Binder1 by GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LIMITED

Nigeria’s GDP by expenditure up by 3.86% in Q1

Tanker tragedy:

Relatives, sympathisers throng hospitals, mortuaries in Onitsha

…rises to N21.24trn at current market prices

TOLA AKINMUTIMI

Statistician General, Yemi Kale

Vol. 51 N0. 1125 115

he nation’s expenditure on Gross Domestic Product, GDP, measured in real terms increased by 3.86

per cent year-on-year during the first quarter of this year. However, on nominal CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

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Obiano

Tuesday, Tuesday,June June7,2,2011 2015

Buhari set to crush P Boko Haram …visits Chad, Niger; meets Service Chiefs

N150

ROTIMI FADEYI AND UBONG UKPONG

Military high command unhappy with relocation directive

resident Muhammadu Buhari will tomorrow visit Chad and Niger, his first foreign trip since taking office, for talks on Boko Haram insurgency. This was disclosed yesterday by the President’s Senior Special Assistant, SSA, Media, Mallam Garba Shehu. He said the two-day trip would focus on “matters CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

Mark urges PDP to brace up for challenges of opposition P.6

President yet to occupy Aso Rock Villa

P.4

L-R: Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, Rear Adm. Jonathan Ango; Commanding Officer, NNS Wey, Navy Town, Ojo, Lagos, Commodore Celestine Odiase and Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Usman Jibrin, inaugurating a project in Lagos, yesterday.

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CBN sacks staff involved in N8bn currency fraud ...as suspects appear in court today FCTA arrests 3,000 commercial sex workers

P.5 P.12

Fuel scarcity: IPMAN seeks police protection, begins 24-hour fuel sales P7 P.7

EFCC grills Nyako, former Adamawa State gov P.5

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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Nigeria’s GDP by expenditure up by 3.86% in Q1 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

basis year-on-year, the expenditure grew by 4.22 per cent during the quarter under review, indicating that at current market prices of goods and services, the GDP increased from N20.38trn in the first quarter in 2014 to about N21.24trn in the corresponding quarter of this year. The GDP Report by expenditure published by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, late Sunday night showed that final consumption expenditure of households continued to account for the largest share of expenditure, accounting for 64.34 per cent of real GDP in the first quarter of the year, up by 1.78 percentage points from the corresponding quarter in 2014. According to the national statistics producing agency, growth was slower relative to rates recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2014 and the preceding quarter of 2014 by 5.82 and 9.32 percentage points respectively. It clarified that in real terms, the expenditure on GDP grew by 3.86 per cent, from about N15.60trn in the first quarter of 2014 to about N16.20trn in the first quarter of 2015. The report pointed out that in a similar trend to nominal growth, real growth was slower relative to rates recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2015 and the preceding quarter of 2014 by 2.16 and 2.49 percentage points respectively. A further analysis of the expenditure on GDP showed that the final consumption expenditure of households grew nominally by 8.73 per cent to about N15.29trn in the first quarter of 2015 from about N 14.06trn in the corresponding quarter in 2014, up by 3.26 percentage points from the corresponding quarter of last year. The bureau reported further that the share of consumption expenditure to the total nominal GDP at market prices accounted for 71.98 per cent in Q1 of 2015 compared with 68.99 per cent for first quarter, 2014 and 74.63 per cent for Q4 of 2014. The NBS clarified further that in real terms,

final consumption expenditure of households grew by 6.83 per cent year-onyear to about N10.45trn in Q1 of 2015, which is 7.22 percentage points higher from the corresponding quarter in 2014, yet lower from the 10.61 per cent recorded in the last quarter of 2014. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, household consumption declined in real terms by 19.12 per cent

from about N12.89trn in Q4 of 2014. Accordingly, the share of real final consumption expenditure to GDP decreased to 64.34 per cent in Q1 of 2015 from 69.98 per cent in Q4 of 2014. On the final General Consumption Expenditure for Government, GFCE, the bureau reported that in nominal terms, the GFCE increased by 6.60 per cent year-on-year

to N1.04trn in the first quarter of this year, indicating an increase of 13.42 percentage points, relative to Q1 of 2014, but lower by 26.82 percentage points to rates recorded in the last quarter of last year. At constant prices, GFCE grew year-on-year by 42.81 per cent and stood at about N1.35trn in the first quarter of 2015 - better than the growth recorded in the corresponding peri-

od of last year, which was negative; and Q4 of 2014 growth recorded 16.56 per cent. It stated that the share of GFCE to expenditure on GDP during Q1 of 2015 was recorded at 8.43 per cent, higher, relative to shares in the corresponding quarter of last year, which was recorded at 6.07 per cent, yet lower, relative to the last quarter of 2014 which was recorded at 8.67 per cent.

The bureau reported that during the first quarter of the year, GFCE grew by 42.81 per cent year-onyear in real terms, higher than the 7.53 per cent in the corresponding quarter of last year but lower than 16.56 per cent recorded in Q4 of 2014, adding that in real terms, the share to Expenditure on GDP declined from 8.54 per in Q4 of 2014 to 8.34 per cent in Q1 of 2015.

L-R: Senate President David Mark, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, during a retreat for PDP National Assembly members-elect in Port Harcourt, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Buhari set to crush Boko Haram CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

of security,” with the cooperation of Niger, Chad and Cameroon seen as crucial to end the Boko Haram uprising, which has claimed more than 15,000 lives since 2009. “The President has Niger and Chad ahead of him. This will be his first trip outside the country in obvious matters of security,” Shehu said. Buhari was sworn in last Friday and vowed in his inaugural speech to crush the insurgent group he described as “mindless” and “godless.” But Boko Haram attacked some 12 hours after the President took the oath of office, hitting homes in Maiduguri, Borno State, with rocket-propelled grenades overnight on Saturday. Later, a suicide attack at a mosque in the city killed at least 26 people.

The terrorists also raided two towns in Yobe State on Sunday, torching public buildings and looting food and fuel stores. Niger shares a border with both Borno and Yobe states, while Chad borders just Borno in Nigeria’s extreme North East. Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had long complained that Nigeria’s neighbours were not doing enough to contain Boko Haram as they fled military pursuit by crossing porous borders. A four-nation offensive that also includes Cameroon has won significant victories since February but there are fears of Boko Haram regrouping, especially in remote border areas. Buhari said little regarding his specific plans for regional security cooperation other than to thank the three nations for their efforts to date.

Chadian President Idris Derby has publicly mocked Nigeria’s counter-insurgency efforts under Jonathan and called for greater cooperation. Buhari, a former army general who headed a military regime in the 1980s, is seen by most observers as a more robust commanderin-chief than Jonathan. In a related development, the President was yesterday said to have scheduled a meeting with service chiefs behind closed doors, as the new Commander-In-Chief, but top military sources disclosed that they might likely be asked to go or stay and obey the presidential directive to relocate their Command and Control Centre to Maiduguri. This is coming as sources said the military was not happy with the relocation directive. It was expected that the

President would appoint their replacements last Friday shortly after the inauguration but for strategic security reasons, this did not happen. But this meeting, it was learnt, may be the last they would have with him. According to an informed military source, the plan of President Buhari to relocate the Command and Control Centre to Maiduguri with a view to ending the menace of terrorism did not receive the support of the military high command. In his inaugural speech, Buhari argued that victory over Boko Haram would remain a mirage unless the service chiefs are relocated to the theatre of operation. “The most immediate is Boko Haram’s insurgency. Progress has been made in recent weeks by our security forces but victory cannot be achieved by basing

the Command and Control Centre in Abuja. “The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued. But we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents. This government will do all it can to rescue them alive,” the President had said. Although, he was applauded over the speech, military sources who spoke with some journalists yesterday in Abuja were not happy with the directive which they saw as an “attempt to frustrate, humiliate our chiefs before sacking them.” The source added: “Some of us have analysed the speech and our conclusion is that President Buhari did not appreciate the CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Photo News

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

L-R: Operation Director, Fortunate Impex Ltd, Mr. Kayode Oluemi; Treasurer, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Alhaji Afolabi Abdulazeez; Secretary, Mr. Davies Ben Chukwuenye; Chairman, Nze Aloy Igwe and Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Njoku, during presentation of ANLCA biometric identity card to members in Lagos, yesterday.

L-R: President, Nigeria Basketball Federation, Lagos State, Babs Ogunwole; Chairman, MultiChoice Nigeria, Adewunmi Ogunsanya and General Manager, Marketing, Martin Mabutho, during the launch of Lagos Islanders floor and first ever home play of any clubside in DStv Basketball League in Nigeria, in Lagos, at the weekend.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

L-R: CEO, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Michael Ikpoki; Corporate Services Executive, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck; Sales and Distribution Executive, Mr. Tsola Barrow and Chief Marketing Officer, Olubayo Adekanmbi, during the opening ceremony of 21 Days of Y’ello Care 2015 in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: YINKA ADEPARUSI

L-R: MD, Coscharis Technologies, Mr. Mukoro Emomine; MD, Proxynet Communications, Mr. OzoOnyali Edward; Business Development Manager, Africa, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Marco De Vries and Director, Enterprise Business, Mr. Ojei Charles, during Samsung’s Business Partner Day in Lagos, yesterday.

National News

Buhari yet to occupy Aso Rock Villa Rotimi Fadeyi and Ubong Ukpong

resident Muhammadu Buhari is yet to move into Aso Rock Presidential Villa, four days after being sworn-in as Nigeria’s 5th democratically elected president. The Villa is undergoing renovation and is said not to be ready yet for the new president. Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant, SSA, Media, Mallam Garba Shehu, who spoke with journalists at Defence House, Abuja, yesterday, also disclosed that the president would not make any announcement for ministerial positions until the 8th National Assembly is convened. He said the President, even though uncomfortable with his rented apartment, would continue to operate from the Defence House until he was satisfied with the state of the Presidential

…says ministerial list to wait villa. According to him, Aso Rock Presidential Villa was undergoing serious cleaning and it’s not clear when it would be ready for President Buhari to move in. “They claim some renovation was going on, the place is being cleaned up for his occupation. “The contractors are working probably at their own pace, if I need

to know or if you need to know this, probably we have to talk to someone. “I am not saying he’s comfortable where he is at his rented house, but he is operating from there at the moment. When the Villa is ready he will move in,” Shehu stated. The spokesman noted that the administration was not in a hurry, as it was not prepared to pres-

ent ministerial nominees to the present National Assembly. “I have no idea (ministerial list), but it is not something anybody will rush because you know the National Assembly has to approve it. “When are you going to have the National Assembly in place? That is the question. Unless you are Governor Fayose, you cannot take your

ministerial list to the outgoing parliament,” Shehu said. Monday was Buhari’s first day in office as President, after his inauguration on Friday, May 29. He has been operating from the same Defence House as President-elect, where he received all visitors and held meetings. Meanwhile, workers

in the Presidential Villa resumed early for work yesterday. The workers started trooping in as early as 7:30 a.m., and by 8 a.m., most of them were already at their duty posts, even when Buhari and his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo were yet to resume in their offices. Osinbajo was said to be at an undisclosed location.

UNFPA boss urges Nigeria to invest more on value-added agriculture

xecutive Director, United Nations Populations Fund, UNFPA, Prof. Babatunde Oshotimehin, has said Nigeria should invest more on valueadded agriculture in order to create more jobs in the country. Oshotimehin made the call in Abuja yesterday. According to him,

there is need to add value to agricultural processes and produce. The UNFPA boss explained that the routine practice of just harvesting agricultural products for immediate consumption would not reduce the burden of unemployment. “Job creation is very important, and this current administration has

jobs, jobs, jobs as one of the things they want to do, but you know we have to be very practical about it. “What I see as probably the first entry point to this is developing agriculture. “Agriculture is something all of us can be part of, now I am not just talking about going to the farm every growing

season and getting the seeds out of it, but I am saying you develop agriculture and add value to agriculture. “Why shouldn’t we be the ones that grow the rice that we eat, we can grow rice in this country; and not just grow it, but thresh it and bag it and sell it and make it available to all of us. “Why shouldn’t we

have orchards that grow oranges, but don’t just grow the oranges, but grow the oranges, squeeze it and pasteurize it and bag it and sell it? “That is really where we should be going and if you do that you create jobs at every level, not just on the farm but even in management of the process of value addition,” he said.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

CBN sacks staff involved in N8bn currency fraud TOLA AKINMUTIMI

entral Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday disclosed that its staff involved in an N8bn currency fraud had been dismissed. The suspects are billed to be arraigned at the Federal High Court, Ibadan, Oyo State, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for trial today. The apex bank’s director, Corporate Communications Department, Ibrahim Mu’azu, in a statement, confirmed that some of the suspects, who are middle-level officers, had been summarily dismissed, while others were suspended indefinitely based on the gravity of their involvement in the fraud.

Mu’azu stated that the despicable acts of the affected staff were uncovered at the Ibadan branch of the bank during an audit by its Briquetting Panel, comprising senior bank staff from different branches, who noticed some anomalies, and immediately reported them to the bank’s management. According to him, based on further investigations ordered by the bank’s governor, it was discovered that a systematic scheme, which had been on for several years, was being run in which mutilated higher denomination notes originally meant for destruction were swapped with lower denomination currencies. The CBN explained that the practice known as interleafing basically

entails labelling a box with a higher value than its true content. It clarified further: “As soon as the bank’s internal investigations concluded beyond reasonable doubt that some wrong doing had occurred, the affected members of staff who are middle-level officers were, depending on the gravity of the offence, either summarily dismissed or placed on indefinite suspension on 21 October, 2014, and all were handed over to the EFCC for further investigation and prosecution. “The CBN has also conducted a nationwide audit of all 37 branches of the bank and found that this was an isolated scheme at Ibadan branch.

“The bank will continue to collaborate with the EFCC to ensure that the affected CBN staff as well as their accomplices in some commercial banks are brought to justice.” It stated that the clarification became necessary in order to keep the public properly informed of the chronology of events that led the management of the CBN to handing over the unscrupulous staff to the EFCC for prosecution. The EFCC had on Sunday blew the alarm on the arrest of the suspects and hinted about their planned arraignment before the Ibadan High Court today. Specifically, the antigraft agency stated that the suspects were arrested

for stealing and putting into circulation defaced and mutilated N8 billion naira notes meant for destruction. The commission’s head of Media, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the arrest and custody of the suspects, preparatory to their arraignment. The names of the suspects as contained in the statement are Patience Okoro Eye (Abuja); Afolabi Olufemi (Lagos); Kolawole Babalola (Ibadan); Olaniran Muniru Adeola (Ibadan); Fatai Yusuf, Adekunle (Head, Security, CBN, (Ibadan) and Ilori Adekunle Sunday (Akure). The 22 suspects in the DMBs who colluded with the CBN officials to commit the fraud are drawn

from Zenith Bank, First City Monument Bank, Wema Bank, Access Bank, First Bank, Skye Bank, Ecobank and Sterling Bank According to the commission, the officials helped themselves with the mutilated N8 billion cash and burnt old newspapers in place of the defaced naira notes, thereby making a mockery of the CBN rule relating to such money. But they reportedly ran out of luck when one of the bank’s officials petitioned the commission, alleging on November 3, 2014 that over N6,575,549,370.00 was cornered and discreetly recycled by top executives of the CBN at the Ibadan branch.

EFCC grills Nyako, ex-Adamawa State gov OLUFEMI ADEOSUN ABUJA

conomic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday quizzed former governor of Adamawa State, Mr. Murtala Nyako, over alleged criminal conspiracy, stealing, abuse of office and money laundering. Nyako, one of the harsh critics of former President Goodluck Jonathan, was impeached by the House of Assembly for abuse of office. He was one of the seven Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors, who staged a walk out during the party’s convention. He subsequently defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, along with four other governors. Impeccable sources at the headquarters of the antigraft body in Abuja, told National Mirror that Nyako was arrested when he willingly turned himself in. The embattled former governor fled the country to evade arrest shortly after his impeachment and only returned to the country on Saturday. On arrival, it was gathered, a team of EFCC in-

terrogators drilled him for several hours. “When he arrived at our facility in Abuja, the former governor was quizzed by our operatives for several hours. As far as I know, Nyako was detained and might be released tomorrow (today) if he is lucky,” a source said. It will be recalled that Nyako was declared wanted by the EFCC after he repeatedly failed to honour the commission’s invitation to answer corruption charges levelled against him over six months ago. Another source told National Mirror that Nyako’s decision to return home was boosted by the assumption of office by President Muhammadu Buhari. All efforts to get the head, Media and Publicity of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, to confirm the arrest proved abortive as he switched off his mobile telephone. As at the time of filing this report, his telephone was yet to come alive. It is also not clear whether the former governor was granted administrative bail or would spend the night at the commission’s cell.

Nigerian Labour Congress and students of the University of Abuja and Nasarawa State University, during a protest at Morocco High Commission office over the rights of Western Sahara, in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Buhari set to crush Boko Haram CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

efforts put in place in fighting the terrorists. “In the whole speech, he did not commend us at all but instead seemed agreed with the cynics that we have not been observing human rights in our operations and he went further to praise our counterparts in the neighbouring countries who are not in the theatre of operation. “As if that was not enough, President Buhari said he wants our Command and Control Centre relocated to Maiduguri. What for? We are involved in about nine operations in the

country now. If the directive is carried out, then our focus will primarily be on the terrorism at the expense of other criminal activities such as kidnapping, armed robbery, piracy, pipeline vandalism and others. “Such a directive is alien in the military operation anywhere in the world. It is an attempt to frustrate and humiliate our chiefs before sacking them.” Speaking further, the serving General said: “How do we ask our service chiefs to be in the same place with their

commanders? Where is the respect? If he wants them to go, he should simply tell them; instead he is coming with blackmail that if they refused to go, he would say he wanted them remain but they ignored his order and if they go, they might be subjected to humiliation and frustration before kicking them out of the service.” When asked if the service chiefs have met with the President over the issue, our source explained that Buhari did not rob mind with them before giving the order.

“How would they meet him without his invitation and it is tomorrow they would be meeting for briefing. And we don’t know may be he would ask them to go or ask them to obey his directive before giving them the boot,” he said. The service chiefs who came into office on 16 January, 2014, are the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu; and the Naval Chief, Vice Admiral Jibrin Usman.

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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Nigeria ready for ICAO security audit –NCAA Olusegun kOiki

irector-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Captain Muhtar Usman, has assured that Nigeria would scale through the hurdle of ongoing security audit of the Nigerian airports by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO. He insisted that the regulatory authority in conjunction with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, have ensured that all airports slated for the audit exercise met both national and international standards. Delivering his welcome address at the NCAA annex office at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday in the presence of the quartet of ICAO team led by Steven Neu from the United States of America, USA, Usman said the agency had ensured that corrective actions noticed in the 2008 audit had been closed.

… employs five auditors for exercise He maintained that at present, all open items had been closed through a developed and submitted plan of NCAA. He stressed that the most important legislative function performed by ICAO was the formulation and adoption of Standards and Recommended Practices, SARPs, for international civil aviation, which are incorporated into the 19 technical annexes to the convention, otherwise known as the Chicago Convention. He disclosed that in order to maintain standards, NCAA gave employment to five ICAO trained auditors, stressing that the professionals had undoubtedly continuously deployed their wealth of experience and exposure to provide a robust security regime for the nation’s airports. Usman added that NCAA had ensured that Aviation Security, AVSEC, department was replete with well-trained staff, who have acquitted them-

Catholic Archbishop urges Buhari to re-introduce WAI

atholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Reverend Adewale Martins, on Monday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to re-introduce the War Against Indiscipline, WAI, to sanitise the nation’s moral fabric. Martins made the plea at the celebration of his 56th birthday ceremony held at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos. He said re-introduction of the programme would enable Nigerians to get rid of corruption and ineptitude. “One of the major hallmarks of the military government under the then Major-General Muhammadu Buhari as Head of State was his strong aversion for indiscipline, which led to the introduction of WAI. “This, no doubt, helped to bring back sanity to the nation’s polity. “Unfortunately, the programme was discontinued after he left office. “The result is that 21 years after, indiscipline has regrettably entrenched

itself further into the nation’s fabric,” Martins said. He commended Buhari on his inaugural speech in which he vowed to confront headlong numerous issues facing the nation. Martins urged the president not to recycle the ``old hands,’’ but to appoint only credible, impeccable and competent professionals into his cabinet. According to him, it is heart-warming to note that many Nigerians have great confidence in the personal integrity and administrative ability of Buhari to reposition the nation for greatness. “But, no matter how well his intention may be, he will need a good team to work with him to succeed. “He should endeavour to do away with political jobbers who, from past experiences, are only out to enrich themselves and their godfathers,’’ the cleric said. Martins also urged Nigerians to give the newly elected office holders some time to settle down in their new positions.

selves in their oversight responsibilities. He added that the safety and security of Nigerian airports received high priority and very significant attention from the regulatory authority. Also speaking at the event, the leader of the team, Stevn Neu, commended Nigeria for the efforts put in place towards the success of the exercise

and assured that the team would carry out its security audit with total professionalism. Other members of the ICAO team are Karen Zadoyan, Nuno Miguel Silva Ferreira Fortes and Wendy Mueller. The event, which commenced yesterday, would be rounded up by 9th June, 2015. Other Chief Executive

Officers in attendance were the Managing Directors of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Engineer Ibrahim Abdulsalam and Saleh Dunoma respectively. Security agencies in attendance were Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Nigeria Po-

lice, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, AVSEC, and inhouse security personnel of ground handling companies, airlines and other stakeholders. Journalists were however, advised to excuse the gathering after the presentation of Neu as they commenced deliberations on security issues affecting the sector.

Commercial motorcyclists queuing to buy petrol at a filling station on Airport Road, Sabon Lugbe, Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Mark asks PDP to prepare for opposition role Dennis naku

PORT HARCOURT

n a bid to reposition the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, following the party’s defeat at the 2015 general elections, stakeholders of the party resolved yesterday to brace up and show strength in the coming years. Senate President David Mark, who spoke at a retreat for PDP memberselect of the National Assembly in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday, urged the federal lawmakers to gear up for the challenges of opposition. He said the first test of the PDP as the former opposition party, All Progressives Party, APC, takes over administration of the country, will be their ability to stand and speak with one voice in the forthcoming elections of the principal officers of the 8th National As-

sembly. He said: “We must subject our individual interest for our group interest. In the election of principal officers of National Assembly, we must vote in one accord. We must know that united we stand, divided we fall. “We must take our destinies in our hands. We must be ready to provide credible, vibrant, determined and focused opposition to the party in power in a manner that would guarantee development and good governance. “In doing so, we must maintain a strong synergy between our members in the National Assembly and the National Working Committee, NWC. The PDP is still a brand all Nigerians know. We just need to reinvent the wheels and move forward.” Mark expressed worries about the gale of defection from the PDP to

the All Progressives Congress, APC after the elections and urged members to remain steadfast with the PDP ideology. In his keynote address, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said opposition was not a death sentence, but a soul searching on the way out of the predicament. He however, optimistic that PDP stands a great chance of regaining power in 2019, if the party puts it’s house in order. Ekweremadu, ‎told new PDP governors, that they have a great role to play in restoring the political fortunes of the party. “May I also remind you that you have a big role to play in restoring the political fortunes of the PDP because PDP governedstates will now be the major yardsticks for evaluating our performance in the next four years. “I call on you to demonstrate unbeatable and

undisputable capacity for good governance such as would stand the PDP-governed states out as models in uncommon transformation and actualisation of all the blessings and promises that democracy holds,” he said. In their separate speeches, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa, Ibrahim Dakwambo of Gombe State, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state, Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State all spoke in one accord that the PDP must wake up and chart a new course. Acting National Chairman of the party Uche Secondus, reiterated that the PDP has since 1999 acted in the national interest, saying that the acceptance of defeat by the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan was a national sacrifice that saved the nation from chaos.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Police uncover criminals’ hide-out in Ibadan Kemi Olaitan IBADAN

yo State Police Command yesterday uncovered a multi-purpose criminals’ den at Isasin village, Badeku, Ibadan, in Egbeda Local Government Area, where criminals engaged in all manner of crimes including kidnapping, armed robbery, money doubling and rituals. One of the three-member syndicate, Ismail Adediran, who claimed to be a herbalist, was paraded before journalists at the hide-out by Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammadu Katsina. Items retrieved from him included assorted fake currencies in various denominations, charms and other fetish materials, as well as exotic cars of different models parked within the premises. While speaking with journalists, Adediran said his two other accomplices – Tajudeen Oji (their leader) and one Wasiu, took to their heels on sighting the security operatives. He said the syndicate had been operating unmolested in the village for

over four and a half years, stating that their clients cut across various states of the South West as well as Kogi and Niger states. The Baale of Isasin village, Moses Adetunji Taiwo, said the crimes carried out at the hideout was a surprise to him since, as he put it, the culprits claimed to be using the place to record Nollywood films. The police commissioner noted with concern that the syndicate was involved in the recent kidnapping of a man in Kishi area, who was later released after being kept in an underground location for days, while the principal actor is on the run. He lamented that the hoodlums only used the place to exploit the ignorance of the public, stressing that the long arms of the law would soon catch up with the runaway members of the syndicate. The police boss also said the Command has already launched ‘Operation Water Hyacinth’ to spread its tentacles to accommodate, dominate, suffocate and smoke out all miscreants in the state, no matter where they hide.

60-year-old man arrested for incest

yo State Police Command yesterday arrested a 60-year-old man for allegedly sleeping with his two daughters and two nieces. Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mohammed Katsina, paraded the suspect before newsmen in Ibadan. Katsina said the police intervened immediately the case was reported by family members at the Moniya Police Station, Akinyele Local Government Area of the state. According to him, the suspect sleeps with his daughters whenever he got drunk and has been doing so since last year. Awoniyi, a herbalist, committed the evil act last Friday night at Moniya area of Ibadan when his daughters brought home her two nieces to sleep in their house because their mother travelled to Lagos.

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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The two daughters, Barakat, 15, and Sefiat, 13, said their father slept with them anytime he was drunk while his nieces, Nahinmat Olayiwola, 14, and Kehinde Rilwanu, 15, said Awoniyi gave them a black soap to bath around 1am and had carnal knowledge of them over the night. While parading Awoniyi, the police chief said the accused had committed a bizarre act by sleeping with his two daughters and nieces, stating that doctor’s report indicated penetration and STD infection on the girls. The police commissioner also said the suspect hypnotised the nieces before having sexual intercourse with them. “We were told by his nieces that he bathed them with black soap at midnight, then put something in his mouth before ordering them to lie down.

Buhari condoles with Biden, Obiano ROtimi Fadeyi ABUJA

resident Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his condolences to Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, and people of the state over last weekend’s gruesome incident where over 60 people lost their lives when a

petrol tanker crashed into a busy bus station in Onitsha. In a statement issued yesterday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President described the incident as a sad and unfortunate loss, made even more unfortunate by the number of fam-

ilies currently mourning the loss of their loved ones. “My deepest sympathies are with you at this most trying time,” Buhari said. The President also extended condolences to United States Vice President, Joe Biden, who lost his son, Beau, to cancer. “As someone who has

lost a child, I understand how painful and almost inconsolable it can be. The government and its people stand with you at this trying moment for your family,” Buhari said. He added that only God can offer comfort to both the governor and people of Anambra State and Vice President Biden.

L-R: Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Engr. Saleh Danuoma; Managing Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Engr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam, Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Usman Muktar; team leader, Technical Officer, Aviation Security Section, Mr. Steven Neu and Aviation Security Audit Team Leader, ICAO Universal Security Audit Programme, Mr. Karan Zadoyan, during NCAA and ICAO Security Audit at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos. PHOTO: ADEYANJU OLOWOJOBA

Scarcity: IPMAN seeks police protection, begins 24-hour sale of fuel

ndependent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has appealed to InspectorGeneral of Police to provide adequate protection for its members to enable them sell fuel unmolested for 24 hours. IPMAN President, Chinedu Okoronkwo, made the appeal yesterday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja. Okoronkwo said the appeal had become necessary following the unions directive to its members to sell fuel for 24 hours to clear the queues that have persisted across the country. The president, who expressed concern over the queues, said the mea-

sure would ease the scarcity and make the product available to motorists. “We were not part of the strike that gave birth to the scarcity, but we have taken measures against this because when the system is burnt, all other parts of the body would be affected. “Major marketers, transporters, owners and drivers, in one way or the other, have issue to resolve. “If this persists, we will all suffer; we may not even be able to pay our workers, but we are happy that the entire issue has been resolved. “We have directed our members to service the nation 24 hours. “We are only appealing

to the police to provide adequate security for our members to protect them from hoodlums, as they have started dispensing to motorists,” he said. Vice President of IPMAN, Abubakar Magandi, in a separate interview said queues persist in most of filling stations because most depots did not have the product. “Most Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, depots don’t have the product. “Only half of the depots are stocked with the product; many of them don’t have. “Another problem is that some of the private depots that have products have problem loading; the reason being that there

are too many trucks for them to attend to,” he said. Magandi said the problem of loading slowed down the process of lifting the products, causing the queues to persist. He also refuted the allegation that members were hoarding the product to hike the price. “There is no way IPMAN members can hoard the product because such person would not want to tie down his/her capital, because the more we sell the more gain we make. “We are also worried about the scarcity because it is affecting our businesses,” he said. He, however, expressed optimism that the situation would improve in the next few days.

South West

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

CJN seeks end to bad eggs in legal profession

• Babalola wants SAN title for all qualified lawyers Abiodun nejo ADO EKITI

hief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has canvassed collaboration among judges, lawyers and law teachers to rid the legal profession of bad eggs. The CJN, represented by a justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, said ridding the profession of the bad eggs in the judiciary, bar and among law teachers was necessary to restore the dignity of the profession. Mohammed spoke yesterday at the opening of the five-day 48th Annual National Conference of the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers, NALT, with the theme "Mainstreaming Interdisciplinary Ap-

proach to Legal Profession: Imperatives for Nigeria's Development" holding at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State. The CJN said: "For the legal profession to flourish, all hands must be on deck to flush out the bad eggs to restore the dignity of the profession. Mohammed, who lauded ABUAD founder, Aare Afe Babalola, for his contributions to the development of the legal profession and educational growth, said the legal luminary had demonstrated that education needed private participation and must not be left in the hands of government alone. The CJN also lauded the performance of ABUAD law students, saying "the graduates of this institution have a lot to contribute to the development of this

country". Babalola, who said ABUAD had already adopted interdisciplinary approach in law and other disciplines, said: "We care about our students and their future by creating interdisciplinary and outreaching model entrepreneurial education. We want to build a total man of each student." The ABUAD founder charged Nigerian law faculties to enlarge and broaden their research interests and methods if they wanted to "contribute a larger quantum of empirical knowledge and innovative theory to the understanding of law and legal institutions". Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, faulted the process of appointing only 15 lawyers as SAN yearly among quali-

fied lawyers, leaving a backlog of qualified legal professionals. He said the selection process has led to the "man-know-man" syndrome where those who appoint legal practitioners to SAN-ship tend to favour those they know ahead of those who are qualified." Babalola recommended that appointment of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN, should follow the practice in England by giving the title to all that are qualified for the rank". The ABUAD founder also urged the conference to recommend to government to take a cue from what obtains in Germany and the United States where a student to be admitted into their law colleges must have earned a degree in some other disci-

L–R: General Manager/Head, Listings Sales and Retention, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mrs. Taba Peterside; Executive Director, Business Development, NSE, Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri; Acting Group Managing Director, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Mr. Taiwo Adeniyi and Group Corporate Services Director, Mr. Olatunji Anjorin, during the ‘Facts Behind the Figures’ presentation at the NSE, yesterday.

plines or at least GCE Advanced Level as obtained in England". The 2015 NALT President, Professor Smaranda Olarinde, who is the Dean, ABUAD College of Law,

said the conference was to strengthen internal capacity in the teaching of law in Nigeria and ensure that it conforms with international standard and best practices.

Ajayi heads Africa Leadership Forum

he Africa Leadership Forum, a leadership and capacity development organisation, has announced the appointment of Dr Olumide Abimbola Ajayi as new Head and Executive Director. Ajayi, a Development Economist with a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan, was formerly the Deputy Director and Chief of Programmes Officer of the forum. Ajayi started his career as a junior researcher and lecturer at the University of Ibadan before crossing over to the private sector where he rose to become a Senior Executive. He joined the ALF in 2001, first as the Programmes Manager, and was later promoted to become the Deputy Director. Ajayi is an administrator, trainer, mentor, and author.He has written and contributed to some books and scholarly journals. He had been Project Consultant for the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation, UNFAO, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA, African Union, AU, and

Economic Community for West African States, ECOWAS, International Business Leaders Forum, IBLF, United Kingdom, Femme Africa Solidarite, FAS, Geneva, and other organisations, in about ten different countries. He is a currently a trainer in the UNIDEP’s Gender and Economic Policy Management Initiative, GEPMI. He is also the Project Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria-Entrepreneurship Development Centre, EDC for South West, Nigeria. A Fellow of the Centre for Applied Studies in International Negotiation, CASIN, Geneva, Switzerland and the International Academy for Leadership, Gummersbach, Germany. He served on the Steering Committee of the World Bank International Essay Competition between 2006 and 2011. He has also served on several expert groups such as African Union Gender Working Group (2004), Task Force on Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, for West Africa (2004), FIX NIGERIA Working Group (2006), UN Global Compact Coordinating Group for the Annual Forum of Local Networks (2006-2008).

Tension in Ekiti over rumoured impeachment plot Abiodun nejo ADO EKITI

here was tension in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, yesterday, as the rumour of a planned invasion of the state House of Assembly by the 19 All Progressives Congress, APC, lawmakers to continue with move to impeach the state governor made round. Men of the regular police and anti-riot policemen

were seen on the streets, while members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, mobilised in their numbers to ensure they were not caught unaware by the APC lawmakers believed to be bent on impeaching the governor before the expiration of their tenure on June 4. The PDP members blocked all roads leading to the state to prevent the lawmakers, who were rumoured to be coming from

Osun State from accessing the state. Police siege on the House of Assembly which has been under lock and key since March 31 continued yesterday, as roads leading to the assembly were cordoned off, even as workers at the State Secretariat located within the same axis were prevented from gaining entrance. Apart from several police patrol vans stationed at every junction linking to

the assembly, an Armoured Personnel Carrier,APC, was also placed in front of the assembly, while combat-ready anti-riot policemen were on guard to forestall breakdown of law and order. The APC lawmakers, who had stayed away from the assembly since November last year when the seven PDP legislators impeached the Speaker, Dr Adewale Omirin and replaced him with Dele

Olugbemi, started an impeachment process against the governor in April. The governor told journalists in Ado Ekiti yesterday that it would amount to illegality for the Omirinled APC lawmakers to continue with any impeachment proceeding against him in view of the ruling delivered by Justice E.S. Chukwu of the Abuja Federal High Court. The court had ordered that status quo as at April

23 be maintained pending the determination of the motion on notice in a suit filed by the PDP Speaker, Dele Olugbemi and six other lawmakers against the APC lawmakers. Olugbemi had in the suit number FHC/ABJ CS/361/2015 sought an interlocutory injunction among other reliefs restraining the APC lawmakers from commencing impeachment against the governor.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South West

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Amosun backs president AfDB presidency: Adesina on LG autonomy thanks Buhari, Jonathan, others P O Femi OyewesO

resident of African Development Bank, AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Goodluck Jonathan played key roles in his election. Adesina, who was elected AfDB president in Abidjan on Thursday, made the statement in Abeokuta yesterday during a courtesy visit to Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State. “I want to appreciate the support of the president and former President Jona-

than for their support during AfDB election. “Our leaders rallied round us in an unparalleled way, former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalam Abubakar and Yakubu Gowon put a lot of support behind me. “I commend former Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for her role because it was an election we had to convince 74 ministers of finance from across the world. “The election went into six rounds of voting and

Nigeria led every single round of that vote; I want to confirm that the election was truly a collective Nigerian effort. “We will work very hard to develop programmes that will end poverty in our country, create opportunities for prosperity all across our countries,’’ Adesina said, adding that he would ensure that rural economy was revived and also encourage regional integration. Earlier, Amosun expressed appreciation to

Buhari, Jonathan and the international community for backing Adesina during the AfDB election. He said it was not a personal success to Adesina but to Nigeria as a country. He said the emergence of Adesina as the head of the bank was another of many feats of Ogun indigenes. The governor expressed confidence in the former minister as a seasoned agricultural economist to bring his wealth of experience to bear in his new position.

ABEOKUTA

gun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has thrown his weight behind the local government autonomy being proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari across the country. Amosun told members of the Correspondent Chapel, Ogun State council of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, who paid him a courtesy call in his office yesterday that the development would foist greater grassroots sense of responsibility on the councils and Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs. “The autonomy issue is in my interest. Some gov-

ernors said granting autonomy to LGAs would not favour them. “The governors that said autonomy would not favour them are those that deduct local government (monies) from federal allocation. “True, what is coming from federal allocation is no longer enough. There is no money. For me, this development will challenge the local governments and LCDAs the more. If they want autonomy, let them take their autonomy. “If they can't pay salaries, they won't come back to me. If they can't pay teachers or embark on developmental projects, they know that they are the ones that cannot pay and not the state."

New Ondo Assembly inaugurated, Speaker elected OjO Oyewamide AKURE

N L-R: Executive Director, Social-Economic Right and Accountability Project (SERAP), Mr. Adetokunbo Mumuni; Head of Investigation and Coordinator of ICPC state offices, Mr. Kayode Adebayo; Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leadership, Mr. Debo Adeniran and Mr. Yomi Giwa, during OSIWA/SERAP media roundtable on approaches/strategies for combating impunity for local government corruption in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN

FG promised support on Boko Haram study Kemi Olaitan IBADAN

igerian Anthropological and Sociological Association, NASA, has restated the determination to partner the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in the conduct of sociological study on Boko Haram insurgency. President of the association, Prof. Ifeanyi Onyeonoru, who made the commitment in a statement made available to National Mirror in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, said a robust sociological study was long overdue following changing trend and patterns of terrorist group’s activities. It would be recalled that President Buhari had during his inaugural speech assured of commissioning a sociological study to un-

derstand the terrorist group better. According to NASA president, Nigerian sociologists have for long called on the Federal Government to conduct a sociological study to understand the root causes and dynamics of the Boko

Haram menace. Stating that the President has started on a good note, Onyeonoru added that Nigerian sociologists were up to the task with many existing studies on Boko Haram insurgency. The professor of Indus-

trial Sociology and Workplace Relations also assured Buhari of an encompassing study that would involve criminologists, medical sociologists, demographers, political sociologists, development sociologists, gender scholars among others.

ew session of Ondo State House of Assembly was yesterday inaugurated in Akure, the state capital. The eighth Assembly was proclaimed at 12.05 pm by Clerk of the House, Bode Adeyelu, on behalf of the governor, who failed to attend the inauguration. The Speaker, Jumoke Akindele, had earlier dissolved the seventh Assembly after a valedictory session. Tears of affection flowed as old members walked out of the hallowed chamber. The new Assembly commenced business immediately with the election of speaker and deputy speaker. Akindele, who represents Okitipupa constituency II,

was returned as new speaker after she was nominated by Olamide George from Akure North constituency. Olotu Fatai from Akoko North East was elected deputy speaker, having been nominated by Adeniyi Coker Malachi who represents Ilaje constituency II. The election of Fatai surprised not a few people at the event since he hails from Ikare-Akoko, hometown of the state deputy governor, Lasisi Oluboyo. The newly-elected presiding officers were sworn into office by the Clerk, after which the new speaker administered the oath of office on other members. The new Assembly, which consists of 26 members, has five from the All Progressive Congress, APC, and 21 from Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Cleric lauds Buhari for appointing Adesina, Shehu Kemi Olaitan IBADAN

resident Muhammadu Buhari has been commended for appointing the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, president, Mr. Femi Adesina, and Mallam Garba Shehu as Special Adviser on Media and Publicity and Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, respectively. A cleric and Patron of

Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, Ibadan, National Station chapel, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke, gave the commendation in a statement issued in Ibadan yesterday. He said: "The appointment, many right thinking Nigerians would know is a confirmation that the new President has started on a good footing by not allowing

ethnic or religious sentiment to influence his appointment. He diligently picked the right choice in choice positions. "It is the prayer of most Nigerians that God will guide Mr. President while picking other lieutenants who will steer the ship of this country. We, in Shafudeen in Islam, will not relent in our prayers for positive transformation of this country." He charged members

of the incoming 8th National Assembly to cooperate with the executive by approving the yet-tobe sent ministerial list, which is expected to be on merit, adding that "the era of being financially induced has ended." Olagoke, who is founder of ShafaudeenIn-Islam Worldwide, urged Adesina and Shehu to sustain the virtues of professionalism and integrity for which they

are known, stressing that, "Femi Adesina was elected NGE president for a second term because of his antecedent in journalism." He therefore, enjoined media practitioners in the country to be conscious of their role in the success of any government, urging them not to compromise because such would betray societal confidence in them.

South East

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Pro-Biafra group holds protest in Aba

... Police arrest 68 MOSSOB members over conspiracy Chris Njoku aNd GeorGe opara

embers of a proBiafran group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) from the South East and South South states of the country gathered in Aba, Abia State, yesterday, to honour their heroes who fell in the course of prosecuting the NigerianBiafran war. The group numbering over 10,000 had gathered in front of Christ the King Catholic Cathedral Church as early as 9am, and divided themselves into groups and took off, marching through the streets of the commercial city and thereafter reassembled at the same spot where they had taken off. The group, in an eighthour protest, covered Ogbor Hill, Aba-Owerri road, Tonimas-Umule axis, Ariaria and Port Harcourt road through Flyover Bus Stop, among others. Thus, there was traffic gridlock along some of the major roads in the city as commuters, motorists and residents of Aba trooped out to have a glimpse of what was happening. Police patrol vans were, however, seen at various strategic junctions where Armoured Personnel Carriers were stationed to ensure the protesters did not get violent or cease the opportunity to cause breach of peace in the city. Some IPOB members, who spoke with our reporter, said the movement in Aba was honouring some Biafran warlords who died during the Nigerian-Biafran civil war, adding that it was also part of their efforts to further push their agitation for the realisation of the sovereign state of Biafra. However, residents of Aba have commended police officers under the Aba Area Command for exhibiting maturity in the way they handled the protesters, stating that it was a paradigm shift from the past. They added that if the template exemplified by the police could be sustained, “they would be able to attain the slogan that the police are friends and not enemy of the public.” Meanwhile, the Imo State

police command yesterday disclosed that 68 members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MOSSOB, were arrested for causing breach of the peace while celebrating Biafra Day and remembrance of their fallen heroes on Saturday. Addressing newsmen in Owerri, the state capital, Commissioner of Police, Mr. Austin Evbakhavbokun, explained that MOSSOB members were arrested clad in Biafran uniforms with insignia and Biafran flags, marching along Port Harcourt federal highway and chanting war songs with the intention to cause breach of the peace. He disclosed that in the process, 68 of the suspected MOSSOB members were arrested, while 62 of them were charged to court yesterday for conspiracy, belonging to unlawful society and exhibiting conduct likely to cause breach of the peace. According to the police commissioner, “we recovered exhibits such as Biafra uniforms, Biafra identity cards, Biafra flags and some buses from them.” He described their action as intent to subvert the government, adding that hoisting two flags amounts to a subversive act. “We cannot hoist or have two flags in one nation. The civil war brought us to where we are today. Security agencies cannot allow this to happen again as we don’t have any other country than Nigeria. What they were doing is very subversive,” the police boss said.

Members of Indigenous People of Biafra from the South East and South-South states during a protest to honour fallen heroes who died during the Nigerian-Biafran war, in Aba, Abia State, yesterday. PHOTO: GEORGE OPARA

Tanker disaster: Relatives, sympathisers visit hospitals, mortuaries in Onitsha

undreds of relatives and other sympathisers from Onitsha, Anambra State, Asaba in Delta State and environs yesterday thronged the scene of Sunday’s fuel tanker accident, hospitals and mortuaries in search of their loved ones. It would be recalled that no fewer than 69 people, 14 mini-buses, three tricycles and a motorcycle were burnt in the accident. The tanker laden with petroleum products crashed into a bus park located at the Upper Iweka axis of Onitsha-Enugu road. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that hundreds of people visited the wounded in hospitals and mortuaries to identify the remains of their loved ones who were affected in the accident.

NAN observed that they were shedding tears endlessly and bemoaned the tragedy that affected their beloved ones. Several others also visited the scene of the accident to see what happened after the carcasses of the vehicles involved had been towed away. NAN correspondent, who visited the Toronto Hospital and Onitsha General Hospital, saw some of the corpses of the victims deposited at the mortuaries, waiting for identification and possible collection by their relatives for burial. Chief Medical Director of Toronto Hospital, Dr. Emeka Eze, told NAN that those admitted in the hospital following the accident were in stable condition. Eze said the hospital was able to cope with the large

number of patients because it has all the necessary medication and equipment to attend to them. “As you can see, they are in good and stable condition. “We have been putting in our best and one good thing working for us is that the hospital has the necessary medication and equipment to attend to emergencies such as this,’’ he said. At Onitsha General Hospital, one of the senior medical personnel who spoke on condition of anonymity, said those admitted in its emergency and accident unit had been transferred to the Anambra State University Teaching Hospital, Amaku, Awka. “Those alive but suffered various degrees of injury have been transferred as early as 5am to the State University Teaching Hospital,’’

she said. However, NAN observed that security men at St. Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, restricted movement of people, who had come to commiserate with the victims. A bus conductor, Mr. Innocent Obioma, who was among the sympathisers, said his master got trapped in the inferno when he ran to assist passengers in one of the vehicles the tanker fell on initially. “As Oga Okoli jumped out of our bus and attempted to help a woman with a baby in one of the buses, the tanker’s content exploded and everybody within the circumference, including Oga Okoli got burnt beyond recognition. “Oh! What a disaster and sad end for my compassionate master!

Umahi reads riot act to kidnappers, cultists …summons council caretaker chairmen, coordinators

aliuNa GodwiN ABAKALIKI

overnor of Ebonyi State, Mr. Dave Umahi, yesterday placed a ban on cultism and kidnapping, among other security threats in the state, just as he restated his preparedness to fight corruption and other criminal activities recorded by the immediate past administration. The governor made this known in Abakaliki during the swearing-in of his per-

sonal aides, who included Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Chief of Staff, special advisers and head of service, among other staff, at the Akanu Ibam International Conference Centre. He said his administration was prepared to work with traditional rulers to bring government to the grassroots. Umahi stated that one of his campaign promises has to do with the probe of all corrupt officials, especially

those in the previous administration with the aim of increasing internally generated revenue, IGR, of the state so that he could meet the needs of the people who voted him into power. He stated that the fight against corruption would not be left for the state government alone and warned that the state would not take it lightly with civil servants who don't go to work, as government was prepared to look into the ministries and agencies to know the areas

that are overstaffed so as to deploy some to the agriculture sector. The governor disclosed that government considered the issue of equitable distribution of resources and positions and had to spread the appointment accordingly for the peace and unity of the state. He lamented that the city of Abakaliki was too dirty and needs to be cleaned, stressing that the state government would not hesitate to borrow money from the bank to clear the refuse dump

which the former administration had ordered to make the environment clean. Earlier, Solicitor General of the state, Mr. Jonathan Okoronkwo, had said the positions of the principal officers were provided for in the Constitution and that the governor was empowered to appoint principal officers of the state and personal aides and in doing so should ensure that only persons who are eminently qualified were appointed to man the positions.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South South

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

arrests five Wike okays financial autonomy NSCDC vandals in C’River for Rivers judiciary N …berates NBA over courts’ closure Dennis naku

PORT HARCOURT

overnor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State yesterday said the state’s judiciary will enjoy financial autonomy to enable it work without being muscled by the executive. Wike made the declaration while swearing-in the state’s Acting Chief Judge, Daisy Okocha, and Acting President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Christiana Nwankwo, in Port Harcourt. The governor promised to never starve the judiciary of funds as a way of arm-twisting the third arm

of government. He explained that the independence of the judiciary was essential for the smooth running of government in the state. Wike, however, expressed disappointment with the attitude of the Bench during the crisis in the state, saying they were divided when they were supposed to be united to fight the destruction of the judiciary. He also berated the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, in the state for failing to defend the legal profession in the face of attacks from what he termed a ‘desperate administration seeking self-preservation'. “As a lawyer, I am highly

disappointed by the action of the NBA. Something that you know is wrong, but everyone kept quiet. “The actions NBA is taking now are belated. Suspending the former Attorney-General of the state is coming late in the day. “They (NBA) failed to speak up when everything was going wrong. We got to that level of decadence because NBA failed to act,” the governor said. The governor noted that he will always follow due process in appointing judicial officers, adding that he will never make appointments on the premise of self preservation. “If I believe in self pres-

ervation, I would have appointed my wife as acting Chief Judge and the second in line as Acting President of the Customary Court of Appeal. “But I believe in due process. Throughout my leadership, we will follow due process in all appointments and actions," he said. Responding, the Acting Chief Judge, Justice Okocha stated that there will be zero tolerance to corruption under her watch. She commended the governor for working towards the financial autonomy of the judiciary, adding that she would ensure the revival of the state judiciary.

igeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Cross River State Command, yesterday said it had arrested five suspected transformer vandals in the state between January and May 31. The state’s NSCDC commandant, Dr Benito Eze, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Calabar that the arrests followed the deployment of personnel for effective surveillance of government infrastructure and facilities. Eze said among items recovered from the suspects were a ladder, bundle of electrical cable, an iron rod and six building rods. “Part of the mandate of the corps is to curb activities of vandals of public infrastructure, and the command is leaving no stone

unturned in achieving this,” he said. He said the command has spread its dragnet across the state and that the initiative had been yielding positive result. He said the suspects were being investigated and would be charged to court soon. “The command is poised to curb the activities of vandals to the barest minimum. “These economic saboteurs, especially in the areas of power installation and the oil sector, will be shown the way out of the state,” the commandant said. He however appealed to the public to always give the command timely and useful information that would assist in apprehending criminals and bringing crime to the barest minimum.

Rivers Assembly gets new Speaker, deputy Dennis naku

PORT HARCOURT

L-R: Delta State PDP Chairman, Mr. Edwin Uzor, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and his wife, Edith, during a thanksgiving reception in honour of Governor Okowa in Delta State, at the weekend.

ivers State House of Assembly was yesterday opened for legislative activities by Governor Nyesom Wike, even as a member representing Andoni Constituency, Ikunyi Ibani, emerged the new speaker. This came after the governor dissolved the 7th Assembly and proclaimed the 8th legislature in the state during a brief but colourful ceremony at the Assembly complex along Moscow Road, Port Harcourt. Thirty-two lawmakers after the proclamation

Lawyer seeks SGF, Speakership for S'South, S’East Dennis naku

PORT HARCOURT

legal practitioner and chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, in Imo State, Moses Oha, has called for the appointment of a lawmaker from the South South geo-political zone as Speaker, House of Representatives. Also, Oha advocated that the South East should produce the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF. Oha, who made the call while speaking with news-

men in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, suggested that the doctrine of necessity should be invoked by the House of Representatives so that one of its capable members, no matter his ranking, should be appointed from among APC legislators from the zone. He stated that it would not be fair for the North to produce the president and Senate President and the South West Vice President and Speaker while the South South and South East are left alone on the ground that they did not vote for the party.

The Port Harcourt-based lawyer advised APC to reflect the federal character principle in the appointment of National Assembly leaders as well as that of the SGF, saying all zones were represented in the immediate past administration. He said politicians from the North and West were behaving as though they were waging a war against the former Eastern region and maintained that the freedom to choose who to vote for is one of the beauties of democracy. He said: "Nobody expects that everybody will vote a

particular candidate or party. It is not done anywhere in the world. Why do people want to quickly forget that Federal Character has been governing the affairs in Nigeria? "Now, Buhari has won the election; he is from the North. We heard the Senate President will come from the North and somebody is saying the South West will take the Speakership. A forum from the North is saying they want the Secretary to Federal Government to come from the North. "The implication is that the former Eastern Region

has been completely ignored. Is this region (South East and South South) still part of Nigeria? Where is the fairness and equity in this tpye of union? "During Yar’Adua's sickness, there was a principle called 'Doctrine of Necessity,' so if they should apply it I would recommend that whether there is a ranking representative from South South or not, make someone there the Speaker, House of Representatives and somebody from the South East the SGF. You have to consider the South South," Oha stressed.

unanimously elected Ibani as new speaker, while their colleague, representing AbuaOdua Constituency, Marshal Uwom, was elected deputy speaker. The opening ceremony of the Assembly complex, was scheduled for 10a.m. but could not start till 2.15pm following closed door meetings by the lawmakers at Government House, Port Harcourt. It was gathered that the lawmakers had met behind closed doors to harmonise issues and possibly agree on who becomes the Speaker. Addressing the house shortly after he took his oath of office, the Speaker assured that he would carry the interest of Rivers people to the next level. Ibani regretted that the journey had been tortuous, adding that under his watch as speaker, the House would never suffer what he described as "legislative Armageddon." He said, “The journey has been tortuous and a very long one, therefore, the responsibilities are quite enormous. "I will carry the interest of Rivers people beyond where we are today. Never again, under my watch, shall this Assembly suffer legislative Armageddon. "No member of this house shall be dishonoured; we will give fresh hope to the people," the Speaker said.

North

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Reps’ Speakership: Tambuwal calls for pragmatic, mature campaigns

overnor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State yesterday advised aspirants to the seat of Speaker, House of Representatives, to be pragmatic and mature in their campaigns. News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that Tambuwal gave the advice in Sokoto when one of the aspirants, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, paid him a courtesy visit. “Efforts should be made to reduce the current tension generated in the course of the race as it is already high. “The House should be made more stable to build on the legacies of the seventh assembly,’’ he said. Tambuwal declared that although he has no preferred candidate, it is important to caution members so as to reduce rancour. The former Speaker promised to ensure fair, transparent and open transition process for the House of Representa-

tives. “Continuity is very important and the two groups need each other. “Efforts should be made to de-emphasise and turn down anything that may promote rancour and hatred. “I will try my best and carry everybody along. I will assemble the best to give the people of Sokoto State the best,’’ Tambuwal assured. Earlier, Dogara had said the visit was to felicitate with the governor as a “leader and former colleague. “We are the products of your mentoring and we are here for your blessings and guidance. “The annals of history will never forget you due to the invaluable sacrifices you made for the nation. “These myriad of sacrifices had helped greatly in bringing the current change in Nigeria and we will sustain your indelible legacies,’’ he said.

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FCTA arrests 3,000 commercial sex workers OMEIZA AJAYI ABUJA

pecial Task Force on City Cleaning and Management in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has arrested no fewer than 3, 000 commercial sex workers in the last 90 days. The suspects have, however, been handed over to Abuja Environment Protection Board, AEPB, for prosecution and subsequent rehabilitation. FCT Permanent Secretary, Engr. John Obinna Chukwu, disclosed this yesterday after meeting with chairman of the task team and FCT Police Commissioner, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, in Abuja.

Announcing that the team also impounded 4,790 commercial motorcycles (Okada) and 883 Rickshaws or tricycles within the period, the permanent secretary disclosed that the task team also impounded 645 unpainted commercial vehicles as well as 84 illegal commercial buses in the Federal Capital City. Chukwu restated that the team also embarked on city cleaning activities, which culminated in the closure and/or removal of 52 illegal carwash sites and 83 illegal auto mechanic workshops. “In addition, eight illegal sand dredging and quarry sites; 205 shanties;

89 illegal markets; seven illegal car marts and 98 food vendors kiosk and furniture workshops - all located in unauthorised places within the city - have been closed down,” he added. Chukwu said: “Similarly, 2,534 street hawkers and beggars have been arrested by the FCT Administration, and 102 stray animals were removed from illegal cattle markets in Gudu and other parts of the city during the same period.” The permanent secretary therefore directed the task team to redouble its efforts to rid the Federal Capital City of all environmental nuisance, stressing that it’s not business as usual.

Chukwu further directed all operational departments in the FCT Administration to sit up to ensure that their statutory responsibilities are carried out to the later; insisting that “we must be proactive in city management in line with the vision of the new Nigeria.” In a related development, the permanent secretary has called on residents of the FCT to be law abiding and remain their brothers’ keepers. While soliciting their utmost cooperation with the government, Engr. Chukwu urged the residents to report any suspicious movement to law enforcement agents.

Fuel scarcity: Prices of grains soar in Kano

rices of grains have gone up in Kano due to fuel scarcity and late arrival of rainfall, the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports. A survey conducted by NAN at Sabon Gari market showed that the price of grains, including maize, millet, guinea corn and beans have increased considerably. According to the survey, a bag of maize that used to cost N4,800, now sells for N5,500. Similarly, a bag of beans, which costs N14,000 before, now costs N15,500, while a bag of millet costs N5,500 as against N5,000 previously. The survey further revealed that the price of wheat has also shot up, as a bag of the commodity now costs N15,500 instead of N14,000, while a bag of guinea corn costs N6,000 as against N5,000. One of the grain sellers at Sabon Gari market,

Alhaji Abbas Shua’ibu, told NAN that a measure of maize costs N160 as against N140, while the same quantity of millet cost N220 as against N170. He said a measure of beans which used to go for N350 before, now costs between N400 and N450. Shuaibu blamed the increase on the hike in transport fares occasioned by high prices and late arrival of the rains. According to him, the prices could be different in some states where the rainy season had set in. “The price is not uniform because when you go to other areas or states you will see that the prices differ. “We hope and pray that the prices of the commodities will come down when fuel supply improves and the rainfall commences,” he said.

Bauchi State permanent secretaries and civil servants during a meeting with Governor Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Group urges Buhari to revoke N9.2bn stove import contract AZA MSUE KADUNA

ational coordinator and founder of Green Shield of the Nation, Dr. Kabir Abdulkadir Yan-Mama, yesterday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the N9.2 billion contract awarded by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government for importation of 750,000 cooking stoves from Germany. Abdulkadir, while maintaining that “due

process was not followed” before the contract was awarded 72 hours to the handover of power to Buhari, said there was an ongoing effort under the Ministry of Environment to produce similar, but better stoves locally. He said with N9.2 billion, over three million pieces of the stove could be produced locally, while over one million Nigerian youths would be employed in its fabrication. He recalled the whole idea of alternative energy

stoves was conceived during the reign of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to address deforestation, considering the alarming rate of tree felling in order to provide firewood for cooking. Abdulkadir said aside the danger of deforestation, the ongoing arrangement for local stoves is also capable of addressing domestic pollution, as it uses coal, while the imported stoves will merely reduce the volume of firewood consumed in cook-

ing. “The contract is just a parting gift to some people, because it was awarded barely 72 hours to the handing over. And the annoying part is that the contract is generating employment in Germany at the expense of Nigerian unemployed youths. “With the N9.2bn, we can produce over three million pieces of that stove here in Kaduna and get over one million Nigerian youths employed in its fabrication,” he said.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

SUPER TUESDAY Ishaku should prioritise security, reconciliation in his rescue mission –Bishop Hammawa

14, 43

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Politics

Ours’ll be a compassionate government –Ambode

30 years after, Buhari back in seat of power

or someone like President Muhammadu Buhari, who retired from the Nigerian Amy as a Major General, fighting battles cannot be strange; in fact, it would have become a way of life. However, in the field of battle, a lot of things happen. Some may get wounded, while deaths may even be recorded. However, winning the battle is always the primary focus while the thought of losing is never an option. Buhari, who was military Head of State of Nigeria from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985, had made attempts since 2003 to come back to power as a civilian President, but failed to realise his ambition. He contested against former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 but lost in the election while another attempt failed when he contested against late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2007. Not willing to give up his ambition, he contested election against former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 and again lost. At this point, he decided not to contest election again. This was after he lost all his legal battles in each of the three attempts at getting to the seat of power. But Buhari had to change his position not to further make any attempt contesting for the presidential seat when there was a successful coming together of the defunct Congress for Progress Change, CPC, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, to form the All Progressives Congress, APC. The APC decided to field Buhari as its presidential candidate to contest against Jonathan in the 2015 election. While Buhari was making his fourth attempt at becoming Nigeria’s President, Jonathan was seeking for a second term in office as President. The 2015 presidential election is now history and Buhari is now President after four attempts. He was sworn in as the fifth executive President of the country on Friday, May 29. In his inaugural speech, Buhari said he was not coming back to power to settle old scores, but would keep the oath and serve as President of all Nigerians, stressing that “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.” He said: “A few people have privately voiced fears that on coming back to office I shall go after them. These fears are groundless. There will be no paying of old scores. The past is prologue.” He explained that the most immediate focus of his government is to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency, saying that the Command and Control Centre of the military would be relocated to Maiduguri until Boko Haram is completely subdued. His words: “The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued while assuring that the abducted Chibok girl would be rescued alive. “My appeal for unity is predicated on the seriousness of the legacy we are getting into. With depleted foreign reserves, falling oil prices, leakages and debts, the Nigerian economy is in deep trouble and will require careful management to bring it round and to tackle the immediate challenges confronting us, namely; Boko Haram, the Niger Delta situation, the power shortages and unemployment, especially among young people. “For the longer term, we have to improve the standards of our education. We have to look at the whole field of medicare. We have to upgrade our dilapidated physical infrastructure. “The most immediate is Boko Haram’s insurgency. Progress has been made in recent weeks by our security forces, but victory cannot be achieved by basing the Command and Control Centre in Abuja. The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued. But we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other in-

President Muhammadu Buhari would go down in history as the second military Head of State who came back to power as civilian president. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was the first to set the record. Buhari, in his second coming said he is now a democrat with high democratic principles. ROTIMI FADEYI examines issues raised in his inaugural speech.

Buhari

nocent persons held hostage by insurgents. “This government will do all it can to rescue them alive. Boko Haram is a typical example of small fires causing large fires. An eccentric and unorthodox preacher with a tiny following was given posthumous fame and following by his extra judicial murder at the hands of the police. “Since then through official bungling, negligence, complacency or collusion, Boko Haram became a terrifying force taking tens of thousands of lives and capturing several towns and villages covering swathes of Nigerian sovereign territory” Buhari described the sect as a mindless, godless group who are as far away from Islam as one can think of, saying that at the end of the hostilities when the group is subdued, the government intends to commission a sociological study, adding that such study is necessary to determine its origins, its remote and immediate causes, its sponsors, the international connection to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a reoccurrence of this evil. He, however, explained that for the time being, the Armed Forces would be fully charged with prosecuting the fight against Boko Haram adding that his government shall overhaul the rules of engagement to avoid human rights violations in operation. Buhari said his government shall improve operational and legal mechanisms so that disciplinary steps are taken against proven human right violations by the Armed Forces. He noted that Boko Haram was not only the security issue bedeviling our country adding that spate of kidnappings, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle rustlings all help to add to the general air of insecurity. The President said: “We are going to erect and maintain an efficient, disciplined people – friendly and well – compensated security forces within an over – all security architecture.” He noted that though the challenges are enormous, they are not insurmountable, adding: “Daunting as the task may be, it is by no means insurmountable. There is now a national consensus that our chosen route to national development is democracy. To achieve our objectives, we must consciously work the democratic system.

“The Federal Executive under my watch will not seek to encroach on the duties and functions of the legislative and judicial arms of government. The law enforcing authorities will be charged to operate within the Constitution. We shall rebuild and reform the public service to become more effective and more serviceable. We shall charge them to apply themselves with integrity to stabilise the system.” He, however, noted that no matter how well organised the governments of the federation are, they cannot succeed without the support, understanding and cooperation of labour unions, organised private sector, the press and civil society organizations. He added: “I appeal to employers and workers alike to unite in raising productivity so that everybody will have the opportunity to share in increased prosperity. The Nigerian press is the most vibrant in Africa. My appeal to the media today - and this includes the social media – is to exercise its considerable powers with responsibility and patriotism.” On the amnesty programme, Buhari said: “Amnesty programme in the Niger Delta is due to end in December, but the government intends to invest heavily in the projects, and programmes currently in place. I call on the leadership and people in these areas to cooperate with the state and Federal Governments in the rehabilitation programmes which will be streamlined and made more effective. “As ever, I am ready to listen to grievances of my fellow Nigerians. I extend my hand of fellowship to them so that we can bring peace and build prosperity for our people.” On power, Buhari said “no single cause can be identified to explain Nigerian’s poor economic performance over the years than the power situation. It is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less.” He said: “Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close on $20 billion expanded since 1999 have only brought darkness, frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians. We will not allow this to go on. Careful studies are under way during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians.” On unemployment, Buhari said: “Notably, youth unemployment features strongly in our party’s manifesto. We intend to attack the problem frontally through revival of agriculture, solid minerals mining as well as credits to small and medium size businesses to kick – start these enterprises” “We shall quickly examine the best way to revive major industries and accelerate the revival and development of our railways, roads and general infrastructure.” Before his inaugural speech, former President Jonathan had handed over the instrument of office as well as the national and armed forces flags to Buhari Buhari later inspected the parade of guard by the armed forces in a motorcade after which there was a 21- gun salute. He also released balloons made up of the national colours and white pigeons signifying peace At the event, United States President, Barack Obama was represented by a powerful delegation led by Secretary of State, John Kerry. Presidents and Heads of State who also witnessed the event are those from Zimbabawe, Namibia, Ghana, Congo Libreville, Mozambique, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, South Africa, Rwanda and Benin Republic Also at the event were Vice Presidents from Angola, Kenya and South Sudan as well as Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

Politics

Tuesday, June 2, 2014

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Ishaku should prioritise security, reconciliati The Most Rev. Dr. Charles M. Hammawa, the Catholic Bishop of Jalingo Diocese, in this interview with JUSTIN TYOPUUSU speaks on the need for the new Taraba State governor to prioritise security and how government can collaborate with the church to fast track development, among other issues. Excerpts:

lections have come and gone leaving behind winners and losers. What words of advice would you give to both winners and losers? Yes indeed, the much talked about 2015 elections have come and gone. And I must begin on a note of gratitude to God Almighty because He has made it possible that we had an election that was largely peaceful. There were pockets of problems here and there, but they are nothing compared to the fears we had before that the elections would be bloody and chaotic. And I want to attribute that to the prayers that have been said by well meaning Nigerians who said to themselves: ‘elections or no elections, Nigerians deserve a better chance to live in peace’. They kept praying to God Almighty and we are grateful because the elections have been largely acclaimed by all to be peaceful and generally good. Secondly, as with any election or game, there must be winners and losers; but life goes on. Even after elections, when some have been declared winners and some losers, life must continue. So, we congratulate those who have won, presuming that all things went well. But even if not, I think for the sake of peace let us accept the results. Those who have legitimate reasons to complain should do so peacefully and legally. As for the winners, I want them to discard this ‘winner takes all’ concept or philosophy of life, held by our past leaders. I want to appeal to them to see their victories at this point as call to serve the people of Nigeria and to do so selflessly. You can be called a leader but you have to earn the respect of a leader. And it is only when you serve that you are truly a leader. So, that is my appeal to the winners, whether as individuals or as a party; that they should consider this as service and serve their country selflessly. Let them know that they are not there to appropriate to themselves the resources of the country, but to serve the people and meet their needs and they must bring everybody on board because the country belongs to us all, including those that did not vote for them. As for the losers, we appeal to them to accept the outcome in good faith for the love of their country. That they lost an election does not mean that they have nothing to contribute to the running of this country. If in the event that they are a minority as a party in any given government, either at state or federal level and they form an opposition, let it be an opposition that is critical to the point that it is going to benefit the people, not just to tear down the government and make life impossible for them. Nigeria, as have been said by many good people, is far bigger than any person aspiring to any political office. That is why I commend former President Goodluck Jonathan, who accepted his loss in good faith and I pray he won’t see that as an end of his contribution to the Nigerian society. Let us all love our country and love our people, no matter our differences and continue to build this country. We pray that Nigeria will continue to know more peace and development. After elections comes governance. What do you think are the critical areas the new governor of Taraba State should focus on in his four-year mandate? Government generally is supposed to look after her own people in all spheres of life, but we can say at one point or the other, there would be priority. So, in my personal opinion, I will say for Taraba State, his first point of focus should be to restore peace and stability in the state. I think we have had an undue share of troubles whether, they are considered ethnic, re-

ligious or political. It has not helped Taraba State and for me, let him work towards that. That anybody who lives in Taraba State should have free movement without fear of anything and be able to conduct their businesses and travel without harassment. We need to restore peace, and as has been said always, no meaningful development can take place if there is no peace. So, while governor tries to settle debts staring the state in the face, pay teachers salaries, settle the state university to call off their strike, I think peace is the number one issue of all these challenges. My heart bleeds each time I travel to Central and Southern Taraba in the last two years that we have experienced crisis there. For instance, the economic life has been brought to its lowest. When things were okay, life was normal along the main road from here to Wukari; every small village was bubbling with economic activities, but now, it is no longer the case. I honestly don’t know what our elected leaders in Taraba State were doing all these years that we had these problems. Ours has not been classified as Boko Haram, but it was nonetheless as serious as Boko Haram. And we never received the attention that we ought to receive either internally (within the state), from our elected members of the House of Assembly or those at the national level. Recently there was a debate in the National Assembly about the continuous crisis between what is called pastoralists and farmers. Taraba State was not mentioned. It was Benue, Nasarawa, and parts of Plateau and Kogi states. Where are our own people? At the federal level for instance, we have elected people in the National Assembly, both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Why have they kept quiet for so long? Is it not human lives that have been destroyed out there? Now as we are talking, in Southern part of the state, apart from strikes by teachers, the school session in the Central and Southern Taraba has been disrupted for long. So, for me, the number one priority for our governor as he assumes office is security. He should do what he can and leave no stone unturned to restore peace to Taraba State so that normal life will resume and for people to return to their various places. How many thousands of people have fled and been forced to leave Taraba State? Even up till now, they are not guaranteed their safety if they return, or guaranteed their homes when they come back. And as I said, these have not occupied the minds of our politicians in this state. It beats my imagination. But I hope the governor and his team will put their heads together and do something about this. It is important, it is necessary, it is a condition that will guarantee the effectiveness of any other thing he would want to do for Taraba State. Some people are of the opinion that there was a kind of religious interplay in the way people voted in the just concluded general elections in the country. What is your take on this? With the best of will in the world, I think anybody will be naive to think that religion didn’t play a part in politics, especially in the last elections that we just had. I would want to be very optimistic, but religious sentiments played a very major part in what transpired. It is unfortunate. I always would ask the question at this day and age; who would use religion or the name of God to discriminate, to intimidate, to segregate and to destroy life as it were? If you were in governance, you rule to the exclusion of the other

Hammawa

members of your community. I can’t fathom that thinking, but it has happened. And I want to believe that even some of the litigations that will go on, behind it all are religious elements. So, the sooner we get out of this, the better for us. If religion in the name of God is used to discriminate, kill, segregate, and deprive, then it is wrong use of religion. On the other aspect, I will still feel that we cannot do politics without religion too. That let religion be used for good and not for selfish sectional interest. What I mean by this simply is if my faith as a Christian tells me I must be a man of peace, love everybody, must not segregate, must not discriminate and see everybody who either shares the same faith with me or not but as creatures of God, made in His image and likeness just as me, and therefore, treat them as brothers and sisters, then I am using religion for the good reasons. And it should influence therefore our politics for good; it should influence economic life, employment, life at the civil service level or any other professional level. You must use religion for good cause not for divisiveness and destruction of lives and property. So it depends therefore, on the way somebody takes his religion. If he uses it negatively, obviously it is going to affect everything that we do for bad, but if he uses it positively obviously it is going to affect everything that we do for good, for our general wellbeing and happiness, development and growth. So let us use religion for the right reason, not for the wrong reasons. The church has suffered great loss in the recent crisis in the state. In what areas do you think the church and the government can collaborate in rebuilding the affected areas? With every sense of humility, I want to say the church has done a lot, not only in Nigeria, but the world over, the

I commend former PresIdent

accePted hIs loss In Good faIth as an end of hIs contrIbutIon

us all love our country and lo

dIfferences and contInue to bu

nIGerIa wIll contInue to know

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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

A PUBLICATION OF NATIONAL MIRROR NEWSPAPERS

My Govt’ll comprise politicians, technocrats –Wike D ENNIS NAKU,

PORT HARCOURT

R Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan (middle) being welcomed by Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson (right), during Jonathan’s return to his home town in Bayelsa at the weekend.

Contractor explains delay of N10bn Opume-Okoroba road project OSAHON JULIUS

YENAGOA

The contractor handling the construction of the 9.7kilometre Opume-Okoroba road project awarded at the cost of N10bilion by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has explained the reason for the delayed take off of the project awarded since 2012. The management of the Bayelsa based construction firm, the Kakatar Ce Limited, formerly known as Mangrovetech, at the weekend said though the company had since July 2012 mobilized to site with the 100 per cent clearing and cutting of trees along the road corridors and so many other things, the claim that the project was abandoned in some quarters was untrue and the campaign of calumny against the company was sponsored. Recall that angry indigenes of Okoroba community in Nembe Local Government Area had last year protested against the abandonment of the road project by the Federal Government and claimed the abandonment was on the grounds of alleged disagreement over compensation and non- availability of sand. But the Brand Manager of the Road Construction Company, Kakatar Ce, Mr. Austine Ekeinde said the delay in the take-off of the project was due to the deficiencies inherent in the Bill of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation

(BEME) handed to the company by the NDDC. According to him, “the road contract was awarded to us without any applicable engineering design and drawings. It was so bad that at award the coordinates of the 00+ point of the road fell into Opume burial ground. This meant that we ought not to have commenced the road at all until NDDC gave the right coordinates.” “Secondly, the BEME handed over to us for the project was also inappropriate for the road. For instance, the bill did not provide the use of sand for filling, but instead laterite was provided. It did not also provide for sand-cement stabilization as sub-base. As Ogbia people we knew that building the road like that is an invitation to a failed road. We insisted and impressed upon NDDC to permit us use sand instead and also stabilize it with sand-cement. Even at the moment no official permission has been granted for the sand-cement stabilization. But we have gone ahead to do it because that is the right thing to do.” He stated that inspite of the challenges, they have done the clearing and cutting down of trees along the road corridors attaining 100% of the 9.6km total length, did the earthworks involving dredging and haulage of sand to over 2km and stabilisation with sandcement and stone-base reaching nearly 2km,” “There was also no provision made for haulage of sand outside

of the road corridors. It is the normal practice that where a road project is awarded and there are no materials in the immediate vicinity, provision is made for transportation from external locations.” “ In the Okoroba case, there is no sand in the area of Okoroba and hence we had to haul sand from a distance, in some instances, from as far as Onuebum. Again because we are Ogbia people we have hauled the sand without complaint and at great losses to us. Again at award of the road, we were required to construct a 6m width road. This we objected because it would have made the road very narrow, like a location or internal communal road. We progressed to increase the road width to 12.8m without prior approval.All these observations and short-comings were challenges which were strong grounds not to commence the road at all.” “We severally intimated the client through letters and direct meetings but action has been delayed because of the internal workings of the client system. It should be noted that this is not peculiar to Okoroba. We should also note that the Okoroba road is by no means a priority to the NDDC.As at today, no Final Engineering Design has been approved and handed over to us to guide us in the construction of that road, and so we had to stand it down until that is done.” “Please note that we cannot

proceed beyond the point we have reached without proper and adequate engineering design as this may jeopardize the spirit of the project. We are not a charitable organisation and at the moment we have made more than enough unappreciated sacrifices for the Okoroba people already,” . On the sand dredging difficulty faced by the company,Austine Ekeinde said though the company had disbursed over 17million for the sand search along the Opume/ Okoroba forest,” Assurance was given that there was sand on some spots which we leased from Opume as borrow-pit. We moved one of our river-going dredgers to the location to mine. But we were disappointed as no sand came out after about 2months of wasteful dredging. We had to move our dredger out all over again at great cost. You can be rest assured that no other company could have done this for anybody, if not from Ogbia people to Ogbia people.” “We are sure that you also saw a pilling rig together with several casings and rebars on the road at a time. Those machines and the materials were meant to be used for the pilling of the two proposed bridges on the road. We were ready to commence pilling and build the bridges out of patriotism. But we were requested to hold on until a final design is agreed. Now it appears all those materials will be wasted.

ivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated that his government would comprise tested technocrats and trusted politicians with strategic aim of developing the state. Speaking during a post inauguration thanksgiving service at the Salvation Ministries Church in Port Harcourt on Sunday, Nyesom Wike said that the move to revive the state will actively involve all stakeholders in the state. He was responding to a request by the General Overseer of the Salvation Ministry, Pastor David Ibiyomie who asked that the incoming government be made up of technocrats. He said : “I will not abandon politicians. My administration will be made up of politicians and qualified technocrats. The administration will be geared towards developing Rivers State. “God will not allow us to fail. We will bring men and women with capacity to work for the state. He added: “I am from Rivers State and I believe in Rivers State The deputy governor and I will work in the overall interest of the state”. Earlier, the General Overseer of the Salvation Ministry, Pastor David Ibiyomie commended the governor for putting God first by organising a thanksgiving service for his victory. He said a government built on God can never fail. He advised the governor to run a people centred government to revive the state. He, however, warned the governor against trying to please everyone as that is a recipe for failure. The thanksgiving service was attended by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Former Governor of Rivers state, Celestine Omehia, Deputy Governor, Dr Mrs. Ipalibo Harry Banigo and key stake holders in the state.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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Lawyer defends Ndoma Egba ‘s visit to Buhari RICHARD NDOMA, CALABAR

s controversy continues in Cross River over Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba’s visit to General Muhammadu Buhari some weeks ago, a Calabar-based lawyer/human rights activist, Barr Utum Eteng, has said that it was wrong for people to blame Egba for visiting the President –elect in company of a delegation of eminent leaders of thought from Cross River state. This was sequel to criticism that came few weeks ago when Senate Leader led eminent Cross Riverians to Abuja including Barr Eteng, to pay a visit to Buhari – a situation which did not augur well with some members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who criticised the visit of the senate leader and his delegation as gold diggers. Eteng stated this while fielding questions from Journalists at the weekend in Calabar,and stressed that no amount of insult and blackmail would reduce the Senate Leader’s status and the contribution he has made towards the nation’ s democracy. The human right activists maintained that members of the delegation were “ Cross Riverians of honour and proven integrity,” and stressed that the visit was not made under an umbrella of any of the two contending political parties stressing that “for

them to think we went there to seek for favour or overtake them in APC was a wrong misconception even though some of the members of the delegation had worked towards the emergence of General Buhari as president elect. Eteng averred that those who made the visit to the president elect were not gold diggers as claimed by their critic stressing that almost all members of

the delegation were people who had reached the peak of their careers and had made one or two contributions to their motherland. The legal luminary cautioned those who criticised the visit to be cautious as none of them would claim to have worked towards the emergence of Buhari than Okoi Obono Obla who was also a member of the delegation, and who according to him

Muhammadu Buhari used to address as my son. The lawyer chastized the Cross River State leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for branding the Senate Leader as unstable, urging them to “let Ndoma Egba be where they have pushed him to. They don’t want him to breathe but I tell you, he will breathe because they are not God.” The activist urged Cross

Riverians who could laisse and align with the new APC-led federal government to do so “because as a minority state, we may not fare well as opposition to federal government.” He charged the Governorelect, Prof Ben Ayade never to inherit Governor Liyel Imoke ‘s cabinet due to what he described as ‘danger of shared loyalty,’ which could destroy his administration.

Youths from Egbebiri at Biseni in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State keeping watch over Idu Well 3, over expired memorandum of understanding with Nigerian Agip Oil Company, recently. PHOTO: NAN

How Appeal Court judged 20-year inheritance dispute SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN

enin City. The Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City in May 2015 resolved a very complex matter that for over 20 years pitched children of same family against each other when it technically set aside the judgement of an Edo State High Court also sitting in Benin City on who inherits their late father’s family house (known as Igiogbe) and its adjoining land. In a judgment marked as Appeal No. CA/B/69/2006, delivered by Hon Justice Hamma Akawu Barka and unanimously supported by Hon Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Musa Saulawa and Hon Justice Ugochukwu Anthony Ogakwu, the higher court affirmed some of the orders of the lower court judgment that was delivered by Hon Justice J. O. Omorodion on November 9th 2004 in favour of the respondents and set aside others in favour of the appellants. Mr Olayiwola Afolabi, assisted

by Mrs P. E. Chukwu, Mrs A. D. Yusufu, Mrs E. D. Ibojo and Mr E. C. Abednego, led counsel for the appellants while Mr R. O. Ijatuyi, assisted by Mr E. F. Osifo and Mr S. Ogbe led counsel for the 1st and 2nd respondents. The five appellants in the order of appearance include: Edomwonyi Aiguokunrueghian, Uhunmwenkpema Aiguokunrueghian, Monday Aiguokunrueghian (for themselves and on behalf of the children of Aiguokunrueghian); Taiwo Alegbesogie and Igbineweka Ogedegbe. On the other hand, the respondents are: William Imarugheru, Obarogie Imarugheru and the Probate Registrar of the High Court of Justice in Benin. According to the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the appellate court judgment exclusively obtained by National Mirror, both parties were laying claim to the house at No. 32 Agbado Street, Benin City, Edo State in accordance with the Benin Customary Law of Inheritance. But the entire claim of the appeal revolves round Sec-

tion 3 (1) of the Wills Law of Bendel State of Nigeria 1976, which is still applicable in Edo State today; in spite of the facts of the appeal not being in dispute, whatsoever. The issues of dispute in the matter are clear, unambiguous and factual. The 1st and 2nd respondents were the plaintiffs at the lower court trial while the appellants and the probate registrar of Edo State High Court defended the suit. The two respondents and the (now deceased) father of the 1st to 3rd appellants are the biological children of the owner of the house, late Pa Imaruagheru Evbowe. Pa Imaruagheru Evbowe lived and died in his home at No. 32 Agbado Street in Benin City on the 2nd of June, 1982. But before his death, he made a will by which he devised his house to his eldest son, Aiguokunrueghian, the father of the 1st to 3rd appellants. After the death of his father, Aiguokunrueghian as the eldest son led the other children to perform the first burial ceremony of their deceased father. However, he

could not perform the customary second and final burial ceremony up to the 9th of March in 1983 when he fell sick and died. So, with the mantle having fallen on the first respondent, William Imaruagheru as the eldest surviving son, he led the other children to perform the second burial rites. Furthermore, he even performed a third, separate burial, demanded, according to the tradition of the Ugboko nu Magbae community, where his father was the Odionwere when he was alive. Having performed the second and final burial rites of his father, the first respondent, William Imaruagheru, asserted that he was entitled to the inheritance of the house being the Igiogbe (first son’s inheritance) after the eldest son, Aiguokunrueghian Imaruagheru, failed to perform the allimportant second and final burial rites of their late father up to the time he died. But the children of Aiguokunrueghian fiercely opposed this move after arguing that their fa-

ther was given the house through the will of their late grandfather, besides being the eldest son before then. They contended that their father survived the testator, performed the equally all-important first burial ceremony as first son of the deceased, and made provisions for the second and final burial rites before his death. They further argued that their father could have performed the second burial but for the two respondents’ that insisted that they were not ready only for them to quickly perform the ceremony after their father’s death. A dispute, according to Justice Barka, therefore arose over the ownership of the house in contention leading the respondents to institute the legal action before the Edo State High Court in Benin vide a writ of summons dated 18th of January, 1995. In the amended statement of claim, dated 8th of July, 1998, the plaintiffs sought amongst other reliefs: a declaration that the will of the Imaruagheru Evbowe, CONTINUED ON PAGE41

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Aare Afe Babalola: Living for improved humanity AYO FAJANA

hese immortal words of Henri Frederick Amiel, a Swiss: “Great men are real men; in them nature has succeeded”, find a perfect and fitting illustrations in Aare Afe Babalola, the Ekiti born numero uno. Deconstructing this successful symbol, however, it is a herculean task. The story of Aare Afe Babalola is a rather complex one, for he means different thing to different people. Some typecastg him the lion of ABUAD (Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti), while others adorn him with Kabiyesi in a manner of a super royale. However, of this great man, no praise is adequate. His fabled philanthropy, gravitas, entrepreneurial adventure, legal advocacy, his struggles and crusades in education, agriculture, community development and beyond, are sub themes of his persona that could be projected. I find him as a phenomenon, indeed, an accomplishment of a phenomenon. He recently confessed to his ability in changing lives and his inability to work with mediocre and the indolent. If he should be asked for a panoramic review of his life these past years, his autobiography - Impossibility made Possible – would aptly capture that imagination. Indeed, there are many sides of him competing for attention, amongst which are his numerous awards and honours

, the recent being one from London University on March 11, 2015. Professor Adrian Smith of the London University obtained exoneration from the fell swoop indictment “that could anything good come out of Nazareth” as the University conferred an LLD Honoris Causa on Aare Afe Babalola as the first Nigerian and the third African so honored in the 179 years history of the university. Recently also, the West African College of Nursing (WACN) at their biennial general meeting in Ghana nominated Aare for honorary fellowship award of the college, the conferment of which is slated for July 21, 2015 in their headquarter in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. According to the Executive secretary of WACN, Mrs Henrietta A.Okedo, the college which was established in 1981 ensures inter alia that citizens of member states receive health care delivery services at even the most remote villages. This is in consonance with the philanthropic gestures and matchless passion of Aare Babalola, who has made donations worth over N2 billion to promote good causes in health, including the state of the art nuclear medicine building to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and a similar project recently commissioned at the Federal Medical Centre, Ido Ekiti. The gesture necessitated the upgrading of the institution into a Teaching Hospital by the Federal Government.

HE RECENTLY CONFESSED TO HIS ABILITY IN CHANGING LIVES AND HIS INABILITY TO WORK WITH MEDIOCRE AND THE INDOLENT While reacting to a toast at the well attended dinner in his honor recently at the Alfa Belgore Hall of ABUAD, Aare Babalola said that he would continue to impact positively change lives. Hear him: “Someone has come out here to say my areas of fault. I have my faults like every human being. The man who said I cannot stand indolence is quite right, if I have found out that you are brilliant and committed, you’ll have problem with me because I’ll make you work more than you’re prepared to work. But at the end of the day, that person will be the better for it”. Could Baba have that sort of soul searching candor, a brutal introspection of self accusation? Inside his exultant soul, he swooned with the quote of the satiric writer, George Orwell that “I’ll always work harder”. With his career kick off in Law, no one ruminated on the transience of power more than him. In his 25th years of legal practice reminiscences years ago, he declared he had no political record either good or bad. His compulsion is certainly not to underrate the political class, but to assert the belief that

much of the nation’s resources should not be expended on full time politics. This is why he disparages politics as a single career accompanied with colossal wastes. Aare Afe Babalola has made outstanding contributions to the development of Law and Jurisprudence through his eclectic advocacies spanning more than five decades. Indeed, the legendary battles he had fought in courtrooms have led to the creation of many judicial precedents and landmark decisions, while volumes of several other intellectual works are credited to him, not only in Law but also in public administration. His legal reminiscences gave insight into the untold story of the long walk to the bottling of Ikogosi natural warm spring in Ikogosi Ekiti. Aare Babalola perceptibly saw special attraction of the spring and fittingly gave business proposals that led to the exploration. History might have added his various legal battles before the pristine forest found a place at the world tourist guide also as a commercial rendezvous of the UAC, Gossy waters. Recently, there had been token attempts to insert more down to earth memorial of John Sidney McGee, an American Baptist evangelist, who discovered the source of the spring in June, 1950. Fajana, a Public Relations consultant, wrote from Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.

For God, Nigeria is work in progress MARK TAIWO

f there is any nation on this planet Earth so favoured by God, it is Nigeria. There are series of events and indices that point to this assertion. In the highly stage of our nationhood, we survived a brutal civil war, and it was because God favours us. We also survived Maitasine religious war, several sectarian and religious crises, many military coups, industrial strikes, students’ unrests, youth restiveness, and now terrorism. Despite all the satanic prognostications and doomsday prophecies that Nigeria will break up in 2015, God has proved himself faithful on our behalf and turned such counsels to foolishness. Many nations of the world were expecting that Nigeria would break up over the outcome of this year’s general elections, but God has proved he is greater than their expectations. Do not forget he’s said that his thought towards us is of good and not of evil and to give us our expected ends. We need to come to the realisation that God loves Nigeria, and this realisation should propel us to acknowledge him in all our undertakings as a people and carry out our national assignments with the fear of God. Before the general elections, campaigns of hate were the order of the day, especially between the two main political parties. The Ijaw youths went ballistic, spitting fire and brimstone that it would be war should former President Goodluck

Jonathan lose the presidential election. The North did similar grandstanding over General Muhammadu Buhari, but when God was ready to save the poor masses of this nation, he miraculously intervened in the affairs of the nation and influenced Jonathan to concede defeat to Buhari, putting to rest all insinuations that Nigerians would go to war against themselves. We have demonstrated to the whole world that we are able as a nation to find solutions to our internal squabbles without recourse to any foreign country. We stood united against Ebola virus disease (EVD) and won the bio terrorist attacks through the patriotic approaches of many Nigerians, some even paid the supreme sacrifices to save the rest of us. So, for this year’s general elections to have come and gone without the predicted disintegration is something worth thanking God. Actually, kudos should be given to former President Jonathan for making history as the first sitting president that conceded defeat to the opposition. His altruism and love for the future cohesion of Nigeria was so paramount to him than the realization of his personal second term ambition. His action has won him more international reputation as an African elder statesman. Now that Presidentl Buhari has taken over according to the wishes of the majority of Nigerians, to whom much is given much is expected. So, he should brace up to the challenges ahead, because the masses of this country are banking on him to liberate them from the shackle of poverty

NOW THAT PRESIDENT BUHARI HAS TAKEN OVER ACCORDING TO THE WISHES OF THE MAJORITY OF

NIGERIANS, TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS EXPECTED and unemployment ravaging the nation. He should get his acts right by hitting the ground running and defeat the monster of corruption fair and square. He should not play to the gallery by playing politics of retaliation like the ban he allegedly placed on AIT from covering any of his events. He should be magnanimous in victory by treating every Nigerian equally. It would be inscrutable that some people will be making profits of several billions of naira a day from oil blocks, while the majority of us barely survive. This will not be acceptable to us. It was unfortunate that many past leaders shared our oil blocks among themselves. Buhari should be ready to step on toes and cancel all these oil licences and spread our oil prosperity to the greatest majority of Nigerians. His antecedents as a no nonsense man make the people to repose much confidence in him and thus elected him president. He is not elected to come and serve the interests of the aristo-

crats, who have been looting our treasuries. The issue of jumbo pay for the legislators should be looked into. He should pursue vigorous and radical economic reforms that will shore up the value of the naira. During the late General Sani Abacha regime, the exchange rate was pegged at N22 to $1. Buhari should replicate this feat. This is the wish of all Nigerians. The fuel subsidy is another debacle that needs urgent attention. Nigerians cannot afford to pay higher price for a product that we have in excess. Buhari should make use of people like Prof Tam David West, men and women of impeccable character to man the oil sector. Our refineries should be put to maximum use so as to reduce the prices of refined oil products, and also spare Nigerians the rigour of accessing fuel. Stable electricity is very essential to the growth of our national economy, infrastructural development and industrial growth. With God on our side, Nigeria is on the path of greatness. I wish the new administration the best of luck and God’s guidance Pastor Taiwo wrote from Ogbomoso via markdebotaiwo@gmail.com and can be reached on 08038264924 (SMS only) 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 clearly marked as such.

Editorial

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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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 ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF AUGUSTUS IMEKAN ACTING HEAD, GRAPHICS

David Mark on state legislature’s independence

ut-going Senate President, David Mark, recently drew attention to the mockery some state Houses of Assembly turned themselves to in the hands of state governors in the process of discharging their legislative responsibilities. Speaking at the induction course organised by the National Institute of Legislative Studies (NILS) for newly-elected state legislators in Abuja, Mark stated that the general impression is that the legislature in states has “remained an appendage of Government Houses or governors”. He condemned situations where state lawmakers hold their sessions in the Council Chambers of a Government House, a development that cheapens the legislative arm of government before state chief executives. He also said they should not use their official symbol of authority - the mace, outside their legitimate chambers or borrow same from a local government councils to conduct their affairs, or use the mace to fight, as was once witnessed at the Rivers State House of Assembly in the later days of the Rotimi Amaechi administration. Mark also took exception to the laughing stock, literally speaking, which some state Houses of Assembly turned the process of impeachment

into, saying: “…as state legislators, you must restrain yourselves from the excessive use of the constitutional provision that empowers you to impeach either your speakers, executive governors or their deputies. Impeaching a public elected official is a very serious legislative process and must not be abused or taken for a joke. Impeachment is not designed for a few days’ exercise. Where it has become the last resort, it must be painstakingly conducted within the hallowed chamber of the parliament in accordance with the extant rules of the House and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. Indeed, the process of impeachment at the state level, especially in the past four years, amply demonstrated that some state lawmakers are either impunity personified, ignorant of what quorum implies during the conduct of legislative duties, or are truly out there to rubber-stamp the whims and caprices of their governors or other political big wigs, no matter how absurd. Notwithstanding the constitutional provision that a Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall be removed from office consequent upon a resolution of the House by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of its members, some state

June 2, 1953 The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, the first major international event to be televised, took place. Elizabeth ascended the thrones of these countries at age 25, upon the death of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952; and was proclaimed queen shortly afterwards.

LEGISLATIVE COLLABORATION AND NOT COMPLICITY WITH THE EXECUTIVE ON MATTERS OF PUBLIC GOOD… ARE WHAT

NIGERIANS TRULY CRAVE

Houses of Assembly in the just ended legislative dispensation gleefully breached the nation’s Constitution (as amended) in this regard, ostensibly to please their governors or political godfathers. In July 2013, five out of the 32 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly purportedly impeached the Speaker, Mr. Otelemabe Amachree; while in Ekiti State, the Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin, was last November impeached by seven out of the 26 members of the House. Lately in Enugu State, nine members of the House out of a total of 24 suspended Eugene Odoh, the Speaker. In all such cases, the state legislature not only compromises its independence and the provisions of the law, but contributes in heating up the state polity at the expense of its legislative functions. Indeed, whether at federal or

ON THIS DAY June 2, 2012 Former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Mubarak (born May 4, 1928) is a former Egyptian military and political leader who served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in the Egyptian Air Force.

state level, there is no way a legislature can enjoy the requisite legitimacy, achieve institutional stability or earn the respect it rightly deserves from other arms of government by playing the role of a “mere rubber stamp” to the executive. It is a shameful dereliction of duty and perfidy against citizens for lawmakers to infract the Constitution while jostling to pick the crumbs that fall from the table of the executive arm of government, when the legislature should actually be protective of its independence as a distinct arm of government and work in synergy with other arms. Public expectation under the new legislative dispensation is that the legislature, both at the centre and in states, would conduct themselves more honourably and responsibly in line with the provisions of the country’s Constitution. Legislative collaboration and not complicity with the executive on matters of public good, that would remedy structural deficiencies of the nation’s economy, weaknesses of the political system and the ills of the Nigerian society; and of course stimulating and enriching debates that would enrich the nation and its citizens, as were suggested by Mark are what Nigerians truly crave.

June 2, 2014 Telangana officially became the 29th state of India. Telangana is bordered by the states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh to the north, Karnataka to the west, and Andhra Pradesh to the south, east and north east. The state has an area of 114,840 square kilometres (44,340 sq mi), and a population of 35,286,757 (2011 census). Its major cities include Hyderabad, Warangal, Nizamabad, Karimnagar,and Khammam.

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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Assets declaration as panacea to public sector frauds

Deployment of military to airports violates ICAO standards –Stakeholders

Cornerstone Insurance profit rises by 48% 33

Economy: Cautious optimism trails President Buhari’s recovery plans

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

President Buhari delivering his inaugural speech

Nigerians’ expectations from the new government on timely fixing of the rot in the nation’s economy have been very high since President Muhammadu Buhari was declared winner of the last Presidential election. Last Friday during his inaugural speech, the President appeared to have gauged the mood of Nigerians in when he gave insight into what would be the immediate focus of his administration on the economy. As expected, analysts have reacted to the President’s recovery plans for the economy and their views are captured by ABOLAJI ADEBAYO in this report.

ver the years, the Nigerian economy has been underperforming due to many factors identified by the experts as largely due to political and fiscal flaws. Worried by the attendant poor performances of the economy, particularly in the past two years, concerned stakeholders have revved up their agitations for economic development as a strategic option of improving the lots of millions of poverty-stricken Nigerians in the months preceding the 2015 Presidential election. With the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the polls, the campaign for economic panacea became

more resonating such as if the economy is fixed, multi-faceted challenges confronting the ordinary Nigerians will be totally over. It is like saying ‘fix ye the economy first, every other thing shall work out well for all Nigerians. It is against this background that millions of people had waited with bated anxieties to hear him talk last Friday as he took over the mantle of leadership as the President of this great nation. Even artisans were seen milling round their televisions to hear from the man who could be likened to a ‘deliverer’ from prolonged years of socio-economic bondage. When he spoke, President Buhari appeared to have identified

the two most crucial banes of unlocking Nigeria’s potentials for greatness, namely oil and gas and power sectors and, insecurity. These, he touched with a tone that suggested clearly that it will no longer be business as usual for Nigeria’s economic predators. According to the President, the country currently generates 4,000MW for the economy of over 180 million people could not have developed the economy beyond its pitiable status; rather it would continue to ground the economy. He said: “No single cause can be identified to explain Nigeria’s poor economic performance over the years than the power situation. It is a national shame that

an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less. Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close on $20billion expanded since 1999 has only brought darkness, frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians.” While promising to quickly discontinue the disorderliness in the power sector, the President said careful studies had been embarked upon to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians. On the scourge of unemployCONTINUED ON PAGE 20

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

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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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Economy: Cautious optimism trails President Buhari’s recovery plans CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 ment, especially among the teeming youth population, the President said the agenda for job creation, which is a major component of the ruling party’s manifestoes, would be vigorously pursued with a view to creating productive opportunities for millions of Nigerians now wandering hopelessly in the labour market. He assured: “Unemployment, notably youth un-employment features strongly in our Party’s Manifesto. We intend to attack the problem frontally through revival of agriculture, solid minerals mining as well as credits to small and medium size businesses to kick – start these enterprises. “We shall quickly examine the best way to revive major industries and accelerate the revival and development of our railways, roads and general infrastructure”, President Buhari added’’. To Mr. President, once the issue of electricity is solved, the nation’s economy would surmount all other challenges and make headway to the world class development. He also believed that revival of agriculture, solid minerals mining as well as credits to small and medium size businesses to kick - start these enterprises would be a panacea to the scourge of unemployment, especially among the youths. In addition, the President promised that his administration would quickly examine the best way to revive major industries and accelerate the revival of railways, roads and general infrastructure. The President of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, in a chat with National Mirror, said although the agenda was full of hope, nonetheless, the issue of energy should have been elaborated upon. Before now, the LCCI had been campaigning for the removal of fuel subsidy, believing the regime of non-subsidy would deregulate the oil sector and stabilise the prices of fuel. Bello argued that the new government may not get it right without deregulating the oil and gas downstream sector, adding that the significant impact of oil in the development of the economy as evidenced by the recent fuel scarcity in the country cannot be over-emphasised. He said, “There is need for the new government to immediately deregulate the oil and gas downstream sector in order to provide an enduring solution to the recurring problem of petroleum product scarcity, corruption inherent in the subsidy regime, the collapse of refineries, lack of investment in the downstream sector, loss of jobs and so on’’. “Options available in this matter are very limited. The current regime of subsidy and governments direct involvement in the operations of oil and gas sector should be discontinued. Government needs to get out of the way, so that the sector and the economy as a whole can make progress. This will pave the way for the restoration of normalcy in the sector and attract private capital, boost investments and create jobs”, the LCCI chief added. On the issue of epileptic power supply, Bello said there was no amount of reformation that could put the sector into normalcy without exploring alternative power op-

Bello

Adegboruwa

WE SHALL QUICKLY EXAMINE THE BEST WAY TO REVIVE MAJOR INDUSTRIES AND ACCELERATE THE REVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF OUR RAILWAYS,

ROADS AND GENERAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Unegbu

tions, especially renewable energy sources. The Nigerian Association of Small and medium Enterprises, NASME, although appreciated the readiness of the new government to work with the organized private sector and develop the Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs; it however expected the President to have laid more emphasis on the development of the SMEs by addressing key and fundamental issues affecting the subsector such as multiple taxation and discrimination, sectoral intervention funds, as well as continuation of the Industrial and Agricultural revolutionary plans. Also commenting on the Inaugural Speech of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Director Membership Services and Public Relations, Nigerian Association of Small and medium Enterprises, NASME, Nerus Ekezie said NASME was happy to note the President’s interest in developing the mining sector, which in itself has a lot of SMEs to provide employment. He said, “Generally, NASME welcomed the Presidential Speech and is determined to work with him to make the much needed impact in the development of the sector.” In his speech, the new President has explained the strategy he would employ to tackle the scourge of unemployment in the country through reinforcement of agriculture, solid minerals mining as well as credits to small and medium size businesses to kick - start the enterprises and collabora-

tion with organised private sector, OPS, and the labour unions. The speech read, “Unemployment, notably youth un-employment features strongly in our Party’s Manifesto. We intend to attack the problem frontally through revival of agriculture, solid minerals mining as well as credits to small and medium size businesses to kick - start these enterprises. We shall quickly examine the best way to revive major industries and accelerate the revival and development of our railways, roads and general infrastructure. “However, no matter how well organized the governments of the federation are they can not succeed without the support, understanding and cooperation of labour unions, organized private sector, the press and civil society organizations. I appeal to employers and workers alike to unite in raising productivity so that everybody will have the opportunity to share in increased prosperity.” Human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa also criticized President Muhammadu Buhari’s inaugural speech, saying it was illusionary, vague, and appeared like that of a novice power. “It is gratifying that General Buhari has vowed to tackle the rot in the power sector, even though he did not give any direction on how to do that. By and large, it is my view that the President has not addressed the real issues affecting our lives in Nigeria. According to him, the President did not say anything on his foreign policy directive,

on issues relating to global warming and climate change, the violence in the Middle East and the general global economic downturn. “Also, the President was silent on the mode of tackling corruption, which indeed has been the main thrust of his electioneering campaigns; he was silent on the collapsing aviation sector, he kept mute on the unpaid salaries of millions of workers across the land, the huge debts that the Jonathan administration has bequeathed to him and indeed the main means of generating revenue, to run his government, apart from oil. However, a former President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu, disagreed with Onagboruwa, saying that the President needed not to enumerate every challenge to the economy in his inaugural speech and on how to resolve them one after the other. He believed the President had, in his inaugural speech, summarised every aspect of the economy having talked about the major challenge, the foreign reserve, electricity, infrastructure and others. He said the speech indicated enough the readiness of the President to work assiduously to revive the economy, which he admitted to have been very down at the moment. Meanwhile, the former bankers’ boss admonished the citizens to be supportive and patient for the new to government to put things in order, noting that the reformation could not be immediate. Agreeing with Unegbu’s position, the National President, Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria, Mazi Colman Obasi, also believed that the speech was all encompassing and full of details. Obasi said the speech covered all areas of economy despite the fact that the President had earlier mentioned many things during his campaign and analysed how he would tackle each problem. He explained that it was too early for anybody to criticise the new government as it was just about four days old out of four years it has to implement its agenda, adding that the President has not even appointed any minister to work with him. He believed by the time the President got his executive members on board, he would be able to further give details of how he would solve each challenge peculiar to each aspect of the economy. Aside that, he said the President was simplistic enough on his reformation agenda. The major concern of Obasi was implementation of those recovery agenda so that they would not go the way of promises and policies of former governments as he said that people were waiting for the real action. He particularly expressed concern about the mess and lawlessness during the recent fuel scarcity saga where ‘Black market’ became order of the day and how no arrest was made of the perpetrators of the disorderliness by the former government. Experts believe that given President Buhari’s antecedents in leadership positions over the years, especially his disciplined character, the years ahead hold the potentials of reversing the ugly phenomenon of corruption in the areas of managing Nigeria’s huge resources and channeling them to core areas of need that would guarantee better life for ordinary Nigerians.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business News

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Adesina assures on tackling Africa’s economic challenges …thanks African leaders for his election ABOLAJI ADEBAYO

T L-R: Managing Director; HASAL Microfinance Bank (in Red) presenting cheque to Correct Women Multipurpose Corporative Society, one of the beneficiaries of MSMED Fund during HASAL Microfinance Bank/ Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disbursement of N77M Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) ceremony in Abuja.

Statistical Association charts devt roadmap for Buhari’s administration TOLA AKINMUTIMI

he National Statistical Association, NSA, the umbrella body of professional statisticians in the country, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari and his cabinet to priorities national planning as a key developmental imperative amongst other policy options that may be pursued by the new administration. In addition, the association also canvassed improved budgeting, rapid infrastructure transformation and proper monitoring of Nigeria’s external transactions in order to reverse the current state of Nigeria’s underdevelopment in spite of her huge natural and human capital endowments. Setting the association’s agenda for the new government during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja, the NSA President, Dr. Muhammad Tumala, lamented that Nigeria’s high level of poverty, illiteracy, inequality and other socio-economic distortions were unjustifiable given the national resources, adding that if proper attention has been given to strategic planning, the country would have been better developed. While noting that the high expectations of the Buhari administration among Nigerians is not misplaced given the country’s

parlous socio-economic indicators despite the GDP growth and macroeconomic stability recorded in the economy in the last few years. Tumala, who substantiated the association’s position on the economy with unassailable statistical data, explained that despite the enormous challenges the country is contending with currently, there were indications that inclusive growth, improved security and transparency in governance could be achieved if the new administration takes necessary steps to promote strategic planning in national development. He said: “The Buhari Government should note that Nigeria has all the requisite institutional structures and natural environment to develop like any other country. Statisticians have observed an over-supply of public institutions sometimes with overlaps in responsibilities. Even with over-supply, we observe the absence or inaction of the institution that should from time to time look at the big picture of governance and review institutional arrangements and capacities for optimal performance. “Our understanding is that this should be the National Planning Commission, but the Ministry of Finance tried to coordinate the economy at some point. We advise that the Buhari Government adopts strategic planning

to change things and the National Planning Commission lives up to its role of the institution that should always be aware of the big picture of governance. “If institutions are indeed in over-supply, Nigeria is where it is today mainly because of the way/style we have operated our institutions, and the objectives/ motives behind operators’ actions. It is very sad to note that Nigerians who vie for ministerial positions for instance would look at the offices of the FCT, Works, Education, Defence, Petroleum, and Finance ministers as the plumb/important portfolios simply for what is in them for them. “The Minister for National Planning Commission, a commission headed by the President and a ministry that sees the bigger picture of development activities and link all public investments to national goals, is seen as a lesser office”, Tumala added. The statistician pointed out further that if Nigeria would move forward, the President should increase his participation in the activities of the Planning Commission of which he is chairman and that the Minister of National Planning should be the coordinator of the economy since the links between fiscal and monetary policies, and interplay between various sectoral policies and those of other nations, can appropriately be overseen by the National Planning Commission.

he African Development Bank, AfDB, newly elected President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has indicated his readiness to tackle the economic challenges facing the African continent using his new office to drive the dream. Adesina said that having explored the nooks and crannies of the continent, met with various groups of people including the small- and medium-sized enterprises, and Africa’s business leaders to know their challenges, he had seen vast opportunities for a greater and more inclusive Africa. He further said that the AfDB campaign and election has been an incredible experience, which would still help him in his duty delivery, adding that , adding that he was hopeful and excited about the prospect of building on the great work of President Donald Kaberuka at the AfDB. The new AfDB boss said: “I am deeply humbled and honoured to have been entrusted with the great responsibility of leading the Afri-

can Development Bank, AfDB, at a time that presents such great opportunities and also profound challenges for our continent. “I am thankful to have been given the chance to travel to so many parts of the continent – small states, fragile states, and large states across Africa – to feel the pulse of African leaders and peoples. I met with young people and women – Africa’s greatest assets, with small- and medium-sized enterprises, and with Africa’s business leaders. “From rural areas to burgeoning cities, I saw vast opportunities for a greater and more inclusive Africa. I am hopeful and excited about the prospect of building on the great work of President Donald Kaberuka at the AfDB”, he added. Expressing his appreciation message to leaders and all those who supported his candidacy, the AfDB President, especially those who exchanged ideas and hopes with him for inclusive economic growth on the continent throughout the process, demanded more of their supports to accomplish his mission.

Arik Air’s economy class seat ranks among top 10 best OLUSEGUN KOIKI

rik Air has been ranked as one of the top 10 airlines in the world to offer most comfortable economy class seat to air passengers. An online report stated that among 10 airlines in the world Arik Air offered the most comfortable seats in economy Class on its wide-body aircraft for medium and long haul flights. The report noted that whereas the majority of airlines around the world offered 31 to 32 inches with some offering even as low as 29 to 30 inches, Arik Air “is one of the elite few that still provide a comfortable 34 ins seat pitch where travelers will enjoy greatest comfort.” Other airlines rated in this cat-

egory are Qatar Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Thai Airways, Asiana Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Air China, Garuda Indonesia, and Korean Air. Commenting on the rating, Managing Director of the airline, Mr. Chris Ndulue, while noting that the rating was an established fact added that the aircraft were configured specifically to provide more legroom whether in economy or in business/premier class. Ndulue enthused: “Our business class and economy class cabins are designed to provide a generous legroom. Our Premier class seat actually converts into a full flat bed for maximum comfort. In fact, the comfort we offer our guests cuts across our network whether you’re flying domestic, regional or intercontinental.”

Borderless region ‘ll boost ECOWAS sub-regional economies –CSO JOEL AJAYI ABUJA

he West African Civil Society Forum WACSOF, has called on Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS, the West African sub regional body to rise above human and administra-

tive barriers to ensure a “borderless” region, that will boost the economy of the region. Addressing journalists weekend, in Abuja, at a briefing to mark the sub regional body’s 40th anniversary, Acting General Secretary of WACSOF, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), noted that though it’s true ECOWAS

vision 2020 intends to create a borderless, peaceful, prosperous and cohesive region built on good governance, but there is need to redouble efforts in integrating the sub-region that is still remains a huge task. According to him, despite the fact that, the ECOWAS protocol on freedom of movement has

been officially implemented, the reality presents a different case of human and administrative barriers including bribery and extortion at the border post, lack of adequate coordination between countries, poor state of infrastructure at border posts, and lack of training of personnel. He said: “This problem ex-

tends to areas of trade where the terms of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) and ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) are not complied with by member states. In its 40 years of existence, it is expected that this problem would have been resolved.

Business News

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

HASAL MFB disburses N77m credit to over 400 customers TOLA AKINMUTIMI

ASAL Microfinance Bank, Nigeria’s leading microfinance bank, has disbursed N77 million to over 400 customers under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s, CBN’s, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF). During the disbursement of the micro credit which formally flagged off the bank’s MSMEDF disbursement to customers penultimate Monday in Abuja, eight groups and four individual customers received various amounts in credit, just as thousands of others finalized their applications for loans. Some of the groups that benefited from the credit are, Correct Women Multipurpose Corporative Society, Glory Clouds Multipurpose Corporative Society; and Sylsol Plant & Harvest Multipurpose Corporative Society, amongst others.

In the corporate Small Medium Enterprises’ categories, some of the beneficiary companies are Upward Waters Nigeria Limited, Toprange Bakery Limited, Amomaja Global Services Limited and Chizel International Limited. These customers received N5 million loan each from the fund to enable them grow their businesses. Commenting on the CBN initiative targeted at providing credit access to MSMEs, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer HASAL Microfinance Bank, Mr Rogers Nwoke described the apex bank’s MSME Development Fund as a welcome development. He said: “We at HASAL believe in touching people’s life for good so this is a great opportunity to help small, micro business owners grow their business and become party to development of the economy”. Nwoke, who sensitized the beneficiaries on how to repay

back the loan, explained that the fund was not government grant or subsidy but rather a “development fund for the development of business and the money must be paid back to CBN as and when due. With over 400 beneficiaries recorded on the flagging off of the credit disbursement by the bank, Nwoke, a seasoned banker, said that HASAL would continue to create access to credit to its customers on a sustainable basis to enable them grow their businesses and by so doing improve their contributions to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and job creation drive. One of the beneficiaries, Mr. David Ejiofor Amadi, the group leader of Kugbo II Furniture Corporative Society commended HASAL Bank for championing the cause of its customers at all times, adding that the credit secured through the MSME Development Fund will go a long way in helping their entities to grow.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

HSBC, Wells Fargo top global bank ranking DAVID AUDU

SBC and Wells Fargo have emerged this year’s most successful banking brands in the 2015 BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, a ranking carried out by WPP’s marketing and brand consultancy Millward Brown. A release by Milward Brown Nigeria noted that while HSBC retained its position as the number one Global Bank at $24 billionn, Wells Fargo retained its top spot in the Regional Bank chart at $59.3 billion. “HSBC has been broadening the services it offers to consumers in the corporate and business space, refreshing its product offering in established markets. “Wells-Fargo has grown its brand value by Nine per cent to $59.3 billion, helped by a rising share price, increasing loan volume and a decreasing loan loss as the US economy has improved. Other strong performers in the ranking include JP Morgan, up Nine per cent to $13.5 billion in the global banking top 10 and the Bank of China, rising 16 per cent in the Regional Banking Chart at $16.4bn. According to Milward Brown, retail focused banks have put in

the strongest performance of all banking brands in 2015 as the investment sector continued to struggle with the fallout from the economic crisis and tougher regulatory scrutiny. The report noted further that banks such as ING, Santander and the Agricultural Bank of China all managed to forge stronger ties with consumers, thanks to their sharp focus on the consumer offer. “ING and Santander were the strongest risers in the global banking sector, up 18 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, while Agricultural Bank of China took its rural offer into China’s cities to boost its regional bank performance by 11 per cent. All banks continue to struggle with trust, but the best performers boosted their trust scores to 101 compared to 97 for those which lost brand value. Similarly this year’s best performers scored 113 or above for being responsible compared to 107 for those that declined. “Retail focus was a winning strategy for banks in 2015. Brands that looked to build relationships with consumers were able to overcome generic antipathy to the banking sector and become ‘the one I trust’ for their customers,” said Sector Managing Director at Millward Brown, Sana M Carton.

Bloggers tasked on content investment ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN

L-R: Miss. Adesola Alli, Head, One Education, Sterling Bank Plc; Mr. Hywen Bennett, Senior Principal, Caleb Group of Schools; Mrs. Olapeju Ibekwe, Head, Brand Management, Sterling Bank Plc and Dr. (Mrs.) Dolapo Ogunbawo, Executive Director, Caleb Group of Schools at the Parenting Series Workshop organised by the school and supported by the Bank in Lagos.

SMEs key to tackling Nigeria’s unemployment problem –Skye Bank boss ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN

he Group Managing Director, GMD of Skye Bank, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo has identified the Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, as holding the key to mitigating Nigeria’s unemployment problem. This is just as he forecloses the possibility of multinationals operating in the country providing all jobs for employable Nigerians. Oguntayo made this submission at a seminar organised by his bank for SMEs business owners in Lagos. He said that Skye Bank orgainsed the seminar to facilitate knowledge sharing and offer

banking solutions that will help SMEs businesses to grow stating that “there is no way for multinationals can employ all the teeming young people who are seeking employment.” While emphasising the role SME’s in employment creation in the country, he recalled that the bank had organised a similar seminar in Onitsha, Anambra State last month saying that the exceptional success of the seminar prompted the bank to extend that of Lagos to 200 entrepreneurs in Lagos State. Vice Chairman of Tantalizers, Mr. Folu Ayeni, while sharing his success story as a successful entrepreneur revealed that Tantalizers grew rapidly from a small living

room venture to a large scale business with 53 outlets nationwide. He recalled that Skye Bank provided the initial N2.5 million seed capital that was used to start the business charging the participants to come up with bright, profitable business ideas, and package the ideas properly, saying: ‘If no one is listening to your ideas, go to Skye Bank.” An entrepreneur, Mrs. Funke Fowler-Amba, urged the participants to get training on their vision in order to make it a reality. The SME initiative is part of the Skye Bank’s contribution towards encouraging small businesses, thus developing the SMEs sector of the Nigerian economy.

loggers whose was trade form bulk of information during the 2015 general election have been challenge to invest on content development and design. The bloggers, who played a major role during the electioneering campaign were further advised to stick to their already created niches built on professionalism, uniqueness, responding quickly to trends while building on loyal audience, relationships and reaching out to experts. The Chief Marketing Officer, Smile Communications Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Alero Ladipo made the remark during a presentation titled: ‘How to Promote Your Blog’, during the West Africa Blogger Conference (WABC) 2015, held in Lagos She identified professionalism, passion and content creation as critical in enhancing capacity of bloggers in the West African region saying that in as much as bloggers must ensure explicit, informative and clearly defined content delivered with passion and fun, they should not relent in

professionalising in order to attract right businesses to monetise the enterprise. She revealed that Smile Communications is already preparing grounds to partner with 10 bloggers to support them in lifting the platforms to greater heights. According to Ladipo, people think that blogging is a habit that anybody can just pick up and start practicing it saying that as we get more people entrenched in consistent growth; it becomes important we make it professional. “Essentially, readers visit bloggers for a particular reason. By implication, a blog is not a dumping ground. Stick to the core reason you started the blog and adhere to your principles”, she said. She further said, “There is a philosophy that you stick to certain principles even when many people are deviating; it is the same thing with blogs. When you maintain the professional competencies, people will collaborate with you.” She explained that “on the course of my presentation I randomly asked participants ‘sell me your blog’, which is simply to market the platform, but people fell-flat on their faces.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Jobs & Career

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Unemployment rate: Understanding methodology, computation processes, results The latest report of the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, on the unemployment rate in the country has generated a lot of controversy over the past few weeks with most of the positions of those opposed to the latest rate missing the points. In this report, TOLA AKINMUTIMI, undertakes an analysis of the NBS’ report to clarify its gray areas for public awareness in view of the implications for the nation’s economic growth.

uite expectedly, some Nigerians have over the past few weeks raised the alarm over the latest revised unemployment rate of the country which the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, put at 6.4 million people, saying the figures could not have represented the actual unemployment rate. The NBS had last month reported that the unemployed in the country dropped from 16.07 million or 23.9 per cent in 2011 to 4.67 million or 6.4 per cent by the end of last year. Prior to the latest report which was the culmination of several efforts by the statistics agency, including the inauguration last September of a Committee of experts and stakeholders to review the definition and methodology applied in computing unemployment statistics in the country, the agency had adopted the historical model of labour force computation to define the unemployed It was the old method, which was no longer compatible with global standards of using an hour per week as benchmark for employment as set by the International Labour Organisation, ILO, that produced the 16.07 million or 23.9 per cent unemployment rate in 2011 and other rates in the preceding years. Based on the recommendations of the Committee and the need to align Nigeria’s unemployment statistical computation method with the global best practices, the NBS adopted 20 hours per week as the numbers of hours used in computing the unemployment rate. According to the NBS, based on the revised statistics, Nigeria’s total labour force as at the end of the fourth quarter of 2014 was put at 72.93 million. Of this figure, the number of those that were fully employed (40 hours and above) stood at 55.206 million or 75.68 per cent; underemployed (21 to 39 hours) at 13.05 million or 17.89 per cent; unemployed (under 20 hours) at 4.67 million or 6.4 per cent. While presenting the report to the public in Abuja, the Statistician General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale, admitted that one of the key challenges facing most countries globally, including Nigeria, was creating sufficient jobs, especially for the growing youth population. The Statistician explained that in order to tackle the menace of unemployment in the country, there was the need to produce accurate unemployment statistics that are devoid of emotional, religious, cultural and other forms of bias Despite the clarifications by the NBS on the methodology used in producing the latest unemployment rate, critics have faulted the Bureau on the grounds that several millions of graduates were unemployed and roaming the streets. But then as an agency whose roles in national development are fundamentally crucial to effective planning and development and

NSA President, Tumala

NBS’s Statistician General Yemi Kale

I don’t see anythIng wrong In what nBs has done By usIng 20 hours as BasIs of determInIng the employment rate In the

country.

our agencIes should Be adoptIng

the gloBal Best practIces In theIr surveys and reports whIle governments should focus on polIcIes given its recent transformational initiatives to improve the quality of its data and reports, it is well certain that the NBS could not have just reeled out figures for the sake of just producing data. For those who know or care to know, the NBS over the past few years has become a transformed, Information Technology-oriented and credible agency whose reports have continued to be based on best concepts, methodologies and processes in line with global best practices. For instance, the National Statistical Association, NSA, the umbrella body of professional statisticians in the country, has not only lauded the agency for producing timely and quality statistics for the country but also canvassed the need for Nigerians and governments to support the NBS in its strive to promote statistics-based national planning and development. The President of the Association, Dr Muhammad Tumala, who described the establishment of the National Statistical System, NSS, as a consequence of the implementation of a Master Plan for the development of statistics in the country, noted that with support from the World Bank and other development partners, the NBS had been placed in a position to be able to improve on its production and dissemination of official statistics.

According to him, coming with the implementation of the master plan is an increased awareness and use of statistics in Nigeria, adding that “one of the most remarkable achievements of the statistics reform is the country’s increased capacity of the statistical system to comply with international standards including compliance with concepts of production, timeliness of dissemination and impartiality of access” He listed the rebasing and quarterly production of the nation’s GDP, the timely production of monthly CPI, redefinition of employment, among others are some of the key activities of the NBS that came under public interest in recent times. Reacting to the raging controversy on the methodology adopted by the Bureau, the Registrar/Chief Executive of Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, Mr Sunday Adeyemi, who spoke from a global perspective on unemployment issues generally, noted that aligning Nigeria’s unemployment definition with global standards and using the globally accepted methodology by the NBS, was in the best interest of Nigeria, being a signatory to the ILO’s standards. Adeyemi clarified elaborately on what constituted unemployment, underemployment and employment based on globally accepted principles or definitions, adding that in most

CIPM Registrar, Sunday Adeyemi

countries where the ILO prescribed one hour a week employment definition could not be met due to the peculiarities of the economies, such governments use 20, 25, 30 and 40 hours to define their employment rates. He said: “Nigeria cannot be operating as an Island having been a signatory to the ILO standard and other international conventions, agreements and protocol. Yes, agreed that nobody would like to see his child roaming the streets or doing a job that is demeaning to his or her academic or professional qualification, the truth is that Nigeria should base its surveys and statistical data on global standards. “I don’t see anything wrong in what NBS has done by using 20 hours as basis of determining the employment rate in the country. Our agencies should be adopting the global best practices in their surveys and reports while governments should focus on policies that will continue to enhance the quality of the nation’s manpower resource, reduce unemployment and improve productivity”, Adeyemi added. Analystss position is that the point to be noted by NBS critics of the latest unemployment rate is that if the ILO’s definition of the employed, which is any person engaged in productive activity for at least an hour weekly had been used to compute the number of the unemployed in the population, Nigeria’s unemployment rate would have been zero. The NBS did not only take into consideration the peculiarity of the domestic economy into consideration by still using 20 hours per week as the basis of its latest unemployed rate computation but has also advised that for improvements in the quality of national statistical data, all Nigerians must support its processes leading to production of such data by providing all information that could help its activities.

Jobs & Career

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tips for creating a harmonious, peaceful workplace

ost people have spent time working in certain jobs and enjoyed them far more than others. Much of the time, this might have simply been due to the type of work they were doing. Why are some workplaces more of a desirable place to be?” The truth is that there is no one single ‘secret’ to creating a harmonious and peaceful workplace. However, there are a number of reasons why some workplaces are more harmonious than others. Here are a few tips. Encouraging open communicationOne of the best ways to foster good relations within the workplace is to encourage dialogue and effective communication. This should not just be amongst colleagues but between staff and management also. Encouraging the workforce to express ideas and views as well as suggesting improvements is a great way of achieving this. Gaining feedback on performance, either as a team or in 1-to-1 sessions as well as giving workers clearly defined, and realistic, targets and deadlines, where they are appropriate to the role, also helps. Establishing a good work/life balanceWork can become unbearable if employ-

ers are only interested in themselves and making as much profit as possible without giving any regard to the needs of their staff. Yes – it’s perfectly acceptable to expect your workers to give you 100% when they’re at work but it’s also important to recognise that they have a life outside of the workplace too. Creating a ‘family friendly’ environment is a very positive step. Things like introducing flexible working practices, compassionate leave, childcare facilities such as crèches etc. will make for good relations between staff and management and will show that the company does have your best interests at heart. Companies which have already implemented these measures and others have realised that the more interest they take with regards to issues that affect staff outside of work, the happier and more productive staff will be when they are doing the job. Training and development-No matter how much a person enjoys their current role, most career minded people will ultimately hope that the job they are doing now will be a stepping stone towards the next phase of their career. To retain val-

NECA wants Trade Union Act amended Meshack Idehen

he Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has said it is imploring the Federal Government to amend the Trade Union Act in order to allow unions directly collect check-off dues from their members. Immediate past President of NECA Chief Richard Uche, made this call in Lagos, noting that the unions have the capability to mobilise and manage their members themselves. He assured unions that his association will create a conducive atmosphere

eading available job vacancies for this week are positions from www.findjobafrica.com,with the vacancies based in Lagos and other parts of the Africa. A manager in charge of localisation Programs that will be based in Nairobi Lagos, Maputo are required. General Electric, the recruiting company said the incoming managers shall be responsible for defining and driving local content initiatives across the GE portfolio in sub Saharan Africa, and will include the identification and prioritisation of various GE wide initiatives, including evaluating ways to scale programs across 3rd parties, and the engagement with internal and external stakeholders impacted by localization rules and commercial enabling activities. Other essential responsibilities are to develop a prioritised and phased one GE framework for local content across Africa that is aligned to market opportunities and realities of strategy development across core and growth countries

for them to discharge their responsibilities, while also advising the government to implement the Steve Oronsanye’s report which recommended reduction and scrapping of some ministries and agencies, maintaining that those lobbying the Federal Government to jettison the report do not mean well for the country. While appealing to the Federal Government to shun the entreaties of lobbyists bent on truncating the implementation of the report, the former NECA president lamented that the number of government agencies is too much for the country to cope with.

Workers on training

ued members of staff, it’s therefore important that a company can provide them with the right platform in order to develop. This might include training in house, offering them the opportunity to take time out for study leave and even paying for the cost of external educational courses, if a career progression requires further study or training which cannot be provided for in house. Popular misconceptions-Many employers will often say that they pay bonuses to staff for performances that have exceeded company expectations and for many workers, especially those who work in sales oriented environments and/or whose salary is tied into some kind of bonus commission structure, money will be a valuable incentive. However, the truth is that money alone is rarely enough of a motivation for staff to remain loyal and to feel happy in their work. For many, commission related work often leads to incredible stress in an effort to hit targets. So, whilst they may be happy when they see the bonus

Job vacancies

The managers will highlight phased localisation options based on market opportunity, develop localisation metrics/dashboard to quantify and communicate GE impact. They will also support/co-lead the creation of a tailored country-specific localization toolkit inclusive of financial commitments/incentives, skills development, SME development, stakeholder engagement and other sustainability initiatives, while identifying, developing, and implementing tailored localisation programs in partnership with external stakeholders Qualifications and requirements are a university degree. Masters qualification is an added advantage. Sound knowledge of compliance and business development across Sub Saharan Africa and experience with joint venture execution in Sub Saharan Africa. Experience in interfacing with government regulatory agencies, familiarity with proposals preparation and extensive project management experience and excellent presentation and communication skills, alongside five

plus years working experience in an Infrastructure related business is necessary. Candidates can also visit www. ge.com for more details. A senior project director that will leads and directs cross-functional teams responsible for delivering defined projects on time, maintaining budget and deliver quality results within the oil & gas industry in Nigeria is needed from www.findjobafrica.com The project director will plan, organises, monitors, and oversees a specific customer facing project to meet defined requirements or business specifications and has primary responsibility for defining, planning, tracking and managing the enterprise project, identifying key resources and providing overall direction. Essential responsibilities for the position includes working in liaison with the international organisations, negotiate and agree contract, including all clarifications and exceptions, during the Bid/Award phase. Other responsibilities are following

payments in their monthly wage packets, it’s not the case that this necessarily creates a happy working environment. Therefore, the three most vital components any company can introduce to foster a harmonious and peaceful workplace is to encourage dialogue, to care about your staff ’s welfare, realising the importance of their life outside of work and to try to be flexible wherever possible regarding issues which could affect that and to help them to develop further. All these ingredients will not only create a happier workforce but highly valued members of staff are more likely to remain loyal to the company, to ‘go the extra mile’ for a company when the pressure’s on, to perform to the best of their ability and this will, ultimately, save you money on recruitment and training, reduce absenteeism, lower staff turnover and improve morale which can only be good for both staff and employers alike. Source: www.workplacesafetyadvice.co.uk

award, and through the contract review process, translate the agreed contracts into statements of work and/or purchase orders in order to establish the internal scope of work. The project director will also define project start-up priorities and instigate generation of lower level plans and deliverable documents by the team(s), and introduce and maintain an effective quality, health, safety and environmental culture. Qualifications for the position are a bachelor’s degree in engineering, business or equivalent from an accredited university or college, with at least five additional years of experience in project management in the oil & Gas or relevant industry. At least 5 additional years of experience in project management at senior project engineering level, exposure to high capital value projects in a multidisciplined environment and a master’s degree in business administration or engineering is preferred.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Real Estate & Environment

Assets declaration as panacea to public sector frauds Experts say assets declaration and valuation will prevent public officers from investing proceeds from corrupt activities into property assets. OLUFEMI ADEOSUN writes.

ecently, the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, insisted that all public servants must declare their assets before leaving office. This new impetus has brought to the fore, the propriety or otherwise of the instrumentality of assets declaration to check corruption in the country. The CCB in its statement listed some public officers to declare their assets to include all political office holders at all levels of government in the country.

The Bureau also issued Completed Assets Declaration Forms to the listed officials with a 30-day deadline to return the completed forms. This is as Paragraph 11 of the 5th Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended requires political office holders to declare their assets on assumption and vacation of office and failure to do will attract sanction. Experts in the property sector have noted that as desirable as the law is, it has

been reeling under corruption. According to them, the law has not been able to achieve the desired results due to the fact that the CCB, which is statutorily empowered to administer assts declaration, has failed to accept the professional inputs, which could have added bite to the law. For instance, the President, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, Mr. Olorogun Omeru said the process of assets declaration in the coun-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

Maintaining and repairing damaged interior paint

New mortgage cap affects Dubai

Firm plans 1m solar-powered cook stoves

try has not been credible and as such, could not address the issue of endemic corruption permeating the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public life. He however lamented the uncooperative posture of the CCB, saying the anti-corruption agency has consistently spurned attempts by the Institution to engage it with a view to striking a partnership that would give more credibility to the process.

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Assets declaration as panacea to public sector frauds CONTINUED FROM 25 According to him, “Much of the proceeds of corruption by public officers are invested in landed property assets and it is a constitutional responsibility of all public servants or officers to declare their assets before and after occupying an office. We contend that to give credibility to the process, Valuation Report as well as Certificate must accompany asset declaration forms’’, he stated. He further noted that the valuation report will indicate clearly the type of asset, its location with photographs as well as value. This will discourage false and anticipatory declaration. “We made representations to the Code of Conduct Bureau on quite a number of occasions but because the system is not serious about fighting corruption, they have refused to respond positively’’, he added. Omeru however noted that public funds are frittered away due to lack of proper evaluation of government property before they are sold or privatized. For instance, he accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, of auctioning property seized from corrupt political office holders without ascertaining the value of such property. “The EFCC and ICPC have confiscated a lot of properties from people. But we are telling them, before you sell-off these properties, you must let us know the value. Because of what is happening behind the scene, they have refused to involve us to help determine the value. The process has been shrouded in secrecy. It is not open. By law, Estate Surveyors and Valuers are the only people that can determine value. It is a constitutional issue, but we have never been involved. Reacting, the Senior Partner, Nelson Thorpe Alonge Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Mr. Victor Alonge said the scope of the law stipulating compulsory declaration of assets must be expanded. According to him, as it is, all it demands from the public office holders is declaration of asset without getting to the nitty-gritty of such declaration. He also noted that since an individual is required to fill asset declaration forms, it is easier for people to inflate the worth of such assets with a view to accommodating anticipated stolen funds in the course of discharging their duties to the nation. He said, “There is a requirement by government that every public officer must declare his or her assets. For it to achieve its desired objective, such declaration must be backed by the value and not the number or descriptive component of those assets. If there is an expansion of the law with the detail guidance on how this should be done by the involvement of professionals, it would be more potent in preventing laundering of stolen funds on property acquisition. “As it is now, if somebody says I have a property in a particular place and describes such property in the face of the law, he has complied, however, the issue is that, at point of declaration of that asset, if the actual value is about N5 million and he would be in office for four years, he could spend another 200million to upgrade

Buhari

Ambode

and enhance the value. And he could still have done that at public expense. Is that also not a form of corruption?” In his own contribution, a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Mr. Iyanda Livingstone said, Nigeria has never been serious about curbing corruption in public spheres. According to him, apart from the fact that some of the nation’s leaders are not morally qualified to lead, they pay lip ser-

vice to the fight against public graft. “Our laws are potent enough, if they are administered sincerely and with some levels of uprightness. The truth is that when public officer is told to declare his asset at the point of entry, the law is nebulous to be able to give expression to the mind of the law. And the mind of the law is too distinguished between what public officer came with and what he is going out with.

THERE IS A REQUIREMENT BY GOVERNMENT THAT EVERY PUBLIC OFFICER MUST DECLARE HIS OR HER ASSETS. FOR IT TO ACHIEVE ITS

DESIRED OBJECTIVE, SUCH DECLARATION MUST BE BACKED BY THE VALUE AND NOT THE NUMBER OR DESCRIPTIVE COMPONENT OF THOSE ASSET

Former Minister of Housing, Lands and Property, Eyakenyi

“The essence is to be able to say you have been a good shepherd over the weath entrusted into your hands. The fact that it is public officers themselves that fill the asset declaration forms and also make the declaration regarding its value both at the beginning and at the end of tenure makes you a judge over your own matter, “That system cannot guarantee accountability. There cannot be sincerity. You need a third party, who is trained and experienced in such matter to determine the value. The mission for setting up the asset declaration cannot be realized in the present circumstances,” he stated. Apart from that, he maintained that sanctions stipulated in the law in an event of breach, is very weak and could not guarantee detergent. “It needs some amendments and it is only when that is done, that our bid to curb corruption through the instrumentality of asset declaration can be giving proper expression to, “he added.

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Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Firm plans 1m solar-powered cook stoves

MORTGAGE NOTES

OLUFEMI ADEOSUN ABUJA

with Adenike Fasanya-Osilaja

Fasanya-Osilaja

Email: Nike@MVPSolutionsinc.com https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=35277333

Appraisal standardisation-Property valuation considerations

oday, I will be deviating from my usual conversation topics, and responding to a few of the questions/ issues raised on my column topics. I have responded to all your questions privately and thank you for reading and following my pieces. Issue: A reader believed it was important for me to note that property valuation in Nigeria is usually based on a price per square footage, of the property, and pricing, as a result, is quite transparent. My answer: Does the square footage pricing of the subject property relate to comparisons with similar properties? As I said in a previous column, I analyzed an appraisal for a Lagos property and was very troubled by the information it contained. The comps section was my biggest issue, because they were so dissimilar that they were actually “incomparable”, rather than comparables. A truly comparable property will be in the same, or economically similar location (you cannot compare a detached property in Isolo with a detached property in Ajah, even if it has the same exact design); they will be of the same or similar use (you cannot compare a private property with a commercial property, or a detached property with a high rise apartment); they will be of similar finish (you cannot compare a detached property that has marble floors with a detached property that has vinyl tiles, even if it has the same exact design). I could go on and on. I am still awaiting his answer… Question: As a loan officer, what are the most important things I should be analyzing in an appraisal? My answer: There are several critical elements to a good appraisal evaluate, but the singular most important element, is the quality of the appraisal itself. If you have a poor appraisal report, you have a non-starter. Please refer to my column of last week, and start vetting your appraisers

before you assign jobs to them. Certain data in the report should point you to the quality of the appraiser’s report. You should be looking for two main figures – the Fair Market Value (sales approach valuation) of the property, and the Replacement Value (cost of replacement approach), of the property. The first figure gives an indication of how much you could conceivably sell the property for in the current market, while the second figure tells you what it would cost to rebuild the property, if it suffered a loss (and therefore, what value the property should be insured for). They should never be the same figure, and if the appraisal shows the same, that is the biggest red flag of a shoddy appraisal job. Comps, comps, comp! The comps are your biggest indicator of value. Solid comps will tell you how much similar properties are being sold for and how long they are staying on the market before they sell. Since one of the main goals of investment is to take advantage of the time value of money, the financial projections prior to disbursement of funds for a project must include a realistic assessment of foreclosure processes and their time value implications. As a loan officer, you must evaluate every client for their ability to repay, and every property for its distress sale capabilities. In a system where there is no concrete data reporting system, the challenges are myriad. Also, the legal system is abysmal when it comes to property and land law, and property matters are typically in court for decades. It is your duty as a loan officer to ensure a mitigation of any anticipated problems, prior to even submitting the loan file to underwriting so your Bank’s financial turnover is not affected by funds being tied down in slow moving physical assets of the size and price of Nigerian property. I know my answer to your ques-

THERE ARE SEVERAL CRITICAL ELEMENTS TO A GOOD APPRAISAL EVALUATE, BUT THE SINGULAR MOST IMPORTANT

ELEMENT, IS THE QUALITY OF THE APPRAISAL ITSELF tion is rather long, but I really wanted to emphasize to you the importance of the loan officer as the “sentry at the gate”. Question: With the current situation in the country, how feasible is such a drastic proposal for the appraisal indusxxxxx try to revamp itself ? Answer: The issue for me is not so much the feasibility of the plan, but the fact that it is needed. For me, once something is needed there is no reason to expend energy on the problems that may arise. We have to start from somewhere and improve on the plan as it goes forward. Doing nothing is not an option. The feasibility of the proposal will depend entirely on the will of the implementers to do the right thing. I do know this, once we have a functional system in place, it can only get better…or so we hope. As usual, all comments and questions are welcome, and I will be with you again next week.

ABOUT THE WRITER Fasanya-Osilaja a lawyer and mortgage expert has owned and operated Marvel Ventures Mortgage, Inc. (www.marvelmortgage.com), a Chicagobased Mortgage Brokerage Company since 2000 and has worked in the US Mortgage industry since 1996. She also consults and facilitates industryrequired activities, from set up of mortgage organisations to documentation, training and compliance.

MEFUNDS-Green Energy & Biofuels, GoSolar Africa has made a renewed commitment to double its efforts by increasing access to wide-range of clean technologies, capable of reducing endemic energy crisis in the country. SMEFUNDS-GEB & GoSolar Africa is a social enterprise organisation gears toward the promotion of Solar and Biofuel Gel Cook stoves as an alternative to dangerous and harmful kerosene, Charcoal, LPG and other fossil fuel. The company is the first partners of UN Sustainable Energy for All High-Impact Initiative for Sustainable Bioenergy in Africa. According to a statement in Abuja, the Chief Executive Officer, SMEEFUNDs, Mr. Femi Oye, the firm is targeting additional 3,000mw of electricity by 2017 through deployment of Solar PV Mini Grid Business and Residential Solutions. He said the provision of 1 million solar power and clean cook stoves would not only help to address the lingering energy crisis in the country, but help to save lives of people, particularly women and children as well as preserve the environment while stemming the tide of climate change. The environmental entrepreneur was quoted as saying this while addressing the General Assembly during the Sustainable Energy for All Forum, SE4ALL,

meeting in New York. The SE4ALL’s aim is to ensure universal energy access to modern energy services, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy in global energy mix by 2030. According to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, Kandeh Yumkella, the year’s SE4ALL which focuses on “Financing Sustainable Energy for All,” brings together the world leaders, including community practitioners, funding partners, and governmental ministers. Oye, who was addressing environment experts and green entrepreneurs, also noted that his company had reached over 500,000 households with Solar Home System and Pay-As You Go Electricity for Businesses and Low income Households while also helping more women to experience great health and economic benefits of Biofuel Gel Clean Cook Stoves in the past four years. ‘’Nigeria Experiences the worst Electricity Poverty in the World; Women cook under dangerous and Expensive dirty fuels, we are changing that through our newly introduced USD$5 Clean Cook Stoves and Energy Starved Poor local Small business can now buy Electricity at less than USD$0.25 Per Kilo-Watt Hour under a Pay As You Go Plan. We are changing the way Energy is distributed in Africa.” he stated.

Africa to present report on climate change SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

frica’s progress report on climate change shows how Africa can turn climate challenges into opportunities through the transformation of its energy, agriculture and financial sectors. Africa needs more energy and everyone must have access, hence energy is necessary for economic growth, job creation and poverty reductions. Africa needs fossil fuels for some time and no industrialized country has developed, using clean energy alone. But, if African countries seriously commit themselves now to renewable energy sources, such as hydro, geothermal and solar power, they could leapfrog to cleaner energy as they have to mobile telephony bypassing dependence on high-carbon fuels. This energy transition must

be matched by an agricultural transformation that unlocks the potential of Africa’s smallholder farmers to drive the continent’s development – while enabling them to cope with the multiple threats from climate change. These transformations in energy, agriculture and climate change adaptation will only happen if Africa receives more international financial support, mobilizes more domestic finance and strengthens its financial architecture. The Africa Progress Report 2015 will look at how African policymakers can maximize all sources of finance, including domestic savings and private capital. There is plenty of evidence that the right climate change response could also build Africa’s prosperity. Africa’s Progress Report 2015 will gather that evidence to make a powerful case for transforming Africa’s energy, agriculture and finance.

Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Maintaining and re There are many events in daily life that can damage the beauty of a home’s interior paint. Following is a list of some of the most frequent types of interior painting flaws, along with their causes, how they can be repaired and the supplies required for each instance of damage. PEELING PAINT The peeling paint woe is a very common one. It normally occurs because of moisture underneath the paint. Moisture causes the paint to lose its adhesive quality, allowing the surface paint to crack and peel. The peeling paint phenomenon is usually found in rooms where there is high humidity, such as the bathroom, kitchen or basement. Leaky flashing around a chimney or exterior wall can also cause water to seep into the home’s interior. This makes the plaster beneath the paint wet, causing the paint to separate from the wall. Repairing damaged inte-

PEELING PAINT

rior paint due to moisture begins with e cause. The high humidity spaces shoul with an exhaust fan to remove the mois it to the outside. The home’s roof, walls and soffits o need to be properly ventilated as well. missing flashing around the chimney or connection need to be repaired. Once th moisture is found and eliminated, the in can proceed. To prepare the painting surface, all must be scraped off and the affected Once smoothed, a primer coat should be sanded areas. When the primer is dry, paint matching the existing wall paint c or rolled on. These procedures, properly stop all further incidences of peeling pai The supplies required to accomplish sandpaper, primer, paint, and paintbrush

MOLD AND MILDEW

Mold and mildew is usually associated exterior, but the interior of the home can well. Mildew is a fungus and appears as s paint surface in colors of grey, brown, gr It, too, is caused by moisture and poor can also be caused by painting over a su improperly cleaned of previous mildew the use of low-quality, non-mildew-proo the culprit. The treatment that solves the milde volves scrubbing the affected area with tion of one part bleach to three parts w tion must remain on the surface for 10 and should then be rinsed with plain, cle area is then washed again with a deterg solution followed by a thorough water r

Source: unitedhomeexperts.com

NSE to partner NEMA on IDPs

he Nigerian Society of Nigeria, NSE, has said it would collaborate with the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to ameliorate the plight of Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, in the country. President of the NSE, Engr. Ademola Olorunfemi disclosed this while briefing newsmen, after visiting an IDP camp in Kuchigoro along Games Village, Abuja. Olorunfemi had led the leadership of the Society to the temporary site of over 3,000 IDPs to donate some food items to ameliorate their plights. He however noted that though, Nigeria is one of the least disaster prone countries in the world, it lacked the capacity to handle the Boko Haram insurgence. According to him, nobody prays for disaster, but they are bound to come so the aid of the government to be proactive in this regard. He said, ‘’we know that no agency, anywhere in the world is capable of tackling disaster alone

and NEMA is such an agency, that is why we have other volunteering agencies and NGOs. ‘’We need to engage NEMA and other government agencies to explore how to make life better for the IDPs. For instance this camp in particular, though it’s a temporary accommodation, it is not good enough, the environment is not good, and the government can do better.” The NSE boss said NSE would work with NEMA to produce something better for IDPs as applicable in other parts of the world. NSE, he said, has more than 60 branches across the country y, saying they would be mobilised d to ensure the IDP camps closest to o them were helped professionally y and materially. He said the Society broughtt food items to the IDPs as part off its corporate social responsibility y, but would go further to step up p their support to provide a more e conducive atmosphere for them. Responding, the Women Lead-er, Mrs Ladi Mathias thanked the e Society for the material gifts.

Mathias however called on governments and well-meaning Nigerians to come to improve their environment as it affects the health of their children. She said, their children suffer from different illnesses due to dirty environment, especially water borne diseases. ``We thank Nigerians for all they have been doing for us, but we still have serious needs, especially our health. Most of our children suffer from different illnesses and if you look closely, you will see rashes on their bodies, we are appealing for urgent help.’’

She pleaded Also speaking, the Assistant Chief Risk Reduction Officer of NEMA, Mr Bitrus Samuel said the gesture of the NSE was highly commendable. Samuel urged Nigerians to join hands with the government to help improve the camps as government alone would be overwhelmed. He said there were plans by NEMA to move the IDPs to permanent sites within the shortest period of time, adding that the plan to move them to organised camps is underway.

Lamudi commissions Rainbow estate in PH SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

he first phase of the Rainbow Town upscale mixed use estate in Port Harcourt, Rivers State has been commissioned. The project, valued at N82 billion was financed by First Bank of Nigeria Plc as part of its quest to bridge

the gap in the nation’s housing deficit. Executed as a Public Private Partnership, PPP, project by the Rivers State Government and First Bank, the project is an exciting example of how the PPP model has been deployed to provide much needed infrastructure whilst promoting rapid economic growth and public empowerment.

This partnership led to the incorporation of a Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV,– Rainbow Town Development Company Limited, RTD, as a Public Private Partnership initiative between Rivers Sate Government and First Bank to drive, manage and deliver the new Rainbow township. According to the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive

O sa pr to w an

po th es th

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Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

epairing damaged interior paint

eradicating the ld be ventilated sture and expel

on the exterior . Damaged or r any wall-roof he source of the nterior painting

l peeling paint areas sanded. e applied to the y, a new coat of can be brushed y executed, will int. this repair are h or paint roller.

d with a home’s n be affected as splotches on the reen or black. r ventilation. It urface that was w. Additionally, of paint can be

ew problem inh a bleach soluwater. The soluto 15 minutes, ean water. The gent and water rinse. Once the

surface is completely dry, it is painted with a quality interior paint. The necessary supplies for successful mildew treatment are simple: bleach, detergent, high-quality paint, and paintbrush or paint roller. These problems, caused by excessive moisture and poor ventilation, are especially prevalent in areas with heavy rain and snowfall that may last for months. The New England states are prime examples of these climatic conditions. Homeowners in the states tes of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire should turn to the professionals at United Home Experts rts for their home remodeling needs whether for repairing airing damaged interior or exterior paint and many other home remodeling and maintenance projects.

removal in areas hit hard by moving furniture, or hit with force by any heavy object. Anything constantly rubbing against a painted surface will eventually wear off the paint. In all of these cases, the affected areas need to be sanded smooth and repainted. Regardless of the extent or cause, repairing damaged interior paint can be successfully accomplished. No homeowner, particularly those living in regions of extreme climatic conditions, need live with damaged interior painted walls.

SAGGING OR RUNNING PAINT

SAGGING OR RUNNING PAINT This damage gives the painted surface a droopy, uneven look. The cause can be a too-heavy application of paint,paint overly thinned, or painting in an overly humid en-vironment. It can also be due to a lack off primer coat being applied and a dirty surrface at the time it is painted. To recover from this problem, should the he paint still be wet, the paint can be redistribibuted using a brush or roller to smooth the he droops. Once the sagging paint has dried, d, it must be sanded to a dull finish so that the new paint will adhere. Another fix is to apply ly a primer coat and repaint. To avoid this problem altogether, the paint should be applied in two thin coats rather than one heavy one. The necessary supplies forr this repair are sandpaper, paintbrush and/or paint roller, primer and paint. Of course, everyday accidents can cause e paint

fficer of the bank, Mr Bisi Onaanya said its involvement in the roject resonates with its desire o boost economic development as well as making housing conducive nd affordable for Nigerians. “First Bank will continue to suport initiatives aimed at enhancing he quality of life for the populace, stablishing income streams for housands of people, create job op-

MOLD AND MILDEW

United States’ mortgage applications dip

Abuja-Kaduna Railway line

portunities and reinvigorate economic activities”, he said. Located in the Trans-Amadi business/industrial corridor of the Rivers state capital city, Rainbow Township occupies 23.24 hectares of land and at completion delivers 1,181 upscale residential housing choices distributed into terrace, detached and high-rise condos. Some of the facilities provided

ortgage Bankers Association’s weekly mortgage applications survey has revealed that mortgage applications decreased by 1.6 percent in the last lap of May 2015. Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume decreased by 1.6 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 2 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 4 percent while seasonally-adjusted

in the estate include a medical clinic, school, shopping arcade, clubhouse and outdoor recreational facilities. Other support facilities are police post, perimeter fencing, security posts, fire station; eco-centre that will serve as the nerve centre for power, water and sewer plants; broadband wireless Internet connectivity, telephone and data outlets, and security surveillance.

Purchase Index increased 1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index was essentially unchanged compared with the previous week and was 14 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 51 percent of total applications from 52 percent the previous week. The Adjustable-Rate Mortgage, ARM, share of activity remained unchanged at 6.4 percent of total applications. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.07 percent from 4.04 percent, with points increasing to 0.35 from 0.32 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-tovalue ratio, LTV, loans. The effective rate increased from last week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) increased

to 4.06 percent from 4.04 percent, with points increasing to 0.29 from 0.25 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 3.83 percent from 3.80 percent, with points increasing to 0.16 from 0.06 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week. The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.29 percent from 3.26 percent, with points decreasing to 0.24 from 0.30 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week. The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.04 percent from 2.99 percent, with points increasing to 0.48 from 0.45 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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New mortgage cap affects Dubai D

ubai’s villa market is slowing at a quicker pace than apartments, leaving prices down by 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2015, new research has shown. Overall property prices in the emirate fell by 0.3 percent in the third quarter of 2014 and by 0.5 percent in the final quarter, leaving the total increase in average prices last year at 3.4 percent, considerably down on the record 51 percent rise recorded in 2103. The data from the latest residential market outlook report from Cluttons also shows that villa values fell 1.2 percent in the third quarter of 2014, then 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter and 1.5 percent in the first quarter of 2015. The analysis in the report suggests that the Federal Mortgage

Cap that was introduced, just over a year ago to cool the market is now having an effect. ‘The impact on the villa market has been particularly pronounced,’ the report says. It has also affected sales. The data shows that during 2014 just 1,300 villas were sold, down 52 percent on 2013 and the number of transactions in the first three months of 2015 was down 36% on the same quarter in 2014. The mortgage cap means that the deposit needed for the purchase of an AED5.5 million villa has increased from 20 percent to 42 percent and a growth in rents over the last 18 months means those looking to buy face a challenge saving for a deposit. The report says that a strengthening supply line means that villa

prices are likely to fall further. ‘During 2015 alone we expect a further 4,000 villas to be delivered to the market, followed by 6,000 in 2016 and an additional 3.700 in 2017,’ the report says. ‘The step change in the rate of villa deliveries will be met with a financing landscape that is vastly different to when some of these schemes were conceived. The secondary market in particular will be hardest hit by the rising supply,’ it adds. The report also points out those villa sellers in the secondary market are now very much on the back foot and there are substantive price declines due to a rise in distressed sellers. ‘While villa prices are expected to continue slipping by 2 percent to 4 percent per quarter over the

Dubai property

Mixed performance trails global property prices

rime property prices in key cities around the world continue to outperform the mainstream residential market but it is a mixed picture depending on location, the latest index shows. The index increased by 3.9 percent in the year to March 2015 but previous strong performers such as London have slipped back while North American cities have climbed the rankings, according to the prime global cities index from real estate firm Knight Frank. On average, prime prices in North America and Australia increased by 8.4% and 7.3 percent respectively in the year to March, whilst Europe’s cities saw prices slip by 0.2 percent on average. If we were to omit cities in North America and Australia, the index would have recorded growth of 2.3 percent instead of 3.9 percent in the year to March

2015. North American cities occupy three of the top four rankings for annual price growth with San Francisco, Miami and Vancouver recording annual growth of 14.3 percent, 12.2 percent and 11.8 percent respectively. The report says that luxury properties are, on average, 46 percent more expensive than in the second quarter of 2009 when the index hit its financial crisis low. Eight cities, including London, Dubai and Hong Kong have outperformed the index over the same period. European luxury homes have, on average, been the weakest performers globally over the last year and the UK general election resulted on slowing price growth in prime central London to 0.2 percent quarterly due to a ‘wait and see’ attitude being adopted by vendors and buyers alike. Despite its cooling measures,

Hong Kong saw an upturn in annual price growth as tighter mortgage restrictions targeted properties below HK$7 million, shifting the focus of some investors from mainstream to luxury residential properties. In Moscow, although luxury prices are up 0.6 percent in local currency terms, the report points out that it is worth highlighting that a large proportion of Russian wealth is held in US dollars and on this basis, due to the weak Rouble, luxury prices have plummeted 38 percent year on year. ‘The ongoing tussle between globalisation on the one hand and protectionism, foreign buyer restrictions, capital controls etc, on the other is set to dominate purchase decisions for luxury buyers and hence market performance going forward,’ said Kate EverettAllen, Knight Frank residential partner.

second half of the year, apartments, which have shown more resilience, are also expected to weaken by between 0.5 percent and 1 percent each quarter this year,’ the report explains. ‘Despite this sluggish outlook, demand is expected to remain very stable in the medium to long term, particularly as the government continues to drive economic diversification, which will fuel job creation,’ it adds. The residential rental market has also continued to soften. In the fourth quarter of 2014 rents fell by 1.9 percent, leaving the total rental value growth last year at a marginal 0.4 percent. But the report points out that this

has been negated by a 0.4 percent dip in average rents during the first quarter of 2015 which leaves rents 1.5 percent lower than this time last year. Both apartments and villas saw rents fall, down 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent respectively, during the first three months of the year. At the same time, supply is edging up and landlords face the prospect of longer void periods. Some 12,600 units are expected to come onto the market by the end of next year and a further 15,800 completions scheduled between 2017 and 2018 but Cluttons says that the risk of an oversupply appears.

British sees impressive rental sector

ritish Landlords have seen total annual returns of £111.5 billion in the last year, as the private rented sector continued to grow, according to a new buy to let report. The sector grew by nearly 150,000 households in the year to March, with rented accommodation accounting for 77.4 percent of new households created across all tenures, says the report from Kent Reliance. This rapid growth has led the firm to forecast that on present trends, the sector will increase from 4.8 million households in Great Britain to 5.5 million by 2020. The expansion of the sector has supported the rise in its value. At the end of March, the total value of property owned by landlords in Great Britain stood at £990.7 billion, increasing by 11 percent in the last year. The sector’s value is now equivalent to 43.1 percent of the value of the UK’s Stock Market, up from just

12.2 percent 15 years ago. House price inflation also contributed towards the increase in the sector’s value, the report says. Although slower than its recent peak last year, annual inflation remains brisk at 7.5 percent. This is also supporting gross total annual returns. By the end of March, the average property generated return of £24,221 in rental income and capital gains, just £1,000 less than the average salary over the past 12 months, equivalent to 12.5 percent. Across the country as a whole, this meant that annual returns seen by property investors totalled £111.5 billion, some £67.2 billion in capital gains, and £44.3 billion in rents. In total, this figure was £5.8 billion higher than the £105.7 billion landlords saw in March 2014, although it represented a decline compared to the recent peak of £137.5 billion in September, when capital gains were at their highest in at least seven years.

High-rise construction soars in SA

his year is expected to be a busy one for developers as demand for luxury residential apartments in Johannesburg’s upmarket suburbs of Sandton, Rosebank and Hyde Park continues its steady rise. This is alongside new developments and upgrades in the business and retail sectors in the area, says Nedbank Corporate Property Finance Gauteng’s regional executive, Ken Reynolds. Reynolds says an office vacancy survey for the fourth quarter shows almost half of the office development taking place in SA is in Sandton. The area continues to be a hive of activity, with both Discovery and Sasol developing their head offices in Sandton central, add-

ing more than 150,000m² of office space. After a turbulent 2013 the prime office market is starting to turn the corner and Sandton’s retail property sector is also showing signs of picking up, with R450m spent on Sandton City’s new Diamond Walk alone. Reynolds says the new developments are creating higher demand for high-rise executive living in the vicinity, as people who work in the area increasingly desire to live close to where they work and play. Five years ago the going rate for upmarket sectional-title units in Sandton averaged R25, 000/m² to R35, 000/m². Now, off-plan sales of luxury apartments regularly fetch rates exceeding R40, 000/m² and are rising fast.

Aviation

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Deployment of military to airports violates ICAO standards – Stakeholders Stakeholders and unions in the Nigerian aviation industry have observed that deployment of military personnel including Nigeria Air Force, NAF, to airports in the country contravenes recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, which Nigeria is a member. OLUSEGUN KOIKI writes.

t several fora and seminars, aviation professionals have maintained that the sector is international regulated such that all member states are expected to comply with the standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, while a State that is not ready to comply with a certain recommendation is expected to file a difference. Nigeria as a member of ICAO is yet to file a difference on any of the recommended practices of the organisation, which means it agrees with all the recommended practices of the body. Ironically, but in practice, most of the activities of the nation’s aviation industry are at variance with the industry’s best standards. According to ICAO, airports in general are supposed to be civil in nature, welcome visitors, encourage tourism and manned only by the Police and Aviation Security, AVSEC, but the situation is different in Nigeria where personnel of Nigeria Air Force, NAF, appears to have completely taken over security of the sector. In most developed and developing airport vicinities, the military personnel are not within the airport environments while the police and AVSEC ensure total security of the environment. The presence of NAF and other stern looking military personnel at the airports has further created tension, rather than dousing it. Stakeholders claimed rather than maintaining law and order where they are situated, they had actually added to the social confusion in such areas and regular maltreatment of passengers and other genuine users of the airports go on unabated. Just on Monday, January 19, a yet-to-be identified air force lance corporal assaulted a senior policewoman. Reports claimed that the corporal slapped a Chief Superintendent of Police, identified as Felicia Victor, three times for resisting attempts to tow a patrol vehicle while a sergeant, who drove the patrol vehicle, was also punched in the mouth by the officer. A senior air force official, who witnessed the incident, was said to have intervened by disarming the officer and ordering his detention. Till date, nothing has been heard of the dastardly act of the lance corporal against a senior police officer. Also, in February this year, A Naval Officer, Apapa Command, Mr. Ifeanyi Chukwu, assaulted a young man, Yusuf Mohammed, a staff of Dowutas Trolley Service at the General Aviation Terminal One, GAT, of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, MMA, Lagos, who reportedly died as a result of the injuries sustained from the assault. Eye witnesses alleged that the Naval officer with his brother had driven to the drop zone of the departure hall of the GAT

MMA-2

In the fIrst Instance, aIr force

Personnel mountIng road blocks at our aIrPorts are unknown to Icao rules. annex 17 of the Icao conventIon stIPulates who should be In charge of

avIatIon securIty Personnel, avsec

avIatIon and It Is the

at about6a.m, parked his Silver Coloured Sports Utility Vehicle, SUV, at the portion designated for dropping travelling passengers while they both followed their mother, who was travelling out of Lagos into the terminal. On their return, the officer met the tyres of his SUV locked by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, concessionaire charged with towing vehicles parked illegally or indiscriminately within the airport environment. But, the officer who was reportedly furious with the locking of its SUV tyres alleged that the deceased trolley service provider had asked him to park the car in the drop off zone. Within a few seconds, Yusuf was beaten by the naval officer and his brother to a point of coma, quickly rushed to FAAN clinic beside the terminal where he received first aid treatment and was later referred to the Lagos state University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, where he later gave up the

ghost at noon of the same day. In the last quarter of last month, another NAF personnel attached to the departure hall of MMIA also beat up a staff of FAAN for allegedly obstructing traffic at the terminal. The FAAN staff, Mr. Mohammed Shuaibu who works at the protocol and passages of the agency was inflicted with numerous injuries by the NAF officials, which led to his unconsciousness. An eyewitness account stated that Shuaibu was beaten by the airmen until he collapsed with blood oozing out from his nostrils and was immediately rushed to the FAAN clinic at the airport where he was later referred to the airport hospital due to the enormity of the injuries he sustained at the hands of the NAF officials. However, stakeholders and industry unions in an interview with our correspondent condemned the constant abuse of humans by military personnel especially NAF officials at the nation’s airports.

The recent maltreatment by military officials has however led to the issuance of 21 days ultimatum by the industry unions to the government to relocate NAF and other military personnel from airports across the country, insisting that airport as a civil environment should not accommodate military of any form. The Deputy General Secretary, NUATE, Comrade Olayinka Abioye, told our correspondent that it was wrong for the government to deploy NAF to any airports in the country, arguing that in other climes, air force personnel were not seen within the airport environments. He insisted that their posting to the airports contradicted the recommendation of ICAO, stressing that Nigeria could not operate in isolation of other aviation environment around the world. He explained that airport environments were supposed to be civil and not militarised as presently being witnessed in the Nigerian aviation industry. He said, “In the first instance, Air Force Personnel mounting road blocks at our airports are unknown to ICAO rules. Annex 17 of the ICAO convention stipulates who should be in charge of aviation and it is the Aviation Security Personnel, AVSEC. They have a full fleshed functional directorate in FAAN and they are supposed to be doing these things, they have the primary responsibility for the maintenance of security at the airports. “The aviation unions and its entire membership decided to embark on a peaceful protest today (yesterday) to show solidarity to a staff of the FAAN who was brutalised and beaten to a state of coma some few days ago by four personnel of NAF attached to MMIA.” Also, Vice-Chairman of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, Comrade Sarah Rindams, urged aviation workers to take the bull by the horn by protesting against the inhuman treatment meted out to the FAAN staff. The ATSSSAN Vice Chairman added that if a fellow Federal Government agency staff could be beaten to a state of coma be Air Force personnel, she wondered what would happen to other airport users, arguing that Lagos Air was not a military airport or a base, but a civil airport. The General Secretary, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE, Comrade Abba Ocheme, called for the sanction of the NAF officials. He said, “The two NAF personnel that beat up Shuibu should be discplined .The laws of Nigeria should be brought to bear in this case. Workers must not take this matter as a joke because it could be anybody.

Aviation

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Chidoka advocates AIB’s autonomy StorieS: oluSegun KoiKi

he immediate past Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, has canvassed the separation of the Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, from the Ministry of Aviation. The minister also identified insufficient funding for the bureau as one of the challenges militating against its growth. Speaking in Lagos during the unveiling of its scorecard to the stakeholders in the Nigerian aviation industry, Chidoka maintained that in a bid for the bureau to effectively carry out independent accident report, there was a need for it to be separated from the ministry. He added that the agency should be reporting directly to the presidency, but the ministry should still fund its activities. He said, “The current industry structure has the bureau reporting to the ministry of aviation, which creates conflict of interest as the independence of the agency in investigating and reporting on accidents can be called into question. “As a means of ensuring the agency’s independence, it should be separated from the ministry of aviation. It could possibly report to the presidency, but the ministry should still fund its activities.”

He also declared that funding for the agency was not sufficient to enable it effectively carry outs its statutory functions, adding that AIB was inadequately staffed to fulfill its statutory responsibilities. In order to solve the problem of funding, he said that AIB should receive greater percentage of Ticket Sales Charge, TSC, and cargo sales charge to enable it to fund its operations effectively. The TSC is the five per cent charges collected by airlines from passengers on behalf of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, which in turns shared such money among the agencies. However, while other agencies receive equal percentage from the TSC, AIB only receive three per cent of the total percentage, a situation several stakeholders insisted was not healthy for the agency. However, Chidoka revealed that he had given approval for the five per cent to be shared equally among the agencies, stressing that with this; AIB would be able to carry out some of its functions efficiently without recourse to the government. On safety, the former minister noted that two aircraft accidents and six serious aircraft incidents occurred from July 2013 to June 2014 while zero aircraft accidents and two serious

export of agro-allied produces, especially perishable items such as vegetables and fruits. He insisted that Nigeria had the required manpower to support agricultural expansion, stressing that with an estimated 80 million farmers; Nigeria could cultivate enough food for its people and feed the world. He maintained that the potentials in the sector could only be sustained when private sector participation was allowed to thrive in the country. He said, “The stability and sustainability of the world economy have been and still depend on agriculture, because agriculture is the major source of survival for man, animals and the industrial sectors through the provision of food and raw materials according to STAN in 2000. “There is need to engage the private sector, investors, local banks and

The Managing Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, Engr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam (middle) with the President, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, NIPR, Dr. Rotimi Oladele (right) and NAMA Legal Adviser, Mrs. Anastasia Gbem (left) during the visit of the NIPR President to NAMA headquarters in Lagos recently.

Airside shegzzy4live2000@yahoo.co.uk 08186007273

Why Buhari should revisit Oduah’s BMW scandal

AIB CEO, Felix Abali

aircraft incidents occurred from July 2014 to May 2015. He explained that this indicated that safety had improved in the sector, but called for more vigilance to avoid major accidents and incidents in the future. He informed that as at November 15, 2014, the ministerial committee on Nigerian Aviation industry Aircraft Accident Report Status, NAIAARS, reports indicated that, following the committee’s interactive review meetings with the agencies, 63 per cent of the safety recommendations had been implemented and closed; 14 per cent were partially implemented and 23 per cent were yet to be implemented and still open.

ABX World, Arik Air, SAHCOL partner on agro-allied export

ne of Nigeria’s courier/cargo companies, ABX World has announced an alliance with the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited, SAHCOL, and Arik Air in cargo and handling of agroallied products for export. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Capt. John Okakpu, said during the signing of the agreements with the two companies that Nigeria had immense agricultural potential, which remained untapped. Okakpu specifically said that only 40 per cent of the country’s 84 million hectares of arable land cultivated and 263 billion cubic meters of water are presently being sued by the people. He informed that the company had secured the certification of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, as an authorised cargo agent and was set for an unrivalled speedy

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international financial institutions with the view of connecting the vast investment opportunities of Nigeria agriculture with local and international investors.” He declared that only agricultural potentials in the country surpassed the $128.00 per barrel of crude oil needed to balance the budget and appealed to President Mohammadu Buhari to look into the direction of agricultural produce in order to stabilize the economy.

lot has been said about the personality and strong character of President Mohammadu Buhari. This principle of incorruptness undoubtedly swayed many eligible electorate to vote for the President on the March 28 Presidential election. In fact, most were tired of the obvious massive corruption in public places while the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan only glorified them with a sack while they (appointees) disappeared into the thin air with their loots. One of such appointees who courted controversies than most of her predecessors was Princess Stella Oduan. Oduah within her 31 months in the saddle; July 2011 to February 2014, engaged in several activities and unprofessional conducts like remodelling of the 21 airports without approval, known contractors, and shoddy

jobs, which was reiterated by the immediate past minister in the sector, Chief Osita Chidoka and illegal monthly deductions of between N150 million to N300 million from agencies under different guises. The scandal reached the top with the purchase of two bullet proof cars BMW 2008 model at a very hyper-inflated rate of N255 million. Though, the controversy eventually led to her sack, but she was not able to convince the public about the need and the actual price of the cars. Airside advises Buhari to reopen the case and several other allegations of fraud against the former minister to serve as a deterrent to others like her who enjoyed unlimited immunity (despite the fact that they are not entitled to one) under Jonathan. Airside and other open-minded stakeholders are waiting for Buhari’s action on Oduah. The time is ticking fast.

Chidoka out, after 10 months in the saddle

he immediate past Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka only spent 10 months as an appointee in the sector, but the entire industry including air travellers felt his impact. At inception, Chidoka said his priorities were to ensure safe and secured airspace, build resilient workforce, robust IT based security infrastructure, make the industry customercentric, rebuild supervision and policy leadership of the ministry and introduce performance management across all

agencies among many others. Ultimately, he ensured industrial harmony during his 10 months period and avoided bitter disagreements between government and the several private investors in the sector. Chidoka has left government just like the 11 other ministers before him since 1999, but his modest achievements in the industry, especially among those who appreciate peace, developments and comfort, will be remembered. Airside wishes him well in his future endeavours.

NCAA backs migration to AIM

he Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has approved the transition from the Aeronautical Information Service, AIS, to Aeronautical Information Management, AIM, for the Nigerian aviation industry. With the approval and subsequent migration, the Nigerian airspace would be safer for airline operators especially the pilots who fly in the country’s airspace and would now be digitalized just like other developed aviation countries of the world. The Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Muktar Usman, disclosed this in his opening remarks on national workshop transition from AIS to AIM at a stakeholders’ seminar. Usman, who was represented at the occasion by a Director in the agency and a former Acting

Director-General , Mr. Joyce Nkemakolam, said that the programme, which was recently recommended to all member-nations by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, was a vision that described how an integral global ATM system should operate. He insisted that the concept provided member states and industry in general with clearer objectives for the design and implementation of ATM and supporting Communication Navigation Surveillance, CNS, systems. Usman, however, observed that there were enormous tasks involved in the transition from AIS to AIM, but maintained that the migration became inevitable to all stakeholders in the business of safety in Nigeria’s aviation environment. He added, “Safety remains the highest priority to NCAA and in-

deed to the global aviation community and we do not downplay any idea, be it personal, community or industry based that propagates, enhances, and or supports safety in our airspace. “Being the aviation oversight authority in Nigeria, we cannot but key into the ideas of the global aviation community to promote safe aircraft operations in our airspace and indeed the sub-region. NCAA therefore do approve of the transition from AIS to AIM and will give necessary support to this project.” He explained further that several tasks were involved in the transition from AIS to AIM, which he identified as the provision of electronic terrain and obstacle data, eTOD, Aeronautical Information Exchange Model, AIXM, and Quality Management System, QMS, among many others.

Insurance

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Cornerstone Insurance profit rises by 48% StorieS: MeShack idehen

he Group Managing Director of Cornerstone Insurance, Mr Ganiyu Musa, said despite the challenging operating environment, the company recorded impressive performance. He said in a statement that the company’s profit before tax rose by 48 per cent to N1.39bn in the 2014 financial year from N940m in 2013, saying the company’s financial performance in 2014 was a reflection of the deliberate focus on profitable underwriting and investment performance, while cautiously pursuing top line growth. Musa noted that by leveraging its solid brand and growing suite of innovative products that the company aimed to contribute to the transformation of the industry and position itself for market leadership. “We are pleased that we have achieved the highest ever profit before tax, crossing the billion naira mark for the first time in our company’s history. The results reflect our continued focus

to be the leading insurance-based financial services group by delivering value beyond expectations to our customers and shareholders,” he said. He said other highlights of the company’s approved financial statements for 2014 showed 60 per cent growth in underwriting profit to N1.5bn from N939m in the previous year, while profit after tax increased by 29 per cent to N1.19bn from N946m. According to the statement, claims paid in the year under review were over N1.2bn, while its investment income grew from N792m to N1.81bn. Shareholders’ equity grew by from N6.97bn to N8.16bn. It added that its return on equity improved to 17 per cent in 2014 from 14 per cent in 2013, while its retained earnings moved from a negative of N491m to a positive of N499m during the year. The company said it would be proposing a dividend for ratification by shareholders at the next annual general meeting, explaining

Musa

Cornerstone Insurance is a composite insurance company that offers a wide range of products in both general and life business. “As part of its strategy to support sustenance of economic development in Nigeria and increase penetration of insurance products and services, Cornerstone, in partnership with Airtel and Microensure launched Nigeria’s first truly innovative product that offers value rich insurance to subscribers of Airtel for free,” it stated.

IEI assures public on NAICOM intervention

nternational Energy Insurance (IEI) plc said it is assuring stakeholders that the intervention of National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to dissolve former board of the company was not to take over the company but an intervention to create neutrality towards ensuring peace and order.

Ahmad

Interim Managing Director of the company, Mr Peter Irene, disclosed this in Lagos, saying the insurance outfit is poised for repositioning to enable it satisfy the yearnings and aspirations of the shareholders since the organisation has the potentials to do so. He emphasised that the company has professionals in energy and general business underwriting, and an innovative business drive, required to deliver value to all its stakeholders. It would be recalled that NAICOM had on May 18, 2015 inaugurated an Interim Board to direct the affairs of IEI, after the dissolution of the former board. The new board comprises former Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Mr Muhammad Ahmad as the Chairman; while others are for-

mer Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Daisy Ekineh, former acting Managing Director of Societe Bancaire Nigeria Limited (now Unity Bank Plc) Mrs Bridget Ibiyemi. Peter Irene was named the interim managing director. NAICOM had explained that the mandate of the interim board is to guide the company through this transition period, to greater stability for the next six months. This commission said, is to ensure that the company is professionally and ethically anchored on the tenets of international best practice in alignment with the code of good corporate governance. “IEI remains a going concern with the capacity to continue to fulfill every business obligation and still remains one of the best underwriting firms in Nigeria”, Irene said.

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Tips to shrink your car insurance bill

part from zeroing down on the best car loan deal, it is equally important to choose an appropriate auto insurance policy. We all know that auto insurance is a mandatory legal requirement when you purchase your car. And there have been instances where you, as an insured, have been charged high premiums. However, there have been various other requirements that have been taken into consideration so that the insured gets to pay lower premiums and avail maximum benefits in case of an accident. Provide correct information: By providing your insurer the correct information, you can reduce your premiums by 10-30 per cent. Model and make of your car: The decision regarding how much premium needs to be charged depends upon the make and model of your car. If your car’s make/model is more prone to accidents, as in the books of the insurer, you are likely to be entitled to higher discounts than those make/ models of cars which are less prone to accidents. Gender and profession of the driver: The practice of dividing premium considerations on the basis of gender is commonly followed in the West, which is yet to catch up in India. However, some insurers consider female drivers better than male drivers, making the female drivers entitled to higher discounts than their counterparts. The driver’s profession too affects the insurance premium. If an office goer uses a car, it is obvious he uses it to commute between his home and office, rather than a sales person, who will use to commute in various cities on a wider basis. Locality where the vehicle will be driven: Apart from the

locality, the place where the vehicle is piled or registered is taken into consideration these days. Insurance companies calculate the claims depending upon the location. In congested cities, where bumper to bumper traffic is observed, claims for scratches and dents are more, whereas location highways carry a huge claim amount because they are prone to major accidents. No claim bonus: No claim bonus is a discount allowed as a percentage on the ‘own damage premium’ and the same is increased every year to the next slab if a claim for damage to the vehicle is not preferred and it is discounted if there was no claim preferred during the currency of the expiring policy. The discount may go up to 50% and it is up to the insured to decide if he wants to transfer the same on another vehicle. If the customer sells his old vehicle, he can also be kept in abeyance and utilize it on a car bought at a later date. Voluntary deductibles: A voluntary deductible discount is offered and the discounts can go up to 35% of the premium for vehicle damage, an option that can be considered by a customer if he wants to opt out of small claims for minor damages and the insurance company will pay a claim only for the damages in excess of this limit of voluntary deductible. Your premium can be way reduced by this move. Safety features: In order to attract 2-5% discount on your premiums, it is necessary to install anti-theft or other safety features from an approved make by your insurer. Therefore, you should provide full and exact details about your vehicle along with safety measures adopted by you in order to avail discounts. Source: www.insure.net

Insurance

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Operators predict brighter outlook for insurance, contributory pension scheme With series of reforms already made; including proactive regulatory policies and improved compliance by operators, insurance and pensions industry stakeholders are of the view that the sectors’ outlook appear bright in the near future, MESHACK IDEHEN writes.

n the last couple of years, the Nigerian insurance industry has witnessed series of reforms and policy regimes by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), measures which analysts believe have the potentials for moving the sector forward. However, the performance of the pension sub sector of the industry in the past years has not quite encouraging, particularly bases on alleged irregularities observed in the documentation and management of contributions associated with the Contributory Pension Scheme, (CPS) that were recorded by operators. Alleging poor management capacity of most of Pension Funds Administrators, (PFA)s as attested to by outgoing Nigeria’s Senate President, Mr. David Mark, recently raised the alarm over perceived incidences of gross abuse of the scheme by the PFAs. This, he explained, also formed some of the hiccups for the potentially booming industry. Weak accountability for contributor’s deposits was also recognised as an issue of discontent by industry experts. These situations notwithstanding, analysts and industry players told National Mirror there were high hopes that operators will record massive consolidation, growth and expansion in the industry in the coming period, and that operators in particular have every reason to be progressively hopeful of what is to come within the industry in particular and the economy in general. Insurance expert and Managing Director of Click Nigeria Limited, (an insurance brokerage firm),Mr. John Adenuga, is of the view that the unlimited potential and prospects ringed with doing insurance and pension brokerage and management business in Nigeria has been reasonably and adequately identified by regulators and operators alike. For instance, he explained that the burden of non-compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards, (IFRS), which in the past hindered insurance operators from playing in the big and lucrative league of international insurance business has been reasonably addressed by NAICOM. According to him, insurance practitioners in Nigeria can also now latch on to the No Premium, No Cover Policy introduced by NAICOM to take the industry to a height never before witnessed,” adding also that the new sense of orientation and purpose with which insurance is now being practiced in the country is more than enough reason to be hopeful this and in the coming years. He pointed out for instance that the last few years marked a watershed in the annals of insurance and pension management history and practice in the country, including a departure from the industry’s

Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel

Osijo

The lack of depTh, The prevalence of professional shallowness due To lack of Training opporTuniTies for operaTors and low capaciTy uTilisaTion ThaT sTill pervades The insurance indusTry To a large exTenT musT be halTed Through sTringenT implemenTaTion of all The developmenT and growTh policies past, considering the fact that both the insurance and pension industry are currently experiencing a boom period, while at the same time, also poised for regional and continental expansion in a way never witnessed before. Former President of the National Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, (NCRIB), Mrs. Liade Osijo, noted that though sectoral challenges still existed,tindications have over the course of the last few years, continually emerged to show that the insurance/pension industry will soon occupy its pride of place, as far as contributions to national development was concerned. She pointed out in particular also that the introduction and implementation of the “No Premium, No cover” policy by NAICOM, has successfully changed the face and practice of insurance business in Nigeria and around the continent. She explained that the emulation and introduction of the No Premium, No Cover policy by other countries in the region, including Ghana, Liberia and Serria- Leone, was an indication that the insurance sector in Nigeria achieved something very significant in the last few years, the former NCRIB boss said the responses and feedbacks from operators’ shows the policy; alongside other initiatives from the

country’s insurance sector was a positive move for an otherwise previously struggling industry. Commenting on the recent disclosure by the Nigeria’s Insurers Association, (NIA) that only 12 out of the over 50 insurance companies operating in the country dominate the industry, and saying that disclosure was a source for concern for the insurance industry, Industry Practitioner, Mr. Lucky Igunbor, is of the opinion that 2013 was a year of mixed for¬tunes for industry’s players. Igunbor, who is the Managing Director of City Insurance Brokers Limited said: “The lack of depth, the prevalence of professional shallowness due to lack of training opportunities for operators and low capacity utilisation that still pervades the insurance industry to a large extent must be halted through stringent implementation of all the development and growth policies that were introduced and implemented in the course of last few years”. He lamented that a situation where only 12 underwriting companies presently control large chunk of the insurance market in Nigeria despite the best efforts of the regulators and forward looking firms was not good enough or sustainable for the industry and the economy in the long term, adding that the coming years will present

more opportunities and challenges for the industry. “We as operators need to consolidate and improve on the encouraging performance of the industry in the past few years. To do that, issues like late or non-submission of financial reports, rate cutting, demarketing and other vices that still ails the sector must be comprehensively looked into and properly addressed”, he suggested. Driving home the point inherent in the pitfalls of allowing only few companies to control and dominate the industry, insurance broker, Mr. Gabriel Osibogun, made reference to the NIA report which explained that the market positions of the insurance firms were determined by their gross premium income written in the few years past. He noted with apprehension that with the NIA maintaining in the report that 90 per cent of the other operators that make up the numbers of companies in the industry are contending with the left-oversmarkets left by the big operators, that creating a level playing field should form one of the main concerns of regulators in the coming year. National Mirror gathered from sources within NAICOM that more than half of the over 60 insurance companies operating in the country have submit their audited accounts to the commission. Bancassurance Expert, Mr. Obasi Ngwuta, said on his part, that the introduction of guidelines for the practice of micro and Takaful insurance by NAICOM is another significant milestone that was recorded during the course of the last few years. He said with the release of the guidelines that vast majority of Nigerians and potential insurance customers will now be captured into the nation’s financial system; a move he said will go a very long way towards boosting the country’s economy. Harping thus on the need to deepen and enlarge the insurance industry in Nigeria through mass market participation in 2015, Managing Director of Riskguard-Africa Ni¬geria Limited, Mr Yemi Soladoye, said operators in the industry must concentrate more on market expansion instead of premium growth. Soladoye said insurance firm’s concentration on premium growth instead of expanding the market and deepening the industry is inimical to growth, adding that the future of the industry can only come from market expansion. Taken together, and inspite of the unlimited growth prospect being envisaged by the industry, the inability to comprehensively boost insurance penetration and aid national food security through risk bearing support to farmers and agro allied businesses by the Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation, (NAIC), is a neglect that must be corrected for the industry to record massive growth.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Money

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Banks, telecoms, others unite to improve non-cash transaction channels Udo onyeka

o doubt there has been increasing awareness concerning the cashless project, even though there are also challenges facing it. The growing awareness on the policy has resulted in the increase of online and other non cash transactions in the country’s payment system. According to Nigerian Inter Bank Settlement System, NIBSS, transactions under its NIBSS Instant Payment, NIP and Nigerian Electronic Fund Transfer, NEFT, have increased significantly to about N40bn daily as at last year and may have continued to increase. NIP and NEFT are products used by corporate organisations to make payment for huge transactions electronically, in line with the cashless policy. Data gathered from NIBSS also shows that as a result of the cashless policy, Point of Sale, PoS and Automated Teller Machines, ATM, usage have continued to record huge volume and value. Analysts believe that if not the challenges facing the policy it would have made much more progress than it has recorded. Experts have pointed out infrastructural deficit as major obstacle to this project. They have said there is the need to put in place infrastructure in the form of magnetic card readers and the technology that makes them work. It was in order to tackle lack of adequate infrastructure and the cost of providing it the Group Managing Director, Computer Warehouse Group, CWG, Dr. Austin Okere; had in an interview advised financial institutions to go into what he called ‘shared resource’. He said that with financial institutions pulling their resources together it would be cost effective to provide certain services. The cash-less policy, as explained by the CBN is aimed at empowering the previously unbanked populace to open accounts and perform e-transactions across the nation without having to visit their bank branches. But a Director in Lagos state Ministry of Education, Mrs. Grace Oladimeji, at a forum in Ikeja, Lagos noted that Persons With Dis-

Johnson

CBN NIBSS Director, Dipo Fatokun

abilities ,PWDs, are not been taken into consideration in the cashless project. For instance she said most of the Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, are not positioned in a way a person on a wheelchair could go on his or her own withdraw money. Also she said there was nothing wrong incorporating braille facility in ATMs so that the blind or visually impaired could make use of the ATMs. According to Mr. Jude Ezenwa, a member of the civil society organisation “the cashless and financial inclusion policy of the CBN would achieve much more if persons with disabilities are catered for in the project. “In Lagos it is estimated that PWDs are about 10 per cent of the population of the state. So imagine throughout all the 36 states of the federation”, he said. In order to improve the quality of services of financial institutions in delivering electronic products to customers, it was gathered the Bankers’ Committee last year planned working with the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC and other service providers to ensure that some of the challenges are addressed. According to the former Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, the Federal Government has always encouraged the telecoms on the need to provide

Stifel in lead to buy Barclays’ U.S. wealth unit – sources

nvestment bank Stifel Financial Corp (SF.N) is in advanced negotiations to acquire Barclays Plc’s (BARC.L) U.S wealth management unit, according to three people familiar with the situation. Stifel is now negotiating key aspects with Barclays, although a deal is not certain and Barclays could go back to other bidders that have made offers, the people said this week.

A deal for the business the former brokerage arm of Lehman Brothers - could come as early as next week, the people said. The price being discussed could not be learned. The sources requested anonymity because the matter is not public, and a spokeswoman for Stifel and a spokesman for Barclays declined to comment. Barclays has been reaching out to potential acquirers

for the business for several weeks because it views it as non-core, sources told Reuters. Stifel Chairman and Chief Executive Ron Kruszewski has acquired several, mostly troubled retail brokerage and investment banking firms since 2005. The once low-key St. Louis firm that specialized in municipal bonds is now a national presence serving individual investors and middlemarket companies.

the necessary network that would drive cashless the project Johnson said an important area where government aimed to drive financial inclusion is through mobile money initiative, whose transactions has been recording steady growth since the issuance of operating licences to companies willing to play in the mobile money space in the country. Even though many have said that Mobile Money is not making much impact and has not been patronised by many because a lot of people do not understand how it works due to lack of enlightenment, Mrs. Johnson early in 2014 said it was not doing badly and backing her claim with figures. According to her “Total value of Mobile Money transactions currently stands at N228m and is expected to increase to N151bn by 2015, while total volume of non-store shopping increased from N62bn in 2011 to N77.5bn in 2012. This figure will increase to N658bn by 2015,” she said. She explained that mobile money, which is being supported by telecommunications infrastructures would play significant role in driving financial service inclusion in Nigeria. Many analysts agreed with the minister that the growth in the telecoms sector is capable of driving the cashless policy.

It was also gathered that the Federal Government has begun reforming the NIPOST to ensure it complements the target of the government to ensure that about 80 per cent of adult Nigerians have access to financial services by 2020. Mrs. Johnson had said that one of the measures being taken by the Federal Government through the ministry was an ongoing effort to reform NIPOST to spearhead financial inclusion in the country. “We are reforming the NIPOST to transform it into a financial and digital inclusion tool that will reduce the proportion of adult Nigerians excluded from financial services from 46.3 per cent as at 2010 to 20 per cent by 2020,” she said. She said as part of measure to achieve the target, the ministry was working to develop about 3,000 postal outlets of NIPOST located across the country to transform the outlets into becoming venues for financial and economic inclusion. Notwithstanding network failure at ATMs many times stakeholders say number of transactions carried out by the banking public on the over 80,000 Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, being used by banks in Nigeria has been on the increase. Chief Executive Officer of InterSwitch, Mr. Mitchell Elegebe, said, the increasing figures associated with different payment channels was an indication that more Nigerians were developing card culture in line with the CBN’s cashless policy aimed at reducing the quantity of physical cash in circulation. However, analysts have said that much is still needed to be done as the country was witnessing adoption of the cashless economy. According them to boost e-payment transaction volumes, there was the need to address the challenge of poor awareness on the part of the operators, especially in the informal sector, adding that there were also challenges with interoperability of networks from the telecommunications operators. According to industry analysts, the increase in the volume of ATM transactions over OTC transactions was an indication that the economy is recording faster adoption of electronic channels of financial transaction in recent years.

Ecobank Group CEO wins ‘African Banker of the Year’ award

cobank Group CEO Albert Essien has been named the African Banker of the Year at the 9th edition of the African Banker Awards in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. According to a statement by the bank and signed Group Head, Corporate Communications, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Richard Uku, the award recognises the contribution of individuals in management positions, and best practices in African banking and sponsored by London-based IC publications under the patronage of the Af-

rican Development Bank. It said Essien was one of five contenders for the African Banker of the Year award. “Others chief executives who competed with the panAfrican bank’s CEO were Segun Agbaje of Nigeria’s GT Bank, Paulo Alexandre Duarte de Sousa of Banco Comercial e de Investimentos of Mozambique, Charles Kimei of Tanzania’s Cooperative Rural Development Bank Bank plc and Tariq Sijilmassi of Morocco’s Groupe Credit Agricole”, the statement said. Accepting the award, Es-

sien said: “I am deeply honoured to receive this award. It comes as a surprise to me because although I have worked for Ecobank for the last 25 years, I have only been Group CEO for just over a year. I therefore accept this award on behalf of the staff of Ecobank, for they are the ones to whom I attribute the real success of our institution in its service to the people of our continent. I also want to thank our host, IC publications, the organisers of these awards, and the esteemed panel of judges for this distinction.”

Global Business

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Micromanaging new CEO impresses at Malaysia Airlines

ew CEO Christoph Mueller’s plans for troubled Malaysia Airlines - including a new brand, a smaller fleet and one third less staff - are widely seen as a promising blueprint for a fresh start. The 52-year old German has successfully restructured Ireland’s statebacked Aer Lingus and spearheaded a revamp at Lufthansa. He has also already impressed in his new job with his micromanaging ways, according to one long-time Malaysia Airlines executive. Even so, many analysts worry that the state-owned carrier’s long history of mismanagement and government interference, and its severely damaged brand after last year’s two plane disasters will be too much to overcome. “You can’t parachute in someone irrespective of how sterling his previous record shows and expect him to do a job with an airline that’s been abused for two decades,” said Shukor Yusof, an analyst at Malaysian aviation consultancy Endau Analytics. In addition to an unprecedented need to build a completely new brand after the disappearance of flight MH370 and the shooting down of MH17, Mueller must slash costs at a time when the airline faces intense competition from other full-service carriers and budget airlines. Forced to fly to unprofitable destinations to promote Malaysia’s foreign policy agenda, keep on more staff than needed due to powerful unions and to hand out contracts to politically connected firms, the airline has been saddled with a cost base 20 percent bigger than its peers, analysts say. Mueller, who speaks directly and

Mueller

concisely, is well aware of challenges. “It is the government who is funding. What they want in exchange is a new national icon, a new national carrier,” he told Reuters in an interview last week. “I’m hired to run the new company entirely on commercial terms and there’s very little margin for error,” he said. Mueller, who joined the airline’s board early this year and became CEO last month, added that he was aiming for a much smaller network and fleet and a sharper focus on cost-cutting - some of the strategies he pursued at Aer Lingus which was on the verge of collapse when he took over in 2009. Efforts to rationalize the fleet have, however, hit some early speed bumps with the carrier so far unsuccessful in finding buyers for two A380 aircraft that it has put up for sale. Mueller was also not shy of resetting some expectations. Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the

majority stakeholder that took the airline private last year in the wake of the plane disasters, said last August it wants to see the carrier profitable by the end of 2017 and to re-list in five years. Mueller said in the interview, however, that the first goal could be difficult to meet given depreciation in the ringgit against the dollar that has taken place this year. On the plus side, analysts are pleasantly surprised that Malaysia Airlines’ owner Khazanah, a state investment firm, has agreed to a clean break from the past including the dismantling of old labor unions that have stymied change. Some are optimistic that given time, Mueller has a decent chance of being able to work things out. “The airline needs to simplify its fleet and network whilst facing many competitive and reputational challenges. But given the growth dynamics of the region and the geography of its KL hub, I believe that success can be achieved over the medium term,” said John Strickland, a UK-based independent consultant. As it confronts those challenges, Mueller’s meticulous nature is expected to be a key asset - even if it ruffles some feathers. “He takes an interest in very minute details,” said the Malaysian Airlines executive, declining to be identified as he was not authorized to speak on the matter. “Some don’t like the fact that he is a micromanager, but we badly needed someone who pays attention to everything.”

India’s economy surges by 7.5% in first quarter

ndia’s economy grew 7.5 per cent in the three months ending in March, higher than the previous quarter and above expectations. It means the country has outpaced China’s economic expansion for two quarters out of the last three. Forecasts were for growth of about 7.3 per cent for the period compared with a year earlier. However, the country adopted a new way of calculating growth, which some experts say distorts the real picture. The country’s annual growth for the year 2014-15 was 7.3 per cent. Despite the robust growth numbers, India’s government and its businesses are hoping the country’s central bank will move to cut lending rates again soon to give the economy a further boost. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already cut its bench-

mark lending rates twice this year, but left its rates unchanged in April. The government revised down India’s growth for the period October to December 2014 to 6.6 per cent compared with the same period the year before. Its previous figure was 7.5 per cent. But it also now says growth between July and September was 8.4 per cent rather than the 8.2 per cent earlier stated. Economists have warned the data needs to be treated with caution since changes were made to the way in which the GDP figure was calculated. Narendra Modi marked a year in office as prime minister this week and these stats suggest the economy he pledged to improve is, well, improving. This would have been the third successive quarter of India’s economy growing faster than China’s. But because India has

India Prime Minister, Narendra_Modi

revised down the figure from October to December, it means China was still ahead in that period. And it’s worth saying lots of people believe India’s GDP figures are overstating the reality - and that’s because other economic data - such as factory output and export figures - do not support the view that things are picking up strongly.

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US economy shrank in first quarter

he US economy shrank 0.7 per cent in the first three months of 2015, compared to the same period last year. The Bureau of Economic Analysis significantly revised down its earlier economic growth estimate of 0.2%. The previous calculation underestimated the rise in the volume of imported goods and overestimated capital investment by companies, it said. The US economy last contracted in the first quarter of 2014, when it shrank by 2.1 per cent. As was the case last year, a harsh winter may have been partly to blame for falling goods and services production in the US. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 per cent of economic activity, slowed to 1.8 per cent growth in the first quarter, slightly below the 1.9 per cent growth initially estimated. The Bureau also highlighted the impact of weak exports and government spending. The strong US dollar has pushed up imports and lowered exports. At current dollar prices, GDP slipped further from 0.1 per cent growth to a 0.9 per cent contraction. The revision in GDP prompt-

ed investors to shift to traditionally safer assets, such as bonds. This is why yields on US Treasuries have fallen as their price has risen. GDP figures are closely watched by investors, as the Federal Reserve makes decisions based on the health of the economy. “From a policy perspective, the first quarter lull is already history; it’s the extent of the rebound that will be critical in determining the timing of the Fed’s first move on interest rates,” says Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. “Survey evidence is already pointing to a second quarter pick-up,” he added.

Obama

Economic growth ‘up several gears’ – Says CBI Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI’s director of economics, said growth had “cranked up several gears”. In April official figures revealed the UK economy grew by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of 2015, which marked the slowest quarterly growth for two years. BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam said those April figures stoked fears that the country might be set for a slowdown. But now the CBI is suggesting that all sectors of the economy are growing. Its latest survey of more than 800 companies suggests the services sector - which ranges from restaurants and plumbing to banking and finance - stood out in particular. This sector recorded its fastest growth in business volumes since February 2006 and was the main driver of the overall acceleration, the survey concluded. The CBI said growth could be boosted further as things improve economically in the Eurozone, which is the UK’s largest trading partner. Ms Newton-Smith added: “As we move through the second quarter, growth has cranked up several gears and businesses expect that faster pace to continue. “This supports our belief that the weaker-than-expected GDP

growth in the early months of 2015 will be short-lived. “A stellar increase in activity in the business and professional service sector and retail sales bounding ahead are clear indications of strong business and consumer confidence and increased spending power. “UK exports are likely to be helped by renewed momentum in the euro area but the stronger pound and weak demand in many overseas markets continue to pose challenges.” Earlier in the month the CBI urged businesses to “speak out early” in favour of remaining in a reformed European Union. Its president Sir Mike Rake said there were “no credible alternatives” to EU membership.

Newton-Smith

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Capital Market

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CIS to engage Buhari administration, NYSC on youth empowerment TolA A kinmuTimi

he Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), has expressed its determination to engage the new administration of President Mohammed Buhari and the Directorate of the National Youth Corps Scheme (NYSC) on the need to integrate capital market operations into the entrepreneurial scheme of NYSC. According to the Institute, this is to avail the fresh graduates a more comprehensive exposure to the capital market operations. The CIS stated at the weekend that if the plan sailed through, many of our young graduates would make career in the capital market after their NYSC primary assignment as it will broaden their scope on the capital market operations. Already, CIS has been at the forefront of investor education for the NYSC members every quarter. Many of the fresh graduates lack in-depth information about opportunities provided by the capital market and how they can take advantage of such. Only last month the Institute commenced discussion with the Ministry of Education on the need to accredit its Diploma Courses for admission into higher institution and make such qualifications acceptable for employment in the civil service. Meanwhile, in continuation of its regular enlightenment programme for the youths, the Institute visited the 2015 Lagos State NYSC orienta-

DG NYSC Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi

CIS 1st Vice President, Seyi Abe

He tHerefore urged tHe corps members to take advantage of being part of tHis noble course by enrolling for tHe

cis

professional examination wHile serving tHe nation tion camp Batch B recently to educate young graduates about the capital market. The CIS team was led by the Head Research and Technical, Mr Arize Nwobu who spoke extensively on how fresh graduates can make a career in the capital market. Nwobu explained how the Institute is saddled with the responsibility of training and certification of Nigerian Graduates on the Capital Market.

Nwobu noted that stockbroking remained a noble business that is based on trust and integrity. According to him, for anyone to practice securities and investment in Nigeria he or she must be a member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, adding that the Institute has approved a 50 per cent rebate on registration fee for all serving corp members in the country. He further stated that serving corp members who had passed through uni-

versities and polytechnics were eligible and qualified to explore the benefits and opportunities in the capital market and end up practising as stockbrokers, securities analysts, investment bankers and portfolio managers who are currently the major players in the capital market. He therefore urged the corps members to take advantage of being part of this noble course by enrolling for the CIS professional examination while serving the nation. He also emphasised that only CIS certified graduates can practise stockbroking. While appreciating the speaker and the entire team from the Institute, the State Coordinator, Mr. Cyril Akhanemhe, remarked that it was quite thoughtful of the Institute to have brought great opportunity for the corp members, he then urged the corp members to take advantage of exploring the opportunities available to them during their service year. The Institute’s Second Vice President, Mr. Dapo Adekoje, is already working on some modalities to increase the membership base through aggressive awareness programme. The Federal Government has institutionalized entrepreneurial training in the NYSC scheme to enable the fresh graduates develop a new capacity aside from their academic background as part of the strategy to promote selfemployment for the youths by de-emphasizing dependence on white collar jobs.

Shareholders group rallies support for new SEC boss AbolAji AdebAyo

he National Chairman of Renaissance Shareholders Association, Amb. Olufemi Timothy, has rallied stakeholders’ support for the newly appointed Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Mallam Mounir Haliru Gwarzo, saying that this is necessary in view of the appointee’s professional antecedents and strong character. He described the new SEC helmsman as a man on the job, who was familiar with the issues and ongoing matter in the capital market, and as a result believed he should be able to continue to understand the market and bring the market to the satisfaction of all

stakeholders. However, Timothy said the new Director General should always take stakeholder groups, particularly minority groups, along in whatever he is doing in order to enable him consolidate on the achievements recorded by the former Director General in terms of educating the shareholders, dissemination of information as well as the continual running of the established academy. He said: “He should continue where Oteh stopped in terms of educating the shareholders and even do more by calling the shareholders groups together, giving them educational programmes, enlightenment, which we want to be quarterly, so he should be meeting with shareholders groups as a body.

“And we have this Academy which we started four years ago, we want him to even do more on that academy because that academy has been very good for the shareholders as we have benefitted a lot from it”, Timtohy added. He also advised members of all shareholders groups, especially the registered ones, to enrich themselves with the requisite knowledge of capital market, to get more enlightened, read more, look at the capital market very well and contribute, rather than just be there to add numbers. The investors’ group leader admitted that the relationship between his group and other groups had been very cordial, a development which, he said, had strengthened the groups for national col-

lective agenda of using the capital market as a springboard for long term financing in the economy. “We go out together as one family and we have been relating well. Because of this corporate governance issues, we must all come together and have one voice so that we are not divided on issues. So, our relationship has been very cordial,” he said. Amb. Timothy also urged the Chartered Institute of Sub brokers, CIS, not to jeopardize the interest of the retail investors, advising them to try as much as possible to bring those who invest with small amount of money into the system. He said they should not drag them away because “we discover that the market is going towards the rich alone, they should not do

that, they should remember that the market started with those who were having N100, N200. I came into the market with only N2,500, but today, I thank God I have over N10 million in the market.”

Gwarzo

Features

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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Unending debate over effects of smoking on human health

British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) empowers Ogun State women in Poultry farming, recently.

DARE AKOGUN

he popular catchphrase that ``smokers are liable to die young’’ is very apt in the campaign against tobacco use but cynics wonder if the slogan is having its desired effects on the populace. Tobacco is a leafy plant grown in hotter climates and it can be smoked, chewed or sniffed. Medical experts, however, insist that whenever someone uses tobacco, is addictive chemical, nicotine, is released into the person’s bloodstream. ``It speeds up the user’s heartbeat rate, raises his blood pressure and makes him feel more energetic for a brief period,’’ says Dr Jimi Akinwande, a general physician. The World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Report on Trends in Tobacco Smoking 2000-2025 says that ``tobacco is the only legal drug that kills many of its users when used exactly as intended by its manufacturers.’’ It also says that tobacco use is currently responsible for the death of about six million people across the world each year, with many of these deaths occurring prematurely. ``Six hundred thousand people are also estimated to die from the effects of second-hand smoke,’’ the report adds. Medical experts say that although tobacco smoking is often associated with ill-health, disability and death from non-communicable chronic diseases, it is also associated with increasing risk of death from communicable diseases. They add that tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable deaths globally. Similarly, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention describes tobacco use as ``the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important

cause of premature deaths worldwide’’. A report of the agency indicates that tobacco use causes diseases affecting the heart, liver and lungs; insisting that smoking is a major risk factor for heart attack, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. ``The effects depend on the number of years that a person smokes and on how much the person smokes. ``Starting smoking earlier in life and smoking cigarettes with tar (a sticky substance that forms when tobacco burns and gets into the lungs of people who smoke) increases the risk of pulmonary disease and lung cancer. ``Incidence of erectile dysfunction is approximately 85 per cent higher in male smokers compared to non-smokers,” the report adds Experts say that tobacco smoke contains more than 50 chemicals that cause cancer. Tobacco smoke also contains nicotine, a highly addictive psychoactive drug, which causes some sort of physical and psychological dependency in the smoker. ``Cigarettes sold in underdeveloped countries tend to have higher tar content, and are less likely to be filtered; potentially increasing vulnerability to tobacco smoking-related diseases in these regions,” the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention says. Besides, an online publication says that most smokers will lose between 10 and 15 quality life-years before they die; adding that tobacco smoking also worsens diabetes. Commenting on the Nigerian situation, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, says that statistics shows that not less than 6.4 million Nigerians are exposed to tobacco smoke in restaurants, while 5.6 per cent of Nigerians use tobacco products. Okowa says that the cited statistics are from the 2012 Global Tobacco Survey, calling on President Goodluck Jona-

Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Former Health Minister

ONE OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE

NEW TOBACCO-CONTROL LAW IS THAT RATES OF SMOKING WILL DROP, WHILE THE HEALTH SECTOR WILL NOW SPEND ITS BUDGETARY ALLOCATIONS ON SPECIFIC PROGRAMMES INSTEAD OF USING THE FUNDS FOR TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH

TOBACCO-RELATED CASES than to give his assent to the National Tobacco Control Bill 2015. Meanwhile, Dr Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, has announced that the

president recently signed the bill into law. In essence, the Tobacco Control Act 2015 repeals the Tobacco Smoking (Control) Act, Cap.t6, LFN 2004 enacted in 1990 and amended years later. The Act will ensure effective regulation and control of production, manufacture, sale, labelling, advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco and tobacco products in Nigeria. It will also ensure a balance between economic considerations and health implications of tobacco manufacture, tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, among other things. Mr Seye Omiyefa, the Executive Director, Youth Action on Tobacco Control and Health (YATCH), an NGO, says that with the law, the Federal Government has fulfilled a significant part of its obligations to protect the citizenry from tobacco-related deaths. He recalls that the Federal Government was one of the signatories to WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in October 2005. ``The new law will ensure effective regulation and control of production, manufacture, sale, labelling, advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco and tobacco products in Nigeria. ``This also includes ban on sales of cigarette to underage persons who are tacitly the target of the tobacco industries. ``Children, who are affected by Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), are dying of pneumonia and respiratory childhood infections. `Ìn 2006, there were over 9,000 reported tobacco-related cases in Lagos State Government-owned hospitals, while the government spent about N216,000 to treat each of these cases. `Òne of the implications of the new tobacco-control law is that rates of smoking will drop, while the health sector will now spend its budgetary allocations on specific programmes instead of using the funds for the treatment of patients with tobacco-related cases,’’ he says. Omiyefa says that the Tobacco Control Act 2015 is another platform to actualise plans to increase taxes on tobacco products. He insists that increasing the excise tax payable on tobacco products has turned out to be the most cost-effective tobacco control measure in several countries across the world. All the same, May 31 is designated by the WHO and its partners as World No Tobacco Day. The day is aimed at highlighting the health hazards of tobacco use and advocating effective policies to stem tobacco consumption. The WHO insists that one in every 10 cigarettes consumed is illicit, making cigarettes cheaper and more accessible to people from low-income groups, as well as to children. The global health agency says that this year’s World No Tobacco Day is aimed at combating the illegal tobacco trade. ``The tobacco epidemic is one of the world’s biggest-ever public health threats, killing nearly six million people annually,” the WHO says in a fact-sheet on tobacco. `Ùnless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030,” it adds.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Features

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Enhancing manpower development through Graduate Internship Scheme DARE AKOGUN

ocial analysts note that some dissenting voices greeted the decision of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to remove part of the subsidy paid on petrol and pool the accruing funds to finance the country’s social and infrastructural development. They recall that the critics of the decision then believed that the removal of subsidy would negatively impact on the living standards of Nigerians because of the ripple effect of adjustments in petrol price on the prices of all the essential commodities. They, however, note that the cynics were sooner proved wrong by the impressive achievements recorded by the various intervention programmes of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) which was inaugurated in 2012. The Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) is one of the Social Safety Net projects of SURE-P and it is aimed at providing graduates with quality temporary work experience that will make them stronger candidates for job placements after a one-year internship. Analysts believe that GIS is quite beneficial since it is a common knowledge that most of the employed graduates have no prior working experience and such graduates are often rejected by employers who prefer experienced workers. In the scheme, the Federal Government pays a monthly stipend of N30, 000 to the graduates, while the participating organisations provide adequate opportunities for training and mentoring during the one-year internship. One of the main objectives of GIS is to enhance the employability of more than 50,000 unemployed graduates across the country through designed internship programmes. Observers note that GIS has done much by stimulating the development of the technical and vocational sectors by enhancing its manpower development capacity. Besides they believe that GIS has emerged as pragmatic bridge between educational institutions and the labour market, providing a pool of skilled and work-ready graduates for organisations without necessarily going through the hassles of selection. In his opinion, Dr Adesola Nassir, a member of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ibadan Zone, said that the education sector definitely required such a scheme. He, nonetheless, underscored the need to overhaul the technical education sub-sector through vigorous infusion of funds. Malam Sulaiman Haruna, the Head of Public Communications of the GIS, said that many educational institutions across the country had benefitted from the manpower development scheme. He said that both public and private educational institutions had taken up the services of some graduates, following the satisfactory assessment of such institutions by the scheme. ``When they request for graduates through our website, we give them the conditions and if we are satisfied with their presentations, we deploy graduates to the schools. ``Some of the graduates are also retained after the internship, following ap-

Students of Westminster College, Idimu; House on the Rock Cathedral, Pastor, Paul Adefarasin and their Proprietor, Chief Johnson Barovbe, during 2nd Gamaliel and PHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN Susan Onosode Foundation lecture tagged The Nigerian Child and the future of Nigeria.

MANY INTERNS HAVE GOT EMPLOYMENT WITH SOME ORGANISATIONS AS A RESULT OF THE SKILLS THEY HAVE ACQUIRED AND THE IMPROVED PERSONALITY THEY HAVE DEVELOPED DURING INTERNSHIP propriate consideration of their abilities by the schools. ``A lot of graduates have gained employment even in other fields, while many others have decided to be self-reliant after receiving relevant training on what they intend to do. ``Many interns have got employment with some organisations as a result of the skills they have acquired and the improved personality which they have developed during internship,’’ he said. Besides, Haruna said that GIS had held discussions with the National Universities Commission (NUC), as part of efforts to deploy graduates to train university students in entrepreneurship development. According to him, the pilot stage of the endeavour has started with the Enugu State University of Science and Technology. He also said that many partners, including state ministries of education, had indicated their desire to engage qualified school teachers, particularly when giving full employment to teachers became a challenge. ``They have resorted to GIS to provide graduates that will fill teaching gaps in the schools, while those who show commitment were employed. ``Private schools and state governments have deployed interns for this purpose; the outcome of this is that more schools have competent teachers to prepare students for better performance,’’ he said. Haruna said that states such as Gombe, Katsina, Kebbi, Enugu, Ebonyi and Bauchi

had employed 75 GIS interns. Nevertheless, Prof. Ademola Onifade, the Director, Centre for Environment and Science Education, Lagos State University, advised the proprietors of educational institutions, particularly the government, to upgrade and develop their schools’ infrastructure. All in all, observers note that many states across the country have acknowledged the role of SURE-P in providing qualified manpower for the growth of the education sector. Citing the case of Kaduna State, they observe that the state’s SURE-P implementation committee, headed by the state’s deputy governor, has some relevant commissioners and the state chairmen of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as members. One of the committee’s mandates is to identify appropriate projects that could be financed with the state’s share of SURE-P funds. However, the Kaduna State Government has repeatedly emphasized that its own share of the funds would be spent on health, education, women and youth empowerment, agriculture, security and infrastructure projects. The state government, in collaboration with the National Mathematical Centre, recently organised a workshop on the need to train teachers in core subject areas on the platform of GIS. Through workshops organised at Rimi College, Kaduna, Barewa College, Zaria, and Government College, Kagoro, the state gov-

Mr. Ibrahim Shekarau, Former Education Minister

ernment also strove to upgrade the skills of 1,500 teachers of Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology. Speaking at one of the workshops, Gov. Mukhtar Yero stressed that the training was part of efforts aimed at repositioning the education sector in the state for greater efficiency. By and large, observers believe that Nigerians are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of using internship programmes to prepare jobless graduates for employment. They particularly note that Katsina State has established its own version of GIS, deploying 600 graduates in a year and paying them N30, 000 as monthly stipend. They, nonetheless, solicit a synergy among the three tiers of government in efforts to key into the GIS project for the overall development of the nation.

Global Business

Greece continues talks on aid, deal unlikely on Sunday – Sources

reece and its creditors were continuing talks on a cashfor-reforms deal but are expected to miss a self-imposed Sunday deadline for reaching an agreement to unlock aid, sources close to the talks said. Athens and its euro zone and International Monetary Fund (IMF) creditors have been locked in talks for months without luck on a deal. Pressure to strike one has intensified as Athens faces a debt payment on June 5 as well as the expiration of its bailout program on June 30. The government said this week it was looking for a deal by Sunday, but sources close to the talks at the so-called Brussels Group of EU/IMF creditors said that was unlikely. “Brussels Group talks will continue today, in the evening. Although we don’t expect a deal today we are very close,” a Greek government official said on condition of anonymity. Another source close to the talks said the major issues holding up a deal remained. It was not immediately clear if the talks would continue in Brussels on Monday. In an interview published in newspaper Corriere della Sera on Sunday, Greek Economy Minister

George Stathakis said he expected a deal in “a few days”, followed by a meeting of euro zone finance ministers to approve disbursement of the aid. Asked whether the debt payment to the IMF on June 5 was at risk and there was a question of lumping it together with other installments that fall due next month, Stathakis said: “There shouldn’t be any need. No danger.” Athens has frequently said it is on the verge of a deal in recent weeks but international lenders have been less optimistic, citing Greece’s resistance to labor and pension reforms that are conditions for more aid. In a sign of greater willingness to compromise, Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis said on Saturday that Greece was open to pushing back parts of its anti-austerity program to reach a deal this week.. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras chaired an eight-hour meeting of ministers involved in negotiations on Saturday which took stock of the progress made in talks with the lenders.

Tsipras

Tsipras is expected to have a teleconference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s President Francois Hollande later on Sunday - his second in four days - in a bid to help close the deal, a Greek government official said. Tsipras has long sought a political push to end negotiations and get aid flowing to his cash-strapped country, though the lenders have insisted that Greece must wrap up talks at the technical level with adequate concessions on reforms so that its budget and debt numbers add up.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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Airbus sees ‘several hundred’ orders at Paris Airshow

irbus could announce “several hundred” airplane orders at the June 15-21 Paris Airshow, Fabrice Bregier, chief executive of the planemaking unit of Airbus Group, said on Saturday. “It will be a good show,” he told i-Tele television. Airbus has seen a surge in demand for jets like the medium-haul A320, but is struggling to find buyers for its largest model, the 544-seat A380 superjumbo. Despite calls by Dubai’s Emirates to update the engines, Bregier said a A380 revamp was “not currently on the agenda”, adding, “we’ll do that when the time is right”. Bregier said the recently weakened euro was at a “good level” for European businesses. Asked about suggestions Airbus would quit Britain if it leaves the European Union, he said: “We produce all our

wings in Britain and I have no intention of changing this strategy. I am very satisfied with the support we receive from the UK.” The head of Airbus UK warned last week of “huge” economic risks for Britain outside the EU and said Airbus would reconsider investments if Britons voted to leave the bloc in a referendum due by the end of 2017. “As a European citizen, and as the head of one of the few flourishing European enterprises, I hope the UK stays in Europe, but it is up to them to determine themselves,” Bregier said. “If the UK happened to leave then we would examine the consequences for our business. I think we will avoid this, because Europe has made progress on the basis of crises that subsequently lead to progress.”

Strong sales could shift Ford, GM to higher gear

nvestors are closely awaiting next week’s May sales data, expected to come in near record levels. Meeting those forecasts could be enough to lift the sector - among the cheapest in the market - putting the sting of product recalls and tepid recent growth in the rear view mirror. Estimated sales of 1.6 million new cars and trucks in May would make for a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 17.4 million vehicles, according to Edmunds.com, a car buying platform. “This is going to be one of the best months ever,” said David

Cadillac

Kudla, chief investment strategist of Mainstay Capital Management in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Kudla sees May sales approaching $40 billion, not far from the $40.3 billion record in August 2014. Weak auto results contributed to flat overall retail sales in April, but May is expected to represent a rebound. Lower gas prices could boost demand for sports utility vehicles and trucks, which have higher price tags and better margins. There is also pent-up demand for new vehicles as consumers have been holding on to their cars

for longer since the financial crisis. The average age of U.S. cars is now between 10 and 11 years, Kudla said. The timing of the Memorial Day holiday also helped May sales, according to Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California. “Because there was a full week of May after the holiday weekend, shoppers had plenty of time to take advantage of the deals being widely communicated in dealer and automaker marketing messages,” Caldwell said. Credit for auto loans is expanding, a positive sign for the sector, noted Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago. “The strong dollar created a headwind, and GM had some highprofile product recalls, but given current trends, I would expect sales growth to continue.” Both GM and Ford appear undervalued at current levels. GM’s forward price-to-earnings ratio is 7.62, well below the S&P 500’s 17.4 ratio, while Ford’s P/E is 8.77, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Airbus

Germany’s Schaeuble offers Varoufakis chocolate euro coins

erman Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has offered to give his Greek counterpart some chocolate euro coins as “nourishment for his nerves.” Schaeuble has clashed repeatedly with Yanis Varoufakis over Greece’s debt and economic reforms since the leftist Syriza party took power in January, pledging to end austerity and renegotiate the bailout terms. In an interview with the children’s television program “Logo” on German broadcaster ZDF last week, a girl reporter gave Schaeuble a supportive handful of the chocolate coins. “I’ll take a few for my Greek colleague, he also needs strong nerves,” Schaeuble replied.

Greece hopes to secure a cashfor-reforms deal with its lenders this week. But after four months of tortuous negotiations no breakthrough is in sight. Without a deal Athens risks default or bankruptcy in weeks.

German Chancellor, Merkel

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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Avoid unwarranted confrontation

...Activist tells Asari Dokubo OSAHON JULIUS YENAGOA

iger Delta activist, Famous Daunemigha, has cautioned the leader of Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, over his

recent comments of inciting youths against the present administration as in the region could no longer be a battle ground only for his selfish benefits. Daunemigha warned that youths in the Niger Delta re-

gion should not make themselves vulnerable to the antics of Asari-Dokubo by calling for the resumption of militant activities in the region. He noted that every known ex-militants in the region had embraced the new leadership

and also expressed their willingness to work with him. Daunemigha, who was the former Vice-President of Ijaw Youths Council worldwide, when Dokubo was the President of IYC, said his recent comment would amount to

L-R: Member, Amnesty Programme, Comrade Daniel Onje; one of the beneficiaries from amnesty programme, Mr. Tarila Dressman and Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, during an interactive session on the achievement of the body in Abuja recently. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

nothing as the Niger Delta region could no longer be a battle ground only for his selfish benefits. Speaking on the deadline for amnesty programme with journalists in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, on Monday, the former youths leader said Goodluck Jonathan was president for six years but could not review the terminal date of the amnesty programme. Still, he said the IYC and Ijaw National Congress could not compel their son to extend the terminal date of December 2015. According to him, the agitation for the betterment of the Niger Delta region has gone beyond physical confrontation and its now more of an intellectual engagement. Daunemigha, who was the Congress for Progressive Change governorship candidate in 2011 general election in Bayelsa State, said Asari-Dokubo should accept the realities on ground after Jonathan conceded defeat and congratulated President Buhari. “I expect that the likes of Asari to follow the example and accept the realities on ground instead of mourning more than the bereaved,” he stated. He, however, called on all well-meaning Ijaw elders and youths to give their support and encourage Buhari as he meant well for the region

How Appeal Court judged 20-year inheritance dispute CONTINUED FROM PAGE16 dated 16th August, 1978 is invalid as the Testator did not know what he signed or, in the alternative, a declaration that clause seven that gave and devised the testator’s house at No. 32 Agbado Street in Benin City to his purported eldest son, Aiguokunrueghian, failed as the later died without performing the customary burial rites of the testator in accordance with the custom of the Binis; and that the will and devise therein falls on William, who as the eldest surviving son performed the remaining burial rites of their father in accordance with the Bini native law and custom. The plaintiffs also sought the recovery of the possession that the late first son’s children held in trust; the account of rents collected on the house from 2nd June, 1987 to judgement time or until possession is recovered; and perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from entering, occupying, controlling, letting, alien-

ating or any other act of trespass in whatever manner and from meddling in any way with the plaintiffs’ possession, occupation, and use of the property. Delivering judgment in the Suit No. B/841/94 in 2004, the lower court granted all the reliefs of the suit, gave the eldest surviving son the possession of both the house and an adjoining land of the house, ordered the children of the late eldest son to vacate the house and further ordered that they render account of rents and refund made to the respondents as plaintiffs then. Dissatisfied and annoyed with the judgment, the appellants filed a notice of appeal on the 30th of November, 2004 and amended same on 10th of May, 2012. The appellant’s lawyer, Mr Afolabi, who formulated six issues for the court’s determination, faulted the trial judge for holding that the will failed because Aiguokunrueghian did not per-

form the customary burial rites of the testator, which deprives his children of the possession of the house under clause seven of the will and gives it to William, who as the eldest surviving son of his father performed the burial rites; they faulted the judge for allegedly misapplying the principles enunciated in the case of Idehen V Idehen, 1991 6 NWLR (pt. 198) and the case of Agidigbi V Agidigbi, 1996 6 NWLR (pt. 454) 300. Also, he faulted the judge for failing to apply the doctrine of equity to the effect that “a party cannot benefit from his wrong” against the plaintiff; for giving them just 30 days to vacate the house; for nullifying and voiding the will on the basis of non-completion of burial rites when he had no jurisdiction to so declare; for ordering the rendering of the house rents account and refund of the money to the respondents until possession when he had no jurisdiction to do so; for giving

judgment against the weight of evidence; for adjudging that the large adjoining land formed part of the Igiogbe; and for failure to determine as an issue, who was responsible for the postponement of the second burial ceremony even as the respondents opposed all the issues that the appellants raised. After listening to all, Justice Barka said, “Having therefore considered the submission on the issues raised by both parties, I am of the considered view that the entire issues can be compressed into a single issue, thus: whether having regard to the native law and custom of the Benin people with regard to inheritance, a will devising the Igiogbe of the testator can be disregarded in the circumstances of the present case.” In his judgment, Justice Barka agreed with the counsel to the respondents that the principal house (Igiogbe) of a deceased Bini man cannot be inherited or

devised to any other child except the eldest surviving son of the deceased couple with the fact that inheritance of same is not practicable and possible without prior performance of the second burial and Ukpomwen, ceremonies that are immutable, sacred and special to Benin customary law and that cannot be undermined or derogated by the contrary testamentary dispositions of a will, after citing and relying upon the case of Imade V Otabor, 1998 4 NWLR (pt. 544) 20. Justice Barka declared, “In the instant case, though the father of the appellants was bequeathed the Igiogbe, and even though he survived his late father and did the first burial ceremony, he was precluded by custom from having the Igiogbe vested on him, having not performed the final burial rites and to have the Ukpomwen done for him. Thus upon his death, his junior brother, and CONTINUED ON PAGE42

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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Wike dissolves board of Greater PHA DENNIS NAKU, PORT HARCOURT

L-R: Rivers State NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Ngozi Nwatarali; Chairman, National Governing Board of NYSC, Mr. Gordon Bozimo and the Vice Chancellor, University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Joseph Ajineka, during the NYSC board’s visit to the orientation camp in Nonwa-Gbam, Tai Local Government Area in Rivers recently.

Friends of the earth charges FG to abrogate Land Use Act RICHARD NDOMA ,CALABAR

Non Governmental Organisation NGO operating under the aegis of Friends of the Earth has charged the Federal Government to abrogate the land use act of 1978 because it is elitist in nature and as such takes away the customary land rights from communities that originally own the land. The environmental NGOs charged state corporations to give recognition to communities` prior and informed consent in any proposed development to prevent any occurence of land grab by government or any of its partners. Speaking to journalists at Obasse hotel and resort, Akamkpa Local Government area, Executive Director for Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria,Dr. Godwin Uyi said his action was precipitated on the fact that Wilmar has appropriated and converted farmlands meant for the host communities to do their subsistence farming to oil palm plantations which have no direct benefits to the host communities. The NGO`s helmsman posits that the palm plantations were only cultivated to provide biofuel,which helps in the making of fuel for cars and machines to

compete with food sources adding that to secure a customary land rights,ERA/ FoEN,has initiated a platform of action called Community Forest Watch (CFW) across communities to mobilised, commence conducting community resource mapping,land and forest survey in order to secure their communal land rights and prevent expatriates and government from unecessarily taking over land from its original owners. The Environmental NGO boss maintained that it is only by so doing that they can prevent Wilmar and other landgrappers from further grabbing of the land adding that the conversion of the forest of those communities mentioned above into palm plantations has no direct benefits to the host communities who has lost their vast acres of land to Wilmar.

The NGO helmsman said that Wilmar has violated this in Cross River State by rendering thousand of peasant farmers of Ehom,Betem,Akpet and Idoma in Biase Biase Local Government area and farmers of Mbarakom/Uwet/ Njagachang and Mfamosing/Anineje in Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River state homeless based on the appropriation of communities forest lands and without payment and compensation or provision of alternatives. speaking also at the ceremony, Anne Van Schaik of the friend of the Earth Europe,said that the problem with Wilmar is that the benefits accrue more to external interest than to the interest of rural dwellers who had been evicted and displaced. “It is an issue of international Global investment capital seeking for where to make profit”She added.

Schaik stated that called for a mandatory Environmental Impact assessment (EIA)prescribed by law should be properly conducted with active public participation for informed decision on any proposed development with regards to project proponent on a down payment of fixed bond in lieu of any potential social and environmental damage as part of the EIA process. But the Community Liason Officer to Wilmar International Okorie Onde debunked all allegations levelled against Wilmar international stressing that Wilmar was never involved in any act of deforestation as alleged by the NGO boss adding that Wilmar have no business with desvirgined forest and stressed that the oil giant was only concern with planting its palms on already disvirgined land and nothing to do with depleting the rainforest.

Gov announces financial autonomy for Rivers Judiciary DENNIS NAKU

PORT HARCOURT

ivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike declared yesterday that the state judiciary will enjoy financial autonomy to enable it work without being muscled by the executive. Wike made the declaration on Monday,

while swearing-in the state Acting Chief Judge, Justice Daisy Okocha and the Acting President Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Nwankwo in Port Harcourt, Rivers State The governor said that he will never starve the judiciary of funds as a way of arm twisting the third arm of government. He explained

that the independence of the Judiciary was essential for the smooth running of government in the state. Wike however expressed disappointment with the attitude of the Bench during the crisis in the state, saying they were divided when they were supposed to be united to fight the destruction of the judiciary.

he Rivers State Government yesterday announced the dissolution of the Board of Directors of Greater Port Harcourt Authority. A statement issued in Port Harcourt and signed by Mr. Emma Okah on behalf of the state government said the dissolution takes immediate effect. The statement reads, “Accordingly, the former Administrator of the Authority is hereby directed to hand over the administration and all property of the Authority in her

possession to the Secretary of the Authority with immediate effect.” Meanwhile the state government has called on refuse disposal contractors to resume work immediately in order to properly dispose refuse in Port Harcourt, the state capital. According to the statement, “Rivers State Government has also directed Refuse Disposal Contractors to resume work immediately to ensure that Port Harcourt the State capital returns to its former garden city status, neglected by the former government of Rotimi Amaechi.”

How Appeal Court judged 20-year inheritance dispute CONTINUED FROM PAGE16 the surviving most senior son, the 1st respondent herein, having performed the final rites and having the Ukpomwen ceremony done for him, is customarily entitled to the Igiogbe. The decision of the trial court on this issue therefore cannot be faulted” and asserted afterwards, “I believe I have dealt with the main issue in this appeal. There are however some ancillary issues argued by the appellants, which were promoted as main issues.” On the issue of the adjoining land, Justice Barka stated that in the case of Uwaifo V Uwaifo, 2013 10 NWLR (pt. 1361) p. 185 at p.200, referred to the decision in Igbinoba V Igbinoba, 1995 1 NWLR (pt. 371) 375 to the effect that though under the Benin customary law neither testamentary disposition nor family arrangement can deprive the eldest son of the Igiogbe. It never decided that vacant land also constituted Igiogbe under Benin customary law, he maintained and added that the Supreme Court even went further to state that the Wills Law is not against the disposition of property by will provided that with respect to the Igiogbe such disposition is to the benefit of the first surviving son of the deceased testator. Barka therefore de-

clared, “It is therefore clear that a testator has the right to devise any of his properties save the Igiogbe to whomsoever he wishes. I am therefore of the view that clause 7 of the will having devised the Igiogbe and the adjoining land to the appellants’ father, his bequest in respect of the adjoining land is not caught up by the phrase: subject to.” “In other words, the adjoining land, which is unbuilt remains the property of the father of the appellants and by necessary inference that of the 1st to 3rd appellants. The holding of the lower court to that extent is in error and is hereby set aside.” On the vexatious issue of who prevented the appellants’ father from holding the second burial, Justice Barka held that the respondents were not responsible for the nonperformance of the second burial for which reason he could not invoke the principle of equity. Finally, Justice Barka agreed as a consequential order from evidence with the lower court’s suo motu order of refund of all house rents to the respondents even when their lawyer merely demanded for accountability and fined the appellants the sum of N50, 000 as costs in favour of the respondents.

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Politics

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

ion in his rescue mission –Bishop Hammawa cause, for instance, to tell the chief executive of this state once that if you give me a single kobo to improve an educational or health facility, I will make sure that every part of that single kobo sent will be used for that and it will benefit the people. If government is able to provide that we are there to collaborate and work with it to help things go smoothly the way they are supposed to.

church has contributed to the enhancement and betterment of human life, not withstanding human failures and mistakes. The Catholic Church in particular, has never seen its own mission only in terms of preaching and talking about spiritual things; it has also been involved in the integral human development of every person. When you take for instance education or health care, the Catholic Church has been doing that and we have done so also in the state. Within our limited and meagre resources, we have contributed particularly in these two aspects in the life of this state and we will never stop doing it, crisis or no crisis, people are being killed or not we will continue to do it. So it’s not as if because of what has happened that we will collaborate with government. We have been doing that and we will continue doing the good work that we have been doing, all we need is the enabling environment from the government. I cannot go to many parts of my diocese now because it is risky. I have taken risk a few times and spent money on police escorts but I cannot continue to do that forever if I must do my work effectively. I need an enabling environment to do what I’m supposed to do, what my people are supposed to do and what we are supposed to do as a diocese. We have mentioned it before that we are prepared to collaborate with the government at any level to improve the lives of our own people. Incidentally, we don’t have the machinery to protect lives and property. But we preach peaceful coexistence and acceptance of one another, and we will continue to do that. And that is a very major contribution to what the governor is supposed to do in terms of ensuring peace for the people. And if for any reason and for whatever cause at all government involves us, we are prepared to give our piece of advice and suggestions for things to run well. I have had

Goodluck Jonathan, who h and I Pray he won’t see that to the nIGerIan socIety. let ove our PeoPle, no matter our uIld thIs country. we Pray that more Peace and develoPment.

Last year you inaugurated Catholic Social Forum in the diocese. What vision do you have for the laity in terms of participation in the social order? Well it would be just to say what we have been saying from the beginning that our lay faithful, apart from living a good moral life, life of integrity because their religion tells them so, they must also bring such religious feeling, conviction and way of life into whatever they are doing, in this case bringing positive change into politics. What we are telling our people through Catholic Social Forum is, bring your religion to bear on what you do as a politician. Yours is to influence the temporal order, in other words, the world in politics, economy and what have you with the value of your religion. For a long time and even up to now, many people have been saying that politics is a dirty game. So we are now telling Christians or Catholics to go into politics and clean it up so that it doesn’t remain a dirty game. It is only when you do so by practicing politics with integrity and you are into politics to serve people and not for self aggrandizement and enrichment to the detriment of the people you are supposed to represent, that politics will be good game. That is what we are trying to do to see that the forum we have set up have people that will work with us at the curial level to talk to our own people on these matters of influencing the temporal order with gospel value and religious belief. We hope that we will have more and more people committed to that. We have a whole lot of literature on Catholic Social Teaching and it is from the Bible explaining what the Bible says about what we should do and how we should live as Christians. So we pray that people will have more of these books in their hands to read what we are supposed to do in schools, in business, in politics, in the market place and what have you. Let us influence the society for better and that is the summary of what Catholic Social Forum is all about. Taraba is today, no doubt, divided along ethnic and religious lines, what do you think can be done to correct this sharp division between Christians and Muslims and unite the people of the state? We should all consider one another as brothers and sisters, whether we belong to the same religion or not. It is the same God that created us. It may well

be called by English people God, it may be called by the Arabs Allah; it may be called by the Igbos Chukwu. It may be called in my own tribe Su. It can be called Aondo in Tiv, but that doesn’t matter. This is just a matter of language. It is the same God who created all of us. If it is the same God that permitted that there should be different ways of worshipping him, so let it be, and let all of us practice our religion to the glory of God who created all of us. Let’s stop dividing ourselves on religious grounds. Live and let’s live. And I have said this over and over again, given for instance the problems we have had, Boko Haram. And one of the reasons they are advancing is to purify Islam, to reform Islam. Well and good, every religion must work every single day to reform itself, to remain true to its tenets. But such a reformation remains a matter of the people of that particular religion. Those of us outside have nothing to do with it. I ask very simple, basic questions such as; what has burning down a building got to do with reforming Islam? What has killing other people got to do with reforming Islam? We in the Church all down the years have talked about reforming the Church, remaining committed to our tenets of faith. No matter how we might want to interpret it, it is a reform within. It is not with anybody outside. So, I think there is something wrong somewhere, and people are not telling us the truth. And that is why it will continue to degenerate into the fact that inanimate things even become objects of attack and burning down properties. What is your call to Catholics and the Christian community in general? In the light of our recent experiences, I first of all encourage them to keep the faith. Let us have the hope and trust that God is still in charge of our lives, no matter what they are going through, it’s a temporary setback. So keep the faith, let us continue to do what we are supposed to do. And even if we have been offended and angered and whatever we have lost in terms of relations or property, ours is not to seek revenge. You can do what it takes to make sure that you are safe, but do not seek revenge. God is the only one who has the right to revenge. Keeping the faith therefore let us continues to have faith and confidence in our country, and pray for our country. As the psalmist says: “Unless the Lord watches over the house, in vain does the watch man keep watch. And unless the Lord builds, in vain does the labourer labour.” So let us not lose faith in God and continue to trust in Him. But do what we are supposed to do as human beings and according to our capabilities.

Senator-elect tackles PDP on corruption EzEkiEl TiTus BAUCHI

auchi North senator-elect, Nazif Gamawa, has blame the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, administration for institutionalising acts of impunity and corruption while in power since the advent of democracy Gamawa also lend his support to local government autonomy, saying only the independence of the third tier of govern-

ment can facilitate speedy development He made the statement while addressing selected newsmen in his residence in Bauchi, adding that “it’s unfortunate that PDP administration has ridicule the council areas to perform their statutory functions towards meeting the yearnings and aspiration of the people Assuring that with the election of Muhammadu Buhari as president, the end of corruption has

come. He added that the 8th National Assembly lawmakers will not support anything that will continue to jeopardise the interest of and bring setback to council areas in the country. He said: “Honestly, it’s sad to note that since the advent of the present democracy under PDP, council areas in the country have not got it right; they were unable to enjoy autonomy in the business of

running their areas when successful administration had the cause to operate joint account with an intent to deprive people.” Asking Nigerians to support the executive and legislative arms of government as demonstration to consolidate on gains of democracy, Gamawa reiterated that there will be no place for corruption throughout Buhari’s administration under the All progressives Congress, APC.

Politics

oday, I have just performed the sacred duty of oath-taking as the Governor of Lagos State. It has pleased God through the good people of Lagos State, that my destiny as a little boy, born from a humble background, on June 14 to become the 14th governor of our great state, Lagos is being realised. I am eternally grateful to all of you. To all Lagosians, the young and elderly, widows, physically-challenged; girls and boys, and especially, the children; who followed our musical campaign with vigour; God bless you all. Permit me to acknowledge and appreciate specially all the voters that voted for me; equally appreciate those that did not and also the people that did not exercise their franchise to vote at all. We are all winners. One of the instructive lessons from this last political campaign and election is for all politicians never to take our people for granted again. I would, more than ever before; take you, the good people of Lagos, along with me, in this journey of renewed hope and prosperity at all times. My appreciation goes to all our elder statesmen and women including all our senior citizens. To all our religious leaders, I say thank you. All our Muslim leaders, Christians leaders and other faiths; your prayers for Lagos State did not go unanswered. I must not fail to acknowledge all our civil society organisations. The students, civil servants, labour unions, artisans, professionals, corporate Lagos, the business community, thank you very much. To all Lagosians in Diaspora, foreign residents and all other stakeholders; thank you for keeping faith in the potential greatness of our state. From the bottom of my heart, I greet all our traditional rulers, our royal fathers, kings, chiefs and their wives. I thank you all, most especially, the chairman; the State Council of Obas and Chiefs, His Royal Majesty, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, Oba of Lagos. We promise to continue to nurture our traditional institutions as part of our heritage. To our party leaders and all members of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, APC; today belongs to you all. To our elected officers, the three distinguished senators, honourable members of the House of Representatives and members of the state House of Assembly; congratulations and thank you. And my deputy, Dr Idiat Oluranti Adebule, thank you. To my family, words are not enough; my mother, who is here today, thank you for being a very caring mother to me. All my uncles, brothers and sisters; I appreciate you. To my lovely wife, Bolanle, thank you so much for your sacrifices and perseverance. God bless you always. My children, friends and loved ones and supporters; I really appreciate the enormity of sacrifices, pain, prayers and efforts. I remain eternally grateful. Lastly, I speak to the two people that have shaped the history of this state in the last 16 years. You are focused, dogged and hard-working, you are visioners par excellence. You are bridge-builders. To our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; you have laid an enduring foundation for what we are all building on today. When the history of the political economy of Nigeria is being written, surely it would be kind to you. Thank you so much. To our distinguished Senator (Mrs.) Oluremi Tinubu; your support and commitment to our state and to me personally during the election is well appreciated. To the out-going governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, you have fought the good fight. You came, you saw, you conquered. I have been at close quarters as a student, you as my teacher and mentor. On behalf of my family and other good people of Lagos; we say thank you. We appreciate you and your family. Everybody counts As we collectively face the challenge to make Lagos a better place to live in, we must recognise our strength in diversity, a common national identity where everybody counts. I shall run an open government of inclusion that will not leave anyone behind. No matter your age, sex, tribe or any other status, as long as you reside in Lagos, we will make Lagos work for you. The Nigerian dream Lagosians are hardworking people. Lagos is striving because of its undying entrepreneurial spirit. However

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FOR THE RECORD

Ours’ll be a compassionate government –Ambode Inaugural address of Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode. ernment that will give you good value for your taxes paid. Creativity is the most valuable asset in any public institution. Progressive governments must reward contributors of good ideas. Therefore, wherever practicable, we shall practise government by incentives and not government by enforcement. We shall implement creative ideas and concepts that reduce the cost of running government; ideas that make life simpler and happier for our people. I, therefore, invite you all, to join hands with me, to offer new ideas that will pull more resources to cater for the poor and needy amongst us. This will be a compassionate government. Development Plan 2012 – 2025 In the spirit of continuity, I am committed to the state Development Plan, 2012 to 2025. The plan is structured under four pillars; social development and security; infrastructural development; economic development and sustainable environment. The challenges we face today as a state, are good enough ingredients to bring out the best of all of us. Together, we shall push forward and not look back, with our hands firmly on the plough. We would work hard to tackle poverty, ignorance and social decadence in our state.

Ambode

we must realise that there are no short-cuts to success. To our youths, we must nurture good family values to succeed in any endeavour. I want our younger ones and children to draw some lessons from my story. Anyone of you can rise up to be the best you want to be. Your background and circumstances cannot be an obstacle to your dreams. In our country, particularly in Lagos, you can always succeed. This is the Nigerian dream where hard-work, courage, perseverance, persistence, merit and rewards pay. We must therefore embrace new thinking and be determined to succeed at all times. I am ready to encourage and nurture that dream in our children, youths and every hard-working Lagosian. We would reward merit, hardwork and loyalty to the state. The future is for those who dare to dream and find courage to pursue their dreams. The future is now We are all witnesses to the economic downturn and dwindling revenues at the national and state levels. The present economic situation has affected the financial profile of most states in the country. The state is blessed that the foundation of its financial autonomy was designed and implemented by that visioner and our leader, Asiwaju Tinubu. Thus, the state has been partially shielded from the negative trend flowing from the federal level. For us to sustain the progressive and radical transformation on-going in the state, we have to redouble our efforts on all fronts for our commitment to excellence. While we must be creative and innovative; we are not citizens until we become responsible tax payers. I want to assure all of us that I will make your taxes work for you. You will surely get a transparent and incorruptible gov-

For us to sustain the progressive and radical

transFormation on-going in the state, we have to

redouble our eFForts on all Fronts For our commitment to excellence.

Public sector reforms As we all know, the best practices of yesterday may not be good enough for the products of today. In this sense, we shall embark on continuous reforms in the public service. I am determined to demonstrate that the government belongs to the citizens. You have put us here as servants to serve you and not you serving us. Today we are committed to that creed. Moving forward, the civil service will be strengthened and made to respond to the needs of all citizens in the same manner, quality services are rendered in the private sector. My administration is prepared to take the decisions needed to promote merit and professionalism. To restructure where required, eliminate poor human resource practices and accelerate the pace of reforms in the spirit of good governance. I want to assure the business community and corporate Lagos that the ease of doing business in Lagos will be improved upon earnestly. Lagos is open for greater business; to this end, a new office of Overseas Affairs and Investment, Lagos Global, shall be created under the Governor’s Office. We want you to fly into Lagos, start your business, find your way; live, work and enjoy in Lagos. As part of our reforms, a new Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment shall be established. This would specifically address the promise I made during the campaign on employment trust fund, labour exchange and entrepreneurship. This goal, we shall pursue vigorously. Also, the Office of Civic Engagement shall be created under the Deputy Governor’s Office to strengthen and enhance our promise on government of inclusion. Everyone must have a voice in my administration. Conclusion I have the political will to engage investors and stakeholders in creating the enabling environment for tourism, entertainment and arts; and iconic infrastructure for the benefit of all. Once again, I thank the good people of Lagos for the confidence reposed in our party; both at the national and state levels. We shall not disappoint you. God bless you all. God bless Lagos State! God bless Nigeria!! Itesiwaju Ipinle Eko, o je mi lo gun; o je wa lo gun!!! Eko oni baje – I promise!!!! Thank you.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Politics

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

allouts from the official valedictory session by members of the House of Representatives for former Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, as he was sworn-in as the executive governor of Sokoto State, are clearly indications that the aspiration of Hon. Yakubu Dogara, representing Bogoro/Dass/TafawaBalewa federal constituency, to preside over the House of Representatives may just be days away to being achieved. This is justified by the popularity, acceptance and total support Dogara has continued to enjoyed from 2015 newly elected lawmakers from all the six geopolitical zones in the country, as gathered by National Mirror, thereby putting fear in the camp Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, who sources said is not fit for the speakership position, with the emergence of the Vice President, Yemi osinbajo from the SouthWest, where Gbajabiamila hails from. Even though, it is indisputable that Dogara has an edge, in comparison to other contestants for the plum job, being an experienced lawmaker and by extension, a vibrant lawyer, whose ability and astute as chairman House Service and Welfare Committee has saved Nigeria’s nascent democracy from being plundered especially in his determination to ensure accountability and prudent financial management in the business of the lower chamber of the National Assembly. There is no gainsaying the fact that those in support of Dogara for speakership are a group of think-tank that cut across all walks of life in the country and going by the numerical strength of support from newly elected lawmakers, it’s clear that those standing as Dogara’s detractors may finally lose the game come June 9, when the National Assembly will elect its leadership. It’s no longer news that those dragging Dogara’s image in the mud in his home state of Bauchi, out of sheer jealousy, may be wasting their energy just because they lacked the credibility to be elected as people’s representative in their various constituencies, yet going round to ridicule the latter by linking him to the Tafawa-Balewa crisis which source confirm begun in 1943, even before Dogara was born. National Mirror learnt that prominent among those working against Dogara’s speakership ambition, a former member of the House of Representatives, representing Gamawa federal constituency in Bauchi State, who also lost the gubernatorial ticket to the governor, Barr Mohammed Abubakar, and elected members of the House representing Kirfi/Alkaleri, Jama’are/Itas/Gatau and Toro federal constituencies, under the same All progressives Congress, APC platform may be doing that to the dictates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. It was also alleged that this group have been globetrotting across Nigeria to frustrate Dogara’s ambition to succeed Tambuwal, thereby linking him to all sorts of vituperations pertaining religious and ethnic bigotry as well as marginalisation of Muslim communities, just because Dogara facilitated the emergence of the newly sworn-in Bauchi governor to the detriment of their preferred candidate, a former member of the House, who source confided has a case to answer before the

Speakership: Dogara gaining ground as inauguration draws near As the official inauguration of the 8th National Assembly, scheduled for next week draws nearer, EZEKIEL TITUS writes that the aspiration of Yakubu Doghara, representing Bogoro/Dass/TafawaBalewa federal constituency continues to brighten.

Doghara

Gbajabiamila

anti-graft agencies in connection to nonexecution of dam project in Gamawa his home town. Unknown to them, reports has indicated already that Dogara enjoys the support of 213 elected members of the House of Representatives, while Gbajabiamila group allegedly only enjoys the support of only 149 members-elect. National Mirror reliably gathered that the newly elected lawmaker had last week foiled an attempt to impose Gbajabiamila as Speaker through desperation to host the lawmakers in Lagos for retreat, fully aware that there has been scarcity of aviation fuel, as it was learn that the aim of the Lagos retreat was to get endorsement of not only South-West members-elect, but other newly elected members. The retreat was rescheduled for Abuja, where posters of Gbajabiamila were said to have been mutilated and allegedly ordered to be removed. Director-General of Dogara’s campaign for speakership, Hon Mohammed Alhassan Sadik, had described the campaign of calumny against Dogara as beauty of democracy, urging his detractors to turn a new leaf. Sadik charge them not to link Dogara with the security challenges bedeviling Tafawa-Balewa, saying the crises is older than the member of the House of Representatives He said: “Honestly what Dogara has done for the Muslim communities, not

only in our federal constituency, is beyond quantification, as several mosques were either constructed, renovated or rehabilitated as a demonstration of his religious and ethnic tolerance and I wonder where detractors are hunting such credible politician just because they have no credibility compared to Dogara’s.” Reiterating that politics is not a venture for vendetta, but is instead, a game of majority following one’s giant strides like what Dogara had put in place for nation building, he said that Doghara has the support of about 80 per cent of newly elected federal lawmakers from Bauchi and other regions of the country. Sadik said Dogara has been a bridge builder, peace-maker and a unifying force, not only in his federal constituency of Boggoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa, but nationally to ensure perpetual peace and unity in the areas and that has resulted to monthly peace meeting with other ethno-religious groups on his instance. He said the big question is where are these detractors, when nobody has condemned Dogara in this regards? The initiator of Bauchi Generational Leadership Initiative, BGLI, urged those out to smear Dogara’s image to shut up and queue behind him since they don’t have the capacity, credibility and experience to contest the speakership position, instead of creating instability that can engulf the nation in political crises.

It Is IndIsputable that polItIcal pendulum Is swIngIng In favour of dogara, as reports IndIcate that majorIty of the newly-elected members of the house of representatIves have endorsed hIm

Sadik stressed that those envying Barr Dogara will definitely lose the game in their efforts to scuttle the survivals of Nigeria’s nascent democracy, explaining that the star performance of Dogara has become a challenge to his detractors. Meanwhile, Hon Iliyasu Zwal, a former member of the state House of Assembly, representing Lere/Bula state constituency, has described Dogara as a role model of “our time, for turning around, not only his constituency, but the entire country. He said those carrying out campaign of calumny against Dogara are doing that to the detriment of the people and wondered why linking him to religious and ethnic marginalisation Zwal added that Dogara had many times stand as bridge builder to ensure there is perpetual peace and tranquility in Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa federal constituency, explaining that those linking Dogara to Tafawa-Balewa fracas are responsible for the crises. He said: “However people should understand that Tafawa-Balewa crises are older than Dogara; only that successful administrations in the state appear to have failed to address the situation. It is indisputable that political pendulum is swinging in favour of Dogara, as reports indicate that majority of the newly-elected members of the House of Representatives have endorsed him due to his popularity, credibility and disposition towards the yearning and aspiration of Nigerians As it is now, political groups and associations in the country, especially in the South-West are in support of Dogara, apparently to reciprocate Buhari’s gesture and support in picking the Vice President from the zone for equitable power sharing, saying only Dogara deserves the plumb job compared to those masquerading for the slot Ronami Amadi, president, Ijaw Youths Renaissance, IYR, from the South-South said already, Dogara has the political blessing of South-South members-elect, explaining that Dogara’s endorsement is a good omen to discredit those smearing his image. He said the North-East deserves the exalted seat in the person of Dogara and anything short of that is tantamount truncating the continuity of the APC government at the centre come 2019. He noted that the selection of the Vice President from the South-West automatically disqualifies Gbajabiamila from contesting the speakership alongside Dogara It was also gathered that political groups from South-East shared the same view with those from the Noth-West and North-Central, and have thrown their weight behind Dogara in his pursuit of the speakership.

Politics

Henry Iyorkase MAKURDI

our suspected assailants yesterday shot dead Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, youth leader in Lessel, the headquarters of Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State. National Mirror learnt at the scene that the identity of the deceased was given as late Ternenge Gbuuga, who was in the early hours of yesterday

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Unknown assailants kill PDP youth leader in Benue shot at close range in his compound by four unknown assailants. Sources at the scene expressed shock at the gruesome murder of the deceased stressing that what might have aggravated this action is not yet ascertained as at the time

of filing this report. Meanwhile, after the election has been won and lost, cases of politically motivated murders appears to be on the increase in recent times in the state as hardly an interval of two days gone by without the mentioning

of one suspected politically motivated killing in one part of the state or the other. Benue State Police Command spokesman, Mr. Austin Ezeani, confirmed the killing, adding that the victim was shot in his compound at close

range by four unknown assailants. He disclosed that they would do everything humanly possible to bring to book the perpetrators of the heinous acts to face the music stressing that anyone caught no matter whose ox is gored will not

be spared the sledge hammer of the law. According to him, “we have already swung into action towards ensuring that the perpetrators are fished out wherever they may have gone,” insisting that justice must prevail in this matter.

Progressive Movement congratulates Ambode, Buhari ebere ndukwu

Kaduna Central senator-elect, Senator Shehu Sani (6th right), with executive members of International Federation of Women Lawyers, Fida, during a courtesy visit on the senator-elect in Kaduna, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Ortom charges staff to show dedication, commitment to work Henry Iyorkase MAKURDI

enue State Governor Samuel Ortom has pledged fairness and accountability to all manner of people in the course of administering the state throughout his tenure.

Governor Ortom spoke in audience yesterday with members of staff in Benue People’s House, a name he has christened his office, in Makurdi and sought their cooperation to enable him succeed in the onerous task of providing qualitative services towards improving the lots of the people in the state. He said he decided to begin the maiden meeting with his staff to enable him interface with them and as well acquaint himself with the environment, charging them to support him in offering the needed services towards enhancing the quality of life of the

citizens. Reiterating that yesterday, it was another person and today another transition emerges under different platform, he said “government is continuity and what is paramount in life is change. We are seeking your cooperation to enable us achieve the set objectives.” He added: “My assumption of duty is not to witch hunt anybody,

but I would be very transparent in the course of performing my duty and anyone who may consciously conceal information or attempt to play foul game might not be spared.” He said he will not condone any act of deceit and therefore whoever is desirous to work with him must be transparent and work assiduously towards the success of the administration.

Permanent Secretary, People’s House administration, Mr. Eugene Ivase expressed gratitude to the governor for finding it worthy to begin the maiden meeting with his staff. Mr. Ivase pledged commitment and loyalty on behalf of staff of the governor’s office, adding that they are determined towards ensuring selfless and quality service as long as his tenure lasted.

rogressive Movement, PM, a Lagosbased partisan group at the weekend congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and all other All Progressives Congress, APC, members who were inaugurated into one leadership position or the other last Friday. Speaking on behalf of PM members, Mr Saheed Olalere, extended their congratulatory message to all APC leaders who contributed in one way or the other, particularly the party’s national leader, Ahmed Tinubu, who he described as “the game changer who has been able to midwife successfully, the new brand progressives of our time.” Describing Tinubu as a force to reckon with, he said Tinubu fulfilled the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s prophecy that one day the best in the conservatives and the best in the progressives will come together to rule Nigeria. He tasked President Buhari to improve the power sector in order to boost the economy, pay attention

to youth empowerment through job creation and establish vocational centres in all 36 states of the country and Abuja. PM called on Governor Ambode to pay attention to complaints of Lagos market men and women on the activities of its law enforcement agencies, saying there should be checks and balances in their activities to ensure stability in the system. He said: “Some market products and materials are sometimes being unlawfully destroyed to the detriment of their owners. This gives bad impression of the APC government which should not be so.” Saying that Ambode should improve on infrastructural achievements of former Governor Babatunde Fashola, he called on him to curtail the activities of miscreants called ‘area boys’ found all over Lagos fermenting troubles. Olalere said: “Lagos government should also create a website for people’s comments and properly train staff of Lagos State Transport Management Authority, LASTMA, to enable them keep with maximum standard.”

Buhari to make huge investments in Niger-Delta ebere ndukwu

resident Muhammadu Buhari has laid more emphasis on his inaugural speech, promising to invest substantially in the NigerDelta region in order to facilitate socioeconomic and infrastructural development. The President in a discussion with the leader of Delta State delegation

of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, said there is absolute need for government to deliberately focus on youth development in the Niger Delta so as to sustain peace, security and economic growth of the region. Olorogun Emerhor had earlier during their discussion, told the President that the people of the Niger-Delta especially

Delta State, look up to his administration to address the injustice of the past administration by doing the needful to bring economic prosperity to the state and the Niger-Delta region. He urged the President to pay special attention to the welfare and training of repentant militants in the region to drastically reduce restiveness and shore up oil production

for increased revenue generation. APC Delta delegation to the inauguration of President Buhari had a fun-filled weekend courtesy of Emerhor who led the delegation to Eagle Square last Friday and played host to the entire team at the prestigious Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Addressing party faithful at the Hilton Hotel,

state party chairman, Prophet Jones Erue urged members not to relent in their efforts in ensuring that the APC in Delta State becomes more formidable, saying that the party will soon take over the political leadership in Delta State as the Senator Okowa led Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, government will soon crash out of the Unity House, Asaba.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Capital Market

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Vitafoam boss explains firm’s performance

…. profit rises to N5.4bn

anufacturer of flexible, reconstituted and rigid foam products, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, has ascribed its impressive performance to six major factors, ranging from strong brand equity to leader and pacesetter advantage. Besides, the company also hinged its critical success factors to a mix of unique indices including development of strong human Capital and timely execution of strategic plan. Addressing the stockbrokers during the company’s presentation of facts behind the figures yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Acting Group Managing Director, Mr. Taiwo Adeniyi,

explained that the company would continue to sustain its culture of ensuring shareholder value. Adeniyi noted that the company had the largest foam manufacturing and distribution network which facilitates just in time delivery of finished products throughout the West African sub regional markets. He explained that despite the inclement operating environment, the company’s gross profit was up by 5.4 per cent to N5.4 billion while profit after tax rose by 11.8 per cent to N435 million. Meanwhile, the company has proposed a gross dividend of N246 million and a bonus share of one for every five

shares held for approval by the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting scheduled for this month. Adeniyi attributed the strong performance to the following critical success factors: professional and dedicated staff, processes and procedures, internal efficiencies, operational innovation and creativity and timely execution of strategic plan. Commenting on the company’s competitive advantage, Adeniyi identified what he described as tail winds thus: strong brand equity (Vitafoam and Vono), strong assets base, national spread of sales channels, best in class operational facilities, economies of scale, pioneer advantage including establishment of vitapur and other subsidiaries and pacesetter advantage.

Equities drop 0.8% on bearish trading JOHNSON OKANLAWON

rading in equities continued on a negative note on the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday despite peaceful handover of power to the new government, which is expected to bring liquidity to the bourse. The twin market performance measures, the All Share Index and market capitalisation dropped by 0.78 per cent on the back of selling off in blue chips. The market had last Friday closed also on the

downward trend as market speculators sustained profit taking. At the close of trading in the day, 21 stocks recorded price appreciation, while 32 others constituted the losers table. The twin market indicators, the All-Share Index dropped by 265.72 basis points or 0.78 per cent from 34,310.37 last Friday to close at 34,044.65 while the market capitalisation appreciated by N90 billion or 0.78 per cent from N11.658 trillion to N11.568 trillion. Further analysis of the

day’s trading showed that Vono Products Nigeria Plc topped the day’s gainers’ table with 4.73 per cent to close at N1.77 per share while Honeywell Flour Mills Plc followed with 4.57 per cent to close at N3.89 per share. Portland Paint Plc gained 4.40 per cent to close at N3.80 kobo per share. On the flip side Total Nigeria Plc led the losers’ chart with a drop of 7.47 per cent to close at 161 kobo per share while Livestock Feeds Plc shed five per cent to close at N2.28 per share. On the activity chart, the

He explained that manufacturers in Nigeria are contending with persistent terrorist activities in the North, unpredictable political environment, high cost of financing operations, unstable government policies, lack of enabling infrastructures, products adulteration and volatile and increasing cost of chemicals. The industrialist assured the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s Management and stockbrokers that the company would continue to provide information timely in line with the Exchange’s Post Listing requirements. Stockbrokers commended the company for its outstanding performance and advised the management to sustain its culture of ensuring shareholder value.

Banking sub-sector dominated in volume terms with 225.3 million shares worth N2.6 billion in 1,601 deals. The sub sector was enhanced by the activities in the shares of Zenith Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc. Insurance sub-sector sector boosted by the activities on the shares of Mansard Insurance Plc followed with 25 million units, worth N42.5 million in 139 deals. In all, investors exchanged a total of 340.7 million shares valued at N5.5 billion in 4,184 deals.

US stocks recover gains after mixed economic data

he United States stocks were higher in afternoon trading yesterday, erasing slender losses in choppy trading earlier in the session, as investors digested a flurry of data that painted a mixed picture on the pace of the economy’s recovery. Data from ISM showed that the pace of manufacturing growth rose in May. Other data showed construction spending surged in April, but consumer spending was unexpectedly flat. The data left investor’s with a mixed view about the strength of the economy’s recovery from the firstquarter’s slump as they try to gauge when the Federal Reserve will ultimately raise interest rates. With little evidence of a rebound, the Fed is in no position to start raising in-

terest rates for the first time since 2006, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said. “We’re seeing a lot of counter trends in the market,” said Rick Fier, director of trading at Conifer Securities in New York. “One thing this market hasn’t been seeing is inflows which gets put to work.” Fier said the mixed data, rumors about Greece reaching a deal and volatility in currencies and bond yields added to the choppiness. Amid mounting worries of a Greek default, Athens missed a self-imposed Sunday deadline to reach an agreement to unlock aid, the same day Economy Minister George Stathakis said he expected a deal in “a few days”. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 71.26 points, or 0.4 per cent, at

18,081.94, the S&P 500 was up 8.12 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 2,115.51 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 23.48 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 5,093.50. Eight of the 10 major S&P indexes were higher. The health index was the biggest gainer with a 0.68 per cent rise, led by Bristol-Myers’ 3.6 per cent rise to $66.91 after the FDA accepted its application for a combination melanoma treatment. Intel fell 1.3 per cent to $34.01 and was the biggest drag on the three major indexes after the company agreed to buy programmable-chip maker Altera for $16.7 billion. Altera rose six per cent to $51.79. Microsoft was the Dow’s biggest gainer with a 1.6 per cent increase to $47.65, doubling its gains after the Wall Street Journal reported the company bought a German

Source: NSE

Inter-Bank Rate Naira Market indicators All-Share Index 34,044.65 points Market capitalisation 11.57trn

Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

% CHANGE

VONO

1.22

1.34

0.12

9.84

NEIMETH

1.20

1.26

0.06

5.00

BETAGLAS

36.40

38.10

1.70

4.67

MCNICHOLS

1.50

1.57

0.07

4.67

TOTAL

146.03

152.60

6.57

4.50

NAHCO

6.08

6.35

0.27

4.44

CUTIX

1.58

1.65

0.07

4.43

TRANSEXPR

1.15

1.19

0.04

3.48

WEMABANK

0.96

0.99

0.03

3.13

CILEASING

0.69

0.71

0.02

2.90

CHANGE

% CHANGE

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

ABCTRANS

0.60

0.57

-0.03

-5.00

UBN

10.50

10.05

-0.45

-4.29

DANGFLOUR

4.07

3.91

-0.16

-3.93

ETERNA

2.80

2.70

-0.10

-3.57

COSTAIN

0.85

0.82

-0.03

-3.53

EVANSMED

1.81

1.75

-0.06

-3.31

NASCON

8.05

7.30

-0.25

-3.31

SEPLAT

350.00

340.00

-10.00

-2.86

FIDELITYBK

1.90

1.85

-0.05

-2.63

MOBIL

154.00

150.00

-4.00

-2.60

FGN Bonds

startup. Disney rose 0.9 per cent to $111.41 after Barron’s said the stock could climb 50 percent over the next three years. Disney also said its CFO had resigned. Rate (%) Inflation

8.2

MPR

Crude oil price

$58.96

US Dollar

N197.00

Bid

Description

Offer

Price

Yield

Price

Yield

13.05 16-AUG-2016

1.23

99.16

13.77

99.31

13.63

15.10 27-APR-2017

1.92

102.08

13.82

102.23

13.73

16.00 29-JUN-2019

4.10

106.28

13.92

106.58

13.83

16.39 27-JAN-2022

6.68

111.47

13.70

111.77

13.63

14.20 14-MAR-2024

8.80

102.68

13.66

102.98

13.60

10.00 23-JUL-2030

15.16 68.00

15.54

68.30

15.47

Closing Market Prices of May 25, 2015

Treasury Bills Maturity Date

Bid

Offer

Exchange

Rates (N)

27-Aug-15

11.40

11.74

WAUA

270

03-Dec-15

12.79

13.71

USD

197

05-May-16

13.30

15.21

EURO

214

CFA

0.32

YEN

1.64

SWISS FRANC

NIBOR Tenor

Rate (%)

202

O/N

10.2750

14.8337

POUNDS STERLING

293

16.2208

SDR

273

17.3392 The Fixings of May 25, 2015

Capital Market

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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Stock exchange daily equities summary Equities as at June 1, 2015 1st Tier Securities

1st Tier Securities Sector

Company name

No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

Sector

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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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Community Mirror We would ensure that agriculture contributes at least 40 per cent of the state’s Gross Domestic Product Governor of Abia State – Willie Obiano

Enugu community sends SOS to IGP over indiscriminate arrest ENUGU

Man carrying plastic kegs at Iseri-Ijegun road, Jakande Estate, Lagos.

men of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, had invaded the Umuanekeode youths on the charges that they are cultists, all in a bid to cover up the dastard killing which the community is pursuing that justice be done on the matter. Ekete particularly pointed out the latest incident on May 17 2015 when the police once again swopped on the community and arrested four youths namely Maduabuchi Ngwu, Ebuka Nnaji,

Kelechi Nnaji and Chinonso Ugwu from the village. The community leader said that despite the military presence in the community, which intercepted the police on the day of the arrest of the four youths, the police insisted on the arrest alleging that the suspects were in possession of arms which was proved false after search was conducted in the family house of the youths, yet the police insisted on their arrest and has kept them in the police cell

PHOTO: ABIOLA ABDULHAMMED

since then without trial while no exhibit was found on them. He pleaded with the Inspector General of Police to compel the Enugu commissioner of police to investigate the killing of Nnabuike Nnaji in 2014 and also to impress it on the commissioner of police that the community is entitled to its rights. When contacted, the Enugu state Police Public Relations Officer, Ebere Amaraizu, failed to react to the allegation.

Cross River rehabilitates street children RICHARD NDOMA

bout 200 street children were removed from the streets and another 199 abandoned children given out for adoption as part of social welfare scheme of the Cross River State government to better the lots of kids in the state. Briefing journalists in Calabar, the immediate past Commissioner for Social Welfare, Mrs. Patricia Endeley, said that about 144 women were treated of vesico vagina fistula, VVF, and re-integrated with their husbands after being sensitized on the need to abstain from sex for about six months to ensure complete treatment. “We have in our work ensured a balanced framework that promotes inclusive growth and equity which has succeeded in the transformation of lives of the very poor, less privileged and the vulnerable

FRANCIS SUBERU

DENNIS AGBO bagwa-Nike community, particularly the Umuanekeode clan in Enugu State has sent a Save Our Soul message to the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase, asking him to compel Commissioner of Police Adamu Mohammed, to desist from indiscriminate arrest of innocent youths in the community. The community alleged that the police in Enugu State has since 2014 continued to clampdown on youths of the community, on trumped up charges and even refuse to arraign them before any court of law. Leader of the Umuanekeode clan in Ibagwa-Nike and former leader of Enugu state house of assembly, Hon. Uchenna Ekete, who addressed newsmen on the impunity of the police against his family further alleged that the crux of the matter is police purposeful killing of a 27 years old Nnabuike Nnaji on February 15 2014 in the full glare of the community during a traditional wedding ceremony. Ekete said that since then, the

Group to hold prayer session for Ambode's administration

in the society through the social safety net programmes which have greatly enhanced the lives of the people of the state”, she said. Anderly maintained that children that were taken off the streets were rehabilitated, reconciled and integrated with members of their families while those who are not from the state were taken back to their states of origin through the proper channel. “Over ninety percent of the chil-

dren in the streets in Calabar are from Akwa Ibom and other states and we do not just take them there and dump on the streets but follow due process by writing to the commissioners of Women Affairs a of their states while and we take the children there with an escort to ensure their safety”, she disclosed. Anderly said that the state has provided free treatment of one hundred and ninety five thousand and eleven children below the ages

of five while one hundred and fifty one thousand, one hundred and fifteen pregnant women have also accessed free medical care in the state. “These treatments are free and fully paid for by the Ministry of Social Welfare which have greatly contributed to the reduction in infant and maternal mortality rate and contributed to the reduction in the patronage of traditional birth attendance in the state”.

n order to implore God's favour on the new administration of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the All Progressives Youth, APY, a youth arm of the All Progressives Congress APC, will be organizing a prayer session for the success of the administration. According to a statement signed by the group's chairman, Mr. Seyi Bamigbade popularly called De Fash, it is important to handover Ambode and his administration to God so that his steps would be guided by the Almighty. The group enjoined all Lagosians to join hands with Ambode and others that would be working with him for the success of all. The group in the statement also pledged support and loyalty to the new administration, adding that their confidence in the ability of the governor to move the state forward in unwavering. The statement read in part: "We wish to assure the administration of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode of our total support. The new governor has been a source of joy and encouragement to the youths in the party. The APC youths reminded Ambode of his campaign to the youths and Lagosians, saying his success would depend on how well he is able to keep his promises. Equally, the group tasked Ambode in the area of employment generation and youth empowerment, even as they demanded for adequate representation in his government.

IBEDC blames outages on tripping of transmission lines BOLADALE BAMIGBOLA OSOGBO.

anagement of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, has blamed poor power supply experienced in Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, and parts of Kogi, Ekiti and Niger states on multiple tripping on 330KV transmission lines, leading to total system col-

lapse from the national grid. IBEDC, in a statement issued by Kikelomo Owoeye, its regional branding and communication officer in Osogbo, however, disclosed that efforts to "black start through Delta Power Station and Kainji Dam is on". Assuring that efforts are ongoing to restore supply to customers as soon as possible, IBEDC, OSUN region, then stated that

some areas in Ede and Osogbo metropolis will be experiencing power outage due to the construction of 132KV lines by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN. The statement reads: "The outage will be experienced between 8: 00 am to 5: 00 pm daily within some days till June 11th, 2015. "The areas that will be affected are: Ideal Nest Hotel Area, school

of Nursing, Police Headquarters, Oke- Onitea, Housing Estate, Okinin, Ilobu, Erin- Osun and Ifon." It then urged customers to ensure their electrical appliances are switched off whenever power is not on to prevent being damaged by power surge and assured that the construction work embarked on by TCN is intended to improve power supply in Osun state.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

World News Kerry’s surgeon to accompany him for leg treatment in US 51

Under the deal we are negotiating... Iran’s military capability will be substantially rolled back. –US National Security Adviser, Dr Colin H. Kahl

Congo opposition split threatens first peaceful power transfer Paul arhewe

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

ersonal ambition and dissent within Democratic Republic of Congo’s largest opposition party could offer President Joseph Kabila a chance to hang onto power when his term ends, threatening the nation’s first peaceful transition. Splits within the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), the oldest and traditionally most vociferous opposition party, are marking a turbulent run up to elections due in 2016, when Kabila is meant to step aside after two elected terms. Following decades of conflict and misrule, Congo is trying to stamp out remaining pockets of rebellion and build on relative stability that has helped it to lure investors and rival Zambia as Africa’s top copper producer. However, violent protests in January over whether Kabila might try to stay on showed the potential for trouble in the giant nation, whose past bouts of conflict have sucked in nations across central Africa. Since its foundation in 1982, the UDPS has stood up first to long-time ruler Mobutu Sese

Opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi (front) of the Democratic Republic of Congo makes a rare public appearance

Seko and then Laurent Kabila, who ousted him in 1997 and was the current president’s father. However, the man who has led the party from the outset, Etienne Tshisekedi, is now 82 and receiving medical treatment abroad. During this absence, his son Felix has divided the party by accepting an offer of dialogue from Kabila that some UDPS members and most other opposi-

tion parties have rejected as a tactic to delay the presidential vote. Another African giant, Nigeria marked its first democratic transition of power with the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari last Friday. But Congo has yet to achieve such a handover since independence from Belgium in 1960 and its record of violence is grim. One study estimated that 5.4 mil-

lion people died in the decade to 2008 alone from a range of conflicts plus related disease and malnutrition. Kabila’s spokesman has said the president intends to respect the constitution. But Kabila, who succeeded his assassinated father in 2001 and won elections in 2006 and 2011, has so far refused to comment on his political future after next year.

Lion kills American tourist in South Africa

tourist believed to be from the US has been killed in a lion attack at a game park in South Africa, a park official has told the BBC. The lioness jumped

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

through the open window of the couple’s car and started mauling the woman, assistant park manager Scott Simpson said. Paramedics were called to the scene but she died from

Many foreign tourists frequently visit the Lion Park near Johannesburg

her injuries, while the man is still receiving treatment. The popular Lion Park is 30km (19 miles) north of Johannesburg. The park’s rules forbid visitors from driving through the lion enclosure with their windows down, reports the BBC’s Milton Nkosi from Johannesburg. Park rangers chased the lioness away after the attack, and it is not clear whether the animal will now have to be put down, our correspondent adds. Local media are reporting that the woman’s death marks the third incident in the past four months at the park. This afternoon’s attack in the Lion Park came as a

shock not only to the tourists and staff there but to me too. I am a frequent visitor to the park. It’s a great place to take the family and I’ve taken my own kids there for as long as I can remember. We also take international visitors who want to have a feel of the African wildlife experience without having to drive for hundreds of kilometres into the bush. The park’s location near to Johannesburg makes it an easy destination for many tourists who are in town for a short time attending a conference or business meetings. The lions are kept in large fenced-off enclosures which visitors can drive through themselves.

WORLD BULLETIN

South Africa discovery reveals slave ship artefacts Artefacts from a slave ship wrecked off South Africa are due to be unveiled in Cape Town. They are thought to be the first objects to be recovered from a slave ship that went down while it was transporting people. Archaeologists hope the objects will help scholars, as well as be a memorial to all those caught up in the trade. Millions of Africans were transported as part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and many died on the journey. Remnants from shackles, iron bars used as ballast for the ship and a wooden pulley block will be shown for the first time at Cape Town’s Iziko Slave Lodge museum on Tuesday. Experts say that the iron ballast is a sign that the ship was used to transport slaves as this was often used to weigh the vessel down because humans are not as dense as other types of cargo. Some of them are due to be loaned to Washington’s Smithsonian National Museum of African American History.

Five South Sudanese dissidents return home Five South Sudanese dissident politicians who in 2013 faced accusations of mounting a failed coup have returned home from Kenya following talks mediated by African leaders, raising hopes for peace despite new fighting near the country’s oil fields. The dissidents were widely seen as allies of rebel leader Riek Machar when fighting broke out among government troops in the South Sudanese capital of Juba in December 2013. The government alleged that a plot to overthrow President Salva Kiir had been thwarted, and detained several of Machar’s allies as violence spread across the country.

Egyptian top Islamic body says ISIS fans sectarianism A top religious institute in Egypt on Monday called attempts by the Islamic State group to fan sectarianism a “malicious” way to undermine modern societies and states. Dar al-Ifta, a state institution which issues religious edicts to advise Muslims on spiritual and life matters, said citizenship, not sect, should be the link between people of the same country. Such a principle, it added, stands in the way of IS, which seeks to replace states with its self-styled caliphate.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

WORLD BULLETIN

Berlin, Paris urge Brussels to rework EU asylum plan Germany and France yesterday urged the EU to find a fairer way to admit and distribute asylum seekers, as their leaders met the European Commission chief in Berlin. The Greek debt crisis and the threat of Britain leaving the EU were also sure to occupy minds as Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted President Francois Hollande and Jean-Claude Juncker for a working dinner. Officially the mini-summit brought together the leaders of the eurozone’s two biggest economies and the EU executive with around 20 heads of large European companies to discuss economic challenges in the digital age. The three leaders did not touch on refugees, Greece or Britain in brief press statements at the start of the meeting, which Juncker said would discuss the growth and jobs potential of a future “digital single market” in the 28-nation bloc. The get-together came hours after a joint call by Paris and Berlin for the EU to revise its plan to admit asylum seekers landing on Europe’s shores, amid a spike in arrivals from war zones such as Syria and some poverty-stricken African countries. Decrying an insufficient “balance”, the German and French interior ministers said in a joint statement that “deep discussions” were needed, along with “exercising responsibility, solidarity and fairer burden-sharing”.

China to hold fire drills along Myanmar border China’s military will hold land and air live fire drills along a part of the border with Myanmar where shells have fallen during fighting between the Myanmar government and ethnic Chinese rebels, the Defence Ministry said yesterday. China has been angered by repeated incidents of shells or bombs from the fighting falling in Chinese territory, in which at least five Chinese have died, and thousands of refugees have crossed into China’s southwestern province of Yunnan to escape the clashes. The Chinese military’s drills will begin on Tuesday, the Defence Ministry said, and take place in two Yunnan counties which lie right next to Myanmar’s Kokang region. China had informed Myanmar about the drills, it said. The drills will not affect the normal lives of residents, though they will have to follow instructions on which parts of the county will be off limits, the ministry said, adding that the end of the exercises would be announced later.

World News

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Kerry’s surgeon to accompany him for leg treatment in US

ecretary of State John Kerry’s orthopedic surgeon will accompany him on the flight from Geneva to the United States for treatment of Kerry’s broken leg, the State Department said yesterday. Spokesman John Kirby said that Dr. Dennis Burke will accompany Kerry to Boston to monitor the secretary’s condition and “ensure he remains comfortable.” Kerry, 71, fractured his right femur Sunday when he struck a curb with his bicycle and fell on a regular Tour de France route southeast of Geneva. He has been receiving treatment at Geneva’s main medical center, HUG. Earlier, Kirby described Kerry as “in great spirits and active,” making “a range of phone

calls including with the president.” He “never lost consciousness, his injury is not life-threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery,” Kirby said. “Secretary Kerry will be transported to Boston aboard a U.S. military C-17 transport aircraft,” he said. “The aircraft, based in Ramstein, Germany, will be staffed by additional military medical personnel in keeping with standard practice.” Kerry’s precise travel plans were not announced, but he will receive further care at Massachusetts General Hospital once he returns home. Kerry had hip replacement surgery several years ago. Kerry was taken by helicopter to the Geneva hospital after a paramedic and a physician who were traveling with his motorcade at the time of crash

Kerry riding a bicycle

provided him with immediate attention. X-rays confirmed the extent of his injury. His regular government plane

returned Sunday night to the United States carrying much of his staff and reporters who had accompanied him on the trip. He had hoped to leave later in the day on a plane fitted with special medical equipment.

Bangladeshi collapsed factory owner ISIS suicide faces murder trial

olice in Bangladesh have charged the owner of the Rana Plaza complex with murder over the building’s collapse in 2013, killing more than 1,100 people. Sohel Rana and more than a dozen government officials are among 42 people to face charges. They are accused of ignoring warnings not to allow workers into the building the day before it collapsed. It was the worst industrial disaster in the country’s history and prompted criticism of global retail practices. The 41 people accused of mur-

der, who include owners of factories housed in the complex and government officials, initially faced charges of culpable homicide. Prosecutors say that the seriousness of the accident meant that the charges have been upgraded to murder. If convicted, defendants face the death penalty. Eighteen people, including 17 of those charged with murder, have been charged with building code violation. The prosecution says that Mr Rana should now appoint a lawyer ahead of the trial process. A court hearing is due to take place

Sohel Rana being arrested by police after the factory building collapsed

on 28 June to decide further proceedings. The fact that it has taken more than two years to bring formal charges in relation to the factory collapse has led to allegations that officers dawdled during the investigation process. Questions have been raised about the government’s willingness to bring the guilty to justice. Factory owners in Bangladesh have political power to influence government policy. But investigators argue that it has not been an easy task. They have had to record statements from

attack kills 38 Iraqi policemen

slamic State militants drove a tank rigged with explosives into a base south of the Iraqi city of Samarra yesterday, killing 38 policemen, military and police sources said. A further 46 people were wounded in the attack on the Muthanna bases in an area from which security forces and Shi’ite paramilitaries have been fighting to drive out the insurgents. Security forces seized the complex from the militants several days ago and were using it as a foothold in an offensive aimed at cutting Islamic State supply lines from the Samarra area to the western province of Anbar. Anbar’s capital, Ramadi, was overrun by the insurgents two weeks ago in the most significant setback for Iraqi forces since a U.S.-led coalition began bombing the militants last summer. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi vowed to launch a quick counter-offensive to retake the city but Shi’ite paramilitary groups have taken charge of the offensive and say remaining militant strongholds in Salahuddin province must be cleared first.

North

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Ganduje to streamline ministries, agencies in Kano ABDULGAFAR OLADIMEJI KANO

Hon. Fred Itulah (left), Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (2nd left) and Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje (right), during a visit to the governor in Kano, at the weekend.

Taraba Election Tribunal reshuffled JUSTIN TYOPUUSU JALINGO

resident of Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, has reshuffled the Election Petition Tribunal for Taraba State. Secretary to the tribunal, Alaba Ariyo, who disclosed this yesterday to newsmen in Jalingo, said a new panel is expected in the state soon.

Ariyo, who could not give reason for reshuffling of the panel, added that the development was not peculiar to Taraba State only, saying election panels in about 15 other states were also being reshuffled. On whether the new panel will continue from where the previous one stopped or start all over, Ariyo said he could not tell, explaining that such

decision remains the prerogative of the new panel. It would be recalled that a three-man election petition tribunal headed by Justice Aflojolu Raymond Ozoemena with Justice Elias Ojie Abua and Justice S.A. Adeoye, was inaugurated in the state on May 5, 2015. A petitioner, Alhaji Sani Kona, of the All

Progressives Congress, APC, who is challenging the declaration of Alhaji Sani Abubakar Danladi, immediate past acting governor of the state, as winner of the March 28 senatorial election for Taraba North, told National Mirror that the change of panel would not in any away affect his chances as he has absolute confidence in the judiciary.

Journalists in Nasarawa raise alarm over death threats IGBAWASE UKUMBA LAFIA

ournalists in Nasarawa State under the umbrella of Correspondents’ Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists yesterday appealed to Nasarawa State government and various security agencies in the state to take proactive measures to safeguard the lives of journalists in the state. The appeal, according to the union, becomes imperative as the atmosphere was becoming too volatile for effective journalism practice in the state. This was contained in a communiqué jointly signed by Sulaiman Abubakar and Isaac Uk-

poju, chairman and secretary of the chapel, respectively, and issued at the end of the chapel’s emergency congress in Lafia, the state capital. Copies of the communiqué were equally copied to Nasarawa State government, Commissioner of Police and Director of Department of State Security Services, SSS. The congress also condemned in strong terms the unwarranted attack on the correspondent of Daily Trust Newspaper by touts at the venue of inauguration ceremony of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura’s second term in office. The communiqué reads in part: “Congress noted with concern threats to

the lives of other journalists in the state by the same group of touts, with branded T-shirts bearing acronyms of a political party. “Congress also considered very appalling the reaction of the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Yakubu Lamai, who issued a statement to that effect that Hir Joseph was not beaten, but only involved in a scuffle with touts even when the incident took place in the full glare of everyone, including other journalists.” Hitherto, the communiqué asked that; “If Hir Joseph was not ‘slapped or anything akin to beating’ as Lamai had alleged, why and how did he end up in the hospital in an ambu-

lance?” The communiqué continued that in as much as the correspondents’ chapel is not joining issues with Lamai, his statement over the episode is to say the least “unprofessional.” The union therefore called on the state government to ensure that security operatives arrest the perpetrators and prosecute them immediately in view of the much needed cordial relationship with the press to foster the rapid development of the state. “We cannot wait to be killed in the discharge of our constitutional responsibilities before we cried out it,’’ the communiqué added.

ano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, yesterday had his first day at work at Government House, saying that his administration would trim government ministries. Ganduje cited dwindling revenue allocation accruing from the Federal Government to states as one of the reasons the state government opted to cut down on ministries in the state. Though, he assured civil servants that in the process of trimming the ministries, none of the employees would be sacked or asked to quit. He appealed to politicians to desist from meddling in the affairs of civil servants, pleading that they should allow t civil service employees to discharge their functions accordingly. Ganduje also sworn-in Secretary to the State Government and Head of Service at the Government House yesterday, added that a reinvigorated civil service would be needed to pilot the affairs of the state, in the quest for him to deliver the electoral promises made to the electorate, during the 2015 governorship campaign.

According to Ganduje, a focused and undistracted civil service would play a crucial role in determining and ensuring the fulfillment of campaign promises made to the electorates through the formulation and implementation of laudable programmes by its work force. Ganduje stated that the Secretary to the State Government was re-appointed due to his experience’. The governor expressed hope that the re-appointed SSG would put his wealth of experience to use in the service to the state, stating that the Head of Civil Service, Muhammad Auwal Naiya, was appointed due to his outstanding qualities of honesty, discipline and dedication to duty. The governor said for any administration to achieve its set goals, competent people ought to be appointed into key government positions to formulate policies and the deliver efficient services. Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, hinted that the operation Keep Kano Clean recently introduced by his administration would be sustained through the awarding of prizes to the best performing local government.

Lalong appoints SSG, CoS, others JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

lateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has announced his Campaign Director, Mr Rufus Bature, as Secretary to the State Government, SSG. The appointment, which was contained in a statement signed by Permanent Secretary, Policy and General Services, Izam Azi, yesterday also named Mr. John Dafaan and Mr. Emmanuel Nanle as Chief of Staff (CoS), Government House, and Director of Press Affairs, respectively.

The governor also appointed Mr. Yusuf Gambo Hawaja as Deputy Chief of Staff, Government House, while Silas Vem is to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff, Deputy Governor’s office. Others, who were also appointed by the governor, according to the statement, included Director General, Research, Professor John Wade; Accountant General, Cyril Tsenyi, as well as Private Secretary to the Governor, Cletus Kangkum The appointments, according to the statement, were with immediate effect.

Sokoto: NSCDC investigates suspect’s death in custody

okoto State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, said it had set up of a committee to unravel the mystery behind the death of a 38-year-old suspect, Jamilu Abdullahi, while in its custody.

Commandant of the corps in the state, Mr Bello Musa, who spoke with newsmen in Sokoto on Monday, confirmed the death of the suspect. “I can authoritatively confirm the death of the deceased after he was ar-

rested by operatives of the corps in Sokoto South Local Government Division in Sokoto, following a complaint lodged by his neighbour. “But it is untrue that personnel of the corps killed him. The ongoing in-

vestigations will reveal the cause of his death. “Any officer indicted by the ongoing investigations will face the wrath of the law,’’ Musa, said, adding that the deceased was arrested after a complaint lodged by one Amina Mo-

hammed, following a misunderstanding. The commandant also confirmed that the corpse of the suspect, which was rejected by his family, was currently at the morgue of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto.

“We hope to take the corpse of the deceased back to the family together with the death certificate any moment from now. “Then we expect that they will receive it and bury his remains according to Islamic rites,’’ he said.

xxxxx

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

What a season this has been! I am happy with everything and will love us to do win the title again –Chelsea midfielder, Ramires

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

Toure won’t leave City –Agent

xxx

FIFA rates Isaac’s goal against Brazil EvErEst OnyEwuchi And JOEl AJAyi

espite losing 2-4 to Brazil on Monday in their opening match of the ongoing U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, FIFA has described Nigeria’s first goal scored by Success Issac as the best goal so far in the tournament. While praising the number of goals scored on Day Three of the competition and quality of the strikes on show in New Plymouth’s opening games, the world soccer governing body commended Isaac for his efforts in leveling up score after Brazil went up just four minutes into the match. “Four of the six (goals) would have been worthy contenders. Yet Success Isaac’s conversion coolly rounding the keeper and slotting past despairing covering

defenders - was not what made Nigeria’s equaliser so special. Rather, it was the audacious assist provided by Musa Yahaya, who split the Brazil rearguard asunder with a first-time ‘rabona’ pass that brought Taranaki Stadium to its feet,” FIFA said in its report yesterday. Meanwhile, Coach Manu Garba has described the 2-4 loss to Brazil as uncalled for. “It’s a huge disappointment. We carved out the better chances in the first half and we should have led at the break. The first 45 minutes reflected what we’re capable of. We simply made two mistakes that cost us dearly in the second period. All in all we played our part in a really great match and I’d like to congratulate Brazil on their victory; they’re a very good team,” Garba said. Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Joshua Enaholo, who gifted the South

Americans their third goal expressed remorse this way: “My mind was off. The ball was wet and I just couldn’t get my grip properly. I must do better. Speaking in similar vein yesterday in Abuja, Chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee, Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu, said the Flying Eagles would bounce back in their subsequent games. “Nigerians should not lose hope, I believe hundred percent that the team will bounce back,” Anyansi-Agwu said, adding that the players need encouragement and not condemnation. “It’s too early to put pressure on them; it is a psychological thing that they lost the game, which I believe they did well at the beginning,” he added. Flying Eagles will take on North Korea on Thursday, before playing their last Group E match against Hungary on June 7.

Results Nigeria

Brazil

Germany

Fiji

N’Korea

Hungary

Uzebekistan

Honduras

Today’s Matches Myanmar

Ukraine

Austria

Panama

N’Zealand

USA

Argentina

Ghana

Adamu bounces back in CAF …as Bassey, Itemuagbor lose seats EvErEst OnyEwuchi

ormer Executive Committee Member of FIFA and CAF, Dr. Amos Adamu, has returned to football administration and management after a fiveyear absence. Yesterday, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) named Adamu as a member of its premier standing committee for the organisation of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon in 2017. The 28-member elite committee that also includes the NFF President, Mr. Amaju Pinnick, is chaired by CAF President Issa Hayatou. Adamu and Pinnick are leading seven other Nigerians who CAF named in various committees ratified by its Executive Committee at a meeting in Zurich,

Switzerland on May 26. The Nigerian sports administrators and their committees are as follows: Alhaji Aminu Maigari (Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship CHAN), Brig. Gen. Dominic Oneya (retd) (Organising Committee for InterClub Competitions), Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye (Disciplinary Board), Chief Amanze Uchegbulam (Appeal Board Vice Chair), Ms. Aisha Falode (Media Committee), Alhaji Sani Lulu (Organising Committee for management of CAF Club Licensing System) and Alhaji Yusuf Ahmed Fresh (Technical and Development Committee). Conspicuously missing from the lists are Messrs Mike Itemuagbor and Paul Bassey and Chief Emeka Inyama, who previously were members of the CAF Marketing and Media committees respectively.

Sports

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Toure won’t leave

City –Agent M

Glo League:

anchester City midfielder, Yaya Toure, will remain at the club because owner Sheikh Mansour has a major role for the Ivorian player, according agent Dimitri Seluk. Speculation of departure has trailed Toure since last year, amidst suggestions he

could be headed for Inter Milan in the summer. But Seluk refuted all claims last week, saying the big reigning African Player of the Year would stay. “Yaya is staying because Sheikh Mansour told him he must stay,” Seluk said yesterday. “Mansour told him that

he is still a very important player and that he was the first big player to join City after the takeover. “He also told him that City wouldn’t even discuss a sale. “This is good. People have tried to say that Yaya only wanted more money, but it was never about money. It was only about respect.”

‘Why Nasarawa United falter’

Paul ErEwuba

asarawa United’s new goalkeeper, Ibrahim Pius, believes his side’s tough start to the Glo Premier League season is due to changes made within a short period. Nasarawa United came so close to a continental spot last season which got many believing they would be off to a flying start this season. But the Lafia-based side has yet to blossom again, sitting in mid-table position and has conceded 13 goals, the joint highest so far this season. “When you have changes in a team, the team suffers,” the Adamawa State-born goalkeeper disclosed. “We can’t really blame the strikers or defenders or midfielders because it is the whole team that is responsible. But we are working on the team as a whole.” Nasarawa United signed about 12 players at the start of the season and while a number of the new signings have found their rhythm within the team, some have not.

Toure

FA Cup: Emirates signs three-year sponsorship A global connector of people and passions, Emirates, and The FA yesterday announced that the airline will become the Lead Partner of The FA Cup, to be known as The Emirates FA Cup, from next season until 2018. This season has seen one of the great FA Cup campaigns, from Middlesbrough beating Manchester City in the Fourth Round, to Bradford City shocking Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on the same day. With over 700 clubs entering the competition since it began in August, The FA Cup continues to touch all parts of the world’s favourite sport, with its distributions being critical to the non-league, amateur and grassroots football in England. Emirates is a long-standing supporter of football with partnerships across Europe including AC Milan, Real Madrid, Olympiacos FC, Hamburger SV, Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. “Football is a truly global sport, a unify-

Pius

Dyke

ing factor in many communities and nations across the world. Never is this more evident than with The FA Cup, which has an unrivalled heritage and draws a global audience of more than 1.1 billion people, “President of Emirates Airline, Sir Tim Clark, said. “The spirit of competition, fair play, and sparking the passions of a global audience, are all values we share at Emirates and we look forward to a long-term partnership to support and connect fans to their teams both here in the UK and across the world.” Greg Dyke, Chairman of The FA, also said: “Emirates’ commitment to our sport is evident and securing such an iconic and forward-thinking lead partner for The FA Cup is great news for us, the fans and for the whole game.” Next season’s FA Cup kicks off on August 15 with Extra-Preliminary rounds and culminates in a showpiece final at Wembley on May 21 2016.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sports

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

NSA hails Oshoala, Quadri

O The cracked seats and the damaged electronic clock at the National Stadium depict the derelict facility

Odegbami, Amiesimaka decry Sportscity decay AfolAbi GAmbAri

WITH AGENCY REPORT

ormer captain of Green Eagles, Segun Odegbami, has said that the dilapidated state of the National Stadium in Lagos is a reflection of the state of the country. “It is a shame to the country,” Odegbami, who won 46 caps and scored 23 goals for the national team, lamented in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. “I played on that pitch and scored important goals. It gave me joy. I was happy

playing on it. The feeling alone gives me goose pimples any time I recall my playing days on that pitch,” he added, stressing, “I cannot imagine the opposite way we see of it today in a mess and a pitiable situation.” Another former Green Eagles’ player, Adokiye Amiesimaka, also lamented the state of the facility. “The stadium is living in its shadows. I never thought it would come to this as the place is just scary place to come to,” Amiesimaka, who is renowned for his weekly column in The Punch newspaper, said. “I remember in my time, it was a glori-

ous place to be. I shared many victories on that pitch, notably in 1980, when we won the Nations Cup,” the Port Harcourt-based former Rivers State Commissioner for Justice added. “I am pleading to the National Sports Commission to intercede on the matter so that our lost national can be restored,” he added. The initial 55, 000-capacity stadium, built in 1972 to host the 2nd All Africa Games in 1973, has also hosted the Africa Cup of Nations in 1980, the 1999 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations.

rganiser of the Nigerian Sports Award, Unmissables Incentives Limited, has congratulated Super Falcons striker, Asisat Oshoala, for winning the maiden BBC Women Footballer of the Year. Oshoala’s prize was presented to her at the Super Falcons camp in Canada ahead of the FIFA Women World Cup kicking off on Saturday. General Manager, Unmissable Incentives Limited, Mr. Kayode Idowu, noted that Oshoala’s feat represented a significant milestone for her and Nigeria. Oshoala’s movement to the Liverpool FC Women team after winning the Women Footballer of the Year Award at the 2014 Nigerian Sports Award lends credible to the NSA,” Idowu said. “We hope that this will further boost her morale to aspire for more success,” he added. Meanwhile, the NSA has also congratulated Nigerian Table Tennis player, Aruna Quadri, on his recent move to the lucrative France Table Tennis Federation-organized league from Portugal where he has plied his trade. “Aruna has been a quintessential ambassador for Nigerian sports abroad and we believe he will continue to hold the torch higher,” the awards organiser said.

Wrestling: Team Nigeria hauls Cairo medals ifeAnyi eduzor

igeria’s wrestlers to the African Championship in Cairo, Egypt have won a total of 8 medals in what officials describe as encouraging performance in Freestyle and Greco-Roman styles. In the female Freestyle, the duo of

Blessing Oborodudu (63kg) and Odunayo Adekuoroye (53kg), a 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, won gold medals, with Blessing winning her fifth straight African title. Aminat Adeniyi (58kg) and Amas Daniel (86kg) also won silver medals, while Saso Tamara (86kg) and Ebikewenimi Welson (57kg) won bronze medals, as Emmanuel Nwori (75kg) and Ituru Oke (66kg) won bronze medals in the

Greco-Roman style. President of Nigeria Wrestling Federation President, Dr. Daniel Igali, expressed delight that the country’s wrestlers had boosted their confidence. “Nigerians should expect results like this at the All Africa Games in September as well as at the World Championships in the same month,” Igali told National Mirror yesterday.

Oshoala

Abuja set for CCSF taekwondo

Nigeria’s Odunayo Adekuoroye (in white trunk) on the medal platform

he Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF) will stage its annual taekwondo training workshop tagged the 5th CCSF Training Workshop for Under-20 athletes from June 4 to 6 in Abuja. Forty participants across Nigeria are expected at the three-day event that will embrace physical fitness training, tactical and technical sessions, where the participants will be taught current training methods and techniques with the latest equipment under the tutelage of 2014 Commonwealth gold medalist, Ms. Josephine Esuku and threetime NUGA gold medalist, Alhaji Sani Lawal. Technical Coordinator of the programme, Chika Chukwumerije, will also hold an Event Management Course to expand the knowledge base and soft skills of the partici-

pants. According to the Chief Programmme Host, Mr. Tony Anafulu, who is also a board member of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation representing the North Central Zone and joint-partner in the CCSF-driven project, the program is specifically designed to complement the fantastic work being done by coaches in Nigeria raising young athletes by increasing the technical and tactical knowledge of participants. Programme Coordinator, Mr Abdul-Malik Mohammed, who is also Head Taekwondo Coach at the Korean Cultural Centre and a member of the national coaching crew said: “The objective is to physically, mentally and psychologically prepare young taekwondo athletes for a career.”

WORLD RECORD

Most baked beans eaten in five minutes Fastest marathon dribbling two basketballs

N150

Vol. 05 No. 1125 Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The most baked beans eaten with a cocktail stick in five minutes is 271 and was achieved by Ashrita Furman (USA) in Jamaica, New York, USA, on 11 August 2014.

Nigeria in 2050: Investing oil wealth in infrastructure

igeria like any other country that is rich in oil and gas resources has a fundamental responsibility to utilize her oil wealth in building the public infrastructure needed to drive growth in other sectors of the economy. The two critical questions are how faithful has the country been, and how more dedicated can the nation be in this cause to be one of the leading economies in 2050? United Arab Emirates, one of the impoverished desert nations, boasts of Dubai as the trading business and financial hub of the Middle East. Through the conscientious management of her oil wealth it has a robust industrial and service based economy that

Guest Columnist

Olusola Akinyemi

serves as a model for oil dependent nations. In 1966, discovery of oil in the seven nations that joined in 1971 to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE) created a mass influx of capital into Dubai. The UAE’s consistent investment of oil wealth in infrastructure and steadfast focus on export diversification created an economy in which 88 percent of GDP was derived from non-oil sectors. UAE’s wise fiscal management actively returned oil wealth to the local economy by investing in infrastructure, education, and policies that encouraged export diversification and FDI. Even more important than scientific legislation, UAE leaders shared an ambitious vision for the country and acted decisively to achieve it, eliminating red tape wherever it existed. The result of the foresight and conscientious management was a robust industrial and service-based economy. Oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1956 at Oloibiri, Bayelsa State by Shell BP and production started in 1958. After 1960, rights of exploration was extended to other foreign companies and by 1970, there was rise in the world oil price from which Nigeria was able to reap instant riches. From the small beginning of an output of about 5000 barrels per day (b/d) in 1958, production level reached about 2.055 million barrels in 1973 and rose to a high 2.3 million b/d in 1979. Thus steadily from the 1960s, the petroleum sector began to export its overriding heights, to the extent that by mid 1970s, it has anchored itself as the most readily available resources for prosecuting programmes directed at achieving rapid growth and development of the Nigerian economy.

THE EXTANT STATE OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE IS FAR BELOW AVERAGE Nigeria’s oil wealth has generated earnings worth hundreds of billions of dollars, which have not been well utilized to facilitate national prosperity, but mostly expropriated by top government officials and their agents. In 2005, irrespective of the growing oil wealth, the UNDP rated Nigeria among the poorest nations on earth based on its human capital development indicators. The country’s past politically inclined foreign policy thrust, which made it play the ‘big brother role’ in Africa lured her into dollar spraying diplomacy that is not strategically beneficial to economy other than that it earned her the epithet “Giant of Africa”. The extant state of public infrastructure is far below average. Critical infrastructure to economic growth and development such as power, efficient transportation sector, including rail and good roads, education, strategic laws and regulations among others are unavailable. Most unfortunate is the irony that we are the largest Africa supplier of crude oil, yet, we cannot refine the petroleum products that we consume locally. We are, therefore, faced with periodic fuel crisis, which affects the business activities of the small and medium scale enterprises. However, David Macrae, a former Ambassador and Head of European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS reiterated in an interview with Vanguard that “it is highly

desirable that a major effect is made to direct the resources from the oil sector into the much needed investment in human capital and basic infrastructure…” This is an enormous subject in a nutshell; the closer policy maker come to adopting an approach to the management of oil wealth the way the Norwegians have done for instance, the better it will be for Nigerians. The way forward is to re-strategise on the relationship between our national oil wealth and availability of the public infrastructures needed to drive economic growth and development in our country. The foundation of this is a definite vision of what Nigeria wants to make the oil wealth count for in developing other pivotal sectors of the economy and achieve prosperity just as the Dubai experience has shown. Before the discovery of oil, there were activities of engagement and trading in agriculture, mining and manufacturing such that they dominated our national GDP. These same sectors should be lubricated for better performances through oil wealth. A clear vision such as Nigeria being one of the 20 leading economies in 2050 having made it the investment destination in Africa, leading in manufacturing, trade, finance and tourism is fundamental to start with. This will determine how our oil wealth is utilized and also guard us against misappropriation and theft. With the foregoing, Nigeria’s over-dependence on imported products will drastically reduce, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) will easily increase, export of local products and engagements in international trade will exponentially increase (starting with the sub-Saharan Africa market), innovation and creativity will rise, value of our national currently will rise, unemployment rate will reduce to single digit, national GDP will increase alongside per capita income. Ultimately, no matter how profitable oil is in the global market, it will not account for more than 15 percent of our GDP. Akinyemi is President, Joseph Initiative Ltd/Gte, Lagos.

Sport Extra

eports yesterday indicated that former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder, Patrick Vieira, is on a fourman shortlist of candidates to take over as manager at Newcastle United. Steve McClaren, who

Vieira in contention for Newcastle manager’s job was sacked by Derby County last week, is also on the list. According to the reports, the interview process will begin this week with 38-year-old Vieira,

manager of City’s Under-21 squad, keen to test himself in the Premier League. Vieira, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, won three league titles and four FA Cups in nine years

at Arsenal. He moved to Juventus in 2005 but returned to the Premier League in 2010 when he signed for Manchester City and helped the Etihad side win the 2011 FA Cup

before retiring from playing two months later. If successful, Vieira, who turns 39 on June 23, will be the fourth youngest in the list of current serving Premier League managers.

Vieira

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