Binder2

Reps to probe Discos over sharp practices

Court refuses to stop Saraki from performing official functions P.6

...as NERC may revoke licenses of 26 Gencos CHIDI UGWU AND UBONG UKPONG Dogara

Vol. 5 N0. 1166

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igerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has said it may revoke licenses of 27 generation companies, Gencos, across the country.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

In a statement signed by its Head, Public Affairs Department, Dr. Usman Abba Arabi, NERC stated that the step followed the completion CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

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At last, Dogara bows T to party pressure

N150

GEORGE OJI, TORDUE SALEM AND UBONG UKPONG

...as Gbajabiamila emerges House Leader

81 Senators pass vote of confidence on Saraki, Ekweremadu

he leadership crisis in the House of Representatives, was yesterday resolved as the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara bowed to party pressure, conceding the position of House Leader to Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila from Lagos State.

Dogara’s candidate for the House Leader, Hon. AlCONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

Warri refinery comes alive as production resumes P.4 Buhari, six govs in Cameroon to discuss B’Haram

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JAMB makes u-turn on post-UTME

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President Muhammadu Buhari (right) and National Leader of All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, during a courtesy visit to President Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, yesterday.

Oshiomhole accuses Jonathan of primitive looting APC, PDP back war against corruption

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At last, Dogara bows to party pressure CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

hassan Ado Doguwa from Kano State got the position of Whip.

The tussle for the House Majority Leader dragged on for several weeks, with the Speaker sticking to his guns that the South-west zone could not produce two principal officers.

Gbajabiamila was the choice of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC for the Speakership position.

But with the emergence of Dogara as Speaker against the party’s choice, Gbajabiamila was then backed as the Majority Leader.

The Speaker also announced Buba Jubril as Deputy Majority Leader and Pally Iriase, Deputy Whip.

Leo Ogor is Minor-

ity Leader, Yakubu Umar Barde, Minority Whip, Chukwuka Onyema, Deputy Minority Leader and Binta Bello, Deputy Minority Whip.

In a post-plenary press briefing, the spokesman of the House, Hon. Sani Zoro, said despite initial hitches, the crisis was resolved with the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“You are all witnesses to the eventful plenary session today (yesterday) upon the resumption of the House of Representatives.

“You can also remember that when we were going on recess and there were some disturbances in the House, we made it clear that the problems we were going through were merely transitional in nature and we have been proved right, because

today we have resolved all the problems that brought that circumstance,” he said.

According to him, the resolution of the crisis was a demonstration of reason over blind ambition.

“It is anchored on patriotism, constitutionalism, reason and rationality. This is what guided the steps taken by the entire House of Representatives led by its leadership and all the contending groups that were party to the various negotiations.

“So what we did was purely transitional and is in order but I can assure you that apart from the triumph of dialogue the 8th House of Representatives has shown that we are mature politicians. Politics is about give and take and that is what has happened,” he added.

Zorro promised Nigeri-

ans that with the resolution of the fracas, the House would return to peace and purpose.

“We members of the House of Representatives will be on good behaviour henceforth, there will be no cause for rancour talkless of the kind of disturbances that we witnessed the other day,” he said.

The lawmaker also attributed the resolution to the intervention of President Buhari.

He said: “We want to use this opportunity to thank Mr. President for a 20 minute meeting, it was very crucial.

What Mr. President did was a fatherly engagement; what he did has clearly shown that he is not the so called dictator that our opponents wanted to paint him as.

“He said let the National

Assembly follow its own democratic processes and its leaders will emerge and that is what happened.

“Even the party was cautious, the party was accused by contending groups, but the party wanted to respect that principle, obviously the president is a game changer.

We thank him and recognise that democratic temper in him which is going to flow to all democratic institutions.”

APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, in his reaction to the development at the House of Representatives, said his party will address the crisis rocking the senate differently.

This, according to him, is because the leadership crises in the two chambers of the National Assembly are not the same because

LEFT: Women and children rescued from terrorists by military troops in Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno State. RIGHT: Some of the internally displaced persons rescued from terrorists in Dikwa by military troops, yesterday.

PHOTOS: INUSA NDAHI

Reps to probe Discos over sharp practices CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

of an audit exercise conducted on licensees recently.

According to Arabi, the 27 power generation companies have already been told to provide justification why their licences should not be cancelled within the next 30 days.

He added that notice for cancellation of licensees, posted on the Commission’s website yesterday, was sequel to the discovery through the audit exercise that the affected firms could not meet the terms and conditions for their licences.

Contained in the notice are 63 generation and dis-

tribution companies rated as category one. They are in operations and have no issue with the Commission.

Forty other firms in categories one to four will, however, have to justify their continued ownership of their licences or get it withdrawn within the next 30 days to 12 months.

In category two are those licensees that have ceased operations. These are CET Power Projects being promoted by West African Portland Cement Company, Ewekoro, Ogun State and Contour Global Solutions of Nigeria Bottling Company of Apapa, Lagos State.

The Commission in the notice said it is to immediately “start the process of cancellation of these licences in line with clause 17 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005” which listed five conditions for cancellation of licences.

Thirteen other power generation firms in category three are “not in operations but have substantially satisfied their milestones” NERC stated.

These are Ethiope Energy; Supertek Nigeria; Mabon Energy; Bresson AS; Hudson Power; Knox J & L; Tower Power, Abeokuta; Zuma Energy Nigeria trans-

ferred to Itobe Coal 1, 2, 3 and 4 firms Others in this category are MBH Power; Delta Electric Power; Wedotebary Nigeria; Century Power Generation and Supertek Electric.

Those in this category will “be required to satisfy their outstanding milestones and start construction within the next 12 months, failure which the commission will commence the process for withdrawal of their licences in line with clause 18 of the NERC Application for Licences (Generation, Transmission, System Operations, Distri-

bution and Trading) Regulations, 2009.”

In the fourth category are five power generation firms that are not in operations and have not substantially satisfied their milestones.

They have 30 days to convince the Commission against withdrawal of their licences.

In this category are ICS Power; Anita Energy; Ibafo Power Station; Minaj Holdings and Gateway Electricity.

There are other 19 electricity generation firms in category five that are not in operation and are not subCONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

an opposition senator is the Deputy Senate President.

Shortly after his emergency, Gbajabiamila paid a visit to the National Secretariat of APC, which sources believed was a “thank you visit.”

Speaking on phone to newsmen, the chairman commended the Dogara for his sense of patriotism.

He said: “I want to commend the Speaker and his supporters for their sense of patriotism. It is my hope and expectation that the wounds will now be totally healed that the APC family will now reunite fully as one.

To Nigerians, Oyegun said: “I have already offered our regrets. This is part of growing, we are new to government and we are democratic and above all, progressive movement.

“We are in the process of welding all the various tendencies into one and today, we have scored one major victory and I can assure the country that the party has begun the process of healing all the wounds and becoming one strong force.

“We are moving from being a movement into a one strong political party that will back the President for the good of the entire country.”

Regarding the crisis in the Senate he said: “Senate is a different level and different situation. It is totally different if only we have sore thumb in the form of a PDP Deputy Senate President.

“So I think it is totally different and the approach and the way we are going to handle the situation will be totally different. But at the end of the day even the senate issue will be sorted out too.”

In a related development, the crisis of leadership in the senate may have been finally resolved following a vote of confidence affirmed yesterday by 81 senators on Senators Bukola Saraki as the Senate President and Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President.

The number, which is more than two third of the 109 senate, comprises 46 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and 35 All Progressive, APC, senators.

Incidentally, some of the most vocal antagonists of Saraki, like Senators Kabiru Marafa, Abdullahi Adamu and Shehu Sani were

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

3

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

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Photo News

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

L-R: President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Otunba Femi Deru; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Vice President, ICAN, Deacon Titus Soetan and an executive member of ICAN, Mrs. Comfort Olujumoke Eyitayo, during a courtesy call by ICAN executives to the vice president at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Executive Director, Nigerian Stock Exchange for Market Operations and Technology, Mr. Ade Bajomo; Managing Director, African Development Investment Advisors, Samallie Kiyingi; Chairman, Nigeria Delivery Group, The Emerging Capital Markets Task Force, Mr. Aigboje AigImoukhuede; Managing Partner, Radix Legal Consulting, Elizabeth Uwaifo and UK Country Hand, Delivery Group, Mr. Roger Gifford, during the presentation of report of Capital Market Committee Task Force, at Nigerian Stock Exchange in Lagos, yesterday.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Coordinator, Public Health Nursing, University College Hospital, Mrs. Grace Adekoya, during the public screening marking World Hepatitis Day in Ibadan, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Director, Brightway Micro-Finance Bank, Mrs. Elizabeth Ajibola; Technical Adviser to Kwara State Governor on SME Development, Mr. Segun Soewu; Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and Chairman of the bank, Mr. Ademola Ajibola, during the commissioning of the Bank in Ilorin, yesterday.

National News

Warri refinery comes alive as production resumes Theophilus Onojeghen WARRI

B

usiness activities at the refining section of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited, WRPC, in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State have resumed following resumption of production after several months.

Our correspondent learnt yesterday that production of fuel officially commenced on Monday as major maintenance works have been completed while other minor repairs are still ongoing.

An insider at the refining plant told our correspondent that it was currently focusing on the production of kerosene and Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, (petrol), while other products would follow in an unspecified date pending the completion of ongo-

ing repair work.

Over thirty tankers were reported to have loaded fuel on the first day of production.

Our correspondent, who visited WRPC yesterday, observed that the refinery was beehives of activities as trucks made their way into the loading bay within the complex.

It was gathered that ahead of resumption, the Production Department carried out an intensive test-running on the facilities all throughout last week. It was further learnt that the facilities worked optimally during the process.

“Warri Refinery commenced production yes-

terday (Monday) of large quantity. Although, repairs in some areas were still ongoing, but we have started production of fuel and kerosene in large quantity.

“You can see business activities have resumed.

Before the week runs out we shall double our loading to tankers. Over thir-

ty tankers received fuel and kerosene yesterday (Monday),” a source who did not want to be named said.

Following the commencement, the pump price of fuel in Warri and its environs, which was about N110 and above, now goes for N87.

Our correspondent

who drove round the city learnt that many filling stations have reverted to the original pump price.

When contacted, WRPC’s Public Affairs Manager, Mrs. Emmanuella Ate declined to comment.

She asked our correspondent to contact their Abuja office.

Buhari, six governors in Cameroon to discuss Boko Haram Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari will today jet out to Cameroon to fine-tune plans with his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya on how best to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency.

President Buhari will for the first time be accompanied outside the country with six governors drawn from across party lines.

Special Adviser on Me-

dia and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina listed the governors as Alhaji Mohammed Bindow (Adamawa), Mr. Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom), Mr. Samuel Ortom (Benue), Alhaji Kashim Shettima (Borno), Mr. Ben Ayade (Cross River) and Mr. Darius Ishaku (Taraba).

Also on the president’s entourage are the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence and the Director-General of the National Intelligence

Agency, NIA. The Nigerian delegation will also discuss further joint measures to curb terrorism, violent extremism and other cross-border crimes with President Biya and Cameroonian government officials.

Adesina described the trip as part of the president’s ongoing effort to build a more effective regional coalition against Boko Haram.

“The talks between President Buhari and his

Cameroonian counterpart are expected to focus on the full activation and deployment of the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram, which has been established under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.

“President Buhari will also use the opportunity of his visit to Yaoundé to meet with Nigerians living in Cameroun,” he said.

The President, who is due back in Abuja tomor-

row, will also undertake a one-day trip to Benin Republic on Saturday for talks with President Boni Yayi to round-off the diplomatic shuttles to neighbouring countries.

Adesina recalled that the president had embarked on the sub-regional trip upon assumption of office to strengthen regional cooperation against terrorism and make it harder for Boko Haram to operate across national boundaries.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

5

Oshiomhole accuses Jonathan of primitive looting OBIORA IFOH, OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

AND SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN

E

do State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday accused the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan of massively looting the commonwealth and patrimony of all Nigerians.

Although, the governor could not state if Jonathan was personally involved in the looting-spree, he however urged the former president to take responsibility for whatever happened under his watch.

Speaking in an interview with Sahara Reporters Television in Washington DC, Oshiomhole accused former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi OkonjoIweala, of supervising the looting of the treasury.

Oshiomhole said, “The numbers are huge. For example, NNPC reports that they earned about N8trn within three to four years and over the same period, they claimed they spent N3.5trn and paid to the Federation Account about N4.1trn. “So, the cost of running NNPC was as much as the cost of running the federation: the Federal, State and local governments! So, that tells you the amount of primitive stealing that went on.”

Oshiomhole said his grouse with Okonjo-Iweala stems from the fact even as Coordinating Minister of the Economy, too much sleaze and malfeasance went under her watch without an alarm.

“Having accepted the role of the Coordinating Minister, so many things went wrong with the Nigerian economy even to the extent that for the first time in our

Reps to probe Discos over sharp practices CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

mitting quarterly reports to the Commission. They would be required to, within 30ays provide justification for their licences or get it revoked.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives yesterday, resolved to investigate what it called, an exploitation of consumers by Electricity Distribution Companies, Discos, in the country.

The resolution followed the adoption of the prayers of a motion introduced by Hon. Philip Shuabu on the “Urgent Need for the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to Better Protect the Nigerian Public from Certain Unwholesome Practices of Electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, in Nigeria.”

Quoting the relevant extant laws, Shaibu said: “Section 32 (2) (f) of the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act, Cap. E7, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 empowers NERC to monitor and regulate the electricity industry in Nigeria.”

He expressed worry over complaints by electricity consumers about the unwholesome practices of the Discos, which, according to him, fall short of standards established by NERC. But for the intervention of the Speaker, Yakubu Dog-

ara, the motion nearly failed on the floor during debate as some members picked holes in the relevance of some of the prayers.

The Speaker argued that the prayers appear to indict the Discos and the regulatory agency.

He said he had looked at the motion and observed that it touched on some aspects of the existing Act, which, according to him are germane.

“So I would suggest that the mover of the motion go back, draft a bill to amend the existing NERC Act to take care of the concerns raised in the motion.

“Without prejudice, I believe there are aspects of the motion we can save and then amend those we don’t agree with. So I feel we should let it pass but with appropriate amendments,” Dogara said.

Osai Nicolas Osai, representing Ndokwa East/ Ndokwa West/Ukwuani in Delta State, by way of an amendment proposed that the House set up of an Adhoc Committee to investigate the exploitative activities of the Discos and report back to the House within four weeks.

The amendment was passed and adopted as part of the resolution - with the Ad-hoc Committee yet to be constituted.

history, even the Federal Government could not pay salary, they had to borrow.

“The pension scheme has been drawn down. The social purpose of the pension scheme has now been defeated.

“So, first of all, we are saying, accept responsibility that you failed to manage the economy properly. Two, you never gave in even when we argued that the economy was in distress.

“She was on record as always saying: no, the economy was fine; the economy was strong; we are the largest economy on the continent.

The governor, who insisted that he is not intimidated by the ethnic and religious sentiments of the former minister and her defenders, hinted that the Federal Government might still have to carry out a forensic auditing of NNPC, NIMASA and other agencies through competent auditors.

On the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the immediate past administration, Oshiomhole

said: “I don’t think probe is the right word. For a President whose major campaign was hinged on ‘if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us’, it is only natural that he recovers what was stolen and I think it is only patriotic that we do that.

“If we still recover money from Abacha government even after his death, why should anybody ask questions if indeed he (Jonathan) should be probed?”

Meanwhile, All Progressives Congress, APC, has expressed strong support for the decision of President Buhari to probe the Jonathan-led administration, saying the revelations of mind-boggling corruption that are just beginning to emerge have made such a probe imperative.

APC in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, and issued in Abuja yesterday, said: “Some people have insinuated that the Buhari administration should ignore the massive

looting of our patrimony and move on. We say no responsible government can afford to do that, because it will amount to endorsing corruption and impunity.”

Mohammed said in the oil sector alone, billions of dollars have been skimmed off by pathologically-corrupt public officials, wondering how the government of the day can meet its obligations to the citizens if it refuses to recover the huge funds taken away by thieving officials He added: “It is an irony that those who are suggesting that the Buhari administration should turn a blind eye to the incomprehensible looting are the same ones accusing the government of not doing anything.

PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh yesterday said the clarification has become necessary to remove any misconception that it is against the decision of the present administration to probe some past officials of

government because they are its members.

“The PDP supports the decision of the Federal Government to fight corruption in our country. However, we make bold to state that it should not be used as a guise to victimise innocent citizens. “Democracy has come to stay in Nigeria and no citizen, irrespective of political, religious or ethnic affiliation should be denied access to due process and the rule of law in the process.

“In the same vein, we want to state categorically that the anti-corruption war, whilst targeted at the immediate past administration should not by any means be blind to the impunity of the present leaders of the country either in terms of borrowing and spending without recourse to the statutory arms and organs of government and dictates of transparency and accountability, or in terms of nepotism in appointments in key institutions such as INEC and the DSS,” the party said.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (right) being registered with biometrics under the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System in Abuja, yesterday.

At last, Dogara bows to party pressure CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

among those who supported the motion.

In addition to the confidence vote, the lawmakers also resolved to call on the Nigeria Police Force and all other security agencies in the country not to allow themselves to be used by any person or persons to harass, intimidate or blackmail the senate, senators and or their spouses.

Entitled “Vote of Confidence on Principal Officers of the Senate”, the motion was sponsored by Senator Samuel Anyanwu.

Moving the motion, Anyanwu noted with dismay, the continued harassment of the senate and senators, the National Assembly management and spouses of senators by security agencies.

He expressed the determination of the senate to continue to perform its constitutional duties and responsibilities without fear or favour.

Also yesterday, PDP named its principal officers in the senate.

In a letter written by Ekweremadu on behalf of PDP senate caucus to the

Senate President, and read on the floor of the senate, former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio emerged as the Minority Leader and Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South), the Deputy Minority leader.

Senator Philip Aduda (FCT) is now the Minority Chief Whip, while Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) is the Deputy Minority Whip.

With the composition of the majority and minority officers, the senate is now set to compile the list of members of its various

committees.

To this effect, Saraki yesterday urged senators to endeavour to fill out the committee preference forms that would be circulated by the Clerk of the Senate and return same within a week.

The form is meant for the senators to indicate their committees of choices, which is not supposed to exceed five each.

The selection committee of the senate, which comprises all principal officers is responsible for the composition of the senate committees.

6

News

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

We didn’t deny Patience Jonathan access to VIP lounge-FAAN Olusegun Koiki

F

ederal Airports of Nigeria, FAAN, has debunked the claim that it on Monday denied the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience access to Very Important Person, V.I.P, lounge of the Port Harcourt International Airport, PHIA, Port Har-

court. FAAN stated that what it did was just to deny the former First Lady’s convoy access to the foot of the aircraft during boarding formalities at the airport, which it said was in line with international aviation best practice.

FAAN in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Yakubu Dati, insisted that the

Court refuses to stop Saraki from performing official functions Ise-Oluwa Ige ABUJA

A

Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday refused an exparte application by five senators seeking to stop the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, from performing his constitutional legislative duties on account of use of the purported forged Senate Standing Rule for his June 9 election in the senate.

The trial judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, who refused the request yesterday, explained that he could not move in favour of the applicants because he had no evidence that the five senators had the mandate of the remaining 104 other senators to bring the suit.

Besides, the trial judge held that the outcome of the June 9, 2015 election on the floor of the senate which produced Saraki appeared to fall within internal affairs of the Senate which the court must be wary to go into, adding that the request made was so serious that it would be unfair to grant their request exparte.

He gave other reasons to reject the request of the five senators, saying it would be

as if he is determining the entire case on its merit.

The senators pushing for incapacitation of Saraki are Abu Ibrahi, Kabiru Garba Marafa, Robert Ajayi Boroffice, Bareehu Olugbenga Ashafa and Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi.

They filed an ex-parte motion at the Federal High Court,Abuja yesterday, seeking to stop the Senate President from constituting the Senate Standing Committees.

Saraki had no opportunity of defending the suit, being an exparte application.

But ruling in the ex-parte motion filed and argued by Chief Mamman Mike Osuman on behalf of the five senators led by Senator Kabir Marafa, Justice Kolawole held that there was nothing urgent in what the plaintiffs were asking for.

The judge said that the senate standing order 2015 as amended, upon which the

plaintiffs

predicated

their ex-parte motion, had been in existence since June 9 when the senate president and his deputy were elected and as such the issue of urgency raised by the five senators was selfinflicted.

CHANGE OF NAME

LOSS OF DOCUMENTS

CHANGE OF NAME

LOSS OF DOCUMENTS

Formerly known and addressed as Akioyamen Igberase Daniel, now wish to be known and addressed as Akioyamen Israel Excellent.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

CHIME: I, formerly known as Miss.

Eucharia Amaka Chime, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Eucharia Amaka Agu. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

OKEKE: I, formerly known as Miss.

Okeke Victoria Ifeakanwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Umeakuana Victoria Ifeakanwa. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I, Mr. Hubert Bathlome Ogoegbune Oli, of No 54/56 Tailor Avenue Coal Camp Ogbete Layout Enugu lost my original Building C of O of plot No. 17 in Block 16 Ogbete Layout Enugu with Reg. No 92/92/1215 in Lands Registry Enugu. The said C of O got lost during an attract by Boko Haram Sect along with other valuable at Kano. Ministry of Lands Enugu and general public take note.

I, Mr. Samuel Oli, of No 54/56 Tailor Avenue Coal Camp Ogbete Layout Enugu lost my original Building C of O of Plot No 17 in block 16 Ogbete Layout Enugu with Reg No 49/49/1094 in Lands registry Enugu the said C of O got lost during an attract by Boko Haram Sect along with other valuable at Kano. Ministry of Lands Enugu and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

ELEJE: I, formerly known as Miss.

Eleje Chizoba Jane-Frances, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nnebe Chizoba JaneFrances. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

agency would not have denied Patience the usage of the facilities, saying that like other family members of former presidents and other designated principal officers of government are officially entitled to the usage of airport VIP and Protocol lounges under its management.

Dati stated that FAAN held Patience in high esteem, being the wife of the country’s former presi-

dent and therefore, could not have done anything that would suggest disrespect for her person.

The statement stated that the denial of the convoy access to the foot of the aircraft was strictly for safety reasons as prescribed by International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO. The statement added: “Our security officials explained this fact to details

of the former First Lady.

We wish to recall that former President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, in his recent trips from the same airport has had to walk to the aircraft from the protocol lounge, in recognition of this ICAO regulation.”

It would be recalled that just last week, a report in the media alleged that Patience was stopped from using the VIP lounge of

the Port Harcourt Airport.

She was allegedly in Port Harcourt for the burial of her late Chief Security Officer, CSO, Tamuno Jacob Igbomie, who was said to have been shot dead on Airport Road, Abuja, penultimate Friday.

Staff members at the airport were said to have denied her access to the lounge on “orders from above.”

L-R: Vice Chancellor, Federal University Lokoja, Prof. Abdulmumini Rafindadi; Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Noh Kyu-Duk; Registrar of the university, Mrs. Habiba Adeiza and Acting Head of Human Resources, Mr. Victor Obadele, during a lecture on bilateral relations between Nigeria and Korea in Lokoja on Monday. PHOTO: NAN

FRSC moves to checkmate truck, trailer operators on highways Olusegun Koiki

F

ederal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, said it has commenced a major operation against truck and tanker operations aimed at ensuring that operators of the articulated vehicles abide by traffic rules and regulations to prevent fatal crashes involving them as recorded across the country recently.

The FRSC tagged the

operations, ‘Operation Scorpion,’ stated that this was to depict the painful effects of scorpion sting.

The Head, Media Relations and Strategy, FRSC, Mr. Bisi Kazeem, in a statement stated that the exercise was initiated by the Corps Marshal of FRSC, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, following spate of road traffic crashes involving trailers and trucks with specific aim at addressing the chaotic

manners that the vehicles operate on the nation’s highways.

Kazeem stated that the operation had commenced since Monday, along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway where majority of the vehicles ply, adding that the operation was being prosecuted by Zone 2 headquarters of the FRSC with all the component commands as well as the neighbouring commands in Oyo State participating.

Kazeem insisted that the exercise was fallout of the various strategies being put in place to deal practically with the challenges which truck and trailer operations pose to the nation, saying that after advocacy, enforcement of the relevant traffic rules must follow.

The statement said FRSC had four point agenda, which included education, enlightenment, subtle force and full enforcement, adding that enough advocacy and enlightenment programmes

had been carried out jointly with the stakeholders.

The statement added: “Whoever that has not learnt a lesson on the safety messages we preached at the various forums over the period, must be prepared to bear the consequences of violating the traffic rules as we commence full enforcement.

“Oyeyemi contended that from the beginning of the year, the Corps has been in full consultation with the various transport unions on the need for their members to comply with traffic rules and regulations in the collective resolve to ensure safer road environment.

“He further stated that part of the resolutions reached during the courtesy calls he made to the union leaderships was the need to organise mega rallies at the various parks across the country with a view to sensitising members of the public, particularly, the drivers to be safety couscous.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

7

Wednesday July 29, 2015

AGILENT WIRELESS LIMITED CONSUMER CODE OF PRACTICE - VAS

VALUE ADDED SERVICES (VAS) PROVIDER PUBLISHED BY AGILENT WIRELESS LIMITED IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE NIGERIAN COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION CONSUMER CODE OF PRACTICE REGULATIONS 2007 INTRODUCTION Agilent Wireless Limited is a Value-Added Services (VAS) provider licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to offer value added services to the telecommunications industry.

We enable our subscribers (through the mobile operators) to access a wide range of additional services such as Caller RingBack Tune (CRBT), SMS Infotainment and Entertainment Content, as well as a host of services over IVR. Access to these services can either be via SMS or IVR. 1.1 Purpose of the Code Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has advised all licensed telecommunications service providers in Nigeria to provide a Consumer Code of Practice. This Code of Practice: • Describes the main services we provide to our customers.

• Explains how to contact us about these services and how you can subscribe to our services.

• Explains the customer’s rights and obligations.

• Describes what to do if you have a complaint, how we will resolve it, and what you can do if you are not satisfied with our response.

1.2 Application of the Code This Code applies to the provision of value added services to the telecommunications industry based on VAS license obtained by Agilent Wireless from NCC. It has been developed by Agilent Wireless in line with the established and published NCC’s General Code of Practice.

1.3 Code Administration The Code will be administered by Agilent Wireless in line with guidelines from NCC as well as reviews that are to be agreed and communicated by the Commission based on feedbacks at Consumer Forums that may be set-up

by NCC from time to time.

1.4 Code Amendment Agilent Wireless may amend this Consumer Code from time to time to conform to set guidelines that may be required by Law or by the NCC. 2. PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO CONSUMERS 2.1 General Separate minimum periods will apply to the service we supply to you and to each other user depending on the pricing option and service you choose. The minimum service duration or period of service for some of our services is a daily request while the maximum period of service for our services is 30 days (renewable on expiry). The service will begin and the minimum period starts on the day you purchase the service via SMS as activation is done almost immediately.

Please note that Agilent Wireless services are available in all parts of Nigeria. However, our services are network dependent and certain services may not be available on all networks.

2.2 Service Contracts & Duration Prior to requesting the service, every subscriber will be expected to read our terms and conditions which details full terms under which we provide products and services to our customers. It governs the contractual relationship between us and if any discrepancy exists between the Service Contract and Consumer Code of Practice, the Service Contract shall take precedence. A copy of our standard Service Terms is available at our office on demand.

2.3 General Description of Services We have a lot of services ranging from Caller RingBack Tunes to Ring Tones and True Tones, SMS Infotainment Content such as News, Sports, Forex, Bible, Prayer, Islamic services and a host of other services as our service catalogue expands almost daily.

For detailed description and pricing of our services, please call our help line: 01-2705732 2.4 Contract Terms & Information A sample of our contract terms and related information can be made available upon request.

3. ADVERTISING AND REPRESENTATION OF SERVICES 3.1 Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) All marketing materials shall be prepared in line with the standard advertising codes from APCON as well as the Consumer Affairs departments of NCC. 3.2 Availability of Service Agilent Wireless services are not available on all mobile networks and as our services are network dependent, services will be restricted to certain areas within Nigeria where mobile network service is available.

4. CONSUMER BILLING i. All services are paid for via Air-time credit available on the subscribers’ phone. Once service is requested for, the money is deducted from the balance of the customer’s account. ii. Unless otherwise promoted or advertised, we will normally bill you upfront (in advance) for any charges for the duration of the service.

5. CONSUMER OBLIGATIONS 5.1 Acceptance of Licensee Terms Consumers shall be bound by Agilent Wireless terms of service once service is requested for. By activating the service on commencement date, you are deemed to accept our service terms.

5.5 Misuse of Service Consumers shall not misuse our services, including by: dishonestly obtaining services; or using services to send messages that are obscene, threatening or otherwise contrary to applicable laws or regulation.

6. PROTECTION OF CONSUMER INFORMATION We know that privacy is very important to our customers and we want you to feel confident about the privacy and security of your personal information. We take reasonable care to prevent any unauthorized access to your personal information. Agilent Wireless recognizes the importance of your privacy. We use personal information that we collect from customers in accordance with strict procedures and laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

We have set out below some important information about the personal information we may hold about you, and how we use it. Full details of our Privacy Policy can be made available by writing to us.

6.1 General Principles When ordering for certain services, we may ask you for information such as name, address, contact phone numbers and email address. We may also ask you other relevant information about the service you are using or ordering.

6.2 How we Use your Personal Information We use information about you in the following way: • Process of orders you place with us and Charge for services we provide for you (subscriber).

• Communicate with you about how to use the service and let you know about any changes to the service • Market our own products and services. We need your permission to use your information for this purpose. We will assume we have your permission unless you tell us otherwise by writing to us at: Agilent Wireless Limited - 5, Idowu Taylor Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

• Carry out market research and analysis on our current products and services and future developments. We will make sure that you cannot be identified. We may give information in this form to certain other people or organizations.

• Prevent and detect criminal activity, fraud, misuse of or damage to our network and prosecute and sue those responsible.

• We may provide information (in response to requests from authorized law enforcement agencies) to prevent and detect crime and prosecute offenders. We may also provide information to protect national security. In all cases, we will do so in line with the laws of Federal Republic of Nigeria.

6.3 How long we keep personal information How long we keep any personal information depends on how we use that information. In some cases, by law

we must keep information for a minimum period. Unless specific legal requirements say otherwise, we will keep information no longer than is necessary for the purpose we collected or processed the information.

6.4 Changes to our Privacy Policy We may make changes to our Privacy Policy from time to time. Your continuing use of any of our services indicates your agreement to the use of your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy.

6.5 Maintaining Data Quality We take due care in ensuring that personal information provided by you are retained and processed in a manner that ensures that this information is accurate, relevant and current for the purpose for which it is to be used for.

7. COMPLAINTS HANDLING 7.1 Information to Consumers If you are unhappy with our service please contact us and let us know. It is through your feedback that we are able to review and improve the overall service we provide. If you have a complaint our formal internal complaints procedure is outlined below. We are fully committed to addressing all complaints, fully and fairly, and in a reasonable time frame. We do try and resolve complaints by telephone. Should you wish to receive a response in writing then please ask.

7.2 Fault Process Agilent Wireless operates a customer service desk which is reachable during working hours via telephone and outside working hours via e-mail. All Agilent Wireless subscribers can contact the help desk via telephone: 01-2705732. Before you contact our support desk please make sure that you have the service you are subscribed to, your mobile number, your username (if any) and summary of the complaint. This will enable us process and resolve your complaints quickly.

7.3 Resolution Time We aim to deal with problems as quickly as possible and so our help desk assistance will try to resolve the problem as soon as possible. If this is not possible, they will inform you of a cause of action.

7.4 Escalation If you need to escalate a complaint about the way we have handled any aspect of your account or the way you have been treated when contacting the technical support or Customer Service desk you may escalate by writing detailing the nature of the complaint to: Client Relations Agilent Wireless Limited 5, Idowu Taylor Street,Victoria Island, Lagos.

7.5 Contacting You When we need to contact you, we will use your e-mail address, mobile or fixed phone number. We will contact you to advice on the outcome of an investigation to any complaint which our help desk agents were unable to resolve during the initial telephone call.

7.6 Special Needs Agilent Wireless is aware of its legal and moral obligations to disabled customers. We offer a number of different services for our customers with special needs. These services are designed to not only meet the demands of the current regulations, but to also enable us to offer the best possible service to these customers.

7.6.1 Special Literature Copies of this code of practice in larger print are available by post from us. Our web developers are also working continually to improve the accessibility of our sites to physically challenged customers.

7.7 Charges Complaint handling processes shall be provided free of charge. However, we may impose a reasonable charge for complaint handling processes where investigation of the complaint requires the retrieval of records more than twelve (12) months old, and where that retrieval results in any incremental expense or significant inconvenience.

Any such charges shall be identified, communicated and agreed with the subscriber before we bill for it.

7.8 Action on disputed charges When there is an unresolved complaint or billing dispute, the consumer shall be obliged to make payment of any outstanding amounts other than the amount that is specifically in dispute. We shall not impose any additional charges in form of credit management or interest while the dispute is being resolved.

7.9 Changes to complain Handling Process We shall from time to time and as may be required by NCC review our complaint handling process. Revised and updated information will be made available upon request.

8. CODE COMPLIANCE 8.1 Licensees (Agilent Wireless) Responsibility Agilent Wireless takes its responsibility to the code compliance very seriously and recognizes the importance of developing and maintaining good Code that is approved by the commission. The company is committed to an ongoing process of improvement in its operational performance, seeking not only to comply with legal or mandatory requirements but also proactively educate her employees regarding the code compliance and providing the required information to the Commission as at when needed.

8.2 Compliance Monitoring and Reporting by the Commission Agilent Wireless is in full support and agrees to work with the Commission as well as customers to ensure that the service it delivers in terms of quality and customer support continues to meet and even exceed developed standards and codes of conduct.

8.3 Consumer Complaints All complaints by consumers will first be lodged and dealt with by Agilent Wireless in accordance with Clause 7 of this Code. Where a Consumer lodges a complaint with the Commission and does not initially contact us, the Commission will forward the complaint to Agilent Wireless Communications Limited for resolution in accordance with our complaint handling process detailed in this Code.

8.4 Industry Complaints Industry complaints are those made by one Licensee against another for an alleged breach of a consumer code.

Industry complaints will also include complaints by a group representing consumer interests against a Licensee.

All Industry complaints will be lodged directly with the Commission. Where an Industry complaint is lodged with a Licensee, without evidence that the complaint has been lodged with the Commission as well, the Licensee shall forward a copy of the complaint to the Commission without delay, and will notify the complainant duly.

8.5 Commission Investigation The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is empowered by law and is fully responsible for ensuring compliance as well investigation into complaints or breach of code by either Agilent Wireless, her customers or between Agilent Wireless and other providers.

8.6 Appeals Process Where there is a dispute between us that cannot be resolved within 60 days from the first date of lodging the complaint with us, you have the right to refer the matter to the Head, Consumer Affairs department of the Nigerian Communications Commission.

8.7 Confidentiality We will treat any information concerning any complaint or compliance in confidence and will not disclose it to anyone except or in accordance with any instructions you have given us. However, there are circumstances in which we may be required by law to disclose information. Such requests normally come from Statutory Authorities, for example, Police Forces, EFCC and Excise etc. Any such disclosure will be strictly controlled and will be made fully in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

SIGNED: AGILENT WIRELESS LIMITED 1st Floor Okoi Arikpo House, 5, Idowu Taylor Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

8

National News

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Cut-off marks: JAMB makes u-turn on post-UTME Tunbosun Ogundare

J

oint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, yesterday reversed its new admission policy which would have barred some qualified candidates from writing the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, UTME, in their preferred universities.

This is even as the affected candidates in their hundreds alongside their parents and operators of tutorial schools wildly jubilated yesterday afternoon on Lagos streets over what they referred to as their victory against the examination body and Uni-

versity of Lagos, UNILAG, Akoka.

It would be recalled that the new policy had generated controversy from the public and was greeted by protests from candidates and their parents who not only protested the decision but also challenged JAMB and UNILAG in court.

The reversal however has nullified the early policy barring universities like UNILAG, University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin and Imo State University, from conducting the post-UTME for candidates other than those recommended to them by the board.

Public Relations Officer of JAMB, Benjamin Fabian, said the board shifted its ground as a response to the demands by candidates asking for opportunity to fight for the available slots in their first choice schools.

Insisting that redistribution of the candidates to other needy universities would not stop, he

added that those redistributed would still be allowed to write the postUTME in their universities of first choice and at the same time proceed to where they are redistributed to take part in their screening tests.

Fabian noted that JAMB is a responsible and responsive body and would therefore not have

closed its ears against the cries of its candidates. He added that the redistribution would still hold to give double opportunities to candidates.

He said JAMB was only interested in ensuring that the candidates are offered admission rather than waste their high scores concentrating their efforts on a single in-

stitution.

Reacting, National President of the Association of Tutorial School Operators, Oludotun Sodunke, who had led the students to challenge the new policy in court, said the victory belongs to Nigerians and the responsiveness of a new government and support by the media.

Reps set up panel to screen Service chiefs Ubong Ukpong ABUJA

H

ouse of Representatives yesterday set up a 16-man committee to screen the Service chiefs for confirmation.

This followed the reading of a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari to the House’s plenary by Speaker Yakubu Dogara that he had appointed new Service chiefs and was seeking their confirmation by the House.

Consequently, the Speaker announced the composition of the 16-man committee, led by Hon. Garba Dati, to screen the Service chiefs and report back to the House.

President Buhari had few weeks ago appointed new chiefs for the nation’s armed forces with

Maj-Gen Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin as Chief of Defence Staff, Maj-Gen Tukur Buratai as Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas as Chief of Naval Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff.

The Service chiefs had since taken over command of their various services awaiting their confirmation.

The senate also yesterday read a letter from President Buhari, seeking screening and confirmation of the service chiefs.

The President explained that the letter was written to the senate, pursuant to section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act, which requires the nod of the senate before such appoint is confirmed.

A scene of accident on Muritala Muhammed Local/International Airport Road, yesterday.

Don’t let us labour in vain –Ondo pensioners Ojo Oyewamide AKURE

P

ensioners in Ondo State yesterday begged the state government not to let them labour in vain by paying their gratuities running into N13bn.

The pensioners in

Buhari appoints Boroh new Coordinator for Amnesty Programme Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd.) as the coordinator of the Amnesty Programme for former Niger Delta militants.

This was contained in a statement yesterday by

the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the president, Femi Adesina.

According to the statement, Boroh’s appointment is with immediate effect.

The statement added that Boroh is to take over the responsibilities of the former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta,

Kingsley Kuku who also doubled as coordinator of the Amnesty Programme.

“The appointment of a new coordinator for the Amnesty Programme is expected to lead to the speedy resolution of recent hitches in its implementation such as the non-payment of outstanding allowances to ex-militants,” the statement added.

their hundreds marched to the Governor’s Office, Alagbaka, Akure to protest non-payment of their gratuities, lamenting that some of their members had died without reaping the fruits of their labour.

They carried placards of various inscriptions such as “ODSG should pay our N13bn”, “Akinmade should apologise to Ondo pensioners”, “Akinmade is misleading ODSG and public”, and “Our chairman is right, Akinmade is wrong.”

The state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, had earlier this month claimed that the state government owed its members gratuities amounting to N13bn.

But the Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, debunked the union’s claim, saying the government did not owe

that amount.

A statement issued by NUP during the protest claimed that the state government owed arrears of 15 percent pension increase approved in 2012, gratuities of state and local government pensioners since December 2011, and 33 percent pension increase approved by the federal government.

According to the statement, part of the grievances of the pensioners was non-payment of pensions for June and July 2015, illegal deductions from their monthly allowances from December 2013, and non-payment of 27.5 percent pension increase to those who retired since July 2011.

It was signed by Chief Raphael Adetuwo, State Chairman; Prince Adejare Adesida, Secretary and Chief L.F Omoniyi, Treasurer.

The NUP spokesman, Funso Odere, said pensioners in the state had been finding life difficult, urging the state government to pay them from the bailout fund promised by the federal government.

In a quick response that indicated that the protests had paid off, the state government assured pensioners on its payroll of payment of their outstanding pension and gratuities after paying workers’ salary this week.

A statement issued by Akinmade shortly after the protest said the state government acknowledged that the pensioners were owed arrears, ascribing the inability to pay to dwindling revenue from the federation account as well as low internally generated revenue.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South West

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

9

Babalola nominated for African leadership award ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

C

L-R: Former Lord Mayor of City of London, Sir Roger Gifford; Lagos State Governor Akinwumi Ambode and President, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imokhuede, during a visit of UK-Nigeria Emerging Capital Market Projects Task Force to Governor Ambode in Lagos, yesterday.

Customs seals 4 rice firms over N23bn debt

N

igeria Customs Service, NCS, yesterday sealed the warehouses and business premises of four major rice importing firms over N23.6 billion unpaid rice duty and levies.

The Public Relations Officer of NCS, Wale Adeniyi, told a news conference in Lagos that the service would also not allow discharge of the companies’ imports in any of the nation’s ports.

The companies are Olam (Amuwo, Lagos), Stallion/Popular Foods/ Masco Agro (Iganmu, Lagos) Ebony Agro (Wuse, Abuja) and Conti Agro (Victoria Island, Lagos).

Adeniyi said that alto-

gether the companies had imported a combined excess of 750,253,03 tonnes of rice, for which the service expected payment of extant duty and levies.

The customs spokesman said the service had written the affected companies several times to notify them of their duty liability at normal rate if they exceeded their quotas.

“Similarly, we published many notices in national newspapers, including where affected importers were mentioned with outstanding payments,’’ Adeniyi said.

He explained that the importers were the beneficiaries of 2014 Rice Import Quota Policy, which

specified a preferential duty rate of 10 per cent and levy of 20 per cent for their imports.

“The importers and their sister or associated companies have been blocked from the Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System, NICIS, thus denying them access to make declarations.

“All these will be done preparatory to instituting full legal proceeding to compel them (importers) to pay what they owe Nigeria, when the courts are back from recess,’’ the customs spokesman said.

Adeniyi said the service had issued several ultimatums to the companies to pay the outstand-

ing charges against them, adding that “today, we are no longer issuing ultimatum.”

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the Rice Import Quota Policy was meant to fill a national sufficiency gap which needed to be met in line with quotas allotted to the beneficiaries.

NAN also reports that the beneficiaries were rice millers who have invested in the sector and created employment in the value chain.

The policy states that the quantity imported in excess of approved quotas will be subjected to the extant rate of 10 per cent duty and 60 per cent levy.

Impeachment: Assembly panel fails to release Aregbesola’s response BOLADALE BAMIGBOLA OSOGBO

T

here were signs of fresh crisis yesterday regarding investigation of the petition written by Justice Folahanmi Oloyede against Governor Rauf Aregbesola by Osun State House Assembly, owing to non-release of Aregbesola’s reply to the petition against him.

Although Justice Oloyede failed to appear in person before the panel which sat at the Committee Hall of the House amid heavy security, she was however represented by her counsel, Lanre Ogunlesi, SAN. Emerging from the meeting with the panel which lasted close to two hours, Ogunlesi, in a chat with

newsmen, said fair hearing demands that the petitioner be given Aregbsola’s response to the petition against him.

Ogunlesi said Oloyede had resolved to appear in person only when she was given the copy of the reply by the governor.

Chairman of the panel, Adegboye Akintunde, in a chat with newsmen after the meeting, however declared that Aregbesola’s response would not be given to the petitioner.

But Akintunde while responding said by not appearing in person, rule of the House was broken by the petitioner, stressing that “another rule is broken because for clarity sake, the petitioner is not here and she needs to come

in person but we allowed his representatives.”

Stressing that the two weeks limit for the committee to complete its as-

signment would elapse on Thursday July 30, Adegboye however said the committee could seek extension of time if necessary.

ivil society group, Coalition of Concerned Civil Societies, CCCS, has nominated the founder of Afe Babalola University, AdoEkiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, for the Distinguished African Leadership Award as a mark of appreciation for his outstanding contributions to development of humanity.

The CCCS Convener, Comrade Declan Ihekiare, said the award was in view of Babalola’s contributions “to mentoring younger generations of Nigerians and nation building as well as on-site visitation to ABUAD.” Ihekiare in a statement in Ado-Ekiti yesterday said the coalition resolved at its general meeting recently in Lagos “to recognise and celebrate the contributions of Aare Afe Babalola as a person that has displayed exemplary leadership

Lagos Assembly pardons HoS over JSC’s tenure elongation FRANCIS SUBERU

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agos State House of Assembly yesterday pardoned the Head of Service, HoS, Mrs. Folashade Jaji, who was called to appear before the House on Monday over allegation that she unilaterally elongated the tenure of members of the state’s Judicial Service Commission, JSC.

Ekiti Assembly okays govt’s conversion of loans to bonds ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

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kiti State House of Assembly has passed a resolution permitting the state government to participate in the restructuring of commercial bank loans to Federal Government bonds.

This is to serve as relief to the state government which has been struggling under the weight of effect of huge commercial bank loans it inherited from its predecessor.

In a statement by the media aide to the House Speaker, Stephen Gbadamosi, the legislature gave its nod over the matter during yesterday’s sitting of the House.

This was sequel to a debate over a letter sent by the state governor to the House and read by the Speaker, Kola Oluwawole.

Oluwawole said the letter, entitled: ‘Restructuring of Commercial Banks Loans to Federal Government Bonds,’ was seeking the approval of the House, through a resolution, as

by example among other qualities”.

The CCCS, a group of young professionals and civil rights crusaders with focus on nation building and sustainable development, said the honour was to recognise the legal luminary’s contribution in many aspects of the country’s national lives.

This, according to them includes Afe Babalola being “a mentor to many youths and Nigerians from diverse walk of lives; an educator who taught many people to fish instead of just giving them fish; a successful legal practitioner whose practice has contributed immensely to the legal professions; a philanthropist whose generosity has positively impacted on many people; and a social, community and political leader whose silent contributions has shaped the lives of many Nigerians.”

part of the conditions the government needed to fulfill to partake in the exercise.

“This will help the government to restore fiscal stability. But a resolution of the House is part of the conditions needed to partake of the restructuring,” he said.

Part of the issues considered by the House in granting the permission were that bonds have longer time of repayment schedule and that the interest rate is lower than commercial bank loans.

Jaji, who appeared before the House during their plenary yesterday was pardoned after she apologised to the Assembly and promised to retrace her steps on the matter.

In her defence, Jaji said that she did not single-handedly send a letter renewing the five-year tenure of office of members of the commission.

According to her, she sought approval from the former Attorney-General in the state, Ade Ipaye and former Governor Babatunde Fashola on February 24, a week after she was appointed HoS on the matter. She said it was based on their recommendations that the tenure of office of the members of the commission was renewed for another five years.

She apologised for the mistake, and said that she has since written letters to the members of the commission including Teslim Animashaun, Kunle Othman, Mrs. Abisola Oshodi and Mrs. Folashade Iwajomo that their tenure has ended.

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South West

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Aviation fuel tanker tumbles at Lagos airport … motorists, passersby scamper for safety O LUSEGUN K OIKI

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Victims at the scene of an accident involving a commuter bus and an articulated vehicle on Orile-Iganmu-Ijora bridge in Lagos, yesterday.

ASUU says JAMB no longer relevant KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

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hairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, University of Ibadan chapter, Professor Segun Ajiboye, on Tuesday called on the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, Professor Dibu Ojerinde, to stop promoting policy which tends to favour private universities and exploit the poor as the body is no longer relevant.

The ASUU boss, while speaking on a television station in Ibadan on the recent policy of re-allocation of candidates by JAMB, said its relevance in the country ended

when universities started conducting their own post-UTME examinations, stating that the examination body cannot solely be relied on for admission by universities.

According to him, the Senate of universities determines the type of students to admit within set of approved criteria open to all candidates, saying that it was sad that JAMB has suddenly become promoters of private universities by imposing unpopular policy on the preferences and choices of Nigerian youths.

He maintained that JAMB lacks the power to change the rules of admission in the middle of the process after deceiving candidates to pick uni-

versity, polytechnic and colleges of education as options when forms were sold out to them.

Ajiboye alleged that the JAMB boss has been compromised by investors in private universities when only two per cent of applicants picked their choice of preferred institution.

While noting that JAMB must respect the right of choice of candidates, he said it was fraudulent and not in the interest of the children of the masses for JAMB to use force to get candidates for private universities.

He said: “JAMB’s concept of ‘needy’ institutions needs deconstruction here. Needy universities are basically private universities in Nigeria who

charge exorbitant fees with less than required manpower. In the 2015 UTME applications, 15,000 of the close to 1,436,837 million candidates sought admission into 48 private universities.

“Of these, Covenant, Babcock and Afe Babalola universities had 3, 144; 1,985 and 1, 247 applicants respectively. Others had below 600 applicants with some like Southwestern University, Wellspring University and Kwararafa University having less than 10 candidates! If not doing the bidding of private universities, JAMB ought to be open with his policy from the point of sale of the forms. JAMB must tell us how many public universities are under-subscribed.”

Journalists barred from Oyo Governor’s office KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

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yo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, yesterday barred journalists from gaining entry into the Press Centre of the Governor’s office at the Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan.

National Mirror learnt that only journalists from the state Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, BCOS, and few others who always followed the governor on his trips within the state are granted access into the centre which has been there several years ago.

The barring of the journalists came about two weeks after Senator Ajimo-

bi ignored some journalists who asked him questions about his inability to pay workers of the state in Abuja.

The rumour about the incident was peddled a fortnight ago, but just yesterday, a list of the select was pasted on the door of the press centre.

It was gathered that just some months ago, journalists were not allowed to carry their vehicles into the premises of the expansive office.

When journalists got to the press centre for coverage of events yesterday which is a normal practice, a list entitled ‘accredited and unaccredited’ preferred journalists had been

pasted on the door.

The list marked SEC 513/T/151 and dated July 27, 2015 was signed by one Mr. Segun Abolarinwa who described himself as the Special Adviser on Security even though the governor is yet to form his cabinet.

However, the list which emanated from the Cabinet and Special Services Department contained accredited medium which include BCOS, Ministry of Information, NTA, Galaxy, Channels, TVC, FRCN, Amuludun, Splash, Nigerian Tribune and Odua News.

Among the names pasted was a driver attached to one of the vehicles in the

governor’s office.

The list of the unaccredited media houses includes OGTV, AIT, Parrot, Daily Times and many others.

Newspapers like the National Mirror, Punch, Vanguard, Daily Sun, Daily Independent,Nation were nowhere to be found on the list.

Before the pasting of the list, journalists who were not from the state broadcasting service had, had hectic time with security men at the entrance of the governor’s office.

Despite presenting identity cards on demand, security men still insisted they were not given orders by the governor to grant other journalists access.

33, 000 litres Jet A1 tanker with content yesterday morning tumbled at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, MMA, Lagos road close to the access gate of the airport.

Eyewitness said the tanker with the Lagos Registration number AAA 991 XQ, which was filled to the brim with Aviation fuel, fell when the driver wanted to navigate the sharp bend around the airport.

The tanker was coming from Ikeja and was going to the international wing of the airport before the accident occurred around 10.am.

Tragedy was however, averted due to the quick response of the Fire Service men of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Lagos State Fire Service, the Nigerian police and other emergency response agencies who swept and drained the content with hoses and other equipment.

When our correspondent visited the scene of the accident, it was observed that all the contents in the tanker were spilled on the ground, which would have caused disaster without the quit intervention of the emergency and rescue teams.

An eyewitness claimed that immediately the tanker fell, the driver was trapped inside the vehicle for close to 30 minutes while other road users including vehicle drivers immediately scampered for safety, thinking that the content that was spilled on both sides of the road was Premium Motor Spirit, PMS. It took the intervention of good Samaritans who came to rescue the driver and rushed him to the Port Health Service close to the spot of the accident for medical attention.

Also, another eye-

witness alleged that the driver was on high speed before the accident occurred.

The accident however caused massive gridlock on the road from the Ikeja under bridge to the Access Gate Road.

Immediately the accident occurred, police diverted vehicular movements from the airport road to the Beesam area of the airport in order for air passengers and other workers within the airport environment to access the international airport and the hajj and cargo terminal, while some other travellers were seen carrying their luggage on their heads in order not to miss their flights.

Speaking to journalists at the accident spot, leader of the Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Fatai Rafiu, said that the command received a distress call on the accident at exactly 10:14am, while its team from the Mobalaji Bank Anthony Way responded almost immediately.

He explained that the quick intervention of the team prevented what could have led to a huge loss of lives and properties within the airport vicinity.

On the probable cause of the accident, he said the accident might have occurred due to over-speeding on the part of the driver.

He added: “With my years of experience, which is about 32, I can say that the accident might have occurred because of over-speeding by the driver because the accident wouldn’t have happened just like that. May be the driver lost control due the over speeding, but I can tell you that it was not a mechanical fault.”

As at the time of filing this story at 2pm, the tanker was yet to be evacuated by the emergency teams while the traffic was still massive on the road.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South East

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

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Attempt to kidnap tribunal judges fails

… notorious kidnapper, soldier arrested in Imo …kills girlfriend for stealing his N45m Chris Njoku OWERRI

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notorious kidnapper who reportedly attempted to kidnap judges of the Imo State Election Petition Tribunal has been arrested by operatives of State Security Services in the state.

The suspect, who was paraded before newsmen yesterday at the premises of the SSS in Owerri along with other suspects allegedly involved in kidnapping, was nabbed at Ohahia, Abia State after being trailed by security agencies for some weeks.

The suspect, Henry Chibueze, who had

hitherto terrorised, kidnapped, and killed over 300 innocent individuals in both the South East and South South geo-political zones, confessed to have committed the crime after interrogation.

Chibueze (a.k.a Vampire) who had previously indulged in several kidnappings was eventually nabbed at his elder brother’s house in Ohahia along side with a pregnant woman and a nurse who attempted to treat his gunshot wound.

Parading the suspect along with others comprising two women, a native doctor named Dan Elengi, said to be the proprietor of a popular hotel at Ohii in

Owerri Local Government Area of Imo State and a runaway escapee soldier, Akeem Bello from Kwara State, the director of SSS in the state, Mr. Francis Ejiofor said the feat was accomplished following useful information and renewed vigour by security agencies to rid the state of various kidnapping before the year runs out.

Vampire, 28, who confessed to have been involved in several kidnappings in various parts of the country, said that he

operated from Abidjan, Cote d’ Ivoire.

Also arrested and paraded with Chibueze, was a serial rapist cum-cultist from Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic from whom a locally made gun was recovered.

Fielding questions from the state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, who subjected the suspects to a rigourous interrogation one after the other, the kidnap kingpin disclosed that he collected a whopping sum of N110 million

from one of his victims in Rivers State and thereafter killed him.

Throwing more light on his nefarious activities in Lagos, Imo, Abia and other states across the country, Vampire, who looked unruffled also admitted to have abducted an official of the Imo State Environmental Transformation Commission, ENTRACO (name withheld) equally collected sum of N50million, even as he similarly murdered the victim.

Furthermore, Vampire

said he murdered his girl friend, Ijiego a teacher at Father Ede Secondary School for allegedly stealing the sum of N45 million belonging to him.

The Director of SSS earlier told newsmen that Vampire was arrested after attempting to kidnap the tribunal judges handling Election Petition in Imo State, adding that the suspect, who escaped with bullet wounds, was trailed to Ohahia, Abia State where he was eventually apprehended.

Buhari not fair to Jonathan, says Okorie Dennis Agbo ENUGU

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member of the House of Representatives, Linus Okorie, has decried President Mohammadu Buhari’s lack of acknowledgment of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s legacies and achievements while in office.

Okorie asked President Buhari to take note of the natural law that ‘what goes around comes around,’ adding that if Buhari cannot be fair to his predecessor, he should expect the same treatment when he leaves office.

Okorie, who represents Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency in Ebonyi State, is worried on the pattern of appropriating achievements of the immediate past administration and called on President Buhari to acknowledge the contributions of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He cited examples of projects that were either completed or close to completion before ex-President Jonathan’s exit, noting that it is unfair and unjust for the Buhari administration to take credit of the achievements without acknowledging the role of the initiator and executor.

“Just like the opposition that must be constructive in

criticizing the government in power, the sitting government owes its predecessor, itself and the wider Nigerian public the moral and social duty of acknowledging the positive accomplishments of their predecessors,” said Okorie.

He enumerated some the Jonathan’s feats currently being credited to Buhari such as President Buhari’s acceptance in his recent visit to the United States of America that the USA denied Nigeria arms, technology and personnel to fight Boko Haram, which the ex-President had noted, but lampooned, by Buhari’s political party, the APC. Okorie also cited the recent launch of Kano-Port Harcourt intercity mixed rail service without acknowledging the Jonathan administration that reactivated the railway; the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries reactivation now refining up to 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day after successful turnaround maintenance initiated and completed by President Jonathan’s government.

Okorie also lamented that President Buhari has been all over the media celebrating Nigeria’s one year polio free anniversary without any reference to President Jonathan and his policy team that totally achieved the feat.

Sector Commander FRSC in Anambra, Mr. Sunday Ajayi (middle), Commander, NDLEA in Anambra, Mr. Sule Momodu (3rd right) addressing officers of the joint team at the FRSC state headquarters in Awka, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

N30bn loan splits Abia Assembly along party lines

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he decision of Abia State House of Assembly on July 21 to approve N30billion loan facility for the state government has polarised the assembly along party lines.

Eleven members of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, led by the Minority Leader, Mr Abraham Oba, (Aba Central), told newsmen in Umuahia on Tuesday, that they dissociated themselves from the decision.

Accompanied by eight lawmakers at the party secretariat, Umuahia, Oba warned prospective banks and other financial institutions involved in the negotiation to stop forthwith or continue at their own risk.

He said they were misled by the Speaker, Chief

Martins Azubuike, to lend their support for the loan during the executive session.

He said Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s letter requesting for the facility was read at the executive session, where the speaker explained that the facility would be used to tackle the infrastructure deficit in the state, especially Aba. “We were told that the loan would be used to improve the economic wellbeing of the state,’’ he said, adding that they were also told that it would be used to dredge the Aba River, build roads, among other projects.

He said that some of the APGA members present at the session sought to be properly briefed on

the banks involved in the negotiation, interest rate, mode of repayment and other conditions attached to the loan.

Oba said that the Speaker promised to address their fears during plenary, but expressed regret that the speaker merely announced that the assembly had approved the facility at plenary.

He said their fears were heightened after the Economic Adviser to the Governor, Mr Obinna Oriaku, announced at a media briefing that the N30 billion facility was ‘’misconstrued by the legislators to mean fresh loan.

He added that Ikpeazu should personally address the assembly on the revenue and debt profile of

the state.

He also stated that the assembly deserved to know the contractors handling the road rehabilitation awarded by his administration, the contract terms, the bidding process adopted, the duration of the contracts and the contract sum.

Also, member representing Ikwuano Constituency, Mr Theophellus Ugboaja, said that ‘’two dummies were sold to us during the executive session.

He denied the allegation that APGA members received N30 million inducement to approve the loan, adding that; ‘’we thought that we were doing good and making our own contribution towards the development of the state.’’

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South South

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Akwa Ibom PDP alleges harassment by DSS

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kwa Ibom State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has accused officials of the State Security Service of harassing its members at the ongoing electoral tribunal sitting in Abuja over the April 11 governorship election in the state.

In a statement issued yesterday and signed by the party’s chairman in the state, Obong Paul Ekpo, the party accused the Department of State Security of playing partisan politics by working in connivance with the opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Con-

gress, APC, to arrest its members.

The statement reads in part; “We wish to use this opportunity to alert the nation and the international community about the undisguised display of partisanship by agents of the State Security Service at the electoral tribunal currently sitting in Abuja.

Our members and agents have been hounded, harassed, and threatened by the SSS officers.”

The party also accused the security operatives of singling out the resident electoral officers in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states for scrutiny and interroga-

tion, saying the development was part of the ploy

by APC to hijack the people’s mandate freely given PDP at the polls.

“We want to put it on record that what the opposition is doing in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states is against the spirit, ethos and values of democratic norms and traditions. Nigeria is not a one-party state and any attempt by the opposition to use the state security to subvert the will of the good people of Akwa Ibom State as expressly given on March 28 and April 11 respectively will be resisted squarely.

We want the world to ask

APC and its agents in SSS why Akwa Ibom and Rivers are being singled-out for scrutiny. What happened to those states in the north where it was clearly documented for the whole world to see that underaged kids were allowed to vote?” the party queried.

Meanwhile, Ekpo also accused the APC gubernatorial candidate in the last governorship election in the state, Obong Umana Umana, of bringing trailer-loads of thugs to the venue of the tribunal and harassing PDP members, describing it as a clear violation of the rules of engagement at the tribunal.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wike pays N712m for stranded students overseas Dennis Naku

PORT HARCOURT

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arents of final year Rivers State students of tertiary institutions abroad can now heave a sigh of relief, following intervention by Governor Nyesom Wike.

The students who were sent overseas to study under the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency, RSSDA special scholarship by the administration of Chibuike Amaechi are reportedly stranded.

However, Governor Wike had ordered the immediate payment of N512 million to offset the debts owed by the final year students to en-

Khan’s family petitions Buhari over daughter’s ordeal Osahon Juliu YENAGOA

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L-R: Managing Director, Nigeria Railway Corporation, Adeseyi Sijuwade; Speaker, Kano State House of Assembly, Alhaji Kabiru Alhassan Rurum; Emir of Kano, HRH Lamido Muhammadu Sanusi II and one of the princes, during the flag-off of the Kano-Port-Harcourt rail service, recently.

Dickson pledges facelift for Odi General Hospital

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overnor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has promised to give a facelift to the general hospital in Odi community as part of efforts to strengthen quality healthcare service delivery to the people.

This is contained in a statement issued yesterday in Yenagoa by Dickson’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniels Iworiso-Markson.

According to the statement, the governor made the pledge while flagging off the 58th edition of Odi festival, “Ogori Ba Uge Festival” in Odi community, Kolokuma/Opo-

kuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa.

“Despite the drop in revenue accruing to Bayelsa, we will complete work on the renovation of Odi General Hospital to improve healthcare delivery in the area.

“Odi, as one of the biggest communities in Ijaw land and very supportive people to the PDP, deserves more dividends of democracy.

“Our decision to reaward the general hospital contract was informed by the policy of completing every people-oriented project within the limits of available resources.

“We are not only going

to renovate hospital, we will also build a befitting pavilion for the community to be holding its social functions,” Dickson said.

The governor described the festival as one for unity and love and urged the people to always forge a common united front to attract more development to the area.

Dickson, who also unveiled an art work depicting a hunter and the killer of the Ogori (buffalo) in the area, commended the people for their unity.

Meanwhile, Amaitari Melo, the Secretary of the

festival Planning Committee explained that the event was designed to commemorate the people who killed the rampaging buffalo in the community many years ago.

Melo said the buffalo first appeared at the Mission Primary School in the community in 1953 and killed five people, injuring several others, before it was gunned down on July 27, 1957.

Chief Millionaire Asangba, the spokesman for Odi Traditional Ruler, Amadaowei of Odi, thanked the governor for his development strides in the community and the state at large.

able them sit for their final exams.

This is contained in a statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday and signed by the Special Adviser to the governor on media and publicity, Sir Opunabo Inko-Tariah.

The statement reads, “The governor had earlier on, paid the sum of N200 million as part of the money owed by the students which brings the total sum paid by Wike’s administration to N712 million.

“The gesture by the governor has elicited reactions from many who praised him for being sensitive to the plight of the students and their parents,” it said.

amily of the embattled Rivers State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Gesila Khan, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and call the Department of State Services, DSS, to order and allow due process and rule of law prevail in his travail.

The family also called on human rights organisations and public-spirited individuals to come to her aid, insisting that her arrest and detention were unlawful.

Family of Khan, who hails from Peretoru in Ekeremor local government area, in a statement in Yenagoa signed by its spokesperson Okubama Johnbull, accused the former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, of masterminding her arrest.

It alleged that information at its disposal showed

that it was after Amaechi visited the director-general of DSS that Khan was apprehended.

Khan’s family decried what it described as the arrest, detention, harassment and intimidation of the REC over her role in the last elections in Rivers.

It also alleged that the REC was being forced “to write an undertaking to turn the results of the Rivers State general elections in favour of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the ruling party at the national level.”

The family wondered why DSS would single her out for victimisation and intimidation when matters concerning the last general elections were being handled by election petition tribunals.

It further raised an alarm that Khan “who is diagnosed of hypertension and diabetic”, had been denied her medication in detention which was affecting her health.

Igbe’s aides absconded with 5 vehicles –Speaker

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peaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Victor Edoror, yesterday said some aides of his predecessor, Uyi Igbe, had absconded with five government vehicles.

Edoror, who spoke during plenary in Benin, gave the names of the aides as Gregory Egwakhide, Adams Otekhe, Rilwanu Muhen, Chris Onosegbe and Tony Osazuwa.

According to him, the ve-

hicles comprised two Toyota Corolla and three Toyota Avensis cars.

He used the medium to urge those identified to return the vehicles otherwise they would be arrested and prosecuted.

Meanwhile, the state Assembly also urged the state Ministries of Environment, Works and Urban Development to take steps to sensitise the public on the need to stop the practice of dumping refuse into drains.

xxxxx Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

13

Politics

Imposition of candidates against people’s popular will killed PDP –Iwuanyanwu

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Tribunal dismisses petition against PDP Reps’ member Wale Ibrahim LOKOJA

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ogi State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, has dismissed the petition filed by Salawudeen Jimoh Ganiyu, an Accord Party, AP, candidate in the March 28 National Assembly election against Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate and winner of the election, Karimi Sunday.

The tribunal declared the petition against the member representing Yagba federal constituency in the House of Representatives incompetent, null and void and an error The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared Hon Sunday the winner of the election and subsequently issued him Certificate of Return for another term at the lower legislative chamber of the National Assembly.

Apparently dissatisfied with INEC declaration of Hon Sunday as winner, the AP candidate, Ganiyu, approached the tribunal seeking the invalidation on the ground of corrupt practices.

Ganiyu, through his counsel, M O Ogedengbe, disclosed in the petition that Sunday was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes, seeking an order declaring and returning Salawudeen as winner of the election.

Responding, Sunday, through his counsel, Pastor John Bayshea, SAN, stated that the petition was incompetent believing that the petitioner participated in the election without conducting primaries and that the purported nomination sponsorship and participation in the March 28 election were null and void.

Delivering judgment on the petition, Justice Akinniyi Akintola, the chair-

man of the three-man panel upheld all Sunday’s objection to the petition and dismissed the petition believing that it “was incompetent, having been brought by the petitioners, who participated in the election without conducting primaries to pick the party’s ticket for the election.”

He added that the nomination, sponsorship and participation of the petitioner in the election were null and void saying that the petitioner participation is an error and “void ab initio, having regard to Section 87 and 85 of the Electoral Act and section 65 (2) (b) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.”

Buhari has 100 days of honeymoon before executing ‘change’ –Tinubu Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA

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national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has defended President Muhammadu Buhari over his slow pace in executing the “change” agenda of the party.

Tinubu said the president and the APC have at least 100 days for “honeymoon” before getting serious with issues of governance. This he said was a global norm.

The former governor of Lagos State, who was at the Presidential Villa yesterday ostensibly to confer with the President on the now-resolved leadership

crisis in the House of Representatives, however said after a successful trip to the United States of America, there was need to discuss with the President in order for the APC to get its priority right.

Defending the President’s slow pace of work, Tinubu said there was need to engage in strategic planning before implementing change.

He said: “Let us calm down here. How long ago?

May 29 was when this President was sworn in. It is an international norm all over the world, there is a honeymoon period, at least a minimum of 100 days’ honeymoon. And you won’t allow honeymoon at all?

“You said change is not

coming; change is not by magic, it is driven by the people, the spirit and the character and the planning.”

Tinubu added that the President inherited a lot of problems which were brought about by poor planning, adding: “You see, we have had so much problem in this country in the past because we run into policy blind folded without adequate and effective planning, you don’t have results unless you plan well. The time it takes you to plan, examine, rejig, re-evaluate is more important than the time you just rush into taking action because you are either being sentimental, being emotional and being driven by other forces that

Members of the House of Representatives with new Majority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (center) in Abuja, yesterday.

are not expected. It is not fair to jump into those conclusions.

“There must be time to plan, to review and even listen to people. There is a separation between a campaign period, articulating your vision, expressing the promises to Nigerians, there is a time to look holistically what you inherited, analyse it, distill and then take action. Even in 100 meters race, there is a time to say on your mark, set, ready, go. So you don’t even want a time to be on your mark, set and go? No no no.

You are not been fair.”

He also said the president was right to have intervened in the National Assembly leadership crisis, saying once in a while, the President needs to drum it into the ears of the lawmakers, what the expectations of Nigerians and the international community are.

He said: “As a matter of fact when the National Assembly job starts, the job of lawmaking in earnest, the President needs to step in once in a while as he did to let people to understand the import of the expectations of the public and particularly of the international community on various programmes and institutions. We need to build the institutions, make it virile and effective for the entire country. To step in to douse any conflict is not a wrong thing.”

Nasarawa council chairman sued over alleged election manipulation Igbawase Ukumba LAFIA

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hairman of Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Abashiya Kwato, has been dragged before a Nasarawa State High Court sitting in Keffi over alleged manipulation of local council election.

The suit, filed by Hassan Gwamna, challenging the candidature of Kwato on the ground that he was

not validly elected and nominated as candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, during the February 8, 2014, primary election for the chairmanship election for Akwanga Local Government.

The plaintiff, Gwamna, claimed that he won the said party primaries and is praying the court for an order directing the first respondent to vacate office as the chairman of the local government and that he should immediately

be sworn in as the validly nominated chairmanship candidate of the second respondent, APC. In an originating summons, the plaintiff is also praying the court to “declare that the act of the second defendant, forwarding the name of the first respondent as its chairmanship candidate to be sponsored for election as scheduled, instead of the name of the plaintiff was wrongful and contrary to law.”

He also sought “a declaration that the 3rd respondent, Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission, NASIEC, acted in contravention of the law when it accepted the name of the first defendant forwarded to it by the second defendant as its chairmanship candidate contrary to the knowledge and record of the 3rd defendant that the plaintiff was the validly elected and nominated chairmanship candidate of the 2nd defen-

dant.”

When the matter was brought before Justice Audu Bako of the High Court l, Kefifi, the lead counsel to the plaintiff, Vincent Ofikwu, informed the court that they were served memorandum of appearance by the first defendant but that the 2nd and 3rd defendant were yet to do so.

Justice Bako therefore adjourned the matter to November 2 and 3 for hearing.

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Politics

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our party said it will rule Nigeria for 60 years and suddenly crashed after 16 years on the saddle.

What happened?

I speak to you as a genuine patriotic Nigerian, because, Nigeria is more important to me than any political party. And you have to be a Nigerian first before you can be Peoples Democratic Party, PDP chieftain or All Progressives Congress, APC chieftain.

The truth of the matter is that PDP had all the opportunities in the world to drive the democratic process and provide Nigeria with purpose -driven leadership, for even 100 years.

If you check the foundation of the party, a group of genuinely patriotic Nigerians from across the country came together to confront a most vicious military government in order to bring democracy and promote the ideals of unity and progress. Along the line, that vision was derailed or rather corrupted, so the loss from 60 years to 16 years didn’t come to some of us as sudden; we saw it progressively coming.

The cardinal principle upon which PDP was formed is zoning. When Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died, some of us felt that the North should be allowed to complete their tenure.

Of course we were overruled, called rebels and all sort of names. And you can’t shut down any part of this country from power. We believed that zoning provided opportunity for access, and anything that happened to zoning will scuttle the unity of this country and threaten stability and development.

When Jonathan became President, we thought there was an agreement for one term to complete late Yar’Adua’s tenure. But as we were doing that, we were losing people, particularly from one section of the country. That’s why when I hear that there is a conspiracy of the North, I laugh it off as after all, politics is about conspiracy, and it’s a game of interest. So basically, our loss didn’t come to me as a surprise.

We were part of the last national convention. The basic tenets of democracy were not upheld anymore, because there was more impunity, imposition and all that. So it didn’t come as a surprise, what you sow is what you reap, garbage in garbage out.

At a point, PDP was being run like a business enterprise by some board of directors and ownership being played out. Instead of Peoples Democratic Party, we now had the Democratic Party without the people. So the people started looking elsewhere and ran into this ‘changeless change’ we now have. But it was inevitable as some of us saw it coming. It’s only those who perpetrated the atrocities within PDP that should be responsible for what happened to us.

What atrocities specifically?

There was impunity, manipulation and imposition of candidates against the popular will of the people. The people were not allowed to choose. Abuja will sit and decide who is a counsellor, local government chairman. National Convention cannot be held, the result is known and people adopted for offices, while others were allowed to run around town and waste their time while their names are excluded in phony manners. Internally, there was no democracy and Nigerians saw it.

Democracy is about the people and once the people feel that you are not carrying them along but moving against their interest, of course they will go for a change, whatever that means.

Can the party redeem itself now?

Well, yes! What we need now is not just the cosmetic or symbolic removal of National Chairman or the Board of Trustees, BoT, but a total re-engineering, overhaul and rebranding of the party, to inject new people, so that they can bring new ideas. But as long as it is these same people who have held the party hostage and brought the party on its knees; they are the ones reviewing the party and want to hold congress; then it will not work. We need to bring on board a lot of people who are disconnected and completely eliminated. Amongst 170 million people, you can’t come to a situation where 50 or 60 people are ruling a patriotic party.

In clear cut terms, can we get your model for redeeming the PDP? I think that the whole national executives should resign

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

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Imposition of candidates against people’s popular will killed PDP –Iwuanyanwu A South East leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Chyna Iwuanyanwu in this interview canvasses for a thorough overhauling of the present leadership of the party. OBIORA IFOH brings excerpts: change on the part of the party.

I am totally disappointed that anybody wants to go to any state and be doing congress or convention now. Once the head is rotten, the body follows, it’s the same syndrome.

So, what we are asking for is that there should be a committee set up to review the party. I have no confidence in the previous committee and I have said it before, because it is the same people that have held the party hostage that are members of that committee. They should ask people across what went wrong and we will tell them. Not those who inflicted the wrong, it’s like being the judge in your own case, it cannot work. That is why they have the audacity and impunity to be talking about congress. No, we have to first put our house in order, get a template to find out where we went wrong, ask our people questions and then develop a blueprint. There has to be a roadmap. If we continue what we were doing with the same people, we will get the same results, that’s my fear.

Iwuanyanwu

and the executives should do a proper congress up to the National Convention, so that the will of the people will prevail. Let people choose their leaders. Secondly, the BoT is supposed to be the conscience of the party and there are so many people who are there that have no business being there at all. In any case, some of them have left to other political parties. So I think we should re-energise and bring in credible people, men of honour and integrity, who have the capacity to act as the conscience of the party into the BoT. A situation where a member of the BoT is contesting for the Senate is a conflict. Who would we run to when there is a conflict with other candidates? A situation where a member of the BoT is a member of the national executives amounts to duplication if there is any issue, the person takes undue advantage. So a BOT should be a platform for the creme de la creme and compose of the founding fathers and the embodiment of the vision of the PDP, so that other people can also take other positions.

If we change the BoT, change the leadership, from ward to the national level, then we look into our manifesto and make it more populist. The political climate is changing.

In 1999, the mantra was let the military go, right now, the people are asking for the dividends of democracy and it must be seen in the manifesto.

As you advocate for some of these changes, the crises in Anambra and Kogi states PDP chapters do not suggest

Well, yes! What we need now is not just the cosmetic or symbolic removal of

National Chairman or the Board of Trustees, BoT, but a total re-engineering, overhaul and re-branding of the party

Two months down the line, what do you make of the Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency?

Well I think there was an overwhelming clamour for change, and I had warned that change for the sake of change is not it. If we are going to change for the better, then it’s good for us. I have also said that the only good thing about APC, is the pedigree of Buhari and Osibanjo.

Every other person in the APC is like another PDP member. And two trees cannot make a forest in a population of 170 million people. So what you are seeing now is Buhari trying to grapple with the issue of leadership, he wasn’t prepared as far as I am concerned.

For instance, what they called merger, if they have truly merged, this fragmentation within the party: of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC tendency, new PDP and others which is manifesting now would not have been there.

So there was a conspiracy and not a merger. If we merge, then the identities of the merging entities will diminish, but that is not the situation now.

What we are seeing now, is a contention within APC, to show you that there was no merger. It will take some time before it settles. But Nigerians voted for change and they are in a hurry. There is an urgent need for that change, not the masturbation of “I reduce my salaries” or symbolisms of “I didn’t buy new cars”. What about your allowances?

What about security votes that runs into N500 million a month? Why don’t you talk about that one rather than a salary of N7 to N12 million?

We have to go for the real thing. I trust that Buhari has the pedigree and the capacity, but it’s not all about one person. He has to engage people who share his vision and that is where the problem lies.

Again, your party got its nose bruised at the last gubernatorial election in Imo State. Is it res judicata for the PDP in Imo State?

I can tell you that I was involved in the entire election in Imo State. Imo is a PDP state, but the culture of impunity and this business template is the problem. What I saw was satanic extortion in the name of primaries. A kind of ‘the highest bidder situation’ where they were not thinking about win ability, integrity or acceptability. They just collected money from somebody and announced the person as a candidate. The corruption in the system is what the problem is and I think everybody is on the ground now.

Formally, they will lose and then come to Jonathan at the federal level and be eating, now they have been shut out at Abuja, they’ve been shut out in Imo state, so they are forced to think now. I can tell you that there is thinking going on.

Imo is a PDP state and for as long as they don’t do it right, they will continue to lose during the election.

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From the Civil Service

Perm Sec tasks NSCDC boss on purposeful leadership OMEIZA AJAYI, ABUJA

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L-R: Commandant, Air Force Institute of Technology, Air Vice Marshal Toni Adokwu; Registrar, Group Capt. Paul Masiyer and Provost, Prof. Emmanuel Ezugwu, during the institute’s 44th convocation press briefing in Kaduna on Monday.

KOICA commissions vocational training school in Nigeria JOEL AJAYI, ABUJA

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s part of its programmes on education, human resources development, vocational training, the Korea International Cooperation Agency KOICA in partnership with the Kogi State Government has completed the‘Establishment of a Nigeria-Korea Friendship Institute for Vocational and Advanced Technology’ an institution that is set for commissioning, in Lokoja, Kogi State.

An Institution designed to be a ‘centre of excellence’ which will attract technical students and teachers from all over the region and offer training in four fields namely; Welding and Fabrication; Automobile Engineering; Electrical Engineering; and Information Technol-

ogy.

The Country Director KOICA Nigeria, Mr. Jung Sang-Hoon revealed this yesterday in Abuja, noted that the school will provide Nigerians youths with technical skills.

According to him, KOICA founded in 1991, is a government run agency of the Republic of Korea responsible for the delivery of grants and technical cooperation programmes to help the socio-economic advancement of developing countries.

He said: “This investment in Kogi state highlights the increasing recognition that Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is essential for the technological development of all countries. The NKFI is a training centre that brings together two nations, 5 organizations and tens of people to Lokoja, in a bid to link the educa-

Stakeholders call for amendment of Tourism Act PAGE 16

tion system more closely to the world of work, and ensure all young people have the chance to fulfill their potential.

“All the courses offered will be designed to ensure that students gain fundamental knowledge, skills and to competently contribute to the development of Kogi state industries.

“To mark this completion of the center, KOICA is hosting the Seminar on the Development of Vocational Training in Nigeria- A Case Study of the Nigeria-Korea Friendship Institute (NKFI) of Vocational and Advanced Technology.”

He added: “In addition to constructing the Institute, KOICA has also equipped the school with machines for the four departments (over 500 items), carried out training for 8 instructors and 6 administrators in Korea, and brought in Korean

experts to inspect and complete final installation works.

“KOICA also continues to invest in the sustainability of the centre by establishing links with other local and international NGOs to share their experiences and expertise in this field.

“To empower youths, vocational technical education and training gears students towards self-reliance in one’s own efforts and abilities to emphasizes growth and development in the life of each citizen, politically, socially and economically.

“Nigeria needs educated and skilled workers and vocational and technical education could fill the void. KOICA and Kogi state’s collaboration in this field is a timely endeavour to preparing the young workforce for the challenges of the changing global economy.”

Women group bemoans unemployment, crime in Kogi PAGE 41

ermanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Engr. Abubakar Magaji, has tasked the new Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Gana Muhammad to provide purposeful leadership in the Corps.

Magaji gave the charge on Monday in Abuja, while decorating the new NSCDC boss.

“Your appointment is based on merit and you are expected to not only work harder and discharge you duties with competence, professionalism and integrity; but you are also to provide purposeful leadership to transform your agency such that it will serve the nation better”, he charged.

While noting the role of sister-security agencies in the provision of security to the country, the permanent secretary said “it has become necessary for the Ministry of Interior along with its agencies to reposition ourselves such that collectively we can effectively discharge our core duty of providing complementary internal security services.

“We shall also be playing a crucial role in the ongoing efforts of the administration towards creating an enabling environment for social, political and economic rapid growth in Nigeria”.

He also called on the new boss to increase surveillance and protection of critical government infrastructure.

On his part the new NSCDC boss pledged to lift the service to an ami-

able height.

Gana promised to evolve a robust security offensive against pipeline vandals, even as he decried the spate of vandalism in the country.

“As part of our core mandate, we have renewed our operational strategy so as to deal with this menace of pipeline vandalism in the country.

Also read: NSCDC arraigns four men over alleged illegal petroleum business in Lagos “I can assure you that even as at yesterday, we have been receiving positive results from the field on this issue.”

He said that the NSCDC will step up the training of its personnel and provision of life insurance cover, especially for officers involved in the protection of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

Gana said that the corps would also continue to collaborate with other security agencies, especially the navy and the Joint Task force (JTF), to put an end to the activities of vandals.

He expressed optimism that issue of oil theft and pipeline vandalism would soon be over, especially with the support from the Federal Government.

Gana urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and report any suspicious movement around the nation’s critical infrastructure to the nearest security agen President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Gana as the commandant-general of the NSCDC on July 17 to succeed Dr Ade Abolurin.

He called on his combatants to join him in the war against vandalism and protection of government facilities.

CSO applauds NAFDAC on transparency PAGE 42

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Civil Service

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

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FCC to sanction MDAs for violations of federal character policy JOEL AJAYI, ABUJA

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ederal Character Commission FCC, has disclosed that the commission is ready to descend heavily on any Ministry, Department and Agencies MDA’s, that compromises with principles of proportional sharing of all bureaucratic, economic and political posts at all levels of government.

Speaking at the press briefing and commissioning of Kogi state office project vehicle in Abuja,the Acting Executive Chairman of FCC, Alhaji Muhammad Alkali OON, noted that the level of misconception among Nigerians who are mistaking federal character principle for quota system is very worrisome to the commission and need to be addressed.

According to him, the commission has observed with dismay that some recruiting MDA’s have been charging applicants what they call applicant fee ranging from N2,000 to N3,000 in the online application.

He said; “This is illegal as it is contrary to the Federal character commission’s guidelines in the recruitment into Nigeria public service as well as presidential directive on recruitment which completely stopped buying of scratch card.

“The commission wills henceforth, without further notice sanction any chief executive of MDA that flouts this guideline.

“Applicants are also notified that, they are not supposed to pay for any applicants fee for job whether on-line or hardcopy. Recruiting MDA should arrange for the payment of approved consultants without tasking the applicants” He added that, “issued of principle FCC has generated a lot of controversies in the media recently. It makes one to wonder

if Nigerian is familiar with the mandate of the commission “FCC establishment Act, Cap F7, law of the federation of Nigeria empowers the commission to redress in a fair manner, the problem of existing imbalances in the public service throughout the federation and ensure equitable distribution of socio economic amenities throughout the federation.

“It is noteworthy that, the need for fairness, equity and justice which the federal character stands for requirements of public officer.

“Therefore, it has become a necessary to further enlighten the public and some government official who are mistaking federal character for quarter system “Federal character principle does not promote or encourage mediocrity rather, it encourages meritocracy and hard work which Nigeria are known and respected for globally.”

Alkali however, that the commission is committed to achieving and enforcing the application of the federal character principles without sacrificing merit; “The FCC exist to ensure peace and harmony among the federating units of Nigeria. There is no price any society is prepared to pay in conflict, potential violence, instability and disrupted development, if long term inequalities are allowed to fester unaddressed.” He assured.

In his remark, the Chairman Committee Secretary of FCC, Bar, Jude Rex-Ogbuku, said that the equitable spread of socio-economic amenities and infrastructural facilities across the length and breadth of this country will go a long way in alleviating poverty which is cardinal point of Mr. President Determination for change.

L-R: Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission, Mr. John-Kennedy Opara; Director-General, National Transformation Institute, Prof.

Vincent Anigbogu and Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, praying during the inauguration of the maiden youth pilgrimage to Israel in Abuja

Stakeholders call for amendment of Tourism Act JOEL AJAYI,

ABUJA

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takeholders of Culture and Tourism industry have berated the former Minister Culture, tourism and national orientation Chief Edem Duke over his failure to start a successful tourism master-plan while in office.

Without mincing word, tourism under Duke suffered a lot of setback due to infrastructure decay, absence of facilities, non-existence of national carrier, poor management and insurgency, with the latter virtually crippling other sectors of the economy in the last four years .

The President of Hospitality & Tourism Management Association of Nigeria (HATMAN), Mallam Aliyu Badaki Ajayi, expressed regret that stakeholders were not carried along in the implementation of the tourism master plan, adding that stakeholders who engaged in tourism activities handled it like buying and selling.

He stated this at the weekend in Abuja in a chat with National Mirror noting that the Former Minister of Tourism Chief Edem Duke lack political will to implement tourism master plan.

“From antecedents, Duke did not have the political will to implement the master plan and, in requesting the N25 billion, what did he contribute to the industry? How did he carry the stakeholders along, other than his selfish way of doing things,” he queried.

“We were told that there was a World Bank tourism intervention fund but accessing the fund is difficult due to stringent conditions attached to it.

“There is a lot of bureaucracy that, up until now, nobody has accessed the funds, and even if you have any project to establish under tourism, before the bank will respond to your request, it’s a big problem.”

Ajayi further lamented the dearth of competent professionals in the industry. “Most people in the industry are not

well trained and do not have interest in affairs of the sector, ranging from travel, tours and hospitality sectors, including agencies under it.”

He called President Muhammadu Buhari’s attention to the need to amend the Tourism Act, establish a national carrier and provide good infrastructure at tourist destinations to boost the sector and prepare it to provide the needed boost to the nation’s economy.

On his part, the president of Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Chief Tomi Akingbogun, faulted the N25 billion requested by Edem Duke for the implementation of the tourism master plan, describing the figure as outrageous.

He challenged the immediate past minister to account for the monies he collected within his four to five years in office, stating that records have shown that most of the artifacts in the museums were sold and replaced with fake ones during his term.

Akingbogun described the silent ri-

valry between the ministry and the private sec-tor as unhealthy for achieving any meaningful development, adding that the federal government needs to stop government officials from travelling oversees frequently for trainings and seminars that should have taken place in Nigeria.

He noted that the culture and tourism institutes lack competent professionals to pilot their affairs, in addition to being in bad shape due to outdated facilities.

On what he wants the new president to do for the sector, he urged Buhari to appoint competent professionals to run the tourism sector, to allocate more money to the tourism budget and to monitor its expenditure.

He also noted that national festival like Abuja Festival of Arts and Culture (AFAC), National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) as well as graphic art exhibitions, which should earn the country over N10 billion, are losing their impact due to poor funding.

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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

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Waiting for the needed change CHIEDU UCHE OKOYE

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ere on earth, everything is in a state of flux; the only permanent thing is change. Those that are governors today will become former governors in the future. Human beings undergo physical changes with the passage of time. Boys who were previously without beards spot heavy beards now. And some men who used to have luscious hairs have suffered irreparable alopecia. Some Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore, which were once backwater countries, are economically prosperous countries.

Nigerians, who are long-suffering, want their country to change for the better. Nigerians are desirous of change, having suffered economic deprivation occasioned by political mal-administration and military dictatorships in the past. Both military regimes and the democratic ones caused the technological backwardness of Nigeria and the ruination of our economy.

And our political leaders had fared no better. The politicians in the Second Republic epitomized corruption. Not surprisingly, the brass hats and jackboots abridged the Alhaji Shehu Shagari administration. Mohammadu Buhari, who was our military leader then, clamped some governors and politicians of that era into jail for alleged financial misdemeanor. But corruption in the First Republic was a child’s play compared to that of the Second Republic.

But under the democratic governance of

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, corruption became normative in Nigeria. Over the years, it has evolved to become a feature and fixture of our national life. Now, young Nigerians are being initiated and socialized into the culture and practice of corruption. Some people with moral probity are viewed with contempt and disdain, while those with ill-gotten wealth are eulogized and conferred with chieftaincy titles and national honours.

Corruption is the cankerworm asphyxiating life out of Nigeria. Our national ills are linked to corruption, which is pervasive in Nigeria. Consequently, nothing works here. No system of doing things is effective in Nigeria.

Is our educational system not dysfunctional?

Yearly, our universities churn out graduates, who are found wanting both in character and learning. They are semi-literate people who are not employable.

More so, we have infrastructural deficit in Nigeria. Our dilapidated roads bring back memories of thorough-fares in war-torn countries. Successive governments in Nigeria could not fix those bad roads. And our hospitals have morphed to morgues where people visit and die. That’s why well-heeled Nigerians travel to Europe for medical attention.

And the insecurity of lives and property is threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria as one indivisible country. Sadly, there is no let-up in the murderous activities of Boko Haram. The enthronement of Buhari as our civilian President hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of the Boko Haram insurgents for blood-letting.

T HE

ENTHRONEMENT

B UHARI AS OUR CIVILIAN P RESIDENT HASN ’ T DAMPENED OF

THE ENTHUSIASM OF THE

B OKO H ARAM

INSURGENTS FOR BLOOD - LETTING

A new government is controlling political power in Nigeria. APC, the ruling political party, promised us change during the electioneering period. But change hasn’t come to Nigeria. It is too early in the life of this administration for us to be assessing this government.

But, are we still hopeful of enjoying improved standard of living in Nigeria given the tardiness that has marked this civilian administration? Buhari’s inability to form his executive cabinet has betrayed his unpreparedness for governance. Will he take an eternity to form a cabinet?

So far, he has taken action regarding some national issues. He gave financial bailouts to some states that are in financial trouble. And he made some crucial appointments. As Nigeria is a culturally diverse country, I would like him to make appointments that will reflect the federal character principle that is entrenched in our country’s constitution. If every state is represented in his executive cabinet, it will erase the feelings of marginalization and alienation

existing among us. He should make efforts to shed his toga of ethnic chauvinism.

And I urge our president to desist from engaging in deeds that will deepen our ethnic fissures. Unity is a sin qua non for national development. A country in political stasis cannot make progress as anarchic condition does not conduce to national growth. The internal political crisis rocking the ruling party APC at the inception of this government does not augur well for our national well-being. A house that is divided against itself cannot make any meaningful progress. So, it behooves on members of the top echelon in the ruling party to resolve the crisis that has bedeviled their party in order that they will offer us purposeful and result-oriented leadership that will have positive impact on the populace.

Now, the Boko Haram insurgents have increased their tempo and frequency of bomb explosions. The Boko Haram insurgency has the capacity and potentiality of causing political instability in Nigeria. The issue of scarcity of fuel crops up here intermittently.

Again, our educational system is in the doldrums. And the health sector is not looking up. The ruling APC party should brace up to these hydra-headed and multiple national problems that have held us down for so long.

Nigerians voted APC into political power to break away from the past corrupt political order. And they are patiently waiting for the change the APC party promised to give them during the electioneering period.

Okoye, an author and poet, wrote from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.

My 10 point-agenda for Buhari ALEX O. ATAWA-AKPODIETE

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art of President Muhammadu Buhari’s social contract with Nigerians includes fighting corruption, fixing the economy and crushing Boko Haram. It is glaring that for him to really salvage Nigeria, the President must be bold and courageous to do things that the political elite and various cabals will not want. Ironically, 60 days after ascending office, there is still no Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the engine room of government; the economy is still in doldrums; and Boko Haram is still on a rampage without let.

I present bellow a 10 point-agenda the President must execute to propel the country forward.

First is fuel subsidy removal. The Federal Government must courageously implement the removal of fuel subsidy effective January 1, 2016. By giving advance notice, it will enable people to plan and provide palliative measures, while the FG negotiates with the Nigeria Labour Congress and other stakeholders. Fuel subsidy is unarguably a drain on nation’s economy.

Second is implementation of proposed merger of some MDAs. The Steve Oronsaye Merger and Acquisition proposals should be implemented. Some of these MDAs are superfluous and waste of resources.

Third, the fight against corruption will receive a boost if past administrations are probed with the view to recovering stolen funds, not witch hunting. I suggest Mr. Presi-

THE PRESIDENT SHOULD LEAD THE CAMPAIGN FOR A REVIEW OF THE SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES OF POLITICAL OFFICEHOLDERS dent begins from 1985 or at least 1999. If the President focuses on just the past Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s administration as being planned, some may raise issue with why his former military colleagues were left off the hook. Strategic to the success of the planned probe will be negotiating reprieve for corrupt officials/civil servants who are willing to return all stolen funds and testify against their co-conspirators.

Fourth, President Buhari needs to immediately declare war on Boko Haram, evacuate as many civilians as possible from the hot bases of the terrorists and bomb them, including Sambisa forest.

The objective will be to recover the missing Chibok girls and annihilate the sect and its sponsors.

Fifth, the administration must insist on the rule of law and equity, but a power deterring message should be sent to all judges and lawyers that lend themselves to be used for forum shopping, corruption and delay of cases. This applies not just to election matters, but all corruption related proceedings.

Sixth, is drastic reduction of salaries and allowances of political officeholders. The President should lead the campaign for a review of the salaries and allowances of political officeholders. If there really must be a change, I suggest our lawmakers must work part-time and be entitled to sitting allowances. In the past 60 days, our federal lawmakers have met for less than five days, even counting the days they went to exchange blows and throw chairs, while trying to steal the mace. As part of cost-saving, all politicians should not be entitled to new vehicles.

Seventh, is the embargo on security votes. The budget for should geared towards equipping the police and military. We should make it illegal for politicians (excluding President, Vice President, Governor, and Deputy Governor) to have police escorts.

NASS and House of Assembly members, local government chairmen and commissioners have no business having police escorts.

All Nigerians are entitled to security, not just politicians.

Eight, the President’s delay in appointing ministers has saved the nation millions of naira in salaries, cars, accommodation, allowances and impresses. In fact, the President should submit a bill to amend the 1999 Constitution to remove the requirement for ministers and commissioners at the federal and state levels respectively. The permanent secretaries are capable of running the ministries.

Ninth is the elimination of both the Christian and Muslim pilgrims boards.

Government has no business sponsoring religious trips.

Finally is changing our local currency again. This will be the most innovative and drastic fight against corruption. Those who have kept their loot in naira, hidden at home and underground safes, will either have to bring them out or lose them. A 60 day moratorium to exchange the old notes for the new ones will expose the crooks among us. The innovative BVN registration and cashless policy will combine to expose many people.

The problems currently affecting Nigeria have been with us since the First republic, and they have been compounded by each successive administration. We commend our President for some of his laudable decisions to date, including moving the military command centre from Abuja to Maiduguri, Borno State to give more bite to the war against Boko Haram; replacement of service chiefs, refusing to meddle in the affairs of the National Assembly, and of course, stepping up the corruption fight to such extent that it has sent shivers down the spines of many corrupt persons.

Nonetheless, Mr. President could still do more, but must proceed with caution.

Rev. Atawa-Akpodiete, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Asaba, Delta State and can be reached on 08138391661 or Profatawa@ gmail.com Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: mail@ nationalmirroronline.net mirrorlagos@ yahoo.com or 08164966858 (SMS only). The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject views or photographs.

Pseudonyms may be used but must be

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Editorial

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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

On Sambo Dasuki and Gordon Obuah

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he Abuja and Sokoto homes of Colonel Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (retd), former National Security Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, were recently ransacked by the Department of State Security (DSS). About the same period, the former Chief Security Officer to the ex-President, Mr. Gordon Obuah, was arrested by the DSS. Dasuki, according to reports, was placed on security radar by the Muhammadu Buhari government for alleged suspicious expenditure in the process of discharging his official responsibilities, especially in the twilight of the Jonathan administration. The disgraceful $9.3 million (is it $15 million?) botched cash-for-arms deal in South Africa; millions of dollars failed cease fire deals with the violent Islamist Boko Haram sect; and the purported disappearance of a driver to Dasuki’s personal assistant with $5 million cash might explain FG’s move against Dasuki.

The DSS, which confirmed its search operations on the former NSA’s houses, said it found seven high calibre rifles, several magazines and military related gears.

“The team also recovered 12 new vehicles, out of which five were bullet proofs”, the security agency stated, insisting that Dasuki was not entitled to military guards,

ALL THAT MATTERS IS INSISTENCE ON THE RULE OF LAW but for the fact that he was an NSA. Even as NSA, according to the DSS, such guards should have been withdrawn after his removal from office. The lethal weapons and the vehicles recovered were also said not to have been reflected in Dasuki’s handover notes.

In response to his travails, Dasuki says: “It is just a witch-hunt.

If you want me to make clarifications on any issue, in the spirit of democracy and the rule of law, they have the courtesy to invite me; and as a gentleman, I will honour the invitation. Sending two trucks to lay siege to my house and restrict my movement is just abysmal”.

Reports quoted him as saying he neither maltreated nor took part in maltreating President Buhari when the latter, as military Head of State, was removed from office through a military coup that brought General Ibrahim Babangida to power in 1985, as had been alleged. Recall that the embattled NSA had the served as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to General Babangida. He has also spoken about how he supported Buhari’s campaign aspiration in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential elections; apparently to tighten

the noose on his witch-hunt claim and possibly suggest a vendetta mission against him by the Buhari Presidency. But reports say the FG may try him for alleged treasonable felony, all the same.

Mr. Gordon Obuah, also arrested recently by the DSS, was likewise said to be on the line for trial allegedly for treasonable felony against the state. Allegations of reckless security spending under the Jonathan administration and suspicious romance with a prisoner, Charles Okah, the brother of Henry Okah, leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) purportedly in furtherance of Jonathan’s second term bid, are trailing him. Henry Okah was on Monday, January 21, 2013, convicted by a South African court on 13 charges of terrorism, including bombings that killed 12 people in Abuja on October 1, 2010.

Essentially, therefore, it may be rightly argued that both Dasuki and Obuah are in the nation’s security booby trap, not only for alleged financial breaches while holding public office, but for telltale signs of treason against the Nigerian state. Otherwise, what would a former NSA be doing with seven high calibre rifles, several magazines and military related gears, 12 new vehicles,

ON THIS DAY July 29, 1973

July 29, 2005

Greeks voted in a constitutional referendum to abolish the monarchy, beginning the first period of the ‘Metapolitefsi’. The constitutional amendments were to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. The proposal was approved by 78.6 percent of voters, with a turnout of 75 percent. This initiated the first period of the ‘Metapolitefsi’, a period in Greek history after the fall of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974.

Astronomers announced their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris. Eris is the most-massive and second-largest dwarf planet known in the Solar System.

It is the ninth-most-massive body known to directly orbit the Sun. It was measured to be 2,326 ± 12 kilometers (1,445.3 ± 7.5 mi) in diameter. Eris is 27% more massive than dwarf planet Pluto, though Pluto is slightly larger by volume.

five of them bullet-proof, which were not declared in his handover notes? And what business does Obuah have with Charles Okah, if the alleged romance between them is true?

It is shocking, however, the level of sentiments and strange interpretations that have been brought to bear on the investigation of the former NSA and CSO, perhaps with the intention of discrediting the inquiries. Our thinking, nonetheless, is that the level of impunity in the land before the coming of President Buhari justifies current goings on. But Nigerians of today are not such breed that would allow President Buhari witch-hunt anyone whose hands are proven to be clean.

They would be the first to call the President and his foot soldiers to order when they infract people’s right with impunity. Therefore, the security agencies should be allowed to do their jobs now that the country is privileged to have a President that has mustered demonstrable resolve and the iron cast will needed to level the proverbial mountains Buhari’s predecessors dreaded. All that matters is insistence on the rule of law. The Nigerian state has been insulted, treated with utter spite, cheated and abused enough.

It needs rehabilitation.

July 29, 2010 Between 80 and 140 people died when an overloaded passenger ferry capsized on the Kasai River in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The disaster occurred when the passenger boat travelling to Kinshasa from Mushie, in Bandundu’s western Kwilu district, capsized on the Kasai River, east of Kinshasa. At least 80 people were confirmed dead, with other death tolls putting the casualty figure at 140.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

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19

Health & Wellbeing Fake drugs thrives because of inadequate law enforcement –PSN President 22

20 million Nigerians infected with Hepatitis B, C

Vaccine delay ‘ll cause over 50,000 deaths by 21 2020 –PACFaH

Unscreened blood can lead to Hepatitis B, C infection

... experts decry poor public attention on disease as World Hepatitis Day is marked globally FRANKA OSAKWE

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s Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark this year’s world hepatitis day (WHD) yesterday, experts have revealed that approximately 20 million Nigerians are infected with Hepatitis B and C virus, and 25 per cent of these will develop chronic liver disease while 500,000 to 700,000 will die from the disease annually.

The Head, Prevention Department of Public Health at the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Chukwuma Anyaike, stated this at a oneday stakeholders’ advocacy workshop on Viral Hepatitis awareness programme organised last week by the Yakubu Gowon Foundation in Abuja.

According to Dr. Anyaike, Viral Hepatitis is a very big public health issue in Nigeria. “By the work that the Federal Ministry of Health has done, the statistics available showed that we have about 20 million Nigerians living with Hepatitis B and C and they are at the risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver and cancer of the liver. Most importantly, these ones are living in the communities and they are not aware of it and in the same process, they are transferring the infection to other people in the community”, he said.

Also, a general practitioner and member publicity committee, Nigeria Medical Association Rivers State Chapter, Dr. Paul John, disclosed that Nigeria is one of the countries in the world with the highest Hepatitis infection with its over 20 million infected cases and considering the fact that about 400 million people in the world are living with either Hepatitis B or C according to World Health Organization (WHO).

Dr. John however lamented that the disease has attracted very little attention from both the government and the people of Nigeria despite the fact that Hepatitis B virus alone is

Many cases of Hepatitis B and C virus are traceable to blood transfusion

about 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV. “It is pathetic that many people worry more about contracting AIDS than Hepatitis, even when in reality in each year about 1.4 million people worldwide die due to these viral hepatitis infections and more become infected. At times, infected people die faster with viral hepatitis than they would with AIDS. Remember that globally, HIV-AIDS currently kills close to 1.6 million people yearly”, he said.

Explaining the theme for this year’s WHD which is “Prevention of Viral hepatitis”, he noted that many cases of the infection are traceable to blood transfusion. According to Dr. John, the current test used in detecting the viral infections in many hospitals in Nigeria cannot detect the viral antigen in newly infected individuals hence patients who were transfused with some units of blood ( that were certified Hepatitis B and C negative) later come down with hepatitis B or C infection.

“In view of this, our hospitals should upgrade to the use of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in screening blood samples (especially those units of blood from donors with questionable lifestyles). This is because the

current tests used in detecting the viral infections in many hospitals in developing countries are targeted at detecting the infecting viral particle in the serum hence it takes some time (the incubation period etc) before the current tests in many developing countries can detect the antigen/antibody in a newly infected individual. But the PCR can detect the infection at each stage of the disease.

“We cannot forget in a hurry the 2006 incident at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) where baby Oyinkansola Eniola was transfused with a HIV positive blood in a tertiary hospital where the highest form of medical treatment was expected in line with international best practices”, he said.

Warning about the consequence of hepatitis infection, a cancer advocate with the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP-Nigeria), Dr. Abia Nzelu, explained that Infection with HBV or HCV is the main cause of liver cancer leading to 80% of liver cancer deaths worldwide.

“In Nigeria, liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death, accounting for over 11,000 deaths yearly and 32 deaths every day.

Liver cancer is rare in children and teenagers. The average age of occurrence in Nigeria is about 46 years compared to the developed world where the average age of occurrence is in the mid 60s.

“Liver cancer is more common in men with a male to female ratio of about 2 in 1. A recent well known male Nigerian casualty is Senator Khalifa Zanna, a newly re-elected Senator of Borno State, who died at the age of 60 on May 16, 2015.

“On that same day, 31 other Nigerians also died of liver cancer, unknown and unsung, but not unloved. Liver cancer is also the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, accounting for more than 700,000 deaths each year”, she said.

According to Dr. Nzelu, one of the most successful ways of preventing liver cancer is vaccination against hepatitis B. This vaccine, she said, has been available since 1982 and the first dose is usually given at birth. “The vaccine is safe and effective, protecting from HBV infection for life and the development of chronic disease and liver cancer due to HBV”, she said However, she noted that vaccination for HCV is currently unavailable although antiviral medicines can cure HCV infection. Other ways of preventing hepatitis according to her, include; limiting transmission of these viruses by avoiding sharing of needles and other items such as toothbrushes, razors or nail scissors; Avoid getting tattoos or body piercings from unlicensed facilities and screening of blood donation products; safe sex practices, including minimizing the number of partners and using barrier protective measures (condoms), and reducing alcohol abuse, would also reduce rates of liver cancer.

Annually, viral hepatitis affects 400 million people worldwide, causing acute and chronic liver disease and killing about 1.5 million people (4,000 people daily), mostly from hepatitis B and C (HBV & HCV). Yet, it is entirely preventable. With better awareness and application of its preventive measures, this lifethreatening disease could be eliminated and 4,000 lives could be saved daily, underscoring the importance of the theme of WHD 2015.

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Health & Wellbeing

Nutrition for Health

duction is inadequate, or because the body’s cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both over a prolonged period of time.

A diabetes diet however, is medically known as medical nutrition therapy (MNT).

This is a healthy eating plan which involves consumption of a variety of nutritious foods that are high in nutrients, low in fat and moderate in calories sticking to regular mealtimes. It is a healthy diet for anyone!

When you eat excess calories and fat, your body responds by creating a rise in blood glucose.

And when the blood glucose is not monitored, it can lead to serious health problems such as a hyperglycemia- high blood sugar level, cardiovascular diseases such as chest pain (angina), heart attack, narrowing of arteries (atherosclerosis); nerve damage (neuropathy); kidney damage (nephropathy) and if severe, can lead to kidney failure; eye damage (retinopathy) such as cataracts and glaucoma; foot damage, if left untreated, the cuts and blisters can develop serious infections, which often heal poorly. These infections may ultimately require toe, foot or leg am-

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

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o many persons are so up tight and sometimes confused on what to consume if diabetic. A lot have even gone to the extent of starving themselves of vital nutrients because they are scared of what to eat that could raise their blood sugar levels. Others however, have become frustrated with life probably because their blood sugar levels keeps fluctuating whenever they run blood sugar tests.

Readers who are diabetic, let me say to you that diabetes is not a death sentence! It can be controlled, managed or monitored.

One important step you need to bear in the back of your mind is that there is a natural, friendly and enjoyable way to manage diabetes.

And that is engaging in healthy eating pattern (diabetes diet), lifestyle changes and engaging in day to day activities.

Before proceeding, diabetes mellitus is a condition by which an individual has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin pro-

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Diets for Diabetics

putation); skin problems including bacterial and fungal infections; hearing impairment problems and Alzheimer’s disease.

There are recommended foods for diabetics: consume healthy carbohydrate foods found in fruits, vegetables, whole grainsbrown rice, whole-wheat bread, and whole-wheat pasta, legumes (beans, peas and lentils) and lowfat dairy products and cut down on refined carbohydrates and sugary foods like cakes, sweets, etc. Carbohydrates usually break down into glucose, and have the greatest impact on blood glucose level. It is therefore, essential to make sure that the timing and amount of carbohydrates are the same each day, especially if an individual is already on diabetes medications or insulin to prevent the blood glucose level from fluctuating.

Form the habit of consuming fiber-rich foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes (beans, peas and lentils), whole-wheat flour and wheat bran. Dietary fiber can aid digestion, decrease the risk of heart disease and help control blood sugar levels.

Consume heart-healthy fish at least twice a week as an alternative to high-fat meats. Fish such

as salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which promote heart health by lowering blood fats called triglycerides. Fish have less total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol than meat and poultry. Avoid fried fish and fish with high levels of mercury, such as swordfish and king mackerel. Consume good fats sparingly as the fats are also high in calories. Examples are foods such as walnuts, olives, avocados, pecans; oils such as canola, olive and peanut oils can help lower the body’s cholesterol levels.

There are foods to avoid. They are: processed foods like snacks such as chips, cakes, biscuits, and margarines; high-fat dairy products and high-fat animal proteins such as sausage, bacon, beef, hamburger, egg yolks, shellfish, liver, and other meat organs. Aim for no more than 300 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol a day. Also, avoid too much salt (sodium) intake. Aim

for less than 2,300 mg of sodium a day. Reduce how much soft drinks, soda and juice you drink.

It is healthy for a diabetic to engage in lifestyle changes such as consuming excessive alcohol, smoking, monitoring his/her blood sugar regularly and keeping blood pressure and cholesterol under control, scheduling a yearly physical and regular eye exams, paying attention to one’s feet, taking care of one’s teeth and avoiding stress. It is also important a person gets his/her physician’s OK to exercise and engage in physical activities.

Adopt the habit of eating at regularly set times. Remember that your body is better able to regulate blood sugar levels when you do not skip breakfast, maintain a regular small portion meal size and keep calorie intake the same.

This would keep your sugar level on check at all times.

Do not forget to contact a dietitian because he/she can help you plan the right food menu suitable for you, advice you on how to prepare and combine these foods and teach you how to measure food portion paying special attention to serving size and carbohydrate content in what is being consumed.

Sexual solutions and love products for adults My husband and I are in our early fifties. We got married quite early and our last child is in the university. Anyway, we don’t have a sex life. We are happy though. Nobody is complaining. It is just that we have not really felt like having sex in a long time. Is this a problem?

Mrs Anyanwu Sex is a natural human impulse designed to fill a need. When you stop feeling the need and your partner feels exactly the same way, it is hard to say that there is a problem in your relationship, especially since you say that you are both happy and nobody is complaining. However sex has a lot of health benefits which is one of the reasons couples maintain an active sex life.

For example, frequent sex lowers the blood pressure and helps you lose weight by burning calories. The average person burns approximately 144 calories for every thirty minutes of intercourse. So this is a good reason to be sexual. Also sex relieves stress, slows down aging and helps you sleep better. And that is still not all. Sex decreases pain and lowers the risk of prostate cancer in men. So as you can see, a healthy sex life can benefit you in many ways, should you choose to go for it. You may have nothing to lose by not having sex but you have so much to gain if you do – Uche I will prefer if my breasts were bigger. Right now I have to make do with padded bras and it makes me feel like a fraud – Maureen Dear Maureen, first of all, it is important for you to understand that the way women feel about their bodies is not the same with the way men feel about female bodies. Men love female bodies of all types. You will hardly come across a man who will tell you

that he cannot date so so and so girl because her breasts are not big. So this is important because women criticize their own bodies unnecessarily. Secondly, there is a cream we have called Max Enhance Breast Cream. It helps shape, lift, smoothen and increase a woman’s breast size. You can give it a try but remember that the man that loves you, will keep loving you regardless of all this – Uche For a long time now, I have not really been in the mood for sex. Anyway, I came across your advert and bought Total Diva from you. It has been good because when my husband initiates intercourse, I don’t say no. How often am I supposed to take this drug?

Bimpe Total Diva works for up to 72 hours in the body so take one tablet every three days or every week. You can also take it one hour before intercourse – Uche Hello sir. I am sorry that I never got back to you but I lost your contacts years ago. I just found it in the papers.

You guys are everywhere these days. I am an old client and you sold me a penis enlargement pump long time ago. I am sure you can’t remember. Anyway, I only started using it regularly this year and you will not believe how big my penis is now. I am like all those heavily endowed guys you see in adult films. I just thought you should know because a lot of people think that these items don’t work. But I can say that if you are patient, you will see results – Peter Wow Peter. Thank you. Long time. Lately we have been stressing the importance of consistency to men who want enlargement.

It is like going to the gym to build up your

muscles. If you do it consistently, you will get results. Penis Pumps are the most reliable option for enlargement – Uche I am in my sixties and the last time I used Viagra for erection, it gave me a bad headache. Do you have something better that can give a man my age good erection without the headaches? John Dear John, there are milder aphrodisiacs that you can use for tackling erectile dysfunction.

A good example is Sex Voltz. It is gentle and works gradually so it will definitely suit you – Uche I just got married and I am looking for things that can entertain a new couple in their honeymoon – Okpe Adult games will be perfect.

Ask for the Bedroom Commands Game, Intimate Dares Game or Cosmo’s Kinky Sex Games.

They are all engaging adult games for couples – Uche

Adults in need of these treatments/ novelties can call 08171912551 or 08027901621 for help or visit www.zeevirtualmedia.com. Zee Virtual Media delivers all over Nigeria. For enquiries email us at custserv@zeevirtualmedia.comUche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media.

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Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

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Vaccine delay ‘ll cause over 50,000 deaths by 2020 –PACFaH Deborah Didi

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group of Civil Society Organisations under the aegis of

Partnership for Advocacy in Child and family health (PACFaH) in Nigeria, has called on governments at all levels to identify innovative mechanisms to pro-

vide adequate funding for effective child and family health in Nigeria.

The group comprises, the Association for the Advancement of Family

Planning (AAFP), Centre for Health Research Initiative in Nigeria (CHR), Civil Society for Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CSSUNN), Civil Society Leg-

National Programme Officer, Outreach and Communication, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mr Sylvester Atere, National Project Officer, UNODC, Abimbola Adewumi, Director, Public Enlightenment, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters(NAPTIP) Mr. Arinze Orakwe and Assistant Director, NAPTIP, Mr. Godwin Morka at a Media Roundtable on Trafficking in Persons, organised by UNODC recently in Calabar.

Over 64,000 stroke patients die annually in Nigeria –Experts Franka Osakwe

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o fewer than 64,076 (69.8%) stroke patients out of the estimated 91,800 new cases expectedly diagnosed this year, would have lost their lives from the disease, a professor of Neurology from University of Ibadan, Prof. Adesola Ogunniyi, has revealed.

In his presentation on the burden of stroke in Nigeria, during this year’s cardiovascular summit organized by Pfizer in Lagos, Prof. Ogunniyi explained that about 193,800 people are currently living with stroke in Nigeria whereas 91,800 new cases expectedly occur every year.

Comparing the stroke mortality rate of various countries from World Health Organization figure, Prof. Ogunniyi said the 2012 stroke mortality rate for Nigeria, South Africa, UK and USA, were 69.8%, 39.5%, 46.3% and 133.6% respectively. This means that Nigeria

has one of the highest occurring deaths from stroke, with 64,076 (69.8%) of the 91,800 annual new cases of stroke patients expectedly dying from the disease each year.

From the data, the Don noted that while stroke patients in other developed countries are able to manage their disease for a long time, stroke patients in Nigeria often die quickly, within the same year due to inability to cope with the economic cost of stroke management.

According to him, the average cost of care for stroke within first 36 weeks in government and private Hospitals are N95,100 ($600 ) and N767,900 ($4860) respectively.

Expounding on the burden of stroke in Nigeria, a consultant cardiologist and Chief Executive Officer of First Cardiology Consultants Ltd, Dr. Adeyemi Johnson, described the condition as a medical and surgical emergency that can cause mortality and disability, if not attended to urgently.

From his presentation, Dr. Johnson said the majority of ischaemic stroke patients do not reach the hospital quickly enough to access treatment due to lack of emergency transportation services.

“The majority of ischaemic stroke patients do not reach the hospital quickly enough. The delay between stroke onset and hospital admission will be reduced if the Emergency Medical Systems (EMS) are used.

The general population need to recognise immediately the symptoms of stroke, to realise that urgent medical attention is needed, and to use the emergency transportation services and immediately go to an adequately equipped hospital”, he explained.

On treatment, a professor of radiology from University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Prof. Dr Ahmed Ahidjo, said that some stroke symptoms can be reversed easily with prompt diagnosis and treatment.

“The Brain Attack Coalition recommends treatment

by healthcare personnel with expertise in neurosurgical and endovascular techniques, advanced neuroimaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and angiography, surgical and endovascular techniques, including intracranial aneurysm clipping and coiling, carotid endarterectomy, and intra-arterial thrombolytic therapy, specific infrastructure and program elements, such as intensive care and stroke registry”, he added.

On the importance of the summit, Pfizer’s Marketing Director for West and East Africa, Mr. Winston Ailemoh said it was one of the company’s initiatives aimed at saving lives.

“Pfizer will continue to invest in Nigeria to support initiatives that can help save lives.

The Cardiovascular Summit in its 8th Edition is one of such long term investment. We are committed to also continually support the practice of medical specialists like Cardiologists, and Neurologists”, he said.

Pharm. Mike Omotosho, said the country had made a giant leap towards attaining polio-free certification by the World Health Organization in 2017.

Omotosho however warned that it is not yet time to celebrate, as according to him, a lot more work still needs to be put into polio eradication efforts to qualify Nigeria for WHO certification. He also called for increased immunization across the country.

“This is a huge milestone but we still have more work to do. One year without polio means that Nigeria will now be on the list of non-polio endemic nations pending WHO ratification.”

It would be recalled that Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan are three remaining endemic countries in the world with poliomyelitis, popularly called polio.

Omotosho added: “The Impact of Rotary’s Support to PEI is unquantifiable.

There are over 2 billion children who have received Rotary’s polio vaccine – and they are now living a life without the fear of paralysis and death from polio. At the micro level, Rotarians volunteer their resources including time to accompany health workers to the most remote areas by canoe, camels, elephants, horsebacks, motorbikes, and every other conceivable vehicle to reach children.

2bn children receive Rotary’s polio vaccine – District Marcus Fatunmole ABUJA

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otary International has said no fewer than two billion children around the world had received its sponsored polio vaccine. This is even as the group commended Nigeria on its recent one-year-poliofree status.

In a statement made available to National Mirror recently, the newly-inaugurated Governor of District 9125,

islative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), Federation of Muslim Women Organizations of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON), and Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN).

Speaking recently in an interactive session on TVC in Lagos, the group urged the government to ensure adequate funding to four important areas in child and family health such as Routine Immunization, Family Planning, Amoxicillin as first line treatment for Pneumonia and ORS-Zinc as treatment for childhood diarrheal diseases, and Nutrition.

Responding to questions from journalists, Civil Society for Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) represented by Dr. Philipa Momah noted as one of the critical factor hampering child health in Nigeria, malnutrition, which occurs when people consistently do not consume or absorb the right amounts and types of food and essential nutrients.

She said, “Globally, it contributes to nearly half of all child deaths-that is more than 3 million children each year. The main indicator for malnutrition is stunting- when children are too short for their age.

Stunted children have poor physical growth and brain development, preventing them from thriving and living up to their full potential. With over 11 million stunted children, Nigeria is confronted with daunting challenge of malnutrition and ranks second behind India among all countries with the highest number of stunted children.

“Nationally, the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) reported of 37% stunted, 29% underweight, and 18% wasted children under five (wasting increased from 14% in 2008 to 18%) 17% Exclusive breastfeeding rate and only 10% compliance to recommended infant and young child feeding practices. At the states Kaduna is 56.6%, Nasarawa; 34.5% and Niger; 34.2% respectively.

Ebola: W’African medical colleges worry over re-emergence Saidat Alausa

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edical Colleges in West African sub-region have expressed concern on the reemergence of Ebola in Liberia and the renewed threat of its spread to the sub-region.

This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of its 15th quadripartite meeting consisting of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, West Africa College Physicians and West Africa College of Surgeons held at the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Ijanikin, Lagos.

The meeting was aimed at deliberating the future of Postgraduate Medical College of Education in Anglophone West Africa.

The communiqué signed by the host and president of National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Prof.

Rasheed Arogundade stated that all the colleges should continue to be proactive in the education and advocacy

in t current Ebola outbreaks and take appropriate actions to curb the virus.

It also stated that sister colleges should be encouraged to adopt a model of recruitment into training programmes that would ensure the retention of the trained specialists in the sub-region.

The participants also told member colleges to further deploy IT processes in the full digitisation of records and also online registration and payment of examination which should also be applied to examinations.

On accreditation, the medical colleges told members to ensure speedy compliance of accreditation guidelines of their constituent faculties within the next six months.

It was also observed at the meeting that there is no uniformity in the mode of recruitment into residency training as regards remuneration and fee payment.

The communiqué however stated that attempts are being made to make some clinical sub-specialties simply academic degrees in some parts of the sub-region.

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Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

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Fake drugs thrives because of inadequate law enforcement –PSN President Mr. Olumide Akintayo is the incumbent President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU). In this interview with QUADRI BABATUNDE, he speaks on the issue of fake drugs, the proliferation of herbal preparations in the country and the situation report on the JOHESU’s demands. Excerpts.

Do you think government is doing enough to curb fake and substandard drugs?

Government will have to do a little more than they claim they have been doing on the menace of fake drugs. The fake drugs syndrome thrive because government has been too benevolent, they have not done anything fundamental in terms of restructuring to dismantle the bedrock of fake drug business.

In the drug sector, the major regulatory bodies we are looking into are the pharmacy council of Nigeria (PCN), NAFDAC that deals with product quality and others like NDLEA that handle narcotics and control medicine.

The problem is that government is not providing the type of funding that we need to sustain the totality of this enforcement activities, for instance if inspectors of government see an illegal premises today, follow up is difficult because they don’t have enough vehicle and personnel.

The pharmacy council of Nigeria (PCN), for instance charge with the mandate of registering premises in 36 states including the FCT Abuja does not have up to 50 inspectors nationwide so why won’t fake drug thrive? We are deceiving ourselves, it will surely thrive, no matter what the council does as long as you don’t have the personnel to drive this endeavour, they will have to contend with failure and this are the realities we face. The key element here is that government must increase funding for the regulatory bodies. Government must have the political will to enforce the fake drug laws if we want to see an end to this menace. If you check, the law section on fake drugs prohibits the sales of drugs in unregistered places.

Yet we have a group of people who sell at night alone when the regulatory enforcement agency would have closed. Most of them stay in petrol stations and Motor Park. What am saying is inadequate enforcement is what is encouraging this act, as long as we do not have enough phar-

macy inspectors to drive the totality of inspectorate activities in the value chain, we will continue to contend with this problems. Unfortunately, Nigerians are irresponsible when it comes to their health. When they look at the man selling drugs or marketing the herbal products, they can see that the person is a stack illiterate yet they buy from him.

So the Nigerian people too have a responsibility to protect themselves from consuming all sorts of inimical substances which can cause organ damage or lead to cancer. My advised is that people should buy their drugs from registered pharmacies.

There is fear that with the rise of herbal mixtures in Nigerian, professional pharmacists like you will run out of business soon. How safe are these herbal remedies?

If you understand what pharmaceutical science is all about, you will know that all drugs emanate from a natural origin. The reason why you don’t place maximum premium on the natural extracts is because they are not economically viable and so unsustainable, that’s why you must always bring them to the laboratory to synthesis new molecules from them. So, if you ask me, they are not a threat at all, especially from those who are doing the right thing. I am sure you must have heard of the popular Fagara extract used in tackling cycle cell anemia. It is strong and a product of research.

The problem we really have is the abundance of impostors who claim to be herbal practitioners, but, in reality, they are quacks.

These people don’t even know the clinical efficacy of the drugs being peddled; they are just mixing nonsense. Most times, when you take them to quality control labs, you discover that they have added orthodox drugs into those things they parade. Very few of them are genuine. Mind you, pharmacists are experimental scientists. As I am speaking to you, there are more than 1,000

Akintayo

THE PROBLEM WE REALLY HAVE IS THE ABUNDANCE OF IMPOSTORS WHO CLAIM TO BE HERBAL

PRACTITIONERS, BUT, IN REALITY, THEY ARE QUACKS drug molecules that have not been commercially exploited in this country. So, herbal practitioners cannot pose any threat to us.

What can you say about the recently adopted external tariff law and the National Drug Distribution Guideline (NDDG) and how does it affect the industry?

The industry has numerous challenges, so many challenges, which we hope government will help us address. Regarding the NDDG guidelines, let me assure consumers of health that right now we are in the process of presidential consultation with all stake holders in our sector, and the whole idea is to synergize energy towards producing acceptable model of distribution that will go with the initiative.

We are working and I believe we should have a position in the next couples of weeks as soon as we have the harmonized stakeholders in the industry we will communicate.

Considering that the health

workers’ demands are yet to be met. Will JOHESU be embarking on a strike again?

No. the Joint Health Sector Union does not have any plan of going on strike. Although some health workers are on strike, that is an independent action.

Because we have a new government in place, we need to give him time to settle down. We have however sent him a letter stating our demands and reminding him that we have valid MOUs and even circulars, to back up these demands. Some of these demands are; the implementation of the existing circular on promotion of our members from CONHESS 14 to 15 as directors which places premium on the need to sanction defaulting hospital managements. We have asked that specific steps must be taken by the Head of Service of the Federation to ensure the expedited issuance of an enabling circular authorizing consultancy cadre for health professionals. We also reminded government, that the Federal Ministry of Health cannot con-

tinue to be seen as a partial arbiter that does not disguise its bias towards the preferences of only one profession in a multi-disciplinary sector. This clamour becomes even more valid against the background that the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) caters for the interest of over 95% of the workforce in Healthcare.

We have asked that payment of arrears of specialist allowances to qualified hospital based health professionals with effect from January 1, 2010, should be enforced without any delay whatsoever. The Federal Ministry of Health must now come up with a circular that facilitates residency programmes for all health professionals in Nigeria. For over 5 years now the NHIS encourages unlawful payment mechanisms dubbed ‘global capitation,’ while HMOs also capitates secondary and tertiary facilities which out rightly disrupts the equilibrium of the health system. We demand that the Federal Government must direct the board and management of the NHIS to immediately adopt lawful payment mechanism to wit, capitation for primary providers and fee for service for secondary and tertiary providers.

Government must also redress the capitation modes by embracing international global best practices on what constitutes a primary facility for capitation in Nigeria. We demand that the Federal Government must direct the board and management of the NHIS to immediately adopt lawful payment mechanism to wit, capitation for primary providers and fee for service for secondary and tertiary providers. Government must also redress the capitation modes by embracing international global best practices on what constitutes a primary facility for capitation in Nigeria. Government must urgently redress overlaps in some of the existing health statutes to entrench harmony in healthcare e.g. Medical Laboratory Scientists /pathologists which are creations of duplication in specific approbations. Again, the former administration set the record of appointment of two members of the same profession as Ministers in charge of the Federal Ministry of Health which comprises a multiplicity of professionals.

This unwholesome development facilitated unprecedented injustice, unlawful appointments in regulatory agencies in health facilitates, the worst output by any leadership at the Federal Ministry of Health in recent times.

Mirror Wednesday, July 29, 2015 National www.nationalmirroronline.net

Queen Nigeria promotes pet projects

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Arts Lounge Good story is like well-designed building –Kemi Adesoye

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Searching for role models in entertainment industry There are growing concerns at the conduct of some Nigerian artists, especially the ones in the entertainment industry.

This is becoming worrisome as social commentators are alarmed on the level of indecent behaviors and negative scandals oozing from the industry. Can youths find role models amongst entertainers?

Zaaki

Isiguzo Destiny

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ecently, a US–based lady on Instagram accused popular musician Timaya of rape and also that the super star threatened her even after the sexual assault. Reacting to the allegation, Egberi Papa 1 of Bayelsa, Enetimi Odon, a father of two girls boldly said “there was no rape and you can deduce this from the recordings she released.

There was consensual sex, no doubt. Or, how would you describe a woman who travelled down to my hotel and made out with me, only to start a tirade? She is just being mischievous” confirming the fears

by Nigerians that most Nigerian entertainment artistes are people of poor conduct and character. According to a social commentator on Facebook, Mrs Maduka, who condemned Timaya’s confession of having an intercourse with a lady that is not his wife, wondered if Timaya will teach his daughters to have affair with anybody they see because the person is a star. “I am very disappointed with this self styled artist. Timaya is not portraying our African values which part of it is chastity before marriage. One needs not to publicly announce he had an affair with a vulnerable female fan when one should be playing the part of a role model to” she fumed.

There are other issues that have really rocked the industry that is making Nigerians begin to look at some of these artistes as people that can corrupt good minds and characters. In an interview with Art lounge, Timi Babatope a psychologist said “the issue of divorce easily come to the mind as most of these entertainers have created an impression that a harmonious marriage is a burden and thus unrealistic” while responding to questions on the conducts of some Ni-

Wizkid

Cossy

gerian artistes” she also mentioned the issue of nudity, violence, reckless intercourse, neglect of family and other vices associated with some of these artistes.

Clara Nnanna told the reporter that she has since barred her kids from watching or following entertainment artistes for fear they will corrupt her children. She cited example of Cosy Orjiakor who is in the business of revealing sensitive parts of her body “for cheap popularity” as she termed it. She asked “what will kids and young people gain from a girl who throws caution to the winds and shows off her body in an immoral way. I don’t want my children to grow up with a mindset that their bodies are for public display”. But a socialite who begged for anonymity because of her popularity in the entertainment industry disagreed that Cossy is portraying herself in a bad light. She insisted that Cossy who have been associated with negative headlines in the online media has the right to do what she wants to do with her body. She said “Cossy for me is not a bad person, that is who she is and we must respect her for it. What she does in so far as it does not hurt anybody does not concern anyone. Whatever she is doing, she is still within the ambit of law. I must tell you that some people like it and encour-

ages it. If one does not like to see those kinds of things, fine. But such person should not judge because everyone has a fault”. Cossy Orjiakor recently posted near-nude pictures on herself on her Twitter handle to the severe criticism of Nigerians who associated her with different names like “sex-symbol”, “indecent”, “erotic” etc. She however apologised for posting the near nude pictures.

Another person who has received heavy knocks from critics as regarding his conduct is Jude Okoye, the music director and brother to the sensational P-Square. Jude Okoye posted his picture with three pistols and some bullets on the internet with a message that suggested violence. While describing the post, an online media said Jude “ought to be a role model rather engaging in brazen display of such shameful act”. One of the followers of the successful music director begged him to remove the picture saying “you’re not sending the right message to youths out there. With you being a celebrity” and added that the act was a “real shame”. Others feared that the celebrity is setting a bad pace and feared for the influence such picture will have on the Nigerian society. Mor Sene with handle @yuseemi wrote “that’s exactly where I guess the bad influence will

Speaking generally on the conducts of these artistes, some critics believe that they are emulating Western artistes in their excessive behaviours

Timaya

start spreading to the masses to make this ‘bad influential pic like’ this in Nigeria trend”. Another commentator “@ Alashock” was very vocal with his criticism. The tweeter called it shameless and was evidently disappointed. Addressing Jude, he said this is a “height of shamelessness if you think this is a show off…

Stupid American wannabe…Even when the supposed advanced country (America) is currently campaigning for gun control. Insecurity of the highest order from Judeengees”(sic). Others were impressed with the display and hailed the celebrity for his act.

Speaking generally on the conducts of these artistes, some critics believe that they are emulating Western artistes in their excessive behaviours. Emmanuel Udoh who owns a media and publicity firm at Victoria Island, Lagos said the artistes are forgetting that the accepted values in these Western countries are different from the values in our Nigerian clime. He condemned some Nigerian artistes for imitating and importing some of the values that are unacceptable by Nigerians to the industry. According to him, “these people think that what is working for the American artistes will work in Nigeria. Nigerians are very moralistic and value orientated people. That is why you see them bash these artistes when they misbehave”. He admonished that “Nigerian artistes from our worldview are like role models, repository of our values and culture and must conduct themselves as such. Our artistes should not be found in acts that are questionable and unacceptable”.

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Arts Lounge

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

VOICES

Literature as tool for development of society Akachi Ezeigbo

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s Steve Ogude rightly remarked, there are two factors to be considered when development is being discussed: the human factor and the physical, non-human factor. The non-human factor refers to natural resources (mineral oil, solid mineral, etc.) and infrastructure – the basic systems and structures that a society or country needs in order to work properly, such as roads, communication, power and banking systems. Development can take place when people are in a position to exploit the natural resources they have in order to provide infrastructure. Hence the importance of the human factor in development. The point is that the human factor is indispensable in development, for a people properly educated and socialised drive development as a matter of course. Consequently, for a country to develop, the citizens must be ‘equipped’ with a sound well-grounded and balanced humanities and science education right from primary to the secondary and tertiary levels, as some of us were fortunate to have had between the 1950s and 1970s before ‘oil’ blighted and doomed our country and our sensibilities. My argument is that literature (among the Humanities) is the most efficacious subject or discipline to provide the humanistic education this country needs to make progress, to escape from materialistic philistinism and the scourge of corruption. Why I make this bold claim will become clearer in the course of the lecture.

In traditional African society, art was functional, and the artist, performer or storyteller was fully aware of this. The traditional oral artist knew the didactic role his/her art had to play and geared the performance towards achieving that end. Thus in such a society, art was placed at the service of the society. Modern African writers are a product of their species of the traditional society. At the AfricanScandinavian Writer’s Conference in Stockholm in 1967, Soyinka, among other things, declared: “The artist has always

Sola Fajobi

functioned in African societies as the record of mores and experiences of his society and as the voice of vision in his time”. Perhaps writers elsewhere have not always thought it their responsibility to direct their societies. For instance the followers of “The Aesthetic Movement” believed in the dictum “art for art’s sake” and defended this position in the late 19th century Europe. This type of attitude has been rejected by most African writers. Chinua Achebe believes that the writer “should march right in front” in “the task of re-education and re-generation that must be done and that the artist is “the sensitive point in his community”. Agreeing with Soyinka and Achebe, Romanus Egudu adds that the literary artist “dissects the society not only at its

political level but also at its moral level”.

This is what our writers have done over the years since Nigerian literature came of age with the publication of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart in 1958. Our writers are among the best in the world; they are contributing, through the power of their imagination and artistic creativity, to the growth of literary productions that are changing the face of world literature. Writers, with award-winning titles, like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Buchi Emecheta, Ben Okri, Niyi Osundare, Femi Osofisan, Tanure Ojaide, Zaynab Alkali, Helon Habila, Chimamanda Adichie, Chika Unigwe, Promise Ogochukwu and others have put Nigerian literature in the world’s literary hall of fame and contributed to Nigeria’s

Literature is a threat to dictators. Bad leaders fear and hate writers and their works.

Memorable Reads Who is your favourite author?

I have read thousands of books which fascinated me. But there was a book I read when I travelled to the U.S by Steven .R. Covey, which I will never forget.

The title of the book is 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It is a book that has the potentials to change one’s outlook, especially as regards being successful. I also fell in love with one other book I read a long time ago by Sidney Newton Bremer called Spirit of Apollo.

What is your annual budget for books?

I do not have any specific amount I set aside, but I have someone who supplies me books. I give him a list and he brings them depending on the needs that I have at that point in time.

If you write a book that does not have to do with academics, what would be your theme?

If it does not have to do with my field of study, then it would be about God.

Sola Fosudo University lecturer and performing artiste

cultural and intellectual development.

They have used art as a means of effecting revolutionary changes in society. For instance, in Season of Anomy Soyinka creates characters like Ofeyi and Demakin who act as agents of justice with the moral and humane spirit lost by our society through the evil machination of two oppressive regimes. Through them and the forces they represent, Soyinka hopes to restore to his society its moral character and humane sensibility. The issue of whether literature has the capacity to trigger off a revolution has been an enduring controversy. Some people believe it does not. Others argue that literature is of no use if writers write and no one reads what they write. A work of art becomes effective only when it is read.

A writer and critic, Kole Omotoso, has more to say on this: The society has to use what it produces for literature to be relevant …. I still insist that literature has no function; except what is given it by those who read it. On its own, it cannot change anything unless someone responds to the work and does something with it. If there is no response to literature, there is little literature can do.

What we deduce from Omotoso’s assertion is the fact that literature can be a catalyst to revolutionary change: what is required is for an individual (a reader) or individuals (readers) to apply the knowledge, the information gathered from literature to bring about social change. The unrelenting persecution faced by writers all over the world is a clear indication that literature can indeed be a weapon to achieve change, which bad leaders dread; hence the persecution of courageous writers. In Apartheid South Africa, in Kenya during the time of Arap Moi, in Nigeria under Abacha, and in Eastern European countries during the Cold War, many writers faced death sentence, imprisonment and detention as a result of their work and their activism. Literature is a threat to dictators. Bad leaders fear and hate writers and their works.

•Ezeigbo, a renowned writer teaches at the University of Lagos.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Arts Lounge

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

25

ARTISTE UNCENSORED

Good story is like well-designed building –Kemi Adesoye of MNET’s new soap opera, Hotel Majestic. That was some months ago. Adesoye is the creative story teller whom aw a r d - w i n ning filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan couldn’t resist her stories. The movies Figurine and Phone Swap are obvious proofs.

Last of four children, Adesoye a c t u a l ly graduated with a Mas-

She is the only Nigerian selected to be part of the recently concluded Talents Durban’s ‘Script Station’ at the 36th Durban International Film Festival. Enter into the world Kemi Adesoye, the screen writer with the wonder pen!

Olawale Oluwadahunsi

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he delight on the face of popular Tinsel Director, Tope Oshin Ogun, can’t be quantified when told that Kemi Adesoye will write some episodes

ters degree from the University of Technology Minna, in Niger state. So how did an architect venture into screen writing?

Well, she never even knew screenwriting was a profession, but always loved watching films and grew up with a vast film library of comedies, thrillers, westerns, drama’s, soaps. ‘In those days, all you had were the video clubs’, she says. Frustrat-

ed with having to queue up at the video club one day, she exclaimed ‘I should be making my own movies!’

“I didn’t start full blast into screenwriting. I worked in radio first, but the first script I wrote was back in 1998. I attended a workshop at IFBA International film and Broadcast Academy where I learnt of an MNET sponsored project called ‘New Directions’. They were looking for short stories. I sent in my first written short script and was picked along with four other semi finalists. That script was called The Special Gele.

“I didn’t win and the script never got produced but it offered some validation and made me realize ‘I can do this’. The New directions offered me the opportunity to meet Nigerian filmmakers I remember being seated across from Amaka Igwe and other film producers I only ever heard about and I thought, Woah!”

“My earliest relationship with words came through pictures. They attracted me to screenwriting, scripts are meant to be visual”, she adds.

After realizing her love for screen writing, she sought to study more from the internet and subsequently, she took a screenwriting course at NYFA, Los Angeles.

“I trained off the internet, I sought out screenwriting books, and I tried to learn as much as I could about screenwriting, like every profession, it’s grounded on certain principles but it’s also dynamic. For example, once upon a time, film genres were distinct. Films were either comedies, or dramas.

“But nowadays you can mix it up- you can have an action–thriller-comedy-science fiction story. There are rules to the craft, but you have to master the rules be-

Screenwriting can be as profitable as you like. It’s a profession you love first before it starts loving you. Every screenwriter’s journey is different

fore you break them” After writing Figurine, she has gone on to writing TV series including “Doctors Quarters”, “Edge of Paradise”, “Tinsel”, “Hotel Majestic” and various feature films. With all these successes, will she return to Architecture? ‘Never say never’, the Kwara-state born writer replies. She also speaks on the profitability of her profession.

“Well, never say never! However, there are certain grounded principles of Architecture that forever stay with me.

Every well designed building is like a good story, it needs a sound foundation and structure.

“Screenwriting can be as profitable as you like. It’s a profession you love first before it starts loving you. Every screenwriter’s journey is different. I worked in radio for five years writing full time.

And even then it there were long scary moments when nothing was happening.

I don’t recommend people quit their day job to pursue screenwriting until your writing can support you” The dark-skinned writer speaks more on her profession. She says she time it takes for her to write a script depends on its varying lengths. She says a short film can be 5 to 30 pages long; a full feature, about 90-120 pages and series take about 26 to 45 pages long.

“For television, I’ll say the shortest time I have ever written a first draft is 8 hrs and for a feature film about ten days.

As for the longest, I keep breaking my own record” For her works, Adesoye has won the Lagos Business School Pan African screenwriting award, IN-SHORT best screenplay award and the Nigeria Entertainment award. Her produced screenplays have won African Movie Academy awards in other categories. But quite humbly, she discloses that she is still growing while also acknowledging that she hasn’t done too badly.

Adesoye reveals her role model as her sister; because ‘she inspires her to live her dream’. She also describes her personal relationship with words.

“I’m humbled by their power to evoke and emote”, she quips.

MIDWEEK JUMP

StarTimes marks 5 tomorrow

L

eading digital television service provider, StarTimes will be celebrating its five successful years of delighting Nigerian households with quality and affordable Pay TV offerings on the 30th day of July at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja. The brand began full operation in Nigeria in 2010 and since has kept growing stronger and bigger with subscribers rising from zero to millions and its TV channels and content from 40 to about 200.

The event is organised to celebrate past

achievements, the present success within Nigeria and Africa as a whole, and the promising future of the brand winning a five year broadcasting rights of German Bundesliga football.

The President of StarTimes group, Mr. Pang XinXing, will be present as well as other key industry players and government dignitaries.

There will also be an interactive public discourse to further enlighten Nigerians on the subject of digital migration.

In the spirit of celebration, StarTimes already kicked off an anniversary promo for existing and prospective subscribers.

Industry Night with IllBliss

I

ndustry Night presents Ill Bliss on Wednesday July 29th at the event at Spice Route, Buddha Bar, Adeola Odeku Street, Lagos.

The night is an avenue for upcoming artistes to showcase their talents and to pull established artistes, record label execs, brand managers, and fans together. There will be performance from various artistes like Ill Bliss, DJ Spinall and Jimmie. Event commence by 10pm.

Illbliss

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Arts Lounge

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FAR AND NEAR

Queen Nigeria promotes pet projects Olayiwola Awakan

D

iamond Okoh, the 21-year old Queen Nigeria, who promised to uphold the dignity of girls and women and values of Nigerian culture in her present status, took a tour of some notable places within Lagos to seek their collaboration towards achieving her pet projects.

Recently, Diamond paid a courtesy visit to the Zonal Director of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Lagos Network Centre, Wole Coker and the Vice President Operations Dana Cars and Services (Renault Motors) in Lagos, Joseph Fernandez to appreciate them for their effort towards the success of the pageant and to further solicit their continuous support for the Queen Nigeria project. NTA was acknowledged for hosting the edition of the pageant that produced her as the Queen while Renault was appreciated for providing the star prize of a car. Also, the Zonal Director of NTA, Lagos Network Centre, pledged to give her media support during her reign.

According to Tokunbo Ifaturoti of TAAI PR Consultancy, whose team manages Queen Nigeria’s community development work portfolio, this phase of Queen Nigeria, Diamond Okoh’s reign is very exciting.

Her pet project titled ‘Go the Extra Mile with Diamond - Queen Nigeria’ revolves around making a difference in the lives of people especially children, youth and women living in Internally Displaced Camps due to a myriad of factors.

She highlighted that such factors are caused by insurgency, environmental issues such as flooding and drought and the movement of people as a result of social

economic reasons.

Diamond Okoh said she wants to be a role model not just to herself but to young girls growing up desiring to win in beauty pageants. “I believe it is extremely important to give back to the community and nation who voted me to becoming the winner”, she said.

In her speech to the Renault team, Diamond thanked them for the star prize of the Renault Logan car. Renault has been consistent in its desire to know how Queen Nigeria is enjoying her star prize and how she is using it to make a difference in the lives of people around her, which is a form of social responsibility. She stressed on the fact that being the winner of a beauty pageant goes far beyond wearing the crown.

“Diamond, will have hands on experience in community development work, and is determined through this project to serve her nation with passion”, Tokunbo added.

Okoh concluded by re-affirming her commitment to highlight the plight of less privileged groups in Nigeria with a desire to do all she can to try and make a difference in their lives.

The media outreach of the Nigerian Television Authority, the largest broadcasting network in Africa will definitely be a platform to showcase Diamond’s passion as she continues her journey.

Okoh’s pet project titled ‘Go the Extra Mile with Diamond - Queen Nigeria’ will serve as a conduit for sustainable difference to families living in Internally Displaced Camps. It is set to indeed make a measurable change.

Unlike most beauty pageants, Queen Nigeria is culturally inclined with elements meant to enhance the restoration of lost values in the Nigerian woman.

AFRIMA in Casablanca

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s part of its continuous strategic engagement with stakeholders and different regions in Africa, the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, in partnership with the African Union Commission, AUC, has held a stakeholders’ conference for the Northern region of Africa in Morocco, on Thursday, July 23, 2015 at Sofitel Casablanca Tour Blanche Hotel, Rue Sidi Belyout, Casablanca, 20000, Morocco.

Also, the AFRIMA team had an extensive meeting with the government of Kingdom of Morocco in the capital city, Rabat on Friday, July 24, 2015.

The AFRIMA stakeholders’ conference is a platform for education and knowledge sharing for artistes and other stakeholders in the African music industry to understand and align with the vision, objectives and Ideals of AFRIMA and AUC which are aimed towards an integrated, peaceful and prosperous Africa by using the tools of art, music and tourism.

Attendees at the Casablanca conference included the winners from Northern Africa at the 2014 AFRIMA edition which include Noura Mint Seymale (Mauritania) for Best Female in Northern Africa category and Ahmed Soultan, (Morocco) for Best Male in Northern Africa category as well as key decision makers in the media and music industry in Northern Africa that include Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania among others.

The conference also brought together artistes, media executives, policy makers, music producers, record label owners, artistes’ managers, video directors, music entrepreneurs, music enthusiasts, officials of African Union Commission, AUC, relevant government officials in Morrocco and AFRIMA partners to discuss strategies and

actions needed to facilitate better opportunities for stakeholders from North Africa in the AFRIMA initiative.

The stakeholders’ conference featured panelists from AFRIMA, AUC and Northern Africa region among who are AFRIMA Executive Producer/President, Mike Dada; Head of Culture Division, Department of Social Affairs, African Union Commission, AUC, Angela Martins; Chairman, International Committee, AFRIMA, Steve Ayorinde; Sponsorship and Communication Committee, Member, Jire Anifalaje;Regional Director of Afrima, Brahim EL Maznid and Winner of 2014 AFRIMA Awards, Ahmed Soultan from Morocco among others.

The AFRIMA team also spoke on the buildup which include the, Adjudication and Nomination process, Public voting process, Africa Music Summit; and the AFRIMA Music Village, towards 2015 AFRIMA ceremony coming up later in the year in November 13-15, 2015 in Nigeria.

AFRIMA team

Diamond Okoh, Queen Nigeria

Obong of Calabar hosts Little Mr. Planet Richard Ndoma

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bong of Calabar, His Eminence Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi-Otu V, has lauded the six-year old Cross River State born, Master Augustine Asuquo, for emerging Mister Planet, becoming the second black child in the globe to take the trophy since its inception.

Asuquo emerged after defeating 45 others at the keenly contested competition to take the crown at the final contest for the 2015 edition of competition in Suzopol, Bulgaria in Europe.

Master Augustine who visited the royal father to present the trophy he won in Europe to, the monarch averred that combining Erik and Ugep attire gave the young child the crown, and lauded young Augustine for promoting Efik culture in faraway Bulgaria.

“We are proud of you my son. You have asked me to help you see Governor Ben Ayade and President Muhammadu Buhari, we shall reach out to them on your behalf when political activities die down a little. I’ve listened to you, and from what you said, your vision is to improve living condition of children especially in violent-prone areas. You seek to correct ills of the society; God will help you

Obong of Calabar achieve these.

Let me sincerely commend you, my son, for this formal presentation of the trophy. This action shows that you have given recognition to your fathers before launching out. We will do our best to encourage you”, the Monarch promised.

Master Augustine appealed to the royal father to help him achieve his ambition, stressing hat “I am the second black child to win Little Mr. Planet; I want to lend a voice to fellow children walking aimlessly on the streets with no home and no food to eat.”

They maintained that besides winning the trophy, Asuquo was blessed with many talents including playing the keyboard and violin, live performance of music and dancing. He is a Grade Two pupil of Palm Court Crèche and School in Calabar, Cross River State.

It would be recalled that the competition which held from June 16 to June 23 had contestants from nations like: Russia, Ukraine, South Africa, Hungary, France, Macedonia, Poland, Estonia, Georgia, Brazil, Australia, Turkey, Latvia, India and Nigeria.

The winner of was given a gold trophy to reign for a period of one year as Little Mister Planet 2015; while Miss Abdurasakova Alina, (seven) from Russia coveted Little Miss Planet 2015.

Business

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Nigeria can produce 1m metric tons of cashew yearly with right policies –Sotonye 28

Travel & Tourism to contribute 1.6% to Nigeria’s GDP

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National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Indigenous oil, gas operators rev up investment drives despite challenges

Power sector to attract new investments –Analysts UDEME AKPAN

T

here are strong indications that the determination of the President Muhammadu Buhari to pursue the ongoing privatisation programme in the power sector to a logical conclusion may open the sector to new investments.

Stakeholders who spoke with National Mirror yesterday said the Federal Government’s determination to continue with the privatisation was gradually increasing foreign and local investors’ confidence into the capitalintensive sector.

The Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Sam Amadi said in a telephone interview that the President action demonstrated his determination to respect obligations as well as operate in consistency with government policies.

“This act of President Buhari will attract a lot of credibility to his administration, especially as many stakeholders have over the years worked hard to boost power supply in Nigeria. Those that invested before will remain while new ones will come into the country.”

“The banks and others whose efforts are needed to generate, transmit and distribute adequate

and stable power nationwide will be encourage playing more active roles,” he said.

Amadi pointed out that as a Commission, NERC would continue to regulate the sector in a fair and transparent manner in order to enable investors meet set targets and deliver adequate electricity to consumers at reasonable prices.

The President/CEO of Anobel mobile, Mr. Nicholas Okoye whose company has concluded plans to invest in local production of electricity meters said

investors, including his organisation has been encouraged by the consistency of government to stake more resources in the sector.

“We have been encouraged by this single act of President Buhari to continue our project. We will continue to invest in areas that would add tremendous value to Nigerians.”

“The completion of our project will create many multiplier effects, especially employment, capacity building and technology transfer to our human capital,”

he indicated.

The Managing Directors of some GENCOs and DISCOs declined to comment on the subject apparently because of their believe that the sector has not yet witnessed the much expected improvement since they took over from the defunct Power Holding company of Nigeria.

One of them who preferred not to be named said: “We have been doing our best but the sector needs huge funds which the banks are not willing to provide.

S

age HR & Payroll International Division have urged companies that plan to expand into multiple African countries to seek solutions that support multiple currencies, languages, and legislations.

In addition, the company also advised such entities to ensure that their solutions were kept up to date with the latest tax regulations and calculations since these tend to change every tax year.

It also specifically tasked South African businesses on the need to

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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

Chair, Georgia Legislative Black Caucus Atlanta Rep. Dee Dawkins- Haigler (left) presenting the Special Commendation Award from the US Georgia Legislative Black Caucus to Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, during the 6th African Business Leadership Forum/Awards 2015, in London, United Kingdom, at the weekend.

Sage tasks African firms on tax, other fiscal imperatives TOLA AKINMUTIMI

27

access local tax expertise, invest in sound business systems, and take the time to understand local tax frameworks and regulations if they are to succeed as they expand into new territories in subSaharan Africa.

According to Sage Head of Department HR & Payroll International Division, Gerhard Hartman, the growing focus on compliance across Africa means that it is important for companies to have all their paperwork in order.

He said: “Most African governments are eager to expand their tax bases, and are investing heavily in modernising and streamlining tax administration. They

understand that more efficient tax collection is their best way to access funds for social spending and infrastructure investment,” says Hartman.

“Plus, there is a growing debate about the role multinationals play within African economies and the contribution they are making in developing these economies. Against this backdrop, it’s important for companies to be on top of country specific tax legislations.”

Hartman explained that governments and tax authorities in most African countries had been working hard to harmonise their employee tax, company tax, and

VAT with international best practices, pointing out that the good aspect of this is that it is easier than ever to get the necessary tax information and to interpret it.

The environment is rapidly becoming more consistently regulated, more transparent, and easier to navigate.

“Sophisticated legislation in South Africa and tools such as e-filing mean our environment is very mature,” says Hartman.

“But other African countries are quickly catching up - for example, Kenya with its iTax system.

Multi-national companies need to be aware of auditing and reporting requirements.”

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

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

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Executive Discourse

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Nigeria can produce 1m metric tons of ca Anga Sotonye is an Executive Committee member of the National Cashew Association of Nigeria and the Coordinator, Agribusiness & Youth Empowerment in Nigeria. In this interview with ABOLAJI ADEBAYO, he speaks on what Nigeria is losing for her failure to fully harness the potential of cashew and other agro commodities for manufacturing industriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; benefits and the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic growth.

Sir, could you give an insight into the process of preparing cashew for export and what it involves in processing it?

Yes, our equipment just arrived, cashew processing equipment. Right now, we are about to start assembling and all of that to process cashew nut into cashew kernel that is one of the ways we would soon commence aggressively. To me, that is how we can create more jobs and we can earn more because locally there is a very big market for cashew. But, when it comes to export of raw cashew nut generally it is big business that I can always maintain that there is cash in cashew processing.

At a cashew warehouse like this, the process is straight forward. You buy any cashew from the farm gate, in the bushes, in places such as Enugu, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Kogi, Oyo, Abia and other parts of the country. We buy the cashew directly from the farmers and bring them into the warehouse for processing and subsequent sale in local and international markets.

Sotonye

As a commodity exporter, could you expatiate on export potential of commodities like cashew, ginger, garlic and others?

We export cashew, ginger, sesame

seeds and other agricultural commodities but our expertise is exclusively in trading and exporting value addition of these commodities, including plantation in the (blueprint) and management. Cashew for instance is a great crop. I call it a winner crop because everything about cashew is just useful. You can imagine, when you plant cashew it becomes the first line of defence to fight erosion and you are contributing to an improved and a balance environment. The canopy the cashew trees provide serves as shield for relaxation, and when it comes to the cashew nut itself, there is so much to it. You can take the cashew nut for export as raw cashew.

In Nigeria, raw cashew nut is exported that is what we do predominantly. Nigeria today produces 124,000 metric tons of cashew nut, just nut. We are not talking about cashew apple, and we are not talk-

ing about other by-products of cashew, just the nut alone.When you talk about the apple we produce over a million metric tons of cashew apple that can easily be converted to cashew apple juice but over 90 per cent of that cashew apple juice is wasting during harvest because there is no processing. In fact, there is zero processing in Nigeria for cashew apple so it is wasted.

Is there any nutritional value in cashew, what are the health benefits of eating cashew?

When you look at the cashew apple it is richer in vitamin C complex so when 90 per cent of that is wasted you can imagine the colossal loss the economy is going through in the first place. We encourage people to consume cashew apple but people zero in on the cashew nut because this is where the economy potential of

WE NEED, AS A NATION, TO BUILD VERY ADVANCED CASHEW PROCESSING FACILITIES

BECAUSE WE HAVE THE CAPACITY, WE HAVE THE RAW MATERIALS Sotonye

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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Executive Discourse

29

ashew yearly with right policies –Sotonye the cashew is, that is obvious so, everybody is going into the business by buying the raw cashew and exporting it. The cashew nut has zero cholesterol. So, for the health-conscious consumers, cashew nut is preferable. When you go to somebody’s house and they bring cashew nut, ground nut and they drop the two before you, naturally you will go for the cashew nut because the cashew nut has greater appeal, it looks more prosperous and of course it is healthier but it is more expensive and because it is expensive you don’t find it everywhere. Mainly you find cashew nut in the home of the rich.

What is the value at the export market, do you have a benchmark for how much a bag of cashew is sold or do you sell per container?

The measurement actually is in tons and today a ton of cashew sells for $1200.

We have 1000kg in a ton and 13 bags make one ton. In a container, you have to store about 17 tons. You can decide to ship 100 containers, 200 containers; it can be 1000 containers depending on the finance that is available to you. Cashew is a big business and it is a serious business, it is a sector that should be supported strongly by the government because cashew is an industry that is not yet fully explored, the potential of the cashew industry has not been fully harnessed.

When you do not fully harness the potential of this industry it means that you are still as a nation that will be suffering from job loss, reduced income, you are suffering a whole lot of disadvantage.

When you are exporting raw cashew your market globally is defeated than when you are exporting value added product.

are going to be utilizing generator and diesel, which is also very expensive. You are going to compete with countries like Brazil, Vietnam, India and others that have constant electricity at a very low price. You want to use generator to process and compete with these countries, you cannot compete. So, for us to be able to build a sustainable cashew industry we need to support the industry, a lot of government support is needed. Right now, we know that as a country we don’t have stable electricity. So, government should give cashew processors some form of subsidy to subsidize their cost of electricity because running on generator is huge cost for them.

The other time you were trying to explain cashew nut and the economic value of its other components would you like to share some light on that?

The cashew nut I called the winner crop; it is so valuable because it is a big industry on its own. When you export raw cashew nut, you do not just export cashew nut alone. First of all when you crack this cashew nut you have what we call cashew

Sir, how do you think government can

WHEN WE INCREASE OUR PRODUCTION FROM 144,000 METRIC TONS TO 1,000,000 METRIC TONS, IT SIMPLY MEANS THAT AUTOMATICALLY THE VALUE OF CASHEW WE WOULD HAVE

GROWN IN NIGERIA WOULD HAVE SO INCREASED

WITH ONE MILLION METRIC TONS, AND BY THAT, WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT MORE ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE

Does Nigeria really depend on imported processed cashew?

Yes, we do.. When we export our raw cashew into Asia it is processed there and that processed cashew would have created jobs for their own people. By further exporting the processed cashew into Nigeria they are also earning foreign exchange for their countries and we buy it as Nigerians and we eat it.

What we have in Nigeria is low profile processing, which cannot be compared with the imported ones. We need, as a nation, to build very advanced cashew processing facilities because we have the capacity, we have the raw materials. We can take advantage of these raw materials to add value to them. It can create local jobs for our people and we can sell the processed ones locally and also export them.

With your experience in cashew trading, what does it entail to have a state of the art world class processing plant for cashew?

You need on the average about $400,000 on the minimum and when you convert the money into naira, you are talking about N83 million. That is what we need on equipment alone, not to talk about the warehouse for the factory and all other things. So, why would you want to invest $400,000 of hard earn cash into processing when you are not sure of electricity.

If you don’t have electricity it means you

nut shell, from the cashew nut shell you can extract cashew nut shell liquid which is called CNSL or shell liquid.

Cashew nut shell liquid is used for a lot of industrial applications including the manufacturing of insecticide and a whole lot of products. Cashew nut shell burns like wild fire and it contain bio fuel. When you come to cashew cannel, it is what people eat as a processed cashew nut. You salt it, you can spice it with pepper depending on your taste. When you look at the whole value chain, it is a multi-billion dollar industry.

We in Nigeria pride ourselves as major producers of cashew with very insignificant processors. We cannot continue like that. That is why we have to change the way we do business. We have to provide a lot of support, specialized, well articulated support for the cashew industry so that the industry can be built. We can harness the potential of our cashew crop, so that we can create more cashew millionaire in Nigeria, we can create more wealth from cashew.

Sotonye

support the private sector?

That is the critical thing. To create more wealth and create guarantee market for our cashew farmers is to create the industry here. All kinds of support should be given to the private sectors so that they can establish cashew industries in Nigeria. The support should include tax wavers, subsidy to some level to reduce the cost of energy and all of that so that people can go on to create more byproducts from cashew in Nigeria. That is where the wealth is, that is where the job is, and that is where the economic potential of the crop is that will need to harness and develop.

The demand for Nigerian cashew nut is on the rise so we have to step up by increasing local production; we have to grow more cashew trees. It takes four years, when you plant cashew nut for it to grow into commercial viability. At the fourth year for the next forty years you will be harvesting cashew on yearly bases.

It is a good business, you plant your tree once and for the next forty to fifty years you will be harvesting from the same tree.

Government should encourage people to plant cashew and you see it will be important for the incumbent government of Buhari to do something radical that no government in Nigeria has done. If you want to build an industry sometimes you need to be radical.

Today, our production capacity for the raw cashew nut is 144,000 metric tons annually. We need to step up our production, we need to step up production by two folds, we need to take our production to somewhere around 400,000 annually, that is what a serious government should be talking about. Now if you ask me I can give you categorically and clearly that it is easy for us in Nigeria to take our cashew production from 144,000 metric tons to 1,000,000 metric tons in just four years.

It is the simplest thing anybody can do. It is just a matter of being strategic.

When we increase our production from 144,000 metric tons to 1,000,000 metric tons, it simply means that automatically the value of cashew we would have grown in Nigeria would have so increased with one million metric tons, and by that, we will be talking about more economic empowerment for our people. The implication of that is that we would have grown our earnings, revenue from raw cashew from about N34 billion to somewhere in the neighborhood of about N300billion to N500 billion annually.

Is it not better to increase our earnings from N34 billion to N500 billion without doing anything too technical? All what we have simply done is get more people to plant cashew. How do you do it? Identify them and encourage them through simple incentive programme that will be drawn out. You should increase production of cashew across the nation, increase processing, and increase export. When you do these three things you will take the cashew industry from the unpleasant status now to a multi billion naira economy.

More people will be employed because we are going to have more cashew trees scattered across the country.

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Panoro Energy discovers oil, targets 1,100 bpd UDEME AKPAN

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he nation’s over 2.5 million barrels per day oil production may receive a boost with an additional 1,100 barrels per day, bpd, production by the end of this year.

The additional output would come from a new ‘discovery at Aje-5’ which is expected to come on stream by the end of 2015.

The company which has substantial assets in Nigeria and Gabon indicated that drilling has commenced on the Aje-5 production well on the OML 113 license, offshore Nigeria.

It maintained that Aje-5 well will be completed as a subsea oil production well and that drilling and completion is expected to take about 70 days.

The company maintained that installation of the production manifold, flow lines, umbilicals and risers would take place in the last quarter of 2015 after which the FPSO vessel will be installed and commissioned.

Panoro Energy ASA has a 6.502per cent interest in OML 113 which is operated by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum (YFP) and is located in the extreme western part of offshore Nigeria adjacent to the Benin border.

The licence contains the Aje field as well as a number of exploration prospects. Aje Field was

discovered in 1997, in water depths ranging from 100-1500m.

Unlike the majority of Nigerian Fields which are Tertiary sandstones, Aje has multiple oil, gas and gas condensate reservoirs in the Turonian, Cenomanian and Albian sandstones, and as such has more affinity with the Jubilee field offshore Ghana.

Four wells have been drilled to date on the Aje Field. Aje-1 and Aje-2 tested oil and gas condensate at high rates. Aje-4, drilled in early 2008, logged significant pay and confirmed the presence of four productive reservoirs.

In March 2014, the Government of Nigeria approved of the Aje Field Development Plan (“FDP”) and in October 2014 the Final Investment Decision for the project was made.

The FDP describes a development of the Aje Cenomanian oil reservoir via two subsea wells and a leased FPSO. “The initial 2 wells will produce an estimated mid case of 28.5MMbbls 41° API oil with production starting by the end of 2015 at a rate of 10,000 bbls/day. Two further wells are expected to bring total Cenomanian oil production

up to over 50 MMbbls.”

A third Turonian gas condensate development phase is being conceptualised and will likely involve 3 or 4 wells producing over 500 bcf of gas, 22 MMbbls of condensate and 40 MMbbls of LPG. The development project activity is well underway with works on the FPSO and subsea equipment ongoing. Drilling is expected mid 2015 followed by installation and production start-up by year end.”

“Processing of about 1,000 km2 of newly acquired 3D seismic data is underway with depth migrated products expected during Q2 2015.

Controller Federal Operations unit zone ‘A’ Turaki Usman Adamu flanked on the left by Coordinator headquarters monitoring team Idiroko axis, Dc Yahaya Biri, Pro Fou ‘A’ DSC Uche Ejesieme And O/C Headquarters monitoring team Seme Axis, AC Kirawa Abdullahi shortly after the launch of ‘Operation hawk descend’ recently in Seme.

AfDB boss urges improved investments in Africa SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

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resident, African Development Bank Group, AfDB, Donald Kaberuka has urged Japanese businesses to invest in mutually-beneficial production in Africa.

Speaking at the end of a twoday farewell visit to Tokyo, Kaberuka said both sides would benefit, if Japanese authorities could assist their firms to set up businesses in Africa while urging African governments to enable

such companies to establish viable businesses, especially in the energy sector.

He commended the decision to organize the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, TICAD, in Africa in 2016 while underscoring the need for the conference to build on the momentum and outcomes of TICAD V held in Yokohama in 2013, by scaling up the conversation between governments and businesses on both sides.

During the visit, the AfDB President met Prime Minister Shinzo

Abe, the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, Taro Aso; the President of Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA, Akihito Tanaka, and Central Bank Governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, among other top government officials and business leaders.

He also gave a talk on how to further consolidate relations between African and Japan at a luncheon attended by the African Diplomatic Corps in Japan.

Japan joined the African Development Fund, ADF, in June 1973 and the African Development

Bank, AfDB, in December 1982.

Japan is the second largest contributor to ADF in cumulative terms after the United States and the third largest shareholder in the AfDB after the United States and Nigeria.

In addition to TICAD organized every five years since 1993, Japan collaborates with the Bank Group in many areas including the Japan Policy and Human Resources Development Grant, PHRDG, and the Joint Bank-Japan Enhanced Private Sector Assistance, EPSA, Initiative among others.

GEMS4 launches £3.5m fund for private sector devt ABOLAJI ADEBAYO

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wo funding windows have been launched by the Growth and Employment in States – Wholesale and Retail Sector (GEMS4) – a market development project in Nigeria funded

by DFID/UKaid and the World Bank.

The funding windows were created in a bid to spur the private sector into developing and providing the needed solution.

Specifically, the initiators stated that the funding was aimed at catalysing private sector investment in innovative, commercially viable, and inclusive business models that result in improved performance, job creation and improved income opportunities for poor men and women engaged in the Wholesale and Retail trade.

The GEMS4 Enterprise Challenge Fund is a £3.5 million private sector development matching grant fund set to provide

financial and technical support to innovative business ideas that will either tackle the loss of perishable produce due to spoilage and wastage, or create income opportunities in the sector for women.

It has been identified that seven out of every 10 baskets of perishable food produce such as tomatoes, pepper, and vegetables are lost within the value chain before it gets to the end consumer due to poor preservation techniques and storage facilities,

while many women in the wholesale and retail sector which contributed N22 trillion to the 2014 national GDP are poor.

Although the fund is focused on business innovation and solutions, applying organisations and projects must meet certain key criteria to be eligible to apply for the grant funding support.

The best ideas will receive grant investment of up to £150,000 with special consideration for applications from women owned or managed enterprises.

NCC blames high call, data tariff on operating environment ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN

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he Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has blamed the current tariff for calls and data across all mobile telephone networks in the country on the inclement operating economic environment.

The regulator, while reacting to calls from subscribers that the current tariff regime was high, disclosed that the tariff was a determination of other cost and the operating economic environment of the country.

Speaking during a radio sensitization programme, the Commission’s Director Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo said that the pricing model for the telecommunication industry rose with the cost of service provision, noting that “telecommunication operates within an eco-system, where you have other factors affecting it and one of that is Power, right now power is a major cost for telecom operators.”

According to him, one of the major operators has about 4000 generators nationwide and fuels all of the generators while another spent about N4 billion on diesel last year.

Ojobo, while regretting that the subscriber had to bear the cost, however expressed optimism that the cost may reduce when the various efforts of government in the licensing of independent power producers yield result.

He noted that in other climes where power was not an issue, the cost element is removed from the pricing cost that is moved over to the consumer saying that “everyone that is providing a service is not a charity, people have to provide a service.”

Ojobo clairified: “Nigeria is not the highest, Nigeria is not the lowest, we are somewhere there in the middle” stating that “as at 2001 when the mobile operators were licensed, people were paying Fifty Naira a minute as at that time, today you have as low as 11 kobo per second, in a minute that that gives you Six Naira 60 kobo, so when you speak for like 10 minutes, it is N66.00 only, so that gives you an indication of what has happened in terms of price reduction in the industry.”

He explained that there had been a slip from the higher end of the cap to almost going to the floor, disclosing that the Commission has carried out a study and would soon do a publication on the pricing of the Telecommunication services in Africa, especially in West Africa region.

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Business News

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

31

Travel & Tourism to contribute 1.6% to Nigeria’s GDP OLUSEGUN KOIKI

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orld Travel and Tourism Council, WTTC, has projected that travel and tourism industry in Nigeria would contribute directly 1.6 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product of the country by 2024, which represents N1.366 billion.

The Council also projected that travel and tourism industry would support direct employment to the tune of 1,194,000 in the next decade, which represents 1.4 per cent total employment in the country.

The Council stated this in its review of the sector in Nigeria since 2013.

According to the forecast, direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP was N757.3bn in 2013, which was 1.6 per cent of total GDP in that year, rose to 2.5 per cent in 2014 and it’s expected to rise by 5.8 per annum from 2014 to 2024, which indicated N1,366 billion in 2024.

Also, the Council said that the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP was N1,559.5 billion, 3.2 per cent of GDP in 2013, rose by 1.9 per cent in 2014, and it’s expected to rise by 6.1 per

cent per annum to N2,886.2 billion, 3.4 per cent of GDP in 2024.

The council stated that in 2013, travel and tourism directly supported 866,000 jobs, 1.3 per cent of total employment, fell by 0.8 per cent in 2014 and would rise by 3.3 per cent per annum to 1,194,000 jobs, 1.4 per cent of total employment in 2024.

In 2013, the total contribution of travel and tourism to employment including jobs directly supported by the industry, was 2.8 per cent of total employment, which was 1,837,000 jobs, fell by 1.4 per cent in 2014 to 1,811,000 jobs and expected to rise by 3.6

per cent per annum to 2,592,000 jobs in 2024, which represented 3 per cent of total employment.

The council added that within the period, visitor exports generated N107.1 billion, which was 0.6 per cent of total exports in 2013, fell by 0.9 per cent in 2014, and would grow by 3.5 per cent per annum, from 2014 to 2024, to NGN149.7 billion in 2024, representing 0.6 per cent of total visitor exports.

On investment, the sector in 2013 was N264.2bn, or 4.8 per cent of total investment, rose by 1 per cent in 2014, and estimated to rise by 5.1 percent per annum over

the next 10 years to N438.9bn in 2024, representing 4.4 per cent of total investment in the sector.

The council said, “The direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP reflects the ‘internal’ spending on travel and tourism (total spending within a particular country on travel and tourism by residents and non-residents for business and leisure purposes) as well as government ‘individual’ spending - spending by government on travel and tourism services directly linked to visitors, such as cultural or recreational.

GMOs not solution to food insecurity in Nigeria, others –Experts REGINA OTOKPA

M L-R: Chairman, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, President, GBCHealth, Nancy Wildfier-Field; President, The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Oluranti Adebule and Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe; during the GBCHealth 2015 Business Leadership Award dinner in Lagos at the weekend.

Group canvasses dry ports for Northern shippers FRANCIS EZEM

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ajor maritime stakeholders under the aegis of National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents NCMDLCA, have made a strong case for the creation of dry port facilities in the northern part of the country to alleviate the problems faced by shippers in the area.

The Nigerian Shippers Council, the port economic regulator had established Inland Container Depots ICDs across the geopolitical zones of the country including those in the north, which have yet to take off due to political, economic and security challenges.

In a letter dated July 22, 2015 and addressed to the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, the council observed that the land locked states in the northern region are faced with the challenge of physical isolation and related barriers, which have reduced their access to the seaport services.

The letter signed by the national president of the association, Mr.

Lucky Amiwero, also observed that the restricted access to seaport services has brought about high cost of trading with the rest of the World, which has greatly affected the development of domestic and regional logistic markets.

“Most of the states in the north are entirely or almost enclosed by land, entailing that they have no shoreline on open seas or fresh water bodies, which makes trade more difficult and costly because of lack of access of most foreign markets to the northern states.

In addition to these challenges, the northern shippers are also faced with the problems of

cumbersome procedure associated with the cargo clearance processes of the Nigeria Customs Service, high inland handling costs and excessive travelling cost, multiplicity of security agencies at seaports and persistent congestion at the seaport.

The group said that the dry port would entail an inland intermodal terminal directly connected to the seaport with high capacity transport modes such as rail, road or waterways where customers can collect or drop their consignments goods at the designated intermodal loading units.

onths after the passage of the Biosafety Bill into law by the immediate past administration, experts have continued to stress that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) cannot be solution to food insecurity in Nigeria and other countries.

Addressing media men in Abuja during an interactive session organized by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Indian environmentalist and antiGMO activist, Vandana Shiva, maintained that countries, including Nigeria, did not need GMOs to boost agricultural productivity and by implication, economic growth.

According to her, genetically modified organism was a failed technology with diverse negative effect on the soil which she disclosed, was linked to the prevailing insecurity experienced in the north eastern part of the country.

She said: “We cannot afford to be drawn into a system that promotes genetically engineered seeds and organisms, and chemical fertilizers that do not deliver on any of their promises but rather have yielded a harvest of pains, deprivation and deaths.

“It has failed as a yield increas-

ing technology, it has failed in the two narrow applications which are to control pests and weeds and most importantly, it is a trap by the Mosanto company to collect royalties on each seed.

“While these costly inputs make super profits for giant corporations, they destroy our soils and trap our farmers in dependency and debt. Just because Mosanto says it is good and better does not mean that it is the safe route to take,” Shiva added.

The seasoned Physicist also noted that the pressure on Africa to adopt uniform seed laws such as those promoted under Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) was aimed at seed colonization of Africa and must be resisted.

She added that this also applied to promotion of GMOs through the Biosafety Bills such as the one signed in to law in Nigeria.

However, she maintained that the only way to be liberated from the effects of GMOs was engaging in organic agriculture, and maintaining a partnership with the soil, biodiversity and seeds.

The coordinator HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey in his remarks, drew attention to countries such as Bukina Faso, where the government in an effort to stabilise food security, had banned the consumption of GMO foods.

Protocol, passage concession ‘ll boost FAAN’s revenue –Concessionaire OLUSEGUN KOIKI

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hales Global Solutions, TGS, has said that the planned concession of the protocol and passage assistance services at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, would increase the revenue of the agency.

A source in the know of the planned deal, who didn’t want to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, confirmed that the management of FAAN was already in talks with the company on the possibility of concessioning the services to it.

The source however insisted that the planned concession agreement was not at a disadvantage to the agency, stressing that those kicking against the arrangement were those currently benefiting

from the loopholes in the system.

He told our correspondent that contrary to the claimed N12 million monthly revenue generated

by FAAN from MMIA, the agency was actually generating just N6 million monthly from the service, stressing that if the agreement is sealed, the company would remit N9 million monthly to the Authority.

He likened the planned concession to what is obtained in other climes such as Heathrow airport

in London or Barajas airport in Madrid, Spain where such facilities were concessioned for better services and better revenue generations.

According to him, contrary to fear that the concession may lead to staff lay-off, the deal would not affect the jobs of the workers as it had been agreed that the concessionaire would make use of the workers to achieve the desired goal.

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Technology key to growth in Africa’s financial sector –DHL boss TOLA AKINMUTIMI

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HL, one of world’s logistics companies, has identified the deployment of technologies and solutions as one of the major catalysts driving the current evolution and growth in African financial services industry is rapidly.

The company’s Vice President of Sales for DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa, Sumesh Rahavendra, who made the observation, noted that while the sector is mature in most developed countries, the industry was less saturated in Africa, thereby offering many opportunities for new market entrants to challenge the status quo of how business has traditionally been conducted.

Rahavendra explained that the increasing adoption of technology to financial services delivery would enable the banks and othe financial institutions to offer ser-

vices to the small and medium enterprises which are widely spread across the continent and also would could continue to play key roles in Africa’s growth.

He said: “The burgeoning middle class and abundance of SMEs in Africa present great opportunities for financial services companies to provide retail banking services to individuals, as well as trade finance to SMEs. We see SMEs as the engine for growth in Africa and the lack of access to finance can often hinder their development.

“With one of the fastest growing middle classes in the world, there is a wave of consumerism for all types of goods and services such as FMCG, electronics and pharmaceuticals.”, he added.

Noting that the report on the future shape of financial services in Africa 2015(1) by PwC describes the sector as a marketplace without boundaries, the DHL chief explained that the risk of disruption

in traditional African financial services market had triggered the need for entities to reassess their strategies in order to succeed in the market.

Rahavendra noted: “While most international banks are moving towards e-commerce, in Africa, a number of local banks still share information and conduct business with hard copy documentation.

“The local retail banking sector is increasingly making use of new technology such as ‘Mobile Money’ platforms. Consumers have started to move away from physical cards, instead relying on their mobile phones to conduct day-to-day banking transactions.”

“In addition to mobile money solutions, most African countries have made a concerted effort to improve their transactional security by moving from the traditional ‘swipe card’ form of retail banking to chip and pin.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Ericsson envisages more LTE deployment in Africa ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN

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ricsson has envisaged more spread of LTE network technology in Africa as it signs a new partner to deploy the technology for Airtel Gabon.

According to statement from the company, Ericsson is to be the sole supplier for the deployment of a new network adding that the agreement also includes transformation of the existing mobile radio access and core network infrastructure.

Ericsson disclosed that the LTE 4G technology offers the capacity and the speed to handle a rapid increase in data traffic saying that the new network will enable Airtel to deliver a superior mobile broadband experience to their customers.

Commenting on the development, Chief Executive Officer at Bharti Airtel Africa, Christian de

Airbnb plans African business expansion

A

L-R: Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo; retiring directors, Executive Director, Lagos and South West Bank, Ikemuefuna Mbagwu; Executive Director, Risk Management, Onome Olaolu, Executive Director, Corporate Banking, John Obi and Chairman, Board of Directors, Fidelity Bank Plc, Chief Christopher Ezeh, during a dinner in honour of the three retiring directors in Lagos, at the weekend.

Brent oil returns to bear market amid supply glut prospects

B

rent Oil relapsed into a bear market as rising Iraqi exports and a rebound in U.S. drilling signaled that the global supply glut will grow.

The European benchmark crude fell 2.1 percent to a fourmonth low. The grade has lost more than 20 percent from this year’s highest close, meeting the common definition of a bear market. Iraq’s oil exports from the south rose to an all-time high this month. The number of rigs seeking oil rose by 21 to 659, the third weekly gain this month, Baker Hughes Inc. data show.

Oil’s rebound from a six-year low has faltered amid signs a surplus will persist as the U.S.

pumps near the fastest rate in three decades and leading members of OPEC pump at record levels. China’s benchmark stock index fell the most since 2007, bolstering concern that raw material demand will slip in the world’s second-biggest economy. The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell to a 13-year low Monday.

“There’s a lot of news and none of it’s good for the energy sector,” Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York, said by phone. “It’s an avalanche out there and you proceed at your own risk.

We’re seeing a lot of risk aversion at the moment.”

Brent for September settlement

fell $1.15 to end the session at $53.47 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was the lowest close since March 16.

West Texas Intermediate for September delivery declined 75 cents, or 1.6 percent, to settle at $47.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the lowest close since March 20. WTI moved into a bear market on Thursday. The U.S. benchmark closed at a $6.08 discount to Brent.

Exports from southern Iraq rose to 3.064 million barrels a day in July and will remain at about the same level for the rest of the month, Thaer Yassin, spokesman of the state-owned South Oil Co., said by phone on Monday.

Faria said that mobile broadband data is a key driver for economic growth in Gabon and as such the LTE launch will ensure its customers have the highest speeds and best experience available.

He said that under the agreement, Ericsson will install its multi-standard radio base station the RBS 6000, which supports GSM/ EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA, and LTE in a single cabinet.

He noted that the Ericsson’s RBS 6000 will ensure Airtel’s customers continue to enjoy the best possible network throughout the country noting that upgrade of capacities and packet functionalities, to support LTE requirements, will be done for the installed base of MINI-LINK TN microwave equipment.

The contract covers equipment, software and a range of professional services, including project management, systems integration and support.

irbnb is hoping to spread its unique brand of hospitality throughout Africa. The San Francisco company, which allows people to rent rooms in their private homes to travelers over the Internet, held an event July 27 in Johannesburg, where Airbnb Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky walked local reporters through the company’s ambitions in the world’s second-most populous continent.

Airbnb recently hired a general manager for Middle East and Africa, Nicola D’Elia, who was the former head of international growth and partnerships at Facebook. D’Elia, based in London, will hire staff to manage the business in Africa and says he may eventually open local offices in the region. In the coming weeks, Airbnb says it will also roll out its “host guarantee” in Africa, which

reimburses hosts for up to $1 million U.S. dollars if a guest damages their homes.

Many Africans had already taken to Airbnb despite the company’s lack of a physical presence there. With news spreading mainly through word of mouth, some 9,400 homes are for rent in South Africa, making it the company’s largest market on the continent.

The biggest cities for Airbnb are Cape Town and Johannesburg, and the company says listings in South Africa are increasing 138 percent a year.

The number of people staying in Airbnb homes in the country is growing 257 percent. “Africa is an incredibly exotic place to travel to, and this is an incredible way to experience it like a local,” says Chesky, on his first trip to the continent.

Indian govt expects $933m from iron ore

T

he government is expecting to earn over USD 933 million (about Rs 5,989 crore) from exporting 16.5 million tonnes (MT) of high grade iron ore to Japan and South Korea, Parliament was informed today.

Government approved exports under Long Term Agreements (LTAs) to Japan and South Korea through MMTC for supplying 16.5 MT of high grade iron ore, Minister of State for Steel and Mines Vishnu Deo Sai said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

“The foreign exchange expected to be earned is around USD 311.05 million per annum at current sale prices against export of

iron ore under LTAs,” he added.

In June, the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its approval to renew LTAs with Japanese and South Korean steel mills for supply of high grade Indian iron ore, during the three year period from April 2015 to March 2018.

The quantities covered under the LTA will be in the range of 3.8 to 5.5 MT annually and will be supplied primarily from the mines of NMDC and the contract will be executed by MMTC. India has been supplying high grade iron ore to Japan and South Korea under LTAs for the last four to five decades.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

33

EnergyWeek OPEC forcasts 3.5% growth for global economy in 2016 35

Venezuela seeks light oil contracts

Electricity generation hits 3,880mw 36

37

Indigenous oil, gas operators rev up investment drives despite challenges The operations of many oil and gas companies have been hampered over the past few months largely as a result of low crude oil prices and other developments in the international oil market. Despite these, UDEME AKPAN reports that some indigenous operators have intensified their investment drives, especially in the area of local content development.

Oil workers

W

ith the lingering lull in the global oil and gas market, charaterised by low demand, low prices and low investments, the operations of many companies, including International Oil Companies, IOCs are beginning to be adversely affected.

For instance, many IOCs have slashed their investments in many nations, especially Nigeria. The cut was based on a Federal Government directive that the Joint Venture Companies, JVCs should cut their 2015 budgets by 40 per cent as a result of lull in the market.

The National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS that oversees the Federation Government invest-

ments in the Joint Venture Companies, JVCs, Production Sharing Companies (PSCs) and Services Contract Companies (SCs) which issued the directive on behalf of the government reminded them that the budgets were drawn early in 2014 when

crude oil prices hovered at over $100 per barrel.

Consequently, NAPIMS which also engages in frontier exploration services in basins where the multinationals hesitate to venture, like the Chad Basin, informed the

THE BUDGET CUT HAS CONSTRAINED THEM FROM EMBARKING ON MANY PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES THAT COULD HAVE IMPACTED NOT ONLY ON THE INDUSTRY BUT ALSO INDIGENOUS OPERATIONS

joint ventures that the 2015 budgets had to be slashed in line with the present funding constraint.

Investigations showed that the various IOCs, including Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Total Exploration and Production Limited, Chevron Nigeria limited, Nigerian Agip Oil Company that operate the joint ventures with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC have already complied.

Expectedly, the budget cut has constrained them from embarking on many projects and programmes that could have CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

34

Energy Week

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Indigenous oil, gas operators rev up investment drives despite challenges CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 impacted not only on the industry but also indigenous operations. Surprisingly, some indigenous companies still manage to record major accomplishments.

For instance, another first was recorded a few days ago when the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Denzil Kentebe inaugurated the first 90mm stainless steel clad vessel fabricated in Nigeria

by Energy Works Technology Ltd (EWT), a subsidiary of the Nestoil Group.

Available information sourced by National Mirror that the asset was designed for Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC’s) Soku Field Development plan and is internally cladded with 316L stainless steel, with internal proprietary separation devices and weighs 83 tons. The Executive Secretary acknowledged the growth of EWT within the past five years from a light fabrication company to one of the foremost pressure vessel, process equipment manufacturers and heavy fabrication yards in the nation.

While pledging the Board’s commitment to assist companies like EWT further develop their capacity, Kentebe commended operators especially SPDC, Total and Seplat that played different roles in the facility and charged other operators to support service providers that have demonstrated competence and invested in developing their capacity in Nigeria. He assured that the Board under his leadership will continue to implement already established frameworks and initiate programs that will build on the accomplishments. He reiterated that investments like the ones made by EWT were critical to achieving the Board’s vision to use Nigerian Content as a platform to industrialize Nigeria and also Government’s aspirations to create jobs and empower Nigerians on the back of oil and gas projects.

Kentebe indicated that the Board “will continue to promote the establishment and utilization of Nigerian facilities and Nigerian owned assets. We will also leverage the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) to implement Capacity Development Initiatives that will create opportunities in manufacturing, engineering, fabrication, marine, subsea, drilling and well services and all other activities across the value chain.”

The Managing Director of EWT, Mr. Emeka Nnadi credited the success of the project to the determination of SPDC, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and NCDMB to fabricate the 90mm stainless steel clad vessel in Nigeria even when the capability was novel to local services companies. “With this achievement, EWT has acquired the technical know-how of forming, assembling, welding and testing all ranges of thick welled pressure vessels,” he said.

The Managing Director also stated that all activities relating to the execution of the project were carried out by Nigerians, which demonstrated that Nigerian Content was viable and its impact on the Nigerian economy was worth the price. He announced plans by the company to begin motivating and supporting small scale fabricators to attain sophisticated capabilities as growth of this category will have a multiplier effect on the aggregate in-country

Kentebe

Dahwa

Kayode Thomas

Osagie

BELL OIL & GAS HAS ALSO MADE AN

IMPACT, ESPECIALLY THROUGH ITS GLASSFIBRE SPOOLING FACILITY, WHICH IS

REPUTED TO BE THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN

AFRICA

potential.

The Energy Works Technology Limited is not alone. Bell Oil & Gas has also made an impact, especially through its glassfibre spooling facility, which is reputed to be the first of its kind in Africa. The facility manufactures pipes with diverse bends and angles, delivering liquids to various outlets at different temperatures and pressures, hence cannot be manufactured in conventional pipe mills. Spools which are forms of Glassfibre Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) pipes, believed to be resistant to corrosion because they do not have metal as part of its composition and can handle pressure up to 3500 pound per square inch (psi) and temperatures of up to 121 degrees centigrade.

Kentebe who commended Bell Oil & Gas for the investment, which came on the back of the Board’s Nigerian Content Equipment Component Manufacturing and Cer-

tification (NCEC) program described the NCEC initiative as laudable, pledging that the Board under his leadership will continue to implement the framework and other programs geared towards encouraging investments and establishment of facilities in Nigeria.

The NCDMB boss indicated that such facilities contribute to the Board’s vision to use Nigerian Content as a vehicle to industrialize Nigeria and create employment and training opportunities for qualified Nigerians. He stressed that the strategic focus of the Board is to create shop floors that will train and empower Nigerians in all sectors of the industry, adding that NCDMB will continue to promote hands-on training opportunities in manufacturing, engineering, fabrication, marine, subsea, drilling and well services and all other activities across the value chain.

In his welcome address, the Managing Director of Bell Oil & Gas, Mr. Kayode Thomas explained that the company blazed the trail in the installation of GRE pipes in Nigeria since 2004 on Bonga floating production, storage and offloading platform.

Thomas announced plans by the company to take on complex projects, become certified to train and certify other trainers and make Nigeria the West African hub for GRE pipes. He said the company’s motive is to add value in-country, create employment, contribute to its host communities and further demonstrate that Nigerians can do big things in the industry. He expressed regret that some operating and service companies

still take jobs abroad even when capacity resided in-country, adding that such firms will need to change or be compelled to.

The Chief Operating Officer of Bell Oil & Gas, Mr. Ayo Aderibigbe explained that the company’s investments had changed the scenario where all spools required in Nigeria were made in factories abroad, thereby exporting jobs and draining foreign exchange.

He disclosed that that the company had in the last one year fabricated a substantial quantity of the spools used on Total’s Ofon 2 project as well as Chevron’s Domestic Supply Obligation and had got various spooling contracts from Subsea7, Nigerdock, Pontecelli, and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).

But before then, General Electric Nigeria had pledged to create 2,300 jobs through its operations in the next five years.

The company’s Nigerian Content Manager, Mr. Sunny Ojieh disclosed this when senior personnel of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) visited the firm’s base in Onne, Rivers State as part of their role of monitoring and assessing capacities in the industry.

Ojieh indicated that General Electric Nigeria currently had 502 Nigerians in its employ, with a good percentage of them holding executive positions. Ojieh maintained that GE was implementing a programme that fast tracks Nigerians into global positions and 31 Nigerians had graduated through the programme since 2012.

He explained further that the company’s operations were anchored on localizing operations, building capacity, developing and leveraging on the local supply chain, adding that GE also focused on creating longterm job opportunities and empowering indigenes of host communities with skills relevant to the company’s operations.

Throwing further insight, he disclosed that General Electric had spent over $320m on in-country projects since 2010 and had committed to invest additional $1bn in the Calabar assembly and manufacturing facility over the next five years. The plan according to him was to domicile most of the company’s operations in Nigeria, adding that GE Nigeria was also injecting $3m into community health programme as part of its corporate social responsibility obligations.

The site visit also featured interactions with the company’s Manufacturing Manager, Mr. Felix Anikpo, who disclosed that $6m was invested to develop GE’s shop floor at Onne where products like specialty connectors, pipes, mud mats and wellheads were being manufactured. While appealing to the Board to help in ensuring that the capacity of the facility was fully utilised, he disclosed that the company had also worked for SNEPCO and Exxon Mobil.

Investigations by National Mirror showed that indigenous operators still encounter sundry challenges, including low patronage and inadequate funding.

However, the Executive Director of Spaces for Change, Mrs. Victoria Ohaeri, who attributed the strides of indigenous operators to the successful passage of the nation’s Local Content Act, maintained that many milestones would be recorded when the much delayed Petroleum Industry Bill; PIB is eventually passed into law.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Energy Week

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

35

OPEC forecasts 3.5% growth for global economy in 2016 STORIES: UDEME AKPAN

T

he world economic growth expected to propel oil demand for 2016 is forecast at 3.5per cent, slightly higher than this year’s growth of 3.2per cent.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC which made the forecast indicated that the OECD economies are expected to expand by 2.1per cent in 2016, compared to 2.0per cent in the current year.

It maintained that China is expected to decelerate to 6.5% from 6.9per cent in 2015, while India is forecast to reach higher growth at 7.7per cent in 2016, compared to 7.5per cent this year.

The cartel indicated that positively, both Russia and Brazil are forecast to move out of recession. Risks to the global economic growth forecast appear to be slightly on the downside.

It indicated that world oil demand in 2015 is now expected to grow by 1.28 mb/d, following an upward revision of 0.10 mb/d since the last report.

In 2016, world oil demand growth is forecast to pick up, reaching 1.34 mb/d.

OECD demand is expected to register positive growth of 0.18 mb/d, while nonOECD consumption is projected to grow by 1.16 mb/d.

The Organisation stated that nonOPEC oil supply growth in 2015 has been revised up by 0.18 mb/d to stand at 0.86 mb/d, mainly driven by OECD Americas, Latin America and the FSU. In 2016, non-OPEC oil supply is projected to

Oil vessel

grow by 0.30 mb/d to average 57.69 mb/d.

“OPEC NGLs are expected to grow by 0.17 mb/d in 2016, down from 0.19 mb/d in the current year. In June, OPEC production increased by 283 tb/d to average 31.38 mb/d, according to secondary sources.”

“Product markets in the Atlantic Basin were mixed in June. The US driving season pushed up gasoline demand to around 9.5 mb/d, a level not seen in years, providing support to the gasoline crack spreads.

This partially offset the weakness in the middle of the barrel, allowing refinery margins to remain healthy in the region.

Asian margins retained the strength seen in the previous month as regional demand amid a heavy maintenance season continued lending support to the Asian market.”

Average spot freight rates for dirty tankers went up by 12% in June, mainly

as Aframax spot freight rates increased from the previous month. Aframax rates were supported by an active market and discharge delays at several ports. Clean tanker spot freight rates increased in both East and West of Suez as the tonnage demand remains high,” it maintained.

It maintained that OECD commercial oil stocks continued to rise in May to stand at 2,833 mb, some 142 mb higher than the five-year average, with crude and products indicating a surplus of around 115 mb and 26 mb, respectively.

The organisation maintained that demand for OPEC crude is estimated at 29.2 mb/d in 2015, a decline of 0.1 mb from the previous assessment and representing a gain of 0.2 mb/d over the previous year.

SBM Offshore completes $1.55bn financing

A

major oil and servicing company, SBM Offshore has completed the project financing of FPSO Cidade de Saquarema for a total of US$1.55 billion, which is the largest project financing in the Company’s history.

The company indicated that the project financing was secured by a consortium of sixteen international banks with insurance cover from four Export Credit Agencies (ECA): Atradius Dutch State Business N.V. (Atradius), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero S.p.A. (SACE) and UK Export Finance (UKEF).

It maintained that the facility is composed of three separate tranches totalling US$1.55 billion with a 5.1% weighted average cost of debt and fourteen

year post-completion maturity.

The company indicated that FPSO Cidade de Saquarema is owned and operated by a joint venture owned by affiliated companies of SBM Offshore (56%), Mitsubishi Corporation (20%), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (19%), and Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás S.A. (5%).

It maintained that the vessel has processing capacity of up to 150,000 barrels of crude oil and 6 million cubic meters of gas per day, and storage capacity of approximately 1.6 million barrels of crude oil. The joint venture will own and operate the vessel on a 20year charter service for Tupi B.V. Combined with the US$1.45 billion project financing of FPSO Cidade de Maricá (July 2014), today’s announcement culminates the successful financ-

ing of US$3 billion for two sister units destined for the Lula field in the presalt province offshore Brazil.

BM-S-11 block is under concession to a consortium comprised of Petrobras (65%), BG E&P Brasil Ltda. (25%), and Petrogal Brasil S.A. (10%).

SBM Offshore N.V. is a listed holding company that is headquartered in Schiedam. It holds direct and indirect interests in other companies that collectively with SBM Offshore N.V. form the SBM Offshore group.

SBM Offshore provides floating production solutions to the offshore energy industry, over the full product life-cycle.

The Company is market leading in leased floating production systems with multiple units currently in operation and has unrivalled operational ex-

Commodity

Units

Price

Change

% Change

Time(ET)

Crude Oil (WTI)

USD/bbl.

50.44

-0.45

-0.88%

11:34:34

Crude Oil (Brent)

USD/bbl.

56.80

-0.30

-0.53%

11:35:06

TOCOM Crude Oil

JPY/kl

44,000.00

+180.00

+0.41%

14:59:12

NYMEX Natural Gas

USD/MMBtu

2.82

-0.05

-1.88%

11:34:16

Source: Bloomberg as at July 20, 2015

perience in this field.

The Company’s main activities are the design, supply, installation, operation and the life extension of Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels.

These are either owned and operated

by SBM Offshore and leased to its clients or supplied on a turnkey sale basis.

Group companies employ over 9,000 people worldwide with full time company employees totalling 5,700 are spread over five regional centres, eleven operational shore bases and the offshore fleet of vessels. A further 3,300 are working for the joint ventures with several construction yards.

The companies in which SBM Offshore N.V. directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this communication is sometimes used for convenience where references are made to SBM Offshore N.V. and its subsidiaries in general, or where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies concerned.

36

Energy Week

WAPCo to support Ghana on energy needs

T

he West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) is ready to play its role to help Ghana meet its energy needs, says Mr. Walter Perez, Managing Director.

Speaking on the topic “Ghana’s Energy Needs: The role of the WAGP” at the sixth Ghana Oil and Gas Summit in Accra on April 23, 2015, Mr. Perez said the pipeline which was initially constructed to transport natural gas from the East (Nigeria) to the West (Ghana) with one major shipper for at least a decade, has had to adjust to take into account developments which have occurred in the sub region, especially in Ghana, since the pipeline started operations in 2011.

The first major adjustment WAPCo made was to make the pipeline available to other shippers who may be interested to transport gas through WAGP. Another major development is the opportunity to make the West African Gas Pipeline bi-directional to enable gas from the Western Region of Ghana to be transported to Tema in the eastern part of the country.

WAPCo intends to allow this bi-directional flow opportunity to help move more Ghanaian gas and is ready to work with all stakeholders to make the pipeline available to help generate more energy for the country’s development.

A concrete example is the ongoing discussions with Ghana Gas for an interconnection in Takoradi to enable WAPCo transport Ghanaian gas from Takoradi to Tema for power generation.

Also, WAPCo together with the Volta River Authority is undertaking an upgrade of WAPCo’s facility at Tema to enable it accommodate higher volumes of gas in order to meet Ghana’s growing energy needs.

WAPCo is a limited liability company that owns and operates the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP).

The company has its headquarters in Accra, Ghana, with an office in Badagry, Nigeria, and field offices in Cotonou - Benin, Lome - Togo, Tema and Takoradi, both in Ghana.

WAPCo is a joint venture between public and private sector companies from Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana.

The company’s main mandate is to transport natural gas from Nigeria to customers in Benin, Togo and Ghana in a safe, responsible and reliable manner, at prices competitive with other fuel alternatives.

WAPCo is owned by Chevron West African Gas Pipeline Ltd (36.9%); Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (24.9%); Shell Overseas Holdings Limited (17.9%); and Takoradi Power Company Limited (16.3%), Societe Togolaise de Gaz (2%) and Societe BenGaz S.A. (2%).

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Electricity generation hits 3,880mw UDEME AKPAN

T

he electricity generation has hovered at 3,880.43 megawatts, mw, showing over 10,000 mw below the country’s 14,630mw estimated peak demand.

Of the megawatts generated, 3,787.97mw was distributed while the balance was conserved to stabilise the system.

Investigations showed that many consumers, including individuals, households and companies still live without electricity in different parts of the nation.

However, inadequate gas, pipeline vandalism and lack of funds have been identified as the major challenges that affect the nation in developing its electricity sector.

The Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Sam Amadi also indicated that the reason the nation has not been able to generate up to 6,000MW is largely due to a lack of a coherent gas to power policy and corruption as well as incompetence in project management.

In his presentation at the just concluded Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE, Amadi indicated that at less than 6,000mw the electricity market in Nigeria is unstable and supply will remain poor.

He remarked that the chronic low generation is largely a result of problems associated with the gas supply.

He said these problems range from incoherence in gas-to-power policy, low commerciality in

gas supply to power and very poor gas to power infrastructure.

“The lack of gas supply necessary to fire available generating plants is the main reason we don’t have at least 5,500MW of daily generation. We know from experience that with constant daily generation of 5,000MW, Nigerians will experience a major relief from irregular power until the major improvements are delivered. The problem of gas supply has manifested in two main forms - vandalism of gas pipelines and poor project management of gas facilities.”

“If the problem of gas vandalism is solved now and there is a modest increase in gas supply, the country’s power supply will improve by about 50per cent. Recently we have seen modest improvement in gas supply. This has resulted in improvement in power supply. We have moved from around 2,500mw we got during the week of inauguration to about 4,300mw today.”

“We believe that with more improvement in gas supply arising from containment of vandalism of gas infrastructure on Trans Forcados and ELPS gas pipelines, generation may grow to about 5,500mw in a couple of months,” he maintained.

Amadi remarked that the NERC has been informed that some of the reasons for increased vandalism in the last months before the elections and immediately after the elections related to rival militancy and nefarious actions of some contractors who are allegedly damaging the pipelines in order to get fresh contracts.

He maintained that due to in-

Power plant

cessant repairs of the pipelines, there is now an issue of technical integrity of these pipelines, further constraining supply of gas to power plants.

Amadi indicated that even without vandalism of gas pipelines, gas suppliers will not be able to supply gas to fire all the available capacity.

“This is so because although Nigeria is blessed with abundant gas molecules we lack adequate capacity to process gas and facilities to transport gas to power plants. This inadequacy is itself a result of structured disconnection between power generation and gas business. Gas policy and regulatory framework until recently were not consciously focused on power generation.”

“So, the gas market did not process enough gas for the power sector. Much of the gas produced goes to the export market and other

domestic industrial users. Additionally, there has been manifest project failure with regards to gas transport facilities.”

“Project failure results from both corruption and lack of managerial competence. Both corruption in award of contract and the lack of integrity in project funding has resulted in delayed completion of the East-West gas pipelines causing low generation from power plants in the western axis,” he maintained.

He maintained that there is also the problem of poor coordination between gas and electricity in Nigeria. The gas and power grids run on different tracks in Nigeria.

Amadi indicated that this means that the electricity market runs on predictions of gas supply that may be reliable since it is subject to contexts that it does control.

Kentebe underscores oil, gas industry’s local content benefits CHIDI UGWU ABUJA

T

he Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Denzil Kentebe, has said that achieving success in the implementation of Nigerian Content would be beneficial to stakeholders in the oil and gas industry,

Kentebe

including the international operating companies, IOCs. Speaking in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State he played host to General Managers of Nigerian Content Divisions in the international oil companies (IOCs) who paid him a courtesy visit, the Kentebe explained that the Act was not being implemented in an oppositional manner whereby the Board and the operators viewed themselves as adversaries.

Rather than adopt such a posture, he said the Board decided from inception in 2010 to collaborate with the IOCs and other operating and service industry stakeholders, adding that this model had proven very effective in stimulating compliance with provisions of the Act. He stressed that the developmental role of the Board was very critical and it involved close collaboration with stakeholders to develop in-country

capacities and capabilities which make it possible to execute most industry projects hitherto taken abroad before the advent of the Act. While acknowledging the partnership of operating companies with the Board over the years and their support to the development of local capacity through various initiatives, Kentebe charged the companies not to rest on their oars as he is new on the saddle and in view of the operational challenges facing the industry at the moment.

He assured that the Board would work closely with Nigerian Content GMs to find solutions to problems their companies might have relating to Nigerian Content compliance in their projects.

In her comments, the General Manager, Nigerian Content, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), Mrs. Callista Azogu underscored the IOCs avowed commitment to Nigerian Content development,

which according to her began before the enactment of the Act in April 2010.

Azogu who is the chairperson of the group admitted that there were often challenges with operators complying with some expectations of the Nigerian Content Act, noting however, that such difficulties were always resolved with the Board to the benefit of all stakeholders.

Also contributing, the General Manager-Nigerian Content Development, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Raymond Wilcox stated that their group and the Board pursued the same objectives, which included to increase the participation of Nigerians and utilization of Nigerian assets and facilities in the operations of the oil and gas industry, retain a greater part of the industry spend in-country and transform the Nigerian economy through the oil and gas industry.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Energy Week

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

CSOs indict dissolved NEITI Board CHIDI UGWU ABUJA

S

ome Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore moves by some interests groups to stampede his government into reversing the dissolution of the board of the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) of Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

Federal Government had recently announced the dissolution of the Boards of Federal Parastatals, Agencies and Departments in Nigeria including the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) of Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

The CSO leaders stated that they had uncovered moves to truncate the reforms which the government is about to institute in the NEITI Board by some self serving individuals, stressing that several members of the dissolved Board had long lost their credibility.

The statement was signed by representatives of Partners for Electoral Reform /NEITI CSO Steering committee Member, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Protest to Power, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED), Centre for Information Technology and Development

(CITAD), State of the Union (SOTU), Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC), Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), Social Action and Say No Campaign.

Others are, Women in Nigeria, National Procurement Watch Platform (NPWP), Environmental Rights Action (ERA), TAX JUSTICE, Nigeria and Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative.

“We are aware of surreptitious and covert moves by some interests to stampede the government into reversing this decision. These individuals have been making subterranean moves to truncate the reforms you are on the verge of instituting in the NEITI Board. Using sponsored media publications, they have been conflating the issues and whipping up sentiments to attract sympathy and exert undue international pressure on your government. We are morally compelled to advance to Your Excellency, reasons why the dissolution should be allowed to stand.”

“Based on our findings, we can state categorically that several members of the dissolved Board had long lost their credibility, independence, neutrality and therefore, the moral right to remain on the board of an institution meant to ensure transparency and accountability in the oil sector, which has become a cesspit of corruption. Our assertion is based upon the following revelations, which came to the fore after thorough investigations” the statement reads in parts.

According to the statement

which was co-signed by sixteen civil society organisations several members of the dissolved Board have compromised themselves and have lost integrity by engaging in activities that make them unfit to remain as Board members.”

The CSOs claim that members “initiated formal correspondence with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation requesting and obtaining approval to be downgraded from status A to D to facilitate their operation like the Boards of conventional parastatals thereby making some its sitting to Former Chairman, Ledum Metee contravene Section 9 (1) of the NEcheck. Although the Fund never efITI Act 2007. fectively took off because the sound It indicated that this was to legitijudgment of the Executive Secremize the collection of Allowances tary, who as Secretary to the Board for meetings, many of which never clearly understood that this would held and enriching themselves in undermine the institution, there are the process. clear indications that several memThe statement maintained that bers of the Board benefitted finanthis explains why the Board usu- cially from some of the companies ally expended up to 5 times its al- through sponsorship to the annual located budget annually. It is ironic Offshore Technology Conference and smacks of double standards for in the USA. It is difficult for such a some individuals to be calling for Board to effectively protect national special treatment for a Board they interest in relations with the oil comwillfully downgraded for pecuniary panies,” it added. gains.

The statement maintained that “His Excellency could cross- there are indications that the discheck this with the Office of the solved Board interfered with the proSGF. The Board initiated the idea curement processes for the appointof a NEITI Multi-Donor Fund and ment of the NEITI Auditors thereby initiated correspondences to the compromising their independence.

International Oil Companies (IOCs) According to the statement, the and the NNPC, soliciting funds for interference is a violation of the the use of the Board. This weak- fundamental principles of the EITI ened its ability to effectively play the globally and the Public Procurement role of keeping the Companies in Act 2007.

Bonga to produce 210,000 bpd by 2017 S hell Nigeria is activating a ‘Bonga Business Improvement Plan’, to increase output from its sole Deepwater oil field from 148,000 barrels per day, bpd (as of 3rd Quarter 2014), to 210,000 bpd by 2017.

African Oil and Gas report indicated that the Bonga field was commissioned in November 2005.

It reached peak production of

Oil pipeline

200,000BOPD by June 2006 and had fallen to less than 100,000BOPD when the Bonga North, a satellite of the field, came on line to boost output in August 2014.

The Bonga North development was thefirst tie back to an existing FPSO in Nigeria’s deep-water terrain.

“The ultimate goal is to get

Bonga producing at 95% of its potential”, Theo Ekiyor-Katimi, the Bonga operations manager, told Shell World, the internal organ of Shell Companies in Nigeria.

“The FPSO/field is currently producing at 70/80% and we are gunning for 95%, which would mean a sustained level of 210,000BOPD”.

The strategic journey began in the first quarter of 2014, a few months before the oil price crash.

Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company (SNEPCO) assembled a team of its employees as well as consultants “who carried out interviews, deep dives and diagnostic sessions”, Shell World reports.

“The team was tasked with looking at all aspects of Bonga operations and interfaces to figure out required actions to bridge identified gaps to potential”.

The chief gain of that strategy session is that integrated functional teams work together “to identify and deal with any high impact threats that could hamper safe production”, Emeka Madueke, SNEPCO’s former Competence and Operations Excellence Manager, told Shell

World.

The Bonga field is located in Nigeria’s Oil Mining Lease (OML) 118 with Shell as the operator.

ExxonMobil, TOTAL and ENI hold 20per cent, 12.5per cent and 12.5per cent respectively.

“Bonga will continue to be the Number 1 value generator for the Shell group”, Madueke asserts in the interview.

“We aim to maintain a high and stable production environment which will further encourage shareholder confidence”.

Ekiyor-Katimi concludes: “Basically we want to produce more, spend less and BBIP will enable us deliver that goal”.

SPDC is the largest Shell company in Nigeria and produced the country’s first commercial oil exports in 1958.

SPDC is the operator of a joint venture (the SPDC JV) between the government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation – NNPC (55% share), SPDC (30%), The company is focused on onshore and shallow water oil and gas production in the Niger Delta.

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FMC Technologies earns $1.7bn in Q2, 2015

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provider of specialized services in the oil and gas industry, FMC Technologies has recorded second quarter 2015 revenue of $1.7 billion, down 15 percent from the prior-year quarter due to the continued decline in the North American land market and its severe impact on our Surface Technologies segment revenue.

The company maintained that diluted earnings per share were $0.46 which included pre-tax business restructuring charges of $9.5 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, and a U.S. tax charge of $8.0 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, related to a tax settlement.

It indicated that total inbound orders were $1.4 billion, including $1.0 billion in Subsea Technologies orders. Backlog for the Company was $5.3 billion, including Subsea Technologies backlog of $4.7 billion.

“Subsea orders were stronger in the second quarter, as we received just over $1.0 billion of awards,” said John Gremp, Chairman and CEO of FMC Technologies.

“We have increased confidence of exceeding $3 billion of subsea awards this year. Because our execution remains solid, we maintain our expectation of delivering Subsea Technologies margins of approximately 15 percent for the full year. Our Surface Technologies segment was severely impacted by the decline in North American activity. We continue to take actions to change our business model and improve our operating effectiveness to address current market conditions and to be well positioned as the market improves.”

FMC Technologies is the global market leader in subsea systems and a leading provider of technologies and services to the oil and gas industry.

“We help our customers overcome their most difficult challenges, such as improving shale and subsea infrastructures and operations to reduce cost, maintain uptime, and maximize oil and gas recovery.Named by Forbes Magazine as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in 2013, the company has approximately 19,000 employees and operates 24 production facilities in 14 countries.”

Meanwhile, FMC Technologies has disclosed that it has received an order from BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Ltd. to supply subsea production systems for Well Clusters 3-5 of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project in the Caspian Sea. The order has an estimated value of $297 million in revenue and is in addition to the initial order for Well Clusters 1-2 received in 2014 from BP, the operator of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project. The Shah Deniz field is located offshore in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, approximately 100km south of Baku.

38

Energy Week

Schlumberger’s revenue drops 5% in 2014

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he revenue of a major service provider, Schlumberger generated $2.4 billion revenue in Europe/CIS/ Africa in 2014.

The company attributed the performance to a reduction in exploration and other activities during the period.

It maintained that customer budget pressure in Angola and delays in Nigeria also affected results. Russia rebounded on a seasonal increase in conventional land activity while the Russian ruble recovered somewhat.

Stumberger indicated that North Sea revenue declined on lower rig count, pricing pressure and a continued shift from exploration to development activity.

It indicated that North Africa activity increased slightly while work in Libya continued to be limited as the security situation remained unchanged.

The company maintained that revenue in the Latin America Area of $1.5 billion dropped 7per cent on lower activity in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia due to sustained customer budget cuts.

It disclosed that this reduction was partially offset by strong exploration and a ramp up of activity in the Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago GeoMarket. Activities in Argentina and Ecuador remained resilient.

“International Area pretax operating margin of 24.5% increased 35 bps sequentially. Middle East & Asia pretax operating margin increased slightly by 8 bps to 28.7%, Latin America expanded 81 bps to 22.3%, and Europe/CIS/Africa grew 29 bps to 21.3%. Despite the sequential revenue decline and the increasingly unfavorable shift in revenue mix, operating margins expanded and limited the sequential decremental margin to 18per cent.”

“For the first half of 2015, yearon-year revenue dropped 14% in the International Areas, which is more severe than the 5% decline in the same period during the 2009 downturn. In spite of this, the decremental margin was 18%, which represents a marked improvement over the 73% posted for the corresponding period in the previous downturn. Pretax operating margin for the first half of 2015 expanded 85 bps compared to the 269 bps fall in margin reported for the same period in 2009. The strength of this performance was a result of proactive cost and resource management, robust sales of new technology, and the acceleration of the transformation program focused on workforce productivity, asset utilization and reduction in unit support costs.”

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Venezuela seeks light oil contracts STORIES: UDEME AKPAN

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etroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) has asked oil suppliers to submit offers to sell the South American country up to 70,000 barrels per day of ultralight sweet crudes through contracts of one to five years, potential bidders told Reuters.

Reuters indicated that if successful, the move would mark the most definitive step stateowned PDVSA has taken to obtain longer-term supplies of ultralight crude, which it needs to use as diluents for its growing output of extra heavy oil.

The agency maintained that PDVSA bought some 4 million barrels of Algeria’s Saharan Blend light crude from October 2014 through January of this year under an agreement with state-run Sonatrach.

It maintained that the deal ended after disagreements over prices and delivery terms, forcing PDVSA to resume production of less attractive blends made with imported naphtha.

Under its new strategy, PDVSA would guarantee a source

of light crude for the coming years in the vast Orinoco belt, home to most of the country’s reserves. Even though the OPEC-member nation has the world’s largest oil reserves, it does not produce enough light, sweet crude.

“PDVSA will receive offers until July 27. Only producing companies were invited,” said the source, who added that Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron Corp are on the list.

In the meantime, PDVSA recently has been buying Nigerian crude to use as diluents, according to traders.

The first 1-million-barrel cargo bought from Shell arrived on the Caribbean island of Curacao at the end of last month and another two vessels of the same size are waiting to be unloaded, according to Thomson Reuters vessel tracking data.

Another trader added that a document containing the terms of the deal says the crude must be 40 API degrees of density or lighter. The company is not

Storage tank

willing to accept offers of condensates.

But that source said some of the terms are flexible, including the amount and size of the cargoes to be received per month at Venezuelan ports.

Traders said Shell and Exxon Mobil Corp are in a good position to offer Nigerian light, sweet crudes to Venezuela.

It is still not clear if PDVSA would accept offers of shale crudes including Eagle Ford crude, which would meet the terms and save money in freight costs.

PDVSA recently said it was in conversations with other OPEC countries such as Algeria, Angola, Iran and Nigeria to find light crude supplies.

CADE endorses Shell-BG oil deal

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oyal Dutch Shell plc has announced its recommended combination with BG Group Plc. The company said the proposal has received Brazilian antitrust clearance from the Brazilian competition authority (CADE).

The Combination according to information provided

by Shell in its website “relates to the securities of a UK company and is subject to UK procedural and disclosure requirements that are different from those of the United States.

“The Combination involve that Shell may purchase or arrange to purchase BG shares

Shell MD, Osagie

otherwise than under any offer or scheme related to the Combination, such as in open market or privately negotiated purchases.

“The Combination may be implemented by way of a takeover offer under English law.”

Meanwhile, a total of 27 partnerships have been agreed

by Nigerian and British companies under the auspices of the annual Nigeria-UK engagement programme sponsored by the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo).

The partnerships cover a wide range of oil and gas activities including engineering, maintenance, fabrication and support services and were the outcome of several business summits held in Lagos, Abuja, London and Aberdeen.

Working closely with the United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI), SNEPCo initiated the business summits in 2009, creating valuable opportunities for Nigerian and British companies to collaborate to close the technical gaps that exist in the oil and gas industry as a result of the enactment of the Nigerian Oil

and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010.

The collaboration has helped to improve local capacity in innovation and technology. This model has now been replicated in Kazakhstan and Iraq.

The milestone 20million MWh of electricity is equivalent to 24-hour power supply to over one million residential consumers or nearly 180,000 medium-sized commercial enterprises for six years. It is also worth six years of 24-hour power supply to Port Harcourt city alone!

“We are pleased with the progress that has been made with the collaboration of UKTI and Shell,” said Osagie Okunbor, Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) when the UKTI led by the Director of Trade in Nigeria, Chris Maskell, paid him a courtesy call.

“We will continue to support the initiative given the benefits and potential to drive growth in the Nigerian economy.”

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Maskell said: “The partnerships have significantly increased the scope of operations for both the British and Nigerian companies and can only get better as they explore more areas of co-operation. We are grateful for the continued support of Shell for this initiative.”

A recent reform of the programme ensures that Nigerian suppliers now take the lead in deciding potential UK companies that they would like to meet and partner with for project delivery in areas of key needs.

The 2015 Nigeria-UK business summit is slated for this month (July) in Lagos where UK companies will be looking to take advantage of prequalification and tendering activities scheduled for 2015/16.

About 90per cent of contracts in Shell Companies in Nigeria were awarded to Nigerian companies in 2014.

The use of locally manufactured goods and Nigerian service providers creates employment opportunities in communities in which Shell companies operate.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Industry & SMEs

39

Experts harp on benefits of processed produce to economy Sustaining the modest growth achieved in the Nigerian economy has been linked by experts to the extent the government and other stakeholders commit themselves to improving the business environment as well as strengthening capacities along the various productive value chains. In this analysis, ABOLAJI ADEBAYO captures their views, especially on the negative implications of not adding value to products and exporting raw materials to global markets for the economy.

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very developed economy is rated on manufacturing capacity and standard of products in the global markets.

Economies world over survive on the basis of consistency in improving productivity, better performance, and shrinking prices.

Indeed, to continue to remain relevant among world economies, it is important for a country to keep investing in capacity building of local manufacturing and set standards for the locally produced goods.

Despite its great capacity to produce raw materials through its nurtured agriculture and other highly profitable natural resource endowments, Nigeria lacks the resources it takes to process its products into finished goods; hence, the country has ended up exporting its raw materials. This, according to experts, has made it difficult for the country to really diversify its economy.

Even with the move to develop its agricultural sector, Nigeria’s economy still remains largely under-developed since the agricultural produce cannot be industrialized – the value addition has been taken for granted.

Being the largest economy in Africa as a result of GDP rebasing, the world is looking unto emerging markets in Nigeria for production of finished products rather than mainly exportation of raw materials.

According to business analysts, the country is at the risk of losing great benefits in terms of jobs, foreign earnings and competitiveness to other countries to which it exports its raw products.

The President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Chief Bassey Edem explained that Nigeria jeopardizes its development opportunity when it indulges in exporting its raw products to another country where the products are processed into finished goods.

He added that by further exporting the processed products into Nigeria the benefitting countries also earn foreign exchange for their countries while Nigeria losses.

He said: “What we have in Nigeria is low profile processing, which cannot be compared with the imported ones. We need, as a nation, to

Garri processing machine

Buhari

NEPC CEO, Olusegun Awolowo

WHAT WE HAVE IN NIGERIA IS LOW PROFILE PROCESSING, WHICH CANNOT BE COMPARED WITH THE IMPORTED ONES. WE NEED, AS A NATION, TO BUILD A VERY ADVANCED PRODUCT PROCESSING FACILITIES BECAUSE WE HAVE THE CAPACITY, WE HAVE THE RAW MATERIALS build a very advanced product processing facilities because we have the capacity, we have the raw materials. We can take advantage of these raw materials by adding value to them. It can create local jobs for our people and we can sell the processed ones locally and also export them, the value is higher.

That is where the wealth is, that is where the job is, and that is where the economic potential of our products is, which we need to harness and develop.”

Despite series of efforts going on to reform and improve the economy of the nation especially through diversification, experts said attention must also be given to improvement of conditions and business competitiveness in Nigeria. According to them, the economy can only thrive if the cost of doing business is drastically reduced.

For instance, a commodities exporter told National Mirror that he would rather continue to export raw products and make his money than investing in production processing plants amidst high cost of production.

He said at the end of the day, one would not make any profit if one continues to fuel generator to produce, pay high tax, and spend more money on transportation.

Also speaking the President, Oyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Adegoke Oguniyi noted that the country stood behind small African countries like Ghana, Cameroun and Kenya in global competitiveness. Referring to the Global Competitiveness Report Index by World Economic Forum, WEF, which indicated that Nigeria ranked 115th out of 144 countries assessed – behind Ghana, Kenya and Cameroun, he said improving on locally produced goods through value addition becomes imperative.

The Federal Government, in its determination to reform the Investment Climate, improve Nigeria’s global competitiveness ranking, and revitalise the Nigerian economy, inaugurated the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria, NCCN, last year.

The Council was charged with the mandate of increasing productivity and sales for local businesses that will lead to expansion and creation of more markets for made-in- Nigeria products.

However, since its inauguration last year, the Council has not made any significant impact on the economy of the country. An economic analyst, Mr. Afolabi Thomson said the council has not been up and doing in its saddled responsibil-

ity. He also alleged the Council of groping in the dark since many stakeholders were not aware of its existence.

At a forum recently, experts said that the significant, long-term problems Nigeria is facing in the new Century require major shifts in mindset and consistent adaptation to new societal shifts that will serve as panacea to boost non-oil export growth. According to them, government and stakeholders have critical roles to play to drive the economy of the country to a vantage position at which it can achieve the status of global competitiveness, which could be achieved if only value could be added to the exporting products.

Some of the areas that need improvement, according to them, as a matter of urgency, include value addition to non-oil products before exportation, development of manufacturing capacity through agriculture, as well as redeeming the image of the country among other nations.

The Executive Director/CEO, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Olusegun Awolowo, said although there is steady growth in non-oil export, Nigeria’s export is dominated by raw material including crude oil. He said that non-oil export potentials are not fully exploited.

“Nigeria is endowed with natural resources – solid minerals, agricultural etc., products are mostly exported in primary forms from Nigeria. A number of challenges such as poor infrastructure, energy and finance have impeded the development and growth of non-oil export.”

Meanwhile, Awolowo said value of non-oil export has kept increasing since 2012 adding that 11 new non-oil products were exported in 2014 to 13 countries.

Some of the Nigerian non-oil exports products, according to the NEPC boss, include cocoa, sheep, goat skins and leather, sesame seeds, aluminum and articles, rubber, tobacco products, cotton, tans and woven fabrics, copper, cashew nuts and edible fruit, prawns, shrimp, fish and crustaceans.

Awolowo said the major challenges to Nigerian economic competitiveness include infrastructural deficiency and weak logistics to supply chain, exportation of primary products, poor standardisation of products, inability to meet export orders, high cost of production, restricted access to credit, trade mark encroachments, and counterfeiting among others.

He said, “To position effectively in the global market, export products must address the competitiveness factors such as quality, packaging, pricing and promotion, value addition, sanitary issues, standardisation, compliance with best practices, research and development, as well as technology and innovation.”

He then urged the government to enhance synergy amongst relevant Ministries and Agencies, embrace best approach to quality assurance through the creation of appropriate quality infrastructure and research and development, as well as product adaptation to meet the international requirements.

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Cocktail

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Squirrel ‘detained’ by German police for stalking woman

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squirrel has become an online sensation after it was reportedly “detained” when a woman called police to complain it was stalking her.

The panicked woman was unable to shake the rodent in the western German city of Bottrop, so turned to the authorities in desperation on We d n e s d ay,

police told Reuters.

North-Rhine Westphalia police took in the squirrel and found it was suffering exhaustion.

Officers were helping the animal recover by feeding it pieces of apple and honey tea.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Oddities

Former 41-pound fat cat in Texas slims down to 19 pounds

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former 41-pound cat dubbed Skinny has lost more than half of his weight to become the darling of a Dallas veterinary clinic.

Dr. Brittney Barton says the orange tabby she adopted in 2013 has slimmed to 19 pounds with exercise and a special diet. Barton calls

Skinny the “resident cat” at her practice, HEAL Veterinary Hospital.

Barton said Friday that Skinny spends weekdays roaming the clinic.

The ex-fat cat’s weekends are spent at home with Barton and her family.

The vet says Skinny, who was found abandoned near Dallas in 2012 and ended up at a shelter, just

had his annual checkup and he’s healthy.

Barton says Skinny is living proof that while

he’s supposed to be a large cat, “he’s not supposed to be an obese cat.”

Swiss army airlifts water to cows facing drought, hot weather

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rmy helicopters have airlifted nearly 24,000 gallons of water to thirsty cows amid scorching temperatures in

southern Switzerland.

The canton of Vaud has nearly 20,000 cows, each of which need between 22 and 33 gallons a day, according to

A military helicopter delivers water from a reservoir to farmland in Marchairuz, Switzerland.

the local officials. Many are grazing on meadows as high as 4,000 feet above sea level.

“Due to the small amounts of rain over the course of four to five weeks, the water levels in our rivers and our groundwater have decreased significantly,” army spokesman Urs Mueller told NBC News on Wednesday.

In order to quench the bovine thirst, the Swiss army deployed 60 soldiers to install six water tanks in the mountainous region before flying

the water in using Super Puma transport helicopters.

The water was taken from nearby Lake Neuchâtel and the Lac de Joux and will be stored in the containers, two of which can be refilled from pipes using a pump system.

The mission was funded by the Swiss government.

“This was categorized as emergency aid, so that to local authorities not be charged for the operation,” Mueller said.

Skinny, who when found wandering near Dallas in 2012 weighed in at 41 pounds

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Civil Service

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Women group bemoans unemployment, crime in Kogi CHIDI UGWU, ABUJA

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pressure group in Kogi State, the Confluence Women Mandate, CWM, has blamed the recent rising crime rate in the state to lack of employment among the teeming youths population, which according to it rendered most of

them susceptible tools to be used by the devil.

The women who made the observation during a courtesy call on the All Progressive Congress, APC, leader and governorship aspirant in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu in his Abuja residence, expressed grave concern over the development.

Addressing Prince Audu on recent affairs as they affect the state, the Coordinator of the group, Hajia Asabe Nuhu warned that urgent steps must be taken to stop the situation to deteriorate further.

Hajia Nuhu told the exgovernor that the unfolding event at the home required an astute politician of note and accomplished

administrator to rescue it.

Leading the leadership and over 100 other members of the group on the visit, Nuhu described as sad development recent rampant cases of kidnapping and armed robbery cases involving youths of the state.

The women leader who recalled a recent development where the Police pa-

L-R: Wife of new Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Amina; her husband, Mr. Abdullahi Muhammadu and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Alhaji Abubakar Magaji, during Muhammadu’s decoration in Abuja on Monday.

PHOTO: NAN

raded 45 arrested suspects in connection with kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes in the Kogi State, regretted that “it has not been this bad in the history of our beloved state.”

She said, “Your Excellency, it is my candid pleasure that I led the leadership and some members of this organisation, the Confluence Women Mandate, CWM, on this august visit in the month of July.

“We are here to pledge our support to you on your move to yield to various calls from across the state and outside to step in to rescue our state, Kogi from further drifting in the forthcoming governorship election.

“Sir, we here are all mothers and we are saddened with precarious future of our children who are roaming the streets without jobs in the state.

Some of them have graduated from schools and are without job.

We are mostly disturbed that, some of them out of frustration have indulged in criminal activities to make the end meet.

We are pained by this development and hence want an end to it.

Nigeria needs strong democratic institutions to sustain democracy -Diplomat JOEL AJAYI ABUJA

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ormer Head of United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur, Professor Ibrahim Gambari on Monday, disclosed that for Nigeria and other African countries to sustain democracy, there must be existing strong democratic institutions.

Gambari said promoting democracy ought to be a collective effort rather than being left in the hand of democratic leaders.

He stated this while reacting to President Barack Obama’s statement that what Africa needed was strong institutions not strong men.

The former envoy

spoke at a dialogue to celebrate Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at 40.

The policy dialogue on the future of democracy and peace in the West Africa was organised by Centre for Democracy (CDD) and other development partners in Abuja.

According to him, though elections are important and necessary but they are insufficient prerequisite to sustain democracy.

“President Obama, in his visit to Accra, he addressed the parliament and made a strong speech that what Africa needed are not strong men but strong institutions; neither than a freeman, I am no longer serving any

government or the UN, so I will speak my mind as a scholar.

“Yes, strong institutions are very important and incase of democracy, strong democratic institutions are vital to the sustainability of democracy but also has the important of strong leaders. So there must be distinction between strong leaders and strong institutions but the combination of whole.”

Gambari, who is also the founder of Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD) lauded ECOWAS for its commitment to promoting democratic institutions in the region.

Speaking on corruption, he described as sad-

dening situations when people limit corruption to stealing.

He said impunity should be addressed with utmost vigor such that the country can witness genuine change.

According to him, weak leaders attempt to subvert strong institutions, because of their insecurity, they intend to attack rather than build strong institutions.

“Contrary to perceptions outside, ECOWAS has taken huge steps to establish democratic institutions because it is not enough to mouth democracy-the government of the people, for the people, by the people but there have to be sustainability and can only be done be

establishing and implementing democratic institutions,” he added.

Earlier, ECOWAS President, Kadre Ouedraogo warned against endemic poverty and unemployment in the region. He called for persistent effort to address the sad situation while urging presidents of member states to intensify nationwide infrastructure for peace.

In her remarks, CDD Director, Idayat Hassan said the dialogue was aimed to commemorate ECOWAS for its 40 years anniversary.

However, she emphasized that democracy should be a platform to foster economic success and national development for the interest of the poor and general public.

41

Sir, we are confident that Kogi state will be purged of this antecedence and place on record of very low crime as these our children will be ready to renounce their delinquent attitudes engaged fully with meaningful job if you accept our request and return as governor of the state.

It smacks our imagination that the I-G deployed a Special Anti-Crime Task Force headed by CP Chris Ezike from Edo, to tackle the spate of kidnapping in the state.

“We want to put a stop to this and this must only be achieved when we have a leader like Prince Abubakar Audu as an elected Governor of Kogi State come November 21, 2015.

She said aside the crime situation, the endorsement of Audu’s ambition to govern Kogi was a germane step aimed to rescue the state and its people from grappling with abject poverty and infrastructural decay which characterised the state that has lost focus and direction to give its people dividends of democracy.

She said the group was optimistic that as a banker of international repute, who worked at the Standard Chartered Bank in London, and of course the highest paid Blackman at that period, Audu will apply his contacts and connections to industrialise the state.

Hajia Nuhu said, “Your Excellency, you have done it before and we are convinced that you are ready to do much more, especially in the area of creating employment opportunities for our children.

We are tired of watching them idling away.

“If during your last tenure, have initiated the multi-trillion naira Obajana Cement Factory with the Dangote group, we are confident that your coming back for the second tenure will foster establishment of cluster of industries in the state and a business hob state of our dream will be achieved under you.

42

Civil Service

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

CSO applauds NAFDAC on transparency ADEOLA TUKURU ABUJA

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entre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET), has expressed support to the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC), for what it terms exemplary stewardship.

The Executive Director of the Centre, Comrade Isaac Ikpa , in a press statement yesterday said the recent persecution of NAFDAC boss, Paul Orhii ,was undeserving and malicious in all its ramifications.

The Civil rights activist commended NAFDAC for opening its doors and books for scrutiny in the face of criticism, which according to him was “a proof of innocence and transparency, even as detractors have vowed to ensure that the good name and gain strides of the Paul Orhii led administration is washed down the drain”.

He called on all well meaning Nigerians to not only condemn the attack at NAFDAC’s leadership and performance but also render support and encouragement to the sterling leadership of the agency was he’d high has not only shown commitment but also taken the war against drugs to a higher length.

The Centre further commended, Dr. Orhii for his accountability, respect for due process and probity in all the dealings in his office. Also commended is the open door policy for civil society groups to scrutinize his activities periodically.

Recently, the DirectorGeneral, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Dr Paul Orhii, has blamed barrage of corruption allegations by the agency’s former Director of Finance, Ademola Mogbojuri, as an attempt to bring him to disrepute.

Orhii, who was accused of mismanagement and conducting NAFDAC’s businesses unilaterally, said Mogbojuri was incompetent, the reason he said Mogbojuri was moved out of the Finance

Department.

Speaking with Saturday Mirror in his office in Abuja during the week, Orhii said the agency had persistently been starved of funds by the Federal Government, the reason he said often forces the agency to spend its internally-generated revenue.

Orhii was accused of failing to remit the internally-generated revenue of the agency to the Federal Government. He also allegedly awards contracts without approval and make unqualified contractors win bids in the agency.

Responding, Orhii said the agency had been using only outstanding contractors that had been handling the agency’s projects for many years.

He was said to have made his kinsmen and cronies enjoy flights tickets meant for staff in both local and international flights. Orhii denied the allegation and informed that the agency usually owed its ticketing agents, and that money was not often always available to pay for tickets.

He however admitted that NAFDAC owed N5 billion as alleged. He attributed the debt to failure of government to fund the agency.

According to him, proposed overhead cost of NAFDAC for this year was N9billion. Out of this, he said the agency had got zero allocation since January; and that out of similar budget for 2014, only N10 million was approved.

Orhii informed that all the Federal Government had done this year was to pay the agency’s staff without approving any fund for its overhead and capital projects.

He maintained that in spite of the agency’s challenges, NAFDAC had been globally coveted, and that he executes various projects across the country every year.

He explained that the agency had consistently made increasing internally-generated revenue in the past years, which he said ran into about N8billion naira last year.

He said the agency hoped to get N9billion this year, which, according to him, is being used for running

of its activities and execution of capital projects of the agency across the country.

Speaking further, Orhii said government required that 25 percent of all ministries and agencies’ internally-generated revenue be remitted to the Federal Government, including 80 percent of their surplus funds at the of the year.

In addition to the remit-

tance, the agency’s boss said NAFDAC also pays three percent of its generated funds into the Consolidated Revenue Account and use the remaining for its activities. ”The law that established NAFDAC says that the agency can generate money and spend the money for the running of the agency’s business,”he argued.

He added: “I believe that NAFDAC’s money should be used for NAFDAC, and that is what I have used the money for.

Once I continue being at the helms of NAFDAC, I will use whatever money we have to run the affairs of the agency, to keep the agency as one of the top regulatory agency in the world.

“When I came into

NAFDAC, I met internally generated revenue of N2.5 billion. It was further said that the money went to N2.9 billion naira a year. It is true that I met N2.billion internal revenue. And, now, we hope that by this year, because there has been progressive increase in IGR of NAFDAC since I came to NAFDAC. I think that is a credit to me because I block all the loopholes, I blocked all the leakages and made sure that we generated more money and we have steady increase in revenue generation at NAFDAC. “Three years ago, it was just about three point something billion naira. Last year, we went to about N7 or N8billion naira. This year, we are hoping to make N9 billion. So, the Director of Account who is supposed to have correct information to say that we have been making N9billion over the four years is simply mischievous, because he is supposed to know better, or incompetent. It could be both.

“And, it is the money that we generate that we use to run the agency. In fact, the Federal Government doesn’t do more than pay our salaries. Since I came to NAFDAC, I have not received, or let me say the budget for this year, it is verifiable. You can go and check. For overhead expenditure, we have been budgeting almost N9billion for running our agency. It has been zero allocation for us this year,” he added.

OMEIZA AJAYI,

According to Elechi, the exercise which was carried out by the CG’s special Task Force on Code Enforcement saw officials sealing the Conoil station opposite the NNPC Towers in Abuja and another one within Unity Estate Mararaba, Karu Local Government Area of Nassarawa state.

The statement added that “the sealed off station in Karu, is sited within the Estate which exposes the inhabitants of

the community to danger of fire accident”, adding that the other fuel station was closed down for failure of management to adhere to safety standards as contained in the National Fire Safety Code (NFSC).

It explained that the Head, Policy Regulatory and Inspectorate Department (PRI) ACG Azogu, said “the service and indeed, the Taskforce have a responsibility and strong duty of care to ensure the sitting of petrol stations

and already functional ones meet the minimum safety standards in order to guarantee the safety of lives and property.

“Recall one of these fuel stations was engulfed by fire late last year and to checkmate such ugly incident from re-occurring, the taskforce has a responsibility to ensure owners of these petrol stations maintain safety standard that will guarantee the safety of those refuelling their vehicles therein.”

L-R: Chief Medical Director, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Prof. Lawal Khalid; NorthWest Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Musa Ilallah and Director of Administration, ABUTH, Mr. Ishak Bello, sympathising with a victim of Zaria bomb explosion, during NEMA’s presentation of drugs and medical equipment to the management of the hospital in Zaria, Kaduna State on Monday.

PHOTO: NAN

Fire Services seals two fuel stations for violating safety rules ABUJA

F

or willfully violating fire safety procedures, the Federal Fire Service (FFS) said it has sealed two Conoil fuel service stations, each in Abuja and Nasarawa state.

The service disclosed this in a statement issued by its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Collins Elechi.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Williams Attah GOMBE

O

bviously impressed by what he saw in Gombe State, the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has called on Nigerians holding leadership positions at all levels to imbibe the habit of making life better for their people.

The Vice-President stated this during a recent visit to condole the people of the state over the recent bomb explosions that rocked the state in the past few days.

While at the palace of the Emir of Gombe, Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III, the Vice President said the desire of every

Politics

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

43

Emulate Dankwambo’s patriotism, Osinbajo urges leaders society in a democratic dispensation is to enjoy dividends that would better the lot of the people as well as protect their lives and property.

Prof Osinbajo added that the primary duty of every government is to have and implement programmes that have direct bearing on its people, just the way Dankwambo is doing in Gombe State, saying the Nigerian government under the leadership of President Muhammadu

Buhari would not relent in doing so.

Commending Governor Dankwambo for the human and infrastructural development he has brought into Gombe State, Osinbajo stated that “I want to specially thank the governor of Gombe State.

Just going round the city, I am so amazed at the development here and I have to just thank him very much for the great work here.

“That is the standard that this country expects

from those who lead at whatever level. I commend him a great deal for the good work that he is doing.

I call on others to emulate him.”

He therefore called on Dankwambo’s contemporaries to emulate him and then extolled the people for their show of bravery during and after the blasts.

He said: “I am so happy and encouraged to see that the good people of Gombe State are not in any way cowards or defeated by

this terrible experience.

I have seen that they are strengthened and are standing like men and they are bold. That is so good to see.”

Responding, the Emir of Gombe, Abubakar III, thanked the Nigerian government for the prompt visit to the state, which he said brought succour to the people.

He said: “We thank you very much for coming to commiserate with the people of Gombe State, despite

your tight schedules, over the unfortunate incident that occurred at the market. We are not surprised because we know the concern and support the Buhari administration has towards the people of the North-East. We feel highly honoured by this show of concern and courage.”

Earlier, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo thanked the Vice President for the visit and expressed total support and loyalty to President Buhari.

C’River: Mass protest over LG chair’s second term bid Richard Ndoma CALABAR

C

onfusion yesterday rocked the secretariat of Obubra Local Government Area of Cross River State, as angry youths, political and religious leaders stormed the secretariat, protesting against the second term ambition of the council chairman, Dr. Kerian Mfam.

The protest was as a result of rumour made the rounds in Obubra that Dr. Mfam was nursing the ambition of vying for the same position he currently occupies again in 2016.

About 200 protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “No Second Term for Chairman,” “We Support PDP Rotational Democracy,” and “Ofumbungha-Yala Youths Say No to Second Term Bid of Chairman,” among others, shut down Obubra town and dared the chairman to stop them from protesting.

Spokesperson for the protesters, Mr. Vincent Ayang, said that apart from the fact that Obubra people want the chairmanship position to rotate among the various wards in the council, he stressed that they were not carried along and accused the council boss of high-handedness in his system of administration.

Ayang said: “We can-

not continue to bear the brunt of misrule in this council because we voted for the chairman to change our lives for the better. He has mismanaged the opportunity we gave him and he cannot run for a second term in this council.”

The protesters alleged that instead of pursuing programmes that would develop the area, “the chairman is concentrating on moves for a second term bid when he has failed to bring development to Obubra.”

They said: “Obubra people will resist every attempt by the chairman to foist himself on the people; we call on the state leadership of the PDP to advise the council boss to step down his plan.

“We want to say with emphasis that youths of Obubra will resist any attempt by the chairman to return himself to the council office by whatever means. We are ready to fight him. And this protest will continue until he drops the idea” When National Mirror contacted Dr Mfam on telephone for his reaction, he said that he owed the protesters nothing, adding: “They are protesting against second term but I have not told anybody anything.

I am not concerned about their protest; in fact, I don’t think it makes meaning to me.”

L-R: Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III; President, Nigerian Institute of Surveyors, Mr. Bern Akhigbe and Governor Aminu Tambuwal, during the opening of the institute’s conference in Sokoto, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Ex-lawmaker cautions Ekiti APC against intra-party squabbles Abiodun Nejo ADO EKITI

F

ormer House of Representatives member, Hon Bamidele Faparusi, has cautioned the Ekiti State All Progressives Congress, APC, members gainst divisive and bitter politics.

Faparusi, who represented Ekiti South federal constituency II at the Seventh Assembly, lamented that intra-party squabbles and disunity could rob the party of victory in the 2018 governorship poll in the state.

The former lawmaker spoke at his Ode Ekiti hometown in Gbonyin council area of Ekiti State during a valedictory service to mark the completion of his four-year term as a federal lawmaker.

He urged his constituents to “shun bitter, divisive and partisan politics.

It weakens our democracy.

Let us come together and build vibrant, virile and vi-

able Ekiti of our dream that we can be proud of among the comity of states”.

The APC chieftain urged them to “cultivate genuine revolutionary spirit and values that are transformational. Let us typify Ekiti ethics of love for one another. Let us go back to those things that distinguished us as a people”.

Faparusi also declared that the Chief John OdigieOyegun-led National Working Committee, NWC of the APC had committed no crime by setting agenda on who should be elected as leaders of the present National Assembly in line with the party supremacy doctrine.

He said it was the prerogative of a party, particularly the ruling party, to guide its elected members and ensure that they executed programmes that would be in tandem with the mission and vision of its President.

He said: “I have heard people ignorantly argued that APC has no reason to interfere in who becomes

what in the National Assembly. This argument is wrong. The APC has the responsibility to guide its members to protect its interests.”

The former lawmaker, a member of Ekiti APC Restoration Group, assured that he and other likeminded APC leaders were working hard to unify the party and bring all splinter groups under one umbrella, to be able to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2018.

He thanked his constituents and his party for giving him the opportunity to serve at that prestigious legislative stratum, promising to work with all interested groups to re-launch the APC intto reckoning in the state ahead of future elections.

Expressing the party’s determination to win the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state, Faparusi said such herculean task could only be achievable, if the party had a united house devoid of ac-

rimony.

Faparusi said: “As leaders and beneficiaries of the party, we must reposition the APC. We are meeting with former governors, former senators and House of Representatives’ members and others on the need to brainstorm on the future of our party.

“Though, I have seen some people declaring ambitions to contest, but I believe that we must first come together as a strong family before doing that.

We are taking steps and by the grace of God we will approach the next election with more vigour and strength to be able to recapture Ekiti.”

Among guests at the event are former PDP chairman and now APC chieftain, Chief Ropo Adesanya; Senator Gbenga Aluko, represented by his Director of Mobilisation, Mr Dare Abey; former council boss, Mr Paul Abegunde; and former Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr Apalara Adewumi, among others.

44

Politics

Ise-Oluwa Ige ABUJA

A

Federal High Court sitting in Abuja is scheduled to rule today on whether or not to stop the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Yakubu Dogara and three others from appointing members as principal officers other than those suggested by the All Progressives Congress, APC. Justice Gabriel Kolawole who is sitting as vacation judge at the Abuja division of the Federal High Court fixed the date yesterday after listening to applicants’ lawyer, Mr. Seni Adio on the issue.

The applicants are Abubakar Lado Abdullahi and Olajide AbdulRaheem Jimoh, both

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

House Principal Officers: Dogara knows fate today

members of the House of Representatives.

Listed as defendants are the Speaker, his Deputy, the Clerk of the National Assembly and the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF. In the exparte application filed in court, they are seeking an order of interim injunction restraining the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and Clerk of the National Assembly and their agents “from presenting and or announcing” other members of the House for the positions of Majority Leader, Deputy Ma-

Taraba guber tribunal begins sitting in Abuja Ise-Oluwa Ige ABUJA

T

araba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal began its sitting in Abuja yesterday with the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Musa Abubakar, warning parties in the election petition before it against adopting delay tactics in the hearing of the petition.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, gubernatorial candidate in the state, Alhaja Aisha AlHassan had filed a petition before the tribunal to challenge the victory of Governor Darius Ishiaku of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Shortly after the tribunal resumed sitting, the chairman appealed to parties in the petition to be mindful of the limited time the tribunal has to hear and determine the petition before it.

However, the sitting of the tribunal was cut short due to non service of the petition on the PDP on time.

The APC candidate joined PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in the petition against the election of the governor.

When the tribunal began sitting, counsel to the PDP, Mr. Solomon Akuma, SAN, begged the court for time to respond to the is-

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

sues raised in the petition, adding that he was not served with the petition on time.

He also said he has challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal and said that until that was determined; the petition cannot be heard on its merit.

But counsel to the petitioner, Mr. Mahmood Magaji, SAN, opposed the PDP’s position in the matter saying that the objections to the petition and the main suit can be heard at the same time in order for the court to deliver one judgment.

He cited Paragraph 12 (5) of the Electoral Act 2010 which gives the tribunal the power to hear and determine the issue of jurisdiction and the petition together. The matter was however adjourned to Friday.

Fielding questions from newsmen shortly after the matter was adjourned, counsel to the petitioner, Magaji, said that the failure to serve the PDP on time was not intentional while Akuma said it was a deliberate attempt to stall the matter.

Earlier, the APC gubernatorial candidate, Al-Hassan, had expressed confidence in the tribunal saying, she is optimistic that she will be given fair hearing.

jority Leader, Majority Chief Whip and Majority Deputy Chief Whip except those nominated by the APC in its National Chairman’s letter of June 23.

The applicants are also seeking a similar order restraining them and their agents from preventing the announcement of the members of the House named in the letter by the party’s National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun for the five listed principal offices.

The APC, in the June 23 letter titled: “Party position on principal officers,” sent to Dogara, listed Femi Gbajabiamila

for the office of Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Deputy Majority Leader; M.T. Monguno, Chief Whip and Pally Iriase, Deputy Chief Whip.

Adio told the court that the essence of the reliefs in the ex-parte motion, which he prayed the court to grant, was to preserve the res - subject of dispute - and prevent the respondents from foisting a fait accompli on the court.

He added that it was equally important that the court grants the applicants’ prayers to prevent the defendants from foisting a state of helplessness on the plaintiffs and other people inter-

ested in the suit.

The applicants, in a supporting affidavit deposed to by Sope Omisore, stated that the Speaker has openly declared his refusal to implement the APC’s directive on the appointment of principal officers in the House of Representatives as contained in the June 23 letter.

They added that, as against the Speaker’s claim, the names sent to him by the party showed that the federal character principal was considered with Gbajabiamila from South-West, Doguwa, North-West; Monguno, Northeast and Iriase, South-South.

The applicants said they resorted to the court because of the disagreement between them and the Speaker and his Deputy on “whether federal character is required by law to be considered with respect to the appointment of principal officers of the APC, who are to occupy the position of principal officers in the House of Representatives.

Abdullahi and Jimoh are, in the substantive suit, contesting among others, the legitimacy of the defendants to ignore the position of the party in the appointment of the House’s principal officers.

Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and his deputy, Hon. Lasun Yusuf, coming out of the chamber after plenary on their resumption to National Assembly after a long recess in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

Ekiti PDP gets quit notice over unpaid rent Abiodun Nejo ADO EKITI

F

ollowing unpaid rent, Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been served quit notice from its state headquarters on Ajilosun Street, Ado Ekiti.

Also, power supply to the party secretariat has also been disconnected by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, over unpaid electricity bill.

The owner of the onestorey property, Chief Ropo Adesanya, a former state chairman of the PDP, now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC,

had before now requested the party to pay the N1.5 million owed by the party as rent.

Factional PDP state chairman, Tunde Olatunde, alleged yesterday that the situation degenerated into that level because Governor Ayodele Fayose refused to fund the party.

Olatunde, who said the situation was embarrassing, lamented that the party found itself in the condition because it could not withdraw money from its account which had N17 million.

He said: “The truth of the matter is that our party has been ejected for not pay-

ing our rent by our landlord, Chief Adesanya.

“We are owing the man N1.5 million and we issued him a cheque drawn on our account in UBA that has about N17 million at the time we were using it but mysteriously, the cheque was stopped for no just cause.

“Chief Adesanya has petitioned the Commissioner of Police for issuance of dud cheque and the Police have confirmed that there is money in that account.”

He said that the governor was indifferent to the threat to throw the party out of the secretariat, saying: “This party has been in power for

almost one year now, the government has not funded us. The state exco members have not been receiving their honorarium and the activities of the party have been grounded to a halt.”

It would be recalled that the faction led by Olatunde claimed it had suspended the state chairman, Chief Idowu Faleye, but Faleye had maintained that he remained the authentic PDP state chairman.

Along the line, Faleye and the SWC members loyal to him chose to abandon the state party secretariat for the Olatunde-led faction and have since been operating from another location.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Capital Market

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Investors stake N4bn on 536m shares

...as index dips 0.6% Johnson Okanlawon

I

nvestors in the nation’s capital market yesterday exchanged shares valued at N4.91 billion on 536.82 million shares in 3,458 deals.

This is more than double the amount used for 184.1 million ordinary shares valued at N2.2 billion traded in 3,557 deals the preceding day.

Oando Plc emerged the most active stock when measured with volume of transaction. The oil company exchanged 169.17 million shares worth N2.78 billion.

Access Bank Plc came second with 135.10 million shares valued at N663.81 million, while Chams Plc sold 104.70 million shares valued at N52.35 million.

Zenith Bank Plc traded 31.82 million shares valued at N534.23 million.

Fidson Plc closed as the fifth most traded stocks with 13.675 million shares valued at N44.98 million.

The All-Share Index, however, lost 192.73 points or 0.6 per cent to close at 30,614.81 as against 30,807.54 recorded on Monday.

Also, the Market Capitalisation dropped by N66

billion or 0.6 per cent to close at N10.49 trillion from N10.55 trillion posted a day before.

Further checks on the NSE trading statistics showed that Seven Up Plc led the price losers table despite the bearish trading for the day, depreciating by N3.10 or N1.67 percent to close at N182.00 per share.

Guinness Nigerian Plc followed with N2.90 or 2.05 percent to close at N138.60 per share.

GlaxoSmithKline Nigerian Plc trailed with a loss of N1.50 or 3.45 per cent to close at N42.00 per share, while Flourmill Nigeria Plc shed 99 kobo or 3.44 percent to close at N28.00

per share.

Oando Plc dipped 60 kobo or 4.42 per cent to close at N12.06 per share.

Conversely, Total Oil Plc led on the gainers table with a value addition worth N1.00 or 0.62 per cent to close at N163.00 per share.

Forte Oil Plc trailed with 50 kobo or 0.2 percent to close at N184 per share.

The Nigerian Breweries Plc followed with a gain of 22 kobo or 0.18 to close at N123.02 per share, while Trans Express Plc was up eight kobo or 8.70 percent to close at N1.00 per share.

NASCON gained eight kobo or 1.21 percent to close at N6.70 per share.

45

Source: NSE

Inter-Bank Rate Naira

US Dollar

$1

N196.95 Market indicators All-Share Index 30,614.81points Market capitalisation 10.49trn

Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

% CHANGE

TRANSEXPR

0.92

1.00

0.08

8.70

MCNICHOLS

1.26

1.32

0.06

4.76

AFRIPRUD

2.70

2.77

0.07

2.59

WACMIC: United Capital, CAL Brokers complete first trade

UBCAP

1.34

1.37

0.03

2.24

COURTVILLE

0.50

0.51

0.01

2.00

DANGSUGAR

5.92

6.00

0.08

1.35

Johnson okanlawon

CUSTODYINS

4.00

4.05

0.05

1.25

NASCON

6.62

6.70

0.08

1.21

TOTAL

162.00

163.00

1.00

0.62

SKYEBANK

2.08

2.09

0.01

0.48

CHANGE

% CHANGE

T

he West African Capital Markets Integration Council, WACMIC, yesterday announced the successful completion of its first direct trade between two West African countries under phase one of its integration programme to promote trade across member countries.

WACMIC was established to harmonize a regulatory environment for the issuance and trading of securities across the West-African sub region.

A statement from United Capital yesterday indicated that the landmark trade was between United Capital Securities and CAL Brokers,

enabled by the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, and Ghana Stock Exchange, GSE. The company hinted that the successful implementation of Phase 1 through the Nigerian capital market will allow brokers not registered in the Nigerian capital market, remote access to the trading facility of the Nigerian Stock Exchange through a local sponsoring dealing member firm licensed by NSE. United Capital also added that brokers in WACMI member countries can now trade on behalf of their clients and settle securities in Nigeria through local sponsoring brokers.

The statement explained that other West African stock exchanges such as Bourse

Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres SA are expected to initiate similar deals which could be worth an additional USD $2 million a day in capital market liquidity to the Nigeria market.

The Chairman, WACMIC, Edoh Kossi Amenounve, said the Council was proud to see the realization of this important target for regional integration.

He said: “The success of the following phases depends on the participation of key market participants conducting transactions within the subregion. Therefore, the support of all stakeholders across the West African capital markets is key to the success of the regional capital market integration program, which is gain-

Stocks rally as China fears abate

T

he United States and European stocks rose yesterday, and were on track to snap five-day losing streaks as investors focused on earnings and mergers news and looked past another fall in Chinese equities.

Prices of safe-haven government bonds eased, while the dollar rallied on growing expectations the Federal Reserve could take a hawkish bias toward raising interest rates in a policy statement due on Wednesday. Oil prices turned up on hopes US crude stockpiles were shrinking.

Dow Jones industrial average was up 128.01 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 17,568.6, the

S&P 500 gained 18.45 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 2,086.09 and the Nasdaq Composite added 32.60 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 5,072.38.

United Parcel Service shares jumped 5.2 per cent and Ford gained two per cent after each reported better-than-forecast profits.

Merger news helped lift European stocks, with the FTSEuroFirst 300 index of leading European shares closing up 1.1 per cent at just under 1,546 points .

RSA Insurance Group jumped 18 per cent after Zurich Insurance said it was considering a bid for the British group.

Shares in Kering , mean-

while, surged 5.6 per cent after Gucci, the flagship brand of the French luxury and sportswear group, posted a 4.6 per cent rise in underlying secondquarter sales.

“The market has been preoccupied with uncertainties related to China in the last couple of days, but those concerns are taking a back seat today and equities are getting some support from company earnings and M&A,” said Gerhard Schwarz, head of equity strategy at Baader Bank in Munich.

The main China indexes fell again, although by nowhere near as much as Monday’s 8.5 per cent plunge. The Shanghai market benchmark closed 1.7

ing ground.”

The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, noted that the inaugural trade affirmed the commitment to regional integration and highlighted the Exchange’s resolve to partner with relevant bodies that will provide our various stakeholders’ with platforms that will make them globally competitive.

“Through initiatives like this, we look forward to more cross border activities that will increase liquidity in the Nigerian capital markets, while strengthening our peers in West Africa. I extend my sincere congratulations to all parties that made this deal a reality,” he added.

per cent lower.

Rate (%) Inflation

8.2

MPR

13

Crude oil price

$58.96

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

NEM

0.63

0.60

-0.03

-4.76

PAINTCOM

1.33

1.27

-0.06

-4.51

LIVESTOCK

2.00

1.91

-0.09

-4.50

OANDO

13.56

12.96

-0.60

-4.42

DIAMONDBNK

3.99

3.83

-0.16

-4.01

MAYBAKER

1.36

1.31

-0.05

-3.68

IKEJAHOTEL

3.89

3.75

-0.14

-3.60

UBN

8.08

7.79

-0.29

-3.59

FCMB

2.80

2.70

-0.10

-3.57

GLAXOSMITH

43.50

42.00

-1.50

-3.45

FGN Bonds

Offer

Bid

Description

Price

Yield

Price

Yield

13.05 16-AUG-2016

1.05

98.05

15.10

98.20

14.94

15.10 27-APR-2017

1.75

100.37

14.81

100.52

14.71

16.00 29-JUN-2019

3.92

103.11

14.91

103.41

14.81

15.54 13-FEB-2020

4.55

102.50

14.76

102.80

14.67

16.39 27-JAN-2022

6.50

106.29

14.85

106.59

14.78

14.20 14-MAR-2024

8.63

96.83

14.85

97.13

14.79

Closing Market Prices of July 28, 2015

Treasury Bills Maturity Date

Bid

Offer

Exchange

Rates (N)

29-Oct-15

13.46

13.94

WAUA

270

28-Jan-16

13.71

14.72

USD

196.96

EURO

214

02-Jun-16

12.78

14.33

CFA

0.32

YEN

1.64

Tenor

Rate (%)

SWISS FRANC

202

O/N

10.2083

1M

14.8879

POUNDS STERLING

293

3M

16.1935

SDR

273

6M

17.3041

NIBOR

The Fixings of July 28, 2015

Capital Market

46

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Stock exchange daily equities summary Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005

Daily Summary (Equities)

Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005

Equities as at July 28, 2015 Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICES Other Financial Institutions ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

Daily Summary (Bonds) No Debt Trading Activity

1st Tier Securities Sector

Company name

1st Tier Securities

Daily Summary (Equities)

No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

Symbol OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 16 5 21

Current Price 26.00 31.19

Quantity Traded 99,445 2,907 102,352

Value Traded 2,583,104.90 92,487.00 2,675,591.90

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 31 31

Current Price 1.91

Quantity Traded 1,180,184 1,180,184

Value Traded 2,259,407.30 2,259,407.30

1,282,536

4,934,999.20

Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 AGRICULTURE Totals

Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005 CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Activity Summary on Board EQTY Diversified Industries Totals CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals

52

Symbol AGLEVENT

No. of Deals 6 135 54 195

Daily Summary (Equities) TRANSCORP UACN

Symbol COSTAIN

Symbol UAC-PROP

195 No. of Deals 9 9 No. of Deals 17 17

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 Totals Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005 Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals

Current Price 1.10 2.17 41.50

Quantity Traded 100,000 7,106,636 456,793 7,663,429

Value Traded 108,787.24 15,368,640.80 18,870,498.87 34,347,926.91

Current Price 0.70

7,663,429 Quantity Traded 113,011 113,011

34,347,926.91 Value Traded 76,785.37 76,785.37

Current Price 10.05

Page Quantity Traded 123,779 123,779

11 1 of Value Traded 1,219,561.82 1,219,561.82

26

236,790

1,296,347.19

Symbol CHAMPION GUINNESS INTBREW NB

No. of Deals 8 31 20 191 250

Current Price 5.11 138.60 18.24 123.02

Quantity Traded 184,775 114,075 70,498 951,499 1,320,847

Value Traded 945,380.25 15,819,660.60 1,278,187.08 116,382,262.67 134,425,490.60

Symbol 7UP

No. of Deals 22 22

Current Price 182.00

Quantity Traded 32,535 32,535

Value Traded 5,915,311.87 5,915,311.87

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL

No. of Deals 30 32 99

Current Price 3.20 6.00 28.00

Quantity Traded 825,710 879,694 1,409,253

Value Traded 2,622,365.79 5,236,945.64 39,560,895.97

Symbol HONYFLOUR NASCON

No. of Deals 27 15 203

Current Price 3.10 6.70

Quantity Traded 221,781 Page 200,853 3,537,291

Value Traded 11 2 705,133.04 of 1,332,883.06 49,458,223.50

Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

No. of Deals 7 61 68

Current Price 35.05 850.00

Quantity Traded 11,105 92,477 103,582

Value Traded 369,796.50 78,607,443.95 78,977,240.45

Household Durables

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals 16 4 20

Current Price 5.65 1.24

Quantity Traded 279,987 105,000 384,987

Value Traded 1,504,780.19 118,900.00 1,623,680.19

No. of Deals 21 (Equities) 38 59

Current Price 28.71 37.60

Quantity Traded 228,277 157,553 385,830

Value Traded 6,540,045.53 5,978,122.44 12,518,167.97

5,765,072

282,918,114.58

No. of Deals 27 No. of Deals 15 144 203 15

Current Price 3.10 Current Price 6.70 4.99

Quantity Traded Quantity221,781 Traded 200,853 135,109,264 3,537,291 421,524

Value Traded 705,133.04 Value Traded 1,332,883.06 663,815,875.93 49,458,223.50 1,629,322.58

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

No. of Deals 7 61 68

Current Price 35.05 850.00

Quantity Traded Page 11,105 92,477 103,582

78,607,443.95 78,977,240.45

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals 16 4 20

Current Price 5.65 1.24

Quantity Traded 279,987 105,000 384,987

Value Traded 1,504,780.19 118,900.00 1,623,680.19

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals 21 38 59

Current Price 28.71 37.60

Quantity Traded 228,277 157,553 385,830

Value Traded 6,540,045.53 5,978,122.44 12,518,167.97

5,765,072

282,918,114.58

Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC Activity Summary on Board EQTY DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR GOODS MILLS NIG. PLC. CONSUMER Food Products HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC Food Products Totals

VITAFOAM PLC. Daily Summary as ofNIG 28/07/2015

VONO14:32:05.005 PRODUCTS PLC. Printed 28/07/2015 Household Durables Totals

Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

Symbol PZ Summary Daily UNILEVER

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

CONSUMER GOODS Totals CONSUMER GOODS Food Products FINANCIAL SERVICES HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC Banking NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC ACCESS BANK PLC. Food Products Totals DIAMOND BANK PLC Food Products--Diversified Published by The NigerianNIGERIA Stock Exchange © CADBURY PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Household Durables Totals Personal/Household Products Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking Activity Summary on Board EQTY ACCESS BANK PLC. FINANCIAL SERVICES DIAMOND BANK PLC Banking ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED Published by FIDELITY The Nigerian Stock Exchange © BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 UNITY BANK PLC Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005 WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC. ActivityCONTINENTAL Summary on REINSURANCE Board EQTY PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. FINANCIAL SERVICES CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Published Insurance

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange Carriers, Brokers and©Services Totals

Micro-Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005 UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS Activity Summary on PLC Board EQTY FCMB GROUP PLC. FINANCIAL SERVICES NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND Other Financial Institutions ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

622 Symbol HONYFLOUR Symbol NASCON ACCESS DIAMONDBNK

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol ACCESS DIAMONDBNK Symbol ETI FIDELITYBK GUARANTY SKYEBANK STERLNBANK UBA UBN UNITYBNK WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

622

No. of Deals Current Price 144 4.99 15 3.83 No. of Deals Current Price 42 19.50 78 1.52 275 24.60 78 2.09 59 2.15 104 4.31 29 7.79 5 2.21 8 0.90 473 16.50 1,310

Daily Summary (Equities)

Quantity Traded 135,109,264 421,524 Quantity Traded 622,099 Page 4,484,808 7,243,018 3,614,386 1,982,536 3,395,575 218,407 51,500 65,841 31,823,720 189,032,678

Value Traded 11 3 369,796.50 of

Value Traded 663,815,875.93 1,629,322.58 Value Traded 12,100,144.76 11 3 of 6,750,730.06 177,786,893.83 7,428,319.25 4,239,173.28 14,598,916.39 1,712,360.20 116,980.00 59,212.50 534,231,348.16 1,424,469,276.94

Symbol AIICO CONTINSURE CORNERST HMARKINS Symbol MANSARD MBENEFIT NEM NIGERINS PRESTIGE UNITYKAP UNIVINSURE WAPIC

No. of Deals Current Price 16 0.89 6 0.83 10 0.50 1 0.50 No. of Deals Current Price 8 2.66 3 0.50 21 0.60 1 0.50 1 0.50 1 0.50 1 0.50 10 0.50 79

Quantity Traded 9,597,846 190,900 16,808 200 Quantity Traded 5,203,620 12,250 1,392,728 1,000 294,645 9,000 200 18,100 Page 16,737,297

Value Traded 8,718,413.00 157,858.00 8,404.00 100.00 Value Traded 13,891,833.40 6,125.00 849,144.18 500.00 147,322.50 4,500.00 100.00 9,050.00 4 of 11 23,793,350.08

Symbol FORTISMFB NPFMCRFBK

No. of Deals 1 2 3

Current Price 5.42 1.10

Quantity Traded 150 12,500 12,650

Value Traded 813.00 13,125.00 13,938.00

Symbol UNHOMES

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 5.50

Quantity Traded 100 100

Value Traded 523.00 523.00

Symbol

No. of Deals 52 14 315 35 1 No. of Deals 10 34 70 531

Current Price 2.77 4.05 7.55 2.70 552.20 Current Price 0.50 22.50 1.37

Quantity Traded 3,166,792 172,588 5,331,896 373,821 300 Quantity Traded 95,920 Page 694,438 2,376,774 12,212,529

Value Traded 8,707,662.37 696,726.00 40,355,499.50 1,015,765.31 157,377.00 Value Traded 11 5 47,960.00 of 15,610,106.34 3,187,868.77 69,778,965.29

Daily Summary (Equities) AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB NESF Symbol ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC Pharmaceuticals Totals

3.83

1,924

Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH

No. of Deals 8 33 12 20 1 74

Current Price 0.56 3.21 42.00 1.31 1.52

217,995,254

1,518,056,053.31

Quantity Traded 717,328 13,675,880 1,216,630 1,404,052 200 17,014,090

Value Traded 401,703.68 44,984,275.70 51,190,272.80 1,857,315.42 290.00 98,433,857.60

Sector

FINANCIAL SERVICES name Totals Company

HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC Pharmaceuticals Totals Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005 HEALTHCARE Totals ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Computer Based Systems Totals

Symbol ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

No Of Deals Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH

No. of Deals 10 34 70 531

1,924 Quotation(N) No. of Deals 8 33 12 20 1 74

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 Packaging/Containers Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005 BETA GLASS CO PLC. GREIF NIGERIA PLC Packaging/Containers Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

Quantity Traded 95,920 694,438 2,376,774 12,212,529

Current Price 0.56 3.21 42.00 1.31 1.52

Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Daily Summary (Equities) COURTVILLE

35 35

Symbol CHAMS Symbol

Value Traded 47,960.00 15,610,106.34 3,187,868.77 69,778,965.29

217,995,254 Value 1,518,056,053.31 Quantity Traded of Shares(N)

74

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Processing Systems ICT CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Processing Systems Totals Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © ICT Totals

Current Price 0.50 22.50 1.37

0.51

No. of Deals Current Price 3 0.50 No. of Deals Current Price 3

Quantity Traded 717,328 13,675,880 1,216,630 1,404,052 200 17,014,090

Value Traded 401,703.68 44,984,275.70 51,190,272.80 1,857,315.42 290.00 98,433,857.60

17,014,090

98,433,857.60

Quantity Traded 2,429,608 2,429,608

Value Traded 1,259,439.16 1,259,439.16

Quantity Traded 104,702,000 Quantity Traded 104,702,000 Page

38

Value Traded 52,351,000.00 Value Traded 52,351,000.00 11 6 of

107,131,608

53,610,439.16

Symbol ASHAKACEM BERGER CAP CCNN DANGCEM PAINTCOM WAPCO

No. of Deals 9 4 12 38 16 1 40 120

Current Price 21.92 10.31 39.90 8.75 170.01 1.27 99.00

Quantity Traded 94,632 11,000 27,216 1,728,916 26,693 50,000 62,850 2,001,307

Value Traded 2,035,376.00 109,340.00 1,032,115.12 15,214,667.64 4,544,238.86 63,500.00 6,235,025.73 29,234,263.35

Symbol BETAGLAS VANLEER

No. of Deals 6 2 8

Current Price 39.50 11.48

Quantity Traded 8,536 550 9,086

Value Traded 353,987.92 6,047.50 360,035.42

2,010,393

29,594,298.77

Daily Summary (Equities)

128

NATURAL RESOURCES Activity Summary on Board EQTY Chemicals NATURAL B.O.C.RESOURCES GASES PLC. Chemicals Chemicals Totals Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © NATURAL RESOURCES Totals OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005 Energy Equipment and Services Totals Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals Petroleum and Petroleum Activity Summary on Board Products EQTY Distributors BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC CONOIL OIL AND GAS PLC

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Symbol BOCGAS Symbol

No. of Deals 10 No. of Deals 10

Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. Employment Solutions Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 Hotels/Lodging Printed 28/07/2015 SERVICES IKEJA14:32:05.005 HOTEL PLC

Hotels/Lodging TRANSCORP HOTELS PLC Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Hotels/Lodging Totals Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. EQTY Activity Summary on Board LEARN AFRICA PLC SERVICES UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. Hotels/Lodging Printing/Publishing Totals TRANSCORP HOTELS PLC Road Transportation Hotels/Lodging Totals ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Printing/Publishing Road Transportation Totals ACADEMY PRESS PLC. Transport-Related Services LEARN AFRICA PLC AIRLINE SERVICES UNIVERSITY PRESS AND PLC.LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Printing/Publishing Totals Transport-Related Services Totals Road Transportation Support and Logistics ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC CAVERTON OFFSHORE Road Transportation TotalsSUPPORT GRP PLC Support and Logistics Totals Transport-Related Services SERVICES Totals AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 Transport-Related Board Totals Services Totals Printed EQTY 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005 Support and Logistics Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC Support and Logistics Totals

Quantity Traded 7,987 Quantity Traded 7,987 Page

10

Value Traded 37,447.89 Value Traded 37,447.89 11 7 of

7,987

37,447.89

Symbol JAPAULOIL

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 11,000 11,000

Value Traded 5,500.00 5,500.00

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 175 175

Current Price 12.96

Quantity Traded 169,171,215 169,171,215

Value Traded 2,781,417,568.61 2,781,417,568.61

Symbol BECOPETRO CONOIL

No. of Deals 1 2

Current Price 0.50 40.85

Quantity Traded 2,000 11,750

Value Traded 1,000.00 456,017.50

Symbol ETERNA FO MOBIL MRS TOTAL

No. of Deals 10 43 19 1 31 107

Current Price 2.24 184.50 150.00 49.66 163.00

Quantity Traded 416,152 111,484 185,393 20 220,520 947,319

Value Traded 936,607.50 20,552,274.36 27,824,643.56 943.60 35,908,036.52 85,679,523.04

Symbol SEPLAT

No. of Deals 17 17

Current Price 319.00

Quantity Traded 21,879 21,879 Page

Value Traded 6,701,031.12 8 6,701,031.12 of 11

Daily Summary (Equities)

OIL AND GAS Totals SERVICES Courier/Freight/Delivery Daily Summary as of 28/07/2015 RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Printed 28/07/2015 14:32:05.005 TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

Current Price 4.86 Current Price

301

170,151,413

2,873,803,622.77

Symbol REDSTAREX TRANSEXPR

No. of Deals 6 24 30

Current Price 4.97 1.00

Quantity Traded 47,700 936,125 983,825

Value Traded 227,113.00 934,069.00 1,161,182.00

Symbol

No. of Deals 13 13

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 2,734,205 2,734,205

Value Traded 1,367,102.50 1,367,102.50

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL Symbol TRANSCOHOT

No. of Deals 4 No. of Deals 1 5

Current Price 3.75 Current Price 7.86

Quantity Traded 153,016 Quantity Traded 1,000 Page 154,016

Value Traded 575,535.00 Value Traded 7,500.00 9 of 11 583,035.00

No. of Deals 5 2 2 No. of Deals9 1 No. of Deals 5 6 No. of Deals6 5 No. of Deals 2 23 17 9 20 No. of Deals No. of Deals 6 62 2 No. of Deals 85 3 17 20 3,455

Current Price 0.95 1.14 6.03 Current Price 7.86 Current Price 0.52 Current Price 0.95 Current Price 1.14 1.98 6.03 4.64

Quantity Traded 40,000 79,037 2,700 Quantity 121,737 Traded 1,000 Quantity154,016 Traded 918,540 Quantity 918,540 Traded 40,000 Quantity Traded 79,037 50,090 2,700 2,451,627 121,737 2,501,717 Quantity Traded Quantity918,540 Traded 16,970 918,540 16,970 Quantity Traded 7,431,010 50,090 2,451,627 2,501,717 536,689,582

Daily Summary (Equities) CILEASING

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol ACADEMY LEARNAFRCA UPL Symbol TRANSCOHOT Symbol ABCTRANS Symbol ACADEMY Symbol LEARNAFRCA AIRSERVICE UPL NAHCO Symbol Symbol ABCTRANS CAVERTON Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

Symbol CAVERTON

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price Current Price 0.52 4.03 Current Price 1.98 4.64

Current Price 4.03

Daily Summary (Equities)

SERVICES Totals

Quantity Traded Page 16,970 16,970

85

Value Traded 39,450.00 90,102.18 15,455.00 Value Traded 145,007.18 7,500.00 Value Traded 583,035.00 477,730.80 Value Traded 477,730.80 39,450.00 Value Traded 90,102.18 94,670.10 15,455.00 10,657,489.28 145,007.18 10,752,159.38 Value Traded Value Traded 477,730.80 64,995.10 477,730.80 64,995.10 Value Traded 14,551,211.96 94,670.10 10,657,489.28 10,752,159.38 4,911,584,319.34 Value Traded 11 10 of 64,995.10 64,995.10

7,431,010

14,551,211.96

536,689,582

4,911,584,319.34

Activity Summary on Board ASeM EQTY Board Totals

CONSUMER GOODS Food Products Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © MCNICHOLS PLC Food Products Totals

3,455 Symbol MCNICHOLS

No. of Deals 3 3

CONSUMER GOODS Totals

Current Price 1.32

Quantity Traded Page 138,000 138,000

3

Value Traded 11 10 of 173,160.00 173,160.00

138,000

173,160.00

ASeM Board Totals

3

138,000

173,160.00

Equity Activity Totals

3,458

536,827,582

4,911,757,479.34

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund Name LOTUS HALAL EQUITY ETF NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) STANBIC IBTC ETF 30 VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals

Symbol LOTUSHAL15 NEWGOLD STANBICETF30 VETGRIF30

No. of Deals 1 1 1 4 7

Current Price 10.11 2,103.00 94.13 13.92

Quantity Traded 10 50 1,000 455 1,515

Value Traded 101.10 105,150.00 94,130.00 6,019.65 205,400.75

ETF Board Totals

7

1,515

205,400.75

ETP Activity Totals

7

1,515

205,400.75

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Page

11

of

11

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

47

Community Mirror I do not think the NNPC knows how many accounts are there in which payments are made on Nigerian crude

-President Muhammedu Buhari

2-man robbery gang meets waterloo in Ogun

Patience Ogbo

T

wo suspected armed robbers have been killed during a gun battle with policemen attached to the Agbado Crossing Police Station, Ayila in Ogun state.

It was gathered that the police engaged some armed robbery suspects in a shootout at about 3:30am on Sunday when a five - man robbery gang stormed Dalemo community, a suburb of Ogun State.

Residents had placed a distress call to the police after

sighting the armed men entering houses and robbing residents.

The police were said to have arrived the scene just as the robbers were escaping with their loot and a gun battle ensued between them.

A police source said the police superior shooting power left two of the robbers dead while others fled with bullet wounds.

The source who requested anonymity said “The Divisional Police Officer in charge of Agbado Police Station, Mr. Shittu a Chief Superintendent of Police received a distress call that rob-

bers were terrorising residents of Dalemo and he immediately dispatched a team of police men to the area.

“On sighting the police, the robbers opened fire on them and the police responded. The shootout which lasted for close to one hour left two of the robbers dead as the rest fled with bullet wounds. The police took the corpses of the robbers away”.

Two of the victims of the robbery incident were later rushed to the hospital the source added.

He said, “The victims were identified as Alhaji Abdugani-

yu Alani and Mrs. Erikitola Zainab. Items recovered from the robbers include sets of jewellery, 15 different types of cell phones, three thousand naira only, one Dell Laptop and some

other items” The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Odejobi confirmed the incident and praised the gallant police officers for a job well done.

Court remands ex-RTEAN boss over murder Abiodun Nejo ADO EKITI

A

n Ado Ekiti Magistrate’s Court has ordered the former chairman of Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, in Ekiti State, Mr Rotimi Olabiwonu, remanded in prison custody.

Olabiwonu, popularly known as Mentilo, was arraigned in the court, Monday on charges over the murder last year of former state chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Chief Omolafe Aderiye.

The defence lawyer, Barrister Niran Owoseni, had raised preliminary objection that the case on the matter had been concluded as at the time his client was brought to the court.

Owoseni told journalists after the court session that the action of government was an attempt

to incarcerate his client and put him out of circulation.

He said that “what the state is trying to do is the abuse of court processes”, adding that some people had been charged on the matter and legal advice was out. however Ekiti State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has kicked against the arrest and detention of the former RTEAN boss.

APC State Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, alleged that Olanbiwonu’s ordeal was fulfillment of the governor’s declaration to run APC leaders out of the state.

Olatunbosun, in a statement, condemned what he called “persistent victimisation of APC members arrested on trumpedup charges that saw them end up in jail”.

Magistrate Idowu Aiyenimo adjourned the matter till Friday when the preliminary objection raised would be heard.

ICCI appeals for equipment to train market women Traffic returns on Abuja-Kaduna expressway, after the flood that covered the highway subsided at Giri junction in Abuja, recently.

Rivers community petitions IGP over chieftaincy tussle Dennis Naku

PORT HARCOURT

R

esidents of Ibaa community in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, have petitioned the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase over what they described as incessant killings and harassment of residents by suspected hoodlums.

Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the community leaders, Eze Kinsley E. Nyenke and Engineer Princewill Nwankama said they had been forced to flee from the community for seven

years.

The duo also said their property worth millions of naira had been destroyed by suspected criminals in the community.

They attributed the crisis to a chieftaincy tussle between the Omusunu village of the Ibaa community and two other autonomous blocs that are currently contending for the stool of a new paramount ruler of the community after the death of the former monarch to that throne years ago.

The Ibaa chiefs also alleged that the problem in the area has led to the death of about 22 youths suspected to have been murdered at different times

by some persons alleged to be sympathetic to other interest groups to the throne.

Eze Kingsley E. Nyenke specifically said his younger brother, Samuel Nyenke who had just finished his Masters program in one of the US universities was murdered when he came home on a visit.

Nyenke lamented that he was shocked when a team of policemen indicted and accused them of sponsoring the boys who go about killing innocent people in the community.

He said: “We were arrested on a trump up accusation and were detained in Abuja for two days.

Kemi Olaitan IBADAN

I

badan Chamber of Commerce

and Industry (ICCI), has appealed to government at all levels, corporate bodies and private individuals to support it with computers and other equipment in training more women in the area of Information and Communication Technology, ICT. Chairperson of its ICT Trade Group, Dr. Kemi Wale-Olaitan, made the appeal during the closing ceremony of ICT skills acquisition training for market women in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.

She said African women have so far been short changed in terms of development, stating that the initiative was part of her efforts in empowering women in a male dominated society.

She said, “Look around us, it is

dominated by men, it is my own little way to empower women. I am a woman, I have travelled to many countries in Africa and discovered that women have been so far short changed, thus I decided to organize this programme in order to help our women.

“This is the first group, here we have women from Aleshiloye and Orita, we are going to the next stage.”

She then appealed to various stakeholders to support the initiative in the bid to make more women computer literate, saying “we are using this medium to appeal to governments and other organizations to donate computer and other equipments for us to train more women, we are also appealing for other facilities such as soft loans for us to take them from where they are to the next level, they need money.”

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National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Community Mirror

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Monarch files N50m suit against IG, 9 others Wale Igbintade

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raditional ruler of Kuje Amuwo land, in AmuwoOdofin area of Lagos State, Oba Isaac Olayemi and six others have instituted a N50 million suit before a Lagos high court against the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase over alleged un-

lawful harassment.

Other claimants in the suit are; Olufemi Martins, Alhaji Mustapha Akinolu, Hassan Sabitiu, Kamoru Goriola, Chief Mufutau Rufai and Yusuf Akinlolu respectively.

The applicants in suit NoID/1014/MFHR/2014 are praying the court to restrain the

IGP along with nine other respondents to desist from inviting, intimidating or arresting them.

Others sued along with the IGP are Chief Deji Oloko, Alhaji Jimoh Ajose, Alhaji Ibrahim Badaru,miu Apanshile, Alhaji Ligali Saibu, Chief Kazeem Sanusi, Chief

Superintendent of Police, Idowu and an Assistant Commissioner of Police Daniel Okoro.

The applicants are seeking for a declaration that the continued invitation, harassment, intimidation by the Police at the instance of the 1st to 7th respondents is unconstitutional and illegal and null and void.

They are also demanding for N50 million jointly and severally as exemplary and general damages from the respondents for alleged violation of their fundamental human rights.

In a 22-prargraph affidavit deposed to by the General Secretary, Kuje Amuwo chieftaincy family, Akanni Akinolu (3rd defendant), he stated that members of Kuje family are the owners of a large expanse of land located at 76th and 7th Avenue, Festac Expansion, Festac Town, in Amuwo-Odofin area of Lagos State.

According to him, part of the family land was acquired by the Federal Government for the construction of Festac Town in Lagos some years ago.

He stated that following series of letters between the Kuje family and the Federal Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development it was revealed that 4.017 hectares of the family land was acquired by the federal government adding that the remaining portion of the land was subsequently released to the family.

According to the deponent, the Kuje chieftancy family is made of seven branches which are, Olofin, Ajoke Iyekantan, Ikugbomola, Ommoya, Ogbebusin Pekun, Odu Akande and Emidawo Akaketu.

He added that the Kuje family engaged the services of the 2nd applicant to manage the land released to the family by the federal government.

Man petitions Oyo CP over harassment Kemi Olaitan IBADAN

Mr. Michael Owolabi, carving a mortar in Omu-Aran, Kwara State, recently. PHOTO: NAN

Defendants challenge jurisdiction of special offences court Bosun Olanrewaju

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our persons charged under the Special Offenses Court Law 2003 have challenged the jurisdiction of an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court to entertain the suit.

The defendants, Gbolade Onalaja, Yinka Agbabiaka, Gloria Ocheme and Adeola Egbeyemi are facing a three-count charge filed against them by Attorney General of Lagos State.

However, in a 7-page notice of preliminary objection, the defendants are praying the court to quash all the charges leveled against them.

The defendants through the lawyer, Mr. Gbenga Ajala argued that the trial court lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the case.

Besides, the defendants stated that the first court charge brought pursuant to the provision of the Criminal Law of Lagos State is outside the jurisdiction of the Magistrate Court.

Their lawyer argued that the sec-

ond court is related to offences committed in relation to collection of dues by a body registered under the Trade Union Act which is contrary to the offence allegedly committed by them.

According to Ajala, the court being a creation of statute by virtue of the provision of section 1 (1) of Special Offences Court Laws of Lagos State lacked the mandatory

power to conduct their trial.

He added that there is no provision in the law that empowers the court to entertain offences defined in the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

According to him, since there was no provision enabling law that empowered the court to entertain offence created under the Criminal Law, they lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case.

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middle aged man, Nureni Ajijola, has petitioned the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Katsina, urging him to save his life from the police that always unlawfully arrest, harass and intimidate him in Ibadan metropolis.

Ajijola in the petition written on his behalf by his counsel, Barrister A.O. Bada and entitled, “Unlawful Arrest/ Harassment of Nureni Ajijola”, said “some policemen armed with guns came to his house to arrest him at 9.30pm in a vehicle without any number but there was inscription “SARS IBADAN” on the door of the vehicle. It has no plate number .He was carried round Oja’ gbo near Sekoni house .”

He said, “My client was asked

Customs intercept N63.128m worth of frozen poultry product Femi Oyeweso ABEOKUTA

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gun State Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has intercepted 15, 782 cartons of frozen poultry product being illegally imported into the country.

NCS Area Controller in Ogun, Comptroller Haruna Mamudu who disclosed this to journalists yesterday in Abeo-

kuta, the state capital explained that the Duty Payable Value, DPV, of the confiscated frozen products worth N63. 128 million.

Mamudu further stated that the confiscated products which included chicken and turkey were intercepted along the border towns of Ihunbo and Imeko in Ipokia as well as Imeko/Afon local government areas of the state within the past two weeks.

The Ogun Customs boss further stated that the smugglers

concealed the contraband inside the extra compartments built in five trucks to with the purpose of deceiving NCS operatives manning checkpoints in the area and then escape.

He added that the NCS operatives at the border town initially mistaken the five trucks for those conveying frozen fish before careful examination of the trucks revealed that they were concealed with contraband.

by the policemen whether he knows Sikiru Lapanpa. He told them he knows him but he has nothing with him .They told him that this Sakiru Lapanpa was in their office and that he is a Juju maker but he told them that he had nothing in common with him.

“They later called Sobe and asked him whether there was anything between them but he told them that there was nothing but one Kokoro was also called and asked of his relationship with Sakiru but he told them that he had nothing in common with Sakiru .They also called Sola Irekosodo .He too told them that he had nothing in common with him.

“My client said he gave them two thousand naira (N2,000.00) but that they demanded for twenty thousand naira (N20,000.00) which he said Irekosodo will give them the following day .

“The following day when there was nothing forthcoming ,they telephoned him but he said there was nothing by then.

He said they came back to his place of residence at 8pm the following day but they could not see him.

“He said he did not want them to kill him, he decided not to sleep in the house again. I have instruction from my client to implore you to save his life”.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

North

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Polio-free certification: Rotary cautions on laxity in immunisation MARCUS FATUNMOLE AND JOEL AJAYI

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igerians and other stakeholders working on polio eradication in the country have been cautioned not to relax in creating more awareness on immunisation and carrying out the exercise across nooks and crannies of the country.

This is to help sustain the nation’s current polio-free status, according District Governor, Rotary District 9125, Pharm Mike Omotosho, who made the call in Abuja yesterday.

Omotosho at the Maitama District Hospital

where the group donated a large billboard to create awareness on the scourge said that though the nation had seen a year without the disease, it was not yet time to celebrate.

He challenged everyone in the country to participate in the efforts that would finally eliminate the ailment.

He pledged that Rotary under his watch would focus more on humanitarian projects in the country.

His words: “What we are saying here is that we have spent one year without any polio case. Since 24th of July 2014, it is a full year without any polio case. But, it is not indica-

tive of total eradication of polio in Nigeria.

“What we are saying is that in the next two years, all hands must be on deck, everybody must play his or her role to ensure we finally eradicate polio from Nigeria.

“The reality of the matter is that we have done one year, but the next two years promise to be a lot more difficult. That is why we are calling on everybody to contribute just little of their resources, because that way, you will be able to immunise 10 to 10,000 children; that is the beauty of it.”

He added: “Beside your money, you can also con-

tribute your time. On polio immunisation day, you can go out and join people.

You don’t have to be a medical doctor or health worker. You may as simply as just enlightening the public and help them carry the cooler. It may be even a word of encouragement for them.”

He called on corporate organisations and individuals to join the club to contribute to development of humanity.

In her response, Medical Director of the hospital, Mrs Sikirat Sotimehin, thanked the club for it’s strives towards total eradication of the polio in Nigeria.

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Power sector records 277 deaths in five years CHIDI UGWU ABUJA

About 277 persons lost their lives through electrocution while 303 others were injured between 2011 and June 2015, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has disclosed.

The Deputy General Manager, Health and Safety Division of NERC, Engineer Abdul Mohammed, gave the figures at a meeting with the Industry Health and Safety officers, describing the trend as alarming.

Mohammed assures of NERC’s readiness to commence full implementation of safety code which he noted was approved by the Federal Government in March, this year.

“The code is ready for full implementation. We are going to implement this code to the letters.

In advance countries, one death is enough for a utility company to close

down. Henceforth, we will strictly monitor the industry and enforce the safety code,” he said.

To this end, Mohammed said all operators in the industry are required to submit regularly in a prescribed format, all safety report to NERC as required by law, adding that any company that fails to submit this report as at when due, would be penalised accordingly.

Specifically, Mohammed declared that Eko, Ikeja and Port-Harcourt discos would be made to explain why they have failed to comply with submission of safety reports, warning that any operator that failed to comply with the prescribed format may also face sanctions.

He said the Electric Power Sector Reform, EPSR, Act give NERC the mandate to ensure safety, security, reliability quality of service and provision and delivery of electricity to consumers.

Plateau earmarks N119bn for capital projects

P Bauchi State Governor Muhammed Abubakar (middle) with members of Katagum Emirate Council, during a Sallah homage to the governor in Bauchi on Monday.

PHOTO: NAN

Fake doctor docked ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA

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n alleged 44 yearold fake medical doctor who was an employee of the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja, Martins Ogwu Okpe, was yesterday arraigned before a Federal High Court,Abuja on a five count charge of stealing a degree certificate lawfully issued by the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to a trained doctor to secure job with the Federal Government.

The accused was also alleged to have stolen another Bachelor of Surgery degree of the same University and the National Youth Service Certificates belonging to his

childhood friend Doctor Daniel Davidson George.

Okpe was a one-time Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Abuja chapter and led the Federal Government delegation of medical experts to Liberia during the last Ebola epidemic in that country.

In the criminal charge preferred against him, the accused person was alleged to have impersonated the said Dr. George by adopting his full names as his own and using his three certificates to secure employment with the Federal Government.

The accused was employed as a Senior Medical Officer in 2006 on Grade Level 12 with Fed-

eral Ministry of Health where he was alleged to have been drawing monthly salary and allowances before the long arm of the law caught up with him.

The charge indicated that the alleged fake doctor was apprehended during the verification exercise of professional skills of resident doctors conducted by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria where he allegedly presented the certificates in June to secure clearance.

The offence was said to be contrary to section 383 and punishable under section 390 of the Criminal Code law.

When the charge was read to the accused, he

pleaded not guilty.

His counsel, Mr. Otemu Ogenovo, applied for his bail on the condition that the alleged offence was bailable as the accused is presumed innocent until contrary is proved, while Mr. Malik Taiwo the prosecution counsel did not oppose the bail application.

Consequently, the court admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N1,000,000 and two sureties in the like sum.

The sureties who must be government workers in any ministry, parastatal or agency and must not be less than grade level 12.

If convicted, the accused person will be liable to a maximum imprisonment of three years.

lateau State Government yesterday said that it would spend N119.8 billion on capital projects this fiscal year.

A breakdown of the budget expenditure presented by Mrs Rauta Dakok, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, showed that N95.6 billion would go into recurrent expenditure out of N215.8 billion.

“This budget is to further consolidate on Plateau’s growth,” Dakok declared at the budget breakdown presentation in Jos.

According to her, 55.61 per cent of the budget is allocated to capital projects to ensure the completion of ongoing projects and promote security.

She added that other sectors like education, health, water supply, agriculture, industries and sanitation would also receive adequate attention.

“In view of the numerous uncompleted projects spread across the state by last administration, the focus of this budget will be to complete them and put them to use,’’ she said.

I’ve disbursed N1.2bn empowerment loan –Ahmed WOLE ADEDEJI ILORIN

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wara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed on Tuesday, said his administration has so far disbursed over N1.2 billion to traders, farmers, market men and women as well as artisans under its empowerment programme.

The programme was flagged off about three years ago.

He stated this at the opening of Brightway Microfinance Bank in Ilorin where he said the money was disbursed through ten microfinance banks across the state.

The governor noted that the scheme had also enhanced inclusive banking as financial services had been extended to more than 50,000 individuals and 2,500 cooperatives that would otherwise have been excluded from banking services”.

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North

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Benue lawyers petition Buhari, police over killings ADEOLA TUKURU ABUJA

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L-R: Assistant Secretary General, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Mr. Toby Lanzer; Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas and Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, during a visit to Buratai in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Military rescues 30 Borno IDPs from terrorists INUSA NDAHI MAIDUGURI

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en of 7 Division, Nigerian Army yesterday rescued 30 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, after the onslaught on their hideouts in Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno State.

This is contained in a press statement signed by the Deputy Director Army Public Relations, Col. Tukur Gusau, and made available to National Mirror in Maiduguri.

The statement reads in parts; “As a result of ongoing operations under the aegis of ‘Operation

Lafiya Dole’ to clear Dikwa and environs of Boko Haram terrorists, troops of 7 Division Nigerian Army yesterday rescued 30 displaced persons from the hands of terrorists in Kwayabe and Wufe wards in Dikwa council.

“They include 21 children and a six-day old infant, seven women in-

cluding three nursing mothers and two elderly male adults.

“Our troops also discovered a training shed inside the vandalised and looted palace of Shehu of Dikwa where weapon handling and engagement of aircraft were being taught to Boko Haram recruits.”

enue Young Lawyers Initiative for Peace and Justice has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Police over the spate of killings in the state.

The petition signed

by Messrs Simon Zungwe and Monday Akor, the initiative’s president and Secretary-General respectively, urged the police, particularly the Inspector-General, Solomon Arase, to rescue the state from looming crisis.

The group in the petition dated July 24 and also copied to the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, alleged that on Friday, July 17, some gunmen suspected to be hired killers invaded the construction site of a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP stalwart and elder statesman in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue

120 suspected criminals arraigned in Kaduna

N4bn debt: Don’t withhold students’ results, parents beg WAEC

AZA MSUE

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ome parents in Nasarawa State yesterday appealed to the West African Examination Council, WAEC, to rescind the planned withholding of results of students who sat for the May/June examinations in 19 states for non-payment of registration fees.

The council in a press statement on July 27 said 19 states owed N4 billion registration fees for their students who sat for the May/June 2015 examination.

According to News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the council therefore threatened not to release the students’ results over the indebtedness.

However, some parents in Keffi local government area told NAN that it would be wrong for WAEC to withhold students’ results over debts owed by their state governments.

They appealed to WAEC to rescind its decision as it would affect the students considering the

importance of education to the socio-economic development of the country.

A parent, Mr Thomas Nico, urged WAEC to publish the list of the 19 affected states and take legal action against them instead of withholding students’ results.

“It surprises me to read from newspapers that WAEC is threatening to withhold the results of students in 19 states that sat for the May/June 2015 WASSCE over non-payment of candidates’ registration fees by their state governments.

“When we look at this issue, it is not the fault of the students. What WAEC should do is to publish the list of the affected states and take legal action against them to retrieve their money.

“The students should not be made victims by withholding their results.

“I want to appeal to WAEC not to withhold the results of students in these affected states because withholding their

results will equally affect their chances of getting admission into various institution of higher learning,” he said.

He further appealed to the affected governments to offset the registration fees of their candidates instead of paying lip-service to the education and welfare of their students.

Another parent, Mrs Jacinta Abraham, said if the results were not released, it would affect the standard of education in the affected states.

“WAEC should publish the list of affected states so as to expose the governors that pay lip-service to the education of their citizens in the interest of peace and national development,” she said.

A parent, Malam Abdul Umar, however appealed to governors of the affected states to urgently offset the registration fees of their candidates in the interest of the education sector.

The examination body had on July 27 said it could

not guarantee the release of the 2015 May/June WASSCE results of candidates in 19 states that were indebted to it.

KADUNA

o fewer than 120 suspected criminals including new SaraSuka terrorist gang members were yesterday charged

Bauchi govt owes NULGE retirees N15bn EZEKIEL TITUS BAUCHI

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igeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Bauchi State council, has said the state government owes its members about N15 billion gratuities.

This is even as the union urged the Federal Government to strengthen the local government and accord non-negotiable autonomy to the third tier of government.

The union’s secretary, Shuaibu Oruma, disclosed this yesterday while briefing newsmen in his office.

He said failure by the state government to pay NULGE retirees their gra-

State, Atoza Ihindan, and shot him dead.

“Until his death, Chief Atoza was the political godfather of former Benue governor, Gabriel Suswam, and served as chairman of PDP Elders’ Forum in Benue NorthEast Senatorial District,” the group said.

The young lawyers said in July alone, members of the same gang suspected to have killed Atoza were reported to have committed series of atrocities in the state, particularly Benue North-East senatorial district, ranging from destruction of valuable properties to kidnapping and killing of about 19 persons.

While also alleging that a member of the Public Complaints Commission in the state, Abubakar Tsav, has been partial in his investigation, they urged President Buhari to terminate his appointment so that the police could hold transparent investigations.

tuity has subjected them to untold hardship.

“Not paying NULGE retirees their entitlement is like sentencing them to death. Some of them have died prematurely, thereby leaving their immediate families in poverty and we crave the indulgence of the government to come to their aid with a view to effecting their payment,” Oruma said.

He noted that autonomy to the local government councils should be nonnegotiable to ensure their political and economic stability.

He urged other governors to emulate Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, who declared the intention to give local governments in his state autonomy.

before a Kaduna court.

The suspects were later assigned to various magistrate courts by the Chief Magistrate court I, Awaulu Musa Aliyu, for continuation of the case, before being returned to police custody.

Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, had earlier declared war on those terrorising the state, adding that any resident who committed murder or engaged in any criminal act under any guise should face the full wrath of the law without delay.

Briefing journalists over the arraignment, Kaduna Police Command spokesman, Zubairu Abubakar, said 120 suspected criminals and terrorist gangs were charged before the court for criminal activities, stressing that there is no hiding place for them in the state.

He said: “We arrested 120 suspected criminals over acts of terrorism, armed robbery and rape. Some are suspected members of the Sara-Suka terrorist gang. We arrested some as they were committing the crime, while others were arrested based on complaints from the public.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

World News

This plan was designed to address the nuclear issue alone, not to reform Iran’s regime, or end its support for terrorism, or its contributions to sectarian violence in the Middle East.

– UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE, JOHN KERRY

Paul Arhewe,

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

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Libyan court yesterday sentenced Muammar Gaddafi’s most prominent son, Saif al-Islam, and eight others to death over war crimes including killings of protesters during the 2011 revolution that ended his father’s rule.

The former Gaddafi regime officials sentenced to die by firing squad included former intelligence chief Abdullah alSenussi and ex-prime minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, Sadiq al-Sur, chief investigator at the Tripoli state prosecutor’s office, told a televised news conference in the capital.

The trial process and outcome drew condemnation abroad, with Human Rights Watch and a prominent international lawyer saying it was riddled with legal flaws and carried out amid widespread lawlessness undermining the credibility of the judiciary.

Eight ex-officials received life sentences and seven jail terms of 12 years each, Sadiq said.

Four of the 37 defendants were acquitted, others got shorter jail terms.

Muammar Gaddafi himself was killed by rebel forces after being captured following months on the run.

Sadiq did not spell out the

Libyan court sentences Gaddafi’s son, eight others to death

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, attends a hearing behind bars in a courtroom in Zintan, recently.

charges on which the verdict was based, saying this should await the expected written ruling. Defendants had been accused of a range of offences including war crimes and crimes against humanity involving the use of deadly force to suppress demonstrations, as well as corruption.

The verdict on Saif al-Islam was passed in absentia since he has been held since 2011 by

a former rebel group in Zintan, a mountainous western region beyond central government control. Internal armed conflict has split Libya into factional fiefdoms.

Dressed in blue prison uniforms and seated in a black cage, 29 of the defendants including Senussi and Mahmoudi were present for Tuesday’s verdict. One of them began shouting after the ruling was read out

before being led away.

Other defendants were being held in Misrata, a western city loyal to the current authorities in Tripoli.

Saif appeared by video link only at the start of the trial. The Zintanis have refused to hand him over, saying they do not trust authorities in Tripoli to make sure he does not escape, but agreed to let him be tried there.

Aid to farmers cuts child stunting across Africa –Obama

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.S. President Barack Obama, wrapping up a visit to the continent of his father’s birth, toured an Ethiopian factory making baby food yesterday to show how investment in farming can cut hunger and stunting.

Child stunting has fallen by up to one-third over the past few years in African countries targeted by the U.S. government’s global hunger initiative, Feed the Future, a report released on Tuesday said.

Obama has made food security a priority of his development agenda, saying in 2013 it was a “moral imperative” to end hunger on the world’s poorest continent.

“The goal is to drastically increase the productivity of smallholder farmers all throughout Africa,” Obama said while examining maize cobs at the Faffa Food plant in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on the last leg

of his African tour.

“With just a few smart interventions, a little bit of help, they can make huge improvements in their overall yields.”

One of the farmers Obama met at the factory said she had increased her yield threefold after getting better seeds, which allowed her to buy a cow and send her children to school.

In Ethiopia, stunting fell by nine percent between 2011 and 2014, the report said.

The improvement was more dramatic in Ghana, which recorded a 33 percent drop in stunting between 2008 and 2014, and in parts of western Kenya, where it fell by 25 percent between 2009 and 2014.

Africa has the world’s highest

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) speaking with a farmer (2nd R) participating in the Feed the Future program as he tours the Faffa food factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday

rate of stunting, affecting two in five children on the continent. It is caused by under nutrition in the first 1,000 or so days of life.

Millions of poor African farmers rely on cheap staple foods to fill their children’s stomachs because they cannot afford the nutrient-rich diets they need.

Stunted children learn less in school and usually earn less, trapping them in a cycle of poverty.

Twelve of the 19 countries where Feed the Future works to help farmers grow their businesses are in Africa.

Ethiopia - once known for famine although its economy is on track for 10 percent growth this year - is one of them.

Faffa Food, Ethiopia’s largest baby food supplier, received technical assistance from Feed the Future, in partnership with U.S. multinationals, to expand the range and quality of its nutritious baby foods.

AFRICA BULLETIN

Youth group hails govt stance against gay practice in Nigeria GLOWAY (Global Association of West African Youths) has hailed Nigerian government stance in bluffing western campaign for gay right in the country and other African states.

According to the group “the fact that we have unavoidably passed a vote of confidence on the foreign policies of the leadership of Nigeria is a vindication of the outright rejection of the gay right proposal to Nigeria; this is in tandem with the yearnings of the people of West Africa. This is also an indication that the Nigeria president is running a pro people government. Amidst reaction and fear among stake holders ahead of the president’s visit to US that the president may succumb to US authorities pressure on gay right and sodomy. What the president did is a demonstration of respect for the African tradition, gay marriage has no place in our culture it is a crime against nature and the law of our land, we must reject from every ramification.

“As a matter of necessity and urgency, Nigeria government must immediately replace their ambassadors, and to also redeployed their carriers ambassadors whose tenure is due, this will further strengthen Nigeria’s bi-lateral relationship with the affected countries, and also attract foreign investors”, GLOWAY leader, Abdullahi Ibrahim Baruga, said in a press release.

“We also pledge our support to the Nigeria government quest to fight corruption and plans to retrieve missing funds from some of the officials of the previous government. We cannot continue to further mortgage our future because of a mere politically motivated sentiments.”

Italian protesters torch beds to try block migrant arrivals Residents in a chic Rome suburb and a northern Italian village staged angry anti-immigrant protests on Friday, with villagers setting mattresses ablaze in a bid to stop authorities from housing migrants.

Authorities in the village of Quito plan to accommodate 101 immigrants in empty apartments, but several residents broke into one of the buildings, removed camp beds, mattresses and televisions intended for the newcomers and set them on fire outside.

The protesters then put up tents, with the Corriere della Sera newspaper quoting them as saying: “We aren’t going home until they leave -- this is an invasion.”

Italy is currently hosting more than 80,000 migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean fleeing war, persecution or poverty in the Middle East and Africa.

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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oshodi Modupe Elizabeth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adegoke Modupe Elizabeth. All former Documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Agnonvi Goddey Mauli, now wish to be known and addressed as Agnonvi Michael Segun. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

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ANAJEMBA: I, formerly known and addressed as Paul Anajemba, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Innocent Anajemba. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

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Formerly known and addressed as Michael Shefunmi Ojigbogi, now wish to be known and addressed as Michael Shefunmi Adekunle Ojigbogi. All former documents remain valid. Republic of Ireland and General public should please take note.

ADEBAYO : Formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebayo Tolulope Yetunde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aduloju Tolulope Yetunde.

All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

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JOSEPH : Formerly known and addressed as Miss Joseph Oluwafunmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Agbelusi Oluwafunmilayo . All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OJO : Formerly known and addressed as Miss Ojo Olajumoke Elizabeth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Agbi-martins Olajumoke Elizabeth. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Faton Jacob Semako, now wish to be known and addressed as Faton Israel Semako. All former Documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

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ALI: I, formerly known and addressed as Ali Mohammed now wish to be known, called and addressed as Eseyin Oloruntoba Williams.

All former documents remain valid.

General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

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Formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogbogu Henrietta Ngozi, now wish to be addressed and called as Mrs. Ebenezer Henrietta Ngozi.

All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Okeigbo Anurika Ify, now wish to be addressed and called as Mrs. Chime Anurika Ify. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Dada Olalonpe Ibitanwa, now wish to be addressed and called as Osasona Olalonpe Ibitanwa. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

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Formerly known and addressed as Ajala Akinyemi Olabayo, now wish to be addressed and called as Ajala Abd-Qayyum Akinyemi Olabayo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Odeyemi Oluwatosin Adenike, now wish to be addressed and called as Alade Oluwatosin Adenike. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

JUSTINA: Formerly known and addressed as Miss Justina Markus now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Justina Shammah Markus. All former documents remain valid. General Public please take note.

Formerly known and addrsessed as Miss Akanji Olabisi Muinat, now wish to known and addressed as Mrs Oyebanji Olabisi Muinat.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Ibekwe, Nkechi Justina, now wish to be known and addressed as Olu-olusegun, Nkechi Justina. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogunlusi Bola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ebenezer Bola Elizabeth.

All former documents remain valid.

Nigerian Police Force and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

OJELADE: I, formerly known and addressed as Ojelade Opeyemi Titilayo, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Odunbaku Opeyemi Titilayo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EGUNJOBI: I, formerly known and addressed as Mr. Egunjobi Abiodun Isiaka, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mr. Hussein Abiodun Isiaka. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Ucheonye Stellamaris Okonta now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ucheonye Stellamaris Okafor. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE

IFEANYIEZE FOUNDATION NGO

The general public is hereby informed that the above named Organization has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission Abuja for Registration under Part “C” of the Companies and allied Matters Act No 1 of 2004.

THE TRUSTEES ARE:

1. Ven. Dr. Moses Peter Ifeanyieze 2. Mrs. Bridget Ukamaka Ifeanyieze 3. Revd. Canon Joshua Chinwendu Eze Esq 4. Mr. Izuchukwu Ifeanyieze

- President - Vice President - Secretary - Treasurer/Fin.Sec

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE:

1. To preach and teach the word of God 2. To assist the less privileged children in their education 3. To assist woman and youth develop their potentials Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) Abuja, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent , off Aguiyi Ironsi Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: REVD. CANON JOSHUA C. EZE. ESQ 12 KENYATTA STREET, UWANI ENUGU 08137063774

CHANGE OF NAME

ADEGBOYEGA: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss.

Adegboyega Olayimika Grace, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olubajo Olayimika Grace .

All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Orefuye Sola Mary now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Olawoyin Sola Mariam.

All former documents remain valid.General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

YAKUBU: Formerly known and addressed as Musa Yakubu now wish to be known and addressed as Musa Peter.

All former documents remain valid. General Public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Mrs Taiwo Sunday Afolabi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Taiwo Badejo. All former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Obafemi Ruth Morounkeji, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Luja Ruth Morounkeji. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Eno Tommy Akpan, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Eno Tommy Dominic Effiong. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm that I Obasi Chimobi Kelvin, is the same person as Obasi Chimobi Paul.

Any of my documents bearing these names remain valid.

General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

SULAIMON: I, formerly known and addressed as Ramat Itopa Sulaimon, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Ramat Itopa Omidiji. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Fadahunsi Elizabeth Motunrayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adesola Elizabeth Motunrayo.All former document remain valid. Hospital Management Board Ekiti State, State Specialist Hospital Ikole Ekiti and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

EZE: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Eze Veronica Ukamaka, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aneke Veronica Ukamaka All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

UGWUANYI: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Ugwuanyi Blessing Elochukwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Agu Blessing Elochukwu. All former documents remain valid. National Orthopaedic Hospital, NHIS and general public should please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE

EZEAGU SOUTH PROFESSIONALS DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE ESP DI

The general public is hereby notified that the above named Initiative to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for registration under part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1 of 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE:

1. Chief Frank Okeke 3. Pharm. Afam Udeani 5. Okechcukwu Aghuta 7. Dr. Samuel Egwuonwu 9. Barr. Kingsley Obu

- Chairman 2. Chief Emma Ndu - Member 4. Dr. (Engr) Donatus Okozor - Secretary 6. Dr. Ugwunna Chinedu - Member 8. Engr. Joseph Chibuko - Member 10. Longinus Ejike

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE:

- Member - Member - Member - Member - Treasurer

1. To embark on sustainable rural development activities for achieving poverty reduction and accelerated economic/social transformation of the rural communities 2. To pursue programmes geared towards the economic/social empowerment of rural People through educational/health infrastructural programmes, sports and other enterprises.

(3) To embark on political education and mobilization through non formal but functional civic education.

Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to Registrar-General Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama Abuja within 28 days from the date of this publication.

SIGNED: K.S.N., OBU, ESQ. DIVINE GRACE CHAMBERS 54 CHIME AVENUE, NEW HAVEN, ENUGU

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

YORUBA YOUTH FORUM FURAKA JOS

GREAT KINGDOM BUILDERS CHRISTIAN CLUB

This is to inform the general public that the above named Organization has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under part ‘C’ of the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990.

This is to inform the general public that the above named Association has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for Registration Under Part “C” of the companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE:

1.

3.

5.

7.

9.

Shittu Taofeek Adeoye Ogundipe Noah Ojo Dapo Okanlawon Fatai Aminu

2.

4.

6.

8.

Zubair A. Adesina Olusoji Okelola Michael Tunwagun Razak Mustafa

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE:

1. To foster peace, unity and progress of members.

2. To assist each other in time of need.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja, within twenty-eight (28) days of this publication.

SIGNED: CHAIRMAN

THE TRUSTEES ARE:

1.

2.

3.

Bassey Jacob Okoro Sunday Ezeibe Uchechukwu Nnanna Stephen Chukwu

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE:

1.

2.

To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ To carry out charitable works

Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the Registrar – General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: BAR. KINGSLEY O. OGBA. 08057282363.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

CHANGE OF NAME

GAJILO: Formarly known and addressed as Miss Gajilo Funke Julianah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ebunnla Funke Mary. All former documents remain valid and General public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME

OGUNDELE: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Ogundele Oluwakemi Temidayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nyanyan Oluwakemi Temidayo.

All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogunlaja Enitan, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ojediran Enitan. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

EGBETOKUN: Formerly known and addressed as Miss Egbetokun Abosede Bernice, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Omiwole Abosede Bernice. All former documents remain valid .

General Public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Mrs E.O Odusote, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Elizabeth Olufunke Bunmi-Olusola.

All former documents remain valid.

Ogun State Hospital Management Board and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Iyabo Adebola Smith, now wish to be known and addressed as Virginia Iyabo Adebola Smith. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Moyosore Olayinka Solaja, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Moyosore Olayinka Solaja Alli. All former documents remain valid. Sagamu LGA, Ogun State Service Commission and General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

IWUDIBIA: I, formerly known and addressed as Pamela OnyebuchiIwudibia, now wish to be known and addressed as Pamela Onyebuchi.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

AINA: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss.

Aina Oluwaseun Abisayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ayeni Oluwaseun Abisayo. All former documents remain valid.

NYSC and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

AMOO: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Amoo Fatimah Olubunmi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogbeyemi Fatimah Olubunmi. All former documents valid. Stanbic IBTC Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Adeyanju David Sunday, now wish to be known and addressed as Adeyanju Dauda Atanda. All former documents remain valid.

Wema Bank Plc. and general public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Raheem Fasilat Olajumoke, now wish to be addressed and called as Mrs. Taofeek Fasilat Olajumoke. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Etaruko Edith Idowu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adesipe Edith Idowu. All former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Orji Paulin Udoka Ebere, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Obodo Paulin Udoka Ebere. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwabunmi Moradeke Adedeji, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Oluwabunmi Moradeke Atolagbe. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHARLES: I, formerly known as Charles David, now wish to be known and addressed as Amobi Samuel Iwegbunem. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE

KELLAG FOUNDATION & EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVE

This is to inform the general public that the trustees of the above named association with headquarters in Lagos wish to apply to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration as a corporate body under part ‘C’ of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: Okobah Kingsley Chuks - President Ekwubi Gloria Ukwandi -Secretary Okobah ekene Francis -Member AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE:

To empower the less privilege in the society economically.

To provide a platform through which the less privilege could be self employed.

Provision of aids to the orphanage homes.

Any objection to the registration should be addressed to the RegistrarGeneral, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, P.M.B 198 Maitama Abuja, within 28 days from the date of this publication.

SIGNED: OLAOSEBIKAN ADEOSUN & CO. BARRISTERS, SOLICITORS AND NOTARY PUBLIC, 229, IKOTUN ROAD, IDIMU, LAGOS. 08023176362

PUBLIC NOTICE

THE KENNEL CLUB OF ASABA

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

THE TRUSTEES ARE:

1. Atisele Klark Chimezie 2. Iwediuno Chibuzor David

- Chairman

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE:

1. To bring peace and harmony among members.

2. To enhance unity and discipline among the members Any objection to the aboveregistration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 TrigisCrescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street,Maitama, Abuja,within 28 days ofthis publication.

SIGNED: ATISELE KLARK CHIMEZIE CHAIRMAN

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

53

Sport

We will impress in Chile World Cup –Amuneke

I see a new Bafana Bafana aiming for the skies as we did before the 2002 World Cup

54

–Former South Africa international, Lucas Radebe

NFF President, Mr. Amaju Pinnick (r) and German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Dietmar Kreusel, during Pinnick’s visit to the German Embassy in Abuja yesterday

NFF, German football seek ‘closer ties’

T

he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday moved to formalise much closer relationship with Germany in all football matters in its quest to take the country’s football to a new level.

At a lunch-time meeting with the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Dietmar Kreusel, Pinnick praised what he called giant strides that Germany has made in world football.

“In addition to being the reigning champion of the world in football, Ger-

many is also a very strong economic power,” the NFF boss said.

“We have come here to express our intention to make Germany our model for football development.

“We keenly desire to partner with the DFB (Germany Football Federation) and the German League for support for our women football development programme, as well as capacity building for our referees and coaches.”

Pinnick, who harped on Nigeria’s importance in the comity of nations, also enu-

merated the NFF’s efforts on youth development which aimed at making the domestic league the fulcrum of the national teams.

“In view of our plans, we wish to request that Your Excellency initiate an easier procedure for the NFF Executive Committee members, management and staff to secure entry visas into Germany for football programmes,” he added.

NFF’s 2nd Vice President and Chairman of the League Management Company, Mr. Shehu Dikko, who was also in the delegation to the German Embassy,

expressed the LMC’s resolve to adopt the German model.

“We have had discussions with the CEO of the Bundesliga and we plan sending some of our club managers to Germany to understudy the system at close quarters,” Dikko said.

Others on the delegation are NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, as well as Executive Committee members Chief Emeka Inyama, Mrs. Dilichukwu Onyedinma and LMC’s Chief Operations Officer Salihu Abubakar.

E/Guinea no threat to Falcons–Mabo Mercy Jacob

F

ormer Super Falcons coach, Ismaila Mabo, believes Equatorial Guinea will not stop Nigeria from advancing to the final round of Rio 2016 Olympics qualifiers when both sides meet this weekend in Bata.

The Falcons were forced to a 1-1 draw in the second round first leg game in Abuja a fortnight ago and the reigning Afrian champions must beat the Guineans at home to secure passage to the next round.

Mabo in a chat with National Mirror, insist that , the Super Falcons despite been in a tight corner after their 1-1 draw at home will still silent the Nzalang Nacional of Equatorial Guinea in Bata.

“Our girls will overcome their opponents as long as they shun the temptation of underrating them in their home,” Mabo told National Mirror yesterday.

“I know is not going to be easy for Falcons, especially when the Equatorial Guineans come up with their intimidation. But if they remain focused and steadfast, they

would scale through,” the veteran women football coach added.

“I also think the coach should encourage the girls not to be distracted because the Equatorial Guineans can be really hostile playing before their crowd in Bata.

“The NFF should do everything to ensure that the team doesn’t lack support before the game as this will go a long way in giving Nigeria the needed win.”

Interestingly the Falcons failed to qualify for the London 2012 Olympics after they were eliminated by Cameroon.

Mabo

54

Sports

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

2016 Olympics:

Stay the course, Glo urges Dream Team, Falcons

N

ational telecoms operator, Globacom, has urged the national U-23 team and Super Falcons to make Nigeria proud in their respective assignments as they compete for the tickets to two key international tournaments this weekend.

Dream Team will be in PointeNoire to face their Congolese counterparts in the second leg of the final round of the 2016 Olympics African Championship qualifier after defeating their hosts 2-1 in Port Harcourt on July 19.

The Falcons also have a mountain to climb in Malabo where they will meet Equatorial Guinea in an Olympics 2016 second round second leg game after the first leg in Abuja on July 18 ended 1-1.

“We believe that the national U-23 t e a m will

Awoniyi

sustain t h e temp o

and

hold their nerves against the Congolese in Pointe-Noire to win the ticket to the African Championship which will be held in Senegal in December,” Globacom said in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday.

“We also believe in the ability of the Super Falcons to turn the table against the Guineans in their true fashion as the reigning African champions,” the statement added.

“We appreciate the support given to both teams by Nigerians and the Nigeria Football Federation in particular. We enjoin all not to waver at this time when more support is needed.

“Essentially, we all have to sustain the belief we have in both teams to excel,” Globacom added, while urging the technical crew of both teams to remain focused as they intensify efforts to qualify for the next Olympics.

“The tasks are surmountable; instances abound in the past and e v e n as recent as last month when the U-23 team overcame Zambia in Lusaka to win the All Africa Games 2015 ticket,” the statement concluded.

Globacom is Africa’s biggest corporate supporter of football and is the major partner of the Nigeria Football Federation and official sponsor of the Nigerian national football teams.

NCF tasked on sponsorship Joel Ajayi ABUJA

N

igeria Cricket Federation (NCF) has been enjoined to embrace potential investment drive towards securing sponsors for cricket programmes.

The task came at a one-day seminar organized for selected journalists as part of the federation’s efforts at creative aware-

Yakmut

ness for the sport.

NCF Board member, Kayode Adeniyi, explained that the current administration had taken proactive steps in approaching sponsors and executing its activities.

“We are concerned on how to employ the media to propagate cricket in Nigeria,” Adeniyi said.

“We also want to re-orientate the journalist on cricket reporting,” he added.

A resource person at the seminar and Public Relations Officer of NCF, Ehizoje Musa, also said the seminar was floated to introduce relevant stakeholders to cricket rudiments.

“We discovered that many people do not understand some terminologies in cricket,” Musa said, stressing, “It is very important that we do this so that when you see cricket in the news, you also see that the right terms are used to relay the news.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

We will impress in Chile World Cup –Amuneke Golden Eaglets’ Coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, tells JOEL AJAYI of his efforts so far to ensure that Nigeria achieves the ultimate in the forthcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup billed for Chile in October, among others issues

Amunike

How do you describe sports as a tool of empowering Nigerian youth?

Honestly, Nigeria is not there yet. We don’t believe in local content as well as local players and if priority is not given to this aspect, nobody will invest in Nigeria sports and when there are no investors the aim of empowering the youth through sports will not be there.

If we as a country can have youth team, probably most of our youth players grow together and graduated to the first team that will no doubt give the league more glamour which I believed will affect the country positively.

I was in Egypt, I was privileged to play there, all their players you are hearing their names today came through the youth channel and I think we should encourage the youth, and made them to grow together which will give them room to understand themselves better.

Probably when we improve at this level, it would have impact on our national team.

Can you compare your playing days with the situation at this time?

Football is changing. What is good in football today will be outdated tomorrow. We have to see how we can continue to grow and improve our game.

I played in Julius Berger, eventually I was opportune to play in the national team and today, I thank God that I have contributed quota to the growth of the national team.

We have more ex-internationals as the head coaches of national teams today. But are the always the right choices?

Well, every time people keep on asking this same question. But I think it’s not all about ex-internationals coaching. It’s about competence and passion for the job.

As players, we have done a lot and now to the coaching, we pray that God should make the job

possible for us as it was during our playing days and give us the grace to also do what is right.

Today, I am in U-17 team with a lot of young players whom we are looking unto as future stars.

It is our duty to collectively to see how we can encourage them and see how they can grow better and become useful to the society and themselves.

How have you come along ahead of the World Cup? We are doing the best we can to prepare ourselves as a team hopefully when we go to Chile we will be able to give good account of ourselves. It’s never going to be easy but we have to sacrifice a lot and with the help of God we must surely get there.

How close are you to what you want from the team?

I’m not the type that tell you that we are going to do this or that but like I was saying I owed Nigerians gratitude first for giving me the opportunity as a player now as a coach. I have to pay back with hard work, honest, commitment, respect and fairness of God. And on scaling the MRI tests…

I don’t think we will have problem of MRI all we are working toward is that when we get to Chile, we should give good account of ourselves.

The boys are eager to serve the country.

What’s your take on your Eagles’ mate Sunday Oliseh as new Super Eagles coach?

I am happy that he is back and collectively we all have to support him and make sure he achieves the objectives before him which is to qualify Nigeria for the 2017 AFCON finals, as well as 2018 World Cup. So, we must encourage him, we must believe in him as well have confidence in them, and then let hard work take its cost.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sports

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

55

Midweek League with PAUL EREWUBA 08032138738

Table

Heartland players during a game in the first stanza

Keeper tips Sharks for ‘recovery’

Imo strike: Heartland faces Dan Anyiam shut-out

H

eartland FC of Owerri may be forced to call off plans to return to the club’s home ground of Dan Anyiam Stadium due to the indefinite industrial action embarked upon by the state’s civil servants yesterday.

Heartland has been playing its home games at the Rojenny Stadium in Oba, near Onitsha, after Dan Anyiam was declared unsuitable by the

League Management Company (LMC).

Media Officer, Cajetan Nkwopara, bemoaned the fate that might befall the club should the strike action be sustained for a long time as workers at the stadium threatened to lock all entries to the facility.

“With this strike, I am afraid we might have to play some of our home matches outside Owerri,” the spokesman said.

“We are praying for a quick resolution of the matters that led to the industrial action by Imo civil servants.

“We have commenced training in preparation for the second stanza with all our players intact and rearing to challenge for a top-three finish in the league.

“It will be tough but we are not known to run away from challenges.”

‘Rangers ready to roll’ E

Rangers’ Coach, Amapakabo

nugu Rangers’ dependable player, Razaq Adegbite, has reflected on the club’s confidence heading into the match-day 20 of Nigeria Professional Football League game against Enyimba in Aba on Sunday.

The Flying Antelopes lost 2-1 at home against the People’s Elephants in a week 19 encounter.

“It’s a long road to get here, with difficult moments and you know that a small detail can leave you out of the match,” Adegbite said.

“We’re where we wanted to be, in the top half of the

table, but I believe we belong to the title cadre. It should be a very exciting match. It’s an Oriental Derby against Enyimba, but it will be different from the games that we usually play.

“All the ingredients are there to make it a great day and we hope that this time around we end it feeling good and happy.

“Enyimba has a very competitive team that will face the match with the same determination as we do. But we can’t afford to let them feel comfortable.”

S

harks FC’s new goalkeeper, Thambe Charles, remains optimistic that the Port Harcourtbased side will post better results in the second half of the season.

The Cameroonian goalkeeper who is four months old in Nigeria has watched his new team endure a turbulent first half of the League season, three wins in nineteen games, spending the greater percentage of the first half at the foot of the table and having three handlers oversee the side within the period.

His debut was in Sharks’ 2-2 draw with Lobi Stars in Makurdi, a game he stopped a penalty in the closing stages to ensure the visitors went home with a point.

“We weren’t getting it right. As a team we play very well but sometimes at the dying minutes or sometimes at the start of the match we lose concentration,” the foreign import said.

“We just need to stay focused and we can turn things around.

Going into the second phase of the championship, I am confident that we will overturn many teams in the League,” he added.

Teams

P

Pt

1

Sunshine

19

36

2

Enyimba

19

36

3

Wikki

19

33

4

Heartland

19

32

5

Giwa

19

31

6

Wolves

17

29

7

Abia

19

29

8

Ifeanyi

19

27

9

Pillars

19

27

10

Rangers

19

27

11

3SC

19

26

12

Nasarawa

19

26

13

Akwa

19

24

14

El-Kanemi

18

24

15

Kwara

18

22

16

Lobi Stars

19

21

17

Sharks

19

18

18

Bayelsa Utd

19

18

19

Dolphins

19

17

20

Taraba

19

13

Aigbogun dreams title

W

arri Wolves Coach, Paul Aigbogun, believes the title is within touching distance after his side defeated a clueless El Kanemi Warriors side 5-0 in a rescheduled Week 19 clash on Sunday.

Onyekachi Okafor inspired the Seasiders to a five-nil thrashing of the Borno Army to leave Wolves in fourth place, four points behind leader Sunshine Stars.

Aigbogun said his team needed three points from its rescheduled game against Kwara United next Wednesday to be counted as worthy contender for the title.

“We are going to need the maximum points in Ilorin, but we are depending on ourselves to attain the objective,” the gaffer said.

“It was a morale booster to us that we thrashed El Kanemi 5-0 in front of our fans and we hope to still continue the good form in our remaining league matches.”

Wolves’ Coach, Aigbogun

WORLD RECORD

Most people to pass an egg Vol. 05 No. 1167

N150

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

The most people to pass an e gg is 259 and was achieved by °Cute and their fans (all Japan) at Akasaka Blitz in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, on 22 August 2014.

NASS imbroglio: Looking beyond Saraki and Dogara

N

o matter the shape and shade of a development, there are always some lessons to learn. It is in this context that I situate the scenes and scenarios that have been playing out at the Eighth National Assembly in Abuja since the controversial inauguration of the august body on June 9, 2015.

The myriad of conjectures and postulations, as well as the varied and variegated reactions emanating from various quarters and interests, since the political volcanic eruption of that fateful Tuesday, have given the issue several colourations that had compounded the situation by the day. The attendant cacophonous pontifications have almost subsumed salient and cogent issues that needed to be pointedly addressed for the stability of the polity and, in the ultimate, the consolidation

Guest Columnist

Ayo

Akinyemi

of this delicate hard-earned fledgling democratic experiment.

All we have been going through in the past 16 years of our return to democratic rule have been nothing short of trial and error. Concrete, enduring pattern and processes are yet to evolve. The current frightening and saddening development in the National Assembly is a product of the subsisting amorphous state of the nation’s political configuration. It is a constitutional crisis.

Looking back, for example, it took the illness of the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ to creep into the nation’s political lexicon, the evocation of which broke the logjam, at the time. Thanks to the late Professor Dora Akunyili for the brilliant and courageous submission at that memorable Federal Executive Council Meeting, and the then Senate President David Mark for leading the Senate to take up the gauntlet. The subsequent legislative steps culminated in the entrenchment of Section 145 (2) in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) - a clause that provides for an Acting President during Temporary Absence of President. Thus, that kind of ugly development that shook the country in 2009 would never rear its head again.

Here we are at another crossroad, at a T-Junction again. What brought us to this junction of confusion? The answer, which I believe many sincere and objec-

THE CURRENT FRIGHTENING AND SADDENING DEVELOPMENT IN THE

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IS A PRODUCT OF THE SUBSISTING AMORPHOUS STATE OF

THE NATION’S POLITICAL CONFIGURATION tive minds would share, is simply, the resolve of Senator Bukola Saraki, on one hand, and Honourable Yakubu Dogara, on the other, to defy the directive of their political party - the All Progressives Congress (APC) - on whose platform they contested and won the National Assembly Election held on Saturday, 28 March 2015.

The resolve of the two to disobey their party, and consequently, the mode and manner of the election of foremost principal officers of the National Assembly - Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, have thus brought us to the threshold of another constitutional crisis - PARTY SUPREMACY in conflict with INDEPENDENCE OF THE LEGISLATURE, the plank on which the

duo and their supporters rests the rebellious stance against their party.

A peep into the archives revealed that Party Supremacy was the main theme of the address of Chief Obafemi Awolowo to the Oyo State Conference of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) on Saturday, 8 November 1980. The sage, among others stated that: “….our Constitution clearly makes a Registered Political Party the cornerstone of the activities of all the members of that Party, including those of them in the Legislature and the Executive, as well as those of them operating outside these two organs of government.

Indeed, the Registered Political Party is the sole source from which candidates for election, and elected members of the Legislature and Executive, derive their lifeblood for acceptability, public status, and legitimacy….In other words, by express provision, as well as necessary implications in the Constitution, the Registered Political Party is supreme and absolutely decisive in the conduct of our public affairs.

“If the Party is supreme, then it is simple logic that in the matter of dispute, conflict, or antithesis between the Legislature and the Executive, the Party in Power should have the last say whenever a consensus cannot be reached between them.”

If I have my way, instead of brooding over the least expected potent elements of national dislocation and destabilization of the polity, brewing in the National Assembly, I would advocate that the development be seen as a veritable opportunity to resolve lingering interwoven issues that had bedeviled the growth and development of true and sustainable democratic culture and principles in this land towards firming up the loopholes often exploited by politicians for crass opportunism.

Some of the salient issues and questions begging for answer and clarification, as well as constitutional provisions

Sport Extra

Nobel Prize: Blatter gets Putin’s nomination

R

ussian President, Vladimir Putin, yesterday said FIFA President Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel Prize for his work with the world football governing body.

Russia will host the 2018

World Cup, but FIFA is facing corruption charges which include a probe into the awarding of the competition to the former Soviet Union.

But Putin seemed to absolve Blatter after meeting

with the Swiss in St. Petersburg at the weekend.

“We all know the situation developing around Mr. Blatter right now and I don’t want to go into details,” the Russian strongman said.

“But I don’t believe a

word about him being involved in corruption personally,” he added.

“I think if there is anyone who deserves the Nobel Prize, it is Mr. Blatter.”

Blatter announced he would leave FIFA after 17

years at the helm, just days after his re-election for a fifth term in June.

The 79-year-old was pressured to step down following the arrest of seven FIFA officials on corruption charges by the FBI.

Blatter

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