Monday, november 23, 2015 new by GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LIMITED

Biafra: South-East elders send delegation to Buhari EMMANUEL EZEH ENUGU

outh East elders yesterday resolved to send a delegation to President Muhammadu

Vol. 5 N0. 1249

BUSINESS SECTION

Nigeria’s unemployment rate rises to two digits

isters, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other political leaders. Those in attendance included Governors Rochas Okorocha (Imo), If-

Buhari over the ongoing Biafra protest in the zone. The elders, who met in Enugu at the instance of South-East Governors, included all National Assembly members, min-

Monday, November 23, 2015

THE

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

…rate higher than global average P.2 Free Fre e inside insi nsid ide de

National Mirror Online

N150

@NationalMirror

Kogi guber poll

APC candidate, Audu is dead INEC declares Saturday’s election inconclusive Orders supplementary election in 91 polling units

WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA

ubernatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, in Saturday’s election in Kogi State, Prince Abubarka Audu was yesterday confirmed

dead. Audu, who was a two time governor of the state, was leading in the election, which was declared inconclusive by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, with over 41,351 votes. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

Ogunwusi to be crowned 51st Ooni today P.8

FLIGHT SCHEDULE

MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS, FRIDAYS

TEL: 0700FLYMEDVIEW Email: info@medviewairline.com http://www.medviewairline.com

MAIDUGURI TO LAGOS

VL2109

1515

1830

B737

MAIDUGURI TO LAGOS

VL2109

1515

1830

B737

MAIDUGURI TO LAGOS

VL2109

1515

1830

B737

DESTINATION

FLT NO

DEP

ARR

STOPS

A/C

PHC TO LAGOS

VL2117

1900

2010

B737

PHC TO LAGOS

VL2117

1900

2010

B737

PHC TO LAGOS

VL2117

1900

2010

B737

ABUJA TO LAGOS

VL2101

0900

1015

B737

YOLA TO ABUJA

VL2103

1300

1410

B737

VL2105

1400

1515

B737

YOLA TO LAGOS

VL2103

1300

1615

B737

VL2103

1500

1615

B737

VL2109

1715

1830

B737

DESTINATION

FLT NO

DEP

ARR

STOPS

A/C

VL2107

1915

2030

B737

ABUJA TO LAGOS

VL2101

0900

1015

B737

ABUJA TO MAIDUGURI

VL2108

1315

1430

B737

VL2105

1400

1515

B737

ABUJA TO YOLA

VL2102

1050

1200

B737

VL2103

1500

1615

B737

VL2109

1715

1830

B737

VL2107

1915

2030

B737

ABUJA TO MAIDUGURI

VL2108

1315

1430

B737

ABUJA TO YOLA

VL2102

1050

1200

B737

ACCRA TO LAGOS

VL0204

0800

1000

B737

ENUGU TO LAGOS

VL2117

1750

2010

B737

LAGOS TO ABUJA

VL2100

0700

0815

B737

VL2102

0850

1005

B737

VL2108

1115

1230

B737

VL2104

1200

1315

B737

VL2106

1715

1830

B737

TUESDAYS

ACCRA TO LAGOS

VL0204

0800

1000

B737

ENUGU TO LAGOS

VL2117

1750

2010

B737

LAGOS TO ABUJA

VL2100

0700

0815

B737

VL2102

0850

1005

B737

YOLA TO ABUJA YOLA TO LAGOS

VL2103 VL2103

1300 1300

1410 1615

0 1

B737

DESTINATION

FLT NO

DEP

ARR

STOPS

A/C

ABUJA TO LAGOS

VL2101

0900

1015

B737

STOPS

A/C

1930

2045

ABUJA TO LAGOS

VL2101

1000

1115

B737

ABUJA TO YOLA

VL2102

1355

1505

B737

ACCRA TO LAGOS

VL0204

0800

1000

B737

1840

B737

VL2109

1715

1830

B737

VL2103

1500

1615

B737

LAGOS TO ABUJA

VL2108

0900

1015

B737

VL2107

1915

2030

B737

ABUJA TO YOLA

VL2102

1050

1200

B737

VL2100

1030

1145

B737

ABUJA TO MAIDUGURI

VL2108

1315

1430

B737

ACCRA TO LAGOS

B737

1200

1000

1315

1050

0800

1200

VL2102

VL0204

VL2102

ABUJA TO YOLA

VL2106

1730

1845

VL0204

0800

1000

B737

ENUGU TO LAGOS

VL2117

1320

1540

B737

ACCRA TO LAGOS

LAGOS TO ACCRA

VL0203

0715

B737

ENUGU TO LAGOS

VL2117

1750

2010

B737

LAGOS TO ABUJA

VL2100

0800

0915

B737

LAGOS TO ENUGU

VL2116

1430

1540

B737

LAGOS TO ABUJA

VL2100

0700

0815

B737

VL2102

0850

1005

B737

LAGOS TO LONDON

VL0209

1315

1910

B737

VL2102

0850

1005

B737

VL2104

1200

1315

B737

LONDON TO LAGOS

VL0210

2210

0410+1

B737

VL2108

1115

1230

B737

LAGOS TO MAIDUGURI

VL2108

0900

1215

B737

VL2104

1200

1315

B737

LAGOS TO PHC

VL2117

1430

1650

B737

VL2106

1715

1830

B737

LAGOS TO YOLA

VL2102

1200

1505

B737

VL2116

1600

1710

VL0209

1115

1710

B737

VL2106

1715

1830

B737

LONDON TO LAGOS

VL0210

2210

0410 +1

B737

VL0203

0715

B737

LAGOS TO ACCRA

VL0203

0715

VL2116

1600

1710

VL0203

0715

B737

LAGOS TO ENUGU

VL2116

1130

1240

B737

LAGOS TO PHC

VL2110

1130

1350

B737

MAIDUGURI TO ABUJA

VL2109

1300

1415

B737

LAGOS TO YOLA

VL2102

0850

1200

B737

MAIDUGURI TO LAGOS

VL2109

1300

1615

B737

PHC TO LAGOS

VL2111

1730

1840

B737

YOLA TO ABUJA

VL2103

1545

1655

B737

YOLA TO LAGOS

VL2103

1545

1845

B737

LAGOS TO ENUGU

VL2116

1600

1710

B737

LAGOS TO ENUGU

LAGOS TO MAIDUGURI

VL2108

1115

1430

B737

LAGOS TO MAIDUGURI

VL2108

1115

1430

B737

LAGOS TO PHC

VL2110

1600

1820

B737

LAGOS TO PHC

VL2110

1600

1820

B737

LAGOS TO YOLA

VL2102

0850

1200

B737

LAGOS TO YOLA

VL2102

0850

1200

B737

MAIDUGURI TO ABUJA

VL2109

1515

1630

B737

MAIDUGURI TO ABUJA

VL2109

1515

1630

B737

1630

ARR

1620

LAGOS TO LONDON

1515

DEP

VL2117

B737

VL2109

FLT NO

ENUGU TO LAGOS

B737

MAIDUGURI TO ABUJA

DESTINATION

B737

1200

B737

VL2107

SATURDAYS

0850

1515

1230

VL2102

1845

1400

1315

LAGOS TO YOLA

B737

1730

VL2105

1200

B737

VL2103

B737

1115

1820

A/C

B737

VL2104

1600

STOPS

1615

VL2108

VL2110

ARR

1845

1500

B737

LAGOS TO PHC

DEP

1230

VL2109

1615

B737

1515

1615

1500

0715

1430

1300

1410

1400

0715

1115

VL2103

1300

VL2101

VL2103

VL0203

VL2108

YOLA TO LAGOS

VL2103

FLT NO

ABUJA TO LAGOS

VL2105

LAGOS TO ENUGU

LAGOS TO MAIDUGURI

YOLA TO ABUJA

THURSDAYS

LAGOS TO ACCRA

B737

SUNDAYS DESTINATION

LAGOS TO ACCRA

PHC TO LAGOS YOLA TO ABUJA YOLA TO LAGOS

VL2111

1430

1540

VL2103

1300

1410

B737

VL2103

1500

1615

B737

UPDATED 30/10/2015

News

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Biafra: South-East elders send delegation to Buhari CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

eanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) and Deputy Governors of Abia, Ndu Oko Chukwu, as well as that of Anambra, Nkem Okeke. Others in attendance were Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, former Enugu State Gov-

ernor, Sullivan Chime and former minister, Nnia Nwodo. Okorocha, who read a communiqué at the end of the meeting, said a committee would also be set up to immediately address the impasse on Ohaneze leadership. The communiqué read:

“As a meeting of SouthEast elders, summoned at the instance of the SouthEast Governors in Enugu today, November 22, 2015, the following resolutions were reached: “That the South-East Governors set up a committee to immediately address the impasse on

Ohanaeze leadership. “After a compassionate review of recent MASSOB/IPOB agitations, resolved that a committee be set up to dialogue with MASSOB/IPOB as well as Federal Government with a view to finding a lasting solution to the issues. “The elders also exam-

ined other issues, including poor state of infrastructural facilities in the south east, marginalisation in federal appointments and other socio-economic issues that impact on the economic development of the south east and resolved to support the decision of the South

East Governors to set up an Economic Council and urged them to interface with Federal Government on remedial measures. “A delegation of the elders of the South-East was mandated to meet with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Nigeria’s unemployment rate rises to two digits TOLA AKINMUTIMI

ustained efforts by Federal and State Governments as well as the Orgnaised Private Sector, OPS, to tackle increasing unemployment in the country appear not to be yielding the desired results. This is because, the nation’s unemployment rate rose to two digits in the third quarter of this year, up from the 8.2 per cent rate recorded in the preceding quarter. The latest Unemployment and Underemployment Watch report, published yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, indicated that the country had over the past four quarters experiencing increasing trend of unemployment, rising from about 6.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2014 to 7.5 per cent in Q1 this year and 8.2 per cent in the second quarter. The Bureau reported that the survey conducted showed that the economically active population

or working age population (persons within ages 15 64) increased from 102.8 million in Q1 2015 to 103.5million in Q2 and 104.3milion in Q3. Specifically, in the quarter under review, the

agency disclosed that the labour force population, that is those within the working age population willing, able and actively looking for work, rose to 75.9 million from 74 million in Q2, representing

an increase of 2.60 per cent. This implies that in the three months period from July to September, at least 1,929,800 economically active persons within 15 64 entered the labour market.

According to NBS, the survey revealed that about 60 per cent of the new entrants into the labour force and over 70 per cent of the increase in full time employment was in the rural areas, which are

predominantly subsistent farmers engaged in agriculture and agriculture related rural activities. It stated further that this accounted for the strong growth in employCONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari; Iranian deputy president, Mr. Shariat Madri; Nigerian Charge D' Affairs in Iran, Dr. Ali Maggashi and Miss Deborah Kehinde Onaderu presents flowers to the President, during his arrival at the Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran, yesterday. PHOTO:STATE HOUSE

Kogi guber poll: APC candidate, Audu is dead CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The cause of the death was not clear yesterday, but a source told our correspondent that Audu only managed to vote on Saturday at his polling unit in his OgbonichaAlloma town in Ofu Local Government Area of the state as he complained of stomach pain on Friday. He was said to have been on bed rest since casting his vote and was alleged to have collapsed yesterday morning. The exact time of his death was also shrouded

in controversy. While a source said he died in the afternoon after the election was declared inconclusive, another said he gave up the ghost before the pronouncement. However, it was a hushed atmosphere among his supporters and family members as nobody was willing to confirm or speak on the death of the politician. His burial has been slated to take place at 11a.m today according to Islamic rites. Audu was the first ci-

vilian governor of Kogi State. He was born on 27 October 1947, to the family of his Royal Highness, the late Pa Audu Oyidi, Orego Atta of Igala Land and the paramount ruler of Ogbonicha-Alloma. Before the tragedy, APC was leading the PDP in the gubernatorial election. But INEC declared the election inconclusive following the cancellation of the results in 91 polling units from 18 of the 21 local government areas of the state.

Announcing the decision yesterday in Lokoja, the state capital, Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Emmanuel Kucha, also announced the cancellation of 49,453 votes in 18 local government areas. Kucha, consequently, declined to make a return for the election. He said the cancellations were due to insecurity, ballot boxes snatching witnessed in Adavi, Ofu, Ajaokuta, Bassa, Ankpa, Dekina, Ibaji, Idah, Okehi, Okene, Omala,

Olamaboro, Yagba-West, Lokoja, Kogi, Kabba/ Bunu, Igalamela-Odolu and Ijumu local government areas. He said a supplementary election to determine the winner between the APC candidate and Governor Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party, would be held in due course. He said since the number of cancelled votes were higher than the 41,353 votes one of the candidates was leading with, he had no choice

than to declare the election inconclusive in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act. Audu polled 240,867 in 16 local government areas while Wada scored 199, 514 votes in five council areas. The inconclusive official results put the total number of votes cast in the election at 481, 334 out of which 459, 983 were declared valid and 21,351 returned invalid. Only 511, 648 out of 1, 379,971 registered voters CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

PAGE

Monday, November 23, 2015

Good Health

Moderate coffee drinking may reduced death risk –Study SAM EFERARO

his is good news for those who still cherish their daily cup of coffee. Scientists say moderate consumption of one to three cups of coffee every day could reduce your risk of death from heart disease and other illnesses. In a study reported in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, people who regularly drank moderate amounts of coffee daily - less than 5 cups per day - experienced a lower risk of deaths from cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases, Type 2 diabetes and suicide. This latest study has further confirmed earlier studies showing that coffee indeed neither increases nor decreases the risk of lifestyle diseases. Indeed, the scientists recommend that regular consumption of coffee can be included as part of a healthy, balanced diet, According to the researchers, the benefits are derived from the naturally occurring chemical compounds in the coffee beans. “Bioactive compounds in coffee reduce insulin resistance and systematic inflammation,” said Ming Ding, M.D., the study’s first author and doctoral student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. “They might be responsible for the inverse association between coffee and mortality. However, more studies are needed to investigate the biological mechanisms producing these effects.” The findings are based on data from three large ongoing studies: 74,890 women in the Nurses’ Health Study; 93,054 women in the Nurses’ Health Study 2; and 40,557 men in the

Steaming coffee

Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Researchers assessed coffee drinking every four years using validated food questionnaires and followed participants for up to 30 years. During the follow-up period, 19,524 women and 12,432 men died from a range of causes. In general, people who frequently drank coffee were more likely to smoke and drink alcohol. To separate the effects of coffee from smoking, researchers repeated their analysis among never-smokers, and found that the protective benefits of coffee on deaths became even more evident. “Regular consumption of coffee can be included as part of a healthy, balanced diet,” said senior author Frank Hu, M.D., Ph.D, a Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard.” However, certain populations such as pregnant women and children should be cautious about high caffeine intake from coffee or other beverages.” Similarly, another research from the University of Copenhagen and Herlev and Gentofte

DID YOU KNOW?

Men eat more to impress women –Study

f you’re a man, how much you eat may have more to do with the gender of your dining companions than your appetite. A new Cornell University study, published in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science, found that men will eat significantly more food in the company of women than they will with other men. For the study, researchers observed 105 adults lunching at an all-youcan-eat Italian buffet over the course of two weeks. They recorded the number of pizza slices and how many bowls of salad each diner ate. Gender

of each diner’s eating partner or partners was also noted. Before leaving the restaurant, the diners were intercepted by a researcher to ask them to complete a short survey indicating their level of fullness after eating, and their feelings of hurriedness and comfort while eating. Men who dined with at least one woman ate 93% more pizza and 86% more salad than men who dined with only other men. The amount that women ate didn’t differ when eating with other women or with men. When they ate with men, many women indicated feeling that they overate and were rushed through their meal.

Hospital showed that coffee neither increases nor decreases the risk of developing lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The study which was published in a recent edition of the International Journal of Epidemiology is based on DNA and information about coffee drinking and lifestyle diseases from 93,000 Danes from the Copenhagen General Population Study. “We are the first in the world to have investigated the relationship with genes associated with a lifelong high consumption of coffee. These genes are completely independent of other lifestyle factors, and we can therefore conclude that drinking coffee in itself is not associated with lifestyle diseases,” says medical student Ask Tybjaeg Nordestgaard from the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at Herlev and Gentofte Hospital. The researchers disclosed that they designed a unique study, where they looked into a number of genes that affect our desire for coffee. If you have the special coffee genes, you may be drinking more coffee than those not having the genes. This allows the researchers to see whether a higher coffee consumption increases or decreases the risk of developing lifestyle diseases. “We can now see that the coffee genes are surprisingly not associated with a risk of developing type 2 diabetes or obesity. This suggests that drinking coffee neither causes nor protects against these lifestyle diseases,” says Boerge Nordestgaard, clinical professor at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, and senior physician at the De-

partment of Clinical Biochemistry at Herlev and Gentofte Hospital. Yet another study published in an edition of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research showed that long-term coffee consumption may be associated with a reduced risk for endometrial cancer. Study author Edward Giovannucci, M.D., Sc.D., professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, said coffee is emerging as a protective agent in cancers that are linked to obesity, estrogen and insulin. “Coffee has already been shown to be protective against diabetes due to its effect on insulin,” said Giovannucci, a senior researcher on the study. “So we hypothesized that we’d see a reduction in some cancers as well.” Giovannucci, along with Youjin Je, a doctoral candidate in his lab, and colleagues observed cumulative coffee intake in relation to endometrial cancer in 67,470 women who enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study. During the course of 26 years of follow-up, researchers documented 672 cases of endometrial cancer. Drinking more than four cups of coffee per day was linked with a 25 percent reduced risk for endometrial cancer. Drinking between two and three cups per day was linked with a 7 percent reduced risk. A similar link was seen in decaffeinated coffee, where drinking more than two cups per day was linked with a 22 percent reduced risk for endometrial cancer. Still love with your coffee? Don’t worry, the scientists’ latest discovery should clear any doubt. A cup or two daily will do no harm but rather save you from some dreaded lifestyle diseases.

Couples who have sex weekly are happiest

ore sex may not always make you happier, according to new research published by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. “Although more frequent sex is associated with greater happiness, this link was no longer significant at a frequency of more than once a week,” lead researcher Amy Muise said. “Our findings suggest that it’s important to maintain an intimate connection with your partner, but you don’t need to have sex everyday as long as you’re maintaining that connection.” Some previous studies, and a plethora of articles and self-help books, have claimed that more sex equals more happiness. But this study, based on surveys of more than 30,000 Americans collected over four decades, is the first to find that association is not there after couples report having sex more than once a week on average. The study was not designed to identify the causal process, so does not tell us whether having sex up to once a week makes

couples happier, or being in a happy relationship causes people to have more frequent sex (up to once a week). In addition, these findings were specific to people in romantic relationships and in fact, there was no association between sexual frequency and wellbeing for single people, said Muise, a social psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto-Mississauga. It’s possible that for single people, the link between sex and happiness is dependent on a number of factors such as the relationship context in which the sex occurs and how comfortable people are with sex outside of relationship. The findings, which were published online in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, are most representative of married heterosexual couples or those in established relationships.

Photo News

Monday, November 23, 2015

L--R: Consul General of Germany, Mr. Ingo Herbert; Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Sarah Alade; former Governor, CBN, Chief Joseph Sanusi; President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Otunba (Mrs.) Debola Osibogun and Executive Director/Chief Risk Officer, Heritage Bank Ltd, sponsors of the event, Mr. Jude Monye, during 49th Annual Bankers Dinner in Lagos, at the weekend.

L-R: Dental Officer, Ministry of Health, Mr. Adeniyi Kehinde; Oral Care Consultant, ColgatePalmolive, Mrs. Ogechukwu Mac-Johnson; Director, Dentistry, Ministry of Health, Dr. Bimpe Adebiyi and Dental Officer, Ministry of Health, Mrs. Boyoga-Gambo Khadijah, during the Colgate-Palmolive Oral Health Outreach and Examination, at Wuse Market in Abuja, at the weekend. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

L-R: Naval Officers Wives Association (NOWA), Zonal Director, Navy Town Zone, Mrs Nkechi Chinweuba; Vice President, Mrs Ekaete Okoi and National President, Mrs Theresa Ibas, at a Thanksgiving Service to mark 50th Anniversary of the Naval Officers Wives Association (NOWA) in Lagos, yesterday.

L-R: Vice President, Human Resources of Shell in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. Olukayode Ogunleye; Development Manager, Offshore Assets, Mrs. Beatrice Spaine; Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, Mr. Bayo Ojulari and General Manager External Relations, Mr. Igo Weli, at the Social Enterprise Report and Awards ceremony in Lagos, on Saturday.

National News

Yuletide: Police deploy bomb detection squad in airports –FAAN

igeria Police have deployed its Bomb Detection Unit to beef up security at various airports in the country ahead of the forthcoming Christmas celebration. A statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by Mr Yakubu Dati, Federal Airports Authority of

Nigeria, FAAN, General Manager of Corporate Affairs, said the deployment was part of safety measures. It said the deployment of police bomb detection unit to the airports was to complement the effort of FAAN’s security personnel at various se-

curity screening points to ensure hitch-free celebration. The statement quoted Dati as saying the necessary operational and security measures have been put in place at all the airports to ensure free flow of passengers and cargo during the

yuletide. “Passenger facilitation at all our airports has also been enhanced by the installation of more modern and bigger conveyor belts and metal walk-through detectors. “The expansion and modernisation of all the airport terminals now

provide better ambience and more space for restaurants at the terminals, as well as newly opened duty free shops,’’ Dati added. According to him, this will help passengers relax comfortably while awaiting flights. He stated: “The au-

thority however advises air passengers to make early arrangements for their travels and to leave home early on their travel dates in order to complete their boarding facilities in good time. “We wish all passengers safe and enjoyable yuletide celebrations.’’

Mr Mitchell Ofoyeju, on Sunday in Lagos. The statement said Ubah was arrested by the agency’s Special Enforcement Team, SET, at the old local section of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, upon arrival from Enugu. “He was apprehended after intense undercover

operations in connection with illegal exportation of 576kgs of narcotics to Durban, South Africa, through Apapa Port. “The drug made up of 266kg of methamphetamine and 310kgs of ephedrine valued at N4.6 billion, were hidden inside noodles, cereals and palm oil,” it said.

According to the statement, preliminary investigations by NDLEA revealed that the suspect is also known as Etochukwu Alaek Weubah and Eto Ubah. It alleged that the 42-year-old had a company, Visoch Resources Limited, which he used as cover for his clandestine drug busi-

ness. The statement said: “Although the surveillance report indicates that he is a major player in drug smuggling, Ubah hides under the cover of floor tile business. “Apart from the seized drugs, other items in the consignment include maize, vegetables, palm oil, malt drinks, seasoning,

noodles and cereals. The statement quoted the SET commander, Mr Sunday Zirangey, as saying that Ubah’s arrest took place simultaneously with the interception of the consignment of drugs to South Africa. “He was immediately taken to the Port to witness the search operations.

NDLEA arrests drug suspect, intercepts 576kg of narcotics

ational Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has arrested a suspected drug baron, Tochukwu Ubah, alleged to be coordinating large volume of methamphetamine and ephedrine distribution in the country. This is contained in a statement issued by Head, Public Affairs of NDLEA,

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Monday, November 23, 2015

LCCI decries arbitrary regulatory sanctions on firms ABOLAJI ADEBAYO

agos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has decried the spate of regulatory sanctions imposed on some Nigerian companies in recent times, describing the sanctions as capable of undermining current drives to grow the non-oil sector of the economy. In a statement signed by its President, Alhaji Remi Bello yesterday, the OPS group stated that even though it remained a promoter of the ideals of good corporate governance and adherence to best practices in business, it would not support impunity under whatever guise. The Chamber canvassed the need for activities of regulatory institutions to be in consonance with best regulatory practice as against the current penchant for arbitrary and dispropor-

tionate sanctions on erring entities. Specifically, it cited the recent N1.4trn fine imposed on MTN by Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, on account of nonregistration of SIM cards; the N1bn administrative charge imposed on Guinness Nigeria Plc by NAFDAC; the penalty on Skye Bank to the tune of N4bn imposed by Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. Others are the penalty on First Bank of N1.9bn imposed by CBN; as well as the N2.9bi penalty imposed on UBA by the same CBN. According to the LCCI, while sanctions are not totally condemnable, such penalties however should not be of such magnitude as to impose a shock from which recovery by entities may either be difficult or impossible. “The limit of regulatory discretional powers should be clearly defined. The

concern is that such powers are commonly prone to abuse and could predispose regulatory agencies to highhandedness and intimidating disposition. This certainly would not augur well for an economy that needs to attract investment. “Already, the perception

and ranking of Nigeria as an investment destination is unsatisfactory. For instance, Nigeria ranks 169 out of 189 countries profiled in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report for 2015. It also has a ranking of 124 out of 140 countries profiled in the global competitiveness

report of the World Economic Forum,” it added. The Chamber noted that the regulatory environment remained a critical factor in the latest rankings of Nigeria, adding that this period is not auspicious for imposition of intimidating and overbearing regulatory tendencies.

It explained that while it did not condone infractions of extant regulations or guidelines there should be some restraint in the imposition of penalties by regulatory agencies in the interest of private sector development and the advancement of the nation’s economy.

Unions fault Virgin Atlantic on sack of Nigerian cabin crew

wo trade unions in the aviation sector have faulted the recent sack of Nigerian cabin crew by Virgin Atlantic Airline management. The unions, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, and the National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, said this in a statement issued in Lagos yesterday.

The airline had recently laid off the cabin crew comprising 20 Nigerians. However, the statement, signed on behalf of ATSSSAN and NUATE by Mr. Saint Omotaje and Mr. Olayinka Abioye respectively, said the dismissal of the workers had breached international labour practices. “We have studied the situation and have decided to

call on the Federal Government, through the relevant ministry of Transportation and Aviation Agencies (MDA's) to intervene in this act of racism before it gets out of hand. “It is now obvious that Virgin Atlantic does not have workable conditions of service for its employees. “Even where it exists, it discriminates against the black race (Nigerians)

aboard their airplane and yet, they will not want to leave the Lagos - UK route for those that love us, Nigerians,” the unions alleged. They warned that aviation workers would mobilised through their various unions, associations and international affiliates in the coming days to seek the reversal of this racial impunity on the Nigerian crew.

Kogi guber poll: APC candidate, Audu is dead CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

were accredited to vote in the election. APC won in Yagba East, Yagba West, Kabba/Bunu, Ijumu, Lokoja, Kogi, Okehi, Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ibaji, Ankpa, Igalamela/Odolu, Ofu, Olamaboro and Idah LGAs; while PDP won Mopamuro, Dekina, Okene, Ogori/Mangogo

and Omala LGAs The result of the election shows that all the major gladiators won in their respective local government, with Audu winning in Ofu; his Deputy, Faleke won Ijumu; while Governor Wada won in Dekina and his Deputy, Yomi Awoniyi won his Mopamuro.

L-R: MD/CEO, Med-View Airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole; Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu; Alhaja Fausat Bankole and Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (rtd), during the celebration of Med-View Airline's inaugural flight from Lagos to London at Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, Central London, on Saturday.

Nigeria’s unemployment rate rises to two digits CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

ment creation in Q3 with informal sector activities such as agriculture creating over 428,000 jobs, compared to just 83,000 in Q2. The Bureau said: “With an economically active or working age population of 104.3million and labour force population of 75.9million, this means 28.37million persons within the economically active or working age population decided not to work for various reasons in Q3 and consequently are not part of the labour force and cannot be technically considered unemployed even though they are not working. (You have to

want to be willing to work and actively seeking work before you can be considered unemployed) “The number of underemployed in the labour force (those working but doing largely menial work or jobs not commensurate with their qualifications or not fully engaged and merely working for few hours) during the review quarter, however, decreased slightly by 365,593 resulting in a decrease in the underemployment rate to 17.4 per cent in Q3 2015 (13.2million) from 18.3 per cent (13.5million) in Q2 2015, from 16.6 per cent (12.2million) in Q1 2015.”

According to Bureau, about 427,000 new net jobs were created in Q3. It pointed out, however, that this was inadequate to match the over 1.9 million new entrants into the labour market in the quarter under review. This showed that there were a total of 20.7 million persons between the ages of 15 64 that were willing and able to work and actively seeking work (i.e in the labour force) that were either unemployed or underemployed compared to 19.6 million and 17.7 million in Q2 and Q1 respectively. When analysed on country comparison ba-

sis, the report showed that unemployment was not peculiar to Nigeria. For instance, Nigeria’s current unemployment rate, if assessed based on International Labour Organisation’s, ILO’s, methodology, indicated that with 7.5 million Nigerians technically unemployed, this means four per cent of the world’s 201 million unemployed are Nigerians. But if Nigeria’s underemployment rate is computed with the unemployment rate based on the global labour body’s methodology in the interest of seeking

full time and gainful employment for Nigerians, then Nigeria’s unemployment rate will represent about 10 per cent of global rate. “Nigeria with an unemployment rate of 9.9 per cent in Q3 2015 had a better unemployment rate than reported in 67 countries but worse than 113 countries, including 21 African countries with unemployment rates lower than 9.9 per cent,” NBS said. The Bureau noted that ILO had previously forecast a global unemployment rate of 5.9 per cent this year and 2016, compared with 5.5 per cent before

the global financial crisis in 2007, implying that Nigeria’s Q3 unemployment rate of 9.9 per cent (minus an additional 17.4 per cent underemployment) is higher than the global average. The highest unemployment rate in the world is recorded in Djibouti (54 per cent), Congo (46 per cent), Bosnia and Herzegovinian(43 per cent), Haiti (40 per cent), Kosovo(35 per cent), while the lowest are found in Qatar (0.2 per cent), Cambodia (0.3 per cent), Belarus (0.5 per cent), Thailand (0.8 per cent), Benin (1.0 per cent), Laos (1.40 per cent) and Guinea Bissau (1.80 per cent).

News

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Need for diversified economy urgent –Buhari OJO OYEWAMIDE AKURE

Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Kayode Fayemi (left), with World Bank Country Director, Mr Rachid Benmessaoud, during a visit by World Bank team to the Minister in Abuja, at the weekend.

Poor funding affecting education development in states –Minister REGINA OTOKPA

inister of State for Education, Prof. Tony Anwukah, has said inadequate funding was reason behind poor development of education in states. Addressing Education Correspondents Association, ECA, during an interactive session over the weekend in Abuja, he maintained that education remains one of the top priorities of every state government in the country. He noted that in as much as the second tier of government were concerned about developing the education system through various programmes in their respective states, there was little

resident Muhammadu Buhari yesterday arrived in Tehran, Iran, to participate in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, GECF, summit today. The president was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by Iranian Deputy President, Mr. Shariat Madri, around 7:15pm. local time (4.44pm. Nigerian time). Others at the airport to welcome the President included officials of Nigerian Embassy in Iran, led by the charge d’affaire, Dr Ali Magashi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey

to be done due to poor funding. He said: “No state government would not want a viable education system, no state government will want to play a second fellow in education, but state governments will always tell you they don’t have money and because they don’t have money, some very good programmes are made to suffer because of poor funding.” However, Anwukah implored state governments to continuously recognise the importance of education in achieving development, and not allow financial constraint derail their vision in strengthening the sector. “It is our prayer that state governments will have money and where they don’t have money,

they should realise that education is central to whatever developmental efforts they make. “We urge them to develop a new interest in education and pray with them that their resources will be improved so that adequate funding will soon be appropriate for them,” he added Commenting on the recent protest by students of Federal Government colleges, he disclosed that appropriate measures were being undertaken by the ministry to proscribe if need be the new national Parents Teachers Association, PTA, which he explained, was responsible for the unrest. Furthermore, the minister enjoined journalists covering the ministry to maintain objectivity as a watch word, considering

the gross implications of subjective reportage on individuals and the society. “Some tabloids in the states publish whatsoever their pay master tells them to publish regardless of the damage that does to individuals and society. I will encourage you to go the extra mile, report factual investigated news, so that it will add to your credibility as an individual and as a newspaper or broadcast station,” noted In his response, President of ECA, Chuks Ukwuatu, called on the minister to improve the quality of education in the country by promptly addressing the decay and negligence of the sector. He assured of the association’s support and commitment towards moving the sector forward.

resident Muhammadu Buhari said at the weekend that the need for a diversified economy had become more urgent as a result of the current crises in the oil market. Buhari noted that universities of technology were expected to be at the vanguard of the nation’s technological breakthrough that would guarantee the success of diversification. He said agricultural and solid mineral sectors were prime candidates for achieving the diversification agenda. The president spoke at the 27th convocation ceremony of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State capital. Buhari, who was represented by Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, NUC, Prof. Julius Okojie, charged universities to clearly define their roles and strength in their national obligation. According to him, this should enable them to be more focused to assist government in poverty alleviation, job creation, improved health care delivery and application of new technologies in order to promote sustainable human development, as well as democracy and good governance. He said: “Universities play critical roles in the attainment of societal growth and national transformation. This administration is aware that our universities are potential powerful agents of change that can accelerate the de-

Buhari arrives Tehran for 3rd GECF summit Onyeama, and Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, and National Security Adviser, retired Maj.Gen. Babagana Monguno, were also at the airport to welcome the president. Buhari, who is expected to meet with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani during his two-day visit to Tehran and hold bilateral talks with other participating heads of state and government on the

sidelines of the GECF summit. He will also meet with Nigerians living in Iran. Some heads of state and government from GECF member countries arrived Tehran on yesterday for the gas summit. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow is also in Tehran for bilateral talks and to take part in the summit a “special guest.” The 2015 meeting of the member countries of GECF in Tehran is expected to re-

view the current market outlook on gas and discuss strategies for boosting gas production. The summit will also provide a framework for exchange of experience, views, information and data, as well as coordination in gas-related developments among member countries. GECF consists of 17 main and observer members with its permanent secretariat in Doha, Qatar. Russia, Iran, Qatar, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria,

Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates, are main members of the GECF, while Netherlands, Iraq, Oman, Peru and Norway enjoy observer status. GECF members account for 42 per cent of global gas output, 70 per cent of global gas reserves, 40 per cent of pipe gas transmission, and 65 per cent of global trade of Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG. The 2011 and 2013 GECF gas summits were held in Qatar and Moscow respectively.

sired economic growth and development. “This is largely due to the fact that they play critical roles in shaping the lives and character of the young and active segment of the population. We are therefore committed to working assiduously with the universities to motivate our youths and prepare them for their future roles. “We must also continue to ensure that universities are safe havens for the students and staff. Government through its various security agencies and outfits, is working round the clock to ensure adequate security for every Nigerian. “Universities of technology should leverage on the introduction of new academic programmes in the system, such as mechatronics, robotics, nanotechnology and material science in the system, to aid growth in various sectors of our economy. “With specialised universities’ contributions to robust growth in the manufacturing sector, the challenges of unemployment will also be adequately addressed.”” Buhari said the financial challenges caused by the implementation of Treasury Single Account, TSA, in the administrative activities of all ministries, departments agencies and tertiary institutions would soon be over. The president disclosed that he was aware of the resultant discomfort TSA implementation has caused in the country’s tertiary institutions. He reiterated that TSA was introduced for a good cause, assuring that the issues involved in its implementation, are being addressed. Twenty eight graduates bagged first class honour, 807 graduated with second class upper, 1,324 with second class lower, 469 with third class, while 47 finished their programmes with pass. At the occasion were FUTA Chancellor, Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu; Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi; Olowo of Owo, Oba Folagbade OlateruOlagbegi III; Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Victor Kiladejo and Vice-Chancellors of Universities among others.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Oba of Lagos canvasses soft loans for airline operators Olusegun Koiki London

ba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, has appealed to the Federal Government to assist indigenous carriers with soft loans in form of aviation intervention fund to boost their businesses. The monarch said if the government granted

such loans to the operators, safety would be further enhanced in the industry and air travelers would have more confidence in the operations of indigenous carriers. Akiolu challenged insurance companies in the country and abroad to reduce premiums charged local operators, saying the premiums were too high. Akiolu spoke yesterday in London when manage-

FG to build vibrant TV, media economy –Buhari

resident Muhammadu Buhari has assured that his administration will facilitate the building of a vibrant television and media economy in order to unleash the latent energy of the country’s key media and entertainment industry. “As part of providing this requisite environment, this administration will ensure strict adherence to the plan to reach 100% digital TV penetration in Nigeria by 2016, up from 49% at the end of 2013. “In other words, we pledge our commitment to building a vibrant TV and Media Economy for the benefit of all Nigerians,’’ the President said at the 35th anniversary of Silverbird, the country’s foremost media and entertainment company in Lagos, on Saturday. Buhari, who was represented by Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said Nigeria plans to use the Digital SwitchOver as an opportunity to diversify the provision of channels and content. “Silverbird, with its rich history, will have to play a key role in this evolution of television and entertainment to boost production, local content, employment of our ever increasing youth, contribute significantly to the nation’s GDP,’’ he said. The president said subSaharan Africa will have 46.46 million primary Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) homes by 2020, that is 37.6 million Free To Air and 8.86 million pay TV, up from 9.27 million at the end of 2013 and 0.53 million at the end of 2010. “‘Nigeria will be the largest DTT nation in Africa in 2020, both for Free To Air that is 9.07 million - and for pay, that is 3.59 million. As

Silverbird seeks to deliver exceptional family entertainment to this important growth market, it will need to adjust its models to suit the market conditions to achieve the objective of maximising the reach of Silverbird Channel in the Nigerian market, and that it will have to do through a Free to Air model. The target markets for Free To Air are the 26-million-plus TV households, and the growth of DTT in Nigeria is accelerating much faster than the growth in the pay-TV market,’’ the President said. He said that by using the Digital Switch Over, his administration would replicate in Nigeria the globally successful Free to Air model, to open up the market to mass numbers of potential viewers. While describing Silverbird as an “iconic company” that had already keyed into a key aspect of his administration’s agenda of creating jobs, especially for the youths, thus helping to force down crimes and enhance security, Buhari said: ‘Wwe are still counting on an even stronger cooperation between this company – and indeed the entire media and entertainment industry - and this administration in the efforts to ensure attitudinal change among our people, fight terrorism and corruption and provide even more jobs.’’ Silverbird started in 1980 as a concert promotion company, bringing in foreign and local artistes to perform on the same stage in Nigeria. The company has now grown to become the number one media and entertainment firm that now owns radio and television stations as well as cinemas and malls across Nigeria.

ment of Med-View Airline hosted key players and travelling agencies in the airline business in United Kingdom. He said it was necessary for the government to assist the airlines in accessing soft loans to increase their capacities, especially in acquiring brand new aircraft, assuring that with well-trained personnel and good equipment, Nigerian airlines would succeed in their operations and major incidents and accidents would reduce to the barest minimum. He declared that most

of the country’s airlines closed shop early as a result of lack of financial support, favourable policies and encouragement from the banks and Federal Government. He said the government could serve as a guarantor for the airlines in a bid to access such soft loans, adding that such money if spent to uplift their operations would be recouped within few years as the traffic was there in Nigeria. On the high premiums from insurance companies, Akiolu also appealed to them to reduce

rates charged the country’s airlines. He argued that since aviation was global, Nigerian carriers should not pay higher premiums on equipment than their counterparts in Europe and America. He declared that Nigerian market was very profitable with high demands and saw no reason for brokers to charge them higher than their counterparts elsewhere. He also urged Nigerians residing in United Kingdom to patronise the airlines and encourage it grow fast on the

route. Earlier, Managing Director of Med-View Airline, Muneer Bankole, announced special offers to travelling agencies in London. He announced that any of them that sells 200 tickets within a specific period would be rewarded with 300,000 pounds and other accrued benefits. He appealed to the agents to make the sale of the airline’s tickets a priority, informing that MedView at present had 27 pilots including captains in its organisation.

L-R: Rev. Cannon, Dr. Ogbeneruemu Eruenah; Chief Olabode George and his wife, Roli George, during Chief Olabode George’s 70th birthday bhanksgiving service, at Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos, at the weekend. PHOTO: ADEYANJU OLOWOJOBA

Mirror correspondent wins health award Franka Osakwe

ational Mirror newspaper Correspondent, Franka Osakwe, and 11 other distinguished reporters have emerged winners in the 2015 ‘Media Health Award’ (MHA), held in Lagos. The award, which is the first of its kind, was inaugurated last Thursday at the R& A City Hotel, Lagos, and is aimed at appreciating and celebrating health reporters who have performed excellently in health reporting. Other award recipients include Dr. Ifeanyi Atueyi of Pharmanews Magazine, Cordelia Okpei of Metro FM 97.7, Mr. Sola Ogundipe of Vanguard newspaper, Jibe Ologe of R-Wells Media, Funmi MYK Adenira of NTA, Habibah Basanya of TVC, Funmi Akingbade of

Galaxy TV and Mary Alale-Yusuf of Channels TV. The award organisers represented by its Executive Director, Prince Ifeanyi Dike, said the awardees were selected after rigorous monitoring of the health contents in both broadcast and print media. Being the first edition of the award, Dike said MHA would be an annual event, where more outstanding health reporters would be rewarded and appreciated. Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, at the event thanked the organisers of the event for the innovative move, adding that the award would go a long way to motivate and encourage effective coverage and dissemination of health information. The commissioner, who was represent-

ed by the state Director for Disease Control, Dr. Eniola Eriosho, pledged absolute support for the award, noting the crucial role played by the media in the rapid response of the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in the country. “This award would encourage the media to do more at this point in time when there is increasing incidence and prevalence of non-communicable diseases,” he said. In her remark, the Chief Host and Executive Director of Maydon Pharmaceuticals, Mrs Vivian Dunu, extolled the content producers for disseminating vital information on health while pledging to support media houses with good health programmes. On his part, Prof. Akin Bamibgoye, professor of

Gynaecology and reproductive health, charged health journalists to desist from disseminating inaccurate health information. “What Nigeria needs is accurate, authentic and effective dissemination of health and health related information. We need public health information that is evidenced-based,” he said. Among those to receive special recognition awards were Chairman of Nariana Health, Mr Guru Prasad; Chairman J.Green Mbadiwe and Sons Ltd of Wahl Clippers, Chief Victor Ngozi Mbadiwe; Chief Operating Officer, Air Peace Airline, Oluwatoyin Olajide; President, Fitness and Physique Practitioners Association of Nigeria (FIPPAN), Chief Goodluck Etom Obi.

South West

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Julius Berger, RCC back on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

onstruction giants, Julius Berger Plc, and RCC are back on site in continuation of the re-construction of the N167 billion Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the presence of workmen became more noticeable at the Redemption Camp and Arepo areas near the Lagos end of the road. While palliative works were ongoing at the failed spots near the Redemption Camp area of the road, major construction work was being done at the Arepo area. Julius Berger is handling Section One of the project, which stretches from Sagamu Inter-Change to Lagos, while RCC is in charge of Section Two, stretching from Sagamu InterChange to Ojoo, Ibadan. Repair of the failed sections has greatly brought relief to motorists, who now clamour for early completion of the road, which undoubtedly, re-

mains the busiest highway in the country. A source at the Julius Berger end of the road, who did not want his name mentioned, said the company was back on the road for good, adding: “it is time to move forward on the project.” The expected date for the completion of the project, which is being financed through Public and Private Partnership, PPP, is July 3, 2017. Meanwhile, motorists and commuters who use the road have continued to appeal to the Federal Government to speed up work to make traveling on the road pleasurable. It would be recalled that the Federal Ministry of Works, last week after a meeting of stakeholders with the Presidency, said government had committed N50bn to the project. The ministry promised that no stone would be left unturned to ensure completion of the road rehabilitation on time.

Ekiti won’t slash workers’ salaries –Govt Abiodun Nejo Ado Ekiti

kiti State government has assured its workers that it will not slash the minimum wage despite financial challenges it is grappling with. It also spoke of the likelihood of decentralising the payment system to ensure smooth payment of salaries. This assurance came on the heels of the promise last week that no civil servant would be sacked due to the present economic realities, and that the state government would devise means of paying them. The governor, who spoke at the weekend during a sensitisation tour of Irepodun/Ifelodun and Ekiti South-West council areas, said the current minimum wage of N18,000 was grossly inadequate and that any slash would not augur well for the workers and their dependants.

In a statement yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, stated that the state government would work out ways the government and labour unions would agree on the mode of payment. “I won’t reduce workers’ salaries, the N18,000 minimum wage is even not enough. I will never hold your money one day extra. The shortfall in the bail-out fund will be redressed,” the governor said at Igede-Ekiti. He assured that a unit would be set up in the Governor’s Office to look into complaints on workers’ welfare.

L-R: Senator Oluremi Tinubu; National Leader, All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; wife of President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, and wife of Lagos State governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, during a courtesy visit by wife of the President to Asiwaju Tinubu, at his Bourdillon residence in Ikoyi, on Saturday.

Ogunwusi to be crowned 51st Ooni today

Boladale Bamigbola Osogbo

oni-elect, Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, will today be installed Ooni few hours after leaving Ilofi, Iremo, yesterday evening. It would be recalled that the Ooni-elect began traditional rites at Ilofi, a place of preparation for new monarch, on Friday, October 30. He was expected to have left the place on Thursday, November 19, when the 21 days he was expected to spend ended.

Informed sources, however, said few more days were added to ensure all the rites were completed before the coronation. It was also learnt that the coronation of Ogunwusi will not be done in the open. A palace source explained during a chat with our correspondent that the new Ooni would be installed in Ile Oodua, stressing that the monarch will be entering the palace for the first time as an Oba today. He added: “In line with the demand of Ile-Ife cus-

toms and traditions, his coronation will hold behind closed doors. Only the Isoros and Ife chiefs would be involved but I can confirm it will be done inside the palace.” Shortly after his crowning, Prince Ogunwusi, it was further learnt, would appear in the premises of the palace for few minutes. In a chat with newsmen, former Special Adviser on Youth and Sports to the state governor, Mr. Biyi Odunlade, confirmed that the new Ooni will be crowned inside Ile Oodua,

3 killed, others injured as rival cult gangs clash in Osun Boladale Bamigbola Osogbo

hree people were feared dead, while others sustained injuries during separate clashes involving two rival cult groups in Osogbo, and two opposing gangs in Ile Ife, at the weekend. Though the remote cause of the clashes in Osogbo could not be as-

certained, but security sources said two leading members of the rival cult groups started the fight that later led to the death of one of their members at a popular pub along Iwo-Osogbo road. A source, who witnessed the genesis of the crisis at the pub, explained that a member of a cult group believed to be holding the reign in Osogbo, attacked a mem-

ber of a rival cult group by beating him up, when he insisted on entering the pub against the advice of those in the premises. “After managing to escape, the man that was beaten went to two neighbouring higher institutions to recruit more hands to prosecute the fight. “He recognised the man that beat him and were on

TSA: PTA appeals to FG to exempt Unity Schools

a r e n t s - Te a c h e r s Association, PTA, of Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos, has appealed to the Federal Government to exempt the nation’s 104 Unity Schools from the Treasury Single Account, TSA, system.

but added that the event will not be open to the public. He also explained that Ogunwusi would make a public appearance after being crowned but stressed that his public presentation will hold on Monday, December 7th. “The Ooni will leave Ilofi later today, Sunday, and will be crowned tomorrow. The Ooni does not receive the crown in public. “The traditional crowning will be done at the palace on Monday but the inauguration would hold on December 7th,” Odunlade said.

A spokesman for the association, Mr Yomi Williams, said in Ijanikin, near Lagos yesterday that the introduction of TSA policy was crippling the running of the colleges. According to him, the TSA accounting system for all government-owned

institutions, agencies and ministries by the Federal Government was posing serious challenges for both the colleges and parents. He argued that the TSA was slowing down administrative operations in the colleges and frustrating

parents in their bid to process school bills of their children and wards. The spokesman argued that in spite of the lofty goals of the TSA, it had affected the running of the schools and made day-today services in the schools almost impossible.

his trail and later caught up with him around Adenle, Sabo Area of Osogbo,” he added. Some residents of Sabo, Adenle, who did not want their names mentioned, told our correspondent that the rival cult groups clashed in the area for several hours on Friday and forced many residents to remain indoors. It was, however, learnt that after intense fighting, one person was rushed to a private hospital with deep machete cut on the head. He was later pronounced died. In Ile Ife, two people died during a gang fight. Sources at Ibadan Road, a neighbourhood in the town, said one of the victims was a student of a private polytechnic.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South West

Monday, November 23, 2015

Lagos alerts on contaminated poultry FRANCIS SUBERU

agos State government has warned residents in the metropolis against consuming exhumed and contaminated chicken and turkey parts currently in circulation in the state, as they pose serious health risk to humans.

According to Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Toyin Suarau, these imported contaminated poultry were seized by men of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, in Badagry, but were later exhumed after being destroyed

by some unscrupulous individuals with intent to sell same to unsuspecting consumers. Suarau, who disclosed this at the weekend while receiving officials of National Orientation Agency, NOA, who came on the directive of the Federal Government to appeal for support on how to sensitise the teeming populace in Lagos on the danger posed by this act, noted that these exhumed poultry are poisonous and could lead to death if eaten. The commissioner said the imported poul-

try were preserved with chemicals like formalin, which is poisonous, and could lead to slow death. Suarau noted that aside being poisonous, the poultry products are not as nutritious as freshly processed poultry because imported poultry have been preserved for months and years with dangerous substances. The commissioner, while restating the state government’s

commitment towards ensuring food security for its residents, vowed that the government will not relent in its quest to improve the quality of life of citizens, adding that health and wellbeing of residents was cardinal in the policy thrust of government. Suarau, however, disclosed that the Lagos State government will work in collaboration with the Federal Government to ensure

the sensitisation exercise was successful. Similarly, Special Adviser to the Governor on Food Security, Okanlawon Sanni, said the State Ministry of Agriculture will assist in mobilising and sensitising its poultry farmers and members of the public to be their brothers’ keeper and be alert to happenings around them. He stressed that the populace, especially those at the grassroots,

would be involved in the advocacy and sensitisation campaign on the dangers of consuming these contaminated produce. Earlier, Deputy Director NOA, John Emah, said the agency in collaboration with Lagos State government is set to be begin programme to draw attention of the public to the dangers inherent in buying and consuming these poultry produce.

Ondo APC leaders shun meeting with Boroffice OJO O YEWAMIDE AKURE

hairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ondo State, Isaac Kekemeke, and other members of the state executive committee at the weekend shunned a meeting with the senator representing Ondo North in the National Assembly, Prof. Ajayi Boroffice. Other notable leaders of the party also avoided the meeting where Boroffice intended to officially announce his gubernatorial aspiration. Only few leaders were at the party secretariat at Oyemekun road, Akure, Ondo State capital, where the party’s Vice Chairman, Ade Adetimehin, received the gubernatorial aspirant. Boroffice was said to have scheduled the meeting with SEC members and other notable leaders of the party. Sources ascribed the development to the leadership crisis rocking the party since the nomination of Prof. Claudius Daramola as minister representing the state in the federal cabinet. A source said, “Most of the people present at the meeting were aides of the senator. Many leaders that were supposed to welcome him with fanfare decided to

shun the meeting. “Some of the leaders, who were opposed to the intention of Borofice to contest the governorship election on the ticket of the party, were the ones who deliberately boycotted the meeting.” Borofice had earlier met with ward and local government executive committee members in Akure South and Akure North, where he was said to have carpeted the senator representing Ondo Central, Tayo Alasoadura, for supporting Senate President Bukola Saraki. It was learnt that this was one of the reasons for the absence of some of the leaders, particularly those of Akure South and Akure North. However, APC Director of Media and Publicity, Steve Otaloro, denied that the party leaders deliberately boycotted the meeting, explaining that the chairman and some other leaders were out of town to attend an event organised by a federal lawmaker of the party. “It is not true that the leaders shunned the meeting with Senator Boroffice. The chairman and some other leaders went to Idanre to attend the commissioning of some projects by Hon. Bamidele Baderinwa, not that they were deliberately absent at the meeting,” Otaloro said.

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola (right) and Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, during a courtesy visit to the Governor, at Government House, Osogbo, at the weekend.

Laws alone can’t erase domestic violence –Ambode FRANCIS SUBERU

overnor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State at the weekend said the fight against domestic violence rampant in our society nowadays may not be achieved easily if we rely solely on legislation. The governor rather advocated collaboration and sustained efforts among all stakeholders as well as constant sensitisation of the public on this dangerous trend. Ambode spoke as a guest of honour at a special dinner organised by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, DSVRT, in Lagos to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month. He noted that what was required to end domestic violence was more than relying on legislation

alone, stressing that there was need for sustained, coordinated and multilevel approach among all relevant stakeholders, particularly the police, health workers, judiciary, education sector and people in the social services. According to him, adequate sensitisation of the public and strengthening of the laws against domestic violence can reduce domestic violence and other related crimes to the barest minimum. Represented by his deputy, Dr. Idiat Adebule, the governor regretted that despite that government had put effective legislations in place, domestic violence has continued to be a real challenge for lots of our citizenry. He blamed it largely on ignorance and poor societal culture that always encourages victims of domestic violence to be silent on their experience

while the cases are either ignored or swept under the carpet. Ambode, while reaffirming the commitment of his administration to reduction of domestic violent crimes through regular conviction of perpetrators of such crimes to serve as a deterrent to others, noted that our law enforcement, justice, women, health and social development systems must work tirelessly to hold offenders accountable for their crimes. He also urged them to always ensure that adequate protection is given to victims of domestic violence and their children. Earlier in his welcome address, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Kazeem Adeniji, explained that the Lagos Domestic and Sexual violence Response Team was established in September 2014 to increase vic-

tims’ safety by providing a cross jurisdictional response which is uniform in approach in responding to all forms of Sexual Gender Based Violence crimes; including rape, defilement, child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault among others. The commissioner noted that violence against women and children has tremendous effects on communities, nations, societies because of its social and negative implications on public well being, health, safety, productivity and the like noting that if the menace is left unaddressed, it poses serious danger to peace and security of the society, adding that there is evidence to prove that children who have witnessed or been subjected to violence are more likely to become victims or abusers themselves.

South East

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Group tasks NCC on solution to unsolicited text messages

ssociation of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, ALTON, has called on the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to find lasting solution to the issue of unsolicited Short Messaging Service, SMS. Chairman of ALTON, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, gave the advice in a statement in Lagos. The statement said the regulatory body should clearly spell out the 'dos' and 'don’ts' of unsolicited messages to keep the service providers on their toes. It said most of the unsolicited messages received by telecoms consumers were actually sent by the Value Added Service, VAS, providers. According to the statement, the telecoms umpire must come hard on all the players, both the telecoms operators, as well as the VAS providers. “There are many ways through which the issue of unsolicited text messages flow; one of such is through the

internet, which is an open platform that is not regulated. “This is because once those who send those messages have access to your phone number they can go on the internet portal and pump messages to you. “The other is those who are providing value added services, who are called the secondary operators and they work and ride on the platforms of the service providers to deliver their services. “It is easy to regulate them because you can sign to a code of conduct, you can sign to a code of performance, you can sign to a code of satisfaction. “The Value Added Providers are the major culprits on this issue of unsolicited messages and they need to have very strict regulatory supervision, without which it might be difficult to regulate their platform,” the statement said. It urged consumers to protect themselves by not giving out their numbers to anyone.

Community rep in oil firm dispels speculation of spillage

ommunity Officer representing Ochia community of Imo State in Waltersmith Petroleum Oil Company’s operations, Mr. Jonadab Onyiwara, said there was no oil spill in the area. Onyiwara, a leader in the oil-producing community of Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of the state, made this known in Owerri yesterday. His reaction was sequel to widespread speculation and panic that a spill had occurred in the area, which destroyed some parts of the community’s farmland. He said: “The speculated oil spillage in Ochia community is falsehood and those behind it are only acting on the figment of their imagination. “As the officer representing Ochia community in the operation of WalterSmith, I am in a better position to tell the

world that there is no oil spill in the operation area of WalterSmith.” Onyiwara noted that it was mischievous for some persons with hidden agenda to mislead the public in an attempt to attract the attention of the oil company. “Since 2008 when WalterSmith commenced operation in Ochia land, there has been no serious issue regarding its operations that the company did not handle with dispatch. “If there is oil spillage, I strongly believe the company will equally rise to the challenge to save the lives and property of the people,” he added. The community leader advised residents to be wary of those spreading false information about the company, adding that WalterSmith had impacted positively on the community.

L-R: Governors David Umahi of Ebonyi; Rochas Okorocha of Imo and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, jointly address newsmen after South-East Stakeholders meeting in Enugu, yesterday.

Leaders’ failure caused agitation for Biafra —Archbishop Chukwuma

rchbishop of Enugu, Anglican Communion, Most Rev Emmanuel Chukwuma, has attributed agitation for Biafra to leadership failure and lack of guidance from elders. Chukwuma expressed this opinion at the 2015 Adult Thanksgiving held at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Abuja yesterday. According to him, the call for creation of Biafra Republic has shown that most of the elders have lost their respect, integrity, authority and stand before the youths in the South-East. “Biafra is a complete distraction and is the result of

failure of leadership and the elders. “I think the elders in the South-East should wake up and know that the young ones cannot override the authorities of the elders. “This calls for caution, unity and good examples by the elders,” the clergyman said. He urged the elders to bring the youths together, admonish and give them a sense of confidence so that they would be upright in their dealings. “This is the time we must begin to think how we will gather the youths and make them have confidence in our leadership so that we will be

able to lead them aright. “These children did not witness Biafra in those days and that is why they don’t know what it is. “I think they are frustrated, so we should address their unemployment, frustration and indiscipline. Once that is done, then this insurgence will stop,” Chukwuma added. He, however, said the church had never been in support of violence in any ramification. “The church is not in support of any violence; instead the church wants to know what their problems and grievances are so that they will see what they can do

about it,” he added. Rev. Nicholas Okoh, Archbishop and Metropolitan Primate of the Church of all Nigeria, also called on Christians to eschew selfishness and give thanks to God at all times. “We must live gratefully; we should show gratitude to God for what He has done, like the sermon tells us clearly. “We call for unity, which is lacking in the relationship with fellow human beings in our country. We call for love, unity and oneness. “We pray that we will experience it in our country so that we can develop and move forward,” he said.

FERMA begins rehabilitation of Port access road

ederal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA, yesterday began rehabilitation of Tin-Can Island Port portion of the Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonsoki Expressway in Lagos. A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, who visited the twokilometre stretch of the road, reported that FERMA engineers were busy laying crushed stones and asphalt on the road. The portion being rehabilitated covers between the first and second gates of the Tin-Can Island Port. The agency’s Progress Officer in-charge of LagosWest, Mr. Kolade Kolawole, said the repair was part of a

routine maintenance of the highway. Kolawole complained that articulated vehicles blocking the highway were making the site inaccessible to the agency. He, however, noted that FERMA was collaborating with Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, security to clear the road so that its men could carry out maintenance work. He explained that the agency chose to work on a Sunday in order not to disrupt economic activities at the ports during the usual working week. “What we are currently doing is emergency routine maintenance on Tin-Can

Island-Apapa-Oworonshoki Road. “We are working on Sunday because the trailer drivers are usually on this road during the week days. “And because of the activities at the ports on normal days, we usually do not have access to the road. “Even, today being Sunday, we have access to work on the road because the Nigerian Ports Authority security personnel were drafted to assist us. “We are also mindful of the economic activities at the ports. “The routine maintenance includes de-silting and scarifying the road and resurfacing it with asphalt,”

he said. Kolawole said FERMA was collaborating with the various stakeholders and NPA in order to remove a 20-ft abandoned container obstructing a portion of the highway. The container, he said, has been obstructing the rehabilitation work, which he said, must be finished today. Also speaking, Assistant Port Security Officer of the Tin-Can Island Port, Mr. Polinus Eleta, said his unit had to divert traffic to allow for the rehabilitation. “We had to divert traffic through an inner lane to the second gate so that FERMA can work on the Apapa bound section of the dual-carriageway.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South South

Monday, November 23, 2015

Price critical to power sector’s success –MD

L-R: Vice President, Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Mr. Billy Harry; incoming President, Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), Dr Emi Membere-Otaji; former President, PHCCIMA, Mr Hyke Ochia and out-going President, Mr Emeka Unachukwu, at the 58th Inauguration of the new President, Exco and Council Members Of PHCCIMA in Port Harcourt, on Saturday.

Guber: MEND rallies support for Dickson …to mobilise 500 observers DENNIS NAKU

PORT HARCOURT

head of December 5 gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, said it was mobilising 500 of its members to monitor the exercise, especially in the creeks. The group also endorsed the second term ambition of incumbent governor and standard bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, Seriake Dickson. The body said the Ijaw people are solidly behind the governor in the forthcoming election. MEND view was disclosed in a statement signed by its acting chairman in Rivers State, Prince Amaibi Horby

anaging Director, Krystal Digital Network Solutions Limited, Mr Temitope Ogunsemo, yesterday called on Federal Government to integrate Information and Communication Technology, ICT operations in governance. Ogunsemo made the appeal at a news conference in Lagos. According to him, this will enhance public service delivery and monitoring of government activities. He said the government could achieve its change agenda through the adoption of ICT in checkmat-

popularly known as ‘General Busta Rhymes’, and 12 others, and made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt. The group said Dickson has performed well in office, having driven development to the rural areas of the mainly coastal state. The statement reads, “We have endorsed the incumbent governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, for a second term in office as Bayelsans gear up for the December 5 election. “Dickson over the years has performed creditably in office as he has driven development to the hinterland. “The Ijaw people are solidly behind him (Dickson) in this forthcoming governorship election, and we will roll out our members to monitor the election in the state, especially in

the vast creeks of Bayelsa where we are deep-rooted to avoid intimidation and possible rigging by enemies of Ijawland and their Abuja collaborators. “We wish to admonish President Muhammadu Buhari not to engage election riggers in the governorship election as such vicious and surreptitious antics shall not only be vehemently resisted but may also lead to awakening the sleeping dog from its rest. “We call upon the United Nations and indeed the international community to bear us witness as we are not unaware of the planned use of ‘federal might’ to intimidate the people of Bayelsa State in favour of their chosen candidate,” it said. It stated that the governor is a product of the Ijaw struggle for resource control and self-determination in the Niger Delta

region, before venturing into active politics, pointing out that so far, he has contributed immensely to the vast socio-political and economic development of the Ijaw nation. The statement added, “We are mustering total support for him because he is a product of the Ijaw struggle for resource control and self-determination in the Niger Delta. “So far, he has contributed immensely to the vast socio-political and economic development of the Ijaw nation. “We direct our members across the landscape of their region to drive their vehicles and paddle their canoes behind the umbrella of PDP and vote for Governor Dickson in the December 5 elections to protect the sanctity of our collective struggle, which Governor Dickson pro-actively represents.”

anaging Director of Ibom Power Limited, Dr Victor Udoh, has said the price of electricity is critical to the success of power generating fir ms in the country. Udoh said this in Abuja yesterday. Ibom Power Limited, an electricity Generation Company (Genco), is owned by Akwa Ibom State gover nment. “I believe this is part of the reasons Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Company, NERC, is considering a review of the price to encourage distribution companies to set prudent tariffs. “It is the distribution companies that interface with the consumers, thus they should introduce cost reflective tariffs. “Once the tariff is right and the distribution companies collect the revenue, they will be able to pay us (generation companies) through Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc,” he said. He said Gover nor Udom Emmanuel had directed him to re-position the corporation as a business venture. According to him, the company has set clear perfor mance goals, with its employees fully involved. Udoh assured the company would survive and generate enough revenue to be self-sufficient without relying on the state gover nment.

He explained that Ibom Power has several potential investors willing to invest in it. He also said the corporation had sufficient gas to run its plant ``because the previous gover nment of Gover nor Godswill Akpabio bought large quantities of gas to run the plant.’’ According to him, seven energy companies have invested in gas processing plants in parts of the state. He noted that Ibom Power had established an apprenticeship /inter nship programme, where people go through a rigorous selection interview for training. Udoh said many investors were being attracted to the state due to improved power supply. He said this is in line with the state gover nment’s policy objective of industrialising the state. He said the plant recently obtained license to increase its generation from 190mw to 685mw. “We will go for another embedded generation license to fasttrack development in the state,’’ he said. Udoh listed inability of power distribution companies to evacuate and pay for power supplied, weak infrastructure, inadequate finance and shortage of staf f as factors hindering the operations of energ y industry.

Integrate ICT in governance, expert urges FG ing corruption, crime and terrorism in the country. ``We are in the world of technology where everything can be viewed in one’s hand. The world is fast advancing technologically. “Therefore, the adoption of ICT will help to enhance national economic development,’’ Ogunsemo said. He noted that e-governance in ICT would facilitate the activities of the general public and civil servants in the country. ``Government should embark on the training of the public sector employ-

ees in technology, for them to be technologically inclined and able to keep pace with the developing world. ``Once government workers are well trained in ICT, it will help in combating corruption and effective monitoring of their performance, because all their daily activities will be tailored through the computer,’’ he said. The managing director urged government to collaborate with technology experts in the training and retraining of public sector employees in advanced technology.

He said his company was honoured as the `Best School Management Software Developer of the year 2015’ on November 21. Ogunsemo said the award was achieved based on its effective service delivery to Federal Government Colleges across the country. ``We have been in the forefront of delivering software development solutions to Federal Government Colleges by creating portals for them, as well as platforms for the online payment of school fees and the monitoring of students’

activities and performances. ``The idea is to bridge the gap between public schools and private schools, in terms of information technology,” he said. According to him, recent research has proven that ICT has great benefits and a high potential to improve the quality of education at all levels. “ICT has the potential to accelerate, enrich and deepen skills, to motivate and engage students, and to help relate school experiences to work practices,’’ he said. Ogunsemo explained

that improved quality of education was essential to the creation of effective human capital in any country. ``The need for ICT in the Nigerian educational system cannot be overemphasised. ``In this technologydriven age, everyone requires ICT competence to survive,’’ he said. Ogunsemo, therefore, urged Federal Government to appoint ICT professionals into public offices, to enhance overall national economic development.

North

Monday, November 23, 2015

Suicide bomber kills 7 in Maiduguri Inusa Ndahi MAIDUGURI

even people were reportedly killed and scores injured when a suspected female suicide bomber in her 20s detonated Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, at Maiduguri-Mafa road on Sunday afternoon, sources said. According to a police officer, who is not authorised

to talk to the press, "the explosion took place about 12 noon on Sunday near Welcome to Maiduguri Muna Garage, situated at Gamboru Ngala-Dikwa MafaMaiduguri troubled road.” Muna Garage is east and on the outskirts of Maiduguri, which is about 7 kilometres drive to Maiduguri metropolis that had witnessed series of deadly attacks by terrorists during the peak of the Boko

Haram insurgency. Unconfirmed report indicated that just yesterday (Saturday) an explosion occurred in the same area masterminded by a suspected suicide bomber disguised among Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, who were scheduled to be lifted to camps in Maiduguri. National Mirror gathered that the mangled body of the female sui-

cide bomber was left on the scene, while the seven victims, including the injured, were taken to undisclosed hospitals in Maiduguri. When contacted, Media Coordinator of Operation Lafiya Dole, said he was not in position to make any comment. “I have just been transferred from the zone and now in Abuja to work with the Minister of Defence," he explained.

Bauchi State Governor Muhammed Abubakar (right), and other dignitaries, during the burial prayer of Barayan Gombe, Alhaji Banaru Abubakar, at Gwallaga Central Mosque in Bauchi, yesterday.

Police training institutions in decay —Mbu

ederal Government has been advised to set up a special committee to visit police formations in the country. Commandant, Police Staff College, Mr Joseph Mbu (AIG), made the call yesterday during an interview with News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Jos. “There is decay; there is neglect; what we have on ground is not conducive for the reform programme we all yearn for. ``Many projects in the training institutions have been abandoned,” Mbu said. He stressed that the nation must invest more in the police to get the desired best service from it and effect the change crucial for a better Nigeria. “Nigerians want an improved police force in line with the change mantra, but the institutions that train the personnel are in a state of utter decay.’’ He said management and personnel of the police were doing a lot, and that of-

ficers on strategic courses in the college would feel more encouraged, for instance, if they were fed by the agency. ``That gesture would give them the time to fully concentrate without distractions. ``The police profile is rising, but there is no need for course participants here to feed themselves. Government should feed them to make them feel cared for and that will in turn ginger them to make more sacrifices for the nation.'' On the officers recently trained on strategic leadership and command by the PSC, he said they must be courageous and lead their teams like lions. ``I have often told the officers that a team of lions led by a sheep will behave like a sheep, while a team of sheep led by a lion will behave like a lion,” he said. He challenged officers to be hardworking and exemplary, saying that he had always emphasised an “iron handling of the personnel’’

as the best strategy toward maximum output. Mbu cautioned trainees, usually of the commissionership cadre, against greed and lust for material things, and insisted that they must stand up for truth and tell leaders the implications of crude tactics they may want to pursue. “You could be posted as a police commissioner to a state where the governor, as chief security officer, may want to lord it over you. But you must assert the fact that you will be responsible for controlling any trouble whenever it starts. ``So, you must insist on doing only what is right and say no when asked to do the wrong thing. ``You should not disrespect the governor, but you must insist that respect must be mutual. ``It is also important to know that your name, status and integrity will be in the mud immediately you start compromising your roles just to get some reward; it

takes nothing less than 27 years to become a police commissioner, so do not play with your dignity.'' He advised police officers to assess their personnel based on hard work instead of asking for ``any returns'', and promised that the force would stoutly defend any officer who made genuine mistakes in the course of his duties. Mbu also advised them against abusing their powers, stressing that all obligations must be within regulation.

Arase

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Mubi Poly seeks special consideration over insurgency Livinus Menedi YOLA

ector of Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, has called on the Federal Government to consider institutions affected by Boko Haram insurgency for special consideration in intervention planned for the reconstruction and development of the North East region. Deputy Rector (Academics) and acting Rector of the institution, Dr David Gbenyi, made the plea in Adamawa State over the weekend while urging Federal Government to come to the institution’s rescue. He said the polytechnic badly needs special intervention to enable it repair infrastructure destroyed as a result of the capture of Mubi by insurgents. Gbenyi said the siege on Mubi following its fall to the insurgents resulted in the vandalisation of its education infrastructure, adding that the incident created lo-

gistic challenge for not only the institution but all other institutions operating in the region. He therefore, urged the government to consider those institutions operating in North East for a special intervention to help them. He said insurgents carted away a lot of equipment and vehicles belonging to the institution and its staff, adding that they vandalised laboratories and some engineering equipment. “Some members of staff left Mubi with bad memories and that is why they are finding it difficult to stabilise psychologically. “We recorded both human and material loses of unquantifiable degree in this institution. It will surprise you that the insurgents occupied our quarters and the psychological trauma is still there in some people. “You can imagine that some of our staff who had up to three vehicles are trekking today and some are even due for their retirement.”

FG, World Bank partner on solid minerals development

ederal Government has expressed willingness to continue to partner the World Bank in the development of solid minerals sector. Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Kayode Fayemi, disclosed this when he received a team from the World Bank led by its Country Director, Mr Rachid Benmessaoud, in his office at the weekend. Fayemi together with Minister of State for Solid Minerals, Abubakar Bwari, at the meeting, acknowledged the support of the financial institution to infrastructure development in the sector through the ministry. Fayemi, who noted that the ministry had a proper regulatory framework in place, however, said there was need for additional work to be done in the area of data. He also spoke on the need to strengthen the informal sector, while also seeking to attract foreign investment. He said: “In order to ensure that the ministry is well positioned to be an enabler, a lot needs to be put

in place. Additional work need to be done on data. We need to know the quantity and quality of the minerals we have. “We need to also attract the big players. We need to know why they are not here,” said Fayemi, who added that everything must be done to actualise President Muhammadu Buhari’s mandate to move the sector forward. Earlier, Benmessaoud, who hailed the excellent relationship between the financial institution and the government of Ekiti, during Fayemi’s tenure, said the team was delighted to work with the minister in his new assignment. He stated that the bank was mindful of President Buhari’s emphasis on Agriculture and Solid Minerals as two critical sectors that could boost revenue generation and create jobs for the citizens. Benmessaoud who lauded the administration’s plan to diversify the economy through solid minerals development, however said that the expected revenue may not be realised immediately.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Osahon Julius YENAGOA

survey and opinion conducted by a Non-Governmental Organization, NGO, based in Lagos state on the Bayelsa state December 5 election has indicated that the candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, and former governor of the state, Chief Timipreye Sylva, will emerge winner of the poll by wide margin. However, the announcement of the poll by ‘Election Frontline’, did not go down well with the umbrella campaign organization for the re-election of Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, who in statement said they “received with rude shock, the so called poll survey conducted on the would-be voting pattern of voters in the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa State.” A statement by the Director of the Media and Publicity of the campaign organization, Jonathan Obuebite, said the survey made available to newsmen through email in Yenagoa, by election frontline, said the team

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Politics

Bayelsa 2015: Independent opinion poll picks Sylva, Dickson camp kicks It was made up by APC –Dickson campaign spokesman was made up of APC cardcarrying members lead by one MacPepple Joshua. The survey which seek to find out the level of awareness and preparedness of the people of Bayelsa State, particularly the eligible voters on the December 5 Governorship election had indicated that out of the eight local government Areas, Chief Timipre Sylva, will win in six local government areas. The survey named the local government areas as Southern Ijaw, Yenagoa, Ekeremor, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Nembe and Brass while incumbent Governor Henry Seriake Dickson will manage to win in his own Local Government Area of Sagbama and Local Government Area of the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Among other things, the statement signed by the

survey administrator, Joshua MacPepple, said it also seek “to examine the electoral suitability and value of the 20 governorship candidates through the campaign strategies adopted by their respective political parties and determine the most acceptable candidate who is likely to emerge as the next governor come February, 14 2016.” The statement added, “The study adopted survey as research design and sampling method was used to select sample of 1,000 residents as the population of the study across the eight local government areas.

Questionnaire was used as research instrument. There are 15 items in the questionnaire. Out of the 1,000 copies of the questionnaire distributed in the 8 LGAs (Yenagoa, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Sagbama, Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, Nembe and Brass), 952 copies were filled correctly and returned representing a good return rate of 95.2 per cent.” The survey however shows that on the acceptability of the various political parties, 49.08% of the population of study indicated their preference for the PDP while 45.51% preferred

APC while small population indicated their preference for the People’s Democratic Movement, PDM. The survey stated that on the electoral value of the various candidates, 31.03 % of the population study promised to vote for the incumbent Governor Seriake Dickson of the PDP while 58.92 % of the respondents said they will vote for former Governor Timipre Sylva of the APC. In a swift reaction, Jonathan Obuebite, said opinion poll was obviously sponsored by the APC leadership, saying it was unfortunate that the administra-

tor of the so called opinion poll simply sat in Lagos and wrote its report which unfortunately alluded that the APC governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva would win the election. “Ordinarily, this unfounded opinion poll should not merit a reaction from either the PDP or the Restoration Campaign Organization of Governor Seriake Dickson, but we have decided to succinctly react to the falsehood, propaganda and blackmail of the APC pollsters to set the record straight before Nigerians and the international community.

We haven’t neglect our members –Bauchi APC Ezekiel Titus BAUCHI

auchi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC has said that it has not neglect or abandoned its members. The party in a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Auwal Aliyu Jallah stated that its leadership and Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar have appreciated the contributions of every member towards the success of the party. “The main objective of every good government is prioritizing the welfare of its citizens which cannot be achieved without unity,”it stated. It could be recalled that a member of the party, Alhaji Bappah Hardawa had while

speaking to journalists in Bauchi recently alleged that the party leadership and the state government have abandoned members of the party who worked for its victory during the last elections. It calls on its members to exercise patient saying that it has appreciated the way the state governor is running the affairs of the state. It added that all is set to ensure the welfare of its members adding that the Mohammed Abubakar’s led APC administration in Bauchi State is working to clear the mess created by the immediate past administration. The party further stressed that members of the party and all the people in the state will feel the impact of real dividends of democracy very soon.

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson (centre) on arrival at Zarama Town during his community to community meet the people campaign tour in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the State, yesterday.

Ekiti SSG seeks more women participation in politics Abiodun Nejo ADO EKITI

he Secretary to Ekiti State Government, SSG, Dr Modupe Alade, has appealed for increased participation of women in politics, saying they have what it takes to be in leadership positions. Alade, who disagreed with the belief in some quarters that politics is dirty and meant for only men, appealed to husbands to allow their wives to par-

ticipate actively in politics. The SSG, who spoke at a reception organised for her by the Ifaki- Ekiti Progressive Union, IPU, Ado Ekiti Branch at her Ifaki -Ekiti hometown at the weekend, traced her success story to her husband, Mr. Olu Alade, who she said gave her all the needed support and cooperation when she ventured into politics. While calling on Nigerian men to learn from her experience by being supportive of their wives’ career pursuits, she urged

wives to also live exemplary lives that would prompt their husbands into supporting them. Alade expressed gratitude for the honour, which she described as “most honourable reception coming from my people,” and assured the community that she would not disappoint them in attracting more development and empowerment. She said: “Commendation is a way of telling a person to do more. I will do more by the grace of God.

I will support the governor to ensure the realisation of all his electoral promises to Ifaki Ekiti and other parts of the state”. Ekiti State Governor, represented by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP State Chairman, Chief Idowu Faleye, said he appointed Alade as SSG in view of her qualities of sound academic values, reliability, dependability and acumen for leadership which made her stood out among her peers.

Politics

he Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Bayelsa State at the weekend revisited the eligibility status of All Progressives Congress, APC candidate in the December 5 governorship election, Timipre Sylva, in reaction to an advertorial published by a concerned body, the Truth Movement of Nigeria. In a statement by the State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Hon. Godspower Keku, the party contended that the inherent issues contained in the advertorial were subsisting and had cogent foundation to render Sylva’s candidature null and void.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Bayelsa PDP aligns with truth movement says Sylva can’t run Truth Movement of Nigeria had in the said advertorial signed by its Publicity Secretary, Fred Amakom, posited that thoughTimipre Sylva has been nominated as candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the election but that he was ineligible on account of having been elected twice as governor in 2007 and 2008. Citing constitutional and legal precedent to back its argument, the body not-

ed that Sylva having been elected twice was no longer eligible to contest as doing so would be at variance with provisions of Section 182 (1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended which states that “No person shall be qualified for election to the office of governor if “he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections” To do otherwise, it claimed, would amount to a breach of the constitution as

Sylva would be serving more than the stipulated maximum of eight years in office. It clarified any supposed ambiguity in the interpretation of this section of the constitution in relation to the state governors’ suit in the matter in 2007 in which Sylva was one of the respondents and that based on the Supreme Court judgement on the case, it was well established that all the governors including Sylva were deemed to

APC’s Agent, Hajia Halima Alfa, signing the summary results of Kogi Governorship Election results declared by the returning officer, Prof. Emmanuel Kucha in Lokoja, yesterday.

Nigerian govt to build vibrant TV, media economy –Buhari Ayo Esan

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

ny, in Lagos on Saturday. President Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Nigeria planned to use the Digital Switch Over as an opportunity to diversify the provision of channels and content. ‘’Silverbird, with its rich history, will have to play a key role in this evolution of television and entertainment to boost production, local content, employment of our ever increasing youth, contribute significantly to the nation’s GDP,’’ he said. President Buhari said sub-Saharan Africa will have 46.46M primary Digital Terrestrial Television,DTT homes by 2020, that is 37.6 million Free To Air and 8.86 million pay TV, up from 9.27 million at the end of 2013 and 0.53 million at the end of 2010. ‘’Nigeria will be the larg-

est DTT nation in Africa in 2020, both for Free To Air that is 9.07 million - and for pay, that is 3.59 million. As Silverbird seeks to deliver exceptional family entertainment to this important growth market, it will need to adjust its models to suit the market conditions to achieve the objective of maximizing the reach of the Silverbird Channel in the Nigerian market, and that it will have to do through a Free to Air model. The target markets for Free To Air are the 26-million-plus TV households, and the growth of DTT in Nigeria is accelerating much faster than the growth in the pay-TV market,’’ the President said. He said that by using the Digital Switch Over (DSO), his administration shall replicate in Nigeria the globally successful Free to Air model, to open up the

market to mass numbers of potential viewers. President Buhari said while Silverbird, which he described as an ‘iconic company’, had already keyed in to a key aspect of his administration’s agenda of creating jobs, especially for the youth, thus helping to force down crimes and enhance security, ‘’we are still counting on an even stronger cooperation between this company – and indeed the entire media and entertainment Industry - and this administration in the efforts to ensure attitudinal change among our people, fight terrorism and corruption and provide even more jobs.’’ The company has now grown to become the number one media and entertainment firm that now owns radio and television stations as well as cinemas and malls across Nigeria.

have contested the rerun election and as such he had been elected twice and no longer eligible to re-contest the third time. “ Chief Timipre Sylva has previously been elected twice as governor of Bayelsa State namely in 2007 and 2008. The 2007 election was nullified by the Court of Appeal and Chief TimipreSylva contested and won the re-run election where upon he was elected the second time and served for about a cumulative period of four years and seven months as the governor of Bayelsa State. He now seeks to be elected a third time as the governor of Bayelsa State in the said forthcoming elections. “But the Supreme Court clearly recognized the earlier nullified election of Governor Timipre Sylva as having led to his first election. Thus his success in this re-run election was obviously his second election and has thus barred him from contesting again having been previously elected twice”, it stated. On this legal ground, therefore, the PDP scribe

said in the statement that allowing Sylva to contest in the next election would be an assault on the constitution of the Federal Republic and a clear impunity which he noted could create constitutional crisis. Keku called on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Yakubu Dogara and Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmood Yakubu to wade in urgently in order to ensure the sanctity of the constitution is protected and justice was done in the interest of the nation. “Democracy is founded on the rule of law and anything outside it is tantamount to impunity. This is why we believe resolutely that based on the Supreme Court judgement, Timipre Sylva is not eligible to run in this election and our convictions are already being shared by the public as this body’s penetrating insight into the matter vindicates our earlier position”, he stated.

Zing council chairman in Taraba resigns Justin Tyopuusu JALINGO

aretaker Chairman, Zing Local Government Area of Taraba State, Alhaji Haruna Konko has resigned his position. Konko who addressed journalists in Jalingo said he was resigning in the interest of peace and security of his family and the good people of his local government. He said he has been undergoing constant intimidation and harassment from top stakeholders in area since the death of Kpanti Zing, Alhaji Abbas Sambo who died during the hajj stampede in Mecca. “I have not been sleeping well since the death of the late Kpanti Zing, Alhaji Abbas Sambo because of impunity from high places. Some youths in the area have continued to give me sleepless nights, and I can’t

continue like this,” he said. The ex-council boss accused relevant authorities in the state of keeping quiet in the whole matter while the peace of the area was being threatened. The resignation of the chairman may not be unconnected to the role he played during the chieftaincy tussle in the area, following protest by the Mumuye people of the area that the next Kpanti must be someone who could uphold their culture and tradition. Konko was said to have ordered the police to arrest and detain Alhaji Sulaima Sambo whom the masses wanted as the next Kpanti of Zing for being behind the protest. Alhaji Sulaima Sambo has been elected as the Kpanti Zing, but the youths in the area allegedly refused to forgive the chairman for the role he played, the situation that led to his resignation.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Views

Monday, November 23, 2015

Election tribunals and our weak political system ALEX OSONDU ATAWA-AKPODIETE

lbert Einstein supposedly said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Since the return to democracy in 1999, we have had unending election petitions as the same recurring decimal in our electoral system. On March 28, 2015, Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election and was sworn in as Nigeria’s President on May 29, 2015. The out gone President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan did not contest the outcome of the election, but bowed out gracefully. His action has been hailed by the international community as one of the best things to have happened to Nigeria, especially in light of the doomsday prophecy on the likely breakup of the country in 2015. Even President Buhari has not failed to recognize this magnanimity whenever the opportunity presented itself. By comparison, on April 11, 2015, there were governorship elections in 29 states of the federation. Only in Bayelsa, Kogi, Edo, Ekiti, Osun, Ondo and Anambra states were governorship elections not conducted. Legislative elections for state houses of assembly, House of Representatives and Senate, were conducted in these seven states. This means at least 1,272 contested positions were up for grabs in the general elections. Of all these, the results of most of them were contested at the election tribunals, congesting the judicial system, while mak-

ing lawyers very rich. The electoral challenges included allegations of violence, no actual voting, unqualified candidates, missing names on ballot papers, irreconcilable number of permanent voters card (PVC) holders versus accredited voters, non-functioning Smart Card Readers (SCRs), outright jettison of the SCRs, usual ballot box snatching, absence of electoral materials, disappearance of INEC officials, rigging through multiple thumb printing or falsifying of election result sheets. I am sure there are other species of challenges, but they must fall within the parameters of Section 138 of the Electoral Act2010 (as amended). Section 133 of the amended 2010 Electoral Act states that “(1) An election petition shall be filed within 21 days after the date of the declaration of results of the elections; (2) An election tribunal shall deliver its judgment in writing within 180 days from the date of the filing of the petition; (3) An appeal from a decision of an election tribunal or court shall be heard and disposed of within 90 days from the date of the delivery of judgment of the tribunal; (4) The court in all appeals from election tribunals may adopt the practice of first giving its decision and reserving the reasons thereto for the decision to a later date. By the time you add 21 days statute of limitation for filing petition to the 180 for determining the petition at the tribunal, and 90 days for appellate resolution at the Court of Appeal, it essentially means that a governorship election dispute cannot be resolved under 291 days, which

Men in animal clothing LOLADE AKINMURELE

s I read through an article, which sought to establish the differences between men and animals, my eye caught a salient distinction between the two; and this was that only men are able to have an influence beyond the grave. Men who lived thousands of years ago still influence us today, but animals can’t be portrayed in this light. In all honesty, this difference between men and animals is fast fading away because not all men will die to be remembered, since not all men live to be remembered. Where then shall we locate man’s distinction from animals in this regard? A quick look at the men and women who have been able to have an influence beyond their grave will leave us staring keenly at the fact that they were leaders in their respective fields, and their lives were characterized by one simple, yet very defining factor: service to humanity. These personages turned their docile and private lives into vibrant and public ones to serve humanity. They were game changers and whenever the opportunity to carry the burden of a people presented itself, they were forerunners. When it comes to influence, not much can be said of an animal that is guided by instincts and driven by self preserva-

SURVIVAL OF THE

FITTEST IS HOW BEST TO DESCRIBE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANIMALS IN THE

JUNGLE, BUT ISN’T IT STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO WHAT DEFINES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEN TODAY?

tion rather than self application; hence it is unable to live for the service of any other but itself and unable to outlive its grave. But this ought not to be the case with man, who John Whitcomb describes as “sufficiently free from the bondage of instinct to exercise real choices and to have significant purposes and goals in life.” The stark reality nonetheless is: We are surrounded by men who are guided by their instincts and driven by self preservation rather than self application. Survival of the fittest is how best to describe the relationship between animals in the jungle, but isn’t it strikingly similar to what defines the relationship between men today? How then shall we differentiate animal from human especially when a similar principle governs

THE ELECTORAL ACT MUST BE AMENDED TO STIPULATE THAT THE ELECTION DISPUTES MUST BE DETERMINED WITHIN 30 DAYS, OR AT LEAST BEFORE SWEARING-IN

is slightly under nine months. This is clearly unacceptable. Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria deals with Election Tribunal. The pertinent portion states: “There shall be established in each State of the Federation one or more election tribunals to be known as the Governorship and Legislative Houses Election Tribunals which shall, to the exclusion of any court or tribunal, have original jurisdiction to hear and determine petitions as to whether any person has been validly elected to the office of Governor or Deputy Governor or as a member of any legislative house. (3) The composition of the National Assembly election Tribunals, Governorship and Legislative Houses Election Tribunals shall be as set out in the Sixth Schedule to this Constitution. (4) The quorum of an election tribunal established under this section shall be the Chairman and two other members.” Why can’t we get it right with these election challenges? Is it impossible to

their communal living? If a man whose greedy wealth accumulation proves so detrimental to his neighbor that it costs the latter his life is considered human then why shouldn’t an animal that feeds on a neighboring animal to survive be considered human? “..Poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings”, says the late South African president, Nelson Mandela. If people die every day due to starvation and treatable diseases it’s up to humans to change that; but this unfortunate situation persists! Why does it persist? Are we lacking in humans? In careful study, one is sure to find that there are growing similarities between owners of capital and predators; and the proletariat and prey. After all, the owner of capital and the predator feed on the proletariat and prey respectively in order to grow. Although for the owner of capital, it’s financial growth while it’s physical growth for the predator. Stemming from this, the answer to my self-imposed question, “Where then shall we find man’s distinction from animals in this regard?”, finds rhythm. One seeks financial growth, while the other seeks physical growth. In confession, having to grapple with the task of identifying the distinction between a man and an animal, both of no influence beyond their graves, has

conclude the electoral victory challenge before the swearing-in? States like Delta have witnessed situation when the governor was sacked after serving 42 months of 48-months tenure. How ridiculous can that be? Just these past weeks, the governorship election of Rivers was annulled by the election tribunal after 177 days in office. A few days before, the elections in 18 of the 31 LGAs in Akwa Ibom were nullified. Assuming the Court of Appeal upholds these decisions, we are again faced with the quagmire of the status of the executive actions taken to date. Several governors have borrowed humongous amounts of money. Some have sacked employees and entered into binding contractual obligations. It should be recalled that most of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) (now in All Progressives Congress (APC)) governors were installed by the Court of Appeal under the watch of former Justice Ayo Salami, that was shrouded in some controversies. Some pundits have postulated that APC is after the three South-South states of Akwa-Ibom, Delta and Rivers. As of the time of my writing, everyone is waiting for the outcome of the Delta State governorship tribunal. Our weak political system cannot continue this way. Something must give. The Electoral Act must be amended to stipulate that the election disputes must be determined within 30 days, or at least before swearing-in. Think about it. Prof (Rev.) Atawa-Akpodiete, a public affairs analyst, wrote via Profatawa@gmail.com

taught me to be patient with the camel grappling with the task of passing through the eye of a needle. How shall we console the African man who only lived for himself before now but has come to terms with his animalistic nature by virtue of this exposition? No other way but to encourage him to start living. Insight awaits him in the words of Martin Luther King Jr. which say, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” Are you living for the present day or for the future? Do you relish self preservation or are you on the path of self application? Are you a wolf in sheep’s clothing or a man in animal clothing? The answer lies in your heart. Living to be remembered is ceasing to be selfcentred. Akinmurele, a social entrepreneur, can be reached on 08139410685

Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: mail@ nationalmirroronline.net mirrorlagos@ yahoo.com or 08164966858 (SMS only). The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject views or photographs. Pseudonyms may be used but must be clearly marked as such.

Editorial

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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

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

States and lingering financial quagmire

ith the financial crunch that has virtually crippled most states in the country and exposed the rump of their non-viability, governors have been battling to wriggle out of the mess. The Federal Government bail-out fund seems not sufficient enough to truly bail them out from their plights, and a lot of them are settling for convenient, easy and lazy options that would add to the already heavy yoke of the citizenry. Examples include Oyo State Government’s recent decision not to pay the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) registration fees for its students any longer, as well as the state’s resolve to charge each student an annual Education Development Levy of N3,000 with effect from the 2015/2016 Academic Session. From Ebonyi and many other states are reports that all manner of taxes are being introduced. In addition, governors of the country’s 36 states, at the end of business after their Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) meeting in Abuja last Thursday, said the burden of paying N18, 000 minimum wage to workers was no longer sustainable. Their argument was that the minimum wage bill was more tolerable when oil sold for $126 per barrel than now that the price plummeted to $41 per barrel.

They would sure rough it out with organised labour, especially when the governors failed to articulate the sacrifices they were set to make on their own under the prevailing circumstances. There was, however, this piece of news credited to the governors, which suggests they have now realised the tomfoolery in depending on Abuja handouts for the survival of their states. Reports said they told President Muhammadu Buhari at their NGF forum that if Nigeria must be one of the top economies of the world, there was the urgent need for the diversification of the economy. “Economic diversification is vital to ensuring the long-term economic growth we seek. We must ensure that we are competitive in the way we diversify our economy; and ensure that the private sector plays a stronger role going forward. This event should guide our states to share practical and effective experiences for boosting revenue generation and also provide strategies to kick-start the process”, Chairman of the forum and Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’aziz Yari, who was represented by his Kano State counterpart, Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on the occasion, stated. The going has, indeed, been very rough for most states in the country

STATES THAT WANT TO SWIM AGAINST ALL TIDES SHOULD MAKE HASTE IN DIVERSIFYING THEIR ECONOMIES

since late 2011, when the Senate played the whistle blower with its announcement that most state governments were going broke. At the time, the price of oil had not dipped ridiculously as the situation now is. The Senate had attributed the impending financial Armageddon in states to their growing wage bills vis-à-vis dropping revenue allocation from the Federation Account. Some states, during the period, reportedly sought facilities from commercial banks in order to keep afloat, a clear indication that many of them were already living from hand to mouth. The situation, according to the upper legislature, was compounded by the implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage. To buttress its observation, the Senate cited a research conducted by the NGF, which revealed that 20 out of the 36 states were in a terrible financial mess. It is obvious that the situation has grown worse, presently, with many states out for loan-grab with their two hands, notwithstanding the FG bail-out initiative. Nonetheless, states begged the

ON THIS DAY November 23, 2001 The Convention on Cybercrime was signed in Budapest, Hungary. Also known as the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime or just the Budapest Convention, it is the first international treaty seeking to address Computer and Internet crimes by harmonizing national laws, improving investigative techniques and increasing cooperation among nations. It was drawn up by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Letters tothe theEditor Editor Letters to

November 23, 2005 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected the president of Liberia and she became the first woman to lead an African country. Sirleaf (born October 29, 1938) is the 24th and current President of Liberia. She served as the country’s Minister of Finance under President William Tolbert from 1979 until the 1980 coup d’état, after which she left Liberia and held senior positions at various financial institutions.

issue with their economic diversification message to Buhari. States in a federation ought to be financially independent of the government at the centre. They should devise and sustain their own sources of revenue. Indeed, states should lead the economic diversification campaign, especially in the face of a revenue allocation formula that concedes the lion’s share to the FG. The financial woes of many states today have links with bloated recurrent expenditure, fiscal short-sightedness that blinded them from diversifying the economies of their states, not being innovative with internally generated revenue, profligate spending and barefaced looting of state funds by the reckless among them. Ultimately, half measures by states cannot save them from the financial predicament they now find themselves in; only standing on their own financial feet can. States that want to swim against all tides should make haste in diversifying their economies. Rather than their resort to escapism, states should press for fiscal federalism and the application of the derivation principle in revenue sharing as was the case in the First Republic, before the military seized power and foisted on the nation a unitary government veiled as federal structure.

x November 23, 2011 Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, signed a deal to transfer power to the vice president in exchange for legal immunity. The Arab Spring, a term given to the Arab Revolution, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations, protests, and wars occurring in the Arab world that began on December 18, 2010. Many rulers have been forced out as a result.

A2 18

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Cover

Auto policy:

The fuss, the logic and economic gains potential

A local manufacturing plant

The full implementation of Nigeria’s automotive policy has continued to generate mixed feelings among stakeholders based on their understanding of the thematic issues of the policy document. In this analysis, Adejuwon Osunnuyi captures the views of the stakeholders and the socio-economic implications of the policy for the economy

f there is any policy that has generated a lot of controversies in the last two years, definitely, it has been the auto policy. Introduced by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to encourage local manufacturing of vehicles and gradually phase out used cars, under the new policy, import duty on cars were shot up

to 35 per cent with an additional levy of 35 per cent compared to 10 per cent under the previous regime. This move, many people said, have made imported cars especially fairly-used cars known as Tokunbo more expensive. No doubt, the policy has been generating a lot of mixed reactions with commercial road transporters and some businesses

questioning the policy while the government of the day defended it; saying in 2014 that the implementation was already working positively for the country as some vehicle manufacturers had either started or stated their intentions to start assembling vehicles in the country. Former Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga

while defending the policy had last year noted that the policy was not just restricted to the auto sector but across the value chain to develop rubber into tyres; to go from gas into petrochemical; to the plastic industry, and from iron ore to metals “because we need all of those across the value chain and a lot of jobs will be created because of that.” Speaking further, the former minister noted, “The truth of the matter is that when you bring in CKDs into the country, it is at zero percent duty; when you bring in SKDs it is at five per cent duty; when you bring in SKD2 it is at 10 per cent duty; and for those that are assembling cars in the

country, they can bring in cars of the same make. For every one car they produce, they can bring in two new cars at 35 percent duty. It is only those that are not in the auto programme that will attract 70 percent duty.” Since the commencement of the policy last year, out of about 36 Auto assembly licenses issued out to kick-start automobile production in the country, according to the National Automotive UDO ONYEKA, CO-ORDINATOR BUSINESS COURAGE udonyeka@gmail.com c

Global Media Mirror Limited

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Jalal

mobile and Allied Products Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lagos, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, Chairman, Toyota Nigeria Limited, TNL, said unknown to many, the hasty auto policy implementation has been promoting a lot of job losses in the country. Describing the initiative as a move with a weak foundation that cannot stand the test of time, Adeojo said unless the auto policy was given a holistic review and properly executed with the involvement of all stakeholders, the efforts could fail again and it would hurt the nation badly. Citing as an instance, he said that the TNL was forced to disengage quite a number of its workers between 2014 and this year as a result of the 70 per cent import tariff slammed on vehicles when the auto policy became effective. He said, “We must therefore sit down to plan in the interest of everybody in the industry. There is room for everybody including those who have benefitted and those who did not benefit from the emergency situation. “This is my honest view. At 77, I’m not the kind of person who will tell you lies. I’ve been in this business for 41 years having started in 1971. Foundation in anything is very important. If you put up a weak foundation, it will crumble.” According to him, the policy could take the nation to the destination of making it a regional hub if well planned and effectively executed. “Right now, I don’t know how many people have lost jobs as a result of the new approach. But they are many. I have had to downsize because we are only one fifth about what we used to have. “Although we have concluded plan to establish a Toyota assembly plant in Nigeria, but we were hurried and the necessary things we should have done have not been done,” Ade-Ojo said. According to him, the decision was taken to meet the emergency situation as he described the current posture by some of those in the assembly plant project as pretentious. “I can say that the pretentious assembly plant project that is going on currently cannot take us

Ade-Ojo

‘

Government should know that the average citizen cannot afford to buy a new car, whether it is being produced by only PAN or other manufacturers; rather they would want to buy used cars. If they must buy second-hand cars, then we ought to encourage them to take the normal routes

‘

Council (NAC) only three of them are said to be in operation. Others are in existence only in name. The situation, as it is today, might not be unconnected to the recent suspension of further license issuance by the Federal government despite the increasing demand new entrants. According to Mr Aminu Jalal, the Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), the action became necessary in order to enable the council to consolidate the country’s vehicle assembly operations and concentrate in developing local content. Jalal however noted the council would give new licenses to auto firms willing to go into manufacturing of parts to feed the main plants with local content. According to him, the suspension did not apply to investment in original equipment manufacturing (OEM), adding that applicants for OEM license would not be affected. Jalal said: “The major objective of the National Automotive Industry Development Plan is to bring back completely knocked down (CKD) automotive assembly and develop local content. “NADDC is investing over N5 billion to establish automotive test centres that will ensure that the vehicles and components meet international safety and environmental standards. “The response to the policy so far has exceeded our expectations. The current status of implementation of the policy is that 14 existing assembly plants started assembling new products (cars, SUV, buses, pick-up trucks) in 2014.” The DG listed some of the 14 plants as Volkswagen of Nigeria (VON), Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing, ANAMMCO, LeylandBusan, NTM and Steyr. According to him, Nissan, VW, Hyundai, Kia, Honda cars and SUV, Shacman and MAN Trucks, and Ashok-Leyland buses are now assembled in Nigeria. “Eleven new companies, including Century Auto (Toyota), TATA, Coscharis Auto (FORD, Joylong, Dongfeng) and Dana Motors (Renault) have been given bona-fide manufacturing status and are on track to start assembly operations this year. “Our emphasis has now shifted to the development of automotive local content. “Sites for automotive supplier parks in excess of 400 square hectares have been acquired across Nigeria and effort is ongoing to acquire more.” Many industry stakeholders have however continued to criticize the implementation of the auto policy, as they submitted that the implementation is too hasty. They argued that the import prohibition and the increase in tariff on imported vehicles from 35 percent to 70 per cent, when the assemblies have not started to roll out their products, is uncalled for and makes no economic sense. Speaking at a recent symposium and luncheon of the Auto-

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

anywhere because it was made to just help some people. “An industry like the automobile is not one you just wake up and start. We cannot just wake up and say within three years we should start to assemble vehicles. It needs serious planning. Africa is the next region for development. Those who have made tons of money in America and other places need to spend it somewhere,” he added. Also speaking in the same vein, the senator representing Bauchi South Senatorial District, Ali Wakili pledged to champion the reversal of the federal government automobile policy which he said has led to increment in tariff on imported second-hand (also called tokunbo) vehicles. Senator Wakili said the hike in tariff on the second-hand cars may not only deny the country the needed revenue, but also emasculate the middle class. The lawmaker, who is a retired Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, said, “The new customs tariff on cars need to be reviewed downward because we need to re-establish the middle class in Nigeria,” he said. “The relativity on items often affects the implementation. No body wants to pay high taxes, because the higher the tax, the higher the potential of smugglers to indulge in smuggling”, he said. “As a former Area Comptroller of Seme border, I have argued that the hiking of tariff on items does not help us. It takes away our attention from the anti-smuggling activities; we dissipate energy on running on one or two smugglers with the attendant risk of life on the smugglers and on our own personnel.” “Government should know that the average citizen cannot afford to buy a new car, whether it is

being produced by only PAN or other manufacturers; rather they would want to buy used cars. If they must buy second-hand cars, then we ought to encourage them to take the normal routes, charge them medium rates that they can afford to pay, and no one would want to take the tortuous smuggling routes. “If you are coming from the developed countries where you don’t need to have a car; where you can jump into the next train or pick a bus that is efficient and timely, you can afford to do without a car of your own. “But as long as the public transportation system is faulty, and people cannot afford to buy new cars, they would rely on used cars and if you are exerting so much pressure on them in trying to own these so called tokunbo cars, they will circumvent the law. “It will cost you so much manhour, because you cannot be able to control them. There are so many porous borders; once you try to block one, many others are created the next day; because of the leaky nature of our border system – from the bite of Badagry up to Bayelsa, you can always have a place to enter this country. However, contrary to the views of many against the auto policy, especially in terms of economic losses being experienced by the country, Luqman Mamudu of National Automotive Design and Development Council has a different view. According to him, there is no truth in the belief that the country has been making losses under the automotive policy as such statement could only be the handiwork of those still opposed to the policy for their selfish interests. Mamudu, who is the council’s Director of Policy and Planning, said the policy is expected to boost

A3 19

government’s revenue, especially with the recent hike in vehicle import tariff. He said: “Before the NAIDP, the duty on vehicles below 3000 cc was 20 per cent and most vehicles imported into the country fall under this category. “In the past, only cars above 2000 cc attracted 35 per cent. “But with the policy, the duty on all cars is now 35 per cent. “Commercial vehicles attracted 10 per cent before the policy, but now, all fully built commercial vehicles attract 35 per cent. “The so called concessionary import granted assemblers is 20 per cent for commercial vehicles and 35 per cent for cars. “So, where is the loss of revenue?” The director argued that even the duty on semi-knocked-down kits imported by assemblers for commercial vehicles were in some cases as high as 10 per cent. According to Mamudu, only completely-knocked-down kits with very high employment potential along with equipment imported to build vehicles attract zero per cent. Mamudu said the concessions granted to assemblers under the policy were carefully selected to make the industry fairly attractive to local and foreign investors. He said: “This is a point that the NADDC has tried to explain to other stakeholders, including the Nigeria Customs Service, especially some individuals, in its past management. “The concessions granted to assemblers were carefully selected to ensure that local and foreign investors find it fairly convenient to invest in a very capital intensive industry. “This is without loss of revenue to government or excessive increase in prices of products coming out of the assembly plants.” Mamudu explained further that vehicle assembly at SKD level was a global provision to allow easy entry into the industry by investors. As investors’ confidence grow in the market, according to him, they then graduate to the labour intensive operations at CKD level. “Basic as SKD operations seem, they represent almost 18 per cent value added for cars and about 60 per cent for commercial vehicles, especially when you have to build bodies locally,” Mamudu added. To Bismarck Rewane, CEO of Financial Derivatives believes, “The benefits of this policy are long term while the impact of the policy is immediate. So any policy that is of destruction to the allocation of resources will come out with negative economic outcomes.” According to Rewane, the impact and execution of the new policy is questionable. “We will see an increase in transport fares especially in urban and town centres. This [hike in fares] feeds into the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and that begins to put pressure on the central bank to actually push up interest rates and protect the economy,” Rewane said. BC

A4 20

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News Only 90% of bank customers registered for BVN – NoIPolls

experts in their various areas, as some have started their own tailoring outfits, thereby contributing to the income of their families in particular and the nation’s economy in general. Investigations showed that project has engaged over 200 women from the host communities in Rivers State, even as there are plans to expand in future to other host communities in Delta and Cross River States.

Udo Onyeka

here are indications that only nine out of every 10 Nigerians have registered for their Bank Verification Number, BVN, introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, while 88 per cent of banked Nigerians believed that the BVN will be beneficial to them. According to the poll conducted by NoIPolls Limited, it revealed that banked Nigerians have a positive perception ,72 percent, towards the BVN as they believe the BVN will improve ‘account security’, ‘control fraud/corruption’ and ‘monitor transaction and cash flow’ in Nigerian banks amongst other reasons. On the other hand, some Nigerians with opposite views indicated that the BVN is not important to them in any way because ‘they do not know the aim’ of the exercise, and that ‘it may enhance fraud’ among other reasons. More findings revealed that the vast majority about 88 percent of the respondents interviewed showed awareness of the BVN initiative, and 86 percent of banked respondents claimed that they have registered for the BVN with their respective banks while 14 percent of the respondents haven’t complied with the policy and the majority of respondents in this category mostly indicated they ‘haven’t had time’ to do so, while 9 percent claimed they were discouraged by the long queues in banks during the exercise. However, 47 percent of respondents who have registered for a BVN confirmed they have linked their BVN with their other bank accounts, whereas some respondents who have registered their BVN have either not completely linked it to all their other accounts or have not linked it to their other accounts at all. This finding supports the report from the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, NIBSS, which disclosed that only 14.4 million BVNs have been linked to other bank accounts out of the total of 21 million BVN holders in the country. Finally, while some Nigerians have clearly indicated the importance of the BVN to them as banked citizens, it is pertinent that more sensitization programs are carried out by stakeholders, on the importance of the BVN in the Nigerian banking system. This should be done with special consideration given to Nigerians who have low access to information, in order to ensure complete compliance to the BVN policy.

2015 AgrikExpo: Primlaks promotes ‘made in Nigeria’ foods Abolaji Adebayo L-R: Etisalat Customer, Raphael Osamon; Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Francesco Angelone; Etisalat Customer, Chizoba OkpalaAtsu and Director, Customers Care, EtisalatNigeria, Plato Syrimis during the Etisalat Customer Forum held in Lagos recently

Sterling Bank secures $40m facility from Turkey EXIM Bank

n recognition of its commitment to international trade finance and investment among individuals and institutions across the world, Sterling Bank has secured a $40million facility from the Turkey EXIM Bank. The facility was granted by Turkey EXIM Bank following the conclusion of a due diligence on the Bank which confirmed it as a reputable financial institution with capacity to meet its obligations and a worthy partner through which funds could be brought into the country for trade finance leading to the development of the country. This further lays credence to the rating of the Bank by Moody’s, a leading global rating agency which assigned a firsttime local and foreign currency issuer and deposit ratings of B2 with a stable outlook to Sterling Bank Plc. The rating according to the Agency, reflects the Bank’s solid asset quality metrics and provision coverage, improvements to its Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and risk management processes as well as its high liquidity buffers and a solid deposit funding base. In a statement issued over the weekend, the Bank indicated that the facility would be used to support trade businesses and projects with Turkish origin. With this development, members of the Turkish business community in Nigeria as well as Nigerian businessmen and women doing business with Turkish partners will have easy access to finance for their businesses especially in the importation of necessary raw

materials and other infrastructure for production which would also serve as a catalyst for economic development in the country. The Bank in the statement explained that the choice of the Bank by Turkey EXIM Bank may have been informed by its role in international finance, its reputation as a stable and reliable financial institution and its capacity to support both local and international institutions. The Turkey EXIM Bank is a fully state-owned bank acting as the Turkish government’s major export incentive instrument.

CSR: Orlean Invest empowers indigent women Francis Ezem

rlean Invest Africa Limited, parent company of Intels Nigeria limited, the oil and gas service provider in Nigeria has intensified its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives for women in its host communities as part of measures to alleviate poverty. The company had in 2013 commenced its Women Empowerment Project Scheme WEPS, under which it seeks to elevate the women’s innate skills so that they become economically productive, provide the security of a regular income for the women and their families thereby alleviating poverty among its communities. Other objectives include encouraging female entrepreneurship by motivating them to be self-reliant, promote a positive and strong image for women in wider society and encourage women to become leaders. The WEPS Project involves

the selection and training of rural women under which a total of 300 women from various communities were selected and trained by professionals for a period of six months to acquire specialised tailoring. The project is in tandem with Federal Government’s policy on the development of Nigerian Content, as the delegates from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board NCDMB visited the facility last month during the Practical Nigerian content conference, which held in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State. Head, Public Relations and Nigerian Content Development for Intels, Mr. Isidore Sambol, who commented on the CSR initiative of the company, said it was borne out of its commitment to human and infrastructural development of communities where it operates. According to him, the project is designed to harness the skills of rural women and help them to realise their full potential. The WEPS project, which was inaugurated by Mrs. RosiVolpi, wife of Mr. Gabriele Volpi, Chairman, Orlean Invest in October, 2013, began full production in 2014. The facility operates in a 5,000sqm factory, equipped with modern machines and equipment within the Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne, specialises in garment-making. “WEPS factory is today as envisioned, manned entirely by community women who produce from start to finish, international standard quality products such as coveralls, trousers, shirts, jacket shirts, uniforms, reflective vests and rain jackets amongst others for companies within the Zone”, Sambol said. It was gathered that through the project, hitherto semiliterate and literate women that had no tailoring skills are now

rimlaks Group, the pioneer producer of Individually Quick Frozen, IQF, fruits and vegetables in Nigeria, has again demonstrated its steadfast support for agriculture in Nigeria by exhibiting its innovative Sympli brand of convenience food at the 2015 FoodBext West Africa Exhibition in Lagos. Sympli is the registered brand name of a range of IQF foods produced by Venus Processing and Packaging Limited, VPPL, which is part of the Primlaks Group. The locally farmed, processed and packed Sympli products, which include yam fries, yam cubes, plantain dodo and plantain chips, are delivered in ready-to-cook state for frying, steaming or baking. The Chairman of VPPL, Otunba Christopher Tugbobo said that the product was a proves that Nigeria is capable of doing new things in agriculture that can help reduce its dependence on oil and gas. Tugbobo, a one-time Head of the Division of Agricultural Research in the Federal Ministry of Economic Development and a retired Permanent Secretary, described Sympli as a 100 per cer Nigerian product, stressing that it is produced locally by Nigerians for Nigerians and that it has created much needed employment, helped reduce post-harvest losses and gave Nigerians a home grown brand in the frozen food segment that could be proud of. The Group Chairman of Primlaks, Mr. H. K. Ram, explained that Primlaks invested in Nigeria’s first IQF production facility in order to tap into the country’s vast agricultural potential, particularly in light of growing concerns on unemployment and dwindling foreign exchange reserves. He described Sympli as Primlaks Group’s contribution to Nigeria’s drive for self-sufficiency in value added food production and creation of additional sources of foreign exchange. BC

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

N630bn yearly import bill on food worries CBN

Udo Onyeka

he Central Bank of Nigeria ,CBN, has said that recent fines placed on some financial institutions was justifiable and in the interest of the financial system. The apex bank explained that it was considerate on the erring banks, given the level of infractions, which should have earned them more severe penalties. The Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Bayo Adelabu, who gave the indication at the yearly stakeholders’ forum of the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria,BDAN, in Lagos, said the fines were also in compliance with the provisions of the Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act. “There are some penalties that the bank would have computed at N2 million per day, as long as the infractions lasted. It did not take it that way as dictated by BOFIA out of consideration,” he noted. Recently, the apex bank had fined three banks to the tune of N8.8 billion, beside mooted sanctions on some banks that are yet to release to CBN the export proceeds of their customers. Earlier in a keynote address by CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, he pointed out that the theme of the forum ‘Overight Functions of the Board: Effectively Managing Key Internal and External Relationships,’ was apt given the need for the directors to coordi-

nate their responsibilities towards workers, shareholders and the regulators. The Governor, represented by Adelabu, noted that compliance is not just for its sake, but to add value to stakeholders, become ethical and promote corporate governance. “The need for oversight in relationship management is increasingly important now that true oversight expected of board members and international best practice cannot be achieved without stakeholder engagements. This

is because stakeholder engagement is a vital ingredient for good corporate governance necessary for business success and societal trust. Sound corporate governance underline principle is that the full knowledge by the board, of the strategy and risks the bank is exposed to, is critical to oversight functions,” he said. “I therefore call for the integration of internal and external engagements within the acceptable core functions of the board as part of best practices corporate governance,” he said.

However, the President of BDAN, Olorogun Sunny Kuku, said the recent challenges faced by banks and other financial institutions, call for a forum to review activities in the industry and way forward. We are all aware of some of the recent CBN reforms introduced to the banking, including the Treasury Single Account ,TSA, as well as the declining business activities as a result of the dwindling performance of the national economy, with its impact on banking business and bank customers. BC

L–R: Board member, IoD Nigeria Centre for Corporate Governance (IoDCCG), Hajia Saratu Shafii; Chief Executive Officer, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar N. Onyema; Chairman, IoDCCG, Alhaji Ahmed Rufia Muhammed and 2nd Vice President, Institute of Directors Nigeria, Chief Chris Okunowo, at the Closing Gong Ceremony of The Nigerian Stock Exchange

FIRS identifies over 200 non-compliant oil, gas firms

... As KPMG unveils tax risk management survey

he Federal Inland Revenue Service ,FIRS, has identified over 200 oil and gas companies which have not filed returns for 2014. Consequently, the FIRS has written to them directly or through their Tax Consultants to comply before the end of the year. Also the agency has within 26 days registered35, 650 corporate taxpayers and 22,000 individual taxpayers who have not been

Fowler

paying tax. As part of strategies to engage stakeholders, FIRS in October 12, 2015 commenced nationwide tax registration drive, with focus on VAT, to bring in all unregistered taxpayers into the tax net. A nationwide VAT and withholding tax, WHT, compliance checks was also commenced on the same date where the agency discovered that over N117bn paid from September to date. “The above compliment our ongoing long-term projects, such as Integrated Tax Administration System, ITAS, which will automate all core tax administration processes, registration, filing, audit etc, provision of multiple tax payment channels, such as e-tax pay and VAT Auto Collect, which are all aimed at making compliance easier for taxpayers”, Tunde Fowler, Acting Executive Chairman, FIRS said in Lagos on the sideline of KPMG tax breakfast meeting. He disclosed that tax registration forms have been simplified for ease of use by taxpayers. The

forms, which are currently in use nationwide, were reduced from 13 pages to 1 page and the fields to be filled were reduced from 115 to 20 for Corporates and 35 for individuals. He noted as part of strategies to engage stakeholders, the presentation at the Nigeria Governors Forum Conference on Internally Generated Revenue ,IGR, held on

16th November, 2015 where the need to focus on tax revenue and improve collaboration between States and the Federal Government as an approach for improving IGR was highlighted. Fowler said at the moment focus is on moral persuasion for taxpayers to voluntarily comply, where this approach does not produce the expected results, “we will move to legal enforcement”. BC

A5 21

TCN receives N5.9bn World Bank facility

he Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, has secured a $30m ,about N5.977bn, grant from the World Bank to study the nature of electricity load demand and energy mix in Nigeria. TCN’s Deputy Managing Director, Mohammed Atiku, said at the fifth Nigerian International Power Expo and Conference that the country’s power sector lacked reliable data to plan from, hence the funding support from the bank. Atiku explained that electricity demand and supply are two critical elements that must be studied and quantified to help operators make appropriate plans. Speaking further he said “Demand and supply are two critical elements in the power sector which has to be understood, to be identified, quantified and then we strategise on how to match them. Failure to do that, the sector will be in very bad shape and I am sorry to say this is what is causing the situation we have in Nigeria.” According to him, the TCN has initiated the process for the study. He however added: “This is one of the reason why the TCN on its own, even though it is out of our mandate, we have been seeking to get the actual demand of our electricity. We have gotten a grant from World Bank and will soon embark on a study which is going to be industry wide to determine this load demand and even our energy mix. “If we have identified our energy demand how do we now get it addressed through our various generating methods? So, in the absence of this, as I said earlier, we have been relying on two major sources of energy that is the thermal, using gas powered station and hydro. Very little attention has been given to other sources like renewable, like nuclear to mention a few. BC

NSE unveils ‘Smart Trade’ platform

he Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, in conjunction with some stockbroking firms has unveiled an online trading application, known as ‘Smart Trade’. The project is expected to increase retail investors’ participation to 25 million in the nation’s bourse. Speaking at the product launch in Lagos, NSE Executive Director Market Operations and Technology, Mr Ade Bajomo, explained that the platform would enable investors to buy and sell stocks on the exchange with re-

al-time processing functionality. Bajomo said that registered retail investors on the Central Securities Clearing System currently stood at five million noting that the NSE’s target was to increase it to 25 million. He said that the platform was not about technology but about financial inclusion, transparency and to make investors take control of their investment decision. “What drives the market is that everyone participates, operates and nurture his or her investment,” Bajomo said.

He said that the platform would provide users real-time market data with availability of various technical indicators to analyse the trend and momentum of the market. Bajomo also said that the platform would enable make informed decisions based on the latest data. He stated that the product was made up of world-class technology with robust client data protection and security framework to give clients a seamless experience when processing transaction. BC

A6 22

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Companies & Markets

Actis, RMB Westport, Paragon sell Ikeja City Mall Udo Onyeka

ctis, a leading emerging markets investor, RMB Westport, a sub-Saharan Africa real estate investment management group and Paragon Holdings, a Nigerian investor group have confirmed the sale of Ikeja City Mall to South African Real Estate Investment Trust, REIT, Hyprop Investments Limited and Attacq Limited, a JSE-listed real estate capital growth fund. According to a statement Hyprop acquired a 75 per cent interest in Ikeja City Mall and Attacq has acquired the remaining 25 per cent. Actis and local partner Paragon Holdings sourced the development site in 2008 and initially appointed RMB Westport, initially appointed as the development manager in 2008, which eventually invested as an equity partner in 2010. Actis has now sold its 60 per cent majority stake, while Paragon Holdings and RMB Westport have both sold their 20 per cent stakes in the mall. “Ikeja City Mall, Lagos’ largest mall, is a world-class retail and leisure development in Ikeja, a densely populated suburb of Lagos, with a popu-

lation of 4.5 million people. As the largest mall in Lagos it comprises over 22,000m² and has a tenant mix anchored by Shoprite, offering South African brands including Mr Price, Spur, MTN and Markham and international brands including Nike, Lacoste, Tommy

Hilfiger, TM Lewin, Mango, iStore, KFC, and Max Fashion. “Actis and RMB Westport managed the development process from concept to completion: investing the initial equity; raising development finance; managing the construction; securing the ten-

ants; operating the mall and bringing it to market at the right time, working in partnership with Paragon Holdings. The mall opened its doors in December 2011 fully let, and today attracts up to 800,000 shoppers per month”, the statement said.

Wema Bank obtains national banking license

L-R: Corporate Affairs Director, Mrs. Ore Famurewa; Professor of Community Health Nutrition, LAUTECH, Prof. Ebenezer Ojefitimi; Managing Director, FrieslandCampina, Rahul Colaco and Marketing Director, Tarang Gupta launch of Peak wazobia by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc in Lagos

Ecobank launches MyMall online trading platform for SMEs

cobank Nigeria in collaboration with Netplus Advisory services has launched an online trading platform, MyMall Nigeria. This is essentially for the Small and Medium Enterprises, SME, operators to sell and market their goods and services. The online mall is designed for all categories of products and can be accessed from any part of the world. Speaking at the launch in Lagos last week, Deputy Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Tony Okpanachi, said the decision to set up MyMall Nigeria was to provide a platform for SMEs cus-

tomers of the bank to tap into the enormous opportunities in ecommerce sphere and take their businesses to a higher level, as it would provide a wider access to sell their products and offer their services to the whole world. “Ecobank is bringing this opportunity to our SMEs because we believe that business will significantly move from the brick and mortar to online presence. We are confident that our customers will not be left behind; MyMall, Nigeria will equip you to have an online presence and be relevant in the market place of this age,” he said.

Okpanachi was optimistic that the Bank’s branch network in the country and presence in 36 African countries, would be an added advantage to participants at the mall, stressing that, payment across borders was been worked on. Executive, Business Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Kingsley Umadia, said MyMall Nigeria could not have come at a better time, assuring that the online marketing space powered by Ecobank will provide tools for trade for the SMEs to succeed. On the operations of MyMall Nigeria, Ecobank Nigeria’s Head SME/Value Chain Banking, Mr

FirstBank unveils offerings to support SMEs

irst Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc has unveiled its new SME Campaign which is specially designed to help SMEs grow their business with diverse product and service offerings. The bank in a statement said with a heritage of over 120 years of banking experience and having started small and grown through various stages, it understands the business journey for SMEs. According to the bank it experience has made it passionate about supporting SMEs and ensuring their continuous

Ikeja City Mall is Hyprop’s first investment in Nigeria. This acquisition is an attractive investment and complements Hyprop’s strategy of investing in high quality, income-producing shopping centres, in key cities across sub-Saharan Africa.BC

business growth. “Over the years, FirstBank has displayed an unwavering commitment to the business success of SMEs in Nigeria with its cocktail of products and bespoke solutions, specifically designed to help grow and sustain SMEs. “Given that SMEs are pivotal to national development, FirstBank is committed to ensure sustained business growth as well as provide the necessary services to grow businesses and Nigeria’s economy at large”, it said. The SME sector is replete with various industries and

business models; FirstBank’s package provides the right mix of products and services with professional staff designated to work with the business owner to provide flexible and dependable services, helping SMEs achieve consistent growth and success in every area of business. From the Education Sector to Services, Trading, Manufacturing and Distributorship, FirstBank support services will ensure you have access to the right financial tools. The Bank has been a consistent promoter and supporter of the SMEs and some of the Bank’s interventions for SMEs include

Sunkanmi Olowo, explained that onboarding on the online platform is open to every member of the Ecobank SME Club. Nonmembers are encouraged to apply as enlisting is currently free. Further, Olowo said “as at today, 62 SME operators have enlisted onto MyMall. It is a one stop online mall for buyers and sellers to fulfill their needs for selling and buying online. Enrolment on to the platform is currently free but minimal fees may be introduced later. Working with our partners, we have taken care of every aspect that will make it a success. BC

Overdraft for working capital, Operational Vehicles Loans; e.g. School Bus, Delivery vans, Equipment Finance, Commercial Building Loan, Education Management Portal, Contract & LPO Finance, Invoice Discounting Finance, Import Finance, Bonds & Guarantees, Bill & Tax Payments, Bulk Payment & Collections Solutions, e-Commerce Platforms, Non-Oil Export Financing, Domestic Money Transfers, Zero COT Accounts, Non-Oil Export Financing, Import Finance Facility, Key Distributorship Finance (Cement, Telco, FMCGs) among several other products. BC

ema Bank Plc has been granted a National Banking License; an upgrade from its current regional banking authorisation after complying with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s requirements. The Central Bank of Nigeria has granted its Final Approval to Wema Bank Plc to convert its Banking license from a Regional Bank to a National Bank. In 2010, Wema Bank downscaled to operate only within its core areas of business – South-South, South-West and FCT Abuja. Now, the Bank with a capital base of N43.8bn has met the regulatory requirements for the National Banking license as stipulated by the CBN and this has made Wema Bank the first bank to be granted a National Banking License having previously operated with a regional license. According to Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Wema Bank, Segun Oloketuyi, this approval represents a milestone for the Bank in the delivery of its Project LEAP commitments. “Six years ago, we took a decision to refocus the Bank’s operations on its areas of strength and build a sustainable institution. We took advantage of the new licensing regime and applied for a regional authorisation with a pledge to expand in the near future, once the turnaround project was completed. The Bank’s transformation was implemented in three phases; first to stabilise the Bank, second to prepare the building blocks for growth and third to go for growth. We are now within the third phase of the transformation project”, he said. The CEO stated that the new license has created opportunities to scale up growth, and added that the Bank will continue to strategically select its business locations across the country with focus on areas where return on investment will be maximized, and shareholder value enhanced over the medium to long term. BC

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

A7 23

Brand Watch

Education UK PGD exhibition explores study options David Audu

he British Council’s third annual ‘Education UK Postgraduate Exhibition’ was held in Lagos and Abuja recently with focus on providing networking oportunities for institutions and prospective Nigeria students interested in studying for a postgraduate course in the United Kingdom. The three-day event which hosted over 40 UK institutions and exhibition visitors across both locations provided rospective students opportunity to interact with the representatives of UK institutions and research further about available study options in the UK. Speaking at the exhibition in Lagos, Project Manager, British Council, Sephora Imomoh,

noted that in 2013, it piloted the postgraduate focused exhibition because of the demand for information postgraduate courses. He added that the event was designed to provide an avenue where prospective students can get immediate responses to their questions about postgraduate study in the UK. On the benefits of studying in the UK, Imomoh stated that “UK courses give individuals the skills, qualifications and connections needed to succeed in their chosen career, noting that UK degrees have a global reputation for quality and employers worldwide recognize a UK degree as a sign of high academic standards” Presenting his institution’s offer to visitors, Dr. David Lonie of Robert Gordon Univer-

sity, Aberdeen, Scotland, said; “Robert Gordon University is renowned for its expertise in diverse subjects as art and design, management and engineering. He said the university provides facilities that will have a real influence on students’ capacity to learn and tilts the focus of its courses towards oil and gas because the university is located closely to North Sea where oil dwells in abundance.” Explaining why the University of Brighton is suitable for international students, Barry Lee Scherer, Principal Lecturer at the university, said the institution is great for students because of the city’s proximity to London, its exit routes to Central and Western European countries alongside its serene atmosphere. Scherer

Imomoh

said Brighton is fantastic for academics as its courses are focused on a professional level and not in the pattern of a classical university. Visitors to the exhibition acknowledged that it was a worthwhile experience. BC

NUNU relaunches with ‘Grow every day campaign’

utricima Limited, a subsidiary of PZ Cussons, has re-launched its premium nutritional milk brand, Nunu, in its bid to support the daily growth of the Nigerian child with a new nutrition campaign tagged “Grow Everyday”. The campaign which is centered on mothers placing high priority on their children’s nutrition also unveiled popular Nollywood actress and producer, Omoni Oboli as the brand ambassador. The event hosted by young Tobe Oboli and Mannie of Cool FM, saw children take charge and coordinate all the activities in a very unique way; it was fun to see children serve as bouncers, ushers, chefs, photographers and even red carpet hosts. Chairman, PZ, Mr. Tunde Oy-

Oyelola

elola while speaking at the fun packed event said that Nunu milk has been relaunched to serve the ever growing needs of the Nigerian family. “Although the new improved Nunu is primarily formulated for growing

children even adults are not exempted from the goodness that comes from its active nutrients,” he said. Held at Tickle Bay Events Centre Elegushi, Lekki, the kiddies’ event featured lively and bright kids taking turns to engage in several games; bouncing castles, climbing wall, smarter than a 10 year old, presentations, face paintings and a lot of other exciting outdoor and indoor activities. The highpoint of the event was the unveil of the New Nunu milk which came out in grand style following a magical stunt performed by one of the amazing kids amidst smokes and confetti. The exciting event also featured brilliant performances from Amarachi, the winner of Nigeria’s Got Talent Season

1 and the ‘Kedike’ crooner, Chidinma. Speaking on the choice of the award winning Nollywood actress and producer as the Brand Ambassador, Category Marketing Manager, Nunu, Mrs. Charity Ilevbare-Adeniji explained that, “despite her celebrity status, Omoni Oboli’s exemplary motherhood experience as an everyday mum is what a typical Nigerian mother go through and she is in the best position to drive this campaign.” According to Ilevbare-Adeniji, “the ‘Grow Everyday campaign’ is Nutricima’s way of encouraging mothers to embrace good nutrition for their kids. At Nutricima, we believe that good nutrition for children is vital for good health and wellbeing.” BC

DStv upgrades customers in end of year offer

ay TV and Video entertainment company, MultiChoice Nigeria, has announced a special offer of the DStv Zapper decoder plus Family bouquet subscription, at N15,00, a 45 per cent, reduction from the previous price of N28,500. According to the General Manager, Sales and Marketing, Multichoice Nigeria, the offer is expected to go with full installation and dish kit. He said the new offer is available in all MultiChoice branch offices and authorized dealer outlets across the country, till February 2016. Furthermore, he said customers who take advantage of this offer will automatically be upgraded to the Compact bou-

quet the very next day at no extra cost as the cost of upgrading from N3600 to N6000 package will be borne by MultiChoice. “They will also qualify to ‘Spin the Wheel’, where they have

Mabutho

the opportunity to win amazing prizes such as; LED TVs, DStv Zapper, Refrigerators, DStv Explora Decoders, 2.5 KVA generators amongst others and the more subscribers renew their subscriptions, the more chance they stand to win these prizes. “Existing subscribers are not left out of these prizes as they also stand a chance of spinning the wheel if they subscribe for a month or more. Subscribers can go online on www.dstv.com between Friday and Sunday each week to win these prizes. Mabutho, described the new offer as “the festive season surprises, “one in which gifts are traditionally given. With this offer, we hope to add some magic to our subscribers’ entertain-

ment. “Our decision to upgrade new customers to the Compact bouquet when they buy the bundled DStv Zapper + Family bouquet subscription is one of the ways we hope to enrich their viewing experience this season”, he said. He explained that the Zapper decoder is a high definition decoder, which ensures that customers enjoy their favourite programs in crystal clear picture and sound quality. “With the DStv Zapper decoder subscribers get the opportunity to watch movies, series and sports in crystal High Definition (HD), Dolby digital 5.1 capable for great sound and multiple search options for viewers to find what they want.” BC

Konga offers discount with ‘Yakata’

onga.com, Nigeria’s largest online mall has promised customers the most unprecedented discounts ever given by any sales outlet in Nigeria, during this years’ Konga.com Yakata sale promo. The Yakata sales is Konga. com’s version of famous ‘Black Friday’ sales that holds in several countries in the western world. The 2015 Yakata will be a two day online shopping event starting on Thursday, November 26 and continuing on Friday, November 27. Gabriel Gab-Umoden, Vice President Marketing, Konga.com, speaking on the upcoming discount salessaid that to excite the customers this year, kongahas curated an unbeatable line up of top selling items to be sold mind blowing discounts for the period of the Yakata sales. In his words; “We know that Konga’s customers are looking to us to provide the lowest prices and greatest deals for this edition, and we have put all necessary measures in place to ensure that our customers are not disappointed.We would have discounts on almost every item on the site. In addition to these amazing discounts, shoppers get an additional 5 per cent discount when they pay using KongaPay.Yakata is a way of saying ‘Thank you’ to our customers for their patronage over the year.” One star product that would be launched on the 1st day of Yakata is the brand new Alcatel Popstar android smartphone. The phone will be available exclusively on Konga, at a special price of N15,900, an unbeatable deal for an android phone of its great specs. The discount sales promo has recorded huge successes in the last two editions. It will be recalled that the first Yakata sales held in 2013 and recorded N50 million worth of orders every hour at peak periods, with the company selling 500% more items during the two days massive discount sales than it did in all of 2012. Also in 2014, offering up to 70 per cent savings on select items across categories, Konga’s Yakata sales recorded over N600 million worth of items in two days. BC

Gab-Umoden

A8 24

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Fresh reports heighten demand for spectrum A

cross Africa the quest for more spectrum allocation by government has begun to heighten following the release of a report by the global IT research firm, Pyramid Research. According to the report, mobile broadband development and access can only progress if spectrum is allocated by telecoms regulators in Africa noting that regulators need to improve access to mobile broadband by accelerating access to spectrum for the mobile operators. African regulators need to improve access to mobile broadband by accelerating access to spectrum for the mobile operators. In Nigeria, there had been quest for the telecommunications regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to urgently allocate more spectrums due to the current challenges of broadband internet access. President of the Association Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, Engr. Lanre Ajayi told stakeholders at the 21 anniversary celebration of the association that Nigerians more reliable and cost effective broadband internet access. According to him, the rapid growth of the industry indicates that the regulator need not to be slack concerning the allocation of more spectrums to operators saying that the quest for digitally driven economy cannot be realise without spectrum being available for broadband internet services. Ajayi disclosed that Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind as the quest for more spectrums continues to increase across the global adding that the determination to further shift the economy to other sectors means that ICT should be a crucial focus. According to the Pyramid Research, “a solid detailed understanding of the benefits of spectrum can be an important driver and motivation for regulators to reassess their approaches to spectrum allocation.” For instance, data from the Africa by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) showed that 57 per cent of the world’s population still lacks access to the internet, with Africa performing as the worst region globally in terms of levels of connectivity. The ITU stated that Africa lags behind the world in inter-

net access adding that the 2015 State of Broadband report estimated that by the end of 2015, 3.2 billion people will be online, equating to over 43.4 per cent of the total world population up from 2.9 billion, or 40.6 per cent of the population, in 2014. However, this means that by the end of 2015, there will still be 57 per cent of the world’s population will still be offline. Further, the existing Broadband Commission target of getting 50 per cent of the developing world online by 2020 is unlikely to be met, the report finds. The ITU said that in Africa 10.7 per cent of households have internet connection - the lowest regional figure and below global averages saying that the world average is 46.5per cent, while in the developing world the average figure is 34.1 per cent of households. The report said that individual user internet penetration in Africa is 20.7 per 100 inhabitants, the lowest regional figure saying the world average is 43.4 per 100 people, and the developing world average is 35.3 per 100 inhabitants. A breakdown of the types of internet connections available showed that Africa has 162 million mobile broadband subscriptions, accounting for five per cent of the global total while. The ITU said that on the contrary, Africa has only 4 million fixed broadband subscriptions, which accounts for 0.01 per cent of the global total by far the lowest regional figure. According to the ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, who serves as co-Vice Chair of the Commission with UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova the UN Sustainable Development Goals is a reminder that there is need to measure global development by the number of those

being left behind. “The market has done its work connecting the world’s wealthier nations, where a strong business case for network roll-out can easily be made. Our important challenge now is to find ways of getting online the four billion people who still lack the benefits of Internet connectivity, and this will be a primary focus of the Broadband Commission going forward,” Zhao said. The ITU report, which highlighted the importance of connectivity and technologies in bringing about socio-economic development across the world, also said providing universal access to the internet should be a priority in 2030. “The 2030 Agenda recognises the power of new technologies to accelerate human progress, to bridge the digital divide, to develop knowledge societies – we must do everything to sup-

port States in reaching these goals, especially developing States,” said UNESCO DirectorGeneral, Irina Bokova. “This calls for stronger efforts by governments and all actors, in ensuring access, use and affordability it requires also greater work to build the capacities of all women and men to make the most of all new opportunities.” In a move to meet up with the spectrum quest, Satellite broadband provider, Yahsat, signed a partnership agreement with internet service provider iWayAfrica for on-ground satellite broadband support services and coverage across Uganda. Senior executives from both companies, including Yahsat’s Chief Commercial Officer, David Murphy, and iWayAfrica’s Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Welthagen, as well as Chief Technology Officer, Guy

Zhao

Bokova

‘

According to the Pyramid Research, “a solid detailed understanding of the benefits of spectrum can be an important driver and motivation for regulators to reassess their approaches to spectrum allocation

‘

Isaiah Erhiawarien with agency report

Schalker, signed the new partnership on the side-lines of AfricaCom 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa. iWayAfrica is an established ISP in Africa and offers solutions over satellite, fibre optic and wireless networks. According to the agreement, the ISP will provide in-country user equipment, installation and customer care services while the partners will offer broadband packages targeting the business and home user markets. Yahsat’s Murphy said, “We are delighted to be partnering with iWayAfrica to deliver YahClick’s quality high-speed broadband via satellite to Uganda. iWayAfrica understands the unique requirements of this market. They will support us in a country where there is a massive growth demand for reliable internet access.” iWayAfrica’s Uganda Chief Executive Oficer, Godfrey Sserwamukoko, while commenting on the development said that “The partnership will enable iWayAfrica Uganda to offer Ka band VSAT connectivity in areas within Uganda not currently covered by other service providers.” The new service agreement will come into immediate effect. Users will be able to instantly connect to the internet via a small satellite dish and satellite modem anywhere in Uganda. The satellite technology will provide reliable internet services, even in the remotest places, without the need for terrestrial infrastructure. BC

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

NIMC apologises for service disruptions Stories by Isaiah Erhiawarien

ational Identity Management Commission, NIMC has apologised for the interruption of services at some of our NIN Enrolment Centres across the country, due to power failure. NIMC in a statement urged Nigerian to bear with it saying that “we will address these issues through the deployment of alternative power sources, even in the face of scarce resources.” “In the light of this, citizens are encouraged to avail themselves the opportunity

of utilising our online pre-enrolment portal (www.penrol. gov.ng) to pre-register their demographic data and printout a 2D barcode to take with them for presentation at the enrolment centre, and reduce the amount of time required for the exercise”, said the statement. According to NIMC, citizens and legal residents are to note that the National Identification Number (NIN) is their identity and most important to us, not the physical e-ID Card. “We are however already issuing the cards to all who have enrolled and have their NIN. In this vein, we encour-

age all who were enrolled and issued with their NIN in 2012 and 2013 to expect SMS notifications from NIMC, inviting them to pick up their cards at any of our card activation centres on a specified date/ time”, said NIMC. The Commission urged the public to bear with it as noting “we do our best to deliver on this painstaking but all important national assignment, which does not only involve the delicate capturing and storage of data, but a sequence of high technology driven processes that ensures a secured and dependable database and e-ID Card.” BC

GOtv launch service in Gboko, Badagry G Otv signals have been switched on in Gboko and Badagry, respectively as part efforts by the company to extend its reach, particularly in digital television revolution era “GOtv had previously covered Makurdi, the Benue state capital. Additionally more Lagosians living in the fringes of state, and looking to migrate into the digital age, now have an affordable and trusted digital terrestrial pay-TV in GOtv”, said the GOtv public relations manager, Efe Obiomah. A new complete GOtv set including a DVB-T2 decoder, one month subscription to GOtv Plus bouquet and an outdoor antenna (GOtenna) are sold for N6,900. GOtv offers two bouquets

Obiomah

namely; GOtv Plus which gives over 40 channels for a monthly subscription of N1,800, and GOtv Value for N1,200 monthly with over 20 channels. GOtv caters to the differ-

ent viewing preferences of the family, giving subscribers international and local channels in crystal clear picture and quality sound. Its channel line-up include; AfricaMagic Family, AfricaMagic Yoruba, M-Net Movies Zone, Telemundo, Zee World, Discovery World, SuperSport Select, SuperSport 9, Al Jazeera, CNN, MTV Base, Soundcity, Disney Junior, Nickelodeon, JimJam, Islam Channel, Faith Channel, and more which meet the different viewing preferences of members of the family. The extension of GOtv’s signals to Gboko and Badagry coincide with the addition of Emmanuel TV to the GOtv Plus and GOtv Value bouquets. BC

US firm unveils 3D tech in Lagos Saidat Alausa

n American IT firm, 3D Makery.com has introduced a hi-tech selfie into the Nigerian market. Founded by a Nigerian entrepreneur, Mr. Israel Ovirih, the company also launched 3D scanning and printing service in Nigeria and Africa. Speaking at the unveiling, Ovirih said that 3D Makery it is a technology that will outshine every other technology and offer youths employment through selfdependence in Nigeria. According to him, 3D technology is opening up a new world of possibilities and the reward of 3D printing technology is that the scan can be used to produce a full colour figurine

adding that “rather than a half cocked snapshot you can have a 3D printed sculpture to either keep as your own or give as a gift”. He noted that the 3D printing technology was designed to bring joy and happiness each time a person snaps saying that “We’re thrilled bringing this advanced 3D tools and knowledgeable support team to help grow Nigeria’s technology business. He said: ”We have had success and satisfaction with this technology and, upon experiencing the technology ourselves, knew it would be a benefit for Nigerians.” While giving details of the mechanics of the 3D Technology, the Chief Operating Officer, 3D Makery

Nigeria, Mr. Damola Kolawole explained that the booth where all this magic happens contains four wide-view, high-resolution scanners that rotate around the person inside in order to capture them from all angles. “The level of detail that can be captured by these scanners is such that it will even pick up things like a logo on a shirt or the jersey of your favourite sports team. The hundreds of images that are generated in this way are then automatically stitched together with special software and a 3D model is generated from that composite. After the digital model is created, the figurine can then be produced”, he concluded. BC

Technotalk

A9 25

with Esther Ozue (ozueesther@nationalmirroronline.net) 08059234648 (sms only)

How business blogging can build your brand, enhance profitability

usiness owners embracing blogging will really enjoy the benefits and grow their businesses. When i speak to business owners about blogging, the response i get is “does anyone even read these things?” Building a “tribe” means building relationships with your customers. There are sundry of online benefits to posting high-quality content’s on your business blog regularly, and one of the most important gain is that information seekers, search engines will recognise you and your website easily. This can help attract potential customers, and sustain old ones loyalty and increase their trust in your product or services. Blogging is an excellent marketing tool for businesses. To get customers to visit your blog, you need to write quality content every week. The benefits of a blog increase in manifold as you increase your publishing frequency. From the recent studies I have done, businesses that blog regularly are more likely to generate leads via their website than businesses that don’t. It also builds trust in your business. Business blogging is a good marketing strategy and a valuable tool for any business. In order for your business to be successful, it is essential for people to know about your brand as well as the products and services you offer. Networking will help you establish trusting relationships with potential customers just as attending networking events regularly and cultivating long-term relationships with your fellow professionals can help a great deal. You need to develop your network to recognise your ideal customers and the unique problems that you solve in your business. That way, when members of your network come across other people, they can introduce your company which will create an optimal situation where you are solving, not selling. An attractive website can make your business look professional. But the real benefits will depend on functionality and ability to attract customers to your business. If your website is outdated, consider a redesign. To combine business blogging with in-person networking, here are five ways that will help you attract new clients, grow your network, and enhance your business growth: 1) By publishing blog posts on a variety of topics that correspond to the specific customers, products, services or situations that you deal with in your business, your networking colleagues can easily find and share this specific information when they meet an ideal customer for you. 2) On your blog, you can educate people by including case studies that will clearly show your network; what you do and who you do it for. 3) Visit networking events, get call cards and visit other company’s websites. When you find a current and highly informative collection of articles (blogs) about the same topics you referred to at the meeting, it will validate the positive impression you made in person. 4) Members of your network may also post your content on the social media to share with their entire network. By blogging consistently and linking to your posts on social media, it makes it easier for people to know you. You can return the favour with a simple public “thank you” that your followers will see. 5) If you speak to someone at a networking event who might also be a potential customer, blogging gives you a non-threatening and effective way to continue the conversation. Simply send them the link to one or two of your blog posts that either describe how you solved a similar problem for another client or provide some self-help tips they can apply immediately, to get some initial relief. It is instructive to conclude here that blogging and social media don’t replace physical networking, but combining both and using them effectively will help you enhance your business relationships both physically and online. BC BC BC

A10 26

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Gabriel Ogbechie:

Oil man from the creeks Chief Gabriel Ogbechie is one of the few that rose above their very humble beginnings to find huge success in business. Rainoil, the company he founded and which began operations in 1997 now occupies a formidable position in the oil and gas industry with investments running into billion naira mark

eing born in a seemingly volatile environment has caught up with some but not with Gabriel Ogbechie who came from a very humble family background in Warri in Delta State. He grew up in Warri just like other children at the time. But he had an ambition to do something different; he wanted to acquire a good education that will enable him stand shoulder to shoulder with his mates anywhere in the world and he succeeded in graduating with a second class upper division degree in production engineering at the University of Benin in 1987. His present position has taken many of his peers aback in amazement. Although, his rise took a seemingly personal calculated steps, one can not rule out the divine intervention

Ogbechie

in his success story. Soon after graduation at the University of Benin, Gabriel embarked on the compulsory one year National Youth Service NYC where he was posted as a lecturer to the Kano State Polytechnic. And having displayed his thorough knowledge of the production engineering in the lecture rooms and upon

the completion of his NYSC, he was immediately offered employment by the Sharada Edible Oil Company Limited, Kano as a factory engineer from 1989 to 1991. His quest for additional knowledge and professionalism took him to PricewaterhouseCoopers, a leading firm of Chartered Accountants and Manage-

ment Consultants where he also worked from 1991 to 1992. Apparently, Ogbechie had wanted to pursue a career in accounting and management as the future of the manufacturing sector was getting bleak when notable manufacturing companies were divesting and closing their factories due to the epileptic power supply in the country even up

till today. Somehow, he changed his mind when he was about a year in the accountants and management consulting firm. This decision saw him joining the Ascon oil later in 1992. While there, he headed the sales and operations departments. As a great team player, he was able to carry those under him to fulfill and achieved set tar-

gets and goals for the company to the admiration of the chairman / chief executive officer and owner of the company, who passed on in the Bellview plane crash. It was in this company that he hatched the idea to form and run his own company. And in May 1997, Rainoil Limited commenced business as an oil marketing company in the down stream sector of the oil and gas industry although, it had been incorporated in November 1994. This opened another chapter in the life of a man whose dream has always been to pursue excellence and defeat poverty. Consequently, Rainoil began modestly with just one small office but with the accounting and the management knowledge gained at the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Ogbechie guided the company from its very modest beginnings to a company with operations across the downstream value chain. Rainoil currently owns more than 29 service station spread across the country, a 50 million litre capacity multi-product storage depot in Oghara, Delta State, with a jetty, a fleet of 75 trucks for product distribution and two ships. His strong desire to continue to update himself and see his company grow bigger led Gabriel Ogbechie to attended several management courses locally and abroad. He is a pioneer member of the Lagos Business School Owner Manager Programme 2002. He has also attended seminars and workshops in Houston-US, London-UK and Kuala LumpurMalaysia. Although, he is also a resource person himself with sound delivery and teaching skills, nevertheless, he is always looking forward to acquire more knowledge to keep him abreast of the new happenings in the business world. For him knowledge has no limit. Today, from its very humble beginnings with one service station in 1999 with which the Rainoil entered into a Bulk Purchase Agreement with NNPC as an independent petroleum products marketing company, it has grown to a group of subsidiary companies with substantial investments in tank farm operations, jetty services, haulage/ distribution and retail outlets operation. It currently operates over 29 services stations strategically located in all geo-political zones in the country and aim to be present in all major towns and cities. The Downstream sector of Nigeria’s petroleum industry presents tough challenge to operators due to the inconsistencies in government policies. But in the midst of all of this, Gabriel Ogbechie’s never say die attitude when the going gets tougher and when it concerns the Rainoil , has continued to spur him on, and on to see more opportunities rather than

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

failure. His discerning mind when at previous work places had thought him to know that knowledge rather than capital is the first consideration one needs when one wants to begin a business. According to him “it’s been a very interesting and exciting journey. I started this business in 1997 from the scratch and we have been able to grow it step by step, brick by brick to what it is today. I always tell people, even in some classes that i teach, that the most important thing you need in kick-starting any business venture is knowledge. A lot of people think it’s capital but i insist that the most important thing is knowledge”. Ogbechie has said it all. After all, he has cleverly passed through the stage and so he is in a better position to advise intending investors that they needed to have a sound knowledge of the business they intent to invest in . This is just a glimpse to the grated and refined business stuff Ogbechie possesses. “While in Ascon, I learnt the ropes, understood how the downstream sector of the oil industry works. And by 1997, I felt I have had enough knowledge to go out and start something of my own. But before my career with Ascon, I had worked briefly for Price Waterhouse as it was known then, a firm of chartered accountants from 1991 to 1992. But it was actually in Ascon Oil

‘

Today, from its very humble beginnings with one service station in 1999 with which we entered into a Bulk Purchase Agreement with NNPC as an independent petroleum products marketing company, it has grown to a group of subsidiary companies with substantial investments

‘

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

that I learned the ropes that enabled me to stand out. The downstream sector is very interesting. The cash flow available in the sector cannot be gotten in other areas of the economy”. This is true, if one considers that petrol is on cash and carry business. If you drive into a fuel station today to buy fuel, nobody takes cheque from you. No one sells fuel on credit. You pay cash and get your product. So, in terms of cash flow, it is really a very interesting industry to operate in which can grow a high turnover with very low margin business. But at the end of the day, if your turnover is high, no matter how little the margin is, somehow, it tends to get better. Ogbechie, who is married

with for children said in an interview with the Sun Newspaper recently that “another thing is that it’s a long-term business. It’s not a business you get into today and think that you will get all the money in the world overnight. It’s a business and an industry for the long-term players. It’s a marathon and not a sprint. For those who come in now and think they can make all the money overnight, some of them tend to run into trouble. As we know, every industry has its own challenges. And the downstream sector is not an exception. We run a system where the price of petroleum product in this country is still regulated. Government says we should sell petrol at N97. If we have to

A11 27

sell petrol at N97, it means that government has to pay the difference because as at today, we import a larger chunk of the fuel we use in this country. So we have to go abroad and import with the landing cost nearing the region of N150 per liter of fuel. And government says we should sell at N97 per liter. That means government has to pay the difference. That difference is what is called subsidy. What it simply means is that if you drive into a fuel station, in Lagos for example and you buy fuel, just imagine that after buying fuel, and you are paying the fuel attendant N97 per liter, as you pay the money, imagine that government is standing beside you and also paying the same attendant about N50 or N60 per liter for the fuel you have bought. That is the subsidy. Unfortunately, in 2010/ 2011, there were these allegations that there were some kinds of abuses in the system. But today all that remain in the past. At the moment, the challenges we are having are such that government, unfortunately, is not paying as quickly as they used to. Historically, if you go back to the Abacha years (1993/94), this country was in perpetual state of fuel scarcity. 1993, 1994 and 1995, fuel was perpetually scarce. Because then, only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was importing fuel. But when former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration came on board in 1999, he legalised fuel importation and created the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) and now allowed private people with private companies, starting with the major marketers, to commence importing fuel. It was he, Obasanjo, who liberalised the downstream sector. When the private sector operators commenced fuel importation, government again created what it called Sovereign Wealth Note (SWN). The idea of the SWN ensured that payment was effected by government 45 days after fuel import was made. With the advent of SWN, the country realised that for the better part of the Obasanjo administration, fuel scarcity became a thing of the past. It’s because of the SWN. Until 2012, if you import fuel you get your money in 45 days. Today, you get delayed for up to six months before you get paid by government. So those are some of the challenges we are facing as marketers operating in the downstream sector”. In spite these, Chief Gabriel Ogbechie believes there is light at the end of the tunnel. And it is not even enough to scare him out of the down stream oil business. Rather than do this, he is planning on increasing the number of the outlets owned by the Rainoil. BC

A12 28

Business Courage

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Monday, November 23, 2015

ThebuddingEntrepreneurs

The portable wealth of Entrepreneur

BUSINESS KLINIC

With Mamora Victor Mamora is a system thinker and advisor whose belief and activator leadership strengths are directed towards improving workers perspective for city and enterprise development.

e-mail: olusegunmamora@gmail.com

Ode, South West Nigeria as a volunteer because I didn’t have certificate which would enable me to negotiate a remuneration. I had courage to experiment knowledge of business system with an underperforming startup in a town perceived to be unfavorable to startup. However, within four months of my active presence in the company, I introduced some strategic decisions and the consequence was upward change in company revenue. This influenced the decision of the managing director to retain me. He offered me appointment with salary, which opened up an opportunity to attend school. One year down the line, the business recorded about 150 percent sales increase and added quality corporate clients. We simply introduced diverse principles, which are intangibles, and it delivered tangible results for the business. The company has moved to expansion stage and added a vocational and technical college to her portfolio. Dear entrepreneur, the most reliable capital is intangible and I mean vision, dreams, ideas, values, the potential and perspective your team members bring

‘

Real business capital is portable; it is knowledge. So when you hear that ideas rule the world, it simply means those who have the intangible assets will always rule the world

‘

oday, where they had told you “No” before, you will get a yes now! Dear reader, I see you marching into greatness today. I first read about Madam CJ Walker who was said to be the first popular selfmade female millionaire in America on Sam Adeyemi’s platform. Madam CJ Walker was the least favoured to become a millionaire largely because it was the period that slavery just ended and women were denied political and social rights. Despite this, she was able to achieve economic success. Walker gained reputation and respect for revolutionizing the business of black hair care, thereby breaking the barriers that other black business women are enjoying today. She did not allow her circumstances to hinder her from achieving her dreams and vision of being a force to be reckoned with over many generations. When you think deeply about Madam CJ Walker and the feat she was able to accomplish, you will agree that all things are indeed possible for anyone who value intangible asset such as vision, dreams and ideas with the motive of creating values for the society. Maybe I should share my personal experience too. Many years ago, I needed fund for my university academic pursuit but could not get it anywhere. Hence, I began to invest in learning by going to public library to read while I also studied at home. I was investing an average of eight hours daily to research, read and study diverse areas. With the little knowledge I had acquired on organisational management, I decided to work with a startup entrepreneur whose company is Eniola (artistry) Gallery Venture in the city of Ijebu

into the venture. Maybe I should say that “real business capital is portable; it is knowledge.” So when you hear that ideas rule the world, it simply means those who have the intangible assets will always rule the world. “For to everyone who has, more will be given, he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”- Matthew Syndrome This Matthew syndrome is applicable to every enterprise in free market economy. If an entrepreneur does not have knowledge and updated knowledge, he or she stands to lose both money and physical asset to a competitor who does. I recognised this negative pattern while I joined the artistry company. The artists were so passionate about sculpting and painting that they were not marketing and operated an ineffective system.

They had good works but lacked system. The low business result performance before we introduced better strategies affirmed the fact that business is not so much about the time of entry, although an advantage; it is knowledge, a competitive tool, which differentiates entrepreneurs. My emphasis is for you and your team members to place premium value on intangible assets, especially knowledge, thereby building your enterprise into a learning system, irrespective of the size. By so doing, your organisation will be better positioned to serve the growing needs of the market. Briefly, I will like to mention principles or laws that were applied in the business function that changed the trend from low to high sales record. We applied the Law of cat-

Motivational Business Quotes

eing able to touch so many people through my businesses and make money while doing it, is a huge blessing. – Magic Johnson Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness. – James Thurber The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same. – Carlos Castaneda The great leaders are like the best conductors – they reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players. – Blaine Lee

To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted. – George Kneller To the degree we’re not living our dreams; our comfort zone has more control of us than we have over ourselves. – Peter McWilliams The enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth-persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. – John F. Kennedy Long-range planning works best in the short term. – Doug Evelyn BC

alyst Our first responsibility was aligning with law of catalyst and it means a winning team must have people who make things happen, speeding up the rate of reaction, galvanising, and blending abilities to make things happen. The first thing we introduced was a system that enlist all functions required for better performances, compartmentalised them and brought in people to perform the functions. The business system strategy was my core focus and it worked. People made it happen. We adapted to the Law of progress Secondly, we made progress when we began to do strategic thinking, planning and seeing the big picture. The law of progress says, “First within and then without.” All progress remains at a state of rest until a mental force is applied. Emphasis should be placed on mental work because it is what gives values to physical work. We had goal to improve sales Thirdly, our success was possible because of our goal we had goal, but the processes for achieving it were flexible. We did experiment new things such as duo marketing strategy. The experiment was pairing Artists and a marketing representative to pitch business ideas to prospective client. While non-artist pitched services values in a creative manner, the artist explained the technical processes of the services. This strategy won us the biggest single contract value in one year. Dear friend, knowledge and many other principles that result in business growth is the portable wealth of a successful entrepreneur. It is in you and around you but you must be courageous to exercise it. BC

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

A13 29

ThebuddingEntrepreneurs

Driven by commitment 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

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 self-employment 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

Dada

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 selfemployed; 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 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 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 shortchanging 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, 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. BC

A14 30

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Champion Breweries: Operational efficiency boost growth Johnson Okanlawon

hampions Breweries result for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 showed a sustained profitability with a 3.94 per cent hike in turnover. The revenue growth was a remarkable improvement as the Akwa-Ibom based brewer ended the full year 2014 with a loss, as it did in 2013. But its 2014 loss was an improvement from its 2013 loss. Its losses reduced by at least by 36 per cent from N1.17 billion in 2013 to N754 million in 2014, indicating that efficiency measures are yielding result. It has continued to benefit from its 2014 capital injection through the issuance of 6.3bn units of ordinary shares of N11billion through rights issue. The success of this issue enabled the company to eradicate finance cost charges which consequentially eroded profitability in the same period of the prior year. The company’s share rose 0.06 per cent to close at N4.00 per share on Friday from N3.94 per share at which it opened for trading. Q3 performance The company recorded a 3.94 per cent growth in turnover from N2.18bilion to N2.27billion while profit before tax was up 104.66 per cent to N62.59million in the third quarter of 2015 from a loss position of N1.344billion recorded in the same period of 2014. Similarly, profit after tax rose by 103.3 per cent to N43.81 million from a loss position of N1.344billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2014. This can be attributed to the substantial growth experienced on the company’s operational efficiencies which enabled the eradication of finance cost which trapped the company in a loss position over the last five years. The shareholders’ equity grew by 20.58 per cent from N5.87billion in 2014 third quarter to N7.08billion in the review period while earning per share widened by 100.37 per cent, from a loss position of N149.38 kobo to 56 kobo per share. The com-

Champion breweries manufacturing plant

pany’s share price has shed 58 per cent, which equates to N4.17 in the review period, compared to the N9.94 recorded in the same period in the prior year. Research analysts at GTI Securities Limited attributed the significant growth in profit after tax to its continued leverage on its contract brewing agreements with Nigerian Breweries. Moreover, its turn around initiative enhanced revenue growth through increased production of both its lager beer and contract brewing products. The ripple effect of these growth strategies by the management of the company translated to positive revenue, profit after tax and shareholders’ equity figures. Analysis of the company’s liquidity showed that its net assets appreciated 20.6 per cent to N7.07 billion, from N5.87 billion recorded in the same period of 2014, while total current liabilities stood at N2.89 billion in the review period, from N3.57 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2014. Total non-current assets dropped to N7.82 billion, from N8.05 billion recorded in 2014 third quarter. Q2 performance For the unaudited six months financial report ended June 30, 2015 and submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the company made a profit before tax of N20.829 million in first half of 2015 as against the loss of N884.712 million it incurred in the first

half of 2014. The profit attracted a tax of N6.25 million to bring profit after tax to N14.579 million in first half of 2015. This 100.19 profit was able to wipe out N98.30 million loss it made in the first half of 2014. For the first six months of the 2015 financial year, Champion Breweries earned 14 per cent revenue boost from N1.4 billion in 2014 first half to N1.596 billion in 2015 for the corresponding period. The company spent 2.33 per cent more on cost of production which brought it to N1.242 billion for the 2015 first half as against N1.214 billion it spent in 2014. The boost in the profit made is said to be as a result of the 15.45 per cent drop in the amount the company spent on admin and distribution expenses. It spent N361.327 million in 2015 first half on admin and distribution expense in contrast of N427.33 million spent in the prior period. Also the 13.61 per cent appreciation in other incomes helped to boost the company’s profit. a total of N18.642 million was earned from other income sources in the first six months of 2015 as against N16.409 million in 2014 for the period under review. Further look at the report submitted by the company shows that the company now has 4.54 per cent more assets to its name from N9.592 billion in 2014 to N10.027 billion in 2015 for the period under review. Also, shareholders fund appreci-

ated by 20.1 per cent to close June 2015 with N7.050 billion as against N5.87 billion as at January 2015. The earnings per share is now positive at N0.19 in 2015 first half as against a negative (N98.30) in 2014 first half. The company earned 101.65 per cent less than the N659.445 million finance incomes it earned in 2014 which brought 2015 earnings to N10.109 million. The 2015 financial year has been very harsh and a lot of companies have been badly affected. A lot of companies are expected to either post reduced profit or outright loss. Experts believe that Champion Breweries has done well as it not just wiped out its huge loss but was also able to make profit. Q1 performance The company recorded a 9.2 million profit after tax in the first quarter or period ending March 31, 2015, compared to a N391.50 million loss it recorded for the same quarter in 2014. In addition, the company reported a profit before tax (PBT) of N13.4 million for the first quarter, compared to a loss of N391.50 million in the preceding year. Revenue grew by 41.01 percent to N245.6 million, compared to N174.2 million it earned for the same quarter in 2014. Company background Champion Breweries Plc was incorporated as a Private Limited Liability Company on the 31st of July, 1974 with the same South East Brewer-

ies Limited. The company is involved in the production of Beer such as, Champion Lager Beer and Champ Malta. Its production capacity went up to 150,000 hectoliters in 1974 and 500,000 hectoliters in 1979. The reactivated Brewery was officially commissioned on the 23rd of October, 2001. Champion Lager Beer is now in the market and is doing well. Analysts opinion The contraction in revenue between second quarter and the third quarter was due to the marco-economic situation bedeviled by high interest rates and high inflation rate of 9.4 per cent which have continued to affect consumer purchasing power. With the cost of production soaring and consumers struggling with weakened purchasing power, it is no wonder the sales figures recorded in third quarter 2015 dipped. The company however experienced growth in key margins given the good management strategy implemented by the company. Going forward, it is expected that the company would maintain a significant growth in bottom line while top line growth may become marginal. The managerial, technical and marketing competencies of Heineken (57 per cent equity holder) would continue to translate to growth in Champion Breweries. Moreso, the absence of finance cost would continue fuelling net income growth. BC

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

A15 31

Stock market last week Equities turnover of 793.557 million shares worth N7.152bn in 12,831 deals were traded this week by investors on the floor of The Exchange in contrast to a total of 2.064 billion shares valued at N23.397bn that exchanged hands last week in 14,992 deals. The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 662.860 million shares valued at N3.127bn traded in 7,436 deals; thus contributing 83.53per cent and 43.73per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Consumer Goods Industry followed with 34.059 million shares worth N1.250bn in 2,565 deals. The third place was occupied by the Conglomerates Industry with a turnover of 33.903 million shares worth N266.892m in 554 deals. Trading in the Top Three Equities namely – FBN Holdings Plc, Access Bank Plc and Continental Reinsurance Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 342.365 million shares worth N1.403bn in 2,549 deals, contributing 43.14per cent and 19.61per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

NSE trading hall

ETPs: Also traded during the week were a total of 2,143 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N1.734ms executed in 35 deals compared with a total of 4,044 units valued at N281,820.83 transacted last week in 40 deals. Bonds: There was no trade recorded on bonds this week. However, a total of 3,026 units of FGN Bonds valued at N3,814m were traded in 4 deals last week. Index Movement: The NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalization depreciated by 2.46per cent to close the week at 28,131.28 and N9.670trn respec-

tively. Similarly, all other Indices finished lower during the week, while NSE ASeM Index closed flat. Summary of Price Changes: Nineteen (19) equities appreciated in price during the week, lower than twenty-nine (29) equities of the preceding week. Forty-one (41) equities depreciated in price,higher than thirtyeight (38) equities of the preceding week, while one hundred and thirty (130) equities remained unchanged, compared to one hundred and twentythree (123) equities recorded in the preceding week.BC

Market Indicators for Week Ended 20-11-15 All-Share Index 28,203.20 points Market Capitalization 9,679,018,900,054.94

NASD OTC REPORT 1 OUTSTANDING OFFERS AND BIDS ON NASD OTC Outstanding deals since October, 2015. Security

Offers

SD FOOD CONCEPTS PLC

Consumer Services

0.50

Last Offer Date 10-Nov-15 10-Nov-15 3-Nov-15 19-Nov-15 18-Nov-15 20-Nov-15 17-Nov-15

SD FREE RANGES FARM PLC

Consumer Goods

1.00

SD FUMMAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS INDUSTRIES PLC SD GEO-FLUIDS PLC SD GOLDEN CAPITAL PLC SD INDUSTRIAL & GENERAL INSURANCE PLC SD JAIZ INTERNATIONAL PLC SD NIGER DELTA EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION PLC

Consumer Goods Industrials Financials Financials Financials Oil & Gas

SD PARTNERSHIP INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC SD RESOURCERY PLC SD RIGGS VENTURES WEST AFRICA PLC SD SPRING MORTGAGE PLC SD SWAP TECHNOLOGIES AND TELECOMMS PLC

Financials Technology Industrials Financials Technology Financials

0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.00 10.00 0.50

16-Nov-15 19-Nov-15 17-Nov-15 11-Nov-15

0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.00

9-Nov-15 16-Nov-15 10-Nov-15

SD ACORN PETROLEUM PLC SD ARM LIFE PLC SD ARM PROPERTIES PLC SD AFRILAND PROPERTIES PLC SD BGL PLC SD CAPPA AND D'ALBERTO PLC SD CENTRAL SECURITIES CLEARING SYSTEM PLC SD DUFIL PRIMA FOODS PLC SD FRIESLAND CAMPINA WAMCO NIGERIA PLC

RUSTRUSTBOND MORTGAGE BANK PLC

Industry Oil & Gas Financials Financials Financials Financials Industrials Financials Consumer Goods Consumer Goods

Nominal value (₦) 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.00 0.50 0.50

Bids

Volume offered Last Offer Price Last Bid Price 640,000 0.39 0.57 290,000 2.43 1,760,003.00 2.47 2.10 2,307,779.00 67.00 250,000 6.10 5.56 9.00 11,000 170.55 2,900,000.00 0.77 -

1,768,099.00 50,000 115,000.00 4,233,800 1,049,900.00 286,800 4,250,240.00

2 DEMATERIALISATION AND CUMULATIVE TRADE IN OTC SECURITIES 20-Nov-15 Security SD ACORN PETROLEUM PLC SD ARM LIFE PLC SD ARM PROPERTIES PLC SD AFRILAND PROPERTIES PLC SD BGL PLC SD CAPPA AND D'ALBERTO PLC SD CENTRAL SECURITIES CLEARING SYSTEM PLC SD DUFIL PRIMA FOODS PLC SD FRIESLAND CAMPINA WAMCO NIGERIA PLC SD FOOD CONCEPTS PLC SD FREE RANGES FARM PLC SD FUMMAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS INDUSTRIES PLC SD GEO-FLUIDS PLC SD GOLDEN CAPITAL PLC SD INDUSTRIAL & GENERAL INSURANCE PLC SD JAIZ INTERNATIONAL PLC SD NIGER DELTA EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION PLC SD PARTNERSHIP INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC SD RESOURCERY PLC SD RIGGS VENTURES WEST AFRICA PLC SD SPRING MORTGAGE PLC SD SWAP TECHNOLOGIES AND TELECOMMS PLC

RUSTRUSTBOND MORTGAGE BANK PLC

Industry Oil and Gas Financials Financials Financials Financials Industrial Financials Consumer Goods Consumer Goods Consumer Services Consumer Goods Consumer Goods Industrial Financials Financials Financials Oil and Gas Financials Technology Industrial Financials Technology Financials

Introduced by Meristem Securities Limited APT Securities & Fund Limited Mega Equity Limited APT Securities & Fund Limited Nigerian Int. Securities Ltd UBA Stockbroking Firm Greenwich Securities Limited Anchoria Investment & Securities Limited Capital Bancorp Plc Stanbic IBTC stockbrokers limited CSL Stockbroking Limited Integrated Trust & Investment Limited Icon Stockbrokers Limited Sterling Capital Market Limited Greenwich Securities Limited APT Securities & Fund Limited FCSL Asset Management Co. Limited APT Securities & Fund Limited APT Securities & Fund Limited APT Securities & Fund Limited Primera Africa Securities Limited Signet Investment and Securities Limited Prominent Securities Limited

Company Registrars CardinalStone Registrars Limited African Prudential Registrars Plc African Prudential Registrars Plc African Prudential Registrars Plc Unity Registrars Limited African Prudential Registrars Plc African Prudential Registrars Plc Nnenna Ejekam Associates First Registrars Limited Meristem Registrars Limited Meristem Registrars Limited PAC Registrars Limited Meristem Registrars Limited African Prudential Registrars Plc GTL Registrars Limited African Prudential Registrars Plc United Securities Limited First Registrars Limited EDC Registrars Limited Mainstreet Bank Registrars Limited PAC Registrars Limited PAC Registrars Limited United Securities Limited

Year end 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Mar 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec 31/Dec

1.50 -

0.43 1.00 152.00 0.81 0.45 0.97 0.78

Volume Bidded Last Bid Date 2,000 2-Nov-15 20,650 19-Nov-15 95,000 19-Nov-15 1,000,000 2-Nov-15 -

500 -

2-Nov-15 -

TRADE INFORMATION (JAN 2015-TILL DATE) DEMATERIALISATION INFORMATION Total Share Capital Volume % '000 Dematerialised Dematerialised DEALS VOLUME VALUE (₦) 64,537,146 2,000,000,000 3.23% 100 5,167,556 2,036,374.02 606,000,000 5,785,673,000 10.47% 28,685,023 1,900,000,000 1.51% 48 175,230 458,948.80 61,268,687 1,249,000,000 4.91% 129 26,607,611 63,094,468.38 9,626,657,533 12,000,000,000 80.22% 5 6,300 18,900.00 2,624,671 196,875,000 1.33% 28 110,569 8,331,233.60 745,144,190 5,000,000,000 14.90% 344 526,849,920 2,885,608,925.76 6,753,333,334 0.00% 183,241,512 976,335,936 18.77% 687 139,495,814 43,681,244,783.23 105,711,770 5,650,000,000 1.87% 94 30,370,699 22,123,602.02 519,999,631 0.00% 69,369,303 3,600,000,000 1.93% 4 1,400 2,012.00 567,513,596 4,257,668,000 13.33% 43 11,126,571 16,284,198.95 252,255,056 1,170,324,536 21.55% 13 4,900 5,140.00 1,019,968,270 14,231,238,000 7.17% 78 144,531,110 114,434,112.85 302,072,809 11,829,700,000 2.55% 27 2,108,481 2,526,549.84 19,055,633 181,408,000 10.50% 189 13,840,272 2,922,567,890.56 197,337,494 2,875,595,000 6.86% 29 6,833,900 5,810,302.00 517,000,000 2,576,686,039 20.06% 49 448,259,980 224,182,981.40 1,726,264,230 0.00% 7,138,199,210 0.00% 1,525,040,000 2,705,378,000 56.37% 33 1,178,410 1,375,528.30 115,389,505 10,945,334,000 1.05% 24 15,660 13,574.70 105,269,011,916 16,008,872,198 15.21% 1,924 1,356,684,383 49,950,119,526.41

If you do not see your unquoted Plc on this list or for further enquirys consult your NASD OTC participating broker or visit our website at www.nasdng.com

A16 32

Business Courage

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

DO YOU WISH TO INVEST IN REAL ESTATE

NICON PROPERTIES LTD

APAPA, VICTORIA ISLAND

WE HAVE OUR CLIENT’S INSTRUCTIONS TO SELL, BUY, MANAGE AND HELP YOU OUT IN THE AFOREMNTIONED CITIES PLEASE CONTACT US TODAY AT NICON PROPERTIES 3RD FLOOR NIGERIAN REINSURANCE BUILDING, 784a HERBERT MACAULAY WAY CBD, ABUJA 08067770999 & 08033203414 Email:niconpropertiesltd@gmail.com.www.niconpropertieslimited.com

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Politics

Monday, November 23, 2015

As the only female lawmaker in the Bauchi State House of Assembly, can you tell us your experience so far? Honestly, the journey has been good. Though there have been some little hurdles but I have been having a good working relationship with my male colleagues. They have tried as much as possible to treat me with respect and all my contributions so far are recognised. Currently I am the chairperson of women affairs as you know I am the only woman in the house, so I was given that role to oversee the women affairs because they believe I will do it better but assuming there are other women in the house , we would have be given other relevant areas to feature in.

Women participation will enhance our democracy –Bagel Hon. Maryam Garba Bagel is the only female lawmaker in the Bauchi State House of Assembly that is made up of 30 members. In this interview with EZEKIEL TITUS, she urges women to play active role in politics; states her programmes for women in the state and assured that Buhari ministers will deliver. Excerpts:

How do you think women should be treated in politics? I believe every man has a woman in his life so it is the responsibility of everybody to respect and protect the interest of a woman or a girl. It’s not the responsibility of women to do that, as long as people consider it as everybody’s affair, there will be improvement which will surpass the previous legislation. If I am the only woman in the house and majority of the members viewed it from that point and give me the responsibility to take care of issues affecting women, I believe I should also feature in other issues and not be limited to women affairs alone. Protecting women is the responsibility of everybody because one way or the other, you have a woman in your life either your mother, wife, sister or daughter. It’s also important for people to view issues on general basis and not on gender basis because we have to view issues on how it affect everybody and not about women alone, I think this will go a long way to reshape our society. I believe the 8th Assembly has many intelligent men that are there to support the issues affecting women in the state. What are your blueprints to improve the living standard of women in the state taken into consideration your position as house chairperson on women affairs? I have been mandated to oversee almost all the women programmes in the ministries and agencies in the state and there is a plan on the way to review the policies and the laws that brought these agencies in place, we are going to see how they are operating and how it favours women. We are going to review some of them to ensure the interest of women are protected as well as give more room for women participation in politics. Also when it comes to operation, there are many programmes that are supposed to be in place to promote women empowerment which are not happening, we will go round and monitor them and ensure they are actualized. APC government has assured empowerment of women so we will make sure that issues of women are given utmost priority in the state. Governor Abubakar is yet to appoint Commissioners after five months in office, what do you think is responsible for this? The issue of the governor not yet sending commissioners list to the House of Assembly is not new, even at the National level, President Muhammadu Buhari just inaugurated his ministers so there was a reason why Buhari delays the appointment and I believe it is the same reason why our governor is yet to form his cabinet but I believe he will do that very soon. The delay may have to do with the economic situation in the country, you cannot inaugurate commissioners when there is no enough funds to pay salaries and allowance as we know the treasury is empty so that is one of the reason these appointments are being delay but I believe as soon as things take shape, the commissioners will be appointed. The last administration in the state appointed only one woman as a commissioner, what do you expect from the present administration in terms of appointments of women into the cabinet? I believe the promise made by the party would be fulfilled. One of the President manifestos is to encourage women participation in politics so I believe the governor will follow the party manifestos. I want to also encourage women to participate actively in governance so that when it comes to issues of appointments , these people would have been known to have participated in the whole process so that they will be recognized and be given appointment. So women should always participate actively in political events because it is when you participate that

eventually becomes the governor? I am 100 per cent sure that if she eventually become the governor of Taraba state, she will be the best governor we ever had in northern Nigeria because she is a woman and there are many qualities that women possess that are even recognised by men. I could remember during my campaign, people told me many reasons why they will vote for me and 70 per cent of these people are men , they talk about women being generous, philanthropist in nature, sympathetic and women not as ambitious as men so they believe that women will deliver because she will not acquire wealth to herself but work towards delivering dividend of democracy to the people , there are so many qualities men recognise in women that is helpful to the society so I believe that if she ever become the governor, she will be one of the best governors the country has ever had because she will deliver to the people of Taraba state and that will serve as a motivation to women folk in Nigeria to venture into politics.

Bagel

Protecting women is the responsibility of everybody because one way or the

other, you have a woman in your life either your mother, wife, sister or daughter you can be known and be recognised because if you have not been participating and you are nominated, some people can kick against your appointment so there is need for active participation in political issues so that your efforts will be recognised. Due to the culture and religion in Northern Nigeria, women do not usually get support of their family members to participate in politics, what is your take on this? Culture and religion truly are some factors that militate against women participation in politics but I don’t want to talk about that. The main fact is that history has been made in Taraba state where a woman contested for governorship seat in the last election, this woman came out in Northern Nigeria to contest for governorship election and with the Tribunal judgment we are hopeful that she will become the governor of Taraba state by the grace of Allah, despite the culture that people have been talking about, we can see that things are working. We know culture plays role in every society and the culture in the north is also playing its role too but with time things will change in favour of women folk, because people now support women in politics and vote for them irrespective of the culture, this is happening because people were disappointed in the previous government, so they are ready for change. I believe that with awareness and sensitization people will begin to differentiate between what the religion and culture say. I believe people are voting for change that will impact positively in their lives and not base on gender issues. Do you think Senator Aisha Alhassan will deliver dividends of democracy to the people of Taraba state if she

President Buhari just inaugurated the ministers, do you have confidence that they will deliver democratic dividends to Nigerians? I was impressed with the portfolios of the ministers and particularly that of the former governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola who will oversee ministry of power, works and housing. I think these people were selected based on merit and their previous achievements and with the kind of president we have, I have confidence that these ministers will deliver because I believe if the head is good the rest of the body will follow suit. We have competent head and incorruptible president and he has done his best in selecting the best people we have in the country so I believe they will bring about changes in the country. President Buhari is the petroleum minister, what is your take on this? I don’t know whether he appointed himself as petroleum minister or he is overseeing the ministry but I believe this is not the first time we are witnessing such appointment because during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, he was the petroleum minister, and there was reason for being there. I believe the reason the president want to oversee the ministry is due to the level of corrupt practices in that sector.So if you are to trust somebody, you must first know the problem before handing it over to someone else, so he may eventually appoint a petroleum minister later but for now I think he is doing the right thing, all we want is for the country to move forward so if that will help the system, I see no reason why he should not oversee the ministry. Are you assuring the people of your constituency that you are going to make a difference? I assure them that I will, they know I will do better than my predecessor and by the grace of Allah I will. What are your achievements so far in your constituency? Apart from my constituency, I was able to move two to three motions and all my motions have passed through and I also supported many good bills and motions that are moved by my colleagues for the betterment of the state . Though, I don’t like blowing my trumpet but I have achieved a lot in my constituency; I have embarked on different projects which are all posted on my website. All my constituency activities are there, in the last five months I have embarked on projects that have been of great benefit to my constituency.

Politics

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Amosun’s wife commended over initiative for elderly Robert Awokuse

gun State Governor, Senator ibikunle Amosun has lauded his wife, Olufunso, who is also the President of the Uplift Development Foundation, for her various good initiatives, most especially the UPLIFTing the Aged and called on other individuals and organisations to partner with the state government in uplifting the lives of the less privileged in the state. The governor, who disclosed this at the weekend during the second phase of the UPLIFTing the Aged distribution of ATM Welfare Cards to the elderly, assured the aged persons in Ogun State of adequate welfare package for them to enjoy their old age. “The UPLIFTing the Aged is one of the excellent initiatives by my wife to support the state government in our overall agenda to reduce poverty in the state. This is a laudable project and as part of our contribution to support her initiatives, I am pleased to increase the number of the beneficiaries from 700 to 1000 in all our 20 local government areas of the state,” he said. The governor described the UPLIFTing the Aged initiative as a laudable programme, which should be sustained to give succour to vulnerable senior citizens in the state. Welcoming guests to the occasion, Mrs. Amosun said the distribution of the cards was in continuation of Uplifting the Aged Welfare ATM Cards to vulner-

able elderly people selected from across the 236 wards in the 20 local government areas of the state. According to her, the cards had been activated for the original beneficiaries, whilst several new vulnerable senior citizens would be absorbed into the scheme and issued the Uplift ATM Cards. She explained that the ATM welfare cards was in continuation of the welfare package designed to ease the lives of the senior citizens in the state to enable them enjoy more dividends of democracy. The Wife of the Governor, added that the aim of the programme was to enable beneficiaries with age brackets range from 60 and above access their monthly stipends easily to enable them purchase food and other commodities without having to come down to the state capital monthly. Responding, one of the beneficiaries, Madam Jariatu noted that the UPLIFTing the Aged initiative has been very helpful to the elderly ones in the state, saying that most of the beneficiaries were unable to cater for themselves but for the assistance giving to them by the wife of the governor. He prayed that God would continue to bless and strengthen the first family in the state as they support the less privileged in the society. Also speaking, Pa Festus Oderinde expressed appreciation to the wife of the governor particularly for her constant support for the aged people in the state, urging her to continue to do more in the state.

Electoral officials battling to complete their reports for submission after Kogi Governorship Election results in Lokoja on Saturday.

CACOL to NGF: Cut down prolifgacy, not minimum wage Ayo Esan

tate governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, in a meeting held on Wednesday evening inside the old Banq,uet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja have said that they can no longer pay the N18, 000 minimum wage. According to them, the minimum wage was imposed on them when oil sold for $126 as against the present price of $41 per barrel. Supporting the NGF position, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State told journalists that there was no way the country could continue with a situation where expenditure was more than income. He said,

they are faced with a situation where they either have to reduce cost through salary reduction or downsize. The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL has described the decisions of the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF to downsize the workforce or reduce the minimum wage as a way of increasing the country’s unemployment and poverty level which may result into large-scale corruption and increase in crimes. “Minimum wage has a technical inversely proportional relationship with poverty and unemployment. This simply means that increase in minimum wage should result in reduction of poverty and unemployment and vise versa”, CACOL said.

Navy pledges to open Majidun road as Lagos assembly intervenes Robert Awokuse

he Nigerian Navy has expressed its readiness to open the road that leads to Majidun in Ikorodu as the members of the Lagos State House of Assembly has intervened in the matter. Representative of the Navy, Commodore A.O. Adaji made the disclosure while giving clarification at the meeting between the Lagos State House of Assembly ad hoc committee set up to investigate the closure of the road, among other allegations.

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Rotimi Abiru, commended the Navy for restoring peace and order in the riverine route of the state. Abiru noted that the activities of the illegal bunkers destabilized the growth of economy in the state and therefore implored the navy to keep up the good work, urging the navy and the people of Majidun to cohabit peacefully. Responding, Commander NNS Beecroft, Commodore Adaji made it known that the primary assignment of the navy is to guard and protect the waterways

running through Ishawo to Majidun to link other parts of Nigeria. Adaji explained that hoodlums took over Majidun and stocked the community with petroleum products from illegal bunkering. This he said is the reason why they barricaded the roads to stall the illegal activities. Speaking for the community, the Oba of Majidun, HRH Jethrow Abejoye also acknowledged the peace and tranquility they have enjoyed for thirteen months since the arrival of the navy in the community, but implored them to open

the roads to enable vehicular movement and easy access of heavy duty vehicles such as trucks, tippers and water tankers. He said, “we appreciate the presence of the navy, but beg that they open up our roads to enable us do our usual business of buying and selling and this was what made the navy to open the road.” Abiru applauded the navy for their combatant operations in all illegal bunkering points in the State. He also made it known that the House is not passing judgement but on a mission to broker peace.

Speaking on behalf of the Coalition, the Executive Chairman, Comrade Debo Adeniran said, “The state governors as a matter of priority should declare economic emergency in order to remove unnecessary and irrelevant projects affecting wages in their respective states and not use the nation’s nose-diving economy as an excuse for reducing the minimum wage or downsizing their workforce. “Even with the N18, 000 minimum wage, the salary of most average Nigerian workers cannot satisfy their immediate needs and which should not be so,” he said. Adeniran called for the creation of more jobs through the establishment of more industries and institutions. He said that there was a need to establish a friendly environment for businesses to thrive in the nation so as to avoid bloated workforce in the country. Private sectors should be empowered so that they can plough back into the system and assist governments in taking care of its workforce. The CACOL Chairman, however, warned state governments against non-payment of workers’ salary, insisting that there was no justification for that. States that currently owe their workers should suspend all irrelevant projects and pay their workers. According to him, the nation’s ability to consolidate its democracy

depends on how well and coordinated the dividends of democracy trickle down to the masses. Minimum wages often considered as a measure to tackle poverty by ensuring all workers can enjoy a minimum level of income and living standard, it tend to boost the incomes of poor families that remain below the poverty line. Adeniran advised the state governments to itemize the income generating areas of the economy and set realistic targets, appoint manageable number of special advisers and ministries to reduce cost and ensure that a percentage of revenues is set aside on regular basis, to serve as backup for the rainy day. The Human Rights activist stressed that “Minimum wage is an essential factor in the enhancement of productivity in not only the public, but also the private sector of the nation’s workforce. The states should also look inwards and find ways to harness the abundant human and natural resources that every state is blessed with. They should also endeavour to cut down on basic running costs and put a check on corruption and other practices that impact of their finance. “It has often been said that the dependent on oil revenue is inimical to the economic growth of the country. Non-oil sectors of the economy should be harnessed.” Adeniran said.

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Law & Justice nationalmirrorlaw@yahoo.com

Every citizen in this country has a right to go to court and present his case and it must be left to the court to decide he is a mere busy-body or not.

—Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, retired Justice of the Supreme Court xx

Conflicting laws often impede speedy prosecution of cases —Daramola42

Yusuf Ali, Sowemimo, others task AGF on justice reforms AGF Malami

Ogoni 8: How Saro-Wiwa, others were convicted 45

Cat breeder, 75, convicted for cruelty to animals 46

Former AGF, Mohammed Adoke

The office of Attorney-General of the Federation is a key office in the cabinet of every government all over the world and this is not an exception in the country. WALE IGBINTADE speaks with lawyers on their expectations from the new Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN).

he power of the Attorney-General cannot be over-emphasised. The locus classicus of the nature and the scope of the powers of the Attorney-General under the constitution is well stated in the celebrated case of The State V. Ilori where the Supreme Court held that ‘’the AttorneyGeneral in the exercise of his powers is subject only to the ultimate control of public opinion and that of the legislature, he is a master unto himself, law unto himself, and under no control whatsoever, judicial or otherwise in relation to his powers of instituting or discontinuing criminal proceedings by entering a nolle prosequi whether such criminal proceedings are by the State or any other person or authority’’. The constitutional provision for the establishment of

The Attorney-General has to converse a very strong observance of the rule of law. He should be a court-going Attorney-General. When we have very serious and knotty constitutional questions, the Attorney-General should be available as leader of the Bar. the office of the AGF is stated in Section 150 of the 1999 Constitution which provides that “There shall be an Attorney-General of the Federation who shall be the Chief Law Officer of the Federation and a Minister of the Government of the Federation”. However section 174 of the Constitution sets out in details the powers of the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation. The Attorney-General of the Federation shall have power:(a) To institute and undertake

criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nigeria, other than a court-martial, in respect of any offence created by or under any Act of the National Assembly; (b) To take over and continue any such criminal proceedings that may have been instituted by any other authority or person; and (c) To discontinue at any stage before judgment is delivered any such criminal proceedings instituted or undertaken

by him or any other authority or person. Most senior lawyers urged the new AGF to focus on justice administration and be active in court. In his view, Mallam Yusuf Ali SAN stressed the need for the AGF to be above board saying ‘’the Attorney-General has to converse a very strong observance of the rule of law. He should be a court going Attorney-General. When we CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

Law & Justice

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Conflicting laws often impede speedy Olu Daramola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is deputy head of chambers of the Afe Babalola & Co (SAN). In this interview with WALE IGBINTADE, the versatile attorney with about 22 years post-call experience speaks on the Administration of Criminal Justice (ACJ) Law, mis-application of Rules in pre-trail conference and the Supreme Court pronouncement in the case of the Senate President, Olusola Saraki, among others. Excerpts: How do you see the decision of the Supreme Court that halted Sarakiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s case before the Code of Conduct of Tribunal (CCT) despite the existence of Administration of Criminal Justice Law that abolished stay of proceedings in any criminal case instituted in a federal court in the country? I was surprised by the decision of the Apex Court. The proceedings before the Code of Conduct Tribunal are governed by the Administration of Justice Act 2015. As you rightly noted, that law expressly abolished stay of proceedings in criminal cases. Since the duty of a court is to interpret and not to invent law, the Supreme Court should have dismissed the application for stay. Unless the provision of the law, which abolishes stay of proceedings is upheld it may be difficult in this country to prosecute criminal cases because all you need to do as a defence counsel is to challenge the charge and then file an appeal and an application for stay of proceedings if the challenge fails. Given the perennial delay in the administration of justice in this country, it may take up to 10 years before the challenge travels up to the Supreme Court. By the time the challenge is resolved in favour of the state, witnesses may no longer be available and as such the accused may escape justice. I hope the Supreme Court will seize the opportunity of the substantive matter to make a clear pronouncement on the issue. The provision in the Administration of Justice Act abolishing stay of proceedings was deliberately inserted by the legislature to address the problem of using application for stay to frustrate criminal trials. The Supreme Court is bound to uphold the law. What agenda will you set for the new AGF especially as it affects the administration of justice system in the country? The greatest problem facing the administration of justice in the country is the undue delay in the determination of cases in the various courts. It is not unusual for a case to take up to five years to be determined at the High Court. In some instances, it took up to 20 years for a case to be finally laid to rest at the Supreme Court. The AG must address this problem by initiating legislations that will ensure speedy and efficient dispensation of justice. He can look up to some countries like Singapore, Malaysia and United Kingdom where the problem of delay has been effectively dealt with. A situation where a civil or criminal case takes up to five years to be decided by the High Court is not good for the

Daramola

The AGF must address the problem of undue delay in administration of justice by initiating legislations that will ensure speedy and efficient dispensation of justice.

He can look up to some

countries where the problem of delay has been effectively dealt with.

country. It will scare away genuine foreign investors from coming to the country to do business. Therefore, this problem must be squarely addressed. He must also ensure that the Federal Government obeys court orders. Government must lay good example in this regard because a government that fails to obey court orders made against it lacks the moral right to enforce law and court judgements on its citizens. He must ensure that government briefs are properly handled. To achieve this, he needs to strengthen the prosecutorial capacity of the DPPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office. The Civil Litigation department must also be staffed by competent lawyers. He must address the ugly situation where government briefs are farmed out to external lawyers. This constitutes a serious drain on government lean resources because they have to pay the lawyers. In the past, the ministry of justice and not external solicitors handled most if not all government briefs. It is cheaper for the government to recruit good lawyers into the

Ministry of Justice who can handle all its briefs. Do you support the suggestion that the office of Attorney-General should be separated from that of Minister for Justice? To me separating the two offices is not really the main issue. After all when you separate them you will still assign human beings to the offices. If you like, fragment the office into 10 and put 10 persons, if they are not doing the right thing, it will still not work. In this country, we always like to experiment with all kinds of things. If there are problems associated with that office, what they should do is to address the problem. For instance, look at the war against corruption, as we speak there are so many laws dealing with corruption to the extent that we have some laws conflicting with other laws and this is impeding smooth prosecution of cases. For instance, if you look at the Criminal Code all issues that relate to corruption are there.

So, making new laws at times is not what is needed but enforcing the existing laws to serve the people. For me, it is a distraction to separate the office of the AGF from that of the Minister for justice. Most of the people are not coming from the moon and those that have the power to appoint them are the politicians. And the resultant effect of this is that government will now be paying two persons doing the job of one person and in term of service delivery, nothing would have really changed. Election Petition Tribunal nullified the election of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on the grounds of widespread violence that took place during the election. Are you comfortable that no person has been charged to court with electoral violence? I am deeply concerned that none of the perpetrators of the violence has been brought to book. This is clear indication that the law enforcement agents are not doing their work properly. The election of Rivers State was nullified not on the ground of widespread violence alone but also for irregularities. It is rather unfortunate that elections which should be seen as festivals of democracy always turn out to be marked by violence and killings. This is scaring good people away from politics. The security officers deployed to maintain peace and order during the election ought to be held accountable for the violence because they ought to have foreseen and made adequate preparation to forestall it. Violence is a criminal offence and as such the perpetrators ought to

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Law & Justice

Monday, November 23, 2015

prosecution of cases â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Daramola

have been arrested and prosecuted. There is no way a free and fair election can be conducted in an atmosphere of violence.

Is it constitutional for the President to assign more than a ministry to a Minister? There is nothing unlawful in the President assigning more than a ministry to a minister. There is no law that says that a Minister cannot hold more than one portfolio in the Federal Executive Council. The President has the prerogative to determine the number of ministries. The constitution only requires him to appoint ministers from all the states of the federation but he has the prerogative to determine the sharing of the portfolios. Some have suggested that Federal Character should be expunged from the constitution. Do you agree? I do not agree that the Federal Character should be expunged, as Nigeria is not ripe for that. Even in America, there is what is called Affirmative Action through which the government ensures that all the races are represented in public schools and appointments. A multi-ethnic society like Nigeria cannot do away with federal character. Even with federal character, people are talking about marginalisation. Removal of federal character from the constitution at this time will create further problems for the country. There is a general disrespect in the international community, especially the United Kingdom for our maritime administration. Why is this so? England is the hub of international commercial litigation and arbitration. The reason is simple. Many people around the world go to London to settle their commercial disputes because England has facilities for quick and efficient resolution of disputes. In Nigeria, we have good Judges but the reason why many will not come to Nigeria to resolve their disputes is because of inordinate delay in the dispensation of justice. No commercial man would like to spend 10 years pursuing a case that should not take more than six months. You may then ask, why canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t such people do arbitration in Nigeria? The reason again is that arbitration being a private dispute resolution mechanism needs the support of the court in many areas like appointment of arbitrators, where the parties

are not cooperating in making the appointment, challenge of arbitrators, summoning witnesses who may not want to appear etc. I was involved in an arbitration that lasted over 10 years. After the first sitting, the respondent challenged the composition of the arbitral panel even though it appointed one of the three arbitrators. The challenge was refused and he proceeded to court and sought an order of court for stay of proceedings. The sitting of the arbitrators had to be postponed to await the decision of court in the matter. It took four years for the matter to be disposed. The arbitration resumed immediately and again he filed another suit which took five years in court. The arbitration again was suspended for the five years. We eventually concluded the arbitration in 2010 and an award was rendered. The respondent again filed a suit to challenge the award and it was only after the suit was dismissed that they entered into negotiation with us. We then filed the terms of settlement in court and adopted it as the judgment of the court. As I am talking to you, my clients are yet to reap the benefit of the judgment as the respondent for no just cause has refused to pay. We are again in court seeking to enforce the consent judgment. You will agree with me that no commercial person, if he has other options will want to take his matter into a jurisdiction where it will take eternity to resolve. The challenge before us in Nigeria is to remove the causes of delay in the administration of justice. As a senior member of the Bar, how would you assess the standard of the legal profession in Nigeria? The standard of legal practice in Nigeria is very good and indeed comparable with what obtains in the Western World. The only thing that is just evolving is partnership. In Nigeria, the prevalence of one -man firm is the only draw-back in the profession. The reason is that many seniors in the profession do not want to share their income with their juniors and many juniors do not want to be under any person. In this era of globalisation, Nigerians need to tap the benefits of partnership where you have lawyers specialising in different areas of law within the same firm. Despite the fast track procedure introduced to speed-up hearing of cases

Daramola

Most of the cases of corruption preferred against governors who served between

1999 and 2007 are still in court. In many, trials have not even commenced. in Lagos courts, cases are still being delayed. What do you think is responsible for this? What is responsible for delay in Lagos is the misapplication of the Rules with respect to pre-trial conference. It is rather unfortunate that some Judges insist that all cases must go through the pre-trial conference procedure including matters commenced by originating summons or under summary judgment procedure. The Rule as to pre-trial conference should only apply to cases commenced by writ of summons and which require trial. Apart from this, the other cause of delay is frivolous applications usually filed by lawyers who know that their clients are not likely to win on the merit. Once the application is refused, he proceeds to appeal and then file a motion for stay of proceedings. There is a need for all the stakeholders; that is the judges, lawyers, and litigants to recognise that justice delayed is justice denied. Courts should sit on time and should refuse frivolous applications for adjournment. The government must create enabling environment for the judges to work. By this, I am referring to regular supply of electricity to the court rooms, provision of air conditioners in the court rooms, recording facilities and judicial assistants should be appointed to assist judges in conducting research. I believe one of the reasons why Nigeria is not attractive to foreign investors is that they lack faith in our judicial system due to delay. No foreign investor would want to invest his money in a country where it will take up to 15 years to resolve a commercial dispute in court. In Singapore, it takes just about six months to conclude the hearing and determination of a case in the high court. The appeal

will also not last for more than six months. If the case turns out to be frivolous, heavy cost is usually awarded. But in Nigeria, a person who owes billions will rush to court knowing that if he eventually loses the case, he will pay little or no cost. One of the reasons why corruption is very rampart in the country is the delay in adjudication of cases. Most of the cases of corruption preferred against governors who served between 1999 and 2007 are still in court. In many, trials have not even commenced. What role should lawyers play in creating a better Nigeria or more specifically, a corruption- free Nigeria? Honestly, there is very little lawyers can do to stem the tide of corruption in Nigeria. Mind you, a lawyer is a professional plying his trade to make a living. Corruption affects all strata of the society and there is very little lawyers alone can do to stem the tide. You need political will to fight corruption. I doubt if you can point to any country in the world where lawyers alone stopped corruption. What lawyers can do is to aid the government in the fight by supporting measures put in place to attack the menace. I am aware that many lawyers have been involved in campaigns against corruption but unless the government takes the battle seriously, nothing can be achieved. Imagine a school where the principal and most of the senior teachers are very corrupt, one teacher shouting against corruption in that school cannot achieve anything. He may even be framed up and victimized. If you have a government that has zero tolerance for corruption, everybody would sit up and toe the line including public servants, lawyers, doctors, engineers and so on.

Law & Justice

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘AGF should review archaic laws, prison system’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41 have very serious and knotty constitutional questions, the Attorney-General should be available as the leader of the Bar. Also, he has to lead the Bar by example, his own personal probity, his integrity, his honesty and his transparency must be above because he is the leader of the Bar in Nigeria. He must also look in the area of legal reforms and must also ensure that our judiciary has all that it takes to function as 21st century judiciary in terms of manpower and other things that will make the judiciary to be 21st century compliance. Mr. Seyi Sowemimo SAN said ‘’Today, we have the right leadership in place and the President himself has set agenda for the Attorney-General. The key trust of his administration is the fight against corruption. This means that the law enforcement agencies have to be up-and-doing and the person who will spear-head all these things is the Attorney-General of the Federation. So he has his agenda already cut for him in terms of the anticorruption crusade. The Attorney-General should not just sit in the office, he should be the one in court sending the right signal out and showing the seriousness. It is unfortunate that after Bayo Ojo, we have not had right set of people in office and I think that is a pity. I am hopping we will have a change’’ However, Chief Ganiyu Adetola- Kaseem SAN said he would like the AGF to do more in the area of prosecution of offenders particularly corruption cases. He said ‘’I do hope all those accused of corruption will be prosecuted. There are lots of obsolete law that ought to be amended. I hope he would be able to go through all these and propose executive bills to the legislatures so that they can update our laws. A lot of our provisions are archaic, so it requires a lot of work

Yusuf Ali

Sowemimo

Abayomi

The courts today don’t command the confidence of the people of Nigeria because of the level of corruption in the country on the part of the Attorney -General Chambers. Dr. Tunji Abayomi said ‘’ There are quite a number of parastatals under the office of the Attorney-General that need attention. For example, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy, the Attorney-General is the chairman and quite a number of our citizens are just languishing in prisons on this so called drug enforcement regime. Today, mere smoking of marijuana has landed thousands in jail. There is a need for urgent review of inmates in our prisons. The courts today don’t command the confidence of the people of Nigeria because of the level of corruption.

Bar

Jokes

Robbed Lawyers Two lawyers are in a bank, when, suddenly, armed robbers burst in. While several of the robbers take the money from the tellers, others line the customers, including the lawyers, up against a wall, and proceed to take their wallets, watches, etc. While this is going on lawyer number one jams something in lawyer number two’s hand. Without looking down, lawyer number two whispers, “What is this?” to which lawyer number one replies, “It’s that $50 I owe you.”

Pickpocket in court

A pick pocket was up in court for a series of petty crimes. The judge said “Mr. Banks you are hereby fined $100.” The lawyer stood up and said “Thanks, my lord, however my client only has $75 on him at this time, but if you’d allow him a few minutes in the crowd. . .”

Lawyer’s funeral

A man is at his lawyer’s funeral and is surprised by the turnout for this one man. He turns to the people around him. “Why are you all at this man’s funeral?”

For example, it is almost impossible in our time now for courts to take decision against government. Even the federal courts without influence from the federal system are afraid or intimidated. It is just self- imposed fear to do what is just and right, especially at the lower courts. There is also tremendous level of corruption in the courts, it is embarrassing. Only recently, I was with Professor Nwabueze and he was talking on what courts used to be and what it is now. There is a need to find a way for law reform, the reform of administration of justice needs urgent attention within the federal system. There is a need to explore more avenues for the use of law and at the same

A man turns towards him and says, “We’re all clients.” “And you ALL came to pay your respects? How touching.” “No, we came to make sure he was dead.”

Cigars for the Judge

A defendant in a lawsuit involving large sums of money was talking to his lawyer. “If I lose this case, I’ll be ruined.” “It’s in the judge’s hands now,” said the lawyer. “Would it help if I sent the judge a box of cigars?” “Oh no! This judge is a stickler or ethical behavior. A stunt like that would prejudice him against you. He might even hold you in contempt of court. In fact, you shouldn’t even smile at the judge.” Within the course of time, the judge rendered a decision in favor of the defendant. As the defendant left the courthouse, he said to his lawyer, “Thanks for the tip about the cigars. It worked!” “I’m sure we would have lost the case if you’d sent them.” “But, I did send them.” “What? You did?” said the lawyer, incredulously. “Yes. That’s how we won the case.” “I don’t understand,” said the lawyer. “It’s easy. I sent the cigars to the judge, but enclosed the plaintiff’s business card.” Justice Triumphs A lawyer had a jury trial in a very difficult business case. The client, who had attended the trial. Culled from lots of jokes.com and lawyers jokes.com

time to gag the ethics of the legal profession. As it is now, we have more lawyers but we also have more disorder. When you have a situation where telephones are stolen in Bar conferences, then you know there is a problem. The AGF needs to take some time to reorganise the ministry of justice and make it more professional. Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey stated that ‘’The Attorney General of the Federation has a lot of works to do particularly due to inactivity of his predecessor. Although you have to concede that they did get the Criminal Justice bill. I was part of it as a member of the working group on criminal justice reform by the federal government way back then. Lagos state has adopted that bill, way back 2007. , the former President signed it into law just before he left office. But, it is one thing to sign a bill into law; it is another thing to administer it. The Federal Government must stop over reliance on states to fills its gap. I hope with this change, everybody will do their beat. ‘’

LEGAL TIPS Basic issues in Administration of Estate

testator is a deceased person who left a will in favour of dependants and beneficiaries. When a person dies without leaving a will, he/she is said to die interstate. The probate of a will is granted to the executor(s) named in the will of a testator or to an administrator in the absence of will. A letter of administration is granted to a personal representative to manage the assets of a deceased interstate. The application for the grant or revocation of probate and letters of administration is made to the probate Registry of the High court having jurisdiction over the deceased’s

Bar

estate. Once probate has been granted to an executor, the law provides for the continuity of executorship and the administration of the estate of the deceased. Until the letters of administration are granted, the estate of the deceased interstate vests in the Chief Judge of a State in accordance with administration of estate law of the state. An infant cannot be an executor until he attains age of majority (21) and where an infant is a sole executor, the court can grant letters of administration with the will annexed to his guardian or such person as the court thinks fit. Written by Francis Famoroti, Head, Judiciary. We welcome feedback and reactions from readers via our e-mail: nationalmirrorlaw@yahoo.com

Jokes

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Law & Justice

Monday, November 23, 2015

Ogoni 8: How Saro-Wiwa, others were convicted FAMOUS CASES

en Saro-Wiwa was an environmental rights activist and a founding member and spokesman of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) in Rivers State. He later became the President of MOSOP. Unfortunately , the foundation MOSOP lay towards the actualization of a unified perception when Ogoni people compiled ‘’the Ogoni Bill of Rights’’ in November 1990, crumbled in 1994 and turned into one of the most unpleasant days in the history of the ethnic nationality. During the peak of the Ogoni crisis, four prominent sons of Ogoniland were brutally killed on Saturday, May 21, 1994 by some youths. The deceased, namely, the former Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Mr. Albert Badey, former Commissioners in the state, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage and Secretary, Gokana Council of Chiefs, Mr. Theophilus Orage, were men who had had differences with the Saro-Wiwa-led MOSOP. Shortly after the news of their death was announced, the Rivers State Government promptly arrested Saro-Wiwa and several other MOSOP leaders. Sequel to this, SaroWiwa, his deputy, Ledum Mittee, Dr. Barinien Nubair Kiobel, John Kpunien and Baribour Berra, were on February 6, 1995 arraigned as the first batch of accused persons in the gruesome murder. They were charged with four counts of conspiracy and murder before a special military tribunal, headed by Justice Ibrahim Auta, in Port Harcourt. Auta, is now the Chief Judge, Federal High Court, Lagos. A team of lawyers, led by Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Messrs. Olisa Agbakoba and Femi Falana, all notable human rights attorneys, appeared for the accused men. Curiously, the first accused person, Berra, was listed as a prosecution witness. On the objection of the defence team, the prosecution counsel explained this away as a mistake. On March 30, 1995, 10 more suspects were brought before the tribunal on a similar charge of murder. They were; Paul Levura, Joseph Kpante, Michael Vizor, Daniel Gbokoo, Albert Kagbara, Afa Kagabra, Saturday Dobee, Monday Donwin, Felix Nwate and Nordu Eawo. During the arraignment, Chief Philip Umeadi (SAN) led prosecuting team assisted by Mr. Joseph Daudu (former past NBA President) while Fawehinmi did not relent in his defence of the minority rights activists. On same March 30, Fawehinmi made two applications. One of the applications was that he should be given two weeks to consult with his clients and get full briefing. This was on the ground that since Saro-Wiwa, Mittee and others were arrested, neither he nor the other defence counsel had been allowed access to them. They had been detained at the Bori military camp in Rivers State. The lead defence counsel later argued

The late minority rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was in the vanguard of the campaign against environmental degradation in the Niger Delta. At the peak of his campaign, Saro-Wiwa and some of his Ogoni kinsmen were arrested, tried by a military tribunal, and hanged 20 years ago. FRANCIS FAMOROTI, Head, Judiciary recalls the proceedings.

The late Saro-Wiwa

The sentence of this tribunal is that you be hanged on the neck until you

be dead, and may the

Lord have mercy on your soul.

a bail application, which was refused on March 13, 1995 by the tribunal. The tribunal also turned down the plea to transfer SaroWiwa and others from the military detention camp to the prison custody. In his ruling, the tribunal chairman said there was no guarantee that the accused persons would not jump bail and the members of MOSOP might even storm the prison where they could be held and liberate their leaders. Fawehinmi had earlier instituted an action at the Federal High Court in which he sought to restrain the tribunal from going ahead with the trial and entire proceedings. Characteristically, the court declined the application on grounds of ouster provision. At the tribunal sitting, the defence team encountered hostility outside the venue of the tribunal from security men. A chain of events also unfolded relating to the issue of tendering of tape of a press conference addressed by Major Paul Okuntimo (later Col) on May 22, 1994, a day after the May 21 incident. Claiming that there was a brick wall in a bid to professionally represent the accused persons as planned, the defence team withdrew from the matter. The defence team said given the entire circumstances of the trial, the intimidation, harassment and frustrations they had suffered, all in a bid to carry out their professional services, they were convinced that the government had made up its mind to convict

Justice Auta the accused persons. Thus, they did not see any further usefulness to their carrying on with the charade. To the lawyers, it was the fear of conferring legitimacy on an impending murder that made them to withdraw. This evoked memories of the Zango- Kataf civil disturbances tribunal of 1992, then headed by retired Justice Benedict Okadigbo. In that case, Chief G.O.K Ajayi (SAN) was similarly forced to withdraw his representation for Major. Gen. Zamani Lekwot and six of his kinsmen charged with murder during a communal riot. Hardly had Fawehinmi withdrawn when the Auta- tribunal assigned new counsel to Saro-Wiwa and the other accused persons. But the MOSOP leaders refused to co-operate with the lawyers because they were not counsel of their choice. Thus, on August 1, 1995, the tribunal was forced to adjourn sitting as one of the lawyers, Mr. Taremowei Koroye, from the Legal Aid Council, assigned to represent Saro-Wiwa, withdrew on the ground that the accused person had refused to cooperate with him. Another lawyer from the Legal Aid Council also had a similar experience and also complained of lack of access to the accused persons. While ruling on August 7, 1995 on a no-case submission of Saro-Wiwa’s assigned counsel, Justice Auta had said : ‘there is evidence of the leadership of MOSOP who by meetings, rallies, provocative and instigating pronouncements lit the fuse that produced the consuming events of May 21, 1994 at Gbenemene’s palace, Giokoo.’’ The no-case submission of other accused persons was also struck out. One month later, precisely on September 18, 1995, Saro-Wiwa began a hunger strike to protest his continued incarceration in a military camp and certain pronouncements that seemed to find him guilty even before his trial was concluded. On October 3, 1995, the trial of 15 of the accused persons was concluded and on October

30, 1995, the Auta-tribunal gave judgement in respect of the second batch of 10 accused persons. Five of them were convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. They were, Saturday Dobee, Felix Nwate, Nordu Eawo, Paul Levura and Daniel Gbokoo. Monday Donwin had been discharged earlier upon the ‘’nocase submission of his assigned counsel. The remaining four were discharged. The next day, October 31, 1995, the tribunal gave its judgement in the case of the first five. In this category were Saro-Wiwa, Barinien Kiobel, John Kpunien and Baribour Berra. They were convicted as charged and sentenced to death by hanging. Strangely, Mittee, the then MOSOP VicePresident , was discharged and acquitted on the ground that he was not present at the meeting where some 14 persons branded as ‘’vultures ‘’ were marked for death. Reviewing the evidence against SaroWiwa, the tribunal chairman said several witnesses had testified that Saro-Wiwa allegedly formed a number of parallel organisations including the National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP), which turned out to be a militant wing of MOSOP. These groups, Auta said, owed single-minded allegiance to Saro-Wiwa whose directives must be implemented. Justice Auta said Garrick Leton, former MOSOP President, described Saro- Wiwa as a very ‘’insistent person’’ whose will had to be done. This view was also shared by the second prosecution witness, Mrs. Priscilla Vikue, whose house was allegedly destroyed by some youths believed to have been led by Dr. Owens Wiwa, Ken Saro-Wiwa’s younger brother. Besides, Justice Auta said Saro-Wiwa failed to deny the statement that he ordered NYCOP members to kill the ‘’vultures ‘’, and that by not entering into his defence, he failed to provide any evidence that could be weighed in his favour.

Law & Justice

Monday, November 23, 2015

Court sentences eight cops for murder

South African court has sentenced eight former police officers to 15 years each for the 2013 torture and murder of a taxi driver from Mozambique. The deceased was handcuffed to the back of a police van, dragged about a third of a mile and then placed in a police holding cell, where he was beaten. BBC report say the case drew worldwide attention after a bystander’s video of the arrest and dragging was widely shared on social media. It highlighted the xenophobic violence that many migrant workers face in South Africa, which is struggling with high rates of violent crime and a troubled legacy of police brutality two decades after the end

SOUTH AFRICA

South African President, Jacob Zuma of apartheid. Protesters gathered outside the Daveyton Police Station, where a man who was dragged died of his injuries. The eight men were convicted on murder charges in August after the judge, Bert Bam, ruled that the victim, Mido Macia, 27, had died after sustaining blunt force injuries from both the dragging and a further assault

Aham Njoku

lmost a year ago, while appraising the efforts of the DirectorGeneral Nigerian Law School, Dr. Olanrewaju Onadeko in the face of the challenges facing the over 52 years old school, I concluded thus: “We must commend Mr. Onadeko and all the Law School Staff, both academic and nonacademic for refusing to compromise on standards despite huge pressure from some parents. Law is a serious course that requires the student to put his best foot forward”. The title of my article then was “Much Ado About Law School examination failure.” In similar vein, Chairman of the Council of Legal Education, owners of the school, Chief O.C.J Okocha was quoted by major newspapers during the same period that “The reforms are ongoing, and the Council is determined to ensure that the said reforms are translated into the delivery of a higher quality of legal education throughout Nigeria”. Flowing from this, a cursory look at the school’s results for this year (2015) will reveal that the managers of the school led by Onadeko are on upward swing. Presenting the new wigs, the Body of Benchers under the Chairmanship of Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed ,for admission into the Bar, Onadeko remarked that, “ The May 2015 Bar Final examinations was undertaken by 2,851 students of the April entry class of the 2014/2015 School Year earlier referred to. They are generally dubbed the ‘backlog class’, but their performance has obliterated the backlog tag, They achieved 68.5% outright pass, and 2.9% conditional pass. The two together give a success figure of 71.4%. Of their numbers, four candidates attained the first class grade, 109 obtained the second class upper grade, 418 were clas-

in the holding cell. At the sentencing hearing, at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, the judge called the murder “barbaric and totally inexplicable,” adding, “What made their conduct more reprehensible was their cowardly attack in the cell on a defenseless and already seriously injured man.” Justice Bam sentenced each of the former officers to 15 years in prison. He said he decided against the maximum penalty, 25 years, because the killing was not premeditated and because the men did not have records of misconduct. The men were dismissed from the police force in a hearing last year. “We are happy with the sentence,” the prosecutor, Charles Mnisi, said in a telephone interview. “We can only hope that it sends a message to all other police officers in South Africa, and helps to revive the respect our society used to have for the police.” Benedict Ndaba, a lawyer for the former officers, told reporters that he planned to file an appeal.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Cat breeder, 75, convicted for cruelty to animals A AUSTRALIA

75year-old backyard cat breeder has been found guilty of cruelty offences after authorities seized more than 100 animals from her Adelaide home. RSPCA officers inspecting the home of Glynne Sutcliffe also found dead kittens in bins and in the freezer. According to BBC, Sutcliffe was fined $7,000 and ordered to pay more than $16,000 in legal costs, vet bills and boarding fees to the RSPCA. An Adelaide magistrate also ordered her to surrender her remaining cats to the RSPCA, and banned her from having animals in her care. More than 100 cats were seized from Sutcliffe’s Chandlers Hill property in 2011. She has vigorously de-

Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott fended the charges and it has taken four years to finalise the case. The septuagenarian was found guilty of several charges of mistreating the animals. RSPCA hopes sentence will serve as deterrent two others. Outside court she told the

media she was lodging an appeal against her conviction, and that she believed the case should never have been prosecuted. In a statement, RSPCA South Australia said the charges related to two occasions staff visited Sutcliffe’s property. On the first visit, officers seized 62 cats including 20 cats that were living in a bathroom. During the second visit, six weeks later, the RSPCA found 40 cats and kittens, the bodies of another 20 deceased kittens in bins and three dead kittens in a freezer. “RSPCA South Australia is satisfied with this sentence and hopes that it will act as a deterrent to other members of the community who may be breeding large numbers of companion animals,” the statement said.

Nigerian Law School: Attaining steady growth in academic excellence

Onadeko sified in the second lower division and 1, 422 attained the pass grade. In sum, the total number of passes was 1, 953, while 815 failed outright”. Writing about sterling performance of the students during this dispensation, the Daily Trust Judicial Editor, Bamigboye Adelanwa captured “upward swing” in the school. Writing under the headline, ‘Fatima makes history at Law School’, he wrote : “ A genius , Fatimah Bombom made history on Wednesday, 21 October 2015 when she was honoured with standing ovation by the Chief Justice Mahmud Mohammed, other members of the Body of Benchers(BOB) and the Council of Legal Education(CLE) , other dignitaries and the new wigs (her colleagues just called to Bar). Fatimah broke the existing record in the Nigerian Law School by bagging nine separate awards compared to existing record of

seven awards ever received at the Call to Bar of Nigerian Law School”. Adelanwa, a legal practitioner himself added that, “The awards include the “Best Student of the Year(1st Prize) donated by Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, Dr, Taslim Elias and Justice Atanda FatayiWilliams; the “Council of Legal Education Star Award” Corporate Law Practice donated by Chief Adegboye Awomolo SAN; Best Overall Female Student of the Year award donated by National Association of Women Judges; and Best Female Student in Criminal Litigation award by Mrs. Oluwatoyin Doherty. “The rest are Best Student in Civil and Criminal Litigation award donated by Chief Joe- Kyari SAN; and the prize for 1st Class Students donated by the Director General of the Nigerian Law School. She also bagged Second Class Upper in her LL.B degree at the University of Abuja”. On the magic wand for this success, Onadeko said, “ I am glad to report that there is a rising level of focus and diligence in our students . As I noted in my speech at the Call to the Bar ceremonies of November 2014, we have made it a point of duty to encourage them to: (i) attend all lectures including interactive sessions;(ii) respond by participation in given assignments and group activities; and (iii) unhesitatatingly approach academic staff for clarification of any unclear issues that may arise in their course of duty. Experience has shown that the best way to comprehend a subject is to have it expounded by way of instruction, through a person with proven knowledge in the field. The Council of

Legal Education’s prescription is that study at the Nigerian Law School must only be undertaken on full time basis. This position is almost as old as the institution itself.” DG also touched on the phased deployment of Information Communication Technology; issue of violation of admission quotas by some faculties of law; improved security issue and the need to reintroduce pupillage programme for new entrants to the legal profession. While admitting the new wigs into the Bar, Justice Muhammed drew their attention to many provisions in the Rule of Professional Conduct and warned them that violation of these rules “will amount to professional misconduct”. He singled out the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for commendation in these words: “ May I use this medium to applaud the Nigerian Bar Association for successfully organizing the Annual General Conference in our Nation’s capital, Abuja. I must say that the Conference was well attended and the sessions were intellectually stimulating. I further commend the Bar for being an able partner in reform as we continue to promote and ensure the advancement of the profession.” Justice Muhammed also agreed with Dr. Onadeko that the new wigs would do themselves a lot of good if they take to pupilage because “it is the opportunity that you have to groom yourselves and develop a solid foundation for your future career.” Njoku, a legal practitioner is also the Executive Director, Constitutional Watch, Lagos.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

North

Monday, November 23, 2015

Free health check for ARM pension clients

Resident Electoral Commissioner (Rec) for Kogi, Alhaji Haliru Pai and Returning Officer, Prof. Emmanuel Kucha (right), declaring inconclusive the result of Kogi Governorship Election Results in Lokoja yesterday, which saw APC poll 240,867 followed by PDP’s 199,514 votes, yesterday. PHOTO:NAN

Chamber urges incoming Kogi govt to revive ailing industries K ogi Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, has urged the incoming administration in the state to put measures in place that would facilitate the revival of ailing state-owned industries. Its Vice President (Industry), Mr. Habuh-Rajan Suleiman, made the call in an interview in Lokoja yesterday. He decried the slow pace of development in the state, adding that “time has come for harnessing of the enormous natural and human resources in the state.” Suleiman also called for the resuscitation of the state-owned Trade

Fair Complex now converted to a park for articulated vehicles. He said the resuscitation of the complex would open new vista of economic opportunities for the growth of commercial activities that could create more employment opportunities for the people. Suleiman also called on the new government to put in place modalities for the success of the recently enacted Public Private Partnership, PPP, Law in the state in order to attract foreign investors. He said the law would ensure the needed synergy between the state government and the private sector, to stimulate inves-

tors’ interest in the state’s abundant solid mineral potentials. “Kogi is blessed with 22 of the 34 solid minerals in the country, all that is needed is the right leadership to channel these resources to improve the lot of the people of this state,” he said. Suleiman said with sound industrial policy, backed with purposeful leadership, small scale and cottage industries would spring up to facilitate rapid development of the state. Suleiman described Kogi as the home of tourism in Nigeria in view of its vast and rich tourism potentials but urged that the sector must be prop-

erly harnessed to achieve the desired objective. In a separate interview, Evangelist Frank Kato, a clergy, also called on the state government to focus on the development of infrastructure. “Infrastructure must be provided for the smooth take-off of industrial development of Kogi; with that, wealth will be created, the welfare of the people particularly the civil servants, will be enhanced,” he said. According to him, the measure will boost government’s effort at reducing youth unemployment and its associated problems across the 21 local government areas of the state.

Christian pilgrimage: Nasarawa to sponsor only clergies, Christian teachers IGBAWASE UKUMBA LAFIA

asarawa State Government said only clergymen and Christian Religion Knowledge, CRK, teachers were being sponsored to perform the 2015 Christian pilgrimage in Israel. Executive Secretary of the state’s Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Mr. Clement Udeh Magaji, disclosed this during the screening exercise of intending pilgrims for this year’s pilgrimage in Lafia, the state capital. He said: “This year’s pilgrimage is with a difference. This has not happened

in Nigeria; that a state governor who is a Muslim decided to say all the allottees should be clergymen in addition to assisting Christian Religion Knowledge, CRK, teachers.” He said another difference was that it is going to be an exercise where pilgrims would be exposed to skills so that as they are coming back home, they would be coming with transferred technology, knowledge and skills. “We are going to take them to places like agricultural projects. There are virgin lands in Nigeria, and in particular Nasarawa State, but rather than going back to farm, we are

busy hunting or pursuing one contract or the other

that is not forthcoming,” he added.

Federal University Dutse matriculates 1,226 students

ederal University, Dutse, Jigawa State, yesterday matriculated 1,226 students in various departments for the 2015/2016 academic session. Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Jibrila Amin, announced this at a ceremony in Dutse. Giving a breakdown of the students’ intake, Amin said 185 students were admitted into the Faculty of Agriculture, while 472 entered for Arts and the Social Sciences.

He added that 569 students were admitted into Faculty of the Sciences, and urged the new students to take their studies seriously. According to him, access to university education is now a serious problem in the country because of the limited admission capacity of Nigerian universities. The VC also enjoined the students to shun examination malpractice, cultism and other social vices within and outside the university campuses.

ssets and Resource Management, ARM, Pensions, says it will commence free health checks on clients to help them live long enough to fully enjoy their pensions and entitlements. “Our services go beyond just handing over cheques to clients; we want them to live long enough to enjoy their lives after they have retired,” Mr Abisola Onigbogi, ARM’s Head of Business Development, said in Jos, Plateau State, yesterday He said officers had been assigned to offices to carry out the exercise, adding that pension man-

agers had also commenced sensitisation of enrollees with information on how to access their pensions on retirement. According to him, pension desk officers are also being trained on that specific task and other emerging challenges, adding that the training and sensitisation was to keep all involved in tune with pension operations so as to keep clients updated on pension reforms. Onigbogi particularly noted that it was important to eradicate financial illiteracy among clients, so as to make sure the scheme was transparent to them.

Nigeria to host 10th Africa water facility anniversary REGINA OTOKPA

ederal Government is set to host the 10th Africa Water Facility, AWF, anniversary celebration scheduled for this week in Abuja. According to a statement released over the weekend by Director of Press, Ministry of Water Resources, Mrs. Margaret Umoh, this year’s celebration anchors on “Fund Raising/Replenishment of Water Fund”, and would be declared open by Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, with a Governing Council Meeting of which Nigeria is part of. It also states that the three-day celebration would have in attendance no fewer than 294 partici-

pants comprising Governing Council members, observers, donor partners, potential partners, beneficiaries and AFDB representatives. The African Water Facility is managed by African Development Bank, AfDB, as an initiative of the African Ministers’ Council on Water, AMCOW, to assist African countries mobilise resources for water and sanitation sector in order to meet up with the MDGs/ SDGs related to water and sanitation goals; tagged Africa Water Vision 2025. It also provides political leadership, the policy direction and advocacy in the provision, use and management of water resources for sustainable social development and maintenance of the ecosystem.

Sokoto govt to absorb 50 SURE-P nurses into civil service

overnor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has instructed the state’s Primary Healthcare Development Agency to absorb 50 nurses and midwives trained by SURE-P into the state’s civil service. A statement issued by Tambuwal’s spokesman, Malam Imam Imam, said in Sokoto yesterday that the nurses and midwives formed the backbone of SURE-P’s maternal health project executed in eight local government areas of the state in the last two years.

“We intend to continue with the maternal health project in the state even though the Federal Government has decided to halt the SURE-P programme,” the statement quoted Tambuwal as saying. The governor noted that the state government also planned to employ all the midwives currently undergoing the compulsory one year internship training, noting that the last batch of trainees graduated on November 14. This, he added, was to boost the health manpower requirements in the state.

National Mirror

Monday, November 23, 2015 www.nationalmirroronline.net

Community Mirror It seems to me the time has come for us to re-examine the legal and constitutional framework for policing in Nigeria. – Speaker House of Reps, Hon. Yakubu Dogara

Police nab robbers, cultists terrorising Lagos Island Dare Akogun

peratives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested no fewer than 311 in different locations across the State. Lagos State Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni

disclosed this while parading 20 out the suspect added that two suspected armed robbers were shot dead during exchange of gun firing with the Police. Mr. Owoseni said all the arrests were made between November 12 and 18 2015. Owowseni said among the suspects were a mother

and two children who were arrested for allegedly running a robbery syndicate. He said the woman, Gladys Onu, her two sons Ikenna Onunkwo and Chinedu Onukwo were picked on a tip off. According to Owoseni, “The family syndicate specialises in robbing un-

suspecting ladies pose as workers and offer to help ladies who have closed from work, they thereafter rob them of their valuables. “Luck ran out of the two brothers after robbing a lady on 13 November 2015, on their way from Island. The victim was able to get the plate number of the ve-

hicle and reported the incident to the Bar Beach Police Division with the assistant of the federal Road Safety Commission the vehicle was traced to the mechanic workshop at Surulere area of the state,” he added. Others are a notorious cult gang that has been terrorizing the Isale- Eko area

nitaries including past International Director HOB Lawal, District Governor Patricia Udeme, Dr. Ayo Ajayi, Chief Olusola Dada, Mr. Kola Oyekanmi, Chairman of the occasion, High Chief Jonathan Ogbonna ably represented by Prince Kenneth Ogboona among others.

Keynote Speaker, Mayor Deen Sanwoola, who is the chief executive officer of Fun City, gave a very inspiring speech on the efficiency, benefits and reliability of online payment systems, even as he spoke extensively on how he grew his business. Michael’s induction as per-

formed by the District Governor Patricia Udeme, attracted cheers and applause among friends, family and well-wishers. In his acceptance speech, the new president read out his planned humanitarian activities for the year to include sinking of three bore-

holes in rural communities, adult literacy campaign, reading action programme, screening for diabetes and HIV, environmental project, eyes screening, provision of free eye glasses/cataract surgery, feeding the hunger amongst others. He also disclosed that he planned to have one humanitarian activity per month, stressing that some of the projects are on-going, even as he has already done an immunization project, free eye and screening.

Ikorodu Diamond Lions Club instals president Leonard Okachie

korodu Diamond Lions Club has installed Mr. Adewale Michael as its 11th president for the 2015/2016 Lions Year. The ceremony which held recently at Oriwu Club, Ikorodu, was graced by digCHANGE OF NAME ADEMOLA: Formerly known and addressed as MARK ISRAEL now wish to be known and addressed as MARK ADEMOLA ISRAEL. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as David Igiase Oghenakhoghe now wish to be known and addressed as John Anthony Nuwasu. All former documents remain valid. Zenith, Access bank and General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME SAMUEL: Formerly known and addressed as BIDEMI ABDUL SAMUEL now wish to be known and addressed as BIDEMI JOHNBULL ERHABOR. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly Known and addressed as Miss Ojo Aina Gbemisola now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adelakun Aina Gbemisola. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME OKOJIE: Formerly known and addressed as MISS OKOJIE ESTHER ENIMELEN now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OKOJIE ESTHER RESPECT. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Ejoga Onah Peter now wish to be known and addressed as Ejoga Okpaniyi peter. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Uzoma Christiana Chinyere now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Onuoha Christiana Chinenye. All former documents remain valid general public take note

Formerly known and addressed as Jane Ugo Cheche Okite now wish to be known and addressed as Jane Cheche Okite. All former documents remain valid general public take note

Formerly known and addressed as Olubunmi Esther Aina now wish to be known and addressed as Olubunmi Iyabo Seidun all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Nwofor Onyeka David now wish to be known and addressed as Ezeukwu Onyeka David all former documents remain valid and general public take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Otemuyiwa Dorcas Olubukola now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Awoniran Dorcas Olubukola all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Mrs Ogunsina Elizabeth Adenike now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Oluwasina Elizabeth Adenike all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Mrs Bashorun Risikat Olusola now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Luba Risikat Olusola all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly Omolade Omolola Mariam now Omolade Omolola Olufunke all former documents remain valid General public note

TOSANWUMI: I, formerly known and addressed as TOSANWUMI BETTY AJALA, is also the one known and addressed as TOSANWUMI BETTY OGBE . All former documents remain valid; GT Bank, general public to take note

I formerly know and addressed as Miss Famuyibo Taiwo now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adefuye Taiwo Yetunde. All Former documents remain valid,Ekiti state Ministry Of Health Ado -Ekiti and general public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as OJUAWO MAYOWA MONSURAT, now wish to be known and addressed as ENILOLOBO MAYOWA MONSURAT. All Former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Asoro Modupe Aderemi now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Folorunsho Modupe Aderemi all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as MISS MODUPEOLA OLUWATOYIN ABEBI, is also the one known and addressed as MISS ADEOGUN MODUPEOLA OLUWATOYIN. All former documents remain valid; GT Bank, general public to take note

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly and called SULEIMAN ABDULLAHI henceforth wish to be known and addressed as BABA NDANUSA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as OJUAWO MAYOWA MONSURAT, now wish to be known and addressed as ENILOLOBO MAYOWA MONSURAT. All Former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY MISS ezekiel christiana Temitope NOW MRS Aremu christiana Temitope.nysc FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID ,GENERAL PUBLIC NOTE. CHANGE OF NAME ADIBA: Formerly known and addressed as ADIBA PETER ATAKPA now wish to be known, called and addressed as DURBA PETER ATAKPA. All documents, records and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. Guaranty Trust Bank and General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Bakare Oluwatoyin Azeezat now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Makinde Oluwatoyin Azeezat.All former documents remain valid.General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as miss Olatayo Felicia Omowunmi now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Alobaloye Felicia Omowunmi all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as miss Abosede Onayemi now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Musilimot Lawal all former documents remain valid First bank Plc and general public take note

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as MISS AKINSOLA IBUKUN OLUWASEUN, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS BANKOLE IBUKUN OLUWASEUN. All former documents remain valid, general public to take note CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to confirm that I, OKORO CHIOMA GOODNESS is the same person as OKORO CHIOMA GEORGINA, henceforth wish to be addressed as OKORO CHIOMA GEORGINA. All former documents remain valid. First Bank, UBA and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I Formerly Miss Adebisi Taiwo Adewumi now wish to be addressed as Mrs Adewoleoye Taiwo Adewumi. All former documents remain valid. General public to please note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Idowu Abioye Bilikisu now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adejobi Abioye Bilikisu. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as OLOWOFOYEKU JOHN now wish to be known and addressed as DANIEL JOHN BUNO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

Okoro Nnamdi Samuel is one and same person as Joseph Virgo now wish to be known and addressed as Joseph Virgo all former documents remain valid and general public take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Mrs Olugbile Omolara Ajimoh now wish to be known and addressed as miss Odutemowo Omolara Ajimoh all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME EMMANUEL: I formerly known and address as EMMANUEL IZUCHUKWU UZOLISA, now wish to be known and address as JAMES IZUCHUKWU UZOLISA. All former documents remain valid. General Public to take note.

of Lagos Island who killed a man Akeem Ajanaku and attacked one Mrs. Ola Williams popularly known as Iron Lady for allegedly supplying information that led to the arrest of their members. It was learnt that ‘Iron lady’ a LAWMA contractor was attacked at her office located in Dosunmu market Lagos Island, but escaped, they vented their anger on her vehicle, a Peugeot 307 saloon car shattering the windows in the process, the attack was allegedly led by one Paulo who is still at large. “Five suspected cultist connected to the weekend attack have been arrested will be charged to court along with others after completion of investigation and efforts are on getting the other members of the gang disrupting public peace in the area. CHANGE OF NAME AREO: Formerly known and addressed as MISS ALICE MOSES AREO now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ALICE EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Mrs Ayorinde Bolanle now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adebayo Bolanle Esther (Nee Aina). All former documents remain valid. Fcmb, Wema bank and General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as PROMISE NWAKANNE IRONDI now wish to be known as NNENNA KINGSLEY ORIAKU . All former documents remain valid general public take note CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Thomas Joseph Agene now wish to be known and addressed as Okpe Joseph Agene all former documents remain valid and general public take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Alfred Abiodun John now wish to be known and addressed as Omoniyi Abiodun John all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known has Mrs Qadir Folake Oladokun now wish to be known as Mrs AbdulQadir Shakirat Folake.

National Mirror Monday, November 23, 2015 www.nationalmirroronline.net CHANGE OF NAME CHANGE OF NAME CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to certified that Arowose Bosede Omolola is the same one person as Adekunle Bosede Omolola, that henceforth wish to be called and known as Adekunle Bosede Omolola. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as Miss Jeremiah Susan, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Mgbeahuruke Susan Nonye. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly miss Olorunkosebi Bunmi Alice now wish to be known and called MRS OLANIRAN BUNMI ALICE. All former documents remain valid. SUBEB and general public should please note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Nwajiobi UcheChukwu Faith, now wish to be known and addressed as Nwajiobi Chinwendu Faith. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Ogidy Friday Ayami, now wish to be known and addressed as Friday Ofem Andei. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I Mr. Ikechukwu Okoye is one and the same as John Okoye as contained in some documents bearing my names. All former documents including banks and general public take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as MISS. ISSA BOLA LATIFAT, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ODERINDE BOLA LATIFAT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ENEH: I, formerly known as ENEH JUDE CHUKWUEBUKA, now wish to be known and addressed as UGWU JUDE CHUKWUEBUKA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OGBATA: I, formerly known as MISS OGBATA ETHEL NKEOMA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ONYIA ETHEL NKEOMA (NEE OGBATA). All former documents remain valid. ENSUBEB and general public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME JAMES: I formerly known, called and addressed as JAMES MORGAN, now wish to be known, called and addressed as IZOBO MORGAN JUSTINE. All former documents remain valid. Authorities concerned and General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OBIEKWE : Formerly known as Obiekwe Chimaijem Paschaline now wish to be known as Obiekwe Ndidiamaka Dorathy. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. CHANGE OF NAME DIUKA : Formerly known as Miss Diuka Sarah Chinwendu now wish to be known as Mrs Duru Sarah Chinwendu. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and public take note. CHANGE OF NAME SAMUEL:I, formerly known and addressed as CHINEDU SAMUEL, now wish to be known and addressed as UDEIBA JOHN CHINEDU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

Formerly known and called as Miss Atoobo Odunayo Florence now wish to be addressed and called as Mrs Ayotunde Florence Odunayo. All former documents remain valid, Skye Bank Plc and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as Bobby Chimezie Emmanuel and Okoronkwo Bobby Emmanuel, now wish to be known and addressed as Okoronkwo Onyekachi Emmanuel. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly MR FEMI JOHN now MR OLADELE OJO OMOTOLA. Skye bank and general public take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as monday Medugu, now wish to be known and addressed as Odoma Sanni. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Ali Kargwak Dogonyaro, now wish to be known and addressed as Abdul mohammed. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as MISS ADETOLA ADEBOLA ADEJOKE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OGUNJIMI ADEBOLA ADEJOKE . All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME TAMUNOTONYE I FORMERLY KNOWN. CALLED AND ADDRESSED AS TAMUNOTONYE GENTLE. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN CALLED AND ADDRESSED AS MRS TONYE IGHO FREDRICKS. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME ENEH: I, formerly known as ENEH CHINYERE ELIZABETH, now wish to be known and addressed as ENEH CHINAENYE ELIZABETH. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME UZOIGWE: I, formerly known as MISS UZOIGWE CHINYERE ANTHONIA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ONYIA CHINYERE ANTHONIA. All former documents remain valid. ENSUBEB AND general public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ASHIA: I formerly known and addressed as MISS ASHIA OBEHI JENNIFER, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS KPALAGHA OBEHI JENNIFER. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME AKUNNEH : Formerly known as Akunneh Agba Eyisi now wish to be known as Akunneh Agba Bernard. All former documents remain valid. Meristem Registrars Ltd, First Registrars Nigeria Ltd and public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly addressed and known as Miss Yusuf Kehinde Fatimot now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs Ojuolape Kehinde Esther. All former documents remain valid, Peace Corps of Nigeria and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ABUH: I, formerly known and addressed as ABUH ZAKARI UMAR, now wish to be known, called and addressed as SHAIBU HALIDU ZAKARI ABALAKA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly Miss Akeju Dupe Anthonia now MRS OGUNSINA DUPE ANTHONIA. All former documents remain valid, general public take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Nwiya Aaron, now wish to be known and addressed as Alex Chukwuma Richard. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Egbo Uche Miriam, now wish to be known and addressed as Anikpeh Uche Mirian. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly Olabanji Abolore Abiola now Olabanji Aminat Abiola, all former document remain valid general public take note CHANGE OF NAME NWENYI: I, formerly known as NWENYI CHINEKWU GERALDINE, now wish to be known and addressed as ADIBE CHINWE GERALDINE. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OGBODO: I, formerly known as MISS OGBODO COMFORT ANAYO, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ANI COMFORT ANAYO. All former documents remain valid. ENSUBEB and general public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss SALAWU BOLA MARIAM, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS BOLA MARIAM BALOGUN. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note CONFIRMATION OF NAME

Name confirmation. Ozoaga Arinze and Gabriel Martin belong to one and same person. all documents bearing the names to remain valid. general public take note CHANGE OF NAME OGUNSAKIN: Formerly known and addressed as OGUNSAKIN BUSUYI AKINDELE now wish to be known and addressed as OGUNSAKIN BABAWALE ADEBUSUYI. All former documents remain valid. General public, please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

EMEKA : Formerly known as Emeka Bridget Udezue now wish to be known as Mmaduabuchi Miracle Udezue. All former documents remain valid. Banks and public take note.

AGBAH : Formerly known as Agbah Okoli Bernard now wish to be known as Agbah Akunne Bernard. All former douments remains valid. Meristem Registrars Ltd,First Registrars Nigeria Ltd and public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

OBI:I, formerly known and addressed as OBI JUSTINA CHINENYE, now wish to be known and addressed as AGWU JUSTINA CHINENYE. All former documents remain valid. Nysc and general public should please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as FRIDAY SOLOMON, now wish to be known and addressed as SOLOMON FREDERICK DANJUMA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

43 CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyebamiji Ganiyat Olanike now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs Oyebamiji Grace Olanike. All former document remain valid, Olorunda Local Government Igbona Osogbo and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Uthman Sherifat Motunrayo now wish to be known and addressed as Atolagbe Sherifat Motunrayo. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public to note.

CHANGE OF NAME TOSANWUMI:I formerly known and addressed as TOSANWUMI BETTY AJALA, now wishes to be known and known and addressed as TOSANWUMI BETTY OGBE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Odali Esther Adaku is one and same as Ibuali Esther Adaku Odali and now wish to be known and addressed Odali Esther Adaku. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as EMMANUEL ONYE NWEENKEYA UGHANWA now wish to be known and addressed as EMMANUEL ONYENWEE UGHANWA . All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME EZEH: I, formerly known as EZEH CHINYEAKA ROSE, now wish to be known and addressed as EZEH SUCCESS REJOYCE. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. CHANGE OF NAME OKOLIE: I, formerly known as MISS OKOLIE ODINAKA ANASTASIA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. IKEH ODINAKA ANASTASIA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as OLAITAN FAUSAT ADEBISI, now wish to be known and addressed as BELLO FAUSAT ADEBISI. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm that Anayo lawrence Iloegbunam and Lawrence Iloegbunam belong to one and same person. all documents bearing the names to remain valid.general public take note

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm to the general public that I, Odege Tola is the same person as Odege Sade Tinu. General public and Skye Bank Plc take note. LOSS OF CERTIFICATE

RICHARD EWORITSEMODHA MOORE. LOST MY BSc. ACCOUNTING CERTIFICATE OBTAINED FROM UNIVERSITY OF BENIN EDO STATE, FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Kayode Sekinat , now wish to be known and addressed as Ganiu Morufat Folasade All documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

KOKOWE: I FORMERLY KNOWN. CALLED AND ADDRESSED AS KOKOWE IDOGWU. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN CALLED AND ADDRESSED AS AUGUSTINE UNU EMOTIMI.. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Amosu Latifat Abolore, now wish to be known and addressed as Adebakin Latifat Abolore. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as BABATUNDE OLAWUMI, now wish to be known and addressed as TAJUDEEN ABIODUN AKINLABI. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Tina salami Blessing, now wish to be known and addressed as Tina Joseph Blessing. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as Omolara T Olomo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mutiat Taiwo Omolara Agboola. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, Mr. Ayinla Abdul Ganiyu Alao is one and the same as Ganiyu Omoaje as contained in some bearing my names. All banks and general public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as ADEBOLA ORIADE ORIYOMI now wish to be known and addressed as ADEBOLA ORIADE OGO-OLUWADE . All former documents remain valid. General public take note CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

This is to notify the general public that i, Zeigbo Nicholas is the same person as Umehua Nicholas Oforezie. All documents remain valid. General public pleases take note.

ANEKE: I, formerly known as MISS ANEKE NKIRU PERPETUA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OTI NKIRUKA PERPETUA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

EZENWA: I, formerly known as EZENWA FERDINAND UZOAMAKA, now wish to be known and addressed as EZE FERDINAND NKWO. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OGBONNA: I, formerly known as OGBONNA AUGUSTINE, now wish to be known and addressed as NWEBOR AUGUSTINE AKACHUKWU. All former documents remain valid. Access Bank, Zenith Bank and general public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known, called and addressed as OSAGIE REGINA NOGHAYIN, now wish to be known, called and addressed as OSAGIE OWEN. All former documents remain valid. Authorities concerned and General public should please take note.

ERIEKPARE: I formerly known and addressed as MISS ERIEKPARE UDUBRIAYE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OSUJI UDUBRIAYE DOROTHY. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as BELLO RESHIDAT AYOMIDE, now wish to be known and addressed as ONI AMINAT. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CORRECTION OF NAME

This is to confirm that I, OKORO CHIOMA GOODNESS is the same person as OKORO CHIOMA GEORGINA, henceforth wish to be addressed as OKORO CHIOMA GEORGINA. All former documents remain valid. First Bank, UBA and general public take note.

This is to inform the general public that my names were wrongly spelt in some documents as IDOWU ROGERS, while my correct names are ZOUNTONONDJI HONTONNOY ROSEL. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

PUBLIC NOTICE

CHANGE OF NAME EGBOGHU: I, formerly known and addressed as MRS EGBOGHU SUSSAN OGONNA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ONYEBUEKE SUSSAN OGONNA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Orie Nwankwo Uka now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs kalu Orie Friday. All former documents remain valid. ABUBEB UMUAHIA, OHAFIA LGA and the general public please take note .

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and address as Ogunbiyi Adetutu Rebecca but now wish to be known as Jonathan Adetutu Rebecca. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly addressed and known as Miss Alabi Adedoyin Habibat now wish to be known and called as Mrs Ogunwale Habeebah Adedoyin. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

CHOSEN THE LAND OF GLORY BIBLE CHURCH. This is to inform the general public that the above named body has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under the part C of the Company and Allied Matters Act TRUSTEES

1) VEN JAMES OGHENERO AMUKU

GENERAL OVERSEER.

2) PASTOR OGHENERO AMUKU EMMANUEL AMUKU JR. 3) EVANG. OKOTIE ONORIODE ABRAHAM. 4) EVANG. ULOH FREEBORN OROVWIGHO. 5) EVANG. MRS. UMUDJE EMAMOKE NELLY. 6) EVANG. MRS GRACE AMUKU. AIMS: TO EVANGELIZE THE WORLD FOR GOD.

Any objection to the above registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Trigis Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street,Maitama, Abuja,within 28 days of this publication. SIGNED VEN JAMES OGHENERO AMUKU

-GENERAL OVERSEER.

44 CONFIRMATION OF NAME

Monday, November 23, 2015 CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known as Asifa Omolara Seki now wants to be addressed as Adamo Sekinat. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

This is to certified that Mrs Falana Oluwayemisi Alaba is the same one person as Mrs Suberu Alaba Yemisi, that henceforth wish to be called and addressed as Mrs Suberu Alaba Yemisi. All former documents remain valid, GTB Bank Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc and general public should please take note.

This is to certified that Ogundeji Oluwagbenga Samuel is the same one person as Abiodun Oluwagbenga, that henceforth wish to be known and called as Abiodun Oluwagbenga. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Akinlade Bose A., now wants to be addressed as Sarafa Idowu. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Semiu Taiwo now wants to be addressed as Aremo Jelila Arinpe. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

Formerly known as Oladeji Jelilat Apeke now wants to be addressed as Sarafa Jelilat Iyabo. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Oyesola Tayew now wants to be addressed as Oyesola Odunola Apeke. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Atanda Maria Busayo now wants to be addressed as Adesina Ponmile Wemimo. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

Formerly known as Adebayo Habibat now wants to be addressed as Adebayo Idayat . All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Opoade Taiwo now wants to be addressed as Opoade Muibat Amoke All former documents remain valid. General public should take note. CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Olagunju Sherifat now wants to be addressed as Olagunju Sherifat Abdulwaheed All former documents remain valid. General public should take note. CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as Miss Omole Hannah Opeyemi now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs Aloba Hannah Opeyemi. All former document remain valid, general public should please take note.

Formerly addressed and known as Miss Duntoye Comfort Oluwakemi now wish to be known and called as Mrs Oyesola Duntoye Comfort Oluwakemi. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as UGOCHUKWU CHINONYEREM, A. now wish to be known and addressed as CHINENYE SAM. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Mrs kingsley Dorathy Ngozi, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Ojobe Dorathy Ngozi. All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME SHOSANYA:: Formerly known and addressed as SHOSANYA OLABISI SEKINAT now wish to be known and addressed as AZEEZ OLABISI SEKINAT .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME AFOLORUNSHO: Formerly now known and addressed as AFOLORUNSHO JIMOJ AFOLABI now wish to be known and addressed as JIMOH KAYODE. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly know and addressed as MISS OYEJOBI VICTORIA DOLAPO, now wish to be know and addressed as MRS IGE VICTORIA DOLAPO,all former document remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

PETER: I, formerly known and addressed as HENRY JERRY PETER, now wish to be known, called and addressed as HENRY EFFIOM ARIKPO. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ATARO: I, formerly known and addressed as ADA ATARO (ANDREW ATARO), now wish to be known, called and addressed as ATARO THERESA EGBUJU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ALLISON: I, formerly known and addressed as IYABO ALLISON, now wish to be known, called and addressed as SHITTA IYABO SABITU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to certified that Oyenpemi Felicia Funke is now the same one person as Bamidele Oluwafunke Adepoju, that henceforth wish to be called and addressed as Bamidele Oluwafunke Adepoju. All former documents remain valid, Skye Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME SUNDAY Formerly known and addressed as IFEAKOR DAVID now wish to be known and addressed as SUNDAY CHUKWUKA OKPALA. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note CHANGE OF NAME EGWUOMOU:Formerly known and addressed as INNOCENT EGWUOMOU now wish to be known and addressed as INNOCENT EGWUONWU .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME OGUNMEFUN: I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. FAUSAT AMOPE OGUNMEFUN, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MRS. ARABA FAUSAT AMOPE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME BAKARE: I, formerly known and addressed as MOPELOLA OLASUMBO BAKARE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MOPELOLA OLASUMBO AJAYI. All former documents remain valid. General public and all the Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ANTHONY: I, formerly known and addressed as ANTHONY DANIEL WISDOM, now wish to be known, called and addressed as UMOH DANIEL JOHNSON. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ERUAGBERE I FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS MISS ERUAGBERE ETARERI MAUREEN , NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS MRS ITINAGBEDIA ETARERI MAUREEN. . ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to certified that Monisola Oyekanmi is the same one person as Sulaiman Monisola Oyekanmi, that henceforth wish to be known and called as Sulaiman Monisola Oyekanmi. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Adeleke Jujidat Aweke now wants to be addressed as Waheed Mujidat Aweke. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to certified that Kehinde Abe Tosin is the same one person as Adenipekun Kehinde Tosin, that henceforth wish to be addressed and called as Adenipekun Kehinde Tosin. All former documents remain valid, Banks and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME formerly known and addressed as ALLI-BALOGUN ISMAILA KAYODE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as BISIOLU ISMAILA KAYODE . All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. CHANGE OF NAME IBIYEYE: Formerly known and addressed as IBIYEYE FUNMILAYO now wish to be known and addressed as ADEBIYI OLUWAFUNMILAYO FLORENCE. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME NGHARAMIKE:: Formerly known and addressed as NGHARAMIKE VALENTINE wish to be known and addressed as CHUKWUMEZIE LAZARUS VALENTINE.. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME EBHOERAMENHIYE: I, formerly known and addressed as EBHOERAMENHIYE VICTOR, now wish to be known and addressed as EBHOERAMENHIYE ELIJAH. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME KALU: I, formerly known and addressed as AGWU KALU KALU, now wish to be known, called and addressed as EMMANUEL EMEKA NNANNA. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Saheed Modinat now wants to be addressed as Adigun Medinat. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.  CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Shogbesan Folashade Florence now wants to be addressed as Adeyeye Folashade Florence. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Olapade Adijat now wants to be addressed as Oyeleke Esther Madeke All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known as Oyesola Elisabeth now wants to be addressed as Najimu Mutiyat Ayoke. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note. CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known as Azeez Asimo now wants to be addressed as Oyetunde Sakirat Asake. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Rabiu Siata Omolola now wants to be addressed as Yedele Siata Omolola. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note. CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Okunloye Oluseun now wants to be addressed as Ayanlami Titilade Janet. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Oladotun Tunmise now wants to be addressed as Abidoye Omolara Anke. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known as Olayiwola Alira wants to be addressed as Afisu Senabu Asake. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

This is to certified that Awoniyi Seyi Gabriel is the same one person as Awoniyi Seyi Crown, that henceforth wish to be called and known as Awoniyi Seyi Crown. All former documents remain valid, Banks and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and called as Miss Tunde Seun now wish to be addressed and called as Mrs Ilesanmi Oyinlola Beatrice Seun. All former documents remain valid, Banks and general public should please take note.

Formerly addressed and known as Miss Bolarinwa Iyabo Christiana now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs Adesina Iyabo Zainab. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to certified that Saka Morufat is the same one person as Adewale Morufat Oriyomi,that henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Adewale Morufat Oriyomi. All former documents remain valid, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Wema Bank Plc and general public should please take note.

This is to certified that Baruwa Lukuman and Yekini Lukuman Ariyo is the same one person as Baruwa Lukuman Yekini, that henceforth wish to be called and addressed as Baruwa Lukuman Yekini. All former documents remain valid, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and called as Miss Ayanbode Sakirat Omolewa now wish to be addressed and known as Mrs Badejo Sakirat Omolewa. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME formerly known and addressed as BALOGUN BILIKISU, now wish to be known, called and addressed as AROGUNDADE BOLANLE BILIKISU. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as BELLO LATIFU, now wish to be known, called and addressed as BELLO LATIFU MURAINA IDOWU. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME FALAYE : Formerly known and addressed as MISS FALAYE MODUPE HELLEN now wish to be known and addressed as MRS AWE MODUPE HELLEN.. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME YESORO: Formerly known and addressed as EFFIONG YESORO now wish to be known and addressed as ELVIS OGU. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as WAHAB SHEHU BUARI, now wish to be known, called and addressed as ASIKIRI PRINCE SHEHU. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME BAWA: Formerly known and addressed as EKAH BAWA now wish to be known and addressed as LUCKY JOSEPH EKAH. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note CHANGE OF NAME CHIJOKE : Formerly known and addressed CHIJOKE FEDERICK UHAKUSI now wish to be known and addressed as UHANUSI CHIJOKE FEDENARD..All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

SALISU: I, formerly known and addressed as SALISU ABDULLAHI RABIU, now wish to be known, called and addressed as NASIRU ABDULLAHI RABIU. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

BAKARE: I, formerly known and addressed as MISS FUNMILAYO BAKARE (MAIDEN), now wish to be known, called and addressed as MRS. FUNLAYO OKEOWO due to my marital status. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE GLORIOUS WONDERS OF GRACE ASSEMBLY

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME OLANREWAJU: I, formerly known as OLANREWAJU AYOOLA OLUWADAMILARE, now wish to be known and addressed as FOLORUNSHO AYOOLA OLUWADAMILARE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ALADI: I, formerly known and addressed as EMMANUEL MARY ALADI, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MARY EVELYN ABOJE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

AKPAN: I, formerly known and addressed as INIOBONG MARKSON AKPAN, now wish to be known, called and addressed as ONYEMAOBI HELEN CHIZOBA. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

OPECHI: I, formerly known and addressed as OPECHI DAVID, now wish to be known, called and addressed as DAVID OKEKA IGWUT. All former documents remain valid. Diamond Bank Plc, Authorities Concerned and the general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ADEGBOLA ADEBISI AMOKE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OLURIN ADEBISI AMOKE. All former documents remain valid, general public to take

CHANGE OF NAME Formerly Miss Ogunsanya Elizabeth Olasunbo now Mrs Osisanya Elizabeth Olasunbo Anike all former documents remain valid general public note

PUBLIC NOTICE ALIVE FOR IMPACT ASSEMBLY

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

This is to inform the general public that the above-named Organization has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under ‘PART C’ of the Companies and Allied Matters Act no 1 of 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE:

THE TRUSTEES ARE: ONWUKA OBINNA NWEKE OBINNA-NWEKE CHISARA NNE OBIKE IHECHILURU GABRIEL REV. EMMANUEL CHUKWUNENYE ONUOHA OBINNA IVOR

1) Rev Chioma Christiana orji - General overseer. 2) frank Chukwuka orji, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST TO ALL NATIONS. Any objection to the above registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Trigis Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street,Maitama, Abuja,within 28 days of this publication. SIGNED, Rev Chioma Christiana orji - General Overseer

CHAIRMAN SECRETARY MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. TO CARRY OUT EVANGELISM AND SPREAD THE GOSPEL TO THE LOST. 2. TO ORGANIZE CONFERENCES, SEMINARS AND TEACHINGS FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY. Any objection to this application should be forwarded to the RegistrarGeneral, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent, off Aguisi Ironsi Street, PMB 198, MAITAMA, ABUJA, within 28 days of this publication. SIGNED: ONWUKA OBINNA NWEKE.

Monday, November 23, 2015

In order to be successful you have to remain united, and that’s even more the case when things don’t go well

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

NSA: Musa, Okobi named Footballers of the Year

–REAL MADRID CAPTAIN SERGIO RAMOS

Akwa United in celebration mood after lifting Fed Cup, yesterday

Akwa win first Federation Cup trophy Paul Erewuba

oach of Nigeria Federation Cup winners Akwa United Zakary Baraje has vowed to quit should the club fail to sign new players and hold on to their best players ahead of next year’s CAF Confederation Cup. Baraje said things have to change for the club to be competitive on the continent next year. “I won’t stay if they won’t buy players

… Coach threatens to quit team.. if … Players to get cars by State Government

and keep the ones they have,” he said after the historic cup win.’’ Akwa United secured a historic first Federation Cup trophy after edging out Lobi Stars 2-1 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium yesterday. It was another disappointing outing in the final of the oldest competition in the

CHAN Eagles resume training in Abuja

igeria home-based Super Eagles will resume training for next year’s CHAN in Abuja in the first week of December, officials have announced. The 2015 CHAN will be hosted by Rwanda from January 16 and Nigeria have been drawn alongside Niger, Tunisia and Guinea in the group phase of the biennial tournament reserved for players playing in their home leagues. An official informed that “the players will regroup by the first week of next month and will break for Christmas before they reconvene for a training camp overseas.”

Dubai and a country close to Rwanda are being considered for this training camp. The CHAN is now a priority competition for Nigeria as it is considered a full international tournament and a team’s performance there will count in the FIFA rankings, which will be one of the yardsticks to use to seed teams for the final round of the qualifying tournament for the 2018 World Cup. Nigeria occupy a disappointing 59th place in the FIFA rankings and will need to garner some good wins to enjoy a better rating and invariably a more favourable draw for the World Cup qualifiers.

country for Lobi Stars who have now lost in three finals following defeats to Enyimba in 2005 and Heartland in 2011. Nnamso Edo showed his prowess as one of the best dead ball specialists in the domestic scene by curling home a beautiful free kick from the edge of the Lobi box nine minutes before the break to put Akwa United ahead. Akwa United started the game on the front foot with danger man Aniekpeno Udoh curling a shot over the cross bar. Lobi Stars took time to settle into the game and it was the impressive Moses Bunde who carved out their first real chance of the game. Bunde was however denied by the opposing goalkeeper, Olufemi Kayode. Edo fired Akwa ahead in the 36th minute after Udoh was tripped close to the 18 yard box. Lobi made an instant change with Nanen Imenger replacing the ineffective Iloh Uche. Terna Ikpeen also came off for Mohammed Farouk Umar as the Pride of Benue searched for the equaliser. Instead it was Akwa United’s midfield-

er, Abdulafeez Awakan who fired the ball home from outside the area to increase his side’s lead in the 69th minute. The Uyo-based team however had to endure a nervy end to the game with Imenger pulling a goal back for Lobi Stars through a free-kick. They however held on to win their first Federation Cup to the delight of their fans who travelled from Uyo to support the team. “For the past 56 years, no team from Cross River or Akwa Ibom has made this history, so I’m elated to have written this history for them,” said Coach Baraje. Meanwhile, Akwa United players and officials will be rewarded with car gifts by the state government for winning their first Federation Cup. It was gathered yesterday that Micheal Eddidiong, a member of the Golden Eaglets squad that came tops at the last FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, who is an indigene of the state, will also benefit from the gesture. “Each player will get a car for their effort in winning the Federation Cup,” a source revealed. “Also Micheal, the Golden Eaglets player who made the squad to Chile, will also be rewarded by the state government. “The players were aware of this before they came down to Lagos for the final and I believe it really motivated them to give their best”, the source stated.

Sports

Monday, November 23, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Mourinho rules Chelsea out of EPL title race

helsea manager Jose Mourinho has ruled his team out of the title race but believes they can still secure a top-four finish. The champions ended a threegame losing run in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Norwich City at Stamford Bridge on the weekend. Mourinho’s men are now 15th on the table with 14 points from 13 games - 14 points shy of leaders Leicester City, and 12 behind fourth-placed Arsenal. “It’s a bit of a relief,” said

Mourinho. “The pressure was there - I was feeling, the players were feeling too. We coped well with that and we got a result which obviously we needed very, very much. “Fourth position for me is not an impossible mission. If you ask me the title I would say impossible mission. “Maybe Tom Cruise can do it (but) it’s complicated because you have to recover points from four candidates. “But to grab one of the

(teams) that go up and will also have a little bit of a collapse... the fourth position is a difficult position but a possible target.” Meanwhile, Mourinho was pleased to see playmaker Eden Hazard pick up a man-of-thematch award against the Canaries. “Every top player that is not performing well they feel it probably more than the others that are not so good,” he added. “Eden created chances for us, which is important and I think also for his confidence.”

Champions League

Mourinho

Alaba in doubt for Olympiacos clash B

Alaba

ayern could be without the star left-back after the defender picked up a knock to his ankle in the win over Schalke David Alaba is in doubt to face Olympiacos in the Champions League tomorrow, Bayern Munich have confirmed. The Austria international took a blow to his ankle during a 3-1 win away to Schalke on Saturday and could be forced to sit out the meeting with the Greek champions at the Allianz Arena. “The use of David Alaba is a question mark,” Bayern announced via their official website. “The left-back had to be substituted in the 83rd minute of the 3-1 win over Schalke on Saturday after a foul.

Rivaldo backs Zidane to take Real Madrid job

ormer Barcelona star Rivaldo believes now is the time for Real Madrid to make Zinedine Zidane their head coach. Rafael Benitez is under mounting pressure despite only taking charge in June, with a 4-0 Clasico thrashing at home to Liga leaders Barca on Saturday casting further doubt over his future. Zidane, the head coach of the Madrid Castilla side and

former assistant to Carlo Ancelotti at the Santiago Bernabeu, has long been tipped to take the top job at the club and some reports in Spain have claimed he is poised to replace Benitez following the Clasico debacle. Rivaldo believes Madrid should follow Barca’s example of handing former players Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique the chance in the dugout and replace Benitez with the former France international.

Zidane

ATP world tour finals

Djokovic beats Federer

ovak Djokovic capped the best season of his career - and quite possibly one of the greatest in the history of the sport - by defeating Roger Federer on Sunday to win the ATP World Tour Finals. World No 1 Djokovic was too good for Federer with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at The O2 to end his year with an 82-6 record, 11 titles, including three Grand Slams. Let us not forget, too, that the Serbian was just one win away from the Calendar Grand Slam, losing to Stan Wawrinka in the Roland Garros final. This was the final that never happened last year when Federer was forced to withdraw shortly before he was due on court with a back injury suffered during a tumultuous semifinal battle against Wawrinka the night before. Djokovic had lost to Federer earlier in the week on Tuesday, badly capitulating in the second set which brought an end to his 38-match unbeaten record indoors since October 2012. But Sunday night proved that to be just a blip. Djokovic claimed the early

break for 2-1 in the first set and was too steady from there, his base level being far higher than that of Federer, who was committing too many unforced errors. Although Federer did have a chance to break back, he could not convert and Djokovic went on to close out the set.

Djokovic

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sports

Monday, November 23, 2015

Sunshine Queens are Women’s Federation Cup champions … beat Bayelsa 3-1

L-R: Sportsman of the Year, Yakubu Adesokan, Honourable Minister for Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalong, Sportswoman of the Year, Loveline Obiji , Director General, National Sports Commission, Alhassan Yakmut at the 2015 edition of the Nigerian Sports Award held yesterday in Lagos

NSA: Musa, Okobi named Footballers of the Year

uper Eagles captain Ahmed Musa, and Ngozi Okobi have been named the Footballers of the Year 2015 (male and female) at the Nigerian Sports Award ceremony held at the Eko Hotels in Lagos.

The CSKA forward, who was nominated alongside Watford striker Odion Ighalo and Sunshine Stars’ Tunde Adeniji, was not physically present as he has returned to Russia after the international break.

NPFL fallout: Enyimba pocket 30m Naira cash prize

nyimba have pocketed the sum of 30 million Naira (about $150,000) for winning this year’s Nigeria league. Enyimba skipper Chinedu Udoji was at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos yesterday to receive a dummy cheque of the prize money from Nigeria league boss Shehu Dikko.

It is the highest amount ever paid a Nigeria league champion. Enyimba topped the 20-team championship after they recorded 70 points from 38 matches. They will represent Nigeria in next year’s CAF Champions League alongside runners-up Warri Wolves, who finished their campaign four points behind Enyimba.

Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick was present to receive the award on behalf of Musa. Following his great performance, on June 1, 2015, Musa signed a new four-year contract

with CSKA, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2018/19 season. In the women category, Ngozi Okobi beat Desire Oparanozie and Asisat Oshoala to emerge winner.

Fed Cup: Akwa ‘s Awakan, Ubong win MVP, Golden Boot awards

kwa United midfielder, Abdulafeez Awakan, has been voted the Most Valuable player of the 2015 Federation Cup. The talented star who scored the second goal as they beat Lobi Stars to win their first title was rewarded for his impressive performance

in the competition. His teammate, Friday Ubong, also picked the top scorer’s award. The forward scored six goals in the competition. Akwa United beat Lobi Stars 2-1 to win the competition at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos yesterday.

unshine Queens of Akure claimed the 2015 Women’s Federation Cup yesterday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium following a 3-1 penalty shootout victory against Bayelsa Queens. Both sides were tied at 1-1 after regulation time and penalties was needed to determine the winner. Kalu Patience put Bayelsa Queens ahead in the 65tb minute and they looked to be coasting until the Akure Babes rallied back to score the equaliser. It came 10 minutes after the opener through Shola Oyewusi, who scrambled the ball home after the Bayelsa Queens keeper failed to hold on to the ball. In the ensuing shootout, Sunshine Queens converted three of their kicks, while Bayelsa were only able to put one home.

EuroBasket 2017: GB women lose to Montenegro in qualifier

reat Britain’s women lost their opening EuroBasket 2017 qualifier 78-64 against Montenegro in Podgorica. Cheshire guard Jo Leedham scored a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds on her return from a two-year absence. The home side led 42-28 ahead at half-time but GB closed to three points before Montenegro pulled away late on. It was a debut defeat for new GB coach Jose Maria Buceta, whose side next play Italy - who hammered Albania 121-38 .

Tenger rues Federation Cup loss

L Tenger

obi Stars coach, Justin Tenger has expressed disappointment with his side’s defeat by Akwa United in the final of the Federation Cup played yesterday in Lagos. Lobi were far from their best in the encounter and suc-

cumbed to a 2-1 defeat against Akwa United. It was the third time the Makurdi based outfit will be losing in the final following defeats in 2005 and 2011 against Enyimba and Heartland respectively. The experienced tactician rued the inability of his side to hit top

form in the game that was dominated by their opponent. “It’s disappointing to lose again after our defeats in the previous two times we made it to the final. “We started the game slowly and were no where our best. “We improved in the

second half, but their second goal killed the game off. “My boys did well to pull a goal back, but it was just too late for us to come back into the game. “It’s a disappointing end to the season for us, but we hope to be back next season.”

Leedham

WORLD RECORD

Largest dessert pizza Vol. 05 No. 1248 Monday, November 23, 2015

N150

The largest dessert pizza has a total surface area of 14.28 m² (153.71 ft²) and was prepared by the Record Pizza Men team

Ascendancy of counterevolutionary forces Continued from last Monday

he backlash of reactions to the prosecution of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, by the Code of Conduct Tribunal; his legalistic counteroffensives to thwart the process and the successes so far accomplished; the expected but disturbing show of solidarity by some senators to Dr. Bukola, and of course, the current drive of the counter-revolutionary coalition to discredit the strategic agents of the Federal Government deeply involved in the prosecution of the anti-corruption war, give indications of the great battle ahead. It is the same context the antics of Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), National Security Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, to frustrate his own prosecution for similar reasons should be seen. I doubt if President Buhari would have

HeartBeat Callistus Oke

Callistusoke@nationalmirroronline.net 08054103275 (SMS ONLY) anthonykila@mail.com anticipated the deployment of the law by the fishes likely to be caught in the anti-corruption nets to frustrate his declared. Only a neophyte would think corruption would fold its hands and be clinically decimated. It will fight back; and very ferociously. When the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 was passed by the 7th National Assembly and later assented to former President Jonathan early this year, there was great excitement in the land. Two of the Act sections in particular - 306 and 396 - iron cast sections meant to deter judicial shenanigans, were intended to arrest the likely recourse to impunity by defence counsels and their collaborators in the judiciary. Surprisingly, the Supreme Court’s ruling penultimate week that the enforcement of the two sections was not absolute, must have deflated the hope of the people and the Federal Government that the end to high profile corruption by high profile public servants and political officeholders was near. Good enough, the ruling is being critically interrogated by sound legal minds. It is now clear to Nigerians that not all members of the ruling political class have keyed into Buhari’s vision for a sane and clean Nigeria. If a Senate sitting had to be suspended to allow pro-Saraki senators accompany their leader to the court to express solidarity, the act is a big moral blow to the worthy cause to rid Nigeria of big time corruption! The farcical show of solidarity is nothing but a despicable act of impunity and disdain for Nigerians. It

LAMORDE’S EXIT IS NOT VICTORY FOR THE

ANTI-CORRUPTION WAR; RATHER IT IS VICTORY FOR PRO CORRUPTION COALITION also shows that the people’s parliamentarians harbour ethical agenda quite different from the larger national one being pursued by the Buhari administration. One gaping faultline in the anti-corruption war is absence of strategic thinking, especially the ability to interpret the moves of the counter-revolutionary forces. Or how do we explain a situation when the strategic agents of the Federal Government deeply involved in the prosecution of the anti-corruption war are being systemically discredited to slow down the tempo of the war. Already Ibrahim Lamorde, the immediate past executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has been swept off by the powerful pro-corruption tide. Attention is now focused on Justice Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Scurrilous allegation of bribe taking is being stridently echoed to taint him. This has crystallized in a groundswell of opinion whose goal is to have him removed. Lamorde’s exit is not victory for the anti-corruption war; rather it is victory for

pro corruption coalition. Should Justice Danladi Umar be similarly disgraced, the development will have the effect of weakening the resolve of state agents involved in the anti-corruption crusade. My position is not in any way an endorsement of using discredited people as champions of anti-corruption crusade. I am only raising the red flag for caution on the part of the Federal Government so that it does not end up executing the insidious agenda of the very people for which the anti-corruption war is meant. Like I have noted before, the Professor Itse Sagay-led Presidential Advisory Committee on the War Against Corruption should serve as the brain box of the government, its think tank on the the anti-corruption war. It is expected that the Committee should make strategic inputs into the decisions of the Federal Executive Council on the direction of the war and its strategic enforcement framework. Many want to know where the opposition PDP stands on this war. It is very clear the party is not committed to the war; and enlightened self interest is the reason for this seemingly unpatriotic stance. It is in the exercise of the party’s ‘legitimate’ right to act in a manner that detracts from the import of APC-led anti-corruption war, which is why the PDP has continuously been politicizing the intention of the Buharian revolution. Who does not know that that the success of the ongoing revolution has implications for the nation’s power equation. Such success will consolidate power in the hands of the APC because Nigerians will draw a line between the PDP’s years in power and the current yeoman’s job of the APC. Many have raised alarm on the perceived anti-revolutionary role of our judiciary. Who does not know the judiciary is a conservative institution. I concede that some judges and lawyers have socialized the process of justice administration; all the same the majority of judicial officers scorn at such ‘unbridled’ judicial activism. Concluded

Sport Extra

World Tour Championship: McIlroy wins to wrap up race to Dubai

ory McIlroy won the World Tour Championship in Dubai to finish the season as Europe’s number one golfer. The Northern Irish for-

mer world number one shot a six-under-par final round of 66 to finish on 21 under, one clear of England’s Andy Sullivan. Victory means 26-yearold McIlroy retains his

Race to Dubai title, the third time he has won it in four years. The four-time major winner carded eight birdies in Sunday’s first 15 holes to open a two-shot

lead over Sullivan, only to find the water with his tee shot on the 17th. But McIlroy holed a 30ft putt to salvage a bogey and stay a shot ahead of overnight leader Sullivan.

McIlroy missed three tournaments this summer, including the defence of his Open title at St Andrews, because of an ankle injury sustained while playing football.

Mcllroy Emenike

Printed and Published by Global Media Mirror Ltd: Head Office: Mirror House, 155/161 Broad Street, Lagos Tel: 07027107407, Abuja Office: NICON Insurance House, Second Floor, Central Business District Area, Abuja Tel: 08070428249, Advert hotline: 01-8446073, Port-Harcourt Office: Suite 115, NICON Hotel, 6, Benjamin Opara Street, Off Olusegun Obasanjo Rd, GRA Phaze 3, Phone: 07032323254 Email: mail@nationalmirroronline.net. Acting Editor: BEN MEMULETIWON. All correspondence to PMB 10001, Marina, Lagos. Printed simultaneously in Lagos, Abuja and Akure. ISSN 0794-232X.