Wednsday, July 18th, 2012

Jonathan laments PDP’s election losses says he won’t use federal might against opposition parties

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OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has lamented the loss of recent elections by the Peoples Democratic Party,

Jos boils again Vol. 2 N0. 406

PDP, particularly the July 14 governorship poll in Edo State.

He attributed the CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

Stephen Covey:

World loses Management Science guru –Jimoh Ibrahim

Global Fleet declares Friday holiday P.7

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AGONY OF EVICTION

...7-yr-old, 7 others killed as gunmen attack primary school We’re winning war against terrorism –Army JAMES ABRAHAM AND A ZA MSUE

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he relative peace of Jos, the Plateau State capital, was again shattered yesterday when gunmen fired rocket propelled grenade at Nura Islamic Private School in Bukuru area, killing a seven-year old boy.

National Mirror learnt that the school, owned by Jos Muslim community, narrowly escaped the rocket, which hit a nearby building.

Two others persons also died in the attack which led to reprisals.

There were conflicting reports yesterday as to whether the boy was a pupil of the school, but officials of the school CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

Lagos justifies Makoko’s eviction

We were caught unawares –Residents P.8,54

Fashola arrests Army Colonel for traffic offence

Okey Wali emerges NBA President Senate swears in Okadigbo’s wife, Ewuga

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Some of Makoko residents yesterday after they were evicted by agents of Lagos State government on Monday.

PHOTO: BBC

$47.9bn debt: FG, govs defend borrowing CBN’s balance sheet hits N11.3 trn

US approves drug for HIV prevention

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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Stephen R. Covey: The man who dared to function differently “Voice is unique personal significance—significance that is revealed as we face our greatest challenges and that makes us equal to them”.

ADENRELE NIYI

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ith a voice that hit far corners of the globe through his profound insights into the effective functionality of man and documented revelations about how every person can truly control their destiny, Stephen Richard Covey, whose demise we still mourn, basically transformed our world by transforming the way we thought.

When news of his death made headlines on Monday, July 16, the internationally respected leadership authority, family expert, teacher, organisational consultant and author, had probably earned even greater attention for the circumstances leading up to his death.

Covey passed away at the age of 79, due to the effects of a bicycle accident he had several months ago.

A statement made public by his family said the writer and motivational speaker died at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Centre, Idaho Falls, early Monday due to complications from a bicycle accident in April.

“In his final hours, he was surrounded by his loving wife and each one of his children and their spouses, just as he always wanted,” the family said.

Covey was hospitalised

after being knocked unconscious in the bicycle accident on a steep road in the foothills of Provo, Utah, about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City. At the time, his publicist, Debra Lund, said doctors had not found any signs of long-term damage to his head.

“He just lost control on his bike and crashed.

He was wearing a helmet, which is good news,” Lund said then.

Catherine Sagers, Covey’s daughter, told The Salt Lake Tribune in April that her father had suffered some bleeding on his brain after the bicycle accident.

TIMELINE Described by Time Magazine as one of 25 Most Influential Americans of 1996, Dr. Covey was born on October 24, 1932 to Stephen Glenn Covey and Irene Louise Richards Covey. He earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of Utah, an MBA from Harvard University, and a Doctor of Religious Education (DRE) from Brigham Young University.

Covey achieved international acclaim and is perhaps best known for his self-help book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which was first published

by Simon & Schuster in 1989 and has sold around 20 million copies word-wide.

Multitudes of leadership

HE IS WIDELY ACKNOWLEDGED AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S

LEADING

AUTHORITIES ON THE SUBJECT OF TIME-MANAGEMENT gurus mimicked many of his principles but his were at the core of understanding how to lead yourself so you can lead others. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, translated into 38 languages since first publication, has been named one of the most influential management books by several organisations, including Time and Forbes magazines.

He is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading authorities on the subject of time-management. Thousands of organisations across the world, including many of the Fortune 500 companies, have adopted his innovative techniques on leadership, teamwork and customer-focused service.

His best-selling book on

time-management, First Things First, co-authored with A. Roger & Rebecca R. Merrill, according to Simon & Schuster is the bestselling time management book ever.

Covey established the “Covey Leadership Center” which, in 1997, merged with Franklin Quest to form FranklinCovey, a global professional-services firm and specialty-retailer selling both training and productivity-tools to individuals and to organisations. Their mission statement reads: “We enable greatness in people and organisations everywhere.”

In 2009 Covey launched a career development webinar series to help people struggling in the economic downturn. Its purpose was to offer timely and current topics on a regular basis In October 2011, Covey’s book, The 3rd Alternative, made its debut, introducing a breakthrough approach to conflict resolution and creative problem solving.

A literary critic explains the book thus: “In The 3rd Alternative, Covey turns his formidable insight to a powerful new way to resolve professional and personal difficulties and create solutions to great challenges in organisations and society.”

A highly-sought after

SOME OF COVEY’S ACHIEVEMENTS: • Over 20 million books sold (in 38 languages) • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was named the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century • Authored four titles with sales exceeding one million copies each: First Things First, PrincipleCentered Leadership, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People • The Sikh’s 1998 International Man of Peace Award • Author of the best-selling nonfiction audio in history (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) • No. 1 best-selling hardcover book on family (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families) • 2003 Fatherhood Award from the National Fatherhood Initiative • Board of directors for the Points of Light Foundations • Co-founder and vice chairman of Franklin Covey, the leading global professional services firm with 44 offices in 147 countries • International Entrepreneur of the Year Award • Awarded eight honorary doctoral degrees

Covey

speaker, Covey, had on few occasions told of meeting such luminaries as the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, individuals whose authority comes from their humble roots. Following their lead, Covey said he too believed in a collective consciousness and universal principles to be used as guides for life and leadership. “The ultimate identity theft is when you sell out and become focused on comparing yourself to others,” Covey warned.

“When man found a mirror, he lost his soul.”

At the time of his death, he was a professor at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University.

FAMILY AND PERSONAL LIFE

Covey lived with his wife Sandra and their family in Provo, Utah, home to Brigham Young University, where he taught prior to the publication of his bestselling book. Covey was a practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Stephen Covey had also been active in opposition to same-sex marriage, including giving the keynote address at a $1,000-per-plate fundraiser in Honolulu, Hawaii, for Save Traditional Marriage 98 (“STM98”), a political action committee that was sponsoring a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages in the state. He was the father of nine, grandfather of 52 and great grandfather of two.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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Photo News

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

L-R: Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), during the meeting of the National Economic Council in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: STATE HOUSE

L-R: Representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Eric BellGam; representative of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Kabiru Garab and Director, ECOWAS, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Davidson Ikemefuna, at a workshop on the implication of climate change on human security and integration process in West Africa, in Port Harcourt yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Former President, Nigeria Bar Association, Chief O. C. J. Okocha; President, Chief Joseph Daudu; former President, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu and former Minister for Justice, Chief Akinlolu Olujimi, during the commissioning of Oluwarotimi Akeredolu NBA House in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

L-R: Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), Mr. Sunday Adeyemi; Head of Service, Ekiti State, Mr. Bunmi Famosaya; Director, Membership Services, CIPM, Mr. Sola Joseph and Chairman, Ekiti State chapter, Dr. Omojola Awosusi, during a public sector visit in Ekiti State, yesterday.

National News

JTB sets expiry date for old driver’s licences TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

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ll old driver’s licenses will cease to be valid for driving as from October 1, next year, while every vehicle in the country must display the new number plate effective from July 31, same year.

These were some of the highlights of the communiqué issued at the end of the Joint Tax Board, JTB, meeting held in Abuja yesterday.

The JTB comprises all the tax revenue agencies in the 36 states, representatives of some revenue collection agencies and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, whose Executive Chairman presides over the Board’s meetings.

Briefing journalists in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the Board, Mallam Mohammed Abubakar, stated that the meeting approved a downward review of the enhanced vehicle number plates with effect from next month.

Specifically, Abubakar disclosed that standard plates re-validation now costs N10,000, while new registration is N12,000. In addition, the JTB boss said

motorcycle plates’ re-validation is now N2,000 and new registration N2,500.

He however said that the prices of other categories of number plates and driver’s licence remained unchanged.

The Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, had stated that there has been an improvement in the production and distribution of driver’s licences and vehicle number plates.

It was also resolved at the meeting that the Biometric Central Motor Registry, BCMR, or the Electronic Central Motor registry, ECMR, is no longer a requirement for registration of vehicles.

The Board rejected the request by the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, for a unified Local Government vehicle revenue permit, but instead opted for a decentralised Local Government vehicle revenue permit, according to the dictates of the individual Local Government Authorities.

The board also directed all State Boards of Internal Revenue, SBIR, to monitor all revenue from their Ministries, Departments

and Agencies, MDAs, for proper accountability and planning.

According to the JTB, the monitoring of state MDAs will further assist the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, to cor-

rectly compute how much should accrue to the states.

Similarly, state governments were urged to compile their revenue laws in order to minimise the menace of multiple taxation while all tax authorities should adopt strategies that will increase their Internally Generated Revenue, IGR.

The JTB lamented that “not up to 90 per cent of realisable revenue were being collected by the states” but that in order to reverse the ugly trend, the secretariat of the Board should develop and circulate a unified template for improved IGR to state governments for study and adoption.

Reps seek fresh adjustment of senatorial, federal constituencies TORDUE SALEM ABUJA

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he House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Electoral Matters to work with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to re-adjust Federal Constituencies and Senatorial Districts in line with section 73 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.

The section provides that INEC must perform its function of delineation after every 10 years.

Also, Section 73 (2) allows INEC to carry-out such delineation exercise in districts and constituencies “anytime” it considers necessary.

The lawmakers, speaking on a motion sponsored by Mohammed Ango Abdullahi, said the exercise has become necessary as nothing of such has been carried out since the democratic dispensation started in 1999.

Leading the debate on the motion, Abdullahi said that the nation’s population grows at an annual rate of 3.18 per cent.

According to him, a new population census would tally with the demography in senatorial and federal constituencies.

He said: “There is a need to have more senatorial and federal constituencies to safeguard the interest of the people socially, economically, politically at the

federal level. This will also check the burden of the National Assembly members who have two, three or four local governments as federal constituency without consideration to its population density or seven, eight or more local governments as senatorial district for a senator without consideration to its population.”

The motion, which enjoyed a robust and positive debate, was unanimously supported when put to a voice vote.

The lawmakers said the review will encourage effective representation.

Hon. Uche Ekwunife called for allocation in the 2013 budget to fund the proposed delineation.

Police detain journalist over reports on Lawan, Otedola case OUR REPORTER

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reporter with the Peoples Daily Newspaper in Abuja, Mr. Lambert Tyem was yesterday detained for over six hours by the police who accused him of divulging sensitive information to the public with regards to the $3m cash-for-clearance scandal involving oil magnate, Femi Otedola and ranking lawmaker, Farouk Lawan.

The police had last month, invited Mr. Tyem.

Tyem, who arrived at the Force Headquarters at about 11:30am, was taken to the office of the Ali Amoduled Special Task Force investigating the bribery allegations and was released on bail around 6pm. His fingerprints and passport photograph were taken.

The reporter, who spoke with National Mirror, said he was interrogated by one Mr. Yakubu, a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP. It was learnt that the police is set to charge him with conspiracy and divulging official secret by Monday next week.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Jonathan laments PDP’s election losses CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

development to irreconcilable intra-party differences in the states, which made PDP members vote against the party’s candidates.

Addressing the 60th National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting of the PDP yesterday, the President also told party members that the present security challenges in the country have changed his campaign manifestoes.

The president, however, maintained that the party would not use federal might against other

political parties as people would revolt against the PDP and it would weaken the country’s democracy.

He said: “We believe that if we do not have a party as robust as the PDP, probably, the republic would have collapsed. This is because we witnessed what happened in the First Republic. Because we witnessed what happened in the Second Republic and we know the circumstances that led to the collapse of the first and second republics.

“We know what is happening in other African

countries. If the ruling party over-intimidates and over-imposes, using the weight of the Federal Government and the citizens’ revolt, it will weaken the political system and create confusion and instability.

“But the PDP, even though, we control the Federal Government, we operate a system that even the opposition, even fly higher than us. They abuse us more, but we allow it.

And it is the way PDP is handling the affairs of the country that is stabilising democracy in the country.”

The President said that one of the priorities in his campaign manifestoe was the issue of job creation and that cannot be possible with the present security situation in the country.

He noted that Nigerians needed to be alive for them to talk about jobs or food.

The President also revealed a new plan concerning NEC meetings.

According to him, from the next NEC meeting, a key minister would be invited to brief the members of NEC on what the government is doing.

The president said:

L-R: Vice President Namadi Sambo; Deputy National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja and Senate President David Mark, during the party’s National Executive Council meeting in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: STATE HOUSE

Jos boils again as gunmen attack primary school CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

said the boy was not a pupil there.

The other two victims, it was learnt were hit by stray bullets fired by soldiers as they tried to stop mobs from burning houses and looting shops.

Some pupils also sustained injuries in the stampede that followed.

Eyewitnesses said gunmen arrived at the school in a car and fired several shots into the compound which resulted in the death of the victim.

State Chairman of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, Alhaji Yusuf Kanam Mohammed, who lives around the area told National Mirror: “Some gunmen just entered the school and started firing gunshots, the situation is quite disturbing because we don’t know what they are out for.”

However, another eyewitness who did not want his

name in print told National Mirror that a man driving an Opel Vectra car stopped, brought out a rocket propelled grenade launcher and fired into the school.

It was learnt that the Muslim community too reacted with random gunshots, turning the area into a temporary war zone Parents, who rushed to secure the safety of their wards had difficulty getting access to the place as roads leading to the school were blocked by some people but soldiers were able to contain the situation Treasurer of the school, Alhaji Usman Danlami in a telephone interview with National Mirror said sound of gunshots were heard about 10.30a.m., when pupils were in the classroom preparing for examination.

According to him, the school was the target of the attackers, but the bullets hit the wall of a house close to the school, which led to the

death of the minor.

Spokesman of the Special Task Force, JTF, on Jos crisis, Captain Salisu Mustapha confirmed the attack in a telephone conversation with National Mirror.

According to him, “the gunmen drove to the school in the morning, parked their car and fired a Rocket Propelled Grenade, RPG, toward the school and in the process killed the young boy.”

After the incident tension enveloped Jos and Bukuru metropolis as angry youths blocked the roads.

Mustapha said that no arrests have been made, while the men of the special task force have cordoned off the area.

The body of the boy was left in the school compound for several hours as attempt by soldiers to convey the corpse to mortuary was resisted by the community as they insisted that thorough examination be made

on bullet which pierced through the young boy to ascertain the source National Mirror learnt that this is not the first time that the school will be in trouble as a bomb was defused within its vicinity several weeks ago.

Gunmen also yesterday evening returned to the Bukuru area of the city and engaged security operatives in a shootout after firing rocket propelled grenades.

A resident who gave his name as Bala said that the RPGs exploded in three different locations, close to military security checkpoint.

National Mirror learnt that the incident happened around Volingo area in Jos South Local Government.

At about 6:30p.m., sporadic gunshots were still being heard as residents confined themselves to their homes in fear.

As at the time of filling this report, it was not clear CONTINUED ON PAGE 6>>

“From time to time we will be calling some ministers to brief NEC members so that they would know what the government is doing.

“It will help to showcase areas where there are opportunities for party members and it will give party members first hand information.”

Earlier in his welcome address, the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, spoke on challenges ahead of the party.

According to him: “The new party leadership must take challenge seriously and demonstrate some reasonable understanding of the power dynamics in contrast to the variances on ground; we shall all endeavour to invoke decorum and respect for the people and democratic institutions by communicating for more understanding to undertake reforms in order to reposition the party for glorious moments.

“PDP must reconcile to arrest the escalation of maximised tensions in our midst by resorting to idealise the political moment and eliminate the negative perceptions.

The task shall be carried out in the most persuasive manner to establish contact networks, intensify individual and inter-group cooperation and also reconcile with those who share the same opinion with us and those who don’t.

“As a ruling party, the PDP should open new reform chapters to remould our attitudes, values and beliefs in democratic governance.

This notion illustrates the discrepancies in our images including the political environment of inadequate information and unwarranted expectations that account for different interpretations and characterisations that impede our kind of modesty.

“Also, power acquisition and struggles for succession within the PDP has become a source of worry as a result of deliberate strangulation of the party’s constitution to suit some personal agenda. The supremacy of the party’s constitution shall prevail only in a

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circumstance where significant orientations are carried out for insightful understanding of its contents by the entire membership.

Lack of enforcement of disciplinary actions has been identified as the genesis for disregard of the party’s constitution while resistance to internal democracy cannot be ruled out of another phenomenon experienced in the management of the party affairs until all of us have agreed to respect and protect the party’s constitution.”

In attendance at the meeting were: President Jonathan, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Theodore Orji (Abia), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Liyel Imoke, Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Martins Elechi (Ebonyi), Ibrahim Dankwanbo (Gombe) and some deputy governors.

The members of the PDP National Working Committee, NWC, was led

by Tukur.

In the communiqué read by the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said appealed to all aggrieved groups in the country to give peace a chance and embrace dialogue for the sake of the country.

The party also condemned the wanton destruction of lives and property in recent incidents and appealed to law enforcement agencies to redouble their efforts in stemming this “ugly trend”.

Also briefing the media, the secretary of the party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, Senator Walid Jubril confirmed that former Chairman of the Board, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo attended Monday’s meeting where his resignation was accepted.

Jubril also cleared air on the appointment of the new BoT chairman even as he maintained that the party has not discussed the issue.

He said that he has been mandated by the party to continue to oversee the board until a new chairman is appointed.

News

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

$47.9bn debt: FG, govs defend borrowing ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA

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he Federal Government and governors of the 36 states of the federation yesterday rose in defence of the country’s borrowing and debt profile, saying that the debt stock is still below the international threshold of 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, GDP. The nation’s debt stock is currently estimated at $47.9bn out of which foreign loans account for just $5bn. Rising domestic debts and high yield of Federal

Government Bonds and Treasury Bills have been largely blamed for the high interest rate regime in the country and for the crowding out effect, which refers to a situation where banks prefer to put money in government securities rather than lend to private sector operators.

However, briefing State House correspondents after the National Economic Council, NEC, meeting presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo at the Council Chamber, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, who spoke for the

council said that there was nothing wrong in borrowing.

The NEC comprises the 36 state governors, the ministers of finance, national planning, the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and the Central Bank Governor.

Obi, said that Nigerians were not against borrowing but would only want such loans to be expended on productive ventures that could generate jobs and grow the economy.

“There is nothing wrong in borrowing, if you are going to borrow for produc-

tion and not for consumption. If you borrow for production, you will be able to help the economy and create jobs.

“So, we should encourage borrowing for production. What people are complaining about is that it should not be used for consumption,” Obi, who was flanked by his counterpart from Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said.

Also speaking in support, the Minister of State for Finance, Alhaji Yerima Ngama, said that the country’s debt profile, which is 17 per cent of GDP, is still

President Goodluck Jonathan (left) and former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, at a meeting on education in Abuja, yesterday. ` PHOTO: NAN

Jos boils again as gunmen attack primary school CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

the number of casualties recorded in the fresh attack.

National Mirror however learnt that one person was killed by some youths as a result of skirmishes that followed the latest attack.

The victim, whose name was given as Alhaji Boye was said to have been killed at a building materials market along Bukuru road.

It was learnt that one suspect was arrested and handed over to the police as a result of the killing.

In another development four people were killed yesterday by unknown gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen at Sabon Gida Kanap.

National Mirror gathered that the attackers stormed a house about 2a.m. and killed a widow and three children.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Onyeabor Azubuike Ihejirika yesterday declared that the war

against the Boko Haram Islamic sect is gradually being won by the army, even as he urged his personnel to remain focused and proactive.

Ihejirika spoke at the opening of the Nigerian Army’s 2012 Combat Support Arms Training Week (COSAT), held at Kachia, Kaduna State.

The Army Chief, represented by Chief of Policy and Planning in the Army Headquarters, Abuja, Maj. Gen. Olakunle Akinyemi, said the threat posed by Boko Haram must be overcome.

He said: “The threat posed by the Boko Haram terrorist group is a challenge we all must come together to overcome.

Though, the battle is gradually being won, we must remain focused and proactive at all times. As combat support arms, you have major roles to play in this regards.

“Nigerian Army of the

21st century must have the capability to respond effectively to the growing number of new military missions and tasks, such as internal security, disaster management and peace support operations. Above all, we need to transform in order to adjust to our own internal situations.”

Speaking at the event, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State said his state capital would have been destroyed by terrorists, if not for the timely and quick intervention of the Nigerian Army.

Dankwambo described as unfortunate, the bombing of a police station in the heart of Gombe town by terrorists.

The governor, who spoke through his Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Alhaji Abdulhameed Ibrahim said the state government is ever ready to support the activities of the army.

“If not for the quick and timely intervention of the Nigerian Army, my own state capital would have been demolished by terrorists, because they were well armed, strategically placed, highly equipped, highly mobile and highly communicative,” he said.

He assured that the state government would do everything to support the security agencies in their efforts to end the spate of terrorism in the country.

In his address, the Commander, Nigerian Army Corps of Artillery, NACA, Maj. Gen. Amnon Kalayi Kwaskebe, noted that the asymmetric nature of today’s security threats and its implications on combat support arms, underscored the need for the training to enable the army brainstorm on how best to fit into the overall plan of the Army’s plan in the current war against terrorism.

below the international threshold of 40 per cent, adding that it is not critical.

Justifying further the federal and state governments’ preference for borrowing, the minister said the offshore loans are offered virtually at zero per cent interest.

According to him, loans are accessed from international development institutions and not banks.

Ngama said: “Actually, Nigeria indebtedness is not a problem. Currently, both domestic and foreign debts put together constitute only 17 per cent of our GDP. If you look at the statistics in most countries, they are either above 30 or even in Europe 60 or 70 per cent. Internationally, the threshold is 40 per cent.

“So, any country that has less than 40 per cent debt to GDP ratio, the country is not facing any critical debt problem. If you look at our total debt, only about $5bn is foreign debts and these are 100 per cent concessional. These are loans on which we pay actually zero interest. These are loans that we get for 40 years.

“The bulk of our debts are domestic debts. And even the domestic, the level is not critical. Our own problem is the interest rate is about 17 per cent and we know it is high. So, we are actually mindful of our debt level, it has not reached a critical level. We are not going to banks to borrow, we are going to development institutions and some of these are like our rights. These are avenues to get soft money to implement the transformation agenda.”

The minister, however, admitted there was need to slow down on borrowing especially domestic loans, which come at high interest rate of an average of 17 per cent in order to cut the budget deficit.

“On a policy level, we want to slow down on the domestic debts. In fact, we want to ensure that going forward, the level of deficit in our budget is reduced significantly so that we don’t add on to the domestic debts,” he said.

Ngama noted that NEC discussed the borrowing plan going forward in the next three years.

The Federal Ministry of Finance, he stated, will provide information on all the facilities that state governments can access especially those under the International Development Agencies, IDA. Meanwhile, state governors may have backed down on their quest to engage the Federal Government in a fierce legal battle at the Supreme Court over illegal diversion of fund from the Federation Account to maintain the Excess Crude Account, ECA. This followed an agreement reached by the opposing parties at the NEC meeting where it was decided that all the grey areas on the ECA litigation with the Federal Government must be resolved within two weeks to facilitate an out of court settlement of the two year-old legal battle.

Briefing newsmen on the issue, the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said the Council directed both the federal and the state governments to harmonise their positions to facilitate out of court settlement as ordered by the Supreme Court.

According to Sanusi, a sub-committee set up to work out modalities for the out-of-court settlement had submitted an interim report which was discussed

by NEC. “The decision of NEC is that within two weeks, the lawyers should finalise the positions and the Ministry of Finance and the governors should sit and agree and at the next NEC meeting, we should be able to get a solution.

“This solution is important because the Supreme Court has given us till September 2, for an out-of-court settlement to be reached.

If it is not reached then, the trial will continue. But from all indications, both parties are willing to arrive at an understanding of what is due to each party and also an understanding of how the indebtedness of any party to the other will be settled,” he said.

The major issues in contention, according to him, included; the Excess Crude Account, the Signature Bonuses, collection cost, waivers, concessions dividends and Internally Generated Revenue, IGR.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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Senate swears in Okadigbo’s wife, Ewuga GEORGE OJI ANDM EMMANUEL ONANI

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he Senate yesterday swore in wife of the late former Senate President, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Senator Margery Chuba Okadigbo and former Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Solomon Ewuga.

The Senate President, David Mark administered

• Says FCT property law targets the rich oath on the two senators.

The duo are beneficiaries of a recent Supreme Court judgement, which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to issue them certificates of return, as validly elected representatives of their respective constituencies.

Also yesterday, the proposed Federal Capital

Territory, FCT, Property Law, passed second reading yesterday on the floor of the Senate.

The Senate disclosed that the law is targeted at the rich and not the poor.

The property law targets properties in Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse, Utako, Central Business District, CBD, and other highbrow areas of the

city but excludes the satellite towns.

Efforts by some senators, however, to shut down the bill were frustrated as majority of the senators eventually voted in its favour.

The bill was subsequently committed to the next stage of public hearing to be conducted by the Senate Committee on

FCT. The bill, entitled: “A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Imposition and Administration of Property Tax in the Federal Capital Territory,” and sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi, seeks in the main to “generally enhance the capacity of the FCT Administration to generate, administer

and impose tax on property, with a view to boosting the city’s revenue profile and for a sustainable property tax in the FCT”.

In his lead presentation, Adeyemi pointed out that the revenue accruable from the proposed property tax law would help to finance infrastructure and provide essential services for all cadres of people in Abuja.

Oshiomhole gets INEC ‘s Certificate of Return EBASTINE BENIN

EBHUOMHAN

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ndependent National Electoral Commission, INEC, yesterday presented the Certificate of Return to Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, re-elected Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

INEC National Commissioner, Col. Mohammed Hammanga (rtd), presented the certificate to Oshiomhole, who was with several top government and party officials, top security officials operating in the state and thousands of supporters and well-wishers.

The presentation took place at the INEC Headquarters in Benin.

Addressing journalists after collecting the certificate, Oshiomhole said: “Well, I am fine. When you have such an uncom-

mon unanimity across the three senatorial districts, it shows that my candidature has reunited the people of Edo State across the three senatorial districts. This is something that has not happened before. For the first time across the 18 local government areas, the people spoke with one voice. But that is the sweet facts. But the challenge is to ensure even development across these 18 local government areas.

Former Nigeria Bar Association President, Joseph Daudu (left) and the new President, Mr. Okey Wali (right) after the election in Abuja, yesterday.

Stephen Covey: World loses foremost Management Science guru –Jimoh Ibrahim SAM OLUWALANA Oshiomhole

Lawyers elect Okey Wali new NBA president ISE-OLUWA IGE

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ormer AttorneyGeneral of Rivers State and respected member of the inner bar, Mr. Okechukwu Okey Wali (SAN), yesterday emerged as the new President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA. He polled 688 votes to defeat two other contestants including a radical member of the inner bar, Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN) who had 449 votes and Mr. Blessing Ukiri who polled two votes.

Wali is to take over the mantle of leadership of the NBA from Mr. J. B. Daudu (SAN).

Mr. Emeka Obegolu was also declared the General Secretary of the association, after defeating two other contestants.

He had a total of 527 votes to beat Mr. Haruna and Mr. Olowokure who came second and third with 322 and 292 votes respectively.

Other candidates that emerged victorious in the hotly contested 2012 NBA poll were Mr. Francis Ekwerre as 3rd Vice President, O. J. Irabor as 1st Vice President, Joyce Oodua as the National Treasurer, Mr. Afam Obi as Publicity Secretary and Mr. Kelvin Ezelonu as Welfare Secretary.

The election drew curtain on the months of hot campaigns by candidates jostling for various elective positions.

The outgoing NBA president said the election was free and fair while the new President, Wali, asked politician to borrow a leaf from the conduct of their election.

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he Publisher of National Mirror, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim , OFR, has said that the world has lost management science with the death of Stephen Covey, a world- renowned engineer of management and celebrated author.

According to Ibrahim, Mr. Covey was one of the early and most prominent authors whose books were used to set up the Global Fleet Group, which has now become Africa’s leading most diversified conglomerate.

Ibrahim, who was so touched has not been to work upon learning about the death of the author on Monday, directed all staff of Global Fleet and non-regulated companies in the conglomerate to observe Friday as a Public Holiday in honour of ‘’a knowledge father, a mentor, a teacher and an irreplaceable management engineer’’.

He added that Covey’s death at this time, with the

world in a recession shows practically that knowledge would be hard to come by, in confronting a brutal solution to the mounting problems of management science, as it appears that leaders have left management science in adopting solutions to practi-

cal problems.

Rather today’s managers apply solutions as the spirit directs, he says.

Ibrahim said: ‘’It is so sad that we’d miss Stephen Covey in our next leadership conference in China. His work on THIRD ALTERNA-

TIVE STRATEGY will be regarded as a direct instruction from God to humanity, via Stephen Covey, just like the Moses encounter with the Almighty on Mount Sinai. We will miss him terribly, but the Lord that giveth, taketh”.

FG generated N101.38bn from NITEL –BPE TORDUE SALEM ABUJA

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he Federal Government generated N101.38bn from concessioning of Nigeria Telecommunication Limited, NITEL, facilities in 2006, the Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE, admitted yesterday.

The BPE Director-General, Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa, made the admittance at the opening of the two-day investigative public hearing on the operational activities of present Mtel/NITEL management board; present status of its investment as well as revenue generation from ongoing services rendered to other telecommunication companies in Nigeria

held by the joint House Committees on Privatisation, Finance, Communications, Public Procurement and Information Technology.

She however noted that National Council on Privatisation, NCP, is favourably disposed to adopting “guided liquidation” against the injection of $1bn for the re-activation of the two telecoms companies as alternatives.

In her presentation, Ms. Onagoruwa argued that the debt profile of NITEL stood at N354bn, while IIlyasuSa’ab put the total debt profile at N182bn out of which NITEL owed N79bn while Mtel owed N103bn.

She disclosed that $3,668,561.70 was generated from Sat-3 submarine

cable, $2,855,091.81 remitted in the domiciliary account, $521,990 generated from British Telecoms, $290,230 from cable and wireless services while $1,249.84 was realised from interest.

According to her, the companies’ liabilities include N65,227,595,681 on equipment vendors; N81,711,196,994 on bank claims; N183,403,439,256 for government agencies and N24,504,836,126 for others.

She added that Federal Government raised N68,248,884,000 through the Debt Management Office, DMO, to offset outstanding salaries totalling N54.2bn leaving a debt profile at N122,448,884,000 with Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON.

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South West

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Ibadan flood: Three bodies recovered, two missing KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

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ive persons, including two policemen have been confirmed dead as a result of last weekend’s downpour in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

But the bodies of three of the victims, including one of the policemen, had been recovered.

The bodies were found floating yesterday at Dandaru river along the Sec-

•Ajimobi sympathises with victims’ families

retariat/Parliament Road near Mokola.

The three bodies were found floating in the early hours of the day at a dam close to the Fisheries Department of the State Ministry of Agriculture.

The discoveries of the bodies thus negated the earlier belief that no life was lost during the downpour.

National Mirror learnt that the victims - Sergts Ojo

Adelusi and Sunday Ijoh, Sunkami Iyiola, Wole Iyiola and Ope Ogungbemi - had left for a popular night club in the metropolis around 10.30pm on Saturday and their car fell into a canal at Favours area along Bodija, Ibadan.

While the car was discovered early Sunday morning, three of the victims were later found floating yesterday with the two others still

missing.

However, Adelusi, Wole Iyiola and Sunkanmi Iyiola’s bodies had been found, while Ijoh and Ogungbemi were yet to be found.

National Mirror learnt that Ijoh was an officer of the State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), while Sunkanmi Iyiola and Wole Iyiola who got married two weeks ago, were of the same parents.

Ajumobi

Speaking with journalists, a sister to two of the deceased, Mrs. Bunmi Qudus, said the five people were inside the car before they were swept away by flood, adding that the family had been searching for them since Sunday morning.

She said: “When we couldn’t find them, we reported at the police station. They had all left home around 10.30pm on Saturday for a club. But, after sometime, we could not have any contact with any of them.

We thought that they would return on Sunday morning, but, we didn’t see them only to be called some minutes after that their car had been discovered”.

At the scene where their bodies were discovered,

tears flowed freely as relatives and sympathizers thronged the place.

Officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), policemen, Fire Service personnel and other security agents were at the scene to help in the recovery of the bodies.

The bodies were later taken in an ambulance to Adeoyo State Hospital, Ring-Road.

The Oyo State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Olabisi CletIlobanafor, confirmed that three bodies had been recovered out of the five missing persons.

Meanwhile, Governor Abiola Ajimobi has sympathised with the victims’ families.

The governor, who supervised the evacuation of the bodies, described the incident as unfortunate and tragic.

Represented by his deputy, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo, Ajimobi reiterated his administration’s commitment to addressing the problem of flooding in the state.

Oyo PDP flays Speaker, lawmakers’ wives’ trip abroad L-R: Ogun State Chairman of ACN, Alhaji Tajudeen Bello; Governor Ibikunle Amosun and the chairmanship candidate of the party for local government election, Chief Abayomi Soyemi, during the ACN campaign rally in Remo North Local Government on Sunday.

Yoruba elders make case for South-West development •Endorse Gen. Adebayo as Asiwaju ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

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oruba elders yesterday called for the immediate review of the allocation formula from the Federal Government in the interest of the South West region.

The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) also urged the Federal Government to diversify the country’s economy by prioritising investment in agriculture.

The body, in a communiqué issued after its General Assembly meeting held in Ado-Ekiti, also announced its ratification of the ap-

pointment of the former Military Governor of Western Region, Maj- Gen Adeyinka Adebayo, as the Asiwaju of Yoruba nation in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.

In the communiqué signed by its President General, Maj-Gen Adeyinka Adebayo; Secretary General, Chief Idowu Sofola (SAN); and National Publicity Secretary, Chief Oluyemi Falade; the elders hinged the appointment on Adebayo’s contributions to the region’s development in the last five decades.

The YCE lamented the lopsidedness in political appointments and infra-

structural development in the country to the disadvantage of the South-West, saying the scenario had engendered wanton neglect of the people and dilapidated public utilities.

It charged prominent indigenes in the South-West to forget about political consideration and work assiduously to ensure that the region is launched back to reckoning in all spheres.

This is as Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi canvassed the support of the elders for the integration initiative of the South-West, saying their unalloyed supports would fast-track the smooth take off of the initiative.

The Pan Yoruba organisation, however, declared support for the regional integration effort.

It said: it was in support of the activities of the governors of the South-West on economic development, health, education, road and agriculture.

The body also flayed bombing and killing of innocent Nigerians in the North, urging the Federal Government to devise means of curtailing the menace.

The Yoruba elders asked the Federal Character Commission to ensure equitable distribution of the nation’s commonwealth among the ethnic nationalities.”

KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

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he Oyo State House of Assembly was yesterday berated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the twoweek holiday embarked upon by the Speaker of the House and the 31 wives of lawmakers to Britain, describing it as a reflection of the decadence in the present administration.

The PDP, in a statement signed by Prince Dotun Oyelade, on behalf of the PDP Synergy League, said it is insensitive for government to allow such vanity and wasteful junketing when the state is grieving from the catastrophic effect of the flood disaster that ravages daily.

But the Action Congress

of Nigeria (ACN) said PDP was merely displaying its ignorance of the principle of separation of powers which it said was operational in Oyo State.

In a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Hon. Dauda Kolawole, the ACN said the principle of separation of powers requires that the executive, legislative and judicial arms of government operate independently of one another and that what is happening in Oyo State is of no exception.

The ACN said the state House of Assembly was independent of the executive arm of government and runs its own budget and expenditure, stating that it was not the executive’s business what the legislature or the judiciary does with its budget.

Fashola arrests army colonel, sergeant for driving on BRT lane MURITALA AYINLA

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agos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola yesterday arrested two military officers who drove on the dedicated Bus Rapid Transit, BRT lane for flaunting the state traffic rules.

The two officers, who were accosted on the BRT lane at the outer Marina in Central Lagos, are Colonel Ki Yusuf who drove in an Army Green Peugeot 406 with registration Number BO1 – 150 NA and Staff Sergeant Adeomi A.J. who drove in a black Toyota Camry.

Realising that the game was up, Colonel Yusuf came down from his car, saluted severally and kept muttering; “I am sorry, very, very sorry” but the governor wondered why a senior military officer, would choose to break the law instead of preserving it.

The arrest drew the at-

tention of commuters and other passers-by who commended the governor for showing good leadership and expressed joy that the senior military officers were not spared.

Fielding questions from newsmen after the incident, Governor Fashola described as very unfortu-

nate the fact that those who ought to stand behind in defence of the democratic values of the nation are the ones violating the law.

He said: “Those officers that I caught today are a very bad example for the military.”

The governor said he had already made represen-

tation to the superiors of the culprits, expressing optimism that they would be sanctioned appropriately.

“But, it signifies my commitment and the commitment of the Lagos State government that all those who will not comply with our laws should leave our state.

We will not back down.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South West

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

9

NANS leaders’death, disheartening –Ajimobi

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yo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has condoled with the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, and the families of the leaders of the association who died in a motor accident on Lokoja -Abuja Road at the weekend.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, the governor described the death of the students leaders as unfortunate and disheartening.

He said: “Our hearts go to the families of the students who lost their lives in the

motor accident. It is sad that these young and promising youths to whom the country is looking forward were cut down in their prime. But who are we to blame God as He does things according to His will.’’

Praying for the repose of the souls of the late students’ leaders, Ajimobi urged the families, friends and associates of the deceased to take the incident as an act of God. He also wished those who sustained injuries in the incident and are currently receiving treatment in hospitals speedy recovery.

BRT crushes Okada, kills one

Ogun: We’re ready for Saturday LG polls –Police

FRANCIS SUBERU

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here was pandemonium at Abule-Egba area of Lagos on Monday night when one of the buses in the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, fleet crushed a motorcycle and killed one of the people riding on it.

The incident occurred about 10p.m. at U-turn Bus Stop, on Lagos - Abeokuta Expressway, Abule-Egba, Lagos.

A witness said that the commercial motorcycle popularly called Okada was crushed while manoeuvring to get ahead of the bus.

It was, however, not clear whether passengers were onboard the bus or not.

There is also controversy over the number of people on the motorcycle at the time of the accident. Some of the people who spoke with our correspondent said the motorcycle rider was alone when the accident happened, but others said the motorcycle was carrying two people and that the rider fled immediately after the accident.

For over 30 minutes, there was an argument between sympathisers and commercial motorcyclists over who should be blamed for the accident. Hooligans eventually took over the argument and set the bus ablaze.

Confirming the incident, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, said police officers attached to OkoOba Police Division had removed the corpse to a nearby mortuary.

FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

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gun State Police Command said yesterday said it would not tolerate any act of indiscipline from any quarters during the local government elections on Saturday.

The command also disclosed that it had deployed enough men to man the necessary areas to forestall possible breakdown of law and order during the council polls.

The state Commissioner of Police, Ikhemefuna Okoye, disclosed this while addressing newsmen on the level of preparedness of his command for the lo-

A relation of victims of last Sunday’s flood in Ibadan being consoled by a friend at Dandaru River where decomposing bodies of three victims were recovered by officials of Oyo State Fire Service in Ibadan, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

cal government elections.

He said that all area commanders and the divisional police officers across the state had been instructed to step up surveillance in their respective jurisdictions.

Okoye, who did not disclose the number of personnel deployed for special duty for the election, however, denounced the rumour that men of the state Vigilante Service were accredited to be part of the security apparatus for the polls.

Reaffirming the readiness of his command to keep the state safe and contribute to the conduct of free election in the state, the commissioner warned

those who may want to foment trouble to steer clear of the state.

Also yesterday, the command paraded a fake Army officer with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel who was caught at Sango Ota axis of the state.

The fake Colonel, identified as Tunde AbdulSaheed, was caught while attempting to defend a female client in a disputed parcel of land.

The 36-year-old AbdulSaheed, who claimed to be an automobile engineer, told journalists that he was dismissed along with other officers from the Nigerian Army during the General Oladipo Diya’s fathom coup of 1995.

Officials of Oyo State Fire Service and divers removing decomposing bodies of victims of last Sunday’s flood at Dandaru River in Ibadan, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

He said he was then on the rank of Lieutenant.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Muyiwa Adejobi, however, said investigation was still ongoing in the case.

He added that the man would be charged to court as soon as it was concluded.

IGP, Abubakar

Leave South-West now, OPC warns illegal aliens AYO ESAN

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odua Peoples Congress, OPC, has warned all illegal aliens resident in Lagos in and the South-West to immediately leave the region.

The congress said it was beginning a search for the illegal immigrants in collaboration with the security agencies because of their criminal activities.

The OPC founder and President, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, issued the warning at a press conference in Lagos yesterday.

He said this became necessary because of the criminal activities of the illegal aliens, especially in Lagos State.

Fasehun cited the case

of a Major General who was slaughtered by hoodlums after robbing him when his car broke down a few minutes’ drive from Lagos.

The OPC president also warned landlords to desist from letting out their houses to illegal aliens.

He said: “OPC will not spare landlords harbouring such illegal foreigners. Landlords harbouring illegal aliens in their houses will henceforth answer to OPC. If they find it difficult to evict them, landlords owe themselves the duty to quickly report such illegal aliens to the nearest OPC cells. A word is enough.

“We have no apology to make to anybody, but we will be ready to assist the security agencies in the maintenance of law and

order.”

Fasehun said illegal aliens were perpetrating illegality, adding that OPC had found many of them involved in armed robbery and handed them over to the security agencies.

He also called on the South-West governors to provide funds for the OPC to perform its security role, saying in its 18 years of existence, the congress had not received financial support from any state government or the Federal Government.

“Their excellencies in Yoruba land must learn from the travails of former Governor Chris Ngige of Anambra State.

The godfathers of this sitting governor compromised his formal security, abducted him and had his

security aides withdrawn.

Subsequently, Governor Ngige could only find refuge in the Bakassi Boys.

This ethnic militia in the mode of OPC gave Ngige effective security and protection throughout his tenure,” Fasehun said.

He, therefore, urged the South-West governors to start factoring OPC into their yearly security votes.

Fasehun

Court remands four armed robbery suspects in prison HAKEEM GBADAMOSI AKURE

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n Akure Magistrate’s Court yesterday ordered four persons, among them a 19-year-old boy, Sunday Ejim, to be remanded in prison custody for armed robbery and receiving stolen properties.

Others are Kenneth Peter, 23 years old, Banji Alabi (27) and Omolade Akinseye (30).

The four people were brought before Chief Magistrate Charity Adeyanju on a three-count charge of felony, armed robbery and receiving stolen properties.

According to the charge sheet brought by the police prosecutor, Mr. Ayodele Atandeyi, the suspects, on June 20 about 9:30 p.m, conspired to commit felony wit armed robbery, contrary to and punishable under Section 6(a) and (b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provision) Act Cap R Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The charge sheet added that the accused were armed with cutlasses and dangerous weapons and robbed one Kikelomo Owoeye of items including ATM cards, Blackberry phone, modem, laptop, digital voice recorder and other valuable items worth N100.000 and thereby committed offence contrary to and punishable under Section 1(2)(b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provision) Act Cap R Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

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South East

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Reinstate LG chairmen, Adoke tells Okorocha ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA

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he AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), yesterday advised Governor Rochas Okorocha to obey the judgement of the Court of Appeal compelling him to reinstate sacked local government chairmen in Imo State.

Adoke, who disclosed

that the concurrent judgements of both the High Court and the Court of Appeal were in order, said doing otherwise would endanger the country’s democracy.

In a statement issued in Abuja, he said: “The attention of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been drawn to the lingering controversy that has trailed the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Owerri Judicial

Division in Appeal No. CA/OW/215/2011, Barr Enyinna Onuegbu & 26 Ors v. Attorney General of Imo State & 3 Ors dated 5th July 2012 which declared as illegal and unconstitutional the action of the Governor of Imo State, purporting to dissolve the democratically elected local government councils in the state before the expiration of their constitutionally guaranteed tenure.

“It is apposite to note that Section 7 (1) of the

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, guarantees the existence of a system of democratically elected local government councils throughout the federation.

“The judgement of the Court of Appeal aforementioned has only confirmed this position.

“I therefore call on all concerned to respect the judgement of the Court of Appeal and give due regard to the provisions of the constitution which

Okorocha

all elected officials of government have sworn to uphold. This will not only inspire confidence in the polity but will also deepen

our fledgling democracy.

“In the light of the foregoing and in consonance with this administration avowed commitment to the enthronement of the rule of law in the federation, I hereby call on Imo State Government and all relevant agencies of government to abide by the judgment of the Court of Appeal and ensure that the judgment of the Court of Appeal is given its full effect.”

New number plates will check crime, FRSC insists DENNIS AGBO ENUGU

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L-R: Minister of Agriculture and Rural Dvelopment, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, Mr. Chris Okeke and Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, during a meeting on the resuscitation of Omor Rice Mill in Abuja.

MASSOB not part of Nov 5 Biafra declaration –Uwazuruike NWABUEZE OKONKWO ONITSHA

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eader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, yesterday dissociated the movement from the proposed November 5 declaration of sovereign state of Biafra.

The Biafra Zionist Movement, BZM, another Biafra separatist group, had disclosed in a statement recently that it would formally declare a sovereign state of Biafra on November 5.

The leader of the group, Mazi Benjamin Onwuka, who spoke with journalists in Enugu, recently, said they were now seeking the backing of the United States of America, Russia, China, Britain and France as permanent members of the United Nations to realise that lofty objective because the agitation for Biafra could not be achieved without

the assistance of the international community.

But in his reaction to the declaration statement, Uwazuruike told journalists in a telephone interview yesterday that MASSOB was not part of any plan by any person or group of persons to declare a sovereign Biafran Republic on November 5 or any other date.

He added that MASSOB, as a non-violent organisation, would not identify with any agenda that would imply taking up arms or engaging in any form of violence to realise the Biafra mandate, which, he said, was becoming more feasible by the day.

“I am not aware of any date. MASSOB is not a party to any plan to employ violence as a means of pursuing our agenda.

We are non-violent and we will remain so. It is true that in this struggle, we have splinter groups, but I am not aware of what happens in their camp nor do

I support their plan of action,” Uwazuruike said.

The MASSOB leader added that the agitation for sovereign state of Biafra was beyond verbal threats and counterthreats.

He said his group was still on course and would not be distracted by activities of other groups who might want to disagree with MASSOB’s non-violent stance.

He said: “MASSOB is very much focused and the liberation of Ndigbo is still our priority but we

will not allow unnecessary sentiments to dictate our mode of operations. MASSOB should be counted out completely from the purported November 5 ultimatum as we are not part of it and will never be.

“MASSOB will achieve Biafra Republic without firing a shot, current events in the country and across the world have supported our struggle in no little means and at the very right time, which may not be too far from now, a Sovereign State of Biafra will be born.”

he new vehicle number plates have features which can help security agents in the country curtail the activities of criminals.

The South-East Zonal Commanding Officer and Assistant Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, in charge of Enugu, Abia, Imo and Ebonyi, Mr. Chike Nwaka, said this in an interview with journalists.

He said the new number plate would also help the country in planning as well as in its efforts to stem the tide of insecurity given its unique biometric features.

Nwaka dispelled insinuations that the National Assembly stood down the overture to establish a new vehicle number plate, saying that it was not the duty of the commission to fix the cost of number plates and driver’s licence.

According to him, the cost is fixed by the joint task force comprising the boards of internal revenues of all the states.

Nwaka said the National Assembly never understood the cardinal importance the new number plates would play in curbing crime.

He added that the new number plates were personalised to the individual owners of the vehicles, which would check the activities of a third party.

The commanding officer said the old number plates were not personalised and that vehicle owners could sell their cars without recourse to the FRSC. Citing the incident at Louis Edet House (Police Headquarters), Nwaka said, “the vehicle number plate of the suicide bomber was retrieved, but the third party buyer was not discovered because it was possible to sell cars without change or capture of the new buyer’s biometrics”.

He explained that with the new number plates, a third party buyer would have to re-register the car with the FRSC with his personal data which would guarantee the issuance of a new vehicle number plate to the third party on purchase.

American business community pledges assistance to Imo CHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

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merican businessmen in the city of Newark in United States have agreed to assist Imo State in the areas of education, agriculture and infrastructural development.

Making the pledge during a visit by Governor Rochas Okorocha, Vice

President of the City of Newark, Hon. Marcy Phillips, alsopromised to work towards strengthening cultural ties between the State of New Jersey and Imo State.

She said: “Imo State and the State of New Jersey share a lot in common.

I believe with mutual cooperation, we will achieve mutual benefit for the people of both

states who share the same ancestral link to Africa.”

Ms. Phillips, who expressed the readiness of businessmen from the State of New Jersey to explore the potentials of Imo State, promised to help link the state up with other state governments and businesses in the United States.

Okorocha, who was in the State of New Jersey to

promote his administration’s plans to build a Diaspora village where Nigerians living abroad can own and develop property, said in a statement issued by his Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Chinedu Offor, that he would continue to put in place policies which would attract investors and improve the lives of all Imo people.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South South

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

11

Why Edo people voted for Oshiomhole – Palace chief SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN BENIN

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member of the Benin Traditional Council (BTC) has explained why residents of Edo State voted overwhelmingly for the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in last Saturday’s governorship election.

According to the Eson of Benin Kingdom, Chief Amos Osunbor, the people of Edo State felt that the

PDP did not perform in its over eight years in power.

Osunbor said the voting pattern and results of the election showed the people’s anger against “those who regarded themselves as the godfathers and fixers of politics in the state.”

He said: “The results of the recently conducted election in Edo State specifically sent a message to Chief Tony Anenih from Edo people that they are fed up with him. It also clearly told him that he should relocate either by moving to another party or quitting

politics entirely. The governorship election of July 14th clearly showed that the stronghold of Chief Tony Anenih, which is Edo Central Senatorial District, was won by the ACN, leaving the PDP without any local council.”

The chief added that what the Edo people unambiguously demonstrated was a lesson that the people of all the other states should take into consideration.

He said: “It is the first election that the police, soldiers and other security

agents carried out their assigned duties without interfering with the election. ACN won in all the 18 local government areas because Edo people wanted a change. The people were fed up with PDP and they got the change they desired when Oshiomhole came.

And with the job he has done for the past four years, they vowed not to disrupt his avowed intention to transform the state.”

Osunbor noted that the Bini agenda that was introduced to Edo politics failed woefully because “We told

the people that we don’t believe in tribal politics, but on a candidate who will develop Edo State. We will support whoever develops our state. We have had Bini man in charge of affairs of the state and he did nothing.”

He, however, advised the PDP candidate, MaGen. Charles Airhavbere, to be courageous to accept the result and embrace the winner.

The chief also praised voters for rejecting monetary inducement against their conscience.

Meanwhile, the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) has congratulated Oshiomhole for his victory at the poll.

In a statement by the CPC National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, the party said

it was satisfied with Oshiomhole’s victory.

The statement reads: “The CPC has noted with satisfaction the victory of Adams Oshiomhole at the just concluded governorship election in Edo state.

“The party hereby congratulates the governor for successfully warding off the electoral tantrums and rigging stratagems of the PDP and its leadership.

“Indeed, the landslide victory aptly captures the satisfaction of the Edo people with the meritorious service of the last four years and affirms the people’s confidence in his leadership. “Undoubtedly, this re-election comes with additional responsibility for greater commitment to service. To whom much is given, much is expected!”

Akwa Ibom spends $500m on gas project

G L-R: Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; the retiring Bishop of Oleh diocese, Rt. Rev. Jonathan Edewor and former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assemly, Mr. Young Ibrude, during a valedictory service and thanksgiving for the retiring Bishop held at the St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, Oleh, yesday.

NDU lecturers threaten boycott of exams over arrears EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA

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cademic staff of Niger Delta University (NDU) in Amassoma, Bayelsa State, yesterday threatened to boycott the second semester examination over their unpaid salary arrears.

The lecturers recalled that the administration of former Governor Timipre Sylva approved N1.5b on April 20, last year for the payment of the arrears.

In a statement in Yena-

goa by the chairman of the university’s Academic Staff Union, Dr. Beke Sese, the lecturers noted that the arrears arose from the delay in the implementation of the 2009 agreement reached between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government.

Dr. Sese alleged that Governor Seriake Dickson suspended the payment in February this year, in the guise of cleansing the rot in the civil service.

He, however, lauded the

governor for addressing the fraud in the civil service, noting that similar attempts by past administrations failed.

Dr. Sese said: “In most cases, the initiators of such cleansing exercise became the big perpetrators of the same criminality they initially cried foul against.

The governor should not to subject members of the union to avoidable suffering as a result of the perceived fraudulent activities of less than one per cent of the pop-

ulation.”

But the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the government had constituted a committee to look into the issue.

He said: “The lecturers are complaining of arrears, not their main salaries. We have continued to pay their salaries. For the arrears, a committee is working on it and when it presents its report, we are going to act on it.”

We ’re not witch-hunting Bayelsa LG chairmen - Assembly EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA

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he Bayelsa State House of Assembly yesterday dismissed a rumotur that the on-going investigation of alleged financial misappropriations and petitions against the eight council chairmen in the state was aimed at witch-hunting them.

The House threatened to sanction any council chair-

men that failed to produce vital documents to the Assembly in the course of the investigation, stressing that it would be fair and transparent in the discharge of its duties.

Speaker of the House, Kombonwei Benson, who spoke yesterday in Yenagoa, the state capital, flayed chairmen of Brass and Kolokuma local government areas, Hon. Nathaniel Ngo-Sylva and Hon.

Ebikitein Diongoli, for failing to produce their Finance and General Purpose Committee (FGPC) meeting minute, nominal rolls and payment vouchers of their councils.

Benson said the Assembly would not take any misguided decisions while executing its duties, insisting that all chairmen appearing before the House should exhibit seriousness.

He said: “We have come

here to investigate alleged misappropriations leveled against the council chairmen. We have received claims and counter-claims by the councillors, some administrative officers and local government officials against some chairmen. We have called you to defend yourself and not to witch-hunt you. If you perform well, we will recommend you for a second term.”

overnor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State has said that the government spent over $500m on gas project in Esit Eket Local Government Area.

Akpabio stated this yesterday during the visit of a 30-member of Lagos State House of Assembly team, led by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Kolawole Taiwo, at the Governor’s Lodge in Uyo. He said: ‘’Akwa Ibom State is a traditionally civil service state. Only government can jumpstart the economy. My vision is to bring international conferences to the state’’.

The governor said that he sought elective office

in order to serve the people.

Addressing his visitors, Akpabio said: ‘’As participants in democracy, there is no way I would not have received you. I want you to criticize whatever you are seeing in this state. We are trying to give hope to the people and deepen democracy. Democracy can only survive if you give hope to it”.

The governor, flanked by a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chris Ubah, added: ‘’Nigeria is doing well because some states are performing. In our enclave, we must endeavour to give peace and development a chance’’.

NEMA lifts explosion victims CHINEDUM EMEANA PORT HARCOURT

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he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has delivered medicaments to replenish the stock of hospitals that have been battling to save the lives of survivors of last week’s tanker explosion at Okogbe in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Over 120 people were reported dead in the explosion.

NEMA Director of Training, Mrs. Clem Aisueni, delivered the items on Monday night to the Chief

Medical Director of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Prof. Aaron Ojule.

Mrs. Aisueni said the gesture was to provide special attention in the treatment of those affected by the fire.

Delivering the medicaments, the NEMA director warned against the misuse of hazardous items, such as petrol.

She also warned motorists against recklessness.

Prof. Ojule, who heads the committee set up the Rivers State Government to ensure thorough treatment of the victims, lauded NEMA for the gesture.

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North

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Plateau: Watch your comments, stakeholders warn northern leaders ABRAHAM JAMES JOS

S

takeholders in Plateau State lambasted prominent northern leaders over their

comments on the military intervention in five villages in Barakin Ladi and Riyom local government areas of the state.

In a 14-point communiqué issued after a meet-

ing held at the Government House in Rayfield, Jos, the stakeholders noted that the comments did not reflect the reality of security situation in the

state.

They stressed the need for the northern leaders to exercise stronger restraint in the matter.

The communiqué signed by the Chairman of the session, Rear Admiral S. B. Atukum (rtd), took an exception to the

incessant attacks on the people of the state.

The communiqué acknowledged that the state was under siege and that the terror attacks were not only aimed at the Berom but the state at large.

It therefore called for synergy among the tiers of government for effective border policing because the national and international borders were porous, making it easy for infiltration into the country by foreign mercenaries.

The stakeholders also called on the state Houses of Assembly to enact enabling laws to empower traditional institutions

through capacity building to effectively take charge of their domain and monitor activities of strange elements in their areas of jurisdiction.

They also resolved to create a platform through a Technical Committee of the Stakeholders to hear all grievances and contending interest and proffer solutions.

Calling on the Federal Government through the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to provide urgent relief assistance to victims, the stakeholders called on government to provide employment opportunities for youths.

... Group seeks UN’s intervention over bloodletting JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

S Bauchi State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sagir Saleh (left) and Acting Director, National Mathematical Centre, Alhaji Aliyu Biu, at the inauguration of Nigeria Mathematical Year in Bauchi, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

CAN raises the alarm over plot to eliminate Christian leaders A ZA MSUE KADUNA

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hristian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has raised the alarm over alleged moves by some groups to eliminate Christian leaders.

The Christian body also refuted the allegation that its President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, was be-

hind the recent Kaduna religious crisis, which claimed lives and property.

The Public Relations Officer of CAN in 19 northern states and Abuja, Mr. Sunday Oibe, said in a statement that the allegation was false and malicious.

The statement reads in part: “We are not unaware of certain moves to elimi-

nate Christian leaders.

“In the first place, the statement which was alleged to have been made by the CAN president is not only false, but it is also malicious, mischievous and self-serving because Pastor Oritsejafor, both in his private and public utterances, has never made any such statement. The quoted statement credited to the

CAN president does not, in anyway, represent his manner of speech, given his nationalistic fervour and interest in one Nigeria.”

The association also said that Christians would never support the killings of Nigerians either through reprisals or any other means as claimed in some quarters.

Attah was committed to people’s well-being –Amosun

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overnor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State has commiserated with the government and people of Kogi State over the death of the paramount traditional ruler of Igala land, the Attah of Igala, Alhaji Aliyu Ocheja Obaje, who died at the age of 102 years.

According to a statement issued his Senior Special Assistant on Me-

dia and Communications, Mrs. Funmi Wakama, the governor also condoled with the traditional institution in Nigeria over the exit of Nigeria’s longest reigning monarch.

Amosun described the death of the chairman of Kogi State Traditional Council as “regrettable, but also worthy of celebration, because this is a life that truly ran its full

course”.

He said Obaje was a nationalist who played a role in securing independence for Nigeria from Britain.

Amosun added that the highly revered monarch was committed to the well-being of the people of Igala and deployed his wealth of experience to the service of Kogi State and Nigeria in general.

The governor prayed

Attah

for the eternal repose of the soul of the late monarch.

ome Nigerians under the aegis of Project Nigerian Forum, PNF, have called on the United Nations, UN, to intervene in the crisis in Plateau State since the “Federal Government has failed to protect the lives of the citizens”.

The Chairman of the group, Mr. E. M. Mandyau, made the call at a press conference in Jos yesterday.

He said: “It is high time the United Nations contemplated sending troops to protect innocent and defenceless citizens. Wellmeaning Nigerians and the international community must step out to intervene to stop the ongoing carnage and genocide on the Plateau.’’

The group also decried the activities of the military in tackling the crisis in the state.

“Nigerians on the Plateau are losing confidence in the military. After the 2001 crisis in Jos, the role of the military has increasingly become suspect. It will interest Nigerians to note that the attacks on the local governments under emergency rule have been unprecedented and have surpassed the attacks prior to the declaration of the emergency rule, despite

Jang

the drafting of the security personnel to these areas,” Mandyau said.

He also urged the Federal Government to act quickly and stop the incessant killings across the states of the federation to save Nigeria from plunging into anarchy.

As part of measures to save the country from imminent collapse, PNF also called on the Federal Government to consider the devolution of powers among the federating units in the country.

It listed other measures which require immediate attention to include the need for the government to consider the establishment of state police, prosecution of all those known to be involved in the crisis, convening of sovereign national conference, establishment of truth and reconciliation commission, rehabilitation of displaced persons, among others.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Edo guber: How are the mighty fallen!

16

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

13

Politics

Bribe scandal: Reps, rules and reasons

14

IBB salutes Oshiomhole, urges him to work harder FELIX NWANERI

F

ormer Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida has congratulated Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on his reelection as the governor of Edo State at the weekend, saying his victory has once again created a new perspective to election conduct in Nigeria and re-enacted the doctrine of one man, one vote.

Babangida in a statement he personally signed and made available to National Mirror also said that Oshiomhole’s victory has further reassured that under a well coordinated electoral engagement, the people’s power as expressed through votes, will usually prevail over any other manifestations.

He also congratulated the other candidates for being magnanimous in defeat.

His words: “That should be the new spirit in our electoral contest; that is, people

accepting the outcome of elections irrespective of how unfavourable it might be. Let me salute the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Charles Airhiavbere for his fighting spirit. I am sure he must have learnt a few lessons in this democratic adventure that would help him in his future electoral engagements.”

Praising the people of Edo for what he described as “doing justice to their consciences and diligence to their decision by re-electing the Comrade Governor, Oshiomhole to continue to steer the ship of state in the nation’s Heartbeat State,” Babangida said: “As a keen observer of the politics of the nation, with particular interest in Edo State, I watched all the televised campaigns of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) where the Comrade Governor presented to the people of the state his scorecard in the last three and a half years.

“Let me therefore use

Katsina opposition parties to field consensus candidate JAMES DANJUMA KATSINA

I

n an attempt to challenge the hold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the governance of Katsina State and ensure positive outing in the July 28 bye-election into the Dutsi state consitituency of the state House of Assembly, 11 opposition parties in the state are to field a consensus candidate for the election.

The consensus candidate, Shuaibu Sani Dutsi, is to contest on platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

Speaking with newsmen yesterday, the state caretaker committee chairman of the CPC in the state, Farouk Adamu, said the opposition parties agreed to sponsor a consensus candidate on the platform of the CPC at a meeting held on the matter, with the

hope that the election will be free and fair.

He said the ruling PDP and security agencies should allow for a level playing field during the election and that the exercise should be played according to the rule of the game.

FELIX NWANERI

T

he Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has faulted the composition of the new board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), calling for the immediate removal of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Deziani Alison-Madueke as its chairman.

The CNPP, in a statement by its National Secretary, Chief Willy Ezugwu, argued that the removal of the minister as the chairman of the NNPC board

this opportunity to join millions of other Nigerians to say very big congratulations to the Comrade Governor of Edo State, Oshiomhole for this unique achievement in a state and against a party that parades hitherto political heavyweights. This ennobling and humbling feat is

only possible in an atmosphere of well mobilised and conscientised voters, who might have resolved to sustain the mantra of one man, one vote as the fundamental basis of representative democracy.

“The lesson to take away from the entire Edo election is that Nigeria can

truly get it right, if we all are resolved that we will not rig elections and if election outcomes are made to reflect the wishes and aspirations of the people.”

Babangida however charged Oshiomhole to redouble his efforts to ensure that his campaign promises are fulfilled as his victory

will spur more expectations from the people of the state, who spoke unanimously that he is their governor. “It is expected that the Comrade Governor will use the opportunity to open up the state and leverage on the economic infrastructure to make life more meaningful for the people,” he said

L-R: Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole and National Commissioner, Independent National Electoral Commission, Col. M.K. Hammanga (rtd.), presenting a Certificate of Return to the governor in Benin yesterday.

Lam’s verbal attack, attempt to distort history –Arapaja OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

N

igeria’s ambassador to Jordan and former deputy governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Taofeek Arapaja, has described the verbal attack on him by former governor of

the state, Alhaji Lam Adesina, as an attempt to distort history and cover up the injustice done to him by the former governor.

Arapaja said this while reacting to derogatory statements made by the former governor in an interview in which Adesina

CNPP faults new NNPC board has been necessitated by the recent revelation of misappropriation of public funds by the NNPC. Ezugwu further said the way the new board of the NNPC was composed suggests that the Federal Government is yet to appreciate the fears of the people that the activities of the corporation are still largely enmeshed in corruption.

Ezugwu said: “There was no moral justification for President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint Mrs Alison-Madueke as the head of the NNPC board

not even after the former Group Managing Director was unceremoniously removed on account of same sleaze for which the minister has been accused of.”

He therefore called on the President to do the needful by putting national interest above any other parochial one, saying: “Using the NNPC board membership for political patronage will not do the nation any good. And it is high time the President moves against the cabal in the oil industry so that Nigeria will not go back to square one.”

accused him of being ungrateful to the progressives who offered him scholarship to study abroad.

Ambassador Arapaja said that while it is true that the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) government of the late Bola Ige offered him scholarship in recognition of the unalloyed loyalty and commitment of his late father, Alhaji Ladimeji Oladejo Arapaja to the cause of the Action Group and UPN led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, his not hobnobbing with the so called progressives of Adesina ilk cannot put a toga of an ingrate on him.

Going down memory lane, Arapaja said that his father died on the rostrum at the presidential campaign rally of Chief Awolowo in Iwo on December 8, 1978 and to show his father’s importance in the Awolowo political family, a high powered delegation led by late Ige attended his

burial while Papa Awolowo later paid condolence visit to the family at the Arapaja family compound, Idi Arere, Ibadan.

He described his late father as a committed Awoist and an AG stalwart to the core at a time when it was risky in Ibadanland to belong to the AG in the midst of stiff opposition from late Adegoke Adelabu’s National Council of Nigerian Citizens NCNC. Arapaja said that Adesina’s unreliable and inconsistent leadership, by his attempt to truncate his (Arapaja’s) budding political career with the way he sold the House of Representatives’ ticket for Ibadan South-East federal constituency to Chief Owolabi Olakulehin, “against the wish of majority of party members, who supported him (Arapaja), made him to join ranks with the late strongman of Ibadan politics, Lamidi Adebibu.

14

Politics

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Bribery scandal: Reps, rules and reasons TORDUE SALEM writes on the insistence of the House of Representatives to hold a close session with the chairman of Zenon Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola, over the bribery scandal rocking its ad hoc committee on subsidy fund management and what it portends for the integrity of the lower chamber of the National Assembly.

B

efore the week runs out, the House of Representatives would have taken a definitive stance on the bribery tango between businessman and chairman of Zenon Oil Plc, Femi Otedola and the suspended chairman of its Ad hoc Committee on the Management of Fuel Subsidy Fund, Farouk Lawan.

Lawan, a four-time member of the House is in a life-time battle to save his name from an allegation by Otedola that the duo struck a $3 million deal to have his company, Zenon Oil and Gas Limited struck out of the list of oil marketing companies indicted in the fuel subsidy scam.

The green chamber insists, despite a spirited opposition by Otedola, that it must hold its sessions to determine the truth or otherwise of the allegation in camera. The oil magnate, who appeared before the special committee of the House penultimate Tuesday, insisted that he would not answer questions from its members if the hearing was not open to the media and general public.

In his six-paragraph pre-session statement, Otedola stated in part: “Honourable members, this is a matter that has generated a lot of public interest and controversy.

The House of Representatives Committee on the Management of Fuel Subsidy headed by Hon. Farouk Lawan held all its sittings in public.

“When this issue arose, the House of Representatives Committee on Ethics and Privileges publicly stated that its investigations will be held in public. It is therefore surprising and curious that this committee has made a U-turn to hold its investigative sittings in camera particularly in the light of unfolding events. I strongly believe that the interest of the public will not be best served if this investigation is held in camera.

“I have nothing to hide and will only speak on this issue when this investigation is conducted in a very transparent manner and the press, as well as the general public are allowed to be present at the sittings of this committee from the beginning of its investigation to its conclusion.”

But the House through its spokesman, Zakari Muhammed, maintained that a live telecast of its hearings on the Otedola/Faruk Lawan matter, would be a distraction.

He further insisted that the committee’s rules of operation and Section 60 of the 1999 Constitution would serve as guides in that regard.

Order 18 Rule 123(2a) states that the Privileges Committee shall have jurisdiction over “measures relating to the code of conduct of members.” The only sub-section of

Otedola

Lawan

HOW DO YOU INVESTIGATE THIS KIND OF CASE WHEN HE

(OTEDOLA)

REFUSED TO SUBSTANTIATE HIS

ALLEGATION?

ALL HE

WAS DOING WAS TO LAUGH AT US the rule that gets close to mentioning the discretion of the committee to hold secret sessions is Order 18 Rule 123(4e).

It further states: “No information or testimony received, or the contents of a complaint or the fact of its finding shall be publicly disclosed by any committee or staff member unless specifically authorised in each instance by a vote of the full committee.”

But Section 60 of the 1999 Constitution is categorical on the matter. The section states unequivocally that “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Senate or House of Representatives shall have power to regulate its own procedure, including the procedure for summoning and recess of House.”

Lawan, who appeared in plenary for the first time since his travail began more than a month ago to a tepid reception by his colleagues, said he would be exonerated from his accuser. “Ultimately I will be vindicated,” he told journalists.

But later at a marathon close session with the Ethics Committee, which lasted for four hours, the lawmaker representing Shanono Federal constituency of Kano State was said to have provided “enough documents” to back his claim that he did not take bribe from Otedola.

This is as the House, through its spokesman, Muhammed alleged that there was a “deliberate distraction from some quarters calculated to take attention away from the rot in the oil industry.” Mohammed insisted that unless the authorities get it right,

the country will continue to dance on the vicious circle forever.

Addressing the media at the National Assembly complex, Muhammed said that the committee headed by Gambo Dan-Musa, is the only panel of the House with the mandate to conduct its sessions in camera.

He added that the National Assembly, as representatives of the entire country must be allowed to conduct its business the way it chooses.

His words: “What makes democracy different from military rule is the fact that there is freedom of expression, you are not being gagged and we don’t want to send wrong signals. But as far as we are concerned, when films are played in parts one, two, three, four, it will divert attention from the main issue and of course, it is unfortunate it is happening this way.”

On what the House would do to stem the raging tide against its image and broadcast of the telephone conversations between Lawan and Otedola, he said: “Don’t forget that there are anti-graft agencies and everybody is meant to do his job. And as legislators, our job does not include disturbing stations from playing whatever they want to play. At the same time they have the responsibility of entertaining, educating and at the same time informing Nigerians. We cannot stop them from doing that.

“But as much as possible, for the system to operate, every sector of the Nigerian society must do its beat. Security agencies and the anti-graft agencies should carry on and save us the trouble of going through this. For us as an institution, we have distanced ourselves from this and we have said it in clear terms that the law must take its course. If allegations are made, the onus lies on those making the allegation to prove it and I am sure that part of the attempt of proving is what is happening. We want to appeal that we should let all agencies of government including the anti-graft agencies do their job.”

On the credibility of the report of the subsidy regime, he urged the relevant authorities to go ahead with its consideration as submitted by the House, no matter the circumstances surrounding it, adding: “We still appeal that the subsidy report should

still be considered for whatever it’s worth, because this is a deliberate distraction calculated to take attention away from the rot in the oil industry. And unless we get it right, we will continue to dance on the vicious circle forever.”

But a member of the House from Kaduna State, Simon Yakubu Arabo, through an Order of Privilege, disagreed with Muhammed, insisting that his privileges as a lawmaker were breached by what he thought was the shoddy conduct of the Ethics and Privileges Committee.

He stressed that the chairman of the committee used “unparliamentary language,” while reacting to Otedola’s stance that the hearing be conducted in public. He said he was displeased with the insistence of the committee on holding a secret session with Otedola.

He also criticised the committee’s chairman for descending to the gutters, by describing Otedola as “stupid” at a press briefing after an earlier uneasy interaction with the businessman, who flatly refused to divulge information on the sting operation that got Lawan nailed.

The Ethics Committee chairman, while addressing journalist on the matter after meeting had expressed disappointment over the attitude of Otedola, whom he said refused to talk in spite of all entreaties to make him talk. His words: “Otedola laughed off our threat of the consequences of his action, and simply said that Lawan had lied four times and in four different occasions over the bribery allegation.”

Dan-Musa explained that the committee was helpless because it was an allegation of unethical behaviour against one member of the House, which had to be investigated and appropriate action taken.

“How do you investigate this kind of case when he (Otedola) refused to substantiate his allegation? All he was doing was to laugh at us. It was very stupid of him, and we are not happy,” he was quoted as saying at the briefing.

A member of the committee, Ofor Chukwuegbo (PDP/Enugu), told National Mirror that Otedola boasted of being “an international businessman. I am not hungry like you (Representatives) and I can do without Nigeria. I can do business in Angola, other parts of Africa and in any other part of the world. I don’t need anybody. I have employed 11,000 persons. If not because I have respect for the chairman of the committee, I wouldn’t have even come here.”

But in what seems a crack among the lawmakers, Arabo, noted: “The parliament does not stand to lose anything if the testimony of Otedola is taken in public.”

Ruling on the point of order, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Emeka Ihedioha, who presided over the session, cautioned his colleagues to exercise restraint on the matter. His words: “When we give assignments to committees of the House, it behoves on us to allow them to do their work.” He also mandated the Chief Whip of the House, Ishaku Bawa to meet with the Committee on Ethics and Privileges on the matter and report back.

As the House resumes plenary this week, it is unclear if the Ethics and Privileges Committee shun will ego and let Otedola have his way, by allowing him to give his evidence on the bribery scandal in public.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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16

Politics

H

ow are the mighty fallen! That is the statement on the lips of most political analysts and observers across the country, following the loss, by most chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in their various polling units in last Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State.

Rating, ahead of the poll had presented the party chieftains who included the PDP governorship candidate, Major Gen. Charles Airhiavbere; former chairman of PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih; business mogul and the Esama of Benin Kingdom, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen; Chief of Staff to President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Mike Oghiadhome and Senator Odion Ugbesia as men who could turn the table against the incumbent and winner, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

The party bigwigs had during the campaigns boasted that they will cut Oshiomhole to size. But in a twist of fate, Oshiomhole, like the Biblical David in the David and Goliath battle, not only won the election with a wide margin but trounced his PDP rivals in their respective enclaves and thereby confirmed his pre-election position that the so-called political godfathers have outlived their relevance in Edo State politics.

Oshiomhole of the ACN clinched victory by amassing 477,478 votes representing 76 per cent of the valid votes of 630,099, leaving Airhiavbare with 144,235 votes representing 23 per cent. Chief Solomon Edebiri who flew the flag of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) was only able to manage 3,642 votes representing less than one per cent.

National Mirror takes a look at the big losers.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Edo guber: How are the mighty fallen!

Last Saturday’s re-election of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as governor of Edo State has exposed the weaknesses of some bigwigs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, hitherto seen as kingmakers, writes FELIX NWANERI.

tions that he (Anenih) may be forced to step aside as the leader of the party in the state over his failure to “fix” the party to the state’s seat of power the second consecutive time.

Gabriel Igbinedion The Esama of Benin, Chief Igbinedion, whose son, Lucky, ruled the state between 1999 and 2007, is another big loser in the poll though he described the exercise as “satisfactory” when he voted.

Igbinedion, practically begged the people of the state during the campaigns not to put him to shame by voting en masse for “Airhiavbere, who would perform when voted as governor of the state.” However, at the Staff Training Centre, Ward 12, GRA, Benin, where he voted, the business mogul could only muster 36 votes while Oshiomhole got 319.

Perhaps, the people have not forgotten his son’s dismal performance in the eight years he held sway as governor of Edo State despite insinuation in some quarters that he (Lucky) was instrumental to Oshiomhole’s victory in 2007.

Mike Oghiadomhe

Airhiavbere Anenih

Igbinedion

Ugbesia Oghiadomhe

Charles Airhiavbere Major Gen. Airhiavbere (retd), no doubt remains the biggest loser in the poll given the resources he invested in the bid to unseat the incumbent.

Airhiavbere, who enjoyed tremendous support from the Presidency in the build up to the poll, had at the eve of the election maintained that he will crush the power of incumbency enjoyed by Oshiomhole, but this was not to be as he lost even in his own ward and polling booth.

He had said before the poll that the incumbency factor is a fallacy that can be easily demystified as an incumbent that is not performing at the expected rate of the public is very vulnerable and the people of Edo State are yearning for a change and that change must come through the ballot box.

The ethnic card played by his backers and supporters during the campaigns equally failed to sway the electorate for him as results declared at the Garrick memorial School, Oredo Ward 1 units 18, 19, 20, 21 where Airiavbere voted showed that he lost with a wide margin.

In unit 20, the PDP candidate polled 38 votes as against ACN’s 360. In unit 19, PDP polled 32 while Oshiomhole’s ACN got 254. In Unit 18, also in the same centre, Airhiavbere’s PDP got 65 votes while ACN scored 351 votes.

Lastly in unit 21, the PDP scored 33 votes while the ACN got 270 votes. A summation of the results from the centre showed that Airhiavbere scored 168 votes

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

while Oshiomhole got 1,275.

Tony Anenih Beside Airhiavbere, another big loser is the former chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih. Popularly called “Mr. Fix It,” Anenih had boasted before the election that the PDP will emerged tops.

He not only predicted victory for his party but assured supporters that the PDP candidate will have an easy ride because his rival, Oshiomhole “lacks the capacity to remain as governor.”

But the former Minister of Works and leader of the PDP in Edo State was forced to swallow his words as he was roundly beaten by Oshiomhole in his ward.

Anenih only managed to deliver his polling booth to his party by one vote.

The PDP won by 40 to 39 votes in Anenih’s booth, but then he still lost his ward to the ACN by as much as 2,000 votes.

The self-acclaimed godfather lost his constituency; Uzenema-Arue, Uromi, in Esan North East Local Government Area, hitherto considered a PDP bastion, to the ACN by 1,004 votes to ACN’s 3,480 votes.

Many had advised him ahead of the poll to rather dwell more on national politics and play the role of an elder states-

BUT IN A TWIST OF FATE, OSHIOMHOLE, LIKE THE BIBLICAL DAVID IN THE DAVID AND GOLIATH BATTLE, NOT ONLY WON THE ELECTION WITH A WIDE MARGIN BUT TROUNCED HIS

PDP RIVALS IN

THEIR RESPECTIVE ENCLAVES man, than take the captainship band of domestic politics. In fact, a few others went ahead to advise him to exit from an indulgence that gave him such notorious fame. He, however, shunned the counsels, insisting that he has what it takes to turn the table against Oshiomhole.

The defeat therefore confirms Oshiomhole’s boast that Anenih is no more relevant in Edo State politics and would be humbled. Already, there are indica-

Another big loser is the Chief of Staff to President Jonathan, Chief Oghiadomhe. The presidential aide hails from Edo North, the same Senatorial zone as Oshiomhole and is a two-time deputy governor of the state. However, his intimidating profile did not translate to votes at last weekend’s election.

But unlike Anenih, who may be forced to retire from politics by the loss, Ogiadomhe is likely to “reap” from the trashing as he is already being touted in PDP circles to emerge as the new leader of the party in the state.

The PDP did fairly well in Edo North even though it still lost there, gaining almost 30 per cent in Akoko Edo and 32 per cent in Owan West. This surprising performance was accredited to the determination of Oghiadomhe to show his electoral value at home.

Odion Ugbesia Senator Ugbesia, representing Edo Central Senatorial district in the National Assembly on the platform of the PDP is another big loser in the Edo State governorship election.

A political godson of Anenih and former Commissioner for Information in the state as well as former Minister of Solid Minerals, Ugbesia served as the director general of the Airhiavbere Campaign Organisation.

He, however, not only failed to deliver his principal, but equally failed to deliver his ward. He, alongside Anenih, was trounced in their Edo Central political stronghold.

Hosa Okunbor Billionaire businessman, Captain Okunbor, who pumped money into the PDP project, could really not do much as he met a stumbling block in Bob Izua who anchored ACN’s election machinery in Oredo area of the state.

Okunbor was further diminished by the “betrayal” of many of his reliable operatives, who it was learnt, abandoned him for the ACN despite being adequately mobilised.

For the PDP bigwigs, the July 14 governorship was a big loss.

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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OPS on industrializing Nigeria PUBLIC DOMAIN

DELE

SETEOLU

deleseteolu@nationalmirroronline.net (08033137577 SMS only)

T

he organized private sector (OPS) recently listed the most important conditions for industrial development to occur in Nigeria. These conditions include uninterrupted public power supply, functional road and rail infrastructure, security and land reforms, and policy consistency. Others are the elimination of official corruption and bureaucratic bottlenecks, development of skilled manpower, and the strengthening of supply chains.

It is obvious that the nation’s organized private sector is plagued by irregular public supply of electricity and high cost of privately generating electricity. The power sector crisis partly explains the higher cost of production and product pricing in Nigeria.

It also explains, to some extent, the capital flight to neighbouring West African countries. The Jonathan administration has declared a power sector reform agenda that includes the development of the gas sector, privatization of the nation’s power utility company, Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), and a recent increase in electricity tariff to make the sector attractive to foreign investors.

There is huge security deficit in the coun-

try, an absence of social facilities and a declining role of the state in their provision.

The private entities, including the manufacturing sector, largely assume the role of social facilities provisioning for production to occur. The pervasive nature of corruption and inconsistent economic policies are not congenial to business and capital accumulation. The extent of political and bureaucratic corruption in Nigeria perverts the application of trade, business and production rules, discourages foreign investment in Nigeria, increases the cost of business and reduces aggregate economic growth.

The unequal resource distribution continually impoverishes the populace and limits their capacity to consume. The Nigerian economy has been characterized by conflicting policy measures formulation and implementation. The state actors are not clear cut on economic policies. Secondly, the policies are externally defined and barely respond to the historical and socioeconomic realities of the Nigerian state. Thirdly, the economic policies require foreign funding support thus compromising the country’s sovereignty. The implementation of the state economic policies engenders a culture of alienation in the mass of people.

The Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) has been a major policy impediment to industrialization in Nigeria. The SAP policy features of liberalization, deregulation and privatization have virtually destroyed indigenous capital formation in Nigeria and promoted the deepening role of foreign businesses. The consequences are the country’s vulnerability, increasing dependency and de-industrialization.

The New Partnership on Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is a major policy initiative

THE NIGERIAN STATE SHOULD PLAY A LEADING ROLE IN CAPITAL ACCUMULATION AND VENTILATE THE

COUNTRY’S STRATEGIC ECONOMIC AND meant to develop the continent. The plan has a political economy approach that includes peer review mechanism for democratization growth in the continent. The plan, however, was conceived by the African policy elite without involving the working people, urban poor and rural peasants. There is absence of collective ownership that ought to be the premise of economic governance.

The OPS’s arguments are largely superstructural explanation of economic crisis in Nigeria. We need to deconstruct the crisis in the economic sub-structure to better understand and appreciate the logic of dependent capitalist crisis in Nigeria. The nature of Nigerian state is a critical explanatory framework of the Nigerian crisis. It is a rentier state and the state actors’ exhibit rentier mentality.

The governing class is disinterested in local capital accumulation and largely concedes to the transnational corporations in the extraction of crude oil in the Niger Delta. The Nigerian economy will not likely develop and transform without local or national ownership and development of oil sector.

The logic of foreign direct investment as a basis of capital accumulation and development in Nigeria is flawed. The foreign companies often respond to the policies of the parent states and deny autonomous capital in the hosting states.

The compradorial nature of Nigerian state allows the connivance between the state actors and foreign interests to sustain the country’s dependent status and deny its industrialization.

The predatory character of Nigeria’s governing class hampers the country’s development in every sense. The state institutions and structures are controlled for private political and economic advantages. The limited autonomy of Nigerian state allows unrestrained struggle for power and consequent underdevelopment of its economy. The access to state power often translates the governing class into a ruling class that control huge economic resources and dispense patronage.

The challenges are to recreate the Nigerian state; change the nature of politics; abandon neo-liberal economic policies for alternative economic agenda that situates ownership and control of the economy in the people, and endogenize economic growth and development. The Nigerian state should play a leading role in capital accumulation and ventilate the country’s strategic economic and political interests. Furthermore, the state actors should be stripped of rentier mentality and compradorial character.

How do we achieve these objectives?

We would discuss the political and economic imperatives of a new state and economy in subsequent articles.

FG’s delusional posturing on NYSC posting ADEWALE KUPOLUYI

T

he federal government has overruled the recent decision of the management of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to reverse the earlier posting of some 2012 Batch B corps members to the troubled states in the North. The Minister of Youth Development, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, announcing the decision, said corps members would still be posted to Borno, Yobe, Bauchi and other volatile states in the North. I find no justification for this grandeur of delusion.

You will recall that when Brigadier General Nnamdi Okore-Affia, Director-General of the NYSC, had had to direct corps members posted to Yobe and Brono states to proceed to Nasarawa and Benue states respectively for their orientation when there was a near national consensus that such posting was fraught with grave security implications, especially the safety of the affected corps members.

Overruling such a pragmatic approach to a burgeoning national crisis created by the initial posting to these states, the minister had relied on the NYSC Act. He had said any other form of concessional posting, which is at variance with exception granted on health and marriage grounds, would require constitutional amendment. For this reason he told the NYSC management to go back to status quo ante.

I find the position of the FG most disturbing. It is at variance with the yearnings of Nigerian that these vulnerable youths be

THE MINISTER SHOULD REMEMBER THAT THE LAW IS MADE FOR THE GOOD

OF MAN, AND NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND protected from the vicissitudes of pervasive insecurity in these northern states. The postings, though legal, had elicited outcry from the affected corps members, their parents, discerning Nigerians, as well as the media. The House of Representatives was persuaded by the national outcry that greeted the postings to move a motion cancelling the exercise and directing that the affected corps members be redeployed to relatively safe places until the security challenges in the affected states improve. Surely, there was wisdom in calling for a rethink on the matter because it poses grave implications for the country.

Firstly, the review of the earlier contentious posting was a genuine and pragmatic response to a serious national issue, as it gave the people the feeling that government was responsive and sensitive to their needs.

Recall that Boko Haram unceasing attacks in parts of the North created a genuine security concern. Such attacks had led to the death of many peoples, including corps members. The militant Islamic sect claimed responsibility for the recent mass killing of over 100 persons in Plateau State. Among

those killed were Senator Gyang Dantong and Honourable James Gyang Fulani, the majority leader of the state house of assembly.

The federal authorities cannot claim ignorance of these developments. Rather than exude false sense of security, concerted efforts should be made to address the critical issues that have made the troubled states high risk for both indigenous people and non-natives alike. This is definitely not the period to grand stand.

Secondly, the insistence by minister that the NYSC Act must be fully enforced is unrealistic display of insensitivity by a popularly elected government. The decision is dictatorial and inhuman. The minister should remember that the law is made for the good of man, and not the other way round.

The House of Representatives had in a resolution after an exhaustive debate, directed the management of NYSC to halt the posting of corps members to the volatile states. The current position taken by the minister is tantamount to saying that the federal lawmakers are unpatriotic because they do not uphold the supremacy of the nation’s constitution. This is preposterous.

The framers of the 1979 Constitution deemed it fit to incorporate the NYSC Decree 1973 into the constitution because the ideals of the programme were what we needed to rebuild a post civil war Nigeria.

The programme was seen to have potentials for national unity and integration. If the truth must be told, the NYSC as a national institution, helped to heal the wounds created by the civil war.

I find it most laughable that Alhaji Abdullahi would interpret participation at the NYSC scheme as meaning the same as the law of engagement for people serving in the military. Hear him: “Don’t forget that a number of people went to the civil war. A number of Nigerians went to the war front, they were killed; they left families … There are people who up till now, for no fault of theirs, got incapacitated. They have disabilities and they are living with those disabilities because of the war. This is a sacrifice to the nation”.

What a statement by a serving minister, what a warped logic by a so-called leader.

His position, and which I think is that of the Jonathan-led administration, shows how this government is disconnected from the people and the current Nigerian reality.

Minister Abdukadir should be told that parents would not wish that their children die in the course of serving their fatherland.

The NYSC is not a compulsory military service and the death of the participants should not be considered a noble and inevitable sacrifice.

Kupoluyi, adewalekupoluyi@yahoo. co.uk, wrote from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: mail@ nationalmirroronline.net mirrorlagos@ yahoo.com or 08164966858 (SMS only). The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject views or photographs.

Pseudonyms may be used but must be clearly marked as such.

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Editorial

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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

STEVE AYORINDE

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YELE AKINROLABU

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SM, STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT

FRANK OBOH



HEAD, GRAPHICS

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The growing oil theft

he recently reported rising incident of oil theft in the country, now put at between $5 billion (about N775 billion) and $7 billion (roughly N1.08 trillion) annually is, without doubt, a major setback for the nation and its economy, especially when weighed against the already saturated corridor of oil sector scandals and the seeming financial predicament of the Federal Government. The Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, valued the annual crude theft at about $7 billion annually, while the Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Limited, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu’s figure appears relatively conservative at $5 billion for the same period.

According to Sunmonu, who doubles as the Country Director of Shell Petroleum, in his testimony at a public hearing of the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) and Navy, ‘bunkering’ was primarily the feature of the oil theft. The Shell helmsman pointed accusing fingers at the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies for consciously permitting the perpetration of the illegality. Sunmonu berated the Navy in particular, for its gross incompetence and lacklustre approach to securing the na-

tion’s territorial waters on which the lucrative, illegal business thrives.

The Shell boss’ classification of illegal bunkerers into two - ‘bunkering rascals’ and ‘big institutions’ was particularly instructive. These two categories, he said, often escape through ‘the eye of the needle’ in spite of the heavy presence of the Navy and other security operatives that patrol the territorial waters. The result: Bunkering has become embarrassingly pervasive instead of the contrary.

Likewise worrisome is the reported internationalization of the theft. An example was cited of a ship ferrying stolen Nigerian crude, which when intercepted, had 20 foreigners (Ghanaians) out of its 24 crew members. It is suspected that local oil thieves collude with foreign accomplices, who own internationally permissible barges, for the quick shipment of the nation’s stolen crude overseas. The ‘bigger institutions’ are said to be the major culprits of this international oil theft.

The revelations by OkonjoIweala and Sunmonu represent a colossal loss in oil revenue; and imply that bunkerers are becoming more daring in the face of a docile, and perhaps, complicit Navy and other security agencies charged with the regular patrol

THE SORDID DEVELOPMENTS GO A LONG WAY TO CORROBORATE THE RECENT CONCERN EXPRESSED BY

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN THAT SOME UNPATRIOTIC PUBLIC FIGURES COMPLICATE THE NATION’S

INSECURITY PROBLEMS of the coastal waters. That the menace has a global dimension is also confirmed by the involvement of many aliens in the illicit oil trade.

Likewise called to question is the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency’s (NIMASA) alleged concession of the nation’s maritime security to a private firm owned by a former leader of Niger Delta militants, in a mouth watering contract put at N16 billion. Several attacks on ships and security personnel in the region, including the killing of a Commander of the Joint Military Task Force and some soldiers in the axis, have

been reported, despite the special arrangements to properly police the coastal waters.

The sordid developments go a long way to corroborate the recent concern expressed by President Goodluck Jonathan that some unpatriotic public figures complicate the nation’s insecurity problems, including the Boko Haram scourge. Early in the year, the President had lamented the yearly loss of N1.3 trillion in oil subsidy, which later turned out, from probe reports, to have resulted from subsidy theft. The monumental losses occasioned by brazen oil theft only strengthen the President’s conviction that public offices are filled with unpatriotic and thieving public officials. Yet, only the swift action of the Presidency can save the situation from further deterioration. In his capacity as the Commander-in-Chief of the nation’s Armed Forces, the public expects the President to quickly investigate the roles of the Navy and other possibly complicit security agencies, including the Police and private security outfits hired on contract basis, in the entire oil bunkering scam, with a view to restoring integrity in the security of the nation’s coastal waters. Deploying patriotic and less corrupt security operatives to effectively police the waters is of special importance in dealing with the growing menace of oil theft in the land.

ON THIS DAY July 18, 1996

July 18, 1994

Battle of Mullaitivu: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam captureD the Sri Lanka Army’s base, killing over 1200 soldiers. The Battle of Mullaitivu took place between July 18 and 25, 1996 for the control of the town of Mullaitivu in Sri Lanka. The battle was fought between units of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Following a major defeat in late 1995, the LTTE moved to the jungles of the Wanni region.

The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) in Buenos Aires killed 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injured 300. Established as Jevrá Kedushá in 1894, its mission was conceived to promote the well being and development of Jewish life in Argentina and to secure the continuity and values of the Jewish community. On July 18, 1994, a Renault Trafic van loaded with explosives smashed into the AMIA, killing 85 people, injuring over 300, and destroying the building completely.

July 18, 1870 The First Vatican Council decreed the dogma of papal infallibility. Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope is preserved from the possibility of error. When exercising his office of shepherd and teacher of all Christians, he solemnly declares that a teaching on faith and morals is to be held by the whole Church. Papal infallibility thus does not extend to declarations by the Pope, and should not be confused with immunity from sin.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

19

Health & Wellbeing Nigeria ranks high on infant, maternal mortality index

Facts you should know about Family planning

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Better days ahead for Nigerian women!

FG to spend N5.5 trillion for family planning

TOBORE OVUORIE

W

ith a view to reducing the currently high maternal and child mortality rates, the Federal Government has earmarked N5.5 trillion ($8,350,000) annually for the country’s reproductive health programme.

President Goodluck Jonathan made the announcement last Wednesday at the family planning summit held in London during the World Population Day. Represented by the Minister of State for Health, Dr Mohammed Ali Pate, the president noted that this would be an addition to the $3million the government currently spends on the procurement of contraceptives every year.

“We are committed to increasing the awareness and demand for family planning and reproductive health services by women regardless of their socio-economic status. In our quest to save one million lives in Nigeria by 2015, we consider all lives have equal value”.

The president also pledged government’s commitment to meeting unmet needs for reproductive health services and commodities, including family planning.

Currently, Nigeria’s fertility control status is at an abysmal level. For instance, the average total fertility for uneducated women is more than twice that of women who have had above secondary education.

The 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) report however indicate that only 10% Ironically, the incredible fertility status is a child’s play as the 2008 NDHS report (Nepal Demographic and Health Survey) indicates that only 10% of married women of reproductive age use contraceptives in the country, well below the current Sub Saharan Africa average of 17%.

Also, about 49 percent of the country’s women reproductive populace is currently not using contraceptives, with a majority not intending to use it in the future, while 27 percent of them unsure of even using it at all.

National Mirror’s investigations however reveal that major reasons for not using contraceptives include lack of knowledge, wanting more children, fear of side effects, husband’s disapproval as well as cultural and religious beliefs.

Interestingly, recent analysis of the country’s total Contraceptive Prevalence rate

Faces of Nigerian women: Better health services ahead

(CPR) indicated that though good reproductive health practice is still poor in the country, there are however wide state variations.

The NDHS report revealed gaps ranging from 0.3 in Jigawa to 41.6 in Lagos state, as well as zonal variations ranging from 2.7 in the North West to 28.5 in the South West.

On a national scale, CPR have also been discovered to be low among teenagers though most of them are sexually active, with many of them giving birth to babies they never planned for.

Though these challenges and much more, pose overwhelming hurdles against the country achieving the earmarked plans of fewer women dying in pregnancy and childbirth, fewer unintended pregnancies, fewer abortions and fewer babies dying in their first year of life, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) President, Dr. Osahon Enabulele who is also a Community and Family Health expert, believes that the government’s projection is laudable.

But he noted that this would be achieved only within good and transparent governance. According to him, Nigerian women deserve a lot more.

“These women deserve more than these.

They should be able to decide freely and for themselves whether, when and how many children they have,” he said. “It is absolutely fundamental to any hope to tackling poverty in our country but will be achieved only within good governance and transparent processes.

“Yes, better days lies ahead for Nigerian women if we all can stop dwelling on the challenges and paving real solutions to better family health practices” he added.

As a way forward in improving the lot of women in Nigeria and other developing nations, $2.6bn was pledged during the summit by developed countries and this would be strictly utilized by the former for the purpose of family planning. Even the European Union had a day to the summit pledged 23m ($28m) for the same purpose.

The money, coupled with commitments from the receiving countries, is expected to provide access to family planning for no fewer than 120 million women in the affected nations. More than 20 developing countries, including Nigeria, made commitments to boost spending on family planning

and to strengthen women’s rights to ease their access to contraception.

Besides these financial commitments, there is yet the need for specific and focused family planning information and services dissemination. This, Dr. Enabulele says can be achieved when more female children and women are educated beyond secondary school level.

Dr. Enabulele however believes that the goals of family planning will be better achieved if men are involved. According to him, “most men in the country, especially up north, are the reasons why women are still not embracing any of the family planning options. For reasons ranging from personal to religious and cultural beliefs, they do not encourage their women to use any form of protection. Unfortunately, it is women and children who are always at the receiving end, most times, they lose their lives.

“So, if we must yield any results, men should be brought into this campaign; they should be educated about the benefits, not only to their wives, women and children but also to themselves. Policies to this tune should formed”.

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Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

How to protect your family against malaria A

dolescent and pre-adolescent girls need to be informed about the significance of menstruation in relation to reproduction and the importance of menstrual hygiene. They need information on how to care for and clean themselves when they are menstruating. Boys should also learn about menstruation and be aware of girls’ particular hygiene needs.

Hygienic menstruation practices among adolescent girls and women should be promoted and supported.

Clean and dry feminine hygiene products such as cloths or napkins should be available. Where cloths are used it is important that they are regularly washed with soap and water and dried fully in the sun before the next use. Damp cloths can carry germs that can lead to infections. Used sanitary napkins should be disposed of in a refuse pit or collected and burned.

Water and soap should be provided in a private place (bathing area, latrine) for girls and women to wash during menstruation and for washing their hands after changing their cloth/napkin. Poor menstruation hygiene can lead to fungal infections. Repeated infections can lead to serious reproductive tract infections. These could cause infertility.

Schools should have separate latrines for girls and boys. The girls’ latrine in particular needs access to water and soap so girls can clean themselves. Latrines that are private, clean and safe contribute to keeping girls in school longer, which can delay early marriage and pregnancy.

When girls and women are menstruating, their privacy needs to be respected.

What every family should know about malaria Malaria is a serious disease spread through mosquito bites. The World Health Organization estimates that

Sleeping under an insecticide treated mosquito net prevents malaria

around 250 million malaria episodes occurred in 2006, resulting in nearly 1 million deaths. About 90 per cent of all malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, most among children under age 5.

Malaria is found in many regions of the world. In subSaharan Africa, it is a leading cause of death, illness, and poor growth and development among young children. It is estimated that a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds in this area.

Malaria is particularly dangerous for pregnant women. Some 50 million pregnant women are exposed to malaria each year. Malaria during pregnancy contributes to nearly 20 per cent of low-birth weight babies in endemic areas, plus anaemia, stillbirth and even maternal deaths.

Malaria is spread by the bite of an Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito transfers the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, from person to person. People get very sick with high fevers, diarrhoea, vomiting, headache, chills and flulike illness. Especially in children, the disease can worsen

SCIENCE Potential cause of HIV-associated dementia revealed

R

esearchers at Georgetown University Medical Center appear to have solved the mystery of why some patients infected with HIV, who are using antiretroviral therapy and show no signs of AIDS, develop serious depression as well as profound problems with memory, learning, and motor function. The finding might also provide a way to test people with HIV to determine their risk for developing dementia.

They say the answer, published in the July 11 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, may ultimately lead to a therapeutic solution that helps these patients as well as others suffering from brain ailments that appear to develop through the same pathway, including those that occur in the aged.

“We believe we have discovered a general mechanism of neuronal decline that even explains what happens in some elderly folks,” says the study’s lead investigator, Italo Mocchetti, Ph.D., professor and vice chair of the department of neuroscience at Georgetown University Medical Center. “The HIV-infected patients who develop this syndrome are usually quite young, but their brains act old.”

The research team found that even though HIV does not infect neurons, it tries to stop the brain from producing a protein growth factor -mature brain derived neurotrophic factor (mature BDNF) -- that Mocchetti says acts like “food” for brain neurons. Reduced mature BDNF results in the shortening of the ax-

ons and their branches that neurons use to connect to each other, and when they lose this communication, the neurons die.

“The loss of neurons and their connections is profound in these patients,” Mocchetti says.

HIV-associated dementia occurs in two to three percent of HIV-infected patients using retroviral therapies, all of who appear to be otherwise healthy, and in 30 percent of HIV-positive patients who are not on medication.

Mocchetti believes that HIV stops production of mature BDNF because that protein interferes with the ability of the virus to attack other brain cells. It does this through the potent gp120 envelope protein that sticks out from the viral shell -- the same protein that hooks on to brain macrophages and microglial cells to infect them.

—Science Daily

H

rapidly, causing coma and death. Children under 5 years old are most susceptible to malaria because they have very little acquired immunity to resist it.

Many lives can be saved by preventing malaria and treating it early. Children and their family members have the right to quality health care for prompt and effective treatment and malaria prevention.

Governments, in collaboration with communities and non-governmental and community-based organizations, can minimize the number of malaria cases. They need to support preventive actions, such as distributing longlasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets for families to sleep under.

What every family and community has a right to know about malaria 1. Malaria is transmitted through the bites of some mosquitoes. Sleeping under an insecticide-treated mosquito net is the best way to prevent mosquito bites.

2. Wherever malaria is present, children are in danger.

A child with a fever should be examined immediately by a trained health worker and receive an appropriate antimalarial treatment as soon as possible if diagnosed with malaria. Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are recommended by WHO for treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. It is the most serious type of malaria and causes nearly all malaria deaths.

3. Malaria is very dangerous for pregnant women.

Wherever malaria is common, they should prevent malaria by taking antimalarial tablets recommended by a trained health worker and by sleeping under an insecticide-treated mosquito net.

4. A child suffering or recovering from malaria needs plenty of liquids and foods.

More information on malaria 1. Malaria is transmitted through the bites of some mosquitoes. Sleeping under an insecticide-treated mosquito net is the best way to prevent mosquito bites.

All members of the community should be protected against mosquito bites, particularly young children and pregnant women. Protection is needed after sunset and before sunrise, when malaria mosquitoes bite.

Why hypertension increases damage to eyes of diabetic patients

ypertension frequently coexists in patients with diabetes. A new University of Georgia study shows why the co-morbid conditions can result in impaired vision.

“Results showed early signals of cell death in eyes from diabetic animals within the first six weeks of elevated blood pressure. Later, the tiny blood vessels around the optic nerve that nourish the retina and affect visual processing showed signs of decay as early as 10 weeks after diabetic animals develop hypertension,” said Azza ElRemessy, assistant professor in the UGA College of Pharmacy and director of the UGA clinical and experimental therapeutics program.

The study examined animals with early and established stages of diabetes that also had hypertension. The results, which

highlight the importance of tight glycemic control and blood pressure control to delay diabetesrelated vision loss, were published in the June issue of the Journal of Molecular Vision. The study was the first to understand or explain why combining increased blood pressure with diabetes would hurt blood vessels in the eye.

“The fact that controlling blood pressure in diabetic patients is beneficial has been shown through many major clinical trials,” said Islam Mohamed, a third-year clinical and experimental therapeutics graduate student who co-authored the paper with El-Remessy.

“Our study highlights the synergistic and immediate interaction between systemic hypertension and diabetes as two independent risk factors for persistent retina damage known as retinopathy.

This emphasizes the importance of addressing different cardiovascular risk factors in a holistic approach for improving management and prevention of retinopathy.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 45 percent of adults in the U.S. suffer from diabetes, hypertension or high levels of cholesterol in the blood called hypercholesterolemia. Approximately 13 percent of U.S. adults suffer from a combination of two of the conditions, and 3 percent have all three.

Early intervention is a key factor in improving the outcome for patients.

“Health care providers, including pharmacists, should stress the importance of the tight control of blood sugar and blood pressure levels for their patients,” ElRemessy said.

—Science Daily

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

21

Facts you should know about Family planning Key facts • An estimated 222 million women in developing countries would like to delay or stop childbearing but are not using any method of contraception.

• Some family planning methods help prevent the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

• Family planning reduces the need for unsafe abortion.

• Family planning reinforces people’s rights to determine the number and spacing of their children.

F

amily planning allows people to attain their desired number of children and determine the spacing of pregnancies. It is achieved through use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of infertility (this fact sheet focuses on contraception).

Benefits of family planning Promotion of family planning – and ensuring access to preferred contraceptive methods for women and couples – is essential to securing the well-being and autonomy of women, while supporting the health and development of communities.

Preventing pregnancy-related health risks in women A woman’s ability to choose if and when to become pregnant has a direct impact on her health and well-being.

Family planning allows spacing of pregnancies and can delay pregnancies in young women at increased risk

of health problems and death from early childbearing, and can prevent pregnancies among older women who also face increased risks. Family planning enables women who wish to limit the size of their families to do so. Evidence suggests that women who have more than four children are at increased risk of maternal mortality.

By reducing rates of unintended pregnancies, family planning also reduces the need for unsafe abortion.

Reducing infant mortality Family planning can prevent closely spaced and ill-timed pregnancies and births, which contribute to some of the world’s highest infant mortality rates.

Infants of mothers who die as a result of giving birth also have a greater risk of death and poor health.

Helping to prevent HIV/AIDS Family planning reduces the risk of unintended pregnancies among women

Contraceptive methods

Modern methods Method

Combined oral c o n t r a c e p t ive s (COCs) or “the pill”

Description

How it works

Effectiveness to prevent pregnancy

Contains two hormones (estrogen and progestogen)

Prevents the release of eggs from the ovaries (ovulation)

>99% with correct and consistent use

Comments

Reduces risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer; should not be taken while breastfeeding

92% as commonly used Pro gesto genonly pills (POPs) or “the minipill”

Contains only progestogen hormone, not estrogen

Thickens cervical mucous to block sperm and egg from meeting and prevents ovulation

99% with correct and consistent use

Can be used while breastfeeding; must be taken at the same time each day

90–97% as commonly used Implants

Progestogen only injectables

Small, flexible rods or capsules placed under the skin of the upper arm; contains progestogen hormone only

Same mechanism as POPs

Injected into the muscle every 2 or 3 months, depending on product

Same mechanism as POPs

>99%

>99% with correct and consistent use

Health-care provider must insert and remove; can be used for 3–5 years depending on implant; irregular vaginal bleeding common but not harmful Delayed return to fertility (1–4 months) after use; irregular vaginal bleeding common, but not harmful

97% as commonly used Monthly injectables or combined injectable c o n t r a c e p t ive s (CIC)

I n j e c t e d monthly into the muscle, contains estrogen and progestogen

Same mechanism as COCs

>99% with correct and consistent use

Irregular vaginal bleeding common, but not harmful

Varieties of contraceptives

living with HIV, resulting in fewer infected babies and orphans. In addition, male and female condoms provide dual protection against unintended pregnancies and against STIs including HIV. Empowering people and enhancing education Family planning enables people to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health. Family planning represents an opportunity for women for enhanced education and participation in public life, including paid employment in non-family organizations. Additionally, having smaller families allows parents to invest more in each child. Children with fewer siblings tend to stay in school longer than those with many siblings.

Reducing adolescent pregnancies Pregnant adolescents are more likely to have preterm or low birth-weight babies. Babies born to adolescents have higher rates of neonatal mortality. Many adolescent girls who become pregnant have to leave school. This has long-term implications for them as individuals, their families and communities.

Slowing population growth Family planning is key to slowing unsustainable population growth and the resulting negative impacts on the economy, environment, and national and regional development efforts.

Contraceptive use Contraceptive use has increased in many parts of the world, especially in Asia and Latin America, but continues to be low in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, use of modern contraception has risen slightly, from 54% in 1990 to 57% in 2012. Regionally, the proportion of

women aged 15–49 reporting use of a modern contraceptive method has risen minimally or plateaued between 2008 and 2012. In Africa it went from 23% to 24%, in Asia it has remained at 62%, and in Latin America and the Caribbean it rose slightly from 64% to 67%. There is with significant variation among countries in these regions.

Use of contraception by men makes up a relatively small subset of the above prevalence rates. The modern contraceptive methods for men are limited to male condoms and sterilization (vasectomy).

Global unmet need for contraception An estimated 222 million women in developing countries would like to delay or stop childbearing but are not using any method of contraception. Reasons for this include: • limited choice of methods; • limited access to contraception, particularly among young people, poorer segments of populations, or unmarried people; • fear or experience of side-effects; • cultural or religious opposition; • poor quality of available services; • gender-based barriers.

The unmet need for contraception remains too high. This inequity is fueled by both a growing population, and a shortage of family planning services. In Africa, 53% of women of reproductive age have an unmet need for modern contraception.

In Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean – regions with relatively high contraceptive prevalence – the levels of unmet need are 21% and 22%, respectively.

– Courtesy WHO

To be continued next week

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Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Nigeria ranks high on infant, maternal mortality index TOBORE OVUORIE

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igeria still ranks high on the list of countries with high maternal and infant mortality rates with a ratio of 545 per 100,000 live births on the maternal mortality index and 75 per 1000 live births on the infant mortality index; these figures are from the UN World Population Prospects and the Institute for Health Metric Reports (2010).

Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Chief Festus Odimegwu, disclosed this recently while speaking at a press conference to commemorate this year’s World Population Day (WPD).

Although some progress had been made since the release of the report, he said a lot more is still needed to be done in order to prevent avoidable deaths; stressing that only 58 per cent of women had access to

ante-natal care.

Odimegwu who was represented by the NPC Commissioner in the FCT, Mr. Sani Suleiman, outlined grim statistics of the health status of reproductive women aged between 15 and 49 in Nigeria.

“Fifty-two thousand, nine hundred women and girls die every year from pregnancyrelated causes. For every woman that dies, at least 20 others suffer morbidities such as obstetric fistula, in-

fections and disabilities.

Twenty-three percent of women between 15 and 19 are already mothers or are pregnant with their first child, 20 per 1000 children die before the age of one month while 35 per 1000 die before their first birthday” he lamented.

The NPC chairman added that interventions are being carried out in partnership with the UN Fund for Population Activity (UNFPA) to promote family planning, maternal health, sexual-

ity education and HIV/AIDS prevention services.

Earlier, UNFPA’s National Program Officer for Reproductive Health Commodity Security, Mrs. Nike Adedeji, said the organisation was currently working to manoeuvre the cultural and religious impediments to the promotion of family planning usage in Nigeria.

This, she said, was carried out with the aim of educating leaders of religious and traditional institutions on the

Shettima tasks council chairmen, traditional rulers on polio

50th anniversary: LUTH offers medley of free services SEKINAH L AWAL

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he Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) will be offering ranges of free medical services and also offer 50 per cent discount on some medical treatments as it marks its golden jubilee.

According to LUTH’s Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof. Akin Oshibogun, the free medical services, which would commence in August, include cleft lip palate surgery, cancer screening, cataract treatment among others. He added that LUTH would also offer 50 per cent discount on some expensive medical treatment to patients.

“This is our way of giving back to the society in commemoration of 50 years of providing quality health services to the public. We will screen the patients and it will be on a first-come-first-serve basis. We would also like to give the services to those who ordinarily cannot afford them.”

He noted that LUTH, which had only 300 beds at inception in 1962, now has 800 beds in its wards, carried out renal transplant and delivered a set of quintuplets. “It has contributed over 3,000 nurses to the country’s manpower pool in different aspects of nursing; its doctor/patient ratio currently stands at 1 to 3,500 patients as against 1 to 10,000 patients previously.” In the area of

research, he said that the hospital produced the first In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) baby, identified the importance of iodised salt and discovered chloroquine resistance in Nigeria. “The outcomes of the researches were used in formulating health policies which have benefited the public immensely. LUTH would introduce more health services and procedures to reduce medical tourism abroad and increase the number of Nigerians seeking treatment locally.”

Prof. Osibogun said that some of these services are ongoing already while some will soon be introduced namely; capsule endoscopy, total hip and knee replacement, small incision cataract surgery, laparoscopic surgery and open heart surgery.

He called on publicspirited Nigerians and socially-responsible organisations to partner with the hospital in meeting the health needs of the public. “We are trying to play around the number 50 so all our services would revolve around that number so that we have 50 people benefiting from each of the free services we are rendering.

The CMD hinted that there was a visible difference in terms of services, facilities and available funds since the hospital was established in April 1962 and said that the hospital was willing to do more.

need to allow child spacing to preserve the health of mothers and children.

She further added that Nigeria had no excuse for its 10 per cent use of contraceptives, noting that even countries that may be regarded as stables of the major faiths (Italy and Saudi Arabia) already record about 80 per cent use of family planning methods which has helped them to reduce infant and maternal death rates.

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L-R: Chairman, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH)’s 50th Anniversary Committee, Prof. Gbemiga Ogunlewe, LUTH’s Chief Medical Director, Prof. Akin Osibogun and Director of Legal Services, Mr. Sesan Olajide at the anniversary media briefing.

55th NCH meeting: Members caution on politicising delegates MARCUS FATUNMOLE ABUJA

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he need for leaders across Nigeria to show seriousness to the thrust of holding the National Council of Health, the apex body of policy makers in the health sector in the country, formed the basis of discussions on the first day of 55th National council of Health (NCH) which began in Abuja yesterday.

Some of the delegates expressed concern over instance where leaders in states nominate representatives as a way of politically compensating them instead of being concerned with the need to present technocrats who would best understand proceedings at the forum and be of assistance to their various states.

This year’s 5-day meeting with the theme: “Health Achieving Results and Sub-theme”: “Universal health and Implementing the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP)” is expected to help in the review of resolutions of previous meeting and provide avenue in discussing National Health Priority areas which include: Sensitization of Stakeholders on the Scourge of Autism; Nigeria Drug Distribution Guidelines; National Health MDG Review; Establishment of National Traditional Medicine Board; Situation of Snake Bite in Kaltungo; Eliminating Mother to Child Transmission of HIV by 2015 among numerous others.

Speaking on the significance of the event, Per-

manent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs. Fatima Bamidele said: “The essence of this event is that a lot of decisions and resolutions on issues that affect Nigerians were reached last year at the 54th edition. We started the meeting by looking at how many of those policies and approvals had taken effect or had starting working in the various states. We made decisions last year, you don’t come here and make new ones; we must see what you were able to achieve in what you promised last year before you could make further vow this year. That is the first part of the meeting.

“The second part is that we have various papers, 72 in all, from various states of the country, including FCT, on various aspects of health.

overnor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has berated council chairmen over inability to kick out the Wild Polio Virus (WPV1-3) from the state after regular immunisation. The virus has continued to spread to neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroun in the northeast sub-region of Nigeria.

The scourge has also remained a health risk to northern Borno, comprising 10 council areas including Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) and Jere councils.

Speaking recently at the flag off of the July 2012 polio immunisations and sensitisation of traditional leaders at Government House, Maiduguri, Shettima said chairmen and traditional leaders must rise to the challenges of immunisation of all children below the age of five. He warned that upon failure to achieve 100 per cent immunisation before the end of this year, the performance of council chairmen would be assessed.

The Commissioner of Health, Dr. Salma Anas Kolo, in her remark, said there was a polio outbreak in Konduga council area in the second quarter of the year. She noted that despite the efforts of government and other partner agencies, there is much to be done, as Maiduguri, Jere, Monguno and Konduga are still prone to the virus.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

23

Arts Lounge 78 children set agenda for new Nigeria

Talent that can’t yield money is useless –Kemka

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OLUSOLA WAS

OLUFEMI AJASA

NEVER HAPPY

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t his death on Thursday, June 21 after a brief illness, versatile and pioneering figure in Nigeria’s theatre, culture and arts, Ambassador (Chief) Olusegun Olusola, 77, had left behind a light so radiant, many others could follow in its illuminating path.

The height of fame surrounding the icon, who achieved greatness both at home and abroad, is as gigantic as the tall trees lining the road to Iperu-Remo in Ogun State, the land where his artful mind was formed.

Today, his kinsmen, family members, close associates, members of the arts community and foreign guests will throng the palace of Alaperu of Remo for a Cultural Remembrance for the Jibulu of Iperu. It is the first event to hold in Iperu in a series of week-long burial activities. The programme started in Lagos on Monday with the Media, Arts and Culture sector organising a fair and carnival at the National Theatre, Lagos.

Yesterday, a solemn Service of Songs held at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos where more eulogies and tribute extolled Baba Culture’s enviable virtues.

But why was he respected and loved by all who came into his unassuming presence? Chief Olusola imparted on many aspects of the Nigerian society and across many fields of endeavours. An avid collector of art works, he was widely saluted for his deep love and support for the arts sector. Chief Olusola was the proprietor of the Ajibulu Moniya Gallery, a thriving art house in Lagos. However, his most distinguishing work as an artist was for being the creator and producer of the popular television programme, The Village Headmaster, the longest running programme on Nigerian television.

Aside from creating The Village Headmaster in the early 80s, Olusola was also a consummate broadcaster, a humanitarian and above all, one of the most outstanding art patrons in the country. He was also known to have mentored a lot of younger artistes, moulding their lives in their chosen pursuits. Owing to his passion for charity, he sat on the board of many charitable organisations in the country, using his vast contacts to attract patronage.

Perhaps, Olusola would be most remembered for his willingness to be part of any endeavour

WITH THE WAY

VILLAGE

HEADMASTER PRODUCTION WAS CARELESSLY GIVEN AWAY TO EXTINCTION

Exterior of TV House, Olusola’s home in Iperu. Inset: The Alaperu’s palace primmed for today’s cultural fest

Iperu’s homecoming fest for an iconic son with the motive of ameliorating the plight of the downtrodden.

At the Downs Syndrome Foundation, one of the many charity pursuits that had Olusola on their Board, information has it that the children, when told of the death of their beloved benefactor, were downcast.

But when Arts Lounge visited Iperu Remo at the weekend ahead of his funeral service and interment on Friday, July 20, our reporter was expecting to be overwhelmed by a sober atmosphere and people with tearstricken faces. Surprisingly, the mien of Iperu-Remo people sharply contradicts popular predictions about reactions to the death of a loved one. Interpreting their gestures, it is apparent that Segun Olusola appears to them more of a man to celebrate at death rather than mourn.

Iperu-Remo people, like every other native of that region, have a dazzling social life. On entering the town, one cannot but notice the glamour presented to the eyes by pairs of ladies in colourful and uniformed head ties; men in caps looking party ready. With the apparent gaiety of the people of Iperu, one can vividly imagine the spectrum of theatre waiting in the land to receive one of the most famous sons of that soil.

The Olotu Ile Eluku, Mr. Ad-

esanya Adedeji narrated to Arts Lounge how the King of IperuRemo, Oba Adeleke Adelekun Idowa (Odoru Karun) has set out to welcome their own great son back to the land where he belongs.

“On the day his remains is coming, the Gbedu drum, which is traditionally used on state occasions or during special ceremonies, will be beaten to signal the arrival and royal endorsement of the proceedings. Gbedu, in Yoruba land, is the most respected of the four major families of traditional drums; the others are Gangan or talking drum; the Batá drum and the Sakara drum.

Each family includes drums of different sizes, with the mother drum (iya ilu) playing the lead role and other drums playing in support”, Mr. Adedeji explained.

“Ambassador Olusola, who happens to be the first of his kind in our community, deserves even more than this”, Adedeji continued, “He was the one who brought out the cultural angle in Remo; himself, his wife, Sisi Clara (Elsie Olusola) and the late Alaye Ode of Oderemo, Funsho Adeolu, amongst others all started the Village Headmaster, which is the first television soap in Nigeria and later established theatre in Nigeria.

Revealing more details about Iperu’s level of preparedness to

give Olusola a befitting burial, Adedeji said, “Apart from the Gbedu drum, his family owns a masquerade called Asoremase Ika and Elebute (feminine masquerade) to be on display. Other masquerades to come out today and on Friday are Egun Ere (Python masquerade), Egun Ekun (Lion Masquerade).

Again, the Agemo of Remo (mat dancer) which represents the unity of the community with other areas of Ijebu, Ogun State. Specifically, the two Agemo’s are the Agemo Felewa and Agemo Shafe.

Ewi, Ijala Ogun.”

When asked what he feels should be done to immortalise the icon, Adedeji said he would have preferred if the government, either at the federal or state level, had thought it good to build a cultural centre in his name, coupled with a museum. This, he said, will help the community, as well as the country, to a great extent to hand over cultural heritages of Remo and that of the icon to generations to come.

Finally, at the residence of the deceased, a newly-repaired road stretched down a lonely compound. In it, a painter was seen working on ladder colouring walls with cream and pink lacquer, while large posters bearing Olusola’s picture and programmes of event for the funeral floated over the balcony.

These are all signposts that eloquently articulate the preparedness of the Olusola family.

Inside the living area, our reporter met the only surviving sister of the deceased, Mrs. Abiodun Olusola-Kehinde, who divulged the special closeness shared with her late brother. “We were very close; he was a brother and father to me at the same time. He was a selfless person, not always expecting much from life. He had always loved anything with artistic appeals and which portend cultural meanings”, she recollected.

“While growing up, I remember our father, Kehinde Olusola, taught us carpentry and we used to make small stools and sell to earn our own little income. My brother was prudent, full of ideas and resourceful; he didn’t like wastage. One of the things that he also gained from the family is humility; we were brought up to respect other beings”, she said nostalgically.

“His favourite words is Se Alafia? meaning ‘hope all is well?’ or at times, he would ask in our language Se dede ule wa? asking ‘if home is at peace’”.

When asked if the late ambassador had any regret of some sort, Arts Lounge was told that Olusola was never happy with the way Village Headmaster production was carelessly given away to extinction by the management of the Nigeria Television Authority.

Stressing this point, Mr. Tutu Buraimoh stated that this drawback, to an extent, tormented both families as well as fans of the deceased during the farewell programme recently organised

by NTA for the late ambassador.

He said: “People present at the event had anticipated seeing the masterpiece by the icon, but to their dismay NTA was only able to preview two scenes of the whole Village Headmaster series. The audience wanted more but it is sad that the tapes are nowhere to be found today”.

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Arts Lounge

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

VOICES

The fading author and the red pills PETER OKEBUKOLA

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bout 10 years ago at National Universities Commission, we embarked on the development of database of experts in higher education in Nigeria, a project designed to map the disciplinary strengths of full professors within and outside the Nigerian universities system. A call was made to Vice-Chancellors to encourage all professors to submit their curriculum vitae to the online database.

For those with technophobic tendencies, hard copies of the curriculum vitae were to be mailed to the commission.

We began compilation in earnest and after eight months, we had received over 1,200 entries making up more than

MUSING

An oak in the jungle

To Ambassador Segun Olusola, mni, OFR Baba was an oak With rugged roots across borders Princely arms spreading wide, handing hope to sundry souls Like an octopus Nay, the sea The sun Or moon God’s torch shining round Touching all parts Lighting all paths Baba was an oak Sterling soul, prosperous tree a rarity in evil forests.

In a land marked with soot Manned by tigers bleeding tigers!

Bleeding tigers breeding tigers His type is rare Sparkly ring, diamond ring, Baba was an oak Immortal oak, prosperous tree in a evil forest. © Folu Agoi 2012 Former Chairman Association of Nigerian Authors (Lagos State Chapter)

half of the full professors in the system at that time. A year down the road, we had set up the database which was to have accreditation panels. International development partners such as UNESCO, FAO, WHO and the World Bank desired it as a resource for selecting experts to undertake specialised consultancies.

The third group of beneficiaries was the general public for identifying Nigerian scholars to be nominated for a miscellany of assignments.

A scan of the publication profile of the professors in the database was revealing in several respects. The listing in the curriculum vitae of notso-well-regarded publication outlets, especially journals, was striking. The curriculum vitae of many were found to be populated by Volume 1 No. 1 of what is commonly described as “roadside” journals. If subjected to the scrutiny of assessment of University of Ibadan of the late 1970, about 40% of those in the instituted will be ranked senior lecturers at best!

The pervasive game was to set up a departmental or faculty journal when promotion season beckons.

As editor or member localised editorial board of the journal, the academic staff seeking promotion publishes his/her papers and those of others in the department with sprinkle from neighbouring universities without subjecting the papers to the rigour of scholarly review. As soon as promotion is over, the Volume 1 No. I of the departmental or faculty journal goes to sleep. It is reawakened a few years later when members of the gang that had set it up are due for the next promotion.

The journal is partially laid to rest usually with Volume 1 No.3 when the “scholars” have been promoted full professor.

A new gang may resuscitate it several years later with the desire to self publish in the crave for the professorial chair. What we then find is Volume 1 No. 3 published in 1994 and volume 1 No.4 published in 2004, 10 years later!

Another strand of effort is invested in self-published books. Suddenly during the promotion season, all man-

Odugbemi

A HOST OF FACTORS BRING ABOUT THE EMERGENCE OF POOR-QUALITY POTENTIAL AUTHORS FROM BASIC TO HIGHER EDUCATION LEVEL ner of books come popping up. Scholarly book publishing ordinarily requires processing through a cauldron of peer review followed by revisions and copy editing. The authors of the “roadside” books shun this rigour. With a compilation of largely plagiarised materials and the exchange of money, the local printer runs off copies which end up being listed as scholarly work of the potential professor. The money invested is recouped the following semester as the book is sold at double the cover price to students who take such purchase as passport to earn good marks in the course taught by the aspiring professor. All these sharp practices aggregate to red pill No.1.

Let us move a notch down from the lecturers to potential authors at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Dominating the scene here is plagiarism and lack of creativity.

Lace this with poor written expression in English language and you have an acidic mixture that will ferment to produce sour authors.

During the course of undergraduate and postgraduates work, students are expected to turn in assignment usually in the form of essays. The creative and investigate abilities of students are called to duty in the course of writing such essays. For most students,

both creativity and investigative spirit are completely off duty as they settle for Goggling the title of the essay and copying Wikipedia and other materials for submission to the lecturer without acknowledging sources. Many students are too pre-occupied with social and non-courserelated activities that copying from Wikipedia is short cut to success. Lack of access to the internet by some lecturers to check plagiariased materials or laziness to conduct checks (or both), keep the flame of such practice aglow. Engaging in this practice by potential authors in our universities is swallowing red pill No.2.

Furthermore, it is common practice for undergraduates to copy project reports from previous years in the same department or from other universities. A few changes in the title normally do the trick. The supervisor, who is often overwhelmed by the large number if students assigned to him or her, is pleased not be bothered by the undergraduate other than to append a signature to the certification page. The stimulus to author a project report through independent study is blunted by this common practice. It is estimated that about a quarter of undergraduate final-year project reports is plagiarised. Some master’s degree project reports,

though smaller in proportion to the undergraduate, are also copy work. This is red pill No.3. killing the potential author.

We move now to secondary education where potentials authors are swallowing huge doses of the red pills. It is English language class and three events are crisis –crossing.

Students with poor attitude to school are in class, only bodily, with their minds wondering kilometres away in anticipation of the next social engagement. The topic on the board is “Grammatical structure”.

Most students are barely listening to the teacher and are humming away the latest tunes in rock music. The second event is the prevailing classroom environment. Furniture is sparse, textbooks are few, heat is unbearable, no teaching aids and class is choked.

The third event relates to the English teacher. He is poorly prepared in the university and is confused himself about topic. The students are unimpressed with the errors he commonly makes in class. In 45 boring minutes, class is over.

These three events conspire to force red pill No.4 down the throats of potential authors.

The same story is true from Basic 1 to 9, not only in English language in all other subjects.

Red pill No.5 which kills the potential to be good author is the poor reading culture among all categories of students in the Nigerian educational system. Hardly will one find a typical student pick up a novel, a newspaper or any book at all outside school textbooks to read for leisure or to be abreast of current affairs.

The winning competitor for the book is the music-laden iPod stuck in the pocket with earphones plugged in and head shaking to the sound of music. At home, movies take centre stage with African Magic and Big Brother Africa being choice items.

In contrast, travel in a train or bus in Europe and North America and you will find a good number of passengers’ busy reading one form of book or the other, as hard copies or as electronic books.

The red pills which hinder the emergence of good quality authors have deep-rooted origin. Singly and in combination, a host of factors bring about the emergence of poor-quality potential authors from basic to higher education level. I have identified seven of these factors for mention in this paper.

Excerpts of a keynote address presented by Prof. Okebukola at the University Press Plc Author’s Forum on Wednesday, June 27.

Read up “the blue pills to make authors live” next edition.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Arts Lounge

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

25

ARTISTE UNCENSORED

Talent that can’t yield money is useless –Kemka Daniel Kemka belongs to the class of a rare artiste. Aside being a music producer and keyboardist, he takes time to discover the hidden traits that make certain individuals great.

NGOZI EMEDOLIBE

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typical day for Daniel Kemka is an unpredictable row of events. He is not one who can rightly pinpoint when he would wake up, pray and head off to his office at Ago Palace area of Isolo in Lagos. His hands are in so many pies that he does not even know what he would be getting involved in next. But all these are administered through his company, which is called Platinum Seed.

“Platinum Seed”, he says, “is a concern that is involved in so many artistic pursuits, depending on how one looks at it. It is a human development enterprise, a music production outfit and a publishing venture all rolled into one”.

In the past five years that the company was formally set up, it has produced artistes like Miriam and Tim Prisca with the assistance of an in-house sound engineer called Paul Runz. The story of Daniel’s journey is typical of most ventures driven by passion and little capital.

“The beginning was so tough and, at times, I really felt like quitting, but I kept trudging on, because I really like what I am doing. I have always told people I mentor that in whatever they want to pursue as a career, one of the underlying success tips is getting to love what they do more than anything else. That would help anyone through the rough edges of life, which is inevitable. For me, I had nothing but talent, drive and passion for what I wanted to become”.

According to him, his involvement in music, which started as a chorister in a church, helped in shaping who he is today. “I first got involved in Trinity Choir, which is a large organisation that was formed in our church in those days, before breaking out for Magui, another group of choristers. It was there that I learnt to play the keyboard and a little bit of the saxophone. After series of trainings, I got out to form Platinum Seed, which has been on for five years now. Platinum Seed Productions is into rap, gospel and dancehall”.

Getting ready for this job, Daniel says, has not only depended on talent alone, but education. “I have a degree in Business Management, which is also relevant in the music industry. Everything is all about managing a business. Talent is business, and I always tell people that any talent that cannot yield money is useless. I say so because that is the primary reason God gives people talent. You must be able to use it to feed well; you must

Kemka

I HAVE A DEGREE IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, WHICH IS ALSO RELEVANT IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY be able to use that talent to uplift humanity too. One thing people worry about when they encounter me is the ability to multitask and they usually ask me how I manage to do so. It is actually a part of the training I have received over the years”.

How does he select potential talents he works with?

“My job started in the church, but it is expanding beyond the church”, he declares. “Most times, I get invited to the church to give talks and train the choir and all that. That forms a major platform for people that return to me for development in terms of their musical skills

or in terms of human capital development. They usually meet me there and for the so many that have benefitted, it started from there”.

Daniel Kemka does not have a ceiling on what to collect as fees. He says what he hopes to earn from any undertaking depends on certain factors. “Money is important.

I have not ruled out that I must make money from this because that is what I do. But what I charge depends on some instances. I get as much as N500,000 to talk and train people. But I have also received N20,000 to do the same thing. It all depends on the circumstances. I have also done some free of charge, because in life you must draw lines to define such variables”.

At the moment, Daniel Kemka’s latest project is a book titled Decode Invisible Elements; Invent Visible Evidence.

“This book is a guide to success in creative ventures; it will help people unlock their greatest potentials. Sometimes, people do not even know their potentials, the book will help them discover and unlock them”, he assures.

MIDWEEK JUMP Music bands, soloists offered free record deal

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umber One Entertainment, in partnership with Emixmasters, is looking for bands or solo artists with raw talent, original material and desire to record their first official single plus video by one of the top video directors for free.

In addition, the chosen acts will receive invaluable advice and guidance from top industry professionals. To be con-

sidered, applicants are to send a rough recording of their music, a short biography with pictures and their contact details. The files are to be zipped into one folder and sent using drop-box by August 7. Young budding engineers are also being sought for to assist with these sessions.

Call for African culture experts

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n order to strengthen and support the implementation of the 2005 Convention

for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions at the national level, UNESCO is piloting a capacity building programme in Africa. As part of this programme, a call for expressions of interest to join the pool of experts on the 2005 convention is being launched, together with the African Arts Institute, UNESCO’s official partner to the programme.

This call is open only to nationals of an African country who are either English or French speaking. Women can-

didates are strongly encouraged to apply. Details and forms can be found on http://www. unesco.org/new/en/culture/ themes/cultural-diversity/diversity-of-cultural-expressions/ programmes/capacity-building-in-africa/ Applications consist of a PDF application form, a CV and a five-page motivation essay. Only complete applications will be considered. Applications should be sent to convention2005@unesco.org before midnight, 20 July 2012, (Paris time).

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Arts Lounge

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FAR AND NEAR

78 children set agenda for new Nigeria FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

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he event, “WS78” (Wole Soyinka 78), was the celebration of the birthday of a literary icon, Professor Wole Soyinka who turned 78 last Thursday and the venue was the Valley View Auditorium, Government House, Isale-Igbehin, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The gathering in Abeokuta, which held on Friday, July 13, was of 78 Nigerian children drawn from across Secondary Schools. The students, which included those from the Great Britain and the United States of America (USA), had been made to participate in an essay competition titled “The Mind of a Patriot”, organised

by Zmirage as part of the international cultural exchange programme and to symbolically showcase the Professor in a unique style. It was also the third in the series that made its debut in the year 2010.

It is common knowledge of course, that literary works are potent weapon with which to fight societal ills. But in recent time, there appear to be a dearth of literary authors and the resultant effect is the corrupt society which Nigeria has found herself.

One of the organisers of the WS78, Mrs. Lilian Ama Aluko said “it is the result of the decay in our society; the educational system has gone down in this part of the world and our priorities have shifted. People are after money, nobody is thinking of anything inspirational or that can change the mindset of the people and policy makers in the country again.

At the end of the essay competition, a 15-year-old student of Graceland International School, Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Mgbearike Sopunidi emerged the first prize winner. She was presented with trophy and a dummy cheque of N250,000. She was also presented with a wrapped gift for her school.

The second prize winner was Emmanuel Chidinma Oludunyi, a 17-year-old student of Betenas Unity High School, Idanre, Ondo State who was also presented with a dummy cheque of N150,000 cash prize with a wrapped gift for her school.

The 16-year-old Ibrahim Aaliyay, student of Zamain College, Kaduna was the third prize winner who was equally presented with a dummy cheque of N100,000 and a gift item for his school.

The event, which featured a mock Professor Wole Soyinka, also treated the audience to a short display from the two works of the Nobel Laureate, The Lion and the Jewel as well as The Trial of Brother Jero.

In an interview with Arts Lounge, Mrs. Aluko who produced the programme said the intention was to achieve change in the Nigeria society and the organisers believed that if the children are caught at the tender age and re-orient them, the needed change for the country would be achieved.

“If you look at the topics of our essays in 2010, it was “Art and Culture as a tool for Global Diplomacy”. Last year, it was “I Love my Country” and this year, it is “The Mind of a Patriot”.

Mrs. Aluko further explained that “we are trying to get people to see that there is more to life than money and we believe that the tool we can use is art, culture and education. The society is fraught with problems; there are wars, famine, corruption, intolerance and we believe that if we can change the mindset of the young ones, we’ll be able to eliminate social ills, so that is the idea of this whole thing”.

Wole Soyinka was born on July 13, 1934 at Abeokuta, near Ibadan in Western Nigeria. After preparatory university studies in 1954 at Government College in Ibadan, he continued at the University of Leeds, where, later, in 1973, he took his doctorate. Soyinka has published about 20 works: drama, novels and poetry. He writes in English and his literary language is marked

NCMM calls for return of Benin art

• As over 30 ivory works find new home in U.S. Museum IJEOMA EZEIKE ABUJA

T

he Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Yusuf Abdallah Usman, has called on the management of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA to return 32 works of Benin art, precisely ivories, looted during the Benin Massacre of 1897.

In a statement signed by the Director General, Yusuf Usman said the collections, which form part of the exploits of the British expedition, were taken out illegally on the pretext of spoils of war. “It is very saddening that the Museum of Fine Arts, which is claiming to be the new beneficiary of these works, indicates that the donation met all legal standards.

One wonders what this means. Is the museum working out of the UNESCO Convention and other standard setting instruments?, he queried.

“We are vehemently opposed to this stance by the management of the Museum of Fine Art. Objects taken

illegally should be returned to their rightful owners and in this case, the people of Nigeria. Usman added that however much they tried, no one could give an objective and true history of the art works’ patrimony than the true owners.

Speaking further he said “if these art works adjudged to be great to move into the public domain of the United States, would it not be more appropriate if they are first returned to their home. There, they will be meaningful, helping to define reality for the people and explaining the past and the future.

He, however, said that the gap created by the exploitation is causing untold anguish, discomfort and disillusionment to the people, noting that the artworks are heirloom of the great people of the Benin Kingdom and Nigeria generally. “For the avoidance of doubt, we hereby place it on record that we demand, as we have always done, the return of these works and all stolen, removed or looted from Nigeria under whatever guise”, he affirmed.

1897 Benin ivory whistle

Soyinka

by great scope and richness of words.

Soyinka has been influenced by, among others, the Irish writer, J.M. Synge, but links up with the traditional popular African Theatre with its combination of dance, music, and action. He bases his writing on the mythology of his own tribe-the Yoruba-with Ogun, the god of iron and war, at the centre.

In 1986, The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Wole Soyinka “who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence”.

He also made history as the first African to earn the coveted prize.

COSON hosts big stakeholders’ forum

C

opyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), the nation’s sole Collective Management Organisation for musical works and sound recordings, has concluded plans to engage broadcast stations, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, event centres and others who deploy music in their business operations in a Stakeholders’ Forum in Lagos. The event is billed for Tuesday, July 24 at Protea Hotel, G.R.A, Ikeja.

Speaking on the event, the society’s General Manager, Mr. Chinedu Chukwuji said, “All around the world, Nigerian musicians are doing the nation proud with their music, however, not much is being paid as royalties to our great music ambassadors for their works being exploited at home. Music is property in the same way land is referred to as property.

Music is a major contributor to the GDP of many countries around the world and we see no reason why the same cannot play out in Nigeria. This stakeholders’ forum is designed for those with an interest in music to rub minds together on how to move the music business in Nigeria forward. We need to address those factors that threaten the survival of our vibrant music industry and preserve our creative energies”.

It will be recalled that just recently, COSON hosted a Select Stakeholders’ Forum in Abuja, the nation’s capital, which drew the participation of bigwigs of the broadcast industry, the hotel industry and multilateral agencies.

Speaking on the role of COSON in Nigeria, Mr. Chukwuji said, “We are not an enemy of those who use music and our job is not to stop people from using music but to encourage them to use as much music as possible but reward the owners of the music they use. We have the Nigerian Copyright Act, which is a guide on how music should be deployed commercially, and we hope more organisations will embrace the law and keep themselves away from unnecessary and expensive litigations which may arise”.

27

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Idoko brokers Sunshine, Cape Town pact

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

I think the road to Brazil 2014 has become even harder than we had initially thought –GHANA MIDFIELDER, AGYEMANG BADU

28

Maigari makes Soccerex pledge

Homeless W/Cup trials get date

IKENWA NNABUOGOR

AFOLABI GAMBARI

T

O

rganisers of Soccerex 2012 scheduled for Lagos in September said yesterday that the President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Aminu Maigari, has confirmed his attendance of the seminar which is aimed to giving Nigerian football a lift.

The seminar, which has attracted sports personalities from far and near, will hold on September 27 and 28 in Lagos.

National Mirror learnt that Maigari will deliver a keynote speech as part of the opening session entitled “Football in West Africa” and the session will have the Chairman of the Lagos State Football Association, Seyi Akinwunmi, as well as President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi.

The NFF, formerly Nigeria Football Association, was established in 1945 and became affiliated with CAF in 1959 before joining FIFA at independence in 1960. As at 2008, the NFF has also organised three leagues and five cup competitions.

“This is a landmark achievement that should be celebrated considering what Soccerex has been doing in the area of business for the past one and a half decades,” Maigari stated in his acceptance, stressing, “The NFF is encouraging all efforts and endeavours geared towards promoting Nigerian football a bigger brand in the near future.”

The Soccerex Seminar will deliver a conference agenda exploring current football business topics in West Africa and will gather speakers from regional rights holders, governing bodies and agencies along with internationally-renowned personalities to debate key issues such as youth development, doing business in West Africa, lifecycle of an African player and football’s social responsibility.

John Obi Mikel (r) jubilating with mates after a Champions League victory last season

Mikel tasks Chelsea on ‘new challenge’ AFOLABI GAMBARI

WITH AGENCY REPORT

S

uper Eagles midfielder, John Obi Mikel, has urged EPL club Chelsea to embrace consistency with a view to reclaiming the League title in the looming season.

The Blues rambled to the Champions League triumph in the ended season after capturing the FA Cup earlier at a period when the club tottered on the brink for weeks on end before former assistant coach Roberto Di Matteo took charge at the sack of Andre Villas-

Boas, although the side still finished sixth in the EPL race.

But Mikel, who spoke to MTNFootball.com yesterday, insisted that they must exploit their surprise success as springboard to challenge for all trophies at stake in the new season.

“We did not do well in the league last season and our position on the table testifies to that,” the controversial Eagles player said.

“We were not consistent and we have to improve on this lapse in order that we can win the league and other trophies

in England.

“We also need to be focused ahead of the challenges ahead, notwithstanding that we lost a number of players last season. But the truth is that our success has raised a status that we must try our best to sustain.”

Interestingly, Mikel last played for Nigeria in the illfated Nations Cup 2012 qualifier against Guinea last October when the Eagles lost the Afcon ticket in a bizarre manner and were rewarded with a slip in ranking until they picked up last month.

Golf: Woods hails Open course

F Maigari

ormer world number one, Tiger Woods, yesterday described the Royal Lytham & St Annes golf course as marvelllous ahead of this week’s Open Championship.

C Woods had previously labelled tthe rough as “almost unplayable” during practice in the wake of the d wettest British summer in living w

memory.

The 36-year-old has enjoyed his stay in England and believes practising in the varying wind conditions will only help his game when the tournament gets underway tomorrow.

Asked how his preparations have gone, Woods replied: “They are going quite well. I played Sun-

day, Monday and now today (yesterday).”

Woods could return to the top of the rankings with success this weekend, although a second or third-placed finish for Luke Donald would ensure he retains his spot.

The American is however yet to add to his 14 major titles since the 2008 US Open.

he trials for the Women’s team to represent Nigeria at the 2012 Mexico City Homeless World Cup will kick off on July 18 across three centres in Lagos.

Former Nigeria international, Jide Oguntuase, and German Helen Schönbrodt, who arrived in Nigeria at the weekend, will co-head the scouting team that also comprise Fatai Dagama Bisiriyu, Babalola Issah and Sunday Aremu.

According to the Programmes Officer of Search & Groom Youth for Development Centre, the organisation that selects Nigerian representatives, Lovette Ochicha, the three-week trials will begin with the community tour stage at Ijora White Sand pitch, Lagos before going through Agege and Ikorodu and ending with a 15-man extensive training programme at the Astroturf, Osborne, Ikoyi.

Ten players selected during the Community tour trials that will end on August 3 will be joined by five players from Calabar, Cross River State scouted during the implementation of the 2011Community Connects Cup, for a final selection of 8 girls that will represent Nigeria at the 2012 Homeless World Cup in Mexico City.

This year’s programme has a robust educational input tagged “PlayGreen”, an environmental awareness course outline and implemented in cooperation with Heinrich Boll Foundation Nigeria.

The Homeless World Cup is an annual World street soccer championship that highlights the positive power of sport by creating a unique setting for vulnerable and homeless people.

Nigeria and 69 other nations, including host Mexico, defending champion Scotland, two-time champion Italy, Brazil, Argentina, England, Australia, South Africa, and Ghana will converge on a specially constructed 5,000 capacity all-seated Street Soccer Stadium at the historical Plaza de la Constitución, México City, between October 6 and 14.

The HWC is recognized and supported by the United Nations as one of the outlets for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, in close cooperation with UEFA.

28

Sport

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Fergie rules out Evans

M

anchester United Manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has confirmed that defender Jonny Evans will miss the start of the season, but he remains hopeful over long injured but recuperating Chris Smalling and Nemanja Vidic.

Evans underwent an ankle operation earlier this summer, which ruled

Jonny Evans

him out of contention for the Olympics.

Ferguson has now revealed that Evans is unlikely to be fit to start the season, even as he is boosted by good progress being made by Smalling and Vidic.

Smalling is recovering from a ruptured groin, whilst Vidic is returning following cruciate knee surgery.

“Evans has had an operation, I’m not sure he’ll start the season but he won’t be far away,” Ferguson told a press conference yesterday in Johannesburg, South Africa where United is undertaking a pre-season tour.

“Vidic will start the season. But I think he’s better off staying at Carrington and Smalling has done a bit of training,” he stressed.

Gattuso upbraids Allegri

S

washbuckling former AC Milan midfielder, Genaro Gattuso, has criticized the coach Massimiliano Allegri for forcing him out of the club after the ended season.

Gattuso left Milan this summer for Switzerland’s Sion.

“Alessandro Nesta and I have left Milan because Allegri did not want us,”

Gattuso barked.

“Before we would go for broke because they said we’d never leave, now they complain because we left.

I do not want controversy, I have a good relationship with Max, but I feel I’m still a good player.

“The club wanted to keep me, but if those who command the locker room think otherwise it becomes difficult.”

Gattuso

Cole seeks new Reds start L

iverpool midfielder, Joe Cole, has admitted that he cannot wait to work under new Liverpool Manager Brendan Rodgers.

The 30-year-old former Chelsea player, who moved to Anfield in 2010 but failed to make an impact and was loaned out to Lille in the French Ligue 1 where he spent the last season, is now

seeking a chance of rebuilding his Liverpool career.

“I know Brendan from my Chelsea days when he was there and I can’t see anything other than positive things,” Cole said yesterday.

“When I heard about Liverpool looking at certain managers, I was praying it was going to be Brendan. Not just because

he’s not an unknown for me, and I know his philosophy on football, but I think the owners have made the right choice for the club-it’s been a breath of fresh air.”

Cole is looking forward to seeing Rodgers’ footballing philosophy in operation.

“Sometimes in English football people automatically think you need to

Joe Cole

be aggressive. But look at Spain-no-one works harder than them,” he added.

“I firmly believe in that and think it’s now the way forward in football. We’ve seen how successful Spain and Barcelona are.”

Cole was included in Liverpool’s squad which departed for a pre-season tour of North America on Monday.

Idoko brokers Sunshine, Cape Town pact AFOLABI GAMBARI

L

atest reports from Akure have revealed that Sunshine Stars and South African clubside FC Cape Town have entered into agreement to stimulate football investment from the commercial point of view.

National Mirror gathered yesterday that the deal was brokered by the Executive Director of the Ondo State Football Agency (OSFA), Mike Idoko, after a four-day visit to South Africa where he met officials of the club to exchange ideas.

Owner and chairman of FC Cape Town, Errol Dicks, said Idoko’s visit was part of both clubs’ three-year “Stimulus Plan, Read the Game & Win the Game,” a stra-

tegic blueprint intended to stimulate the South African club to the elite league.

“This plan represents an enhanced platform designed to transform FC Cape Town into a winning and successful football club in pursuit of excellence in South Africa and beyond”, Dicks said yesterday.

“We rate Mr. Idoko as we rate Idoko as we rate Irvin Khosa because both have been successful with the clubs they have managed, hence we agreed with him on players’ exchange between Cape Town and Sunshine in line with our drive.

“Our club envisions becoming a world class club and academy of excellence guided by five values: learning organization, attitude, development and improvement, high performance, sup-

portive environment; the overall plan of which replicates a benchmark of excellence and quality with a view to make a significant

Mike Idoko

impact in the football fraternity that will result in model of excellence, world class excellence and sustainability.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Nigeria Premier Nig League

29

Cricket

with

IIKENWA NNABUOGOR ikenwa.nnabuogor@gmail.com

We played for our governor –Onuegbu E l Kanemi defender Stanley Onuegbu has told National Mirror that the motivation behind their I-0 victory over Kwara United in the first group game of the Lagos Zone of Federation Cup was the motivation from the Borno State governor Dr Kashim Shettima.

The towering former Heartland defender also heaped praises on their coach Kelechi Emeteole whom he said won the game for them for his technical expertise.

‘We also proved today that playing in the lower league didn’t matter as we showed we could compete,’ he said.

‘The motivation from the state governor was the tonic for this

Kanemi’s coach, Emeteole

victory and we want to continue doing more.

“This clearly shows that winning the NNL league title was not a fluke, we proved it in this game and I’m happy with the result.

Okemiri rules self out of Federation Cup

K

“I have never had the interwara United left back Ogbonna Okemiri has est of playing in the Federaexclusively told Na- tion Cup since I started my cational Mirror he has ruled reer,” Okemiri said.

“For the reasons best himself out of Federation known to me, I wouldn’t want Cup. Okemiri revealed that he to go into details why I took has never taken part in Fed- such decision. But my heart eration Cup since his soccer goes for the team. I wish them career that has spanned over well.”

Meanwhile, Kwara United 10 years. He did not give any reason for his decision not to have changed their hotel camp take part in the Federation in Lagos. The Ilorin-based but flatly told National Mir- side moved into the Unique ror he was not interested in Hotels, Agege, on Monday afternoon just before their 2pm the competition.

Okemiri is not part of the clash against El-Kanemi. OfKwara United team that’s cur- ficials said they had to leave rently playing in the Lagos the former camp at Elomaz Zone of the 2012 Federation Hotels, Iju-Ishaga, to be closer group stage. The team, which to the Agege Stadium venue also has his younger brother, of the Lagos Zone of the group Anthony, in the squad arrived games.

Kwara United will engage Lagos last Thursday without the one-eyed star ahead of the Kano Pillars in the next group group games. The former Eny- tie today. imba star stayed back in Ilorin while his team was beaten 1-0 by El-Kanemi in the first group game on Monday.

The business apprentice-turned footballer, who won back to back CAF Champions League titles as well as NPL league titles with Enyimba, also revealed that he was not part of the Enyimba team that won the Federation Ogbonna Okemiri Cup title in 2005.

“We are upbeat that this victory will take us far.

“We still got two more games to play and I believe this victory will put us in good stead to claim victories and qualify from our group.”

TOP TEN AFRICAN LEAGUES: 24.

31.

38.

38.

40.

41.

44.

51.

54.

58.

(1) Nigeria (2) Tunisia (3) Ghana (4) Morocco (5) Mali (6) Algeria (7) Sudan (8) South Africa (9) Egypt (10) Cameroon

• Africa’s ranking in brackets

Nigerian Premier League rated Africa’s best for 2012

T

Pos Team

P

W

D

L

GF

GA

GD Pts

1

Enugu Rangers

33

16

7

10

43

23

20

55

2

Enyimba

33

15

7

11

34

25

9

52

3

Lobi Stars

32

16

3

13

35

27

8

51

4

Dolphins

33

15

6

12

38

31

7

51

5

Sunshine Stars

33

14

7

12

40

29

11

49

6

3SC

33

14

7

12

31

30

1

49

7

Kano Pillars

31

13

9

9

38

24

14

48

8

Akwa United

33

14

6

13

30

29

1

48

9

Gombe United

33

14

6

13

40

42

-2

48

10

Sharks

32

15

3

14

38

40

-2

48

11

Heartland

32

12

10

10

29

24

5

46

12

Kwara United

34

14

4

16

31

36

-5

46

13

Warri Wolves

31

12

9

10

31

26

5

45

14

Wikki Tourists

33

14

3

16

29

41

-12

45

15

ABS FC

33

12

7

14

39

37

2

43

16

Niger Tornadoes

33

12

6

15

32

37

-5

42

17

Jigawa Golden Stars 33

12

6

15

26

41

-15

42

18

Kaduna United

31

12

4

15

30

38

-8

40

19

Rising Stars

31

8

8

15

20

32

-12

32

20

Ocean Boys

31

7

8

16

20

42

-22

29

Omokaro aims high with Dynamite Force

F

ormer NPL top scorer Charles Omokaro has exclusively revealed to National Mirror that the will power and determination are the motivating factors behind the giant-killing acts of the unknown Benin side Dynamite Force in the 2012 Federation Cup. Dynamite Force pulled sensational 1-1 draw against top NPL side, Sharks in the Ibadan Zone on Monday.

The former Sharks hit man also hinted that the main aim is to qualify from the group stage and they can take it from there.

Omokaro, who left Kwara United mid-season to join the lower league side, said the team was full of unknown, skilful boys who have vowed to prove they can compete at this level.

“There’s no special moti-

he Nigerian Premier League has been ranked as the strongest African league for 2012 and 24th in the world.

The classification was done by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics who assessed the performances of the clubs from January 1 to July 10 2012.

The IFHHS added points won in all continental competitions by the five best placed clubs of the Nigerian Premier League.

Last month, two Nigerian clubs Enyimba FC and Sunshine Stars were named in the 2012 top ten club rankings for Africa. The performances of the clubs were assessed from January 1 to July 10 2012.

Tunisia’s top flight, which has reigning African champions Esperance, is in second place in Africa and ranked 31st in the world. The Ghana Premier League is in third place but tied on points with Morocco.

With no competition taking place in Egypt since January 2012, the country’s Premier League is ranked 9th on the continent despite having two clubs in the CAF Champions League. Charles Omokaro

vation from the proprietor, Benard Ogbe, a Benin-based business man but the unknown boys just want to show they can prove to their friends who play in top leagues that they can also compete,” Omokaro said.

“Ogbe is our friend who has also supported players like me and John Ofomba when we played at Insurance.

He asked John and I to come and help out and we said why not? Let’s give it and try and this is the result.

“We’re upbeat in our resolve to cause some upsets and I know with the fire burning inside the young, unknown players, we can achieve it.

“I know anything can happen after the group stage but we must have achieve our immediate aim and anything other thing can follow.”

Sport

30

9 TODAYS GO

JULY 27 - AUGUST 12, 2012

Nigeria at the Olympics

N

igeria’s first appearance in the Olympics was in 1952 at the Helsinki Games in Finland. The country has participated in 16 previous Olympic Games from Helsinki to the Beijing Games, held in China, in 2008.

At these Games, Nigeria won a total of 23 medals; two gold, nine silver and 12 bronze medals. Nigeria’s first medal was a bronze won at the Tokyo 1964 Games, in the 67-71kg (light-middleweight) boxing event by Nojim Maiyegun.

A second medal, another bronze was won in Germany after two successive Games at the Munich 1972 by another boxer, Isaac Ikhouria, in the 75-81kg (light-heavyweight) category event.

Nigeria’s best outing so far at the Olympics was recorded in the United States of America at the Atlanta 1996 Games, in which the country won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

Policewoman, Chioma Ajunwa, leapt to gold in the long jump event, a pre-Games unbelievable achievement that was replicated by the men’s football (Dream Team), coached by Dutchman, Jo Bonfrere, which defeated a star-studded Brazilian team on its way to picking the crown.

At the last Games in Beijing, China, another Dream Team led by Coach Samson Siasia, was denied the gold medal by an equally star-studded Argentina team inspired by the magical Lionel Messi.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Supporters to cheer Team Nigeria–Ladipo

Honours roll Tokyo ’64:

P

resident of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club World Wide (NFSCW), Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, has said that the body will do everything within its means to ensure maximum support for Team Nigeria at the London Olympics.

Ladipo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, that the supporters would be at the different venues of the sporting fiesta to cheer Nigerian athletes to victory.

He added that the body would mobilise its members worldwide to cheer Team Nigeria to win medals for the country.

“The NFSCW is not only for football; it now supports other sports; it is now supporters’ club worldwide. Since Nigeria is taking part in the Olympics, we will support all our athletes,’’ Ladipo said.

He said the essence of going to the Olympics was to win medals, adding that since this required support from all quarters, the body would give all the federations going maximum support.

“Our members are coming from as far as Australia and other European countries to ensure total support for them (athletes) at the different venues of their events,” he further said.

According to him, anything short of maximum support for Team Nigeria in London, where the participating athletes are expected to be at their best, will affect the athletes’ morale.

“For a global sporting event like the Olympic Games, athletes would need all Chioma Ajunwa landing for her historic gold jump. the support they could get to boost their morale as they strive for medals,” he said.

The NFSCW delegation is expected to depart the country for London on July 26 just in time for the July 27 opening ceremony of the global sporting fiesta.

How the Games started STORIES: EVEREST ONYEWUCHI SPORTS EDITOR

I

Rafiu Ladipo

Falilat Ogunkoya (l) picking the bronze medal in the 400m race at Atlanta 1996.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

t is nine days today, to the opening of the 30th Olympiad in modern times holding in London, from July 27 to August 12.

According to historical records, the first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC. The Games held in ancient Greece were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia.

It is also recorded that the games continued for nearly 12 centuries, until Emperor Theodosius decreed in 393 A.D. that all such “pagan cults” be banned.

However, the modern Olympic Games are an initiative of a Frenchman, Pierre de Coubertin, who lived from 1863 to 1937.

Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894 in Paris, France and his committee followed it up by staging the precursor of the modern Games in Athens, in 1896.

Olympics or the spirit of Olympism, is for peace, friendship and development of the

youth. Olympism is a movement and according to the IOC Charter, Olympic Movement is “to link sport with culture and education, promote the joy found in sports and build a better world through spirit of peace, excellence, friendship and respect.”

The five rings on the Olympic flag represent the international nature of the Games that are open to everybody, irrespective of gender, race, creed or condition. It is for these reasons that the Paralympic Games were included in the four-year cycle of the Olympics, to hold immediately after the Summer Games in the same host city.

From a small gathering of World War veterans in 1948, the Paralympic Games, which were formally adopted in Seoul 1988, have grown to generate global excitement among the physically challenged athletes.

The games are competed in by athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness and cerebral palsy.

And this year’s games will hold in the City of London from August 29 – September 9 after the 30th Summer Olympic Games.

Nojim Maiyegun, boxing (bronze) Munich ’72: Isaac Ikhouria, boxing (bronze) Los Angeles ’84: Peter Konyegwahie, boxing (silver), Sunday Uti, Moses Ugbusien, Rotimi Peters, Innocent Egbunike, 4x400m, relay (bronze) Barcelona ’92: Richard Igbineghu, boxing (silver), David Izonritei, boxing (silver) Olapade Adeniken, Davidson Ezinwa, Chidi Imoh, Kayode Oluyemi, Osmond Ezinwa, 4x100m relay (silver), Beatrice Utondu, Christy Opara-Thompson, Mary Onyali, Faith Idehen, 4x100m relay (bronze) Atlanta ’96: Chioma Ajunwa, long jump, (gold), Joseph Dosu, Emmanuel Babayaro, Celestine Babayaro, Taribo West, Uche Okechukwu, Sunday Oliseh, Teslim Fatusi, Abiodun Obafemi, Wilson Oruma, Garba Lawal, Tijani Babangida, Emmanuel Amuneke, Nwankwo Kanu, Augustine, Okocha, Victor Ikpeba, Daniel Amokachi, Kingsley Obiekwu, Mobi Oparaku, Football (gold).

Bisi Afolabi, Fatima Yusuf, Charity Opara, Falilat Ogunkoya, 4x400m Relay (silver) Mary Onyali, 200m (bronze) Falilat Ogunkoya 400m (bronze) Duncan Dokiwari, boxing (bronze) Sydney 2000: Clement Chukwu, Jude Monye, Sunday Bada, Enefiok Udo Obong, Nduka Awazie, Fidelis Gadzama, 4x400m (silver) Gloria Alozie, 100m hurdles (silver) Ruth Ogbeifo, weightlifting (silver) Athens 2004: Olusoji Fasuba, Uchenna Emedolu, Aaron Egbele, Deji Aliu, 4x100m relay (bronze) James Godday, Musa Audu, Saul Weigopwa, Enefiok Udo Obong, 4x400m relay (bronze) Beijing 2008: Ambrose Vanzekin, Emmanuel Ekpo, Chibuzor Okoronkwo, Dele Adeleye, Ebenezer Ajilore, Efe Ambrose, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Monday James, Oladapo Olufemi, Chinedu Obasi, Olubayo Adefemi, Onyekachi Apam, Peter Odemwingie, Promise Isaac, Solomon Okoronkwo, Victor Anichebe, Victor Obinna, football (silver) Chika Chukwumerije, taekwondo (bronze) Blessing Okagbare, long jump (bronze) Franca Idoko, Gloria Kemasuode, Halimat Ismaila, Oludamola Osayomi, 4x100m relay (bronze)

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

31

Business & Finance Fraudulent private placement creates credibility problem for the market

Nigeria spends N356bn to import rice annually and the rice is 10 to 15 years old.

Chief Responsibility Officer of Value Investing Limited and the convener of Capital Market Roundtable in Nigeria 42-43

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, DR. AKINWUNMI ADESINA

CBN’s balance sheet hits N11.3trn in 2011 JOHNSON OKANLAWON

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria balance sheet increased to 11.3trn in the financial year ended December 31, 2011, as total assets and liabilities appreciated by 66.6 per cent.

The assets position reflected a phenomenal growth of over 3,000 per cent in investments, driven largely by the bank’s investment in Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria bonds and Bank of Industry Debenture, as loans and advances fell by 52.9 per cent.

According to the CBN’s audited financial annual report, external reserves, holdings of Special Drawing Rights, Federal Government Securities, fixed assets and other assets grew by 9.6, 4.4, 12.6, 25.4 and 24.7 per cent, respectively.

The CBN said the corresponding increase on the liability side was driven by increases in both the CBN Instruments and other financial liabilities

which grew by 1,352.2 and 279.1 per cent, respectively.

Deposits, notes and coins in circulation, and International Monetary Fund allocation of special drawing rights also rose by 28.1, 13.6 and 4.4 per cent, respectively.

The paid-up capital of the bank remained at N5bn, while the general reserve fund increased by 13.3 per cent to N94.6bn.

Also, the report indicated that total income was N311.2bn, a decline of 44.6 per cent from the level in 2010.

The report attributed the decline in income to the significant fall of 88.4 per cent in income from realised gains on foreign currency.

Similarly, operating cost declined by 23per cent in 2011, thus, bringing the operating surplus before

provisions to N80.2bn, compared with N46.5bn in 2010.

“In accordance with the provisions of Section 22 (1) and (2) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007, the sum of N64.1bn was due to the Federal Government, while the balance accrued to general reserve,” the report added.

It stressed further that the CBN guaranteed 56,328 loans valued at N10.19bn un-

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LAGOS: 01-8446073, 08094331171, 08023133084, 08034019884 ABUJA: 08033020395, 08036321014

Air Nigeria Los-Abj: 06:05 (Mon-Fri) 07:45 (Sat) 07:00 (Sun) 08:15 (Mon-Sun) 10;30 (Sun) 13:30 (Fri/Sat) 14:35 (Mon-Tue) 16:30 (Mon-Sun) 15:45 (Fri-Sun) 15:30 (Sat) 18:00 (MonSun) 19:15 (Fri) Abj-Los: 08:00 (Mon-Sat) 09:00 (Sun) 09:40 (Sat) 10:05 (Mon-Sat) 15:05 (Mon-Wed) 15:15 (Thu) 15:25 (Fri) 16:00 (Mon-Fri) 17:40 (Fri) 18:25 (Sat)13:50 (MonSun) 16:30 (Mon-Thur) 19:55 (Mon-Sat) Abj-Kano: 1825 (Mon-Sun) Abj-Sok: 1010 (Mon-Sun) Sok-Abj: 12:00 (Mon-Sun) Los-Owr: 08:40 (Mon-Fri) Los-Owr: 11:35 (Sat/Sun) Owr-Los: 10:30 (Mon-Fri) 13:25 (Sat/Sun)

Arik Air Los-Abj: 07:15, 09:15, 10:20, 15:20, 16:20, 16:50, 18:45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) Abj-Los: 07:15, 09:40, 10:20, 12:15, 15:15, 16:15, 17:10, (Mon-Fri/Sat); 12:15, 15:15, 16:15 (Sun) Los-PH: 07:15, 11:40, 14:00, 16:10, 17:15, (Mon-Fri) 07:30, 11:40, 15:50 (Sat) 11:50, 3:50, 17:05 (Sun) Abj-PH: 07:15, 11:20, 15:30 (Mon-Fri) 07:15, 16:00 (Sat) 13:10, 16:00, (Sun) PH-Abj: 08:45, 12:50, 17:00 (Mon-Fri) 08:45, 17:30 (Sat) 14:40, 17:30 (Sun) Abj-Ben: 08:00, 12:10 (Mon-Fri/Sat) 08:55, 12:10 (Sun) Ben-Abj: 09:55, 13:30 (Mon-Fri/Sat) 10:50, 13:30 (Sun)

Aero Contractors

L-R: National President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Mr. Tola Faseru, Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina; National Public Relations Officer (NCAN), Mr. Anga Sotonye and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema, at the CEO sectoral dinner held in Lagos, yesterday.

Naira falls after dollar sales hit 2-month low

he naira depreciated after the Central Bank of Nigeria failed to meet accumulated demand for dollars at an auction yesterday, having sold the lowest amount of the United States currency in more than two

der the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund in 2011, bringing the total loans guaranteed since the inception of the Scheme in 1978 to 754,528, valued at N52.34bn.

The CBN said, “The number of Memorandum of Understanding signed and the sum pledged under the Trust Fund Model remained at 56 and N5.52bn, respectively, as there was no new placement in 2011.

LOCAL FLIGHT SCHEDULE

months last week.

The currency weakened 0.6 per cent to N162.25 per dollar on the interbank market, according to data compiled

by Bloomberg.

The CBN sold $200m at a foreign-currency auction, with lenders buying the entire amount on sale, compared to $343.5m sold last week, the least since the five days to May

11.

The bank said on July 6 it set a limit of two business days for the use of foreign currency bought at its twice-weekly auctions.

“The sale by the central bank is not enough to meet the accumulated demand, so the naira remains under pressure,” Sewa Wusu, a currency analyst at Sterling Capi-

tal Limited said.

Despite the central bank’s measures, “corporate demand is still prevalent, which suggests that the naira will continue to fluctuate in a broad range,” Celeste Fauconnier and Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana, strategists at Rand Merchant Bank said.

Nigeria approved a tender on June 27 to import

Again, PHCN workers threaten to scuttle privatisation

‘Foreigners control 90% of Nigeria’s N775bn annual freight earnings’

33

34

3.135 million metric tons of gasoline in the third quarter, the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency said.

The country relies on imports to meet 70 per cent of its fuel needs because of inadequate refining capacity.

The country’s foreigncurrency reserves have fallen by $1.2bn since the end of May to $36.45bn, according to July 12 data compiled by the CBN.

Los-Abj: 06:50, 13:30, 16:30, 19:45 (MonFri/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) Los-Ben: 07:45, 11:00, 15:30, (Mon-Fri/Sat/ Sun) 12:30 (Sun) 15:30 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) Ben-Los: 09:15, 12:30, 17:00 (Mon-Fri/ Sat/Sun) 17:00 (Sat), 14:00 (Sun)

EXCHANGE RATES WAUA

233.0954

USD

155.87

CHF

158.2276

SDR

233.9609

SAR

41.5609

GBP

242.2999

EURO

190.0367

CFA

0.2886

OIL / GAS FUTURES ICE BRENT

$123.39

-0.78

NYMEX

$108.45

-0.11

OPEC BASKET

$122.86

+1.16

NATURAL GAS

$2.83

-0.03

BPE ends bid collection, begins screening electricity investors soon

35

32

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Finance

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

33

Again, PHCN workers threaten to scuttle privatisation MESHACK IDEHEN

E

lectricity sector workers yesterday insisted that they will resist moves by the government to sell the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) unless the severance benefits and other entitlements of workers in the expansive company are fully paid.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos under the auspices of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), alongside other “critical stakeholders”, the workers claimed that the assets of PHCN are worth over N1.5trn, contrary to the Federal Government’s N200bn valuation.

President-General of SSAEAC, Mr. Bede Opara, said the 14 month-long negotiations between the Federal Government and the labour unions in PHCN has ended without the conclusion of most the important issues of severance payment, gratuity and pensions.

He also stressed that anybody, including the government, local or foreign investors or finance experts that gave valuation of PHCN and all its assets at N200bn is “not only a rogue, but an enemy of the country”.

According to the SSAEC president, the request for the payment of 53.36 per cent salary increase availed public servants in 2009, when government froze salaries of PHCN and requested for negotiation on expired collective agreement were turned down by government claiming it has no money to pay.

Opara said further that on the issue of gratuity and pensions that government proposed a percentage of the two will be paid as severance, and that the government also contended that gratuity is merged with pensions in the new Pensions Reform Act 2004.

However, Opara said that the unions disagreed with government, by arguing that gratuity payment is exclusive of pensions.

He said, “While gratuity is a one stop payment at the end of service

which the Pension Reform Act never contemplated, or bordered with as it has nothing to do with pensions; pensions is for life and its mode of operation is adequately provided for in the Pension Reform Act. “In paying our pensions, government posited that it will pay

A

recruitment professional and Managing Partner of Soreb Consulting Limited, Mr. Kunle Rotimi, has said construction workers and skilled artisans that are into building and construction are in high demand across the country and on the continent.

Rotimi said this is the best of times for professionals like architects, surveyors, civil engineers, estate valuers amongst other professionals in the property industry, adding that the reason is because these professional’s services are in high demand by firms and individual is that are into building.

Speaking with National Mirror in Lagos on Tuesday, Rotimi said that both individuals and building companies are all the rush to hire skilled workers that can give them value for money, saying also that the building and construction industry would continue to engage these categories of workers, despite the harsh economic climate that may pervade other sectors.

He explained that at skilled professional levels, builders are also eager to engage the services of architects and civil engineers who can give detailed information about the geography of the land and the design that can best fit the land, while also adding that there is also a

looming shortage of artisans that specialised in the areas of construction and building.

According to him, “Getting to find quality and well trained artisans that can support core professionals like engineers and architects is getting more difficult and challenging by the day.

This development is even more so, when consideration is given to the huge numbers of these skilled workers that have relocated to other countries, or are on the verge of doing so”.

Rotimi added that it was for that reason that many foreigners, particularly those from Asia have taken over all the artisans’ jobs in the construction industry in Nigeria.

SURE-P intervenes in the completion of Abuja-Lokoja road ...Road to be completed in December-Contractor

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he Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment programme committee (SURE-P) has intervened in the completion of the Abuja-Lokoja road.

Deputy Chairman of SURE-P, Maj. Gen. Mamman Kontagora, who disclosed this in Abuja assured that the subsidy funds accruing to the Federal Government would be channelled into practical infrastructural development.

“We want to translate the subsidy funds into practical infrastructural development”, he said, while inspecting a section of the 200 kilometre Abuja-Lokoja road under construction by Dantata and Sawoe. The compa-

ny handling 54.70km of the road has promised to complete the dualisation by December, this year.

The 54.70km section is the Abuja-Lokoja road dualization starts from Abuja and terminates at Sheda along Gwagwalada-Abaji Expressway.

Kontagora said that the intervention funds will be provided through the funds generated from the removal of petroleum subsidy adding that the AbujaLokoja road is an important route and gateway to the federal capital, requiring urgent intervention for completion Lamenting on the spate of accidents on the road, which he said will be greatly reduced, if the expansion and repair work

minimum granted by the Pension Act. The unionist contended that “pensions should be calculated based on the practice of our superannuation fund by calculating all pensions to date on 25percent deducted from staff salaries for that purpose.”

L-R: President, African Civil Aviation Commission, Mr. Guelpine Ceubah; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation, Mrs. Ann Ene Ita; and Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah; during the African Ministerial Meeting on Aviation Safety in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

Skilled construction workers in high demand, say experts MESHACK IDEHEN

into RSA to be opened by all staff and it will calculate in accordance with our superannuation up to June, 2004 which takes into recognition 25 per cent of our salaries deducted for that purpose and from June 2004 (effective date of the Pension Reform Act) it will calculate only 15 per cent which is the

that is on going on the highway is timely completed, he stressed: “This road is one of them that we seek to intervene.

He called on both the Federal Ministry of Works and the contractor to review downwards the Kuje interchange from 4 to 2 arms in keeping with existing financial realities adding that if that scope is achieved, it will help obtain needed funds for more needful items on site.

Speaking on behalf of Dantata & Sawoe, the Project Manager, Roy Hungushi clarified that what stalled the completion of the 54.70km stretch is fund but that the company looks forward to SURE-P intervention fund to complete the road latest December.

AU endorses Nigeria’s candidacy for ICAO Presidency TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

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ith a unanimous voice yesterday representatives of governments in Africa under the aegis of the African Union unanimously adopted Nigeria’s bid for the Presidency of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the election of which will be held next year.

Making the disclosure at the opening of 5-day African Ministerial Conference on Aviation Safety held in Abuja, the Director of Infrastructure of the African Union, Dr. Baba Mussa, said the decision by other African countries to support Nigeria’s Presidential bid in ICAO’s 2013 election was borne out of the far-reaching commitment by the Nigerian government to transform the country’s aviation industry and the need for Africa to chart a common cause in the drive for improved air travels standards in the continent.

Mussa, who commended the Nigerian government for hosting the Conference which drew participants from over 35 countries in the continent and in furtherance of the resolution of the African Union last January, noted that the country’s efforts over the past years attested to its commitment towards sundry efforts by the AU and other stakeholders to raise the bar of safety standards in the air travels subsector of the transport sector in the continent.

The AU chief said: “We want to convey our deep gratitude, first and foremost to the government of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria and particularly to the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, for hosting of this important conference as was decided by the African Union Summit this year in January.

“We also wish to thank the African Civil Aviation Commission for rising up to the challenges by making the necessary technical and logistical arrangements for the successful holding of the conference. I will like to express my profound appreciation to the IDA group, African and Indian-Asian group, for their assistance and technical support and what they have been providing for Africa’s Aviation agenda, especially the drafting of the African Civil Aviation Policy which will be an important resource material in this meeting.

“Honourable Minister Ladies and gentlemen, the African Union has endorsed Nigeria’s candidacy for the post of the Presidency of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. You will agree with me that it is a historic decision and it is the first time that Africa has a consensual candidacy for such a high level post.

“We should therefore be proud of this achievement of having a single candidate all the way to the end. Africa’s Presidency of ICAO should be a great aspiration for the continent to increase its efforts in dealing with matters of aviation safety and overall development of air transport sub-sector in Africa in view of high expectation for Africa to improve safety image”, Dr. Mussa concluded.

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Business & Finance

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘Foreigners control 90% of Nigeria’s N775bn IITA offers improved cassava, cowpea seeds to Jigawa annual freight earnings’ FRANCIS EZEM

S

ifax Group, an indigenous terminal and bonded warehouse operator has said that more than eight years after the enactment of the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act, 2003, foreign shipping companies control both Nigeria’s coast and deep sea shipping with the freight component worth over $5bn (N775bn).

The Federal Government had enacted the Cabotage Act in 2003, which stipulates that vessels to be used in the country’s coastal and inland trade must be built in Nigeria and owned by Nigerians, among several other requirements aimed at checking excessive foreign domination of the nation’s shipping business.

The Cabotage policy, which many stakeholders see as a failed project was also designed to be a training ground for Nigerian

shipping firms before launching into full deep sea shipping, which is more technical in nature and capital intensive.

Executive vice chairman of the Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi stated this while presenting a paper entitled Impact of Cabotage Act on Entrepreneurial Opportunities in a Developing Economy, at an Interactive Discourse Programme Postgraduate School, Department of Transport Management of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Ogbomoso, recently.

According to him, apart from controlling deep sea shipping in the country, foreign interests also control inland and coastal shipping business to the detriment in indigenous operators nearly nine years after the Cabotage Act was enacted.

He disclosed that available statistics indicate that Nigeria generates an average annual traffic of about 152 million metric tonnes of

both oil and non-oil cargo worth over $5 billion (N800bn) in freight earnings, out of which foreigners control over 90 percent.

He argued that the country would have felt the effect of such huge earnings from freight if the government ensured that the indigenous shipping interests have access to 50 percent of these earnings.

Afolabi, who doubles as CEO of the group, also regretted that sections of the Cabotage Act, which require that ships to be used in coastal and inland trade must be built in Nigeria, owned and manned by Nigerians are quite unrealistic, as the country does not have what it takes to do all that at least for now.

The end-result of this unrealistic provision, according to him, has been that the indigenous shipping companies are denied of cargo over unverified claims that their vessels are classless and so might portend a lot of risks to ask them to lift cargo.

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he International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), has offered Jigawa State improved cowpea and maize varieties, as part of efforts to help improve the fortunes of agriculture in that state.

According to a statement issued yesterday, the institute also plans to backstop the newly established state-owned cassava starch industry, linking it to markets and also offering farmers improved cassava planting materials to ensure a steady supply of cassava roots to the factory.

“In the next two weeks, the institute will be delivering improved cassava planting materials for multiplication,” said the Deputy Director General, Partnerships and Capacity Building (IITA), Dr Kenton

Libor scandal: Ben Bernanke says system flawed

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L-R: Managing Director, BD Consult Limited, Mr. Tola Bademosi; General Manager, Marketing, La Casera Company Limited, Mr. Dave van Rensburg; winners of Apple I-pads, Mr. Chigozie Oyenjegbu and Mr. Daniel Nwachuckwu, during the presentation of prizes to the winners in the La-Casera promo in Lagos, yesterday.

FG to ban importation of locally made goods –Aganga STANLEY IHEDIBO

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he Federal Government will soon ban importation of goods that are produced in Nigeria as part of a deliberate policy to protect local industries, boost their productivity and create more job opportunities for Nigerians.

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, stated this during a facility visit of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Plant and Innoson Industrial Plastic Plant in Enugu and Anambra states respectively.

He noted that the new initiative was part of the National Industrial Revolution Plan of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment aimed at repositioning the manufacturing sector in line with President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s Transforma-

tion Agenda.

Aganga said, “As a country, we have a large market comprising 167 million people. We are the gateway to ECOWAS, which is about 300 million people. What this means is that local patronage is very important to us as a country because we must take advantage of our large market to drive our Industrial Revolution Plan. In fact, local patronage is key to President Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda because it will help us to increase the productivity of our local companies; reduce foreign exchange spent on importation of goods from other countries and create more jobs for our people.

“Already, the President has directed us to compile the list of goods produced by Nigerian companies so that we will not have reasons to import those

things into the country. We are going to do same thing in the states by adopting the same policy. I have already met with the Chairman of Nnewi Chamber of Commerce and Industry over this matter and they will submit their list to me within the next one week. Also, the Anambra State governor is doing the same thing as well the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. Once we complete the process, nobody will be allowed to import those things we produce into the country, especially those items that we have comparative and competitive advantage.”

Aganga also disclosed that the Federal Government was planning to review the country’s public system to give more opportunities for Nigerian companies to in line with his ministry’s Industrial Revolution Plan.

Dashiell on Monday in Dutse, Jigawa State.

Cassava, cowpea and maize are important crops in that Nigeria’s north western state, contributing to the food security and wealth creation of millions of people.

The donation of the improved planting materials comes after the governor of the north western state, Dr Sule Lamido, gave an open invitation to the foremost agricultural research institute in Africa, IITA, to help his government turn-around agriculture at the Institute’s 45th anniversary held on 6 July in Ibadan, Oyo state.

Dashiell said, “the institute is glad to help Jigawa State to tackle the challenge of food insecurity, create wealth and improve livelihoods.”

he Libor system, which sets inter-bank lending rates, is “structurally flawed”, the chairman of the US central bank has said.

Ben Bernanke also told a Senate committee that it was not yet known whether any US banks were involved in the rigging of Libor.

He said he still did not have full confidence in the system.

That is because proposals to improve it were not adopted by the UK banking body which compiles it, Bernanke said.

The New York Reserve Bank, which regulates some major US banks, sent recommendations to the British Bankers’ Association in 2008 and raised its concerns with the Bank of England.

This included the introduction of procedures to “eliminate the incentive to misreport” Libor, the daily rate that is the benchmark for millions of financial transactions which is calculated from the submissions by a group of banks.

The Libor scandal erupted last month when Barclays was fined a record amount for trying to rig the Libor rate by mis-reporting the amount it cost them to borrow, sometimes working with other banks.

Asked about US regulators’ response to the manipulation of Libor rates, and whether anyone had “dropped the ball”, Bernanke said the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had taken the lead.

250 units of Oji River Housing Estate ready for occupation DENNIS AGBO ENUGU

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he 250 units of houses in Oji River Urban Housing Estate, being constructed by the Oji River Local Government Council in Enugu State, is almost set for owners to move in.

This disclosure was made when some journalist s were took round on inspection tour to the estate .

It was discovered that some units of the housing, especially the one bedroom terrace houses are almost completed for occupation.

Speaking during the tour, Chairman of Oji River local, Chief Gabriel Onuzulike, said the project was conceived because

Oji town is an urban council with housing challenges.

Onuzulike said that Oji River local government is a bridge between Anambra and Enugu states that needs housing accommodations for the growing population of the semi-urban council, adding that before the second quarter of next year all amenities needed in the estate would have been put in place.

The 250 housing units includes 3 bedroom bungalows, 2 bed room bungalows and one bedroom terrace houses mostly meant for workers that would be accommodated through the mortgage system. He added that applications for ownership of the houses are already being received.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Energy Week

udemea@rocketmail.com 07031546994

Power station

BPE ends bid collection, begins screening electricity investors soon The on-going reforms in the power sector reached another milestone as the Bureau for Public Enterprises closed bids and prepared to begin evaluation. UDEME AKPAN takes a look at the challenges trailing the process.

I

t was Dave Barry, an American author and columnist that once wrote that, “We believe that electricity exists because the electric company keeps on sending bills for it but we cannot figure out how it travels inside wires.”

Some Nigerians can still say the same today. It is not because authorities have not worked hard to provide them electricity. One of the main reasons is that some constraints prevent consumers from reaping the fruits of such efforts. In other words, the factors make it impossible for some agencies to make electricity available to the people.

For instance, available statistics showed that the nation presently generates less than 4,000 megawatts (mw) of electricity for transmission and distribution to all parts of the nation. This is over 6,000 mw less than the estimated 10,000 mw national demand. Consequently, it has not been possible to provide constant supply to all consumers.

The reasons are not farfetched. First, the situation is a direct function of inadequate gas supply to thermal power stations. Second, the situation is worsened

because of lack of infrastructure infrastructure, espe especially pipelines, capable of delivering gas to power stations. The explanation is that previous administrations that constructed such stations in different parts of the nation did not consider possible source of gas for their operations.

However, stakeholders, especially the government are not ignorant of these and other issues. For instance, the Federal Government has emerged with short, medium and long term plans to boost power generation, transmission and distribution.

Under the short term plan which is to last between two and seven months, emphases are placed on moderate improvement in power supply and renewed distribution model. These are targeted at allowing electricity distribution companies to embark on improved distribution that can maximise supply to consumers.

During the period, there would have been completion and operation of some new power generating plants, transmission lines and a more developed distribution pattern. Equally, the reconstituted NERC is expected to rise to the challenges

of managing the new tariff regime.

Under the medium term, scheduled for implementation between 2013 and 2015, the reform would allow the privatisation of generating centers and the distribution centre, aimed at achieving higher efficiency.

The ongoing strengthening of the operations of the regulatory agency and the corporatisation of the bulk trader would fast track the medium term plans. The medium term also involves management of the divestment plan by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in a transparent manner. This is aimed at ensuring that competent investors are allowed entry into the sector.

Under the long term, the government intends to boost its investment in many energy resources; including renewable energy such as small and medium hydropower, solar, bio-waste to energy, coal.

Confirming the plan, the Minster of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji remarked that, “Equally, the bulk trade becomes very prominent in his operations at this stage.

Finally, I would like to inform Nigerians that, to engage more robust interactive and transparent power governance in the country, I am launching today Electricity Customer Service Web Portal. This is open to the public to make complaints, which will be addressed by the people operating in the areas.”

He made it emphatic that, “It is also

WE BELIEVE THAT ELECTRICITY EXISTS BECAUSE THE ELECTRIC COMPANY KEEPS ON SENDING BILLS FOR IT BUT WE CANNOT FIGURE OUT HOW IT TRAVELS INSIDE WIRES interesting to note that it is the duty of government to provide transformers for communities within the network of operations of PHCN as it is today and we want the public to cooperate in this regard by making formal request through the approved channels to avoid the current situation where people complain that they pay for their transformers and cables. This is not supposed to be so and we want the cooperation of all.”

Nnaji said, “I want to submit that we are committed to the need and plan to satisfy the needs of Nigerians and all efforts in this regard amidst challenges, which we take cognizance of, will be addressed.

We hereby solicit your cooperation and support and we request that you use the CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

BPE ends bid collection, begins screening electricity investors soon

Jonathan

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 customer service web portal to reach us on any issues that remain unclear to you.”

The ministry is not alone. The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) would soon start to screen the technical and financial proposals received from investors interested in generating and distribution companies in the country. This follows the closure of bids collection for generation companies today in Abuja, the Federal Capital. The programme has July 31, this year as timeline for distribution companies. BPE spokesman, Mr. Chukwuma Nwokoh who confirmed the development in a telephone interview said “This closure is in line with set out in privatisation programme.”

The programme showed that the evaluation of the technical bids will take place between August 14 and 28, 2012. While the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), will approve the results of the technical evaluation on/or before September 11, 2012. BPE has already released the final industry and transaction documents to the 152 potential investors interested in the privatization exercise. The 13 bid documents were sent to potential investors in May, this year.

The documents include: Share Sale

Nnaji

Agreement; Shareholders Agreement; Performance Agreement; and Concession Agreement. The industry documents are: Gas Sale and Aggregation Agreement; Gas Transportation Agreement; Bulk Power Purchase Agreement (Thermal); Bulk Power Purchase Agreement (Hydro); Vesting Contract; Transmission Use of System Agreement; Grid Connection Agreement; and Ancillary Services Agreement.

The BPE had on March 30, 2012, issued the revised industry and transaction documents to the bidders, and informed them that it expected to receive all comments on the documents by April 20, 2012. The next stage of the privatisation exercise is the harvest of the bidders’ technical and financial proposals, which has July 17, 2012, as deadline for generation companies and July 31, 2012, for distribution companies.

The transaction timeline reveals that the evaluation of the technical bids will take place between August 14 and 28, 2012. The National Council on Privatisation (NCP), will approve the results of the technical evaluation on/or before September 11, 2012.

Prior to this period, the BPE had issued Requests for Proposal (RFP) documents to Manitoba Hydro of Canada and Power Grid of India to enable the firms prepare

Esso Exploration starts oil production

A

subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, Esso Exploration has started production from the Kizomba Satellites Phase one project, offshore Angola.

The Kizomba Satellites initial phase is expected to ultimately produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day, and recover a total of approximately 250 million barrels from the Mavacola and Clochas fields, located 95 miles off the coast of Angola in water depths of approximately 4,500 feet.

“This project combines ExxonMobil’s project management expertise with local suppliers and businesses to maximise the value of Angola’s significant petroleum resources,” said Neil Duffin, president of ExxonMobil Development Company. “The Kizomba Satellites project was completed ahead of schedule and with industry-leading safety performance, as was the case with previous Block 15 developments.”

Phase 1 of the project will develop 18 wells with subsea tiebacks to the existing Kizomba

A and B floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels, optimising the capabilities of on-block facilities to increase current production levels without requiring an additional FPSO vessel.

The Kizomba Satellites development has achieved a high level of Angolan content, with approximately $1.5 billion invested in local goods and services, including contracts for fabrication, logistics support and training and development of Angolan personnel. Angolan participation in Block 15 projects has increased significantly over time as local companies, working with ExxonMobil and the Block 15 Contractor Group, developed their capabilities to perform the work required for such complex projects.

“Nearly 100 percent of the topsides and subsea equipment were fabricated in Angola, and we have provided more than 10,000 hours of skill-based training to Angolan contractor personnel for the project,” said Stéphane de Mahieu, Esso Angola Managing Director.

Amadi

Onogoruwa

their bidding documents for the management contract for Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN.) The two investors were made to undertake due diligence on TCN and its network in order to submit their technical and financial proposals. The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) had invited Power Grid of India, ESB International of Ireland and Manitoba Hydro of Canada to resubmit technical and financial proposals in line with current system and industry information for the management contract for Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN.) TCN is one of the 18 successor companies carved out of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN.) It combines the functions of a transmission services provider, a system operator and a market operator, all of which are central to the sustainability and development of the electricity sector. It emerged as one of the successor companies of PHCN and was scheduled for a Management Contract in order to transit the company into a financially sustainable, stable, self-sufficient and market-driven company.

For the purpose of procuring a management contractor for TCN, the BPE retained the services of British Power International (BPI) who were initially engaged by PHCN to provide advice on the engagement of an Operation & Maintenance (OM) contractor and other issues like the development of Management Information Services and Corporate

THE GOVERNMENT STILL NEEDS TO ENSURE ADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE

SUCH AS GOOD ROADS, PORTABLE WATER AND SECURITY ARE PUT IN PLACE TO ENHANCE INVESTMENT IN THE POWER AND OTHER SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY

Governance procedures. The Canadian hydro electrical firm, Manitoba has since emerged as the management contractor for the TCN. The contractor is to ensure maximum supply and minimal loss of energy during transmission.

These and other strides have attracted the comments of many people and organizations. One of them is the National president of the Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria (OGSPAN), Mr. Colman Obasi who observed that previous administrations, probably failed to fix the nation’s electricity dilemma because of high participation of the public sector. Obasi emphasised that public servants do not have always have all that are required to manage commercial investments.

The National President stated that, “For the first time, the President Goodluck Jonathan – led administration has taken the right steps at the right direction to solve fundamental challenges of the power sector. The engagement of competent private investors, no doubt would provide the right corporate leadership required to stimulate sustainable development of the sector.”

Obasi remarked that, “The government still needs to ensure adequate infrastructure such as good roads, portable water and security are put to enhance investment in the power and other sectors of the economy. These would reduce the high cost associated with doing business in the nation.”

It is not only the government. Other stakeholders, including financial institutions also have some roles to play. BPE Director General, Ms. Bola Onagoruwa has made it clear that it would cost between $15 bn - $20 bn to boost investment in the sector in the next three years. This means that financial institutions must take interest in the sector more than before.

They should know that the sector which has a long gestation period calls for large inflow of resources. Efforts should also be made to enhance partnership with other operators globally so as to attract not only substantial funds but also other resources that the nation needs to fully develop its electricity sector for consumers. Indeed, the expected increased availability would enable Nigerians and other nationals to know and believe that electricity is available in their nation.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Energy Week

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

37

Oil price hits $102, raises hope for budget 2012

Yakubu

O

il prices have risen in excess of $102 per barrel at the international market. The development was a direct function of comments from China’s Premier Wen Jiabao that the government would step up its efforts to boost the economy of the world’s second-largest oil consumer.

Consequently, the price of Brent which is often used to benchmark other prices rose by 27 cents to $102.67 per barrel. Other crude oil grades also witnessed significant leap in prices.

Reuters that confirmed the development said, “Oil prices rallied on after China’s second-quarter GDP figures weren’t as bad as some had feared, dispelling worries that China was heading for a hard landing.”

China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Premier Wen Jiabao as saying that measures to stabilise the economy were working and the government would step up efforts in the second half of the year to support the economy, sparking expectations of further easing.

Market watchers in Nigeria are pleased with developments in China for at least a reason. The nation is a major consumer of Nigeria’s oil. Thus, it is expected that the improved fortunes of Chinese economy would likely culminate in increased demand for the nation’s oil.

It is also expected that the high demand

would enable the nation to generate substantial funds for the execution of the nation’s 2012 budget, whose implementation was benchmarked at $72 per barrel.

However, crude oil prices, including the price of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) basket of 12 crudes have been relatively high in the past few weeks. For instance, the price of OPEC basket stood at $97.41 per barrel over the weekend, compared with $96.84 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

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

President Goodluck Jonathan had while presenting the 2012 budget to the National Assembly stressed that, “This budget is a stepping-stone to the transformation of our economy and country in our walk to economic freedom. This esteemed Assembly would agree that this path would neither be easy nor uncontested; but with a sharp focus, hard work, determination and making careful choices we will overcome.”

He said in the past year, the global eco-

nomic recovery slowed down significantly and downside risks are on the increase as many countries, particularly in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Jonathan said, “The Euro Zone crisis in particular has time and again thrown financial markets into turmoil as several countries in this economic and monetary union continue to face difficulty in servicing their debts. On the other hand, although many emerging and developing countries, like India and China are experiencing relatively robust growth, downside risks remain as well. In fact, global growth projection has continuously been revised downward and is now 4per cent for 2012-2013.”

The President said these developments have implications for the nation’s economy. He said, “We are living witnesses to the extent of volatility that can afflict the international oil market with prices plummeting from US$147/barrel in July 2008 to about US$38/barrel four months later.

Thus, although the oil price is currently over US$100/barrel, there is no guarantee what it would be in the future.”

Jonathan said the government cannot subject the well-being of Nigerians to such fluctuations and must therefore protect ourselves by managing our finances prudently including by adopting a conservative benchmark oil price for our budgets.”

He said “There are also uncertainties in the area of international food prices which make it imperative that we take steps to safeguard our position through policies that would promote food security.

So far, the Nigerian economy has weathered these storms well but efforts need to be reinforced to ensure macroeconomic stability and sustained economic growth.”

He added that, “This year marked another milestone in our democratic experience, with the successful elections and peaceful transition. We now need to build on the mandate that Nigerians have entrusted to us to deliver the dividends of democracy through stronger economic reforms to deliver growth and create jobs.

I have created an Economic Management Team (EMT) that I chair, and an Economic Management Implementation Team (EMIT) chaired by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, to help us deliver on this economic agenda.”

Energy & Oil Prices OIL ($/bbl) Nymex Crude Future Dated Brent Spot WTI Cushing Spot

PRICE*

CHANGE

% CHANGE

TIME

84.93 98.86 85.32

-1.06 -1.17 -0.67

-1.23% -1.17% -0.78%

10:53 11:04 09:11

OIL (¢/gal) Nymex Heating Oil Future Nymex RBOB Gasoline Future

PRICE*

CHANGE

% CHANGE

TIME

273.48 276.40

-1.42 0.46

-0.52% 0.17%

10:53 10:52

PRICE*

CHANGE

% CHANGE

TIME

2.81 2.78 2.99

-0.08 -0.16 -0.13

-2.71% -5.44% -4.17%

10:52 07/09 07/09

PRICE*

CHANGE

% CHANGE

TIME

26.21 39.39 28.67

-2.28 1.06 -0.25

-8.00% 2.77% -0.86%

07/09 07/09 07/09

NATURAL GAS ($/MMBtu) Nymex Henry Hub Future Henry Hub Spot New York City Gate Spot

ELECTRICITY ($/megawatt hour) Mid-Columbia, firm on-peak, spot Palo Verde, firm on-peak, spot BLOOMBERG, FIRM ON-PEAK, DAY AHEAD SPOT/ERCOT HOUSTON

Source: Oilprice.com

Cartel releases new petroleum statistics The Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) has released its new oil and gas statistics for the month of July, this year. It is a compilation of statistical data about oil and natural gas activities in OPEC’s 12 Member Countries (Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela) as well as in non-OPEC oil producing countries around the world.

It provides detailed time-series data on different aspects of the global petroleum industry, including imports and exports, upstream and downstream projects, and exploration and production activities.

World crude oil production increased in 2011 by 0.9per cent, with different regions showing heterogeneous results. While Canadian, US and Middle East crude production increased, Western European and African production showed declines. In OPEC Member Countries, crude oil production was up 3per cent in 2011 year-on-year.

World oil consumption last year also increased by 0.9per cent, but this growth was seen solely in emerging economies, primarily in Asia - and in particular, China - but also CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

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Energy Week

Cartel releases new petroleum statistics CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 in Latin America and the Middle East. In OPEC member countries, oil consumption increased by 0.2 mb/d or 2% year-on-year.

Proven crude oil reserves in OPEC member countries increased slightly in 2011, almost reaching 1.2 billion barrels.

OPEC’s percentage share of reserves stood at 81per cent at year-end, largely unchanged from 2010.

OPEC member countries continued to play an important role in the natural gas market last year, with proven natural gas reserves of 95,020 billion standard cubic metres, an increase of 0.8% over 2010, making a total world share of 48.4per cent.

Refinery capacity in OPEC Member Countries rose by 0.7per cent during 2011, indicating that they held 10.1per cent of total world refinery capacity, compared to 9.9per cent in 2010.

The bulk of the crude oil exported by OPEC member countries during 2011 went to Asian and Pacific countries, with 12.5 mb/d or 54.0per cent of the total. North America and Europe followed, importing 4.9 mb/d or 21.1per cent, and 3.7 mb/d or 16.0per cent, respectively.

OPEC member countries also exported 4.5 mb/d of petroleum product exports in 2011. The bulk of this went to Asian and Pacific countries with 2.1 mb/d or 49.8per cent of the total. North American and Latin American countries followed, with 0.6 mb/d or 13.6per cent, and 0.5 mb/d or 11.8per cent, respectively.

The hard copy of the ASB will be released along with the World Oil outlook later this year, at a Press conference to be held on November 8.

Oil market highlights The OPEC Reference Basket in June continued its decline for the third consecutive month to settle below $100/b for the first time in 18 months at $93.98/b. The decline was very significant at 13per cent, the highest month-to-month drop since the 22per cent fall set back in December 2008. Both ICE Brent and Nymex WTI also fell to multi-months lows, shedding over 13per cent each. The Nymex WTI front-month declined by $12.31 in June to accumulate a hefty decline of $23.80 over the second quarter. The ICE Brent front-month losses were larger, down $14.36 in June and $28.62 over the second quarter.

In addition to economic concerns, especially regarding the Euro-zone, the main factors driving down prices were the decline in speculative long positions and abundant crude oil supplies. World economic growth expectations for 2012 remain unchanged at 3.3per cent and stand only slightly lower at 3.2per cent for 2013. The US forecast for 2012 has been revised down to stand at 2.1per cent and is forecast at 2.0per cent for 2013.

Japan’s expansion improved and 2012 growth has been revised up to 2.5per cent from 2.0per cent.

In 2013, the growth rate will move CONTINUED ON PAGE 39

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Atlas Cove: NNPC assures of viability J OHN U WE

D

etermined to ensure unimpeded distribution and supply of petroleum products across the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has said that the Corporation will continue to maintain and improve the Atlas Cove terminal which stores 60 percent of its products nationwide.

In a statement issued to news men, the Spokesman of the corporation, Mr. Fidel Pepple said the revamp of the entire storage; pumping and associated pipings were conceived and tendered for in 2007.

He explained that contrary to a report by a national daily of 10th July, 2012, blaming the Pipelines and Products marketing Company (PPMC), for alleged inefficiency and

Oil jetty

dilapidated state of Atlas Cove depot, the Corporation has improved the depot’s single point mooring (SPM) facility to handle vessels of up to 80,000 DWT. “I can confirm to you that

the premium motor spirit (PMS) Tank 12 was reconstructed in 2004 to increase its capacity from 1800 cubic metres to 23,000 cubic metres, while Tanks 31 and 32 were rehabilitated in

2005/2006 and are all serviceable,” Pepple revealed.

According to him, the reconstruction of PMS Tanks 11 and 21 which has been awarded and is ongoing, when completed, will add 50 percent to the existing PMS storage capacity which now stands at about 58,000 cubic metres.

Pepple informed that following the expiration of the life span of the old buoy, a new calm buoy was installed in 2010 to guarantee security of product supplies through the SPM. “Contract has already been awarded for 10-inch Fire Hydrant Ring Mains to enhance safety at the terminal and the construction of a new 16inch pipeline on a new route to complement the existing line. PPMC is also pursuing the restart of the optimisation project aimed at the construction of three new tanks

NGC boss makes case for CNG as vehicular fuel UDEME AKPAN

T

he Managing Director of Nigerian Gas Company Ltd (NGC) Engr. Saidu Mohammed has affirmed total support and commitment to the promotion of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as auto-fuel to push gas consumption in a bid to effectively harness the abundant gas resources in the country.

The commitment, he emphasised largely accounted for the floating of Joint Venture (JV) Company of Green Gas Ltd with Nipco Plc. as a veritable avenue of creating infrastructure that could

UDEME AKPAN

WITH AGENCY REPORT

G

lobal oil demand is expected to rise by one million barrels a day next year, faster than growth this year, but “well below” the levels seen before the financial crisis as economic recovery remains muted, the International Energy Agency has said.

The IEA also said that demand from emerging economies will for the first time next year overtake demand in the world’s most industrialised nations, or the OECD. This trend is unlikely to be reversed as non-OECD countries, mainly in Asia, will continue to lead oil demand growth next year, the agency said in its closely watched monthly report.

That growth in emerging mar-

aid the lofty objective in line with the Gas master plan.

Mohammed who was speaking during a visit to Nipco terminal in Apapa, Lagos said with all modesty, the company had provided reliable infrastructure that could effectively aid the use of CNG as a viable alternative vehicular fuel in the country.

The NGC M.D who also doubles as the Chairman of Green Gas Ltd expressed delight with the on-going expansion in the company which led to construction of more CNG outlets across the country.

He noted that the happiness stem from the fact that the more avenues are created for gas utili-

sation, the better for the country in view of the abundant gas resources in the nation.

“We will always appreciate and commend willing partners like Nipco as such feat not only provides avenue to access gas as auto-fuel but also helps to stimulate economic growth”, Mohammed asserted.

He commended the good house-keeping of the terminal which he described as the best ever seen stressing that in his scores of years as depot manager the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Nipco depot ranks the greenest.

Mohammed also thumbed up the company for the seemless

kets is driven by growth in population and income, as well as subsidised energy prices, said David Fyfe, the head of the IEA’s oil markets division.

“Demand in the OECD is in structural decline and we’re not expecting that to change,” he said, adding that the IEA’s forecasts do take into account recent weaker economic activity in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the report, which contains the IEA’s first forecasts for 2013, global oil demand will be 1.1per cent higher than 2012, averaging 90.9 million barrels a day.

The forecasts are more bullish than reports earlier this week from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Organ-

isation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, both of whom projected slower global oil demand growth in 2013 of 730,000 barrels a day and 800,000 barrels a day respectively.

The Paris-based agency, which advises industrialised countries on energy policy, made only a slight downward revision to its forecast for global oil demand in 2012 as the weaker economic backdrop was mostly offset by an upwards adjustment to its base data.

Oil prices have been volatile in the past few weeks as fears that sanctions against Iran could disrupt supplies have clashed with concerns about weaker oil demand due to economic problems caused by the euro-zone debt cri-

operation of the depot which is largely due to its high level of automation even as he urged the organisation to keep it up.

In his welcome remarks, Managing Director, Nipco Plc., Mr. Venkatapathy Venkataraman said the company is very passionate about the oil and gas industry which has manifested in her huge investment in this regard.

He commended government initiative in promoting CNG as auto- fuel stressing that such feat will not only improve domestic consumption and utilisation of gas but also reduces fuel subsidy on petrol majorly used as vehicular fuel in the country.

IEA forecast oil demand rise

Oil vessle

sis.

The report said that while those economic risks may place a ceiling on oil prices, the latent potential of demand growth in

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

depot each of 50,000 cubic metre capacity for PMS, AGO and DPK to increase the depot’s storage capacity by 150,000 cubic metres,” yesterday Pepple stated.

He added that the Corporation through its subsidiary, PPMC has been conducting the repair of the depot in phases due to its high budgetary requirements.

He disclosed that the reconstruction of the New Atlas Cove Jetty Facilities damaged by militants in 2009 has been completed with the facility restored to its form in March this year.

He reassured Nigerians that the Corporation and its subsidiary will continue to improve on its facilities across the nation especially the Atlas Cove facilities to ensure security of petroleum products supplies to every nooks and crannies of the country.

Energy Week

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Revised oil bill reduces taxes for exploration

Alison-Madueke

UDEME AKPAN

WITH AGENCY REPORT

T

he nation’s petroleum Industry bill (PIB), has reduced taxes to be paid by producers after energy companies including Royal Dutch Shell, opposed initial proposals as too high.

The Petroleum Industry Bill, which was approved by the government on July 11 for presentation to the legislators, proposes 50 percent tax for onshore and shallow fields and 20 percent for deepwater fields, according to a copy of the bill ob-

tained by Bloomberg. The original proposals were for 85 percent and 50 percent respectively.

A fiscal framework was “developed to make the industry more investment friendly and make it more profitable for investors,” Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke said on July 11. At a time when more African countries are becoming oil producers, Nigeria needed to take measures to attract investors and remain competitive, she said.

Bloomberg that confirmed the development said “The bill, which seeks to reform the way the oil industry of Africa’s top producer is regulated and funded, was first introduced to the parliament more than three years ago.

Lawmakers were unable to pass it before the end of the last legislative session in May 2011.”

It recalled that oil companies including Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Total SA (FP) and Eni SpA (ENI) said in a joint presentation to lawmakers

in 2009 that the proposed tax increases would make exploration “uneconomical.” They pump more than 90 percent of the country’s oil through ventures with state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.

The new draft includes plans to privatize the state oil company also known as NNPC, create an asset management company which will operate as a holding company, and set up a new gas company.

The proposed law would ban flaring of gas in the course of oil production in Nigeria after Dec. 31. The West African nation, which has the continent’s largest gas reserves of more than 180 trillion cubic feet, burns away most of the fuel it produces along with oil because it lacks the infrastructure to process it. The petroleum minister may grant exceptions of up to 100 days to companies for safety flaring, equipment failure or because a customer can’t receive it.

CSR: NDDC consolidates partnership with Rivers State UDEME AKPAN

T

he Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said it will consolidate on the long standing partnership with the Rivers State Government towards accelerating the growth of the 160. million capacity Syringe Manufacturing Company in Port Harcourt.

Managing Director of the Commission; Dr. Christian Oboh, gave the indication when he visited the factory in compa-

Oboh

in 2013

emerging countries and the ongoing risk of supply surprises could keep prices stubbornly high.

“This arguably represents as much of a policy challenge as

does the perceived bogeyman of price volatility,” the report said.

The IEA said that in June, output from OPEC fell 140,000 barrels a day to 31.8 million barrels a day as near-record output from Saudi Arabia helped to offset production declines from Angola and Iran.

Saudi Arabia pumped 10.15 million barrels a day in June, the IEA said. Iranian oil output fell 100,000 barrels a day in June, compared with May, to 3.2 million barrels a day. This took the Islamic Republic’s oil production almost to 22-year lows, due to U.S. and European Union sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran over its nuclear program.

The IEA forecast the need for OPEC oil in the second half of this year at 31 million barrels a day, compared with 29.9 million barrels a day in the first half.

ny of the Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker.

“NDDC is proud to be ‘associated with you; we’are going to make more contributions to ensure that the factory grows”. The Managing Director said.

Oboh who was elated by what he saw in the factory said, “with what I have seen, I think I have more hope now in Nigerian projects, if Nigerians can do these here, it means it could be extended to other places”.

Briefing the Managing Director, Dr. Sampson Parker disclosed that plans are on to expand the factory to a One billion syringe’ production capacity to enable it weather demands from international markets.

According to Parker, the expansion will also create job opportunities for over 2,000 workers as against the 150 presently in its employment.

“The multiplier effect is enormous, it is a good thing to invest in the project and it is a good thing to be part of it. we therefore implore the Federal Government, NDDC, and private sector to put in their best interest in the factory”.

Recently, the Rivers State University of Science and Technology commended NDDC for its pioneering effort in the establishment of an information technology center in the institution.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Barine Fakae disclosed

that the commission laid the foundation of the institution’s e-center with the donation of one hundred and forty work centers.

According to him, the IT center is also fully powered by the NDDC through the donation of two 325kva generators. “NDDC set the pace, we try to use the standard you set to challenge others”, Fakae said.

He stated that the center had been so expanded to the extent that oil companies and other corporate organisations enlist its services for on line examinations.

Fakae commended the choice of Dr Oboh as the Managing Director of NDDC, describing him as a dedicated and committed young man who proved himself as a lecturer in the university.

Earlier, the NDDC boss had said that the commission was proud to be associated with the university and was willing to enter into more partnerships with the institution.

“We are here to partner with your ICT department on the engagement of some engineers.

Our commission is willing to partner with you, even in our post graduate scholarship programme.”

On the hostel accommodation by the NDDC boss said, “we are in the process of directing the contractors to quickly clean up the hostels”.

39

Oil market highlights CONTINUED FROM PAGE 38 back in line with historical averages at 1.2per cent.

Measures being undertaken in the Euro-zone are expected to turn the contraction of 0.4% this year back into a 0.1per cent expansion in 2013. With continued stimulus efforts, China’s growth for 2012 remains at 8.1per cent and is forecast at 8.0per cent in 2013. India’s expansion also is forecast to improve in 2013 to 6.6per cent from a growth level of 6.4per cent in 2012.

Various offsetting economic developments have left the 2012 world oil demand forecast at 0.9 mb/d, unchanged from the previous report. The sluggish OECD economy is suppressing the region’s oil demand, except for in Japan where the shut-down of most of the country’s nuclear power plants has led to increased crude and fuel oil burning.

World oil demand growth in 2013 is forecast at mb/d, representing a slowdown in growth from the current year. The unsteady pace of the global economic recovery is causing a considerable uncertainty for world oil demand. The non-OECD is expected to continue to contribute all of the world’s oil demand growth for next year. The industrial and transport sectors are expected to contribute the most to total oil demand.

Non-OPEC supply is forecast to increase by 0.7 mb/d in 2012, supported by the anticipated growth from North America, Latin America, and FSU. In 2013, non-OPEC oil supply is expected to grow by 0.9 mb/d. The US, Canada, Brazil, Kazakhstan, and Colombia are expected to be the main contributors to supply growth, while Norway, Mexico, and the UK are seen experiencing the largest declines. OPEC NGLs and non-conventional oils are seen averaging 5.9 mb/d in 2013, indicating an increase of 0.2 mb/d over this year. In June, according to secondary sources, OPEC production is estimated at 31.36 mb/d, a decline of 106 tb/d over the previous month.

Product market sentiment in the Atlantic Basin turned bullish in June, with gasoline strengthening on expectations for tighter supplies amid additional requirements for the driving season. This, along with the drop in crude prices, caused margins to increase in the Atlantic Basin. In Asia, margins continued to be depressed by losses at the top of the barrel, which was due to disappointing naphtha demand from the petrochemical sector and rising supplies in the region.

The tanker market in June saw a generally lower trend. Dirty vessel freight rates for VLCC and Suezmax declined on the back of weak activity and lower tonnage demand, while Aframax spot freight rates increased slightly. Clean spot freight rates decreased compared to the previous month.

OPEC sailings and arrivals declined in June, while OPEC global fixtures rose by 7.7per cent. US commercial oil stocks rose further in June, increasing by 10.8 mb, the highest level since August 2011.

Inventories were 17.0 mb above a year ago and 31.5 mb above the five-year average. The build was attributed mainly to products, which increased by 12.5 mb, while crude fell 1.7 mb. In Japan, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

40

Energy Week

Oil market highlights CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39 most recent monthly data for May shows commercial oil stocks rose a further 6.4 mb, the highest level in a year. The deficit from a year ago fell 0.7per cent from 4.6% in the previous month, while the deficit with the five-year average switched to a surplus of 0.4%.The stock-build was divided between crude and products, which rose 4.0 mb and 2.1 mb, respectively.

Demand for OPEC crude in 2012 remained almost unchanged from the previous assessment at 29.9 mb/d, indicating a decline of 0.1 mb/d compared to the previous year. Based on the initial forecast for world oil demand and non-OPEC supply (including OPEC NGLs and non-conventional oil) for 2013, the demand for OPEC crude next year is projected to decline by 0.3 mb/d to average 29.6 mb/d.

The oil market in 2012 has been strongly impacted by the great uncertainty in the global economy, particularly from the OECD countries, resulting in frequent revisions in world economic growth and consequently global oil demand. These factors are likely to continue into next year, making forecasting oil market developments very challenging.

The world economy is continuing its subdued recovery and prospects remain fragile. In the OECD, the real economy still lacks momentum, while growth levels in the emerging economies remain largely dependent on exports. In the coming year, the world economy is likely to face continuing challenges from Europe’s sovereign debt burden and its weak banking system. The deceleration in the emerging economies and the recent easing in the US recovery, due to persistently high unemployment, are also expected to dampen growth to some degree.

This has led to a world economic growth forecast of 3.2per cent in 2013, slightly lower than the estimate of 3.3per cent for the current year.

OECD is forecast to continue to see slow growth in 2013 at 1.4per cent, the same level as in 2012. This represents only 0.7 percentage points of the global economic growth forecast. In contrast, the non-OECD economies will provide the majority of growth at 2.5 pp, with China forecast at 8.0per cent and India at 6.6per cent.

However, the dependency of emerging economies on exports to the OECD countries, combined with potentially inflated core asset markets – such in housing – and a still relatively low domestic consumption base represent downward risks to the forecast for GDP growth. Further stimulus by BRIC economies may be limited in size and impact, despite existing flexibility in their financial resources.

The economic situation in the MENA region is also expected to decelerate. While economic growth this year is expected at 3.5per cent, in the coming year, growth in the MENA region is forecast to ease to 3.0per cent.

World oil demand is forecast to continue growing by 0.8 mb/d in 2013 to average 89.5 mb/d, representing a decline of 0.1 mb/d from the growth estimate for the current year (Graph 2). The slowdown is expected not only in the OECD – which is projected to see a further contraction of 0.2 mb/d – but also in the non-OECD, where growth is forecast at around 1.0 mb/d.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Marketers distribute 553.50million litres of products

Refinery

STORIES: UDEME AKPAN

T

he major and independent petroleum products marketing companies distributed about 553.50 million litres of various petroleum products in the 36 states and FCT in March 2012. This shows a decrease of 199.37 million litres or 26.48per cent when compared with the total volume distributed in March 2012 (752.87 million litres).

Distribution by product shows, Premium Motor Spirit had the highest figure of 389.06 million litres (70.29%) of the total reflecting average daily sales of 12.97 million litres. This was

followed by Automotive Gas Oil with total sales figure of 76.68 million litres (13.85%) averaging 2.55 million litres per day.

Household Kerosene came third in the petroleum products distribution slate with total figure 57.33 of million litres (10.36%) giving an average daily figure of 1.91 million litres.

Low Pour Fuel (LPFO), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and others constituted the remaining part of the distribution.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) who made this public in its latest report said the products were refined at the nation’s refineries. The plants are located in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Kaduna, Kaduna State and

Warri, Delta State.

The nation’s refineries received a total of 708 thousand mt for processing. It stated that of the volume 452 thousand mt was processed.

The report stated that “The respective average capacity utilization during the month was 37.54per cent, 0.00per cent and 55.97per cent for KRPC, PHRC and WRPC respectively.”

It added that “Total national domestic refining produced 376 thousand mt of finished and intermediate products. PPMC which lifts products from the refineries evacuated 439 thousand mt of products. The chart below captures the comparative products contribution of the refineries.”

However, the new NNPC team stated that it would work hard to step up activities in the Corporation. The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Andrew Yakubu, said that the management team will introduce new business models in all its Strategic Business Units (SBUs) and Corporate Service Units (CSUs).

This is to ensure the commercial viability of the Corporation in order to remain competitive in the global oil and gas industry. The GMD stated that the management team will reposition the NNPC to become a commercially focused

and profit-driven organisation that is governed by best management practices using current technology in its effort to transform the Corporation.

“To ensure early realisation of this objective all SBUs and CSUs must be positioned to pursue and maintain competitive operational and business efficiency, cost effectiveness, input/output optimisation, revenue maximisation and profitability,” the GMD said.

He listed the initiatives to be considered by the new management for immediate approval and implementation to include: New business models and organizational structures for all the SBUs and CSUs such as NNPC Retail Ltd, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and others; capitalise and create profit-oriented SBUs; implement Project Sanction and Approval Procedure (PSAP); and implement performance management based on commercial orientation.

Yakubu said his agenda for the new NNPC will also include focusing on entrenching accountability and transparency, rebuilding NNPC’s financial position, implementing NPDC growth strategy, monetising gas resources for national economic growth and development, revamping critical facilities and infrastructure as well as promoting capacity building, empowerment and staff welfare.

Miner bemoans N700b mining fund diversion JOHN UWE ABUJA

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resident of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Sani Shehu has bemoaned the alleged diversion of the N700billion fund meant for the development of the solid mineral sector.

Shehu regretted in Abuja that N44billion allegedly got missing from the fund in the process of diversion of funds into other uses.

According to him, “about a week ago, the chairman of the Senator Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmed Lawan raised an alarm on the diversion of funds meant for the development of the Nigerian Solid Mineral sector into other unrelated frivolous uses.

“According to the distinguished Senator, over N700billion which would have gone into the development of our vast mineral resources was expended on other uses, with N44billion missing in the process, while the solid minerals sector continued to suffer acute neglect”.

He said the remaining money in the Natural Resources Devel-

opment Resources Fund be released to the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) as take off grant and asked the immediate take-off of the SMDF. According to him, the alleged diversion is criminal, asking the government to check such activities and come out with a distribution formula among the beneficiaries, with solid minerals sector having the lion share owing to its huge potentials and huge development capital.

Shehu called on government to put in place a legal framework by issuing the regulations for the administration and management of the fund to ensure strict compliance.

He explained that besides the disclosure by the Senate, the association had noticed the discrimination in budgetary allocations to the solid mineral sector in favour of other non-oil sectors such as agriculture, water resources and the tourism.

Shehu lamented that in the “2012 budget N289.77billion was earmarked for agriculture, N39billion for water resources, only N14.90billion was allocated to the

Lawan

solid minerals sector”.

According to him, agriculture and water resources have also “benefited substantially from the Resource s Intervention Fund whereas the Senate investigation revealed that no single solid minerals project was funded by the intervention”.

According to him, “abject neglect of the sector since the oil boom era is largely to blame for

our social economic woes including the current security crisis.

The adage that the devil finds job for the idle stands out clearly.”

He said that minerals endowment is spread nationwide and its development will create jobs, engender infrastructural development in rural areas, and lead to acquisition of technical and management skills by Nigerians.

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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42

Executive Discourse

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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Fraudulent private placement creates credibility Chief Responsibility Officer of Value Investing Limited and the convener of Capital Market Roundtable in Nigeria, Mr. Seye Adetunmbi speaks on the ongoing recruitment of new market operators, implication of unceremonious exist of capital market regulators and expectations from the probe in this interview with JOHNSON OKANLAWON. Excerpts: What is your take on the second coming of Aliko Dangote as President of the Nigeria Stock Exchange and what innovation do you think he can bring to the capital market to restore investors’ confidence?

Dangote is a good and a unique brand. Any rational nation blessed with someone with that kind of profile would flaunt him, be it in a developed or developing economy. In a sane clime, you put your right step forward by showcasing your best and certainly not wannabes. Thus, the coming back of Dangote is mutually beneficial and complementary for the Nigerian capital market and Dangote’s business empire.

What is your expectation from the new Acting Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission, Bolaji Bello?

The profile of the acting Director General of SEC is the type I have always favoured to manage affairs of the market. He has worked in the private sector in one of the banks and as a dealing Clerk of the Nigerian Stock Exchange before joining SEC where he must have put over 10 years, rising through the ranks. I can only wish him all the best on the new assignment while it lasts.

Don’t you think the frequent changes of management of SEC, NSE may have negative effect on the market?

No doubt, it sends wrong signals to the market place that we have not got our acts together. The dust is barely settling down over the unceremonious exit of the erstwhile Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange before the SEC probe arose. This has graduated to sending the SEC’s director general on compulsory leave.

Anyway, with this development, coupled with the information going round that recruitment to some senior offices is going on; I put it to the stakeholders that to what extent has the market operators positioned themselves to ensure that as many tested and trusted professionals as possible are part of the recruitment process?

Information about any recruitment to senior management positions within the regulatory bodies should be made public for qualified and applicable capital market operators to apply for the openings appropriately. Well meaning operators should encourage tested professional capital market practitioners to show interest in the senior management positions in SEC and similar institutions with related responsibility to the market.

I have always been of the opinion that until our market is consistently managed by us (I mean we that rose through the ranks in the market operations over the years); the fortune of the market may not improve as desired.

When people who don’t know where we are coming from take charge and manage our affairs, we may not make much progress. If the market operators truly believe in this market, they have to be involved. The time to seize the moment is now.

What do you think is the problem facing the market considering its failure to recover since the meltdown?

The scar is there and the effect is still biting hard.

Activities have not picked up as much as stakeholders had wished. Fall outs from the meltdown are still rearing its ugly head. For instance, the various private placements that people put money into which turned out be a kind of scam or a rip-off are giving

Adetunmbi

INFORMATION ABOUT ANY RECRUITMENT TO SENIOR MANAGEMENT POSITIONS WITHIN THE REGULATORY BODIES SHOULD BE MADE PUBLIC FOR QUALIFIED AND APPLICABLE CAPITAL MARKET OPERATORS TO APPLY FOR THE OPENINGS APPROPRIATELY the market credibility problem. Issue of confidence in the market is thus brought into perspective. This is why everyone remotely connected with any deliberate act to defraud the unsuspecting investors should be dealt with accordingly.

There are very few new entrants into the market, while the existing firms are thinning out operationally and in numbers. Any hope at the moment?

Of course, there is hope in the challenging situation; otherwise no operator would have been left in the market. The reality is that the era of questionable rally and abnormal bubbling market may have gone for good! The market is still on the course of restoration which will take time. However, in the

midst of it all, those who have the resources and are discerning may still take advantage of measured opportunities in the market with medium and long term horizon in view.

What’s your advice to investors?

Investors should face the reality of the challenging season and don’t give up on the market completely. They should look beyond the past portfolio that went bad. Discerning investors should still follow developments in the market and take advantage of arising opportunities. It takes investors who have not given up identifying opportunities and seizing it appropriately.

Would the probe have any effect on the market?

It is no doubt that negative vibes and signals have been sent to the market place that we have not got our acts together. We are yet to get over the ripples of the bubble burst in the stock market before the SEC probe set-in. This has resulted to having an acting Director-General after sending the DG on a compulsory leave.

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently gave guidelines on securities lending, which is billed to commence in last quarter of 2012 on NSE, is it appropriate for the market in this period and what are the demerits considering happenings in the market?

Whatever legitimate approach and any tested model that suits the reality of the structure of our

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Executive Discourse

43

problem for the capital market, says Adetunmbi GOVERNMENT SHOULD AVOID

market is a welcome development. However, past mistakes must be avoided in the implementation process. Solution should be driven by what will benefit the market and not about helping out those responsible for the distress in the first place without disciplining those who have erred criminally.

MAKING THE SAME MISTAKE ON THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SUBSTANTIVE HEAD OF

SEC. WE HAVE A LOT OF

What roles do you expect market makers to play when securities lending begins on NSE? Market makers play strategic role of having the capacity to take out excesses capable of causing or resulting to glut or upset in the market. Their role can be related to what is called staging in the capital market whereby institutional investors would have access to initial public offerings (IPO) at a relatively negotiated offer price. This would be sold to willing investors at a margin through the secondary market window when the market can accommodate it.

The challenge of this is the volume of toxic assets out there. This puts the capacity required of the market makers to be tasking.

What are your expectations from the capital market probe?

I don’t see it having any immediate positive impact on the market. Those who have scores to settle are the immediate beneficiaries.

There is need to stabilise on fundamental policy issues and manage market regulatory affairs responsibly. In essence, the recent probe in the capital market and the fall-out from the manner the Director General of SEC had to go on a compulsory leave is neither complimentary nor portends good image for the market.

The negative side of the probe is embedded in the uncomplimentary message sent to the investing community.

For instance, recent reports have shown that the exit of foreign investors from the Nigerian bond and equity markets in recent times, which has resulted in consistent drop in activities in the market. The foreign investors are institutional players with set investment objectives and motives. They review their portfolios from time to time and monitor performance as well as opportunities in other climes or markets. Thus, they may be exiting in line with their investment policy and portfolio management objectives to meet up with legal obligations or explore an alternative high yield investment win-

COMPETENT HANDS WHO CAN DO THE JOB vestors play “cat and dog”, then, little hope left in market is bungled. Discerning investors will seek other windows of investment opportunities.

The aviation sector is on the front burner at the moment, especially with the recent Dana Airline crash; what is your take on the regulation of the industry and the recent crash?

Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well. Most especially about a service that involves human lives. For God’s sake, when corruption doesn’t respect sacredness of human lives it is dangerous for the nation. Things just have to be done properly. Sack bad workers, identify those who took bribe which has resulted to an unsafe air space and deal with them decisively.

What is your view on the future of the industry?

Nigeria is a huge economy which should make the sector thrive well if things are done properly. No matter how plenty a resource could be, if such is not structurally managed, it becomes a liability. What the future portends for the industry depends on how the affairs are managed now.

dow among other considerations such as perhaps lack of confidence in the market.

What is the way forward for the market in your opinion?

Government should avoid making the same mistake on the appointment of the substantive head of SEC. We have a lot of competent hands who can do the job. They should carry along as many well meaning operators as possible. Operators know themselves, those who are honourable and those that are not. Do background check before placement of anyone.

Nevertheless, this development creates an opportunity to reconstitute the board/council and bring on board of the top management team, new tested operators of integrity with fresh perspective.

Take queue from the CBN whereby career bankers who have worked in the commercial banking sector and have managed banks were brought into the system.

Thus, conscious effort should be made to depart from the old way of going about the appointments which has failed the market. Otherwise, we continue to get the same result if the status quo is allowed to stay and keep doing the same thing.

What could be done to increase the level of confidence of local investors in the Nigerian market to ensure that they patronise the market more?

It is high time the market moved away from inconsistencies and send out consistent signal to the investing public that we are on top of our situation.

This will be evident in the professional and proficient manner our market is managed. When those who are supposed to work together in educating in-

What effect do you believe the insecurity in the country will have on transportation, stock trading, governance and the entire country as a corporate entity?

Security of life and property is key for any nation to make a measurable progress. This can never be over emphasised. Thus, macro managing the national security issue is strategic. No foreign investor will be comfortable with an investment destination characterised by security challenges. Thus, whatever negative image Nigeria has takes its toll on all the strategic sectors of the economy in one way or the other.

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Global Business

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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US stock futures rise before Bernanke’s testimony

U

nited States stock futures rose, signaling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rebound from its seventh drop in eight days, amid bets Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will hint at more stimulus during testimony to Congress.

Goldman Sachs Group rose 1.8 percent after reporting second-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates and selling its hedge-fund administration unit to State Street Corporation Bank of America Corperation. (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. climbed at least 0.5 percent. Yahoo Inc. advanced 1.9 percent after the company that owns the biggest U.S. web-portal named Marissa Mayer as chief executive officer.

U.S. stock futures rose, signaling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rebound from its seventh drop in eight days, as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s testimony to Congress on the economy.

S&P 500 futures expiring in September gained 0.5 percent to 1,353.5 as of 8:13 a.m. in New York. The U.S. equity benchmark lost 0.2 percent yesterday. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 51 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,699 today.

“Stocks are being helped by expectations about Bernanke’s testimony to Congress later today,” said Jakup Petur Baerentsen, a chief equity adviser at Nordea Private Bank in Copenhagen. “Investors are speculating if he’ll hint a third round of quantitative easing” Bernanke will deliver his semi-annual report on the economy and monetary policy before Congress today, after data showing a contraction in June retail sales kindled speculation the Fed will introduce more measures to support the world’s largest economy.

Minutes from the Fed’s June meeting, released on July 11, showed that two participants supported additional bond purchases, Ben S. Bernanke while two others said only a further deterio- for the U.S., which measures how much ration in the economy would warrant them. data from the past three months is beating The cost of living in the U.S. probably or missing the median estimates in Bloomwas little changed in June, economists said berg surveys, is at minus 64, near the almost before a report from the Labor Department 11-month low of minus 64.9 reached last at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. week. The gauge peaked at 91.9 in January.

Fed figures may show industrial producEarnings beat estimates at 30 of the 42 tion increased 0.3 percent in June after a 0.1 companies in the S&P 500 that have reportpercent drop the prior month, according to ed quarterly results so far, data compiled by the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Bloomberg showed.

The Citigroup Economic Surprise Index Goldman Sachs climbed 1.8 percent to

J&J cuts forecast after reporting drop in second-quarter profit

J

ohnson & Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of health-care products, lowered its 2012 forecast on unfavorable foreign-exchange rates.

Second-quarter net income fell 49 percent to $1.4 billion, or 50 cents a share, on acqusition related charges, the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company said today in a statement. Profit excluding some items beat by 1 cent the $1.29 a share average of 21 analyst estimates compiled

by Bloomberg.

Sales fell 0.7 percent to $16.5 billion, the company said. Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky, who took over in April, has been working to boost revenue hurt by recalls of at least 50 products over two

years. Generic competition to some of its top-selling drugs has also cut into sales.

Analysts said they had been looking for Gorsky to move the company past those issues and start growing sales in the second half of the year.

Gorsky “should bring a new level of energy and focus to J&J,” said Michael Weinstein, an analyst with JPMorgan Chase & Co., in a note to clients. “He’s passionate about J&J and committed to better quality, better execution and accelerating growth through innovation and investments, both internal and external to J&J.” The company lowered its 2012 forecast to $5 to $5.07 a share, excluding one-time items, from $5.07 to $5.17.

Coca-Cola profit tops estimates after higher pricing

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oca-Cola Company, the world’s largest soft-drink maker, reported secondquarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, helped by pricing increases in North America late last year.

Net income was little changed at $2.79 billion, or $1.21 a share, compared with $2.8 billion, or $1.20, a year earlier, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said in a statement. Excluding some items, profit totaled $1.22 a share. Analysts projected $1.19, the average of 14 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent raised pricing last year to help recoup higher costs for ingredients such as sweeteners and plastic for bottles. Pricing rose 3 percent in the second quarter, helped by a 5 percent jump in soft drink pricing in North America.

“We see profitability improving in N. America from better pricing and abating commodity costs,” Judy Hong, an analyst

Chief Executive Officer, Muhtar Kent

for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York, said in a July 11 research note.

She recommends buying the shares.

Coca-Cola rose 1.5 percent to $77.59 at 8:33 a.m. in New York. Before today, the shares had gained 9.3 percent this year.

$99.40. The fifth- biggest U.S. bank by assets reported an 11 percent drop in earnings that beat analysts’ estimates on trading even as first- half revenue fell to the lowest since 2005. State Street Corporation, the thirdlargest custody bank, bought Goldman’s hedge-fund administration unit for $550 million.

JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank, rose 0.5 percent to $35.25, while Bank of America, the second-biggest, advanced 1 percent to $7.89.

Yahoo rallied 1.9 percent to $15.95 after the company appointed Mayer as its fifth CEO in four years as it seeks to stem user defections and market-share losses that have contributed to three years of revenue declines.

Mattel jumped 6.3 percent to $33 after reporting second-quarter profit was 28 cents a share, exceeding the average analyst estimate by 7 cents.

Mosaic climbed 2.9 percent to $57. The second most- valuable North American fertilizer producer doubled its dividend and posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates after an extended spring season.

Goldman Sachs profit falls 11%, beating estimates

G

oldman Sachs Group, the fifth- biggest United States bank by assets, reported second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates on higher asset-management revenue and a gain from the firm’s own investments.

Net income slid 11 percent to $962 million, or $1.78 a share, from $1.09 billion, or $1.85, a year earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Earnings surpassed the highest estimate among 25 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein, who has run the company for six years, said last month that the slowdown is a temporary reaction to the financial crisis and that emerging markets will generate most of his firm’s growth.

Erik Schatzker digs deeper into Goldman Sachs Group results as the company reported an 11 percent drop in earnings that beat analysts’ estimates on trading even as firsthalf revenue fell to the lowest since 2005.

Goldman Sachs’s second-quarter revenue from asset management rose 5 percent to $1.33 billion, exceeding the $1.18 billion average estimate of seven analysts. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein, 57, who has run the company for six years, last month blamed a temporary reaction to the financial crisis for a slowdown that reduced Goldman Sachs’s first-half revenue to the lowest since 2005.

“The markets are challenged pretty much across the board,” William Fitzpatrick, a Milwaukee-based analyst at Manulife Asset Management, which has about $800 million under management including Goldman Sachs shares, said before the results were released. “I would be surprised if we didn’t hear about continued cost reductions.”

The bank said yesterday it’s “in the process of implementing additional expensereduction initiatives.”

Goldman Sachs climbed to $99.80 in New York trading from $97.68 at the close yes-

Blankfein

terday. The stock is up 8 percent this year through yesterday and down 24 percent from a $128.07 peak on March 26. The company bought back $1.5 billion of shares during the quarter, it said yesterday.

Investing & Lending, the segment that includes Goldman Sachs’s profits and losses from its stakes in private-equity and hedge funds as well as from companies such as Facebook Incoporated and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., produced a $203 million gain in the second quarter, down from a $1.04 billion gain a year earlier. The estimates of seven analysts polled by Bloomberg ranged from a $700 million loss to a $200 million gain.

In Facebook’s initial public offering in May, Goldman Sachs sold 6.18 million of the 14.2 million shares it owns for its own account as well as 22.5 million of the 51.7 million shares held in funds managed for clients, according to the Facebook prospectus. After being sold at $38 apiece in the IPO, which Goldman Sachs helped to manage, Facebook shares have dropped, closing yesterday at $28.245.

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Global Business

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

A

ttorneys general in at least five states are conducting investigations tied to alleged manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, adding to probes by United States. and United Kingdom. authorities.

The probes by New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida and Maryland are in different stages, according to the states. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and George Jepsen in Connecticut are working together, and Massachusetts is talking with other states about possible coordination.

“The New York and Connecticut attorneys general have been looking into these issues for over six months, and will continue to follow the facts wherever they lead,” James Freedland, a spokesman for Schneiderman, said July 15 in an e-mail.

Barclays Plc, Britain’s second-biggest bank by assets, last month was fined 290 million pounds ($453 million) for submitting false rates for Libor, a benchmark interest rate for financial products valued at $360 trillion. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, UBS AG, Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Deutsche Bank

45

Libor manipulation probed by five US states AG are among lenders facing inquiries over alleged rigging of Libor.

Barclays traders who allegedly manipulated rates from 2005 to 2007 may be charged by U.S. prosecutors before Labor Day, Sept. 3, according to a person familiar with the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation. The scandal led to the resignation of Robert Diamond as the bank’s chief executive officer.

New York and Connecticut are investigating whether the states incurred losses as the result of manipulation, according to Schneiderman’s office.

Jaclyn Falkowski, a spokeswoman for Jepsen, said the states are investigating “with the goal of providing restitution to state agencies, municipalities, school districts and not-for-profit entities nationwide that may have been harmed by any illegal conduct.”

Massachusetts is looking into the effect on state investments and is working with state agencies and municipalities, said Brad Puffer, a spokesman for Attorney General Martha Coakley. Mas-

Schneiderman

sachusetts is talking with other states about the possibility of working together. Puffer declined to name the states.

“We are currently investigating the serious allegations around the manipu-

lation of the Libor and working diligently to determine what, if any, impact it may have on Massachusetts investments,” he said in an e-mailed statement.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is “reviewing the matter,” spokeswoman Jenn Meale said. The inquiry isn’t a formal investigation, she said. Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler is “looking into” the allegations, spokesman David Paulson said.

Meale and Paulson declined to comment further.

Declines in interest rates have left state and municipal governments that sold debt with variable rates mired in swaps they can’t afford to unwind because of high penalty rates.

The penalties are tied to Libor and other indexes that have fallen to near historic lows since the financial crisis that began in 2007, forcing at least $4 billion of payments to end the agreements, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Thailand’s TCC to bid for OCBC’s German stocks rise on fed stimulus speculation, BMW rises beverage stakes

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F

oreign direct investment in China fell for a sixth month in April, the longest stretch of declines since the global financial crisis, amid renewed turmoil in financial markets.

Inbound investment dropped 0.7 percent from a year earlier to $8.4 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday in Beijing. That compares with a 6.1 percent drop in March.

This data underscores the risk of a deeper slowdown in China after April export and import gains missed estimates and industrial output growth was the slowest since 2009. China cut banks’ reserve requirements on May 12 to spur lending and arrest the deterioration, with UBS AG and Bank of America Corporation. lowering their second-quarter and full-year growth estimates.

“Trade data was bad, production data last week was bad, and this time FDI is also pointing to the same direction,” Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist with Nomura Holdings Inc. in Hong Kong, said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday. The reports show a “very weak economy at this moment,” with chances of an interest-rate cut rising though “still below 50 percent,” Zhang said.

The yuan fell against the dollar for the seventh time in eight days, slipping 0.02 percent to 6.3225. in Shanghai. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of stocks dropped 0.9 percent at 1:31 p.m. in Tokyo.

The estimates of five analysts in a Bloomberg News survey on foreign investment ranged from a gain of 8.2 percent to a drop of 3 percent.

Foreign direct investment in the first four months fell 2.4 percent from a year earlier to $37.9 billion after a previously reported 2.8 percent decline in the first quarter and a 26 percent jump a year ago.

FDI rose 9.7 percent in 2011 to $116 billion, according to Commerce Ministry data.

Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen

Danyang

Danyang said yesterday that authorities are “prudently optimistic” about the outlook for foreign investment, which has dropped partly because of the lackluster global economy. He said he’s “neither optimistic nor pessimistic” on trade.

erman stocks advanced for a third day on speculation U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will signal further stimulus during his semi-annual testimony to Congress yesterday. Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG gained after a report showed German car sales rose in the first half of 2012. Deutsche Boerse AG lost 0.5 percent after analysts at Commerzbank AG and DZ Bank AG reduced their estimates on the share price.

The DAX Index added 0.5 percent to 6,595.66 at 2:59 p.m. in Frankfurt. The index has climbed 10 percent from its 2012 low on June 5 as Greece formed a new government and European Union leaders agreed to directly recapitalize Spanish banks using the euro area’s permanent bailout fund. The broader HDAX Index advanced 0.4 percent yesterday.

“Markets continue to pin their hopes on easier monetary policy as a means to avert a slowing economic environment,” said Michael Hewson, a market analyst at CMC Markets U.K. Plc in London. “In the U.S., yesterday’s disappointing retail sales numbers for June have once again

International demand for United States assets rises on Europe crisis

I

nternational demand for U.S. financial assets rose in May as investors sought shelter from the debt crisis in Europe.

Net buying of long-term equities, notes and bonds totaled $55 billion during the month, compared with net purchases of $27.2 billion in April, the Treasury Department said yesterday in Washington. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected net buying of $41.3 billion of long-term assets, according to the median estimate.

Including short-term securities such as stock swaps, foreigners bought a net $101.7 billion in May, compared with net

selling of $8.2 billion the previous month.

“The euro zone troubles had not yet reached their zenith in May and the dollar’s surge against the euro is a sign that global investors shifted assets into the safe haven of U.S. Treasuries and other securities,” Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said by e-mail before yesterday’s report. “The U.S. despite its slower economic growth remains an oasis of safety for investors seeking to keep their portfolio’s free from danger.”

U.S. assets have maintained their attraction as European Union leaders grapple with a financial crisis that has

raised questions about the likelihood of further easing from the Fed.” Bernanke will deliver his semi-annual report on the economy and monetary policy before Congress. A release yesterday showed retail sales contracted in June, boosting speculation the Fed will add more measures to support the world’s largest economy.

Minutes from the Fed’s June meeting, released on July 11, showed that two participants supported additional bond purchases, while two others said only a further deterioration in the economy would warrant them.

German investor confidence declined for a third month in July as the euro area’s debt crisis and the cooling global economy dimmed the economic outlook.

The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor and analyst expectations, which aims to predict economic developments six months in advance, fell to minus 19.6 from minus 16.9 in June.

Economists forecast a drop to minus 20, according to the median of 38 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.

pushed up Italian borrowing costs while the euro area bails out Spanish banks.

China’s growth slowed for a sixth quarter to the weakest pace since the global financial crisis, while the International Monetary Fund said the world economy will increase 3.9 percent next year, down from 4.1 percent projected in April.

Estimates of foreign purchases of long-term U.S. assets in May ranged from net buying of $5 billion to $50 billion, according to four economists surveyed by Bloomberg before the report.

“A flight to safe assets led to a collapse of yields on government bonds in the U.S., Germany, and Switzerland, and pushed the dollar to a 20 month high against major currencies,” the IMF said yesterday in a report on global financial stability.

46

Capital Market

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Minister, NSE woo investors on agric JOHNSON OKANLAWON

T

he Minister of Agiculture, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema has urged investors to embrace opportunities in the agricultural sector of the economy.

Speaking at a dinner for agricultureal sector companies in Lagos, they noted that agriculture contributed 40.21 per cent of Gross Domestic Product in the country in 2011, hence the need for investors to harness the untapped opportunities.

The dinner was part of the NSE initiatives to add value and create an avenue for prospects to interact with listed companies and key influencers within the same sector.

According to Akinwunmi, agriculture has a greater potential to unlock the economic potential in the country if harnessed.

He noted that the country has 84 million arable lands, but it’s currently not cultivating more than 40 per cent and using 10 per cent of water resources for agriculture.

The Minister pointed out that the country imports N356bn value of rice annually, but said that the rice being imported was between 10 to 15 years old.

“Cargo planes are coming into the country with loads of goods, but nothing to carry back due to low productivity of Nigerians in the agric sector,” he added.

The CEO of the Exchange said that agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of employment in the country, but added only five

companies are listed in the agricultural sector of the capital market, contributing 0.5 per cent of the market capitalisation.

Onyema explained that the capital market provides a good avenue for companies to raise funds and boost their operations apart from other benefits.

According to him, companies operating in the agric sector should tap into these opportunities in the capital market.

He said for now only five companies are listed in the agric sector of the exchange, saying those yet to list should no longer delay because they stand to enjoy many benefits.

Onyema noted that as Nigeria’s agricultural sector grows, the capital market is the right platform to raise capital towards this growth and expansion. He said the review of the exchange’s

listing requirements was to make room for small firms with growth potential to access the market for funds.

The NSE boss hinted that strategies have been put in place by the exchange to offer listed companies value-added services, geared towards providing transparency, and helping companies maximise value for shareholders.

“Such services cover the areas of corporate governance, investor relation, institutional services, analyst coverage and corporate access. We look forward to sustained recovery in the capital market as it continues to be reformed and strengthened.

“We want to ensure that all of your companies, listed or prospective realise the value of listing on The Exchange, and indeed for a such as this are vital in that effort,” he said.

Indicies rise further by 0.27% on banking sector rally

I

nvestors’ appetite on mostly baking stocks continued on the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday, lifting the benchmark indicies further.

The banking sector rally increased the All Share Index by 0.27 per cent to close at 23,039.27 points, compared to the rise by 1.04 per cent the preceding day to close at 22,978.14 points.

Market capitalisation appreciated by N19bn to close at N7.35trn, lower that the increase by N76bn recorded the preceding day to close at N7.34trn.

The banking sectorial index added 0.72 per cent to close at 355.53 points, followed by the NSE-30 index with 0.47 per cent to close at 1,074.42 points.

The consumer goods index increased by 0.39 per cent to close at 1,872.82 points, while the oil and gas index rose by 0.14 per cent to close at 177.03 points. The insurance index dropped by 0.42 per cent to close at 129.50 points.

Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc led the gainers table with N2.00 or 3.77 per cent to close at N55.00 per

share, followed by CAP Plc with 96 kobo or 4.15 per cent to close at N24.10 per share.

Total Nigeria Plc gained 50 kobo or 0.38 per cent to close at N130.50 per share, while Cadbury Nigeria Plc rose by 30 kobo or 2.10 per cent to close at N14.60 per share. Guaranty Trust Bank Plc appreciated by 29 kobo or 1.74 per cent to close at N17.00 per share.

On the flip side, ARBICO Plc lost N1.05 or 4.96 per cent to close at N20.14 per share, while Cement Company of Northern

Courteville posts N245m profit JOHNSON OKANLAWON

C

ourteville Business Solutions Plc has declatred a profit after tax of N245.4bn for the financial year ended December 31, 2011, an increase by 36.7 per cent when compared to N179.4m recorded in the same period of 2010.

Profit before tax rose from N231.1m in 2010 to N303.635m in 2011 end, an increase by 31.4 per cent, while the turnover increased from N627.7m in 2010, to N855.6m in 2011, Speaking at the company Annual General Meeting in Lagos yesterday, the Group Managing Director,

Mr. Bola Akindele, said conservatism has helped the company to achieve the profit recorded in the review period.

According to him, the company has not been too extravagant in spending money in getting the business done.

He said, “We have just tried to maintain the status of being reasonable in the way we conduct our business. We will pay dividend according to the profit made by the company, we will also consider the position of the company’s balance sheet at the end of each financial year before proposing any dividend.”

Akindele explained that

the company will not borrow to pay dividend, but rather do so within the profit available to it.

He added that with time enhanced dividend will be paid considering the company’s performance and as the country’s economic situation improves.

“When the economy and business of Courteville improves, then investors will be rewarded with better dividends” he said.

The shareholders approved five Kobo dividend and the company has consistently paid dividends since 2008 when it got lised.

The National Coordi-

Nigeria Plc declined by 24 kobo or 4.86 per cent to close at N4.70 per share.

Vitafoam Plc dropped by 16 kobo or 4.86 per cent to close at N3.13 per share, while May and Baker Plc dipped by eight kobo or 4.65 per cent to close at N1.64 per share. Access Bank Plc depreciated by 37 kobo or 4.64 per cent to close at N7.60 per share.

A total of 414 million shares worth N3.07bn were exchanged in 5,375 deals, compared to 270.48 million shares valued at N1.34bn traded in 4,129 deals the preceding day. nator Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sunny Nwosu, commended the company for consistently rewarding investors.

“I am happy about their policy that something goes to the shareholders. But I am beginning to be very uncomfortable about it because it’s becoming too conservative; extra one kobo every year, they should try and increase it,” he said.

He advised the company to review their dividend policy in order to endear the company to shareholders.

Nwosu urged the company to reward shareholders then with bonus shares, apart from the cash dividend.

Source: NSE

Source: Afrinvest

Market indicators All-Share Index 23,039.27 points Market capitalisation 7,354 trillion

Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

FLOURMIL

53.00

55.00

2.00

CAP

23.14

24.10

0.96

TOTAL

130.00

130.50

0.50

CADBURY

14.30

14.60

0.30

GUARANTY

16.71

17.00

0.29

UBA

4.53

4.75

0.22

NB

112.00

112.20

0.20

FIRSTBANK

11.54

11.73

0.19

ASHAKACM

9.10

9.25

0.15

ETERNA

2.63

2.76

0.13

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

ARBICO

21.19

20.14

WAPCO

43.50

43.00

1.05 0.50

ACCESS

7.97

7.60

0.37

CCNN

4.94

4.70

0.24

UBN

4.42

4.24

0.18

VITAFOAM

3.29

3.13

0.16

UAC-PROP

10.00

9.89

0.11

NASCON

4.70

4.60

0.10

NAHCO

6.00

5.90

0.10

MAYBAKER

1.72

1.64

0.08

Primary Market Auction TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

RATE (%)

DATE

91-Day

30,159.21

14.00

12-Jul-12

182 Days

14,412.00

16.99

12-Jul-12

364 -Day

-

-

-

Open Market Operations TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

RATE (%)

DATE

42-DAY

1,831.55

13.25

2-Jul-12

41-DAY

14.29

13.24

2-Jul-12

Wholesale Dutch Auction System AMOUNT OFFERED

MARKET DEMAND

AMOUNT SOLD

DATE

$200m

N/A

$200m

16-Jul-12

$180m

N/A

$180m

11-Jul-12

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Capital Market

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

47

Stock exchange daily equities summary Equities as at July 17, 2012 1st Tier Securities Sector

1st Tier Securities

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48

Cocktail

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Oddities

Doctor duped by dog X-ray in sting operation

I

nvestigators say a Southern California doctor saw enough from an X-ray to prescribe pain killers to an undercover cop but missed the tail showing it was an image of a dog.

Police and Los Angeles County deputies on Thursday raided the Glendora urgent care clinic of 69-year-old Dr. Rolando Lodevico Atiga after a two-month investigation that included three undercover deputies posing as patients.

One of the undercover deputies showed Atiga an X-ray to prove she needed pain killers. The scan of her German shepherd clearly shows the dog’s tail.

The Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/Nqk2NA ) reports Atiga examined the X-ray and asked if she wanted Vicodin, oxycodone, Valium or Xanax.

Glendora police Capt.

Timothy Staab says Atiga is well known among drug addicts and was considered the doctor to go to.

Two-faced kitten dies; had 4 eyes, 24 toes

A

kitten with two faces born days ago in Rhode Island has died.

His name was Gemini.

He had four eyes, two noses, two mouths, two ears and 24 toes — seven on each front paw and five each on the back.

WJAR-TV reports (http://bit.ly/NGYE7g) Gemini died Friday. He was one of five kittens in his litter. He was tiny enough to

fit in the palm of a hand.

His owners in Providence say he had two tracheas going into one throat. They fed him by bottle because he ate very slowly.

Veterinarian Ernest Finocchio (fin-OH’-kee-oh) is president of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He says he’d never seen such a kitten. He says it could’ve been twins that didn’t separate properly.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Image of ‘Virgin Mary’ forms in tree

H

undreds of people are flocking to a New Jersey city to see what they say appears to be the likeness of the Virgin Mary that has formed in a tree.

The image formed on a tree trunk near the intersection of 60th Street and Bergenline Avenue in West New York, The Jersey Journal, Jersey City, N.J., reported.

Angie Maticorena went to see the picture of the Virgin Mary Thursday, but said she couldn’t get too close, because of the crowd.

Angus Kennedy from Long Island, but was in West New York for work, said he got goose bumps from looking at the image.

“It’s really cool,” Kennedy said. “As you keep looking at it, you start to feel something.”

Yet, not everyone is sure what to make of it.

“I think [it’s special if] they believe in [the Virgin of] Guadalupe,” said Gerardo Gaspor of West New York.

Gaspor said he is not very religious and thought the image was “nothing special.”

The image of the Virgin Mary appearing in a tree in West New York.

PHOTO: NEW JERSEY JOURNAL

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

49

Community Mirror Fire razes houses in Port Harcourt

“In as much as we need to take proactive safety measures in the aviation sector, we can’t just jump into conclusion that our air space is unsafe.

50

SECOND REPUBLIC VICE PRESIDENT, DR. ALEX EKWUEME

Fake drug manufacturer bags two-year jail term

Man beheaded in Ilorin

NWABUEZE OKONKWO

WOLE ADEDEJI

A

A

ONITSHA

Federal High Court sitting in Awka, Anambra State, presided over by Justice Peter Olayiwola has convicted a 42-year-old fake drug manufacturer, Peter Otuome to two years imprisonment with hard labour.

In his judgment shortly after hearing from both the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC prosecuting counsel, Kingsley Ejiofor and the defence counsel, Emmanuel Obidimma, Justice Olayiwola regretted that some people are still producing and selling fake drugs to innocent public, thereby endangering human lives in the name of money making.

The judge, who lamented that the society is already in danger because of the activities of fake drugs producers, observed that about 30 percent of fake drugs are produced and distributed in Onitsha alone while the remaining 70 percent are distributed in other parts of the country.

Reacting to the judgment, Ejiofor who is NAFDAC’s head of legal department, Abuja, stated that although the two-year jail term handed to Otuome out of the 15 years prescribed by NAFDAC law is very small, it serves good for a start.

The prosecution counsel reiterated NAFDAC’s determination to continue to fight fake drugs/ products to a standstill, pointing out that if it were in the developed countries of the world, the culprits would have earned death penalty for such offences.

ILORIN

n unknown man in his late twenties was, at the weekend, found killed along Asa Dam Road in Ilorin, Kwara State capital with his head severed from the body.

Residents of the area where the body was found told Community Mirror that they suddenly discovered the body by the road side around 8pm on Saturday in a dark, desolate spot.

It was said that some pedestrians who were hurrying home on

the faithful day discovered the headless body with the aid of reflections from passing vehicles and raised the alarm.

However, out of fears that overzealous security agents might subsequently descend on the innocent residents in the area, shops within the vicinity, homes and commercial motorcyclists whose park was located a little distance away, were said to have been forced to hurriedly close for the day.

The state of fears in the area, according to sources, made the lifeless body remain at the spot till Sunday morning when policemen

came to remove it.

When contacted, officers at Adewole Divisional Police Headquarters under which jurisdiction the area falls confirmed the incident.

They said initial investigation points to a case of an accident involving a runaway driver and a pedestrian.

An officer at the police station who would not want to be quoted because his Divisional Police Officer (DPO) was not around, told Community Mirror that police suspected the deceased might be a lunatic who ran into a moving vehicle on the highway.

Flooded Ijoko Road, Sango Otta, Ogun State after Sunday’s heavy rainfall.

Also, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO),Olufemi Fabode (DSP) when contacted at the police headquarters in Ilorin said it must be a case of a hit-and-run driver killing a pedestrian He confirmed that police officers from the station have removed the deceased body and deposited it at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, adding that police are still waiting for any report of a missing person, even as he encouraged anyone whose relative is missing to make formal report and come for possible identification of the body.

PHOTO: AJAGBE TESLIM

Foundation sets to tackle poverty UDEME AKPAN

A

n indigenous foundation has expressed its commitment to tackling poverty in the country.

Olumide Emmanuel Foundation (OEF), which just marked its second anniversary with a documentary video that showed a display of its activities from inception, emphasised that it is committed to its avowed mission of poverty eradication in the country.

The founder of OEF, Mr. Olumide Emmanuel, stated that OEF, which was inaugurated on May 22, 2010, has a goal of being an instrument of change, to assist the world in poverty eradication and establish a positive legacy for others to follow through its seven-point agenda.

OEF’s seven-point agenda, according to him, include feeding the poor, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, educating the uneducated, supporting the sick, empowering the poor, investing for funding.

Emmanuel said: “OEF is on the journey of making a difference as we celebrate the second year anniversary and moving into the third year. In the first two years of its existence, the Foundation has been able to execute many projects in the country.”

These, including an economic empowerment programme with the Dwarf Association of Nigeria (DAN), where some of them were given financial aids to establish their businesses, skill acquisition programme, provi-

sion of financial assistance to a kidney patient; and an optical surgery operation for aged.”

One of the beneficiaries who pleaded anonymity said OEF is an instrument in the hand of the Creator, God, to assist the world in poverty alleviation and establish a positive legacy for others to follow.

At the celebration of the World Food Day and World Poverty Eradication Day, the Foundation distributed relief materials like clothes, shoes and food, which were donated by well wish-

ing Nigerians who believe in the mission of the Foundation.

The Foundation also sponsored an Inter-School debate held in Ogun State where three schools were beneficiaries of prizes from the Foundation; provided free medical outreach programme to patients and residents of Gowon Estate, Egbeda, Lagos; and organised a free selfempowerment workshop in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State for commercial motorcyclists where 10 motorcycles were given out.

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Community Mirror

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Fire razes houses in Port Harcourt CHINEDUM EMEANA PORT HARCOURT

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till smarting from the tanker fire incident that has claimed over 100 lives so far at Ahoada, the people of Rivers State woke up on Monday morning to the rage of another inferno at Elechi Beach Waterfront which razed sev-

eral houses and destroyed property valued in millions.

The fire which started around 6.00am, caught many residents unaware, but no live was lost in the incident.

However, despite gallant efforts by youths of the area to fight the fire, before the fire service trucks arrived, about seven houses had

been razed to the ground.

Some residents who spoke to Community Mirror accused the Joint Military Taskforce (JTF) of being responsible for starting

the fire in a bid to dislodge perpetrators of illegal crude bunkering prevalent in the neighbourhood.

They alleged that JTF had earlier raided the place

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

and made some arrests, before returning to burn the drums being used by the illegal oil dealers, but the fire escalated beyond control.

Some people, who are apparently involved in the illegal bunkering business,

accused the Rivers State government of being behind the fire incident. They accused the government of plotting to put them out of business, even as they said oil dealing is the only way they know to earn a living.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

51

World News

Hillary Clinton breaks jet-travel record

52

PAUL ARHEWE

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

A

court yesterday postponed issuing a key ruling on whether a Muslim Brotherhood-led panel tasked with writing Egypt’s new constitution is legal, after Islamists protested outside the courtroom and squabbled with rival lawyers inside in a tense session.

The tensions were a sign of the stakes in the case, which will effectively determine who oversees the process for writing the constitution - the Brotherhood or the military. That has made the case the latest front in their struggle over power since a Brotherhood member won last month’s presidential election.

The current 100-member constituent assembly is led by the Brotherhood and other Islamists.

If Cairo’s High Administrative Court orders it disbanded, the military - which took power after last year’s ouster of Hosni Mubarak would create the new panel.

A verdict disbanding the panel would be the latest in a series of blows the Brotherhood has suffered from the judicial system.

Earlier court rulings dissolved a previous constituent assembly, also dominated by Islamists, and dissolved the Brotherhood-led parliament last month.

During Tuesday’s 6-hour court session, Brotherhood supporters pointed at rival lawyers and chanted “remnants” — as in, remnants of the former regime.

“The most effective way that the Congress could help to support the economy right now would be to work to address the nation’s fiscal challenges” – Chairman of the US Central Bank, Ben Bernanke

Egyptian court delays key ruling amid protests Judges had to suspend the session twice because of pushing and shoving between the rival sides.

In response, protesters chanted, “The people want to cleanse the judiciary.” The court is to convene again on Thursday, when it might issue a ruling. First, however, it must decide on a motion

by Brotherhood lawyers demanding the judges be changed. If it accepts the motion, new judges would be named; if not, it will likely issue its verdict on the con-

stitutional panel.

Sobhi Saleh, a leading Brotherhood member and a lawmaker of the dissolved parliament, warned that disbanding the panel “would complicate the problem, not resolve it. Now if the military puts forward their own constitution, no one is going to accept it, and the military generals will be the ones challenging the regime.”

The Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidate Mohammed Morsi won last month’s presiden-

tial election to become the first elected Islamist leader in Egypt’s history, is in a tug of war with the council of generals led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak’s defence minister for 20 years.

Just before Morsi’s election win, the generals severely undercut the president’s mandate and withdrew many of his authorities, dissolved parliament and took on legislative powers for themselves.

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More than a million Somalis have now fled the war-torn nation for neighbouring countries, the UN refugee agency has said.

The UNHCR said insecurity and food shortages continued to be the main reasons for the flight.

Only the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq forced so many people to leave their homes in the past decade.

Somalia has been racked by fighting since its last effective national government was toppled 21 years ago.

Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants still control much of the country, but they have been under pressure from Somali government troops and African Union soldiers.

“Somalia’s refugee exodus crossed a new threshold this past week,” the UNHCR said in a statement on yesterday.

UN condemns Congo’s rebel attacks

President Mohammed Morsi (2nd right), talking with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi in Cairo, Egypt yesterday.

PHOTO: AP

Mau Mau case: UK govt accepts abuse took place he British government accepts that colonial forces in Kenya tortured and abused detainees during the Mau Mau rebellion, the High Court has heard.

Three elderly Kenyans who are suing the government for damages were told it did not dispute that “terrible things” had happened to them.

Their lawyers say it is the first ever official acknowledgement by the UK. The revolt against British rule in Kenya in the 1950s and 1960s was marked by atrocities, with thousands killed.

The British government argues that too much time has passed for a fair trial to be conducted.

Before starting cross-examination of witnesses at the trial, the QC for the British government, Guy Mansfield, said he did not want to dispute that civilians had

WORLD BULLETIN Somali refugees top one million mark – UN agency

suffered “torture and ill-treatment at the hands of the colonial administration”.

He spoke directly to each of the witnesses, saying he did “not want to dispute the fact that terrible things happened to you”.

Papers in the test case were first served on the UK in 2009.

In 2011, a High Court judge ruled the claimants - Paulo Muoka Nzili, Wambuga Wa Nyingi and Jane Muthoni Mara - did have an arguable case.

The claimants’ lawyers allege that Mr Nzili was castrated, Mr Nyingi severely beaten and Mrs Mara subjected to appalling sexual abuse in detention camps during the rebellion.

A fourth claimant, Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua, has died since the High Court ruling that the test case could go ahead.

With the help of interpreters

at the High Court, the three - now in their 70s and 80s - were briefly questioned about written evidence they had provided.

In his statement Mr Nyingi, 84, a father of 16 who still works as a casual labourer, said he was arrested on Christmas Eve 1952 and

held for some nine years.

During his detention, in 1959, he says he was beaten unconscious during an incident at Hola camp in which 11 other prisoners were clubbed to death. He says he has scars from leg manacles, whipping and caning.

The U.N. Security Council condemned attacks by armed rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and demanded an end to all outside support for multiple insurgencies plaguing the provinces on the Congolese border with Rwanda.

M23 rebel advances earlier this month sent the Congolese government army fleeing in droves, displaced thousands of civilians, killed an Indian U.N. peacekeeper and stoked tensions between Congo and Rwanda. Congo accused the Rwandan army of directly equipping and supporting the M23 rebellion.

Rwanda’s government strenuously denied the accusations despite evidence provided by U.N. experts supporting allegations that high-level military officials in Kigali were supporting and supplying the rebellion in eastern Congo.

In a statement, the 15-member Security Council condemned “all outside support to all armed groups in the DRC and ... demand that all forms of support to them cease immediately.”

Tunisia’s president vows fair trial for Ben Ali

Some Kenyan rebels being tortured by British officials

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki vowed yesterday that his country could guarantee exstrongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s security and a fair trial.

Marzouki, on a visit to France, also said that Tunisia wanted to recover all of the assets allegedly embezzled by the exiled Ben Ali, who was topped in a popular uprising last year.

52

World News

WORLD BULLETIN Afghan soldier gets death sentence for French killings An Afghan soldier has been sentenced to death for killing five French soldiers in a “green-onblue” attack in Kapisa province in January, the defence ministry said Tuesday.

The incident, in which the soldier turned his gun on his French colleagues, prompted France to speed up its planned withdrawal of troops from NATO operations in Afghanistan.

The man, Abdul Sabor, was sentenced to death by hanging in a military court in Pul-i-Chakri prison on Monday, a defence ministry source said.

“Yes, I can confirm it. His name is Sabor,” said Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a ministry spokesman.

Four unarmed French soldiers were killed outright and 15 others were wounded as they jogged on their military base on January 20.

A fifth French soldier died weeks later from his wounds.

Kadima quits Israel government, coalition holds Members of Israel’s centre-right Kadima party decided yesterday to leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition after the sides failed to agree on a new universal draft law.

A vast majority of the party led

by Shaul Mofaz was in favour of leaving the coalition after only joining it in May, reducing the governing coalition by 28 members but still leaving it with a majority.

“Kadima has decided to resign from the national unity government,” Mofaz said at Kadima headquarters in Petah Tikva.

“I committed that if we don’t succeed in our mission (of bringing a more egalitarian draft law) we won’t remain in the coalition,” he said. “I’m keeping my word.

We are returning, with our heads held high, to serve Israel in the opposition.”

Mofaz said he had notified Netanyahu he was resigning as deputy prime minister.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Hillary Clinton breaks jet-travel record I f diplomatic achievements were measured by the number of countries visited, Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the most accomplished secretary of state in history.

While historians will debate and eventually rate her tenure as America’s top diplomat, Clinton is already assured of a place in the State Department record book.

When her plane touched down at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington early yesterday morning, the former first lady completed an epic 13-day journey of 27,000 miles — about 2,000 miles more than the circumference of the Earth — through and over Europe to Asia and then doubling back to the Middle East.

One well-travelled Clinton staffer described the FranceAfghanistan-Japan-MongoliaVietnam-Laos-Cambodia-EgyptIsrael itinerary as “especially absurd, even for us.”

Despite the mind- and bodynumbing time zone hopping, Clinton joked that she was ready for more.

“I appreciate being here, I am only sorry that I have to leave,” she told reporters on her last stop Monday, in Israel.

“My travelling team is anxious

Clinton waving as she arrives at Lusaka International Airport in Lusaka, Zambia last year.

PHOTO: AP

to get home. I’d like to be hanging out in Jerusalem, but, you know, I have to do my duty,” she said with a sigh.

Since becoming secretary of state in 2009, Clinton has logged 351 days on the road, travelled to 102 countries and flown a whopping 843,839 miles, according to the State Department. While some previous secretaries may have flown more miles — mainly due to shuttling back and forth to

Clinton disembarking from a plane upon arrival at an airport in Seongnam, South Korea.

PHOTO: AP

the Mideast on peace missions — none has visited more nations.

Clinton broke that record last month, eclipsing Madeleine Albright’s total of 98, when she travelled to Finland for number 99 and then hit the 100 mark in Latvia.

Not content, she tacked on another two countries — Mongolia and Laos, where she was the first secretary of state to visit in 57 years and only the second

Suu Kyi to receive US award in September

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yanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday she will accept an award in the United States in September, making her first U.S. trip in at least two decades.

Suu Kyi was greeted enthusiastically by world leaders and human rights activists during her recent trips to Thailand and Europe. A trip to the United States

would likely garner the same level of attention as she re-emerges on the world stage after not leaving her home country for over 20 years.

The Atlantic Council think tank said Suu Kyi would be presented its Global Citizen Award recognizing “visionary global leaders” on Sept. 21 in New York.

Suu Kyi confirmed her trip to The Associated Press but gave no

US hit by worst drought since 1956 –Report The US is currently suffering its widest drought since 1956, according to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

On Monday, NOAA reported that by the end of June 55% of the continental US was in a moderate to extreme drought.

Crops including corn and soybeans have been hit by the dry conditions, and several states have seen wildfires.

High temperatures across much of the country in June contributed to the spread of the drought.

As much as 80% of the US is abnormally dry, the report said, noting that the drought expanded in the West, Great Plains and Midwest areas.

June was the 14th warmest and 10th driest since records began, NOAA said.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, receiving a posthumous gift from Foreign minister of Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg PHOTO: AP

other details on her itinerary. The U.S. State Department said Suu Kyi would be invited for meetings with the U.S. government during her visit, but it had no details.

“We look forward to an appropriate date welcoming Aung San Suu Kyi here to the State Department and her having bilateral meetings here in the U.S.,” department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters.

Suu Kyi is sure to be feted in the United States for her long struggle against military rule in her homeland and for championing democracy. She is revered by both Republicans and Democrats and has been a guiding force in U.S. policy toward Myanmar over the past two decades, and she has been supportive of the Obama administration’s engagement of the reformist Myanmar President Thein Sein.

The U.S. last week suspended investment sanctions that had been in force against Myanmar for 15 years. Suu Kyi cautiously supported that move, but it did expose a rare difference between her views and those of the U.S. government, which decided to allow U.S. companies to invest with Myanmar’s opaque state oil and gas enterprise. Last month, Suu Kyi opposed foreign companies working with that enterprise because of its lack of openness.

ever — on her latest trip. And she has another six months to go before she reaches her self-imposed deadline to step down and take a breather.

Even with a bed on the plane and her uncanny ability to sleep mid-flight, the gruelling schedule can take its toll.

Clinton suffered a rare coughing fit as she finished a speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi.

Philippines thanks China for help amid sea spat

I

f diplomatic achievements were measured by the number of countries visited, Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the most accomplished secretary of state in history.

While historians will debate and eventually rate her tenure as America’s top diplomat, Clinton is already assured of a place in the State Department record book.

When her plane touched down at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington early yesterday morning, the former first lady completed an epic 13-day journey of 27,000 miles — about 2,000 miles more than the circumference of the Earth — through and over Europe to Asia and then doubling back to the Middle East.

One well-travelled Clinton staffer described the France-Afghanistan-Japan-Mongolia-Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia-Egypt-Israel itinerary as “especially absurd, even for us.”

Despite the mind- and bodynumbing time zone hopping, Clinton joked that she was ready for more.

“I appreciate being here, I am only sorry that I have to leave,” she told reporters on her last stop Monday, in Israel.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

North

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

53

Varsity begins academic activities, executes N3.5bn projects DANJUMA WILLIAMS GOMBE

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ne of the nine new universities established by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, the Federal University Kashere, Gombe State, has begun academic activities, after executing structural facilities worth N3.5bn.

Among structures are two male and one female hostels; a student centre; two faculty buildings; sci-

ence and laboratory classroom complex; library; Information Communication Technology centre; academic and administrative staff offices; classroom block, auditorium; works and physical planning building; eight operational vehicles as well as a clinic.

Addressing journalists yesterday on the university campus in Kashere, the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mohammed Kabiru Farouk, said that

the school received N1.5bn for its take-off projects last year and an additional N2bn this year which enabled management to put up the facilities.

According to him, the Federal and the Gombe State governments secured an office and residential accommodation for the vice-chancellor and Registrar shortly after the university was established.

Prof. Farouk said the state government equally

provided 127 hectares of land in Kashere for the take-off and permanent site of the university as well as converted the 133 hectare of land that housed the Agricultural Training School, Tumu, to the university’s Faculty of Agriculture.

The VC said: “Following the visit of the Minister for Education, Prof.

Ruqayyatu Rufa’I, to the school in April this year to assess progress made towards commencement

of academic activities, the institution got approval to begin academic activities with a promise of sustained funding.”

He said the school began the 2012 academic session with over 300 teaching and non-teaching staff. Among them are four Professors, two Associate Professors and several lecturers. The school also admitted over 315 students to begin the academic activities in two faculties.

The faculties are: Fac-

ulty of Humanities, Management and Social Sciences with the following Department; Accounting, Business Administration, Economic Developmental Studies, Geography, History and Diplomatic Studies, Political Science, Sociology AND Islamic Studies.

The other is Faculty of Science with the following Departments: Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science.

Group, CAN give IGP wake-up call AUGUSTINE MADUWEST KANO

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Kano-based group, Kano Professionals, and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have charged the Inspector General of Police (IGP), M.D. Abubakar, to reciprocate the confirmation of his appointment by tackling the security challenges confronting the country.

They said that the confirmation should serve as a morale booster that would inspire the police chief in taking far reaching decisions in promoting security of lives and property.

The Kano-based group was among organisations which campaigned for Abubakar’s confirmation.

The professionals asked Abubakar to see the confirmation as a motivation to serve the nation well.

A statement by the group said: “It is our belief that the IGP will now be more assertive in the

discharge of his responsibilities, especially his transformation agenda for the Nigerian Police Force. It is now up to him to prove his capability in handling the challenges before him.”

Stressing that Christians would continue to pray for peace, CAN Chairman in Kano, Bishop Ransom Bello, said: “Just as we commend the confirmation of the appointment of IGP MD Abubakar as a step in the right direction, which in my opinion, will boost his moral and inspire him to greater efforts”.

Bishop Bello, in a chats with journalists, described the recent improved Church attendance

by Christians in Kano as a demonstration that the level of confidence among the people is growing tremendously.

“This shows that the people believe peace and calm are gradually being restored in Kano and we are happy about that,” he said.

Kaduna reviews curfew ahead of Ramadan

A ZA MSUE KADUNA

T

he Kaduna State Government yesterday reviewed its curfew ahead of Muslims’ Ramadan fasting.

In a text message sent to National Mirror by

Yakowa

Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Reuben Buhari, the government said the decision was in line with improved security situation.

The statement reads: “In line with improved security situation in Kaduna State, the curfew hours have further been reviewed as follows: the freedom to move around now starts from 5am to 10pm with effect from today, July 17, 2012 in all the 23 local government areas” The statement, however, urged residents to continue to be law-abiding.

Deputy British High Commissioner, Mr. Giles Lever (left) and Nasarawa State Governor Umaru Almakura, during a visit to Lafia, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Siemens to build 30mw solar power station in Gombe DANJUMA WILLIAMS GOMBE

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German Company, Siemens International, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Gombe State Government to establish a 30 megawatts of solar power energy station in the state.

Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo stated this at the opening ceremony of a 10-day work-

shop on renewable energy training for youths organised by the Energy Commission of Nigeria in collaboration with the Gombe State Ministry of Youth Development.

Represented by his deputy, Mr. Tha’anda Jason Rubainu, the governor said renewable energy and its systems were necessary in driving socio-economic activities for employment generation.

He said the state is

blessed with sunshine and biomass from agricultural and animal waste, adding that if utilised, it would provide electricity and reduce the menace of deforestation.

Dankwambo urged the trainees to take the training serious so that they could impact the knowledge acquired to others in their respective local government areas.

Also speaking, the Director General of the Commission, Prof.

Abubakar Sani Sambo, who was represented by the Director, Renewal Energy of the Commission, Prof. Gidere Bala, said the aimed of the training was to impact practical skills on youths on how to produce simple energy renewable devices to become self-employed.

Sambo said the need for a sustainable development and economic growth in the country had to be done with the sustainable energy.

Nasarawa to partner UK in solid minerals development IGBAWASE UKUMBA LAFIA

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asarawa State Governor Umaru Tanko AlMakura has said that the government would partner with the United Kingdom to develop its

solid minerals sector.

Al-Makura spoke yesterday when hosting the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Giles Lever, in Lafia, the state capital.

He told Mr. Lever that: “I urge you to avail

your citizens in the UK to come and invest in the solid minerals sector, energy and agricultural sector of the state economy.”

The governor said the visit would also enhance robust rapport between

the state and the United Kingdom government.

Lever, however, told his host that his visit was to interact with the democratically elected government and find out areas which the UK could invest in the state.

54

News

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Hope rises for HIV prevention as US approves drug FELIX NWANERI

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here is fresh hope for those at the risk of HIV infection as the United States (US) regulators on Monday approved the first-ever daily pill, for use in uninfected adults who are at risk for getting the virus that causes AIDS. The pill, Truvada, made

by Gilead Sciences in California, has been on the market since 2004 and was approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new use as a tool to help

ward off HIV in otherwise healthy people, in combination with safe sex and regular testing.

The pill as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been hailed by some AIDS experts as a potent new tool against human immunodeficiency virus, but some health care providers are concerned it could encourage risky sex behavior.

In addition, the regimen is estimated to cost around $14,000 (about N2.1 million) per year, making it out of reach of many, especially those in developing coun-

tries like Nigeria.

“Truvada alone should not be used to prevent HIV infection,” said Debra Birnkrant, director of the division of antiviral products at the FDA. “Truvada as PrEP represents another effective, evidence-based approach that can be added to other prevention methods to help reduce the spread of HIV.” The FDA said Truvada should be used as “part of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy that includes other prevention methods, such as safe sex practices, risk reduction counseling,

and regular HIV testing.”

The pill was previously approved as a treatment for people infected with HIV to be used in combination with other antiretroviral drugs.

But the decision by the FDA followed the advice of an independent panel in May that supported Truvada for prevention in uninfected people, after clinical trials showed it could lower the risk of HIV in gay men and heterosexual couples.

One study on Truvada, called the iPrEx trial, published in 2010 in the New England Journal of Medi-

cine included 2,499 men who were sexually active with other men but were not infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The study particularly showed that Truvada reduced the risk of HIV in healthy gay men and among HIV-negative heterosexual partners of HIV-positive people by between 44 per cent and 73 per ecnt.

Michael Barton of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS, said there was good trial evidence that the drug could significantly cut the

risk of the infection being passed on, but only if the tablets are taken consistently.

Many of the men in the trials did not take the drug regularly enough to get the full protection. He said that in most circumstances, it would be better to treat the HIV-positive partner in the couple rather than focus on the HIV-negative one.

“We know that for HIVpositive people if they consistently take antiretroviral drugs and their viral load is suppressed for them it’s almost impossible to transmit the virus.”

Shell may not pay $5b Bonga oil spill fine UDEME AKPAN

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hell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) said yesterday that it may not pay the $5bn fine imposed by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency for the oil spill that occurred in its offshore Bonga oil field last year.

The Managing Director of the company, Mr. Chike Onyejekwe, said the company was not thinking about compensation for affected communities.

His argument is that the spill did not get to the shore.

The disclosures were made at a meeting organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Environment on Monday aimed to ascertain progress report on the Bonga oil spill of December 28, 2011.

Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Uche Ekwenife, said going by reports and complaints from affected communities that no cleanup had been carried out by Shell there was a need to have a knowledge of efforts taken so far by the government and the company.

Ekwenife said that there

ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA

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he Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday honoured its former president, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN).

NBA named its new National Secretariat in Abuja after him.

Akeredolu was the NBA President between 2008 and 2010.

Commissioning the building in Abuja, the current NBA President, Joseph Daudu (SAN), said Akeredolu deserved the

were indications that Shell had refused to accept responsibility for the incident and had rebuffed the claims from communities allegedly impacted by the spill.

The Director-General of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Mr. Peter Idabor, had on Monday said Shell was sanctioned for the large quantity of crude oil discharged into the environment and the impact on economic and environment of the affected communities.

He said the fine is for ‘administrative penalty,’ adding that it is in accordance with practices in other oil producing countries such as Venezuela, Brazil and the United States of America.

He said the penalty should not be taken as compensation. The directorgeneral said Shell and other stakeholders plan to conduct the Post Impact Assessment (PIA) on the spill as soon as approval for funding was obtained from a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) known as National Petroleum Investment Management Services.

L-R: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN); son of the deceased, Mr. Jimi Olusola and daughter of the deceased, Ms. Aderonke Ajibulu-Moniya, during the lying-in-state of the late Amb. Olusegun Olusola in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: OLUFEMI AJASA

We were caught unawares –Makoko evictees • Exercise carried out in dwellers’ interest –Lagos

MURITALA AYINLA

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victees of Iwaya/Makoko water front yesterday said that they were hurriedly thrown out by the Lagos State Government.

Amidst wailing and crying, one of them, Mrs. Awasu Asinji, narrated how her house was burgled into and

reduce to rubbles by the government agents.

She said that she was not at home when her residence was demolished.

Mrs. Asinji said: “I arrived 30 minutes later, after our house was demolished.

On my way home from market, I heard sporadic gunshot which gingered me to fasten my movement. A

NBA honours Akeredolu for developing the Bar honour for serving the bar meritoriously.

He said: “Everything in the NBA is usually highly politicised. The sheer cour-

Akeredolu

age for him to go through the rigor is a testimony to his selfless service.

“Rather than going into any argument, honour must be given to whom it is due. The presidency has decided that things should be properly documented and named after the person that made it achievable.”

Responding, Akeredolu said the honour came to him as a surprise, adding that he didn’t lobby for it like many politicians will do for cheap popularity.

He said he had information that the award given to the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, by a faction of the Ondo State students created ripples among them.

According to him, a governor who has failed to pay bursary to students deserves no award from them.

Answering questions from journalists, Akeredolu said his governorship ambition was borne out of desire to serve the people.

few metres to our house, I saw some soldiers parading the premises. Shortly after they left, I moved closer to my house because at that moment, my major concern was my three children who were in the house.

On getting to our house, I saw my three children hiding inside the boat after they had tied the anchor to the pillars holding the structure.”

Another evictee, Mrs. Janet Kiki, said: “I was called on phone by my neighbours who told me that my house has been demolished. But I got home one hour after the soldiers had left because they shot canisters to prevent anyone who might want to halt the exercise.”

But the Lagos State Government explained why it demolished the Makoko water front, saying the exercise was for the safety of the occupants.

Addressing journalists at the state secretariat, the Commissioner for Water Front and Infrastructure Development, Prince Adesegun

Oniru, said the decision to pull down structures erected on the Makoko/Iwaya water front was to avert danger lurking around the residents, owing to the negative impact of the climate change.

According to the commissioner, the rise in the water level, persistent thunder storm occasioned by the climate change and the electrical pilot across the shanties are posing serious threat to the lives of the habitants.

He added that the incessant thunder storm could lead to an electrical upsurge, which may cause loss of lives if nothing is done to avert it.

Oniru said: “The reason for our action is to clear the environment and the entire vicinity of the danger that is looming in that area. I am talking about rise in water level, global warming and the danger looming in that area with regards to thunder storm and heavy rain that we are having in that area and in Lagos generally.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

55

WORLD RECORD

Most successful female country artist Vol. 02 No. 406

B

N150

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Reba McEntire (USA) is the biggest-selling female country vocalist in the USA, with 23 gold, 19 platinum and 9 multi-platinum albums as of February 2011.

Thoughts on Ramadan and Ummah

y the end of this week Muslim ummah globally will be ushered into the glorious Ramadan, which according to the Criterion, is the month the Quran was revealed as a guide to mankind.

For the Muslims therefore, the month is so important to the extent that a particular night is said to be more blessed than a thousand months. The scripture declared fasting in Ramadan compulsory and compelling so that all will be morally, mentally and spiritually reformed and elevated.

Concerning this month of Muslim fasting, there are authentic sayings from the literatures of Islam that the devil is chained, the gates of hell are locked and that of mercy flung open for the benefit of all who wish to take advantage of this month of mercy. I have also read in certain books of Islam that Ramadan is a training school for all the days in the life of Muslims.

For the Nigerian Muslims in particular,

Guest Columnist

Abdulwarees

Solanke

Ramadan is taken as the month to show presence and relevance; it is the month to show how buoyant we are; how devoted we can be; how merciful; how worshipful, and how benevolent. Ramadan is a month to demonstrate media panache with the avalanche of sponsored programmes on radio and television, day and night; a month that reflects our warped intellectual fervour with the barrage of pre-Ramadan, Ramadan and post Ramadan lectures and tafsirs with mind boggling, and sometimes meaningless or worthless themes that have nothing to do with the everyday problems of the ummah or the ordinary Muslim and common Nigerian.

It is a month of bizarre launchings to rake in money for causes that have become repetitive without results, except to line the pockets of fake sheikhs and missioners who have been in the coolers in the preceding months. It is a season to open wounds of controversies among ignorant scholars masquerading as guardians of the Islamic faith and authorities in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). This nonsense has to stop and the real meaning of Ramadan be made known that it is for the reform of the human person and strengthening his capacity in all ramifications.

It is disturbing that that an average adult Nigerian Muslim does not even know that there are 12 months in the Hijrah calendar and that Ramadan is the ninth. That is the extent of our ignorance. It is really absurd that an adult Muslim in our country is oblivious of the fact that the moon is

RAMADAN IS A TRAINING SCHOOL FOR ALL THE DAYS IN THE LIFE OF

MUSLIMS

sighted every month of the Islamic calendar or that science has made it possible for us to observe the moon phases and guide us to knowing the probable days of the first moon, plus or minus one.

We are truly an ummah of incapable scholars and ignorant followers as we make deafening fuss only when the moon is to be sighted to start or end Ramadan or on whether the moon is sighted in Kafanchan or Calabar, or if it is or not the Sultan that should validate the commencement of Ramadan. This is shadow chasing and begging the question on all the serious issues of development and nation building that confront all of us as Nigerians, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. This is very unfortunate.

At a time Islam is not correctly appreciated as a civilizing faith in our country, many of the so called scholars sit down as marabouts in the conveniences of their Zaawis exploiting the ignorance and poverty of the ordinary Muslims. When they should feed the followership with gems from the Quran, they prevent them from knowing the true faith of Ibrahim and other prophets of Allah, perfected with

the advent of Prophet Muhammad as the faith of liberation from human slavery and the shackles of ignorance, jahiliyyah, and disease.

Here is another concern: The true vanguards of reform from the Islamic point of view are prevented from reaching the mimbers and souls of those in need of deliverance and salvation, with the pristine or undiluted message. This has given rise to the emergence of fringe elements parading themselves as defenders of the faith and causing fitnah or tumult and crisis in the body of the ummah. To such fringe elements, the best practices of Islam and the spiritually rewarding and socially bonding activities are bid’ah or innovations which must be fought at all cost. They present Islam, a faith that enriches and ennobles, as crude and absurd.

This Ramadan, can we Muslims in Nigeria sit back a bit and have a rethink that this nation will not be reformed until we reform ourselves? From my study and appreciation of the message of our noble Prophet Muhammad as encapsulated in the Quran, it is the negligence of the Muslims, in whatever clime or epoch that easily brings down or corrupts a nation. This is because, the message in the Quran to Muslims is clear: being witnesses unto mankind; engaging in amr bil maroof and naahi anil munkar (enjoining what is good and forbidding corruption). The history of Islam has always shown that whenever the ummah abandons the substance of its mission and follows shadows like others without vision and guidance, they become worse than ignorant. In our complacence therefore, the nation stinks.

In this Ramadan, we Muslims must reflect on the future of Nigeria and work for her unity. For, it is in a peaceful, united and progressive Nigeria that we can live as contented Muslims and practise our diin.

SOLANKE, korewarith@yahoo.com, is Head, Voice of Nigeria Training Centre, Ikorodu, Lagos

Sport Extra

B

ritish boxer, Amir Khan, has said he will not retire from the sport but will return “better and stronger”, following his defeat to Danny Garcia last weekend.

The Bolton fighter was knocked down three times

by Garcia before a fourth-

Boxing: Khan rejects retirement talks round stoppage sent him to defeat in their WBA and WBC light-welterweight unification fight.

In the wake of Khan’s second loss in a row, the IBF super-middleweight cham-

pion, Carl Froch, suggested that Khan should consider retirement.

But the 25-year-old, who now has a 26-3 record with 18 early wins and two stoppage defeats, has opted to hit back

at Froch.

“Carl’s always got his little things to say, I think I’ll leave it at that really. I’m a young fighter and I’m not talking about retiring because I’ve got a lot in me,”

Khan said yesterday.

“I’ve just got to go back to the drawing board and see what happens,” the flamboyant boxer, who has also confirmed he will continue at light-welterweight, added.

Amir Khan

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