBB did not mince words in the message because he felt grateful to MAJr, his loyal friend of so many seasons. Obasanjo actually wanted to use MAJr to frame IBB for “economic crimes” that did not exist and on that occasion, Baba Iyabo failed spectacularly.

On the instruction of Nuhu Ribadu, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and at Obasanjo’s behest, the home and offices of the Globacom chairman were invaded; they searched in vain for documents linking IBB as the “owner” of Globacom.

MAJr was in Paris at the time and returned to Nigeria only when it was safe to do so. For those who know IBB, he is very loyal to his friends and he has so many of them – in and outside the military circle.

About 17 years ago, our company was invited to make a presentation on Glo Football Academy. I recall that Segun Odegbami, the popular Nigerian footballer and writer and Modele Sarafa-Yusuf, former sports presenter at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), were in the presentation room at the Victoria Island head office of Glo. Odegbami and Sarafa-Yusuf worked for Globacom at the time.

Who else was there? It was Mike Adenuga, the chairman himself; he sat and listened to the entire presentation which he described as “good music to his ears.” It was the first time I was meeting the chairman of Glo but remarkably, he mentioned my name in full before introductions were made. I was surprised because we had never met face-to-face before that day.

Building a formidable network that comes with goodwill is another reason most people succeed in life. If there’s one man that I know is close to Mike Adenuga, he is Otunba Dele Momodu, the publisher of Ovation magazine, who is also my friend and brother.

Many years ago, Momodu gave me a note addressed to MAJr’s secretary. They had spoken and he wanted me to meet her so that she could link me up to work in communications department of Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) and Devcom Merchant Bank.

Mike Adenuga was the owner of both banks and he was in his 30s when he floated them. In 2006, ETB successfully merged with Devcom Bank while on August 11, 2011, ETB merged with Sterling Bank. It meant I would have met Adenuga to discuss my possible employment. I knew a long time ago that letters cannot be hand-delivered at any of his offices; no staff will sign for them.

Nine times out of ten (some would say 10 out of 10), MAJr sits at the interview sessions of mostly senior and junior management staff. It shows the extent of his micro-management ability which some people regard as a weakness but he does not care. His micro-management trait comes from not being able to sufficiently trust people around him.

MAJr puts his money where his mouth is. Once he gives you an assignment, according to insiders, he will be on your case 24/7 to deliver and failure is definitely not an option. Some former employees confessed to resigning because the “pressure from chairman to perform was always too much.”

These are pressures that may affect your health but it does not mean MAJr is heartless. He works round the clock himself; he leads by example and he is not called “The Guru” for nothing. He praises his own his brilliance which is evident in his business decisions and like a good chess player, he calculates his moves very well.

Mike Adenuga is a risk taker and he is blessed with the ability to craft a vision and get the brightest people in the world to buy into that vision. He also has the skill and network to mobilise resources to back the vision and make it work.

The billionaire entrepreneur and second richest man in Nigeria after Alhaji Aliko Dangote reads voraciously. Apart from being a marketing strategist, he is also a researcher and he equips himself with relevant information and knowledge on his businesses and projects all the time.

When Adenuga launched Glo, he positioned it as the authentic Nigerian telecoms brand. Clearly, he had the financial ability to make Glo successful and he will, as usual, fly over every obstacle, no matter what it takes.

The Glo per second billing was his launch strategy. On top of that, he was able to convince three eminent Nigerians representing the three major tribes – Prof Wole Soyinka, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Alhaji Maitama Sule – to serve as the faces of the Glo brand. It was not easy convincing the pioneer “Glo Brand Ambassadors” but you can ask The Guru how he pulled it off. That was truly a masterstroke by a genius.

If MAJr has to wake you up in the middle of the night to attend a business meeting outside Nigeria, be ready to head to the airport and jump into the plane. He will tell you that’s what you signed for; you cannot complain.

Our birthday celebrant, “Baba 70”, has a sharp memory and he relies heavily on his instincts. People like him do not forget things easily. It is difficult to reach him as would be expected of rich people; they ring-fence themselves with numerous aides but Adenuga would see you when he wants to. He would simply send for you, or he could even surprise you with a phone call.

MAJr is loyal to his friends just like his mentor, IBB, and he does not forget them. Constant feedback is important to Mike Adenuga. If he turns his back on you, it means something terrible – perhaps unforgiveable – has happened. He dislikes people who take his goodwill and generosity for granted; he will rebuke his own children for a similar transgression.

When you are self-driven and result-oriented, Adenuga will be fond of you and it will be obvious to everyone in the organisation. You will receive gifts that may include a brand new car, cash or even a house. His mood is also important when he makes those decisions.

He is often accused of having an “extreme and dual nature” and “love-hate relationships.” It is another way of saying that he can be ruthless and you cannot place him. Those expressions also mean he uses and dump his friends and employees. I cannot prove these allegations but one thing I know for sure that MAJr can keep you waiting for long hours before you can see him – even for a confirmed appointment. Sometimes, you could wait for the whole day and maybe into the night. This behaviour is described by some people as “weird, wicked and mysterious.” But remember that he is a “lion” and you cannot dare him in his den.

There are also allegations that Adenuga arm-twists his suppliers to their disadvantage and would go as far as re-negotiating contracts already signed or even outrightly refusing to honour such agreements. The suppliers hardly complain because of reprisal attacks due to Adenuga’s brand power, influence and connections.

When dealing with Baba 70, you have to be extremely patient. What more can I say? Mike Adenuga is also human after all; he has his own fair share of mistakes. With his investment in some sectors of the economy, you can be sure that the Spirit of Africa is not about to retire as any time soon he clocks 70 years.

He has supported sports – especially football – and entertainment events around Africa. Most Nigerian musicians who are now highly sought after and Nollywood celebrities will always remember his Glo endorsements that gave them fame and fortune.

CNN’s long-running series, African Voices Change Makers, is sponsored by Glo in a long-term partnership. He had also provided sponsorship support for Nigerian football and the national teams, as well as CAF Awards – recognising football stars and administrators on the African stage.

There was a time a rival telecoms company was ready to go into a lucrative sponsorship deal with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) but the deal was turned down because of MAJr. I knew at the time that NFF officials wanted the deal badly but their hands were tied.

Now, here’s my Billionaire Challenge Nigeria (BCN) to him: come up with a solution model to fix at least one basic social or economic problem in his home state. The concept of BCN is that every state has at least one successful billionaire who should be able to “pull resources together” and drive the initiative of solving basic social and economic problems in their respective states.

One more thing, Mike Adenuga should consider writing his memoirs as soon as possible. His success secrets will inspire millions of African youth and they will be glad to drink from his fountain of wisdom and learn from a genius and great mind like him.

Here’s wishing Mile Adenuga Jr more grace and impactful accomplishments in the years ahead. Happy birthday sir!

Braimah is a public relations strategist and publisher/editor-in-chief of Naija Times (https://ntm.ng)

Exactly a month from today, Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be inaugurated as president of Nigeria—unless something seismically dramatic happens before then. There are literally hundreds of suggestions I can offer for the success of his administration, but I have chosen to isolate only six.

1. Refrain from avoidable delays in decision making. It is better to take a bad decision and correct it after seeing its effects than to wait until eternity to make one. That’s why it’s customary to say that indecision is the graveyard of good intentions. Muhammadu Buhari’s spectacular and lamentable failure as a president was built on the fundament of indecision.

Buhari couldn’t make up his mind about anything and took half-hearted, ineffective decisions only after the urgency of moments had passed. He couldn’t come up with his cabinet members months after he was declared winner of the 2015 election. 

Governing boards of government agencies, which are the engines of everyday governance, were unfilled years after Buhari was inaugurated as president. That was one of the reasons the economy took a tailspin into predictable chaos from which it hasn’t recovered.

To avoid Buhari’s fate, Tinubu should assemble his cabinet members while he is awaiting his inauguration and announce them within the first week following his inauguration. He should also fill all vacancies in governing boards of government agencies within the first few months of his administration. 

More than 2000 years ago, Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero memorably said, “More is lost by indecision than [by] wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.” Buhari’s indecision didn’t steal him blind; it stole Nigeria blind. Tinubu shouldn’t replicate it.

2. The choice of cabinet members should lean toward savvy and competent people. I am aware that in presidential democracies cabinet positions are often given as rewards to politicians who supported a presidential candidate during electioneering. I don’t expect Tinubu to not reward people who supported his electoral victory.

Nevertheless, in light of the multiple burdens of heightened insecurity, economic stagnation, progressively dysfunctional infrastructure, etc. that he is inheriting from Buhari, not to mention the deteriorating crisis of confidence that the APC has engendered in the last eight years, Tinubu will earn the confidence of the nation if he appoints apolitical, clear-eyed, and demonstrably experienced and capable people to supervise the economic, security, power, and other consequential sectors of the nation. 

Most previous administrations have a history of inviting politically neutral experts into cabinet and other significant positions in government. The Buhari regime departed from this norm. Tinubu should return to it. If Tinubu goes beyond having just a smattering of so-called technocrats in his cabinet—like Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, and Jonathan did—to actually ensuring that they set the tone for his administration, he will inspire confidence.

Of course, being a non-political subject-matter expert isn’t always a guarantee of success at assigned tasks. There are intimidatingly credentialed know-nothings.  Tinubu should, because of this, set up achievable and measurable metrics to evaluate the performance of ministers, and fire non-performing ministers irrespective of their credentials. Buhari kept the same cast of lusterless, non-performing ministers, except for the few that resigned on their own, for the entirety of his administration.

3. Forgiveness and inclusivity. Presidential electoral contests are inherently divisive and toxic, and their aftersensations can linger longer than is normal. Nigeria’s primordial fissures particularly aggrandize the noxiousness of electoral contests. Revenge and exclusion are the easiest emotions to crowd the mind of a victor in such contests, but the easy path isn’t always the right path.

Tinubu should work to earn the trust of people who didn’t vote for him, including people who don’t believe he legitimately won his election. I am the first to admit that it’s hard to embrace people who perpetually malign, belittle, and vilify you, but purposeful leadership entails responsibility, self-denial, forgiveness, and a large heart.

In appointments and location of projects, he should reflect Nigeria’s intricate diversity. He also should not, in words and in deeds, marginalize parts of Nigeria that resent him and unfairly elevate his natal constituency. It’s easier to win over opponents by repaying their hostility with kindness than to fight them back. That was one thing Buhari never learned. 

In any case, after becoming president, there will automatically be power asymmetry between Tinubu and his traducers. The fact of being president dwarfs any vilification he may receive from his opponents and critics. Success, they say, is the best revenge. How he treats opponents will define him more than how he treats people who support him. 

4. Take religion out of governance. Exhibitionistic preening of religiosity by high-profile government officials is the sole reason religion has become intolerably contentious in Nigeria’s polity. It engenders feelings of symbolic exclusion in people whose co-religionists are not in power. 

Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida made the germinal error of centralizing religion in the business of governance when he built a mosque at the Presidential Villa and glamorized Islamic worship there on Fridays. 

Olusegun Obasanjo replicated a Christian, retaliatory version of what Babangida started. He built a Christian chapel at the Presidential Villa and ordered live television broadcasts of his worship. Oby Ezekwezili, a minister in the Obasanjo regime, said in a 2006 interview with the Guardian on Sunday that the Presidential Villa chapel encapsulated the defeat of Satan.

 “Satan had been sitting pretty before,” she said. “Now God has dislodged Satan, but we needed to clear all the debris that Satan had put in place in what was his former territory.” 

This sort of inflammatory rhetoric from mindless religious bigots like Ezekwezili, the kind of which animated the last election, was possible because of the Muslim bigotry that Babangida inaugurated and enthroned, which his successors did nothing to tamp down. 

Tinubu has an opportunity to reverse this. He and his vice president should not show off the performance of their faith. There should be no live broadcasts of his Juma’t prayers or umrah. 

5. Don’t increase petrol prices by other names. I know that there is now an artfully manufactured consent, particularly among the gilded classes in Nigeria, about the undesirability of “fuel subsidy.” I don’t care what it’s called, but any policy (call it deregulation, subsidy removal, appropriate pricing, etc.) that results in an arbitrary and unbearable hike in the price of petrol without a corresponding increase in the salaries of workers and an improvement in the living conditions of everyday people will sink Tinubu.

Resuscitating existing refineries and creating conditions for robust private sector investment in building new ones are obvious, well-worn solutions to the existing order, which have been floating around for years. Any serious government would make this happen.

No responsible government shies away from subsidizing the production and consumption of essential commodities for its people. I have lived in the United States, the belly of the capitalist beast, for nearly two decades, and I can tell you that governments at both federal and state levels heavily subsidize petrol consumption—in addition to agriculture.

When gas prices increased dramatically a few months ago here, both Joe Biden and state governors granted tax holidays to oil companies so they could lower the cost of petrol. Biden tweeted daily about the reduction in gas prices that his policies enabled. Americans call high petrol prices “pain at the pump” for a reason.

The surest way for a government to lose legitimacy here is to allow petrol prices to go up without doing anything about it. That’s why America’s 50 states collectively spend $10 billion a year to subsidize petrol consumption.

I know Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi said they would “remove fuel subsidy”—a code for they’ll increase petrol prices— if they’re elected president, but I can assure Tinubu that if petrol price hikes deepen people’s misery, he’ll have a tough time governing.

6. Communication is key to success in a modern presidency, and Tinubu can’t afford to duplicate Buhari’s template of an uncommunicative presidency.  Tinubu obviously now struggles with his speech, stumbles on some words, and occasionally blanks out. It’s understandable that his minders will want to continue to shield him from news interviews, which could provide materials for disparaging comic skits.

But he and his minders can learn from Joe Biden who is a natural stutterer and who has been known as a “gaffe machine” since his younger days. He doesn’t grant many media interviews, but he delivers remarks on camera. A president whose communication is always delivered by aides will lack political, social, and symbolic presence. And that’s a disaster.

In writing his speeches for periodic broadcasts on major policies, Tinubu’s speech writers should take care to avoid writing words he struggles to pronounce. Instead of writing “administration,” for instance, which he apparently has a hard time pronouncing, they should prefer “government.” That’s Speech Writing 101 that his speech writers fail all the time. That was why they wrote “ballyhoo” and “hullabaloo” for him that, in a state of momentary mental confusion, he mispronounced as “balablu” and “bulaba.”

Finally, he should never for any reason ban social media, especially Twitter, where he is, for now, hugely unpopular. In a democracy, people have a right to not like the president.

“The man who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.” – Dale Carnegie  

Whether Dr Mike Adeniyi Adenuga Jnr chose the Bull as his business moniker or the nickname was given to him, there can be no more fitting sobriquet for a man who is never afraid to dare. No matter the odds and regardless of how daunting the challenges may be. It is perhaps also not a coincidence that Taurus, the second astrological sign of the zodiac, governs the period of the year between April 20 and May 20 on which Adenuga’s birthday falls. Taurus is symbolized by the bull, ordained by ancient civilizations and cultures with the sacred role of divinity.   

In the world of politics and business, the bull is also a familiar symbol. “We grab it by the horns to demonstrate our authority… and we use the bull as a symbol in the stock market to represent a rise in prices”, according to Matt Sullivan, a former editor at New York Times and The Atlantic, who argues that the bull has, since prehistoric times, epitomized determination, strength, practicality, stoicism, ambition, and virility.  

Those rare attributes separating the bull from other animals also distinguish Adenuga from other Nigerian businesspeople. Adenuga is that man who, if he sets his mind on something, gets it accomplished no matter the obstacles. He is not just successful in oil and banking, but he has also built one of the largest telecommunication companies in Africa. So, as he joins the elite Septuagenarian Club today, Adenuga can look back with fulfilment on the countless battles he has fought and won.   

Much has been written about Adenuga’s philanthropy and generosity of spirit. His legions of honours include the unusual investiture as Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) by President Goodluck Jonathan, decoration with the insignia of Commander of the Legion of Honour by President Emmanuel Macron of France and conferment of the highest civil national award of the Companion of the Star of Ghana (CSG) by President John Mahama of Ghana. Adenuga has also played pioneering roles across business sectors, including leading the first indigenous company in the country to strike oil in commercial quantity. But the enduring value of Adenuga is that he has built a formidable business institution that is spreading the Nigerian brand across the globe. And having lived by the business ethos of high risk, high reward, Adenuga has recorded remarkable feats that have put him and Nigeria in good stead.

In the world of business, especially in a country like ours, there are just too many risks and uncertainties. Yet, Adenuga has seized every moment in the past four decades to break barriers, surmount obstacles and create records. His ability to withstand or recover from setbacks is legendary. From surviving gunshots to losing his father in an auto crash, to having his GSM licence revoked, Adenuga has withstood things that would make peers buckle or crumble. While others dream and wait for the ‘right moment’ to act, risktakers like Adenuga are already investing their time, energy, and resources to reach new heights, even amid storms.   

There is a story that illustrates the doggedness and never-say-die spirit of Adenuga. Before his company, Consolidated Oil, eventually struck the liquid gold on 24th December 1991, family members, including his late mother, and associates reportedly felt concerned about the risk he was taking. A make-or-break oil exploration in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ondo State for a man still in his thirties was considered too daring. Adenuga reportedly listened to all the concerns expressed by people he knew genuinely cared about him. Yet, at the end, he decided to go by his instincts. Against all odds, he succeeded, and today he is one of the biggest players in the oil and gas sector.  

Adenuga is a man who believes in setting milestones. This has continued to stand him out as a real treasure of a man amongst men. And he has a compelling story. As a young businessperson, Adenuga never depended on his father’s wealth. In his early foray in the world of business, he borrowed money from his mother and sister to execute a contract. He rose to the pinnacle through hard work, determination, and dedication to duty.   

To confront our economic challenges in Nigeria, we need the patriotic zeal and courage of men like Adenuga who will not only invest their money but also empower our people in diverse ways. For instance, the contribution of Globacom to the entertainment industry goes beyond sponsorships and endorsements to Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives that have helped to resurrect and nurture the career of many veteran artistes who may have ended up in penury in a society that places little premium on art. By using local musicians, actors, actresses as well as global stars with Nigerian ancestry for endorsement, Adenuga has deployed his network to project Nigeria’s image beyond the call of business.  Besides, from putting a lie to the claim that per second billing was impossible in Nigeria to crashing the prohibitive cost of acquiring a GSM line to bringing down the cost of airtime, Adenuga has positioned Globacom to play a disruptive role in the telecoms sector to the benefit of Nigerians.  

That Adenuga’s bullish mindset serves us in Nigeria is not in doubt. We need risk takers who will work for growth opportunities and invest with a positive attitude. Today, his contributions have helped to improve the living standards of millions of people, particularly those in rural areas. The same goes for Africa where Adenuga has demonstrated that creating sustainable businesses is key to driving job creation and economic development. He has invested a significant amount of money in different projects across the continent, including agricultural development programmes, health research, and technology advancement initiatives.  

Considering Adenuga’s extraordinary wealth and the government licensed sectors in which he operates (oil and gas, banking, telecoms), there are some who may want to downplay his achievements. I believe the best illustration of the Adenuga story is the Biblical parable of talents, a most profound teaching by the Lord Jesus Christ set within the context of investments and productivity (Matthew 25: 14-30). As the parable goes, shortly before embarking on a journey, a rich man delegated the management of his wealth to three servants by giving five talents to one, two talents to another and one talent to a third. Upon his return, he found that the first two earned him a hundred percent profit on his investments, while the third servant, who had buried his talent in the ground, returned it without profit.

The Bible makes it clear that the master understood the capacity of each servant, which explains the disparity in the number of talents he gave them. The Nigerian state might have given either five or two ‘talents’ to a few, but there are thousands of other Nigerian businessmen who have been handed a ‘talent’ each. If only ten percent of them had been faithful, Nigeria would be a better country today. Therefore, the proposition that we need more Adenugas in Nigeria is not about the quantum of ‘talents’ given but rather in the effort they put into deploying those ‘talents’ for the advancement of our society.  

Meanwhile, Adenuga’s aversion to media and publicity is well known, avoiding the grandstanding that we see with many wealthy Nigerians. But in a rare public engagement to mark his 40th birthday in April 1993, Adenuga released a disquisition on ‘Achieving’ that provides a peep into his mind in a way that confirms his bullish disposition to business. An “achiever” according to Adenuga, “is a leader, a winner, all the time, not just once” while dismissing the notion that anybody should approach worthwhile ventures with the spirit of the Olympics which places emphasis simply on participation. “Leading the pack is the only worthwhile resolve for the achiever. There is no room for second place…to be the first, and always the first; to be the one who holds the aces that determine the pace of play. You match your wits against others, with your entire constitution springing to action.” 

Three decades later, that remains the operating principle of ‘The Bull’. 

Adenuga is a visionary who has done well for himself but has also produced enormous public value for his country and continent. And as he clocks 70 today, I join millions of people across the world in wishing him happy birthday, long life, and good health.  

The collapse of marriages of iconic figures and celebrities, influential people who stand tall before international or national gaze can’t but be sensational. Words immediately go round, first in whispers: Have you heard? It is the latest in town. It’s news flash; it is breaking news. In cases the story is too sensitive, the tale bearer would quickly add: “Do not say I told you!” Oh, sorry, Dear Reader, that was decades ago, within our frontiers. That was before the advent of the ubiquitous modern technology which bans forever our having regularly to go through NITEL to reach our neighbour next door. The language today is, “It has gone viral.” So was it that this story below announced its arrival in my gadget we all call Cell Phone. Nearly every child brandishes one before our gaze. The world, Time Magazine once said, is wired. Now follow me to the stadium to catch Achraf Hakimi and his wife. It is not to watch a match between them but to listen to their sensational story, which in part was on Wednesday night debunked by Hakimi’s mother.

‘Footballer Achraf Hakimi’s wife filed for divorce and demanded half of his property. She was, however, informed by court that her ‘millionaire’ husband owns nothing as all his property is registered under his mother’s names.
Hakimi receives $1 Million from PSG monthly but 80 per cent of this is deposited in his mother Mrs. Fatima’s account. He has no property, car, houses, jewelry or even clothes in his name. Anytime he wants anything, he asks his mother who buys it for him.’

Hakimi’s mother said: “I wasn’t aware Hakimi registered his wealth in my name.” The kernel of my contemplation I am sharing is not so much about the claims but about the break-up of marriages of celebrities, but the eye-brow they raise as well as why marriages collapse and the aftermaths. Such a break-up readily becomes a subject of gossip, side-talks and backbiting capturing headlines because celebrities are regarded as special people; the multitude want to behold them, want to touch them. They want them to autograph their shirts, jerseys or their books as the case may be. They are looked upon as exemplary, special people setting tones and agenda for the society. So when there is parting of ways with their spouses, it is shocking to the point of unbelievability. Sometimes, stories about marriage break-up and its aftermath around it are not only shocking but bizarre. In some cases, the couple becomes mortal enemies. In parts of the Western World where life is short and brutish, couples are known to have killed themselves, the man pulling the trigger or the wife firing her husband. It is an age-long phenomenon and down the years, the divorce rate is getting worse.

Online publication, world population review.com quoting the United States’ National Centre for Health Statistics, says that about 4-5 million tie the nuptial cords every year. In that country, between 42 and 53 per cent of the marriages end in divorce. According to the United Nations report, the Island of Maldives has the highest divorce rate in the world. When the rate hit 10.97 per cent in 2002 it entered the Guinness Book of Records. There, any proven case of infidelity ends in divorce. The country is followed by Kazakhstan with 4.6 for every 1,000 people. Next is Russia, 3.9; then Belgium 3.7; same as Belarus. In the United States, Nevada has the highest rate of any state at 14 per cent. The country with the lowest rate of divorce is Sri Lanka with 0.15 divorce cases per 1,000 persons.

The divorce rate is, however, not the subject of today’s contemplation, but the meaning of an event that represents a watershed in every participant’s life, although meant for good, yet in many cases it ends up ill-fated. At this conjuncture, the mind can’t help racing to the 2021 sensational divorce of the Gates — Bill and Melinda French Gates and that of Elizabeth Taylor in the 70s. Film Icon Elizabeth Taylor was married eight times and divorced seven times. Pursued unrelentingly by the Press that described her as a paragon of beauty, she could not help becoming so conscious of her natural endowments, yet caring. She was married to Richard Burton twice. The first marriage hardly lasted a year when it collapsed in 1974. They reconciled but soon after they tied the bond again in 1975; but the marriage headed for the rocks once more in 1976. Her seventh and final marriage was to Larry Fortensky, a construction worker. When Fortensky had a domestic accident and was gravely injured to the point of incapacitation, even though they had divorced, she was paying him $1, 000 a month as of 1996. Before she died in March, 2011, she bequeathed $825, 000 to him.

The disintegration of the union of the Gates sent shock waves round the world. A family law attorney, Janet George, said of the break-up: “They’re probably about the biggest divorce imaginable.” In a terse joint statement announcing their divorce, Melinda French and Bill Gates, software pioneer said:

“Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.

“We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the Foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.” BBC online added, quoting the pair’s tweet: “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage.”

Their daughter, Jennifer Gates, 25, wrote movingly on Instagram as it often happens in a family in a turn of events of this nature in a family thought cohesive: “It’s been a challenging stretch of time for our whole family. I’m still learning how to best support my own process and emotions.”

Bill Gates is 67; he was 65 at the time and Melinda 56. She is 58 this year. BBC online reported Melinda Gates as saying that she found Bill methodical it seems even in matters of the heart — writing a list on whiteboard with ‘pros and the cons of getting married. They got married in 1994 on the Hawaiian Island of Lanai. They jointly run the Bill & Melinda Foundation. Bill Gates is reputed to be the fourth wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes. He is worth 124 billion US Dollars. Melinda received 76 billion US Dollars as her farewell share of their fortune. She also received all the firm’s shares in Coca-Cola Femsa said to be a Mexican distributor, worth about 130 million US Dollars.

Some commentators have described the action of the footballer as smart. With his mother saying she was not aware that Hakimi registered his wealth in her name we are left with a conjectural scenario and the busy-bodies want to enlist the unsuspecting world in what now seems a tricky, and worse, a blackmailing business. But then, we can look at the scenario critically until the picture gets clearer and ask: Supposing it was true, how would it have sounded? Would it have been fair to the wife and their children? I have two esteemed colleagues on The Guardian Flagship WhatsApp platform to thank for their enlightenment with such enthralling grasp of the issues — one living in the United States and the other a lawyer living in Lagos with considerable familiarity with the nature and attitude of celebrated sportsmen, athletes and footballers and what fortune they amass and the women swarming around them like bees around honey! The colleague in America says: “If the story is true, people are applauding deception and criminality. Hiding assets in divorce proceedings is criminal in most Western world…I do not see a judge simply accepting that he gifted everything to his mother; so there is nothing for her and her children.”

The former colleague, now a lawyer, says that footballers’ marriages are unique. They should not be used to judge normal divorce cases. Footballers receive humongous pay per week and thus become targets of ladies who figure out how they can clean them out upon divorce. Even though it may not be true in all cases, pre-nub agreements being the curb, the colleague enlightens the platform, Hakimi may have learnt from the experiences of his former colleagues such as Emmanuel Eboue of Cote D’Ivoire who literally lost everything and almost slipped into depression!

Those who are aware of the enormity of Mr. Bill’s wealth are fixated on other areas of his treasures and wonder how much more will go to Melinda French Gates. She, too, it is speculated is expecting more. There are mansions and private jets, vast tracts of land and huge investments in corporations as well as private businesses. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — the biggest philanthropic organization is there. That alone is worth 49 billion US Dollars while Microsoft worth is put at 26.6 billion US Dollars and public investments, 50 billion Dollars. One of the mansions is a sprawling 130 million US Dollars lakefront property.

This secular angle is necessary with which to start the conversation to induce reflection: What could be going through the minds of many a woman? Certainly not a few must turn green with envy, wanting to be in Melinda Gates’ shoes!

As I did state in February, we cannot understand marriage as a natural and, living concept unless we solve the riddle of why man and woman have always and will forever appeal to and desire each other; why every girl dreams of ending in the loving arms of a man, and a man seeking to bask in the aura of a worthy woman who will drive him out of his mind, to whom he would surrender as his teacher, guide and nurse. And companion. We cannot understand the cause of the travails prevalent in the world today without first seeking the knowledge the Lord Christ promised would lead to further Truths — the higher knowledge that answers all questions of life and existence, all without exception. Beaming In The Light of Truth, it awakens true humanity in all men who open its portals for Its Rays. In other words, adopting a holistic approach to life is what will help. It should be a state of affairs that recognizes man as a fruit of Nature and that one uniform Law pervades and rules the entire universe. By this Law, sodium and chlorine unite as if in a wedlock, under certain circumstances, to form sodium chloride, our familiar table salt. It is in the same vein that hydrogen and oxygen unite to form water. Something is evident here. The uniting factors are of different nature. Science designates sodium as positive ions and chlorine as negative ions; hydrogen as positive and oxygen as negative. In the end we find that what science demonstrates to us is that these are split parts of a species seeking union for fuller value of existence.

The question then predictably arises: By this thinking, can man and woman be split parts of a species seeking union for fuller value of existence? They, indeed, are. A contemplation of why and when the splitting into sexes occurred is not called for at this stage. What we can begin to sense is the origin of marriage and the tasks of participants in joint working and each bringing its unique qualities into the union, each party complementing the other. They are assigned roles consistent with their gender. A woman is thus a woman by the nature of her activity. It cannot, therefore, be for nothing that the wife of one-time President of France, Charles de Gaulle said to her husband, “Charles you rule France, but I rule this house, including you!” Women are far more spiritually endowed. By the richness of their intuition, they can readily recognize right from wrong. Through the exercise of our free will we stand at varying degrees of inner maturity and consequent inner radiance. With the maturity comes the refinement of quality. It is the quality different in one party from the other that each partner brings into the union already undergirded by the love of the soul. With this there is compatibility and the strings of the chord vibrate in harmonious hormonal orchestra and both stand in a marriage joined before God. Shoulder to shoulder, smilingly and like little children at play, they face mundane earthly trials that seek to divert them. We learn in higher knowledge that they joyfully serve each other; they are partners of equal worth and they grow towards spiritual ennoblement. It is the marriage no one may tear asunder without dire consequences, either through calculation, cunning, suggestions, unwholesome gossips, or out of envy.

However, most marriages for thousands of years have been contracted on false foundation, and increasingly with time, with obsession for material gains, and freedom from care and responsibility. Most marriages are no more than business contracts. They are immoral with the dross thereof dimming and suffocating the intuition which is the ordained principal tool of women.

So, a great many marriages are dry and lifeless. In correct marriages husbands and wives become servants and agents of true love which contains the power that spreads blessings and that can remodel and upbuild the earth into a new realm which flourishes in the unending pure Love of the Almighty Father.

With deviation from what marriages should be in line with the Will of the Creator, collapse of the unions cannot come as a surprise. All manner of ills plaguing marriages today arise from the deviation — incompatibility, domestic violence, estrangement and many more. It is such that those who have come to this earth to work hand in glove in the service of the Lord do not recognise themselves. Some may have come to settle debts they owe to one another without which their ascent to the Light Region is barred. Alas, the memory has faded and when they come together at all, they do not joyfully serve one another. False unions dot the landscape and in no time they land in bitter acrimonious separation.

In the on-going compulsory cleansing of the earth of all that is wrong and hostile to the Light, aberrant unions and all that is false will be swept off the surface of the earth.

A Giant Departs The World
A leader and a giant in the world of journalism has discarded his earthly cloak and departed earthly life. He is Peter Enahoro more known as Peter Pan. The news of his exit has reverberated around the world. His was a distinguished career in journalism.

He joined the Daily Times in 1955, after leaving school, Government College, Ughelli, armed with love of reading and mastery of the English language. And fearlessness. He rose rapidly and became the editor of Sunday Times in 1958 at 23, the editor of ubiquitous Daily Times in 1962 in succession to Alhaji Babatunde Jose at the age of 27. Driven by the melancholic temperament inherent in all youths at a particular period in their development, he saw the world upside down and resolved and, indeed, strove to straighten it, to prove to the world that, in the words of Playwright Edward George –Lytton, the pen is mightier than the sword. It is the age of idealism; it is the age of dreams. It is the period all young men and young girls can easily tell right from wrong. It is the age a young girl looks at her mother full in the face and says, “Mom, it is not your time; it is mine, so forget it.”

By the age of 30 still smarting under the grip of his temperament, Peter Enahoro had become the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Times. Now, he was poised to do battle with evil in our land. The crisis that began in the Western Region in 1962 had festered and was reaching a crescendo. His column, Peter Pan which he ran twice a week, became fiercer, hard-hitting and unsparing.

(Full Tribute Next Week)

Harry Belafonte did not seek social justice; social justice sought him out. When they met, he was ready for a life-long struggle to bring justice to the United States or more correctly, to bring the United States to justice even when he knew this might cost him his lucrative career, if not his life. At first, he was contented writing cheques and funding the campaigns of the civil rights movement, but in 1964 he said Black Americans and a lot of the conscientious White Americans had gotten to the point they could no longer tolerate more lynching, beating of Black people and the ‘Whites-Only’ signs on public places.

He had fame and fortune by the time he was 31 with his 1956 album ‘Calyso’ selling over a million records, the first long playing record by a single artist to hit that mark. But fame and fortune meant nothing to him; what did was to ensure the Black man, the Indian were treated in the US and elsewhere like a human being. Reflecting on his life of struggles, he wrote in his 2011 memoirs My Song: A memoir of Art, Race and Defiance: “I was born into poverty, grew up in poverty, and for a long time poverty was all I thought I’d known.” When he started out, he had a role model: Paul Robeson, a famous actor, singer and activist. But Robeson had from the late 1940s been deliberately and openly destroyed by the US government. Employing state agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the American government had  forced the entertainment  agencies from hiring him. Realising that Robeson was a famous entertainer that could earn a living abroad, the US government seized his passport so he couldn’t travel outside the country. Belafonte said he learnt from this and was ever ready for a likely backlash from the government.

 Another piece of injustice which galvanised him into battle was the crude attempt by the government to send the respected African American intellectual, Professor W.E.B. Du Bois, to prison. In 1950, Du Bois at 82, had  ran for US Senate from the New York District on the ticket of the American Labour Party. Surprisingly, despite brazen racism and state campaigns against him, he had garnered some 200,000 votes. This led to a backlash by the state. Du Bois had gone on to call for the outlawing of atomic weapons. The US had in 1945 dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the establishment declared a campaign against atomic weapons as a USSR propaganda. It asked Du Bois and members of his Peace Information Centre to register under the 1940 Smith Act as “agents of a foreign principal”.

The Act criminalised any attempts to “advocate, abet, advice or teach“ the violent overthrow of the US government. Essentially, the government wanted them to sign admitting that they are spies. When Du Bois refused, he was put on trial. Belafonte said: “On the opening day of the trial, those of us who came to show  our support were stunned to see the elderly Du Bois pulled roughly from a paddy wagon in handcuffs, ankle cuffs and chains like a prisoner on a southern chain gang.” The photographs of Du Bois arriving for trial, sent shock waves around the world and intellectuals like Albert Einstein protested. Unable to withstand the international pressures, America let Du Bois go.

 In 1963, Du Bois at the age of 93 left US to join the Pan Africanist President of emergent Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah to build a new nation and new Africa. He changed citizenship and died two years later as a Ghanaian. Belafonte continued the Du Bois anti-war activism, but where the latter had merely denounced the nuclear race, Belafonte developed the movement into a full one not just rejecting war but also taking a stand against the US fighting wars across the globe such as its illegal invasion of Iraq under dubious excuses. Belanfonte’s leadership of the American anti-war movement was much more biting not just for its effectiveness, but also for the fact that while Du Bois had been an intellectual, Belafonte had been in the US Navy serving during the Second World War. 

As part of his anti-war campaign, Belafonte on February 15, 2003 told a rally that President Bush was leading the US into a fraudulent war in Iraq as his predecessors had done  in the conflicts in Vietnam, Grenada, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Cuba. He concluded by saying: “Dr. King once said that … if mankind does not put an end to war, war will put an end to mankind.” As it turned out, Belafonte  was absolutely right about the senseless  war in Iraq in which about one million died in the first five years.

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans from August 23-31, 2005 killing 1,392 persons. The people felt abandoned by the American government, but when Venezuela offered massive aid, President Bush rejected it ostensibly because the country was socialist. Belafonte went to Venezuela the following year to thank the Venezuelans for their gesture, and, standing beside President Hugo Chávez made one of his fieriest speeches: “No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush, says, we’re here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people – millions – support your revolution, support your ideas, and, yes, expressing our solidarity with you.”

He was also angry with those he considered the Uncle Toms of the Bush team for pushing the war agenda and working “in the service of our (Black) oppression and those who create new ways in which to oppress us… And that is my argument with General Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. I expect, as do others, that their history should have prepared them for a much better articulation about how to treat people globally.” Belafonte was a major funder of the Civil Rights and Student movements in the US and was quite close to Martin Luther King Jr. 

So when King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, died in 2006, Belafonte was invited to speak at her funeral. However, when George W. Bush announced he was attending the funeral, Belafonte’s invitation was withdrawn. That, however, did not deter him. He was a mentor to many across the world, including the famous Miriam Makeba. He was one of the best singers ever, churning out enchanting music and winning all the major awards available, including the Emmy, Grammy and Oscar. But his life work was for social justice, and this was the least reported. Belafonte continued his fight for social justice until April 25, 2023 when our ancestors on the other side of the river, invited him to paddle over. 

Pentecostalism either classical or modern has its conflicting, competing, and complementary angles to the Nigerian socio-religious scenario. Africans are known as a highly religious society typified in the multi-religious nature of the modern African system. Consequently, the ‘Christian God’ is now abstracted in the African gods; hence the domineering effects and of course the coinage of Pentecostalism to Pente-rascalism.

Tragically, some questionable characters have successfully highjacked the pulpits and heightened tension in our political space by taking advantage of unsuspecting gullible followers; using the pulpits for fake prophecies and inciting statements thereby turning Pentecostalism into Pente-rascalism. After reviewing a video clip in which David Ibiyeomie, a Nigerian pastor, the founder/presiding pastor of Salvation Ministries with its headquarters located in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria – made unprintable and other inciting statements about the President-elect Asíwájú Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Vice-President-elect Sen Kashim Shettima. 

The pastor’s admixture of politics into his sermon equally signposts an emerging dangerous trend that could undermine peace and security across the country as clergymen encourage the faithful to migrate their sectarian biases, hatred, and disaffection into everyday life. Hence, the recently concluded 2023 general elections which saw the Christian faith being exploited and abused to promote politics of hate, divisiveness, and spreading falsehood, a development that demystified many clergymen that were once held in high esteem but have now become false prophets before their followers. 

Unexpectedly, your preferred candidate Peter Obi, lost the election. He did not come close to winning, he came a distant third position against your false prophecies. So why will any reasonable person want to burn down a country Nigeria? Since childhood, many of us have been conditioned by the environment/society, religion, culture, and parenting to have a certain pattern of thinking. The infusion of Pente-rascalism has further worsened our condition. What is more, these things just don’t happen by magic, they are usually products of planning and effort. Nigeria will get it Right, Not instantaneous, The Foundations will be laid and will be built upon onward.

Interestingly, the majority of Nigeria’s population of over 200 million follows either Islam or Christianity. Historically, these two major religions have coexisted peacefully. However, since independence, the country has suffered from many ethno-religious conflicts. In the recent past, the kind of activities of some disgruntled elements using the pulpits for politics of ethnicity and religion has increased and further polarized our delicate fault lines. The latest madness is the message from David Ibiyeomie de-marketing the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect.

It is instructive that, even after a winner has emerged from the 2023 presidential election and some aggrieved candidates are already in the tribunal to vent their waves of anger. Sadly, David Ibiyeomie and some other disgruntled elements who have been apushing for change through unorthodox means and continued with weaponizing ethnicity and religion. It should be noted that in one of my previous articles; “The Misery Of APC Muslim Muslim Ticket” I forewarned about the danger and seed of disunity surreptitiously planted by some “Christian” leaders with their utterances unmindful of sowing dangerous seed that will in the future makes it very difficult for a Christian to win a Presidential election in Nigeria. The unabated attack and hatred coming from the pulpit to the President and Vice President-Elects are unprecedented.

Of course, you can tell the character of a man by what he spews out of his mouth. Truth is, these criminal elements and the so-called movement Obidients ‘Obingos’ folks are only behaving true to type: they’re delusional, misbegotten, and certainly don’t deserve to dwell in the midst of men with discernment and understanding. This is exactly what the likes of David Ibiyeomie and his cohorts are capitalizing on to remain relevant and sustained the falsehood, deceitfulness, and fake prophecies – ‘selectively saintly.’ the more I review the video the more sorry I feel for the gullible followers who can’t decipher the obvious truth about the man’s determination to become relevant and guide his personal interests. Fake prophecies and brainwashing can never be the will of God. The will of God cannot be rigged. It is imperative to appeal to the conscience of stakeholders to admonish some of our merchants of miracles masquerading as “Men of God” to stop manipulating their congregants.

In lieu of the above, it has become imperative to enlist the support of stakeholders, faith-based leaders, particularly the leadership of the Christian body ‘CAN’, our patriarch in the person of Pst Enoch Adejare Adeboye and Bishop David Olaniyi Oyedepo to urgently intervene and rein in the pastors misrepresenting God. We cannot afford a second civil war or religious crisis any longer. Nigeria must not burn, politics is not a do-or-die affair.

Obiageli (Oby) Ezekwesili is like a daughter to me. Even when she was a minister, I treated her the same way I treated my biological daughters. She was a dynamic young woman, who is competent, reliable, and very enterprising. As she, therefore, clocks 60 today, I cannot but thank God for her life, as I wish her more fulfilling and glorious years and decades ahead.

Oby and I met through Transparency International, an initiative started by Peter Eigen, who had worked at the World Bank and saw the need for more integrity in the public arena. While Oby and Peter collaborated, I chaired the advisory council. Due to her hard work and dedication to duty, and because I naturally like working with intelligent people, it was easy for me to warm to Oby at the time.

When I came out of prison in 1998, I travelled to the United States, essentially to thank those who had worked for my release; people that cared, like the CNN founder, Ted Turner; people at Ford Foundation, where I used to be Board of Trustees member, and others. I remember Oby came to see me on the day I was meeting with most of my children, sharing my prison experience and looking ahead to what I believed at the time to be a more private life. Oby was then at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

When opportunity afforded itself that I became President, I already knew that I had somebody to bring into government.

Before I appointed Oby a minister, I first assigned her to work closely with me in what we called the Price Intelligence Unit, which she headed and was domiciled at the Villa. It later became the Due Process office, which earned her the nickname, ‘Madam Due Process.’ The idea was to cut down on waste and bring transparency and accountability into the award of contracts, which she did excellently. The point is, in government, you cannot accurately eliminate sharp practices; but if you have good public officials like Oby, you will reduce it to the barest minimum. That exactly was what she did at a period when all contracts had to go through her office. Oby’s stewardship in the Due Process Office brought about substantial reduction in cost of contracts, which, of course, saved the government billions of naira at the time.

Given her involvement in the global demand for more transparency in the oil and gas sector, she was a founding member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. The NEITI, Nigeria’s version of EITI, that we have today is by dint of her efforts and the support I gave, especially in the days of difficult beginning.

From the Due Process Office, I appointed Oby a minister in charge of solid minerals. At that period, illegal mining was being carried out in several parts of Nigeria and most of the people in the business I shared my frustration with said we needed to put in place the requisite regulation. They also suggested that we needed someone tough to handle that ministry. So, knowing Oby very well, I could not see a more perfect fit for the sector. That was why I sent her to the ministry, and she did excellently.

After we had gone far in our transformation reforms in the Ministry of Solid Minerals, I realised that we had not done much in education. At that time, I knew that the Ministry of Education required reforms and the three people that I thought I could use were already heavily involved in other things. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was still in finance, Nasir el-Rufai was handling the Federal Capital Territory, which had almost been destroyed with deviation from the original master plan. Then I had just put Oby in solid minerals. I had a conversation with the Head of Service who felt that I could redeploy Oby for the assignment. I was hesitant because I did not want to disrupt what she was doing at the Ministry of Solid Minerals. “Sir, is the solid minerals ministry more important than that of education?” queried the HoS. That question settled it for me. I sent Oby to education, and I told her to recommend a replacement for the solid minerals’ ministry.

As President, I tried to expose some of the brightest talents I had in government to opportunities available to be the best they could possibly be. Without any doubt, Oby was one of the best talents I had working with me. On a lighter note, when Oby worked with me, she was quite young, but very intelligent. There were three of them at that time that used to drag age, and I enjoyed their banters: Oby, Frank Nweke and Nenadi Usman. The three of them were under 40 and then in council. They were always arguing among themselves about age seniority, and Ngozi used to treat them as juniors. But it was all fun.

I recall when Oby informed me that she was given a job at the World Bank, I did not want her to go because I really needed her. But then I said to myself, “Let her go, it may be part of Nigeria’s contribution to global development, especially in Africa.” She went to the World Bank and did her best. She was, for me, one of the best from Africa.

Now that she is 60, she should look at what she has done in the past and what God has enabled her to do and give thanks, while preparing herself for the future. She is still a young lady. My prayer is that God’s grace will continue to abound in her.

• Obasanjo, GCFR, is a former President of Nigeria (1999 to 2007)