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CBN staff, others remanded in prison over alleged N10m currency fraud KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

ine bank staff of the reported 22 suspects allegedly involved in the swapping of currency boxes containing mu-

Emefiele

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tilated naira notes meant for routine destruction at Ibadan branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, were yesterday arraigned before a Federal High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, and presided over by Justice

Ayo Emmanuel. Of the 22 suspects, six are said to be middle level officers of the CBN, who have accordingly been dismissed or suspended while the remaining 16 were staff CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

Blatter resigns as FIFA President P.53

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NDLEA serves Kashamu extradition notice ...Reps commend anti-drug agency

FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

ational Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has finally served the Ogun State Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu, with a

14 CHEAT DEATH IN LAGOS MULTIPLE FIRE

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Buhari seeks Senate’s nod to appoint 15 Special Advisers P.4

Discos reject establishment of Independent Operators …ceiling on estimated billings P.6 ADVERT HOTLINES

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Scene of fire incident caused by petrol tanker that fell from the bridge at Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos, yesterday.

Suicide bomber kills 30, injures others in Borno

Another kills self in Biu Millitary repels attack on Maiduguri

We’ve not zoned NASS principal offices –APC

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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

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NDLEA serves Kashamu extradition notice CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

court extradition notice to the United States to answer charges bordering on alleged drug trafficking.

A statement issued yesterday by the Head, Public Affairs Unit of NDLEA, Mitchell Ofoyeju, said the application was secured

by the Chief Judge, Federal High Court, Abuja, in suit number FHC/ABJ/ CS/479/2015. The statement added

that the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) had also sought the extradition of Kashamu to answer

alleged drug trafficking charges. Ofoyeju stated that the notice of the suit was officially served on Kashamu

APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun (right) leading other party chieftains to a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Defence guest house in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Suicide bomber kills 30, injures others in Borno ROTIMI FADEYI AND INUSA NDAHI

suicide bomber, who disguised as a traditional medicine seller, yesterday sneaked into the Maiduguri Abattoir and Cattle Market, killing over 30 people and injuring 28 others. It was gathered that the suicide bomber also came into the market, armed with a mobile tape recorder, with which he was playing President Muhammadu Buhari’s political songs. This attracted many lovers of the songs in Hausa language, and when the terrorist realised that his music had attracted dozens of people, he detonated the explosives he was carrying. The incident took place at about noon when the market with the abattoir was at its peak. The powerful explosion left the victims with mangled and shattered bodies scattered at the scene. There were however

conflicting casualty figures as officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, claimed that 10 people lost their lives at the spot, while some of those who sustained severe injuries also died later. Also, Umar Sadiq, communication field officer of the International Community of Red Cross, ICRC, during an interview, put the number of the dead at 13. He said: “So far, 13 identified dead bodies have been evacuated from the scene, while many others sustained serious injuries and burns.” But a source at the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri, said, over 30 dead bodies were brought into the hospital. He also expressed fear that most of the injured may not survive due to the gravity of the injury they sustained “We have received six corpses who died at the emergency ward since the injured were brought in and I have just learnt that another victim has given

up and they are bringing the corpse as we speak,” the source told our correspondent on phone. Police and other security operatives have cordoned off the area to prevent further attacks and avoid looting. A police Inspector who did not want his name in print told our correspondent that many suicide bombers were suspected to have made in-road into Maiduguri during the battle with troops on Monday night. “All security agencies in Maiduguri are on red alert because these useless people, according to signals we received, have smuggled themselves into town with bad intention of suicide bombing. “Yesterday, about five suicide bombers were arrested at Tashan Baga and this one is another bad day for everybody. “Please, for your safety, I beg you, be cautious while moving around because anything can happen. These bad eggs want to see where people gather so they can cause havoc,”

he said. The state police commissioner, Mr. Aderemi Opadokun, ordered the condoning off of the abattoir and meat market to prevent further attacks and looting by miscreants. “The security situation is under control, as the scene has been condoned off. Suspected suicide bomber at Kasuwan Shanu in Maiduguri, at about 11:30hours of 2/6/15, invaded the market, shouting ‘Sai Buhari’ in Hausa language and dancing in the market where he detonated explosives strapped on his body when people had gathered around him. “Four persons died, including the suicide bomber in the explosion, while eight others sustained injuries. “Men were mobilised to the scene, corpses and injured persons were evacuated to the hospital; investigation in progress,” Opadokun said in a text message sent to our correspondent. In a related development, a suicide bomber

who attempted to sneak into Biu, the second largest town in the southern part of the state blew himself up when he was accosted by men of the civilian JTF. It was learnt that the suicide bomber, upon realising that he would be thoroughly interrogated and searched at the entrance to the town detonated the explosives he was carrying, killing only himself. Also yesterday, Boko Haram militants, in a convoy of Toyota Hilux vehicles laden with IEDs, Rapid Propelled Grenades, RPGs, and anti-craft guns attacked Moronti village, killing five people, before they were repelled by soldiers. The gunmen, according to Hamisu Abba, a resident, sneaked and crossed into the village through Ngadabul River to launch attacks by firing several grenades over several houses. “Some of the grenades fell on some of the houses yesterday night. The vicCONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

by the NDLEA on Monday. The NDLEA’s spokesperson stated that the move was in line with the Extradition Act CAP, E25 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as modified by the Extradition Act Modification Order, 2014. “This is in line with the Extradition Act CAP, E25 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (as modified by Extradition Act Modification Order, 2014). “The notice of the suit was officially served on Kashamu by the NDLEA on 1st of June 2015,” the statement said. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has commended the agency for the bold step taken in the extradition case involving Kashamu. This was made know through a letter of commendation signed by the chairman, House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Hon. Jagaba Adams Jagaba. Jagaba, in the letter, stated that the NDLEA’s action would go a long way in building the confidence of the international community in Nigeria as well as send a strong signal that the country believes in the rule of law. “This action has sounded a warning that no longer shall any Nigerian be considered to be above the law, no matter how highly-placed. “It equally points to the fact that no matter how long it takes, the law would catch up with all that has a case to answer. “The agency has shown that it can work without discrimination,” he stated. The letter further enjoined the agency not to succumb to blackmail. “Let me at this juncture, therefore, encourage you not to falter in the face of blackmail. “Your detractors will engage in all forms of antics, including blackmail to distract you but you must never be deterred. “Instead, with every form of distraction, you should be spurred to maintain the dignity of the agency and do the needful in the interest of Nigerians and humanity,” Jagaba said.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Chukwemeka Ezeife (2nd right) Inspecting an exhibition titled ‘’Echoes of Good Air’ with other dignitaries in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi; Commissioner, Finance and Management Services, Dr. Patrick Umeh and Commissioner, Legal Licensing and Enforcement, Dr. Steven Andzenge, during stakeholders consultative forum on consultation on the terms and conditions for establishment of an Independent System Operation, in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

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L-R: Executive members of Pardoned War Veterans Social Association trustee, Mr. Okoronkwo Okoronkwo; Chairman, Chief Emmanuel Ossai and Secretary, Chief Mbiana Mbiana, during a news conference calling on the Federal Government to pay their approved pension allowances in Enugu, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Assistant Secretary General, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Kaduna State, Mr. Nasir Ado-Yalo; Chairman, Mr. Musa Ibrahim and General Secretary, Mr. Mohammed Mohammed, during a news conference on ASUP strike in Kaduna, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

National News

Buhari seeks Senate’s nod to appoint 15 Special Advisers George Oji ABUJA

resident Muhammadu Buhari has written the Senate, seeking the lawmakers’ approval for appointment of 15 Special Advisers to work with him. The President did not, however, disclose the names of the Special Advisers. The president’s request was in line with the provisions of Section 151(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which states that, “The President may appoint any person as a Special Adviser to assist him in the performance of his office.” Yesterday’s letter by Buhari to the Senate President, David Mark, was the first since he was sworn in last week. Buhari in the memo, appealed to the lawmakers to treat his request with dispatch. The letter read: “Pursuant to the provision of

Section 151(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria (as amended) which confers on me the power to appoint special advisers to assist me in the performance of my functions, I write to request for your kind consideration and approval of the distinguished members of the Senate of the Federal Republic to appoint 15 special advisers as prescribed in Section 151(2-3) of the Constitution of the Fed-

eral Republic of Nigeria (as amended). “While trusting that this exercise will receive the traditional prompt attention of the Senate, please accept, Mr. President, the assurance of my highest consideration.” Yesterday, the Senate congratulated Buhari and Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on their assumption of office as they expressed delight in the successful handover of government on May 29.

This was while the lawmakers adopted the prayers contained in a motion sponsored by the Senate Leader, Victor NdomaEgba and co-sponsored by the rest other 106 senators. The lawmakers in addition praised former President Goodluck Jonathan for his courage to accept defeat and concede power, even before the final announcement of the result of the March 28, presidential elections by the Independent National Electoral

Commission, INEC. While moving the motion, Ndoma-Egba said the entire senate identified with the government of Buhari in its assignment to meet the yearnings of the people of Nigeria and simultaneously reposition it for a greater country in all spheres of socio-political and economic life. He noted the successful handover of government and the inauguration of Buhari and his, Prof. Osinbajo on May 29.

The senate also noted the successful inauguration of their colleagues in the National Assembly as governors in their respective states. The governors are; Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto State), Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta State), Senator Ben Ayande (Cross River), Senator Bindo Jibrilla (Adamawa State), Senator Atiku Baguda (Kebbi State) and Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu State).

CAC President charges Nigerians to be patient with Buhari Kemi Olaitan IBADAN

ess than a week after inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, President of Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, Worldwide, Pastor Abraham Olukunle Akinosun, has urged Nigerians to be ready to make sacrifices. He gave the admonition in a congratulatory

message made available to journalists in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, and signed by the church’s Director of Publicity, Pastor Ademisoye Alawode. According to him, there is need for the new administration at the federal and state levels to be focused, saying their mission “is primarily to re-build and repair all broken walls of the nation’s economy and value system. “Nigerians should be

ready to make sacrifices as nothing good comes easy. It is natural for people to call for good governance. But good governance depends on cooperative citizenry, who would follow the leaders’ directives without cutting corners to circumvent the law,” he added. The cleric maintained further that, “in this onerous task therefore, you need to be focused, determined and unsparing in executing your agenda for

the revival of the nation’s economy”. He however assured President Buhari of the church’s prayers for his administration, saying, “as a church, I assure you that the Christ Apostolic Church faithful would continue to pray for your success.” He also enjoined all the newly elected governors in the country “to do everything within their powers to fulfil the promises made

as they would give account to God on how faithfully or otherwise they kept the promises made to the electorates”. The CAC President, while congratulating Nigerians for the success of the civilian to civilian transition, which has come to fruition, prayed that the country would experience peace, prosperity and bountiful dividends of democracy in the new administration.

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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

CBN staff, others remanded in prison over alleged N10m currency fraud CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

of deposit money banks that include Zenith Bank, First City Monument Bank, FCMB, Wema Bank, Access Bank, First Bank, Skye Bank, Ecobank and Sterling Bank. The accused persons, with two at large, were said to have disobeyed the directive of the CBN aimed at

reducing dirty money in circulation, as they substituted the naira notes meant for destruction with newspapers cut to the size of notes. It will be recalled that the CBN had on November 3, 2014, lodged a petition with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), inviting the agency to take over the investiga-

tion and prosecution of the cases which involved the swapping of currency boxes containing mutilated naira notes meant for routine destruction at its Ibadan branch. A statement from the apex bank said: “During a routine internal audit of the bank’s cash destruction activities in September 2014,

the CBN Briquetting Panel comprising senior bank staff from different branches noticed some anomalies at the Ibadan branch, and immediately reported this to the bank’s management. Based on further investigation ordered by the bank’s governor, it was discovered that a systematic scheme, which has been on for sev-

Some of the suspected Central Bank of Nigeria staff being taken to the Federal High Court by EFCC officials in Ibadan, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Suicide bomber kills 30, injures others in Borno CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

tims were sleeping in the open when the grenades fell on them,” Abba said of his neighbours, who were among the dead. He noted that the militants would have overrun Maiduguri, if there had not been trenches dug around the Nigerian Army 333 Artillery premises near Moronti. Our correspondent also learnt that as the military engaged the insurgents throughout the night, some villagers fled to neighbouring Gomari and Ajillari for safety. The village Imam, Mallam Yunus Mirgwi, told our correspondent that all the five slain villagers were buried yesterday morning, according to Islamic rites. “By 1.45am, troops in patrol vehicles and trucks, swiftly moved in towards Moronti along the Maiduguri-Damaturu road, and commenced the repulsion of the insurgents by

firing sporadic grenades and artillery shelling that lasted for over an hour,” Mirgwi said. The militants last Saturday launched similar attacks on Maiduguri, just hours after Buhari was sworn in as President. Spokesman of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Col. Tukur Gusau, could not respond to an SMS sent to him on the incident. Meanwhile, President Buhari yesterday met with service chiefs and was briefed on the security situation in the country. The meeting was the first the President would hold with the service chiefs after his inauguration last Friday. Present at the meeting were the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant- General Kenneth Minimah; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admi-

ral Usman Jibrin; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu; Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase and National Security Adviser, NSA, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd). After the meeting which lasted several hours, Jubrin told journalists that the service chiefs briefed the President on the general security situation in the country. He disclosed that the meeting specifically focused on the Boko Haram issue, stressing that with the level of successes being recorded, the tempo would be sustained until the sect is routed. “We want to maintain and sustain the tempo, until they are routed; we have just given a general briefing with respect to the general security situation,” the Chief of Naval Staff said. Speaking on the relocation of the command centre to Maiduguri, Jubrin said the service

chiefs would work on it so that the directive could be carried out soon. “We are to go back and work on it; soon it will be carried out; it is a presidential directive. It must be carried out, and we must do that as quickly as possible,” he added. The Naval Chief urged Nigerians to continue to support the military and provide the needed intelligence. “All Nigerians should continue to support the military and provide us with the needed intelligence on the insurgents. Their movements or any suspicious movement should be reported to the police. Of course, the police will make that available to us. “You know as we continue to put pressure on them, in the Sambisa area, they will try to run away from there and then create further problems, using improvised explosive devices,” he said.

eral years, was being run, in which mutilated higher denomination notes originally meant for destruction were swapped with lower denomination currencies. “As soon as the bank’s internal investigations concluded beyond reasonable doubt that some wrongdoing had occurred, the affected members of staff who are middle-level officers were, depending on gravity of offence, either summarily dismissed or immediately placed on indefinite suspension on 21 October, 2014, and all handed over to the EFCC for further investigation and prosecution.” Arraigning the suspects before Justice Emmanuel yesterday, the EFCC accused them of conspiracy, diversion and stealing of N10m mutilated currency of N1,000 denomination meant to be destroyed, contrary to the earlier reported N8 billion fraud. The nine suspects who all pleaded not guilty to the five-count charge slammed on them by the anti-corruption agency, include Patience Okoro Eye, Afolabi Olufemi Johnson, Ilori Adekunke Sunday, Kolawole Babalola, Olaniran Muniru Adeola, and Fatai Adedokun Yusuff. Others are Salami Ibrahim, Odiah Emmanuel, Toogun Kayode Phillips as well as, Roy Akinsiku and Sobowale O. (who are both at large). In spite of the spirited oral bail applications made by counsel to the accused persons, to which the EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) opposed, Justice Emmanuel ordered them to be remanded in prison till June 9 when proper and formal bail applications would be argued. Apart from Jacobs, other counsel for the prosecution include Adebayo Ojo (immediate past Oyo State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General), A. Adebisi, Sunday Aborisade, Rotimi Oye, O.M. Atoyebi, Sola Olanibiire, while K.A. Lawal, Bolam Alabi, A.O. Ajayi, Otunba Olayinka Bolanle, and B.B.M. Ashie of Olalekan Ojo’s Chambers. The five-count charge read that the accused persons “on or about 5th August, 2014 in Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court have abused your office, being employ-

ees of the Central Bank of Nigeria, contributed to the economic adversity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria when you destroyed a box marked “Counted Audited Dirty” filled with newspapers in place of a box containing N10m of N1,000 denomination, and which activity led to the increase of money in circulation which the briquetting exercise of CBN was intended to control. “You thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 1(2) and Section 10(1) of the Recovery of Public Property (Special Provisions) Act, Cap R4, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.” The four other counts alleged that the accused persons owned the N10m taken from the box, made false entry in a document as a report of the briquetting exercise “which took place at the CBN, Ibadan branch, which you submitted to the CBN headquarters, Abuja, to the effect that the briquetting exercise was successful without any abnormality when indeed a box stuffed with newspapers as against N10m notes was discovered during the briquetting.” According to the antigraft agency, the offences are punishable under “Section 7(2) of the Bank Employees (Declaration of Assets) Act, Cap B1, Laws of the Federation, 2004, and Section 438 (c) of the Criminal Code, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.” The trial judge, while rejecting the counsel’s application for bail and request that the accused persons be remanded at the EFCC’s office or the Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku Police Division, Ibadan, ordered that they be remanded in the prison. “Having considered the various applications by the counsel in this case, and having considered the proof and charges, I see that they are weighty and I will not allow such applications to be made orally. All counsels should properly file their applications for all the issues therein to be addressed. “The matter is hereby adjourned till June 9 for the bail application and July 6 and 7 for trial. The accused persons are hereby remanded in the prison,” he said.

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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

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Discos reject Independent Operators, ceiling on billings Chidi Ugwu ABUJA

lectricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, yesterday kicked against plan by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to establish Independent System Operator, ISO, and also put a ceiling on the amount of consumption unmetered customers in a particular class could be billed by estimation in a particular month. At a public hearing organised by NERC to seek the views of stakeholders on the issues, representatives of various Discos said they rejected both proposals, with some arguing that ceiling on estimated billing was not in the interest of operators, while establishment of an ISO was in conflict with Section 65(2) of the Electric Power Sector Reform, EPSR, Act 2005, which empowers TCN to engage in System Operations (including procurement of Ancillary Services). Executive Director, Regulatory and Stakeholder’s Affairs, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC, Abimbola Aduniyi, stated that before NERC contemplates establishment of ISO, it should first seek to amend the EPSR Act 2005, to remove areas of ambiguity or overlapping in both the functions of TCN and that of the proposed ISO. “The establishment of an ISO is in conflict with Section 65(2) of the Electric Power Sector Reform, EPSR, Act 2005, which empowers TCN to engage in System Operations (including procurement of Ancillary Services). Furthermore, Section 66(1) also empowers TCN as the System Operator to “administer wholesale electricity market, including the activity of administering of settlement payments in accordance with the market rule.” If the commission is contemplating the proposal to establish an ISO, it will be advisable to first seek to amend the EPSR Act 2005, to remove areas of ambiguity or overlapping in both the functions of TCN and that of the proposed ISO,” he said.

Also speaking, Assistant General Manager, Regulatory Affairs of Enugu Discos, Reuben Okoye, argued that the ceiling on amount of billing would encourage some customers, who are currently using pre-paid meters, to tamper with their meters. According to him, if the capped amount for one’s neighbour is lower than what he usually paid from pre-paid metering system, “we think t customers who have meter right now, if such a ceiling order is in place, will have reason to tamper with his pre-paid meter so that he will get the benefit and may be recoup all losses that he had been subjected to over the years.” Okoye also pointed out that the estimated billing methodology put forward by NERC has not being fully implemented, stressing that while Discos were already implementing the process, creation of another substitute of estimation was unnecessary. Chairman of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, said the basis for the ceiling is to protect those who had been over billed, the ISO is provided for in the EPRS Act 2005, stressing however, that the regulatory agency does not have a pre-conceived position on the issues. According to him, the consultative stakeholders’ meeting is organised to allow the industry to determine whether it is appropriate at this time to establish the ISO at this time and also to put a cap on the estimated billing system. “The ISO is provided for the EPRS Act 2005, adding it is now left for the industry to determine whether it is appropriate at this time. What will be the model, what nature will it take, who should own it, what should be the management structure and how should it operate largely in line with the rules and the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, as a regulator, NERC has not concluded on any of these issues and we are poised today for industry consideration so i will encourage us to grapple with these issues as robustly as we can offer our views known. There will other fora for consideration of these issues,” he said. NERC urged Discos to

come up with a reason near scientific method by which estimated bill can be acceptable and not exploitative, otherwise it will as a regulator, do the needful to protect customers as well as investors.

Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Consumers Advocacy Network, Tomi Akingbogun said several efforts have been made in the past to provide meters for consumers, but Discos are reluctant to embrace

change. He noted that the problem of over estimation billing can only be solved when the consumers resolve not to pay any Discos that fail to provide meters for them.

According to him, the law provides that the Discos should not even connect the electricity where there are no meters; urging customers not pay when the bill is estimated.

APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun (right) and the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, at the Defence Guest House in Abuja, yesterday.

Ihedioha cautions NASS management over members’ ejection Wole Oladimeji ABUJA

ollowing ejection order issued against members of the National Assembly by the management, Speaker of the House of Representative, Emeka Ihedioha, yesterday warned NASS management from going ahead to forcefully eject members from their offices. The speaker, who gave the warning yesterday at plenary, insisted that members can only vacate their offices after the last sitting of the 7th Assembly on Thursday. He maintained that management of the National Assembly was wrong in forcefully ejecting members of the House while they were still working for the country. According to him, “the federal lawmakers have till the last day to stay in office, it is morally wrong for civil servants to eject lawmaker under the pretext that they want to renovate the offices in preparation for incoming lawmakers.”

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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Tanker fire: NUPENG wants product source probed Chidi Ugwu ABUJA

etroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, branch of NUPENG has condemned recent accidents involving fuel tankers in Onitsha and Lagos, which claimed over 70 lives and properties worth millions of naira. National Chairman of

PTD, Comrade Salimon Oladiti, in a press statement expressed shock over the incidents and advised law enforcement agents to investigate the cause of the accidents and ascertain the product’s source. Oladiti expressed the union’s resolve to continue its fight against reckless driving, particularly at night, and the need to

ensure the tankers were fit before plying the highways. He said the union cherishes human life and as such cannot condone any act of negligence either on the part of drivers or truck owners. He therefore, argued that any truck or tanker that needs repairs must be certified fit before conveying highly inflammable products on the road.

The PTD also expressed readiness to take on any tanker owner that sacks its drivers for refusing to ply the highways with unsafe tanker, restating that the ban on night driving was still in force despite regular violation of the law. The union further condoled with Anambra and Lagos governments and their people for the loss of

lives, and prayed that God gives the affected families the fortitude to bear the irreparable losses. The National Chairman also used the opportunity to inform of the union’s sensitisation and awareness drives to its members nationwide periodically on the need for safety on the nation’s highways, with a pledge to intensify the efforts.

Oladiti equally called on all stakeholders in the transport and haulage sub-sector as well as law enforcers, especially Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC and police to join hands in the renewed fight to make our roads safer in the overall interest of the nation, adding that the recent incidents were becoming more worrisome.

Police arrest 162 cult members, 28 kidnappers Dennis Naku

PORT HARCOURT

ivers State Police Command said it has arrested no fewer than 162 suspected cultists, including four females, who were terrorising the state. Also arrested were 27 armed robbery suspects and seven kidnappers. Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ahmad Muhammad, disclosed this to newsmen yesterday in Port Harcourt. Muhammad said its anti-Cultist Unit station in Port Harcourt said some of the suspects were nabbed when security operatives stormed their hideout in various local communities across the state. He said a kidnap victim, Ifeoma Amadi, was rescued at the early hours of Tuesday at her captors’ den along Ogbakiri waterfront in Emohua Local Government Area of the state. The police image maker attributed achievements of the command to the tremendous support it has been receiving from “security conscious and patriotic citizens by way of volunteering credible and reliable information.” Muhammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, restated the command’s determination to sustain the onslaught to identify similar criminal hideouts. He said, “Such operation would be sustained with all vigour until the nefarious activities of undesirable elements are brought to a halt.” Items recovered from them include 208 arms and ammunition, 15 sto-

len vehicles, four tricycles, N296,760, and N10,000 suspected fake currency. The command has repeatedly warned criminals to shun crime or face the full wrath of the law. Also, the police stated that the suspects would soon be charged to court now that the state’s judiciary has reopened. Meanwhile, one of the female suspected cult members told newsmen that she was a Management graduate of Rivers State University of Science and Technology, even as she denied involvement in cultism.

Stage drama during an art and cultural event for sustenance of democracy and good governance in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Fulani herdsmen, rural dwellers clash in Kwara •Suspected ritual killer, accomplice nabbed Wole Adedeji ILORIN

ulani herdsmen yesterday again, engaged their host community in a bloody clash in Patigi Local Government Area in the northern part of Kwara State. Though the actual figure of casualties could not be ascertained at press time yesterday, National Mirror learnt the bodies of victims were conveyed in pick-up van towards River Niger, apparently to be ferried to Niger State, suspected to be Nupe home of the victims. The development has created tension among people of Motokun village and Patigi local council following fear of reprisal attacks by Fulani herdsmen. Sources alleged that the herdsmen earlier had minor brawl with their

hosts and went back to hire fellow Fulani mercenaries to launch an unsuspected attack on the community It was learnt that a Deputy Commissioner of Police hurriedly left Ilorin, the state capital, on the order of Police Commissioner, Salihu Garuba, after receiving information about the clash. The team was said to be on its way back to Ilorin to give report at the time of filing this report. Police spokesman, Okasanmi Ajayi, who was part of the team that visited Patigi, could not be reached due to poor reception on his way back to Ilorin. However, Chairman of Patigi local council, Uthman Ndako, who confirmed the clash to our correspondent said normalcy had returned to the community with the swift response of security agencies.

He said the council as well as Patigi Emirate council led by Etsu Patigi, Ibrahim Chatta Umar, had called leaders of the Fulani herdsmen and elders of the community to a meeting in a bid to prevent reoccurrence of the clash. The latest clash was coming barely weeks after two communities in Kwara South (Eruku and Oro Ago) witnessed similar bloody crisis that claimed lives. Meanwhile, a 32-yearold suspected ritualist has been arrested in Ilorin. The man simply identified as Kelechi was picked up on Sunday night at Mejindadi Street, Ilorin while allegedly attempting to use an old woman for ritual. It was gathered that the suspect kidnapped the old woman at Agbabiaka, Ago Market and kept her somewhere around Unity road. But luck ran out on him while attempting to take

the woman to his herbalist, Alfa Buaya, as members of Ita-Amodu community surveillance team accosted him. The herbalist, who resides around Agbo-Oba area, reportedly asked Kelechi to bring a lady to him to perfect his ritual plan. They are currently being detained at Surulere ‘B’ Division of the state Police Command. A member of surveillance team, who spoke to our correspondent, but did not want his name mentioned, said the suspect confessed that he wanted to use the old woman to kick-start his business. He said: “We saw the suspect backing an old woman around 11:30pm on Sunday. He was tired and we tried to assist him. And then we asked him what happened to the woman because she looks frail and emaciated. We thought he was taking her

to a hospital around OjaIya. “So, he started responding in Pidgin English while the woman was just saying Agbabiaka, somewhere around Ago Market. It was in that process that we discovered that the suspect is an Igbo man. We asked him again, where were you taking the old woman, and he tried to play smart. “Later, a patrol team came around and we put him in the vehicle. We again tried to cross-examine him in the patrol vehicle while policemen were listening to us. He said if we could assist him, he was ready to cooperate. “It was at that point he confessed that he was taking the woman to one cleric, Alfa Buaya, around Agbo-Oba to use the woman for ritual purpose so he could start his own business having graduated from his boss two years ago.

South West

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

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Health workers’ strike: Nurses take over doctors’ duty at UCH …patients groan KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

he five-week-old strike embarked on by Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, and the Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals, NUAHP, has taken a

new dimension at the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, as nurses took over functions of doctors and allied health workers to save patients’ lives. It would be recalled that the NUAHP declared nationwide strike on May 18, 2015, two weeks after the ARD commenced industrial action at the UCH,

paralysing healthcare delivery in the hospital. It was gathered that many patients at the hospital have died since commencement of the strike by the two unions over alleged government’s refusal to accede to their welfare demands. During a visit to the hospital yesterday, it was observed that the

effect of the strike had grounded medical care in the hospital, leaving hundreds of helpless patients to groan in pains. In some of the wards visited, only nurses and non-medical workers were seen on duty, while nurses were busy attending to patients in the face of overwhelming pressure on them.

Apart from the aggrieved doctors and allied health professionals, workers in the department of administration, pharmacy, accounts, records and public private section in the hospital are on duty. Speaking on the situation, Chairman of

Students, key to varsities’ revitalisation –British Council TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

L-R: Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Najeem Salam; Governor Rauf Aregbesola; his wife, Alhaja Sherifat and Deputy Speaker, State House of Assembly, Hon. Akintunde Adegboye, during the 6th House of Assembly inauguration in Osogbo.

ritish Council, a United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, has emphasised the roles of university students in revitalising universities in Africa, saying their views were key and central in the process. The council stated this based on its survey on the role of higher education in fostering employability and development of just and prosperous societies. The survey was conducted in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and the UK for comparative purposes. A clear finding from the

Collapsed building: Coroner set July 8 judgment date MATTHEW IRINOYE

residing magistrate in the coroner inquest into the collapsed building belonging to the Synagogue Church of All Nation, SCOAN, owned by Prophet Temitope Joshua, which left about 116 dead yesterday fixed July 8 for judgment on the matter. Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe fixed the date after parties in the inquest made their final submissions. It would be recalled that the Lagos State government set up the coroner’s inquest under the state’s Coroner System Law Number 7 of 2007 to investigate the cause and circumstances that led to the death of about 166 people following the building collapse of September 12, 2014, and make its findings and recommendations to the appro-

priate authorities. The inquest, which began proceedings on October 13, 2014, and lasted for eight months, called many witnesses, including Lagos State Building Control Agency, Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Lagos State Ministry of Works, Surveyor-General of the state, the SCOAN building contractors, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, and Lagos State Ministry of Tourism. Others include National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Nigerian Red Cross Society, Lagos State Fire Service and Lagos State Transport Management Authority. Others, who gave evidence during the inquest, include Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and Chief Medical Direc-

tor of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, among others. Also called to testify was General Overseer and founder of SCOAN, Prophet Temitope Joshua, who eventually did not show up. The SCOAN founder challenged the jurisdiction of the coroner’s court, by filing an application before Justice Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos High Court, seeking a judicial review of the coroner’s inquest into the September 12, 2014, collapse. Joshua equally prayed the court to issue a declaration that the coroner had exceeded the jurisdiction of a coroner’s court by delving into areas that were beyond its scope. Though Justice Okunnu threw out the application, Joshua lodged an appeal at the Lagos division of the Court of Appeal. During yesterday proceeding, counsel to

SCOAN, Olalekan Ojo in his final address insisted that external forces are responsible for the collapse of the building. Referring to the testimony of a 37-year-old graduate of Chemistry from the University of Maiduguri, Mr. Biedomo Iguniewe, who had suggested that the building may have collapsed due to infrasonic radiation, Ojo said Biedomo’s evidence was never contradicted. Relying on the evidence of other witnesses, Ojo further argue that the non existence of a building plan for the collapsed building as alluded to by the Lagos State Government has nothing to do with the structure of the building which he insisted was built according to standard. Ojo also argued that the contract for the collapsed building was properly contracted to competent engineers and if anyone

NUAHP (UCH) branch, and National Deputy President (South), Mr Olusegun Sotiloye, said nurses were on duty rendering medical services within the scope of their professional calling because they were not part of the ongoing strike.

must be questioned for the building collapse, it should be the engineers and not the Synagogue Church. Ojo, in his final submission advised the Lagos State Government to take appropriate steps to regularise the building construction and approval applications shown to be pending with the relevant state agencies. In its submission, the Building Collapse Prevention Guide, BCPG, stated that the guide was unable to establish any foundational failures in the collapsed building. The guide however, insisted that the collapse may have been caused by structural failure. In its submission, the Lagos State Government insisted that the inquest must be guided by section 40 of the coroner’s law which bestows on it the role to find out who the deceased are, when and how they died.

survey, according to the council in a press release by Desmond Omovie, is that, “for universities to be able to play a significant role in the continent’s socio-economic progress, African institutions should not view students just as consumers, providing ‘value-for-money’ products that will be attractive to the market, but should include them as primary stakeholders in the collective task of ensuring a rich and relevant learning environment.” The council’s findings represent the second published report of a threeyear research project on “Universities, Employability and Inclusive Development (2013-2016),” commissioned by the council and being led by a research team at UK’s University College London Institute of Education. Omovie stated that the report would be launched and discussed by a panel of students from the four countries in view at “Going global,” a British Council’s annual conference for leaders of international education in London. He also said Tony Reilly, the British Council’s Director in Kenya, had pointed out that: “Higher education is becoming increasingly important in the context of the knowledge society, and governments and development agencies alike are showing greater recognition of higher education’s critical contribution to development in the post-2015 agenda. And that if Africa is to harness the enormous potential of its burgeoning next generation and reap a demographic dividend out of its youth populations, the issue of graduate employability needs to be first understood and then tackled head on.”

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South West

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

14 cheat death in Lagos multiple fire ... 44 shops, 21 cars, 6 tricycles destroyed

FRANCIS SUBERU

ot less than 14 people were severely injured in an overnight fire disaster that wreaked havoc at Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos yesterday morning. The devastating fire consumed millions of naira worth of properties, includ-

ing 44 shops, three houses, 21 cars and six tricycles. The unfortunate fire, which started about 1am occurred when a full petrol tanker fell off the Iyana Ipaja bridge, spilling its 33,000-litre PMS content into about four streets, including Abule-Oki Road, Jafojo Street, Adebayo Street and Oremeji Street. The fire, according to

an eyewitness, was ignited through an explosion from a transformer on Abule-Oki Street immediately the petrol got to it through a flowing drainage. The eyewitness said the driver of the tanker immediately alerted the residents, waking them from their sleep to join in the curtailment of the disaster before the arrival of fire

service men from Ikeja and Alausa fire stations. It was, however, a very busy night for the Lagos State Fire Service men as there were two other incidents in the metropolis, which happened almost at the same time. It was gathered that there was another incident of a tanker conveying 33, 000 litres of diesel to Bada-

Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode (middle) at the scene of fire incident caused by petrol tanker that fell from the bridge at Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos, yesterday.

Security men foil attempt to sabotage NNPC pipelines in Mosinmi, Sagamu OLUSEGUN KOIKI

private security company in Ogun State yesterday foiled an attempt to illegally siphon fuel from the pipelines of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in Mosinmi and Sagamu by vandals. The security company, New Age Global Security and Surveillance, also recovered drilling tools and vehicles from the criminals.

The security outfit was one of the firms engaged by the Federal Government to protect critical government infrastructure in the South West. Spokesman of the group, Alhaji Lateef Lawal, told journalists in Lagos that the vandals numbering over 20 invaded the pipeline located at Idi-Mango, The Redeemed Christian Church area, carrying heavy duty generator, pumping machine, digger, wrench, adaptor drilling, sledge hammer, spanner and other equipment, in-

cluding a black Honda Jeep believed to be owned by leader of the gang. Lawal explained that luck ran out of the vandals when men of the New Age Security and Surveillance arrived the location before they could get to advanced stage of puncturing the pipeline, stressing that men of the security outfit swooped on the vandals leading to exchange of gunfire. In the ensuing battle, he said, the vandals took to their heels, abandoning their tools and the Jeep al-

ready hit by bullets. He added: “The security men promptly impounded the Jeep and seized the generator and other accessories brought by the vandals to commit the illegality.” Also, the company’s commander of operations, Mr. Adeyemo Adetunji, who confirmed the development, said his men would not relent on their bid to curtail activities of petroleum vandals whose activities, he said, had impacted negatively on the economy of the country.

Presidential spokesmen: Ambode congratulates Adesina, Shehu

agos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday congratulated the duo of President of Guild of Editors, Mr. Femi Adesina, and Director of Media and Publicity of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Mallam Garba Shehu, on their appointments as Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, and Senior

Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, respectively. In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, Governor Ambode described the appointment of Adesina, who was also Managing Director of the Sun Publishing Limited, as well deserved. He said as president of Nigerian Guild of Editors, Adesina upped the ante in terms

of performance, integrity and credibility rating of the Nigerian media, adding that he would bring his wealth of experience to bear on management of the media image of the President at this critical juncture of the nation’s history. In the same vein, the governor said the naming of Shehu, who headed the Media and Publicity team of

APC Presidential Campaign Organisation and ran an issue-based media campaign, demonstrated the intellectual depth of the party and its leaders. He therefore, wished the new appointees successful tenure and prayed that they would use their good offices to stimulate issue-based discourse that would set agenda for the Nigerian polity.

gry, which fell at the Ileja Bus Stop, spilling its content. The fire men were, however, able to effectively contain the situation such that the fire was prevented from wreaking havoc. There was yet another tanker accident at Toll Gate, Magbon Bus Stop, toward Badagry. The tanker, it was learnt, was contesting the road with a tipper lorry before losing control and falling by its side. It spilled its 33,000-litre kerosene. Again, the fire service men did well to prevent a major disaster. Meanwhile, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has paid an unscheduled visit to the scene of the incident, blaming tanker drivers’ recklessness for it, just as he said the state government would no longer tolerate any form of recklessness on Lagos roads. According to the governor, tanker drivers have to do something about their operations, adding that “we cannot continue to record loss of lives and properties because our tanker drivers

are not disciplined. “While we are trying to address all these, we would ensure that all those who have lost properties and their shops get a quick bailout to help them get back to their normal businesses.” Fielding question from newsmen at the scene of the incident, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, said the role of the police was to ensure that the incident is investigated to know its remote and immediate cause and bring to book whoever is responsible. Also speaking, Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe, said his organisation responded promptly, noting that lives were not lost because of their effectiveness and vibrancy. Hi words: “That was why no life was lost in the incident. The advice I want to give is that tanker drivers that want to drive at night must rest during the day so that there would not be fatigue as they handle the trucks at night.”

PHCN workers’ entitlements: Court to rule on jurisdiction July 8

ational Industrial Court, Ibadan, will on July 8 rule on its jurisdiction in a case instituted by workers of defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, against the Bureau of Public Enterprise, BPE. News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that no fewer than 384 casual workers of PHCN had sued the BPE and PHCN over nonpayment of their severance entitlements. Counsel to BPE, Ogala Osoka, had filed an application, challenging jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit. Osoka argued that the BPE was not responsible for payment of the workers’ entitlements and should not be a party in the suit. He added that it was the responsibility of the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) to pay the workers, urging the court to grant his prayers and dismiss the case of the claimants in its entirety. Responding, Mr. Bolaji Adeyi, counsel to the claimants, said the defendant had not come up with any tangi-

ble evidence indicating that it was NELMCO that should pay the workers. Adeyi argued that it was BPE that was responsible for privitisation of the defunct electricity company and therefore must bear its liabilities. He said the BPE was a party in the suit and that it was in the jurisdiction of the court to entertain it. Adeyi told the court that he had filed an application praying the court to allow the claimants to introduce some facts, which were supposed to have been in the earlier application. He urged the court not to dismiss the case, but grant his prayer in the interest of justice and fair hearing and allow him to tender the documents. NAN recalls that the workers’ counsel had told the court that his clients were employed by PHCN as contract and casual staff prior to its privatisation. He said they had complied with BPE’s directives to regularise and re-designate them from casual or contract status to permanent staff status from December 31, 2009.

South East

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

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NDLEA arrests 31 drug suspects in Anambra Charles Okeke AWKA

ational Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, yesterday said it has arrested 31 drug suspects and seized drugs weighing 42.864 kg last month in Anambra State. Commander of the agency in Anambra, Sule Momodu, disclosed this during his monthly press briefing at the command’s headquarters, Awka. Momodu said all suspects arrested for alleged involvement in illicit drugs were males. He added that three persons were convicted in court for drug offences, and urged members of the public to always give timely information to the agency to enable it respond to critical situation on time. The NDLEA boss, while urging communities in Anambra to provide the command with useful information that could lead to the arrest of drug peddlers in their areas, assured of maximum protection for its infor-

mants. He also had high praise for Governor Willie Obiano for the assistance rendered to NDLEA. He noted that since Obiano assumed office, the state has experienced peaceful atmosphere devoid of crime and drastic reduction in drug-related offences. On the NDLEA’s mission in the state, Momodu said, “We have a mandate of reducing the availability of drugs in Anambra streets to the barest minimum and to make the state safe for local and foreign investors.” While warning drug peddlers and all criminals to leave Anambra for good, Momodu maintained that the drug agency as a member of the state’s Security Council and joint security task force (Operation Nkpochapu) was fully poised to rid Anambra of drug peddlers. He further stated that the agency was succeeding in its assignments because of various assistances received from the governor.

IBC workers protest unpaid salary arrears Chris Njoku OWERRI

mo Broadcasting Corporation, IBC, workers yesterday took to the streets of Owerri, the state capital, to protest three months unpaid salary arrears owed them by the state government. Over 100 workers marched from their head office at Akanchawa Road to Government House, carrying placards with several inscriptions to express their grievances. They said staffs of the corporation were dying gradually as hunger and poverty now ravages them following three months unpaid salaries. The protesters said they found it increasingly difficult to feed, as well as transport themselves to and from work, stressing that their pathetic situation was made unbearable and worsened by the insensitivity of management, which they

said had refused to throw them a lifeline to enable them survive the harsh times. Chairman of IBC Joint Action Committee of the workers’ unions, Mr. Sam Eke, told journalists that the development could be explained by the maxim of monkey “working and baboon enjoying” as the Chief Ifeanyi Olumba-led IBC board was having a field day, while the workers were suffering. He said they had brought to Governor Rochas Okorocha’s attention the hardship and deprivation experienced due to months of unpaid salaries and other benefits. Addressing the protesters on behalf of the governor, the former Chief of Staff to the state government, Sir Jude Ejiogu, begged them not to welcome the new administration with protests and assured them of urgent attention to remedy their situation.

People at Toronto Hospital, Onitsha, yesterday, to verify the identity of some corpses of the victims involved in Sunday’s petroleum tanker accident at Upper Iweka, Onitsha, in Anambra State. PHOTO: NAN

Umahi frowns over unpaid N11bn contracts Aliuna Godwin ABAKALIKI

bonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, yesterday received over N10.5 billion unpaid contract certificates inherited from the immediate past administration, which he described as worrisome to the government, even as he decried poor monthly federal allocation to the state. Umahi, who disclosed this while addressing permanent secretaries, directors of parastatals and other

government functionaries at the Akanu Ibiam International Centre, Abakaliki, stated his readiness to scrutinise all contract awarded by the past administration. He said, “I just got certificates of contracts ready for payment, which amounts to N10.5bn. This is very disturbing and excludes workers’ salary arrears in a state that receives N1.4bn federal allocation. So, to move forward requires courage and prayers.” The governor therefore, ordered the permanent secretaries and directors to

make available details of all contracts for scrutiny, adding that some projects would be stopped after critical evaluation. Umahi said he could not borrow money to settle debts, including unpaid salaries to civil servants he inherited from the previous administration. “I will not collect bond or borrow money to pay salaries or debt because if you borrow N10bn bond, after seven years you will be paying extra N12bn. I can borrow to build diagnostics centre I intend to build to

save lives,” he stated. The governor charged them to cut down cost of running their ministries and parastatals, which he described as too high, adding that his government will not tolerate corruption. He ordered them to reverse the recruitment of staff they conducted in the last two years without government approval, stressing that he will not hesitate to sack illegally recruited staff as the government cannot employ more workers when it can’t pay those earlier employed.

APGA upset at election violence twist Dennis Agbo ENUGU

ll Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in Enugu State has expressed concern over a new dimension to alleged violence that marred the National Assembly election in Udenu/ Igboeze North federal constituency of the state. The party said it was shocked that having petitioned the police on alleged shooting and attempted murder of its members by suspected Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, members in Udenu Local Government Area, the police were now interrogating APGA members in a reversed order. The party said it was on record that it petitioned the police on March 28 over

alleged shooting of APGA supporter, James Odo, at Udenu local council by one Franklin Mamah, an aide to Udenu council chairman, Amechi Nwodo, during the election. The party said thereafter, Mamah, Emeka Ngwu and Emeka Odo were arrested but later set free by the police. However, APGA’s House of Representatives candidate in the election, Prince Emeka Mamah, who briefed newsmen yesterday in Enugu, said he was shocked the police had turned around to invite him for questioning based on alleged counter-petition against him by Udenu council boss, Nwodo, whom he described as an accomplice in the alleged shooting of APGA supporter. The APGA candidate

accused the police of frustrating efforts by Force Headquarters, Abuja, to investigate the matter and turning around to set the suspects free. He lamented that the freed suspects had now turned around to threaten him and other APGA members in the constituency. Mamah said: “The election was so violent that my supporters were shot, machete was used on some that ended up in hospital. The police arrested PDP people that shot at us, but because the Udenu chairman was involved, the police set them free through an arranged mobile court after remanding them in prison custody. “Effort by Inspector General of Police to transfer the case to Abuja was thwarted by SARS men

in Enugu, who refused to hand over vital documents to Abuja police, while the matter is now turned against the complainant. “Part of why they are doing this now is to make me have a bad case at the tribunal.” When contacted, Udenu council boss, Nwodo, denied the accusation as untrue, stating that APGA members were merely trying to build a case against him at the tribunal.

Umeh

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South south

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Edo: 88 die in 98 road accidents in 5 months –FRSC ...Benin-Auchi-Okene highways record highest casualties

Sebastine Ebhuomhan BENIN

Civil servants locked out for coming late at the State Secretariat in Calabar, Cross Rivers State, on Monday.

Ijaw leaders bent on self-determination, resource control Osahon Julius YENAGOA

ew days after their son and brother relinquished leadership of the nation’s political power, elders and stakeholders from Ijaw ethnic nationalities have expressed desire for selfdetermination, reaffirming total rejection of the unjust order that robs resource owners of their rights to such resources. They cast doubt over the current structure of the Nigerian State, saying it is lopsided and in favour of majority ethnic nationalities in the country. They also acknowledged the fact that the secession treaties between the Ijaw and British colonial au-

thorities have lapsed and the instrument of amalgamation of 1914 that produced Nigeria expired in 2014. Consequently, the elders have called and empowered the Ijaw National Congress, INC, the umbrella body of the Ijaws worldwide, to initiate the process of renegotiating the basis of coexistence with other ethnic nationalities. At a summit under the auspices of INC, they contended that the development was such that there is no adequate socio-political and economic space for the minority ethnic nationalities, particularly the Ijaws in the Niger Delta region. These positions were contained in a communiqué released after a panIjaw stakeholders’ summit

titled ‘Ijaw Agenda Beyond May 29, 2015’ and made available to our correspondent yesterday in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. The communiqué was signed by 31 prominent Ijaw citizens, including former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; former Military Governor of old Rivers State, King Alfred Diete-Spiff and Emeritus Professor of History, Ebiegberi Alagoa. The event co-hosted by the INC and Bayelsa State government, also noted with regret that successive administrations in Nigeria had proved unwilling to accede to the demand by Ijaws to be united in homogeneous political entities of their own. They reaffirmed that Ni-

geria is made up of diverse ethnic nationalities with varying histories, motivations and aspirations, insisting that the ethnic nationalities should form the basis of a true Nigerian federation. They stated: “Conscious of the fact that the environment remains the most valuable physical resource for development and survival of the Ijaw ethnic nationality, the summit notes that the Ijaw oil and gas communities suffer the deleterious effects of oil and gas exploration and exploitation. “The Ijaw people agreed on the imperative to take steps to promote and sustain the Izon language as part of the desires to maintain and promote their cultural values.”

Ayade scraps weekly exco meetings in Cross River Richard Ndoma CALABAR

ross River State Governor, Benedict Ayade, has scrapped the weekly state executive council (exco) meetings where former governor and his deputy met with commissioners, special advisers and permanent secretaries to review activities of government on weekly basis. During a closed-door

meeting on Monday evening with permanent secretaries, public and civil servants, Ayade directed that in place of the weekly meeting, there would be monthly interactive sessions in the executive council chambers. According to a release signed by permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Mr. Freedom Ejom, government henceforth, also scrapped the anti-deforestation task force put in place by

his predecessor, former Governor Liyel Imoke, to checkmate illegal logging of large forest reserves in the state on which carbon credit the United Nations has granted $600 million. “Government has approved the disbandment of the state’s Task Force on Illegal Logging, while all offenders are to be fully prosecuted without delay,” the release stated. Ayade, however, did not proffer any alternative solution to the ille-

gal logging, adding that henceforth refuse disposal should be done only at night - from 11pm till 5am to keep environment in the state clean and green. Ayade also went further to approve the introduction of green police in the state’s Ministry of Environment to “orientate, maintain and enforce environmental cleanness, refuse collection and ensure survival of green areas and trees.”

ederal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) yesterday in Benin City disclosed that no fewer than 88 persons died in 98 road crashes recorded by the corps in Edo State between January and May 2015. According to Edo Sector Commander, Mr. Oluwasusi Familoni, most road traffic accidents (RTAs) that occurred between Benin City and Auchi also left not fewer than 404 persons with different degrees of injury. Familoni also explained that the highest number of monthly road accidents recorded within the period of review was 28, in March, while the least was 14 in May. Familoni particularly attributed the accidents to prevalent high disre-

gard for traffic regulations, speed, bad roads and other factors, adding that the Benin-Auchi Expressway, leading from Ramat Park through Aduwawa and Eyaen in Benin City to Ewu and Iyamho, recorded high mortality and morbidity rates from accidents due to construction work on the road. “These accidents were caused by drivers, who drive against traffic on such roads. People should desist from driving ‘one way’ on the new highway on Aduwawa and obey the rules and regulations guiding use of highways in the state. “Drivers need to ensure minimal road carnage on that particular road as regular and special marshals would be arresting defaulters, henceforth,” Familoni added.

Wike warns banks against giving loans to LGs, agencies Dennis Naku

PORT HARCOURT

ivers State Governor, Barrister Nyesom Wike, has warned banks and financial institutions not to give loans to local governments, ministries and agencies without his approval. This was contained in a statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday and signed by Sir. Opunabo Inko-Tariah, on behalf of the government. The governor added that any institution that flouts the order does so at its own risk. The statement reads: “The Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Chief Nyesom Wike, has warned all banks and financial institutions against giving loans to local governments, ministries and agencies without his express approval in writing. “Consequently, any institution that flouts this order does so at its own risk.” Meanwhile, Wike has directed permanent secretaries in the state to produce a detailed account of their ministries’ expenditure

over the last eight months. This is as the governor advised permanent secretaries to shun partisan politics as career civil servants, saying the roles some of them played in the last days of the immediate past administration were politically motivated. Addressing permanent secretaries during a meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday, Wike regretted that some of the permanent secretaries helped the immediate past administration to illegally withdraw funds from the state government’s coffers even up to May 28, 2015. He said: “I want full details and print-out of every ministry’s account in the last 18 months. I will not accept any handover note without an accompanying accounts detail. “The government was coming to a close and some of you were busy signing cheques on 26, 27 and 28 of May. On 28 of May, the Transition Committee called most of you and you refused to cooperate because they told you I would not be sworn-in.”

North

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Jang handed me empty treasury, says Lalong JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

overnor Simon Lalong of Plateau State yesterday said the immediate past governor of the state, Jonah Jang, left N104 bil-

lion debt for the incoming administration without even a kobo in the treasury. Lalong stated this yesterday while addressing judiciary workers led by the state’s Chief Judge, Pius Damulak, who visited the governor at Ray-

field Government House in Jos. The governor lamented that he found no kobo in the state’s treasury, as Jang left him a debt of N104 billion, including unpaid seven months workers’ salaries and that of pensioners in the state.

“I want the judiciary to know that the past administration left N104 billion documented in the handover note to me and there is also no kobo left in the state’s treasury. Also, we will have to battle with seven months unpaid salaries for workers, in-

cluding pensioners in the state.” Plateau chief judge, Damulak, decried underfunding of the state’s judiciary during the past administration and urged the new administration to regard the judicial system as a key sector that should

not be toyed with. Meanwhile, Governor Lalong yesterday held several meetings with critical stakeholders, including permanent secretaries, local government chairmen and heads of tertiary institutions on how to move the state forward.

Kadpoly lecturers begin 3-day warning strike

L-R: Lay Synod Secretary, Mr. Clement Atie; Diocesan Registrar, Mr. John Omughele; Bishop of Kaduna Anglican Diocese, Most Rev. Josiah Idowu-Fearon; Bishop of Kafanchan Diocese, Rt. Rev. Markus Dogo and Provost, Very Ven. Samuel Nwaeze, during the Diocese of Kaduna 20th Synod, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Scores hospıtalısed as cholera ravages Plateau JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

edical experts in Plateau State are battling to curtail cholera outbreak in the state. National Mirror learnt yesterday that already scores of people have been admitted into hospitals in Jos, following outbreak of cholera and diarrhoea in Jos North Local Government Area. National Mirror further gathered from a hospital visited yesterday that no fewer than 50 people had been admitted within the last 10 days, with some already treated and discharged, while many were still on admission in hospitals up to the time of filing this report yesterday afternoon. A public health consultant and Chief Medical Director of Murna Clinic, Dr Samuel, who spoke with journalists in Jos yesterday, noted that about 40 cases admitted for treat-

ment within the last two weeks were diarrhoea cases. He, however, said over 10 were cholera cases, with many already treated and discharged, while some were still receiving treatment. On causes of the condition, Samuel said, “The causative organism is Vibrio Cholerae, and it is contracted from contaminated water, food and fruits such

as oranges. An unwashed contaminated mango is a common source of the condition and it is particularly in unclean environments. People are advised to watch the water they buy from water vendors, who ply the streets pushing their jerry cans of water fetched from untreated water sources.” Plateau State branch of the Nigerian Red Cross Society said there had been

cases of diarrhoea and vomiting, but could not specify cases of cholera. But secretary of the Red Cross, Manasseh Panpe, told National Mirror in Jos yesterday that the organisation had embarked on free distribution of water guard to communities in Jos North and South having discovered contamination of water in many parts of the metropolis.

cademic Staff Union of Kaduna Polytechnic has commenced a three-day warning strike to compel management of the institution to address their pressing demands. Chairman of the union, Musa Ibrahim, who disclosed this yesterday at a press conference in Kaduna, said the work-to-rule action would last three days. “Beginning from today, our members will make appearance in class, but not teach,” he said, adding that if no action is taken to address their plight, the union would declare total strike. “We shall proceed on a three-day warning strike after which we shall declare a total shutdown should the need arise,” he said. The chairman listed some of the issues that necessitated their action

Kwara to build power plant

overnor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has said his administration would build an independent power plant, IPP, in the North Senatorial district of the state that

Dankwambo denies dumping PDP WILLIAMS ATTAH GOMBE

overnor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State has restated his loyalty and commitment to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, despite the party’s loss at the centre. Dankwambo, who assured that the party would be re-engineered and revitaslised, promised members of his dissolved state executive council at

a valedictory session that he would never betray the party that brought him to power for the second time. He said he would leave no stone unturned in repositioning and returning the former ruling PDP to power, having helped him to become governor. Dankwambo, who applauded the dissolved State Executive Council in the last four years, said its excellent drive and performance informed the tremendous transformation success in the state.

He said all appointed council members were deeply committed and had incontrovertible belief that they would perform well, which factors were behind the monumental success recorded in the state, for which they were being applauded. He said no policy or programme was treated as personal but as a service, hence the deep commitment exhibited by the administration in a bid to meet yearnings and aspirations of the people.

to include infrastructure decay, under-funding and unjustified removal of allowances. According to him, management of the polytechnic had remained unwilling to yield to the demands. The union, however, commended the Federal Government for the conversion of four Colleges of Education into universities. “This development reinforces our belief that government can adequately address the perennial decay in the education sector by enhancing their capacities for quality research and development,” Ibrahim said. He urged the government to revisit the issue of converting Kaduna Polytechnic and Yaba College of Technology to fully fledged universities, saying the institutions had met due diligence criteria.

He promised to continue to run a civil service which would stand the test of time and remain the best ever, but said going forward might not be easy due to the unfolding economic trend in the last few months. The occasion witnessed emotional reflections about the model of Dankwambo’s intelligent approach to issues of public interest, especially as regards development and prudent management of resources.

would generate 100 megawatts of electricity. Ahmed said this yesterday during an interactive session with former political office holders in the state. The governor said the power plant would drive both small and medium scale enterprises, SMEs, when operational. It would also improve the state’s economy in the face of dwindling federal allocations, he said, adding that the project would also improve power supply to other essential services such as hospitals, government offices and educational institutions in the area. The governor promised to strengthen urban electrification programme with solar streetlights on major roads in Omu-Aran, Patigi, Kaiama, Lafiagi, Offa, Share and Tsaragi.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

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Politics

Our administration is that of continuity –Ganduje

14, 43 Henry Iyorkase MAKURDI

enue State governor Dr. Samuel Ortom, yesterday threw a bombshell when he said that he met an empty treasury, adding that his predecessor and immediate past Governor Gabriel Suswam left behind inherited backlog of debts. Ortom made the declaration yesterday while swearing-in the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Head of Service, HoS, Chief of Staff, CoS, and

I met empty treasury –Benue gov Special Adviser on Media and Information Communication and Technology. The key officials appointed by the governor for the smooth take-off of his administration include: Barr Targuma Takema, SSG; Mr Terwase Orbunde, CoS; Mr Adaikwu Inwata, HoS and Mr Tahav Agerzua, Special Adviser, Media and Information Communication Technology. Dr Ortom said that he inherited an empty trea-

sury and yet to be ascertain huge debts, arising from salaries arrears and allowances, pensions, retirement benefits, bonds as well as obligations to contractors. He said: “As I said during my inaugural speech, I will carefully study the handover notes and cross check it with the true situation on ground and inform the public accordingly. “As we speak, the state treasury is empty; there is

nothing in the treasury. I am not witchhunting anybody but the truth must be told. “Any project, program or policies of the past administration that are wrong would be reviewed and corrected accordingly.” He said that his administration would have zero tolerance for corruption, urging all political appointees to be ready to provide selfless services to the peo-

ple. Ortom said that any government official found wanting would be severely punished in accordance to the rule of law. He told the new appointees: “Your appointment is an opportunity to serve, not to amass illegal wealth. Anyone who wants to make money can explore opportunities of business in the private sector as any official who misappropriates public funds will be sanctioned. “Everyone who is part of this government must be ready to be exemplary,

must be ready to be an agent of change and must live up to expectation in our chosen agenda to offer high quality service to Benue people.” Orbunde, a former local government boss, is reputed to be a thorough bred administrator while Agerzua had served the state before as its chief spokesman under former Governor George Akume. Responding on behalf of other appointees, the SSG, Takema, pledged dedication, loyalty and honesty in all government transactions.

NASS leadership: N’East CAN urges Buhari, APC to ensure religious balance Ezekiel Titus BAUCHI

N L-R: Hon. Adams Jagaba, Hon. Zakari Mohammed, Hon. Mukhtar Betara, Hon. Mustapha Dawaki, Hon. Aisha Dukku, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari and Hon. Babangida Ibrahim Mahuta, when members of the 8th Assembly consolidation project of Hon. Dogara visited Masari in Katsina, yesterday.

Probing past misdeeds, time wasting –Group Olajide Omojolomoju

non-gover nmental organization, NGO, Due Process Advocates of Nigeria, DPAN, has urged the newly inaugurated Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to shun any urge to probe the misdeeds of the past government, describing it as waste of precious time and nation’s scarce resources. Reacting to the reported advice from former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and current Emir of Kano, Mallam Sanusi

Lamido Sanusi, that the CBN and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, be probed, DPAN founder and National President, Tajudeen Atunwase Kudu, in a statement said: “President Buhari is expected to hit the ground running by kick starting his programmes for Nigeria.” According to him, if the President should start probing when he is supposed to be putting things right in the country, he may spend the next two years groping in the dark in the name of probe and thereby neglecting his main duty of instilling discipline, curbing corruption and reviving the

comatose economy. Kudu said: “Whereas we are averse to any act of corruption and under hands tactics to fleece the country, we are of the belief that Buhari was voted en masse by Nigerians to clear the rot and mess that has turned the country to a laughing stock globally. And any attempt at foot dragging all in the name of probe will not augur well with Buhari’s image that is held in high esteem across the world.” Reminding Presidetn Buhari of the crisis caused by the purported suspension of the former CBN governor, Mallam Sanusi by the Goodluck Jonathan administra-

tion, DPAN said: “The crisis could have taken the country up to two years to address if not that providence set in to make Sanusi the paramount ruler of his father’s domain.” Drawing from that unsavoury experience, the group urged President Buhari to start implementing his campaign promises which he said would lead to delivering democracy dividends to the door steps of every Nigerian, warning that “failure to do that would not be acceptable as Nigerians are not prepared for excuses and complaints about why the expected ‘change’ should be delayed.”

orth-East zone of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC caucus, to be fair to all Nigerians without religious prejudice or ethnic sentiment in the election of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives. The call was contained in a press statement signed by North-East CAN chairman, Rev. Shuaibu Byal and made available to newsmen in Bauchi. According to the statement, CAN wants appointment into key positions to be equitably shared among the two major religions in the country, particularly the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives. Byal said that the generality of Nigerians from different walks of life and without prejudice to religion and ethnicity voted for the President. He said that it would be fair for the Buhari administration to consider every part of the country for appointment into the various political offices irrespec-

tive of religion, regional or ethnic differences. He said: “Appointments into political offices have always been based on ethnicity and religion in this country. “Now that the long awaited change has come, Nigerians expect a total shift from such predispositions. “As Nigerians, we expect fairness and equity in appointments into political offices, particularly by ensuring a balance between the two major religions, to strengthen trust and confidence among us.” He suggested that if a Muslim emerges as the Senate President, a Christian should be elected as Speaker and Vice versa. He also suggested that the two religions should be reflected in appointments into key positions at state levels, adding: “Nigeria is a great country and a precious gift to us all, let’s not allow selfish interest to override our common interest as Nigerians. “As religious leaders, we will remain committed to prayers for the good of our land and for peaceful coexistence and harmonious relationship among the diverse ethnic religious groups in the country.”

Politics

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Our administration is that Abdullahi Umar Ganduje made history as one of the very few deputy governors who succeed their principals when he was on May 29 sworn in as Kano State governor, succeeding former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, now a senator-elect. He speaks with journalists on his programmes for the people of Kano in the next four years. OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU brings excerpts:

hat should people of Kano expect from your administration? First of all I do appreciate you all for accepting to be here on a very short notice, I am very grateful for that. I appreciate the people of Kano State for organising an enormous ceremony successfully and peacefully. Our government is a continuation. In our case, we are glad because it is a continuation of ‘Kwankwassiya’ government. My government is predicated on continuity I said continuity because a number of governments have come and gone with their policies, which have caused distortions. One of the problems facing this country is discontinuity in government. We have seen that when we were in office from 1999 to 2003 and lost election to another government, a number of programmes are reversed, some were discontinued and some distorted. That is why I called my government a continuation; that those programmes that are immature or well tested will be consolidated, so that there will be a solid reaffirmation of our works. Some of the projects will be fine tuned, because of change and circumstances in which we find ourselves and we are having new challenges and we are having a new cabinet and expectations of the people also are very high and more grounds are being discovered; therefore there will be more vision so that we continue moving Kano State to a higher position. How do you intend to drive this government of continuity? First of all I will like a very strong cabinet because that is the first call or point of whatever we want to do. And also I want to ensure that all our institutions are well positioned – ministries, departments and agencies. People are put in appropriate places so that they will be involved in decision making and implementation. Also because of the financial situation we find ourselves, I will put up a very rigorous fight to include a very strong committee and because of the unprecedented road network we are undertaking, I think this will take us higher. But at the end of this, we will tax the rich and make sure that a common man is not taxed above the rich and that is why the issue of tax remittance is important in order to improve the quality of life of the people. And that is why we are looking into that issue of due process. This is very important because our slogan is change and we must put it in action. So I am going to introduce or establish a body that will ensure that whatever we do is done through due process and make people understand that this government, especially the new President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whose agenda is primarily fighting corruption to ensure sanity among civil servants. So these are the type of things we will do. We also have the issue of human and rural development. What about the issue of electricity? Electricity is the backbone of development. We have started hydro power electricity. The work is going on now and I will put pressure on the contractors to see that it is speedily completed. We also have water treatment for our plant because they need lots of water and we shall supply electricity to those water works and for our street lights, 24 hours a day. We have discussed with some power company to invest and support our power project to improve supply by 35MW, because if we are able to ensure adequate power supply, we have put in place enabling environment for investors to invest in our power project. These critical infrastructures will make Kano a mega city. In ensuring this, adequate water supply will be made available across the state through effective water scheme. Infrastructure is the road network. I am going to do universal planning of

Kano, because over 30 years, Kano has not been rebuilt; because of the issue of road extension, environmental issues, population, pollution, breeze, degradation, so we want experts to review our policies to ensure proper solution to these issues. We need to decongest our roads of traffic jam through proper road network and also, we have identified other areas to better the lives of our people. Your Excellency, isn’t security a challenge in Kano? On issue of security which is very important, I intend to establish a security trust fund that will be managed by the people who will be able to source for funds from private sectors and they will be able to manage security challenges through some platform like the CCTV camera, the police and the army. And to ensure that insurgency does not show up again. So we are concerned about this to ensure peace and security of our people with the collaboration of the Federal Government. Establishing a security trust fund is cardinal to this government. What other areas will your administration impact positively on the quality of life of Kano people? One major area we will invest is education; it is known that education is the bedrock of any development. Already we have set the ball rolling. We have two universities and we will increase more primary and secondary schools with more classrooms and tertiary institutions. We will ensure that all our children are enrolled in school, especially at the primary level, which will be absolutely free. It is a must that every child must go to school. And provisions are being made for our physically challenged. For those who are not from Kano state, statistics will be carried out to ascertain their number and origin and I will mobilise all the governors from north western states, get their contacts and find a way to help them. So the issue of education is very pertinent to improve our government. Another area is human development - primary and secondary. What actually we want to do is to ensure good environmental sanitation. I have ordered that to take effect. Civil servants, private citizens and community leaders will be mobilised to ensure proper sanitation and seek the services of refuse disposals for proper management of our refuse and we shall in the next six days see how Kano can be very clean. Also we are going to produce a beautification plan for Kano State to ensure our environment is clean, so that potential diseases will be prevented. The effort we will put forward will in ten months produce change and I believe if it is one year this is done the result recorded will be very great. We will ensure that cholera has no place in Kano State. We will take immunisation to markets and houses for our children to ensure they are free of diseases. Another issue is commercial agriculture and integrated rural development. What we intend to do is that we will like to register all our farmers who have vast land which will be confirmed through thorough investigation and not only that, we shall go to the extent of ascertaining the size of the farms in order to know what kind of input that will be required. So we are going to do that and have the data of our farms. Also we are going to have improved seeds. Because in agro allied that is what is needed. Once we have high quality seeds for all our farmers, yields will be high. We are going to have our inputs in terms of fertilisers which will be produced throughout the year and we are going to subsidise it and know the amount that they need from the record that we would have and it will be used for merchandise so that anybody that needs it can buy and resell so that we can augment those being subsidised. Therefore, we will look for investors that can partner with us to develop the agricultural scheme. By this, more jobs will be provided for our youths and at the same time

Ganduje

provide food for all and Nigeria at large. Apart from that we have seen another way we can promote agriculture through streams and rivers traversing a number of places so that farmers will find farming activities convenient by providing irrigation for them on both sides of the rivers. Through commercial agriculture, we intend to provide some facilities and invite some investors who like taking advantage of such opportunities. For example, we will provide funds, water, basic materials for cleaning, provide space for marketing. If we can provide such infrastructure that will motivate stakeholders to come in, with this we will get employment for our people. We know that unemployment is a serious issue in this country. So gentlemen of the press, I will like to say that we may not be able to enumerate our plans for the people at once, but we have many things to accomplish like youth empowerment, tackle the problems of the physically challenged. We are going to harmonise interest with other stakeholders. We are going to carry out research to know what kind of trade our people want, what kind of skills they may want to acquire, what kind of plans can we put on the ground to ensure specific youth and rural empowerment. How do you intend to manage the civil service? Yes the civil service is to ensure that we put in place training institutes and facilities so that our civil servants can be trained and retrained. Another thing I want to put in place is the SERVICOM, to ensure that people are doing their work when and how they are

Our government is a con

we are glad because it is a con government.

My government

I said continuity because a

have come and gone wit

have caused d

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

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15 15

From The Civil Service Over 4,000 commercial motorcycles impounded in 90 days P.42

Iloduba, others explain VIO, FRSC duties overlap CHIDI UGWU ABUJA

Lagos State Governor Akinwumi Ambode (2nd left) being presented a congratulatory card by Lagos Head of Service, Mrs. Folasade Jaji (left) on behalf of body of Lagos Permanent Secretaries, during a meeting with the governor in Lagos, recently.

Cross River gov locks out late workers RICHARD NDOMA CALABAR

ust barely 3days after resuming office,newly sworned-in Gov. Of Cross River State Gov. Benedict Ayade on Monday Morning locked out civil servants who came late to work. Ayade said the action was one of the ways to restore discipline and make the work force more result oriented and directed the Head of Service to shot all Ministries, Department and Agencies, (MDAs) by 8.10am daily in order to curb lateness to work. The Gov. Ayade,stated that the enforcement of the new order on his first day in office was to deter civil servants who were in the habit of coming to work late and warned all heads of MDAs to live up to their responsi-

bilities by ensuring that civil servants serve in line with prescribed rules to deliver on the desired gains to the populace. Ayade frown at the laxity he observed in the service and said “If heads of MDAs could report to work as early as 8am, I see no reason why the subordinates should not be in their respective offices on or before that time. For those who are late today, we will pardon them but from tomorrow, all late comers will be locked out and sanctioned accordingly.” The Gov added that as a successful business man, he will not fold his arms and watch civil servants who are supposed to serve the people relegate their work to the background. “I am a change agent. In my younger years, I used to be addressed as a system

Lagos civil servants fault Fashola’s policy on civil service P.41

purifier and I am here to do just that; focus exactly on production, expand the horizon and economic benefits and potentials of my people. “It is only private organizations that run for profit but government’s profit is the social safety net, the welfare and wellbeing of our people. My profit therefore is the number of people I employ, my service to my people is the number of people I have engaged.” While commenting on the issue of political appointees which is been rumoured he may cut down the number, the governor disclosed that instead of reduction, he will add some more as a means of creating employment, which is a key responsibility of government. “For obvious reasons anyone would have thought of reducing the number of political appointees, but

I will not. Perhaps, I will rather increase the number because you must recognize the fact that some of these appointees do not have any other means of livelihoods. When you keep them out of their appointments, you send them back to the streets with enormous responsibilities.” Ayaded siad. The Gov. stated “We must provide for each other. The only thing that I will do that will be different is that the designations, roles and responsibilities will change. I will increase the appointment, expand the horizon but ensure that for every appointment, there is true value addition to the system. But I don’t intend to either drop, sack or reduce appointment. It is not acceptable because, it is the responsibility of government to create jobs particularly in Africa and carter for its citizenry.

RTEAN calls for establishment of transport workers’ banks P.42

he seeming overlap of the duties of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services popularly known as VIO and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has been explained by the Public Relations Officer of the Abuja, VIO, Mr. KK Iloduba. Speaking to National Mirror in Abuja on Monday, Iloduba, said that aside Trade License, which the VIO issue to ensure that all spare parts dealers in FCT, are dealing in genuine parts, regulating car dealers, and the renewal of vehicles licenses and number plate, the FRSC has been mandated to do every other thing that VIO does in the road traffic management. The VIO spokesman, who described the overlap as pluralisation of mandate of the VIO noted that the powers of the FRSC to carry out the same work as the VIO was derived from the FRSC Act No 22 which, he stated is a by-product of the amendment conferred on Decree 45 and 35 that came into being between 2004 and 2007. “I consider it an overlap because by the position of FRSC Act No 22, there is basically no assignment that we have been doing for years now that they have now been mandated to do. By that Act, they now have the mandate to operate on state roads. They equally have the mandate to conduct vehicle inspection in respect of roadworthiness certificates. Basically, everything we do is what

FRSC is doing now by the reason of the projections of that FRSC Act No 22, which is a by-product of the amendment conferred on Decree 45 and 35 and came into being between 2004 and 2007. So by the projections of that Act it is right to say that our duties are now overlapping. It is a pluralisation of our mandate because outside of Trade License, that is ensuring that all spare parts dealers in FCT, are dealing genuine parts and then, outside of regulating car dealers, and then of course, renewal of vehicles licenses and number plate, road safety is doing every other that we are doing as an agency” he stated. But, the Assistant Director, Operations, Road Traffic Services, FCT, Mr. Bodinga Wadata said that than overlapping, the two agencies’ duties are complimentary stressing that the work of the traffic services are all encompassing hence more hands are needed to execute the jobs. He pointed out that due to the enormity of the work in traffic management both the FRSC and VIO also engage the services of volunteers in form of special marshals. “Road Traffic management generally is an all encompassing work that requires all the stakeholders, that is the relevant agencies like the traffic Police, VIOs, and Road Safety Officials. There are also FRSC Marshals as well as VIO volunteers who are also engaged in the traffic management. The functions are not actually overlapping but complimentary” he said.

Groups launch ‘BUHARIMETER’ initiative for accountability P.16

Buhari

Civil Service

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

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Groups launch ‘BUHARIMETER’ initiative for accountability JOEL AJAYI ABUJA

enter for democracy and development CDD through the support of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa OSIWA, have launched the ‘Buharimeter’ initiatives for the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari that will promote unity, transparency, accountability, economic growth, development, equality, equitable distribution of resources as well as national development. The Buharimeter initiative is an important tool conceptualized toward the challenges of governance, civic participation and effective service delivery in Nigeria. It is also, a platform to ensure that the dividends of democracy are delivered to Nigerians who voted overwhelmingly for “change” during the 2015 general elections. Speaking yesterday, in Abuja at the launching Buharimeter.ng the Director of the CDD, Idayat Hassan noted that, the broad-based engagement of citizens in decisionmaking and implementa-

tion processes are fundamental to deepening democratic culture in the country. According to her, having engaged with democracy work in Nigeria for 16 years, there are three challenges come to mind here; the inability of the government to be accountable to the citizens; the inability of citizens to hold elected officials accountable; under what platform can government be held accountable? She said: “In the run up to the Nigeria’s 2015 presidential elections, 15 political parties that contested for the presidential seat made a monumental shift towards engaging in issue-based campaign in an an effort to get the support of the electorates, the political parties and their candidates made lots of promises to address age-long development challenges confronting the country. “They also reeled out their policy preferences during political campaigns and town hall meetings held across the country. It is upon promises made, amongst other factors, that APC and its candidate emerged winner of the Presidential election and was sworn

in on Friday, 29th of May, 2015. “However, history of Nigeria’s democracy has shown that holding elected officials accountable to their promise has been an elusive venture. Absence of a veritable tool that would empower citizens to measure their performance and prevent them from reneging on their promises is key. “This is why the Nigeria is experiencing poverty, economic decline, infrastructural decay, corruption, weak institutional capacity, lack of political will amongst others.”

She added that: “CDD has so far tracked and is set to monitor 174 promises made by All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, party manifesto and policy documents cutting across different sectors/issues of national development including women, youth, persons with disability, agriculture, corruption, security, power, oil and gas, health, education, transport, good governance, including My Vision for Nigerians and 100 days covenant. “The performance of

the government will be measured using three interrelated approaches. First, through different web-based applications, the general public will have the opportunity to make contributions to discussions, comment on policy pronouncements of the government in achieving its set targets, participate in periodic surveys, and suggest priority areas that require urgent attention. “Second, through rigorous policy and media monitoring exercise, policy statements will be tracked, analyses and

used as a basis for gauging the performance of the government. This will be complemented by the third approach which is spot-checks of projects and programmes being implemented by the government. “CDD believes that the more elected officials are accountable to the electorate, the more they are driven to give quality service. Accountability in governance creates mutual exchange of responsibilities between the citizens and government, and enhances the quality of democracy.”

Young business CEOs converge on Abuja MARCUS FATUNMOLE ABUJA

n a bid to consolidate on rising gains of small and medium enterprises, SMEs, in Nigeria, young entrepreneurs, under the auspices of Nigerian Young Professionals Forum, NYPF, will converge on the nation’s capital in August this year to deliberate on how they could easily rise above challenges associated with running SMEs in the country and consequently expand their prospects. This was contained in a statement made available to National Mirror recently by Executive Secretary of NYPF, Dr Nuhu Atta. Over 1000 Nigerian and Diaspora young entrepreneurs are expected at the event tagged “Young Nigerian Chief Executive Officers’ Conference”, where entrepreneurial ideas will also be shared among participants,

according to the release. The statement informed that the major objective of the meeting was for the young business owners to discuss challenges they encounter in their businesses, with a view to finding ways to solving them. The theme of the conference, according to the statement is “Promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Building Economic Leaders for Tomorrow.” Part of the statement said: “It will among other things afford young entrepreneurs in Nigeria the opportunity to exchange ideas with their peers from other parts of the world. It will challenge and empower entrepreneurship mentality amongst its participants; and thus enable them to create an economic revolution in Nigeria, or any part of Africa where their businesses are located.’’

L-R: Comptroller-General of Prisons, Dr. Ezenwa Ekpendu; Secretary, Prisons Officers Wives Association, Enugu State, Mrs. Francisca Ehushie and State Chairperson, Mrs. Anthonia Uchenwa, during Ekpendu’s working visit to Enugu on Monday. PHOTO: NAN

Kogi restores full salaries to workers

he Kogi State Government on Monday reversed its earlier decision to slash workers salaries by 60 per cent. The Chairman of the state chapter of the NLC, Mr Onu Edoka, announced this to newsmen in Lokoja after a meeting with a government delegation. He said that all workers would receive their April salaries in full, while discussion on the May salary had been put on hold pend-

ing the arrival of the state governor from a foreign trip. According to him, the government has agreed to commence payment of April salaries from May 20. Edoka, who was flanked by other officers of NLC, said that government had also agreed to pay outstanding 2013 leave allowances to workers in the Teaching Service Commission, Hospital Management Board and other

agencies The NLC advised all workers to remain calm and be law abiding, explaining that the delay in the payment of April salaries was due to its insistence that workers should get full pay against government’s plan to slash salaries. The Head of Civil Service in the state, Mr Moses Atakpa, who led Government’s delegation at the meeting, confirmed that

government had agreed to pay full salaries to all categories of workers for the month of April. He commended the leadership of the NLC for its maturity and the entire workers for their patience, saying that the approach of NLC on the issue had helped in stabilising the civil service. Atakpa also commended the governor for his fatherly approach to governance in the state. (NAN)

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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

The Patriots’ task of reinventing Nigerian democracy EDWIN UHARA

or the French Philosopher, Baron de Montesquieu, the need for checks and balance in the conduct of government’s businesses, is central to the principle of Separation of Power. He advocated that each of the three organs of government – executive, legislature and judiciary - should be independent of one other. In other words, the executive should not interfere with the functions of the other two organs, vice versa. It was this idea that was incorporated in to presidential system of government which Nigeria practises today. But, sadly enough, our political leaderships were not faithful to the twin concept of separation of powers and checks and balance in the selection process of the principal officers of the National Assembly in times past. However, with the successful conduct of this year’s general election, new political realities have emerged. As a result, new thinking and strategies are required to arrest some of the unfolding negative political tendencies, because, according Albert Einstein, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. It is in accordance with this line of thought that change agents, who are opposed to business-as-usual in governance and are determined to redefine the destiny of Nigeria, have decided to come together under the auspices of ‘The Patriots’. The Patriots is a bi-partisan assem-

bly of both returning and newly elected members of the House of Representatives committed to a transparent and improved process of leadership selection in the Green Chamber. It is a group that believes that the current change in the country is not enough until it is reflected in the well being of the people and in the democratic governance of the nation. Hence, it sees the need for credible parliamentary democracy in the third organ of our government. To actualize this challenging but surmountable task, the group seeks to facilitate the emergence of a responsible and dynamic House leadership truly committed to the security and well being of Nigerians, encourage genuine fight against corruption, ensure political correctness and set exemplary leadership style others can copy or emulate. Accordingly, it is also the belief of the group that the 8th National Assembly must be able to strike structural balance of power in the House, ensure effective constituency representation, facilitate dynamic law-making process that will arrest any act of social disorder, promote efficient over-sighting of laws and policies, build an institution that provides full access to information about its internal systems and procedures to all constituents and stakeholders in conformity with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI). Other objectives to achieve include a recreation of a National Assembly that is sensitive and responsive to public needs and demands; engendering a legislative

THE GROUP SEEKS TO FACILITATE THE EMERGENCE OF A RESPONSIBLE AND DYNAMIC

LEADERSHIP TRULY

COMMITTED TO THE… WELL BEING OF

NIGERIANS

arm of government in which internal democracy is its strongest asset; discharging the delicate and complimentary role of the executive arm of government without compromising the character of legislative independence; reinventing a legislature that can be relied upon to initiate and enact legislation for regulating its conduct with a view to preserving the dignity and responsibility of its members. It is, however, incumbent on all wouldbe members of the 8th National Assembly to produce leaders who have strategic problem solving and consensus-building abilities by themselves without the interference of the outsiders. Such a leader must have proven track records of integrity in governance and otherwise. He must be knowledgeable enough to command the respect and admiration of House members. The person must be reliable and dependable at all times and in all matters, not only in cases that affect the members

Ambode and the burden of expectations TAYO OGUNBIYI

hat Lagos State is one of the few shining lights in the country’s democratic experience since 1999 is an incontrovertible fact. The state has been blessed with visionary and astute governors, who had piloted its affairs in laudable fashion. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the third elected governor of the state, no doubt, laid the foundation for a virile Lagos. His administration gave a unique opportunity for 10,000 young graduates to be employed into the mainstream of the state civil service between 1999 and 2007. His government also established agencies such as Office of Public Defenders, Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI), Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), Lagos State Advertising Agency (LASAA), Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Agency (LAMATA), etc. Tinubu equally fixed dilapidated public infrastructures at the Lagos Island Business District and many public schools and hospitals in the state as well as Kudirat Abiola Way, Lawanson-Itire road, Ikotun-Ijegun road, Ikotun –Igando road, LASU-Iyana Iba road, among others. Though, he inherited an ailing economy from the Buba Marwa regime in 1999, by May 2007 when he was leaving office, he put Lagos State on a sound economic footing for his successor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). Fashola took Lagos State to the next level, and did this by affirming the Albert Einstein’s maxim that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expect-

LAGOSIANS HAVE

MADE NO MISTAKE BY CHOOSING TO PUT THEIR TRUST AND HOPE IN

AMBODE

IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS ing different results”. His vision was to build a Lagos that is similar to reputable international cities like London, Mumbai, Istanbul, Sao Paulo, Jakarta, Delhi, Dubai, Bangkok, and Cairo among others. With the relative success of the State Security Trust Fund in taming crimes in the state, Lagos became the preferred point for investors in Nigeria as the business atmosphere became more predictable. Lagos is safer today by any standard of the world. The Fashola’s government intervention in the work environment in the areas of training, equipment, logistics and motivation and other crime management measures yielded positive results. The duo of Tinubu and Fashola were able to transform Lagos through institution building - they built enduring government institutions that make governance seamless. Hence, in Lagos today, we have functioning and well thought-out agencies and bodies such as Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Lagbus Asset Management (LAGBUS), Lagos State Resident Registration Agency (LASRRA),

HOUSE

Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB), Lagos State Drivers Institute (LASDRI), Lagos State Safety Commission, Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC) in addition to the ones earlier mentioned. The creation of these agencies has made governance in the state so well- structured and organic that it functions as a unit, thus making it faster in service delivery. This is where Lagos has gotten it right in the last 16 years; this is why Lagos has been working. Thus, the legacies of Tinubu and Fashola have placed upon the shoulder the new governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, a huge burden in terms of public expectations. That Lagosians are likely to benchmark him, in terms of the vision and direction of his administration, with the performance s of his illustrious predecessors, is only natural. In the last 16 years, people have become used to a safer, cleaner and investors-friendly Lagos. Now, Ambode’s burden is not only how to sustain this creditable trend but also how to surpass it. This is why some analysts have said they do not, in any way, envy the man. It is imperative to stress that Ambode has all it takes to consolidate on the impressive achievements of his predecessors and move Lagos to greater heights. If brilliance is the only item that is required for a governor to succeed in office, Ambode has it in quantum. At 21, he graduated in style in Accounting from the University of Lagos; at 24, he had earned a Master’s degree in Accounting and had also become a chartered accountant. It is, however, his insightful experience in the Lagos State public service that will

of the Green Chamber, but also in matters that concern the well being of all Nigerians irrespective political affiliation, religion, ethnicity and ideology. Since all Nigerians cannot be involved in the act of law-making, but must do so through representation, which is indirect form of democracy, the next leadership of the House must be made up of people who are accessible to all and sundry! The era of master-servant relationships in the leadership of the House are over. Hence, those who are aspiring to lead the 8th National Assembly must be people who are accessible, approachable and believe in wide consultation as part and parcel of decision making processes. Finally, like the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Oyegun, rightly said at an event to welcome the party’s new governors and bid farewell to outgoing ones, “The whole world was with us when we started the struggle for change...Therefore, you must sit down to fashion out ways of tackling the responsibilities or the burden change has put on our shoulders.” Let me unequivocally state that the members of the 8th National Assembly must roll up their sleeves to tackle the challenge change has brought to its doorsteps fairly and squarely by electing credible leaders in to principal positions. Comrade Uhara is an Abuja-based journalist and public affairs commentator and wrote via edwinuhara@rocketmail.com

definitely serve him in good stead. Ambode has had a vastly memorable career as a public sector accountant and administrator in Lagos State. He rose to become the Auditor General for Local Governments; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Accountant General, a position he held till his voluntary resignation from the public service in 2012. Perhaps, more importantly, he had been involved at the two most critical periods in the history of the state within the current democratic dispensation. The first was the era of spiteful financial offensive on Lagos, and the other the period of the dramatic financial reengineering that gave rise to the ambitious accomplishments witnessed in Lagos today. Consequently, Lagosians have made no mistake by choosing to put their trust and hope in Ambode in the next four years. With his antecedents as a hardworking and visionary public administrator, Lagos is capable of continuing in its well known tradition of excellence. This is what the people wanted when they gave Ambode their mandate, and this is what the man is preparing to give unto them. Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja. 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

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

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

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

Peter Obi on education, health management

ormer All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Governor of Anambra State, who on defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lately, emerged as Deputy Director-General (South) of Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation and now the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Peter Obi, broached a crucial subject while the hustle and bustle of the just concluded political transition lasted, when he said the government should not be involved in hospital and education management. At the golden jubilee celebration of St. Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, Anambra State, held last May, Obi said that while serving as governor he decided to partner with the Church, especially in education and health care delivery, because the Church was better at managing those institutions. “I mean, look at the projects the hospital delivered in partnership with the Church. If it were entirely by the government, I am sure today they will be in variation stage”, he said. According to him, government should, at best, perform supervisory roles. Obi was, most probably, making reference to the prudent utilisation of available

ALL THAT HAS NOT BEEN PUBLICLY CONCEDED TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR AS YET IS THE RUNNING OF GOVERNMENT ITSELF resources by the church to deliver health and education projects that reflected visible value for money. But the reckless application of public funds on projects that suffer still birth by government and its agencies is not the only setback the nation has been suffering since the 1970s, when the government literally confiscated schools, for example, established and hitherto managed by missions. Some five years back, the Primate and Head of the Anglican Church in Nigeria, Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, stated that Federal Government’s take-over of schools from the missions was a grave mistake that resulted in high level of delinquency among teachers and a free fall in moral standards in schools. He said the result of that wrong step now manifests in the hired killers, kidnappers and armed robbers tormenting the nation; as well as the general moral crisis bedeviling the land. Obi and Primate Okoh were, however, reiterating

the verdicts of countless others on government’s incompetence in managing the nation’s education and health sectors. But gone was the era when government was truly interested in managing any facility or institution in the country. At present, it is either preaching public-private partnership (PPP) or handing over virtually every facet of the nation’s life to the private sector. Indeed, all that has not been publicly conceded to the private sector as yet is the running of government itself. It may be said, however, that where the government is sincerely committed to its social responsibilities to the people, as was the case in the old Western Region, government’s management of education yielded wonderful results by way of churning out qualitative human resources. However, the same cannot be said of governments today, which are desperate to shelve their responsibilities to the citizenry purportedly for reasons not unconnected with the lack of funds; whereas profligacy, misguided priorities and waste through funds’ misapplication, outrageous frauds and corruption, have been the order of the day. Government’s partnership with missions or the private sec-

ON THIS DAY

tor in the area of education will attract maximum public support if it provides equal access to schooling corridors, leads to improved performance, as well as enhances the quality of education. The suggestion has been made by experts that government remains the main financier of primary and secondary education, and that the private sector delivers a huge share of education globally. Of special concern, nonetheless, are such critical issues as school enrolment, standards, education-induced inequality and the cost of schooling. In Nigeria today, pupils and students from poor homes languish in abandoned and fast deteriorating public schools that charge modest fees, while their well-off colleagues end up in very costly mission or privately-run schools which parade facilities that enhance quality education. Governments in the country also pay little or no attention to the embarrassing bills charged by most mission or private schools. On the contrary, they seek means to extort monies from such schools, which the latter pass to parents as additional bills. At this stage of the country’s development, therefore, leaving the management of schools or hospitals entirely to missions or

June 3, 2006

June 3, 2012

June 3, 2013

The union of Serbia and Montenegro came to an end with Montenegro’s formal declaration of independence. Serbia and Montenegro was a country in the Balkans, created from the two remaining republics of Yugoslavia. The republics of Serbia and Montenegro together established a federation in 1992 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). In 2003, FRY was reconstituted as a state union.

A Dana Air’s McDonnell Douglas MD-83 crashed into a thickly populated residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing 163 people. Dana Air Flight 992 was a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft making a scheduled commercial passenger flight from Abuja to Lagos, Nigeria. The aircraft crashed into a furniture works and printing press building in the Iju-Ishaga neighbourhood of Lagos.

The trial of United States Army Private, Bradley Manning, for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks began in Fort Meade, Maryland. Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning, December 17, 1987) is a US soldier convicted in July 2013 for violating the country’s Espionage Act and other offences, after releasing the largest set of classified documents ever leaked to the public.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Health & Wellbeing Obesity can cause asthma –Oloruntoba 22

FG must provide public health infrastructure 21 –Idris

Healthcare delivery:

Task before Buhari SAM EFERARO

he progress may have been slow over the years but Nigeria’s health care delivery system has not fared too badly over the years, most especially under Jonathan’s administration. Even as President Muhammadu Buhari settles down for the business of governance, he will admit that the system is no longer as deplorable as we experienced in the past when our health care delivery system was a major excuse for overthrowing the government of the day. Buhari will notice that our hospitals, especially in major cities, for instance, have improved significantly that they can no longer be described as “mere consulting clinics.” While statistics still show that Nigerians are not currently receiving the best of health care delivery, there’s no doubt there are now some structures on ground which the new president will only need to build on to finally give the nation a sound and functional health care delivery system. President Buhari is inheriting, for instance, fully rehabilitated federal medical institutions and teaching hospitals, which have been upgraded to international standard. Today, new technologies in modern medical equipment are now available in most Federal medical institutions, positioning them to handle medical emergencies and disease control. A good number of Nigeria’s teaching hospitals can now handle complex cases and surgeries in kidney, heart, brain conditions, cancer management among others. Indeed, such institutions like the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu and the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan now perform open heart surgeries and will probably require not so much funding again to expand their activities to cater for more Nigerians such that they will no longer need to travel abroad again for such surgeries. No doubt, history will remember the Jonathan administration for giving Nigeria the very first Geriatric clinic at the UCH and a couple of other tertiary hospitals. President Buhari will however need

to facilitate the establishment of more of such clinics/hospitals to address the health needs of the nation’s senior citizens. Today, the nation has not recorded any incidence of the wild polio virus transmission in more than six months and seems to be ready for WHO certification as being polio free! Already, the nation has successfully eliminated the guinea worm disease. Presdient Buhari is also inheriting the National Health Bill signed into law towards the end of Jonathan’s administration. He (Buhari) is thus better placed to fully implement the bill which has been hailed as a good law that could transform the health sector. The National health law is expected to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the different tiers of government towards achieving the goals and objectives of the National Health Policy that will result in better funding of the health sector while also providing better service delivery. Not only that, the law is expected to ensure that everyone, young, old, rich or poor, have access to quality health. There’s also Nigeria’s own National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in place. This centre should play a pivotal role in ensuring that state and local public health systems are prepared to respond to all types of health threats. If it is to function like the American Centre for Disease Control, then it will be a centre that should provide funding and technical assistance to strengthen various national and state health agencies to be able to respond to various health emergencies and emerging health challenges. To function very well, President Buhari will have to ensure that NCDC gets a very good budget and is, of course, well placed to work in collaboration with the public health department to create awareness on disease and health issues. This, however, is not to say that the president will have it so smooth in the health sector. Nigeria was ranked 187th amongst 191 countries , in 2001 in Health Performance with 2003 statistic being Neonatal mortality rate 40/1000 live births, infant mortality rate 75/1000 and Under five mortality rate(U5MR) 157/1000 live

President Buhari

THE PRESIDENT SHO SHOULD ENSURE THAT NO HEALTH PROFESSIO PROFESSIONAL IS APPOINTED

HEALTH MINISTER. A

TECHNOCRAT OR SIM SIMPLY, A GOOD ADMINISTRA ADMINISTRATOR SHOULD BE MADE TO HEAD THE MINIST MINISTRY INSTEAD birth or about 1 child out of 6 die before reaching age of five. While the statistics have continued to improve over the years, this progress report only shows that President Buhari has a golden opportunity to excel and take Nigeria’s health care delivery system to the greatest height just with a little more effort, given the structure on ground. He will however need to first destroy the deadly cankerworm which has continued to drag the sector back in spite of every achievement: health workers’ rivalry and penchant for labour unrest. It is on record that the health workers remain the most

restive among all the professionals in the country today. Because they realise the precarious nature of their profession, which deals with human life, they are ever ready, at every slight inconvenience to down tools and watch their patients groan in pain, many times resulting in preventable death. President Buhari’s major task will therefore remain how to checkmate the health workers’ arbitrariness, as the sector is today plagued with unnecessary bitter rivalry and so much acrimony that some groups had to team up to form an amorphous association to be able to fight their common rival. For a start, the president should ensure that no health professional is appointed health minister. A technocrat or simply, a good administrator should be made to head the ministry instead. With a technocrat as a health minister, the President can begin to address issues affecting the health professionals in the health ministry and parastatals without attracting unnecessary emotional accusations and allegations of bias from health workers. This will also enable him to actively confront the challenges in Nigeria’s health care delivery system, sometimes worsened by the health workers’ non-challant attitudes, over-bloated ego, corruption and general indiscipline.

Health & Wellbeing

Nutrition for Health

alnuts with botanical name Tetracarpidium conophorum belong to the family, Euphorbiaceae. They are whitish in colour with a bitter after taste, enveloped in a black thick shell. Walnuts are seen as a potential source of useful food and drugs. Its oil has savory aroma and exhibits excellent astringent properties. It is used as snack or added to meals or in confectionaries. It also serves as a “carrier or base oil” in traditional medicines, in massage therapy, aromatherapy, in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry. While nuts in general are a beneficial part of a healthy diet, walnuts contain almost twice the antioxidants as other nuts. It contains high amounts of alphalinolenic acid (ALA), which is associated with lower risk of heart attacks and blood clots. Nutrients in walnuts are also known for their vascular reactivity, or the ability of blood vessels to respond

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Nutritional benefits of walnut

positively to changes in the environment. Up to 90 percent of the antioxidants in walnuts are found in the skin, making it one of the healthiest parts to consume. Mother nature has crafted them as nearly perfect package of protein, healthy fats, fiber, plant sterols, antioxidants, and many vitamins and minerals. Research has shown that eating just one ounce (that is about seven shelled walnuts) a uts) provides p o des more than 100 percent of the daily recommended ed value of plantbased omega-3 fats along with high amounts of some micronutrients.

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

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

vania had recently discovered that walnuts have highest levels of popyphenolic antioxidants than any other common edible nuts and this may help prevent chemically-induced liver damage. They are an excellent source of vitamin E, especially rich in gamma-tocopherol. Vitamin E is a powerful lipid soluble antioxidant, required for maintaining several disorders such as sterility in males thereby, improving sperm quality, including vitality ty, motility ot ty, and a d morphology; o p o ogy; itt is also used in the prevention of abortion and congeni-

tal anomalies and improves skin by protecting it from harmful oxygen-free radicals. Walnuts are packed with many important B-complex groups of vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6, and folates. All these can help calm nerves, acts as beauty vitamin for the skin, relieves skin eruption, acts as an anti-stress factor, strengthens immunity and prevents anaemia. They also very are rich source of o minerals e a s like e manganese, a ga ese, copcop per, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium. Copper is a cofactor for many vital enzymes and

Walnuts contain ontain several powerful antioxidants xidants that are available in n only a few commonly edible foods. These antioxidants helps control the ageing process by combating ating against free radicals dicals in the body. Scientists att University of Scranton, on, Pennsyl-

helps stimulates growth of the red blood cells and work as a pigmenting factor for hair and skin. Zinc is a co-factor in many enzymes that regulate growth and development, sperm generation, digestion and nucleic acid synthesis. Selenium is an important micronutrient, which functions as a co-factor for anti-oxidant enzymes such as glutathione peroxidases. The beneficial dietary fat in walnuts has been shown to improve people with type 2 diabetes. In a study , itt was as observed that overweight adults with w type 2 diabetes who ate one-quarter cup of one-q walnuts daily had significant reductions in fasting insulin levels compared to those who did not, and the benefit was achieved in the first three months. th Walnuts Walnu are highly perishable and their perish healthful fats are healt easily easil damaged. It should s ou be stored sh in airtight container taine in the refrigerator whether frigera they are shelled or unshelled since sinc they are far more palatable palatab when they are crunchy.

Sexual solutions and love products for adults A few days ago, I woke up in the morning and went to urinate and felt pain. It is still there when I pee- Ebele What you are describing sounds like urinary tract infection and it can be contracted in many ways including using the same toilet with someone who has it. It is easily treatable so just go to the hospital and see a doctor. Afterwards be very careful and get the people who live with you to get tested too – Uche Months ago I wrote you about low semen quantity during ejaculation and you recommended Explosion Ejaculate Volumizer. I loved it so much that I bought several bottles but now it is finished and I cannot find it anywhere - Maurice Maurice there are a few supplements that increase semen quantity when you take them. Max Load is a good example and does everything that Explosion does from increasing semen quantity to enabling sweater intercourse during climax. So whenever you cannot find Explosion, look for Max Load. They both do the same thing – Uche I find that whenever I have intercourse with my wife and I climax, it takes a long time for me to get the energy and erection to have sex again. My wife is not happy even though she will not complain. But I know her well enough to know that she is not happy – Jide Jide this happens to some people. Sometimes it takes a while to get energy and firm erections for subsequent intercourse sessions. But there are supplements that can help you. Max Stamina for instance does just that. It gives the

energy and instant erections for multiple rounds of intercourse. So you can try that. If you don’t find it, get Rhino 5 or X Again Platinum Enhancer – Uche Many years ago, I used to buy pheromones for sexual attraction from you guys. My favourite was the Pure Instinct Pheromone that comes in one small blue bottle like that. But I don’t see it again – Mohammed Yes we have not had it recently but I think it is back in stock. The makers have repackaged it and it now comes in a clear bottle. Call the office about it with the numbers below or check for it at www.zeevirtualmedia.com. There are also great alternatives like the Beaux Gest Cologone for attracting women and the Max Attract Cologne as well – Uche My rabbit vibrator just stopped working and I don’t know why. Please can you help me get another one? It is light pink in colour and the name is Hunni something. I don’t remember but I bought it from you last year – Justina You must be talking about the Hunni Bunny rabbit vibrator and yes you can get it. Just call the numbers below or visit the site. Did you leave your batteries inside after use? That normally kills the vibrator when there is battery leakage. If that is what happens, never leave the batteries inside after use- Uche Hello sir, I am sorry that I didn’t call to thank you after you helped me in March. Please accept my apologies. I later tried the Gladiator Power Cream like you suggested and since I started using it, I have been able to

last longer during intercourse. I am grateful and so is my Madame – Felix You are welcome – Uche At 54 years of age, I no longer feel a sexual urge. My husband is 52 and is still very energetic if you know what I mean. I need your help – Mrs Garuba As we age, our sexual hunger diminishes but it can be revived. Look for Kangaroo for her supplement. I don’t know if we still have it but it will transform your love life. Spanish Fly can help too – Uche That is all for today. The names of the people featured here have been changed for their privacy. Adults in need of these treatm e n t s / n ove l ties can call 07086754515 o r 08053911233 or any other number here

to order or they can order online at www.zeevirtualmedia.com. Zee Virtual Media delivers to you wherever you are in Nigeria. For enquiries, send your emails to custserv@zeevirtualmedia.com - Uche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media.

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Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

FG must provide public health infrastructure –Idris FRANKA OSAKWE

r Jide Idris, outgoing Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, has appealed to the newly inaugurated federal government to ensure provision of public health infrastructure in order to guarantee national health security.

Idris made the call at a farewell party in his honour by the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) on Sunday in Lagos. He said president Buhari needs to provide infrastructure that would strengthen universal health coverage. “The burden and threat of communicable and non-

communicable diseases remain serious global concerns and constitute one of the major challenges of healthcare. We need to put in place proper public health infrastructure to tackle these burdens and threats for diagnosis, prevention, treatment, care and management. That is what security is about. “Sustainable develop-

ment can be achieved only in the absence of a high prevalence of diseases, including emerging and reemerging diseases”, he said. Idris also called on the private sector to ensure full participation in policy making as they deliver most of the healthcare services. “The private sector is supposed to run the healthcare system as obtained in

the developed countries. But it might not be easy to change the orientation of the people. Government cannot do it alone, their major responsibility is to create an enabling environment’’, he said. He urged healthcare providers to shun unhealthy rivalry and embrace medical team work to enhance quality healthcare delivery. Dr Ore Falomo, Chairman, Elders’ Forum of the Nigerian Medical Associa-

tion (NMA), described Idris as a man of courage and compassion, having managed the health of over 20 million Lagosians with his transformation agenda. In his remark, Dr Adeyeye Arigbabuwo, President AGPMPN, Lagos Chapter, said Idris was able to manage the industrial unrests and restiveness in the health sector. “He was able to engage the private sector in ensuring quality healthcare delivery.”

NAFDAC to make Nigeria clinical trial hub –Orhii DARE AKOGUN

D L-R: Chairperson, Association for Good Clinical Practice in Nigeria, Prof. Ifeoma Okoye; Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Akabuike; former chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Maurice Iwu and Director-General, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, Dr. Paul Orhil, during the 3rd Nigerian Annual Clinical Trial Summit 2015 in Lagos, yesterday.

World Health Assembly approves more vaccines for polio, others MARCUS FATUNMOLE ABUJA

he World Health Assembly has approved a resolution seeking to improve access to sustainable supplies of affordable vaccines for immunization among nations. WHA described the decision as a key issue for low and middle-income countries aiming to extend immunization to the entire population. It was part of the decision of the just-concluded 68th World Health Assembly. The Assembly endorsed the Global Vaccine Action Plan In 2012, a commitment to ensure that no one misses out on vital immunization by 2020. The report on the decision obtained by National Mirror from World Health Organiza-

tion’s website said: “A report from WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization, warns, however, that progress towards the Action Plan’s targets is slow and patchy,” the release said. It would be recalled that immunization protects children against major killer and debilitating diseases such as poliomyelitis, measles among others. “The resolution calls on WHO to coordinate efforts to address gaps in progress. It urges Member States to increase transparency around vaccine pricing and explore pooling the procurement of vaccines. It requests the WHO Secretariat to report on barriers that may undermine robust competition that can enable price reductions for new vaccines, and to address any other factors

that might adversely affect the availability of vaccines. “The resolution also highlighted that immunization is a highly cost-effective public health interventions, playing a major role in reducing child deaths and improving health. It recommends scaling up advocacy efforts to improve understanding of the value of vaccines and to allay fears leading to vaccine hesitancy,” the statement added. Meanwhile, the WHA endorsed a global action plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance - including antibiotic resistance, which it described as the most urgent drug resistance trend. “Antimicrobial resistance is occurring everywhere in the world, compromising our ability to treat infectious diseases, as well as undermining many other advances in

health and medicine,” WHA was quoted as saying. The Assembly set out five objectives for tackling the challenge which are: improve awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance; strengthen surveillance and research; reduce the incidence of infection; optimize the use of antimicrobial medicines; and, ensure sustainable investment in countering antimicrobial resistance. Similarly, fresh indicators to measure nutrition among mothers, babies and young children were approved by the Assembly. The plan listed six global targets to be achieved by 2025 on stunting (low height-forage), wasting (low weightfor-height), overweight, low birth weight, anaemia, and breastfeeding.

irector General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii has revealed that the agency is aiming to make the country a clinical trial hub in the world. Orhii stated this while declaring open the 3rd Annual Clinical Trials Summit organised by The Association for Good Clinical Practice in Nigeria, AGCPN, in collaboration with NAFDAC, taking place in Lagos. He disclosed that the agency recently set up a Clinical Trial Technical Working Group, CT-TWG, whose mandate is to build and advance the clinical trial sector of the Nigerian Economy. According to him, clinical trial is one of the core mandates under the enabling law establishing the agency and cover clinical investigations which includes new or relatively new chemical entities or herbal formulations for which safety/efficacy profile has not been determined. Others are drugs for new indications, new patient population group, combination drug products, academic trials, amongst others. Orhii noted that to accomplish the objectives, the agency had to key into in-

ternational ethical and scientific quality standards for designing, conducting, recording and reporting trials that involve participation of human subjects. “The implementation of the guidelines and regulations will ensure the generation of credible scientific data that can be accepted internationally. This will further lead to transparent and predictable processes that will attract a lot of international investment in research, Nigeria cannot afford to continue to be small player within the clinical research community.” Speaking earlier in her welcome address Chairperson AGCPN, Prof. Ifeoma Okoye noted that the summit is of strategic importance in advance global clinical trials in West Africa. “The summit will address the key issues and trends surrounding clinical trials in Africa, discuss viewpoints from global pharma on the regions level of preparedness, regulations and practice, Good laboratory and Manufacturing Practices, pharmocovigilance and safety”, she said. The Summit which attracts over 350 participants across West Africa and SubSaharan Africa including expert speakers from North America and Europe, is taking place in Lagos, from June 1-3, 2015.

World No Tobacco Day: WHO calls for elimination of illicit tobacco trade FRANKA OSAKWE

ollowing this year’s World No Tobacco Day on May 31, The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for the elimination of illicit trade in tobacco

products in order to improve public health. In his address, WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, said eliminating illegal tobacco trade would help cut crime and curb an important revenue source for the tobacco industry.

“Full implementation will replenish government revenues and allow more spending on health. It will also offers the world a unique legal instrument to counter and eventually eliminate a sophisticated criminal activity”, says Chan. The WHO urges Member

States to sign the Protocol, an international treaty to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products. “The Protocol requires a wide range of measures relating to the tobacco supply chain, including the licensing of imports, exports and man-

ufacture of tobacco products; the establishment of tracking and tracing systems and the imposition of penal sanctions on those responsible for illicit trade. It would also criminalize illicit production and cross border smuggling. “The Protocol faces overt

and covert resistance from the tobacco industry. Manufacturers know that once implemented, it will become much harder to hook young people and the poor into tobacco addiction” says Dr Vera da Costa e Silva, Head of the WHO FCTC Secretariat.”

Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Obesity can cause asthma – Oloruntoba Many asthmatics find it difficult controlling their asthma attacks and this has resulted in severe health crisis and even death. However, a physician, Dr. Funsho Oloruntoba, in this interview with FRANKA OSAKWE explains how asthma can be controlled, what causes asthma and how it can be managed. Excerpt What manner of disease is asthma? Asthma is a disease affecting the airways that carry air to and fro the lungs. It is an incurable illness that requires urgent treatment to avoid any disaster. If not well managed, an asthma attack will lead to death. However, with good treatment and management there is no reason why a person with asthma cannot live a normal and active life. Can one outgrow asthma? You don’t actually outgrow asthma but some individuals have their symptoms become less and less, and they become better in managing their asthma so well that the asthma hardly shows itself. But I often advise such individuals to always go out with their inhalers despite the fact that their asthma attacks are minimal. What are the causes of asthma? In most cases, we don’t know what causes asthma but we do know that there some who are born with asthma and in this case, it is hereditary. But there are lots of things that can trigger asthma. For instance, someone working in an asbestos company, even ordinary grinding pepper can trigger asthma. Dust mites in home furniture and beds can also cause asthma. The weather is another factor, like this raining season, some people may not like it and it may trigger off their asthma. Some of the most common triggers are tobacco smoke, outdoor air pollution, cockroach allergen, pets, mold and smokes from burning wood. Will you describe asthma as an allergy? Allergens are any substances that the body will treat as a foreign body, triggering an immune response. These vary widely between individuals and often include animal proteins, fungi, pollen, house-dust mites and some kind of dust. Allergen is something you are reacting to and you can have such reaction with or without asthma. For an asthmatic, their airway cells are sensitive to particular materials making them response more if they are exposed to particular amount of the allergen. Some-

one that is asthmatic will be allergic to some things, this means that some things can trigger the asthma but not all asthma’s are caused or triggered by allergens. Some asthma is hereditary while others are caused by some disease condition so those ones are not caused by allergen. Are there some diseases that can lead to asthma? Yes, obesity. Obese adults are more likely to have asthma compared to adults who are not overweight. In fact it is quoted that there are some percentage of people who are obese that will end up being asthmatic. That is why every obese person needs to be screened for asthma. Strenuous exercise can also trigger asthma. It is also said that babies born by Caesarean sections have a 20 per cent increase in asthma prevalence compared to babies born by vaginal birth. Certain illnesses such as cold or flu can trigger asthma. Pregnancy and menopause can also trigger asthma. How can you tell if you have asthma? It can be hard to tell if someone has asthma, especially in children under age 5. However, if you experience symptoms such as breathlessness, wheezing, chest tightness, and cough at night or early in the morning, allergies, then it is proper to have a doctor check how well your lungs work and find out if you have asthma. During a checkup, the doctor will ask if you cough a lot, especially at night and whether your breathing problems are worse after physical activities, or at certain times of the year. The doctor will also ask if you feel chest tightness, wheezing (a hissing sound while breathing), and cold lasting more than 10 days. He will like to find out if anyone in your family has or has had asthma, allergies or other breathing problems. After this, a breathing test will be carried out to find out how well your lungs work. At what age does asthma begin? Asthma can begin during childhood and this is called child-onset asthma. This type of asthma happens when a child

Oloruntoba

becomes sensitive to common allergens in the environment, most likely due to genetic reasons. The child is atopic, meaning he or she is hypersensitive to environmental allergens. When a person develops asthma after reaching 20 years of age, it is called adult-onset asthma. This type of asthma affects women more than men, and it is also much less common than childonset asthma. It can also be triggered by some allergic material or an allergy. It is estimated that up to perhaps 50% of adult-onset asthmas are linked to allergies. However, a substantial proportion of adult-onset asthma does not seem to be triggered by exposure to allergen(s); this is called non-allergic adult-onset asthma. Symptoms of asthma in children may come and go, while symptoms of adult-onset asthma may be continuous. People with adultonset asthma may need to take medication every day to manage their asthma. So how do you contorl asthma? An asthma attack is when symptoms are worse than usual. It can come on suddenly and can be mild, moderate or severe. An asthma attack can include series of coughing, chest tightness, wheezing and trouble breathing. During an asthma attack, the muscle around the airways tightens up, narrowing the airways and limiting the air that goes through. The airway becomes inflamed, causing further narrow-

ing. In severe asthma attack, the airways are completely blocked such that oxygen fails to enter the lungs. This also prevents oxygen from entering the blood stream and travelling to the body’s vital organs. Attacks of this nature can be very fatal and the patient may require urgent hospitalization. However, you can control your asthma by knowing the warning signs of an asthma attack. An asthma attack will occur when you are exposed to asthma triggers. Your trigger can be very different from someone else’s so it is important for an asthmatic to know his or her triggers and stay away from them. And finally, following your doctor’s advice by taking your medications exactly as your doctor tells you will help you control your asthma. How is asthma attacks treated? Asthma cannot be cured but there are tools and medicines to help you control your asthma. In treatment of asthma, we have two types of drugs; reliever drugs that act rapidly to open up the blocked airways and controller drugs, which act slowly to prevent airway from becoming blocked. For People with moderate to severe asthma attacks, long term controller medicine such as steroids are either inhaled or taken by mouth and they are used to prevent symptoms. For them to work, the patients have to take them every day, even when they are feeling ok. For those experiencing attack, the quick re-

liever medication are taken to control the asthma. However, a severe asthma attack requires a check-up by a doctor and probably a hospital stay. The patient will likely be given oxygen, breathing assistance, and medications. How can one live positively with asthma? An important part of managing asthma is adopting a healthy lifestyle. Eat a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fats and sugars, get plenty of rest, exercise regularly, work on managing stress, and, of course, do not smoke. Identifying and avoiding asthma triggers will help you to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle with asthma. Asthmatics should strive to reduce stress as much as possible and learn to cope with the challenges and frustrations of living with asthma in a positive way. Also regular appointment with your physician helps you manage asthma so that you can assess your level of asthma control. Checkups are usually recommended every 6 to 12 months for mild intermittent or mild persistent asthma that has been well-controlled for at least 3 months. Those with moderate persistent asthma should be checked up every 3 to 6 months, and those with uncontrolled or severe persistent asthma should be checked every 1 to 2 months.

Mirror Wednesday, June 3, 2015 National www.nationalmirroronline.net

Arts Lounge The story of my stardom –Chiege Alisigwe 25

Traditional and contemporary dance steps are showcased by professional dancers who have done well to promote the art, enlivening their audiences. How well are they recognised in a country like Nigeria?

Challenges confronting Nigerian dancers

Olawale Oluwadahunsi

ow can one separate music from dance? They are identical twins, receiving nourishment from the same umbilical cord. It has history. It is an art that can even be performed without music as a form of non verbal communication. In a place like Nigeria, where there is so much love for fun, it can be said that even the unborn baby in the belly of a pregnant woman moves the body to rhythms. And in the music industry, artistes have even gone further to recreate new dance steps that have gone on to become hit tracks; Ask Iyanya or Davido, they have made millions from their dance inspired hit tracks. Professional dancers and choreographers are always needed to express and ‘sell’ these steps in a way that will always appeal to its numerous audiences, in addition to performing traditional dances in corporate and national events. But do they get the necessary recognitions they deserve for expressing their art? One of the long-standing dancers with office at the National Arts Theatre and the Chairman of Dance Guild of Nigeria, Isioma Williams, Lagos chapter unfolded the underbelly of the art called ‘dance’ in Nigeria. “You cannot find outright appreciation of dance here in Nigeria yet. You can see a Nigerian company bringing Umoja from South Africa; does that mean that we cannot stage something bigger than that here? A lot of money, professionals and perfectionists put that piece together. It was not just the dancers doing the show. Companies think they are helping Nigerians by engaging the home grown dance companies that is totally wrong. “Most of these companies use dance reality shows only to advertise their brands and sell some of their products. Is that really what one would call the appreciation of arts? If corporate social responsibilities really make any sense to these organisations why don’t they promote the art without singing it? Of course you and I know that there are different ways to achieve this,” he sorely lamented. Staying locked up in the practically dormant wing of the theatre especially when jobs are not streaming in may also mean a password to austerity. How does the dance act pay rents, school fees and routine upkeep among other domestic dues? Williams pathetically explained; “I’m just coming from rehearsal of a play which has some songs and dancing, but this is not regular. I’m just one out of several thousands of us. What happens to my other colleagues? It’s by God’s grace most of us are

Kaffy

A dance troupe from southern Nigeria

surviving in it. A lot of my colleagues have left dance to do other things. “This is where I get fulfilment. So, even when I go abroad, I just do what I have to do and return home, I won’t stay there to start washing plates and doing domestic shores for the Whiteman. I had that opportunity but it is not an opportunity but submitting oneself to personal slavery. I’ve got a wife who is also a dancer and we have two kids, it’s really tough but God’s grace has been keeping the family together. Apart from dance performance, which is not regular, my wife has a shop she runs now and sometimes supports the family with the proceeds she gets from there”, he adds. Kafayat Shafau- Ameh, the owner of Imagneto Dance Company otherwise known as Kaffy, also shares the same story before her fame. The 2006 Guinness World Record was brought to the conviction that her career choice was not a waste of time. Thirty four year old Kaffy who has a Diploma in Data Processing from the Ogun State University, was going to have a direct entry to study Health Sciences, but she had to take a decision based on the reality of the times. “I thought to myself, I could not afford school fees and I had this thing that people were beginning to pay attention to. Even in my department, I was the one who did all the practical work and even assisted the lecturers. When I am not in school I worked at Proflex Gym, I was already an instructor. People were asking for private classes. I was earning a salary of N17, 500 then. I had clients who were paying good money. I was able to go to school for years until I

could not manage my schedule anymore. I was living on my own. I paid rent. I had to give up one for the other. Of course, I went for the one that could empower me so that when I am established, I can pay for any kind of education I want.” “Dance was just becoming known and seen as a valuable commodity for the music scene. I appeared at a show called Karamba and before I knew it, they were so many musicians on that show and that is how I got to meet Lexy Doo, Ruggedman, Ayuba and within a period of three months, I shot all their videos. That is how I started becoming very popular right before I even did the P-Square Roll It. At some point, I just had to find a way to just curtail it. I’ve been involved in so many videos that people don’t see me on either as a choreographer or I send my dancers over there. It’s not all the time you see me appear in the music videos” Has anyone tried to solve this menace and improve the outlook of the dance profession in Nigeria? Yes! The eclectic and unassuming dancer, Dayo Liadi who became a mega dance star after his dance performance in Olori Oko, the music video of gospel group Infinity, ttried to make dance more professional by establishing one of the biggest dance schools in Nigeria, but his efforts hasn’t yielded the required result.. “I remain unfulfilled because I have not been able to actualise my dream of establishing one of the biggest dance schools in Nigeria.” “For many years, I have hungered to start a huge dance school, going as far as

The challenge to the art of dance is ideological; the substructure has not created the bulwark for the people who want to get into dancing to grow

Dayo

acquiring lands, only to realise that I need government’s support, which is not forthcoming. I regret that even my effort to rally round colleagues and up-coming artistes to come together and do things right for the collective benefit of the industry has not yielded the desired result. I will like to ascribe this to poor education of a good number of practitioners in the industry, which I think needs to be addressed” Dayo owns Ijo Dee, a dance group with its office in the Artists’ Village of the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. The itinerant dancer has been to over 60 countries of the world with his craft. He further explained why Nigeria as a country can be frustrating sometimes. To make dance a more acceptable form of art, Arnold Udoka, internationally renowned choreographer, dancer, as well as being the Chairman of the National Advisory Council, Dance Guild of Nigeria advises that the ideology surrounding it should be modified. “In terms of facilities those ones don’t exist because the educational policy has not changed from the time of Ajayi Crowther’s Bible school in the 1860’s, that curriculum has not changed till today. That ideology has other elements in religion, some religion abhor dance, others accept dance, and they don’t see it as an important cultural element, as a capital for development. If the ideological basis is structured then we can talk about infrastructure; it would come naturally.”

Arts Lounge

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

VOICES

Trauma of my father’s kidnapping Chimamanda Adichie

y father was kidnapped in Nigeria on a Saturday morning in early May. My brother called to tell me, and suddenly there was not enough breathable air in the world. My father is 83 years old. A small, calm, contented man, with a quietly mischievous humour and a luminous faith in God, his beautiful dark skin unlined, his hair in sparse silvery tufts, his life shaped by that stoic, dignified responsibility of being an Igbo first son. He got his doctoral degree at Berkeley in the 1960s, on a scholarship from the United States Agency for International Development; became Nigeria’s first professor of statistics; raised six children and many relatives; and taught at the University of Nigeria for 50 years. Now he makes fun of himself, at how slowly he climbs the stairs, how he forgets his cell phone. He talks often of his childhood, endearing and rambling stories, his words tender with wisdom. Sometimes I record his Igbo proverbs, his turns of phrase. A disciplined diabetic, he takes daily walks and is to be found, after each meal, meticulously recording his carbohydrate grams in a notebook. He spends hours bent over Sudoku. He swallows a handful of pills every day. His is a generation at dusk. On the morning he was kidnapped, he had a bag of okpa, apples and bottled water that my mother had packed for him. He was in the back seat of his car, his driver at the wheel, on a lonely stretch between Nsukka, the university town where he lives, and Abba, our ancestral hometown. He was going to attend a traditional meeting of men from his age group. A two-hour drive. My mother was planning their late lunch upon his return: pounded yam and a fresh soup. They always called each other when either traveled alone. This time, he didn’t call. She called him and his phone was switched off. They never switched off their phones. Hour after hour, she called and it remained off. Later, her phone rang, and although it was my father’s number

Adichie

calling, a stranger said, “We have your husband.” Kidnappings are not uncommon in southeastern Nigeria and, unlike similar incidents in the Niger Delta, where foreigners are targeted, here it is wealthy or prominent local residents. Still, the number of abductions has declined in the past few years, which perhaps is why my reaction, in the aftermath of my shock, was surprise. My close-knit family banded together more tightly and held vigil by our phones. The kidnappers said they would call back, but they did not. We waited. The desire to urge time forward numbed and ate my soul. My mother took her phone with her everywhere, and she heard it ringing when it wasn’t. The waiting was unbearable. I imagined my father in a diabetic coma. I imagined his octogenarian heart collapsing. “How can they do this violence to a man who would not kill an ant?” my mother

lamented. My sister said, “Daddy will be fine because he is a righteous man.” Ordinarily, I would never use “righteous” in a non-pejorative way. But something shifted in my perception of language. The veneer of irony fell away. It felt true. Later, I repeated it to myself. My father would be fine because he was a “righteous man.” I understood then the hush that surrounds kidnappings in Nigeria, why families often said little even after it was over. We felt paranoid. We did not know if going public would jeopardise my father’s life, if the neighbours were complicit, if another member of the family might be kidnapped as well. “Is my husband alive?” my mother asked, when the kidnappers finally called back, and her voice broke. “Shut up!” the male voice said. My mother called him “my son.” Sometimes, she said “sir.” Anything not to antagonise him while she begged and pleaded, about my father being ill, about the ransom being too high. “If you don’t give us what we want, you

“If you don’t give us what we want, you will never see his dead body,” the voice said.

Memorable Reads What else do you do apart from sculpting? I listen to music, travel, and swim. I read poetry. I read Chaucer, J.P Clark, and Soyinka. I love poetry. It seems literature appeals to you? Yes, arts have a way of connecting to each other. I write poems and I love literature. Who among Nigerian writers has g reat influence on you? I will say Achebe, Soyinka and J.P Clark. I like the way they bring in social issues to bear on their literary works.

Peju Layiwola Sculptor

Which of their works do you find very outstanding? For Achebe, I would say, Things Fall Apart. Which book are you reading now? Well, because of my work schedule, I am not currently reading any literary book. Which book would you like to read when you are free? Chimamanda Adichie’s, Americanah.

will never see his dead body,” the voice said. My paternal grandfather died in a refugee camp during the Nigeria-Biafra war and his anonymous death, his unknown grave, has haunted my father’s life. Those words — “You will never see his dead body” — shook us all. Kidnapping’s ugly psychological melodrama works because it trades on the most precious of human emotions: love. They put my father on the phone, and his voice was a low shadow of itself. “Give them what they want,” he said. “I will not survive if I stay here longer.” My stoic father. It had been three days but it felt like weeks. Friends called to ask for bank-account details so they could donate toward the ransom. It felt surreal. Did it ever feel real to anybody in such a situation, I wondered? Late that night, my father was taken to a clearing and set free. While his blood sugar and pressure were checked, my father kept reassuring us that he was fine, thanking us over and over for doing all we could. This is what he knows how to be — the protector, the father — and he slipped into his role almost as a defense. But there were cracks in his spirit. A drag in his gait. A bruise on his back. “They asked me to climb into the boot of their car,” he said. “I was going to do so, but one of them picked me up and threw me inside. Threw. The boot was full of things and I hit my head on something. They drove fast. The road was very bumpy.” I imagined this grace-filled man crumpled inside the rear of a rusty car. My rage overwhelmed my relief — that he suffered such an indignity to his body and mind. And yet he engaged them in conversation. “I tried to reach their human side,” he said. “I told them I was worried about my wife.” The next day, my parents were on a flight to the United States, away from the tainted blur that Nigeria had become. *Adichie, an award-winning author, wrote this piece for New York Times.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Arts Lounge

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

ARTISTE UNCENSORED

The story of my stardom –Chiege Alisigwe With over 80 movies to her credit, Chiege Alisigwe is one of the most recognisable actresses in the country. How did she get here? Ngozi Emedolibe

t took, Chiege Alisigwe (now Chiege Alisigwe-Cliaton) just two extra roles to clinch a lead role in a feature movie. That was in 1998 at Enugu; she was a teenager, fresh out of secondary school, and had been hooked up to some Nollywood producers, by Kevin Ugwu, who would abandon the industry ultimately. She does not see this in the light of her talent only. “It is essentially the grace of God. So many people who joined the industry before me never went beyond a certain level. In my case, I was out of secondary school and was looking for something I would be doing while writing my University Matriculation Examination. But all of a sudden, I got a lead role and that transformed a lot of things. Scripts started coming from right and left. That is the story of my stardom. But I was careful not to allow it affect my decision to proceed to the higher institution where I studied Fine Arts. After leaving the set, I would come back to school and continue with my studies. I never had ‘carry over’ for once. People were asking how I made it. I would say, ‘oh because I am known everywhere, you expect me to put my education aside and start focusing on acting alone?’ No, I was not brought up like that.” Of course, with the success, came attention, especially from the opposite sex. This would culminate in her first marriage which failed to avail Chiege the kind of happiness she had anticipated in life. It not only made her a sad woman, but took a toll on her career after it crumbled. For over four years, while Chiege tried to get over the trauma, her fans were left wondering what had become of their favourite actress,

notable portraying emotional characters almost flawlessly. “In fact, I was shuttling between Nigeria and the UK, but I am back to reckoning again. I have not been consistent for a while, but I have done some new movies. Some are out and some are still at the production level. I have other things that are taking my time now because I am building up a lot of other things.” One of these new things is her ‘new husband’, whom she discusses in measured words. “When I first met him, there was nothing that really attracted him to me because we started from being friends. I never felt anything or had it in mind that I wanted to date him. We started as friends. But God destined us to be together. My husband stays in Lagos. I have to be with him here; we can’t be living far from each other, though it has been like that for a while but now, we decided to be together and it’s for good. I love him so much and so, I decided to be with my family. He is a man in the real sense of being a man, from head to toe.” Chiege, who has acted in over 80 movies including commercial hits like ‘End of Money’, ‘Under Fire’, ‘Not Your Wealth’ and ‘Terrible Sin’, has also fashioned a new way of living in Lagos, by closing down her business outfit ‘Mercato Di Muna’ in Enugu. In its place, she has floated ‘Little Spaces’, a multifaceted equipment leasing outfit. “The outfit is into equipment rentChiege Alisigwe als and studio services for TV programmes and movie productions. It is equally involved in sales and supplies of real quality fabrics, towels, bedding and bathroom accessories, very good for creating the necessary ambience at locations and homes. You will get items like shower caddy, bath caddy,

Location of My Love with Ramsey Nouah

sink organisers, air beds and scented candles.” This new venture will not see her dumping her acting career. “No, I will always remain an actress, but there will be limitations on the kind of roles I will be doing from now on. But I have always longed to do this. I want to make people realise

I will always remain an actress, but there will be limitations on the kind of roles I will be doing

that you don’t have to spend so much to get good comfort and we ensure our clients get quality products and services. I am trying to ensure that it grows because since I have been shuttling between locations, I have not been able to stay back, concentrate and build it up.” Will this production house undertake the making of Chiege’s movies? “Yes, I have a production house and I am expecting that it will kick off fully with our own movies.” Of course, her numerous fans have not had enough of her.

MIDWEEK JUMP

Sharp Band at Night Life

Veentage Band

Veentage Live Band rocks MVP

he big Thursday show holds once again on Thursday, the 4th of June 2015, join the Sharp Band for their wonderful music; it is also a night of comedy so get ready for both laughing and dancing, and the venue is SS lounge, 7 Sapara Williams, Victoria Island, Lagos State. The show starts by 7pm.

oin the Veentage Live Band today Wednesday the 3rd of June 2915 for a great time at the MVP lounge. There would be lots of comedy and music. The event starts by 7pm at The MVP Lagos Lekki Phase 1.Lagos State.

Sharp Band

Arts Lounge

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FAR AND NEAR

At AVRS forum in Kano

Ngozi Emedolibe

he Audio Visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS) has taken its enlightenment project to Kano and Abuja after the successful encounters in Asaba and Benin. The widely reported success stories of earlier events, as mentioned above, may have re-energized the interest of Kano-based film makers who turned out in their numbers to attend the Forum at Ni’ima Guest Palace Conference Centre, Old GRA, Kano, where the event was hosted. Frontline film maker and chairman of AVRS, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, in a familiar order of proceedings, opened the session with an introductory speech tracing the history of the formation of AVRS, its registration with the Corporate Affairs

Commission as a company limited by guarantee, and its eventual approval by the Nigerian Copyright Commission as a collective management organisation. He

remarked that the power of any film medium is largely based on its outreach and underscored his recognition of the wide viewership of Hausa films across West and East Africa in particular, which obviously influenced DSTV to open Africa Magic Hausa as a dedicated channel. He commend the industrious spirit of Kanobased film makers, particularly for their consistency in making films in an indigenous African language, and enjoined them to formalise their membership of AVRS in order to enjoy the benefits of residual income guaranteed by annual payment of royalties. The Kano State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry who is also a notable stakeholder and president of MOPPAN, Kano State, Professor Umar F. Jibril, commended the Federal Government for the approval of AVRS which he described as the best thing to happen to Nigeria’s film industry since independence. Also speaking, the North-West Zonal

Miss Heritage adorns NYSC cultural feast Regina Otokpa

T Miss Heritage

‘Taste and Tell’ moves to Jattu Adewunmi Peter

attu, a sleepy transit town in Auchi, Edo State, was agog recently as the Legend Extra Stout Taste and Tell programme train cruised in for the first time. Indigenes and settlers, men and women thronged O.C Mama’s Place, a popular relaxation spot to witness what they called a historic event in their community. “This is the first time we are having this kind of event in this community. You can see everywhere is filled up even up to the road. I am here because of Legend. You can see that both married and unmarried people

Pirori Dance Group at Taste and Tell

Manager of Nigerian Copyright Commission, Alhaji Hassan Usman who represented the Director-General, Mr. Afam Ezekude, reiterated the commitment of NCC towards total eradication of intellectual property rights abuse in Nigeria. He however called for patience, saying that the battle against piracy is being fought on various fronts with a gradual and painstaking approach for best results. Directors of AVRS, Prince Jide Kosoko, Mr. Fidelis Duker and Dr. Ahmed Sarari who anchored the event, also called on their colleagues in Kano to show stronger commitment to the antipiracy struggle by supporting AVRS in its bid to get commercial users of audio visual works to pay for their usage. The interactive session provided participants with the opportunity to ask questions and address their concerns about membership, licensing, assignment of rights and the reliability of reciprocal agreements.

are all here having fun. I wish we could have this kind of show at least once in a month”, Eugene Momoh, who had been dancing all through the night said. Earlier in the day, an inflatable jumbosized bottle of Legend Extra Stout, put up in front of the pub, signaled it would be an unusual evening. The event compere, Desmond Talker, set the tone with hilarious jokes while Lagos-based Platinum Blazers band provided good music to the delight of Legend Extra Stout fans. The activation did not exclude a cultural display by Pirori Dance Group, a local cultural troupe, whose swift and sharp dance steps attracted applause and cheers from the large crowd.

Speaking in separate interviews some of the residents said it was good thinking on the part of Legend to bring such fun and entertainment right to their doorsteps. According to an indigene, Jubril Adams, “It has never happened before and we have never seen anything close to this. We are quite happy. For me it has been long since I went out to unwind but when I saw that Legend bottle outside and the stage being built within the premises, I knew I must be here. And as you can see, this place is filled up. It has never happened before”, he said in-between sips of Legend Extra Stout. The memory of the Taste and Tell programme according to some respondents will linger for a long time as some people linked it to their special day. For Mirabel Audu, the Legend Taste and Tell activation happened on her birthday and there was no better way to celebrate it than to dance with friends at the unique event. Mirabel said; “It is special to me because this is happening on my birthday and I am so happy to celebrate it here. You can see I have been dancing all through”, she said as she smiled occasionally. The event became a melting pot for consumers who participated in the activation. Aliyu Silvanus and Anthony Ogiator, both photographers, reassured of their renewed loyalty to the brand.

he atmosphere around the National Youth Service Orientation Camp Abuja was adorned with beautiful cultural attires and wonderful indigenous dance steps when Miss Heritage Nigeria, led a team of dignitaries in their numbers to celebrate with the Corps members posted to serve their fatherland in Abuja. The Heritage queen, Benedicta Akpana, expressed glee to have found herself basked in such rich cultural display to showcase the beauty of Nigerian cultures and heritage. She said: ““It gives me great pleasure to be here and also to be able to participate among youths like myself who have shown great effort in showcasing Nigeria’s culture and traditional heritage while dancing to the tune of local drums. I’m really happy to be also giving out a token to the corpers.” Asides the cultural aura hanging in the air, the guests were held spell bound as they watched a representation of the diverse cultures being exhibited by representatives of the 36 states of the federation in neatly chosen costumes that clearly expressed the reasons behind the greatness of Nigeria as a great country. Also in attendance to add glamour to the event were her Royal Highness Ezinne Brodie Ezekwe, the FCT Coordinator Mr. Olanipekun Alao, Former FCT Coordinator-Mr Frank Ekpunobi and the Representative of NYSC Director, General- Mr Fasanu.

Business

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

BVN ‘ll curb frauds, redeem Nigerians’ image globally –NIBSS boss

Maritime stakeholders task FG on Apapa gridlock 31

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Electricity generation low, GENCOs face funding, infrastructure constraints 33

CET may spur cargo diversion from Nigerian ports, says expert FRANCIS EZEM

He also observed that in addition to this, the new tariff would also crash the cost of clearing cargo in the seaports of membernations, as it would attract lower and unified tariff among member –nations and therefore eliminate all discrepancies associated with the fixing of tariffs on imported goods. “For countries that have efficient port systems, the new CET would bring about reduction in the cost of operation but for nations with inefficient port systems such as Nigeria, the new

tariff might lead to cargo diversion because many importers would want to take advantage of the unified tariff structure and take their consignments to efficient ports and transport them to the destinations by road using the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme ETLS window”, he argued. He however argued that the best way out of this quagmire is for the Nigerian government to begin to work on the port systems by removing the several tables and hurdles through which

imported items are meant to undergo, which apart from making the consignments incur demurrage, bring about all manner of charges both receipted and unreceipted. The source also advised that one other way out of the problem is to begin to eliminate the multiplicity of charges imposed by terminal operators and shipping companies, which compel some importers to take their cargoes to neighbouring West African ports in an attempt to evade these payments as a way of saving cost.

trong indications emerged that the implementation of the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS Common External Tariff CET regime in Nigeria might lead to massive diversion of cargo meant for the nation’s ports due to the inadequacies in her port systems. The decision of the Federal Government to commence the implementation of the CET, which emphasises the application of unified tariff structure among the member-nations o the ECOWAS had brought about high hopes that Nigeria would be the biggest beneficiary in the region, given the size of her market and the prominent role she plays in the sub-region. An industry source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, however hinted that the new tariff regime, might likely lead to Nigeria-bound consignments to neighbouring ports in the sub-region due to the inadequacies that characterise cargo operations in the nation’s seaports. According to him, the new tariff regime is expected to bring about integration of the entire ECOWAS community into one market, which would promote L-R: Company Secretary, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Emmanuel Amade; Managing Director, Adetunji Oyebanji and Executive Director, Mr. Alastair MacNaugaton, during the 37th annual general meeting of the company in Lagos, recently. trade among member-states.

Equipment leasing law‘ll raise standards, grow industry –ELAN TOLA AKINMUTIMI

he Equipment Leasing Association of Nigeria (ELAN) has described the enactment into law of the leasing Bill as a desirable development that would impact positively on the nation’s economy since the enabling law would ensure that the business of equipment leasing is practised in line with internationally acceptable standards. Commenting on the signing into law of the bill, Chairman, Equipment Leasing Association of Nigeria (ELAN), Chuka

Onwuchekwa, stated that “this development will usher in a new dawn for the Leasing Industry as it would further facilitate the growth and sustainability of leasing business in Nigeria, creating wealth and overall economic development” Onwuchekwa, who recalled various efforts made by the association to ensure an enabling law in the past, listed some of the benefits of the law to include, increase in local and foreign investment, improved buying power of small businesses to acquire productive assets, increased tax revenue, enhanced job creation and

poverty reduction. Furthermore, it would enable ordinary Nigerians acquire assets to enhance quality of life. According to him, modern leasing which started in Nigeria in the 1960s, has over the years been supporting economic development of the country through the provision of the much needed capital assets for productive ventures, adding that now, the impact of leasing is becoming pronounced in all sectors of the economy, generating employment and enhancing tax revenues and recording over N4.8 trillion transactions between

2005 and 2014. The ELAN Chairman stated that globally, equipment leasing was now recognised and established as a creative financing alternative, used to meet the world’s equipment needs. “The whole essence of leasing is to enhance the planning, improvement and development of any economy. The fact that leasing facilitates long and convenient access to capital equipment goes to show the unique role of leasing in building, supporting productive ventures, improving/ increasing capacity and developing the economy.

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

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

Executive Discourse

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

BVN ‘ll curb frauds, redeem Nigeria The Managing Director Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, NIBSS, Mr. Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, is a seasoned banker with a deep knowledge on the application of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as a catalytic tool for financial system integrity spanning over two decades. In this interview with journalists, he speaks on the roles of the NIBSS in using IT tools and solutions, including the ongoing BVN project, to curb frauds and enhance the integrity of the financial system. TOLA AKINMUTIMI captures his views. What is the level of synergy between the BVN and the National Identity Management Commission to bring about a sustainable identity management system for Nigeria? I think we need to understand the concept of identification. The National ID is supposed to be the root means of identifying an individual. That means it is general but you will always find specific ID databases that will be created. There is the National Driving licence that applies to people, who are of driving age and have decided they want to drive. They are different from those that may be Banking customers that cannot drive. So, you will always have different databases. However, the idea is to have a common way of linking them. Somebody has a driving licence and at the same time has an ID for health, how do we ensure it is the same person? That is the idea behind the National ID. With the BVN, we are creating something for banking customers. The purpose is not just to identify but also ultimately to use it to authorise financial transactions. This cannot be done using the National ID which would identify but it is not meant for authorizing financial transactions. So, the question then is: how do they work together? Today, we are already implementing the BVN financed by the Bankers’ Committee. It is a means of sharing data. When one enrolls for a BVN, we can make that information available. If you already have the National ID and you don’t have a Bank Account, once you use it, we pull the information from National ID and update it in creating your BVN identification. This is with the intention of making it easy for people so that when you are enrolled for one, it is easier to enroll with the other and we have actually started that process of integration Based on feedbacks from banks, how would you describe the level of compliance with the directive on BVN? The feedback from the banks is very positive. I think we should start by understanding why we are embarking on the

Shonubi

BVN project, you will see that there is no way the Banks would not be enthusiastic about it. When the BVN project was initiated, there were three key areas of focus. First and most important of all is for us to identify our customers uniquely across banks and across accounts. So, once a customer enrolls and obtains a BVN, that same BVN is tied to all his bank accounts. Now, relating to identifying is the possibility of banks blacklisting people who have committed financial infractions. It could be fraudsters; it could be people who have forged documents; etc. What happens today is that Mr. A goes to Bank E, commits fraud, then runs to Bank F and because there is no

way of tying all these activities across, we found out that there are quite a lot of losses related to these individuals from one bank to another. BVN removes these losses. The beauty of it all is the unique identification in the financial space. Generally, people say every Nigerian is a crook but in actual sense, maybe only one per cent of Nigerians are crooks but the remaining 99 per cent are considered crooks because of that one per cent. So, BVN allows us, again, to find these individuals and to create that blacklists that other stakeholders in the financial space can have access to. With this, even foreigners through their banks, may be able to identify fraud-

WE ARE CURRENTLY BUILDING RULES NOW IN COLLABORATION WITH THE BANKS, SUCH THAT WHEN THE SYSTEM RECEIVES TRANSACTIONS THAT ARE OUTSIDE THE AGREED PARAMETERS, THESE TRANSACTIONS ARE BLOCKED OR FLAGGED AND THE BANKS ARE ADVISED IMMEDIATELY

sters that have been tracked in the Nigerian Financial space. Secondly, the BVN would allow us begin to build retail credit. Today, the banks have concerns over identification in retail lending, that is why the entire retail consumer lending portfolio is targeted at people with formal employment whose employers can serve as a point of reference. There are however a lot of self-employed people as well as others working in smaller organizations who require this, but do not have access due to the identification issue, as no bank will take the risk of lending to them – considering cases of resignation and eventual run off, how will the Banks get repayment? But with the availability of BVN, these set of individuals will also benefit from Retail Lending as identification and tracking issues will be mitigated. The third, which I have already alluded to, is we want to be able to authorise financial transactions down the road, on an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) or a Point of Sales (PoS). You can use your biometric identifier to say ‘Yes, this is me and I am authorising the payment.’ So, those are the

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Executive Discourse

ans’ image globally –NIBSS boss three key focus areas that led to the BVN project being conceived and implemented. Everybody is expected to have been captured into the system by June 30; do you envisage any change in that date? No. I think we are doing well. Just as most Projects, you start slow but as time goes on, it picks up. The number of enrollment doubles every week. So, given the number of BVNs generated so far, I think June 30 is achievable. For those that have enrolled when are they likely to receive their BVN card? I have gotten my BVN card. I would encourage bank customers to talk to their Banks so that they can get theirs as well. The BVN cards are being printed and sent to the Banks to distribute to the branches where customers have enrolled. You will be sent a Small Messaging System (SMS) and for those that have their emails stipulated, they will be sent email. What about the cost implications? The Cards? It has no cost implications to the customers; we are giving them out to the Customers for free. The cost is borne by the Bankers’ Committee, which considers the BVN project very important and that is why they have been bearing the entire cost. The cost of the cards, the cost of integration with NIMC and almost everything else that has to do with the BVN is borne by the Bankers’ Committee. Is NIBSS that provides the infrastructure for automated processing, settlement of payments and fund transfer instructions not concerned about the rising cases of fraud in the banking system? We are very worried and what gets us even more concerned is that as one executes electronic transactions, a lot more people are participating in that space and cloud. So, it is easier for the banks to invest in new technologies to protect themselves. But now, every business person wants to create a website to sell their products and wares and some of them may not have the capacity to invest in technologies to protect themselves. Thus, once one of them creates a point of leakage, it affects the whole chain. To curb this, one of the initiatives the Bankers’ Committee is putting in place is the Anti-fraud platform that payment transactions are connected to; such that if one has a transaction that is fraudulent, it flags it off immediately. It allows us to identify cards that have been reported as fraudulent; it also allows us to do analysis of a particular location or website where fraud is frequently reported for proper monitoring and this initiative is not only for cards. What we are implementing, which is very unique in almost all areas is to centralise handling of cards, electronic payments and POS. Most of the solutions available elsewhere are mainly for Cards but we have to modify it to allow transactions on other electronic payment platforms. It can create patterns and also highlight suspicious transfers and payments. This platform has gone live; it is currently being

AS PART OF THE ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE THIS CULTURE CHANGE AND INCREASE ADOPTION, WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE CBN AND THE COMMERCIAL BANKS TO PROVIDE THE ELECTRONIC PAYMENT INCENTIVE SCHEME (EPIS) FOR SALES PERSONNEL, MERCHANTS AND CARDHOLDERS used and we are already seeing the benefits. Most of these frauds are more or less insider-related and with the click of the computer, the money is gone. Is there no way to set a limit or threshold on the value of transactions allowed at a particular time? This is part of the area the Anti-Fraud initiative caters for. We agree there must be a limit, either in frequency or value; all transactions going through the Anti-Fraud Systems are tracked such that if it exceeds that frequency or limit, it is flagged. We are currently building rules now in collaboration with the Banks, such that when the system receives transactions that are outside the agreed parameters, these transactions are blocked or flagged and the banks are advised immediately. It is very difficult to say you want to eliminate fraud, but with all these being implemented, it is our expectation that fraud will be highly mitigated. What have been your challenges? Well, as a banker coming into a processor environment, I think the biggest challenge so far is trying to get the industry to understand what we at NIBSS are trying to do. Unfortunately, those who do not understand our business strategy perceive us as being in competition and that the competition is disruptive because it affects the way they were doing businesses before. Even for some banks, we are seen as removing what they would have considered

Shonubi

as propriety or niche because we try to create a uniform platform for the industry. We are however driven by the Bankers’ Committee. If they say roll out this service, our aim is to go-head with rollout as quickly and as efficiently possible. For us, misunderstanding has been the biggest challenge by far in the industry. Some of my colleagues who are Bankers ask: ‘What exactly is NIBSS doing there?’ and for us, the answer is very simple. We are a shared service platform that is supposed to reduce the cost of providing financial services by Banks to the public. So, once we reduce that cost for the banks, they are in a position to pass this, in either pricing or better quality service to their customers. A lot of noise was made by the shared services with a view to reducing cost in the system but why is it that there is no longer emphasis on it? This is actually ongoing. The Central Bank earlier reviewed bank charges down and recently they have also reduced the Merchants Service Charge (MSC) on PoS transactions from 1.25 per cent (of transaction value, pegged at N2,000) to 0.75 per cent. Every year, there have been reductions in charges that are being implemented in various ways. As NIBSS, we are constantly reviewing our service charge. Then, there is the other side of improved services. Unlike what obtained two years ago, if everybody wants to make a payment now, you either use NIBSS Instant Pay-

ments (NIP) or NIBSS Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT). A lot of individuals are not aware that this is a significant benefit. There are very few countries that have similar platforms. In the past, it would take you up to a week before the beneficiary receives value, but with these platforms, value is received in seconds or hours depending on which of the platforms used. So, this is efficiency and it is part of the things that we provide for the industry. But people don’t qualify it because they don’t see it exactly that way. Why is it that merchants hide their PoS and they don’t ask you to use it until you demand for it for your transactions? Is it as a result of the charges? There are cultural issues with anything you are trying to do nationwide, across boundaries, across regions and across communities. There are always cultural issues. When we started this journey with PoS three years ago, the major problem was network and a lot of efforts were made - working with the network operators to stabilise the network. The essential problem we are contending with now is more of a cultural issue; Let’s use the petrol stations for instance, a customer will not be offered a PoS terminal for payment unless you ask and insist on it; this is because when one buys fuel, first; they encourage you to fill up, and the total amount will always be rounded up; secondly, they never have balance to give you back if you need to collect balance from the amount you are required to pay after your tank has been filled. So, who gets the balance? It is the attendant? But with electronic payment, you will be paying the exact amount utilized. It is very interesting to then note that when you sum up all these balances in the range of N5 or N10, it becomes significant daily for the attendant. As such naturally, it is normal for the attendant to be reluctant about offering a PoS for payment. As part of the activities to enhance this culture change and increase adoption, we are currently working with the CBN and the Commercial Banks to provide the Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS) for Sales Personnel, Merchants and Cardholders. The component of the scheme targeted at the Sales personnel/attendant is called the ‘Tipping Point’. This component is such that whenever payments are made on PoS, the sales personnel/attendant collect points which they can redeem for a certain reward. It makes them understand that even though they do not collect the little balance ‘change’ from their customers, if they encourage Electronic transactions, they would still be able to get some reward. Part of the loyalty scheme is also targeted at encouraging all cardholders that use their cards to make payments so that by insisting on using your card for payments, you get some of your cash back and you can also collect points that you can redeem for a reward. In addition to this benefit, for every electronic based transaction paid for from your account, it is COT free. So, these are some of the initiatives that are going on quietly behind the scene, which we would unveil very shortly.

Business News

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Experts set environment agenda for Buhari govt OLUFEMI ADEOSUN

takeholders in the environment sector have urged the new administration headed by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to give priority attention to the nation’s environmental concerns to enable his economic programmes yield the desired results for Nigerians. According to them, the issue of gas flaring, flooding, desertification and green technology must be accorded a pride of place in designing economic and developmental programmes. For instance, the Executive Director, International Centre for Energy, Environment and Devel-

opment (ICEED), Mr. Ewah Eleri, urged the new administration to, as a matter national importance, deal with the issue of gas flaring in the Niger Delta. He said by eliminating gas faring, Nigeria would have gained on two folds, which is addressing the environmental challenges in the Niger Delta region and also boosting the nation’s power production. The environmentalist also urged the incoming government to design a clear plan for addressing the nation’s environmental challenges, lamenting that the management of flood in Nigeria today, for instance, is on ad-hoc basis. “The incoming administration can turn around the way Ni-

geria manages its environmental challenges by revisiting the issue of having a coordinating body to manage climate change in Nigeria. For instance, Lagos State has been able to manage the way it addresses climate change in such a way that it has created awareness and help to build resilience among the people against natural disasters. The management of the environmental concerns in

the state has also set It on a path of clean development,” he added. According to him, for the nation to be on the path of sustainable development, government must developed bigger ideas than the current administration has been able to come up with. Also setting agenda for the new government, an Environment expert and Chief Executive Officer, SMEFUNDS, Mr. Femi

Oye, said that he would want Buhari to concentrate on the diversification of the nation’s energy mix. As a starting point, he called for the immediate strengthening and passage of all pending and outstanding Environment and Energy Bill, including setting an ambitious agenda for a clean energy and agricultural growth opportunity in the country.

Oil industry operators renew call for PIB passage UDEME AKPAN

ith some domestic challenges, especially uncertainty over the just concluded elections and non-passage of Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB into law, the nation’s oil and gas industry has not witnessed much investment in the past few years for some reasons. The Chairman of International Energy Services Limited, Dr. Diran Fawibe said the government needs to do more in order to attract massive local and foreign investments, especially through the instrumentality of PIB. Fawibe who observed that the PIB has been on the drawing board for too long said the new administration needs to give priority to it because of its importance. Fawibe maintained that the expected increased investments would culminate in exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas as well as the making of additional reserves. The nation, he explained needs such additional reserves to enable it remain a major producer and exporter of petroleum. A Port Harcourt-based energy analyst, Mr. Bala Zaka stressed

that it is imperative for stakeholders, especially operators and the Federal Government to put adequate arrangements in place required to protect oil facilities on land, swamp, offshore and deep offshore. Zaka indicated that improved security would guide against chronic vandalism and oil theft which accounted for significant loss of foreign exchange. This is important as Shell Petroleum Development Company had earlier noted in its report that crude oil theft, sabotage and illegal refining are the main sources of pollution in the Niger Delta today and were the cause of 75per cent of spill incidents from the Joint Venture (SPDC JV) pipelines in 2014. The National President of Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Colman Obasi maintained that the government should focus on developing many downstream facilities, especially refineries targeted at ensuring that adequate petroleum products are supplied to consumers nationwide. Since, it is not the major role of the Federal Government to embark on such investments; Obasi suggested that it could do so as pilot scheme before selling them to private investors.

L-R: New Media Artist, Art of Sunestis, Chuks Ogene; Corporate Affairs Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, Ore Famurewa; pupil of Wellspring College, (3rd prize winners), Tanitoluwa Wusu and Marketing Manager, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, Dolapo Otegbayi, during the presentation of prizes to winners of the Vision Nigeria Art Challenge to mark the 2015 Celebration of World Milk Day in Lagos, yesterday.

Illegal tobacco trade costs govts $50bn annually –BATN DAVID AUDU

egal and External Affairs Director, British American Tobacco, BAT, Freddy Messanvi has revealed that illegal tobacco trade worldwide is estimated to cost government about N50 billion annually, adding that it costs about $774 million in the West African region. Messanvi, who disclosed this amid BATN’s call for understanding of illegal tobacco trade, those behind it and need for collaborative efforts to fight the scourge, said the impact of such trade might not be felt directly as other crimes, but its consequences are heavy. “By some estimates, illegal tobacco costs governments across the world about $40-$50 billion annually in unpaid tobacco taxes. Coming closer to home in Nigeria,

this implies that illicit activities attributes to the shortfall in government revenue from tobacco sales by an underestimation of over N216 billion paid in taxes to the Nigerian government, which could have been higher. “A crucial fact to also note is that sales of illegal tobacco have been reported to fund human trafficking, drug and arms trades as well as terrorist organisations activities globally. The nature and scale of the illegal tobacco trade, and the approaches required to tackle it, vary from country to country, he added. He said, the action was part of a new campaign, developed by British American Tobacco, to raise awareness of the facts around the illegal tobacco trade to coincide with the World Health Organisation’s no tobacco day. The nature of the illegal tobac-

co trade, he said, varies from country to country but the drivers are very similar. These include regulation that is not balanced, over regulation, large excise increases causing price differences between countries and ineffective law enforcement measures. However, the statement noted, if all of the different organisations involved in the illegal tobacco trade around the world were combined into one conglomerate, they would become the third largest international tobacco company by revenue. “The amount of illegal tobacco is much more significant than is generally realised. An estimated 400-600 billion cigarettes, the equivalent of approximately 10-12 per cent of world consumption globally and in West Africa about 60 billion cigarettes which is about 10 per cent of the global illicit trade.

Stanbic IBTC leads in corporate citizens’ awards UDO ONYEKA

tanbic IBTC Bank has won the first prize in the maiden edition of the Corporate Citizen Awards, organized by the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC. The award is designed to recognize and reward corporate entities that have consistently adhered

to applicable by-laws under the auspices of CAC and conducted business in Nigeria to the highest standards of responsible corporate practice. Stanbic IBTC Bank was selected ahead of a strong field of competitors from the financial services industry to win the ‘Best Complying Company of the Year’ award, presented at a formal cer-

emony held at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Expressing joy on the feat, the Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Mrs. Sola David-Borha, noted that the award represents a powerful endorsement of the strength of Nigeria’s financial services sector as well as the bank’s comprehensive and globally benchmarked framework

on best practices. She also said the Stanbic IBTC Group is guided by the vision of making a real difference in providing financial services to the people. The Bank is a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, a full service financial services group with a clear focus on three main business pillars - Corporate and

Investment Banking; Personal and Business Banking as well as Wealth Management. Standard Bank Group, to which Stanbic IBTC Holdings belongs, is the largest African bank by assets and earnings. It is rooted in Africa with strategic representation in 20 countries on the African continent, including South Africa.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Ovia, Essien win African Bankers of the Year award SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

frican Development Bank, AfDB, have honoured the Group Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank, Mr Albert Essien and the Chairman of Zenith Bank, Mr Jim Ovia with its prestigious awards. Ghana’s Essien won African Banker of the Year Award for turning around the fortunes of a precarious bank inherited last year while Nigeria’s Ovia received African Banker Icon and Lifetime Achiever along with Ivorian Tidjane Thiam, the first African Chief Executive Officer of a FTSE100 company for their contributions in the sector. In the African Bank of the Year category, Groupe Banque Populaire of Morroco beat other banks to win the coveted award. Receiving the award during the 40th Annual General Meeting of the AfDB in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Essien called on fellow Africans to work hard to acquire enough education to build African continent. According to the organizers, Essien steadied the ship of the bank and brought in shareholders to strengthen the bank’s capital base. East Africa won two coveted awards-the Minister of Finance and Central Bank Governor Categories for Rwanda and Kenya respectively. Morocco had a strong showing with four awards while Mozambique did well by winning two awards in the most innovative bank as well as best bank in Southern Africa categories. This year’s ceremony was hosted by MasterCard International. Speaking during the event, the MasterCard’s Division President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Daniel Monehin, said: “we believe that the African Banker Awards understands precisely what excellence in banking means, saying the award was meant to recognize and commemorate their banking colleagues, who have outstanding examples of progress towards banking excellence. Ecobank/Nedbank, Banque Internationale pour l’Afrique au Congo (BIAC), Banque Altantique, Groupe Banque Centrale Populaire, GT Bank and Coris Bank International also supported the Awards, along with ECAir, Sopra Banking Software and Travelex.

Business News

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Maritime stakeholders task FG on Apapa gridlock FRANCIS EZEM

aritime stakeholders have called for a concerted action against the worsening traffic jam that characterizes the Apapa area of Lagos State, which houses the nation’s two biggest and busiest seaports, the Lagos Ports Complex and Tin Can Island Ports Complex. Managing Director of Port Passages, a freight forwarding firm, Mr. Michael Nwokafor, who assessed the outgoing government, said that though the industry had not had in this good in many decades, as it has suffered neglect in the hands of other governments, he said efforts should be made towards sustaining the human ca-

pacity building efforts of the past government. In addition to this, he said that the problem of gridlocks on most port approaches and other parts of Apapa, which cripple economic activities in the areas, should be one of the issues that would occupy the attention of the incoming government. President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (MDLCA), Mr. Lucky Amiwero, one of the stakeholders, who also set agenda for the incoming government believes that the issue of Apapa gridlock and carriage of Nigeria’s imports and exports should form a major point of focus for the new government. “It is not possible that one ad-

ministration will address all the challenges of the industry in four years. The new administration should concentrate on the areas that were not touched while also consolidating on the gains already achieved”, he also argued. Another stakeholder and Managing Director of KAMANY Nigeria Limited, an indigenous oil and gas and freight forwarding firm, Mr. Charles Okereafor, noted that the last four years had been eventful, but insisted that apart from consolidating on the gains made by the outgoing government, the new government should not tamper with the human capacity development training, especially the training of seafarers. Okereafor, who is a lecturer at the Chartered Institute of Ship-

ping CIS said: “Two areas the new government must not fail to address are the issue of the imbalance in the carriage of Nigeria’s imports and exports and building indigenous fleet to curtail foreign domination in the maritime industry”. The President of the Nigerian Institute of Freight Forwarders NIFF, Dr. Zeb Ikokide, charged the incoming government to concentrate on the areas the outgoing government did not do much. He however warned that the new government should resist the temptation of tampering with the port concession programme as being suggested in some quarters, arguing that that would amount to taking the industry back by over 20 years.

Cashless Card Expo: Heritage Bank boss to speak on service delivery UDO ONYEKA

anaging Director and Chief Executive, Heritage Bank Limited, Mr. Ifie Sekibo is expected to speak on ‘Innovation in Financial Services Delivery’ at the forthcoming annual Cashless Card Expo of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. This year’s edition of the Expo,

scheduled to hold at Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos would features various awards for outstanding payment cards and services in a bid to recognise and reward banks and financial services efforts at promoting cashless policy. A statement from the Bank said, in addition to the presentation by Sekibo, the Bank has been nominated for two of the Cashless Expo Award categories namely, “Best Co-branded Card of the

Year” and “Best Industry innovation of the Year”. Since its operations in 2013, Heritage Bank has distinguished itself through innovative banking services, which offer unique customer satisfaction and unparalleled comfort and convenience to existing and new customers of the bank. “This is reflected in the zero COT with no hidden charges offered to its numerous customers,

L-R: General Manager, May& Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor; Chairman, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) and Company Secretary at Marina Nominees Ltd, Mrs. Toun Abiru, during the 64th annual general meeting of May& Baker in Lagos recently. PHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN

two months after it commenced operations. “The nomination of the Bank for “Best Co-branded Card of the year” and “Best Industry innovation of the Year” awards at this year’s CBN’s Cashless Expo is in recognition of the various industry setting innovative e-payment cards and channels introduced by the bank since its operations in 2013,” the statement read in part. These innovative products include: e-Piggy Card for collecting change at merchants; 7411 Smart Travel Tourist Card, which enables visiting tourists in Nigeria to carry out card transactions easily and Mainasara Women and Youth Card, a scheme card to support women and youth development. Others include, Vineland Microfinance Bank Card for customers of Vineland MFB to carry out transactions, Royal Life Microfinance Bank Card for customers of Royal Life MFB to carry out transactions, Miliki Living Patrons Card for patrons of Miliki lounge to pay their bills within the Miliki premises only; and PMAN Card for PMAN members to receive royalties and carry out transactions. Last year, Heritage Bank introduced the first transparent MasterCard in Nigeria.

South African Airways begins Ghana–US route OLUSEGUN KOIKI

outh African Airways, SAA, has unveiled its plans to commence direct flight from Kotoka International Airport, Accra, Ghana to Washington DC, United States of America. The airline said such planned flight was to further strengthen its presence in West Africa.

The flight operations, according to the airline would commence on August 2, 2015 with four frequencies weekly. The direct flight would make it the second route, the airline would be flying from West Africa to USA.; the first of such direct flight was Abidjan, Ivory Coast to Washington. Speaking on the development through an online statement by its Nigerian media consultant,

the Ag. Managing Director, SAA, Mr. Nico Bezuidenhout stated that the agreement followed months of the airline’s efforts and preparations between the governments of Ghana and South Africa. He stated that the airline would be pleased to fly its clients between Ghana and the United States of America from this August onwards. He described the feat as a ma-

jor development for the airline, stressing that the plan was part of the management’s long-term turnaround strategy to ensure growth on the African continent as one of its key objectives. Also speaking, the SAA Executive Africa Hub Projects, Kendy Phohleli said the granting of traffic rights by the Ghana government enables SAA to transport customers from Accra to Washington.

Business News

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Olam invests N177bn in Nigeria’s agric sector SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

lam Nigeria has invested over N177 billion in the nation’s agriculture sector in the last ten years. In 2013 alone, the company invested about N19 billion in a 10,000 hectare of farm with integrated mill, employing 950 people from host communities while producing 36,000 metric tonnes of rice. Currently, over 3,000 farmers are engaged in its agriculture projects with an estimated 16,000 farmers by 2018. Business Head, Rice, Olam Nigeria, Mr. Anil Nair, who disclosed this said the investments were aimed at producing enough rice for domestic markets while boosting self-sufficiency in rice production. Such investments, he listed cover coca, cashew and rice subsector. Others include cotton, sesame, wheat and packaged foods; hence they contribute to the de-

velopment of non-oil sector. Based on the policies adopted by the Federal Government on sugar and cement industries, Olam access to import market through quota system would be in proportion to the investments in domestic rice value chain. According to Nasir, in December 2014, the company received notification of new quotas, but later found out that, it was retrospective, which significantly lowers investments in integrated milling projects. The company’s existing rice production as well as future investment plans has been assessed against an import quota of 246,000 metric tonnes allocated to Olam as a major rice investor. Rice imported under this quota qualifies for a 10 percent duty and 20 percent levy. Olam however noted with dismay, the communication gap between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, disclosing that on April 14, 2015; the NCS issued a

public notification that Olam has not paid its excess importation. It was later sorted out as Olam was allotted a fresh quota with excess quantity paid within the period, but later revised downwards to 54,000 metric tonnes from the 50 percent reduction agreed by the Ministry, following the company’s appeal. On smuggling of rice, the company cautioned potential smugglers of cheaper rice from neighbouring countries, saying this could occur if import duties and levies become excessive. While regretting that smuggling has continued to plague the rice industry, also noted that smuggled rice still find its way into the nation’s market. “Smuggling is also one of the biggest concerns that we have because if you go round the Nigerian market, you will see a lot of smuggled rice in the market. I believe the farmers and manufacturers are finding it difficult to compete with imported rice.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

US manufacturing picks up pace in May

S manufacturing picked up pace in May for the first time in six months, a survey has shown. An index compiled for the Institute for Supply Management, which represents purchasing managers, rose to 52.8 in May, up from 51.5 in April, providing hope that growth is rebounding from a first-quarter slump. Anything above 50 indicates expansion. Less encouraging were figures showing consumer spending, a large driver of the US economy, was unchanged in April. That compares to a 0.5% increase in March. Stagnant consumer spending is one reason that the US manufacturing sector has stalled, and only grown slightly in the past few months. Manufacturers usually lags consumer spending, as firms wait to boost production in the

$1.2trn lost to global jobs gap –ILO MESHACK IDEHEN

L-R: Senior Brand Manager, Legend and Life Lager Beer, Funsho Ayeni; 1st runner up, Goldberg Fuji T’o Bam 2015, Saheed Ishola and judge of the show, Alhaji Sikiru Agboola, during the presentation of cheque at the grand finale in Ibadan at the weekend.

NIPR lauds NAMA on professionalism OLUSEGUN KOIKI

he Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, NIPR, has commended the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, for the high level of professionalism and healthy technical capacity, which it has brought to bear on its service delivery in the aviation sector. The National President of Council, NIPR, Dr. Rotimi Oladele disclosed this when he led a high powered delegation of the Institute on a courtesy visit to the agency’s headquarters in Lagos. An online statement by the Ag. General Manager, Public Affairs,

NAMA, Mrs. Olajumoke Adetona stated that Oladele said that the visible changes taking place in the agency in terms of acquisition and deployment of hi-tech navigational infrastructure and development of human capital was indicative of a focused and dynamic leadership determined to drive the leading Air Navigation Service Provider, ANSP, in the world. Oladele in the statement however appealed to the Federal Government to give support to the NAMA, in terms of funding of capital projects and training of manpower to enable the agency deliver on its strategic mandate of managing the safety and security of the nation’s airspace.

Besides, the NIPR boss further solicited more work synergy and team spirit among various departments of the agency to make for “a harmonised and focused service delivery system. He maintained that NIPR was ready to partner with the agency in the areas of training of public affairs personnel and streamlining its service delivery structure for better results. In his remarks, the Managing Director, NAMA, Engr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam lauded the Institute for identifying with the modest achievements of NAMA in sustaining the gains of air safety in the country.

wake of spending by consumers. “The April income and spending figures are another reminder that even though their incomes are rising at a healthy pace, households are still reluctant to boost spending more freely,’’ said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Markets. However personal income numbers were better - rising by 0.4% in April. As well as the improved manufacturing report, construction spending also increased in April to a near six-and-a-half year high. It jumped 2.2% to an annual rate of $1.0 trn, the highest level since November 2008. Monday’s figures follow a sharp downward revision to first quarter growth last week, which showed the US economy shrinking by 0.7% in the first three months of the year.

nternational Labour Organisation, ILO, said an estimated $1.2 trillion has been lost in annual wages due to 61 million jobs gap opened-up since the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009. ILO Economic Expert, Mr Steven Kapsos told newsmen in a statement that the global wage gap puts the brakes on the global economy, describing how vicious circle of weak employment growths, slow consumer spending as well as business investments led to the overall sluggish economic growth. “$1.2tn dollars is our estimate of the annual wages lost around the world due to global jobs gap that has opened up since the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009. We

have 30 million more unemployed people around the world today than we had before the crisis. If we add this to the discouraged workers that have dropped out of the labour market altogether, we estimate a global jobs gap of 61 million’’, he stated. According to his statement, “Importantly, we estimate that closing this global jobs gap would add $3.7 trillion dollars to the global economy – a 3.6 per cent boost to global output– as increased wages would lead to more global consumption, and increased profits and investment levels.” Commenting on the development, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, has called on Africa leaders to initiate policies that would fill the wage gap as well as create job opportunities for the unemployed youths in the continent.

Shares in China lead gains across Asia

hares in China led gains across much of Asia after a survey indicated that activity in China’s major factories had picked up in May. The Shanghai Composite closed up 4.7% at 4,828.74. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index ended 0.6% higher at 27,597.16. Official numbers from the mainland showed activity in some of China’s big factories had increased slightly in May, in line with expectations. The country’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which measures items including new orders, rose 50.2 in May from 50.1 in April - its highest since November last year. A reading above 50 indi-

cates expansion. The PMI figure triggered a rally in shares, despite a separate private PMI survey from HSBC/ Markit indicating contraction. The HSBC/Markit survey which focuses on small and medium-sized factories - gave a reading of 49.2 in May, the third month of contraction in a row. It also indicated that export orders fell at the fastest rate for nearly two years. In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei recovered earlier losses to close up 0.03% at 20,569.87, marking its longest winning streak since a 13-day run in February 1988. In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 0.72% at 5,735.40.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

EnergyWeek Petralon to produce first oil in early july 2015 35

West African crude exports to Asia to fall 36 in June

Fuel still N200 per litre in Lagos 37

Electricity generation low, GENCOs face funding, infrastructure constraints

Afam power plant

The expectations were high that private investors who bought the GENCOs would inject huge funds to expand facilities and generate more electricity for transmission and distribution. UDEME AKPAN reports that their inability to raise funds has constrained them from increasing the nation’s power generation capacity.

he heart of many Nigerians, especially electricity consumers had leaped for joy following awareness that the former President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration was bent on selling 10 Electricity Generation Companies, GENCOs to private investors for

some reasons. First, the companies did not do better under the management of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. Second, there are indications that huge government yearly allocations meant for maintenance of power plants were not properly utilised. Consequently, private investors who bought the companies were expected to be better than many government officials who operated them in the past. The private investors were also expected to have huge resources, including funds as well as discipline and commitment to drive successful operations.

Investigations showed that the expectations have not yet been realised because of many reasons. For instance, many of the private investors have not been able to boost investment required to deepen and expand existing facilities in the sector. The situation is worsened because the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has cautioned the commercial banks against funding projects in the sector because of perceived risks. The Executive Director, Oil and Gas, Access Bank Plc Mr. Elias Igbinakenzua who dropped the hint in a recent interview remarked that stakeholders in the sector need to create enabling environment that would

MANY OF THE PRIVATE INVESTORS HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO BOOST INVESTMENT REQUIRED TO DEEPEN AND EXPAND EXISTING FACILITIES IN THE SECTOR

encourage financial institutions to provide funds for investment. Consequently, operators lacked adequate funds to rehabilitate facilities, including power stations. They also lack funds to construct new power stations and other facilities. This situation has affected the sector in many ways. For instance, it lacks adequate capacity to generate adequate electricity, capable of meeting demand. The latest report of the Presidential Task Force on Power, PTFP have it that the nation’s power plants collectively generated 3,163.41megawatts, mw of which 3,085.77mw was distributed to consumers. This is said to be low as the Task Force puts the nation’s peak demand forecast at 12,800.00mw. But the plight of operators is worsened by increased vandalism of gas pipelines that are dedicated to delivering gas to thermal plants, including Egbin power station. CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

Energy Week

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Electricity generation low, GENCOs face funding, infrastructure constraints CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 A few days ago, oil workers in Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC went on strike to express their displeasure over the granting of operatorship of Oil Mining Leases, OMLs 40 and 42 to Elcrest and Neconde respectively. The strike which was later joined by other senior and junior oil workers crippled operations, including gas production and delivery to power plants. It also caused a significant drop in the nation’s oil output by 205,000 barrels per day, bpd. The strike which was started by oil workers under the auspices of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association, PENGASSAN was joined by others at the Group level of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and its subsidiaries nationwide. Investigations showed that the oil workers, including NUPENG members that constitute junior workers in the oil and gas industry mobilised to accomplished effectiveness because of the approach adopted to implement the decision. “We are seriously worried that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke who has in the past promised to build NPDC to become a world class oil producing company should be the person perpetuating this barbaric change just a few days to handover of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration to General Muhammudu Buhari,” said an oil worker who preferred not to be mentioned. Besides, power generation is also worsened by constant vandalism of pipelines and other essential facilities. For instance, some weeks ago, electricity supply dropped following the shutdown of Afam power plant. The plant which has an installed 776 megawatts, mw of electricity was shut because of oil theft which culminated in the destruction of the Trans Niger Pipeline, TNP. The Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC Joint Venture which confirmed the development maintained that the pipeline was shut as a result of lack of gas. The company maintained in a statement that, “The shutdown of the TNP system, com-

Buhari

Peterside

Uzoigwe

prising the 28inch and 24inch streams resulted in the deferment of 150,000 barrels of oil per day, and also led to tank tops and nonevacuation of condensate from Okoloma Gas Plant which supplies Afam VI Power Plant with feed gas. It indicated that SPDC had to shut down Okoloma Gas Plant today as it could not continue to produce gas without the evacuation of condensate. It stressed that: “Afam VI Power Plant was available at 624MW capacity, but supplying only 105MW to the national grid due to reduced gas volume at the time of shutdown. The company disclosed that the latest leak on the TNP occurred on the 24inch stream at Owokiri on 11 July. A Joint Investigation Visit comprising government agencies, community and civil society representatives and SPDC personnel found that unknown persons had installed a 6inch crude theft valve on the facility.” “The 28inch TNP had earlier been shut in for removal of similar oil theft connections. The company is striving to repair the TNP as quickly as possible, and restore operations that will enable power generation to resume at Afam VI. SPDC is deeply concerned about the negative impact of incessant crude theft activities on lives and environment in the Niger Delta, and also the loss of electricity to businesses and households across the country. The total daily loss from

the TNP shutdown alone comes to about $15 million (N2.4 billion),” it added. Before then, Shell had maintained that it might shut its Afam power station in Rivers State, as the fire which gutted the Bomu-Bonny Trunk line was still raging. The company stated that the proposed shut of the Afam power plant would cause a drop in the country’s power supply by 650 megawatts. The company hinted that a vessel used for bunkering went up in flames at the company’s 28-inch TNP which culminated in the shutting down of the Bomu-Bonny Trunk line that produces 150,000 barrels per day. The company explained that if the trunk line was not reopened immediately, the Ibom power plant in Akwa Ibom State would be affected and would result in serious gas shortage to power the Afam station, thereby leading to its shutdown. Also, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN had hinted, “There will be about 450MW reduction in electricity generation from today Saturday, 23rd to Tuesday, 26th November, 2013 due to reported vandalism of gas pipeline supplying gas to Okpai power plant in Delta State, resulting in the shutdown of the Power station this evening, and unavoidable power rationing nationwide. The company’s General Manager (Public Affairs), Mrs. Seun Olagunju maintained that, “TCN regrets inconveniences to the Federal Government and our highly esteemed electricity consumers nationwide and enjoined members of the public to

work with the government in protecting installations and facilities meant for our socio-economic development. From all indications, many stakeholders, especially investors did not understand the complexity of issues at stake nor were they fully armed with adequate resources to boost investment and operations. But regulatory agencies found them suitable. Specifically, the Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation Technical Committee, Mr. Atedo Peterside had said while announcing the emergence of preferred bidders that NCP decided to use the ATC&C method for the selection of core investors for distribution companies because ATC& C loss levels will provide Nigerian consumers and other stakeholders with specific parameters with which to measure the outcome of the power sector reform and privatisation. He had maintained that they were subjected to consistency tests and divided into two categories: bids in which ATC&C loss reduction proposal is less than 50 per cent and those where it is 50 per cent or more. He had said that bidders in the second category were subjected to a further review. Peterside and others had also tasked the investors to invest more resources as the sector remains capital intensive and technologically demanding. One of the investors who preferred not to be named said the challenges of the sector are enormous and that operators need more time to make meaningful impact in the sector, and by extension on consumers and the nation’s economy. However, consumers and others are watching to see the new administration’s blueprint aimed at addressing issues in major sectors, especially power in the coming days. The President of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Remi Bello maintained in a statement that this new political dispensation offers a great opportunity to bring about the desired change in all facets of our national life - the economy, social sector, quality of life, value orientation and governance quality. “We acknowledge the tremendous goodwill that the new administration currently enjoys and urge the regime to take full advantage of this goodwill to immediately commence the charting of a new course for the country and the economy. Four years is a very short time and the clock is already ticking! At this time, the private sector eagerly awaits President Buhari’s economic blueprint that would define the policy directions of his administration,” he added.

WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE TREMENDOUS GOODWILL THAT THE NEW ADMINISTRATION CURRENTLY ENJOYS AND URGE THE REGIME TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THIS GOODWILL TO IMMEDIATELY COMMENCE THE CHARTING OF A NEW COURSE FOR THE COUNTRY AND THE ECONOMY Transformer

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Energy Week

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Petralon to produce first oil in early July 2015

n indigenous oil company, Petralon Energy has concluded plans to produce its first oil in July, this year. Petralon Energy farmed into the Dawes Island Field in OPL’s 2005 & 2006 in July 2014, in partnership with Tako E&P Solutions Ltd and has made considerable headway in operations in this field. The company disclosed in a statement that the Dawes Island Marginal Field is located in OPLs 2005 & 2006 (formerly OML 54), in Swamp Terrain, about 15km SW of Port Harcourt and has a Field Coverage Area of 40km2. The field was previously owned by Chevron (formerly OML 54), and is currently

owned by Eurafric Energy Limited. Petralon acquired a joint stake in Dawes Island with Tako E&P. (35% and 14per cent respectively). Tako E&P an indigenous company registered in Nigeria to carry out businesses in the Upstream, Midstream, Downstream and Energy Sectors. Petralon has already committed in excess of $10Million over the last six months to complete the re-entry of the existing Dawes Island-1 well. The drilling campaign in the Dawes Island well is at an advanced stage, having drilled over 4,100 ft with the side-track to a target depth of c. 7,010ft well underway. Ahonsi Unuigbe, CEO of Petralon Energy, commented: “We are extremely delighted to

Oil rig

be developing the Dawes Island Marginal Field. “At Petralon, local content meets global best practice and I am confident that our dynamic approach coupled with our experience and expertise will make this project a success. We anticipate a base case initial production from the field of 1,500 bpd, ramping this up to 3,000 bpd by year-end.” “We are proud to be part of the rapidly growing group of indigenous companies who have the technical competence and financial resources to own and operate assets in Nigeria, fueling the growth and development the indigenous upstream sector Nigeria,” it maintained. “Petralon Energy is an African Exploration & Production company based in Nigeria but with regional expansion plans into other African countries. Its founders, directors and management have a proven track record in the indigenous Nigerian upstream oil and gas sector as well as with major international financial and oil and gas companies working in the sector.“ “The Company which has already raised over $50million to fund its immediate growth plans, is set up to acquire, develop, and operate assets in the oil and gas sector, including, but not limited to farm-in opportunities (with indigenous and international oil companies), marginal fields, and bid rounds & concessions,” it indicated. It also disclosed that as part of its social responsibility and active community engagement strategy aimed at fostering sustainable development, Petralon pledges 5per cent of its net profits to the communities where they work.

Oil workers suspend strike over OMLs 40, 42 UDEME AKPAN

il workers have suspended their strike over the operatorship of Oil Mining Leases, OMLs 40 and 42. The oil workers had embarked on strike to back their displeasure over the operatorship of the OMLs a few weeks ago. But investigations over the weekend showed that the workers in the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC and other subsidiaries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC have called off the strike to pave way for negotiation. The workers, it was learnt were at present considering the proposal of the Federal Government to put in place a joint management for the OMLS. Prior to the end of the strike, the Federal Government had made a strong case for joint operatorship to end conflict between oil workers and two indigenous companies - Elcrest and Neconde over the management of Oil Mining Lease, OMLs 40 and 42. The arrangement would involve the joint management of the oil fields by representatives of both the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, a

subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and the two companies. A top official of NNPC who confirmed the development said the proposal did not go down well with NPDC workers who embarked on strike a few days ago to support their insistence on sole operatorship of NPDC. “The idea seems to be a good one but workers of NPDC are opposed to it. They have insisted that the two OMLs be handed over to the NNPC subsidiary,” he said. The oil workers, it was learnt have also rejected the advice of Group Managing Director, Dr. Joseph T. Dawha of NNPC not to embark on the strike at this crucial period. Investigations showed that the nation’s oil production and export has dropped by and 205,000 barrels per day, bpd from since Monday this week because of the strike. The suspended 205,000 bpd constitute the present output of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC from its 12 oil fields located in different parts of the Niger Delta.

The strike which was started by oil workers under the auspices of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association, PENGASSAN would be joined by others at the Group level of NNPC and its subsidiaries nationwide. It was gathered that the oil workers, including NUPENG members that constitute junior workers in the oil and gas industry have been mobilising since last weekend to ensure the strike is effective. Specifically, the workers said they are opposed to the Federal Government decision to grant the operatorship of OMLs 40 and 42 to Elcrest and Neconde respectively. They said that the strike would culminate in the complete shutdown of operations, including oil production, export and gas supply to gas to Nigerian Gas Company, NGC. The oil workers said the refining and distribution of petroleum products would also be affected during the strike. “We are seriously worried that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke who has in the past promised to build NPDC to become a world class oil producing company should be the person perpetuating this barbaric change just a few days to handover of the President Goodluck

Commodity

Units

Price

Change

% Change

Time(ET)

Crude Oil (WTI)

USD/bbl.

59.94

-0.36

-0.60%

13:23:11

Crude Oil (Brent)

USD/bbl.

64.83

-0.73

-1.11%

13:24:04

TOCOM Crude Oil

JPY/kl

50,140.00

+250.00

+0.50%

13:22:22

NYMEX Natural Gas

USD/MMBtu

2.67

+0.02

+0.91%

13:22:48

Source: Bloomberg as at June 1, 2015

Jonathan-led administration to General Muhammudu Buhari,” said an oil worker who preferred not to be mentioned. The spokesman of NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe said in a telephone interview that he would interact with stakeholders before making comments yesterday. The two OMLs in which NNPC have substantial interests were sold by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC to the indigenous companies with NPDC as operator. The indigenous companies which made strong cases to take over the management of the OMLs alleged that NPDC was incompetent in managing the assets. The Federal Government that has been supporting NPDC with the arguments that it should be encouraged to emerge a big producer and exporter recently handed over the operatorship to the indigenous companies. This and other related issues triggered strong opposition among workers who felt there was not carried along by the Federal Government.

Energy Week

No illegality in oil deal audit – Eni

taly’s Eni said on Sunday an audit conducted by an independent U.S. law firm into a case involving alleged corruption relating to a big Nigerian oil deal had found no evidence of illegal conduct. Reuters maintained that Milan prosecutors opened a probe last year into a $1.09 billion acquisition of Nigeria’s OPL-245 offshore oil block in 2011 by Eni and Royal Dutch Shell. Eni said in a statement the audit by the law firm, which it did not name, was done on behalf of Eni’s board of statutory auditors and watch structure. “(It) did not find evidence of illegal conduct in relation to Eni and Shell’s 2011 transaction with the Nigerian government for the acquisition of the OPL 245 license in Nigeria,” Eni said. It said the final report of this audit had been made available to the judiciary “with whom Eni is co-operating in full”. Meanwhile, the company maintained that, “We are a major integrated energy company committed to growth in the activities of finding, producing, transporting, transforming and marketing oil and Gas Company.” “Founded sixty years ago, Eni today, more than ever, is a close, open and dynamic company. Its key values are sustainability, culture, partnership, innovation and efficiency, which are communicated across the world by a symbol, the six-legged dog,” he maintained. It indicated that Eni is committed to promoting its principles among its stakeholders, in particular its suppliers, industrial partners, organisations, clients and consumers through the sharing of its values and objectives, trust and reciprocal knowledge. “Eni is an integrated company that operates across the entire energy chain, employing more than 84,000 people in 83 Countries around the world. Our way of doing business, based on operating excellence, focus on health, safety and the environment, is committed to preventing and mitigating operational risks,” he disclosed. The company maintained that the audits examined the documents and information available to the company or otherwise received or acquired following the start of the investigation. It disclosed that the final report of this audit was made available to the judiciary with whom Eni is co-operating in full. “Regarding the pending preliminary investigation by the Italian authorities into the OPL 245 case, Eni informs that an audit conducted by an independent US law firm on behalf of Eni’s board of statutory auditors and watch structure, did not find evidence of illegal conduct in relation to Eni and Shell’s 2011 transaction with the Nigerian government for the acquisition of the OPL 245 license in Nigeria.”

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

West African crude exports to Asia to fall in June UDEME AKPAN

WITH AGENCY REPORT

est African crude oil exports to Asia are set to fall by more than nine percent in June to 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd). Reuters indicated in its report that the drop from May marks the second month of declines since the exports hit 2.43 million bpd in April, the highest level in at least 10 years. Exports to China, typically the single largest Asian buyer of West African crude, increased by one to 33 cargoes in total. Buyers took a range of grades, including several of Angolan crudes, such as Cabinda, in addition to cargoes of Cameroon’s Kole, Ghana’s Jubilee and Ceiba from Equatorial Guinea. But bookings to India fell again, shedding a further four cargoes from May to roughly 16, or 507,000 bpd, in total. Indian refiners were the

primary force behind the April buying frenzy, booking 34 cargoes as they looked to restock following the end of the financial year and to secure light sweet crudes to meet surging local gasoline demand. June bookings were hindered by increased freight rates from West Africa to Asia, as well as by a widening in Brent’s premium to Dubai crude to fivemonth highs, limited the arbitrage flow from the Atlantic Basin to Asia. While state-run Indian refineries such as Indian Oil Corp (IOC), MRPL and BPCL run regular tenders to purchase West African crudes, they are working to gain increasing flexibility in their crude slate, and IOC recently purchased its first cargo of Russia’s Urals crude. Independent refiners such as Reliance and Essar already look for the best price when buying crude oil, making them much less reliable buyers of West African crudes. IOC is also cutting the vol-

Oil vessel

umes for some of its term deals for crude oil in order to buy more on the spot market and get the best prices. There were no confirmed bookings to other countries in the region, such as Japan, Korea, Australia or Vietnam. The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at 60.47 dollars a barrel on Friday, compared with $59.33 the previous day, according to OPEC Secre-

tariat calculations. The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

Buhari links poor economic performance to power

resident Muhammadu Buhari has identified the abysmal situation in electricity generation as the cause of the nation’s poor economic performance over the years. Buhari, who disclosed this during his inaugural speech weekend, described the power situation in the country as a national shame. He said that “an economy if 180 million that generates only 4,000mw, and distributes even less is a national shame, assuring that careful studies are underway to identify the quickest, safest and most costeffective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians. According to the new President, continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution has only brought more darkness. “No single cause can be identified to explain Nigeria’s poor economic

Buhari

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 $20 billion expended since 1999 have only brought darkness, frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians. We will no allow this to go on. Careful studies are underway during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians “ he said. Meanwhile, stakeholders in the power sector have outlined measures which the incoming government Gen. Muhammadu Buhari must adopt in order to achieve the desired improvement in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) within the shortest possible time. The President, Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria (ECAN) Barrister Chijioke James, as part of effort to set agenda for the incoming urged for the adoption of G774 Power Nigeria Project which was developed by experts in the sector to provide electricity to all the 774 Local Governments Areas in Nigeria taking advantage of green energy through solar farm, irrigation, and wind. According to James, an energy

audit of each LGA would reveal power need which would be provided through the combined efforts of the local government, private investors and the community. He argued that so long as every Nigerian home is has a generator it would be easy to convince the people to provide one generator of between 5 to 10mw which would power the whole local government involving all stakeholders within the community. According to him, such move would take care of the massive pollution which is usually created by millions of generating set across the country. The ECAN President also urged James the incoming government to adopt emergency model which would lean towards development of mini power plants as an emergency solution stressing that such projects would not only kick start the manufacturing economy but would also create an environment that will encourage creation of jobs. However, James noted that it would also be better that government creates the enabling environment for the private sector to drive the mini power plants. He said the incoming government should also consider exploiting the hydro dam system as a viable means of generating energy, adding that such move would boost agriculture through irrigation and can allow for generation of between

10 to 20mw. “Because the government would like to make impact within the shortest time possible it should consider emergency model. the incoming government to adopt emergency model which would lean towards development of mini power plants as an emergency solution stressing that such projects would not only kick start the manufacturing economy but would also create an environment that will encourage creation of jobs. The incoming government should also consider exploiting the hydro dam system as a viable means of generating energy, adding that such move would boost agriculture through irrigation, of course you know that irrigation projects are high employers of labour and can allow for generation of between 10 to 20mw” he said. He also urged the government to leverage on achievements of the past administrations in the sector such that continuity would be encouraged and tax payer’s money invested in the projects would not be in vain. According to him, cancellations of projects initiated be past governments would not augur well for the country. He however advised that those processes that gave birth to privatization should be reviewed with a view to improving it in the interest of the nation.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Energy Week

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Fuel still N200 per litre in Lagos UDEME AKPAN

he price of petrol which rose to as high as N500 has dropped to N200 per litre in Lagos and its environs following improved supply of the product. A survey showed that many filling stations which were closed have started to sell the product in the area. The survey showed that prices that rose to N600 at the black market also dropped to about N300 per litre. The Chairman of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah had said, “On Saturday 16th May 2015, we received an SMS ordering the suspension of loading activities in all depots from Monday 18th May 2015. We later realized that this directive was as a result of unpaid funds owed to transporters by oil marketers who in turn are owed by the Federal Government.” “This development has resulted in immense hardship to our fellow country men and women. We believe that a better solution can be pursued towards solving this problem in a way that does not adversely affect our dear citizens. Capital Oil and Gas has watched with so much pain, the suffering and hardship our citizens have been subjected to as a result of scarcity of petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and house hold kerosene,” he said. Ubah said in a statement

that his company was deeply pained to hear that hospitals cannot perform surgeries, laboratories are unable to carry out much needed tests especially for emergency patients leaving such patients at risk of dying, radio stations are shutting down, communication is being affected as MTN and other telecommunications company have announced an impending shut down while homes, offices and key facilities nationwide are experiencing blackouts. He maintained that in some parts of the country, petrol is already selling at an all-time high of N1, 000 per litre. Ubah remarked that Nigerians have left their homes and are now sleeping in fuel stations, facing the risk of robbery attacks and other attendant risk. “In a few days’ time, a new government headed by General Muhamadu Buhari will be sworn in. Apart from our citizens being unable to watch the handover on television and unavailability of transportation for attendees of this historic handover, the resulting chaos from this scarcity may shutdown the Nation and sabotage the efforts Nigeria has made to attain greater heights.” “We are constrained at this point and have decided that two wrongs cannot make a right. We will not be part of this sabotage against our fatherland. Therefore from this minute, we shall take the risk of opening our facilities and commence

swift loading and distribution of products Nationwide,” he remarked. He said the company facility has the capacity to load over 13 million litres of product before dawn. This comes to approximately 400 trucks of petroleum products. “We call on other petroleum marketers to follow suit and save our Nation from this impending economic and social crisis. This is a period that requires patriotism and service to fatherland. Let’s join hands to help our fellow citizens and save Nigeria. We also call on striking bodies to call off the strike action. Let us work together for the betterment of our people.” “As we brief you this moment, our truck park, port reception facilities and our depot complex have been ordered opened. We are ordering and resuming discharge of products from ves-

sels at our berths. We have ordered our trucks to commence loading of products and move overnight to every state of the Federation. Most importantly, we wish to use this medium to thank NNPC and PPMC for their steadfastness in ensuring the availability of petroleum products,” he maintained. He added that current PPMC stock level in our storage tanks and buffer stock on vessels awaiting discharge at our jetty is capable of meeting the Nation’s need for 15 days. Ubah said in the coming weeks, we hope to engage the Federal Government (Federal Ministry of Transport), Lagos State Government and other stakeholders in the affected area, to optimally utilise our truck park facilities which have the capacity to accommodate over 1,100 trucks per time and 5,000 on a shift basis.

asset and partnership opportunities.” The Shareholders’ Meeting was also an opportunity for Thierry Desmarest, Patrick Pouyanné and Patrick de La Chevardière, Chief Financial Officer, to report on corporate governance, present the Group’s performance and outlook, and pay tribute to former Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie. Thierry Desmarest emphasized the quality of Total’s corporate governance, highlighting the implementation of the managerial transition without delay following the loss of Christophe de Margerie. He also stressed the strong involvement of the directors and in particular thanked Mrs. Anne Lauvergeon, Mr. Michel Pébereau and Mr. Bertrand Collomb, who are stepping down from the board after 15 years of active participation. Patrick Pouyanné outlined

Total’s medium and long-term strategy in the context of the challenges of increasing energy demand and climate change. This strategy consists of growing production through the startup of fifteen upstream projects, continuing to adapt Refining & Chemicals and expanding Marketing & Services in growth markets. The Group also intends to provide solutions to the challenge of climate change, relying notably on the development of natural gas and solar energy. Patrick Pouyanné then addressed the sharp decline in oil prices since September 2014. In this context, Total realized strong results in 2014 demonstrating resilience and benefiting from its integrated model. The Group also launched an ambitious response plan in order to reduce its spending, lower its breakevens and adapt to this new environment. This plan already started

to bear fruit in the first quarter 2015, as the Group’s results benefited from realized cost reductions, upstream production growth and high downstream returns. Finally, Patrick de La Chevardière provided details on the executive directors’ compensation for 2014, explaining in particular the performance criteria of the CEO’s annual variable compensation. He underlined the dividend increase, as well as the Group’s commitment to a competitive shareholder return, and presented the option for shareholders to receive the final dividend payment for 2014 in shares. Thierry Desmarest concluded by thanking the 3,200 shareholders present for their loyalty. Through the full mobilization of its teams, the Group is confident in its ability to adapt and pursue its growth for the benefit of its shareholders, with safety as the first priority.

Fuel pump

Seven Energy not in merger talks

even Energy International Limited, the indigenous Nigerian oil and gas development, production and gas distribution Company has issued the following statement to counter media rumours which circulated on May 27 and 28. “Seven Energy is not in any discussions with any third party with respect to a merger. Seven Energy is not proposing to make any acquisitions at this time though it monitors the market for

Egbert Imomoh

CONOIL procures mega aircraft fuellers

ajor petroleum products marketer, Conoil Plc has placed orders for two new world-class, state-of-the-art bowsers to deepen its quality service delivery to leading domestic and international airlines operating in the nation’s airspace. In a statement, the company said the new bowsers have combined storage capacity of 62,000 liters and the ability to refuel aircraft at 1,500 liters per minute. With this service, airlines are assured of improved fueling of their aeroplanes on real-time basis. This, in turn, will guarantee better operations and flight take-off time for better flight experience for the airlines’ teeming fliers. The history of Nigerian civil aviation is synonymous with the history of Conoil which started business in Nigeria as Shell Company Nigeria in 1927. Conoil has more presence at all the major gateways and airports in the country, rendering intoplane refueling services to major airlines. The company, aptly known as fueller to the leading airlines of the world by its esteemed airline customers, has fuelling facilities at major airfields across the country including Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt. Others are Mallam Aminu Kano Airport, Kaduna Airport, Enugu International Airport, Sokoto Airport, Yola Airport and Calabar Airport. Manufactured by Flightline UK, the bowsers have the latest technology certified by global aviation control bodies, the Joint Inspection Group (JIG) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). According to the manufacturers, the bowsers were built with robust safety and interlocking monitoring systems and international standard filters. They also have the unique feature of ticket printer that indicates the volume of fuel pumped into an aircraft, thereby further enhancing the transparency and reliability of its service delivery. With the acquisition of the bowsers, the company claimed its Jet A1 fueling capacity to local and international airlines has increased by 100 percent from 10 million liters to 20 million liters per month. The substantial increase in Jet A1 sales, according to Conoil, is projected to boost the company’s bottom-line by over 25 per cent over the next one year while also increasing significantly its industry share in the aviation fuel segment.

Energy Week

Israel, new market for Danish oil industry

anish companies will gather in Esbjerg at The Esbjerg Business Development Centre to hear from the organisers of Israel’s Annual International Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, UOG 2015. The Seminar is organised by The Embassy of Denmark in Israel in collaboration with The Israeli Embassy in Denmark and Universal Oil & Gas, the organisers of UOG 2015. The Embassy of Denmark in Israelis welcoming Danish companies to join their second international oil and gas delegation to Israel for the UOG 2015 Conference in Tel Aviv. In the last 6 years over 35 Trillion Cubic Feet of gas has been discovered offshore Israel with production coming online in 2013; a ‘game-changer’ for the country and the region. Export deals have now been signed with neighbours Jordan and Egypt for the supply of gas. Europe remains another viable market, with talks of potential pipelines to Turkey and Italy, along with potential LNG projects selling to the Asian market. Despite these huge discoveries and production activities, Israel is still looking to attract energy hubs to provide vital expertise in many aspects of the industry. With Denmark’s long history in the oil and gas industry, notably exploration, drilling and technology expertise, companies looking at new international markets could see Israel and the region as a very interesting prospect. Trade relations between Denmark and Israel remain strong. Moreover, compared to other emerging energy markets, Israel has a developed and growing economy, rule of law, transparency, advanced infrastructure, as well as a highly educated workforce. UOG’s Chief Operating Officer, Joshua Beagelman, encourages Danish companies to be actively looking to Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean region as a new market to invest. “With resources depleting in the North Sea, Danish companies are currently looking at new markets to provide their expertise and investment. Israel’s developed economic advantages, coupled with proven production capabilities and further exploration potential, should attract the Danish oil & gas industry to consider strongly their involvement in this exciting region.” “Israel’s oil and gas discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean present a unique business opportunity for the Danish oil and gas industry to export innovative solutions to a market looking for foreign expertise and knowledge” – Amanda AlletorpSørensen, Commercial Advisor, Embassy of Denmark in Israel.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NIPCO imports 37m litres of petrol

he Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company, NIPCO plc has imported about 28 million metric tons [37 million litres ] of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol. The importation of the product which has already arrived is targeted at assisting the government to tackle fuel shortage in the nation. The cargo, according to shipping manifest at the Apapa ports shows that the consignment arrived the country via MT Admiral L at Apapa jetty last week is in demonstration of the company’s resolve in making sure fuel stations across the country remains wet especially after the recent fuel scarcity which almost crippled the economy. Investigations revealed that the vessel which started discharging on Friday would augment what the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC brought in to save the situation, which has brought untold hardship to Nigerians. Nipco, it was learnt took the bold step of importing at this period in the nation’s history as fallout of its avowed belief in the resilience of the economy and remain an ally in ensuring

availability of fuel across the nation. Checks on the terminal shows that the depot had been working round the clock to commence dispense to marketers had already concluded clearances by all the relevant government agencies and that the consignment will definitely aid the flow of products to marketer’s outlets across the nooks and crannies of the country. It was reliably gathered that the cargo is one of the consignment the company ordered for as part of its role in ensuring continuous availability of petrol not only in its hundreds of branded outlets in Nigeria but also in other marketing outlets taking products from the depot . Investigation revealed that the company which had been loading on a 24 hours basis, even all through the weekend since the PTD/NARTO strike was called off have continued ceaselessly in a bid to ensure that the type of agonies the populace faced last week does not repeat itself again. Already, barely a week after the commencement of loading at the terminal over 1,500 trucks laden with PMS had

been trucked out of the terminal to ease the situation across the country. It will be recalled that product importation by marketers remained a vexed issue following claims of hundreds of billions of naira allegedly owed them by government on petrol import. Confirming the development in a chat, Manager Corporate Affairs, Nipco, Lawal Taofeek said product importation to augment supplies from PPMC is one of the concrete steps taken by the company to meet the needs of its esteemed custom-

ers who had remained steadfast with the organization in the last eleven years. He noted that the dream of the investors in the company who are mainly fuel marketers has been the driving force of the organization, hence its quest to go extra mile in getting products that will keep their stations wet In 2015 and beyond, we intend to enhance our product importation both for regulated and deregulated products in the quest to meet fuel marketer’s needs and prepare adequately for the upcoming reforms in the oil and gas industry , he noted.

major stakeholder in the nation’s downstream sector, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, DAPPMA has denied shutting down depots in the nation. The Executive Secretary of the organisation, Mr. Olufemi A. Adewole maintained in a statement that as importers and marketers of refined petroleum products, it never embarked on any shut-down of its depots/facilities. “Contrary to the errone-

ous stories and messages being bandied about, it was the Petroleum Tanker Drivers arm of NUPENG and NARTO, who normally transport these products from marketers’ depots, that embarked on the strike action following their publicized complaints of not being paid their legitimate outstanding transportation claims by marketers who participate in the PSF Scheme as a result of being owed huge reimbursement for PMS (Petrol) imports to date” “We have maintained that we

would sell and load all petroleum products available to us even as delays in the payments of our reimbursement have continued to impede and adversely affect our operations,” he said. He said the suspension in loading in the last few days has been due to the strike action embarked upon by PTD-NUPENG and NARTO. Adewole indicated that these two bodies had refused to load out / lift petroleum products for distribution from our depots. That is the true position.

“The allegation by Mr. Ifeanyi Uba of CAPITAL OIL AND GAS INDUSTRIES that DAPPMA member companies embarked on a strike action is not only mischievous, but completely false and a figment of his imagination.” “Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited does not participate in the petroleum subsidy scheme having been disqualified from the ‘PSF scheme’ by the government regulatory agency hence they do not import PMS (petrol),” he maintained. The company is not owed a kobo under the ‘PSF scheme as they cannot make any claim hence they do not feel the impact of non-payment of subsidy reimbursements; instead the company stores petroleum products for NNPC/PPMC under a ‘throughput arrangement’ as do a few other members of our Association. He reiterated that since the unions embarked on this action, his members have been dialoguing with them to seek amicable ways of resolving this logjam bearing in mind its harrowing and debilitating impact on the Nigerian public and the masses.

NIPCO station

DAPPMA denies shutting depots A

Fuel tanker

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Industry & SMEs

Stakeholders harp on skills for industrial growth Experts have said that Nigeria’s strive to become one of the 20 most industrialized economies globally by the year 2020 has been boosted by the recent rebasing exercise which puts its GDP at $510bn. They however believe that fast-tracking the country’s journey to the leading edge of global economic competitiveness would need requisite human capital skills, writes OLUFEMI ADEOSUN.

igeria’s population, estimated at 170million, has been identified as its major source of strength. It is believed that if 70 per cent of this population is deployed to effective use for socio-economic development, Nigeria can stand shoulder high among the industrialised nations of the world. However, analysts have said that the nation has, over the years, failed to effectively take advantage of this population to develop its industrial base because of non-alignment between the nation’s educational curriculum and the demand of the industry. According to them, while industries with labour demands abound in the country, over 75 per cent of young graduates are roaming the streets because they lack the requisite skills to perform specific functions required of them. For instance, an Abuja based skills development expert, Mr. Ayeola Emmanuel, lamented that until recently, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), the only agency of government with the statutory responsibility to provide, promote and encourage acquisition of skills in industry and commerce with a view to generating a pool of indigenous trained manpower sufficient to meet the needs of the national economy, has been overwhelmed in the face of the nation’s depleting manpower base. According to him, apart from the failure of some companies to discharge their responsibilities to the Fund as enshrined in the law, the agency is grossly under-funded and thus lacks the power to deal with the acute skills gap in the country. Emmanuel said, “Nigeria is blessed with abundant human and natural re-

Cocoa processing machine

Onaeko

NACCIMA President, Mohammed Abubakar

THE ITF BOSS ONCE REMARKED: “AS A NATION, WE ARE AWARE OF THE PRESENT AND FUTURE SKILLS NEEDS IN INDUSTRIES AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE UNDERSTAND THE LATEST EMPLOYMENT TRENDS. WITHOUT THIS KNOWLEDGE, THE SKILLS PRODUCED BY INSTITUTIONS WILL NOT MEET THE NEEDS OF THE INDUSTRIES AND THE DESIRE FOR AN INCLUSIVE SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH WILL BE STUNTED sources to galvanise to develop its economy. Being the largest market in Africa with a population of over 170million people, the nation is supposed to have been nudged on the path of industrial revolution. But ironically, we have not been able to deploy to full use the advantage of our population because of dearth

of requisite skills. “As a professional who has been on skill development sub-sector for over two decades, I know there have been pockets of interventions from the Industrial Training Fund in the areas of capacity building in the last few years. More importantly, in the last one year, the present handler in the agency has done tremendously well in expanding the frontal of provision of adequate manpower to the nation through some positive innovations. I believe if the momentum is sustained, Nigeria will in no distance future bridge the skill gap in the country. The Director General of ITF, Dr. Juliet Onaeko, while briefing stakeholders on the activities of the Fund over the last one year, stated that it was in a bid to identified and address the disconnect between the skills of available workers and skills demand in the nation’s industrial sector, that she upon resumption of duty, conducted a nationwide National Industrial Skills Gap Assessment Survey. She agrees that the development of relevant industrial skills has remained the most critical issues facing the country today. On the imperative of the skills survey programme. The ITF boss once remarked: “As a nation, we are aware of the present and future skills needs in industries and most importantly, we understand the latest employment trends. Without this knowledge, the skills produced by institutions will not meet the needs of the industries

and the desire for an inclusive sustainable economic growth will be stunted. “Data from the skills gap assessment survey will serve as baseline for developing strategies and appropriate intervention measures to address existing gaps.” Onaeko listed some of her major achievements in the last one year to include, enlisting of new organisation structure under ITF/ National Employers Consultative Association(NECA), successful take off of the fourth batch of the ITF/NECA Technical Skills Development Project with 50 trainees, which finally graduated in December 2014. According to her, others are, training of over 37,000 students across the 36 states of the federation, including FCT, acquisition of World Class Mobile Training workshops, aimed at taking training and skill development to all the nooks and crannies of the country, deployment of mobile skills training facilities to rural areas and its population to enable youths acquire specialised trainings and vocations In addition, Onaeko said that the fund also improved on the leaning condition of trainees by sinking a borehole to provide adequate water supply and over head reservoir constructed. According to her, ITF embarked on the project because of its belief that effective learning can only take place in a conducive environment. In order to improve the revenue base of the Fund, the DG noted that she I traduced Revenue Collection Portal with integration of online payment gateway and bank payment to aid easy and convenient payment of the contribution by the employers. On the remittance of mandatory one per cent employers contributory fund, she said, “Reimbursement system is currently being implemented to track and efficiently process the remittance of 50% of the 1% contribution to employers. We have also created revenue collection centres to ease enquires and payment of contribution by employers, therefore boosting the revenue base of ITF. According to her, in a bid to boost the nation’s training programme and equip Nigerian youths with employable skills, ITF has also initiated a number of collaborations both at the national and international levels. For instance, she said the Fund had signed an agreement with Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria (CTIN) (Dangote) for the training of 4000 artisans in the construction industry. On the her target for the ongoing year, the ITF boss efforts were ongoing for the designing competency based curriculum for all its programmes, partnering with enterprises, developing a national framework for testing and certification of technical and vocational education and pushing for a National policy on Technical and Vocational training in schools and Universities.

Cocktail

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Elephant steals handbag from tourists’ car

mother elephant in India reached into the car of a pair of selfie-taking tourists and snatched a handbag that became an abortive snack. Witnesses said the elephant and her calf were at the side of a road in Karnataka when the tourists on the road toward Ooty stopped to take selfies with the el-

ephants in the background. The witnesses said the mother seemed angered by the camera flashes and reached into the couple’s car, pulled out a handbag and put it in her mouth. The elephant, which apparently found the bag unappetizing, spit the fashion accessory and its contents onto the ground as the car drove away.

Oddities

Indian police detain suspected Pakistani spy pigeon

ndian police said they have detained a pigeon suspected of being a Pakistani spy after it was found to have a message stamped on its body. Punjab police said a 14-year-old boy in Manwal,

Billionaire buys towering $95m Manhattan condo

Saudi real estate magnate is reportedly under contract to purchase the second-most expensive condo in New York City, for the price of $95 million. The towering unit, located at 432 Park Ave. in Midtown Manhattan -- the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere -- was placed under contract in 2013 but has yet to close, various news media reported. The buyer is said to be Fawaz Al Hokair, a Saudi re-

al-estate magnate worth a reported $1.37 billion. Developers Macklowe Properties and CIM Group, as they do with all other buyers, declined to confirm Hokair’s presence on the contract. The condo, which sold for $95 million, comes with nearly 8,300 square feet, six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and quite the view. At 1,396 feet -just 380 feet shorter than the new One World Trade Centre -- 432 Park Avenue boasts Manhattan’s highest rooftop. Other perks include a wood-burning fireplace,

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

10-foot-by-10-foot windows and heated bathroom floors, New York Business Journal reported. There are two other penthouses for sale in the tower, one priced at $81 million and the other at $75.6 million. Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly, it is the tallest residential building in the world and the third tallest free-standing building in the United States. The developers say views on the upper half of the building include just about all of New York City.

a village close to the Pakistani border, brought the pigeon to a police station when he noticed it bore a stamped message on its wing feathers written in Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, and a Pakistani phone number. The pigeon’s feathers also reportedly bore the seal of a Pakistani district

A white pigeon perched at a feeder.

in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Officers at the Bamiyal police post dubbed the bird a “suspected spy” in a diary report. Police Superintendent Rakesh Kaushal said police conducted an X-ray of the white pigeon. “Nothing adverse has been found, but we have

kept the bird in our custody,” Kaushal told The Times of India. “This is a rare instance of a bird from Pakistan being spotted here. We have caught a few spies here. The area is sensitive, given its proximity to Jammu, where infiltration is quite common.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Civil Service 41

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Lagos civil servants fault Fashola’s policy on civil service FRANCIS SUBERU

hat civil servants are not favourably disposed to most of the policies implemented by the immediate past government of Babatunde Fashola came to the fore yesterday when many of them openly called for discontinuation of the policies. Most of the civil servants who spoke yesterday during Governor Ambode’s general meeting with the state’s civil servants held at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa secretariat, Ikeja; demanded that Ambode changed the policies. The civil servants specifically demanded that the new governor stops us-

... Want Ambode to discontinue with use of consultants ing consultants to handle the jobs meant for them, saying they are able, capable and willing to go about their jobs with required efficiency, commitment and expertise. It would be recalled that bulk of the state’s civil servants are being rendered useless since most of their job activities have been given to consultants by the past administration for greater efficiency. One of the civil servants, (name withheld) said to Ambode: “We want you you to take the job away from the consultants so that we can do our jobs. we want to prove that we are also able and capable.” Another of the civil

servants complained bitterly of the take home of the state’s civil servants, saying during the time of the first civilian governor of the state; Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Lagos State civil servants earn as much as their counterparts in the federal civil service and private sector. He also faulted the housing policy of the immediate past government in the state; saying the housing policy of Fashola’s administration is totally out of the reach of civil servants. He said: “During Jakande’s time, he built houses that common people, especially civil servants could afford. When you build houses, construct markets,

you have to ensure that the common people whom the facilities are meant for are able to get them. Most of the ones done by the last administration did not get to real people who need them.” Governor Ambode had in his address at the meeting said he desired that civil servants in the state take their jobs seriously, be efficient and punctual at work; saying there is no way the state can move forward without the support of the 128,000 civil servants in the state. Ambode said: “I believe strongly that the engine room for the growth and development of Lagos

Civil servants resuming duty after Democracy Day holiday in Abuja, on Monday.

PHOTO: NAN

Why we suspended strike –FCT teachers MARCUS FATUNMOLE ABUJA

eachers in public primary and secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, have suspended their week-long strike. Chairman of the FCT chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Hassan Jibir, told our correspondent on the telephone yesterday that the action was suspended “because most of the demands are met” by the outgone administration.

He said government had met two of the union’s demands which include approval of 27.5 percent salary increase for all teachers and promotion of teachers in the FCT. While many residents of the city saw the action as a ploy by the teachers to lessen the toll of acute fuel shortage during the period the strike lasted on their pupils, students and themselves, others opined the strike was apt. The teachers embarked on the action last week Monday over three demands from the Federal

Capital Territory Administration, FCTA. The demands include re-introduction of rent allowance for the teachers by the then Minister of the FCT, Sen. Bala Mohammed. Bala was accused by the teachers of suspending the allowance, which they claimed was approved for them by erstwhile Minister of the FCT and Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir ElRufai. Jibir told National Mirror that no Minister had stopped the allowance since it was approved, except Bala. Other demands by the

teachers are allegedly outstanding promotion which they claimed should have been approved by the FCTA since 2012; and the 27.5 percent teaching allowance for all cadres of teachers in the city. Meanwhile, “the rent allowance is still an issue that the government promised it was looking into,” Jibir said. Apart from primary and secondary schools in the FCT, Board for Secondary Education; Universal Basic Education Board; and the Examination Resource Centre for the FCT were affected by the strike.

State is in the civil service. I will accord you the respect that you deserve. I am ready to reward hard work, merit and professionalism, that is all that I gained from this place and so long as you are good, the top is your seat. “I like to resume at 8am. So, I decided to make my official residence the Lagos House, Ikeja which means I can work till 12am and when I wake up

by 7:15am and I ask for the Permanent Sectary (PS) she will answer me. Minus staff bus, you can come by 8:20am, but when your Permanent Secretary starts harassing you, it’s from me.” The governor said his dream for the state public service is to have an establishment that would prepare them for a worthwhile life after service; saying what happens to civil servants after retirement is of great concern to his government

Wike promises to complete Rivers varsity faculty building DENNIS NAKU

PORT HARCOURT

overnor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike of Rivers State said he will complete the Law Faculty building of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, RSUST. Wike stated this on Tuesday at Government House, Port Harcourt when he received in audience the Academic Staff of the Faculty of Law of RSUST. The governor who is an alumnus of the university, said he would work to make the faculty a centre of excellence in the country. He urged academics to shun partisan politics, so that they can groom future leaders for the society. Governor Wike stressed the need for lecturers with questionable character to be fished out and and

removed from the university, axdxding that lecturers with criminal records standing against them will be bad role models to their students. He said, “I will complete the Law Faculty building of the Rivers State University of Science and Techonology. I will also take measures to improve the learning facilities of the Faculty. “The Faculty should take steps to weed out political lecturers, as they will serve as negative influence on future lawyers “. Earlier, the Dean, Faculty of Law of RSUST, Prof Nlerum Okogbule presented an award of recognition for his contributions to the development of the society. He described Wike as a worthy ambassador of the Faculty who has promoted the name of the school. He urged the governor to assist the institution to resolve her major challenges.

NSCDC arrests five electricity installation vandals in C’River RICHARD NDOMA CALABAR

bout five persons have been arrested by officers and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp for vandalising transformer belonging to the Porthacourt Eletricity company PHEDC since January this year. The Cross River State Commandant of NSCDC, Dr Benito Eze made the disclosure on Monday in Calabar while fielding questions from journalists . The commandant stated that the arrests

were made possible by the deployment of its personnel across the state to safeguard all public critical infrastructures. ``From January 2015 till date, arrests have been made involving five transformer suspects with some exhibit recovered from them. ``Some of the exhibits include, PHCN ladder, one bundle of electrical cable, six building rod and an iron pole. ``Part of the mandate of the corps is to curb the activities of vandals of public infrastructure and the command is leaving no stone unturned in achieving this’’, he said.

Civil Service

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Over 4,000 commercial motorcycles impounded in 90 days ADEOLA TUKURU ABUJA

L-R: Students, Musa Qudri (Ebute Elefun Senior High School), Ajao Moruf (Boys Senior High School Academy), Larunde Hosefat (Girl’s Senior Academy, Lagos Island), Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Lagos, Hyginus Omeje; another student, Waheed Folake (Epetedo Senior High School) and representative of Trauma Care International Foundation, Dr. Amaka Adekoya, during FRSC quiz competition for students in Lagos, recently. PHOTO BY: ABIOLA ABDULHAMMED

CT special task team on city cleaning and management has impounded 4,790 commercial motorcycles popularly known as (Okada) and 883 Keke Napep in the last 90 days. The FCT Permanent Secretary, Engr. John Obinna Chukwu (FNSE) made this disclosure on Monday after meeting with the Chairman of the task team and the FCT Police Commissioner, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, further disclosed that the task team has also impounded 645 unpainted commercial vehicles as well as 84 illegal commercial buses in the Federal Capital City during the period under review. In a press statement signed by the Asst. Direc-

RTEAN calls for establishment of transport workers’ banks ADEOLA TUKURU ABUJA

ational President, Road Transport Employer’s Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Alhaji Musa Isiwele Shehu, has called for the establishment of transport banks that can recognise the genuine transporters in the country. Shehu, in an interview with National Mirror, explained that through the establishment of the transport banks, it can give loans to at list 1 and ½ % or 0.5% interest to its workers and reduce unemployment among them. According to him, most of the actual transporters are yet to benefit from loans and Sure-P programmes by the Federal Government as most of them are poor, homeless but have drivers license and no job and the vehicle on the road is not enough. He also called that toll gate should be brought back across the country in so doing it can serve as revenue generation to the federal government. He cited an example: “In Saudi Arabia, you don’t

pay somebody in cash; if you come to a toll gate there a machine where you insert your money. That same machine should be put in place all across the country and make sure all the Trade Unions are involved. “It shouldn’t be given to an individual; they should have a special task force from the security agencies and also the Ministry Transport, Ministry of Works and Trade Unions to be involved to moni-

tor the project so that the money won’t be diverted. “The money will also be used as road maintenance and rehabilitate the roads. If there is a board then all the union leaders will remember that board and regulate the transport industry. Shehu, also welcomed the vehicle Assembly plant in the country, noting that it will create employment for Nigerian youths who are roaming around the streets.

It will be recalled that the Federal Government had on October 3, 2013 announced the introduction of a new auto policy to discourage the importation of used cars and encourage the local manufacturing of new vehicles. Mr Jalal confirmed the July 1, 2014 date for enforcement of the new tariff on imported vehicles including fully built units, which was raised from 20 per cent to 70 per cent. A two-page document

dated November 14, 2013 and signed by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had stated that a fully built car would attract a duty of 35 per cent and a levy of another 35 per cent of the cost of the vehicle. Hitherto, importers and dealers were parting with 20 per cent and two per cent as duty and levy, respectively on new cars. Ten per cent flat rate was also imposed on commercial vehicles.

tor/Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Hazat Sule, According to him, “3,000 commercial sex workers have been arrested by the Task Team and handed over to the Abuja Environment Protection Board for prosecution and subsequent rehabilitation”. Engr. Chukwu reiterated that the Task Team also embarked on city cleaning activities, which culminated in the closure and/or removal of 52 illegal car wash sites and 83 illegal auto mechanic workshops. “In addition, 8 illegal sand dredging and quarry sites; 205 shanties; 89 illegal markets; 7 illegal car marts and 98 food vendors kiosk and furniture workshops all located in unauthorized places within the city have been closed down”, he added. Engr. Chukwu said “similarly, a total of 2,534 street hawkers and beggars have been arrested by the FCT Administration; adding that 102 strayed 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 nuisances; stressing that it’s not business as usual. Engr. 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 “we must be pro-active in city management in line with the vision of a new Nigeria”.

NIMC card personalisation bureau gets GVCP recertified ADEOLA TUKURU ABUJA

he Card personalization bureau of the issuing authority for identity in the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has again been recertified under the Global Vendors Certification Programme (GVCP) by MasterCard, following a recent security audit. In a press statement signed by the General Manager, (Cooperate Communication),

Okwudiafor.O. Anthony, read the Information Security Auditor for NCC Group, Manchester Technology Centre, Mr. Zach Anucha, explained that the security audit on the NIMC’s bureau facility was aimed at checking the commission’s compliance with the set down standard for operation. According to him, “We came to re-audit the NIMC Card bureau facilities, to ensure that the Commission is abiding by the set standards for opeartions as recommended during the last

audit exercise which held in July 2014; the good news is that I saw a lot of visible progress on the NIMC facilities. “It is safe to say that NIMC has made a significant improvement and has done better than in 2014. The Commission has clearly made a lot of visible improvements on the set down standards and is operating at a better level. “It is a learning process and NIMC is doing very well. However, although NIMC is clearly determined to make im-

provements, I will advise that you do not slack and continue to live up to expectations. Basically, the audit shows that much work has been done, but NIMC has to improve on some of those things that were pointed out.” Mr. Anucha, also commended the staff of NIMC for their resilience. “No doubt, identity management is a serious business hence it is imperative for all hands to continually be on deck to ensure the credibility and safety of data that goes into the

National Identity Database (NIDB). It would be recalled that the commission, as established by Act No. 23 of 2007, has the mandate to foster the orderly development of an identity sector, register persons covered by the act, assign a unique National Identification Number, (NIN) and issue Electronic Identity Cards to those registered individuals, harmonize and integrate existing identification database in Nigeria for verification and authentication purposes.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

of continuity –Ganduje secondary we sponsor our students, even at the university level. And our two universities are free to show the extent of our free education.

What provision do you have for women in your government? Adequate empowerment programmes will be made available to them. We give them shall give them equal education opportunities with men in order for them to be able to compete. For instance, at the federal level, there are women, who emerged as judges simply because they merit it, having followed due process, not because they are women but because they deserve the post. So we shall do same in practical terms. We give them education as a platform to compete with their male counterparts. So we make provision for them in our budget to cater for their empowerment. How did you manage to win gubernatorial election being a former deputy, an achievement which is very rare in Nigerian politics? How would you consolidate on the rapport between you and your predecessor? Well you can ask former President Goodluck Jonathan, because we were colleagues in 1999 and 2003 and he became a governor, then to vice president and eventually became President. What I have seen in Nigeria is that just five per cent of deputies becoming governors. Zamfara State and now Kano. Even in the South-East, the transition was not smooth. On relationship effect, I am writing a book due for publication on the relationship between deputies and governors, vice president and president; everyone has a duty, even the deputy vice chancellor of a university. The vice chairman of a local government has a duty, vice principal

Politics

of a school has a duty. That is the concept of deputising. It is not controversial. Everybody is a servant. The constitution of Nigeria has not made a provision for duties for a deputy governor, but both are working for the progress of the state. I have been a deputy to my principal for eight years and we have had the most cordial relationship. It is a matter of maturity; maturity on the part of the deputy governor and maturity on the part of the governor as well. We have come a long way and I don’t foresee anything causing disharmony between us. What would be your priority in the first 100 days in office? Our priority in the first 100 days in office would be to ensure the completion of ongoing projects. Those projects that are vital, that need to be completed will be given priority. We have the hydro power electricity, though expensive, but must be speedily completed. We have to consolidate on our free education scheme, emphasis on technical education so that our youths can get jobs very easily. So these will be our priorities for the first 100 days. What is the liability status of the state, as conflicting figured are being bandied about? The issue of liability, yes it is correct we have huge liability but we are making plans and fortunately what we never envisage, the prices of oil came down. So we will be able to complete what we have started; pay our contractors and probably reschedule some contracts according to what we have on ground. The fall in oil price from 100 dollars to less than 50 dollars affected money generation hence projects suffered but we cannot abandon our projects. So we have to manage what we have at hand.

Dankwambo refutes claims of ditching PDP Williams Attah, GOMBE

supposed to do it. To ensure files and documents are treated urgently. I will introduce e-administration so that we can modernise the system. So I believe with all these innovations, we shall establish a strong civil service system. You have laid down very beautiful programmes for Kano State in the next four years. Considering the dwindling revenue accruable to government, how would you generate funds to execute all these laudable programmes? On IGR, we are going to increase our sources for revenue. Though this is a major problem everywhere but we are going to make generating more funds priority. How do you intend to manage sports? This reminds me of Kano Pillars and their success both in football and in basketball. We have established a sports institute which has been completed and commissioned. We are going to put it into proper use. The curriculum is already designed, we shall keep them young. It is going to be the junior and senior secondary school, with emphasis on sports. And sporting facilities will be provided. So very soon, we shall swing into action. We are also working with private sector so that input will be from all directions. How do you intend to articulate free education? Free education is already in place in Kano State. At primary to

ntinuation. In our case,

‘Kwankwassiya’ t is predicated on continuity.

ntinuation of

a number of governments

th their policies, which

distortions.

ombe State governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo has restated his loyalty and commitment to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, despite losing power at the federal level. Dankwambo, who assured that the party would be re-engineered and brought back to life promised members of his dissolved state executive council at a valedictory session that he will never betray the party that brought him to power for the second time. According to him, he would ensure that this dream is achieved as he stressed that the PDP would be revamped, re-engineered and brought back to an unprecedented life. He said no stone would be left unturned because the party made him a governor, and as such, it is the party that he would support and build to highest level. Applauding the dissolved state executive council which had worked with him in the last four years, Dankwambo said

their excellent performance informed the tremendous success of the transformation drive in the state. He said all council members were appointed from deep commitment with incontrovertible belief that they will perform well and it was exactly the reason behind the monumental success for which they were being applauded.

He declared that no policy or programme was treated as personal but as a service, hence, the deep commitment exhibited by the administration in a bid to meet yearnings and aspirations of the people. He promised to continue to run a civil service which would stand the test of time and remain the best civil service stressing that going

Adeleke Adesanya

tating on the new change that greeted their fatherland. Bakenne said the Forum sympathises with the former President and members of the deceased family, praying to the Almighty God to grant them the fortitude to bear the irreversible loss. The statement reads: “Ogun Central Senatorial Forum hereby commiserate with our Baba, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on the death of his younger sister Mrs. Adunni Eweje Obasanjo. We equally sympathise with the children of the deceased and other members of the family. “While praying

forward may not be easy based on the unfolding economic trends in the last few months. The occasion witnessed emotional reflections about the model of Dankwambo’s intelligent approach to issues of public interest especially when it concerns development and prudent management of resources.

Ogun Central Forum commiserates with Obasanjo over sister’s death

gun Central Senatorial Forum has commiserated with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, over the demise of his younger sister, Mrs. Adunni Eweje Obasanjo. In a condolence message to the former President, signed by the Forum’s coordinator, Fasiu Bakenne and made available to National Mirror, the Forum lamented that the death of President Obasanjo’s younger sister was an unfortunate incident that occurred at the time Nigerians are felici-

for perfect eternal peace for the deceased, we pray that the mighty Lord give her family the fortune to bear the irreparable loss.” It would be recalled that former President Obasanjo lost her younger sister, Mrs. Eweje Obasanjo last week following a brief illness. The death of Mrs. Eweje Obasanjo, which was announced by the former President himself in Abeokuta, was equally described by all as fateful occurrence at the time the former president’s effort to ensure true democracy surfaces in the country yielded result.

Politics

Taraba South: Emmanuel Bwacha enator Bwacha representing Southern Taraba district was also returned. Bwacha who contested in the PDP swept the five local government areas of southern Taraba: Takum, Donga, Ussa, Wukari and Ibi and Yangtu special development area to cruise to victory. Bwacha, a former Commissioner of Agriculture for Taraba State between 1999 and 2003 in the Jolly Nyame administration, was elected to the House of Representatives for the Donga/Ussa/Takum federal constituency, from May 2003 to May 2007. He was Chairman of the House Committee on Police Affairs.

Taraba Central: Bashir Marafa Marafa is among the fresh horns that made it to the hallowed chamber. He hails from Sardauna Local Government Area and was elected into the House of Assembly thrice. He was a senatorial aspirant in 2007, but lost to Senator Abubakar Tutare at the primary. To compensate him, then governor of Taraba State Danbaba Suntai appointed him as Special Adviser on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. To gain Suntai’s favour, it was alleged that he married the governor’s sisterin-law, but, during the political impasse, Marafa joined in the rebellion against the governor. Marafa is a grassroots politician and seen by many as a perfect gentleman deeply rooted in grassroots politics. However, he has been accused of disloyalty because he abandoned the governor in his trying period. Taraba North: Abubakar Sani Danladi Immediate past acting governor of Taraba State, Danladi is also one of the new comers in the Senate. He was declared winner of the Taraba North senatorial election, having polled 106,163 votes to beat Sani Kona of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Danladi, who was once impeached as a deputy governor by the House of Assembly rose to become acting governor of the state after he was reinstated by court. Adamawa North: Binta Masi Garba One of the green horns in the incoming Senate, she is a politician, businesswoman, administrator, philanthropist, humanitarian and a trained marketer and expert in public financial management. The senator-elect was the chairman, Adamawa State chapter of the APC and the first female state chairman of a registered major political party in Nigeria. She was elected into House of Representatives three times, between 1999 and 2011. She is the first politician to represent two different federal constituencies at the National Assembly and was the first parliamentarian to start poverty alleviation program for the women and youths in 2003 when she was representing Kaduna South federal constituency. In 2009, she was elected as the first Vice President of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, CWP, under Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, CPA, in Cameroon. A record holder, she is the only female senator-elect in all the 19 Northern states of Nigeria in the 2015 election and she won her Senate seat against a seating Governor Bala James Ngilari, with over 22,000 votes margin. She was the only female delegate from

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Know your senators ADELEKE ADESANYA, EBERE NDUKWU and ROBERT AWOKUSE profile more senators-elect who would be coming into the Senate of the 8th Assembly, scheduled to be inaugurated next week.

Garba

Uzodinma

Aduda

Bwacha

Nyako

Goje

Achonu

Useni

Nafada

Adamawa State to the National Conference in Abuja.

and won the March 28 senatorial election under the umbrella of the PDP.

Adamawa Central: Abdul’Aziz Murtala Nyako He is a first timer in the Senate and first son of former governor of Adamawa State, Rear Admiral Murtala Hamman Yero Nyako. He won Adamawa Central senatorial district seat on the platform of the APC. Retired Commodore Nyako, promises a good representation that will sharpen his constituency and the country at large.

Imo West: Hope Uzodinma Uzodinma is not a new face in Nigeria’s Senate. He is a returning senator under the PDP, who has been serving the people of Imo West since 20011. The outgoing chairman of Senate Committee on Aviation and Land Transport will be returning to join his counterparts from across the country in the 8th National Assembly which commences next week.

Party, LP, platform. He however defected to the PDP upon which he won the 8th National Assembly ticket. He is a returning senator.

Adamawa South: Ahmadu Abubakar Another first timer in the Senate, Abubakar won Adamawa South senatorial seat election under the platform of the APC. He will be interested in giving a representation that will foster change in his constituency and Nigeria. FCT: Philips Tanimu Aduda Having served two terms in the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2011, Aduda made his debut to the Senate for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, after the April 9, 2011 elections, running on PDP ticket. He will be making his sophomore at the Senate in the 8th National Assembly after he defected to the APC and won the March 28 election. Imo East: Samuel Anyanwu Anyanwu, is a senator-elect, who will be representing the people of Imo East at the Senate for the first time. He contested

Imo North: Achonu Nneji Popularly referred to as One-Arm General is a first timer senator-elect who will be representing the people of Imo North at the 8th National Assembly. The PDP senator-elect clearly emerged as the favorite to represent the people of his district after which he won the March 28. Plateau South: Jeremiah Timbut Useni Useni started his political career in 2001. He became deputy chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP in 2003. He ran for Senate in 2011 but was defeated by Victor Lar of the PDP. He however made his debut to the Senate in the 2015 elections on the platform of PDP. Plateau Central: Joshua Dariye Dariye is former governor of Plateau State between 1999 and 2006, when he was impeached for alleged money laundering issue. In April 2011, Dariye was elected senator for Plateau Central on the Labour

Plateau North: Jonah Jang The immediate past governor Plateau State, Jang served as governor from 2007 to 2105 on PDP platform. Joining the league of former governors who have invaded the hallowed chambers of the Senate, he contested for and won the Plateau North senatorial district election, making it his debut at the National Assembly. Gombe South: Joshua Lidani Moltobok Lidani is a returning senator who will be joining his counterparts across the country in the 8th National Assembly. He defected from his former party, the PDP to the APC and won the March 28 election to represent the people of Gombe South senatorial District. Gombe North: Bayero Nafada A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nafada, who served with former Speaker Dimeji bankole is making his debut at the Senate to represent his people having won the March 28 senatorial election. Gombe Central: Mohammed Goje Danjuma Former governor of Gombe State, Goje, is making a return to the Senate and is one of the former state executives who have found solace in the Senate.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Capital Market

Wednesday, June 2, 2015

Equities up 0.05% as bulls sustain hold JOHNSON OKANLAWON

enchmark index of equities was up on the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday, as some investors took position on stocks with good earnings. Specifically, the AllShares Index appreciated 17.24 basis points or 0.05 per cent to close at 34,061.89 points, as against the decline of 0.03 per cent recorded the preceding day to close at 34,044.65 points. The Market Capitalisation rose N5 billion or 0.05 per cent to close at N11.574 trillion, in contrast to the closure of N11.568 trillion the preceding day.

On the sectorial indices, the NSE 30-Index gained 0.02 per cent to close at 1,556.14 points, but the Banking Index shed 0.33 per cent to close at 385.21 points. The Insurance Index added 0.31 per cent to close at 147.59 points, while the Consumer Goods Index appreciated 0.96 per cent to close at 845.48 points. The Oil and Gas Index lost 1.60 per cent to close at 367.03 points, while the Industrial Index gained 0.06 per cent to close at 2212.71 points. The Lotus Islamic Index was up 0.08 per cent to close at 2227.86 points. The price movement chart showed 45 stocks

that actively participated in trading with 26 gainers against 19 losers. Vono Products Plc led on the gainers table with 17 kobo or 9.60 per cent to close at N1.94 per share, followed by Contain Plc with nine kobo or 9.18 per cent to close at N1.94.00 per share. Dangote Flour Plc trailed with 20 kobo or five per cent to close at N4.20 per share, while Livestock Feeds Plc added 11 kobo or 4.82 per cent to close at N2.39 per share. Cutix Plc appreciated eight kobo or 4.62 per cent to close at N1.81 per share. Conversely, Integrated Energy Insurance Plc led on the losers’ table with

three kobo or 5.66 per cent to close at 50 kobo per share, while Academy Plc shed five kobo or five percent to close at N5.00 per share. NPF Microfinance Bank Plc depreciated by six kobo or five per cent to close at N1.14 per share, while Ikeja Hotel Plc shed 19 kobo or 4.87 per cent to close at N3.71 per share. National Aviation Handling Company Plc (Nahco) came fifth among the top five ranking, shedding 27 kobo or 4.23 per cent to close at N6.11 per share. In all, investors traded 224.72 million shares valued at N3.47 billion and exchanged in 3,940 deals.

Swiss firms eye Nigeria for investment

wiss Re AG, which has had an African presence for more than 60 years, said it’s in talks with Nigerian insurers to buy minority stakes and benefit from growth in the continent’s largest economy. “We’d like to have more investments in places like Nigeria,” Frank O’Neill, Swiss Re’s chief executive officer for the Middle East and Africa, said yesterday in an interview before the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town. “The challenge is that the valuations are rich. We’re looking for the right kind of partners at a price that

makes sense. We’re at an early stage in talks, but we’re positive on the market opportunities.” Swiss Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer, bought a minority stake in Kenya’s Apollo Investments Limited from buyout firm LeapFrog Investments in October. Kenya is one of seven focus markets in Africa for Zurichbased Swiss Re, with the others including Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique and Angola. While Swiss Re already reinsures companies in all of its target markets, it wants direct stakes in insurers to benefit from African growth rates that are higher than de-

veloped nations. Sub-Saharan African economies are expected to grow by an average 4.5 per cent in 2015, rising to 5.1 per cent next year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Nigeria’s growth rate is forecast to be 4.8 per cent this year. “The direct investments aren’t about having a footprint, it’s to benefit from the growth in primary insurance,” O’Neill said. “Africa is very attractive from a return perspective. The investments also give us a seat on the board and on-the ground-experience. We want more of them in the region.” The Kenyan investment

was the first of its kind in Africa for Swiss Re. The company may target as many as three minority investments in Kenya and Nigeria, according to O’Neill, and it will continue to work with LeapFrog to identify any opportunities that arise when the private equity firm exits investments in Africa. “Africa is very small in the Swiss Re context, but it punches above its weight in terms of how management see the future potential,” he said. “The chairman has told us to show our commitment to Africa.”

Greek uncertainty weighs on equities, inflation lifts euro

nited States stocks dipped yesterday while German bond yields rose as investors searched for clarity over whether a high-level meeting on Greece’s debt crisis might yield a significant breakthrough. The euro rose nearly two per cent against the dollar, after an above-forecast rise in euro zone inflation pushed the currency through the $1.10 resistance point. Greece’s creditors are close to finishing a draft agreement to put to the leftist government in Athens, a source close to the talks said yesterday, injecting new momentum into long-running negotiations to release

aid for the cash-strapped country. Yannis Stournaras, the head of the Greek central bank, said an agreement between Athens and its creditors from the euro zone and International Monetary Fund to keep the country afloat was “not far away”. “It is all revolving around the climactic situation in Europe,” said Ken Polcari, Director of the NYSE floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York. “I really think there is going to be some clarity to it today, they are going to push the envelope and that is what the market is focusing on.” Athens is due to make a 300 million euro debt repay-

ment to the International Monetary Fund on Friday. US stocks were modestly lower after economic data showed new orders for US factory goods unexpectedly fell in April, the eight decline in the last nine months. Investors were also closely watching the technical support level at the 50-day moving average for the S&P 500 at 2,099.54. The benchmark index touched a session low of 2,099.14 before rebounding. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 20.28 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 18,020.09, the S&P 500 lost 2.22 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 2,109.51 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 6.01 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 5,076.92.

MSCI’s all-country world index of the stock performance in 46 countries fell 0.11 per cent. Rate (%) Inflation

8.2

MPR

Crude oil price

$58.96

Source: NSE

Inter-Bank Rate Naira

US Dollar

N197 Market indicators All-Share Index 34,061.89points Market capitalisation 11.57trn

Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

% CHANGE

VONO

1.77

1.94

0.17

9.60

COSTAIN

0.98

1.07

0.09

9.18

DANGFLOUR

4.00

4.20

0.20

5.00

LIVESTOCK

2.28

2.39

0.11

4.82

CUTIX

1.73

1.81

0.08

4.62

WEMABANK

0.94

0.98

0.04

4.26

TRANSEXPR

1.23

1.28

0.05

4.07

ETI

21.00

21.82

0.82

3.90

ABCTRANS

0.54

0.56

0.02

3.70

STERLNBANK

2.03

2.10

0.07

3.45

CHANGE

% CHANGE

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

INTENEGINS

0.53

0.50

-0.03

-5.66

ACADEMY

1.00

0.95

-0.05

-5.00

NPFMCRFBK

1.20

1.14

-0.06

-5.00

IKEJAHOTEL

3.90

3.71

-0.19

-4.87

NAHCO

6.38

6.11

-0.27

-4.23

TRANSCORP

2.98

2.86

-0.12

-4.03

OANDO

18.89

18.20

-0.69

-3.65

168.00

163.00

-5.00

-2.98

UNITYBNK

2.77

2.70

-0.07

-2.53

PRESCO

34.00

33.35

-0.65

-1.91

FGN Bonds

Offer

Bid

Description

Price

Yield

Price

Yield

13.05 16-AUG-2016

1.21

99.18

13.76

99.33

13.62

15.10 27-APR-2017

1.90

102.04

13.82

102.19

13.73

16.00 29-JUN-2019

4.07

106.55

13.83

106.85

13.74

16.39 27-JAN-2022

6.66

111.13

13.77

111.43

13.70

14.20 14-MAR-2024

8.78

102.33

13.72

102.63

13.67

10.00 23-JUL-2030

15.14 68.00

15.54

68.30

15.47

Closing Market Prices of June 2, 2015

Treasury Bills Maturity Date

Bid

Offer

Exchange

Rates (N)

03-Sep-15

11.07

11.39

WAUA

270

03-Dec-15

12.64

13.50

USD

197

EURO

214

05-May-16

12.90

14.64

CFA

0.32

YEN

1.64

Tenor

Rate (%)

SWISS FRANC

202

O/N

11.7917

15.3868

POUNDS STERLING

293

16.4458

SDR

273

17.5532

NIBOR

The Fixings of June 2, 2015

Capital Market

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Stock exchange daily equities summary Equities as at June 2, 2015 1st Tier Securities

1st Tier Securities Sector

Company name

No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

Sector

Company name

No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Community Mirror Mimiko playing politics with my Staff of Office –Ondo monarch

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. Governor of Rivers State – Nyesom Wike

Robbers attack hospital, rape nurse in turns DARE AKOGUN

devastated 18-year-old auxiliary nurse has accused owner of a private hospital in Egan area of Lagos of negligence after robbers raided the hospital and four of them raped her in turns. It was learnt that this year alone, robbers have raided the hospital three times, carting away valuables belonging to patients on admission in the hospital. The victim (name withheld) alleged that owner of the hospital did not provide security for his staff thereby subjected her to mental torture after she was raped and lost her virginity. A source who proffered anonymity revealed that the robbers stormed the hospital around 3: 00 am scaled the fence before gaining entry into the premises. “They overpowered a 19-yearold security guard from Niger Republic, tied him with rope and locked him in a room before carrying out their operation. “The staff on night duty were brutally attacked and wounded

Members of National Union of Electricity Employees, North West Zone, protesting non-payment of allowances in Kaduna, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

and when the robbers could not get enough money, they resorted to raping the teenage nurse in turns”, the source added. The incident was reported at the Igando Police Division, who subsequently arrested the medical director and later released on bail. The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Adegbola Dominic confirmed the incident and said he could not be held liable for the rape of the nurse. Dominic told our reporter that

he was contacted by a staff on duty that robbers invaded the place and broke into his office. He disclosed that when they did not find any money, they broke into the patients’ ward and carted away their hand sets and money found on them. He said he was also informed that one of his staff was raped and when he asked the victim, she denied. He however stated that he was surprised when her parents

came to the hospital with police and dragged him to the station over the nurse’s claim that she was raped. He said when the incident happened, he reported to the police who are now investigating the matter. He revealed that it was not the first time robbers have raided the hospital saying that robbers invaded the hospital few weeks back in the same manner and robbed patients before the latest attack.

Council chairman commends NEMA over relief materials JUSTIN TYOPUUSU JALINGO

aretaker chairman, Donga local council in Taraba State, Barnabas Ibrahim, has expressed appreciation to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, for donating relief materials to victims of crisis in the area. Barnabas, who gave the commendation yesterday in Donga while interacting with journalists, said the gesture by the agency would go a long way in alleviating the suffering of internally displaced persons in the area. “I am overwhelmed by this great assistance by NEMA to the people of my local government, who were recently displaced by series of attacks by unknown gunmen,” he said. He noted that the agency donated 100 bags of rice, 100 bags of beans, 100 bags of maize, 1000 pieces of mattresses, 700 bundles

of roofing sheets and 1000 pieces of wax prints. Other items donated to the IDPs according to the chairman included; 600 bags of cement, 1000 pieces of dignity kits, 500 pieces of women’s wear, 1000 pieces of plastic plates, 1000 pieces of plastic spoons, 500 pieces of mosquito nets, 1500 pieces of nylon mats, 300 cartons of sanitary pads among others.

Barnabas appealed to the state and Federal Government to deploy more security operatives to the affected areas to restore normalcy in the council. Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Alhaji Muhammed Sidi, had last week while presenting the materials, called on Taraba state government to strengthen the state

Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, to enhance its capacity on disaster prevention and management. Represented by the agency’s Head of Gombe Operations Office, Alhaji Saidu Mini, Sidi urged the IDPs in Dozomga, Model Primary School and Tor Damisa camps to forgive one another and eschew violence for a better Nigeria.

Man nabbed for stealing diesel from parked truck

peratives of Edo State Police Command has apprehended an unidentified young man for allegedly siphoning diesel from a truck belonging to a beverage company located at Ikpoba Hill, in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of the state. The unidentified young man was caught by a vigilante guard in the area at 4am on 27 May, who noticed some diesel on the ground around the parked truck. The vigilante guard was said to have traced the flow to the truck where he found the suspect siphoning diesel into some jerry cans. It was gathered that the suspect on sighting the vigilante attempted to escape but was overpowered by residents after the guard raised an alarm.. The timely intervention of the police from Aduwawa division however saved the suspect from been lynched by the angry residents who had already descended on him following the alarm raised by the night guard. According to an eyewitness, the suspect confessed that he was a member of a gang that specializes in stealing petroleum products from packed vehicles in the area. He said, “There are other people in the same business with me and they have stolen more than 1,000 litres before. It was further learnt that the residents and the truck driver identified as Mr Imafidon tied up the suspect while putting a hose in his mouth after he described how he siphoned the product.

Monarch appeals to govt for aid as arsonists raze houses in Kogi WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA

ollowing the burning of over 140 houses at Aluaja village in Ibaji Local Government area of Kogi State by arsonists, traditional ruler of one of the villages has appealed to the state government and the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, to come to the aid of the community.

The Onu of Aluaja, Chief Ben Akoji, who made the call in a press statement made available to newsmen in Lokoja yesterday, stated that the people of Aluaja village have been rendered homeless as they have fled from their devastated home to other towns and villages in Ibaji. The traditional ruler explained that the clash, which took place between warring villages of Itale, Iru and Abujaga, on one side and

Alujaga, on the other, led to the burning of over 140 houses in the community. He pointed out that the incident has been reported to the Divisional Police Officer at Onyedaga, the Headquarters of Ibaji Local government area and the Paramount Chief of the area. However a source closed to the community stated that there have been occasional clashes between the warring communities over

ownership of fish ponds since 2013. It was gathered that the latest clash erupted when the remains of late Gabriel Ejima who shot dead and brought home for burial on 22nd May,2015. It was this latest clash that led to the burning of almost houses in Aluaja as people of the community were allegedly overpowered by the combine effort of Itale, Iru and Abujage attackers.

Community Mirror

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Mimiko playing politics with my Staff of Office –Ondo monarch Artisan arraigned OJO OYEWAMIDE AKURE

ontroversy over the stool of Olofun of Irele in Irele Local Government Area of Ondo State deepened yesterday, as Oba Bamidele Ekunsanmi accused Governor Olusegun Mimiko of not recognising him as true monarch of the town. Ekunsanmi is one of the two people laying claim to the stool since a court judgment in 2010 declared the installation of Oba Olarewaju Lebi from Oyelusi ruling House as illegal. The court ruled that it was the Opetusi royal family that had the right to produce the next monarch. Despite that Lebi, through his lawyers, filed an appeal to set aside the judgment of the lower court, Opetusi’s family went ahead to install Ekunsanmi as the new Olofun in December, 2013. But the installation of the new monarch was premised on the dismissal of stay of execution filed by Lebi’s legal team by the Appeal Court. Speaking with reporters in Akure, the state capital, Ekunsanmi blamed Governor Mimiko for playing politics with his Staff of Office.

He said: “I was crowned the Olofun of Irele by all kingmakers of Irele Kingdom. Since then, we have tried to get the state government to give the staff of office. “We had a court judgment on June 28, 2010 and it took my people some time to crown me on November 30, 2013. After that, some people created mayhem in the town. I personally spoke with the governor and he told me that

he would do the right thing at the appropriate time.” “But two years on, we are still where we are. We are working at the federal level and still working through the court to get what belongs to us. I do not want to comment on the court case because it is still going on. “We expect a substantive judgment in the nearest future. They filed a stay of execution of the

Men at Work: A local drycleaner at work in Idi Araba Mushin Lagos.

PHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN

UNFPA boss frowns at child marriage

xecutive Director, United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, has urged the Federal Government to eliminate child marriage so as to curb maternal mortality in the country. He blamed incessant ma-

ternal mortality rate on early marriage and lack of education among young women in the country. “When you disaggregate between the issues of maternal mortality and look at the ages of the women and the girls who die, most of them are not ready;

especially the girls are not ready for child bearing. “If you marry off a girl at the age of 10, and she starts to have baby by 11 or 12, that is a child having a child, she is not ready, she doesn’t even understand what it is, physically, emotionally, and psychologically, she is

FG commences building of 200 housing units for landslide victims in Cross River RICHARD NDOMA CALABAR

he Federal Government has commenced building of 200 housing units to resettle landslide victims of Aguegwuna Community, Biase Local Government of Cross River State. A statement from Deputy, Director of information in the State Emergency management Agency, SEMA, Mr. David Akate, stated that the project, which was embarked upon by the Federal and state governments, when completed would bring succour to displaced victims of the landslide. The statement noted that the houses, which are at different stages of completion, were lo-

cated on higher grounds about one kilometre from the original village, which had become vulnerable to perennial landslide and flooding for the past 45 years. The Chairman of Biase Local Government Area, Hon. Enebieni Ana who recently visited the construction sites said it was an amazing spectacle for the fulfillment of the dreams of the community by the State and Federal Governments. The council boss said that the layout would boost the infrastructural development of the area which was an added advantage to human development. Ana charged beneficiaries of the project to support the project so as to achieve the desired goals.

lower court ruling and the Appeal Court dismissed that. So, there is nothing stopping Lebi from vacating the stool.” However, a member of Lebi’s legal team, Barrister Olumide Ogunl, said it was constitutionally wrong for the Opetusi’s family to install a new monarch when the case was still pending at the Appeal Court.

Commenting also on the project, Director-General, Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Vincent Aquah said that the new layout comprises residential houses, a recreational centre, a motor park, Police Station and Fire Service Station. He disclosed that the houses comprise semi-detached bungalows of two bedrooms and one bedroom which on completion would be distributed to the affected families of the disaster. The Director-General who recalled that the project which was approved over 10 years ago by the Federal Government was being handled by Cross River State and the Federal Government.

not ready. “The likelihood that she will die (of pregnancy-related complications) is most probably 100 times than a woman who is 22. “So, I think we need to address those things, what contributes to it, let’s try and reduce the issue of child marriage. “When we eliminate that, get the girls to go to school, stay in school to maturity and you educate them, and give them good nutrition and health, it actually reduce this considerably.’’ Osotimehin also said that young women develop fistulas due to early marriage, thereby making Vesico vaginal fistula (VVF) a necessity. He said that the Fund had globally assisted with the burden inflicted on the young women. “If we stop marrying girls that are 10 and they grow to be women, they won’t have fistulas because the reason why fistulas develop is because the girl has a body which is not ready for child bearing. “When the baby is trying to come out, it is with great difficulty and in circumstances where they don’t even have access to good medical care, they are going to have difficult labour and develop fistulas,” he said.

over fraud

n auto mechanic, Sunday Ade, was on Monday charged before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos for allegedly obtaining N500, 000 under false pretences. The accused, 29, is facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and obtaining money on false pretext. Ade, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges. But the prosecutor, DSP Etim Nkankuk, told the court that the accused committed the offences on Feb. 9 at Aguda in Surulere area of Lagos with his brother, still at large. He said Ade obtained N500, 000 from one Elochukwu Peters under the pretext that he would cure his wife’s ailment. ``The complainant was referred to Ade’s brother, who is still at large by the accused himself to cure the ailment. ``Peters was made to believe that the duo could help find a cure to his wife’s ailment. ``He was asked to bring N500, 000 as payment for the cure only for him to find out that he had been duped,’’ the prosecutor said. Nkankuk noted that the offences contravened Sections 285, 312 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011. The Chief Magistrate, Mr A.O. Isaac, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in like sum. The case has been adjourned till July 1 for mention.

Farmers decry delay over fertiliser distribution

armers in Zaria, Kaduna State, have expressed concern over delay in distribution of fertilisers for this year’s farming season, which has forced them to resort to using animal dung. The farmers made their position known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Zaria on Tuesday. Alhaji Musa Dogara, a Zariabased farmer, said the call became necessary following the commencement of rain across the state. He said: ``We thank God Almighty rain had already commenced, therefore, I want to appeal to governments at all levels to speed-up effort at supplying fertiliser to enable us put in more efforts towards realising a bumper harvest. ``This delay has forced us to resort to using animal dung in order to bridge the gap,” he said.

Wednesday, June 2015 Wednesday August 20,3,2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

World News

Hundreds missing after Chinese ship capsizes 50

“It is absolutely clear to me it was a mistake -- still is -- not to coordinate the air strikes with the activities of the Syrian army”. – Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov

Multinational force to combat Boko Haram ready soon –Niger’s president Paul Arhewe

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

multinational force being set up to combat Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the Lake Chad region will be operational in the coming weeks, Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou, said yesterday. Approved in March by the African Union, the 8,700-strong force drawn from the Lake Chad countries of Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon as well as Benin, will be financed partly by the international community. “We have discussed the situation on our southern side with Boko Haram rampaging in the Lake Chad zone,” Issoufou told reporters outside the Elysee Palace in Paris after a meeting

n Egyptian court sentenced the former president to death last month. The court’s now waiting on the country’s top cleric to make a recommendation in the case. A final ruling on the death sentence handed down to former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi will be announced in two weeks, a Cairo court said Tuesday. The court’s announcement came a day after police arrested two top leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, Abdel-Rahman el-Bar and Mahmoud Ghozlan, who had been in hiding for the last two years, The Associated

Mahamadou

with French President Francois Hollande. “We think that in the coming weeks, with the new administra-

tion settling into place in Nigeria, we are going to be able to launch the mixed multinational force, to which all of the coun-

tries of the Lake Chad basin contribute,” he added. As he spoke, sources in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri reported that a bomb blast hit a busy market there yesterday, killing as many as 50 people. An Elysee statement said Hollande told Issoufou that France would “continue its logistical support and intelligence to the countries neighboring Lake Chad” to combat the group thought to have killed thousands of people in its quest to create a caliphate in Nigeria’s remote north-east. President Muhammadu Buhari, the first to take power in a democratic handover in the history of the country, promised to eradicate Boko Haram in an inaugural address last week.

Morsi awaits final sentencing, more Muslim Brotherhood leaders arrested Press reports. A Brotherhood spokesman described the arrests as a “failed attempt by the brutal coup authorities to disrupt the revolutionaries across the nation.” Morsi and more than 100 others were sentenced to death last month over a mass prison break in 2011 that occurred during protests against ousted President Hosni Mubarak. The crackdown on the Broth-

Mohammed Morsi gestures in courtroom in Cairo, Egypt, recently.

erhood since the military ouster of Morsi has seen the slow but steady decline of what was once Egypt’s most influential political group. The current government considers it a threat to national security. Human rights groups claim that up to 1,000 Brotherhood supporters have been killed and thousands of others have been detained. The new arrests could increase already intense pressures on the Brotherhood, which has began to splinter into two groups: the old guard that enforces peaceful activism, and a newer, younger guard that want to fight violence with violence. Political infighting is evident, which experts believe gives the President Abdal Fattah el-Sisi an advantage. “The regime thought it is facing a huge organized entity that needs excessive effort to be dismantled. Now the state can sit back and watch the Muslim Brotherhood destruct,” Ahmed Ban, a political Islam expert, told Al-Arabiya News. Soon after the death sentence verdict last month, The Chris-

tian Science Monitor reported: Some observers are concerned … that Egypt has slopped back into its authoritarian days. In that context, if Morsi is executes, Muslim Brotherhood supporter would take it as provocation. “Morsi being an Islamist leader and a symbolic figure…has to be published harshly in order to convey the unambiguous message to all Islamists and other activists that there is no going back to pre-June 2013 democratic transition,” Yasser el-Shimy, an Egyptian academic at Boston University told The Guardian. “Ultimately, if the verdict is carried out, it will push many Islamist youth further away from peaceful political participation, and make it virtually impossible to achieve political reconciliation in Egypt.” The court referred Morsi’s sentencing to the grand mufti, the highest religious authority in Egypt, for confirmation last month. On Tuesday, the court set June 16 as the date to decide on his death sentence, after it receives the mufti’s opinion, the AP reports.

WORLD BULLETIN Burundi’s protesters on streets after call for poll delay Police fired on protesters who took to the streets of Burundi’s capital yesterday in renewed protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term in office, witnesses said. Protesters said they were angry that a weekend summit of African leaders had not urged Nkurunziza to halt his bid but only urged a delay in elections. Witnesses in Cibitoke and Musaga, two volatile districts of Bujumbura, said the police shot at protesters in the morning. One demonstrator in Musaga was wounded in the clashes and four others arrested, witnesses said. Police have routinely denied shooting any protesters, who have often burned tires and hurled rocks at security forces during several weeks of unrest.

Somali al-Shabaab enters Kenyan village Somalia’s militant Islamist group al-Shabab has entered a remote village in north-eastern Kenya, despite the fact that it is only about 15km (nine miles) from a military base, residents said. Hundreds of people have now fled Warankara and schools have shut, they said. This is only the second time that al-Shabab is known to have occupied territory in Kenya. The al-Qaeda-linked group has its headquarters in neighbouring Somalia. The BBC Somali Service’s reporter says al-Shabab appears to be implementing its threat to “take the war” to Kenya.

Tanzanian low-cost water filter wins innovation prize A water filter which absorbs anything from copper and fluoride to bacteria, viruses and pesticides has won a prestigious African innovation prize. Its inventor, Tanzanian chemical engineer Askwar Hilonga, uses nanotechnology and sand to clean water. He told the BBC his invention should help the 70% of households in Tanzania that do not have clean drinking water. The prize, worth £25,000 ($38,348), was the first of its kind from the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering.

World News

WORLD BULLETIN

BUK rocket downed MH17, says Russian missile maker The Russian firm making missiles similar to the one the West claims downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine said yesterday the passenger jet was likely hit by a BUK missile system. All 298 passengers and crew on board the Malaysia Airlines jetliner -- the majority of them Dutch -- died when it was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine last year. Officials from state-controlled missile producer Almaz-Antey said they could not pinpoint which side shot down the plane, but intimated that the Ukrainian army was responsible as they unveiled their own report into the incident based on publicly available photographs of the wreckage. “The first stage of our analysis showed that the type of missile system used was a BUK-M1,” company official Mikhail Malyshevsky said at a press conference, Russian news agencies reported. Company officials said that the BUK-M1 missile had not been produced in Russia since 1999 and was in the arsenal of the Ukrainian armed forces. Almaz-Antey alleged that the missile was probably fired from close to the village of Zaroshchenske to the south of the jet’s flight path. “We cannot comment on who was stationed there” at the time, company director Yan Novikov said.

Assad under pressure over Syrian insurgent advances Steady advances by insurgents on key fronts in Syria mean President Bashar al-Assad is under more military pressure than at any point in the four-year-old war. Losses in the north, east and south to groups including al Qaeda’s Syrian arm and Islamic State may test Assad’s hold over western parts of the country that are the most crucial to his survival. After his loss of Palmyra, a symbolic and militarily strategic city, and nearly all of Idlib province, he appears to be circling his wagons more closely to a western region that includes Damascus, Homs, Hama and the coast. Sources familiar with the thinking in Damascus acknowledge that pressure is growing but say the government is confident the army can defend crucial territory with the help of its allies. Assad still controls areas in more far-flung parts of Syria, but these are dwindling in number. His decision to maintain forces in places such as in Deir al-Zor, Hasaka and Aleppo suggests he still wants to preserve a nationwide presence, rejecting Syria’s de facto partition.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Hundreds missing after Chinese ship capsizes

escuers searched yesterday for more than 400 people, many of them elderly Chinese tourists, missing after a cruise boat was hit by a freak tornado and capsized on the Yangtze River in what may become China’s worst shipping disaster in nearly 70 years. Battling bad weather, divers and other rescue workers pulled five people they found trapped in the upturned hull of the four-deck Eastern Star, a small fraction of the 458 people state media said were on board when the ship capsized on Monday night. Rescue operations appeared extended late into Tuesday night with paramilitary vehicles, dozens of police and soldiers as well as medical and meteorological trucks surrounding the site. Soldiers set up periodic roadblocks along a muddy path, allowing only official vehicles into the area in the central province of Hubei. At the main hospital in the county of Jianli, police guarded the door of a room where survivors were being treated and blocked reporters from trying to enter. Three survivors were placed in the general ward while the rest were in intensive care, according to a nurse. Distraught relatives of some of the passengers scuffled with officials in the city of Shanghai,

A woman being helped after a diver pulled her out from sunken ship in Jianli, Hubei province, China, yesterday

where many of those on board had booked their trips, angry about what they said was a lack of information. Dozens of rescue boats battled wind and rain enveloping the southern section of Asia’s longest river to reach the ship, which lay upturned in water some 15 meters (50 feet) deep. Xinhua news agency said rescuers could hear people calling for help from inside the ship’s hull and television showed rescuers cutting through it with an angle grinder. One of the people pulled from the capsized boat was a 65-yearold woman. Divers fixed breath-

ing equipment to her nose and mouth to bring her up from under the water. About another dozen people had been rescued and six bodies recovered, Chinese media reported, leaving more than 430 people unaccounted for. China’s weather bureau said a tornado had buffeted the area where the boat was passing through, a freak occurrence in a country where twisters can happen but are not common. The disaster could cause a higher toll than the sinking of a ferry in South Korea in April 2014 that killed 304 people, most of them children on a school trip.

difficult”. His statement follows talks in Berlin attended by the heads of both the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and ECB president Mario Draghi’s presence at the meeting between German

Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s Francois Hollande underlined the seriousness of the talks. Reports suggest the meeting was aimed at coming up with a “final proposal” to issue to Athens. But Mr Tsipras, who was not included in the meeting, said he had not yet been contacted by the IMF and European officials. “We are not waiting for them to submit a proposal, Greece is submitting a plan - it is now clear that the decision on whether they want to adjust to realism... the decision rests with the political leadership of Europe,” he added. A $300m (£216m) payment from Greece to the IMF is due on Friday. There are fears Greece does not have the necessary funds to pay and could default on the debt, ultimately leading to its exit from the eurozone. Friday’s payment is the first of four totalling $1.5bn that Greece is due to pay to the IMF in June, and it is understood that the payments could be all bundled together and repaid in a single transaction at the end of the month.

‘Greek PM negotiates realistic debt deal proposal’

reek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says he has issued “a realistic proposal” to the country’s international creditors in an attempt to secure a deal over its debts. “We have submitted a realistic plan for Greece to exit the crisis,” he said. Mr Tsipras said the plan included “concessions that will be

Tsipras

Saudi beheads wife killer, Syrian drug trafficker

audi Arabia yesterday beheaded a man convicted of murdering his wife, along with a Syrian drug smuggler, adding to a toll that activists called a “stain” on the kingdom’s rights record. Authorities executed Saudi national Awad al-Rasheedi following his conviction for stabbing his wife to death, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. “Because he had previous drugrelated arrests and because he attacked the closest person to him, his wife, because taking a life is the biggest type of corruption on Earth and because he was drunk and under the influence of hashish at the time, he was sentenced to death,” the ministry said. He was executed in the Gulf coast city of Dammam. Syrian national Mohammed Abdul Hadi Ahmed, who had been convicted of trying to smuggle amphetamines into the kingdom, was also executed in the northern Jawf region, the interior ministry said. The two beheadings bring the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year to 92, despite fierce criticism from rights groups. According to a news agency’s tally, 87 Saudis and foreigners were put to death in all of 2014. “Any execution is appalling, but executions for crimes such as drug smuggling that result in no loss of life are particularly egregious,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

North

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Bauchi’s debt profile hits N125bn EZEKIEL TITUS BAUCHI

auchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday said his administration has discovered a cumulative external and

domestic debt to the tune of N125 billion incurred by the Isa Yuguda administration. This is even as a group known as Society for Good Governance, SGG, has urged the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, to arrest the

former governor in connection with the alleged debt profile. Abubakar in his maiden broadcast to people of the state also said N864 billion, excluding ecological funds accrued to the state during the eight years of Yuguda’s tenure.

The governor said debt emanating from domestic loans stands as N47.7bn, foreign loan N18.9bn, while contract liabilities is N41.5bn, among others The governor added that currently the state has next to nothing of accessible funds, describ-

ing the development as disturbing, and other myriads of challenges inherited from the last administration. He expressed concern on how to source funds to pay outstanding salaries of workers for the months of April and May, which he puts at N5.2bn. Among other challenges confronting the new administration, according to Abubakar, is how to provide fertiliser to farmers, settlement of N572 million commitments for this year’s hajj operation, direct school feeding, cleaning of drainages and

running of government activities. Meanwhile, SGG Chairman, Mallam Yusuf Korau, urged EFCC not to waste time in bringing Yuguda to book to cough out the funds he allegedly siphoned while in office. “We want to make it clear to EFCC to wake up and beam its searchlight on Yuguda, following the chilling revelations made by the governor. “The failure of the antigraft agency to probe and arrest Yuguda would justify free for all in looting public funds by generations to come,” said Korau.

Mob kills police corporal for shooting civilian WILLIAMS ATTAH GOMBE

E L-R: Clerk of the House, Dr. Torese Agena, members, Kenneth Iyo, Stephen Onmeje, Speaker, Terhile Ayua, Majority Leader, Paul Biam, member, David Iorhemba and others after dissolution of the Seventh Assembly in Makurdi, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

mir’s Palace in Gombe town was yesterday morning thrown into pandemonium when some group of people forced their way into the office of the Emirate’s Secretary and stoned a mobile police corporal, who was alleged to have killed another

Soyinka to deliver Kwara varsity convocation lecture WOLE ADEDEJI ILORIN

obel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, is billed to deliver the third Convocation Lecture of the Kwara State University, Malete, on Saturday, where six graduates of the institution will bag First Class degrees. During the convocation, 174 students would be awarded Second Class Upper; 549 Second Class Lower and three Third Class category. According to a press statement from the institution, 732 students would be graduating on Saturday from various faculties and departments, which include Information Communication and Technology, ICT, as well as Pure and Applied Sciences. Speaking with journalists during a pre-convocation press conference, Vice Chancellor, Professor AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, underscored the policy of the university to ensure that all students were compulsorily

mandated to acquire entrepreneurial skills that would make them job creators on graduation. According to him, the institution through partnership arrangements with selected commercial banks opened up facility windows for every student to apply and access funds to execute their chosen private businesses, which they do while on campus. Na’Allah said the project was given serious commit-

ment by the university, to the extent that it would disown any of its graduates found to be jobless or seen to be one of the desperate Nigerian graduates on unemployment queue. He therefore, appealed to parents of the graduating students to support and encourage them in their determination to create wealth and be a solution to the country. The vice chancellor said the Nobel laureate, who had

been given a “blank cheque” to pick a topic of his choice, would certainly speak on the topic relevant to the present situation in the country. He called on the society, specifically corporate organisations, government agencies, and individuals to partner with graduates of the university and faculties on research outputs and to see them as capable of standing on their own and to support them to succeed accordingly. Na’Allah, who appealed

to Nigerian government to revitalise public education sector, lamented that most parents now prefer to send their children and wards to private schools because of the unpleasant situations prevalent in public education sector. He stressed the need for the present administration in the country to summon the courage to make public education at all levels attractive in a bid to return the sector, to its past glory.

643 trucks of petrol supplied in FCT –DPR

epartment of Petroleum Resources, DPR, yesterday said 643 trucks of petrol were supplied to Abuja between last Thursday and June 1, to address the fuel scarcity in the city. The DPR spokesperson, Mohammed Saidu, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN in Abuja that filling stations in the FCT received 21.2 million litres (about 643 trucks) between May 28 and June 1.

Saidu said Suleja depot, which serves Abuja and its environs, had fuel to meet the needs of consumers. He said that filling stations in Abuja received 4.4 million litres of petrol on May 28, four million on May 29, four million on May 30 and 1.8 million on May 31 respectively. He said the volume of petrol released on Monday June 1, to FCT had helped in reducing the tension in the city.

Saidu said that the agency had commenced monitoring of filling stations to check hoarding, overpricing, under dispensing and any other sharp practices. He warned that any filling station caught indulging in any sharp practices would be made to face the full wrath of the law. The spokesperson expressed the hope that the situation would become normal before the weekend and warned motorists against

stockpiling petroleum products. NAN reports that the scarcity has eased as many filling stations in Abuja have the product and are selling. In the same vein, Total filling station opposite NNPC towers, Oando filling station near National Planning Commission and Total filling station opposite Twelve Apostles Catholic Church in Area 10, among others were seen selling the product.

person during a scuffle behind the Emir’s palace. According to an eye-witness, the police corporal, 38-year-old Adamu Abba, was hit on his motorcycle by a commercial tricycle operator (Keke NAPEP) at Bello Sabon Kudi junction while on his way to work. The eye-witness said that as argument ensued over the crash, some motorcycle operators gathered and tried to cover up for the Keke NAPEP operator. He added that as arguments got heated, more people gathered and the angry policeman shot one 37-yearold Malla Gana, who was trying to settle the matter. It was gathered that on realising the consequence of what he has done, he ran into the office of the Secretary of the Emirate Council for protection, while he called his superior colleagues and explained the matter to them. However, before the arrival of the police team, the mob forced open the secretary’s office and stoned the Mopol officer to death. When contacted over the matter, spokesman of Gombe State Police Command, Fwaje Atajiri, confirmed the incident, but warned that people must not take the law into their hands. While regretting the incident, Fwaje explained that even with the shooting of the deceased, which was wrong, the police officer showed restraint as the mob ran after him, because out of the 30 rounds of ammunition released to him, 29 were found intact.

News

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

We’ve not zoned NASS principal offices –APC

Olajide Omojolomoju

ll Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday denied a published report that

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Formerly known and addressed as Aluko Oluwatosin Oluwaseun, now wish to be known and addressed as Babalola Oluwatosin Deborah. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as Miss Mojisola Daramola Bolanle, now wish to be addressed and called as Mrs Mojisola Dorcas Boroffice. All fomer documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as Miss Balogun Temitope Aishat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Akinbowale Temitope Aishat. All former documents remain valid.General public take note

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Formerly known as Miss Fakulude Ige Toyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Dada Ige Toyin. All former documents remain valid.Ekiti State Multipurpose Credit Agency and general public take note.

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ADAMS: l formerly known and addressed as Miss. Maryam Oluwatoyin Adams, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Maryam Oluwatoyin Atanda. All former documents remain valid. The general public please take note.

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ONWU: I, formerly known and addressed as Onwu Harriet Chinonye now wish to be known and addressed as Chukwuemeka Chinonye Harriet. All former documents remain valid. ESUT, and general public should please take note.

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AGBO: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Agbo Peace Nkiru, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Udeh Peace Nkiru. All former documents remain valid. NYSC, and general public should please take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as Baoku Ololade Modupeola, now wish to be known and addressed as Komolafe Ololade Modupeola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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OLORUNDARE: Formarly known and addressed as Miss Olorundare Kemisola Christianah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Oyewumi Kemisola Christianah. All former documents remain valid and General public should please take note

its National Working Committee, NWC, met on Monday night and decided to zone the Senate Presidency to the NorthCentral and the House of Representatives Speaker

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Formerly known and addressed as Jimoh Risikat Omowumi, now wishes to be known and addressed as Mrs. Risikat Omowumi Akinbile. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as Mr Lashore Rotimi Moses, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr Olashore Rotimi Moses. All former documents remain valid.General public take note

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Formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinwande Adiat Agbeke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Idowu Adiat Agbeke. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as Sikiru Muraina, now wish to be known and addressed as Sikiru Ojedokun. All former document remain valid. Stanbic Bank and general public take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as Stella Ngozi Ibironke Chukwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Stella Ngozi Ibironke ObafemiJethro. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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ECHIODA: Formerly known and addressed as Miss Owoya Ann Echioda, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ann Abubakar. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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Formerly known as Miss Ogunmoroti Toyin Gift, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeniyi Toyin Gift. All former documents remain valid.Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission and general public take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE BRANCH OF THE VINE MISSION INTERNATIONAL.

This is to inform the general public that the above named mission has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under part C of the companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990

THE TRUSTEES ARE:

1. Dr. Ngwanma Nkem Dandam 2. Miss Nanbyen Deborah Dandam 3. Mr. Nannim David Dandam 4. Mrs. Paulina Sampson Tenpo.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE:

1. To raise Godly churches for the kingdom. 2. To preach the gospel of the kingdom through books, television, radio, internet and other media. Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Trigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication

SIGNED: SECRETARY.

to the South-West, saying nothing like that ever happened. APC National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, said

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Formerly Mr Ogunsuyi Abayomi Francis Emmanuel, now Mr Oluwasuyi Abayomi call Francis Emmanuel . All former documents remains valid, OAU,Ile-Ife ,Adeyemi college of Education,Ondo ,Grace Enterprises Network of Nigeria and general public take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as Miss Olunlade Talwo Omolara, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Egunjobi Talwo Omolara Olarenwaju. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

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I formerly known and addressed as Miss Zainab Salihu now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Zainab Salihu Badamasi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as Miss Ayodele Funmileyi Bola now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Jesuloro Funmileyi Bola. All former document remain valid TASUED. General public take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as Dr. (Miss) Adeola Modupeola Adeyefa, now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. (Mrs.) Adeola Modupeola Odejimi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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Formerly known and addressed as Lawal Bukola Rukayat, now wish to be known and addressed as Adeyemi Bukola Rukayat. All former documents remain valid and General public should please take note

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Formerly known and addressed as Alexander Idoreyen Matthew Johnson, now wish to be known and addressed as Alex I-Matthew Johnson. All Former documents remain valid. General public take note.

the party was deeply embarrassed by the story, which was apparently planted in the media to sow seeds of instability in the party. Buni said: “The NWC

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Formerly known and addressed as Miss Olawuwo Quadirat Folasade, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Kolawole Quadirat Folasade. All former documents remain valid.General public take note

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Formerly known and addressed as Mr Amadu Taofeeq, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr Raji Taofeeq Asamu. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note

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ATUBAZI: Formerly known and addressed as Atubazi Kehinde Endurance now wish to be known and addressed as Ibrahim Kate Grace. All former documents remain valid. FIRST BANK PLC and the general public take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE CITY OF TRUTH HEALING AND DELIVERANCE CHURCH

This is to notify the general public that the above - named MINISTRY has applied to Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja for registration under Part ‘C’ of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap. 59, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: (1) Pastor Imudia Onyeka Mike (2) Pastor Mrs Ekauweze Peace (3) Amaefula John (4) Shittu Regina (5 ) Nwibo Sunday 6. Onuoha Everestus Ndubuis

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE:

1.To preach the full gospel of Jesus Christ with infallible proofs all over the world. 2. To raise up a formidable militant army of Christ for the end time harvest of souls unto God’s kingdom 3. To bring many sons unto glory through teaching, preaching and healing ministries as the Lord of the harvest has appointed. 4.To raise an excellent breed of believers with the ultimate goal of making heaven Any objection to this application should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, 420, Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED BY: SECRETARY.

never discussed the issue of zoning at its meeting. Therefore, the report of its decision on zoning is a figment of the imagination of whoever concocted the story.”

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APC said nothing has changed since the president said he was ready to work with anyone from any part of the country who occupies any of the principal offices of the incoming National Assembly, including those of the Senate Presidency and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. CHANGE OF NAME

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I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ojo Bukola Ruth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ilesanmi Bukola Ruth. All former document remain valid and general public take note.

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CONFIRMATION OF NAME Formerly Ajayi Bolanle Busola which to be known and addressed as Ogunjobi Ajayi Bolanle. All formal document remain valid. Primary school certificate, secondary school certificate and general public should take note

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OKE: Formerly known and addressed as MissOke Opeoluwa Eniola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Great Opeoluwa Eniola. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

AAG/Afro Basket: ‘D’Tigress ready for Cote d’Ivoire’

No AFCON qualifier comes easy. Everything will depend on the collective efforts we put into any game –Ghana midfielder, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu

Sport

Finally,

Blatter quits as FIFA president

blatter

Everest Onyewuchi

“I

have been reflecting deeply about my presidency and about the 40 years in which my life has been inextricably bound to FIFA and the great sport of football. I cherish FIFA more than anything and i want to do only what is best for FIFA and for football. I felt compelled to stand for re-election, as I believed that this was the best thing for the organisation. That election is over but FIFA’s challenges are not. FIFA needs profound overhaul. “While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire

AFCON qualifier:

Keshi

world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA.” With the above statement he read to media men yesterday, in Zurich, Switzerland, FIFA president, 79-yearold Joseph Sepp Blatter, announced his decision to resign his position, just three days after he won a fifth term in office against worldwide clarion to step down because of the unfolding corruption and sleaze in the organisation under his watch. FIFA’s next ordinary congress is scheduled to hold on May 13, 2016 in Mexico, but Blatter said he would call an extraordinary congress for the election of his successor “at the earliest opportunity.”

Joel Ajayi ABUJA

ith the invited 15 foreign-based players expected to arrive in camp today, Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, yesterday sent 18 home-based players home as Nigeria intensifies preparation to host Chad in an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier next week. Keshi only retained eight players from the 26 he called to

decamps 18 home-based players …Eagles head to Kaduna on June 7

Before then, the former General Secretary of FIFA said he would initiate reforms to among other things stipulate term limits for future presidents, reduce the number of Executive Committee members and ensure that they are elected direct at congresses, instead of the present arrangement whereby they represent the affiliate confederations in order to ensure high ethical standards and integrity of the members. FIFA was rocked last week by the arrests on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering as part of a US prosecution that also indicted 14 people. A separate criminal investigation by Swiss authorities into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were allocated is also under way.

camp on May 14 from the the Nigeria Premier League. The players retained are: Goalkeepers Daniel Akpeyi and Ikechukwu Ezenwa.Defenders Azubuike Egwuekwe,Solomon Kwambe and Chima Akas. Midfielder Bright Onyedikachi, Strikers Gbolahan Salami and Okechukwu Gabriel. Making the announcement yesterday, ,Keshi said the eight players would be joined by the 15 invited foreign-based professionals who had been given a June 3 deadline to report to camp for the final phase of preparations for Nigeria’s opening 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Chad in Kaduna on June 13. He urged the players who failed to make the cut not to be discouraged, but to work harder to keep themselves among the pool of players that could

be called up for future national team assignments. In another development, Keshi has released the players of Warri Wolves for this weekend’s all important CAF Confederation Cup play-off second leg against AC Leopards of Congo. The game comes up on Saturday at the Warri Township Stadium. The players, Daniel Akpeyi, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Solomon Kwambe and Gbolahan Salami are expected to report back in the Super Eagles camp immediately after the game. The Nigerian representatives lost the first leg 3-0 but are confident they can turn things around in Saturday’s return leg. Meanwhile, the Super Eagles will arrive in Kaduna on June 7 for the AFCON qualifier against next Chad.

Sports

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

UCL: Xavi banks on cup win

Flying Eagles must beat Korea DPR tomorrow to advance

Glo to F’Eagles: Forget Brazil loss, forge ahead

he Flying Eagles have been advised to forget the defeat suffered against Brazil on Monday and concentrate on picking the three points at stake when they face Korea DPR in their next group match tomorrow at the on-going 2015 FIFA U-2O World Cup in New Zealand. The Flying Eagles lost 4-2 to the Brazilians in their first match on Monday and need to win the remaining two group

matches to qualify for the next round of the competition. Hungary and Brazil jointly lead Group E table while Nigeria and Korea occupy the bottom position with no point so far. “The Flying Eagles should be consoled by the fact that there is still hope, and they can redeem themselves by going for victory when they face North Korea on Thursday,” Globacom said in a statement in Lagos yesterday. “We are aware of the threat

posed by the North Koreans, but we equally have strong faith in you to pick the three points,” the statement added. The Company advised the Manu Garba- led technical crew to marshal a new plan towards defeating the Koreans to keep the Flying Eagles in contention for qualification for the next round in group E. “This is the best opportunity for the Flying Eagles to return to reckoning in Group E and

we encourage the team to work hard and secure e victory against Korea,” Globacom o further said. om Nigeria will face North Kof rea while Brazil will w lock horns with Hungary in the second Group E matches es tomorrow. Globacom is the official telet communicationss partner of the Nigerian Football Fedo ootball eration and the e major sponsor of the Nigerian national teams. a ams.

utgoing Barcelona midfielder, Xavi Hernandez, feels the side is obliged to win as they prepare for Saturday’s Champions League final against Juventus in Berlin. Xavi is set to play in his last game for the Catalans after 24 years at the Camp Nou as he heads off to Qatar club Al Sadd. “The minutes I play will be extraordinary ones,” he said yesterday. “It’s a Champions League final and the ultimate dream. The important thing is to help the team,” he added. The Spanish club has already secured two trophies this season–La Liga and the Spanish Cup–yet the 34-year-old feels this cup is within reach. “This team doesn’t get tired of winning,” he further said. “It’ll be a

Xavi

French Open: Nadal, Djokovic clash in quaters

efending champion Rafael Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic have set up a quarter-final clash at the French Open. The Spaniard came through his toughest test at this year’s tournament yesterday, dropping his first set against the spirited Jack Sock, but closed out a 6-3 6-1 5-7 6-2 victory. With the win, Nadal paved the way for a meeting with Djokovic, who secured the

Nadal

thrilling Paris showdown after a dominant 6-1 6-2 6-3 win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Sock had shown few signs that he could block Nadal’s path while dropping the first two sets, but forced the sixth seed into a fourth set with gritty resistance. Unleashing searing ground strokes, the Florida man briefly drew his opponent into a firefight, until Nadal bludgeoned him into submission with his own booming shots.

After a decent workout, the nine-time champion could discuss the prospect of putting his crown on the line against Djokovic at Roland Garros. “He’s the world No 1 and is having a great season,” Nadal said, stressing, “It’ll be a complicated match.” “It’s the biggest challenge I can have on clay,” Djokovic, who needs a French Open title to complete the career Grand Slam, also said of playing Nadal.

tough final. We are training well this week and we’ll see how Juventus will play. “We’ve both arrived in good form but we want to make history.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sports

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

D’Tigress players posing before a recent game

AAG/Afro Basket:

‘D’Tigress ready for Cote d’Ivoire’ PAUL EREWUBA

aptain of Nigeria’s female basketball team, D’Tigress, Helen Ogunjimi, has expressed the team’s readiness to compete with Cote d’Ivoire in the quest for the 2015 All Africa Games/Afrobasket Championship.

Ogunjimi, who spoke with National Mirror before the team departed for Abidjan yesterday, said the D’Tigress would make Nigeria proud in the encounter. “The Ivoriens are no strangers to us, as we have met severally. But we will remain focused because we know the match is crucial to us,” the captain said. The 18-woman contingent of 12 players

and six officials led by Coach Scott Nnaji will hope to out-dunk Cote d’ Ivoire over two matches from tomorrow to Friday to qualify for its 10th Nations Cup appearance and a chance of securing a ticket to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. On the trip are Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) board member, Mr. Agboola Pinheiro, Secretary General of the federation,

Channels commits to Kids’ tourney AFOLABI GAMBARI

ulti award-winning Channels Television has expressed its unflinching commitment to the sponsorship of the annual National U-13 Kids’ Cup. Chairman of Channels, Mr. John Momoh, who made the declaration at the final of the 2015 edition of the tournament in Lagos last week, said the sta-

tion owed the school kids a veritable platform to expose their talent. “Our resolve today is the same as when the competition started seven years ago and it is to encourage the kids to maximise their potential,” Momoh said. Enyeanugie Primary School, Edo State defeated Research Model Primary School, Kaduna State 2-0 to win trophy at the final attended by governors Ba-

Adeoti seeks FISU lift JOEL AJAYI ABUJA

F Channels Chairman, Momoh

batunde Fashola and Emmanuel Uduaghan of Lagos and Delta states respectively, among other dignitaries. Christ the King School, Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State also defeated Nana Primary School, Delta State to claim the third spot.

NNL: Kogi’s victory for fans –Coach

ogi United FC Coach, Yomi Elijah, says last weekend’s 3-0 defeat of Yobe Desert Stars has been dedicated to fans, supporters and well wishers who stood with the Lokoja side, saying the team will give more in the coming weeks. The Wada Boys have now garnered five points from three games after drawing two succes-

sive games in the Week 3 league and will next face Adamawa United in Fufore on June 6. “The fans deserved the honour for their patience and understanding,” Elijah said yesterday. “I am happy that our determination to get the maximum points paid off and I believe there is more to come as we progress in the league towards

our promotion at the end of the season,” the gaffer added. Kogi had defeated Yobe Stars in emphatic fashion, scoring two goals in the first half before netting the third in the second half, a development that impressed the club Chairman, Abdul Sule, who said: “The team will be a force to reckon with in the weeks ahead.”

Nestle B’ball: Niger, Edo shine on Day 1 PAUL EREWUBA

he 17th Nestle Milo Secondary School Basketball National Finals Championship dunked off at the National

Stadium Surulere, Lagos yesterday with Niger and Edo states in good start. Niger State representative in the girls’ category, Government Girls Secondary School Bida, outscored Government Girls’ Sec-

Mr. Patrick Okeke, Team Doctor and Physio, Dr. Larai Garba, Amaka Judith Enebi and Assistant Coach Adewunmi Aderemi. The players include Ogunjimi, Sarah Ogoke, Atosu Upe, Nkechi Akashili and the Nwakamma sisters, Amaka and Chidinma. Others are Ndidi Madu, Adaora Elonu, Nkem Akaraiwe, Juliet Chinyere, Uju Udoka and Chioma Udeaja.

ondary School Numan, Adamawa State 26-16. Idia College, Benin-City Edo State came from behind in the last quarter to beat champion of Western Conference Yejide Grammar School of Ibadan, Oyo State 19-17.

ormer President of Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA), Shedrack Adeoti, has appealed to the Federal Government to assist the body to attend the World University Games holding in Gwangju city, South Korea. Adeoti who sought the FG’s assistance in Abuja, on Tuesday, was the President of NUGA from 1992-2000 stated that, inability of the country to find suitable replacement for the aging athletes to the total neglect of the NUGA games and its activities. The Games holds from July 3 to 14. “We will need about N200 million to take about 99 athletes

selected from the recent trials held at Ahmadu Bello University to the games,” Adeoti said yesterday. “NUGA has done its trials and athletes have been selected for five events. “Athletics has 18 students, badminton 12, judo 24, taekwondo 38 and table tennis 7.”

NSC DG, Yakmut

Golf: IBB Club appoints trustees

he IBB International Golf and Country Club, Abuja has appointed its Board of Trustee members. They include former member of the Professional Golfers Association of Nigeria, Sir Lucky Omolua, former Health Minister, Dr. Tim Menakaya, and former military governor of Katsina State, Col John Yohanna Madaki (rtd). Others in the board which re-

flects the country’s geo-political spread are Chief Olawale Kuye, Chief Philip Asiodu, King Alfred Diete Spiff, Senator John Shagaya, Brigadier-General Mobolaji Johnson (rtd) and Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe. Life President of the PGA, General IBM Haruna (rtd), was also appointed as the new Chairman of the board of trustees, replacing General Domkat Bali (rtd).

WORLD RECORD

Fastest sandwich made using feet Vol. 05 No. 1126

N150

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Using just his feet, Rob Williams of Austin, Texas, USA, made a Bologna, cheese and lettuce sandwich, complete with olives on cocktail sticks, in 1 min 57 sec

Buhari and challenge of walking the talk

he inaugural speech made by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2015 was reassuring. What remains to be seen is indeed walking the talk, as the Americans would say. The challenges facing the nation are, without a doubt, myriad; and he named the ones for his immediate attention as insecurity, pervasive corruption, insurgency, unemployment, and energy crisis. Though he did not state exactly how he would go about tackling these problems, it can be excused, giving the very nature of the occasion. But these are the real issues that have to be confronted and others would follow. The President assured that his government would tackle them head on, adding that Nigerians would not regret they have entrusted national leadership into his hands. On major thing that stood out in

Guest Columnist

Law

Mefor

speech is the “we can spirit”, which he said Nigerians inherited. The President’s resoluteness and desire to respect the quintessence of the principle of separation of powers would be key to his success, but therein lay the booby traps also. The President does not really have much choice since some of these are safety-nets against dictatorship guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution. But many of the issues the President raised are within his constitutional powers and those requiring constitutional amendment can also be reined in if he remains politically sagacious and ready to work for rapprochements with the legislative arm. His promised civil service reformas the first key step. The cesspool of corruption in Nigeria is the civil service. Top civil servants are aberrantly contractors to their own establishments and there must be a way of auditing who owns what firms in Nigeria - those that are major contractors to the MDAs. The result will shock Nigerians. Any fight against corruption that does not start in the civil service shall not go far. Another issue the President has to think through is the legal framework for fighting corruption, which through Procedural Act and other poor legal provisions, can keep corruption matters going on in courts for upward of a decade. Governors charged by the EFCC and ICPC since 2007 are hiding behind these provisions and some of them are even senators. President Buhari also wants the legislative arm to keep to their brief of making laws, carrying out over-sight functions and

THE REAL PROBLEM IN NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY ARE THE STATE

GOVERNORS, WHO ARE OPERATING WITHOUT

CHECKS AND BALANCES… doing so expeditiously. This means Constituency Projects would go. But how about their jumbo pays, which are said to be the highest in world? This has to be addressed seriously as part of the fight against corruption. The clarification, which Mr. President seeks in the relations between central government, which he heads and the states, lies in the weak 1999 Constitution. Yes constitutionally, there are limits to powers of Abuja to oversight the states; and the route to travel in to streamline all that is still via constitutional amendment and not through administrative fiats that could be voided by the courts. The real problem in Nigerian democracy are the state governors, who are operating without checks and balances at all from the legislative. They live and act like Russian Czars of old and emasculate the three tiers of government. The President says the Federal Government should not fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the states and local governments, but he will soon realize how he is encumbered by the laws. Much of the absurdities in the states are precipitated by constitutional creations and

the President cannot fully address them without first amending the constitutional provisions, which give the governors the leeway they have continually exploited and abused. Take for instance the operations of the Local Government Joint Account, which governors have hijacked; this may not be abolished without constitutional amendment which created it. Unfortunately, local government autonomy failed again in the last constitutional amendment. This has to be revisited without delay if the President would have his way in trying to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country. Some have called Buhari’s order for the Military Central Command to relocate to Maiduguri in order to more effectively face the Boko Haram challenge a blunder. No, it is not. Half of Nigeria Army divisions should even also relocate to Maiduguri, for that is where the action is now. What is the point for them to sit in air-conditioned offices in Abuja and in other places, while swaths of Nigerian territory are daily annexed by Boko Haram? It is a good paradigm shift in the fight against insurgency, which is even long overdue. The President wants to replace the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta, which is due to end in December, with remedial projects and programmes. His olive branch to the leadership and people of Nigeria Delta is necessary also. If not for anything, resurgence of the Niger Delta militancy, with its highly disruptive and distractive potential, is certainly one distraction Buhari cannot afford if he is to gain traction in good time. Then, the big issue - power supply - which the President rightly noted is the single cause that can be identified to explain Nigerian’s poor economic performance over the years. Indeed, it is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less. Mefor is an Abuja-based forensic psychologist, media strategist and author and wrote via lawmefor@gmail.com

Sport Extra

Golf: Woods targets August course honours

ormer world number one, Tiger Woods, will tee it up five times between Thursday and the beginning of August after playing in just seven tour contests in 2014 and only four this year.

Woods, who is the winner of 14 major titles, already has August’s PGA Championship mysteriously missing from his roster of appearances, although it provides an opportunity to win another

grand slam event. The golf star has long been a practitioner of “less is more” with regard to his PGA Tour schedule, but will embark on a rather busy trip around the world that he will tee off at this

week’s Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament. Woods announced in April that he would play in the U.S. Open for the first time since 2013, a development that has since seen pros make rigorous prepa-

rations for the event. The beleaguered golfer, who has not finished in the top ten since 2010, was sighted at Washington’s Narrows Airport in nearby Gig Harbor on Monday aiming to continue his preparation.

Woods

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