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PENGASSAN backs oil subsidy removal, gives nod to unbundling of NNPC

FG re-arraigns Dasuki, Bafarawa, Yuguda over N19bn fraud

LCCI calls for reduction of crude oil benchmark in 2016 budget OLUFEMI ADEOSUN ABUJA

Kachikwu

Vol. 5 N0. 1266

orkers in the oil and gas industry have thrown

their weight behind the Federal Government’s moves to unbundle the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). In the new Petroleum

Wednesday, December 16 , 2015

Industry Bill, which is scheduled for re-presentation to the National Assembly in the first quarter of 2016, unbundling CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

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Dasuki

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Zaria killing

N150

Shiite leader accuses Buhari of keeping mum Security stops sect’s protest in Kaduna

A ZA MSUE AND JAMES DANJUMA

cting national leader of Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, Sheik Yakubu Yahaya, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of being silent over

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We’re stripping B’Haram of religious pretensions –President P.6

L-R: Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC) during the National launch of “Not Again” campaign on the reduction of maternal mortality in Nigeria in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

Court sacks Secondus as PDP acting chairman

Gunmen kill lecturer, son in ...issues 14-day ultimatum to vacate office P.5 Rivers P.7 CBN to assist electricity companies with N213bn

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Wednesday, December 16 , 2015

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Shiite leader accuses Buhari of keeping mum CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

the killing of several of its members last week in Zaria, Kaduna State. Yahaya, who spoke to newsmen yesterday in Katsina State, also called for the immediate release of the movement’s head, Sheik Ibrahim El Zakzaky, along with the bodies of its members killed and those detained by the military. He said President Buhari had refused to speak

on the matter, despite the fact that more than 1,000 of its members were killed in Zaria, while over 300 were wounded and several others detained. He said Buhari’s silence was tacit approval of the military action and wondered why such should be so, being that members of the group were carrying out a religious activity and were not disturbing the peace. Yahaya said Buhari,

whom he likened to the late Saddam Hussain of Iraq, was doing the bidding of his masters, who were carrying out the campaign of killing Muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere. He said the action taken by the military on members of the group last Saturday in Zaria was a deliberate attempt to destroy the movement and its members. He wondered why the

military should “open fire on our members just because there was an alleged blockage of a major road”, adding, “there was no time we blocked that road during our religious activities.” He also dismissed claim by military authorities that members of the group had attempted to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai. He alleged of plans

by the military to attack members of the movement in some parts of the country, adding that there were reports of military surveillance on their members as well as shooting of a procession by its members in Kaduna State yesterday. He said groups agitating for a Biafran state and the militants in the Niger Delta struggling for resource control were not being harshly treated, but

ya, the issue of subsidy have overstayed its welcome, especially when the elites have hijacked the process and impoverished other citizens which it was originally meant for. “When the issue of subsidy is raised, people think that because we are comfortable as staff of NNPC, we would not welcome the idea of scrapping it, no, there is germane need to remove the subsidy now. “We say this because it’s no longer serving the purpose for which it was established, it’s supposed to go to the masses but the elites of this country are the ones enjoying it. “The best thing for the

wondered why different approach would be meted on them by the federal government. In a related development, Katsina State chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has paid condolence visit to the acting national leader of the movement. Speaking with newsmen shortly after the visit, the state CAN chairman, Rev Nelson Onyekachukwu, described the Zaria incident as unfortunate. Onyekachukwu said it was ironic that soldiers that were supposed to be protecting the people were the ones shooting them, even as he prayed for such incident not to repeat itself in the country. In another development, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching hospital, ABUTH, Zaria, said it received 61 bodies following the deadly clash between the military and members of IMN. This was disclosed yesterday by the Chief Medical Director, ABUTH, Prof. Lawal Khalid, yesterday. Soldiers as at yesterday still barricaded the road leading to Zaria, apparently to fish out members of the sect, with checkpoints mounted at Dogarawa Village, near Zaria. They were busy screening motorists entering the city. Plan by members of the sect to protest the killing and the detention of their leader in Kaduna was yesterday stopped by security operatives in the Tudun Wada area of the metropolis. An eyewitness, who did not want to be named, said the sect members were preparing for the protest when police operatives swooped on them and dispersed the crowd in the Tudun Wada area. Our correspondent learnt that they later regrouped at Tudun Nupawa area where many of the sect members were said to have engaged the police in a shootout leading to injuries on both sides. The source also said three persons were feared dead, although, this could not be confirmed. A source at the police

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L R: Former Minister of State for Finance, Amb. Bashir Yuguda; former Executive Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Alhaji Aminu BabaKusa; former Director of Finance and Admin, Office of the National Security Adviser, Alhaji Shuaibu Salisu; Former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa and former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), after being arraigned at the FCT High Court in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

PENGASSAN backs oil subsidy removal, gives nod to unbundling of NNPC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

of the NNPC is expected to take a centre stage. This is even as the union stated that it would not be opposing the removal of subsidy on petroleum products if it is done after a wider consultation and necessary steps aimed at cushioning the effects on the ordinary Nigerians are put in place. However, in endorsing the unbundling of the corporation, the union cautioned government not to make workers lose their job. PENGANSAN president, Francis Johnson, made the position of the union known yesterday in Abuja during its 4th Triennial Delegates’ Con-

ference. He said a memo detailing grievances of workers in the oil and gas sector would soon be forwarded to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, noting that the proposed PIB, as it is in the draft copy, was anti-labour and against harmonious industrial relations. Said he: “We welcome the plan to unbundle the NNPC as proposed in the PIB which will be re-presented to the National Assembly in the first quarter of 2016. “PENGASSAN has always been in support of the unbundling of the NNPC to bring about greater effectiveness and

efficiency into the system but with a caveat that this unbundling should not pose a threat to the job security of our members.” On the perennial oil scarcity in the country, the PENGANSAN’s boss insisted that local refining of petroleum products and sustained functioning of the refineries remained the most viable options. His words: “We seriously empathise with Nigerians and we use this medium to call on all stakeholders to find a forum where we can all meet and look at the best ways to resolve these issues. “PENGASSAN believes that it would be in the best interest for

stakeholders to meet and fashion out a direction than allowing the crisis of fuel scarcity to persist in the sector. “The political situation in the country cannot also be underestimated, if all stakeholders meet, we can see how best to erase this issue of subsidy in the country, because the image of the country is being undermined, especially now that the yuletide is around the corner”. Meanwhile, Group Chairman, NNPC PENGASSAN, Comrade Obafemi Odesanya, said those in the oil industry who initially clamoured for subsidy were having a rethink. According to Odesan-

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Photo News

Wednesday December 16, 2015

L-R: Head of Communication Moblisation, Mrs Binta Mohammed Kolo; Head Planning, Sani Mamman Katsina and Director-General, National Agency for Great Green Wall, during a meeting with Vice President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.

Students of Edgewood College, Lekki Phase 1, performing at Christmas concert and 5th Founder’s Day in Lagos, yesterday.

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L-R: Director, Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Clem Ugorji; Consultant, Public Health, Dr. Oluwakemi Odukoya; Chairman, Board of Trustees, Health Writers Association of Nigeria (HEWAN), Dr. Emmanuel Enabulele; Consultant to World Health Organisation and UNICEF, Prof. Bartholomeo Brai; Guest Speaker, Prof. Ignatius Onimawo; Acting Head, Public Affairs and Communications, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited, Sade Morgan and Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Manager, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Fred Chiazor, at the Health Writers Workshop in Lagos, recently.

L-R: Mrs Okobi; her husband, Ambassador Vincent Okobi and Air Vice Marshal Joe Ehigie (rtd), at Edo College Old Boys Association (ECOBA), Lagos branch Annual Dinner in Lagos, recently.

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Smuggling, diversion, inadequate monitoring worsen fuel scarcity nationwide Udeme Akpan

espite promises by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, fuel scarcity has continued in all parts of the country, mainly because of smuggling, diversion and inadequate monitoring in the downstream sector. Investigations by our correspondent showed that some ambitious traders have cashed in on the scarcity to take commercial quantities of the product across the border to make brisk businesses. These include Idi Iroko in Ogun State, where it is smuggled to neighbouring countries through illegal routes. An Idi Iroko-based

source, who confirmed the development, indicated that there were also others who discharge fuel to their storage facilities in the town before retailing the product at higher prices to consumers from Benin Republic and other West African nations. He said: “It cost about N800 to buy four litres of petrol here. It is much higher than that across the border.” Consequently, some marketers did not have the product to sell in Lagos and environs because of diversion and other reasons when National Mirror visited some stations yesterday. A survey showed that many marketers, who have commercial stocks of fuel, still use few

pumps to dispense to motorists, thus leading to long queues. It was observed that marketing companies have also stopped selling the product to users who need to buy in jerry cans for their generators, thus worsening the plight of consumers. Many consumers were seen taking fuel tanks of their generators to various petrol stations in order to get the product, which demand has also risen because of epileptic power supply. Executive Secretary, Major Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, Mr. Femi Olawore, could not be reached for comments despite several telephone calls yesterday. Depot and Petroleum

Products Marketers Association, DAPPMA, Mr. Olufemi Adewole, did not also return his telephone calls yesterday. But other sources indicated that the fuel scarcity would likely continue till next year except the Federal Government fulfill its promise to pay marketers their outstanding debts. Managing director of one marketing company, who preferred not to be mentioned, maintained that it would be difficult to get the cooperation of oil marketing companies because they were highly indebted to various banks that funded their operations in the past. He said as a result of delay in subsidy payment, the relationship between the companies

and financial institutions have worsened in the past few years. The managing director said the eventual settlement of the debts would enable them re-pay loans as well as embark on new importation of fuel. “The Federal Government should not only talk about this payment. It should do it without delay so that the situation would not go from bad to worst during the Christmas and New Year when many people are expected to move from one part of the nation to another,” he said. A few days ago, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, had assured Nigerians that the current scarcity would not extend to the yuletide.

Kachikwu, who gave the assurance while on tour of oil depots in Lagos, noted that December was a critical month in terms of the demand for products to enable movements across the country, adding that government would take all necessary steps to avoid products shortfall during the month. He had said: “We need to put in place foolproof measures to ensure that stations across the nooks and crannies of the country were met, to guarantee easy access at government-approved rates even as the Directorate of Petroleum Resources, DPR, has been directed to ensure strict compliance to the N87 per litre regime at all filling stations,” he had said.

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Wednesday, December 16 , 2015

Court sacks Secondus as PDP acting chairman DOOSUUR IWAMBE ABUJA

ustice Hussein Baba of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Maitama, yesterday, ordered the Acting National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Uche

Secondus, to vacate office within 14 days. The judge, while delivering ruling on a suit filed by the ex-Special Adviser to the former President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, said Chief Secondus was occupying the position of the Acting National

Chairman of the party illegally. Justice Baba, in his judgement that lasted about two hours, held that the position of the Acting National Chairman of the party was zoned to the North-East and therefore could not be occupied by Chief Secondus.

He ordered that Chief Secondus should vacate the office within 14 days, adding that the plaintiff or any other party member worthy of that position should assume the position of the Acting National Chairman. Meanwhile, counsel to PDP, Mr. Paul Isaiah, said the party would ap-

peal the judgement adding that a stay of execution would also be filed. “We are going to appeal this judgement. Apart from the appeal, we are also going to file a stay of execution of the judgement because the National Convention of the party is in March next year,” he said.

Gulak had in the suit filed before the court asked it to sack Secondus on the ground that by the provision of the PDP constitution and its zoning principle, he was the proper person to replace the last chairman, Adamu Muazu, who hailed from the North-East geopolitical zone

PENGASSAN backs oil subsidy removal, gives nod to unbundling of NNPC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

government is to remove the subsidy immediately and find a solution to the crisis in the sector,” he said. Meanwhile, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the federal government to reduce the oil benchmark of 38 dollars per barrel in the 2016 draft budget. President of the chamber, Mrs. Nike Akande, made the call in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday. She said that reducing the benchmark was necessary to confront the reality of international oil market. Akande said that the 38 dollars benchmark made the economy to appear friable due to projected boost in oil supply in the international market, with its potential impact on oil price. She said that the chamber aligned with federal government’s stance on diversification of the economy, using the non-oil sector. She suggested that the diversification policy which would be driven by agriculture, solid mineral and service sectors, should be backed by regulations that would encourage investment. Akande stated that efficient tax administration was vital to expand existing non-oil revenue base of the country, saying that the chamber had advocated for a review of the exchange rate benchmark in the draft budget from N197 to a dollar to N220 to a dollar in the 2016 budget. “Exchange rate bench-

mark of N197 for a dollar in the 2016 budget appears too conservative and at variance with prevailing realities,” she said. She commended the government for raising the capital component of spending to 30 per cent from 15 per cent in the budget. “Many of the assumptions made in the 2016 draft budget seem to reflect the current realities and desired spending priorities for national development,” she said. She expressed expectation that adequate provision would be made within the context of the capital provision towards addressing the huge infrastructure deficit. The chamber boss urged the government to partner the private sector through Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) to mitigate critical infrastructure deficit in the country. She also commended the government for reducing fuel subsidy payment to N63.29 billion from the N1 trillion expended on it in 2015, saying that the decision would free resources to finance other priorities, especially infrastructure development. She called for the deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector in order to reduce the pressure on government finances and the foreign exchange market. According to her, deregulation will create savings for investment in critical sectors and provide opportunity to attract more investment to the petroleum downstream oil sector.

L-R: Sole Administrator, Ajaokuta Steel Company, Engr Isah Onobere; Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi and Minister of State for Solid Minerals, Hon Abubakar Bwar, being conducted round the complex by officials during the ministers’ inspection of facilities at the steel company in Ajaokuta, Kogi State…on Monday

Shiite leader accuses Buhari of keeping mum CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

clinic along Independence Way, Kaduna, also hinted our correspondent that four policemen were brought in injured and one in critical condition. However, the Shiite sect in a statement made available to newsmen in Kaduna, without a name, alleged that three of their members were killed by the police. The statement said: “The mobile police unit (MOPOL) attacked a peaceful protest staged by the members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria in Kaduna, killing three people on the spot, with many receiving gunshot injuries. “As usual with such protest conducted by the Muslim brothers, it started peacefully from Layin Kosai area of Tudun Wada Kaduna. However, when it reached Tudun Nupawa near Enugu Road, MOPOL, in about five vehicles opened fire on the protesters.

“The main aim and slogans of the protesters was ‘Release Sheikh Zakzaky!’ ‘Enough is Enough!’ “The protesters were dispersed by the police by their sporadic shootings. “However, about nine police vehicles moved to Tudun Wada where the Markaz (Islamic Centre) of the Muslim brothers is situated and opened fire there.” Also yesterday, Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazau, led a Federal Government delegation to the state to assess the bloody clash. The minister held a closed-door meeting with the state Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on the development before proceeding to Zaria. Speaking with journalists at Government House, Kaduna, Danbazau said: “I came to Kaduna to see the situation of things and I decided to see the Chief Security Officer of the state. “I am on my way to

Zaria to see the situation of things.” Meanwhile, National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has set up a panel to probe the clash. The panel, headed by a director at the commission, Tony Ojukwu, was set up following a petition by the Army alleging that members of the sect attempted to assassinate Buratai in Zaria last Saturday. According to the Army, members of the sect on the orders of their leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, attacked the convoy of Buratai, who was on his way to pay homage to the Emir of Zazzau and to attend the passing out parade of some new recruits in the state. “The sect numbering hundreds carrying dangerous weapons barricaded the roads with bonfires, heavy stones and tyres. “They refused all entreaties to disperse and then started firing and

pelting the convoy with dangerous objects. “The barricade was obviously a deliberate attempt to assassinate the chief of army staff and members of his entourage while on a legitimate official assignment as special guest of honour at the passing out parade which has earlier been widely publicized. “The troops responsible for the safety and security of the chief of army staff on hearing explosion and firing were left with no choice than to defend him and the convoy at all cost as well as open up the barricaded road for law abiding citizens. “This is in line with the Nigerian Army rules of engagement and code of conduct. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated from any individual or groups and should not be allowed to repeat itself,” Sani Usman, spokesman of the Army, had said in a statement.

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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

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Attack on convoy: Buhari didn’t receive monetary compensation from Jonathan - Presidency Rotimi Fadeyi ABUJA

residency has denied reports that President Muhammadu Buhari received $300,000 and up to five armoured Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) from the Office of the National Security Adviser in the aftermath of attack on his convoy in Kaduna last year. A statement issued yesterday by Special Adviser to

the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said: “We unequivocally deny that President Buhari received $300,000 or any monetary compensation whatsoever from the Jonathan Presidency or any of its officials in the aftermath of that attack, or at any other time since then. “While it is true that one armoured SUV and one untreated SUV were sent to the President in the aftermath of the attack, the vehicles

were in keeping with his entitlements as a former Head of State under the Remuneration of Former Presidents and Heads of State (and other Ancillary Matters) Decree of 1999. “Section 3, Sub Section 1 of that Decree provides that three vehicles will be provided for former heads of state and replaced every four years. “There was therefore, nothing untoward, illegal or tending to corruption in for-

mer Head of State Buhari and Presidential aspirant, as he then was, receiving vehicles, to which he was statutorily entitled, from the Federal Government of Nigeria. “President Buhari had in keeping with his austere, spartan and frugal disposition shunned most of his entitlements as a former Head of State, but was prevailed upon by his supporters to accept the two vehicles for his personal safety in the

L-R: Country Manager, Imperial College London, Mrs Bimbola Adesanmi; Excutive Director, Lesley Drake and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, during a meeting with Ministers on School Feeding Programme at the Presidential Villa, yesterday

Olusegun Koiki and Francis Suberu

here are indications that Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, would be well-disposed to the idea of having a concession arrangement for some of the railway services in order to further make the corporation more profitable and self-reliant. The minister, who was at the Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, compound, Ebute Metta, Lagos, on Monday and yesterday on a familiarisation and inspection tour, made the disclosure during a brief chat with Managing Director of the corporation, Adeseyi Sijuade, on the possible solution to some of the challenges facing the corporation. Sijuade had listed paucity of funds and poor tariff regime as some of the factors inhibiting NRC’s operations, saying its services are currently seen by people as public service and as such expect very low tariffs. The managing director also said the corporation, by law establishing it, has no

Amaechi gives tacit support to concession of railway services

…commends aviation agencies for safety, security equipment powers to fix tariffs on its own without the express approval of the Federal Government. He informed the minister that the corporation is considering the concession some of its services to which he said many local and international organisations have shown interest. However, Amaechi responded by saying he was not aware of such laws, saying “I believe the corporation should be self-sufficient. It should be able to generate enough revenues on its own to maintain itself and meet its operation costs.” The minister said he would like the NRC boss to furnish him with facts and figures as regards the concession arrangement for consideration. During a reception organised for the minister on Monday evening, Sijuade said the corporation is currently

operating several passenger train and freight services, including the Lagos-Kano intercity passenger trains weekly; Kano-Port Harcourt - Kano mixed trains; Port HarcourtGombe-Port Harcourt mixed trains weakly and Zaria-Kaura Namoda-Zaria mixed train weekly. Others are the Offa-KanoOffa intercity passenger train; Iddo-Agbado mass transit passenger trains daily, ApapaIjoko-Apapa MTTS and Minna-Kaduna-Minna MTTS trice daily. The corporation’s freight services include movement of cement from Ewekoro to Minna, Kaduna and Kano for Larfarge cement factory; movement of wheat and flour products from Lagos to Kano for Flour Mills Ltd and movement of containers from Apapa Port to Kaduna and Kano for APMT and ICNL. Meanwhile, aviation agencies have been commended for

their installation of safety critical equipment in every stations and airports across the country. The agencies were also told not to rest on their oars in their bid to continually deliver to the public qualitative services. Amaechi stated this yesterday when he toured the facilities at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, MMA, Lagos. The minister was in company of the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Engr. Saleh Dunoma and other helmsmen. The agencies praised by the minister include the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA.

aftermath of the dastardly attempt to assassinate him. “It is preposterous to think that the President will allow his acclaimed reputa-

tion of honesty and incorruptibility to be tarnished by accepting a questionable monetary compensation from a discredited regime.”

FG re-arraigns Dasuki, Bafarawa, Yugudu over N19bn fraud Doosuur Iwambe ABUJA

ederal Government yesterday re-arraigned former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), alongside former Sokoto State governor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, former Minister of State for Finance, Mallam Bashir Yuguda, and three others over allegation of fraudulent diversion of public funds to the tune of N19.4b. They were docked before Justice Peter Affem of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court on a 22-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and diversion of public fund under the pretext of purchasing security arms. The six accused persons comprising Sagir Attahiru, son of former Sokoto State governor, Attahiru Bafarawa and their family company,

Dalhatu Investment Ltd, pleaded not guilty to all the charges when they were read out to them. The prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) applied for an adjournment till next year to enable him assemble all his witnesses for trial of the accused persons. Earlier, counsel to the second accused person, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), had raised the issue of bail for the accused persons, adding that motions for their bail have already been filed and served on the prosecution. With the consent of all the parties, the trial judge Justice Affem adjourned hearing in the bail application today. He also ordered that the accused persons be kept in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, pending the determination of their bail applications.

We’re stripping Boko Haram of religious pretensions —Buhari Rotimi Fadeyi

resident Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said he expects religious leaders in Nigeria to do more to support Federal Government’s efforts to strip Boko Haram of all of its religious pretensions and fully expose the group as vicious terrorists, devoid of any moral or philosophical direction. A statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari spoke at an audience with Ecuador’s new Ambassador to Nigeria, Leopoldo Rovayo Verdesoto. President Buhari noted that a lot had already been done to properly expose Boko Haram as a ruthless, destructive and misguided terrorist group. “What we have succeeded in doing is to separate terrorism from religion. The initial attraction for recruit-

ments was religion. But now, people cannot relate with their relevance anymore and they are only associated with the destruction of lives and properties. “If your life does not mean anything to you, other people’s lives will not mean anything to you as well. And people are beginning to see that Boko Haram is just about destruction and nothing else,” the President said. Buhari also told the new ambassador, who was at the Presidential Villa to present his letter of credence, that his administration would continue to prioritise diversification and other measures to help the Nigerian economy withstand the shock of falling crude oil prices. The President also received the letters of credence from the new Ambassador of Zambia, Dr. Solomon Jere and the new Ambassador of Colombia, Ms. Claudia Turbay Quintereo.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, December 16 2015

Oyo Assembly: Appeal Court affirms Olawunmi’s election Wale Igbintade

ourt of Appeal sitting in Ibadan yesterday upheld the victory of Labour Party, LP, candidate, Hon Oladeji Olawunmi, representing Ogbomoso North state

constituency. In a unanimous decision the appellate court held that the appeal filed by Mr. Muhammed Yekini of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was frivolous and lacked merit. Delivering the lead judgement, Justice Sam-

War on crude theft yielding result, 20 vandals arrested

he war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalisation by Minister of State for Petroleum and Group Managing Director, GMD, of NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has led to the arrest of 20 suspects. The suspects were arrested by a combined team of Nigerian Navy, the Army and other security agencies collaborating with the NNPC/PPMC to monitor and patrol the pipelines. According to the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, the suspects were intercepted by patrol team between the Atlas Cove and Mosimi depot. The PPMC said the 20man syndicate was specifically smashed at the Ilado/Ilase pipeline axis. The PPMC said: “In line with the directive of Mr. President to ensure zero tolerance for crude oil theft and pipeline vandalisation, the measures put in place by Kachikwu have started yielding positive results. “Between the Atlas Cove and Mosimi depot, a team of the Nigerian Navy, the Army and other security agencies collaborating with the NNPC/ PPMC apprehended a 20man syndicate, which included a woman. “These are notorious members of a gang engaging in pipeline vandalisation and product theft at the Ilado/Ilase pipeline axis. “Also confiscated from the vandals are 2 Hilux trucks, with thousands of jerry cans filled with petroleum products, equipment and several generators. “The suspected vandals have been taken into custody at the Nigerian Naval Base, Western Command, Apapa and are awaiting

further interrogation. On her part, the Managing Director of PPMC, Mrs. Esther Nnamdi Ogbue, said the agency in the last two weeks had recorded a lot of success along the Atlas Cove and Mosimi axis of the pipeline with renewed collaboration with security agencies. She said: “The PPMC will collaborate with the Nigerian Navy, the Army and other security agencies to ensure that they put a total stop to the vandals’ activities. “We hope that those apprehended will soon be prosecuted to serve as deterrent for others to desist from these nefarious activities.” The PPMC recently confirmed that the nation lost about N50 billion in 10 months as a result of vandalisation of petroleum pipeline in some parts of the country.

uel Oseji affirmed the decision of the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Oyo State, delivered on October 22, 2015. The court in its judgment held that the election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which produced Olawunmi as a member of Oyo State House of Assembly, was genuine and credible. Consequently, the court affirmed the return of Olawunmi as winner of the election.

The court, which sat in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, ruled that there were uncontroverted evidence before it that the Labour Party candidate truly won the election. It further held that the election was conducted in line with the Electoral Act, 2010, as amended. It also held that the appellants (Yekini and APC) failed to link the evidences before the tribunal to specific portions of the petition and could not prove by evi-

dence that the election did not comply substantially with the Electoral Act. The court observed that all the witnesses invited by the petitioner/ appellant presented contradictory evidence before the tribunal. Speaking with National Mirror, counsel to the respondents, Mr. Salihu Adebayo, described the judgement as victory for democracy. He said that the Appeal Court judgement is a testimony that the ju-

diciary remains the fair and just arbiter as well as the hope of all citizens. He noted that the judiciary has through such fair and just judgements since the present democratic experience started in 1999 sustained democratic values in the country. The appellants, Muhammed Yekini and his party APC had dragged Olawunmi and Labour party and challenged the verdict of the election tribunal.

Cross section of lawyers during their Call to Bar in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO:NAN

Gunmen kill lecturer, son in Port Harcourt Dennis Naku

Port Harcourt

lecturer at the Rivers State-owned Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Dr Ebirien Fubara, and his son have been killed by unknown gunmen. Fubara was on secondment to the Rivers State Electoral Commission, RSIEC. This is as the lecturer’s wife’s brother, Okwudiri, who was in the house when the hoodlums struck, was said to be in critical condition at the time of filing this report. The incident occurred at 2am at their residence near Peter Odili Road, Port Harcourt, even as the cause of the killings could not be ascertained. A source close to the

bereaved family said the hoodlums used hammer, iron and rod to attack the victims. According to the source, who did not want his name in print, the late Fubara’s son died instantly, while Fubara and Okwudili were rushed

to Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, BMSH. Fubara was said to have passed on shortly and his corpse deposited at the Military Hospital, Aba Road, Port Harcourt. Meanwhile, the Ignatius Ajuru University of

Education community has condemned the gruesome murder of Fubara and his son, and called on security agencies to investigate the killing. Registrar of the School, Ikem Adiele, who confirmed the incident to newsmen,

appealed to security agencies to fish out the killers’ and ensure they face justice. Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ahmad Mohammad, could not confirm the incident as at press time.

Nigeria must not be allowed to disintegrate, says Ezeife Chidi Ugwu Abuja

ormer Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has said Nigerians, especially politicians, must work hard to ensure that Nigeria does not disintegrate in order for the country to attain its manifest destiny. Ezeife, who spoke yesterday during his opening remarks at the 5th Anniversary Annual Lecture/

Awards and Gala Nite of Nigerian Pilot Newspaper, said Nigeria’s manifest destiny was to wipe off the shame of slavery. According to the former governor, all black people around the world look up to Nigeria as the most populous black nation on the face of the earth. He said that past leaders have not made Nigerians proud enough to love the country to the extent of opting to die for Nigeria.

According to him, instead of fighting over regions and ethnicity, Nigerians should think positively for the respect of all blacks who look up to her, stressing that Nigeria was designed for greatness. “The political class should think positively. We should not allow Nigeria to disintegrate for the respect of black people all over the world, who look up to us to wipe off the shame of slavery,” he said.

Also speaking, a legal practitioner, Chief Mike Ozekhome, called on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to quickly nip the issue and agitation of Biafra in the bud. Ozekhome, who made the call while delivering a lecture entitled ‘Democracy in Africa: Emerging Security Threats: Issues and Challenges’, also noted that selfdetermination was part and parcel of the people’s right.

South West

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

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Steer clear of Lagos, APC warns pro-Biafran protesters

agos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has warned those planning to hold demonstration in Lagos under the aegis of MASSOB and IPOD to discontinue such attempt to plunge Lagos into crisis as the state will

not take kindly to such nefarious plan. The party stated that with the heightened security challenges the state was facing, it would be foolhardy for any group to hide under the guise of protest to compromise security of the state and be

allowed such privilege. In a statement in Lagos signed by Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Joe Igbokwe, the party said there was no way the state would sit idly and allow politically sponsored hoodlums, masquerading as Pro-Biafran

protesters, or any group at all, to compromise security of the state. It warned those behind the plot to arrest themselves as the security agencies led by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, have vowed to deal ruthlessly with anybody or

group found to be involved in such protests. “As a party that governs Lagos, it will be derelict of us to watch a group of politically- sponsored hoodlums tamper with the tight security system that has been painstakingly put in place by the state government to combat increasing crime rates in the state. “We cannot allow these hoodlums, sponsored by politicians that failed woefully in the last general election, to unleash mayhem on peace-loving Lagosians so as to achieve dark political aims that run parallel to the interests of Lagosians. “It is obvious that the sponsors of the planned protest want to throw the state into needless may-

hem by their act, but the state will be ready to dish out to them appropriate antidotes for such folly. “Knowing full well that whatever they purport to represent is alien to Lagos and Lagosians, we wonder what the evil masterminds of these purported protests want to achieve in Lagos if not to plunge the state into unmitigated disruption and crisis and we state that Lagos will not allow such plans. “Knowing full well that hoodlums are meant to capitalise on any so-called protests to unleash mayhem on Lagosians and compromise its tight security, we have no doubt that the brains behind the protest have very sinister intents the state will not allow,” the statement said.

Oluwa’s life under threat, witness tells court WALE IGBINTADE L-R: Chairman, Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) Board of Trustees, Mr. Oye Hassan-Odukale; Deputy Governor, Dr. (Mrs.) Oluranti Adebule and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, during the 9th Security Town Hall meeting with the theme – Refreshing Our Security Model, organised by the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), in Lagos, yesterday.

Security of lives, properties non-negotiable –Ambode •220 murders, 44 robberies, 25 kidnappings recorded in 2015 –CP FRANCIS SUBERU

agos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday further emphasised his administration’s commitment to safety in Lagos State, saying security of lives and properties in the state was non-negotiable. Ambode, who spoke at the ninth Town Hall Meeting on Security organised by the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, LSSTF, with the theme: “Refreshing Our Security Model,” in Lagos, said his commitment to the safety of the

people was unwavering and non-negotiable. The governor, who had earlier inaugurated the board of LSSTF, said his administration would continue to make Lagos safe and secure only for law-abiding citizens. According to him, the town hall meeting was put together as part of efforts to continually create a platform for the generation of ideas and solutions to confront security challenges facing the state and to reassure security agencies of the commitment of government to ensure their success.

The governor said N4.8 billion that was recently used to equip the police came from tax payers, assuring that under his administration, such funds generated from the public will be accounted for and utilised to safeguard the lives of those who have chosen the state as home. Meanwhile, no fewer than 220 murder cases, 44 armed robberies and 25 kidnappings were recorded in Lagos State in the last one year. Statistics also show that the State Police Command recovered 233 stolen vehicles as well as items

worth over N1.4 billion between January and November 2015. Reeling out the statistics Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, assured residents of improvement in response time to distress calls, dominance of security space and intensive investigation and detection of crime in the state. He lamented that the most prevalent crime in the state was murder as over 220 cases were recorded between January and November 2015, adding that a large number of cases were occasioned by cult clashes and street fights.

Ekiti signs 2016 budget, five bills into laws ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

ppropriation Bill 2016 of Ekiti State with N67 billion budgetary estimates was yesterday signed into law by the governor. The governor also on the occasion signed five other bills recently passed by the House of Assembly into

law. They bills are Ekiti State College of Technology and Commercial Agriculture Bill, 2015 Revised Appropriation Bill; Ekiti State Regency Bill, the Ekiti State Kidnap and Terrorism (Prohibition) Bill, 2015; and Office of Public Defender Bill, 2015. The governor, who said the speedy passage into law of the 2016 Appropria-

tion Bill presented to the Assembly last week, was a function of the unity of purpose between the executive and legislature. He said copies of the budget would be sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Crimes Commission, ICPC, “as collabo-

rators of our government to help us monitor implementation of the budget, especially capital projects”. The governor, who said the budget would be executed for the good of the people, however, took a swipe at the All Progressives Congress, APC-led Federal Government, saying it should address the problems facing Nigeria.

riminal trial of four Oluwa princes continued yesterday as one of the witnesses told a Lagos Chief Magistrate’s Court, Ikeja, that the incumbent Oluwa of Lagos, Chief Mukaila Lawal Oluwa, had never had rest of mind since his installation in 2004. The witness, a retired officer of the Department of State Security Service, DSS, Mukaila Olatunde Oluwa, told the court that the life of the traditional ruler had been in constant threat. He stated this while giving evidence in a criminal case of forgery and threat to life of Chief Oluwa levelled against four Oluwa princes, Abayomi Shamsideen Oluwa (62), Ismaila Abayomi Oluwa (67), Tajudeen Ototo Oluwa (58), and Muse Adegboyega Oluwa (56). “Since 2004 when the appointment of my principal was gazetted, there had never been one day he had rest of mind. I want the magistrate to use his discretion so that justice would reign and to allow peace to reign within my family. We don’t want to die now, as threat to life is dangerous to me and to my family,” he said. He pleaded with the court to ensure that jus-

tice reigns in his family instead of crises, stressing that it was only when his principal was elevated to the position of an Oba in Lagos State that the appellation of “princes” to all his family members affixed to their names could be important. He identified the defendants as members of Oluwa ruling family, adding that as a Personal Assistant to the incumbent Chief Oluwa of Lagos and Apapa, he was aware the defendants dragged Chief Oluwa before Justice I.O. Harrison of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja. He told the court that the trial judge condemned activities of the defendants and viewed it as overzealousness and called it “forgery” due to the stamp and signature pasted on the public notice. He said the defendants, Ismaila Abayomi, Shamusideen Abayomi Tajudeen Ototo, and Muse Gboyega authored the offending public notice and their action as being undermining the efforts of the judiciary. During cross-examination, the witness said since he was not the publisher nor the author of the offending publication, he could not have had the responsibility to destroy it as the court had ordered, adding that there was no way he could be guilty of flouting the order of the court.

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South West

Wednesday, December 16 2015

Mountain Top varsity not for financial gain —VC TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

L-R: Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Engr Saleh Dunoma; Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transport, Sabiu Zakari; Hon. Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika; Minister of Transport, Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi and Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Usman, during the inspection tour of Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, yesterday.

Oil theft: Court jails 9 foreigners for 5 years WALE IGBINTADE

Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday convicted and sentenced nine foreign nationals to five years imprisonment for stealing 3,423.097 metric tons of crude oil from Nigeria. The convicts are Axel Joseph Gibo Jabone; managing director, Zahirul Islam; Juanito Camireno Infantado; Suarin Fernando Alave and Gatila Jaypee Gadayan. Others are Islam Shahinul; Islam Rafiqul; Shaikh Shibli Nomany and Rolando Jose Comendador. Five of the convicts are Filipinos, while four others are from Bangladesh. The convicts had been intercepted by the Nigerian Navy on March 27, 2015, while trying to export the stolen product loaded in their vessel, MT Asteris, out of the country. Delivering judgement,

Justice Ibrahim Buba convicted them on four counts in relation to the crime and sentenced each of them to a jail term of five years with an option of N20 million fine each. In his judgement, Justice Buba held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubts, saying that “the case of the prosecution is as clear as the daylight.” The court stated that the defendants failed to supply evidence that they had lawful permit to deal in crude oil, adding that the evidence of the prosecution witnesses were uncontroverted. Justice Buba agreed with the prosecution witness that the product was illegally sourced in Nigeria as “the Department of Petroleum Resources confirmed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, that MT Asteris was not licenced to deal in crude oil in Nigeria.” The judge added that it

is the likes of the convicts that had made Nigeria a laughing stock in the eye of the world. He said it is not right for anyone to deprive the country the enjoyment of its natural resources through illegal means. Justice Buba said the court has the duty to send a strong signal to Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike that the country has laws and the laws are enforceable. Said he, “It is people like the convicts that have made Nigeria a laughing stock in the eyes of the world. The court must send a strong signal that Nigeria is a nation; not a nation of booty. It is not right for either Nigerians or foreign nationals to deny this country its Godgiven natural resources through illegal means.” Consequently, the court sentenced each of the defendants to five years imprisonment on count one with effect from March

27, 2015 with an option of N5m fine. The judge also sentenced them to five years each on counts two, three and four or a fine of N5m for each count. However, all the sentences are to run concurrently but not the option of fine. In addition, the vessel, MT Asteris, and the cargo on board are forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria. His words:”For purposes of clarity, each convict is to serve five years term of imprisonment with effect from 27th of March, 2015 or pay a fine of N20m for all the four counts.” EFCC prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, had told the court that the foreigners acted contrary to Section 1(19) (6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, adding that they were liable to punishment under Section 17 of the same Act.

Oyo/Osun Customs rakes in N13bn in 11 months KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

yo/Osun Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, yesterday said it has generated over N13 billion between January and November this year. Acting Customs Area Controller of the command, Mr. Hassan Abdulsalam, while addressing a press conference at the command’s headquarters

in Ibadan, said the agency generated N144,285,138 from 2,156 metric tonnes (43,120 (50kg) bags of rice) imported into the country between October and November 2015, when restriction on duty collection from the borders was removed. He described the feat as a great achievement under the new management of Controller General of Customs, Col. Hammed Ibrahim Ali (rtd). The customs boss, who added that the anti-

smuggling drive of the command has continued to record successes, said based on intelligence gathering, a combined team of the command on Monday bombarded a forest along Kishi-Igbeti axis where rice smugglers hid a large quantity of imported rice. According to him, the seizure of the rice, which were put in five loaded trucks and which duty value he gave at over N23 million, would send a serious warning signal

that there was no hiding place or going back on duty payment on imported rice at the borders. While stating that no arrest was made during the seizures as the culprits took to their heels, he assured that all efforts would be put in place to collaborate with members of the public through the Customs Community Consultative Forum, CCCF, to reduce smuggling in the command to the barest minimum.

uthorities of Mountain Top University, Prayer City, Ogun State, have disclosed that establishment of the university was not financially-motivated but geared towards producing at a very low cost, top-rate and morally-sound graduates of distinctions, who would be globally competitive and make outstanding impact on the Nigerian society and global environment. The university, established by Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries as a full-fledged academic institution, joining over 50 other accredited private universities nationwide, will be matriculating its first set of students of about 150 next Monday. Vice-chancellor of the faith-based university, Prof. Elijah Ayolabi, made this disclosure at a press conference yesterday and also announced commencement of academic activities at its temporary site within the Prayer City at Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. He noted that the fully residential university with state-of-the-art facilities and serene environment was starting with two colleges (Basic and Applied Sciences as well as Humanities, Management and Social Sciences) with both running 15 programmes that have been

duly accredited by the National Universities Commission, NUC. The vice-chancellor, who is a professor of Applied Geophysics from the University of Lagos, Akoka, said because the university was not after monetary benefits, it is charging fees that are not only affordable but very low compared with the quality of service and facilities offered students. He disclosed that the university, which he referred to as a place of light, liberty and learning, would have charged each student something close to N2 million per session if the quality of service and facilities available were the primary consideration, adding that the institution is charging between N450,000 and N520,000 per session, depending on the courses of study, with those in the sciences paying higher. He pointed out that the dream of establishing the university was that of the founder of the church, Pastor Daniel Olukoya, which he got 12 years ago with the hope of giving scholarship to indigent but brilliant Nigerians. He disclosed that while the university would admit any qualified student irrespective of his religion and ethnic background, it would be firm in maintaining discipline in line with the words of God which he said the church is known for.

FRSC, Lagos to harmonise traffic data

ederal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, and Lagos State government have agreed to harmonise their traffic data as a way of stepping up collaboration and ensuring efficiency in road traffic management. This was the outcome of a meeting between Lagos State Commissioners for Finance, Dr. Mustapha Akinkunmi, in company of his Transportation and Tourism counterpart, Dapo Mobereola and the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, at the FRSC national headquarters, Abuja, yesterday.

Corps head, Media Relations, Bisi Kazeem, in a statement said the Commissioner for Finance in his remarks described the investment which the FRSC has made in technology towards ensuring efficient traffic management in the country as “massive, detailed and impressive. “We were indeed impressed with what we saw during the facility tour, and that shows the need for us to collaborate in harmonising and standardising our data for a more efficient traffic management in Lagos,” he stated.

South East

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

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Ebonyi CP warns against use of fireworks Aliuna Godwin ABAKALIKI

ommissioner of Police, Ebonyi State Command, Peace Ibekwe Abdallah, yesterday banned the sale and use of fireworks in the state ahead of Christmas celebration. The commissioner warned that defaulters would be arrested and prosecuted. She disclosed this yesterday during a chat with journalists in the command’s headquarters, Abakaliki. Abdallah said fireworks create fear within the neighbourhood and sometimes criminals hide under the guise of it to perpetrate crimes. The CP stated that the command was prepared to ensure crime-free Christ-

mas celebration in the state; assuring that they would do their best as it was important that the people had a happy celebration. The police boss further disclosed that the command has increased its manpower ahead of the yuletide, stating that they were getting a lot of support from the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of the zone, as well as from the Inspector General of Police. The CP warned criminal elements to repent or leave the state as the command was ready to make the state unhabitable for them. The CP who advised those traveling to lock their houses very well, appealed to others staying to contact the police using distress phone numbers whenever they see strange person(s) loitering in their neighborhood.

Biafra: Court rules on Kanu’s bail December 17

ederal High Court in Abuja on Monday fixed December 17 to rule on a bail application for the detained leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that Kanu, who is also Director of Pro-Biafra pirate radio, has been in detention for 90 days. Mr Vincent Obeta, counsel to Kanu, had approached the court asking that he be granted bail. Obeta said the State Security Service, SSS, had abused court process by refusing to honour the bail order of a Magistrate’s Court in Abuja. Obeta, who filed a Fundamental Rights suit against the SSS, held that Kanu’s liberty was being trampled upon when an earlier Magistrate’s Court bail condition was perfected. ``My lord, Kanu has spent exactly 90 days in detention

CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed

today. This action contravenes the constitution and the African Charter on Human Rights. ``We have indeed perfected the bail condition as directed by the Magistrate’s Court, but to no avail. ``The lower court has also ordered that Kanu be transferred to Kuje Prisons, but the authority refused to heed the order of the court. That is why we have approached this superior court for justice,” Obeta said. The prosecutor, Mr Moses Idakwo, asked the court to disregard the bail application by Kanu’s counsel. Idakwo argued that Kanu should not be granted bail as the allegations against him were terrorism-related. He said the SSS had evidence of bank accounts owned by Kanu, where monies in dollars and pound sterling were used for financing terrorism against Nigeria. Idakwo also said the applicant had dual citizenship of Britain and Nigeria and therefore could flee justice if granted bail. He further said the bail conditions issued by a magistrate’s court were yet to be perfected by the applicant. The judge, Adeniyi Ademola, said; ``having listened to both parties, I shall be ruling on the application on December 17.’’

Members of Civil Society Organisations protesting the harassment and humiliation of lawful Nigerians in Onitsha, yesterday.

Lawyers protest cut salaries, suspension of directors in Imo • They are indolent, says Okorocha

Chris Njoku OWERRI

egal officers in Imo State Ministry of Justice yesterday marched through the streets of Owerri to protest non-payment of their eight months salary arrears and unlawful suspension of seven directors of legal services. Wearing their black and white gowns, the law officers numbering over 20 under the aegis of Law Officers Association of Nigeria, LOAN, Imo State branch, noted that, “this is the first time in the history of the state law officers are subjected to such unwarranted conditions.” Addressing newsmen shortly after they had converged on Government House, Owerri, Chairman of the association, Pius

Nwanyanwu, disclosed that the state government had not paid the salaries and allowances of its law officers since May this year. Nwanyanwu also noted that Governor Rochas Okorocha suspended seven directors of legal services for no just reason. “The law officers and indeed the entire Imo people have described these actions as deliberate punishment of law officers and their families since May 2015,” he stated. Despite all these, the law officers said they had tried beyond human endurance to keep themselves on duty till date, adding that after carefully considering all these actions and inactions militating against their official duties and welfare, they resolved that from Monday, December 14, they

will keep away from all official duties and offices till their salaries and allowances were paid in full. They called on the government to recall the suspended directors, restore means of funding all government cases, provide office for Director Public Prosecution, DPP, armed policemen like before, pay law officers four years arrears of both annual practicing fees and bar conference fees and Duty Tour Allowances, DTA. Receiving complaints of the law officers on behalf of the state government, Deputy Chief of Staff to the governor, Kingsley Uju, promised to deliver their message to the governor, adding that their grievances would be addressed. However, Governor Okorocha while addressing journalists earlier on

current issues in the state, chided the law officers by saying they had never won a single case for the state since 2011 he assumed office. “Since I came here, the state has never won any case through the Ministry of Justice, the state has lost over 2,000 cases involving it and others and yet I pay the law officers 200 times more than what their colleagues collect in other states of the federation. Take, for instance, a level 8 officer in the Ministry of Justice in Anambra State collects N57,000, others pay N170,000 as salary, in Imo we pay them N490,000 and I asked them if I can I bring it down to 200,000, they said no, then I paid the N200,000 into the bank and they refused to collect it, that is the problem, I don’t owe them.”

Industrialist lauds Ugwuanyi’s developmental stride Emmanuel Ezeh ENUGU

ith the flagoff of several road projects in Enugu State by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration, various stakeholders have hinted that the governor could emerge as best governor the state has produced since 1999. This is even as they have called on the governor to

start more projects. One of the stakeholders, Chief Williams Agbo, who is an Enugu-based industrialist, had used the occasion of the flag-off ceremony to draw attention of the governor to numerous other pressing needs of the people. Agbo, who is Group Managing Director, Wilson Groups Limited, recalled that Ugwuanyi had in the build up to the 2015 elections enjoyed an unprecedented solidarity and support from

people of the state. Ugwuanyi’s emergence, he said, was a dream come true for Enugu residents and as such should come with its numerous dividends of democracy. Agbo spoke during the flag-off ceremony of ObeAchara-Urban Girls-Umukashi-Ikenga Hotel Road, which was awarded to Arab Contractors Limited. He said Governor Ugwuanyi had shown his commitment to better the lives

of people of the state by ensuring that they enjoyed the dividends of democracy.

Ugwuanyi

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South South

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Bayelsa 2015: 6 political parties demand cancellation of poll in Sagbama, Ekeremor, others Osahon Julius YENAGOA

s more intrigues continue to play out in the contentious Bayelsa State gubernatorial poll, six of the 20 political parties that participated in the inconclusive December 5 election have demanded cancellation of the election in

Sagbama, Nembe, Ekeremor, parts of Ogbia and Yenagoa local government areas of the state. The parties, under the aegis of Coalition of Progressive Parties, said beside the Southern Ijaw case, there was widespread violence and full-scale electoral malpractices in these local government areas. The six parties, which

IYC bemoans sharp drop in 2016 amnesty programme’s budget Osahon Julius YENAGOA

jaw Youths Council, IYC, the umbrella body of Ijaw youths worldwide, yesterday bemoaned what they described as a “sharp drop” in the 2016 budget estimate for the amnesty programme, which fell from N50 billion to N20 billion. IYC President, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, who made the observation during a news conference in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, expressed worry that the reduction would also affect the development efforts of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. He said the reduction in budget estimates for the intervention agencies for the Niger Delta region portends harsh economic times for the region, arguing that it was unfair to slash 90 per cent of

the estimated N6 trillion for 2016 from the region, where the golden egg sustaining the economy is laid. Eradiri also frowned at the non-payment of stipends to ex-militants, which he said had increased the crime rate in the region as no one is safe from wanton kidnapping, sea piracy and many other criminalities that have since resurfaced in the region. He called on the Federal Government to reverse the reduction of the estimates to avoid jeopardising the expected sources of revenue to meet the expectations of Nigerians and fulfill its campaign promises. Eradiri further urged the Federal Government to make its current anti-corruption policy holistic rather than targetting prominent Niger Delta people in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. On Bayelsa State gover-

5 arraigned for impersonating Buhari’s son in Rivers Dennis Naku

PORT HARCOURT

epartment of State Security, DSS, yesterday arraigned five persons before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, over impersonation, forgery and fraud. The accused persons, Muhammed Salisu (58), Yahaya Lawal (40), Maxwell Atago (26), Ado Garba (50) and Uche Onu (40), face sixcount charge of using the name of President Muhammadu Buhari’s first son, Salisu Buhari, a letter-headed paper from the office of the President and Nigeria’s

Coat of Arm, to defraud a petrochemical company called Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Company in Port Harcourt, on November 17 this year. The accused persons, who were later remanded by the court, were accused of impersonation, forgery and advanced fee fraud. In count one, which was conspiracy, the accused persons committed an offence contrary to Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act (C38), Laws of Nigeria, 2004. Also, in count two – impersonation, they committed an offence punishable under Section 484 of the Criminal Code Act (C38), Laws of Nigeria, 2004.

include the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, African Congress of Democrats, ACD, Alliance for Democracy, AD, Labour Party, LP, United Democratic Party, UDP, and Hope Democratic Party, HDP, said their call became imperative in the interest of fair play, justice and peace. Addressing journalists at a news conference in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, yesterday, spokesman of the group and chairman, UPN, Mr. Silas Ikimi, said if the poll from Southern Ijaw must be cancelled, it is

only proper that Sagbama, Nembe and Ekeremor polls, where violence and other forms of electoral fraud took place, should not be left out. Ikimi said: “Let us not forget the age-long saying that ‘what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.’ If the votes from violence-prone Southern Ijaw are to be cancelled, it is only fitting and proper that the results from Nembe, Sagbama, Ekeremor and parts of Yenagoa and Ogbia local government areas should

not be left out. “There were worse cases of election violence in those areas than were experienced in Southern Ijaw. As the candidate for the All Progressives Congress, Chief Timipre Sylva, pointed out, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should be an unbiased umpire for all the parties. “Sylva, according to reports, made several protests to the INEC and the commission with regard to the various anomalies perpetrated by the opposition, his

protests were ignored and treated with levity and contempt.” He said the six political parties had observed with dismay that a certain frontline candidate had been making unguarded statements to unnecessarily heat up the polity and that this is capable of imploding the state. He said as politicians, they ought to be the frontiers, uniting the people for the cherished collective goals rather than dividing them.

L-R: Second Vice President of NUPENG, Comrade Asuquo Okon; First Vice President of NUPENG, Comrade Eddy Ossai and NUPENG President, Comrade Igwe Achese, during a media briefing by NUPENG on State of the Nation after its National Executive council meeting in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

Cross River NLC fraudulent —NUT Richard Ndoma CALABAR

ross River State chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, Comrade Eyo-Nsa Itam, yesterday lambasted the state’s leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, accusing it of being fraudulent in what it described as “unjustly tampering with the legitimate earnings of teachers in the state.” Speaking during a joint media briefing at the NLC secretariat in Calabar, EyoNsa said the NUT would continue to protect the welfare of its members as it had always done without joining hands with disgruntled labour leaders to stampede patriotic comrades by tampering with their earnings.

“We are therefore, appealing to the Cross River State government to ensure that illegitimate/criminal deductions so far made in the name of ‘Labour House Levy’ be promptly recovered and refunded to affected public/ civil workers because private sector workers were not affected,” the NUT boss said. Other labour union leaders, who alongside the NUT chastised the state’s leadership of NLC were the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, through its state chairman, Comrade Godwin Ayinde, and state branch of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, as represented by Asanya Ebong, who were alongside the NUT purportedly suspended from all NLC activities some months ago

for failing to participate in the October 2 strike by labour unions. The aggrieved labour union leaders stated that some time in the last few months of the administration of the former governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke, the NLC state leadership secretly and fraudulently misled the governor into approving deductions from salaries of all categories of workers supposedly for the construction of NLC secretariat. The three aggrieved labour leaders maintained that despite the fact that the deductions were never approved by state executive council (SEC) of NLC, the congress went ahead to make the deductions. The aggrieved labour

leaders wondered that if the NLC feels the proposed secretariat project was genuine, where is its approved plan before the commencement of the levy; what about the bill of quantities; what was the estimated cost of the project? They further wondered that if the NLC could access civil/public servants` payroll and effect deductions without their consent, how would the private sector affiliates contribute to the project. The NUT, NULGE and JUSUN leaders stated that no state council of the congress has the right to suspend an affiliate union without the consent and approval of their national headquarters, central working committee as stipulated in Article 32 (1) of the NLC’s constitution.

North

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

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FG can’t fund local vaccine production –Minister Adeola Tukuru, Abuja

igerian Government cannot realistically fund local vaccine production especially in a depressed economy like ours, Minister for Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has said. Prof. Adewole who was represented by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, during a roundtable stakeholders’ meeting on local vaccine production in Nigeria yesterday in Abuja, explained that the increasing cost of vaccine procurement and recent graduation of Nige-

ria from the Gavi eligibility bracket due to rebasing of the economy, could make it difficult for the country to meet up with its vaccine procurement target. He said it is necessary that government encourages and supports local capacity for vaccine production to ensure uninterrupted supply. “Efforts to continue vaccine production at the Federal Vaccine Production Laboratory and National Veterinary Research Institute, VOM, could not continue due to inadequate political will; lack of financial support and commitment by all stakeholders.

“Afterwards, Nigeria have since depended solely on importation of the required vaccines, and majority are given free to mothers and their children,” he said. He however reiterates the passion of the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buahri to implement the Universal Health Coverage as nonnegotiable. “Access of Nigerians to all necessary vaccines is one of our key

priority,” he said. The minister also assured that the current administration would continually support the implementation of Global Vaccine Action Plan (20112020) and the ongoing Global Immunisation Vision and Strategy (GIVS). Earlier, the executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr. Ado Muhammad, had explained that the path to Nigeria’s revitalisation of

the erstwhile vaccine production capacity at the Federal Vaccine Production Laboratories, Yaba, Lagos, which once produced yellow fever and anti-rabies vaccines up till the 1990s has been facing numerous economic and political challenges. He further explained that the several unsuccessful efforts made to enter into a joint venture agreement with private drug manufacturers between 2005 and 2015 has “finally

heralded the strongest and most sustained effort led by the government of Nigeria to ensure the commencement of local vaccine production. “This clear political will and effort has been strengthened by a proposed multinational partner support through ongoing negotiations, deliberations and discussions with technical partners who have already indicated strong interest in local vaccine production in Nigeria.”

Drug: NDLEA nabs S’African, 2 others at Abuja Airport Olusegun Koiki

ational Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, attached to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, has arrested a South African, Mr. Sipho Mitshali, and two other Nigerians, Ifeagwu Osita and Obiabumuo Augustine Ikechukwu for allegedly being in possession of 18.2kgs of drugs valued at N163 million. Acting chief executive of NDLEA, Mrs. Roli BodeGeorge, who commented on the arrest, assured that the agency would continue to tighten the noose on drug cartels anywhere they are within the country. She gave a breakdown of the drugs as Sipho Mitshali, 31, was found in possession of 4kg of ephedrine and 8kg of methamphetamine, on his way to Johannesburg; Osita and Ikechukwu were also arrested for attempting to smuggle 4.7kg and 1.5kg of cocaine. According to Mrs. BodeGeorge, efforts are ongoing to consolidate on operational gains by the agency. She added that the agency is working hard towards making the country impenetrable to drug barons, stressing that there is a systematic plan of action to dislodge drug syndicates and ultimately eradicate illicit drugs from the society. The NDLEA boss also called for support from Ni-

gerians against drug barons whom she described as enemies of the society. NDLEA commander at the Abuja Airport, Mr. Hamisu Lawan, said the three suspects are under investigation. It would be recalled that the NDLEA recently nabbed a suspected drug baron, Tochukwu Harris Ubah, with 310kgs of ephedrine and 266kg of methamphetamine, valued at N4.6 billion, hidden inside noodles, cereals and palm oil being smuggled to South Africa.

L-R: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Adamawa State representative, Mrs Veronica Yohanna; Executive Secretary Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency, Alhaji Haruna Furo and Adamawa State Deputy Governor, Martins Babale, at the presentation of non food items of relief materials to returned IDPs in Yola, yesterday.

Customs needs N118bn to meet N994bn revenue target –Comptroller Livinus Menedi, Yola

omptroller general of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, said the Customs requires N118bn to meet its revenue targets of N994bn for the 2015 fiscal year. Ali who addressed serving members of the Nigerian Customs Service when he visited the Yola zonal command yesterday, said the evolving Customs under the administration President Muhammadu Buhari is one that would be anchored on professionalism with zero tolerance for economic sabotage and criminality. He said the new direction which the Nigerian Customs Service would be stirred in line with

the change mantra of the new government is discipline. Speaking to the men of the service at the zonal headquarters, after his visit to Belel border post, the Customs comptroller noted that the Service is largely being seen as corrupt, stressing that the situation became so because the Service built a reputation as a place where people believed they could make money. He however said it is now time to reverse the negative image and other acts of criminality in the service. He maintained that as at today the Customs needs N118 billion to meet its target and therefore implored the officers to do their best, adding that their success

in meeting their revenue targets is what would embolden him to make a case for the upward review of their salaries and allowances. According to him, the Customs service is one of the only paramilitary services given revenue targets at the beginning of each year, adding that already it has fallen short of its N994bn revenue targets for the 2015 fiscal year by N118bn, and charged the men of the Customs that the state of their welfare depends on meeting their targets. He, however, stated that he is open to improving the living condition of its officers and men, saying that when he sees an improvement he would confront the President to do the needful.

He blamed the lack of due diligence in recruitment as part of the bane of the Customs, noting that drug addicts, deviants and petty thieves have found their way into the Service, adding that this had partly constrained it from being rejuvenated. He however said the time to stop it has come, adding that anyone found wanting would be shown the way out. He said it wouldn’t stop at that but prosecute such in court and ensure he is jailed. He said the Customs under his leadership has resolved not to tolerate indiscipline in the Service. Ali who noted that the Customs would henceforth not pay lip service

in enthroning discipline, maintained that from now on it would enforce the law as it is. He warned that anybody caught influencing his postings would be shown the way out, adding that it is such tendencies that distort the system and bring about indiscipline. He regretted that such vices have been largely perpetrated with the support of those at the behest of the service but warned that they would now be frowned at. He added that under the new Customs he is working to build, promotions would have to be earned by officers, saying that going on courses is now a mandatory requirement for promotion in the service.

Wednesday December 16, 2015

We will replace Faleke if need be –Odigie-Oyegun

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Politics

The outburst of many state governors that they will no longer be able to pay the N18, 000 minimum wage has generated a lot of condemnations most especially from the labour union leaders who vowed that they will resist such. ROBERT AWOKUSE in this report examines the position of the governors and that of the labour on the issue and foresees troubling months ahead.

Minimum wage: Between the governors and labour unions

he issue of payment of minimum wage which have been agreed upon for years now was not expected to have received the reactions it yet again began to engender but for the position of most governors who have started to kick at the possibility of sustaining the payment of the N18, 000 which is the benchmark at present. In 2010, the present minimum wage before its approval, generated industrial action by the labour unions: the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC who had initially insisted on N52, 000. But after extensive dialogue with the government at the state level, the two parties reached a consensus of N18, 000. One might wonder why state governors would consider a downward review of the minimum wage when some have not even implemented it. This mind boggling development has left many pundits to query the sincerity of these governors who they believe appear not to be sensitive to the plight of their people. Many of the state governors have continued to maintain that they can no longer sustained the payment of the present minimum wage. This according to them is informed by the dwindling revenue from monthly allocation accruable to the states from the federation’ statutory funds. The crash in the allocation from the centre is caused by the crash in World oil prices, which the state governors said has practically made it impossible for them to pay workers’ salaries, hence a reduction may be an option to sustain regular payment. The governors’ position will be understandable if one looked at what most of them have gone through and are still going through as they are owing arrears of salaries running to months a situation which led the Federal Government to give them a bailout funds few months back. The governors in their recent meeting had allayed the fear that more states might not be able to pay workers’ salaries if the revenue of the country continues to be on the decline. According to the chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Yari, the situation is no longer the same, when N18, 000 minimum wage was being paid oil was sold for 126 dollars per barrel contrary to the current rate of 41 dollars. He however said that the forum would look for means to enhance states internally generated revenues as well as cutting overhead cost, especially the salaries of political office holders. The forum also resolved to diversify the country’s economy from petroleum to agriculture and mining. Many of the governors have proffered solution to the challenge by suggesting either reducing labour force or forfeiting some capital projects and they also maintained that a cutting down of salaries of political office holders may equally be suffice. Analysts are of the view that a reduction of workers’ minimum wages would definitely be an unpopular decision . This is because the minimum wage is even seen

Yari

NLC President, Ayuba

The position of labour

that a downward review of the minimum wage is unacceptable

. To them

what they think should be discussed now is progressive deliberations on upward review of wages as not enough to sustain any worker in the country with the present economic situation. Labour unions have insisted that such reduction is not acceptable to the workers. They opined that any issue of salary reduction has to be done in the tripartite form, between the employers (government), the workers and the labour leaders, stressing that it would be insensitivity on the part of government to impose definite salary on the workers. But a forfeiture of capital projects will also lead to underdevelopment of the states and failure to provide dividends of democracy to the people. As Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state puts it, “the rest of Nigeria will be shut out of government if capital projects are not funded”. Analysts are also of the view that the government workers are possibly not more than five per cent of the entire population of Nigeria, while 95 per cent people are in private businesses. They are of the view that If provision of infrastructures are not considered, what

would be the benefits of those not in governments? This they said would lead to no good roads, potable water, power, housing and many others, which consequently would affect the economic growth. The position of labour is that a downward review of the minimum wage is unacceptable . To them what they think should be discussed now is progressive deliberations on upward review of wages and they said it is sad that reduction of the present N18, 000 is now on the front burner of the polity. This consideration for a reduction depicts incapacitation on the part of most governors. Many have thus criticised this position of the governors because from records no state had approval of creation in the first place if it did not have the resources to cater for its workers. Analysts said the proposal was completely inhuman, lamenting that when the workers were looking forward to an increment in salaries and allowances, the governors who are already comfortable in all ramifications are planning on reducing salaries. TUC president, Bobboi Kaigama said governors who cannot pay should resign. According to him every state has the resources to cater for the welfare of its people, he advised that the governors should keenly look inwardly and generate income from the resources by making judicious use of the materials at their disposal to increase their internally generated revenue, IGR. A civil servant in his protest warned that workers would embark on an indefinite strike, if the government reduces their pay. “If they try it, we will go on strike, we are expecting them to increase the minimum wage to at least N50,000 considering the situation of things now. The situation in the country now is very bad. We are suffering so much, and thinking about reducing our salary is a deliberate CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

Politics

More than six months after the APC took charge of government, most Nigerians are yet to see the dividends of their votes, why is the drab in the system? You are aware final touches are being put to a N6 trillion plus budget which will start the process of addressing the promises that the President has made to the Nigerian people, I’m very aware of the impatience dying out in the polity.We will continue to appeal on the basis of the fact that there are no magic wands, no magic solutions. The budget for next year is indeed the first opportunity of the administration to strike out in a direction that it has promised the people of this nation and I have always had the opportunity of saying the difference will become clear in the next six months. That does not mean that all issues will have been resolved. In another six months, the people of the nation will begin to see clearly that yes we are on the road to addressing their urgent needs, the stresses that the total economy is going through now. The period of learning was most vital, most necessary. I have said repeatedly that things turned out a lot worse than we expected, so it was necessary for the administration to first get to grips with realities on the ground before you start addressing the methodologies for bringing about the changes and the corrections in the system that have been promised to the Nigerian people. Critical is that the institutions of state must be rebuilt, must be revived because they have been largely undermined and destroyed and no economy, no society, no polity progresses without firmly based institutions which can deliver in respective of whatever government is in office. That is the direction in which this administration is travelling.

Wednesday December 16, 2015

We will replace Faleke if need be –Odigie-Oyegun The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John OdigieOyegun in this interview with OBIORA IFOH clears the air on the controversial elections in Kogi and Bayelsa state as well as why the impact of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is yet to be felt by Nigerians six months after his assumption of office. Excerpt. looks like such has not been captured in the 6trn budget, would you advise the government to remove subsidy? You do not know yet, even I do not know what is contained in the budget. So what is covered or what it does not cover, we do not know because it is still in various stages of construction. Whether subsidy goes or stays is an intricate and major issue. If it has to go, the government must have to construct the palliatives to cushion the effect of the hardships that may come on the ordinary Nigerian. Anyway, eventually subsidy will have to go but we have not reached that stage yet because you cannot just wake up and announce that subsidy has been removed without putting adequate programmes in place to cushion the negative aspects that may be involved. Hon. Faleke has stated categorically that he would not be available for swearing in on January 17, if he goes on to do that, what happens? It is rather a straightforward and easy issue. We have replaced a governorship candidate. If the need arises and subject to what the law says, we will also get a deputy governorship candidate but we will cross those bridges as they arise but they have not arisen yet.

What is the situation in Kogi and Bayelsa states? Kogi is basically resolved, thank God in favour of the APC. Very unfortunate, very tragic events occurred, the entire polity had to be original to finding solutions to problems which detailed as the constitution were not envisaged and in the next few weeks depending on who goes to court or who doesn’t ,we will know the boundaries of the law in respect of these issues. As at now we are very glad that the results that we have got and I’m very sure that they would be upheld virtually in every tribunal whatsoever because we have adopted simple commonsensical solution legally, defendably proceeding from the unfortunate situation we found ourselves in. Bayelsa state, we cannot but express our disappointment that things have gone the way they did. I’m not happy that in spite of the notice, the conditions for truly free and fair primaries could not be guaranteed. We are unhappy that the results from the most populous voting areas which is a stronghold of the APC had to be cancelled and rendered the elections inconclusive. All one can say at this stage, pronouncements have been made, as a party we will be patient, we will give the benefit of the doubt, we will hold on to whenever the rerun for southern Ijaw is slated. We already have issues and we hope we do not have to press these issues either in a tribunal or in a court of law, but for now, we would hold our peace and allow the processes to be concluded. We are ready to bend with the expectation that everyone will simmer down over time because life has to continue, so bringing out the big stick in a situation like that is usually difficult but there will be a timeline to it. The crying, grieving, and disappointment should be over because life has to continue. But are you worried about the unfolding events in Kogi? We are not worried, the Kogi situation is still evolving and we cross every bridge as we gets to it. We’ll wait and see who does what and work out answers that meet each situation? We have won the election in Kogi, those who feel aggrieved,it is for them to call to question whatever they feel aggrieved about and we are going to meet them on those grounds. For us in APC, Kogi is a settled issue, if you want to go to the tribunal, we’ll meet you there, if you want to go to court, we’ll meet you there. TMG condemned the Bayelsa governorship election, are you satisfied with the whole scenario? I’ll say we are far from being satisfied but INEC has

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Odigie-Oyegun

made a pronouncement and you can’t get them to take it back unless you go to court so we are waiting for the processes to be concluded but I must say we have a lot of reservations about what has happened up to this present moment but we’ll wait till the processes are concluded, that is when we are going to decide what our next action will be. If we win as we expect to win, the kind of reactions that we’ll take will be different to if the outcome goes the other way round. Most Nigerians are still confused as to who speaks for this party in the absence of the National Publicity Secretary and how is the party managing its successes? I will start by saying who does not speak for the party; the person you are talking about does not speak for the party. Secondly, if there are any issues that need clarification for now, pending when we have a substantive publicity secretary, the national secretary will do so for the party and also when I speak, i speak for the party. It is as simple as that. Lai Mohammed was a great loss to the executive but he’s still within the system. He was truly very special and unique but as we speak, the National Secretary of the party has largely on temporary basis taking up the job of communication to the press and myself (as the Chairman) is always available to any enquiry. Managing success, yes there has been stress originating from the nature of the party itself but they are all part of the settling down of the party and we are resolving them eventually. The power structure and tussle in the party is normal and desirable and the earlier we sort out these issues and challenges within the party, the better it gets for the administration, so I will say it is good that within the first few months of our administration issues to be addressed are brought forward at the early stage of our government, in another few months, I believe all these issues will be put behind us and we will have a truly consolidated APC. People are craving for subsidy to go. People had asked the PDP- led government not to remove subsidy but as it is, it

Will the party wield the big stick against Faleke? As political party, we simply understand the frustration that emanated from the death of Late Prince Abubakar Audu, however, it is normal for us to accommodate the immediate reactions coming from the people involved. They were at the gate of victory but was shut at their faces because of the unfortunate death of their mentor who would have been our governor in the state, so a lot of things which normally we would not have accepted happened but we have to accept them so long that everybody will simmer down as time passes by. Wielding out the big stick in a situation like this might not be appropriate but there will be a timeline to it, enough will be enough at a certain time. APC controls the majority of the states in the country and the governors are saying that they can no longer sustain the national minimum wage, what is the true position? Minimum wage is a delicate issue because there are a lot of forces at work. The economy was run aground so badly that they have to borrow to pay salaries and this was not the creation of APC. Today all governments are borrowing to pay salaries and that cannot be sustained. What the solution is on the longer term, the machinery of governance is still working on. There is no method that is adopted that will not create stresses on any system but at the end of the day, we will find an answer. There are also vacancies in the NWC, how soon will they be filled? Arrangements are being made to go through the constitutional processes of filling those vacancies. That is already underway. What is the development over the proposed N5000 payment for vulnerable youths? All I will say is that we should not jump the gun. There will obviously be a legal backing move, the difficulty involved have been worked on and what is important is that the scheme will start irrespective of whatever imperfection that may come with it. We’ll keep building on it as the months go on. It is not going to be a mere scheme where CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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Wednesday December 16, 2015

Obasanjo charges Ortom on campaign promises Henry Iyorkase MAKURDI

ormer President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has charged Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state to fulfil his campaign promises to the citizens with a view to improve their well being while he urged the people to support his administration. Chief Obasanjo who made the call at a dinner organised for him by Governor Samuel Ortom at the new banquet hall of the Benue People’s House in Makurdi stated that he shares similarities with the Governor. He expressed confidence in the ability of Or-

tom to selflessly serve the state, urging him to uphold the core values of his administration, among which are transparency, accountability, fairness, truthfulness and justice. “I believe that Governor Ortom is sincere, because when Barnabas Gemade, George Akume and Audu Ogbe brought Ortom, I knew he was genuine because the trio at several intervals could not concede to each other on issues, therefore I urge you people to constantly remind him of his promises and support him to succeed”, Obasanjo said. The former President said the nation’s tertiary institutions were producing at least 1 million

graduates every year and governments at all levels lacked the capacity to absorb them, hence the need for the private sector to get involved. He described his mission to Benue State as a trip in search of knowledge and education, saying that he came to see his PhD supervisor at the National Open University stressing that there is no age barrier for acquisition of education or knowledge. Obasanjo acknowledged the contributions of Benue indigenes to his success in life particularly the late Steve Akiga to whom he said he will remain eternally grateful for whatever he become in

life and declared that he had retired permanently from politics. In his remarks, Governor Ortom described Obasanjo as a role model and an inspiration who encouraged Nigerians to acquire knowledge at whatever age and position. Ortom said the mammoth crowd of people that turned out to receive Obasanjo was attestation to the love the people had for the former President. Chief Obasanjo was dressed in Benue colours by Governor Samuel Ortom and the two leaders danced to the music provided by the Benue State council for arts and culture.

L-R: Former Minister, Mr Demola Seriki; Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola; Vice-President Professor Yemi Osinbajo and APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, during the Inurguration ceremony of the President of Republic of Guinea in Conakry, on Monday.

Henry Iyorkase MAKURDI

ustice Elizabeth Kpojime Commission of Inquiry investigating the administration of the immediate past former Governor of Benue State, Dr .Gabriel Suswam at its session in Makurdi yesterday heard that about N325 million was allegedly paid into various accounts of a conglomerate belonging to the elder brother of the former Governor, Dr Terkura Suswam by the bureau of local government in the state. Dr.Terkura Suswam

Suswam’s brother denies knowledge of N100m payment who was testifying before the panel investigating the tenure of immediate past administration admitted the execution of some printing jobs for the 23 local governments and that payment to that effect were made at the instance of the bureau. He however denied knowledge of over N100million which the commission claimed was paid to his company without tying the fund to any purpose. Dr. Suswam during in-

terrogation described the alleged payment of over N100m to his company without his knowledge as calculated attempt to smear his hard earned reputation describing the allegation as an attempt by his detractors to cause mischief. According to him, every payment made by the bureau to the conglomerate is documented and urged the panel to work within the confinement of payment made at different intervals as contain in his documentary evidence and discoun-

tenance anything outside the papers . The PDP chieftain further cautioned the panel to always request other relevant documents needed to enhance the case from the bureau for quick dispensation of the case where necessary. In his submission Justice Elizabeth Kpojime, chairman of the commission expressed gratitude to the former Chairman of Radio Benue and stated that if need arises she would still sought for his attention.

Minimum wage: Between the governors and labour unions CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 punishment to civil servants.” The minimum wage should have been reviewed by now, but little progress seems to have been made. NLC and TUC need to ensure that the N66,000 is realised. Five years ago in December 2010 the demand for N52,000 was the bidding of the labour unions and this was premised on the prevailing economic situation and indicators in the country. But sadly this demand was pegged at the current wage”, he said. The economic condition in 2010 when the N18, 000 wage agreements was reached, the exchange rate of naira to dollar was N140, But today, a naira to a dollar is over N250. The inflation rate over the past five years has been monumental and invariable. It is clear that the purchasing power of workers may have increased overtime but with less value following the inflation rate. Some have questioned whether the demand for N66,000 is realistic, but this amount is necessary to cushion inflation effect over the years and the devaluation of naira. Price increase in the last five years has been huge hence a need to bridge the gap by increasing the minimum wage instead of debating inability to pay the present amount. A study by the TUC shows that the subsistence of an average worker requires a minimum of N66,000 per month. According to the World Bank, the average income (per capita GDP) in Nigeria is now well over N50,000 a month. The African Development Bank says that Nigeria economy has seen “robust growth of around 7% for the past decade”. This means the economy is nearly a third larger than it in 2010. Then when the national assembly agreed N32,000 for minimum wage, the equivalent today would be N42,000 to reflect economic growth. The bank also stated that “the robust growth over the years has been accompanied by increasing inequality and vulnerability, requiring a large increase in minimum wage to overcome the problems”. According to report even at dwindling oil prices the Nigerian stock exchange increased in value by over 100% from mid 2012-2014. If one invested a million naira in 2011, the investment would be worth nearly N1.7 million, 70% increase. The Central Bank also averred that with the report of Composite Price Index, CPI published by National Bureau of Statistics, NBS with the inflation rate which now stands at 9.4%, Nigeria’s economy is not in recession. So this indicates that the economy can still sustain the wage. For the demand of an increase of the minimum wage, it is not out of place because resources to meet this demand are available in each state if well harnessed and coupled with the analyses of World Bank, Africa Development Bank and the Nigerian Stock Exchange with about 70% increase in two years but a debate. Some have argued that many of these governors enjoy security votes that can pay workers’ salaries. But have chosen to satisfy their own interests at the expense of the workers. The governors’ sentiment has thus been pilloried and adjudged as government of class by political sociologists. The thought of these thinkers may be said to be linked with oligarchy and requires Marxist theory to oppose oppressions by the few rich ruling class. For most analysts the way forward is not in reduction of the current wage nor reduction of labour force and neither is it good to stop developmental projects, but in aggressive internal revenue generation drive that will engender monies from all resources in the state that have judiciously been harnessed, which will equally serve as job opportunity to the people and bring about investments that will ensure all round development of the state and the country at large. The governors on their part should take as priority the welfare of the workers by not leaning to their own selfish gains, hence are enjoined to think outside of the box and ready to make necessary sacrifices as their duty is a call to serve.

Politics

Wednesday December 16, 2015

Don’t blame army for Bayelsa inconclusive poll –NGO Dennis Naku

PORT HARCOURT

non-gover nmental organization, ‘Watch Election’ yesterday in Port Harcourt, absolved the Nigeria army of complicity in the inconclusive governorship election in Bayelsa State. National Coordinator of Watch Election, Mr. Fez Chinweizu, while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on Tuesday explained that the army should rather be commended for its display of professionalism during the said poll. Chinweizu said the army was timely in its in-

tervention in several trouble prone areas of the predominantly coastal state, especially in Oporoma, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa. He further said that the state would have witnessed more serious incidents but for the sound exhibition of military professionalism by the army. According to him, “The army is not responsible to interface with the INEC officials and electoral materials because it is not in their election mandate to do so. “As a group that was deeply involved in the monitoring of the election, we make bold to say that the army did its best’’ he said.

Reps to re-present NABRO bill Ubong Ukpong ABUJA

he House of Representatives yesterday said that it was working towards representing the National Assembly Budget and Research Office, NABRO establishment bill. for a third time. The bill was first presented and passed in 6th Assembly and later 7th Assembly, but unfortunately didn’t get the presidential assent. However, at a press briefing yesterday by the House Committee on Legislative Budget and Research, Chi-

AKURE

ndo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has been urged to put an end to the marginalisation of women in the governance and politics of the state. The appeal was made yesterday by the women wing of the party after a meeting in Akure, the state capital. The women called on both the state and national leadership of APC to cede the deputy governorship slot to them as preparations for next year gubernatorial election gather momentum. The APC Women Leader in Ondo Central Senatorial District, Mrs Lola Sesay, said since the creation of Ondo state, women had not been given opportuni-

Bayelsa poll: Sylva dissociates self from report Osahon Julius YENAGOA

he governorship candidate the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Bayelsa state gubernatorial poll, Chief Timipre Sylva, has dissociated himself from statements falsely credited to him by some strange media outfit. The report which said there is differences or misunderstanding between him and President Muhammadu Buhari debuted yesterday (Monday) and is being circulated from a certain news media channel.

In a statement released Monday night by his Media Adviser, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, Sylva said he did not grant such interview to any news medium and never made the comments attributed to him by the strange “news” outlet. The statement said, “Sylva distances himself from the falsehood being vended by the authors of the strange report. He has neither granted such interview to any news medium nor made the comments attributed to him either privately or publicly. “Sylva holds President Muhammadu Buhari in

high esteem, and he is on the same page with his party, APC, in his bid to become the next governor of Bayelsa State, come 14 February 2016. The party has given him the highest support in the governorship contest and has continued to work closely with him in the final push to overcome the few tenuous and fleeting obstacles being erected by enemies of Bayelsa State on the people’s path to freedom. “The same elements that authored this outlandish report were the people who only recently alleged that some serving ministers

were plotting to rig election for Sylva. Their anxiety and confusion are understandable, considering their imminent fall from power. But they must understand that there is a limit to propaganda, and that election is not won on the basis of propaganda, as the recent presidential election in the country has shown. Propaganda cannot fetch them the governorship of Bayelsa State. “Buhari overcome a similar propaganda as the one being sown about Sylva. Sylva, too, will soon overcome. We will win, by the grace of God”, the release said.

arman of the Committee, Hon Timothy Golu said that it would be represented by the 8th House for speedy legislative passage and executive assent within the next one year. According to him, the NABRO establishment bill was necessary to provide a strong and sound legislative structure to constructively engage the executive arm in the budget process and implementation. “No doubt, the budget is the most important national document after the constitution and the most essential annual economic policy tool.

Ondo APC urged to end marginalisation of women Ojo Oyewamide

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ty to have much say in the governance of the state. Sesay declared that women were ready to take very prominent positions in the coming APC government in the state. She said: “We have come here together to demand for our rights. We want minimum of 35 percent in the elective and selective positions in this state, come next regime that will be taken over by the APC. “We are asking for deputy governorship slot. It is happening in some states like Lagos, Ogun and Osun and it has happened before in Ekiti State. So, our own should not be different. “If we are not given the deputy governorship slot, we will protest. We will not protest violently, but we will not fold our arms on the matter. We are the one voting during elections.

L-R: Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki; Chairman of Board, Skyrun Group, Mr. Xie Shao and Chief Mathew Nwakwe of the Nigeria-China Business Chamber (NCBC), during a visit to the Senate in Abuja, yesterday.

Social media bill: Oyintiloye cautions Senate Ayo Esan

member of the Osun State House of Assembly representing Obokun State Constituency, Honourable Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has said any exertion by the Nigerian Senate to constrain the civil liberties of its citizenry in expressing themselves on social media platforms amounts to repression and a

repeat of the impunity that pervaded governance in the inglorious days of the military era. Oyintiloye who is the Chairman, House Committee on Information and Strategy in the Assembly spoke at an interactive session with a group of bloggers and social media enthusiasts in Osogbo. He spoke on the backdrop of the proposed bill, titled “Bill for an Act to Pro-

hibit Frivolous Petitions and other Matters Connected Therewith (SB.143)”, sponsored by the Senate Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah. The bill stipulates twoyear jail term and option of N2 million upon conviction for anyone who posts abusive statements on the social media, while it would becomes unlawful for anyone to submit any petition, and statement intended to report

the conduct of any person for the purpose of an investigation, inquiry without a duly sworn affidavit. The bill equally stipulates that any petition or complaints not accompanied by a sworn affidavit would be considered incompetent and cannot be used by any government institution, agency or bodies established by any law for the time being enforced in Nigeria.

We will replace Faleke if need be –Odigie-Oyegun CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 we pay people money and they go home and sleep, no, it is going to be tied to your employability, to look for job and training so as to make it possible for you to be qualified for better employment opportunities. It is going to be a comprehensive package that will make sure that people are going out of the scheme and some new ones are coming in. What is the involvement of the APC in the MASSOB uprising in the South East?

What is the involvement of APC? Why would the APC feel any desire to be involved in any way whatsoever? Is MASSOB PDP? It was a clean clear security situation and no government worth its salt will watch any group whatsoever make life impossible for the rest of the society. The killings were most regrettable but even now we don’t know who killed who. I think we should just pray that that situation will eventually resolve itself through the carrot and stick approach. The carrot is absolutely necessary and I pray that that may end up solving the problem.

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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Are these portents of apocalypse? CHIEDO UCHE OKOYE

orld history is replete with stories about countries that disintegrated. USSR, a former superpower, was composed of 15 republics. But it disintegrated in December 1991owing to the failure of its glasnost and perestroika system. Yugoslavia broke up into smaller countries; and Czechoslovakia dismembered, too. India and Pakistan used to be one country before now. In Africa, Somaliland emerged from Somali; and South Sudan broke away from Sudan. And Eritrea was formerly a part of Ethiopia. The number of countries that suffered dismemberment is many. Till now, the wave of agitation for selfdetermination by ethnic nationalities is sweeping across the world. The Basque people in Spain are agitating for statehood. Recently, the Scottish people conducted a referendum to determine their continuing stay in Great Britain. Sadly, those agitating for the political emancipation of Scotland failed to achieve their goal. The reasons behind the eruption of ethnic irredentism in some countries are legion. Ethnic hatred is the reason why nation-states in Africa descend into violent conflicts. Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Rwanda and others were ravaged by wars in the past. In Kenya, the Kikuyu, Luo, and some other ethnic groups do battle fiercely for the control of political power at the centre. In Nigeria, ethnic nationalities that make up the country have been making secession attempts. During the colonial era, the Egbe Omo Oduduwa, a Yoruba cultural cum politi-

cal group, declared its intent to leave the Nigerian union. The Hausa-Fulani people, who lay claim to being the sole and eternal custodian of political power in Nigeria, in 1953 stated unequivocally in their nine point programme that they would like to secede from Nigeria. Isaac Adaka Boro, the Ijaw nationlist, declared the Niger Delta Republic, which was short-lived. The clamour by the diverse ethnic groups in Nigeria to leave the Nigerian federation has not died down even with the dawn of civilian administration in the country. Now, some terrorist groups with divisive ideologies have sprung in Nigeria. The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) is to the south-west what the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) is to the Niger Delta region. In the past, MEND employed violent methods like kidnapping of expatriate oil workers to express their displeasure with the Nigerian government. However, these militants were granted amnesty and rehabilitated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. This helped stem the tide of violence in the oil rich region. Now, it is the Boko Haram insurgency in parts of the North that is threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria. The number of victims of Boko Haram insurgency is mounting daily. Those displaced by the insurgency have sought refuge in neigbouring countries. The urgent and speedy containment of the murderous group has become an imperative since the activities of the group have the capacity of plunging Nigeria into a civil war.

E THNIC

HATRED IS

THE REASON WHY

NATION - STATES IN

A FRICA

DESCEND

INTO VIOLENT CONFLICTS While the North is on the boil, the Indigenous People of Biafra, a separatist group, has been staging peaceful protests in the south east region of the country for the release of Nnamdi Kanu. The clamour for the independence of Biafran has suddenly gained momentum. The leader of pro Biafra group was arrested upon his return to Nigeria. His arrest and detention have triggered fresh protests, which paralyzed economic activities in the south east for some days. Not to be forgotten is Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu , who declared a Biafra Republic in 1967. The federal government fought the secessionists for 30 months. The lives and properties destroyed in the gratuitous civil war cannot be quantified. Our country hasn’t recovered from the effects of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war till date. Sadly, the desire for the creation of the Biafra state has resurfaced and resurged. In response to the agitation for the creation of the Biafra state, the Nigerian army is engaging in unnecessary sabre rattling as though the indivisibility of Nigeria is sacrosanct and inviolable. The question that should agitate the minds of every patriotic Nigerian is

what is behind the Igbo youths’ romance with the independent of Biafra? The intractable Boko Haram insurgency and the pro Biafra protests are traceable to many factors, chief among which is the structural imbalance existing in Nigeria. Inequity and lack of egalitarianism in a country predispose it to suffering violent convulsions. Kids of Igbo origin seeking admission into unity schools are required to score high grades in the entrance examinations, but their compatriots and colleagues from the north who have low grades are being admitted into these schools. These differential treatments that are meted out to Nigerians cause indignation, anger and discontentment among the deprived. And past and current civilian administrations in the country have treated Nigerians with utter contempt. Our leaders have failed to address the issues that bedeviled our country. Millions of university graduates are without jobs. Those unemployed people are with the feelings of disillusionment. A person with revolutionary ideas can mobilize those disgruntled youths and instigate them to embark on secessionist move. To some people, the Biafran idea is not about carving out a geographical space for Biafra. It has got to do with redressing the ills that have afflicted our country and giving restitution to victims of Nigeria’s past egregious and inhumane political leaderships. The proposed Biafran State is with geographical indeterminacy, however. Chiedu Uche Okoye, a civil servant and poet, wrote from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.

Imperative of ‘change’ for Oshiomhole U WA E GHOMEK A

have read, first with discomfort, and then with something akin to horror, the words that have been attributed to my dear governor, Adams Oshiomhole. I call him “my dear governor” for two reasons; first, I am indigene of the nation’s ‘Big Heart’; and second, one of the ballot papers of the Edo state 2012 gubernatorial election bears my thumbprint. However, I am beginning to think that this may very well be the last time he will be labelled with such an endearment, at least by me. As labour leader, he was everyman’s hero; the voice of the people, the light in darkness. His booming voice and pointed remarks directed at those who were deemed oppressors were lauded because we believed that at the heart of all the drama was a man who believed in one thing: the people. As governor, we expected the transference of that passion into the governance of the state; we expected that he would demonstrate leadership, honesty, and respect for the people of his state. And with respectability too. We expected also that as our number one man, he would do so with some fi-

A LEADER OF MEN SHOULD ALWAYS EXHIBIT A GREAT MEASURE OF RESTRAINT nesse and at the very least, a modicum of regard for the office and a huge dose of common sense. Sadly, we expected too much as Oshiomhole is now carried away with being more of a needless voice than functioning in the service of the people. The once noble and passionate Osho has become a clanging cymbal. “Empty vessels make the loudest noise” can be no more personified as it is currently being exhibited by Adams Oshiomhole. A leader of men needs not speak every single time it pleases his fancy to open his mouth and voice his opinions. A leader of men should always exhibit a great measure of restraint. There is something enigmatic about a man who knows when to hold his tongue. People are often found hanging on his every word with bated breath because his words are few. You talk too much, and more often than not, you end up a laughing stock. I mean, who takes the village jester seriously? My “dear governor” has become

the Prince of Jesters. When I think of Oshiomhole’s last stunt and how he has once again started his mad dance of circling around issues without evidence and flinging accusations at Dr Okonjo-Iweala left, right and centre, what really hits me is the difference in the style of both individuals. One of the first questions that crossed my mind was if Dr Okonjo-Iweala attended any finishing school. Her poise, her complete control over her speech is often in direct contrast with Oshiomhole’s crass and crude mannerisms. If indeed she attended any, does she think they will be willing to admit Adams Oshiomhole for a semester or two? Then again, after being exposed to his tactlessness, they just may decide that his is a lost cause. Because added to the unrefined manner of speech and behaviour, it appears mixing with the wrong crowd may have worsened his case. The lack of tact is one thing, but when coupled with what now appears to be a dubious character and a vindictive spirit, I’m afraid this governor is on a downward spin. Who knows, some may like the challenge of “reforming the unreformable”, and decide that some training in cultural values and norms, refined social graces, etiquette knowledge,

and polished appearance may do him some good. One thing is for certain; with soft skills being the in-thing, this governor of my beloved state had better get his act together, and fast! Or for how long does he plan to claim one thing only to have his claims refuted publicly (remember his remark about a U.S government official confiding in him about a certain former Nigerian government official stealing billions)? The way I see it, two paths lie ahead of Oshiomhole; the path of dignity, honesty, backing up claims with concrete proof, integrity, decorum and sincerity of purpose and mission; or he may take the path which is the very opposite of all these and certainly leads to career suicide. In truth, he need not attend any finishing school to decide what sort of man he wants to be; that decision is one he must make without fear or favour. Eghomeka wrote from Benin City via ueghomeka@gmail.com Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: mail@ nationalmirroronline.net mirrorlagos@ yahoo.com or 08164966858 (SMS only). The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject views or photographs. Pseudonyms may be used but must be

Editorial

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

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All the Facts, All the Sides A PUBLICATION OF GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LTD BARRISTER JIMOH IBRAHIM, CFR PUBLISHER

SUNDAY OLAJIDE MANAGING DIRECTOR/CEO BEN MEMULETIWON ACTING DAILY EDITOR GBEMI OLUJOBI SATURDAY EDITOR AYO OLESIN SUNDAY EDITOR DOZIE OKEBALAMA COORDINATOR, EDITORIAL BOARD CALLISTUS OKE EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR OBIORA IFOH ACTING ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF AUGUSTUS IMEKAN ACTING HEAD, GRAPHICS

FG and fuel subsidy bonanza

he Senate, apparently exasperated but helpless about the near acute shortage of fuel; as well as the fuel subsidy conundrum the country for long entangled itself with, compelled the Federal Government lately to increase the N413 billion fuel subsidy bill it submitted as part of supplementary budget to the National Assembly to N521 billion. Of the original N413 billion the FG came up with, N120.552 billion reportedly represented outstanding claims from 2014; and N292.8 billion covered the first nine months of this year - January to September. Ministry of Petroleum Resources’ officials told the Senate that another N108 billion would be required to settle fuel subsidy claims between October and December. Consequently, the committee asked the Ministries of Petroleum, Finance, Budget and National Planning to reconcile the supplementary budget to capture the N108 billion required to cover subsidy claims for October, November and December this year. With the N108 billion added, the supplementary budget proposal earlier submitted to the National Assembly climbed from N465.69 billion to N574 billion. Unfortunately, there appears no hope in the horizon that the

THE FG SHOULD GIVE THE REQUISITE PRIORITY TO MAKING THE COUNTRY VERY STRONG IN REFINING CAPACITY. IT SHOULD

IMPORT ONLY WHEN IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY humongous amount the government is splashing on fuel subsidy would guarantee abundance in fuel supply or the sale of the product at subsidized official price, in a country that depends almost wholly on the importation of fuel to service local demands. Reports indicate that major oil marketers, who compound the problems of the fuel supply chain, import 52 percent of the country’s fuel requirement; while the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), through the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), brings in the balance of 48 percent. Like we have consistently argued here, recurring fuel crisis in the country casts Nigeria in the mould of a fellow resident in a river bank, but baths with spittle. A member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria, with a huge crude oil production capac-

ity of 2.5 million barrels per day, is ranked as Africa’s largest producer of oil. Globally, the country is among the first 12 largest oil nations. The limit set by OPEC quota is also an advantage that can be exploited to provide surplus crude for local refining. But refining petroleum products in Nigeria has turned a fairy tale; with the doublespeak of the relevant authorities on the true state of the country’s four out-dated refineries and grim hope for the construction of new ones. No year passes by without the country experiencing acute fuel shortage and arbitrary hiking of the pump price of the product. Whenever it occurs, the FG, petroleum ministry officials and their colleagues in the NNPC, marketers, tanker owners and unionists in the downstream oil sector, among others, indulge in blaming monkeys and baboons for the shortage. Most, if not all of the time, it boils down to the nonimportation of sufficient product often occasioned by subsidy payment disagreements. We disagree that the pastime of dishing out huge sums of money as subsidy that does not benefit ordinary Nigerians in the end is the solution to the incessant fuel supply shortages and pump-price increases Nigerians routinely

ON THIS DAY

suffer. Even with the dip in the value of the naira presently, the N574 billion budgeted for subsidy within such a short period, if prudently applied, could go a long way in the construction of a new refinery, whether as an extensive plant or a modular one. No country can guarantee the availability of any product it has no control over. Therefore, the FG should give the requisite priority to making the country very strong in refining capacity. It should import only when it is absolutely necessary. For a prudently managed nation, the highly celebrated refrain that the country’s four refineries are comatose is no excuse for not figuring out how best to go about refining and adding value to Nigerian crude locally. The embarrassing spectacle is condemnable when placed side by side with the fact that Nigeria is a major crude oil-producing nation. We again reiterate the common fact that some countries with little or no oil endowment boast of state-of-the-art refineries, whether publicly or privately owned. When would the leadership be tired of cock-and-bull stories that amplify government’s ineptitude and failure to maximise the gains derivable from crude oil for the benefit of ordinary Nigerians?

December 16, 1998

December 16, 2012

December 16, 2013

Iraq disarmament crisis: The United States and United Kingdom bombed targets in Iraq for four days (December 16, 1998 to December 19, 1998) in ‘Operation Desert Fox’, a major bombing campaign. The contemporaneous justification for the strikes was Iraq’s failure to comply with United Nations Security Council’s resolutions, as well as the country’s interference with the work of UN Special Commission’s inspectors.

A 23 year-old woman was viciously gang raped in Delhi, India, sparking international outcry. The incident occurred in Munirka, a neighbourhood located in the southern part of New Delhi. The 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern was beaten and gang raped in a private bus in which she was travelling with a male friend. There were six others in the bus, all of whom raped her. She later died from her injuries thirteen days later.

A bus fell from an elevated highway in Manila, Philippines, killing at least 18 people and injuring 20 others. The accident occurred when a bus fell off the Metro Manila Skyway, in the Manila suburb of Paranaque at around 5:15 AM. The bus was traveling on the South Luzon Expressway when it fell six meters and crashed on top of a van that was on the road below. However, the driver of the bus, Carmelo Catlatcat, survived the crash.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Health & Wellbeing NACA oﬀers free medical services to Abuja residents 22

Adewole

Succour for 61-year old General Hospital 21

Nigeria, DRC, account for 35% global malaria deaths in 2015 FRANKA OSAKWE

ew report by the World Health Or¬ganisation (WHO), has revealed that Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are re¬sponsible for 153,300 (35 percent of 438 000 deaths) recorded so far from malaria, glob¬ally, this year. The World Malaria Re¬port 2015, released last week, however, noted that the two coun¬tries and numerous others across the globe are now re¬cording declining cases and deaths from the ailment, adding that there had been significant increase in the number of countries mov¬ing towards malaria elimi¬nation, worldwide. According to the re¬port, more than half (57) of the 106 countries with malaria in 2000 had achieved reductions in new malaria cases of at least 75 percent by 2015. Director-General of the organisation, Dr Margaret Chan, said since the start of the cen¬tury, investments in malaria prevention and treatment had averted over six million deaths but urged nations to do more. “Across sub-Saharan Africa, the prevention of new cases of malaria has resulted in major cost sav¬ings for endemic countries. New estimates presented in the WHO report show that reductions in malaria cases attributable to malaria control activities saved an estimated US$ 900 million in case management costs in the region between 2001 and 2014. Insecticidetreat-ed mosquito nets contrib¬uted the largest savings, fol¬lowed by artemisinin-based combination therapies and indoor residual spraying,” the statement made available by WHO on its website stated. WHO also informed that since 2000, about one billion in¬secticide-treated mosquito nets had been distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. “By 2015, about 55 percent of the population in this re¬gion was sleeping under mosquito nets, up from less than 2 percent cover¬age in 2000. An estimated 663 million cases of ma¬laria have been averted in sub-Saharan Africa since 2001 as a direct result of the scaleup of three key ma¬laria control interventions: insecticide-treated mos¬quito nets, indoor residual spraying and artemisinin-based combination therapy. Mosquito nets have had the greatest im-

Malaria accounts for several under-five deaths in Nigeria

pact, account¬ing for about 68 percent of cases prevented through these interventions,” the agency furthered. It urged that despite the progress made, significant challenges remained. WHO said glob¬ally, about 3.2 billion people – nearly half of the world’s population – were at risk of malaria. In 2015, there were estimated 214 million new cases of malaria, and ap¬proximately 438 000 deaths. Malaria remains a life-threatening disease. It is caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female mosquitoes. There are 5 parasite species that cause malaria in humans, and 2 of these species – P. falciparum and P. vivax – pose the greatest threat. P. falciparum is the most prevalent malaria parasite on the African continent. It is responsible for most malariarelated deaths globally. Early diagnosis and treatment of malaria reduces disease and prevents deaths. It also contributes to reducing malaria transmission. According to WHO, The best available treatment, particularly for P. falciparum malaria, is artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). Antimalarial medicines can also be used to prevent malaria. For travellers, malaria can be prevented through chemoprophylaxis, which suppresses the blood stage of malaria infections, thereby preventing malaria disease. For pregnant women living in moder-

ate-to-high transmission areas, WHO recommends intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, at each scheduled antenatal visit after the first trimester. Similarly, for infants living in high-transmission areas of Africa, 3 doses of intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxinepyrimethamine are recommended, delivered alongside routine vaccinations. In 2012, WHO recommended Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention as an additional malaria prevention strategy for areas of the Sahel sub-Region of Africa. The strategy involves the administration of monthly courses of amodiaquine plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine to all children under 5 years of age during the high transmission season.

The organisation also recommends that all cases of suspected malaria be confirmed using parasite-based diagnostic testing (either microscopy or rapid diagnostic test) before administering treatment. Results of parasitological confirmation can be available in 30 minutes or less. Treatment, solely on the basis of symptoms should only be considered when a parasitological diagnosis is not possible. More detailed recommendations are available in the WHO Guidelines for the treatment of malaria, third edition, published in April 2015. There are currently no licensed vaccines against malaria or any other human parasite. One research vaccine against P. falciparum, known as RTS, S/AS01, is most advanced. This vaccine has been evaluated in a large clinical trial in 7 countries in Africa and received a positive opinion by the European Medicines Agency in July 2015. Vector control is the main way to prevent and reduce malaria transmission. If coverage of vector control interventions within a specific area is high enough, then a measure of protection will be conferred across the community. WHO recommends protection for all people at risk of malaria with effective malaria vector control. Two forms of vector control – insecticide-treated mosquito nets and indoor residual spraying – are effective in a wide range of circumstances.

Health & Wellbeing

Nutrition for Health

positive steps to maintain the health of our digestive system. Many digestive problems can be prevented through lifestyle changes and consumption of adequate amounts of fruits, vegetables, and fiber. Foods rich in fibre (vegetables, fruit and wholegrain/cereals) should be eaten. Fiber encourages passage of material through the digestive system and gives the correct consistency and bulk to stools. Ideally one should consume at least 30g of fiber er per day. A balanced diet that is rich in fiber may reduce the risk off developing diverticular disease, e, heart disease, or colorectal cancer. er. It is important to reduce the intake of processed ssed foods like baked foods, processed rocessed meat, etc- these e generally have little nutrition trition or no fiber and often n contain large amounts of saturated fats, salt and presereservatives that can be harmful to the body dy. Consumption of a moderate amount of ‘good’ fats (omega-3 a-3 and omega-6) should ould be eaten and the intake ntake

Chizoba Benson chizobanwobu@yahoo.com 08120807588 (sms only)

ood (healthy) digestion is a ‘silent’ process. Thus, maintaining a healthy digestive system is extremely important for our general health and well-being. Digestion is the process of breaking down food so that it is small enough to be absorbed and used by the body for energy or in other bodily functions. The process of digestion starts in our mouth. These nutrient molecules after being chewed is passed through the gullet and absorbed through the wall of the small intestine and transferred around the body via blood, to nourish cells and organs (from the brain to the immune system and even the cells in our feet), and to provide a source of energy. The digestive system can withstand a lot of stress but can only do so for a limited period. Over time, the negative effects will accumulate and create health problems in the long-term. We should however, take some

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Diet to aid digestion

of saturated fats (e.g., animal fat) should be reduced. A diet high in fat can make the digestive system sluggish and may cause or aggravate diseases of the digestive system (and also heart disease). Alcohol can inflame the lining of the stomach or oesophagus or cause symptoms of heartburn. Excessive intake of alcohol can lead to cirrhosis of the liver. Plenty of fluids should be consumed- especially water. Water helps to dissolve some nutrients, encourages passage of waste through the digestive system and helps soften stools. I t

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is also vital to consume moderate portions of food, slowly and regularly because this can help maintain a healthy digestive system. One should take time and eat slowly, chewing each mouthful well. Always form the habit of relaxing while eating. This would also help the nerves of the digestive system and much easier to digest than larger pieces. One should eat regularly and avoid skipping meals - this will prevent overeating due to hunger and this prepares the digestive system for regular meals. Engage in regular exercises. Regular cardiovascuexerlar cise

helps to strengthen the muscles of the abdomen and reduce sluggishness by stimulating the intestinal muscles to push digestive contents through our system. It is essential to quit smoking because smoking lowers the pressure at the junction between the stomach and oesophagus, promoting backflow of stomach acid into the oesophagus (reflux) which results to heartburn and other complications. Smoking also aggravates peptic ulcers and inflamconditions of the bowel matory cond linked with an increased which is link risk of many cancers. Manage sstress levels as much because stress affects as possible b the nerves of the digestive system upset the intricate baland can ups digestion. In some people ance of dige stress slows the process stre of digestion, causing bloating, pain and conb sstipation while others may need to frequently empty their bowels and the stools may be more loose and watery. Stress a can worsen some conca ditions such as peptic dit ulcers or irritable bowel ulce syndrome. syn

Sexual solutions and love products for adults

ello everybody and welcome once again to the month of December. Last week, we introduced a few new products to help close the year and today we have a few more new products to talk about. First on the list are books for adults that women in particular will benefit from greatly, especially as men have little problem climaxing. Simply put, if you are sexually active and the sex you are getting is not mind blowing, you are seriously missing out. Man was blessed with a few pathways to pleasure and happiness that have nothing to do with money. Great sex is one of those pathways in question and the books we are introducing today will help you extract maximum pleasure from your sex life. They are Orgasm in Five Minutes, Explosive Sex and Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica. Sex can be phenomenal and out of this world. When it is that good, it feels like winning a lottery. The ideas in these books can transform anybody’s sex life beyond their wildest dreams. But sometimes we buy adult products not to become experts but for light fun and nothing more. If there is one thing that helps give you that for sure, it is an entertaining and well produced adult film. A great sex life doesn’t just happen. We have to make it happen by designing our lives the way we want it to be. The new feature films Double O Blonde, Au Pair and Black & White help contribute to that grand design that can leave us with a fantastic and enviable love life. We can also mix the fun with romantic activity. By this I am talking about adult card and board games that couples can play for fun, variety and an element of unpredictability. If you are a man or woman that hates doing the same things in bed over and over again, then you will love games like Entice:

The Passionate and Playful Couple’s Game, Encounters: A Wild, Kinky and Adventuresome Game for Couples and Who is the Biggest Slut? There are a lot of people who feel that they have to cheat on their partners to feel excited and entertained. It doesn’t have to be that way. These games offer you so much more while ensuring that the romance and sex you get remains within the boundaries of commitment to your partner. Last for today is a very exciting product for men because it is a penis enlarger. Specifically, I am talking about the grand SMP Penis Enlargement Pump. Like we have mentioned several times over the years, no matter the kind of penis enlarger you are using, the package is not complete without a penis pump. Just like body builders go to the gym to exercise after taking muscle building supplements, you must exercise your penis tissues while taking enlargement supplements to grow your penis to its fullest length. So the SMP Penis Enlargement Pump is a very good pump for enlargement and firm erections. What I like most about it is that it is big enough to accommodate any size and help you achieve a much bigger size as well. This is all for now. Our end of year sales is ongoing so all these items and everything else we have can be obtained at discounted prices with gifts and raffle draws to follow. Let us now answer a few questions from our readers. Please what alternative products can I use for penis enlargement? I started using Vigrx some months ago and when I needed to buy more, I could not find it again. I do not want to stop the growth results that I have seen – Sunday Vigrx is now available and other supple-

ments like Prosolution, Extenze Plus and Penis Pumps will also give you very good results. So if tomorrow you cannot find it, the above mentioned are suitable alternatives – Uche I received my package but I could not call because it was late. Anyway, thank you for your very professional service. My performance has improved and I never knew that a bottle of ointment called LS Desensitizing Spray could solve a premature ejaculation problem that I have had since my university days. I appreciate – Chinedu You are welcome – Uche Please I need a performance enhancer that is mild but effective. I just need erection and I prefer gentle aphrodisiacs. Thanks – Maxwell Take Libigrow or Stiff Nights. Sex Volts is also gentle on the body. These erection enhancers all have lower gram-

mage for people like you – Uche That is all for today. Adults in need of these treatments/novelties can call 08171912551, 08027901621 or 07086754515 for help or visit www.zeevirtualmedia.com Zee Virtual Media delivers all over Nigeria. For enquiries email us at custserv@zeevirtualmedia.com- Uche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media.

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Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Succour for 61-year-old General Hospital ... as Chevron refurbishes ward, donates ambulance SAM EFERARO

hevron, Nigeria’s third-largest oil producer, last week intensified its partnership with the Lagos state government on health care delivery, as it handed over to the government, a

refurbished female ward at Epe General Hospital, while also donating a fully equipped ambulance to enhance the hospital’s services. It is the first time any part of the hospital building complex is being refurbished in all its 61 years of existence. Handing over the ward

and ambulance at the hospital in Epe, the company’s Managing Director Mr. Clay Neff who was represented by Mr. Sola Adebawo, Acting GM, Policy, Government and Public Affairs said the company’s intervention was in line with its and co-venturers’ “traditional care which includes a robust health

programme in the pursuit of our Corporate Responsibilty as conscientious business organization.” Mr. Neff further said that the company views healthcare as a crucial social service that needs inclusive support, adding that it had successfully partnered with the state to implement vari-

Dr. Olubunmi Olakunle Enigbokan cutting tape to declare open the refurbished female ward on behalf of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. Inset: the glittering refurbished ward.

FCT resident doctors demand training on traumatic injuries ADEOLA TUKURU ABUJA

resident of the Association of Resident Doctors in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr Isaac Olubanjo Akerele, has called on the FCT Administration to train all doctors in required skills to intervene on mass group of responders to traumatic injuries and disasters anytime. Akerele, noted this at the

2015, Annual Health week organised by ARD, FCT recently with theme: “Management of Armed conflict injuries challenges of our time”, explained that this became necessary to stimulate their appetite towards the establishment of well motivated critical mass group to traumatic injuries. He said as major stakeholders in FCT healthcare delivery; it is an opportunity to impress their demands on

the government. ‘It is however charitable to plead that the mutual relationship enjoyed so far that produced results and approvals of our legitimate requests is sustained in the interest of industrial harmony’ Akerele, explained that the annual health week provided the doctors an opportunity to device and employ means of building capacity of members through scien-

tific sessions and lecture series, community based free medical outreach services which are funded through members and other stakeholders. “These we do, in pursuance of the association’s objectives of assisting government and the people in providing health care services, promoting members’ welfare and sustaining professionals ethics in practice of medicine “

Deaf women group urges National Assembly to accelerate passage of disability bill ADEOLA TUKURU ABUJA

eaf Women Association of Nigeria (DWAN) has urged the National Assembly to accord accelerated hearing to the Disability Bill brought before it, with a view of signing it into law. The group, which made the call at a briefing to mark the just concluded 2015 Health Awareness Week in Abuja, said when signed into law, it would help DWAN members to overcome most of its challenges and discrimination, thereby giving them a sense of inclusion.

Chairperson of DWAN Abuja Chapter, Helen Beyioku-Alase, who spoke on behalf of the group, noted that apart from improving the physical accessibility of health facilities, “the Bill if signed into law will eliminate all forms of barriers we faced daily and will lead to marked improvements in the quality of life of persons with disabilities.” In the area of health, the group outlined other benefits that would accrued from the anticipated Bill thus: “the Bill will help to promote and provide formal and informal sexual and reproductive health education to both

girls and women with similar challenges as well as ensure provision and attached competent sign-language interpreter in all government hospitals.” The event which was organised in collaboration with International partner, Ipas frowned at situationS where people with special needs are prevented from accessing information critical to the development of the country’s socio-economic well-being. Ipas Country Director and currently the National President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, (FIDA) Nigeria, Ms

Hauwa Shekarau, assured that Ipas would ensure that women have smooth access to safe services as it relates to their reproductive health right. She however noted that the need to begin to focus attention on women with special needs had begun in earnest. “Ipas has taken it upon itself to begin to target, among the different sects of women with special needs, at the deaf women in society and will be integrated into the advocacy work we are doing and into the training that we are conducting for health providers,” she said.

ous programmes in the areas of health, education, economic empowerment and the environment. He noted that the increasing health pressure in the country could not be resolved “by merely adding resources, ”adding that this must be addressed with new methods of service delivery. “We hope that the ambulance, which we have donated today, will positively impact the mobility and capacity of the health system. We also hope that it will add value to the first line in the continuum of health care and contribute significantly to ‘treat and transfer’ or ‘treat and leave’ programmes in Epe area and beyond.” He commended the management of Epe General Hospital for its services and expressed confidence that the ambulance and the upgraded ward would be judiciously used for the benefit of the people. In his remarks the General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) Mr. Dafe Sejebor, represented by Mrs Helen Nkwo, Supervisor, Community Development, told guests that the NNPC/Chevron joint venture was committed to improving health care delivery in the state “in line with our resolute commitment to support the government to provide better life to the people.”

He urged all stakeholders to work towards the sustainability of the projects and be committed “so that its objective will be met and we would have collectively improved health care delivery in our communities.” Receiving the ambulance and the ward, the hospital’s Medical Director Dr. Dr. S.B Mustapha recalled that the 61-year old hospital had never witnessed any form of renovation since it was established in 1954. While thanking Chevron for its intervention, the Medical Director disclosed that the hospital was facing “quite enormous” challenges ranging from infrastructural decay to old and “out of vogue” equipment. He called on other corporate bodies to take a queue from Chevron Nigeria “as there are more than enough projects yearning for (attention) renovation. We shall also appreciate donation in form of utility vehicles and equipments” Dr. Mustapha however acknowledged the state government’s provision of a new ambulance, a brand new 250 KVA generator and a state-of-the-art mobile x-ray machine to the hospital. The event also had in attendance top officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, and traditional rulers of the Epe community.

NANNM Niger raises alarm over dearth of health workers PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

iger State chapter of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, {NANNM} has raised an alarm over dearth of manpower in the State’s healthcare system and called for prompt intervention of the State government to address the issue. The state chairman of the association, Comrade Haruna Shuaibu Tanko stated this in his remarks over the weekend in Minna , at the 9th send forth ceremony for 79 retired Nurses and Midwives out of which Five members died while still in active service. He explained that though the association was aware of the move by the State govern-

ment to employ 70 Nurses and Midwives including 40 Medical Doctors before the end of the year, there’s need to employ more as the number the government plans to engage would only be a temporary relief. “This year, we are faced with the most alarming number of the retiring Nurses/ Midwives in Niger State. 74 retired this year and Five are dead, including the Director Nursing services, Health Management Board and the Head of Nursing services, General Hospital Mokwa and three other persons totalling 79.” He also urged the State chapter of NANNM’ governing board to come up with modalities to regulate the activities of the Schools of Nursing/Midwifery in both Bida and Minna.

Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NACA offers free medical services to Abuja residents ADEOLA TUKURU ABUJA

he National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA) has conducted free medical services and HIV test for over 7000 people in Mpape area of the Buhari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory. The four-day medical outreach, which began Monday at the Central Primary School premises Mpape witnessed a large turnout of community members who turned out to receive HIV test and diagnose for other ailment.

The Senior Prevention Officer NACA, Mrs. Kadahaene Eyo, noted that free medical services was part of the agency’s medical outreach programme ‘Getting to Zero’ and at the same time providing HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) for people and also diagnosis and treatment of other ailments. She said free medical drugs were provided for people while pregnant women and nursing mothers were provided with free mosquito nets in addition to free condoms were being distributed to people. She further disclosed that NACA in partnership with the federal gov-

ernment through SURE-P provided the free medical services to Mpape community to improve their general well being following the high population in the area and the prevalence rate. The Representative of the Executive Director Center for Health Education, Economic Rehabilitation and Social Security (CHEERS), Mr. Walter Ugwuocha noted that the NGO had partnered with NACA in an effort to bring medical services to the doorsteps of the community. He maintained that the outreach programme provided an opportunity to reach out to people living in

the community, as many of the beneficiaries do not have the money to go to hospital and seek for medical attention. “It was an avenue to reach out to the people, by moving the services from the hospital to them and we have a component of medical personnel, the Doctor, the Nurse, Laboratory Scientist, pharmacist coming in to provide service for the people at a place most convenient for them.” Ugwocha noted that the medical outreach had helped identify some of the people who had high blood pressure, blood sugar among other

WHO launches new global framework to eliminate rabies

First ‘Test Tube’ puppies born

he World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Alliance for the Control of Rabies (GARC) has launched a new framework to eliminate human rabies and save tens of thousands of lives each year The framework calls for 3 key actions - making human vaccines and antibodies affordable, ensuring people who get bitten receive prompt treatment, and mass dog vaccinations to tackle the disease at its source. “Rabies is 100% preventable through vaccination and timely immunization after exposure, but access to post-bite treatment is expensive and is not affordable in many Asian and African countries. If we follow this more comprehensive approach, we can consign rabies to the history books,” says WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. Tens of thousands of people die from rabies each year and, worldwide, 4 out of every 10 people bitten by suspected rabid dogs are children aged under 15 years. One person dies every 10 minutes, with the greatest burden in Asia and Africa. The cost of human vaccines to protect from rabies is, however, beyond the reach of many of those who may need it. And treatment for people who are bitten can cost US$ 40–50, representing an average of 40 days of wages in some of the affected countries. Recognizing that human vaccination is currently not always affordable, the new framework emphasizes prevention through vaccinating dogs – whose bites cause 99% of all human rabies cases. A dog vaccine costs less than US$ 1.

ailments while they have been able to refer pregnant women who are yet to register for antenatal services to appropriate facilities. He noted that their aim is to improve the well being of the community members and ensure that people are aware and sure of their health status “knowing that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation, and one of the cardinal point of Cheers was to see communities where people are healthier and happier. With the support of NACA, we hope to take these services to other states to ensure that general population are covered, ” he said.

Managing Director/CEO, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Mr. Rahul Colaco; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh; and Chairman, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Mr. Moyo Ajekigbe during the company’s visit as the federal government’s dairy development partners to the minister, in Abuja

WAMCO reaffirms commitment to nourish Nigerians FRANKA OSAKWE

rieslandCampina WAMCO has reaffirmed its commitment to nourish Nigerians with quality dairy products. This was disclosed by The Managing Director/CEO, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Rahul Colaco, during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh. Being a major partner with the Federal Government on an ongoing multibillion Naira dairy development and expansion programme, Colaco said that the company is committed to growing Nigeria’s dairy industry. ‘The objective is to raise raw milk quality and safety, increase farm productivity and support farmers in getting a market for their milk’ Chief Ogbeh commended

FrieslandCampina WAMCO for its commitment and noted that the government is making steady progress in harnessing dairy farming in Nigeria, adding that the country should, in the next four years, see some of the benefits of its investments and partnerships, which will be reviewed for future growth. In response, Colaco said FrieslandCampina is committed to raising dairy farming to a higher level in Nigeria and making small scale entrepreneurs to have pride in agriculture. “Through our dairy development programme, we develop local farmers in three ways: Through practical knowledge transfer by local FrieslandCampina dairy development officers; Expert training on feeding, breeding, hygiene, disease control and milk payment, and; Financing of local infrastructure such as milk collection centres, boreholes, milk collection trucks,

etc,” A 12-minute documentary was shown, detailing how FrieslandCampina WAMCO has improved the dairy farming skills and incomes of Fulani herdsmen from subsistence to growing commercial farming. The documentary was produced in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture signed an MoU with FrieslandCampina WAMCO in April 2011 on Dairy Development, and since then “we have been making steady progress. For us this is a privilege and a responsibility that is fully linked with our mission statement of nourishing Nigerians with quality dairy nutrition and this addresses issues of nutrient security, dairy sufficiency and improving farmer’s income” said Colaco.

or the first time, a litter of puppies was born by in vitro fertilization, thanks to work by Cornell University researchers. The breakthrough, described in a study to be published online Dec. 9 in the journal Public Library of Science ONE, opens the door for conserving endangered canid species, using gene-editing technologies to eradicate heritable diseases in dogs and for study of genetic diseases. Canines share more than 350 similar heritable disorders and traits with humans, almost twice the number as any other species. Nineteen embryos were transferred to the host female dog, who gave birth to seven healthy puppies, two from a beagle mother and a cocker spaniel father, and five from two pairings of beagle fathers and mothers. “Since the mid-1970s, people have been trying to do this in a dog and have been unsuccessful,” said Alex Travis, associate professor of reproductive biology in the Baker Institute for Animal Health in Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Jennifer Nagashima, a graduate student in Travis’ lab and the first to enroll in the Joint Graduate Training Program between the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and Cornell’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, is the paper’s first author. For successful in vitro fertilization, researchers must fertilize a mature egg with a sperm in a lab, to produce an embryo. They must then return the embryo into a host female at the right time in her reproductive cycle. The first challenge was to collect mature eggs from the female oviduct. The researchers first tried to use eggs that were in the same stage of cell maturation as other animals, but since dogs’ reproductive cycles differ from other mammals, those eggs failed to fertilize. Through experimentation, Nagashima and colleagues found if they left the egg in the oviduct one more day, the eggs reached a stage where fertilization was greatly improved.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Arts Lounge My journey into music

Joke Silva seeks support for live theatre

Protecting creative contents in digital age

New media platforms offer greater advantages for the creative industry; but there are challenges for content creators. What is the way forward? Ngozi Emedolibe

rojections say world Internet users may have exceeded two billion, going by a recent survey made available by a leading Internet data bank,www.internetworldstat.com. This is expected to engender a digital revolution the world may not have witnessed nor anticipated. While the technology companies are getting set for this eventuality with gizmos that avail data in real time and on the move, it becomes pertinent that the real owners of the data evolve ways of protecting the works they have put on the Internet. Bulk of these content providers, who range from book authors, to musicians to film producers, visual artists and photographers, according to stakeholders will face a very stiff challenge in this regards, as the new frontier begins this exponential outburst. A book publisher, Ben Osagie, of Heritage Books told Arts Lounge that the new dawn will offer a lot of advantages for book authors and publishers, because the platform for distribution would have limitless borders, but that the industry should also brace up for intellectual rights violations that would come with it. “While the platform for distribution will be limitless the new challenge would definitely be how to protect the rights of the content owners. I foresee ebooks leaving this paper format behind and assuming the digital format, which would be downloaded as e-books or emagazines. Perhaps as we move on, the platform for collection of royalties due to the author would improve, but what would happen in the event that someone pays to download the material and uses it for things other than what the materials were initially authorized for?” The music industry is not left alone in this impending fear. As CDs are fast giving way to downloadable music, the industry would also be confronted with the challenge of fashioning a fool-proof way of protecting their works in the face of this emerging music market driven by the Internet. This concern has left stakeholders in the music industry with no option but to fashion ways of staying afloat as this new storm begins. Obviously, Nigerian artistes need Intellectual Property experts now more than before. According an Intellectual Property

lawyer, Edwin Umeajah, every artiste who wants to go into any dealings should first consult intellectual property lawyers who would explain the limits of his rights within the framework of the agreement he is entering into with any portal. This is necessary, considering the loose nature of the internet. “It is neither here nor there for now. Enabling laws to enforce that are yet to be firmly rooted in the country, owing to some issues. When it takes a trans-continental posture, it becomes more difficult to enforce even. In Nigeria, the case between Ayo Bankole a musician and the Ecobank is one of the most popular in this regard. The musician’s composition was used for the phone answering service of the bank, and he threatened to go to court, making the bank to go into agreement with him on the limits of their usage about his works. Every artiste in this age needs to cultivate the culture of getting lawyers to draft their agreement when they want to enter into any dealings. For book authors, the same thing applies, because the digital age makes their works more accessible to readers many readers in far-flung vicinities”. But the various collecting societies, still advise content owners in the digital age that the best option is to enlist with a collecting society, which would do all negotiations on their behalf. In Nigeria, the Copyright Society of Nigeria, COSON, which has been championing the cause of the rights of most musical artistries told Arts Lounge that while the issue of copyrights infringement cannot be completely eliminated, artistes or content providers can do themselves a lot more good by finding a way of enlisting with only the authorized collecting society existing in the country. “Yes, it is true that we are living in a world that is becoming borderless, as a result of technology, which leaves so much burden in the area of protecting one’s rights, I have to note here that achieving a fool-proof way of protecting the rights of artiste is not absolute, but the artiste can do himself so much good by registering with a collecting society. Once the authorized society has the mandate of the artiste, bulk of the violations would be minimized especially at the corporate or commercial levels”, says Tony Okoroji,

internet users at a cyber cafe

the chief executive officer of COSON. The African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation, ARIPO, working to protect the rights of African artistes also believes that enlistment in copyright protection society remains a veritable tool in the quest to protect one’s rights now. While it has been established that it may be difficult erasing infringements on rights in the digital age, what options are there left for artistes whose contents have been violated? Mike Umeajah, Intellectual Property lawyer says the best option remain seeking redress in court. “Like I said before when it is established, the artiste should seek redress in court, because it is only a court of law that has the power to enforce it. Copyright infringement cases in Nigeria usually do not go beyond the appeal court, which goes to show the kind of seriousness they attach to it. Once it is decided at that level, the victim gets full compensation”. However, Jochen Schaefer, a German lawyer of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods and Industry, WFSGI, offers a new vista in the latest edition of the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO, bulletin. According to him, ‘Trademark law, like other areas of intellectual property (IP) law, is governed by principles of ter-

The African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation, ARIPO, working to protect the rights of African artistes also believes that enlistment in copyright protection society remains a veritable tool in the quest to protect one’s rights now.

ritoriality. In the online environment, however, where it is relatively easy to maintain an anonymous identity, using “offshore” Internet service providers (ISPs) or servers, for example, infringers can dodge legal action initiated by courts or administrative bodies in the countries in which they have a virtual presence and in which they generate profits. The difficulties associated with successfully pursuing online IP infringers using a conventional legal approach are further compounded by a lack of uniformity in the legal landscape. While there is a degree of harmonisation of the laws and regulations governing IP rights and their enforcement, these are not unified. Varying laws and practices in different jurisdictions make it difficult to navigate the legal landscape, fuelling legal uncertainty about outcomes. Against this backdrop, some commentators have cast the law as a lame duck limping behind dynamic new commercial and technological developments in the real world. Claiming damages from infringers in the borderless digital environment can prove extremely difficult. While the courts and competent administrative authorities play a key role in stopping illegal use of brands online, the importance for right holders to secure the underlying facts and accompanying evidence cannot be overstated. If a company is to win its day in court, it is critical that emphasis be placed on gathering this information prior to and during litigation and particularly for interim relief proceedings.” With enabling laws in this regard may be lacking in Nigeria, this ought to constitute a new focal point for stakeholders in the art industry, if the ‘art must pay’.

Arts Lounge

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

VOICES

Literature as a tool for the development of society Akachi Adimora- Ezeigbo

y argument in this lecture is that literature (among the Humanities) is the most efficacious subject or discipline to provide the humanistic education this country needs to make progress, to escape from materialistic philistinism and the scourge of corruption. Why I make this bold claim will become clearer in the course of the lecture. In traditional African society, art was functional, and the artist, performer or storyteller was fully aware of this. The traditional oral artist knew the didactic role his/her art had to play and geared the performance towards achieving that end. Thus in such a society, art was placed at the service of the society. Modern African writers are a product of their species of the traditional society. At the African-Scandinavian Writer’s Conference in Stockholm in 1967, Soyinka, among other things, declared: “The artist has always functioned in African societies as the record of mores and experiences of his society and as the voice of vision in his time”. Perhaps writers elsewhere have not always thought it their responsibility to direct their societies. For instance the followers of “The Aesthetic Movement” believed in the dictum “art for art’s sake” and defended this position in the late 19th century Europe. This type of attitude has been rejected by most African writers. Chinua Achebe believes that the writer “should march right in front” in “the task of reeducation and re-generation that must be done and that the artist is “the sensitive point in his community”. Agreeing with Soyinka and Achebe, Romanus Egudu adds that the literary artist “dissects the society not only at its political level but also at its moral level”. This is what our writers have done over the years since Nigerian literature came of age with the publication of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart in 1958. Our writers are among the best in the world; they are contributing, through the power of their imagination and artistic creativity, to the growth of literary productions that are changing

Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo

the face of world literature. Writers, with award-winning titles, like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Buchi Emecheta, Ben Okri, Niyi Osundare, Femi Osofisan, Tanure Ojaide, Zaynab Alkali, Helon Habila, Chimamanda Adichie, Chika Unigwe, Promise Ogochukwu and others have put Nigerian literature in the world’s literary hall of fame and contributed to Nigeria’s cultural and intellectual development. They have used art as a means of effecting revolutionary changes in society. For instance, in Season of Anomy Soyinka creates characters like Ofeyi and Demakin who act as agents of justice with

the moral and humane spirit lost by our society the evil machination of two oppressive regimes. Through them and the forces they represent, Soyinaka hopes to restore to his society its moral character and humane sensibility. The issue of whether literature has the capacity to trigger off a revolution has been an enduring controversy. Some people believe it does not. Others argue that literature is of no use if writers write and no one reads what they write. A work of art becomes effective only when it is read. I still insist that literature has no function; except what is given it by those who read it. On its own, it cannot change anything unless someone responds to

Writers, with award-winning titles, like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Buchi Emecheta, Ben Okri, Niyi Osundare, Femi Osofisan, Tanure Ojaide, Zaynab Alkali, Helon Habila, Chimamanda Adichie, Chika Unigwe, Promise Ogochukwu and others have put Nigerian literature in the world’s literary hall of fame and contributed to Nigeria’s cultural and intellectual development. They have used art as a means of effecting revolutionary changes in society

Memorable Reads Who is your favourite author? I will give it to one man who is not even very educated, who has shown that once you have creativity, you can rule the world. He was the first Nigerian to be recognised all over the world. His name is Amos Tutuola. Before Achebe and Soyinka, there was Amos Tutuola. He wrote The Palm-wine Drinkard. He stopped at Primary Six, and succeeded in telling his stories with his kind of English. I call his stories magical realism. What is unique about his writing? His characters are full of fantasies. I was lucky to have met him in course of my job as a reporter, and I once did a magazine story on him. If he was still writing, he would have won a Nobel Prize because Literature is not about the

Mike Awoyinfa

Journalist

ability to write ‘big English’. There is also one poet called Rabin Ranath Tagore, whose works inspire me a lot. What determines the books you buy? I buy what I find fascinating. Any time I travel out of the country, I find my way to London because of books. I remember an incident when we were travelling. My children gave me a long list of things they wanted, like play stations. When I arrived with three big boxes, they were jubilating until they discovered they were all books and no play stations. What book are you reading now? I have this habit of reading many books at a time.

the work and does something with it. If there is no response to literature, there is little literature can do. What we deduce from Omotoso’s assertion is the fact that literature can be a catalyst to revolutionary change: what is required is for an individual (a reader) or individuals (readers) to apply the knowledge, the information gathered from literature to bring about social change. The unrelenting persecution faced by writers all over the world is a clear indication that literature can indeed be a weapon to achieve change, which bad leaders dread; hence the persecution of courageous writers. In Apartheid South Africa, in Kenya during the time of Arap Moi, in Nigeria under Abacha, and in Eastern European countries during the Cold War, many writers faced death sentence, imprisonment and detention as a result of their work and their activism. Literature is a threat to dictators. Bad leaders fear and hate writers and their works. At this juncture, I believe it is proper to mention the contribution women writers have made in engendering equity and parity in gender relations and in creating awareness of the plight of women in the world’s largely patriarchal societies. From Europe to the Americas, Asia and Africa, women writers have consistently portrayed the injustice the female gender faces from birth to old age. There is no doubt that some of the finest prose writers – novelists especially – in the world, past and present, have been women. This is even more evident in the African literary tradition. Modern writers like Virginia Woolf, Margret Drabble, Emma Tennant, Margaret Artwood, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Gloria Naylor, Isabel Allende, Buchi Emecheta, Flora Nwapa, Nawal el Saadawi, Bessie Head, Yvonne Vera, Zaynab Alkali, Tess Onwueme, Grace Ogot etc, raised women’s consciousness, addressed the ‘woman question’ in gender politics, thus drawing attention to the fact that women are subjugated and marginalized. Prof Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo is an award winning creative writer and scholar who the propounded the theory, Snail Sense Feminism.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Arts Lounge

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

ARTISTE UNCENSORED

My journey into music –Joe Praize

The story of gospel music may not be complete in the present Nigeria without Joe Ebhodaghe, fondly called Joe Praize; here is why. Ogah Ocheche

e was given birth to as Joseph Omo Ebhodaghe, but now, he is popularly known as Joe Praize. He is an award-winning Gospel artiste whose song ‘Mighty God’ garnered a lot of raving reviews nationwide and in Africa as a whole especially because of his collaboration with the South African Soweto choir. The slim and tall ‘praisegenerator’ also won the ‘Best rock’ award at the 2014 Crystal Gospel awards. He believes the leading praise and worship is one of the biggest opportunities he has received from God. “I love to lead God’s people in praise and worship, because to me, it is one of the biggest opportunities I have received from God. I do other genre of music though, but I love to praise and worship Jesus all the time. It’s a blessing to be in a position where God can trust you to lead his people in songs of praise and worship to him. So, in all, I can say I do songs that bless and reach the spirit, soul and bodies of my listeners,” he said, adding that, “I am a recording artiste, my first album was released in November 2009, I released a single, ‘Great and Mighty God’ in 2007 and the song is fulfilling its purpose.” Some of his works include, “My Praise,” which has gone around the world, blessing believers. Joe has ministered in several countries including South Africa (Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, and KZN), Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Nigeria, Ghana and others, and he has won several awards to the glory of his Master and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Born in Edo State Nigeria, into a family of nine, Joe got born again in 1991. A

MEEDWEEK JUMP

graduate of Social Work and Social Administration from the University of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, he has since become a praise and worship leader at the Believers Love World. “As a social worker ...a change agent. We are trained professionally to apply certain principles in handling cases of people which we refer to as clients. I started singing long ago, but professionally 2004. I chose my name ‘Joe Praize’ because I have a lifestyle of praise. “My albums are all true life stories; we find it in the scriptures though, it says Godraises the poor out of the dust and set him up high... LIFTED; that’s the story ... That’s why I sang ALL THE PRAISE” What challenges did he face as a Gospel artiste? “Challenges are for important people you know ...One of my unique challenges wasn’t finance or any other stuff but funny people who don’t believe in you” He was also nominated for Best African Gospel by SABC Crown Gospel Awards 2010, Africa Gospel Music Awards UK 2011, the prestigious Love World Awards 2011, for Worship Song of the Year. He believes to that to succeed in music, it has to be done actively. “I always tell media personnel and everyone who ask, music is a small thing ooo... I do music actively and not passively. You know when you say gospel, we mean good news. So we are into several other things but all tied to d person Joe Praize ‘Joepee’ as he fondly called is also has a company where other people can have the opportunity to interact and ask him questions that they had on their minds. “I have a company called COAST TO

I love to lead God’s people in praise and worship, because to me, it is one of the

biggest opportunities

I have received from God

Curt New Writing Prize opens

Elaine Feeney, 2016 jugde

COAST that is fully set for quality music for the spirit soul and body. Many people can have the opportunity to interact and ask mequestions that they have on their minds. “I also do philanthropy, ministering to people apart from doing that through music seminars for reckless worshipers of Godthe father. People who don’t feel ashamed to throw their hands in the air in worship at anytime are reckless

he Cúirt New Writing Prize, in memory of Lena Maguire, is now open for submissions. The categories are poetry and fiction. There is a 500 cash prize for the winner of each category and the opportunity to read at the Cúirt/Over the Edge Showcase event at Cúirt 2016. This year’s judges are poet Elaine Feeney and the Stinging Fly’s Declan Meade. Deadline for entries is Thursday 28 January. The guidelines for both adult and

youth submissions are as follows: Poetry entries must consist of 3 poems under 50 lines each, and fiction pieces may be up to 2000 words. Entries in both English and Irish are welcome. Writers submitting work should not have had a collection published in the category in which they enter. This does not include the publication of single poems, stories or chapbooks. In addition to your work we ask that you include the following contact details: Name, email address, phone number. You may include a short biography of yourself if you wish.

worshippers; those who don’t mind to fall down flat before theOmega to thank Him for who He is are reckless worshippers; those who after worshipping, take an offering or seed (money) and put on the altar to say Lord I just want to thank You sir” His greatest moments are when he leads worship and praise where thousands of great men and women are gathered. When asked if he had a plan B and he said “When you are sent by God, you don’t need one” he also told us about his latest single lifted.’’ Lifted is a brand new single we just released from the coast to coast studio. “It’s a song given to me by god himself to give to you all. I did the lifted song from a point where I asked myself several questions, and all I hear God say was lifted’’.

2016 Calibre Prize

ustralian Book Review welcomes entries to the tenth Calibre Prize for an Outstanding Essay, which is worth $5,000. Calibre is Australia’s premier award for an original essay. Anyone writing in English is eligible, regardless of where they live.

Essays must range from 3,000 to 7,000 words and must be written in English. Deadline for entries is 18 January.

Arts Lounge

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FAR AND NEAR

Joke Silva seeks support for live theatre Joel Ajayi

ollywood veterans like Joke Silva, Patrick Otoro and others in the entertainment industry are leaving no stone unturned to rejuvenate stage and theatre shows among Nigerians living in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). They made this move as regards a 3-man play written by Onukaba Ojo, ‘Her Majesty’s Visit’ presented on December 12 and 13 by Eagleview Arts Production, featuring Joke Silva, Patrick Otoro and Najite Dede, in Abuja. Addressing journalists on the forthcoming stage play in Abuja, Joke Silva appealed to government at all levels to institute a policy that would rejuvenate live-theatre stage among Nigerians. Silva said: “Our Government must put up policies that would make theatres accessible to the art lovers and the people generally. “Theatre plays an ambassadorial and intellectual role in the society either as en-

joke-silver

tertainment or culture. “Theatre brings you close to your audience, encouraging more understanding and interaction between the actor and

the audience unlike the screen movies. There is neither restriction nor barriers.” Speaking earlier, the producer of the play, Patrick Otoro expressed concern

over the dilapidated nature of the existing theatres across the country, as some of them had been turned to commercial ventures. He said ‘live theatre seems to be in comatose’ in the nation political capital, and there is need to bring it back. Giving the synopsis of the play, Otoro said the play x-rayed migration challenges, the mother-in-law factor in the African family setting where a man that is the husband is caught in between his wife and mother. According to him, the play, which is multifaceted, will correct the impression that the grass is always greener on the other side for those who leave the country and seek better life in Europe and other places. The Director of the play, Chidi Ugwu, added that staging ‘Her Majesty’s Visit’ was not just to bring back live theatre in Abuja but to also add quality and promote entertainment in the FCT.

Unraveling ‘Lies and Secret’ on TV

Alibaba

Isiguzo Destiny

uperior drama production is high cost and high risk. It requires a long development period and skilled practitioners to make it. Production costs in Nigeria are internationally very competitive but still well in excess of local broadcaster revenue for the time slot. Over the years of filming activity in the country, only Nollywood has been able to gain recognition and boost, based on individual contribution and outside government support. Internationally, public funding support for local television drama is commonplace in all but the largest markets. In this high stakes environment, Nollywood has been a consistent funder of both the development and production of movie

projects. This has seen a large number of well-received blockbusters over the years. But since the attention divert to Nigeria’s television series sector, the country’s television audiences have grown to appreciate and expect high quality drama that matches or exceeds international fare. Since Nollywood redefined the screen business through quality effort in the sustenance of entertainment in Nigeria homes, audience behaviour for both local and international drama has been changing. To boost these on-going trends, independent producer like Dabby Chimere of Dabz Movie Productions who supported in the building of this present structure recently took a new drive when she entered location for the shoot of a television series, entitled: Lies And Secret. Ensuring value oriented project, Dabby

did not just storm the location for a one-off production, rather she debuted with an innovating mindset that is guided by diversity of newer ideas on how to strive, creativity and quality production standards for the reward of viewership. Hoping to appeal local and international audiences, she intends championing local content that would engage, stimulate and satisfy intended viewers. “There should be quality and reward for viewership, even as we want to maximize the audiences’ interest. It’s not as if we’ve not been into this very business of production, but for the first time my company is doing something different in the same field. “We will not say because it’s new then we should compromise quality, no, but we will bring our ideas to the table where people can see it, and as well score us for it. We just completed the first shoot, and plans are on for airing negotiations, which very soon we will be hooking it to best and reachable channels where viewers can enjoy it without much stress,” she noted. According to Behind Nollywood’s report and ratings, her cast was meticulously selected from each of the popular airing series, like Jenifa’s Diary, Tinsel and few others. Not just that, ‘wowing’ revelation created rooms for the mix of Nollywood prominent faces like Daniella Okereke, Daniel Lloyd, Uzor Arukwe and host of other professionals in the Africa’s makebelieve industry who all made individual appearances. The entrance of Lies And Secret into the television drama sector will be filling the gap of stories told and written based on real life experiences. Written by Loretta Obioha, the storyline captures the realness of human activity as being an everyday lifestyle for the society. However, it will help the content in igniting the minds of viewers who will be glued to the suspense of each revealing scenes and episodes.

Pius Ewherido

At Urhobo Cultural Day

Elo Ogwara

he Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), has honoured some prominent personalities at the annual Urhobo Cultural Day. They include; Comedian, Atunyota Akporobomerere (Ali Baba), world’s scrabble champion, Jighere Wellington, as well as, the late Senator Pius Ewherido. In a statement circulated to newsmen in Warri, the apex Urhobo body noted that the recipients, who also included the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Edo State, Mike Igini and former Delta State Chief of Staff and historian, Professor G.G Darah, were awarded for their contributions to the development of Urhobo nation. The event, which was the 84th Urhobo Cultural Day celebration, held at the Urhobo Cultural Centre, UvwiamugeAgbarho in Delta State. Olorogun (Engr.) Joe Orode Omene, the President General, leader and father of the Urhobo nation, most respectfully thanked everyone who came from all walks of life to grace the occasion. Urhobo Cultural Day is an annual event celebrating the culture of Urhobo people.

Business

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Stakeholders’ anxiety mounts as electricity accidents take toll on lives, property, 33

Mobile operators’ unsolicited text messages are rip-offs on subscribers –Ogunbanjo

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Nigeria ranks 8th on Internet user-countries globally   Tola Akinmutimi

igeria has been rated number 8th among countries using the Internet as a highway of communications globally, topping the African countries’ chart.  The latest report by the Global Research & Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab, the world’s Internet risks monitoring and evaluating research firm, indicated that the development may lead to a rise in attacks on the country’s and regional financial and personal data on mobiles and PCs as well as a surge in Ransomeware next year.   In addition, the researchers at Kaspersky Lab predicted that with more and more corporate organizations preferring cloud as secured option for their data, there were strong indications that this may create opportunity for malware writers to steal such entities’ data thereby posing serious risks to such enterprises.   The researchers stated: “Nigeria ranks number 8 for Internet Users by country*, it is the highest number among all African countries. It is obvious that in this region we will see many attacks on users aimed at getting their financial and personal data on mobiles and PCs. Ransomware will also likely rise in this region in 2016.   “Also there are more and more companies choosing to keep their data in the cloud due to the reduced costs and the grown Inter-

net speed, so the opportunity for malware writers to steal company data has become a much bigger risk than a few years ago” says Dirk Kollberg, Senior Security Researcher, Global Research & Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab” they added.According to the Internet security experts, in order to be able to minimise the future risks connected with cyber-attacks of the future, businesses should create and deploy a complete security strategy.  In addition, they also harped on the need for corporate entities to educate staff about cyber security, implement multi-layered Endpoint protection with extra proactive layers and protect all elements of infrastructure, patch vul-

nerabilities, mind everything that is mobile and implement encryption for communication and sensitive data.  The researchers canvassed; “Companies that have high risks of encountering cyberattacks should consider creating a dedicated Security Operations Center’  Kaspersky Lab’s experts’ predictions for 2016 are based on the expertise of the Global Research and Analysis Team - the company’s 43 top security experts, located all over the world.    Each member contributed unique expertise and, in 2015 alone, their insight and intelligence resulted in detailed reports on 12 Advanced Persistent Threat actors (APTs), “speak-

he Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has advised all shareholders and investors in the Nigerian Capital market to approach their banks or registrars to complete the e-dividend mandate form for immediate processing and upload to the e-Dividend Mandate Management System, e-DMMS. A statement by the commis-

TUC to submit proposal on new minimum wage to FG 30

ing” different languages, including French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, English, among others.   Kaspersky Lab’s experts anticipate that in the year, there will also significant evolution in cyberespionage tradecraft, including dramatic change in how APTs are structured and operated.  .Furthermore, the experts see that there is less urge to demonstrate superior cyber-skills, so return on investment will rule much of the nation-state attacker’s decision-making.  According to experts ransomware will be gaining more ground on banking Trojans and is expected to extend into new areas such as OS X devices, often owned by wealthier and therefore more lucrative targets.

AIRLINES’ FLIGHT SCHEDULES Med-View Airline Lagos- Abuja (Mon-Fri): 07.00, 08.50, 12.00, 16.30. Abuja- Lagos (Mon-Fri): 09.00, 14.00, 15.00, 18.30. Lagos-Yola (Mon-Fri): 8.50am. Yola-Lagos (Mon-Fri): 13.00. Lagos- PHC (Mon-Fri): 17.00. PHC-Lagos: 19.00. Abuja-Yola: 11.00. Yola-Abuja: 13.00. Lagos-Abuja (Sat): 08.00, 08.50. Abuja-Lagos (Sat): 10.00, 15.00. Lagos-PHC (Sat): 17.00. PHC-Lagos (Sat): 19.00. Lagos-Yola (Sat): 08.50. Yola-Lagos (Sat): 13.00

Dana Air

L-R: Viken Najarian, Specialty Project Manager Total Nig Plc; Mr Alexis Vovk; Managing Director Total Nig Plc; Yao Yao, Managing Director Sany Nigeria Ltd; Taiwo Shittu Group Executive Director, Lanre Shittu Motors; Albert Mabuyaku,; Corporate Affairs Manager Total Nigeria Plc at the “Sany Nigeria Prefers Total Lubricants”, a lubricant supply agreement between Total Nigeria Plc and Sany Nigeria in Lagos.

SEC commences e-dividend registration Johnson Okanlawon

sion indicated that the service would be provided free of charge for the next 90 days, effective from last Monday after which a fee of N100 will apply. It would be recalled that in a bid to eradicate the difficulty encountered by retail investors in claiming their dividends through their savings account, the SEC in collaboration with Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, NIBSS, last July

launched the e-dividend payment platform. Unveiling the platform, the Director General of SEC, Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, SEC, said the platform would address the lingering unclaimed dividend issue in the market. According to him, the platform, which is part of the 10 year capital market Master Plan, would address the issues of none payment of dividends into savings account.

“The era of stale dividend and huge unclaimed dividend in the market will be a thing of the past with the launch of e-dividend payment platform. The commission will conduct intensive training for bankers and registrars on the usage of the new portal,” Gwarzo said. Gwarzo emphasised the determination of the commission to implement the capital market master plan, which he said would transform the market for

Abuja-Lagos 9am, 1pm, 5.28pm daily Lagos-Abuja 7am, 11am, 1.23pm,3.30pm daily Lagos-PH: 7.20AM, Ph-Abuja9.54am, Abuja-ph: 3.30pm and Ph-Lagos: 5.28pm daily Lagos-Uyo: 9.20am, Uyo-Abuja: 11.07am, Abuja-Uyo 1.05pm, Uyo-Lagos: 3pm daily Weekends Lagos-Abuja: 7.02am, 9am, 3.30pm Abuja-Lagos: 9am, 2.20pm and 5.28pm Lagos -Phc: 11.07am Phc-Lagos: 1.05pm Phc-Abuja: 12.51pm Abuja-Phc: 10.50am Lagos-Uyo: 9.18am Uyo-LOS -3.03pm Uyo-Abuja: 11.07am Abuja-Uyo: 1.05pm

Aero Contractors Lag-Abj: 06.50, 13.30, 16.30, 19.45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun), 12.30 (Sun) 16.45 (Sat) Abj-Los: 07.30, 13.00, 19.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat, 10.30, 14.30, 19.30 (Sun, 18.30 Sat) Lag-Benin: 07.45, 11.00, 15.30 (Mon-Fri/Sat/ Sun) 12.30 (Sun 15.30 (Sat) Ben-Lag: 09.15, 12.30, 17.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) 17.00 (Sat) 14.00 (Sun)Lag-Owe: 7.45am, 2pm daily

Executive Discourse

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Mobile operators’ unsolicited text messages In the last ten years after the deregulation of the telecoms sector, several issues continue to pitch the mobile network operators against subscribers who, in most cases, are at the receiving end of the telcos’ tariffs and related charges. Rather than abate, the issues, one of which is unsolicited messages being sent to subscribers incessantly, still persist. In this interview with Isaiah Erhiawarien, the President of National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of Nigeria, NATCOMS, Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo, speaks on the ordeal of subscribers and how the issues have been impacting on the telecoms sector’s growth.

ince the SIM card registration began, there has been issues surrounding it, what is the present state of the exercise?

I must say that currently the industry is fine, particularly with the new appointment that President Muhammadu Buhari is making. Mr. Shola Taylor is now Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation and we now have Prof. Umar Danbatta as the new Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission. Although we would have wished for an ICT professional as the Minister of Communication but whatever we have becomes the desirable. In a nutshell, we are Ogunbanjo satisfied with the new appointment made so far by the new government. However, I will like to say that Concerning the uncompleted SIM we need to establish continuity in the in- are committed through the mobile card registration, it is rather unfortudustry. The former Minister, Dr. Omobo- phones need to be urgently addressed. nate that since the NCC engaged the la Johnson, did a lot that we must build They should empower all the divisional seven companies to do the SIM card regon. Don’t forget that when she became police officers in the country to look into istration they could not perform. a minister, she called for a stakeholders cases in their domain with urgency. The These seven companies did not follow meeting and periodically she kept ap- DPOs are the nearest person to Nigeridue diligence when they engaged their praising the development and successes ans and once a case has been reported to SIM card registration agents. They acof the industry. She also mapped out a them they should be empowered to take tually got a lot of them engaged but in broadband development plan as well as up any case whether committed through the course of doing their job, the agents a broadband council of which Engr. Er- text message or voice call with the morather than asking the subscribers to nest Ndukwe is the chairman with other bile operator. Mobile phone is currently answer all the questions required to notable stakeholders in the industry as being used to dupe people almost on a members. They have been doing a lot daily basis and that is why all kind of fill the SI card registration they were and we hope that the new minister will bottlenecks in getting criminal details asking just a few questions, in fact the make that that continues in that. in the operator’s custody should be made biometric that they captured were not Beyond that, the new NCC leader easy for the people. On the issue of unso- complete. What I discovered was that should also look at the issue of compen- licited text messages, we have made sev- most the facial capturing and the finger sating subscribers, particularly after eral reports to the NCC but there seems thumb that they did were not properly fining the operator for an offence, what not to be any headway. The subscribers done. Also the mobile operators engaged then happened to the injured subscrib- are not happy about the trend, because their own agents, unfortunately they ers. Perhaps if fine is necessary without subscribers are losing money through also did not follow due diligence just like the Act of the NCC now they may have so the two key leaders in the industry the NCC engaged agents. So both NCC to look at all the situation with a human should urgently look into it. face. And we suggest that whatever fines that the operator is paying to governe have expected that when the ment, 50 per cent of that should be paid noticed that the exercise was not properly to the subscriber as compensation. It is unfortunate that the subscriber that done it should have asked the subscribers suffers a lot injury is always losing out to go to the nearest service centre of the in the whole fine saga. We want that by 2016 that it is made a definite policy that operator to complete the registration ut the subscriber be compensated. We also instead it instructed the mobile operators want the new minister and NCC boss to look into the issue of the cyber-crimes to disconnect the subscribers without due through the mobile phone. What we are notice saying is that situations where crimes

NCC

and the network operators did not follow due diligence in the conduct of the exercise and that was what has brought us to where we are now. We have expected that when the NCC noticed that the exercise was not properly done, it should have asked the subscribers to go to the nearest service centre of the operator to complete the registration. But instead, it instructed the mobile operators to disconnect the subscribers without due notice. It is the responsibility of the NCC and the operators to sort out the issue of improperly registered SIM card; it is not for the operator alone as the NCC has done. Both of them should work out a way to ensure that the subscribers do not suffer. You must have heard what happened in Benin City where the customer care centre of a particular operator was vandalised by their subscribers because they were not attended to as when they should. All those crisis concerning the inconclusive SIM card registration, if only the NCC and the operators device a means of sorting out the other aspects of the uncompleted registration through text message. For instance, when it remained just only one question for my registration, the service provider sent me a text message requesting me to answer the question and my line was restored thereafter. The question is why is that this method cannot be adopted by all the operators, instead of subscribers

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Executive Discourse

are rip-offs on subscribers –Ogunbanjo trooping to the customer care centres of the operators? Another truth that I need to reveal here is that those who registered with the network operators never had any issue with their registration; it is only those that used the NCC registration agents that had issues with their registration. So the NCC should look at it and try other means of resolving this issue rather trooping to the service centres of the operators. Sir, how do you react to the sanction on MTN? We say that the case of MTN Nigeria is rather unfortunate. Incidentally, they have the largest number of subscribers’ base in the country. I must say that as a result of that they should be very careful with whatever that they do in the industry. Good enough that they are now sending messages to their subscribers to gather those data, which previously were not obtained during the registration exercise. To a larger extend, MTN Nigeria has introduced a method, which other operators can adopt. In fact you can even confirm your registration through a short code. And when I did it, I was told that I was duly registered. My Airtel and Etisalat lines are barred, and I will advise them to adopt the MTN Nigeria method instead of allowing their subscribers to troop to their customer care centre to waste their time. Concerning the MTN Nigeria fine, I will plead that the Federal Government considers it from the investmentfriendly aspect of it because from the look of things I think it has gone beyond the control of the NCC. It is not proper that the regulator is seen as harsh by the global investment community. It will send a wrong signal across the globe. It is on record that it is the harshest fine that has been imposed on any organisation by a regulator across the world. It is rather unfortunate that this is happening and it is not good that we should be seen as a nation that does not want direct foreign investment in Nigeria, and don’t forget that it has made top executives in the company to lose their job. For me this is bad sign for the industry, and such the NCC and the federal government should look at the fine again. It should not be more than N400 million. I am saying this because MTN Nigeria has said that N1. 2 trillion is two and half years profit put together. And if it is true, then it is only right that investors lose only one year profit but if they begin to lose two and a half years profit then the company will die. Fortunately, the new minister said he does not want MTN Nigeria to die, and if it is so then it should not be fined more than N400 million, which is still the highest anywhere in the world. I will appeal that they temper justice with mercy. Do you think it is proper for sub-

I know that the NCC is responsible for rural telephony penetration and the issue of first national carrier and second national comes to play in this regard. They should actually go into the rural areas of the country and make sure that they develop access to voice and data services scribers who were wrongfully deactivated should ask for compensation? Although we understand that the deactivation was based on security reasons but that does not mean that subscribers should be compensated because they are due for compensation. In terms of compensation, Airtel could be said to be doing well by giving subscribers compensation. It actually promised to give its subscribers register who register their SIM cards N10, 000 worth of airtime, which must be fully used within three days but then they should look at a minimum of 30 days to exhaust the airtime. Also MTN Nigeria is giving N500 to any subscriber that registered his SIM card, and it must be consumed within a period of seven days. But then they should increase the amount. And we may to go to court on that because if you are compensating the subscriber, then you must have to be seen doing it right. The subscriber should be adequately compensated. Etisalat and Glo is the only network that is not giving compensation to the subscriber. The quality of service from mobile network operators appears to be falling. What do you think should be done? To be honest with you, the quality of service from all the operators is dropping daily. Unfortunately again, the regulator lays down the rules for SIM card sales across the entire networks. For instance, the operators are allowed to issue each numbers like 0802, 0803, 0805 and 0809 up to 10 million. But the NCC keeps giving out the number series for the operators without the capacity of their network, and the operators themselves continue to issue out new SIM card at will. In some cases the operators give out free SIM card to Nigerians so that they will have more subscribers on their network, all in the attempt of claiming to be the largest network. What should be done is that the operators must take into consideration the capacity of their network before going to the NCC for more batches of mobile number series, besides the NCC should be able to monitor the application for more SIM card series effectively. In fact, I know of a particular network operator that will give Nigerians 10 SIM card, and then say all you need do is to registered just one of those SIM card while the other nine will be linked to the only registered one but then the other nine SIM

card will be given to friends and family members. A lot of these things are done because they want to grow their network but then you must satisfy those on the network before attempting to bring new subscribers into their network. The operators are just rolling out new numbers without complimentary rollout of telecoms infrastructure. The quality of service is so bad these days, and it is among all the mobile operators without exception. Anyway let’s hope that by the time ntel, the new NITEL will be able to take over and I hope that they will be able to bring back fixed wireless phone and data services so that our internet penetration will be improved. What is your opinion on merger of NCC and NBC; do you think it is long overdue? It has been the cry of the industry for a very long time. Every stakeholder in the industry will want them to be merged because there are so many benefits that will accrue to Nigerians when they are

Ogunbanjo

merger. There are so many spectrums in the possession of NBC, of which when released to the NCC through the merger will go along towards improving broadband internet access and it will not for any reason affect the management of both of them. There are over 50 million subscribers pleading that both government organisations be merged and we are calling on the Minister to expedite action on the merging of the NCC and the NBC. We also want to plead that the President Muhammadu Buhari direct that both Commissions be merged for the benefit of 180 million Nigerians and150 subscribers. The merging is beyond the power of both Commissions, it is now the duty of the President to take action in the interest of Nigerians. So many Nigerians in the rural areas are left out of the technology revolution, particularly with regard to the deployment of internet access. How long do you think they should remain like that? I know that the NCC is responsible for rural telephony penetration and the issue of first national carrier and second national comes to play in this regard. They should actually go into the rural areas of the country and make sure that they develop access to voice and data services. There used to be a deliberate policy of rural telephony penetration but I don’t know what happened to that policy. Be that as it may, we want the National Assembly to make law that will make all mobile operators to take their services to the rural area.

Business News

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

TUC to submit proposal on new minimum wage to FG SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

rade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, has unveiled plans to submit a proposal on the review of workers’ salaries to the Federal Government. In its 13-point communiqué issued and signed by its President, Bobooi Kaigama, at the end of its National Executive Council meeting in Lagos, TUC said the statements by governors were diversionary in view of the fact that the minimum wage is due for upward review. TUC said it was regrettable that governors made excuses on issues that concern workers and the masses. The Union also noted that the question of imposition did not arise since the negotiations leading to the enactment of minimum wage passed through all the tenets of the International Labour Organisation’s tripartism. “The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, the government, as

well as the organised labour and government (as regulator), were all involved,’’ the communiqué noted. It however called on the Federal Government to settle all outstanding arrears of salaries, promotion, and other allowances owed federal workers since compilation of the indebtedness had since been concluded. In the communiqué, the organized labour group commended the Federal Government for the bail-out extended to needy states to pay arrears of workers’ salary and urged affected states to ensure that the bail-out funds were used judiciously. On fuel scarcity, TUC urged the government to revamp existing oil refineries and build new ones to end incessant scarcity and the fuel subsidy issue in the country as well as step up the fight against crude oil theft, oil pipeline vandalism and corruption in the oil and gas sector to boost employment.

IFMA Nigeria to expand capacity building programmes David Audu

n the efforts to expand growth and development opportunities to all classes of Nigerians through capacity enhancement, International Facility Management Association, IFMA, Nigeria has disclosed plans to massively expand her capacity training programmes in 2016. Speaking at the 18th Annual General Meeting, AGM, of the association held recently in Lagos, its President, Mr. Richard Okesola, disclosed that IFMA’s utmost commitment to members and nonmembers remain unchanged despite various challenges faced in 2015. He reiterated that the Council together with the Educational and Training Committee with effect from next year will begin the delivery of customized training programs for technicians, artisans, middle level Managers and the top management executives. “This will be in addition to our regular certification trainings”, he said. Okesola further revealed that last year’s experience was very challenging but equally exciting and rewarding. He explained: “With your effort and our collective re-

silience to excel we have restored our corporate brand and brought to the consciousness of the public at large, what IFMA Nigeria stands for and the need to THINK FM and LIVE FM! “Just as our nation is struggling to embrace and sustain the change mantra, our council pushed rigorously the need for our people to embrace the culture of facility management in every facet of our lives. It is the only way we can guarantee and sustain a beautiful, comfortable, healthy, safe and secured living standard with lots of economic prosperity”. The President noted further that, IFMA Nigeria will sustain the new tempo by working harder in the coming year, adding that no doubt, funding will be required to successfully execute all our plans and galvanize various stakeholders for different collaborative activities as may be organized with other professional bodies and government agencies. He projected that the benefits of these efforts would begin to get to all our members in due course, saying that the association is determined to penetrate into all government agencies and parastatals.

L-R: Managing Director, Fidelity Bank Plc., Nnamdi Okonkwo; Managing Director, Altobel Nigeria Limited, Chief Udoma Kalu and Executive Director, Lagos and South West, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, as Fidelity celebrates its valued customers for their support and patronage during the 2015 Customer Appreciation Day (CAD) at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos on Monday.

The workers’ union called on the government to review the list of 42 prohibited items in its foreign exchange policy to enable genuine manufac-

turers to access needed raw materials. It would be recalled that some state governors had noted that they could no longer pay the N18, 000 minimum

wages which has been in operation since March 2011, blaming it on poor state of the economy, caused by dwindling oil prices.

ness Luncheon of the Capital Market Solicitors Association, CMSA, in Lagos recently.   He said that Nigeria is now at a point in its development where the issue of infrastructure had become extremely critical.    “Our infrastructure deficit requires us to invest around 30 billion dollars a year for the next decade to catch up. The financing requirements are far much more than what the com-

mercial banks can cope with. There is therefore a clear gap, and the right segment of the financial market to fill the gap is the capital market”, he said.   Akinkugbe explained however that strengthening liquidity in the capital market remained crucial, especially for confidence.   He pointed out that if we had counter parties that have strong capital, there would be much more activity in the capital market.  “Currently, we really don’t have a lot of well capitalised institutions. Being well capitalised means you can make investments in distribution”, he noted   From a regulatory perspective, Ms Tinu Awe, Head Legal and Regulations, Nigerian Stock Exchange pointed out that there are three paradigm adjustments that needed to be made within the Capital Market industry.  Firstly, operators need to collaborate together to challenge the status quo of the financial market. Secondly, they need to take a look at themselves and develop some sort of ‘regulators code’ to guide the execution of their oversight functions and finally, operators must show greater willingness to be regulated.   “The nature of engagement of the capital market with the various stakeholders needs to be looked at,” Akinkugbe surmised.   “There needs to be a different model for engaging, particularly with the public sec-

Capital market primary tool to bridge infrastructure gap –Operator UDO ONYEKA

anaging Director of FBN Capital Limited, a part of FBNQuest, Kayode Akinkugbe, has said that banks alone cannot meet the requirements for Nigeria’s infrastructure financing.   He made this known as part of a panel on “The Nigerian Capital Market: A Catalyst for Change” during the 2015 Busi-

AfDB tasks world leaders on renewable energy

hairman of Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia, Assaad Razzouk has urged world leaders as well as private sector operators to invest more in renewable energy. Disclosing that such move is one of the best ever innovations in COP conferences, he said it is time for private investors in Africa to wake up and seize the opportunity. He disclosed this during a discussion on the theme, “Creating Enabling Environments for Private Sector Finance for Renewable Energy in Africa held in Paris. Hosted by the African Development Bank, the discussions centered on how African countries can make significant economic progress, if the renewable energy plan is given the attention it deserves, especially by the private sector.

The involvement of private investors in AfDB’s new renewable energy scheme can be an icing on the cake in the continent’s development drive. ‘Energy is central to any development equation and private investors need to take advantage of the opportunity this new business offers,’’ said Bruno Ban Sasson of ENGIE Africa. The case of the involvement of the private sector in renewable energy projects in Rwanda was presented with a call on other countries to emulate. ‘In Rwanda we are very keen about translating energy policies into workable solutions. The pri-

vate sector is very instrumental in this drive,” explained Alex Mulisa of the Rwanda National Fund for Environment and climate change, FONERWA.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Business News

Diamond Bank empowers 100 women with ICT skills

Isaiah Erhiawarien

Diamond Bank has empowered 100 young Nigerian women with information and communications technology, ICT, skills that would enable them support their families.   The women were taken through a six month training programme on ICT in Ibadan, Oyo State in collaboration with the Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre, WTEC.

Head, Corporate Communications Division at the Bank, Mrs. Ayona Trimnell, said that the Bank’s decision to embark on the project was borne out of the need to empower the participants with life changing skills that will ensure that they will live independent lives.    According to her, the Bank’s decision to embark on this training is a demonstration of its passion for youth development.

LASRRA to partner other agencies on biometrics

Isaac Asabor

he Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) is to partner the Nigerian Immigration Service and other relevant organizations on biometric identification as part of its efforts to encourage residents to register for the State Residency Programme. The General Manager, LASSRA, Mr. Olumide Lawal disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Immigration Service Passport Office in Ikeja, Lagos. He pointed out that the agency had the mandate to create a reliable database of all residents in the State in order to aid the government in planning and equitable allocation of resources in the State. Lawal said: “In order to ensure the success of the registration exercise, it is imperative that suitable awareness and collaboration with relevant organizations like Nigerian Immigration Service, Banking Industry (for the Bank Verification Numbers), Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) for the drivers’ li-

cense and other relevant Agencies are undertaken”. He pointed out that he was motivated to visit the Immigration office because both offices share the same objectives and ideas, affirming that, there is a new policy in the pipeline coming up for the on-going residency registration programme which will be in use to access all the state government services. In his remarks, Head of the Passport Office, Mr. Mustapha Bala-Maikaba, expressed appreciation for the visit, saying that the rationale behind the introduction of the e-passport is that no one can obtain it twice because of the use of biometrics. He welcomed the policy initiatives of the State Government and the desire for a working relationship between LASSRA and the Ikeja Immigration office. The immigration officer expressed the belief that the two offices must collaborate effectively on the biometric identification system in the country’s interest in order to combat crimes that might have been perpetuated without the identification process.

She said: “We believe that today’s youth hold the key to the future and our businesses can only thrive and face the challenges ahead if we invest in their training.   “Hence, an investment in their training is an investment in our future and will definitely pay off in the establishment of sustainable businesses”, Trimnell added.   The training programme was concluded with a graduation ceremony which was attended by officials of the Bank, staff of WTEC, representatives of the IT- facilitating partner -New Age

eading unions in the Nigerian aviation industry on Monday staged a peaceful protest against the board of the oldest airline in Nigeria, Aero Contractors. The unions, National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, and Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, alleged that the present board as constituted lacked professionalism. The unions however charged the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, which had taken over the management of the airline to dissolve the present

management over what it called mismanagement and insensitivity to staff welfare. The over 800 workers staged over three hours peaceful protest around the airport environment and ended it at the airline’s headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, MMA, Lagos, chanting solidarity songs and carried placards with annoying inscriptions to press home their demands. Speaking at the rally, the President of ATSSSAN, Comrade Benjamin Okewu, passed a vote of no confidence on the four-man board appointed by AMCON to run the airline. He explained that the pres-

latest initiative joins a list of capacity development initiatives spearheaded by the Bank in fulfillment of two of its Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) focus areas namely: Young Adult Development and Women’s Wealth and wellbeing.  It will be recalled that the Bank collaborated with LEAP Africa in 2013 to provide ICT training for 100 youth at the University of Uyo.   The beneficiaries were also trained on leadership and other skills required for personal and community transformation

L-R: Chairman, Coren Registered Engineers Investigation Panel, Mr. Nurudeen Rafindadi; Solicitors of the Panel, Mr. Abumere Osara and Mr. Joseph Oche, during the Coren Registered Engineers Investigation Panel on the collapse of Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos, in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Overland Airways commences Abuja-Jalingo flights   Olusegun Koiki

verland Airways has announced the flag off of flight services to Jalingo Airport in Taraba State from its hub in Abuja.

Unions protest against Aero Contractors board’s composition Olusegun Koiki

Technologies -as well as the students.  Speaking at the event, the bank’s Regional Manager -Ibadan Businesses, Mr. Oluropo Olarenwaju said that this year, the bank chose to focus on women because statistics show an underrepresentation of women in ICT.  He noted that the underutilization of talent only served to dampen ICT innovation, slow economic development and contribute to women’s economic and social marginalization, adding that in order to address the imbalance, Diamond Bank decided to collaborate with WTEC.   The

ent crop of management was mismanaging the airline, rather than uplift its fortunes, alleging also that plans are underway to sack over 1000 staff of the airline by the management for no just reason, stressing that the management was inept of aviation practices. Similarly, the General Secretary of NUATE, Comrade Olayinka Abioye, said that the management of the airline had been taking the unions for granted and that while the management and the board were allegedly benefiting from the airline, the workers who are critical stakeholders in Aero were not taken care of.

The airline stated that it would operate thrice-weekly flights; Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between Abuja and Jalingo.  Commenting on the new launch, the Chief Operating Officer COO, Overland Airways, Mrs. Aanu Benson, described the airline as economic development partner and catalyst in Nigeria, creating value for remote cities and communities.   Benson explained that the key objective of the airline was to fast-track national development, especially at the hinterland level, stressing that it had a deep sense of fulfillment each time it connect another potential economic powerhouse like Jalingo to the main economic hubs.   She clarified: “Today marks the beginning of a new economic frontier for Taraba State. Overland Airways is pleased to bring air connectivity to bear on the efforts to accelerate economic develop-

ment in Jalingo and Taraba State.”   Benson declared that the commencement of the flights to Jalingo airport made the airline the first-ever airline to launch flights to Jalingo airport, thereby opening the state to unprecedented economic development in tourism, agribusiness, small and medium scale industries.   She explained that the initiative was one of several characteristics that single out the airline as partner in governments’ efforts to open the hinterland for economic development   The airline had launched flights to several Nigerian secondary airports, including Asaba, Dutse, Katsina and Minna airports.  Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State expressed delight at the launch of flights to Jalingo, which, he said, would further boost the state’s economic activities.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Industry & SMEs

Towards achieving Nigeria’s industrial revolution For the realisation of Nigeria’s industrial revolution, the Federal Government inaugurated two different initiatives to work out the modalities by which the nation could be turned around for greater economic achievement. However, since their inauguration over a year ago, no achievement could be attributed to the initiatives. This has left economic analysts to doubt the possibility of getting positive achievements from the moves. ABOLAJI ADEBAYO writes on issues of kick-starting real industrial revolution in the country.

n the 6,000 years recorded history of man, four major revolutions have dramatically impacted the socio-economic life of man. Agricultural Revolution was the first and took place in 1789, followed by Industrial Revolution in 1900, the Social Service Revolution came in 1950, while the recent Information and Communication Technology, ICT, Revolution happened in 1986. It is on record also that Africa did not play any role in any of the revolutions. In Nigeria, people have been agitating for industrial revolution having identified the challenges facing the industrial sector in the country. The major problem confronting the industrial sector, according to the industrial stakeholders, is power among others. They noted that the persistent epileptic power supply in the country has forced some companies out of the shores of the country and many others out of business. The former Director General of Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Mr. John Isemede, identified unfavourable working environment brought about by government policies, high taxation, lack of infrastructure and incentives as impediment to the growth of industrial sector. Stakeholders have been calling for serious positive changes in the industrial sector especially when its rank on the World Bank ease of doing business index continues to deteriorate among other nations including African countries. Towards the effectiveness and realisation of Industrial Revolution in the country, two different ideas were birthed by the Federal Government. Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan, NIRP, was initiated through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. At the launch, the Presidency said the plan was a turning point in industrial sector. It stated that the plan would boost the revenue to be earned per annum by Nigerian manufacturers up to N5 trillion as well as set the stage for a new era of in-

Power Minister, Fashola

Industry Minister, Okechukwu Enelemah

THE TIME IS RIPE FOR NIGERIA TO LEAD THE WAY FOR THE GENERATION AND EFFECTIVE DISTRIBUTION OF SOURCES OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY IN AFRICA AND THE WORLD FOR IMPROVED ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND FOOD SECURITY dustrial, micro, small and medium enterprises development in Nigeria. “The Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan and the National Enterprise Development Programme will help to fast track the attainment of these goals. They are targeted at transforming Nigerian businesses and changing the lives of the ordinary people. It will accelerate inclusive growth and job creation and save the drain on our reserve caused by importing what we can produce locally. “The NIRP is the flagship industrialisation programme ever embarked upon by this country. It will fast-track industrialisation, accelerate inclusive economic growth, job creation, transform Nigeria’s business environment and stop the drain on our foreign reserves caused by importing what we can produce locally,” the for-

mer President Goodluck Jonathan had said. The other idea was given birth to just last year and still finding its radar towards its objectives. The National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria, NCCN, which was created through the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, has not been widely known by Nigerians. The council was saddled with the responsibility of creating competitive economic environment in the country. The Chief Executive Officer of National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria, NCCN, Chika Mordi promised that the council would take all efforts with the support from all stakeholders and private business ownership to influence any unfavourable government’s policy on economy, and work towards revolutionising the Nigerian economy. “To be successful and for the NCCN to meet its targets over the next four years, we have identified three broad areas for intervention which include, reformation of public and private institutions, including infrastructures, technological readiness, human capital (health, education, skills and training); benchmarking with international comparators on enhancing our national competitive strategy; and liaising with the World Economic Forum and other similar organisations in learning best practices for enhancing national competitiveness,” he said. However, stakeholders are in doubt of realising a positive change in the industry sector even with all the government’s initiatives in place. They said no revolution can be achieved if the government does not properly ad-

dress all the identified problems confront the industry. Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Quintas Renewable Energy Solutions Ltd, Dr. Omotayo Dairo who noted that the upcoming revolution is in the renewable energy said Nigerian industrial revolution can thrive with renewable energy in place. He said, “It is sad to note that Africa did not play any role in any of the revolutions. It is our hope that we would not exclude ourselves from the oncoming renewable energy revolution.” Speaking in the same vein, the President, Council for Renewable Energy, Nigeria, CREN, Chief (Mrs.) Anita Okuribido said apart from being a sector on its own, renewable energy also stands as economic development tool, which can quickly facilitate the required economic revolution. She added that revolution would also be felt in the agricultural sector if the renewable energy can be developed. Speaking on the benefits of using renewable energy for economic activities, Okuribido said that the use of renewable energy would result in more stable energy and low food prices, thereby bringing about economic revolution through agricultural development. Okuribido, who identified government’s policies, low local content input into renewable energy technology, lack of awareness and high cost of renewable energy equipment as the major challenges facing utilisation of renewable energy, urged the government to be more committed to the project this time around and make the policy that would encourage the use of renewable energy in the country. She said: “Renewable energy causes less pollution than the fossil fuels, it is a far more sustainable option and it can be produced locally and it stimulates local economies. The renewable energy industry also creates jobs,” she noted. “There is no gain saying that Nigeria is endowed with enormous economic potentials. A region that is so blessed with human, natural, material and agricultural resources to say the least, all of which when properly harnessed, will emerge a nation of global economic impact and relevance. “The time is ripe for Nigeria to lead the way for the generation and effective distribution of sources of alternative energy in Africa and the World for improved economic and agricultural productivity and food security.” “Renewable energy devices can be installed in rural areas to tap the abundant energy resources to boost agricultural productivity. This will improve the standard of living of the rural people and discourage deforestation and desertification. This will continue to encourage the development of renewable energy technology for agricultural activities and also reduce gross waste of agricultural products.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

EnergyWeek Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Nigeria ranks 8th on Internet user-countries globally 27

Diamond Bank empowers 100 women with ICT skills31

Capital market primary tool to bridge infrastructure gap –Operator 30

Stakeholders’ anxiety mounts as electricity accidents take toll on lives, property The takeover of power sector operations by Electricity Generation Companies, GENCOs and Electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs is expected not only to improve power supply nationwide but also ensure avoidable accidents in the sector. CHIDI UGWU, however reports that increasing incidents of electrical mishaps have continued to elicit stakeholders’ concerns as there are no indications of immediate solution to the debacle for now.

hen private operators took over the electricity assets of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, (PHCN) nationwide in 2013, there were hopes that sanity would be brought to bear in the Nigerian electricity industry and that electrical accidents would be reduced to the barest minimum. But this has not been the case. It appears that private investors’ battle to reduce the rate of electricity accidents is slow in yielding the desired results, at least for now, as incidents of electrocution and other forms of mishaps are still being recorded in the industry from time to time since the privatization of the power sector entities. Indeed, the worrisome trend has continued to create anxiety as well as concern among stakeholders, especially consumers of electricity, regulators and the standards monitoring agency over the seeming inability of the new owners to bring these unfortunate accidents to an end. Statistics from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) released in July 2015 showed that about 655 people had been affected by electrical accidents within the last four years. Among the victims comprising electricity workers and electricity consumers, 349 others died while 306 sustained various degrees of

injuries. The breakdown showed that in 2011, about 73 deaths and 64 injuries occurred, while 72 people died and 34 were injured in 2012. The rate increased in 2013 when 82 persons were reported dead and another 107 people sustained injuries from electrical accidents. Fifty injuries and 73 deaths were reported in 2014, and between January and June this year, 51 persons were injured while 49 died of electrocution.

Beyond June 2015, there have been cases of electrocution, including the death of vandals hanging on power lines. In August and September, when power supply hours increased significantly, cases of electrocution were recorded in parts of Lagos, Enugu and Abuja. While the case of an undergraduate, Oluchi Anekwe electrocuted by a snapped cable in September 2015 at the University of Lagos campus remains fresh, those of eight-year-old

Neglect of the extant rules and maintenance procedure

is rife, while complete abuse of safety rules even by very experienced staff in the industry is not uncommon.

All manners

of material slip through the ports and boarders into

Nigeria.

Carelessness in application of basic rules is prevalent, with

cases of unwarranted risk taking

Faith Yakubu and seven-year-old Samuel Ayodele, which occurred in August and November 2015 respectively, are the latest in Abuja. Although sanctions have been meted to the Abuja Distribution Company (Disco) for the negligence, as NERC’s investigation revealed, and an N18 million fines ordered in the Faith Yakubu tragedy, the Commission indicated that it is still investigating that of Master Ayodele, just as it is doing the same for Eko Disco on Oluchi’s electrocution. Investigations showed that some stakeholders, especially NERC would need to step up efforts in order to reduce or completely eliminate the accidents. The Commission has already constituted a Safety Code Review Panel for Operating Companies in the sector. In a bid to change the course of electricity delivery that would ensure high efficiency of the networks and safety of utility workers and the general public, a 12- member panel has been set up by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. This took place on Thursday, 30th July, 2015 at the Commission headquarter, in Adamawa plaza, Abuja. The panel comprises two persons CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

Energy Week

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Stakeholders’ anxiety mounts as electricity accidents take toll on lives, property

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33

representing generation companies, specifically hydro, two from Transmission company of Nigeria, two from Distribution Company. Also inaugurated are two persons representing independent power producers, with three persons to cover consumers in the following category, domestic, commercial and industrial. An appointee of the Commission is also a member. The Commission described electricity consumption per capita, as one of the indices used to assess the development of any country, thus the importance of the safety code review panel. The Chairman of the Commission, Dr,. Sam Amadi had indicated that: ‘’ The code has provided that a health and safety code review panel consisting of qualified industry health, safety and environment shall be constituted to take on the function of reviewing , monitoring and complementing the code as part of the reforms within the electricity industry in Nigeria.’’ The Commissioner, Engineering Standard and Safety, Dr Abba Ibrahim, had maintained that the setting up of the panel is meant to ensure high standard in the industry that would produce best practice, which makes it very imperative for them to be focused. He maintained that the panel shall be responsible for improving and developing the code through regular review, consultation, research and other methodologies found appropriate from time to time. Members shall be appointed for a term of two years, renewable for another term of two years only and no more. Ibrahim added that the panel shall keep the health and safety code and its implementation under review; among which is the review of all suggestions for amendment as well as publication of recommendations as to the amendment and the reasons for the recommendations, to the Commission. He indicated that the health and safety officers shall consider what changes are necessary to the safety code arising out of any unforeseen circumstance referred to it by users of the generation, transmission, distribution networks or to NERC. Ibrahim disclosed that all proposed revisions from operating companies shall be sent to the Chairman of the panel, who will advise the panel with notice of no more than 20 business days. Meanwhile, the highlight of the meeting was the election of an 8-member Executive Council, followed by the administration of oath of office by a legal practitioner on them The Commission had also launched the Health and Safety Code (HSC) in August 2014 to guide operators in the generation, transmission and distribution value chain. However, experts

Buhari

Amadi

said the Commission did not fully consider a critical stakeholder - the electricity consumer. Speaking during the unveiling session in Abuja, the NERC Chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi said that the Health and Safety Code (HSC) was henceforth to be used by operators in the Nigerian electricity supply industry (NESI) in pushing for a zero-accident rate in the power sector operations. A fortnight ago, the Nigerian Electricity Management Services (NEMSA) organized a stakeholders’ forum in Abuja to sensitize the public on the dangers of electricity and how to increase safety measures. A key presentation stated that even in the post-privatization, “neglect of the extant rules and maintenance procedure is rife, while complete abuse of safety rules even by very experienced staff in the industry is not uncommon. “All manners of material slip through the ports and boarders into Nigeria. Carelessness in application of basic rules is prevalent, with cases

of unwarranted risk taking,” the presentation stated. Stakeholders agreed that most electricity accidents occur in the distribution section of the value chain as it interfaces directly with customers. They traced causes to live wire snaps resulting from use of substandard and low size wires, contact with unduly exposed electrical equipment, contact with line through poorly maintained vegetation, neglect of safety rules by staff, and failure/explosion of equipment in the circuit. NEMSA officials also said attitude of staff in the privatised power industry is yet to change, while touts are still very much in control at distribution facilities. The agency’s Managing Director, Engr. Peter Ewesor, who urged stakeholders to be more safety conscious in using electricity said, “Enforcement requires the services of professional engineers, technologists and technicians with specialized technical skills and expertise and other ancillary staff

The way these people handle wires when they come to connect or disconnect

customers is worrisome.

They

do it negligibly, caring less if it could harm others who have no knowledge in the field

to deal with these functions towards ensuring safe, reliable and stable networks.” A former Director of the Electrical Inspectorate Services (now NEMSA) at the Ministry of Power, Engr. Hyelampa Nggada, said that regulations were being challenged by severe resistance from customers. He said some individuals and organizations do argue that they may never have heard of an electricity inspectorate, hence their collaborative effort to ensure safety is poor. “Some claimed to be knowledgeable enough in electrical installations and do not need any ‘intruder’ inspecting their facility, and had used their installation for a long time without any accident so can as well do without inspection,” he said. Some customers at the forum expressed worry on negligence of Discos and urged them to conduct intensive trainings for their field staff, while monitoring the safety compliance level. “The way these people handle wires when they come to connect or disconnect customers is worrisome. They do it negligibly, caring less if it could harm others who have no knowledge in the field,” one Mr Akpagu Yusuf who resides in Nyanya, Abuja, said. However, Yusuf and others are optimistic that this and other negative attitudes could be changed through regular training and retraining of engineers and other persons directly and indirectly involved in generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.

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Energy Week

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

OPEC predicts low oil prices in 2016 UDEME AKPAN

he Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, has predicted low oil prices in 2016. In its latest report, the cartel indicated that world economic growth figures remain unchanged at 3.1per cent for the current year and 3.4per cent in 2016. The cartel also noted that with slightly stronger growth in the US and lowerthan-expected growth in Japan in 3Q15, the OECD growth forecast remains at 2.0per cent for 2015 and 2.1per cent for 2016. The organisation disclosed that the 2016 growth forecast for China remains unchanged at 6.4per cent, following estimated growth of 6.8per cent this year. It indicated that India is expected to grow by 7.6per cent in 2016, unchanged from the previous report, while the growth estimate for the current year has been revised down to 7.3per cent. The organisation maintained that world oil demand is anticipated to increase by 1.53 mb/d this year, averaging around 92.88 mb/d. It indicated that these projections are 30 tb/d higher than last month’s estimate, mainly as a result of better-thanexpected consumption in OECD Europe and Other Asia. For 2016, global oil demand growth is expected to increase by around 1.25 mb/d, unchanged from the previous report, averaging 94.13 mb/d. It disclosed that Non-OPEC oil supply is estimated to grow by 1.00 mb/d in 2015 to average 57.51 mb/d. According to OPEC, this represents an upward revision of 0.28 mb/d from

Oil vessel

the previous report, driven mainly by actual production data from the US, UK, Brazil, Russia and China. It stressed that for 2016, non-OPEC oil supply is now expected to contract by 0.38 mb/d to average 57.14 mb/d, following a downward revision of 0.25 mb/d. OPEC NGLs are expected to grow by 0.17 mb/d in 2016, compared to an increase of 0.16 mb/d this year. The organisation maintained that in November, OPEC production according to secondary sources rose by 230 tb/d from the previous month to average 31.70 mb/d. It indicated that product markets in the Atlantic Basin strengthened during November on the back of positive performance of the top of the barrel. The cartel maintained that gasoline and naphtha were supported by strong regional demand amid export opportunities, which improved margins and offset the lack of winter support.

Meanwhile, Asian margins remained healthy on the back of higher seasonal demand in the region and a stronger petrochemical sector. It maintained that the demand for OPEC crude in 2015 is estimated to stand at 29.4 mb/d, an increase of 0.4 mb/d over last year and representing a downward revision of 0.2 mb/d compared to the previous report. However, the price of OPEC basket of 12 crudes stood at $33.76 per barrel on Friday, compared with $34.69 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

Oriental Energy takes over operations of Ebok field

riental Energy Resources Limited has taken full operational control of the Ebok field from Afren Plc’s wholly-owned subsidiary Afren Resources Limited, providing working capital to fund all operations, while absorbing key operations’ personnel, ensuring that the company has the technical capability to operate the asset independently and safely, in line with its long term strategy. The company, which has 60 per cent equity of the Ebok and Okwok assets, indicated in a statement that a transition plan has been put in place for the development of the field. It maintained that following the implementation of the Ebok Field Transition Plan in August 2015, Oriental has taken full operational control of the Ebok field from Afren plc’s wholly-

owned subsidiary Afren Resources Limited, providing working capital to fund all operations, while absorbing key operations’ personnel, ensuring that the company has the technical capability to operate the asset independently and safely, in line with its long term strategy. It disclosed that since assuming control, Oriental has assumed full responsibility for funding field operations. The company maintained that it has transferred the employment of 100 key Afren Commercial, Legal, Technical and operational staff to Oriental directly, assuming direct responsibility for their upkeep and the London and Houston offices. Oriental indicated that it has started the process of completing the transfer of all technical agreements and con-

tractual agreements related to the Ebok field, and have assumed responsibility for all costs for field operations from 1 August 2015. It maintained that the company has presented to and received the formal support of the Department of Petroleum Resources and its Partners and Farmors in the OML 67 NNPC ExxonMobil JV in its assumption of full operational control of the Ebok field. It disclosed that these measures demonstrate Oriental’s clear capability to assume both financial and technical leadership for the on-going and safe production operations at Ebok, and the further field development that has been planned. The company re-iterated that all interested parties who may have an

Commodity

Units

Price

Change

% Change

Time(ET)

Crude Oil (WTI)

USD/bbl.

36.40

+0.78

+2.19%

14:40:24

Crude Oil (Brent)

USD/bbl.

37.96

+0.03

+0.08%

14:39:46

TOCOM Crude Oil

JPY/kl

28,740.00

-130.00

-0.45%

13:59:43

NYMEX Natural Gas

USD/MMBtu

1.90

-0.09

-4.67%

14:39:59

Source: Bloomberg as at December 14, 2015

interest in pursuing a commercial opportunity in any of the Oriental-Afren JV properties in Nigeria, which includes the Ebok, Okwok, and OML115 licenses, that any acquisition, transfer, or purchase of an economic interest in any petroleum license area in Nigeria is subject to the prior approval of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and its Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR); ExxonMobil and NNPC as the Farmors of the Ebok and Okwok Fields; and Oriental Energy Resources, as the Nigerian 60per cent participatory interest owner and Operator for the Okwok, Ebok, and OML115 assets. It maintained that any interested party seeking to pursue a commercial opportunity on the Ebok or Okwok licences, is required to assume all partner carry obligations, and to pay the entire outstanding and material outstanding Contractor debts incurred by the Afren entities and all defaulted and breach obligations previously covered by Afren.

Energy Week

Shell to sack 2,800 workers globally

oyal Dutch Shell said on Monday that it planned to cut 2,800 jobs following its mega takeover of smaller rival BG Group. “Shell currently expects an overall potential reduction of approximately 2,800 roles globally across the combined group, or approximately three percent of the total combined group workforce,” Shell said in a statement. The company, which has a Nigerian operating company – Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, said its planned £55bn merger with BG Group cleared its last international regulatory hurdle as it received unconditional merger clearance from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The green light comes after similar approvals in Brazil, the EU and Australia. “This is a strategic deal that will make Shell a more profitable and resilient company in a world where oil and gas prices could remain lower for some time. We will now seek approval from both sets of shareholders as we move towards deal completion in early 2016,” said Shell CEO Ben van Beurden.

MegaGroup’s Bosnian plant targets initial phase capacity of 120mw/yr

taly’s MegaGroup said its silicon ingots and wafers production plant set to open in Bosnia’s Dubica by the end of 2016 will have a nameplate capacity of 120mw per year during the first phase of the project. The first phase of the construction is worth 12.5 million euro ($13.7 million), while the company’s entire planned investment in Dubica is valued at some 35 million euro, MegaGroup said in a press release on Friday. The company said it recently signed a land purchase agreement for a 20,000 sq m plot with the northern municipality of Dubica for the construction of the new plant. “We aim to start the production of mono and policrystalline silicon ingots and wafers by the end of 2016 in order to provide the raw materials for cells and modules production. This is the first step towards the creation of a world photovoltaic hub,” MegaGroup president Franco Traverso said. The output will be earmarked mainly for MegaCell, a MegaGroup subsidiary, which produces highefficiency bifacial solar cells and modules in Padua, and also for joint venture plants that the Group has been establishing abroad for the production of bifacial cells and modules and innovative bifacial solar systems. MegaGroup added that it chose the Bosnian industrial site, already equipped with infrastructure, because of its favorable conditions for energy-intensive production.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Minister vows to recover MDAs’ electricity debt CHIDI UGWU

he era of the electricity bills being owed to Distribution Companies, DISCOs may soon be over as the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, has said the ministry would recover outstanding electricity debt owed by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) after the power privatisation in November 2013, to sustain the power sector. It is gathered that government agencies, and the military owe the bulk of the electricity bills which is said to be running into billions of naira, weighing down the capacity of the Discos to remain effectively in business. He said that he would increase government spending on improve transmission network and availability of gas supply to generation

companies. The Association of the Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) had decried the alarming debt being owed by MDAs and security agencies. “As government and consumer of power, MDAs, we must show example, at the three tiers of government by paying up backlog of power bills and ensuring from there that we pay for what we use. “This ministry intends to champion this at the federal level and we hope that the state governors, heads of parastatals, the NASS, the military, the police among others will find this a very worthy undertaking,” he said. A choking debt of about N49,305,181,196.66 owed the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) in the country is one of the impediments against their efficient operations.

Transmission line

According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the debt is owed by federal and state governments’ departments and agencies, including the military and police. It was learnt that of the figure N27, 635,968,440.69 was accumulated since the hando-

ver to private sector firms in November 2013. The owners of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company alone are owed N7 billion. Officials say such a huge debt overhang could frustrate effort by Discos to provide more meters and upgrade their networks for efficient service delivery.

Fuel scarcity: IPMAN accuses NNPC of hypocrisy CHIDI UGWU

he Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigerian (IPMAN) has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC is being hypocritical over the issue of the lingering nationwide scarcity of petroleum products. The Chief of Staff to the National President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigerian, Mr. Chinedu Ukadike, in a telephone interview said the Corporation is not telling the truth with regard to

Fuel scarcity

supply, adding that most of the tank farms are empty. He said “NNPC is not sincere about the whole issue of supply. There is no product anywhere most of the tank farms are empty. If there is product marketers will load” Meanwhile, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said that 149 trucks loaded with petrol were supplied to Abuja and its environs last week Tuesday. The Head, Public Relations of DPR, Mr Mohammed Saidu, in a statement in Abuja, said that the supply brought the number of PMS supplied to Abuja between Monday and Tuesday to 294

trucks. Saidu said the measure was to ease off fuel queues at filling stations in the city. He added that 145 trucks were earlier supplied on Monday. Giving the breakdown of the PMS supplied on Tuesday, he explained that 99 trucks were supplied to Abuja city with Forte oil receiving four trucks, while Conoil received 10. According to him, Mobil has eight trucks, as MRS gets seven, while Nipco and Oando have six and 11 trucks respectively. He stated that Total plc received 14 trucks, while NNPC retail was allocated 34 as IPMAN had five. He said that 50 trucks were dispersed to immediate and extended environment of the capital city. It will be recalled that the DPR Director, Mordecai Ladan, had earlier warned petroleum products marketers against engaging in sharp practices. He said any station caught would face sanctions, including N2 million fine and licence revocation It is recalled that NNPC had recently apologised to Nigerians for the hardship experienced in purchasing petrol, while it also stated that it had entered into a partnership with security agencies in the country to assist in the monitoring of fuel supply across

the country. He said: “We must all make sure that petroleum products get across to Nigerians at the regulated price especially as the yuletide season approaches. We have enough products and we want to plead with the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTDs) not to be involved in the diversion of petroleum products in order to avoid causing untold hardship to motorists.” Providing insight on the role of the security agencies in curbing product diversion, Managing Director of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, said the DSS and EFCC have been mobilized to bring to book any marketer involved in sabotaging the efforts of the Federal Government in making petroleum products available to motorists across the country. She said: “We have invited the EFCC and DSS to join us in this campaign of monitoring the movement of petroleum products and they have our mandate to sanction any errant marketer. Enough is enough.” She urged Nigerians and other motorists to desist from panic buying assuring that there are sufficient petroleum products to satisfy local consumption.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

From The Civil Service Why unionism can’t work in NOUN –Survey Adeola Tukuru, Abuja

non-governmental organisation, the Vox Populi Foundation International, has revealed that the high quality of education being delivered by the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, may be jeopardised if unions are allowed to be introduced into the system. According to the report compiled after gathering the opinions of students of the institution from the 36 states of the federation, the coordinator, Anita Fagbemi, said the survey showed the sttudents raising their objections to the formation of union in the school, saying agitation by union members often leads to strike which will impede smooth running of the institution. The management of the institution has been at loggerheads with students and staff over the ban placed on union activities. A student, Yahaya Suleiman, said he supported the management’s decisions because he would not want the university to be dragged into what his colleagues in conventional higher institutions have to grapple with often in the course of running their programmes. He said, “Contrary to the proliferation of students and staff in conventional universities where the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nonacademic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), state chapters of students association and local government and villages of students associations are part of university education. “NOUN is an open university where mature Nigerians who are engaged in daily jobs are admitted

Some newly promoted officers of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) after their decoration with their new ranks in Ibadan, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

to learn and may not have time for associations,” he said. Another student, Emmanuel Ajayi, who studies Security Studies at the Illorin Study Centre, said, “This has made the institution to be unaffected by strikes such as the last ASUU strike which lasted

for eight months and crippled academic activities in most public owned universities.” It would be recalled that at the 14th matriculation of the school, the vice-chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Vincent Tenebe, had said “the formation of stu-

dents and staff unions and associations are not permitted in NOUN. This is due to the diverge nature of our students and staff in terms of age, class, status, professional callings as well as belonging to many existing unions and associations.” Another reason adduced for the restriction is for

speedy growth; more so, the Act which established the university prohibits any form of union either among staff or students. “NOUN students have always and will continue to be immune to any form of strike,” reiterated the NOUN boss. Meanwhile, some staff at

the Wuse 2 study centre also objected to union activities, saying they are capable of destroying the achievements recorded so far by the present administration in terms of speedy completion of studies as at when due, innovations in ICT, expansion on courses accreditation and some other achievements of the present VC. They accused their colleagues and some students of trying to use the guise of unionism to bully and blackmail the VC. Alechenu Awodi, a Psychology student at the Otukpo Study Centre in Benue State, while speaking in support of the ban equally wanted some genuine improvements like distribution of course materials at the point of registration. For Maryann Obi, an English Language student at the Enugu Study Centre said she was excited about the news that she would participate in the forthcoming NYSC programme which is the joy of every University graduate in Nigeria.

FG seeks collaboration from UK on cultural development

•Says culture industry is key to diversification of Nigeria’s economy Joel Ajayi Abuja

he Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has called for assistance from United Kingdom for the development of untapped abundant cultural heritage in the country. The minister made this call in Abuja when the Country Director of British Council of Nigeria, Ms. Connie Price, paid him a courtesy visit in his office. He noted that lack of passion of past administrations had contributed to failure of creativity industry in

FG moves to streamline water sector

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Nigeria. He stressed that partnership between the two countries would go a long way to boost the cultural integration for growth and development. According to him, Nigeria is endowed with tourist resources, both natural and man-made, yet it had not been able to adequately satisfy the demands of tourists. “It is very glaring that Nigeria’s culture and tourism arefaced with problems due to the fact that greater percentage of cultural leaders and Nigeria’s population lack recreation culture. “I think one area we have

little capital investment is in the area of culture and what we are doing right now is that we can annex these abundant cultural heritage to boost our economy. “Nigeria fails to develop her cultural heritage; the hunger, the passion is lacking over the years and this has been the challenge. “There is virtually no state in Nigeria today that cannot boast of three, four or five cultural industries, either pottery, painting, textile making or leather works,” he said. Alhaji Mohammed identified inadequate knowledge and the capacity to translate

MDGs refutes diversion of contractors’ debt

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the nation’s abundant cultural heritage into a viable economy as the bane of the sector. He therefore sought the assistance of the British Council to support his ministry to surmount the challenges. “This is one area I believe you can assist us either in the area of capacity building or in the area of infrastructure. But more importantly in the area of organising how these things work in a cooperative manner,” he said. The minister also sought the support of the British Council in assisting the

agencies under his ministry to rediscover their capacity and revive the cultural industry as a major source of revenue for the nation. Earlier in her remarks, the Country Director, British Council of Nigeria, Ms. Connie Price, noted that the diversification of the economy had been a huge challenge in Britain because of the country’s over-reliance on industries. Her words: “Nigeria is a blessed nation, but it can only make lasting impact on the world if Nigerian appreciates their culture and make tourist sites attractive to the world.”

FG can’t fund local vaccine production –Minister

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Civil Service

Regina Otokpa

n line with the mandate of the present administration, the federal government has undertaken steps to streamline activities within the water sector. This was made known by the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, during a thre- day retreat organised by the Ministry of Water Resources for all directors and managing directors of River Basin Development Authorities and heads of agencies under the ministry in Abuja. According to him, the retreat was aimed at strengthening the weak areas in the delivery of the ministry’s mandate and to develop a road map that would enable a sustainable positive impact in the water sector within a short period, based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Framework. Laying emphasis on the need to examine the role and status of the River Basin Development Authorities to foster agricultural and economic growth, he maintained that it was important to ensure that the sector assumed its rightful place, adding that the urgent task before the ministry was to align with one of the components of the present Administration’s Change Agenda, which was Agricultural Development. Adamu said “I expect that this retreat will in particular, examine the role and status of the 12 River

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FG moves to streamline water sector Basin Development Authorities in meeting up the demand of the new Agricultural Agenda. I dare say that much of our success during the life of this administration will depend on effective performance of the River Basins.” He noted that agriculture was one of the major focuses of the government, however, currently only 15% of the 3.1 million hectares of irrigable land is equipped with facilities for all year round farming. Meanwhile, in the eleven-point communiqué issued at the end of the

retreat, the participants had recommended that “the draft National Water Resources Policy and National Water Resources Bill should be quickly finalised and presented to appropriate authorities for consideration and ascent. “The ministry should own and fast track the development of the framework for implementation of the revised 2013 master plan. “The ministry’s projects should be realistically prioritised and road map developed for four year development plan (2016-2020),

considering governments dwindling resources. Furthermore, the procurement Act 2007 should be strictly adhered to. “The ministry should set up a committee to produce a draft blue print and action plan to strengthen the RBDAs to deliver on their mandate of integrated rural development. Also, “the ministry should explore other available windows of financing water projects such as donor financing and PPP option. “The ministry should strengthen the institution-

al framework and mainstream SDGs as they relate to water resources development. In another development, the federal government has expressed readiness to partner with the Spanish government to develop water and irrigation infrastructures in the country. According to Adamu, the possible areas of collaboration would include water supply, irrigation, capacity building, dam safety and improving the performance of the River Basin Development Authorities. He however called on

NEXIM boss denies allegation by CESJET over appointment

L-R: Representative of the Director-General, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Mr. Victor Ojogbo; Director, Inspection and Enforcement, Mrs. Miranda Amachree, and Director, Partnership Education, Mr. Aniefo Akpabio, during NESREA National Regulatory Dialogue on the Implementation of National Environmental Regulations in Nigeria, in Abuja on Monday.

Senate to review laws relating to gender-based violence Regina Otokpa

he Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday said the upper legislative assembly would review all existing laws related to Gender Based Violence, (GBV). Speaking at the sensitisation meeting on implementation of the guidelines on gender based violence and young persons in Nigeria, organise by Women Arise for Change Initiative, he noted that the implementation of laws would be speedy. While noting the dangers of GBV on the future of the society, he stressed that it was a barbaric national challenge, to which all hands needed to be on deck to ensure the act was totally eradicated from the country. He said: “Gender Based Violence is one of the most persistent human right crimes in the world, one of the least prosecuted offences, and one of the greatest

Spain to study the Nigerian National Resources Master Plan to aid in arriving at specific areas of interest to enhance fruitful, mature partnership. In his remarks, the Deputy Head of Mission, Spain Embassy, Mr. Ignacio Japia Garcia, explained that there had been a long standing relationship between both governments in the oil sector. According to him, there was need for Spain to look at Nigeria’s water resources potential, given that Spain was also working towards diversifying its economy, and had the technology to help Nigeria manage its water resources potentials.

coercion to lasting peace and development. “These human rights violations pose serious consequences for us all and our future generations if left unaddressed. Efforts being made at various quarters to ensure peace and security, reduce poverty and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals will be futile without addressing these crimes. “No society can be developed or move forward with these incidents of violence. Let me state it here today that if we decide as a nation that violence against young person must stop, nothing stops us from pursuing it as an ideal and achieving it. What we must be reminded is that we all have made a choice as a people and choices have consequences. “We must all resolve to work across all our political prejudices to honestly confront the challenge of GBV against young person in our country as a matter of right

for every child. “Senate will be prepared to support all initiatives in this direction. The implementation of laws should be speedy. We also need to review all laws relating to these issues and ensure they can adequately address the problem,” Saraki added. In his keynote address, Senator Dino Melaye disclosed that GBV includes physical violence, sexual violence and psychological violence with sexual violence topping the chart. He explained that “In addressing the issue of GBV and young persons, attention needs to be paid to the fact that they are not only survivors, but also perpetrators. “Sexual violence seems to constitute the most prevalent form of GBV affecting youths. The survivors are increasingly between the ages of 1 and 17 years, which includes adolescents. In most cases the perpetrators of GBV against young persons,

are people known to them; people they know, love and trust. GBV against young people occurs in both the public and private spheres, including homes, workplaces, schools, religious environments, on the streets.” Melaye noted that although there were ongoing interventions both by government and non-governmental organisations to protect women, children and young persons from various forms of abuse, more needed to be done. In her remarks, the President, Women Arise for Change Initiative, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, stressed the need for relevant authorities to strengthen existing laws that would help to reduce or totally eradicate GBV. While lamenting the epileptic judicial process in addressing cases including GBV related cases, she said, “We need to strengthen the legal process so that when the judicial process takes its

course, it can serve as a deterrent. “Since the inception of women arise in 2013, we have had 2404 reported cases and it is saddening to say that out of all only two men came to report that their wives were beating them. Out of all these cases reported we have only secured seven convictions. “At times the victims gets tired because of the slow pace.” Okei-Odumakin added that “People need to realise that collectively we need to work together, there must be a synergy between the survivors, the victim, and the National Assembly so that at the end victims must speak out. “Those at the National Assembly that are representative of the people should know that if they cannot speak out against violence then they are for violence. When all of us speak out, we will ensure that we stop it,“ she said.

he Executive Director, Business Development of the Nigerian Import Export Bank (NEXIM), Mrs. Folake Itohan Oke Salami, has denied allegation that she lied on oath in order to retain her post. The allegation which was made by the Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency, CESJET, is contained in a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, complaining that the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, refused to act on a petition before it on the NEXIM boss. But in a letter signed by A. J. Osayande, Esq. , counsel to the NEXIM boss, dated December 10, 2015, and made available to National Mirror, she said the claim of CESJET was in bad taste. According to the NEXIM boss, the content of the petition had wrongly presented her as one who would do anything to retain her office. It would be recalled that CESJET had, in its petition, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the chairman of the ICPC, Barrister Nta Ekpo, because the commission had refused to act on the petition before it to look at the appointment in NEXIM. CESJET said it wrote to the ICPC on 5th of June giving the details of the case in NEXIM, but the commission did not attend to it.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Civil Service 39

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

FG can’t fund local vaccine production –Minister Adeola Tukuru, Abuja

igerian government cannot realistically fund local vaccine production especially in a depressed economy like Nigeria’s, Minister for Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has said. Prof Adewole, who was represented by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, during the round table stakeholders meeting on local vaccine production in Nigeria yesterday in Abuja, explained that the increasing cost of vaccine procurement and recent graduation of Nigeria from the Gavi eligibility bracket due to rebasing of economy could make it difficult for the country to meet up with her vaccine procurement target. He said it was necessary that the government encouraged and supported local capacity for vaccine production to ensure uninterrupted supply. “Efforts to continue vaccine production at the Federal Vaccine Production Laboratory and National Veterinary Research Institute could not continue due to inadequate political will; lack of financial support and commitment by all stakeholders “Afterwards, Nigeria have since depended solely on importation of the required vaccines, and majority are given free of charge to mothers and their children,” he said. He however reiterated the passion of the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buahri, that implementation of universal health

coverage was non-negotiable. “Access of Nigerians to all necessary vaccines is one of our key priority,” he said. The minister also assured that the current administration would continually support the implementation of Global Vaccine Action plan (2011-2020) and the on-going Global Immunisation Vision and Strategy (GIVS). Earlier, the executive director for the National Primary health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Ado Muhammad, explained that the path to Nigeria’s revitalisation of the erstwhile vaccine production capacity at the federal vaccine production laboratories, Yaba, Lagos which once produced yellow fever and anti-rabies vaccines up till the 1990s had been quite challenging with nu-

merous economic and political challenges. He further explained that the several unsuccessful efforts to enter into a joint venture agreement with private

drug manufacturers between 2005 and 2015, “finally has heralded the strongest and most sustained effort led by the government of Nigeria to ensure the commencement of

local vaccine production.” “This clear political will and effort has been strengthened by proposed multinational partner support through ongoing nego-

L-R: Programme Coordinator, 21st Century Community Empowerment for Youth and Women Initiative, Mr. Lukman Adefolahan; Representative of Minister of National Budget and Planning, Mrs. Olushola Mshelia, and Chairman, State of the Union, Mr. Okeke Anya, during a One-Day Policy Dialogue on Advocacy to Strengthening CSOs Partnership in Policy Implementation and Monitoring of People Oriented Agricultural Development in Nigeria in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

MDGs refutes diversion of contractors’ debt Adeola tukuru, Abuja

he Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals, OSSAP-MDGs has denied allegations of diversion of funds, embezzlement and misappropriation of funds meant for the payment of debts as alleged by some contractors reportedly being owed by the office. The contractors, through their counsel, Victor Giwa had raised the allegations in an open letter written to the President Muhammadu Buhari. The position was further re-echoed during a protest in Abuja on yesterday. In a statement issued by the office and

tiations, deliberations and discussions with technical partners who have already indicated strong vested interest in local vaccine production in Nigeria,” he said.

signed by the Media Consultant to OSSAPMDGs, Desmond Utomwen, the management claimed that “no money has been diverted or tampered with as alleged.” It noted that the allegation by the contractors and their backers that the funds budgeted for settlement of past contractual commitments was being diverted for the execution of fresh contracts was untrue and portrayed their ignorance as to the workings of government financial procedures. The statement further noted that the demand by the contractors that money should be taken from other budgetary subheads to settle their old obligations was

not within the competence of the office as that required the authorisation from the National Assembly. “The Appropriation Act is a law of the country, which is passed by the National Assembly and signed by Mr. President. Any variation or virement of funds from one sub-head to another is not within our competence. The Office is therefore obliged to implement the provisions of the 2015 Budget especially in the implementation of pro-poor projects and programmes in line with the Change Agenda of the present administration and the mandate of the Office.” It stated further that, “It is common

knowledge that under the Treasury Single Account, TSA, currently being operated in the country, all public funds are domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria and can only be accessed through the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform, which is managed by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation. “In all financial transactions we are guided by the provisions of the Public Service Rule (PSR), the Financial Regulation (FR) and the Public Procurement Act, 2007 amongst other Extant Rules and Regulations.” While expressing the commitment of

the office to offset the outstanding commitments, the management stated that “the Office has not received cash-backing for the Second Quarter release as alleged. Only the First Quarter has been released and over N2 billion out of that has been used to settle past contractual commitments.” It maintained that “earlier this year, precisely in June, the sum of N5 billion was also utilised 100% to settle past contractual commitments; and it is further proposed that when the Second Quarter cash backing is received, a similar commitment of over N2billion is to be used to settle the liabilities of contractors, amongst others.”

North

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

CBN to assist electricity companies with N213bn Abdulgafar Oladimeji Kano

he Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, would through its intervention funds expend the sum of N213 billion to pursue the stabilisation of power generation and distribution in the country. The bank’s director responsible for the development of infrastructure yesterday in Kano disclosed that the apex bank opted to intervene in the power sector owing to complaints from power distribution companies. According to him, power distributions companies were under the yoke of lack of payment by consumers culminating into the lack of money to enable these companies purchase metre and other crucial accessories needed in ensuring smooth flow of power supply. The bank made the disclosure during an inspection of 100.000 meters purchased by Kano

Electricity Distribution Company, deputy director of the bank in charge of Intervention Department, Elder Ebeneboh, disclosed that, out of the proposed N213 billion, only 30 percent of the amount has been released. He stated that the intervention fund is to enable power distribution companies to offset gas debt inherited from PHCN, purchase tamper proof metres in turn, ensure smooth power supply and boost revenue generation. Ebeneboh said the intervention fund is fashioned to be spent on power generating companies, power distribution and offsetting inherited gas debt. The Chief Operating Officer, Kano Electricity Distribution Company, Rahul Singh, said the acquisition of the metres would impact on the provision services to electricity consumers in Kano, Jigawa and Katsina states.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Gombe to pay varsity lecturers N400m salary arrears Williams Attah

Gombe

ombe State Ministry of Higher Education says it has reached an agreement with members of the state university chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to begin the payment of N400 million arrears of salary and allowances owed the lecturers from 2009 to 2013 by January next year. Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Daniel Musa Mohammed, made this known to journalists while reacting to an ultimatum issued by state university ASUU members last week over their readiness to commence strike action if

their demands are not met. Musa said the state government has reached an agreement with the university to commence the clearance of all the accumulated arrears by the beginning of next year. According to him, the agreement was reached in a meeting between Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo with the university council where it was resolved that, the university shelve their proposed strike action and allow the government work towards tackling the issue. He explained that government had been consistent in allocating over N160 million to the university on a month-

ly bases and have also been working towards clearing all accumulated allowances and entitlements within the first quarter of 2015, but that such efforts were not fruitful due to the sudden economic meltdown. He said: “ The price of crude oil when the agreement was reached with ASSU was $140 and now it is hovering around $38, so you can see the drop, and it is not as if it happened gradually, it was a sudden drop, and you can imagine what the government is passing through under such economic constraints, it became very difficult for the government to pay those arrears.” He stated. Mohammed explained further that in other to

clear such accumulated allowances, government has resolved to include it in the 2016 budget with a view to commence the payments on monthly basis along with workers monthly salaries. Gombe State University ASSU had last week warned that it will go on strike if the state government refuse to pay the balance of arrears owed them between 2009-2013 including, Excess Workload, Responsibility Allowances, Study Grants termed Earned Academic Allowances, EAA, to deserving academics, as provided in the 2009 agreement following the dispatch of the bailout funds to states sometimes in August or September this year.

MDGs deny diverting money meant for contractors’ payment Adeola tukuru Abuja

he Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals, OSSAP-MDGs, has denied allegations of diversion of funds, embezzlement and misappropriation of funds meant for the payment of debts as alleged by some contractors reportedly being owed by the office. The contractors, through their counsel, Victor Giwa, had raised the allegations in an open letter written to the president. The position was further re-echoed during a protest in Abuja yesterday In a statement issued by the office and signed by the Media Consultant to OSSAP-MDGs, Desmond Utomwen, the management claimed that “no money has been diverted or tampered with as alleged. It noted that the allegation by the contractors and their backers that the funds budgeted for settlement of past contractual commitments is being diverted for the execution of fresh contracts is untrue and portrays their ignorance as to the workings of government financial procedures. The statement further noted that the demand by the contractors that money should be moved from other budgetary sub-heads to

settle their old obligations is not within the competence of the office as this requires the authorisation from the National Assembly. “The Appropriation Act is a law of the country, which is passed by the National Assembly and signed by Mr President. Any variation or virement of funds from one sub-head to another is not within our competence. The office is therefore obliged to implement the provisions of the 2015 budget especially in the implementation of pro-poor projects and programmes in line with the change agenda of the present administration and the mandate of the office.” It stated further that: “It is common knowledge that under the Treasury Single Account, TSA, currently being operated in the country, all public funds are domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria and can only be accessed through the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, GIFMIS, platform, which is managed by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.” “In all financial transactions we are guided by the provisions of the Public Service Rule, PSR, the Financial Regulation, FR, and the Public Procurement Act, 2007 amongst other Extant Rules and Regulations.”

L-R: Bauchi State Governor, Muhammed Abubakar; his wife, Hajia Hadiza, and Principal, Government Girls Science Secondary School (GGSSS), Kafin Madaki, Hajia Hadiza Zailani, during the governor’s inspection visit to GGSSS Kafin Madaki in Ganjuwa Lga of Bauchi State, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Jang condemns renewed violence in Plateau James Abraham Jos

ormer Governor of Plateau State and Senator representing Plateau North, Jonah Jang, has condemned last Sunday’s attacks by gunmen in Jos South and Riyom Local Government Area of the state which left 20 people dead and properties destroyed. Both Kwata and Gwolhoss villages where the attacks occurred were

situated in his constituency. Jang in a statement signed by his media aide, Chris Gyang, and made available to journalists in Jos yesterday, expressed regret over the incidents saying that it once again demonstrated the level to which the culture of violence was gradually taking root in our society. While lamenting that these attacks were becoming too frequent and leading to the loss

of more and more lives and properties, the senator challenged security agencies to be more proactive, move more swiftly and change their tactics in order to stop the situation from deteriorating into total lawlessness Jang also appealed to the people of these and other affected communities to remain calm and law abiding, assuring that as a member of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intel-

ligence, he was working in concert with fellow law makers, security agencies at all levels, interest groups and NGOs to bring sustainable peace to these areas. He pointed out that the recipe for peaceful coexistence in the Northern Senatorial Zone and indeed the country as a whole was for people living together to have mutual respect for one another, irrespective of tribe and religion.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Capital Market

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Market capitalization down 78bn on panic sell offs Stories: Johnson Okanlawon

enchmark indices of the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday reverted to 26,950.76 points after panic sell-off that occasioned trading activities for the day. Specifically, the index lost 229.04 points or 0.84 percent from the opening figure of 27,179.28 points. The Market Capitalisation also lost N78 billion to reverse the gains of the last three days due to profit taking.

The market value, which opened at N9.344 trillion, dropped by 0.84 percent to close at N9.266 trillion. Market analysts attributed the development to profit taking embarked by investors to take advantage of the gains recorded in the last three trading days. Nestle Nigeria Plc topped the losers’ chart, dropping N10.30 or 1.27 percent to close at N800.00 per share. Guinness Nigeria Plc came second with N5.45

or 4.28 percent to close at N122.00 per share, while Lafarge. Africa dipped by N1.99 to close at N90.01 per share. Seplat Plc declined by N3.49 or 1.66 percent to close at N206.51 per share, while Nigerian Breweries depreciated by N1.90 or 1.60 percent to close at N117.10 per share. On the other hand, Unilevr Nigeria Plc led the gainers’ table with N2.05 or 4.88 percent to close at N44.05 per share. Flourmills Nigeria Plc

followed with a gain of N1.02 or 4.86 to close at N2.02 per share, while Julius Berger Plc rose by N1.89 or five percent to close at N39.70 per share. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc (ETI) grew by 74 kobo to close at N16.64 per share, while Pressco Plc appreciated by 20 kobo or 62 percent to close at N32.50 per share, while In all, investors staked N3.169 billion on 189.320 million shares in 3,265 deals.

Stanbic IBTC boosts market with security lending product

n line with its tradition of highlighting opportunities that would help investors derive optimal value for their investment, Stanbic IBTC Bank, has launched the Securities Lending Product in the Nigerian capital market. Securities lending involves the temporary transfer of securities from one party (the Lender) to another (the borrower) for a fee. These transactions are facilitated through an intermediary acting as agent or principal intermediary between the lender and borrower. Speaking at the launch in Lagos, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Yinka Sanni, said as a member of a global banking group, Stanbic IBTC has a respon-

sibility to help grow the capital market through products and initiatives that could help investors harness investment opportunities that exist in Nigeria. According to him, the bank is the largest African bank by assets and market capitalization, and has been in operation for over 153 years, with strategic representation in 20 countries in Africa, including South Africa. Sanni stated that investors need to spread their investment options into different financial derivatives, and in doing this, minimize risks associated with tying investments in particular stocks and securities. Diversification into different asset classes, he added,

reduces risk levels,while offering higher returns. In driving success for the product, he said the bank will be relying on its extensive product knowledge and expertise; rich technology capability; access to lenders and borrowers to drive utilisation; sound risk management fundamentals and extensive reporting capability. “We are delighted to be introducing the Stanbic IBTC Securities Lending Product into the Nigerian market. “The product launch is a further demonstration of our commitment to facilitating stability and growth of the Nigerian capital market, via confidence-building initiatives and leveraging investment opportunities in the market. Other derivatives

will be introduced in the future,” Sanni stated. The Chief Executive Officer of the Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema, noted that various initiatives have been introduced to strengthen the capital market, including the derivatives market. He described the investment opportunities in the capital market and Nigeria’s economy as huge. Despite the prevailing challenging operating environment and the attendant indifferent performance of the capital market, characterized by low level investor confidence, he explained that there still exists enormous investment opportunities for Nigerians to leverage.

Global equities rally as oil bounces off multi-year lows

lobal equity markets rallied yesterday as oil prices moved away from multi-year lows, though investors remained mindful of the possibility for more volatility ahead of a widely anticipated increase in US interest rates later this week. Oil reversed early falls as bargain hunters moved in after crude dropped to its lowest level since December 2008 in the prior session. The bounce helped lift equities in both the US and the Europe. The S&P energy index rallied 2.4 per cent as the best performing of the 10 major S&P sectors, putting it on pace for its biggest daily percentage gain in a month. “I would use the word ‘relief’ that oil is not down, that

is a good thing,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey. “What the Fed does and says tomorrow could change everything on a dime.” The first US rate rise since 2006 is largely priced in, as traders see an 83-percent chance the central bank will lift its targeted rate range to 0.25 percent to 0.50 percent from the current zero to 0.25 percent range, according to CME Group’s FedWatch program. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 204.58 points, or 1.18 percent, to 17,573.08, the S&P 500 gained 25.3 points, or 1.25 percent, to 2,047.24 and the Nasdaq Composite added 62.37 points, or 1.26 percent, to 5,014.60. MSCI’s all-country world

index rose 0.9 percent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rallied 2.8 percent, on track for its best day since October 5. Brent crude climbed 1.3 percent at $38.40 after falling as low as $36.33 a barrel on Monday, its weakest since December 2008. U.S. crude advanced 1.9 percent at $37. Prices have been falling for weeks due to a global glut of oil and, in the northern hemisphere, a mild start to winter. Low oil prices and worries about higher interest rates have unnerved investors through the energy-dominated US high-yield corporate bond markets. Massive amounts of debt sold by energy and mining companies since 2010, much of it in the form of high-yield

or ‘junk’ bonds from small shale gas firms, is facing a wave of credit rating downgrades, and defaults are rising.

Source: NSE

Market indicators All-Share Index 26,950.76 points Market capitalisation 9.27trn

Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

% CHANGE

JBERGER

37.81

39.70

1.89

5.00

LEARNAFRCA

0.81

0.85

0.04

4.94

UNILEVER

42.00

44.05

2.05

4.88

FLOURMILL

21.00

22.02

1.02

4.86

ETI

15.90

16.64

0.74

4.65

LAWUNION

0.70

0.73

0.03

4.29

MAYBAKER

0.96

1.00

0.04

4.17

CONTINSURE

0.97

1.01

0.04

4.12

FIDELITYBK

1.36

1.39

0.03

2.21

AIRSERVICE

1.86

1.90

0.04

2.15

CHANGE

% CHANGE

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING

SKYEBANK

1.47

1.33

-0.14

-9.52

TRANSCORP

1.52

1.44

-0.08

-5.26

ETRANZACT

2.80

2.66

-0.14

-5.00

HONYFLOUR

1.60

1.52

-0.08

-5.00

NNFM

8.99

8.55

-0.44

-4.89

PORTPAINT

3.76

3.58

-0.18

-4.79

FCMB

1.90

1.81

-0.09

-4.74

DIAMONDBNK

2.38

2.27

-0.11

-4.62

UACN

23.68

22.61

-1.07

-4.52

UNITYBNK

0.67

0.64

-0.03

-4.48

FGN Bonds

8.2

MPR

Crude oil price

$58.96

Exchange

Rates (N)

WAUA

270

USD

196.96

EURO

214

CFA

0.32

YEN

1.64

SWISS FRANC

202

POUNDS STERLING

293

SDR

273

Offer

Bid Description

Price

Yield

Price

Yield

15.10 27-APR-2017

1.37

108.60

8.29

109.60

7.55

16.00 29-JUN-2019

3.54

117.63

9.96

118.63

9.65

15.54 13-FEB-2020

4.16

115.10

10.92

116.10

10.64

16.39 27-JAN-2022

6.12

122.09

11.28

123.09

11.08

14.20 14-MAR-2024

8.25

116.23

11.13

117.23

10.96

10.00 23-JUL-2030

14.60 91.75

11.15

92.75

11.01

Rate (%) Inflation

CLOSING

Closing Market Prices of December 15, 2015

Treasury Bills Maturity Date

Bid

Offer

17-Mar-16

1.33

02-Jun-16

5.00

5.12

01-Dec-16

5.53

5.84

NIBOR Tenor

Rate (%)

O/N

0.9933

8.8969

10.7784

12.9809 CBN Clearing Rates of December 15, 2015

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This is to inform the general public that OBITUBE OKECHUKWU WALTER VINCENT and OKECHUKWU WALTER VINCENT is the same person, that I now wish to be known, called and addressed as OBITUBE OKECHUKWU WALTER VINCENT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

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I formerly known and addressed as JANET AKPAN Now wish to be known, called and addressed as ROSELINE LONGE All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm that I, ONIFADE MARY ENIOLA is one and the same person known, called and addressed as ONIFADE MARY OLUTAYO. That all documents bearing both names are mine and hence remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

SAKA: I, formerly known and addressed as DR. SAKA SAMSIDEEN, now wish to be known, called and addressed as DR. SAKA SAMUSIDEEN. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

ERNEST: I, formerly known and addressed as ERNEST UGOCHUKWU TOM, now wish to be known, called and addressed as TOM MICHAEL ERNEST. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

NNAMANI: I, formerly known and addressed as NNAMANI UGONNA PETRONILLA, now wish to be known and addressed as NNAMANI UGOCHI LUCIA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I Formerly Known and addressed as Akibu Ismaila now wish to be known and addressed as Olufowobi Ismaila.All former documements remain valid,wema Bank plc and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

PUBLIC NOTICE I Gabriel O. Nwobi whose C of O document got lost in 2013, has been found. Thus the C to C which was provided by Ministry of Lands Enugu, now remain Null and Void. Public take note.

This is to confirm that ,LEPE ODUNJO AYOLA is the same person as LEPE ADEBANJO AYOLA .That any document bearing any of the names remains valid. FCMB Bank, Ecobank, UBA Bank, Heritage Bank and the general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Tijani Olumuyiwa now wish to be known as Tijani Muyiwa Akintade Afolabi. All Former documents remain valid. General public please take note

I formerly known and addressed as  SAMUEL PATIENCE SOLOMON Now wish to be known, called and addressed as NYAH PATIENCE FELIX All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as BENJAMIN CHIGOZIE DENIS, now wish to be known and addressed as BENJAMIN CHIGOZIE DENIS UMEH. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Sullivan Chidiebere Nwannewuihe, now wish to be known and addressed as Sullivan Chidiebere Echere. All former document remain valid, general public take note CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

This is to confirm that KOSIN SYLVIA is the same one person as KOSIN AKPEVWE. That henceforth wish to be known and addressed as KOSIN SYLVIA AKPEVWE. All former documents remain valid. Banks and General public should please take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as MISS OJO ADUKE RACHAEL Now wish to be known, called and addressed as MRS OLAYISADE RACHEL ADUKE All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

OYALAKIN: This is to inform the general public that my name was wrongly spelt as OLUSHOLA OYALAKIN instead of OYELAKIN OLUSHOLA ADISA. henceforth I wish to be known and addressed as OYELAKIN OLUSHOLA ADISA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

I formerly known and addressed as Rotimi Raphael Olu now wish to be known as Akinnawo Rotimi. All Former documents remain valid. General public please take note

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CORRECTION OF NAME

CHARLES: Formerly known and addressed as CHARLES DANIEL PATRICK now wish to be known and addressed as OKECHUKWU CHARLES PATRICK. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

I formerly known and addressed as Muri Wasiu Ayinde now wish to be known as Ismail Wasiu Ayinde. All Former documents remain valid. General public please take note

This is to confirm that I, JIMMY TORCH is one and the same person as JIMMY LELEH TORCH. All documents bearing my names remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

IKECHUKWU: Formerly known and addressed as INNOCENT IKECHUKWU R. now wish to be known and addressed as IBEMERE IKECHUKWU.. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

I Jemilehin Ayodeji Samuel is the same and one person as Mosele Ayodeji now wish to be known and addressed as Jemilehin Ayodeji Samuel all former documents remain valid Fidelity Bank, UBA plc and general public take note

My name was mistakenly written as Adeola Anuoluwapo Adeola in my BVN instead of Adeola Anuoluwapo Latifat. CBN, general please take note

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm that OBIOCHA UHUEGBU EUGENE is the same one person as UHUEGBU CHUKWUNEDU EUGENE and OBIOCHA EUGENE. That henceforth wish to be known and addressed as UHUEGBU CHUKWUNEDU EUGENE. All former documents remain valid. First Bank, UBA, ECObank and General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Musa Mistura Adetutu now wish to be known as Ogunfowora Mistura Adetutu . All former document remain valid, general public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

MUSA: I, formerly known and addressed as MUSA NICHOLAS SALUFU MARVELLOUS USMAN, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MUSA MARVELLOUS NICHOLAS. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

BISHUNG: I, formerly known and addressed as ANNA TEMITOPE BISHUNG, now wish to be known, called and addressed as ANNA TEMITOPE OYEBODE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

UGWU: I, formerly known and addressed as MISS FRANCISCA C. UGWU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS FRANCISCA CHIEKWE ODOH. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwabukola Oluwafunke now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ebeynokwu Oluwabukola Oluwafunke .All former documents remain valid,Zenith Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I Formerly Known and addressed as Mrs Oso Oluwatoyin Funmilola now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adebayo Oluwatoyin Funmilola.All former documements remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Uche Amaeze, now wish to be known and addressed as Thankgod Amaeze. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as MRS. UNEGBU ERNESTINA, now wish to be known and addressed as MISS. NWACHUKWU ERNESTINA. All former documents remain valid. Authorities concerned and General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

MAJEKODUNMI: I, formerly known as MISS MAJEKODUNMI OLAYEMI THERESA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS BANJO OLAYEMI THERESA. All former documents remain valid. MTN, ERICSSON and General public to take note

CHANGE OF NAME

AKANBI: I, formerly known and addressed as ABBEY BASHIRU IBRAHIM AKANBI, now wish to be known, called and addressed as ABIODUN ISMIL AKANBI. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

UBAH: I, formerly known and addressed as UBAH EBELECHUKWU JULIANA, now wish to be known and addressed as UBAH EBELECHUKWU AUGUSTINA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Johnson Folorunsho Koya now wish to be known and addressed as Adetiba Folorunsho.All Former documents remain valid. General public please take note

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Mr Oso Emmanuel Temitope now wish to be known and addressed as Mr Adebayo Emmanuel Temitope .All former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Saidu Nuhu Maodachi now wish to be known as Saidu Nuhu Abdulhi. All Former documents remain valid. General public please take note

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Chioma Osiri now wish to be known as Miss Marth Kalu Osiri. All Former documents remain valid. General public please take note

I formerly known and addressed as Shefu Abuh now wish to be known and addressed as Micheal Monday. I formerly known and addressed as Shefu Abuh .All Former documents remain valid. General public please take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME OZOR: Formerly known and addressed as OZOR SOLOMON CHINEDU now wish to be known and addressed as CHUKWUMA SOLOMON CHINEDU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Mr. Udanyi John Efa now wish to be known and addressed as : Mr. David John Ejo. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Andaowe Esther now wish to be known and addressed as Andaowei Esther Rachael. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Anita Ify Felix  now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Anita Ify Anagor. All former documents remain valid. General public take note .

NGOZI: Formerly known and addressed as MISS NGOZI ROSEMARY MBA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS NGOZI ROSEMARY ASIEGBU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as  UGWU RAMSON Now wish to be known, called and addressed as UGWU GENEROUS CHINWEUDO All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Blessing Adaku Amadiegwu now wish to be known as Mrs Adaku Dialaeme. All former document remain valid, general public take note

I formerly known and addressed as  NNABUAGHA OGECHI OKEOMA Now wish to be known, called and addressed as IKE SOPHIA OGECHI All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note

Formerly known and addressed as Yemi Omolola now wish to be known and addressed as mrs Odeyemi Oluwayemisi Eunice all former documents remain valid and general public tale note.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Yuletide: Fire service, CIRSM harps on safety consciousness Ebere Ndukwu

ommanding Officer, Federal Fire Service, FFS, Lagos State, AderemiOlusola has called on employers, employees, businessmen and women, industries,

and the general public to be more safety conscious in all their activities, saying that a healthy work place was a place where everyone works together to achieve an agreed vision for health and wellbeing of workers and the surrounding community. He stated this at a recent

two days workshop entitled ‘Fire Prevention and Risk Management, the Way out of Death’, organised by FFS in conjunction with Corporate Institute of Risk and Safety Management, CIRSM, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, and Safety Warehouse Limited, SWL.

Olusola emphasised on the need for safety consciousness, advising that

CHANGE OF NAME

people should make use of fire bracket, sand and fire extinguishers in companies, CHANGE OF SURNAME

EWEGBEMI: I, formerly known and addressed as EWEGBEMI OMOTAYO ANIKE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as JOSEPH OMOTAYO GRACE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

TOLANI: I, formerly known and addressed as TOLANI EBENEZER, now wish to be known, called and addressed as TOLANI OSHINKAYODE. All documents bearing my former surname remain valid. The general public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

offices, homes and kitchens to curtail the rising incidence of fire outbreaks. LOSS OF ORIGINAL MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE

JOHNSON DOGO. That i got married to the said MR. JOHNSON DOGO on the 13th day of March, 1995 at Alhaji Isah Ejiga Compound in Ejule Local Government Area in Kogi State of Nigeria. That the marriage certificate issued in respect of the marriage got lost in transit. All efforts to trace same proved abortive. General public take note.

FAUSAT: Formerly known and addressed as FAUSAT ADENIRAN TEMITOPE now wish to be known and addressed as AFUSAT TEMITOPE AHMED YUSUF. All former documents remain valid. General public take note .:

NKADI: Formerly known and addressed as NKADI IWERUMOR now wish to be known and addressed as BADA ESTHER IWERUMOR. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

Formerly known and addressed as Adebesin Taiwo Ayomikun now wish to be known and addressed as Fayomi Taiwo Ayomikun all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Mulikatu Oluyemisi Safiriyu now wish to be known and addressed as Alice Oluyemisi Akinsanya all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Shokoya Gbemisola Abosede now wish to be known and addressed as Makanjuola Gbemisola Abosede all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as miss Bello Olabisi Silifat now wish to be known and addressed as mrs Atunde Olabisi Silifat all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as miss Mogaji Ganiyat Abisoye now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Abdulazeez Ganiyat Abisoye all former documents remain valid and general public take note

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CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as miss Sanni kudirat Adebukola now wish to be known and addressed as mrs Adebajo Kudirat Bukky all former document remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Kayode Olanipekun Mebude now wish to be known and addressed as Kayode Akeem Olanipekun Mebude all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is confirm that I, SHEWU ABIODUN ALLIOWE in one and the same person as ABIODUN ALLIOWE. All former documents bearing the above names are valid. General public please take note. CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as MISS OTUYEMI ADEOLA SAIDATU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OLUWO ADEOLA SAIDATU. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Samuel Glory Ezekiel, now wish to be known and addressed as Okon Glory Ukpong. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

OSHOORUN : Formerly known and addressed as OSHOORUN MODUPE DORCAS now wish to be known and addressed as MICHEAL DORCAS MODUPE . All former documents remain valid. Skye Bank Plc, First Bank Plc and General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known as Chukwunonso Malachy Udeh now wish to be known and addressed as Chinonso Malachy Udeh, All former documents remain valid, general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Paulinus James Eke, now wish to be known and addressed as Joseph Benedict Ugwuanyi. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as NWANKWO CAROLINE NWAKAEGO now wish to be known and addressed as ANIERE CAROLINE NWAKAEGO. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I hereby declare that my name was mistakenly used as IKECHUKWU SAMUEL JAMES instead of IKECHUKWU SAMUEL OKOROJI as contained in my Access Bank Account. All former documents remain valid. General public please take.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm that AYANRINO QUDUS OLUWASEUN SEMAWON, AYANRINO QUDUS OLUWASEUN and AYANRINO QUDUS SEMAWON is one and same person that is known, called and addressed by the above names. That all documents bearing all the names are mine and remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as FUNMILAYO YEMISI ODULANA, now wish to be known and addressed as FUNMI SALIMON. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Opeyemi Oluwafunmilola Williams, now wish to be known and addressed as Opeyemi Oluwafunmilola Olorunmeyan. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

Alhaja Jummai Ibrahim is one and same person as Wakilatu Amure now wish to be known and addressed as Alhaja Jummai Ibrahim all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

This is to certify that Gboya Adedayo Sunday is same and one person bearing Gboya Adedayo Sunday, David Omoperimi Adedayo, David Omoperimi Sunday but henceforth which to be known and addressed as Gboya Adedayo Sunday all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

This is to certify that Ogunberu Oluwaseye Ezekiel is same person as Ogunyombo Ogunberu and now wish to be known and addressed as Ogunberu Oluwaseye Ezekiel all former documents remain valid Banks and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Mr Benson Ajibola is same person as Mr. Benson Ademola all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as GANIYU ABASS LEKAN, now wish to be known and addressed as TAOHEED OLALEKAN ABASS. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Akpanke Cletus Akomaye, now wish to be known and addressed as Akpanke Christopher Unimna. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Onah Mathew, now Odey James and my date of birth is 25th April 1991. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Sunday George Agboyo, now wish to be known and addressed as Okopi George. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Jimoh Ramota Omobolanle, now wish to be known and addressed as Oseni Ramota Omobolanle. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Bello Omotolani Olayinka, now wish to be known and addressed as Abolarinwa Omotolani Olayinka. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Adiele Goodnews Okeoma, now wish to be known and addressed as Adiele John Okey.  All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

This is to confirm that I, Yusuf Mutala Yahaya is the same person as Mutala Yaya. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

EROMOSELE. I formerly known as Miss christiana Iguehi EROMOSELE, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. christiana Iguehi ADEBAYO. ALL former documents remain valid. General public take note.

UDOMOH: Formerly known and addressed as UDOMOH BABATUNDE ANTHONY now wish to be known and addressed as UDOMAH BABATUNDE ANTHONY. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OMOWORARE:Formerly known and addressed as MISS OMOWORARE FELICIA BOLAJI now wish to be known and addressed as MRS UDOMAH BOLAJI FELICIA. All former documents remain valid. LAUTECH Teaching Hospital and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME UCHENNA: Formerly known and addressed as UCHENNA FRANCIS now wish to be known and addressed as NWOGHA UCHENNA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as Mrs Odufuwa Ajoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Otenaike Ajoke Idaiat. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

I Formerly known and addressed as BENJAMIN AKUOMA OKORO, now wish to be known and addressed as BENJAMIN AKUOMA OKO UKPAI. All former documents remain valid, general public should please note.

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CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known as Simiat Anike Mustapha now wish to be known and addressed as Ahmed Simiat Mogbojubola,former documents remain valid, general public note.

I formerly Soliu Ayinla now wish to be known and addressed as Buhari Soliu Ayinla, All former documents remain valid. General public note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly Kofeosho Taiwo James now wish to be known and addressed as Taiwo James Ayo, All former documents remain valid, General publc take note.

Formerly Alimot Folashade Oyedeji Idris Folashade Eniola Meshioye Folashade Alimat now wish to be known and addressed as Idris Meshioye, All former documents remain valid, General public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Yusuf kazeem, now wish to be known and addressed as Aremu kazeem. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME Alhaji kachalla Galadima is the same person bearing Yohanna Nyangla Galadima. All former document remain valid. General public please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as NWAEZE CHIDI OFOR now wish to be known and addressed as OGECHIDI OFOR. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as TEMITOPE ADEBANJO now wish to be known and addressed as TEMITOPE AFOLABI. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as AIBANGBEE ABIMBOLA now wish to be known and addressed as ALONGE ABIMBOLA.All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

Formerly known and addressed as AROMASHODUN ADIJAT AYINKE, now wish to be known and addressed as BELLO ADIJAT AYINKE. All former documents remain valid. General public please take.

DARAMOLA : Formerly known and addressed as MISS DARAMOLA CATHERINE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS IPADEOLA CATHERINE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly Beatrice Ugianbeye Amgbeye now wish to be known and addressed as Beatrice Libue, All former documents remain valid, general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Musa Ishaq , now wish to be known and addressed as Moses Isaac Gentle. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as LADI CHRIS, now wish to be known and addressed as LADI AWINTE. All former documents remain valid. General public please take.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as AKUNESEOKWU ONYEKA NICKSON, now wish to be known and addressed as AKUNNESEOKWU ONYEKA DICKSON . All former documents remain valid. General public please take.

CHANGE OF NAME

AKIN: I, formerly known and addressed as AKIN OLA ADAM, now wish to be known, called and addressed as OLUSEGUN DONALD OSEYEMI. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Joshua Olasunkanmi James, now wish to be known and addressed as Afuye Abiola Olasunkanmi, born on 14th of September 1993. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. Formerly known and addressed as Kenechi Chris Uwaoma, now wish to be known and addressed as Rock Chibuikem Chris David. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

To confirm that I am one and same person bearing GWOM GLORIA FLORENCE YAKUBU and FLORENCE YAKUBU as obtainable in some of my documents. CHANGE OF NAME

OMOBUDE: I, formerly known and addressed as OMOBUDE BLESSING, now wish to be known, called and addressed as BENSON BLESSING IMOETINA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

ONU: I, formerly known and addressed as ONU LUKE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as ONU LUKE ILOBOLUCHUKWU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

ANIDEBE: I, formerly known and addressed as PATIENCE OZIOMA ANIDEBE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as PEACE IFEYINWA ORAMULU. All former documents remain valid. General public to take note.

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KEKE: I, formerly known and addressed as KEKE LOVETH, now wish to be known, called and addressed as KEKE UGOCHI QUEENETH. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

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OMOIJADE: I, formerly known and addressed as OMOIJADE FLORENCE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as FREEDOM VERA OBAMEN. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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OGONOR: I, formerly known and addressed as ESTHER OGONOR, now wish to be known, called and addressed as ESTHER AYODELE. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as NURUDEEN OLANREWAJU, now wish to be known and addressed as AMINU OLANREWAJU ALOWONLE . All former documents remain valid. General public please take.

CHANGE OF NAME

EMMEDIONG: I, formerly known and addressed as EMMEDIONG VICTORY EMMEDIONG, now wish to be known, called and addressed as PEACE EFFIONG AKPAN. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

MUSA: I, formerly known and addressed as MUSA PAUL, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MOSES PAUL. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

Wednesday December 16, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

I am not injured and I really don’t know where the media got the injury story from. I have trained well with team mates

Mourinho ashamed for inability to read matches

–Juventus midfielder, Kwadwo Asamoah

NFF asks

Siasia to submit programme now Joel Ajayi ABUJA

T Siasia with the AFCON U-23 trophy won by his team, on arrival at the Lagos Airport on Monday

Mikel dreams Rio 2016 Olympics C

helsea midfielder, Mikel Obi, has said he wishes to feature for Nigeria at next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as one of three over-aged players, africanfootball. com reports. The 28-year-old Mikel has won almost every major trophy at stake including

the UEFA Champions League and English Premier League, but he has so far missed out on playing at the Olympics. Incidentally, it was Coach Samson Siasia who left him out from the 2008 Beijing Olympics after he had stayed away from the qualifiers for the competition.

“He has made it clear he wishes to play at the Rio Olympics,” a top official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) specially revealed. “But it is left for the coach to pick who will be the overage players he will take along to Brazil next year.” For the 2008 Olympics, Siasia took along

Ozase Odemwingie and Victor Anichebe as overage players. After missing from the football events at the London 2012 Games, Nigeria, back under Siasia, will lead Algeria and South Africa to the 2016 Olympics next summer after they clinched the U-23 AFCON in Senegal last weekend.

he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has called on Coach Samson Siasia to as a matter of urgency submit his team’s programme for participation in the 2016 Olympics on time to avoid a firebrigade approach. NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, gave the advice in Abuja when the AFCON U-23 trophy won in Senegal was handed over to him in the absence of the president, Amaju Pininck. Sanusi, who was full of praises for Siasia and his team said, “We are very delighted. And we must give credit to the players and the officials led by Coach Samson Siasia. “We are happy to receive this trophy from you, but there is one thing I want to you to do as soon as possible because it’s no longer news that Nigeria will be represented when the Rio 2016 football event in Brazil kicks- off. “As a federation, we want you to submit your programmes for the sports fiesta in Brazil; we believe if this is done on time it will help to avoid a fire-brigade approach.” Siasia later told National Mirror that he was celebrating his team’s triumph in Senegal in three folds: for winning the trophy, securing Olympics ticket and the release of his mother by kidnappers, who abducted her in Bayelsa on the eve of the start of the tournament. He, however, urged the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the NFF to ensure the team begins early preparation for the 2016 Olympics to avoid a repeat of the miserable experiences of the African championship.

Mikel ruing lost chance

Sports

Wednesday December 9, 2015

Mourinho

ashamed for players’ inability to read matches

Mourinho

Wike claims success of U-23 team Dennis Naku

PORT HARCOURT

ivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has congratulated the Dream Team VI for winning the African U-23 Championship and qualifying for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In a statement issued on Monday by Simeon Nwakaudu, the Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media, Wike stated that the success of the U-23 Team justifies the investment of his administration in creating an enabling environment for international and domestic football to thrive. The governor said he is happy

that the team coached by Samson Siasia started their qualification journey in Port Harcourt with the match against Congo Brazzaville at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium with the full backing of the Government and People of Rivers State. He particularly congratulated Coach Samson Siasia, his technical crew and the players for ensuring that Nigeria emerged victorious. Wike stated that his administration will continue to use sports as a tool to empower the youths, pointing out that development of a sports agenda is being executed in that direction. He assured that he will continue to support the various national teams to attain success as he believes that sport is a unifying factor.

Falode

helsea manager, Jose Mourinho, is bemoaning his failing ability to read games correctly and said he felt his “work was betrayed” following his side’s Monday 2-1 defeat by Premier League table toppers, Leicester City. The defending champions suffered their ninth league loss in 16 games as Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez scored for the Foxes at the King Power Stadium, a situation the Portuguese manager says makes him to feel ashamed. It leaves the Blues in 16th position, just a point above the relegation zone. “One of my best qualities is to read the game for my players and I feel like my work was betrayed,” Mourinho told BBC Sport. “One possibility is that I did an amazing job last season and brought the players to a level that is not their level and now they can’t maintain it.” Chelsea only lost three

times last season as they cantered to the title by eight points from Manchester City. They now find themselves at the wrong end of the table and come up against second-bottom Sunderland on Saturday. “I accept we are in the relegation zone, but I don’t accept we are in a relegation battle,” added Mourinho. “You look at the table and we are there, but you think you are in a relegation battle if you think you are there for three or four months. I don’t think that.” Mourinho said he had “no complaints” with his players in training but said it was “frustrating” to see “what they do in matches.” The Portuguese also said the Champions League spots were now out of reach. “We can’t finish top four, but we can still finish top six because so many teams are dropping points,” he said.

AFN targets 3 medals at Rio 2016

Wike

Falode thanks S’South Congress, lauds NFF achievements oremost sports journalist and Women’s Sports Development icon, Aisha Falode, has sent her words of thanks and encouragement to the South-South Congress of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), following the body’s endorsement of her as the candidate for the NFF Women’s League leadership. Falode, said the body headed by Rivers FA Chairman and Chairman of NFF Legal Committee, Barr. Chris Green, is an outstanding body for choosing her to run for a position as important as the NFF Women’s League Chairmanship. “Seriously, I am short of words, humbled and will like to thank my kiths and kins in the South-South for this trust bestowed on me. I promise that when the time is ripe I will again

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officially thank them.” Falode said following her SouthSouth endorsement, she is now waiting for the rules of the elections to the rolled out before she throws her hat into the ring. In another breath, she congratulated the leadership of the NFF led by Amaju Pinnick for the huge strides it has made in recent times and hopes the NFF Congress that meets in Abuja today, will not only pass a confidence vote but give the NFF Executive Committee a pat on the back. “If a federation wins the U-17 World Cup, the U-23 CHAN tournament, qualifies for virtually all tournaments in both the male and female cadre, I think they deserve praise and support from all sports loving Nigerians.”

he Technical Manager, Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Yusuf Alli, says the federation’s target is to win at least three medals at the forthcoming 2016 Olympic Games Alli told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos that the AFN was seriously working to ensure that the country had a good outing in Rio. “All countries are focusing on the 2016 Olympics and for athletics, our target is nothing less than three medals. We hope to have a good performance,” he said. The Olympics is scheduled for August 5 to August21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Alli, a gold medallist at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, said that the nation hoped to do better at the 2016 Africa Senior Championships. “We hope to repeat or surpass the record of what we had in 2014. Though the focus is mainly on Olympics but we are not undermining the African Cham-

pionships either,” he said. Athletics Team Nigeria won 10 gold, six silver and one bronze medals at the 19th Africa Senior Championships held in Marakech, Morocco in 2014. The 20th Africa Senior Championships is scheduled for June 22 to June 26 in Durban, South Africa.

Ogba

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Sports

Wednesday December 9, 2015

Midweek League with PAUL EREWUBA 08032138738

Table

Unpaid salaries:

FC Taraba players besiege Govt House again, dare security agents

rotesting FC Taraba players have vowed never to leave the gate of Taraba State Government House until the governor has addressed their 11-month salary palaver. The players slept in the open hamattan weather on Monday night as they reconvened after the governor failed to honour his words to pay them four months of the 11 months salaries excluding match bonuses. One of the players who pleaded for anonymity said they were determined to continue with their non-violent demonstration as long as it takes the governor to hear them out, adding that the suffering is getting too much. “We passed the night (Monday) outside the gate of the government

house in Jalingo and I tell you we are not ready to leave the spot or hear anybody’s appeal but the governor himself. “On Monday, the Commissioner for Sports came to address us but we told him that we do not believe in him as his past promises have not yielded any result. “Later the Commissioner of Police came to inquire what the issues were and thereafter he reminded the Sports Commissioner of the need to do the needful as our presence constitutes a threat to security. “However, unlike the previous protest in which some military men molested and manhandled us, the Police men were sympathetic to our plight and actually provided security for us

during the night. “So we are continuing with the protest and we will not vacate the gate until we have seen the governor. “We are walking corpses, so it does not matter anymore if the security men decide to shoot us dead. “There is nothing human in us anymore, so it’s better we die in the open and in the hands of our employers than to die in our respective homes,” the player said. FC Taraba lost their Premier League status at the end of the 2014/15 NPFL season and may not be allowed to register in the Nigeria National League (NNL), except government moves fast to offset its indebtedness to the players.

Teams

Enyimba

Wolves

Nassara

Wikki

Giwa

Sunshine

Heartland

Pillars

3SC

Abia

IfeanyiUbah

Rangers

Lobi

Akwa

El-Kanemi

Dolphins

Sharks

Kwara

Taraba

Bayelsa

‘Charity Cup tie to serve as NPFL season opener’ T he annual Charity Cup match, which pitches the winner of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) against the champions of the men’s Federation Cup, will now be played a week before the kick –off of the 2015/2016 League Season. Traditionally, the Charity Cup game is played on the day of the NFF annual general as-

sembly. However, the NFF Technical and Development Committee, has ruled otherwise this term, according to Vice Chairman of NFF Technical and Development Committee, Ahmed Yusuf Fresh. “We have decided that, in line with what obtains in most big football nations of the world, the Charity Cup match will now serve as the season’s opener.

“It will no longer be played on the day of the annual general assembly of Nigeria Football Federation. We intend to make it a big show,” Yusuf stated. The Charity Cup match should have come up on Wednesday – the day of the NFF annual general assembly – between league champions Enyimba of Aba and Federation Cup winners, Akwa United of Uyo.

Ahead Champions League: Enyimba woo Eagles’ coach, Yusuf

lo Premier League Champions, Enyimba, yesterday, revealed they are interested in a high profile coach, saying they have begun discussions to re-engage Super Eagles assistant coach, Salisu Yusuf ahead of next year’s CAF Champions League. It would be recalled that last month, Kadiri Ikhana led Enyimba to win their seventh

league title. However, a source close to the Aba-based outfit revealed that the highly experienced Ikhana may not be the man to lead the People’s Elephant to next year’s CAF Champions League. He said Enyimba were seriously wooing Salisu Yusuf, who made a huge impression when he was in charge of the Aba club two years ago.

However, it was gathered that discussions between Enyimba and Salisu might have hit the rocks, following Salisu’s insistence that he first be paid the over four million Naira Enyimba owe him. Salisu, who has also handled Kano Pillars and El Kanemi Warriors, has, however, refused to comment on the issue when he was contacted on phone.

Giwa FC players

Adamawa, Kwara jostle to buy Giwa FC

igeria National League (NNL) clubs Adamawa United and Kwara United have indicated interest to buy over premier league side Giwa FC for the new season. Giwa have featured in the Premier league for the past two seasons, doing well, despite operating a shoe-string budget. But fillers emanating from the club say the owner Chris Giwa is now open to sell his slot in the premier league after they missed out in playing in the CAF Champions League and the Confederation Cup. “Both Adamawa and Kwara

United want to buy up the premier league slot of Giwa in exchange for their places in the lower league,” a source close to the club revealed yesterday. “There are strong hint of a price tag of between 150 million to 300 million Naira (about $1.5 million)”, the source further stated. Adamawa, last season, suffered yet another failed bid to gain promotion to the top flight as they were beaten by Plateau United. Kwara United, on the hand, went back to the lower league after they were relegated.

WORLD RECORD

First timekeeping device Vol. 05 No. 1265

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

N150

First used in Mesopotamia in c. 3500 BC, the time stick – a primitive for m of sundial – was the first “clock” ever developed by Man.

On suspension of Great Ife students’ union I t usually surprises many people that on their arrival at the Obafemi Awolowo University campus, one of the first structures one comes across is the Great Ife Students’ Union Building aka Ken Saro-Wiwa Building. The location of this monument itself is deliberate: to remind the freshman that unlike other institutions of learning, he/she has a vibrant and progressive Students’ body that will defend him/her not only within, but also without the campus. One of the things this building symbolizes is that it is the bedrock of students’ militancy. For people like me, who have served the Union in any capacity at one time or the other, it is a centre for political consciousness and education, which some of us always love to cherish. The excitement that this edifice represents can only be left to the imaginations of those who haven’t experienced it. In front of that

Guest Columnist

building once stood a newspaper vendor, called ‘Abe Igi’, where different people come to read the papers (usually for free) and in turn analyse, discuss and argue about topical issues making the news for long hours that one begins to wonder if these people ever attend lectures. I can guarantee you will learn more politics at this point than studying for a degree in Political Science in the university. Ironically, this building is presently under the jackboot of the University management! Only recently did the University’s Registrar, Mr. D.A Awoyemi, sign a release dated December 3, 2015, which reads in part: “This is to inform the generality of the students of the University and the University Community that the activities of the students’ union are hereby suspended by the University authority until further notice.” Need we remind the University management that the students, whose Union, it SUSPENDED, are but adults? Are we to educate those who should know better, but deliberately chose to be ignorant that these students have the constitutional right to freedom of association? What are union members from the prestigious Faculty of Law doing about the alleged suspension? In other to fully understand the present predicament the student movement has found itself, we need to do a bit of historicity. Many people tend to forget that the first Nigerian students organisation formed in 1956, was the National Union of Nigeria Students (NUNS). The Union operated when the Nigerian students were accorded enough respect by the

SI names Serena Sportsperson of the Year

fter an historic season that saw her come just two matches short of a Calendar Slam, Serena Williams is Sports Illustrated’s 2015 Sportsperson of the Year. Serena, 34, won three major titles, went 53-3 and provid-

Olalekan Waheed Adigun

ed at least one new measure of her tyrannical three-year reign at No. 1. Trying to become the first women’s tennis player to win all four Grand Slams in one calendar year since Steffi Graf did it in 1988, Serena won

THE UNION HOLDS IT AS SACRED TO FIGHT FOR THE WELFARE

OF ALL, INCLUDING

MANAGEMENT STAFF! authorities. This explains why in 1962 in conjunction with opposition groups, students could lay ambush on the federal parliamentarians in Lagos to force an abrogation of the unpopular Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact without negative consequences on them. Trouble started-in April 1978, when the General Olusegun-led military administration unanimously announced through the then Federal Commissioner for Education, Col Ahmadu Ali an increment of 100 kobo on students’ daily meals. It used to be 50 kobo daily for three meals. The increase led to a feeding regime of 50 kobo per meal! The response of NUNS, then led by Comrade Segun Okeowo (now deceased), was unequivocal: “Ali Must Go”. After this, things were never the same again for Nigerian students. The military administration’s response was to treat the students as “enemies” that must be crushed. The NUNS was banned; students leaders arrested and illegally detained; others like Akintunde Ojo of the University of Lagos were felled by soldiers’ bullets. With the return of democracy in 1979, the agitation for the “unbanning” of NUNS increased. The request was granted by the Shehu Shagari

government. But this time, it was rechristened as the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). This is how it became a right for the state and by extension, their campus agents (management) to “ban”, “proscribe”, “suspend” and in some cases, “abolish” the unions at the slightest provocations. It appears to me that some people, even after 15 years of return to civil rule, are yet to be “civil”. Let us come back to Ife. Though, I graduated from the university about four years ago, it is baffling that the same issues we fought tooth and nail that led to the management proscribing the Union, are still the same issues under contention. “The issues are clear”, as a former Speaker of the University Students’ Representatives Council (SRC), Comrade Sunday Adodo Destiny, will always say. The issues are still clear: Welfare! Welfare!! Welfare!!! This has been the noble cry of the Ife University Students’ Union since 1976. The Union holds it as sacred to fight for the welfare of all, including management staff! The greatness of Ife, for those who know, is not due to its architectural edifice, but the strength of its Students Union. Few people are amazed that despite its size in terms of landmass, the campus is a hotbed for outlaws, cultists, drug addicts and other neo-fascist elements. This has nothing to do with the “security” or the cowards (“crackers”), a group that sprang up as a result of the Ife/Modakeke crises and employed by the management as part of the University’s commitment to maintain people in its environment. Apart from molesting armless students and running after cheap ladies, what else do these elements do? Surprisingly, there are those who believes that the Union has no value hence should be abolished altogether. To these ultraconservative elements, I say the Union is a formidable platform to train future leaders. It is on this basis that I am calling all lovers of Ife University to prevail on the management to restore the Union. Adigun, a two-term member of Great Ife Students’ Representatives Council, wrote from Lagos via olalekan@olalekanadigun.com and can be followed Twitter @ adgorwell

Sport Extra

the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon before falling in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open to Flavia Pennetta. Winning three of the four Grand Slams brought Serena to 21 career Grand Slams, just one shy of Graff’s 22.

She becomes the first tennis player since Chris Evert in 1976 to win SI’s Sportsperson honour during their playing career: Billie Jean King also won the award in 1972. Arthur Ashe won the award in 1992, after he retired

For six weeks this summerand for the first time in the 40year history of the WTA rankings-Serena amassed twice as many ranking points as the world No. 2; at one point that gap grew larger than the one between No. 2 and No. 1,000.

Serena

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