Mass sack: DISCOs' N38bn Jonathan splashes monthly revenue to drop cash on victorious ...as customers withhold payments UDEME AKPAN
Nebo
Vol. 3 N0. 719
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he new buyers of the nation’s Electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, are to be hit by a sharp drop in revenue
following inadequate personnel to effect tariff collection and confusion over payment. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6>>
Eaglets
Each player gets N2m, coach N3m, national honours P.55
Monday, November 11, 2013
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Sleaze in the judiciary:
Illicit funds discovered in judges' accounts T
EXCLUSIVE
ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA
EFCC lists methods used in collecting bribes
he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has uncovered illicit funds in the accounts of some serving judges. The probe of the affected judges, which sprang from petitions, led the EFCC operatives to vet their bank accounts and confirm ownership of multi-million naira assets traced to them. A source close to the EFCC told National Mirror that some judges were discovered to have assets, which were over and CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>
NSA, G-7 governors meet over PDP crisis P.9
President Goodluck Jonathan lifting the trophy won by members of the Golden Eaglets. With him are (L-R) Chairman, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Aminu Maigari; Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi and Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, during the presidential reception held at the State House, Abuja, yesterday.
BUSINESS SECTION ECOWAS trade: FG moves to enforce rules of origin policy THE
BoI enhances SMEs access to private investment capital P.A5
Why Nigeria has not disintegrated –President CAN to President: Tackle corruption, unemployment, crime
Free ree insi inside nside ide
Auto crash claims 10 passengers in Bayelsa
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National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
OYO STATE OF NIGERIA
One Year without our
Great Lam A year ago today, Oyo State lost one of her most illustrious sons.
We remember him with gratitude for the rich memories of his down-to-earth presence, wise counsel, leadership and comradeship. A dogged ďŹ ghter and staunch progressive, he lived a life singularly devoted to the high ideals of democracy and was a ďŹ rm believer in its power to uplift the downtrodden, as well as promote social justice. We are not wearing his shoes as shoes come in varying sizes, but we shall continue to tread his path in an ever changing world. In those unforgettable years of the locust, his constant encouragement helped to keep our spirits up, as he reminded us that the night may last only so long, but surely the dawn of hope shall rise. And it did! We pray that Almighty Allah will continue to grant him repose in Al- Jannah Firdaus.
Sen. Abiola Ajimobi Executive Governor of Oyo State
HIS EXCELLENCY,
ALHAJI LAMIDI ONAOLAPO AREMU ADESINA CON
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Monday, November 11, 2013
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L-R: General Manager Consumer Marketing MTN Nigeria, Kola Oyeyemi; Managing Director, 141 Worldwide, Bunmi Oke; Executive Director, PZ, Yomi Fatunroti; Chief Executive Officer, Scanad, Rufai Ladipo, Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, Larry Annetts and Chairman, Troyka Holding, Biodun Shobanjo, at the 3rd Marketing World Awards in Lagos, at the weekend.
L-R: Wife of the Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mrs. Clementine Vervelde; Senior Brand Manager, Maltina, Mrs. Ngozi Nkwoji and Managing Director NB, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, at the opening show of Spanfest 2013 sponsored by Maltina in Lagos, at the weekend.
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
L-R: Deputy Corps Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Bisi Kazeem; his wife, Bisi and Deputy Corps Marshal, Training, Chidi Nwachukwu, during Kazeem’s graduation from the Institute of Security Studies in Abuja, yesterday.
Former President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia (left) presenting the Best African Central Bank Governor’s award to to Alhaji Lamido Sanusi in Pretoria, South Africa, at the weekend.
National News
‘LAKAJI’ project to raise Nigeria’s non-oil exports to N6.4trn by 2017 TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA
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he Lagos-Kano-Jibiya, LAKAJI, Agricultural Growth Corridor Investment project, being spearheaded by the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, is projected to raise the country’s yearly non-oil exports value to about N6.4trillion by 2017. The project is part of the United States of America’s renewed commitment to Nigeria’s current drive towards optimising her agricultural and other resource endowments for national development. The initiative, which is estimated to gulp about $12million (N1.92bn) in the four year implementation period, within the context of the Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport Program, NEXTT, policy framework, is seen by analysts as coming at an auspicious time, particularly when earnings from the country’s
Targets 67m jobs in four years
crude oil exports is waning due to supply-demand convulsions at the international oil markets. Investigations by National Mirror indicated that USAID and other investors would provide the $12 million, with the hope that if the project is accorded all the needed enabling fiscal, infrastructure and other critical policy frameworks, Nigeria’s non-oil exports would hit $40 billion (about N6.4trillion) mark yearly, with the larger volume going to the United States. A source, who is involved at some of level of the project implementation, but would not like to be identified in print, confirmed to our correspondent that in order to ensure the feasibility of the project, the implementing company, Carana Corporation, has not only ensured a well-thought out design but also assembled a team of investment and economic experts to drive
the LAKAJI agenda. He explained: “The total cost of the project is about $12m. Carana Corporation is the company implementing the project here in Nigeria. Part of our roles in the LAKAJI corridor is what you have seen during the formal launch of the project in Abuja recently. “However the bottom line is to see that we improve non-oil export from Nigeria to other countries of the world, particularly the USA to about $40 billion per annum at the end of the four-year project. It is a project that is well designed, with a very good team led by a highly experienced Chief of Party, Alf Monaghan. The project’s potentials are extremely high.” For a country that has continued to suffer post harvest losses for several decades with over 40 per cent of farm produce perishing before they get to the market, while less than 30 per cent eventu-
ally get consumed or processed, the LAKAJI agribusiness adventure could only serve as the catalytic endeavour that would help in addressing the lingering challenges and ultimately help in re-enacting the good old days, when agriculture was the mainstay of the economy Speaking at the opening session of the 2-day LAKAJI Investment Summit last August in Abuja, the representative of Carana Corporation, Dr. Mina Nedelcovych, said the project was designed to assist the Federal Government’s efforts to expand trade volume and efficiency within the ECOWAS region and beyond so that trade particularly in agricultural products can generate inclusive economic growth and development. According to him, the LAKAJI business corridor has a huge market that would have direct impact on over 67 million Nigerians and presents the opportuni-
ty for Nigeria to transform the agricultural value chain in such a way that would reduce to the barest level the rate of wastages in farm produce and improve their value at the domestic and export markets. The corridor links key production and processing zones for strategic imports and exports through the Lagos ports. For instance, in the North, the corridor arches towards Niamey, Niger and the Sahel interior of West Africa and registers about 30 million tons of goods transported each year, a figure that accounts for over one-half of the country’s inland freight. “All along the corridor, we have analysed and identified significant investment opportunities that are like ripe fruits, just waiting to be picked,” Nedelcovych said. In order to translate the big dream into reality, the USAID chief urged the Federal Government to concentrate more on
building efficient transport and logistics, workable rail system, power, warehouse and storage facilities and enabling policies that would encourage local investments. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said the investment efforts to create the LAKAJI corridor would complement sundry economic and investment moves by the Federal Government targeted at strengthening existing infrastructure to support productive activities in the economy. Citing some of the policy measures being put in place by government to enlist the support of private investors for the ongoing transformation agenda, the minister agreed that the LAKAJI project would help in bridging one of the most critical gaps in the ATA value chain, namely the infrastructure link upon which agro-processing and other post-harvest activities are primarily dependent.
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Monday, November 11, 2013
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Why Nigeria has not disintegrated –President SOLA ADEBAYO AND ROTIMI FADEYI
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resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday revealed why Nigeria has not disintegrated as a nation saying this is due to the prayers of the church and other religious leaders in the country. This is as the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday challenged the President to tackle the high level of corruption, unemployment and criminality in the country. Speaking at the 2013 Jubilee Word Festival and 26th anniversary of the Word of Live Bible Church (WLBC) in Warri, Delta State, the President noted that nation building was a task for all citizens. The President, who read the first Bible lesson from Psalm 106, declared that "but for the prayers of the church, this country would probably have gone into oblivion." He, therefore, urged Nigerians not to relent in their prayers, stressing that they had helped to strengthen the unity of the country. The President also stated that government would soon address the security situation in the country, saying: "this terrorism will end in Nigeria and God's everlasting superior powers will prevail and overcome." Clarifying his position on the fate of the victims of the Boko Haram insurgency, President Jonathan said government would assist the victims to assuage their sufferings. He explained that a committee would soon be set up to look thoroughly and work out the form of assistance that would be given to the victims. “The word compensation is too vague. That was why I was ambiguous about my statement. I don’t want to send wrong signals to the world that is why I opposed the word compensation. “We may not be able to compensate them adequately but we are going to assist them in ensuring that they pick the bits and pieces of their lives again and a committee is going to work on that," he said. On the issue of non-payment of pensions to senior citizens, Jonathan assured
that the problem would soon be resolved, adding that “we are working hard to settle their arrears." He recounted the efforts of his administration to reposition the country, stating that his transformation agenda was on course. The President noted that tremendous work had been done in the power sector to energise the nation’s economy. “I can assure you that tremendous work has been done in the power sector and by the first quarter of next year, there will be relatively stable supply of power in the country. Nigeria being the largest black country in the world will never experience power outages again.” Jonathan commended the leadership quality of Oritsejafor, expressing satisfaction that the CAN president brought dynamism into the office. CAN's President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who played host to President Jonathan in Warri, Delta State, yesterday, asked his guest to urgently address the issues. “Mr. President, the high level of unemployment, corruption, crime and criminality is very troubling, but our prayer is that as you and your team work to turn things around, the Lord will give you grace, wisdom and determination to fight and win the battle," he said. Oritsejafor also played host to other dignitaries including Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, his Plateau and Cross River State counterparts, Jonah Jang and Liyel Imoke, respectively, as well as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, in commemoration of his 41 years in the ministry and 26th Jubilee Word Festival at Word of Life Bible Church, Warri. Oritsejafor also asked Jonathan to look into the plight of the country's senior citizens who had served the nation in their prime, pleading with the President to put an end to their sufferings. The CAN president similarly urged President Jonathan to resolve the crisis in the education sector, especially the prolonged strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
He, however, expressed optimism that the recent intervention of the President in the crisis would yield results. He said: “I want o seize this opportunity to appeal to Mr. President to kindly look into the issue of outstanding pension arrears owed to some of our senior citizens that have given their prime to the service of this great nation, with a view to ending their predicament. “Your Excellency, I am aware of the efforts of the government at addressing the lingering crisis in our
educational sector and I want to believe that with Mr. President’s personal involvement in the negotiation with ASUU, a final resolution to the protracted strike will soon be in place. “I must commend the National Assembly for extending the state of emergency in the three affected states in the North-East as you (Jonathan) requested. Although there has been a significant improvement, however, I will appeal to the relevant security agencies to re-strategise and work together with a view to improving on their intel-
ligence gathering. “At this point, I must appeal to the elites and Nigerians, especially in the affected states to work more with the security forces. “I am worried when I saw the screaming headlines in some national dailies about six days ago, which stated that government was not going to pay compensation to Boko Haram victims, then I read that Mr. President will assist them. This sounded a bit confusing to me, considering the large number of orphans, widows, church buildings destroyed and those that have
lost their businesses and means of livelihood. “We are anxiously waiting for the setting up of a Boko Haram victims committee," he added. Oritsejafor, however, commended Jonathan for initiating the national conference, power sector reforms and Agricultural Transformation Agenda, ATA, and the rehabilitation of the rail transportation system. He also commended him for embarking on an organised holy pilgrimage to Israel and for signing a Bilateral Air Service Agreement, BASA, with Israel.
L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya; a renowned management expert, Dr. Michael Omolayole; former Head, Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan and former Chairman, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Dr. Felix Ohiwerei, at a reception in honour of Ogunsanya in Lagos, at the weekend.
Illicit funds discovered in judges' accounts CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
beyond their legitimate income. “EFCC got some petitions before moving in. The operatives of the agency who worked on the petitions were shocked. I think they spoke with some of these judges to explain how they came about the monies in their accounts and the immovable assets they already acquired but could not explain satisfactorily. “Just wait and see, these trials when they begin will be the beginning of a new phase in the agency's fight against corruption in the judiciary," the source added. Based on the indicting evidences against the judges, the anti-graft agency will soon arraign six judges serving in different jurisdictions over criminal offences. The offences include
corruption and acquisition of stupendous wealth which origin they could not explain. The affected judges, National Mirror reliably learnt, were thoroughly investigated by the antigraft agency before they were pencilled down for prosecution. Our correspondent, however, gathered that the anti-graft agency was not in a hurry to lodge charges against the indicted judges until it had sought audience with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar on the development so as not to send wrong signals. National Mirror also learnt at the weekend that the leadership of the EFCC planned last week to visit the CJN to discuss the issue and perhaps the modality for the prosecution but the CJN was out of the country. Justice Mukhtar, the
Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mr. Sunday Olorundahunsi, and a few judges are presently in the Republic of the Gambia for a workshop. The planned trial of the affected judges, it was learnt, is to further sanitise the bench and put judges more on their toes. Although the names of the affected judges were not released at the weekend, a source said that in few days time, the names of the accused judges would be unveiled. National Mirror had exclusively reported in October 2011 how Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwaisled 28-member judiciary reform panel which sat in Abuja uncovered how desperate criminals and politicians in the country passed on multi-million naira bribes in both foreign and local currencies to compromise judges.
The bribery involving multi-million naira and above, it was learnt, were passed on by litigants to corrupt judge through value cards. The use of value cards was to make it difficult for any anti-graft agency to trace details of such transactions. A stored value card refers to monetary value on a card not in an externally recorded account and differs from prepaid cards where money is on deposit with the issuer similar to a debit card. One major difference between stored value cards and prepaid debit cards is that prepaid debit cards are usually issued in the name of individual account holders while stored value cards are usually anonymous. A strong member of theUwais panel had told CONTINUED ON PAGE 6>
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Mass sack: DISCOs' N38bn monthly revenue to drop CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
The development comes as power shortage continued across the country due to the ongoing maintenance
of gas supply facilities. The combined monthly revenue of the 10 privatised DISCOs rose to N38bn as they collectively generated
N189bn as at May, according to the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedum Nebo. However, the revenue boost, attributed largely to
an increase in tariff, may be reversed in the remaining period of the year as investigations at the weekend showed that since the
L-R: Minister of Information and Supervising Minister of Defence, Labaran Maku; Kogi State Governor Idris Wada; Sole Administrator, Ajaokuta Steel Company, Isa Joseph and other officials inspecting some products during the visit of members of the Good Governance Tour to Kogi State on Saturday.
Illicit funds discovered in judges' accounts CONTINUED ON PAGE 5> National Mirror that what the criminal litigants do is to hand over the value card and the pin number to the judges "and the deal is sealed." The source said the value card is a technological device embraced by corrupt judges to beat anti-graft agencies like the ICPC, EFCC, and the Nigeria Police to their archaic method of investigating crimes through the use of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, to access details of fund transfer from one person to another. "The point being made is that judges have the courage of demanding and collecting mouth watering sums in bribes from litigants who approach them for one order or the other without being exposed or caught by crime bursting agencies. "This is because monies exchanged through value card cannot be traced easily," the source added. Former President of NBA, Joseph Daudu (SAN) and member of Uwais panel had also confirmed the uncovering of the new method of passing on bribe to judges at a forum in Lagos.
He said Uwais panel acknowledged the fact that corruption is rooted at the bar and at the bench and that if judges had collected bribe through means that could not be traced by anti-graft agencies, he said people living around such judicial officers and who know the assets they own which are far above their incomes should be willing to blow the whistle. He gave an example of a mansion in Owerri, the Imo State capital, very close to Concord Hotel purportedly belonging to a female Court of Appeal justice, saying no Nigerian judge could rely on his income to build such a mansion and that the house is itself a prima facie evidence against the affected judicial officer who purportedly owns the building. Two years after the alleged smart means of collecting bribes was uncovered, the EFCC which had been working silently on petitions alleging corruption against judges said it is now set to prosecute some of judges already investigated and against whom prima facie evidence had been established. The proposed arraignment of the indicted
judges is coming at a time when the National Judicial Council, NJC, is said to be working round the clock to conclude on the cases of indolent and incompetent judges sitting on the bench. It will be recalled that Justice Mukhtar had hinted that there was no longer space on the bench for incompetent and indolent judges. She had said that the performance evaluation forms which fundamentally summarise the number of cases being handled by individual judges would be taken seriously. She had noted that any judge who could not boast of delivering a certain number of judgements in a legal year had no business remaining on the bench. National Mirror learnt that some serving judges would be weeded out soon on the account of under-performance and incompetency. A source, who did not want his name mentioned, also told National Mirror yesterday that the consideration of the agelong tradition of seniority on the bench as number one factor to determine who becomes the head of a court might soon suffer a serious attack under the present
administration. “For you to become head of a court in this new dispensation, the number one criterion is no longer seniority factor. The agelong tradition of seniority on the bench to become head of a court has been replaced with impeccable record and integrity. If you don't have it, you can't get there. “But I must add that the CJN though is not having it easy with the NJC members who recommend judges for appointments. “For instance, at the last meeting of the NJC, the CJN wanted a justice of the Supreme Court to take over from Justice Salami as the head of the Court of Appeal in Nigeria. “Specifically, she wanted Justice Kudirat KekereEkun, who is known for her transparency, excellent knowledge of the law, humility and honesty to take over but her suggestion was met with stiff opposition at the meeting. “If she had her way, that is what she wanted because she believes that the kind of leadership a system has will determine the kind of changes you can effect in the system," the source added.
takeover of the DISCOs, many consumers who do not have prepaid meters have stopped payment of electricity bills. The action is said to be based on uncertainties over the right officials to deal with after the handover of the DISCOs to new owners and subsequent disengagement of about 60 per cent of workers. A Lagos-based consumer, who did not want his name mentioned, said: “We are not sure who has been sacked and who is still working for the new buyers. “It is better to hold on until we are sure who the right officials are because some of the former Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, cannot be trusted,” he said. Another consumer said: “The truth is that I have not paid the bill since the takeover because I am not even sure of the officials to deal with. I intend to pay once the uncertainty is settled. “Unlike before, officials have not been coming to ask for payment. That also explains why many consumers have been reluctant to do so.” National President, National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, Mr. Mansur Musa, said that the DISCOs did not have adequate personnel, including engineers and marketing executives, as the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, had sacked about 60 per cent of them. He said the personnel were sacked before the handover of the DISCOs to the preferred bidders in all parts of the country. Musa said: “This clearly explains why the DISCOs do not have adequate personnel to provide essential services, especially maintenance of facilities and revenue generation.” The Project Director of Integrated Energy, the new owners of Ibadan DISCO, Dr. Olusola Ayandele, who confirmed the development said that efforts were being made to address the situation. He said: “We are aware of the situation. Let me confirm to you that efforts targeted at addressing the situation are being implemented. “Very soon, we will let the public know about what we are doing to improve
power supply, revenue collection and other things.” Meanwhile, blackout lingered across the country as power generation has dropped from over 4,000mw to about 3,400mw as a result of the shutdown of Shell Petroleum Development Company’s, SPDC, Afam VI plant which generates about 400 megawatts. A senior official of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, who did not want his name mentioned, said: “The power plant has to be shut so that the scheduled maintenance work on Okoloma gas plant supplying gas to Afam VI Power plant can start. “We learnt that a team of engineers has been deployed and that the rehabilitation expected to be completed this weekend is in progress.” However, the supply which TCN officials expected would improve from last Saturday did not show any improvement yesterday as many parts of the nation still experience blackout. Some of new owners have, however, expressed their ability to tackle these and other problems in the sector. For instance, the Chairman of West Power and Gas Limited, Mr. Charles Momoh, said the company would commit $250m to strengthen its distribution capacity of Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc. He stated that from indications, the fund would not be enough to tackle the problems but the management, with the support of Zenith Bank would continue to seek for more funding arrangement to improve its services. Nebo had claimed that current nominal distribution capacity stood at 7,325 megawatts as against 6,360MW in 2011. The minister said installed generation capacity as of May 2013 was 9,920MW, while available capacity was 6,522MW against 9,097MW and 5,563MW respectively in 2011. Record peak generation, according to the minister, increased to 4,517MW in May, and average peak delivered during the same period was 29,196MWH, as against 4,089MW and 27,692MWH recorded respectively in 2011.
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Minister blames insecurity on fanaticism, poverty EMMANUEL ONANI ABUJA
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inister of Special Duties and Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of the Security Challenges in the North, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, has identified mass poverty, religious and ethnic fanaticism as potential threats to national security. Turaki, whose committee recently submitted its report to President Goodluck Jonathan, further identified pressure on leadership, allocation of resources as well as ‘failure to exploit our national differences to the advantage of the country’, as other factors that fuel insecurity.
The minister made the diagnosis on the state of insecurity currently plaguing the country in a lecture he delivered at the monthly meeting of the Abuja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) held over the weekend. The lecture, which was hosted by Chief J. K. Gadzama, SAN, was intended to brief members of the activities of the Unity Bar. In the lecture entitled: “Security Challenges In A Democratic Nigeria: The Way Forward,” Turaki argued that; “The nation’s penchant for operating a unitary command system of government,” has not alleviated the sense of insecurity in Nigerians. He traced the history of insecurity to the 1914 amalgamation, where he said the colonial masters
Lawmakers, World Bank, others partner against revenue leakages TORDUE SALEM ABUJA
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he Public Account Committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as that of 36 state Houses of Assembly, in partnership with the World Bank and the DfID, have gone into partnership to stem the prevalent cases of public fund diversion by public office holders. The Association of Public Account Committees (NAPAC) was inaugurated at the weekend by the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, in Abuja. The association seeks to ensure international best practices in auditing. It will also be involved in the production of audit reports and collaborating with bodies such as the anti-corruption agencies, civil society organizations, in ensuring transparency, probity and accountability in the management of public funds of the nation. It will also liaise and collaborate with regional and international association of public accounts committees. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, in his inaugural speech, observed that for
development to be recorded, a country’s audit practice must be efficient. He said with a workable audit, there will be less work for anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). “Right now, these agencies are up to their necks with cases and yet stories of embezzlement of public funds keep coming,” Tambuwal, who was represented by the House Deputy Minority Whip, Hon. Garba Datti (APCKaduna), reiterated. He assured a speedy enactment of an amendment bill to strengthen the powers of the AuditorGeneral. The lawmaker, however, regretted that Nigeria was still applying outdated audit code at present. “The 1958 Audit Act has become obsolete, making Nigeria one of the few African countries without an Audit Law,” he said. In his speech, Senate President, David Mark, said for any legislature to carry out its functions effectively, it must control the public purse and also optimally exercise its oversight on agencies of government.
were only preoccupied with projecting “individual identities of the various ethnic nationalities,” rather than harnessing the differences, to form an organic nation. This perceived faulty foundation, he concluded, offers veritable explanation for post-colonial Nigerian governments’ constant struggles for what
he called ‘regime security.’ In his estimation, the said regime security had been pursued by past governments at the expense of national security. While interrogating the concept of ‘inadequate stateness’ in relation to the nation’s security challenges, Turaki said: “Often times, regime legitimacy faced by Nigerian leaders
explains the over concentration of efforts on regime security at the expense of national security. “The excessive pursuit of regime security has further compounded the problem of national security with the result that five decades after independence, Nigerians are still debating the modalities for the country,” he lamented.
By way of resolution, the minister said; “Leadership in Nigeria must understand that in recommending any framework for the promotion of security and the sustainability of democracy, emphasis must be on the need to urgently alleviate poverty and increase the welfare of the people by ensuring its wellbeing and vitality.”
L-R: Technical Support Printequip Officer, Femi Onamade; Head, Technical Support, Mr. Richard Castle; Sales Officer, Intec Printing Solutions, Mr. Seyi Malomo; Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Gbemi Malomo and Technical Support Officer, Mr. James Williamson, at Intec Exhibition in Lagos, at the weekend.
New PDP replaces Oyinlola as National Secretary OBIORA IFOH ABUJA
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ollowing the judgment of the Court of Appeal, reinstating Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Secretary, the splinter PDP group led by Abubakar Baraje, yesterday announced his replacement. The announcement was made by Hon. Nasir Isa Abubakar. The group reiterated its commitment to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) if talks with President Goodluck Jonathan failed to produce the desired result. The splinter PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said
Oyinlola should resume office immediately without waiting for any directive from any quarters, adding that any other person who parades himself as the National Secretary of PDP should be committed to prison for contempt of court. It commended President Jonathan for directing the immediate reinstatement of Oyinlola as the duly elected National Secretary of PDP, accusing Bamanga Tukur and his cohorts as true enemies of the party and the force behind the continuous crisis in the PDP, which they don’t want its end because of their myopic and selfish goals. The group said: “The new PDP National Organising Secretary, Hon. Nasir Isa Abubakar, was
appointed to replace Oyinlola in acting capacity pending further directives from the G7 Governors and the new PDP caucus.” The group frown at the plot by undemocratic elements within the system; “Who want to portray our party in bad light by embarking on exercise in futility by trying to lure the South-West PDP to write a petition against Prince Oyinlola and use it to invite him to the Alhaji Dikko’s Disciplinary Committee and after that suspend him. “To us, this plot, apart from being childish, exposes Tukur and his cohorts as true enemies of the PDP and the force behind the continuous crisis in the party which they don’t want its end because of their myopic and selfish goals.
“But, we thank God for the intervention of President Jonathan to end this undesirable macabre dance.” The group added that its National Working Committee (NWC) ‘considered other options in case our talks with President Jonathan fail to produce the desired result and concluded that our door should be opened to the APC option, while not ruling out other options that would give us the leverage in reshaping the polity come 2015. “NWC decided to wait for the briefing and recommendation of the G7 Governors before deciding our next move, even as we continue to wait for the invitation of President Goodluck Jonathan to conclude our meeting on the fate of the PDP.”
NNPC denies complicity with oil traders to perpetuate fraud UDEME AKPAN
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he management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), over the weekend, denounced the recent report by a Swiss-based non-governmental organisation, The Berne Declaration,
which accused the corporation of collusion with some local and international oil traders to carry out unfair industry practices. In a chat with journalists in Abuja, the Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the corporation, Tumini Green, said that
the publication is not only bogus, but strewn with inaccurate and poorly researched data, which defies common sense and verifiable evidence. She said; “For instance, how can anybody who claims to be a close observer of the Nigeria oil and gas industry say that
the process leading to the award of term contract for lifting of Nigeria’s crude is shrouded in mystery? “It is common knowledge that the call for tender for this contract is periodically published by almost all the newspapers in Nigeria via paid advert placements by the NNPC.”
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
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Ex-Oyo NBA boss petitions IG over threat to life KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN
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ormer Chairman of the Oyo State branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olawale Omoloye, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, for alleged threat to his life by some men of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) in
Oyo town. In the petition dated November 7, 2013 and copied to the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Oyo Area Police Command Omoloye alleged that he incurred the wrath of the police officers because he was handling pro bono cases “for indigent persons, who have lost the whereabouts of their family members and filing applications for enforcement of their fundamental
rights to liberty”. While alleging that many suspects, who could not afford money being charged for their bail were always being represented by him, he said: “As part of the exercise to decongest the prisons in the area of my jurisdiction, where I carry on the business of legal practice, the concerned police men took offence and they are publicly saying that my life is not safe
within the Oyo environ, or else I will no more carry on my legal practice within the Oyo town. “They issued out a public threat not only to my life, but that they are making efforts to orchestrate a crime that would be linked with me so as to tag me a criminal.” In the letter entitled: “Complaint of an attempt to orchestrate a crime against me and threat to
life by some police officers from Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), Ogbomoso/ Oyo annex, Durbar, OyoMy passionate appeal to Save My Soul from the said people,” the former NBA chairman said n October this year, he had a brief on one Barry Galadima, “who was arrested and detained only because he is a senior brother to some alleged suspects who were alleged to have purchased a motorcycle from a suspect, who used the proceeds from armed robbery operation to purchase the said motorcycle”. Galadima was said to have been detained for two days (11 and 12th October) and his bail secured, “but on the condition that he must search for his brother and produce him, or else he
would be rearrested and detained for an alleged crime he never committed”. According to him, Galadima’s case was just one of such pro bono cases he had been handling, which allegedly did not go down well with the alleged police officers. While calling the attention of the public to his predicament, he said the police officers involved in the detention of Galadima were after his life, urging the IG to use his good offices to save his life. Omoloye, however, urged the SARS men not see him as their enemy, but a person who found himself in the vanguard of defending the entrenched fundamental rights of any citizen of Nigeria.
Lagos moves to achieve mega city status MURITALA AYINLA
L-R: Chief Medical Director, Eye Foundation Center, Dr. Adekunle Hassan; Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and Paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Awujale, Dr. Sikiru Adetona, during the commissioning of an Ultra Modern Eye Foundation Center in Ijebu Mushin, at the weekend.
NSA, G-7 governors meet over PDP crisis OBIORA IFOH, ABUJA
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embers of the G7 governors met yesterday to deliberate on the renewed reconciliation efforts by President Goodluck Jonathan towards ending the intractable crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The President, who has reached out to the aggrieved governors through the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, directed that the impasse in the party be resolved soon as possible. As at press time, the G7 governors which include Aliyu Babangida
(Niger), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) as well as some leaders of the new PDP led by its Chairman, Abubakar Baraje, were locked in a meeting to streamline their differences. The G7 governors and the new PDP are demanding that President Jonathan should not contest in 2015; that state party structure should be returned to the governors; that the suspension slammed on the Rivers State governor should be lifted and that Bamanga
Tukur be relieved as the National Chairman of the party. But President Jonathan has ordered Dasuki to ensure that the reinstated National Secretary of the party, Prince Olugunsoye Oyinlola, assumes office today at the party’s headquaters in compliance with the court order. The Baraje-led new PDP had vowed to storm the party headquarters today to enforce the Appeal Court, Abuja, judgement delivered by Justice Joseph Tor which recognised Oyinlola as the validly elected national secretary of the PDP. Against the expectation that Oyinlola would be
sworn in today, National Mirror gathered from a highly-placed PDP source that a directive from the Presidency has asked that the embattled former governor of Osun State may not need to be sworn in rather, “he will walk back to his office, report to Tukur and assume his responsibilities as the chief administrative officer of the party. “Since he has taking oath of office in March last year for the four-year tenure, he will not be required to take fresh oath. But should any other competent court dismisses the judgement of the Appeal Court, he will vacate the seat.”
Ekiti killing: PDP denies plan to implicate Fayemi’s aide ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI
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hairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, has described as untrue the allegation by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Chief Yemi Adaramodu, that a member of the House of Representatives, Hon Opeyemi Bamidele, was romancing with a fac-
tion of PDP to implicate him. Makanjuola, however, cautioned the governor’s aide “not to drag the PDP into the intra-party crisis of the All Progressives Congress (APC),” which he said “led to the death of Foluso Ogundare” in Emure Ekiti penultimate Sunday. In a statement signed yesterday by his media aide, Mr. Femi Omolusi, the PDP chairman, in response
to Adaramodu’s allegation in the petition to the State Security Services (SSS), said: “There is no move in PDP to implicate Adaramodu because the political mayhem which led to the death of Folusho Ogundare has nothing to do with our party. “PDP in Ekiti State is not factionalised. It is only APC that has Eyiyato and Bibiire factions. So, there is no way Hon Bamidele can
meet with a non-existent PDP faction.” Adaramodu had last week petitioned the SSS over alleged plot to implicate him and other APC chieftains, saying “the alarm became necessary following a fracas that erupted in EmureEkiti on November 3, 2013 which his opponents are trying to use to have him and other APC leaders incarcerated”.
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s part of efforts to achieve its Mega City status through provision of enabling environment, the Lagos State Government has begun moves to chart a new course on how to make the living more conducive for residents. The United Nation population report had, in 2012, identified Lagos as the fastest growing megacity in the world with its current population estimated at 21 million. It is also predicted that the state would be the largest mega city in the world. Hence, the state government is set to define new workable policies that will enhance living condition of residents, especially with the prediction that Lagos would, by 2015, have the largest mega cities in the world. Addressing journalists on the Livable City Conference organised by the Lagos State Government, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, said the conference would attract renowned international experts in all field of human endeavours and also focus on the ways to deal with socio-cultural challenges confronting the nation. Idris said the state government would learn from other speakers from other mega cities across the world on how they tackled the problems, saying the
current challenges confronting the state is not peculiar to Lagos city alone but also other developed cities in the world. The commissioner, however, added that the conference would produce a multi-sectoral strategy for integrated development of mental and social health needs of the Lagos megacity, hoping that the state government will have a clearer understanding of the emerging issues associated with mega city. Meanwhile, the state government has said that it would begin enforcement of the second phase of the Lagos Traffic Law in January next year to enhance safety of residents. With the development, no drivers would be allowed to drive beyond eight hours at a stretch, while owners of the commercial vehicles would be made to get insurance to cover their passengers. Commercial drivers and their conductors would also begin to appear in new look with a registered uniform and badges for proper identification. To be regulated also is the number of passengers who stand in the buses particularly, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). No commercial vehicle would be allowed to ply route not registered for. Smoking and eating while driving within the state will attract N20, 000 to N30, 000 in accordance with the law for first and second offenders respectfully.
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National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Fashola woos more investors as Trade Fair ends
MURITALA AYINLA AND EMMANUEL OGBONNAYA
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agos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, yesterday called for more private sector investment in the state to create jobs and increase productivity, even as the 10-day 2013 Lagos International Trade Fair came to an end amid fanfare. The governor lauded the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LCCI) for successfully organising the international event, which he described as the flagship of trade and business expositions in Nigeria and the West African
sub-region. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the fair held at the Tafawa Balewa Square tagged: “Lagos State Day,” which marks the highpoint of the annual trade fair, Fashola said attraction of more investors in the state is necessary for the state to achieve its dream of becoming Africa’s model megacity by 2015. Commending the LCCI under the current leadership of Mr. Goodie Ibru, Fashola said the state government will continue to facilitate the creation of a business environment conducive to private sector investments.
Governor Fashola, who was represented by the state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Olusola Oworu, described the theme of this year’s fair as apt, saying the theme will further underscore his administration’s commitment to leverage on effective private sector linkages to ultimately create wealth and promote economic development. The governor assured of continuous development of strategies that will help the state harness public and private investments. Meanwhile, participants, especially traders and owners of businesses,
expressed mixed feelings about the trade fair. While some blamed the poor patronage they experienced on the relocation of the trade fair to Lagos Island, other commended government for it. They, however, decried the amount paid to get a square metre of space where their stands were located, saying they paid N8, 000 per square metre, the amount many of them claimed was too high compared to the level of patronage. Meanwhile, the LCCI have attributed the large number of local and international participants
at the fair to the remarkable growth of investors’ confidence in the Nigerian economy. The chamber’s President, Goodie Ibru, also noted that in spite of the evident limitations of the business environment and the state of infrastructure and facilities at the venue, the fair can still be adjudged as successful, because all participants enjoyed rewarding business interactions during the 10day event. He commended their courage, resilience and optimism, while hoping that
NANS faults students’ leader over Fayemi ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI
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L-R: Iyaloja-General of Lagos, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo; former Minister of Industry, Chief (Mrs.) Nike Akande; Vice-President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Alhaji Remi Bello; Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Sola Oworu and President, LCCI, Chief Goodie Ibru, at the Lagos Day and closing ceremony of the Lagos International Trade Fair, yesterday. PHOTO: YINKA ADEPARUSI
NNPC urged to increase kerosene allocation to states ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI
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he Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has appealed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to increase kerosene allocation to states so that the
product will get to the grassroots at affordable price. IPMAN Chairman in Ore Depot, Ondo State, Chief Bode Olayinka, who praised the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, for his consideration for people in the rural areas, said increase in alloca-
tion to those areas would yield the desired result. Olayinka, who spoke in Itapa Ekiti in the Oye Local Government Area during the flag-off of Kero-Direct in the state, said the programme, which cushions the effects of the hardship felt by the masses, remained one of the best ways Nigerians,
particularly the masses, could feel the impact of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government. The IPMAN boss described the direct sale of the product to consumers as a means of ensuring that poor Nigerians have access to kerosene at the controlled price of N50 per litre.
Oodua group holds colloquium on national conference KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN
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he Oodua Development Initiative, a group of political activists, businessmen/women, academics and professionals from diverse fields from the states of Yoruba nation, will on tomorrow, hold a colloquium on the national conference. The colloquium, under the theme: “National Conference: True Federalism and the Yoruba Nation” will hold at the Premier Hotel, Ibadan by 10.30am.
In a release issued by the Protem Secretary-General of the group; Mr. Sanya Adesua, the group said the colloquium is part of efforts towards setting a concrete agenda for the Yoruba nation for productive participation at the proposed national conference. It will be chaired by Chief Ebenezer Babatope, a onetime Nigerian Transport Minister. Discussants at the forum include: Prof. Ayo Olukotun, a media expert and professor of Political Communication, Prof. Tayo Adesina,
a historical economist and Mr. Yinka Odumakin, the Publicity Secretary of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG). The colloquium will be moderated by a political scientist and an accomplished newspaper columnist, Prof. Alade Fawole. In another development, a non-governmental organisation, the United Youth for Democracy (UYD), at the weekend, enjoined the Federal Government to ensure that the national dialogue is concerned with how to improve the country economi-
cally, socially and politically, saying to do otherwise, will just be another wasteful exercise. The UYD, which said this in a release signed by the Chairman, Comrade Kehinde Ojuawo and the Secretary, Comrade Ayotunde Rahaman Fajinmi, also called on members of the Council of State and the National Assembly to intervene in the lingering dispute between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end the protracted ASUU strike.
governments at all levels, would address the numerous impediments to private sector development in the country, especially with regards to infrastructure, security, quality of institutions and funding. He pointed out that this was not the time for us to take a back seat in the race to exploit opportunities offered by the emergence of global and foreign markets, stressing that it was rather a time for us to reposition and equip ourselves to leverage on the boundless opportunities at our disposal.
he National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), South-West Zone D, yesterday took a swipe at its National President, Yinka Gbadebo, over a statement credited to him in which he cast aspersions on the Dr Kayode Fayemi administration in Ekiti State. NANS Zone D Public Relations Officer, Taiwo Bamigbade, told journalists in Ado Ekiti that Gbadebo’s statement entitled; ‘Arise Before Fayemi Ruins Ekiti’ was baseless and inconsistent with realities on ground. Bamigbade said; “The statement is irrelevant at this material time in the face of the struggle for a better educational system not even when he (Gbadebo) failed to react to the alleged killings of students in Uyo by men of the Nigerian Police and Seyi Fasere, a
student of Ekiti State University.” The students’ body in the South-West said Fayemi’s focus on educational development and transformation of the state should not be distracted ‘by reactionary statements to gain political attention and cheap popularity.’ The NANS National President had in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, last week berated Fayemi for allegedly being tyrannical and despotic in the pursuit of his second ambition, which he said has led to the killing of over five indigenes of the state in the last two years while many others had been injured. He had called on the Ammesty International, the National Human Rights Commission, civil societies and well meaning Nigerians to save the downtrodden people of the Ekiti State from the governor.
Nigerian varsity teacher to deliver lecture in Ghana
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niversity of Ibadan professor of Political Science and Director-General of the Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy, Lekki, Lagos, Prof. Adigun Agbaje, has been invited to deliver a public lecture at the main campus of Central University College, Ghana’s largest private university. The lecture, which will hold on November 13, 2013, will have Agbaje speak on the topic; “Electoral politics and the travails of democracy, development, and security in Africa.”
Agbaje, who was a deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan, is expected to speak to a crowd that comprises the university community and the Ghanaian academic community in general. In the letter of invitation, the University’s President, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Science, expressed the “hope and expectation” that the lecture would “stimulate academic debate” and establish “close links” between his university and Agbaje’s institution.
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
South East
Monday, November 11, 2013
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We’re still investigating Clara Chime’s health status –NHCR SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN BENIN
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he National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has denied media insinuations suggesting that it has established that Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime’s wife, Clara, is suffering from health chal-
lenges. The body said yesterday that it was still investigating the health status of the governor’s wife. In a clarification that was e-mailed to our correspondent yesterday in Benin on behalf of its Executive Director, Prof. Ben Angwe, by the Director of Public Affairs and Communications, Muhammad Nasir Ladan,
NHRC said it was untrue that it has established that Mrs. Chime, had health challenges as anything like that at the stage of investigation would imply bias. The clarification stated; “The attention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has been drawn to media reports which suggested that the commission had established
that Mrs. Clara Chime suffers from health challenges. “This implies that the commission is biased and has already taken a decision on her complaint which is far from the truth. “The National Human Rights Commission is yet to reach a determination on the petition received from Mrs. Clara Chime.
The complaint is currently being investigated and will be subjected to the commission’s rules of procedure. “The commission is a credible national institution that will never be biased or compromised in case management or any matter before it. “It became necessary for the commission to address the press on Friday November 8, 2013 in respect of the complaint received from Mrs. Chime, because it had attracted considerable media attention and generated a lot of public interest. “The purpose of the
briefing was to inform Nigerians that the commission’s team of investigators visited Enugu and held a meeting with the complainant and her husband and is taking further investigative steps in respect of the matter.” While claiming that its investigation was still on-going and, therefore, premature for the media report, NHRC emphasised that the governor’s wife spoke to its officials fluently and coherently like a person aware of her actions during its visitation to the Enugu State Government House last week.
Over 100 exhibitors for N150m Made-in-Aba fair OLU FEMI ADEOSUN ABUJA
A A chieftain of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Paul Nnamah (left) and the All Progressives Congress stalwart, Mr John Nwokeji, speaking during an interaction between Anambra people and political parties over the 2013 Anambra governorship election in Onitsha, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN
Enugu LG poll: APC wants ENSIEC chair prosecuted DENNIS AGBO ENUGU
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nugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the arrest and prosecution of the Chairman of the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC), Dr. Boniface Eneh, for disobeying the order of an Enugu high court that restrained him from conducting council polls in the state. It will be recalled that Justice Anthony Onovo of the state high court had on October 31, 2013, gave an order stopping ENSIEC from conducting the council election in Isi-Uzo and Ezeagu Local Government
Areas, following an application brought by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the state, seeking an order for judicial review in line with the order of mandamus on why ENSIEC should not conducted the said election. But ENSIEC, on November 2nd, 2013, went ahead with the polls without recourse to the order of the court even when such order was served on the commission before the election date. Speaking at the weekend in Enugu, Chairman of the APC election committee in the state, Dr. Ben Nwoye, regretted that the ENSIEC boss, could engage in all manner of illegality, in the name of conduct-
ing election, “just because he wants to satisfy his employers, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in the state.” The APC chieftain insisted that the only way to advance the nation’s democracy was to show all the anti-democratic elements occupying sensitive public offices, such as the ENSIEC chairman, the exit door. He said Dr. Eneh, had throughout the process of the controversial council polls, worked against all the basic principles of democracy, stressing that allowing him to go unpunished, poses a lot of danger to democratic rule in the state. Nwoye, who made it clear that his party, APC
did not participate in the election, following the unlawful disqualification of all its 17 local government council chairmen and councillorship candidates by the state electoral body, just about two days to the polls, warned that unless the likes of Dr Boniface Eneh, who flouts court order with impunity are made to face the full wrath of the law, the nation’s democracy may be facing a serious threat. He wondered why ENSIEC, under Eneh, could qualify a candidate on Monday and the same electoral body will announce the person’s disqualification on Tuesday, describing the whole exercise as laughable.
MASSOB lauded for disowning APGA DENNIS AGBO ENUGU
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he All Progressives Congress (APC) has commended the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) for instantly rebutting the purported claim by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) that it
endorsed the party in the November 16 governorship election in the state. APC said MASSOB has, by the noble act, separated the wheat from the chaff, the true APGA from fake APGA, that it alleged only remembered people during election. APC Publicity Secretary for the South-East, Osita Okechukwu, accused APGA leaders in Anam-
bra State of insincerity, that they do not believe in the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s ideals and had abandoned the Ikemba in his later days. Okechukwu saluted MASSOB for exposing Governor Obi and what he referred to as his empty shell called APGA; by distancing itself from the desperados of the party.
Okechukwu said: “MASSOB has not only demonstrated that it is truly pan-Igbo; but has in no uncertain terms shown appreciation to the fact that what we have in Anambra State today is Agulu Grand Alliance not the All Progressives Grand Alliance, which Ezeigbo Gburugburu, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu promoted.
s part of moves to encourage the patronage of Madein-Nigeria goods, about 120 exhibitors are expected to storm Abuja for the forthcoming Made-in-Aba fair. The over 100 exhibitors, comprising primarily artisans and local producers from Aba will be participating. The fair, being facilitated by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, would be organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) from November 18 to 22 in Abuja. Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, at the weekend, on the forthcoming fair, Abaribe said the exhibition is meant to “put confidence in locallymade products and expose policy makers to these products”. Abaribe, who represents Abia South senatorial district in the senate, said the fair was a constituency project captured in the 2014 budget and being handled by SMEDAN and would gulp N150 million in addition to the N80 million for training and N56 million for grant to the local manufacturers. According to him, the only way to ensure industrial revolution in the country is through the patronage of locally manufactured goods. The fair facilitator stressed that the trade exhibition would showcase
Made-in-Aba products like shoes, leathers, textiles etc; saying that “Nigerians should know those products that could be manufactured in Aba in order not to import what they could procure locally. “It is a Federal Government programme meant to complement the efforts of the Abia State government in improving the nation’s economy through manufacturing. “This is not a fair for selling foods, but the one to showcase the talents of local manufacturers and prove that they have the capacity to produce for Nigerians. “Indigenous exhibitors from Aba are majorly going to be participants and the fair would help improve patronage of local products by Nigerians”, he stressed. Abaribe added that the fair would further help in creating jobs, wealth and foreign exchange for the people and the country. He noted that; “The people who used to reject products from China, Japan and some others in the past, now patronise them after much support by the governments of those countries for their manufacturers,” therefore solicited similar support from the federal government for Nigerian producers. The lawmaker said though it may be difficult to compel people to patronise locally-manufactured goods through legislation, he pointed out that high tariffs could be used to protect the nation’s industries rather than outright ban on importation of goods.
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Auto crash claims 10 passengers in Bayelsa EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA
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o fewer than 10 passengers lost their lives at the weekend in an auto crash which occurred near Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. The accident was said to have occurred at about 8:30pm near Isampou junction along the EastWest Road. An eyewitness told National Mirror that an
18-seater bus conveying the passengers was returning to Yenagoa from a traditional marriage ceremony at Oginigbo in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State when it somersaulted into Okosu River. The witness said that the driver of the bus popularly called Student also died in the crash, adding that a nursing mother struggled to swim out from the river, but lost her baby. He said the deceased were recovered from the
river yesterday by local divers. Eight other occupants of the vehicles who sustained injuries are receiving medical treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Yenagoa. Efforts to reach the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander, Vincent Jack, were unsuccessful as he failed to respond to the phone calls and text message sent to him. But the state Commissioner of Police, Hilary
Opara, confirmed the accident, saying that seven persons died while 10 people who survived were receiving treatment in the hospital. Last Friday, authorities of the FRSC convicted about 50 motorists for various traffic offences in Yenagoa. Suspects were charged for violations of traffic rules ranging from nonuse of seat belts, over loading, excessive speeding and making phone calls while driving.
L-R: Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole; Crown Prince, Eheneden Erediauwa, Edaiken N’Uselu and Commissioner for Environment, Prince Clem Agba, during the commissioning of the 5-Junction project which consists of a roundabout, massive underground storm water drainage system and street lights in Benin, yesterday.
Fresh oil spill ravages Bayelsa community EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA
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n oil spill from a pipeline belonging to the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) has ravaged Atonyebi Kiri, a fishing settlement in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Investigation revealed that the spill, which was described as an underwater leakage, has polluted rivers and creeks in the community thereby disrupting fishing activities, the residents’ source of livelihood. It was gathered that the
spill had started trickling into the main NembeBrass River forcing fishermen to groan at home. National Mirror was reliably informed that some fishermen from the Atonyebi Kiri settlement discovered the fresh spill last Friday night while the setting their fishing nets and immediately alerted the surveillance team of NAOC. It was learnt that surveillance team led by one Samuel David had already contacted the Chairman, Oil and Gas Committee of Nembe Kingdom, Chief Nengi James, on the inci-
How to tackle oil theft –NUPENG SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN BENIN
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he Federal Government has been urged to harness the technology of the socalled illegal or local refineries and perfect it to effectively tackle crude oil theft. The National President of the Independent Marketers Branch of the National Union of Petroleum
and Natural Gas Workers (IMB-NUPENG) Mr. Thompson Ogbodo, stated this at the weekend in Benin during the election of the new executive members of the Benin unit of the union. He said all over the world, developing countries desirous to be free from “the stranglehold of imported technology for self-reliance” exploit local potentials to the optimum
dent. Chief James, however, said that the incident had been reported to officials of the Italian oil giant in Brass for necessary action. He said: “As the Chairman of Oil and Gas Committee, I have called the attention of Eni/NAOC personnel in Brass to urgently tackle the issue. More so, aquatic life and mangroves, including the waterways have been polluted by the oil spill. “It is worrisome that Agip has been unconcerned about issues of environmental degra-
dation and spills. The company’s management has not been cooperating with communities on clean-ups, compensations and other environmental issues.” In recent years, issues of oil spills have been a recurring incident in oil producing communities in Bayelsa State. The incident led to frosty relations between oil firms and local communities. Payment of compensation and cleaning up of the spills by the companies concerned are often treated with levity.
in the drive for independence. Ogbodo said: “The Federal Government should invite all the local refinery operators to a meeting to discuss ways of harnessing the ideas they have and then devise a more organised and elaborate way of perfecting whatever they are doing in the national interest.” He said the menace of crude oil theft had taken an international dimension with multinational
stakeholders deeply involved in the scam. Ogbodo said Nigeria would continue to lose the fight against oil theft if the government did not device a decisive measure to tackle the challenge. He, however, urged the Festus Alohan-led executive of the Benin unit of NUPENG to take advantage of the goodwill generated by the free and fair election of the union officials to work for the welfare of members.
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Kidnapping: Edo NBA denies suspects defence SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN BENIN
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he Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in Edo State has resolved to continue to deny kidnapping suspects on trial defence after an initial strike that was declared to protest a growing abduction of its members. The state NBA Chairman, Mr. Oniame Akhere, said the association was yet to reconsider its decision that followed last month’s protest. Akhere said the decision was taken to protest kidnappers’ targeting lawyers and judges for ransoms. The decision, it was learnt, would be in place until a formal review. The state former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Dr. Osagie Obayuwana, described the boycott as an emotional reaction to a scary experience. Obayuwana said: “It is an emotional reaction to a very terrible experience that has become our daily experience in recent time. “Many of us are yet to reconcile ourselves to the fact that a judge of the
High Court was not only kidnapped recently, but held for about 20 days and had his finger chopped-off by kidnappers. It is something that we have to accept to fight. “The fight against kidnapping is not one that ought to be left for the police and other security agencies alone; all our people must be involved. It is a bestiality that every reasonable member of our society must resolve to tackle. As for the issue of the boycott, I believe it is only for a short time. It is an action that is meant to draw the attention of the world to a problem - that things cannot continue as if all is well. I believe the NBA will call-off the boycott after a re-consideration.” But a member of Edo NBA, Mr. Jonathan Chuks Enegide, said he obeyed the resolution, though he did not support it. Kidnapping now carries capital punishment if a suspect is proven beyond reasonable doubts by a court to be guilty of kidnapping, according to the amended Anti-kidnapping Law signed on October 18, 2014 by Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
Oshiomhole commissions projects to mark fifth anniversary SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN BENIN
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overnor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has commissioned the Five Junction intersection and four other roads completed in the first year of his second term. The four roads that are part of the 16 rebuilt roads linking the Airport Road were commissioned to kickstart the government’s fifth anniversary celebration set for Wednesday, November 13, 2013. Speaking during the commissioning of Five Junction, Oshiomhole flayed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the past misrule inflicted on the people of the state. The governor, who tackled his critics after thanking members of the state House of Assembly for their support, said about PDP: “I heard that they have constituted a 45-man committee to try to recover what they have
lost. But I know that Edo people will never allow the cockroaches to get back into their oil because they (the cockroaches) will still continue to suck their oil (as they have been doing before). They are gone and gone forever.” Before commissioning the Five Junction at Uselu, a project that had pitched the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen against Oshiomhole, Benin Traditional Kingdom Crown Prince, Eheneden Erediauwa, urged the Federal Government to change its hostile attitude and cooperate with Edo State Government so as to bring development closer to the people. Speaking during the commissioning, Oshiomhole said the project was completed in fulfillment of his electoral promises. The governor said the government would continue to execute people-oriented projects even in the face of dwindling resources.
Monday, November 11, 2013
North’ll defeat Jonathan in 2015 –Kaita
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Politics
The North, just like any section of this country, would want the presidency in 2015. But I do not believe it will be a do-or-die. This is because it is the whole country that has the final say which will find expression through votes
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–NATIONAL PUBLICITY SECRETARY OF THE AREWA CONSULTATIVE FORUM (ACF), ANTHONY SANI
APGA will win Anambra governorship election –Umeh N ational Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, has said that he was confident that his party would win the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State. Umeh expressed the confidence that with APGA’s achievements in the state, he had no doubt that the party would be victorious in the coming poll. He said that APGA had governed Anambra for the past seven years, adding that the party had been able to take the state to a greater level. “The party has been able to bring back the state from the rubbles to prominence. Today, the people of Anambra are happy with the government of APGA and they will continue to be happy,” he said. He also vouched for the competence of the APGA candidate, Chief Willy Obi-
ano, saying that he had the needed education, experience and exposure to take the state to a greater height. “We have found him worthy in character and experience as well as in the area of administration. So, he is the most qualified among the contestants to continue the good work of Governor Peter Obi’s administration,” he said. Umeh said that if APGA was voted into power, it would also embark on policies and programmes that had direct bearing on the lives of the people. “Everybody is quite aware of the fact that people in the villages need good infrastructure and the party is ready to do more to alleviate their suffering. If the party is voted into power, it will also empower more women and create more job opportunities for youths to deal with the problem of youth restiveness,” he said. Umeh said that if APGA
Embrace national dialogue, Yuguda urges Nigerians SINA FADARE
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he governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, has enjoined Nigerians to embrace the national conference, saying that everything humanly and administratively possible must be done in order to keep Nigeria as one indivisible entity. He noted that those calling for a broken Nigeria are not patriotic citizens. Yuguda stated this while addressing the North-East session of the proposed national dialogue in Bauchi. To him, the best thing anyone can do is to use the diversity of the country for better nationhood rather than seek for its division or shredding it into segments, saying “the issues of ethno-religious sentiments must be done away with.” The governor, who agreed that people might have different reasons of
disagreement, such should not in any way lead to secession. He pointed out that there is strength in the diversity of the country because, according to him, “God made us all Nigerians first and then gave us different languages, cultures, traditions and above all religions.” His words: “We must therefore tolerate one another in order to move on. We must learn to understand one another so that we can make positive progress. We must allow our senses of reasoning and judgement to lead us aright because we don’t have any other place to call a country if not Nigeria. “Today, capital has run away from us because we are not united in purpose. Today, we have poverty because we are not ready to accommodate each other’s opinion on how to make capital stay around us. We must find a way to make our economy develop.”
continued to be in power, it would ensure the proper use of the state’s resources to enhance the citizens’ well-being. The party chairman, however, urged the Independent national Electoral Commission, INEC, to safeguard the interests of the electorate while conducting
the election by ensuring a “free, fair and credible election,” he said. He stressed the need for early arrival of electoral materials and INEC officials at polling centres so as to ensure the success of the poll. Umeh, however, cautioned INEC over the re-
cruitment of ad hoc staff as electoral officers. He called on President Goodluck Jonathan to deploy enough security agents to the state, as part of efforts to ensure a hitchfree election. Umeh decried the idea of deploying security operatives to election areas late;
saying that such practice usually caused a breakdown of law and order even before the election. He, however, suggested that the INEC personnel for the November 16 election in Anambra should come from other states so as to ensure transparency in the election process.
Niger State Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu presenting a souvenir to Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Hon. Saudatu Sani when she paid a courtesy visit to the Government House, Minna at the weekend.
Senator tackles Buhari over corruption charge against PDP OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU
A
member of the Nigerian Senators’ Forum, Senator Yisa Braimoh (who represented Edo North in the Senate between 2007 and 2011) has taken former military Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to task over his claim that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, institutionalised corruption in the country..
Braimoh, in a statement at the weekend in Abuja debunked Buhari’s allegation, arguing that corruption was not about political platforms but individuals running them. He said: “General Buhari missed the point when he accused the PDP of institutionalising corruption in Nigeria. The PDP did not institutionalise corruption, rather, successive PDP administrations at the federal level have been fighting the
corruption scourge, which individuals and politicians in public and private offices, since the military era, have deepened through their greed and deep-seated acquisitive tendencies. “I am not surprised that Buhari would re-echo the opposition’s mantra whenever it is convenient to demonise the PDP even when it is quite clear that those politicians in the PDP who used their offices to corruptly enrich themselves are today in the
same party with him. “It is indeed paradoxical that Buhari, who presents to the world as one who hates corruption, would gladly cohabit with corrupt former ministers, serving and former governors in the All Progressive Congress, APC, in a bid to wrest power from President Goodluck Jonathan.” Braimoh asked if Buhari can vouch for the integrity of those questionable characters around him in the APC.
Group insists on value, integrity in choice of Lagos governor SINA FADARE
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hristian Conscience, a non-partisan pressure group, has insisted that those who are aspiring to govern Lagos State in the next political dispensation must possess values that are in tandem with righteousness and integrity. The group, after aris-
ing from an emergency meeting at the weekend, observed that no nation can survive without the principles of Christ well entrenched in its polity. In a statement issued by the group’s Public Relations Consultant, Femi Ilori, it explained that the quest for a Christian governor in Lagos State is not a quest for mediocrity. Ilorin explained: “We are
not just calling for a Christian governor in the next political dispensation in Lagos State, we are calling for people who will uphold Christian values and who are ready to serve the poor and make life better for residents of Lagos State.” According to him, no nation can survive without the values of hard work, righteousness and rule of law.
“A good leader,” he added, “must be seen to concern itself with alleviating the plight of the poor in the society, work towards making life better and for promoting justice in the land. The rule of law is fundamental because that is the only way people could find justice. The rule of law is the cornerstone of any decent society.”
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Politics
Monday, November 11, 2013
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North’ll defeat Jonathan in 2015 –Kaita Alhaji Lawal Kaita is former governor of defunct Kaduna State and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain. He speaks on Nigeria’s centenary celebration, President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election and Igbo presidency in this interview with JAMES DANJUMA. Excerpts:
Says, ‘Nigeria won’t break up’
The All Progressive Congress, APC, has been visiting the G7 governors to woo them into the party. Do you see this as affecting the fortunes of the PDP in 2015 in the event the G7 governors move into APC? Of course if these seven governors join the APC it would definitely affect the fortunes of the PDP in 2015. To lose control of seven states is not a small thing in politics. And I must add that Katsina is supposed to be part of the issue since it is 80 per cent anti-Jonathan. I know Katsina will not vote for Jonathan should he contest in the next elections, including Kano. But Kano is already in the G-7, Katsina is not.
Nigeria will be celebrating 100 years of statehood early next year. What are your thoughts about the planned centenary celebration? I think celebrating Nigeria at 100 years of statehood is quite a good idea, but if only it is done decently and prudently, not taking billions of the nation’s money and unnecessarily spending it on the celebration. I support the idea of celebrating the country at 100 years but let it not be done in such a way that money is wasted unnecessarily when it can be used for better purposes. Having been together for this long, do you see some of the challenges facing the country leading to her disintegration? I don’t think there is any issue that is threatening the unity of this country. I think Nigeria has reached a stage where disunity or breakup is not possible. It cannot happen. We are one Nigeria. I know Nigeria. I have lived in Enugu, Port Harcourt and other places for 30 to 40 years and I still have colleagues and friends in some of these places. I don’t think there is any chance for the country’s disintegration anytime soon. The only issue is these people from some parts of the country saying that if Goodluck Jonathan does not get re-elected, there will be no Nigeria. They are the only ones that seem to be threatening the country’s unity, even though it is not that significant, otherwise there is no threat to Nigeria’s unity. Despite what they say however, we would still go to elections in 2015 and we will defeat Jonathan, and Nigeria will remain entity. There are concerns that some people might use the opportunity of the proposed national dialogue to pursue agenda that may lead to the division of the country? As far as I’m concerned, the planned national dialogue is in no way a threat to the unity of this country. But it is nonetheless a diversion and a waste of time. If I may ask, what is wrong with Nigeria now that we would want a national dialogue? The Southern part of the country has oil, and it has its 13 per cent derivation. Now it is saying it wants 50 per cent. But we had sat down and decided the derivation percentage as I was a member of the committee that gave the 13 per cent derivation. General Shehu Yar’Adua was the chairman of the conference which gave the 13 per cent. The only problem is that they don’t utilise the derivation as they should, but they still want more. I repeat, they are not utilising the money as they should and they still want more. As a Northerner, what is your opinion about the national conference? Do you see it as beneficial to the region? My personal opinion: I don’t care wheth-
threat recently hails from the same state with the president? It’s all political propaganda and useless talking. There are threats that you people should take seriously and one of them is not the one coming from Bayelsa. To say that there will be war or there would be no peace if Jonathan fails to get re-elected is nonsense. He hasn’t got the means to carry out his threat.
Kaita
er it holds or not. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see anything wrong with Nigeria as a country now. These internal divisions we have now and then will have to exist for the next 100 years. A country like Nigeria with so many tribes and ethnic groups would have to continue living like it is doing as this is quite normal. But I don’t think there is anything fundamentally wrong with Nigeria to warrant a national conference. I don’t know what they want to table. They have set up a committee, and the committee is to come up with issues to be discussed. It is after this that we can really understand or appreciate whether it is going to benefit the North, South or the whole country in general. There have been calls by prominent persons of Igbo extraction for the country to give Igbos a shot at the presidency. What are your thoughts about this? I love it; I love the idea of an Igbo president. In fact, I had even wanted it to happen before now. As you would recall, we reached an agreement within the PDP for power rotation between the South and the North. And Southern Nigeria includes the Igbos. We agreed that the South rule for four years then it is rotated. In effect, we were so generous that the North agreed to start the power rotation with the South, and Obasanjo ruled for eight years. He then handed over to late Umaru Yar’Adua who ruled for only two years before his death. Jonathan came in and completed the remaining two years. He contested and will be in office for four years, making it six years. If he goes for another term that would make it 10 years; but the constitution provides only for eight years of two terms, no more. But they want to distort the constitution so that they can continue in office. But those close to the president have been
insisting he has the right to contest in 2015? He has the right of course. As the constitution says, every Nigeria of his age and so on, is qualified; we agree that he is qualified. But it is decency that we are talking about. There is what we call honour and decency. Even if you have the right and you are qualified, you should be able to have the decency to know that if you do this you will be offending a large section of the country. Why should a minority do 10 years in office? What qualities has he shown Nigerians? What about the threat by one or two Nigerians that Jonathan must win in the next general elections or there would be consequences? Most of us know that such threats are empty and are of no substance. What that person was saying is nonsense lies. He can’t say anything on Election Day because even in Bayelsa, the president may end up not having majority votes. From what I am gathering from some of the state governors, even Bayelsa is not certain to vote for Jonathan. But one of such persons that made the
THERE IS NO THREAT TO NIGERIA’S UNITY. DESPITE WHAT THEY SAY, HOWEVER, WE WOULD STILL GO TO ELECTIONS IN 2015
AND WE WILL DEFEAT
JONATHAN, AND NIGERIA WILL STAY
The Igbo have been complaining of marginalisation especially, not being given the opportunity to produce a president... I don’t think Igbos have been marginalised. The first president of this country was an Igbo man, although it was ceremonial then but he was still the president of Nigeria. The civil war may have affected the mentality of Nigerians generally against the Igbos as they had attempted to secede from the country. They had hurt so many Nigerians at the time. But I don’t think it is contributory to their not being able to produce a president. The whole thing I think is with the Igbos. They nearly had a chance when we proposed Dr. Alex Ekwueme for the position. I think he was the only outstanding Igbo at the time even up till today. Ekwueme was my political boss and we were proposing he became president at that time. The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Sanunsi Lamido will be vacating office in June 2014. But there have been reports that Nigerians have been poorer under his watch despite his achievements? Before you asked me the question, I have always considered Sanusi as a mercurial and very effective CBN Governor. I agree with you that people have become poorer under his watch. But, is it because of his policies or is it because of Federal Government’s policies? The Central Bank would only give money when asked to do so. So, I would not say the poverty thing is due to the fault of the CBN but that of the Federal Government. I will also add that the poverty situation in the country is one of the reasons why so many people hate the Jonathan-led administration. People, Northerners in particular, don’t like Jonathan because they have become poorer. Do you have any suggestions to government on the selection of a new CBN Governor? I don’t know much about finance so I cannot give a specific suggestion on the issue. But I believe that the government has enough competent people within and outside the banking system who can effectively manage the CBN after Sanusi leaves office.
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Monday, November 11, 2013
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The masses, public problems and their fate THE POLICY OF MANY
Mirror of the moment
GOVERNMENTS IN THE THIRD WORLD IS TO CONCENTRATE
ABDUL-WAREES A SOLANKE korewarith@yahoo.com, 08090585723 (SMS only)
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hen the less privileged in the society are left to their fate, the state becomes an animal farm without order. Therefore, the non compliance with, or the difficulty of enforcement of so many policies of the government in many developing countries including Nigeria, the seeming weakness, compromise, abuse and exploitation of regulatory regimes and instruments cannot be totally blamed on ‘corrupt government officials’ charged with enforcing law and policies or the recalcitrant citizens who are impervious to change. From public health, sanitation and environmental issues to taxation, financial and economic crime prevention, housing and urban development, traffic regulation and public transportation, we see government at all levels wasting billions of naira on research, consultancy fees, recruitment of street level bureaucrats to monitor compliance and carry out enforcement and public enlightenment campaigns in the mass media and other channels of communication. Take street trading and underage hawking for instance. We all know many governments trying to stop the trend fail woefully
ATTENTION ON A FEW SELECTED PARTS OF THEIR COUNTRIES, NEGLECTING THE HINTERLANDS because this menace is taken as one of the dimensions of our national culture. It is assumed such child abuse and exploitation are part of normal upbringing and training as a child must ‘assist’ his parent or he must be apprenticed to someone who will groom him to become a business success. But this subsisting culture is one that recognizes that poverty is part of our normal life. So, our society consciously or unconsciously promotes the raising of area boys, street urchins, al-majiris and yan dabas because our system tolerates child abuse and exploitation. There is visible failure of social policy to combat the menace. What then happens to the notion of common wealth? For a society or nation that is resource-rich, can we submit to this cultural fatalism? Despite government’s demolition of shanty towns, slums and ghettos in many cities in the third world countries, new ones soon rise in new areas
for crime and diseases to fester. Mushroom schools still grow even when their dilapidated walls crumble to crush the heads and brains of the poor but promising innocent children. Man hours translating to huge economic value are daily frittered in traffic gridlock that has become permanent features of cities like Karachi in Pakistan and Lagos in Nigeria. In this development misfortune, many smart government officials become overnight millionaires because in the compliance monitoring and enforcement process, they become extortionists. When they bill, or an offender is fined, it is not unlikely that they issue fake receipt. Certain businesses are only in the black market while the so called open market is nothing but a jungle market where there is no law or the law makes no sense. In this development misfortune too, new concepts in public management are introduced which only further impoverish the hapless, while enriching the few who have the resources to pocket the state or buy the government. The cycle is a vicious one: poverty, corruption, policy compromise and failure, political instability, unsustainable development and underdevelopment. How can developing countries particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where Nigeria is considered the leader unlock themselves from this cycle? There is no miracle except putting people at the centre of development policy. When a policy is too exclusive of the concern, pains and frustration of the common man, it will not be strange that the public will rise to oppose or reject such
The ‘gate’ of Umuahia I
GODWIN ADINDU
t is 12 noon this sunny afternoon in Umuahia, capital city of Abia State. The tricycle in which I was riding suddenly screeched to a halt. I struggled to shuffle my body out of the compacted shelter of the automobile and was standing at the popular ‘gate’ of Umuahia. I looked around but I could not see any wall, no sentry, no gatemen and actually no gate. What I saw was commotion on the prowl. Umuahia is not the ancient medieval city of walls and mighty gates, with guntoting soldiers at the ready. But, here, where I stood, is designated as the ‘gate’. To every resident of Umuahia, this central point of the city is the ‘gate’. Quite significantly, the gate identifies the main market at the centre of the metropolis and the many loading points of several inter-state transport companies. The place is a melting pot that captures the heartbeat of the city. It is the Lagos version of the old Oshodi or the old Marina where man and mermaids compete for the available space within a 100 square meter radius of land. There is an overhead flyover that has been ignored and hordes of street traders with a stream of men moving in all direction. There are noise and commotion. As I meandered around the ‘gate’ this afternoon, admiring a live movie of urban pressure, with all its tension and conflicts,
the word ‘gate’ came to me as a euphemism for chaos. There is a conscious effort, I suppose, to be sarcastic about the real life situation at this place with the word ‘gate’. Are there historical resemblances with activities at the old gates with the commotion and environmental pollution that are the hallmarks of this central place of Umuahia? Could the indigenes have been alluding to a historical place notorious for rowdiness in their choice of the word ‘gate’? Thank God, a Daniel has come to judgment! Governor Theodore Orji is set to cure the menace of the ‘gate’ of Umuahia. Orji is set to bring order and decency to this perimeter of land that has taken a bold identity for rowdiness. He is set to arrest the environmental challenges occasioned by this boiling point of Umuahia. Early in his first tenure, the governor identified that the main issue with this place was the main market which ought not to have been located at such a central place of the metropolis. He immediately set out to relocate the market to a more conducive place, away from the hub of the city. Today, the Ubani-Ibeku Ultra Modern Market at the outskirts of Umuahia has been completed and the governor is set to execute his vision. The stalls and other facilities including water, electricity, security posts, clinic, fire station and access roads have all been completed. The governor has, therefore, put a deadline to the final evacuation of traders to the new
BUT, MY HUMBLE ADVICE TO THE
UMUAHIA TRADERS IS THAT ONE CANNOT MAKE OMELET WITHOUT BREAKING EGGS.
market and has gone ahead to inaugurate a Relocation Committee headed by Chief Ebenezer Offor. But, there are murmurings in the land. As would be expected, some traders who would surely be affected by this movement are expressing some form of apprehension. This is quite understandable. People always resist change. People always prefer to remain in their comfort zones no matter how cold or hot the zones might be. But, the world is changing fast. Innovation is the order of the day. Therefore, the ‘gate’ of Umuahia cannot continue to remain the sully spot and the nuisance that it is to the capital city. Umuahia must be part of the modern world metropolis where order and decency reign. This, precisely, is the vision of Ochendo in the planned relocation of the market. All over the world where such social transformation vision has been success-
policy. This is the case with the Structural Adjustment Programmes or the economic reforms projects dictated by the IMF and the World Bank institutions to be pursued by the problematic countries in the third world to qualify them for any bail out. But we all know that such policies only heighten public frustration through job cuts, devaluation and inflation. In implementing many social policies in the third world, we see lack of distributive justice. We see the rich getting more favored while the down-trodden are further trampled upon. So, the poor visit their frustration not only on the rich, their violent reaction to injustice is at a greater cost to the larger society. The fury of the masses during anti-government protests does not spare what the protester also benefits from. Public buildings are torched; public power supply is vandalized, and public transportation is razed. How do we rationalize the associated problems of urbanization, manifesting in overcrowding, traffic congestion, infrastructural failure and crime in the big cities of the major third world countries? Only recently, Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve-centre, was in the news with the reported deportation of some indigenes of the south eastern part of the country back home. We must ask why the burden of entire countries became the problem of very few cities in those countries. The policy of many governments in the third world is to concentrate attention on a few selected parts of their countries, neglecting the hinterlands. We need to change.
fully executed, the experience has always been the same. But, my humble advice to the Umuahia traders is that one cannot make omelet without breaking eggs. If Abia State must be part of the new emerging society of orderliness and decency, we must endure the necessary sacrifices towards infrastructure renewal and the building of the new society of our dreams. Indeed, the beauty of the relocation exercise is that traders and all interest groups in Abia State have been duly carried along since the beginning of the project. A notice to this effect was publicly announced a year ago. To also cushion the effects, Governor Orji has procured buses to assist in moving people’s goods to the new market. The governor also made concession to the traders including slashing the price of the shops and extending the payment period to four years. Today, the “gate” of Umuahia might be the satirical metaphor for urban commotion. But, by the time Ochendo is done with it, it will surely be a lucid narrative about the rebirth of a city and of a state. Adindu is the President-General, Abia Renaissance Movement (ARM) 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
Monday November 11, 2013
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All the Facts, All the Sides A PUBLICATION OF GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LTD BARRISTER JIMOH IBRAHIM, OFR PUBLISHER
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ACTING MD/CEO
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DAILY EDITOR
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SATURDAY EDITOR
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SM, STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT
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HEAD, GRAPHICS
Recovering outstanding Abacha loot
ecent reports indicated that about $185 million, the equivalence of N38.85 billion of the traceable outstanding funds looted from Nigeria’s treasury by one of the country’s late military Heads of State, General Sanni Abacha, is currently trapped by deliberately contrived bottlenecks in a country called the Principality of Liechtenstein, a doubly landlocked alpine nation in Central Europe which shares borders with Switzerland to the west and south; and Austria to the east and north. This goes to substantiate a much disputed contention by intellectuals and social critics in developing nations that the much touted global world order, with its tendency to homogeneity and synergy of ideas, markets and resources, is fundamentally skewed in favour of the developed world; and that the coinage, ‘globalization’, is a euphemism for 21st century imperialism or a form of glorified neo-colonialism. Where, if we may we ask, is the doctrine of common humanity openly promoted and propagated by Western European intellectual culture and humanism, if cases of repatriation of obviously stolen money from a developing country, Nigeria, like the Abacha loot stashed away in Liechtenstein, could be turned into such a frustrating ding-dong affair for the Nigerian state in its
IT HAS THUS BECOME IMPERATIVE, FROM THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT, FOR LEADERS AND MEMBERS OF THEIR TEAMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO LIVE ABOVE BOARD attempt to recover it and bring back same to where it was stolen from? This raises yet another question on whether, indeed, there are no subterranean plots egregiously masterminded by some Western European governments who feign ignorance of the long established fact that their countries have become safe havens for funds from ill-gotten funds stolen from ailing developing economies. Between the easy way public fund is laundered from developing nations into European banks, and the elaborate talks, posturing, laws and stringent regulations associated with some countries in Europe against graft and money laundering, is it not obvious from the contradictions that there is active connivance of the Western powers with Africa’s profligate and thoroughly cor-
November 11, 1992 The General Synod of the Church of England voted to allow women to become priests. The General Synod is the deliberative and legislative body of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970 to replace the Church Assembly; and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church of England that had started in the 1850s. Before 1919, any change to the Church’s worship or governance had to be by an Act of Parliament.
rupt leaders to further impoverish developing African nations? Any wonder then that the governments of these Western powers find it convenient to support and even deliberately sponsor insurgence and political rebellion against such corrupt leaders after prodding them to indulge in dirty deals? Is it not possible that such heavy-handed dealing against errant, thieving leaders in developing countries, a lot of whom were blackmailed to part with huge portions of their nations’ resources to secure official silence and cover from the super powers, eventually bred rebellious, recalcitrant and anti-West leaders, most of them tyrants, like Saddam Hussein; the ailing and suffering former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak; the cruelly massacred Libyan Muammar Gaddafi; the currently embattled Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad; and, perhaps, the fallen terrorism legend, Osama bin Laden? In any event, we urge the Nigerian government to intensify the battle to get the Principality of Liechtenstein to release the trapped Abacha loot. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which we do not want to believe are partners with Liechtenstein in creating obstacles around the retrieval of the stolen fund from Nigeria, should be prevailed upon through avail-
able diplomatic channels to assist in securing and repatriating the fund and others that could be traced eventually. This, to us, is the path of honour leading world governments can use to demonstrate, beyond hollow rhetoric, that there exists a universal human conscience which should agonize against the wrong-doings being perpetrated on daily basis by unpatriotic and thieving leaders in developing societies against their people. Such atrocities have already spiraled out of control and resulted in civil strife in countless backward nations, including Nigeria. Many advanced nations are also bearing the spill-over consequences one way or the other, presently. It has thus become imperative, from the benefit of hindsight, for leaders and members of their teams in developing countries to live above board and truly exhibit probity, integrity and transparency in the management of state resources and public institutions; and create wealth and happiness, rather than misery, for their peoples. That way, Africa would be shielded from further embarrassment as the type Nigeria is now being subjected to by the Principality of Liechtenstein. Besides, there probably would never be any reason for successive African leaders to engage in battles to recover funds stolen from state coffers by past rulers.
ON THIS DAY November 11, 2001 Three journalists - Pierre Billaud (French), Johanne Sutton (French) and Volker Handloik (German) were killed in Afghanistan during an attack on the convoy they were traveling in. They were traveling on a Northern Alliance armoured personnel carrier when they came under attack by Taliban troops with machine guns and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Two other journalists in the convoy survived the attack.
November 11, 2004 The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) confirmed the death of Yasser Arafat from unidentified causes; and Mahmoud Abbas was elected chairman of the PLO minutes later. Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa (August 24, 1929 – November 11, 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat, was a Palestinian leader. He was Chairman of the PLO and President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), etc.
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Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
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The Debt Management Office has recorded significant progress in bringing the nation out of the debt trap and emplacing the appropriate mechanism for ensuring foreign and domestic debt sustainability in the future. How far can it go? By Tola Akinmutimi
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ithout doubt, the Debt Management Office (DMO) has over the past few years demonstrated high level of professional and operational competencies in the performance of its statutory mandate of ensuring the sustainability of the nation’s debt profile in a manner that would transform the domestic debt market as a window for attracting long term funds for sustainable development of the country. Buoyed by the well articulated objectives of both its Second Strategic Plan, 2008 – 2012 as well as the current Third Strategic Plan, 2013 – 2017, the agency has continued to rev up its drive not only to achieve optimal mix of the domestic and foreign components of the nation’s debt profile but also put in place appropriate regulatory guidelines and principles as well as appropriate structures that would increase investors’ confidence in the domestic debt instruments market and by implication, attract long term funds for capital budget financing in critical sectors of the economy. Whereas Nigerians are clamouring for outright scrapping or merging of most of the MDAs in the public sector due to their being identified as ‘waste pipes’ in public finance, the DMO has continued to at-
tract commendations locally and internationally for its strategic achievements in Nigeria’s debt management agenda even as it continued to leverage on its recent modest achievements by embarking on a rigorous and politically arduous task of building a fully integrated national debt management system for the country. A cursory appraisal of the various policy initiatives and their implementation by the Dr. Abraham Nwankwo-led team indicated that the journey to achieving an enduring, wellmanaged and globally standardised debt management system for Nigeria has not only begun but that other countries, particularly in Africa, are beginning to use the experiences and achievements recorded by the DMO as templates for developing their own debt management systems. For instance, the implementation of the Second Strategic Plan which arose from the need to avoid a relapse of the country into debt overhang after the exit from the Paris and London Club of creditors and to develop the domestic bond market to meet the financing needs of governments and the private sector, has been globally acknowledged as successful in terms of the objectives it was designed to achieve. According to the DMO, following the exit from the Paris and London Club debt trap in 2005 and 2006, top most
Nwankwo
amongst its priorities was the need to articulate a domestic debt management strategy for the government and the strategic thrusts of these agenda include, using a market-based approach to raise finance in the domestic debt market, to meet government’s borrowing needs at minimal cost and prudent degrees of risk; and funding the nation’s budget deficit in a noninflationary manner, without recourse to monetary financing. Others are, creating a mar-
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SENIOR GRAPHIC ARTIST
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Lamido Sanusi, CBN Governor
ket for long-term debt instruments, which the private sector can build upon to raise funds for the funding of long-term investment in real sector; and develop the domestic bond market as part of the overall programme for the development of the nation’s financial sector. The question that one may be prompted to ask is: Has the DMO achieved these objectives within the context of making Nigeria’s debt management strategy a model from which other countries could learn? The relevance of the above question is predicated on the fact that prior to the establishment of the DMO in 2000, Nigeria had had to contend with a myriad of challenges in managing her debt and plunged into a debt trap that it was becoming practically impossible to source for credit from international creditors to meet the country’s public sector funding requirements. The pre-DMO era was characterised by a debt management system lacking adequate debt data recording system and poor information flow across agencies which made it difficult to capture actual public debt profile; complicated and inefficient debt service arrangements, which led to penalties that accentuated debt stock burden; lack of well-defined borrowing policies and public debt management strategies; and grossly underdeveloped and weak domestic debt market, characterised by structural and systemic defects. All of the above constraints
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Monday, November 11, 2013
Okonjo-Iweala
aggravated in no small way the country’s debt management challenges, thereby leading to unsustainable debt profile and loss of integrity in the global international financial market for the country. Today, 14 years of strategic and well articulated and implemented strategies by the DMO have not only changed the story of Nigeria’s debt management but also demonstrated that visionary leadership and knowledgeable workforce, appropriate policy measures and institutions as well as a common belief in the feasibility of mission have repositioned the DMO at the leading edge of global debt management market competition. Evidently, one of the results of the agency’s domestic debt management initiatives, particularly the resumed marketbased funding of Government’s financing needs initiated in 2003 and which marked a turning point in the nation’s domestic debt transformation is the tenor elongation and establishment of sovereign yield curve of three months to 20 years, thereby creating a market for long term funds. The initiative also created a basis of the diversification of the holding structure of FGN securities to achieve about 93 per cent non-banking holding; streamlining and restructuring of the different types of outstanding debt instruments; and regular issuance of bonds and development of active secondary market for FGN bonds. The achievements of the
domestic debt market development drives have continued to attract global endorsement of the FGN bond market by international financial institutions and rating agencies over the past two years. For instance, in October last year JP Morgan, arguably the world’s largest financial institution, listed the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Bonds in its Emerging Markets-Government Bond Index (EM-GBI) while the International Financial Corporation’s (IFC’s), issuance of Naira-denominated N12 billion worth of bonds in Nigeria’s bond market in 2012. These recognitions were followed by Barclays Capital’s inclusion of the FGN bonds in its Emerging Markets-Local Currency Bond Index (EM-LCBI) on 1st March this year. As expected, the benefits of the positive developments in the domestic bond market has, amongst others, led to improved relative share of foreign investors’ holdings in FGN securities, moving from a near zero per cent in 2011 to about US$5.112 billion or 19.52 per cent in 2012; increased foreign exchange inflows which have translated in a major boost in Nigeria’s external reserves and macroeconomic stability. Other positive features of the domestic debt management strategies adopted by the DMO under the strategic plans include significant reduction in government’s borrowing cost; growth and further diversification of the investor-base for FGN securities and creation of
more borrowing space for other domestic borrowers to access funds in the local market. At the external side, the organisation has also worked, pursuant to its agenda of opening access to the International Financial Market (ICM), to establish a viable competitive presence in the ICM though its maiden offer of US$500 million 10-year 6.75 per cent Sovereign Eurobond issuance in January 2011. This was also followed by issuance of another US$1 billion dual-tranche bond offering on July 2, 2013; of US$500 million 5-year Bond and US$500 million 10-year Bond coupons of 5.125 per cent and 6.375 per cent per annum, respectively. The implications of the opening of access and establishment of the Nigerian Sovereign Bond in the ICM for the economy have enabled foreign investors to have requisite market information for investment decisions, created market benchmarks for future borrowings by the sovereign, sub-nationals and corporate entities and also provided reliable prospectus and credible country story supportive of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, amongst other benefits. The DMO has also, in response to the yearnings of private sector players, created opportunities for their participation in the domestic bond market by addressing some of the constraints the investors were contending with in public debt management by creating windows for them to raise longterm funds for development of
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infrastructure in the real sector. Responses to this initiative have been impressive. As at now, at least 20 private companies have raised long-term capital through the domestic market of over N200 billion between 2005 and 2012 for development purposes in response to the increasingly favourable domestic market environment. This is even as other opportunities being created for growth in terms of the number and diversity of debt issuers, range of instruments, size and investor base. Another interesting side of the opening of the external market for Nigerian corporate enterprises through the creation of the Sovereign Benchmark in the ICM is that at least four financial institutions in the country, namely Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and First Bank Plc, have between January 2011 and July this year issued Eurobonds totalling US$1.45 billion. To leverage on the bond market development successes, the DMO also recently unveiled plans of floating the proposed Diaspora bond and the Global Depository Notes as part of its efforts to encourage Nigerians and foreigners to support ongoing national economic development agenda through investments in the bond market. According to the DMO, the proposed Global Depository Notes would help in attracting foreign investments while the ($100 million) Diaspora bond is specifically targeted at Nigerians abroad as a strategic option of encouraging them in using their savings to develop specific projects with long-term socio-economic benefits in the country. Indeed, the agency has also done very well in effectively managing the country’s debt stock in such a way that its sustainability is assured. For instance, following the successful completion of the Debt Data Reconstruction (DDR) exercise in the country, the DMO had, contrary to pessimists’ expectations, come out with a national debt stock that is internationally accepted as factual and continues to serve as fiscal barometer being used by international investors to rate Nigeria’s credit worthiness in the global financial market. The latest official figures on the debt stock indicated that the total public debt outstanding as at December 2012 stood at US$58,004.58 million, representing an increase of US$8,624.72 million or 17.45 per cent over the amount recoded as at the end of the preceding year. The total debt stock as a percentage of the GDP stood at 22.43 per cent. This shows Continued on pg A4
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Continued from pg A3 that when analysed within the context of the global threshold of 40 per cent for external debt sustainability set for medium performing countries, Nigeria’s total public debt remained within sustainable limits. The appreciation of the farreaching strides of the DMO to build a credible debt management system for the country and deepening of the domestic bond market, by creating opportunities for the private sector to play leading roles in driving the investment thrust, has continued to attract commendations from both local and international analysts and policy makers such that today, the country’s debt management system is serving as model for other countries to learn from. Recently, during the 14th Meeting of the agency’s Supervisory Board held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the Vice President and Chairman of the Board, Arc. Mohammed Namadi Sambo, commended the DMO for its various achievements, especially for successfully floating the Euro Bond and advised that the funds realised from the bond sale be used for specific projects that would impact positively on the lives of Nigerians, especially oil and gas, transport, power, healthcare delivery, education and agriculture. Similarly, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has also described the achievements of the DMO as remarkably desirable to the nation’s agenda of using the bond market as a window for attracting long-term funds for the development of key sectors of the economy. Okonjo-Iweala, who briefed the media on the state of the economy in September this year, noted that the DMO and other agencies such as the AMCON, the NSIA, NAICOM and a few others were doing well, adding that “with what the DMO is doing we have been able to put the country at a vantage position in terms of debt management and its sustainability. In the past, this was not the case” With the performance testimonials from local and international levels, there is no gainsaying the fact that the DMO has been doing its best to redefine the roadmap for Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global bond market development and by implication, adopt a more prudent approach towards the drive for the nation’s debt sustainability in the years ahead. What the agency therefore deserves now is stakeholders’ support in its determination to fulfil its statutory mandate of debt management efficiency which promises great benefits for the present and unborn generations of Nigerians and foreign investors in the country’s rapidly evolving bond market. BC
Monday, November 11, 2013
ship training at the academy, no fewer than 5,000 trained indigenous cadets are yet to complete their training process and become gainfully employed due to the absence of a training vessel. According to him, efforts by the management of the academy before now to secure a training vessel for these young men and women to complete their training programme and become gainfully employed has not worked out due to the high cost associated with owning and running such a vessel.
L – R: Adebayo Jimoh, Group Managing Director/CEO, Odu’a Investment Company Ltd; Tokunbo Omisore, Managing Director, Top Services Ltd. (Developers of Cocoa Mall); Ade Adefioye, Executive Director, Wema Bank; a special guest and Segun Oloketuyi, Managing Director, Wema Bank at the commissioning of Cocoa Mall, Ibadan financed by Wema Bank Plc
‘Politics stalls Maritime Academy’s elevation to university status’ Stories by Francis Ezem
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he delay in the transformation of Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), the premier maritime training institute, located in Oron, Akwa Ibom State into a degree-awarding institution more than ten years after the Federal Government hatched the idea, has been blamed on politics and intrigues. The Federal Government had in the late 1990s muted the idea of transforming the academy into a degree awarding institution, as part of measures to make the graduates of the academy compete with products from other similar institutions, who have degree certificates against the Higher National Diploma which its graduates bag. MAN, Oron, a former Nautical College of Nigeria was created by a Federal Executive Council Resolution in 1977, in which before then Nigerian merchant navy officers were trained mostly in Ghana, the United Kingdom and India at a huge cost. The academy was however formally and statutorily established and broadened to its current scope by Decree 16 of 1988 with a mandate to embark on the training of all levels and categories of personnel required for the effective and efficient operation of all facets of the Nigerian maritime industry. A source at the academy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, faulted the policiticisation of the transformation
of the academy to a degree awarding institution more than 10 years after the concept was adopted. According to him, the Regional Maritime University, located in Tema, Ghana, which is a contemporary of the academy seamlessly transformed into a degree awarding institution within a few years without any fuss, regretting that both local and foreign media have been awash with reports of the transformation, all to no avail. While blaming this development on politicisation and intrigues by government officials and agencies, he argued that the academy for now is the only one recognised by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and therefore stands a better chance of being recognised and accepted globally. “Someone goes and clears a virgin land and says it is a maritime university, leaving the one that has been established since 33 years ago. Philippines is far smaller than Nigeria but it has over nine maritime degree-awarding institutions and so Nigeria can have even more than that. None should be abandoned for the other”, he said.
Okpo
The source said the management of the academy is committed in bringing the school to international standards, adding that the management is also doing all it could to ensure that the project of transforming it to a university level was achieved. It was gathered that the president of the World Maritime University in Malmo, Sweden visited the academy in April this year, during which a Memorandum of Understanding was signed especially to facilitate the sending of resource persons to the Nigerian academy. The Secretary General of the IMO had also visited the academy as part of processes that would lead to the transformation of the academy to a degree-awarding institution. The source also disclosed that as part of plans to enhance a seamless transformation to a degree-awarding institution, the academy recently gathered a team of academic doctors and professors to work out a new curriculum for the academy. The academy has regrettably not been able to live up to its mandate due to a combination of poor funding, policy summersault by the government and politicization of the running of the academy, among several others, more than 33 years after it was created. Strong indications emerged that no fewer than 5, 000 Nigerian cadets mainly trained at the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron Akwa Ibom State is currently roaming the streets more than 11 years after their training. For instance, rector of the academy, Joshua Okpo, recently raised the alarm that more than 11 years after the completion of their cadet-
Akpabio
FG, Akwa Ibom Govt set to resolve Ibaka Seaport ownership tussle
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here are strong indications that the Federal Government and the Akwa Ibom State Government might have agreed to adopt an amicable settlement with Mercury Maritime Concession Company (MMCC) over the ownership of the Ibaka Deep Seaport project concept. Mercury Maritime Concession Company (MMCC), which is believed to be the original developers of the Ibaka Deep Seaport concept had severally threatened to drag the Federal and Akwa Ibom State Government to court over allegations of hijacking its intellectual property. The Ibaka seaport, currently being used mainly for fishing activities and water transport for small crafts, is a natural deep seaport of over 17 metres of draft without dredging with a quay area expected to span over two miles in terms of length, which makes it a safe haven for mega vessels of over 10,000 TEUs on completion, thus making it the largest in the West African region. Governor Godswill Akpabio had last year officially handed over the Certificate of Occupancy for over 5,580 Sq meters of land for the proposed seaport to the Nigerian Ports Authority, land lord of all seaports in the country as part of processes that would lead to the realisation of the project expected to
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commence operation in 2015. A close industry source hinted that he Federal Ministry of Transport and the Akwa-Ibom State Government have opted for settlement with MMCC to forestall the possible consequences of a court action on the ownership of the intellectual property right of the Deep Seaport project, a development that might thwart the project, given the slow pace of judicial processes in the country, which might linger for several years. The source noted that the decision of the two governments to opt for an amicable settlement of all issues relating to the intellectual property ownership right of the concept follows Mercury Maritime Concession Company’s insistence that it is the original developers of the Ibaka Deep Seaport initiative despite moves by the two governments to dissuade him from such claims. It was also gathered that apart from severally threatening to sue the state government and Ministry of Transport for hijacking its intellectual property, the company’s claims that the project was hijacked after it made series of presentations on its conception, feasibility and viability at different levels of government including the Presidency years before the project finally took off sounded convincing. The source hinted that the management of MMCC has been invited to a peace parley the state government where the terms and conditions for settlement will be worked out. It was however not possible to reach the Chief Executive Officer of MMCC, Rear Admiral Andrew Okoja (rtd) as at the time of filing this report, but a source close the company confirmed that the top management had actually been invited by the state government for talks. Also, it was gathered that the Minister of Transport, Mallam Idris Umar is favourably disposed to an amicable settlement of off the issues so as not to forestall the realisation of the project expected to enable Nigeria realise her hub seaport status for the West and Central African sub-region. A close aide of the Minister who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “my minister is a gentleman and a peace maker. He wants the discordant tunes to stop. Truly the company has been invited for discussion.” Admiral Okoja had severally said that the Ibaka Deep Seaport Project was his thesis while undergoing a course at the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, in 1993. He was said to have presented the perfected version of thesis to late President Umaru
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Monday, November 11, 2013
Yar’Adua with a caption” Port Development in Nigeria.” The paper was then said to have been referred to the Minister of Transport by the Presidency in conjunction with the Senate president, after which Admiral Okoja was invited by the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for further discussions. As a result of the successful presentation, he was said to have been invited on October 22, 2009 by the Minister of Transport then to further explain the project which he did. Crisis however started when Admiral Okoja and his company were shut out by NPA and the Akwa-Ibom State Government when it was time for the project to be executed. Meanwhile, recent visit to the proposed site of the deep seaport project shows that nothing in terms of commencing the project has been done. Some members of the Ibaka community, who alleged marginalisation by the Godswill Akpabio administration, alleged that the governor visited them in 2008 and announced that there was going to be a seaport project in the community. A youth leader, who decried the attitude of the governor, noted that the Ibaka community has heard on national radio and television that the seaport will commence operation 2015 but regretted that less than 18 months to the takeoff date, nothing has happened in terms of commencing the actual development of the project.
Aganga
Report faulting minister’s statement on trade fair complex not from us – Aulic Stories by Emmanuel Ogbonnaya
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ulic Nigeria Limited, the concessionaire of the Lagos international trade fair complex, weekend, distanced itself from a media publication credited to it, faulting the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga’s
position on the Trade Fair Complex. Kingsley Ajelo, Manager, Corporate Affairs department, Aulic Nigeria Limited, in a statement said: “The report published on page 48 of Vanguard on Thursday 7th of November was not from our company and we have nobody by name Mrs. Cecelia Okaro either in our corporate affairs department or in our company in general.” “Much as we do not commemorate with the minister’s statement concerning the concession of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex which we won credibly, fairly, and respectfully, we have no intention to join issues with the minister and his ministry.” “The minister as the chief executive of his ministry has a right to speak on issues bothering on his ministry. What the minister said is the position of his ministry which is not new to Aulic. This has been the wish of the ministry since the conception of the concession so, we are used to such statements from that ministry,” Ajelo said in the statement. “Besides, the minister clearly stated that he has been authorised to commence legal proceedings for the cancellation of the concession. He has not indicated any intention to embark on an illegal procedure neither had he indicated that the Federal Government is cancelling the concession,” the statement read. According to Ajelo, this is fair enough because the company believes that commencing legal proceedings will open up issues which will make both the minister and others including the general public to see what they have not seen in the concession battle of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex. “We believe that by the time they see the truth, Aulic will be vindicated and rewarded,” said the statement.
ECOWAS trade: FG moves to enforce rules of origin policy
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he federal government has again assured investors in the Nigerian economy of its determination to prevent external infractions from crippling their investments by setting up a task force to ensure compliance to the rules of origin policy under external trade agreements in the sub-region. The assurance was given by the minister of industry, trade and investment, Olusegun Aganga, in Lagos, where he noted that reforms in cross-border trade were key to unlocking economic activities in the country and in the
Jonathan
ECOWAS sub-region. “In our continued support for the ECOWAS CET scheduled to take-off in early 2015, Nigeria has led the process in ensuring that the entire ECOWAS tariffs should be an instrument for industrialisation across the region. That is why Nigeria negotiated a new position that at least three per cent of the tariff line would be on exclusion list to protect our industries.” “In addition to that we are setting up a task-force for the region to make sure that we effectively impose sanctions and monitor the rules of origin to ensure that it is impossible for neighboring countries to import rice and other things from other countries and then transport them over to Nigeria for sale,” he said. Aganga, pointed out that part of the reforms being embarked on by the federal government in order to sufficiently deliver the dividends of crossborder trade was the on-going process of fully automating procedures at the ports with a single window system which will be completed over the next few months. He disclosed that the Nigerian government has been actively putting in place international trade agreements to increase market access to Nigerian companies and also boost Nigeria’s external trade and promote our goods abroad. “We have a new programme called the national Diaspora export programme which is encouraging Nigerians in Diaspora to create Nigerian malls/ markets in the Diaspora for our goods from Nigeria, we would help facilitate those goods but we want to make sure that we have Nigerian markets as outlets for the goods we produce in this country,” he said. He stressed that for us to trade successfully we need to have something to trade with and that is why his ministry had to develop a robust MSME strategy in order to boost internal trade. He revealed that Nigeria today has over 17 million small businesses employing over 32 million people which are about three-quarters of existing jobs
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in the country. “To expand and deepen the MSME sector in Nigeria, the federal government has commenced implementation of a national enterprise development programme called NEDEP and it is using the one local government one product initiative to develop specific trades and set up in each of the 774 local governments in Nigeria,” he said. Aganga argued that the economic reform programmes of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration under the transformation agenda has also repositioned the power sector in a manner that has not only attracted foreign direct investments (FDIs) but will also power Nigeria’s industrial revolution. “It is because of this government’s policy and approach that as I speak to you today, we have commitments of over $40 billion dollar investments coming into the power sector within the next three years and these are coming from companies like china power that wants to invest in codeveloping 20,000 mega watts of power; General Electric co-investing in another 10,000 mega watts of power; Siemens co-investing in another 10,000 mega watts of power and Electrovas from brazil.” “What we expect to see from this historic policy of the federal government is increased investments, power generation and distribution, growth of our industries and our SMEs and we believe that the future of our country is bright,” he enthused.
Oputu
BOI enhances SMEs access to private investment capital
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pportunities for some selected small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country to get much sought after investment capital from commercial banks and other financial institutions have been enhanced through an SMEs’ and investors’ parley organized by the bank of industry (BOI). The second edition of the two-day interactive forum
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News which held in Lagos is also supported by USAID and Western Union with the goal of expanding the continent’s entrepreneurial frontier via access to funding, by giving the cash strapped entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet with, present and convince commercial banks and other finance houses on the need to grant them cheap access to funds. The managing director of BOI, Evelyn Oputu noted that the major challenge of SMEs in the country was funding and that while the development bank remains committed to helping the SME sector grow, other financial institutions in the country also have to get involved in SME development. “Today the BOI has brought about 200 SMEs, commercial banks and other financial institutions in the country together in a forum where these SMEs can sell their ideas to potential investors who have assured us of their readiness to invest in the growth and development of SMEs in the country,” she said. She noted that being in the forefront of activities to fund SMEs, BOI was well acquainted with some of the reasons why most SMEs don’t get easy access to funds explaining that most times it is not because the banks are not willing to fund them but rather because some SMEs do not have good business ideas that could be funded. She disclosed that BOI desires to see the growth of SMEs in the country which is why the institution has continued to invest in the development of the sector including buildingcapacity for SMEs owners on how to develop good business plans which investors would be willing to fund. “We are doing this again this year because we saw the impact of the maiden edition which was held last year and we will continue to create linkages between the SME and the financial sector because we want to see them grow, become sustained and globally competitive,” she said. In her remark, Dr. Robin Renee Sanders, a former US ambassador to Nigeria, disclosed that the maiden edition gave financial access to 70 participants who otherwise would not have had the opportunity if not for the interactive forum. She commended the efforts of BOI for implementing innovative solutions to the financial challenges of SMEs in the country. She also disclosed that prior screening exercise had been done on the participants to guarantee that every one participant has what it takes to be given financial backing by would be investors. “Last year, we recorded an impressive success with 70 SMEs getting funding for their
businesses and this year we want to at least double that figure because we believe in the SME sector as a major driver of the world’s economy and they surely deserve any assistance they can get,” she said. According to Aida Diarra, the regional vice president of Western Union, North, Central and West Africa, starting a business requires technical assistance and financial backing to launch or enhance the activity to be engaged in. “We want to be part of that success because we understand the importance of financial inclusion and believe that this is what is going to drive economic development in the continent,” she said. She disclosed that the Western Union through a joint partnership arrangement between the private and public sector was contributing in different ways to support SMEs in ensuring that these possibilities come together. “We expect that the participants would be able to present their ideas convincingly to potential investors here today, that the one dollar that he has to invest in a given company has to be in yours. Because he is convinced about your passion for the business, you have the skill and you have thought about the sustainability that is going to make an impact from an economic development standpoint,” she said.
Egypt seeks more trade, investment relations with Nigeria
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he Consul-General, Arab Republic of Egypt, Abdel Halim, on Friday called for increased trade and investment relations between Nigeria and his country. Halim made the call at the just concluded 2013 Lagos International Trade Fair that took place at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos. He said that Egypt’s doors were open to genuine businessmen from Nigeria adding that the relations would provide a platform for discussing challenges that might arise in the enforcement of the Egypt Investment Promotion Act on Retail Trading. According to the diplomat, Retail Trading Act is to ensure that foreigners who engage in businesses in Egypt abide by the laws of the country. Halim listed investment portfolios in Egypt to include tourism, energy, agriculture and financial services. He said that the Egyptian Government had provided incentives, including tax rebates, for foreign investors. Halim said that no fewer than 10 Egyptian exhibitors
were participating at the Lagos trade fair to showcase some made-in-Egypt products. “All our products are natural; our perfumes on display are without any chemical addition. “Some of the natural oils are medicinal and are produced under hygienic condition,” he said. He told NAN that the fair was an opportunity for the Egyptians to introduce more products from Egypt to Nigerians.
Abdullahi
NPA backs allstakeholders’ inclusiveness strategy By Emmanuel Ogbonnaya
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he Nigerian Ports Authority has backed the call made by the Lagos chamber of commerce and industry (LCCI) for a more inclusive approach by all economic stakeholders in order to fast track the country’s quest for sustainable economic development. The NPA also hailed the just concluded Lagos international trade fair for being an avenue for a cohesive integration and interaction between all sectors of the economy. Speaking on the occasion of the NPA special day at the fair, managing director of the agency, Habib Abdullahi, noted that the theme of this year’s fair tagged “Harnessing trade potentials for an inclusive economy” was in line with the objectives of the 2006 ports reform. “The Nigerian ports authority known for her relentless efforts to foster economic growth through provision of efficient and effective port operations was quick to recognize the fact that a well organized fair of this nature will no doubt serve as an avenue of opportunities for all participants to express themselves through exhibition of various goods and services at their disposal,” he said. Speaking through the assistant general manager western ports, Adeyinka Odunsi, the MD stated that the NPA’s continued participation at the fair is a demonstration of its trust in the need for various stakeholders in the economy to
meet and showcase the various opportunities for trade and investment. “Our being here is also to promote greater integration and synergy as preached by the chamber. According to the advocates of inclusive societies, including all members of the economy in the growth process itself is better than distributing wealth among them after periods of steep growth,” he said. He disclosed that as affirmed by various stakeholders, the 2006 ports reform has recorded successes since inception. He noted that the port concession has brought about efficiency in the ports, curbed excess bureaucracy and provided opportunities for NPA to improve its assets and facilities. “A review of the 2013 half yearly performance, shows that the cargo throughput achieved at the Nigerian seaports hit a total of 35,812,858 (MT) which is exclusive of tonnage of crude oil lifted. During the same period, a total of 132,930 units of vehicles were handled, indicating an increase of 2.73 per cent over the 2012 corresponding period’s figure of 129,389 units,” he stated. He explained that the NPA being a parastatal of the federal government, saddled with the responsibility of commercial shipping in Nigeria was always conscious of the importance of logistics in facilitating returns in all sectors of our economy. He said that the agency was working assiduously to ensure that problems surrounding both importation and exportation of goods through our ports were brought to a minimal level. “With the efforts of the federal government to transform the economy and the relentless efforts of Lagos state government to transform the state, there is need for the private sector to join hands to complement these efforts.” “This fair should therefore serve as the medium of trade to support the government efforts to provide synergy between Nigerian businessmen and their foreign counterparts to interact and establish a mutual and beneficial business relationship,” he said
technological trends. This advice was given by the minister of communications technology, Omobola Johnson, in Lagos during a two-day conference organised for women by the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), with the theme, “The new economy, are you plugged in?” The minister noted that every economy of the world is trying to create this new economy that is growing so fast and creating more opportunities, which was why President Goodluck Jonathan set up the ministry of communications technology to create this new digital economy for Nigerians to tap into and that it was important not only for women but for all Nigerians. “Being “plugged in” is the extent to which ICTs and the New Economy is relevant to us, and the extent to which we ourselves are relevant to it. In essence; achieving success in the New Economy is about getting plugged-in through ICTs and staying connected,” she said. According to her we are witnessing an evolution of economies from agrarian to industrial which further ‘developed’ into a service-based, technology-enabled new economy, one in which women were not institutionally excluded and the generation and exploitation of knowledge has come to play the predominant part in the creation of wealth. “Whilst knowledge can be summarised as the key commodity in this new economy, networks and/or connectedness are key drivers. Your access to flows of information and knowledge and in particular your position in such networks determines your ability to gather strategic information and your ability to generate new knowledge. It is therefore not surprising that ‘connectivity’ plays a key success factor in this new economy.” “And that is why it is important for us to bring women into this new economy and ensure that we take advantage and leverage everything in the new economy for women to take their rightful place in the development of the Nigerian economy,” she said.
‘Economic relevance of Nigerian women hinged on increased ICT interaction’
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omen have been told that in a new economy that is devoid of institutional exclusion of women, the only way for them to attain economic relevance was to increase their interaction with information
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News However, she stressed that the new economy was not the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake as wealth and development is created when knowledge is applied. “Development comes about through the more effective use and exploitation of all types of knowledge in all manners of economic and social activity. The examples we have seen from nations, companies, and individuals is that the more plugged in you are the faster you are likely to grow,” she said. Unlike previous economic revolutions that have generated wealth for citizens and countries, the minister pointed out that the new economy has little established institutional barriers of its own and those that exist are societal and we have women/examples that are showing us that they are not insurmountable. “First, we need more women embracing ICTs, and doing more with it in all aspects of their lives. We need to move beyond adoption to appropriation.” “Second, we need to have more women studying in ICT fields and with active ICT careers. Without being prejudicial, I believe that women can be better at designing solutions particularly technological solutions for women,” she said. On her part, the out-going chairperson of WIMBIZ, Adeola Azeez, noted that the opportunities are there for women to succeed, however they need to collaborate more and build more sustainable partnerships in order to take on bigger challenges.
Chams, Dermalog to implement Nigeria’s banking biometric project By Kunle Azeez
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ne of Nigeria’s leading identity management and transaction payments firm, Chams Plc has entered into strategic partnership with Dermalog Identification Systems on the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Bankers Committee initiated banking industry Know-Your-Customer biometric project. Headquartered in Germany, Dermalog will provide technical support to Chams, the preferred local technology firm providing the end-to-end solution. Dermalog is the leading global company in the field of bio-payment with the largest number of biometric patents. Speakng on the project, Group Managing Director of Chams Plc, Demola Aladeko-
mo, said, “The implementation of a biometric authentication solution for the banking industry by the Central Bank and Bankers Committee will transform Nigeria’s financial services landscape by bridging the gap between the formal and informal economy.” He said the policy initiative would lead to accelerated socio-economic growth as it removes all identification barriers preventing millions of Nigerians from having access to basic financial services, and will by implication boost access to micro-credit. Aladekomo disclosed that beyond boosting financial inclusion, the initiative will also enhance security of funds of bank customers, shorten transaction time, and minimize use of cash, cheques and cards. He added that Chams Plc entered into technical partnership with Dermalog, reputed as one of the leading global biometric payments corporations, to ensure the delivery of a robust solution that will offer reliable user authentication to banks and other financial institutions for the benefit of millions of banked, under banked and unbanked Nigerians. Also, the Managing Director, Dermalog Identification Systems, Mr. Gunther Mull, said, “We have deployed identification systems solutions across developed and emerging economies which have enhanced the value of banking products and transactions for financial institutions and their customers.” According to Mull, the learnings from financial market where we worked on similar deployments, especially in fingerprint payment on Automated Teller Machines and inside banking halls, will be brought to bear on his company’s partnership with Chams Plc as the two companies deliver high performance biometric solutions to the Nigerian banking industry. In his remarks, the Managing Director, Card Centre Limited and Project Manager, Bankers Committee KYC Biometric Project, Luqman Balogun, said the deployment of a KYC biometric system by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bankers Committee will ameliorate the customer identification and verification challenges facing banks and other finan-
Aladekomo
cial institutions in Nigeria due to the existence of numerous identity systems that are not standardized and integrated into centralised database for customer identity verification. He described the project as a win-win situation for financial institutions and Nigerians because improved access to financial services will greatly boost the number of bank customers. The banking industry biometric KYC project was necessitated by the absence of a central and standardised identity database with supporting infrastructure for identification and verification of customers in Nigeria’s fast growing financial markets. Industry analysts say that lack of standardised identification system also deny 34.9 million Nigerian adults, about 39.7 per cent of the adult population, access to basic financial services.
Maku
FG turning deficits into investment opportunities – Information Minister
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he Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, said on Friday that the federal government was implementing key policies to transform deficits in the economy into investment opportunities. Speaking when the National Good Governance Tour team paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Idris Wada of Kogi in Lokoja, Maku said the programmes in power, agriculture, aviation, transport and other sectors were manifestations of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation. According to him, the government had transformed the deficit in the power sector into making Nigeria a major investment hub for investors from various parts of the world. The minister appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the government, noting that it would take time for the reforms to begin to bear fruits. He appealed to state governments to take a cue from the Federal Government and work
toward developing alternative sources of revenue to develop their states. ``Today if any government is waiting for its budget implementation to satisfy the needs of its people, then the drive may be lost because the trend is to design policies that will turn opportunities into investment, and that is the direction the whole world is turning to. ``The challenge of governance is not just to bring money from your pocket to develop the state but to initiate policies that will attract the private sector to invest in the economy,’’ Maku said. He said the team was in the state to visit project sites and to give an authentic report on the progress made by all the tiers of government. ``This team has gone round several parts of the country already, visiting projects executed by the various tiers of government and the private sector,’’ he said. According to the minister, the nature of politics is that power must be competed for by the opposition and the incumbent and this forms the basis of starting a programme to showcase the progress of those in power. ``We are also going to see those areas that are not working in programmes undertaken by both the federal government and the state so that we can do an honest report on the situation of things. ``The reality today is that Nigeria is moving forward; if we do not make efforts now there cannot be a better opportunity to change things for the better in our country,’’ the minister said. In his remark, Wada said the state government had executed manyb projects with the support of the federal government. He stressed the need for synergy between the federal and state governments in the provision of basic infrastructure for the people. ``I am pleased that this good governance visit has eventually materialised after postponements occasioned by the federal and state governments at different times. ``The good governance visit is undertaken to show that the projects executed by the government could not have come at a better time, especially when the people are beginning to ask questions about projects executed by governments at all levels. ``As your team may have observed, our projects in Kogi have been carefully selected to improve the lives of our people and transform the economy in line with the federal government’s transformation agenda,’’ he said. He said that none the projects was designed or executed
to deceive the people or paint a false picture of the government to the people of the state. ``We have also made efforts to complete projects started by my predecessors to ensure proper linkage and continuity in governance in the interest of our people. ``Let me single out our agricultural transformation programme which is aimed at using agriculture as a tool for poverty alleviation and economic transformation,’’ he said. Wada said the state government was being futuristic in most of its programmes in youth empowerment and economic development.
Abia Govt gives landlords 2-week ultimatum on illegal shops
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he Abia Government has given two-week ultimatum to landlords in Umuahia to shut down improvised shops attached to residential houses or risk sanctions. The government gave the ultimatum in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia by Mr Charles Ajunwa, the Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Theodore Orji. The government expressed concern over what it described as ``the current trend in Umuahia and environs where hitherto residential buildings have been converted to shops and trading places’’. It warned that ``government will not allow any person in whatever guise to undermine successful relocation of Isi-Gate market to Umuahia Ultra Modern market’’. The government said that conversion of residential buildings to shops and market places was a violation of the law. ``The act hampers the free flow of traffic and poses serious environmental hazards,’’ the statement said. It warned that the task force on environmental and allied matters would commence demolition of such buildings at the end of the ultimatum if the landlords failed to restore affected houses to their original plans. The statement further warned residents against converting the Orie Ugba market to a day market. It said that the small market, located at Ugba village in the state capital, was ``designed and planned as evening market. ``Its conversion to day market is an outright violation of Umuahia master plan, which the government has done so much to restore,’’ the statement added. BC
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Monday, November 11, 2013
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Global News Oil near four-month low as Iran and West hold talk rent crude oil steadied around 104 dollars a barrel on Friday closing to its lowest since early July as Western powers stepped up work towards a deal with Iran. Sanctions have removed more than one million barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude oil from world markets that are already well supplied. Traders said any increase in supply from the Islamic Republic could hit oil prices hard. Diplomats said a deal was far from certain and it would in any case mark only the first step in a long process towards settling the dispute with Tehran. “Talks between Iran and other world powers to put an end to the nuclear stand-off seem to be progressing well and this is weighing on Brent,” analysts at Phillip Futures said in a note. Brent was up 30 cents at 103.76 dollars a barrel by 1215 GMT after losing 1.78 dollars overnight. U.S. oil was unchanged at 94.20 dollars a barrel, after dropping 60 cents on Thursday. Brent is near its lowest since the first week of July. Oil found some support from news that Saudi Arabia cut its crude output in October to 9.75 million bpd from 10.1 million bpd in September. The figures were given to Reuters by an industry source familiar with the matter. “Saudi production is still high,” said Richard Mallinson, geopolitical analyst at Energy Aspects. “Summer demand may have eased a bit and the market was slightly better supplied.” Chinese economic data also offered support with figures showing a rebound in export growth from the world’s second-biggest oil consumer.
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Thief squirrels away 140,000 pounds of nuts
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uthorities in California are trying to crack the case of a nut thief who made off with 140,000 0,000 pounds of walnuts. The he theft, estimated timated at nearly
Walnuts
$400,000 occurred Sunday in the small Central Valley town of Escalon. Investigators said it was one of the biggest to hit the booming industry. Last month, about 12,000 pounds of walnuts worth $50,000 were stolen from a trailer parked on Highway 99 north of Sacramento. This time several truckloads of walnuts were taking from the facility. Authorities say rising prices — about $2 per pound — is what appears to be driving the recent walnut thefts. However, no arrests have been made yet. Walnuts are California’s fourth-leading agricultural export as China remains the world’s leading producer of walnuts.
Nissan is the biggest carmaker in Britain and recently announced plans to expand its factory in Sunderland. If it does so it says it will be able to produce more than 550,000, and support more than 6,000 jobs.
Raghuram Rajan, Indian Central Bank Chief
India eases rules for foreign banks
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Ghosn
Nissan to quit Britain over EU membership
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he head of Nissan has warned the car maker would “reconsider” its future in the UK if it left the European Union. Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of the Japanese motoring company, told the BBC it would re-evaluate its position if the UK was to leave the EU. Speaking at the launch of Nissan’s new Qashqai model, he said: “If anything has to change we [would] need to reconsider our strategy and our investments for the future.” But he added that he considered such an exit unlikely. The new Qashqai will be built at Nissan’s Sunderland site, which employs 6,500 workers. Mr Ghosn is among the most senior business leaders to speak in favour of EU membership. He added that the UK was currently one of the best places in the world to invest. Prime Minister David Cameron has promp ised a vote vo on EU memmem bership in 2017 if the ConservaConser tives tive win the th next general ge election el in 2 2015.
ndia’s central bank has unveiled new rules that will allow foreign banks to expand their presence in the country. Foreign banks will now be allowed to set up “wholly owned subsidiaries” in India, which will enable them to open branches anywhere in the country. The subsidiaries will need a minimum capital of 5bn rupees ($80m; £50m). The changes are a part of the push by the central bank’s new governor, Raghuram Rajan, to liberalise the sector as he looks to boost growth. Foreign banks have long wanted to boost their presence in the country - home to nearly 1.2 billion people. However so far they have had to face tight regulations, especially over the number of branches they can open. The Reserve Bank of India said the new rules would allow them to open branches “at par with Indian banks”. However, they will need permission to open branches in “certain locations that are sensitive from the perspective of national security”. The RBI said it would also consider introducing takeover rules that would allow foreign companies to own as much as 74% of a domestic bank. But it said any such decision will be taken after a review relating to “the extent of penetration of foreign investment in Indian banks and functioning of foreign banks”.
rating on Friday by one notch to AA from AA+, giving a thumbs-down to President Francois Hollande’s efforts to put the euro zone’s second largest economy back on track. All three major rating agencies had already stripped France of its top-grade triple-A status. But S&P was the first to downgrade it for a second time, warning that the economic reforms of the past year were not sufficient to lift growth. The downgrade reflected fears that the government may struggle to push through further unpopular changes due to violent protests against its budget policy and record low opinion poll ratings for Hollande. Hollande noted that market interest rates on French government debt, which are slightly less than half a percentage point higher than Germany’s on the benchmark bond, remained low. His Socialist-led government was committed to making all possible budget savings measures but not at the price of sacrificing France’s welfare model, he added. “This policy... is the only one that can guarantee our credibility and we can judge that from the low interest rates on the markets,” he said at a World Bank conference in Paris. Data released on Friday showed a surprise drop in industrial production in September and a wider trade deficit, underscoring weakness in an economy where unemployment is stuck at around 11%. S&P adjusted its outlook for French debt to stable from negative, citing Hollande’s commitment to containing net debt, which it expects to peak at 86 percent of output in 2015. Market reaction was muted with yields on France’s 10-year bond rising slightly. The gap in yields between French and German debt - which is the euro zone benchmark - widened by three basis points to
S&P lowers France credit rating, cites slow reform pace
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tandard & Poor’s cut France’s sovereign credit
Hollande
48.5 bps from 45.2. Shares in French banks fell at the market opening. Hollande’s government has enacted a modest reform of the rigid labour market and a review of its generous pension system aimed at narrowing funding shortfalls. But the latter in particular was less than expected by the European Commission, which urged Paris this year to make structural reforms in return for giving it an extra two years to bring its public deficit within EU targets. “If France does not change tack, it condemns itself to further long-term decline,” Holger Schmieding, an economist at Berenberg Bank, wrote in a research note.
Barack Obama, US President
IRS paid $3.6 billion in fraudulent tax refunds
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he Internal Revenue Service ( IRS) of the United States of America paid out $3.6 billion in fraudulent tax refunds to identity thieves last year, according to an inspector general report. In total, the agency failed to prevent 1.1 million potentially fraudulent tax returns for 2011 from being processed, according to an audit by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. That includes 5,500 fraudulent returns filed by a single tax preparer -- for a refund of nearly $27 million -- and a payout of $490,000 to an address in Bulgaria that was listed on more than 700 tax returns. But the report said the IRS is improving. The $3.6 billion in fraudulent refund claims is down from the $5.2 billion the agency paid out the year before. The IRS said it has caught 12.6 million suspicious returns, amounting to $40 billion in refunds over the last two years. Earlier this year, it arrested hundreds of identity theft suspects in a series of raids. BC
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Monday, November 11, 2013
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His present status did not come on a platter of gold. It is a testimony to what the human spirit can achieve with hard work, dedication, tolerance and a sense of professionalism. He is one of the triumvirate that established the highly successful Eko Hospital. However, beyond his brilliance in the medical practice, he is also an avid entrepreneur and investor with unquenchable passion for enterprise development and investment. This is the story of Dr. Sonny Folorunsho Kuku, a physician-turned corporate icon. By Adejuwon Osunnuyi
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lorogun Sonny Folorunsho Kuku’s credentials as a physician are quite intimidating. But while he remains a reference to excellence in medical practice, he is also an avid entrepreneur and investor, with strong passion for enterprise development and investment. In both his primary calling, medicine, and his hobby - investment, Kuku holds many unequalled firsts and for many decades, has been the quintessential example of the symbiotic relations between medicine and financial security. In 1984, he led the transformation of the Eko Hospital into a distinct corporate entity with the incorporation of Ekocorp. A decade later, Ekocorp made history as the first medical company to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE and as at last Thursday, May 31, Ekocorp Plc has a market value of about N2.7 billion, selling at N5.05 per share. Besides Ekocorp, Kuku also has a long-standing interest in the financial services sector. He had served on the board of the defunct Midas Merchant Bank and currently, he chairs the board of Midas Stockbrokers Limited. With his growing profile as an investment-savvy physician, Kuku was appointed to the board of Ecobank Nigeria Plc, the Nigerian subsidiary of the pan-African bank holding company,
Kuku
Continued on pg A10
Business Courage
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), in 2004. In March 2010, Kuku was elected to chair the multinational 14-member board of Ecobank Nigeria, at the completion of the terms of John Odeyemi, another industry icon. Besides his major equity stake in Ekocorp, another public proof of Kuku’s investment prowess is his shareholding in Ecobank Nigeria. He is believed to hold the second largest equity stake among the directors with his shareholdings more than 167 per cent above the entire direct and indirect shareholdings of other directors, excluding the director with the largest shareholding. As a former board member of Clina-Immunoassay Lab and Total Health Trust Ltd, Kuku, no doubt, has demonstrated that healthy body and soul need not only medical prescriptions, but also the assurance of financial security that comes with building nest eggs that stream in incomes irrespective of physical presence or absence. A consultant physician and endocrinologist, Kuku is the first African Master of the American College of Physicians; the first recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the University of Lagos; Ambassador of Goodwill Award of the City of Freetown and the first and only physician to list the shares of a hospital in Nigeria. A long-standing trustee and distinguished fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, president and trustee of the West African College of Physicians, President of Pan African Diabetes Study Group, past Chairman of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State Universities and Committee of Chairman of Federal Tertiary Hospitals, Chairman, University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Dr Kuku was conferred with the National Honour of the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (OFR) in 2003 by the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was also the Chairman of the Human Capital Policy Commission of the Nigerian Economics Summit Group. A native of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State, South West Nigeria, Kuku was born on January 3, 1944 in Jos, present day Plateau State capital. He had his elementary education at three different schools, starting with St. Paul’s School, Jos, St. Patrick’s School, Yaba and later at the Salvation Army School, Ebute-Metta, Lagos between 1949-1956. He was at the famous King’s College, Lagos from 1957-1963 for his secondary education. Kuku studied in the Col-
lege of Medicine, University of Lagos, University Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York, and Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School and Hammersmith Hospital, University of London University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, U.S.A. (1968-1969) After graduating, he won a Commonwealth Scholarship in 1971 to study at the famous Royal Post-graduate Medical School (Hammersmith Hospital) University of London. Within three years, he added a couple of more feathers to his already spectacular cap. He obtained a PhD in addition to becoming a member of the Royal College of Physicians. Prior to this time, in 1968, he had been awarded a B.Sc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry by the University of Lagos in conjunction with the University of Rochester, New York. In 1972, he received a M.Sc in Clinical pathology. After his academic pursuit in New York, Dr. Kuku lectured at the University of Chicago School Of Medicine where he was a Senior Fellow until 1976, when he returned home. He continued his lecturing career in the University Of Lagos Col-
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Monday, November 11, 2013
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First, I knew and felt that my country needed me more than the developed countries like the U.S. I also knew that in my country, I would be a first class citizen and be more relevant,” he had reasoned then
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lege of Medicine where he rose to be Senior Lecturer within the year. In 1986, he was honoured with the coveted Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians, London, and the following year, took a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Lagos by thesis. In 1968, while at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York on a one-year pre-doctoral Fellowship, the young Kuku was exposed to a fascinating and rewarding experience that he
decided, there and then that he must return to the U.S for his residency training. This was however not to be, as he found himself at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London, where he completed the MRCP, PhD programme in 1974. In October 1974, he was invited back home to Nigeria to take a Faculty position. During his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago School Of Medicine, the whole world virtually opened
for Dr.Kuku. As he admitted in a recent interview, “With my training and qualifications, job offers from all nooks and crannies came to me. The temptation to stay and make a career in the US, as was becoming fashionable at that time, was very great particularly since all my attempts at securing a suitable position at home did not meet with any measure of success.” But then, despite the temptation of the good fortunes in the U.S, the young Kuku never had any serious thoughts about not going back home. “First, I knew and felt that my country needed me more than the developed countries like the U.S. I also knew that in my country, I would be a first class citizen and be more relevant,” he had reasoned then. So, with this well-guided patriotic zeal, Kuku took the plunge and returned home without any job offer in 1975, but determined to find work. “My gamble paid off because our dynamic military ruler at that time was an avid newspaper reader who saw a satirical article about me in a newspaper describing me as a man over-qualified to be employed. Employment came a few days later. It is very unlikely that the President of the U.S. would be in a position to invite me, a Nigerian, in such circumstances and offer me a job if I was still in the U.S. This immediately justified one of the reasons I insisted on coming back home despite the fact that jobs and life were rosier abroad,” he said. Back in Nigeria, the young Kuku was confronted with what turned out to be his first shock: the paucity of the salary and the backwardness of the infrastructure and quality of living. Kuku discovered to his chagrin that he was over qualified for the job he was offered and his training was too high-powered for the kind of laboratories or funds available. However, not minding the challenges, he decided to put to use, whatever part of his training that was applicable rather than continuing his research into the molecular nature of hormones like thyrotrophin, glucaton, etc. “I set up a small reference endocrine laboratory that made measurement of hormones available to the whole country for the first time. From the laboratory, I was able to study basic things like normal hormone levels in the African and in pathological states like infertility leading to seminal work affecting lives of a vast number of people and evolutionising treatment. I probably might have broken the atom if I remained in the U.S (chance almost nil) but I doubt if my work would have touched so many lives! I have also, building on experience gained
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Kuku
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About five years after joining Mercy Hospitals, Kuku, the late Alexander Chuma Ayodele Eneli and Augustine Amechi Obiora floated Eko Hospital, an acronym formed from the first letters of the founder’s surnames in alphabetical order i.e. “E” for ENELI, “K” for KUKU and “O” for OBIORA
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from the U.S, set up a tertiary hospital in the private sector, the only one to be quoted in the Nigerian Stock Exchange,” he said. He worked as Consultant Physician at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) until 1977 when he formally pulled out of public service to join Mercy Specialist Clinic. As told by those familiar with his story, three years after returning to Nigeria, Kuku re-united with two of his professional colleagues, Eneli and Obiora, who have been friends since their days in College of Medicine, University of Lagos. After he pulled out of public service, the trio moved their services to Mercy Specialist Clinic, Lagos, which incidentally became the springboard through which what is today referred to as one of the best private specialists hospital in Nigeria, Eko Hospital was established. About five years after joining Mercy Hospitals, Kuku, the late Alexander Chuma Ayodele Eneli and Augustine Amechi Obiora floated Eko Hospital, an acronym formed from the first letters of the founder’s surnames in alphabetical order i.e. “E” for ENELI, “K” for KUKU and “O” for OBIORA. From a four-bed capacity clinic situated at Ebute-Meta, Lagos in 1977, the company has grown into a multi-service and multi-location hospital with operations in Ikeja, Ikoyi, Central Lagos, Surulere, etc. to cover the entire Lagos area. In 1988, a Management Agreement was signed between Eko Hospital, Ikeja Ltd and the Eko Hospital Limited whereby Eko Hospital Limited, was to manage Eko Hospital, Ikeja Limited. This arrangement further culminated into the sales of all assets and liabilities of Eko Hospital Ikeja Limited to Eko Hospital Limited. In compliance with the Companied and Allied Matter Decree 1990, the company, by a special resolution passed in 1991 was reregistered as a Public Limited Liability Company (PLC), by a Board resolution in 1994 and approved at the Annual General Meeting; the Eko Hospital Plc was changed to Ekocorp Plc. Today, the hospital has grown in leaps and bounds, with two full-fledged hospitals located at Ikeja and Surulere in Lagos. The Ikeja facility is a private teaching hospital of 130 beds and state of the equipment. It is a tertiary institution with a wide range of therapeutic and diagnostic equipment. The Surulere hospital is a 40bed secondary healthcare facility. A third hospital is currently under construction at the new Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
A diagnostic centre and clinic is operational in Ikoyi area of Lagos. The philosophy of the multi-hospital group is to provide excellent medical care at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Today, the hospital has undergone significant transformation, as it is the only publicly quoted hospital business in Nigeria Stock Exchange under the auspices of the name Ekocorp Plc. The company enjoys tremendous goodwill and occupies an enviable position as a market leader in private hospital market sector. Affiliated to Olabisi Onabanjo University as a training centre for clinical students of the Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences, Eko Hospital is one of the largest, best equipped and recognised medical institutions in the country and it has good patronage to show for it. Moreover, it is
one of the few private hospitals recognised by the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council to train house officers (newly qualified doctors) and the only private hospital recognised by the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College to train general practice resident doctors for Parts I and II fellowships. Its facilities are used by graduate and post-graduate trainees, house officers and interns accredited by the Nigerian Post-Graduate Medical College, Nigerian Medical and Dental Council and the Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Radiotherapy and Medical Laboratory Science Councils of Nigeria. With its first-class equipment in the various fields of Medicine – Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery, Dentistry, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), Ophthalmology, Electro
Encephalography (EEG), Endoscopy, CT-Scanning, Radiodiagnosis, Radiotherapy and Effective Investigative Laboratory, patients are assured of quality primary, secondary and tertiary health care services. Other services such as a Diabetes/Endocrinology Centre, Comprehensive Health Screening, Fertility and Pain Management and Rehabilitation Centre at the Ikeja head office also testifies to the hospital’s leadership in the Nigerian private health sector as it is with its extensive database of Health Maintenance Organisations, HMOs and unparalleled National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, accreditation. Kuku is the chairman, board of Senior Citizens Care Foundation, SCCF, a registered Non-Governmental Organization, that sees into the fast growing global aging issues and actively involved in the welfare of older persons. The foundation, whose vision is the preservation of the joy and values of the older generation, synergizes with international organizations in finding a lasting solution to the problems facing this aging class. It engages in research on ageing issues and welfare, medical care of aged person, senior citizens empowerment programme and organising health exercises among others. The erudite physician is also a board member of the Stephen Oluwole Awokoya Foundation for Science Education, another charitable, non-profit making organisation, with a primary objective of promoting science education in Nigerian Institutions of higher learning. The foundation was set up
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in 1995 in honour of the Late Professor Stephen Oluwole Awokoya, the first (1946) Nigerian graduate in Chemistry. Late Professor Awokoya was the first (1952) Minister of Education in Western Nigeria, and he later became the Federal Permanent Secretary and Chief Federal Adviser on Education. He was also a Director at the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Paris for many years. He is the current President of the prestigious Nigerian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chairman, Education Committee, Faculty of Medicine and Examiner and Chairman of the Faculty of Internal Medicine of the West African College of Physicians. He is also the founder of the Sonny Kuku Foundation, SKF, which is a foundation established to support research in Sickle Cell and Diabetes - Endocrine Diseases. As a result of his board appointment in Ecobank, Dr. Kuku is the current President of the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria, BDAN, an umbrella body of non-executive directors of banks established to provide a forum for improving the knowledge and the competence of bank directors. Kuku, who was elected at the 14th Annual General Meeting of BDAN, replaced Ferdinand Alabraba, former chairman, Board of Director of UBA Plc, who was elected president in 2009. BDAN is the umbrella body of non-executive directors of banks established to provide a forum for improving the knowledge and the competence of Bank Directors, thereby promoting honourable practice within the banking industry in Nigeria. It was established in 1997 under the auspices of the Financial Institutions Training Centre, FITC, supported by both the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC. Among other things, BDAN acts as an organ of communication for and to represent members and their various banks in all or any of their relationships with government ministries, departments, agents, local/ public authorities and trade associations, to afford facilities for conferring with and making known the views of the members of the association with regards to actual or proposed legislation or any other matter directly or indirectly affecting their interest. It also acts to formulate and monitor the ethics of bank directors in the banking industry from time to time, aimed towards enhancing efficiency and accountability. BC
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Monday, November 11, 2013
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ThebuddingEntrepreneurs
He started small like every other businessman in the world. But while many others fall by the wayside in the face of economic hardship and unfavourable business environment, he has, through commitment, dedication and faithfulness to his customers, been able to take his polythene/nylon business to an enviable position in just a few short years. This is the story of Olusola Phillip Dada, owner of Olu Philips Packaging Company Dada
By Abiodun Alade
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or Olusola Phillip Dada, going into business, especially with the idea of becoming an entrepreneur was never an easy task. Having been out of job as a result of collapse of the textile industry in Nigeria, where he had worked for years, the lull in the industry witnessed as at that time forced him to seek other employment and eventually, he made up his mind on setting up his own business. Then, the first business he set up was a bookshop. But due to the fact that most of the stationery in his shop were bought on credit by friends, relatives and neighbours who easily ran to him promising to pay later but who never fulfilled their promises, he had no choice but to stop the business. Having left the bookshop business one of his friends advised him to start the polythene production and he introduced him to his wife who was trained in the job. Since the new line of business required minimal capital, he jumped at the offer. However, as at the time he was going into the polythene production business then, to his chagrin, it wasn’t really a hugeprofit making venture. But the determination and realisation that many top companies of today started as small firms in the years past with low patronage but with time, they grew the businesses to become household names made him to stay on, and it actually paid off for him. While his first profit from his polythene business was N50, it took him about three weeks
to even achieve that. As Dada recalled, it was a period of financial lows for him as he had to cater for his family from the little profit. He had just started the business with few customers but he held on to the belief that with time the business will blossom, once he is committed and focused on his journey to greatness. “It was challenging at the start. At that time, the cost of purchasing a bag of the material needed was N250 and the highest profit that could be made from it was N50. I had thought that I would be able to produce a minimum of three or four bags in a month, but it was not as I had thought when I started the business. It took me three weeks after the first production to get customers to purchase the nylon; so for almost a month, I worked for just N50 which was my profit as at that time,” he fondly recalled in an interview with Business Courage. Although the profit was minimal and not too encouraging, Dada decided to pursue his dream rather than abandon it. He made up his mind to continue his path of selfemployment without discouragement, admitting that he was not expecting the business to become big at the start. It took him discipline, commitment, dedication and prudent use of the available resources to grow the business. “I had to become more disciplined and prudent with the available resources as at that time by ensuring that I prioritise the business and cut down my expenses.” While the production stage was taken care of, Dada knew
that getting them accepted by potential customers was another problem that had to be overcome; but he knew what to do. Rather than engage a marketer, as it was obvious that the resources weren’t enough to engage one, he decided to engage in marketing the product by himself, visiting potential customers door-to-door. “I also engaged in marketing the product by myself, visiting potential customers because it was not just producing the nylon but ensuring that it gets to the hands of the people that needed it. And another trick about it then was the fact that I had to ensure that I finish selling the one that I produced before starting another; this was as a
result of the fact that I started with a very small capital,” he added. That was 15 years ago. Interestingly, the same business that he struggled to make a profit of N50 at the start today has a good number of staff who are paid from the proceeds of the company. More so, it has trained many other young entrepreneurs who are now the bosses of their own businesses. “I am glad today when I see the number of people I took out from unemployment being gainfully employed. I have had many staff that had worked with me, earned their living and their financial obligations through this job. I have also trained many people who are as at today self-
employed; at least, I can recall more than 10 of them that are still in this business as well. I am always thankful to God that the little step I took few years back has brought such reward,” the Ogun State-born -nylon manufacturer proudly noted. To a large extent, the polythene business in today’s world is fast becoming more lucrative. The demand for polythene shopping bags is noted to have been on the increase as a result of the population strength of the country and with the fact that the world is going corporate; the need for packaging is increasing every day. Packaging, according to Dada, improves image and branding of a product, hence the need for shopping bags. Almost every business uses shopping bags these days ranging from supermarkets, eateries, banks (cash bags), boutique, and bookshop to road side shops thereby creating large demand for the product. These, Dada agreed, has helped grow the industry over the years. “Packaging and branding is something unique that every business is trying to use and it has contributed to the growth of our industry. People want to distinguish their product from others which bring about the great role of packaging and branding” he said. Nylon/polythene bag production has indeed assumed significant economic importance in Nigeria today, owing to the variety of uses to which these finished products could be put to. The products are extensively utilised for wrapping, packaging, shopping and general bagging purposes, and are constantly in demand. The simplest form of nylon bags – in form of films - are used in packaging such edible products as bread or non-edible stuff purchased from the market; the
Management Principles
Middle-market businesses pitfalls and how to avoid them (2)
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tep 3: Adopt a new growth strategy Many companies fail to adapt their product-and-service mix and business model to meet the challenge of producing growth. Often they have a product that is selling well but they fail to innovate and find that a new competitor has taken over the market. New growth strategies are needed, including: *Core Strategy – A basic strategy to expand your core product offering either geographically or to new customers and markets. *Adjacency Strategy – Are there “adjacent” areas around the company’s core products or services that are natural extensions of the core? Extension Strategy – Strategies that reach beyond natural adjacencies to variations or extensions of the company’s products or services that might position the company for growth. New Market Strategy – Consider entering new markets through new models like alliances, channels, partnerships, mergers or acquisitions, or even franchising your product or service. Step 4: Consider new ways to finance your business Public companies have alternatives for financing growth through big banks and Wall Street. For private middle-market companies, the main traditional sources of growth capital have been internal capital generation from profits and bank lines of credit.
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Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
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ThebuddingEntrepreneurs thicker forms, popularly called ‘Santana’ are used in packaging biscuits. Traders utilise them too for packaging their merchandise and garments, while dry cleaners adapt bigger sizes for packaging their washed clothes. Toilet roll, candle manufacturers, sachet/pure water producers, practically every industry finds it useful. The thicker and more fanciful polythene products are turned into shopping and school bags, and for other related uses. Polythene shopping bags are used in the packaging of different product and are produced from virgin materials or reprocessed materials. “It is a business that I can recommend to anybody, especially to those without a job because it does not require any major qualification or degree but your commitment and dedication. It does not also require a huge capital to set up and it is profitable and rewarding as well”. While the polythene bags production could be said to be lucrative as attested to by Dada, the business did not grow just overnight. Commitment, dedication and perseverance were some of the attributes that helped him remain in business. According to him, with good customer relations, he was able to woo customers by being faithful to them, ensuring that his products are of high quality. To him, it is imperative for entrepreneur not to jettison quality all in the bid to make more profit, stressing that such act will only discourage some of the customers who will stop patronising the products. He added that by being faithful to customers, ensuring that they get their products as at when agreed, trust will be built. According to him, the opinions of customers should not be wished away as entrepreneurs should always create time to hear them out, no matter how unpleasant their complaints seem. “It is good to be committed and dedicated in whatever you are doing; it will help you to keep focus but from
Dada
my experience in this business and which I think will also be same in most businesses. You must be faithful to your customers, whenever you give them an appointment or a delivery date, do endeavour to meet up and if there is any reason for a default, inform them earlier. It will help the business to grow because they are certain that you will not disappoint them. It is also important that you maintain quality and high standard; many entrepreneurs are in the bad habit of short-changing their customers all in an effort to have more profit which is detrimental to trust in the business.” “You can only fool your customers for a limited time because as soon as they discover that the quality is low and there is another place where they can acquire the product with high quality, they will gladly leave you. I will also advice entrepreneur to have good customer relation because they are the main reason why you are in business. Your ability to meet their expectations will determine how far you will go in business; talk with them and listen to them so that there is an understanding between you and them”. Dada points that there will always be challenges in any business chosen by an individual, stressing that in the face of the challenges,
Private companies need to mimic public companies by expanding their sources of capital and creating a backup plan in case current sources become unavailable. Many capital sources are available to private companies. Examples include Asset-Based Lending, SBA loans, receivables financing, sale/leaseback, lines of credit, fixed-term debt, and emerging crowdsourcing financing. All have different costs, restrictions and availability. Some may require personal guarantees though the terms of these vary widely. Smart CEOs and CFOs need to be familiar with all of them. Step 5: Identify and manage your risks According to a 2011 RIMS survey, 54 per cent of companies have partially or fully implemented a formal Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) programme. That means that 46 per cent have not. Many smaller companies believe that ERM is a bureaucratic exercise that does not promote sales or growth and can lead to “analysis paralysis.” As a result, many private companies incur risks they did not anticipate and they fall victim to those risks. Identify your key business risks, attach probabilities to each risk, and mitigate and track these risks. If you see risk in having too much of your business concentrated in a few customers, make it a priority to reduce this concentration, even if you have to cut your margins temporarily. By adopting some key business strategies, you can position your business to reach the next level of growth and have a shot at generating real wealth for yourself and your investors. BC
an entrepreneur must carve a niche in order to overcome them. He noted that challenges should make an entrepreneur more creative in professing solutions to such act that seems to limit the growth of the business. He said that finance, marketing and competition are some of the challenges he faced in doing his business. “Capital is always a challenge in doing business in this country. The environment makes it difficult to get the needed funds for the business and then, there are some basic things that should have been provided by the government but because they are not available you have to provide them with the limited resources. There will be competitors, people who are doing same or similar business with you and for a business like mine, it is very competitive, so you need to retain your customers while looking for new ones. There is also the challenge of marketing and getting the finished products to the people that need it. You must be able to brand your product in such a way that it stands out from competitors” He submitted that the industry needs the support of the government especially in providing the enabling environment for it to grow. He argued that constant supply of stable electricity with right policy of government, polythene production do have the potential to engage a huge number of the jobless Nigerians on the streets. He also urged the government through the appropriate financial institutions to provide financial assistance to entrepreneurs in the country, stressing that small and medium scale industries hold the key to the economic growth of the country. He opined that most small and medium businesses that have gotten support from micro-finance banks are thriving in the industry, adding that with more support, they can be the true drivers of the economy. “The government needs to solve the problem of electricity power supply because it is not ideal that small business provide their own power; how do you expect them to survive?” he queried. He encouraged young entrepreneurs not to be afraid of their humble beginnings while admonishing them to always update their knowledge of the job and their personal life through literature, training and seminars. Dada argued that with the right environment, more Nigerians will be interested in becoming employers of labour, rather than joining the labour market, seeking jobs that are not readily available. “I do have customers from Lagos state and many others; if I am able to access more resources and machines, nothing stops me from expanding the business to other parts of the country. So, it is imperative for the younger generation with their level of education and exposure to be able to think far ahead and plan their lives; obviously not everybody will get the white collar job,” he submitted. BC
Personal Finance Motivating your employees
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ave you ever bought a new gadget or toy for your kids or yourself and seen that mildly annoying “batteries not included” sticker? Getting the right batteries for your new gizmo is similar to finding the right motivation for your employees. The end goal is the same: energy for action, but you need the right connection to trigger that flow of energy. Motivating your team can be more art than science, but here are four techniques that will increase your chances of finding the right fuel:
1. Focus on the bigger picture. One of the most universal motivational triggers is connecting a current action with a bigger vision. For example, when you started your business, it’s very likely that you had some motivation beyond having a business for business’s sake. You might have wanted freedom to build a better life for you and your loved ones, to help people or to make the world a better place in some way. What drives you is the bigger picture, not the daily to-dos. Your team is no different. If you’re seeing a lack in motivation or productivity, it’s probably because they’ve lost the connection between what they are doing and their “why.” Actively search for their “why” during conversations, so that when there is a lull in motivation, you can be there to remind them of the big picture. Help them see how their puzzle piece fits in to build a larger picture. 2. Emphasize the importance of process. Sometimes teams procrastinate because they don’t think there’s any harm in putting off certain tasks. Little do they know that what seems inconsequential to them is actually a cornerstone for your next steps. You might need to explain the chain of events that are necessary to accomplish the big goals. No step is unimportant. Like they say in theatre, there are no small roles, only small actors. In your business, there are no small steps, only small thinking. Of course, this only applies if you don’t have unnecessary redundancies. If you do, it’s a good idea to do an audit and clean out the cobwebs of your procedures. 3. Pay attention to what excites them. The best kind of motivation doesn’t come from you; it comes from people themselves. When you’re having a conversation with someone, pay close attention to what they say and how they say it. Chances are they are giving you clues on how to best motivate them in that moment. I like to call these clues “keywords.” They are words or phrases that stand out from the rest. Keywords are more charged when spoken. The person will lean in or sit up straighter. Their voice might get louder or more pointed. Their eyes might widen when they say their keywords. 4. Use positive reinforcement. One of the best ways to lay the groundwork for future motivation is to acknowledge and reward successes. If you motivate someone to take action, but don’t acknowledge the accomplishment, they will be jaded when you approach them again in the future for something else. Recognition of past successes is a motivator for future progress. Failing to do so can lead to bitter and defensive employees. Leaders need to be a constant source of motivation. Your team should come to you to recharge their batteries, not leave feeling more drained. Pay attention their nee BC BC
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Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
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It was billed as a revolutionary technology for the dynamic Nigerian mobile scene. But seven months after, it is now a sad tale of a technology that has flopped as there are fears that aside telecom consumers not embracing the system, operators are also not left out in frustrating the Mobile Number Portability scheme By Adejuwon Osunnuyi
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s it stands today, if there is anything that could be giving the Dr. Eugene Juwah-led Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, some sleepless nights, it would be the issue of the porting system, otherwise known as Mobile Number Portability, MNP. Billed as a revolutionary technology for the dynamic Nigerian mobile scene, where the issue of incessant poor service delivery services occasioned by drop calls, poor quality calls and network fluctuations reign, Juwah had at the formal launch on Monday, April 22, 2013, assured Nigerians that the MNP is a revolution that would give millions of GSM subscribers in the country the freedom to change or terminate temporarily their relationships with their current network service providers if they are dissatisfied with the quality of services provided while retaining their numbers. Optimistic that the portability launch would benefit both the subscribers and operators, Director of Public Affairs at NCC, Tony Ojobo had also noted that MNP would lead to quality service and increased healthy competition among operators, in addition to the introduction of value added services by operators to attract more subscribers to their various networks. According to the NCC spokesperson, it would compel telecoms operators to be more accountable to subscribers and treat them as kings, which they actually are, adding that it would enhance billing integrity, since operators would not want to lose customers who may be willing to shift to another network if they feel short-changed by the network’s billing system. Ordinarily, these and many more advantages as canvassed by the NCC ought to have seen millions of subscribers porting on daily basis. Unfortunately, almost a year down the line, with the persistent issue of incessant poor service delivery services occasioned by call drops, poor quality calls
as well as network fluctuations among networks, despite the introduction of number portability services, the MNP has continued to lose appeal to millions of mobile subscribers, as uptake has continued to be unimpressive, according to available statistics. For instance, while the NCC had claimed that out of the over 100 million subscribers, only about 4, 000 ported within the first two days after the launch of the mobile portability service, months later, according to statistics made available to Business Courage, in the months of May and June, about 13, 923 were said to have ported. While the month of May recorded 7,164, the figure dropped to 5,759 by June against a subscriber base of 101 million. From all indications, the lull in the acceptance of the MNP could be understandable. First, consumers find the service unappealing, time consuming and not trendy. Instead of porting, investigations revealed that most Nigerian telecoms consumers prefer the dual SIM handsets, multiple SIM cards in their wallets, or simply possessing two or more handsets. Apart from the likes of Nokia, Samsung and LG that have introduced dual SIM phones into the Nigerian market; new entrant into the market — Techno Mobile — has changed the dynamics of the market, with its recently launched four-SIMs mobile phone; by so doing, compounding the woes of MNP adoption in the country. Investigations by this medium revealed that about 55 per cent of those buying phones go for dual SIM phones. Also a lot of subscribers said they were comfortable going about with multiple SIM cards or dual SIM phones citing the fact that there is little or no difference among the operators, others who said they would have loved to port noted that certain bottlenecks in the switching process have been discouraging them. These bottlenecks include the 48 hours required for the porting process to be completed;
the 90 days lockup time which a subscriber is subjected on a recipient network after having ported from a donor network and non-transferability of available airtime credit for voice and data on the donor network for use on the recipient network. Globally, Nigeria is among the 63 countries in which number portability is available for mobile subscribers. In countries where the technology is successful, the time of porting is minimal. While it might take seven days to port a number in India, the time taken in Australia is approximately three minutes. Some countries in the West are striving to attain the near-instant subscriber mobile
Juwah
number switch. In New Zealand, porting is done in seconds while in Nigeria, the standard time of porting a number is two days, thus making many subscribers shun it. According to a subscriber, Ajayi Bukola, the 90-day lockout a subscriber is subjected to when he or she ports to a new network is a constraint, which she considered as being deterrent from porting. However, aware of this, the NCC said it is working on reducing the time a subscriber must stay on a network after porting to go through the process again, from 90 days. Though a trader at Ojodu area of Lagos, Victor Charles,
believed that the 48 hours processing for the porting service should be reduced to a number of hours, NCC noted that information from the operators indicate that the porting process is now being completed within 24 hours. “Two days is long a time to complete the process while the idea of going to an operator’s customer centre all because you want to port from another number should also be made more flexible,” Charles said. Speaking on challenges facing the MNP, Chief Operating Officer of Internconnect Clearing House, the coordinating company of the MNP, Uche Onwudiwe, noted “We have been working tirelessly since April to promote this cause,” he said, assuring that subscribers do not have to wait any longer for up to two days to get their numbers ported. The process, he said, can now be completed within two hours. “We have been working tirelessly since April to promote this cause,” he said, assuring that subscribers do not have to wait any longer for up to two days to get their numbers ported. The process, he said, can now be completed within two hours. Listing some challenges in the porting process to include the SMS for porting request not getting to the clearing house, customers not keeping their lines active throughout the period of porting, or not spelling their names correctly, among others, Onwudiwe declared, “Our major focus is ensuring immediate portability. But if your number is not being port-
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ed, hold your network operator responsible”. Indices from other climes including neighbouring Ghana, show that the MNP has been a success or so to say. For example, in Chile, a South American nation, Subtel, its own telecoms industry regulator, introduced MNP in January 2012, and by June 2013, 616,686 pre-paid subscribers and 480,571 postpaid customers had taken their numbers to other carriers. Also, on 6 July 2013, one year after Ghana’s National Communication Authority (NCA) introduced the MNP, some 370,107 mobile numbers had ported successfully, representing 1.6 per cent of the total active mobile numbers in the market. Following the introduction of MNP in Colombia, by August 2011, a total of 441,163 customers have switched provider, while keeping their numbers in a market of more than 45 million wireless subscribers. The greatest concentration of ports was in the first quarter of 2012 when 167,914 people moved operators, with the number dropping to 132,344, the next quarter. While MNP was unveiled in India in November 2010, two months later in January 2011, 1.7 million of over 200 million subscribers had ported. In UK for instance, when MNP was introduced in 1999, it took 25 days to port. Before April 2011 porting time reduced to two days. Efforts have been made to reduce it to 24 hours, while in Ecuador, a total of 29,029 requests by subscribers to port their numbers had been received by January 25, 2010, and exactly one year after MNP was introduced in the country. The number in Brazil was even higher, with 3.48 million of 210 million subscribers seeking to port by March 2009, just six months after MNP was unveiled. Romania, which introduced MNP in October 2008, recorded over 31,000 subscribers porting by February of the following year. Notably, the impending death of MNP might have also been exacerbated with the case of alleged saboteurs among the operators who are said to have deliberately been frustrating subscribers who wanted to port from their network to the other. Some subscribers had reportedly been frustrated by the network operators in their bids to change their service providers through the window of Mobile Number Portability as provided by the NCC. According to a top staff of one of the operators who pleaded anonymity, the recent progress report of the MNP might not be unconnected to this as the operators are not comfortable losing their customers to other networks willingly. According to the NCC data, MTN Nigeria was seriously hit going
Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
Technotalk
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with Esther Ozue (ozueesther@nationalmirroronline.net) 08059234648 (sms only)
Essential tips for increased Google AdSense success
A Onwudiwe
by the loss of about 49 per cent of the overall subscribers that have switched. Figures released by NCC showed that Etisalat may have emerged the big winner in the number porting duel between the two mobile phone companies as it recorded the biggest gain of 44 per cent in the first month of porting in the country. Globacom followed MTN by recording losses of 23 per cent; Airtel Nigeria was number three with overall losses of 17 per cent while Etisalat Nigeria came last on the losers table with 11 per cent for May figures. Worried by this development however, NCC is said to have commenced investigation into the allegations. Director, Public Affairs, NCC Ojobo said the commission had started investigating the allegations warning that any operator found culpable would be sanctioned in accordance with the regulation guiding the MNP in the country. He said, “It is wrong for any operator to even call subscriber to persuade him/her to stay on the network once the subscriber has indicated an interest to port to another mobile network. “So far, what operators have told us is that any difficulty in porting arose from technical challenges. However, if we find that any operator is deliberately frustrating a subscriber that wants to port, the operator will face stipulated sanctions.” Ojobo said apart from the investigation being conducted by the regulatory agency in collaboration with the MNP Clearing House, the MNP implementation committee was also investigating allegations of sabotage of the process. The membership of the implementation committee is drawn from all the mobile operators, industry associations, the regulatory agency and the clearing house. Noticeably, to show that operators are not so keen to the MNP project and would so much love making it fail, structures that would enhance porting services are lacking in most of the rural areas. The belief is that such areas would generate lower returns compared to the urban centres. But in its swift reaction, NCC is said to
be considering using its sledge hammer against any service provider discovered to be deliberately avoiding the rural areas. The Special Assistant on Technical Matters to the Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Edoyemi Ogoh, said the MNP scheme was national and must be implemented as such by the operators noting that the regulatory body said it had discovered that the structures that would enhance porting services were lacking in most of the rural areas. According to him, operators are supposed to equip their customer care centres across the country with trained personnel and facilities necessary to make the porting process seamless. “For the rural areas, the NCC is assuring Nigerians that the operators will be made to go to these areas by compulsion as the MNP is for the whole country,” he said, admitting that there were chances that the operators might want to avoid the rural areas because of the belief that such areas would generate lower returns compared to the urban centres. However, the telecoms network operators under the aegis of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria had disagreed with the NCC over the resolution of the regulatory body to sanction errant operators under the MNP scheme. The ATCON, through its President, Lanre Ajayi, had said imposing sanctions on the operators would only take away from them the money that could have been invested in building and expanding their networks. He argued that such sanctions might worsen the quality of telecoms services in the country as funds that could have been ploughed back into the operators’ network would be paid to the regulator as fines. “Sanctions have not worked for the sector. It is not the way to go because it involved taking the money that should be invested in the networks to give to the regulator. It is the bailout option. I am not in support of sanctions as an option. The operators could have used the money to build capacity in the country”, Ajayi said. BC
dSense is just one among the thousand genuine and legal means through which bloggers, webmasters, website owners can use to monetise their website and make money by placing adverts and when visitors clicks on those adverts, you get paid some percentage of the share depending on the amount of clicks you get before the end of the month. Google AdSense is owned by Google and its one of the top PPC (pay per click) advert. It functions by displaying adverts on blogs and websites that have signed up to display such adverts provided by Google. Adverts are always from advertisers that paid Google to show its products or brands. To make your website or blog get approval from Google AdSense, here are some essential tips you need to put in place. CREATE PAGES: Google AdSense policies guidelines stated that as an AdSense publisher you need to create an about page which is writing about yourself and your brand like: Contact, Privacy Policy, Terms and Condition and a Site Map. All these are necessary for you to get approved into the AdSense program. Nobody will like to do business with a faceless person, website or blog and also having a policy page makes Google feel safe to know their adverts are safe on your site. USE A CUSTOM DOMAIN NAME: Create your own blog or website using blogger, word press or purchase a domain, It is preferred to have a .COM. Never apply for Google AdSense with a sub-domain names because AdSense will never approve your application, you must have to apply with a Top Level Domain (TLD) like: mysite.com instead mysite.blogspot.com. PUBLISH QUALITY AND ORIGINAL CONTENT: Never try to copy and paste contents from other blogs or websites because Google will know and that will lead to your account not getting approved. Make sure your contents is original and unique, once you have written about 50 to 100 unique posts, you can then apply for AdSense. TRAFFIC FROM SEARCH ENGINES: You should first work to improve your blog traffic before applying for Google AdSense, make sure your blog receive a decent amount of traffic from search engine like: Google. Submit your website page URL to popular search engines. REGISTER YOUR SITE IN GOOGLE WEBMASTER TOOL: Google webmaster tool helps you verify you own your blog or website and get it quickly indexed on Google search engine. This would help you get traffic from Google search engine which is necessary to even make money from Google AdSense. KEEPING LIST OF KEY WORDS: Always try to take your list of keywords and search the “Overture Search Inventory” or “Google Ad Words Sandbox” to find out if any other words could be doing a better job than those you are currently using. Try to keep your website focused on the things that appear mostly in the keyword suggestions you receive. Include those keywords, or at least some related keywords, as often as you can in the various links and content on your website because of the way AdSense works; this is an excellent way to increase your earnings because you will get better adverts in your AdSense units and banners. APPLY FOR ADSENSE: Create your account with Google Analytics and Google webmasters and Link your website with both the accounts. You must submit your accurate information including contact number, full address and postal addresses. You must check your forum at least twice to avoid the errors. Once you have put into consideration those tips mentioned above, then you can now apply for AdSense while you await a positive response. BC
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Business Courage
Morgan
Google empowers Nigerian businesses with Apps for greater productivity and collaboration Stories by Adejuwon Osunnuyi
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lobal Information Technology company, Google has again shown its commitment in providing businesspeople in Nigeria with the opportunity of learning about cloud- based Apps that would enhance greater productivity for their businesses. At a recent breakfast session organised in Lagos, the company provided business men and women the opportunity of learning about the Google Enterprise services, with a special focus on Google Apps for Business. Google Apps for Business facilitates greater productivity, easier teamwork and collaboration, more flexibility, reliability and security, and also helps businesses save money. The Apps include Google Search, Gmail for business, Google Chrome, Google Maps, Google Calendar, and the Google Cloud platform. The event, which was sponsored by leading IT Solutions companies, DataGroup IT and Descasio Limited was well attended by senior executives from small, medium and large scale organisations. Shai Morgan, Regional Manager, Google Enterprise, speaking on how Google’s Search Appliance can help customers find relevant information on business websites explained that the Google App suite offers simple communication and collaboration tools for businesses of all sizes, all hosted by Google in the cloud, to simplify set-up, minimize maintenance and reduce IT costs. Morgan added that with Google Groups and integrated Instant Messaging (IM), users can stay connected while on the move. “With Google Docs, users can share files and work together in real time, ensuring that everyone is working on the same version of a document all at the
same time”, he said. Google Apps help businesses manage electronic communications effectively and at low costs. They are already being used by leading businesses in West Africa, including Transcorp Plc, Churchgate Group and Fidelity Bank, Ghana. According to President/CEO of Transcorp, Obinna Ufudo, “We operate a lean structure at the corporate centre. Our subsidiaries are located in other cities and our business requires employees to work in different locations. Therefore, we needed a robust email solution that addresses our concerns about reliability, convenience, security, ease of use and accessibility. Compared to other email solutions, Google Apps has been ideal for us.” Similarly, Churchgate chose Google Apps in 2012 to fulfil its need for email storage space and for consistent, constant and reliable communication between the company and its customers. Prior to the change, Churchgate was using another solution but, as Head of IT for Churchgate, Manjunath Bhat, explained, “Storage was limited because of server space and, because it has always been vital that we store all of our emails given that any one of them could contain key information, we adopted Google Apps.” Bhat said he was grateful that Descasio Limited, a Nigerian-based Google Apps Authorized reseller encouraged them to make the switch. In Bhat’s words, “During the pilot stage of the move, Churchgate was delighted to discover that Google Apps provided exactly what we needed in terms of large mail storage space and handling communication among the different geographies we operate in.” By synchronizing their mailbox with employees’ mobile devices, they can stay up to speed with information and updates at every project stage, no matter where they are. They are also able to reduce the cost of IT infrastructure. The Head of IT disclosed that “we have achieved a reduction in operation cost and IT expenditure of over 35 percent since switching to Google Apps.”
Winners set to emerge in GE-USADF Off-Grid Energy challenge
Monday, November 11, 2013
and indigenous African companies who come up with innovative solutions that address the Energy challenges of African communities and businesses stand a chance of winning up to USD 100,000 in grants to support their initiatives. The judges will be looking out for off-grid energy solutions that have created innovative approaches to metering, payment, collections, or transmission. They will also look out for entries that deliver sustainable energy to underserved marginal populations without degrading the environment. The Off-Grid Energy challenge is the initiative of global infrastructure giants, General Electric (GE) and the United States Africa Development Agency (USADF). The initiative rides on the back of the Power Africa initiative announced by President Barack Obama during his recent visit to Africa. The Power Africa initiative seeks to drive growth in Africa by increasing access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable power and by helping to ensure responsible, transparent and effective management of energy resources on the continent. The President and CEO, GE Africa, Jay Ireland, says he is excited that the Off-Grid Energy challenge is generating increased awareness about the plight of communities that are either underserved by the national grid or are not connected at all. He said, “we have no doubt that great solutions will emerge from this initiative, which will ultimately provide some insight to how to tackle some of the off-grid energy challenges in Africa.” On her part the President and CEO of USADF, Shari Berenbach said the initiative will help leverage more marginalized and underserved communities into positions where they can engage in and benefit from inclusive economic growth. She said over the last 30 years, the USADF has championed initiatives that have contributed in catalyzing Africans out of poverty. “We are proud to be in partnership with GE on this initiative, which clearly resonates with everything that USADF stands for,” said Shari Berenbach. Winning entries are scheduled to be announced on
November 21 at a grand event in Lagos, Nigeria.
Group commends Airtel for role in enterprise development
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he Association of Private Educators in Nigeria (APEN) has commended service provider, Airtel Nigeria, for creating an array of robust and innovative telecommunications solutions to enhance and develop Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises across the country. Speaking recently during the 5th Annual Conference of the Association, the Chairman, Dr. Olufemi Ogunsanya, said Airtel is leading innovation in the Enterprise Business as it has consistently created a bouquet of value offerings to empower entrepreneurs and enable them succeed in their business operations. Specifically, Dr. Ogunsanya who is also the Managing Director of Oxbridge Tutorial Colleges commended Airtel for its Entreprise Packages including customized email solutions, website, Closed User Group (CUG), Cloud services and bespoke telecommunications platforms to enhance business performance. “I am impressed by the products and services introduced to us by Airtel. I am excited and want to commend Airtel for leading innovation in the telecommunications sector and for creating specific offerings to boost enterprises,” she said. With the theme “Leap, Achieve, Succeed,” the event was a gathering of top-brow private schools across Nigeria as it provided a platform for school owners, parents, education experts from other countries and dealers in educational materials to brainstorm on effective teaching, ways to improve education and services rendered by private schools. Unu Eke, Senior Manager, Small and Medium Enterprises (Sales) for Airtel Nigeria made a presentation on Airtel’s Enterprise solutions just as the conference also featured the exhibition of educational materials ranging from books, clothes, electronic teaching aids and other products.
FG tasks NITDA on local IT companies’ growth
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inners are set to emerge in Kenya and Nigeria in the GE-USADF Off-Grid Energy challenge which was recently announced in both countries. While entries have closed, the judging process which has started will culminate in the announcement of this year’s winners from both countries Over the next three years, not less than 20 individuals
By Kunle Azeez
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Ireland
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
he Federal Government has inaugurated a new board of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, tasking the agency to
Johnson
come up with strategies on how indigenous IT companies can grow better. The inauguration by Minister of Communication Technology, Omobola Johnson, which took place in Abuja was witnessed by key stakeholders in the industry. Speaking at the event, Johnson tasked the NITDA board to be proactive in driving the Information and Communication Technology policies a formulation and implementation in the country. She also expressed her ministry’s commitment to leveraging on the tools of ICT for the socio- economic development of the country and described the inauguration of the Board as a quantum leap in that direction. She urged the members of the board to work with NITDA and quickly identify how indigenous IT companies can grow, and come up with strategies on how to better achieve the objectives for which the agency was established. She decried the very low inclusion of women in ICTs noting that only one female member was on the board, which she said would be worked on by the government in future appointment in lien with the agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan- led administration, which, she said, pays premium on correcting gender imbalance. In his response, Chairman of the Board, Dr. Tosin Ajayi, reiterated the importance of ICT in global development, saying that “ICT is a tool that will completely change the world, adding that the ministry is the most important ministry in the country because, without a knowledge-based economy, we will be retrogressive.” Ajayi stated that “IT is the most important tool ever created by mankind and together with the able Management of NITDA; we will leave no stone unturned in exploiting the benefits of IT for the greater good of the country”. Acting Director General of NITDA, Dr. Ashiru Sani Daura, also assured the stakeholders of the agency’s full support in taking the IT industry to greater heights. BC
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Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
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First Bank set to take over ICB West Africa By Johnson Okanlawon
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BN Holdings has said that one of its subsidiaries, First Bank of Nigeria Limited is proposing 100 per cent equity interest in the West African banking assets of International Commercial Bank Financial Group Holdings in Ghana, Guinea, Gambia and Sierra Leone. In a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Friday, the company said the bank has received regulatory approvals for the transaction from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the regulators in the respective countries and hopes to conclude the transaction
soon. The Bank of Ghana had in September approved the acquisition, saying that the terms of the approval required the FBN to offload at least 40 per cent of the shares to Ghanaians through private placement or the Ghana Stock Exchange. It said that at least 25 per cent of the shares are expected to be off-loaded latest by December 31, 2014, while the balance should be off loaded not later than December 2016. The ICB is part of a group comprising a network of 12 banks spread through
Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. The bank commenced operation in Ghana in 1996 with a focus on providing financial services to Small and Medium Scale enterprises. Analysts said that the ICB’s acquisition by FBN is expected to give birth to one of the biggest SME- friendly banks in Ghana. The FBN was two years ago rated the most valuable Nigerian bank and in 2012 the Brand Finance Banking League Tables rated it in the top 500 most valuable banking brands worldwide. BC
Bisi Onasanya, First Bank MD
CBN urged to educate public on roles of microfinance banks
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he Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) has been enjoined to educate the general public about what micro finance banks are all about. Speaking with Business Courage, the Managing of FINATRUST Microfinance Bank, Deji Popoola noted that there are many people who are still with the thinking that micro finance bank is all about loan. “They come in and say they need loan, they would say that the bank is purposely established to give loan, but micro finance is not all about giving loan, it’s about providing affordable, easy, cheap banking services and means of financial services to customers, something that is encompassing,” he said.
According to him, the difference between micro finance and commercial banking is basically foreign exchange transaction, saying that the CBN has the responsibility to educate the general public that microfinance is not all about loan but that they are providing cheap affordable means of banking to the general public. Popoola, who said Popoola that the bank that began operation in 2009 has a turnover of over N4 billion
worth of loan to customers, explained that its profit after tax has been encouraging. On the quarterly report to the CBN, he said, “We are proud to say we are one of the few microfinance banks that have adopted and ensured adequate reporting of the CBN policy of micro finance banks. “It enables financial institution to know their true state of affairs at every point in time and
that has been something that we have been adopted.” He advised microfinance banks in the country to maintain trust with their customers, adding that banking is about trust and relationship is about trust. He said, “ Between the bank and the customers, it is about trust because if the customer did not trust me enough to leave the money with me in terms of deposit I also need to have a trust in order to lend it out so, basically it is about trust that is why banking is about trust. “We are doing relatively well in the market we have been able to tell people the way we think micro finance business should be done.” BC
valued at N749, 976.07 were traded in 3 deals compared with a total of 515 units valued at N588, 502.89 transacted the previous week in 6 deals.
SUMMARY OF PRICE CHANGES Thirty eight equities appreciated in prices during the week, the same as 38 equities of the preceding week. 43 equities depreciated in prices lower than 44 equities of the preceding week, while 116 equities remained unchanged higher than 115 equities of the preceding week. BC
The Stock Market last week
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turnover of 1.834 billion shares worth N22.961 billion in 23,840 deals were traded last week by investors on the floor of The Exchange in contrast to a total of 1.713 billion shares valued at N16.473 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 22,925 deals. The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.338 billion shares valued at N12.801 billion traded in 12,795 deals; thus contributing 72.93 and 55.75 percentages to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry followed with a turnover of 313.368 million shares worth N820.513 million in 1,948 deals, while the Consumer TOP 10 PRICE GAINERS: Company FORTE OIL TRANSCORP ETERNA PLC MANSARD INSURANCE PLC CONOIL PLC MRS OIL NIG NESTLE NIGERIA CUTIXPLC CADBURY NIG PLC LEARN AFRICA
Goods Industry came third with 38.266 million shares worth N3.755 billion in 3,777 deals. Trading in the top three equities namely Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, Wapic Insurance Plc and Zenith Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 737.807 million shares worth N5.010 billion in 3,369 deals, contributing 40.22 and 21.82 percentages to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. Also traded during the week were a total of 2,025 units of NewGold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) valued at N4.096 million executed in 2 deals compared with a total of 1,594 units valued at N3,866 million transacted last week in 6 deals. Similarly, 723 units of FGN bonds
Open Close Gain (N) 71.03 104.90 33.87 1.87 2.26 0.39 2.50 2.95 0.45 2.02 2.27 0.25 46.70 51.48 4.78 37.99 41.79 3.80 1128.76 1220.00 91.24 1.72 1.85 0.13 56.00 59.81 3.81 1.77 1.89 0.12
% Change 47.68 20.86 18.00 12.38 10.24 10.00 8.08 7.56 6.80 6.78
INDEX MOVEMENT The NSE All-Share Index gained by 0.28 percent to close on Friday at 37,870.87. Similarly, the market capitalization appreciated by 0.28 percent to close at N12.100 trillion. The NSE 30, NSE Consumer Goods, NSE Insurance, NSE Oil/Gas and NSE Lotus II appreciated by 0.17, 1.82, 2.68, 14.16 and 1.88 percentages respectively. However, NSE Banking and NSE Industrial Goods indices depreciated by 0.34 and 0.98 percentages respectively while NSE-ASeM closed flat.
TOP 10 PRICE LOSERS: Company INTL ENERGY INSURANCE CO PLC UTC NIG PLC COSTAIN (WA) PLC WEMA BANK PLC PORTLAND PAINTS & PRO NIG PLC PAINTS & COATINGS PLC EKOCORP PLC A.G LEVENTIS NIG PLC COURTEVILLE FIDSON
Open 0.67 0.67 1.06 1.30 5.00 2.20 4.11 1.65 0.63 2.10
Close 0.57 0.60 0.96 1.18 4.62 2.09 3.91 1.57 0.60 2.00
Loss (N) % Change -O.10 -14.93 -0.07 -10.45 -0.10 -9.43 -0.12 -9.23 -0.38 -7.60 -0.11 -5.00 -0.20 -4.87 -0.08 -4.85 -0.03 -4.76 -0.10 -4.76
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Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
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Behind d Wheels This page is open to sponsorship
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he Porsche Cayenne welcomes a 550-horsepower Turbo S variant into the fold for 2014. However, on the list of thoughts you’re likely to have behind the wheel of a Cayenne Turbo, “needs more power” ranks well behind. The world may not have needed a more powerful Cayenne, but Porsche’s high rider continues to be a beacon in the sea of luxury crossovers. In addition to its 550-hp V8, the Turbo S builds on the Turbo’s standard air suspension and electronically adjustable dampers (PASM in Porschespeak) by adding active antiroll technology (which Porsche calls Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control or PDCC) and side-to-side torque-vectoring with an electronically controlled rear differential lock (PTV Plus). Otherwise, the 2014 Porsche Cayenne is essentially unchanged from the previous year, and that’s just fine by us. Off-road ability is diminished relative to the original Cayenne, but this second-generation model is considerably lighter, so it provides a better real-world mix of agility and allweather traction. Its interior is a home run, too, ranking with the best in terms of materials quality, style and attention to detail. Torque and performance All-wheel drive is standard on every Cayenne, but there are two types: The Cayenne Diesel and Cayenne S Hybrid which feature a permanent AWD system with a self-locking cen-
ter differential, while the other models come with an active AWD system that offers variable torque distribution and multiple off-road modes. The base 2014 Porsche Cayenne is powered by a 3.6-liter V6 that produces 300 hp and 295 pound-feet of torque. Porsche estimates this engine will bring the Cayenne from zero to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds with the automatic (7.1 with the manual), a rather leisurely performance for a luxury SUV. The Cayenne Diesel features a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 diesel that produces 240 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque. Porsche says the diesel Cayenne will hit 60 mph in 7.2 seconds. The Cayenne S represents a substantial upgrade, with its 4.8-liter V8 good for 400 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. Porsche estimates the S will hit 60 mph in 5.6 seconds. The Cayenne S Hybrid features a supercharged 3.0-liter 0-liter V6 attached to a 34kW electric ectric motor. Combined, this hybrid powertrain produces 380 0 hp n perand 427 lb-ft of torque. in enne formance testing, the Cayenne S Hybrid hit 60 mph in 6.1 seconds. s The Cayenne GTS gets an upgraded version of the S engine good for 420 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque. Its 0-60 time is pegged by Porsche at 5.4 seconds. The Cayenne Turbo gets a turbocharged 4.8-liter V8 good for 500 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. ue. In performance testing, the Tur-
bo hit 60 mph in 4.6 seconds. The range-topping Turbo S squeezes 550 hp and 553 lbft of torque out of that turbocharged V8. Porsche estimates a 0-60 sprint of 4.3 seconds. Regardless of trim, each Cayenne with the eight-speed automatic is rated to tow up to 7,716 pounds when properly equipped. Safety The 2014 Porsche Cayenne comes standard with antilock brakes with enhanced brake assist and readiness, stability and traction control, a driver knee airbag, front side airbags and full-length side curtain airbags. Rear side airbags, parking sensors, a rearview camera and a blind-spot warning system are available. In brake testing, the Cayenne Turbo came to a stop from 60 mph in 108 feet, while the y pp Cayenne Diesel stopped in 109 feet. These are exception-
al braking distances for an SUV. With its regenerative braking system, the Cayenne S Hybrid fared worse with a stop of 120 feet, but that’s still acceptable in this class. Interior Design and Special Features Inside the Cayenne features the sophisticated cockpit-style layout for which contemporary Porsches are known. The center console, adorned with upward of 50 buttons, rises to meet the dash and its large touch-screen display, creating an enveloping driver’s environment. With so many buttons, it can be difficult to find what you’re looking for at first, but the touchscreen menus are straightforward and the system is quick to process inputs. Overall, it’s a solid system and not any more difficult to use than the dial/knob-based sysy SUVs. tems in rival luxury Like other Porsches, t h e
Cayenne features high-end interior materials and excellent build quality. Handsome wood inserts, alloy trim and leather upholstery create a luxurious ambience, and you can add even more leather and wood if you like, not to mention carbon fiber and/or faux suede embellishments. Driving Impressions Few luxury SUVs come with such a wide variety of powertrain options. The base V6 delivers merely average acceleration, but the turbodiesel V6 adds a satisfying slab of lowend torque, while the Cayenne S Hybrid is downright quick off the line. Still, the Cayenne feels best with one of the four available V8s under the hood. They’re all based on the same 4.8-liter configuration, but their characters differ dramatically -- the S version is relatively y smooth and q quiet, while the GTS channels Porsche’s racing heritage. The two Turbo plumb crazy. variants are just plum Even on less performanceper oriented Porsche Cayennes, impressive by handling is impre standards. The crossover stand deserves spesteering dese cial c ci al praise for its precis si sion ion o and s sporty feel. addition, the In add Cayenne mainCayen tains a high level of composure when posu you’re going you’r around turns aroun at s speed (all the mo more so with PDCC ab aboard) and
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Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
A19 35
Behind d Wheels This page is open to sponsorship
Autocare Using a battery with a bigger amplifier
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can generally be driven like a sport sedan whenever the mood strikes. The rear-biased AWD system helps out here, as it delivers 60 percent of engine power to the rear wheels under normal conditions. In spite of the priority given to athletic handling, the ride is remarkably supple, making the 2014 Porsche Cayenne an excellent candidate for long-distance trips and even light-duty off-roading. One of our few complaints about Porsche’s SUV is the Cayenne S Hybrid’s regenerative braking system, which although effective, makes it difficult to bring the vehicle to a stop smoothly in city traffic. Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options The 2014 Porsche Cayenne is a five-passenger midsize SUV available in seven models: base Cayenne, Cayenne Diesel, Cayenne S, Cayenne S Hybrid, Cayenne GTS, Cayenne Turbo and Cayenne Turbo S. They mostly differ by engine. The base Cayenne, Cayenne Diesel, Cayenne S and Cayenne S Hybrid come standard with 18-inch wheels, automatic headlights, LED running lights, front and rear fog lamps, rear privacy glass, a power liftgate (with separately opening window), automatic wipers, heated washer nozzles, heated mirrors, cruise control, dual-zone automatic climate control, eightway power front seats with optional driver memory functions, leather upholstery, a 40/20/40 split-folding rear seat that slides and reclines. It is also equipped with Bluetooth phone connectivity and a 10-speaker sound system with a 7-inch touchscreen display (an 11-speaker system
f your old battery has reached the end of the road and needs to be replaced, or if you think you need a battery with a bigger amplifier capacity for easier hot weather starting or to handle added electrical accessories, then there’s no reason why you have to install a battery that’s the same size as your old one. The word “size” may be a bit confusing because what we’re really talking about is the battery’s amp or power rating, not the physical dimensions of its case. A battery with a bigger case is not necessarily a more powerful battery. Battery manufacturers can cram a lot of amps into a relatively small box by varying the design of the cell plates and grids. So, two batteries with identical exterior dimensions may have significantly different power ratings. Batteries come in many different sizes and configurations, which are referred to as “group” sizes because the vehicle manufacturers can’t get together and standardize anything. So when you’re choosing a battery, you have to consider three things: (1) the group size (height, width, length and post configuration), (2) whether your battery has top or side posts, and (3) how many amps will be needed for reliable hot weather starting as we have in Nigeria and vehicle operation.
with iPod/USB connectivity is available at extra cost). The S Hybrid also comes with an enhanced speed-sensitive power steering system that’s optional on other Cayennes. The Cayenne GTS adds Porsche’s active air suspension system with adjustable ride height (known as PASM), a lower stance overall, 20-inch wheels, a different final-drive ratio, upgraded brakes, adaptive bi-xenon headlights, the Turbo’s more aggressive front fascia, the SportDesign exterior body kit package, GTS-specific sport front seats, a sport steering wheel and extensive use of faux suede in the interior. Besides its turbocharged engine, the Cayenne Turbo includes 19-inch wheels, PASM, adaptive bi-xenon headlights, 14-way adjustable front sport seats with driver and passenger memory functions, a power-adjustable steering column, heated front and rear seats, a heated power-adjustable steering wheel, a faux-suede headliner, a navigation system and a 14-speaker Bose surroundsound audio system with satellite radio. You can get 10-way adjustable front seats with less aggressive lateral bolstering as a no-cost option. The Turbo S adds even more power, 21-inch “911 Turbo II”
wheels, high-gloss black exterior trim, uniquely styled exhaust tips, the Sport Chrono package with a dash-mounted timer and exclusive two-tone interior designs. It also features standard handling upgrades in the form of an active antiroll suspension system (PDCC) and a side-toside torque-vectoring rear differential (PTV Plus). Interior comfort and design items include four-zone automatic climate control, power rear side sunshades, ventilated front seats and a seemingly endless array of customizable interior bits. Available electronics include a rearview camera with parking sensors, keyless ignition/ entry, adaptive cruise control, a blind-spot warning system, voice-command functionality, a dual-screen rear seat entertainment system and a 16-speaker Burmester surround-sound audio system. Of course, you might also want to take a look at rivals such as the BMW X5 and X5 M, Mercedes-Benz M-Class and the Land Rover Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, which have strong engines and elegant interiors of their own. But if you’re looking for the most dynamic vehicle in this segment, the 2014 Porsche Cayenne is a fine choice. BC
Group Sizes Because there are 57 different group sizes, many aftermarket replacement battery suppliers consolidate group sizes to simplify inventory requirements. So some replacement batteries may not fit exactly the same as the original. The battery may be slightly shorter, taller, narrower or wider than the original. But as long as it fits the battery tray and there are no interference problems, it should work fine. Some replacement batteries come with both side and top posts to further consolidate applications. Some also have folding handles to make handling and installation easier. Battery Ratings Though many replacement batteries are marketed by the number of “months” of warranty coverage provided (36, 48, 60, etc.), what’s more important in terms of performance is the battery’s power rating which is usually specified in “Cold Cranking Amps” (CCA) rating. The CCA rating tells you how many amps the battery can deliver at 0 degree F. for 30 seconds and still maintain a minimum voltage of 1.2v. per cell. In the past, the rule of thumb was to always buy a battery with a rating of at least one CCA per cubic inch of engine displacement. But twice that is probably a better recommendation for reliable cold weather starting. At the very least, you should buy a replacement battery with the same or better CCA rating as your old battery or one that meets the vehicle manufacturer’s requirements. For most small four-cylinder engines, this would be a 450 CCA or larger battery, for a six cylinder application, a 550 CCA or larger battery, and for a V8 a 650 CCA or larger battery. Bigger is usually better. Extra battery capacity is recommended if your vehicle has a lot of electrical accessories such as air conditioning, power windows, seats, electric rear defogger, etc. BC
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Business Courage
JP Morgan recommends UBA shares over 45% upside potential
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nvestors that take position on UBA shares now have the chance of making as much as 45 per cent return over the next 12 months writes US based Investment banking giant, JP Morgan, in its latest analysis of Nigerian banks. “UBA offers an attractive 45 per cent upside potential over 12 months, among the highest in CEEMEA banks” according to the JP Morgan report released October 2013. CEEMEA is an acronym for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa . It is used by investment analysts to refer to reports that cover economies or businesses in this region. “We think UBA’s valuation, despite a strong rally since the beginning of the year, offers an opportunity to buy into probably the deepest valuation discount in CEEMEA banks at current levels” states the JP Morgan Report while explaining the rational for recommending UBA’s shares. The report also notes that investors may be missing out on the opportunity presented by UBA shares despite improving fundamentals of the bank. “However, consensus is catching up fast – UBA has the best buy, or hold, or sell ratio on Bloomberg consensus.” The JP Morgan report also explains that UBA benefits from significant balance sheet liquidity noting that the bank’s loan to deposit ratio of 37 per cent as at half year 2013 was the lowest among CEEMEA banks covered by the investment bank. JP Morgan however forecast that UBA’s loan to deposit ratio is “conservatively expected to rise gradually to 45 per cent by 2016 year end. JP Morgan notes that UBA’s loan to deposit ratio is “reflected in UBA’s market shares where it is second in Nigeria in deposits with 13 per cent market share, but has lowest lending market share at 8 per cent among the four biggest banks JP Morgan tracks in Nigeria . UBA pan-African presence is also seen as strength in the bank’s operations. JP Morgan notes that UBA has the highest number of subsidiaries in Africa among the top-tier Nigerian banks with positions in 18 African countries outside Nigeria and potential to drive future revenues on rising intra-Africa trade. “This pan-African presence and valuation discount increases the attractiveness of UBA as a potential take-out story, in our view, given our understanding on larger regional banks (e.g. South African banks) for pan-African franchises such as UBA’s.” Notably, “UBA has the lowest mix of Commission on Turnover (COT) growth in its overall fee income mix
Monday, November 11, 2013
Ending environmental pollution in the Niger Delta
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Oduoza
when compared with peers. Excluding fee income, we see average Net Interest Income (NII) growth of 15 per cent every year from 2013 to 2016” according to the JP Morgan report. “UBA’s valuation is an opportunity to buy into what may be the most attractive risk-reward in CEEMEA banks; for a 33 per cent valuation discount versus peers, we estimate UBA offers 23 per cent 2014 year end premium on Return on Equity (ROE) and significantly higher dividend yield of 10 per cent by 2014 year end” JP Morgan expects that the Nigerian government’s reforms agenda in oil and gas, power, agriculture and infrastructure sectors will drive the future banking growth, the sector which UBA has recently been highly bullish on with new loan growth targeted at these sectors. UBA only last week released its third quarter 2013 financial results which shows a significant 26.7 per cent growth in loan portfolio, as the bank positions to take advantage of emerging opportunities in the power and oil and gas sectors of the Nigerian economy. The nine-month results put the bank’s new loan portfolio position at N870.4 billion as at September 2013, representing a 26.7 per cent increase on N687.4 billion loan portfolio for full year of 2012. “We increased our exposure to the power, upstream oil and gas and telecoms sectors of the economy” explained Phillips Oduoza, Group Managing Director. The bank also announced gross earnings of N188 billion, representing 12.5% increase from N167.1 billion in the same period of last year while interest income rose 18.8 per cent to N133 billion from N112 billion. There was a significant 28.5 per cent increase in total comprehensive income for the period to N48.74billion, compared with N37.92billion in the same period of last year while the bank closed the first nine months of the year with a profit of N43.4billion. BC
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
t must have been a rude shock for executives at oil giant Shell last Thursday, when Amnesty International, the controversial but nonetheless respected societal watchdog, released its scathing report on the oil pollution in the Niger Delta region. Essentially, a study commissioned by AI and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development, CEHRD had established that Shell, which accounts for roughly half of the nation’s oil output routinely manipulated report of oil spill investigations in order to pin the blame on the activities of oil thieves rather than the most equipment failure, which has been the real cause in many cases. Indeed, the report, prepared by the independent US oil pipeline specialist Accufacts which assessed a number of oil spill investigation reports, as well as responses from oil companies operating in the Niger Delta and National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA cited cases where Shell deliberately provided wrong information on the “causes of oil spills, the volume of oil spill, or the extent and adequacy of clean up measures. According to the report, Shell has claimed most of the oil spilt in the Niger Delta is due to oil theft and sabotage of its pipelines but evidence shows corrosion, equipment failure and under reporting are also causes. “Shell is being disingenuous about the devastation caused by its Niger Delta operations. This new evidence shows that Shell’s claims about the oil spills cannot be trusted,” said Audrey Gaughran, Director of Global Issues at Amnesty International. For example in the 2008 Bodo oil spill, the investigators found from video evidence that the actual spill volume was 60 times higher that the 1,640 barrels Shell reported. Needless to say that the Accufacts report only backs up the United Nations Environmental Agency’s report on the same subject in Ogoniland where Shell used to operate before the crisis that forced it out and indeed what is widely known by those living in the Niger Delta region and have borne the brunt of the negative sides of oil exploration activities for the past 50 years or so. However, the question that arises really is; who is to blame for the current situation? The international oil companies that account for 90 per cent of the nation’s export earning are indeed critical factor in the nation’s economy and the tendency has been that the government has treated them with kids gloves, which is why they get away with all sorts. Even where agencies of government have been set up to monitor oil spills and act to obtain compensation for impacted residents, such agencies are effectively toothless bulldogs with weak legislative backing in term of sanctions for erring firms and even more worrisome, are tech-
nically deficient and appear to be serving “political agendas”, have to rely on the resources of the oil firms they are supposed to regulate to perform their duties. It is a classic case of the tail wagging the dog. While one will admit that the activities of oil thieves and pipeline saboteurs have become increasingly worrisome and have impacted badly on oil revenues, it has also become a veritable platform for the oil firms to hide their huge inadequacies. One recalls the robust response from the Obama administration after British Petroleum’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that forced the company to set aside $40 billion for compensation and litigation claims and led to the exit of the managing director at that time. Here, impacted oil spill victims get a pittance if at all, and the only significant court ruling against Shell concerning oil pollution that gave it cause for concern given the potential to open a floodgate of huge claims came from a British court recently. While Shell has expectedly rejected the report and restated its commitment to responsible behaviour, it is the duty of the government to emplace the necessary structures through which it will be able to hold IOCs to the same standards with which they operate in their home countries. The impact of the devastation of the delicate Niger Delta ecosystem; pollution of the food chain, water sources and other negative effects on human health and quality of life arising from oil spills cannot be quantified, Indeed, UNEP said that it will require $1 billion to clean up Ogoniland alone and it is obvious that we cannot continue to live this way. It is comforting a bit that the NOSDRA Act is being looked into to give it more teeth but we need a comprehensive independent audit of the pipeline systems and other facilities to determine their state and force the IOCs to replace defective components. Also the responsibility of regulating environmental issues in the oil and other sectors must reside with the Ministry of Environment which must be given the necessary material and human resources to work. The oil industry cannot regulate itself; it is regulated largely by fear of dire consequences for its errors. The Petroleum Industry Bill must address these issues. Clearly, there is a need to set up an incentive structure for the thousands of youth engaged in refining of stolen crude, which contributes spills and pollution. It has been suggested that such youths be encouraged to plant trees instead and claim carbon credit to be funded by the oil firms. It may be long shot but sensitization to the benefits of such a scheme will drive stakeholder buy in and save the oil firms the headache of dealing with the problem. BC
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
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CWG makes history as first firm to list on X-Gen
C
omputer Warehouse Group Plc (CWG) is set to make history on November 15, as the first company to be listed on X-Gen, the new trading engine being unveiled by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). X-Gen is the same engine that is used on the NASDAQ. The listing of the shares is expected to boost the market capitalisation of the NSE with about N14 billion, while CWG would be the highest capitalised security in the ICT sector of the exchange. The NASDAQ and the NYSE have also recently witnessed a boom in Technology listings with Facebook, Google and LinkedIn. Twitter has also recently revealed her listing plans. This seems to be the golden age of technology companies, as the stocks have done outstandingly well post listing. For instance, Google’s shares have gained a whopping 773 per cent post listing while LinkedIn and Facebook have gained 160 per cent and 29 per cent respectively (as at October 04, 2013). Twitter seems set to follow in this trend with quarterly revenues up 105 per cent to $139m from a year ago. Here in Nigeria, CWG’s story has not been different. With seed capital of about N160,000 in 1992, CWG received a valuation of N6.97billion in 2009 from Vetiva Capital for her private placement. The issue was oversubscribed; with Private Equity firm Aureos Capital LLC taking up a major chunk, defying the gloomy atmosphere of the global economic downturn at that time. The valuation resulted in an increase in invested capital of 4,400 times, meaning that an initial investment of $1000 in 1992 would have yielded a whopping $4.4m within just 20 years. This achievement put the company in the bracket of the one of the best global value creators. CWG seems to be on track to repeat this feat on her listing, at a target share price of N5.48, almost doubling her private placement price of N3.40 in 2009 albeit in a very difficult environment characterised by significant slowdown in global economic growth. It is therefore not surprising that that the Ministers of Finance, Trade and Investment and Communication Technology recently joined hands with the CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange to aggressively canvas for more Technology listing towards achieving the goal of the NSE to reach a market capitalisation of $1trillion within a
Okere
decade. Austin Okere, CWG’s founder and chief executive officer, confidently declares that “our best is yet to come”, amidst comment from sceptics that all previous Technology listings on the Nigerian Stock Exchange have lost significant value. He said “the value of the stock is affected by performance and perception of potential. The stock also reacts negatively to swings in revenue, preferring predictability in forecasts”. “CWG has over the years built a large proportion of her turnover into annuities from deploying her own Intellectual Property (IP), to enable financial inclusiveness in Mobility, such as the recently announced Yello Diamond Account, which will bring banking services to over 55 million Mobile phone subscribers, and the MTN XaaS product, which will provide Financial services in the cloud for the over 1000 Microfinance banks and their customers on a pay as you use basis”. He added. The product rides on cloud computing to bring competitive advantage to relatively smaller banks which would otherwise have been disenfranchised. According to him about 12 of the large banks in Nigeria run on the Finacle Core banking Application, which CWG jointly promotes in West Africa with the application developers, Infosys of India, processing over 60% of all financial transaction in Nigeria and used by the likes of FBN, UBA, Stanbic IBTC, Fidelity and FCMB amongst others. CWG has taken advantage of her early mover status in the surge in ICT outsourcing demands to provide the service for the largest telecommunication company and the largest Downstream Company in the Oil & Gas sector in Nigeria. This further assures annuity income that smoothes revenue swings and brings predictability to income. According to Austin, about 80% of the company’s revenue
is from repeat business, and new customers are more likely to be from referrals. CWG is a strong player in the ATM business, providing and supporting over 30% of the country’s ATM installed base in conjunction with Wincor-Nixdorf of Germany, global leaders in the field. Being a skills intensive business, CWG has set up an Academy to train brilliant youngsters to boost her talent pool. Currently, the CWG Academy trains over 200 graduates per year in Nigeria and Ghana, and is set to start in Uganda by mid next year. The company currently employs over 650 people, of which about 80% are engineers, with extra certifications in Cisco, Oracle, IBM and other Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) platforms. The Company is ISO 9001:2008 certified across all her operations. The stellar performance of the Company has been rewarded by her peers and regulators with such awards as Top 50 Technology Business Companies in West Africa, ICT Solutions Provider of the year, ICT Company of the year, and the CEO as ICT Personality of the year 2012. CWG has garnered a track record over the years as one of the most admired companies in Africa. In 2009, the Columbia Business School in New York published a case study on the Company and appointed Okere as an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR), while in 2012, the Legatum Entrepreneurial Center of MIT Boston, published a video and written case study on the Computer Warehouse Group as well. For the second year in a row, CWG was awarded the Most Outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Technology Company of the year in 2012. The company has continued to support her host communities by ingraining social responsibility as an integral part of her business model, with focus on the education sector. In the quest to be the leading Pan African ICT Company, CWG has actualised her geographical expansion plans with operation in four African countries; Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon, and virtual operations in 17 other countries. The Company has 18 offices and support centres across Nigeria, including Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt. The company seems well set to achieve her vision of being the number one IT Utility enabler in Africa by 2015. BC
Market Indicators for Week Ended 08-11-13 All-Share Index 37,870.87 points Market Capitalization N12,100,140,166,086.06 Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY
OPENING PRICE
FORTE OIL
95.16
CLOSING PRICE 104.90
CHANGE 10.24
TRANSCORP
2.06
2.26
9.71
AIICO
0.78
0.83
6.41
AFRIPRUD
1.90
1.99
4.74
NAHCO
6.00
6.28
4.67
LOSERS COMPANY
OPENING PRICE
CLOSING PRICE
CHANGE
DNMEYER
1.80
1.71
COSTAIN
1.01
0.96
-5.00 -4.95
PORTPAINT
4.86
4.62
-4.94
WEMABANK
1.24
1.18
-4.84
TRANSEXPR
1.38
1.32
-4.35
Inter-Bank Rates TENOR
RATE%(PREV) 29-Oct-2013
RATE%(CURR) 06-Nov-2013
CALL
10.7500 - 10.7500%
12.0000 - 12.0000%
OBB
10.0000 - 11.9000%
10.7500 - 13.0000%
Primary Market Auction TENOR
AMOUNT (N’mn)
91-Days
RATE (%)
DATE
32888.9
10.8
23-Oct-13
182-Days
30000
11.58
23-Oct-13
364-Days
31385.9
11.7
23-Oct-13
Open Market Operation TENOR
AMOUNT (N’mn)
182-Days
100000
91-Days 182-Days
RATE (%) 12.75
DATE 05-Sept-13
22970.71
10.9
05-Sept-13
40000
12.34
05-Sept-13
Wholesale Dutch Auction System AMOUNT OFFERED
MARKET DEMAND
AMOUNT SOLD
DATE
$350m
$343,103,557.23m
$343,103,557.23m
04-Nov-13
$400m
$399,901,670.19m
$399,901,670.19m
30-Oct-13
A22 38
Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Mobil Oil Nigeria: Profit margin dropping on borrowing cost By Johnson Okanlawon
M
obil Oil Nigeria is a firm in the petroleum downstream industry. The company faces industry-wide challenges inclusive of high costs and low margins and a decreasing level of operating profitability on the back of increasing dependence on short and long-term borrowings. The company closed its 2012 operations with an unprecedented drop in after tax profit. It however used income from other non-core businesses to dress up the final net profit figure. The company’s after tax profit dropped by 29.5 per cent to N2.88 billion, the lowest after tax profit figure in three years. The company’s after tax profit figure had come to a peak of N4.08 billion in 2011. This was however deflated by other comprehensive income, which was a negative figure of N597 million, resulting in a net profit figure of N3.48 billion. In 2012, other comprehensive income changed from negative to a positive figure of N716 million. It therefore lifted after tax profit to N3.59 billion, slightly above the net profit figure recorded in 2011. Background Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc (MON) is one of the two petroleum products marketing firms where foreign investors have controlling interest. The second company is Total Nigeria Plc. However, unlike Total Nigeria, Mobil has a Nigerian as Chairman/Managing Director. He is Adetunji Oyebanji. Although this could be said to be a sign of confidence the foreign investors have in the ability of Nigerians to run the firm, the combination of Chairman/Managing Director by one individual is not in consonance with the good corporate governance requirement that stipulates the separation of the two positions. The company was incorporated as a private limited liability company in 1951 and converted to a public limited liability company in 1978. The company got listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mobil Oil Corporation of the United States of America, which controls 60 per cent
Oyebanji
equity stake. The company has over 200 retail outlets spread across the 36 states of Nigeria and owns three plants located in Apapa, Lagos State, that manufacture lubes, petroleum jelly, and insecticide. Apart from Oyebanji, who is the chairman of the board and managing director, other directors include: Alhaji Abba Kyari, Henry Obih, Alastair MacNaughton, John Bell and Mayen Adetiba. Strategy MRS Oil Nigeria Plc, a company with the main business of manufacture and marketing of petroleum products has about 172 active company owned and more than 215 third party owned retail outlets. The company owns the following strategic assets namely 1. 38,513 barrels base oil storage, a lube blending plant capable of producing 186,000 barrels per year, a 22,500 barrels per year grease plant, 4. 5,100 barrels of additive storage and a modern Avjet facility plus a yet to be completed aviation storage facility, including other warehouses
across the entire country. Profitability With reversal of positive working of N1.71 billion to N646 million in 2012, the proportion of working capital to total sales declined from 2.8 per cent to -0.8 per cent. Debtors/creditors ratio stood at 62.1 per cent in 2012 as against 87.4 per cent in 2011. The company’s turnover rose by 30.1 per cent to a new peak of N80.8 billion in 2012. This is a major acceleration from a moderate growth of 6.4 per cent in the preceding year and the strongest revenue growth in several years. Until last year, when the company raised sales revenue to a new peak, turnover had remained below the 2008 peak of N66.74 billion. Its inability to grow sales revenue seems to be an industry wide problem among petroleum marketing companies. The accelerated growth in sales revenue reported by Mobil in 2012 was attained at a significantly increased cost of products. Cost of sales grew well ahead of sales revenue at about 40 per cent to N72.59 billion. The cost per naira of
sales therefore rose during the year from 83.7 kobo in 2011 to 90 kobo in 2012. The rise in cost of sales caused a drop of 19 per cent in the gross profit figure, which came to N8.21 billion in 2012. The drop was partly countered by an increase of 11 per cent in other income, which amounted to N2.81 billion in the year. There was also a slight moderation of selling and distribution expenses, which increased by 4.1 per cent compared to the 30.1 per cent growth in sales revenue. Selling and distribution expenses claimed a reduced proportion of sales revenue in 2012 at 6.1 per cent compared to 7.9 per cent in the preceding year. This means that selling and distribution cost per naira of sales revenue declined in 2012. There was also a moderation of administrative expenses, which grew by 7.3 per cent to about N1.7 billion in the year. The proportion of sales revenue claimed by administrative cost also declined during the review period. The cost moderation in the observed areas was however unable to fully compensate for the high rise in cost of sales. Consequently, operating profit of the company fell by 29.4 per cent at the end of 2012. Further pressure on revenue also came from interest charges, which rose by 80.1 per cent to N299 million. The net effect of the revenue and cost developments in the year was a decline in net profit margin from 5.6 per cent in 2011 to 4.4 per cent in 2012. Mobil used to show the highest profit margin among petroleum marketers and now its margins have also come under pressure from rising cost. The company’s full year position is nevertheless a major improvement from the third quarter position when the company reported a profit margin of 2.7 per cent. Liquidity Major developments in the company’s balance sheet during the year include a 30 per cent drop in trade and other receivables, which stood at N5.74 billion at the end of the year. There was 70.2 per cent
advancement in prepayments and 7.7 per cent decline in inventories. There was a slight decline of 1.6 per cent in trade payables during the year. The company’s cash flow position came under pressure as net cash generated from operating activities dropped by 28.1 per cent to N4.97 billion. Increase in investing activities claimed much of the net cash flow from operating activities and the company had to embark on new bank borrowings during the year. A new long-term borrowing of N612 million was contracted in the year and bank overdraft was raised from only N21 million in 2011 to more than N429 million in 2012. Outlook The operating outlook for the company this year indicates that margins are likely to remain tight and high cost of sales could put further pressures on cash flow. There might be a resort to increased bank borrowings, which could reinforce the pressure on margins through higher interest charges. In the event that sales revenue fails to grow reasonably, a further drop in profit from the core business may not be ruled out. In the face of these challenges that affected financial performance, the company’s Chairman, Adetunji Oyebanji maintained that the company will continue to lead the industry in safe work practices and operating control. He said, “Our control environment remained robust with continued strong results in all internal audits and unit internal assessments completed in 2012. Our efforts did not go unnoticed. In November 2012, and for the second year running, the company won the Pearl Award for the best downstream petroleum marketer in Nigeria for 2011. “As we continue to plan for the challenges ahead, the directors recognise the need to constantly focus on shareholder returns that are competitive and of long-term value. We are therefore pleased to declare a dividend of N5 and this represents an increase of 20 per cent over last year and is consistent with our vision of delivering robust returns to our shareholders.” BC
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Business Courage
Monday, November 11, 2013
A23 39
STOCKWATCH Stock Exchange weekly equities summary as at Friday, Nov 08, 2013 SECURITY
PRICE (=N=)
AGRICULTURE/AGRO-ALLIED Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 0.50 OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 43.00 PRESCO PLC 38.00 Fishing/Hunting/Trapping ELLAH LAKES PLC. 4.26 Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 3.67 CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. 1.57 CHELLARAMS PLC. 4.15 JOHN HOLT PLC. 1.29 TRANSNATIONAL CORP. OF NIG.PLC 2.26 U A C N PLC. 66.50 CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Construction ARBICO PLC. NT CAPPA & D’ALBERTO PLC. NT Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. 0.96 G CAPPA PLC NT Non--Building/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 75.00 ROADS NIG PLC. NT Real Estate Development PINNACLE POINT GROUP PLC NT UACN PROPERTY DEV 18.90 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC NT UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INV NT UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST NT CONSUMER GOODS Automobiles/Auto Parts DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 0.50 Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. NT GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. NT GUINNESS NIG PLC 238.55 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 22.03 JOS INT. BREWERIES PLC. 3.50 NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 175.50 PREMIER BREWERIES PLC NT Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. 68.00 Food Products BIG TREAT PLC NT DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC 10.18 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 10.90 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 84.00 HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 2.90 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC 0.50 N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. 24.37 NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC 11.86 P S MANDRIDES & CO PLC. NT U T C NIG. PLC. 0.60 UNION DICON SALT PLC. NT Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 59.81 NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 1,220.00 Household Durables BETA GLASS CO PLC. NT NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. NT VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 4.40 VONO PRODUCTS PLC. NT Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 38.00 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 59.00 Textiles/Apparel UNITED NIG. TEXTILES PLC. NT FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. 9.27 DIAMOND BANK PLC 7.10 ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INC. 13.90 FIDELITY BANK PLC 2.58 FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC. NT GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 25.95 SKYE BANK PLC 4.05 STERLING BANK PLC. 2.28 U B A PLC 7.66 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 10.15 UNITY BANK PLC 0.52 WEMA BANK PLC. 1.18 ZENITH BANK PLC 21.29 Insurance Carriers, Brokers & Services AFRICAN ALLIANCE INS. COY. PLC NT AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 0.83 CONFIDENCE INSURANCE PLC NT CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INS. PLC 0.50 CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 1.13 CORNERSTONE INS. COY. PLC. 0.50 CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INS. PLC 1.73 EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. NT GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC NT GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC NT GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. NT INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INS. PLC NT INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INS. PLC 0.57 INVESTMENT AND ALLIED ARN. NT LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 0.50 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. NT LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC NT MANSARD INSURANCE PLC 2.27 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. 0.50 N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. 0.62 NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. 0.50 OASIS INSURANCE PLC NT PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. 0.53 REGENCY ALLIANCE INS. COY PLC NT SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 0.50 STACO INSURANCE PLC NT STANDARD TRUSTASSURANCE PLC NT STANDARD ALLIANCE INS. PLC. NT UNIC INSURANCE PLC. NT UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC 0.50 UNIVERSAL INS. COMPANY PLC 0.50 WAPIC INSURANCE PLC 0.88 Micro Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NT NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 0.84 Mortgage Carriers, Brokers &Services ABBEY BUILDING SOCIETY PLC 1.49 ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 0.50 RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 0.50 UNION HOMES SAVINGS&LOANS PLC 0.5 Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS 1.99 CRUSADER ( NIG) PLC. NT DEAP CAPITAL MGT & TRUST PLC NT FBN HOLDINGS PLC 16.12 FCMB GROUP PLC 3.55 NIG SEW. MACH. MAN. CO. PLC. NT NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND NT ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 0.54 STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC 19.40 UBA CAPITAL PLC 1.43 HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers EKOCORP PLC. NT UNION DIAGNOSTIC &CLINICAL PLC NT Medical Supplies MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. NT Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 3.22
NOTE NT=Not Traded on 08-11-13
QUANTITY
52 WK HIGH
52 WK LOW
SHARES OUTSTANDING
EPS
MOV. (%)
Previous
10,000 559,343 431,707
0.64 107.81 41.14
0.50 20.92 8.24
2,200,000,000 476,955,000 1,000,000,000
0.10 2.29 7.55
N/A -2.27 5.56
0.50 44.00 36.00
70
4.26
4.26
60,000,000
0.00
N/A
NT
310,824
7.18
0.68
1,199,549,736
0.07
-1.87
3.74
19,409 100 6,066 98,613,323 414,109
2.08 6.43 5.89 2.26 71.10
0.71 4.15 1.07 0.50 28.00
2,191,895,983 963,900,300 389,151,408 821,666,666 1,600,720,323
0.11 0.16 1.09 0.09 4.38
#VALUE! N/A N/A N/A N/A
NT 4.15 1.29 1.87 66.00
20 3
26.00 95.49
5.05 95.49
148,500,000 196,876,000
0.33 4.50
N/A N/A
NT 95.49
1,459,889 3
2.66 14.46
0.72 14.46
920,573,765 125,000,000
0.00 0.00
N/A N/A
1.06 NT
29,327 133
83.75 10.60
19.86 6.61
1,200,000,000 20,000,000
6.74 1.69
0.00 N/A
75.00 NT
NT 790,344
7.28 19.25
7.28 8.82
1,375,000,000
0.00 2.20
N/A 4.48
NT 18.09
1,000 NT 1,820
100.00 50.00 10.50
100.00 50.00 0.00
20,000,000 250,019,781
5.82 0.19
N/A N/A
NT NT NT
5,000
0.50
0.50
4,772,528,415
0.00
N/A
0.50
50,000 10,082 366,109 242,348 143,000 620,019 3,000
19.48 0.68 297.41 28.67 9.09 179.40 0.97
3.13 0.68 209.10 5.34 0.81 91.10 0.93
900,000,000 272,160,000 1,474,925,519 2,112,914,681 562,000,000 7,562,562,340 126,000,000
0.00 0.00 8.66 0.63 0.00 5.03 0.00
N/A N/A -3.24 N/A N/A -0.06 N/A
NT NT 246.53 22.00 3.60 175.60 NT
6,882
75.90
38.12
640,590,362
4.46
N/A
68.00
NT 157,820 1,016,450 210,848 456,643 170 2,534 404,326 1,700 50,539 NT
0.50 10.68 12.85 109.24 3.74 1.21 29.70 14.00 5.94 0.93 4.22
0.50 3.85 3.26 50.00 1.83 0.50 17.51 3.65 5.35 0.50 4.22
2,000,000,000 5,000,000,000 12,000,000,000 1,879,210,666 7,930,197,658 3,722,493,620 178,200,000 40,000,000 1,233,375,004 360,000,000
0.00 0.00 0.81 3.38 0.34 0.00 0.00 1.05 0.08 1.13 0.00
N/A 4.84 -0.82 -1.18 -2.68 N/A N/A 0.51 N/A -10.45 N/A
NT 9.71 10.99 85.00 2.98 0.50 24.37 11.80 5.35 0.67 NT
623,042 91,403
64.53 1128.76
8.33 400.00
3,129,188,160 792,656,250
1.57 28.34
6.80 8.08
56.00 1,128.76
NT NT 19,772 429,000
15.58 36.19 5.54 2.88
10.03 32.27 2.91 0.57
63,360,000 819,000,000 300,000,001
3.90 13.92 0.71 0.00
N/A N/A 5.77 N/A
NT NT 4.16 1.68
100,695 508,514
56.00 76.00
21.02 27.60
3,176,381,636 3,783,296,250
1.34 1.42
1.01 -1.83
37.62 60.10
NT
0.97
0.57
843,284,027
0.00
N/A
NT
13,967,855 6,143,557 1,432,746 3,728,791 NT 17,978,606 2,019,035 2,552,970 13,109,573 607,556 14,831,087 1,876,958 26,438,616
12.39 7.66 16.01 3.47 8.30 29.99 7.05 3.05 9.60 15.30 1.16 1.88 22.80
4.70 1.92 9.90 1.13 3.04 13.02 2.65 0.80 1.64 2.34 0.50 0.50 11.96
17,888,251,479 14,475,243,105 9,873,614,567 28,974,797,023 16,271,192,202 29,146,482,209 13,219,334,676 12,563,091,545 32,334,693,693 13,509,726,273 33,675,576,085 12,821,249,880 31,396,493,790
1.61 1.71 3.67 0.68 0.60 3.08 0.97 0.63 1.70 0.44 0.18 0.00 3.30
-0.43 4.11 0.72 -3.73 #VALUE! 0.19 -1.22 1.79 -4.73 0.50 0.00 -9.23 -0.05
9.31 6.82 13.80 2.68 NT 25.90 4.10 2.24 8.04 10.10 0.51 1.30 21.30
1,000 10,284,527 NT 300,000 5,100 795,759 1,580,835 711,035 NT 150 20 NT 894,764 NT 9,000 100 100,000 65,250 900 1,966,714 10,000 15,000 313,244 100 1,000 200 90,253 98,178 7,464 100,000 221,000 9,742,181
0.50 1.42 0.64 0.52 1.45 0.72 2.44 0.50 0.69 0.60 0.50 2.50 2.50 0.50 0.50 0.61 0.50 2.87 0.63 1.01 1.11 0.50 1.24 0.53 0.59 0.50
0.50 0.50 0.61 0.50 0.58 0.50 1.08 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.06 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50
20,585,000,000 7,809,391,256 211,626,000 6,000,000,000 10,372,624,157 8,820,010,363 5,100,846,808 8,847,298,420 4,549,947,000 3,827,485,380 720,000,000 5,061,804,000 6,420,427,449 28,000,000,000 7,323,313,227 3,437,330,500 4,083,713,569 10,000,000,000 7,998,705,336 5,332,830,881 5,649,693,923 5,003,506,791 2,508,315,436 6,668,750,000 5,203,757,266 6,141,087,609
0.00 0.19 0.00 0.05 0.15 0.02 0.24 0.01 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.25 0.00 0.37 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.04 0.09 0.00
N/A 0.00 N/A N/A 0.00 0.00 0.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.00 N/A N/A N/A 0.00 12.38 N/A -4.62 N/A N/A 1.92 N/A 0.00 N/A
0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.55
0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50
8,493,173,450 2,581,733,505 13,000,000,000 16,000,000,000
0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.07
N/A N/A N/A N/A
NT 0.87 NT 0.50 1.15 0.52 1.67 0.50 NT NT 0.50 NT 0.67 NT NT NT NT 2.02 NT 0.65 0.50 NT 0.52 0.50 NT NT NT NT NT 0.50 NT 0.83
4,100 35,000
6.60 1.22
0.00 0.72
345 6,300 500 10,000
1.65 0.50 0.50 0.99
1.37 0.50 0.50 0.50
504,683 NT NT 3,185,606 1,228,178 NT 100 149,676 1,869,973 1,739,621
2.1 0.61 2.02 21.50 5.70 0.15 552.20 1.33 20.72 1.70
0.5 0.50 2.02 8.57 2.90 0.15 555.20 0.50 10.64 0.00
286 100
5.05 0.50
4.32 0.50
498,600,908 3,553,138,528
0.13 0.00
N/A N/A
NT NT
NT
10.54
7.39
152,178,750
0.00
N/A
NT
1,618
4.80
0.50
486,473,856
0.58
-4.73
3.38
N/A=Not Avialable
1.18 0.19 4,200,000,000 8,679,148,676 13,175,732,404 7,812,500,000
3,778,005,975 1,333,333,333 32,632,084,358 5,880,000 2,500,000 3,608,657,661 18,750,000,000
0.03 0.02 0.30 0.00 0.63 0.00 0.15 2.45 1.23 0.00 12.68 0.13 1.53 0.29
NT 0.80 N/A N/A N/A N/A
N/A N/A -0.80 N/A N/A N/A 2.11
NT NT NT NT 1.92 NT NT 16.25 3.60 NT NT 0.52 19.00 1.46
SECURITY
PRICE (=N=)
FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 2.00 GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER PLC 67.00 MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 2.01 NEIMETH INT PHARM PLC 1.20 NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. NT PHARMA-DEKO PLC. NT ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SLN PLC 0.60 Computers and Peripherals OMATEK VENTURES PLC NT Electronic Communications Services MTECH COMMUNICATIONS PLC NT IT Services NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. NT TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. NT Processing Systems CHAMS PLC NT E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 3.13 Telecommunications Carriers STARCOMMS PLC NT Telecommunications Services IHS NIGERIA PLC PREF SHARES NT IHS PLC 2.81 MTI PLC 0.5 INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials AFRICAN PAINTS (NIGERIA) PLC. NT ASHAKA CEM PLC 23.00 BERGER PAINTS PLC 8.12 CAP PLC 47.00 CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 9.80 DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 185.00 DN MEYER PLC. 1.71 FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC 0.50 IPWA PLC 0.70 LAFARGE WAPCO PLC. 105.00 PAINTS & COATINGS MANFACT.PLC 2.09 PORTLAND PAINTS & PRDT NIG. PLC 4.62 PREMIER PAINTS PLC. NT Electronic and Electrical Products AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC NT CUTIX PLC. 1.85 NIGERIAN WIRE AND CABLE PLC. NT NIGERIAN WIRE IND. PLC NT Packaging/Containers ABPLAST PRODUCTS PLC. NT AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS 1.71 BETA GLASS CO PLC. 13.10 GREIF NIGERIA PLC 12.68 NIG. BAGS MANFACT. COY PLC NT POLY PRODUCTS (NIG) PLC. NT W A GLASS IND. PLC. NT Tools and Machinery NIGERIAN ROPES PLC NT STOKVIS NIG PLC. NT NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals B.O.C. GASES PLC. 6.35 Metals ALUMACO PLC NT ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. NT MINING SERVICES MULTIVERSE PLC 0.50 Paper/Forest Products HALLMARK PAPER PRODUCTS PLC. NT THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. NT OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SER. PLC 0.50 Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC 11.00 Petroleum &Petroleum Products Distributors AFROIL PLC NT BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC NT CONOIL PLC 51.48 ETERNA PLC. 2.95 FORTE OIL PLC. 104.90 MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. 115.50 MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 41.79 TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 160.11 SERVICES Advertising AFROMEDIA PLC NT Apparel Retailers LENNARDS (NIG) PLC. NT Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. 1.30 Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 4.55 TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. 1.32 Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. NT Hospitality TANTALIZERS PLC NT Hotels/Lodging CAPITAL HOTEL PLC NT IKEJA HOTEL PLC 0.74 TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. 4.08 TRANSNATIONAL CORP. OF NIG.PLC NT Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 0.50 Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. NT LEARN AFRICA PLC 1.89 STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. NT UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. NT Road Transportation ABC TRANSPORT PLCPLC 0.81 Specialty INTERLINKED TECHNOLOGIES PLC NT SECURE ELECTRONIC TECH.PLC NT Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC 3.38 NIG. AVIATION HANDLING COY PLC 6.28 ASeM CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Property Management SMART PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC 1.28 CONSUMER GOODS Food Products MCNICHOLS PLC NT Personal/Household Products ROKANA INDUSTRIES PLC. NT HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals AFRIK PHARMACEUTICALS PLC. NT INDUSTRIAL GOODS Electronic and Electrical Products NT ADSWITCH PLC. NT NATURAL RESOURCES Metals W.A. ALUM. PRODUCTS PLC. NT OIL AND GAS Petroleum & Petroleum Products Distributors ANINO INTERNATIONAL PLC. NT CAPITAL OIL PLC 0.50 RAK UNITY PET. COMP. PLC. NT UNION VENTURES & PET. PLC NT SERVICES Apparel Retailers UDEOFSON GARMENT FACT. NIG PLC NT Food/Drug Retailers and Wholesalers NT JULI PLC. NT ETF’s Sector ETF NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND NT
QUANTITY
52 WK HIGH
52 WK LOW
SHARES OUTSTANDING
EPS
1,484,613 547,844 332,461 286,844 100 20,000
2.50 69.00 3.38 1.76 8.59 3.50
0.61 18.97 1.23 0.58 7.36 1.83
1,500,000,000 956,701,192 980,000,000 1,925,717,268 153,786,012 100,000,000
0.24 3.07 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.00
-4.76 1.50 -1.47 0.00 N/A N/A
2.10 66.01 2.04 1.20 NT NT
576,100
0.96
0.50
2,960,000,000
0.11
0.00
0.63
1,000
0.50
0.50
2,941,789,472
0.00
N/A
NT
NT
0.91
0.91
4,966,666,668
0.00
N/A
NT
2,000 5,000
18.70 2.94
13.12 2.07
108,000,000 492,825,600
0.00 0.03
N/A N/A
NT NT
NT 80
0.50 4.97
0.50 3.13
4,620,600,000 4,200,000,000
0.04 0.04
N/A N/A
NT 3.13
4,000
1.47
0.50
6,878,478,096
0.00
N/A
NT
NT 154,309 60
2.25 3.79 0.50
0.00 1.70 0.50
4,400,000,000 4,893,594,400
0.00 0.00 0.00
N/A N/A N/A
NT 2.65 0.5
2,500 125,152 76,891 167,904 362,836 20,194,089 65,000 2,000 476,000 413,085 32,100 855,000 NT
2.86 29.98 12.20 67.50 12.99 210.01 3.54 0.75 1.34 110.00 2.41 7.22 10.93
2.86 8.01 6.82 13.78 4.00 102.00 0.50 0.50 0.50 39.80 0.50 2.27 10.93
260,000,000 2,239,453,125 217,367,585 560,000,000 1,241,548,285 15,494,019,668 242,908,200 2,109,928,275 513,696,000 3,001,600,004 792,914,256 400,000,000 75,000,000
0.07 0.80 0.91 1.66 1.12 5.77 0.06 0.00 0.00 6.83 0.36 0.43 0.00
N/A 5.02 -3.33 0.00 0.00 -2.63 N/A N/A N/A 0.00 N/A N/A N/A
NT 21.90 8.40 47.00 9.80 190.00 NT 0.50 0.70 105.00 2.20 5.00 NT
NT 273,107 840 NT
2.00 2.39 0.73 2.58
2.00 1.20 0.50 2.58
510,396,608 2,220,000,000 15,000,000
0.05 0.19 0.00 0.00
N/A 7.56 N/A N/A
NT 1.72 NT NT
NT 1,000 6,537 150 NT NT NT
3.98 5.94 13.18 13.28 3.60 1.86 0.63
3.98 1.71 9.04 12.68 1.60 1.05 0.63
N/A N/A
42,640,000 6,215,000,000 240,000,000 199,066,550
0.00 0.00 3.23 0.90 0.24 0.22 0.00
N/A #VALUE! N/A N/A
NT NT 13.10 12.68 NT NT NT
NT NT
8.69 0.14
8.26 0.14
265,409,280 2,918,000
0.00 0.00
N/A N/A
NT NT
25,000,000 683,974,528
MOV. (%)
Previous
4,275
9.35
5.68
393,120,000
0.76
0.00
6.35
NT NT
7.75 12.39
7.75 10.55
75,600,000 100,000,000
0.00 0.24
N/A N/A
NT NT
170
0.50
0.50
4,058,989,226
0.01
N/A
NT
NT 43,412
3.22 1.38
3.22 0.67
50,000,000 220,000,000
0.04 0.00
N/A N/A
NT NT
103,400
1.02
0.50
6,262,701,716
0.00
0.00
0.50
3,679,425
24.80
9.32
2,262,711,568
1.24
-0.18
11.02
NT 29,000 36,897 683,190 666,240 41,440 126,855 16,676
20.71 0.70 51.48 4.87 104.90 146.00 59.00 190.01
20.71 0.50 16.96 1.32 7.73 106.00 16.20 118.75
125,487,475 3,716,976,579 693,952,117 1,249,162,828 1,080,280,628 300,496,051 253,988,672 339,521,837
0.00 0.00 2.69 0.61 1.43 9.93 1.04 12.91
N/A N/A 10.24 18.00 47.68 0.43 N/A 0.00
NT NT 46.70 2.50 71.03 115.00 37.99 160.11
4,035,497,307
0.00
N/A
NT
0
N/A
NT
100
0.72
0.50
NT
3.48
3.48
213,117
2.45
1.00
980,294,400
0.00
-3.70
1.35
224,300 125,250
5.10 3.45
2.19 0.73
589,496,310 198,819,763
0.52 0.00
1.11 N/A
4.50 1.38
10,000
1.64
0.85
865,808,912
0.00
N/A
1.38
2,000
0.75
0.50
3,211,627,907
0.00
N/A
NT
1,000 134,150 400 NT
8.00 1.72 4.53 1.95
3.00 0.64 4.08 0.50
1,548,780,000 2,078,796,396 1,772,884,297 25,813,998,283
0.23 0.00 0.00 0.22
N/A -1.33 N/A #VALUE!
NT 0.75 NT NT
10,000
0.51
0.50
8,000,000,000
0.43
N/A
NT
11,000 543,130 100 3,203
4.10 3.09 2.78 5.77
1.57 1.39 2.52 3.00
403,200,000 771,450,000 425,641,111
0.22 0.00 0.00 0.61
N/A N/A N/A #VALUE!
2.55 1.77 NT 3.85
370,752
1.29
0.50
1,507,000,000
0.21
N/A
0.85
NT NT
5.15 1.88
4.90 0.80
236,699,511 5,631,539,736
0.00 0.00
N/A N/A
NT NT
273,944 1,981,889
5.90 8.81
1.27 5.08
634,000,000 1,230,468,750
0.50 0.43
N/A 4.67
3.28 6.00
60
1.43
1.04
45,000,000
0.12
N/A
NT
5,000
1.02
1.02
201,885,335
0.00
N/A
1.43
NT
0.60
0.60
30,000,000
0.00
N/A
NT
NT
0.50
0.50
24,898,850
0.00
N/A
NT
NT NT
1.88
1.63
125,005,250
0.00
N/A
NT NT
NT
0.50
0.50
6,650,000
0.00
N/A
NT
NT 400 NT NT
0.21 0.50 0.31 0.63
0.21 0.50 0.31 0.63
24,200,000 5,857,500,000 15,000,000 98,600,000
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
N/A N/A N/A N/A
NT NT NT NT
NT NT NT
0.50
0.50
20,000,000
0.00
N/A
3.05
2.76
194,700,000
0.00
N/A
NT NT NT
21
2,706
2,003
#VALUE!
2,025.00
40
Monday, November 11, 2013
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Monday, November 11, 2013
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
41
Law & Justice nationalmirrorlaw@yahoo.com
‘Justice and common sense are at times sacrificed on the shrine of mercy’ Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, Retired Justice, Supreme Court of Nigeria.
States should establish prisons–Lagos CJ, lawyers Only lazy lawyers will call for abolition of SAN, says Ogunlesi 42
The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) derives its operational powers from CAP 366 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990. Under this law, the administration of prisons in the country is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. In this report, WALE IGBINTADE examines the proposal that administration of prison services should be under the concurrent legislative list.
I
How plan to depose Awujale failed
45
Killer-mother loses claim to own kids’ estate
46
n Nigeria, it is only the Federal Government that has exclusive jurisdiction over the administration of prisons hence all prisons are controlled by the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), a parastastal under the Ministry of Interior. The NPS is headed by a Comptroller General of Prisons. Consequently, it is the duty of the NPS to among other things take into lawful custody all those certified to be so kept by courts of competent jurisdiction and produce suspects in courts as and when required. However, over the years, the nation’s prison system has been a source of worry to well-meaning Nigerians. Top among the complaints is the overcrowding of prisons due to increasing number of Awaiting Trial Persons (ATPs). The state of prisons in Nigeria is deplorable in terms of lack of infrastructure and the paltry funds being allocated to the prison services and poor pay, among others. Investigation revealed that over 50, 682 prison inmates across the country’s prisons had spent 17 years in detention without trial. For instance, Ikoyi prison has an original capacity for 800 persons, but today, the population is 1,900 out of which only 24 prisoners are convicts. Port Harcourt Prison has an installed capacity for 804 persons. Today, the prison locks up more than 2, 924 persons out of which only 117 persons are convicts. Also, Awka Prisons in Anambra State with an installed capacity for 238 persons presently accommodates more that 586 inmates out of which 32 are convicts. Definitely, the prevalence of ATPs in the prisons is seen as an abnormality that has become a permanent feature of our prisons. To compound the prob-
Justice Philips
Abba Moro, Minister of the Interior
lem of prison congestion in Nigeria, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron recently declared that hundreds of Nigerian criminals will be sent home to serve out prison sentences under a deal set to be struck by ministers within weeks. If carried out, about 534 criminals from Nigeria currently in UK jails may be repatriated to serve their sentences in the country. According to report in national dailies, the British PM vowed to end the practice of the British taxpayers picking up the bill for criminals with no business in the UK. He made it clear that Britain was ready to build new prisons in countries like Nigeria to speed up the process of sending foreign criminals home. It is against this backdrop that the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Phillips recently, at the launch of a book, entitled: “A Reformatory Approach to Criminal Justice System in Nigeria,” written in her honour, called on the National Assembly to remove the administration of prison system from the exclusive list to concurrent list. According to
her, there was no justification why state governments should not be allowed to build prisons and have control over their management. Justice Phillips said that since her appointment as the state Chief Judge, , she had paid several visits to both Ikoyi and Kirikiri prisons and released hundreds of prisoners, but yet, their number kept increasing on daily basis. She further disclosed that Lagos State and other states in the federations are eager to build prisons if only the National Assembly could amend the constitution and remove the administration of prisons from the exclusive legislative list. Reacting to this proposal, Dr. Abiodun Layonu, SAN, agreed with the Lagos CJ, stressing that such a proposition was a sensible thing to do. He said ‘’how many of the things on the exclusive list can the Federal Government cope with?” Why should the Federal Government alone be concerned with prisons? Even the judiciary and the administration of justice are not on the exclusive Federal Government matter, so why should prison, which is at the tail end of trial, conviction and sentence be an exclusive legislative list? . ‘’ I will even advocate a private Public Partnership (PPP) in building of prisons as it’s done in other places. The issue of staffing will be addressed, for instance, States build police stations and equip them, yet they do not own the Police Force. So, if states build prisons that are controlled by Prison Services, what is wrong with that?
THE STATE OF PRISONS IN NIGERIA IS DEPLORABLE IN TERMS OF LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE PALTRY FUNDS BEING ALLOCATED TO THE PRISON SERVICES
CONTINUED ON PAGE 44
42
Law & Justice
Monday, November 11, 2013
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Only lazy lawyers will call for a Mr. Lanre Ogunlesi is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a former Ogun State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. Prior to this, he worked with Gani Fawehinmi chambers and Messrs Impey & Coker and Co before setting up his firm in 1985. In this interview with KENNY ODUNUKAN, he speaks on the proposed National Conference and the quality of judges on the Bench, among other issues. Excerpts. President Goodluck Jonathan has endorsed the call for the National Conference in the country. What does this portend for our nation? I believe, to a large extent, that the proposed national conference approved by President Goodluck Jonathan will address some of the problems plaguing our country. It will certainly meet the agitations of some people in different quarters of the country. You know that the first major issue is the marginalisation of the Igbo. They are also advocating that there should be adequate representation of their people and interest at the conference. At the conference, issues that relate to their marginalisation will be tabled and you can be very sure that their interest will be taken care of. If you also look at it, Mr. President too is being marginalised. Issues about one single term among other issues is critical and also subject of controversy that we should all sit down at the table of brotherhood and talk about. So, I see nothing wrong in us coming together to talk about how we want us to live together and also be governed. I also believe in the credibility of the chairman of the advisory committee, Senator Femi Okunroumu. He is a very capable hand. I know he will do a good job, he has been tried and tested. I also know that if he is not going to achieve anything, he will resign. What advice do you have for Nigerians on the expectations from the committee? My advice is that we should give the constituted committee a chance; at least we have all been agitating for a national conference. Some Nigerians have been agitating on issues such as marginalisation, revenue allocation, state policing, zoning, and federal character and so on. Whatever name you choose to call it, whether national dialogue or conference, the important thing is to address pressing national agitations. So, no matter how you look at it, as long as it is able to confront our national issues and challenges, I am okay with it. There are complaints in certain quarters that the timing is wrong. I do not think the timing is wrong, the most important thing is the seriousness in sitting together and genuinely discussing about issues that plague us from time to time. So, many of the past presidents have sidetracked the national conference, even for the Senate President to approve it. I think we should commend the Presidency for it. Recently, some erring lawyers were sanctioned. Some of them were derobed for engaging in shady practices, what is your take on that? Lawyers who engaged in sharp practices should face the music. They should face the consequences of their misconduct, they should face the law. There is no two ways about it. They should be sanctioned accordingly.
Ogunlesi (SAN)
IN FACT, THE BAR AND BENCH MUST COME TOGETHER TO RID THE LEGAL PROFESSION OF SHARP PRACTICES In fact, the Bar and Bench must come together to rid the legal profession of sharp practices. Fraudulent practitioners are the most dangerous elements in any profession, be it medicine or law. Imagine a fraudulent lawyer handling a very sensitive matter like a murder case or defending a murder case! Wherever a fraudulent lawyer is suspected, he should be reported immediately. It is imperative on the litigant who discovers these people to immediately report. Any one however who claims to have gone through five years of study in the university and the law school should not engage in shady deals that denigrate the profession of law in our country. Lawyers are often held I high esteem, therefore, we should always uphold the ethics of the profession as we practice it. What is your position on the alleged rising level of corruption in the legal profession? Corruption is not only in the legal profession, it permeates the whole society. It is systemic and ingrained in the fabrics of our society. All these happened because we don’t ask questions how people make their money. We are less bordered about the source of their
income. These don’t happen in the olden days. In those days, there was adherence to ethics; people will definitely question your source of income. Albeit, no institution in Nigeria is isolated from corruption because it is systemic, it is in the system, and the operators of the system are its by-products. What possible solution will you proffer to curb the high rate of corruption in the legal profession and judiciary as a whole? The possibly solution is what the honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria is doing now. The CJN is relentlessly fighting corruption in the country. I think we should also commend Justice Aloma Mukhtar for taking the lead in the fight against corruption in the judiciary. By and large, I think we should look into the appointment of judges and justices. You will discover that in the past, lawyers were invited to be judges but the reverse is the case now. What happens now is that people now lobby and clamour for that position. When you talk about corruption on the Bench, if you perceived a judge is being influenced, we have an appellate jurisdiction in our legal system. The law permits you to go to the Court of Appeal if you are not satisfied with the decision of a judge in a high court. There are agitations by some lawyers that the rank of SAN should be scrapped from our legal system, what is your take on that? Well, it is lazy lawyers who say that. I tell you it is not easy to be a Senior Advocate, it requires hardwork, integrity and tenancy of purpose. Everything
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Law & Justice
Monday, November 11, 2013
43
abolition of SAN, says Ogunlesi (SAN) and these were heavy weight lawyers and if they don’t see any wrong with it as at that time, so why should people now advocate for separation of the office of the CJN from the chairmanship of NJC? Will they now suggest that she should be ordinary member of the NJC? I don’t think that it will be in the best interest of the administration of justice in our country. What is your view on the suggestion that retired judges should serve on election tribunal? Well, there is nothing wrong with it, but the thing is that with our current system where judges have to write down proceding with longhand, what do you think a retired justice will write at the age of 65,70? At that age, most of them are frail and tired and you know they don’t record electronically. They write in longhand. As a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, what aspects of the 1999 Constitution will you like to be amended? Well, I believe amendment should be a continuous exercise. When you look at it, there is no constitution that is perfect. We the operators of the constitution have to examine ourselves too. Are the operators really up to the tasks? Look at the American constitution, for long time, they keep amending it. So, to meet the challenges of the day, the law is supposed to be an instrument of social engineering. My take is that when a section of the constitution is not working for the common good of the vast majority, let it be amended. Can you compare the practice of Law in the past with the present? I have practiced for 33 years now; I can tell you that a lot of changes have happened, during our time, Junior lawyers were committed, I practiced under late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) and Chief Coker and I know the mandate placed on junior lawyers. Then there were no iPAD, computers and other information technology devices. All we did was to read, jot and study thoroughly decisions and authority of rolls into one makes an SAN. I tell you the truth there is no backyard influence in the award of SANs because you must meet the criteria and afterwards the privilege comes in which you must be deemed fit and worthy of taking the award. I would not support the scrapping the SANs award. Senior lawyers who have not worked hard when their colleagues were working so hard will advocate for the abolition of the rank of SANs. Only lazy senior lawyers will call for SAN abolition. It is something of pride and prestige, so why should I call for our abolition. Some lawyers have been saying that the powers exercisable by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) as the National Judicial Council (NJC) chairman are wide? What is your position on that? Well, I don’t see anything wrong in her occupying the same position. I don’t see any form of abuse at all. There are Justices from the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal there, judges of the high court and retired judges of the Supreme Court are in the constituted body .So, if there is going to be abuse, the constituted body will be able to call the CJN to order. So, I don’t see any form of abuse there. There is no system that is perfect. Even if you say separate the system, people will still come tomorrow and say this is what is happening and so do something about it. This system has been there since the time of Kehinde Sofola (SAN), Chief F.R. A Williams
FG SHOULD REMOVE THE ISSUE OF ZONING AND TRIBAL CONSIDERATIONS IN RESPECT OF APPOINTMENT AND ELEVATION OF JUDGES TO THE HIGHER
BENCH
past judgements. We did a lot of research .Lawyers nowadays don’t even want to make any research. They don’t want to work at all, young lawyers these days are lazy and hardly make any research. The situation these days is now that the senior lawyers will have to do virtually all the work alone. That is the problem we have with young lawyers at the moment. I keep telling them that a bit of effort will get them there. How do you appraise the competence of judges in the country? All I want to recommend is that we should forget about quota system in the appointment of judges. Zoning of judicial appointment should be jettisoned in our judicial system. So, appointing justices from different geo political zones should be abolished. They should remove the issue of zoning and tribal considerations in respect of appointment and elevation of judges to the higher Bench. Judges should be appointed based on merit and not quota system. Also, lawyers from the Bar should be invited to be judges. Senior advocates should be appointed to be justices in the appellate court. Lawyers who have made their mark should also be invited. We should borrow a leaf from a society like Europe. What should be done is to appoint judges from the league of Senior Advocates of Nigeria. In the United Kingdom, the government appoints most of their judges from the inner Bar. So, Queen Counsels are being appointed as judges. We can appoint judges from senior practitioners in the field. The judiciary in the country can also raise the standard in such a way that those who qualify to be judges must also qualify to be Senior Advocates of Nigeria. In other words, the level of SANs will be the same standard for the appointment of judges. Experienced practitioners must be used as the standard for appointment of judges. If you look at it, you cannot be a Judge, if you are not a Queen Counsel. Appointment of judges from the rank of senior advocates will enhance healthy development of our law and our judiciary.
Public petitions: SAN tasks lawmakers on ADR mechanisms
A
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mrs Funke Adekoya has tasked members of Senate and House Committees on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions on the need to use Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) mechanisms while handling public petitions. Adekoya stated this in a paper she delivered at the Strategic Retreat Session of the Senate and House Committees on handling of Public Petitions. In the paper entitled ‘’Improving Timely and Effective Response to Citizens’ Complaints Through the use of ADR Mechanisms’’, Adekoya stated that some of the petitions sent to the Committees were as a result of lack of confi-
dence in the courts. She said ‘’oftentimes petitions come to your Committees because petitioners feel they will not obtain redress in the courts, the process is too slow or too expensive’’. Adekoya faulted the decision of the joint Senate Committee on a petition sent to it by disengaged staff of the National Identity Management Commission alleging unlawful disengagement, where the Committee advised the aggrieved worker to go to court. She stated that the Committee could have resolved the dispute by using conciliation and mediation techniques and would have achieved a better objecCONTINUED ON PAGE 44
44
Law & Justice
Monday, November 11, 2013
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
‘Prison services ‘ll be ideal on concurrent list’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41 In his view, Chief Gani Adetola-Kaseem, SAN said the administration of prisons had always been on the exclusive legislative list right from the colonial rule. He, however, said States should be allowed to build prisons, saying ‘’I support the proposal that prison should be under the concurrent legislative list’’. Also, human rights lawyer, Mr. EbunOlu Adegboruwa agreed with the view of Lagos CJ, stating that the courts that send accused persons to prisons are essentially the Magistrate Courts or the State high courts. He said ‘’ I absolutely agree with the noble suggestion of the Chief Judge of Lagos State that there should be an amendment of the constitution to remove administration of prisons from exclusive legislative list. The courts that send accused persons to prisons are essentially the Magistrate Courts or the State high courts. Once you allowed a state to have its own Criminal Proceeding Laws, to have its own Magistrate’s Courts and High Courts that State should be able to provide where it can house those that are convicted in custody’’. According to him, ‘’ you cannot ask a state to send people to jail, and then the place of destination of convicted criminal is handled by the Federal Government. It’s a cronyism in law, it should be corrected. Again, when you look at these prisons be it Kirikiri Maximum or Ikoyi prisons, they are now within the centre of the town such that it is very important that States must relocate them (prisons) to locations that will be convenient for their own physical planning’’. He argued that since the Supreme Court gave the judgement that States should be responsible for physical planning, accordingly, the location of prisons has become a matter for States to determine. According to him, there was no reason why Federal Government should continue to retain the control and management of the prisons under the constitution. But, Mr. Godwin Obla , SAN, in his view, slightly disagreed with the proposition on the ground that the States may not have the control of the administra-
Mr. Zakari Ibrahim, Comptroller-General of Prisons
THERE WAS NO REASON WHY FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT SHOULD CONTINUE TO RETAIN THE CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PRISONS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION tion of the prison unless a comprehensive reform of the justice system was carried out. ‘’The only problem I have with that suggestion is that you cannot just amend only that portion of the constitution in order to make that provision effective. Because, who controls the institution that control the prisons? If the States can build, can they staff it? I don’t see how it benefits any state that builds prison without authority to control it, because, the prisons officials are still under the exclusive legislative list. I really don’t know what they what to achieve with it, because if you arrest someone in a State, the police are under the Federal government. So, there is need for a comprehensive reform of the justice system as far as prison is concerned’’. In his view, former Solicitor-General of Lagos State, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey said there was nothing wrong with State building prison if the revenue allocation formula would be adjusted to reflect this added
SAN tasks lawmakers on ADR mechanisms CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43 tive of a speedy resolution of the dispute. According to her, litigation in Nigeria is usually protracted, time consuming and expensive adding that a look at the case-list of the courts revealed matters that have been pending for several years. She said ‘’Individuals, businesses and organizations always stress the need for fast decisions and dispute resolution procedures, which support rather than undermine business and personal relationships. As a result alternative dispute resolution techniques are becoming increasingly popular because they tend to answer
Layonu (SAN)
Arthur-Worrey
this need as well as offset some of the defects of the traditional dispute resolution system litigation]. She stated that Senate Standing Orders 2007, as amended offered an alternative means of addressing citizens’ complaints and grievances on administrative injustices and breach of human rights. ‘’Although the Senate Standing Orders 2007, as amended and the House Standing Orders 2007 do not expressly provide the methods to be utilized in resolving issues raised in petitions to the Senate and House Committees, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms can be a viable tool in resolving petitions referred to your Committees for resolution’’, she added.
responsibility. According to him ‘’everything is about resources; I have always said that if you proposed something, you must have done the financial analysis. Are we saying the revenue allocation formula would be adjusted to reflect this added responsibility? Again, when we talk about congestion, are we talking about building more prisons so that they can accommodate more prisoners or are we talking about reforming Criminal Justice System so that abinitio less people are kept in the prisons awaiting trial’’? ‘’ I agree with the Chief Judge to the extent that as long as states can make criminal law and create offences, then, a State must be able to have its own Police and Prison Service, so that it can manage the administration of criminal justice. As it is today, aside from the fact that State creates the law, the power to arrest is with the Police, which outside the control of the State. Then, the detention process is in the hands of the prison services which is federal.
Again, the efficiency or otherwise of bringing prisoners to court is outside state control. Again, the efficiency or inefficiency of trial is with the police which is also outside State control. To the extent, that the CJ is saying State should have control over the Criminal Justice process in respect of state offences, I agree. But, if we are just saying we should build more prisons so that more people can be held, I disagree. I agree with her in principle but we must look at the implication’’. Beyond these arguments, it is noteworthy that the United Nations (UN) prescribed the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners in the whole world. Part of the rules is that no prisoner should be punished unless he has been informed of the offence alleged against him and given proper opportunity of presenting his defence. The treatment of prisoners, the rules, further stated should involve social rehabilitation of prisoners in the society. It is hoped that the National Assembly will consider the possibility of moving prison services to the concurrent list to enable the state governments safeguard abuses of prison system against tyranny and impunity. This might go a long way in improving the criminal justice and penal systems in the country.
LEGAL TIPS
Making a will A Will is a person’s declaration of one’s intention of how his property is to be dealt with after his death. Generally, there are two types of WillStatutory Wills and Nuncupative Wills. The statutory will is regulated by the Wills Act and other applicable statutes while Nuncupative Will otherwise called Oral Will is known to customary law to be valid. The characteristics of a Will include that it must be in writing, it must be testamentary, it is revocable and it is ambulatory. The testator must have testamentary capacity, it must be voluntary, the beneficiaries must be specified, the properties must be specified and there must be credible witnesses. The applicable laws governing Wills Act 1837; Wills Amendment Act 1852;
Various Will Laws enacted by different states; High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules of the various states; Common law and principles of equity; Customary laws on intestate succession and judicial precedents. It suffices that a person makes his Will because it displaces the application of rules on statutory devolution of one’s estate. A Testator is able by the expression of his free will benefit those he love or owe a duty of care. To do this, he must be of 21 years’ age under the Wills Act or must have attained the age of 18 as provided under the Wills Laws of Lagos State. Written by Francis Famoroti, Head, Judiciary. We welcome feedback and reactions from readers via our e-mail: nationalmirrorlaw@yahoo.com
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Law & Justice
Monday, November 11, 2013
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How plan to depose Awujale failed The administration of the Second Republic Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olabisi Onabanjo,attempted to depose the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona in 1981 under a controversial Chiefs’ Law. The attempt, however failed as the paramount Ijebu monarch won the legal battle to remain on the throne. FRANCIS FAMOROTI, Head, Judiciary writes.
ADETONA ASKED THE APPELLATE COURT TO PREVENT THE STATE GOVERNMENT FROM INSTALLING A NEW
AWUJALE UNTIL THE CHALLENGE OF HIS SUSPENSION FROM
FAMOUS CASES
OFFICE WAS FINALLY
O
ba Sikiru Kayode Adetona was born to the Anikinaiya 1 Ogbagba Royal family of Ijebu Ode in Nigeria on May 10, 1934. His father was Prince Rufai Adetona, whilst his mother was Alhaja Ajibabi Adetona (nee Onashile). His mother hailed from Ijebu Igbo. According to historical accounts, Adetona was nominated by his father to become the 58th Awujale of Ijebuland in 1960. The nomination was well received without any iota of doubt by the entire citizenry that Prince Sikiru Kayode Adetona was the right choice of the people. As a 26 year-old young prince, he was pursuing further studies in Accountancy in the United Kingdom when he was named the King-elect in January 1960. By a letter dated January 4, 1960 referenced CB. 4 1/333, the Permanent Secretary in the Western Region Ministry of Local Government conveyed to the Local Government Adviser in Ijebu Ode approval of the Western Region Governor in Council, the appointment of Prince Sikiru Kayode Adetona as the Awujale of Ijebuland with effect from that date. In effect, Sikiru Adetona Ogbagba ll ascended the throne of his forbearers 53 years ago. The first 25 years of his reign in 1985 was celebrated after the deluge of political persecution of the monarch by the then Ogun State Government under the leadership of Chief Olabisi Onabanjo. Specifically, while he was about 21 years in office, the state government was uncomfortable with him, hence, it plotted his deposition. The plot was hatched in such a way that his purported removal would receive the nod of the Ogun State House of Assembly. It was learnt that the general agreement by the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the ruling party in the state at the time was that the House would pass the required Bill already prepared for the planned removal of the Awujale from the throne. Part of the plan was that all the readings from the first to the third would be rushed through the parliamentary process including that of the Committee of the Whole on the same day and the final passage would be effected for the governor to sign into law the Chiefs’ Law Cap 23. But the planned assault on the institution of the Ijebuland monarchy and the occupier of the office, Oba Adetona failed the moment some legislators arrived at the Assembly building to attempt giving the Bill its first reading. In fact,
DISPOSED BY THE HIGH COURT.
Adetona
Onabanjo
part of the plot was to seek the state High Court’s nod in giving its approval to the old Western Region of Nigeria Chieftaincy Laws of 1958 that it was applicable to the state because Ogun state was an integral part of the old Western region when the law was promulgated. Interestingly, the strategic Bill for legislation which lay in the Assembly had collapsed and the news from the court delivered by the then state Attorney General, late Chief Akinola Adaramaja further made the Bill unnecessary. It was obvious that the 1979 Constitution of Nigeria during the Second Republic would render the Chiefs Law of Western Nigeria of 1958 a nullity. With these facts at his disposal, Adetona quickly challenged at the Ogun State High Court the decision of state government that suspended him from office and asked the federal appellate court to pre-
vent the state government from installing a new Awujale until the challenge of his suspension from office was finally disposed by the court. The prayers were all granted. The matter dragged on for about four years till when the military coup led by General Muhammadu Buhari occurred on December 31, 1983; the last day of the year. The coup changed the whole picture of events and the coup d’etat, upset whatever plans the state government had in its deposition efforts of the Awujale. Eventually, the Oladipo Diya military administration in Ogun State had inherited the legal tussle between the Awujale and the state government. The case had to be settled as early as possible because the Buhari/ Tunde Idiagbon military junta’s policy was to abandon the politicians and rule the country by relating with the traditional rulers. That policy pre-supposed that the paramount monarchs were very important in the scheme of Buhari’s government. According to sources, the Buhari’s policy suddenly became the determinant of the situation and would expect the Diya administration to discontinue with the case and withdraw it in favour of the Awujale. The state administration did not do that, it went ahead to defend the position of Onabanjo’s government and lost. Justice Kolawole presided over the case and concluded that the Western Nigeria’s Chief Law of 1958 could not be used to depose the Awujale because the Nigerian constitution of that time gave every individual, including the
traditional monarchs, the human rights which the Chiefs’ Law denied them. He also concluded that if the Bill the legislators had initially rendered untenable in the House of Assembly had been passed into law, the new law would have impeded Awujale’s effort to return to the throne of his forebears. The court, in its final judgement, declared that the Awujale of Ijebuland should be reinstated to his position as the only Awujale of Ijebuland who was installed in 1960. After the verdict, the Awujale was reported to have told the state government that an appeal by the Ogun state government might not be necessary because he could unilaterally offer to resign as the Awujale, since God had given him the victory over all conceived evil. In a 275-page autobiography titled: “AWUJALE” recently published to commemorate his 50 years coronation, the Oba unfolded some revelations about his experiences in life since he ascended the throne. If the then state government had succeeded with its plan, the Awujale would have experienced what the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Ladapo Ademola suffered between 1948 and 1950 when he had to abdicate the throne for about two years following the invasion of his palace by an influential market women association. Mention can also be made of the late Oba Olateru Olagbegi ll of Owo, whose reign was terminated in 1966 for about 25 years by the Western region government. During the period, Oba Olawale Ogunoye was installed into office. However, following Ogunoye’s death, Olagbegi who was on exile in Lagos returned to the Olowo throne in 1993 in Ondo State. In the North, former Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki, had suffered humiliation under the military era when he was removed from office by the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha’s administration. Today, the Awujale and all other traditional monarchs in Yoruba land and Nigeria as a whole are still very relevant to the development of their people and the preservation of their cultures. The 79-year- old Awujale, has gone back to school. He was quoted to have said he desired to make history as the nation’s oldest monarch to bag a degree in Law while still on the throne. He is currently undergoing the programme at the National Open University of Nigeria at Awa-Ijebu
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Law & Justice
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
USA
IRELAND
LONDON
M
y first solo appearance was before a magistrate, Mr. Kunle Martins of an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court. My principal instructed me to appear in court for one of our clients who had challenges with his property. When I got the case file, I studied it and discovered that it was a matter that involved that recovery of our client’s premises. When I got to court, I announced my appearance and surprisingly the magistrate told me the matter is for continuation of
trial and had been listed for trial. While trying to convince him to change his mind he insisted the case was for trial and further compelled me to continue with the trial. However, several counsel had asked for a stand out before my matter was called, immediately, I borrowed a leaf from them and further asked for a stand out. During my time out in court, I approached other senior counsel in the court to put me through on how to present my matter, I
listened with rapt attention and held on to their counsel. Before my matter was called, I inspired myself that all I need ed courage and the day’s experience will affect me for a long time throughout my legal profession. When the matter was called, I stood up with boldness, argued my case and did an excellent presentation. In fact other lawyers in court were highly impressed and applauded me. It was indeed a memorable day for me and my legal career!
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Monday, November 11, 2013
An overview of succession and inheritance THE ADVOCATE OLUGBEMI FATULA
08037213732 (sms only) E-mail: afribic@yahoo.com
T
he rights of a person over his property, whether real or personal survives his death and devolve on his personal representatives by operation of law. These personal representatives may either be executors or administrators. Executors are appointed by the deceased in his Will to execute the terms of his Will while administrators are appointed by the court to administer the deceased’s estate who died intestate or even testate but without leaving able, willing and ready executors to act. Personal representatives hold the property of the deceased solely for the purpose of administering it for the benefit of the beneficiaries, by collecting the assets, paying the debts and investing what is left. The Nigerian legal system can best be described as a hotchpotch of Nigerian legislation, English law, customary law (including Islamic law) and judicial precedents. Nigerian colonial experience left her with a plural-legal system. All the African States formerly under British administration share a common experience with regard to their legal and judicial systems. Nigerian legislation therefore consists of statutes and subsidiary legislation. Statutes consist of Ordinances, Acts, Laws, Decrees and Edicts. Being a federal state, all the three levels of government in Nigeria namely, federal, state and local government councils have powers to make laws. Whereas the federal law applies throughout the country, the state law is limited to the territorial jurisdiction of the state. A situation where each of the 36 states of Nigeria has power to make her own laws and apply local customs within the state legal system which may vary from one geographical area to another within the same state, is nothing but complex. The complex interaction of this multi-tiered legal structure, which function,
simultaneously, in conjunction with very significant informal social control based on gender, ethnicity and religion affects the status of women particularly in marriage. The influence of received English law on customary law is very prominent in the area of personal laws (marriage and inheritance). Laws governing the marriage relationship in Nigeria tend to impact dramatically on women’s legal position and status in many respects including domicile, property rights and legal competence. Invariably, a woman’s right to property depends on the type of marriage she contracted. There are two types that are recognised under the law: statutory marriages and customary marriages, which include marriages under Islamic law. Therefore, any discourse on women’s inheritance rights in Nigeria must be done in the light of diversity of the legal system. Therefore by reason of the pluralistic nature of the Nigerian legal system, different systems of law apply to determine who succeed and inherit property of deceased persons. In determining which systems of law is applicable to a particular deceased, it is necessary to determine whether he died testate or intestate, that is having written a will in his life time or not. If he wrote a Will in his life time, then the terms of his testamentary instrument automatically displace any existing rules of inheritance, whether under any Customary law, Islamic law or Marriage under English Law. It is only when he died
intestacy that the questions; was he a Moslem, was he married under the statute or what was his customary law would arise. Nigerian law on testate inheritance/succession includes: The Wills Amendment Act, 1937 and the Wills Amendment Act, 1852, regarded as statutes of general application, which were in force in England on January 1, 1900 and the Wills (Soldiers and Sailors) Act, 1918 which deals with the formal validity of Wills. In some states of the federation of Nigeria, the 1958 Wills Law, CAP 133, Laws of Western Nigeria applies. These states include Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Edo and Delta. This law is essentially a re-enactment of the above mentioned laws on Wills. However, section 3(1) of the Wills Law, 1958 contains a provision not contained in the other Laws mentioned above to the effect that: “The real or personal estate which cannot be disposed by the applicable customary law, cannot be disposed by will”. Testate inheritance in some states in Eastern Nigeria is governed by the Succession Law Edict, 1987. The provisions of part 4 of the 1987 Edict are similar to those in the Wills Act, 1832 and Wills Law, 1958. It is important to note that these laws apply in respect of the spouses of a statutory marriage and their children. No disability is placed on widows with regard to inheritance under a testamentary disposition. They are not treated differently from other beneficiaries with regard to their general right of inheritance as their counterparts in England. The provisions of these laws, however, do not extend to widows who contracted customary law marriage which is a marriage governed by customary law which law is a reflection of the popular consciousness of the people who evolved it.
Law & Justice EVENT
. L-R ; Senior Magistrate (Mrs.) Joy Ugbomoiko and the Executive Director Centre for Rights & Development, Josephine Odikpo at a dinner held for Magistrates’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos recently.
L: Chief Magistrate (Mrs.) Tessy Ansa-Agom and Chief Magistrate S.I Eze
Magistrates Ayodele Johnson and Abe Timothy.
BY REASON OF THE PLURALISTIC NATURE OF THE
NIGERIAN LEGAL SYSTEM, DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF LAW APPLY TO DETERMINE WHO SUCCEED AND INHERIT PROPERTY OF DECEASED PERSONS.
47
L-R : Magistrates Jayere Adamu, Adamu Alesa and Clara Katap.
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Monday, November 11, 2013
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Community Mirror I am not advising the police to pitch their tent with any side, but they should be seen as neutral because politics is not a permanent and pensionable game. KANO STATE GOVERNOR, RABIU KWANKWASO
Man in police net for killing cousin ADEOLU ADEYEMO OSOGBO
A
middle aged man, Rafiu Idowu has been arrested by the Osun State Police Command for allegedly raping and killing his 10-year-old cousin, Tawa Bilawu. The incident which happened at Ile-ogbo in Ayedire Local Government of the state has now pitted the affected families as parents of the deceased
are clamouring for justice. The suspect, who is now being interrogated, is said to have confessed to the crime. While admitting to the crime, Rafiu said “after Tawa visited me on that fateful day, she unzipped my trousers and both of us went to bed. Then, Bilawu put my penis into her private part and started moaning. It was during the intercourse that I held her by the neck till she
passed out”. Idowu, who stated that before the incident, Tawa was a frequent visitor to his residence, pointed out that the deceased was his relation and was known to every member of his family. “On this fateful day, she met me in my house and I asked her where she was going and she told me that someone sent her on errand but decided to call at my house”. When contacted, the
Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mrs. Folashade Odoro said the suspect was arrested by detectives from the State Criminal Investigations Department, SCID, led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Jimoh. She said the suspect recently returned from Lagos and was a hemp smoker, even as she said that Rafiu would soon be arraigned in court.
Police arrest cable vandals in Uyo TONY ANICHEBE UYO
T
he police in Akwa Ibom State have paraded four suspects, Sylvester Emmanuel Ime, Godwin Effiong Akpan, Favour Joseph Godstime and Charles Okoye for vandalising electric armoured cables worth N2 million, property of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. Parading the suspects and the stolen cables in Uyo, the Assistant Superintendent of Police, Onyeka Orji, said the arrest was made following a tip off from members of the public. He added that a Mack truck with registration number XB 421 NGK, Toyota Corolla car with registration number AA 256 SKP, Nissan Primera car with registration number BMT 194 AA, and
one brown hand saw cutter, one screw driver, two Nokia phones and photocopiers were recovered from the suspects. Orji said the case is still under investigation. He attributed the recent breakthrough in crime fighting to the proactive policing strategies, saying in spite of notable achievements, the command remains resolute in ensuring that the onslaught against criminal elements was sustained. He however commended the public for their cooperation, as he urged them to be security conscious and vigilant in guarding government installations, as hoodlums usually exploit blackouts to unleash mayhem. “Apart from being security conscious we should also be passionate about protecting government infrastructure, because they belong to us.
Austin Avuru wins Ernst and Young Award
M Pavillion of Women Agro Link Foundation from Akwa Ibom, at the 2013 National Agricultural Show in Tudun Wada, Nasarawa State, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN
Pastor, others arraigned over threat to life JOSHUA DADA OSOGBO
A
pastor and three others have been arraigned at an Osun State Magistrate’s Court sitting in Osogbo for alleged harmful damage and threat to life. Pastor Joseph Ikutanmoni of the Apostolic Church Olorunsogo District Temidire Estate, Osogbo, Muritala Adewale, Adesina Moshood Akintayo and Engineer Ashola Samson were said to have committed the offence in 2011 and 2013 at Osogbo, the state capital.
Pastor Ikutanmoni and others were alleged to have maliciously damaged the property of one Dr. Adeyemi Olubukola Gbadebo. The charge sheet read: “that you Engineer, Ashola Samson on July 2,, 2013 at the aforementioned place threatened to kill Dr. Adeyemi Olubukola Gbadebo”. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd accused persons had earlier been granted bail by Magistrate A.A. Olowolagba of the same court before the charge sheet was substituted to include the 4th
accused, Engineer Ashola on the same charge. According to the police prosecutor, Inspector Taiwo Adegoke, the four accused committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 516, 451 and 86 of the criminal code cap 34, vol. II laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2013. When the plea was taken, all the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the counts. Their counsels, Bode Babalola and Niyi Akinsola, prayed the court to allow the former bail and that the court should ad-
mit the 4th accused to bail on the most liberal term. Babalola and Akinsola, maintained that all the accused persons are ready to stand trial, adding that they will not interfere with police investigations. Delivering his ruling, Magistrate Olowolagba ordered that the former bail granted to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd accused persons continue, while the 4th accused was granted bail in the sum of N100, 000 with one surety, who must swear to an affidavit of means as he adjourned the case till December 6, 2013 for hearing.
anaging Director and Chief Executive officer of Seplat Petroleum Development Company, Austin Avuru, has won the highly prestigious and coveted Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Master Category for the Nigeria and West African sub-region. With this feat, Avuru joins the league of globally recognized entrepreneurs like Aliko Dangote who won in 2012. Mr. Avuru, a thoroughbred industry professional and vocal advocate of indigenous participation in the Exploration and Production sectors of the Nigerian oil industry, will be contesting alongside other winners from the various regions for the global Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year which will hold in Monaco in June 2014. Avuru studied Geology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, second class upper division in 1980. He proceeded
to the University of Ibadan for Post Graduate Diploma in Petroleum Engineering and left with a Distinction. He would go on to work at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for 12years. He is a sought after speaker on Oil and Gas issues and author of 2 critically acclaimed books. Speaking at the award ceremony, the Honourable Minister of Trade, Olusegun Aganga, elaborated on the many benefits of events such as the Ernst and Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the need to celebrate entrepreneurs as they boost the economy by their business initiatives which provide employment amongst many other. Mr. Henry Egbiki, Ernst & Young’s Regional Managing Partner for West Africa, who described the award as “the most prestigious award that recognises entrepreneurs across the world,” said finalists and winners of the award emerged after an extensive and intensive process.
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
North
Monday, November 11, 2013
202km Abuja-Lokoja Road ready next year –Minister OLUFEMI ADEOSUN ABUJA
T
he Federal Government has promised to meet the 2014 target date for the completion of the Abuja-Lokoja Road. The government said it had completed about 150km of the 202km road. Awarded in 2006 by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the road has sev-
erally been abandoned until the current administration decided to give it attention. Speaking during an inspection of the project at the weekend, the Minister of State for Works, Amb. Bashir Yuguda, re-affirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to deliver the road in the first quarter of next year. Yuguda said the reason for the continuous inspection and monitoring of the project was to tell the con-
tractors the need to give it robust attention. He said: “The objective of coming out to inspect this road is to make sure that the contractors are working according to our plans and to also make sure that all our major dualisation projects are on course because it is part of the Federal Government’s transformation and part of what we promised Nigerians. “We have gone through all the four sections, from
Abuja up to Okene-Lokoja route, we have seen the sections; I have inspected them. We have achieved about 80 percent completion in the first two sections of the road. The last two sections stretching from Kutonkarifi to Lokoja have been a bit slow. The contractors have some technical issues which we have solved. We believe that if we are pushing them, we will intensify our supervision and they have to sit up.”
Beneficiary, Hajia Zainab Umar (left); Bauchi State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sagir Saleh (3rd right); former Minister of State for Health, Dr. Muhammed Pate (2nd right); Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Nisser (right) and others, during the SURE-P conditional cash Transfer pilot programme in Soro Ganjuwa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, at the PHOTO: NAN weekend
Govt to boost healthcare delivery with N231m PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA
T
he Niger State Government has awarded contracts worth N231 million for the supply of equipment and upgrading of health facilities across the 25 local government areas of the state. The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ibrahim Sule, who stated this while addressing journalists after
the state executive council meeting in Minna, said the effort was initiated to improve healthcare delivery to the people. Sule said of the amount, N95 million would be spent on the purchase and installation of the latest CT scanning machine at the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Specialist Hospital in Lapai. Also to be installed at the specialists hospital is lapa-
roscopy machine valued at N26 million. The decision, according to the commissioner, was to prepare the specialist hospital for its expected role as the medical school of the IBB University. Sule said N39.6 million would be spent on the fencing of the Kontagora General Hospital, while N17.3 million would also be spent on the construction of a
modern pharmacy block at the same hospital. He added that N15.8 million would be invested in the building of the maternity wing of the Umar Sanda Ndayako Hospital Bida and another N6 million on the re-roofing of the Social Rehabilitation Centre in Minna, while the wall to wall perimeter fencing of the centre will cost N27.6 million.
Centenarian who witnessed Nigeria’s amalgamation dead PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA
A
centenarian, Mallam Goman Salihu, who witnessed the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorate of Nigeria by Sir Lord Luggard, passed on yesterday in Zungeru, Wushishi Local Government Area of Niger State.
Mallam Salihu, it was gathered was the only living man that witnessed the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914 by the colonial masters to form Nigeria. A family source told National Mirror that the late centenarian died at the age of 120 years, leaving behind his widow, Zainab Abbu, 18 children and many grand-children.
It was also learnt that the late Salihu, aside from being one of the oldest man in Zungeru, was respected by all for his ability to gather people together so as to live in peace. Chairman of the Zungeru Community Development Association, Alhaji Salman Yusuf, described the late centenarian as father, adding that he would be greatly missed. He, however, prayed Allah
to grant him eternal rest and give the family the fortitude to bear the lost. Salihu’s body was laid to rest yesterday in Zungeru at about 2:0pm. His younger brother, Ahmadu Salihu, received sympathizers on behalf of the Traditional Head of Zungeru, Alhaji Salisu Abubakar, who was said to have travelled to Kano for his son’s wedding.
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Peace has returned to crisisravaged Agatu LG –Police HENRY IYORKASE MAKURDI
P
eace has returned to Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, the police claimed yesterday. The State Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Mr. Daniel Ezeala, said the peace returned to the local government following the deployment of antiriot policemen to quell the disturbance that ravaged the six villages of Agatu natives at the weekend. Ezeala, however, confirmed that six persons were killed in the disturbance, adding that efforts had been intensified to arrest the perpetrators for prosecution. He said the command had deployed over 50 armed policemen to keep vigil in the local government in case of any attempt to foment further trouble. Ezeala assured that anyone caught disturbing public peace would be prosecuted accordingly. It will be recalled that some suspected Fulani herdsmen have
invaded Agatu communities in recent times leading to the destruction of lives and property. Meanwhile, former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Dave Iorhemba, has alleged that some suspected marauders invaded Yogbo in Guma Local Government Area especially at nights and attacked residents. Iorhemba said that many residents had fled the community to avoid the recurrence of what he described as the unprovoked attacks by the suspected marauders. He, however, called on the government to stop the incessant onslaught with a view to save his constituents from total extermination. Iorhemba said: I want to emphasize here without mincing words that we are being killed like a chicken in our own state. Nigerians are watching and nobody appears to show any concern and if urgent steps are not taken to arrest the situation, the situation will, one day, go out of control.
Niger SURE-P to build Three Star Hotel at N436m RISCILLA DENNIS MINNA
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he Subsidy Reinvestment Empower ment Programme (SURE-P) has concluded move to partner with the Niger State Development Company (NSDC) to construct a Three Star Hotel at the cost of N436 million. The state SURE-P Director General, Alhaji Hassan Nuhu, said at the weekend in Minna that the effort was initiated to create employment for youths. He said that contract for the hotel had been awarded to Fourth Dimension Limited, adding the project was expected to be completed in 10 months and handed to the state government.
Nuhu said: “The contract has been awarded to a reputable firm that has track record of performance for the construction of a Three Star Hotel to add value to Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre.” Under the arrangement, the SURE-P will provide 70 per cent of the cost while the Niger State Development Company will provide 30 per cent balance of the cost of the project. He said: “ But we will not embark on any ground breaking ceremony, rather we have instructed the contractor to keep the work schedule so that the project is completed with the 10 months period effective from October 1, 2013 so that the July 2014 handover and inauguration date is achieved.”
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Monday, November 11, 2013
Tragedy as man sets self ablaze in Katsina JAMES DANJUMA KATSINA
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ragedy struck at the weekend at the Dandagoro area of Katsina State as a middle-aged man, Sani Salisu, killed himself after he poured petrol on his body and set himself ablaze. Salisu, a Grade Level 13
officer in the state Ministry of Health, had sustained first degree burns and was rushed to the hospital where he was confirmed dead by medical personnel. National Mirror learnt that the deceased had armed himself with a gallon of petrol and matches, and had gone into an open field at the Dandagoro area, where he petrol-bathe himself before
setting himself ablaze. Aminu Abba, an eyewitness that helped put out the fire along other sympathisers, said the incident occurred Saturday night at about 7:30pm. “We met him on the ground with fire all over his body; So we rushed and put off the fire. We then sought to know what happened, but he told us that he was fed up with life and
had decided to set himself ablaze because his wife had abandoned him and ran away with his child.” A staff nurse at the Accident and Emergency Ward of the state’s General Hospital, Aminu Suleiman, told our correspondent that the deceased was severely burnt and that it was a first degree burn when he was brought into the hospital.
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Five die, two injured in Bauchi auto crash EZEKIEL TITUS BAUCHI
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bout five people died in an auto crash while two others were seriously injured in Nabardo village, Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State. The incident occurred at the weekend. It was gathered that the accident which occurred around 2.20pm, involved a Toyota Carina car with registration number: AA184GYD and an articulated truck with registration number: NA 1707 BO, carrying over 100 soldiers, mostly likely heading to Borno and Yobe States to combat the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents in the area. An eyewitness, who did not want his name in print, said the driver of the Toyota car was trying to overtake an-
other vehicle when he collided with the army truck which somersaulted with the soldiers. According to him; “The scene of the accident is usually known to be a dangerous spot, because the road around that place is very narrow and any miscalculated attempt by any vehicle can be very fatal, particularly when on top speed”. The state’s FRSC Sector Commander, Mr. Sunday Henry Olatunji, who confirmed the incident said, out of the 10 victims, five persons were confirmed dead on the spot while two others sustained injuries. He said; “Out of the 10 people that were affected by the crash, we have eight males and two females. Among the dead were three males and two females”.
Kano destroys N3bn worth of prohibited drugs OTHMAN SALIHU Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako (6th right) with bishops and eminent clerics from the Niger-Delta, who paid him a courtesy call in Yola, at the weekend. PHOTO: NAN
FG committed to completing Ajaokuta complex –Maku Needs $1.2bn to complete plant WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA
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inister of Information and the Leader of Good Governance Team, Mr. Labaran Maku, has reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to complete the ailing Ajaokuta Steel Company.
Maku, who disclosed this while fielding questions at the Town Hall meeting of the stakeholders at the end of a three-day tour of projects of federal and state governments in Kogi State at weekend, said that it would be a crime against humanity if the plant is not completed. The minister, who lamented that if successive
administrations had taken some drastic measures to continue where the former President Shehu Shagari left the firm, that the situation wouldn’t have been this bad. Earlier in his remark, the Sole Administrator of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL), Mr. Joseph Isah Onobere, has said that about $1.2 billion is still required to achieve rehabilitation,
completion and commissioning of the plant. Onobere, who disclosed this while receiving the National Good Governance Team led by the Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku at the complex in Ajaokuta, said that the plant, which was developed in three phases, is presently at about 95 percent completion in the first phase.
Plateau LGs urged to employ doctors to man PHCs JAMES ABRAHAM JOS
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uthorities of the 17 local government areas of Plateau State have been urged to employ at least one doctor to oversee service delivery in Primary Health Clinics (PHCs) in their area. State Commissioner for Health, Dr Fom Dakwak, who spoke in Langtang South Local Government Area when he visited the Chairman, Mr. Christopher Bello, after visiting the area to monitor the
on-going Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis (CSM) immunisation exercise, said the presence of medical doctors would shore up health service delivery in such areas. “Once there is a doctor, the various units of the PHCs would be well coordinated to help the rural dwellers. “We want a situation where each local government will employ at least a doctor that could effectively man the various PHCs, because they are key to effective healthcare delivery in the interiors,” he said.
Dakwak asked the councils to also employ more medical staff to cater for women and children, whose cases usually required more attention. He commended the management of the local government for their support to programmes of the health ministry, especially immunisations against Polio, Measles and Hepatitis. The commissioner described the turn out for the CSM exercise as very encouraging and advised that the review committee meetings on the 10-day exercise be more
consistent so as to attain high coverage. Responding, Bello thanked the government for promoting many programmes toward a healthy populace, pointing out that healthy people are usually progressive people. “Health is wealth, so whatever we can do as a council to ensure a healthy and strong populace shall be done. “I shall consult with my management team to see how we could employ more hands, including a doctor, in our PHCs for efficiency and effectiveness,” he declared.
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he Kano State government has confiscated and destroyed over N3billion worth of drugs since it initiated the war against the sale and consumption of fake and substandard drugs in the state. State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, revealed this while setting ablaze a huge consignment of illicit and counterfeit drugs at Farawa, in the outskirts of Kano city, over the weekend. While saying that the battle started nearly one year ago, he confirmed that assorted substandard and adulterated food items worth over N500 million were also destroyed. According to him, his administration is determined to get rid of all kinds of fake drugs and adulterated food items because of the threat they pose to man and development. He expressed happiness that the committee set up by the government, in collaboration with relevant authorities prosecuting the anti-drug war, are now impounding vehicles transporting bad
drugs, announcing that such vehicles will also be destroyed to discourage commercial drivers from assisting illegal drugs dealers. The governor directed the committee responsible for the confiscation of illicit drugs and adulterated food items to put in more effort to arrest the drug dealers and expose them to the society. Speaking earlier, state Commissioner of Health Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf said that the illicit drugs set ablaze by the governor were worth N413 million, adding that they were impounded from various locations within the city. The commissioner added that two Opel Vectra saloon cars involved in the transportation of the unwanted drugs were also part of the destruction exercise. Also speaking, the Chairman of the Kano State Consumer Protection Council, Alhaji Nuhu Bello, said 316 contaminated bags of rice, 10 adulterated containers of sorrel cocktail drinks, locally called Zobo drink as well as a large consignment of cigarettes worth N98 million were part of items destroyed during the exercise.
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World News
Survivors ‘walk like zombies’ after Philippine typhoon kills estimated 10,000
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When you look at the amount of sarin gas used, the vectors, the techniques behind such an attack, as well as other aspects, it seems to leave no doubt that the regime (of President Assad) is behind it. – FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER, LAURENT FABIUS
African workers in Riyadh seek repatriation after two riot deaths
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housands of mostly African workers gathered in Riyadh on Sunday seeking repatriation after two people were killed in overnight rioting that followed a visa crackdown by Saudi authorities. One of those killed was a Saudi, said a government statement, and the other was not identified. An Ethiopian man was killed in a visa raid last week. Ethiopia’s foreign minister condemned the deaths, and told Reuters his government was working to bring its citizens home. “This is unacceptable. We call on the Saudi government to investigate this issue seriously. We are also happy to take our citizens, who should be treated with dignity while they are there,” Foreign Affairs Minister Tedros Adhanom said. He said Addis Ababa had formally complained to Riyadh and that embassy staff were working to help Ethiopians return home. Hundreds of foreign workers clashed with police on Saturday night and into Sunday in Manfouha, a poor district of southern Riyadh where many low-income expatriates live. Saudi authorities said 68 were also wounded, including 20 Saudis. More than 500 were detained and over 100 cars torched. The Saudis said earlier this year they would no longer tolerate visa irregularities which have
Hundreds of foreign workers leaving the Manfuhah district, yesterday.
led to a large black market in cheap foreign labor in the world’s top oil exporter. Government raids on businesses, markets and homes began last week after a seven-month amnesty for foreigners to correct their visas or leave without paying penalties for overstaying or breaking other rules, ended on November 4. In Manfouha, a long line of buses slowly filled up, as Africans arrived from neighboring streets, alone or in groups, and carrying bags. One man walked with his little daughter, while women carried babies, Reuters witnesses said.
Groups of people in Arab and south Asian dress stood on rooftops to watch. While the scene unfolded peacefully, many police stood nearby and several ambulances were also present. “No iqama (residence permit),” said one man who said he was seeking repatriation to Ethiopia. He said he had arrived in Saudi Arabia illegally a year ago after paying smugglers 5,000 Saudi riyals ($1,333) to make the dangerous trip over the Strait of Hormuz and overland through Yemen. “There’s no money at home. Nothing at home,” he said, pulling a suitcase on wheels.
Saudi authorities hope to open up private sector jobs to their own citizens by sending illegal workers home. Hundreds of thousands have left in recent months, but several million have corrected their visas and will remain in Saudi Arabia. Many say they could not take advantage of the amnesty due to bureaucratic problems or disputes with their original employers. On Saturday, the Labour Ministry announced it would continue to allow foreign workers to rectify their visas, but only if they paid fines for previous breaches of regulations.
Libya to face budget problems unless oil strikes end –PM
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ibya may find it difficult to cover its budget expenditure from next month and could lose Italy as a gas and oil business partner unless strikes blocking oil ports and fields end, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Sunday.
A mix of militias, tribes and civil servants seeking political rights or higher pay have seized oil ports and fields across the OPEC producer, knocking down output to a fraction of its capacity of 1.25 million barrels a day. Zeidan said the government
Libya’s Prime Minister Ali Zeidan speaks during a joint news conference at the headquarters of the Prime Minister’s Office in Tripoli, yesterday.
had given the protesters a week to 10 days to clear the blocked oil fields and ports. “Otherwise we will take measures,” he said, declining to be more specific. An autonomy movement in eastern Libya, which has seized several oil ports, said on Sunday it had formed a regional oil firm in a challenge to the central government in Tripoli. Zeidan’s government is struggling to rein in dozens of militias who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi two years ago but have kept their weapons. “The budget is based on the assumption that oil revenues flow for the (full) year,” Zeidan told reporters. “From next or the following month, there could be a prob-
lem covering expenditure. Due to the oil (export) delays the state is ... facing a deficit.” He said the blockage of the Mellitah terminal, owned by Italy’s ENI and Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC), might force Italy to buy gas and oil elsewhere. Protesters have stopped oil exports from Mellitah, 100 km (60 miles) west of Tripoli, and have threatened to halt gas exports from there too. “Italy is now (Libya’s) biggest partner. It would be a grave matter if gas exports got blocked because they import between 23 and 25 per cent of their oil needs and also import gas. If now gas gets stopped, they might look for other sources and leave us,” he said.
WORLD BULLETIN
Liberian editor says libel case to be settled soon
A Liberian editor jailed earlier this year in a libel case that sparked an international outcry said Sunday he is confident his legal troubles will soon be resolved. Rodney Sieh, publisher and editor of the privately-owned newspaper FrontPageAfrica, was jailed in August after failing to pay $1.5m in damages awarded to former Agriculture Minister Chris Toe. In 2010, Sieh’s newspaper published allegations from the country’s anti-corruption watchdog that Toe’s ministry could not account for millions of dollars. Sieh’s imprisonment tarnished the press freedom record of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a joint winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. Although Sirleaf last year became the second African head of state to sign the Declaration of Table Mountain, which calls for the Africa-wide repeal of defamation and “insult” laws, multiple libel convictions have been handed down since she came to power in 2006, and no newspaper has won a libel case during that time, according to the Press Union of Liberia.
South African platinum miners stage sit-in at Northam’s Dechaba
About 2,000 South African mineworkers staged an underground sitin at Northam Platinum’s Dechaba mine, saying they will not leave until a fired union leader is reinstated. South Africa’s platinum producers are bracing for more work stoppages as the National Union of Mineworkers, NUM, and its rival the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, AMCU, have threatened top producers Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin with strikes which could affect at least half of global output. The country was hit by wildcat strikes last year which dented economic growth, led to a credit downgrade and saw dozens being killed in the turf war between AMCU and the NUM. Seven thousand miners at Northam’s Zondereinde operation affiliated to the NUM downed tools last week demanding wage increases of between 22 and 43 per cent and a rise in housing allowances of 69 per cent. Northam, the world’s No. 5 producer, has improved its initial offer twice and is offering increases of 7 to 8 per cent in the first year, slightly above inflation at 6 per cent. “The sit-in started at 8 a.m. on Saturday and the workers are from different unions. It is not a strike, it is peaceful, but they are refusing to surface,” police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi told Reuters. South Africa orphanage worker charged in poisoning.
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Monday, November 11, 2013
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Survivors ‘walk like zombies’ after Philippine typhoon kills estimated 10,000
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ne of the most powerful storms ever recorded killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines, a senior police official said yesterday, with huge waves sweeping away coastal villages and devastating one of the main cities in the region. Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 per cent of structures in its path as it tore through Leyte province on Friday, said police chief superintendent Elmer Soria, before weakening and heading west for Vietnam.
As rescue workers struggled to reach ravaged villages along the coast, where the death toll is as yet unknown, survivors foraged for food or searched for lost loved ones. “People are walking like zombies looking for food,” said Jenny Chu, a medical student in Leyte. “It’s like a movie.” Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by surging sea water strewn with debris that many said resembled a tsunami, leveling houses and drowning hundreds of people in one of the worst disasters to hit
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PUBLIC NOTICE
ANOINTED LIGHT MINISTRY INTERNATIONAL
This is to informed the general public that the above named church has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under part ‘C’ of the companies and Allied matters Act, 1990
THE TRUSTEES ARE:
• Pastor Ogbeta • Mrs. Queen Johnson Ejokeoghene • Ukane Christiana Emetenena
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:
`– G.O – Secretary – Member
1. To preach the gospel to all nation of the world in accordance with the words of our lord Jesus Christ. 2. To provide for the less privileged 3. To preach and train Christians to posses the good Christian virtues to shines as light on the world and salt of the earth. 4. As a church we seek to promote unity amongst Christians, by de emphasizing Any objection to the registration should be addressed to the Registrar general Corporate Affairs commission, plot 420 Tigris crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street P.M.B. 198 Maitama Abuja within 28 days from the date of this publication. SIGNED: PASTOR OGBETA G.O
1 of 22. A boy carrying a plastic bottle of water walks past a car which slammed into damaged houses after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city, central Philippines, yesterday.
the typhoon-prone Southeast Asian nation. The national governCHANGE OF NAME
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PUBLIC NOTICE SOCIETY FOR YOUTH RENAISSANCE & EMPOWERMENT
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This is to notify the general public that the above named society has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004.
THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1 Alh. Tokunbo Korodo 2 Philips O.Idogbe 3 Bello Azeez Adebowale 4 Aremu Murtala Yusuf 5 Ogunleye Taiwo A. Olugboroko 6 Oshunade E. Qudus 7 Alhaji Saka Sikiru Abdullahi.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. Advancement of self development of members and other youths 2. Exchange of ideas on skills acquisition by members and other youth. Any objection to this Registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days from the day of this publication. SIGNED: ONYEKACHI EZEMMA KACHI EZEMMA & CO. 08023127975
a sharp increase from initial estimates on Saturday of at least 1,200 killed by a storm whose sustained winds reached 195 miles per hour (313 km per hour) with gusts of up to 235 mph. “We had a meeting last night with the governor and the other officials. The governor said, based on their estimate, 10,000 died,” Soria told Reuters. “The devastation is so big.” About 300 people died in neighbouring Samar province, where Haiyan first hit land on Friday as a category 5 typhoon, with 2,000 missing, said a provincial
disaster agency official. Nearly 480,000 people were displaced and 4.5 million “affected” by the typhoon in 36 provinces, the national disaster agency said, as relief agencies called for food, water, medicines and tarpaulins for the homeless. International aid agencies said relief efforts in the Philippines were stretched thin after a 7.2 magnitude quake in central Bohol province last month and displacement caused by a conflict with Muslim rebels in southern Zamboanga province.
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Kwankwaso, Nollywood seek Eaglets’ progress
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Sport
There is no doubt that Nigeria will prevail over Ethiopia in Calabar. I think Brazil is sure!” Super Eagles striker, Ike Uche
Eagles camp opens in Calabar
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he Super Eagles camp in Calabar, Cross River State, will open today, with almost all the players expected late evening and early tomorrow, according to Team Secretary, Dayo Enebi Achor Cross River Sports Commissioner, Patrick Ugbe, also revealed that logistics have been put in place for a fruitful camping and eventual victory for the Super Eagles on Saturday against the Walya Ibex of Ethiopia. “We are ready for the national team as always because we are used to them and they are used to us,” Ugbe said yesterday. “We expect nothing but a handsome victory and we know the Eagles are up to it,” he added. Achor said the scheduled Tuesday training would howev-
Keshi
er depend on availability of the players. “The technical crew has fashioned a winning formula and I believe all will be well as expected,” the team secretary submitted.
…Dike replaces Nwofor
Super Eagles striker Emmanuel Emenike (in white shirt) will be relied on to rattle Ethiopia to submission in Calabar on Saturday
Nigeria set to pick Brazil ticket–Maigari
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resident of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Aminu Maigari, yesterday assured Nigerians that the Super Eagles will earn a ticket to the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in their final qualifying match against Ethiopia in Calabar on Saturday. “We started the year with the Africa Cup of Nations trophy and ending the year with the U-17 World Cup. On Saturday, we will pick up the ticket to the 2014 FIFA
World Cup finals in Brazil,” Maigari said.. “The Super Eagles have done the hard job in Ethiopia, but we cannot afford to be overconfident and leave our guards. The team will play the second leg game as if it is the World Cup final.” The Golden Eaglets’ victory in UAE, after a no-show in Mexico 2011, is the most enthralling zeroto-hero, absence-to-eminence story in the history of the FIFA U-17 World Cup finals.
“We celebrate the Eaglets’ triumph but we have to now focus on the 2014 World Cup qualifying match in Calabar,” Maigari added. “It is most important for our team to be at that biggest showpiece, in a year that our nation will be celebrating her Centenary.” Nigeria goes into the Calabar game from a 2-1 win in the first leg in Addis Ababa last month and the Eagles are favourites to seal the ticket effortlessly.
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uper Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, has replaced injured SC Heerenveen of Netherlands’ striker Uche Nwofor, with Toronto FC of Canada striker Bright Dike as the team resumes full training tomorrow. Dike, who was brought into the squad last year and scored a fabulous goal in the friendly against Catalonia in Barcelona
Nigeria vs Ethiopia: FIFA replaces Rwandan ref
F FIFA boss, Blatter
IFA yesterday replaced Rwandan official, Felicien Kabanda, earlier billed to serve as Assistant Referee 2 in Saturday’s 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Nigeria and Ethiopia. According to theworld body, Kabanda’s role will now be played by Marwa Range from Kenya, even as
all other officials as previously announced retained their roles. Saturday’s game is the final qualifying game for the African champion, who hold a 2-1 advantage from the first leg away in Ethiopia last month. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has said it would leave no stone unturned in esnsuring Nigeria’s qualification.
Dike
in January, missed the Africa Cup of Nations outing in South Africa due to injury. “We are bringing in Bright this time because we know what he’s capable of,” Keshi said yesterday. The Super Eagles, who face Ethiopia on Saturday in Calabar, will take on the Azurri of Italy on Monday at the Craven Cottage home of Fulham.
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Sport
Monday, November 11, 2013
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Ahmed salutes ‘golden team’ WOLE ADEDEJI ILORIN
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wara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, has joined other Nigerians to congratulate the Golden Eaglets over their victory in the United Arab Emirates. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary, Wahab Oba, yesterday described the team’s display at the U-17 World Cup as phenomenal, entertaining, inspiring
Governor Ahmed
and delightful. “It was a pointer to the fact that with unity of purpose, Nigeria could rule the world in every facet of life,” Ahmed said. “The players remind government at all levels of the need to invest hugely in the future of the country by making the environment conducive for the youths,” he added, stressing, “Kwara State is proud to have one of its own, Taiwo Awoniyi, as a member of the victorious team and I congratulate the Awoniyi family of Ola in Irepodun Local Government Area of the state.” The Governor pledged that his administration would give priority to youth development by availing them with facilities to develop their skills to become world class stars.
APC congratulates Nigeria
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he All Progressives Congress (APC) has congratulated the Golden Eaglets for what the party calls historic and exciting victory at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. A statement by APC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, yesterday said the victory indicated that Nigerian youths had the wherewithal to be world beaters in all areas of human endeavour. “If such a huge suc-
cess can be achieved at a time that Nigerian youths have been left demoralized by the malodorous policies of a government that keeps scoring own goals, one can only imagine the kind of positive energy that will be unleashed by the youths under a responsive, purposeful government,” Mohammed said. ‘’The victory is even sweeter because the Golden Eaglets did not lose a single match all through the tournament.
Excited Eaglets delight after the final whistle in Abu Dhabi on Friday
Keshi joyous in Eaglets’ success AFOLABI GAMBARI
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uper Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, yesterday said that the Golden Eaglets have brought immense joy to him while praising the players and technical crew for making the nation proud. “The players demonstrated ability to learn while the coaches showed that they are some of the best from Africa,”
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for the boys towards the main national team, even as I think that age has got nothing to do with the players getting into the Super Eagles,” he further said. “I will want the players to take the natural route of maturity, play for the Flying Eagles, then maybe the U-23 and then we can start looking at some of them that can make impact in the national team.”
Kwankwaso, Nollywood seek team progress OTHMAN SALIHU KANO
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overnor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has advocated that the conquering Golden Eaglets be kept intact until they evolve in the senior team in the near future. “I would like to appeal that the boys are properly nurtured and motivated to metamorphose into a formidable Super Eagles team,” Kwankwaso said in a
Squash: Zambia listed for Lagos Classics
ambia is the latest team to confirm its participation in the Lagos International Squash Classics holding from November 13 to 16 at the Molade OkoyaThomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium. Tournament Director, Wasiu Sanni, Zambia, a joint bronze medalist with Nigeria at the 2003 All Africa Games in Abuja, will have a four-man team made up of two male and two female athletes taking part in the championship. The Southern African team will join former world’s top 10 rated player, England’s Adrian Grant who
Keshi said. “I hail the Sports Minister and the Nigeria Football Federation for providing conducive environment for the team and we hope it will continue to be like that all the times,” he added. Keshi, however, cautioned on calls to promote some of the outstanding Eaglets to the Super Eagle’ team. “There should be a gradual push
had already signed up for the Lagos Classics, which will kick off on Wednesday. Sanni also listed the Nigerian players that will join the foreigners in the $40, 000 prize money championship. In the men’s event, Nigeria’s top seeded player, Jonathan Peters, will lead the home team that comprise Endurance Omosan, Idowu Enimakure, Tunde Ajagbe, Gbenga Adeyi, Wale Amao, Jerry Ojodioffo and Taiwo Sadiq. The four female athletes representing Nigeria at the classics are Joy Ugbememe, Kafayat Idris, Udeme AFN boss, Ogba James and Ebifemi Taiwo.
statement in Kano at the weekend. “After watching the opening match of the tournament in which Nigeria beat Mexico 6-1, I became optimistic that the boys will do us proud ultimately,” he added. Vice President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria Salihu Othman Isah, also advised the Nigeria Football Federation to enable the players to progress together and blossom into the senior national side.
Governor Kwankwaso
…Ogba hails Abdullahi, Maigari
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resident of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Evangelist Solomon Ogba, has congratulated the Sports Minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, and the President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, on the success achieved by the Golden Eaglets. Ogba, who was in Dubai to drum the Eaglets’ support, said the success manifested the quality of talent in Nigeria. “Under Abdullahi, we won the Africa Cup of Nations after 19 years in South Africa in February 2013 while Super Eagles are also on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil,” the AFN boss said. Ogba also recalled that the Nigerian track and field teams recorded great feats at the senior, junior and youth levels in Africa during Abdullahi’s era.
“Also after a 14 years’ absence on the medals table of the IAAF World Championships, Blessing Okagbare won two medals for Nigeria in the last IAAF World Championship and won a silver medal in long jump and a bronze medal in the 200 meters race,” he added.
Maigari
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Sport
Monday, November 11, 2013
55
Taiwo, Eneramo open goal accounts in Turkey • Chrisantus, Uchebo also on target IKENWA NNABUOGOR
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n Turkey, forgotten Super Eagles left back Taye Taiwo fired his first goal of the season but was on the losing side as Bursarpor was beaten 2-1 at Sivaspor on Saturday. The former AC Milan left levelled scores in the 77th minute after the hosts, who were without John Utaka, had taken the 59th minute. The hosts would into the lead again three minutes later and that was how it stood. Taiwo, as usual, saw 90 minutes of action in the encounter as he continued his superb showing that has seen him cover every single blade grass this season for his new side. He has only seen a yellow thus far this season. Also in Turkey, former Esperance skipper Michael Eneramo opened his season’s account for fourth-placed Besiktas, netting the third goal in their 3-0 whitewash of Kayserispor on Saturday. Eneramo, who had been on the treatment table since he switched from Sivaspor in the summer, got to the end of through pass, tapping in with great relish in the added time of the encounter, to compound the woes of the hosts. Eneramo did not however start the game, replacing Portuguese strike partner Hugo Almeida in the 72nd minute. He has so far made two starts in his four outings for his new club this season. In Belgium, towering striker Michael Uchebo has refused to look back in his new found goal scoring form as he was on song again for the third time in the last four weeks, scoring once in Cercle Brugge’s 3-1 home win against Kortrijk on Saturday. Uchebo, who was on from start for the umpteenth time, shot his side two goals up in the 23rd minute after the visitors had scored an own goal to hand Cercle Brugge in the lead. Uchebo has now scored three league goals in 13 appearances for the erstwhile strugglers who have not shot to seventh place with this victory. In Spain, former Golden Eaglets’ striker Macauley Chrisantus was also on target for second division side Las Palmas who were beaten 2-1 at Hercules on Saturday. Chrisantus put his visiting side in the lead after 18 minutes before Hercules even scores 12 minutes later and opened a lead few minutes after the recess
and that was how it ended. Chrisantus was on from start from finish in the game that he also upped his account to five goals. He has so far made eight appearances so far this season. Earlier on Friday, ex-Flying Eagles’ captain Ramon Azeez continued his impressive start for newly-promoted Almeria, seeing another 90 minute action in Almeria’s 1-0 win at Osasuna. Azeez has now made four consecutive full time appearances for his side this season. Having made just two appearances and 31 outings for the senior team and reserves respectively last season, Ramon has upped his game this season, making eight senior appearances so far in the Spanish top flight. Back in Belgium, young Nigerian striker Imoh Ezekiel failed to hit the target for table-topping Standard Liege for the second week running as table-topping Standard Liege ended their home tie against Club Brugges goalless on Sunday. The 20-year old star started the game, his 14th of the season, but was pulled out in the 65th minute. The former 36 Lion striker is still on six goals from 15 games and has been cautioned just twice so far this season. He fired in 16 goals in his first full season last term for the multiple Belgian champions. In England, Super Eagles’ midfielder John Obi Mikel continued his soldering on in Chelsea’s colours this season with yet another substitute appearance as the Blues rallied to 2-2 draw against West Brom at the Bridge on Saturday. Mikel, who has fallen down the pecking order following a few arrivals this season, was introduced in the 73rd minute as the Blues trailed 2-1 and only needed the aid of the centre referee Lee Probert to salvage a point via a dubious penalty in the sixth minute of added time. That was Mikel’s sixth outing so far this season and has a goal, his first since he arrived in 2006, to his credit. On West Brom side was Victor Anichebe, who joined the fray in the 79th minute as he continued his search for his first Baggies’ goal. Anichebe took Shane Long’s place after the latter had put the visitors’ in the lead in the 61st minute. He has so far made six appearances, including four starts for his new side.
Taye Taiwo (c) celebrate’s goal with teammate
Still in England, Super Eagles striker Shola Ameobi was again for the second week running, on from start for Newcastle disgraced Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 before their disappointed home fans on Sunday. Ameobi, who’s yet to open his season’s account, made way for the Dutch striker Vurnon Anita in the 60th minute. Ameobi has made five outings so far this season. Out of favour Super Eagles’ striker Osaze Odemwingie only saw 55 minutes of action for newly-promoted Cardiff City, who fell 2-0 at home in the hands of Aston Villa. ‘Osaz’ was on from start before he was pulled out for strike partner Frazier Campbell. The former West Brom striker has so made seven appearances and scored once. Super Eagles’ winger Victor Moses was in action for
Michael Eneramo
rampant Liverpool who bashed Fulham 4-0 on Saturday. Moses was introduced in the 76th minute for England striker Daniel Sturridge but could not register his name on the score sheet as the Reds had done all the scoring 20 minutes after he came on. Moses has only managed only a goal in seven appearances for second-placed side. In Italy, Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi was on from start to finish for Lazio in their Sunday’s 1-1 draw against hosts Parma. The former Golden Eaglet was making his ninth league appearance so far this season. He has also seen yellow twice. Still on the game, on loan Parma midfielder, Joel Obi limped off injured after 23 minutes and was replaced by Chilean midfielder Andres Valdes. Obi, who joined Parma on loan
t h i s summer from Inter Milan had just returned from injury that sidelined him for the better part of last season as well as early this season. He has only made three appearances and earned bench selections seven times so far this season. In Russia, Super Eagles winger Ahmed Musa was not again on the score sheet for CSKA Moscow, who continued their resurgence, hammering basement side Terek Grozny 4-1 at home on Sunday. Musa was only good enough from the bench as strike partner Seydou Doumbia fired in a brace in the emphatic win. Musa only managed to play for just disappointing two minutes. He has made 16 appearances so far for the defending champions and still yet to add to his five-goal account for nine games now.
Jonathan splashes cash reward on victorious Eaglets ROTIMI FADEYI, ABUJA
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resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday announced a cash gift of N2m each for players of the Under-17 team, the Golden Eaglets, who won the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Soccer Championship last Friday. At a grand reception held for the victorious team at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Jonathan also said the players, their handlers and key members of the of the Nigerian Supporters’ Club would also be honoured with national honours during the next award ceremony. The President also announced a N3m cash gift to the team’s Head Coach while the Assistant Coaches get N2.5m each. The medical team including the doctor, physiotherapist and team secretary get N500,000 each while the team technical officer, team coordinator, medical officers and the curator will get
• Each player gets N2m, Coach N3m, National Honours N300,000 each. Jonathan called on state governments and members of the Organised Private Sector to join the Federal Government in appreciating the victorious players, stressing that no amount of reward could be adequate for the young Nigerians. The President stated that the Golden Eaglets have brought great pride and honour to Nigeria and Africa with their performance at the competition. Jonathan said that if the nation can conquer the world at Under-17 level, there is no reason why the nation cannot win at all levels. “If we can conquer the world at Under 17, there is no reason we cannot win at the senior level. Their talents must be harnessed to a greater success. They must not rest on
their oars. They must remain world champions from category to category,” the President said. Earlier, the Minister of Sports, Mobolaji Abdullahi attributed the successes recorded in sports, particularly football to the administration’s transformation agenda. He said the team players were selected strictly on merit and the idea was to build a solid football team. In attendance at the event were Senate President David Mark; Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Bamanga Tukur; Governors Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Idris Wada (Kogi), Jonah Jang (Plateau) and Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) and Kano State Deputy Governor, Umar Ghanduje.
WORLD RECORD
Vol. 03 No.719 Monday, November 11, 2013
O
ne shocking revelation from my engagement of some of the opinion molders during the weekend is the trial of the nation’s critical media in absentia and the verdict of a conspiracy of silence on the most audacious political act by a serving minister in the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration - Oduahgate. It is a verdict of selective perception. Well, I have decided to join the ongoing national conversation on Oduahgate after a careful appraisal of the issues involved. The headline of my piece, The Comedy of Errors, is borrowed from one of William Shakespeare’s early plays. Oduahgate is a flawed ministerial act because it was conceived in impunity and executed in impunity. The official reaction, an antithetical act par excellence, was only
N150
FASTEST TIME TO 1,000 ESKIMO ROLLS IN A CANOE (MALE) Colin Hill (UK) achieved 1,000 rolls by hand in 31 min 55.62 sec at Consett, Durham, UK on 12 March 1987. He also achieved 100 rolls in 2 min 39.2 sec at Crystal Palace, London on 22 February 1987
The comedy of errors HeartBeat callistus Oke
Callistusoke@nationalmirroronline.net 08054103275 (SMS ONLY) anthonykila@mail.com meant to hoodwink the harangued Nigerians, especially those operating from the periphery of the nation’s power loop and the docile observers of our political roulette system, where there are only winners and no losers. Political power has a way of subsuming reality and reconditioning the mindset of the wielder into thinking he/she is next to God. It is when a denouement like Oduahgate occurs that the reality is accentuated. Oduahgate has become a metaphor for unwholesome pillage of the country; it is the new face of impunity and an irreverent disdain for due process. Revelations at both the Senate and House Committees probing it show that parastatals under the Aviation Ministry - Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) - were coerced into buying vehicles desired by Princess Stella Oduah, but which some of the highly harassed top management staff of these agencies admitted were for their operational use. We know when a lie is being told; and we also know that in the game of lying, more lies are always told to cover up the track. And so, swearing to an oath to tell the truth and nothing but the truth by an accused party is nothing but mere ritualism. The oath takers know that the living God does not visit the liars and sinners with immediate punishment as it was in the past. So, the game of lying under oath is seen as an exercise in self defence. Nigerians are the jurors in this case of
THE OATH TAKERS KNOW THAT THE LIVING GOD DOES NOT VISIT THE LIARS AND SINNERS WITH IMMEDIATE PUNISHMENT AS IT WAS IN THE PAST rape against their country. The facts of the case are clear. There was a confirmed desire for these vehicles including the armoured cars. The vehicles were not appropriated for in the 2013 budget. We were told that First Bank was talked into financing the deal, meaning it was to be hidden from the appropriating body, the National Assembly. There was also the utilization of the one year import waiver granted the Lagos State government by the Ministry of Finance in 2012 to buy 300 vehicles for the National Sports Festival held that year. Ordinarily, such secret transaction should not have qualified for import waiver. But who is the Nigerian Customs Service to stop a super minister once she has made up her mind? Let me make myself understood. The sin of Princess Stella Oduah is in allowing state funds to finance her exotic taste. Some of her defenders say she is a billionaire; such people are needed in public service because there is no patriotism higher than selfless service. Her sartorial taste could be satisfied with her personal finances. Imagine the political and social credits she would have harnessed if Nigerians had been told that she
used her personal money to finance the purchase of these cars? The gesture could havebeen treated as part of the Transformation Agenda of the Jonathan administration. That she did not display such expected altruism detracted from her much advertised commitment to national renewal! The Presidency and the National Assembly appear playing a fast one on Nigerians. We have institutional mechanisms for the needed probe. The current exercise is simulated to lead to exoneration! The late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua showed the way in 2008 on how to approach issues like this when his anti-corruption trap allegedly caught a big fish, Professor Adenike Grange. Professor Grange, sworn in as Minister of Health on July 25, 2007, came into the late Yar’Adua cabinet with superlative credentials. Less than seven months later in February 2008, the then President ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest her over the inappropriate handling of N300 million of unspent funds in the 2007 budget. The following month she offered her resignation. The case was actioned in the court. Reprieve came her way in December 2009, when a Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja discharged her from facing prosecution and all charges against her were quashed. This should have been the most honourable approach in resolving the odium that has become Oduahgate!
This is World Kindness Week World Kindness Nigeria, a member of the global World Kindness Movement, joins the other 19 kindness organizations worldwide for a week-long celebration beginning from November 13, 2013 (World Kindness Day) through November 20. Make it a point of duty to do at least one random act of kindness during this week of kindness. You will see how these simple acts will lift some people, while pulling others from the brink.
This column goes on break
From November 18, this column goes on a four week break.
Sport Extra
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Golf: Dubuisson beats Woods, others in Turkey
rench Victor Dubuisson yesterday captured the Turkish Airlines Open in Antalya after a thrilling finish at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal. The 23-year-old claimed
his first European Tour title by two shots as his closing three-under 69 and 24-under total held off a dramatic late charge from Welshman Jamie Donaldson. Dubuisson, who started
the day with a five-shot lead, looked to be doing just enough to keep the chasing pack at bay despite starting with nine straight pars while his rivals poured in birdies behind him.
World number one Tiger Woods made an early move with birdies at three, four and six but his challenge petered out with bogeys at seven and 11. Woods refused to give in though and four birdies in
the last six holes gave him a 67 and elevated him into a tie for third with Rose. Dubuisson’s nearest challenger, Ian Poulter, closed to within two after a birdie at 11 before shavNFF President, Aminu Maigari ing the hole. Woods
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