Businessday 08 jun 2018

Power sector risks collapse over N1.1 trn debt burden

…as NERC confirms 30 firms to issue prepaid meters Olusola Bello, Lagos & HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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he country’s power sector risks collapsing under a heavy debt burden of N1.1 trillion if nothing is done to deal with the problem. The bad debt situation in the sector is now rising by N30 billion a month with total unpaid liabilities in the sector now standing at N1.1 trillion as against N800 billion that

government officials always claim.

The challenges faced by the sector was disclosed by operators at a round table on the energy sector organised by the Sahara Group in Lagos yesterday.

Chronic debtors to sector are in the public sector even as the chairman of Sahara Power group, Kola Adesina disclosed that electricity supply to Ikeja cantonment has been restricted to two hours

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news you can trust I ** FRIDAY 08 JUNE 2018 I vol. 15, no 71 I N300

L–R: Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, ex-officio​, national council, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Oscar Onyema, chief executive officer, NSE; Abimbola Ogunbanjo, president, national council, NSE; Mojisola Adeola, head, council secretariat, NSE, and Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, first vice president​, national council, NSE, during the 57th annual general meeting of the exchange in Lagos.

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Access, Stanbic, Union are best paying banks

Inside

CBN commences Chinese yuan P. 34 auction next month S.V.A. Yaw & Sons Ltd. P. 35 Soji Apampa

as average annual pay for industry dips

LOLADE AKINMURELE

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hree Nigerian banks, Access, Stanbic IBTC and Union have average wages that are well above the industry average, BusinessDay’s analysis

Economic Insight Peak Oil, fiscal policies and Nigeria’s growth

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To be published June 13

Summer passengers stranded over scarcity of passport booklets

Nigeria shines at EMEA awards – Wins 3 awards

IFEOMA OKEKE

DIPO OLADEHINDE

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assengers in Nigeria travelling to various destinations for summer have been stranded in the country for the past two to three

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L-R: Michael Larbie, CEO, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) Nigeria/regional head West Africa; Doyin Salami, economist, Lagos Business School (LBS)/moderator; Yewande Sadiku, executive secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC); Enase Okonedo, RMBN non-executive director/dean, LBS; Dave Uduanu, managing director, Sigma Pensions Limited, and Amine Mati, senior resident representative, IMF, all panel discussants at the Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria 5th anniversary business conference, with the theme “Connecting the Building Blocks to Drive Inclusive and Sustainable Growth: Investments and Economic Diversification” in Lagos, yesterday. Pic by Olawale Amoo

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igeria was celebrated yesterday when it won awards in 3 categories for its securities issuance activities in the domestic and

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Access, Stanbic, Union are best paying banks...

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of the 2017 annual report of 13 listed banks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange shows.

Access Bank tops the list with an average wage per employee of N16.19 million, a 2.92 percent upgrade from the N15.73 million it shelled out in 2016. The average wage per person for the tier one lender is more than double the industry average of N7.98 million.

Sources say Access Bank is offering superior pay to its staff in a bid to avert the threat of a brain drain that is sweeping across the financial industry.

Stanbic IBTC ranks second, with an average wage per employee of N10.95 million, 10.6 percent more than the N9.90 million paid in 2016. Stanbic IBTC is majority owned by Standard Bank of South Africa which recently increased its stake in the bank, following a string of good performance that has seen the bank report one of highest returns on equity (ROE) in the country.

Union Bank came a close third with an average staff wage of N10.54 million, which was 4.4 percent lower than the N11.03 million incurred in 2016.

Wema bank came next with an average pay of N9.68 million.

Deputy managing director of Wema Bank, Ademola Adebise, said in an interview with BusinessDay in March that the bank was hiring younger staff to lead its digital revolution. Wema saw a 2.3 percent rise in employee strength to 1,034 from 1,011 year-on-year.

The two other banks that shelled out more than the industry average on staff wages and salaries in 2017 were Ecobank Transnational Inc. and First Bank of Nigeria Holdings (FBNH).

The average pay per employee at ETI and FBNH came to N8.74 million and N8.47 million respectively.

BusinessDay analysis shows that all 13 banks paid out a total of N560.7 billion in wages and salaries to a total of 74,426 staff in 2017, a marginal decrease of less than 1 percent from the N560.8 billion paid out to some 73,605 staff in 2016.

On a cumulative basis, average wages in the 13 commercial banks dipped 1.5 percent to N7.98 mil-

lion in 2017 from N8.1 million the previous year, as employment in the industry rose 1 percent while cumulative wages slightly fell.

Only Fidelity Bank, FCMB and Union Bank of the 13 surveyed banks recorded a decrease in average wage for the period.

The growth in average pay of workers at Sterling, Diamond and First Bank Nigeria Holdings was marginal at 0.27 percent, 0.81 percent and 1.53 percent respectively.

Tier-one lender, Access bank recorded a 2.9 percent growth in average wages.

The banks that saw relatively higher average wages were Stanbic IBTC, UBA, GTB and Zenith, with an average growth of 9 percent.

“Very few banks have implemented salary increases in the last one year,” a management level banker at one of the tier-one banks told Business Day. “The motivation behind Stanbic and UBA’s salary raise was a surge in profitability, while some simply upped wages for staff retention given the brain drain in the system,” the management level banker said anonymously by phone.

Stanbic IBTC recently implemented wage increases in March, and unsurprisingly led the banks with the most wage rise last year, after a 10.6 percent jump to N10.9 million from N9.89 million in 2016.

The tier-one lender saw average pay rise on the back of a 14.6 percent upgrade in wages to N33.1 billion. The bank also employed more people in the period following a 3.6 percent rise in staff numbers to 3,031 from 2,926 the year before.

Following the precedent of Stanbic IBTC, average pay is likely to rise this year, according to Aderonke Adesola, a banking analyst at Lagos-based investment bank, Chapel Hill Denham.

“Last year was a recovery year but some banks still struggled with asset quality and as such were a bit constrained in implementing pay increases,” Adesola said.

“But as asset quality improves, the banks are in a better place to raise employee salaries this year,” she added.

Guaranty Trust bank, the country’s largest bank by market capitalization, also raised employee

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L-R: Mary Uduk, acting director general, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); Laure Beaufils, British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria; Bola Onadele. Koko, MD/CEO, FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange; Oluranti Adebule, deputy governor, Lagos State; Greg Jobome, executive director, risk management, Access Bank plc, and Justine Leigh-Bell, director, market development, Climate Bonds Initiative, at the Nigerian green bond market development programme launch, with the theme: The Rise of Green Bonds “Global Trends and the Opportunity for Nigeria” in Pic by Olawale Amoo Lagos, yesterday.

Nigeria makes big move to unlock Green Bond market … SEC set to issue guidelines for the new market

… Global issuance hits $155.5bn on increasing demand

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

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igerian issuers and institutional investors are now hungrier for a thriving Green Bond market with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) making commitment to formally approve guidelines for the new market.

Increased demand drove global Green Bond issuance to a record $155.5billion in 2017 even as 37 countries from all continents have issued over 1,500 Green Bonds which represent 78percent growth from 2016 level.

Rising from a two-day interactive session put together by FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, in partnership with reputable institutions such as FSD Africa and Climate Bonds Initiatives, regulators, potential issuers, and investors on Thursday June 7, 2018 launched Continued from page 1

international capital markets. The awards were Best Sovereign Bond in Africa - US$3bn Dual-Tranche (10 and 30 year) Eurobonds issued in November 2017; Most Innovative Bond - US$300mn Diaspora Bond issued in June 2017; and Best Naira Bond - 100bn 7-year Inaugural Sukuk issued in September 2017.

Coming from EMEA Finance (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), which is a well-respected institution in the international financial markets, the Awards positions Nigeria properly to attract foreign capital flows and also confirm the robustness of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) in packaging and of-

the Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme.

Green Bonds are fixed income (FI), liquid financial instruments used to raise funds dedicated to climate mitigation, adaption and other environment-friendly projects. They provide investors with an attractive investment proposition and an opportunity to support environmentally and socially sound projects.

Governments, States, Municipals and Corporates can issue Green Bonds while individuals, companies and institutional investors can invest in Green Bond.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will any moment from now formally approve the rules for Nigeria’s Green Bond market, Mary Uduk, acting Director General, SEC said at the event attended by many key public and private sector players.

“Green Bonds will help deepen

the Nigerian capital market. The opportunities have positive impact on the economy. We are engaging other development partners to help us build internal capacity that will help reduce regulatory turnaround time. The Green Bond issuance comes under the purview of the SEC. I want to believe that it will not be difficult. I don’t think Nigeria will find it difficult to develop the Green Bond market.

I also want to believe that when it comes to disclosure, all it must be done well,” Uduk said.

Justine Leigh-Bell, director, market development, Climate Bonds Initiative said at the event held in Lagos that there are currently 239 different issuers and 146 new issuers of Green Bond”, adding that “Nigeria is among the countries that have done something nice about Green Bond.”

Continues on wwwbusinessday online

Nigeria shines at EMEA awards ... fering products that appeal strongly to local and international investors.

Even more significant for Nigeria is thatawardsbyEMEAFinancearemade after evaluating several Transactions, each of which is unique, using clearly defined criteria. That 3 Transactions by Nigeria wonawards from a competitive process, is a huge plus for Nigeria.

Nigeria issued its first Diaspora Bond for USD300 million in June 2017. The Bond was selected for the Award both for the uniqueness in the manner in which it was structured. The Bond is also the first security issued by Nigeria that is registered with the US Securities

and Exchange Commission.

With the USD3 billion dualtranche (USD1.5 billion for 10 years and USD1.5 billion), Nigeria recorded several firsts, making it a landmark transaction. Firstly, it was the very first time that Nigeria raised an amount that large at once in the International Capital Market (ICM). Secondly, it was the first time a Sub-Saharan African country other than South Africa to issue a 30-year Bond in the ICM. For Nigeria, the significance of the tenor lies in the fact that it could now access stable long term funds necessary to finance infrastructure.

Continues on wwwbusinessday online

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TALES FROM THE MAIN ROAD

EUGENIA ABU 07043185277 (Text only) myspace@eugeniaabu.com

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s for British royalty, I often just buzz past them, lingered a little when Diana was alive, met Prince Philip at the British Council Abuja and Prince Andrew at an event in England not too long ago but as it is with royal meetings, it was distant and cool, never intimate. A handshake with Prince Philip after many rehearsals was the closest I ever got to the British monarchy and I can hardly remember the handshake although I remembered the visit. So, really we kind of get on with our lives, view the Queen as our own grandmother who is so colorful and stern but otherwise not much of an attachment, aside the Queen’s jewelry of course which is an item of interest for someone like me interested in royal jewelry history.

Enter Meghan Markle and everything changed. We collectively obsessed, took note of her freckles

AKEEM OGUNLADE Akeem Ogunlade is of the Centre for Promotion of Enterprise and Business Best Practices, Abuja

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here is a long well-documented history of cooperation between the private/ business sector and the United Nations (UN), as well as other organizations affiliated to the global body. This association dates back to the inception of the UN in 1945. The private sector plays an active role in the work of the UN and most of its affiliates by providing key resources such as expertise, knowledge, access and reach, which are pivotal to the advancement of UN goals.

The scarcity of resources, complexity of global problems and the failure of multilateral mechanisms to address the myriads of global issues necessitated direct cooperation between the private sector and the United Nations, especially in the 1990s.

A new phase in the engagement between the UN and the private sector was marked by the launch of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) in 2000. UNGC is a principle-based framework that encourages businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. Since the launch of the UNGC, the private sector’s role in helping the UN realize its development goals, particularly the Millennium Development Goals (now Sustainable Development Goals), has raised public consciousness about the sector’s activities and its political acceptability globally. More importantly, it is seen as complementing the efforts of governments across

Friday 08 June 2018

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On becoming Meghan Markle and joined the millions of people around the world who chanted her into the royal wedding and handed her over to Prince Harry, the rugged relatable grandson of the Queen who brings his own charm with his red head and man about town looks. But we were smitten, not just because of the whirlwind secret romance, novel like in fact but because the world so badly needs love and a high profile one at that, of two persons who seem completely mad over each other. Then there is the huge fact that there is some black heritage taking its right royal place at an all-white Palace. Meghan has stolen our hearts by stealing the Prince’s heart and we are all swooning. I am not only happy for her but I am excited for her mother who clearly brought up her daughter well enough to be suited to the Queen’s most rebellious grandson.

As I watched the royal wedding, I kept my eyes firmly on Meghan whose life changed significantly but I also kept my eyes on Prince Harry whose “can’t help myself” love was showing all over him. So what could Meghan have possibly done right to earn her place in history, right here, right now. The comments I am going to make here are based on news stories that we read and her general countenance since the

Meghan had a life, had her opinions, had a blog, had a job, a fashion sense and a career. So she had views of her own that sometimes may have been different from Harry’s. But she was also confident. Men like confident women royal engagement announcement. I will draw out the lessons for all young ladies looking to hook their prince.

Here are tips for becoming Meghan Markle.

One of the first lessons is discernment. Learn to keep your mouth shut when you are in a good relationship.

Aside your mum and a very thin list of trusted friends, you should never ruin it by talking about it everywhere.

Many young women have lost a beau to a trusted friend by too much talk.

If Meghan had done that, everything

could have been ruined. Her mum, a strong woman helped keep things under wraps.

Confide in your mother. She can never lead you astray. Most young women are highly secretive and their mums know next to nothing about them. We hear how close Meghan is to her mum. I can imagine that through this journey, there was honest advice and loads of mummy prayers.

Do not be the door mat. You see, Meghan had a life, had her opinions, had a blog, had a job, a fashion sense and a career. So she had views of her own that sometimes may have been different from Harry’s. But she was also confident. Men like confident women. But she also had a sense of occasion and a sense of timing. So she understood his role as a Prince and was ready to give most of her life up as royal protocol demanded of her. All young women must know what time it is and time their actions strategically.

Meghan remained mute and did not allow her sour sister and mean brother to drag her into the controversy of their bad behavior. Know when to be silent in the face of abuse and bad belle people. Not every talk is worth a response. Drink water.

Don’t lose it. Harry loved her even more for not been petty.

Learn to honor your father and your mother so that your days will be long. So Meghan showed off her mother and in spite of her father’s seemingly unworthy behavior, issued statements that were kind to her father when the internet went into a meltdown because he was accused of trying to make money from pictures, and she stayed in touch with him even when he could not come to the wedding.

Meghan was smart with her wedding gown. It was so heavily speculated that she went the opposite direction keeping it simple so as not to upstage her new family.

Simple, chic, classy, elegant. And you think her Mum did not help with this decision.

From her guest list, to the goody bags, to donating replicas of her bouquet to a hospice, Meghan has shown to all young persons out there, how to be kind, simple, thoughtful and discerning on the road to a very important wedding.

It’s not about all the makeup artists in the world or too much vulgarity. I am certain that many have learnt great lessons. Go Meghan!

Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline.

United Nations and the Private Sector: Partnering for Progress the world. On an ongoing basis, the UN Secretary-General continues to seek ways to renew and reform the UN and its agencies’ collaboration with the private sector. This is in appreciation of the vital role that the latter plays in the global society.

Lately, the UN has drawn up guidelines to facilitate the formulation and implementation of partnerships between its organizations and the business sector. The guidelines, among other things, are intended to ensure the integrity and independence of the UN. In one of its guidelines on cooperation, the body notes that “Relationship with the business sector has become more important as the role of business in generating employment and wealth through trade, investment and finance for development has increasingly been recognized.

UN Member States also stress the importance of private investment in development.” Parties are also expected to collaborate and “agree to work together to achieve a common purpose or undertake a specific task and to share risks, responsibilities, resources and benefits.”

An exemplar of this partnership with the private sector is the collaboration between the UN and 16 leading global banks and foremost climate scientists, the aim being to enhance transparency and better management of risks and opportunities that climate change presents to businesses.

It is against this background that one examines the partnership between the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the tobacco industry in order to contextual-

ize criticisms of the collaboration in recent years. ILO is a United Nations agency dealing with labour issues, particularly international labour standards, social protection, and work opportunities for all. The ILO has partnered with the tobacco industry in an industry-funded initiative, Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation (ECLT). The initiative is meant to support research on child labour in tobacco growing in some countries where it is prevalent. This development partnership support, which started in the 1990s, was necessitated by the prevalence of child labour in many countries in tobacco-growing areas. The ILO office report of its 331st session stated that the targets of the various phases of the ILO country programmes on child labour in tobacco were either attained or surpassed. For example, the report notes that “an independent evaluation of the first phase (2002 – 2007) of the United Republic of Tanzania component (of the ECLT-funded research) found that this PPP was relevant and acceptably efficient and effective.”

The phase “achieved 99 per cent of the target number of children to be withdrawn from child labour (830) and 100 per cent of the target number of vulnerable families to be trained in alternative income-generating activities (430).” The later phases of the project have also achieved considerable successes, with the latest agreement with the ECLT signed in 2015coming to an end in June 2018.

In spite of these achievements, there is a growing opposition to the collaboration between ILO and the tobacco industry, especially by health professionals, multilateral

health agencies and the anti-tobacco coalition. In its declarations at the recently concluded 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health held in South Africa, participants asked the ILO to “immediately” end its collaboration with the tobacco industry. They argued that the continued engagement with tobacco firms is putting ILO’s reputation on the line and undermines its mandate to promote decent work. About 200 civil society groups issued a letter at the conference pressuring the ILO to severe ties with the industry, especially its financial relationship with tobacco companies and other entities funded by the industry.

ILO employers responded by expressing their opposition to the call. Their proposal, which supports the continuation of ILO relationship with the tobacco sector, enjoys the backing of countries such as the United States and a group of African countries.The employers’ union at the 332nd session of ILO’s governing body in March 2018 had protested the austerity measures taken by the organization, which led to 5.2 per cent cut in their annual incomes. The measures are said to be connected to the planned severance of ties with the tobacco industry.

Experts argue that while coordinated global efforts by multilateral health agencies to control tobacco smoking and curtail the tobacco industry is laudable, it would not be appropriate to play political games with an otherwise well-intentioned initiative. Therefore, calling for the severance of ties between ILO and tobacco companies in the fight against child labour would amount

to throwing the baby away with the bath water.

Child labour is a problem that has been in agriculture for centuries. It cuts across all manufacturing industries. It is therefore pertinent not to exclude any industry in the search for the best solutions to address it.

It is noteworthy that considering the controversial nature of the tobacco business, tobacco companies are increasingly becoming conscious of the need to conduct their businesses under strict and legitimate standards. Apart from maintaining its stance on prevention of underage access to tobacco products and enforcement of youth access laws, the tobacco industry has also shown strong support for compliance with child labour policy by partnering with the ILO. Therefore, recent criticisms levelled against the ILO for refusing to sever ties with the tobacco industry on child labour eradication may roll back achievements made by ILO in curtailing the menace by negatively impacting needed funding for such efforts. For ILO, eliminating child labour in tobacco growing is a top priority. It is critical to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 8.7, which calls for the eradication of child labour in 2025.

Tackling the menace of child labour globally is a common objective that requires a well-organised and coordinated international response by all the stakeholders, irrespective of the differences in their ideological or economic persuasions.

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US tariffs vs China, EU, NAFTA – and the rest of the world? trading regime.

DAN STEINBOCK Dr. Dan Steinbock is an internationally recognized strategist of the multipolar world and the founder of Difference Group. He has served as research director at the India, China and America Institute (USA) and visiting fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (China) and the EU Center (Singapore). For more, see https://www.differencegroup.net/

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nsurprisingly, the European Union (EU), Canada and Mexico have lambasted the U S ste el and alu minum tariffs. European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker criticized Trump’s tariffs and pledged retaliation in due time. French President Emmanuel Macron and German government spokesman called the move unlawful. In Britain, the Brexit proponents and opposition quickly blamed each other for the tariffs.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the tariffs would “harm industries and workers on both sides of the Canada-US border.”

Ho w e v e r, w h e n P re s i d e n t Trump initiated steel and aluminum tar iffs against China months ago, the EU leaders and the NAFTA partners struggled separately for temporary or permanent bilateral exemptions leaving Beijing alone to defend the international multilateral rules they now say have been violated.

It is time to walk the talk and defend the multilateral international

ABDULLAHI USMAN Usman wrote in from Abuja

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ikipedia defines a privilege as “a certain entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. These can be revoked in certain circumstances. In modern democratic states, a privilege is conditional and granted only after birth. By contrast, a right is an inherent, irrevocable entitlement held by all citizens or all human beings from the moment of birth”.

On its own part, Dictionary. com defines privilege, amongst others, as a prerogative, and it refers to “a special advantage or right possessed by an individual or group. A privilege is a right or advantage gained by birth, social position, effort, or concession. It can have either legal or personal sanction: the privilege of paying half fare; the privilege of calling whenever one wishes. Prerogative refers to an exclusive right claimed and granted, often officially or legally, on the basis of social status, heritage, sex, etc.” It also, amongst others, describes it as “an advan-

The rise and erosion of NAFTA For months, Canada and Mexico have been hedging their bets against a potential collapse of the North American Free Trade Agreement by pushing for deals with new partners, particularly with China and other Asian countries.

NAFTA is America’s post-Cold War blueprint for other free traded agreements (FTAs). It came into force amid the globalization boom in 1994. While it was initially promoted as a receipt for regional success in the US, Canada, and Mexico, its record has proved mixed. The agreement has benefited consumers in the three countries, but also contributed to investment outflows, unemployment and off-shoring.

In relative terms, US is more important to Canada and Mexico as an export destination and source of foreign investment than vice versa. So the outcome of the NAFTA talks is far more important to Canada and Mexico than to the US. If the US withdraws from NAFTA, that would start a six-month legal process before official termination. While the Trump administration has seen this as a negotiating tool to force Canada and Mexico to accept its demands, the latter have used the time to complete trade talks with Brazil and the EU. Canada and Mexico are hedging their bets against a potential NAFTA collapse by pushing for deals with new partners, particularly with China and some other Asian countries. Ironically, Trump’s tariff war against its EU and NAFTA partners is solidifying European, Mexican and Canadian trade ties with China.

Canada and Mexico are hedging their bets against a potential NAFTA collapse by pushing for deals with new partners, particularly with China and some other Asian countries. Ironically, Trump’s tariff war against its EU and NAFTA partners is solidifying European, Mexican and Canadian trade ties with China Trump’s tariffs continue to pour oil on the simmering fire. In Mexico, US protectionism has further solidified the impressive lead of the popular center-left presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is now supported by more than 53 percent of voters. In Canada, Trump’s aggressive tariffs could undermine Trudeau’s fragile lead in the impending 2019 elections.

The rise and demise of TTIP Not so long ago, optimists still saw the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) as a “done deal.” The US-EU free trade agreement (FTA) talks were announced in February 2013. The two account for nearly half of world gross domestic product and 30 percent of global trade, and have investments of more than $3.7 trillion in each other’s economies.

The TTIP aimed to enhance market access through the elimination of barriers to trade and investment in goods, services, and agriculture.

But it was also expected to serve a number of strategic, including geopolitical US policy goals. Yet,

potential controversial issues soon surfaced, including differing views to regulations and standards, financial services, labor and the environment, and digital trade.

Moreover, differing approaches to data privacy and the diplomatic fallout from the Snowden case complicated the talks.

For all practical purposes, the steel and aluminum the tariff debacle was ignited already in April 2017, when President Trump issued a presidential memorandum directing US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to investigate the effects of steel imports on national security on the basis of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. It was a shrewd way to exploit an old Kennedy-era Act, which initially was created to expand trade and not for trade shrinkage.

If Ross would determine – as he did in early 2018 - that steel “is being imported into the US in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair national security”, Trump would be authorized to take action – as he did in early 2018 - “to adjust the imports of the article and its derivatives so that such imports will not threaten to impair national security”.

As steel imports were termed an issue of “national security”, even US Defense Secretary James Mattis was dragged into the debacle. By mid-June 2017, Europe’s NATO leaders joined in as well.

They launched an extraordinary lobbying campaign against the anticipated US crackdown on steel imports, which, they argued, would hit US allies more than China.

Last March, Trump signaled he was willing to reopen negotiations with the EU over the TTIP agreement. As Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross put it, Trump “ter-

minated the trans-Pacific deal; he didn’t terminate TTIP.” So the EU, in exchange for the permanent exemption, offered to talk about improving reciprocal market access for the US for industrial products, cars, public procurement, and energy. But Trump wanted far more - an America-First deal.

Time to defend the multilateral trading regime “We will now trigger a dispute s ettlement cas e at the W TO, since these US measures clearly go against agreed international rules,” EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said recently.

However, Washington’s purposeful blocking of appointments to fill the empty seats in the WTO’s appellate body, tasked with managing disagreements between trading nations, could slow settlement talks.

Furthermore, precious time has been lost. The values and interests that once united the transatlantic partners are diverging. Consequently, efforts to simply buy time and appease trade aggression are a dead end.

What is really needed is a broad front of major advanced economies and large emerging economies against illicit tariff wars.

The multilateral international trading regime was not born automatically. It was preceded by two world wars, Great Depression and a series of genocides.

Nor can a multilateral trading regime be sustained without decisive international cooperation.

• The commentary is based on Dr Steinbock’s recent keynote on the global trading regime and the new tariff wars.

Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline.com

Between a citizen’s rights and a legislator’s privileges tage or source of pleasure granted to a person” Rights, as a noun, on the other hand, is “that which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, moral principles, etc” The above preamble becomes very necessary on account of the growing penchant by our elected legislators, especially those among them that occupy the hallowed Red Chamber, to shout themselves hoarse by pleading abuse of their privileges, in response to any legitimate inquiry, or questions being asked of them, regarding certain conduct on the part of one or more of them, or the entire group, as a collective.

This range from situations involving the normal police investigations into certain criminal activities in which the names of some of their members may have featured prominently, or those pertaining to some very peculiar, but well known illegal activities that some of them may have been engaged in, in the course of the normal discharge of their constitutionally assigned responsibilities.

A case in point is the recent uproar generated in both the red and

green chambers, in response to two major revelations or disclosures that happened in the course of the past one week or thereabouts. One of such is the disclosure by a former Minister of Finance in a recently published book titled, “Fighting Corruption is Dangerous”, that a certain curious concession of a whopping N17b had to be traded by the previous government in favour of the 7th NASS, in order to facilitate the smooth passage of the 2015 budget.

In another startling revelation made at the recently organised 2018 Democracy Day Lecture that took place at the International Conference Centre, the NASS was also openly accused of extorting huge sums of money from heads of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), via their respective Committee heads, for the sole purpose of facilitating the passage of their respective budgets. This is in addition to the huge salaries and allowances accruing to the legislators, which many people are still openly complaining about, and clamouring for their reduction.

Failure to comply on the part of the MDAs may result into significant delays in the passage of their

budgets.

A case in point is the current situation in which the 8th NASS is openly being accused in some quarters of willingly sitting on the 2018 budget for more than 6 to 7 months now, and still counting, with many people rightly or wrongly attributing this rather unusual delay to the failure or outright refusal of the current government to play ball, in the same manner that the former Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy had outlined in her latest book above.

What I consider most baffling in all of this, is the fact that rather than taking these high profile accusations as a wake-up call and an immediate call to action in order to check themselves, with a view to cleaning the augean stable and doing away with this kind of strange and questionable behaviour on the part of their membership, they often prefer to play the ostrich by hiding behind the safe confines of their hallowed chambers and screaming to the rooftops about a certain brand of unexplained abuse of their unique privileges as our elected representatives.

This is by no means the most appropriate approach to adopt towards salvaging whatever is left of their collective integrity, and also calls to serious question the propriety of such an attitude, especially considering the rights of the citizens to effective representation, honesty and fair dealings by their elected representatives; a significant part of which involves the speedy and timely passage of annual budgets, in order to facilitate the smooth running of government and it’s programme.

Part of this fair dealing also includes the prompt, efficient and effective discharge of their assigned legislative functions and responsibilities, without making additional pecuniary demands, over and above their legitimate earnings.

Which then takes us back to this very important question that needs to be promptly resolved: what is preeminent, between the rights of the citizens and the privileges of a legislator? In other words, which one transcends the other?

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Editorial PUBLISHER/CEO

Frank Aigbogun EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Prof. Onwuchekwa Jemie EDITOR Anthony Osae-Brown DEPUTY EDITORS John Osadolor, Abuja Bill Okonedo NEWS EDITOR Patrick Atuanya EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SALES AND MARKETING Kola Garuba EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIGITAL SERVICES Oghenevwoke Ighure ADVERT MANAGER Adeola Ajewole MANAGER, SYSTEMS & CONTROL Emeka Ifeanyi MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Patrick Ijegbai CIRCULATION MANAGER John Okpaire GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan

Friday 08 June 2018

Towards a more humane treatment of teachers

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overnors of all political persuasions are doing their utmost best to denigrate teachers and the teaching profession. One consequence is the diminution of the importance of a once-revered occupation that laid the foundation for the nation’s human capital stock. Longer term, the country may reap a harvest of evil fruits if we do not curb it.

No fewer than 12 states owe salaries of teachers as we write.

The indebtedness ranges from 28 months to one month. In other words, some states owe teachers for more than two years. It is difficult to contemplate and then to grasp the implications for the livelihood and well-being of persons so owed.

The record of infamy is as follows. Osun State, 28 months; Nassarawa State, 26 months; Kogi State, 25. Others are Benue State, 12; Ekiti State, 9; Bayelsa State, 7; and Taraba State, 6. Abia State owesfive months as does Kaduna State. Teachers in Ondo State have not received salaries in four months, in Kwara State for two months as in Delta State while Oyo State owes one month.

The habit has become contagious. State Governments of all political persuasions and across the economicspectrum find it convenient or expedient to owe

teachers. It raises many troubling questions for public administration, policy and values in our country. It amounts to a fiscal and psychological assault on teachers.

A core question in public administration is whether the country has too many teachers for its public schools thus necessitating the indebtedness. Are the wages of teachers not part of the annual budgets for states? Why is it so convenient to forget the salaries of teachers or to treat it as a last resort?

What is the policy direction on education in Nigeria and across the states? Nigeria articulated a National Policy on Education in 1997 that sought the attainment of at least four core objectives.

Theyare the inculcation of national consciousness and national unity and the inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society. Others are training of the mind in the understanding of the world and the acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities and competencies, both mental and physical, as equipment for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of his society.

Our educational system takes in kindergarten, primary, secondary and tertiary education.

The first three are foundational.

It is at these levels where strong foundations are necessary that

the states have a proclivity to fail the significant factor of production that enables all the other elements.

There have been many gyrations in policy. We moved from the Universal Primary Education programme in 1976 to the Universal Basic Education following revisions in 1981 and 1990. With UBE we should have six years of primary education and three years of Junior Secondary education as a national guarantee to each child of nine years of uninterrupted and free schooling.

The Universal Basic Education Commission is supposed to drive this national commitment. Section 15 of the UBEC Law states the policy as well as the national resolve to offer adult literacy and non-formal education, skill acquisition programmes, as well as education for groups such as nomads and migrants, girl child and women, Al-majiri street children and the disabled.

We need teachers to bring these policies to fruition. There is no educational system without teachers. They are the moulders of the future and a pillar of any focused society and nation. By educating the youth, teachers enable regeneration and the propagation of societal values. Studies have shown a link between high impact teachers and student performance (Chetty, 2011). The link goes from ensuring they

make better grades to becoming better adults and earning higher incomes. Countries are thus going back to the tradition of hiring their best brains as teachers.

There are further considerations. Nigeria has the largest population of out-of-school children in the world. Such dubious distinctions will worsen if we continue to treat with disdain those who can change the narrative by their service and commitment.

We are now in the Information and Knowledge Age. Countries of the world are in a marathon race for development of high capacity human capital. They do so by prioritising matters regarding education, in particular teachers as the vital factor of production therein. The National Policy on Education posits that the end of education in Nigeria would be to instil values such as respect for the worth and dignity of the individual, faith in man’s ability to make moral decisions, the acquisition of competencies necessary for self-reliance and shared responsibility for the common good of society.

Disempowered by denial of their economic rights, our teachers would find it difficult to push these values. A nation that shortchanges its teachers cheats itself long term. End the harassment of teachers now. Clear the backlog of unpaid salaries.

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14 BUSINESS DAY Policy

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Market

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Insight

Influencers

MARKET

Concerns over solar panels mar off-grid energy growth ISAAC ANYAOGU

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aris-based think tank, the International Energy Association (IEA) in its Renewables 2017 report forecasts that the world’s renewable electricity capacity is set to rise over 43% in the next five years, largely due to increasing expansion of solar energy in China and India but concerns about proper disposal of panels remain.

The IEA believes that a strong solar PV market is boosting renewables making them account for almost two-thirds of net new power capacity around the world in 2016, with almost 165 gigawatts (GW) coming online. A further 920GW of renewable capacity will be installed by 2022.

Global solar PV capacity will hit a total of 740GW by 2022, more than the combined total power capacities of India and Japan today, driven by continuous technology cost reductions and unprecedented market dynamics in China due to policy changes.

Reporting the good news about the growth of renewable energy, especially solar energy does not often take into account the inherent danger that is presented by what to do with the solar panels after use.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

in 2016 estimated there was about 250,000 metric tonnes of solar panel waste in the world at the end of that year.

IRENA projected that this amount could reach 78 million metric tonnes by 2050.

Solar panels often contain lead, cadmium, and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. For this reason, the whole solar panel is considered hazardous by many experts and governments.

In California, in the United States, is trying to prevent the flow of old solar panels to landfills through regulation.

Off- grid solar will bring basic electricity services to millions of people in Asia and sub Saharan Africa. The report has confirmed that So-

lar is now the fastest growing energy source in the world, and is making a major impact in Africa.

Yuri Tsitrinbaum , CEO of Lumos Nigeria, said that, “This is the latest evidence that off-grid solar is providing the answer to growing energy demand in Africa. There is no other option available that can provide energy that is as affordable, reliable, and clean.”

“We are changing the way people access electricity, and this is only the beginning.

Mobile phones improved millions of lives, and now we are seeing the same thing with mobile electricity.”

In many parts of the world, there is nary a word about what to do with solar panels after they have exhausted their life cycle.

“Approximately 90% of most PV modules are made up of glass,” San Jose State environmental studies professor Dustin Mulvaney told Michael Shellenberger, founder of the pro-nuclear citizens movement Environmental Progress (EP).

“However, this glass often cannot be recycled as float glass due to impurities. Common problematic impurities in glass include plastics, lead, cadmium and antimony.”

Researchers with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) undertook a study for U.S. solar-owning utilities to plan for end-of-life and concluded that solar panel “disposal in “regular landfills [is] not recommended in case modules break and toxic materials leach into the soil”

and so “disposal is potentially a major issue.”

The fact that cadmium can be washed out of solar modules by rainwater is increasingly a concern for local environmentalists like the Concerned Citizens of Fawn Lake in Virginia, where a 6,350 acre solar farm to partly power Microsoft data centers is being proposed.

“We estimate there are 100,000 pounds of cadmium contained in the 1.8 million panels,” Sean Fogarty of the group told me. “Leaching from broken panels damaged during natural events — hail storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.

— and at decommissioning is a big concern.”

There is real-world precedent for this concern. A tornado in 2015 broke 200,000 solar modules at southern California solar farm Desert Sunlight.

“Any modules that were broken into small bits of glass had to be swept from the ground,” Mulvaney explained, “so lots of rocks and dirt got mixed in that would not work in recycling plants that are designed to take modules.

These were the cadmiumbased modules that failed [hazardous] waste tests, so were treated at a [hazardous] waste facility. But about 70 percent of the modules were actually sent to recycling, and the recycled metals are in new panels today.”

And when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last September, the nation’s second largest solar farm, responsible for 40 percent of the island’s solar energy, lost a majority of its panels.

Many experts urge mandatory recycling. The main finding promoted by IRENA’s in its 2016 report was that, “If fully injected back into the economy, the value of the recovered material [from used solar panels] could exceed USD 15 billion by 2050.”

But IRENA’s study did not compare the value of recovered material to the cost of new materials and admitted that “Recent studies agree that PV material availability is not a major concern in the near term, but critical materials might impose limitations in the long term.”

They might, but today recycling costs more than the economic value of the materials recovered, which is why most solar panels end up in landfills.

Low demand for scrap and the high cost of employing workers to disassemble the aluminium frames and other components w ill make it difficult to create a profitable business unless recycling companies can charge several times more than the target set. This is why some are advocating for manufacturers to take responsibility for disposal of the disused panels.

INSIGHT

Chinese scientists create breakthrough solar panel that can harvest power from raindrops In a truly remarkable feat of innovation, scientists have figured out how to create “hybrid” solar cells that generate power not just from sunlight but also from raindrops. This means we may soon see all-weather solar panels that work when it is cloudy and even at night, if it’s raining​.

Solar has soared in recent years, as panel prices have dropped so fast that solar keeps crushing its own record for the cheapest power “ever, anywhere, by any technology” — even without a subsidy.

But scientists and engineers around the world keep innovating, looking for ways to make solar panels more efficient and less expensive.

Much of this innovation is now coming from China, the world leader in both manufacturing and deployment of

solar energy.

For instance, China has developed “double-sided” solar panels that can generate power from light that hits their underside. That can enable a 10 percent boost in output, especially if you put the panels on a roof or other area that is painted white to help reflect the suns rays.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance projects these panels could capture a remarkable 40 percent share of the market by 2025.

In another remarkable advance, researchers at China’s Soochow University have demonstrated a solar cell that can generate electricity from falling rain. A recent article in the American Chemical Society’s nanotechnology journal Nano describes the innovation.

The device makes use of a triboelectric nanogenera-

tor (TENG), which converts mechanical energy — motion — into electricity. In this case, the solar cells harvest power from the movement of raindrops that fall on them.

Since solar panels typically generate only one tenth

of their potential output during rain, and virtually nothing at night-time, the advance could address one of the biggest problems facing solar power: its variability.

Our device can always generate electricity in any

daytime weather,” as Soochow’s Baoquan Sun told the UK Guardian. “In addition, this device even provides electricity at night if there is rain.”

Here is a video of the basic principle behind TENG

Isaac Anyaogu, Email: isaac.anyaogu@businessdayonline.com, 07037817378, Graphics: Joel Samson

from Georgia Tech Prof.

Zhong Lin Wang, whose group first demonstrated this kind of nano generator in 2011: The potential applications of TENG include generating power from walking and typing. The recent Chinese breakthrough was to figure out how to make it work in a simple and efficient manner for a solar cell.

It could be a while before the technology makes its way into a commercial product for widespread use, though. We are still 3 to 5 years from a prototype according to Sun. He told the Guardian, “the output power efficiency needs to be further improved before practical application.”

But if the technology takes off, we may actually have solar panels that work rain or shine.

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Cadwell’s live, earn & transfer initiative offers fresh opportunity to home buyers

Pg. 16

Co m pa n y n e w s a n a ly s i s a n d i n s i g h t

Huawei ranks second in global enterprise network equipment market share

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he latest Gartner report reveals that the global enterprise network equipment market revenue grew approximately 10 percent from 2016 to 2017. Huawei Technologies Company Limited stood out from leading vendors, with the highest year-overyear growth rate among the top three vendors.

Huawei saw rapid yearover-year revenue growth in the global enterprise network equipment market in 2017 and moved from 3rd place in 2016 to 2nd place in 2017 in global market share ranking, according to Gartner’s recently released Market Share Analysis: Enterprise Network Equipment, Worldwide, 2017.

The company also grew its market share in different regions, most notably in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In addition, Huawei saw double-digit growth in switch, WLAN, enterprise router, and firewall market seg-

ments, and maintained its position as a leading player in the market. Growth was particularly strong in WLAN, with a year-overyear increase of 101 per-

cent.

Huawei has long been engaged in the global enterprise networking market for many years and boasts a strong track record and

extensive experience in this market. Huawei’s complete lineup of offerings has helped enterprises of all sizes across every industry to build their desired net-

L-R : Vianney Lecornier, marketing director for Africa,Biomerieux; Andrew Alaefide, sales manager, DCL Labs; Sinde Chekete, vice president, Africa Cluster; Jerome Fogarolo, global marketing, and Charles Sokei, area business manager, English West Africa at the launch of Biomerieux Diagnostics Solutions in Lagos.

PicbyPiusOkeosisi

Nestle to establish waste recycling centres across Africa Adeola Ajakaiye, Kano

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estle Plc, one of Nigeria leading food and beverage manufacturing companies has announced preparations to establish collection, sorting and recycling schemes across African countries where it has presence.

In Central and West Africa for example, the company is supporting the Ghanaian government’s efforts to better man-

age plastic waste, as one of eight founding members of the Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE).

As part of this coalition, Nestlé is working with other major industrial companies including Unilever and CocaCola, to integrate sustainable waste management solutions and advocate for improved waste management practices in Ghana.

A statement signed by Victoria Uwadoka, a communication assistant, on behalf of the company which was made available

to BusinessDay disclosed.

“With a population of more than 28 million, the country has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world today, but has a severe and fast-growing waste management problem.

The coalition’s main aims include: contributing to increased collection and recycling rates across the country, provide employment opportunities through scalable recycling solutions, and engaging with the government to help tackle the problem of plastic waste.

“In Nigeria, Nestlé is one of the five member companies of the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) incorporated to serve as the sector Producers Responsible Organisation under the Extended Producers (EPR) scheme. This alliance has completed the development of a viable collection and recycling plan with initial focus on the major food and beverage packaging materials that pose significant challenge for the Nigerian national waste management system.

Edo Communities, environmental group battles Okomu Oil over RSPO Certification IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin

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do communities spanning four local governments and the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth (ERA/FOEN), Nigeria have kicked against the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm oil (RSPO) certification claimed by the Okomu Oil Plc. The communities and the environmental human rights group who made their position

known at a workshop / media conference, titled, “certification as false solution to land grabbing”, noted that the claim of RSPO certification by Okomu oil Plc was false.

“Okomu Oil’s, RSPO certification is a false solution because it does not address environmental and socio problems in a community. The oil firm should stop parading itself as having RSPO certified compliance.

“They are not meeting RSPO guidelines and standards yet they continued to enjoy the

advertisement and putting this logo on their signpost. We call on them to remove the RSPO certification from their narrative forthwith”, he said.

Recall, that Okomu oil Plc and other investors in the palm oil industry in the state last April presented and launched the Nigeria National Interpretation of Round table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to the public in Benin City.

The communities are located in Ovia South-West, Ovia North-East, Uhunmwode and

Owan West local government areas.

Godwin Uyi Ojo, executive director, ERA/FOEN, who addressed the press conference opined that Okomu oil Plc is not amongst the over 3,500 companies, who are worldwide members of RSPO. Ojo, who also explained that the palm oil giant was not certified by RSPO, however, added that Socfin, it’s mainstream shareholder firm, who controls its major shares, is duly certified and is RSPO member.

works. Huawei constantly integrates into its offerings new cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and network automation.

At the Mobile World Congress 2018, Huawei unveiled the Intent-Driven Network (IDN) solution. Following this, Huawei announced a number of innovative solutions and products, for example, the Big Data- and AI-powered network analysis engine Campus Insight, next-generation fully programmable agile switches, innovative SD-WAN solution, the industry’s highestdensity 64-port 100G fixed data center switch, and the Software-defined Security (SDSec) solution. All these new announcements enable IDN to transform from hype to reality.

At the upcoming CEBIT 2018, taking place from June 11 to June 15, Huawei will launch a series of innovative products and solutions as part of its continued efforts

to help enterprise customers accelerate their digital transformation.

Zhong Kaisheng, president of Huawei Switch & Enterprise Gateway Product Line, said: “We believe Gartner’s market share report verifies, once again, Huawei’s leadership in the enterprise networking market and wide recognition among global users. In the future, Huawei will stay true to its IDN philosophy and continue to provide more innovative network solutions and products to customers across all industries, helping them succeed and win in the digital transformation era.”

Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains – telecom networks, IT, smart devices, and cloud services – we are committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.

Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers offers guidance on how to access pension funds Ignatius Chukwu

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tanbic IBTC Pensions, a pension fund administrator (PFA), has mobilized retiring workers in the South East, educating them on how to access their pension funds as well as live healthy in retirement. The nation’s pension assets currently stands at N8 trillion.

Dele Sotubo, executive director, Investment, IBTC Pensions Limited told the participants that the best situation is to retire young and retire good, saying steady contribution would make a worker comfortable at retirement.

Sotubo defined retirement as taking a break from active work, but said planning makes all the difference, insisting that every retiree is a potential retiree.

The company’s experts drilled the audience on various aspects of retirement intelligence, from how to plan retirement, how to access the fund, rationale behind access principles, health management in retirement, and how to escape dupes that flawk around retirees to swindle them of their lump sums.

Sotubo explained in re-

cent past, many investment hawkers sold deals to retirees only for woes to follow. He warned that pension money was a worker’s last lump sum and that if lost, doom usually followed.

The company also unveiled the different access packages available to retiring workers such as lump sum, programmed withdrawal, annuity, and en-bloc.

She said the third is available only to persons retiring at 50 years and had not contributed up N550, 000.

The health expert, Olubiyi Adesina, showed people how to enjoy and collect all they have laboured for, how to achieve longevity, what to eat, how to eat, exercises, etc.

Nigeria is said to have hit N8 trillion in its pension scheme and that N4.04 trillion representing 53.81 percent of the pension funds assets were invested in the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bonds, while 15.38 percent amounting to N1.18 trillion went into Treasury Bills (TBs).

The statistics further showed that N672.23 billion or 8.94 percent was invested in domestic ordinary shares, N626.3 billion or 8.33 percent in banks, while N262.49 billion or 3.48 percent was invested in corporate bonds.

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Cadwell’s live, earn & transfer initiative offers fresh opportunity to home buyers CHUKA UROKO

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new window of opportunity has opened for prospective homeowners and investors as the property market received recently the Live, Earn and Transfer (LET) initiative that allows them to live or invest in mansions, villas or townhouses at upscale and secure environments.

Typically, this initiative gives a homeowner the opportunity to live in his home, be it a mansion, villa or townhouse, at most sought-after and secured locations such as South East and South West Ikoyi, Banana Island, Victoria Island, Lekki, Ikeja GRA, and Abuja.

Homeowners can, through this initiative, potentially earn annual rental income while living in their homes and watch their investments grow in value overtime. Thereafter, they transfer assets to their loved ones and family members as an inheritance and, by that action, have their wealth outlive them.

The initiative, which is

coming from the stable of Cadwell Limited, is a neverdone-before, everlasting architectural masterpieces of mansions, villas and townhouses which the company has categorised as ‘life-cycle assets’.

“We envisioned this initiative as a place for homeowners to ‘live, earn and transfer’ (LET). Typically, it completes the human life cycle but, uniquely, keeps the legacy going. In-so-far as life has become more fast-paced and competitive, we realise that people are busy and can barely keep track of their loaded work and family schedules let alone plan for the future.

“All these efforts are clearly geared towards the pursuit of one aspiration or the other, hence there is no other meaningful aspiration than to think wisely and buy into the ‘life-cycle LET’ concept”, explained Nekpen Emokpae, Cadwell’s head, concepts and marketing, in a statement in Lagos.

The new initiative is part of the outcomes of the company’s recent decision to reposition as an investment-led company in their belief in the

Austin Laz Company assures shareholders, customers of robust business activities Idris Umar Momoh, Benin

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he Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Austin Laz Engineering Plc, Austine Asimonye has assured shareholders of the company that the firm is determined to take its rightful place in the manufacturing sector of the nation’s economy.

Austin Laz engineering specializes in the manufacturing of ice block making machines, cooler (food warmer), electronic cooler and warmer, fast food takeaway parks and roofing sheets of different types among others.

Ezenmonye gave the assurance while speaking with newsmen in Benin-City against the backdrop of the company’s recent court victory against the Bank of Industry.

The company boss, who alleged that the intention of the development bank was to ensure that the firm was out of business completely noted that all the machineries of the establishment were totally

vandalized by the agents of the bank and that of their so called receiver, one Ahmed Aliyu.

He said with the Appeal Court judgment, the management would put necessary policies and machineries in place to ensure that it bounced back to full operation with a view of satisfying the investment of the shareholders.

He also assured the numerous customers of the company across the country that their much needed products will soon be available to them Ezenmonye, who described the Court of Appeal judgment as victory of light over darkness, however put the estimate of the damaged assets of the company to over N2 billion asides from the looted stocked accessories, finished goods and expired raw materials.

The lead judgment of the three-man appellant Court delivered by Justice Mudashiru Nasiru Oniyangi, set aside the earlier judgement of the Federal High Court sitting in Benin delivered on July 6, 2015.

infinite investment nature of real estate. They have decided to be the apostles of such message.

“We examined the market, identified the imbalance in demand and supply, and came up with this noble idea to correct the market’s unevenness which effectively made us reshape and rescope our product concept and design”, Emokpae added.

Globally, the first stage in the life cycle of a real estate buyer or investor occurs between the ages of 25 and 35.

This is when young adults are coming into their own, getting married, starting families, and growing their businesses; it is no wonder, therefore, that this demography typically accounts for 30 to 40 percent of first-time home buyers globally.

It is usually at this point that most young professionals start to seriously prepare and plan for the future, they understand that there is a need to invest in a home, especially in a secured environment for their families to be happy and healthy. This is also the time they begin what Cadwell refers to as the “aspirational pursuit”

of a new generation of primary and secondary homeowners.

“We intend to help this new and matured generation find the right path home, perhaps build castle of life-cycle assets that will enable them to finish well”, Emokpae assured.

Homeownership is funda-

mental to life and existence and the realization that a cold and hungry person has no desire to actively pursue selfactualization underpins its importance. Emokpae reasoned that understanding this basic concept was fundamental to knowing the key role real

estate played in life.

“Developers or investors, tenants or homeowners, government or individuals, everybody engages in the business of real estate one way or another. While on earth, no one is fulfilled until he or she owns a piece of the earth”, she noted.

L-R: Anaekwe Aishat, brand manager, PZ Cussons; Iwuala Chibuzor of Abibat Mogaji Millennium Senior Secondary School, Agege, second runner-Up, PZ Cussons Chemistry Challenge 2018; Tadese Fatai of Abibat Mogaji Millennium Senior Secondary School, Agege, winner of PZ Cussons chemistry challenge 2018; Adekanye Adebunmi, permanent secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Adegoke Pelumi of NewHall International School , first runner-up, and Joyce FolakeCoker, human resources director, PZ Cussons, during the presentation of cheques to winners of 2018 PZCCC at the grand finale in Lagos recently

Union Bank receives SON international quality management systems certification

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nion Bank of Nigeria Plc (Union Bank) has received Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) ISO 9001:2015 certification having successfully fulfilled all the stringent requirements for this internationally recognised Quality Management Standard (QMS).

ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System (QMS) is an internationally recognised standard for quality. It specifies the criteria for a set of policies, processes and procedures required for efficient planning and execution in the core busi-

ness area of an organisation.

Oluremi Ayeni, director of management system certification, SON who represented Osita Aboloma, director general of SON presented the certificate to the Management of Union Bank at their Head Office in Lagos.

Ayeni says Union Bank was awarded the certification following a thorough evaluation of its operational processes, verifies that its internal processes and systems measure up to global standards which include a strong customer focus, process approach and propensity for continual im-

provement.

Emeka Emuwa, chief executive officer, Union Bank, said the certification, goes to show the hard work, focus and dedication of the Union Bank team.

According to him, “This certification process has helped us measure and improve on a number of core business processes that will ultimately ensure improved b u s i n e s s p e r f o r m a n c e.

Achieving this feat is a strong validation of our adherence to global best practices as we strive collectively to provide simpler, smarter products

and services to our valued customers.”

While commending Union Bank for being one of the first players in the Nigerian Banking sector to have attained this certification, Ayeni, speaking on behalf of the DG of SON, said: “Union Bank’s focus on service delivery will definitely improve and strengthen its competitive edge. I commend the Bank for attaining this certification milestone which indicates quality products and service delivery, and encourage other businesses to take the same step.”

Plastic wastes pose dangers to aquatic life, Lafarge Africa warns CHUKA UROKO

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afarge Afr ica has warned of the dangers plastic wastes pose, especially to aquatic life, advising that, people should contribute their quota to beating the plastic pollution by re-using them rather than dumping them on the streets or throwing them out of the windows of cars as people

often do.

The company advises further that where people cannot re-use, they should dispose their plastics properly.

Lafarge Africa Plc, a leading Sub-Saharan Africa building materials company is a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, a world leader in building materials. Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange with presence in Africa’s two largest

economies, Nigeria and South Africa, Lafarge Africa, Lafarge is actively participating in the urbanization and economic growth of Africa.

“Lagosians should make individual commitments to properly dispose of plastics and recycle them. Lafarge Africa is willing to contribute its quota by way of co-processing of plastic wastes for its common good”, assured Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, director

of Communication Public Affairs and Sustainable Development at Lafarge, who spoke at an awareness session to mark this year’s World Environment Day (WED).

Giving more statistics of the dangers posed by plastics in the world, Lafarge Africa’s Environment Manager, John Nya, said 3.6 percent of the 500 billion tonnes of plastic bags consumed in the world end up in the oceans.

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COMPANIES & MARKETS Situating economic advantages of occupational health and safety Goke Adetiloye

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n his book, The Wealth of Nations (1776), Adam Smith suggested that workers’ wages vary according to the work conditions that such worker experiences. This assertion indicates that there is a valuation for risks. When workers accept jobs, they accept all the characteristics, including the associated risks. Therefore, jobs with identified attendant risks make provision for this in the wages they offer.

However, in today’s workplace, employers’ awareness and actions are increasingly being directed to making optimal investments in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), in order to reduce and prevent the risk factors.

This approach promotes the health, safety and wellbeing of their employees and is also cost-saving to employers.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), “Health and safety at work is aimed at promoting and maintaining the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; the reduction of workers leaving work due to health problems caused by their working conditions, among other things.”

To further entrench this principle, April 28, 2018 is commemorated as the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, otherwise known as SafeDay. The day is set aside as part of an annual international campaign led by the ILO to draw global attention to the urgent need to promote safe, healthy and decent work through advocacy in terms of minimising accidents and diseases arising from the work people do.

In Nigeria the level of sensitization/awareness on occupational health and safety is still low. While a few multinational FMCGs and oil companies are conscious of the practice, the same thing cannot be said of most indigenous establishments.

The informal private sector, particularly artisans such as plumbers, mechanics, hairdressers, etc., who are the most vulnerable ones, are completely left out.

The impact of occupational health and safety in an organisation cannot be overemphasised. As the human resource is the most important factor in any organisation, employees must be healthy, both physically

and emotionally to ensure optimal performance.

Health and safety must be given the priority it deserves if an organisation must achieve its corporate goals. When the workforce of any organisation is exposed to accidents and diseases, the organisation will experience numerous forms of disruptions arising from absenteeism, low staff morale and consequently low productivity both in quality and volume. Naturally, the situation will extend to other critical issues like loss arising from rework, increased periods of downturn, high cost of medication, cost of litigation and loss of reputation. Therefore, organisations must recognise the pivotal role of a healthy workforce and understand that the human capital is at the heart of its operations. They must learn to build capacity in environmental health safety and to comply with necessary safety procedures.

On its part, government must take the lead by setting the agenda; the starting point being strong regulation and enforcement by the appropriate government agencies. They must also drive the change towards greater awareness and adherence to improved occupational health and workplace safety.

An interesting angle to this year’s commemoration of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work is the theme: ‘Generation Safe and Healthy’. This theme, apart from seeking to improve the safety and health of young workers, also lends support to international efforts to end child labour (annually commemorated on June 12 as the World Day Against Child Labour). Particularly in developing countries, poverty is a major reason why children engage in work to help support their families financially.

Some of the companies that have set the bar with respect to occupational health safety (OHS) include Guinness Nigeria, British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN), Coca-Cola, among others. These corporate organisations are committed to the safety and wellbeing of their staff and stakeholders and boast of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) policies that conform to global best practices.

Guinness Nigeria has a zero-harm philosophy which is aimed at eliminating workplace accidents and safety for staff. The company strives to

create and maintain a safe working environment for all its employees. Its safety agenda is underpinned by the parent company, Diageo’s, global zero harm programme, which is premised on four pillars: prevention, compliance, capability and culture.

For BATN, EHS is a way of life. Safety consciousness is constantly instilled in the minds of staff and visitors at the company’s factory and offices. It is not surprising, therefore, that the company, in its first participation in 2016, won the ‘Best Kept Industrial Premises’ award instituted by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). The annual award, which is open to manufacturing companies, including food and beverage manufacturers in the large, medium and small-scale categories, promotes best practices in the maintenance of clean and safe work environments among manufacturers in the country.

Coca-Cola has effective occupational health and safety systems, standards and practices appropriate to risks associated with its business activities. The company sees safe and healthy workplace as a business imperative and a fundamental right of every staff. It endeavours to minimize the risk of accidents and ensure the safety of its workers, visitors to its operations, and the public, and by so doing maintaining a productive workplace in every part of its work premises.

Adherence to occupational Safety and Health is important in realising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 8 which addresses ‘decent work and economic growth.’ Considering the correlation between the provision of decent work and the attainment of economic growth, every nation that desires economic advancement must give adequate attention as well as deploy the required resources to bring workplace conditions to international EHS standards. A healthy workforce is a requirement for development. That is why sufficient resources must be provided to ensure this happens.

The promotion of decent work is a tripartite responsibility involving government, the private sector and labour.

It, therefore, means that all hands must be on deck.

Goke Adetiloye is a consultant on industrial safety management based in Lagos

Business Event

L-R: Adewole Ayara, MD/CEO, Communication Facilitator Limited; Olamide Ajah, head, service delivery, Seamfix; Chimezie Emewulu, MD, and Chibuzor Onwurah, executive director, at the new business opportunities with KYC registrations in emerging economies summit organised by Seamfix in Lagos.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

L-R: Musa Maina, assistant director, Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); Nicholas Ajadurumye, deputy director, NDLEA; Aminu Gwadabe, president, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), and Murtala Badamosi, ABCON national treasurer, during a courtesy visit of NDLEA to ABCON National Secretariat in Lagos.

L-R: Abayomi Quassim, Business Relationship Manager, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Lagos and West; Chinedum Oluwadamilola, Principal, Corona Secondary School, Agbara; newly qualified ACCA Foundation Level and Class of 2018 Corona Secondary School graduands, Cherechi Uruakpa and Charles Uwadia, and Adeyoyin Adesina, CEO, Coronal School Trust Council, during presentation of awards to the duo of Uruakpa and Uwadia by ACCA representative during graduation and Valedictory Ceremony of the Class of 2018 of Corona Secondary School, Agbara

L-R: Arinze Agbilibeazu, field marketing executive, Dominos Pizza; Kenneth Omeruo, Super Eagles Defender; Joy Emetu, field marketing executive, Coldstone Creamery; Ilyas Kazeem, marketing manager, Dominos Pizza, and Ademola Daniel, field marketing executive, Dominos Pizza, during the Domino’s Pizza kicked off campaign tagged #TastetheGoal in Lagos.

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FINTECH News

Products Review

Technology Review

Personality Review

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Company Review

NEWS

Piggybank to secure licence, expansion with $1.1m seed funding

Drive, powered by Google for Entrepreneurs, and Google Launchpad Africa boosted its chances.

“Today’s announcement allows us to expand and

capitalize on the many opportunities that the market presents us with,” Joshua Chibueze, co-founder and CMO of Piggybank said. “We know the market is there, and the product has been built, modified, tested and ratified by users. With this fundraise; we can invest significantly in our people, as we build a digital financial warehouse accessible to millions of Africans who savings woes we want to put firmly behind them.”

The savings firm currently has registered more than 53,000 users with millennials accounting for an estimated 60 percent who have saved in excess of $5 million. It has also seen a savings growth of 3000 percent between 2016 and 2017.

It targets low-income savers in Nigeria with a market size of $2.2 billion. Savers on its platform earn an average of 6 percent per annum on their automated savings. The fixed deposit and Safelock savers can make as much as 10.95 percent as long as they withdraw funds once per year.

“In a country such as

Nigeria, almost everything has to be paid in advance,” Odunayo Eweniyi said. “The majority of Nigerians struggle to save their income, manage cash flow and build credit, which is a huge problem as around 80 percent of Nigerians need to save a minimum of 40 percent of their monthly income, in order to survive. This is the sheer scale of the challenge we are embracing; to actively promote a savings culture in Nigeria and act as the savings infrastructure to millions of people who want a safe, transparent and innovative platform to assist them in managing their finances, on their journeys to financial freedom.”

Piggybank hopes to increase its leverage in terms of partnership with banks hence it recently acquired a micro-financing license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The company has also concluded plans to launch a new product Smart Target modeled after the African tradition of ajo or esusu. The product will capture large corporations and families.

by offering bogus ICOs. So how does one spot a dubious ICO? There are a wide range of ICOs available for investors to choose and this makes it difficult to carry out due diligence. However, legit ICOs have similarities. For instance, there must be a whitepaper. A whitepaper which represents the startup’s business plan gives an investor the chance to get

in-depth details about the startup’s long term plan and vision prior. Where a startup is unable to present one, the ICO is likely to fail.

ICOs that are likely to do well do not make bogus promises of huge returns.

It is a general rule of investment – no guarantees. However, an ICO that promises huge benefits is major red flag.

A good ICO usually comes

with founders that have been in the market for the underlying product for years, and they are knowledgeable about crypto or have staffed their team with crypto experts. So research the team.

Finally, an ICO of any kind has its currency system and sale progress that should be easy to view. Dubious ICOs will hide progress behind individual contribution addresses.

Stories by FRANK ELEANYA

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utomated savings platform, Piggybank has moved closer to securing its microfinance institution (MFI) licence and kick-off its expansion project with a $1.1 million seed funding it closed on Thursday, May 31.

In a statement it sent to BusinessDay, the financial technology (fintech) firm disclosed that it secured its seed fund from high net worth individuals, led by Olumide Soyombo, founder of LeadPath Nigeria, with participation from Village Capital and Ventures Platform.

“Piggybank.ng is a leading example of how Africans are innovating to solve African problems,” Olumide Soyombo noted. “In this case, the team is applying technology and innovation to solve a problem facing millions of Nigerian.”

The company which was founded in 2016 by three Covenant University graduates has seen 20 to 35 percent

L-R: Somto Ifezue, Odunayo Eweniyi and Joshua Chibueze, PiggybankNG Co-founders

month on month growth in user traction over a period of one year. This came primarily from peer-to-peer recommendations, its referral program – Piggybank Stories,

and grass-roots social media campaigns.

Piggybank also suggested that the completion of accelerator programs such as Blackbox, the CcHub’s Pitch

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

How to spot a dubious initial coin offering

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r yptocur rencies may be getting a ha rd t i m e f ro m regulators around the world at the moment, but between January and May of 2018, 414 startups were able to secure cured over $9,660 billion from initial coin offerings (ICOs).

A report released by CoinSchedule showed that the figure is higher than the total figure raised in 2017 – $3.88

billion. There was an excess of 200 Initial Coin Offerings in 2017.

ICO refers to an unregulated means of raising funds for a new cryptocurrency venture. It is used by start-ups to bypass the rigorous and regulated capital-raising process required by venture capitalists or banks. The first successful ICO issued by a Nigerian startup was from SureRemit. The company was able to raise $7

million three weeks before the end of the ICO. While startups are attracted to ICOs because they are a lot more cost effective in raising funds than initial public offerings, cyber criminals see it as a goldmine for fraud.

Analyst at Deloitte Nigeria earlier in 2018 predicted a proliferation of cyber fraud using ICOs. That prediction is already happening as fraudsters are cashing in on

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Cycling improves mental health, burn calories - experts SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

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igerians have been encouraged to embrace sports, especially cycling, as it enormous benefits helps to burn calories, reduces air pollution and healthy living.

“Advantages of cycling include; improving mental health and immune system, boosts fitness. It also reduces emission of carbon mono oxide and other health threatening objects,” said Sunday Maku, the Kwara State Sector Commander, Corps Commander (CC), and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

The Corps in collaboration with Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN) in Ilorin the state capital on Tuesday joined the world to mark the 2018 World Bicycle Day, where over

20 cyclists participated in the cycling exercise which took off at the government house and terminated at the Kwara State stadium complex.

Maku while delivering the Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi’s speech said: “The FRSC in collaboration with CFN and other advocates of cycling in the country have chosen to mark the 2018 World Bicycle Day on June 4 and 5 with the theme “Cycling for Fitness”.

“This resolution reached at the United Nations(UN) General Assembly was targeted at encouraging stakeholders to emphasise and advance the use if bicycle as a means of fostering sustainable development.

“Which is in tandem with other UN Declarations such as the Sustainable Development Goals and World Urban Agenda?

“It will be recalled that as part of campaigns and advocacies on the environmental, economic, social, health and other benefits of cycling, the benefits of cycling are almost as endless as the country lanes you could soon be exploring.

“If you are considering taking up cycling and weighing it against other potential activities, then we are here to tell you that cycling is hands down the best option.”

Kasi Healthcare brings telepresence for Healthcare to Nigeria asi International, a healthcare service doing more for healthcare in Nigeria by designing, organising and operating healthcare facilities and services according to international safety

before embarking on the trip.”

This, he said, “would help to curtail growing cases of uninformed choices made by Nigerians who get on the plane based on the strength of what they gathered online from search engines, only to reach the country and discover that the service available isn’t what

guidelines, has launched a service to facilitate easy movement of Nigerians seeking medical care in India, Dubai, Turkey, Europe and America into the Nigerian market.

Explaining the rationale behind the establishment of Kasi International, Peter Adeshina, the Chief Media Officer, Kasi Healthcare, said “Kasi International was setup to ensure Nigerians seeking medical care abroad, especially for advanced surgical procedures, have a full understanding of the procedures, hospital and doctors who would be attending to them

was promised”.

Explaining the mode of operations of the company, Dayo Osholowu, director of Kasi Healthcare and former chief representative officer of leading Turkish Hospital group, Florence Nightingale Hospitals, said “Kasi International seeks to bridge the gap between Nigerians and their preferred medical destinations across the globe using modern technology and network cultivated from years of practice. For technology, we have in place a worldclass telemedicine suite, powered by Fiber Optics internet

KEMI AJUMOBI

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broadband service which is 50 times faster than the fastest LTE service available in Nigeria.

The Kasi Healthcare Telepresence system provides open interface to integrate health information systems such as HIS, LIS, and PACS. Patient’s dynamic data including examination data, vital signs, images and videos can be collected and shared with International hospitals in real time.

By adopting the advanced dual stream (i.e video and content) technology, Kasi Telepresence offers face-to-face communication experience with synchronous and real-time presentation of HD video, audio and medical images.”

Furthermore, Dayo said “Kasi International is also interested in ensuring a safe and convenient trip for its clients. To this end, in addition to the medical visa facilitation service the company would be providing, we have entered into an agreement with premium airlines; Emirates, Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, for discounted rates for all our clients. For willing clients, Kasi International also has available private jets with air-ambulance for increased comfort.”

Kasi International, which has its office located fifteen minutes away from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, already boasts of an impressive client base locally and internationally.

Amauche Nwaka, zonal commanding officer (ZCO) of the RS8 Ilorin Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM), also stated that, “we have been in the forefront of non-motorised transportation and what you can think of is the bicycle.

“And we are also trying to encourage Nigerians to exercise while transporting themselves from one point to the other.

“We want the general public to embrace cycling

like the advanced world, where wealthy people ride to work and other places.

“It is time we threw away the mentality of once you do not have a big car; you are not wealthy or have not arrived. It’s not about riding a car but living healthy.

“The public should be enlightened more about cycling and since we emulate a lot in Nigeria, once the “who is who” in the society embraces it, others will buy into it also. At the end of the day, we will have less car crashes, healthy people and a healthy nation”, she said.

In his submission, Tunde Kazeem, the director of sports in Kwara State, who spoke on behalf of the state government congratulated the FRSC for the opportunity to commemorate the World Cycling Day.

He said: “Bic ycles are for good health and it helps the longevity of our roads. We assure the FRSC of the government’s continued support for all your programmes and this is why we are here this morning to stand with you on cycling for fitness.”

“The benefits of cycling are enormous, yet we have neglected it, I urge both the young and the old to embrace it for safer roads and healthy living”, added Samuel Ayobola, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development.

One of the cyclists who identified himself as Ayo, while speaking with journalists opined that it is a good thing that the government is promoting cycling saying, “Cycling is being healthy while having fun, it simply makes you fit”.

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Akwa Ibom devices means ARC Nigeria, spurring supply chain revolution in Nigeria’s healthcare system for rapid HIV testing ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, UYO

ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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he World Health Organisation (WHO) says access to medicines and health commodities is one of six major building blocks of an effective health system.

Indeed, the role of supply chain and logistics systems through which medicines and health commodities are delivered to the last mile cannot be overemphasised.

Evidently, the goals of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to deliver access to required health services of sufficient quality cannot be achieved without access to medicines and health commodities.

Equally, the manpower that oversees manages and operates supply chain and logistics systems become paramount. Functional supply chain systems manned by capable logisticians across tiers ensure health facilities are adequately stocked at all times, guaranteeing availability of commodities and access to healthcare at the last mile.

Nigeria ranks low on logistics competence evidenced from the World Bank’s 2016 Logistics Performance Index (LPI) report, which ranks the country within the bottom 2 quintiles, characterised by very low availability of skilled logisticians, especially in mid-level management roles.

As a result, the Africa Resource Centre (ARC Nigeria) was conceived as partnership between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PHN) – as a central resource centre to foster, mobilise and channel expertise and capacity within the private sector and academia to strengthen public health supply chains across the country.

ARC Nigeria primarily

L-R: Dayo Lomuwagun, principal manager, finance, administration and strategy, Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria; Godswill C. Onunkwo, dean, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UNN; Azuka Okeke, regional director, Africa Resource Centre for Supply Chain (ARC) Nigeria; Chukwuemeka Nworu, associate dean, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UNN, and Chijioke Ofomata, chairman, Royale Resources Ltd & lead consultant, Maxwells Consulting Ltd, at the signing of MoU between Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UNN) and ARC Nigeria in Enugu recently

seeks to deliver impact by raising the performance of health supply chains to increase the availability of medicines and health commodities at the last mile – through capacity enhancements of public health logisticians, and supply chain process improvements, among others.

Therefore, one major focus area of the ARC is to support effective development of local talent pools adequately trained to manage and operate public health supply chain and logistics systems, as well as for private sector supply chain systems in Nigeria and subsequently within West Africa. In effect, the ARC seeks to foster a supply chain revolution in Nigeria by facilitating local and international partnerships to foster in-country capacity for sustainable supply chain education, research and innovation.

Since December 2016, the ARC has initiated collaborations with several private sector companies to facilitate transfer of supply chain expertise to strengthen public health supply chain systems. Worthy of note are

successful collaborations that the ARC facilitated between Proctor & Gamble, UPS, Fidson Pharma and the National Warehousing Advisory Council (NWAC) under the Federal Ministry of Health and National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) respectively.

Currently, the ARC is collaborating with multiple academic institutions in Nigeria, such as the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), University of Lagos (Unilag), Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka and Lagos State University (LASU) –to tap into as well as foster educational and research capacities on supply chain management. These collaborations are targeted at strengthening existing programs or establishing new supply chain management degree and certificate programs, through curriculum strengthening, faculty exchanges, joint research projects, student internships, and so on.

According to Azuka Okeke, country director, ARC Nigeria, “ARC aims to foster more partnerships with uni-

versities across the country within the next three years.

We are confident that these collaborations will lead to a sustainable increase in the number of adequately trained professionals with practical skills ready to make impact in public health and private sector supply chain systems in Nigeria.”

Okeke, said ARC Nigeria’s medium to long term plan to spur development of local talent involved setting up a premier academic centre of excellence on supply chain in partnership with local and international universities to ensure even distribution and promotion of supply chain knowledge and research across Nigeria.

“To this end, the ARC is also partnering with the Massachusetts Institute Technology’s Centre of Transport Logistics (MIT CTL), a leading global institute on supply chain management education and research, with proven trackrecord in setting up supply chain excellence centres around the world, connected through the MIT Global SCALE Network”.

Enugu kick-starts health insurance scheme …a thousand treated free at medical outreach REGIS ANUKWUOJI, ENUGU

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nugu state government has approved the introduction of state health insurance to be called Enugu state agency for universal coverage.

Fitan Ekochin, commissioner for health Enugu state, disclosed this over the weekend at a medical outreach

HBL TEAM

program organised by a NonGovernmental Organisation (NGO), Hem foundation in collaboration with ACE Cancer care incorporated from United States of America (USA), at Akpuoga Nike health centre, Enugu east local government.

According to Ekochin, the government of Enugu state is aware of the health challenges

particularly as it affects the rural areas, noting that the existing guidelines lies on funding and can only come from health insurance.

“Health insurance is the model every country is adopting even the poorest countries in Africa” he said.

He further said that the federal government has a lukewarm attitude to the

health sector, where less than 3 per cent of the national budget is allocated to health sector, saying that Enugu state government is coming up with guidelines to ensure that health sectors are properly taken care off.

However, over 1000 people with benefited from the program that lasted for three days at the health center, which gave the opportunity to meet health experts who provided

kwa Ibom has evolved new method that would help to ascertain accurate number of persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

It is known as Test and Start Approach.

Nkereuwem Etok, project manager of the state’s agency for the control of AIDS made this known in Uyo, the state capital.

According to him, with the new method for HIV test, it would not be on selected persons, but would involve persons from all grades and sex.

He explained that, the result arrived at after samples and analyses have been carried out, represent the general population of the people in the state and not only pregnant women, as was the case before now.

“If we can sustain this tempo, if government keeps tackling HIV, the way it’s doing now, we know new infections would be a thing of the past. Studies have shown that if HIV positive person stays consistently on drugs for six months, likely the viral load will drop and the possibility of transmitting is reduce, so once the viral load drops to undetectable level, the person does not transmit again, that is why government has sign into the Test and Start Approach,’’ he said.

Fielding question, the director/project manager said he would not in a position to argue with the assumption that, the state was ranked second in HIV prevalence in the full range of health services.

Some of the health areas examined during the program included general medicine, Cancer awareness and Ophthalmologist.

Magius Ezuma, secretary of HEM foundation said, “The NGO’s aim is to come into partnership in order to help the less privilege in the society saying that the government cannot do it alone, we appeal to co-operate citizens to galvanise their resources to assist in reducing the sufferings of the lower class people”.

ANTHONIA OBOKOH, Editor, anthonia@businessdayonline.com. ANI MICHAEL, Reporter I David Ogar, Graphics

country because of the method and target persons used in carrying out analysis then.

“The survey that was used to rank Akwa Ibom state as second in the country was what we called ANC surveillance study, it is known as AnteNatal studies, it is done with pregnant women.

This is what was used in all the states in the country.

“But the governor came up and said, this is not correct, let us know what the prevalence rate in the general population is. Test babies, adult, men women, educated, uneducated all over the 31 local government areas”, he added.

According to him, the involvement of the international agencies in the area of sexual and productive health, HIV testing and counselling with the young people was a welcome development as this group of persons seems to have be neglected He commended Society for Family Health for partnering with the state to create needed awareness especially among young girls and women in the country.

Earlier, the deputy programme director, Global Fund for Support programme, Society for Family Health, Segun Ojideji said, 38 young p e r s o n s f r o m A kw a Ibom, Federal Capital Territory and Oyo states would be trained on the new method of HIV testing.

He noted that Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) have varying Sexual and Reproductive needs, which have not been adequately addressed.

Also speaking at the event, Eucharia Iwuanyawu, team leader of HEM foundation, said we have been to 23 states in Nigeria and our focus is on cancer. “There are a lot of cancer cases in the country and to compound the problem, resources are not there and awareness is still very poor in rural areas.

She urged that awareness programmes and education shouldn’t cease and federal government should added cancer treatment to the health insurance scheme.

BUSINESS DAY

Friday 08 June 2018

AgriBusinessInsight Market Insights

Analysis

Commentaries

Experts/Industry Views

Commodities watch

Policy Reviews

Send in News content and your Commentaries to caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com

Market Insights

Expert Views

Low productivity hinders Nigeria taking advantage of Soybean export

The role of agribusiness in poverty alleviation and national development

CALEB OJEWALE Twiiter: @calebtinolu

OLUWAFEMI ABIOYE, Co-founder/CEO, Agricmedia Twitter: @agricmedia Email: oluwafemia@ agricmedia.com

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n the last article, we discussed export potentials of Nigeria for different commodities which is increasingly topical, as many people seek to find ways in participating at an international market where apart from available off takers, dollar is also a good motivation.

However, while some commodities produced in Nigeria are said to be in high demand, the reality is; local demand has hardly been met, making export appear unrealistic. This is especially so in the case of a commodity like Soybean which China supposedly requires in large quantity from Nigeria.

“There is a small quarrel between the United States and China, soybeans and sorghum are part of items in dispute. The Chinese have a p re f e re n c e f o r the hybrid soybean from Nigeria, and will like us to sell them two million tonnes of soybean per annum. That is quite a place to do some business,” said Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, at BusinessDay’s Agribusiness and Food Security Summit this year.

But then, the Agriculture Promotion Policy document shows that Nigeria produces only 600,000 metric tonnes, w i t h l o c a l d e ma n d o f 750,000 thousand. The crop is important as an Animal feed and alternative source of protein which determines demand for it annually. Already, there is 150,000 tonne deficit, making it hard to imagine how China’s 2million metric tonne demand can then be

P met.

Hamza Ahmed Mahuta, a former key accounts ma n a g e r a t Sy n g e n t a, currently working as an agriculture consultant, says he has cultivated Soybean for the last 10 years, and explained that it is not a high yielding crop. And, even less of it is grown since it is not a staple food.

“If you produce it as a small farmer, you may be forced to sell it at harvest and probably get nothing.

Only people that have capacity to produce and keep for some time may benefit from it. It is a very low yielding crop, to the best of my knowledge.

“I have been cultivating soybean for more than ten years now, and I am yet to get the variety that gives up to a tonne per hectare. Most of these seed companies may say it will give up to 2.5 tonnes per hectare but honestly I have not seen that yet.”

The demand for soybean will however continue to increase and according to Olam Grains, a subsidiary of one of Nigeria’s leading agriculture companies, demand could reach 3.5 million metric tonnes by

2040.

Through a systematic field research, Olam has identified the availability of good-quality, high-yielding seeds as a major catalyst for boosting farmer’ earning, thereby generating interest among more farmers to grow soybeans. The company has also partnered the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), to promote the commercialisation of its tropicalised soybean varieties, suitable for the d i f f e re nt ag ro - cl i mate conditions for various parts of Nigeria.

But then, this effort alone is not sufficient. There is a need for more research bodies to discover ways to improve farm productivity in the country. There are at least 20 agricultural research institutes in the country; even though not all focus on seeds, but then, valuable inputs from all these institutes could go a long way in making it more feasible for Nigeria to take advantage of the export market.

More so, with 157 seed companies currently licensed to operate in Nigeria, there should be more efforts being put into

development of hybrid, quality seeds to meet the country’s agricultural needs.

As noted by Philip Ojo, director general of the National Agricultural S e e d Council (NAS C ), “indigenous seed companies (which currently dominate the industry) need to enhance their human, te chnical and infrastructural capacities to enable them produce quality seeds which will win the heart of farmers. They also need to step up their financial base so that they will have enough capital to buy back their quality seeds from contract growers, who most time can sell grains as seeds to the highest bidders after harvest, if companies are not coming to buy on time.”

When this rapid development in capacity happens, Nigeria’s local demand for Soybean (just like other commodities) will not only be met, but the country will as well be able to trade with China and other countries which require our agricultural products.

This article first appeared online at www. businessdayonline.com

Stakeholders evaluate Nigeria’s seed industry for improved productivity

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he National Agricultural Seed Council this week o r g a n i s e d a t w o - d ay Seedconnect Conference and Expo with the theme “ The Nigerian Seed I n d u s t r y : Ev a l u a t i n g the Seed Sector and Developing a Sustainable Framework to Bolster the Growth of the Seed Industry”, as it aims to champion significant improvements in productivity.

At the conference, seed

companies, researchers, and other stakeholders c o nv e rg e d t o p ro f f e r s olutions to s ome of the industry’s pressing concerns in advancing agricultural productivity through good, quality seeds.

According to Olusegun Ojo, director general, NASC, the convergence provides an opportunity for stakeholders to review the Nigerian seed Sector with a focus on past innovations, success,

failure and challenges; identify critical priority actions to be undertaken by stakeholders to leverage each other’s strengths, scope, scale and operation efficiencies of the sector, and; identify critical gaps and develop a strategic framework for scaling up delivery of high quality seed to farmers.

A statement by NASC, also reads that ; the conference is a rebrand of the usual annual national seed planning event

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organized by NASC that brings key stakeholders to review activities of previous year and draw plans for the current year.

The gathering is expected to aid in the development of a holistic, pragmatic and sustainable road map capable of strengthening the Nigerian Seed Industry and making seeds of the highest quality available to Nigerian farmers and their counterparts in neighboring countries.

overty is not seen as simply lack of income or consumption; it includes deprivation in health, education, nutrition, security, power and more. It is also widely accepted that these dimensions of deprivation interact with and reinforce each other.

The role of Agribusiness growth in alleviating poverty has attracted wide attention, and this is hardly surprising as most of the world’s poor still live in rural areas.

Our focus is on the position of Agribusiness (Agriculture + Entrepreneur) in three distinct approaches: i. Poverty Alleviation: provision of staple foods and income for rural farmers ii Provision of raw materials for industrialization iii.

Income generation for the Federal Government through taxes, export duties and direct investment inflows through foreign currencies The UN World Economic and Social Survey 2000 (UN, 2000) makes agricultural growth a central issue for “escaping the poverty trap”. It states that agricultural growth can contribute strongly to poverty reduction, mainly because of its demand linkages, and because agricultural and related activities tend to be more labour intensive and less import intensive than manufacturing activities.

Therefore, the role of agribusiness in poverty alleviation and the development of an economy may be stated as follow: 1. Source of Food Supply: Due to the heavy pressure of population in underdeveloped and developing countries and its rapid increase, the demand for food is increasing at a fast rate. If agriculture fails to meet the rising demand of food products, it is found to adversely affect the growth rate of the economy.

Raising supply of food by the agricultural sector has, therefore, great importance for economic growth of a country.

2.

Improving Rural Welfare: The rising agricultural surplus caused by increasing agricultural production tends to improve social welfare, particularly in rural areas. The living standard of rural masses rises and they start consuming more nutritious diets including eggs, milk, and fruits. They live a comfortable life with some modern amenities - a better house, satellite TV, GSM, motor-cycle and use of better

clothes (for instance Cashew farmers from Ogbomosho, Ejigbo, Kabba, Oke-Onigbin, Auchi etc and Rice farmers from Kebbi, Jigawa etc) 3. Contribution to National Income: The lessons drawn from the economic history of many advanced countries, tells us that agricultural prosperity contributed considerably in fostering economic advancement. It is correctly observed that, the leading industrialized countries of today were once predominantly agricultural while the developing economies still have the dominance of agriculture and it largely contributes to the national income. In India, still 28 percent of national income comes from this sector.

4. Helpful in Phasingout Economic Depression: During depression, industrial production can be stopped or reduced but agricultural production continues as it produces basic necessities of life. Thus it continues to create effective demand even during adverse conditions of the economy.

5.

Pre-Requisite for Raw Material: Agricultural advancement is necessary for improving the supply of raw materials for the agrobased industries especially in developing countries.

The shortage of agricultural goods has its impact upon on industrial production and a consequent increase in the general price level. It will impede the growth of the country’s economy. The flour mills, rice, oil & dal mills, bread, meat, milk products, sugar factories, wineries, jute mills, textile mills and numerous other industries are based on agricultural products.

6. Agribusiness sector provides funds for capital formation in many ways as: (i) Agricultural taxation, (ii) Export of agricultural products, (iii) Collection of agricultural products at low prices by the government and selling it at higher prices. (iv) Transfer of labour and capital from farm to non-farm activities etc.

7.

Source of Foreign Exchange for the Country: Most of the developed economies import some key raw materials from developing countries with improved agricultural systems, such commodities include tea leaves, cocoa, coffee, ginger, cashew etc.

8. Helpful to Reduce Inequality: The prosperity of agribusiness (agriculture and entrepreneur) would raise the income of the majority of the rural population and thus the disparity in income may be reduced to a certain extent. This could help reduce the ruralurban migration.

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‘Boss of all bosses is unarguably one of the funniest movies in our time’ On June 15, 2018, Mind Burster Film Ventures will be releasing the most hilarious film in the history of the Nigerian movie industry. Ahead of the release in cinemas across the country, Emeka Kachikwu, CEO of the indigenous film company, speaks to Obinna Emelike on the production of the movie and why it is a must-watch.

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What is the movie all about? he movie is about the comedic rivalry between two MDs in an oil and gas company. It unveils the story of Tony (acted by me), a classy, ego tripping, selfcentred, arrogant M.D at Hemcorps Oil & Gas. In the light of an absentee CEO whose identity remains hidden, he abuses his powers and becomes the perfect ladies man.

His loyal PA at his beck and call acts as his informant unveiling sizzling news unfolding in the company.

He is living life to the fullest and nicknamed The Boss of all bosses, until Samuel (acted by Nedu) is brought on-board as a Rival M.D at the CEO’s request. Special tasks are assigned to both as they compete for the exalted position deploying every trick in the scheming book to win or be fired. The employees are caught in the middle and camps are formed, alliances are made amidst the backdrop of comical scheming, romantic escapades and betrayal.

Tony is fighting hard to win the affection of the slay Queen he’s dying for while focusing on the tasks but a bad move he makes threatens his ambition and sets him on course for what he never bargained.

Why comedy, going by your foreign degrees in Business Administration and Oil and Gas Management?

I have always been a funny person.

Recently, I met a friend and told him I was producing a comedy movie, he said it was long overdue because I have always been a funny person from primary school days. He was right because from primary school, I had always been the class clown and even up till secondary school.

So, the funny part of me is the reason I am among the cast, particularly the

storyline is becoming more colourful and beautiful.

So, I encourage everyone to watch my movie in the cinemas from June 15, 2018 because it is so funny that during the making of the movie, the camera crew and the make-up artists were all laughing. There was a hospital scene and we had to retake it for 10 times because the camera crew was laughing including their supervisor.

There are lots of funny scenes played by different characters offering tons of fun that make Boss of all bosses an interesting movie to watch.

Emeka Kachikwu

lead actor.

Though I studied in the U.K for both my first degree and masters, I always wanted to follow my passion.

I wanted to drop out of school at a point to follow my passion for entertainment, but my parents insisted that I must finish my education first. I am happy that I listened to them because that education and exposure has lifted me.

What inspired the storyline?

The story was inspired by a lot of things. I have this project for a while now but I thought of the idea in 2012. My friends have a recording of me in 2014 when I was shouting boss of all bosses. At that time, nobody knew what I meant. As well, at my former place of work, there was an argument between two employees, and the way they were at each other was funny. Of course, this happens in every organisation.

So, being a creative writer, I asked myself why not make a story of this.

Instead of two employees fighting, get more people in the fracas, and what will they be fighting for. That was how the inspiration started coming bit by bit. I used four months to write the movie.

What makes you think the movie is a must-watch?

It is a very hilarious movie; the comedy squad is ridiculously funny.

We have comedy greats such as; Patience ozokwor (Mama G), Akpororo, Okon, Senator, Sani Danja, Nedu of Wazobia FM, Eniola Badmus, Adini Ade, Babatunde, the funny Chinese guy, and I also.

It is a very rich and colourful squad and one that you should not miss. I overheard someone making unpleasant comments about Nollywood movies, but the quality has improved over the years, the

How long did it take to writing the script?

I wrote the movie first and started looking for characters. I wrote the movies for four months. While still in my former office, I used my free time to write the movie. When my colleagues close by 5pm, I stayed late in the office till 10pm to continue with the writing of the script.

Then, I temporarily became a professor, remove my shoes and walk around the office with paper and pen in my hand.

I will not say it was difficult writing it, but the challenge was fixing the puzzle together, especially having written a very long movie. If I release the original manuscript, it will be up to three hours, so, I had to cut it down. It was like writing a dissertation. When I write, I laugh and people beside me will be wondering what was wrong with me, but I know it was the funny characters that push me to laugh.

How do you go about your roles of producer and actor at sometime?

When you create a story, and you know that a particular character is you, it is very easy to play that char-

acter. From the feedback, people are seeing something new; a character that has not been played before, even the storyline and actions in the movie. Boos of all bosses is not the usual Nollywood storyline.

How were you able to assemble the rich cast?

I have a good team, and there is a lot of planning. One of the challenges was getting all of them at the same time because they are all big names with very busy schedules.

So, we used their schedules to plans ours to fit into when they are free. We cannot get all of them together at the same time, so went after those we need when we need them. It took us about 17 days to shoot the movie in Lagos across different scenes; office, restaurants, yacht, hotel among others.

Was funding a challenge?

The movie is self-sponsored with help from family and friends. I was lucky to raise the funding and if I couldn’t raise the fund from self sponsorship, I would have gone for loan.

Why is the movie a must-watch?

Not to sound over confident, Boss of all bosses is unarguably one of the funniest movies in our time. The storyline is new; the rich comedy squad has never been assembled before in Nollywood history. You have never seen Okon and Akpororo in same movie, so picture them, and the likes of Mama G, Nedu, Eniola Badmus and others. The comedy squad is ridiculous; this is a mind bursting movie. I bet you will fall down with laughter. We called movie critics who are exceptional in their work to review the movie and they were all laughing. It comes with different comedy styles.

Nigerian Breweries unveils Phyno as brand ambassador for Life Lager Beer

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igerian Breweries Plc, a Heineken company and Nigeria’s foremost brewer has announced the signing of award winning Nigerian rapper and entertainer, Phyno as the new Brand Ambassador for the South-east premium beer brand, Life Continental Lager Beer.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Maria Franco Maggi, marketing director of NB Plc. said “Working with a great act like Flavour and this new collaboration with Phyno- one of Nigeria’s most

successful artistes and a proud son of the Igbo community, is further proof of Life Continental Lager beer’s mission of effectively promoting Igbo highlife music, beliefs, traditions and progressive cultural values”.

This deal which was signed at the Nigerian Breweries Plc. corporate head office in Lagos recently, will see the new ambassador featuring in Life Continental Beer advertising and marketing campaigns and will also make special appearances at events.

During the unveiling ceremony, Phyno said “I am very happy to be part of this great development as Life Continental beer has always been a brand that shows great support for the Igbo culture and values and it is something that I respect this beer brand for.

They are the reason I am here today and I am proud to now be their ambassador”.

Life Continental Beer pioneered regional brewing in Nigeria and has maintained strong position in the Southeast region’s booming market for decades.

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Business Etiquette

Movie review – Deadpool 2

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t is obvious that 2018 is going to be a brilliant year for the Marvel group, who has release 3 block buster’s movies back to back in just four months. They started with Black Panther, the Avengers: Infinity war and now “Deadpool”.

The new movie is a sequel to the 1st episode and it reveals how he searches for new super power partners to join forces with him to destroy the evil guy “Cable”, who was meant on destroying the little boy with the evil power called “Firefist”. It is said that so far the Marvel group have raked in about $1.5b in just this year alone, making them one of the top movie producers for 2018 already. For the usual comic Marvel lovers, they sure will enjoy the humor and drama that was intertwined this action packed movie.

This year sure did start on a very good note with very exciting movies hitting the cinema back to back since February, starting with Black Panther, that has already made about 1.3b dollars till date, winning the highest gross MCU movie to hit the cinema domestically, and the 3rd highest worldwide movie just after the only first 2 Avengers movie.

Then we had other blockbuster movies like Avengers: Infinity War, Solo, Jurassic World, this year has witnessed a lot of sizzling competition already.

“Deadpool” has made a whopping $598m so far and $300m in the opening weekend, although these figures were good, they didn’t beat the already set goals of 2016 set by the successful debut of the original episode. They didn’t beat the highest rated domestic opening weekend, but surpassed the target in revenue for the world wide earning. They are sure to cash out this year again.

The movie was directed by David Leitch and they sure did have a very good storyline to keep all fully entertained.

After recovering from a terrible bovine attack, a mutilated cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) fought to bring his dreams to reality of becoming Miami’s hottest bartender, as well as learning to manage with his displaced sense of taste. He decided to start again by searching to gain his purpose in life again as death wouldn’t take him away from this world. Wade must combat with Ninjas, the Yakuza,

with Janet Adetu

Eye contact

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Cast : Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Karan Soni, Leslie Uggams, Eddie Marsan, Jack Kesy, Bill Skarsgard, Terry Crew and many more Ratings: PG13 (for strong violence, and language throughout, sexual references, and brief drug material) Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy Directed by: David Leitch Written by: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Ryan Reynolds Time: 119 mins Studio: Twentieth Century Fox and a whole lot of sexually antagonistic canines, as he moves around the world to unveil the importance of flavor, friendship and family. Wade had to discover a new taste of adventure as he worked towards achieving the coveted coffee mug title of World’s Best Lover.

The movie started on a high note with action from start to finish and funny jokes in between that people could relate to. Each time wade was destroyed he had to lay low and recuperate. He met a young boy who he had to protect from Cable, who was bent on destroying the boy as he had seen the future, that the young boy will grow up not being able to manage his powers and destroy his beloved family.

It was a nice story as Deadpool fans were all pleased at the end of the movie. Off course there is no doubt that we should be expecting another one soon, with another flavor and twist to the

n the good days the etiquette of respecting someone older then was simply not to look at that person in the eye whilst being spoken to. It was considered rude to look up and right at that elderly person. I know many people can resonate with the etiquette of the older days.

Looking at the young millennial today we see the reverse is now the case when being spoken to by your boss.

You will be considered rude when looking downwards or away from your boss as he/ she is addressing you. It is expected that you look up and right at your boss with direct eye contact.

It is amazing how I regularly see during networking events, how many adults still struggle with proper eye contact. They seem to feel more comfortable looking up, down, or sideways both when they are asked a question as well as when they are responding. Could it be that they are experiencing bouts of anxiety, elements of fear and considerable uncertainty? It takes a god amount of confidence to stand tall walking the walk and talking the talk.

One thing I tell my participants during trainings is that direct eye contact does not mean starring right into the eyes of another for a longtime, that would imply something is wrong. Your eye contact indeed says a lot about you and your personality. It is highly influenced by culture the people you are with as well as the environment.

Let me share a few eye contact etiquette facts and strategies that can assist you show positive non-verbal body language when you step out.

Deadpool story.

To my verdict I would say this movie deserves an 8/10, just because its Deadpool, anyway I think the movie was okay and it thrilled the audience, we did have a lot of people who left pleased and await patiently for the next episode of Deadpool, I sincerely feel they did their homework well and the marketing was quiet impressive to also take people back to the cinema, just after the great come back of the Avengers series. For the action and comedy movie lovers, you sure will enjoy the storyline of Deadpool, please do check it out.

Feel free to review any movie of your choice in not more than 200 words, please send us a mail to linda@businessdayonline. com and stand a chance to win a free movie ticket.

Eye Contact Etiquette Significance In the business world your eye contact is very important as it speaks to the kind of leader you are. In addressing your team, your colleagues, your VIP client, your customers, acquaintances and more it is your eye contact that will command the room. Your eye contact influences the respect you desire as a professional it indicates when you are looking others that they are important while you are also in control of the situation or the day. As a leader your direct eye contact is expected.

Linda Ochugbua @lindaochugbua

First Impression It has been said that 55%

of the impact you have on someone you meet for the first time is seen in your appearance. The catch word here is seen. You cannot take the eyes out of the values of a leader. First impressions speak to not just your clothing but more importantly to the way you behave, conduct yourself and ultimately the way you communicate. You are being consciously and unconsciously judged daily, it is the little things that are detail but make the big difference. To buttress your positive first impression is to introduce yourself audibly, with proper direct eye contact added with a generous smile and handshake.

Gaze Again it is not a case of how long you can stare at someone that indicates you have good use of eye contact. You

may at this point be deemed rude if you hold your gaze for longer than necessary. You begin to position yourself for a negative first impression as you will automatically look expressionless and cold. The ideal gaze at anytime is 3 to 5 seconds long. You are to look then look away intermittently in the course of a conversation. This indicates openness, trustworthiness and tact. If your gaze is very short this indicates that you are uncomfortable and probably may have something in hiding. You need to shift your gaze from the floor to the person you are speaking to.

Self Esteem Your lack of ability to look someone in the eye as you talk to them or better still as they are talking to you may come from an unconscious bias, habitual or the sheer lack of confidence and self - esteem. It is deemed an image saboteur if as a professional you are playing victim to these circumstances. The shyness can rob you of your inner talent and competence when you are seen for the first time. If you

find yourself giving a presentation, demonstration, conducting a meeting, or briefly addressing an audience you need to braze up with a few breathing exercises, practice in front of mirror, then push yourself to excellence. Signs of lack of confidence are first seen in your ability to hold your audience with good eye contact. Do not look at one thing but learn to roam your eye if many others are looking at you. It will take a bit of practice but do not relent until you are more comfortable with yourself. Boost your selfesteem and confidence by identifying your core values in life n run with them.

Professional Presence As you step out of the house purpose to look like that professional you are. Your image and brand depends very much on your aura and how

you come across to others.

You can make or break a business deal by the wright or wrong presence you give off. It is important to identify that only a business eye contact is acceptable in the business arena for business relationships, ensure your eye contact does not send the wrong message.

Direction Finally the use of the eyes says a lot in body language and can easily indicate or say much more than the direct words.

Where do you look when you are in a conversation?

Do you know the meaning of the direction of your gaze?

Some professionals can tell in response to certain questions if you are lying or telling the truth. You may be trying to access a past memory, or current idea. Be mindful of rolling, blinking, and wide eyed positions they are negative signs of body language. Your eyes are your prized treasure take care of them and their usage, Goodluck Janet.adetu@ gmail.com

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How Meghan Markle became a modern day ‘Black’ Cinderella Stories by ROSELINE AMADI

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ust like Cinderella, Meghan Markle while growing up, was the least likely anyone would have thought will end up as a real life princess in one of the most conservative royalties in the world. But Meghan, found by a real life prince unlike Cinderella, is now a real life princess. And this happened because a Prince, sixth in the line of succession to the British throne, summoned the courage to tell his Grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, that he wants to marry a black, divorced American woman!

On the 19th of May at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, history was made as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry tied the knot. Whenever there is a royal wedding, of course history is made. However, this was not the typical royal wedding because of who this bride was.

Meghan is not your typical princess. The royal family has standards and there is a specification for royal wives. When you understand who Meghan is and where she is coming from, you will agree that she doesn’t tick all the boxes. Meghan is a Hollywood actress, born and

raised in California to an American father and an African-American mother and the royal wedding wasn’t the first time she said “I do”. Meghan was raised by her divorced mother who wouldn’t have thought she was raising a princess as most royal wives are raised and trained for the role most of their lives.

Just before the wedding, the queen conferred the titles- Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Prince Harry and Meghan. The royal life comes with restrictions and privileges such that Meghan has had to close down her social media pages and her blog! She even resigned from acting as one can’t be a royal wife and have another job. The thing is that being a royal wife of Windsor is a full time job!

Ap a r t f ro m t h e 6 0 0 guests present in St. George’s Chapel, over 2,000 people on the grounds of the castle, and over 350,000 visitors who toured Britain, about 2 billion people all over the world watched the love birds exchanged their vows. The ceremony was a merging of both American and British traditions.

With a passionate sermon delivered by Bishop Curry, the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, who spoke of love and quoted Martin Luther King Jr and the rendition

of the American classic“Stand by Me”, it is difficult to doubt that the royal family has embraced Meghan’s black heritage.

The wedding took place on a Saturday as opposed to other royal weddings which are held on weekdays. Although Prince Harry also broke tradition and wore a wedding ring unlike other grooms from the royal family, the ceremony ended in the traditional English way with the singing of the British national anthem, “God Save the Queen”.

Meghan and Harr y’s wedding was an event that celebrated love and was in no way a political event unlike most royal weddings. The guests at the

wedding were primarily friends and family of the couple and some members of the general public like school children and charity organizations. No political leader was invited for this wedding! Prince Harry and Meghan did things their way and this spoke of a modern approach to a royal wedding which implies that Prince Harry and Meghan may not abide by the ancient royal rulebook.

However, the wedding seems to be worthwhile for the royals as its impact on the British economy is estimated at £1 billion, triggered from a surge in tourism, travel, hotels, restaurants, and the sales of commemorative items re-

lated to the royal wedding.

It’s been over two weeks since the royal wedding but the world is still basking in the excitement of the nuptials. This is stemming from huge global interest in the union of the world’s former most eligible bachelor and the biracial, divorced, American actress and activist. The world is excited about the way the royals not only accepted Meghan, but also the queen’s approval of the wedding in spite of the drama from some of Meghan’s family members.

Meghan’s race, upbringing, marital status, and citizenship all defy British royal tradition. While it is not difficult to suggest that the

playboy Prince could make this choice of bride because he is sixth in line to the throne and unlikely to become king, the wedding of Meghan and Harry shows that the royal family is not stereotypical. The union of Meghan and Prince Harry represents our present day as there are many blended families in the world today and the number is increasing.

Though the royals are known for upholding their traditions, this wedding is proof that the royal family does not always conform, but they keep modifying their way of doing things to stay relevant in the scheme of things in our day as the union of a Prince to a Hollywood star and a divorcee, who is neither British, white nor aristocrat is unprecedented. This marriage speaks of possibilities and suggests that an African girl can have a dream to become a British princess someday and have that dream come true!

While some fear that Meghan may not be able to adjust and perfectly fit into the royal family, others opine that the royal family may have to adjust to Meghan but as an actress, Meghan will have no problem playing this role as long as she embraces it as the most challenging role she has ever taken on.

gers and said with a coy look “ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, one of the engines have gone bad. We have called our company and they are sending another ferry”.

‘Was I really just told that the engine of the ferry I am in is bad when we are already in the middle of the lagoon?’

I asked no one particularly, suddenly remembering that I cannot swim even if my life depended on it. I wished I was dreaming and while I waited to wake up from this nightmare, I reached out to a few friends to let them know that I was stuck in a boat in the middle of the lagoon.

Whenever, a ferry was in sight, we gazed on in expectation till the ferry was out of sight, hoping that it was the ferry sent to pick us. This happened twice. They were ferries from other companies and they already had passengers on board. When one of those ferries came close enough to ours, I tried getting their attention for them to know that we were stuck in our ferry. “Help” I shouted.

To my surprise, some of my fellow passengers found my gesture highly amusing.

One of the passengers boldly told me “this is not a big deal, I have witnessed this happen

severally” as he spoke, some other passengers confirmed what he was saying. They were trying to assure me that there was no cause for alarm and after a while, this will be sorted out as usual.

At this time, my issue was not just the possibility of us losing our lives because the transport company did not ensure that the engine of their ferry was in perfect condition, I was bewildered that fellow passengers had come to accept such incidents as a normal thing! I got even more afraid when it occurred to me that the waterways may not be as regulated as I thought. That those who operate the boats are just untrained men trying to make a living from the water ways.

It suddenly hit me “there is government! We are supposed to have a government that should regulate this transport service! Where are they? How many more mishaps would they like to hear of before they step in and put the right professionals in the right places to ensure safe water transportation?”

As our ferry floated help-

lessly over the waters for about 15 minutes, it dawned on me that it was the longest 15 minutes of my life; waiting for another ferry to come and rescue us from the faulty one we were in.

But finally, one came. And we jumped into it. Finally, I was on my way out of my evening nightmare. The therapeutic sounds of the ferry brushing against the waters and the caress of the winds that followed, helped to soothe my already aching head as we approached Lekki.

I finally got to my destination alive! I excitedly picked my phone and announced to my friends that I had made it out of the ferry and out of the water. It had been the longest 15 minutes of my life!

However, I knew in my heart that I could not promise not to go back on the ferry again. The time and trauma of traffic it saves one from will make me not keep that promise. How I wish the government will just live up to its responsibility of making water travels safe. For now, it looks like a tragedy waiting to happen.

Prince Harry and Meghan

The longest 15 minutes

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cannot swim. I do not know how to. Maybe I will be able to bring myself to swim someday soon but for now, the waterways are the most unlikely place for me to be anything close to brave. As someone who works in Lagos, enduring a few minutes of slight uneasiness may seem to be a small price to pay in order to get to your destination 90 minutes earlier!

I work in Apapa and I needed to get to Lekki from the office on a Monday evening to catch up with an appointment I was running late for. I knew that I may not be able to make the journey in less than two hours by road, so it only made sense to join the ferry which would get me into Lekki in less than 30 minutes.

I had commuted by ferries before this time. So I knew it was not strange to hear the engine of the ferry start with a loud noise and then stop in a few seconds, then start again and stop in a few seconds: this usually continues till the end of the journey.

So on this fateful day,

about five minutes into the journey, the engine of the ferry started and stopped, and then I did not hear it start again. I sat there watching and hoping I was just being pessimistic. At this point, I had paused the music I was listening to. After another minute of silence, I completely took off my earphones and at this time, I could not pretend to be unconcerned.

I noticed that other people were looking worried as everyone that had earphones on had taken them off; probably hoping to hear something from the ‘captain’ of the ferry. At this time, the other two men who work for the ferry transport company apart from the ‘captain’ were pacing around the ferry.

After about another five minutes of silence from the engine, with the ferry floating on the not so rough lagoon waters, the murmurings from the passengers began to rise above the lagoon’s tapping on the sides of the ferry.

Finally, ‘the captain’ of the ferry stood, turned around, faced the passen-

BUSINESS DAY

Friday 08 June 2018

25

Hotels Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja, the new deal for the business traveller OBINNA EMELIKE

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f you are a discerning business traveller, leisure seeker or both, there is a fantastic offering for you in the heart of Lagos; a city that doubles as the commercial and entertainment capital of Nigeria.

The stylish and sophis-

ferings of the hotel.

What strikes most is the beautiful display of breathtaking works of art by Nigerian artists in strategic spaces in the hotel. The works have subtle way of setting guests ‘in the mood’.

In line with the brand’s Yes I Can! service ethos, and guarantee on maximum satisfaction, Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja helps its guests to further discover rich local experiences amid world

ence, mini bar, tea and coffee corner, safe, free Wi-Fi among others. While in the rooms, the expansive widows that maximize natural lights are delightful too.

The rooms also feature mini office setting that allows business travelers to mix work and fun.

One unique thing about the room offerings in the hotel is the dedication of the concierge level to Exclusive Executive Lounge.

The lobby

ticated Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja is truly the deal in Lagos.

From the entrance, the iconic design of the hotel impresses guests with contemporary and thoughtprovoking spaces that obviously transport their imaginations.

Yet, genuine smiles from the well-motivated staff greet and further welcome guests to endless indulgence in the numerous of-

Superior room

class facilities.

The six-storey hotel features155 spaciously designed bedrooms including 17 contemporary loft suites with first class amenities that offer memorable experience beyond a mere goodnight rest to guests. The well-appointed rooms are both functional and indulging, while offering enabling facilities including trendy entertainment bouquet on TV, unique bathtub experi-

Aside the comfy room offering, dining is an experience on its own at the hotel’s restaurants. A visit to the Cut Steakhouse, the hotel’s specialty restaurant exposes guests to several culinary demonstrations, especially

by Chef Ladi Smith who leads his kitchen team to prepare the best steak in town. For guests who want variety, the Iyeru Okin restaurant offers all-day dinning across different menus.

Of course, the bars offer exclusive evening experiences with a wide range of wine menu, as well as, onsite live music performances, especially at RBar and its extension, TheCascade. The hotel extends its beverage menu with ChocoLatte coffee for impromptu coffee meetings, and for guests who want a quick cup of Java.

For fitness buffs, there is a well-equipped fitness center with instructors for those who want to keep it trim while on a trip. But the stylishly designed swimming pool offers all-day fun on water.

Bearing the business traveler in mind, Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja offers eight meeting rooms compassing, 7,158 sqft of total meeting space. The meetings and events spaces located on the second floor are fully equipped with state-of-theart A/V technology and free high-speed wireless Internet.

The second floor also offers dedicated bar and flexible breakout areas.

Speaking on the uniqueness of the hotel’s offering, the management said, “We understand that the guest’s experience is not only defined by the facilities in our hotel, but importantly, the atmosphere we create. We interact with our guests, and together we create meaningful experiences as we believe every moment matters”.

On reasons to visit for meetings and events, the management said, “Our meeting and events offerings, provide guests with an experience beyond the traditional gathering, rooted in our creative sensory meeting design. The Radisson Blu Hotel Lagos Ikeja experience appeals to Next Gen frequent leisure and business travelers who want to discover something stylishly, sophisticated and iconic with each and every stay”.

The hotel, which is located in the serene government reserved area GRA Ikeja, has many things going for it, especially its proximity to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, entertainment and tourism attractions, and Alausa, the seat of Lagos State government.

However, Chef Ladi Smith, who has had wonderful working experiences in New York, South Africa, and now Lagos, looks forward to your visit to the Cut Steakhouse for the best steak in Lagos.

Top BusinessDay Partner Hotels Novotel Port Harcourt Address: 3 Stadium Road Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt Rivers State, Tel: 0809 713 5734

Transcorp Hilton Abuja 1 Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama, Abuja Tel: +234-708-060-3000

Protea Hotel Apo Apartments Address: Ahmadu Bello Way, Apo, Abuja Tel: 09 480 1818

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Abuja 1 Uke St, Garki, Abuja.

Tel: +234 9 4603900, +234 805 7522500

Chida Hotel International Address: Plot 224, Solomon Lar Way, Utako, Abuja Tel: 0810 871 8882

Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja #38/40 Isaac John St, Ikeja GRA100271, Ikeja Tel: +234-908-780 5555

206 Hotel Plot 206 Cadastral Zone B02 Opposite Kenuj 02 Mall, Oladipo Diya Road, Durumi District, Abuja Tel: 08119707993 Email: 206abuja@gmail.com

Protea Hotel (GRA Ikeja) GRA Ikeja

Protea Hotel (V/Island) Off Ajose Adeogun Street, V/ Island

Gombe Jewel Hotel, 22, Njamena Street, off Aminu Kano crescent Wuse 2, Abuja.

Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel 1A,Ozumba Mbadiwe,Victoria Island.

26

BUSINESS DAY

Friday 08 June 2018

CityFile

Lagos pays N280m to families of deceased staff JOSEPHINE OKOJIE

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he Lagos State government has paid a total of N280 million to families of 110 of its deceased staffs of the state civil service who died in active service in 2017.

The State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) got the highest number of beneficiaries with 57 followed by the Local Government councils with 53 beneficiaries.

Muslim Folami, commissioner for local government and community affairs, during the presentation of the first phase to beneficiaries, said that the disbursement demonstrated government’s commitment to the well-being of the workforce.

Folami who was represented by Toal Padonu, permanent secretary in the ministry, commended LASACO Assurance for paying the sum as and when due.

Rasaq Abiodun, deputy managing director, LASACO Assurance, said that LASACO has been at the forefront of the payment in the last three, four years, adding that it has distributed about N1.5b to almost 600 beneficiaries.

Abiodun noted that the scheme is done in two phases yearly, with another phase scheduled for November.

“N280m is paid now and based on our compilation in office and existing correspondence between us and theinsured, nothing less than N300m would be distributed for the second phase,” he said.

One of the beneficiaries, Sunday Chukwemozie, husband of late Elizabeth Chukwemozie, a teacher of Mushin-Isolo Road Primary School, Mushin, commended the state government for the payment.

Group identifies with vulnerable Samuel Ese, Yenagoa

C

ampaign for Development and Democracy (CDDB), a non-governmental organisation, has launched the Bayelsa Orange Movement to identify with the disadvantaged in Bayelsa State.

Ekiyor Welson, the executive director of the group said it named the movement after a Methodist pastor, Orange Scott who drew the attention of his countrymen to the wrongs and outrages suffered by slaves.

Welson stated that: “It is a mission to mobilize all Bayelsans towards development and democracy for prosperity. We are connected to Orange Scott, through history and our faith in Jesus Christ.

“We have recognized the same sense of duty to call the attention of our people to the wrongs and outrages suffered by the least disadvantaged in our midst such as students, women, retirees, the unemployed and the vulnerable.”

CDDB is at the forefront of efforts to get the choice of the people in Reuben Okoya to emerge governor of Bayelsa State come 2020 and has embarked on massive sensitisarion efforts across the nooks and crannies of the state.

Staff members of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission protesting alleged poor funding, absence of Governing Board since 2015 and collapse of the institution, in Abuja.

NAN

How police smashed child trafficking syndicate in Lagos JOSHUA BASSEY

…windstorm destroys homes in Jagawa community

syndicate which specialises in trafficking physically challenged children from the northern part of the country to Lagos for alms begging has been smashed by the police. Six suspects have been arrested in connection with the crime, and five minors rescued from.

Begging is common phenomenon in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial, as hundreds of physically challenged and able bodied men and women are seen in street corners and highways especially in traffic build-ups soliciting alms notwithstanding a extant law prohibiting the practice.

Efforts by the state government to enforce the anti-alms begging law have been largely unsuccessful, as more physically challenged persons arrive daily from other parts of Nigeria to earn their living from begging.

In the last few years, officials aided by the operatives of the Lagos State Task Force on Environment and other Special Offences, have arrested hundreds of beggars on the streets some of whom were sent to their states of origin, but the beggars often returned to Lagos.

Edgal Imohimi, the Commissioner of

Police (CP) in charge of Lagos command, confirmed that the syndicate was smashed based on “credible intelligence from public spirited individuals.”

“The Decoy Team of RRS positioned a mobile CCTV camera around Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja and monitored the activities of the syndicate for about a week.

“It was observed that the syndicate conveys the children to Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, very early in the morning. Thereafter, the children were made to crawl from one point to another along the highway begging for alms. “At noon, a lady brings food for the children. It was also observed that apart from the guides who monitor and collect the proceeds from the children, another man who serves as their leader comes around to collect from the guides.

“In view of the intelligence gathered, the unscrupulous suspects were arrested,” said Imohimi. He added that five destitute have been rescued from the syndicate and the sum of N12,760 recovered from them,” he said.

The police boss assured that the suspects would be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigation into the case while the rescued minors would be

A

rehabilitated by the Gender Section of the police command.

Meanwhile, some 1,536 rooms and property worth millions of naira across communities in four local government areas of Jigawa State have been destroyed by windstorm.

Sani Yusuf, the executive secretary, Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), said in Dutse, the state capital.

According to Yusuf, the disaster, which occurred between May 3 and June 6, affected 833 people in 12 villages in Babura, Dutse, Guri, Gumel and Kiyawa local government areas of the state.

He said in Babura, the windstorm affected 58 persons and destroyed 84 rooms in Ajja and Dorawa villages.

In Dutse, the disaster affected 273 persons and destroyed 1,247 rooms in Warwade, Saya-Saya, Sabon Gari, Jidawa, Tumballe, Sabuwar Takur and Jigawar Habu villages.

Similarly in Guri, the windstorm destroyed 543 rooms and affected 305 persons in Dayin village while in Gumel town 208 rooms were destroyed and 101 persons affected while in Kiyawa, 108 persons and destroyed 228 rooms were affected.

Oyo releases N9.7bn for LG workers’ salaries, pensions AKINREMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

O

yo State government has released the sum of N9 billion for the payment of salaries and pensions of local governments’ workers in the state.

Bimbo Kolade, state commissioner for local government and chieftaincy matters, who made this known, said a total of N9,776,938,064.84 was released for the payment of salaries and pensions covering several months.

Kolade said that part of the money would also be used for the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries for the

months of March and April 2018, teachers’ leave bonus for 2016 and primary school pensioners.

The commissioner explained that of the over N9 billion, the sum of N4,817,690,039.31 will be used for the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries for March and April, 2018 and leave bonus for 2016, while N438,752,827.86 is for payment of primary school pensioners.

He added that the sum of N4,520,495,197.67 will be used for the payment of salaries and pensions for local government staff, saying that the money has been disbursed for local government councils across the state for the immedi-

ate payment of salaries of their workforce.

Kolade stressed that the money released will reduce the outstanding arrears owed workers at the local government level ranging from one to six months, urging the local government council chairmen to use the money for the purpose for which government has approved its disbursement.

He stated that the government remained committed to the welfare of the workers and people of Oyo State, assuring that efforts were being made to clear the backlog of pensions and gratuities owed the retired primar y school teachers.

26

BUSINESS DAY

Friday 08 June 2018

FEATURE

How INTELS touches lives, impacts communities in Niger-Delta through CSR As a socially responsible company, INTELS Nigeria Limited, the concessionaire of Onne, Calabar and Warri seaports, has been enjoying a robust relationship with its host communities since it started operations in the Niger-Delta region.

The company through its Corporate Social Responsibility projects has been able to transform lives in its host communities in the Niger-Delta region, writes AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE.

N

o doubt that in its 35 years of operation in Nigeria, INTELS Nigeria Limited has built an enviable reputation as a competent, responsible and trusted investor in the country’s economy. Its competence has been evidence in the way it manages the multi-billion dollar investments in the Onne Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone in Rivers state, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Since port concession, the company has repeatedly demonstrated in practice that public-private partnership is possible in the management of Nigeria’s port facilities, judging by the achievements recorded over three decades of managing Onne Port.

The Onne Port has been transformed into a model and reference point for port management in Nigeria. Many industry close watchers have not only recommended the INTELS example, but also described it as the model for PPP in port management.

However, the company is not only competent in technical operations, but equally a leader in community relations and people’s engagement such that it has through its community-related projects touched lives and drive development in unique ways.

Its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) philosophy has become a model for companies operating in the Niger Delta such that firms seeking to institutionalise a conflictfree relationship with its host communities have an invaluable lesson to learn.

Being a result-oriented company that focused on real impact, INTELS utilises its human and material resources to execute beneficial and life-changing projects. This is such that in over 35 years of its existence in the Niger Delta, INTELS has not encountered any community protest against its operations. This, more than anything else, significantly validates the positive impact of its CSR philosophy.

These host communities cut across Rivers, Delta, and Cross River States where INTELS has its indelible footprints.

INTELS’s Integrated Partnership Approach (IPA) to CSR is predicated on three objective planks. First is to empower, in a sustainable way, the indigenes of its host communities, through the provision of employment and improved welfare to the people.

Secondly, to plan and execute integrated community development programmes with full community inputs and participation. While the third was to adopt best practices that guarantee community friendly relationship and peaceful co-existence.

Women undergoing training in sewing and fashion design at INTELS’ multimillion dollars Women Empowerment Programme Scheme Synergy (WEPSS) in Onne, Rivers State.

Research shows that the IPA model categorises the company’s stakeholders into three: company, government, and communities. Each of these stakeholders has respective roles and expectations in the overall success of the IPA strategy.

This helps the communities to have a clear understanding of a sense of mutual expectation from the people and communities, on one hand, and the company on the other.

One of the major benefits of the IPA, according to the INTELS management, is that it provides opportunity for communities to determine and own executed projects. This is unlike other CSR practices that allow the company to decide a project for the community, regardless of its relevance to the people. IPA allows communities to decide what will deliver the maximum benefits for the greatest number of people.

In terms of communities’ empowerment, INTELS probably holds the aces for the best performing company in local content compliance among other players in the industry.

Currently, over 40 percent of all INTELS’ employees are from Rivers State, which hosts its operations headquarters, while about 60 percent of all its employees are from the Niger Delta region, with immense contributions to the development of the various communities.

In a letter of commendation to the management of INTELS, J.D. Osaronu, king of Onne, applauded the company for transforming the community into a modern metropolis.

As part of its determination to create more employment opportunities for the indigenes of its host communities, INTELS devised other sustainable means of engaging the unemployed in the communities by

establishing three well-resourced empowerment programmes.

The empowerment programmes include Youth Skill Acquisition Programme (YSAP), which is the company’s initiative geared towards training indigenes and preparing them for possible employment with INTELS and other companies operating within the Onne Oil & Gas Free Trade Zone.

Second is the Host Community Graduate Trainee Scheme (HCGTS), which is a programme that is dedicated to training graduates undergoing internship with INTELS, with a possibility of retaining them permanently after the programme. While those who may not be retained at the end of the programme, were equipped sufficiently by INTELS to enable them start a business, or prepare them to become employable by others.

HCGTS programme is specially tailored to empower participants in

The empowerment programmes include Youth Skill Acquisition Programme (YSAP), which is the company’s initiative geared towards training indigenes and preparing them for possible employment with INTELS and other companies operating within the Onne Oil & Gas Free Trade Zone

different areas of oil and gas services including pipe welding; structural welding; marine engineering; mud engineering; AutoCad and other relevant specialisations Also, INTELS third empowerment programme known as the Women Empowerment Project Scheme Synergy (WEPSS), has enabled the company to be gender friendly by training women on tailoring scheme.

Here, the women are not only taught how to become self-reliant but also how to make several household items such as dresses, foot mats, bow ties, overalls, aprons, table clothes, handkerchiefs, caps, personal protective equipment (PPE), after which many of them were employed to make PPEs for companies in Onne Free Zone.

“My eldest sister first enrolled for the programme in 2016. She is the only university graduate in the family but was unable to get a job after graduation. Luckily, she did well after the completion of the training that she was given a sewing machine.

With that, she has rented a shop and is now taking care of herself,” said a 19-year-old Glory Aberepikima, who was the third person in her family to benefit from WEPSS. Precisely, INTELS embraces the local content philosophy of the Federal Government in a way that empowers the people. It awards contracts to capable members of the communities to support their personal businesses.

As a matter of policy, INTELS reserves some community development projects to qualified contractors in the communities. A typical example is the road project at Rumuokwurusi where the landlord families registered a company with elected members of the various

families as directors, specifically to execute the project.

So far, about 40 percent of its employees come from the host communities, enabling INTELS to create over 30,000 direct and indirect jobs in various communities across the Niger Delta.

INTELS has also contributed greatly to the academic progress of the host communities through scholarship schemes that have benefited many deserving youths.

Its scholarship programmes were usually merged with social activities for the youth in order to channel the energy of the young ones into positive causes.

They include sporting events, traditional festivals and carnivals and other activities that encourage togetherness, peace and unity. Besides, INTELS also has a well-funded football academy to provide the requisite training for aspiring footballers from the host communities.

In the area of project execution, INTELS has delivered quality communities projects such as products of consultation, communication and partnership. Before execution, the projects are agreed on and selected based on capacity to deliver, longterm benefits, and to also provide collective succour for the whole community.

In terms of sustainability, the company’s CSR philosophy discourages execution of projects that would be difficult to maintain and sustain years down the line, and eventually become a burden to the community.

Projects executed by INTELS in various communities across three States in Niger Delta include construction and furnishing of primary and secondary school blocks; provision of befitting civic centres, town halls and palaces; and construction of roads and drainage projects.

Others include water boreholes, ultra-modern markets, provision of electricity transformers and generators and construction of public conveniences.

Responding to the healthcare challenges of the communities, INTELS in partnership with Rivers State Government introduced the Mobile Clinic, to take healthcare services to the people’s doorsteps.

In 2013 alone, after four years of its establishment, the Mobile Clinic had provided consultations for over 70,000 individuals across Niger-Delta communities.

In CSR practice in Nigeria, and especially the Niger Delta, INTELS stands out as a giant all other companies should emulate because the company has shown it is possible to do business in any society, excel and maintain a sincere relationship with members of the community.

Friday 08 June 2018

C002D5556

BUSINESS DAY

27

MoneyInsight Personal Finance: Investing Retirement

Taxes

Credit Cards

Home Buying

Small Business Shopping

Financing

Gender parity: The missing link in financial inclusion?

Stories By FRANK ELEANYA

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igeria has the highest number of adult individuals in subSaharan Africa, without active accounts in any financial institution, according to the World Bank Global Findex released in 2018. By December, 2017 only 39.1 percent of the entire population has access to an account, representing a significant drop from 44.4 percent recorded in 2014.

The report goes on to show that within the population that has opened an account, between 10 to 20 percent has never used their accounts for any transaction.

While there are various reasons that could be blamed for the reversed progress Nigeria is making, despite accelerated investments in financial inclusion initiatives, the inability of players to address gender exclusion in financial services has been proffered as a major missing link.

To understand the gender gap, 51 percent of men own an account in Nigeria compared to 27 percent of women in 2017. What that means is that nearly twice as many men as women in Nigeria have accounts. The gap got bigger in 2017 than it was in 2014 and 2011.

In 2011 and 2014, the amount of women that have accounts were at 26 percent and 34 percent compared to the men which had 33 percent and 54 percent respectively.

“Having access to financial services is a critical step towards reducing both poverty and inequality, and new data on mobile phone ownership and internet access show unprecedented opportunities to use technology to achieve universal financial inclusion,” Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank said.

Analysts at Centre for Financial Inclusion (CFI) note that women face multiple barriers which would require multi-faceted strategies in a range of development areas to overcome the disparities.

“Nigeria is the only sizeable country in Africa that has not cracked the mobile account nut,” CFI stated. “Mobile accounts have in fact backtracked slightly. The 6 percent of people with mobile accounts is well below 21 percent average for the sub-Saharan Africa region.”

The gender gap for access to financial services has grown significantly from 2011 when it was 7.3 percent to 2014 where it rose to 20.3 percent and rising again to 24.1 percent in 2017.

“Nigeria today is one of the largest countries in the world with such a significant gender gap,” CFI analysts said.

Barriers to financial inclusion according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) include unemployment and irregular income; expensive financial services; financial illiteracy and lack of trust; lack

How Nigerian SMEs can leverage cryptocurrencies

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n the first week of June, 2018, the volume of transactions in bitcoin rose to more than 1.5 billion (worth N1.4 billion) from 1.3 billion traded the previous week in Nigeria, according to LocalBitcoins. Majority of those transactions were made by individual investors through exchanges to companies outside Nigeria that accept virtual currencies.

Nigerian businesses largely do not accept payments in cryptocurrencies because of the regulatory landscape. Others are either not aware of how to leverage the opportunities and risks in cryptocurrencies or they are too afraid to venture.

Cryptocurrency apathy is not a Nigerian problem, globally small and medium scale businesses hesitate to take the plunge. A recent report from card machine provider Paymentsense showed that only one-inten small business owners (13%) said they already take cryptocurrency payments. A quarter of

them saying cryptocurrencies will never hit mainstream – legally accepted.

However, blockchain technology which powers cryptocurrencies are already being tested by many governments. It is only a matter of time before those countries find ways to play in the market that will expose them to less financial risk.

While it may take a longer time to see cryptos go mainstream, there is nothing stopping a small business from taking advantage of the market.

Small businesses can by-pass the complex web of bank-tobank transfer using blockchain which is quicker and cost effective. Blockchain has significant computational power that allows users to transfer users to transfer cryptocurrency in just a few minutes. Bitcoin miners take roughly 10 minutes to verify and facilitate a transaction from one person’s wallet to another. Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Litecoin verify transactions in as little as 20 seconds.

Cryptocurrencies use de-

centralised ledgers and act as peer-to-peer digital currency which means entrepreneurs do not have to pay anyone to facilitate the transactions. They can either save more money or pass on their savings to the customers with lower prices.

Blockchain’s cost efficiency can give small businesses the advantage over big players who rely on time-proven but slow and expensive payment transfer systems and financial institutions.

It is important to note however that merchant wallets charge a flat monthly fee for their services.

Cryptocurrencies also reduces the barriers placed by third parties such as banks as it does not tolerate them.

An expert explains this way “small businesses can enjoy the benefits of cutting out middlemen – higher operation speed, fewer mistakes, and massive reduction in product and service costs – thanks to blockchainpowered strong smart contracts.

Strong smart contracts ensure performance without recourse to the courts.”

of identification requirements; and limited physical access (access points are too far away and transport costs too high).

Increase in financial inclusion for women can lead to higher economic growth as well as lower income inequality. Studies have also shown that access to savings accounts not only increased

savings but also help improve women’s investment and decision making power in the household.

The CBN and other agencies are already responding to the challenge. The CBN for instance, developed a National Financial Inclusion Strategy on October, 2012 aimed at reducing the exclusion rate to 20 percent by 2020. Specifically, adult Nigerians with access to payment services is to increase from 21.6 percent from 21.6 percent in 2010 to 70 percent in 2020, while those with access to savings should increase from 24.0 percent to 60 percent. The credit is expected to increase from 2 percent to 40 percent, insurance from 1 percent to 40 percent and pensions from 5 percent to 40 percent, within the same period.

The concern however, is that actors driving the strategy appear to see it as a project for profit in the short term. This partly accounts for the low growth the strategy has seen six years after.

At a recent technology conference organised by Techpoint Nigeria, experts noted that overcoming the financial inclusion challenge requires a lot of financial and social investments. Initiatives aimed at increasing financial access must be planned for the long term.

Reloaded Nokia 8110 4G arrives in Nigeria

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MD Global has announced the availability of Nokia 8110 4G in Nigeria from accredited dealers.

Reloading the legendary Nokia 8110, the 4G feature phone comes complete with the elegantly curved slider design. Giving users the chance to switch off, have fun and relax with the knowledge that all their smartphone essentials are there when needed.

Olumide Balogun, head of marketing, HMD Global West Africa noted that “With a familiar and easy to use interface, the Nokia 8110 4G features intuitive tactile mechanics, with slide to answer and end calls, as well as an addictive helicopter-style spin on its axis. It comes with the craftsmanship you expect from a Nokia phone, delivering durability and reliability as standard.”

The Nokia 8110 4G delivers crystal-clear VoLTE calling and is perfect for anyone who wants an iconic 4G feature phone or a companion phone. With access to an app store, for favourites

like Google Assistant, Google Maps, Google Search, Facebook and Twitter, users can also send and receive emails or import contacts, sync their calendar with Outlook and Gmail. To keep it running flawlessly, the Nokia 8110 4G features the Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform.

With two vibrant colours to choose from, Traditional Black and Banana Yellow, the Nokia 8110 4G has everything many Nokia fans will like including a revamped Snake game. The device comes at a recommended retail price of N24, 000.

28

BUSINESS DAY

Harvard Business Review

Friday 08 June 2018

ManagementDigest

How to get the help you need

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HEIDI GRANT ew of us enjoy asking for help. And in the workplace, where we’re typically keen to demonstrate as much expertise and confidence as possible, it can feel uncomfortable to make such requests. However, it’s virtually impossible to advance in modern organizations without assistance from others.

Cross-functional teams and increasingly collaborative office cultures require you to constantly push for the cooperation and support of your managers, peers and employees. Your career progression depends more than ever on your seeking out the advice and resources you need.

So how can you effectively ask for help? How can you impose upon people without making them feel imposed upon?

Perhaps the easiest way to overcome the pain of asking for help is to realize that most people are surprisingly willing to lend a hand. When Vanessa Bohns reviewed a group of experiments that she and her coauthors had done, she found that compliance — the rate at which people provided assistance to strangers who asked for it — was an average of 48% higher than the help-seekers had expected. Studies also suggest that we underestimate how much effort those who do agree to help will put in.

That’s in part because saying no or helping only halfheartedly carries a psychological cost that we tend to discount. But it’s also because most helpers know that giving freely of themselves has emotional benefits.

The key to a successful request for help is to shift the focus to these benefits. You want people to feel that they would be helping because they want to, and that they’re in control of the decision. That means avoiding any language suggesting that

they have no choice but to do so. This includes prefaces such as “May I ask you a favor?” and profuse apologies such as “I feel terrible asking you for this,” which make the experience seem less positive. Emphasizing reciprocity — “I’ll help you if you help me” — can also backfire, because people don’t like to be indebted to anyone. And minimizing your need — “I don’t normally ask for help” — is unproductive because it suggests the assistance is trivial or even unnecessary.

But you can ask for help in a way that avoids these pitfalls.

That’s by using what I call reinforcements, or cues, which you can incorporate in specific requests: — IN-GROUP: One reinforcement you’ll want to give a potential helper is assurance that you’re on his team and that the team is important. This taps into the innate human need to belong to supportive social circles.

There are several ways to do this.

For example, research by Priyan-

ka Carr and Greg Walton shows that simply saying the word “together” can have an effect.

You might also cite a common goal or trait, such as the desire to exceed your team’s sales targets, or a love of superhero movies. But the best way to create a strong sense of in-group cohesion is to highlight shared experiences. For example, if a senior management team includes only two women, don’t just say, “We’re the only two women on the team” (emphasizing the trait). Say, “Have you noticed that we get interrupted all the time?” (a shared experience).

— POSITIVE IDENTITY: A second cue for potential helpers involves enhancing their recognition that they are uniquely placed to provide assistance and that they are helpful people who routinely come to others’ aid. For example, studies have shown that people contribute more to charity when asked if they would like to “be a generous donor” (versus “to donate”).

— EFFECTIVENESS: People want to see the impact of the aid they will give. Many psychologists believe that feeling effective is the fundamental human motivation. To ensure that your potential helpers know that their assistance will matter, be very clear about what you need and its projected impact. For example, when asking a colleague to review a client proposal, you might say, “Would you please review this before I send it to XYZ? Your input really helped my previous pitch to ABC succeed.”

Promise to follow up afterward, and do so. If possible, also allow people to choose how they help you, and be willing to accept alternatives to your original request. You want helpers to give what will make them feel most effective.

When I explain to people how these strategies work in practice, I often give an example from my personal life, involving an IKEA bookshelf. About a year ago, a friend asked me to help her assemble a particularly complicated one, and I eagerly agreed.

That same morning, I’d turned down a request to review a submission to a scientific journal and ignored an email from my daughter’s school asking for parent volunteers to help with an ice cream party. So why was the do-it-yourself request an easy yes?

One reason is that the person asking was a longstanding friend with whom I enjoy spending time (in-group reinforcement).

Another is that I’m weirdly good at such projects, and for years, I’d been her go-to gal for help with them (effectiveness). And finally, whenever we work together in this way, my friend always wraps up by saying something like “Heidi, thank you. You are always so helpful and generous” (positive identity).

I’ve seen situations play out the same way in professional settings. Consider the head of

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product development at a learning software company who wanted more input with the sales department, which was making his team’s work difficult by agreeing that highly customized orders would be delivered according to near-impossible schedules. He pleaded to be included in discussions with clients but was often ignored; the people in sales believed that he would be an obstacle to their success.

Eventually the frustrated executive decided to take a fresh approach to getting the cooperation he needed from his colleagues. He set up a meeting with sales leaders to talk through the product development process, realizing that most of the team didn’t understand why their help was needed. He began to emphasize in every interaction that they all shared the goal of pleasing the customer, creating a strong sense of in-group comraderie with the sales team.

Suddenly it was clear that everyone was on the same side.

Finally, whenever salespeople did what he asked and included him in the work proposal process, he followed up with them to say how important it had been to the ultimate success of the delivery. They saw their help land and felt its effectiveness.

Over time, these strategies dramatically improved relations between the two teams, and the company saw increases in both client satisfaction and profitability.

(Heidi Grant is a senior scientist at the Neuroleadership Institute, and an associate director for the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University.

She is the author of the bestselling “Nine Things Successful People Do Differently and No One Understands You and What to Do About It.” Her latest book is “Reinforcements: How to Get People to Help You.”)

Politics & Policy BUSINESS DAY

29

Friday 08 June 2018

C002D5556

Abiola deserves all entitlements as President - Balarabe Musa

2019: Abia House of Reps aspirant pledges human capital development for constituents

INIOBONG IWOK

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Second Republic governor of Kaduna State Balarabe Musa, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately declare the full result of the 1993 presidential election and give full entitlement deserving of a president of the country to the late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.

President Buhari had on Wednesday, in a statement, announced that the Democracy Day anniversary in the country would henceforth be marked on June 12, in honour of the late philanthropist, while acknowledging that Abiola won the election which was unjustly annulled by the military regime headed by Ibrahim Babangida.

But speaking in a telephone interview with BusinessDay, Balarabe Musa, commended the decision of the President for being courageous enough to correct the errors of the previous administrations, stressing that the annulment of the June 12,1993 election contributed to the current woes

Balarabe Musa

facing the country.

The elder statesman, however, urged the President to also be courageous and take critical decisions that would address critical issues in the country at the moment.

“We should commend the President for having the courage to take such a decision; previous governments could not do this, and it is

courageous, honest action.

But the government should move beyond this and give full entitlement to Abiola as president of Nigeria because he won the election.

And let hope this is a sign that the President would take more critical actions that would impact on Nigerians,” he said.

Speaking further, the former governor reaffirmed

his call for the urgent restructuring of the country, which according to him was the only solution to the many problems bedeviling the country.

“I have said in different places and interviews that restructuring is the only way forward if we are really serious about moving this country forward,” he further said.

UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

J

ude Oke chukwu Udeachara, a House of Representatives aspirant for Isuikwuato/ Umunneochi Federal constituency, Abia State has said he wants to run for the position for to provide social infrastructure and human capital development for his constituents.

Udeachara stated this at Uturu, Isuikwuato, his country home when he formally declared his intention to members of his ward 7 and other stakeholders from Umunneochi Local Government Area which is part of the constituency.

He said he called his ward people first to inform them before going to other wards that make up the constituency.

The Federal House of Representatives aspirant said apart from provision of social infrastructure and human capacity building, if elected, he would also establish Sports Academy to scout out talents that abound in his constituency and beyond.

He told members of his ward and other stakeholders in the constituency that he invited them to witness his formal declaration so that they would give him the cooperation and support whenever he visits their wards.

Udeachara said he con-

tested the primaries in 2011 alongside the incumbent member representing the constituency, Nkeiru Onyejeocha but lost out due to the fact that Maduako from Isuikwuato had occupied the position and equity demanded that somebody from Umunneochi should take over.

“She has been there for 12 years. She has done her best but our people said enough is enough and some other person should take over. That is why I have presented myself for the position,” he said.

Udeachara who is a the Special Adviser to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu on Trade and Commerce and also a businessman of international repute said that if he is elected in 2019 into the lower chamber of the National Assembly he would push for a bill for the establishment Erosion Control Commission because of erosion menace in his constituency.

“For a House Representative member it is not only the provision of solar powered street light, sharing of rice and wrappers that is empowerment to constituents but the major thing is the provision of social infrastructure and human capital development,” noted the aspirant.

He said since his background is business he would create employment and skills acquisition for his constituents if elected into office.

Abia PDP to reward best performing LG boss Fasehun backs NASS resolution on Buhari UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

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ohnson Onuigbo, the Abia State chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) says that the party has set up a committee to review and report back on the just-concluded PDP Good Governance tour of local government areas embarked upon by the state executive of the party with a view to rewarding best performing council chairmen.

Onuigbo said that the report of the committee would determine the local government chairmen to be rewarded, pointing out that he was not in position to hint on the chairman/chairmen who did well in their respective councils in order to be rewarded as the most hardworking LG chairman/ chairmen, which according to him would boost their morale.

He noted that the essence of the tour was to ensure that the December 23, 2016 elected chairmen (all PDP) do their best to drive home the State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s agenda in the local government areas for sustainable dividends of democracy to the electorate.

He also disclosed that the tour was to assess the activities

of the elected 17 LGA Chairmen with a view to ascertaining challenges, if any and encouraging the principals of the local government areas.

He further hinted that the tour was not only designed to inspect projects but to see how the party people were faring and to recruit new members, as seen in the multitude of decampees the party welcomed during the tour.

Onuigbo expressed the optimism that Governor Ikpeazu would be happy and grateful after the committee had written their report, as most of the projects embarked upon by the chairmen were peopleoriented.

“The massive turnout of people willing to receive us during the tour means that they are happy with their various chairmen. If they had failed to deliver dividends of democracy to the grassroots, nobody would come out,” he said.

“Our governor, Okezie Ikpeazu in his wisdom knows that the local government belongs to the rural people; he decided to conduct the December 23, 2016 local government election after 8 years.

“This was to ensure that the

grassroots feel the impact of dividends of democracy. So the party executive embarked on the assessment tour to see the impact created by the elected Chairmen on their people.

We observed that most of the chairmen provided things that touched the lives of their people,” he said.

He further said that “the tour opened our eyes to see that the PDP is comfortable in all the 17 local government areas and Nigerians and Abia electorate love the PDP.” He reassured party members especially the aspirants that the forthcoming party primaries would involve all the aspirants so that the electorate would comfortably pick their choice candidates.

“PDP has always been democratic in their style and in my leadership we have made it a policy that we will right the wrongs which we witnessed in the past. We will give every aspirant a level playing ground because we now know the dangers of imposition. This time we will choose the most credible and popular candidates, that is our policy. This time we will have that record of transparency,” Onuigbo assured.

…Warns El-Rufai over plans to convert chiefdoms to emirates INIOBONG IWOK

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ou n d e r o f O d u a People’s Congress (OP C ) Freder ick Fasehun has thrown his weight behind Monday’s joint resolution of the National Assembly to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari, saying it was an overdue and commendable step to protect the country’s democracy and check the nation’s slide into totalitarianism.

Fasehun, who is also the national chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) described the National Assembly’s resolve as a bold and patriotic step, which according to him, was necessary to check dictatorship and executive lawlessness, urging Nigerians to massively support the move.

In a statement yesterday in Lagos, The OPC leader, also faulted the Defence Minister, Mansur Muhammad Dan Alli’s demand at a security meeting on Tues-

day, urging states to scrap anti-grazing laws, while also warning the Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir ElRufai over his plans to convert Chiefdoms in the state to emirates.

“No one has said that the National Assembly is a gathering of infallible angels, but this Executive and Buhari’s holier-than-thou posturing has no basis in reality. It is quite unfortunate that a President whose slogan was war against indiscipline now runs a cabinet of uncontrollable, cocky

Frederick Fasehun

and corrupt individuals, who have mustered the daredevilry to dishonour the Legislature, hold the Judiciary in contempt and harangue media and civil society.”

“Let us seize this opportunity to alert the nation on the opening warfront in Kaduna through the Governor’s belligerent, unconstitutional, ill-advised and crazy instruction that chiefdoms in Southern Kaduna and other parts of the state convert to emirates: El-Rufai is in clear violation of the Constitution in Section 21(a).

He should be called to order immediately; and instead of this evil descent into neocolonialism and Caliphate expansionism, status quo should be maintained,” he cautioned.

The OPC leader, accused President Muhammadu Buhari of dividing the country with his leadership style, adding that the resolution by the national Assembly was necessary to safe guard the nation’s democracy.

30

BUSINESS DAY

Friday 08 June 2018

Live @ The Stock Exchange Top Gainers/Losers as at Thursday 07 June 2018 GAINERS Company

Market Statistics as at Thursday 07 June 2018

LOSERS Opening

Closing

Change

Opening

Closing

Change

N230

N239.2

9.2

SEPLAT

N740

N735

-5

N20.35

N22.4

2.05

ETERNA

N7.26

N6.9

-0.36

WAPCO

N38

N39.8

1.8

ZENITHBANK

N28

N27.8

-0.2

INTBREW

N42

N43.6

1.6

FBNH

N11.05

N10.9

-0.15

STANBIC

N46.1

N47.5

1.4

UBA

N11.25

N11.1

-0.15

DANGCEM NASCON

Company

ASI (Points) DEALS (Numbers)

T

he Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) held its 57th Annual General Meeting on Thursday, June 7, 2018 at the NSE Event Centre in Lagos, where its 2017 full year Financial Results were announced.

The results show a total income of N8.30billion for the Group and N3.82 billion surplus before tax for the year ended 31 December 2017. This represents an 86percent increase in gross earnings when compared to the N4.46 billion achieved in 2016. Surplus before tax grew by 5,629percent in the same period.

The total income mix shows transaction fees accounted for 45.3percent of the group income, listing fees (20.6percent), interest income (19.1percent), other income (9.5percent), market services (4.7percent), and entrance levy (0.8percent).

The Exchange group earned N3.758billion from transaction fees, N1.712billion from listing fees, and N65.208million from entrance levies.

The Exchange Group comprises four (4) subsidiary companies namely; Naira Properties Limited, Coral Properties Plc., NSE Consult Limited and NSE Nominees Limited. The Exchange also has interests in NG Clearing Limited and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc as joint venture and associate company respectively.

At the AGM, Members of the Exchange approved the Audited Financial Statement of The exchange for the year ended 31 December 2017, and the reports of the National Council and the Auditors

thereon. Also, the following were re-elected to the National Council, Abubakar B. Mahmoud; Erelu Angela Adebayo; Chartwell Securities Limited (Represented

by Oluwole Adeosun) and Equity Capital Solutions Limited (Represented by Kamarudeen Oladosu).

Commenting on the results, Oscar Onyema, CEO, NSE said “this positive performance, after the significant headwinds witnessed over the past two years, affirms the resilience of our market and its potential as a catalyst of economic growth in Nigeria and the hub for Africa. Focus on executing our robust strat-

T

lated Makoju on his confirmation as the substantive Chief Executive of Dangote Cement described him as proper and fit for the role given his level of experience and years of exposure in the manufacturing sector.

He said that as the largest listed company on the Exchange and with other listed companies from the Group, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Flour and NASCON, any change in the management cadre is very important as it affects the stock market. He stated that Makoju’s tenure as the helmsman of Dangote Cement is yielding the expected results as increased investors’ confidence has resulted in good performance of the stock.

Onyema said, “The per-

formance of the stock is very good and is fallout of the resilience, expertise and diligence of the management team. It is listed on the premium board.”

He also appreciated the Chairman of Dangote Cement on his efforts and advocacy for an improved and better capital market as well as sponsorship of NSE’s events.

He called for more partnerships with Dangote Cement in terms of Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) pro-

Oscar Onyema, NSE CEO

492,047,982.00

VALUE (N billion)

7.621

MARKET CAP (N Trn

egy of cost efficiency, products and revenue diversification, as well as innovative and improved operational delivery, underpins this strong performance”.

According to Abimbola Ogunbanjo, President, National Council of NSE “ We have deployed a new four year corporate strategy that will reposition us as a more investor friendly and customer centric exchange hub in Africa. With this new strategy, we are poised to deliver superior performance for our multi-faceted stakeholders especially issuers and investors who continue to access our market to raise and save capital respectively”.

Key achievements for the Exchange in 2017 include but are not limited to: Market capitalisation at N22.917trillion grew by 41.59percent when compared to N16.185trillion in full year 2016; All Share Index appreciated by 42.30percent from 26,874.62 to 38,243.19. The NSE also achieved new listings across diversified product classes – 41 Bonds, 19 equities, 5 ETFs and 15 Memorandum Listings.

Stock Exchange lauds Dangote Cement on corporate governance he management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday June 6, 2018 lauded Dangote Cement for its adherence to best corporate governance practices even as they called for more partnerships between the two organizations.

Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive of the Exchange, NSE made the commendation while welcoming the Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement, Joe Makoju and his management team to the special sounding of the closing gong on the trading floor of the NSE. Sounding of the closing gong is a ceremony reserved for chief executives and dignitaries who visit the Exchange and it marks the close of trading activities.

Onyema who congratu-

4,726.00

VOLUME (Numbers)

Transaction fees boost NSE full year group income of N8.30bn Stories by Iheanyi Nwachukwu

39,042.11

jects.

Makoju in his response described it as an honour and privilege to be invited to participate and sound the closing gong noting that there exists a special relationship between Dangote Group and the NSE as Aliko Dangote was a former president of the Council of the Exchange. He said that Dangote Cement has grown from a national company to a continental one operating in several countries across Africa.

The doyen of Stockbrokers, Sam Ndata, on behalf of other stockbrokers congratulated Engr. Makoju and described him as a tested hand in the cement sector. He said, “There is no doubt that Dangote Cement will do well with you at the helm of affairs.

14.142

Ayida emerges Berger Paints chairman as Alo highlights achievements

T

he outgoing chairman of Berger Paints Nigeria Plc Oladimeji Alo on Thursday June 7, 2018 highlighted strategic achievements of the company as he stepped down from the board amidst commendations from the shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos Alo is to be succeeded by Abi Ayida, a Non-Executive Director who immediately after the meeting assured that the Board and Management would build on the solid foundation laid by Alo by harnessing human and material resources to enhance value creation for shareholders.

Addressing the shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, Dr Alo explained that as part of the strategy to boost operations and remain competitive, we Berger Paints had built a fully automated multi billion Naira paint factory, the first of its type in Sub-Sahara Africa scheduled to commence operations before the end of this year.

He explained that in order to enhance speed and accuracy of data management and improve operational efficiency for better customer service, the company had upgraded its Enterprise Resource Package.

Abi Ayida

Specifically, it has implemented Microsoft Navision Enterprises Management System which replaced the old Sage Software.

According to him, premium shall always be placed on product quality improvement, research and development and capacity building for the staff in order to sustain the company’s competitive edge.

Alo who announced his stepping down from the company’s board expressed gratitude to all the stakeholders for their support during his tenure as the Chairman.

He announced an array of initiatives that the company recorded during his tenure, including enthronement of a culture of strategic management, strengthening corporate governance, introducing a culture of regulatory compliance, blocking loopholes for fraud and related corporate malfeasance, developing new sales and marketing strategy and international collaboration among others.

FBNInsurance celebrates Sanlam 100 years of successful business

A

s the Sanlam Group today June 8 celebrates its 100th birthday, FBNInsurance said it is proud to associate with this financial services giant, which first opened its doors in Cape Town, South Africa.

Founded in 1918, Sanlam has a rich history. The Group has evolved over the years from a traditional life insurance company to a broad-based diversified financial services provider that specialises in insurance (life and general), financial planning, retirement, investments and wealth. In 1998 Sanlam demutualised, listing on the JSE Ltd and the Namibian Stock Exchange. The Group was restructured into sever-

al independent businesses within a federal business structure.

Today, Sanlam is a diversified financial services provider with an extensive product offering catering for all market segments.

It also remains a pioneer of technological development and innovation. The Group has consistently grown its local as well as an international footprint - it now has a presence in 33 African countries, India, Malaysia, Philippines, the UK /Ireland, the US, Switzerland and Australia.

From Cape to Casablanca, the Group is particularly proud of its footprint across Africa, boasting more than 11 800 employees throughout the continent.

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Friday 08 June 2018

BUSINESS DAY

Access Bank reaffirms commitment to UNICEF Charity Shield Polo tourney Stories by Anthony Nlebem

T

he 2018 edition of the prestigious Access Bank-UNICEF Charity Shield Polo tournament is scheduled to hold at Fifth Chukker Polo & Country Resort, Kaduna, from Monday, June 18 - Sunday, June 24, 8 with 15 teams vying for honours in three cup categories, organizers of the event said in a press conference in Lagos Tuesday.

Revered as the biggest charity and sporting attraction in Nigeria and perhaps on the African continent for years, the 2018 edition promises to be the most competitive and exciting with a record number of entries loaded with international stars from around the world expected to vie for honours.

Executive Director, Personal Banking, Access BankPlc, Victor Etuokwu, who confirmed the tournament date, said the Bank will continue to maintain its yearly commitment in supporting UNICEF towards its projects for orphans and vulnerable children.

He noted that Access Bank and Fifth Chukker had over the years been supporting UNICEF and empowering people in Maraban Jos community and its environs in Kaduna in a pivotal commitment that has continually been lauded by the public.

“This year’s tournament is more than an affirmation of our commitment to socioeconomic wellbeing of man-

L-R: Group Head, Corporate Communications, Access Bank Plc, Amaechi Okobi; United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Partnerships Officer, Angela Ochuko Ege; Executive Director, Personal Banking, Access Bank Plc, Victor Etuokwu and Marketing Manager of Fifth Chukker Polo and Country Club, Hafsat Ambursa during the Press Conference on The Access Bank Charity Shield Polo Tournament 2018 held in Lagos.

kind and acknowledgement of the impact the initiative has had on the lives of the orphaned and vulnerable children in northern Nigeria especially in Kaduna state,” he emphasized.

The event, which is in its eleventh year of Access Bank exclusive sponsorship, is a reaffirmation of the importance the financial power house attaches to the lives of the orphaned and vulnerable children in Nigeria.

Etuokwu who led other top officials of Access Bank to the media event, expressed delight that the Access Bank UNICEF Charity Shield is archiving its main objective of reaching out to the less privilege children in the society.

“We have been working in

Kaduna, in collaboration with Fifth Chukker Polo & Country Resort and UNICEF to elevate quality of lives. We need to do a lot more in support of these orphans and vulnerable children to enable them look forward to a better tomorrow,” he added.

According to him, “Reports from UNICEF and our visits to the orphaned and vulnerable children in Kaduna state provided us with a soothing level of assurance that our sponsorship of the competition is delivering on our institutional objective and resolve of promoting sustainability though every of our activity”.

Marketing Manager of Fifth Chukker, Hafsat Ambursa said special food and entertainment fares have been added to the event this year, to make

it more exciting. She also disclosed that cuisines from Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Argentine and host Nigeria would be exhibited during the week-long charity Polo fiesta.

“Fifth Chukker is proud to continue in its development of this established partnership with Access Bank and UNICEF. As the level of play continues to raise the bar in Nigerian polo and captures a truly international following; the charity work follows in a similar fashion,” she added.

UNICEF Partnerships Officer, Angela Ochuko Ege, said, “There are millions of Nigerian children out of school and many of them are from the north. I do believe the power of education will transform the society. So, UNICEF looks for-

ward to expanding this partnership (with Access Bank) to advocate the realization of children’s rights as well.”

UNICEF also disclosed that there are millions of Nigerian children out of school and many of them are from the north. “We do believe the power of education will transform the society. So, we look forward to expanding this partnership (with Access Bank Plc.) to advocate the realization of children’s rights.”

Campaigns for the glittering Access Bank Cup and the low-goal UNICEF Cup promise to be an exciting experience with regulars and debutants bracing for fierce games in a potentially explosive confrontations that may remain tight up till the very final day of the grand fiesta.

Defending champions, Leighton Kings who are seeking their second Charity Shield title, will have their hands full as they battle two former finalists, Abuja Rubicon and KeffiPonys for the continental polo crown.

The Access Bank Charity Shield Polo tournament was inaugurated by Fifth Chukker Polo and Country Club in 2003 as a fund raising platform to support local charity organizations. Since 2006, however, this effort has been exclusively geared towards UNICEF’s intervention projects for orphans and vulnerable children.

So far, more than N100 million has been raised during the charity event, for underprivileged children in northern Nigeria and this has been hailed as a huge achievement for a sporting partnership.

Special Olympics set to host 2018 National Games

S

pecial Olympics Nigeria an affiliate of Special Olympics International has officially announced its 2018 National Games in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Special Olympics globally in a press briefing which held June 5th 2018 in Lagos, Nigeria. The event which holds every four years as its tradition with the Olympic Games is expected to kick off with an opening ceremony on Sunday 10th June 2018 at Teslin Balogun Stadium Surulere, Lagos.

With the theme for this year’s event tagged “Create Inclusive Communities”, it will give participants comprising of 240 athletes from 14 states of the federation a unique opportunity to be part of an inspiring yet impactful expe-

rience. Athletes are expected to compete in 6-olympic-type sports featuring Badminton, Football, Basketball, Table

Tennis, and Athletics for a chance to represent Nigeria at the 2019 Special Olympics Games in Abu Dhabi.

According to the Chairman of board Special Olympics Nigeria, Victor Osibodu who said “it was quite amaz-

L- R: Hetty Bakare, Board Member Special Olympics Nigeria, Funmito Agusto, Board Member Special Olympics Nigeria, Foluso Phillips, Board Member Special Olympics Nigeria, Victor Osibodu, Chairman of Board special Olympics Nigeria, Udeme Ufot, Board Member Special Olympics Nigeria, Dolapo Ogunbanwo, Board Member Special Olympics Nigeria; Misan Eresanara, Board Member Special Olympics Nigeria and Adenike Ibirogba, Member Special Olympics Nigeria at Special Olympics Nigeria 2018 National Games and 50th Anniversary Press Conference held in Lagos recently

ing for us at Special Olympics Nigeria because this year marks the 50th anniversary of Special Olympics as a global organization since 1968. Our unified soccer team will represent Nigeria and Africa at a Unified Soccer Cup holding July 17th to 21st 2018 in Chicago”. He added.

He also in his welcome address expressed his appreciation thanking the Lagos State Government, The Lagos State Sports Commission, CocaCola Nigeria, Vigeo Holdings, Max International, Print studios, Exxon Mobile, Channels Television, Nikky Taurus, Kings Breakfast, Sightique Ophthalmic Laboratory, and The temple Management who are the sponsors of this year’s event for their continuous support.

31

Sports REXONA commences Africa XI street to Stamford activation

U

n i l e v e r Ni g e ria’s Rexona deodorant brand recently kicked off a series of consumer engagement activities through a universal shared passion for the beautiful game of football. The engagements which are aimed at rewarding excited consumers and fans of the game, with an opportunity to win an allexpense paid trip to train and play with Chelsea Football stars in London this year, 2018 and dubbed the “Rexona Street to Stamford” campaign is a national competition from which 3 very lucky Nigerian representatives will be selected to be part of an Africa 11 team, to train and play with the Chelsea Football stars at their home in London, UK. The ongoing consumer activation which is generating much awareness for the brand at several touchpoints including major shopping malls, tertiary institutions (university and college campuses), playfields and at high traffic locations across Lagos, Enugu, Abuja etc. has so far engaged thousands of exciting consumers. The very lucky consumers to be selected during the “Street to Stamford” tournament will spend 3 days in July 2018, with a team of local (Nigerian) and international coaches, including popular sports influencers at the training academy grounds of Teslim Balogun Stadium, in Lagos.

Speaking about the ongoing national consumer engagement activities for the Rexona Street to Stamford Campaign, Adetoun Adegbite, Category Manager Skin Care & Deos, Unilever Nigeria expressed “Our goal is to drive for brand connection through our consumers’ passion for football especially in light of our global partnership with Chelsea FC. Thus, through our brand engagement, we continue to reflect the love and pride that our consumers have for the game, as well as reinforcing the functional benefits of Rexona deodorant in positively causing life changing opportunities, especially for young Nigerians”.

32

BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 08 June 2018

BUSINESS SOUTH-SOUTH

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SOUTH-SOUTH / SOUTH-EAST

Elshcon group, PHCCIMA, Airtel, others drill Port Harcourt industrialists on body-boost fitness EFEGADIRIM MADU, Port Harcourt

P

ort Harcourt, Nigeria’s high octane oil hub, recently witnessed a different kind body fitness exercise. It was a body-boost fitness event for company chief executives, top and middle level industrialists in the oil city, whose daily routines revolve majorly around oil and gas business.

Daily, these gentlemen and ladies work in oil platforms, construction sites, or in the boardrooms, to close business deals. But, early last week, the Elshcon group, Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), Airtel telecoms, Princess Medical Centre, ED&T Limited, all operating in Port Harcourt, took these professionals on a street fitness drill. It was tagged May Fitness Mayhem.

The “Fun Walk For Fitness & Violence Free Environment” or May Fitness Mayhem was organized by Bodyboost Fitness and Health Club, Port Harcourt.

It attracted high profile individu-

Business executives drilling in the BodyBoost May Fitness Mayhem, sponsored by Elshcon group, PHCCIMA, Airtel telecoms, Princess Medical Centre, ED&T

als, including high ranking business men and women, as well as the MD/ CEO of Wider Perspectives, Kalada Apiafi, a popular promoter of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

It continues to receive reviews from participants, sponsors and organizers following the huge success

recorded, and its impact on fitness and aerobic on health and wellbeing.

Emi Membere-Otaji, the chairman/CEO of Elshcon Group, speaking on behalf of Body Boost Fitness Club, which is a subsidiary of his company group, lauded the event.

He presented award plaques to

the sponsors of the event such as: Degema Clusters, Airtel telecoms, PHCCIMA, Princess Medical Centre, Elshcon Group, ED&T Limited, among others, for their role in the success of the event.

The event, which took place on May 29, began with a fun walk for fitness from the Body Boost Fitness and Health Club through the streets of GRA Phase 2, to Port Harcourt Polo Club for Aerobics. It continued through Aba Road, Evo Road, before terminating at the BodyBoost Club, where a dance fitness event held.

Membere-Otaji, who is also the president of PHCCIMA, said the event was a huge success, and expressed joy that it accomplished the set objectives. According to him, the massive turnout of organizations and persons from diverse backgrounds was a clear demonstration of just how serious people are beginning to take the issue of fitness, health and wellness programs.

He said the program was conceptualized as a way of imbibing the culture of healthy lifestyle on the people.

“We are excited and encouraged by the number of persons that turned

out including strategic heads of institutions and government agencies, captains of industries, among others.

We wish to profoundly appreciate organizations and individuals who collaborated with us to ensure the success of this event,” he said.

Apiafi said the importance of physical fitness in our daily lives cannot be over emphasized.

People who are fit are capable of living life to its fullest. Physical and mental fitness play very important roles in our lives; and people who are both physically and mentally fit are less prone to medical conditions, he said.

The manager of BodyBoost Fitness Club, Gift Adewusi said the BodyBoost May Fitness Mayhem was organized to encourage and motivate people towards reaching their fitness goals. It was a mixture of exercise and fun walk, to make the entire process seamless, but yet with the needed exertion. Wellness initiatives like ours have a social or interactive component that can boost wellness, motivation and morale; and of course encourage networking, she said. A similar event would be organized in October.

CSOs raise deep concerns on FG’s lethargy on Ogoni cleanup …say Buhari’s claim misrepresents facts on ground EFEGADIRIM MADU, Port Harcourt

O

ne year after the Federal Government flagged off the Ogoni cleanup program, but which has hardly picked off the ground, several Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in under the aegis of CSOs on Ogoni Cleanup, after review of progress on the cleanup, have raised deep concerns.

Assembling in Port Harcourt, River State, earlier in the week, participants drawn from CSOs coalition, community representatives, the media, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), among others, observed with dismay, the Federal Government’s poor response in continuing with the cleanup of Ogoni land, after what appeared like a flash-in-the-pan last June.

A round table engagement was organized by CISLAC, with support from CORDAID on June 4, with the aim to engage CSOs Coalition on Ogoni Cleanup and communities to review progress on the Cleanup and emergency measures.

The participants, having appraised the submission of President Muhammadu Buhari during his Democracy Day speech, where he said, the cleanup was progressing satisfactorily, took serious exception his submission.

They noted that President Buhari’s claim was a misrepresentation of the facts on ground, which show that there was nothing on ground to show that the process was going on well.

“Mr President’s claim runs contrary to the recent statement by the HYPREP coordinator, as well as the Minister for State for Environment, that the proper cleanup will commence between August and September 2018,” the CSOs said in a statement signed by Young Kigbara, chairman of the review en-

gagement.

According to concerns raised by the CSOs, after holding discussions on emergency measures, coordination and communication of the cleanup process, community understanding/ perception of the UNEP report and the cleanup process, effectiveness of HYPREP and the roles of CSOs in the cleanup process, they maintained that “the President may have been fed with wrong information, as there is nothing on ground to justify the submission.”

“Although the process of clean up may have commenced with structures being set up, the slow pace is worrisome and discouraging. While HYPREP is spending so much time trying to set up structures and observe bureaucratic processes, people are dying as a result of the impacts of oil pollution,” said CISLAC. Participants recommended that government and HYPREP should expedite actions and get down to the real business of clean up and remediation.

The CSO engagement noted that the recommendations on emergency measures, including provision of potable water and carrying out of health audit, are yet to be implemented in spite of the emergency situation being faced in Ogoniland. “People are still depending on heavily polluted water for survival, and this is very dangerous.”

Participants called on the Federal Government and Shell to immediately expedite actions on provision of water and other emergency measures contained in the UNEP report. Concern was also raised over the exclusion of some communities, such as Goi in the report, in spite of volume of pollution they suffered. If some areas are cleaned and others left out, the uncleaned areas will no doubt re-pollute or contaminate the cleaned areas. Therefore, there should be inclusion of all impacted

sites in all communities in the cleanup process,” the CSOs said.

Meanwhile, it was observed that communities have little or poor understanding of the UNEP report and the cleanup process, as they do not have a grasp of what HYPREP is doing with respect to the cleanup, as well as the content of the report. Some community expectations were outside the objectives and mandates of the

HYPREP, due to poor communication and information flow.

“Federal Government and HYPREP should endeavour to carry communities along, and let them know about any step/action they take with respect to the cleanup. CSOs, including MOSOP should begin aggressive mobilization and awareness creation in the communities on what the cleanup is expected to achieve,” the statement said.

It also raised concern that the cleanup process was not being monitored by CSOs to ensure that proper things were done. Civil Society Organizations were therefore, called upon to earnestly embark on monitoring of the process for proper implementation; whereas, the CSOs should be furnished with HYPREP’s work plan, for effective monitoring.

ERA/FOEN, Edo communities fault Okomu Oil on RPSO certification IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin

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do communities spanning four local governments and the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth (ERA/FOEN), Nigeria, have kicked against the roundtable on sustainable palm oil (RSPO) certification claimed by the Okomu Oil Plc. The communities and the environmental human rights group noted at a workshop/ media conference, noted that the claim of RPSO certification by Okomu Oil Plc was false.

Titled, “certification as false solution to land grabbing, the stakeholders alleged that, “Okomu Oil’s RSPO certification is a false solution, because it does not address environmental and socio-economic problems in a community. The oil firm should stop parading itself as having RSPO certified compliance.”

According to the environmental rights group and the host communities, Okomu is allegedly “not meeting RSPO guidelines and standards, yet they continued to enjoy the advertisement and putting this logo on their signpost. We call on them to remove the RSPO certification from their narrative forthwith,” they said.

Recall, that Okomu Oil and other investors in the palm oil industry in the state last April presented and launched the Nigeria national interpretation of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to the public in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

The communities are located in Ovia South-West, Ovia North-East, Uhunmwode and Owan West local government areas.

Godwin Uyi Ojo, executive director, ERA/FOEN, who addressed a press conference, opined that Okomu Oil was not among the over 3,500 companies who are worldwide members of RSPO. He alleged that the palm oil giant was not certified by RSPO; adding that Socfin, it’s mainstream shareholder firm, which controls its major shares, is duly certified and is RSPO member.

According to him, on Socfin’s website there are some certifications Okomu Plc has in Nigeria, but are not directly linked to RSPO certification, covering its acclaimed 36,000 hectares of land plantation. “Okomu Plc is not known to have formally applied to be a member,” Ojo claimed.

He alleged that, “Okomu Oil has no RSPO certification. Still, it publicly claims to uphold RSPO certification

procedures in its operations, whereas this does not amount to direct RSPO membership. It does not also suggest the certification of its plantations and socio-economic gauges. Evidently, the company was part of RSPO meeting.

The company is not certified by the RSPO.” According to him, Okomu Oil Palm Company’s asserts to have been given some certification in the category of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) through Bureau Veritas.

He said the RSPO certification mainly states that there shall be no deforestation in areas of oil palm, whether new or expanding plantation. But decried that the company has allegedly carried out deforestation from Odiguette in Ovia North-East, Igbobazuwa, Okomu in Ovia SouthWest to Sabo-Gida in Owan West and Uhunmwode local government areas.

He urged the palm oil company to stop all forms of alleged oil palm plantation expansion that are detrimental to community farmlands, biodiversity hotspots and historical sites; and settle all outstanding cases of compensation arising from destroyed crops and farmlands, as well as halt environmental and rights violations and evictions of communities in its areas of operation.

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FEATURE How the government can uplift the capital market UCHE UWALEKE Uwaleke, a Chartered Stockbroker, is a Professor of Finance & Capital Markets and Chair of Banking & Finance department at the Nasarawa State University Keffi

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n the last ten years or so, Nigeria has made remarkable progress in capital market development.

The menu of available asset classes has been expanded to include Exchange Traded Funds, market infrastructure has been modernized and strengthened with the Platforms for Over-the-Counter trading namely the NASD and FMDQ now established. Improved regulation and confidence building measures by the regulators have contributed in no small measure to lift the market. Specifically, the Securities and Exchange Commission has undertaken a number of initiatives to boost investors’ confidence notable among which are the establishment of the National Investors Protection Fund meant to cushion the adverse effect of losses suffered in the capital market, the edividend policy designed to minimize cases of unclaimed dividend, the Direct Cash Settlement scheme which ensures that investors receive their money directly whenever securities are sold, the Corporate Governance scorecard for companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the recapitalization of capital market operators which has gone a long way in curbing sharp practices in the market. As a complement, the NSE implemented minimum operating standards for market operators as well as launched the Premium Board which offers issuers the benefits of greater visibility and opportunities to raise capital. Undoubtedly, these measures have sent the right signals to the investing public with regard to rules enforcement and market discipline.

While these are encouraging developments, the country’s capital market continues to trail behind that of peer countries. The flagship securities exchange, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, is small compared to the major international exchanges, with a total market capitalization of circa US$80 billion (about N23 trillion, according to data from the NSE) with just 166 listed companies, compared to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for example with equities capitalization alone a little shy of US$1 trillion representing over 280 per cent of South Africa’s GDP and over 380 listed companies not to mention the New York Stock Exchange whose market capitalization is about US$21 trillion with more than 2000 listed companies.

At less than 20 per cent of the country’s GDP, the current size of the capital market constrains its role in national economic development. Market liquidity as measured by trading volume and turnover is

comparatively low. The issuer base is not diversified. More specifically, industry composition in the stock market is concentrated in a few sectors namely consumer goods (especially Nestle and Nigerian Breweries) and industrial goods (driven by Dangote Cement). The major equity index (NSEASI) has significant weights in banking stocks which are sensitive to business cycles. In contrast, agriculture and technology sectors critical for economic diversification take up a much smaller proportion. Most of the systemically important corporations such as the International Oil and Telecom Companies are not listed on the stock exchange. Foreign investors are significant players in the equities market often dictating the pace of market activity. This leaves the market vulnerable to external shocks.

Local institutional investors such as pension funds and mutual funds are less active in the equities market with asset allocation concentrated in government bonds and Treasury Bills generally considered safe and liquid. The private bond market is very small compared to that for the government. According to the ‘’NSE Q1 2018 fact sheet’, outstanding FGN bonds as of 30th March 2018 stood at circa US$29.5 billion (about N9 trillion), State and municipal bonds about US$1,85 billion (or N565 billion) while corporate bonds amounted to only about $900 million (or N9 billion). Thus the private fixed income market is not a significant long-term financing source for companies due in part to the crowding out effect from government borrowings There is a consensus among capital market players that integrating the Nigerian capital market master plan into the country’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan will position the market for sustainable growth. It is disheartening to note that the government’s ERGP seems not to recognize the place of the capital market in capital formation and economic growth.

How else does one interpret the fact that throughout the 140- page ERGP document, no mention was made of government’s plan for the capital market. In contrast, in Malaysia and other emerging economies, sections of even annual budgets are devoted to addressing government incentives for the capital market. Take the 2018 Malaysia budget for example, it has a section on ‘’Tax incentives for Malaysia’s capital market’’ in which ‘’the budget proposes a three-year exemption on stamp duty for exchange-traded funds in order to promote Malaysia’s capital market and make it internationally more competitive’’. In addition, ‘’the budget offers tax relief for venture capital companies and income tax deductions for environmentally and socially responsible Islamic bond issuers’’. This is a country that is currently implementing a second capital market development blueprint after successfully implementing the first 10year capital market development plan.

Back home, the President’s Democracy Day speech, more like a state of the nation address, which had 37 paragraphs would have made a great deal of difference to the investing public if it had devoted at least one

paragraph to developments in the capital market in the last three years with emphasis on government’s plans to help uplift the market. By not accommodating the capital market, it missed an opportunity to celebrate the modest gains recorded by the market in the last three years given that equities capitalization between May 29 2015 and May 29 2018 had actually increased from about N11 trillion to about N14 trillion. This oversight seems to be the consequence of not having a capital market advocate in the government’s economic team. To address this, the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the CEO of the NSE can be made members of the economic team to provide useful information as well as proffer suggestions on how to mainstream capital market development in national economic plans. Some other countries have even gone a step further than just having a strong capital market representation in the government’s economic team.

In Egypt for example, the Chairman of the Capital Market Authority serves on the Board of the Central Bank of Egypt.

The reason is obvious: listed banks, supervised by the central bank, also come under the regulation of capital market authorities. In amending the CBN Act of 2007, consideration can be given to including the Director General of the SEC as a member of the CBN Board as is the practice in other jurisdictions.

Indeed, there are compelling arguments why government intervention could spur capital market development. Studies have indicated that enabling government policies significantly influence issuer demand for capital markets funding. China is one good example of this trend.

In emerging markets in particular, privatization or listing of state-owned enterprises has proven to be one of the strongest levers for influencing issuer demand. In Nigeria, only a few of the privatized state owned enterprises have been listed on the Exchange. As noted by Tony Elumelu, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, listing of privatized and systemically important entities helps to create a middle class which, like SMEs, is the engine of growth of modern economies. In a lecture delivered to the joint session of the National Assembly sometime in June 2016, Mr Elumelu had urged the government to make it possible for the Nigerian public to invest in the oil and gas sector‎ through the creation of a Special Purpose Vehicle which can be floated on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. His recommendation is valid today as it was some two years ago.

It is not for nothing that Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, is currently walking the plan for a public share offering on the Saudi Arabia domestic stock exchange with a potential international listing expected afterwards according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The listing of Aramco on the Tadawul is seen as the centerpiece of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to reshape the Saudi economy and reduce the nation’s reliance on oil revenues. It is gratifying to note that Nigeria’s Vice President

Yemi Osinbajo reportedly said a few days ago that the federal government had not given up on its plans of selling down part of its stake in its joint venture with oil companies. For better outcomes, the process should involve the stock exchange.

In a similar way, government policies can be used to lead more issuers into the country’s capital market. It is instructive to note that the MTN Ghana historic Initial Public Offering is a pre-condition given to it by Ghanaian telecom regulators for the company’s acquisition of the 4GLite license expected to advance its competitive position in the market. In Nigeria, the capital market was neither factored in during the licensing of the Telecom companies nor did it play any prominent role in the privatization of the power sector save for the requirement that the investors commit to floating the companies on the stock exchange within 5 years post -acquisition. But for the fine imposed on MTN Nigeria by the regulators, the company probably would not have given serious thought to listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Going forward, government Enterprises and companies strategic to the nation’s development must demonstrate, as a pre-privatization or licensing requirement, a commitment to list a given percentage of the company’s shares on the NSE within a specified period after commencement of business.

It goes without saying that tax policies have a strong influence on the development of capital markets. Malaysia created tax policies to deepen select asset classes, including fully exempting domestic investors from income tax on the interest from fixed income instruments while Singapore employed incentives to attract the private sector, including tax exemptions and access to business opportunities such as mandates from the sovereign wealth fund. The Nigerian government can toe a similar path by granting tax incentives to companies that are willing to list on the stock exchange as well as rewarding already listed firms through government patronage and preferential business access. It bears noting that listing promotes transparency and access to information, makes for corporate governance and mandates full disclosure which helps in objective compilation of data.

Little wonder the bulk of the revenue from Companies Income Tax come from listed companies according to data from the Federal Inland Revenue Service. So it is equally in the interest of the government if many companies are quoted on the stock exchange.

At another level, sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds around the world have become large holders of company shares. Perhaps the best-known example is the Norwegian sovereign fund with US$880 billion under management, of which more than 60 per cent is invested in equities. Equally, pension funds are critical to longer-term capital market development. Nigeria’s pension funds are estimated to be in excess of N7 trillion and are still growing. The policy adopted by Chile in the deployment of pension assets is one good example with lessons for Nigeria. The

National Assembly should bear this in mind with a view to increasing the limits on pension funds’ investment in the stock market. The approved multi-fund structure for pension funds investment is already a step in the right direction. Given that the country’s debt market is crowded by government’s debt instruments which continue to guarantee high returns over equities effectively shutting out the private sector, the government’s current debt strategy of rebalancing the debt stock in favour of external debts should be sustained for now.

It should equally be borne in mind that budget delays and policy somersaults are a hindrance to capital market growth not least because they create uncertainties in the minds of investors regarding the direction of government policy.

Undoubtedly, widening the retail investor base would help to de-risk the market and detach it from the apron-string of foreign investors. This will require a great deal of education efforts including developing financial markets courses in secondary and tertiary educational institutions.

Singapore launched numerous initiatives to reinforce financial literacy in the country both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Singapore’s universities tailored courses to address the growing needs of the financial sector. The National University of Singapore for example introduced a graduate program offering a degree in financial engineering. Nigeria can do likewise. The National Universities Commission should encourage Universities to introduce degree and graduate programmes in capital market studies. The government through the Central Bank of Nigerian can help to sponsor educational programs targeted at a broad spectrum of investors in Nigeria. And speaking of the role of the CBN, who says the apex bank given its fast assuming toga as the ‘’only game in town’’ cannot invest in the stock market, playing the role of ‘’market maker of last resort’’ especially if there is nothing in the CBN Act of 2007 that precludes it from doing so. According to ‘’London MarketWatch’’ some leading central banks have become major players on world equity markets. The Swiss National Bank, a well known large public-sector equity owner was reported to have 15 per cent of its foreign exchange assets (or US$72 billion) in equities at the end of 2013!

It goes without saying that the independence of the apex regulator is crucial to market development.

To this end, the National Assembly is called upon to amend the Investment and Securities Act 2007 to give the management of SEC the needed independence to effectively regulate the market.

That said, capital market development in Nigeria should be a key policy issue going forward to foster savings and investments for inclusive growth. Indeed, the Nigerian capital market presents various untapped opportunities for sustainable economic growth and it is time the government recognized this by taking more than a passing interest in the affairs of the nation’s capital market.

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State governors hide from having their accounts audited DAVID IBIDAPO

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nly 9 States have their financial statements published on their official websites out of 36 States of the Federation, however with selected years.

These states includes: Lagos State (2012 – 2015), Ogun State (2014 & 2015), Edo State (2015), Cross River (2015), Ekiti State (2010 – 2017), Enugu (2016 & 2017), Kaduna (2015), Kogi (2015 – Q1 2018) and Kwara State (2007 – 2018).

According to Section 125, chapter 5, part 2 of the Nigerian constitution, the law provides that “The public accounts of a State and of all offices and courts of the State shall be audited by the AuditorGeneral for the State who shall submit his reports to the House of Assembly of the State”.

Analysts say States may be deciding not to publish financial statements to cover corrupt practises and it also begs the question of the credibility of Auditor generals in auditing the public accounts of the state government.

States of the federation hide under the loophole that exists in the provision of the law that mandates the preparation and auditing of the public accounts of each state without an express mandate to publish for the public to see.

This provision mandates the State Treasury Office to prepare an audited financial statement which discloses amongst other things the statement of Asset and Liabilities, Statement of Consolidated Revenue Fund and Statement of Capital Development Fund.

However, BusinessDay findings show that while some states saw a need to publish these accounts on their official websites, other states did not have these information available on their official websites.

Some study on this also reveals a careful selection of financial statements periods to be published with other periods missing.

To a large extent, a published financial statement depicts transparency and accountability.

Countries like the United States, United Kingdom and India to mention both a few, have their financial statements published.

However, the Nigerian constitu-

tion only permits the submission of financial statements to the State House of Assembly.

Auditor –General of the Federation, Anthony Ayine, in 2017 stated “financial resources in particular are special interest to all”. He also added that “the fundamental responsibility of the auditor general is protection of public interest through detailed and objective examination of public accounts”.

However, what is missing is the credibility of the audit general’s report since he can be appointed by the state government. Transparency is justified when it is opened to the general public not only limited to the state house of assembly. Since the goal of the entire process is to protect the interest of the public and is of special interest to all, the public also need to be put into consideration.

Analysts add that passage of a bill that mandates transparency of State, Local and Federal governments through publishing of financial statements will restore some level of confidence to the general public.

Friday 08 June 2018

Access, Stanbic, Union are best paying banks...

Continued from page 4

salaries in January to the surprise of unsuspecting employees, a bank source said.

“The motivation was to retain our best hands and cushion the impact of low purchasing power,” a source from the human resource department said.

“We have also had a number of promotions recently and that has translated to some staff earning more.” GTB, which saw the third largest increase in average pay, saw a 10.17 percent growth in average wages to N5.79 million from N5.26 million in the period under review.

GTB’s total wages rose at a faster pace than new employees, following a 10.8 percent growth in wages and a 0.6 percent growth in new recruits. United Bank for Africa (UBA) was second on the league of biggest average wage rises, with a 10.58 percent jump to N5.6 million in 2017 from N5.06 million in 2016.

For the tier-one lender, the pay rise was driven by an increase in overall wages despite a cut in new recruits, following a 7.13 percent jump in total wages to N66.8 billion compared to a 3.1 percent reduction in number of staff employed to 11,925 from 12,308 year-on-year.

“There is a massive brain drain in the sector, especially at nonmanagement level, and the best hands are migrating to Canada and the likes, where they are buoyed by

attractive pays,’’ another banker told Business Day on condition of anonymity.

“As the sector awakens to this threat, however, I expect more banks to start offering more competitive wages within the next one year,” the banker said.

“Salaries have been flat and I can’t think of anyone who has had a pay raise in my bank in the last one year.” Stagnant wages have made it especially hard for bankers, who along with workers in other sectors, are reeling from a more than 50 percent naira devaluation in the last two years and record-high inflation that has battered purchasing power.

The situation has even led to widespread calls by government workers for an increase in minimum wage from the current N18,000, but they must wait till September for the recommendation of a committee that has been set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to look into an increase.

The spring in the step of Nigeria’s economy showed up in the results of the country’s banks in 2017, following improved profitability.

An improvement in unpaid loans, higher interest income from holding government debt and a rise in profit helped lenders bolster their capital buffers, although there is room for improvement.

Continues on wwwbusinessday online

Power sector risks collapse over N1.1 trn...

Continued from page 1

L-R: Kenny Anuwe, programme manager, Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP); Frank Aigbogun, publisher/ CEO, BusinessDay Media Limited; Sola Salako-Ajulo, president/founder, Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CAFON); Usman Mohammed, MD/CEO, Transmission Company of Nigeria; Olawale Oluwo, commissioner, ministry of energy & mineral resources, Lagos State, and Kola Adesina, managing director, Sahara Power Group, at the Sahara power roundtable in Lagos, yesterday. PicbyOlawaleAmoo

CBN commences Chinese yuan auction next month HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

…Releases framework

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will next month begin to auction the Chinese yuan as part of efforts to reduce its reliance on the U.S. currency for imports from Asia. Consequently, the CBN on Thursday released the regulations for transactions with authorised dealers in Renminbi.

The CBN had last month signed a $2.5 billion currency swap agreement with the People’s Bank of China to facilitate trade between the two countries and enhance foreign reserve management.

More than a fifth of Nigeria’s imports of N2.52 trillion was from China in the first quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Ayodele Akinwunmi, head of research, FSDH Merchant Bank

said Nigeria needs to develop competitive advantage in the production of certain exportable goods that China currently imports in order for the country to get the full benefits from the currency swap deal.

The trade relationship between Nigeria and China in the last five years shows that Nigeria has a negative trade balance with China according to FSDH research.

The CBN said it may conduct biweekly Renminbi bidding sessions and that Renminbi sales shall be applicable only to tradebacked transactions.

It was stated in the guidelines that importers and exporters shall continue to pay the applicable levies on imports and exports, respectively.

Authorized Dealers are re-

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quired to utilize funds within 72 hours from the value date, failing which such funds must be returned to the CBN for purchase at the banks buying rate.

The CBN shall debit Authorized Dealers current accounts on the day of intervention with the Naira equivalent of Renminbi bid request and bids shall be settled spot through a multiple- price booking bidding process will cut off at a marginal rate (to be disclosed after the conclusion of the special SMIS-Retail process).

For discretion on rates the CBN said it reserves the right not to make a sale if in its opinion the exercise does not provide an effective price for the determination of the NGN/CNY exchange rate, in which case, the CBN may choose to offer another special SMIS (retail or wholesale session.

Continues on wwwbusinessday online

a day by Ikeja Electric because of the debt the military formation is owing the company.

The operators who were unanimous over the debt revelation said drastic steps must be taken by all stakeholders to save the industry from collapse.

Aigbe Olotu, group chief Financial officer of Sahara Group who spoke at the first Sahara Power Roundtable said if action is not taken to deal with the rising liabilities, the electricity sector may collapse, stressing that the government must step in to create the right investment climate that would allow the sector to survive He said that the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) may be criticised but it was established by law and operators relied on the law to invest believing that it would be

respected.

“3-5 years into when the law was made the tariff has significantly fallen below the cost of generating electricity,” Olotu said.

Wale Oluwo, Lagos state commissioner for Energy Resources, said that the stakeholders in the power industry must focus on solution for the industry, adding that the cost of generation is not in tandem with the existing tariff structure.

He advised that states that can achieve cost reflective tariff should be allowed to operate their own electricity system, stating that Nigeria is a federation and because of this all the states cannot be treated the same way. The problem of the sector, he said, is structural and cannot be solved through administrative fiat.

Continues on wwwbusinessday online

GTB denies Supreme Court ordered...

Continued from page 1

14 days.

This is contained in a press statement released yesterday by the bank following claims made by Innoson Group in its twitter handle that the apex court had ordered the payment following a judgment.

According to GTB : “The Bank’s Customers and the General Public are hereby kindly urged to disregard these false statements as nothing could be further from the truth.

There was no directive or Order issued by the Supreme Court of Nigeria to the Bank to make any payment to any of its debtor Customers.”

The Innoson media team said yesterday that its legal team led by McCarthy Mbadugha had told the Supreme Court that the judgment debt which arose from excess and unlawful charges which GTB took

from Innoson’s N1.3 billion loan account now stood at over N14billion.

Speaking during a telephone chat with BusinessDay on Thursday, Cornel Osigwe, Head of Corporate Communications, Innoson Group, said that, the highest court struck out the motion for stay of execution of the Enugu court of appeal division’s order that GT Bank pays N6 billion into an interest yielding account.

The battle between Innoson and GTB started from a dispute between Innoson and customs when GTB appealed a court ruling ordering it to pay Innoson judgment debt of N2.4billion being the cost of his goods unlawfully seized and auctioned by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

Continues on wwwbusinessday online

Friday 08 June 2018

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Opinion

S.V.A. Yaw & Sons Ltd. SOJI APAMPA Olusoji Apampa is the CEO of The Convention on Business Integrity. Twitter: @sojapa E-mail: aviga@cbinigeria.com

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ddai Yaw just inherited the family business from his father having just returned to Nigeria after his MBA at a US University. The company is in several agricultural value chains relevant to the food and beverages industry. Since the death of the founder, S.V.A. Yaw, the fortunes of the company have declined and there is pressure to evolve strategies for the long-term growth, profitability and sustainability of the business. The company used to turn over $10m annually and supplies to Ebidomo Agro-Edibles alone accounted for 25% of that with no other client representing more than $500k per annum.

Today, SVAYS is struggling to achieve $2.5m in turnover having lost a lot of its customer base since the death of the charismatic founder.

The board and shareholders want the upstart CEO, Addai to win back the Ebidomo Agro-Edibles (EAE) account “by any means necessary” and evolve other strategies to rebuild the lost fortunes

or they would pull out their investments.

The re-engagement process with EAE at first appeared to be a breeze. Formalities were concluded in a matter of minutes and Addai was left wondering why the account was lost in the first place. On his way out of EAE, secretary to the MD asked Addai if he had “seen” the Chief Procurement Officer and Addai enthusiastically responded, “I even played him 18-holes the other day at the golf course.” In anticipation of his next board meeting, Addai called the secretary to enquire as to why there were no LPOs for SVAYS despite their reregistration, and she advised him again to “see” the Chief Procurement Officer as his father used to do.

Mustapha Nouakchott of Ebidomo Agro-Edibles (EAE) is a Fellow and Council Member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. He has, for the last 10 years, been consistently voted by his peers, “Best Chief Procurement Officer” in the country. After much soul searching, Addai managed to get an LPO from EAE, which they say could be repeated quarterly. At the board meeting, he presented the $1.5m order and told the very excited board there was still a problem. If he were to give in to Mr. Nouakchott’s demand for 10% of the value of the LPO, at a profit margin of 15%, it would translate to practically everything they

would earn! He therefore did not think this was something they should consider, and the company should immediately terminate its relationship with EAE. This was rejected by the board. His eldest uncle submitted, “everyone advertises that they meet the 10% High Quality Cassava Flour mix but in reality, there is only ever 2.5% in there. Everybody knows it and if you play ball, everyone would look the other way, especially the goods inwards guys because we take care of them and our business would continue – this is Africa!”

This suggestion, if Addai were to follow it would mean overall profits of 30% and 20% to SVAYS after payments to Mr. Nouakchott. Addai’s eldest brother, Sola came up with this “brilliant” suggestion: “why don’t we offer Mrs. Nouakchott a portion of Dad’s shares and then tell Mr. Nouakchott this is a cleaner arrangement than paying crude bribes, and this way he can benefit from everything the company is making?” Not one to be outdone, Victor, Addai’s other brother came up with a proposal of his own: “Mr. Nouakchott has three daughters in Universities in England. Why don’t we give him the benefit by paying their fees instead, we could do this as CSR and run a scholarship programme and his kids could be the first beneficiaries?”

While this was going on, the Finance Director alerted

the directors that Addai had been insisting that the company keeps only one set of books and that the real figures should be used to file reports to the tax authorities.

The company is lacking a tax clearance certificate for the current period and would soon be unable to do certain types of business if this is not dealt with. Also, the last time inspectors from NAFDAC came to inspect SVAYS facilities, they rejected all their samples as substandard even though the correct things had been done and the right standard of materials used.

They suspect the animosity towards SVAYS may not be unconnected with the withdrawal of entertainment allowances for inspectors visiting the SVAYS facility.

At this point, the youngest uncle moved a motion for the winding up of SVAYS as he could see no means of surviving in this harsh environment based on the foolish policies being pursued by the young Addai.

Meanwhile, NewClimes, a European & American funded agri-processing company has just established in Nigeria to supply some major, global brands. It is a signatory to the UN Global Compact and under jurisdiction of the UK Bribery Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the OECD Act against the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials. NewClimes is seeking participants for its supply chain who can demonstrate “adequate pro-

cedures” are in place to control corruption and ensure ethical practices in business.

They are prepared to invest.

It is thought that only four suppliers would be used in the short-term (first 2 years) and orders would be based on capacity to supply.

Addai is just recovering from an acrimonious Management Buy-Out and he just managed to complete this and put in a professional

35

board before NewClimes arrived on the scene. How did he do it? That’s a story for another day but suffice it to say he is now majority shareholder and trying to pick up the pieces after it was clear there would never be agreement between him and the board over the future of SVA Yaw & Sons. Are there opportunities for the growth and survival of S.V.A Yaw & Sons Ltd? What do you think?

The mental health of mothers Continued from back page

house. I was so afraid…’

It is testimony to how far young Nigerians have gone in getting rid of the old invisible chains that held them back, and in claiming the freedom to talk about their lives,warts and all, and demand action from society.

At the end of it Kachi insists you must say a word.

What can you say, you ask?

You proceed to answer your own question.It is good that these things are being dragged out of the woodwork, you say. They are illnesses, and while some will disappear spontaneously over time, many will not. Many will need expert treatment, not just sympathy.

Kachi’s NGO, with its limited funding and its enthusiastic volunteers, only does screening, going from place to place to screen and identify

mothers who are suffering.

They cannot refer the sick for treatment because most of them are too poor to pay for the treatment they need.

You are careful to explain that you are not dousing the enthusiasm of the young Wakanda warriors before you – in fact you are applauding their energy. However, you are letting them know they have to push their boundary from helping to recognize, to helping to treat, by making the appropriate linkages, by mobilizing funds, and, yes, by raising a din in the ear of government and the general public.

There is a delicately packaged assortment of small chops in the take-away bag shared to the audience. It is probably done by one of the ladies in the room, you reflect, as you hurry out to catch up with the rest of your Sunday.

continent in the management of international trade negotiations. It will also keep a database on trade activities and will monitor the global trade environment in terms of risks and opportunities. We expect this new establishment to expedite action in bringing successful closure to pending international trade treaties such as the Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU and the African Free Trade Area.

Thirdly, we need to effect some re-organisation within the ministry of foreign affairs by creating a new department for international economic affairs to be staffed with highly qualified economists, scientists and technologists. The work of this new department will be to serve as watchdog over our foreign economic interests while working to bring in investors, broker new economic partnerships and secure foreign markets for our goods and products.

We need to revive trade missions in the most important business centres in those countries with which we have strong economic and trade ties, notably metropolises such as Shanghai, Mumbai, London, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, New

York, Chicago, Frankfurt, Paris, Rotterdam, Johannesburg, Dubai, Brussels, Cairo, Nairobi, Abidjan, Addis Ababa and Zurich. We need also to build a new crop of experts who will serve as Commercial Attachés in the new trade missions.

Promotion should strictly be based on performance while emoluments should be attractive enough to attract and retain the best. Our embassies should also mainstream economic and commercial work into the core of what they do. Substantial budgets should be committed to commercial work in general and economic intelligence in particular.

Fourthly, we propose the establishment of a National Trade Council under the presidency to provide guidance and strategic direction for external trade and international economic relations. This council will comprise the heads of the foreign ministry’s department for international economic affairs, the trade commission and those of cognate agencies such as the Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Ministry of Trade and Investments

Whither Nigeria’s economic diplomacy? II Continued from back page

tion of the economy and repositioning the private sector as driver and locomotive of economic growth and social transformation. Efforts were made to integrate the business sector more closely into the country’s external relations as a means of boosting trade while catalysing inward investments.

Some of my gentle readers would recall that in April this year Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo announced the launching of a new Nigerian Economic Diplomacy Initiative (NEDI) under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The goal of this new initiative, according to the Vice-President, is to advance “building a competitive and vibrant national economy” in which the private sector is the driver of national transformation.

It was also announced that a platform would be created within foreign ministry that would enable the country to tap into the skills and competencies of our Diaspora so that they can be mainstreamed into our national development efforts.

In recent years, the dwindling of our financial for-

tunes due to the collapse of world oil prices has meant that the government has had to cut back drastically on the budget for our foreign missions. During 2017 President Buhari ordered the closure of four of our foreign missions in a bid to cut costs and rationalise our external representation. Now is the time to revisit our “Father Christmas” approach to dealing with our African colleagues. I am constrained to note that doling out free largesse has not brought us goodwill whatsoever. AntiNigerian sentiments run deep not only among our Francophone brethren in West Africa, xenophobic sentiments against Nigeria are rife in East and Southern Africa. The Francophone countries, in particular, have this tendency of ganging up against our position in most international forums.

Until the election of Akinwumi Adesina as President of the African Development Bank Group May 2015, that institution was bedevilled by a culture that was hostile to Nigeria and Nigerians, despite the fact that who own more than 10 percent of the shares of that organisation.

Same goes for ECOWAS, where we underwrite three-

quarters of the operating budget.

My position, going forward, is that we must completely discard this tomfoolery of Father Christmas.

Our economic diplomacy must be linked to a toughminded “Nigeria First Policy”.

Everything we do must be subjected to the calculus of fundamental national interests. There must be no sentiments about it. America, for example, thinks nothing of withholding its regular contributions to the UN, UNESCO and any other international organisation that remotely appears to be working against American purposes and interests around the world. We must exercise a policy based on “tough love” with our African brethren.

Going forward, we need to re-focus our foreign policy priorities to ensure that “every dollar counts” in maximising the impact and effectiveness of our external presence abroad. It is foolhardy to define Africa as “the centrepiece” of our foreign policy. We must have a “Nigeria First Policy” where our country and its vital national interests constitute the fulcrum of our external relations. Today, these vital

interests must include the goal of economic security, the acquisition of science and technology secrets from abroad, diversification of our economy, pursuit of an industrial-technological revolution, attraction of foreign investors, dominant voice and influence in international economic institutions, projection of the Naira as an international convertible currency and de facto dominant currency on the continent, and the protection of our vital national industries as well as “the commanding heights” of our national economy.

Secondly, government must operationalise the New Economic Diplomacy Initiative with some degree of urgency. While we welcome the fact that a new Trade Negotiations Office has been created in the ministry of trade and investments, we do not think this is enough.

We need to upgrade that office to the status of a National Commission on Trade Negotiations. This agency will be a veritable think tank and depository of knowledge and information on all matters related to our international trade interests. It should be a centre of reference throughout our

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Higher yield, foreign borrowing NCC gives telcos July ultimatum to pay up N165bn debt expected on US rate hike in June T

here may be reduced demand for Nigerian securities leading to higher yields and higher costs of dollar funding following the anticipated hike in US interest rates as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets next week.

The US Federal Reserve left interest rates on hold in May, but signalled that inflation was nearing its 2 percent target, and lining up further rate increase at its next meeting in June.

This, Gbenga Sholotan, head of research, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) Nigeria Stockbrokers, said could put pressure on investment flows into emerging and frontier markets. Yields on government securities have been easing since September 2017, losing about 300bps to April 2018.

Speaking on ‘Macro update: Building Blocks to drive inclusive and sustainable growth: Half a decade of two halves,’ at fifth anniversary of RMB, Sholotan emphasised on key drivers that indicate pressure on interest rates in the medium term.

He said GDP growth of 2

percent in 2018 and 2.5 percent in 2019, Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), and election spending toward the 2019 vote would put downward pressure on rates, especially with fiscal policy constrained by increasing debt.

He expects 2018 average inflation of 11.6 percent, yearend inflation of 10.7 percent month-on-month inflation to accelerate from Q3 2018. He expects high liquidity in 2H18, adding that rate direction difficult could call in 2018. “Renewed inflationary pressures will put upward pressure on interest rates,” he said.

Amine Mati, senior resident representative, IMF, spoke on factors that drive capital sustainably and inclusively in emerging markets like Nigeria. ‘‘When oil prices goes up, private investment do go up.

As the economy gets going, and there is opportunity to make profit, more and more private investments, comes in. ‘‘The main drivers are access to infrastructure. We measure infrastructure by looking at access to electricity or access to paid force that was a key factor.

That also explained why subSaharan Africa was not doing as

FG commences power sector recovery with World Bank $1bn credit

Mines ministry partners stakeholders to end lead poisoning

ONUAH YVONNE, Abuja

HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE & CHINWE AGBEZE

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he Federal Government has finalised arrangements to commence a special recovery plan in the power sector with a $1 billion credit from the World Bank, director-general, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Alex Okoh, said on Thursday.

The recovery plan is part of its post privatisation agenda to revive the sector following persistent poor performance.

The $1 billion credit will serve as a counterpart funding to revive the power sector, especially the distribution and transmission sectors, which have performed below expectations years after privatisation.

“We now generate up to 5,000 to 7,000 megawatts but unfortunately the distribution companies (Discos) cant dispense even half because the capacity is not there, they lack facilities,“ Okoh told journalists at a press briefing.

He said because government does not want this situation to persist, “we have decided to collaborate with the operators of the distribution and transmission companies to solve the challenges they are facing with a recovery plan that will provide a counter fund of $1 billion we are getting from the World Bank.”

He also disclosed that the power sector was among the 37% of the enterprises privatised that were not doing well due to fiscal problems among others, “we are not going to abandon them, we are looking on how we can help them revive,” he said.

Reviewing the achievements of the privatisation programme since its inception, he said $7.8 billion foreign direct investments have so far been attracted into country through 53 enterprises privatised and that government

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igeria’s Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development is partnering stakeholders and relevant ministries in putting together an action plan that will bring about the eradication of lead poisoning in Nigeria.

Abdulkadir Mu’azu, permanent secretary in the ministry, gave the information during a courtesy call on the permanent secretary of Ministry of Environment, Shehu Mahmud Usman Ahmed.

The sector is dominated by artisanal gold miners who are exposed to risks, he said, saying the unfortunate cases of lead poisoning had resulted in fatalities and affected about 400 children in Zamfara State in 2010 and Niger State few years ago.

The permanent secretary pointed out in a statement issued on Thursday that it was important that the stakeholders come together and fashion out ways to deal with the issue of lead poisoning in totality.

Speaking further on the need for critical stakeholders to come together and come up with strategic plan, Mu’azu said, “In view of the ongoing exposure of the children to lead and the fact that you cannot eliminate artisanal mining, it is important to put heads together and come up with strategic preventive measures in the form of a national action plan or a national programme which is the basis for the international conference.”

Mu’azu remarked further that it was expedient to involve stakeholders like the Ministry of Environment in order to get the buy-in, so as to develop a holistic plan of action in the form of a national programme.

well as the emerging markets.

“If you were to increase growth by 1 percent, you will make private investment by as much as 0.2. If you were to increase growth and you get access to finance to the level of emerging markets, you will get 0.5percent for increase for each percentage you gro. All these characteristics take time to grow.

“In the interim, you could look at other opportunitieshow to get FDI and find the right investment. Macro-economic stability is important, political stability is important, security is important all is important to get the long run sustainable investment,” Mati said.

Welcoming the participants, Michael Larbie, CEO, RMBN, said, “We sincerely thank our clients for the patronage, partnership and support. We look forward to further building cordial relationships we have formed with you and we hope as we do, that we can get your trust and confidence all the time.”

Enase Okonedo, RMBN non-executive director and dean, LBS, who spoke about what the labour force implications for investments are and the roles the educational sector in terms of policies and operators, said, ‘‘We need to look at how we are preparing the people below 24yrs of age in other to meet the changing needs of business. The future of business is uncertain, unknown and undefined. I think the first thing that has to change is the percentage of budget that is devoted to education because really, there is no investment in education. ‘‘We find that the things like technological advancements and innovation is changing business models.

We have issues about globalisation, national populism, climate change …these are forces that are shaping business.

“I think that the most profound in terms of the talents, the workforce and the technological innovations that are requiring or causing companies to demand more of highly skilled individuals and less of less skilled individuals only because technology is critical.”

OYIN AMINU, Abuja he Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), has given telecommunication companies owing tax debt up till July to pay up their debt.

TheExecutiveViceChairman, NCC, Umar Danbatta disclosed this when the Association of Telecommunications Companies Owners of Nigeria led by the President, Olusola Teniola paid him a courtesy call on Thursday in Abuja.

DabatanotedthattheJulydate given to the telecommunications companiesispragmaticduetothe crisis rocking the industry with a view of ameliorating the situation.

“Yesterday because of the realisation of wahat hurdling can do to the industry, we arranged a betterimportantmeetingofallthe telecommunication companies, we mediated, mediation as what the acts and powers are commissiontodointermsofcrisislikethis.

“There is a debt crisis in the industry but it is being managed very well. We all agreed yesterday that pragmatic ways must be

found to settle debts and I think that a deadline has been given and I think it is mid-July for this payment plan. Like I said, that is pragmatic, you will not be worked out in order to ensure that those who owe start paying and those who are being owed start receiving,” said Danbatta.

On the issue of paving way for broadbandinfrastructuredeployment, the EVC said one of the resolution of the commission is to ensure that there is an adherence to the national economic council document on the payment of #145 per metre length of fibre by Telecom industries against the N700-800beingchargedbystates.

The President, Association of TelecommunicationsCompanies Owners of Nigeria m, Olusola Teniola earlier in his remarks said, multiple taxation was bedeviling the telecommunication companies.

He ought the NCC’s assistance to address the challenges being faced as a result of multiple taxation.

“The Commission is not directly responsible for multiple

taxation, we are seeking their assistance to address the challenge.

At the moment, we are facing 38. Ministry of finance needs to harmonise the taxes the 38 we are facing. We do not want to face the 39thlevyimposedontheindustry.

“The multiple taxation serves as a disincentive to operators.

Without our ability to attract investment to actually roll out broadband infrastructure, we haveconsumerswhoarenotbenefitting from thedigital dividends in the cities.

“We need the taxes to be removed to encourage investment to flow in,” he stated, adding that the investment will encourage better education, jobs. That should be the focus of the government,” he said.

On the issue of broadband investment Initiative, Teniola noted that talks are on with state governors.

“We started with Akwa Ibom because our past president, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem is there to attractforeigninvestmentandalso want the youths to be present,” Teliola said.

L-R: Michael Amalfitano, president/CEO, Embraer Executive Jets, and Atedo Peterside, chairman, ANAP Business Jets Limited (ANAP Jets), at the recently concluded European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, Switzerland.

NPA promises to resolve rift with truck drivers for effective cargo movement … says backlog of containers are now being release AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE ollowing the protest of truck drivers in the Lagos Port Complex Apapa on Tuesday and Wednesday, against a new traffic management policy introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on the return of empty containers to the port, the NPAhasassuredthatitwillresolve every pending rift with truck drivers for effective cargo movement.

The NPA policy expects truck drivers to stop bringing empty containers to the port, but to first go to the holding-bays of shipping companies to drop them before coming to the port to pick laden containers.

Responding to BusinessDay questions on the issue, Isah Suwaid, assistant general manager, corporate and strategic commu-

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nications of the NPA, said traffic management in Apapa was originallydomiciledwiththeNPA, butwhatNigerianNavywasdoing wasaninterimsolution,whichthe NPA had taken over and introduced its own solution.

Suwaid said the management of the NPA, who embarked on tour of the Apapa port on Thursday, discovered that the 3,000 containers said to have been trapped at the port due to the protest, had started being cleared out of the port.

According to Suwaid, normalcy has returned to the port as we speak as truckers now go abouttheirnormalbusinesswhile the Nigerian Police Force and the NPAsecurityareworkinghand-inhandtoeasethetrafficsituationon the port gate.

“The NPA has started talking to the concerned shipping companies and terminal operators to ensure the situation is brought under control. We had meeting with Maersk Line and we had another stakeholders’ engagement to arrest the situation on Thursday,” Suwaid said in a telephone interview.

Recall that the truck drivers disrupted container movement between Monday and Wednesday, in reaction to taken over of traffic control in the port area by the NPA from the Navy. This upturned the Navy’s truck call-up system and created a new arrangement that truckers felt was not favourable to them.

Sulaiman Adeoye, a truck driver, said that the new policy led the truck drivers to down tools

on Tuesday and Wednesday in protest.

“They (NPA) just suddenly came on Monday and said that all trucks must first go to shipping company’s holding-bay from where they are to be called into the port. Unfortunately, this is contrarytothearrangementbeing implemented by the Navy, which has worked well and has eliminatedtheApapagridlock,”hesaid.

He said that the new arrangement forces all trucks to go the holding-bays without a modality on how they are to come into the port.

Confirmingthis,RemiOgungbemi, chairman, Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), said the truckers are agitated by the new policy because ‘it is still alien.’

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FINANCIAL TIMES North Korea’s Kim Jong Un basks in global spotlight

US short-termism: Dimon’s delusion Page A4

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World Business Newspaper

Trump trade blasts send a chill over Canada

Canadian business and public taken aback by US tariffs offensive SAM FLEMING

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hile Donald Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow airily dismissed the conflagration over the president’s protectionist measures as a “family quarrel”, in Canada, which hosts the G7 summit this week, it feels more like betrayal by a close relative.

Not only is the incipient trade war forcing some companies to redraw their business plans, the frost that has descended between the two capitals has disarmed a population that is accustomed to placid and mutually beneficial relations with their main trading partner.

In Quebec, where Justin Trudeau, Canadian prime minister, will host the G7 meetings, companies in the aerospace and aluminium industries were among those this week grappling with the implications of Mr Trump’s metals tariffs and renewed threats to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Hugue Meloche, whose Quebecbased company Groupe Meloche makes parts for aircraft engines, said he was being forced to accelerate a plan to open up a factory south of the border because of the threat of reciprocal tariffs being placed on steel and aluminium.

Coupled with Mr Trump’s corporate tax cuts, the president’s policies are posing an important threat to Canadian competitiveness. “I am pretty sure that is what the present US administration wants — and it is working,” he said ruefully.

Suzanne Benoît, president of Aéro Montreal, Quebec’s aerospace cluster, called the situation an “earthquake” for the local industry.

Other citizens admitted to disbelief over the precipitous descent in cross-border relations. Canada and the US have regularly engaged in trade disputes in the past — with softwood lumber a source of tension. But America’s decision to use national security grounds to launch its attack on its close military ally sets this dispute apart.

“The uncertainty of it all is so bizarre,” said Mark MacDonald, a retired firefighter and council member who lives in the border city of Cornwall, Ontario. “We have always relied heavily on the United States.

It is like a big brother.”

Mr Trudeau has briskly dropped his previous sugar-coated approach to relations with Mr Trump in favour of a blunter, more businesslike tone as Canada prepares to retaliate against the steel and aluminium tariffs. Speaking in Ottawa on Thursday, Mr Trudeau said it was “laughable” that the US had invoked national security reasons to impose the tariffs.

There have been previous scuffles between Canadian prime ministers and US presidents — among them a stand-off between Lyndon B Johnson and Lester Pearson during the Vietnam war. But the current dispute will remain difficult to handle, if nothing else because of the sheer unpredictability of Mr Trump, making the G7 summit in Charlevoix, outside Quebec City, on Friday and Saturday particularly volatile.

As G7 leaders prepare their bids to Mr Trump for exemptions from the tariffs, Mr Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland, his foreign minister, have played heavily on the deeply intertwined security relationship between the two countries — which extends to the heavy use of Canadian metals in US military gear.

Watch the Fed’s balance sheet, not interest rates

The US central bank’s unwinding has contributed to turmoil in emerging markets GILLIAN TETT

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hen the mighty US Federal Reserve started to unwind its bloated $4tn balance sheet last year, some investors braced themselves for a shock. But it did not immediately transpire — or at least not in a way that American cable television shows (or a president) might notice.

On the contrary, US markets seemed so impervious to the unwinding that many investors have almost forgotten that it is happening. Instead, the main, obsessive focus for debate around the Fed right now is whether it will raise policy rates three or four times this year.

But if Urjit Patel, the governor of India’s central bank, is correct, this obsession with US interest rates misses the point. Writing in the Financial Times earlier this week, Mr Patel argued that the Fed’s balance sheet unwinding is quietly contributing to the current turmoil in emerging

markets. He warned this could soon get much worse.

This is not because Mr Patel thinks that the Fed was wrong to embark on the unwinding. Instead, he worries that President Donald Trump’s subsequent tax cuts have caused the US deficit to unexpectedly widen, sparking much higher-than-projected issuance of US debt. Indeed, some $2.34tn of treasuries will be sold in the next two years.

Global investors will need dollars to buy those bonds. However, the rub is that the Fed’s unwinding is sucking dollars out of the system, currently at a pace of $20bn a month, which is slated to rise to $50bn next year (or a cumulative $1tn of liquidity by December 2019.) That creates a dollar liquidity squeeze, Mr Patel fears, and means that “a crisis in the rest of the dollar bond markets is inevitable”, with a growing “possibility . . . a ‘sudden stop’ Continues on page A4

The policies of Donald Trump, left, are posing an important threat to the competitiveness of Justin Trudeau’s Canada © AFP

Brexit paper publication appears to defuse Davis resignation threat Document says ‘Irish backstop’ customs plan should end by December 2021 GEORGE PARKER AND JAMES BLITZ

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heresa May has published a crucial Brexit document covering the Irish border, a move that successfully defused Brexit secretary David Davis’s threat to resign from the UK cabinet.

Mr Davis had expressed anger over the fact that the “Irish backstop” plan — which could become the template for UK/EU relations for a period after Brexit — contained no end date.

The dispute centred on the UK’s position for what would happen to Northern Ireland’s border with the Irish Republic if no deal is struck between Brussels and London over Britain’s relationship with the EU post-Brexit.

Both sides have vowed to ensure no “hard border” re-emerges between the two countries, and have committed to agree a “backstop” plan this year in case no agreement is reached by the end of a Brexit transition period in January 2021.

After a frantic series of meetings with the prime minister on Thursday

morning, Mr Davis’s allies claimed victory, suggesting that Mrs May had amended the proposal for a “temporary customs arrangement” until a longer term trade deal is in place. They said the Brexit secretary would now not be resigning.

Mrs May also held talks with Liam Fox, trade secretary, and Boris Johnson, foreign secretary, on Thursday morning in an attempt to win over senior Eurosceptics.

The text of the proposed backstop will be put to EU heads of government later this month. The document published by Downing Street said the UK is clear that the “temporary customs arrangement . . . should be time limited, and that it will be only in place until the future customs arrangement can be introduced”.

The document added: “The UK is clear that the future customs arrangement needs to deliver on the commitments made in relation to Northern Ireland. The UK expects the future arrangement to be in place by the end of December 2021 at the latest.”

One ally of the Brexit secretary

said: “The backstop paper has been amended and now expresses, in much more detail, the time limited nature of the proposal, something that the prime minister and [Mr Davis] have always been committed to.”

But many Conservative MPs are likely to take the view that the final text remains vague because it goes no further than saying it “expects” a longterm trading relationship to replace the backstop at the end of 2021.

The Brexit Files: How will leaving the EU affect the UK economy?

Any attempt by the UK to depict the text as providing a firm end date is almost certain to be rejected by the EU, which wants a legal guarantee there will be no return to a hard border in Ireland at any point.

Under the plan, the whole of the UK would remain part of the EU’s external tariff area, restricting its ability to carry out independent trade deals.

The UK is also expected to propose an alignment of its rules with EU rules to ensure the smooth passage of goods across the Irish border without regulatory checks.

US strikes deal with ZTE to lift ban Agreement involves $1.4bn penalty and stricter oversight SHAWN DONNAN AND PAN KWAN

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he Trump administration has reached a deal with China’s ZTE in which the company will pay out $1.4bn in return for the lifting of a ban that prevents it buying US components — handing Beijing a key concession as tense trade talks continue.

Wilbur Ross, US commerce secretary, on Thursday said a final deal had been signed with China’s second-largest telecoms equipment maker over its violation of US sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

The move comes after US president Donald Trump last month unveiled the outlines of an agreement.

It follows growing criticism within the Republican party of the president’s handling of trade negotiations with China and attempts by some in Congress to rein in his authority to

impose tariffs on the EU, Canada and other allies in the name of national security.

Under the deal, ZTE would pay a $1bn cash fine and place $400m in escrow, to be forfeit if violations continued, said Mr Ross. For the next 10 years the company would have to hire a compliance team, selected

by US authorities, to monitor its business on a “real-time basis”, the commerce department said. If it was caught violating the agreement at any point in the next decade, it would face a 10-year ban on sourcing US components.

The compromise highlights what some allies see as the different and potentially more conciliatory approach the US is taking to trade negotiations with China compared with longstanding strategic partners such as the EU and Japan — a subject set to dominate discussions at this weekend’s G7 leaders summit

in Canada.

Marco Rubio, the Republican senator leading the criticism of Mr Trump’s shift on ZTE, immediately lashed out at the agreement, calling it a “very bad deal” and vowing to continue his push for congressional action to block it.

“This ‘deal’ with #ZTE may keep them from selling to Iran and North Korea. That’s good. But it will do nothing to keep us safe from corporate & national security espionage.

That is dangerous. Now Congress will need to act to keep America safe from #China,” he said on Twitter. “I assure you with 100% confidence that #ZTE is a much greater national security threat than steel from Argentina or Europe. #VeryBadDeal.”

The ZTE ban was announced in April, after the company was caught violating US sanctions on Iran and North Korea and the terms of a subsequent plea agreement.

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Cambridge Analytica official says she met Julian Assange Former director denies funnelling money from donors to WikiLeaks or talking business ALIYA RAM

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rittany Kaiser, the former business development director of Cambridge Analytica, has denied that she funnelled money from other donors to WikiLeaks or discussed business with the group after it emerged that she had visited

its founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorean embassy in London last year.

The Guardian, which revealed a huge leak of Facebook user data to the analytics firm in March, reported on Wednesday that Ms Kaiser had visited Mr Assange to discuss the US election and had “funnelled money to WikiLeaks in the form of crypto-

currency”.

WikiLeaks, which dumped caches of emails belonging to Hillary Clinton online before the US election two years ago, is being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Cambridge Analytica, which is backed by hedge fund billionaire and prominent Trump supporter Robert Mercer,

carried out work for the president’s campaign.

Ms Kaiser confirmed to the Financial Times that she met Mr Assange at the Ecuadorean embassy in February last year but said it was in a personal capacity. She cited a longstanding interest in human rights and political prisoners as the motivation for the meeting and added that it had not been arranged by Robert Murtfeld, a legal aide named in

Watch the Fed’s balance sheet, not interest...

The Guardian.

“This was . . . after the election and a long time after Clinton’s emails were leaked,” she said. “I went to go see [Mr Assange] with no agenda. I was there for 20 minutes.”

“Most of the time he was speaking at me. He talked about the upcoming change in government in Ecuador and how he was worried about that. He talked about the implications of the change in government in the US. We never at any point discussed business.”

US personnel sent home after suspected ‘sonic attack’ in China

Continued from page A3 for the global economic recovery”. So he wants the Fed to change course — by slowing that unwinding.

The Fed itself has not responded in public to this remarkable plea. But investors should take note on several counts. For one thing, central bank governors do not usually warn so bluntly about the risks of a looming financial shock. Nor do they usually shout so loudly about controversial fiscal issues — let alone in another country.

But Mr Patel is not the only nonAmerican central bank governor or official who now has these concerns.

On the contrary, similar sentiments have been privately tossed around at a number of international meetings in recent weeks, as the full impact of Mr Trump’s tax cuts have become clear.

Will the Fed listen? Under the new leadership, that is unclear. Jay Powell, the new chairman, recently offered some intriguing hints about how he thinks the Fed should view its impact on non-US markets — at least in respect to US interest rates. Last month, he told a seminar organised by the IMF and Swiss National Bank that while cross-border “spillovers [from policy] are to be expected in a world of highly integrated financial markets”, the last decade of data suggested that the role of US monetary policy on global markets is “often exaggerated”.

By way of proof, he noted that capital flows to emerging market economies slackened in 2011 when the Fed eased policy, but increased in 2013 when it tightened — even though logic might suggest that tighter US policy should suck capital from those economies. The Federal Reserve “played a relatively limited role in the surge of capital flows to EMEs”, he concluded.

This suggests that Mr Powell himself will have little sympathy if EMEs try to blame the Fed for any market turmoil, or ask it to change course.

In any case, he, like other senior Fed officials, seems (justifiably) very keen to stay on the same path at this point, to ensure that the Fed has firepower when the next recession hits.

But some Fed officials accept Mr Patel’s point that higher bond sales are changing the landscape. They also know that it will be much easier to modify the process of unwinding, if necessary, than tweaking high-profile rates since the Fed has huge discretion in this field. After all, most politicians (and White House officials) do not have the foggiest idea about the details of the balance sheet now.

The main conclusion for investors is that they should heed Mr Patel and recognise that interest rates are not the only game in town. They need to watch to see what the Fed does (or does not) do next with that balance sheet. And while Mr Patel is entirely correct to suggest that the Fed needs to take Mr Trump’s tax cuts into account, and consider tweaking policy, I would not bet many dollars (or rupees) that the Fed will ever publicly accept his plea.

Investors in emerging market assets should be warned.

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YUAN YANG, LUCY HORNBY AND ALICE WOODHOUSE

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, has met Kim Jong Un twice in recent weeks and is aiming to establish regular contact through a liaison office © AFP

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un basks in global spotlight Allies and adversaries beat path to Pyongyang in moves to change postwar order BRYAN HARRIS

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year ago, Kim Jong Un was the world’s number one pariah as the North Korean regime brought the region to the edge of conflict with one missile test after another.

Now, the North Korean dictator has the world at his door, with adversaries and allies alike pushing to meet the 34-year-old, who until March had never been abroad on a state visit.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Mr Kim to Vladivostok in September. The invitation came just days after the North Korean leader met Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, in Pyongyang.

The flurry of diplomacy underlines the importance of a historic meeting on Tuesday between the young marshal and US President Donald Trump, who wants to sign an agreement that will denuclearise North Korea and set a new path for the reclusive regime.

For North Korea’s neighbours, a deal between Pyongyang and Washington has the potential to reshape the region’s geopolitical landscape — and they are pushing to ensure their interests are not overlooked.

For Mr Kim, the precious few months in the international spotlight offer him ample opportunity to further North Korea’s interests by fundamentally undercutting the US campaign to diplomatically isolate Pyongyang.

“If denuclearisation is realised on the Korean Peninsula, the cold war structure will finally be lifted and the order of north-east Asia will be reorganised,” said Cho Sung-ryul, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security

Strategy. “North Korea’s neighbours must feel it is necessary to discuss this with Kim.” For its part, Russia has been vocal about the need to lift sanctions on North Korea, a nation Moscow views as a vital bulwark in the defence of Russia and its far east against US influence in north-east Asia.

But the relationship also benefits Mr Kim. Just days ahead of the meeting with Mr Trump, the North Koreans are demonstrating they have a “big brother” to watch their back, according to one diplomat in Seoul.

Both the US and North Korea are vying for psychological advantage ahead of the historic talks in Singapore, with each side employing threats and vitriolic rhetoric in recent weeks.

Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump’s lawyer, on Wednesday said Kim Jong Un had “got back on his hands and knees and begged” for the summit. He later told the Associated Press that the North Korean leader needed to understand the US was in a position of strength.

The Trump administration believes its “maximum pressure” campaign forced Mr Kim to the negotiating table.

Analysts, however, are more sceptical, pointing out that North Korea is in a formidable position, having practically completed its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

Mr Kim also seems to have the backing of China. Last month in Dalian, he met Chinese president Xi Jinping, who was reported to have offered his support to Pyongyang if negotiations in Singapore were to fail.

With more than 90 per cent of North Korea’s trade going to China, Beijing’s co-operation is crucial for Mr Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy. Few analysts believe Mr Xi would be willing to return to that approach if the Singapore summit ends in failure.

“For North Korea, it will be much easier to get sanctions relief from China or Russia, rather than the US,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of international relations at Handong Global University. “Even though they might not be able to publicly lift sanctions, they can easily relax or loosen controls on implementation.”

Conscious of the changing landscape, old adversaries are also rushing to bolster relations with the North Korean leader.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has met him twice in recent weeks and is aiming to establish regular contact through a liaison office in the North Korean city of Kaesong.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also expressed interest in a summit with Mr Kim, although he says preconditions must be met before the meeting can take place.

On Sunday, North Korean state media reported that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad would visit Pyongyang at some point. The announcement raised eyebrows given North Korea’s current outreach to the US and the acrimonious relationship that Washington has with Damascus.

“Syria is an important client buying North Korean weapons,” said Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute in Seoul. “And they have longstanding ideological similarities. But that meeting is not going to be convenient. I don’t see it happening any time soon.”

everal American citizens have been sent home for medical tests after a government employee working in Guangzhou, southern China, reported symptoms similar to those experienced by diplomats hit by a suspected “sonic attack” in Cuba last year, the US government said.

The state department said on Wednesday that it had sent a medical team to Guangzhou to screen employees and their family members who requested medical checks following the first case which “was consistent with what American personnel in Havana, Cuba, had experienced”.

The first report of a consul worker in China suffering symptoms similar to those seen in Cuba following suspected “sonic attacks” surfaced last month amid simmering tensions between the US and China over trade and security issues.

The US is incorporating lessons learnt from the mysterious Cuban incident to calm the nerves of staff in Guangzhou, including conducting earlier and more transparent briefings for staff and their families. It is also allowing baseline screenings for any staff who request them, as well as any who report symptoms, the state department said.

The New York Times reported at least two more Americans had been evacuated from Guangzhou and named Mark Lenzi, a security engineering officer at the consulate, as having left for the US on Wednesday with his family.

More than 20 US diplomats in Cuba fell ill in 2016, reporting symptoms including headaches, loss of balance and sleep dysfunction, which were blamed on a “ sonic attack”. Officials suspected the attack had either been carried out by a foreign intelligence agency or was a result of inadvertent sonar interference caused by malfunctioning surveillance equipment.

An “accountability review board” established in January this year is supposed to soon release its findings about the Cuban incidents, which were initially kept secret even from anxious embassy families. American diplomats visiting Cuba after the incidents became public have been instructed to “move away” from unusual noises.

But an initial finding from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also released in January, cast doubt on whether sound waves — described by the Associated Press as a high-pitched, chirping sound — could have caused the reported symptoms.

Chinese salespeople and workers at businesses near the residential compound housing American diplomats in Guangzhou told the Financial Times they had not noticed anything unusual. Outside the compound, normal noises of traffic and renovations could be heard.

Friday 08 June 2018

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BUSINESS DAY

A5

FINANCIAL TIMES

COMPANIES & MARKETS

@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED

US short-termism: Dimon’s delusion Quarterly guidance is not that meaningful anyway

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reat quarter, guys” exclaim the analysts, one by one, on many c o mp a ny e a r n i ng s call. Why the surprise?

Usually on the earnings call three months earlier, the chief financial officer will have told them what the revenue and profits would be (often sandbagged so the company can beat modest expectations).

So-called earnings guidance has become standard practice for some companies hoping to massage investor expectations.

On Thursday, the Business Roundtable, a corporate lobbying group chaired by JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon, said they should end the practice in the cause of curbing dreaded “short-termism”.

It is a rousing, rallying cry, which investor Warren Buffett backed in an interview with CNBC. It is also a red herring.

Companies listed in the US are required to report earnings four times a year. That rule comes from reforms following the market crash of 1929. Before that, companies had little obligation to share even

basic information about their operations.

The Business Roundtable does not want to abolish quarterlies altogether, just quarterly guidance.

But most companies are already ahead of them: only around one quarter of the S&P 500 gave forecasts in 2016 according to research from FCLT Global, a corporate advocacy group.

Even without guidance, buy and sellside research analysts can construct their own financial models from quarterly numbers, company commentary and whatever proprietary digging they indulge in. All that adds to a “consensus” expectation irrespective of whether the CFO nudges the maths one way or another.

The biggest hole in the shorttermism argument is that correlation does not equal causation. A company could simply state that it will have two poor quarters in order to have better profits in the following year. It is up to investors to decide whether that trade-off is credible or worthwhile. The longterm is simply the sum of a bunch of short-terms.

US equity rally falters, Nasdaq slips from record Euro keeps rising after ECB’s signal on QE ending this year DAVE SHELLOCK

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hat you need to know • Nasdaq down 0.7%, S&P 500 flat • European banks stocks pare early gains • German Bund yield tops 0.5%, euro hits 3-week high • Turkish lira strengthens after central bank raises rates Overview This week’s technology-led rally for US stocks showed signs of running out of steam while the euro strengthened against the dollar for a fourth day and eurozone government bond prices fell back across the board.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was down 0.7 per cent at midday in New York after opening at a record high. The small-cap Russell 2000 index also eased back from an all-time peak European equity indices mostly ended lower as bank stocks trimmed early gains, even as eurozone sovereign bond yields continued to head higher.

The 10-year German Bund yield regained the 0.50 per cent mark for the first time in two weeks, while Italy’s 10-year yield climbed back above 3 per cent.

The euro, meanwhile, rose as high as $1.1840, its strongest since mid-May. The latest push higher for eurozone yields and the single currency came in spite of data showing a fourth successive monthly fall in German industrial orders.

On Wednesday, the European Central Bank appeared to deliver a co-ordinated signal that it would announce its asset purchases would end this year this year at next week’s policy meeting.

“At one point last week some

wondered whether the ECB could ‘taper’ at all, what with Italy’s huge problems,” said Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank. “What a difference a week makes.”

The day’s market action came against the backdrop of a looming G7 meeting which “will be carefully watched as trade schisms are driving a very divided message of ‘G6+1’,” said Arnim Holzer at EAB Investment Group.

“This trade policy brinkmanship whips around emerging market expected returns and volatility levels, which is particularly difficult in an environment where a stronger dollar is a fear.”

To that end, Turkey’s central bank raised interest rates again on Thursday, this time by 125bp, helping the lira rally as much as 2.3 per cent against the US unit.

“Today’s outcome is certainly more positive for the central bank’s credibility and for the lira compared with the alternative of no action because of pressure from President Erdogan,” said Tatha Ghose at Commerzbank.

But the Brazilian real stayed under pressure, falling to a two-year low against the US currency.

Equities By midday in New York, the S&P 500 was flat at 2,772 while the Nasdaq was 0.7 per cent weaker at 7,635 — off an earlier low of 7,624.03. The Russell 2000 index was down 0.5 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the trend — rising 0.5 per cent — as big-name energy stocks got a lift from a rally for crude prices.

Across the Atlantic, the Euro Stoxx 600 index ended 0.2 per cent lower — with the banking sub-index closing 0.3 per cent higher after earlier rising 1.5 per cent.

The Xetra Dax in Frankfurt slipped 0.2 per cent while the UK’s FTSE 100 ended 0.1 per cent softer.

JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon is leading the revolt against quarterly guidance © Reuters

Co-operative Bank chief Liam Coleman to step down Decision to leave post at lossmaking lender comes after completion of rescue deal KATIE MARTIN AND MARTIN ARNOLD

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he Co-operative Bank is looking for its fifth chief executive in seven years after Liam Coleman said he planned to step down from the lossmaking British lender having helped it to secure a financial rescue package last year.

Mr Coleman, 51, leaves the post after five years with the ethicallyfocused bank, which has been through a torrid time since revealing a £1.5bn capital shortfall in 2013.

Last year, the Co-op Bank agreed a £700m rescue deal, which involved capital being injected from its hedge fund owners and bondholders to avoid being wound down by the Bank of England after it failed to find a buyer.

It is only 18 months since Mr Coleman stepped up from being deputy chief executive to take the reins from Niall Booker, the former HSBC executive who came out of retirement in 2013 to turn the bank round but left in 2016 after posting an annual loss of £610m.

Mr Coleman said he felt “a great sense of achievement in how much we have collectively delivered both to address the fundamental issues the organisation faced back in 2013 and to reshape the business around our retail customers”.

The bank has racked up net losses for five years in a row, as it has struggled to fix problems with its IT systems and faced losses from mortgage defaults stemming from its ill-judged takeover of Britannia Building Society in 2009.

Mr Coleman said: “Having suc-

cessfully completed the recapitalisation process last year, I feel it is now both the right time for me and for the business to look to new leadership for the next stage of the journey.”

Its difficulties were exacerbated by controversy over its leadership team, which was criticised for lacking banking expertise. In March, its former chairman, Paul Flowers, was banned from working in UK financial services after a sex and drugs scandal.

In 2016, Barry Tootell, who led the Co-op Bank from 2011 to 2013, was banned from working in the financial services industry and fined £173,802 by the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority for his role in the bank’s mismanagement.

Mr Tootell took over from Neville Richardson, who had been CEO of Britannia before taking charge of the combined group after the merger.

Wanted: skilled navigators for Chinese bond market

Soaring interest from overseas investors demands expert crafters of compromise EMMA DUNKLEY

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rom China to Japan, financial markets in Asia are opening up to overseas investors on an unprecedented scale, helped by initiatives that have been facilitated by lawyers. Among the most innovative developments is the Bond Connect scheme, launched in July last year.

The scheme links China’s onshore bond market, worth some $12tn — the third largest in the world — to Hong Kong, allowing overseas investors to access China’s bonds through a trading route set up by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. Formerly, foreign institutional investors had to undertake a convoluted process to gain access to China’s debt market, which involved opening an account and applying for local currency quotas.

While Bond Connect followed Stock Connect, a similar initiative aimed at opening up China’s mainland equity market, lawyers working on the bond version faced a unique set of challenges. “Bond Connect was quite different from Stock Connect because it involved an entirely different set of regulators, participating institutions and market infrastructures for trading and settlement,” says Chin-Chong Liew, a partner at Linklaters, who assisted Hong Kong Exchanges and

Clearing in devising the scheme.

“With Bond Connect, if you have a trading account with an offshore broker and custodian, you can use that account in Hong Kong, so you don’t have to create a new trading and settlement relationship onshore in China,” he adds. “You can rely on the existing infrastructure.”

One hurdle for creating the trading link was the gap between Chinese rules and practices and their international counterparts.

“It was a real challenge to come up with mutually acceptable compromises without adversely impacting the local market and international investors,” Mr Liew says.

At the heart of the challenge was a standard used by international investors that unequivocally gives ownership of the bond to the investor. “If you’re buying something, you want to ensure it belongs to you,” says Mr Liew. “You don’t want someone in the process to say, if any intermediary or custodian goes bust, that the bond becomes their property.”

In the international market, this is usually known as “beneficial ownership” but China has a different legal system “with concepts which are less well understood, so this required clarifications and some procedures to be set up to put matters beyond

doubt”, he adds.

At present, only around 2 per cent of Chinese bonds are held by overseas investors.

“China’s onshore bond market is one of the largest in the world and yet it has an extremely low level of foreign ownership compared to both emerging and developed market peers,” says Karan Talwar, an emerging markets debt specialist at BNP Paribas Asset Management. “We continue to expect foreign inflows into onshore Chinese bonds to gain traction over time, and recent data confirms this trend with foreign net inflows into onshore Chinese bonds reaching $36bn a year.”

Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said last year that Bond Connect “will give Hong Kong a bigger role in fixed income [markets]”.

Data from the exchange show that by the end of the first quarter of this year, 288 overseas institutional investors had entered the China bond market through the scheme.

The significance of Bond Connect, however, goes beyond Hong Kong, with the scheme potentially serving as a blueprint for other countries. Mr Liew says several markets, including the UK and Canada, are looking at joining Bond Connect to give their investors access to China’s domestic bond market.

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Friday 08 June 2018

NEWS

Heritage Bank, FG, UN partner to position Nigeria as tourist destination in Africa

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n a bid to transform Nigeria into a tourist sector destination in Africa and position it as lever of Nigeria’s economic growth and development, Heritage Bank plc is partnering the Federal Government and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

The bank partnered Nigerian government at the 61st meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation-Commission for Africa (UNWTO-CAF), in Abuja, attended by over 166 foreign delegates, 26 ministers and 332 Nigerian delegates, excluding local and foreign pressmen.

Speaking on the meeting with the theme “Tourism Statistics: A Catalyst for Development,” President Muhammad Buhari said Nigeria was safe and secure for tourism, citing improved security and the country’s burgeoning economy as basis for his verdict.

He called on tourists and investors in the tourism sector to consider Nigeria as their second home, saying the Federal Government had provided attractive investment incentives for investors in the sector.

While wooing the investors for developments, President Buhari assured investors in the sector of minimum tariff on investment on amusement park equipment, materials for hotel construction, furnishing, dedicated transportation for tour operators and equipment for restaurants not manufactured in Nigeria, minimum duty on casino equipment and work permit for foreign workers with specialised skills within the industry.

Speaking at the event, the MD/CEO of Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo, said since the government deemed it right to partner the bank in order to synergise and move tourism potentials of Nigeria to the next level, the bank would continue to increase investment and support to the sector in year ahead.

“Over the years the bank has believed in tourism and we always keep trying as much as possible to support the tourism sector. Over the years we think it is something we have done with a quite a number of stakeholders and we have done that quite well.

Nigerian Risk Awards recognises top 100 C- Suits in Nigeria

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he Nigerian Risk Awards recognises and rewards organisations and individuals who have achieved measurable results through the effective implementation of good governance, internal controls and risk management systems.

Emphasis is placed on those who have developed creative and innovative solutions in overcoming the challenges facing businesses and organisations in Nigeria.

All companies compete equally, regardless of size. Every organisation has a unique risk management culture, but it is commitment, courage and effectiveness that make our winners stand out from the crowd.

In its last three editions, the Nigerian Risk Awards (NRA) has recognised and awarded individuals and organisations who have made a measurable impact within their industry through the effective application of good governance, risk management and internal control systems and strategies.

This year, however, the

NRA/Summit will take a critical look the state of the nation vis-à-vis the current leadership, economic and security landscape. Hence, this year’s summit is themed “Leadership, Security and National Development,” and is having Christopher Kolade, Funmi Olonisakin, Salihu Lukman, Gregory Ovie Jobome, Frank Aigbogun, Toyin Sanni, as part of the event.

The summit is for the top 100 c- level executives in Nigeria and will feature expert and insightful deliberations on business, political and economic risk topics; the presentation of special achievement awards, the singular opportunity to network with influential men and women in the public and private sectors within Nigeria and internationally, as well as edutainment and much more.

According to Joachim Adebayo Adenusi, chief executive of Conrad Clark Nigeria and programme director of the NRA, risk management involves far more than the prevention of untoward events.

L-R: Dotun Ifebogun, head, retail and SME, Wema Bank plc; Olufunke Okoli, head, human capital management; Wole Akinleye, executive director, South Bank; Susie Onwuka, head, Consumer Protection Council, Lagos office; Onuzulu Priscilla, deputy director/coordinator, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, and Moruf Oseni, executive director, retail bank, at the draws for Wema Bank’s Experience Russia Summer Promo held in Lagos yesterday. Pic by Pius Okeosisi

FG to rake in N240bn from alcohol, cigarette taxes in 24 months … manufacturers protest, say taxes will kill industries ODINAKA ANUDU & OGHOGHO EDOSOMWAN

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ith the imposition of N1 on each stick of cigarette sold to smokers in Nigeria by the Federal Government, and with citizens consuming 20 billion sticks annually, the government will be raking in N20 billion from cigarette taxes in 12 months.

The figure will rise to N40 billion in 2019, when N2 will be imposed on each stick smoked.

Government has also imposed an average of N137.5 on each litre of alcohol (wine and spirits), and with the blenders and distillers producing 600 million litres each year, government will be earning N82.5 billion from alcohol taxes. This means that in the first year, government will be earning N102.5 billion from both cigarette and alcohol taxes.

In the second year (2019), government has imposed an average of N162.5 on a litre of wine and spirit, and with the industry’s 600 million litres per

NDDC, EDSOPADEC to reconstruct Benin-Abraka Road

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do State governor, Godwin Obaseki, says the state government is in talks with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Edo StateOiland Gas Producing Areas Development Commission (EDSOPADEC) on the reconstruction of the Benin-Abraka Road.

Obaseki said this during a town hall meeting in Abudu, headquarters of Orhionmwon Local Government Area, Edo State, and disclosed that the “Design for the reconstruction of the Benin-Abraka Road, had been completed.

“As the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, visits the state next week, the state government will agree on a deal with the NDDC and EDSOPADEC on the reconstruction of the Benin-

Abraka Road,” he said.

He said the plan to reconstruct the road was to provide farmers in Orhionmwon with access road to movetheirfarmproducefromtheir farms to the market, adding that there are plans for the reconstruction of all old roads within the area.

According to Obaseki, “An 11-memberward-baseddevelopment committee would be set-up in the area with representative from the traditional ruler and two youth and women representatives. It will include three other persons from the area to include a politicalleaderfromthegoverning All Progressives Congress (APC) and another member from the opposition parties.”

He said a similar committee wasinauguratedinUhunmwode, yesterday, noting that the com-

mittee in Orhionmwon would be inaugurated soon to interface with the state government on the development needs of the area and monitor ongoing projects to ensure quality and prompt delivery.

He explained that poverty and lack of education account for the high rate of human trafficking and illegal migration in the area, noting that efforts are being made to change the narrative through ongoing reforms in basic education, healthcare, and reconstruction of old roads to revive economic activities.

The governor urged the people to actively participate in development initiatives at the community level and assist government succeed in its drive to develop the area.

annum production, government stands to make N97.5 billion from alcohol taxes. Add this to N40 billion taxes on cigarettes in the second year, the government will be raking in N137.5 billion from both cigarette and alcohol taxes.

This means that between 2018 and 2019, the government will be raking in N240 billion from taxing smokers and drinkers.

“We are worried that the jobs of over 25,000 Nigerians, plus over connected 250,000 SME staff, are being threatened by this hike,” Patrick Anegbe, chairman, Distillers and Blenders Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, said in Lagos on Wednesday.

“If the implementation of the new duty is allowed to proceed, we are worried about the obvious job losses that will result from low demand of our products,” Anegbe said, adding that it represented over 500 percent hike purely on local wines and spirits with the exclusion of all imported wines, spirits and champagne.

Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria’s

finance minister, had on March 12 approved excise duty rates for tobacco in addition to the 20 percent ad-valorem rate, with each stick of cigarette attracting N1 specific rate (N20 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2018, N2 specific rate per stick (N40 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2019 and N2.90k specific rate per stick (N58 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2020.

The minister explained that Nigeria’s cumulative specific excise duty rate for tobacco was 23.2 percent of the price of the most sold brand, as against 38.14 percent in Algeria, 36.52 percent in South Africa and 30 percent in The Gambia.

The new specific excise duty rate for alcoholic beverages cuts across beer and stout, wines and spirits for the three years covering 2018 to 2020.

But this has created a lot of controversy by the public as well as affected industries, especially the distillers and blenders saying it will hike their production cost and put them out of business.

They add that their products are elastic, as found by KPMG, and cost would not easily be passed onto consumers.

EU-UNICEF extends NDSP water, sanitation project to 3 LGAs in Edo

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do State commissioner for energy and water resources, Yekini Idaiye, says the European Union-United Nations Children’s Fund (EU-UNICEF) Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project under the Niger Delta Support Programme (NDSP) has been extended to three more local government areas in the state.

Idaiye said this at a day sensitisation programme organised for stakeholders in the three local government areas on the implementation of the WASH project, held in Benin City, on Thursday.

He said the local government areas include Orhionmwon, Uhunmwode and Owan West

local government areas, noting, “The areas would benefit from the EU-UNICEF Rural Water Sanitation and Hygiene project which have been fully implemented in Etsako West and Ovia South-West local government areas in the state.”

Idaiye, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Akongie Oboh, noted “The WASH project being implemented under the EUUNICEF Niger Delta Support Programme (NDSP) would assist the state government in improving sanitation and providing water infrastructure in rural areas across the state.

This would take development closer to the grassroots.”

Competition deepens in pay-TV as StarTimes launches streaming service ahead World Cup ODINAKA ANUDU

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igeria pay-TV sector seems to be deepening competition in digital offerings as StarTimes announces its App video streaming service, officially launched in Nigeria.

To mark the launch of the new service, the first 40,000 users can enjoy an attractive pre-order offer for watching World Cup on StarTimes App. From June 7 to 13, the first 40,000 subscribers will only need to pay N450 to subscribe to ‘ON Sport’ on StarTimes App in order to watch all 64 World Cup matches live and in HD, including matches of Nigeria on the pitch. The original price of the ‘ON Sport’ service is N1,500, the firm discloses.

Besides live matches, full highlights, build-ups, interviews, analysis and magazine shows will also be available with the 5 StarTimes sports channels in the StarTimes ‘ON Sport’ service.

Speaking on the new innovation, Tony Tuo, StarTimes OTT operation director, noted that, “It is impossible to miss any moment of the World Cup with our App. There is absolutely no need to worry about the weather condition, signal quality, electricity or being in transit. Wherever you may be, with just a steady internet connection, the StarTimes App will get you fully entertained”.

The App, he also noted, can be downloaded from various app stores, including Google Play, iOS Store and StarTimes website while the Pay-TV subscribers can also check and recharge their subscription online through the App. “Over 70 channels covering movies, series, documentaries, music and sports, are currently open to all users for free in a limited time on the StarTimes App. Video streaming service is a future trend and StarTimes hopes our service will pioneer for African digital TV industry,” he added.

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Nigeria seeks 50% royalty from deep offshore, inland basin production sharing contracts KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja

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ederal Government has unveiled plans to boost its revenue base on royalty to 50 percent in the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts in a new bill waiting for amendment at the National Assembly.

The proposal was contained in the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts (Amendment) bill, 2018 transmitted separately by the Presidency to the House of Representatives and Senate.

But industry analysts say the implication of the law is that there would more money in the hands of the federal government at the expense of the state governments.

Oladiran Fawibe, chairman and chief executive officer of international Energy Services (IES) told BusinessDay that the development may instigate the states of the federation to oppose the move during public hearing on the bill as it would put them at a disadvantage financially.

He said he used to know that the royalty was cede to the states based on field of production goes to the states but lamented that in spite of the money accruing to many of the states they have nothing to show for it.

According to the explanatory memorandum that accompa-

nied the bill, the government seeks to review its share of the government of the federation in additional revenue under the production sharing contracts.

Authorities anticipate that the proposed law would realize an extra $2 billion to the government.

The amendment bill, which scaled through first reading on the floor of the House on Thursday, seeks to alter the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act, 1999.

Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum said late last year that since 1993, Nigeria had cumulatively lost some $21 billion for failing to implement the premium element governing the country’s oil and gas production sharing contracts (PSCs) as provided under the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act The Deep Offshore Act which is being amended provides that once the price of crude exceeds $20 a barrel, the government will take steps to ensure that the premium element is then distributed under an agreed formula so that the country can earn more from oil.

“But over the last 20 years, nothing really was done. We did not exercise our rights under the Act “From 1993 till now, cumulatively, we have lost a total of $21 billion just because

the government did not act,” Kachikwu had said.

He said then that a key decision of government was to work with the Attorney-General of the Federation to amend Section 16 of the Deep Offshore Act. According to the Bill seen by BusinessDay, section 16 of the Principal Act by adding a new subsection 3, which provides that: “in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section - a royalty rate by price of 50% shall apply for the additional revenue in the contract area of production sharing contracts under this Act. “The additional revenue shall be determined by the product of the volume of crude oil or condensate sold and the difference between the actual nominal sales price of the oil or condensate and nominal value of $20 per barrel (1993 real terms), at the time of sales, provided that the value of $20 per barrel (1993 real terms), shall be determined based on relevant US All items consumer price index (CPI) as published by the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.

Recently the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari had given it the approval to undertake a review of all Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) between it and its various partners to reflect the current realities in the industry.

Risk managers proffer solutions to Nigeria’s social-economic risks HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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xperts specialising in risk management have tendered various workable solutions to address Nigeria’s numerous socio-economic risks militating against the development of the country.

Speaking during his keynote address at the Risk Managers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) 18th annual international conference and training in Lagos, Tunde Lemo, chairman, Federal Roads Management Agency (FERMA) and former deputy governor, CBN, said it was imperative to understand evolving risks that institutions face seek measures to address them.

Considering Nigeria’s huge population, growing number of youths and ethnic diversities amongothers,Nigeriafaceshigher socio-economic risks that have madethecountryunabletorealise its full potentials, Lemo explained.

He mentioned some socioeconomic risks to include Nigeria’s volatile political landscape, Boko Haram targeted killings, the structure of Nigeria’s foreign debt, power sector funding, high intervention funds, petroleum sector funding, increase in unemployment rate, migration of skilled manpower, poor infrastructures and default on existing loans leading to restructuring of existing facilities, among others.

In a bid to navigate these risks, he suggested that Nigeria ensure

its client equity contribution was not from borrowed funds, there should be diversification of the risk asset portfolio to avoid concentration risks, a review of the nature of collateral assets to ensure sustenance of value and the use of statistical model in risk management.

He said the role of risk managers in building models through technology and automation cannot be over emphasised, adding that they must understand their roles in guiding policy makers and lend their voices in ensuring a stable risk management environment.

Speaking also, Jude Monye, president of RIMAN, said the Nigeria economy like any other was faced with socio-economic risks that affect businesses and the lives of citizenry, “it therefore becomes imperative and topical for captains of industries, subject matter experts, policy makers and thought leaders to gather at the forum and offer ways of navigating the uncommon terrain in the nation’s journey to prosperity.

“I urge corporate and risk managers to take the Certified Risk Manager (CRM) professional examinations. CRM is the pioneered industry recognised professional examination in risk management. It is designed to benchmark global risk management standards whilst taking content that will fully make participants well rounded professional.

Afreximbank describes industrialisation as pathway to Africa’s prosperity MIKE OCHONMA

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freximbank, the prime Export-Import African bank, notes that the intra-Africa trade fair set to be held in Egypt later in December will be an opportunity for the continent to industrialise.

Kanayo Awani, managing director of intra-African trade initiative at Afreximbank, says one of the aims of the trade fair is to deal with failing industrial and manufacturing growth in the continent in a bid to boost trade, jobs and economic growth.

“The reality is that the Intra-African trade programme is an opportunity for Africa to industrialise. So industrialisation is a big part of the programme, reason being that African countries all produce commodities in their primary form. But can we sell primary commodities to ourselves? The answer is no. For Intra-African Trade to work, we’ll have to industrialise,” Awani says.

Awani spoke in Cairo, Egypt, before the official launch of the first-ever biannual event aimed at encouraging trade among African countries and support the implementation of the Africa Continental Free-Trade Area (AfCFTA), signed by 44 countries in Kigali, Rwanda, in March.

Awani says the event is expected to bring together more than 1,000 exhibitors and around $25 billion in trade deals, saying that they have already secured close to 100 exhibitors so far.

L-R: Yetunde Ogundadegbe, finance manager; Adeola Ogunsemi, chief financial officer; Ainojie Irune, chief operating officer; Obehi Ojeaga, corporate communications manager, and Akinbambo Ibidapo-Obe, general manager, commercials, all of Oando Energy Resources, at the recently concluded Oil Council, Africa Assembly in Paris, France.

Global CEOs realistic about growth in face of unprecedented headwinds

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espite being relatively bullish on the economy at large as well as their overall outlook for their country, optimism from global CEOs is tempered by a healthy dose of realism, with half (55%) predicting cautious topline revenue growth for their own business.

Half of CEOs (52%) say they will need to hit growth targets before hiring new skills. According to the KPMG Global CEO Outlook, they are driving growth against a backdrop of significant demographic shifts, geopolitical volatility and the seemingly inevitable future cyber attack.

CEOs are stepping up to

the cyber challenge, in particular, with 59 percent saying they feel a personal responsibility for protecting customer data.

“CEOs are harnessing the headwinds of change to steer their organisations to growth,” said Bill Thomas, chairman, KPMG International. “CEOs I’m talking with recognise that geopolitical uncertainty, disruption and cyber threats are their new normal. The best are looking for the opportunities this creates, changing their systems, and in some cases their entire business. It’s clear that driving growth in 2018 and beyond will require

CEOs to combine resourcefulness and realism in equal measure.”

CEOs play an essential role in pivoting their organisations to the consumers of tomorrow in order to seize every opportunity to grow, with four in ten (38%) responding that their business requires repositioning to meet the needs of Millennials.

There’s also a growing sense of inevitability of a cyber breach with nearly half (49%) of CEOs saying that becoming the victim of an attack is a case of ‘when’ and not ‘if.’

Given the current geopolitical environment, it’s perhaps not surprising that a ‘return to

A7 NEWS

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territorialism’ was named the number one threat to growth this year.

They are optimistic about the macroeconomic environment; they are confident about global and industry growth prospects (67% and 78%, respectively). They are also feeling confident in their individual country growth (74 percent are confident, although this is down 3 percentage points from 2017).

But there’s a more complex story emerging regarding company growth prospects: 90 percent are confident in their company’s growth prospects (up 7 percentage points from 2017).

FBNQuest supports ‘The New African Horizon’ at 2018 Oil, Gas Africa Assembly

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inancing oil and gas in a cyclical industry means that a long-term view on the underlying growth prospects of the recipient or project is necessary.

“Risk mitigation is about understanding the bankability of the project as much as it is about appetite,” according to Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani, head of Energy and Natural Resources at FBNQuest Merchant Bank, while speaking on funding strategies for the future African E&P Sector at the recently concluded 2018 Africa Assembly Oil/Gas conference in Paris.

Themed ‘The new African Horizon’ and hosted by the Oil and Gas Council, the two-day event is the region’s most influential corporate development strategy, finance and investment gathering of key stakeholders and seeks to promote the growth and development of the African energy industry.

The conference focused on discussions around Africa’s oil and gas industry with panel sessions to highlight regulatory foundations for developing a sustainable and efficient energy industry, private equity and alternative funding, innovative financing solutions for local and international oil and gas companies, changing operational environments as well as future opportunities for the African market.

FBNQuest Merchant Bank, as sponsor, joined over 800 delegates from across the world to contribute to the discourse on strategies needed to showcase Africa on its next stage of oil and gas industry growth.

Speaking further on the subject, Afolabi Olorode, deputy head of investment banking at FBNQuest, said, “Over the last few years, the Nigerian upstream sector has increasingly diversified its funding sources from traditional reserve-based lending by banks to other sources, including off-take/pre-sale arrangements, ECA and OPIC financing, and private equity funding.

“We view this as a positive development for the sector especially in relation to funding gas monetization plans of the independent E&P companies.”

Akinkugbe-Filani also moderated the Women’s Council Breakfast Briefing at the conference, which focused on Women in the African Energy Industry.

The growing trend of women emerging as foremost entrepreneurs and leaders is shaping the energy industry and has seen women take on bigger roles, including a new generation of female professionals seeking careers in the oil and gas fields. This encourages diversity and overall productivity, which adds to the bottom line of the economy.

According to AkinkugbeFilani, “In Nigeria where the oil and gas industry has honed local content so well, some consideration of “gender content” in the oil and gas value chain may not go amiss if such policies are well targetedandperiodicallymonitored.

“The Nigerian Content Development Act 2010 defines the minimum level of Nigerian content required for each sub sector of the oil and gas industry, thus providing a number of opportunities for local SMEs – implicitly including those owned by women - to create linkages to industries where their participation has been historically insignificant.”

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Friday 08 June 2018

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Highlight of the news reports on our digital platforms this week

Best five stories this week MTN Ghana makes history with first mobile money-based IPO MTN Ghana, the largest telecom operator in Ghana opened a historic Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the country that will see it raise as much as US$743 million in fresh capital or an equivalent of N264 billion.

US court issues $8.89bn default judgment against Nigeria A United States District Court on

Showdown looms in Senate over Water Resources Bill There are strong indications of a looming showdown at the Senate on Wednesday, over the National Water Resources Bill sponsored by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Tinubu’s silence on Ambode’s 2019 ambition creates uncertainty in Alausa

Russia 2018: Super Eagles boss Rohr names 23-man squad for World Cup Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, has released the final list of 23 players for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia which begins on 14 June.

POLL RESULTS: The Poll question: Do you recycle?

The results show that 50% of Nigerians recycle while the remaining 50% do not recycle, do you think recycling can tackle the issue of waste blocking our drainages in Nigeria?

Write us with your opinion at digital@ businessdayonline.com to let us know what your preference is.

Poll of the week Tuesday issued a default judgement affirming a $6.59 billion arbitral award against the Federal Government (FG), plus $2.3 billion in interest in a dispute that arose over a natural gas supply and processing agreement between it and a firm called Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID).

Cartoon of the week

An atmosphere of ‘wait-and-see’ is pervading the Lagos House, Alausa, as Bola Tinubu, the major decider of political direction in Nigeria’s richest sub national, Lagos, is yet to speak on the second term ambition of his ‘political son’ and incumbent governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.

Video of the week

Tweet of the week

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NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I FRIDAY 08 JUNE 2018

Opinion

Whither Nigeria’s economic diplomacy? II

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ast week we explored the nature and elements of economic diplomacy in general and its role in the pursuit of national wealth and power.

Today we conclude by looking at how Nigeria has fared in that domain and the way forward.

Economic diplomacy in Nigeria, as elsewhere, must be rooted in the principles and foundations of its foreign policy. In the early 1960s Nigerian foreign policy under the administration of the gentle and compassionate Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was anchored on the conservative framework of non-alignment, multilateralism, respect for the territorial integrity of our neighbours and noninterference in the internal affairs of other nations. We were also expressly committed to the notion of Africa as “the centrepiece” of our external relations.

The tragic civil war experience during 1967-70 was a turning point. The defunct Soviet Union, Britain and other Western countries gave their support to the federal government while France and others were on the side of the secessionist Biafra. The

federal government won the war largely on the basis of the use of the instruments of economic warfare. The blockade imposed by the federal government led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Igbo people, especially women and children. The debate on the morality of that action is unlikely to disappear soon.

The baptism of fire in terms of the war experience nonetheless had a temporising experience for our post-war diplomacy.

Nigeria emerged as a stronger and more united country, thanks to Gowon’s policy of Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, with its maxim of “No victors, no vanquished”.

It was to be the most successful post-bellum settlement in modern international politics. At the same time, the emergence of OPEC and the quintupling of global oil prices brought untold windfalls into our national treasury. We become one of the leading oil-exporting nations, with a new-found confidence in our ability to pursue a more independent external policy. We joined OPEC while embarking on ambitious programmes for economic development.

In 1975, under the short military reign of General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, Nigeria came to its own as Africa’s leading power.

Nigeria’s pursued a more vigorous policy of support for liberation movements in Southern Africa as leader of the Frontline Nations in the United Nations General Assembly.

During the seventies, Nigeria was also a strong actor in international economic diplomacy. We had trade missions in different parts of the world. The Ministry of Trade was responsible for sending Trade Attachés who served in our trade missions with responsibility for promoting our trade and international economic relations.

Then as now, we also had several bilateral agreements on trade and investments.

A retired veteran diplomat who also happens to be a highly qualified economist revealed to me that the trade missions were a complete failure due to bureaucracy, nepotism and absence of professionalism.

In the area of North-South cooperation and multilateral trade negotiations in such forums as the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Lomé

HumanAngle FEMI OLUGBILE

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n this Sunday afternoon in the month of May, there is a gathering in one of the smaller function rooms of the swank Oriental Hotel, Lagos.

It is to celebrate the World Maternal Mental Health Day, a feature that is beginning more and more to claim a space for itself in the calendar of international celebrations observed by people who pay attention to the pursuit of worthy causes.

You have been invited to this event by Kachi, a bright young Psychologist who works with you. He runs an NGO named PSN Africa, which screens pregnant women and new mothers for evidence of mental disorder, using an instrument known as Edinburgh Post-Natal Depression Scale. You have a strange fondness for that instrument, perhaps because it was developed in Edinburgh around the time you were there by your old teacher –

Physician, psycho-profiler and essayist

Conventions between Europe and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) Nigeria was a strong and well-respected actor. Distinguished diplomats such as Gabriel Ijewere, Olu Sanu and eminent economists such as Pius Okigbo, Adebayo Adedeji and Phillip Asiodu played influential roles in our international economic diplomacy and regional institution building. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s role in the multilateral trade negotiations relating to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor the WTO was much less impressive. Within the continent, we played invaluable roles in creation of regional bodies such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and in the design of key continental initiatives such as the creation of the African Development Bank Group and the Lagos Plan of Action.

During the long military interregnum 1983-1999, Nigeria took a more active role in peacekeeping efforts within and outside the continent. In West Africa, our role was decisive in restoring peace to war-torn Sierra Leone and Liberia. As part of our economic diplomacy we

also provided petroleum at subsidised prices to several West African countries ranging from Benin to Ghana and Senegal. We also built roads and other infrastructural facilities in several of our neighbouring countries.

Although these were never publicised, some of our military rulers were also in the business of giving official as well as private “loans” to some of our neighbouring countries. Altogether, according to some estimates, Nigeria has expended more than US$50 billion by way of assistance to other countries.

To drive the picture home, this amount is more than our total external reserves of US$48 billion today.

We also created the Technical Aid Corps to provide assistance to countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific islands. It must be placed on record that Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, in his capacity as foreign minister during the years 1985-87, holds the singular credit for initiating the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) as a vehicle for assisting friendly countries in Africa and beyond.

However, the idea of pursuing economic diplomacy as a central pillar of foreign policy came with the ap-

about which there seemed to have been a conspiracy of silence for so long. They settled on the first Wednesday of May every year, and have marked the day annually since 2016.

The key messages to be pushed into public glare are the following: •Maternal Mental Health

executives who run their own businesses, and other clearly upwardly mobile young people, mostly female. Many are avowedly feminist, from their tone.

The programme consists of a series of panel discussions on different aspects of the topic, invariably from the angle of personal experience. The speakers, like the audience, are mostly accomplished and ambitious young women. Each speaks freely, sometimes emotionally, about a personal experience of depression or one of the other problems around the time of childbirth. Almost invariably, they had not received prompt recognition and assistance from medical staff and family, many of whom were not even themselves aware of the existence of such problems as valid illness entities.

Dr Femi Omololu, an Obstetrician from Island Maternity Hospital in town, is invited to take the microphone and speak about ‘What the government is doing’. He explains that efforts are being made in his hospital to get the medical staff to recognize people with Perinatal Mental Health problems, and to support and treat them, using the services of mental health specialists where necessary.

The general trend of the

The mental health of mothers The struggle for awareness, recognition and care for maternal mental health conditions has become part of the general struggle for the advancement of the rights of women in Nigerian society John Cox, with whom you had a falling out of sorts.

The World Maternal Mental Health Day is actually a week- long set of activities designed to raise awareness of the fact that women around the time of childbirth suffer

in large numbers – up to one in five, by some estimations, from a constellation of mental health syndromes ranging from anxiety to depression and, in a few cases, psychotic illness. The movement arose from the deliberations of a small group of women from various countries who came together in 2015 to start making plans for a day close to the annual Mother’s Day to draw public attention to this common scourge of their gender,

Matters; #maternalMHmatters •Women, their family and friends, need to know the symptoms of maternal mental ill health, and be aware that they are not alone •Help and support – medical, social, family, should be made available promptly The crowd at the Oriental hotel event are a motley group of Nollywood stars and wannabees, bloggers and social media figures, female

THE NEW WEALTH OF NATIONS

OBADIAH MAILAFIA Dr. Mailafia is a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a development economist and public finance expert with a DPhil from Oxford obmailafia@gmail.com; 08036590990 (text messages only)

pointment of his successor Major General Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu during the years 1988-1992.

Those were the years when the country experimented with the IMF/World Bank Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) under the military presidency of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

That policy was anchored on privatisation and liberalisaContinues on page 35

contributions is that women need to speak out more for themselves. The struggle for awareness, recognition and care for maternal mental health conditions has become part of the general struggle for the advancement of the rights of women in Nigerian society.

It is interesting,indeed, watching a mental health subject being discussed by what professionals would call a ‘user’ group. There has been a movement in recent decades to feature the voices of people who have actually suffered from mental health problems in any discussions on such problems, instead of listening only to the voices of ‘experts’. Cultural taboos and stigma have often held people back from open admission or discussion of the subject. But here are these young Nigerian ladies, letting it all hang out, talking freely about how they suffered, and how they recovered and got their lives back. It is almost like saying, defiantly, ‘Look at me now!’. ‘… I couldn’t even touch my baby. I was afraid I would kill her…’ ‘…The baby’s cries drove me nuts. I would hide my head under a pillow, crying my eyes out…’ ‘…I couldn’t step out of the Continues on page 35

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Ghana Office: Business Day Ghana Ltd; ABC Junction, near Guinness Ghana Limited, Achimota – Accra, Ghana.

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WOMEN’S HUB Friday 08 June 2018

Mixed reactions trail NotTooYoungToRun bill

Workplace Palaver

Janet soon finds out that the owner of the Company she dissed is John

Stakeholders tackle sexual harassment, workplace discrimination

The Leading Ladies Of PAELON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL Indeed there is beauty in partnership

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Leading Woman

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elcome to another edition of WOMEN’S HUB. Our cover per-

KEMI AJUMOBI

sonalities are the Leading Ladies

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of Paelon Memorial Hospital

nenna Mbonu is a Partner and the Quality Assurance Director at Paelon Memorial Hospital. She qualified as a doctor in from the University of Manchester, UK and went on to specialize in Anaesthesia acquiring a Diploma in Anaesthesia from London in 1980.

She joined Paelon Memorial Hospital in August 2010 as a general practitioner. She was a Consultant Anaesthetist at Eko Hospital, Ikeja from 1995 to 2005 and then spent 5 years as a Part Time Consultant Anaesthetist at Choithram Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone. In 2010, she stopped practicing Anaesthesia and subsequently took up mainly administrative roles in Paelon, finding her niche in January 2015 in Quality Assurance and with guidance from SafeCare helped improve the hospital’s quality of service from Level 2 to an unprecedented Level 5, the highest level achievable on SafeCare’s Quality Assurance accreditation scheme. Mbonu is married with four children and one grandchild. She is an avid sportswoman and ex Nigerian Olympian.

Healthcare delivery in Nigeria Healthcare delivery in Nigeria is woefully deficient in so many ways. Deficient in manpower, funding, infrastructure and planning. Our universities and nursing schools are producing poor calibre doctors and nurses and the federal and state governments are not placing any priority on the health of the populace. There needs to be a huge injection of funding into the system to address the proper training of all healthcare professionals and the building of tens of thousands of extra clinics and hospitals.

Hospital and their views on the healthcare sector in Nigeria is worth reading.

We share with you mixed reactions on the NotToYoungToRun bill.

In WORKPLACE PALAVER, Jane realised the owner of the company she dissed is John. Find out what the ‘diss’ is all about We also bring you a story on how stakeholders tackled sexual har-

NGOZI ONYIA

assment and workplace discrimi For Osa, watching soccer in a University environment is indeed a sight to behold. Read up on her onservations.

These and more we believe you will find enlightening in this edition.

Enjoy!

KEMI AJUMOBI kemi@businessdayonline.com

Friday 08 June 2018

The Leading Ladies of PAELON Memorial Hospital

EDITOR’S NOTE

nation.

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gozi Onyia is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Paelon Memorial Hospital. A graduate of Medicine and a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians in Paediatrics. She possesses an MBA from the prestigious Lagos Business School and a Certificate of Travel Health from the International Society of Travel Health. She is a Trustee of both Pharmaccess Nigeria and the Society for Quality Health in Nigeria of which she also serves as the Chair of the Program’s committee. She is a past principal officer, (College Treasurer) of the West African College of Physicians. She worked in the public and private sectors culminating in a 10 years stint as the Company Medical Adviser of Nigerian Breweries (CMANB) from 2000-2010 , a senior management position, being the first woman to attain senior management in the then 63 years history of the company. Onyia is a member of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria, International Paediatric Association, International Society of Travel medicine and an associate member of the Society of Occupational Health Physicians of Nigeria. She is married with two grown children and recently became a grandmother.

Paelon I established Paelon Memorial Clinic in March 2010 shortly after my exit from Nigerian Breweries Plc where I had served as the Medical Adviser from 2000 to 2010. My Dad who was my role model was a doctor who established the first private hospital in Asaba, I wanted to be like him. The experience of mothering my 3rd and last child, Patricia Elozie Onyia in whose memory the hospital is named was another reason, finally, Victor Famuyibo who was my immediate boss as Human Resource Director of NBPlc as he handed me my cheque suggested that if my plan to go to Liberia did not work out, I should use my severance pay to set up a small clinic in VI or Ikoyi. I guess the answer therefore is destiny.

Solution to challenges in healthcare delivery in Nigeria A. Strengthen our healthcare system to create an enabling environment B. Healthcare financing including insurance.

C. Adequate reward for healthcare practitioners to stem the renewed tide of brain drain.

It still boils down to the Nigerian problem- infrastructure, rule of law, enabling environment.

Your contribution to the solution Someone in response to my post on FaceBook said each of us should fix Nigeria’s broken wings one feather at a time in our own spheres. That is exactly what I set out to do in the healthcare industry and with God helping me, I am achieving that.

Partnerships I believe firmly in the synergy that comes from partnerships. Each partner ought to bring something to the table. A big mistake is to underestimate the contribution of others and conversely over estimate one’s contribution.

Not all partnerships will work the prime example being marriage but that does not stop remarriages. From the second year of Paelon, I took on partners. Some have left but most have stayed. Roles have evolved but most have stayed on.

Partnership Partnerships work if the partners share the same vision and passion. There is the saying ‘two heads are better than one’, which to me sums up the benefit of partnerships.

Each partner brings something a little different to the table and the overall effect is an improved product. This is exactly what happened at Paelon Memorial Hospital.

Importance of adequate healthcare As our clientele, the patients continue to get increasingly well informed about what they should expect from their leaders, doctors and healthcare personnel so the Nigerian environment will continue to improve. The Society for Quality Healthcare in Nigeria is a beacon of hope and is trying to make an impact in the training of personnel, but many more similar organisations are needed for an impact to be felt. I left my speciality of Anaesthesia after 28 years of arduous, often nerve racking practice to focus on Quality Improvement and have not regretted that decision made in 2009.

Life’s lessons I have learnt over the years to try and maintain a healthy balance between my work and my life. Sometimes though, even if you would like to do this, it may not always be possible due to one’s particular circumstances.

The Paelon effect In 2010, on my return to Nigeria from Sierra Leone, I decided to join Dr Onyia, who had opened Paelon Memorial Clinic just six months earlier. She was someone I knew quite well when she was the Medical Director of Nigerian Breweries PLC and she was also someone with a drive and passion I admired and envied. It was an easy decision and one I have not regretted.

NKEIRUKA ASUMAH

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keiruka Asumah is the Consultant Paediatrician and Partner in charge of the hospital’s medical support services. She graduated from the University of Nigeria Enugu campus. She is a Fellow of the Nigerian Medical College of Paediatrics. She also possesses a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Lagos. She completed her masters in Healthcare Administration from Walden University, Baltimore, USA in November 2016. She was the head of department of Paediatrics at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Lagos where she was responsible for teaching paediatric interns and medical officer. During her tenure at the FMC, a fully functional paediatric unit was established including the paediatric intensive care unit. She is a member of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria and also a member of the Nigerian Society of Neonatal Medicine. She joined Paelon Memorial Hospital in August. She has three adult children.

Healthcare delivery in Nigeria It should be better than it is now as the majority of citizens have poor access to healthcare. Although the Nigerian healthcare system is a three-tiered structure, one finds that delivery at primary care level is so poor that most people access at the secondary and tertiary levels which become overwhelmed. The rich can however access healthcare at the best hospitals available. The parlour structure of the economy is partly responsible for the massive exodus in healthcare personnel to countries with better healthcare infrastructure. The nation is training new doctors who then migrate to other countries offering better facilities and welfare. Thus, newly qualified doctors are like rough diamonds that are acquired by foreign employers and polished in a system with proper healthcare infrastructure. Nigerian doctors face incredible odds and difficult conditions in their practice and as such, have become masters of improvisation.

THE WAY OUT This requires political will. Nigeria has a central budget for healthcare, so more emphasis should be placed on reaching many poor citizens who dwell in the rural areas. Most people require mainly primary healthcare. Nigerians need to believe in the country, think long term, and be willing to make certain sacrifices. I know this is a difficult thing to achieve, but it must be done. At Paelon we practice safe ethical healthcare. We are continuously striving to provide healthcare that is comparable with the best in the world, despite the obvious constraint in the Nigerian environment. I am proud to admit that Paelon is at the forefront of changing healthcare delivery in Nigeria. I am a paediatrician who has an interest in neonatology. Neonatology is extremely tasking because it capital/technology intensive and requires dedicated health personnel. However, many Nigerians have no choice but to use Nigerian hospitals for the care of their premature infants. Someone has to cater for those needs.

The mortality rate for premature infants is high but can be reduced, and one cannot give up. Fortunately, healthcare has become more affordable with the advent of health insurance. Many patients no longer must pay out-of-pocket for healthcare.

The importance of partnership For any business to remain sustainable, I believe partnership is the way to go. A good business should exist after the life time of the founder(s). However, partners should be chosen based on the value they will bring to the business and on shared visions. The partners in Paelon each bring a unique value to the business. We are all in tune with the long-term vision to change healthcare delivery in Nigeria for the better.

Graphics by David Ogar

NNENNA MBONU

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ylvia Cole is a Consultant Physician Anaesthetist and the Partner in charge of Anaesthesia department and the High Dependency Unit. She qualified as doctor from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos. During her undergraduate years, she pursued electives and observer roles at the National University of Singapore where she focused on tropical medicine. She holds a Diploma in Anaesthesia and trained as a resident in Lagos University Teaching Hospital, then moved to the United Kingdom where she continued training under the Stoke on Trent School of Anaesthesia, covering district and general hospitals in Staffordshire and the West Midlands culminating in the award of the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, in 2009. She is certified in obstetric life support (MOET), trauma life support (ATLS), advanced paediatric life support (APLS), an instructor in Advanced Life Support and attended the Owner Management Program at Lagos Business School.

She is married with three children.

Healthcare delivery in Nigeria The one word I can use to describe Healthcare in Nigeria is ‘FRAGMENTED’. As a doctor who was trained in arguably one of Nigeria’s best Teaching Hospitals situated in what has for a long time been the economic capital of Nigeria, Lagos, then went abroad for further training before coming back to work in the private space, I can only comment on some areas of this very fragmented space.

Nigeria doesn’t have a lack of ‘training grounds’ for doctors, real or imagined. There are the government hospitals at Federal (e.g The Teaching Hospitals) and State (e.g The General Hospitals) levels, Private Hospitals and hospitals of major corporations (e.g Mint, Shell, NNPC, Military Hospitals). This is where a lot of the expertise resides. However, many doctors trained in these large institutions end up lost to the diaspora. There are Religious Institutions who have clinics that deliver free healthcare, though I might add that no care is really FREE as someone is paying for it (e.g Government, taxes, HMO’s, NGO’s, private individuals, volunteer doctors, Gift Aid, Aid from other countries and so on). However, some of the clinics only run during large religious programs like conventions or festivals. Then there are the Traditional/Natural healers but for those who end up there, the outcome of their healing all depends on how skilled the person they end up with is. The fragmentation comes from the fact that even though there are seemingly sufficient ‘training’ and ‘operational’ outlets for the provision of health care, there is very little collaboration or linkages between hospitals. It is also a postcode lottery depending on which city one is in. Big cities have a lot of hospitals: government, state and private. While villages are left with small poorly funded and equipped clinics (usually manned by NYSC doctors). You also have poor enlightenment and accountability whereby some people go to Religious Institutions for ‘faith’ healing, totally avoiding the healthcare system in place, however fragmented it is and when they do not receive the healing they sought, come back to the hospitals for treatment by which time it may be too late to save them.

WAY FORWARD: There should be better locationing, role mapping and integration between Tertiary, Secondary and Primary Healthcare providers nationwide. There should also be a central place for people to go where they can be triaged and transferred to Emergent care, Urgent care and Routine care. This can be a virtual space (e.g call centres)

UNOMA GRANT

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noma Grant is the Partner in charge of nonmedical services and the Chief Operating Officer at Paelon Memoria Hospital, She graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa in 2009 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering. She attended the Senior Management Program at the Lagos Business School in Nigeria in 2016 and the Health Management Program at the Pan African University’s Enterprise Development Centre.

In 2010 she began working with Dr. Onyia to start Paelon and in 2011 left Nextzon and Joined Paelon full time as the Assistant to the Administrative Partner.

Since then she has gradually risen to the position of

SYLVIA COLE from where they can then be diverted to treatment centres based on need and location.

Observations from you area of specialty Simply put, it is DIFFICULT. Anaesthesia is my area of specialty. My work over the years has seen me progress into the realm of Intensive Care, which I would describe as a super specialty but where Nigeria still lags behind greatly in terms of fully equipped Intensive Care Units (ICU) and trained personnel to run them. ICU aside, we do not even have enough Specialist Anaesthetists to cover all the various anaesthetic needs of the nation. These needs are at various categories and require Anaesthetists of various specialties, all of which are in short supply.

Partnership Partnership is like a marriage; you have to take the lovely with the not so lovely.

It is critical that you must make up your mind early in the journey that failure (divorce) is not an option and attaining the vision and upholding the ethos of the business is paramount. At Paelon, we all recognize and respect each other’s strengths and leverage on it.

Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all the non-medical operations & staff of the hospital, the hospital’s brand. She is married with one child.

What change will you like to see in the healthcare space?

Despite graduating as a mechanical engineer, I have spent most of my career working in the healthcare space in Nigeria. In this time, I have come to understand the industry’s strengths and see where the gaps are; and right now, the most glaring gap is the lack of healthcare workers in Nigeria. As the nation’s population continues to grow, and our people live longer, the demand for and on health care workers continues to grow. This high demand for healthcare professionals has driven up the cost of providing good quality healthcare, which leaves the poorest amongst us without access to care.

According to a 2015 WHO report, there are 4 doctors to 10,000 patients in Nigeria. As most of these doctors are in Lagos and Abuja, over 70% of our population do not have access to quality healthcare either due to financial limitations or a lack of qualified healthcare professionals I their area. This is made worse by the massive brain drain with over 50% of healthcare professionals trained in the Nigeria working in other countries that are willing and able to pay them more.

This has led to our wealthy 1% seeking healthcare in the developed world and spending money that can be used to develop local talent and infrastructure, outside Nigeria. Healthcare is an issue that affects all of us and as a nation, we need to begin to take steps to increase the number of healthcare professionals and administrators produced by our universities and when they graduate we need to be willing to train them and pay them a liveable wage so they don’t feel the need to leave Nigeria for Europe and America and finally we need to invest more in the healthcare space as a whole to ensure that we do not find ourselves in a crisis.

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WOMEN’S HUB

Friday 08 June 2018

Stakeholders tackle sexual harassment, workplace discrimination DESMOND OKON

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Kenyan based catalyst for Africa women’s right, Equality Now, the WORLD Policy Analysis Centre in collaboration with The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law project, recently held a capacity building and knowledge exchange workshop of African stakeholders, called HerSafeWorkplace, on issues of gender based workplace discrimination including sexual harassment, in Nairobi, Kenya.

The th re e - day co n f e re n c e themed: A Better Workplace and Environment for Women: Achieving the SDGs, Law, and Policy in Africa, brought together partners, activists, and researchers from eleven African countries to discuss critical issues and possible solutions for tackling sexual harassment and workplace discrimination towards women.

It was learnt that more than onethird of the countries in the world do not have workplace prohibition of sexual harassment. This becomes hard to create her safe workplace.

As such, there is an urgent need to address the existence of judicial gaps by reducing the burden of evidence and bias against women.

Based on the findings presented at the conference, the burden of proof, lack of social support services and inadequate training of the police unit stood out as some of the barriers to a safe workplace for women.

Stakeholders in attendance said in order to create a safe workplace for women, some gaps like having specific legislation on gender discrimination needed to be filled; and also that monitoring mechanisms need to be put in place on the roles of statutory organisations in order to end discriminations.

Defining the concept of an ideal

workplace, the Global Executive Director, Equality Now, Yasmeen Hassan, said an ideal work environment for women was one that is comfortable and devoid of fear of harassment. ‘‘As a woman, the ideal workplace I think, is some place which is fun, that’s comfortable and a place that you would never even have to think that you could be harassed,’ Hassan said.

In the same vein, expressing her thought on what constitutes an ideal workplace, Faiza Mohammed, Director, Africa Office, Equality Now, opined that, ‘‘An ideal workplace for a woman is a place that caters for her needs both professionally and socially.

It’s a place where she is dignified, considered a professional because of her knowledge and expertise and treated with high regard. A place where if she has a baby she can nurse her baby, so all the facilities have to be provided’’.

For Ibrahim Tommy; a par-

ticipant, “An ideal workplace for women will be a place where women will have the sense of safety and security; where they’ll feel that their contribution is valued and they never entertain a fear of being harassed either by their superiors or even their colleagues”.

Commenting on the essence of the meeting another participant, Isabella Muthoni, said that “In many instances, more than we’re willing to admit, women are asked for sexual favours to get or keep a job that she’s already qualified for”.

“Sexual harassment doesn’t have to be a sexual overture. It could be being put down, not listened to, because you are a woman,” explained Crystal Simeoni, another participant.

Also present at the conference, Nigeria’s Anisa Ari Amunega, Lead Programme Coordinator, Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative, WRAPA, said, ‘‘Campaigns against sexual harassment

at the workplace and consensus building among country stakeholders is necessary to end sexual harassment’’.

The conference which started on Monday, 28th of May and ended on Wednesday 30th of May, trended heavily on social media with the hash tag ‘HerSafeWorkplace’.

This, though it may seem coincidental, provoked a response from the Nigeria Senate which passed a Motion on the growing trend of sexual harassment in our higher institutions of learning –with a spotlight on the case of Monica Osagie, an Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, student who named her lecturer in a ‘sex-for-grades’ scandal.

Sponsored by Biodun Olujimi, the Senate’s resolution mandated its committee on Tertiary Institutions and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to carry out a full scale investigation on the case of Monica Osagie and the OAU lecturer named in the sex-for-grades scan-

dal. The resolution also observed that Osagie’s experience justified the specificity and target of the Sexual Harassment in Tertiary institution Bill passed by the Senate in 2016, and the need to ensure that such pervasion is curbed in places of learning.

“As we all know, we have passed this bill as far back as 2016. Therefore, we will definitely act through the Leaders and Management to see that the House of Representatives can quickly concur on this. We must show that we do not stand for this and we are not going to tolerate it pending when the new bill becomes law. I must commend the bravery of Monica Osagie for her effort,” Senate President, Bukola Saraki said.

The Senate Motion also called on the House of Representatives to move quickly to pass the Bill on Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions (Prohibition) which has already been transmitted for concurrence.

Watching football in a University environment OSARENNOMA A. OGBEIDE

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he tension in the air is very pungent, the crowd is suspicious, the frequent uproars here and there when there was a save or miss all caught my attention. Seated in the middle of the human traffic gave Elizabeth (my friend) and I an inside scoop to the football watching behaviour.

There are the very calm ones who observe meticulously, taking in every pass and dribble every step of the way. The very aggressive ones who feel like they are practically playing in the game, attacking everyone against them.

The bad mouthed ones who do not necessarily support any team but find joy in occasionally echoing insults in the air. Then there were those who concentrated deeply and would not pay attention to anything else but the four-squared device. The undecided ones who come to watch, not having a particular team to

support but after watching for a while, pick a team based on who plays well. Also, in this case, people like me who were there just by chance and decided to observe people watching the game.

We noticed the funny and interesting expressions that filled

the cafeteria that evening. The Law student beside me fixed his gaze on the illumination of the TV; I wonder if he places as much focus on his legal system textbook. The English Major student across me was biting his nails, tension was in the air. Nigeria was

playing, what would you expect?

He forgot his usual English words and resolved to vernacular when a player made a wrong pass.

It was a huge surprise to me that majority of the crowd was supporting England. Before half time, England had two goals

already and the very few Nigerian supporters were already discouraged and started filing out. Now my question is: Why don’t we support our own? What happened to patriotism to our motherland? Perhaps the game of football is an exception or perhaps I saw it this way because the view I witnessed birthed my conclusion.

We did not get to stay till the end of the match but I did not need to look far to know that it ended 2-1.England for the win.

The highlight of the game for me was probably seeing our players looking prim in the nicely tailored Jerseys singing the national anthem. What scenery. Many thanks to my observing partner Elizabeth, who prompted me to write about this. With the World Cup approaching, I look forward to observing more pre and postgame behaviours. I believe it is a good way to apply my course of study in the University- Psychology. Let’s go!

CMYK

Imposition Studio 5.1.1

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‘My parents realised I had passion for technical things and encouraged me’ KEHINDE ADEKOYA, holds a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering and has consistently ensured she raises the bar in her field. She speaks with KEMI AJUMOBI on her aspirations and more. Excerpts

Early years till date s a young girl, I wanted to be a pilot or a Mechanical Engineer.

I thought that a Mechanical Engineer’s job was solely to fix cars and generator sets. I loved the idea of being able to do that and that is what motivated me to study mechanical engineering. I finally got my first exposure to an engine and its operations when I took Auto-Mech as a subject in secondary school. It made me even more curious and determined to learn more about how engines work.

I grew up in a middle class family; I have a twin sister and an older brother. My Dad is quite science oriented and believes we all should be too. We were allowed to express ourselves.

As a young girl, I would always be around my dad when he had to do anything on his car from changing tyres, to adjusting carburettor. When the generator repairer comes around, I will find myself staying with him and helping in getting the tools needed.

My parents realised I had passion for technical things and encouraged me.

In secondary school, I was in Applied Science department which helped on my path to becoming an engineer.

When I graduated and wanted to intern at an Auto-repair shop, I was encouraged. Now I fix everybody’s car in the house.

SIWES and Code Red Auto-shop experience At university, through Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), I interned with Lady Mechanic Initiatives, where I met other ladies who were also in the business of fixing cars. After graduating from the University and before NYSC, I volunteered to work at CODE RED AUTO-SHOP as a mechanic and I spent my free time there ever since.

While still trying to pursue a career in Engineering, currently, I work as a fleet engineer.

Any clear differences between a mechanic and a mechanical engineer?

A Mechanic is a craftsman or technician that uses skills and tools to build and repair machineries. A Mechanical Engineer on the other hand applies the principles of engineering, physics and materials science for the design, analysis, manufacturing and maintenance of mechanical systems.

Do you have challenges on the job because you are female?

The fact is that the job is physically challenging, but I have learnt ways to handle tasks with least effort. Finding my balance, looking for the right momentum, the right angle from which to pull and turn tools while working has made the job to be least challenging.

How are you coping in a male dominated terrain?

The Auto repair shop I work with is mainly male dominated but my colleagues and most especially my boss @dautodoc has made it quite easy, by pushing me to take up challenges and when tasks are assigned we all work together as a team and no one looks down at me for being a female mechanic. We all play our parts to get the job done. I feel very comfortable in overalls and real cool when I see people gape at me in shock and awe when I change brake pads, drain

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engine oil and so on.

Meeting the Lady Mechanic The Lady Mechanic has always been an inspiration knowing there is someone out there doing what I love to do and excelling at it. My course mate from University mentioned he was interning at her Autoshop, so I told him I was interested and he put in a word for me, so I got to intern with her for a short time. Being there with other female mechanics really encouraged me. The Lady Mechanic helped putting everything in the right perspective, defining my motives properly and showing me how to profit from the business. This encouraged me immensely.

Pursuing a career in Engineering To be registered as an Engineer in Nigeria requires that one has some level of professional experience and minimum four years working experience. I do not want to be the Mechanic next door but one with a professional background. Where I work at the moment gives me the exposure and experience I will need to run a successful Auto-Mechanic centre.

What are the duties of a fleet engineer and how do you carry it out?

Prior to being a fleet engineer (glorified mechanic), I worked as a maintenance engineer.

I used to maintain power solutions on telecoms base stations but, the management of the company noticed my passion for car repairs and transferred me to the fleet department where I diagnose, repair, service and create maintenance schedules for the fleet of vehicles.

What kind of cars do you fix? Any area of specialisation?

I do not like to put a limitation on myself by saying I do a particular brand. In reality almost all automobile engines work on the same principle with extra addition or difference. I fix cars with petrol engine but I have issue with American cars because of unavailability of spare parts in Nigeria.

How can you be reached?

Via Instagram @kennyrhema,emailinfo.famts@gmail.com or 07054026983

What advice do you have for young girls who desire to follow your career path?

Becoming a Mechanic is a process which starts with gathering necessary technical skills and knowledge on how cars work, learning how to diagnose, repair and understanding the trade.

Female mechanics are taking strides in the industry which has made it more acceptable as a career.

I strongly believe in interning and volunteering, if you are passionate about being a Mechanic find an auto repair shop where you intern or volunteer. In the nearest future, I plan on training a lot of young girls in the Auto-Mechanic skill. You are not weird but unique for wanting to be a Female Mechanic.

Final words Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men. - Proverbs 22: 29. Diligence is required in all our pursuits in life.

Walking in diligence takes you to the high places of life.

WOMEN’S HUB

Mixed reactions trail NotTooYoungToRun bill DESMOND OKON

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he Not-Too-Young-To-Run movement recently achieved its age long dream of reducing the age for running for elective offices for young men and women in politics. The bill which was assented to by President Buhari reduced the age to run for the office of the president from 40 to 35 years. While the age to run for the House of Representatives and State House of Assembly was reduced to 25 years, Senator and governorship age remained at 30 years.

This development generated wide reactions from all quarters.

While some were excited and lauded President Buhari for the move, others were sceptical of Buhari’s motives for assenting to the bill, connecting it to his second term aspiration. Others also expressed concerns as to whether young people have the financial muscle to run for government positions.

“It is done! The Not Too Young To Run Bill has just been signed into law by Buhari! Congratulations to young people across the country, and across the continent!

There’s nothing we can’t achieve when we put in the work and use our numbers! History’s been made! New Narratives in 2019.”

-Chioma Agwuegbo, Founder Tech Her Nigeria.

“Great job, to all you great young Nigerians that coalesced to

when the youth come together & demand it. That’s BIG!” - Joe Abah, Nigeria Country Director, Development Alternatives Incorporated, DAI.

“I welcome the signing of the NotTooYoungToRun bill into law.

I also congratulate Tony Nwulu who sponsored the bill. Importantly, today’s milestone is proof of the resilience and intrinsic hardworking nature of the everyday Nigerian youth who worked to make this a success”.

- Atiku Abubakar, Ex Vice President of Nigeria.

“As young people across the country bask in the moment and celebrate the signing of the NotTooYoungToRun Bill into law, they must not see this as the final bus stop on this journey. It is one thing to be able to run, but, it is another thing entirely to be able to serve. This nation needs the energy and innovation of our young people. Hence, the next phase of NotTooYoungToRun must be young people registering to vote, collecting their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, running for office and/or working to get their peers elected into both legislative and executive offices.”

-Toyin Saraki, Healthcare Philanthropist and the Founder of Wellbeing Foundation Africa.

achieve the NotTooYoungToRun Act. You just made history and now, know that you have all the power to birth the new Nigeria of our dream. Kudos to the Nigerian National Assembly for passing the Bill! Kudos to the Nigerian President for assent!”

“It’s high time the young ones took over. But I just hope the price tag for the post of the president won’t be outrageously high.”

-Oby Ezekwesili, Convener of the Bring Back Our Girls group, BBOG.

“I congratulate all Nigerian youths on the signage of the NotTooYoungToRun bill. However, you all will soon find out that the electoral and political process has been completely monetized. 98% of Youths cannot afford to successfully run an electoral campaign!”

“On the same day that the allegedly 75 year old Buhari signed the NotTooYoungToRun Bill, it was announced that his party, APC, picked a 74 year old to be its deputy Governor candidate for the July 14 Ekiti guber election.

Youths of Nigeria, can’t you see they are just using you?”

-Reno Omokri, Author, and ardent critic of Aso Rock.

“The real achievement of the NotTooYoungToRun Act is not the lowering of age limits or even the chances of increased participation. Those may not make much difference in the short term. It is that change is possible in Nigeria

-Valentine Okafor, Inspirational Speaker and Social Entrepreneur.

- Tomide Akinribido, House of Assembly aspirant, Ondo West Constituency.

“The least amount a party nomination form is sold is N5m.

Please how will a 30 years old get the money to fund his campaign, in this our political system where campaign depends largely on money. Now we can run, how possible is it to win. Our problem is more than NotTooYoungToRun”.

-San Romeo, Idustrial Chemist

BUSINESS DAY

Workplace Palaver

Friday 08 June 2018

Janet realised that the owner of the company she dissed is John KEMI AJUMOBI

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anet Adeniran was invited to work in her present job as the Managing Director, Peacemark holdings, while she was working in America. After all negotiations were complete, she arrived in Nigeria and in no time, she began work.

The management team believed strongly that she needed some publicity and media intervention so that she could be properly introduced to everyone and the Public Relations department in her office was in charge of that. One of the first and most important thing was to have a photo-shoot. She needed to have an official picture and then some more for the magazine cover she was going on.

She was scheduled for a photo-shoot at John & Johnson Studios international. After the shoot and the pictures were sent to her, she did not like the pictures and she did not fail to let her team know she was upset at the turnout.

The team decided to bring John Makinde, a reputable and professional Photographer to meet with Janet. She was on phone when the head of her PR team, Victor, came into her office with John. Using her right hand, while her left hand held her mobile phone, she showed them the seats signalling that they should sit down.

She rounded up her conversation on phone and immediately began a conversation with them.

“Yes, how may I help you Victor?

And who do we have here?” she asked and Victor responded “This is John Makinde, he will personally

be handling your photo-shoots this time around Ma’am.” Victor said and just a he was about to proceed, Janet interjected “Oh ok, I believe you should be more professional even in terms of delivery because my previous shoot was a major catastrophe…at least in my own eyes. I am not sure the photographer is a professional… anyway, nice meeting you John, I am hoping my experience will be better.” She said as she stretched out her hand to shake John. Victor and John later left the office.

The time for the shoot was slated for the following week. It was the same Johnson & Johnson International but now at their head office.

On the day of the shoot, Janet was there with her Personal Assistant, Lilian and Victor (The head of her PR team). “If we can judge by looks, then this environment certainly shows that the pictures are going to be nice…Victor, why didn’t you bring me here before?” she asked him as she sat down at the reception and asked Lilian to sit down too.

“Ma’am, it is the same company, I just felt this time, we should try their head office, which is where we are now. Also, the previous one is closer to the office, that’s why I opted for that earlier” Victor clarified.

Janet then peeped to watch three men setting up the camera and lights; she observed that one of the men that was giving out instructions, and at the same time setting up, looked familiar even from behind, but later felt her eyes were misleading her so she remained calm until she was asked to come for her makeup and change of outfit. Lilian got up immediately, picked the outfits they had come with and headed with

Janet to the make-up room.

By the time she was done, she looked stunning. Lilian had to compliment her “You look absolutely stunning Ma’am” she said.

“Thanks Lilian” Janet responded with a smile.

As they both walked out of the dressing room, they began walking towards the camera and everything was ready for the shoot.

Again, she observed the same person she saw earlier. This time again, he wasn’t facing her direction, he was adjusting the camera in preparation for the photo-shoot and as he heard Victor say “Oh, whao! You look absolutely stunning Ma”, he then turned and his eyes met Janet’s. She was so shocked that by the time John Makinde was stretching out his hand to greet Janet, she did a good job of acting like she was on top of the situation...MD Mode activated “So you work here?” she asked and with a smirk on his face, John sarcastically responded “Yes...I work here…I own John & Johnson Studios International, including the branch you took your pictures earlier. It’s the

reason I said I would personally take the pictures this time around.”

“Interesting, but why didn’t you tell me you owned the company the other day you and Victor came into my office to see me?” she asked. “If I remember correctly Ma’am, you did not give Victor room to completely explain my involvement and the reason we were both at your office. I didn’t see any chance of me saying anything if Victor wasn’t done sharing his reasons for coming.”

John replied. “Notwithstanding, you should have at least said you were the owner of the company” Janet responded and again John didn’t mince words “Ma’am, sitting before a client who says the pictures from my company was a catastrophe and she wasn’t sure if the photographer is a professional, didn’t give room for me to share my views. Aside not wanting to respond to your opinion because I wasn’t given any chance to talk, I also made up my mind I was going to personally take the photographs.” He said. “So this photo-shoot is your ‘come-back’

right? Well, I apologise for my words, sorry it came out that way. I just wasn’t initially fascinated about them…I must confess tough that after a while, I began to like them but, this shoot had been arranged and I decided to go ahead.” She explained and continued “I am sure your intention is to Whao me…let’s just say you have won already in case you intend for my jaws to drop after seeing the finished product.”

Janet teased. “Well, when you are a graduate of California Institute of Arts - Photography school, you are indebted to excellence” John said with a glimmer of subtle pride. “You certainly know how to toot your horns John” Janet replied.

It was an amazing shoot and when the pictures were sent to Janet, she was in awe. She had to place a call to John to personally thank him for a job well done.

Till date, as long as Peacemark Holdings is concerned, Johnson & Johnson International is the official photographer for the organisation. So far, there hasn’t been complains so let’s just say ‘catastrophes’ have become alien.

Hafsat Abiola appointed WIA Initiative’s Executive President

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afsat Abiola, a Nigerian activist for human rights, civil rights and democracy, was appointed, this 5th June 2018, Executive President of Women in Africa (WIA) Initiative, the first innovative platform dedicated to the economic development and support of leading and high potential African women, launched in 2016.

“I accept this appointment with honour as I believe in the vision of Women in Africa (WIA) Initiative. Women are the greatest untapped resource of the continent. I want to help lead the organization that is working to harness their potential. It could very well be the game-changer that unleashes the long- anticipated rise of the continent.”

She takes over the lead of Aude de Thuin, founder of WIA Initiative, a serial entrepreneur, committed worldwide to the cause of women for over twenty years. “It is within the logic of WIA Initiative’s history to have an African woman as president since it is through women that Africa will develop in confidence and in complementarity with men”. she said.

Hafsat will be responsible for the vision for Women in

Africa (WIA) Initiative. As such, she will be in charge of the summits’ programs organised by the Initiative, whether they are global or regional, and of the digital platform’s contents.

She will be the spokesperson and interface with pan- African and global partners. She will chair the Council and expand the network of ambassadors (currently 27 on the continent).

“WIA Initiative has a great network of women across Africa and around the world as well as strong relationships with corporations and organizations, especially in Europe.

Internally, we have a small but dynamic team that is committed to delivering results for Women in Africa, which means that there is no limit to what we can achieve, so long as we remain focused on our goal, which is to ensure the rise of the women of Africa.” says Abiola.

Hafsat is a graduate of the Phillips Academy (1992) and Harvard College (1996), she is the founder and president of Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, whose purpose is to strengthen civil society and promote democracy in Nigeria. She is currently a member of the Ogun State Cabinet as a Governor’s Advisor.

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ANALYSIS

RUSSIA’S $11BN WORLD CUP NOT LIKELY TO IMPACT ECONOMY – ANALYSTS Stories by Anthony Nlebem

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s the much-anticipated biggest football tournament kicks off on Thursday June 14th, Russian soccer fans are not holding out much hope that their national team will emerge victorious the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Russia’s economy might not be a big winner either, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The economic benefit of hosting the world’s most-watched sporting event will be very limited and short-lived, analysts from the rating company said in a report published recently. “The impact is likely to be even lower” than the 2014 Winter Olympics hosted by Russia in Sochi, “which developed an under-built resort area that is more accessible than many of the regions where the World Cup will be staged.”

The World Cup is taking place in Russia for the first time and matches will take place in 11 cities including Kaliningrad in the west, Volgograd in the south and Yekaterinburg in the Urals. In most areas, visiting fans will give a boost to nominal

gross regional product of only around 1 percent to 2 percent, and the World Cup effect won’t exceed 3 percent in any region this year, according to Moody’s.

After winning the right to host the month-long tournament in 2010, Russia spent 683 billion rubles ($11 billion) on preparations for the World Cup from 2013 to 2018, much of it on new stadiums and transport infrastructure. While that’s only a fraction of the estimated 1.5 trillion rubles Russia spent to prepare for the Sochi Olympics, the spending boosted gross domestic product by about 1 percentage point during those six years, according to

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the Russia 2018 World Cup Organizing Committee.

The investment in the soccer tournament will add between 150 billion and 210 billion rubles annually to the economy over the next five years, the committee estimates.

“The associated economic stimulus will pale” in comparison to Russia’s $1.3 trillion economy, with much of the macroeconomic impact already felt through infrastructure spending, according to the Moody’s report.

While preparations for the World Cup helped host regions to improve their infrastructure, it won’t boost long-term growth because sectors benefiting from tourism including hotels, trade and transport “are not drivers” in most of the local economies, Moody’s said. They are unlikely to draw tourists over time as “the regions’ remoteness, climate, and availability of alternative destinations will limit the tourism industry’s long-term growth potential.”

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NEWS

vember 2017 and March 2018, respectively.

GROUP B

PORTUGAL 2018 World Cup is just 6 days ago and FIFA has published images of all 2018 World Cup home jerseys, giving us a great look at all the 32 jerseys that we will be participaring in Russia this summer.

Adidas makes the jerseys for 12 of the 32 teams that qualified for the tournament.

Nike follows with 10 teams; Puma makes the kits for four nations, while New Balance has two teams under contract. Errea, Hummel, Umbro and Uhlsport mak kits for one team respectively.

FIFA’s images not only show off on each kit from the same perspective, the pictures also give us a look at the numbers and their positioning.

GROUP A

RUSSIA

Adidas produces Russia’s 2018 World Cup kits. The home is red and white, drawing inspiration from the 1988 USSR jersey, while the away will be white and blue.

SAUDI

ARABIA Another team to be supplied

by Nike, the Saudi Arabia 2018 kits was released in March, featuring a brand-new federation crest on the left chest.

EGYPT

Egypt’s kits for the 2018 World Cup are made by Adidas. The home was released in November, while the Egypt 2018 away shirt followed in March 2018.

URUGUAY

Ur u guay’s 2018 World Cup kits are made by Puma once again. They were launched in No-

Once again produced by Nike, the Portugal 2018 World Cup home kit is based on the brand’s new template and features a few personalized details. The Portugal 2018 away kit, meanwhile, will be white and green to replace 2016’s teal one.

SPAIN

The Spain 2018 World Cup kits are made by Adidas. The new Spain 2018 World Cup home kit is inspired by the 1994 edition, while Spain’s new 2018 World Cup away shirt will be ‘Halo Blue’ (very light grey / almost white) and red.

PERU

Peru makes a long awaited return to the World Cup. It will be the last time the team will wear Umbro jerseys ahead of a switch to South American brand Marathon that was already confirmed.

DENMARK

Iconic Danish brand Hummel will make a return to the World Cup after the country qualified for the 2018 edition. There are no details on the Hummel Denmark 2018 World Cup jerseys yet.

GROUP D

ARGENTINA

MOROCCO

The Morocco 2018 World Cup kits are made by Adidas and based on two different teamwear templates.

Argentina’s 2018 World Cup home features the traditional striped look in a design inspired by the 1993 edition, while the new Argentina 2018 World Cup away kit will be black. Just as in previous years, the Argentina 2018 World Cup kits are made by Adidas.

IRAN

ICELAND

Iran became the first team from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to book their place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Iran’s 2018 World Cup jerseys are made by Adidas and based on the brand’s teamwear offering.

GROUP C

FRANCE

The France 2018 home shirt will brings back the hooped look known so well from 2012 and 2014, although in a new set of colors. Meanwhile, the France away jersey for the 2018 World Cup will be white and navy.

AUSTRALIA

Australia’s 2018 World Cup kits were made by long-term supplier Nike.

Wo r l d C u p debutant Iceland will wear Erreà kits in Russia. All featuring the same design, the Iceland 2018 home, away and third kits are blue, red and white respectively.

CROATIA

The Croatia 2018 FIFA World Cup kits are made by Nike.

NIGERIA

The Nike Nigeria 2018 World Cup home kit features an outstanding design, while the away kit looks more appealing to the eyes.

GROUP E

BRAZIL

Brazil’s 2018 World Cup home kit will not only bring a slightly dif-

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ferent shade of yellow compared to the few before it, but also introduce a unique graphic print. The away will be blue and yellow.

SWITZER

LAND The Switzerland 2018 home kit brings a clean and simple look, while the away is a tad too understated possibly.

COSTA RICA

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Featuring an outstanding design, the new Belgium 2018 World Cup home jersey is closely inspired by the iconic 1984 kit, also by Adidas. The away kit, meanwhile, will be yellow.

PANAMA

Another d e but a nt , Panama’s kits for the 2018 World Cup will also be made by New Balance.

TUNISIA

SERBIA

ENGLAND

GROUP F

GERMANY

The jerseys for the reigning World Cup champions are both inspired by classic kits of the past. The new Germany 2018 World Cup home shirt is white with a unique grey graphic pattern that draws inspiration from the iconic 1990 uniform, while the Germany 2018 World Cup away kit will be green.

T u n i sia’s 2018 World Cup kits were produced by smaller German brand Uhlsport.

After 2016’s England national team jerseys were rather simple and not too personalized, the 2018 World Cup England home kit will feature a bespoke graphic print on the front. The England 2018 away jersey will be red and white, with a different print on the front.

GROUP H

POLAND

Poland will play in Nike kits during the 2018 World Cup, the country’s first appearance since Germany 2006.

MEXICO

SENEGAL

SWEDEN

COLOMBIA

The new Me x i c o 2018 World Cup jerseys feature unique designs. They were the first kits to be leaked.

Sweden kept Italy out of the competition and will play in Adidas kits at Russia 2018.

SOUTH K

OREA South Korea’s kits for the 2018 World Cup Russia are made by Nike and were launched in March 2018.

GROUP G

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BELGIUM

New Balance makes the Costa Rica 2018 World Cup kits. The Costa Rica 2018 World Cup home shirt was revealed in March.

Having left Umbro with the conclusion of the qualifiers, the Serbia 2018 World Cup home and away kits are made by Puma.

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Senegal has parted ways with Romai Sports and the country’s 2018 World Cup kits are made

by Puma.

The Colombia 2018 World Cup kits were produced by Adidas once again. Whereas the home features the traditional yellow and dark blue, the Colombia 2018 away jersey is royal blue and bright orange, inspired by the iconic orange home shirts worn in the 1970s and 80s.

JAPAN

The Japan 2018 World Cup kits are made by Adidas, which split up the launch of home (November) and away (March) uniforms.

RUSSIAN WATCHDOG FINES HOTELS $147,000 FOR PRICE HAULING

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otels nationwide have been slapped with fines totaling 9.2 million rubles ($147,000) for price gouging ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing said in a statement.

Eighteen such violations were unearthed over the past week. In total, by May 28 the Russian consumer rights watchdog had registered 756 cases of price gouging at hotel accommodations.

In addition, 199 cases where hotels lacked classification documents were uncovered. Meanwhile, all hotels in cities that will host the World Cup matches must undergo obligatory classification for star-ratings depending on the level of provided services.

Sweeping hotel checks in the regions that will host the World Cup matches started in late February.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will run from June 14 to July 15 in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg and Sochi.

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NEWS

SUPER EAGLES GOING TO RUSSIA TO DO NIGERIA PROUD – MOSES

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uper Eagles midfielder and Nigeria’s top scorer of the FIFA World Cup qualifying series with three goals, Victor Moses has assured Nigerians that the Super Eagles team retains the steel and coherence that took it past Cameroon and that those qualities will be on display in Russia this summer.

“We are a team in spirit and in action.

When we were starting the qualifiers, people said it was a ‘group of death’. Now, people say we are in ‘group of death’ at the World Cup. We will keep surviving and thriving.”

Moses had glowing words for the NFF

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administration led by Pinnick, admitting that the NFF boss “is like a father to me.”

He said: “Pinnick is like a father to me.

He calls me almost every day, advising and encouraging me in my game and life generally. The NFF he heads has done so well and done so much for the team.

“We are going to Russia to do the NFF and Nigeria proud. They have taken care of several areas that used to be points of distraction and worry for the team. Now, we have settled minds and can fully focus on the game on the pitch.”

Moses has singled out the 4-0 bashing of African champions Cameroon in Uyo on the first day of September last year as his most fulfilling match in the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying series.

The Chelsea FC ace has also handed big kudos to the President of Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick and his team for changing the administrative game for the better, through developing a special relationship with the players, keeping its word at every turn and attracting global attention to the Nigeria game

rsenal’s Alex Iwobi is among the players who modelled the kit, which was first revealed back in February, along with Leicester’s Wilfried Ndidi, who wore a branded bucket hat and jacket for the promotional photos.

The makers describe the home kit as a “subtle homage to Nigeria’s ‘94 shirt, with its eagle wing-inspired black-and-white sleeve and green torso”.

The away kit, meanwhile, is a “cool, refined vi-

through deft moves in a number of areas.

“My best match of the qualifying series was the one against Cameroon in Uyo. We went into the match with Cameroon being the champions of Africa, and with so many people expecting us to be defeated.

We realized that and we told ourselves we had to go all out. We did and won handsomely. That was when we knew we had the World Cup ticket for the taking,” Moses said.

NIKE has announced that the Nigerian World Cup kit was sold out within just three hours after being released in the U.K. Nigeria may not be favourites for the World Cup, but they seem to have won fans over with their new kit for Russia.

Three million people pre-ordered replica shirts, according to the Nigeria Football Federation, and shoppers queued outside Nike’s flagship store in London on Friday to try to get their hands on the clothing.

The home and away shirts, priced at £64.95, were sold out on the sportswear giant’s website soon after they were released.

sion” of a classic full-green strip.

Football kit collectors were also keen to get their hands on the funky shirts, as well as profiteers looking to make some quick cash.

Some of the shirts were available to buy on eBay by Friday afternoon, with bidding reaching £100 for one medium-sized shirt.

The kit costs £65 and was not released until late on in order to increase demand and reduce the spread of replicas being produced ahead of the World Cup. The Super Eagles are looking forward to the tournament after they beat Argentina 4-2 back in November and they will face them again in the group stages.

Their squad is relatively young and 21-year-old Alex Iwobi features heavily in promoting the new gear along with Kelechi Iheanacho.

The new collection is ‘Naija-inspired’, with the Mercuial 360 boot available in green and black, reflecting the colours used in the new kits.

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NEWS

MOSCOW OFFICIALS BAN FOOTBALL HOOLIGANS FROM WORLD CUP GAMES

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elen Otitochukwu Manufor is the global brand manager for Gilbert, and a Nigerian who has lived in the United Kingdom all her life. She shared her experience with on the first day of the release of the new Super Eagles’ kits in London on Friday.

“It was an amazing experience for me. I actually spent two-and-half hours on the queue trying to get some of the wears for myself and my little nieces.

“At the end of the day, I couldn’t get any as they were out of stock by the time it got to my turn. My nieces were unhappy when I got back home. I had to go back to the NIKE store on Oxford Street on Saturday before I could get something. By the time I was leaving, they had run out

of stock again.”

Manufor’s experience typified the tale of many individuals who went out to Oxford Street on the first day of the sale of the new wears designed

by NIKE for Nigeria’s Super Eagles for the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals.

By Saturday morning, when NIKE decided to put up for sale some more of the wears, they didn’t last up to an hour on the counter.

“Everyone wants the Nigerian wears,” Modupeola Adebukola, another UK -based Nigerian said. “My friends had been talking about it for some weeks now and then we went to NIKE town (NIKE store on Oxford Street) on Friday and despite staying hours on the queue, we could not get. The queue was very, very long.”

“In a pep talk given as if the players were about to emerge from the tunnel, some of the coaching staff of the teams in the 2018 FIFA World Cup have given important advice to the lucky fans that will follow - and be a part of - all the football action in Russia,” FIFA said in a statement.

“While praising the fact that it was not easy to “get there”, they remind ticket holders of the most important things they need to know to make the best of this big moment, such as bringing their Fan-IDs, taking public transport and arriving early at the stadium,” the statement said.

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ead coaches of some of the teams participating in the 2018 FIFA World Cup gave advice to international football fans wishing to come to Russia for the upcoming global championship the world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on Friday.

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ports should unite people, and not incite football-related violence. We realize there is a problem, but today, we are working quickly with fan club representatives that are in our country, like Manchester, Liverpool, Chelsea,” Chernikov noted.

Earlier he stated that Moscow is fully set to host the FIFA World Cup. According to the officials, at least 1.5 million people may visit Moscow during this period.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 Russian cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostovon-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

Video clips of national teams’ coaches giving advice to football fans have been posted on Friday on the official website of FIFA. On December 1, 2017, the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow hosted the Final Draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which determined the group breakdown for the FIFA flagship event this year. A total of 32 national football squads were divided into eight groups with four teams in each. Hosts Russia were placed in Group A with teams from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in less than two weeks with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow.

Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 mentioned above cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.

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Friday 08, June 2018

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rom The 14th of June till the 15th of July all attention is going to be centered around the greatest football game ever. 32 countries will come together and battle for THE TROPHY that says they are the best footballers in the world. All eyes look to Russia and thousands of people will be there live during the Games. For those, who cannot make it to Russia, however, Balmoral is bringing Russia to you in the City of Lagos via the Russia In Lagos Fan Festival.

The Russia In Lagos Fan Festival will take place at Eko Atlantic City and will start on the 14th of June and end on the 15th of July. It’s going to be the largest viewing village Nigeria has ever seen. All 64 matches will be shown live on a Mega Screen at the Fan Village. There will be a mini Food village that has everything from posh noms to street food, a Music festival with an impressive lineup in tow

MORE VIPS TO ATTEND 2018 FIFA WORLD CUP

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large number of high-profile guests are going to attend various 2018 FIFA World Cup football matches in Russia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“A whole bunch are already known.

We will give you a summary and we are now putting it together,” the spokesman said.

“There will constantly be a lot of heads of state and governments who will attend various matches to watch their team play,” the spokesman noted.

Very tense preparations are now un-

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and Drinks too. Everything will be available to enjoy football at its finest during the 32 days of the tournament.

Side attractions at the viewing village will include a 5-a-side tournament, musical concerts and games. There will also be a children’s zone so families can come as a whole and have fun together. THIS EVENT IS ABSOLUTELY FREE. The Russia In Lagos Fan Festival is a celebration of football at its very best and that’s why Budweiser, the “King Of Beer” has signed up as one of the major Sponsors of the Russia In Lagos Fan Festival.

Budweiser will be the official Beer of the Fan Village and will use the Russia In Lagos Platform as one for celebration in line with their brand essence.

In the same stead VISA the international payment solution giant has also signed up to be one of the official Sponsors for the Russia In Lagos Fan Festival. The in-

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ternational payment giant have been invested in and also been big promoter of sporting activities including football.

The Russia In Lagos Fan Festival is in partnership with other major sponsors that are bringing this great event to Life.

Coca Cola, the official refreshment partner of the Russia In Lagos Fan Village and a great promoter of sharing amongst people and a longtime lover of football.

Taittinger the official Champagne Partner of Russia In Lagos 2018 makers of Premium wines and Champagnes Mikano International the largest assembler of power generating sets from renowned Generator manufacturers.

Kwese TV the official Broadcast partner, making viewing available to everyone anytime anywhere!

Taxify , the official taxi Partner for Russia In Lagos.

All this will not be possible without the endorsement of the Government of Lagos State, the Lagos State Sports Commission and Lagos State Signage & Advertisement Agency.

The Russia In Lagos Fan Festival is an initiative of the Balmoral Group

derway, Peskov pointed out. “Not only will this be a major worldwide sports occasion, but it will also have heavy VIP traffic,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 14 with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow.

Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the above-mentioned cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.