Monday, October 29, 2012 by GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LIMITED

Ribadu report:

Storm forces Obama to cancel campaign in Virginia, Colorado P.13

Opposition parties task NASS over corruption in oil sector ISE-OLUWA IGE AND OBIORA IFOH

Vol. 2 N0. 479

pposition parties yesterday called on the National Assembly to ensure that the report of the Nuhu Ribadu-

led task force on the management of the petroleum sector is not swept under the carpet by the Federal CONTINUED ON PAGE 6>>

Monday, October 29, 2012

N150

Eight die, 145 injured in another church bombing

...Jonathan, Tambuwal, Yakowa condemn attack We were about to take Holy Communion when they struck –Survivors

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ROTIMI FADEYI, TORDUE SALEM, AZA MSUE AND EZEKIEL TITUS

ight worshippers were killed yesterday when a suicide bomber hit St. Rita’s Catholic Church, Unguwan Yero Malali, Kaduna, during a morning mass. Over 145 others, including the officiating priest, Rev. Father Michael Boni Bazza, were injured. A car, loaded with exploCONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

Plane crash:

Taraba gov’s aides flown to Abuja St. Rita’s Catholic Church, Kaduna, bombed by suicide bomber yesterday. RIGHT: One of the victims with her son receiving treatment at a hospital in Kaduna yesterday. More pictures on page 2.

THE

BUSINESS

FG’ll restore infrastructure damaged by flood –Akinjide Zenith, UBA, six others commissioned to sell dollars to Christian pilgrims

P.A6

Free ee iinside nsid ns ide id de

SECTION

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Reps seek more powers for states, LGs

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Fashola orders traders to keep off burnt market 10 die, five bodies recovered in Lagos boat mishap P.7

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Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Eight die, 145 injured in another church bombing CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

sives, drove into the church and detonated its deadly content, ripping a hole in

the wall and roof. National Mirror learnt that four persons died at the scene of the blast, while six

others later died at Barau Dikko Specialist and 44 Army Reference Hospitals where they were rushed to

VICTIMS OF CATHOLIC CHURCH BOMBING

Victims of the suicide bomb blast at the Saint Rita Catholic Church, Kaduna receiving treatment at the Barau Dikko & Garkuwa Specialist Hospital in Kaduna yesterday.

for medical attention. Hospital officials, however, declined comments on the casualty figure. The church, under St. Monica Parish, Malali, Kaduna, was thrown into tears as neighbouring churches were hurriedly shut down for fear of attacks by terrorists, even as security forces took over Kaduna city for fear of reprisal. A source said the actual casualty figure could not be ascertained at the moment due to the nature of the attack. “Over 10 worshippers, including the suicide bomber, died in the explosion,” a source said. An eyewitness said the incident occurred about 8:50a.m. when the first round of mass was about to finish. He said: “The suicide bomber in a Mercedes Benz jeep had attempted to drive into the church premises but was stopped at the security gate outside the church. “The driver initially reversed, but then careered straight through the church wall and detonated the bomb. He died immediately.” The National Emegency Management Agency, NEMA, however confirmed that eight persons lost their lives in attack. A statement signed by NEMA’s Kaduna Zonal Public Relations Officer, Aliyu Muhammed, said that 145 others were injured in the attack. It said that the corpses of the victims had been deposited at various hospitals in the city. According to the statement, four of the corpses have been deposited at Barau Dikko Specialists Hospital, three at 44 Military Hospital, while one was deposited at the Garkuwa Specialist Hospital. The statement said that

81 injured persons were receiving treatment at Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital, while 35 others were being treated at 44 Military Hospital. It said that 15 injured persons were also receiving treatment at St. Gerrad’s Hospital adding that five among them were under critical condition. Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Mr. Olufemi Adenaike, confirmed the incident but said only three people died. “There was an attack at St. Rita’s Catholic Church in Malali. “A suicide bomber in Mercedes Benz jeep broke the church fence and entered the church premises. The bomber didn’t enter through gate. “Three people died, including the bomber. “I saw three dead bodies there although people are giving conflicting figures. We have taken control of the town; we are on top of the situation,” he said. The commissioner said security operatives had taken over the city. “We have mounted security surveillance in flashpoints that reprisals may occur. “One woman, a man and the suicide bomber died. Some injured were said to be on danger list but we are still monitoring the situation. For now that is what I have for you.” One of the Catholic priests, who did not want his name mentioned, described the incident as horrific. He said the injured priest was rushed to Multi Clinic, Unguwan Rimi, near Malali, while others were taken to St. Gerald Catholic Hospital, Kakuri, Kaduna. “The church choir was affected too. We don’t know the actual people that die but the situation is bad. “The priest in charge

sustained injury and was rushed to Multi Clinic, Unguwan Rimi, Malali area, but he is stable. You can’t talk to him now, he is sleeping,” he said. In a telephone interview with National Mirror, the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr. Sunday John Ali, confirmed that 14 injured victims were rushed to the hospital. “Fourteen injured people are here receiving treatment, but no dead body yet. The injured ones are responding to treatment,” he said. President Goodluck Jonathan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, have condemned the suicide Kaduna bomb attack. President Jonathan said he was extremely saddened by the explosion, describing the act as “barbaric, cruel and uncalled for.” He commiserated with the Catholic Church, family and friends of the victims of the bombing, assuring them that government’s resolve to deal with the threat of terrorism remains strong. In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President noted that the apparent objective of the criminal and unpatriotic elements and forces behind the attack was to set back the progress the administration has made in the fight against terrorism in the country. The President, however, expressed confidence that the war against terrorism would become more unrelenting as the nation would never give in to the forces of terror and retardation. He added that the persistence of messengers of evil would not prevail over the will of the government and the people to secure peace and safety. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

We were about to take Holy Communion when bombers struck –Survivors A ZA MSUE KADUNA

ome survivors of yesterday’s attack on St. Rita Catholic Church said they were in the process of taking the Holy Communion when the suicide bombers struck. One of the survivors, Miss Jacinta Oko, said

she was about to receive Holy Communion when the incident happened. Oko told reporters at St. Gerald Catholic Hospital that only God saved her life. “We just heard the loud sound of the bomb blast when we were preparing to take Holy Communion. “But before I knew

what was happening, I found myself on the ground. I can say that so many people died because it affected the side where the choir members were sitting. The service today was about faith and healing. “The priest preached about God’s possibilities, he said that with faith everything is pos-

sible. He gave us the story of King Solomon, how God healed him. He said whatever we do, we should hold unto our faith, and that everything will be alright. So the mass was good. He was about giving communion when the blast happened,” she said. Another victim, 30-year-old Veronica

Johnson, told our correspondent that they were in the middle of the service when suddenly she heard a loud sound. Veronica, who was with her two children at the St. Gerard Catholic Hospital, said: “We were in the church, and it was during the consecration when everybody was kneeling down and pray-

ing, and all of a sudden we heard the deafening sound of the bomb blast. “When I looked back, I saw a car, a jeep that forced itself through the wall of the church fence from behind into the church premises. The bomb blast was near where the choristers were sitting. So many CONTINUED ON PAGE 6>>

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Monday, October 29, 2012

Photo News

Monday, October 29, 2012

L-R: Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun; Awujale of Ijebu Land, Oba Sikiru Adetona and Senate President David Mark, during the Ojude Oba festival in Ijebu Ode yesterday.

Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson and President Zuma in South Africa.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

L-R: General Managing Director/CEO, Diamond Bank PLC, Dr. Alex Otti; Cross Rivers State Governor, Liyel Imoke and Consul General, United States Embassy in Nigeria, Jeffrey J Hawkins jr at the unveiling of the State’s Tourism Brand in Lagos recently.

L-R: Justice Mary Odili; Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Aloma Mukhtar; Justice Olufunlola Adekeye; Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Archbishop Nicholas Okoh and Prof. Jerry Gana, at a thanksgiving service to mark the 70th birthday of Justice Adekeye at St. PHOTO: NAN Matthew’s Anglican Church, Maitama, Abuja, yesterday.

National News

NCP set to finalise privatisation of PHCN firms UDEME AKPAN

he National Council on Privatisation, NCP, has concluded plans to take final decisions today on the 11 electricity distribution and six generating firms slated for privatisation by the Federal Government. This means that some powerful Nigerians, including former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abukakar, whose company, Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Company Limited emerged as core investor and highest bidder for Eko, Ikeja, Ibadan and Yola distribution companies would know their fate this week. The distribution firms include the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Benin Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc. Others are the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Jos Electricity

Distribution Company Plc, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Kano Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company Plc and Yola Electricity Distribution Company Plc. The power generating firms are, Ughelli Power Pl, Geregu Power Plc, Afam Power Plc, Sapele Power Plc, Kainji Power Plc and Shiroro Power Plc. The NCP meeting, under the chairmanship of Vice President Namadi Sambo is scheduled to review the report of its Technical Committee on the affected companies in line with set guidelines and procedures. Chairman of NCP technical committee, Mr. Atedo Peterside confirmed the meeting in a telephone interview with our correspondent yesterday. He said: “We have decided to meet and review the report and take firm and binding decisions on Monday (today). The outcome of the engagement would be made known to State House Correspondents in Abuja.” Peterside said the meet-

ing is important as the Council has some outstanding issues to resolve in line with the privatisation timeline. He said efforts were targeted at ensuring that set targets are met in order to successfully place the power distribution and generating companies in the hands of competent investors. The chairman said the NCP is mindful of the interest of local and foreign firms in the bid process. At the end of the opening of the companies/con-

sortia commercial bids in which aggregate technical, commercial and collection loss reduction proposal was used as a basis for selection, 10 bidders were penciled down for final ratification by NCP. These include Aura Energy Ltd with 16.22 per cent for Jos Disco; Sahelian Power SPV Ltd with 21.21 percent for Kano Disco; 4Power Consortium with 19.55 per cent for Port Harcourt Disco; Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Ltd with

18.58 per cent for Yola Disco; Interstate Electrics Ltd with 21.62 per cent for Abuja Discos and Vigeo Power Consortium with 21.78 per cent for Benin Disco. Others are Interstate Electrics that emerged the preferred bidder with 20.83 per cent for Enugu Disco; Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Limited as preferred bidder with 17.46 per cent for Ibadan Disco; Integrated Energy and Marketing Limited with 21.43 per cent

for Eko Disco and Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Ltd with 22.51 per cent for Ikeja Disco. The bid for Kaduna Disco was not opened because none of the two bids received was technically qualified. The percentages are loss deduction estimates which are supposed to be passed back to the consumers so that the person offering the highest percentage loss reduction will deliver the best package to consumers.

Injured Suntai’s aides moved to Abuja National Hospital MARCUS FATUNMOLE ABUJA

hirty hours after the critically-injured Taraba State Governor, Suntai Danbaba was airlifted out of the Abuja National Hospital to Germany for medical attention, his aides who were involved in the air tragedy with him arrived the same hospital last night. They were conveyed from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport

to the hospital at about 6.40pm in a long security convoy. The convoy beat the long queue of vehicles at the Kuje intersection military check point, even as many motorists and pedestrians initially believed it was the usual Presidential convoy that plies the road. Three aides of the governor were involved in the crash of the Cessna 208, 5N-BMJ Jet. Our reporter could not ascertain if all were brought into the hos-

pital at press time. Sources confided in National Mirror that the governor’s Aide de Camp, ADC, Dasat Iliya was still unconscious, the Chief Detail, Joel Dan, another source said, had a fractured arm, while his Chief Security Officer, CSO, Timo Dangana’s two legs were badly damaged. Meanwhile, the families of the affected persons were said to be doubting the ability of the National Hospital to handle the situation.

Sources said they wanted the injured to be flown abroad like the governor. Suntai and his aides were taken to Yola Specialist Hospital for immediate medical attention on Thursday night before President Goodluck Jonathan advised that the governor be moved to Abuja National Hospital. Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr. Tapo Hastrupp confirmed the arrival of the aides at the hospital, but did not comment further.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Monday, October 29, 2012

Reps seek more powers for states, LGs TORDUE SALEM ABUJA

he House of Representatives has concluded arrangements to commence public hearings to amend the 1999 Constitution in local governments and wards across the 36 states of the federation. Our correspondent gathered that top on its list of priorities was an amendment to the Legislative List to cede more powers to states and local governments and to tinker with the tenures of president and governors. The Deputy Speaker, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, in

a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Oke Epia, yesterday said that the exercise would cover 360 federal constituencies to achieve a more participatory, inclusive and transparent review of the organic document. He said: “A tentative template of the issues to be discussed and voted on at the sessions has been produced by the House of Representatives to serve only as a guide as each federal constituency is free to indicate in their report other issues they consider as requiring amendment or inclusion in the constitution. “Issues that have been identified in the template

include recognition of the six zonal structure, creation of states; structure, funding and creation of local governments; residency, citizenship and indigeneship question; justiciability of economic and social rights; fiscal provisions; independence of states legislatures and amendments of the exclusive legislative list to devolve more powers to the states. “Others are fiscal federalism, abolition of states electoral commissions, removal of immunity clause, establishment of state police, zoning and power sharing, terms of office of the president and governors on whether they should be for a single term of five, six or

seven years or a renewable term of four years; independent candidacy, voting age, improved representation for women, rights of persons with disability, voting rights for Nigerians living in the Diaspora, a unicameral National Assembly, presidential or parliamentary system of government, role for traditional rulers in the constitution and further electoral reforms.” According to him, the sessions will bring the process of constitution review closer to the people and will extend to all the nooks, crannies, villages, communities, grassroots and towns throughout Nigeria.”

L-R: Nigeria Ambassador to the United States; Ambassador Ade Adefuye; Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen and another Nigerian Participant, Patrick Omeke at U.S-Nigeria Infrastructure Conference held in Washington DC recently.

The statement noted that the “guidelines for the conduct of the sessions indicate that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR, will perform the flag-off ceremony for the Sessions on Thursday November 8, 2012 by 10a.m., at Conference Room 231, New Building of the House of Representatives at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.” According to the statement, “Each of the sessions in the 360 Federal Constituencies will be organised by an independent Steering Committee of Stakeholders that include the member of the House of Representatives representing the constituency who will be the facilitator, members of the State House of Assembly in the particular federal constituency, the local government chairmen within the constituency and one representative of the following organizations in each federal constituency, i.e. the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, the Trade Union Congress, TUC, and the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.” Others will be “the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU; the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT; Civil Society Organisations, CSOs; the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, the National Council of Women

Societies, NCWS, Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ; and the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE.” Also to be involved in the process are stakeholders, such as ethnic nationalities, women, youths, students, town unions, professional and religious organisations, traditional institutions, political parties, artisans, etc, saying “all Nigerians have been invited to attend the sessions and contribute their views.” According to the statement, “Decisions at the sessions shall be reached, as much as possible, by consensus but where that fails, decisions will be reached by voting, and the views of the majority shall prevail. Voting shall be by show of hands or voice vote”. The statement noted that this will “ensure that all participants fully understand the issues before voting is conducted. The Steering Committee shall ensure that each item to be voted on is explained to the people in the language prevalent in the locality.” He added that “at the end of the sessions, each Steering Committee shall submit a video recording and written reports of the proceedings of the sessions to the Clerk of the Committee on the Review of the Constitution not later than seven days after the sessions”.

Eight die, 145 injured in another church bombing CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Tambuwal described the attack as “outrageous and senseless.” The Speaker made the remarks in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam. Tambuwal said: “The attack on innocent worshippers and other bystanders is both callous and senseless.” He called on Nigerians “to remain resolute and not to despair”, as according to him, “it is gladdening that security agents have made commendable strides in efforts to handle the menace of terrorism in the country in recent months.” He directed security agencies “to do more to destroy the ability of the terrorists to unleash mayhem on innocent, peaceful and

law-abiding Nigerians.” The Speaker in his condolence message to the families of the victims of the attack said: “the House of Representatives will continue to support all efforts aimed at securing lives and property of all persons in all parts of the country.” However, President Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, Mallam Shehu Sani, said the attack on worship centres was against civil liberty rights to religion. In his reaction, Sani appealed for calm, stressing that the northern region had suffered enough bloodshed. The state government also called for calm and urged the people to ignore rumours of reprisal for the church bombing. Senior Special Assistant (Media) to Governor Patrick

Yakowa, Mr. Reuben Buhari, in a statement made available to National Mirror, said that anyone caught spreading such false information would be made to face the full wrath of the law. He, however, condoled with those who lost their loved ones and properties in the blast. The state governmnet stressed that the security agencies were on top of the situation and assured residents of adequate security. In Bauchi, the timely intervention of soldiers prevented what would have been another bloodbath. National Mirror learnt that the Harvest Field Church, which was attacked by terrorists on June 3, was also targeted by men on motorcycles. It was learnt that as

church service was going on about 11a.m., the two would-be attackers who disguised as members came in a motorcycle and attempted to gain entry. However, the vigilance of the soldiers attached to the church thwarted their plan and forced them beat a retreat, which prompted the security men to go after them. The soldiers were said to have alerted the church security men to place iron barricade on the road to prevent the bombers access to the church. It was learnt that realising that the game was up, the bombers abandoned their motorcycle and took to their heels, with the soldiers in hot pursuit. An eyewitness said one of the attackers was arrested by the security men,

with the help of some good Samaritans at Yelwan Makaranta, while the other, suspected to be in possession of the explosives, escaped. It was gathered that the bomber made confessional statements to security men before he was taken to the Yelwa Police station with the abandoned motorcycle. In Yobe State, the Military Joint Task Force, JTF, yesterday recovered a cache of arms and ammunition in Pompomari ward of Damaturu, the state capital, following a tip-off about the presence of the Boko Haram’s arms warehouse. The raiding of the terrorists’ arms depot, our correspondent learnt, did not attract any exchange of gunfire between men of the JTF and Boko Haram sect members.

The recovery of arms was contained in a press statement of the JTF’s spokesman, Lt. Lazarus Eli, and made available to newsmen in Damaturu yesterday. Eli in the statement said: “Men of the JTF acting on tip-off raided a suspected terrorist arms store at Pompomari area of Damaturu; and recovered some arms cache without any exchange of gunfire or arrests,” adding that the arms and ammunition could have been abandoned by the fleeing suspected terrorists. “The recovered arms and ammunition include five units of Mac four rifles, a Fabrique Nationale (FN) rifle, a pump action rifle, four riot guns, one each of riot gun shoot range and tear gas; and several bows and arrows.”

News

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Opposition parties task NASS over corruption in oil sector CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Nigerian oil ministers (between 2008 and 2011) handed out seven discretionary licenses, with $183m signature bonuses missing from the deals; $1.5bn (in unpaid royalties) owed by Addax and N137.57bn debt owed by Shell for gas sold. CPC said that Nigeria is the only nation to sell all its crude through international oil traders rather than directly to refineries; deals usually enmeshed in opacity. He said: “The corruption in the oil industry has reached the crescendo in the 13-year reign of the PDP, with unbudgeted trillions of naira (ostensibly used in corrupting the electoral process in 2011). “The infernal nature of the corruptive tendencies in the oil industry (under PDP) is seen in the pains inflicted on the Nigerian people in getting unfettered access to petroleum products for their daily needs. Worse still, despite a six-time increments in petroleum pump prices (between 1999 and 2007), the PDP governments produced, thus far, seemed unfazed about hurts and the pains inflicted by the heist and the deliberate purloining of the Nation’s oil resources (under their watch). It is, without doubt, the reason that a new generation of people has been ennobled into the super-rich Nigerians, on behalf of the rest of us. “In all of this, it is bewildering to contemplate the fact that a report submitted to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, since late August is still said to be a mere draft, without clear timelines on when the final document would be submitted. “Is the Honourable Minister showing, with her body language, that this administration is only interested in laying sub-

terfuge for an anti-corruption war in the oil industry that it does not intend to pursue with scrupulous diligence? “The party warns that, like all other reports that have remained unimplemented, this must not suffer the same fate. “It is our considered opinion that it serves the greater good that, being a mono-economy, the government must be seen in supporting efforts at maintaining probity in the oil industry.” In the same vein, the ANPP said it is worrisome that NNPC gets an allocation of 445,000bpd of crude oil to refine locally but has ended selling itself this oil at cut-down prices, a practice which cost Nigeria $5bn dollar in potential revenue between 2002 and 2011. The party in a statement by its spokesman, Emma Eneukwu, said that the Presidency had tried to water down the gravity of these revelations by saying that because the Ribadu Committee had not formally submitted its report to the appropriate authority, the report in the public domain is suspicious. “We wish to ask whether the Leadership newspaper report of a forged Export Clearance Permit of more than $1.5bn is also suspicious. Or the letter written by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga to President Goodluck Jonathan, promising to investigate the source of the discovered fake document in his Ministry and brief the president accordingly. “On the other hand, we believe that the people have a lot to fear from the government if 24 million barrels of crude oil can afford to leave the shores of this nation under suspicious circumstances. We

L-R: Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu; Chairman, Mr. Dick Kramer and Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsina Ekere, during their courtesy visit to Government House, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State at the weekend.

are also aware that coupled with the Reuters report of graft in the NNPC, what we are faced with is capable of ridiculing us in the comity of nations. “The ANPP therefore submit that instead of trying to sweep this glaring and damning disclosure under its long-worn carpet, this present PDP government should own up to the decade-old daylight robbery of the whole Federation, and apologise to the hapless Nigerian citizens who are the unfortunate victims. This is when the nation, as one body, shall then go after all the indicted officials, companies, private individuals and multinationals who have participated in the great rip-off of Nigeria. “We also call on the National Assembly to look into this indicting report in order to ascertain the true situation of things, and most importantly to ensure that the so-called committee set up to look into the Ribadu Committee’s report does not cover up vital facts which will help to exorcise the demon of corruption sucking the

blood of this great nation with NNPC as the siphon,” he said. Meanwhile, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has called on the International Anti-corruption Conference, IACC, holding its 15th session next week in Brazil to withdraw any invitation for the participation of Nigeria “if the government does not ensure full accountability and justice for the complicity of government officials and multinational oil companies over the loss of tens of billions of dollars in oil and gas revenues over the last decade.” In a statement dated October 28 and signed by SERAP’s Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organisation stated that “Nigerian government officials should not be allowed to participate in an important event like the IACC meeting while senior government officials and multinational oil companies act with almost absolute impunity and continue to divert oil and gas revenues into private pockets rather than

for the common good. It is not only immoral but also unlawful and amounts to an outright stealing of the commonwealth of our people and a serious violation of human rights. “The Ribadu report has aptly illustrated the systemic nature of corruption and impunity of perpetrators. Setting up countless panels has not and will not produce any tangible result. Unless international pressure is brought to bear, it is unlikely that any serious action will follow this embarrassing indictment. Citizens’ efforts to stand up for human rights, good governance, transparency, accountability, and the rule of law will only be successful if complemented by international action and solidarity,” the organization also stated. The organization said it “has been invited to make presentation at the IACC event in Brazil, and we will make the full accountability and recovery of the missing oil and gas revenues documented by the Nuhu Ribadu report a cardinal point of our pre-

sentation at the meeting.” The organisation also said that, “The Conference should call on the Nigerian government to officially release the report; and bring to justice suspected perpetrators whatever the political, social or economic status. The Conference should also urge the government to put in place mechanisms and codes of conduct to ensure that all of the country’s oil and gas licences and assets are granted and sold by public tender. Such a move would help prevent corruption and ensure the state gets the highest possible price for its natural resources.” “SERAP is also calling for all Nigeria’s natural resource revenues to be declared, including details on signature bonuses and licences. International codes of conduct for the operation and accountability of multinational oil companies operating in Nigeria should be urgently developed and implemented to address the continuing complicity of these bodies in corruption and resulting poverty in the country,” the organisation added.

We were about to take Holy Communion when bombers struck –Survivors CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

people died, and so many people were injured. I saw some people lying down flat within the church premises. “All of my four children were in the church when the incident happened, but my husband

was not in the church. They all sustained injuries. One is just four months old; I am 30 years old from Benue State.” National Mirror gathered that the affected children, who were attending Sunday School,

had been taken to the Garkuwan Hospital, Barau Dikko Specialists Hospital, St.Gerald Catholic Hospital as well as the 44 Army Reference Hospital in the metropolis. At Saint Gerald Catholic Hospital, the af-

fected Priest Rev. Father Michael Bonny Bazza’s car, a dark-coloured Honda (End of Discussion model) with number plate AE979ZKW, Kaduna) was parked in the hospital premises. Archbishop of the Kaduna Catholic Arch-

diocese, Bishop Mathew Man’oso Ndagoso while reacting to the incident enjoined Christian youths, especially Catholics to shun violence by carrying out any reprisal. He expressed concern why during the Sallah

celebration; there was nothing except on Sunday when the Church of God was attack by suicide bomber. Archbishop Ndagoso noted with sadness that children were mostly affected by the dastardly act.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

National News

Monday, October 29, 2012

FIRS rakes in N3.81trn, surpasses 2012 target TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

he Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, in the first nine months of the year, generated N3.81 trillion from oil and non-oil sources. The Director, Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS, Emmanuel Obeta, said in a statement that the amount represented about N21 bil-

lion higher than the N3.6 trillion provisional annual budget estimates, with oil taxes recording N2.399 trillion while non-oil sector got N1.406 trillion. A breakdown of the collection on month-by-month basis shows that N2.027 billion was realised in January, N2.691 billion in February, N3.133 billion in March, N2.721 billion in April and N3.044 billion in May. The figure recorded in June was N2.221 bil-

lion, N3.055 billion in July, N2.463 billion in August, while September accounted for N1.947 billion of the tax revenue. The 2012 figure represented a remarkable increase in tax collection which includes N1.172 trillion in the first quarter, N1.267 trillion in the second quarter and N1.366 trillion in the third quarter of the year under consideration. When analysed on yearon-year basis, the collection

represents an increased revenue collection performance of about N890 billion when compared with the total collection of N2.91 trillion of the corresponding period of last year. In 2011, FIRS recorded N955.19 billion in the first quarter, N985.30 billion in the second quarter and N974.65 billion for the third quarter, 2011. Meanwhile, the agency said it had remitted N23.30 billion tax revenue due to

the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, for the nine months in 2012. The amount, which represents Pay-As-You-Earn, PAYEE, and Personal Income Tax, PIT, collected from the residents of the territory, shows an increase in the figure when compared with N21.94 trillion remitted for the same period in 2011. The N23.30 billion remitted to the FCTA so far represents a considerable increase in the collection and remittance when viewed against the N23.24 billion total realisation in 2010. While disclosing its efforts to bring more potential taxpayers into the tax net through the establishment of Satellite Tax Offices, STO, across FCT major markets in 2012, the agency noted that there was the need for more collaboration and partnership among relevant stakeholders within the territory to expand the country’s revenue base. Part of FIRS effort is to improve taxpayers’ educa-

tion and services, processes and procedures as well as bring tax administration closer to taxpayers to enhance voluntary tax compliance. Statutorily, the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, Cap T2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2007 empowered FIRS to collect taxes on behalf of the Federal Government in FCT. First Schedule of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 provides the list of legislation administered by the Service to include Companies Income Tax Act Cap.60 LFN, 1990; Petroleum Profits Tax Cap.354 LFN, 1990; Personal Income Tax Act Cap. 104, 1993, Capital Gains Tax Act Cap. 42 LFN, 1990; Value Added Tax Act 1993 No. 102, 1993 and Stamp Duty Act Cap. 411 LFN, 1990. The Schedule went further in sub-sections (8), (9) and (10) to include: “All regulations, proclamation, government notices or rules issued in terms of these legislation.

RSUST: NANS kicks against fresh ASUU strike Deputy Comptroller, Makurdi Medium Prison, Mr. Friday Idachaba and wife of the Benue State governor, Mrs. Yemisi Suswam, during a gift presentation to the inmates of the prison in Makurdi, at the weekend.

IJEOMA EZEIKEA

FG’ll soon send infrastructure bill to NASS –Johnson

ISEOLUWA IGE, TOLA AKINMUTIMU AND ROTIMI FADEYI

etermined to protect investments in critical infrastructure, especially those committed to Information and Communication Technology, ICT, assets, the Federal Government is working on an Executive Bill to penalise wilful attacks on such infrastructure. In addition, the bill, which may be forwarded to the legislature in the next 90 days, is also to prove to investors that the Federal Government is determined to protect such capital-intensive assets as more of them are eyeing the country, as preferred choice of investments in the years ahead. The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, who disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent, said the need for an enabling law to protect

the infrastructure had become imperative in view of recent violent attacks by the terrorists group on telecommunications base stations and other facilities in parts of North. The ugly development, according to her, cannot be allowed to continue in view of the negative signals it may send to the global investment community. Johnson added that the Federal Government was not only worried about the spate of the attacks but also determined to contain them with appropriate legal instrument. The minister explained that the National Infrastructure Bill would protect the ICT facilities for the country to continue to make significant progress in the industry. She said: “We are working with the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, to prepare a draft. We want it to be an executive bill, we will get the draft out in the next two or three months and we will have a

stakeholder consultation as we work on the bill and we take it to the National Assembly. Johnson disclosed that before the bill is forwarded to the National Assembly, key stakeholders in the ICT industry would be consulted to enable them make inputs. The minister explained that there were opportuni-

ties for investment in the ICT industry, adding that if properly harnessed, it could contribute six to seven per cent to the Gross Domestic Product, GDP. Johnson, who also spoke on the $100 million Chinese loan, said the facility would help to provide ICT infrastructure for the public sector governance through the Galaxy Backbone project.

10 die in Lagos boat mishap MURITALA AYINLA

ragedy struck yesterday in Otto Awori Local Council Development Area, LCDA, of Lagos State as a boat capsized, killing all the 10 people on board. The tragedy, the second in the council this year, threw Imude community into mourning. The accident occurred about 11am when violent waves overpowered the boat and turned it upside

down. The passengers, it was learnt, were going to Imude from Idoluwo. Confirming the incident, the General Manager, Lagos Emergency Management Authority, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said five bodies had been recovered from the river. At press time, frantic efforts were on to recover the remaining bodies. Ten pupils and two women died in a boat mishap on February 13 at Ojota community in the same LCDA.

ABUJA

he National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has opposed another attempt by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to embark on a solidarity strike over the reappointment of Professor Barineme Fakae as acting vice-chancellor of the River State University of Science of Technology, RSUST. In a statement signed by its President, Dauda Muhammed, NANS warned that students would be at the receiving end, if the union staged another strike, as it would further disrupt the already disjointed academic calendars on Nigerian campuses. Muhammed said students should be left out of the internal political dispute in the university. He said: “NANS wishes to register its displeasure at the decision of ASUU to embark on a nationwide solidarity strike in respect of the long drawn dispute between the RSUST chapter of

the union and the Rivers State Government over the reappointment of the university’s vice-chancellor. “It is worrisome to imagine this fresh attempt at further disrupting the already disjointed academic calendars on Nigerian campuses on the basis of an internal political dispute in a university. “It is our opinion that ASUU takes into consideration that Nigerian students, who are no parties in the dispute, are usually being made to bear the brunt of the consequences of their industrial actions. “As far as we are concerned, the River State Government, who is the proprietor of RSUST, reserves the right to either appoint or otherwise, who administers the university while ASUU, particularly the RSUST chapter, should also be reminded that there are other stakeholders including students in the university and hence should not assume the monopoly of determining how the university is administered.

South West

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Four die, three injured in Ogun auto crash FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

t was another black Sunday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital as four person were killed in an accident which occurred at the entrance gate of the governor’s office at Oke-Mosan along Kobape -Siun-Shagamu dual carriage way.

The accident, which occurred yesterday afternoon, involved a Toyota Tundra jeep with registration number (Lagos) FC 787 LND and Nissan Primeria car marked (Lagos) FC 914 LSR in which three other persons were critically injured. Eye witnesses told National Mirror that the jeep, which was on its

way from Sagamu on top speed, veered off the road, crossed the median and hit the Nissan cab with seven occupants who were on their way to Sagamu. It was further learnt that the driver of the jeep was receiving a telephone call while on high speed when he suddenly approached the speed breaker in front of the

governor’s office. As he suddenly applied brake, he lost control of the vehicle and swerved to the other lane where he rammed into the oncoming Sagamu-bound cab. The Abeokuta Zonal Commander of the Ogun Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Deji Daodu, who led a team of offi-

cials to the scene, told National Mirror that the Tundra jeep veered of the road, hit an electric pole, somersaulted and landed on the cab. Sympathisers, however, used axe to cut the car into pieces before the mangled bodies of the victims could be removed from the wreckage Also, the rescue teams

of the Ogun State Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDS) and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) visited the scene to assist TRACE. The dead have, however, been deposited at the morgue, while the injured were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) at Idi-Aba, Abeokuta.

Mudashiru’s widow petitions police over husband’s property K AYODE KETEFE

L-R: Wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun; Chairperson, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Business Women Group, Iyalode Alaba Lawson and Guest Speaker/National Chairman, Institute of Exports in the United Kingdom, Mr. Douglas Tweedle, during the workshop on “Empowering Women through Non-oil Exports”held in Abeokuta, at the weekend.

he widow of the former Military Administrator of Lagos State, Commodore Gbolahan Mudasiru, Foluke, has petitioned the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 11, accusing some people of claiming benefits accruable to her husband by false pretences. In the petition written by her solicitor, Chief Robert Clarke (SAN), Mrs. Mudasiru said that some people, who claimed to have legal

Fire: Fashola orders traders to keep off disaster scene •We lost N1.2bn goods –Occupants MURITALA AYINLA

overnor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State yesterday ordered restriction of movement at the scene of Saturday’s fire at Euro Asia Plaza, Breadfruit Street on Lagos Island. Fashola took the decision to allow fire service men put out the fire completely, even as he sympathised with traders over the incident. The governor, who described the order as a necessary step to avert further disaster resulting from collapse of the building, said it would allow engineers determine the structural strength of the building. He, however, ordered arrest of anyone who flouts the order. A five-storey building located on 10/12 Breadfruit Street in Central Lagos, housing wholesale and retail shops as well as a branch of a commercial bank, was engulfed by fire late afternoon on Satur-

day with the two top floors collapsing on each other, destroying property worth several millions of naira. As at 7:am yesterday, fire service men operating atop a Bronto Skylift aerial ladder firefighting equipment were seen battling to combat the fire on the fourth and fifth floors of the building. Addressing journalists after inspecting the extent of damage, Governor Fashola said it was expedient to cordon off the entire street on which the building stands for the safety of all and to ensure that no life was lost as no one could yet determine the structural strength of the damaged building. He said: “At this stage, we are still battling with the fire. We are yet to know the strength of the damaged building, but the paramount thing is to minimise the loss. “I have asked the Divisional Police Officer here to cordon off the street. Our engineers will come

to determine the structural strength of the damaged building”. Addressing traders and other stakeholders in the area later, the governor appealed to them to cooperate with the police and the fire service men by being patient. Fashola, accompanied by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed; the Special Adviser on the Central Business District, Mrs. Derin Disu and other senior government officials, urged those living or doing business around the building to keep a safe distance until engineers assess its strength. Meanwhile, occupants of the building lost goods estimated at over N1.2 billion in the incident. Chairman of the Plaza, Mr. Greg Azubuogu, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos. He said that the fivestorey building on Breadfruit Street, Lagos Island, housed a branch of the

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, warehouses, shops and offices. Azubuogu, who owns a shop in the plaza, told NAN that the fire may have been caused by a spark from electrical wires in the building. “I think that it is an electrical spark that caused the fire because Saturday was a weekend and a holi-

day. ``We take preventive measures whenever we are closing for the day at the plaza. “We normally switch off the control switch, but the fire started from the warehouse on the fourth floor. “It is like the cartons in the warehouse aided the spark, as well as the spread of the fire,” he said.

right to represent her late husband, were using a company called Cordros Capital Ltd to claim millions of naira in shares and dividends accruable to her husband estate. She, therefore, called on the police to investigate what she described as fraudulent attempt to deny the late Mudasiru’s estate of its due entitlements. A part of the petition, which was made available to National Mirror, read: “It was brought to our attention that a company named Cordos Capital of the above address has sought, by the employment of false pretences, to claim millions of naira in shares and dividends accruing to the estate of our client’s late husband from Kabel Metal Plc, one of the companies in which our client’s late husband had considerable holdings. “The Cordos Capital claims that it is acting under the instructions of a group who claim that they are executors and trustees of our client’s late husband.”

Ban on Okada in Lagos will stem accidents –Traders

ome traders have praised the Lagos State Government for banning commercial motorcycles popularly called “Okada,’’ saying the decision would reduce road accidents to the barest minimum. The traders, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday, commended the government for prohibiting commercial motorcycles from operating on some highways in certain parts of the state. They said the measure was part of efforts to reduce road accidents across the state. A trader at the Balo-

gun Plaza Trade Fair, Mrs Iyabo Ogundare, said that the ban on commercial motorcycles was in the public interest. She said that although the ban had created inconveniences for some commuters, it was still the best decision to restrict the operations of “okada” to certain areas. Ogundare noted that road accidents involving commercial motorcyclists had been so rampant, adding that motorcyclists were often very reckless. She said that it was better to ban the operations of commercial motorcyclists so as to enhance road safety. A trader at the Okokom-

aiko market, Mr. Chukwuma Oyema, told NAN that a large number of accidents on Lagos roads involved commercial motorcycles. He said a visit to the accident and emergency wards of some hospitals would make one to appreciate the ban on okada. “You need to observe the way these motorcycle operators ride on the highways. They ride their bikes with recklessness as if human lives have no meaning to them. “It is easy for people to condemn the ban on commercial motorcycles but I think people should pay routine visits to accidents wards of hospitals.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South West

Monday, October 29, 2012

Sallah day attack was premeditated –Oyo PDP KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

he Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday condemned the Eid-el-Kabir day’s attack on its members allegedly by the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, members at the Akobo, Ibadan residence of the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Abdulazeez Arisekola-Alao. The party described the attack “as a barbaric and predetermined state-sponsored act of gangsterism.” In a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary,

Hon. Kehinde Salawu, PDP expressed grave concern over the invasion of Arisekola-Alao’s house by members of the state chapter of NURTW at the same time Governor Abiola Ajimobi was visiting to pay his Sallah homage. Salawu said the coincidence of the time of arrival of Ajimobi and the NURTW members at the place when some PDP leaders were seated inside, coupled with the unchecked attack on the party loyalists by the transport union members, gave room for suspicion that the governor’s mission to the place was more than a visit.

FG releases 3.6m cocoa seedlings to farmers HAKEEM GBADAMOSI AKURE

he Federal Government has released about 3.6 million of seedlings of high-yield varieties of cocoa to farmers to increase the country’s cocoa production capacity. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, disclosed this at the presentation ceremony at Owena village near Akure, Ondo State. He said the government took the step to save the production of cocoa in the country which had dropped from being the second largest in the world, when it accounted for 20 per cent of global production, to its current fourth position with an abysmal 250,000 metric tonnes. The minister said the era of government neglect of the agricultural sector was over, adding that this was why the seedlings were given free to benefi-

ciaries. Adesina, who spoke through the South-West Regional Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Julius Odeyemi, said Nigeria “has a history of a prosperous, viable and vibrant cocoa industry in the past. The cocoa industry provided us with foreign exchange and revenue which built for us our enduring infrastructure, institutions and edifices. “It is sad to say, however, that due largely to the neglect of agriculture as a whole, the cocoa sector also suffered adversely and now, from being the second largest producer, we are a distant fourth. Even Indonesia has come from far behind and overtaken us with some 500,000 metric tonnes. “Many cocoa farms have been abandoned or converted to other uses. I am here today to tell you that this will not continue. This is the reason for the transformation agenda in the cocoa sec-

Globacom donates building to Ijebu school

ne of the leading telecoms operators in the country, Globacom, has donated a block of fully equipped classrooms to Ijebu Muslim School, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, as part of activities marking the 2012 Ojude Oba festival. The Globacom’s Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Mrs. Ben Ayede, said at the inauguration of the block of classrooms and an ICT laboratory on Saturday that this was one

of the many projects the company designed as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility drive. The company had during the Ojude Oba festival last year promised to deliver the block of classrooms to the school. Ayede said Globacom was committed to providing facilities that would assist Nigerian youths to be the best in their various endeavours as well as put them at par with their contemporaries across the world.

He disclosed that about 30 PDP loyalists injured in the attack were receiving treatment in various hospitals in the state. Salawu said the attack

was a prelude to what was being rehearsed by the state government to harass or intimidate the opposition parties. He said: “The attack is

an eye-opener to everyone in the state and it is important that the nation’s security agencies, particularly the Inspector General of Police take note of

the ugly development and take decisive measures. Indeed, it is imperative for the IGP to take immediate action to guide against future recurrence.”

Ekiti to boost healthcare delivery, plans to renovate hospitals ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

kiti State Government will soon begin the renovation of all primary and secondary health centres across the state to enhance service delivery in the health sector. The government also plans to remove congestion at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, EKSUTH, Ado-Ekiti. The Special Adviser to the governor/Director General, Bureau of Special Projects, Mr. Bayo Kelekun, said this in a statement is-

sued at the weekend by the bureau’s Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Mr. Dare Daramola. Kelekun said the renovation would include equipping the health centres, general and specialist hospitals across the state with modern medical facilities. He said the measure would give more indigenes of the state access to quality healthcare services and enable EKSUTH concentrate on complex healthcare services and its training activities. The special adviser said the project would be

undertaken under the second phase of Operation Renovate All Secondary Schools, ORASE, introduced by Governor Kayode Fayemi recently. He disclosed that the government had made a landmark achievement at EKSUTH with the construction of a stateof-the-art Accident and Emergency Unit and the renovation of the Male Surgical Wards. Kelekun added that the newly introduced Ambulance Service and the purchase of eight modern ambulances with intensive

care accessories would complement healthcare delivery at the grassroots. According to him, the proposed project will also add value to the Social Security Scheme for the elderly, which ensures a monthly stipend of N5,000 to every elderly and indigent individual above 65 years. He expressed the hope that the feat achieved with ORASE in the education sector would be replicated in the primary and secondary healthcare levels which would culminate in the decongestion of the tertiary healthcare subsector.

L-R: Special Adviser to the governor on Central Business District, Mrs. Derin Disu; Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola; Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed and others, during the visit to the Euro-Asia Plaza, a five-storey commercial building gutted by fire on Saturday on Breadfruit Street, Lagos, yesterday.

Don’t respond to provocation, Alaafin tells subjects he Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111, has

appealed to groups and individuals in the town not to take to the streets to protest the invasion of the town by the police on Sallah day. The police allegedly led

agos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, Senior Pastor, Household of God, Chris Okotie, and Senior Pastor, Revival Assembly, Aslem Madubuko, will be given awards for their contributions to humanity as part of activities marking the annual programme of the Ikeja chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN. The Chairman, Organising Committee of PFN, Deacon Oswald Olatunbosun,

said in a statement that the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Joke Orelope-Adefulire, Mr. Monday Ubani, ace radio presenter, Moyo Oyatogun, Pastor Femi Paul, Pastor Esosa Eze-Iyamu, Pastor Elishama Ideh and an industrialist, Mazi Sam Ohunbunwa, would also be honoured at the event. The event, according to Olatunbosun, will hold on November 9 at Jesus Evangelical Assembly, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.

KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

T Fashola, Okotie, others get PFN award L

the Baale of Ago-Oja, Alhaji Ganiyu Busari Ajiboye, to the praying ground, even after he had been directed to stop parading himself as a traditional chief in the community. The Alaafin gave the advice yesterday while hosting prominent indigenes of the town in his palace who paid him the traditional Sallah homage. He said the town could not afford to witness the breakdown of law and order, adding that the time had come for the Oyo State Government to do the right thing to ease the unnecessary tension in Oyo town. Following various court rulings barring Ajiboye from parading himself as an oba, the state govern-

ment had in June directed the Atiba Local Government to effect compliance with the judgements. However, the state police command said the man could not be evicted from his house, though he occupies the official residence of the Asipa of Oyo, a member of Oyomesi. Last Friday, however, the matter took another dimension when Ajiboye went to the Sabo praying ground for Sallah accompanied by an Armoured Personnel Carrier, APC, with fully armed mobile policemen. The Alaafin said: “The retinue of the security personnel spent the whole day, providing security for Ajiboye inside his residence.”

News

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Oil spill: Residents allege Delta gets committee to manage N500m flood fund A looming danger in Imo CHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

esidents of Umuedi in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State have raised the alarm over likely fire outbreak and genocide following the hurriedly cleaning up of oil spill that occurred at Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) pipeline, which bust three weeks ago. The spillage was said to have destroyed crops and farmlands in the local government. National Mirror learnt at the scene of the incident that the SPDC technical crew had hurriedly fixed the damaged pipes by welding, saying the incident may recur because of the hasty manner in which the pipes were mended. It was gathered that a similar repairs were hurriedly carried out in April 1997, but unfortunately the pipeline exploded in November 2001 which claimed over 15 lives, while several others were maimed. Investigation revealed that the people involved in the incidents have not till date, been compensated even when a court judgement awarded N4 billion compensation to the victims against SPDC, the oil company had refused to comply. Sources alleged that N900 million was paid as compensation two years ago, but a group of people connived with some SPDC management officials to pocket the money. A resident, who did not want his name mentioned, said: “SPDC has continued to destroy our lives and livelihood without regard to our wellbeing. We are like sheep

without Shephard, can you imagine we have a government that does not care if its citizens live or die?” However, the Imo State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Uwajimogu, described the incident as unfortunate, adding that a committee had been set up to look into the matter. He said: “We are aware of the matter. We know that N900 million was paid. This is what happens in our oil communities, the oil companies feed on the

greed of our leaders. Imagine N900 million was paid to a community, money that was supposedly paid into escrow account for the past two years, nobody knows where the money is.” When contacted, the Corporate Head of SPDC, Mr. Precious Okolobo, said: “SPDC is committed to cleaning up all spills from its facilities whether resulting from sabotage or from operational causes where communities grant access to do so.”

12-member committee chaired by a retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Francis Tabai, has been constituted by the Delta State Government to manage the N500 million flood fund released to it by the Federal Government. The committee will be inaugurated today by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan at the Government House, Asaba. According to an approval given by Uduaghan, the committee will manage the flood disaster and the post-flooding re-

habilitation of victims. Specifically, the committee will advise the government on the judicious utilization of the funds for the rehabilitation of persons displaced by the flood. Besides, the committee is expected to coordinate with other persons, organisations and donor agencies to raise additional funds to provide urgent relief for the flood victims across the state. Other terms of reference of the committee are:to put in place structures, support facilities and systems to bring suc-

L-R: PDP South West Vice-Chairman, Chief Segun Oni; FCT Minister of State, Ms. Olajumoke Akinjide, Minister of Police Affairs, Capt. Caleb Olubolade (rtd) and former PDP National Vice-Chairman, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, at the party’s caucus meeting in Ibadan, at the weekend.

cor to the flood victims in the state; and to plan and implement long term programmes for the rehabilitation of victims and manage the post-impact resettlement of the affected persons and communities. Other members of the committee include the renowned economist and activist, Prof. Pat Utomi; the chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the South-South, Archbishop God-Do-Well Awomakpa; an educationist, Mrs Florence Ehinlaye; Dr Thomas Okpaku; and Mr. Paul Enebeli, a pharmacist. Also in the committee are: Dr Asanuvwie S. Oberheri, representing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); Dr. M. O. Osarenkhoe, representing Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and Mr. Owen Mordi representing Nigerian Society of Engineers. The rest are: Mr. Olisa Ifeajika, representing Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ); Mr Oghenejabor Ikimi of the Forum for Justice and Human Rights Defence, Warri; and Mr. O. Onyeisi Nkenchor of the office of the Secretary to the State Government serving as the secretary to the committee.

Jacob Zuma hails Dickson for inculcating probity in governance OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

outh African President Jacob Zuma at the weekend praised Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, for inculcating probity and accountability in governance. Zuma commended the governor for investing in infrastructure and urged

investors from South Africa to take advantage of the conducive business environment provided by Dickson to invest in Bayelsa. The President, while relishing the bond between Dickson and Bayelsa residents, advised the governor to sustain his love for his people, saying: “A politician must always

be in touch with his people because politics starts and ends with the people.” Zuma, who hinted that he would be paying an official visit to Bayelsa State next year, spoke during a courtesy call on him by Dickson in Pretoria. Dickson was in South Africa to interact with investors and sign letters of cooperation with Naidoo

and Associates Consulting Engineers and Construction Management Company and the Black Business Council which represents the 5th African Black Business Community. He also inspected the Bayelsa Development Corporation office billed to be commissioned in January. The governor thanked President Zuma for offer-

ing credible leadership to South Africans and conveyed President Goodluck Jonathan’s regards to him. Dickson advised African leaders to go beyond “political integration to integrate our people economically because it is when we build a strong economic base for our people that we can put food on their table.”

Visafone begins BlackBerry smartphones pre-booking today

he planned prebooking announced by Visafone Communication Limited during a joint press conference held last Wednesday in Lagos with officials of Research In Motion (RIM) for the sale of BlackBerry smartphones in Visafone’s 88 shops nationwide begins today. Already, existing and prospective customers who have long awaited the launch of the first

Code Division and Multiple Access (CDMA) BlackBerry smartphones on the network are excited at the new model of smartphones on offer and its promised superior quality of service. It will be recalled that Global brand, Research In Motion (RIM), Canadabased makers of BlackBerry smartphones and Visafone Communication Limited, Nigeria’s number one rated mobile operator for quality of service

by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), have signed an agreement for the launch of BlackBerry® services in Nigeria on Visafone’s Code Division and Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile network. This feat marked first-time availability of CDMA BlackBerry smartphones in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, and it is a first in Nigeria. At a joint press statement issued in Lagos last

Wednesday, the partners said the BlackBerry® Curve™ 9310, the BlackBerry® Curve™ 9370 and the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9930 smartphones will be available to customers from all the Visafone shops for pre-booking from Monday, October 29. It explained that the launch will benefit any Visafone customer that wants access to email, Internet and social networking apps, including BlackBerry® Messenger

(BBM™), Facebook®, Twitter™ and Social Feeds. The Regional Director for RIM in East, Central and West Africa, Mr. Waldi Wepener enthused that “We are proud to support the Nigerian mobile industry with the first-time availability of CDMA BlackBerry smartphones in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Our partnership with Visafone demonstrates RIM’s commitment to

working with key partners in Africa to bring the widest range of BlackBerry services to people that want to be connected across the continent.” Chairman and Founder of Visafone, Mr. Jim Ovia, said: “This partnership represents a big step forward in Africa’s mobile history and we are very excited to be at the forefront of such a ground-breaking development in the Nigerian market.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South South

Monday, October 29, 2012

Two inmates die in Ahoada prison jailbreak –Police We’ll get fleeing prisoners, says minister

OMEIZA AJAYI AND CHINEDUM EMEANA

wo inmates of Federal Prison, Ahoada, Rivers State, were killed on Saturday as security personnel foiled a jailbreak attempt by some prisoners. The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ben Ugwuegbulam, who confirmed the killing, said both inmates were shot when they attempted

to escape from the prison through the ceiling. He said: “At about 17 hours of 27th October 2012 inmates of Federal Prison, Ahoada attempted breaking out unlawfully from custody of the prison. “Ahoada Police Area Command swiftly mobilised to the scene and together with other security agencies cordoned off the entire perimeter of the prisons. “Consequently, the escaping inmates retreated to the confines of the prisons.

“Two of the inmates that tried escaping through the ceiling were shot at to prevent their escape and were fatally wounded in the process.” Ugwuegbulam said no inmates escaped, while assuring that the situation had been brought under control. However, the Rivers Prison Command spokesman, Mr. Alpheus Ottah, told our correspondent that the claim by the police that two inmates died

in the attempted jailbreak was not correct. He said the prison officials were almost through with their probe into the matter. Ottah also said that it was not a jailbreak attempt, but a few inmates who tried to disturb the prison. He said further details would emerge after the conclusion of investigation by the prison authorities. Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, has said that security agencies would track down four inmates who escaped

during the incident. He disclosed that security had been beefed up around the prison. Moro condemned the attack, saying that properties and some vital documents were burnt by the fleeing inmates. In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, George Udoh, the minister said: “Six prisoners, who were critically injured while being prevented by the security officers in the process of escaping from the prison, were taken to the hospital and they are now back in the prison.” Moro explained that the prisoners, who went on the rampage, broke the office of the Chief Warder, stole vital documents and

burnt some. He said: “Not only that, they vandalised the prison’s clinic and also pulled down the wall of the prison. “Measures have been taken to beef up the security in and around the prison and to recover the four escaped prisoners back into the prison. The Nigerian Prison Service is seriously on top of the situation as the service is working hard to restore peace to the area. “We want to appeal to the general public to cooperate with the present government in its bid to transform our prison service. The general public should also not hesitate to make available vital information to the security agencies to get rid of crime in our society.”

Abduction, robbery: Police arrest father, son, corporal, 10 others AMOUR UDEMUDE ASABA

L-R: Wife of former Vice-President, Mrs. Beatrice Ekwueme; Dr. Alex Ekwueme; wife of River State Governor, Mrs. Judith Amaechi and Governor Rotimi Amaechi at the 80th birthday thanksgiving service in honour of Ekwueme at St Paul’s Cathedral, Port Harcourt, yesterday.

Abducted expatriates’ whereabouts still unknown –Investigation abducted expatriates were responsibility for the abman-hunt for the gunmen. EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA

here is apprehension over the safety of the seven expatriate oil workers kidnapped about two weeks ago along Pennington River near Ezetu in Southern Ijaw Local Government area of Bayelsa State. The expatriates, six Russians and one Estonian, working for Bourbon International Oil Limited, were abducted by gunmen in their vessel with registration number Bourbon Liberty 249 on October 17. Bourbon International Oil is an oil servicing firm working for Total Nigeria Limited. Investigation by our correspondent yesterday showed that security agencies were yet to trace the location of the expatriates and their abductors, despite the military directives on the naval personnel to launch a

It was learnt that security agencies had spread their dragnets into the creeks in search of the kidnappers and the foreigners. Military sources, who confided in our correspondent yesterday, said the

yet to regain their freedom. It was learnt that colleagues, friends and families of the kidnapped oil workers are still gripped with apprehension over their continued incarceration. It was also gathered that no group had claimed

duction of the foreigners. Since the proclamation of amnesty for former militants in the Niger Delta by the Federal Government in 2009, kidnapping and attacks on oil installations in the region have reduced drastically.

olice have recorded a major breakthrough in Delta State with the arrest of a physically-challenged native doctor, his father, an Army Corporal and 10 suspected kidnappers. It was gathered that the native doctor, Oloma Onyemelem, and his father, Onwuka Onyemelem, were arrested following their allegedly involvement in the preparations of charms for the kidnappers. The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Charles Muka, who gave the names of the arrested suspected kidnappers and armed robbers as Anayo Anyanwu, Prince Bassey Okon, Kily Okorare, Jabin Uruemu, Austin Umukoro, Tega Odafe, Shedrack Efeuirobho and a

serving Army corporal, said they would soon be arraigned in court. According to the police image maker, the suspects are notorious kidnappers operating between Anambra and Delta states and were suspected to be responsible for the kidnapping of one Mrs. Onainwa in Ibuza and Mrs. Stella Emolieze at Ogwashi-uku in Delta State. Muka said the confession of some of the suspects led to the arrest of other members of their gang. He added that several items such as three AK47 rifles, 34 magazines, 914 ammunition, one single barrel, one English double barrel guns, one locally made pistol, 25 cartridges, 149mm ammunition, two battle axes, one Toyota Corolla, Golf cars and a Vento car were recovered from the suspects.

In Sylva’s community, Jonathan preaches peace, development EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA

resident Goodluck Jonathan at the weekend prevailed on former Minister of Science and Technology and paramount ruler of Okpoama community in Bayelsa State, King Ebitimi Banigo, to use his wealth of experience to ensure peaceful co-existence and rapid development of the community and the neighbouring towns. Jonathan made the call during Banigo’s corona-

tion at Okpoama in Brass Local Government Area of the state. He said: “The people of Okpoama should cooperate with the paramount ruler. There is the need for you to be at peace with your neighbours at all times to engender sustainable development in the area.” Former governor of the state, Timipre Sylva, who hails from Okpoama, was absent at the coronation ceremony. The President later unveiled the crown, while the Anglican Bish-

op of the Niger Delta West Diocese, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Oko-Jaja, conducted the crowning of Banigo as the Amanyanabo of Okpoama. Jonathan congratulated the paramount ruler on his successful coronation and pledged to support him to move the kingdom forward. Earlier, Governor Seriake Dickson lauded the people of Okpoama for their cooperation and peaceful disposition, which he said translated to the success of the ceremony.

The governor, who spoke through his deputy, John Jonah, urged the monarch to promote peace and harmony not only in the community, but in the entire state. In the same vein, the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Ameachi, commended the community for choosing Banigo as their traditional ruler and expressed the hope that the area would witness more progress under the monarch. In his address, Banigo pledged to work for the common good of the

people, stressing that the kingdom was poised to provide the enabling environment for well-meaning investors to harness its abundant resources with a view to becoming an industrial hub, especially in the gas and oil sector. He lauded the efforts of President Jonathan and the governors of flood-ravaged states to alleviate the suffering of the internally displaced persons. The monarch also expressed appreciation to all the guests who graced the coronation ceremony.

North

Ensure peace, security, Ahmed urges traditional rulers WOLE ADEDEJI ILORIN

overnor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has appealed to traditional rulers in the country to ensure peace in their domains, which was important to the country’s socio-economic growth. Ahmed made the call at the weekend at the Government House, Ilorin, when the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, paid him the traditional Sallah homage. The governor noted that despite government’s huge investments on infrastructure like water, electricity, roads and social services, threats to peace and tranquillity had often prevented people from enjoying the facilities. He said: “Though government has the clear responsibility of ensuring that people have access to the dividends of democracy, this will be a mirage without peace and tranquillity in the polity.” The governor commended the traditional rulers in the state for their support which had made governance smooth at both the local and state levels. Ahmed promised that the era of salary arrears that had hitherto bedevilled the local government system in the state would soon become a thing of the past because modalities were being put in place to arrest the trend. He also promised that his administration would remain committed to qualitative and efficient service delivery for the good of the state. The governor also commended security agencies in the state for the maintenance of law and order, stressing that every Nigerian must be a stakeholder in the security project of the country. Earlier, the emir assured the governor that the traditional institution in the state would remain steadfast in partnering the government to sustain peace in the state.

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Gang up against PDP not a threat –IBB PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

ormer Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, has said that the coalition of opposition parties against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, towards 2015 was not enough to raise concern within the party. Babangida also reaffirmed his membership of the PDP to deny the rumour that he was leaving

because of the way its affairs are being conducted. He described comments by some PDP members on the disruptive behaviour within the party as democratic. Babangida, who spoke in Minna, Niger State shortly after paying Sallah homage to Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu at his home, said in an interview that it was part of democracy for people to comment on anything

they observed. He said: “I believe complaint can be made by anybody... It makes things better. I think the party, considering the prevailing circumstances in the country, is trying its best. “They are doing fine. The party has the structure of a political party, it can go out to seek for votes and be voted for. They are doing exactly what a political party is supposed to do.” Speaking on the gang

up against PDP, Babangida said: “That is what political parties are all about. They struggle for power. Whether it is a gang-up or coming together, there is no cause for alarm. “They exist to struggle for power. Be it ganging up or coming together, there is no reason to fear at all,” he added. Babangida then called on the Federal Government, the governors, local government chairmen,

and the public to work collectively towards ensuring the security of lives and property of the people. Earlier during the visit to the governor, Babangida and the former Head of State, Gen. Abdulasalami Abubakar, stressed the need for everyone to continue to pray for the country’s peace and unity. Responding, Aliyu told the former heads of state that he would continue to tap from their wise counsel.

SSS arrests five for pipeline vandalism in Niger PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

L-R: Deputy Governor of Kwara State, Peter Kisra, Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and his wife, Omolewa, during the emir’s Sallah homage to the governor, at Government House, Ilorin, yesterday.

Commuters, motorists flee over Kaduna bomb attack

ommuters in different areas of the Kaduna metropolis were stranded yesterday, following the bombing of St. Rita’s Catholic Church in Angwar Yero, Bardarawa area of Malali, Kaduna. Commercial vehicles ran inside the bush, parks and police stations, because of fear of reprisal attacks over bombing of the church. Scores of commuters trekked from Sabo market to Television Garage,

while others trekked from Television Garage to Stadium Roundabout. Besides, many people trekked from Ahmadu Bello Way to Kawo and Kassuwa to Angwar-Rimi. Some of the commuters, who were soliciting the assistance of private motorists for ride to their various destinations, narrated their ordeal to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN. Mrs. Joy Onum, a resident of the Sabo neigh-

bourhood, said she and her three children trekked from NNPC Refinery Junction to Television Garage. She said: “My house at Gonigora is still far, but we were coming from our church in Kamazoo. I pray we get home because there is tension in the town.’’ Onum, however, said no commercial driver would be blamed for staying off the road, as the people had to play safe because of the fear of reprisal attacks. Another resident, Mr.

Bako Sunday, said the explosion had appreciably heightened tension in the city. He said: “We are afraid of further violence by irate youths because we have yet to fully recover from the June bomb-blast reprisal attacks.’’ Meanwhile, hundreds of residents have taken refuge at the Joint (Military) Task Force’s camp in Sabo, while others were seeking protection at Barnawa Police Station.

Give flood victims more attention, Bayero tells FG AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO

he Federal Government needs to alleviate the suffering of those who lost their homes and properties in the recent flood disaster, which ravaged some states in the country. The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, who made the appeal at the Kano State Government House yesterday, during Hauwan Nassarawa, which was part of activities

marking Eid-el-Kabir, commended the Federal Government’s efforts so far. He, however, said the government still needed to do more to cushion the effects of the pains and agony the victims were going through in various camps spread across the country. The emir, who was received on arrival by the Kano State Deputy Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, who represented Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, also commended the efforts of the

state government in providing relief materials to flood victims in parts of the state. Earlier in his speech, Ganduje acknowledged that peace had returned to Kano, an indication that God had answered the people’s prayers. To this end, he commended the efforts of the various security agencies for restoring peace and security to the state. He also told the emir that to transform Kano to a mega city because of its

population, services must be improved. Ganduje disclosed that the state government had taken it as a cardinal principle to improve the road network, transport system, water supply, electricity, healthcare services and more importantly to raise the standard of education. He said: “Kano, being the most populous state in the country, is blessed with the population. But instead of the population to be an asset, it can be a liability. With-

t least five people believed to be members of a vigilance group in Maje area of Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State are now in the custody of the State Security Service, SSS, for sabotaging petroleum pipeline. The suspects are Bola Kwafa, Isiaka Agboriabo, Yusuf Isah, Saidu Shuaibu, and Ibrahim Aho Ebine. They were arrested by SSS men at Mallam Karo village in Maje after they had broken the pipeline, using hammer and chisel and scooped about 180 jerrycans of Automated Gas Oil, AGO. A witness said the vandals caught in the early hours of Friday were members of the vigilance group in the area, but turned out to be a security threat to the people. The witness explained that because they were supposed to provide security, their action was a breach of the trust of the people.

out education, population is a liability and we do not want Kano to have a liability population. Therefore, we have introduced various measures to improve the standard and quality of education in Kano State.” On the visit with the emir were the various district heads of local government areas, commissioners, the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris, Senators, House of Representatives members and several other dignitaries.

NIGERIA @ 52

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Politics

Presidency, INEC responsible for sham in Ondo guber – Akinterinwa

resident Barack Obama yesterday cancelled his campaign stops earlier scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in Virginia and Colorado as a result of the impending landfall of Hurricane Sandy. The President will monitor the storm from the White House. Initially, Obama was to campaign with former President Bill Clinton in Prince William County, Virginia today as part of a three-state swing through political battlegrounds including Ohio and Florida. White House spokes-

Storm forces Obama to cancel campaign in Virginia, Colorado man, Jay Carney in a statement at the weekend said the Virginia stop has been cancelled along with a trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Tuesday. Carney said: “The president will return to the White House to continue to monitor Hurricane Sandy, which is currently forecasted to make landfall along the Eastern seaboard late in the day.

“The president is being regularly updated on the storm and ongoing preparations, and he has directed his team to continue to

bring all available resources to bear as state and local partners continue to prepare for the storm.” The cancellation of the

campaign in Virginia and Colorado has taken criticism off Obama that he is making politics a priority during a potentially devastating storm. This is coming when the race between the President and Republican Mitt Romney is tight. Romney scrapped plans to campaign in Virginia on Sunday, and switched his schedule for the day to Ohio. At a rally in Kissimee, Florida, he urged supporters to keep those in the storm’s path “in your mind and in your hearts.” “You know how tough hurricanes can be,” he told the Floridians.

Vice President Joe Biden also cancelled a Saturday rally in coastal Virginia Beach, Virginia, to allow local officials there to focus on disaster preparedness and local security concerns. But he went ahead with an appearance in Lynchburg, which is inland. Biden said Romney and Ryan are fleeing from their record to appear more moderate than they are. They “are counting on the American people to have an overwhelming case of amnesia.” Plans for Beau Biden, the Delaware attorney general, to join his father in Virginia were scrapped when he was called up by the National Guard to help with the storm. Campaign 2012 was serious business, with so little time left and the storm complicating the end game.

Ohio: Ryan’s economic hardship argument difficult to sell

R Obama speaks at a campaign rally in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Saturday.

Romney woos Florida’s voters, Obama eyes NH

ith just eight days left in an extraordinarily tight race, President Obama and Republican Romney are scrambling for the votes of Florida and New Hampshire. While Obama is eager to get the votes in New Hampshire, Romney is making a plea for bipartisanship before early voters in Florida on Saturday as Obama worked to nail down tiny New Hampshire’s four electoral votes. Obama hauled his campaign to New Hampshire, where he told volunteers at a Teamsters hall in Manchester: “We don’t know how this thing is going to play out. These four electoral voters right here could make all the difference.”

It takes 270 electoral votes to win the election. Obama is ahead in states and the District of Columbia representing 237 electoral votes; Romney has a comfortable lead in states with 191 electoral votes. The rest lie in nine contested states that are too close to call, New Hampshire among them. Obama adjusted his campaign speech at a Nashua rally to appeal to voters in low-tax New Hampshire, hammering Romney for raising taxes and fees as governor of neighbouring Massachusetts. He accused Romney of running in Massachusetts on a pledge to lower taxes, then making life more expensive for the middle class after taking office.

“All he’s offering is a big rerun of the same policies,” Obama told a crowd of 8,500 gathered at an outdoor rally on an unseasonably warm October day. He said Romney even raised fees in Massachusetts on obtaining a birth certificate, “which would have

been expensive for me.” Romney’s trip to Florida, with three events across the state, was timed to coincide with the first day of in-person early voting in a state that went for Obama four years ago and where 29 electoral votes are up for grabs this time.

epublican vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan told an Ohio rally on Saturday about a friend’s financial hardship, but his party’s narrative that President Barack Obama has failed on the U.S. economy may be a difficult sell in the crucial battleground state. “I’ve got a buddy who was making 25 (dollars) an hour who went to make 9 dollars an hour as a cashier at a gas station temporarily with no benefits. That’s the story of the American economy right now,” Ryan told a crowd of 1,000 people at an excavator factory. With the tight presidential race potentially com-

Obama hits Romney on Wall Street, medicare

resident Barack Obama’s re-election campaign released a harsh new ad Saturday that accuses Republican rival Mitt Romney, of looking to roll back regulations on Wall Street, turn Medicare into a voucher system, and slash education funding. The 30-second ad cast the incumbent in a defensive light – someone fight-

ing to hold onto cherished programmes, not to propose new reforms. The Obama commercial, set to run in Florida, Iowa, Ohio, and Virginia, distills Obama’s main argument for re-election: that the former Massachusetts governor will gut programmes that help the middle class in favour of wealthy Americans and big banks.

“Romney’s plan rolls back regulations on the banks that crashed our economy. Medicare, voucherised. Catastrophic cuts to education. Millionaires will get one of the largest tax cuts ever. While middle class families pay more. That’s what Romney wants to bring here. Remember that when you go here,” the ad stated.

ing down to a contest over Ohio and its prize of 18 electoral votes, the question of whether the state is in good shape economically is vital. The Midwestern manufacturing state, where latest polls show Obama holding a slim lead over Republican challenger, Romney before the November 6 election, has an unemployment rate of 7 per cent, below the national average of 7.8 per cent. In Tuscarawas County, where New Philadelphia is located, the jobless rate in September was 5.9 per cent, down two 2 points from September 2011. Obama beat Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the county four years ago. Appearing in Zanesville on Saturday afternoon, Ryan’s argument about the sputtering economy was given a partial rebuke from a surprising source: Ohio’s Republican governor, John Kasich. “You know the situation here in our state, as you know, we’re doing better,” Kasich said in his introduction to Ryan, at the start of a two-day, eight-stop bus tour of Ohio.

Politics

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Presidency, INEC responsible for sham in Ondo guber – Akinterinwa

Wale Akinterinwa was a Commissioner of Finance in the Olusegun Mimiko administration in Ondo State. The Coordinating Director of the Independent National Campaign Network of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in this interview with OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU, x-rays the Ondo State governorship election held on October 20 and came out with the conclusion that the process was predetermined to achieve a desired end. Excerpts:

The Ondo State governorship election has come and gone, what is your assessment of the poll? The election has come and gone, but I am not sure it is over yet. Unlike the Edo governorship poll which was adjudged to be free and fair by all the parties involved, to my surprise, what we witnessed in Ondo State was far cry from being free and fair and transparent. If anything, we have witnessed an election that was conducted in a manner to achieve a particular end, which is what we are witnessing by the victory of the Labour Party (LP). It is evidently clear without any iota of doubt that there was collusion at various levels of this election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which should have been an unbiased umpire, I want to believe was compromised. A lot of issues about rigging, with regards to the voters’ register came to the fore. A situation where there was unusual increase in names on the voters’ register was a pointer and this was one of the issues that were raised before the election, but was not addressed by the Resident Electoral Commissioner. Also, the role of the security agencies was very questionable and it became painful, because we had thought that the security agencies would play the role of an unbiased arbiter. They were meant to come to protect the integrity of that electoral process, but to my surprise, we found out that they were also very partisan. And the revelation was that despite the promises of the president and the leadership of the security agencies, that they would provide adequate security, they only did window-dressing provision of security. They made sure that they put security men in the cities, but in the rural areas, where we know that the party in power was going to do a lot of havoc, because, it has a lot of thugs and people it uses for such purposes, we found out that there was no security at all. It was worrisome in a lot of the rural areas where there was a large population of voters; one cannot find any security agent. On the Thursday preceding the election, there was heavy presence of security in the rural areas, but by Friday night to the morning of Election Day, the security agents have disappeared and that was very strange. And for me it was quite interesting. And the annoying part, or call it the interesting part of the saga, was the security agents in the city started hounding members and supporters of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In the urban centres, you find LP members going gloves in hands with the security agents and the moment they point to any of our people at the various polling units, the security agents would just move in on them and arrest them for no just reason. There were cases of where those arrested were put in the security agents’ vehicle and were driven around town until after the election before they were released. And those arrested were supposed to be our members who were to be supervising the conduct of the election in certain areas. That now put a lot of fears in our people and this further prevented them from coming out to exercise their franchise. There were blatant cases of brutalisation of ACN members by the security agencies. For example in Idanre,

process, what is the next step the ACN would be taking on the Ondo poll? Our candidate has spoken and some members of the national leadership have spoken as well. And like they said, they are still reviewing the entire situation and I am sure very soon the party will come out with its position, but one thing is very clear, the election has not been free and fair and the credibility of the process has been put to question. Also the credibility of the documents used for the election, like the voters’ register as I said earlier is questionable. For instance, we had a situation where someone’s number on the voters’ register in the 2011 election was 407 only for him to now become number 257 in the register used for the poll this year. What kind of inclusion or revision of the register would have accounted for the over 250 places up, especially when people were not allowed to register. Yes, I agree that some people transferred their registration down to Ondo State, but would such transfer in a unit affects the register so much that somebody’s number would have to move to over 250 spaces? These are all the indices that showed that the process has been compromised.

Akinterinwa

the thugs of the LP moved into the rural areas and unleashed mayhem on the people, attacked ACN members and supporters, shot at them, wounded a lot and drove them out of town. They not only drove out our people and party agents, they also drove out the residents in the rural communities. There were lots of cases of ballot stuffing; there were lots of cases of disenfranchisement of the people. There were lots of these flagrant violations of the extant laws. Also in Ifedore and even in Akure, the state capital, we had situations where soldiers were hounding our people. When they drive people away, before you know it, the LP people moved in and wreck the havoc they had planned to do and left after which the soldiers would now return. I must state that in the April 2011 general election, we had more military presence than we had in this last election and like I said, on Thursday we saw them everywhere, but by Saturday morning, they had disappeared from the rural areas where their services were mostly needed and that tells me that there is some collusion, even at the highest level of the military command. The police was an eyesore. It was so bad that a lot of polling units did not have police presence. In some, at best, you find one Civil Defence officer and where you find the police, he did not even carry a baton, not to talk of weapon and when there is crisis, he simply turns away and move further down away from the unit. All these further tell us that there was collusion to arrive at a pre-determined end and also put to question the credibility of the process. With the anomalies you have highlighted in the electoral

I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT THE PRESIDENCY CANNOT ABSOLVE ITSELF FROM CULPABILITY IN THE SHAM OF AN ELECTION

ONDO STATE ON OCTOBER 20

THAT TOOK PLACE IN

In other words, you believed your party was rigged of the Ondo governorship poll. Like somebody had said, the rigging in Ondo State was scientific, but there were some things that happened that was not scientific, because we saw collusion, we saw a situation where all the agencies involved in the election worked in tandem to ensure that a particular party emerged victorious in the election. There were cancellations of election results in the strongholds of opposition parties. Chaos was created in the strongholds of opposition parties. And there was a systemic media propaganda that preceded that election that also brought us to the conclusion that we saw on October 20. I know that results were cancelled in places like Ilaje, Akure and even in the North Senatorial District, where the ACN was deemed to be very strong on ground and was expected to win overwhelmingly, results were cancelled in some of the units there. And all manners of funny and strange reasons were adduced for the cancellation. You discover also that they intentionally delayed the voting in some of these areas also in order to disenfranchise a lot of our followers and supporters. So, all these pointed to a strategic plan to ensure that the LP emerges. And I think that this collusion goes right up to the Presidency, that is my belief and conviction, even though the president’s party was running in the election, I strongly believe that the Presidency cannot absolve itself from culpability in the sham of an election that took place in Ondo State on October 20. Why do you think President Goodluck Jonathan would support the candidate of another party at the expense of his own party’s candidate? Prior to the election, we all know that Olusegun Mimiko had been doing everything to be in the good books of the president. We are not unaware of his activities to ensure that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state is not in harmony; we are not unaware of his activities to cause crisis and create division in the state chapter of the PDP; but that is really none of our business, because we see them as birds of the same feather, because Mimiko himself came out of the PDP, but all I am saying is that it was evidently clear that there was all manner of collusion and collaboration to achieve a predetermined end, which they succeeded in doing. You can also see that they ensured that the ACN came third in the election, that was also part of the master plan and it was for a purpose. Because, up until 4a.m. on Sunday October 21, the ACN was in second position, before they said they were closing for the day to reconvene at 10a.m. and by the time they reconvened, everything had changed.

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Views

Monday, October 29, 2012

Demonic demolition of houses

he horrific conspiracy of the Senate and FCT Minister Bala Mohammed to demolish 140,000 private housing units in Abuja is similar to a Bible chronicle in Luke 10 in which church ministers vehemently opposed Jesus healing a woman on a Sabbath day. One would have thought that the Synagogue rulers would join the healed woman to praise the Lord. Not so. As if the Abuja bureaucracy maintains the sanctity of the Abuja Master Plan, the Synagogue leaders maintained the six-day work as God did and rested on the seventh, a Sabbath day, sacrosanct, and nobody works or farms. Calling them hypocrites who pretend to keep the law, Jesus asked them if on a Sabbath, they would not rescue their cow from a ditch or water and feed their livestock. Mum was the response. Jesus wondered why anyone should oppose freeing from bondage a woman possessed by Satan for 18 years. The Sabbath of the Old Testament was made for (to serve) man, and not man becoming a servant to Sabbath. The Scripture explains that the adversaries went away downcast. But will the greedy Senators and others eyeing land on which peoples’ demolished houses were built be ashamed after understanding that the Abuja Master Plan was made for man and not man for the plan? Is this master plan for angels or man and is man to be sacrificed for the Sabbathic Master Plan regulation? Lagos State Government under the civilized administration of Bola Tinubu and Babs Fashola, have demonstrated good conscience by sacrificing master plan for man plan and asking developers and property owners

to regularize title to land by paying token fines rather than satanic demolition. The Destroyer of Hope, Bala Mohammed, the Federal Capital Territory Minister, boasted last month that he has destroyed 124,000 housing units, worth billions of naira, outdoing his predecessor, Nassir el-Rufai’s demolition of 30,000 private housing, which lands were allegedly shared to friends and relations. FCT authorities are yet to prove fakery of documents presented by the estate developers approving the land for development. Reports say that bulldozers began demolition two days after Senator Smart Adeyemi in charge of Senate committee on FCT, allegedly played a smart one by broadcasting on radio, that the land on which the destroyed Lugbe Estate was built allegedly belonged to the Senate. However, where were the Senate and FCT when the buildings were at foundation levels, to when they were roofed only to now suddenly wake up? Is this not hypocritical mischief ? After the properties on the disputed Senate land had been destroyed and FCT authorities are threatening to destroy other 37 residential property estates in Abuja, the greedy and sleepy Senate woke up to halt further demolitions. The Senate committee of Smart Adeyemi (Kwara North), who reportedly supervised the demolition, is now meeting gloating FCT officials and mourning developers for “further investigations”. Which manner of Senate is this that probes a case after beheading? Can a biased Adeyemi headed committee be trusted with unraveling the truth in a matter he is interested? If peradventure, he does, who pays for the de-

THE TACTICS OF

FRUSTRATING NONINDIGENE INFIDELS FROM PROPERTY OWNERSHIP IN THE NORTH IS NOT NEW molished properties? Will those who paid N15 million each for two-bedroom flat to the developer be amused that their money has been burnt by their representatives who ought to protect their interests? How does one rationalize a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government that has failed woefully to redress the nation’s 17 million housing deficits, in 13 years of controlling central government, but is happy to destroy 124,000 flats built from citizens’ sweat and blood and planning to destroy more? Is this a variant People Destroy People (PDP)? How does a government that has openly implored the private sector to cover its shame and bail it out of its incompetence now turn round to destroy private housing investments worth billions of naira? Imagine the demolition of N10 billion worth of 500 2-bedroom housing units built for desperate citizens who already paid to Minanuel Investment Limited. The Lugbe demolition supervised by Senators, hints that the so-called master plan is a smokescreen to expropriate and share out the land for dollar spending rags-to-riches

Roadmap SONI EHI

ASUELIMEN

soniasuelimen@yahoo.com, 08023459055 (SMS ONLY)

for which CBN Sanusi Sanusi is producing N5000 notes. The jihadist fervor of demolition fuels suspicion of haramic terrorism to provoke hate and make the country ungovernable. The tactics of frustrating non-indigene infidels from property ownership in the north is not new. Nevertheless, Abuja is a no-man’s-land that cannot be claimed by any ethnic group by law, as original Gwari settlers have been compensated and relocated. Despite the FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed admitting that he had suspended the demolition exercise in respect President Gooduck Jonathan’s plea, and in honour of the just concluded Muslim Ramadan fast and public backlash, the minister still vows to demolish the remaining 37 housing estates, thus lending credence to possible hidden political agenda, which should be nipped. The House of Representatives is invited to conduct an impartial investigation into this sordid matter, while developers and innocent house owners seek justice in court.

President Jonathan and the Floods REUBEN ABATI

arring any other development of equally impactful effect, the great event of the year 2012 for Nigerians would probably be the floods that submerged many communities across the country, forcing a rude awakening about the reality of climate change and Nigeria’s share of this global phenomenon. Which is ironic in one sense more than any other, for when President Jonathan travelled to Rio de Janeiro to attend the Earth Summit, known as Rio+20, in June, many had criticized him for paying attention to “an irrelevant subject.” The principal lesson lies in how Nigeria shares with the rest of the world, the increasing challenge of climate change and its consequences, described in the Rio+20 document as “an immediate and urgent global priority.” The floods were caused according to the experts by excess rainfall, which resulted in the overflooding of Rivers Benue and Niger and their tributaries, from Taraba, to Adamawa, Kogi, all the way to the states of Southern Nigeria. Natural disasters had always seemed to the average Nigerian like something that affects other people, and seen on CNN, and if there had been any knowledge of floods, it was regarded as something rare, occurring as a marginal reminder of the Biblical Flood. But this year, the floods reminded us all of how vulnerable our lives have become, and the sameness of both the rich and the poor in the face of natural disaster. Houses were submerged, farmlands were flooded, persons were displaced; the rich and the poor cried. This conflict between man and nature playing out on our shores, underscored the

EVERYWHERE HE WENT, THE PRESIDENT TOOK A MESSAGE

OF HOPE, ADVISING THE VICTIMS NOT TO COMMIT SUICIDE pivotal place of environmental challenges in the unmaking of human habitats. With water, an indispensable resource unleashing its power, the ordinariness of every man was exposed. Steven Solomon writes sentiently in his book Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization (2010), that “by grasping the lessons of water’s pivotal role on our destiny, we will be better prepared to cope with the crisis about to engulf us all.” That pivotal role is ambiguous. We had failed to pay attention to this. In many of the affected communities, houses had been built on riverbeds, along flood plains, and reclaimed land, and for decades, persons had gotten used to living in those places, naturally and successfully, having no reason whatsoever to imagine the kind of tragedy that crept upon the land this year. When the floods finally recede, many of the affected houses would no longer be habitable: adjustments have to be made by both people and the authorities. In the meantime, we can look back, with pleasure, on the quality leadership that was demonstrated in managing the effect of the floods and in providing immediate relief for the affected persons. The incident brought government closer to the people; it highlighted the value of strategic institutions such as the National Emergency Management Agency, which deployed

human and material resources nationwide, and worked with other agencies such as the Red Cross, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and the state governments to ameliorate the people’s suffering. Deservedly, NEMA has received fulsome praise for its efforts. Needless to state that NEMA and other government agencies were responding to a strong charge from the very top, for as the flooding occurred, President Jonathan immediately directed that all relief measures should be mobilized to assist the states and the people. The moment called for leadership. And the President took charge as expected. He also promptly set up an Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee led by the Minister of Environment to go round the country to assess the extent of the floods. That Committee presented its interim report to the President at a meeting attended by state governors and the leadership of the National Assembly. The following day, President Jonathan addressed the nation and announced a 17.6 billion Naira relief fund for all the states, which was immediately made available for their use. All the affected states had set up displaced persons’ camps and were actively providing feeding, accommodation and health services. Further, President Jonathan constituted a National Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Committee co-chaired by Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, to raise funds to complement government’s efforts in assisting the flood victims, and to mobilise the general public to support the initiative. With these steps, the administration had pushed the management of the flood crisis to the level of high national priority, generating nationwide empathy in the process. In addition, President Jonathan announced that he and Vice President Na-

madi Sambo will visit the affected states. In the week that followed, Nigerians saw their President, without his trademark attire. This had given way to simple shirt and trouser, rolled up sleeves, and a face cap. The President travelled to Kogi, Rivers, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Taraba, Adamawa, and Benue states. He went from one camp to the other, identifying with the people, empathizing with them. He listened to their stories. He shared their agony. His own village in Bayelsa had also been submerged. When he went home to his village, Otuoke, he met his compound flooded up to chest level. In Kogi, he was told that a man who took a loan for his farm, and had lost everything, contemplated suicide. Everywhere he went, the President took a message of hope, advising the victims not to commit suicide, but to remain confident that with government on their side, there is hope. Together with the state governors, he thanked the relief agencies and all the persons who had come to the rescue of the victims. He didn’t listen to official versions alone; he personally invited spokespersons of displaced persons to lay their concerns before him. There had been a baby boom in many of the camps: women who had given birth in the camps brought their babies to the President. To be continued. Dr Abati is Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to President Goodluck Jonathan 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, October 29, 2012

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

STEVE AYORINDE

MD/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

YELE AKINROLABU

ED OPERATIONS

SEYI FASUGBA

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BOLAJI TUNJI

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SM, STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT

FRANK OBOH

HEAD, GRAPHICS

As Lagos State cripples ‘Okada’ business

n Ikeja High Court presided over by Justice Aishat Opesanwo last Wednesday granted the accelerated hearing of the suit filed by some commercial motorcycle (okada) operators against the banning of their business in some some routes by the Lagos State Government. The state government, Lagos State House of Assembly and the Attorney-General of the state are the defendants in the case filed by the okada operators in which they prayed the court for a declaration that the new Lagos Traffic Law 2012 is unconstitutional, etc. “We believe that there is a need for the court to urgently deal with this matter because it is in the interest of the generality of the populace. Many of them have been suffering from this draconian action of the government to restrict the motorcyclists from operating in federal high ways…”, counsel to the plaintiffs, Bamidele Aturu, pleaded in court. Counsel for the state House of Assembly, Yemi Osibajo, had opposed the making of the order, alongside that of the state government, Mr. Ade Ipaye, who also declined to volunteer a definite undertaking on the enforcement of the traffic law or otherwise by law enforcement agencies. The Lagos State Government recently came out with the new traffic law apparently in line which its concept of Lagos as a mega city. Governor

THE SECURITY AND SOUND SLEEP OF EVEN THE RICH CAN SCARCELY BE GUARANTEED WHEN THE POOR, BRIMMING WITH LEGITIMATE

ANGER, ARE AWAKE Babatunde Raji Fashola, while assenting to the bill in August, stated that the law sought to “eradicate the diverse, antisocial, abnormal and dangerous practices associated with traffic operations in the state; and envisages a condition of free flow of traffic and orderly transportation as part of its mega city blue print project”. Among the provisions of the law are that any motorist caught driving against the traffic is guilty of an offense and liable to a jail term of one year for a first offender, and three years for repeated offences. The law also prohibits okada riders from plying certain routes within Lagos metropolis. Against the backdrop of the chaotic traffic in Lagos, occasioned mainly by the recklessness of commercial vehicle and motorcycle operators, which often results in accidents and the loss of lives, and even criminality, we had, in an earlier editorial, appraised the new road traffic law as a sound piece of

legislation, but drew attention to a number of problems with the new law, such as its extreme harshness and the arbitrary manner it was hatched; as well as the likelihood that officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) would hide under the law as cover to incriminate and extort money from road users instead of helping and guiding them to avoid breaking road traffic laws. We had likewise suggested that high-handed provisions in the law be reviewed immediately in public interest and, at least, a three-month gestation period used to test-run the law; educate and sensitize road users, and provide ample opportunity for the state government to provide adequate road signs to make compliance easier. Unfortunately, however, the government for about two weeks now, has been on the rampage in its implementation of the law, and has impounded and destroyed countless thousands of commercial motorcycles. The government crushed the protests staged by okada riders last week with brute force; and in addition to the police, has indicated interest in getting soldiers involved in the implementation of the law, not minding the inherent dangers involved. It is common knowledge that Lagos State is frustrated and probably do not know what else to do with okada riders; having failed in the past to enforce full and partial prohibition of

the business. Worse still, law enforcement agents go as far as inner suburbs, areas not covered by the law, to hound okada riders and impound their motorcycles. In enforcing the law, the state discountenanced the high level of unemployment in the country, and the fact that most of the okada riders are the bread winners of their families. A lot of them are also graduates who probably would have nothing to do with okada business if they had any alternative. Besides, many of the victims would, perhaps, have preferred engaging in other businesses had there been regular electricity supply in the country. We do not support the idea of stripping an estimated 80,000 okada riders of their means of livelihood overnight without providing them any alternative means of survival in a country where the government does not see it as its responsibility to provide jobs for its citizens. We fear an upsurge in crimes. It is on record that most states that stubbornly banned okada business without providing alternatives are currently battling with rising violent robberies and kidnapping. Again, we implore the Lagos State Government to review its maximum road traffic law and give it a human face. For, the security and sound sleep of even the rich can scarcely be guaranteed when the poor, brimming with legitimate anger, are awake.

ON THIS DAY October 29, 2008 Delta Air Lines merged with Northwest Airlines to create the world’s largest airline and reduce the number of United States legacy carriers to five. Northwest Airlines Corp., a major United States airline was founded in 1926. It continued to operate under its own name and brand until the integration of the carriers was completed on January 31, 2010. Delta Air Lines, Inc., operating as Delta Air Lines, is also a major United States airline headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

October 29, 2004 In Rome, European heads of state signed the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution which, however, failed to be ratified by all signatory countries and therefore never entered into force. It would have replaced the existing European Union treaties with a single text, given legal force to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and expanded Qualified Majority Voting into policy areas which had previously been decided by unanimity among member

October 29, 1969 The first-ever computer-to-computer link was established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet. The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the world’s first operational packet switching network and the progenitor of what was to become the global Internet. The network was initially funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA, later DARPA) within the United States Department of Defense for use by its projects at universities and research laboratories.

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The return of petragony Nigerians groan and businesses suffer as the fuel shortages that engulf most states, particularly Lagos, in the wake of the vandalisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines at Arepo, Ogun State get worse, resulting in long queues and unprecedented traffic jams, even as people struggle to buy petrol way above the official pump price. How long will the pains last? By Salami Semiu

agos is perhaps, notorious for traffic snarl. However, the event of last Wednesday, October 24, the last working day before the two days declared as public holidays by the Federal Government to mark the Muslims festival was particularly terrifying. Horror was virtually let loose on Lagos roads as fuel queues and traffic jams clogged major roads, causing much agony for motorists and other road users. Across the metropolis, long lines of vehicles ran into adjoining streets and highways. Some roads on the mainland, Victoria Island and Ikoyi were among those affected. Also affected were sections of the LagosIbadan Expressway, especially on the inward Lagos side such as Aseese- Ibafo, Long BridgeBerger and Alausa-Alapere. For several hours, Lagos was practically paralysed, leading to serious man-hour loss as most businesses were left unattended to. Business executives, market women, artisans and others spent several hours unending on the road. Yet, as bad as last Wednesday’s experience was, it only typifies the several months of anguish which Nigerians have been subjected to as petrol suddenly went dry in most filing stations across the country, resulting in long queues of vehicles, waiting for refilling at few fuel stations that have stocks.

The scarcity, which began in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in August, has spread through the country, with that of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub emerging worse off. From the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Lagos and other major cities, haunting visage of long queues of vehicle waiting

to refill their petrol tanks at filling stations spur chills of fear in road users. While Abuja, the seat of power, was thrown into serious fuel shortages and the attendant pains, the scarcity was blamed on the sabotage campaign mounted by some major fuel marketers, who were ac-

cused of arm-twisting the Federal Government to continue granting them subsidy to import the product. It was also alleged that panic buying by motorists and the long queues were stimulated by the antics of saboteurs. However, what appears to have worsened the situation in Lagos and adjoining states was the vandalisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines at Arepo, Ogun State. The situation, in which three engineers from the corporation lost their lives, led to the bridging of the supply of the product across the country with trucks. Business Courage gathered that Arepo carries between 10 million and 11 million litres of fuel per day to Lagos and its environs and some part of the states in the North. As the crisis bites harder, NNPC has insisted that there is

Long unending queues at filling stations

really no scarcity, as it blames the current fuel scarcity on panic-buying and hoarding of the product even as it acknowledged that there is a small truncation in the distribution chain following the vandalisation of the national pipeline. In a statement signed by the corporation’s Acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Fidel Pepple, NNPC insisted that there was enough petrol supply to go around the nation. Pepple said that the corporation through its subsidiary, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) had at least a 30-day stock of petrol that can effectively, serve the entire country. He expressed optimism that the queues would soon go out of the roads

Business Courage A Publication of GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LTD BARRISTER JIMOH IBRAHIM, OFR  PUBLISHER

Andrew Yakubu, NNPC MD

SEMIU SALAMI BAMIDELE OBAFEMI ADEJUWON OSUNNUYI FESTUS OKOROMADU TAYO ADELEKE

EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR STAFF WRITER STAFF WRITER SENIOR REPORTER

OLATOYE RAPHAEL SEYI OKUMODI

HEAD, PRODUCTION SENIOR GRAPHIC ARTIST

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as the corporation has intensified efforts at ensuring that fuel is available in every nook and cranny of the country so that people can travel with ease to join their families and friends for the Eid-el-Kabir and other festivals coming up towards the end of the year. “We have stepped up fuel supply and distribution across the country to ensure that motorists can drive into any filling station and buy fuel without queuing up, especially during this period of the year that comes with a lot of holidays and festivities. We have increased the number of truck loadings to all the geo-political zones of the country and we hope to sustain this from now through the Sallah holidays to the Christmas and New Year,” he stated. Giving a breakdown of truck supply figures to Abuja and environs for the month of October, Pepple said the last few days have witnessed a sharp rise in the number of fuel trucks from an average of 92 to 118, adding that this trend will not only be sustained but improved upon across the country. The number of fuel trucks supplied to Abuja and environs from the Kaduna Refinery from 15 to 18 October, 2012, according to him, are: 100, 120, 112 and 131 respectively.

“This has greatly improved the situation and the queues have disappeared in Abuja. We are also doing same in Lagos where we have increased trucking from the depots to Lagos and across the Southwest,” Pepple explained. For Lagos, a total of 472 trucks were distributed to filling stations across the state between 17 and 23 October with the daily figures as follows: On October 23, 118 trucks with 3,916,000 litres were lifted; in October 22, 62 trucks with 2,046,000 litres were lifted, while on October 21, 76 trucks lifted 2,515,000 litres of petrol. According to Pepple, 36 trucks lifted 1,188,000 litres of petrol on October 20 while 46 trucks lifted 1,528,000 litres on October 19. Fifty-two trucks loaded 1,716,000 litres of petrol on October 18; 82 trucks lifted 2,754,000 litres on October 17 bringing the total litres of petrol lifted within the Lagos axis alone in the last one week to 15,663,000 undertaken by 472 trucks. On the diversion of products that was noticed early last week, he said a monitoring committee set up by the PPMC has swung into action tracking the movement of the trucks to stem the trend. He called on motorists to avoid panic buying, adding:

“There is no threat of fuel scarcity, we are working round the clock to surmount the distribution challenge and I can assure that the measures we have put in place are proving effective. So we call on motorists not to engage in panic buying which can result in unnecessary queues and create hardship for Nigerians, which is what we are trying to avoid.” Industry sources however told Business Courage last week that there will be no immediate solution to the worsening fuel crisis until the repair works on the vandalised pipelines are completed. As things stand now, it was gathered that the NNPC uses private jetties which have limited storage facilities and consequently, lifting of products, particularly petrol at these jetties, takes longer time. “The situation is more complex than they are portraying it, tanker drivers now queue for several weeks at higher cost while marketers that are lucky to lift the product are really not sure of how long it will take before they get new supplies. So what they do is to essentially ration their supplies and all these add up to worsen the situation,” said an industry expert who wished to remain anonymous. The source insisted that

though the NNPC/PPMC has sufficient commercial supplies, even with many of the fuel laden cargoes yet to dis-

Deziani Allison Madueke, Petroleum Minister

charge, the limited capacities of the private jetties which make rapid replacement of depleted stocks difficult will always create room for the long queues at filling stations. “It’s not about the quantity of stocks you have, it’s about how many of these get to the final consumers as rapid as they needed them. The best possible option is to hasten the repair works on the Arepo pipelines, otherwise, there may not be light at the end of the tunnel soon,” the source said. Try as the NNPC and PPMC may to lessen the burden of the acute shortage of petrol, inside sources hinted that the current shortages experienced in the country may not abate any time soon. A source alleged that with the inability of marketers to import the product because of government’s failure to settle subsidy claims of some marketers, it is not surprising that some of them are behind the current travail. In fact, Mike Osatuyi, General Secretary, Independent Petrol Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), put it more pointedly when he said that the problem of fuel scarcity as it is today is more entrenched and that the current effort of the NNPC cannot address the situation alone. Though he applauded the NNPC for doubling its efforts to make things work, he said that apart from the vandalisation of pipeline in Arepo, the withdrawal of some marketers from fuel import and distribution has also worsened the situation. He maintained that the marketers, who also own tank farms, accounted for 40 per cent of total

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fuel import, saying it is obvious that NNPC cannot do it alone. “The fact is that if 40 per cent of the supply is taken out, there is definitely going to be a supply gap,” he said. Osatuyi said the decision of the aggrieved marketers became inevitable following the refusal of banks to fund their activities since according to him, the failure of the Federal Government to make the outstanding subsidy payment has frustrated efforts of the marketers to honour their past obligations to banks. However, the Federal Government has alleged that the current spate of crisis in oil importation and distribution were being orchestrated by some oil marketers indicted by Presidential Committee on Fuel Subsidy Payments headed by Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Managing Director, Access Bank Plc. Some marketers listed in the scam included Alminnur Resources Limited, Brilla Energy Limited, Caades Oil and Gas Limited, Capital Oil and Gas Industry Limited, Conoil Plc, Downstream Energy Source Limited and Eterna Plc. Also included are Euraafric Oil and Gas Limited, Lumen Skies Limited, Majope Investment Limited, Matrix Energy Limited, Menon Oil and Gas Limited, Mob International Services and M.R.S. Oil and Gas Limited, Nasaman Oil Services Limited, Natacel Petroleum Limited, Ocean Energy Trading and Services, Pinnacle Contractors Limited, Sifax Oil and Gas Company, Tonique Oil Services Limited and Top Oil and Gas Development Company Limited. The Federal Ministry of Finance had in a recent statement said that the position of the Federal Government on

Aig-Imoukhuede

Korodo

Olorunsola

fuel subsidy payments is clear. “We will do our best to encourage honest efforts by genuine companies engaged in fuel importation but we will not fall for the cheap blackmail of indicted marketers who are using all kinds of subterfuge to escape sanctions. “We know that Nigerians are fully in support of this position because the money belongs to all Nigerians and it is important that the correct steps are taken to protect the public interest. We would also like to stress that marketers with legitimate and unencumbered claims have been paid and will continue to be paid…” the statement added. According to the statement, between April and May 2012, Batches D/12 and E/12 involving 14 oil marketers with a claim of N17 billion were fully

Femi Otedola, Zenon Oil boss

settled. In addition, since early July 2012, N25.6 billion worth of claims has been fully settled. In all, between April and August this year, in respect of 2012 PMS claims, N42.666 billion have been paid to 31 oil marketers. “These are incontrovertible facts which confirm government’s commitment to ensuring that issues concerning genuine marketers with legitimate claims are dealt with expeditiously,” the statement said. However, while the queues continue to get longer, Nigerians are being forced to buy the product far in excess of the official pump price of N97 per litre. Besides, the scarcity has also given rise to an invading clan of black marketers, who now cashin on the situation to sell to consumers at exorbitant rates. At most filling stations to-

day, especially those owned by independent marketers, a litre of petrol is sold for between N110 and N150. Black marketers however sell a four-litre measure for N3, 000, which is a whooping N750 per litre. In fact, in a desperate attempt to flout the directives of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), what most fuel dispensing stations do is to tamper with pumps in their filling stations in order to hoodwink customers into believing that they are buying petrol at the official N97 per litre, whereas they are actually paying more. Majority of the filling stations that were previously selling petrol above N97 per litre, it was learnt, had devised a new method of operation by opening up for business in the evenings to beat DPR officials going around for undercover monitoring during daytime. However, the President, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, SouthWest branch, Tokunbo Korodo, said that most marketers were currently buying fuel above the ex-depot price of N87.90 per litre. He said the product supply situation at the depots was not encouraging and that most marketers had no choice than to buy above the ex-depot price, with the intention of selling above N97 or dubiously altering their pumps. “Now, most marketers are not willing to buy products at all because if they buy at a higher price and sell above N97, DPR will shut their stations. So, they are just relaxing,” he said. Also, trying to justify the decision of some marketers to adopt new pricing regime as a reflection of the law of demand and supply Osatuyi noted,

“When supply cannot meet up with the demand, the price will automatically go up. Unless the private sector gap is bridged, the scarcity and the upward price adjustment will continue.” Osatuyi said although he did not support a regime of indiscriminate hike in prices of fuel, the decision of some depot owners to sell fuel at a rate above N87 per litre which is the official price, has compelled the marketers to add to the price of the product. Ironically, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) the arm of the petroleum ministry charged with the responsibility of enforcing standards and regulation seems to be incapacitated in addressing the current issue of selling far above the recommended retail price. Unlike in the past, when DPR would have descended heavily on erring marketers, the agency, like both the NNPC and PPMC, appears to be overwhelmed in the discharge of this duty as fuel dispensing stations openly sell petrol at exorbitant rates. Some have even confidently adjusted their pump to reflect the price at which they were willing to sell. The Director, DPR, Osten Olorunsola, however insisted that the department was not resting on its oars as far as due monitoring of the downstream subsector was concerned. He said the DPR monitoring team was on the lookout for marketers selling 0.6 litres for the price of one litre, as was the case in some areas, adding that Nigerians should support it when it performed its tasks as a regulator. For now, the queues persist and the agonies continue while no one knows for how long the trauma will last. BC

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L-R: An official from the Corporate Development Group of Sterling Bank Plc, Ighodalo Aimienwanu; winners of the just concluded “#1000 Things I Can Do For My Country “ Facebook Sterling Bank Campaign, Timothy Chima; Abimbola Olamiposi; Akaninyene Uko; and an official of the bank, Kate Edoho, during the presentation of Blackberry Phone to the winners in Lagos recently.

Winners emerge in Sterling Bank Facebook campaign

terling Bank Plc yesterday rewarded five winners in its ongoing Facebook Campaign meant to promote patriotism for the country among Nigerians. The winners were: Breezy Jumbo, Akinyere Uko, Timothy China, Ajayi Olabambo and Abanbola Olaniposi. Group Head, Corporate Development, Shina Atilola, explained that the bank had through Facebook, requested from members of the public to write under the topic: ‘1,000 things I can do for my country’, and post their answers in the social network. He said that participants in the exercise sent comments on what they can do as individuals to improve the image and perception of the country both locally and internationally. Some of the answers posted on Facebook by participants were:’ I will stay out of crime; I will not be involved in bribery and corruption, I will abide by rule of law, I will not be involved in examination malpractices among others. He said that after the comments were sent, they were put to vote on Facebook. Thereafter, comments with highest number of ‘likes’ got blackberry phones and Samsung phones while the first 100 entries got free movie ticket at Silverbird Galleria. He said the campaign started in last week of September and ran for a week and 10 days before the winners emerged. Atilola said the Facebook campaign is ongoing and will be conducted in series. He said the bank has decided

to expand its campaigns from products and services to include issues that are germane and dear to lives of the citizenry. Sterling Bank had in recent months been rewarding its loyal customers under its ongoing savers promo. The bank had two weeks ago, gave out cash prize of N2 million to four of its savings customers in the third monthly draw. The four customers won N500, 000 each, while 10 others won Home theatres and refrigerators. The draw brought to 42, the number of winners in the promo so far with 15 customers wining home theatres, 15 winning refrigerators and 12 winning N500, 000 each. Meanwhile, Sterling Bank Plc continued its impressive performance in the third quarter with almost a double in gross earnings and 64 per cent increase in profit after tax. Interim report and accounts of the bank for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012 showed substantial growths across key performance indicators, improving prospects for considerable improvement in dividends for the current business year. The report indicated 92.6 per cent growth in gross earnings, underlining the success of the bank’s bankfocused business strategy. Interest income had doubled by 109.9 per cent while net interest income jumped by 84 percent. Profit before tax thus rose by 58.5 per cent. Sterling Bank grossed N50.74 billion by third quarter 2012 as against N26.35 billion recorded in comparable period of 2011. Interest income leapt to N39.56 billion in 2012 compared with N18.85 billion

in corresponding period of 2011. While interest expenses increased from N8.97 billion to N21.37 billion, net interest income also nearly doubled from N9.88 billion to N18.19 billion. Non-interest income increased by 49 per cent to N11.2 billion as against N7.5 billion. Altogether, operating income rose by 78 per cent from N15.9 billion to N28.3 billion. Yemi Adeola, Chief Executive Officer of the bank said the results reflected the continuing success of the bank’s strategic growth initiatives as it continued to draw benefits from the seamless integration of Equitorial Trust Bank. According to him, Sterling Bank has been well positioned to capture emerging growth opportunities with customercentric approach to financial services and products.

Kanu

‘Two-digit interest rate biggest challenge to indigenous fleet expansion’ By Francis Ezem

major operator in Nigeria’s maritime industry and a one-time military administrator

of Lagos State, Rear Admiral Ndubisi Kanu (rtd) has said that the greatest challenge faced by indigenous shipping companies in their bid to expand their fleet through acquisition of vessels was the double interest rate regime, which currently stands at about 22 per cent and above. Most private sector operators including those in the real sector of the economy have over the years appealed to the government to find ways of reducing the cost of funds in the country by reducing the interest rate from the current double digit to a single digit of not more than eight per cent. Kanu, who doubles as chairman of Rangk Limited, a maritime services company said this at the official launch of two service boats christened MV Radiant and MV Rider acquired by the company for support services for the oil and gas operations. The two vessels which are built of aluminium hulls and designed for rough seas and speed up to 15 nautical miles and 25 nautical miles in calm weather, were financed by Fidelity Bank plc to the tune of N3.4 billion ($21million) He noted that the double digit interest regime in the country makes the indigenous operators uncompetitive compared with their foreign counterparts, who access funds at less than five per cent interest rate arguing that because they are more expensive when bidding for jobs with foreign operators because they sourced funds at exorbitant rate. According to him, in the face of the excessively high interest rate in the country, the only way to ameliorate the plight of the indigenous shipping firms in terms of acquiring vessels in order to make them competitive with their foreign counterparts is for the government to provide a level of intervention for them. “Only through such intervention by the Federal Government will the objectives of the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) and the Local Content policies be realised”, he argued. Kanu who was also a military administrator of the old Imo State called on the government to heed the calls by the indigenous shipping companies for better operating environment, arguing that shipping holds a lot of potential for the nation’s economy. Executive director of the bank in charge of Lagos West, Ikemefuna Mbagwu had while speaking at the event, disclosed that the bank’s involvement in the acquisition of the two service vessels was in line with its policy of promoting indigenous

Akpobolokemi

capacity. “The acquisition of these vessels for operators in the maritime and oil and gas industries is an important part of the bank’s business”, the executive director noted. He noted the banks are more confident to invest in the maritime sub-sector because operators are better organised now. While re-affirming the bank’s commitment towards boosting indigenous fleet as one of the Primary Lending Institutions designated to disburse the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) on behalf of the Nigerian Maritime A administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), he noted that banks now generally are more confident to invest in the maritime industry because the operators are better organised now than ever before. “This is part of our responsibility for promoting indigenous entrepreneurs and of course Rangk is a customer of ours and one of the foremost promoters of indigenous participation in the maritime industry”, he noted. “This is a very important aspect of business for us at the bank and for the nation and as you know the Federal Government is making every necessary move to promote indigenous participation in the operations of the International Oil Companies”, he further asserted. Meanwhile, Director General of NIMASA, custodian of the CVFF, Patrick Akpobolokemi, had hinted recently that barring any change of mind, the government would commence the disbursement of the fund now estimated at $169 million (N27.1bn) to eligible indigenous shipping firms. According to him, the agency has applied to the Minister of Transport for approval in line with the enabling legislation to commence the first phase of the disbursement of the fund, which would be kick off as soon as the minister gives his nod on the issue. The CVFF, which was created by the Cabotage Act, 2003 is derived from two

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News percent deductions from all contracts awarded under the Cabotage scheme, designed to be a low-interest facility. The fund, which replaces the Ship Acquisition and Ship Building Fund, is to enable indigenously-owned shipping firms acquire vessels as part of measures to reduce the dominance of foreign shipping companies both in deep sea shipping and also within Nigeria’s coastal and inland

Akinjide

trade arena.

FG to restore infrastructure damaged by flood -Akinjide

he Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ms Olajumoke Akinjide, has assured Nigerians of the Federal Government’s commitment to restore the infrastructure damaged by flood. Akinjide said this on Friday in Abuja while answering questions from journalists when she led a delegation of FCT clerics to pay Sallah homage to the President and vice President. “As far as the flood is concerned, the President has given his last word on it and he has been going about the flood affected areas. “The president is doing everything he can to put the infrastructure that was damaged back into place and to make sure that farmers have everything they need in terms of agro seeds so that there will not be food shortage. “The president has assured that the farmland affected is a small percentage of Nigeria farm land.” Akinjide, who also congratulated the Muslim faithful on the celebration of Eid-El-Kabir, urged them to continue to pray for the nation and the present administration. She called on FCT residents to maintain peace and

cooperation during and after the celebration.

Nestle enlightens teachers on water preservation

he Nestle Nigeria Plc, on Friday, launched the Water Education for Teachers (WET) project to raise teachers’ awareness on the need to tackle water challenges in Nigeria. Martin Woolnough, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nestle Nigeria Plc, said at the launch that the project was to emphasise healthy hydration habits and better water conservation behaviours. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the launch also served as a Train-the-Trainer workshop, organised by the company for more than 50 teachers from five education districts in Lagos State. Woolnough said that water had become one of the most pressing environmental issues in Nigeria, representing a serious long term risk to business and the general society. .”Though we have enough fresh water across the world, more prosperous and increasing urban population, combined with the impact of climate change, is making water scarcity a serious reality in many parts of the world, including Nigeria. “Nestle Nigeria is determined to play a leading role in tackling water challenges. “Nestle has developed, over the years, an outstanding expertise in water. “The expertise extends to sustainable water resource management, reduced water withdrawals, increased reuse, use of alternative water source, improved water efficiency and knowledge on healthy hydration science.’’ Woolnough said that teachers who participated in the workshop were expected to train other teachers

Woolnough

and students on water conservation. “I am deeply convinced that our modest effort to raise awareness on water issues among school children through the WET project is part of the solution to water challenges.” Olayinka Oladunjoye, Lagos State Commissioner for Education, charged the participants to extend the knowledge to others. Oladunjoye, represented by Akojenu Adeyinka, an Assistant Director of Education in the ministry, said, “We have to teach our students how important water is to the human body.” Olalekan Majiyagbe, Education Secretary, Agege Local Government Education Authority, who participated in the event, told NAN that the workshop was taughtprovoking. Majiyagbe expressed the hope that WET project would have a positive impact in the lives of teachers and students. “We have personal gains because we have learnt new things about benefit of water to life.” Helen Ogun, a participant from the Ojo Local Government, said the workshop was interesting. Ogun told NAN that it enlightened her on the importance of water and how to teach students about it.

Reduce rice consumption, director told Nigerians

oe Kwanashie, the Director, Irrigation and Drainage, Ministry of Water Resources, has urged Nigerians to reduce their consumption of rice to once a week. Kwanashie said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja that the advice became imperative due to the amount foreign exchange spent on rice importation. According to him, Nigeria spends N1 billion on rice importation daily. “If Nigerians decide not to eat rice every day but once a week, it will drastically reduce the importation of the commodity”. ‘’If today we decide that instead of eating rice three times a day, we are only going to eat it once a day or once a week, we wouldn’t need to import all that rice. ``As a child, I know that in my house we didn’t eat rice every day. Today, most households in this country eat rice every day”. ``Must we eat rice? What’s wrong with eating eba or pounded yam that we produce locally? Will you die if you

Sarah Ochekpe, Water Resources Minister

don’t eat rice? Kwanashie asked. He said that the money spent on the importation of the commodity would not encourage economic growth, noting that Nigeria had so many other food substitutes. ‘’It’s something that requires political will and commitment and not only from the political leaders but also from us; its small sacrifices like this that Nigerians can make to make this country better. ‘’Look at the damage we are doing to our economy; one billion naira every day! do you know how many jobs that would provide in this country?’’ he asked. The director, however, noted that Nigeria had the capacity to produce rice both for local consumption and also for export, stressing that the human and material resources required to achieve it were also available. On what the ministry is doing to combat the effects of flooding that had ravaged most farmlands and homes in the country, the director said:’ The solution to flooding problem is multisectoral.’’ Similarly, the provision of irrigation facilities for additional 72,000 hectares of land to boost food production in the country, particularly during the dry season. Joe Kwanashie, the Director, Irrigation and Drainage Department in the Ministry, Resources, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. Kwanashie said that the proposal was aimed at boosting agricultural production in the country during the dry season. He said that in spite of the damage done by the recent flooding in the country, food security could still be assured. “What has happened with the flood is that it has washed away a lot of agricultural lands so that people cannot farm anymore. “What is going to happen is that after the flood and the

water recede, when the dry season sets in, that is when we have to construct irrigation facility which is critical.” Meanwhile, he said that the provision of irrigation facilities for 54,000 hectares was currently being worked on. “The project will start next year; the project is in the preparatory stage now. “Right now, we are preparing the project in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, World Bank and the French Development Agency. ``We are preparing to use about 54,000 hectares of land to construct irrigation facilities in the North-west of the country. “The ministry had proposed additional 72 thousand hectares of land to the government to construct more irrigation facilities in the country.” Kwanashie advised that Nigeria should no longer depend on rain-fed agriculture, adding that irrigation farming would mitigate the impact of the expected food shortage during dry season. “Naturally, rain comes at its season but irrigation, being a man-made source of water is used at all seasons especially during dry season. “Ordinarily, rain-fed agriculture depends on when rainy season sets in, but with irrigation facilities on ground, you can now have water to supply your crops. “From that point of view, irrigation gives you better guarantee for producing your crops during dry season.” The director further stressed that dry season farming was critical to Nigeria’s food security as it was not proper to completely on rain-fed agriculture. According to him, food shortages have become a global issue, leading to food price hikes in the international market. “We are already experiencing food shortages and if you go to the market, you would realise that prices of food have gone up and it is not peculiar to Nigeria; it is a global phenomenon.”

Zenith, UBA, six others commissioned to sell dollars to Christian pilgrim

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week approved a concessionary exchange rate of N145.00 to the US Dollar for the purchase of Pilgrims Travelling Allowance (PTA) for Christians embarking on the 2012 pilgrimage programme. According to the CBN each

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News

The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive, Funke Osibodu listening to a whisper from Deputy General Manager, (Finance & strategy) Victor Akogwu while Chairman of the Board, Richard Dick Kramer watch at the 43rd Annual General Meeting of Union Bank of Nigeria PLC held last week at le Meridian Hotel and Golf Resort, Uyo Akwa Ibom State

Pilgrim travelling to Israel is entitled to a maximum of Seven hundred and fifty US Dollars only (US$750.00) while those going to Israel/Rome or Greece are entitled to a maximum of One thousand US Dollar (US$1,000.00) as PTA. A statement signed by Batari Musa, Directors, Trade & Exchange Department, named the designated and the state they cover to include, Zenith in-charge of Ekiti, Ondo and Taraba States pilgrims, UBA to serve pilgrims from Kogi, Osun and Kwara States, while Ecobank will serve as the exchange bank for Lagos State pilgrims. Others are UBN, Cross Rivers, Sterling Bank, Kebbi State, Diamond Bank, Nasarawa State, Keystone Bank, Niger State and Skye Bank, Ogun State. According to the Statement from the CBN, designated banks are required to sell the permissible amount of the PTA to intending pilgrims whose names and passports numbers are included in the pilgrims’ master list. It warned that no pilgrim should be denied the travel allowance on the ground that he or she has no Tax Clearance Certificate. The CBN hinted that in view of the time constraints associated with pilgrimage exercise, the Chairman or Secretary of each state pilgrims’ board, after due identification, may be allowed to sign for and collect the PTA on behalf of the intending pilgrims in their state on presentation of the approved list and valid passport of the pilgrims listed against the state.

Tax expert seeks vibrant tax policies

tax expert, Taiwo Oyedele, on Friday called on the Federal Government to evolve policies that would encourage the growth of the taxation industry.

He noted that the ranking was based on three variables: the ease of paying tax, number of tax payments and the rate of tax compliance. The expert said that the ranking exposed the weaknesses of the economy and called for a more proactive measure to boost it.

Nigerian oil exports to rebound after floods Oyedele

Oyedele told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that such policies would boost Nigeria’s revenue and strengthen the economy. He said that Nigeria had not done enough in terms of revenue generation, adding that the government needed to invest more in the sub-sector to enable it function efficiently. ``We are just scratching the surface; an economy of the size of Nigeria should be generating a lot in terms of tax revenue. ``In most countries, when they calculate tax revenue as a percentage of the gross domestic product, it is almost as high as 20 per cent. ``But in Nigeria, it is not up to five per cent, which means there is still a lot to be done,” Oyedele said. He said that one of the policies should aim at spending of taxes on projects that would benefit the taxpayers. According to him, this will encourage them to pay more. If the government can do this, then, the sky is the starting point for Nigeria. Oyedele said that it was regrettable that Nigeria’s economy was not growing in spite of the country’s vast natural and human resources. ``The World Bank recently ranked Nigeria’s economy the 138th out of 183 economies.

igerian oil exports in December are expected reach the highest level since May, pointing to a swift recovery of production after floods knocked out a fifth of the output in the top African producer. Nigeria is expected to ship 2.12 million barrels per day of crude oil onto the market in December, unchanged from volumes in November which hit a six-month high. The west African country lost around 500,000 barrels per day of output due to severe flooding in recent weeks, an industry regulator told Reuters. The flooding, combined with damage caused by oil theft, prompted Royal Dutch Shell declared force majeure on two of the country’s major crude streams Bonny Light and Forcados last Friday. A force majeure allows a company to suspend contractual obligations in the

Allison-Madueke, Petroleum Minister

face of unexpected events. On Thursday, traders reported longer delays of around 10 days on the Forcados grade compared with 5 days earlier this week. Shell has not given a date for lifting its force majeure. Nigeria’s high quality light, sweet oil is exported to Asia, Europe and the United States and the recent disruptions could amount to about 0.5 percent of global supplies. The latest export figure of 2.12 million bpd includes a Forcados grade shipping list which was delayed due to uncertainty about exports. Provisional loading schedules are subject to minor changes but this programme indicates that a provision 76 cargoes will load in December. While shipments of Forcados in December are still lower versus previous months at 150,000 barrels per day, this is offset by higher volumes of Qua Iboe and Okono, the shipping list shows. Oil producer Maurel & Prom said on Thursday that it planned to restart its OVHAR site by Friday after a fire resulted in a 19-day shutdown but planned to restart the facility by Friday. The fire caused one death and 10 injuries among workers hired by an unnamed third-party contractor to perform planned maintenance, according to the company. The site is linked to the Trans Forcados pipeline.

Council boss assures of completion of ongoing projects

hairman of Gwagwalada Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Zakari Angulu, last Friday, pledged his administration’s commitment to the completion of ongoing projects in the area. He said in a Sallah message that ongoing projects in the area council would be completed before the end of his tenure in 2013. Angulu urged the Muslim faithful to take advantage of the Ed-el-Kabir celebration to strengthen the peaceful coexistence of people in the area council. He attributed the success recorded by the council, particularly in the area of infrastructure development, to the peaceful environment in the area. The council boss, therefore, called on youths to remain law abiding and urged them to imbibe the culture of tolerance in line with the teachings of the prophet. ``Gwagwalada Area council is known for its peaceful coexistence, so, I encourage every resident particularly

the Muslims to strengthen the peace by emulating the teachings of Prophet Mohammed.’’ Angulu commended the staff and political office holders in the council for their support in ensuring that dividends of democracy were delivered to residents of the council. ``Leaders do not make themselves, they are made by the people and when you are opportuned to be at the top, you must have the people at the back of your mind. ``It is true that Area Councils in the FCT are faced with serious challenges of inadequate funding but we have been able to carry our staff along. ``We have been able to make them understand that we owe the people a lot and this was achieved by the manner in which we manage our resources.”

NGO trains 61 youths in FCT

r Olu Wilson, the President of Life International Foundation Incorporation, a nongovernmental organisation, has trained 61 youths in Dutse community in FCT. Wilson said last Friday that the youths were trained on catering, soap making, sewing, hair styling and other skills. She also donated items worth millions of naira to the community during the closing ceremony of a one week skill acquisition programme, saying the gesture was aimed at assisting the less privileged. The president expressed hope that the skill acquisition programme would enhance the socio-economic status of the participants. The trainees were presented with sewing machines, grinding machines, motor cycles as well as certificate of participation. Wilson also presented the trainees with an undisclosed amount of money to enable them to start their businesses. In his remarks at the occasion, the Head of the Community, Ibrahim Dangana, expressed appreciation to Wilson for her concern for the less privileged in the community. He said the skill acquisition programme had provided employment opportunity to some unemployed youths in the community. One of the trainees, Terhide Sebastian, expressed thanks to God and to the NGO for introducing the programme to the community. ``This is what I use to hear on radio and television, but today, I am witnessing it happening in my community,” he said. BC

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Global News

Ravalomanana

Madagascar economy to grow as huge nickel project starts

adagascar’s crisis-hit economy could grow 2.6 per cent next year as inflation slows and it begins work on one of the largest nickel mining projects in the world, the World Bank said. he Indian Ocean island’s economy has been hobbled since a coup in 2009 that drove away tourists and foreign companies that might have invested in its oil, gold, chrome and nickel reserves. The political crisis has cost the island $6.3 billion since 2009, the World Bank said, based on an assumption that the economy would have grown 5 percent a year had there been political stability. It said in an economic update that Madagascar’s economy is likely to have grown 2.7 per cent this year thanks to an improved harvest and a recovery in tourism. Growth could accelerate to 4.3 percent in 2014, the bank said. In the coup, opposition leader Andry Rajoelina ousted President Marc Ravalomanana with the support of the army. Ravalomanana has since been sentenced in absentia to life in prison over the killings of demonstrators during the struggle. Last September, the main political parties signed a political “road map” aimed at ending the unrest, and Rajoelina was confirmed as president. This August, the government said fresh presidential elections will be held next May. “(Growth) could accelerate from 2014 after the political transition even though the outlook will remain marred by political uncertainties surrounding the policies of a new government and over the

international economic climate from 2013,” the World Bank said. Next year’s growth could be higher once the $5.5 billion Ambatovy nickel mine goes into production, it said. Canada’s Sherritt International Corp and its partners received permission in September to begin output at what will be one of the world’s biggest nickel mines, with a production capacity of 60,000 tonnes of refined nickel annually for the next three decades. The gradual return of donors would increase activity, while inflation was expected to slow to an average 5-7 per cent between 2012 and 2014 from 8-10 per cent in 2009-2011, the Bank said. The bank said Madagascar could also be hurt by a slowing world economy, which would hurt exports, especially by developments in the euro zone, which accounts for 80 percent of its tourist arrivals and 50 percent of exports.

Guinea is in transition to civilian rule after President Alpha Conde won a hotly contested election in 2010, turning the chapter on nearly two years of rule by a military junta. The Paris Club, an informal group of creditor governments from major industrialized countries, already provided $344 million in debt relief to Guinea in April, including $151 million in debt cancellation.

Ouattara

EU grants Ivory Coast 115 million euros budget support

Conde

Paris Club to cancel most of Guinea’s debt

he Paris Club of creditor nations said on Thursday it had agreed on a nearcancellation of the debt of Guinea, representing some $356.3 million, and said additional relief could come. The Paris Club’s move comes after the impoverished West African nation secured $2.1 billion in debt relief from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund at the end of September. In a statement, the Paris Club said it was willing to grant additional debt relief “on a voluntary and bilateral basis” for $299.6 million, which could reduce the country’s debt to Paris Club creditors by 99.2 percent, or $655.9 million. Guinea is the world’s top supplier of the aluminium ore bauxite and holds rich deposits of iron ore, gold and diamonds, but decades of political turmoil since independence have left most of its people in poverty.

he European Union has granted Ivory Coast 115 million euros in budget support with the aim of helping the West African nation back on its feet following a decade of political crisis that ended in a brief war last year. The world’s top cocoa grower, Ivory Coast suffered from years of stagnation during the conflict which saw the country divided between northern rebels and southern government loyalists. President Alassane Ouattara’s government has received strong support from foreign partners since fighting ended and the economy is expected to record growth of 8.6 per cent this year, following a 4.7 per cent contraction in 2011. “The European Union will remain beside Ivory Coast to help it quickly become once again a pillar of stability and growth in West Africa,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told journalists in Abidjan following the signing of the accord. The EU, one of the West African nation’s top donors, has mobilised 430 million euros to aid Ivory Coast’s reconstruction since April 2011. The first disbursement of the new funding is expected before the end of the year.

Ivory Coast increased spending by 17 per cent in a 3.814 trillion CFA franc 2013 budget adopted by the cabinet earlier this month that targets long-neglected infrastructure, power production and agriculture.

Kenya Power profits leap 36 per cent

enya Power posted a 36 per cent jump in pre-tax profits in the year ended June 30 helped by a slight rise in revenues from electricity sales during a 12-month period that saw a leap in fuel costs recovered from customers. The company, the sole power distributor in east Africa’s biggest economy, said pre-tax profit rose to 8.51 billion shillings in 2012 and earnings per share climbed to 2.36 shillings from 2.16 a year earlier. “The results are fantastic, they outperformed market expectation. I think the shares will rally on Monday,” said Johnson Nderi, Johnson Nderi, an analyst at Suntra Investment Bank. The results were released after the market close. Revenue from electricity sales rose six per cent to 45 billion shillings in the period. Fuel costs recovered in the form of a surcharge to customers surged 62 per cent to 41.9 billion shillings. Kenya Power said poor rains that affected output from the country’s hydro-powered dams meant an increase in generation from diesel powered plants. It also cited high global oil prices. It declared a final dividend of 0.50 shillings per share, up from 0.45 shillings last year. Kenya has worked to increase power supply as the economy’s expansion has fuel led demand but the country still faces frequent blackouts due to supply shortfalls and an aging grid.

Nderi

Reform boosts Ivory Coast’s cocoa quality

ocoa bean quality has improved during Ivory Coast’s recently opened 2012/13 cocoa season due to stricter standards introduced

Toure

under a reform of the sector, the head of the top grower’s marketing board said on Friday. Under the reform measures put in place at the start of the season on October 3, the Coffee and Cocoa Council fixed the maximum allowable mould level at 4 percent and the maximum moisture level at eight per cent at the point of export. Maximum mould and moisture levels were 8 and 12 per cent respectively in the 2011/12 season. Shipments of beans from the bush with moisture levels exceeding 9 percent are to be turned away at the country’s ports, initially sparking worries among exporters that strict enforcement would lead to high rates of rejection. “I am satisfied to observe that quality is clearly better than we’d hoped, because we received calls from exporters saying they were sceptical about the success of our quality plan in the beginning,” CCC director Massandje Toure said. “Today the moisture level is between seven and eight per cent and the beans are well dried and fermented,” she said during a visit to a buyer warehouse in Divo in the heart of the country’s cocoa belt. The reform, which also set a guaranteed farmgate price of 725 CFA francs per kg of beans, marks the end of more than a decade of sector liberalisation that saw a general decline in quality. While the reform’s chief aim is to improve farmer incomes and encourage reinvestment in ageing plantations, the CCC also hopes the guaranteed price and new, stricter quality standards will push growers to improve drying and fermentation practices. Agronomists recommend farmers ferment beans for six days and then dry them for another six days. However exporters say in practice the entire process is now often completed in as little as four days. Farmers blame the decline in quality in recent years on pressure from middle men. BC

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A General in the corporate world Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, a retired Army General and Nigeria’s former Minister of Defence , is one soldier who successfully transited from just being a trained war strategist to a business mogul. With interest in strategic sectors of the economy like oil and gas, shipping and many more General Danjuma ranks among Africa’s most wealthy businessmen with an estimated net worth of about $600 million. By Bamidele Obafemi

heophilus Yakubu Danjuma is one name which many Nigerians are familiar with by virtue of his outstanding military exploits, first, as a former Chief of Army Staff and later as Minister of Defence. But beneath that successful career as top flight military strategist is also a man well endowed in the field of business dealings, a consummate entrepreneur and investor. Indeed, T.Y Danjuma, as Nigeria’s former Chief of Army Staff and Minister of Defence under former President Olusegun Obasanjo is known, is a careful blend of military sophistication and business finesse. Born into the family of late Kuru and Rufkatu Asibi Danjuma from Takum, Taraba State (formally Gongola), T.Y Danjuma’s father was a hardworking peasant farmer who combined farming with trading. Kuru Danjuma, though a farmer, traded in metal parts for implements and tools from which he made extra income to supplement what he got from peasant farming. In a way, that culture of industry may just be one of the few attributes which his son, Theophilus inherited and which may be said to be responsible for attaining the peak both in the military profession and business. Theophilus Danjuma started his education at St Bartholomew’s Primary School in Wusasa and moved onto the Benue Provincial Secondary School in Katsina-Ala where he was the captain of the school cricket 1st XI team; he received his Higher School Certificate in 1958. In 1959, Danjuma enrolled at the Nigerian College of Arts Science and Technology in Zaria (Ahmadu Bello University) to study History on a Northern Nigeria Scholarship. However, by the end of 1960, Danjuma left the university to enrol with the Nigerian Army. His sojourn in the Nigerian Army which lasted for only 19 years was very eventful, as he rose rapidly to the top echelon of his career, attaining the height of a Brigadier-General within 15 years. Those familiar with the Takum General said his very bold nature which necessitated his playing leading roles in some military

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In 1984, five years after Danjuma had successfully created and run NAL; he created a similar business, this time COMET Shipping Agencies Nigeria Limited, primarily to act as an agent for Nigeria American Line (NAL)

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coups within the period when he served in the army was a factor that worked in his favour. He was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as second lieutenant and platoon commander in the Congo and in 1963; he joined a UN Peacekeeping force in Sante, Kataga Province in Congo when he was promoted to captain three years later. In 1966, the then Captain Danjuma was involved in a counter-coup with the fourth Battalion in Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo State. In 1970, Danjuma attended the International Court Martial in Trinidad and Tobago as Nigeria’s representative, when he was appointed president of the tribunal in a case brought against members of a failed coup attempt in Trinidad and Tobago. Following his promotion to Colonel in 1971, he spent the next two years with responsibility of court-martialling army officers proven guilty of corruption and indiscipline. In 1975, he was promoted to Brigadier and General Officer Commanding (GOC) and in the following year, he became the Chief of Army Staff to the then Head of State, Olusegun Obasanjo. The Takum General eventually bowed out of the military in 1979 at the expiration of the Obasanjo’s term as military head of state. However, immediately Danjuma left the military service, like his father who would not be contended with being an ordinary peasant farmer, he ventured into the world of business, though not as a farm implement trader. He rather went into the shipping business with the formation of a shipping line called Nigeria America Line (NAL) in 1979. Nigeria America Line started business with a leased ship called ‘Hannatu’ which traded between Lagos and Santos in Brazil when Nigeria’s bilateral trade agreement had opened the sea routes to economies in the South American markets. NAL went on to win patronage from Nige-

ria’s National Supply Company (NNSC) to bring in government goods from Brazil. NAL’s list of growing clients included DICON Salt (Nigeria) and project cargoes for Iwopin Paper Mill, ANNAMCO and Volkswagen Nigeria. NAL became a member of American West African Freight Conference (AWAFC), BrazilNigeria Freight Conference and the Mediterranean Line (MEWAC). With the formation of the National Maritime Authority (NMA) in 1987/88, the profile of NAL increased as NMA encouraged indigenous operators to claim their share of internationally traded cargo involving Nigeria. NAL began with a core indigenous staff of about 12 in 1979. In 1984, five years after Danjuma had successfully created and run NAL; he created a similar business, this time COMET Shipping Agencies Nigeria Limited, primarily to act as an agent for Nigeria American Line (NAL). Steadily, COMET profile increased and by the late 90s, it became one of the largest independent agents operating in Nigeria with experience in handling many types of vessels and cargo. As at 2009, Comet handled over 200 vessels at the ports of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri. Both companies were eventually merged to become a single larger company as they grew both in size and capacity. In 2005, NALCOMET acquired a roll-in-rollout port (RORO) in Lagos which makes it the largest independent port operator in Africa. With over 30 years of experience, NAL-COMET has grown to become one of the most successful indigenous shipping companies in Nigeria. Hence, what began as a shipping business with 12 staff has grown into a group of eight companies, employing over 2,000 staff. The NAL-COMET Group offers comprehensive services within shipping, oil servicing, terminal operation, clearing and forwarding, underwater engineering, electrical and elec-

tronic supply and installation, transformer manufacture, fishing, food product importation and distribution. Some of the subsidiaries that emerged from NAL-COMET include Five Star Logistics Limited, Tarabaroz Fisheries Limited, Tethys Plantgeria Limited, Danelec Limited, Danelec FZE, and Best Trade Nigeria Limited among others. In April 2006, Five Star Logistics Ltd, a special purpose vehicle formed by the consortium of Comet Shipping Agencies Nigeria Ltd and its partners, took over the running of Roll-On-Roll Off (Ro-Ro) Terminal at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos. It had won, in September 2005, the bid for the terminal as the highest preferred bidder in Nigeria’s seaport concession bidding rounds held by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). Since then, the Ro-Ro terminal has changed and it is today widely regarded as the best Roll-onRoll off facility in Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos. Tarabaroz Fisheries Ltd, another subsidiary of the NALCOMET group runs a successful fishing company in Nigeria. With an established jetty at the Tin Can Island Port area, Tarabaroz deploys modern fishing activities. According to a source in the company, Tarabaroz’s experience is borne out of years of practice. As a reputable member of the local fishing trawler association, it subscribes to all international codes for safety in fishing op-

erations and sustainable development of marine life and the ecosystem. Tarabaroz Fisheries Ltd, formed in 1984, maintains regular trawling with 10 ships. The bulk of the catch are mainly fish, prawns and crabs, while available fish variety includes croakers, eel, catfish and barracuda. Similarly, Tethys Plantgeria Limited is a diving and marine company established in 1991 with an operational base in Port Harcourt. As a diving and marine contractor, Tethys Plantgeria principally engaged in different underwater and marine activities such as; inspections, ROV survey, NDT, maintenance/repair of SBM, platforms, pipelines and hiring of supply vessels. The company works closely with Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), Agip Energy and Natural Resources Ltd (AENR), Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Exxon Mobil and Enigas Libya. Danelec Limited and Danelec FZE are two other subsidiaries of the NAL-COMET group which were formed in 1992. Danelec Limited provides topquality reliable services in electrical and electronics fields in Nigeria and abroad. With offices in Lagos and Abuja and a head office in Port Harcourt, the company today is established as a reputable name in the petroleum industry’s office and oil field operational areas. Danelec has a wide range of expertise in the installation

and maintenance of field operation equipment and electronic equipment while Danelec FZE, located in the Free Zone, Calabar, is a leading company in the manufacturing of three phase distribution transformers with IEC 60076 Standard. It was revealed that the product has obtained the SON Mancap Certification with no. EE-2043. With its skilled foreign and indigenous staff, Danelec FZE is said to be flexible and reliable in preparing transformers which can be mass produced and custom tailored. Sources familiar with the group said the company is a practical example as capacity building, technology transfer and local content is realized in Nigeria. Further still, in 1999, 20 years after Danjuma registered his first company; he continued to broaden his business landscape both within and outside the shores of Nigeria. The General, in a bid to further diversify his business empire, registered Best Trade Nigeria Limited to play a prominent role in the food and beverages industry in Nigeria. The company imports foods and beverages for supply to commercial and industrial distribution outlets, hotels and supermarkets and even to private consumers like embassies’ expatriate staff. Located at Awolowo Road, Ikoyi in Lagos, Best Trade imports European and Asian cuisine in bulk, such as cheese, pasta, wines, and other supermarket fare.

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Danjuma receives leadership person of the year award

Best Trade boasts of an array of clients which include Eko L’Meridien Hotel Lagos, Park “N” Shop Supermarkets across Nigeria, Goodies Supermarkets in Lagos and Port Harcourt, NICON Hilton Abuja, Chanrai’s Nigeria Ltd in Lagos and Port Harcourt and the Italian Embassy in Lagos. However, those close to the retired general say his major source of income remains the oil sector, where through South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO), he engages in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry. SAPETRO is a Nigerian oil exploration and production company that was created in 1995 by General Danjuma who then had garnered over 15 years in shipping and seven years as Chairman of Agip Nigeria Plc. The ministry of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria awarded the Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 246 to SAPETRO in February 1998 for $25 million. The block is deep offshore (water depths of 1,100 – 1,800 meters) and covers a total area of 2,590km2 (1,000 sq miles) and it is 120 – 160 km (74.5 – 99.4 miles) off the coast of Nigeria. SAPETRO partnered with Total Upstream Nigeria Ltd (TUPNI) and Brasoil Oil Services Company Nigeria Ltd (Petrobras) to start prospection on OPL246. The company discovered Akpo; a condensate field in April 2000 with the drilling of the first exploration well (Akpo 1) on the block. Other discoveries made on OPL 246 include the Egina Main, Egina South, Preowei and Kuro (Kuro was suspended as a dry gas/minor oil discovery). It was further revealed that following an appraisal drilling

programme on Akpo comprising of four vertical wells and two side tracks and detailed Reservoir and Development studies, a Field Development Plan (FDP) was submitted to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for approval. The FDP proposed 44 wells -22 producers, 20 water injectors and two gas injectors- with a network of Umblicals, Flowlines and Risers connecting the Subsea Production Systems to the FPSO. However, in June 2006, SAPETRO divested part of its contractor rights and obligations to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), a deal which significantly boosted the fortune of the retired army general and his company SAPETRO. According to him, the deal which involved selling an oil block allocated to him by the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, fetched him a fortune put at $1 billion. Danjuma disclosed that he made a profit of $500 million from that single transaction, noting that about $500 million was used to settle some pressing personal issues, pay his staff, and tax to the government. He said that the oil block which was in Port Harcourt, River State, however, took him about 10 years before his company first struck oil. Luckily for him, by this time, the price of oil had soared in the international market. And because he was quite aware of the fact that “whatever goes up must come down,” he sold the block to earn a fortune. SAPETRO produced its ‘first oil’ (condensate) on the fourth March 2009, condensate export lifting is done via a buoy located two kilometres from the Float-

ing Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit while the Akpo gas is transported via 150 kilometre of pipelines to Amenam/Kpono platform for onward delivery to the Bonny Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Plant. Akpo is expected to soon reach peak production of 225kboe per day. South Atlantic Petroleum Benin S.A, a subsidiary of South Atlantic Petroleum Limited was incorporated in 2004 and in the same year, won, through a competitive bidding process, the shallow water Block I and Seme oil field Exploration Contract, offshore Republic of Benin, West Africa. The combined acreage extends to over 550 km2 adjacent to Nigeria/ Benin international boundary in water depth of up to 100m with a Joint Venture arrangement between SAPETRO and

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the Government of the Republic of Benin, SAPETRO being the Operator. In 2007, SAPETRO acquired a 350 km2 seismic data over the acreage and by the end of the first quarter of 2009, had drilled two appraisal wells in the Seme field. SAPETRO is currently carrying out detailed Reservoir Studies on the Field. In a bid to grow its capacity in the oil industry, SAPETRO last year, reached an agreement with ROC Oil Company Limited ( a leading oil and gas company with assets across four continents) to purchase its 75 per cent participating interest in Juan de Nova Maritime Profond exclusive exploration permit, deep offshore Mozambique Channel. The transaction, which is subject to partner waiver or approvals and French government approvals, will be completed through France based South Atlantic Petroleum JDN SAS, a wholly owned subsidiary of SAPETRO. Commenting on the transaction, SAPETRO’s Chief Executive Officer, Martin Trachsel stated that “this is an important step for SAPETRO as we implement our strategy of expanding our exploration portfolio in Africa. We have identified some extremely interesting geology in Juan de Nova which provides an excellent opportunity for exploration. This pure exploration play effectively balances our established production and development activities in Nigeria and Benin “. Beyond making money, Theophilus Danjuma is widely acclaimed as one of Nigeria’s biggest philanthropist with an endowment fund of N15.6 billion ($100m) administered through the TY Danjuma Foundation. The Foundation is believed to have disbursed about N809 million since inception. The Foundation also awards grants to 14 Community Based Organisations (CBOs) under its Community Fund scheme to implement projects exclusively

In 2007, SAPETRO acquired a 350 km2 seismic data over the acreage and by the end of the first quarter of 2009, had drilled two appraisal wells in the Seme field

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in TYDF’s priority states, Taraba and Edo. A total of seven CBOs won grants to implement projects in Taraba and seven in Edo with the total amount in either state being N13.28 million and N13 million respectively. Besides reaching out to Nigerians through his Foundation, the TY Danjuma MBA Scholarship is equally empowering Nigerians educationally. It provides financial support to post-graduate African students who have been accepted onto MBA programmes in the topfive leading Business Schools in the world. The Financial Times MBA Global Ranking for 2012 lists the top five schools as; Stanford Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, University of Pennsylvania: Wharton, London Business School and INSEAD. All successful African MBA applicants to the top five Business Schools are eligible to receive The TY Danjuma MBA Scholarship regardless of domicile. The grant is awarded to successful candidates prior to the annual intake for that Business School. Launched in 2011, The TY Danjuma MBA Scholarship aims to help up to four students a year. The first recipient of the scholarship was a Nigerian student attending INSEAD in the Class of 2012. This year’s recipients were two INSEAD students from Nigeria as well as one attending London Business School. Danjuma’s business and philanthropic activities, it was gathered are clearly set out with a purpose. In business, he hopes to become the most successful Nigerian in the upstream and even in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry. “I will leave behind tangible assets in the form of finance as well as petrol chemical plants operating beyond and after me”, he had said. His philanthropic activities are not motivated by any political consideration, like many would. Rather, he declared that his vision is that “the Foundation will play a pivotal role in building a Nigeria where all citizens have access to quality health care, education and equal opportunities to realize their potentials.” At 72, the retired but not tired General Danjuma still plays an important part in all his businesses as he is involved in their daily high level decision making sessions. Since 1999, Danjuma has played an active role in Nigerian politics. Apart from his appointment as former President Obasanjo’s Defence Minister in 1999, Danjuma was also in 2003 appointed as Chairperson for investigative committee on the Warri conflict. In 2010, he was nominated as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council by President Goodluck Jonathan. BC

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ThebuddingEntrepreneurs

Tumbling from ‘ruff’

to riches

Through diligence, passion, hard work and creative license, a business idea that evolved out of a not too clear perception, has today become a successful venture and a testimony to the fact that with strong will and patience, owing and running a business in Nigeria may not just be as bad as many think. This is the story of Adenike Ogunlesi’s Ruff n Tumble By Salami Semiu

he started out as law under-graduate from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, but opted out of school in her second year, not for lack of the requisite intellectual capacity to cope with the academic rigour but because she was not sure that the legal profession was what she really wanted. Incidentally, Nike’s father was a lawyer and had wanted her to follow in his footsteps. In Nigeria where education is highly valued, the consequences of her decision proved challenging but fortunately for her, she found an ally in her mother who was the owner of her own store, an Afrocentric clothing business called Betty O. Out of school and still out of a clear cut idea of what she really wanted out of life, Nike, as she is fondly called reluctantly accepted her mother’s offer to work in her Betty O located in Ibadan, Oyo State. Interestingly, it was the experience she garnered while at Betty O that eventually helped her to discover her hidden talent: cloth making. However, her cloth making experience was temporarily halted when she got married and started having children. As a newly married couple, Nike retreated to the home front as a full-time house wife in order to spend time with her children. Incidentally, it was exactly what took her out cloth making in the first instance that brought her back some years later. But this time, it started out of a need. Her children needed pyjamas but could not cope with the high cost of the ones she got, so

decided to make some. “I made these pyjamas and all the mothers in the playgroup loved them. My sister-in-law and another friend ordered some and I decided to make them and sold to the mothers in the playgroup,” she recalled. Convinced that pyjamas couldn’t be the only thing that she could offer, Nike, encouraged by her husband, decided to take some of her children’s clothing apart to see how they were made and from there, coupled with the experience she had previously gained from her mother’s shop, she started making clothes for children. She advertised to a friend and her sister in law and they showed interest and from there, the journey to the creation of Ruff n’ Tumble started. She later moved on to making play group wears like jeans, t-shirts and skirts for her children. With time, her business started gaining ground as she started selling the clothes to mothers with kids at the play group. She sells her wares from the back of her car, along with her children and sometimes, with her husband. As business gets bigger, Nike saw the need to hire more tailors to meet the increasing demands of the business. Besides, she also rented a small shop to create a permanent location and a retail outlet for her business. To advertise her product, Nike did not rely only on direct marketing, she also devised a plan by using her children as models for her clothes. She would dress them in outfits she has made for sales and take pictures of

them which will serve as a catalogue for potential customers. According to her, this was the most powerful and effective advertising campaign ever as people were quick to identify with a Nigerian face, wearing ‘Made in Nigeria’ outfits, the strategy which till date, remains her advertising line. This innovative marketing

strategy was devised at a time when such move was unheard of. ‘It was the first time that anybody had ever marketed children’s clothes like that. Not a clip art of a foreign magazine but actually using Nigerian children,’ she recalled. As business prospers, Nike remained practical, continued to reinvest revenues into her

company and cut costs where she could. This proved a good strategy when, three years after opening her first store, she realized the company needed a larger retail space to expand. She was unable to secure a bank loan, but thanks to her reinvestment strategies and the skilful use of her business returns, she successfully moved

Management Principles

The SWOT Analysis Model

hat competitive advantage can a SWOT analysis help your business attain? Can conducting SWOT analysis boost your profitability? Well, I advice you read on to find out. The concept of SWOT Analysis is a planning strategy that was first demonstrated around 1960’s and 1970’s by Albert S. Humphrey at a conference at Stanford University Since then, SWOT Analysis has continued to be the model adopted worldwide by majority of the businesses. Why your business needs a SWOT Analysis A SWOT study does not need any high-qualified degree like MBA or the advanced business management skills. It just requires a good insight of their business and the response of the existing market. It is a significant strategic tool and a creative process. The study must not just display the apparent but offer a chance to think productively about their business and its expectations. This entire SWOT hypothesis works on the theory of balance. Moreover, strength has an equivalent weakness and every opportunity retains a matching threat. A SWOT analysis recognizes the inner and outer factors that can possibly influence, affect, hinder or help the success of a business goal. This analysis is carried out by all the team members attached to the project, each with different skills to make sure that all the features are well thought-out. Once the team agrees on the business objective, a SWOT investigation is commenced. The outcome of this search manipulates the decision whether the aim should be chased or must it be altered. If there is alteration required for the objective, then an analysis has to be undertaken once again. How to do a SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis includes four objectives

Strength This component relates to the useful qualities of the company and its employees that can be supportive to achieve the objective. Typical factors for accessing this include the technical knowledge, potent brand name, good product reputation, established marketing channels, effective management and excellent customer relationship. Weakness It relates to those aspects that cause harm in achieving target success. The aspects to look for are the

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ThebuddingEntrepreneurs

Ogunlesi

to new premises, which costs her a whooping N500, 000 as a yearly rent. Presently, Ruff n Tumble has five branches countrywide and two new branches in Lagos Today, Nike’s Ruff ‘n’ Tumble is one of the most successful and innovative children apparel companies in Nigeria with outlets carrying its own brands as

well as other brands. With more than 50 employees and seven branches nationwide, the business has grown from her home as a creative children clothing line to a lifestyle brand that has transformed into a multi-million naira business with recognition beyond the borders of Nigeria. Apart from this, Ruff ‘n’ Tumble has transcended beyond

opposite of strength factors like lack of technology skills, poor marketing network, quality issues, no brand name and poor customer bonding. Opportunities They tackle the external marketing conditions and factors that are helpful in reaching the goal. Look at the advanced technologies, fluctuating marketing conditions, removing trade blockades and new marketing channels. Threats All the elements that work as opportunities, if work adversely then they pose as a threat to your business. For instance new technologies have the probability to make your company’s product outdated or removing trade barriers will have the market flooded with foreign products that can offer competitive. You must assemble your employees and executives from all related fields like production, sales and marketing to analyze the aim and distinguish the different SWOT aspects that are likely to affect the achievement of the business goal. Once this is completed the management and employees will take a decision of pursuing the determined goal or have an alteration to gain more profit. The advantages of SWOT analysis This study identifies the impending problems and negative aspects for pulling off a determined goal before spending any time, effort and resources on an eventually non-beneficial business objective. The assessment also makes certain that the set goal can be achieved. The team also acts confidently to complete the assigned task to attain quality results. Consequently, concentrating just on the achievable target will pilot the business forward efficiently. Thus, the business resources are not wasted in continuing the projects that would have turned out to be a failure. SWOT analysis can facilitate you to discern your position in the market and your challenger’s offerings to your intended market. For enhancing your customer base, it is necessary to have a formal or informal survey of customers to filter your target market. Thus, it helps to recognize your product deficiency to meet your customers demand and thus reposition yourself in the marketplace. The bottom line is that, a small investment of time in analyzing your competitive market will pay large dividends in the future. Therefore, the main aspiration of your business can also be met successfully. BC

making pyjamas and T-shirts to producing socks, jackets, swim wear, shorts, trousers, suits, shirts and other accessories. While targeting young adults, Nike has also expanded her business line with the introduction of two new brands – NaijaBoysZ and Trendsetters brands. This brands were introduced to cater for the unique fashion sense of today’s young adults while celebrating the colourful iconoclastic fashion sense of Nigeria’s emerging youth. Curiously, however, Ruff n Tumble started at a time when there was little or no business support system or infrastructure necessary to support small to medium businesses in the country. Yet, like most businesses, Ruff n Tumble has had its own fair share of the teething challenges faced by most entrepreneurs in the country, particularly in the area of access to funding at the time she wanted to move the business to bigger premises despite the fact that the business had been consistently profitable. But then, through diligence, hard work and creative license which she says has always worked for her, she was able to build a successful venture and today, she is a living example of the Nigerian spirit of industry and resilience. However, one factor which Nike herself admitted helps her brand is the fact that Ruff n Tumble “always move with the global trends.” Over the years, Nike had featured in the BBC World Documentary of the Year winning entrepreneurial documentary, Africa Open for Business Documentary and was honoured as FATE Foundation Model Entrepreneur in 2005. She is currently a mentor of the Fate Foundation and Junior Achievement of Nigeria organisation. She also featured on the CNBC programme, Dangers and Dollars: Africa the final investing frontier. For Nike, determining how successful she is in her line of business is really immaterial because, as she says, “success is a journey. It is not a place you would say you have reached. It is not only about money, it is not about awards or accolades. It is about what you stand for, what your values are,” she said. Today, Ruff n Tumble has widened its scope by not restricting his clothing business to the Nigerian shore alone. With globalisation and the borders literarily thrown opened, Nike says she “would be mad to be trying to produce the quantum of clothes that are required in Nigeria where there is no support. Government does not in any way support the garment manufacturing industry and it is capital intensive. The infrastructural issues are so high that being competitive may pose a problem,” BC

Personal Finance How to conduct Feasibility Study on a Business idea

o you know how to conduct feasibility study on a business idea? It is very important to conduct feasibility study on your business idea before taking it to the marketplace. Since conducting feasibility study is such an important process that must be carried out on your business idea or proposal, it is advisable to ensure that this critical aspect of business planning is taking seriously. A typical feasibility study template and outline contains the following: Economic Analysis This is where your feasibility study should start from. What is the essence of carrying out market research or even going ahead to start a business when the economy does not favour entrepreneurship or private ventures? Analyzing the economy will help you align your planned business with the economic situation on ground. Economic feasibility should include analysis on government’s fiscal and monetary policies, import and export rate, inflation rate, tax rate, and currency exchange rate and so on. Market Analysis The next thing you should be analyzing is the market for your proposed business idea. Carrying out a feasibility study on the market will enable you know if there is actually a need or market for your business idea. Market analysis will also help you to determine the size of the market, demographics and psychographics of the market, level of competition and the size of the market you can compete for. Technical Analysis This part of a feasibility study deals with the technological requirements of the business. Technical analysis will enable you determine the method of production to be employed, equipments, spare parts and tools, site development, supporting facilities, the nature of the factory building, fencing and so on. Location Analysis This is carried out with a view to determine the best location for the business in terms of nearness to high traffic roads, nearness to infrastructure, accessibility to customers, ease of transportation of raw materials and finished products, nearness to cheap labour, cost of land acquisition and so on. Manpower Analysis This part of a feasibility study deals with the process of estimating the level of skill, professionalism and number of employees to be hired by the business. The salary scale, incentives and pay package are also estimated at this point. Financial Analysis Financial analysis will be dealing with the estimation of the total capital involved, capital expenditures, working capital; profit and loss analysis, pricing of products, cash flow projections, projected sales revenue and the entire project viability. Everything concerning finance should be dealt with at this juncture. If you are trying to raise venture capital for your small business start-up, then you have to do a clean job on the financial section of the feasibility report because this is where investors focus on. All they are interested in knowing is how much is the percentage return on investment and the payback period. Sensitivity and Risk Analysis This is the last part of a feasibility study and probably the most important. After all other factors have been analyzed and proven viable, sensitivity and risk analysis can come in. Building a business without properly conducting a risk analysis is like flying a plane without regards to weather condition. Before any business idea is taken to the marketplace, its risk to reward ratio should be analyzed, the sensitivity to competition should be determined and the liquidation rate of companies in the industry of your proposed business venture should be calculated. With results obtained from sensitivity and risk analysis, growth and survival strategies can be developed for your proposed business. As a final note, if conducting feasibility study is too technical for you; then consider hiring a professional or a business consultant to do the dirty work for you. It’s going to save you time and energy. Always bear in mind that carrying out feasibility study on your business idea will enable you write a business plan and help you forge a competitive advantage for your business and increase your chance of success. BC

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Exploring the .Africa domain While Nigeria still battle with the slow pace of acceptance for its dot-ng domain, the African continent joins the frenzy, as Africa prepares to get its own internet domain name, dot Africa, in the next four months By Adejuwon Osunnuyi

oing by their enthusiastic projections on the anticipated benefits of having a unique domain name for the continent, information technology stakeholders in almost all African countries may well have accepted the inevitability of a great change coming into the industry after more than five decades. As it is, while it is agreed that individual country suffixes, or ccTLDs, have proven unpopular in Africa, there are strong indications that the demand for a pan-African online identity is expected to materialise early next year. To achieve this, the .Africa Top Level Domain (TLD), is proposed as a new Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD), for the promotion of African business, people and culture on the internet. The proposed new “.africa” internet domain name is expected to provide a stronger brand identity than current little known country domains, while preventing registration revenues flowing abroad. In technical parlance, .africa domain name is Africa’s identity in the cyberspace. In essence, what this means is that, henceforth, instead of the popular .com, .co. uk, what Africans are expected to be using to send their mails or transact business via the internet would be .africa. While Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) the organisation that controls the highest levels of the internet naming system, is currently reviewing applicants for gTLD and the .Africa TLD and decisions are expected in early 2013, it is widely believed that control over. Africa would expose the online community, particularly businesses, to numerous benefits – not least of which is the opportunity to use this resource as a springboard for African businesses to become globally competitive. Having registered to beat the April 2013 deadline, it is almost a done deal as almost all African

countries have endorsed the establishment of the continent’s own internet domain name. Out of the 55 African states, 44 have already supported the establishment of a world-class internet registry system infrastructure that is set to serve all of Africa and the global African Diasporas. Among the countries already supporting the move are Africa’s leading economies like South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. Though being the second largest continent on the earth, so far, Africa has been the only one without its own domain name. Other continents have their own with the one of American subcontinent being America, while Europe has EU and Asia’s is AS. For the African Union, it strongly believes that the introduction of the .Africa gTLD will create an attractive regional home for the Pan-African internet community. As the first sponsored registry to operate from Africa and, therefore, serving the specific needs of its communities, .Africa, it said, will echo ongoing operations and the successes of other sister community TLDs such as .EU (.Europa) and .Asia that have created a new internet identity for their users and businesses which seek more regional presence without being confined within the limits of one country. The African Union Commission (AUC), said it plans to apply to ICANN to operate the “.africa” domain, along with the French and Arabic alternatives “.afrique” and “.afriqia”. It is currently running an open tender process for technical organizations to operate the

Odusan domains on its behalf, which will be included in the AUC’s application to ICANN. The African Registry Consortium (ARC) is a pan-African consortium that aims to administer the .Africa domain by Africa, for Africa. ARC spokesperson and founding member, Koffi Fabrice Djossou, said that the company is pushing for the same EPP technology currently implemented for co.za and other .za second level domains to be utilised for the .Africa domain. “We see .Africa as the ideal opportunity to highlight African know-how and expertise”, said Djossou, adding that “This new domain will give the continent a truly African identity for the first time and will allow companies and organisations operating here to proudly highlight their African operations and identity.”

Octavia Kumalo, Marketing and Communications Manager, UniForum SA, observed that .Africa offers a lot in terms of opportunity for the content as proceeds from the Top Level Domain will be reinvested into the continent and boost socio-economic development. “Africa is the land of opportunities and growth, and I suppose it’s natural for contention to arise; when a lucrative opportunity such as running and operating a domain name which represents so many opportunities for the continent, is presented. The .africa domain name will give Africans, businesses, governments and individuals an online African identity,” Kumalo said. According to him, the proceeds from the .africa TLD will be reinvested into the African com-

munity through socio-economic development, ccTLD development, RAR development and also technology and infrastructure development. The .africa TLD will create an opportunity for African content development, which is a big need currently. So yes, the .africa TLD is a precious resource which paves the way for much needed development in the internet industry in Africa,” she added. Africa, despite its economic potentials, has a negligible presence in the lucrative domain name market. This is something that .Africa could help develop but without excluding international registrars, who will also have their role to play. .Africa is expected to contribute to the establishment of a real domain name industry in Africa and help develop a market for registrars or resellers of domain names. The statistics speak for themselves: Of the thousands of “registrars” accredited by ICANN, only five are Africans out of which only two are operational. Experts say Africa is lagging behind and must fill the void by giving companies a Web presence that will act as an economic catalyst. In June 2012, ICANN reported that a total of 1, 930 new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) names applications was received as part of the organisation’s new gTLD programme. According to the report, of the total number of applications for new gTLDs, 66 are geographic name applications and 116 are for Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs), for strings in scripts such as Arabic, Chinese and Cyrillic. While applications were received from 60 countries and territories, Howard Rybko, CEO of Syncrony, a South African-based website development and hosting company, believed that Africa has not come up with the goods in terms of vying for its slice of the digital real estate pie. “In midJune of 2012, when the big internet players revealed their cards in the highest stakes game in web history, the best Africa could come up with was four predictable geographic plays (.JOBURG, .DURBAN, .CAPETOWN and .AFRICA) and a few MNET pals covering their brand names. At stake is the ownership of the digital real estate represented by the few hundred new domain name extensions that will start appearing in 2013. These include extensions like .ZULU, .WEB, .LOTTO and a possible 1,400 more. The new extensions are designed to unclog the constipation resulting from the lack of availability of dot com names (and the handful of alternatives like dot net, dot biz and dot org),” Rybko submitted. Stakeholders like Djossou believe that the advent of .Africa

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Technotips domain will revolutionise the domain name space in Africa– something that Rybko believes the continent should be more cognizant of. “The entire African continent accounted for a paltry 13 English name applications. Peanuts compared to the enterprising Donuts Inc, who went out on a $65 million limb and applied for a staggering 307 new Top Level Domains. The names that Donuts (Domain Nuts) have applied for run the generic gamut from .RUGBY to .CASINO, .FAMLILY, .BLOG and even a controversial few like .SUCKS. If things turn out as Donuts’ hope, they will profit by making it afBekele fordable and simple for businesses and individuals to lay claim to their online territory,” Rybko said. As ICANN is working on the applications, operators like UniForum SA believes the organisation has the expertise and credibility to add significant value to the overall development of the Internet. “ICANN plays a critical role within the Internet industry and they do tremendously good work, to make the internet stable, secure and accessible – and now with the inclusion of Africa into the GAC, there will be even greater participation from African’s on the future of the internet,” Kumalo says. To DotConnectAfrica executive director, Sophia Bekele, the suffixes for individual African countries -- country code toplevel domains, or ccTLDs -- had generally proven unpopular during the decade or so of their existence. Research by the company revealed that 80 per cent of African domain name registrants had opted for “.com” or “.org” suffixes instead, which were priced competitively, reliable to register and had wide recognition. By contrast, the ccTLDs were little known, as they were “usually owned by governments, and governments are typically not very good at marketing,” she said. John Kariuki, founder and CEO of AAR Credit Services, a Kenyan-based micro-finance company whose company also operates in Uganda and Tanzania, where it is looking to expand its operations, but currently uses a Kenyan “co.ke” suffix said, “For companies looking to expand throughout Africa, it’s a good way of creating a brand identity.” According to him, “What really appeals to us is expressing that African identity. Sometimes, you don’t really know where these companies are from.” Bekele said that if her group was successful in its application to establish and operate the domain, it would look at other domains at prices competitive to “.com” registrations -- $5 for students, or between $9 and $19 for small to medium enterprises. A major benefit of the “.africa” domain would be that proceeds

from African domain registrations would remain on the continent, rather than flowing offshore, DotConnectAfrica says it plans to reinvest surpluses into developing the African internet sector. She however said there was concern from governments that a “.africa” domain could jeopardize the existing ccTLDs. “But I can assure you, if there is no ‘.africa’, I don’t think there will be any more uptake of the ccTLDs,” she said. However, there are indications that not everyone is as optimistic about the potential impact of the new generic top-level domains. Ray Valdes, vice-president of web services for tech consultancy Gartner, said that because the new wave of gTLDs went “against the grain of current consumer trends”, his company expected most of them to fall short of their goals. To be successful, he said the new gTLDs would require a change in consumer behaviour, plus a change in how search engines index the internet. To him, users would have to type unfamiliar text strings into the address bar of the browser, at a time when consumers were increasingly relying on search engines and social media to navigate the internet. He said that given the N28.86 million ($185,000) price tag to apply for the new gTLDs, most organizations would be better served by investing in creating faster, more usable sites that are more easily indexed by search engines, and broadening the social media presence of their organization. Like the .Africa domain, the President of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), Mary Uduma noted that small and medium scale businesses in the country stand to gain a lot when incorporated in the .ng domain. Uduma said such exercise would go a long way in shoring up the revenue base of small businesses while creating jobs for the unemployed through internet accessibility. While urging corporate and private bodies still using commercial domain names like yahoo and hotmail to register their

businesses with the .ng domain strings, she said, “The Association has provided a platform for all government Ministries, Agencies and Departments to register on the gov.ng domain to domesticate the .ng string.” Since the creation of NiRA in 2008, its various attempts at populating the domain name in the country has not yielded appreciable result. Over the years, the association had lamented the low response of Nigerians and corporate organisations as well as MDAs in registering their domain names, despite intense awareness creation it has carried out since 2008. But in a renewed effort to encourage more Nigerians join the fray, NiRA said it is planning new strategies to beef-up the Country Code Top Level Domain name (ccTLD), the .ng domain name. Although the NiRA board is yet to adopt the latest strategy, its Chief Operating Officer, Ope Odusan, said if adopted, it would drive registration of domain names in the country and populate it with over 50 per cent increase. The new strategy is to create multiple registries for domain name and position NiRA as a regulatory body that will control the activities of all registries, through guided principles and regulations that will govern domain name registration in the country. According to Odusan, only about 40, 000 to 45,000 domain names were registered as at the last three months, which he said is a far cry when compared with the country’s population of over 160 million. However, he maintained that the figure has continued to increase because of new registrations and renewal of registered domain names. Odusan said his organisation is evolving a new proposal to change the way the .ng business is done. Some countries, he said, have more than one registry adding that Nigeria too could equally have multiple registry operators. “A private company could take on .com.ng domain name and they will push and market that domain name such that they can employ registrars that will help them populate that domain name. Another private investor could be licensed to operate .org. ng and NiRA will be the regulator, just as we have it in the telecoms industry, with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as the telecoms industry regulator,” he said. He said the various registry operators would pay a fee to get the domain name and all the current registrars that would sell domains for the multiple registries. “What we currently operate is a pattern where a single registry which is NiRA and several registrars are selling domain names for NiRA, and the pattern is slowing the entire process,” Odusan said. He added that the new strategy would make it compulsory for registries to invest in the business, hire registrars and populate that segment of the domain name. BC

Tips and tricks iPhone, iPad users should know

o you own an iPhone or iPad? Chances are that there are some functions you’re still not aware of. Below is a list of tips to help you get the most out of your devices.

Directly access apps If you’re like most people, you have your iPhone set to show some pop-up notifications. They might show up on the home screen when you get a Facebook notification, or a text message, for instance, and even when the phone is locked and the screen is asleep. To open these messages, you don’t have to first swipe to unlock your phone and then open the app. As long as your device isn’t protected by a four-digit security code, swipe from left to right on the notification to open the app in which the message appeared. If you do use a code, you’ll be prompted to enter it after swiping the notification. Tap to scroll up Give your pointer finger a rest from scrolling up, up, up to get back to the top of a page. Tap once on the status bar—where the time and battery life are displayed—at the top edge of the iPhone or iPad screen and you’ll jump up to the top. This works for websites, email, contacts and many other apps. Keyboard shortcuts Tapping on a glass keyboard has its downsides, but a few shortcuts could ease the experience. Tap and hold the “compose new message” button in mail to automatically bring up all your saved email drafts. And rather than switching to the number keyboard and then switching back to the letter keyboard, tap and hold the “123” key, then drag it to a number to select it. When you lift your finger from the number, the letter keyboard will appear again. When entering an email address, hold down the period key to see other address endings. Add emoticons to your keyboard by choosing: Settings, General, Keyboard, International Keyboards, Add new keyboard, Emoji. When entering a Web address in the browser, hold down the .com key to see alternate URL endings, like .org and .edu. Speed from app to app The iPhone and iPad have many apps running in the background. There are shortcuts for jumping around apps without going to the home screen. Double tap the Home button (a physical button below the screen) to see a pop-up tray of apps and swipe to the left to scroll through them. Select one to jump to it. On the iPad, do this is by placing four fingers on the screen and swiping all of them up at once. This and other multitask gestures are on by default on the iPad 2 and newest iPad. But you have to turn them on with the first-generation iPad by going to Settings, General, Multitask Gestures. Take screenshots Ever see something on your iPhone or iPad screen and wish you could save that image, but can’t figure out how? Press the Home button and the On/Off button (top right edge) simultaneously to take a screenshot of whatever you see on the device. You’ll hear the same sound as when you take a picture with the camera app. You can find all of your screenshots stored in camera roll, along with your photos, and share them via email or social networks as you do regular photos. Swipe to search Another way to quickly find apps on an iPhone or iPad is to swipe left-to-right from the home screen. This reveals a search box in which you can type the name of any app to jump right to it. This search also finds contacts, emails, calendar items and texts, as well as other things. Read Websites more easily Stop struggling to read overcrowded Web pages on the iPhone’s small screen. Instead, tap the Reader button, found in the URL bar at the top of a Web page, and you’ll see a much clearer, predominantly text version of the page. Even better: This view hides advertisements. It doesn’t work with all websites. This also works on the iPad. A smarter camera (iPhone) If you’ve ever wished your iPhone camera had a physical shutter button, look no further. The phone’s volume up (+) button doubles as a shutter button whenever the camera app is opened. This hard button feels sturdier all around, plus it makes it a cinch to take self-portraits or to tell strangers how to take a photo of you and your friends. BC

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Business Courage

Ojomuyide

95 per cent Nigerians committed to saving for future - Survey Stories by Kunle Azeez

ore Nigerians are begining to understand the importance of saving their money, with 95 per cent of respondents in a new survey committing to increasing their savings in the following six months. The latest survey entitled: “ Consumer Purchasing Priorities - Money Management” was carried out by MasterCard Worldwide. According to the study, compared to the previous year’s results, this latest finding represents an eight per cent increase on the 87 per cent of respondents who had similarly committed to increasing their savings in 2011. Now in its second year in Nigeria, the MasterCard Worldwide Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities – Money Management includes a series of questions that investigates respondents’ financial planning over the course of the following six months and seeks to determine levels of basic money management skills in terms of budgeting and savings. The most recent survey was conducted between 24 April and 10 June 2012, and involved 11,376 respondents aged 18 to 64 across 25 markets spanning the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions. On the African continent, the survey was conducted in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa. [1] The Index and its accompanying reports do not represent MasterCard financial performance. When respondents were questioned about their primary reason for wanting to increase their rate of saving over the subsequent six months, 84 per cent indicated that they were wary of the impact that global economic events may have on the Nigerian market and they felt they needed to prepare for unfore-

seen emergency expenditure. The survey established that a significant 95 per cent of respondents believed that they should regularly save a portion of their monthly income. The allocation of their total salaries that they intended to save in the following six months was diverse, with 26 per cent saving one tenth or less, half of all respondents saving between 11-30 per cent, and 11 per cent saving more than one third of their salaries. Commenting, the Country Manager, West Africa, MasterCard Worldwide, Omokehinde Ojomuyide, said it was clear that Nigerians understand the importance of setting a portion of their monthly income aside. “In fact, it is one of the most important and necessary actions that any Nigerian can take to ensure their financial security.” The Central Bank of Nigeria has emphasised this with its National Financial Inclusion Strategy, through which it aims to achieve a total number of 63 million users of banks’ savings account products by 2020, from the 21 million accounts that were active last year. Ojomuyide added that investments, retirement planning, and buying or upgrading a property, were the most popular reasons for saving, with a large percentage of Nigerians saving for more than one purpose. Reinforcing the positive results around savings were the facts that 94 per cent of respondents believed it was never too early to have a financial plan and 81 per cent agreed financial planning was not just for the rich. However, the survey revealed that while large numbers of Nigerians understand the importance of planning and saving for their retirement years, and are setting money aside for that purpose, only 37 per cent of respondents have calculated the total amount that they would need to retire to maintain their lifestyle when the time comes for them to stop working. “Many people think that saving for retirement is something that can be postponed for action later in life. However, one of the first steps to take towards financial independence is making adequate preparations for when a person is no longer working, whether this retirement is by choice or from ill health – and the advice of a qualified and experienced financial planner will help Nigerians take the necessary steps to provide for their future,” Ojomuyide said. The survey also indicated that Nigerians manage their money carefully and effectively. Ninety-four percent believe that they have the ability and understanding to budget their day-day finances, 78 per cent

Monday, October 29, 2012

track their spending on a weekly basis and 83 per cent regularly monitor the progress of their investments. “Even though the survey shows that Nigerians lag with planning for their retirement, it reveals that they understand the importance of budgeting and saving, and more importantly, they are taking steps to include these activities in their daily lives,” Ojomuyide said. The MasterCard country official also noted that “It is this awareness of personal finances, and the knowledge of how to manage money, that will help Nigerians embrace the CBN’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy and its Cashless Policy.” According to her, “Understanding the importance of managing money beyond immediate daily needs is the first step towards owning a bank account, which then opens up the benefits of broader financial inclusion. “This in turn makes the appeal of a cashless economy even more clear, as the dangers and inconvenience of cash are eliminated, and electronic payments are increasingly embraced.”

BlackBerry Solution to guarantee lowest TCO for users

new research study from Strategy Analytics has said that the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution has not only provided the most secure mobile platform but also the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) for mobile deployments. The study, commissioned by Research In Motion, considered typical industry best practices, using the United Kingdom government as an example. According to the study, the entire mobile solution was examined, including device management and devices themselves for a 100 user smartphone deployment running at IL2, the minimum security standard for all government departments including schools, health departments and local government. It compared two recom-

Totzke

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

mended approaches to mobility: the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution and a ‘Walled Garden’ approach to mobility where any non-BlackBerry device is given Virtual Private Network access to a secure limited zone on a network and is managed by third-party mobile device management software. After one year, the cost to securely manage non-BlackBerry devices using aWalled Garden architecture was found to be 39 per cent more expensive than BlackBerry devices in a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) deployment. The analysis further indicated that a Walled Garden approach would continue to cost more than the BlackBerry solution in subsequent years. Commenting on the study, the Director of Enterprise Research at Strategy Analytics, Mr. Andrew Brown, said, “This study highlights that the cost of setting up and managing devices using a‘WalledGarden’ architecture is more expensive than using BlackBerry Enterprise Server with BlackBerry smartphones. According to him, “When looking to define a cost-efficient, long-term enterprise mobility strategy, we would cautionall organisations across both the public and private sectors to look at the total cost of supporting multiple devices with multiple operating systems over several years.” Strategy Analytics also assessed the security of the BlackBerry 7, Apple iOS 5, Symbian S60 and Windows Phone 7 (WP7) operating systems, using eleven key threats as a framework. The BlackBerry solution proved the most secure, scoring a low-threat level in ten of the eleven categories. The report also found that the end-to-end architecture of the BlackBerry solution, including encryption for dataat-rest and intransit, mitigates the maximum amount of risk and offers essential support for corporate IT policies. “OEMs and device OS manufacturers need to ensure greater technical controls on their platforms to limit platform vulnerabilities and other operating systems have a long way to go before they can be considered viable options,” Brown said. Also speaking, Senior Vice President, BlackBerry Security Group at RIM, Scott Totzke, said, “As the only mobile solution to be approved by the United Kingdom government to protect material classified up to and including ‘Restricted’, the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution continues to set the standard for mobile security. This research study also further underlines that at a time when all types of organisations are looking to drive efficiencies, the BlackBerry solution remainsthe most cost-effective enterprise mobility option.”

Akano

New Horizons emerges Microsoft 2012 Valued Partner

ew Horizons Nigeria, a franchise of New Horizons Worldwide, the world’s largest independent Information Technology Training organisation with offices in 80 countries and six continents of the world has emerged Microsoft 2012 Valued Partner. The latest recognition has put the organisation in the top five per cent of Microsoft’s ecosystem globally. The Microsoft competency differentiates organisations such as New Horizons in the business world and enables the organisation to capitalise on market opportunity with tailored benefits such as eligibility for a direct relationship with Microsoft, customer technical sales and advisory services, and prioritized exposure on the Microsoft customer marketplace. Spealing on the development, the Chief Executive Officer, New Horizons, Nigeria, Tim Akano, said the partnership was an added advantage to New Horizons, which, he said, had become a fast-growing organisation with strong interest in the growth and development of the information technology and e-business aspect of Nigeria’s economy. He said the partnership will increase the Nntion’s opportunity to have more Microsoft Certified Professionals. He also added that New Horizons will continually use its unparalleled knowledge gathered in its 30 years of operations in 80 Countries and six continents of the world to ensure the best IT and E-business trainings for Nigerians. He said: “ New Horizons Nigeria empowers about 50,000 Nigerians yearly in Universities, Schools, Military, and Corporate Organisations. Akano said “With our robust relationships with Microsoft, EC-Council, Oracle,Cisco, Certiport, CBP, Linux and SAP the future is bright for the Nigerian IT Professionals”. BC

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Monday, October 29, 2012

Reflections with Semiu Salamii 07043280449 sms only

It revealed that billions of dollars of revenue were missing in unpaid debts from signature bonuses and royalties, while the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, a company jointly owned by the NNPC, Shell, Total and Eni had paid the country for gas at cutdown prices before exporting it to international markets. “The estimated cumulative of the deficit between value obtainable on the international market and what is currently being obtained from NLNG, over the 10 year period, amounts to approximately $29 billion,” the report said. Besides, the report also alleges that foreign oil firms had outstanding debts worth several billions. For instance, Addax, now a unit of China’s state-owned Sinopec, owes Nigeria $1.5 billion in unpaid royalties, part of a $3 billion black hole of unpaid bonuses and royalties owed by oil firms. The report also said that Shell owes Nigeria’s government N137.57 billion ($874 million) for gas sold from its Bonga deep offshore field, while oil majors owed $58 million between them for gas flaring penalties. It alleged that Nigeria was the only nation to sell all its crude through international oil traders rather than directly to refineries, adding that such trades were often opaque. Besides, the committee revealed that some

international oil traders who were not “on the approved master list of customers” had been sold crude oil “without a formal contract” so little could be obtained about the details of these deals, which can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. This report, like the ones before it, looks quite damning, but whether the government would have sufficient clout to fully carry out the recommendations, in view of the alleged indictment of even the current leadership in the petroleum ministry, is yet to be seen. Already, Alison-Madueke, perhaps, jolted by the report, has given an indication that report is still “a draft,” and that “There will be some areas where the government ... may have a slightly different opinion ... (and) will put its point of view to the committee,” she said. She insisted that there are no informal contracts and there is “an official tender put out every year”, which can be seen by the public in newspapers. “I have not given any discretionary awards during this administration,” Alison-Madueke was quoted as saying, although she added that the president had the right to do so instead of using bids if he saw fit. No doubt, this report would ruffle feathers but it will do a lot of good if the report of the committee is not only made public but also religiously implemented, no matter whose ox is gored. It is only when this is done that Nigeria can be taken seriously as a nation desirous of wiping out the scourge of greed and corruption that have pervaded the land. BC

year, while addressing shareholders at the 23rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank, Gbenga Oyebode, chairman, board of directors highlighted the enormity of the expected benefits from the merger. Capturing how the merger relationship began, Gbenga said, “The board and management of your bank took the opportunities of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Banking Sector Resolution Programme to pursue a business combination with an intervened bank toward achieving our growth aspirations”. Although, he was not specific as to what constituted the growth aspiration, the chairman highlighted strategic actions taken to ensure the maximization of the benefits of the merger then to include, the completion of the integration of branches, customers, products, systems and people of the two banks. This action, according to him, cemented Access Bank’s position as a leader in the Nigerian banking industry. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer was more precise when he defined the transition of the bank thus, “Access Bank’s journey of transformation has been remarkable in many respects, none more so than our emergence from a low industry ranking in 2002 to become one of Nigeria’s ‘Big Four’ banks by 2011”. Meanwhile some analysts hold the view that until the factors used for the assessment of the Nigerian banks that ranked Access Bank as among the “Big Four” is disclosed for scrutiny, they will take such assumption with a pitch of salt. Such critics are quick to point out that ranking of banks are not based on their branch networks but key fundamentals such as top and bottom-lines, returns on investments, earnings ratios as well as the volume of depositors funds, liquidity ratio, none performing loan (NPL) ratio etc. But whether Access Bank stands tall in the midst of its peers in these areas remain to be tested to confirm the true position. This is even more so, as the third quarter results show that customers deposit for the period declined by 4.4 per cent to N1.08 trillion on quarter-to-quarter basis from N1.13 trillion in the second quarter of 2012. Total loans and advances portfolio also dropped by 0.6

per cent to N604.3 billion quarter-on-quarter from N607.9 billion Q2, June 2012. But total equity rose by eight per cent quarteron-quarter to N241.3billion from N223.5 billion Q2, June 2012. Some disturbing features of the results include the declining depositor’s funds, which analysts say slightly run contradictory to the CEO’s position, particularly when competitors are showing records of growing depositors’ funds in the accounts for similar period. Aig-Imoukhuede had in April this year told shareholders that the bank’s management will focus on customers focus to achieve market leading levels of operating efficiency as well as deliver outstanding customer service to millions of its customers. Again, the duo of Gbenga and AigImoukhuede had expressed the belief that enhancing the shareholders value was key in the life of Access Bank but the question is to what extent is the concept being put to practice? In his capacity as the CEO of the bank, Aig-Imoukhuede had raised shareholders hope of gaining more from the merger when he said, “To us M & A success is not measured by the size of the deal but by our ability to enhance shareholders value and overcome the many risks that are associated with such transactions”. One cannot but agree that the management deserves commendation for growing EPS by more than double to 155 kobo from 76 kobo, but the question is what portion of these will be distributed to shareholders as dividend. Regrettably, Access Bank does not have a record as dividend friendly paying bank when compared with other leading players in the sector, but it is clearly not too late for the board and management to prove how much they are truly committed to delivering value to shareholders. This, they can truly do if they so desire. Stock analysts are already advocating for patronage of the stock based on the recent financial report. Offering data which shows that the bank’s equity now trades at an average trailing P/E of 5.7x earnings, they say it is a significant discount to its peers, trading at an average trailing P/E of BC 8.0x earnings.

Another damning report

t is unlikely if there is any Nigerian that had thought that the Nuhu Ribadu-led Presidential Revenue Task Force empanelled last January in the wake of mass protest that greeted the fuel subsidy problem would come out with anything contrary to what the nation’s oil and gas sector is noted for- graft. Given his antecedents as pioneer chairman of the nation’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), there were high hopes that the 22-member committee would do justice to the assignment and help properly unearth the myriads of scams that have pervaded the sector in the past decade. Though not yet out officially, snippets from the 144-page report already submitted to the Petroleum Minister, Diezani AlisonMadueke, gave a lurid picture of how massive corruption and lack of transparency in the management of the nation’s oil resources have rubbed the nation several billions of naira. The report provides new details on Nigeria’s long history of corruption in the oil sector, which has enriched its elite and provided the oil majors with hefty profits while two thirds of people live in poverty. Nigeria, according to the report, lost out tens of billions of dollars in oil and gas rev-

enues over the last decade from cut price deals struck between multinational oil companies and government officials. The report alleged that oil majors like Shell, Total and Eni made bumper profits from cut-price gas, while Nigerian oil ministers handed out licences at their own discretion. Though the report admitted that such practice was not entirely illegal, it however said that the process did not follow best practice of using open bids. Besides, it said that several hundreds of millions of dollars in signature bonuses on those deals were also missing. The report further alleges that international oil traders sometimes buy crude without any formal contracts, and that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had short-changed the Nigerian treasury, billions over the last 10 years by selling crude oil and gas to itself below market rates. It said that NNPC gets an allocation of 445,000 bpd of crude oil to refine locally but it has been selling itself this oil at cut-down prices, a practice which cost Nigeria $5 billion in potential revenue from 2002 -2011, the report said. It said that the NNPC made N86.6 billion over the 10-year period by using overly generous exchange rates in its declarations to the government.

BELIEVABILITY INDEX

Does Access Bank’s Q3 result holds any prospect for investors? By Festus Okoromadu

he year 2012 is of very significant value to stakeholders of Access Bank Plc. The bank started the year with what it considered a key achievement, which was, finalising the legal merger with Intercontinental Bank in January. According to the bank, cementing the deal has positioned it as a leader in the Nigerian banking industry and give it a sustainable market leading platform to achieve future aspirations. Interestingly, the future aspiration of the bank is summed in its new vision as a financial institution “focused on delivering shareholders value and maintaining profitability while behaving in a socially and environmentally responsible manner”. In view of this, it is imperative to consider the prospect of meeting this set goal especially now that the first financial year after the celebrated acquisition draws to a close. Recently, the bank released its unaudited account for the third quarter ended September 31, 2012 and fair enough, the results exhibited impressive year-on-year growth in top and bottom-line figures. Gross earnings grew by 88 per cent to N162.3 billion when compared with N86.3 billion in similar period of 2011. Pre and post tax profits for the period also swelled year-on-year by 116 per cent and 156.9 per cent to N39.1 billion and N35.1 billion from N18.1 billion and N13.7 billion respectively. The bank acknowledged an exceptional loss of N4 billion in what it said had to do with the disposal of Financial Accommodation Bonds (FAA bonds). According to a release from the bank, the total loss on the disposal is estimated to be about N8 billion, the bank hopes to make provision for the balance by the close of the financial year. The bonds, according to the statement, came through the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank in 2011, stressing that they were issued by the Asset Management Com-

pany of Nigeria (AMCON) and subsequently purchased by the CBN. The statement further said that, “Access Bank agreed terms for the disposal in September 2012 on the basis that it was prudent to quantify a definitive loss on cancelling the bonds rather than leave the bank exposed to movements in the interbank interest rates changes on liabilities relating to the bonds, which were moving adversely compared with the value of the bonds themselves and left potential future losses uncapped”. “The bonds were not disposed at the time of the ICB acquisition as Access decided to gradually reduce its position as increased deposits replaced the source of interbank funding”. The statement added, explaining that, market conditions also meant that there was potential upside in retaining the bonds at the time of the acquisition. Still on the Q3, a breakdown of the key earning parameters shows that Net Interest Income rose by 67 per cent to N76.5 billion from N45.7 billion, Net Fee and Commission Income hit N16.8 billion up from N14.1 billion representing 19 per cent, while Total Comprehensive Income soared to N33.3 billion up from N15.1 billion representing 121 per cent. Consequently the bank’s earnings per share (EPS) is now 155 kobo up from 76kobo. Considering the fact that he third quarter of 2012 was generally considered a turbulent period for most banks, due to interbank volatility which is said to have exerted significant pressure on interest income, the growth posted by Access Bank is clearly commendable. The question, however, is whether the current figures properly represent the size of the new bank. Does the third quarter’s results march the picture painted before now? Or is anything wrong with the new structure? It will be recalled that in April this

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The new Volvo V40 premium hat The all-new V40 is ready to overtake the competition in the Premium Hatchback class with sharpened features and characteristics from larger Volvos wrapped in a sleek, compact package

he all-new Volvo V40 is a modern, expressive car with a Scandinavian luxury look and feel, a highquality aura and meticulous attention to detail. The new, fully graphic instrument cluster with personalised layout and information enhances the intuitive and uncomplicated driver experience. The new Volvo V40 means the Swedish car maker finally has a five-door hatch to rival the Audi A3 Sportback, BMW 1 Series and Volkswagen Golf. While selling alongside the three-door C30, the Volvo V40 replaces the s40 compact sedan and twin V50 wagon in one swoop with a sporting design, as the V, according to Volvo, stands for ‘Versatile’. On the outside, the Volvo V40 is instantly recognisable as a Volvo, yet is cleverly executed with up-to-the-minute styling. It looks sporty, with a rising waistline that ends in an upward kick that echoes the classic Volvo P1800 sportscar, while the rear follows on from the C30 and 1980s 440 with its glass hatch. There’s an optional glass roof that’s tinted black, giving the car a low stance, while the B-pillars and glass surrounds are also blacked-out for a sporty look. We’re testing the Volvo V40 in Europe ahead of its Australian release in either late 2012 or early 2013. There are three trim lines for UK models, starting with the ES, SE and SE Lux. All offer a smart cabin that has taken a major step up from the S40. There’s still super comfortable seats wrapped in both a mix of cloth and some clever new materials, or there’s leather on the SE Lux. Either way, the front seats are well sculpted with a sports looks and reasonable side support, while the cloth seats are the same design with contrasting stitching. There’s plenty of room for a six-footer and more storage pockets – including the floating centre console – while there’s some clever stuff in the back. On top of moulded-in cup

holders near the doors, lower the armrest and there’s a set of pop-out cup holders, too, which neatly tuck away when not in use. The rear seats are also sculpted, while they’ve been moved inward to offer greater elbowroom. It also means rear passengers aren’t staring at the seatbacks in front of them. Still, rear headroom is compromised slightly, meaning anyone more than six-feet tall won’t fit, even with the excellent glass roof optioned. That sheds light, however, on the excellent surface finishes and textured dash, which sees a five-inch display and threespoke leather wrap wheel. It has audio and cruise buttons on the wheel, while there’s a traditional park brake handle instead of the space-saving

push-button electric versions in some rivals. Option the sat-nav and you’ll get a seven-inch screen as part of the package. The Volvo V40’s driving position is low down with good all-round vision. The new digital dash is brilliant, with crystal clear colour graphics that outclass many pricier vehicles. The display works with the three performance modes, which alter the throttle response and the weighting of the V40’s electric steering. The default ‘Elegance’ mode offers decent weighting a good turn-in, and there are good grip levels and decent body control from

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chback

Autocare Secrets of super driving

riving is risky business. As a defensive driver, you can avoid crashes and help lower your risk behind the wheel. If you’ve been out on the roads, you will know that not everyone drives well. Some people speed aggressively. Others wander into another lane because they aren’t paying attention. Drivers may follow too closely, make sudden turns without signalling, or weave in and out of traffic. Aggressive drivers are known road hazards, causing one third of all traffic crashes. But inattentive driving is becoming more of a problem as people “multitask” by talking on the phone, texting or checking messages, eating, or even watching TV as they drive. You can’t control the actions of other drivers. But updating your defensive driving skills can help you avoid the dangers caused by other people’s bad driving When you drive defensively, you’re aware and ready for whatever happens. You are cautious, yet ready to take action and not put your fate in the hands of other drivers. Following these defensive driving tips can help reduce your risk behind the wheel: Think safety first Avoiding aggressive and inattentive driving tendencies yourself will put you in a stronger position to deal with other people’s bad driving. Leave plenty of space between you and the car in front. Always lock your doors and wear your seatbelt to protect you from being thrown from the car in a crash. Be aware of your surroundings — pay attention Check your mirrors frequently and scan conditions 20 to 30 seconds ahead of you. Keep your eyes moving. If a vehicle is showing signs of aggressive driving, slow down or pull over to avoid it. If the driver is driving so dangerously that you’re worried, try to get off the roadway by turning right or taking the next exit if it’s safe to do so. Also, keep an eye on pedestrians, bicyclists, and pets along the road.

the front-wheel-drive hatch. It’s not as sharp as the rear-wheel-drive BMW 1 Series, for example, even in the ‘Sport’ mode, which tightens up the steering feel and changes the dash display to include an integrated speedo/tachometer shrouded in traditional red mist. ‘Eco’ mode offers the most efficient of these, choosing the most economical gears to make the most of the start/stop and regenerative braking. The ride on European roads is class leading, so there are high hopes for a cosseted, compliant ride even on Australia’s bumpier surfaces. That’s

backed by a highly refined cabin and engines, which are improved versions of those found in the C30, S40 and V50. The most efficient of the range is the D2, which is also expected to be the big seller. The entry-level Volvo V40 has official European cycle figures of 3.6L/100km courtesy of its 84kW 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel. There’s also a 110kW D3 and a 130kW D4, the most potent diesel also coming with a healthy 400Nm of torque. Petrol engines comprise a 110kW four-cylinder T3, a 132kW T4, and the range-topping T5 is powered by a 187kW 2.5-litre

turbocharged five-cylinder as seen in the C30 T5 hatch. By far the most impressive combination from a driver’s perspective is the D4 that is well mated to the six-speed automatic and makes good use of its slabs of torque. It’s an excellent blend of economy and performance, and it has quite a rorty exhaust not when you’re pushing. It’s a better pick than the T4 auto (the T5 debuts in Europe in November), which is illgeared and not as effective or enjoyable point to point. Take the rare manual option if you’re after a punchy petrol-powered V40. The Volvo V40 is a worthy rival to the BMW 1 Series and should keep the forthcoming Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz A-Class honest. It combines a well-made, spacious cabin with an excellent ride, good practicality, spades of character and an enjoyable drive. It’s not as sporty or involving as a BMW, but some will prefer its styling and it offers a range of unique features and equipment that will sway if for some. 2013 is shaping up as a great battle for premium hatchbacks. BC

Don’t depend on other drivers Be considerate of others but look out for yourself. Do not assume another driver is going to move out of the way or allow you to merge. Assume that drivers will run through red lights or stop signs and be prepared to react. Plan your movements anticipating the worst-case scenario. Have an escape route In all driving situations, the best way to avoid potential dangers is to position your vehicle where you have the best chance of seeing and being seen. Having an alternate path of travel is essential, so take the position of other vehicles into consideration when determining an alternate path of travel. Always leave yourself an out — a place to move your vehicle if your immediate path of travel was suddenly blocked. Follow the 3- to 4-second rule Since the greatest chance of a collision is in front of you, using the 3- to 4-second rule will help you establish and maintain a safe following distance and provide adequate time for you to brake to a stop if necessary. But this rule only works in normal traffic under good weather conditions. In bad weather, increase your following distance an additional second for each condition such as rain, fog, night-time driving, or following a large truck or motorcycle. Keep your speed down Posted speed limits apply to ideal conditions. It’s your responsibility to ensure that your speed matches conditions. In addition, higher speeds make controlling your vehicle that much more difficult if things go wrong. To maintain control of your vehicle, you must control your speed. Separate risks When faced with multiple risks, it’s best to manage them one at a time. Your goal is to avoid having to deal with too many risks at the same time. Cut out distractions A distraction is any activity that diverts your attention from the task of driving. Driving deserves your full attention — so stay focused on the driving task. Safe driving! BC

A20 36

Business Courage

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

How the economy fared in nine months – CBN

he economy in the last nine months according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shows that key performance measuring indices recorded a mixed growth. But financial analysts believe that the days ahead hold good prospects for the economy. According to the apex bank, monetary aggregates for September showed that total money stock in the economy (M2) increased month-on-month by 1.97 per cent to N14.04 trillion while narrow money (M1) swelled by 2.34 per cent to N6.39 trillion. Likewise, quasi money (which consists of near money instruments such a savings accounts, time deposits, treasury bills, etc) increased by 1.67 per cent to N7.65 trillion. However, indicative of the apex bank’s mop up exercise, currency in circulation at the end of the third quarter declined month-on-month by 1.42 per cent to N1.35 trillion while banks’ reserves grew by 5.04 per cent to N1.77 trillion. On the asset side of the financial system balance sheet, credit to government decreased by 8.20 per cent to N1.58 trillion. However, credit to the private sector rose marginally by 0.29 per cent to N14.93 trillion; resulting in 1.40 per cent growth in net domestic credit to N13.35 trillion. Also, net foreign assets strengthened by 2.26 per cent to N8.25 trillion. Meanwhile, CBN reported that the external sector saw downward pressure in the second quarter of 2012, having recorded lower current account surplus as well as reduced capital flows. The estimated current account balance declined quarter-on-quarter by 50.34 per cent to $3.11 billion (or 4.87 per cent of gross domestic product). The decline resulted from a 9.80 per cent decrease in exports to $22.52 billion as the global economic crunch continued to negatively impact commodity exporters such as Nigeria. Also, import bills increased quarter-on-quarter by 7.51 per cent to $14.48 billion while net incomes (basically out-payments consisting of dividends and distributed branch profits paid to foreign investors) increased by 12.32 per cent to $6.06billion. Nevertheless, a 1.35 per cent increase in net current transfers to $5.34 billion provided some buffer to the current account. On the capital account, the aggregate foreign capital inflows dropped by 37.79 per cent to $3.44 billion. Of the total capital inflows, Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) accounted for 23.22 per cent while Portfolio Investments (PI) accounted for 76.78 per cent. However, both FDI and PI inflows dropped by 53.51 per cent and 30.85 per cent to $797.67 million and $2.64billion respectively. In the international crude oil market, oil prices moderated week-onweek amid weakness in global economies such as China and the Euro zone which recorded contractions in output and employment. The preliminary Market Eurozone PMI Composite Output Index fell to 45.8 in October (from 46.1 in September) as output in both services and manufacturing sectors continued to decelerate atop contraction in new orders. ICE Brent crude oil price moderated by 1.83 per cent to $108.30/barrel while OPEC’s reference basket price decreased by 2.80 per cent to $105.94/barrel as at Tuesday last

Sanusi Lamido

week. However, Nigeria’s external reserves rose by 0.41 per cent to $42.27 billion. Below is sector by sector review and outlook as reported by the apex bank. Forex market The Naira fared positively in most market segments in the just concluded week. The local currency appreciated by 0.07 per cent (or N0.11) to N157.35 against greenback at the interbank market which received a boost from dollar sales by oil companies and foreign portfolio investors. The Naira closed flat at both the Bureau De Change and the parallel market at N157.35/$1 and N158.00/$1 respectively. However, it depreciated by 0.65 per cent (or N1.01) to close at N155.76/$1 at the bi-weekly Wholesale Dutch Auction, following increased demand as CBN sold $292.97 million, a 30.28 per cent increase over the $224.87million it sold in the preceding week. Last week, market experts say they expect to see stability in the exchange rates atop rising external reserves. Money market Nigerian Interbank Offer Rates increased for all tenor buckets as system liquidity thinned out following withdraw-

Okonjo-Iweala

als by lenders for foreign exchange purchases on behalf of end users. On a week-to-date basis, NIBOR for call, 30 days, 60 days and 90 days increased to 12.21 per cent (from 10.38 per cent), 13.92 per cent (from 12.33 per cent), 14.58 per cent (from 13.79 per cent) and 15.21 per cent (from 14.37 per cent) respectively. Meanwhile, normal lending rates for bank overdrafts increased weak-on-weak to 22.22 per cent (from 22.16 per cent) while normal lending rates for structured loans mellowed to 22.09 per cent (from 22.16 per cent). This week, CBN will auction treasury bills worth N111.27 billion (viz: 91-day bills worth N34.89 billion; 182-day bills worth N45billion and; 364-day bills worth N31.38billion) via the primary market on Monday 29 October. However, a total of N199.89 billion worth of bills will mature (viz: 91-day bills worth N34.89 billion; 182-day bills worth N45 billion; 310day bills worth N50 billion; 317-day bills worth N50 billion and; 3-day bills worth N20 billion. Thus, analysts are of the opinion that interest rates will be moderate across the tenor buckets this week. Bond market In the preceding week, the over-thecounter bond market witnessed heterogeneous price movements for the maturities. On a week-to-date basis, the 20-year, 10.00 per cent FGN JUL 2030 bond appreciated by N0.03 (yield fell to 12.49 per cent) while the 7-year, 9.25 per cent. FGN SEP 2014 debt rose by N0.03 (yield mellowed to 12.51 per cent).However, the 10-year, 7.00 per cent FGN OCT 2019 paper depreciated by N2.06 (yield increased to 13.22 per cent) while the 5-year, 4.00 per cent FGN APR 2015 instrument softened by N0.13 (yield increased to 13.73 per cent). This week, the market is expected to see upward movement in bond prices (and moderation in yields) as bargain hunting resumes on the back of expected liquidity boost, according experts. Equities market The Nigerian equities market witnessed across the board sell offs as the bears gained the upper hand, pushing all performance measures southwards. Also, total deals, transacted volumes and Naira votes decreased by 50.51 per cent, 57.28 per cent and 47.92 per cent to 14,048 deals, 794.04 million shares and N8.51 billion respectively as there were only three trading days. The NSE ASI lost 154bps to close at 26,876.07 points even as the NSE 30 Index shed 185bps to close at N1, 269.62 points. During the week, leading deposit money bank, Zenith Bank Plc, announced a 25.18 per cent growth in third quarter 2012 gross earnings to N229.16 billion while profit after tax increased by 50.60 per cent to N64.06 billion. Also, palm oil producer, Presco, reported a 20.04 per cent increase in third quarter 2012 turnover to N6.88 billion and a 17.73 per cent growth in profit after tax to N1.89 billion. A mixture of profit taking and bargain hunting as speculative investors flip their gains, is expected to prevail this week, as market experts envisaged. BC

Okafor

May & Baker to recapitalise, seeks foreign partnership By Johnson Okanlawon

ay and Baker Nigeria Plc has said that it intends to recapitalise business and build international technical partnership. The Managing Director of the company, Nnamdi Okafor, disclosed this at an investors and capital market operators’ forum in Lagos, that the company is ready to drive operational efficiency via process re-engineering and automation initiatives. According to him, the company is working hard to be among top 10 multinationals in the country and to declare N25billion gross earnings in the next five years. He noted that with the company’s strong background, equity and goodwill, investors will not regret taking position in the company. Okafor informed the stakeholders, who later took a tour of the Pharma Centre facility, that the centre, which was designed for the production of vaccine, was key to its operations. Already, according to Okafor, four firms have indicated interest to take advantage of the state-of-the- artequipment available at the centre. The Federal Government recently renewed its joint venture agreement with the company for the local production and distribution of vaccines in the country. The company’s Chairman, General Theophilus Danjuma (Rtd.), said the agreement would see the company producing vaccines that will help eliminate and reduce the impact of preventable diseases across the length and breadth of the country. According to him, the renewal will secure the health of a vast majority of Nigerians, especially children and women who are most vulnerable to vaccines preventable diseases. “With this development, the doubts about the future of our subsidiary, Bio Vaccines Nigeria Limited is cleared. We expect that the appointment of new Board members for the company will be accomplished soon to enable it take off effectively,” he said. He said the company is committed to ensuring that Bio Vaccines operations are kick started going by its immense public health interest to Nigerians. BC

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Courage

Monday, October 29, 2012

A21 37

AfDB strategizes to boost local currency bond market development in Africa

s part of measures aimed at developing the local currency bond markets in Africa, the African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI), managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), last week hosted a Pan-African Stakeholders Conference with the theme, “Building sustainable local currency bond markets for the future”. The workshop which took place at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Tunis, offered participants the unique opportunity to share experiences and contribute to the discussions on critical issues facing the development of local currency bond markets in Africa. Speaking on benefits of the conference, Charles Boamah, AfDB Vice President for Finance, said: “The forum offered a great opportunity for stakeholders to identify and prioritize the challenges and impediments to bond market development on the continent. We look forward to the outcomes from this event that not only allow us to agree with our development partners and stakeholders on the work that lies ahead, but also to come up with a concrete action plan to be shared with Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors for support

Boamah

in implementation.” He stated that, “In today’s multifaceted economies, African economies will largely depend on sustainable local currency bond markets to function efficiently. With this need, local currency bond market development has taken centre stage as a key focal aspect of economic growth”. Participants agreed that, in contrast to other regions in the world, few African countries can effectively access capital in their domestic markets. This they noted is because African capital markets are for the most part at an early stage of development and therefore are generally small,

illiquid and lacking a full range of financial and investment products. However, financial sector development, including matured local currency bond markets, is paramount to successful and sustainable economic growth in Africa. The forum was attended by participants from 50 African countries, including sovereign issuers, institutional investors, representatives from finance ministries, central banks, credit rating agencies, stock exchanges and development finance institutions. Areas covered include the development of primary and secondary markets, the expansion and diversification of the investor base, and strengthening of domestic bond market infrastructure. The African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI) is an integrated and tailored response to meet the market needs of stakeholders in Africa. Launched by the AfDB Group in 2008 and funded by the AfDB, the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), AFMI is designed to further develop domestic debt markets on the continent. BC

Dangote Sugar grows profit by 85 per cent in nine months

Market Indicators for Week Ended 24-10-12 All-Share Index 26876.07 points Market Capitalisation N8,564,600,458,639.51

By Tayo Adeleke

angote Sugar Refinery Plc last week reported an 85 per cent growth in profit for its third quarter (Q3) report for the period ended September 30, 2012. The company’s net profit stood at N8.17billion in nine months compared to N4.4billion recorded in its full year audited financial year ended December 31, 2011. Going by the figures made available by the company to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the sugar company posted N12.02 billion pre-tax profit in third quarter 2012, up from N6.49 billion in nine months in 2011 and N10.55 billion as at the year ended December 2011. The sterling performance could

be traced to a decline in the company’s operating cost in the review period. This implies that the company shareholders should expect better return on their investment in the company share at the end of the ongoing financial year. Detail of the report shows revenue inched up by two per cent to N81.3 billion from N79.61 billion in 2011. Similarly, Earnings per Share (EPS) grew by 85 per cent from 37 kobo to 68 kobo. However, the company’s balance sheet as at third quarter 2012 revealed that Dangote Sugar is still struggling with weak liquidity. The balance sheet figure shows a declining trend in majority of its

performance measuring indices in the review period. Inventories drop by 55 per cent to N8.85 billion from N19.88 billion 2011. Similarly, Current Assets dropped to N45.6 billion from N52.29 billion in 2011 while Current Liabilities closed at N16.02 billion. Working capital however improved from N25 billion in 2011 to N29 billion while Shareholders Funds’ grew by 16 per cent to N44.18 billion from N38.24 billion. Fixed Assets outgrew the previous year’s figure by 17 per cent to close at N18.26 billion from N15.6 billion while Cash flow from operating activities stood at N15.11 billion, down from N15.52 billion in 2011. BC

Cadbury, Diamond Bank top earnings of most capitalized stocks By Festus Okoromadu

nalysis of the performances of thirty most capitalized stocks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) since the commencement of the 2012 financial year till the close of transactions on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 reveals that Cadbury, Diamond Bank and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) offered investors better returns in terms of price appreciation. Cadbury’s stock outshone other equities in the basket as it recorded 157.46 per cent gain during the period having soared from N11.40 to N29.35. By implication an investment of N1million in the stock at the beginning of the year now stands at N2.57million. Mean-

while, the equity which ranked 16th on the list of most capitalized stocks on the NSE with a capitalization of N91,841,672,496.00 has traded between N8.33 and N30.89 during the review period. Diamond Bank followed closely with 116.84 per cent price gain to hit N4.25 at the close of trading on Wednesday compared with N1.96 at inception of the year. The stock with a capitalization of N61, 519,783,196.25 was ranked 20th amidst the most capitalized stocks in the market. Diamond Bank’s 52 weeks high and low as at Wednesday last week were N4.91 and N2 respectively. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc was third on the list of the most capitalized equities that

added value through price appreciation to investors. The stock which closed at N1.09 during the review week opened trading in the year at N0.55, thus recording a 98.18 per cent price gain within the first 10 months of the year. The stock was ranked 29th among the top capitalized equities with a market capitalisation of N28, 137,258,128.47. However, Dangote Cement which was the most capitalised equity in the market made a price gain of 8.33 per cent during the period with its price appreciating from N110.77 to N120. On the other hand, the share price of Ecobank which ranked 30th in terms of capitalization remained at N1.98 throughout the period. BC

Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING PRICE

CLOSING PRICE

CHANGE

AIICO

0.60

0.66

10.00

ACADEMY

3.75

4.10

9.33

BAGCO

1.75

1.88

7.43

PRESCO

14.00

14.90

6.43

BETAGLAS

10.00

10.50

5.00

COMPANY

OPENING PRICE

LOSERS PZ

CLOSING PRICE

CHANGE

29.50

26.57

FIDSON

1.23

1.12

-9.93 -8.94

DNMEYER

3.54

3.23

-8.76

STERLNBANK

1.75

1.60

-8.57

ARBICO

8.05

7.65

-4.97

Inter-Bank Rates TENOR

RATE%(PREV) 18-Oct-2012

RATE%(CURR) 23-Oct-2012

OBB

10.1000 – 14.5000

11.0000 – 13.0000

CALL

10.1500 – 11.2500

11.5000 – 13.5000

Primary Market Auction TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

91-Days

30,159

RATE (%) 13.00

10-Oct-12

DATE

182-Days

73,491

13.34

10-Oct-12

364-Days

68,185

13.39

10-Oct-12

Open Market Operation TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

83-Days

50,000

14.05

RATE (%)

19-Oct-12

DATE

90-Days

70,000

14.10

19-Oct-12

70-Days

50,000

14.00

18-Oct-12

Wholesale Dutch Auction System AMOUNT OFFERED

AMOUNT SOLD

DATE

$150m

MARKET DEMAND $143m

$143m

24-Oct-12

$150m

22-Oct-12

A22 38

Business Courage

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Presco Plc: Creating profit through business expansion By Tayo Adeleke

here is s strong indication that Presco Plc has begun to reap the benefit of the expansion programme it embarked upon few years ago. The company financial year ended December 2011 shows a great improvement when compared with that of the previous year. Both turnover and profit after tax grew in similar direction, with turnover nudging up by 58.5 per cent while net profit moved up by 55 per cent in the review year. Shareholders as well got more value from their investment as the management of the company paid N1.00 as dividend, a 100 per cent increase compared with N0.50 dividend paid in 2010. Presco’s principal activities include the development of oil palm plantations, palm oil milling, palm kernel processing and vegetable oil refining. The products of the company include refined bleached and deodorized palm oil, palm olein, palm stearin, palm fatty acid distillate, palm kernel oil (crude and refined) and palm kernel cake. The company’s products are sold directly to customers comprising wholesalers, consumers and industrial users like Indomie Noodles, Nestle, Friesland Wamco, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Dangote Noodle Limited, Chi Limited, PZ, Chikki Noodles Ltd, Belloxxi Foods amongst others.

Business Strategies Presco intends to harness the methane gas produced by decomposition of its sludge to use the gas for its boilers. It has initiated steps towards this project and intends to complete it in the ongoing financial year. Presco believes it can successfully source its entire energy requirement from waste conversion thereby reducing its dependence on fossil fuels. Pierre Vandebeeck, Chairman, Presco Plc says the company plans to complete the planting and replanting of a total of 2,000 hectares by 2013 at Obaretin and Crown Estates and is continuously working to

acquire and increase its land bank while also on the verge of a major acquisition. The company has also renewed its standalone software with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system, named ABS. The ERP (ABS) system had increased the accuracy and timeliness of internal and external reporting, which in turn had improved decision making. This helped the company to have its overhead costs decreased and increased productivity. Performance Presco’s financial performance for the business year ended December 2011 can be described as very impressive. The company achieved a total of Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) production of 109,111 tons as against 87,856 tons in the previous year; Crude Palm Oil (CPO) produced was 22,936 tons compared with 17,420 tons of the year 2010 and refined, bleached, deodorized oil of 22,936 tons. Presco’s turnover for the year was N8.54 billion as against N5.39 billion the previous year, representing 58.5 per cent growth. The company’s operating cost for the period closed at N4.31 billion, up from N3.09 billion in 2010. This resulted into a profit before tax of N2.58 billion in 2011, N1.25 billion higher than N1.33 billion posted in 2010. The impressive results continued as the company grew its net profit by 55 per cent, having posted profit after tax of N1.69 billion compared with N1.10 billion recorded in2010. Profitability The audited results for the year ended December 31, 2011 also show that profitability experienced upward trend when compared with the preceding year’s figure. The gross profit margin (GPM) which stood at 42.64 per cent in 2010 went up to 49.55 per cent in the review year. Hence, averagely, it stood at 46.10 per cent, which means that, over the last two years, gross profit has accounted for

paid 30 kobo in 2008, 20 kobo in 2009 and 50 kobo in financial year ended December 2010. Its earnings per share stood at N1.69 per share against N1.10 per share in 2010.

Vandebeeck

more than a third of the company’s turnover. It also implies that Presco Plc has been able to generate at least, 46 kobo profit from every 100 kobo of sale in the last two years. Return on Equity (which shows the financial gain accruable shareholders’ funds invested) reveals that the company was able to justify the shareholders’ funds, as the figure increased in the review year. Return on Equity (ROE) stood at 36.08 per cent, up by 4.96 basis points from 31.12 per cent achieved in 2010. Looking at the company’s profit margin, pre-tax margin grew to 30.23 percent in 2011 from 24.76 per cent in 2010. These imply that the company’s total cost as a percentage of turnover stood at 69.77 per cent, down from 75.24 per cent in 2010.

Further analysis shows that the company made a profit of N19.83 on every N100 earned in 2011, as net profit margin stood at 19.8 per cent against 20.33 per cent in 2010. Value for Investors The company paid a dividend of 100 Kobo in its financial year end (FYE) December 31 2011. This was in compliance with the company dividend policy but keenly supported by the good performance in the review year. The figure represents 59.17 per cent of 169 kobo achieved as earning per share for the review period. Business Courage as well observed that the company has been consistent in rewarding its stakeholders every financial year in term of dividend payment in the last five years. It

Presco Financial Data

2011(‘Nm)

Turnover

8,536,172

2010(‘Nm) 5,386,056

Cost of sales

4,306,177

3,089,276

Gross Profit

4,229,995

2,296,780

Profit Before Taxation

2,580,305

1,333,623

Profit After Taxation

1,692,421

1,095,030

Operating Profit

2,798,047

1,498,416

Admin Expenses

1,493,234

907,576

Declared Dividend

500,000

200,000

Shareholders fund

4,691,153

3,518,196

Current Asset

3,002,973

1,466,723

Current Liabilities

2,465,945

534,135

Fixed Assets

7,550,528

5,914,343

Current Assets-stocks

985,235

638,241

Trade Debtors

590,500

172,384

Trade Creditors

139,012

136,977

Profitability Ratios Return on Equity (%)

36.08

31.12

Gross profit Margin (%)

49.55

42.64

Profit Margin (%)

19.83

20.33

Pre-tax Profit Margin (%)

30.23

24.76

Current Ratio

1.22

2.75

Quick Ratio

0.4

1.19

Debtors(No of days)

25.25

11.68

Creditors(No of days)

11.78

16.18

Earnings per Share (kobo)

169

110

Dividend Per Share (kobo)

100

Net assets

469

352

Liquidity Ratios

Investment Ratios

Liquidity Presco Plc is faced with inadequate working capital and this has affected its business growth and potential profitability in recent time. Working capital is currently at a negative figure of N1.30 billion. Its net current liabilities stood at N2.47 billion in 2011 from N534.14 million in 2010. Total liabilities grew to N5.67 billion in 2011 against N3.71 billion in 2010. The current ratio, which measures the ability to pay short term debts from its operating cash flows, dropped from 2.75:1 in 2010 to 1.22:1 as at financial year ended December 2011 (this falls below the accepted benchmark of 2.0:1). In the same way, quick ratio dipped from 1.19:1 in 2010 to 0.40:1 in 2011, lower to benchmark of 1.5:1. This is poor performance, compared to the previous year’s figure. Meanwhile, trade debtor stood at N25.25 billion from N11.68 billion in 2010, while trade creditor closed at N11.78 billion in the review period compared to N16.18 billion. Capital Adequacy The company’s balance sheet also has significant improvement as at December 2011 compared to its status in 2010 financial year. Its shareholders’ funds currently stand at N4.69 billion against N3.52 billion recorded in 2010. The company recorded a significant growth in current assets to N3.0 billion in 2011 compared with N1.47 billion in 2010, while total assets followed the same direction to move to N10.6 billion from N7.37 billion in comparable period of 2010. Fixed assets closed at N7.55 billion from N5.91 billion in 2010. Future Outlook Based on the company business strategies and current performance, there is no doubt that the shareholders of the company will get better reward on their investment in the years ahead. The current unaudited nine months result of the company is a testimony to this. Presently, the company recorded a turnover of N6.88 billion, representing 81 per cent of last audited turnover. Similarly, both gross and net profits as at third quarter 2012 stood at N2.49 billion and N1.89 billion respectively compared with N2.58 billion and N1.69 billion achieved in the financial year ended December 2012. BC

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Courage A23 39

Monday, October 29, 2012

STOCKWATCH Stock Exchange weekly equities summary as at Friday, Oct 26, 2012 SECURITY

PRICE (=N=)

AGRICULTURE/AGRO-ALLIED Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 0.50 OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 34.01 PRESCO PLC 14.90 Fishing/Hunting/Trapping ELLAH LAKES PLC. NT Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 1.58 CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. 1.50 CHELLARAMS PLC. NT JOHN HOLT PLC. NT S C O A NIG. PLC. NT U A C N PLC. 40.30 CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Construction ARBICO PLC. 7.65 CAPPA & D’ALBERTO PLC. NT Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. NT G CAPPA PLC NT Non--Building/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 31.00 ROADS NIG PLC. 10.07 Real Estate Development PINNACLE POINT GROUP PLC NT UACN PROPERTY DEV 11.41 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC 100.00 UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INV NT CONSUMER GOODS Automobiles/Auto Parts DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 0.50 Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. NT GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. NT GUINNESS NIG PLC 263.00 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 12.83 JOS INT. BREWERIES PLC. NT NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 135.00 PREMIER BREWERIES PLC NT Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. 40.95 Food Products BIG TREAT PLC NT DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC 8.07 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 5.75 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 66.50 HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 2.50 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC NT N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. NT NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC 6.00 P S MANDRIDES & CO PLC. NT U T C NIG. PLC. 0.70 UNION DICON SALT PLC. NT Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 29.35 NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 695.50 Household Durables BETA GLASS CO PLC. NT NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. NT VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 3.91 VONO PRODUCTS PLC. 2.88 Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 26.57 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 41.52 Textiles/Apparel UNITED NIG. TEXTILES PLC. NT FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. 9.00 DIAMOND BANK PLC 4.25 ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INC. 12.10 FIDELITY BANK PLC 2.19 FIRST BANK OF NIG. PLC 16.21 FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC. 3.42 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 20.00 SKYE BANK PLC 3.90 STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC 7.30 STERLING BANK PLC. 1.60 U B A PLC 4.80 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 7.73 UNITY BANK PLC 0.65 WEMA BANK PLC. 0.64 ZENITH BANK PLC 17.50 Insurance Carriers, Brokers & Services AFRICAN ALLIANCE INS. COY. PLC NT AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 0.66 CONFIDENCE INSURANCE PLC NT CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INS. PLC NT CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 0.81 CORNERSTONE INS. COY. PLC. NT CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INS. PLC 1.46 EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. 0.50 GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 0.54 GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC NT GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. NT INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INS. PLC 0.54 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INS. PLC NT INVESTMENT AND ALLIED ARN. NT LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 0.50 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. 0.50 LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC 0.50 MANSARD INSURANCE PLC 1.72 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. NT N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. 0.53 NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. 0.50 OASIS INSURANCE PLC NT PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. 0.54 REGENCY ALLIANCE INS. COY PLC NT SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 0.50 STACO INSURANCE PLC NT STANDARD ALLIANCE INS. PLC. 0.50 UNIC INSURANCE PLC. NT UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC NT UNIVERSAL INS. COMPANY PLC NT Micro Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NT NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NT Mortgage Carriers, Brokers &Services ABBEY BUILDING SOCIETY PLC NT ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC NT RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 0.50 UNION HOMES SAVINGS&LOANS PLC NT Other Financial Institutions CRUSADER ( NIG) PLC. 0.50 DEAP CAPITAL MGT & TRUST PLC NT NIG SEW. MACH. MAN. CO. PLC. NT NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND NT ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 0.50 HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers EKOCORP PLC. NT Medical Equipment UNION DIAGNOSTIC &CLINICAL PLC 0.50 Medical Supplies MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. NT Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 1.32 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 1.12 GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER PLC 39.00 MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 1.60

NOTE NT=Not Traded on 24-10-12

QUANTITY

52 WK HIGH

52 WK LOW

SHARES OUTSTANDING

EPS

MOV. (%)

100 000 46 497 319 330

0.64 34.01 16.15

0.50 14.53 6.40

2 200 000 000 476 955 000 1 000 000 000

0.00 8.23 1.69

N/A 0.00 -0.13

0.50 34.01 14.92

4.26

60 000 000

0.00

N/A

191 217

1.70

0.48

1 199 549 736

0.04

-7.06

1.70

36 314 NT NT NT 319 387

2.54 7.60 8.82 8.28 42.50

0.74 5.81 5.32 5.52 28.70

2 191 895 983 963 900 300 389 151 408 821 666 666 1 600 720 323

0.21 0.30 0.00 0.35 7.03

-4.46 N/A N/A N/A N/A

1.57 NT NT NT 40.30

51 000 NT

26.00 95.49

14.09 95.49

148 500 000 196 876 000

0.00 4.50

N/A N/A

8.05 NT

NT NT

7.97 14.46

2.46 14.46

920 573 765 125 000 000

0.00 0.00

N/A N/A

NT NT

36 250 520

62.26 8.69

21.55 3.01

1 200 000 000 20 000 000

4.11 3.66

0.00 N/A

31.00 10.07

NT 76 225

7.28 20.15

7.28 8.82

1 375 000 000

0.00 1.66

N/A -0.78

NT 11.50

2 000 000 NT

100.00 50.00

97.00 50.00

20 000 000 250 019 781

11.75 0.75

N/A N/A

100.00 NT

20 000

0.50

4 772 528 415

0.00

N/A

0.50

NT NT 1 251 125 224 500 NT 828 235 NT

4.63 0.68 265.00 12.83 3.20 138.85 0.97

2.23 0.68 186.00 5.23 1.61 72.50 0.93

900 000 000 272 160 000 1 474 925 519 2 112 914 681 562 000 000 7 562 562 340 126 000 000

0.00 0.03 12.04 0.07 0.00 5.21 0.00

N/A N/A -0.75 N/A N/A -2.77 N/A

3.80 NT 265.00 12.83 NT 138.85 NT

5 715

48.91

38.31

640 590 362

3.15

N/A

40.95

NT 799 054 11 737 356 564 689 526 790 NT NT 1 879 607 NT 100 876 NT

0.50 19.90 16.20 95.00 6.60 2.70 43.96 6.70 5.66 0.88 4.22

0.50 4.15 3.64 52.50 1.91 1.00 21.48 3.86 5.66 0.50 4.22

2 000 000 000 5 000 000 000 12 000 000 000 1 879 210 666 7 930 197 658 3 722 493 620 178 200 000

0.00 0.00 0.59 3.60 0.36 0.00 1.20 0.81 0.16 1.13 0.00

N/A -1.59 -1.03 0.74 0.00 N/A N/A 1.52 N/A -4.11 N/A

NT 8.20 5.81 66.01 2.50 1.00 NT 5.91 NT 0.73 NT

40 000 000 1 233 375 004 360 000 000

193 332 100 327

29.20 684.00

9.15 367.83

3 129 188 160 792 656 250

1.24 21.21

-1.84 1.68

29.90 684.00

NT NT 929 909 154

15.58 42.66 6.75 3.67

10.03 36.19 3.01 2.66

63 360 000 819 000 000 300 000 001

3.90 1.61 0.54 0.00

N/A N/A 9.52 N/A

NT NT 3.57 NT

975 288 386 960

43.50 41.52

22.07 22.56

3 176 381 636 3 783 296 250

0.51 1.32

-11.43 0.05

30.00 41.50

0.97

0.57

843 284 027

0.00

N/A

22 395 163 7 789 765 12 721 399 15 875 033 28 719 151 7 875 641 11 766 745 11 740 667 10 850 758 5 785 859 21 999 596 1 053 718 5 125 385 1 667 402 49 151 720

11.10 9.27 17.05 3.20 17.01 8.30 20.30 10.17 11.38 2.91 5.21 10.07 1.92 1.75 18.20

4.76 2.01 9.97 1.14 8.50 3.04 11.64 2.73 6.40 0.97 1.64 1.96 0.50 0.50 11.70

17 888 251 479 14 475 243 105 9 873 614 567 28 974 797 023 32 632 084 358 16 271 192 202 29 146 482 209 13 219 334 676 18 750 000 000 12 563 091 545 32 334 693 693 13 509 726 273 33 675 576 085 12 821 249 880 31 396 493 790

0.63 0.00 2.61 0.19 1.37 0.60 0.59 0.39 0.54 0.43 0.01 2.20 0.00 1.34 1.41

-4.26 -3.41 0.41 2.82 -4.70 -2.01 -1.48 -9.30 0.00 -12.57 -7.87 -3.25 0.00 12.28 -3.85

9.40 4.40 12.05 2.13 17.01 3.49 20.30 4.30 7.30 1.83 5.21 7.99 0.62 0.57 18.20

NT 4 680 459 NT NT 175 000 NT 735 000 500 62 500 NT NT 12 696 NT NT 2 000 1 000 589 400 508 250 NT 1 715 278 128 612 NT 498 812 NT 41 000 NT 211 500 NT NT NT

0.50 1.01 0.64 0.50 1.20 0.50 3.51 0.50 0.69 0.50 0.50 0.80 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.61 0.50 1.93 0.50 0.66 1.11 0.50 2.35 0.50 0.52 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

0.50 0.50 0.61 0.50 0.61 0.50 1.31 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.95 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

20 585 000 000 7 809 391 256 211 626 000 6 000 000 000 10 372 624 157 8 820 010 363 5 100 846 808 8 847 298 420 4 549 947 000 3 827 485 380 720 000 000 5 061 804 000 6 420 427 449 28 000 000 000 7 323 313 227 3 437 330 500 4 083 713 569 10 000 000 000 7 998 705 336 5 332 830 881 5 649 693 923 5 003 506 791 2 508 315 436 6 668 750 000 5 203 757 266 6 141 087 609 8 493 173 450 2 581 733 505 13 000 000 000 16 000 000 000

0.00 0.09 0.00 0.06 0.10 0.01 0.27 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.02 0.02 0.10 0.00 0.08 0.10 0.25 0.01 0.02 0.11 0.03 0.10 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00

N/A 0.00 N/A N/A 0.00 0.00 0.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.00 N/A N/A N/A 0.00 0.00 N/A 1.92 N/A N/A 8.00 N/A 0.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

NT 0.70 NT 0.50 0.82 NT 1.40 NT 0.50 NT NT 0.58 0.50 NT 0.50 NT 0.50 1.72 NT 0.52 0.50 NT 0.50 NT 0.50 NT 0.50 NT 0.50 NT

NT NT

NT NT 500 NT

1.51 0.50 0.50 0.99

1.33 0.50 0.50 0.50

4 200 000 000 8 679 148 676 13 175 732 404 7 812 500 000

0.03 0.10 0.00 0.00

N/A N/A N/A N/A

NT 0.50 0.50 NT

1 100 000 NT NT NT 165 000

0.61 2.02 0.15 552.20 0.66

0.50 2.02 0.15 555.20 0.50

3 778 005 975 1 333 333 333 5 880 000 2 500 000 3 608 657 661

0.00 0.00 0.00 12.68 0.05

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

0.50 NT NT NT 0.51

5.31

5.05

498 600 908

0.12

N/A

100

0.50

3 553 138 528

0.00

N/A

10.54

7.39

152 178 750

0.00

N/A

14 955 2 912 889 17 467 430 200

1.45 3.20 39.00 5.61

0.50 0.76 19.30 1.62

486 473 856 1 500 000 000 956 701 192 980 000 000

0.19 0.27 2.41 0.21

10.00 -8.94 0.00 -3.03

1.20 1.23 39.00 1.65

N/A=Not Avialable

SECURITY

PRICE (=N=)

NEIMETH INT PHARM PLC 1.13 NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. NT PHARMA-DEKO PLC. NT ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SLN PLC 0.50 Computers and Peripherals OMATEK VENTURES PLC NT Electronic Communications Services MTECH COMMUNICATIONS PLC NT IT Services NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. NT TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. 2.41 Processing Systems CHAMS PLC NT E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 3.84 Telecommunications Carriers STARCOMMS PLC NT Telecommunications Services IHS NIGERIA PLC PREF SHARES NT IHS PLC 2.26 MTI PLC NT INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials AFRICAN PAINTS (NIGERIA) PLC. NT ASHAKA CEM PLC 17.06 BERGER PAINTS PLC 8.01 CAP PLC 33.09 CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 6.00 DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 120.00 DN MEYER PLC. 3.23 FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC NT IPWA PLC NT LAFARGE WAPCO PLC. 56.50 PAINTS & COATINGS MANFACT.PLC 1.98 PORTLAND PAINTS & PRDT NIG. PLC NT PREMIER PAINTS PLC. NT Electronic and Electrical Products AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC NT CUTIX PLC. 1.55 NIGERIAN WIRE AND CABLE PLC. NT NIGERIAN WIRE IND. PLC NT Packaging/Containers ABPLAST PRODUCTS PLC. NT AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS NT BETA GLASS CO PLC. 10.50 GREIF NIGERIA PLC 12.98 NIG. BAGS MANFACT. COY PLC 1.88 POLY PRODUCTS (NIG) PLC. NT W A GLASS IND. PLC. NT Tools and Machinery NIGERIAN ROPES PLC NT STOKVIS NIG PLC. NT NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals B.O.C. GASES PLC. 5.69 Metals ALUMACO PLC NT ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. 10.55 Non-Metallic Mineral Mining MULTIVERSE PLC 0.50 Paper/Forest Products HALLMARK PAPER PRODUCTS PLC. NT THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. NT OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SER. PLC 0.58 Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC 11.00 Petroleum &Petroleum Products Distributors AFROIL PLC NT BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC NT CONOIL PLC 20.79 ETERNA PLC. 2.10 FORTE OIL PLC. 10.00 MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. 115.00 MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 30.68 TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 125.00 SERVICES Advertising AFROMEDIA PLC 0.50 Apparel Retailers LENNARDS (NIG) PLC. NT Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. 1.85 Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 3.10 TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. NT Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. 0.50 Hospitality TANTALIZERS PLC NT Hotels/Lodging CAPITAL HOTEL PLC NT IKEJA HOTEL PLC 1.09 TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. 4.53 TRANSNATIONAL CORP. OF NIG.PLC 1.09 Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 0.50 Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 4.10 LEARN AFRICA PLC 2.01 STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. 2.78 UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 4.83 Road Transportation ABC TRANSPORT PLCPLC 0.50 Specialty INTERLINKED TECHNOLOGIES PLC NT SECURE ELECTRONIC TECH.PLC NT Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC 2.46 NIG. AVIATION HANDLING COY PLC 5.72 ASeM CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Property Management SMART PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC NT CONSUMER GOODS Food Products MCNICHOLS PLC 0.97 Personal/Household Products ROKANA INDUSTRIES PLC. 0.60 HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals AFRIK PHARMACEUTICALS PLC. NT INDUSTRIAL GOODS Electronic and Electrical Products NT ADSWITCH PLC. 1.63 NATURAL RESOURCES Metals W.A. ALUM. PRODUCTS PLC. NT OIL AND GAS Petroleum & Petroleum Products Distributors ANINO INTERNATIONAL PLC. NT CAPITAL OIL PLC 0.50 RAK UNITY PET. COMP. PLC. NT UNION VENTURES & PET. PLC NT SERVICES Apparel Retailers UDEOFSON GARMENT FACT. NIG PLC NT Food/Drug Retailers and Wholesalers NT JULI PLC. 2.76 ETF’s Sector ETF NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND 2 638.00

QUANTITY

52 WK HIGH

52 WK LOW

SHARES OUTSTANDING

EPS

MOV. (%)

437 760 NT NT

1.96 12.91 4.28

0.76 8.59 3.50

1 925 717 268 153 786 012 100 000 000

0.09 0.00 0.00

-8.87 N/A N/A

1.24 NT NT

500 000

0.52

0.50

2 960 000 000

0.08

0.00

0.50

2 941 789 472

0.04

N/A

0.91

4 966 666 668

0.00

N/A

NT 200

18.28 3.59

13.12 2.41

108 000 000 492 825 600

1.82 0.00

N/A N/A

NT 2.41

NT 300

0.50 4.97

0.50 4.04

4 620 600 000 4 200 000 000

0.00 0.00

N/A N/A

NT 3.84

1.47

0.50

6 878 478 096

0.00

N/A

NT 2 050 000 NT

2.25 3.50 0.50

0.00 2.46 0.50

4 400 000 000 4 893 594 400

0.00 0.00 0.00

N/A N/A N/A

NT 2.26 NT

NT 523 629 10 008 228 669 787 974 66 325 330 382 NT NT 155 121 2 750 NT NT

3.32 30.00 12.57 43.98 15.49 132.51 3.51 0.75 0.99 56.50 3.36 5.28 13.40

2.86 9.10 7.27 14.50 4.20 95.00 0.93 0.50 0.91 37.00 0.52 2.27 10.93

260 000 000 2 239 453 125 217 367 585 560 000 000 1 241 548 285 15 494 019 668 242 908 200 2 109 928 275 513 696 000 3 001 600 004 792 914 256 400 000 000 75 000 000

0.00 1.60 0.15 1.76 1.83 8.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.74 0.16 0.39 0.00

N/A -4.43 0.00 6.09 0.84 0.00 N/A N/A N/A 0.00 N/A N/A N/A

NT 17.85 8.01 31.19 5.95 120.00 2.93 NT NT 56.50 1.98 NT NT

NT 155 396 NT NT

2.00 2.50 0.73 2.58

2.00 1.33 0.50 2.58

510 396 608 2 220 000 000 15 000 000

0.03 0.11 0.00 0.00

N/A 14.81 N/A N/A

NT 1.35 NT NT

NT NT 152 812 11 087 2 126 177 NT NT

3.98 6.91

3.98 2.19

25 000 000 683 974 528

0.00 0.15

N/A N/A

15.03 3.60 1.86 0.63

13.28 1.60 1.05 0.63

42 640 000 6 215 000 000 240 000 000 199 066 550

0.90 0.22 0.30 0.00

N/A 6.82 N/A N/A

NT NT 10.00 NT 1.76 NT NT

NT NT

8.69 0.14

8.26 0.14

265 409 280 2 918 000

0.00 0.00

N/A N/A

NT NT

8 776

9.20

5.70

393 120 000

0.93

0.00

5.69

NT 5 000

7.75 12.39

7.75 10.55

75 600 000 100 000 000

0.00 0.13

N/A N/A

NT 10.55

500

0.50

4 058 989 226

0.00

N/A

0.50

NT NT

3.22 1.38

50 000 000 220 000 000

0.04 0.00

N/A N/A

NT NT

1 674 570

1.87

0.54

6 262 701 716

0.16

-6.45

0.62

2 306 097

78.97

13.95

2 262 711 568

7.47

-2.31

11.26

NT NT 11 578 88 245 61 240 17 884 3 000 52 982

20.71 0.70 41.89 5.59 28.69 163.50 72.00 240.00

20.71 0.50 19.61 2.12 9.12 111.51 32.29 125.00

125 487 475 3 716 976 579 693 952 117 1 249 162 828 1 080 280 628 300 496 051 253 988 672 339 521 837

0.00 0.00 5.98 0.88 0.00 13.06 4.08 11.22

N/A N/A 0.00 -4.55 -2.44 0.00 N/A 0.00

NT NT 20.79 2.20 10.25 115.00 30.68 125.00

33 000

0.72

0.50

4 035 497 307

0.00

N/A

0.50

3.48

0.19

N/A

285 863

3.65

1.12

980 294 400

0.22

-2.12

1.89

716 481 NT

3.67 6.40

2.11 3.28

589 496 310 198 819 763

0.63 0.26

0.00 N/A

3.10 NT

87 362

1.64

0.85

865 808 912

0.20

N/A

0.50

0.75

0.50

3 211 627 907

0.01

N/A

NT 582 250 35 6 562 100

8.00 2.59 4.76 1.82

3.00 1.16 4.31 0.50

1 548 780 000 2 078 796 396 1 772 884 297 25 813 998 283

0.18 0.92 0.00 0.22

N/A 0.00 N/A -7.63

NT 1.09 NT 1.18

21 000

0.50

8 000 000 000

0.00

N/A

0.50

83 662 26 958 5 958 5 000

3.68 8.00 2.92 6.82

1.64 1.94 2.78 3.09

403 200 000 771 450 000 425 641 111

0.14 0.29 0.01 0.50

N/A N/A N/A 0.00

3.41 2.01 NT 4.83

81 232

0.80

0.50

1 507 000 000

0.00

N/A

0.50

NT NT

5.15 1.88

4.90 0.80

236 699 511 5 631 539 736

0.00 0.03

N/A N/A

NT NT

37 600 152 371

2.78 11.75

1.54 5.15

634 000 000 1 230 468 750

0.38 0.81

N/A -3.05

2.46 5.90

1.43

1.04

45 000 000

0.12

N/A

11 000

1.02

201 885 335

0.00

N/A

0.97

500

0.60

30 000 000

0.00

N/A

0.60

0.50

24 898 850

0.00

N/A

NT 500

1.88

1.63

125 005 250

0.00

N/A

NT 1.63

0.50

6 650 000

0.00

N/A

NT 20 000 NT NT

0.21 0.50 0.31 0.63

24 200 000 5 857 500 000 15 000 000 98 600 000

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

N/A N/A N/A N/A

NT 0.50 NT NT

NT NT 16 000

0.50

20 000 000

0.00

N/A

3.05

2.76

194 700 000

0.00

N/A

NT NT 2.76

100

2 706

2 422

0.00

2 638.00

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Law & Justice nationalmirrorlaw@yahoo.com

“Courts of law, as most serious institutions do not build upon hypothesis.”

JUSTICE NIKI TOBI, RETIRED JUSTICE OF SUPREME COURT

Hurdles before Salami’s reinstatement Judges’ appointment not free from manipulation –Adesina 44

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

Salami

The National Judicial Council (NJC) appears to be inching towards the reinstatement of the suspended president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami. KAYODE KETEFE Assistant Head, Judiciary reports that the council is still bogged down by technicalities over the reinstatement.

J I was pitched against Williams – Ozekhome 47

ust a year from now, the suspended former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, would officially reach the retirement age. Precisely, he is to retire on October 14, 2013 – a day he would attain the statutory retirement age of 70, having been born on October 15, 1943 in Ganma, Kwara State. The suspended appellate court boss has, however, been suspended since August 2011, being a fallout from the protracted dispute he had with the erstwhile Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu. On 18, October 2012, the repressed issue of Salami’s reinstatement burst to the fore once again as the National Judicial Council, (NJC) a body statutorily charged with appointment, discipline

Katsina-Alu

and dismissal of judicial officers, held an important meeting in which the possibility of his reinstatement was discussed. The meeting, which was held behind closed- door and presided over by the incumbent CJN, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukthar, had long deliberation on the nagging issues of Salami, which had refused, like a stubborn ghost, to go away. The media accounts of the decision that was taken in that meeting varied since it was held in camera and journalists had to rely on their individual anonymous “inner sources.” While some said consensus was not reached on the issue of Salami’s recall, some said he was recommended for early retirement, but with full benefits, other said the NJC actually reinstated him, with full benefits, but the reinstatement

IT WOULD BE RECALLED THAT THE NJC SUSPENDED THE FORMER APPELLATE

PRESIDENT ON AUGUST 18, 2011 FOR “MISCONDUCT” COURT

had to await the resolutions of the three cases pending in court on the Katsina-Alu/ Salami saga. Be that as it may, one thing is certain, that NJC is still committed to its earlier directive that the suspended President of Court of Appeal should be reinstated to his office with his full entitlements, but the directive was being stayed because of the pending cases which the Council deems appropriate. This volte face directive was made by the Council on May 12, 2012 via sending of a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan to reverse the earlier decision. Unfortunately, the Presidency is yet to reply to the letter, insisting that the matter is still subjudice and that reinstating Salami, as advised, would be an affront to the court. A sizeable number of stakeholders found the presidency’s stance indefensible because the matters in court were pending as well when the presidency implemented the first recommendation of the NJC to suspend Salami. It would be recalled that the NJC suspended the former appellate court President on August 18, 2011 for “misconduct” over his refusal to apologise to the then CJN, Justice Katsina-Alu. By way of recast, the stormy controversy CONTINUED ON PAGE 42

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NJC should redress its wrong – Lawyers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41 between Salami and Katsina-Alu began early in 2011, when Salami announced that the CJN had made overtures to him for his elevation into the Supreme Court and that he had rejected it. The matter began like a little affair that would fizzle out soon. Nobody could have thought then that the unfolding drama would culminate into a saga that would rock the Judiciary to its foundation. Then the CJN later openly made the offer of elevation to Salami and he rejected it just like he said he had done when it was made to him in private. This generated a public spat between these judicial officers. Salami rejected the offer of the former CJN because he construed the elevation as a cunning measure to consign him into irrelevance When the matter came to the climax, Salami filed a suit before a Federal High Court in Abuja where he accused the CJN of asking him to pervert the course of Justice in the Sokoto State governorship election appeal. Specifically he said the CJN had entreated him to give judgement in favour of the governor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The CJN vehemently denied this allegation and made a counteraccusation in turn. In its resolve to settle the matter, the NJC set up a Panel headed by the former Court of Appeal President, Justice Umaru Abdullahi which eventually held that Salami’s allegation against the CJN was baseless. The report of the panel states in part: “The panel, however, finds no semblance of ill-motive, selfishness of an individual or sectional interest being used to subvert the Constitution in the steps taken by the CJN. “In view of the surrounding circumstances, the panel finds that the CJN was motivated by an apparent urge to protect the administration of justice and avoid breach of peace. The panel finds that the CJN acted in good faith to have taken the steps he took.” Incidentally, the panel also cleared Salami and the other justices of the Court of Appeal of the allegations that the members of the governorship appeal panels in Osun and Ekiti states were financially induced to give judgement in favour of the Action Congress of Nigeria. After this Justice Abdullahi panel’s report, the NJC set up another five-man panel headed by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, to consider and study the report of Justice Abdullahi panel and make recommendations on appropriate punishment to be meted out to whoever is guilty among the feuding parties. The said Auta Committee stated that it found Salami “guilty of lying on oath” in his affidavit filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja where he alleged that the CJN attempted to manipulate him to change the course of Justice in the Sokoto State governorship election appeal. The committee, therefore,

Sagay

recommended that Salami should tender a written apology to the CJN within seven days. Salami refused to tender the apology and instead went to the same Federal High Court, Abuja, praying for orders restraining the NJC, among others, from implementing the recommendations of its panels. Finally on August 18, NJC announced the suspension of Salami over his the refusal to apologise to Katsina-Alu as recommended. Barely four days later, President Goodluck Jonathan, on August 22, 2011, approved compulsory retirement of Salami,-a development which drew the chagrin of numerous stakeholders. The statement from the presidency read in part, “President Jonathan, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Section 238 (4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, has approved the acting appointment of Justice Dalhatu Adamu to perform the functions of the office of the President of the Court of Appeal pending when all issues relating to the office of the President of the Court of Appeal are resolved.” By this directive, the president seems to have upheld the NJC’s position that Salami was guilty of “misconduct in breach of “the provisions of Section 292 (1) (a) (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, and Rule 1 (1) of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” The efforts to redress the perceived wrongs in Salami’s case have been torturous. First, a 29-member Stakeholders Judicial Reform Committee, headed by a former CJN, Justice Muhammadu Uwais, was set up by the immediate past CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher on October 14, 2011 to look into the impasse. The committee stated, inter alia, in its final reports that Salami should be reinstated. The committee accused the NJC of high handedness and abuse of procedure in its recommendation for the suspension of Justice Salami and called for his reinstatement. Reeling under the deadweight of this recommendation and pressure from other public opinion, NJC issued a recommendation for Salami’s

NJC Chairman, Aloma Mukhtar

NJC SHOULD NOT DRAG ITS FEET ON THIS ISSUE SINCE

SALAMI NOW HAS ONLY A YEAR BEFORE RETIREMENT reinstatement as already said. This, however, would the first time the NJC would review its decision and attempt to recall a suspended judicial officer. After presidency had shunned the recommendation to recall Salami, the NJC later agreed that it had the power to reinstate him without the presidency’s input, but it completely shied away from formally reinstating him at its last meeting on October 18, 2012. Ironically, the reasons being given for not immediately reinstating Salami at the end of that meeting are the same reasons the presidency had given –that he could not be reinstated until the court cases pending on the matter had been concluded. As time is ticking away for Salami, who now has only one year before retirement, many stakeholders are asking the question whether real justice would ever been done for the former President of the second highest court in Nigeria Given the length of time cases do take to be completed in our courts, questions are also being asked whether the intention behind “waiting for pending cases” are not just a ploy to ensure Salami was never reinstated before retirement. Some people are also asking the question why the council took the decision to suspend Salami in the first place, given the calibre of the people in the council who should have reflected on the far-reaching implications of the NJC’s action before the decision was taken. It was a decision that has now turned messy as the NJC itself seems incapable of solving it. Some lawyers spoke with National Mirror on this latest development.

Obiagwu

Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) , bemoaned the entire affairs, stressing that it represents unfortunate case of political interference in the affairs of the Judiciary. He added that the volte face being made by the NJC after the unfortunate deed had been done is proving ineffectual because of the infiltration by the unscrupulous elements. Sagay said, “What happened in that case is that the Judiciary opened its doors to venoms from outside called politicians who then crawled into the sanctuary of the Judiciary and fouled it up completely.“By recommending to politicians to suspend a judge whose judgement they were already aggrieved at, they made a mistake. “Most Nigerian politicians have no respect for decency and do not fear toppling institutions that represent the best organ of government in Nigeria. The politicians just grabbed that opportunity and ended up not only messing up Justice Salami, but also messed up the Judiciary as an institution. They told the politicians how to discipline one of themselves. When they investigated and found out that the measure was not justified and they tried to retract and withdraw what they had done, it was too late.” A Lagos-based lawyer and human rights activists, Mr. Bamidele Aturu said, “The reported recent call by the NJC for the reinstatement of Salami is a welcome development. He should be given his full entitlements. “That will amount to redressing the wrong that was done to him. That will be good.” A Lagos-based lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Yahaya Oladeji, had this to say. “It is human to make errors, but it requires courage when you make errors to come around and say, yes, I am wrong. I think this is what the NJC is trying to do now by revisiting the case. But it should not be dragging its feet on this issue since Salami now has only a year before official retirement. Let it be on record that he was reinstated before he finally bows out. Let the posterity have the record that he was adjudged innocent.. We should be mindful of posterity in all we do”.

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Monday, October 29, 2012

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Judges’ appointment not free Mr. Julius Oladele Adesina is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). He is also a former General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). In this interview with WALE IGBINTADE and CAROLINE CHUKWUKA, he speaks on the appointment of judges and the challenges in the legal profession, among other issues. Excerpts. How will you react to the general perception that the Nigerian judiciary is corrupt? I would say it is unfortunate that this is the general trend of opinion in this country. I would also add that it is very unfortunate to note that the perception of perhaps of every one and sundry is that the judiciary is corrupt. As a member of the Bar, as a lawyer, who appears in these courts very regularly, I am uncomfortable and I believe every serious- minded legal practitioner will be uncomfortable as well as the judges that are directly involved in this dilemma. I would also want to say here that as frequent as these allegations are, hardly had anybody being able to prove one and for me that is very significant. It is not just sufficient to lay general allegation and use that unproven allegation to determine the standard of a whole institution. I am not saying that everyone there is a saint but I am also saying that not everybody there is corrupt. There is no institution where you don’t find some bad eggs but the bad eggs in the legal profession or in the judiciary setting do not represent the majority of the people in the judiciary. The judiciary of Nigeria today as far as I know represent the best you can find in any nation, we have produced Chief Justices of other countries. We have produced some of the best brains in the legal profession here in this country who have served at International Court of Justice, someone who has been Chief Justice of Gambia and so on, so it is totally wrong to conclude that the entire judiciary in Nigeria is corrupt. I think it is the best disservice we can do to ourselves because there are still people there today that represent the finest personalities that you can think of, right from the Supreme Court down to the high court of any of the states in the federation. What do you think the Bar should to curb this negative trend? As somebody who is closely involved in the affairs of the Bar association, the perception is sufficient to trouble our minds and in doing that, that is why we are thinking of several options. I know as a fact that at a point the National Executive Committee of the NBA empowered the then president of the association to set up a kind of anti-corruption commission at the level of the Bar to comprise very outstanding members of the profession to look into this issue and see how we can curb it. At the recent concluded Bar conference we held in Abuja, the issues of corruption still reared its ugly head and we all agreed that the time has come when we have to change the perception. How can we do that? Anybody who is bold enough to give expression to the fact that the judiciary is corrupt must go a step further by naming who and who they are, who and who are suspected of having corruptly enriched themselves and then leave the Bar and other anti-corruption agencies to take it up. But, a situation where you just make a general statement without specifically mentioning anybody does not help the system and if I can conclude this way there is no alternative to the judiciary of any nation either to the common man or even the rich man or the uncommon man, everybody needs the judiciary. So it is important that we do not continue to desecrate that institution, so that peoples’ confidence can be strengthened in the system because there is no alternative to it. Are you satisfied with the mode of appointment of judges in the country?

Adesina

THE APPOINTING AUTHORITIES ARE THINKING THAT SENIOR ADVOCATES OF NIGERIA CAN BE APPOINTED INTO COURT OF APPEAL

I will say yes and no, no in the sense that the process is not totally free from manipulation. Presently, notices are sent out by the Chief Judges of every state, interested people apply to be considered for the appointment , they are requested to collect references from some legal practitioners or from their respective Chief Judges or wherever they are practising and when these are collated the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) of each state will sit on it and then forward their recommendations to the National Judicial Council which will approve and return for the governor of the state to appoint, that is the process. I know the process because I served as a member of JSC in one of the states. That is why I said yes and no; yes the process is not bad provided we allow the best to get there, if an applicant is able to get as many as 10 references I don’t think all the referees can tell lies at the same time. Have you given reference to any prospective appointee? When I give a reference about any prospective appointee I say exactly what I know about him or her particularly if it is coming from the Bar. If I do not think in my own sense of reasoning that he has the capacity to be a judge I will say so. Some years ago here in Lagos we made a representation at the level of the Bar that we want to be consulted before any judge is appointed and that the National Committee of the NBA has to be consulted. We have had cause here in Lagos at the level of Ikeja branch where we deliberated on a list that was sent to us in a particular year and we identified a particular chief magistrate as somebody who was not a fit and proper person to be appointed a judge and we said so. We went further to remark that in the unlikelihood event that the person was appointed we will ensure that lawyers do not appear in his court, we went that far. So barring any other thing on the face of it, things appear okay. The only area I think that needs some level of correction or control is that, it appears the respective Chief Judges exercise so much control; avenues exist for them to influence one way

or the other. So, all applications must always be put before the respective Judicial Service Commissions of those states let them look at all the papers and then assign who and who they believe satisfies the primary requirements. Number two, when collations are made and recommendations done by the Judicial Service Commission you still have to send it to the NJC. I find this not to be totally acceptable in a federal system of government. The NJC is a federal agency, I believe that in the true principle of an ideal federation, the process of appointment can start and end within the state. Let the NJC concern itself with the appointment of federal Judges, Federal High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. That is why I said yes and no. Do you support the agitation that some senior members of the Bar should be appointed to the appellate Bench? Of course, I subscribe to it, we have strived to see this effected at the level of Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria. There was a time we forwarded two names to the Supreme Court and this two names were some of the best brains we have in the legal profession. Till today they were never appointed, I think there is a little skimming here while the appointing authorities are thinking that Senior Advocates of Nigeria can be appointed into Court of Appeal and they are ready to do that but we feel that if somebody has attained the highest peak of his profession nothing stops you from appointing him straight to the Supreme Court. We are also fully persuaded that the Supreme Court also needs that kind of appointment now. We need to inject new blood, people who are willing and ready to make research, to explore the law, people who can be seen as experts in the practice of law to be there. We have had instances where somebody was appointed straight to the Supreme Court, there is no reason why it cannot repeat itself. To inject new blood and complement the good work that is presently being done at that level. We want SANs to go straight to the Supreme Court, but the appointing authority wants them to take off at the Court of Appeal and we have not been fully persuaded why they have to go to the Court of Appeal first before they go to the Supreme Court. What is your take on the CJN being made the chairman of the National Judicial Council? For me I do not see why the Chief Justice of Nigeria

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from manipulation –Adesina cannot double as the chairman of the National Judicial Council. He is the highest judicial officer in the land and the NJC as a body created by the constitution is saddled with the responsibility of judicial matters, appointment, and discipline and so on. I am not unaware of the argument that there is need to whittle down his powers because of what happened very recently in the case of the suspended President of the Court of Appeal which is still a matter that is still at the front burner. But, as the administrative head of the judiciary there is nothing wrong with him being the chairman, that you are a chairman you are just one person, you are an individual, there are other members of the panel and there are members who are from the NBA. I think Nigerian Bar Association has about five members on the council, if any of these members do not agree with what the chairman wants to do; they should be bold enough, courageous enough to say no. If everybody on the council is able and willing to do things in the right way, I don’t think they can be cajoled by a single individual whether is the chairman or another member. The truth is this if a retired justice of the Supreme Court is appointed or a retired Chief Justice of Nigeria is appointed as chairman, he is also a human being, the problem we have to deal with whether we like it or not is for things to go the way they should go like other nations of the world. We should deal with what they call ”Nigerian Factor”, there is no place where Nigerian factor does not exist but ability to deal with it once and for all is an obligation that must be upheld by everybody, we have to do things in the right way at the right time.

What would you say is the most challenging case you have handled? Well, like you have frankly pointed out one has been able to handle a couple of cases, those that were more challenging incidentally were not small, let me say that every case is a very serious case for a serious lawyer, you don’t take any case with any simplicity. I see each case as serious matter and I must put in my best”. There was a matter I handled many years ago. I was not an SAN at that time but all the counsel that I met in that case were senior advocates, the particular gentle man I appeared against was one of the outstanding SAN. It was a case against the Lagos State Government; the case was a malicious damage to my client’s property running into several millions of naira. We were claiming money in excess of close to a billion naira. During trial, we had to show the destruction on the television, we brought television into the court room, video tapes were played, it was a marathon trial, at times we would end very late because the court had to sit down, patiently watched through the tapes, in the process questions would be asked and answers would be supplied. The client was a very outstanding client, if that is how all clients are, lawyers would have less work to do because he did his work. He got materials for the case and so it was easy for the lawyers to make use of those materials, apply the law and get justice in the matter. We won the case of damages in excess of N550m. To me that was one of the outstanding cases I have had to handle because a lot of challenges were there and by the time we got judgment in the high court going by the materials and the principles of law espoused in the judgment, I knew that judgment would be defended successfully up to the highest court of the land. So, that remains today one of my best and very recently there was this case, it wasn’t that issue of law involved was substantial or far-reaching, it was what the applicant considers as enforcement of his fundamental human rights but the challenge in that case was the enormity of publicity both locally and internationally that were made to bear on what I consider to be an ordinary case, perhaps because of the personalities involved and it was my lot to defend it. An individual had taken Bishop Oyedepo to court together with the Living Faith Church. You would agree with me that that is one of the outstanding Christian leaders in the world not just in Nigeria, which was the reason why the press including social media focused their attention on it. Even the day I was briefed of that matter I didn’t

the length and breadth of the country and each of them has the Human Rights committee. The national body also has the human rights committee and the importance we attach to it can be exemplified by the fact that the committee is headed by the first vice- president under the constitution. So, except infractions that are not brought to the knowledge of the Bar either at the local or national level that would go un-remedied. In terms of defending the course of the rule of law and democracy in Nigeria, I believe the NBA has also been outstanding. We have commented on so many issues and we would continue to do that.

THERE IS NO CASE THAT SHOULD BE TREATED WITH LEVITY BECAUSE NOBODY COMES TO YOU AND WANTS TO HEAR THAT

“SORRY THE CASE WAS LOST”

know what happened. After my first appearance, it was all over the place that Bishop Oyedepo has gone to hire high -profile legal practitioner and what have you. So, that put pressure on the lawyers that were working, the pressure to ensure that we put in our best and we possibly achieve the best that the law can give to us in the circumstance. It was a pressure, we had it in the high court and they just reported to me now that the gentleman had appealed at the Court of Appeal. You find situation like this with counsel but like I said there is no case that should be treated with levity because nobody comes to you and wants to hear that ”sorry the case was lost”. What role do you think NBA should play in nation building? I believe the Nigerian Bar Association is doing what it supposed to be doing in this era particularly through the branches. We have today 100 branches scattered through

As an accomplished legal practitioner, what will you say is the secret of being a successful lawyer? First, success is not a destination, it will get to a point where you say”come, I am now successful there is nothing to aspire”. There is nothing like that, success itself is relative, to me there are still so many visions unaccomplished, one is still struggling, one should not forget the days of little beginning. What I mean by days of little beginning is that, it is important for all our colleagues who are coming into the profession to remember that there is something we call the days of little beginning. The only thing that starts from the top is the grave and nobody likes the grave. When you have to start, you don’t necessarily have to start from a very big perspective, you can start from smaller bits and pieces and then you begin to expand. I use to say that, life is in phases, at times the whole definition of your world maybe this room, at some other times it maybe the whole of Lagos, and later it maybe a whole state, it maybe the whole world, that is how destinies enfold in different phases. I still believe that as difficult as it may appear to be, lawyers will still continue to succeed as long as we get our acts right, you are just called to the Bar yesterday and today you are distributing complimentary cards e.g Dele Adesina and Co. Who is the and Co, your brief case? Where is your the office? Your briefcase? You put yourself under pressure, when you do that, no opportunity to learn under the tutelage of somebody who has something to offer. Your relatives begin to look unto you and saying when is this man coming to help his junior ones. But, if after you are called to the Bar, you identify a law chambers and you get yourself there regardless of what is being paid to you, if they are paying anything at all but you go in there with the hope that you want to learn as much as you can from that place, you want to be trained in this act, you want to equip yourself, you want to give yourself two to three years. You give yourself a good preparation then you are already on the high way to success because by the time you leave that office you won’t be practiising law as trial and error or as a game of chance. No, you know what is required and you are giving it to it, some of us spent six years to serve our pupilage and throughout that period there was no day I signed any salary register to say I hereby collect salary. I was not on salary for six years, when I tell junior ones about this story they begin to ask how I survived. I survived under a very excruciating factor but the dream of where I was going kept propelling me, accommodating those challenges and then forging ahead. What advice will you give to new wigs? My simple message to future members of the Bar is that the future is bright provided we are ready to give it what it takes; you can never be a star without enduring some form of scars in your body. Those champions in the field, they have practiced over and over again including depriving themselves of good meal and when you see them before two seconds they have completed one hundred metres; that has taken a lot of efforts and it is the same thing in all professions. Once you know that the depth of your preparation will determine the height of your success, then you go out to prepare. How do you prepare? By getting yourself attached to somebody that has done it. The truth is that the intellectual knowledge alone that you acquired either at the Law school or in the university is not sufficient, there must be a period to learn under someone else’s feet and then you take it up from there.

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The Ogoni 8: How Saro-Wiwa, others were convicted FAMOUS CASES The late Ken Saro-Wiwa, a minority rights activist, 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 17 years ago. FRANCIS FAMOROTI, Ag. Head, Judiciary reports:

en Saro-Wiwa was an environmental rights activist and a founding member/ spokesman of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) in Rivers State. He later became the President of MOSOP. 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, Theophilus Orage, were men who had had differences with the Saro-Wiwa-led MOSOP. The Rivers State Government promptly arrested Saro-Wiwa and several other MOSOP leaders. On February 6, 1995, Saro-Wiwa, his deputy, Ledum Mittee, Dr. Barinien Nubair Kiobel, John Kpunien and Baribour Berra, were 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. 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.

At the arraignment, Chief Philip Umeadi (SAN) led prosecuting team assisted by Mr. Joseph Daudu (immediate 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 a bail application, which was refused on March 13, 1995 by the tribunal. The tribunal also turned down the plea to transfer Saro-Wiwa 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 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 ZangoKataf 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 represntion 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 counsel to Saro-Wiwa and the other accused persons. But the MOSOP leaders refused to co-operate with them 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

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. 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 nocase 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 ‘’no-case 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 cat-

egory 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 Vice-President , 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 SaroWiwa 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 youth 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. The slain Ogoni leaders were branded ‘’vultures’’ because the youths alleged that they were growing wealthy on the misery of Ogoni people by taking money from Shell and Chevron , the main oil companies that operate in Ogoniland at the time. The result, the tribunal chairman said, was that the evidence against Saro Wiwa was unrefuted and had to be accepted. Justice Auta said it was Saro-Wiwa’s decision that MOSOP should boycott the June 12, 1993 presidential election which polarised the movement. The tribunal chairman also said having established that MOSOP and NYCOP laid the foundation for the bloodbath on May 21, 1994, Saro-Wiwa and his group were remorseless as shown by their reactions to the killings. Having come to this conclusion, Justice Auta declared his verdict “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.’’ The decision of the tribunal was condemned immediately by all and sundry, except the relatives of the four Ogoni sons brutally murdered on May 21, 1994 and top government officials including the then Foreign Affairs Minister, Tom Ikimi. The Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) hurriedly confirmed the sentences passed on the men and on November 10, 1995, Saro-Wiwa and eight others were hanged at Port Harcourt prison. The execution of the sentences took place despite a deluge of appeals to Gen. Sani Abacha and his men to spare the lives of the convicts. Saro-Wiwa’s execution provoked international outrage and resulted in Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth of

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I was pitched against Rotimi Williams –Ozekhome

y first appearance in court was a very interesting occasion. I was then in the chambers of the legend, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN). I was a brand new lawyer and the most junior in the chambers then. Nonetheless, the chamber’s clerk brought a file to me and told me the chief said I should read and prepare for the case the next day. I took the file and read the endorsement on it, then I was shocked, for I suddenly realised that the lawyer on the opposing side was no other person than

Mike Ozekhome

one of the foremost legal personalities in Nigeria, Chief Rotimi Williams (SAN). Immediately, I rushed back to Chief Gani and said, “Excuse, me sir, I think you have made a mistake. This file could not have been meant for me.” The Chief said?” “There is nothing like mistake, I endorsed it to you, it is meant for you!” I said, “But how can I possibly face chief Williams” Chief Gani laughed and said “Ozek Baba! I am a lion, you have to imibibe the culture of lion from me” Immediately, I felt lionized. So, I got the file and got prepared, the case was a libel case. The following day, as I was arriving, I was praying secretly in my heart that Chief Williams should not come in person – that he should send a junior to represent him. The prayer was not answered! As I entered the courtroom, I saw Chief Williams sitting in all his majesty! My heart skipped a beat, but Gani had lionized me the night before, he had made me had confidence in myself. The result? I won the case!

Bar Jokes

You won’t go to jail

man who had been caught embezzling millions from his employer went to a lawyer seeking defence. He didn’t want to go to jail. But his lawyer told him, “Don’t worry. You’ll never have to go to jail with all that money.” And the lawyer was right. When the man was sent to prison, he didn’t have a dime.

Lawyers take everything

reporter outside of a courtroom asked a defendant clad only in a barrel: “Oh, I see your attorney lost the case!” The defendant answered, “No, we won.”

Ounces of brain for sale

man went to a brain store to get some brain to complete a study. He sees a sign remarking on the quality of professional brain offerred at this particular brain store. He begins to question the butcher about the cost of these brains. “How much does it cost for engineer brain?” “Three dollars an ounce.” “How much does it cost for programmer brain?” “Four dollars an ounce.” “How much for lawyer brain?” “$1,000 an ounce.” “Why is lawyer brain so much more?”

Consultation fees

lawyer’s dog, running around town unleashed, heads for a butcher’s shop and steals a roast. The butcher goes to the lawyer’s office and asks, “if a dog running unleashed steals a piece of meat from my store, do I have a right to demand payment for the meat from the dog’s owner?” The lawyer answers, “Absolutely.”

Law & Justice

Monday, October 29, 2012

“Then you owe me $8.50. Your dog was loose and stole a roast from me today.” The lawyer, without a word, writes the butcher a check for $8.50. The butcher, having a feeling of satisfaction, leaves. Three days later, the butcher finds a bill from the lawyer: $100 due for a consultation. Culled from Bar Jokes.Com

The role of Judiciary in combating corruption in Nigeria MATTHEW BURKAA

he Judiciary is commonly and rightly referred to as the last hope of the common man. This pre-supposes that it guarantees equal access to Justice and equity and equally ensures that the rights of citizens are adequately accommodated and judgments handed down in accordance with the dictates of the law and facts presented to the Court. •The Judiciary can only act as the last hope of the common man where it is independent, well funded, courageous, unbiased and proactive. •Regrettably, this enviable role has not being without some accusing fingers being pointed at the hallowed temple of Justice. A recent survey by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and National Bureau for statistics with the support of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes found thus “Nigerian Courts of law receive the biggest bribes from citizens among all institutions in which corruption is rampant” the report stated further “though bribery in the judiciary was less frequent than in many agencies, it required the biggest transactions.” •Honourable Justice Eso recently had cause to lament on happenings at the Election Petition Tribunals where he stated that Judges handling electoral matters become billionaires overnight. This view was corroborated by Maj. Gen. Ishola Williams (Rtd) Chairman of Transparency International (TI) in Nigeria, who claimed that election tribunals were becoming goldmines for Nigerian Judges. He stated thus: “All the Judges are just using the election tribunals to make money. All those who had gone through election tribunals are Millionaires today. I challenge them to say NO.” •Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) Chairman Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of Nigeria lamented thus: “Time was when a lawyer could predict the likely outcome of a case because of the facts, the law and the brilliance of the lawyers that handled the case. Today, things have changed and nobody can be sure. Nowadays, politicians would text the outcome of the judgement to their party men before the judgement is delivered and prepare their supporters ahead of time for celebration.” •The above scenario presents a sad commentary on the perception of the judiciary by Nigerians. •The Role of the judiciary in combating corruption in Nigeria •There is no doubt that corruption is the biggest and most embarrassing challenge facing Ni-

NIGERIAN COURTS OF LAW RECEIVE THE BIGGEST BRIBES FROM CITIZENS AMONG ALL INSTITUTIONS IN WHICH CORRUPTION IS RAMPANT geria today. It is indeed a serious threat on our economic and democratic development. His Lordship Hon. Justice Dahiru Musdapher (CJN) (as he then was) stated correctly at the SERAP Roundtable on 9th February 2012, in his keynote address thus: “When the rule of law is weak, corruption will remain a nagging problem………………………… “Corruption in the Justice sector is a keystone to corruption throughout society. Without an honest criminal justice system, the wealthy, especially the corrupt, can escape the consequences of their crimes. Such impunity reduces the perceived cost of corruption. The risk that corrupt activity will result in imprisonment and accompanying public humiliation is minimal. The gains from corruption are therefore not discounted and there is thus little reason beyond personal integrity not to engage in corrupt acts. Metaphorically a corrupt judge has been described as more harmful to the society than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street. The latter as you know can be restrained physically. But the former deliberately destroys the moral foundation of society and causes incalculable distress to individuals while still answering “honourable”. •From the foregoing, it can be discerned that Nigerians are indeed concerned about the judiciary in carrying out its role as the bastion of hope for the common man. •There is no doubt that the fight against corruption in Nigeria is a collective one and all hands must be on deck to win the battle as the saying goes “It takes two to tango” where there is no “offeror” they can be no “offeree”. In other words, corruption persists and reigns supreme in Nigeria because persons in authority have either been corrupted by the system or by the people they come in contact with. If the people unanimously choose not to influence the work of public officers, indeed, the corrupt public officers cannot continue to operate without being exposed. Therefore there are “corruptors” and “corruptees” but the judiciary plays a pivotal and central role in the

fight against corruption because: ,(i) By virtue of the provisions of the Constitution, all cases are referred to the court for adjudication. Invariably all corruption allegations, investigations and cases are referred to court. (ii) By virtue of Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution, only the Courts and tribunals established by law are vested with powers to adjudicate between the State (prosecution) and the individual (accused) and determine the culpability or otherwise of an accused person in any corruption case. (iii) No body or institution can condemn a man on the basis of any investigation or findings without recourse to the Court or Tribunal established by Law. To do otherwise will be a negation of the cherished principle of the Rule of Law which is the foundation of our democracy. (iv) Any findings, decision, determination or pronouncement of the Court on the fate of an individual in respect of any particular allegation is final. The individual concerned may in subsequent proceedings plead autrefois acquit or convict. Based on the foregoing, it is therefore imperative to posit that the factors that influence the judiciary’s ability to perform its role in combating corruption in Nigeria can be summarized as follows: (i) Independence: For the Judiciary to play its role in the fight against corruption it must be independent and free from any form of interference or influence in terms of funding, political manipulation e.t.c. This will enable Judges to determine cases freely and competently on the basis of facts presented before them and nothing more. (ii) The Courts must ensure that cases bordering on corruption are dealt with expeditiously to instill public confidence in the fight against corruption. To this end, the court must ensure that recourse to unnecessary technicalities are avoided or outrightly rejected (iii) Competence of Judges: The fight against corruption will indeed be more effective when Judges are properly trained, better motivated, disciplined and committed to duty. The need for Judges to be better trained to handle (corruption) cases cannot be over-emphasied. Thus, his Lordship SAULAWA, JCA stated this fact clearly in a paper delivered at the Commonwealth Legal Education Association Conference on congestion of cases in Nigerian Courts on 28th -30th November 2000.: To be continued next week Burkaa, a counsel in the law firm of Tayo Oyetibo & Co, Barristers and Solicitors delivered this paper recently at the SERAP Media Roundatable in Lagos .

Cocktail

Monday, October 29, 2012

FOR YOUR SUCCESS

WITH DR. DEJI FOLUTILE

Today's Tonic (31)

Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified. –Dr Samuel Johnson *** Problems Are Possibilities In Disguise! To the winners of this world, problems are seen as projects that are loaded with treasures that makes life worth living. Winners don’t pray to have problems, but they don’t organise pity parties whenever problems come. They get busy to turn the problems or difficulties around for forward movements. Our self esteem rises with every difficulty that we are able to turn around for further progress. And of course our confidence increases more and more to face life’s challenges and keep prevailing. TEL 08104942999 E-MAIL deji.folutile@gmail.com Follow me @TwitterOWOTIDE

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Oddities

Snake found on Scottish plane A nimal rescuers in Scotland said a snake believed to be an American smoothscaled racer was discovered in a plane arriving in Glasgow from Mexico. The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said the 18-inch snake was found under a row of seats in the passenger cabin of the plane that arrived from Mexico this week and workers were able to catch it in a box, Sky News reported Friday.

The SPCA dubbed the animal Furtivo, Spanish for “stealthy.” “We have had the snake examined by a vet and, although we can’t be 100 percent certain, we believe he is of the Dryadophis family, which are commonly referred to as American smooth-scaled racers,”

said Billy Linton, a senior inspector with the Scottish SPCA. “Racers aren’t venomous but, like all snakes, they can bite and Furtivio is very feisty. Although small at the moment, he is still a juvenile and has a lot of growing to do.” Linton said the snake may have slithered onto

the plane in Cancun or stowed away in someone’s luggage. “Furtivo will remain in our care until we can find him an expert home with someone who has the necessary experience and knowledge to be able to look after such a creature,” Linton said.

Protesting teachers grade homework at mall

eachers graded homework at a Milan, Italy, shopping mall in a protest against budget cuts and longer work weeks, officials said. About 100 teachers gathered at the Galleria

Vittorio Emanuele shopping area Friday for the protest, during which they marked students’ homework with red pens, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported. The teachers were

protesting a government decision to extend their work week to 24 hours, as well as austerity measures that have cut school budgets, and the lack of job security involved in some teacher contracts.

Scottish airport staff got a slithery surprise when they stumbled on the Mexican serpent stowaway under a seat recently. Photo: AP

Monday, October 29, 2012

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World News

Fresh Syria fighting despite UN-backed truce

“The scale and pace of Asia’s rise is staggering, and there are significant opportunities and challenges for all Australians” - AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER, JULIA GILLARD

WORLD BULLETIN

Satellite images suggest airstrike on Sudan site

Police kill two suspected militants in Kenyan

atellite images of the aftermath of an explosion at a Sudanese weapons factory this past week suggest the site was hit in an airstrike, a U.S. monitoring group said Saturday. The Sudanese government has accused Israel of bombing its Yarmouk military complex in Khartoum, killing two people and leaving the factory in ruins. The images released by the Satellite Sentinel Project to The Associated Press on Saturday showed six 52-foot (16-meter) wide craters near the epicenter of Wednesday’s explosion at the compound. Military experts consulted by the project found the craters to be “consistent with large impact craters created by air-delivered munitions, Satellite Sentinel Project spokesman, Jonathan Hutson told the AP. The target may have been around 40 shipping containers seen at the site in earlier images. The group said the craters center on the area where the containers had been stacked. It did not comment on the allegations of Israeli involvement or who might be behind the strikes.

Ntchama, centre, being restrained by soldiers as he is brought to Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, following his arrest.

Photo: AP

Guinea Bissau arrests coup leader PAUL ARHEWE

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

he soldier who led a failed coup attempt last week in Guinea-Bissau has been arrested, the spokesman for the armed forces said yesterday. Pansau Ntchama was arrested on Saturday outside the capital, Bissau, said spokesman Dahaba Na Walna. He said that the country’s ex-army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Zamora Induta, was also behind the October 21 coup attempt. Ntchama was a commando and Induta’s bodyguard before the exarmy chief fled Guinea-Bissau in the wake of the last coup in April. Induta is now in Portugal, Walna said. Ntchama had sought exile in Portugal after allegedly carrying out the 2009 assassination of Guinea-Bissau’s former president.

“It was an attempt from the outside,” said Walna. The government, last week, said that Ntchama had traveled from Portugal to Gambia, then to Angola to pick up arms and into GuineaBissau to carry out the attack. Gunmen, led by Ntchama, attacked a military base near the airport in Bissau on October 21, and six soldiers were killed in the clash. At least four of the six killed were assailants working with Ntchama. They were from the Djola ethnic group, which is the dominant ethnic group both in Gambia and in the Casamance region of southern Senegal, two countries that are neighbours to Guinea-Bissau. The army fought back and the coup failed. The apparent attempted coup was against the military junta that itself seized power in April. Guin-

ea-Bissau was just weeks away from holding a presidential runoff election when soldiers attacked the front-runner’s home and arrested him along with the country’s interim president on April 12. Troubled Guinea-Bissau has had so many coups and countercoups that no elected leader has been able to complete his term in the 38 years since Guinea-Bissau won its independence from Portugal. The tiny nation, roughly three times the size of the state of Connecticut, has also become one of the main transit points for Europebound cocaine, shipped in from Latin America. Factions within the army are known to be involved in the trafficking and analysts believe that much of the country’s recent turmoil is the result of turf wars over the control of cocaine trafficking.

Zuma drops suit over rape cartoon

outh African President Jacob Zuma intends to drop a four-year-old lawsuit claiming nearly $600,000 in damages from a cartoonist who depicted him poised to rape “Lady Justice”, his office said yesterday. The Sunday Times, named as a defendant in the case, also said it had reached agreement with Zuma’s lawyers for the suit and all claims to be ended. “The president ... would like to avoid setting a legal precedent that may have the effect of limiting the public exercise of free speech, with the unforeseen con-

sequences this may have on our media, public commentators and citizens,” his office said in a statement. It added that it still saw the cartoon as an affront to the dignity of the president. The civil case was due to start today. Under the settlement, Zuma will pay part of the legal costs of the defendants, his office said. Zuma, facing re-election for leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) at the end of the year, has been criticised for pushing laws seen as trying to

muzzle the media. If the case went forward, it could have provided ammunition for foes in the party who say he wants to silence his critics through bullying. Zuma had been seeking four million rand for defamation from Avusa media and an additional one million rand from a former Sunday Times editor for publishing the 2008 cartoon. Ray Hartley, the current editor, said in the paper: “A lot of time and taxpayer money has been wasted on an ill-considered effort to curtail free expression.”

Zuma

The cartoon, from awardwinning Jonathan Shapiro, better known by his pen name “Zapiro”, shows Zuma’s supporters holding down Lady Justice while Zuma stands over the woman with his trousers unzipped.

Kenyan police shot dead a Muslim cleric suspected of ties to Somalia’s al Shabaab militants in the city of Mombasa yesterday, the latest in a string of raids against alleged sympathisers of the Islamist militants along the east African coast. Local residents said gunfire erupted in the early hours when police broke into Omar Faraj’s house in the city’s rundown Majengo district, the same area where the radical preacher Aboud Rogo, shot dead in August by unknown gunmen, held sermons. Riot police patrolled Majengo’s garbage-clogged streets and tensions ran high in the morning, raising fears of a repeat of the deadly rioting that broke out after Rogo’s killing. Police said a man arrested on Saturday carrying grenades on a bus to Mombasa had led them to Faraj’s house. He was also killed by gunfire during the raid, police said, without explaining the exact circumstances. Neighbours said they collected dozens of spent bullet cartridges and tear gas canisters. “We have compelling reason to believe that the suspects had ties with a terrorist organisation. We are linking them with al Shabaab,” John Gachomo, deputy criminal investigation officer for Kenya’s Coast region, told Reuters.

Ivory Coast torturing detainees –Amnesty Int Ivory Coast security officials are torturing dozens of detainees by administering electric shocks and other forms of abuse, Amnesty International alleged Friday. The victims include people charged with endangering state security in the wake of a recent spate of attacks targeting military installations. Since early August, unknown gunmen have carried out roughly 10 attacks at checkpoints, military bases and other installations throughout the country, including in the commercial capital of Abidjan. United Nations officials have said that more than 200 people have been detained on suspicion of involvement in the attacks, and that torture has been documented at multiple detention facilities. Gaetan Mootoo, West Africa researcher for Amnesty, said an investigation team received reports of a range of abuses during a recent month-long visit. “We were able to meet dozens of detainees who told us how they have been tortured by electricity or had molten plastic poured on their bodies,” Mootoo said. “Two of them have been sexually abused. Some have been held for many months denied contact with their families and access to lawyers.”

World News

Monday, October 29, 2012

EX- pop star Gary Glitter arrested

Briefs Top US regulators warn on expanding president’s powers

Top U.S. financial regulators have told two senators a bill they are sponsoring would give the president undue influence on supervisory authorities and hurt the agencies’ ability to do their job. Six regulators, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Schapiro, weighed in against the “Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act of 2012.” They were particularly concerned with a provision that would give any president the right to require independent regulatory agencies to submit their rulemakings to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.

Caribbean hurricane’s death toll rises to 65 Officials raised the storm-related death toll across the Caribbean to 65, with 51 of those coming in Haiti, which was pelted by three days of constant rains that ended only on Friday. As the rains stopped and rivers began to recede, authorities were getting a fuller idea of how much damage Sandy brought on Haiti. Bridges collapsed. Banana crops were ruined. Homes were underwater. Officials said the death toll might still rise. “This is a disaster of major proportions,” Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe told The Associated Press. “The whole south is under water.” The country’s ramshackle housing and denuded hillsides are especially vulnerable to flooding. The bulk of the deaths were in the southern part of the country and the area around Port-au-Prince, the capital, which holds most of the 370,000 Haitians who are still living in flimsy shelters as a result of the devastating 2010 earthquake. Santos Alexis, mayor of the southern city of Leogane, said Sunday that the rivers were receding and that people were beginning to dry their belongings in the sun.

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A Syrian elder sitting on a hospital trolley suffering partial loss of memory after he was was shot in the head by a sniper while walking on a street in Aleppo, Syria.

Fresh Syria fighting despite UN-backed truce S yrian warplanes and artillery struck rebellious suburbs east of Damascus, while rebels attacked regime positions elsewhere near the capital yesterday, violence that marred the third day of what was meant to be a four-day holiday truce, activists said. A U.N-backed truce declared for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha has failed to take hold, with fighting reported from the start. Activists said more than 150 people were killed Friday, the start of the holiday, and more than 120 people on the second day, similar to previous daily casualty tolls. The cease-fire was seen as a long shot from the outset. The international mediator in Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, failed to get firm commitments from all combatants. At least one rebel-linked radical Islamic group, the al-Qaida-inspired Jabhat al-Nusra, rejected the truce outright. In a video posted this week, the leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahri, urged “Muslims everywhere” to support Syria’s uprising. The truce was called as the two sides were battling over strategic targets in a largely deadlocked

civil war. They include a military base near a main north-south highway, the main supply route to Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, where regime forces and rebels have been fighting house-to-house. It appears each side feared the other could exploit a lull to improve its positions. With the unravelling of the cease-fire, it’s unclear what the international community can do next. The holiday truce marked the first attempt in six months to reduce the bloodshed in Syria, where activists say more than 35,000 people have been killed in 19 months. Brahimi has not said what would follow a ceasefire. Talks between Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Syrian opposition on a peaceful transition are blocked, since the Syrian leader’s opponents say they will not negotiate unless Assad resigns, a step he has refused to take. The international community has been unable to rally around other options, including tougher U.N. Security Council action, arming the rebels or direct military intervention.

ne-time pop star Gary Glitter was arrested yesterday as part of an investigation into allegations of child sex abuse by the late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, the BBC said. It was the first arrest to be reported in a scandal that has already damaged the reputation of the publicly-funded BBC and the legacy of Savile, a former DJ who was one of the broadcaster’s top show hosts and a dedicated charity fundraiser. The head of the BBC’s governing body said yesterday the broadcaster’s reputation was on the line, and promised to get to the bottom of the scandal. A police statement said a man in his 60s had been picked up just after 7 am British Time on suspicion of sexual offences in the investigation into “Savile and others”. The statement did not name the man and a spokesman declined further comment. The BBC and Sky News identified the man picked up from his London home as Glitter, a 68-year-old who was popular as a glam-rock singer in the 1970s. Footage on both broadcasters showed Glitter, who was not handcuffed, leaving an apartment in central London and being driven away. Glitter, born Paul Gadd, shot to fame in the early 1970s with the hit “Rock and Roll”. He has long been dogged by child sex accusations. He was convicted of abusing two girls in Vietnam in 2006 and has been jailed in that country. Allegations that Savile sexually abused young girls for decades first emerged in an expose on the TV channel ITV. Since then, police say some 300 victims had come forward. The victims’ allegations include claims from one woman that she had seen Glitter having sex with an underage girl in Savile’s BBC dressing room while Savile abused another girl. The scandal has raised troubling questions about the BBC’s management and its workplace culture in the past. Revelations that an investigation by Newsnight, the BBC’s flagship TV news show, was shelved last December led to claims bosses at the broadcaster knew about the allegations but kept quiet.

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North

Monday, October 29, 2012

Violence: Group wants military base at Benue, Nassarawa border AZA MSUE KADUNA

he Kaduna branch of the apex Tiv socio-cultural organisation, Mzough U Tiv (MUT), has called on the Federal Government to establish military formation along Benue and Nassarawa state border to check incessant Fulani herdsmen-farmers clashes. Addressing journalists yesterday at a church

called Nongu U Kristu u Ken Sudan Hen Tiv (NKST) during a thanksgiving service for Tiv community in Kaduna, MUT President, Mr. Mark Shimbayev, decried what he described as the continued attacks on Benue farmers in the neighboring Nassarawa State. Mr. Shimbayev called on the Benue and Nassarawa states to convene a stakeholder meeting to seek an end to the violence.

He said: “We are appealing for the establishment of a military base along Benue and Nassarawa states’ border to end sporadic attacks on Benue farmers. This should be taken seriously by the government because we don’t want unrest in that part of the country. ” Shimbayev further appealed to Benue politicians to exercise maturity in their campaigns as they prepare for the forthcom-

ing local government election. Earlier, NKST Resident Pastor, Rev. Chris Annger, urged peaceful co-existence among Nigerians. Rev. Annger urged Nigerians to pray for God’s intervention in the insecurity confronting the country, saying: “God has turned away from Nigerians, let us go back and seek forgiveness. Let us pray for peaceful co-existence and unity of the country.”

We won’t condone corruption –Kano AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO

ano State Deputy Governor, Dr Umar Ganduje, has said that the government would not condone corruption in any form. Ganduje revealed that many senior corrupt public officials have been sanctioned by the government. Ganduje told journalists at the weekend in Kano that the state government is working hard to fight corruption in high places. He said: The government is out to prove a point by correcting the wrongs of the previous administration while investing heavily in projects that will improve the wellbeing of the people. “The government is satisfied with its performance so far and by the

end of its tenure in 2015, it would have transformed the state.” The deputy governor, however, admitted there might be some grudges by those he called ill informed group of people, but noted that the government planned to satisfy the majority, which is its target, saying: “We are happy we are achieving just that.” Ganduje named some of the people oriented projects the government had executed to include the construction of three new cities in Kano, road construction, rehabilitation and building of schools in all the 44 local government areas. He said: “So far, we have executed many people-oriented projects. We have also fished out some bad eggs the public service and showed them the way out.”

‘We are sad over rampant divorce cases’ AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO L-R: Former Military President, Gen Ibrahim Babangida; Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu and former Head of State, Gen Abdulsalmi Abubakar, during a Sallah homage on the Governor at his residence in Minna, yesterday.

Three held for allegedly impersonating Etisalat engineers WOLE ADEDEJI ILORIN

he Kwara State Police Command has arrested three men for alleged impersonation. The suspects posed as senior engineers working with Etisalat Communications Nigeria Limited. According to the police, the suspects - Osadebe Ojiator, Ejike Onuba and one Sylvester now at large - came from Lagos to Ilorin and paraded them-

selves as senior engineers with the communications firm. They said they were to supply diesel to Etisalat mast stations across the state. The suspects went to Musad Filling Station and met with the owner, Mr Olopade Rasheed. They lured him into transacting business with them. Having shown Rasheed some fake identity cards, the suspects demanded for the station’s letter of

interest, filling station DPR storage, certificate of incorporation, station’s photograph and the current storage licence, among others. Sensing that the suspects planned to dupe him, Rasheed reported the incident at the police station, alleging that the suspects had succeeded in collecting N35, 000 from him. Resheed said they claimed that the money was meant to facilitate the award of N50 million con-

tract for the supplying of diesel to the Etisalat mast stations across the state. The suspects were said to have forged letter heads of many companies with which they have been swindling unsuspecting victims. Shortly after Rasheed reported the incident at the police station, detectives, led by Inspector Adebayo Sikiru, went to town and arrested two of the suspects, while their accomplice fled.

he Kano State Government has expressed concern over the rampant cases of divorce among couples with the formation of a committee of Islamic Scholars to fashion out measures on how to tackle the menace. “We are worried as a government that divorce cases have reached an alarming rate,” the Deputy Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said yesterday during the Sallah homage paid to the Government House by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero. Ganduje said that the committee of Islamic

Woman, 46, gives birth to triplets in 12th successive childbirth

46-year-old woman, Malama Delu AlhajiAli, was at the weekend delivered of a set of triplets in her 12th consecutive childbirth. Malama Delu Alhaji-Ali hails from Unguwar Namanda village in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the woman was delivered of the triplets at the Comprehensive Health Care Centre in Faskari.

The Nursing Officer in charge of the health centre’s maternity ward, Hajia Binta Suleiman, told NAN yesterday that both the mother and her three baby boys were in stable condition. Suleiman said that Delu was delivered of the babies unassisted, adding, however, that she had been on admission in the hospital in the last four days when officials noticed that her expected date of delivery was fast approaching. “Delu attended regular

antenatal clinics and she was advised to go for an ultra-scan where we noticed that she was expecting triplets,’’ Suleiman said. Suleiman said that the set of triplets were the first recorded in the hospital this year and she urged Delu’s husband and relations as well as the local government authorities to assist her by ensuring that she had access to nutritious foods. Meanwhile, Hajia Sa’adatu Faskari-Ahmad, the wife of

Faskari Local Government Council’s Caretaker Committee Chairman, has donated some clothes and cash to the woman and her triplets. Faskari-Ahmad congratulated Delu, stressing that the triplets were a rare and extraordinary blessing from Allah. Responding, Delu expressed appreciation for the gifts and the support she received from the hospital workers. She told NAN that the trip-

lets came in her 12th childbirth, while all her previous eleven births were single babies. Delu, however, recalled that before giving birth to the triplets, she experienced some abnormalities during the initial stage of the pregnancy. She said that although the responsibility of taking care of the three children would be quite challenging for her, she would overcome the challenges with Allah’s support.

Scholars was to help the state government come up with a lasting solution to the problem. He said: “We want to come up with some measures, but we don’t want to have clash with the position laid down by the Qur’an and Sunnah of the prophet.” He said the state Hisbah Board has done a lot in terms of marrying off un-married young girls, widows and divorcees, saying that the board was strengthened by the government to provide services to the people as dictated by the teachings of Islam and not to function as a tool of campaign for the government. Ganduje said that the state government planned to encourage education among its people, promising to complete all road projects initiated by the immediate past administration. He also commended the Emir, Alhaji Ado Bayero, for the visit and appreciated the monarch’s constant prayers for peaceful co-existence of Nigerians. Earlier, Alhaji Bayero urged the state government to alleviate the suffering of flood victims whose farmlands and houses were ravaged in recently.

News

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Why creation of more states is necessary –Mark G EORGE O JI AND E MMANUEL O NANI AND FEMI O YEWESO

enate President David Mark yesterday raised the hope of those clamouring for more states. Mark said that the National Assembly would consider the proposal so as to bring government closer to the people. He said creating additional states would address the fears of marginalisation by the minority people. The Senate President spoke at this year’s Ojude Oba Festival in IjebuOde, Ogun State. Mark said: “Creation of additional states can only make government closer to the people, contrary to the view being expressed in certain

quarters that we do not need additional states in the federation.” Mark expressed support for the agitation for the creation of Ijebu State from the Ogun State, noting that new states would address the issue of marginalization being raised in some parts of the country. Describing this year’s Ojude-Oba Festival as a thanksgiving for the good health of Oba Sikiru Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland, the Senate President said: “As a nation of diverse culture, we must take advantage of our diversity by using our culture as a symbol of unity.” He urged Nigerians to come together and emphasis those things that bind us together as

a nation. Mark, however, condemned the renewed attack against places of worship, particularly yesterday’s attack on St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Kaduna, saying: “It is never too late for the perpetrators of this dastard act to repent from their sinful acts against God.”

Earlier, Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, commended the bound of unity among the residents. He assured that his administration would continue to work for the development of the state and the residents. In his welcome address, Oba Adetona urged the National As-

sembly to remedy the injustice being melted on Ijebu people by ensuring the creation of Ijebu State. He said: “We have been on this issue of creation of Ijebu State since 1975. The justification for it is abundantly clear. “The most worrisome aspect of it was the

total neglect of Ijebu community in the state creation exercises that have taken place. “It is lamentable that Ijebu, which in the colonial era, was one of the 24 provinces that made up Nigeria cannot today boost of being counted as one of the 36 states that constitute the country.”

Amaechi hails Ekwueme’s role in Nigeria’s unity C HINEDUM E MEANA PORT HARCOURT

ivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, has described former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme as a patriotic Nigerian who has contributed to the promotion of unity and development of the country. Amaechi spoke yesterday at a special thanksgiving service organised by the Rivers State Government in honour of Ekwueme on his 80th birthday held at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Port Harcourt. He said: “I don’t see ethnicity in you (Ekwueme), if others have seen, I never see it in you, so we, as Nigerians owe you a lot in that regard. Let me tell you that there are those of us who admire you even at the party meetings and one of the things we admire you for is your level of patriotism.” Amaechi explained that at 80, Ekwueme was still fit to dip into his competences and experiences to add value to the Nigerian society. “Be rest assured that some of us look up to

you after looking up to God, and we will continue to keep the struggle that you are still struggling for, to see if there will be a better Nigeria, and I pray there will be a better Nigeria. “An opportunity has opened up now, and that opportunity is the forthcoming constitutional amendment, and as usual Nigerians have started dealing with cosmetics not reality of power distribution, structure of the country, but reality of sharing what and who is what,” the governor said. Governor Amaechi told Dr Ekwueme of his readiness to join him in asking fundamental questions that would consolidate the unity of the country at the constitutional amendment. He said: “And I think I will join you in asking fundamental questions, it is important that we ensure the unity of the country in a way to move the nation forward and I will join you in that.” Ekwueme, however, thanked Amaechi and other Nigerians who turned out in their numbers to honour him.

Wreckage of car used by suicide bombers at the St. Rita’s Catholic Church, Ugwan Yero Badarawa in Kaduna, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Civil war: Group plans to drag Gowon to ICC DENNIS AGBO ENUGU

group, the Igbo Youths Movement (IYM), has concluded plans to drag the former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his role in the killing of over two million Igbo during the Nigeria civil war between 1967 and 1970. The group said the “insensitive and thoughtless bravado” Gen. Gowon displayed at the weekend in Minna, the Niger

State, prompted its decision to drag the former military leader to the ICC in Hague. IYM took the decision yesterday at an emergency meeting held in Enugu. President of IYM, Elliot Uko, who addressed journalists after the meeting, said: “Gen. Gowon’s offending statement implied that he and the late Obafemi Awolowo have no regret over their infamous roles during and shortly after the war. The statement is repulsive, provocative and

shocking. “Since he wants to go to the ICC, the ICC he will go. We will ask the court to hold him responsible for the greatest tragedy of the last century.” The group said it expected “apology from Gen. Gowon and not the insulting and defiant attitude he displayed in Minna.” It said: “If Gen. Gowon has no regrets, it means he will do same over and over again.” The group beliefs that Gen. Gowon’s comment had eroded Nigerians’

respect for him, saying: “The shameful and despicable conduct of Gowon and his lieutenants during the war had remained a sore point in the modern history of Africa. “The blood of over two million women and children murdered by Gowon will continue to cry for justice until he and his lieutenants are brought to justice at the ICC.” The group also condemned yesterday’s bomb attack on a church in Kaduna.

S’Court Justice, Adekeye, bows out Wednesday ISE-OLUWA IGE

ustice Olufunlola Oyelola Adekeye will, on Wednesday, bow out of the Supreme Court bench. Justice Adekeye clocked the mandatory retirement age of 70 yesterday.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria 9CJN), Hon. Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, is scheduled to preside over the valedictory session in honour of the retiring jurist. The event, which will take place at the main court auditorium of the Supreme Court, is slated for 10am. Justice Adekeye attended St. An-

drew’s Primary School, Ondo between 1947 and 1954 and later proceeded to St. Anne’s School, Ibadan in 1955. After graduating from the College in 1959, she got admission into North Western Polytechnic, London in 1961 and later moved to Leeds University, Yorkshire, United Kingdom in 1963.

Between 1966 and 1967, she was at Sheffield College of Commerce, Sheffield, from where she proceeded to the Nigeria Law School in 1967. She was later called to the Nigerian Bar in October, 1968. Justice Adekeye began her law practice in 1968 in Akin Oloko & Co. Omonigbehin Chambers, Ibadan.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Uche, Macauley hit brace apiece, Utaka returns 55 with a strike

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

We crashed out of the quarter-finals in 2010 when we lost to Nigeria. So we have a good chance of revenge against a very good Nigerian team –Zambian coach, Herve Renard

AWC: Falcons set to stun Cameroun YEMI OLUS

Falcons’ line-up in a previous match

‘Eagles, Chipolopolo will attract crowds’

oelf Kotze, Stadium Manager of the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, venue of Group C comprising Nigeria, Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, is confident the teams will attract big crowds during the competition. The stadium is due to host a total of eight matches including a quarter-final and a semi-final and the highlight of the opening round is the encounter between reigning champions, Chipolopolo of Zambia and Nigeria’s Super Eagles on January 25. “We’re quite confident that we’ll pull good crowds. The average attendance for soccer matches here is about 16 or 17,000 people, which is more than you get in Gauteng (the province where Johannesburg and Pretoria are situated). “Since the (2010) World Cup we’ve had about 45 matches at the stadium and they were all well attended,” Kotze told BBC Sport. He admitted that some more work still needs to be done in order to ensure fans attend the matches.

“Obviously it’s up to the city now to build a bit of energy and vibe around it and it helps that we know the teams now,” he added. The manager hopes to attract people from outside the Nelspruit too. “This is close to Mozambique and

Swaziland from where people tend to travel. Within a radius of 100 kilometres there are a million people,” he pointed out. The 40, 000-seat Mbombela was built for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but only hosted four group games during the tournament, none of which were sold out.

S/Africa to spend $52m on AFCON

outh Africa says it will spend R461 million (about $52million) to stage the 29th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) next year but denied it is a “vanity project” in tough economic times. The Rainbow Nation stepped in after the football showcase was shifted from conflict-torn Libya and had to find the funds to pick up the hosting tab amid a slowing economy and rising debt levels. “We are ensuring that we cut out any form of extravagance,” Deputy Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene, told reporters on Thursday, saying the tournament had not been budgeted for in the current financial year. “What we have approved for funding

for AFCON, we have cut it absolutely to the bone...I don’t think we can regard it as a vanity project.” Of that total US$9.5 million will be used by the LOC for its operating costs, the remainder is for the running the entire tournament at the fice host cities South Africa was only due to stage the continent’s championship in 2017 but the country’s lauded 2010 World Cup, which saw a building boom in stadiums, roads and airports, would help with hosting duties, he said. The costs for the tournament, which runs from January 19 to February 10, were outlined in the medium term budget policy statement, which was tabled last Thursday.

igeria’s Super Falcons will leave nothing to chance today as they take on the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroun in their first game at the eight edition of the African Women Championship (AWC) taking place in Equatorial Guinea from October 28 to November 11. The battle for supremacy will take place at the Nkoantama Stadium, Bata and the Coach Kadiri Ikhana-led team has five attackers led by veteran and four-time CAF African Women Footballer of the year, Perpetua Nkwocha, who has set a target of 15 goals for herself. Also included are three goalkeepers, seven defenders and six midfielders. Nigeria met Cameroun in the final of the 2004 edition and dominated the game with a 5-0 trouncing but the Lionesses put paid to the Falcons’ dream of featuring in the London 2012 Olympic Games with a 4-3 victory on penalties after both teams finished 3-3 on aggregate at the end of their second leg qualifying tie played in Yaounde. Falcons qualified for

the AWC after beating Zimbabwe 4-0 in the second leg qualifier held in June in Lagos and are on course to secure their seventh title. They are in Group B with Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire and Ethiopia while Group A is made up of Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, Senegal and Democratic Republic of Congo The Nigerians have featured in every edition of the biennial competition since its inception in 1998 and have won six of the seven titles apart from 2008 when they lost their crown to host Equatorial Guinea who beat South Africa 2-1 in the final. They have been promised win bonus of $3,000 and captain Precious Dede affirmed the team’s commitment to ensuring that they retain the title. She said, “I know I speak for everyone in the team when I say that we will do our best to ensure that we return to Nigeria with the trophy.” After today’s match, the Falcons will trade tackles with Ethiopia on November 1 while their last group game will be against Côte d’ Ivoire at Nouveau Stade- Malabo on November 4.

Messi hits 301 career goals

ionel Messi took his senior career goals tally to 301 as he scored twice in Barcelona’s 5-0 victory at Rayo Vallecano, which put them three points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday. The World Player of the Year got Barca’s second goal just after half time and finished off the rout with another at the end. The 25-year-old has now scored 270 goals for his club and 31 for Argentina.

Spain players David Villa, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas scored the others as Barcelona continued their unbeaten start under new coach Tito Vilanova and moved on to 25 points from nine games.

Messi

Sport

Monday, October 29, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Cisse nicks victory for Newcastle

Man United edges nine-man Chelsea Manchester United’s Ruud van Persie (l) being congratulated by his team mates after scoring the second goal against Chelsea last night at Stamford Bridge

helsea were beaten for the first time in this season’s Premier League yesterday as two red cards ushered Manchester United to a 3-2 win in west London. Two goals down inside 12 minutes, the leaders fought their way off the ropes to level through Juan Mata (44) and Ramires (53) and were looking likelier winners until Branislav Ivanovic was sent off on the

hour. But a second red card for Fernando Torres meant the end of any genuine attacking ambition, and substitute Javier Hernandez bundled a contentious winner (75) to haul United within a point of the leaders and give them a first success at Stamford Bridge since 2002. Despite the result, there was plenty in Chelsea’s performance to reinforce their

credentials as real title challengers, though they were handicapped by a haphazard start as United’s £24m man Robin van Persie made one goal and scored another. United’s defence was under scrutiny before the game following another porous display against Braga in midweek, but it was a home back four missing John Terry which was exposed time and again during the opening exchanges.

Governor’s Cup: Perez, Dinu make history YEMI OLUS

he grand finale of the 2012 Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship ended over the weekend with Spain’s Enrique Lopez-Perez and Cristina Dinu of Romania entering the history books as players that had won the Governor’s Cup back to back. Perez, who had earlier won the Men’s Singles of the first leg, beat other contenders to the trophy and $15,000 prize money

as he defeated South African Ruan Roelofse in straight sets of 6-0,6-4 at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan. On the other hand, Dinu, who had also won the first leg, defeated Switzerland’s Conny Perrin in straight sets of 6-2,6-3 in the Women’s Singles of FCMB/Etisalat Nigeria sponsored ITF pro circuit. Indian Sania Mirza won both the Futures 1 and 2 of 2004’s edition of the Women’s Singles, while in 2009, El Amrani Reda of Morocco and Slovak lady, Zuzana Kucova won the first a n d

Governor Fashola with Men Singles’ winner, Enrique Lopez Perez of Spain

second leg of that year’s men and women’s singles respectively. The final ceremony of the 2012 Governor’s Cup was fun filled with a lot of side attractions. Governor of Lagos, Babatunde Fashola, who was the Special Guest of Honour played exhibition matches with the Managing Director of FCMB, Mr. Ladi Balogun and the President of Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF, Engr. Sani Ndanusa. Fashola, who was cheered throughout the duration of the matches by students from about 26 schools in Lagos and other dignitaries lost his match to Balogun 0-2, but defeated Ndanusa 1-0. Fashola, who presented the trophies to Perez and Dinu, described the winners as the true champions of the Governor’s Cup. He praised other players who played especially the foreign stars who were part of the competition to feel Lagos’ hospitality. “I know that next year’s competition will be bigger and better than this year. I expected to see the faces of these players and many more others in the 13th edition,” Fashola said. Kamil Capkovic of Slovakia and Roelofse won the men’s doubles event while Perrin and South African Channel Simmonds clinched the women’s event.

apiss Cisse’s lucky injury-time winner secured a 2-1 victory for Newcastle against unlucky West Bromwich Albion yesterday. It was a desperate way to finish for the visitors who after being outplayed in the first half, were dominant for large periods after the break and were close to securing the spoils before the late drama. Sky Sports reports that after Romelu Lukaku cancelled out Demba Ba’s opener, the Baggies looked the only team likely to strike again, only for the substitute Cisse to score with a deflected shot and bag only their second win in eight league games. Considering how bright West Brom were in the second half, it was a surprisingly lacklustre and error-ridden start by Steve Clarke’s outfit who came to St James’ Park hunting a victory that would have hoisted them to fourth. But after recalling the big-hitters such as keeper Tim Krul, Demba Ba and captain Fabricio Coloccini after being rested for last Thursday’s Europa League venture, it was the Magpies who looked hungry and sprightly.

Everton fights back to earn derby draw

uis Suarez took centre stage as Liverpool and Everton shared the points after a pulsating 90 minutes in the 219th Merseyside derby. The Uruguayan was controversially denied an injury-time winner after Everton had fought back from 2-0 down, but it was an earlier goal celebration which is likely to prove the game’s enduring image, reports BBC Sport. Having played a key role in Liverpool’s opener with a shot that deflected in off Leighton Baines, Suarez ran to celebrate with a swallow dive in front of David Moyes - a reference to claims by the Everton manager before the game that he went down too easily. Suarez added Liverpool’s second with a deft header four minutes later only for Everton to score twice before half-time through Leon Osman and Steven Naismith. The result leaves Everton in fifth and extends Liverpool’s unbeaten run to four matches. At the final whistle, they could give no more. Everton and Liverpool had fought each other to a standstill, matching each other step for step and, ultimately, goal for goal.

Victor Anichebe

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

Monday, October 29, 2012

Uche, Macauley hit brace apiece, Utaka returns with a strike IKENWA NNABUOGOR

orgotten Super Eagles’ striker Sone Aluko hit his fourth goal of the season for Hull City, opening scores for the Tigers as they beat second from bottom Bristol Rovers before their disappointed home fans on Saturday. The Birmingham City star, who returned to England after a three-year spell in neighbouring Scotland put his promotion-chasing side in front as early as the eighth minute before the visitors ensured victory from the spot in the 65th minute after Bristol had evened scores in the 25th minute. Aluko, playing his 13th game of the season, was on from start to finish in the thrilling encounter. Meanwhile, his compatriot, Seyi Olofinjana, who was sidelined for the better part of last season, started from the bench, replacing Northern Ireland star Corry Evans in the 88th minute. In France, John Utaka not only came from injury but registered his name on the score sheet for the first time this season for the defending champions Montpellier as they crashed 3-1 at home on Saturday. The former Rennes striker had returned from hip and thigh complaint to manage a substitute appearance last weekend. He was however given a 90th minute chance in the Nice victory. Utaka made it two goals to nil for the champions in the 64th minute after he directed a pass from team mate Remy Cabella into the Nice net. In Belgium, little known but fast rising striker Imoh Ezekiel returned to his scoring ways after serving a three-ban suspension due to red card, with a goal as his side Standard Liege beat whipping boys Cercle Brugge 2-1 on Friday. The former 36 Lions of Lagos striker had played his first game since the card suspension in their 3-1 loss at Mons penultimate Sunday. He struck in the 30th minute to put his side ahead but the visitors evened scores just a minute into the recess before the home side hit the winner in the 65th minute. Ezekiel, who is playing his first full season at Standard, has now scored five goals to catapult himself among the top ten scorers in the chart in the Belgian Jupiler League. On the losing side was big striker Michael Uchebo, who is still in search for his first goal in the Belgian League since his summer switch from Dutch side VVV Venlo. Still in Belgium, Derrick Ogbu continued to impress in the colours of hitherto struggling OH Leuven as they stunned Beerschot 3-1. Ogbu didn’t go on the score sheet but his all-round performance produced one assist which Iceland international Stefan Gislason turned into the hosts’ net to put the visitors three goals up. In Germany, on loan striker Tony Ujah surprised himself by not scoring in their 3-3 home draw against Kaiserslautern. He was on for 90 minutes as the on-loan striker continued to distinguished himself. Ujah, frozen out of first team selection at

Ike Uche (4th left) being congratulated by team mates

John Utaka

Michael Odibe

Mainz, has thus far scored three goals in seven appearances for his new team. In Spain, Super Eagles midfielder Nosa Igiebor returned for Real Betis since his last outing against Real Sociedad on October 6, to claim 90 minute outing in their famous 1-0 win against visiting Valencia on Saturday. Igiebor, who is fast cementing his place in the midfield for the Super Eagles, ran things in the middle for the admiration of the technical crew and the teeming home fans. He was making his fourth appearance from his new team since his summer transfer from Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv. In the second division, Super Eagles new talisman Ikechukwu Uche finally broke his goal drought, hitting a brace for promotion-chasing Villareal in their 2-0 home victory over Mirandes on Saturday. The former Getafe striker wasted no time in putting his side in the lead, hitting the target in the 12th minute. He struck again just five minutes after resumption and that proved to be enough for the hosts. He was on for 90 minutes. He has now scored three goals in nine outings for the relegated side. His compatriot, Macauley Chrisantus was also in the scoring mood as he also hit a brace for Las Palmas who won 3-2 at bottom-placed Guadalajara on Saturday.

The former Eaglets star had come off the bench 68th minute and scored on his first touch of the ball to level scores 2-2 for the visitors. He made victory certain for his side when he hit the winner in the 78th minute. He has thus far scored four goals in 10 appearances for his new team. It was a bad outing for Super Eagles flying winger Ahmed Musa in Russia as he failed to get on the score sheet for CSKA Moscow as they beat Terek Grozney on the road yesterday. As usual, Musa was on for 90 minutes. Firing blanks meant he failed to increase his five-goal tally. He’s also in the top 10 list of top scorers in the Russian Premier League and also in the race to be named the Player of the Month which will be announced this week. Earlier on Friday, forgotten Super Eagles winger Victor Nsofor was on duty for Lokomotiv Moscow, who were beaten at home by Amkar Perm. He was introduced for Brazilian Maicon in the 72nd minute. He has only scored once in 12 appearances for his side thus far this season. Still in Russia, Super Eagles striker Emmanuel Emenike returned to action after missing their Champions League group game 2-1 win over Benfica last Tuesday due to waist injury, as Spartak hit visiting Mordovia Saransk 2-0 on Saturday. The former Karabukspor of Turkey star was

introduced in the 69th minute. He has netted four times in 12 outings thus far for his sixth-placed side. In Ukraine, Michael Odibe hit his first goal of the season for second-placed Dnipro as they beat Karpaty 2-0 yesterday. Odibe, who netted four goals last season for Arsenal Kiev, scored the second goal at the added time just before the half time, to make the game safe for the hosts. He was on for 90 minutes for the strong Juande Ramos’ side. In Turkey, former Esperance of Tunisia striker Mike Eneramo failed to hit the target for Sivaspor, who were surprisingly beaten 2-1 by Akhisar Belediyespor. The former Esperance hit man was on for 90 minutes. He has now scored five goals thus far in 10 league appearances.. Kalu Uche once again failed to add to his five goals as his side Kasimpasa were humiliated 3-1 at home by visiting Besiktas on Friday. He was on for 90 minutes. He has appeared in all nine games this season, starting in seven and getting introduced in two. Obafemi Martins was the hero of his Levante team in Spain as he handed himself a birthday gift with a brace as Levante beat Granada 3-1 at home yesterday. Martins opened his account and the first of the night in the 12th minute to put his side a goal up. He found the target again in the 67th minute as they opened an unassailable lead. Levante put the game beyond struggling Granada in the 73rd minute. They could only manage to pull a goal back with Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo, making his debut this season after coming back from injury. The former Wolfsburg striker was on for 90 minutes. He also picked 45th minute yellow card. Martins has now scored four goals in five appearances for his new club.

RESULTS EPL Everton

2-2

Liverpool

Newcastle

2-1

West Brom

Southampton

1-2

Tottenham

Chelsea

2-3

Man United

Arsenal

1-0

QPR

Man City

1-0

Swansea

La Liga Zaragoza

2-1

Sevilla

Levante

3-1

Granada

R. Vallecano

0-5

Barcelona

Real Betis

1-0

Valencia

Espanyol

0-0

Malaga

Ligue 1 Lorient

4-4

AC Ajaccio

Bastia

2-1

Bordeaux

Montpellier

3-1

Nice

Lille

2-1

Valencines

Serie A Bologna

1-3

Inter

Fiorentina

2-0

Lazio

Catania

0-1

Juventus

Torino

Parma

Sampdoria

Cagliari

WORLD RECORD

Largest speeding fine Vol. 02 No. 479

Sheila Solarin and the rest of us

ust last week we got news of the death of Mrs Sheila Solarin, wife of the late author, educationist and social activist, Dr Tai Solarin. Mrs Sheila Solarin was very much but not just the wife of her husband. In her own right, she deserves a special mention and recognition for her contribution and achievement as person and personality. Since her death, we have indeed read a lot of tributes from both private and public sectors of the country. Showing respect, expressing appreciation and offering any form of support we can to her family is the least in these circumstances. Beyond and maybe, whilst mourning and showing solidarity with the family of the deceased, we as a people should however take time to reflect on some issues on the life and death of this great woman. Let us start with her death. According to reports, Sheila Solarin died at the age of 88 years old in a Nigerian hospital at Ogun State where she lived. For our own

N150

Monday, October 29, 2012

The largest speeding fine is a reported $290,000 (£180,000) ticket given to an anonymous Swiss motorist who was caught driving 137 km/h (85 mph) in a 80 km/h (50 mph) zone in a village near St. Gallen, Switzerland, in January 2010.

merican Nick Watney fired a course-record 10-underpar 61 to overhaul compatriot, Bo Van Pelt and won the $6.1million CIMB Classic yesterday in Kuala Lumpur, after a brave run by Tiger Woods again fell short on the back nine. Watney started the day four back of overnight leaders, Bo Van Pelt (66) and Robert Garrigus (66)

NOTES FROM CAMBRIDGE Anthony A. Kila

anthonykila@mail.com sake, we need to contrast that mode of passing away with where and how many other notable Nigerians have being getting treatment and dying lately. Yes you are right, they are doing it abroad. Sheila Solarin, was a private citizen who could have thrown her personal funds into getting treatment abroad without having to respond to anyone; she was also by birth a British citizen and through her own commitment and will had served the country during the second world war and so fully entitled to the best health coverage in the UK and anywhere in the EU. Contrast that with some of our past and present rulers that shamelessly use the country’s fund entrusted with them, to go or send their friends and family abroad for often trivial and sometimes serious treatments in countries they have no ties to. We have seen many die abroad during these trips; when they don’t die there, they come back home and still do nothing tangible to improve the health sector they are paid to manage. No other way to put it, such inactions are clear signs that they lack dignity and sense of purpose, they are simply too petty compared to the office they have the privilege to hold. Anyone interested in education in Nigeria will be aware of the importance and uniqueness of her Mayflower school in Ikenne, Ogun State. If for any reason you don’t know about that school, please take time to find out. Read about it; speak

SHEILA SOLARIN, WAS A PRIVATE CITIZEN WHO COULD HAVE THROWN HER PERSONAL FUNDS INTO GETTING TREATMENT ABROAD WITHOUT HAVING TO RESPOND TO ANYONE to students from the school. The essence of Sheila Solarin’s life can be fully appreciated in that institution she cofounded and nurtured to greatness with her late husband. It is worth nothing here that her school was probably the first secular school in Nigeria and that it was founded in 1956, because she and her husband could not stand the politics and discrimination being practiced in the former school they were working in. Students and staff from Mayflower school will tell you of how Sheila Solarin, was able to give them an impressive mix of discipline, care and generosity. They will tell you of how hardworking she was and how committed to making sure things were done properly. Anywhere you go in the world, if you come across those

that were taught and mentored by the late Sheila Solarin and her husband; you can tell they have been exposed to something great. Even when they laughed at the eccentricities of their mentors, they were always quick to recognise that there was something unique about their devotion to education and commitment to moral integrity and creativity of young people. We cannot overstate the importance of such elements for the building of a viable nation. In a country where national awards are giving to a throng of interesting characters, not one government considered giving a national honour to Sheila Solarin for her services to the nation. Rather, our institutions denied her request for a Nigerian passport for over thirty years. One after the other, Nigerian governments and their advisers were too busy honouring those that loot and wreck the nation. Luckily for the rest us, someone else noticed what Sheila Solarin was doing and in 2007 the Queen of England awarded her an MBE for her contribution to education. In her school, they all considered her a mother and teacher and fondly referred to her as “mama”, unsurprisingly her students even had a song for her. All these happened before the Babangida era, hence there was no first lady craze, if there was one, maybe she would have been called the first lady of Mayfair School. We need to contrast her life with that of the first ladies we have and had in Nigeria, all of them, from spouses of national to state office holders. Earlier this year, at a social gathering, I had to caution an overzealous party supporter for addressing the wife of a local chairman councillor as first lady of the area. Let us ignore their levels of education, professional experience, passion for excellence and dedication to humanity and ask what these first ladies did and are doing with their position as privileged spouses for the country?

Sport Extra

Watney overhauls Woods in Malaysia

but, after flirting with golf ’s magical number 59, ended one ahead on 22-under 262 to win the Asian and PGA Tour co-sanctioned event in Malaysia. Woods hauled himself into contention with an eight-under 63, but had to settle for a three-way tie for fourth place, three behind Watney

and will rue a number of missed opportunities on the closing holes when he was close enough to challenge. Watney needed to birdie the last to shoot the rare 59, but he could only bogey the hole after a poor second from the rough to the par-four fell 30 yards short of the

green and gave Van Pelt hope of a playoff. Van Pelt, who double-bogeyed the last chasing a 59 of his own in the third round on Saturday, failed to force a playoff, though when he could only par the 409-yard 18th after hitting his approach intoNFF a President, Watney Aminu Maigari greenside bunker.

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