Thursday, september 17, 2015 (new) by GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LIMITED

NBA faults labour on call for capital punishment over corruption OLUFEMI ADEOSUN ABUJA

igerian Bar Association, NBA, has disagreed with organised labour over calls for

Alegeh

Vol. 5 N0. 1202

capital punishment for any public official found guilty of corrupt charges. The association insisted that death penalty was no longer fashionable internationally.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirro ronline.ne t

Thursday, September 17, 2015

More business, less residents

NBA President, Augustine Alegeh, who disclosed this at a meeting with Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, President, Ayuba Wabba, in Abuja yesterday, stated that CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

National Mirror Online

Lagos Island:

P.10

@NationalMirror

N150

Boko Haram insurgency’ll end in 8 weeks –Army Troops arrest 33 terrorists’ food suppliers

UBONG UKPONG AND AZA MSUE

hief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, yesterday declared that the military would end Boko Haram insurgency in the next eight weeks to meet the three months presidential deadline. One month has passed since President Muhamma-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

Ooni: Lafigido Ruling House heads for court P.8

33 food suppliers to Boko Haram terrorists arrested by the Nigerian Army in Damboa axis, Borno State. INSET: Foodstuffs seized from suppliers.

INSIGHT

The craze for drugs in entertainment industry P.38

PDP crisis deepens as NWC, BoT clash again …over National Reform Conference

Leadership crisis: El-Rufai shuts Assemblies of God Churches

P.5 P.50

Osun workers reach truce on salary payment

P.8

News

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Boko Haram insurgency’ll end in 8 weeks –Army CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

du Buhari gave the military three months to put an end to the Boko Haram carnage in the North East. Buratai, answering questions from journalists shortly after declaring open the 10th Nigerian Army Finance Corps Biennial Training Conference, 2015, held in Kaduna, noted that with the military winning the war on daily basis, it was possible to meet the deadline. Burutai said: “We will end Boko Haram very soon; it is possible to meet the three months deadline. We are very close to the insurgents. We are defeating them on daily basis.” He told officers and men that the Army has keyed into the change mantra of the present administration, especially in financial management, through the introduction of The Single Account, TSA. Speaking on the theme: “Impact of evolving Federal Government financial policies on operational roles of the Nigerian Army amidst dwindling budgetary allocation,” Burutai said TSA has given the military new ideas on how to make judicious use of its funds. According to him, the change slogan of the Federal Government has brought to life existing financial policies that were dormant in the country over the years. This is as troops have arrested 33 suspected Boko Haram food suppliers in Damboa, Borno State. The Army, in an operational update through its Director of Army Public Relations, DAPR, Col. Sani Usman, added that more abducted persons, including women and children, were rescued in the course of operations as troops also cleared Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs from a village. Boko Haram accomplices, the Army said, were arrested following intensive patrols and vigilance of troops. “The 33 suspected Boko Haram accomplices were arrested with large quantity of food stuffs meant for Boko Haram terrorists at Korode. “Nine of the 33 suspects are from Korode, five from Auma, 10 from Geargube, four from Kausautaya, four from Bulbul and one from

Dolomi villages,” Usman said. He said, although, some of the suspects claimed to be traders; they did not however deny buying and selling food items to the terrorists. The Army said interrogation was still ongoing to further unravel the level of involvement of the suspects. Usman said troops discovered and successfully destroyed IEDs planted by Boko Haram terrorists at Sandia village, along Korode road. “Furthermore, more men, women and children were rescued from the terrorists at Buduwa area, along Bama axis,” he added. According to him, the res-

cued persons were part of those abducted at Buduwa general area in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, which was earlier occupied by the terrorists. He said the Army was trying hard to ensure the safety of the rescued persons but not taking anything for granted as some of them are suspected terrorists. In a related development, Nigerian Air Force, NAF, yesterday, said it has perfected arrangements to ensure that troops and equipment do not suffer high risk level again in the ongoing war. Chief of Air Staff, CAS, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who made the disclosure in Abuja, warned

all NAF commanders to ensure strict accountability for all personnel and equipment under their care. Abubakar was speaking while declaring open a standards and evaluation seminar with the theme: “The Imperatives of Standards and Evaluation in the Nigerian Air Force.” The Air Chief, who regretted that NAF had lost valuables and personnel to the war, said the ongoing air bombardment would continue to deny terrorists freedom of actions and the opportunity to capture military facilities or slaughter citizens. “So far, the air operations in the North East are creat-

ing the enabling environment for the army to move unhindered in the conduct of their operations. We have substantially degraded the capacity of the terrorists to move freely in hilux vehicles, ravaging and murdering innocent citizens. God willing, they will never move freely again to slaughter our citizens or capture our military units. “We will continue to do our utmost best to meet our statutory responsibility of defending the territorial integrity of the nation, acting singly or in concert with other security agencies,” he said. Meanwhile, Defence Headquarters, DHQ, yester-

day, asked the Presidential Committee on the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons to urgently implement the modalities to stem small arms proliferation in the country. A statement by DHQ, through its Director of Defence Information, DDI, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, said Chief of the Defence Staff, CDS, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, made the call when the committee visited him in Abuja. The CDS emphasised on strategic importance of this process to peace in the country, considering the presidential directive to end Boko Haram insurgency beCONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (middle), with members of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, after their meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.

NBA faults labour on call for capital punishment over corruption CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

the focus internationally now was recovery of stolen funds, not death to the convict. Ayuba had visited the Abuja office of NBA to enlist the support of Nigerian lawyers in the current antigraft campaign of the present administration. It would be recalled that NLC, Trade Union Congress, TUC, in conjunction with civil society organisations had last week trooped out in protest against official graft, proposing death penalty for anyone found guilty of corruption charges. Alegeh, who opposed the proposal, maintained that it served no useful purpose killing anyone involved in corrupt practice and at the

same time the family inherits the proceeds of the crime. He said: “There was a front page story last week that people who are involved in corruption matters should be killed. But I said no. International trend is that every country is moving away from capital punishment. Where the world is moving away from capital punishment, why are we going there? “Secondly, in corruption cases, the focus is on recovering of the money. Let us recover the money and use it to develop the country, not to kill the man. If you kill the man and the family has the money, have we made any progress? So let us go for what is right.” He also faulted the slow

adoption of plea bargaining in recovering stolen assets, insisting that a lot of money could have been recovered from some of the governors standing trials since 2007, if such approach had been adopted in totality. ”For us, we believe that the country’s adoption of plea bargain is very low. If we had adopted plea bargaining with the governors since 2007, we would have had a situation where we had more money in our system than we have today. “Chelsea Hotel was ceased from somebody, since then the hotel is infected with rats. Assume that hotel was functional and revenue from that hotel is kept in our federation account, it would have added more money. That can’t be right. Wher-

ever there is corruption, it is money made for development that is taken away. “Our anti-corruption should be how to get the money and puts it back to the system. Punishment is taking a back seat globally. Internationally too, it is now deterrent. What measures do we put in place to ensure that money is not looted rather than wait for it to be looted and then kill the person. We must be proactive, that is our stand,” he added. Speaking earlier, Wabba had called on NBA to partner with the organised labour in the renewed fight against corruption in the country. He said corruption had not only crippled the nation, it was responsible for

the high poverty rate, particularly in the rural areas, where according to him, a lot of people could not afford three square meals not to talk of having access to social amenities. The labour leader said independence of judiciary is important to the survival of the nation’s democracy and the rule of law, adding that where judiciary is not independent, it would be hard to canvass the entrenchment of rule of law. Wabba stated that the organised labour had intensified efforts toward ensuring good governance in the country, saying with NBA partnership, impunity, which was rearing its head in form of endemic corruption would be checked.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Photo

Thursday, September 17, 2015

NEWS

L-R: Representative of Registrar, Teacher’s Registration Council of Nigeria, Prof. Ibrahim Roni; Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Gboyega Kolawole and Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Abuja, Prof. Angela Okatahi, during the induction of graduands of education into the council at the University of Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Director-General, National Centre for Women Development, Lady Onyeka Onwenu (right), addressing participants of train-the-trainers programme on promoting women and girls’ access to ICT and the internet for gender equality, at the opening in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

L-R: MTN Brand Ambassadors, Banky W, Cobhams Asuquo and Chidinma, during the 10th anniversary dinner of MTN Foundation.

L-R: Member, Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Professor Lilian Salami; President, Dr. Ngozi Nnam and Senior Brand Manager, Maltina, Mr. Adewole Adedeji, at the Nutrition Society of Nigeria Presentation of Endorsement Certificate to Maltina, during opening session of the 45th Annual General Meeting and scientific conference 2015, in Lagos.

National News

INEC fraudulently allocated votes to Wike, says Dakuku Obiora Ifoh ABUJA

ll Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, told the Rivers State Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja yesterday that Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, fraudulently allocated votes to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governor Nyesom Wike. Dakuku, who made the revelation while testifying as a witness to the tribunal, also said few minutes after casting his vote at his Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, some hoodlums came and carted away election materials. He also tendered some documents, including report of international observers on the governorship election in the state, manual of electoral officials, result sheets, which were accepted as exhibits

by the tribunal. Also, the Nigerian Army in their evidence yesterday said the April 11, 2015, governorship election in the state was characterised by violence, killings and snatching of electoral materials perpetrated by cult groups and hoodlums. In his evidence, Major Abdulraham Immam told the tribunal how his team comprising 55 soldiers was able to arrest two people and recovered over 80 machetes, three AK-47 rifles in Gegema/ Akukutoro local government areas during routine patrol on the eve of the election. Immam was the 52nd witness at the tribunal. He said: “I was with the DPO on the night when they brought somebody that was shot. He died later on the way to hospital. Sporadic shooting continued that night in the two local government areas.” The Major, who said he

was the JTF Commander in charge of Gegema/ Akukutoro LGAs, said he was drafted to the state in December 2014. He said on arrival at the two local governments on the eve of the election, there were shootings everywhere with people making distress calls about the activities of hoodlums and cult groups. “On the eve of election, I received distress calls that hoodlums were threatening people to leave the area. I also received complaints that the hoodlums had guns. I went out to see things myself, there were shootings in the area. We patrolled the entire place but we could not make any arrest because the hoodlums ran away. “In the evening of April 10, 2015, I directed my soldiers to remove their uniforms and dress in mufti. I send them to spy the town and they

saw the hoodlums. However, my soldiers could not arrest them because they were not carrying arms. “We later circled the area with high patrol vehicles and were able to arrest two of the hoodlums with one AK 47 riffles. Another patrol team arrested three

hoodlums with two AK 47 riffles in Akukutoro. We also confiscated 35 machetes on the eve of the election and I personally handed the boys, guns and machetes to the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, because they were sensitive items.

On his part, a chieftain of APC, Mr. Achi WilliamWobodo, who represented the party at the tribunal, said only four political parties- PDP, APC, Labour Party. LP, and APGA out of 18 political parties were recorded into the INEC data base.

CCC lauds government’s dialogue with B’Haram

entre for Crisis C o m m u n i c at i o n , CCC, a non-governmental organisation, NGO, has expressed satisfaction with the recent pronouncement by President Muhammadu Buhari that the Federal Government had commenced dialogue with Boko Haram. This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by Executive Secretary of the Centre, retired Air Commodore Yusuf Anas. It said dialogue with leaders of the sect was imperative given the enormity of the crisis and hardship the insurgents had caused millions of

Nigerians resident in the affected areas. The statement, however, noted that every window of dialogue should be open, but only to genuine leaders or representatives of the sect that would keep to their side of the bargain. The Centre urged both parties to approach the said negotiation with open mind and with utmost consideration of the interest of persons displaced by the insurgents. It urged Nigerians to trust and support President Buhari and the Armed Forces in order to expeditiously end the menace of

terrorism. The statement said none of the suspected Boko Haram elements that spoke with the Centre asked for any form of monetary inducement or compensation as a pre-condition for laying down their arms. “Many of the insurgents said that they were simply tired of fighting and being fugitives in a war that they were deceived into joining,” it said. It would be recalled that the Centre had announced at a news conference on August 4 that it was in discussion with some members of the sect about a possible dialogue with government.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Thursday, September 17, 2015

PDP crisis deepens as NWC, BoT clash again OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

resh crisis has emerged over the battle for the soul of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the National Working Committee, NWC, key members of the Board of Trustees, BoT, and elders are at daggers drawn over the pattern of reforms within the party. While the NWC, yesterday, declared an indefinite postponement of a National Reform Conference to reorganise the party, proponents of the conference, comprising elders and BoT members are insisting on holding it. They described the move to postpone the conference as highly provocative, adding that all other organs of the party are behind the reform process. Some of the PDP BoT members and elders behind the conference are former Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana, media mogul, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi and former gubernatorial aspirant in Kwara State, Dr. John Dara. Others are Prof. ABC Nwosu, former political adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo and later Minister of Health, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, Chief Ebenezer Babatope and Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo. They had last Tuesday inaugurated various committees to prepare for the National Reform Conference scheduled to hold in October.

The conference is designed to address the various challenges that led to the party’s poor performance at the last general elections, with a view to reinventing it in tune with the vision of its founding fathers ahead of the 2019 elections. Members of the NWC, who did not attend the inauguration of the reform committees, which held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, yesterday came up with a statement, postponing the Reform Conference indefinitely. According to a statement signed by the party’s National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, the NWC said the decision to postpone the conference is to create room for further consultations and to enable critical stakeholders deliberate on the report of the Post Election Assessment Committee, headed by Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, which is due for submission this month. Part of the statement reads: “While the national leadership notes and appreciates the eagerness, commitment and dedication of our leaders and members in the rebuilding of the party, we have also noted the need to allow proper consideration of the report of the Senator Ekweremadu-led Post Election Assessment Committee accordingly, especially as that committee is headed by the highest elected PDP member in the nation.

Boko Haram insurgency’ll end in 8 weeks –Army CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

fore the end of the year. The CDS urged the committee to pursue the agenda to a logical conclusion adding that it was imperative for the committee to avail itself of the opportunity of collaborating with the armed forces in furtherance of its mission. The committee, which was set up in April 2013, was designed as a rallying point in the efforts of government to stem the rise in small arms importation into the country to ensure the implementation of the international protocols endorsed by Nigeria and other ECOWAS

member countries. Speaking earlier, the committee chairman, Ambassador Gabriel Imohe told the CDS that his visit was to seek ways to foster mutual working relationship with the military with a view to working with existing security agencies to build synergy and curtail incidences of illegal importation and use of small arms and light weapons. He noted that the committee had since created institutional framework in the country to tackle the issue in accordance with ECOWAS’ Convention recommendations in small arms and light weapons.

“In that regard, therefore, the NWC directs that all activities of the committee on the proposed PDP National Conference be put on hold forthwith. “The consideration of the report of the PDP Post Election Assessment Committee will include inputs from members of PDP leadership organs, including PDP Governors’ Forum, PDP National Assembly Caucus, Board of Trustees, National Caucus, National Working Committee, NWC, and the National Executive Committee, NEC, immediately upon receipt of the report.

“Finally, the NWC reassures that in the final composition of all the committees to be inaugurated by the leadership of the party in due course, all critical stakeholders will be consulted and all necessary interests accommodated.” Reacting however, a member of the committee, Dr. Dara, said the NWC could not stop the conference from holding. He noted that all the organs of the party were behind the reform conference, noting that only the NWC has shown hostility and lukewarm attitude to-

wards it. He said: “We believe the reform conference will take place because it is not the party’s national secretariat that is driving it. “The PDP Governors’ Forum believes we need a reform conference. The BOT believe we need the conference. The only group that has shown hostility and lukewarm attitude to the conference is the NWC. “Such a statement postponing the conference is not surprising and does not reflect the wishes of overwhelming majority of party leaders and members.

“Sovereignty of the people in any organisation supersedes the interest of a handful of elected people. “Definitely, members of the PDP will take the party in their hands and make sure it is brought back to winning ways with the people of Nigeria. “So, we will make sure that the wishes of the overwhelming majority in the party come to pass.” Dokpesi, who also reacted said: “PDP NWC position is very hasty and highly provocative. I think that all parties should meet after Sallah to fine-tune the details of the conference.”

President Muhammadu Buhari (right) being welcomed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on his arrival from Paris, France, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Expert says back pain remains puzzle for orthopaedic surgeons

n Orthopaedic Consultant, Prof. Olayiwola Giwa, yesterday said the problem of back pain ailment still remained a puzzle for orthopaedic surgeons. Giwa, who works with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja, Lagos, said that they were still facing the challenge of how to cure it. He spoke at the 2015 Annual Scientific Conference and Workshop organised by the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos. The theme of the conference is: “Back Pain.” “None of us orthopaedic surgeons can answer this very important question in spite of our numerous years of practice.

“We can offer medication, we can offer surgery, but we must be cautious with our surgical approach to managing back pain,” he said. Giwa said people should accept the fact that “Back pain is youth leaving the body”, which he said requires orthopaedic surgeons to only manage it. He said: “Because of our current limited knowledge of the pathophysiology of back pain, we would continue to offer the best we think we can. “Back pain remains one of the commonest conditions orthopaedic surgeons get to treat during the course of their practice as all bipedal suffers from back pain at one time or the other in lifetime. “It could present as

acute low back pain (less than six weeks’ duration), sub-acute (6-12 weeks) or chronic (more than 12 weeks low back pain.” He listed some of the causes of back pain to include infections, trauma, aging, smoking, and sedentary lifestyle. On the management of low back pain, Giwa said bed rest was not a solution, adding that anti-inflammatory medications and exercise remains the mainstay of treatment. Also speaking, a consultant surgeon, Dr Muna Chira, said back pain was a topic that had generated significant interests. “This is because arguably over 50 per cent of health related absenteeism from work has been attributed to back pain.

“It is also estimated that over 80 per cent of adults above 50 years of age would have experience back pain at one or more points in their lives. “Back pain itself can be the first manifestation of serious and life threatening medical conditions in both male and female,’’ he said. In his remarks, Prof. Oluronbi Odunubi, the Chief Medical Director, National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, said back pain was a very common complaint in the society. Odunubi urged participants at the workshop to come up with a communiqué that would be useful to the society on the management, prevention and treatment of back pain.

648

News

Friday, August 28, 2015 Friday, September 18, 2015

National Mirror National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net www.nationalmirroronline.net

Assets declaration: Saraki says allegations mischievous, frivolous George Oji

enate President Bukola Saraki has described the allegation of asset falsification leveled against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, as mischievous and untrue. The CCB was reported to have taken the Senate President to the Code of Conduct Tribunal alleging that Saraki falsified assets in his declaration form for public officers on assumption of office as Kwara State governor by making anticipatory asset declaration. But Saraki used the occasion of a visit by the management of the Public Complaints Commis-

sion, PCC, yesterday at the National Assembly to refute the claims. Fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the courtesy visit, Saraki said the charges were not only untrue but anchored on age-long document. According to him, “Most of these allegations are frivolous and not true. It has been there since 2003 and you wake up 12 years after to start raising non-existing issues. “I have always done my assets declaration. We will continue to do our work here. There is no doubt about it that it is mischievous and it is not current. “The issues raised are not true. As far as we are concerned, we are not shaken. We will focus on

what we have come here to do, elected by the people and by my colleagues to work for the interest of this country.” Also in a statement by his media office, Saraki denied being influenced by external forces, insisting that he will not in any way be distracted by those spurious allegations. According to reports from the social media

yesterday, the Conduct Bureau filed a 13-count charge against Saraki before the Code of Conduct tribunal through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation. Count one accused Senator Saraki of making “false declaration in the assets declaration form for public officers on assumption of office as Governor of Kwara State

uoyed by the accolades it received in the aftermath of the recent general elections and the need to improve on future polls, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has constituted three special committees to review its successes and flaws. Inaugurating the committees yesterday in Abuja, Acting Chairperson of the Commission, Ms Amina Bala Zakari, said it was making appropriate recommendations to improve on the process of elections. CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as Miss Farayola Abigail, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeleke Victoria. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

The first committee is the “INEC/NYSC Relations and other Adhoc staff matters” which main task is to ensure a seamless relationship with the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, and promote efficiency in resources deployment. The second is the committee on INEC/ NURTW Memorandum of Understanding, which aims to enhance the commission’s logistic capability. The third is the committee on modalities for continuous voter regCHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as OKOLI LILIAN ONYINYE, now wish to be known, called and addressed as NWOBI LILIAN ONYINYE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

eneral Manager, Traffic Engineering and Safety, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA, Alfred Ajayi, yesterday said the agency has begun repair of some deplorable

istration which will seek ways of establishing a more robust and sustainable process. Zakari said: “Terms of reference for each of the committees have been developed and in order to take advantage of the opportunities at our doorsteps, both human and intellectual, members of the Committees are appointed from the pool of readily available in-house resources”. The INEC boss equally inaugurated a separate committee on the management of election petitions. CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as Mr Eze Daniel Chijoke, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mr. Akie Daniel Chijoke. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

roads across the country. Ajayi told newsmen in Ibadan that the exercise was to free federal roads, including those in Oyo State of bad spots. The News Agency of Ni-

LOSS OF DOCUMENT

This is to notify the general public that the acknowledgment letter of Plot 111 and no 127 Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 11 , Abuja , belonging to Dr. Chris Wigwe is missing. All effort to trace it has proved abortive. AGIS Abuja and general public should please take note.

She said the committee is expected to employ all modalities appropriately necessary to achieve its terms of reference. The panel is also expected to study the issues surrounding the tribunals, even as it relates to utilisation of human and material resources. According to her, recommendations made by the committee may also be a basis for further review of the Electoral Laws by the National Assembly. CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as Ogbuefi Onyebuchi Amarachi, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Ogbuefi Onyebuchi Gift. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE

CHANGE OF NAME FORMERLY known and addressed as MISS OLAKOLU OLABISI ADEOLA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. PETERS OLABISI ADEOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

in the year 2006 to your companies Tiny Tee Limited and Vitti Oil Limited for the aggregate sum of N396, 150, 000.” The charge sheet also alleged Saraki to have operated an American Express credit card account during his tenure as governor, where he allegedly wired at least $3.4 million from Nigerian account to American bank account.

FERMA begins repair of roads

INEC sets up 3 post-election review c’ttees OMEIZA AJAYI

by making an anticipatory asset declaration.’’ The charge reads: “You claimed to have owned and acquired No. 15A and N0. 15B McDonald Ikoyi, Lagos through your company Carlisle Properties Limited in the year 2000 whereas the said property was in actual fact sold by the Implementation Committee on Federal Government landed property

SOARING EAGLE GENERATION DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES This is to inform the general public that the above named Organisation has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja for registration under Part “C”of Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) Cap C20, LFN 2004.

MEMBERS:

Ms. Ruth Omolola Abraham 2. Mr. Ayoola Abraham 3 Mrs. Obiageli Osasona 4. Hon. Remmy Hazzan 5. Pst. Soji Olayinka 6. Mrs. Mopelola Olotu 7. Mrs. Bukola Sarah Adesuyi

-Trustee -Trustee -Trustee -Trustee -Trustee -Trustee -Trustee

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

1.To work towards the development of the human person for the fulfilment of destiny that glorifies God and blesses humanity. 2.To add value to humanity by engaging in capacity building and human development initiatives. 3.To carry out activities that enliven the depressed and oppressed in the society for a better world. 4.To work and liaise with governmental and non-governmental organization for the purpose of improving the well being of the society. 5.To promote youth empowerment programs such as skill acquisition scheme, talent shows, leadership training and education for all. 6.To organize workshops and programs aimed at developing the consciousness of the average Nigerian on nation building not guided by primordial narratives. Any opposition to the registration should be directed to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Maitama District, PMB 198 Garki, Abuja within 28 days from the date of publication. SIGNED: Barr. Olarewaju Ademola (08056679200)

geria reports that the General Manager had visited Ibadan to inspect roads under repairs within the state. Among the roads inspected were Ibadan-Oyo express road, particularly the bad spots along Iroko and Ilora axis and two other major spots along Ogbomoso/Ilorin expressway. Ajayi said that the agency was currently fulfilling its task of ensuring safety on Nigerian roads, adding that the agency was committed to the cause. ``FERMA has the mandate

to make all the roads in the country pot holes and dangerfree and we have embarked on this task accordingly. ``So, wherever we see such spots like this, we take care of them, so that people will be free from danger and untimely death,’’ he said. Ajayi said that the repair works was an unending process to ensure safety on the roads. ``The Ogbomoso-Ilorin expressway, for example was made perfect by the Ministry of Works more than 10 years now.

AUCTION!!! Pursuant to the judgment of the Calabar High Court in HC/125/2007 of 17/08/2007 and in HC/MSC.75/2012 of 15/04/2013, there will be a public auction of the property known as No.66 Murray Street by Mayne Avenue, Calabar by 10am on 02/10/2015 at the above address. Registrar/Deputy Registrar, High Court, Calabar.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, September 17, 2015

South West

Kemi Olaitan and Boladale Bamigbola

afogido Ruling House of Ile-Ife, yesterday threatened to drag the kingmakers to court over their insistence that only Giesi Ruling House will present candidate for the vacant Ooni stool. In a similar vein, the Ogboru Ruling House has also faulted the stance of the state government and kingmakers that only the Giesi Ruling House would be allowed to contest the throne. Lafogido threatened to take legal action on the matter, noting that the 1980 Ife Declaration that kingmakers claimed would be relied upon in choosing the next monarch was “fraudulent”. Telling newsmen the resolutions reached at Lafogido family meeting on Monday, Prince Marcus Adebola Adunle, spokesperson of the ruling house said: “It was re-

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Ooni: Lafogido heads for court • Politicians, kingmakers warned against influencing Ifa’s choice

solved that chairman of the ruling house, in consultation with eminent sons of Lafogido should brief a competent law firm to handle the issue at the law court.” The ruling house also rejected the 1979/1980 chieftaincy declaration used in picking the Giesi ruling house, saying the 1976 chieftaincy declaration was authentic. It urged all the royal compounds that make up the Lafogido ruling house to unite and challenge the decision to pick the new king from Giesi ruling house. Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation has noted that Prince Sikiru Adetona Ayedun possesses the right qualities to occupy the stool, having been serving humanity in the past.

The group in a statement signed by its group media director, Mr. Yinka Diamond, said Adetona-Ayedun has the best credentials and capacity to lead the ancient city of IleIfe to an enviable height. The group noted that it has conducted an assessment on all those seeking to contest the stool, adding that Prince Ayedun stands out among them. Meanwhile, politicians and kingmakers have been warned on the danger of influencing or tampering with the choice of Ifa in the process of selecting the next Ooni of Ife. The Araba of the United States, Chief Dayo Ologundudu, who gave the warning while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, also expressed fear

over the cultural orientation and competency of many of the candidates jostling for the stool. He said: “Most of the candidates that are fighting to be the next Ooni are not culturally oriented; I don’t think most of them can confidently account for their experiences in our culture and tradition. “They might be educated with Masters, PhD or even be professors, but I don’t think they realise what they are getting themselves into; even though the world has changed, being an Ooni is more than being addressed as a king because of the historical, cultural and traditional responsibilities associated with the position.” He however advised that whoever is selected should

submit himself to training and learn the rudiments of making a worthy Ooni While cautioning politicians against dabbling into what do not concern them, Ologundudu said, “politicians should not try to undermine the selection of the Ooni of Ife, it is the duty of the people and kingmakers to consult Ifa and other oracles to choose the right candidate that will bring peace, harmony, prosperity and development to the city.

The Araba, who is also the Atayese Awo of Ile-Ife, said Ile-Ife is significant to Yoruba culture, history and tradition and deserves a leader who would be able to maintain the balance, promote and protect the integrity of the Yoruba race. According to him, the Ooni is a symbol of Oduduwa, progenitor of the Yoruba race, stating that care must be taken not to make any mistake in the selection of the rightful person that the deities would not be angry.

Pastor nabbed over rape in Ondo Ojo Oyewamide Akure

55-year-old pastor, Jacob Ojomo, has been arrested by men of Ondo State command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, for raping a 15-year-old girl. The incident occurred at the Plaza axis of Oke Ijebu road in Akure, the state capital. It was gathered that the pastor was caught in the act by the girl’s mother and NSCDC detectives, who had been on his trail following his suspicious relationship with the victim.

State commandant, Adeyinka Fasiu, disclosed that the suspect had confessed to committing the crime. He added that hospital tests confirmed that the pastor truly had carnal knowledge of the girl. Adeyinka further disclosed that the command also arrested a 29-year-old school dropout, Adesina Ojo, for impersonating Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, staff by collecting electricity payments from customers without remitting it to the company. He said the two suspects would be charged to court after preliminary investigations are concluded.

Flood destroys court, houses in Ibadan L-R: Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode; his wife/Chairman, Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO),. Bolanle; recipient, Inspiration Woman of the Year, Chief (Mrs.) Nike Okundaye and Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, during the opening ceremony of the annual National Women Conference, organized by COWLSO, in Lagos, yesterday.

Osun govt, workers reach truce on salary arrears Boladale Bamigbola Osogbo

sun State government and the organised labour movement yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding, MoU, on how the outstanding salary arrears of workers would be paid. This is just as the government said it has commenced payment of outstanding salaries to workers in the state. Chief of Staff to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, who led government’s delegation, stated that government was working for the interest of workers, stressing that the

bailout loan is just once, hence the need for government to properly disburse it. Oyetola described earlier insinuations by the opposition that the governor has been mobilising contractors back to work from the bailout loan as false and unwarranted. According to the MoU, copies of which were obtained by newsmen in Osogbo, representatives of government and the organised labour agreed that the “bailout loan be disbursed to cover payment of outstanding salaries for the months of January to June, 2015, as well as deductions from salaries of September and

December 2014 and the balance of 2013 and 2014 leave allowances for the workers.” Speaking to newsmen after the meeting with the representative of government on the disbursement of bailout loan for workers at the Government House in Osogbo, chairman of the Osun chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Jacob Adekomi, commended Governor Aregbesola for disbursing the loan for the payment of backlog of workers’ salaries. Adekomi stated that there was no disagreement between labour and government on whether the bailout loan would be used to pay

workers salaries as was speculated in some quarters. He stressed that labour, all this while, was sure that the fund was intact but was meeting with government on the modalities of how to disbursed it based on the MoU of July 13, 2015 entered into with government by labour. The NLC however noted that subsequent payment of salaries would be paid with available net revenue from the Federation Accounts and that the internally generated revenue would be apportioned in a way to take care of salaries, pensions and expenditure required to run government.

Kemi Olaitan Ibadan

he heavy downpour of Tuesday in some parts of Ibadan, Oyo State capital, wreaked havoc on properties worth several hundreds of thousands of naira in OmiAdio, Ido Local Government Area of the state. National Mirror learnt that the rain, which started at about 3:50pm and lasted for more than 10 hours into the early hours of yesterday, caused heavy flooding in some parts of the city. At Omi-Adio, where the effect of flooding was much, no fewer than 10 vehicles were washed away while more than 50 shops and make-shift stores were affected, with goods running into thousands of naira destroyed. While no life was lost, however, the flood, which

submerged the entire Omi market, was yet to abate as at yesterday afternoon. Part of buildings submerged by the flood included Omi-Adio Magistrate’s Court where many case files may have been destroyed as the entire area of the court was submerged. Some of the affected traders who lost their shops and goods to the flood, while speaking with journalists, appealed for assistance, calling on the federal, state and local government authorities to look into the problem of flooding in the area. One of the victims, Alhaji Sule Owosibo, urged the state government to dredge the Omi River and construct necessary water channels, stressing that the river is the source of the incessant flooding in the area.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Broad Street Diary

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Lagos Island: More business, less residents

ocation of industry has been defined by some economist as the citing and concentration of industries in a given community such as it is presently obtainable on Broad Street and some places in Ikeja axis the Lagos State. In Ikeja, there are more of the manufacturing industries dominating while on Broad Streets, more of the service sector such as banks and their major headquarters are located there. While Ikeja axis seems to be better planned for residential, commercial and industrial purposes, the reverse is the case on Broad Street in Lagos Island which is devoid of a proper blend of localisation of industries and residential plan given the inorganic stratification of the environment. However, the ever increasing commercial activities on Broad Street has made the whole axis rowdy and noisy due to erection of lockup shops beneath virtually every building just for rent purposes in the area. Nevertheless, despite the noisy nature of the environment, which makes it not conducive for proper habitation, some people still reside in the area owing to some personal reasons. For Mrs. Akinjobi Ganiyat, an office assistant, she has been living on Lagos Island for the past 10 years because of the nearness to her place of work. “I have been staying on the Island for past 10 years and the experience has not been palatable. I stay here primarily because of my work as my office is a trekking distance from my residence. If I had my way, I would never have considered residing on Broad Street as an option, not even with the constant harassment, infighting and overall notoriety of the street urchins popularly known as “area boys” in local parlance. I even witnessed one pathetic scene of a lad sent on an errand to grind pepper. He was accidentally shot dead by rampaging hoodlums who mistook him for one of the rival gangs. Such is life on regular basis when you reside here on the Island.” She added that it would take a total regimented parenting to be able to nurture a child properly under an environment like that on Lagos Island. “For instance, my children are not here. I cannot afford to raise them in an environment like this. This place is too ‘mor-

Some vacant buildings on Broad Street, Lagos

ally debasing’ for my liking I cannot allow my children to grow here God forbids! Although, I like the social life in here particularly at weekends as there are always enough parties here and there”. On affordability of rents in this area, she stated that one could still get a room not self contained though, for 5,000 naira monthly. Ms. Bose Badiru, single mother of one and a porter popularly called Alabaru in Yoruba language, who has also been staying in the area for at least 10 years lamented that to rent a small room on Lagos Island costs a fortune as there are more shops for commercial activities than apartments for residential purposes. “I have been staying in this area for 10 years due to the nature of my work. The room I stay costs 100 daily which is to be paid every Friday. We are 6 occupants in one room in the structure which is more or less like lock up shops. This area is not conducive for decent living. I am even planning to relocate to a place like Orile or Badagry side if I am able to raise some money soon. For instance, we have to wake up very early in the morning in order to either take our bath or quickly defecate

and throw the rubbish into the Lagoon because there are no toilet and bathroom facilities in this place. There is also the menace of area boys and hoodlums called “omo oniles” who often foment troubles at will over land and supremacy issues leading to injuries or death.” However, Mr. Gbenga Ayangbola (aka. Top Gel) has a contrary view. He said: “There is nothing wrong in residing on Lagos Island, as an indigene living on the Island it is a form of security. We the indigenes understand this terrain better and we can quickly indentify suspicious strangers when we see one and hand him over to the police for further investigation”. He added that living on the Island facilitates getting to work early and returning home with ease. “Living on the Island is most convenient particularly for those of us that have our businesses here. I do not have to wake up so early as some people coming from the mainland to work on the Island.” On concerns about crime rate earlier raised by some of our respondents this is what he had to say; “Never mind them Lagos Island is the most secure in Lagos State. How many cases of hired

assassins do you hear of from these areas? You can hardly experience such here. This is because most businesses and headquarters of major banks in Nigeria have their headquarters here hence; there is adequate security. As a matter of fact, the police are on patrol for virtually 24 hours of the day and the trouble spots are noted. For example, places like Isale Eko, Tokunbo side and Pati street are crime prone areas because these are purely residential places, but here on Broad Street and Marina axis, we enjoy adequate security due to heavy security presence of the law enforcement agents”. He rebuffed the notion that bringing up a child morally in Lagos Island is practically impossible, saying: “The decadence being experienced among juveniles and youths generally is not peculiar to this area alone. There are wayward and socially misdirected children everywhere across the country, largely because of the carelessness of some parents. You can bring up your children any where if you instill the fear of God in them, they will be your good ambassadors anywhere. If I had my way, I would still build my house here on Lagos Island and reside here. After

all, I was born here in 1966 and I have lived all my life in this interesting environment”. However, Mr. Oluwole Kalejaye a security expert said that residing on the Island has serious security implications because some of the streets are so porous and boundless making it difficult to track criminals. “Tracking criminals will be very difficult in an environment like this because the streets are too accessible from anywhere. There is no barricade or fence to prevent intruders and in addition to that, there are no parking spaces for safety of vehicles.” Mrs. Mary Oche also a security agent advised that there are suitable environments on Lagos Island if one must live on the Island. “There are suitable and affordable residential areas on Lagos Island. For example the Aja axis of Lagos Island is a developing area good and affordable enough for comfortable living. Places in Aja such as Ilaje, Lamgbasa, Badore and Epe axis are affordable and well planned to reside in, if one must stay on the Island. Good enough, these areas are just 30 or maximum of 1:30 minutes drive from CMS in worst scenario”. –Omoju Busayo

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Osun dispels deputy gov’s rumoured death Boladale Bamigbola Osogbo

sun State government yesterday doused tension over the state of health of Deputy Governor (Mrs.) Grace Laoye-Tomori. Rumour mill had been rife since the early hours of Wednesday about the state of health of Laoye-Tomori, who was last seen in the state in July. But in a statement issued by Gboyega Labiran, special adviser, media, to the deputy governor, the government said: “The immediate past commissioner for education in the state is fit as a fiddle and currently enjoying very sound

South West

Thursday, September 17, 2015

health.” He explained that the deputy governor secured an approval to proceed on annual leave for the very first time since inception of the Rauf Aregbesola administration. Labiran, who claimed to have been in regular telephone contact with the deputy governor, maintained that she would soon be back on her beat as number two citizen in the state. He, however, thanked the good people of the state for showing concern about Laoye-Tomori and advised “rumour peddlers to desist from promoting unfounded information’’ which he described as a ‘‘wind that blows no one any good.”

Don’t relegate women in governance —Ambode, Bagudu Francis Suberu

agos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and his Kebbi counterpart, Atiku Bagudu, yesterday warned against relegating Nigerian women in governance of the country, saying their tested skills will put the economy on the path of sustainable growth and development. The duo, who spoke at the opening ceremony of the annual women national conference organised by the Committee of Wives of La-

gos State Officials, COWLSO, assured that their administrations would pursue programmes and policies that would empower women to be self-reliant. Ambode at the 2015 National Women Conference, with the theme, ‘Relevance in Economic Turbulence’, said the state government in recognition of its female population of over 11 million has continued to increase budgetary provision for women through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. He said his administration will

continue to do so and create more platforms for women engagement. The governor said his administration would establish more skill acquisition centres to equip women to take charge of their destiny and show their relevance in the present economic turbulence. Ambode added that his administration in recognition of the important role women play in the state has already put in place policies to protect and secure them. Ambode said his government has embarked on a five-

year maternal mortality rate reduction programme and an integrated maternal, new born and child health strategy as part of efforts to revitalise the public healthcare system with a view to providing free maternal healthcare in all the communities in the state. In his goodwill message, Kebbi Governor, Bagudu, shortly before declaring the conference open, said: “The theme of the conference is timely considering the difficult phase our nation is passing through. It calls for concerted efforts.’’

CDHR, NUJ, others condemn detention of seven journalists ...want NJC to sanction judge

Femi Oyeweso Abeokuta

eadership of Ogun State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, and two civil society organisations yesterday berated presiding judge of the state’s High Court 1, sitting in Ota, in Ado-Odo/ Ota judicial division, Justice N.I. Agbelu, for ordering the arrest and detention of seven journalists, who were in his court last Tuesday on official assignment. While the Ogun NUJ described the judge’s action as an attempt to deny the public “the right to know”, Movement Against Corruption and Injustice, MACI, as well as Campaign for the Defence of Human Rights, CDHR, called on the Nigeria Judicial Council, NJC, to intervene in the matter so that the judge would stop further embarrassment of the legal profession in the country. In a statement signed by the state chairman and secretary, Comrades Wole Shokunbi and Soji Amosu, respectively, Ogun NUJ described Justice Agbelu’s attitude against journalists as a stealthy way of importing back tyranny and arbitrariness to the Nigerian society, which the media had long fought and conquered before the advent of the present democratic governance being enjoyed by all. Emphasising that the court was a conventional

public place where journalists could go to source news without any restriction, NUJ, however, cautioned that such act from a supposedly known judge could raise suspicion about the court’s proceedings in Nigeria. In its reaction, MACI said the presiding judge erred in law as far as the practice of journalism is concerned in the Nigerian society. The founder and National President of MACI, Solomon Bankole, a barrister who spoke with journalists in Abeokuta, the state capital, yesterday, emphasised that court was a public place and temple of justice, which guarantees free entry and exit as against Justice Agbelu’s position, who said his court wasn’t a public place. In its own reaction, CDHR faulted the inordinate expression by Justice Agbelu “that Court is not a public place”. National Mirror recalls Agbelu had ordered the arrest and detention of the journalists, namely: David Olatunji (Vanguard), Samuel Awoyinfa (Punch), Ernest Nwokolo (The Nation), Abiodun Taiwo (Daily Times), Sulaiman Fasasi (Nigerian Pilot), Wale Adelaja (TVC) and Johnson Akinpelu (Alaroye) last Tuesday at his court in Ota. The journalists were at the court for a follow up on a murder case involving a suspected land speculator, Alhaji Mutairu Owoeye.

Members of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers protesting alleged unfair labour practices by Chevron Nigeria Limited, in Lagos, yesterday.

Wale Ignintade

Lagos Chief Magistrate’s Court, sitting at Ebute-Metta, yesterday remanded in prison four members of the robbery gang that attacked and robbed two banks in Ikorodu on June 24. The four suspects, Kowei Victor, 42; Friday Abiwa, 20; Omolaja Omoboye, 39, and 25-year-old Agbojule Bright, were charged with conspiracy and armed robbery. The magistrate, Mrs. M. O. Olajunwo, ordered the robbery suspects to be remanded in prison custody pending legal advice from the office of Director of Public Prosecution, DPP. When the accused persons were charged yesterday, the prosecuting officer,

Ikorodu bank robbery: Court remands 4 suspects in custody Mr Godwin Osuyi, from the Legal Department of Lagos State Police Command, informed the court that the accused and others now at large, had on June 24 at about 9:20am, armed with AK-47 rifles, dynamite and other offensive weapons, robbed First Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc. Osuyi further informed the court that during the robbery operation, which lasted about two hours, the robbers carted away N99.536 million. The prosecutor also informed the court that the robbers also dispossessed the two banks of $2.750m and 120m after blowing up

the banks with dynamite. He told the court that the offences were contrary to section 297 and punishable under section 295(2) of criminal laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011. Pleas of the accused persons were not taken. The prosecutor applied to the court that the accused persons be remanded in prison custody pending when they would be arraigned before a competent court. He said the remand application was pursuant to section 264 (1) and (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice of Lagos State, 2011. Consequently, the presiding magistrate, Mrs. M. O.

Olajuwon, ordered that the four robbery suspects be remanded in prison custody. Olajuwon also ordered the prosecutor to duplicate the case file and forward it to DPP for legal advice, and adjourned the matter till October 23.

Arase, Police boss

South East

Imo govt receives report on murdered NBA member Chris Njoku Owerri

overnor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has received report of the Coroner’s inquest in respect of the cause of death of a member of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Appollos Nduka Anyile, who was assassinated on October 15, 2014. Anyile was found dead at Okporo, Orlu, in mysterious circumstance. Receiving the report on behalf of the governor, Deputy Governor Eze Madumere described as unfortunate the gruesome murder of the deceased whom he described as a competent and hardworking gentleman. He, however, relayed to his guests that coroner is non-judicial and nonadversarial proceedings, but a fact-finding exercise used to establish cause of death that occurred under unusual circumstance. According to him, though the procedure has been in the statute book for ages, no past administration in Imo State used it in resolving the cause of so many numerous sudden and violent deaths until now under Rescue Mission Administration. The deputy governor said the government received with mixed feelings death of the Legal Aids Councillor, who left behind seven children, aged between two and 16 years. He submitted that the report would lay to rest speculations and suspicions that surrounded the cause of Anyile’s death. Madumere expressed happiness that the coroner had submitted the report after thorough investigations, adding that the government would look critically at the recommendations. He assured members of Orlu NBA and other top members of the judiciary that the government would pay special attention to the widow and her children so as to alleviate the painful consequences of Anyile’s death. Briefing the deputy governor earlier, the coroner, Chuzzy Attama, a barrister, said the body

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Salary arrears: Okorocha to sack 10 perm secs, directors Chris Njoku Owerri

F Okorocha appointed by the governor had painstakingly carried out the job given to it with recommendations. The coroner therefore, suggested that government should establish Coroner’s Court in all judicial divisions of the state to enable government find ways of curbing the occurrence of violent/unnatural, curious deaths in the state. He also stressed the need for government to approve the permanent employment of widow of the deceased in addition to offering scholarship to her seven children. It would be recalled that the late Anyile, who was a native of Umuezeoma, Umuebelebe, Amanator Okporo Orlu LGA of Imo State, was killed by unknown persons on October 15 in his home town. Also, at the submission of the report were Principal Secretary to Deputy Governor, Nze Obinna Aharanwa, Solicitor General, Ministry of Justice, Ama Eluwa, and other directors of the Ministry.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

ollowing the startling discovery of fraud in payment of workers’ salaries and allowances in Imo State, about 10 permanent secretaries and some directors have been penciled for sack any moment from now. Governor Rochas Okorocha disclosed this yesterday during a press conference in Owerri, the state capital. The governor, who was visibly worried about the development, said the committee he set up, headed by Chief of Staff, Chief Uche Nwosu, with the mandate to screen the workers and

pay their outstanding three months salaries, made the discovery. He vowed that any top government official found culpable would be sacked and have all their entitlements withdrawn until they return all the money stolen from government. Showing journalists three cheques prepared in the name of one person for the same month, Okorocha pointed out that through that method, fraudulent officials had been ripping off the state of over N7 million every month. The governor assured journalists that the screening will continue until the fraudulent officials were removed from the civil ser-

vice. He also cited the ‘‘stinking rot’’ in Imo State University Teaching Hospital, IMSUTH, Orlu, noting that the level of fraud in that institution had made it overpay itself up to next three months. Okorocha assured that his administration would beam searchlight on the institution to ensure all loopholes are blocked. On his achievements within 100 days in his second term, the governor said he would redouble efforts to achieve more this term. He promised that all ongoing projects particularly the two flyovers initiated by the previous administration of Chief Ikedi Ohakim would be completed.

He also said his administration redesigned the flyover project to ensure timely completion. Apart from these projects, the governor said in this second term his administration would establish one factory for each community in the state to actualise his dream of “factory, factory, factory and jobs, jobs, jobs.” On education, the governor said the administration has resolved to make available 10 hectares of land and N100 million for any group or corporate body that would want to establish a university in the state. This, he said, would be the state government’s contribution to the university.

Imo State Deputy Governor Eze Madumere (left) receiving the coroner’s inquest report on the cause of death of late Barr. Apollos Nduka Anyile from Barr. Chuzzy Attama, at Government House, Owerri, yesterday.

Ex-minister backs Buhari’s anti-corruption war Francis Ekpone Onitsha

ormer Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has thrown his weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war, economic reforms and development in the country, especially on the public sector financial management and the single treasury account policy for government revenue generating units. Nebo, who chaired the 2015 International Conference of the Department of Accountancy, Faculty

of Management Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, described corruption as a killer and urged all Nigerians to support the President’s anti-corruption crusade. Theme of the conference is: “The Challenges of Socio-Economic Reforms and Development in Nigeria – Role of Professional Accountants.” According to him, “corruption is not the only socio-economic reforms and development challenge in Nigeria, incompetence is another problem.’’ Nebo, who was also former Vice Chancellor, Uni-

versity of Nigeria Nsukka, and Federal University, Oye Ekiti, respectively, however, charged professional accountants to help in salvaging the nation by ensuring probity, accountability and keeping of books in a way that abhors corruption for economic sustainability and development. On his part, Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Joseph Ahaneku, represented by DVC Administration, Prof. Innocent Onyeleli, challenged accountants to carry out what he described as academic evangelism to the society

by teaching them how to create wealth and manage finances rather than allowing the innovation to die in the class room. He described Nigeria as a country blessed with rich human and natural resources and has all it takes to be the best nation in the world, but blamed its woes on corruption. He urged professional accountants to rise to the challenge of imparting the right knowledge to the people. Earlier in his address, Head, Department of Accountancy, Nnamdi Aziki-

we University, Awka, Dr. Ngozi Ijeoma, said the 2015 conference was designed to produce discoveries aimed at providing enduring solutions to numerous economic challenges facing the development of Nigeria. She, however, expressed optimism that the conference would come up with strategies and options for professional accountants in ensuring sustainable socio-economic growth for Nigeria, arguing that the early economic reforms in Nigeria failed because of inconsistency and lack of implementation.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

resident Muhammadu Buhari just completed his first 100 days in office as a democratically elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Ideally, the event should have been used by the President and the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, to show case the works and achievements of the President within the period. What Nigerians witnessed rather unfortunately, was media controversies, which pitched the ruling party against the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP. While the PDP called for evidence-based progress report of the dividend of the Buhari administration in the past 100 days, the ruling APC expended greater energies telling Nigerians that President Buhari did not commit to any specific achievements within his first 100 days in Office. The event was further marked by accusations and counter accusations over the mismanagement of the nation’s economy within the period under review. For instance, while the opposition PDP insisted that Nigeria’s economy witnessed the worst growth within the first 100 days of the APC government, the ruling party claimed that it would have had enough resources to deliver on its electoral promises to Nigerians, safe for the massive looting of the nation’s treasury by the PDP government it succeeded. Now that the epochal and symbolic 100 days in office has come and gone, Nigerians do not want to be further regaled with bulk-passing stories. Nigerians expect the President to now sit down, put his acts together and begin to deliver on his electoral promises, which were the basis for the change they voted for.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Politics

Governance: Pressing challenges before Buhari

After the bruhaha that followed President Muhammadu Buhari 100 days in office by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Nigerians believe the time has come for President Muhammadu Buhari to fully settle down to deliver on his electoral promises and ensure good governance in the country. In this report, GEORGE OJI, ROTIMI FADEYI, OMEZIA AJAYI and UBONG UKPONG spotlight areas of critical and immediate attention for Buhari to focus on.

Enough of the blame game between the PDP and the APC Nigerians voted for change during the last general elections. Arising from that, the belief of every Nigerian is that the change must result in good governance, different from the corrupt and clueless one perpetrated by the past PDP government. Nothing more is acceptable. Here are some of the areas Nigerians would want the President to concentrate his energies on to ensure he delivers on good governance.

Insecurity For Nigerians and indeed international community, the problem of insecurity ravaging the country remains one of the biggest challenges that President Buhari would have to contain with, if he must have anything to call achievement in his administration. Having inherited a country plagued with security problems, citizens do not seem to have patience with Buhari’s approaches to handling the problems after 100 days in office, which negate their bargains before the election. Buhari and APC, had promised to tackle insecurity, especially the Boko Haram insurgency, but it appears that Buhari does not seem to have achieved reasonable successes yet in tackling the security challenges in the country. Upon his assumption of office, Buhari marshalled out directives, policies and strategies with the first being the relocation of the Military High Command and Control Centre to Maiduguri, Borno State, the heart of the insurgency as well as dismantling of military checkpoints. These followed a total resurgence of the insurgency, as, after a very long bomb blast holiday across the country; his administration witnessed its first bomb blast on May 30, a day after he was sworn in on May 29. And from that moment, till date, bombings and attacks by Boko Haram had persisted. For a long time before Buhari’s Presidency, the military had reduced the Boko Haram to mere thieves, with its leader, Abubakar Shekau fleeing into hiding, and was

Buhari

Osinbajo

Now that the epochal and symbolic 100 days in

office has come and gone,

Nigerians do not want to be further regaled with bulk-passing stories

quiet, while speculations about his death rife. The group stayed all those times without a leader, but only few weeks ago, the President of Chad, Idris Debby, announced that Boko Haram had a new leader replacing Shekau, and that the new man is so much yearning for dialogue. Few days after, Shekau spoke that he was still alive and around and that he never had any replacement. Thus, with three months of Buhari’s administration, it appeared that the Boko Haram was making some reversals and Buhari has the challenge of stopping these reversals and must ensure stable successes in the theatre. The challenge of resettling the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, and rebuilding the destroyed communities must be given priority to prevent the attendant conflicts. Experts have recommended that government must being the processes of rebuilding communities destroyed by terrorism in the North East so that displaced Nigerians could begin to return home.

It has been discovered from available records that there are presently 27 official Camps coordinated by NEMA where internally displaced persons were being camped, comprising the 16 camps in Borno State, four in Adamawa, four in Yobe, one in Edo, one in FCT and one in Plateau State. Concerning the over 200 girls of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, abducted since April 14, 2014, from the school by Boko Haram insurgents, who are still in captivity, Buhari must find them and early too. No excuses whatsoever would be accepted by Nigerians over the controversial abduction of over five hundred days ago, because the President assured that he had what it take to bring them back, a basis for his victory at the polls. Having assumed power, it is about 100 days now, but there has been no tangible efforts or information about the missing girls. For about one 100 days now into Buhari’s administration, the Chibok schoolgirls, which Jonathan could not find and rescue before leaving office have not been treated as a priority issue by the APC and Buhari as promised during the campaigns. Security sources have continued to doubt the claim, even some politicians, y were very careful not to call it a fraud and incur the wrath of the people who could not stand such pronouncement as human lives were involved. It is therefore a big challenge ahead of the President to ensure that these girls are found and sanity restored to the country. CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

Politics

Thursday, September 10, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Governance: Pressing challenges CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

Recovery of looted funds Shortly after taking over government from former President Goodluck Jonathan, President Buhari had vowed to recover about $150 billion which he said was stolen from the country by government officials who abused their offices in recent past. Specifically at his maiden meeting with the state governors on June 23 at the Presidential Villa, Buhari who had earlier lamented that he inherited an empty treasury, said his administration would stop all systemic leakages. Buhari maintained that the days of impunity, lack of accountability, and fiscal recklessness in the management of national resources are over saying that the situation was worse than what happened in the Second Republic The President had earlier before the meeting with the state governors lamented that he inherited an empty treasury and debts running into millions of dollars Buhari had said, “there are financial and administrative instructions in every government agency. But all these were thrown to the dogs in the past. Honestly, our problems are great, but we will do our best to surmount them” He declared that the payment of national revenue into any account other than the Federation Account was an abuse of the constitution. The President said what had been going on in many agencies and corporations, particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, was clearly illegal Buhari regretted that the impunity, lack of accountability and financial recklessness in the management of national resources by the past administration threw the country into a situation that is worse than what happened in the Second Republic. “We will try and put the system back into the right position. What happened in the 2nd Republic has apparently happened again, and even worse, but we will restore sanity to the system,” The President also declared that the payment of national revenue into any account other than the Federation Account was an abuse of the constitution, soliciting the assistance of foreign countries to recover the stolen fund. When he met with President Barack Obama, during his four- day official trip to the United States, Buhari had pleaded for assistance to recover the $150 billion stolen money from the country. Obama pledged to assist Nigeria in its economic growth as well as in the area of security by providing technical support to overcome insurgency in the North East region of the country, particularly the menace of Boko Haram sect.

Ministerial appointment President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to announce his cabinet members this month as he promised Nigerians. It was only last month and after Nigerians waited for about three months with bated breath Buhari made some key appointments to pilot the affairs his government. While announcing the appointment through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President named Babachi David Lawal as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF and Abba Kyari as his Chief of Staff. The President also named Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd) as Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service; Kure Martin Abechi as Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service; Senator Ita Enang as Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly (Senate) and Suleiman Kawu as Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives). However, the reactions that trailed the appointments showed that many Nigerians and groups particularly from the Western and Eastern part of the country were not satisfied with the appointments, arguing that it does not reflect Federal Character.

Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin

NNPC GDM Kachukwu

Although the appointment of members of his cabinet is expected to be made this month, the earlier appointments into key positions in his government had generated a lot of controversies As the President is expected to announce his cabinet members this month, he had earlier disclosed that his administration would bring on board people of high integrity, upright and of high moral standing. This many believed has delayed the appointment of ministers and the setting up of his cabinet as Buhari is said to be looking for the kind of people that he can work with to realise the objectives of his administration. However, with the body language of the President, there are opinions that people that would be appointed to the cabinet may be his contemporary, people he had worked with before. Although the appointment of members of his cabinet is expected to be made this month, the earlier appointments into key positions in his government had generated a lot of controversies as many Nigerians particularly

from the Western and Eastern parts of the country said they were in favour of the North and that the principle of Federal Character was not reflected. The President through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina said nobody can fault the fact that those that had been appointed are competent and that their appointments were based on merit. He however, explained that the President was aware of Federal Character and that the appointments would be balanced by the time he made more appointments this month. Adesina said: “Nobody can fault the fact that the persons appointed were appointed on merits. In terms of the spread, the President has prerogative to appoint and he knows there is federal character. I am sure that there will be balance in the future. These are still early days. At the end of the day, we will have a balance. By the time more

Ortom will not fail Benue State In this interview with EBERE NDUKWU, Prophet Emmanuel Valentine, General Overseer, GO, Mega Fire Ministry, Kaduna Sate, describes Buhari presidency as good omen for Nigeria and that Samuel Ortom, Benue State governor will not disappoint the state. Looking at his three months he has been in office, do you still believe in the promise of change by Buhari and All Progressives Congress, APC? I tell you frankly that President Buhari will do very well as the President of Nigeria. He will eventually emerge as the best President Nigeria has ever had because he is there as the President to correct a lot of things that has gone wrong. He has publicly declared his asset, meaning that he has no intention to embezzle from Nigeria’s sick account. Public Declaration of his asset shows good intention and these promises good for the nation. The major problem that has halted the growth of Nigeria is corruption as we have had so many corrupt leaders in the past; right from the time of independence. This is what has put this country in this state. We have also had leaders who care only for their pocket, who does not have the interest of the nation at heart and these corrupt leaders of ours has actually put the entire nation in penury and dwindled our great resources. I believe President Buhari’s administration will be totally

different from what we have been experiencing in Nigeria, he is trying his best to purge and cleanse the system, so Nigerians should please give him a chance because it is not going to be like a miracle, it will be a gradual process. I urge Nigerians to be patient with Buhari because he has very good intentions and will not disappoint. You live in Kaduna but have always said that Governor Samuel Ortom will not disappoint the state, what’s the relationship? The truth is that my dad is from Benue State while my mother is from Kaduna, so I’m from Benue, which is the state of my father. This is why I am so interested in anything that concerns Benue; I pray for the state and wish her the best because I’m from there. I actually met the present governor through one of my daughters who is holding a political position in the state; she was the one who introduced me to him, then he was not yet a governor. I told him that he was going to be the governor of the state and before then, already someone

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Politics

Thursday, September 10, 2015

before Buhari

EFCC boss, Ibrahim Lamorde

appointments are made, it will balance out. The President is trying to get the very best of Nigerians, key positions and no key positions should not be the issue”.

Probe of the oil and power sector President Buhari has already beamed searchlight on the oil sector in the country particularly because of the fact that the country derives most of its revenue from oil, promising that his administration was committed to reform the oil sector and tackle widespread graft and waste as well as streamline the nation’s oil and gas sector to boost revenues and get Africa’s biggest crude producer on a firmer financial footing. As a first step, Buhari had already made sweeping changes in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, by dissolving the board while Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu was appointed Group Managing Director, GMD to replace Joseph Dahwa. Also at the maiden meeting with state governors, Buhari made cleaning up of the oil sector a priority when he set up a panel made up of four governors to look into the accounts of the NNPC and to find out why billions of dollars in oil revenue were allegedly not paid into government coffers. The administration is also looking into the Offshore Processing Agreements, OPAs, Joint Venture and crude

oil swap deals while few companies who have been involved in swap deals are being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Already, the NNPC has begun the process of recovering over $7 billion in over-deducted tax benefits from Joint Venture Partners, JVP, on major capital projects. In a report submitted to Buhari by its new management detailing its successes so far, Kachikwu had commenced performance measurement and benchmarking as well as value for money review of NNPC and the joint venture companies covering the period 2008 – 2013. A report indicated that this process may lead to further cost recovery. The report said that a reputable international accounting firm has been engaged by the NNPC to ascertain the exact amount due to government on the Strategic Alliance Contracts entered by NPDC, where up to $2.46 billion of government money is to be recovered. It also revealed that consequent upon an extensive investigation of the various toxic crude oil for refined products swap contracts, a total sum of $420 million has so far been reconciled in favour of NNPC and is now due for recovery from the legacy OPA/SWAP contracts. Out of the reconciled amount, the sum of $277 million has been recovered in lieu of products and the recovery effort is still ongoing, Also in the power sector, there are indications that Buhari may soon order investigations into how past administrations spent about billions of dollars in the power sector without commensurate improvement in the supply of electricity. The President had described the situation as a national shame which needed to be addressed urgently in order to take Nigerians out of darkness because of the poor power supply. He also expressed concern that government investments in the sector remained shrouded in secrecy and had not yielded any fruit over these years with top government officials refusing to put exact figures to its fiscal commitments to electricity infrastructure.

Anti-corruption war Before the elections, the president, then an aspirant, had never failed to drum it into the ears of whoever cared to listen that his major focus would be to tame corruption if and when elected as Nigeria’s president. At Chatham House in London February this year, Bu-

–Prophet Emmanuel else had already told him the same thin, so my prophecy was a confirmation of what was to be. At that time he was a member of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and I told him that I see him becoming the governor, but not under the platform of PDP, which was the ruling party in Benue State then. It sounded strange to him because PDP was the party in power by then. He later decamped to APC, won the primaries and eventually became the governor. Because I know he was ordained to be the governor of the state is the reason why I have continued to say that he would not fail the people. After 100 days in office, do you think Governor Ortom’s administration is doing well? To start with, Governor Samuel Ortom’s emergence as the governor of Benue Sate was divine; ordinarily he would not have been because he had a lot of odds against him from the physical perspective. He became the governor under the platform of APC which before then had no strong background in Benue State. God miraculously engineered his becoming the governor as a person He wants to use to bless the people of Benue State. And I must say that he has done tremendously well already. He is a good Christian, God fearing and honest, he is a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God AND

very humble. I see him taking Benue State to the Promised Land, because the fear of God is very paramount in everyone’s life, so anyone that has it, does things differently. I can candidly tell you that Benue has a God chosen governor.

Gov. Ortom

hari had stated that in the face of dwindling revenues, a good place to start the repositioning of Nigeria’s economy is to swiftly tackle two ills that have ballooned under the Jonathan administration: waste and corruption. “And in doing this, I will, if elected, lead the way with the force of personal example”, he had pledged. Although many had bought into his vision, a development which obviously swayed more voters to his side, not much has been done with respect to fulfilling his pledge. Perhaps, this was why a chieftain of the PDP in Lagos State, Taofik Gani, recently concluded in a report that the anti-corruption efforts of the government have been more of “noise-making than action”. He said: “And it is our take in Lagos PDP that General Buhari may not be serious about fighting corruption in view of two readily available evidences. “First is that Buhari himself cannot defend himself as incorruptible for the reason of taking over a democratically elected government in 1983. Two, for being able to contest presidential elections at four different times, it would take only a super-rich person to do that. “He was president, minister of petroleum, coordinator of Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF. In this capacity, he amassed wealth, so he should not over rate himself as being incorruptible.” According to him, corrupt officials, including former governors, ministers, and vice president are still associating with the president. He argued that if Buhari was serious about fighting corruption, some people would have fled this country, but they are comfortable, moving along with his entourage. One of the hurdles before the president now is naming a “corrupt-free” cabinet this month. This is necessary if he is to deliver on his campaign promises. Another hurdle is for him to first remove the speck of corruption within his immediate political environment (that is, the APC) before moving against opposition elements. This way, many Nigerians would take him more serious and he would have gathered more support in the onslaught against the menace.

Reduction of the cost of governance The point have been made severally in the past that the present presidential system of government is very expensive for the nation’s treasury to sustain. The sources of the costs include, the high price of maintaining the federal dual parliament, high cost of running the civil service, which does not enable the release of enough funds to execute capital projects, the high cost of maintaining politically exposed persons, including the multiplicity of political aides to the Presidency, the various governors and the elected council executives. Concerning the legislature, many Nigerians believe that more funds could be saved by compressing the two chambers of the National Assembly into one. Another way of achieving the same purpose is by legislating through part time sitting arrangement for the lawmakers. Indeed, the 2014 National Conference members recommended these two measures, which are yet to be ratified by members of the national parliament. There is also the suggestion for the slashing of the salaries and allowances of the lawmakers, including the reduction of the number and salaries and allowances of the lawmakers’ legislative aides as another way of freeing needed funds to service capital projects. Same measures have in addition been suggested for other political appointees. With regards to the civil service, analysts believe that aside from proper auditing of the number of staff in the federal, states and local governments’ pay rolls, there is also the need to cut down on the number of the existing ministries, departments and agencies of the various governments. This has become imperative because most of the agencies of government, particularly at the federal level have outlived their usefulness. President Buhari needs to pay particular attention in these areas in order to free more resources from the recurrent costs to service capital projects.

Politics

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Adams cautions Northern leaders over call for another confab Ayo Esan

he National Coordinator of the panYoruba Group, the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, and a delegate to the last national conference, Otunba Gani Adams has cautioned Northern leaders over their call for a fresh national conference and non-implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 national conference, saying they are overheating the national polity. He said the call was condemnable, plot to disintegrate Nigeria and instigate hatred against the delegates of the last national conference. The northern ex-political office holders, under the aegis of the Northern Reawakening Forum had called on President Muham-

madu Buhari to convene a fresh national conference to address some pertinent issues affecting the North East and other part of the region and that he should jettisoned the recommendations of the last national conference . Adams however said that he was surprised at the position of the Forum saying that anybody in Nigeria today will know that to move the country forward the implementation of the recommendations of the national confab must be implemented religiously. He said: “For Nigeria to develop there must be true federalism as presently being observed in the United States of America; the states must be allowed to develop at their own pace. All these are reflected in the recommendations of

the National Conference”. He said with the state of economy in the country he wondered where President Muhammadu Buhari will have the money to organise another national conference as being demanded by the Northern leaders saying the last conference gulped over N20 billion . “The last national conference before the last one was held in 2005and it was truncated. We thank God that the last one was not truncated. 95 per cent of our recommendations were based on consensus. There was even no voting. It ended peacefully. I think nobody in his right senses will say such recommendations should be jettisoned. Adams also said that contrary to the northern elders claims that Jonathan had an agenda for setting

up the national conference the recommendations of the conference was based on con census from eminent Nigerians who were at the conference. He said Jonathan was not a delegate at the conference and that he did not influence the decision of the conference. Adams said state Governor s some of whom were not in the same party with Jonathan sent three representatives each to the conference and that South West Governors lobbied and got three out of the 15 regional delegates to the conference. He said the recommendations of the conference were arrived at in the best interest of the country ad and that they were not based on any sectional agenda.

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki (left) with the Chairman, Public Complaints Commission, Chief Emmanuel Ogbile, during a courtesy visit to the Senate President at the National Assembly, Abuja, yesterday.

Benue LGs save N400 million through e-payment Henry Iyorkase MAKURDI

he Special Adviser on Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matter to Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Titus Zam has stated that the e-payment recently introduced at the third tier of governance in the state has saved about N400 million in excess. Briefing journalists shortly after the weekly state Executive Council, EC, meeting at the Benue People’s House yesterday

in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, Zam said that the discovery of N400 million excess in the salary of the local government workers was as a result of shoddy transaction of payment to ghost workers. The Special Adviser stated that the exercise at the moment is only on workers of various local governments but will soon be extended to teachers and was optimistic that more discoveries will be made in compliance with the e-payment directive used by the present ad-

ministration. Saying the entirety of the local government staff wages is estimated at N4 billion, he stressed that when eventually the screening is done by every sector hopefully “we can be able to sieve the chaff from the grains and I believe we can curtail the excesses to a very manageable workforce with lesser wage bill as it is being uncovered”. According to him, the N28 billion bailout funds through the Central Bank is yet to be accessed but expressed hope that it will

soon be released and all the accumulated arrears paid in due course.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Bayelsa 2015: Paulker campaign organisation blasts PDP leaders, Jonathan Osahon Julius YENAGOA

he Senator Emmanuel Paulker campaign organisation, “Renewal 201”’ has blasted the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the national level and the former President, Mr Goodluck Jonathan, saying Jonathan and his cohorts in the PDP are leading the party in Baylesa State on another road to self destruction. Reacting to the reported disqualification of Senator Emmanuel Paulker and other governorship aspirants in Bayelsa gubernatorial race by the PDP screening committee, the organisation, said the decision to stop Paulker, was not only laughable but incredulous and shocking. Speaking at a press briefing in Yenagoa, the director general of the organisation, Ayakeme Whisky, said they were flustered by the seeming inability of the party to learn from its past mistakes which culminated into the woeful defeat during the last presidential election. He said, “We know the reported disqualification of Sen. Paulker is a culmination of some well choreographed plots by those who believe that they can play God in the lives of men, by those who have always advanced their personal interest above the collective aspirations of the people of Bayelsa. “We are aware how much former President Goodluck Jonathan prevailed on our principal to withdraw from the race, to allow Governor Dickson becomes the sole candidate of the party. We are aware how much energy he exerted to create a seamless ride

for Governor Dickson because in his thinking only sitting governors can win election. Those who cannot learn from history are indeed destined to repeat it. Adebutu bags doctorate degree Member representing Remo federal constituency, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, has been conferred with a Doctorate Degree, Doctor of Political Science (DSc. Honoris Causa) by the Universite Bilingue Libre du Togo, on Wednesday, September 9. The award which was presented by the vice chancellor of the institution, Professor Adetunji Amusa, at an event held at the main auditorium, Universite du Lome, Togo, is in recognition of the awardee’s distinguished contribution to national politics and expansion of political economy in the West African subregion, having been found worthy by the university’s governing council, upon the recommendation of the university’s Senate. In his acceptance speech, Hon Adebutu, according to a release signed by his legislative aide, Hon. Seye Sonuga, thanked the institution for the honour bestowed on him. The awardee, who was represented by his son, Olubukunola Adebutu, also pledged to do more to better the lots of the common man. Other awardees who were honoured alongside Adebutu include, Mr. Tunji Olugbodi, GMD, Verdant Zeal Group; Madame Mathys Adidjatou, former Minister of Finance, Republic of Benin; His Royal Highness, Oba Oyekola Lawal, Iba of Kishi Kingdom; and Dr. Yemi Ajayi, CEO, Heron Communications.

PDP chieftain, Inah joins APC Richard Ndoma CALABAR

he Cross River State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Wednesday said it has finally received into its fold, former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain, Chief Wilfred Inah, after he formally completed the membership registration process

in his hometown, Ijom, Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State. State vice chairman of the APC in the Central senatorial district of the state, Cletus Obun who confirmed this said that the APC decided to open its doors wide for men of proven integrity like Chief Inah to come in, given his pedigree in the political landscape of

the state and the nation at large, adding that Inah would not and can never be a liability to the party. In his post registration speech, Inah, who is also a former Commissioner and Head of Service in the state said that his resolve to join the APC was based on pressure mounted on him by the Cletus Obun-led APC Committee on stabilisation and mobilisation.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Views

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Between politics and statesmanship EXISTENTIAL HUMANISM

FRY

NDUBUISI Professor Ndubuisi is of the Dept of Philosophy, UNILAG fryndubuisi@nationalmirroronline.net (08023016709 SMS only)

he furore that trailed the one sided appointments of President Muhammadu Buhari is still raging. He did not see the need to comment on the issue until recently. Justifying his actions in an interview with BBC Hausa Service recently, the President disclosed that he appointed those he trusted, adding that the nation’s constitution backed his actions. Buhari insisted he was not ignoring any section of the country, stressing that he preferred his most trusted associates to be in his kitchen cabinet. He didn’t see any crime in selecting those that have remained loyal to him in his political career. It makes some sense if the President insists on the choice of his friends, family members and long time associates as his personal staff. These could be men and women he has worked with in the past. He is sure of not only their competent but their loyalty. But the argument of many is that the appointments he has made so far covered a wide

range of areas. Aside his top media aides, chief security officer, and chief of staff, the President has made other key appointments such as the Director of State Security Service, service chiefs, the comptroller generals of Custom Service and Immigration Service and the acting chairman of INEC (alleged to be his distant relation). In all this a section of the country, the South East, was not considered good for any of these appointments. The bane of the Nigerian society is ethnicity and nepotism, and their twin brother, corruption. Like the evils they are, they have haunted our nation and stunted its development. Close watchers of our political history will note that ethnicity remains the greatest problem to our economic and socio-political development. It is the source of unceasing tension and conflicts in the polity. Statesmen and broad minded leaders try their utmost best to mitigate the evil of ethnicity by their actions, especially appointments to key political and professional positions. Others have insisted on appointing men and women of substance that have the potential to advance the cause of nation building. The little advancement we have made in key areas could be linked to such wise appointments. It is remarkable that in an interview in the early life of this administration, President Buhari was quoted as saying that contrary to wide spread belief, corruption and not ethnicity is the obstacle to our national develop-

ETHNICITY REMAINS THE GREATEST PROBLEM TO OUR ECONOMIC

AND SOCIO-POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT ment. Yes, corruption has destroyed the country exceedingly, but ethnic hatred is as much destructive of the system as corruption. The two are the cancer that that has retarded not only our growth, but also the peaceful co-existence of the different nationalities and sub nationalities. Prosperous countries are those that have broad minded leaders who see things in the right perspectives. They see leadership as a special call made possible by both the people and Providence. Such leaders excel in their onerous tasks by looking beyond the narrow confine of friendship and filial ties to source for men and women that will impact on their vision and mission. The greatness of the United States of America lies in her policy of attracting men and women from all over the world that could add value to the country. That is why the best in science, arts, sports and entertainment, etc, are found in that nation. Her citizenship is there for grabs by people with the capacity for creativ-

ity and innovation in their chosen fields. But here, our leaders look for tribesman, kinsmen, school mates and people of the same religious faiths. There have been commendations from home and abroad on the outstanding performance of INEC in the 2015 general elections. That feat was made possible because of the personality of Professor Jega. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan knew his pedigree, which was why he gave him that position. If the former president had insisted on appointing his kinsmen or friends to that all important position, may be we would have ended the 2015 elections in crisis. It is even curious that President Buhari will not have confidantes he could trust in the entire South East despite his several romance with public officers across the country. And as a matter of fact, the 1999 Constitution, obvious of the danger of ethnicisation of public offices, included in Chapter Two - Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principle of State Policy – a clause which states that the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be based on social justice. And Section 14 sub section 3 states that: ‘’the composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity ‘’.

Towards a cultural renaissance in Nigeria

ometimes ago, a son of a friend gave this writer a rather baffling answer to a question probing him why he kept responding in English to greetings in Yoruba Language. The reply was: “My parents have warned us never to speak to people in Yoruba.” The disturbing aspect is that the parents themselves brazenly confirmed it to this writer, saying they would not expect their adored children whom they are stinting themselves to send to private, expensive schools to be unable to dazzle visitors with Queen’s English.“ My reply was “But that is wrong, teach your child to respond to questions in the language in which he is addressed”. This later blossomed into extemporaneous “homiletic” on imperative of inculcating indigenous language and our cultural values in our children. That particular incident inspired a recall of numerous bothersome incidents in the past sharing the same self-denigrating, thematic focus with this culturally-insolvent anomaly. Among these was a particular occasion in the church many years ago when an important crowd-pulling religious rite was scheduled. As a measure of crowd control, the clerics announced that worshippers were to be segregated into different classes on the basis of language preferences. You were either to attend Yoruba or English session to be held at about couples of hours apart. Upon being told of my preference to attend the Yoruba Language class, a very close friend expressed shock, explaining that if he had not known me to be proficient in the English language, he would have concluded that the choice

THE CULTURE OUR FOREFATHERS HAD DEVELOPED AND EVOLVED THROUGH TRIAL AND ERRORS FOR SEVERAL CENTURIES COULD NOT ALL BE BALDERDASH was dictated by ignorance! He, therefore, advised a change of heart, stressing that people might think I was not educated! “So what?” was my infuriating response. In retrospection, one could not but wonder the number of people whose preferences on that occasion would have been dictated by such infantile vanity of “show off “ by choosing English in which they have limited understanding. On another occasion which was far more annoying, I had requested for a packet of candle at a supermarket calling it by its Yoruba name, abela. The lady attendant had laughed aloud, and released a bombshell: “Bi e se dara to yi, e o le pe ni candle, ewo ni abela?” Meaning “As good looking as you are, why can’t you just call it candle, instead of the rustic word, abela!” I felt like smacking her! The examples from personal experiences are many, but the above are sufficient to underscore the mentality of a lot of our people who unwittingly engage in self-denigrating and ill-informed inferiorisation of our culture why unduly glorifying others, all in the name of modernity. It is commonsensical that the culture our forefathers had developed and

evolved through trial and errors for several centuries could not all be balderdash. Whatever may be said in relative terms for the quality and depth of our own civilisations in Africa, there are undeniable nuggets of gold amidst the gargantuan ruble of tares that could be polished and imbibed as priceless, timeless, treasure. It is worrisome that most of our youths today know all the foreign music and the Nigerian versions of hip hop patterned on the foreign musicology, but how many of them have studied and acquired taste for the music of traditional icons like Hubert Ogunde, Haruna Ishola, Yusuf Olayunji, Ayinla Omowura and Dauda Epo-akara (Akanmu Eyo!) among others? What about their style of dressing? Do they treasure Dansiki, Gbariye, Dandogo, Kembe, and other traditional sartorial style? Nowadays, you see some young men donning ear ring in one ear and plaiting their heads like women! In the pristine traditional society the only men you would see wearing women hairstyle were Adosu Sango (Sango’s devotees)! How many of us, not to talk of our children, can utter three sentences in rich idiomatic, uncorrupted indigenous tongue without the unnecessary adulteration with English words? In Yorubaland , our forefathers might not have unraveled the secrets of nature in scientific discoveries and technological accomplishments, yet they developed a civilisation that is glorious, versatile and dynamic with music, poetry, arts, aesthetics, social

CRITICAL STROKES

KAYODE

KETEFE

kketefe@nationalmirroronline.net 08032147720 (SMS only)

etiquette, moral and ethics (as evinced in the concept of omoluabi) that can conveniently rival alternatives anywhere in the world. This writer, a self-taught enthusiast and student of sociology and anthropology, has discovered quite a number of exceedingly valuable codes in the social etiquettes, mores, and civility of the Yoruba people that are not only treasurable today in human relations but may prove so till eternity! These submissions do not invalidate the incontestable fact that our culture is, nonetheless, riddled with a lot of superstitions and belief system, but what one is saying here is that somewhere in the confusing heaps of superstitions lies faded, but treasurable nuggets of wisdom. Ketefe may be followed on twitter@ Ketesco 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

Thursday September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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

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

Nigeria and ‘Federal Character’; ‘Quota System’ setbacks

he senator representing Bayelsa-East Senatorial District in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce, appeared to be bristling with rage when he recently commented on the ‘Federal Character’ and ‘Quota’ principles. Like the contentious Quota System applied when processing admission into federal educational institutions, the Federal Character principle amplifies the diverse configuration of Nigeria as a nation along ethnic (majority or minority), religious (Christian-Muslim mainly) and other lines, such as the educationally advantaged and disadvantaged. The perceivable differences have never ceased to task past and present governments on how best to ensure the country’s corporate peace, stability and, indeed, existence under a system acceptable as fair to all the federating units. Attaining this singular objective has, however, remained elusive, what with incessant cries of marginalisation and other grouses coming from virtually all constituent parts whenever they feel their interests are threatened. While the quota system came into being before the country’s independence in 1960, according to reports, the Federal Character principle became officially recognised in the 1979 Constitution as a vehicle for ethnic representation in the public sector. Today, the Fed-

eral Character Commission (FCC) is in place, established as a federal executive body by Act No 34 of 1996 to implement and enforce the Federal Character principles of fairness and equity in the distribution of public posts and socio-economic infrastructures among the various federating units. The provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as altered) in Sections 14 and 153 consolidated the establishment of the FCC. The commission now deploys its officials to physically monitor all federal recruitment exercises and ensure that they substantially comply with approved guidelines. The controversy over the years, however, has been that with Federal Character and Quota System taking the centre stages in admission, recruitment, promotion and appointment processes, the advancement of the country‘s public institutions, which ought to be the drivers of development, is neither based on merit nor competence. It is against this backdrop that critics insist that the nation urgently needs a review of her educational policies and an extensive educational infrastructural development to accommodate its growing student population, for example. This seemed the point Bruce reiterated when he said Federal Character was drawing the country back. The senator said: “Nigeria must make progress though tribe and tongue may differ. The only

September 17, 1987 Pope John Paul II embraced an AIDS-infected boy while visiting San Francisco. Pope John Paul II, sometimes called Blessed John Paul or John Paul the Great, born Karol Jozef Wojtyla (May 18, 1920 –April 2, 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church from October 16, 1978 to his death in 2005. He was the second longest-serving pope in history and the first non-Italian since Pope Adrian VI, who died in 1523.

FEDERAL CHARACTER AND QUOTA SYSTEM ARE MERELY COSMETIC SOLUTIONS TO A CHRONIC CANCER way to do that is by saying goodbye to ethnicity and hello to merit. Compare the progress that Nigeria made before the quota system (1960-66) and the retrogression we have made since 1966 till date. The difference is clear. Federal Character cannot make an electrical power station work. It can’t make refineries work. Only merit can ensure this. As a result of Federal Character, Nigeria Airways went from 30 aircraft to bankruptcy and a debt of over $60m by the year 2000. Quota System and Federal Character lead to a sense of entitlement in beneficiaries and resentment in others. Merit is a better way of life…”. Such has been the nature of contempt many harbour for the two retrogressive systems which, in any case, have their roots in the national political games that predated the nation’s independence from Britain in 1960. We recall that in 1953, the late Chief Anthony Enahoro first moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence. But the motion suffered setbacks in the colonial parliament when his colleagues from the North opposed

ON THIS DAY

September 17, 2006 An audio tape of a private speech by Hungarian Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurcsány, was leaked to the public, in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party (HSP) lied to win the 2006 election. The revelation sparked widespread protests across the country. Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on April 9, 2006, with a second round of voting in 110 of the 176 single member constituencies on April 23.

to it staged a walkout. Repeated pressure and agitations against colonialism and representations of the motion by the likes of the late S.L. Akintola (1957); Remi Fani-Kayode (1958); and Sir Tafawa Balewa (1959), all late, eventually yielded independence in 1960. The rest is history, but what is obvious is the uneven educational, infrastructural, industrial, political and socio-economic development of Nigeria’s constituent parts since 1960; though the most visible appears to be educational. The setbacks were compounded by the selfish, carefree, manipulative, exploitative and dishonest attitudes of subsequent leaders. A fraction of the dilemma presently would include the 10.5 million children reported to be out-of- school in the North alone, as well as the insurgency in the North East that has compounded the problem. This may take decades if not centuries to overcome. How ready are Nigerian leaders to enthrone an educational system that would produce competent drivers of development nationwide in the foreseeable future? How ready are leaders to depart from rendering insincere, unpatriotic, corrupt, and self-serving leadership; and help Nigeria conquer the pangs of illiteracy, mass poverty and joblessness, avoidable diseases and death? Federal Character and Quota System are merely cosmetic solution to a chronic cancer.

September 17, 2011 ‘Occupy Wall Street (OWS)’ movement, a Canadian activist group – Adbusters’ initiative –, began protests in Zucotti Park, New York City, United States. This has led to ‘Occupy’ protests and movements around the world. The main issues are social and economic inequality, greed, corruption, etc. The OWS slogan, “We are the 99%”, refers to income inequality and wealth distribution US’’ wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Education Today Implementing national free school meal programme 23

Expectations from our new VC —UI staff unions, students Tunbosun Ogundare

ome December 1st, 2015, Professor Idowu Olayinka will assume duty as the new Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo State. He will take over from Professor Isaac Adewole, a renowned physician whose tenure will expire on November 30 after serving in that capacity for five years. Professor Olayinka’s emergence as the new VC-elect was announced last week by the Pro-Chancellor of the university, Dr. Umar Musa Mustapha, disclosing that the 57-yearold geologist came top among 12 other professors that applied for the job. Interestingly, Olayinka is the first person to be appointed into that office from the Faculty of Science of the university since inception in 1948 and also a one-time deputy vice-chancellor in charge of academics of the institution. As usual, expectations are high in the university community among stakeholders, especially the staff unions, management as well as students. And this is not because the outgoing VC did not perform well as an executive officer of the institution. Many testified to the numerous achievements of Prof. Adewole but the expectation now is that the incoming VC will surpass these achievements and take the institution to a higher level. It is to the credit of the outgoing VC that the university enjoyed steady improvement across the three core areas of academics, research and community development. Stakeholders also acknowledged that significant improvement had taken place as regards infrastructural facilities in both academic and hostel arenas giving the university a face of a 21 Century ivory tower. While equally attesting to the fact that UI now has a better con-

Main entrance of the university

No doubt, the office of VC is demanding but with our support and cooperation, there won’t be any cause for alarm.

Olayinka

ducive learning and teaching environment, they cherished the periodic training and retraining programmes they enjoyed under the administration. That is not all. The administration, they explained further, has also expanded the frontiers of knowledge to the outside world. They gave the example of the latest universities ranking released recently by Journals Consor-

Lagos Assembly summons LASU VC over student’s result 20

tium, a global educational research group which ranked the university as best in Nigeria and eighth in Africa among 1,447 higher institutions considered in Africa for the purpose. The ranking, according to the consortium, was based, among others, on the quality of research publications and citations the university had carried out in the last four years as well as its visibility on the internet. The workers also pointed to the popular international research lab, Webometrics Universities World

Ranking which ranked the university the third and 34th best in Nigeria and Africa respectively in its latest ranking released few months ago as another strong achievement of the out-going administration. But even at that, they still expect that the incoming vice-chancellor will surpass Adewole’s achievements. In a separate interview with National Mirror, the leadership of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and his counterparts from the non-academic staff allied institutions union (NASU) as well as the

‘NPMCN needs TETFund intervention’ 22

National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) expressed their happiness over his appointment. They pointed out that though Adewole’s administration is owing workers some months’ allowances, they attributed the development to the Federal Government which failed to remit such allowances to the school management. They noted that the selection process of the new VC was the most rancour-free in the history of the institution. According to SSANU chairman, Wale Akinremi, Professor Olayinka is “acceptable and respected” by all. “He has held various leadership positions in UI without being found wanting in his responsibilities. He is somebody SSANU can attest to as a man of integrity and we believe he has what it takes to warm himself into the hearts of the people,” he stressed. Akinremi, however, said the union expects him to take the university to the next level by promoting equity, justice and fairness “We believe he will also take the issue of staff welfare into consideration and operate a better academic calendar for the university,” he added. Speaking in the same vein, NASU chairman, Segun Arojo said while there would be many issues to tackle, he prayed that God would grant him needed wisdom and understanding to succeed. “No doubt, the office of VC is demanding but with our support and cooperation, there won’t be any cause for alarm. But he just needs to settle down first,” he explained. On his part, NAAT chairman, Saka Ogundele said Prof. Olayinka is a man they all love, adding that “we are party to his emergence. He is a man that will deliver and follow the good steps of the outgoing VC. In their own reactions, students are also not in any way doubting Professor Olayinka’s ability to perform but only that he would need to CONTINUE ON PAGE 23

Why unionism cannot work in NOUN —VC 21

Education Today

Ogun assures hitch-free academic year year Justina Kingsley

he Ogun State Government has put necessary machineries in motion to ensure a hitch-free 2015/2016 academic session. The Director of Special Education, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Elijah Akinyemi stated this while leading officials of the ministry to monitor school resumption in Abeokuta North and South Local Government Areas on Monday. He said the ministry would be timely in the conduct of examination and release of results, prompt placement of junior students into senior school,

saying that steps would also be taken to intensify supervision of schools across the State. He said the ministry would release the results of the last Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) this week to enable junior students get admitted to Senior School according to their performance, urging Principals to continue to accommodate those still awaiting their results. The Director who was impressed with the large turnout of students and teachers on the first day of resumption in a press release by the Press Officers of the ministry, Elijah Udofia and Femi Abati urged them to tidy up their environment and get ready for serious academic work.

NUT lauds Maltina Teacher of the Year Award project Tunbosun Ogundare

he Secretary General of Nigeria Union of Teachers, Obong Ikpe Obong has praised the Nigerian Breweries Plc-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund for instituting the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative asking other corporate bodies to emulate the initiative. He made the charge during a meeting with the representative of the company, Mrs. Emete Tonukari, who is the CSR/Sustainability Manager of Nigerian Breweries Plc in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. He said the union was delighted with the calibre of personalities selected by the organisers of the award to serve on the panel of judges, noting that it shows the thoroughness and transparent manner of the selection process. Obong however revealed that the union would explore the possibility of featuring NB Plc. as a critical stakeholder at the World Teachers Day celebration on the 5th October during which the company would be accorded the opportunity, not only to present a good will message, but exhaustively outline its programme for the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative. The NUT scribe expressed the optimism that more teachers would key into the initiative in the coming years and that organizers should include primary school teachers’ category from the next edition.

Responding on behalf of the company, Mrs. Tonukari expressed appreciation to the teachers’ union for the cooperation and support the organizer has had received so far from the body, promising that the company will always update the union on plans and programmes concerning progress on the initiative. She also assured the union of the thoroughness and rigour that is being put into the judging process of the project, revealing that the initiative’s panel of judges are currently scrutinizing entries from all over the country and are judging them to determine who will be named Nigeria’s exceptional Teacher of the Year when the state and national winners will be made known at a grand ceremony in Lagos on October 12, 2015. It will be recalled that the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund announced the Panel of Judges for the on-going Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative listing eminent Nigerian academics and professionals in the panel. The panel, which is chaired by Prof. Pat Utomi, Founder/CEO, Centre for Values in Leadership also includes: Prof. (Mrs.) Mopelola O. Omoegun, Professor of Education, University of Lagos, Prof. Thomas I. Ofuya - Vice Chancellor, Wellspring University and Member, Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities and Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, Chairman Editorial Board, ThisDay Newspapers, among others.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Lagos Assembly summons LASU VC over student’s result Saidat Alausa

he Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University, Prof. John Obafunwa has said that the case of a student of the school, Mr. Toviho Oluwaseyi Ezekiel, who was not allowed to graduate over issues bordering on exams malpractice, has not been revisited due to the dissolution of the Governing Council of the institution in April, 2015. Reacting to an appeal from the Adhoc Committee on Education of the assembly through its Chairman, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu on Thursday 10th September to allow the young man graduate based on an appeal by the 7th Assembly, Prof. Obafunwa said that he actually conveyed the message of the lawmakers to the Governing Council of the institution before it was dissolved. “I also called the attention of our Pro-Chancellor to it. But they said that the House of Assembly should not be appealing to them on the issue since the student could make a direct appeal to the council and promising to attend to the matter if Toviho makes a personal appeal to them in writing. “I later learnt that the student wrote an appeal letter to the council, but it didn’t get to them due to the crisis in the institution before the council was eventually dissolved,” he said. The Vice Chancellor said that a lawmaker in the assembly actually called him on the phone on the matter and that the lawmaker later had a meeting with him at the school’s college of medicine, while promising that the matter would be re-visited, when the council is re-constituted. Ezekiel had written a petition to the

Chris Njoku Owerri

ather than indulge in fruitless ventures, Federal University Technology, Owerri, FUTO, Students Union Government, SUG has completed a multi-million naira resource centre where new ideas and technology will be harnessed to beat the ever-competing and growing world. The resource centre comprising of e-library, cafeteria, sports centre, and cyber-café will serve as a hall for events which can be rented to generate revenue for the union. Presenting the edifice to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Cyril Asiabaka for inauguration, the outgoing SUG president, Mr. Onochie David Edozie on the handover as the 16th democratically elected president of the union, said that his administration believed that good name was better than silver and gold.

Obasa, Lagos State Speaker

Obafunwa, LASU VC

Assembly late 2014 alleging that authorities of LASU failed to submit his name for NYSC programme even, when his results had been released by the school. Toviho alleged that he was accused of cheating in an examination in 2010, when he was in year one and that he was made to re-write the paper and moved to the next level. According to him, he eventually went through the programme, only to be told four years after that he could not go for his NYSC programme for involving in exam malpractice. The House then wrote a resolution to the school and advised the management to allow Toviho to graduate and go for his NYSC Programme on compassionate grounds. Hon. Yishawu however, observed at the adhoc committee’s meeting with the VC and other top management staff that there ought to be an alternate body

that could handle such an issue if the Governing Council is not in place, adding that the laws guiding the institution would have to be re-visited if there is no such an arrangement in the system. “I feel the Vice Chancellor should have some powers in this regard or may be the university does not want to use its powers in this regard because we wrote an appeal letter to the Governing Council based on the advice of the vice- chancellor. If things like these are delayed, it means other issues would suffer until the Governing Council is constituted,” he said, and appealed to the school to do something about the matter as soon as possible. Prof. Obafunwa later said that this should have been the case on the surface, but that it is not clearly stated in the laws establishing the school and that someone might raise an issue over it in the future if care is not taken.

FUTO SUG builds resource centre …parents, lecturers hail initiative

“It was this inspiration from the Book of Proverbs 22:1 that guided us to fulfil our vision to establish a pragmatic students’ unionism that will enshrine unity among the students and bridge the communication gap between the school management and students for the betterment of the general welfare of the students in line with the quest for excellence which is the mantra of the university’s current administration.” Explaining what spurred them into embarking on the project, the former SUG president said the experience was drawn from a students’ leadership development tournament they attended at the University of Ilorin early this year where “we realised that one of the ways to understanding the true efficacy of governance is generating

of funds internally, we decided to pursue excellence not by bloodshed, thuggery or violence but by accountable, resilient and dogged hard work.” He disclosed that the outgoing executive procured also new tables and chairs, new generating set and other necessities for the resource centre from the fund given to them to complete the building, adding that the moment they were elected they used their pocket money to sandfill the pot-holes in the 3km road that leads to the school’s back gate. While commending the vice-chancellor, he observed that since the inception of current management, there had been remarkable improvements in both academic performance and character development of the students and urged the

incoming SUG to sustain it. In his acceptance speech, the new SUG president, Ezenwa Obinna, commended former executive and promised to live up to expectation. Speaking later, the VC, Prof Asiabaka commended the outgoing students’ union executive for their achievements, adding that it was gladdening and heartwarming that the students managed the fund, paid the contractors and completed the building project. He urged the incoming students’ government to emulate the past executive and continue with the exemplary leadership, advising them to jettison the notion that the office is for making money. “We have seen instances in the past where students union embezzled funds running into millions, this should be discouraged.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Group tasks Kogi govt on functional basic education

Wale Ibrahim Lokoja

pparently disturbed by litany of problems confronting basic education in the state, the Kogi-based Non-Governmental Organisations Network (KONGONET)has tasked the state government to adopt a holistic approach in tackling the challenges facing the educational level. This was contained in a communique issued at the end of a one-day stakeholders’ meeting on basic education, signed by its chairperson, Mrs. Eunice Agbogun and secretary, Titus Alonge, respectively. The meeting was organised by the KONGONET with support from ActionAid Nigeria, European Union (EU) and Kogi-based Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Developmental (PIBCID). The group urged government to make basic education functional so as to guarantee the future of the children and the state by addressing challenges in critical areas of the sector, especially public schools infrastructures. While commending the state government for its efforts in addressing the

infrastructure needs of public schools, the group regretted that pupils still squat in makeshift and dilapidated mud structures and in some cases under trees to receive lessons. The group also decried the incessant strikes by basic education teachers in the state and urged government to address the issue once and for all through immediate implementation of the Minimum Wage and allowances for the teachers. The communique also urged government to check the growth and proliferation of sub-standard and unregistered private schools across the state, saying their presence was a further affront on the education system. The network further stated that the teaching profession was a noble one and should be held in high esteem as it urged teachers to always abide by the ethics of the profession and tow the path of peace in venting their grievances. It urged government to do everything possible to access the state’s un-accessed education fund under the Basic Education programme and to also ensure proper utilisation of the funds when accessed.

Indomie Fans Club begins My Super Hero Costume contest petition, Manager Public

Saidat Alausa

Relations and Events, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr. Tope ndomie Fans Club Ashiwaju stated that the (IFC), Nigeria’s larg- competition is one of the est children based fan ways the brand engage chilclub has commenced a fun dren. He said, “Children are the and exciting competition tagged ‘My Super Hero future and as a brand, we see Costume Competition’ it as part of our responsibiliwhere kids stand a chance ties to ensure that they are of winning a wide array of engaged in activities that will aid their mental and fantastic prizes. To participate in the com- physical development. “The aim of the ‘My Supetition which kicked off recently, members of the In- per Hero Costume’ is to also domie Fan Club are required provide a platform for these to design any of their favou- kids to express their creative rite indomitable characters talents,” he explained. The Indomie Fan Club is using Indomie cartons and an initiative of Dufil Prima wrappers. The competition allows Foods, makers of Indomie children to send in multiple Instant Noodles. The club was founded in entries before the 30th of September 2015 end date of July, 2005 with the aim of creating an environment of the competition. The competition is one learning, fun, excitement of the many ways through and bonding for children which the Indomie brand between the ages of 5 – 12 engages with thousands of and with over 100, 000 memkids to provide them an op- bers spread across different portunity to express their parts of Nigeria; the club creative talents and abilities. has grown to become a pheSpeaking on the com- nomenon.

Education Today

Why unionism cannot work in NOUN —VC Prof. Vincent Ado Tenebe, is the Vice Chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN. In this interview with journalists in Kaduna after this year’s matriculation of over 200,000 students, he speaks on how the university has the capacity to accommodate 1.5 million students, why the university has no students and staff unions and why NOUN graduates are yet to enroll at Nigerian Law School, among other issues. AZA MSUE brings the excerpt: old and the oldest is 103 years old and the oldest is in 200 level. He is the paramount ruler of Emevo community in Delta state.

Tenebe Sir, in other conventional universities and other higher institutions, examination malpractice is rampant, how were you able to curb examination malpractice in your university? I want to tell you proudly that this is one and only and among few universities in Nigeria that has the least examination malpractice cases and I am aware that in many other institutions, there are cases where students come to write examination for others. In Open University, it is not possible because we capture you electronically during your registration because everything is ICT based. So when you come to write exams you must log in and we must see your picture on the screen when you are writing the e-examination. The invigilator will come and confirm that you are the one actually sitting there. So, it is not possible unless that person that comes to write the examinations was the person that did all the registration and also had his picture there. Unionism is not allowed in NOUN, don’t you think you are infringing on the fundamental human rights of the students to right of association? The open university does not have staff union, student union, pressure group or whatever it is. Yes! It is true because the university is not a conventional university, it is an open and distance learning and interestingly, this is the only university that democratise, demystified and liberalised education. It is the only university that gives you access without any hindrance. We cannot accommodate or operate freely with unionism because of the diversify nature of our students in terms of age, class, status and some already belonging to other professional unions and bodies. For example, in our university we do not have that requirement of age limit like the conventional system that will tell you that you cannot be admitted into the system unless you are 16 years and above. And I can tell you that there is no any conventional university not only in Nigeria but across the globe where you will see a 90 year old as a student. In open university for example, I just informed the new students that the youngest university undergraduate today in our record in 15 years

How has it been managing an unconventional university like open university? Managing an unconventional university has been very challenging; you don’t have the luxury of normal eight hours sleep every day. It is not only managing the university, for some of you who are from conventional system and now come to study in open university, you will find out that if you are not equal to the task, you can never study in the open university. You will have to learn to apportion your time for your activities and your studies and you will learn to work every day continuously. And managing an unconventional university like the Open University, you have to be very patient, calculative, plan and think ahead of time and you need a lot of visions or else it won’t work. The most challenging factor is that all these people who are trying to pull you down because they are ignorant of the system. They are ignorant of the enormous benefits from open and distance learning. Our challenges are to try and educate them. That is why I feel very happy whenever I have little chance to talk to gentlemen of the press like you because you are the mouthpiece, earpiece and the eyes of the wider society. So our job is to manage the challenges and still further enlighten the people to ensure that this system that we are managing, we will be able to hand it over to the future generation that will make a living standard of our people better than where we are now or how we met it. How many students do you have? At the moment, we have active student of about 200,000 students and I can tell you, we have admitted beyond that. Even at this number, I am not still happy about it because I thought with the present matriculation, we should have about 500,000. This university has the capacity to accommodate 1.5 million students and this is the only way we can solve the problem of admission of students who are after conventional universities and cannot be accommodated. Sir, the Open University seems to have issues with the body that is overseeing legal practices in Nigeria, what are you doing about it? Well, every university that has been established in the whole world has what we call the blue print. A university that does not have a blue print is not a university and does not exist. That blue print contain the original information of what the university is supposed to do and what the university is approved to do. In that blue print is where you have the number of faculties or what we call school in the open university and all the number of departments or the academic units in the university and also all the number of courses. It was the effort of the federal ministry of education and the NUC that brought about the blue print of the national Open University as far back as 1983 when this university first started. In that blue print, one of the school approved to graduate students is the school of legal studies. Out of the ten schools, we have established seven plus the post graduate school.

Education Today

Fashola reiterates importance of public enlightenment to good governance Saidat Alausa

he immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has said that continuous public enlightenment through legitimate means of information is a necessary condition for good governance. He said this recently while delivering the 16th Annual Mike Okonkwo Lecture, titled, “The Nigerian Political Class and the Citizens Quest for Good Governance.” According to him, democratic governments must constantly keep in touch with the changing needs of their citizens through polls, surveys and other scientific models of empiric information gathering before formulating or concluding on policies. He also disclosed that active participation of citizens is a pre-condition for democracy to translate to good governance. He explained that the test of good governance should be whether it brings the greatest good to the greatest number of people in terms of their welfare, safety and security and not whether it brings the greatest good to every member of society. Fashola also said that most misunderstood part of democracy is the legislature. “There seems to be a lack of knowing by citizens that legislative doesn’t executive projects. That’s the work of the executive arm.” This often according to him created trust issues when ultimately votes are given and promises are delivered because in many instances they should never have been made. “I must however quick to make the point that while the real responsibility of the legislator is to make law they can use their power to influence what gets done in their communities in terms of civil works and they are entitled to legitimately claim credit for this works.

James Abraham Jos

ll is now set for the grand finale of the 40th anniversary celebration of the university of the Jos in Plateau state. Addressing journalists in Jos on Monday, the ViceChancellor of the University, Prof. Hayward Mafuyai said part of the celebration which had started in April would also involve the inauguration of a pedeastrian bridge now reputed to be the longest in West Africa. National Mirror learnt that the bridge which connects the village hostel of the institution with its permanent site was built through funding from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). The vice-chancellor added

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NPMCN needs TETFund intervention —President Saidat Alausa

resident, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, NPMCN, Prof. Rasheed Arogundade has again reiterated the need for Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, to support the college with funds. He disclosed this recently during the press conference marking the weeklong activities lined up for the college’s 33rd convocation. The president said up till now the college have not be able to receive adequate support for the construction of the proposed Clinical Skills and Simulation laboratory for which they sought TETFund intervention. This facility according to him is needed to train Medical and Dental specialists of the highest quality, competence and dedication in line with global best practices in postgraduate medical education. “We thank our supervising ministry for efforts made so far,

L-R: Deputy Registrar, (Academics), National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Ijanikin, Lagos, Dr. Salami Sule; College Registrar, Prof. Ayoola Atoyebi; College President, Prof. Rasheed Arogundade and College Treasurer, Prof. Opubo da Lilly-Tariah, during the pre-convocation Press Conference of the College, recently. we hope it will take advantage of the enacted National Health Act of 2014 in order to ensure that adequate resources are available for education and training of health care personnel. “We pray that TETFund will provide the intervention fund for this unique form of postgradu-

Tunbosun Ogundare

he Lagos State Government has asked all operators of private schools in the state to always strive for standards that would make them perform real complementary roles expected of them with the state-owned schools. The state’s deputy governor, Dr. Idiat Adebule stated this on Tuesday in Ikeja during the quarterly stakeholders’ forum with the private school owners in the state, saying all programmes and activities of private schools must be geared towards giving children the best. “Try to be best in your curriculum development, quality of teachers and kind of

UNIJOS builds pedestrian bridge, marks 40th anniversary that the university, through TETFUND and other funding sources had invested millions of naira on new buildings, laboratories, classrooms, equipment, including the construction of new faculty buildings, students’ hostels, new college of medicine at the university’s Laminga campus. According to the Vice chancellor, the university has come a long way in its 40 years of existence, having produced over 150,000 from its programmes, hence the need to celebrate its milestone to the lifting of the Nigerian society, in the areas of peace initiatives in research and publications, information and communications technology, agriculture, among

others. Disclosing further that the 40th anniversary would climax with the 27th and 28th combined convocation ceremonies holding on 26th September, 2015, the vicechancellor said that out of a total of 16,543 graduating students, 164 are being awarded Doctorate degrees, 937 Masters and 197 postgraduate diplomas. He also said that 13,030 students will be graduating with first degrees and 2091, diplomas while 48 will receive certificates. According to him, among those graduating with a first degree,29 obtained first class while 1,548 got Second class upper division, 7,860 in second class lower, 2,750 in third class and 520 in pass level.

ate education without further delay.” Prof. Arogundade also used the opportunity to call on government and other benefactors to come to the college aid by providing land in Abuja as well as funds in order for the college to have a property where they can

have their liaison office instead of a rented apartment. A total of 341 will be awarded fellowship certificates at the convocation today while the lecture will be delivered by an erudite scholar and a professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Emmanuel Otolorin.

Lagos seeks quality from private schools teaching and training you give to your students,” she said. “And that is why you will need to always comply with the state’s policies and programmes that will guide your operations.” Represented by the Permanent Secretary in her office, Mr. Michael Daodu, the deputy governor who reaffirmed the state’s government commitment to sustain standard in the sector and ensure that education is free and accessible to all children up to the secondary school level and relevant to the needs of the state’s economy. Earlier in her address of welcome, the Director General of the Education Quality Assurance in the state, the organizer of the forum, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo, asked the school owners to follow religiously the path to standard that the state is showing them. She said the state was very passionate to remain as a pace setter for other states in

the country not only in education but also in other sectors of the economy. Soyombo, while urging all schools to register and pay their annual dues and ensure they erect a customized signage on their entrance gates as operational license, she asked them to do all directly with the office of quality assurance. “Don’t patronize a third party for that so as not to fall a victim of fraudsters. It is what you can do yourself. And also if you are in doubt of authenticity of any officer, don’t hesitate to contact the office of the quality assurance through a dedicated and functional mobile lines or website. I am assuring you of getting reasonable response within 48 hours,” she counseled. The director general however urged the high profile private schools to always assist their counterparts with difficulties in areas they could, saying such help would make a difference in the sector as a whole.

L-R: Director, Primary Education and Special Programmes, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Ministry of Education, Lagos State, Mr. Mathew Olayanju; Director General, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo and Permanent Secretary, Office of the Deputy Governor, Mr. Michael Daodu during the quarterly private school owners stakeholders’ forum on quality assurance at Ikeja on Tuesday.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Education Today

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Implementing national free school meal programme

he Vice President Professor Yomi Osibanjo recently disclosed that plans have been concluded to implement the one-meal-a-day free school feeding programme which was promised during the electioneering campaign earlier on in the year. He quickly added that the free school meal programme would generate about 1.14 million jobs and increase food production by about 530,000 metric tonnes per annum and attract fresh investments worth about a trillion Naira into the Nigerian economy. This initiative would address the problem of 10.5 million Nigerians children who are reportedly out of school contributing to the growing pool of adult Nigerian who can neither read nor write. Apart from the absolutely high number of children out of school, the more troubling aspect is that the number has been rising steadily over the years from a low of 7.4 million in 1999 to a high of 10.5 million in 2010. But if the current trend continues, coupled with the raging insurgency in the North Eastern of the country the number of out-of-school children may be currently approaching the 15 million mark. It is even more distressing still to note that India, with a population of over a billion people has succeeded in reducing the population of out-of-school children from 20.3 to 2.3 million over the same period. The implementation of the one-meal-a-day free school feeding programme by the Buhari administration is to provide an incentive to enhanced enrolment in the basic education programme, reduce the rising statistics of outof-school children in Nigeria and ultimately, the number of illiterate adults in the country. At the same time, it is expected to improve the nutritional status of the participating children, enhance resistance to infections and reduce mortality associated with common infectious diseases. Apart from the huge investments in the agricultural and service sector, the windfall in the employment generated are great attractions for implementing the scheme. But this is not the first time the scheme has been initiated. In 2005, the Federal Government introduced a pilot one-meal-a-day free school feeding programme in 13 states

Exhibition: Saidat Alausa

he Managing Director, Afro Partnership Development Limited, Mr. Adeleye Adelagunayeja has called on well meaning Nigerians especially entrepreneurs to support the “African Youths Science and Technology Exhibition,” (AfroUtTech Expo 2016). He said this is one of the ways to empower talented youths so that they can make positive impact in Nigeria. The exhibition accord-

the programme. This would be a most unfortunate development! The distribution of out-of-school children in Nigeria is asymmetric; so also the availability of infrastructure and qualified teachers. The first step in the successful implementation of this very laudable programme is an assessment of the magnitude of the problem to determine priority areas. This is a necessary first step because of potential limitation of funds available to the scheme due to the collapse in the global crude oil price. It is suggested here is no doubt that that the programme should be executed in phases, beginthe low enrolment of ning with the priority areas. Certainly, the North East and the North West should receive attention ahead of igerian children in other regions; so also the rural areas. The construction of adequate classrooms in areas of schools and the high greatest needs would be considered the number one prioridropout rates is a factor ty in the implementation of the one-meal-a-day free school feeding programme. The need to train qualified candiof the grinding poverty dates, preferably non-graduates to handle the expected infrom the six geopolitical zones and the Federal Capital Ter- crease in population due to increase in enrolment cannot ritory including Bauchi, Cross River, Enugu, Imo, Kano, be overemphasized. To attract qualified candidates into Kebbi, Kogi, Rivers, Ogun, Osun, Nasarawa and Yobe States. the teaching profession, a review of the remuneration of Unfortunately, the scheme was strangulated by a combina- teachers would become an absolute necessity. tion of inadequate planning, inadequate funding, lack of inThere is no doubt that the low enrolment of Nigerian frastructure and qualified teachers, and more importantly, children in schools and the high dropout rates is a factor corruption in implementation. of the grinding poverty that pervades the Nigerian nation. The Osun State model however provides a ray of light in Notwithstanding the unprecedented earnings from crude a dark sky of failed experiments in the one-meal-a-day free oil export, many years of misrule and unprecedented corschool feeding programme. Beyond the wildest imagination ruption has left the majority of Nigerians impoverished. of even the critics, the scheme increased primary school en- The basic education must therefore remain absolutely rolment by over 25% within the first month of taking off in free in every sense of the word to change the status quo. April 2012. But the lack of planning became immediately The success story of the Osun State model must be supevident by the ensuring congestion in classrooms. The sud- ported with matching funds from the Federal government den drop in revenue accruing to the state introduced an to improve infrastructure and train qualified teachers. unexpected complication of non payment of teachers in The increased enrolment in the primary schools should the now overcrowded schools putting the entire scheme in not be seen as an end in itself, but a gateway to higher edujeopardy. There are talks of reviving the Parents Teachers cation which would provide a means of escape for individAssociation in primary schools aimed at extracting monies uals from poverty and qualified manpower for a nation in from parents who can hardly feed their families to support earnest need of development.

Organiser seeks corporate organisations’ support ing to Adelagunayeja is to provide an international platform for showcasing innovative science and technology solutions to some of the world’s most pressing social and economic challenges. “It is an exhibition of inventors and discoverers of science and technology graduates, final year theses from universities and polytechnics, inventions by any other youth, and research works from institutes. They must be economically viable and solve at least one human challenge or need. “Also is to expand the employment opportunities

for job seekers. Because 25years ago sports, music and movies talents were latent in Nigeria but today these industries provide financial workplaces for millions of Nigerians.” “This 10-days event will birth the yearning for the advancement and development of our nation. Because the inventions will be converted consumable produce citizens of this country and exported to other countries to enhance our foreign exchange and create more jobs.” Highlighting what the project entails, he said Af-

Chancellor, International Centre for Church Revival, Dr. Francis Akin-John; General Overseer, Victory Prayer Ministry, Akute, Ogun State, Dr. Joshua Ogunshe and his wife, Pastor Hannah Ogunshe at the graduation ceremony where he was awarded a doctorate degree in Church Growth and Ministries.

roUtTech Expo is a physical exposition where 1000 inventions in ten (10) broad areas will be selected and showcased among others who obtained participation forms. The categories include Computer and Information Technology; Medical, Trado-Medical Technology; Mechanical, Machines designs and fabrications in mechanical; Agricultural and agro-Allied Technology; Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Oil and Gas Technology among others. Adelagunayeja who is also the convener of the project said it will also welcome over 2000 investors most of which have already being invited. While adjudged outstanding talents shall be rewarded with prizes up to 10 million Naira start-up capitals, and many others. He however said that challenges such as publicity, lack of supports from corporate organisations and individuals, venues, accommodations, feeding and honorarium had been an impediments to the project.

Expectations from our new VC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 ing on campus apart from conserving energy. A former President of the Students’ Union Government who is now a post graduate student in the institution, Mr. Tokunbo Salako told National Mirror that what the incoming VC needs to do is to consolidate on his predecessor’s achievement and move a step further. He also advised him not only to carry various unions along in his activities, but to particularly allow students union to remain independent of management control. “Because students may resist any attempt to exercise undue control over the union but I don’t see him doing that since he is instrumental to the resuscitation of students’ unionism after many years of ban.” Just like he had known their minds, the new VC has promised to live up to the stakeholders’ expectations on campus. He made the promise shortly after his appointment was unveiled to newsmen, saying “The students are going to be the core of our programmes while we will not neglect the staff. We will fast- track accelerated development through consolidation,” he promised. Professor Olayinka, an alumnus of Ilesa Grammar School, Ilesa, Osun State graduated with Second Class Honours (Upper Division) in Geology from the University of Ibadan in 1981 and obtained master’s degree in Geophysics from University of London three years after. He studied for his PhD programme at the University of Birmingham between 1985 and 1987 and had post-doctoral training as a German Academic Exchange Scholar at the Technical University Braunschweig and as Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Technical University, Berlin in 1996 and 1999, respectively. Professor Olayinka joined UI as a Lecturer Grade II in 1988 and was given professorship in 1999. He was once a Deputy vicechancellor in charge of academics and Dean of the Postgraduate School of the university and he has supervised many PhD theses, authored and co-authored over 40 articles in peer journals, among other works.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Edited by: Saidat Alausa saidat_alausa@yahoo.com 08027633686

Be focused, dean tells new students Eddy Uwoghiren

300 L, Med and Surg UNIBEN

ean, School of Medicine, University of Benin, Edo State, Prof. Moses Mommoh has charged the newly admitted students to be focused and stay close to God in order to scale through successfully at the college. He gave the advice recently during a fresher’s welcome programme organised by the University of Benin Medical Students Association’ (UBEMSA). Prof. Mommoh while speaking told the freshers to be humble, loyal and serious with their studies and other activities that could help them succeed. Also advising them to desist from activities that could truncate their dreams of becoming medical doctors, Mommoh said “Your parents sent you here to study, please do them proud by becoming the best you can be. Don’t be carried away by the volume of academic work you are to encounter and forget God. “Respect your senior colleagues, join a study group, take good care of your health and always attend lectures,” he admonished. Highlight of the event was an academic seminar where the students were taught study techniques, exams required of them to write before graduation and courses they are required to take. One of the new students, Osakue Gift who spoke with Campus News commended the association for putting up the programme which she

Emeka Chukwuemeka FCE Technical ULI

he Provost, Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Anambra State, Prof. Josephat Ogbuagu, has urged the National Executive and other delegates of Conference of Alumni Association in Colleges of Education in Nigeria to strive for excellence in their chosen fields to make expected impact in the society. He gave the charge at the 3rd National Conference of the association held at the College. The provost charged former students of the institution to make selfless contributions to uplift mankind in line with the exceptional achievements of their various institutions. He promised that the college would continue to recognise and patronise her products performing exceedingly well. Speaking on the theme of the Conference, ‘Refocusing Alumni in Nigeria for Strategic Planning’, the

What can you say about the present crop of students’ leaders in the country? Actually, our today society has given birth to different category of student leaders; to me, there are the Accidental student leaders and the unionist. The Accidental Student Leaders are not student activist or rather unionist in the right sense of the word, they are jobbers who don’t even take the welfare of the students into consideration in their action and inactions while the unionist are student leaders who see this only as an opportunity and platform to serve humanity in totality where selflessness is the watchword, we will continue to get it wrong as a generation.

NANS election: My plans if elected —PRO Pedro Chibuzor Obi is the current Public Relations Officer of National Association of Nigerian Students’ (NANS), Zone B and an aspirant for the post of the Zone Coordinator. He speaks to TEMITOPE YAKUBU, (FEDPOLY, ADO-EKITI) on his plans for Nigerian students if elected, among other issues. Excerpts: have been possible without the head of the organisation; Comr. Okorie Santos, the coordinator of NANS Zone B and the entire executives of the organisation. Ok, why are you contesting for the post of Zone B coordinator? The answer is a straight forward one, it is simply to consolidate on our past one year in office, we have used the media effectively in my capacity as the Public Relations Officer in presenting the positions of Nigerian Students as it affects our region in particular and the entire country in general, now is the time to walk the talk. As you are aware, the coordinator functions in dual capacity, both as an executive head and a parliamentary head, so we will explore this window in bringing the union closer to the grassroot. Our students for sure has to feel the impact of the apex student body and that is what my team and I are ready to provide to consolidate on the gains of the zone, as the campaign theme clearly stated; A Revolutionary Agenda 2015.

Your zone has been calling for autonomy of students’ union for a while, tell us more about this. Sure, we are really doing our bit on the issue of autonomy of Student’s Union; there is no going back in this struggle. As you are aware, many media houses has published our activities with regard to this subject matter and we are still pushing for more media coverage as we engage these management to end this draconian law against our local unions. We are in touch with some of the management of the various institutions within our regional mandate. As a Public Relations Officer of the zone, what are your achievements so far? This is one question I always try as much as I can to run away from. The truth is that, I shouldn’t be the one to evaluate myself. I better leave that in the hands of those that elected me, including the Nigerian people to judge. Mind you that I am still in office. But for this purpose, share with us some of your achievements if any. Since you insist on hearing something from me, I will in the context of my office as the Public Relations Officer NANS (zone B), say that I have been able to give the organ-

Obi

isation a face, today we can now say we have a brand; NANS Zone B. Ranging from NYSC N5, 000 Call-up fee, CBN directives on ATM usage, Rejection of JAMB policy on redistribution of admission seeker and the more recent struggle for the autonomy of Student Union Government among others. Of course, this wouldn’t

What should students from your zone be expecting if elected? They should expect a NANS they can call theirs, our colleagues should be rest assured that we will be responsive to their call at any point in time. As my school of thought has thought me, I hate making promises, by His Grace if the students give us the mandate, we will all sing a new song. We did it as PRO and we can repeat same feat when given the mandate as coordinator.

Provost urges excellence among alumni guest lecturer Dr. Obienyem Chike described the theme as apt. He noted that the theme has been an attempt to discuss the need to refocus the Alumni Association in Nigeria especially at F.C.E (T), Umunze for strategic planning with the hope of realising the institution’s aims and goals through

harnessing of the capacity of the Alumni as a stakeholder in the educational programmes and activities of the college. Speaking earlier the National President of the Association, Dr. Ugochukwu, commended the Provost for hosting the association, even as he chronicled challenges

that the group is facing in their various colleges. He appealed to the Provost to keep the flag flying without blemish to sustain the prevailing atmosphere of trust and confidence between them and the management of the college. Ugochukwu however disclosed

Cross section of the Alumni Association with management team led by the Provost, Prof. Ogbuagbu (4th left) during the Alumni visit to the college, recently.

that the Conference of Alumni Association in Colleges of Education in Nigeria (COAACEIN) is to provide a platform for Alumni Association as critical and indispensable stakeholders to network in order to achieve uninterrupted teaching and learning. Promote development of Colleges of Education, interface with education stake holders for the advancement of teacher education and most importantly to elicit powerful voice which could exert considerable amount of influence in policy direction. He further called on the various college managements to ensure that the association remained a unifying force for all ex-students who acquired any certificate from their institution. Highlights of the occasion were the conferment of awards of excellence on Prof. Joseph Ogbuagu, among others.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Edited by: Saidat Alausa saidat_alausa@yahoo.com 08027633686

FUNAAB VC asks new SUG executive to sustain value Saidat Alausa

he Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prof. Olusola Oyewole, has admonished the new executive officers of the university Students’ Union (FUNAABSU), to sustain the value which their predecessors have laid in the system. He gave this charge during the Swearing-in and handingover ceremony of the newly-elected FUNABSU officers in the university. According to him, “students and executives of the university have been known to be focused and I hope such value will be sustained.” He said that the swearing-in would be the fourth among the set of Students’ Union Executives to be sworn-in during his tenure as the VC, promising to partner with the students at ensuring that the university is move forward. Prof. Oyewole also advised the new executives to stand by the oath of office they took and discharge their duties effectively without being found wanting at the end of their tenure. The Vice-Chancellor added that the university management would continue to do its best in meeting the needs of the students. The Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. ‘Yemi Akegbejo-Samsons, reminded the officers to be prudent in managing resources under their care, as they would give account of their stewardship. He also appreciated the outgone executives for their contributions to the development of the university. The Dean charged the new executive members to make the best use of their tenure by taking the university to greater heights, not only in Abeokuta, but throughout the country. The newly sworn-in President, Comdr. Dennis Nwenonye, while appreciating the university management’s efforts towards making FUNAAB a leading institution, said they would be partners in progress. The newly sworn-in FUNAABSU executives are, 400-level, Department of Water Resources Management and Agrometereology, Dennis Nwenonye, as President; 400-level, Environmental Management and Toxicology Olamide Balogun, as Vice-President; 400-level, Horticulture Habeeb Oyekunle, as General Secretary; 200-level, Horticulture Wahab Ojokuye, as Assistant General Secretary and 400-level, Environmental Management and Toxicology Ayobami Oyelere, as Welfare Director, among others.

Covenant University students share industry training experiences

he decision of the Management of Covenant University to expose its students at all levels to Industrial Training (IT) is yielding the desired results. Until last academic session, only those in 300 Level were eligible to engage in such exposures. However, all the students irrespective of their level or programme, proceeded on industrial training during the long vacation to acquire various industry skills relevant to their training at the University. The students had since resumed for a new academic session (2015/2016), and had been sharing their experiences with their lecturers and fellow students. Kelly Praise a 400 Level Mass Communication student, who worked in an Advertising Agency in Lagos, said that she learnt more about digital marketing, competitive analysis and interpersonal skills. She also learnt to embrace integrity and diligence. While Adelua Boluwatife Ayo, a 300 Level English student learnt how to write lesson notes and teach where she had her industrial training. For Atinuke Akoja, a 200 Level English student, her internship at AP and MC Publishing firm improved her writing skills and boosted her self-confidence.

Rector, Institute of Management Technology IMT, Enugu, Prof. Mike Iloeje (7th left); National President, National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Dr. Tijani Usman (9th right) with other NANS executives during their visit to the college, recently.

AAU students support Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade

Yomi Ayeleso

300L, Bus. Admin AAU

s President Muhammadu Buhari marked his 100 days in the office, students of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko, Ondo State have commended the president for his giant steps in tackling corruption since he assumed office on May 29th, urging him to remain steadfast. Some of the students who spoke on the theme “ President Buhari’s 100days in Office: Plus or Minus” said the president in the days spent in office had demonstrated that he really prepared for governance. The students Union President, AAU, Olukayode Ogunade said the President

Temitope Yakubu FEDPOLY, Ado Ekiti

he immediate past Chief of Staff to the NANS President, Wolimoh Olajide has said he was retiring from active students’ unionism to join partisan politics.

has been able to put some things in place while he commended the former president for setting the standard in our Democracy. The student Union leader urged the president, as he set to form his cabinet to appoint competent and honest Nigerians into sensitive positions in order to compliment the president efforts. He advised the president to take the education with outmost priority by increasing the budget of the sector. He appealed to the government to repair the roads leading to the university community as in in bad and deplorable state, which has claims the lives of many students. Also speaking with Campus News, a 300 level student of Economics, Ipin-

sanmi Babatunde, appreciated the government so far in the area of the Economy and power sector calling him a prepared president that is ready to bring the desired change in the country. The senate President of the student Union, Joseph Akinkuotu said the president must lay a good foundation for his government to stand a good test of time. The 400level student of Public Administration, advised the president to review the current tuition fees of federal universities so as to make it avoidable for the common and less privilege students. He said he should also try and consolidate on what the previous administration has achieved in the education sector.

Student leader joins partisan politics

He made this known while addressing journalists and students leaders at a press conference in Abuja. According to him, he decided to join politics due to his experiences he had as

a student unionist back in school. In a statement made available to journalists at the press conference, titled, “Declaration of intention for PDP National Youth Leader, Wolimoh, an indigene of La-

Students of Yaba College of Technology anticipating to get to the arena while Tu Face Idibia was on stage during Airtel rising Star Football Tournament, in Lagos, recently. PHOTO: ADEMOLA AKINLABI

gos State, said he had served in different capacities under both students and youth organisations and now to serve in higher capacity. “I was twice a member of the Students’ Representative Assembly (SRA) of Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, two terms National Provost, National Association of Polytechnic Students, NAPS, former National Treasurer of National Association to Nigerian Students, NANS. “I am one-term Vice Presidential Aspirant and National President of NANS, the Chief of Staff and Head of Government to the immediate past NANS President, Mr. Yinka Gbadebo. He also said he founded the Namadi Students Network (NASNET) and coordinated it for the period Muhammed Sambo spent as Kaduna State governor.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

ROM National Mirror Education Today of September 3 comes the first set of offences: “…the high scoring (high-scoring) candidates were actually those most successful in cheating.” “However, the National assembly (sic) lead (led) by the Senate thought that the practice was ‘exploitative’ and ‘wicked’ and declared the exercise illegal on Thursday, October 13, 2011 on (in) a motion brought to the floor by….” “ICPC sensitises aviation workers on (to) harms of corrupt practices” ‘Harm’ is uncountable. “Street Toolz offers free digital trainings (training) to agencies” “Economic challenges won’t slow us down—Fayose assures” Who did the governor assure? “3 youths arrested over (for) alleged bid to torch police post” “Research institute advises farmers on Vitamin ‘A’ enriched (Vitamin ‘A’-enriched) cassava roots” “Nigerian hoteliers who employ expartriate CEOs are suffering from inferiority complex” Monday interview: expatriate “AAG: Siasia hopeful overseas based (overseas-based) players will join him” Wrong: All Africa Games; right: All-Africa Games “Continue to rest in perfect peace.” ‘Peace’ is an absolute that does not require amplification. THE NATION ON SUNDAY of August 16 fumbled right from its front page to inside pages: “ICPC seizes Niger Delta Ministry’s workers (workers’) N181.5m properties” “Fayose, Ortom and their ‘rags to riches’ (‘rags-to-riches’) stories” “President Muhammadu Buhari and many state governors who are to appoint their commissioners will currently (sic) have more than enough curriculum (curricula/curriculums) vitae for consideration.” From the COMMENT (EDITORIAL) of the above edition comes this: “For so long, things have gone wrong and the easy way that have (has) been preached by many Nigerians is pri-

Wole Adedeji Ilorin

he University of Ilorin, Kwara State which is currently heavily subscribed by candidates seeking admission may only take 7,800 out of 65,000 that sat for the post-UTME test last month. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali disclosed this on Monday while speaking with journalists at the commencement of UNILORIN 40th anniversary ceremony. His words; “In view of this development, the management of the university had written a letter to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB through the National Universities Commission, NUC so as to look into the situation.” According to him the university has more facilities, more academic programmes, good lecturers, more patronage in terms of candidates, and other needed infrastructures that can accommodate more students.” Speaking on the reasons for conducting post-UTME test for 65,000 candidates, even when the university would only take 7,800, Ambali said the reason was borne out of the quest to select the best students for admission out of the lot”. Professor Ambali, who said academic stability is the highest selling point of

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Shipwreck off Libya (Libyan) coast vatisation of the nation’s patrimony.” “Nigeria’s second hand (second-hand) market worth $1.97billion” “Institute raise alarm (the alarm) over crop disease” “40 die in shipwreck off Libya (Libyan) coast” THE NATION front and inside pages of Friday, August 14, 2015, come next: “…were yesterday appointed by the Federal Government to examine the books of the NNPC and other revenue generating (revenue-generating) agencies.” “Service chiefs got yesterday a three months (months’) deadline to crush….” “EFCC yesterday said the commission is (was) not averse to constructive criticisms that can (could) assist to win the war against corruption.” “…was inducted as a (an) honorary fellow of the academy.” “Omatseye gets Academy of Letters Fellow (Fellowship)” “Oyo liason (liaison) officer (official) pleads with civil servants” Still on THE NATION under review: “Campaign uses veil to call for Chibok girl’s (girls’) release” “Prayer team protests Otti’s assassination bid” Was it an attempt on his life or a suicidal bid? “Okada can only operate in (on) the outskirts and communities.” “…the killer bird would have demonstrated same (the same) in the drama.” “There is hope for big headed (big-headed) babies” THISDAY front and inside pages did not pursue truth and reason: “Osinbajo, others mourn late (the late) Ooni, Oba Okunade Sijuwade (another comma) farewell” “CBN should clean-up (clean up) the mess in banks” Phrasal verbs abhor hyphenation. “The media is awashed (awash) with his campaign and clarion call to the NFF….”

UNILORIN can’t admit more than7,800 —VC his university, added that the institution had been able to set sustainable standard that had now become envy of all universities in the country. He said the university is lucky to have the academic staff with constructive unionism, saying that the management had also complemented that factor with openness and transparency. “Usually, the issue between the aca-

demic staff and the management bothers on salary, allowance, unconducive environment, lack of infrastructure like water, light and other amenities, grading of lecturers and others. And as the chairman of all the chairmen in the university, everyone’s welfare is my priority. When there’s money, we share and if there’s none, we share the moment together.”

Proprietress of Treasure Chest Schools, Ota, Ogun State, Mrs. Ihemadu Priscilla Ifeoma (middle) with (L-R) the outgoing and incoming ‘Miss Treasure Chest’, Miss Khadijat Olaoye and Miss Adebimpe Adewusi, during the graduation/ Prize-Giving Day ceremony held at the school premises, recently.

“…to discuss, project and smooth (smoothen) out grey areas.” The next two blunders are from THE NATION ON SUNDAY COMMENT of July 12: “But, earlier, the people of Anambra State had protested against the plan on the ground (grounds) that Northern prisoners should not be brought to their state.” “They could also have argued, perhaps irrationally, that it could generate tension with their kiths and kins (kith and kin) in Yoruba land being attacked.” “Guests at (on) the occasion included Otunba….” “…who confirmed the incidence (incident) said the command had commenced investigations into the murder and assured that the police would fish out the killers of….” Who did the command assure? “Police arrest 4 over (for) alleged killing of Kaduna student” “Burundi crisis: Uganda (Ugandan) president fails to strike deal” “Surrounded by oil wealth, majority (a majority) of Nigerians feed on crumbs.” “NLC set for showdown against (with) erring employers” “Non-payment of salaries stall (stalls) PFAs (PFAs’) performance” “FGGC Sagamu Parents Teachers Association rallies support for govt” Workforce: Parent-Teacher Association (for headline purposes, the abbreviation—PTA— is the ideal) THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER, of September 5 crashed the English language profusely: “7 die in auto crash as police arrests (arrest) 5 for terrorising community” “The Management and Staff of Alcon Nigeria Limited Congratulates (sic) (congratulate)….” “Your significance in Nigeria’s economic endeavors (American version), your consistency, dedication and prudence deployed to (in) all your activities is (are) unprecedented.”

Saidat Alausa

university don, Prof. Ademola Ladele of the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development (AE&RD), University of Ibadan, Oyo State has called on final year students of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, (FUNAAB), Ogun State to build acceptable character, cultivate savings habit, network with people, avoid social vices and always be focused. He gave this piece of advice while delivering his lecture at the department’s Annual Valedictory Lecture Series tagged, “Personal Development for Future Career Diversification”, organised for the final year students in the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, FUNAAB. Delving into real life experience, Prof. Ladele disclosed that there was no “end” to life experiences, he charged the students to remember

Don counsels students on good conduct

that what they faced as undergraduates would certainly be different from happenings outside the university environment. He admonished the students to be focused, avoid any form of distractions and strive for personal development. The Guest Speaker called on the students not to be weighed down by disappointments when they come but look for avenues to cope with life’s challenges. Buttressing Prof. Ladele’s point was Dr. Mercy Adeogun of the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology, Lagos, who challenged the students to remove unnecessary fears from their minds that could impede their progress. Dr. Adeogun, an alumnus of FUNAAB, enjoined the students to be courageous in order to attain greatness in future.

Business Thursday, September 17, 2015

Raspberry Pi gets first touch screen display 32

Government’s apathy hampers internet penetration agenda

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Miners, NLC synergize against corrupt practices in mining sector

Nigeria’s foreign portfolio investment dips by N81bn in August Johnson Okanlawon

oreign Portfolio Investors, FPI, transactions at the Nigerian Stock Exchange decreased to N81.13 billion in August 2015 from N107.47 billion at the end of July 2015, representing a decline of 24.51 per cent. Domestic investors conceded about 11.38 per cent of trading to foreign investors compared to the 25.82 per cent they conceded in the previous month as domestic transactions increased from 37.09 per cent to 44.31 per cent while FPI transactions decreased from 62.91 per cent to 55.69 per cent over the same period. Data from the Nigerian Stock Exchange website yesterday showed that foreign portfolio investors’ inflows accounted for 22.69 per cent of total transactions while the outflows accounted for 33.00 per cent of the total transactions in August 2015. In comparison to the same period in 2014, total FPI transactions decreased by 26.51 per cent, whilst the total domestic transactions increased by 156.39 per cent. FPI outflows outpaced inflows which was consistent with the same period in 2014. Overall, there was a 7.46 per cent increase in total transactions in comparison to the same period in 2014. However, the total domestic transactions decreased by 28.75 per cent from January to August 2015. The institutional composition of the domestic market which was about 33.69 per cent at the end of January increased to 59.68 per cent at the end of August, whilst the retail composition decreased from 66.31 per cent to 40.32 per cent in the same period. Total FPI transactions of N616billion which accounted for 14.8 per cent of total transactions in 2007 increased over

the years to N1.539billion representing 57.5 per cent of total transactions in 2014, an increase of 42.7 per cent over the seven years period.

Domestic transactions on the other hand started at N3.556billion representing 85.2 per cent in 2007, but decreased significantly to

N1.137billion representing 42.5 per cent of total transactions in 2014, a sharp decline of 42.7 per cent in the seven years period.

AIRLINES’ FLIGHT SCHEDULES Med-View Airline Lagos- Abuja (Mon-Fri): 07.00, 08.50, 12.00, 16.30. Abuja- Lagos (Mon-Fri): 09.00, 14.00, 15.00, 18.30. Lagos-Yola (Mon-Fri): 8.50am. Yola-Lagos (Mon-Fri): 13.00. Lagos- PHC (Mon-Fri): 17.00. PHC-Lagos: 19.00. Abuja-Yola: 11.00. Yola-Abuja: 13.00. Lagos-Abuja (Sat): 08.00, 08.50. Abuja-Lagos (Sat): 10.00, 15.00. Lagos-PHC (Sat): 17.00. PHC-Lagos (Sat): 19.00. Lagos-Yola (Sat): 08.50. Yola-Lagos (Sat): 13.00

L-R: President Tractor Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria, TOOAN, Engr. Bitrus Elesha; Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Arc. Sonny Echono and the Ministry’s Special Adviser of Mechanization, Dr. Adekunle Ahmed, when a delegation of the TOOAN visited the ministry recently

Planned retrenchment: NUATE’s stance speculative –NAHCO Olusegun Koiki

he Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, NAHCO Plc, has described the allegation of planned retrenchment of its workforce by the National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, as speculative and pre-emptive. This is as the ground handling company also said that it would not shy away from consistently re-organising and restructuring initiatives to meet new challenges. A statement signed by the Manager, Communications & Corporate Services, NAHCO, Mr. Tayo Ajakaye, stated that NUATE as a leading union in the industry ought to have followed a better approach to thrash out all issues in contention at a meeting slated between it and the management

slated for later date. The company’s spokesman insisted that the allegation and threat of stiff opposition to its operations was an attempt by the union to coerce its management “to her predetermined conclusion. More concretely however, we all know that organisations restructure and re-organise to meet new challenges. NAHCO would not be an exception.” He further debunked the allegation of non-training and retraining of its staff by NUATE, stressing that no fewer than 32 staff of the ground handling company were on their way to South Africa on training to handle one of the major foreign airlines. Apart from this, he emphasized that other staff of the company were similarly on training for various airlines, maintaining that the recent 100 per cent certification from

the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, was related to training compliance. He stated: “A more diligent effort by the unions would have revealed how much was budgeted for training in the last two years and how the money was utilised. “Only recently, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, gave us a letter of commendation for total compliance on Aviation Security, AVSEC, training. If we had not been training our staff, how come all airlines audits have been so very successful?” he queried. It would be recalled that the union had on Monday accused NAHCO management of planning to retrench another batch of workforce in the system. The union also accused the management of not training and retraining its workforce as recommended by ICAO.

Dana Air Abuja-Lagos 9am, 1pm, 5.28pm daily Lagos-Abuja 7am, 11am, 1.23pm,3.30pm daily Lagos-PH: 7.20AM, Ph-Abuja9.54am, Abuja-ph: 3.30pm and Ph-Lagos: 5.28pm daily Lagos-Uyo: 9.20am, Uyo-Abuja: 11.07am, Abuja-Uyo 1.05pm, Uyo-Lagos: 3pm daily Weekends Lagos-Abuja: 7.02am, 9am, 3.30pm Abuja-Lagos: 9am, 2.20pm and 5.28pm Lagos -Phc: 11.07am Phc-Lagos: 1.05pm Phc-Abuja: 12.51pm Abuja-Phc: 10.50am Lagos-Uyo: 9.18am Uyo-LOS -3.03pm Uyo-Abuja: 11.07am Abuja-Uyo: 1.05pm

Aero Contractors Lag-Abj: 06.50, 13.30, 16.30, 19.45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun), 12.30 (Sun) 16.45 (Sat) Abj-Los: 07.30, 13.00, 19.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat, 10.30, 14.30, 19.30 (Sun, 18.30 Sat) Lag-Benin: 07.45, 11.00, 15.30 (Mon-Fri/Sat/ Sun) 12.30 (Sun 15.30 (Sat) Ben-Lag: 09.15, 12.30, 17.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) 17.00 (Sat) 14.00 (Sun)Lag-Owe: 7.45am, 2pm daily

Business News

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NAMA installs security, safety facilities in Kano, Lagos airports  Olusegun Koiki

s the September deadline for the take-off of the Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Contract/ Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (ADS-C/CPDLC) sets in, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, said it had commenced installation of project facilities in Kano and Lagos Area Control Centres, ACCs, simultaneously.

The agency had sometime set for itself end of this month for the take-off of the programme.  Media statement by the Ag. General Manager, Public Affairs, NAMA, Mrs. Olajumoke Adetona stated that the equipment, which included hardware and software systems consists of Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques, SITA, ATS AIRCOM systems, controller working positions, switches, display systems, modems and redundant power systems. Others are link connectivity platforms, Human Machine Interface, HMI, Air Traffic Situation Awareness Display, ACARS Access Gateways, AAG, FANS Front End Systems, FFE, Fame Simulators, work stations as well as recorder/replay systems. Speaking on the installation, the Managing Director of NAMA, Engr. Ibrahim

Abdulsalam expressed optimism that the quality of infrastructure being deployed by the agency and the expertise of trained personnel would further enhance the ongoing digitalisation of air traffic management systems in the country. Besides, NAMA said that it would continue to promote transparency, accountability, fiscal discipline and anti-corruption in all its operations and processes in line with the anti-graft posture of the Federal Government. Abdulsalam who made these remarks while receiving the delegation of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, recently at the agency’s headquarters in Lagos said that as the nation’s sole air navigation service provider whose mandate was safety-critical, the agency would work in close collaboration with ICPC in re-orienting staff on the ills of corruption and financial crimes in the system. He recalled that in keeping with this determination, NAMA sponsored a total of 16 staff to the recently concluded threeday anti-corruption training for aviation sector workers, which took place at the AntiCorruption Academy of Nigeria, ACAN, Keffi, Nasarawa State. He maintained that a corrupt-free aviation indus-

SA’s $50bn wind energy project impacts on lives SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

orried by the epileptic power situation and its devastating impact on businesses in the country, the South African government has invested over $50 billion into renewable energy, aimed at generating its electricity largely from coal. South Africa’s electricity sector, once operationally efficient, ran into major capacity constraints, resulting in power rationing as well as other measures instituted to prevent electricity system collapse. To address the situation, the government made a voluntary commitment to combat climate change, expected to reduce GHG emissions by 34 percent by the year 2020 and 42 percent by 2025. Eskom, the South Africa’s public electricity utility stated

that it had committed over $50 billion in investments over a five-year period to increase the then-current electricity capacity by 12.5 percent while aligning with the country’s commitment to transition into a low carbon economy. The company explained that given the climatic conditions in the country, potential wind power was estimated at 80 terawatt-hours (TWh) and considered as viable solution for renewable power generation. Since 2011, AfDB and the World Bank have been in partnership with the Climate Investment Funds and the French Agency for Development and Eskom to sustainably increase the country’s energy supply, aimed at improving access to electricity, economic growth and living conditions through construction of the Sere Wind Farm.

try would make for a safer Nigerian sky. Earlier in his remarks, the Zonal Commissioner of ICPC and leader of the delegation Mr. Shintema Binga told NAMA that their visit was to sensitise aviation agencies on the corruption risk assessment for the sec-

tor to be embarked upon by the commission in line with the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, signed in 2014 with the Ministry of Aviation in Lagos. Binga pointed out that the commission intended to do a system study of the

aviation sector, particularly Abuja and Lagos airports as major gateways in order to find out areas that could be prone to corruption and also come up with ways of addressing them.

L-R: Director, Administration & Human Resources, Office of the Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Mrs. Yetunde Adefolahan Odejayi, Her Excellency, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Idiat Oluranti Adebule, Manager Corporate & Social Responsibility, Etisalat Nigeria, Oyetola Oduyemi and Specialist, Government Relations, Etisalat Nigeria, Abbas Ahmed during a courtesy call on the Deputy Governor in Alausa, Ikeja recently.

Kellogg, Tolaram unveil plans to expand African market

ellogg Company announced on Tuesday a new, long-term partnership with leading food company, Tolaram Africa. The collaboration will significantly increasing Kellogg’s presence in the growing African market and advancing the company’s breakfast, snacks and emerging market strategies to drive future growth. Highlights of the announcement include, the creation of a joint venture between Kellogg Company and Tolaram Africa to develop snacks and breakfast foods for the West African market; and acquisition of 50 percent of Multipro, a premier sales and distribution company in Nigeria and Ghana; and the right to acquire a stake in Tolaram Africa Foods (which owns 49 percent of Dufil Prima) in the future. Dufil Prima manufactures and markets several leading food brands, including Indomie noodles, which are often consumed at breakfast, as well as Minimie snacks, Power oil and Power pasta. John Bryant, Chairman and CEO, Kellogg Company said: “As a region that is experiencing explosive growth, with a population of almost one billion people and an economy that is expected to more than

double over the next 10 years, Sub-Saharan Africa provides tremendous opportunity for our company. “Tolaram Africa has built a highly successful consumer products business and today, it is one of the largest food companies in Nigeria. Tolaram has a great track record of building beloved consumer brands, including the market leader Indomie noodles, and fueling their growth. This partnership is an excellent strategic fit for

Kellogg.” Multipro, established in 1997, has a strong sales and distribution infrastructure in Nigeria. Based in Lagos, the company provides access to approximately 1,000 exclusive distributors, 2600 employees and operates 19 warehouses, across six locations. It is also establishing similar networks in other key African countries including Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ethiopia.

World Bank warns on US rate rise

he World Bank has warned developing countries to brace themselves for possible financial turbulence when the US Federal Reserve starts to raise interest rates. It could come as early as Thursday when the Fed concludes a policy meeting. A new report from the World Bank says there will probably be a modest impact on developing countries. But it also warns there is some risk that it could be worse. The Bank says it is possible that there would be sufficient disruption to capital flows into developing countries to harm economic growth and financial

stability. US interest rates have been practically zero for more than six years and as the economy continues to recover, the Fed is sure to raise interest rates at some stage. The prospect has been a major concern for financial markets all year. Developing countries are bound to be affected when it happens and the first step might be imminent. The new World Bank report gives a number of reasons why developing nations should be able to cope without a great deal of fallout. Notably, the rate rise has been anticipated for a long time and it is likely to be a gradual process. Rates will not be raised rapidly.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business News

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Business leaders urged on hi-tech, apps’ usage SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

usiness leaders have been urged to be more innovative in the use of technology, e-Commerce as well as social media.

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, who gave the advice in Abuja, said innovative approach in technology leverage would create real value for critical stakeholders. Speaking as a discussant at the just-concluded 45th Annual Accountants’ Conference, organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, in the Federal Capital Territory, Ogunsanya noted that his company, Airtel Nigeria has pioneered this approach with the rolling-out of its ‘Catapult-a-Start-up Programme’, stressing that such is a unique designed to em-

power innovative application developers in the country. Ogunsanya however noted that the programme provided a good example of how a company can combine innovation with monetization, noting that Airtel under such initiative has empowered and transformed many lives with groundbreaking mobile application services. According to him, ‘’these innovative digital platforms are helping to resolve many issues like diesel delivery, boosting students’ performance at examinations, empowering job seekers while aiding e-commerce and cementing relationships among others. He specifically listed mobile application services such as Yuzah, a real time delivery platform that allows ordering of diesel in minutes; PassNG, an educational service that enables students prepare for

important examinations and PushCV, a service equipped to prepare job seekers for opportunities. Other apps developed under Airtel Catapult-a-StartUp Programme, according to him, include Advertising App, a mobile application that converts mobile phones to a highly efficient and effective advertising platform; MatchUp, a home grown social net-

work that connects people with strong focus on locality and users’ preferences; Alarm App, an app that alerts users in case of danger and Airtel Insurance, a programme that offers middle and low-income earners opportunity and access to life and hospital insurance. Ogunsanya, who spoke on the theme ‘’Innovative Business Models: Leveraging

Technology, E-Commerce and Social Media’’, however called for circumspection in use of social media, saying that legislation is required to deter invasion of privacy, just as laws regarding libel should be modified. He therefore submitted that regulations will help to prevent activities of perverts and other groups with ill intentions across digital sphere.

AfDB to unlock Africa’s energy potential SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

frican Development Bank, AfDB has concluded plans to unlock Africa’s huge energy potential at the ongoing Energy Week in Abidjan. President of the Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who harped on the importance of energy in socio-economic developments, said that Africa was blessed with limitless potential for solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal energy resources. According to him, unlocking the huge energy potential of Africa for the continent would be the major focus of the Bank which would be a leader on such critical issue. Stressing that nothing will be more important for Africa’s economic growth than hosting the Energy Week, Adesina said the series of events would include, high-level discussions as well as partnerships, focusing mainly on lighting-up and powering Africa. “We will be bold and creative, to build strategic partnerships on energy for Africa and harness resources from the public and private sectors. We will work closely with our political

leaders and support African countries to power their economies. As a Bank, we will launch a New Deal on Energy for Africa”, he stated. Energy Week, he added would create dialogue with key stakeholders and set new deals on energy for Africa to accelerate energy supply as well as access across the continent. Some of the activities slated for discussion at the event include, ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Policy & Investment; High Level Consultative Stakeholder Meeting; the 2nd West African Forum for Clean Energy Financing and the International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, West Africa Clean Energy Corridor Technical Workshop among others. Leading investors, project developers, policymakers, development institutions, entrepreneurs and heads of state are expected to attend. Participating projects were selected through a rigorous evaluation process in response to a call for proposals. Twenty projects were shortlisted and have received dedicated support and assistance from professional financing advisors to help structure bankable business plans and professional investment pitches.

Board member, International Federation of Accountants, IFAC, and the past president, ICAN, Gen. Sebastine Owuama (rtd) and the MD,/Chief Executive Officer, e-Tranzact, Mr. Valentine Obi at the just-concluded 45th Annual Accountants’ Conference, organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, in Abuja

CTO scribe, Taylor, sets broadband agenda for commonwealth countries Isaiah Erhiawarien

ecretary-General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, CTO, Mr. Shola Taylor, has pledged to tackle the unending tale of broadband challenge in countries of the Commonwealth while taking his oath of office in Nairobi on Tuesday. Taylor told over 400 participants from Commonwealth countries that CTO was determined to make a difference for all member countries in areas of affordable, universal and high-quality broadband access, adoption of adequate policies on Cybersecurity to protect businesses, financial systems, networks and vulnerable groups, especially children. He said that he addressed effective regulatory environments that protect consumers, but also attract and protect investments in the ICT sector and the use of ICT applica-

tions by all member countries in all spheres of economic and social activities, including e-governance, e-education, e-health as well as greater participation of the Commonwealth community at international fora on ICTs. Other areas that he promised to address were, international connectivity, and connectivity for rural communities, regulation, M-commerce and mobile money, the emerging consensus over the governance of the Internet, use of connectivity in health, education and agriculture, technology trends as well as youth and ICTs “I feel a high sense of responsibility to take this organisation to greater heights. It is indeed a big challenge and I am all set to build on the foundations of my predecessors. I did not take this job just to be seen talking. I want to make a difference and plant a new ICT tree at the CTO.” Taylor said. The Nairobi event was offi-

cially opened by the Minister of Information, Communications and Technology of Kenya, Dr Fred Okeng’o Matiang’i who led a farewell ovation for outgoing Secretary-General Professor Tim Unwin, invited the audience to commit more of their efforts towards greater broadband access and use. “As an ICT fraternity gathered at this 2015 CTO Forum, I believe we have the responsibility to explore more on how the Commonwealth region can effectively use broadband as a tool for change”, Matiang’i said. Speaking of the progress achieved by Kenya, Francis Wangusi, Director-General of the country’s Communications Authority said that “digital services such as e-banking, e-health, ecommerce, e-education are now a mantra among Kenyans as more and more people access affordable smart devices.”

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Steel & Mining Industry

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Miners, NLC synergize against corrupt practices in mining sector Stories by CHIDI UGWU, ABUJA

he Nigerian Union of Mines Workers, NUMW, has called on the Federal Government to adopt a pragmatic approach that will lead to solving the problems of the country’s mining sector.

National President of the union, Comrade Hamza Mohammed, who made the appeal at a sidelines of a rally organised by the Nigerian Labour Congress in conjunction with the Nigerian Union of Mines Workers and other unions in Abuja, commended the anti-corruption stance of the Buhari administration and urged the President to ensure that the war against corruption was conclusive. Mohammed said that the Nigerian mining sector has the potential to provide ample jobs to Nigerians, stressing that there are countries that relied on solid minerals for economic sustenance and development. He cited countries such as Canada and Australia as among those already making huge profits from mining and development of their solid minerals resources, adding that the countries excelled to great positions of economic power even in the international scene as a result of good leadership.

Mining plant

He however lamented: “It is sad that in Nigeria the situation is different; the Nigerian situation is very pathetic because Nigeria has abundant mineral resource deposits which have not been harnessed because of the over-dependence on petroleum by various governments in power.

ABUCCI wants FG to give priority to mining sector T he Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ABUCCI) has called on the Federal Government to give priority to the mining sector in the quest to diversify the nation’s economy. The President of the chamber, Mr Tony Ejinkeonye who made the call in Abuja recently, said successive administrations had not given adequate attention to the sector, which he said, has great potential and opportunities. He said if fully maximised, the sector could generate huge revenue for government, adding that non-development of the sector contributed to the high rate of poverty in various communities in the country. Ejinkeonye said currently, only a few companies in the country were involved in gold mining in spite of the nation’s impressive record of mining gold in the past. He said lack of information and records of gold deposits were partly responsible for dearth of investors in

gold mining, noting that the poor record was a challenge to the sector. He advised government at all levels to make the development of the mining sector cardinal policy of their administration. The ABUCI president said that for the country to grow rapidly and have visible development, the issue of diversifying from crude oil to non-oil sectors must be given priority. Ejinkeonye expressed worries over the low contribution of mining sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ``Imagine mining activities contributing or accounting for just 0.3 per cent of the nation’s GDP, this does not speak well for a nation that wants to liberate its people from poverty and unemployment. ``It is time to make available information and design well articulated policies such as external trade and investment guarantee policy on mining activities in the country.”

“I hope you know that it is right to say that the failure of past administrations to develop the country’s mining sector is a kind of corruption. “Corruption should be extended to include inordinate activities that even include decisions and ideas, not just money. “So we are here to lend support to our comrade President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba who is determined to support President Buhari in the fight against corruption. “We have started a serious quest to revive the lost glory of the Nigerian mining sector, and we will not relent until we get there,” adding

that ‘getting there’ means harnessing the enormous potentials of the mining sector to create jobs for as many people as possible, industrial development, proper funding of the solid minerals sector, better pay for workers, safety of workers, job security and a lot more”, he added. Hamza urged miners to take caution against corruption at their own level, adding that in order to win the antigraft war, artisanal miners “must be steadfast, and they must work hard in order to succeed. Only when we work hard will we excel. Public funds at their domain and even private funds should be managed properly”

Equatorial Guinea hosts National Coordinators of EITI

quatorial Guinea on Monday hosted the three-day Second Meeting of National Coordinators of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)

Fidel Mañé Ncogo, Delegate Minister of Mines, Industry and Energy, who represented the Minister, opened This meeting is a continuation of a first gathering held last June in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast. The objective of these meetings is for African countries to find a common position before the next EITI Global Conference, to be held in Lima, Peru in February 2016. Participants will discuss ongoing developments in the EITI standard and the impact it is having on African countries to be compliant. The EITI member countries participating in the meeting are: Congo, Sen-

egal, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone. Equatorial Guinea and Gabon are attending observers. All African members of the EITI Board are attending the meeting. Cesar Augusto Hinestrosa Gomez, EITI Director General, said: “That all countries have selected Equatorial Guinea to host this important meeting reinforces our commitment to become a member of EITI.” The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is an international organization that manages financial transparency and improved governance in extractive industries such as mining and oil and gas. Equatorial Guinea is currently applying to join EITI.

Info Tech

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Government’s apathy hampers internet penetration agenda While several reports about the increasing internet penetration in the country have painted a glorious success of that sector, a careful look at the holistic impact on all Nigerians suggest that rural people have not actually been captured in the success story, writes Isaiah Erhiawarien

espite the huge figures declared about internet penetration in country, particularly with mobile internet there are fears that present level of access does not make for the effective running of E-learning programme in Nigeria. National Mirror investigation revealed that what is actually drummed as success story of internet penetration in the media does not actually reflect the reality on ground. The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, reported in its Monthly Internet Subscriber Data that the number of internet users on the country’s telecom networks increased to more than 93 million in July saying that internet user on both the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks increased to about 735,239 in July. In otherwise, the number of subscribers that surf the internet in June was put at 92,816,572 and increased to 93,551,811 in July with a breakdown detailing that 93,403,147 internet users access the internet via in the GSM networks, while 148,664 users went through the CDMA platform. More details on the mobile internet penetration figure by the regulator exposed the performance of each mobile network operator as to the number of internet users on their network. Specifically, the NCC said that internet users on MTN Nigeria was 40,485,670, Globacom had 19,330,549, Airtel Nigeria 17,605,852 and Etisalat 15,393,860 while the only surviving CDMA operator had 148,461 internet users on its network and moribund Multilinks recording 203 internet. Although the figures appears mind blowing, yet Mr. Richard Hurst, Programme Overseer, E-learning Africa Programme in Nigeria said that reliance of the e-learning on the internet is something that most Nigerians are worried about, as broadband penetration is still an issue. Hurst however admitted that he had seen drastic improvement within the last few years, which gave him the confidence to make the e-learning platform available to Nigerians. He noted that Nigeria is moving forward with internet and WiFi but that network is very important, because specifically its courses are built for online. Internet access for most Nigerians living in the rural area is still a challenge, according to the former President of the Nigerian Internet Group, Engr. Bayo Banjo who has

been in vanguard of ensuring that Nigerians outside the urban cities have access to fast and reliable internet but at an affordable cost. He said that much of what is being declared as internet penetration is limited to the urban area because the provision of the internet services is a business decision and as such most of the telecos are not willing to go top areas that do not offer economics of scale to them. Banjo revealed that the high cost of bandwidth is also responsible for the low internet penetration in the rural area noting the cost of living in the rural area does not make for economic sense for them to spend much on internet access. According to him, he has at several times advised the government to give incentives to the telecos that will stimulate their interest in deploying internet infrastructure to the rural people. He explained that if internet services for the rural people is subsidize by government, the movement of the telecos to the rural as well as the patronage could help to bring the subsidy to zero level in the future. Banjo, whose is also the Managing Director of Disc Communication located in Lagos said that MainOne is willing to move to the rural if there is a high volume customer base adding that the reason why the telecos and the other internet services providers are concentrated in Lagos was because of the high volume customer base potentials. In response to the challenges, the Universal Service Provision Fund, USPF was established by government to promote policies that “enable universal service obligations to be met in areas where traditional market conditions fail to work. In disadvantaged areas, the establishment of ICT public access points in places such as post offices, schools, libraries and archives, can

Banjo provide effective means for ensuring universal access to the infrastructure and services of the Information Society.” It was meant to facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for universal access and universal service to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural, un-served and under-served areas in Nigeria. In line with that initiative, the USPF in 2013, carried out a study with the objective of identifying clusters of voice telephony and transport network gap in the country. The result of the study would assist the USPF in designing projects and strategies to cover these gaps and ensure that everyone irrespective of locality is connected in the 21st century Nigeria.

the provision of the internet services is a business decision and as such most of the telecos are not willing to go top areas that do not offer economics of scale to them

In all, a total of 207 clusters were established with an estimated population of about 36.8 million people. However, it was gathered most rural Nigeria are still to enjoy internet access even after almost 20 years of telecoms revolution in Nigeria. For instance, that most part Sokoto, Calabar, Ogun state, Delta, Enugu state and Kaduna do not have reliable internet access, when they do cost is very high and with a low speed making it difficult to access the internet effortlessly. Last year, WhiteSpaces, a Nigerian startup, began a project that employs the unused spaces between TV channels to deliver affordable and high speed mobile and wireless internet broadband access to unserved and underserved Nigerians. The project focus on low end users and rural areas using TV WhiteSpaces technology. TV white spaces are unused gaps between TV channels in the UHF spectrum. Founder Mark Afolabi said then that Internet access is a really big deal, with the 6-7 percent broadband penetration in Nigeria saying that the Internet and the Web have transformed our lives and the way we live. Although nothing heard yet about the development, yet industry analyst believed that much of the success rural internet access depends on the government.

Info Tech

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

MTNF invests over N30bn on CSR programmes Raspberry Pi gets first touch screen display in 10 years Isaiah Erhiawarien

obile network operator, MTN Nigeria, has invested over N30 billion in the last ten years to bring succour to the life of many Nigerians using the platform of its corporate social responsibility, CSR, organisation, MTN foundation.

lmost a year after announcing its plans, the Raspberry Pi Foundation debuted its official touchscreen for DIY hardware hackers. A year after it was first announced, the Raspberry Pi touch display was finally launched recently. The new component means Raspberry Pi hackers can now experiment with an officially sanctioned 7-inch, 800-by-480, 10-point multi-touch LCD display for their Pi projects. The touchscreen does cost more than the Pi itself, but that comes down to component costs. The screen uses a display serial interface (DSI) and digital parallel interface (DPI) that requires a driver board to interface with the Pi. The display also requires its own power connection, which can be shared with the Pi over USB. The connection between the Pi and the driver board relies on the DSI interface leaving the Pi’s HDMI port free to power a second display. You can read all about the display adapter decisions on the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s blog. When you first get it, the display will also require a bit of assembly since the driver board and a few cables need to be connected to the display first. Future versions of the touchscreen will come already assembled. The impact on you at home: You can definitely find cheaper displays, but typically not at this size or quality. The new Raspberry Pi touchscreen is available now from the Foundation’s Swag Store, as well as a limited number of Raspberry Pi suppliers. More retailers will get the touchscreen later in the week. The new touchscreen works with Raspberry Pi 2 model B, Raspberry Pi B+, and Raspberry Pi model A+. The new screen also requires the latest version of Raspbian to work correctly. Gordon Hollingworth, the Pi Foundation’s director of software, said the development of the touchscreen took much longer than anticipated. “I honestly believed it would only take us six months from start to end,” he said. “But there were a number of issues we met.” The group wanted a display that would offer quality color reproduction, high-quality pixels, good contrast ratio, a solid viewing angle, and relatively affordable price. There was also the consideration of finding a manufacturer that could be counted on to deliver the same display for a longer period of time. “We can’t just buy a display that’s used in your standard iDevice, because it is likely to be canceled when the iCompany decides to move to another manufacturer,” Hollingsworth said. In the end, the company went with a display that supports the 800-by-480 resolution at 60 frames per second, 24-bit color, and offers a 70-degree viewing angle.

The investment covered three key areas of human existence, which include health, education and economic empowerment with specific target at the less privileged Nigerians and the unfortunate citizens of the country. In the last 10 years of the Foundation, 451 blind students across the country have received educational scholarship at university level as well as other health and economic empowerment such as the lady mechanic initiative. Details of the melody of hope that the company has been offering to Nigerians were unveiled on Tuesday at the first MTNF CSR conference and 10 years anniversary of the foundation, which was attended by all board members of the Foundation including the immediate past gov-

ernor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola. Most inspiring in the hope that MTNF has given in the last ten years was the story of a boy who at the age of five had his face and arms disfigured by domestic fire. The Foundation did not only sponsored a plastic surgery abroad that gave him a new look but at the marking of the 10 years of the MTNF gave him a scholarship of N2 million to study architecture at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the event, Executive Secretary of the MTNF, Nonny Ugboma said that the MTNF was form at a time when there was no CSR structure in the country to learn from saying since because there was none then in the telecoms sector; it made MTN the pioneer in telecoms CSR. She disclosed that with the one percent profit after tax support from its parent company the MTNF was able to achieve what it has achieved in the last ten years. While appreciating the contribution from its stakeholders

towards the MTNF course and describing them as part of the success story of the MTNF, she said that the Foundation has been able to use the resources at disposal to achieve a lot in the interest of Nigerians. According to her, the MTNF was able to achieve a lot through the patronage of its customers stressing that they were responsible for the successful execution of 341 projects across the country. Chairman of the MTNF, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi disclosed that the prior to the formation of the Foundation, a detail research was conducted by Philips Consulting that led to the recommendation that the MTNF focus on the health, education and economic empowerment. He added that various stakeholders consultation were also held whereby participants were drawn from both the public and private sector through inputs were generated to enable the Foundation to prioritise where to focus on projects that are sustainable, has impact and can be replicated in the six geopolitical zones of the country.

. L-R: Nollywood actress, Ini Edo; Comedienne and On Air Personality, Helen Paul; Deputy Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Wasiu Eshinlokun Samuel and Yoruba Nollywood actor Odunlade Adeola at the Victoria Island Lagos edition of Globacom’s comedy and music concert, Glo Laffta Fest (season) 4.

Samsung flags off ‘Dream Your Dream’ campaign Isaiah Erhiawarien

amsung Electronics West Africa has unveiled a new campaign that is intended to inspire young Nigerians to achieving their dreams in life.

The campaign with the brand theme, Dream Your Dream, will nurture the aspiration of young Nigerians who have great dreams with the potential to impact the country positively.

Managing Director, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Brovo Kim, disclosed that the company understands the desire of people to succeed in the pursuit of their dreams is enhanced by their ability to access the needed resources stressing that that prompted the theme. He said that Samsung’s culture of innovation is reaching beyond products, helping people realise their dreams by drawing on the company’s entrepreneur-

ial spirit to provide its customers a window to the world noting that “Our commitment to the success of the country has led to the launch of our new theme, Dream Your Dream.” Director, Information Technology and Mobile at Samsung, Mr. Emmanouil Revmatas explained that the campaign tends to inspire progress and spur dreams to success saying that “Nursing a dream is one thing, seeing it to fruition is another.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Info Tech

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Government Technology

SA sustains investment on digital broadcasting, as Nigeria defers migration Isaiah Erhiawarien

hile Nigeria has shifted the digital migration owning to financial constraints, the South African government on the other hand has ordered 1.5m STBs from manufacturers in order to assist the broadcast industry in SA to migrate easily and also to cushion its effect on its citizens

Government placed the first order of set-top-boxes with manufacturers for the country’s digital migration process, the Chief Executive Officer, Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA), Zami Nkosi said. The order forms part of government’s plans to subsidise five million poor TV-owning households by providing free STBs, as the country prepares to switch from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT). According to Nkosi, production of STBs began between the end of August and early September. Earlier this year, USAASA awarded the tender to manufacture STBs to 26 companies, which were bidding to be sole producers of the digital migration process. This move was met with resistance as manufacturers were left unsure as to how they would be con-

tracted to produce the STBs. Nkosi was also unclear as to which manufacturers have been contracted to produce government’s first order of STBs. “Only SABC-certified companies at the time of ordering. There is an internal allocation model guided by section 217 of the Constitution.” The DOC’s DTT programme manager, Dr Fhatuwani Mutuvhi, also noted the department is unaware of which manufacturers are currently producing the STBs, as the DOC only places orders with USAASA, which then contracts the STB producers. Mutuvhi said USAASA confirmed the manufacturing process of STBs is under way, following the appointment of manufacturers by USAASA. “The South African Post Office will start with the registration process of poor TV-owning households in the Northern Cape next month and this will be followed by the registration in the border-lying areas across the country, including Skelpadnest in Thabazimbi,” he said. Although SA missed the International Telecommunication Union’s 17 June deadline for all countries to switch from analogue to digital signal, just like Nigeria, the DOC has finally committed to providing free STBs for digital migration. DOC minister, Faith Muthambi announced that poor TV-owning

NDIC Managing Director, Alh. Umaru Ibrahim (centre) presenting the Commission’s in-house publications to the President/ Chairman of Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, Otunba (Mrs.) Debola Osibogun, when she led a team of the Institute’s Council members and Registrar on a courtesy visit to NDIC’s headquarters in Abuja. households in Nzhelele, Limpopo, will be the first to receive free STBs as the area prepares to switch from analogue to a digital television signal. According to Muthambi, the DOC has prioritised SA’s border-lying areas to be the first to receive STBs and migrate to digital television. “Nzhelele is not far away from the Beitbridge border; we’ve indicated as

government that we are going to prioritise the border-lying areas in order to protect the array and the country from radio signal interference.” In May this year, the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, NBC told Nigerians that it will not be joining the rest of the world in the digital broadcast migration blaming it on the inability of federal government to grant the commission’s request of N60 billion needed to fund the proj-

ect. Director General, NBC, Mr Emeka Mba told journalist that “We cannot achieve the Digital Switch Over byJune 17 this year. We have done a lot to meet the deadline but failed to achieve our target due to the funding challenge. Given the funding challenge, the Commission will not recommend hard switch off by the set date.”

Financial Technology

SAP advocates oil & gas software deployment to tackle market crisis Stories by Isaiah Erhiawarien

he introduction of oil and gas software into the global oil industry will tackle the current challenges besetting the industry. Experts at SAP Africa who advocated for the embrace of software in that regard said that it can help shift the focus from volume to value saying that embracing the leaner approach requires large cultural shifts within oil and gas organisations. Head of Sales, Energy &Natural Resources at SAP Africa, Pedro Guerreiro, said that in a press statement that the industry needs the right technology platform, such as the SAP oil and gas software noting that through a modern business technology solution, oil and gas companies are able to gain a real-time overview of their operations. He called for the consolidation of processes within the sector to deliver operational excellence as well as eliminate the inefficiencies bedeviling the system noting

that the oil and gas industry has a rich history of tough fights and volatility which has not stopped it going where the resources are, no matter how wild, deep or challenging the environment. However, said Guerreiro, this tenacity may be floundering in the face of the combined challenges of newfound shale gas reserves in the US, the slowdown of China’s economy and political instability in several oil-rich areas, particularly around the Middle East and North Africa. He observed that the consequences on the oil and gas industry include oversupply, huge budget cuts in exploration and production, continued staff layoffs and, in some cases, the total exiting of certain geographies, and the gas boom, plunging gas prices to an all-time low. Guerreiro said there may yet be breathing room in upstream oil and gas as the industry is shifting from a “produce at all cost” mindset to one that favours producing in context. He said: “Production manage-

ment has become a number one priority as companies move from traditional volume growth to squeezing their investments.” According to him, this approach implies that companies are keen to sweat their assets, bet-

ter manage inventories, aggregate buying across divisions, increase midstream and downstream investment which are still largely untouched by market turmoil and make efficiency a call to action. He said that a company can dis-

cover many hidden efficiencies in its systems by gaining a 360 degree view of operations stressing that this starts at the data collected from intelligent wells, determining volume and trending their future performance.

EMC latest product hits $1bn

MC Corporation has announced that its EMC XtremIO all-flash array business product had achieved $1 billion in aggregate bookings in just over 18 months since its commercial market debut. This makes the product quite possibly, the fastestgrowing innovation in EMC’s 36-year history. As reported in EMC’s second quarter 2015 earnings, XtremIO revenue growth exceeded 300 per cent yearly, and remains the all-flash array market segment leader. Described as the industry’s

first and only all-flash array, which provides consistent and predictable extreme performance to any application workload over any period of time, the EMC’s XtremIO features several unique flash innovations. According to the vendor company the product provides a scale-out multi-controller architecture with linear scalability, duplication that is always on, and always inline, and data protection that is six times more efficient and four times faster than traditional RAID (redundant array of indepen-

dent disks). EMC said that the XtremIO is integrated within the EMC ecosystem to provide additional capabilities, easeof-use, compatibility, and simply meets the right market need saying that XtremIO enables IT application and storage opportunities for the next decade. The company added that its success is proof of how organisations of all sizes are using XtremIO to achieve data center agility in ways never thought possible before.

Global News

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

troubles continue with GE moves turbine jobs to Toshiba new losses and falling sales Europe, China J

eneral Electric Co (GE.N) said on Tuesday it will move 500 U.S. power turbine manufacturing jobs to Europe and China because it can no longer access U.S. Export-Import Bank financing after Congress allowed the agency’s charter to lapse in June. The largest U.S. industrial conglomerate said France’s COFACE (COFA.PA) export agency has agreed to support some of GE’s global power project bids with a new line of credit in exchange for moving production of heavy-duty gas turbines to Belfort, France, along with 400 jobs. U.S. facilities in Greenville, South Carolina; Schenectady, New York; and Bangor, Maine, will lose out on those jobs if GE wins the power bids, a GE spokeswoman said. GE also said 100 additional jobs involved in packaging aeroderivative gas turbines will move next year from outside of Houston to Hungary and China. No U.S. facility will close, a GE spokeswoman said. The company is bidding on $11 billion worth of international power projects that require export credit agency financing, including some in Indonesia. It will soon announce agreements with other foreign export credit agencies to finance GE products, GE Vice Chairman John Rice said. “If the EXIM bank were open, it would be business as usual,” GE Rice

GE turbine

said in a telephone interview. “If you’re an export credit agency outside the U.S., you are now in the process of rolling out the red carpet to U.S. manufacturers,” Rice said. “There are many other companies other than us that are impacted by this.” Aerospace giant Boeing Co (BA.N) has also said it was considering moving work overseas due to uncertainty over the future of the EXIM bank. Given the bitter fight in Congress over EXIM’s future, Rice said GE cannot afford to wait and must make other long-term financing arrangements for large industrial projects. “If EXIM isn’t going to happen, or it’s going to be a regular fight to be reauthorized, we’ve got to make other plans,” he said. Conservative Republicans in Con-

gress who say that EXIM represents “corporate welfare” and “crony capitalism” successfully blocked renewal of the 81-year-old export credit agency’s charter at the end of June. EXIM supporters have thus far been unsuccessful in attaching renewal to other legislation, but new efforts are expected this autumn as Congress considers government “must-pass” agency funding, a transportation bill and an increase in the federal debt limit. GE last year vowed to add 1,000 jobs in France to gain the blessing of the French government for the U.S. conglomerate’s acquisition of the power business of France’s Alstom (ALSO.PA). GE won European regulatory approval for the deal last week, and expects it to close by the end of the year.

Apple boosts market share on mobiles ad-blocking

pple Inc’s (AAPL.O) move to make ad-blocking software available on the iPhone is a double-barrelled effort to boost the health of the so-called app economy, while undermining arch rival Google Inc (GOOGL.O), which dominates the $120 billion online advertising market. The new version of the iPhone operating system, to be released Wednesday, will for the first time allow customers to download thirdparty software that strips out marketing messages such as banner and video ads when people surf the web via the Safari browser.

Apple CEO, Tim-Cook

A slew of ad-blocking apps for iPhones are expected to launch this week. But Apple’s new approach will not affect advertising inside applications such as Facebook (FB.O), casual games like those from Supercell or King (KING.N), or even Apple’s own apps. Apple is in effect nudging big brands to shift spending to apps, rather than traditional online ads where Google leads. Ad-blocking software has been growing rapidly on desktop computers, led by early adopters among techsavvy young people, but until now was rare on mobiles. Some 200 million people used ad blockers last year, up 40 percent from a year earlier, resulting in $22 billion in lost advertising revenue, according to a study by Adobe and PageFair, an anti ad-blocking tech company. Although only about 5 percent of Internet users globally use the tools, they are especially popular in Europe. In Germany and Poland, for instance, the figure is above 30 percent. Broad adoption of ad-blocking would bring a new set of headaches for online publishers, many of whom are already struggling with plummeting ad prices.

In a nod to publishers’ concerns, Apple will also on Wednesday launch a new app, called News, which will allow media companies to bypass blockers to serve their own ads or let Apple sell ads and share the revenue. Google, too, could take a hit from Apple’s making ad-blocking mainstream, if its own search advertising, as well as the banner ads it manages for publishers through its DoubleClick unit, were regularly blocked by a significant portion of web surfers. Apple has not publicly explained why it decided to allow ad blockers on its mobile phones, but Chief Executive Tim Cook gave a hint in June when he criticized internet companies for violating people’s privacy to boost ad revenue. “They’re gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it,” Cook said in a speech. “We think that’s wrong. And it’s not the kind of company that Apple wants to be.” Ad-blocking tools should help web pages load much faster on mobiles, as they strip out so-called scripts and trackers that are used to serve up the ads. Some early pilots have shown media outlets like Vice and the New York Times loading twice as fast.

apan’s troubled Toshiba has posted a first-quarter net loss for the three months to June as sales fell to their lowest point in two and a half years. The firm said in a statement that its net losses for the quarterly period were 12.3 billion yen ($102m; £66m). It noted poor performances in its televisions, home appliances and personal computer businesses. Last week, the Tokyo-based firm released a full-year net loss of $318m for the year to March 2015. The full-year numbers had been delayed amid a recent accounting scandal. In its first quarter results statement released on Monday, Toshiba said Japan’s domestic economy had not shown signs of acceleration because of sluggish performance by smaller businesses that depended on domestic demand. It also said Japan as a whole was experiencing a decrease in

consumer spending due to a decline in real incomes and exports. Japan, which is the world’s third largest economy, last week announced a revised fall in private consumption to 0.7% from a previous estimate of 0.8%. The country relies on domestic consumption for about 60% of its economy. Toshiba said it would not announce a forecast for its full-year to March 2016 figures at this point “as [it] continues to carefully evaluate the operational impacts of inappropriate accounting”.

Kenji Urai

Wireless executive jailed after BlackBerry leak

former wireless retail executive was sentenced to five months in prison Tuesday for selling confidential industry information to an analyst whose subsequent 2013 report on sales of BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO)’s newest smartphone sent the company’s stock price downward. James Dunham, 60, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock in Boston to serve five months of home confinement after his prison term and to pay $76,000 in light of his June guilty plea to a wire fraud charge. The sentence was confirmed by the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz in Boston and came in the first case spilling out of its investigations into the black market for secret corporate information that exists outside of insider trading. Dunham, a resident of Glastonbury, Connecticut, was the former chief operating officer of Wireless

BlackBerry product

Zone, which operates more than 400 franchise Verizon Wireless outlets. According to prosecutors and court papers, Dunham entered a secret consulting relationship with an analyst at Boston-based financial firm Detwiler Fenton in 2010 to provide wireless industry information in exchange for $2,000 per month. Prosecutors said the information gave the analyst “real time” insight into what happened at the franchiser’s stores and was used for research reports sent to investors. The scheme came to light in April 2013 after Dunham provided information about a company’s newly released smartphone, prosecutors said. While not identified in court papers, the manufacturer matches the description of BlackBerry, whose launch of the Z10 smartphone was considered critical to the troubled company.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, September 17 2015

Brands & Marketing

NIMN’s quest for pan-African marketing curriculum faces hurdles It was a highly celebrated partnership event last year as two of Africa’s marketing bodies came together to tinker with the idea of how harmonization of marketing education at the continental level could be translated to reality. One year after, indications show that as desirable as the idea is, getting it implemented may be difficult than earlier imagined by its proponents. DAVID AUDU reports.

he National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, NIMN and its South African counterpart, the Institute of Marketing Management, IMM, where optimistic that harmonising marketing education curriculum would enhance marketing practice across Africa, as holders of the harmonised certificates would be accepted to practice marketing in any of the affiliated countries. But that euphoria has since gone sour as it became obvious that the two marketing bodies have not done the groundwork for such a pan African project. But the news was broken by no other person than the current president of the Nigerian marketing institute, Mr. Ganiyu Koledoye who told journalists recently during a media chart ahead of the bodies AGM scheduled for Enugu this November. Koledoye, in a sombre tone said in view of the federal government’s indisposition to distance and online learning they have no option than to shelve the idea for now until all grey areas have been resolved. However, industry analyst are surprised that the lofty ideal that actually informed the initial plan between the two institutions to embark on the pan African certification of marketers in collaboration with the African Marketing Council, AMC, should become a victim of a local education policy? It should be noted that the philosophy behind the vision was not different from the reality of the moment when regional integration and collaboration are being pursued globally to achieve competitive economic advantage. Over the decades regional integration has been a sort after tool for Africa’s economic and political development policy. At various levels, there were consensus to do so, but all along the political will has been lagging. The challenge has always been how to effectively implement agreed policies and

Ganiyu Koledoye

BUT THAT EUPHORIA HAS SINCE GONE SOUR AS IT BECAME OBVIOUS THAT THE TWO MARKETING BODIES HAVE NOT DONE THE GROUNDWORK FOR SUCH A PAN AFRICAN PROJECT create conditions that will result in deeper market understanding, trade integration and human capital development that will deliver concrete results to the people of Africa. The imperative of the vision was also butressed by a Deloitte report which noted that “Africa’s middle class has tripled over the last 30 years, and the current trajectory suggests that the African middle class will grow to 1.1 billion in 2060, making it the world’s fastest growing continent. This growth, coupled with the forecasted GDP growth of over 6 per cent, which the International Monetary Fund, IMF, predicted, will certainly drive potential for retail growth on the continent with significant increasing purchasing power and consumer demands. What this means is that there will be pressure on marketers to service this demand, hence the need to have well trained and qualified marketer to drive the change, and also marketers who are able to move across the continent without suffering from the encumbrance of local certification. It is this future growth within the marketing sector in view that some institutions have found it imperative to move the integration of the region a notch higher by agreeing to collaborate on how to ensure that marketers operate on the continent unhindered, especially, in the area of qualification and certifications. Koledoye during a meeting with representatives of IMM in Lagos last year had said the harmonisation of education syl-

labus for African marketers has become imperative in view of Nigeria’s increasing role on the continent, and the need to ensure uniform qualifications for marketer so that they can practice anywhere on the continent. “We want to ensure that Nigerians catch up with marketing development with the rest of Africa. If we are going to be the next big market, then, we have to properly position ourselves to provide the input; otherwise you will just be a consumer. We want to participate fully, not in the exchange of commodities alone, but in terms of knowledge and ideas. We have been concerned with the place of marketing on the continent, and particularly the role of Nigeria in shaping marketing direction. Presenting the IMM perspective on the issue Group Sales and Marketing Manager Mr. Kevin Mottram, noted that IMM consider it as a matter of responsibility in Africa as Africans to collaborate with our partners and other institutions on how to drive the marketing profession on the continent. “We feel marketing should not be seen as secondary to any other profession, and therefore we should stand up to take our rightful place in any business and organization. He said the partnership was important to them at IMM and therefore they seek to review the marketing certification, such that marketers con consider the possibility of lifelong education. We want to develop a marketing education system such that marketers can start their base education in La-

gos, Nigeria, continue in Lusaka and on to Johannesburg without disruption, and that these certificates would be accepted by all AMC countries. These indeed were not mere quest for certificates but a professional body seeking relevance within a sub region. That was why it is curious that such a programme could be put on hold because of National Universities Commission, NUC, decision not to recognise distance learning and correspondence certificate. After all some may ask when has professional body such as NIMN come under direct supervision of the NUC in their quest for professional certification. While it should be recalled that the NUC, in recent times have called on Nigerians to stop patronizing online universities and other degree awarding institutions operating online, those in the know believe the NUC policy does not directly affect NIMN. Though the NUC’s Public Relations officer, Ibrahim Yakasai, said that degrees obtained online are not accepted in the country, it affect only those seeking degrees and certificate within the NUC purview, which experts believe NIMN professional certification does not belong. Investigations have revealed that the real reason for resting the project may not be as a result of NUC’s directives on online and correspondence programme, rather on the ability of the marketing institutions to meet with the criteria of such an ambitious project. Competent sources who confided in National Mirror said it was not because NUC was not disposed to correspondence course. “The partnership thing was dropped because it could not sail through. Let me tell you, yes, NUC was involved and NUC was not responsible for it being dropped. Before the partnership with IMM came up, NIMN had approached the NUC for a full fledged university for marketing, but when they were given the criteria for accrediting such a university, it became obvious that they were not ready for it. They were advised to drop the idea “The NIMN and IMM partnership for correspondence was the second plan, and again the two parties did not actually think through the whole process, so the project had to die a natural death, at least for now. I don’t think attributing the shelving of the project to NUC was the appropriate thing to do”. Analysts also believe the body did not do its home work before rushing to announce the partnership.

Brands & Marketing

Thursday, September 17, 2015

OOH 2014 audit report puts ad spends at N30.6bn DAVID AUDU

n audit of the Out of Home, OOH, media adspend for 2014 by TMKG puts media spend in Nigeria at N30.66 billion. This represents seven per cent increase from 2013 figures. Telecoms category is the most active sector using billboards, while Beer is the second most active category. Unsold inventory increased by 57 per cent while Digital OOH display grew by 22 per cent. These are some of the findings in TMKG Consulting’s latest out of home media audit. Annually, TMKG Consulting, Nigeria’s leading OOH and BTL Audit and Performance evaluation agency conducts extensively field work throughout Nigeria. It audits all the billboards in Nigeria, recording key advertiser, site and media owner information.

The report captioned ‘Outsight!’ is the product of an audit of the entire Nigerian OOH landscape covering over 150 cities and towns. According to TMKG’s CEO, Chike Oputa. “The report follows our comprehensive census of all displays in the country, numbering over 11,000, excluding indoor panels but covering over 50 OOH formats on road side, rooftops, walls and at the airports, including 105 product categories and 1000 brands with over 50 000 photos taken. Telecom category, long reputed for its big budget, topping ad spend on the medium followed by the beer, government/political, bank and carbonated soft drinks categories. Total category expenditure for the telecom brands was in excess of 6 billion Naira. Among the brands, telecom advertisers also dominated investment on OOH with Glo emerging the biggest spender. The top five

brands also included, Airtel, MTN, Etisalat and Star brand. In terms of spend by market, Lagos the country’s commercial nerve still remains the city of choice for outdoor media investment accounting for about 50% of total outdoor investment. Lagos along with Ibadan (in the south west of the country), Abuja (the nation’s political capital), Port Harcourt (the oil rich city by the coastal south) and Aba (the market city in the east) were reported as the top 5 cities with the most number of outdoor media displays. With over 120 media owners operating in the sector, New Crystal Communications, Invent Media, Marketing+Media, Optimum Exposures, Afromedia and Rocana are among the top media owners by revenue. There appears to be a glut in the market with over a quarter of total Outdoor hoarding in the market unsold.

L-R: CEO of Instinctwave and Group Publisher of MarketingWorld, Mr Akin Naphtal, Group Editor MarketingWorld , Mrs Kehinde Olesin; Social Media Executive, Mr Matthew Adejobi, at the 5th edition of MarketingWorld press conference in Lagos

Kroll foresees brighter outlook for services in Nigeria DAVID AUDU

roll, a business intelligence and risk solutions firm has seen a spike in demand for its services in Nigeria. The expansion of investment advisory services to indigenous and international corporations and institutions is significant to the growing interest in the country’s economy. Speaking during a visit to Lagos, Senior Consultant, Mark Simmonds highlighted Kroll’s depth of knowledge and experience in Africa’s most dynamic marketplace and noted a growing demand for specialised consultancy

projects for Nigerian clients in the private and government sectors, as well as investment advisory support. “International and local investors are attracted by Nigeria’s increasingly diverse economy. There is a visible growth in consumer markets which has resulted in the development of a vibrant entrepreneurial workforce and is contributing to Nigeria’s economic progress”, Simmonds added. The recent democratic change of government administration has significantly boosted the confidence of investors with a keen interest in Nigeria, and Kroll is supporting its clients in navigating

through investment opportunities in the country. As a leader in business intelligence and risk solutions, Kroll provides strategic advisory services that help clients make intelligent investment decisions. Kroll’s recent work in Nigeria has included an overseas investment advisory project for a Nigerian business investing in India and the Middle East. On behalf of the investor, Kroll drew upon the expertise of its multi-cultural team and cross-border capabilities to develop an understanding of the investment target’s profile, activities, operations and vulnerabilities in the relevant markets outside Nigeria.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Nestle harps on quality in manufacturing process DAVID AUDU

anaging Director of Nestle Nigeria, Dharnesh Gordhon, has reiterated the company commitment to produce quality products for Nigerian consumers. He said this while addressing journalists during a media tour of its Maggi plant in Agbara, Ogun State, recently. He said one of the objectives in serving Nigerians, beside the profit motive, was tackling dietary deficiencies among Nigeria. “In 2014, we reached 18.3 million household in Nigeria with iron fortified Maggi Cubes to provide for over 30 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of iodine and 15 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of iron”, he said. Gordhon said Nestlé’s Abara plant beside being one of the largest in the world, the company has strived to remain relevant in the

processing of its food products while emphasizing the place of food in family diet and bonding. Speaking on the need to tackle some dietary deficiencies among Nigerian, Gordhon said, “our work with Maggi focuses on tackling nutrient deficiencies with popular products aimed at those who need them most. “To address the problem, we implement relevant innovation especially targeting the needs of low income consumers most likely to suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. In 2012, we introduced a new range of fortified bouillon cubes to Nigeria by adding iron to the already iodine-fortified Maggi brand seasonings”. He assured that the Maggi seasoning brand will continue to innovate in the quest to bring value to consumers in fulfillment of the 1869 vision of its inventor, Julius Maggi.

Airtel unveils smart trade-in service

elecommunications service provider, Airtel Nigeria, has launched a new service which enables customers to trade in their old phones for brand new Smartphones. The service, tagged Airtel Smart TRADE-INseeks to fulfill the desire of customers to own premium smart phones by simply visiting any designated Airtel showroom to trade-in their old phones. The old phone traded is valued and the amount discounted from the cost of the new purchase. Speaking on the new service, Chief Commercial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Maurice Newa, explained that the service was designed to help cater to the needs of customers who desire affordable smart phones. “In line with our commitment to provide services that will continually delight our customers. We have launched this service to offer customers the opportunity to get the latest devices available in the market,” he said. Mr. Newa further disclosed that customers who want to enjoy the ser-

vice can also send ‘Trade’ by SMS to 182 and follow the instructions in the embedded link. He also advised customers to visit a website online to have an idea of the value of their old phones before visiting a designated showroom for the actual Trade-in. He pointed out that Airtel will continue to redefine the telecoms landscape with products and services that will provide rewarding experience to its customers. “Our mission is to enrich the lives of Nigerians through the provision of exceptional experience and the introduction of this service is an attestation of our commitment”, he said. He noted that the service is currently available in the Airtel showrooms in Ikeja Mall, Palms Mall, Sanusi Fafunwa and Oba Akran in Ikeja. However, at full implementation, the service will be rolled out in other Airtel showrooms across the country.

Mobile ad spend in UK to overtake newspapers – Report

DAVID AUDU

obile advertising is set to overtake newspaper expenditure in the UK this year and globally in 2016, a year earlier than previously predicted, ZenithOptimedia has forecast. It predicts that mobile advertising will grow 38 per cent in 2016 to $71 billion, about £47.3 billion, while newspaper advertising will shrink by 4 per cent to $68 billion. Meanwhile, mobile internet will be the third-largest advertising medium, behind television and desktop internet.

According to the report, Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, this year the UK mobile advertising market is expected to total £3.1 billion, 19.5 per cent of total ad spend, while newspapers will total much lower at £1.8 billion , 11.1 per cent of the total). This will continue into 2016 with mobile advertising forecast to hit £4.8 billion, 28 per cent of total ads spend while newspapers will total £1.6 billion, 9.5 per cent. On the global stage in 2016 mobile internet advertising is forecast to be 12.4 per cent of worldwide ad spend, overtaking newspapers, which is projected to be 11.9 per cent.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Brands & Marketing

Thursday, September 17, 2015

UBA supports Ebola movie celebrating courage, selflessness DAVID AUDU

financial services group, United Bank for Africa, Plc has restated its commitment to the growth and development of the African movie industry by supporting the making ’93 days’, an inspirational movie on Ebola as it happened in Nigeria. The movie tells the story of the victory over the Ebola scourge that would have ravaged the country in 2014 but for the collective efforts of some brave institutions and individuals. It pays tribute to the late Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh who died from contracting the virus whilst she was trying to save others. Speaking in Lagos to announce the movie and unveil the cast, UBA Head of Marketing and Corporate Relations, Charles Aigbe, said “UBA is supporting the making of the movie because what happened in Nigeria is a positive story

of courage, resilience, selflessness, teamwork and collaboration that must be told for posterity”. Mr. Aigbe reiterated UBA’s commitment to Ebola relief saying “we have operations in 19 African countries including Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which are 3 of the worst hit countries. During the Ebola crisis, we remained open for business and never for once closed shop on account of the scourge. We also donated over $1million to Ebola relief measures in Africa.” Explaining the rationale behind the movie, Steve Gukas, the movie director said “Our aim is to create a feature film that will resonate with many people across the world, particularly in Nigeria and its sub-region. At its core, 93 days is a tale of common humanity and just how much we can achieve when we stand united” The movie which is currently filming in Lagos Nigeria, features a

star-studded cast of Hollywood and Nollywood actors and actresses, including movie veterans; Danny Glover, Tim Reid, Bimbo Akintola and Keppy Ekpenyong Bassey. The UBA Group is one of Africa’s leading financial institutions, operating in 19 African countries, as well as New York, London and Paris. The Group provides banking services to over 9 million customers across Africa and has been in the vanguard of efforts to support and develop the continent including the African movie industry. “Recall we sponsored the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) for years because we saw it as a platform to encourage and promote story telling in Africa. We firmly believe that through cinema, we can tell our story as Africans, documenting our history and engendering a positive perception of the continent and its peoples” said Aigbe.

L-R: Head, Business Development, Stockcorp Leasing Limited, Miss Joy Ofoegbu; Managing Director, Mr Tunji Tolani and Head, Leasing Depertment, Mrs. Monica Idi during the Company’s Forum for its Customers on the new Equipment Leasing Act 2015, in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

BRAND talk with Michael Umogun

Tel: 08023117969/08031100462 Email: michael.umogun@millwardbrown.com

One essential thing that marketers should depend upon

wish I could write like Mark Ritson, award-winning columnist for Marketing Week, but I can’t. It is not that I cannot drop a few swearwords into my posts, it is just that I don’t have the same ability to sum things up so pithily. So, rather than focus on seven essentials lessons as Ritson did in a recent column maybe I should just focus on one. The title of Ritson’s column was ‘7 essential lessons all new marketers need to know’, featuring lots of good advice that marketers should not just know but practice. The one lesson that stood out to me was summed up as follows, “The most important concept in marketing is the one the majority of marketers have not heard of – market orientation. Market orientation has a long and complicated origin but in a nutshell it means that you always have to remember that you don’t actually see the world like the consumer – you’re getting paid to work for the brand for starters – so don’t start making assumptions about what they want or feel. If you are market oriented, you don’t just do research, you depend on it because you know NOTHING.” Hear, hear! And I say that not just because I have worked in consumer research for as long as I have. I am saying it because the principle of market orientation applies to pretty much any

aspect of business (or life for that matter). Never mind ‘market orientation’, the secret to success in marketing is putting yourself in your consumers’ shoes and seeing the world as they do. Research of all types can help you do that but only if you suspend your own viewpoint and agenda and – perhaps even more important – you do not assume that research findings will TELL you what you need to know. You need to work out what the findings mean and what the implications are for your brand. That means constructing an understanding from the findings, not imposing a prior understanding on them. These days there are more research tools to help guide the marketer than ever before. There is more data than ever before. There are more cool analytical tools. But, to echo Ritson’s last point in his column, what there is less of, is time to figure out what it all means and what to do about it. Unless you do, however, you will never achieve the new understanding that allows you to disrupt the status quo and really help your brand to grow. Instead, you will become one of Ritson’s “shit marketers” focused on execution not strategy. So what do you think of this viewpoint? Please share your thoughts.

Brand X-Ray

Technology to help CMOs, not complicate them

here are steps CMOs and the industry must take to ensure ad technolog y is fulfilling its potential, says Qasim Saifee, SVP monetisation platfor m, OpenX. The role of Chief Marketing Of ficer (CMO) holds a breadth of responsibilities, many of which are changing rapidly due to advances in technolog y. With the accountability of controlling advertising budgets comes the pressure to keep up with industry developments and allocate spend ef fectively. Technological innovation

should therefore be a lifeline to CMOs, providing the means to streamline processes and ensure that marketing investments have the highest ROI possible. So how can CMOs ef fectively incor porate advances in advertising technolog y? This question was raised during a recent industry panel hosted by OpenX, with participants including myself, Seth Rogin, Chief Revenue Of ficer at Mashable , Phuong Nguyen, Director of Advertising at Ebay, and Ben Fox, VP Media & Technolog y at King.

com. Together we defined the main moder n-day dilemmas facing CMOs, and discussed what advertising technolog y can do to solve them. Maintaining brand safety Ensuring brand safety is a key concer n for CMOs as awareness of the impact inappropriate ad placements can have on a brand’s online reputation increases. With more than 1 in 10 ad placements deemed high-risk last year, brand safety has led to reservations about the quality of automated inventory, making CMOs of-

ten wary of prog rammatic. Phuong Nguyen, Director of Advertising at Ebay, suggested the solution lies in technolog y providers striking “the right balance” between audience quality and context, where the environment is carefully matched to the values of the brand. While ad exchanges such have made significant investments and prog ress in ensuring the brand safety of inventory made available to marketers, advertising technolog y providers must simultaneously communicate and empirically demonstrate how these advances prevent poor place-

ments, thereby protecting brands. Guarding against ad fraud Digital ad spend in the UK has reached a record high, topping £4.7 billion in the first quarter of 2015, and absorbing an even larger portion of the CMO’s budget. Yet with more investment came an increase in fraud, predicted to cost the industry $6.3 billion globally in 2015. Though the panel acknowledged that the presence of fraudsters is inevitable, commitment to constant vigilance and fir mer action was unanimous.

Insight

he music world may never get over the death of Whitney Houston, whose only daughter, Kristina, died recently. A few years ago, the industry had mourned the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who passed on at 50 and Amy Winehouse, who died at the age of 28. Before then, there had been the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Charles Dickens and Beethoven, creative minds, who ‘abused’ various kinds of substances at certain stages of their notable careers. Locally, it is also an endemic scourge. Aside Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, notable artistes like Majek Fashek, Tuface Idibia and Gabriel Amanyi (Terry G) have admitted the use of marijuana, fuelling speculations among fans and upcoming acts that substances abuse may well be part of the success package in the creative industry. The type of substances usually abused varies according to status and location and ranges from drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide ( LSD), ecstasy, opium, alcohol and marijuana, amongmany other mixtures of these drugs fondly referred to as ‘cocktail’ by the users. The glowing description often availed in the songs of a good number of artistes about escaping from reality can give an insight into why some of the artistes indulge in drug use. In his highly successful track, Easy Skanking, Bob Marley sang: “Excuse me while I light my spliff; Good God I gotta take a lift; From reality I just can’t drift; That’s why I’m staying with this riff ”. For reggae star, Dillinger, whose album, CB 200, topped record charts worldwide, it ran thus: “But every time I walk in the rain, Man, o Man, I feel a pain, I feel a burning pain; Keep on burning in my bloody brain. I’ve got cocaine running around my brain; I’ve got cocaine running around my brain; I want to dig me soul brothers and sisters; I want you to hold me tight, because I’m a dynamite; I got cocaine running around my brain. No matter where I treat my guests; You see they always like my kitchen best; ‘Cause I’ve cocaine running around my brain; Cocaine running around my brain”. 50 Cent in his said: “Cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, marijuana, I’m new on that greyhound from NY to the Carolina, paper chase different name, same face don’t catch a case, my road dogs on parole his baby girl’s 4 years old, we play the block pistol cop, you could shoot or get shot kill you for your crack spot take everything your ass got, semi-automatics spray, bust back or run away” While in Morphine, Michael Jackson wrote: “Relax; This won’t hurt you; Before I put it in, close your eyes and count to ten; Don’t cry, I won’t convert you; There’s no need to dismay; Close your eyes and drift away; Demerol… Demerol, Oh God he’s taking Demerol… Demerol… Demerol, Oh God he’s taking Demerol”. For local acts, it is not a different tune. From Olamide to Terry G, lyrics have been ut out there to idolize the use of substances. Terry G, in his song titled Free Madness, sang: “Because I dey smoke igbo, e no mean. I’m a singer give me the ginja.” Establishing the fact that drug use is rampant in the creative industry will not be difficult when one listens to some notable acts on the reasons behind the fad. Notable American actor, Johnny Depp says, “Drug use has less to do with recreation and more to do with the fact that we need to escape from our brains. We need to escape from everyday life. It’s self-medication.” While drug use is associated with peer pressure, a sociologist at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nduka Agbo, in a chat for this article noted that drug use amongst creative people is a combination of peer pressure, drive to excel and the environment under which they operate. According to Agbo, the environment under which shows take place fuels the use of drugs. “Several factors could make a typical artiste want to go into drugs. Of course, they are vulnerable because of the environment under which they operate. While trying to make it in the industry, they must have come in contact with the bigger artistes adorning the posters with In-

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

The craze for drugs Many creative minds are known to have found solace in stimulants ranging from alcohol to hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, forcing fans to believe that drug could be part of the creative enterprise. But NGOZI EMEDOLIBE writes that stardom is much more than getting high and bemoans the lack of self-restraint on the part of the stars.

Fela

Bob Marley

I have never tried cocaine or heroin but I’ve done marijuana before. But I never took it to go on stage. It was just for relaxation

purpose.

Eventually, I knew marijuana wasn’t for me, so I stopped. Because it makes me feel like I am in another world dian hemp burning in between their fingers. Aspiring young artistes usually take up the career wanting to be like someone bigger. Seeing a Bob Marley or Fela Kuti with marijuana in posters is enough to make a child who likes their songs take up smoking of marijuana. He would inadvertently associate success with that kind of lifestyle. It begins from there to the time he is established in the industry and begins to host shows. The ambience during shows is likely going to drive the use of drugs. Music fuels emotions. Studies have shown that some genres of music fuel the use of

drugs. Songs in genres like hip-hop, reggae and especially rock can fuel the use of drugs. The ballads fuel the emotion of love. That is what you get, depending on what is coming”. 2Face Idibia, agrees with this. Acknowledging the use of marijuana in an earlier interview, he attributed his influence on some songs he used to listen to while growing up. “I have never tried cocaine or heroin but I’ve done marijuana before. But I never took it to go on stage. It was just for relaxation purpose. Eventually, I knew marijuana wasn’t for me, so I stopped. Because it makes me feel like I am in another world. I stopped using it a couple of years ago. It wasn’t difficult stopping. It was just craziness that introduced me to marijuana. You know how youth energy used to push one into things like that. In those days I used to listen to songs like ‘Rolling down the street smoking’. All those songs can influence, if you want to be influenced. It is not for me to advise musicians not to write or sing about drugs.” However people in the reggae genre of music attribute the use of substances like marijuana to spiritualism in line with Rastafarianism, noting that the use of marijuana amongst followers is akin to the use of Holy Communion amongst Catholics. Bob Marley in an interview about marijuana regarded it as a herb. “Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction,” he had said. Majek Fashek, who is presently believed to be in a battle withsubstance abuse, noted that, “I don’t do drugs. I use spiritualism. I’m spiritually-filled. I smoke Igbo and I drink. But I’m cutting it down.” Several arguments have however plagued the role of stimulants in the creative energy

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Insight

Thursday, September 17, 2015

in entertainment industry

Michael Jackson

of artistes, but the most notable seems to be the school of thought supporting the idea that while drugs do not cause creativity, they can help the user to better utilize their own creativity, essentially by acting as a catalyst for creativity, rather than the fuel itself. A psychologist, Edith Ayeni interviewed for this article examined the relationship between creativity and drug in the light of the motor engine and the oil. According to her, “Drugs were an important part of the creative process for these artistes and performers, but they were not the engine, they were the oil. Without the influence of drugs the engine may not have run simply due to internal friction. With oil present, the engine ran smoothly, allowing creativity to do its job and create true art. It seems true that the creativity is still a process that only the brain can perform, despite the occasional need for a confidence boost from some extra chemicals. The artiste is still the essential part of a creative work of art. Although the studies do not link addiction with creativity, the high correlation between depression and substance abuse presents an indirect connection. For creative types who are mentally unstable and tend to overanalyze, drugs and alcohol can be a form of self-medication, a way to quiet the restless mind. Many singers, who’ve experienced addiction, incorporate the dramatic highs and lows of their mental states into performances, pouring their emotionality”. With the artistes serving as role models in the society, what is being done in Nigeria to get this class of personalities desist from the abuse of substances? Former National President of the Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria, PMAN, Murphy Vans Anthony said that the association is scheduling series of seminars to educate the young members on the dangers of depending on drug abuse for performance. “An artiste does not need drugs because the likes of Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Okosun were successful without the use of drugs. I personally look at the issue of drugs in music from the angle of Satan and its power to destroy an artiste. At the moment PMAN will embark on an enlightenment to teach the younger ones this”. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA is however not directing its campaign only to the artistes. According to its spokesperson, Mitchell Ofoyeju, their periodical enlightenment campaigns are directed at everyone who is susceptible to the use of drugs. “We do not direct our programme to one sec-

Ahmadu Giade, NDLEA Chairman

Majek Fashek

Although the studies do not link addiction

with creativity, the high correlation between depression and substance abuse presents an

indirect connection.

For

creative types who are mentally unstable and tend to over-analyse,

drugs and alcohol can be a form of

self-medication, a way to quiet the restless mind

tion of the society. They are for everyone vulnerable to the use of drugs- the motor park workers, the artistes, the street kids and the school boys.” Perhaps it is in this vein that face off between the agency and hip-hop act, Davido is degenerating. Presently, the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency has set up a panel to investigate a music video released by Nigerian artiste, Davido, in which he displayed a substance suspected to be hard drugs. The video of his track, ‘Fans mi’, in which he featured an American rapper and member of the Maybach Group, Meek Mill, showed Davido with a briefcase filled with dollars and another bag filled with parcels of a substance suspected to be hard drugs. To forestall the influence of this effort, the agency has set up a panel as confirmed by Mitchell Ofoyeju. “I am aware that a panel is working on it (the video). The panel was set up soon after the video was released few weeks ago. When our attention was drawn to it, we viewed it and we discovered that it was improper.

There is no moral lesson in it and he was just advertising drug trafficking. In the video, he exchanged a brief case supposedly containing narcotics for dollars. He was displaying affluence in the video. If it (the plot) had climaxed in an arrest and possible detention, we would have congratulated him for partnering with us. But the way he portrayed drug trafficking in the video was a means to an end, which the end is a life of affluence which we disagree with. We are looking at the issue holistically. We believe that there should be a body that was supposed to censor videos before they go out. Those are the things we want to investigate and verify. Was the video submitted for approval? If it was submitted, why was it approved, with such content?” Interestingly, the National Broadcasting Commission, under whose purview this falls, has not reacted nor deemed it fit to confront this act, which could of course, fuel more efforts in this regard the moment the video becomes a commercial success. Contacts as well as checks on their portal proved that nothing has been done in this regards. While it would be difficult to make financial estimates about the losses encountered in the creative industry due to drug use, there are strong indications that it may run into tens of billions of naira. For instance the brief efforts made in 2012 to resuscitate the career of Majek Fashek after he signed on to a new company, A Plus Entertainment owned by Hajia Amina Dangaji gulped about N35m without any commensurate returns on that investments. According to Amina Dangaji, “ I can’t really say the exact amount for now. But I know I have spent over N35 million. I have been able to get him a house and a car. His wife even came to me and spent almost a week in my house before they moved to Majek’s house” In some dire cases, promoters have run into problems, attracting litigations for the odd conduct of their artistes, who may have drug issues, due to cancellation of show. The 2009 incident involving King of Pop, Michael Jackson is a classic example. Themed, ‘This is It’ concert, the sudden death of Michael from drug-related issues brought a litigation of $29 billion to the promoters after tickets and television rights of the show had been sold worldwide. Whichever one looks at it, growing campaigns need to be mounted to sensitise the general public aside new artistes about the dangers of that attempt that may spawn many more attempts and death at the end.

Cocktail

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Oddities

Man finds lost wedding ring after 40 years

n Oklahoma man, Jim Flynn, has been reunited with the wedding ring he dropped in a New York lake nearly 40 years ago. Reports said yesterday that Jane and Jim Flynn honeymooned on Lake George in the Adirondacks after getting married in 1960. They returned to the upstate lake for summer vacations every year until 1976, when they bought property in Bolton, on the

lake’s western shore. Soon afterward, Jim Flynn lost his wedding ring in the lake. A woman from Seattle who vacations every August on property next door to the Flynns’ spotted the gold ring underwater along the shore with the date “2-660” engraved inside. She gave it to a yearround resident who learned it belonged to Jim Flynn, who now lives in Tulsa.

Shoplifter caught with raspberry cookies

olice in Pennsylvania said yesterday that a repeat shoplifter, James Kaylor, has been caught with his pants up but full of raspberry cookies. According to reports, 47-year-old faces a preliminary hearing on September 23 based on his most recent arrest. Kaylor, who has six previous retail theft arrests and four convictions, was checking out

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

at Martins Food Store in Altoona on September 5 when a clerk told police had shoved something down his pants. Police said they confronted Kaylor after he paid for his other items but not the $3.49 box of raspberry biscuits, adding that he had acknowledged the theft was a stupid thing to do. The new charge is a felony, despite the small value of the cookies, because of Kaylor’s criminal record.

Exotic Hampshire bird on the loose

olice are warning a New Hampshire town to watch out for an emu on the loose. Bow police said yesterday that several people had reported seeing an emu wandering around on Saturday mor ning, saying they did not know where the bird belonged. Emus are among the largest birds in the world and are native to Australia. Sergent Art Mer rigan said the department had checked with emu owners but had not found any of the animals to be missing. “My department is not equipped to catch the emu and that is why we have called in a wildlife rehabilitator to assist,” Merrigan said, adding, “The emu is not dangerous.”

Bow Police Department dispatch supervisor, Tricia Currier, how-

A typical Hampshire exotic bird

“We are trying to ever said police thought the bird might have es- track down its owner,” Currier added. caped from a farm.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Capital Market

Thursday, September 17, 2015

FG to raise N100.8bn in Treasury bills …as equities gain 0.16%

Johnson Okanlawon

ederal Government plans to raise N100.88 billion in treasury bills with maturities between three months and one year at an auction on September 23, this year. Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, website yesterday said it will issue new 91-day paper worth N31.19 billion, N10.61 billion in 182-day bills, and N59.08 billion in 1-year debt, using the Dutch Auction System. It said that results of the auction are expected to be released the follow-

ing day. The country issue treasury bills twice-monthly to fund the government budget deficit and manage liquidity in the banking system. Meanwhile, trading in equities closed on a positive note on the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday, as some investors took position on stocks. Specifically, the All Share Index appreciated 0.16 per cent to close at 30,359.47 points, as against the decline of 0.19 per cent recorded the preceding day to close at 30,311.77 points.

Market capitalization gained N16 billion to close at N10.43 trillion, in contrast to the decrease of N20 billion recorded the preceding day to close at N10.41 trillion. Eterna Oil Plc led the gainers’ table with 16 kobo or 9.41 per cent to close at N1.86 per share, followed by E-Tranzact Plc to close at N2.11 per share. Cadbury Plc rose N1.14 or 4.97 per cent to close at N24.07 per share, while Red Star Express Plc increased to N4.23 per share, a rise of 20 kobo or 4.96 per cent. Portland Paints Plc appreciated 19 kobo or 4.85 per cent to close at N4.11

per share. Conversely, Unity Bank Plc depreciated 11 kobo or 8.09 per cent to close at N1.25 per share, while FCMB Plc lost 11 kobo or 4.45 per cent to close at N2.36 per share. Guinness Nigeria Plc was down N7.22 or 4.44 per cent to close at N155.23 per share, while Transnational Express Plc depreciated six kobo or 4.35 per cent to close at N1.32 per share. Continental Reinsurance Plc lost four kobo or 4.26 per cent to close at 90 kobo per share. A total of 169.9 million shares valued at N1.42 billion were exchanged in 3,512 deals.

Foreign reserves down 3% in one month Johnson Okanlawon

igeria’s foreign exchange reserves fell 2.97 per cent to $30.69 billion by September 14, from $31.63 billion a month earlier. Available statistics on the reserves situation sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, website showed yesterday that the reserves fell 2.97 per cent to $30.69 billion by September 14, from $31.63 billion a month earlier.

The reserves were down 22.42 per cent from a year earlier. The CBN has used the reserves to support the local currency, selling dollars to bureau de change operators twice weekly in a bid to narrow the gap between the official and unofficial exchange rate. Reserves picked up shortly after President Mohammadu Buhari took office in May, which was attributed to efforts to plug leakage and demand management by

the CBN. The CBN restricted access to foreign exchange and introduced tight control of the currency market to curb speculation and conserve reserves Meanwhile, the CBN had decried what it called the unwholesome practice of moving foreign exchange across the nation’s borders by individuals and corporate bodies. The apex bank noted that such funds were not declared to the appropriate authorities in line with

ernment bond yields show traders appear to be hedging their bets. US data published on Tuesday had done little to change expectations and inflation figures due are unlikely to sway many opinions either. “It’s more a day for thinking about tomorrow,” said Kit Juckes, head of currency strategy at Societe Generale in London. “Positions are coming off rather than going on. We have seen the front end (short-dated U.S. government bond yields) rally but it hasn’t really sent the dollar roaring.” The greenback was essentially plodding its well-worn range of the last few weeks, though it crept up to $1.1261 against the euro and 120.50 yen after revised euro zone inflation came in lower than expected and Japan saw its credit rating cut by S&P. Adding to the recent wor-

ries about deterioration in the health of world economy, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development trimmed its global growth forecasts. It cited primarily a slowdown in emerging market economies like China and Brazil, though it also upped its US projections and urged the Fed to get its first rate hike since the financial crisis over and done with. “Raising interest rates now would remove uncertainty in the markets,” OECD chief economist Catherine Mann told Reuters, adding that what the US central bank did afterwards would matter far more than the initial move. Emerging market currencies remained under pressure near multi-year lows amid worries that future higher U.S. interest rates could lure away foreign investors again.

Inter-Bank Rate Naira

US Dollar

N197 Market indicators All-Share Index 30,359.47 points Market capitalisation 10.43trn

Stock Updates GAINERS

extant laws, even as it is already collaborating with other relevant agencies of government to ensure compliance to the provisions of the law. It also corrected misconceptions on its circular baring banks and Bureau de Change operators from using forex sourced from any of the segments of the Nigerian foreign exchange market to fund import of some products and services.

Global stocks up, fears over US rate hike grip investors

orld share markets rose yesterday and shortterm US bond yields hit four and a half year high as investors braced for the possibility of the first interest rate hike in the United States in almost a decade. A late five per cent surge in Chinese stocks had helped Asia’s bourses .US finish more than two per cent higher, while gains of 1.0, 0.7 and 1.5 per cent for London’s FTSE. Wall Street, though, was expected to resume marginally in the red, as markets remained in a state of flux over the likelihood of a rate increase by the Fed meeting. A key gauge, Fed fund futures, currently see only a 30 per cent chance that Janet Yellen and her colleagues will pull the trigger. But surveys of economists have been more like 50-50, and rises in US gov-

Source: NSE

However some of those hardest hit in recent months, like Russia’s rouble, Turkey’s lira and Mexico’s peso made gains as traders squared up in case of any Fed surprises. The rouble was up almost 1.5 per cent against the dollar and 1.7 per cent against the euro. Rate (%) Inflation

8.2

MPR

Crude oil price

$58.96

COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

% CHANGE

ETERNA

1.70

1.86

0.16

9.41

ETRANZACT

2.01

2.11

0.10

4.98

CADBURY

22.93

24.07

1.14

4.97

REDSTAREX

4.03

4.23

0.20

4.96

PORTPAINT

3.92

4.11

0.19

4.85

MAYBAKER

1.30

1.36

0.06

4.62

AIICO

0.89

0.93

0.04

4.49

TOTAL

143.62

150.00

6.38

4.44

WEMABANK

0.95

0.99

0.04

4.21

CHAMPION

4.47

4.65

0.18

4.03

CHANGE

% CHANGE

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

UNITYBNK

1.36

1.25

-0.11

-8.09

FCMB

2.47

2.36

-0.11

-4.45

GUINNESS

162.45

155.23

-7.22

-4.44

TRANSEXPR

1.38

1.32

-0.06

-4.35

CONTINSURE

0.94

0.90

-0.04

-4.26

UBCAP

1.46

1.40

-0.06

-4.11

EVANSMED

0.76

0.73

-0.03

-3.95

HONYFLOUR

2.60

2.51

-0.09

-3.46

AFRIPRUD

2.68

2.61

-0.07

-2.61

FBNH

6.48

6.34

-0.14

-2.16

FGN Bonds

Offer

Bid

Description

Price

Yield

Price

Yield

15.10 27-APR-2017

1.61

98.76

15.96

99.76

15.24

16.00 29-JUN-2019

3.79

100.08

15.95

101.08

15.59

15.54 13-FEB-2020

4.41

98.51

16.01

99.51

15.68

16.39 27-JAN-2022

6.37

102.13

15.83

103.13

15.58

14.20 14-MAR-2024

8.49

91.93

15.97

92.93

15.74

10.00 23-JUL-2030

14.85 68.00

15.58

69.00

15.35

Closing Market Prices of September 15, 2015

Treasury Bills Maturity Date

Bid

Offer

Exchange

Rates (N)

17-Dec-15

12.06

12.44

WAUA

270

USD

197

17-Mar-16

13.80

14.83

EURO

214

01-Sep-16

14.08

16.29

CFA

0.32

YEN

1.64

Tenor

Rate (%)

SWISS FRANC

202

O/N

47.6250

POUNDS STERLING

293

17.1087

17.1861

SDR

273

17.6106

NIBOR

The Fixings of September 16, 2015

News

Thursday, September 17, 2015

NCAA sacks 11 contract staff over irregular engagements Olusegun Koiki

igerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has terminated the appointment of 11 staff from its payroll. Eight of the affected staffers were on contract that was to run consecutively for four years. The agency stated that such appointment was contrary to the provision of the rules of tenure on contract appointment. Acting General Manager, Public Affairs, NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, in a statement described the

termination of the contract of the eight staff as a restructuring exercise in the regulatory agency. Adurogboye added that the exercise was done with a view to enhancing efficiency in service delivery and safe flight operations in and out of the nation’s airspace. He explained that with the termination of the contract staff, the management has re-assigned competent and skilled officers from the affected Directorates /Departments to fill the affected positions. Also affected by the

shake-up in the agency were appointments of three Special Assistants to the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, who the statement said were domiciled with NCAA. He emphasised that their appointments ceased with the end of the tenure of Chidoka, who engaged their services as stipulated by the rules. The statement added: “It is pertinent to point out that the management’s decision to carry out this exercise is in conformity to extant rules on tenure of contract appointment and

in line with NCAA condition of service. “The authority has put in place plans to train staff of the authority for the purpose of succession and take over from existing ageing workforce in its service.” The statement, however, assured members of the flying public of its commitment to the onerous oversight responsibilities of the industry in order that safe flight operations in the country was guaranteed at all times, which it said informed its zero tolerance for violation of safety regulations.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Forum of Speakers to meet on salary package Priscilla Dennis Minna

orum of Speakers of Houses of Assembly are to gather to deliberate on salaries and allowances of state legislators. It was learnt that the meeting would be convened following discovery that salaries of lawmakers vary from state to state. It was also gathered that some states legislators collect as low as N250,000 monthly as emolument, while others receive N490,000. Speaking during a presentation to the Revenue Allocation Mobilization and Fiscal Commission in Minna, Niger State, yesterday, Chairman of Speakers Forum in the country and Speaker of

Plateau State House of Assembly, Yusuf Gagdi, noted the need for salary package of legislators to be the same. Gagdi, who spoke through his deputy, argued that it is ironical that local government councilors with 10 per cent of the constituency of legislators are earning twice what state lawmakers take home. Also at the stakeholders meeting, chairman of a civil society association, Alhaji Abdullahi Jabi, rejected the suggestion for reduction of the number of political appointees in the country. Apart from being avenue for political patronage, Jabi argued that the appointees would also reduce joblessness among youths in the society.

Most Nigerian children experience violence –Survey Franka Osakwe

M L-R, Statistician General of the Federation Dr Yemi Kale, UNDP Country Director, Dr Pa-Lamin Bayen and National Programme Manager, Department for International Development Mr Ben Arikpo during the Stakeholders’ Workshop on Data Mapping for Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria held in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: ROTIMI OSASONA

EFCC declares Okereke, ‘DG of NATFORCE’ wanted Olufemi Adeosun Abuja

conomic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has declared Director General, National Task Force to Combat Illegal Importation of Small Arms, Ammunition, and Light Weapons, NATFORCE, Mr. Emmanuel Osita Okereke, wanted for jumping bail. According to a statement by EFCC spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, the suspect, a former presidential aspirant under the platform of the Nigerian Liberation Party, NLP, is being prosecuted by the commission on a six-count charge of impersonation, forgery and obtaining by false pretence.

He was arraigned on November 21, 2013, before Justice J. Y. Tukur of the FCT High Court, Apo, Abuja, for allegedly forging a document of the Federal Government titled “Restricted, Federal Government of Nigeria, National Task Force”. He alleged falsely held public offices as DG and director, FCT Command of National Task Force, through which along with Ishmael Chinyere Nwogu, he fraudulently obtained money from sale of employment forms. The statement read: “That you Osita Okereke and Ishmael Chinyere Nwogu sometime in March, 2010 in Abuja within the judicial division of the High Court of the

Federal Capital Territory knowingly had in your possession a forged document titled ‘Restricted, Federal Republic Of Nigeria, National Task Force’ with intent to defraud, fraudulently used same as genuine to induce the public to believe that your organisation is an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria and consequently remitted the aggregate sum of N1,145,000 to you through First Bank account number 3066173170 and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 368 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja).” Justice Tukur had granted bail to the accuse person. Okereke, who was ar-

rested with several incriminating items, including bullet proof vests, was said to have jumped bail and is currently wanted by the EFCC. According to EFCC, the suspect allegedly operates a syndicate, which maintains offices across the country, defrauding unsuspecting members of the public, by selling recruitment forms for N5, 000 in the guise that they would be offered job by the Federal Government. “The EFCC enjoins members of the public with information on the whereabouts of Okereke to contact any of its offices in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Gombe and Kano, or the nearest police station “it added.

ajority of Nigerian children experience one form of physical abuse or violence, says a new finding from the Nigeria Violence Against Children survey. The survey recently released and launched yesterday in Abuja unveiled the first nationally representative data on the prevalence of sexual, physical, and emotional violence among girls and boys in the country. The survey carried out by National Population Commission, NPC, with support from UNICEF and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stated that approximately six out of every 10 Nigerian children under the age of 18 years experience some form of physical, emotional and sexual violence in their childhood. Announcing the launch of the year-long campaign to end violence against children, the president said: “These findings are an urgent call to action not only for the government, but also for civil society organisations, religious and traditional groups, the media, the private sector, communities, parents and families to come together to tackle violence against children”.

In his comment, UNICEF Nigeria Representative, Jean Gough, congratulated the government of Nigeria and its partners on their commitment to end violence against children. “The government is not only to be congratulated for undertaking this groundbreaking survey, but also for making the findings widely known, shining a spotlight on what the survey shows is a significant problem in Nigeria. The survey found that violence impacts millions of children’s lives every year across Nigeria. You cannot help, but be shocked by the huge numbers of children experiencing violence. But sometimes, we can get lost in the statistics. Let’s remember that each statistic represents an individual child suffering violence. UNICEF will continue to support Nigeria in its efforts to ensure that children are protected from sexual, physical and emotional violence”, he said. “We have made progress in this fight, but much still remains to be done. All children must be protected from abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect. Violence against children is never justified. Violence is preventable,” added U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, Maria E. Brewer.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Young & Next Generation

Thursday, September 17, 2015

JAKIN dresses 500 orphans, vulnerable children for school

Leonard Okachie

n a bid to help transform and reform young hearts, JAKIN N.G.O has dressed over 500 vulnerable children and orphans for the 2015/2016 academic session. The event which held recently at Sabo, Yaba in Lagos, was in commemoration of 2015 International Literacy Day. First held in 2010, the award winning annual ‘Dress A Child For School Project’ has given succour to over 1800 orphans and vulnerable children since inception. Interestingly, in this year’s edition with theme “Literacy and Sustainable Societies in Nigeria” each beneficiary received two uniforms, a school bag, a pair of sandals, two pairs of socks, a dozen of exercise books, a Maths set (secondary school only), and a branded pencil containing all necessary stationery. The beneficiaries included 240 males and 260 females, out of which 261 are in primary, 152 in junior secondary and 79 in senior secondary schools. The children cut across 80 public schools and one school for children for children with special needs across 13 local governments in Lagos State. This year’s edition also witnessed eight beneficiaries from Ogun and Ondo states. Children, parents and other guests were highly excited as members of the Jakin Children Club displayed their talents in the educative, informative and entertaining presentations. Some of the features included fashion parade, Jakin news, recitation on child participation, drama presentation among others. The children’s presentations were just a tip of the iceberg; the hall went frenzy with the thought-provoking performance of the Ibadan -based guest artist, Alfa Sule and his team members. Elated by the presentations, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Jakin, Mrs. Olubukola Adebiyi, expressed happiness that the purpose was achieved. Adebiyi, who announced that she put to bed barely three days before the occasion, told the children that she decided to honour it because of the love she had for them. She urged them to avail themselves of the opportunity pro-

Some of the newly dressed for school.. vided by the group and reciprocate such gesture by striving for the first position in their respective classes in the new academic session. She emphasised that the aim was to empower them with basic school items to aid their studies and help them function effectively in the new academic session, adding that the gesture of love would help them psycho-

logically by boosting their morale. Turning to the parents, she said: “We must not give up on our children because education is the greatest legacy you can give a child. It is the most valuable gift you can give and also the greatest investment in a nation. “Literacy is the solution to virtually all the social ills in

our society. Each time we halt, discourage or prevent a child from getting a educated either formally or informally, we are slowly releasing an incurable virus into our system.” Similarly, the guest speaker, Mrs. Olufunso Owasanoye stated that literacy is central to basic education for all, and indispensable for dropping child mortality, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy in the society. Speaking on the theme, “Literacy and Sustainable Societies in Nigeria”, Owasanoye, who is the CEO of Human Development Initiative, pointed that for Nigeria to have a sustaining society, illiteracy needs to be massively eradicated, by making basic quality education acces-

sible, conducive environment, infrastructure and committed personnel. She said that the present administration is concerned about the state of the nation’s education system and it is determined to confront these challenges headlong, even as she added that it is the belief of government that the problem is best addressed from the foundation level. Owasanoye continued: “To successfully confront poverty, disease, religious fanaticism, political chaos, ethnic bigotry, gender discrimination, economic depression human trafficking amongst others efforts must be made by all to enhance the literary level in the country. “Importantly, governments at all levels need to make pragmatic legislation as well as improved funding for the relevant agencies of government saddled with the execution of the mass literacy programme.” She further enlightened the children on how to prevent child abuse and told them that education is their right and should not allow their parents or guardians to deny them such right. She distributed copies of Yellow Card produced by the Lagos State Government to them and urged them to use it as their guides, stressing that the government would prosecute anyone who violates their rights, especially that of education.

Teen saxophonist supports children living with cancer Leonard Okachie

igeria’s soulful and skilful teen Saxophonist TJ Emore popularly known as TJ Sax shows that age does not matter when it comes to giving back to his society as he lends his support to the Children Living with Cancer Foundation at the “Heart of Hope Walkathon” The walk which is on September 19, begins by 7:30am from Dowen College, Lekki Phase 1 through Lekki Phase 1 GTB Gate Oniru, back to Lekki Phase 1. The event is aimed at making a difference in the lives of children with cancer and to solicit support. Attendees would be given free T-shirts at the venue as it promises to be informative,

entertaining and educating. Popularly known as TJ Sax , TJ Emore who was born on 24th November 24, 2001 in Lagos has played at the Aso Villa in Abuja in 2011 at the First Lady’s Children’s Day party where he thrilled the First Lady and her guests with an awesome performance and rendition of the national anthem. T.J has also played in various churches, corporate events like the Mutual Benefits annual thanksgiving, charity homes and orphanages. He released an album in 2011, which contains tracks like: Forever Young. Original by Jay-Z, He Lives in Me. Original by Diana Ross, a Sax Medley and a host of other songs. The teenage saxophonist has performed alongside artistes like MI, Sasha P, Mode 9, Rock Steady, DammyKrane, Solidstar,

TJ Emore with Children Living with Cancer Vector, Sound Sultan and TufaceIdibia and has proven to be one of the sought-after young acts in Nigeria. Children Living with Cancer Foundation (CLWCF) is a non profit making charity organisa-

tion dedicated to the care and welfare of children with childhood cancers and their families in conjunction with the Oncology ward of the Paediatric Department of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

Young & Next Generation

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Children thrill at ‘Kids Say The Darndest Things’ show Leonard Okachie

t was a refreshingly discovery moment for some parents and guardians as they watch their wards at the weekend take to the stage to air their views on such topical issues as politics and family relationships at the Episode 12 of the Etisalat-sponsored ‘ Kids Say The Darndest Things’. ‘The Kids Say The Darndest Things’ show offers a window into the private world of children as they often give hilarious, but straight and courageous views on various life issues ranging from house chores, gender, academics, career choice, current affairs, politics and relationships in an edutainment environment independent of parental and peer influence. The episode 12 revealed the depth of knowledge, confidence, conviction and frankness in the children as they had to dig deep for answers to a quick succession of questions. Responding to a question on whom he thinks the most important person in Nigeria was, 11-year old Ayinsa , promptly gave it to President Muhammadu Buhari. The mother of 7-year old Morewa could not hold back tears when her son was asked the qualities he would like his wife to have and he replied, “I want her to be beautiful like my mother.” There were also dance performances from children cultural groups who all exhibited a variety of amazing cultural steps

Performers at the show in Lagos.

to the pleasure of the audience. Speaking about the Show which popularity has been on the rise since it debuted three months back, Head, Events and Sponsorships at Etisalat Nigeria, Modupe Thani, reiterated Etisalat’s enduring commitment to providing platfor ms like Kids Say The Dar ndest Things and expressed delight with the opportunity the Show offers children to display and de-

Social media habit linked to depression among teens – Study

Facebook

eenagers and kids today often spend hours beyond their bedtime on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. A recent study presented by researchers from the United Kingdom says that too much online presence of teenagers at night can affect their mental health. Questionnaires regarding nighttime usage of social media were provided for 467 students, aged 11 to 17, by researchers from the University of Glasgow. Lead researcher Dr. Heather Cleland Woods and Holly Scott probed the teenagers and kids regarding their habits through further tests that assessed the quality of sleep, self-esteem, anxiety, depression and emotional investment of these students in relation to social media. The researchers found that these students feel the pressure and anxiety of being constantly available on social media and of being unable to respond to messages or posts. The study, which was presented at the British Psychological Society, showed that nighttime social media use and emotional investment were related to poorer

quality of sleep. It also resulted to higher anxiety and depression levels as well as lower self-esteem. Dr. Cleland Woods explained that it is important to understand how the engagement in social media may relate to adolescence as a period of increased vulnerability on the onset of depression and anxiety. She also added that the overall usage of social media may affect the quality of sleep of teenagers and kids but it is the nighttime users, especially the ones who are emotionally invested, who are most affected. However, it is still unclear whether the link between social media and the overall wellbeing of a teenager is caused by something more. In the meantime, Dr. Cleland Woods proposed the idea of a ‘digital sunset’, a method that would enable smartphones and tablets to automatically turn off during bedtime. This idea would potentially cause improvements in the quality of sleep. In a separate study commissioned by the National Citizen’s Service youth program, it was found that most girls seek solace from social media when they are worried or anxious, rather than talking to their parents. The study suggested that the cause of stress was likely from the increasing anxiety that stems from making important life decisions and that most teenagers suffer from decision paralysis. The top results for girls were exam results, making decisions about the future and arguments with peers.

velop their potentials. Her words, “Children are the future and embedded in them are potentials and talents that parents and society must help nurture and har ness, so that they g row to become responsible adults who are capable of contributing positively to the growth and development of society. “This corporate ethos of playing a key role in the overall development of the Ni-

gerian Child is what we at Etisalat continue to demonstrate through initiatives like Cliqlite and programmes like Kids Say the Darndest Things.” “Kids Say the Darndest Things” shows on Sundays on African Independent Television (AIT) at 7pm and DSTV Channel 253. It currently enjoys wide viewership in other countries including, Australia, Singapore, India and Italy.

Science for Kids

Why aren’t birds electrocuted when they perch on power lines?

ave you ever wondered why birds aren’t electrocuted by the currents that flow through high-voltage power lines? It’s not unusual to see lines of birds perched on power lines. But did you ever wonder why birds aren’t electrocuted by the currents that flow through these high-

A bird perching on power line.

voltage wires? You might think it’s because the wires are insulated, but they’re actually not insulated at all — that’s why downed power lines are so dangerous. No, the only reason why birds on power lines usually aren’t electrocuted is because the wire is the only thing they’re touching! Like all energy, electricity seeks equilibrium, or balance. That means electricity will flow from high-energy areas to areas of less energy, always using the path of least resistance. So if the bird has one foot on our original wire, and the other foot on, for example, the ground or on a different wire with less voltage, the bird would be electrocuted. The electricity would pass through the bird on its way from the high-voltage line to the lower-voltage line or the ground. But as long as both of the bird’s feet are on the same wire (or wires of the same voltage), the bird is safe. The current doesn’t have anywhere else to go, so the electricity won’t pass through the bird–it stays on the path of least resistance, the wire. This would work for humans, too–if you were to hang suspended from one of these wires, you wouldn’t be electrocuted, as long as you didn’t get too close to anything else, like a telephone pole or the ground. But don’t try this experiment at home! If you want proof, just look up at the birds on the wires! - indiapublic.media.org

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Media

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Late planning, reason for digital switchover failure –NBC Leonard Okachie

hree months after failing to meet the International Telecommunications Union, ITU, deadline on digital switchover, the Director General, National Broadcasting Commission, NBA, Mr. Emeka Mba has stated that the major reason why Nigeria was not able to switch off was due to late planning, and absence of funding for infrastructure and Set-Top Boxes. Nigeria is among the 52 other African countries that belong to the Region One of the ITU, that have failed to meet the June 17, 2015 deadline to complete the implementation of their transition programmes from analogue to digital terrestrial television deadline. Speaking on Tuesday at the 6th edition of the Annual NigeriaCom Conference and Exhibition in Lagos, Mba apologised for the country’s inability to meet the ITU deadline, pointing out that the Commission took all the steps necessary within available resources in the attempt to ensure successful migration. He revealed at the two-day event that June 20, 2017, has been chosen by the ECOWAS region as the new switchover date from analogue to digital terrestrial television transmission in the African sub-region. The Director General stated that the successful implementation of the Digital Switchover required some creative thought leadership, even as

Digital TV studio.

he stressed that the Commission was focused on creating a future that will bridge the digital divide especially in homes that see TV as a primary source of information. He said: “Digital Switchover is a very expensive venture”, he stated. “However, following the availability of substantial part of the funds needed to execute the transition, machinery has been put on ground to advance the process.” Mba disclosed that NBC recently gave licence to MTN Nigeria to operate on spectrum frequency in the 700MHz bands, stressing that it realised N34

billion from the sale. ”We are working hard to meet this deadline. The licensing will afford Nigerians the best option for the provision of high quality converged broadcasting and telecommunications services. ”It will also enable the funding for a successful Digital Switch Over (DSO), which would free up more spectrum for sale,” he said. He maintained that the Commission had already licenced 13 companies that would manufacture the STBs locally, adding that that switching over to digital was a win-win for the consumers,

Biola Alabi to launch “Grooming for Greatness” Leonard Okachie

ounder of Biola Alabi Media and former Managing Director of M-Net Africa, Biola Alabi has announced the launch of her new leadership development project, ‘Grooming for Greatness’. The year long programme, commencing with a 3-day on-boarding event, will bring leaders across sectors to share their experiences and expertise, and groom the next generation of African business leaders. The 3-day workshop and seminar will also identify exceptional talents who will be mentored by Mrs. Alabi and her associates over the next year. The workshop will deal practical sessions to build the capacity of participants with access to relevant and outstanding role models and leadership tools, including recommended literature, through which they can widen their knowledge base whilst simultaneously drawing inspiration

Biola Alabi

and ideas. “We have spent the past year working on this crucial intervention. It’s important to give a new generation of African leaders the practical, applicable skills that can truly transform the continent,” Alabi, who is also a Yale fellow, said. We want to cultivate an intuitive African programme for young and aspiring professionals and entrepreneurs that recognises the challenges and opportunities inherent in embracing personal greatness in this continent.” A group of no more than 20 hand-picked participants will be guided through the curated programme of workshops, discussions and seminars to help harness their potential and discover greatness. The subjects to be addressed this year includes: Immersive leadership, strength based leadership, leading with purpose, building a meaningful career, building powerful networks and creating influence. There will also be one on one mentoring which will be an intricate feature of the program.

television industry and the government. ”We are creating a value chain and fundamentally, we believe that TV should be free even though Pay TV is important. We believe in Free-To-Air, so, we are trying to create an ecosystem that adds value to the consumer. ”We are creating a future that will bridge the digital divide especially in homes that see TV as a primary source of information,” he said. The theme of this year’s event focused on the next phase of connecting businesses and lifestyles across the digital economy. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Independent Community Newspapers Publishers Association - NICNPA has presented the Golden Award for Industrious Service to the NBC boss for his outstanding performance in broadcast regulation and contributions to the overall development of the broadcasting sector in Nigeria. Receiving the award from the Zonal Chairman, NICNPA South-South – Mr. Charles James Umejei, Mr. Mba expressed his gratitude for the recognition and noted that communication at the grassroots level such as community newspapers is very important to deepening democracy and building sustainable development in society. According to the statement posted on the NBC website, the DG also expressed the desire of the Commission to work with rural based organizations such as NICNPA to achieve effective rural penetration when the digitization publicity and awareness campaign takes off fully. The event also featured panel discussions, speed Networking sessions, Exhibitions and interactions.

Media

Thursday, September 17, 2015

DAME makes supplementary call in 2 categories Reporting and Editorial Integrity. According to the statement by DAME, for the former well researched and lucid stories that address significant developments in the energy sector in 2014 are welcome. For Editorial Integrity, organisations should nominate any staff who, in the course of duty in 2014, displayed exem-

tember 29, 2015.

tooning and photography prize catego-

DAME had earlier called for entries in 26 categories for the 24th edition for works produced and published in Nigeria in 2014. Twenty of the categories are for print and online journalism whilst broadcast media attracts six. The journalism entries cover 12 re-

ries respectively.

Such instance(s) should be cited and

Leonard Okachie

iamond Awards for Media Excellence has invited supplementary entries in two categories: Energy

Reporting, Business Reporting, Sports

explained in 200 words. Deadline is Sep-

to best practices in the profession.

porting categories, two commentary prizes, one photography category, one cartooning prize and four overall prizes for outstanding individual and corporate performance.

Also, prizes in the overall corporate categories entries are : Editor of the Year, Newspaper of the Year and Child Friendly Media, whilst the Editorial Integrity prize rewards uncommon devotion to ethical fidelity. For the broadcast media, entries cover works in: Radio Drama, Radio Reporting, Radio Presenting, Television Drama, Television Documentary and Television Reporting.

Media Abroad

Newspaper uses micropayments system to charge online readers A Canadian newspaper has been experimenting with iTunes-style micropayments for readers wishing to access its online content. The Winnipeg Free Press limits browers to only three stories for a lifetime. After that, reports CBC News, readers must pay 27 cents (13p) per story. Their credit cards are billed at the end of each month up to the full price of an online subscription, which is $16.99 (£8.34) . And readers even have a chance to opt out of paying for articles that they didn’t think were worth the price by clicking a button to explain why. According to the paper’s publisher, Bob Cox, the micropayments system, which was raised years ago as a good idea but rejected by publishers, is working.

Bob Cox.

Casual readers now number in the thousands, he says, and a couple of dozen new ones sign up ever day. “We’re selling a substantial number of articles every

day online.” Cox argues that people are used to going to Apple’s iTunes store to buy one thing at a time. And George Goodall, of the Canadian-based IT solutions group, Info-Tech, agrees that “the miracle of iTunes” is a sensible purchasing method. The readership of the Winnipeg Free Press, known as the Freep, is too small to subsist on online advertising revenues alone. So Cox says it has to charge for its “unique content” about Winnipeg and Manitoba. Aside from its local audience there is also a wide diaspora of former Winnipeggers across the globe who read the paper online. Source: CBC News

Ebola survivors seek partnership with media

resident of the National Ebola Survivors Network of Liberia is appealing to journalists in the country to strengthen relationship with survivors. Speaking during a one-day interactive forum recently at the Conqueror Church along the Bong Mines Road in Kakata, Margibi County, PatrickFaley noted that from the onset, journalists were courteous with survivors through their reportage, but they seem to have forgotten about them. “Friendly speaking, the journalists have forgotten about us and we depend on journalists to take the proper information to the international community or even the national government because the issue of Ebola is not just about the national government; it should

claim the attention of the international community. So we want a cordial relationship between the journalists and the survivors”, he pleaded. According to him, survivors in Montserrado and other parts of Liberia are about 40 to 60 percent ahead of the Ebola survivors in West Africa. Mr. Faley narrated that he went to Sierra Leone and was elected president of Ebola survivors in West Africa, adding that he has conducted a survey and knows what is happening to survivors in Montserrado, Margibi and other parts of Liberia. According to him, in order to build a strong relationship, journalists should provide accurate information about survivors. - The New Dawn

NMMA receives 1,043 entries in 51 categories

porting, Health Reporting, Political Reporting, Child Friendly Reporting, Insurance Reporting, Judicial Reporting, Telecoms Reporting, Conflict-Sensitive Reporting and Investigative Reporter of the year. Informed Commentary and Editorial Writing cover the commentary prize categories, while Editorial Cartooning and Action Photography cover the car-

plary acts that displayed ethical fidelity

Trustee of DAME, Mr. Lanre Idowu..

The reporting categories are: Agriculture Reporting, Development Re-

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Liberian President Ellen Johnson.

Maduka.

Leonard Okachie

rganisers of the Nigeria Media Merit Awards, NMMA have confirmed that a total of are 1,043 eligible entries from 726 entrants in 51 categories, have been received for this 2015 edition of the annual industry award. Chairman, Board of Trustees of NMMA, Engr. Vincent Maduka disclosed this during the inauguration of NMMA 2015 Panel of Assessors (POA), held on Tuesday at NMMA Secretariat in Lagos. In the Print categories, 888 eligible entries were received from 611entrants. Sixty eight entries came in from 50 entrants in the Radio categories, and87 entries were received from 65 entrants in the Television categories. He noted that NMMA has grown from only 10 award categories declared 23 years ago to 51 award categories approved for 2014 / 2015 year. Maduka added that the NMMA has most of its award categories endowed by reputable organizations and credible individuals from all parts of Nigeria, which reflects the level of goodwill and public endorsement the NMMA enjoys nationwide. He stated that this year, the POA, led by the Chairman, Prof. Ralph Akinfeleye would once again use their wealth of experience along with the guidelines of NMMA, to thoroughly assess the entries submitted to them diligently, for selection of outstanding award nominees and winners. The Chairman maintained that the POA, which is divided into five groups covering the Print, Radio and Television categories, has a period of two months for assessment of entries after which their final report would be submitted to the Board for consideration and final approval. He said: “Each of the Winners of the NMMA 2015 will receive one hundred thousand Naira cash prize with the unique NMMA gong-man. These will be presented at the Grand Award Presentation Ceremony to be held in the last quarter of 2015 at a soon to be announced location. “The choices in view are Abuja and Lagos for 2015.More facts on the hosting will be provided at a later date before the conclusion of the assessment exercise.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Broad Street Diary

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Early days’ companies on Broad Street

n the pre-independence era, Marina and Broad Street in Central Lagos served as the nerve centre of the major foreign firms and several multi-national companies in the country. It was also learnt that a number of Lebanese and Syrian traders established their shops and supply sale outlets on Balogun and Nnamdi Azikwe, within Idumota axis. Some of them were said to have rented most of the buildings in Idumota area; the ground floors were used as their shops while the first floor or upper floor buildings served as their residence. These traders were also customers of the early days’ banks in Marina, Broad Street and their environs. Marina, Broad Street, Nnamdi Azikiwe Street and Idumota also played host to a number of foreign companies, Royal Exchange Group, Niger House housing UAC group, Kingsway Stores, a division of UAC; UTC, SCOA, Leventis Stores, CFAO, G.B Ollivant, Gottschalk, John Holt, A.J Seward, Bata, Lennards and Bhojsons. •UTC Nigeria Plc commenced business in 1932 in Nigeria. The company became a private limited liability company on August 8, 1969 and a public company on 26 November 1971. It is owned by UTC Africa and other individuals. The company principal activity is manufacturing and processing of food items. Kingsway Stores Kingsway Stores is a department store owned by the United African Company. It was established in the Nigeria in 1948, incoporated with an equity capital of about 4,000,000 pounds. The store brought in a mixture of general consumer goods and fabrics and goods mostly common to western consumers. It aslo created coffee outlet which evolved into quick service restaurants. •UAC UAC of Nigeria Plc has a rich and varied history of successful enterprise that pre-dates the geographical entity called Nigeria. The rumps of the company’s early days can be traced to the activities of European traders and commercial activities. One of the most significant developments in the company’s history was the setting up of the Royal Niger Company, which was chartered between 1672 and 1750 to administer the territory that later become Nigeria. In 1879, the United African Company was founded following the merger of four Companies trading up the River Niger: Alexander Miller Brother & Company,

Central African Trading Company Limited; West African Company Limited and James Pinnock. Following the revocation of the charter, Royal Niger Company changed its Company name to The Niger Company Limited in 1900. UAC was first incorporated in Lagos, Nigeria under the name Nigerian Motors Ltd on April 22, 1931 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the United Africa Company Limited. (a subsidiary of Unilever), which later became UAC

International. The company’s name was changed to United Africa Company (Nigeria) Limited on 23rd July 1943. It became the United Africa Company of Nigeria Limited on 1st February, 1955 and started acquiring, over a period of five years, a large part of the business of UACI. In 1960 C.W.A. Holdings Limited, England also a subsidiary of Unilever, acquired UACI’s interest in the company. The name was changed to UAC of Nigeria Limited on March 1,

1973. In compliance with the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Act 1972, 40 percent of the company’s share capital was acquired in 1974 by Nigerian citizens and associations and in accordance with the provisions of the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Act 1977, an additional 20 percent of theuac’s share capital was publicly offered in 1977, increasing Nigerian equity participation to 60 percent. •Royal Exchange Group The Royal Exchange Assur-

ance, founded in 1720, was a British insurance company. It took its name from the location of its offices at the Royal Exchange, London. The Royal Exchange Assurance emerged from a joint stock insurance enterprise known as Onslow’s insurance or Onslow’s Bubble. This had been begun as the Mercer’s Hall Marine Company, or undertaking kept at the Royal Exchange for insuring ships and merchandise at sea. –Francis Famoroti

as a disaster, adding that goods worth millions of naira were destroyed in the inferno. Ajayi, said he can’t really figure out the cause of the fire, ‘’I just saw a raging fire at the plaza in the morning around 9:30 as we were about coming in to the plaza with the aim of opening our shops for the day business. ‘’Unfortunately for me, I cannot, because my shop was among the ones that got burnt,’’ he said. Another trader who simply identifies himself as Prince told BSD, that he was called by one of his friends that the Ultimate Plaza beside his own plaza was burning and that he needed to rush down to the market. Prince said no one can really figure out the cause of the fire, adding that there are speculations that someone in the plaza may have went home the previ-

ous night without switching off the electrical appliances in his shop. He added that owners of shops in the other plaza beside the burning plaza had to pack their goods to other places for safety. ‘’While the fire lasted, traders on the first and second floor of the plaza were running up and down packing their belongings as the fire continue burning the third floor,’’ prince said. However, as shop owners were trying to salvage what they could from the raging inferno, hoodlums were all over the place trying to steal some of the goods, but were prevented by the heavy security mounted by men of the Nigerian Police and Civil defence. –James Egbeyemi and Komolafe Qudus

Multi-million Naira goods razed in Lagos Island fire

•Traders count loses

A three-storey building gutted by fire on Broad Street, Lagos, recently

early three weeks after a fire outbreak at the Balogun market, in Lagos Island destroyed properties worth millions of naira, another fire incident occurred on Tuesday, consuming a three-storey building at number 122/124 Broad Street, Lagos. The early morning fire was said to have affected a property identified as Ultimate Plaza. The fire which started around 9:00 am in the morning according to eyewitnesses completely razed the third floor of the building. Although it would have been more disastrous for shop owners in the vicinity, but for the quick intervention of men of the Lagos State Fire Services and that of the Federal Fire Service who battled the inferno for hours until they were initially able to

subdue it. An eye witness who prefers anonymity said that while the fire rages, men of the United Bank of Africa Fire Services were called in to give helping hand and they responded by bringing in effective water pumping machine which helped in putting off the raging fire. The witness, however, said immediately the fire fighters left the scene, the fire erupted again on the same third floor, necessitating the plaza management to call Union Bank Fire Services to the rescue as they brought in fire fighting machine which eventually helped in putting off the fire. Mr Tope Ajayi popularly known as Tee-Gold one of the shop owner in the plaza, while speaking with Broad Street Diary, BSD, described the incident

News

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

USAID, traders partner to curb food wastage in Lagos

n its effort to curb high food wastage in Lagos markets, some traders say they have turned to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for technical assistance. The traders told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that they turned to USAID because of the unquantifiable losses incurred daily and government’s seeming unconcerned attitude. The traders under the umbrella of Orisunmbare Group, a collection of registered traders association in Mile 12 Market, Lagos, said USAID had assisted them technically to minimise wastages. Mrs Dupe Ojo, leader of the group, said USAID usually buys decaying perishable food items from the market and processed them into other income-generating goods. Ojo told NAN that they were collaborating with USAID to engender sustainable food preservation techniques. ``There is a new programme the USAID has introduced to the traders; they come to the market to buy rotten foods, especially rotten tomatoes. ``These people are making money by processing it for other uses and we are happy about it. ``This is what can help our preservation or you can call it a way of curbing wastage,’’ she said. Ojo urged government to supplement traders’ collaboration with USAID on food preservation by resuscitating the Lafia Can Factory. She said reviving the factory would assist in leverag-

People drawing water from a public tap in Suleja, Niger, yesterday.

ing state governments and the organised private sector’s interest in establishing foods preserving firms. ``The association wants the government to revive the sector. If I know that I have tomatoes about ten baskets remaining, I can take it to the factory. ``It can be turned around for traders and we make money for ourselves and the government,’’ she said, adding that the market, which generates about N500 million daily, has tried unsuccessfully to register the association with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. ``The rigour of paper work

Agency gives succor to IDPs Saidat Alausa

ountry Director of Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Nigeria, Mr. Fred Omosebi, has called on well-meaning Nigerians and organisations to support insurgency victims taking refuge in camps outside their homes otherwise known as Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) in the North Eastern part of the country. Mr. Omosebi made this call at Makohi, Konanwaya, and Deeper Life Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Yola, Adamawa State, recently where ADRA Nigeria distributed relief materials, which included rice, beans, salt, wheat flour, palm oil, among others, worth over N20

million to the IDPs. According to him, ADRA Nigeria through the support of ADRA International and Latter Day Charities Inc. has supported more than 1,000 households in Makohi, Konanwaya, and Deeper Life IDP camps in Yola, Adamawa State. He added that prior to the above intervention ADRA Nigeria had supported IDPs in Muslim Council and Bali camps in Jalingo, Taraba State, with various relief materials. He said the support was borne out of love for humanity. However, he explained that based on the quick needs assessment ADRA Nigeria made, it was discovered that the IDPs have other needs apart from food, adding that they need shelter, protection for children and women, medical attention for those suf-

is not easy for a common trader, but you know that if we have where we can be addressed at our level, it makes it easier. ``When the English Language becomes too long, they back out; we are at the mercy of the people with the technical know-how to assist us. ``We want the government to come in, we are the direct sellers, let them make it easier for us to get our products out of this country,’’ she said, adding that “while the challenges are enormous, we hope the new administration would address our demands.” According to her, the vision

fering from ailments, economic empowerment, among others. According to him, ADRA Nigeria will go back to the drawing board to plan how they can help the IDPs in these other areas of their needs till the time they will go back to their homes. At the IDP camps in Yola, Adamawa State, some of the beneficiaries, which included men, women and children, who spoke on behalf of other beneficiaries, expressed profound gratitude to ADRA Nigeria for giving them the relief materials. One of those who spoke specially thanked ADRA and requested that ADRA Nigeria workers pray for them so that they can return to their homes. A United Nations volunteer, who was at the camp when the relief materials were being distributed, said the IDPs have been

of the association is to partner with the state government to make Lagos a true mega city. ``The body is determined to put all hands on deck in turning our market to global status

in our trading style,’’ she said. NAN reports that the association had on September 14 commenced a week’s celebration of its 30 years anniversary with a seminar on firefighting and control.

Insurgency: Adams canvasses creation of state police

ational Coordinator of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Gani Adams, on Tuesday called for the creation of state police to assist in ending insurgency in the country.

neglected by many organisations and therefore appreciated ADRA Nigeria for distributing relief materials to them. He urged other organisations to emulate ADRA Nigeria. Mr. Omosebi also said that currently, ADRA Nigeria in partnership with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) office of the United Nations was embarking on livelihood support programme in selected local governments in Adamawa State. He noted that the purpose of the support was to bring succor to IDPs and also put smile on their faces. Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Nigeria, an independent humanitarian agency, was established by Seventh Day Adventist Church for the specific purpose of community development and disaster relief.

Adams told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that it was very hard for a country with about 1,500 illegal entry routes to tackle insurgency without a state police. He urged government to employ the services of local people, who understood the terrain in their respective areas to help security personnel to defeat the insurgents. ``Adamawa State University just resumed and has recruited 80 vigilante men and hunters for security; Borno, Yobe and others are also using civilians as security in some areas. ``This shows that we have serious crisis. Everywhere in the world, security is not just for government alone like we do in Nigeria. ``That is why I support the call for a state police. Instead of deploying people from different regions every now and then to fight insurgency, each state should be allowed to establish its force,” he said.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Theophilus Onojeghen Warri

il multinational companies operating in Delta State have been advised to emulate the state government in its employment programmes as part of their corporate social responsibility for creating jobs for host communities. Special Assistant to the Governor on Youth and Community Development, Eric Omare, made the appeal during a courtesy visit to the management of NECONDE Nigeria Limited in Warri. Omare said the state government received over 60,000 applications from youths in the state

Yenagoa

here has been a change of baton at the Central Naval Command, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, as Rear Admiral Apochi Suleiman, yesterday assumed duties as Flag Officer Commanding, FOC. At a brief handover ceremony at the headquarters of the CNC, the former Commander, Rear Admiral Stanley Ogoigbe, noted that he was grateful for the opportunity to serve the Navy and the country. He said under his command, he worked within the limits of available resources to reduce oil theft and associated maritime crime within his area of responsibility. He said the command was saddled with enormous responsibilities as 80 per cent of onshore oil facilities were domiciled within its area of operations, noting that the numerous shallow water creeks were more difficult to patrol as it required flat bottom boats, which was in short supply in the Navy’s fleet, adding that the command needed such small boats for effective patrols. He, however, added that more efforts were be required to further achieve zero level oil

Oil firms advised to key into Delta skill programmes during the first phase of Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme, STEP, and the Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme, YAGEP. He said owing to limited resources of the government, it could not accommodate even up to 50 per cent of individuals willing to participate in the skills and agricultural training programme, hence the need for companies to assist graduates of the programme with jobs.

Suleiman takes over at Central Naval Command O sahon J ulius

South South

Thursday, September 17, 2015

theft as envisioned by the Chief of Naval Staff. According to him, he enlisted the support of oil communities as stakeholders, a situation that led to re-opening of a Shell pipeline that increased oil production by 10,000 metric tonnes of crude daily. He urged officers and ratings to cooperate with the incoming FOC to achieve his objectives. The incoming FOC, Suleiman, solicited the support of officers and ratings of the Central Naval Command to achieve the short, medium and long term objectives of the Chief of Naval Staff. He stated that the objectives were geared towards safeguarding Nigerian territorial waters as well as protecting onshore and offshore oil and gas facilities and urge them to shun illegalities as he promised to lead by example. “If I am not involved in illegalities, I wonder how my commanders will be involved in any illegality. So, let us all work to show the Nigerian Navy in good light,” Suleiman said. Until his appointment as Flag Officer Commanding of Central Naval Command, Suleiman was Chief Staff Officer, Naval Training Command Apapa, Lagos.

Okowa

He said if oil firms operating in the state modeled their youths engagement programme after

the state government’s STEP and YAGEP, unemployment will reduce. Omare further stated Delta State government’s determination to tackle youth unemployment head-on, but called for collaboration and partnership by international oil companies and other oil firms operating in the state to tackle the problem. The special assistant, who was on familiarisation tour of the oil companies and communities in the state, said the government’s approach to unemployment has been

adjudged one of the best, and as such the multinationals needed to forge a synergy with the state government in the new approach to fight unemployment and youth restiveness. He, however, urged the oil firms to always give priority to their host communities in development project and employment. He added that while the state government was doing its part to ensure peaceful atmosphere for oil businesses to thrive, the firms should reciprocate by engaging the host

communities through purposeful programme and employment opportunities. Earlier, Chief Operating Officer of NECONDE, Oriseh Agbarah, while thanking Omare for the visit, appealed to the state government to intervene in challenges with some communities in its OML 42 operational areas. He, however, said they were in the process of localising its Global Memorandum of Understanding to ensure smooth operation in the host communities.

L-R: Representative of Deputy General Manager, Community Affairs, Total Nigeria Limited, Mr Okechukwu Obara; Head, Methods and Reporting Community Affairs, Mr Mgbonu Goodnews; Community Contractors, Mr Joshua Oduku and Mr Timothy Adegbe, during Total Contractors’ Health Safety and Environment Forum, at Obite in Rivers, yesterday.

Police charge 102 suspects to court in 2 days Richard Ndoma Calabar

ross River State Police Command says it has charged about 102 suspects to court in just two days after Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, in the state called off its eight months strike. The judicial staff, operating under the aegis of JUSUN in Cross River, had on September 14 resumed work after the strike that brought judiciary activities to a halt. Commissioner of Police, Henry Fadairo, said those charged to court included suspected armed robbers,

cultists and kidnappers. Fadairo said within the period under review, the police arrested about 177 criminal suspects for various offences, adding that the remaining suspects would soon be charged to court in order to decongest the cells. He said: “102 suspected criminals have been taken to court today. We had 177 of them in our custody and by the end of the week, we would have finished charging all of them to court and this will help decongest our facilities.” Similarly, Cross River security adviser, Jude Ngaji, stated that three hardened

kidnap suspects were on Sunday arrested by security operatives around the Anantigha axis of Calabar South Local Government Area. Ngaji said the suspects were behind the series of kidnapping that had been taking place within Calabar metropolis and environ. The SSA said the suspects, who are believed to be ex-militants, were arrested while trying to collect ransom from families of victims of kidnap. “Over the weekend, we arrested some kidnap suspects. They were caught in the process of trying to collect ransom from the fami-

lies of their victim. Some of those arrested are ex-militants. They are at the state Criminal Investigation Department undergoing investigation,” Ngaji said. He promised to clamp down on criminals in Calabar and environs following its stepping up of security measures by its security agents under the Quick Intervention Squad comprising the police, Navy and Army personnel. The SSA charged members of the public to report suspicious movements around their neighbourhood to the emergency mobile numbers that is currently in the public domain.

North

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

19 killed, 5,000 displaced in Plateau fresh attack JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

The District Head of Madara, Alhaji Lele Muktar (left), welcoming Bauchi State Governor, Muhammed Abubakar to the National Tree Planting Campaign in Dugunde forest reserve on Azare-Bulkachuwa road, Katagum lga of Bauchi State on Tuesday.

Leadership crisis: El-Rufai shuts Assemblies of God Churches AZA MSUE KADUNA

aduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, yesterday announced the immediate closure of two churches, a seminary school as well as hospital in Saminake, Lere Local Government Area of the state. In a statement by ElRufai’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, the closure was as a result of leadership crisis in the Assemblies of God Church in AGC Saminaka District, Lere Local Government Area. The governor said the measure, which was the outcome of State Security Council meeting held on Tuesday, was to forestall possible break down of law and order in the area and by extension the entire state. The governor gave names of the worship places closed down to include

Theological Seminary of Northern Nigeria, TSNN, Saminaka; Shalom Comprehensive College, Saminaka Assemblies of God Church, Nmbare, Saminaka, and Assemblies of God Church (Jerusalem) Saminaka AGC Evangelist Hospital, Saminaka. The statement said government would not tolerate the use of religion and ethnicity to cause crisis in the state. He warned that government would prosecute anyone, no matter his or her standing, implicated in fomenting crisis in whatever form in the state. He noted that as a result of these measures, those who might be affected by the closure would be admitted into government schools or hospitals, if they exercise the option. The council, the governor noted, also directed that the statusquo with regard to farmlands, houses and other assets of the church be upheld pending

resolution of the leadership crisis, which is a matter before the Supreme Court. The statement read: The Kaduna State Security Council at its 15th meeting, held on the 15th September, 2015, deliberated on the leadership crisis in the Assemblies of God Church in AGC Saminaka District, Lere Local Government Area of the state. “The council discussed this matter in the context of preventing threats to the peace and stability of the state. “The council noted that the leadership crisis has led to disintegration of order in the church, and raised tensions between the followers of the rival camps. “The crisis has also widened to the students of the church-owned school and seminary, who are now split and divided on factional lines. “The council reviewed previous efforts made to

resolve the crisis. It noted that these were aborted by those involved in the leadership tussle, principally to preserve their personal interests with little concern for the common good, and the peace and security of Kaduna State. “The council unanimously agreed that if left unchecked, the growing tension may degenerate into total breakdown of law and order in the said area, with the potential to spread to other parts of the state. “Therefore, the council has taken steps to preserve the peace. It has unanimously directed the immediate closure of the following: Theological Seminary of Northern Nigeria, (TSNN) Saminaka. Shalom Comprehensive College, Saminaka Assemblies of God Church, Nmbare, Saminaka and Assemblies of God Church (Jerusalem) Saminaka AGC Evangelist Hospital, Saminaka.”

Herdsmen banned from grazing animals in FCTA OMEIZA AJAYI

ederal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has warned herdsmen grazing cattle in and around the federal capital city to desist forthwith or face the full wrath of the law. This was contained in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja and signed by its spokesperson, Muhammad Sule. According to the statement, Permanent Secre-

tary in the FCT Administration, John Chukwu, who gave the directive in his office, said considering the improper grazing of cattle in the city centre and environs, there is need to halt further public nuisance and hazards to road users. Chukwu emphasised that this practice has adverse effects on the environment and must not be allowed to continue, stressing that Abuja is the capital of Nigeria and the window through which the world sees the country.

He said all hands must be on deck to ensure adequate maintenance of the city in accordance with the change mantra of the Federal Government. The Permanent Secretary thus directed the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, to ensure full compliance; noting that Abuja city is not meant for cattle grazing because there are designated areas for such activities in the Abuja Master Plan. Meanwhile, the FCT Administration has frowned

at the practice by some residents of the Federal Capital Territory hawking animals particularly rams on major streets of Gwarinpa II District, Abuja. Chukwu warned that the practice is also unacceptable as there are designated markets and areas for such activities. He instructed the AEPB to also ensure the immediate stoppage of such unwholesome practices by arresting and prosecuting defaulters in line with the law.

o fewer than 19 people were feared dead and 5,000 others displaced in a fresh attack by gunmen in Plateau State, National Mirror learnt yesterday. It was gather that the attack took place in Kadunung village of Mangu Local Government Area of the state. Our correspondent further gathered that the gunmen numbering over 100 had in the early hours of yesterday morning, invaded the village, killing people and injuring several others. However, there are accusations that Berom youths were behind the action, as they also set houses ablaze in the process. Chairman, Management Committee of Mangu Local Government, Titus Bise, who confirmed the attack, said over150 houses were burnt by the attackers. Bise said: “After the attack, I was part of the rescue team that evacuated the victims and so far we have recovered 11 bodies of people burnt in their houses. “Apart from the 11 bodies we picked from various places, there is a compound we saw seven people burnt in their rooms. That makes 18 deaths so far, we are suspecting there are bodies in the bushes, some youths are still searching and more bodies might be recovered. But for now, we have dead bodies that have been buried already. “The attack has created serious humanitarian problems for government, we are talking of 5,000 residence of the village displaced, their houses were burnt by the attackers. “Though members of the communities are alleging that the gunmen are their Berom neighbors, but that will be subject to confirmation after full investigation, I’m not in the position to confirm that for now. The federal troops in charge of Plateau State known as ‘Operation Safe Haven’ has described the

attack as reprisal which was allegedly carried out by Berom following an earlier attack on Berom community. Media officer of Operation Safe Haven, Captain Ikedichi Iweha said, “It’s true there was an attack on Kadunung village, houses were burnt, residents were displaced. He said: “The troop got the information very late, but we have taken over the general areas in search of the gunmen. We can’t confirm if the attackers are Berom because we are yet to arrest anyone. We will discover the real attackers after our investigation. Bise, however, appealed to government agencies at federal and state level to come to the aid of victims because of their large numbers. All the villagers have fled their homes to safe grounds. “More than 5,000 may have been displaced, report reaching me from Bauchi is that 1,000 displaced people are already taking refuge in parts of Bauchi State, the neighboring villages are having more displaced people than they can cater for. “The situation of the displaced is worse because rain season is at its peak, most of the displaced are in open rain, that alone can increase the casualties if nothing is done fast. I appreciate the security agencies; they are all over the village as well as surroundings” But leader of the Berom vigilante group in Barkin Ladi Mr. Pam Bot denied the allegation, saying the Berom can never attack its neighbour in this manner. Bot said: “This kind of attacks is that of the Fulani militias who are lurking around the boundary between Barkin Ladi and Mangu. I have received report that some of the gunmen lost their lives in this particular attack; this is a confirmation that the attackers are Fulanis, not Berom. “The entire Berom community is in sympathy with families who lost their loved ones in the attack,” said Bot.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

North

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Shettima warns commissioners, chairmen over IDPs food diversion INUSA NDAHI MAIDUGURI

Wife of Kebbi State Governor, Dr. Zainab Bagudu (middle) and other women, displaying milk to be presented to pregnant and lactating women, in Birnin Kebbi, yesterday.

Illegal arms factory owners arrested in Kaduna A ZA MSUE KADUNA

aduna State Police Command yesterday paraded suspected owners of illegal arms manufacturing factories in southern part of Kaduna State just as Governor Nasir el-Rufai has declared war on criminal elements. Parading the suspects at the state police headquarters, Kaduna, Commissioner of Police, Shehu Usman, said the suspects were producers of arms and ammunition as well as suppliers of same to criminal gangs terrorising the southern zone. He said detectives at-

tached to the area commander in Kafanchan, on intelligence report, swung into action and arrested the suspects in Kaura and Zangon Kataf council areas of the state. Shehu said during the raid 37 locally-made pistols, 11 revolver pistols, 34 single barrel guns were among dangerous weapons in their possession. His words, “The suspects in their various arms manufacturing factories in southern Kaduna, manufactured and supplied arms and ammunition to criminal elements operating there. Items recovered include four hand-drilling ma-

chines, six electric-drilling machines, three gas cylinders, three bench vices, two dane guns, one 7.62mm ammunition, three 5.56mm ammunition, two tiger generators, a box containing different parts of locallymade pistols/rifles and a tool box for the fabrication of rifle parts were recovered.” Shehu also paraded one Mrs. Moji Olangunju, who specialises in printing fake identity cards and documents of different organisations: “When search was conducted in her business centre; fake identity cards were recovered, nine fake police ID cards, seven fake military iden-

tity cards, 10 fake driver’s licence and 19 other different identity cards,” he added. However, speaking with journalists at police headquarters, Governor el-Rufai’s spokesman, Samuel Aruwan, said anybody found with illegal arms and other devices would be punished accordingly, no matter how high or low the person may be. Aruwan added that those who specialise in inciting violence too, would be prosecuted, stressing that the present administration was determined to bring back the lost glory of the state by ensuring it was crime-free.

Tax evasion stunting Nigeria’s economic development –FIRS

egional Director of Federal Inland Revenue, FIRS, in charge of North Central and FCT, Femi Faniyi, has described tax evasion by Nigerians as the bane of economic development. Faniyi, who disclosed this when he visited the State Board of Internal Revenue, SBIR, said unless Nigeria tackles the syndrome now, the hope of marching up with developed countries would continue to be a mirage. He also added that there was need for the FIRS to collaborate with State Internal Revenue Service, SIRS, to checkmate activities of tax

evaders. “Tax evasion is a cancer tearing Nigeria apart. It is not a coincidence that developed countries like Norwich, Denmark and others are moving forward in spite of their limited natural resources. It is on record that their development hinges on tax payment. “Nigeria cannot continue to depend on oil for its development. Aside its (oil) dwindling fortune, it is also not right to continue to evade tax and expect development. It is not oil that will developed Nigeria; it is the tax culture, which must be revived for us to enjoy

maximum benefits,” he noted Faniyi pointed out that the paying culture of Nigeria on tax is just around 50 percent on average level, stressing that the agency had brought in technological system to address some of the situation. He noted that part of his visit to the state is to see how to collaborate with the State Internal Revenue Service to harmonise on means and method to enhance tax administration in the state and urged them to collaborate with the agency The two agencies later

inaugurated a joint task force comprising two members each from the agencies.

overnor Kashim Shettima of Borno State on Wednesday vowed to fire any commissioner or/ and caretaker local government chairman that diverts food stuff meant for over one million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state. Shettima also directed the chairmen of three local government areas of Ngala, Kalabalge and Gwoza to immediately relocate to Yola, Adamawa State capital, to help return the over 10, 000 Borno IDPs recently sent packing from Cameroun. The governor read the riot act at the Multipurpose Hall of Maiduguri Government House during the swearing-in ceremony of 21 Commissioners, 27 local government chairmen and one permanent secretary. “Hunger is the main problem of our IDPs whose communities have been destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents, we must do all we can to alleviate their suffering and give them a new lease of life. “Let me warn all of you, I will not even think twice in removing any chairman and commissioner found wanting in the discharge of his duties; if anybody, be it a commissioner, local government chairman or member of the House of Assembly or any government official tampers with foodstuff meant for the poor, that person will face the full wrath of the law. “Let me make it abundantly clear that I will

involve the state security services and the military to monitor the distribution of these foodstuffs, and ensure they report back to me. The governor, who was visibly emotional about the plight of IDPs in the state, said all hands must be on deck towards reducing poverty in the land, and promised to commence rebuilding of destroyed communities. “Let me assure you that we will commence rebuilding of Bama with or without assistance from the international community after the Sallah celebration, the people of Askira and all other destroyed communities will go back to their communities after rebuilding. He therefore, warned the new commissioners not to lurk around Government House without official invitation and that local government chairmen should restrict themselves to their local government headquarters. “But going forward, I will have to step on many toes, I want to tender my unreserved apologies because definitely we have to work for the good of our people so that posterity can judge us right,” Shettima added. Responding on behalf of the commissioners and caretaker committee chairmen of the 27 council areas, former attorney-general and commissioner for justice, Barrister Kaka Shehu, thanked the governor for finding them worthy for the appointment and pledged to be loyal and patriotic to the government and development of the state.

Gombe to improve maternal, child health care indices WILLIAMS ATTAH GOMBE

xecutive Secretary of Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Ahmed Gana, has expressed the state government’s determination to improve the survival indices of women and children. He stated this at the opening of a two-day capacity building training/meeting held yes-

terday for stakeholders in the health sector in Gombe State, organised by Evidence for Action (E4A). The executive secretary, who described as unacceptable the rising number of women and children who die in avoidable circumstances, promised government’s support and partnership in ensuring there is great improvement in maternal and child health care.

According to him, “government is determined to ensure this situation is reversed, we are going to encourage this platform to open up our health facilities because we are transparent and accountable.” He said, “They will be encouraged to come and see all we have on ground in terms of our plans, budgets, our activities and even our challenges and limitations.”

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

World News

Germany, Austria and Hungary alone cannot cope with the migrants’ crisis. We need help from other EU nations.

–Germany’s Vice Chancellor, Angela Merkel

Afolabi Gambari

with agency report

imbabwe President, Robert Mugabe, summoned MPs to a special session yesterday, a day after he read out the wrong speech at the opening of Parliament. Mugabe, 91, however still delivered the correct speech during yesterday extraordinary meeting. On Tuesday, he accidentally read the same state-of-the-nation address he had already delivered on August 25 when he was heckled by opposition MPs. The error has been blamed on a mix-up in the president’s secretarial office, prompting questions from members of the opposition over whether the nonagenarian president remained fit to lead the country. The state broadcaster, which cancelled its live feed of Tuesday’s speech, called on MPs to show up for an extraordinary session of parliament yesterday in Harare. Mugabe began speaking but it was not long before it dawned on those present that they had heard it all before. Opposition MPs belonging to Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) reportedly kept quiet during the speech, as rul-

Wrong speech: Angry Mugabe summons ZANU MPs

Internet acceleration targets Africa The roll-out of high-speed mobile connectivity in Africa and India is demonstrating yet again how emerging economies can leapfrog traditional developmental stages to accelerate their economic growth. Governments in these countries are betting that faster 4G internet connections over the airwaves, rather than down expensive wired infrastructures, will give businesses a welcome productivity boost. The tech upgrade is already making a difference on many small businesses. “Having much faster internet access means we get more done,” a Nigerian entrepreneur, Yomi Adegboye, running a popular blog that reviews mobiles and gadgets, said.

Researchers want ‘mass de-worming’

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe

ing ZANU-PF party supporters clapped at regular intervals. “Anyone who is still of a sound mind would have quickly picked it up that the speech was the wrong one,” MDC spokesman, Obert Gutu, said. Presidential spokesman, George Charamba, said on

Tuesday the error in delivering the wrong speech was “sincerely regretted” after which the president later read the correct speech at a hotel in the capital Harare. Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, is Africa’s oldest leader.

Shoukry said authorities were in the midst of an impartial inquiry led by Egypt’s Prime Minister. “The chain of events is still confusing and unclear. There have been reports, many of them conflicting, regarding whether the tourist convoy had the necessary permits, whether it had taken a detour to a restricted area and whether the use of four-wheel drive (vehicles) instead of a tour-

ist bus had increased the risk of mistaken identification,” the letter said. “The emerging facts indicate that an operation was taking place against terrorists in that area at the time the convoy passed. We still do not know if the convoy was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or if some error was involved.” The head of the tour guides union has disputed government accusations that the group did not have proper permits and was in cars not authorized for tours. One of the tourists was diabetic and couldn’t wait until the group reached its destination to eat, the union’s Hassan El-Nahla said, so the group took a 2-kilometer (1.2mile) detour off a paved road. “There were no warning signs and no instructions from the checkpoints on the road or the tourism policeman accompanying them,” El-Nahla said, stressing, “I strongly condemn the lack of coordination between the ministry of tourism, in not following up with the events, and the police.”

Egypt regrets tourists’ killing gypt’s Foreign Ministry has expressing condolences over what it calls mistaken killing of Mexican tourists in Egypt on Monday. “I am writing this open letter to the Mexican people to express my deepest sympathy and condolences for the loss of innocent Mexican lives and the injury of other tourists on Egyptian soil,” a letter from Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, said.

AFRICAN BULLETIN

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry

Russia, Angola block Sudan sanctions

ussia and Angola have opposed moves at the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on a South Sudan general and a rebel commander, US diplomats said yesterday. The US had proposed a travel ban and asset freeze on Army chief Paul Malong and rebel General Johnson Olony for continuing to fuel conflict. The Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said sanctions might aggravate the situation, according to reports. Fighting has continued in South Sudan despite last month’s peace deal. Both sides signed the agreement to end the 20 months of conflict under intense regional and international pressure. The fighting between forces loyal to South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar has forced more than 2.2 million people from their homes in the world’s youngest state, which broke away from Sudan in 2011. At least seven ceasefires have been agreed and then shattered and US diplomats want to maintain the pressure to ensure the most recent deal succeeds. Ambassador Churkin said he felt sanctions were not the solution after his country’s talks with the foreign ministers of South Sudan and Sudan.

A large-scale de-worming treatment programme is needed to rid some 1.5 billion people of these harmful and unpleasant parasites, researchers said yesterday. The Stanford University team says the World Health Organization needs to step up its response but the WHO says this could breed drug-resistant infections. Currently, eradication is focused largely on school-aged children living in high-prevalence areas. The Stanford team’s research recommends mass treatment of whole communities. Worms affect a quarter of the world’s population and are transmitted by eggs passed in the faeces of infected people that contaminate food or water supplies. One type of worm, hookworm, can hatch in soil and burrow into a person’s skin, for example, if they walk barefoot on contaminated soil.

Brewers set for merger The prospect of a tie-up between the world’s two largest brewers is looming after Anheuser-Busch InBev said it had made a takeover move for SABMiller. The combined value of the two firms is likely to be at least $230bn (£150bn) based on yesterday’s share price. AB InBev’s brands include Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, while SABMiller owns Peroni and Grolsch. If the deal is successful, the merged company would produce one third of the world’s beer. AB InBev said it had approached SABMiller’s board about a what it called combination of the two companies. However, it added that there was no certainty the approach would lead to an offer or an agreement. Earlier, SABMiller said it had been informed that AB InBev was planning to make a bid, but that it had no details as yet.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Thursday September 4, 2014

AAG: Dosu shocked over Dream Team loss to B/Faso

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

Critics will get off my back as soon as I start doing what I do best for PSG. It’s just a matter of time

–PSG winger, Angel Di Maria

UEFA Champions League…

AAG Loss

Siasia to invite new players

...As team battle host, Congo for bronze today

ead Coach of the U-23 National Team, Samson Siasia has attributed the defeat of his team by Burkina Faso in the semi finals of the 11th All-Africa Games football tournament in Brazzaville to his boys’ wastefulness in front of goal, and the defenders failing in their duties. Speaking after the game, a disappointed Siasia disclosed that in his wildest imagination, he did not for once believe his team would lose to Burkina Faso, let alone by such a high margin. Siasia said: “I never imagined losing to Burkina Faso, but then my midfielders played so well, my defenders and attackers let me down, can you imagine my attackers not being able to convert about eight chances that came their way? “To make matters worse, the defend-

ers were asleep on a day they should have been up and doing. Who told the central defenders to keep offside trap the way they did? I am totally disappointed; we can’t play like this in Senegal and expect to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. No way! “We were so bad that anytime the ball beat the defenders, even my goalkeeper could not stop any of the shots fired at him. Football is a team work where errors are bound to occur, but it’s the ability of fellow team mates to cover for one another that makes a team great, that I didn’t see today.” On the way forward, Siasia stated that he is happy that the worst has happened at the All-Africa Games and he has learnt his mistakes. “We will make corrections after the

All-Africa Games. I plan to travel to talk to some players I have already penciled down, then hopefully, the team should be assembling in first week of October to prepare for the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. Certainly, some of the players I brought to Congo Brazzaville will have to give way.” Siasia, however apologized to Nigerians for letting them down by not qualifying for the All-Africa Games men’s football final and bringing home the gold medal. “I am not a man of excuses. I take all the blame for this collapse and will certainly make amends before the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.” Unfortunately, Nigeria’s senior women’s team, Super Falcons, also in the semi final of the women’s football

Results AS Roma

Barcelona

B’Leverkusen

BATE

Chelsea

M’ Tel Aviv

D. Zagreb

Arsenal

Dyn. Kiev

Porto

Gent

Lyon

Olympiakos

Bayern M.

Valencia

Zenith

event, crashed 1-2 to Cameroon also on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Dream Team VI will be without three players led by skipper Azubuike Okechukwu when they face Congo today in the bronze medal game at the All Africa Games football event. According to the team’s media officer, Timi Ebikagboro, the players namely captain Azubuike, Umar Aminu and Ndifreke Effiong are out due to injury. “Dream team loses 3 players, capt Azubuike, Aminu and Ndifreke due to injury in today’s 3rd place game against host Congo at the AAG,” Ebikagboro announced on Twitter. Nigeria surprisingly lost 3-1 to Burkina Faso in the semi-final, while hosts Congo bowed to Senegal by the same scores.

Sports

Thursday, September 17, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

All African Games: Ulonna wins Powerlifting silver

eam Nigeria Powerlifters continued from where they left off Tuesday as the event entered its day two yesterday. The day-three got underway with a silver medal for the Nigerian lifters. Tony Ulonna won a silver medal in the 59kg category. Ulonna lifted 190kg in his third attempt after initial 177kg and 185kg lifts in his first and second attempts. His silver medal adds to the two gold and two silver medals Nigeria earlier won in the Powerlifting event which started on Tuesday.

The gold medal was won by Egypt’s world record holder, Othman Sherif who lifted 210.5kg to set a new World and African record in that event. The bronze medal went to Atangana Conrat of Cameroon. Head coach of the Nigerian Powerlifting team, Prince Feyisotan Areh, said that he was confident his athletes would win more gold medals in the remaining events. “The lifters are doing well, I’m impressed with their performances and I am sure we will win more gold medals in the remaining events,” Areh said.

Ulonna

AAG Ouster: Kujah defends Siasia Ifeanyi Eduzor

F Team Nigeria

Team Nigeria’s medal haul increases

espite a little setback, athletics on Tuesday added three more gold medals to the total haul of Team Nigeria at the ongoing All African Games in Congo, Brazzaville. Junior athlete, Amusan Oluwatobiloba, set the tone with a spectacular display in female hurdles event,storming to gold ahead of other top favourite. Nigeria also won bronze in the female hurdles event. Also, Blessing Okagbare made her presence count in Congo as she ran the third leg for the women’s quartet, en route to winning the 4x100m relay event gold in 43.11secs, but the male sprints relay quartet were disqualified for baton exchange outside the restricted line. There was more celebration in the field events, as the wom-

en’s javelin saw Nigeria’s Kelechi Nwanaga threw a distance of 52.70m to snatch gold ahead of Mery Zuta of Ghana who won the silver with her distance throw of 50.93m. Back on the tracks, in the women 400m event, national champion, Patience Okon George was beaten to the gold medal by Kabange Mupopo of Zambia who returned in 50.22secs ahead of 50.71secs by the Nigerian, while Adeloye Oluwatosin and Margaret Etim came 4th and 5th respectively in 51.82 and 52.64secs. Sadly there was no medal of any shade for Nigeria in the men’s 400m as Orukpe Erayokan came 6th in the event with a time of 45.73secs, while Isaac Makwala of Botswana won in 44.35secs while Boniface Mwe-

resa of Kenya (45.01secs) and Onkabetse Nkobolo of Botswana (45.50secs) won the silver and bronze respectively.

ollowing the semi- final defeat of “Dream Team VI” at the on-going All Africa Games, soccer ambassador and renowned FIFA Licensed agent, Friday Nwankwo Kujah has come to the defense of the U-23 Chief Coach, Samson Siasia; saying that despite the defeat Siasia is still a good coach and must be encouraged as he prepares for Brazil 2016 Olympics qualifiers later in the year. Nigeria on Tuesday night lost 3-1 to Burkina-Faso in one of the semi- final matches decided in Brazzaville while the Super Falcons also lost by 2-1 to Cameroon thereby putting an end to the country’s hope of fighting for 2 gold medals at the football event of the games. He told National Mirror that for the U-23 team and their female counterparts to lose to their opponents is

an indication that the country did not prepare well for the game like other African countries. “it is quite unfortunate that the country’s two teams lost their semi- final matches on the same day, thereby denying the country the opportunity of vying for two gold medals. “What this shows is that we did not prepare well for the competition and not that the coaches did not do their home work well as being insinuated in some quarters. “Nigerians should remember that Siasia had in the past took Nigeria to silver medal at the World U-20 level and he is the best coach to handle the team. What he needs now is total support for him to qualify Nigeria for the 2016 Olympics. Kujah who is planning a youth football development programme, advised the NFF to organize more friendly matches for the U-23 team ahead of their Olympic qualifiers.

VCN U-15 tourney round of 16 ends Ifeanyi Eduzor

ound of 16 matches of the on-going VCN U-15 football competition has ended at the Jalisco Play ground Oshodi, Lagos. Results of the match indicates that Christ Embassy defeated Fortune Fc 1-0, Smart Strikers beat Diamond Fc 2-1, 36 Lions recorded a 1-0 victory over Great Soccer Academy while

Diamond FA beat Cosmos FA by 5-4 penalty. Other results indicates that FC Success recorded a 3-0 victory over PM Sport, Bora FA beat Nero Boys FA 3-2 just as Sunshine FA recorded a 5-4 penalty win over Ade’s FA. Coordinator of the competition, Prince Adewale Atiba of Atico Global Concept told National Mirror that the spirit of sportsmanship exhibited by the players is an

indication that they have lived up to the expectations of the tour nament sponsor, Victor Nwaribeaku who wants to use the championship to develop football at the grassroots eve as he expressed hope that they will maintain the momentum till the end of the championship. Meanwhile quarter- final matches of the competition will hold on Saturday at the same venue.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sports

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Referee attack

LMC rejects Abe, Sunshine plea T Dream team during their match against Burkina Faso, on Tuesday

AAG: Dosu shocked over Dream Team loss to B/Faso

ormer Nigeria international, Joseph Dosu, has described as a shock the U-23 Eagles’ 3-1 loss to Burkina Faso in the semi-final of the men’s football event of the 2015 All Africa Games. Speaking yesterday in Lagos, Dosu urged the team to put the result behind them and shift attention on the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations in Senegal. He also urged coach Samson Siasia to strengthen the team with foreign-based

players. “It was a surprise result to me; I wasn’t expecting Burkina Faso to knock us out,” Dosu, who was in goal when Nigeria’s U-23 ‘Dream Team’ won gold at the Atlanta ’96 Olympics, stated. “I believe it is a shock to the whole country. But that is football, a game where anything can happen. What we have to do is to pick the pieces and see how far we can go in the Olympic qualifier where we

have been grouped with Egypt, Mali and Algeria, which I believe is a very tight group. “I think we will need some of our foreign-based players to come around and help the team qualify for the Olympics proper. And I believe if the team prepare very well, they will qualify for the Olympics.” The U-23 Eagles will face hosts Congo in the third place match.

NFF okays Aspire Football Dreams project Paul Erewuba

he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), yesterday in Lagos, patted Aspire Football Dreams Project (Nigeria) on the back for providing the platform for the development of youth football in Nigeria and Africa at large. The NFF Assistant Director Communications, Ademola Olajire who represented the Association’s President Amaju Pinnick at a press

..As 2015 edition kicksoff in Lagos Conference to announce the beginning of the 2015 edition, said this in Lagos yesterday. “The NFF are happy with the Aspire project. It is a great stride and we will always support it”, Olajire stated. The 2015 edition of the project in Nigeria kicked off in Lagos with 50 kid footballers in attendance and some outstanding state coordinators being The children who were

presented to the media were selected from all over the federation from the over 700 that attended the preliminary programme held in the 36 states of the federation and Abuja. Out of the fifty, three to five will be selected to go to the famous Aspire Academy in Qatar. The Director, Aspire Football Dreams (Nigeria), Sam Ahmedu (Rtd)said, “the project provides participants a

platform of developing their skills and learning the rudiments of the game in a proper way from their infancy.” Ahmedu, who said all the ‘’expenses regarding the technical training of the players are free, explained further that ‘’the Academy makes extra efforts at placing the players in top football clubs around the world to begin full fledged professional carrer.’’

he League Management Company (LMC) has turned down a plea for leniency by Sunshine Stars and their captain, Sunday Abe. The LMC issued the Akure Gunners with a Summary Jurisdiction notice following incidents in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) match day 28 fixture clash at Shooting Stars Sports Club in Ibadan. In a letter dated September 14, 2015, the Akure side cited their record as one of the most disciplined clubs in the league and the fact that their players and supporters were unnecessarily delayed for hours after the match as some of the grounds of their appeal for leniency. Abe, in a separate letter of apology, attributed his aggressive behaviour towards the match referee to frustration while he pledged to refrain from such acts and also pleaded for a reconsideration of his sixmatch ban. However, the LMC in response to the club’s appeal said that it took due notice of all circumstances that prevailed during and after the match before arriving at the decision and advised the club to comply with the sanctions.

Sunday Abe

WORLD RECORD

Largest trick roping loop by a male

N150

Vol. 05 No. 1201 Thursday, September 17, 2015

The largest trick roping male was achieved by Charlie Keyes (USA), who spun loop around him fed to 107 ft 2 in, at Will Rogers International Wild West Expo in Claremore, Oklahoma, USA; 22 April 2006.

PDP’S analogue symbolism and other stories

y friends all, during last week, one of the most disgusting of follies in the Nigerian political theatre happened. Ordinarily, I would have allowed it to pass but because of the tendency nowadays for this theatre to tilt on the verge of absurdity, I cannot but wade in. The culprit this time around is the former power broker of the Nigerian polity, the PDP. The cassus belli is the curious decision not to display the official portrait of President Buhari at the national headquarters of the party, Wadata Plaza, Abuja. Ordinarily, in our political clime filled with sundry descent to roforofo battles, the smug insistence of the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh that the party would not mount the portrait wouldn’t have mattered. But much as we have all agreed to graduate from the primitive politicking

erman legend Franz Beckenbauer insists the world’s best players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be bought by English clubs. Ronaldo, along with the Thomas Muller and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, were linked with moves to the Premier League

Guest Columnist

Sola S l

Ojewusi

and rancourous mudslinging that had nearly torn our country apart, such bellicose posturing is, to me, a disservice to our common good. Dear PDP, Buhari may be your political opponent, but he is not your adversary. Buhari is currently the father of the nation, and whether you like it or not, the constitution has made him your national leader till 2019. As a responsible party, PDP must know that Buhari, as far as the symbolism is concerned, is neither PDP nor APC. Buhari is the representative of our collective aspiration as a nation under heaven and any attempt not to respect the institution he represents, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, our fatherland, is not only an indignity on your part, it is an affront on the sanity of the office of the President which one day, no matter how long or short the time, will be restored to your party. As a party claiming to be the true bastion of democracy, such infantile posturing is to me preposterous. Not even the post election defeat hangover should make a party worth its salt descend to such theatrical low. It is folly for a party to begin to turn the issue of presidential portrait to a national cause celebre. What is the purpose? I crave a return to the era of politics without bitterness that Waziri Ibrahim of blessed memory so passionately promoted. The true domain of human value, as they say, is the golden rule. PDP should not by its action give the world the impression that it is a bunch of sore losers,

AS A PARTY CLAIMING TO BE THE TRUE BASTION OF DEMOCRACY,

SUCH INFANTILE POSTURING IS TO ME PREPOSTEROUS unable to stomach their temporary setback. Rather than the crude symbolism of the rejection of the portrait of a man so empowered by the constitution to be the symbol of our nationhood, the PDP should concentrate its energy on restoring its lost influence among the populace. Some mischief makers are even tagging the portrait rejection faux pas a treasonable felony. Well, that beats me but I must confess that PDP brought it all upon itself.

Aggrieved moneybags and hapless journalists In the past one month, two distinguished journalists, Chris Kehinde Nwandu and Seun Oloketuyi were arrested and hounded into jail for stepping on the hallowed toes of some powerful forces. While I defer to the fact that their cases are subjudice, I must express the growing fear in the circle of journalists that the possibility of a new kind of war never before seen in the history of the Fourth Estate of the Realm might have started. I believe that no journalist has the

right to violate the constitutional rights of anyone. I also believe that the power of the pen comes with huge responsibility on the part of the pen pusher. But there is this caveat. The allegation that the two gentlemen were not given the chance to extract or stand by their publications before being hounded into jail like common criminals is not only disturbing, it has also brought unnecessary notoriety to the persons seeking redress. In a situation where the quest for redress leads to more negativity, I believe the path of dialogue would have been wiser. One of the aggrieved is the managing director of a bank. I wonder if the PR managers of the bank considered the negative import of protracted legal battles with journalists on the image of the bank. Already there is accusation of excessive use of money power on behalf of the plaintiffs such that rather than improve the opinion of the public about the persons seeking redress, more negative impression is setting in. So what is the purpose of litigation when it ironically creates more problem than it is aimed at solving? I will plead caution in this whole scenario. The powers-that-be should not be tempted to want to kill an erring fly with the sledgehammer. To me the thesis of the plaintiff ’s legal action is already creating myriad antitheses. Have you ever heard the story of the tortoise and its in-law, the snail? The tortoise offended its in-law, who decided to hang tortoise on a pole by the road that led to the village market to subject him to public ridicule. However the story changed when hours later, market folks returning home seeing the tortoise still hanging there, descended on Mr Snail, calling the act wickedness! Let this be a parable for the money bags and their new-found muscle-flexing against “poor” journalists. Ojewusi wrote via solaojewusi@yahoo.com

Sport Extra

English clubs can’t buy Messi, Ronaldo says Beckenbauer during the most recent transfer window, but nothing materialised. And Beckenbauer, the honourary president at Bayern, insists that won’t change any time soon. “Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ron-

aldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bayern Munich’s Thomas Müller – of the best players in the world – the English clubs did not get any.” Barcelona boss Luis Enrique says Lionel Messi is the best player ever.

“Messi isn’t just the best player in the world, he’s the best the game has ever seen,” said Enrique. Barcelona will be aiming to become the first side in 26 years to retain Europe’s top trophy.

Messi and Ronaldo

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