BusinessDay 12 Feb 2019

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Atiku campaign gathers momentum ahead of Saturday’s election T CHRISTOPHER AKOR

he huge crowd that attended the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) rally on Sunday at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano and other previous rallies in Jigawa, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi States signals a huge shift in momentum for the PDP presidential Financing off-grid energy in the Niger Delta: Kayode Pitan (l), MD/ CEO, Bank of Industry (BoI), and Wiebe Boer, CEO, All On, after signing the joint funding agreement for the N1 billion BoI/All On Niger Delta Off Grid Energy Debt Fund, at the BoI HQ in Lagos.

candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who has laboured to shift the election narrative from one centred on anticorruption to one focused more on the economy – employment, poverty alleviation and economic growth.

Incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari and candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), conscious of the poor performance of his administration on the

economic front, the worsening unemployment and poverty levels, and the vacuous election programmes that lack real vision and intellectual rigour, has, however, worked hard to make anti-corruption the central issue in the elections.

The president and his party have constantly blamed all the ills of the Continues on page 34

Market I&E FX Window CBN Official Rate Currency Futures

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361.95 306.70

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ANALYSIS

Apapa: When government deceives, punishes citizens CHUKA UROKO, JOSHUA BASSEY, AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE & INIOBONG IWOK

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n Nigeria, when political leaders and government functionaries are not exhibiting tribal sentiments, they must be busy lying, deceiving and being hypocritical, giving the impression that all is well even in a messy situation.

Continues on page 34

Inside Capital Alliance, Elalan disrupt property market with $165m investment in midmarket residential devt P. 23 Understanding the economy of Nigeria’s 36 states – Anambra & Ebonyi

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What Egypt can teach Nigeria in attracting more oil and gas investments DIPO OLADEHINDE

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igeria may have an oil production of 2 million barrels per day (bpd) and 192 trillion standard cubic feet of gas reserves, the largest in Africa, but new money is seeing Egypt as the most attractive destination for investment on the continent.

After the Arab Spring of 2011 and the overthrowing of then-President Hosni Mubarak, which unsettled investors and reduced Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Egypt’s oil and gas sector is reaping from brilliant investment incentives, better foreign exchange environment, improving inflationary regime and an impressive contract cycle that ensures that projects get from drawing board to launch in a short time.

This is unlike Nigeria where years of failed policies and a succession of arrogantseniorgovernmentofficialshave led to unmitigated fall in investment into its once-alluring energy sector.

According to reports, Egypt is finalising details of a new type of oil and gas contract that will attract more foreign investment than the $10 billion in actual and not pledged investment already coming into its energy industry in 2019.

Tarek El-Molla, Egypt’s petroleum

and mineral resources minister, said in an interview with CNBC that the new contract with IOCs will provide investors with incentives to explore for fossil fuels in undeveloped areas.

“We’re improving the costrecovery process to be faster, less bureaucratic and more efficient,” El-Molla said. “The government will launch a new bid round in the Red Sea this quarter.”

Officials told Bloomberg that the new oil and gas contract would allow investors to control their share of production rather than sell to the government at preset prices.Theofficials,who asked not to be identifiedbecausethediscussionswere private, said terms could be tweaked depending on the investment.

Egypt’s existing Production-Sharing Agreements (PSA) give investors about a third of a project’s output to help cover exploration and production costs while the rest is split with the government, which has the right to buy the producer’s entire share at the preset price.

The most populous Arab nation wants to become a gas re-exporting hub on the doorstep of Europe, and the contract overhaul is part of a broader plan to liberalise its energy industry.

Analysis

•Continues online at www.businessday.ng

Nigeria’s huge youth population fails to engineer social change STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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igeria’s bulging youth population is failing to move the needle of social and political change in Africa’s biggest democracy experiment given its scanty representation in government with 60 years as the average age of cabinet members.

Young Nigerians had participated in the 2015 general elections in a variety of ways, including as voters, observers and polling officers, but relatively few youths had taken up leadership positions in the new government.

The National Bureau of Statistics defines a youth as anyone between the ages of 15 and 34. This age bracket constitutes almost 50 percent of Nigerians active in the labour market. For every Nigerian 65 years old and above, there are 16 Nigerians 40 years old and below.

But young Nigerians are failing to influence the emergence of governance structures that will work for a future in which they could, within reason, be better off.

This has been attributed to the structure of Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy, where wealth creation has in the last three decades been largely a function of access to oil and gas mining and production licences and the youths have been shut out of this space with negative effect on the development of democracy in Nigeria.

“Nigeria is a licence-driven economy. Mention any Nigerian billionaires and I will show you the licence behind their wealth. Those in government use these licences to settle their friends, who are usually not young people,” Seth Akutson, former professor of entrepreneurship economics at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, said.

Investors and governance experts have pointed to the fact that growing

economic inequality is becoming a fundamental risk to democracy and to economies around the world as more people feel government rules “rigged” in favour of the rich leave them with few options.

“Democracy needs freedom to thrive and freedom is only for people who own property. Not many Nigerian youths can afford to own property and this affects their ability to command influence and bring about political change,” said Promise Ejiorfor, a post-graduate student of diplomacy and international relations at the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary.

Globally, half of the world’s wealth is now held by just 1 percent of the world’s population, according to a 2015 report by Credit Suisse, a financial services company.

Another reason for the limited youth involvement in defining Nigeria’s political landscape has been the lack of political party structures defined by a clear philosophy. Political parties in this sense lack structures and revolve around wealthy individuals who call the shots and consciously work against building party systems that are robust.

Youth participation here is sporadic and aligns with the bidding of the strongman of the party, who is usually the wealthiest too. The youth serve as political thugs. This puts youth affairs on the backburner.

“Even though the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says it has reached agreement with the Federal Government, the universities have not resumed academic work.

The UTME will soon start and Nigerian universities still lack requisite facilities.

We do not count,” said 18-year-old Precious Offor, a Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination candidate.

•Continues online at www.businessday.ng

L-R: Sani Dangote, group vice president, Dangote Industries Limited; Jumoke Oduwole, senior special adviser to the president on industry, trade and investment; Okechukwu Enelamah, minister of industry, trade and investment; Cemile Hacibeyoglu, World Bank country adviser to Nigeria on Doing Business; Boladele Dapo-Thomas, PS, Lagos State MPPUD, and Bode Agoro, PS, Lagos State Lands Bureau, at the PEBEC Lagos Stakeholder Forum on ease of doing business reforms and launch of the Business Made Easy (BME) Nigeria campaign in Lagos.

Nigerian stocks slump the most globally since Buhari’s emergence

... Citi forecasts rally if Atiku wins OLUWASEGUN OLAKOYENIKAN

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tocks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) fell the most in dollar terms when compared with global peers in the last four years, according to Bloomberg data.

The stocks are half their value today, compared to May 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn into office as Nigeria’s fourth democratically-elected leader after the country’s return to civilian rule in 1999.

Buhari assumed office on May 29, 2015, after defeating then incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, becoming the first candidate to beat a seating president in Africa’s largest economy.

Almost four years into his rule, Nigerian stocks are down 49.55 percent (in dollar terms) after the close of business, Friday, at the Lagos bourse, while those in the frontier markets shed 5.93 percent over the same period.

However, emerging-market stocks have since then gained 2.63 percent, while those trading in the developed markets surged 12.79 percent.

“The present government is to a large extent responsible for the downward performance,” Paul Aluko, equity research analyst at MBC Securities Limited, said. “An administration without clear economic blueprint will always result in negative performance of the market.”

Analysts at FBN Quest, the research arm of FBN Holdings, said “the stronger performance of Nairobi may be explained by a ‘sell Nigeria, buy Kenya’ trade that we understand to have been popular this year with the offshore community”.

This is despite a market rout which bedevilled emerging markets last year, largely occasioned by reversal of capital flows by foreign portfolio investors seeking to take advantage of investment opportunities in the United States as the country’s Fed Reserve raised its interest rates four times, prompting foreign investors to pull out over N600 billion from NSE in the same period.

A loss of 17.81 percent in 2018 added to the woes of investors with exposure to Nigeria.

With this in mind, analysts at Citigroup, one of the world’s largest

banks, forecast an imminent rally if President Buhari loses this Saturday’s election where he will contend with Atiku Abubakar, a business mogul and former vice president, Kingsley Moghalu, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and other candidates.

If the forthcoming election is devoid of post-election crisis and Atiku wins, Aluko said the market would react more positively on the back of “expected economic recovery and capabilities of Atiku/Obi”.

Furthermore, a Bloomberg report indicates that some offshore investors would prefer a government by Atiku, even as uncertainties surround his plans to privatise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and float the naira.

Despite Nigerian stocks’ poor performance during this period, the year-to-date return of the NSE turned positive last week to stand at 1.12 percent Monday after recording a seven-day gaining streak, underperforming South African and Kenyan equities that posted 1.51 percent and 7.98 percent YTD returns, respectively.

Bank of Industry, All On offer N1bn financing to off-grid developers ISAAC ANYAOGU

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he Bank of Industry (BOI), a Nigerian development finance institution, and Shell-seeded All On, an impact investment firm, have signed a financing agreement which offers N1 billion to off-grid project developers in the nine states of the Niger Delta.

According to the terms of the agreement signed in Lagos on Monday, developers would bid to execute projects in the Niger Delta and obtain funding at 10 percent interest rate. The loan will be repayable over seven years and developers would have to set sustainable tariffs to successfully access funding.

While All On and BOI contributed N500 million each to raise the N1 billion financing, BOI will act as the fund manager and the development bank says it is willing to increase funding after the initial N1 billion financing, called

the Niger Delta Off-Grid Energy Fund, is depleted.

Olukayode Pitan, managing director of BOI, said developers would decide what source of renewable energy will be best suited for the community they choose to bid. Options include solar, wind, gas and biomass.

Wiebe Boer, CEO of All On, said BOI which already has a big footprint in funding the off-grid space will leverage its experience to reach more communities in the Niger Delta.

“Bank of Industry will manage the funds, so developers will need to apply through the different branches of the bank. We want this to take off very quickly as soon as the operations side has been completed,” said Boer.

Boer said the N1 billion in financing is capable of producing up to 15 mini grid plants as well as some solar home system solutions and single systems for small businesses.

The funding will be made available for projects in all six states of the South South geopolitical zone: Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta and Edo States. Others are Ondo, from the South West geopolitical zone, and two states from the South East zones, namely Abia and Imo. Pitan said this funding round can be considered a pilot phase as the bank has experience managing funding for off-grid projects. “We have had success in two UNDPpartnered projects and what we have learned is that as long as you have capacity to collect tariff, the project will be sustainable,” Pitan said.

In 2016, BOI signed a $2 million agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to provide solar-powered electricity to six communities in six states of the federation.

•Continues online at www.businessday.ng

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Nigeria still wavering on reforms as Egypt woos energy investors STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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gypt is working out the last details of a new type of oil and gas contract to woo more investors into the most populous North African nation as Nigeria struggles to reform its oil and gas industry.

The North African country already expects an inflow of $10 billion into its energy sector in 2019, and the new contract type will provide investors with incentives to explore for fossil fuels in underdeveloped areas, Tarek el-Molla, Egypt’s oil minis-

Adesina donates $500,000 prize money to fight hunger in Africa HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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resident of African Development Bank (AfDB) president, Akinwunmi Adesina, has pledged to advance Africa’s fight against hunger, poverty and youth under-employment with the commitment of $500,000 prize money.

Both Adesina and coLaureate Waris Dirie, a global champion against Female Genital Mutilation, shared the prestigious $1 prize at an award ceremony held on February 9, 2019 in Seoul, South Korea.

Adesina in a statement said his own $500,000 share of the prize would be used to fighting hunger in Africa, saying, “We are in a race with time to unlock the full potential of Africa.”

Known globally for his dogged determination to reduce global poverty, Adesina said, “My life is only useful to the extent that it helps to lift millions of people out of poverty.

“There is tremendous suffering going on in the world.

While progress is being made, we are not winning the war on global hunger. There Cannot Be Peace in a World That Is Hungry. Hunger persists in regions and places going through conflicts, wars and fragility. Those who suffer the most are women and children,” Adesina said during the award ceremony.

On the other hand, Waris Dirie, the recipient of the award, has played a leading role in drawling global attention to the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and the need for legislation to ban the practice.

Dirie said, “Female Genital Mutilation scars victims physically, emotionally, and mentally.”

It would be noted that the World Health Organisation estimates that more than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is carried out on young girls between infancy and the age of 15.

ter, said in an interview without providing details.

Egyptian officials told Bloomberg in October that the new oil and gas contract would allow investors control their share of production rather than sell to the government at pre-set prices.

“We’re improving the cost-recovery process to be faster, less bureaucratic and more efficient,” el-Molla said, as “Egypt will launch a new bid round in the Red Sea this quarter.”

But Africa biggest crude oil exporter’s story of foreign investors’ engagement is different. In the last 17

years, Nigeria’s oil industry has failed to change or reform itself in order to attract foreign direct investments, badly needed. It is now being starved of as much as $40 billion of investment waiting for the country to change its ways and enact badly needed reforms.

Egypt wants to become a gas re-exporting hub on the doorstep of Europe, and the contract overhaul is part of a broader plan to liberalise its energy industry, Bloomberg reported. Italian firm Eni SpA’s discovery of the giant offshore Zohr gas field in 2015 re-ignited waning in-

vestor interest in Egypt’s oil and gas industry, the country’s biggest single magnet for foreign direct investment.

Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, which has typically attracted the larger chunk of new FDIs to the country, is stuck, as a set of fiscal reforms (contained in the Petroleum Industry Bill meant to unlock new investments) has stalled for decades.

Incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, who seeks a re-election at this month’s polls, refused to assent to the bill at the eleventh hour.

The lack of investment-

friendly reforms has been telling. FDI flows fell to $2.2 billion in 2018, the lowest in 13 years, according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Egypt’s existing production-sharing agreements give investors about a third of a project’s output to help cover exploration and production costs. The rest is split with the government, which has the right to buy the producer’s entire share at the pre-set price. International oil companies have long complained about the contracts. But the new type of oil and gas contract is

about to change this.

Egypt struggled before Zohr’s discovery to attract major new energy investments. Its current investment model drew greater scrutiny after 2011, when the country began to experience fuel shortages and power blackouts.

The government halted gas exports at the time, diverting the fuel for local use and stopping payments to investors for their share of output. Arrears to international oil and gas companies mounted, peaking at $6.2 billion in 2012, and stood at $1.2 billion in July.

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The primacy of reason over passion STRATEGY & POLICY

MA JOHNSON “If men were angels, no government would be necessary” - The Crisis in Democracy, The Atlantic, October 2018 arely three months from now, Nigeria will be celebrating two decades of continuous democratic rule. Unfortunately, Nigerians have not benefitted much from democracy. As the country moves towards another round of elections, we have a moment in history in which we must tell ourselves the truth. Even when some are not ready to listen to the truth, they will know the truth, and the truth will set them free when the time comes. In the past 20 years that Nigeria fell in love with democracy, what we have to show for the affection, is rise in unemployment, poverty and insecurity (Businessday, 6 Feb 2019). A situation where 237,000 graduates are in private guard job does not show that all is well with the economy (Businessday, 7 Feb 2019). Suddenly, Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world parading almost 87 million poor people. Is this how we will continue as a country of 200 million people? No! If one grabs an odometer, it may not be difficult measuring the tortuous distance Nigeria has travelled as a democratic country. Throughout the country, we have an army

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of unemployed youths as well as many children who have dropped out of school. Many children are now into shoe-shinning, cart-pushing, nail-cutting, and waste-scavenging among others. The reason for this ugly situation is simply due to our political leaders’ lack of commitment to good governance. They make loads of promises which they can barely fulfil. Most of our public schools, hospitals and roads are in deplorable conditions. Many Nigerians have benefitted from democracy but one wonders why those in government for almost 20 years- serving or out of office- cannot provide citizens with stable and uninterrupted power supply with cost reflective tariff. A large number of our medical doctors and engineers are outside the country in search of greener pasture. Most young and old professionals including illiterates who are inside the country are looking for ways to go abroad. They will tell you “the country is hard.” Can a country suffering from the brain drain syndrome ever develop? Negative!

Rather than spring into action, our brand of political leaders make speeches in Queen’s English. Oh my gosh, they are superb at making speeches. Their actions most times do not match their promises but the electorate still listen to them. You will recall that the administration of 1999-2007 was flawed with massive election rigging, executive interference in both legislature and judiciary, wild corruption, nepotism and selfenrichment. Truth is, most politicians in PDP are as guilty as their friends in the APC. Since the last quarter of 2018 when political campaigns started, politicians have been firing from all cylinders assorted salvos just to convince the electorate that they are bet-

ter than their peers in the opposition.

They think the electorate have been confused by fine speeches eloquently delivered.

Truly, if men were angels, there would be no need to form a government neither will it be necessary to have a constitution which mere mortals brazenly disobey. Since men are not angels, it’s necessary to have a government which will abide by the rules stated in the constitution of the country. With due respect, the Nigerian political space does not have people with a culture deeply committed to democracy. The presidential system of government will only function properly when embedded in a culture deeply committed to democracy. A culture of one man, one vote. A culture where institutions are stronger than men. It’s culture that sustains democracy, not the other way round. In other words, the culture of impunity, and total disregard for the rule of law cannot drive democracy. Rather, the culture of impunity and disregard for the rule of law will kill democracy someday if it continues persistently.

The country is in a perilous moment when one examines the trajectory of democracy in Nigeria. The National Assembly has sucked power into its chambers, while one shakes at the dictatorial character of the Presidency. The Judiciary, which is to be an independent arm of the government has been caged. Oh no, what a pity?

Our nascent democracy faces acute challenge as the executive, legislature and judicial arms of government are moving in different directions. The atmosphere is tensed because politicians want to be elected by force.

I have said in this column that “political succession is not a do-or-die affair.”

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With due respect, the Nigerian political space does not have people with a culture deeply committed to democracy

Nigerians are estranged along ethnic, religion and political party lines.

In fact, family members and friends do not speak to each other because of politics. The estrangements are political, not personal. Politics is destroying the unity which we all crave for as a people. People have suddenly changed in the past two decades.

Why? My answer is a complicated one because the explanation is universal.

“Given the right condition, any society can turn itself against democracy. ”We don’t want our country to turn itself against democracy. That is why all Nigerians must take care and thread with caution. We must make democracy work because what happens in Nigeria, either good or bad, will affect the world.

Our political leaders must show that they have the capacity for progressive development without the tutelage of foreigners. I say this because you don’t need to prove the unprovable before affirming that the existing stage of our civilization, twenty years into the Twenty-first century as the most populous black nation on earth, is far below our potentialities for progress. Let our politicians and indeed Nigerians prove for once that we are fit to govern ourselves and so foreigners don’t have to interfere in our domestic affairs. Then there will be no need to procure body bags. I think reason should prevail over the lust for political power. As we expect our political leaders to be rational in their thoughts, I join other men and women of goodwill, to pray that democracy will not fail in Nigeria.

Johnson is an eclectic researcher, writer and columnist whose articles cover maritime, defence, technology and public policy issues and other areas of human interests. He is a member of the BusinessDay Editorial Advisory Board)

Matters arising from renewal of licenses for oil blocks in Nigeria Joseph Onele

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resident Muhammadu Buhari, in his capacity as Nigeria’s substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources, has approved the renewal of some expired and expiring oil blocks licenses, from which the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) realised over $1-$2 Billion for the government.

Quite instructive and worth noting, for the purpose of this post, is that the Federal House of Representatives had alleged that the DPR had renewed expired oil blocks under dubious circumstances, and subsequently realised $10 billion – an allegation that has been denied by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (MPR), Dr. Emmanuel IbeKachikwu. Dr. Kachikwu reportedly debunked the claim that there were irregularities permeating the ongoing renewal of oil blocks’ licenses undertaken by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in conjunction with the DPR. It is against the foregoing background and with the knowledge of the legitimate concerns raised by stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, with particular reference to the need for increased due process, transparency (and accountability) in the renewal process as rightly championed by Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, that I have decided to write this post.

In this post, I shall not only be joining the progressive train requesting for transparency and accountability but will also be calling on the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency

Initiative (NEITI), given the strategic statutory position NEITI occupies in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry to see that the needful is done timeously. “Needful,” as used in this post, means the discharge or performance of NEITI statutory functions in circumstances like the present one, as will be discussed shortly.

Before delving into the crux of this post and as a preliminary point, it is important for me to state that I am well aware of the fact that the Petroleum Act 1969 Cap. P10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (Petroleum Act), as well as the Petroleum (Drilling & Production) Regulation of 1969 (as amended) authorise the Minister of Petroleum Resources to renew oil licenses once statutory payments, including rents, royalties and fees are paid. Specifically, Paragraph 13 of the First Schedule to the Petroleum Act allows the holder (lessee) of an oil mining lease (OML) to apply in writing, to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, not less than twelve months before the expiration of the OML, requesting for a renewal of the lease, either in respect of the whole of the leased area or any particular part of the leased area. I also know from my reading and review of the extant legal framework that the renewal is expected to be granted where the lessee has paid all rent and royalties due as well as performed all obligations under the OML. Having briefly alluded to the legal basis for renewal under the Petroleum Act, I will now proceed to examine the legal basis for the submission that it behoves on NEITI to fulfil its statutory mandate and ensure that there is adequate transparency and accountability in the renewal process, given the strategic position NEITI occupies in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry.

For starters, NEITI is the statutory body established in 2007 (during erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime), pursuant to the Section 1 of the NEITI Act 2007, and Section 2(a) (b) (c) & (d) stipulates the primary objectives of NEITI to include the following: • ensuring due process and transparency in the payments made by all extractive industry companies to the Federal Government and statutory recipients; • monitoring and ensuring accountability in the revenue receipts of the Federal Government from extractive industry companies; • eliminating all forms of corrupt practices in the determination, payments, receipts and posting of revenue accruing to the Federal Government from extractive industry companies; and • ensuring transparency and accountability by government in the application of resources from payments received from extractive industry companies.

For the purpose of this post, it suffices to say that a reading of the foregoing will sure leave one with the impression that NEITI is expected to: ensure there is due process and transparency in the payments received by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) including through the MPR and DPR, from extractive industry companies, for the purpose of the renewal; monitor and ensure that the FGN accounts for the rents, royalties and fees received from extractive industry companies, for the purpose of renewal; eliminate all forms of corrupt practices in the determination, payments, receipts and posting of revenue accruing to the Federal Government from extractive industry companies, for the purpose of the renewal; and ensure the FGN is transparent and held accountable in the applica-

tion of resources generated from the payments received from extractive industry companies, for the purpose of renewal.

It is conceded, however, that the actualisation of the above stated objectives may have a lot to do with the political will to ensure the intendment, if not the spirit of the drafters of NEITI is allowed to materialise and given fruition to. This position even becomes more pertinent when one takes into account recent happenings in the country.

The foregoing notwithstanding, it is respectfully submitted that NEITI can be compelled to perform its statutory functions as provided for in Section 3 NEITI Act. For instance, by Section 3 (e) NEITI Act, NEITI is saddled with the responsibility of requesting from any company in the extractive industry, or from any relevant organ of the FGN, an accurate account of money paid by and received from the company at any period, as revenue accruing to the FGN from such company.

I believe the provision of Section 3(e) can be used and relied upon by civil societies or NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs) as well as individual citizen(s) to request for an Order of a Court of competent jurisdiction (in Nigeria) mandating NEITI to actualise its statutory mandate and perform the responsibility it has been saddled with by the National Assembly, which it has no discretion over, given the mandatory nature of the provision of Section 3 NEITI Act.

Note: the rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https:// businessday.ng Onele is a Legal Practitioner based in Lagos. He wrote via - thejosephonele@gmail.com

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South Africa: What is Malema’s game?

Rafiq Raji

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n November, South Africa’s public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan filed a complaint with the police against Julius Malema, the firebrand leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), an ultra-leftist political party increasingly gaining ground amongst poor black South Africans. Shortly afterwards, Mr Malema filed his own charges against Mr Gordhan, calling him corrupt.

Hitherto, Mr Malema had largely not been challenged quite so strongly by those at the receiving end of his sharp rhetoric.

That Mr Gordhan chose to go through the legal route could also be interpreted to mean he is confident no skeletons would be found in his cupboard. Mr Malema and his party do not believe that for a second. Still, there are not many cadres of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party that would be willing to take Mr Malema on that determinedly.

The EFF alleges Mr Gordhan has a foreign bank account - which ministers are not allowed to have – with the Royal Bank of Canada, for instance, a claim he denies. An investigation by News24, a South African newspaper, shows the bank account details were

probably made up, however. It reports Mr Gordhan does not have Canadian citizenship nor is he in the process of acquiring one. So, he could not have been able to open the said account.

It remains to be seen what the legal process would reveal.

Rising stature But Mr Malema and his EFF party are having other effects on South African politics. Without a doubt, the ANC has tilted more to the left than would ordinarily be the case were the EFF not gaining popularity. For instance, the ANC argues the expropriation of land without compensation being championed by the EFF was ANC policy from the outset.

Most would agree, however, that had the EFF not made it a major issue, the ANC would probably not have been too eager to follow through on it so quickly. In early December, the South African parliament adopted the report of its constitutional review committee that recommended the amendment of the Constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.

A clear win for the EFF. The EFF could also rightly claim credit for now free tertiary education.

Although former president Jacob Zuma probably did it self-servedly, having little else to show for a legacy, he was nudged along by the EFF’s rhetoric.

And there have been quite a number of other political wins for the EFF. Mr Malema did mention before the fact that former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene was not as honest as was perceived; on the extent of his association with notorious acolytes of Mr Zuma, the Guptas, for instance.

Truth is, Mr Malema has been proved right more times than he has been proved wrong. Lately, however, he

has been going off script. If his accusations against Mr Gordhan are proved to be wrong and malicious, it would hurt his credibility greatly. Maybe on Mr Gordhan, he is simply shaking the tree in the hope a fruit would fall down.

Not so different Evidence is beginning to emerge that Mr Malema enjoys an expensive lifestyle. His residence in a posh area of Johannesburg is believed to have been acquired via the patronage of a wealthy cigarrete tycoon. His increasingly vociferous verbal attacks and not so subtle threats against some journalists are also disturbing. There is also the issue of the failed VBS Bank which allegedly implicates EFF’s deputy president Floyd Shivambu and the party itself.

More disturbingly, Mr Malema’s rhetoric has recently begun to border on the violent. True, he often qualifies his remarks afterwards to suggest he did not mean that at all. Still, those at the receiving end are no longer taking his attacks lying down. His public spat with a female journalist of Indian descent is well-known, for instance.

Amid all these, it begs the question about whether the EFF can be taken seriously. And whether Mr Malema, should he get the chance, would make a good president for South Africa. To his credit, were he not of stronger stuff, he would long have been in oblivion by now, after Mr Zuma kicked him out of the ANC. So, he is certainly presidential material. But for a complex country like South Africa, is his makeup complicated enough to manage the many nuances of the job? More importantly, what is the EFF’s strategy?

New African sought the views of Darias Jonker, director for Southern Africa at Eurasia Group, a global political risk consultancy.

‘

Although the EFF is willing to work with Ramaphosa if that brings them to power, they are being threatened by Ramaphosa’s anticorruption campaign and overall reform agenda

“The strategy of the EFF is to come to power as soon as possible, and to merge with the ANC in the medium- to long-term to consolidate power and rule the country for as long as possible. Given this objective, their tactics change regularly as the political situation – and particularly the situation in the ANC – changes.”

Since Mr Zuma’s departure, the EFF has been struggling to find a new narrative. And since the ANC has been pre-empting it on some of its trademark policies, and even joining it to champion some, there is increasingly little difference between them.

Eurasia’s Jonker provides some background: “The party was created following Zuma’s ANC kicking them out, and thus an anti-Zuma narrative was pushed due in equal parts resentment towards Zuma and political opportunism that benefitted from voter dissatisfaction with Zuma.”

The EFF initially sought to work with Cyril Ramaphosa, Mr Zuma’s successor. So they did not boo him in parliament like they did Mr Zuma and largely went along with his policies. And until recently, there has not been much the EFF could whip the ANC president with. The Marikana massacre no longer has as much bite since Mr Ramaphosa promised he would visit the widows there with none other than Mr Malema himself; having been accused of insensitivity for not doing so hitherto.

Note: the rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https:// businessday.ng “Dr Raji is chief economist at Macroafricaintel.

He was previously an Africa Economist at Standard Chartered Bank, London, UK. (Twitter: @ DrRafiqRaji)”

Financial Inclusion: So far, not so good

Amamchukwu Okafor

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n 2008, Enhancing Financial Inclusion and Access (EFInA) conducted a survey that revealed that 52.5% of adult population in Nigeria were excluded from financial services. It called attention to level of financial exclusion in the country. The Global Financial inclusion index was later developed in 2011 to track global efforts towards financial inclusion. Following the wind, the CBN developed a National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) in 2012 with the ambitious goals of achieving 80% total financial inclusion and 70% formal financial inclusion by 2020.

The NFIS specifically aims to increase by 2020, the number of adults with access to payment services to 70% (from 21.6% in 2010), access to savings accounts to increase from 24.0% to 60%, and credit from 2 to 40%, Insurance from 1to 40% and pensions from 5 to 40%, all within the same period. The targets were benchmarked around peer countries as well as other growth factors in the domestic environment. Nigeria is not on track to meet the 2020 targets which is less than 2 years away.

The Global Findex report 2017 show that

with an estimate of 100 million unbanked adults, Nigeria joins six other countries including Bangladesh, China and India as the top contributors to the global financially excluded of 1.7 billion. The number of adult with formal bank account fell from 44% to 39.7% between 2014 and 2017. The number of adults with financial institution account fell to 39.4% from 44%, with a gender disparity of 51% and 27% for male and female respectively. The percentage of adults who saved money in a financial institution and those who borrowed with a credit card were 20.6% and 5.3% respectively. The number of those with mobile money account is still incredibly low at 5.6%, below the Sub-Saharan African average of 20.9%. According to EFInA, the total financially excluded is as high as 41.6% in 2016.It is therefore pertinent to draw lessons from successful countries with similar conditions in Latin America.

Latin American countries such as Brazil, Panama and Peru have made significant and consistent improvements in financial inclusion through the years from 2011 to 2017. In the period, Peru recorded an astronomic rise in the number of adults with accounts, from 20.5% (2011) to 42.6% (2017); whereas Panama recorded 24.9% and 46.5% in the same period.

In the lead on adults with accounts in financial institutions, Chile (73.8%) and Brazil(70%) surpassed the Latin American average (54.4%) in 2017. For both countries, the gender and educational disparity in accounts-ownership show impressive records. The percentage of adults saving at a financial institution in Brazil and Chile was 14.5% and 21.1% above the regional average of 12.2%; and on access to creditvia credit card in the last year, both countries recorded 26.3% and 30.9% - against a regional average of 20.8%.

In Brazil, the progress has been attributed to the expansion of the national correspondent banking networks, growth in microfinance and cooperatives as well as targeted conditional transfers to increase the income levels of the low-income workers under the BolsaFamília program. The correspondent banking model permits accessible retailers such as food vendors, gas stations and drug stores to act as intermediaries for basic financial transactions, thereby bridging the gap between formal and informal financial structures. The Brazilian government also promoted financial literacy and adapted regulation of financial services to the needs of the underserved low-income groups. In Chile, it was a sincere commitment to the Maya Declaration in 2011 – to which Nigeria is a signatory. The Chilean government introduced electronic payment system for transfers of state benefits, launched extensive financial education program for beneficiaries of state transfers and developed a complementary financial inclusion survey. A state bank, Banco Estado, was established with defined financial inclusion strategy to drive efforts on achieving financial inclusion.

All that notwithstanding, some progress have been made by both policy makers and stakeholders to improve access to financial services in Nigeria. The Brazilian correspondent banking is similar to the Agent banking in its early stages in urban centres across the country; while the BolsaFamília is to the National Social Investment program (NSIP). More so, The CBN and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) signed a memorandum of understanding in other to facilitate mobile money operations on the premise that more adults in Nigeria owned phones than bank accounts. This initiative has given birth to a synergy between

commercial banks and telecoms operators as well asenabling the development of financial technology (FinTech) operators such as Paga, Quickteller, Paydirect, Alert and eTransact. The collaborative effort between the CBN and the NIBSS to create a regulatory sandbox which allows Fintech start-ups to test solutions under controlled environment has enabled a start-hub conducive for creating sustainable businesses and expansion of the FinTech space to reach the last mile. The agent banking model that incorporates trading businesses as transactional outlets of banks and the most resent Payment Service Banks, model of the Non-Bank led financial inclusion strategy.

The direction of policy strategies seem to be towards leveraging ownership of mobile phones and access to internet which happens to be the strongest improvement area for African countries according to the Global Findex report, 2017. Therefore, a combination of policies that encourage participation within the mobile money space and an expansion of the agent banking model into other states of the federation would go a long away, noting that most of these models are still being piloted in urban centres where the incidence of financial exclusion is less critical. The electronic payment method should be deployed in conditional cash transfer scheme of the NSIP which is still done in cash at some local levels. Effective financial education for the most vulnerable cannot be overemphasized. Since the drive on financial inclusion in 2008, only about 10% declined has been achieved, amounting to 1% per annum on average. There is still a long way to go; all hands must be on deck.

Amamchukwu Okafor, Research economist, BusinessDay Media Ltd.

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Tuesday 12 February 2019

Apapa gridlock and the hypocrisy of government

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hree times the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, took helicopter rides to inspect the Apapa traffic gridlock. After each ride, he presided over a series of meetings with government agencies/private sector operating within the ports on how to resolve the Apapa gridlock.

After such meetings, he would direct relevant government agencies to immediately embark on the decongestion of the bridges and roads on which trailers and tankers were indiscriminately and mindlessly parked to allow for free flow of traffic. On one of such inspection trips, he gave a directive that bridges and roads must be decongested within 72 hours. He specifically directed that the operation should be carried out by collaborative efforts of the Police, Nigeria Navy, Nigeria Army, the Nigeria Air Force, FRSC and the NSCDC, LASTMA, LASEMA, Container truck drivers, National Association of Road Transport Owners, NUPENG, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria.

To underscore the seriousness of his order, the

vice president five days later, on July 26, 2018, returned to Apapa again, this time, in company of the Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman and held a meeting with maritime unions, businesses, residents and other stakeholders at the Western Naval Command, Apapa. By this time, his 72 hour directives to the agencies to clear the traffic has failed and virtually all the roads were still impassable blocked, as usual, by rampaging trailers and tankers.

However, despite all the promises by the Vice President and orders to decongest the bridges and roads, nothing really happened on the roads.

Tankers and trailers continued to defy the orders and security operatives could do nothing. The traffic situation in and around Apapa continue to deteriorate, stressing out motorists, suffocating resilient businesses and emasculating residents in a degraded environment.

Naturally, many analysts and residents concluded that the government has no solution to the traffic jigsaw in Apapa and

had resigned themselves to finding innovative ways to cope with the mess.

Then came the election season and the compulsory campaign rounds to all the states of the federation by presidential aspirants. It was Lagos’ turn on Saturday Feb 9 and by Friday, all the intractable traffic situation in and around Apapa spilling to Surulere and adjourning roads such as Eko bridge had been totally cleared. Hence the president came in to Lagos, drove freely to all the places on his itinerary and experienced no traffic caused by the trailers and tankers that hitherto taken over the roads.

Many Lagosians who ply the roads daily noticed the swift action. So, the tankers and trailers could be cleared off the roads and bridges and for three whole years and after three helicopter rides and several directives by the vice president, nothing was done?

Nevertheless, road users were still grateful that the roads have been cleared and they could now drive to their homes and places of work in peace. But alas they were mistaken. Just a day after the president’s visit, precisely, Sunday, February 10, the trailers and tankers have started return-

ing to the roads they vacated earlier. It then became clear that the trailers and tankers were only forced out of the roads to allow the president and his entourage drive seamlessly in and out of Lagos. Once the campaigns were done with and the president was safely out of Lagos, the bedlam could return.

Therefore, unlike what we had thought, the real problem was not the absence of ideas or lack of decisive action on the part of the government, but a total disregard for the citizenry by the government. Despite the huge revenue generated by the ports in Apapa and the sufferings the residents and those who work in and around Apapa go through daily, the government has no real interests in solving the problems of the ports and ameliorating the sufferings of the people.

Much more worrying however, is the real relevance and power of the vice president, who is beginning to look really pathetic and even irrelevant in the scheme of things in the country.

If the vice president could not enforce the clearance of trailers and tankers from a small location in Lagos, we then wonder what influence he has on government policies and actions.

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Expert identifies hurdles against states tapping from multi-billion dollar global tourism spend Anna Omale

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s nations and cities embrace brand building to tap into the global multibillion dollar tourism investments, Lolu Akinwunmi, Group CEO of Prima Garnet Africa, has looked at Lagos and listed challenges confronting the city in its efforts to achieve desirable brand destination, which will improve its image and revenue from tourism.

It is estimated that more than $2 billion is spent daily on international tourism, and this figure is increasing.

A report monitored in TR Business site quotes United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) saying international tourism receipts hit $1.3 trillion in 2017.

Among the challenges facing Lagos and other states, he says, is infrastructure deficiency. Lolu, who was speaking in Lagos recently at annual conference of Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria, cites Murtala Muhammed International Airport as lacking in advert for Nigeria and visitors to the city of Lagos.

“The Airport often suffers power failure, conveyor belt problems, harassment by uniformed staff, leaking ceilings. This is a disincentive to the tourists and business visitors,” he says, noting that sadly this ugly situation does not end in Lagos, as it is same with many of Nigeria’s airports around the country.

The marketing expert also says the citizens of the state have not really keyed into any government’s plan to develop Lagos into a strong destination brand.

“Unfortunately, many Lagosians still have unsavoury habits like throwing refuse on the roads, defecating in public places, damaging infrastructure. Buses bought by government at huge costs are badly maintained and ‘Keke Marwa’ and ‘Okada’ still remain a menace. Invariably, Lagos has remained dirty and an eyesore, and it is unattractive to many tourists,” he states.

Another challenge facing Lagos is absence of brand destination/tourism policy. According to Lolu, for a long time there was no such plan until the government of Ambode launched the very ambitious Tourism Master Plan to serve the state for the next 15 years.

He says the masterplan was launched as part of an ambitious project to showcase Lagos as a serious destination brand that will showcase the culture, heritage, arts and entertainment of the city.

He identifies the location of Lagos and its position as former capital of Nigeria also a challenge, saying today, many parts of Lagos are still regarded as federal territory, which has implications for the state. “Depending on which political party is in power at the centre, Lagos is vulnerable and can suffer major neglect,” he says.

Lagos needs massive funding because it is still the major city in Nigeria, which houses a lot of businesses

and foreign embassies, he says.

Going forward and recognising that there is no perfect brand, as nations and cities have their strengths and weaknesses, Lolu strongly advises Lagos State in addition to other states to set up a structure as part of PPP arrangement for their branding project, a trending global scenario.

Under the structure, he suggested for an ad hoc committee made up of seasoned professionals and experienced civil servants to determine the strategy and scope of the branding project. “On approval of its recommendation, the committee will hand over to a special purpose vehicle set up by the government to be known as the Lagos Branding Project Busi-

L-R: Anurag Shukla, managing director/senior vice president, Crown Flour Mill Ltd; Bolaji Anifowose, commercial director/V.P, Olam Nigeria Ltd; Sanjeev Goel, head of operation Nigeria and West Africa, Crown Flour Mill; Yinka Sobunkola, head, operational Excellence Olam Nigeria Ltd and Alok Khartor, general manager operations Olam with the ISO TS 22002-1:2009 FSSC 22000; ISO 9001; 2015 certificate by Bureau veritas.

ness Support Group (LBPBSG).

“The mandate of the group would be to implement the agreed strategy of the Committee by putting a structure and strategy in place to run the project. It will also generate the funds and goodwill needed for the implementation through the agreed PPP process, but especially from the private sector, showing them opportunities and benefits for involvement.”

Lolu further says for reasons of probity and accountability, and to assure prospective sponsors and the Nigerian public, “we propose the setting up of the Lagos State Branding Project Fund (LBPF) which will be managed under the supervision of whomever the governor designates, the CEO and the LBPBSG Advisory Board.

The LBPF will be independent of direct government control and be open to regular audit from a properly appointed independent audit firm. The board and management will also ensure that quarterly reports are generated which will be made available to all sponsors and donors and all stakeholders to the Fund. We expect this to further engender believability and trust from stakeholders. The state government should be prepared to add its own counterpart fund for every Naira generated through this source”.

He says what states like Lagos need are a strategic brand management plan, which goes beyond the traditional approach of brand promotion. “This way, the start-up point is a holistic audit of Brand Lagos through the eyes of all its stakeholders.”

Marketing professionals foresee tough time ahead

Influencer marketing industry on upward trajectory

n spite of promises by political candidates vying for presidency to turn the economy around, with sectors such as manufacturing and services industry thriving again, some marketing communication practitioners are apprehensive about their industry as present tough time may continue till mid-year.

It has really been tough, in the last two years for the marketing communication agencies who depend on the performance of the economy and thriving sectors to succeed. But looking ahead 2019, some of the practitioners

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were not optimistic of a very bright year as their clients are still hard hit by unfavourable environment.

They believed that if President Muhammadu Buhari eventually wins the presidential election, the economic situation may remain the same. But if Abubakar Atiku, his main opposition takes over power, it may take some time before his policies will begin to impact on the economy.

Nevertheless, Charles Igbinidu, the managing director of CFO and Associates in his view said that “if the price of oil increases from present $58 per barrel and government pumps more money into the system, things may change” He recounted that many organisations were affected by poor economic performance in 2017/2018 that pushed them to cut marketing communication budgets which had negative impact on the media industry.

Similarly, Ehi Braimah, CEO of

Neo Media and Marketing agency based in Lagos described 2018 as a difficult year for business owners and entrepreneurs. This difficulty manifested in low spending power of consumers, government regulations which include excise duty affecting clients, stiff competition and the fight for relevance, difficulty in sourcing foreign exchange and reduced FDIs. This may not change in 2019.

Speaking to BusinessDay on factors that will shape 2019 for the media industry, John Ehiguese, the CEO of MediaCraft, a PR agency based in Lagos said “The outcome of the elections would be a critical factor, but the industry practitioners have to wait and see those who eventually wins, and what their attitude will be towards the economy and the media” He said for the media itself, again a lot will depend on how the economy performs but unfortunately the prognosis for the economy in 2019 is not very encouraging.

…As Plaqad strengthens brand positioning ith roughly US$2 billion spent on influencer marketing campaigns in 2018 and a spend projection of about US$7 billion and US$10 billion for 2019 and 2020 respectively, the influencer marketing industry is on an impressive upward trajectory.

At the center of this remarkable industry stride, are indigenous companies like Plaqad, an influencer and content marketing startup founded in 2017, which boasts of over 2000 top content creators and influencers across various niche and interests.

As part of its efforts to solidify its position in the industry, Plaqad recently partnered with leading Blogger and Influencer, Tosin Ajibade on the Influencer Marketing Masterclass and with Africa’s leading tech platform, Techpoint on Build 2019.

Its partnership with Tosin Ajibade popularly known as Olorisupergal was particularly interesting as both parties collaborated to host an Influencer marketing masterclass for budding influencers. The class which held recent-

ly saw over 20 participants present.

Speakers at the event included Plaqad CEO, Gbenga Sogbaike, Founder of the Global Brand Network, Queen Esohe Igbinoba, and Olorisupergal herself.

In line with the brand’s plans to collaborate better and directly with clients and other stakeholders in the ecosystem, Plaqad exhibited its product offerings at Techpoint Build 2019, the largest Tech conference in Nigeria that connects the startup and SME community with industries.

The CEO of Plaqad, Gbenga Sogbaike commenting on strengthening Plaqad’s brand positioning, said, “This is the second year of Plaqad’s existence in an industry increasingly connected to the latest technology, for us it is important that we spark collaborations and partnerships across all stages of our development, to enhance our position within our niche market. In line with our corporate strategy for the year, we are heavily investing in partnerships and initiatives that helps us better collaborate with brands and

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Tuesday 12 February 2019

BRANDING BD Brand Talk

In the service of the King Mike Umogun

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y all estimates e-commerce is booming. eMarketer estimates that retail ecommerce sales worldwide will increase at four times the rate of retail sales in 2017, taking a 10 percent share of total, and expects growth to stay in the double digits through 2021. Kantar Worldpanel estimates that grocery e-commerce is growing at 30 percent year on year with just under a 5 percent share of total sales.

Many Nigerians in the urban centres especially Lagos, Port Harcourt , Abuja and Kano are getting comfortable shopping and buying online. With an estimated 100 million Nigerians with access to the internet the Jumia , Deal Day and Kongas of this world would smile to the bank regularly than before .

But there are signs that e-commerce boom has its limits. Kantar Worldpanel reports that there are signs that e-commerce growth is slowing down in Europe although the story is the opposite in Africa and Nigeria in particular Many pure play e-commerce companies have decided that a physical presence is needed for them to grow further. As early as 2012 the men’s online retailer Bonobos began to open physical stores in order to tap the half of would-be customers who wanted to feel the clothes before buying.

And therein is the reason why retail will always be a blend of physical stores and e-commerce: the monkeys want more than just a product description and a good

price. The challenge for existing retailers is to figure out which of the various motivations they can appeal to best. Here are three basic drivers that I believe will help bricks and mortar stores survive, provided they adapt the experience they offer rather than just focusing on prices.

Sensory: It is not just clothes that people want to try for size. As I noted in this post it is not easy to choose a cauliflower when you cannot see and feel the actual vegetable.

Social: Retail therapy just does not seem to be as effective when dabbing at a mobile phone screen. Part of the fun is shopping with friends and enjoying the experience as much as the purchases.

Service: Last but by no means least, direct interaction with a knowledgeable human will likely beat the bots. Best Buy’s free in-home consultations about what products might fit a potential customer’s needs have helped the company bounce back from Amazon’s onslaught.

I think the online stores are taking a leaf from the rule book of the telecos . For example in Nigeria, despite the online service facilities of the major telecos , the major business hubs are littered with additional service centre operated by MTN , Airtel , 9Mobile and Glo. The message here is the same, the e-platform needs help in the service of the King our customers Same logic applies to Nigerian customers that would walk pass the ATM to withdraw N5,000 across the counter in a bank. But what do you think? Please share your thoughts. Would the brick and mortar in us ever die?

Michael Umogun

Moghalu plans N1tr fund for creative, start-ups industry

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he presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), Kingsley Moghalu, has unveiled plans for N1 trillion venture capital fund for the creative industry and start-up business in Nigeria if elected as the Nigerian president.

Moghalu who made this known at the interactive session with the small business owners, creative industry practitioners and media at the Freedom Park in Lagos said this fund public-private sector led with his government contributing N500 billion and private sector contributing N500 billion.

According to the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the fund will not be managed by the government but the private sector to ensure effective and efficient disbursement to Nigerians hence solve the unemployment

Moghalu

challenge currently plaguing the country.

“If elected, his government would introduce capital into the economy so that entrepreneurs won’t rely so much on bank loans. The fund interest will exceed one digit unlike the bank loans with 30% interest.”

He also disclosed plan to set up skills training centres in each of the 774 local government areas in the

country if elected next February.

He pointed out that one of the major advantages of his presidency for Nigeria and for the ordinary average Nigerians would be for the first time, the country would have a president who understands how to manage a national economy.

He said: “How do we protect the intellectual property of Nigerians? If you write a book, you are going on the streets and you are seeing copies of that same book pirated and produced so cheaply, that means intellectual property rights are not enforced in our country.

“The musicians, the entertainers, the creative industry in this country, are all suffering from all these. We need to have a very tight intellectual property regime. “The second requirement for successful capitalism is innovation. Innovation comes from intellectual property as well. People have ideas about how to invent new things that can solve problems for society.

Trophy Lager concludes Millionaires promo, rewards consumers

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rophy Lager, beer brand from the stable of International Breweries Plc, a part of the AB InBev family, has concluded its National Consumer Promo, tagged Honourable Millionaires promo. The promo was designed to celebrate Trophy Lager’s forty years of facilitating goodwill and celebration.

The 10-week promotion, which produced 40 millionaires commenced on October 1 and lasted till December 20, 2018, with millions of Naira worth of prizes awarded to consumers during the course of the ‘Honourable Millionaires promo. Consumers also won other consolation prizes like instant airtime, cash prizes, free

drinks and other items.

Speaking on the promo, Tolu Adedeji, Marketing Manager, International Breweries Plc, said, “The Honourable Millionaires promo was all about providing a memorable experience for our esteemed and loyal fans and also reinforcing the brand’s values of honour, integrity and quality service.

Quality, durability keep Switzerland’s Cartier wristwatch brand strong since 1904 Daniel Obi

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hen a brand sustains a history of over 100 years, it simply underpins the result of doggedness and resilience. This becomes significant when it is a global brand pushing through international challenges and turbulent global economic situation which has seen many supposedly sturdy businesses buckle under the pressure.

Other critical factors that drive long existence and survival of brands are vision, focus, management good succession process but more importantly quality and durability of the product. These characteristics are what Santos de Cartier, a Geneva, Switzerland but global wrist watch brand represents.

The brand which officially came to Nigeria about 15 years ago, when a Nigerian firm partnered with the company to distribute the luxury brand in Africa’s most populous nation, has been around and strongly too since its creation in 1904. Santos de Cartier Managing Director, Africa and Israel, Alessandro Patti re-emphasised the brand’s quality status when he led the management team to Nigeria recently on a business trip aimed at deepening the market for Cartier. He said the Cartier brand has maintained its strong position-

ing due to its unique timeless pieces, creativity and innovation in meeting client’s needs all over the world and ensuring they are satisfied when they wear their unique Cartier timepiece with a sense of pride and fulfilment at any time.”

Alessandro said what differentiates the Cartier brand from other luxury brands, is its promise of timeless pieces, as despite the fact that the Santos watch is over 110 years old, the brand has maintained its

unique style as Cartier creations of today are treasures of tomorrow. The 2018 update of the Santos watch has focused on improving ergonomics and the comfort of the wearer, while maintaining the timeless allure of the design.

The wristwatch that its production, thinking and process started in 1901 was the product of experimentation by two visionaries and friends, Louis Cartier and Alberto Santos Dumont. In 1901 the aviator, Santos

complained of his difficulty checking the time on his pocket watch while flying. Three years later Louis Cartier revolutionised watchmaking by inventing the first purposedesigned modern wristwatch for Santos-Dumont for checking time while flying.

The watch which comes in sizes and different designs features an innovative strap in keeping with the spirit of the time. The new strap caters to modern lifestyles and eases of movement, and can be tailored to suit any occasion according to the choice of materials and colours. The watch is also available in steel, gold, calfskin or alligator skin.

The brand owners said determination, freedom, comfort: the myth of the Santos de Cartier watch has been maintained throughout the successive decades since its creation in 1904. Further relishing the brand, the manufacturers said the design of the watch bezel has been updated to favour the synergy between the lines of the case and the strap. “These sleeker lines accentuate the stylistic dynamic of the watch. The watch is designed for a perfect fit on the wrist and has been precisely weighted and measured to optimise comfort and ergonomics.

They further said that the new Santos de Cartier watch has been assembled, calibrated and tested by the Cartier Manufacture workshops

for resistance to variations in position, humidity, temperature, pressure, exposure to impact and acceleration, and to prevent these factors from interfering with the accuracy of the watch. Also, the new Santos de Cartier offers water resistance up to 10 bar (~100 meters) with minimal case thickness.

It was perhaps these virtuous characteristics that Cartier represent in the international market that lured Nigeria’s Polo Luxury Group led by John Obayuwana to partner the company to bring the product to high flying Nigerians who prefer utility luxury items with distinction.

Speaking on the viability of the Nigerian luxury market in recent years, Alessandro Patti stated that “the partnership with Polo luxury group is one anchored on a long term shared vision of growth which has been evident over the years with Polo Limited’s experience of the Nigerian luxury market as well as its passion for creativity, immense sense of luxury and business strategy which has been vital for navigating the Nigerian market with huge opportunities and potentials” Today, it is estimated that Nigeria’s annual value of luxury wrist watches alone is in the region of $1 billion with Cartier brand maintaining some sizeable percentage with its unique offering and comfort on the wrist.

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OVH Energy advocates operational efficiency in the oil, gas industry Pg. 16

C o 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

FINTECH

Piggybank takes up new challenge with name change LOLADE AKINMURELE

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n l i n e s av i n g s and investment platform, Piggybank.ng, has announced its evolution from Piggybank.ng to PiggyVest — a much broader and holistic financial management platform. The change became effective Monday, 11th of February 2019.

As part of its expansion plans, PiggyVest will be developing and including more financial features to make the platform more robust and primed to reach more users across the continent, and eventually, the world.

The enhanced platform will offer even more services — including insurance and group investment options — which will be accessible to anyone, regardless of their background, all while maintaining the simplicity and convenience that has been its trademark.

Piggybank.ng was launched in 2016, as a savings product. Over the years, they have introduced innovative products, from savings tools

like Safelock, Target and Group Savings, and PiggyFlex, to insurance products like AvonFlex, as well as others, like the newlylaunched TrackIt, which aids customers in becoming more effective at financial management.

In May 2018, the company closed $1.1M in seed funding for license acquisition and product development.

“We are building the future of savings and investments starting in Nigeria.

So, we need a name that reflects that,” Co-founder and CEO, Somto Ifezue, said about the decision to change the brand’s name.

This evolution represents PiggyVest’s determination to ensure that their services continuously evolve with the needs of their customers. They are confident that it will allow them to incorporate a dynamic range of new products into their offerings; to enhance the access their customers have to a variety of financial service solutions; and to ultimately deepen the value they provide to their customers.

“Our new identity is more than just a name

L-R, Adeola Oladugba, sport programme manager, Special Olympics Nigeria; Obianuju Asiodu, health programme, manager, Special Olympics Nigeria; Nana Wereko - Ampim, representative of Special Olympics Africa; Augustine Kokukokor, country manager, Max International and Obinna Awiaka, opening eyes clinical director, Special Olympics Nigeria, at the Special Olympics Nigeria Max International Gives Away.

change. We believe that it captures the essence of our direction as a business and our focus on the needs of our customers. Our new name is symbolic of this direction and it provides a glimpse into the exciting things the future has in store for us and our cus-

tomers,” Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Odunayo Eweniyi, said.

Founded in 2016, Piggybank.ng is the largest online savings & investment platform in Nigeria, targeted primarily at low- and middle-income Nigerians, allowing them

deposit and put aside small amounts on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

Over the years, Piggybank.ng has grown its community to over 195,000 registered individuals who currently save over N1 billion monthly.

The company currently

has over 195,000 registered users — 60 percent of whom are Nigerian Millennials — who have saved in excess of $15M since 2016. Their products have helped their users maintain their savings discipline, while building a savings culture.

TECHNOLOGY

MainOne taps Avanti’s satellite to connect rural communities in Nigeria FRANK ELEANYA

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igeria’s connectivity and data centre solutions firm, MainOne has signed an agreement with UK-based Avanti Communications Group to provide improved broadband services to communities in Nigeria that are lagging behind in terms of internet connectivity.

The two companies made the announcement on Friday at the Nerds Unite 2019, an annual technology conference that brings together stakeholders in the tech community in Nigeria and West Africa.

The arrangement will require MainOne leveraging Avanti’s latest satellite, HYLAS 4 - launched in April 2018,

to enable highly flexible capacity services with 100 per cent country coverage of Nigeria.

“Avanti works together with like-minded people and organizations to go the extra mile, developing new, innovative and pioneering satellite solutions that help to liberate the potential of people, businesses and government departments across EMEA,” Avanti noted in a joint statement BusinessDay received. “Avanti has invested $1.2 billion in the latest Kaband satellite technology and shaped it to meet our customers’ aspirations.”

Satellite broadband also known as internetby-satellite, is a high speed bi-directional internet connection made via geostationary communications satel-

lites instead of a telephone landline or other terrestrial means. While fibre offers superior performance, it takes more time and is more expensive to roll out and so will not be available to all users within a reasonable time frame. On the contrary, satellite solutions are available immediately. This is the only broadband solution for those who live in areas without or with slow terrestrial or wireless and mobile broadband access.

Although it launched in April, the HYLAS 4 began operation in Julym enabling broadband connectivity through 64 fixed spot beams and four steerable beams that can add capacity in existing coverage or reach new areas. In terms of capacity, it

has between 75 and 100 Gbps and Avanti chief technology officer and co-founder, David Bestwick describes it as the biggest and most powerful communications satellite that Orbital has ever built.

The Avanti and MainOne partnership includes the deployment of Avanti’s ECO initiative, which bundles broadband access, solar power and embedded WiFi services for schools and small communities, ideal for deployment in remote parts of the country where power availability and connectivity services remain a challenge.

According to Funke Opeke, chief executive officer of MainOne, the partnership offers Nigeria an opportunity to accelerate expansion

of broadband internet via satellite in order to close the digital gap and improve digital transformation for more Nigerians.

“Such services are most critical for the oil and gas sector, and for the delivery of social and educational services into rural areas of the country,” says Opeke.

The partnership is also backed with the commissioning and launch of Avanti’s new Gateway Earth Station (GES) in Nigeria, hosted at MainOne’s Tier III Data Centre, MDXI. Avanti’s products will greatly complement MainOne’s existing fibre-based networks by providing reliable connectivity services to its enterprise customers beyond its immediate fibre reach,” says Libby

Edited by LOLADE AKINMURELE (loladeakinmurele@gmail.com) Graphics: CHINEDUM ONYEMA

Barr, chief operating officer of Avanti. “We look forward to expanding our collaboration in serving the people of Nigeria and Africa with life-changing services.”

The biggest benefit of the deal for the targeted users will be affordability. Satellite broadband is extremely cost effective. With the HYLAS 4, users are only going to need a dish and modem and can either install these themselves, or call on the expertise of a vast network of highly trained engineers.

“From what we have seen, if technology is deployed in a sustainable manner and people in rural communities have internet connectivity there is a lot of opportunities that can enable,” says Opeke during a press conference.

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Business Event

OIL & GAS

OVH Energy advocates operational efficiency in the oil, gas industry FRANK UZUEGBUNAM

O

VH Energy Marketing Ltd, a licensee of the Oando retail brand, has demonstrated its support for government’s ongoing agenda geared at improving the downstream value chain. The Company made the call at the recently concluded 2019 Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS), held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Speaking during a panel session with the theme: “Imperatives of Local Crude Oil Refining”,Huub Stokman, Chief Executive Officer, OVH Energy Marketing, emphasized the need to review the policies concerning importing refined petroleum products.

“There have been attempts to regulate the industry in a bid to ensure sustainability and innovative growth. However, there is an urgent need to develop Nigeria’s capacity to refine crude oil locally.

Thiswillbringaboutgreatfinancial and socio-economic impact not just on the petroleum industry

but also on other sectors of the economy. This is even more critical now taking into consideration the costs of crude prices in the global marketplace, which means increase in the amount spent on importation of petroleum products”,Stokman said.

Stokman further stated that the discussion around the refining industry is the first of the 7 Big Wins developedbytheMinisterofPetroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, to enable a stable environment that will maximize investment opportunities in the oil and gas industry and generate increased growth in the Nigerian economy.

“There is no viable refining if we do not talk about deregulation and removing fuel subsidy. As one of the biggest economies in Africa, we can justify the reason to have a viable refining industry.

There is need to invest in refinery infrastructure in order to have the capacity to produce clean fuels”,he added, thanking the government, its ministries, the legislature and other agencies for the payment of outstanding subsidies owed to the major marketers.

The summit, which had OVH Energy Marketing Ltd as one of its major sponsors featured strategic paneldiscussionshighlightingregulatory and legislative frameworks thatwilldriveefficiencyandhealthy competition in the refining sector.

Discussants also evaluated current institutional construct and policies in Nigeria and trends in other climes regarding the use of conventionalandmodularrefineriesandsuggestedwaysthatinstitutions responsible for coordinating and regulating commercial activities could contribute significantly to the operational efficiency of the industry through robust but workable policies.

The Nigeria International Petroleum Summit is a project of the Federal Government of Nigeria. It creates the platform for Nigeria to help galvanize Africa’s response to global Oil and Gas challenges. It is the official government-endorsed event designed to be the ultimate meeting place for Nigeria and Africa’s Oil and Gas sector where principal decision makers from the public and private sectors exchange innovative ideas.

L-R: Bridget Oyefeso-Odusami, head, marketing and communications, Stanbic IBTC; Mrs Funke Amobi, group head, human capital, Stanbic IBTC; Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin, founder, Pearls African Youth Foundation; Yinka Sanni, chief executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC; Kemi Adetiba , movie director, and Onyeka Akumah, CEO, Farmcrowdy, at the 2019 Stanbic IBTC Youth Leadership Series, in Lagos.

Pic by Pius Okeosisi

FOOTBALL

Liverpool FC rake in £125m record profit as spending hits £190m ANTHONY NLEBEM

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nglish Premier league football team, Liverpool FC, made a world-record net profit of £125 million in 2018 financial year, with investment in squad over the same period totalling £190 million.

The financial statement shows that £137 million came into the club from player transfers, including the departures of Philippe Coutinho, Mamadou Sakho, Lucas Leiva and Kevin Stewart.

In their yearly financial results, the Reds made an annual pre-tax profit of £125m - up from £40m - as turnover increased in the 12 months to May 2018 by £90m to £455m, also a record.

Liverpool were boosted financially by a run to the Champions League final last season, which earned an estimated £72m.

They were also helped by midfielder Philippe Coutinho’s £142m transfer to Barcelona in January 2018.

Leicester City had held the record for net (post-tax) profit of £80m in 2016-17 (£92m pre-tax) after reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2017.

Having topped the Premier League table for much of the season, Liverpool are vying with defending champions Manchester City for a first English top-flight title for 29 years, and that success has been mirrored off the pitch too.

Media revenue increased by £66m to £220m, commercial revenue by £17m to £154m and match revenue by £7m to £81m.

In revenue terms, Liverpool will leapfrog Arsenal into third place in the Premier League, behind Manchester United and Manchester City.

In total, £137m came into the club from player transfers. Liverpool say all of that has been reinvested back into the squad, taking outgoings on new players to more than £190m.

Andy Hughes, the club’s chief operating officer, said: “What we

have seen is a stable and sustained improvement in the club’s financial position over recent years.

“This growth and increase in revenue has enabled us to significantly reinvest both in the playing squad and the football operational infrastructure.

“Financial results do fluctuate depending on player trading costs and timing of payments, but what’s clear in these latest results is the further strengthening of our underlying financial footing and profits being reinvested in the squad and infrastructure.”

The club also say their social media platforms had a 14% growth rate, taking the total to over 60 million followers across digital channels, and that in May 2018 they had the highest viewing figures ever for a Premier League club, and third of any sports club globally.

In January, Liverpool climbed two places to seventh in the latest edition of the Deloitte Football Money League.

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

Left: Carol Oyedeji, executive director, commercial banking, Ecobank Nigeria; Ben Okolie, general secretary, Alaba International Market Association (Electronics); Patrick Akinwuntan, MD, Ecobank Nigeria; Okwelogu Romanus, MD, Ajuoye Dynamic Concept (Ecobank customer) and Jude Esedebe, MD, J-Clax International (Ecobank customer) at the launch of EcobankPay zone at Alaba International Market by Ecobank in Lagos.

L-R: Ashok Israni ,regional chief marketing officer, Globacom Limited; Bisi Koleosho , deputy chief operating officer, technical, Globacom; Sanjib Roy; group chief technical director, Globacom; Nasiru Abubakar, editor, Daily Trust Newspapers; Noble gwe , CEO, 360 NOBS/Stylevitae; and Charles Jenaruis ,regional director, west Africa, marketing communications, during the presentation of Glo business direction to media executive in Lagos.

Pic by Pius Okeosisi

AEDC commissions N816mn facility to address power theft, consumer complaints HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

T

he Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has commissioned an integrated Commercial Management Systems project worth 2 million Euros (N816 million) to address consumers complaints faster as well as eliminate energy theft.

Ernest Mupwaya, the Managing director of AEDC, at the commissioning of the facility on Friday in Abuja said the automated facility would focus on improved customer interaction,monitoring and prompt complaint resolution,efficient meter allocation,and higher billing accuracy.

The initiative is a one stop customer centre for management of customers and complaint resolution.

It also integrates all the platforms of billing system and other key information about the consumer into a single automated platform.

According to the Mupwaya,”This is another milestone in ensuring that we manage all our commercial operations seemlessly and provide value for our consumers.

It would help us provide target delivery in our complaints resolutions,since consumers information are automated while improving our visibility.”

Mupwaya also said that the commissioned intelligent system would help the com-

pany achieve energy balance in AEDC’s operations, as it would improve monitoring exercises and address meter hacking concerns.

James Momoh, the Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission,NERC,who presided over the commissioning exercise lauded the initiative of AEDC on the facilitiy while calling on other Discos to borrow a leaf to enhance efficient energy usage. ”This initiative would help us have a seamless collaboration with the AEDC in our regulatory and monitoring exercise s.It would assist in quick resolution of complaints as well as ensure fair treatment of customers,” Momoh said.

L-R: Henry Umunna, first runner-up, InterswitchSPAK 1.0; Cherry Eromosele, group chief product and marketing officer, Interswitch; Akachukwu Anumudu, winner of InterswitchSPAK 1.0; Mitchell Elegbe, GMD / founder, Interswitch and Onyedikachi Kanu, second runner-up, InterswitchSPAK at the grand finale of the competition in Lagos.

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EDUCATION Weekly insight on current and future trends in education

Primary/Secondary

Higher

Human Capital

Stakeholders urge government to prioritise capacity building through investment in education KELECHI EWUZIE

T

he challenges bedeviling the education sector in the country are so hydra-headed that they cut across all state and levels even as efforts are being made to contain the challenge it poses to growth and development of the country.

In most states of the Federation, the education challenge is so overwhelming that it affects all levels from primary to tertiary institutions, with the dearth of infrastructure that enables effective teaching and learning a display of the pervasive rot.

While it may appear that some state governments are paying lip service to the development of this vital sector, others have failed to realise the huge damage the neglect of this pivotal sector plays in the future of this nation.

It is therefore in realisation of the vital role that investment in education plays in the socio-

One of Interswitch Staff volunteer teaching STEM Subject to students of Ajuwon High School, Ojodu-Abiodun, Ogun State recently

economic development in the nation that stakeholders in the education sector have called

on government at all levels to pay attention to education by investing in infrastructure

development, employment of qualified teachers, offering free education for primary and

OANDO Foundation, Sumitomo partner to bridge ICT gap in public schools KELECHI EWUZIE

A

s pursuance of its effort to bridge the existing gap in the implementation of Information Communications Technology (ICT) in public schools, Oando Foundation via its flagship Adopt-a-School initiative has partnered with Sumitomo Chemical, a Japanese Chemical Company to ensure that ICT education is supported through the estab-

lishment of solar powered ICT Centres in Oando Foundation adopted primary schools across Nigeria.

The aim of the partnership is to improve public primary school pupils’ access to quality basic education and empower them with technology skills.

Adekanla Adegoke, Head, Oando Foundation while speaking during a joint visit with representatives of Sumitomo Chemicals to Dele Ajomale Primary School, Ilasa, Lagos one of Oando adopted school, observe that the most

basic level being able to navigate around a computer is an essential skill for today’s Nigerian youth.

Adegoke said that in the work place having ICT skills is an imperative thus students need to be comfortable and able to use technology not just for more effective learning but so they are able to stand alongside their peers globally in the twenty-first century.

“To this end Oando Foundation promotes ICT literacy through a variety of formal and informal activities designed to

Femi Ogunwusi, Education Secretary, Local Government Education Authority, Lagos State, Scott Mitchell, President /CEO, Sumitomo Chemical America, Adekanla Adegoke, Head, Oando Foundation and Angela Lee, Sumitomo Chemical America Incorporation during a school/inspection visit of projects in the school, Lagos.

enable children acquire functional computer literacy”.

Adegoke further said that the resultant effect has been the establishment of 46 ICT centers across Nigeria. “This is part of our mandate of exposing pupils in our adopted schools with 21st century ICT capabilities geared towards arming them with requisite knowledge to compete favorably in an ever dynamic world. It will also strengthen the capacity of inschool ICT Educators ensuring improved knowledge transfer and successful implementation of the national curriculum on ICT”, she said.

Scott Mitchell, President/ CEO, Sumitomo Chemical America, Inc. and a member of the Company’s Sustainability Promotion Committee said the Company continues the philosophy its founder established 400 years ago to create harmony by contributing to society through our business activities. Through our education support programs, we hope to contribute to the upbringing of our next global leaders. In particular, we recognise the importance of ICT literacy programmes for children from an early age.

Our partnership with Oando Foundation has been an exciting journey supporting the public schools of Nigeria.

secondary school students.

Educationists told BusinessDay that when the right investment is done, it will ensure that pupils and students fit into and adequately face the challenges of the globalised and knowledge-driven 21st century.

Ayo Banjo, emeritus professor of English and former vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan, said that one important role of primary education in terms of access and quality, often overlooked in the country, is in ensuring quality leaders for a country, adding that to bring about an educated population there needs to be an overhauling of the primary system to enable it play its role.

Banjo observed that to achieve results in the development of the educational sector, proper teachers have to be provided.

According to him, “Such teachers have to be provided with continual retraining and paid a decent wage. Proper supervision through a corps

of inspectors should be maintained. In addition, the children should be given a decent start in life so that they can grow up into decent citizens.”

Reiterating Ayo Banjo’s take on improved teaching workforce, Joshua Aisiku, an educationist agreed that only when teachers are recognised as the hub in the development of education that there will be any meaningful progress adding that quality teachers are the army required to do battle with decline in education.

Aisiku is of the view that internship, mentoring and professional development opportunities through the use of experts and other consultants, use of specially designed evaluation instruments for teachers’ continuous learning and self improvement; and the establishment of Teacher Professional Development Centres (TPDC) in the State are some of the means the State should adopt to motivate the newly recruited teachers.

Anchor University holds 3rd matriculation ceremony

A

nchor University, Lagos (AUL), a faith-based University and an offshoot of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry holds her 3rd Matriculation ceremony on Wednesday, 13th February 2019 at the University’s Auditorium in Ayobo, Lagos.

Sanusi Okesola, assistant registrar, Strategy and Communications, in a statement made available to BusinessDay said that by the having the 3rd Matriculation ceremony of the University within the first two years of our existence is another irrefutable proof that AUL is here to raise the bar of quality education driven on a consistent academic calendar.

He said Anchor University will be releasing her first set of graduates into the corporate world in 2020, adding that the institution’s best years are almost here.

According to him, “Since Anchor University opened on February 6, 2017; the drive to ‘be a citadel of learning for holistic human

transformation and development’ has continued to find expression in our everyday activities on the campus.

In AUL, our focus has ultimately been raising Godfearing leaders who are both globally competitive and with sound minds.

Joseph Afolayan, vicechancellor of the institution said “Our determination to raise the standard in Anchor University is second to none. We look forward to raising young men and women who will take on the rest of the world and be global players in their fields.”

The don who is also a renowned professor of Civil Engineering, observes that the management of the university are only counting months leading to the fulfilment of the vision of the founder of the citadel of learning.

The ceremony, which begins by 10.00 am at the University’s Main Auditorium, will be preceded by the Investiture of the Vice Chancellor at the same venue.

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EDUCATION Education: The solution to sustainable development

OYIN EGBEYEMI

J

anuary 24th this year marked the inaugural International Day of Education, as declared at the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018. Taking the initiative to do this was quite an impactful move by the United Nations to bring forward the criticality of education in every nation, particularly those that are falling behind with meeting up with decent achievements in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It would seem to be a nobrainer to have the mindset that a nation that is not well educated is virtually doomed for disaster in all other areas or that education is a basic human right and should be accessible by all. The SDGs for instance are all underpinned by education: Without education, the quality of human capital diminishes. If the quality of human capital diminishes,

economic growth cannot be attained (SDG8). If economic growth cannot be attained, poverty would prevail (SDG1).

If poverty prevails, hunger sets in (SDG2). If hunger sets in, whatever healthcare is available would be oversubscribed and resources would be under pressure (SDG3)…. and so on. This is just an instance of how vicious the cycle is. But the general point is that education would provide a pathway to sustainable development. That should be the mindset for anyone who has long-term focus on development. Education plays a foundational role.

A no-brainer, right? So why does it seem like our educational outcomes as a country have been progressively diminishing? Why are there so many children on the streets and not in school? Why are our teachers not literate? Why are our graduates unemployable?

There is not one direct or straight-forward response to address the issues that such questions raise because it really is quite a complex situation. There are so many factors that lead to these unimpressive outcomes. Some of them are obvious whilst others are buried under numerous intricate layers of environmental issues, which are peculiar to

us as a country. One of the very obvious ones however is demographics. Our population structure in Nigeria is a clear indicator of the demand pressure on resources for education. With about 90 percent of the population being young or active (Ages 0 – 65 - National Population Commission), the prediction that the total population of the country may double by 2050; both combined with the low life expectancy age of 53years (World Bank), the number of children is set to skyrocket.

The effects of this are already beginning to show in our immediate communities; for

instance, there are many children who are out on the streets during school hours.

This leads to the next obvious factor, which is the availability and accessibility to schools. It is primarily the responsibility of the public sector to provide sufficient education. However, due to many limits within that system, it cannot cope with the number of children who need to be educated. As a result, one good thing that happens is that private and missionary schools recognise this problem and come in and play the role of covering that gap. In theory, this is a brilliant idea;

but in reality many issues arise.

The first glaring one is affordability: Due to the state of poverty, many people cannot even afford to pay the school fees of these private schools, particularly those of decent standards. This then leads to the next issue…even when low-income families manage to scrape their resources; they end up sending their children to low standard schools from which these children don’t learn enough. You would find that many schools are running different curricular through whatever methods they want or what they might think is best, given limited knowledge.

They are not sufficiently inspected and regulated to ensure that they are actually educating children to decent standards; the content of the curricular is either not sound or no longer relevant; the teachers are not committed (and that’s even if they are literate enough to be teaching in the first place) and basic infrastructure and resources such as classrooms and textbooks are not available.

The combination of some of these obvious factors and many others make it difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the quality of human capital in the country. To know that Nigerians are innately bright and intelligent; whereas our Human Capital Index is 152/157 (World Bank) is quite disconcerting and should be a huge area of concern for all Nigerians. We need to come around and find solutions to tackle this problem of education so that all other areas of our economy would turn around and we will begin to see more sustainable outcomes.

Oyin Egbeyemi is an executive administrator at The Foreshore School, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Akachukwu Anumudu emerges Best Science Student in Nigeria …Wins N7.5M InterswitchSPAK 1.0 scholarship KELECHI EWUZIE

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k a c hu kw u A nu mudu, a Sixteen year old student of Apostolic Faith Secondary School, Anthony, Lagos have emerged winner of the first edition of the InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition held in Lagos, Nigeria.

Anumudu beat eight other contestants in an intense quiz session to win the grand prize of N7.5 million worth of tertiary education scholarship spread over five years, a laptop and a monthly stipend during the course of the scholarship.

The first runner-up was 16-year-old Henry Umunna of the Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja. Umunna won N4 million worth of scholarship spread over three years; while the second runner-up, 16-year-old Onyedikachi Kanu from Dority International School, Aba, got N1m worth of scholarship for one year.

Akachukwu emerged winner after advancing through various levels of the competition. Expressing his gratitude,

Akachukwu said he never expected to make it this far, explaining that competitions like this would help in discovering brighter young stars in Nigeria.

According to him, “Whenever I see people win at competitions, I always wondered if I could ever get that lucky.

But now, I know it’s beyond luck and I am glad that all my sleepless nights and hard work paid off. I am very grateful to Interswitch because they made me who I am today. Before now, I was very shy and reserved, but my whole experience at the Interswitch SPAK 1.0 has helped build my confidence and prepared me for the future”.

Another highlight of the day was the presentation of the Founder’s Award to Team Neptune- winners of the Innovation Challenge. The team made up of nine SS2 kids, collaborated to develop a technology-driven solution aimed at providing Nigerians with easier access to National Health Insurance. Each student was presented with a medal and a laptop. The nine students also get a chance to partake in a two-week internship programme at Interswitch

Group’s head office in Lagos during the holidays.

Mitchell Elegbe, Group managing director/Founder, Interswitch Group, said that his company is particularly passionate about the healthcare sector and is already working on the proposal that emerged from the Innovation Challenge. He added that the winning team will

get to join the Interswitch team to further develop the proposed solution.

After pres enting the cheque of N7.5 million to the grand winner, Elegbe, in his short remarks, reiterated the importance of emotional Intelligence. He said: “You have emerged winner of this competition and that makes you a very special person.

However, you must remember that although having a high IQ is necessary, it is not sufficient for success in life. We hope you will take all you have learnt during this competition and apply it where necessary. We wish you greater success in life and we will be with you every step of the way”.

Abubakar M. Gana, act-

L-R: Mitchell Elegbe, GMD / Founder, Interswitch; Akachukwu Anumudu, winner of InterswitchSPAK 1.0 and Steven Adebunmi, representative of acting Registrar/Chief Executive, National Examinations Council (NECO) at the grand finale of the competition held in Lagos.

ing registrar/Chief Executive, National Examinations Council (NECO) in his address, drew a connection between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and national development.

According to him, “STEM education if adequately pursued, can be described as the bedrock of any nation’s technological take-off or development. The era of pen-paper quiz has given way to technology. Quiz administration is now computerized as we can see here at InterswitchSPAK 1.0”.

He also lauded Interswitch for their investment in the competition as well as for being a major player in Nigeria’s economy through their electronic payment system which eases business transactions.

Besides the three major prize winners, the other six contestants were awardedN500, 000 each, as consolation prizes for earning a spot in the ‘Top 9’. 15-yearold Glory Okoli of Ambassadors College, Ota, was gifted an additional N250, 000 by the Interswitch boss for being the last female standing in the competition.

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ENERGY INTELLIGENCE Investments

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BUSINESS DAY

19

Policy

Investment

Oil majors scramble for seats on cleaner energy train STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

O

il majors are seeking to reduce their net carbon footprint by investing in gas fields and buying up electric vehicle manufacturing plants in response to demands for cleaner energy.

The 2018 full year results of the five big oil companies show increased commitment towards energy transition from dirty fossil fuel to natural gas and renewables.

Shell invested $800 million in solar and wind projects as part of its new energy business during the year. The BritishDutch oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom has also acquired 310, 000 acres off the Coast of Massachusetts

and New Jersey with potential to generate 4.1 Gigawatts of electricity.

“Our strategy is to deliver world class investment case, to thrive through the energy transition and to maintain a very strong societal licence to operate,” Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell said on January 31, during a webcast presentation of the 2018 fourth quarter and full year results.

BP Plc, a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London is investing in a solar development company called Lightsource BP in which it owns 43 percent equity stake.

Lightsource BP has doubled its global footprint over the past year, with presence in 10 countries now. It recently announced it would enter Brazil.

During the fourth quarter, Lightsource BP was awarded power purchase agreements (PPAs) in Australia and in the United States of America.

In the United Kingdom, it announced an agreement to power AB InBev’s manufacturing plants through an innovative 100MW PPA. Furthermore, BP has made a series of investments in electric vehicle technol-

ogy and infrastructure during the year that significantly progress its advanced mobility agenda. This included the purchase of Chargemaster, operator of the UK’s largest vehicle charging network, as well as venturing investment into battery company StoreDot. Total Plc’ adjusted net operation for gas, renewables and power segment was

$756 million in 2018 notably thanks to the good performance of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas/power trading activities. The acquisitions of Direct Energie and the LNG business of Engie account for the increase in investments to $3.5 billion in 2018.

Exxon Mobil set its investment sail for Australia and has made Final Investment Decision (FID) to develop the West Barracouta gas field in Bass Strait to bring new gas supplies to the Australian domestic market.

The Texas headquartered oil major also has investment interests in Africa but in Mozambique’s Area 4.

Co-venture participants, including ExxonMobil, secured Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) off take commitments from the partners’ affiliated

buyer entities, a key milestone enabling a rapid move toward a final investment decision in 2019 on the first phase of the Rovuma LNG project.

Improved performance has helped drive this ambition. By any measure, 2018 was a good year for the oil majors as they beat earnings estimates, reporting the best financial results since 2014.

ExxonMobil reported $20.8 billion in earnings, up modestly from $19.7 billion in 2017. BP earned $12.7 billion, more than double the $6.2 billion from a year earlier.

Chevron earned $14.8 billion, up from $9.2 billion in 2017.

Royal Dutch Shell earned $21.4 billion, up from $15.7 billion in the prior year. Total SA earned $13.6 billion, a 28 percent increase from the $10.6 billion earned in 2017.

Funding

Investors keenly watching Sirius Petroleum new share issue DIPO OLADEHINDE

S

irius Petroleum Plc, an investment company, focused on oil and gas Exploration and Development (E&P) opportunities in Nigeria, plans to issue new ordinary shares of 28,571,428 representing 0.78 per cent of the firm’s enlarged issued share capital and investors are taking positions.

Investors in the Nigerian oil and gas sector will be keeping an eagle eye on the company who plans to raise capital to finance its business operations, expansions and meet other financial needs. Sirius is also acting as third-party funder for the execution of a minimum work program commitment on the Ejulebe field in Nigeria.

The Ejulebe field comprises 15 hydrocarbon-bearing horizons, producing oil, associated and non-associated gas (including condensate). The field has produced approximately 14 mmbbls since 1998, is currently

producing c.250 bbl/d and has gross remaining 2P reserves of 4.7 mmbbls, according to the Competent Person’s Report (CPR).

“Most upstream firms considers issuing additional stock because of its unique advantages such as more liquidity, financial flexibility and debt reduction compare to other forms of financing, such as bank loans,” Adelaja Olaneye, financial analyst at Creditville Limited told BusinessDay. With this development, ordinary shareholders in Sirius Petroleum Plc would be allowed to vote and receive dividends.

In the event of liquidation, they receive their initial investment after the company has repaid preferential shareholders.

The firm quoted on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, said it was issuing 28,571,428 new ordinary shares at 0.49 pence per share due to the conversion of £140,000 of the European High Growth Op-

portunities Securitization Fund Convertible Note, announced on January 15.

“Application has been made for the conversion shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, which is expected to occur on or around February 8, 2019, follow-

ing the issue of the conversion shares; the company will have 3,676,479,139 ordinary shares of 0.25 pence each in issue,” Sirius said in a statement.

Sirius Petroleum agreed to buy a 75 percent stake in Precision Energy Tetra last year

December, gaining a role in the development of Nigeria‘s OML 109. The terms stipulate that Precision Energy Tetra, a subsidiary, will buy 40 percent equity and up to 80percent economic interest in Tetrarch Holdings, which controls Tetra Energy Services. Tetra

Energy Services’ is an arm of Tetra Petroleum Oilfield Services which is providing services at OML 109, site of the Ejulebe field.

“The proposed acquisition would be a significant addition to the Sirius portfolio and we look forward to working with the co-owners of the asset and our operational partners to boost production on the Ejulebe field.

We are also excited to explore the EJ-WSW prospect, which, if successful, could potentially add material reserves,” Bobo Kuti, CEO of Sirius said.

The purchase price, which Sirius called “nominal,” includes $40 million of external debt funding from a third-party lender, which will finance the minimum work programme commitment on the Ejulebe field. The plans include a workover of an existing well and a new development well, with options for two additional work-overs or sidetracks on existing wells. An exploration well is also set to be drilled on the nearby EJ-WSW prospect.

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Tuesday 12 February 2019

ENERGY INTELLIGENCE Market

Big oil companies reward shareholders to win confidence STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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ig oil companies are aggressively buying back shares and shoving cash into the pockets of shareholders as they strive to regain investors’ confidence on Wall Street but analysts say this might impair growth and reservesreplacement ratio.

Share prices for the top oil companies rose strongly after the fourth quarter and full-year 2018 results were reported, restoring some confidence in the sector.

Chevron purchased $1 billion in shares while also announcing a $25 billion share buyback programme, pleasing its investors.

When Bloomberg asked Brian Gilvary, BP’s chief finance officer what his company’s focus would be in 2019, he said: “Capital discipline, capital discipline, capital discipline.”

The overarching mantra from the oil majors, even after posting fat profits, was that they will prioritise shareholder pay-outs above all else.

That was very welcome news for Wall Street.

“Shell, Total and Chevron all began substantial buy-back programmes during the year. This was the first important signal to investors: returning cash to share-

holders ranked higher than growth expenditure,” Norman Valentine wrote in a WoodMac report. “Bolstering defensive credentials seems an important step towards regaining investor confidence.”

BP repurchased 2 million ordinary shares at a cost of $16 million, including fees and stamp duty, during the fourth quarter of 2018.

For the full year, BP repurchased

50 million ordinary shares at a cost of $355 million, including fees and stamp duty.

“We expect to continue our share buyback programme and to fully offset the impact of scrip dilution since the third quarter of 2017 by the end of 2019” Bob Dudley, group chief executive said.

Total Plc has repurchased shares issued in 2018 under the scrip

Market

dividend option in order to cancel dilution related to the exercise this exercise; 21.60 shares were bought back in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 47.20 million shares in 2018.

Additional shares were repurchased for $500 million and $1.50 billion in 2018.

Shell has started implementing its $25 billion buyback programme and plans to complete this.

Energy analysts say it is not clear how the oil majors will navigate the turbulent waters in the years ahead.

For now, they are focused on boosting short-cycle output, investing in downstream assets that they believe will be more resilient, and returning excess cash to shareholders.

“The key going forward will be maintaining discipline. This is now a low-growth industry, so you’ve got to invest well,” Brian Youngberg, an analyst at Edward Jones, told the Wall Street Journal.

According to Reuters, while giants such as Total and Eni revamp exploration in-house, BP and Royal Dutch Shell have been more open to having partners do the heavy lifting of exploration in certain geographies.

Kosmos Energy and BP, for example, joined forces to hoover up exploration licenses in the northern part of the African Atlantic, rather than competing against each other.

In October, Kosmos entered a similar partnership with Shell to search for new oil off southern Africa.

“Having a built-in partner with a supermajor from the beginning is very different and allows us to share cost and share risks from the inception of a project,” said Kosmos’ exploration chief Tracey Henderson.

Funding

Indian refiner to buy four Nigeria oil cargoes in April First bank says financing available for bankable off-grid projects DIPO OLADEHINDE

ISAAC ANYAOGU

I

ndian state-owned refiner, Oil Corporation Limited (IOC), is buying one cargo each of Akpo and Bonny from French multinational Total, one cargo each of Forcados and Agbami from American multinational energy corporation Chevron with shipments of between 950,000 and one million bbl each, for April 1-10 loading, according to loading programmes seen

by Bloomberg.

Traders say that IO C bought two million bbl each of West Africa crude from Total and Chevron although the details of the grades were not immediately known.

India is a significant buyer of Nigerian crude, which is largely light and sweet, rich in gasoline and diesel and low in sulfur, and meets the needs of Indian refiners.

State-owned refiners like Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, (HPCL) are major regular buyers of Nigerian crude like Qua Iboe, Bonny Light, Escravos, EA Blend, Erha, Usan and Agbami.

According to a source

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from an Indian refiner “Nigerian crude is a must for most of our refineries, especially the older ones, which have been designed to run light sweet crude.

The new improvement in India demand’s for Nigeria crude oil will be good news for Africa biggest oil producer as Reuters reported last month that Nigerian crude oil market remained strong, with sellers feeling confident enough to offer two of the country’s grades, Bonny Light and Qua Iboe, around their highest in over four years.

S h o r t a g e s o f L i by a n and Algerian crudes and a smaller export programme for CPC, as well as a strong demand from refiners in both Europe and Asia for

distillate-rich grades have pushed up differentials for a number of key crudes to multi-month, or in the case of Nigeria, multi-year highs, sources revealed.

Bonny Light and Qua Iboe were offered for as high as $2.50 a barrel above dated Brent, although two traders said buyers were reluctant to step in at the levels, which were the strongest for the two grades since June 2014, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Nonetheless, Repsol S.A. an energy company based in Madrid, Spain was said to have loaded a cargo of Qua Iboe bound for their refinery in Peru. The Spanish group previously took Amenam to the 117,000-barrel per day La Pampilla refinery.

irst bank of Nigeria, one of the country’s biggest lenders says it is willing to finance off-grid projects as long as they are bankable and show evidence of steady cashflow.

At the February 7 signing ceremony of a partnership agreement with Azuri Technologies, a renewable energy firm, in Lagos, Tunde Owolabi, who represented the deputy managing director of the bank, debunked the notion that commercial banks in Nigeria were not interested in lending to the sector saying that it sees it as a growth opportunity.

“If the business case is strong, sure we will be willing to lend the sector,” Owolabi said.

Ini Ebong, group executive, Treasury and Financial Institutions, First Bank of Nigeria said the bank’s preference has been for captive power solutions where, though they are off-grid, power is delivered to industries.

“I think the real challenge is we need to find truly bankable projects where we can see the cashflow from end to end. In many situations, we don’t see that and that is the bane of lending to SMEs or small emerging space,” Ebong said.

Ebong further said that in

many instances, promoters have an idea but have not developed it into a bankable proposition.

“The few people that are able to do so will find financing but we must find a way to derisk the sector too,” Ebong said.

Investors in the off-grid space routinely say that commercial banks are unwilling to lend the sector when they consider interest rates they charge.

According to the banker, Nigeria is not a low interest-rate environment as double digit inflation means that interest rate will naturally be high. This is why in more developed economies the key focus of Central Banks is to control inflation to keep interest rate low.

“Beyond that we have to look at overheads and cost associated with doing business which are large as a result of infrastructural deficit,” said Ebong.

Nigerian banks often provide most of the power they use and rely on their own security and suffer the same constraints many businesses face in the country hence these costs are included in interest rate calculations as lending is the core business of banks.

“Inflation rate is about 11 percent, the top tier lending rate in the market, even the MPR is at 14% realistically you cannot have an interest rate that will be lower than that,” Ebong said.

Tuesday 12 February 2019

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Market

FirstBank, Azuri sign agreement to ramp off-grid power to underserved Nigerians Stories by ISAAC ANYAOGU

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igerian lender, First Bank and Azuri Technologies, a distributed renewable energy firm have signed a partnership agreement in Lagos on Thursday, February 7, that will see the solar company sell its products using the bank’s 16,000 First monie agent network across 750 locations in Nigeria.

Solar energy firms often offer a solar panel, phone charging station and perhaps a radio outlet but Azuri is introducing solar home television as part of a product offering targeted at small businesses in both rural and semi urban locations in Nigeria.

The partnership agreement took almost a year for negotiations to close highlighting the uphill task facing renewable energy firms in accessing finance to deploy solar solutions. This agreement with Azuri is the boldest move yet by any Nigerian lender to join the current trend of deepening energy access to Nigeria’s underserved communities.

Azuri’s solar home TV product will be co-branded and co-marketed by FirstBank and Azuri. Pay-asyou-go customers will be able to pay for their solar via FirstBank’s Firstmonie agent network and mobile payment solution. Firstmonie agents are positioned within rural

L:R: Ini Ebong, group executive, Treasury and Financial Institutions, First Bank of Nigeria; Simon Bransfield-Garth, founder and CEO, Azuri Technologies Limited; Tunde Owolabi, group executive, Retail Banking Group, Lagos and West, (Representing the Deputy Managing Director), First Bank of Nigeria; Vera Nwanze, general manager West Africa, Azuri Technologies Limited, at the Press briefing on the partnership between Azuri Technologies limited and First Bank of Nigeria held in Lagos.

and semi-urban locations across the country and provide basic financial services such as account opening, cash deposit, cash withdrawals and bill payments.

Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO of Azuri Technologies said, “This partnership combines the reach of FirstBank with Azuri’s technology and pay-as-you-go solar expertise to bring next generation power to off-grid consumers in Nigeria.”

“Azuri and FirstBank share the vi-

sion of a level playing field where all consumers have the ability to benefit from modern financial and digital services, regardless of where they live and this agreement is another step in making that vision a reality,” Bransfield-Garth said.

According to Adesola Adeduntan, FirstBank CEO, “Financial inclusion is a priority with FirstBank and we are excited that with this partnership, our customers are able to access a wide range of services

that address real problems such as access to power. With our over 16,000 Firstmonie Agents spread across the length and breadth of Nigeria, our customers are at an advantage in enjoying seamless financial services from the Bank that puts them first.”

From solar home lighting to solar satellite TV, Azuri systems are designed to deliver world class performance at an affordable price for all customers that experience irregular

power supply, the company said.

Customers make small weekly or monthly payments to gain access to the power and have the support of the company’s technical staff stationed in the communities.

Locals are often hired and trained by the company which it sees as another way to create jobs for the unemployed.

Bransfield-Garth in response to a question on why it is not manufacturing locally, said infrastructural, energy and fiscal challenges in Nigeria makes it difficult it at the moment. He added that while the company had a small team of about 20 engaged in manufacturing, hundreds of jobs have been created in distribution which they see as a better way to add value.

Azuri said its experience shows that pay-as-you-go solar is transforming lives by providing energy for lighting, phones and TVs while helping boost local economies with new employment opportunities and connecting off-grid households to financial and digital services that are helping improve productivity and increase income.

More than 60 million of Nigeria’s roughly 200 million people do not have bank accounts and as little as 6% of people have a mobile money account, hence both parties believe that the partnership will help deepen digital and financial inclusion in the country.

Market

Firm offers investors stake in 3MW electricity generation plant from animal waste

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ord Impact Renewable Energy (WIRE), a biogas firm, said it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with pig farmers at Oke Aro, a Lagos suburb, to use animal waste generated on the farm estate for between 3MW to 10MW electricity generation and is now offering investors willing to partner with it a stake in the business.

Abiodun Timilehin, CEO of WIRE, told BusinessDay that the project is still at the planning phase, and the company is open to potential investors, technical partnership and Public Private Partnership (PPP) after identifying the huge potential in the project.

Timilehin also said potential manufacturers of bio digesters and biogas plants have been identified for partnership.

“We hope to get a PPP with government, that will drive our project to execution. With the right partnership, we can cooperate to

form a win win situation,” said Timilehin, a Physicis graduate of the, Lagos State University ,Ojo. Convincing the farmers to sign was a herculean task. “You can imagine what it must have cost an entrepreneur to convince a farm as large as that to sign a paper. Lots of mails and letters to government and non governmental agencies, travelling, research, setting a structure for the company and other activities all come at a high cost,” But Timilehin said it was worth it. “We are motivated by a desire to add value and help to develop the society through renewable energy.”

Oke Aro pig farm estate is located at Oke Aro which is on a boundary between Lagos and Ogun State.

The pig farm estate houses over 200,000 pigs in a cluster with over 1000 registered farmers.

According to a study by Green Power Utility International, DVO digesters and Huamei Green Holding International, animal dung

on the farm can be converted to generate up to 3 -10MW electricity.

“The process of converting animal dung to energy is a proven technique practiced in developed and developing countries all over the world whereby degradable materials are trapped in an Anaerobic condition (Anaerobic Digester) to produce biogas which fires a biogas power plant,” ex-

Analysts: Isaac Anyaogu (Team Lead), Stephen Onyekwelu, Dipo Oladehinde

plains Timilehin.

According to the company, the benefits of the project are enormous. Estimated to generate between 3 and 10 MW from animal waste, the biofuel project could provide constant electricity to more than 1000 households.

The company further said that by-products from the process is organic fertilizer which dent fer-

tilizer insufficiency in the country.

Though the government says it seeks to diversify energy generation, little attention has been paid to biomass.

“Not even 1KW of power has been generated to the national grid from biomass this is due to over reliance on crude oil and solar as an alternative,” Timilehin said.

The company says it hopes that the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) can look into the biofuel sector and has reached out to the organisation.

“We hope that the government can look at giving rebate on tax and import duties for Biomass technologies and improve on policies that would encourage investment in the biofuel sector.

Timilehin said it’s time the Nigerian Government paid more attention to the biofuel sector to show investors the potentials of the sector.

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BUSINESS DAY

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To build an inclusive culture, understand who your employees really are

TALKING POINTS Hurry Up and Wait The average hospital emergencydepartment patient in the United States waits more than 90 minutes to be admitted and 135 minutes before being discharged. Patients who arrive at emergency departments with broken bones wait 54 minutes, on average, before receiving any pain medication. + A Long Way to Go Only 8% of venture partners at major funds are female, and less than 3% employ black or Latino investors.+ All Work and No Play More than 50% of Americans leave their paid vacation days unused each year. One out of four employed Americans receive no paid vacation days at all. + Medical Busywork The annual cost of U.S. physicians spending half their time using electronic health records is over $365 billion, or a billion dollars a day — more than the nation spends treating any major class of diseases and about equal to what it spends on public primary and secondary education.

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hen employees feel free to be themselves at work — when they don’t think they have to hide their religion or sexual orientation, for example — they’re much more likely to be happy in their jobs. One way to encourage this kind of openness is to build an inclusive culture, which starts with knowing who your employees truly are. Conducting an employee engagement survey can be an effective way to find out. Segment the data you collect by criteria — such as gender, ethnicity, and age — to help you identify and address issues among dif-

6 ways to prioritize time over money

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ferent groups of employees. Focus groups are another way to gain insight. They are best facilitated by a third party so that employees can speak freely. The most powerful way to learn about your employees, however, is one-on-one discussions. For these conversations to be effective, you need to have an open-door policy and a “tell me anything” persona. Being honest about your thoughts and feelings will build trust and show people that you’re human, too.

(Adapted from “To Retain Employees, Focus on Inclusion — Not Just Diversity,” by Karen Brown.)

To run a good meeting, get the basics right

time planning and arranging meals. Meet new people and help others: Casual social interactions with strangers significantly boosts happiness.

And volunteering is linked to greater happiness. Spend more time experiencing awe: Scenic hikes, tropical vacations or just looking up into the sky can rejuvenate us.

Take more vacation time: In America especially, vacation days are underutilized. But employees who take more days off report greater life satisfaction — which should surprise no one.

(Adapted from “Time for Happiness,” by Ashley Whillans)

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lenty of meetings are a waste of time.

They’re unfocused, badly run and way too long. But improving your meetings isn’t rocket science — work on getting the basics right. When planning a meeting, know why you are scheduling it in the first place.

Having a specific goal in mind will help you create a useful agenda. Next, decide who truly needs to be there, considering the key decision-makers, influencers and stakeholders. If certain people should be in the loop but don’t need to attend, you can ask for their input

Expertise It’s in our DNA FirstBankofNigeria

beforehand and update them afterward. Open the meeting by clearly laying out its purpose and focusing people on the task at hand. As the facilitator, your role is to get attendees to feel committed to the outcome. When the meeting is over, take a few minutes to reflect. Did everyone participate? Were people distracted? What worked well, and what didn’t? Use your reflections (ask others for their thoughts, too) to keep improving for next time.

(Adapted from “Why Your Meetings Stink — and What to Do About It,” by Steven G. Rogelberg)

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any people enjoy the convenience that flexible and remote work bring, but sitting at your kitchen table day after day can get lonely.

To help your employees feel connected to each other, consider establishing an “in-the-office” day each week, when remote employees are encouraged to come in. Whether they attend meetings or just eat lunch with colleagues, having this weekly touchpoint can make them feel more engaged. For remote workers who can’t come in regularly, a monthly or quarterly visit can go a long way toward

In an ever changing economy, with 125 years of serving YOU, we remain strong, trustworthy, dependable, safe and consistent.

You can be confident that we will continue to deliver innovative banking products and services which seamlessly and conveniently suit your lifestyle needs.

Visit www.firstbanknigeria.com to learn more about us.

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To cultivate creativity on your team, set the conditions for it

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here is no such thing as a “creative personality”; anybody can be creative, given the right opportunities and context. So if you need more creativity on your team, don’t just hire more people — develop the ones who already work for you.

Research has found that expertise in a certain field is a key ingredient for producing creative work, so offer your team coaching to help them master the skills your organization needs.

Practicing is another path to expertise.

Find ways for employees to use new skills again and again, and give them feedback so that they keep improving.

It’s also important to encourage exploration. Set aside time for employees to play around with new ideas and follow inspiration wherever it leads, even when there isn’t an obvious connection to their jobs. Finally, reward persistence. Ideas often need time to develop — lots of it — and someone’s passion project could turn out to be your company’s next big innovation.

(Adapted from “Set the Conditions for Anyone on Your Team to Be Creative,”

by Greg Satell.)

To Battle Loneliness, encourage remote employees to work from the office sometimes

c 2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate

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Tuesday 12 February 2019

Tips & Talking Points

Harvard Business Review

ace it: The pursuit of money isn’t bringing you joy. The only thing that will is time — time spent doing rewarding things. Although your brain and your workplace may be conspiring to make you choose money over time, a few daily actions could help shift your mindset. Plan your future time: When it comes to leisure, people have a natural bias toward spontaneity. But research shows we’re actually happier if we make plans. Be active: Pursuits like volunteering, socializing and exercising can be transformative. Savor your food: Spend more time eating and less

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maintaining their relationships with co-workers. Their visits will have travel costs, of course, but the benefits to the team will likely outweigh them. It’s also critical that managers guard against any stigma that might make remote workers feel ostracized and further isolated. Be sure everyone knows that working from home is an accepted business practice, not something to frown upon.

(Adapted from “Helping Remote Workers Avoid Loneliness and Burnout,” by Jennifer Moss)

Tuesday 12 February 2019

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BUSINESS DAY

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Infrastructure Maintenance With Tunde Obileye

Understanding facilities management

Capital Alliance, Elalan disrupt property market with $165m Blue Water Lagos A …offer exceptional value proposition in mid-market residential development Stories by CHUKA UROKO

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major disruption is happening in the Nigerian mid-income property market with the development of Blue Water Lagos by a private equity investment firm, Africa Capital Alliance, and a construction giant, Elalan, offering what market analysts have described as exceptional value propositions.

At a time when most investors are holding back investment and adopting a watch-and-see attitude as the economy totters and politics upstages economic activities, Capital Alliance and Elalan are making ambitious entry into the property market with $165 million investment that promises to deliver over 600 residential apartments and penthouses to mid-income home buyers.

“As investors and developers, our confidence in the market derives from our belief that there is demand and we can always identify products where there is demand even in a recession like this. The fact that there is a cycle does not mean that is how the market is going to be forever.

There is going to be changes and forceful improvements which will improve project attractiveness.

“We are not really concerned about where we are right now.

We believe that we are investing at the right time; when people are not investing is the right time to invest because that is when you get a better deal for your development”, Obi Nwogugu, Head of Real Estate at Capital Alliance, explained as part of reasons for their confidence in a recessing market.

Blue Water Lagos is coming as a redefinition of what, conventionally, could be called ‘affordable housing’. It offers opportunity for live, work and play experience in luxury apartments and shopping/

entertainment mall that will compare favourably with The Palms and Ikeja City Mall in Lagos.

Described as the largest modern residential and best-in-class development in Nigeria, Blue Water Lagos sits on four hectares, about 37,000 square metres, of land. Nwogugu told journalists at the topping out event of phase 1 of the project—The Saphire Residences—that the entire development was estimated to cost $165 million.

The estimated cost of The Saphire Residences is $25 million and, according to Kenneth Leech of Elalan, this first phase which will be delivering 124 apartments, comprising 1,2 and 3-bedroom apartments, would be ready for occupation in January 2020.

“This is a unique scheme; it is in a great location for Lagos people; it is a unique live, work and play lifestyle community.

There are apartments, retail and entertainment facilities. The entire scheme promises 6,000 luxury apartments and penthouses”, Leech said of the development which is located a few hundreds of metres away from the Second Roundabout on Lekki-Epe Expressway.

In real estate, it is said that location is everything and this works well for Blue Water Lagos.

Leech said the development “is a secure environment in which the residents will have no cause to go anywhere else at the weekend. Everybody’s needs will be provided. It is best-in-class and no-one else is doing this kind of scheme in Nigeria”.

Nwogugu takes it further, saying, “our product speaks for itself; it is a luxury product, it is not what you would call affordable housing. It is a mid-market product in an exceptional location; people say we are competing, but we don’t see any competitor at all.

“Anybody who is doing simi-

lar development in Oniru, for instance, does not have the kind of amenities that we have, nor the quality of our product. This is being built by a tier-1 builder who has expertise in mechanical, electrical engineering and plumbing.

What you get is a quality product”, he assured.

He emphasized that there was no other scheme like theirs going on in Lagos because they were offering opportunity for waterfront living in Lagos for anybody who wants it. He noted that this is the first time anybody is putting up condominiums in a waterfront location. “You hear about water-

front developments around the world in places like New York, Miami, London, etc. But it is now available in Lagos”, he entrhused.

In spite of the persisting lull in the property market, buyerinterest in Blue Water Lagos has been quite encouraging. According to Nwogugu, the scheme has recorded 35 percent commitment from buyers and 15 percent under discussion, meaning that negotiation is going on. Buyers are offered flexible payment plan which requires them to make 20 percent down payment and spread the balance over the year payable on quarterly basis.

Investment opportunity beckons in new economic hub of Lagos

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narguably, Lagos and Victoria Islands are the business hubs of Lagos which is why they are frequently referred to as the central business districts (CBDs) of the sprawling commercial city.

But the ambitious projects coming up in and around the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) make that corridor the economic hub of Lagos. This is where developments such as the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the new International Airport and the Dangote Refinery and Fertilizer Plant are happening with gusto.

For patient investors with long term view of the market, this is the new investment destination. On offer are industrial, residential and commercial plots of land. These plots are in the new Northwest Quadrant of the LFTZ in the immediate vicinity of the upcoming developments.

The LFTZ, created in 2006, is a modern free zone managed in accord-

ance with international best practices.

The zone’s 16,500 hectares are divided into four quadrants and managed by various operators, benefiting from Lagos State’s position as the premier distribution hub in West Africa.

The zone is located in the southeastern corner of Lagos, facing the Atlantic Ocean to the south and the Lekki Lagoon to the north. It is bordered by five kilometers of coastline and is 50 kilometers from Victoria Island, Lagos.

MCO Real Estate (MCORE), a real estate marketing, advisory and consultancy firm, says “an investment in this master-planned mixed use city represents one of the most exciting value-enhancing opportunities in the entire country”.

It is expected that Dangote Refinery alone will be employing over 1,000 workers. All these workers will need houses to live in; they will need schools for their children; they will

also need hospitals, shops or markets, meaning that any investment for any of these purposes will make a good buy in the long run.

Munachi Okoye, CEO, MCORE, said in a statement obtained by BusinessDay at the weekend that these plots of land come with secure land title such as certificate of occupancy (Cp-of-O), adding that buying these plots come with the benefits of their being close to the Lekki Seaport, Airport, Refinery and Fertilizer Plant.

“Buyers will also enjoy full FTZ benefits including foreign exchange repatriation, foreign ownership and zero tax; there is an experienced international sponsor with enviable track record while facilities such as 2.5 mega watts of independent power plant (MWA IPP), water supply, sewage treatment, fibre network, etc exist”, he assured.

Okoye explained that mixed-use plots for industrial and manufactur-

ing, residential, hospitality, retail, educational and commercial uses were all available for sale ranging in size from 500 square metres for residential plots to a minimum of 0.5 hectare for industrial and commercial plots. He disclosed that prices ranged from US$100 per square metre.

Another major development in the Northwest Quadrant of the LFTZ is the Alaro City which is being developed

by Rendeavour, Africa’s largest new city builder with over 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of city-scale developments in the growth trajectories of large cities in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Alaro City, a joint venture project by Rendeavour and Lagos State Government, is a mixed-income, city-scale development with master-planned areas for offices, logistics and warehousing, homes, schools, healthcare facilities, hotels, entertainment and 150 hectares of parks and open spaces.

fter my last write-up on ‘revisiting the issue of maintenance’, I felt the need to complement it with shedding some light on understanding facilities management (FM).

The practice of facilities management emerged out of necessity during the recession of the 1980s. It was driven by the need to support and allow organizations to reduce operating costs, increase productivity, enhance competitiveness and preserve bottomline.

FM has over time evolved to adapt to various changes as a result of business completion, increased demand from end-users and advancement in technology. Today, the FM industry had developed as an approach to operate, maintain, and manage facilities and services to support core business operations. Different stakeholders have described the role of FM in several ways, notably corporate services, operations support services, workplace services and asset maintenance management.

There are a lot of people including facilities practitioners who are still not well acquainted with the concept of FM and its methodologies. The main function of FM is to manage non-core business operations of any private or public sector organization so as to enable such an organization to focus on its core business. Therefore, it is imperative that FM objectives should be aligned with an organization’s objectives and goals.

The practice of FM focuses mainly on maintenance operations, workplace safety and health, asset management and administrative services. As a result, how this plays out differs from organization to organization even amongst organizations operating in the same sector. Furthermore, the scope has widened, driven by business trends, advancement in technology and end-users’ ever changing needs.

This has increased the demand for facilities management practitioners despite the lack of standards and what the minimum acceptable level of service delivery should be.

A recent research reported that the global building stock will grow by 24 percent by 2023 mainly due to urbanization. Due to this increasing construction of built environment and the need to comply with the expanding regulatory requirements such as energy and water conservation in buildings, the demand for professional FM services has increased as corporate and individual clients seek to get maximum returns from their assets.

In today’s dynamic and competitive business environment there is a strong demand for competent facilities managers/practitioners to support organizations in keeping pace with changes and in enhancing their effectiveness and efficiency. Another factor for the strong demand is the increase in awareness of corporate social responsibility, especially with multinational organizations in need of facilities managers/practitioners to help them fulfill this obligation which includes protecting the environment and promoting sustainability.

Today, facilities management is more than just maintenance functions.

It is now being recognized as a potentially significant economic factor that adds value when facilities and support services are well managed. The value of facilities management is gaining recognition from public and private sector organizations in many sectors of the economy that wish to safeguard not only their revenue but also their profits.

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What Nigeria can learn from Kenyan ‘your land, their building’ model Endurance Okafor

F

aced with the challenge of more than 17 million housing units demand-supply gap, Nigeria has a lot to learn from Kenya’s ‘your land, their building’ housing delivery model.

This joint venture model in East Africa’s largest economy is gaining ground as the market begins to recover after a slowdown last year.

‘Your land, their building’ model allows a developer to lease a parcel of land from the owner for a long period of time, say 10-15 years, then build apartments and during the lease period, the developer takes 70 percent of the rent whereas 30 percent goes to owner of the land, and after the agreed period of time, the owner of the land gets back his property.

An example of a real estate developing company in Kenya that is into this kind of joint venture is SamPesa, a local real estate firm dealing with the development of property and real estate management.

Samuel Murigi, SamPesa director, said in a statement that the company develops land leased from individuals.

“A joint venture assists the community in investing in real estate by providing funding for building houses and drilling

boreholes by bringing professionalism in the venture,” he said in a statement.

In a situation where the property developed does not get tenants, the SamPesa director said feasibility studies have cushioned them against incurring losses as they acquire land in strategic locations.

However, he said, “even if they fail to get their money back during the lease period, they still exit the property and leave it to the owner of the land.”

He explained that despite its popularity, the model needs a lot of care so that there is no loophole that can be exploited by either party, and so government

intervention as a regulator would spur the growth of the initiative.

Reacting to this model, a Nigeria developer, who asked not to be quoted because of his current position, said “this model can work in Nigeria but it can also be adjusted to fit in the country’s property industry. So it can take other forms that take into consideration the unique needs of the parties involved.”

Other industry experts affirmed that the concept was likely to help provide affordable housing in Nigeria, considering that the source of patient capital and land for constructing affordable homes is one of the indus-

try’s biggest challenges.

Experts and industry stakeholders had told BusinessDay earlier that joint venture arrangements, crowdfunding and off-plan sales were some of the viable alternatives to funding real estate projects in Nigeria where cost of funds has made bank credit inaccessible, unaffordable and unattractive.

Commercial banks are not ideal or suitable source of financing real estate projects because whereas commercial bank deposits are short-term in nature, real estate is for the long term which is usually vulnerable to the vagaries in the economy such as changes interest rates,

exchange rates, and the rate of inflation.

Andrei Ugarov, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says “Nigeria is still a viable market. Capital is a challenge but deals are happening. It means funds are available. Players in the industry are making use of other financing options to fund real estate development projects.”

In Nigeria, real estate is among the least attractive sectors to commercial banks as it got one of the smallest portions of loan in the 3rd quarter of 2018.

Figures compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the property sector was able to attract only N710.2

Chandeliers: The leading choice in royal lighting TEMITAYO AYETOTO

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ust as royal sofas are the hallmark of achieving neo-classical statements of style and luxury in home furnishing, chandeliers have also retained standing as the toast of lovers of luxury lighting.

Not only does it create a special effect on the living room, its presence has a unique way of foregrounding the beauty in surrounding furnishings.

A nice lighting delicately covered in translucent stone helps the interior design with cool and calm radiation, helping the mind get relaxed without being distracted.

One of the trends that will phase out of demand in 2019 is naked light which is deemed to be a harsh source of illumination, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of 200 design professionals who identified the next big trend in decorating.

The designers believe preference in interior lighting will shift from cold and unnatural light emitting diodes (LEDs) with direct brightness to filtered illumination as enclosed in the case of chandeliers.

Libby Langdon, a designer, said “the past few years we have been bombarded with glass globe

fixtures with bulbs exposed inside.

That trend has officially peaked”.

“I see us moving away from game show lighting,” agrees Thomas Jayne, another designer.

According to Penz Nigeria Lim-

ited, the Nigerian lighting community is slowly and gradually accepting latest lighting technology beauty. And advantages are seen in LEDs over incandescent light sources (normal bulb) and

energy saving bulbs.

The advantages include lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved physical roughness, smaller size and faster switching when coming on.

Hence, for dealers in interior furnishing like Lifemate Funiture, Bedmate Furniture or IO Furniture, showroom displays are incomplete without a beaming presence of chandeliers either within room settings or dining area ceilings.

Their showrooms speak to Nigerians’ penchant for style and elegance in luxury lighting demands.

Leading e-commerce platform, Jumia is also not overlooking this preference as its aggressive promotion significantly recognises the stylish trend pushing demand for chandeliers.

On its shelves are collection of luxurious ceiling chandeliers meant to give the home that look of royalty it deserves.

“We have just the right ceiling lights that will not only add aesthetic value to your home but will also provide you with bright light to illuminate your home.”

However, dealers still believe homeowners spend a lot of time selecting furniture or deciding on the right colour for the living room, but tend to forget about the right lighting. This means real demands have yet to expand beyond hospitality businesses and wealthy homeowners who can afford to contract their home decoration.

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In association with

MainOne aims to raise Africa’s digital profile with over $300 million investments in broadband infrastructure Kazeem Oladepo is MainOne’s regional executive, responsible for West Africa, including Ghana and the Francophone countries. In this interview with Jumoke Lawanson, he speaks on the company’s recent partnership with Orange, the French multinational telecoms company, its plans for joint investments in cable landing stations in Cote D’Ivoire and Senegal, and Mainone’s efforts towards expanding the international bandwidth market in Francophone Africa. Excerpts.

Why did MainOne choose Orange as partners in its drive to boost internet connectivity in Francophone West Africa? believe our partnership with Orange adds value to both parties, given the opportunities for improved connectivity across the continent, especially the Francophone region. Orange is a major multinational telecommunications company operating in Francophone West Africa, as Orange Telecoms and Sonatel in Cote D’Ivoire and Senegal respectively, the region’s biggest Francophone economic hubs. While Orange has stakes in the three submarine cables serving Cote D’Ivoire: SAT3, WACS and ACE, the telecoms sector in the Francophone countries is undergoing a transition from a purely voice market to a data-driven one, enabling the digital economy. This growth is increasing the region’s bandwidth requirements as more data-hungry applications, tech services and products consumed by the private, public sector and individuals has increased the connectivity demands. The Francophone market needed an open-access submarine cable to help redefine not only connectivity services, but also to open up areas such as cloud computing, software and the development of lasting IT clusters. As West Africa’s premier connectivity and value added services provider, MainOne built and operates Africa’s first privatelyled non-consortium open-access submarine cable system, spanning 7000 kilometres and connecting West Africa to the rest of the world through landings in Ghana, Nigeria, Portugal and Cameroun. We have sought to become the infrastructure backbone of the West African market and planned subsequent landings in Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire, Morocco and the Canary Islands, among others. Thus we had the opportunity to extend our subsea cable to these new Cable Landing Stations across the region and Orange needed additional capacity on a submarine cable

I

Kazeem Oladepo

to meet its connectivity challenges and consolidate its leadership position in the international data services wholesale market across the region.

With this collaboration, MainOne and Orange can improve connectivity quality and reduce costs, enable access to new technology services and deepen internet density in Cote D’Ivoire and Senegal. We believe this development will significantly drive innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation, improve global competitiveness and FDI for these countries and grow the economy and the contribution of ICT to GDP, but more importantly, leverage ICT as a tool for enabling improvement in sociocultural and economic integration amongst the UEMOA countries. Direct connectivity into Abidjan and Dakar will enable us expedite this goal and help the region drive the deployment of additional broadband connectivity and other infrastructure across these countries and the region in general.

When will the cable landing stations in Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire come online?

They will be ready for service during the second half of 2019.

Why Francophone? What does

MainOne hope to achieve in these West African francophone countries over the next five years?

MainOne is focused on the entire West African market and we have raised the infrastructure level over the last eight years in Anglophone West Africa, including Nigeria and Ghana with our submarine cable, investments in terrestrial networks and partnerships and new data centres to sustain the rise of data consumption while opening the door for more content delivery within the continent. Focus on Francophone, now with Cote D’Ivoire and Senegal offers us the opportunity to have a direct presence in all the major economic hubs in the West.

These two countries: Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire, are focus markets for MainOne, not only as the largest UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union) markets, but also due to their relevance as the top two key francophone hubs in the region. Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal account for more than half the block’s GDP and trade flows, acting as vital lifelines for their landlocked neighbours, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Both countries also have the largest banking sectors in UEMOA and are emerging as the key Fintech innovation hubs in Francophone Africa.

Given this socio-economic relevance, these markets are important to our customers and highly attractive to MainOne, given our interest in growing the digital economy and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship for the overall growth of West Africa. Over the next few years, we plan to drive more international bandwidth into the Francophone region to drive down costs, support local businesses, especially Internet Service Providers and to address the challenges of procuring capacity at competitive rates. We are committed to collaborating with incumbent operators within these countries to crash connectivity costs in the region towards enhancing regional integration and global access. We believe this will make the internet more accessible to all users in the region and support the rapid pace of development in the region, facilitate increased non-resources trade, globalization and ultimately improve public services to aid the evolution of regional businesses.

What is next after Cote D’Ivoire and Senegal?

We would like to see more regional traffic within the continent and will definitely continue to invest in extending our services to other countries, building data centres and raising the region’s digital profile by deepening technology penetration and availability of connectivity services. We will continue to focus on improved services in our countries of operation while we identify new countries to target. We also plan to drive improved regional integration, especially of landlocked countries such as Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. Though MainOne already delivers services to Burkina Faso through Ghana, and Chad through Cameroun, our new Ivorien route will open up more countries and have a multiplier effect on Africa’s economies still battling with inferior access infrastructure.

Can you compare the reception of

MainOne across these countries; government and regulation and enterprise?

From a policy and regulatory standpoint, we encounter less red-tape outside Nigeria and things work better in Ghana and the Francophone region. It is easier to make rational arguments for permits to allow the development of infrastructure and get ready support in Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire, for example, than in Nigeria. When you put in investment and effort into other countries, you get results. Regulation seems to be more enabling than in Nigeria. From an environmental standpoint, Nigeria is more fraught with challenges; power supply is less predictable; regulation is less transparent, and it is not as straightforward to get things done.

To what extent has MainOne overcome the challenges affecting connectivity in West African countries?

MainOne is West Africa’s internet backbone and continues to drive the internet revolution across the region. We currently have coverage in 10 West African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroun, Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal among others. We have invested over $300m in broadband infrastructure in West Africa via submarine cable, terrestrial networks and data centres and led to a rebirth and launch of over 50 ISPs across West Africa. MainOne has led unparalleled reduction in the price of broadband and connectivity services in general; provided unlimited access to international connectivity capacity with a cable system that has the capability to deliver 10Tbps connectivity capacity and significantly improved the quality of service and consumer experience in our current markets. This has led to significant improvements in broadband penetration rates, with countries where we have achieved landing today ranking very high on the list of the continents’ most connected countries and of course having the highest broadband density rates in West Africa.

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‘A payment service bank is not disruption’ Stories by JUMOKE AKIYODE-LAWANSON

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egun Agbaje, chief executive officer, GTbank says that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) authorization for Fintechs, telecommunications operators and other companies to set up Payment Service Banks (PSBs) in Nigeria is not a threat to traditional banking.

Speaking at a session themed; ‘The future of Banking’, at the recently concluded Social Media Week Lagos 2019, Agbaje said that banks are not waiting to be disrupted by fintechs, telcos or any other company, as they have started to disrupt themselves with cutting edge technology solutions that can compete with any other sector.

“Although many believe that the permission for telcos to play in the financial services sector is a threat to banks, the truth is that a PSB is not disruption because it has already been done with Mpesa in Kenya. We need a telco that is brave enough to significantly drive down the cost of

L-R: Mohammed Edewor, non-executive director, 9mobile; Nasir Ado Bayero, chairman, 9mobile; Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman (EVC), Nigerian Communications Commission; Stephane Beuvelet, Ag. managing director, 9mobile and Abdulrahman Ado, executive director, Regulatory & Corporate Affairs, 9mobile, , during a courtesy visit by the board of 9mobile to the Commission in Abuja…recently.

data or do something like the change from per-minute to per-second billing, that was disruption in the telecoms industry,” he said.

“I welcome telcos as a competition, all I ask is that

there should be a level playing field,” Agbaje added.

According to him, GTBank is disrupting itself by transforming from just providing banking services to playing in different sectors, leveraging

Gokada upgrades to fully featured mobile app

T

he exponential growth of Gokada, the motorcycle ride hailing company has necessitated an upgrade from its stop-gap ‘Gokadalite’ application to a fully featured mobile application, to allow the company cater to its growing customers base in Lagos.

The on-demand motorcycle hailing company which launched a little over year ago, says that, its huge growth of over 100,000 customers and counting and almost 1,000 motorcycles, created the need to accelerate the development of a more enhanced mobile application.

“The Gokada lite application had a couple of issues and bugs that needed to be fixed for seamless customer engagement.

The Gokadalite application was initially developed as a test app which was meant to last for only about two months but the development of the proper app took longer than we expected and customers started to experience major glitches,” Deji Oduntan, chief executive officer, Gokada said.

Oduntan who spoke to Journalists at the Gokada head office in Lagos recently, said that, a few of the issues experienced by riders included the fact that the ‘Gokadalite’ application which did not require the use of mobile data, allowed for every single ride to be initiated by the driver. “This put the power in the hands of the driver who had the tendency to overcharge or simply reject the ride for no good reason, as the rider always had to call the Gokada driver, instead of simply requesting a ride through the app,” he said.

Gokada aims to serve a wide range of users by providing an easy and straightforward mobile application for Lagosians to request a motorcycle ride to beat traffic and get to their destinations safely and on time.

“Safety is a priority for us, and that is why we have enforced the use of helmets on all our bikes. We also provide insurance for these drivers and ensure that the drivers are properly trained,” Oduntan said.

Like Uber and Taxify, Gokada’s new app has new features that will allow for discount codes, GPS mapping system, where the rider and driver will be in sync, tracking systems, fare calculator, customer support and much more.

Afolabi Akinwale, head, partnership, business development and offline marketing, Gokada Rides Limited, said that with the new app customers can now report erring drivers who will be sanctioned if found guilty of contravening the company’s policy.

“We have a full structure in respect to sanctioning drivers if they do not comply because they are given the policy guidelines and handbook during training and before contract signing,” Akinwale said.

Gokada runs a lease to own scheme, whereby drivers can pay off to own the bikes after a year of operation. The company aims to expand to other cities across Nigeria including Ibadan, Kano and Abeokuta before the end of 2019. It also expects to garner up to 5,000 bikes before the end of the year.

technology as a vital tool for growth and development.

“We have created all sorts of life changing platforms such as Ndani online TV, Quick Credit, GTWorld and very recently, we launched

Habari, the mobile app that brings everything we do, including e-commerce, payment module, news, entertainment and much more, on one platform,” Agbaje said.

Leading telecommunica-

tion service providers, MTN Nigeria, Globacom and Airtel Nigeria have shown major interest in operating in the financialservices space and have applied for mobile banking licenses as stipulated in the payment service banking policy guidelines released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Once granted a banking license, Nigerians will be able to experience a lot more financial services on their phones, including paying for goods and services, and withdrawing money from recognised payment service agents on the roadside. However, the telecom companies are not allowed to collect deposits or give out loans.

The mobile operators had in September 2018 revealed their commitment to deepening financial inclusion and providing Nigerians with access to a range of affordable financial services.

Current financial exclusion levels stand at over 40 percent. It is argued that the significant gap could be covered to meet Nigeria’s target of 20 percent financial exclusion by 2020.

LG receives more than 140 CES awards across various consumer electronic categories

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G Electronics (LG) has won more than 140 awards and honors for its various electronic appliances at the CES 2019, an annual trade show organised by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).

For the fifth consecutive year, the company was honoured with the Engadget Best of CES Award in the TV category (the official award program of CES), this time for the revolutionary LG SIGNATURE OLED TV R (model 65R9) – a 65-inch rollable OLED TV. The LG Soundbar (model SL9YG) and LG V40 ThinQsmartphone were also honoured for best innovation in their respective categories.

Accolades were also received from, TechRadar, Popular Mechanics, SlashGear, Reviewed.com, Techlicious and others in addition to 17 CES Innovation Awards from the CTA across home appliances, home entertainment and mobile communications categories.

The LG SIGNATURE OLED TV R – the world’s first rollable television – stole the show this year, bringing in more than 70 awards and

honors from a wide range of respected technology media publications. LG’s 2019 lineup of LG grams ultra lightweight laptops served notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with in 2019 with major awards from publications including Reviewed. com, Trusted Reviews and Techlicious.

Top awards earned by LG at CES 2019 include: LG SIGNATURE OLED TV R: Engadget: Best of CES, PC Mag: Best of CES, Reviewed.com: Editor’s Choice Award, SlashGear: Editor’s Choice Award, Techlicious: CES Top Picks, Popular Mechanics: Best of CES 2019, Tom’s Guide: Best in Show 2019, TechRadar: The Best Tech at the Show, Pocketlint: Best of CES, HD Guru:

Best in Show, CTA Mark of Excellence: Video Display Product of the Year, CES 2019 Innovation Award: Honoree LG 88-inch OLED 8K TV: CES 2019 Innovation Award: Honoree, Mashable: Best Tech of CES 2019, Digital Trends: Best TVs of CES 2019 LG gram 17: Reviewed. com: Editor’s Choice Award, Techlicious: CES Top Picks, Windows Central: Best of CES, CES 2019 Innovation Award: Honoree LG gram 2-in-1: Trusted Reviews: Best of CES LG Soundbar (SL9YG): CES 2019 Best of Innovation: Best of Innovation, HD Guru: Best of CES LG HomeBrew: CES 2019 Innovation Award: Honoree, Trusted Review: Best of CES 2019 LG Styler: CES 2019 Innovation Award: Honoree, Dealerscope: 2019 IMPACT Awards LG V40 ThinQ: CES 2019 Best of Innovation: Best of Innovation For everything on LG’s CES 2019 awards and honors including additional information about LG’s products at CES, please visitwww.lgnewsroom.com/tag/ lgces2019.

Tuesday 12 February 2019

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Markets + Finance

27

‘Providing proprietary research, commentary, analysis and financial news coverage unmatched in today’s market. Published weekly, Markets & Finance provides all the key intelligence you need.’

Listed manufacturers capitulate to headwinds as margins remain flat BALA AUGIE

T

he environment has been particularly torrid for listed manufacturers in Africa’s largest economy as low consumer spending, decrepit infrastructure, and double taxation, have continued to undermine their performance.

To further exacerbate the already anaemic position of firms is the combinations of uncertainties surrounding the forthcoming elections and vagaries of global macroeconomic shocks.

Of course the continuous hike in rates by the United States (U.S) Feds and trade spate between China and the U.S, triggered sells off of developing market stocks.

Data gathered by BusinessDay showed 24 largest manufacturers listed on the floor of the bourse were unable to turn each Naira of sales invested into higher profit as combined average profit margin remained flat at 11.11 percent.

Cumulative revenue dipped by 3.93 percent to N2.10 trillion in September 2018 from N2.19 trillion the previous year while net profit fell by 9.29 percent to N242.64 billion the same period, according to data gathered by Markets and Finance.

The major drivers of the stagnation were the consumer goods

sector and drug makers, but some of them buck the trend as they recorded double digit growth in revenue and profit while contemporaneously magnifying shareholders earnings.

A breakdown on a sector by sector basis shows the cumulative average net profit margin of 13 consumer goods firms fell to 5.74 percent in September 2018 from 6.67 percent in September 2017.

However, amid the myriad of challenges hobbling the industry, Unilever and Nestle Nigeria recorded margin expansion, while Dangote Sugar’s, Nacon Allied Industries’ and Nigerian Breweries’ net margins of 14.31 percent, 20.20 percent, and 6.21 percent, outperformed industry average.

Companies are also struggling with stockpiles or high inventory turnover as it is taking them longer time to sell goods in the warehouse, a worrisome situation that validates reduction in sales figure.

Only Unilever and Nestle recorded increase in revenue; in short, the upick at the top line in 2017 was because a lot them hiked the price of product to compensate for rising inflation.

While the consumer goods firms are struggling to stay afloat, Industrial Goods firms that comprise of Dangote Cement Plc, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), Lafarge Africa,

and Beta Glass Nigeria Plc, saw combined average net margin increase to 14.39 percent in September 2018 from 13.98 percent the previous year.

The expansions in margins were driven by Beta Glass and CCNN as they recorded the largest expansion while Dangote Cement and Lafarge witnessed margin contractions.

Beta Glass has been recording double digit growth in sales and profit since 2016, a period when a precipitous drop in the price of crude stoked severe dollar scarcity that tipped the country in its first recession in 25 years.

Industrial Goods Index year to date gained 1.96 percent, outperforming the NSE ASI Index of 0.32 percent as at 2:00 pm on Friday, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence.

Analysts are optimistic that players in the industry, especially the cement makers, will take advantage of growing population and infrastructure deficit to underpin earnings as cement volumes are expected to go up.

Cement makers are strengthening strategies that will give them the leeway to taking advantage of the above fiscal policy opportunities.

For instance, owners of the 500,000 metric tonnes per annum Sokoto Cement Plant, merged with

Kalambaina Cement Company Limited Plant- with 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum- to form a combined entity with 2 million metric tonnes per annum cement plant. Both firms are owed by BUA Group of companies.

Lafarge Africa, the second largest cement producer, with a market share f 25 percent, bought a plant in Calabar, in southeastern Nigeria, that can produce 5 million metric tons of cement a year and is also investing in its South African operation as it seeks to increase capacity to 17.5 million tons from 14 million tons across the continent.

Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s largest cement producer, with 67% market share and cement operations in ten African coun-

BD MARKETS + FINANCE Analysts: BALA AUGIE

tries, having invested more than $8bn in cement plant capex, as it seeks to consolidates efficiency optimization across its Pan African operations.

Nigeria economy has been growing sluggishly while bad roads, epileptic power supply, Apapa grid lock, and lack of vision on the part of government, have made have left manufacturers grasping for breath.

Nigeria’s economy remains fragile as GDP grew by 1.80 percent in the third quarter of 2018, a downturn from 2.10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Inflation for the month of December stood at 11.44 percent, which is higher than the 11.28 percent figure for November 2017.

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Healthy passenger demand seen in 2018 with record load factor Stories by IFEOMA OKEKE

T

he International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced global passenger traffic results for 2018 showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose by a healthy 6.5percent compared to full-year 2017.

Although this represented a slowdown compared to the 2017 annual growth of 8.0 percent, it was another year of above-trend growth. Full year 2018 capacity climbed 6.1percent, and load factor edged up 0.3 percentage point to a record 81.9 percent, exceeding the previous high set in 2017.

December RPKs rose 5.3 percent against the same month in 2017, the slowest year-over-year pace since January 2018 and a continuation of the trend that saw demand growth decelerate to an annu-

alised rate of five percent over the course of the 2018 second half, compared to a nine percent pace in the first half.

“2018 was another year of strong passenger demand, as aviation continued to support the global economy. We expect similar, if somewhat moderating performance in 2019.

Nevertheless, slowing growth in the second half of 2018, coupled with concerns over issues including Brexit and US-China trade tensions, are creating some uncertainty to this positive outlook,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO, said.

International passenger traffic in 2018 climbed 6.3 percent compared to 2017, down from 8.6 percent annual growth the year before.

Capacity rose 5.7 percent and load factor climbed by 0.4 percentage points to 81.2 percent.

All regions recorded year-overyear increases in traffic, led by Asia-Pacific. However, North America and Africa were the

Arik launches Valentine promo, gives 50% discount on tickets

A

rik Air, Nigeria’s leading carrier is availing customers the opportunity of celebrating this year’s Valentine with their loved ones by launching a special promotion where guests can save up to 50percent on companion tickets.

To enjoy this promotion, a couple needs to buy one economy class ticket and get 50percent discount on the second ticket. This promotional ticket is available across all Arik Air network.

The Valentine promotion is available for sale from

February 1-14, 2019 for travels throughout February 2019.

Speaking about the Valentine promotion, Roy Ilegbodu, Arik Air’s chief executive officer, said, “Valentine’s Day is for the celebration of love and affection, thus this promotional offer is Arik Air’s little way of showing our customers how much we care. Our aim is to foster a memorable travel experience among people.”

The promotional offer is available at any of Arik Air’s airport and city offices or online.

only two regions to post stronger demand growth in 2018 compared to the prior year’s performance African airlines saw 2018 traffic rise 6.5 percent compared to 2017, which was an increase compared to 6.0 percent annual growth in 2017.

The strong performance took place in spite of the mixed economic backdrop of the continent’s largest economies,

Nigeria and South Africa. Capacity rose 4.4 percent, and load factor jumped 1.4 percentage points to 71.0 percent.

European carriers’ international traffic climbed 6.6percent in 2018 compared to the previous year, which was down from 9.4 percent growth the year before. Capacity rose 5.9 percent and load factor increased 0.6 percentage point to 85.0 percent, which was the

highest for any region. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, traffic growth has softened a bit in recent months, likely owing, in part, to uncertainty over the economic backdrop and Brexit.

Middle East carriers’ traffic increased 4.2 percent last year, down from 6.9 percent growth in 2017. It was the second year in a row of moderating demand growth. Capacity

climbed 5.2 percent and load factor slipped 0.7 percentage point to 74 percent. The deceleration in growth reflects the impact of policy measures and geopolitical tensions, including travel restrictions and the temporary ban on large portable electronic devices.

Traffic actually declined 0.1 percent year-on-year in December, but this may reflect volatility in data.

North American airlines had their fastest demand growth since 2011, with fullyear traffic rising 5.0 percent compared to 2017, an increase from 4.7 percent annual growth in 2017. Here too, however, demand growth slackened noticeably in the last two quarters. This may be owing to increasing concerns over the US economic outlook and trade tensions with China.

Capacity climbed 3.7 percent, and load factor edged up 1.0 percentage point to 82.6 percent, second highest among the regions.

Turkish Airlines marks the opening of Istanbul Airport with short film

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urkish Airlines has teamed up with acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott to direct a cinematic short film to mark the opening of Istanbul Airport, the new home of Turkish Airlines.

The short film showcases Istanbul as the hub of Turkish Airlines and the new center of aviation for global travellers, which will be the world’s largest aviation hub with an annual capacity of 200 million passengers. Flying to more countries than any other airline, Turkish Airlines currently connects 306 destinations in 124 countries, which will expand as it moves its hub from the current Istanbul Ataturk Airport to the newly opened Istanbul Airport.

The scenes at the airport portray Turkish Airlines’ cabin

crew wearing their new uniforms as well as innovations in inflight cabin design. İlker Aycı, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, commented: “When viewers tuned into the Super Bowl they were treated to a stunning portrayal of Istanbul in this thrilling film from Ridley Scott. We invite travelers around the world to join us on our journey and experience true Turkish hospitality at our brand new home at Istanbul Airport.”

Ridley Scott, director and producer said: “Istanbul is an inspiring city to build a story around with its beautiful topography surrounded by water. The city is a powerful backdrop to the story that brings together the main characters in an exciting and spectacular

way, much as Istanbul has done for generations.”

Titled “THE JOURNEY”, the film focuses on the city’s iconic landmarks, paying homage to the ancient city of Istanbul, the airline’s hub for 85 years, spanning the continents of Europe and Asia.

The 30-second commercial was featured in the first quarter of the most watched sporting event on the global calendar amongst a line-up of some of the world’s most recognisable brands, while the six minute cinematic short film version launched simultaneously via Turkish Airlines’ YouTube channel.

Sylvia Hoeks, known for her role in Blade Runner 2049, plays the leading role alongside key Istanbul sights such as Çırağan Palace, Basilica Cistern, Ortaköy Square and

Istanbul Airport. Istanbul Airport hosted the shooting with a cast of 250 people while the film in total starred 500 actors.

Previous high profile Turkish Airlines collaborations include sports stars Lionel Messi and Kobe Bryant, actor Morgan Freeman and Kevin Costner, and “THE JOURNEY” stars actresses Sylvia Hoeks and Aure Atika.

As the first Turkish brand to advertise at the Super Bowl, Turkish Airlines has been delighting audiences with its inspiring and original commercials since 2016. Turkish Airlines debuted “Batman v Superman” campaign with the leading role played by Ben Affleck in 2016, “Widen Your Wold” campaign in which Morgan Freeman invited the global audience to widen their world in 2017.

Tuesday 12 February 2019

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What Atiku, Buhari victory will mean to Nigerian real estate sector CHUKA UROKO

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n Saturday, February 16, 2019, which is just a few days away, Nigeria will be going to the polls to decide who becomes its next president after four years of President Muhammadu Buhari.

By the last count, there were over 50 ‘patriotic Nigerians’ (presidential candidates) who want to be president of the country but, of this number, only two are critical and they are the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari, who is seeking re-election on the ticket of All Progressives Congress (APC), and Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

All speculations, permutations, apprehension and even prophecies that Nigerians have heard and seen on this election centre around these two dramatis personae who, in their own right, are formi-

dable characters in the epic drama that defines the upcoming election.

There are many uncertainties right now. The first is on how the election will go. When the elections are through, all things being equal, if it comes and goes smoothly, the next cycle of fear will be on who wins.

Then comes the fear around risk of policy reversals, as there is already a path the government is treading. If another party wins, there are feelers of major changes and policy reversal that will be made.

But the question on every lip now is what the victory of an Atiku or a Buhari means for the various sectors of the economy, especially real estate that, despite the exit of the wider economy from recession, has continued to record negative growth and low contribution to GDP. “So far, Buhari’s government has demonstrated that it is anti-business which is why the business community does

not want him back,” experts have noted, arguing that if he wins the 2019 elections, more young professionals and businesses will leave the country in search of friendlier business environments.

Femi Akintunde, CEO, Alpha Mead Group, recalled in an interview how it took the government up to six months before it could form its cabinet. “The business community was worried about this such that if a new government comes in today and is not ready with its economic blueprint, structure and strategy; if it takes a long time before government gets running, it will be another major issue for businesses and that will ultimately impact on the real estate sector,” he stated.

Besides policy reversals, which an Atiku presidency may embark on, there is the fear, especially among apologists of public sector driven government, that his government will not support social housing and the occasional intervention government

makes in the housing sector.

But given that as a result of Buhari government’s anti-business stance, many businesses and young professionals are leaving the country to other countries; the argument is strong that his return to power in the aftermath of the election may not be in the best interest of the economy.

An expert who does not want to be named notes that apart from locals who are leaving the country, relocating their children and putting them in schools abroad, many expatriates, especially those working in oil and gas, telecoms and other service companies, are either returning to their home countries or relocating to other African countries.

The fear here is that these developments might increase in tempo if the status quo persists beyond May 2019 and, for real estate, this has grave implications for the sector, which is, at the moment, struggling.

L-R: Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli, chief operating officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); Uche Orji, MD/CEO, NSIA; Chris Bode, chief medical director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH); Denis Coulet, vice president, Varian, and Eyong Ebai, general manager, West Central and French sub-Saharan Africa, GE Healthcare, during a press conference of the commissioning of NSIA-LUTH cancer treatment centre in Lagos.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

TCN confirms new national peak of 5,375mw HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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ransmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has confirmed that the National Grid has successfully transmitted a new generation peak of 5375 megawatts (mw) on Thursday, February 7, 2019, at 21.00hrs.

TCN in a statement issued on Monday, said this was the first time the nation’s power grid had generated, transmitted and distributed this quantum of power, an evidence of the success of this administration’s policy on incremental power.

In a statement signed by the general manager, public affairs, Ndidi Mbah, TCN, said the last peak generation of 5,224mw, which was also successfully transmitted by TCN, was attained on December

18, 2017. This has now been surpassed by the new peak of 5,375mw.

According to her, the current capacity of Generation companies nationwide is 7,450mw, which is expected to significantly increase with the expected recovery of all the generators at Egbin by the management of Sahara Energy.

The capacity of Transmission based on the simulation of December 2018 is 8,100MW. Since the last simulation several transformers have been added to transmission. With the new combined peak, Distribution companies have also increased capacity.

However more work is needed on the Distribution capacities for the sector to fully stabilise.

On her part, TCN has continued to upgrade critical transmission infrastructure

nationwide with the commissioning of over 40 power transformers and lines in the last two years, building of seven (7) brand new substations, diligently pursuing its Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme, which is encapsulated in its 20-year transmission Expansion Plan.

As at date, TCN’s wheeling capacity had increased from 5,000 in 2016 to 7,124MW in 2017 and 8100MW in 2018.

The statement further said that unlike in the past, TCN is not only focusing on Grid Expansion but also on the quality of the power. In that respect, TCN achieved frequency control of between 49.50Hz and 50.50Hz between May 2017 and November 2018, which had not been achieved in the history of Nigeria for the past 20 years.

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BUSINESS DAY

Morocco hosts international border, migration experts on migration concerns

CBN releases AML/CFT policy, procedure manual

HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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C

asablanca, largest city in Morocco, is set to host international border and migration management professionals on Border Security Congress scheduled for March to discuss emerging trends in migration and cross border security.

Organisers of the summit inform that the event is geared towards building trust and cooperation through discussion and dialogue.

The World Border Congress is the premier multijurisdiction global platform where the border protection policymakers, management and practitioners together with security industry professionals, convene annually to discuss the international challenges faced in protecting borders.

The event director Neil Walker notes in a statement that recent years have seen unprecedented crisis on a global scale, from the Middle East warring factions creating mass refugee movements across Europe, promoting the key focus of the summit.

More so, illegal economic migrants from Africa and Asia have created increasing challenge for the international border management and security community.

Also, the international organised criminal gangs and human and drug trafficking groups exploit opportunities and increasingly abuse the Internet and technology to enhance their activities.

He informs that the summit in Casablanca will explore opportunities in the World Border Security Congress to discuss and debate current and future policies, implementation issues and challenges as well as new.

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

entral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) weekend released the AntiMoney Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) policy and procedure manual.

The manual aims to establish procedures and minimum standards to protect the CBN from being used as channel to launder money, finance terrorism and other forms of crime.

Money laundering is the act of directly or indirectly concealing or disguising any fund or property that is derived from the proceeds of an unlawful activity.

In the AML/CFT manual, the CBN stated that transactions conducted through correspondent banking relationship shall be managed in an accordance with a risk based; and know your correspondent procedures shall be established to ascertain whether or not a the correspondent bank or the counter party is itself regulated for money laundering prevention; and where regulated, the correspondent shall verify the identity of its customers in accordance Financial Action Task Force (TATF) standard; and where this is not the case, additional due diligence shall be required to ascertain and assess the correspondent’s internal policy and money laundering on money laundering prevention and KYC procedure.

14 top officers affected in shakeup in Nigerian Army STELLA ENENCHE, Abuja

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gain, the Nigerian Army has initiated a major posting and redeployment that saw 14 senior officers consisting six brigadier generals and eight colonels affected.

BusinessDay recalls that the Army had on February 2 deployed 15 top ranking officers. According to a statement by acting director, Army Public Relations, Aliyu Yusuf, a colonel, the posting was released Monday morning.

According to the statement, “The Nigerian Army has yesterday Sunday, 10 February 2019, released the postings and appointments of some of its senior officers.

Those affected by this include, Brigadier General NJ Okah, who has been posted

from Nigerian Army Institute of Technology and Environmental Studies (NAITES) to Army Headquarters Department of Army Logistics, and appointed acting Director of Engineering Services, Brigadier General MA Masanawa from Army Headquarters, Department of Army Policy and Plans to ACADA and appointed Commander.

“While Brigadier General HT Wesley posted from Headquarters Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps to Army Headquarters Department of Army Logistics, and has been appointed Director Clothing and Store, erstwhile Brigadier General HG Tafida of the Nigerian Army Central Workshop Rigachukwu posted to Army Headquarters Department of Army Logistics and appointed director Engineer-

ing and Maintenance.

“Brigadier General BA Ilori has been posted to Army Headquarters Department of Army Policy and Plans and appointed Deputy Director Equipment Procurement.

Brigadier General AA Adereti, posted to National Defence College and appointed Directing Staff, while Colonel O Nwachukwu from Headquarters Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole, has been posted to Defence Headquarters and appointed acting Director Defence Information.

“Similarly, Colonel S Musa has been posted to Directorate of Army Public Relations and appointed Acting Director Army Public Relations Nigetian Army while Colonel AA Yusuf has been appointed Deputy Director Public Relations 82 Division Nigerian Army.”

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Tuesday 12 February 2019

Nosak Group announces Osaro Omogiade as MD of Nosak Distilleries

M L-R: Olutola Mobolurin, past president, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS); Mary Uduk, acting director-general, Securities and Exchange Commission; Adedapo Adekoje, president, CIS; Okechuku Enelamah, minister, trade, industry and investment/ representing Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and Yewande Sadiku, executive secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, at the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers’ interactive forum with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo with the theme “Strategies to Achieve Double Digit Growth for Nigeria: The Capital Market Option” in Lagos.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

Controversy over actual volume of crude produce by Nigeria ends OLUSOLA BELLO

... as DPR deplores computer based application

ncertainty over actual volume of crude oil produced

by Nigeria on daily basis is over with the launch of computer applications that allow for tracking the volume of crude oil produced, the vessels and the destinations the crude is taking.

This is part of the several reforms the Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR) embarked on in order to bring the Nigerian oil and gas industry at par with its counterparts across the globe.

The DPR can now track the volume of crude oil produced and other related activities through the Crude Oil and LNG Tracking (COLT).

A situation described by industry observers as big relief to stakeholders.

With this application, the

exact figure of crude produced can at various fields be tracked.

Watching the demonstration of the application at DPR headquarters in Lagos on Monday, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, said the computer based applications enable the agency to track the volume of crude oil produced from various terminals and all those vessels that carry the crude and where they were going to deliver them.

He said with this development the actual volume of crude produced could be made available at any given time.

“We are able to also track the vessel that came for export and see if they actual delivered the crude to those countries they claimed they are going to deliver them,” he said.

U

Through such innovation by the DPR it was able to recover all the outstanding royalties, which amounted to about N1.5 trillion, and also realised about $1.5 billion from licence renewal.

Nigeria has for a long time been bedevilled by lack of accuracy on the actual volume of crude it produces every day. The public has often been confronted with different figures as what is generated by the DPR, which is most time different from what is being generated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the oil companies operating in the country.

The same applications apply to the downstream, as the government agency would soon be able to properly monitor the amount of volume of refined products brought to the country and where the product is com-

No going back on FG’s cashless policy, NAMA tells airlines IFEOMA OKEKE

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igerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has told operators of non-scheduled flights in Nigeria that there is no going back on the Federal Government cashless policy.

NAMA, while holding a sensitisation forum with agents and representatives of operators of non-scheduled flights in Nigeria on the imperative of Treasury Single Account (TSA) regime of the Buhari administration, reiterated on the need for airlines to ensure total compliance with the presidential directive on the implementation of the TSA. The event, which took place at NAMA headquarters in Lagos at the weekend, is targeted among

other things at dialoguing with operators and fashioning out ways to address their concerns arising from the process of adjusting to the new cashless payment system since it came into operations last year.

In his remarks, Fola Akinkuotu, managing director of NAMA, said there was no going back on the government cashless policy and that it was an executive pronouncement that demanded total compliance from all stakeholders.

Akinkuotu appealed to the non-scheduled operators to “embrace the new initiative as the entire world is going cashless,” assuring them that the new system would yield positive results that would benefit the entire industry.

“This is an innovation that would not only improve and

sanitise the nation’s financial system but also ensure accountability and transparency in the long run. If we desire an aviation industry that is globally competitive, we have to imbibe global best practices,” Akinkuotu said.

He added that the associated risk and needless exposure associated with the old system of carrying cash around had ensured that it was no longer fashionable.

Explaining further, the NAMA helmsman said as contained in the directive, all financial transactions with the agency must be done through monetary transfers (only) into the NAMA TSA account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stressing that the era of paying cash to deposit money banks for onward delivery to the CBN had become history.

ing from.

The minister said the country had holistic database applications that enable the DPR efficiently perform it duties.

“We also launch the benchmarking system to track expenses in oil and gas industry, and we can continue in our process to try and pull down the unit cost of crude oil which has been a major challenge to the country.

“Given the oscillating price of oil all over the world, unless we are able to do this, if you produce all the oil in this world you will not be able to make money out of it.”

This is very helpful to the country and the oil companies are being challenged to march the very best practices internally, and collectively march the best practices externally in terms of oil prices, he said.

anagement of Nosak Group has announced the appointment of Osaro Omogiade as the new managing director (MD) of its subsidiary, Nosak Distilleries Limited (NDL), according to a statement on Monday.

Osaro Omogiade is an experienced manager in Process Engineering. He is an alumnus of Business School Netherlands, Nigeria (BSNN) as well as Lagos Business School. He is a graduate of Industrial Chemistry from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a Master’s degree in Process Engineering from the University of Lagos.

He is also a member of the Nigeria Institute of Production and Operation Management and has held various positions in major areas of manufacturing including production, research/development, project and management of operations.

Prior to joining Nosak Distilleries, he worked at Henley & Drury Industries as the Quality Control Officer and later in 2001 joined NDL as a Production Officer.

Omogiade gradually rose through the ranks and in 2010 he was made the Project and Business Development Manager, Ghana. Between 2011 and 2018, he served in the capacity of Assistant General Manager and as General Manager. His time as GM was remarkable as the company experienced growth in the face of economic challenges.

On February 4, 2019, he was announced as the new

Managing Director of the company.

In his former role as the General Manager of NDL, he has directed the affairs of the company’s growth strategies and action-implementation. In his new role as the MD, he will continue to oversee the strategic growth of NDL, focus on continual improvement of production, services and customer service excellence.

Commenting on the appointment, chairman, Nosak Group, Toni Ogunbor commended the zeal and commitment of Osaro Omogiade working assiduously to rise through the ranks to the new position of Managing Director.

“No doubt he has put in efforts to contribute to the growth of this company.

His excellent performance resulted in his appointment as the MD of Nosak Distilleries and we are confident that he will deliver in his new position”.

Responding to the appoint, Omogiade appreciated the management for the opportunity to serve in the capacity and enthused that the role was a new challenge to deliver on the corporate objective of positioning NDL as the leader in the sector.

Edo charges parents, teachers on participation of more girls in science ... says EDOBEST provides equal opportunity for children to realise their potential

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do State governor, Godwin Obaseki, has charged parents, teachers, school administrators and community leaders to prioritise the participation of girls in science.

Obaseki gave the charge on Monday in Benin City, in commemoration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, marked on February 11, each year, by the United Nations and its partners.

The governor decried practices in some societies that relegate the girl child in the pursuit of knowledge and explained that girls could contribute as much to development, as their male counterparts, if equally empowered.

“With the Edo Basic Education Sector Transforma-

tion (EDOBEST) programme, which my administration initiated, we have provided a level playing field for our male and female children to actualise their God-given potential,” he said.

According to the governor, “the ongoing revamp of 230 primary schools across the state and the conversion of the former Benin Technical College (BTC) to Government Science and Technical College (GSTC) were informed by our realisation of the new offerings of science education in fast-tracking development.”

He added that several trainings have been organised for girls at the Edo Innovation Hub to equip them with hands-on skills to participate in the Information Communication Technology-driven global market.

He assured that more opportunities will be created for girls by his administration, to enable them take charge of their space and contribute significantly to the nation’s growth and development.

The United Nations said, “Over the past 15 years, the global community has made a lot of effort in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science. Yet women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science.”

On the 2019 theme: ‘Investment in Women and Girls in Science for Inclusive Green Growth’ the UN explained that Science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Tuesday 12 February 2019

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Texem unveils strategic programmes for sustainable competitive advantage KELECHI EWUZIE

V

isionary companies know that developing a constellation of vibrant executives and their team could be a veritable source of achieving rare, inimitable and valuable resources to build and sustain competitive advantage.

Thus, leaders ought to be equipped with the requisite skills and strategic approaches that they need to deploy while working out how the business is going to achieve their specific objectives efficiently. Recent research has revealed that aligning talent management strategy with business strategy is critical to the success of an organisation.

With this in mind, TEXEM has put together a comprehensive development programme for the year 2019 that covers all the areas needed to help drive an organisation’s strategic agenda.

Upon completion of these programmes, executives will develop actionable insights, enhanced leadership quotient and capacity to make effective decisions on how to survive, grow, effectively utilise resources and outperform their competitors in this dynamic, fast-paced, challenging and complex operating landscape.

Informed by research, which has revealed the training needs of Nigerian executives, these are the upcoming programmes for the year 2019: Creating Effective Boards and Directors: April 10-11, 2019 Venue: EKO Hotel & Suites, Lagos. Developing Efficient and Effective Leaders for Success in An Era Of Slow Growth And Low-Performance June 19-20, 2019

Venue: EKO Hotel & Suites: Turning Organisational Challenges into Strategic Opportunities for Sustainable Competitive Advantage In Volatile Times. August 28-29, 2019 Venue: EKO Hotel & Suites: Developing Interpersonal Influence, Addressing Vulnerability and Achieving Authenticity for Value Creation.

October 16-17, 2019 Venue: EKO Hotel &Suites: Designing A Flexible Organisation and Engaging Innovative Ideas for A Competitive Edge December 4-5, 2019 Venue: EKO Hotel & Suites: The Faculty for these programmes include: Rodria Laline (visiting professor of Harvard, Instead and IESE and chair of Intrabond Capital), Andrew D. Chambers, professor Emeritus and former Dean of Cass Business School, Graham Wilson (professor in Psychology and Counselling, University of Oxford).

Professor Christian

Stadler, Warwick Business School, Nigel Nicholson (Professor of Organisational Behaviour; Faculty Advisor for Electives; Chief Examiner, London Business School).

“I regard the TEXEM Programme as the best I have attended in recent times.

Not one of them, but the very best as it was humanly perfect,” said previous TEXEM delegate, Peter Atolo Irene - CEO International Energy Insurance.

“The content of the program has been rich and educative, refreshing, enlightening and thought provoking.

I enjoyed this program and I am looking forward to another program,” said previous TEXEM delegate: Andy Uwejeyan – Managing Director A&J Construction Company Ltd. For more information please visit www. texem.co.uk or contact us via +447983128450/exec@texem.co.uk.

L-R: Tomiwa Idowu, director, Gilead Partners, and John F. Bray, United States Consular General, during a visit to the Consular General’s residence in Lagos, recently.

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Signatures from Botswana, Zambia, Guinea Bissau take AfCFTA approval to 52 BUNMI BAILEY

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ignatures from Botswana, Zambia and Guinea Bissau have raised to 52 the number of countries that have approved the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) during the recent 32nd AU Heads of State and Government Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Nigeria, African biggest economy, is among the remaining three countries that are yet to sign the trade agreement.

Ayo Akinwunmi, head of research, FSDH Merchant Bank, said the country was a bit slow in terms of having not read the agreement now.

“It is better for us to be slow and get it right than to rush into it,” Akinwunmi said, noting that we could still take the fast lane and get it right.

According to Chiedu Osakwue, chief trade negotiator and director-general, Nigerian Office of Trade Negotiation, Nigeria is yet to sign the agreement because of the need to create a competitive market.

“Where we are as a government of the country in the Africa free trade negotiation is that we are creating an elaborate process of improving the country’s preparedness,” Osakwue said at BusinessDay annual CEO forum held last year.

Osakwue also said the government was working on the competitiveness programme by updating the schedule of tariff concessions for traded goods, not only for the AfCFTA but also, the transition period for the common external tariff of the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS that would come to an end next year.

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BUSINESS DAY

Africa’s leaders pledge to commence new health financing initiative ANTHONIA OBOKOH

S

ince the Abuja Declarations in 2000 and 2001, Africa’s progress in improving health outcomes has been significant. Life expectancy has increased by more than a decade, deaths from infectious diseases like malaria have halved in sub-Saharan Africa, and under-five mortality rates have seen an increased rate of reduction.

However, African Heads of State and Government, Ministers of Health and Finance, business leaders and global partners gathered ahead of the 32nd Summit of the African Union (AU), to launch a new initiative aimed at increasing commitments for health, improving the impact of spending and ensuring the achievement of universal health coverage across Africa’s 55 countries.

The new initiative is the first platform of its kind, bringing together governments, business leaders and the global development community, to coordinate efforts and resources for health.

“I am tremendously inspired by this African-led initiative to boost investments in health across Africa,” said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund. “To end epidemics, strengthen health systems and deliver universal health coverage, we all have to step up our investments in health.”

With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development just over a decade away, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and AU chair, convened the Africa Leadership Meeting: Investing in Health to encourage African governments and global partners to translate commitments into measurable actions, align spending with country and continental priorities, and identify ef-

ficiencies that will improve millions of lives across the continent.

“Governments should surely be willing and able to increase domestic investment in healthcare. A good indicator of this is the progress we have made toward securing the financial health of the African Union and mobilising our own resources for joint priorities, such as the Peace Fund. We should be the first ones to contribute to efforts that directly benefit our people,’’ Kagame said.

African leaders and global partners similarly distinguished that the return on investment from increased and improved health financing was remarkable – 9-20 times the level of investment. $30 per person can generate $100 billion in economic gains five years later.

The co-chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, said, “The time to mobilise domestic resources for health is now. The nations of the African Union have set bold, ambitious targets. If governments increase their investments in health, not a decade from now, but immediately, we know it is possible to meet set targets.

We can end the epidemics of AIDS, TB, and malaria. We can achieve universal health coverage and grow Africa’s economy in the process.”

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general, World Health Organisation, commented, “Universal health coverage is not a luxury only rich countries can afford.

All countries can make progress with the resources they have. The Addis Ababa Call to Action is a powerful commitment from African Union leaders to increase domestic financing for health, and to hold themselves accountable for that commitment.”

EFCC petitions Onnoghen as NJC gives 7 days to reply

Shareholders laud Neimeth’s return to profitability

... constitutes panel to review earlier query

MICHEAL ANI

FELIX OMOHOMHION, Abuja

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he National Judicial Council (NJC), Monday, gave the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, another query, which arose from a petition said to have been received from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The council gave Onnoghen seven days to respond to the petition. President Muhammadu Buhari had on January 25 announced the suspension of Onnoghen as the CJN and chairman of the National Judicial Council. Buhari accordingly swore-in Justice Tanko Muhammad in acting capacity, being the next in line in terms of seniority at the Supreme Court.

The President said his action was predicated on the ex-parte order issued on him on January 23 by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

The suspension was based on Onnoghen’s alleged nondeclaration of his assets.

Charges have already been filed against him at the CCT. Meanwhile, after the meeting of the NJC Monday in Abuja, the council said another petition by the EFCC was pending against Onnoghen and asked him to reply within seven days.

The NJC said it had constituted preliminary complaints assessment committee, under Regulation 17, to look into earlier petitions against the suspended CJN and acting CJN. The council had on January 29 requested Onnoghen

and Muhammed to respond within seven days to three petitions against them.

According to the NJC, “Members resolved to constitute into the Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee in accordance with Regulation 17 of the National Judicial Council Judicial Discipline Regulations, 2017 and report to Council on the 13th of February 2019.

“The Council will reconvene on Wednesday, 13th February, 2019.

“Council also received a new petition written by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Hon. Mr. Justice W.S.N. Onnoghen, GCON and forwarded it to him for his response within seven (7) working days.

S

hareholders of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals plc at the company’s 60th annual general meeting applauded the board and management for the efforts made in returning the company to profitability.

The drug maker came out of the woods, reporting a profit after tax (PAT) of N184 million in its full-year 2018 after a loss of N411.5 million, the same period a year before.

Similarly, turnover for the f increased by 48 percent from N1.53 billion in 2017 to N2.27 billion as of end of 208, while PBT, which is a metrics used to ascertain how profitable a firm is stood at N202.5 million, bouncing from a loss of N404.9 million in the pre-

vious year when the sector was faced with acute dollar shortages since most of their raw materials were largely imported.

“I wish to express gratitude to all members of the management team and the general staff that demonstrated resoluteness during the difficult year following a fire accident,” A.B.C Orjiako, chairman, a board of directors for Neimeth, said.

Revenue from its pharmaceutical segment surged from N1.5 billion in 2017 to N2.24 billion in 2018, while revenue from its Animal health plummeted from N35 million in 2017 to N28 million in 2018.

The firm has recommended a bonus issue of 1 new share for every 10 shares already held. Qualification date for the bonus shares is

Thursday, January 17, 2019.

The firm with a market cap of N1.310 billion has a one year return of -15.67 per cent, according to data compiled by Business day. Its share price is currently trading at N0.69 at the end of the trading session on Monday.

The 2016/2017 financial year of the firm was challenged by adversity when fire gutted the raw materials warehouse on March 7, 2017.

However, the company was able to overcome the crippling incident Its turnover fell from N2 billion in 2016 to N1.5 billion in 2017, while gross profit fell from N1.2 billion in 2016 to N929 million in 2017. The company also recorded a loss before tax of N404 million, compared with a profit before tax of N95 million in 2017.

32

BUSINESS DAY

NATIONAL DISCOURSE

DAVID IBEMERE

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he young people are the ones who most quickly identify with the struggle and the necessity to eliminate the evil conditions that exist,” an excerpt from an interview printed in Malcolm X Talks to Young People given to Young Socialist Alliance leaders in the United States of America.

“…

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he performance of the economy in 2018 was fair as it recorded fragile growth. On the high side, GDP growth increased to 1.81 percent in the third quarter 2018 from 1.50 percent growth recorded in the second quarter of the year. Inflation headed southward, exchange rate was relatively stable, supply of foreign exchange improved and manufacturing capacity utilization in 2018 hovered around 55.5 percent as against 57.14 percent of 2017. On the low side, national debt profile and servicing expenses soared; aggregate local sourcing of raw materials by the sector dropped to about 57.87 percent in 2018 from 63.21 percent recorded in 2017. More worrisome is the fact that records have shown that beginning from the first quarter of the year.

Government paid more attention to electioneering activities and little to economic management that would boost economic performance of the country. If you observe, since the economy exited recession in 2017, its performance has been positive but fragile. Therefore, in terms of the expectations of MAN for 2019, critical to manufacturers want FX stability, provision of long term loans, lower interest and inflation rates. Others expectations are adequate electric-

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Tuesday 12 February 2019

indicative of the Federal Government to meet the needs and aspirations of the youth as well as seek solution to their problems, setting guidelines and providing the framework to empower the youth to realise their greatest potential.

According to the 2019 budget, the Federal Ministry of Youth Development allocated NGN 123 billion a 1.4 percent share of the total budget, in a country with more than half its people under 30 years of age.

A statistical table of crosscountry comparison of percentage of budget allocation to education against the national budget (World Bank 2012), Prof.

Suleiman Bogoro, a former Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) presented, showed that smaller African countries are far ahead of Nigeria in the funding

of education.

Till date, no government in Nigeria has ever raised the allocation for education to 20 percent as recommended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Budgetar y allocation of countries like Uganda, 4th (27.0%) Botswana, 10th (20.0%), Lesotho,14th (17.0%) and Burkina Faso, 15th (16.8%) respectively, are higher than Nigeria’s 20th (8.4%) position in world ranking of education funding.

Nigeria’s unemployment rate has continued to be on the increase despite successive governments making it a top agenda in their political campaigns.

It is high time Nigerian youths rose to the challenge and become more proactive in deciding their future.

Youths: Sacrificial lambs on the altar of politics or national asset?

This simple saying carries so much truth to it, however, resonating more as a challenge, considering the role Nigerian youths played in actualising the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Buhari during the March 28, 2015 Presidential Elections.

Many of those youths had thought, and rightly so, after 16 years of PDP, that their dire struggle for employment, welfare, and isolation from the country’s political system would be over. However, it has been a sobering experience.

Four years later, again young people are at the centre stage, ahead of an election considered by many political observers as unprecedented in terms of the fear, anger and frustrations being experienced by the public, especially the youths.

The sound of Next Level, I am Buharist or Atikulated, let’s get Nigeria working again, have rented the space of social media in a battle of wits.

Could it be the youths are actually lazy, or simply marginalised, and have simply adopted a role created by politicians, just to stay relevant and maybe make ends meet?

In Nigeria, the median age of our population is 17.9 years and according to the United Nations, It is the last time in the planet’s history that more people will be under 30 rather than older.

Nigeria has a national youth policy from 2009, and an accompanying action plan for 2009-2013 a declaration and commitment to provide for the development of its young men and women aged 18-35.

The policy was regarded as an

Non-oil export & AfCFTA ity supply, enormous reduction in the cost of doing business, reduce documentation and shorter cargo clearance time.

Our association is expectant that 2019 would be a good year if and only if government balances its election programmes with better management of the economy in the year, sustain all economicoriented policies and resolve all the supply side constraints facing the manufacturing sector.

In terms of non-oil export , the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report shows that the contribution of non-oil exports to total export in 2015 was 12.1 percent, falling to 4.0 percent in 2016 and 4.6 percent in 2017.

The record, therefore, indicates an urgent need for deliberate actions that would promote nonoil exports in the country. MAN believes that the starting point to increasing non-oil export is improving the productive capacity in the real sector, particularly the manufacturing sector. Consequently, we expect that in 2019, government would: • Intensify the resource-based industrialisation programme, which involves the resourceful utilisation of the abundant

natural resources in the country for domestic production.

• Develop key selected mineral resources through backward integration especially those with high inter-industry linkages such as iron ore, zinc-led, bitumen, lime stone and coal; • Encourage private sector investment in solid mineral development for domestic utilization with appropriate incentives; • Intensify backward integration in the agricultural sector to produce more industrial input supply for other sectors.

• Further strengthen the Bank of Agriculture to continue to lend for agricultural production (crop and animal production) at a rate that supports production in the sector; • Resuscitate the petrochemical industry by encouraging domestic refining of crude petroleum - consider privatizing the four national refineries to make them fully function • Strengthen the various public research institutes in Nigeria through adequate funding programmes and support the commercialisation of research output.

• Encourage private research

institutes in the country through appropriate funding • Sustain implementation of the newly resuscitated Export Expansion Grant (EEG) by observing and improving on all the provisions in the new guideline so as to encourage more manufacturing production and export in the country.

On the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Association has been verified and validated, evidenced by the ongoing technical review and consultations with the private sector. As we speak, a Presidential Committee on AfCFTA mpact and readiness assessment, that have MAN and other stakeholders as members, is currently working tirelessly to ensure that Nigeria takes an informed decision on AfCFTA if the agreement must be signed.

This is in line with the position of MAN, all thanks to President Muhammadu Buhari. The study conducted by the association is ready and the fact sheet would be circulated soonest. It is, however, pertinent to state that the findings of the study are eye opening.

We have shared the outcome

in several of our recent presentations on AfCFTA and formally presented same to the leadership of the committee earlier mentioned.

Evidence now abounds that under AfCFTA, import will surge into the economy leading to decline in investment, output and employment in the real sector of the economy. Therefore, MAN expects that in the coming year, government would • Not just sign the agreement on diplomatic niceties or bandwagon euphoria without thoroughly weighing its pros and cons.

• Ensure that the trade agreement that will improve intraAfrican trade should not be at the expense of industrial and economic diversification aspirations of Nigeria.

• Ensure that no predatory intrusion from legacy agreements that many African countries have signed with third party countries erode the likely gains from AfCFTA • As a matter of priority, promote the versions of AfCFTA Text, Protocol, tariff framework, market access offer, safeguard measures, Rules of Origin, third party arrangements and trade remedy infrastructure as well as the underlying principles that would be in the best interest of Nigeria.

Tuesday 12 February 2019

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33

2019: Thousands of Nigerians to be disenfranchised as collection of PVC ends

… Most registered voters have PVC - INEC Iniobong Iwok

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ith four days to the presidential election, thousands of eligible voters across the country are at risk of being disenfranchised because of the inability of the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) to resolve bottlenecks in the collection of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) across the country.

INEC had ended the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) last August 31, with a promise that the last batches of PVCs would be ready for collection by December 2018.

INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, said recently that about 84 million Nigerians have been registered to vote in the coming polls, the commission, however, put the number of new registered voters at 14 million.

The commission had last week extended the collection of PVCs from February 8th to 11th.

However, in spite of the postponement, the situation appears the same days to presidential election, as thousands of Nigerians who besieged the commission offices across the country to collect their

Jeremiah Useni, governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and his running mate, James Dalok, during their campaign rally in Bokkos, Plateau State.

PVCs were allegedly told their cards were not ready.

Emeka Offor, an entrepreneur, who resides in Iyana Ipaja in Lagos State, said he had visited INEC office in Ikotun Local Council Development Area (LCDA), but was informed to check back on each occasion because his card was not

ready.

Tunde Fanikun, a resident of Amuwo Odofin, Lagos State, equally expressed displeasure in the manner the commission was allegedly handling the distribution of the PVC, stressing that several effort to pick the card in his Local Government headquarter had proved

Sanwo-Olu’s running mate pledges to automate government activities in Lagos CHUKA UROKO

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he deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, has promised that, if elected, he and his principal, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, will automate all government activities in the state to bring more transparency into governance, especially in regard to state government budget and ease of doing business.

Hamzat, who spoke at an interactive session with the media in Ikeja recently, said there was an urgent need to ramp things up in Lagos, especially as the state was ranked 36 in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index in terms of construction approvals.

“But if you go deep into the details and compare Lagos to Kebbi State that does 30 in a month and Lagos does 5,000, you see that it is easier to deal with 30 than 1000; but Lagos must ramp up. We must automate all the activities of government.

“If you recall we were doing the 90 days consent, meaning that when you request for consent, in 90 days, it must come out. That was even when we started automating all the processes but today, what I

can tell you is that we will go back to automation. It is revenue for us because when you get your consent, you pay money, so it is in our interest,” Hamzat stated.

According to him, Sanwo-Oluled government in Lagos will improve and diversify government revenue. “We must improve the basket because as a state we do not have enough resources; so if people want to give us resources, we will be very stupid not to take it, but we must give them service,” he stated.

Hamzat opined that their government will improve the face of Lagos to give a lasting experience in the mind of Lagosians, especially those that deal with government. “We will make sure that people can do interaction without coming to Alausa and when they come to Alausa, the experience they have must be good enough to make them come back – not that we are rude to them.

“Every civil servant must have a tag so that when I come to your office I must know that you are ‘Mr. ABC’ so that when I want to report you, I can. I went to this ministry of physical planning office, I spoke to Femi Hamzat and then we can track it. So, there must be responsibility and then there must be actions for everything we do,” he assured.

According to him, it is easier to track government activities when civil servants are properly identified, as a way of cutting down sharp practices among government officials and for ease of doing business in the state in general.

Speaking on waste management and how they plan to correct the rot in the sector, Hamzat stated that LAWMA, the state waste management agency, must be made to regulate the sector and anybody interested in working in the sector must be made to operate under LAWMA. “We made a mistake by getting a company that now superintend over LAWMA; that was a major mistake but they have capacity to do certain things, so we must review that.

Whatever their capacity can take; of course we will absorb them; we will never throw away the baby with the bath water. Like we said, we have done it before; it was an error and of course that will stop immediately,” he said.

However, Hamzat urged Lagosians to sort their waste from source as a way of improving waste management and the environmental impact on Lagos, stating that most of the recyclers in Lagos were thrown out of business because of the high cost of cycling solid waste.

abortive.

“My brother as you can see unfortunately I may not vote, because I have visited the INEC office in my LGA several times I was told to come back each time because my PVC card was here yet, I was there last week,” Fanikun said.

However, sources in one of INEC

state office, who spoke to BusinessDay on the condition of anonymity, revealed that his office received PVC cards in the first week of January, stressing that some of the PVC cards may not be ready before the elections.

“We are trying to give the PVC cards if we have them, you can see the people here waiting, but I can tell you that some cards are not ready, it’s not my fault, it is those people that were registered in the last batch that are most affected,” the source said.

Reacting, a top official of the commission admitted challenges in the distribution of the PVCs, but added that the commission had resolved them and had distributed more than 90 percent of the PVCs to eligible voters.

“Yes, we had some challenges in the distribution of the cards initially, but right now people are collecting their cards go to our offices and see.

I can tell you we have given cards to more than ninety percent of the eligible voters who registered,” the source said.

Effort to reach, Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Yakubu Mahmood, proved abortive as calls to his mobile line were not answered.

Agbaje accuses INEC of planning to seize PVCs of non-indigenes ...Allegation baseless, unfounded - INEC Iniobong Iwok

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head of the forth-coming general election, Jimi Agbaje, gubernatorial candidate of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has raised an alarm, alleging that officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), were colluding with the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) to disenfranchise non-indigenes resident in Lagos.

In a statement by his campaign organisation Director of Media and Publicity, Felix Oboagwina, he alleged that some INEC personnel, acting the script of APC, were undertaking discriminatory distribution of PVCs by withholding the cards of non-indigenes largely suspected of being unsympathetic to ruling party.

Agbaje, who is contesting the gubernatorial election in the state for the third time, however, commended INEC for extending the collection of PVCs, but added that the extension would make no meaning should officials themselves become a stumbling block to an identified set of voters.

He further described the trend as immoral, illegal and xenophobic, urging INEC to wade into the matter, restore normalcy and bring

perpetrating officials to face the law.

The PDP governorship candidate said that his campaign organisation was daily inundated with reports from aggrieved members of the public, alarmed that non-indigenes living in some local governments where the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had stronghold were being denied their PVCs by INEC personnel.

According to him “The on-going discrimination served as a pointer that the INEC officers manning such posts would ultimately assist APC to falsify results and rig elections during actual voting.

“We are not comfortable with the situation; it appears like part of a grand plan by these officials to ensure APC falsely has a good result in their areas by all means.”

The move has proved frustrating. And it is the desperate antic of a party that has failed to impress the electorate,” Agbaje said.

Reacting to the allegation, the Spokesman of INEC in the state, Femi Akinbiyi, denied the allegation, describing it as baseless and unfounded.

“It is not true; the allegation is senseless and unfounded,” Akinbiyi said.

34 BUSINESS DAY NEWS Atiku campaign gathers momentum...

Continued from page 1 country on the corrupt “16 years

of PDP” rule and have harped on the need to prevent those same corrupt politicians from coming back to power. But corruption is less of an issue in the 2019 elections, unlike in 2015.

“Unlike 2015, corruption as an issue is considerably less important than employment and poverty alleviation – the people are looking for a president who can address these issues,” said an August 2018 study on public attitudes in Nigeria

by Williams and Associates Opinion Research and Consulting.

But Atiku has focused his campaign on the economy, setting out a comprehensive and radical vision of economic as well as public sector reforms anchored on deregulation and liberalisation to free the economy from the shackles of the state.

Despite Atiku’s impressive plans, however, and the predictions by a slew of international research firms that the PDP presidential

candidate may win the elections, his campaigns took a while to gain momentum and President Buhari and his party continued to dominate and dictate the election discourse until last week.

The Northwest and Northeast states have always been considered as stronghold of the president and impenetrable to the opposition.

In 2015, Buhari won in the regions by 78 percent and 83 percent, respectively. He had always won in those regions since 2003 when he began contesting for the presidency, making many analysts believe the regions are firmly pro-Buhari and out of reach of the opposition.

But last week, Atiku’s rallies in Jigawa, Kaduna and Katsina, home state of the president, witnessed such unprecedented turnout that the crowd could not have been paid to attend as is usual in Nigerian political campaigns. This has left many in the ruling party wondering whether they had a firm grip of the region like they had always thought.

Atiku’s rally in Kano defied all ex-

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pectations. Kano is a former Buhari stronghold where Buhari secured over 2 million votes in 2015 and the state governor promised him 5 million votes this time around.

However, on arrival, Atiku and his campaign team were greeted with such huge crowd lining the streets of the city that it took the former vice president and his team up to four hours to get to the palace of the Emir of Kano, an otherwise 20 minutes’ journey, and another three hours to get to the 16,000-capacity Sani Abacha Stadium which was also packed full with the party’s supporters.

Impressed by the huge crowd that came to welcome him, the Atiku and all others that spoke at the rally focused on the economy, accusing the Buhari government of mismanaging the economy and spreading poverty, joblessness and despair. Atiku promised to revitalise “agriculture, industries and commercial activities so as to boost the economy, which has been killed by the APC government”.

The change in momentum for Atiku Abubakar began last week with unprecedented endorsements

L-R: Leo Dasilva (Leo); Omololu Shomuyiwa (Lolu); Ike Williams, directorate head, service bank/chief information officer, Heritage Bank plc; Uloma Iheme (Ifu Ennada); Fela Ibidapo, divisional head, corporate communications, and Tobi Bakre, during the visitation of four 2018 Big Brother Double Wahala (season-3) housemates to the bank’s head office in Lagos.

Apapa: When government deceives...

Continued from page 1

Nowhere and at no time had

this been better demonstrated than in Apapa, Lagos, when the nation’s commercial capital prepared for the visit of Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s president and the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who came to the state to canvass for votes.

All the trailers and tankers which had taken over every route to Apapa were made to vacate those routes.

The enforcement was comprehensive and the compliance was total, raising questions as to where the trucks ‘disappeared’ into and who or what made the disappearance happen.

What the government and its security agencies did that day simply showed that they had been deceiving and deliberately punishing not just the residents and business owners in Apapa, but also anybody who has anything to do with Apapa as motorist, trader, office worker, port worker, clearing agent, or even factory worker.

Freeing all roads and bridges in Apapa of the rampaging trucks simply underscoredgovernment’swickedness.

What that demonstrated too was that the comfort of one Nigerian citizen, that is, the president, is more important than the lives of millions of Nigerians who are suffering on daily basis because of the unwholesome activities of these trucks which seemed to have defied solution.

President Buhari, his campaign entourage of which Yemi Osinbajo, the vice president, was a part of, as well as chieftains and members of the ruling APC were coming into Lagos, and the roads had to be cleared for them as ‘special breeds’ to have unhindered movement.

That, unfortunately, is the treatment that the political class gets in Nigeria, different from the pain, anguish and harrowing experiences that millions of ordinary citizens of Lagos, especially those in Apapa, had been subjected to over the years.

Several times, the Apapa GRA Residents Association (AGRA) had cried out and even embarked on peaceful protests to draw the attention of the federal and Lagos State governments to their plight, but to no avail as the roads have remained occupied and blocked by the trucks.

“What happened at the weekend simply shows that all these years, we have been suffering from government’s wickedness and apathy. This shows you that the solution to the Apapa problem is possible and it is in the hands of the government and its agencies,” said Uche Chiejina, an estate manager who has been in property business in Apapa in the past 20 years.

Apapa today represents a dead or dysfunctional system where people’s investments in property and other assets are in ruins, yet government is

not concerned. Businesses are dying or relocating; residents who invested in these assets are living in poverty because rental income on their property has stopped. They cannot even go out of their residences because they may not be able to come back.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo must have been bewildered by what happened at the weekend – how the long stretch of Ikorodu road, Western Avenue, linking up Costain Roundabout inward Eko Bridge, and indeed Apapa, was completely free when the presidential campaign train arrived Teslim Balogun Stadium, venue of the APC presidential rally that brought Buhari to Lagos.

Twice Osinbajo had visited Apapa and held meetings with ‘stakeholders’ at the Naval Dockyard. Twice he issued what could be termed ‘lame-duck directives’ to the petroleum tankers and container-laden trucks to vacate the roads leading in and out of Apapa.

And, in perpetuity, those directives have been ignored and treated with utmost disdain as the tankers and trailers had maintained their stronghold on the roads in Lagos.

It must have shocked the vice presidentthattheroadsinApapaandaround Surulere, Lagos, were free on Saturday.

Osinbajo must have been wondering how it happened. But it was the same people that Osinbajo met again and again and directed to clear the roads but they ignored him that got to work on Friday and Saturday, meaning that the

Tuesday 12 February 2019

from different socio-cultural organisations from all parts of the country – Afenifere Renewal Group, the Middle Belt Forum, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Northern Elders Forum (NEF), the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and the Forum of Nigerian Elders and Leaders. The endorsements, though only symbolic, shows the thinking and preferences of major elites in the country towards a change in government at the centre.

Atiku’s presidential bid has also witnessed an upsurge in international support, with the United States of America granting him a visa to visit the country after about 12 years of visa ban. This was seen as a tacit support and to quell the speculations that his inability to travel to the United States was due to allegations of corruption, an allegation the APC was already focusing on in its campaign.

Recently, Stuart Symington, United States Ambassador to Nigeria, openly warned Nigerian public officials against obeying illegal directives issued in the name of the president, saying any politician whose utterances incite people to violence would be held to account for the crime. This was interpreted as an open warning to members of the president’s party who had grown increasingly jittery over the slew of endorsements and international support Atiku has gained recently and are threatening international actors with violence over interferences in Nigerian affairs.

Signs that Buhari will face an uphill task getting re-elected emerged late last year when opinion polls conducted in October 2018 by NOI polls showed that the president’s approval ratings dropped to an all-time low of 36 percent, from 80 percent in October 2015. The polls put disapproval ratings at 50 percent and 14 percent were undecided.

The drop followed growing dissatisfaction with the 76-year-old retired general’s rule that has witnessed an economic recession – the first in more than two decades. Even after coming out of recession, Nigeria’s economy continues to stutter,

growing at a sluggish rate far below the country’s population growth.

Meanwhile, food inflation continues to grow at an alarming rate, making most of the rural poor fall into the extreme poverty hole. The country, Africa’s largest economy and biggest energy exporter, was recently tagged by the Brookings Institution as the poverty capital of the world, overtaking India. According to the Institution, over 87 million Nigerians were living in extreme poverty and six Nigerians fall into extreme poverty every minute and 8,000 every day.

The 76-year-old leader has also lost the support of the powerful club of ex-generals who had backed him in the 2015 elections. The exgenerals, led by the loquacious former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had scored his administration low and urged him to honourably stand down and not present himself for re-election. Buhari’s refusal to countenance that advice has led to a series of recriminations and accusations of attempts at manipulating the forthcoming elections.

In a September 2018 report, HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world, said Nigeria’s current economic struggles would continue if Buhari wins a second term in office.

Also in 2018, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) predicted a straight win for the PDP in the 2019 elections.

“With the vote likely to be split in the North, Abubakar will find it easier to garner support from the country’s south, which has traditionally been a safe haven for the PDP,” the London-based research unit of The Economist Magazine said.

Just yesterday, analysts at Citigroup posited that Nigeria’s stocks were the worst performing in the world in the four years of the Buhari presidency and the stocks may rally if Buhari loses this weekend’s election.

According to Citigroup, some foreign investors would prefer a government led by Buhari’s challenger, Atiku Abubakar.

Apapa suffering is deliberately inflicted on people and their businesses.

For the ruling class, ordinary Nigerians do not deserve free roads and free movement. What they deserve is gridlock that keeps them on the roads and bridges for hours. In the eyes of the political ‘rulers’,businesses within Apapa, from where the Federal Government rakes in trillions of naira revenue annually, do not deserve roads free from gridlock and congestion.

This is the mentality that had driven and still drives governance in Africa’s most populous nation. It is the mentality that the political class has over the years foisted on hapless Nigerians: that the president, governors, ministers and other elected public office holders who live at public expense deserve the best as was reflected on Friday and Saturday in Lagos.

Ayo Shola-Vaughan, chairman of Apapa GRA Residents Association (AGRA), says what is happening in Apapa is deliberate on the part of the government and is meant to punish the people.

“What we saw on Friday and Saturday clearly shows that the government knows the solution to the Apapa traffic congestion but has deliberately refused to implement it. It also shows that the so-called task force has compromised. The question is, where did the trucks disappear to? It means that we can have a free road into Apapa if the government is serious,” said Shola-Vaughan.

The retired army general also accused the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) of complicity in the failure to solve the Apapa debacle.

Bode Karunwi, vice chairman of AGRA, who also spoke on the issue, said the free road witnessed in Lagos on Friday and Saturday has exposed the hypocrisy of the government with respect to the Apapa situation.

The road and bridges were free on Friday and Saturday. The question to ask is, who did it? By whose order and interest was it done? It is clear that if the presidency wants the blockade cleared, it will happen. But with what we have seen so far, Mr President is not willing to act,” said Karunwi.

Ladi Lawanson, commissioner for transport in Lagos State, said the state government cannot alone remove the trucks from the roads as the task requires the collaboration of the Federal Government.

“I can write memos upon memos, but if the Federal Government does not come in, there is little that can be done. It’s beyond what Lagos State government alone can handle,” he added.

Reminded that the roads and bridges were free Friday and Saturday for the APC rally, Lawanson said it was carried out by the security (intelligence) operatives who felt that allowing the trucks to remain on the roads posed a security threat to Mr. President who was coming for the campaign.

•Continues online at www.businessday.ng

Tuesday 12 February 2019

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35

Buhari attacked at presidential rally as Ogun APC crisis gets messier …Event ends abruptly with national anthem …Abiodun’s supporters chased away …Machetes, stones, sachet waters freely used RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta

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eemingly bottled political crisis in Ogun State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) was uncorked at the party’s presidential rally held at MKO International Stadium in Abeokuta on Monday as President Muhammadu Buhari was stoned by supporters of breakaway Allied People’s Movement (APM) loyal to Governor Ibikunle Amosun and APM’s governorship candidate, Adekunle Akinlade.

Recall that APC crisis in Ogun State started last October when Dapo Abiodun, preferred candidate of APC caucus loyal to former governor, Olusegun Osoba emerged as APC governorship candidate against Governor Amosun’s anointed candidate, Adekunle Akinlade, prompting his defection to newly formed political party Allied People’s Movement (APM), emerging its governorship candidate in the state.

APC presidential rally in Abeokuta started peacefully with thousands of both APC’s Dapo Abiodun’s supporters and APM’s Adekunle Akinlade’s supporters who claim to have adopted Buhari as their presidential candidate filing in, but the presence of Governor Amosun, who had earlier directed combined security forces on ground to relax strictness of the security architecture, seemed to have incited supporters of both political parties against each other

as Abiodun’s APC supporters were chased away with various weapons, giving way for APM supporters to move freely and chanting war songs against perceived anti-Amosun and APM. Scores of hoodlums were seen chanting the slogan of a rival opposition governorship candidate – APM- and disrupted the presidential rally and sacked supporters of Dapo Abiodun from the main bowl of the MKO Stadium, just as Bola Tinubu, APC national leader; Adams Oshiomhole, APC national chairman and Yemi Osibanjo, vice president were booed by large number of APM supporters.

Other APC members and supporters seated awaiting the arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari for the planned rally, were also chased away as the political thugs hurled some stones, sachet water, shoes as well as other dangerous weapons at them for which many people were injured in the sustained attacks, forcing also thou-

sands of people to hurriedly leave the stadium while the President was yet to arrive.

In less than 10 minutes, all the seats and positions earlier occupied by Dapo Abiodun’s supporters and others APC members were deserted as stones and objects hurled by the hoodlums fell on them in torrents.

Outside the stadium, dozens of armed soldiers and other security agencies battled to prevent the entry of another batch of hoodlums who were allegedly hurried to the venue to reinforce their colleagues who had seized the main bowl of the main stadium, just as the popular Fuji musician - Sefiu Alao- also delivered pieces of inciting lyrics and those who ought to ensure orderliness at the venue acted as though they were on holiday.

The environment became the more charged when Governor Amosun requested the Ogun state electorate to re-elect President Buhari on February 16 after which

2019 poll: Police to deploy 3 commissioners, DIG to Edo …12,000 security personnel for Edo IDRIS UMAR MOMOH/CHURCHILL OKORO, Benin-City

E

do State Police Command on Monday said three commissioners of police and a deputy inspectorgeneral police would be deployed to the state for the next Saturday’s election.

Hakeem Odumosu, the commissioner in charge of the command, who gave the hint at briefing at the command headquarters in BeninCity, said about 12,000 security personnel would be deployed to the state for the elections.

Odumosu said the personnel would be made up of police, army, Civil Defence and other security agencies.

He explained that the security personnel would be made up of 7000 policemen, 200 specially trained and equipped men of the Edo state security outfit code named “wabaizigan” while the remaining personnel would be from the sister security agencies “More men have been deployed to the command from the InspectorGeneral of Police force headquarters and more senior officers have been deployed. Also, three additional commissioners have been deployed to each senatorial district.

“200 specially trained and equipped men of the wabaizigan group will be deployed for anti rioting for this election”, he said.

He explained that the personnel would be properly deployed to en-

sure adequate security of lives and property before, during and after the election.

He however, assured that the command would provide a level playing field for electorate to cast their votes and protect the votes during the electoral exercise.

The police boss, who called on the electorate to come out freely to cast their votes peacefully, noted that they are either free to go home or watch from 300 meters away after.

He however, advised youths not to allow themselves to be used as instruments and agents of violence during this election.

According to him, “Election is not war and the politicians should learn how to play by the rules of the game.”

“the voting pattern would change” probably in favour of his preferred candidate - Adekunle Akinlade in APM. This attracted strong opposition from former governor of Osun State - Rauf Aregbesola, who described Governor Amosun as a hypocrite for uttering such a directive, asking people and electorate to vote all APC candidates from Presidential down to the governorship elections and that of National and state assembly members.

Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of APC, also echoed Aregbesola’s appeal on the need for electorate to vote all APC candidates at all levels, but sporadic throwing of stones and sachet water at Oshiomhole and shouting of “thief, thief, thief” against the national party chairman, moved him to take a cover behind President Muhammadu Buhari.

What baffled most of the party leaders, including Bola Tinubu, who later threw away the APC flag in a rage and left the venue of the rally, was President Buhari’s directive to the electorate in the state to vote whoever they like as their governor on March 2nd, saying electorate has civic rights to choose whoever they like as their governor.

He said: “I am here specifically to thank you for coming out in your numbers despite the weather to see and listen to us. I will like to remind you in 2015 that our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) made different promises on security, economy and fighting corruption.

Wherever I go I try to update Nigerians on our performance for the

past three and half years.

“The people of the North Eastern Nigeria are the one mostly affected then by insecurity. Boko Haram has virtually degraded the whole region, the problem in the North West and North Central is about farmers/herders clash which is under control “On the economy we are lucky, the last three seasons, there are lots of rains which the government has tried to provide fertilizer and reduce the price it used to be. We have now achieved food security; Lagos, Ogun, Kebbi, Ebonyi and Jigawa are among the states who are doing well in producing rice, we are virtually self sufficient in rice production.

“When we talk about infrastructure, we are building road, rails and power; you will be the witnesses by the time we complete the next four years.

“I urge you to practise your civic rights, to come out next Saturday and on the 2nd of March to choose whoever you like across the parties.

This is your rights, so there is no problem about it, I have no problem about it, and you shouldn’t have problems about it.”

He how ever, rais e d Dapo Abiodun’s hand to show official endorsement of APC governorship candidate in the state which prompted APM supporters and political thugs to increase hurling stones and sachet water at the President and he was shielded out of the podium by security operatives, just as the rally was brought to an abrupt end with national anthem.

Plateau PDP condemns fire incident at INEC office Qua’an Pan

T

he People‘s Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State has expressed shock over the inferno which completely consumed the INEC office in Qua’an Pan Local Government Area of the state at the weekend.

A statement signed by Yiljap Abraham, who is the head of Media and Publicity Committee of the state party Campaign Council, said that it was strange that such fire could have ignited in a building housing very important materials just as preparations for the national election are intensifying.

The party further urged INEC to work out modalities for eligible voters whose Permanent Voters card (PVC’s) were destroyed in the fire to vote in the election, while charging security

agencies to put in motion measures to improve the over-all security of every INEC office across the state.

The party urged its members to cooperate with INEC and security personnel to ensure the safety and sanctity of materials, personnel and buildings.

“The news of the inferno which completely consumed the INEC office in Qua’an Pan Local Government Area at the weekend is truly shocking by every stretch of imagination.

“INEC must work out equal voting opportunity for those whose cards might have been destroyed in the fire.

The Council calls on INEC and the security services to put all necessary measures in place to improve the over- all security of every INEC office across the state,” he said.

36

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LegalPerspectives

With

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Tuesday 12 February 2019

Odunayo Oyasiji

By Perchstone & Graeys’ ICT Team

The man behind the keyboard

M

a n ’s d e s i r e for ‘storytelling’ is innate.

Newspapers, telephones, radios, etc. have all served at different times as the preferred mode of communicating ideas to broadly dispersed audiences. However, from 1990 when the internet in its near current form was birthed, man’s ability to disseminate information has been revolutionised so that it is now possible to pass messages across to millions and potentially billions of individuals in a second with a simple click.

With great power comes great responsibility. But who exactly bears this responsibility?

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn allow people to search, find and communicate with millions of people worldwide.

Using social media does not require any special training, nor is there a vetting agency that monitors and approves content posted on these sites.

This means that people can publish with little or no restriction, contents of any kind including abusive, offensive or defamatory publications. The more sensational the publication or ‘post’, the more ‘likes’ or views it is prone to receive.

Posts targeting ordinary people and celebrities alike as rapists, fraudsters, etc. go viral within hours and the affected parties are tried and declared guilty by the “social media courts” without any independent verification of the source of the information.

When many of these accusations eventually turn out to be false, by that point, the reputational or commercial damage has already been done.

Ordinarily, where the identity of a person who publishes defamatory or harmful content is known, a court action could be filed, or threatened, against the alleged offender for damages.

The anonymity of the internet however creates room for the use of anonymous social media accounts as instruments for the publication of defamatory content. In such cases, the ability of an affected person to seek legal remedy may prove difficult. That is unless the law permits him to obtain his remedy against the media platform itself for the publication of defamatory content.

Some litigants in Nigeria have successfully sued newspapers for the publication of defamatory content (libel) and the court has awarded damages in their favour. It is not so clear if such remedy is available against social media platforms.

While newspaper publishers make their living by assuming responsibility for the veracity of the news content they report, there is no such responsibility, assumed or explicit, when it comes to social media. Not only is there limited control over pub-

lications (posts), but most social media platforms have “Terms of Use” policies - usually accepted without review by users - indemnifying the platform against any wrongdoing on their platform.

For instance, Clause 4(4) of Facebook Terms of Service states “We do not control or direct what people and others do or say, and we are not responsible for their actions or conduct (whether online or offline) or any content they share (including offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful, and other objectionable content).” While Facebook goes on to provide procedures for the reporting and removal of harmful or defamatory posts, regrettably this provides no remedy for the aggrieved person whose reputation or business has been damaged.

In view of the above, Nigerian courts may need to innovate in order to provide a way out for those affected by harmful social media content. One option would be for them to follow the decision in one landmark English case (Norwich Pharmacal Co. and others v Customs and Excise Commissioners [1974] AC 133.). Here, a case was brought

against defendants, where the defendants only connection to the case was that they were in possession of information relating to those who were alleged by the plaintiff to have violated his rights. The Court held that even though the defendant innocently became mixed up in the wrongful acts committed by third parties, it (the defendant) was under a duty to assist in discovering the identity of the third-party wrongdoers. This kind of court order - a Norwich Pharmacal Order - is usually granted where the identity of a wrongdoer is unknown, but the party being sued is in possession of the information and identity of the wrongdoers. The case for this kind of order is especially strong where the innocent third party is the only practicable source of information.

In a more recent case in the UK (Applause Store Productions Ltd and another v Raphael [2008] EWHC 1781 (QB)) some unknown individuals had set up a ‘fake’ Facebook page which contained defamatory material against one of the claimants. In order to discover the perpetrators behind the defamatory publication, the claimants, through their solicitors obtained a Norwich Pharmacal Order against Facebook Inc. for disclosure of the registration data provided by the user responsible for creating the false material, including e-mail addresses, and the IP addresses of all computers used to access Facebook by the owner(s) of those email addresses. In compliance, Facebook provided all the aforesaid information, following which the claimants instituted and succeeded in in a court action against the individuals responsible for the

libelous publication.

Most digital and social media platforms seem to operate under the apprehension that the courts may order them at any time to take certain steps to help users seek redress against those who would infringe upon their rights under the guise of anonymity. They categorically state in their terms of service that, where the law requires them to do so, they are obligated to share data/information in response/compliance to legal requests such as court orders, subpoenas or search warrants.

Facebook’s terms of service for instance states that the information it receives about users (including financial transaction data related to purchases made with Facebook) can be accessed and preserved for an extended period when it is the subject of a legal request or obligation, governmental investigation, or investigations of possible violations of its terms or policies, or otherwise to prevent harm.

For the time being however in Nigeria, at least until tested in court, the anonymity of “the man behind the keyboard” in the context of libel on social media and other internet-based platforms, is real. This poses major setbacks to the enforcement of the legal rights of persons wrongly harmed by content posted on social media. Whilst there is presently no known case law in Nigeria where an order like the Norwich Pharmacal order has been granted, it is hopeful that if the opportunity presents itself, Nigerian Courts will consider a similar “Order of Discovery” which will help to address the widespread use of anonymous accounts to publish defamatory content on social media platforms.

Who has the right to query the code of conduct tribunal chairman?

Odunayo Oyasiji

O

f recent, the Federal Judicial Service Council issued a query to the CCT Chairman asking him to answer the petition that was written against him. The CCT Chairman in his response made it clear that he is not a judicial officer and never took the oath of a judicial officer.

Therefore, both the National Judicial Council and Federal Judicial Service Commission do not have the right to query him. He made it clear that he only answers to the presidency.

If the above position by the CCT Chairman is right, it shows

that the CCT Chairman is more of a political appointee of the president and he is only answerable to the president. The position can

then be likened to that of EFCC Chairman. Should such a sensitive position that has to do with determining the fate of people

(like a normal court) be left to the total control of the president?

Is this the intention of the law?

If it is, then the CCT Chairman can act based on the dictates of the president. Just as the EFCC have been accused of being an instrument to intimidate the opposition party, the CCT too will not be far from this if the position taken by the Chairman is allowed to stand.

A tribunal of the nature of CCT is expected to be neutral and apply the law without fear or favour.

How can this be if his allegiance is to the presidency? He that has the power to hire also has the power to fire. He occupies the position at the whim and caprice of the presi-

dent. There is a popular saying that he who pays the piper dictates the tune- therefore, the influence of the person appointing him cannot be overemphasized.

If the appropriate body to whom the CCT Chairman can answer is not clear, what is clear is that the CCT Chairman is a lawyer and still a member of the NBA. His matter can still be handled by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee.

The name of the legal profession has been dragged in the mud by people that are its members. The NBA has a lot of work to do in cleaning up the mess and it will be good if its leadership can stand up to their responsibility.

Tuesday 12 February 2019

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BUSINESS DAY

FINANCIAL TIMES

37

World Business Newspaper

IMF backs Fed rate pause citing rising global risks New chief economist Gita Gopinath warns of darkening economic outlook James Politi and Sam Fleming

T

he IMF’s new chief economist has backed the Federal Reserve’s decision to shelve interest rate increases, citing “weakening momentum” and “considerable and rising” risks to the global outlook.

Gita Gopinath, who took over as the IMF’s top economist at the beginning of the year, flagged up a darkening picture in the euro area and China, as she warned there may have been a contraction in world trade in December.

But Ms Gopinath said the Fed’s “pivot” towards putting “tightening on hold” would have a positive impact on the US, the world’s largest economy, which is already being helped by the remaining influence of a fiscal stimulus package.

“The fact that the Fed has put a pause on raising rates is going to provide a lot of support to the economy,” Ms Gopinath said in an interview with the Financial Times.

“We endorse the Fed view of having a data-driven approach.”

The Fed last month ditched its guidance signalling further increases in short-term interest rates as it responded to “cross-currents”, including decelerating growth in China and Europe and elevated uncertainty around trade policies.

Other institutions including the central banks of India, Australia and the UK have also turned more dovish.

Ms Gopinath said the shift in Fed policy had also “certainly helped” emerging market economies that had struggled with the tightening financial conditions over the past year.

“Emerging market currencies depreciated a fair bit in 2018, and capital flows had really weakened. We are seeing some respite from both.”

Despite the breathing room provided by the US central bank, Ms Gopinath, a 47-year-old economics professor who arrived at the IMF from Harvard University, stressed lingering concerns about the outlook.

Last month, the IMF estimated that the world economy would grow at a rate of 3.5 per cent this year, 0.2 percentage points less than it forecast in October. Some of the biggest downward revisions affected Europe, hitting Germany and Italy.

“In mid-2017 we had this cyclical recovery in the euro area after the big financial crisis . . . that looked good both on the investment side and the consumption side. But that cycle has turned much more quickly than many anticipated,” she said.

Meanwhile, she said the IMF’s forecasts for the UK had involved a “relatively benign set of events” with regard to Brexit that could no longer be counted on, due to the rising possibility of a no-deal departure from the EU that could produce a trade and financial shock. “The whole nature of this exit, it is just tremendous uncertainty . . . the hope is that there will be resolution soon,” she added.

Gita Gopinath says the Fed’s ‘pivot’ towards putting ‘tightening on hold’ will have a positive impact on the US © Greg Kahn/FT

On China’s slowdown, Ms Gopinath attributed part of it to declining credit resulting from tighter financial regulation. But the trade war with the US was also a factor, and she urged the two countries to reach a deal to end the tit-for-tat tariff conflict. “A removal of these tariffs and importantly a sense that this is a . . . long-term reversal of tariffs . . . would help not just with China but the whole global outlook,” she said.

Ms Gopinath, who was born in Kolkata, India, did her undergraduate studies at the University of Delhi and obtained her doctoral degree at Princeton, is the first woman to be chief economist of the IMF since the institution was created in the aftermath of the second word war.

Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, was the first woman to lead the organisation — and Ms Gopinath said she gave a

“lot of credit” to the former French finance minister for appointing her.

“Women have been ready for this job for many years. We’ve been ready for a long time and it takes senior people in institutions to recognise that,” Ms Gopinath said.

She did not think she approached the job any differently because she was a woman. “I come to think of issues, and I come to think of solutions, in the exact same way as any other trained economist.”

Bolsonaro’s financial guru plans Deutsche Bank’s funding woes deepen Lender pays highest rates on euro bond market this year for a leading international bank free-market perestroika Paulo Guedes sets out ambitious programme of economic liberalisation

John Paul Rathbone and Andres Schipani

P

aulo Guedes touches a finger to his temple. “People from the left have soft heads and good hearts,” he says. “People from the right have hard heads, and . . . ” He searches for the correct phrase.

“Not-so good hearts.”

It is a moment of candour for Brazil’s “super economics minister”, given that the president he works for, Jair Bolsonaro, is a rightwing former army captain viewed internationally as something of a proto-fascist with a fondness for military dictatorship.

It is also indicative of the breadth of Mr Guedes’ views, and his belief that Mr Bolsonaro is not the extremist bogeyman he is often viewed as abroad. “We are creating a Popperian open society,” he says, one of several times he recalls the Austrian philosopher Karl Popper — who advocated dynamic liberal democracy — during a wide-ranging conversation with the FT in his Brasília office.

“If Bolsonaro is rough in his manners, it’s just an appearance.

He will get rough on the bad guys,” he adds, citing the 64,000 murders Brazil suffered in 2017. That Popper is also a hero of George Soros, the liberal philanthropist hated by some of the ethno-nationalists in Mr Bolsonaro’s retinue, is an irony that seems to escape Mr Guedes.

“Ideology is the real enemy,”

he says. “Me, I’m just a scientist doing my job. Everyone has their role.” Mr Guedes, a University of Chicago-educated economist and successful former fund manager from Rio de Janeiro, is arguably the second most powerful man in the Brazilian government, with five ministries — finance, trade, labour, industry and development — in his portfolio. He is certainly the most active.

While Mr Bolsonaro is recovering from surgery, the new administration has been dogged by infighting: most recently, conservative foreign minister Ernesto Araújo sought a harder line against Venezuela versus a more cautious military approach backed by the vice-president, Gen Hamilton Mourão.

By contrast, Mr Guedes’ economics team has hit the ground running with ambitious reform proposals. “Brazil is the world’s eighth-largest economy but the 130th in degree of openness, close to Sudan. It’s also ranked 128th in terms of ease of doing business.

I mean . . . Jesus Christ!” he says, leaping out of his chair.

Mr Guedes, tanned, intense in his conversation and with the expressive hand gestures typical of Rio de Janeiro inhabitants, says he wants to cut those rankings in half in just four years by cutting spending, overhauling Brazil’s byzantine tax code, slashing red tape, and privatising state assets.

Stephen Morris, Robert Smith and Olaf Storbeck

D

eutsche Bank has had to pay the highest financing rates on the euro debt market for a leading international bank this year, in a further sign of the German lender’s uphill struggle to reduce its funding costs.

The bank raised eyebrows last week when it sold a total of €3.6bn in euro-denominated debt, paying 180 basis points over the benchmark for a two-year bond, a steep rate for short-term funding.

It also paid 230bp over the benchmark on a seven-year bond, a higher rate than domestic Spanish lender CaixaBank, which recently raised five-year bonds at 225bp, according to capital markets news service IFR. “Deutsche has to pay significantly higher risk premiums than almost all other large European banks . . . [the] high spreads express severe doubts, mainly triggered by its poor revenue,” said Michael Hünseler, head of credit portfolio management at Assenagon.

For decades, cheap financing had been the cornerstone of Deutsche’s competitive advantage, with its perception as a “de facto” extension of the German state guaranteeing rock-bottom funding costs that helped it break into the top ranks of global investment banking.

However, post-crisis regulations to protect taxpayers from “too big to fail” lenders have eliminated this edge and more recent capital rule changes now require even senior bondholders to take losses if a bank fails, further pushing up costs.

High interest rate payments could price Deutsche out of transactions with some of its most important institutional and corporate clients, analysts say, exacerbating market share declines in key businesses.

The financing cost rises were another headwind for Deutsche, said Barclays analyst Amit Goel in a report, adding that in an “adverse scenario” for funding, the bank could face a 35 per cent hit to its pre-tax profit, significantly more than any other European lender.

There were questions over Deutsche’s decision to tap the debt market with such high rates, despite there being no immediate financing need. One person close to the bank’s supervisory board called the move “insane” although one banker suggested that the lender needed to demonstrate that it had access to the bond markets.

Deutsche executives have been vocal about the need to improve their standing in the debt markets, but have little to show for it so far.

“A key priority for us now is lowering our funding costs and

improving our credit ratings,” chief financial officer James von Moltke told investors and analysts last week.

Nevertheless the bank said its problems in the debt markets were not materially impacting its business or forcing it to change strategy, pointing out that it was still majority funded by deposits, able to issue cheaper covered bonds and had the capacity to repay all outstanding debts.

A person involved in setting Deutsche’s funding strategy said last week’s financing was small in the context of the bank’s €1tn funded balance sheet, although some deals with clients have had to be turned down.

Deutsche’s shares have fallen 45 per cent in the past year amid worries about drops in revenues.

Its problems are also reflected in the credit default swap market.

The cost of buying its CDS — derivatives that pay out if a company defaults on its debts — has more than doubled in the past year.

The company’s five-year CDS now trades 20bp higher than that of Italy’s UniCredit, which is saddled with billions of euros of bad loans.

In a latest note to clients, Corinna Dröse, a Frankfurt-based bond analyst at DZ Bank, said: “The high spreads reflect [Deutsche’s] high idiosyncratic risk, which is rooted in the lender’s chronic weakness in earnings.”

38

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NATIONAL NEWS

How American women can help the Fed — and vice versa

Morgan Stanley bets on millennials with Solium acquisition

Female labour participation is rising again, relaxing supply constraints on the economy

Bank to buy employee stock plans manager Solium Capital for $900m Laura Noonan, James Fontanella-Khan and Eric Platt

Gavyn Davies

U

S labour market participation rates have fallen sharply in the past two decades, reducing the growth in the labour force and potential GDP. Much of this decline has been due to the ageing of the population. Increases in the proportion of older cohorts automatically results in more retired workers, which lowers participation rates in the overall economy (see box).

The impact from ageing will not improve in coming years.

However, the overall participation rate is also affected by cyclical and structural changes within any given age group.

Fortunately, there are now encouraging signs that more people in the prime age group of 25-54 years, especially women, are responding to improvements in job availability. The resultant rise in the labour supply is boosting potential GDP more rapidly than expected, providing room for the Federal Reserve to pause its tightening in monetary policy without endangering inflation.

In one of her last speeches as Fed chair, Janet Yellen offered a history of female labour participation in the last 125 years. It is a compelling and ultimately inspirational story, which I strongly recommend everyone to read.

Women’s participation rose from 36 per cent of the prime age population in 1950 to 75 per cent in the early 1990s. In the past 25 years, however, the story has become far less positive. Female participation has been broadly flat over that period and it plummeted after the 2008 recession.

Fortunately, the clouds parted at the end of 2015, and, since then, prime age female participation has risen by almost 2.5 percentage points, reversing the entire decline that occurred during the great recession.

These changes are of first order importance for the performance of the economy and for the health and welfare of US citizens.

Ms Yellen says that potential GDP growth from 1948 to 1990 was directly boosted by 0.5 percentage points per annum by the rise in female participation, about one-fifth of all the growth in American GDP per head. She also concludes that potential GDP could be boosted by a further 5 percentage points if female labour participation could be increased by the 13 percentage points still needed to match current male participation rates.

Using these rules of thumb, it appears that the rebound in female participation since 2015, along with the smaller rise in male participation, may have added 1.0-1.5 per cent to potential GDP. This has received very little attention in recent Federal Open Market Committee discussions but it could have raised supply capacity by an amount similar to the increase in demand that followed the fiscal stimulus last year. This gain is certainly not to be sneezed at.

M

UK to sign biggest trade deal since Brexit vote with Switzerland British government has yet to roll over most existing deals with ‘third party’ countries Jim Pickard

T

he British government will seek to allay concerns about the UK’s trading future as it signs a trade deal with Switzerland to prevent additional tariffs between the two countries after Brexit.

Liam Fox, trade secretary will sign the new “trade continuity agreement” in the Swiss city of Bern on Monday, saying that it will help to “deliver significant savings and help to safeguard British jobs”.

The trade department added: “The British vehicles sector could avoid up to £8m a year in tariff charges on their exports that would apply if the agreement wasn’t in place, while aluminium exporters could avoid up to £4m and precious stones and metals exporters could avoid up to £4m.”

Dr Fox is struggling to ensure that 40 existing deals that Britain enjoys through the EU with third-party countries are rolled over on March 29 — when the UK is scheduled to leave the bloc.

London has failed to replicate the

vast majority of third-party deals, leaving businesses facing uncertainty over the terms of trade with countries such as Japan, Canada and South Korea if there is a no-deal Brexit.

If that happens then tariffs will revert to World Trade Organization terms, a prospect that alarms many companies.

The deal with Switzerland is the biggest trade agreement signed since the Brexit vote in 2016, with trade between the two countries worth more than £32bn a year in 2017.

Only a handful of other deals have been “rolled over” so far, along with new arrangements with the Faroe Islands, Chile, Israel and some countries in southern Africa.

Currently the UK has trade deals with 71 different countries through 40 agreements struck with the EU — covering 11 per cent of British trade.

While Dr Fox said he has assurances from many of those countries, business groups are concerned at the slow progress in replicating some of the biggest deals.

Last month the trade secretary blamed the lack of progress on other

countries refusing to believe that the UK would leave the EU without a deal.

“We’re ready and we’ve put all our proposals forward . . . a number of countries . . . are unwilling to put the preparations in for no-deal,” Dr Fox claimed.

The EU has agreed that its trade deals will continue to cover the UK during the two-year Brexit transition period if the UK parliament ratifies Theresa May’s withdrawal deal, assuming the other parties do not object.

However, Brexiters’ hopes of rapidly agreeing a trade deal with the US have foundered on the Trump administration’s hostility to Mrs May’s Chequers plan, which would keep the UK indefinitely tied to EU rules on goods.

Last week the Financial Times revealed an impasse in talks between Japan and the UK, with Tokyo confident it can extract a better deal than the existing treaty.

At the same time the Department for International Trade briefed 30 business groups on its failure to replicate “most” of the trade deals in time.

Madrid launches PR campaign ahead of Catalan separatist trials ‘This is the real Spain’ advert aims to combat disinformation from secessionists Ian Mount and Ben Hall

I

n the Spanish government’s new publicity drive, some of the country’s most powerful and best known people — from Banco Santander executive chairman Ana Botín to chef José Andrés — line up to praise Spain’s inclusiveness, diversity and democracy over a soundtrack of electronic music. “This is the real Spain,” is the campaign’s message.

Unspoken, but clearly implied, is what Madrid believes to be a false picture of Spain: that of a heavy-handed centralising power that arbitrarily and forcefully repressed a bid by Catalonia’s government to declare independence in 2017.

The Catalan attempt to secede was based on a referendum that was illegal under Spain’s constitution, and on Tuesday 12 separatist leaders of the independence bid will go on trial in Spain’s supreme court, accused of rebellion, sedition and other charges.

Spain’s government led by Pedro Sánchez insists the country’s judicial system is independent and that justice must run its course. But at the same time Madrid is arming itself to fight in the court of international public opinion, combating what it frames as years of unchecked and hostile disinformation by a deft secessionist movement that has distorted views of Spain and the Spanish courts.

“Why are Spanish institutions, the Spanish judiciary, being questioned?

Because there was a narrative from groups supporting independence, without a counter narrative,” said Dolores Delgado, Spain’s justice minister, in an interview with the Financial Times.

“We cannot permit the spreading of a story that does not fit with reality.”

The government knows what it is up against. The “This is the real Spain” campaign — which also features personalities such as musician Daniel Barenboim and actor Richard Gere — has been subverted on social media with photos of truncheon-wielding riot police trying to stop the 2017 secession referendum. Many of those posting images displayed yellow ribbons, a symbol of support for the Catalan separatist cause.

With appearances by political heavyweights such as former premier Mariano Rajoy, as well as the testimony of the defendants, the trial of the Catalan separatists is likely to overshadow Spanish political debate for months.

It presents a complex challenge to Mr Sánchez, who eight months ago enlisted the help of Catalan separatist parties to oust Mr Rajoy and his People’s party government in a confidence vote.

His minority Socialist government is performing a political balancing act: trying to convince the separatist parties to continue to back him in parliament while it supports the justice system that is putting their leaders on trial and

steps up Madrid’s public rejection of the Catalan separatist argument.

Mr Sánchez’s administration believes Mr Rajoy’s government failed to counter the separatist narrative on the world stage in the years before the illegal referendum, when Catalonia’s separatist-run government opened “embassies” and used social media and foreign press briefings to push its case abroad.

Spain’s reputation dropped in Germany, Italy and France over the period of the independence referendum, according to research from the Elcano Royal Institute, a Madrid think-tank.

As premier Mr Sánchez has tried to improve Madrid’s response. España Global, a public diplomacy agency, has been relaunched and produced the “real Spain” campaign. Irene Lozano, the head of España Global, told the FT in London during a tour of European capitals that the Catalan conflict “was built on disinformation and fake news . . . this is a real problem for democracy”.

Mr Sánchez’s government has tried to push back against the independence movement’s romanticism of the issue as well as its attacks on the judiciary’s independence. Jailed former Catalan parliament speaker, Carme Forcadell, recently told the FT that democracy and free speech were on trial, a common separatist refrain, and that she and her fellow defendants were political prisoners.

organ Stanley has acquired Canadian stock plans administrator Solium Capital for $900m, its biggest deal since the financial crisis as the Wall Street bank positions itself as a leading wealth manager for future millennial millionaires.

The Solium deal — which was struck at a 43 per cent premium to Friday’s closing price — gives the New York-based bank key technology and more than a million employee-clients to add to its existing stock management business.

Solium manages the equity plans of employees of more than 3,000 companies, including many start-ups with younger staff who often prefer to receive a larger portion of their pay in stock in the hope to earn a large return when their company goes public.

Coming just days after the $66bn merger of US banks BB & T and SunTrust marked the biggest post-crisis US bank deal, Morgan Stanley’s return to making larger acquisitions suggests a revival of M&A in the banking sector after years of caution.

“The acquisition provides Morgan Stanley with broader access to corporate clients and a direct channel to their employees,” said James Gorman, the bank’s chairman and chief executive, “as well as a greater opportunity to establish and develop relationships with a younger demographic and service this population early in their wealth accumulation years.”

Analysts at Evercore said that the price tag “might raise a brow” but the deal “makes significant strategic sense” as it “provides a real path towards the organic growth and next generation of clients that many investors have been questioning”.

The Alberta-based company counts among its clients start-ups such as grocery app Instacart, ecommerce group Shopify and fintech payments company Stripe.

“The primary target is obviously to cross-sell and retain as many retirees as possible in the Morgan Stanley financial advisory (Wealth Management) business,” said Guy Moszkowski, banks analyst at Autonomous.

“Presumably a secondary, more speculative opportunity might be to turn some of those growth company relationships into IPO mandates for Morgan Stanley’s investment bankers.”

Morgan Stanley is in a race with downtown rival Goldman Sachs on public offering mandates, as some of the largest privately held tech companies including ride hailing apps Uber and Lyft as well as social media network Pinterest ready for IPOs. Under the terms of the deal, Morgan Stanley will pay C$19.15 ($14.42) a share for Solium, or a 43 per cent premium over Friday’s closing price of C$13.36.

Davis Polk & Wardwell and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt are providing legal advice to Morgan Stanley in connection with the transaction.

The Solium deal is the biggest standalone acquisition by Morgan Stanley since the financial crisis, although the bank did take full control of Smith Barney retail brokerage in 2013 that had been in a joint venture with Citigroup and valued at about $13.5bn.

Tuesday 12 February 2019

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FINANCIAL TIMES

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COMPANIES & MARKETS

@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED

South Korea indicts former chief justice on abuse of power Yang Seung-tae is accused of exerting his influence to win favour from the government Song Jung-a

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outh Korean prosecutors have indicted a former chief justice on charges of abusing power to manipulate court rulings on several high-profile cases in order to win political benefits from the previous government.

Yang Seung-tae, who headed the Supreme Court in 2011-2017, is accused of exerting his influence over politically sensitive trials in exchange for support from former president Park Geun-hye in setting up a new appeals court.

The retired veteran judge who faces 47 charges is the first former chief justice in South Korea to face a criminal trial. The allegations against Mr Yang have worsened public distrust of the country’s judiciary, which has long been accused of being too lenient on political heavyweights and business tycoons charged with corruption.

The 71-year-old former judge is accused of delaying rulings on cases brought by former South Korean labourers who were seeking compensation for their forced labour under Japan’s colonial rule

of South Korea. He was alleged to have done so to support Ms Park who was seeking warmer relations with Japan.

Two other former justices were also indicted on Monday for their alleged collaboration with Mr Yang.

Prosecutors on Monday also announced the results of their months-long investigation into the scandal involving the top judges and claimed that they illegally interfered with several high-profile court cases involving former progressive party lawmakers, leftwing schoolteachers and the country’s former spy chief.

The trial date will be set later.

Mr Yang and his co-accused have all previously denied any wrongdoing.

Despite Mr Yang’s indictment, civic groups said the country had a long way to go if it wanted to restore faith in its judicial system.

“A lack of public confidence in the judiciary is not a simple matter. It will be an unruly society if nobody is willing to accept court rulings,” said Park Jung-eun at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy.

Stocks rally as investors watch trade talks China’s CSI 300 near 3-month high ahead of Beijing meeting with US officials Alice Woodhouse and Michael Hunter

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hinese stocks climbed on Mo n d a y a n d E u ro p e a n bourses followed, as US-China trade talks began in Beijing and Shanghai markets returned from a five-day break.

After a lacklustre start in Europe, indices picked up speed as the morning wore on and US futures also gathered momentum.

US-China trade talks resumed with Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative, and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, set to meet Chinese vice premier Liu He this week in Beijing, following a round of lower-level talks starting on Monday.As Europe gathered pace, the region-wide Stoxx 600 added 1 per cent, with sectors exposed to the trade war rising. The Stoxx index tracking industrial metals makers rose 1.8 per cent and the benchmark for technology stocks rose 1.2 per cent.

According to US futures trade, the S&P 500 was set to rise 0.5 per cent in opening trade The pattern came after the CSI 300 index of mainland Chinese stocks was up 1.8 per cent, its highest point in almost three months, after opening lower as trading resumed after the lunar new year holiday.

US President Donald Trump last week ruled out a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before a March 1 deadline, shattering hopes of an agreement to avoid an escalation in tariffs when the truce ends. If Washington and Beijing do not strike a deal by the deadline, tariffs on about $200bn of Chinese exports to the US will rise from 10 per cent to 25 per cent.

ANZ analysts said “the absence

of a planned meeting between the two heads of state before March is overshadowing sentiment”.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.5 per cent, led by technology stocks.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of large-cap Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong was up 0.5 per cent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.6 per cent as financials shed 1 per cent, with shares in the country’s four major banks all retreating.

Markets in Japan were closed for National Foundation Day. The moves in Asia Pacific on Monday came after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each closed Friday’s session up 0.1 per cent.

Forex The dollar index touched a new six-week high just under 97 points.

The onshore renminbi, which is permitted to trade 2 per cent to either side of a daily midpoint set by the People’s Bank of China, was 0.5 per cent weaker at Rmb6.7765 to the dollar. The offshore renminbi was flat at Rmb6.7868.

Sterling was 0.4 per cent weaker at a session low of $1.2901 after UK GDP data were weaker than forecast for December. It showed a month-on-month contraction of 0.4 per cent, having been expected to stay flat.

The euro was 0.1 per cent weaker at $1.1317 and the Japanese yen slipped 0.2 per cent to ¥109.79 per dollar.

Commodities Oil prices retreated, with Brent crude down 0.9 per cent at $61.56 a barrel and US marker West Texas Intermediate falling 1.3 per cent to $52.04.

Yang Seung-tae pictured when he because chief justice in 2011 © EPA

Mercedes confident on record annual sales despite January dip Carmaker expects model revamps to boost momentum in second half Patrick McGee

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uxury leader Mercedes-Benz said global deliveries fell 6.7 per cent in January, but with a model offensive in the coming months it continues to project a ninth consecutive record year for sales in 2019.

The Stuttgart-based carmaker said it delivered 180,539 vehicles worldwide last month, its secondbest start to a year following a record 2018. The decline comes at a time when all three of its major markets — the US, EU, and China — are struggling.

The decline was led by Europe,

where deliveries fell by 11.2 per cent to 57,963 vehicles. In its home market of Germany, Mercedes’ deliveries fell by 11.9 per cent. In the US, deliveries fell 11.1 per cent to 22,507.

In Asia, deliveries fell 1.3 per cent, but in China — Mercedes’ biggest market — deliveries rose 4.8 per cent to 71,697, giving it the best-ever start to a year despite the market overall slowing.

Board member Britta Seeger said the B-class volume car, the subcompact CLA and the GLE sport utility vehicle are each being revamped this year, which should give sales momentum in the second half of the year.

“2019 will be a challenging year for the entire industry,” she said, adding that nevertheless “we are hoping to achieve a slight increase in sales and a new record for the full year”.

Mercedes’ parent, Daimler, last week posted a fourth quarter operating profits decline of 22 per cent to €2.67bn.

Shares of Daimler have fallen nearly 50 per cent since a high in March 2015, as investors worry that the global auto market has reached a peak in the cycle, just as carmakers are forced to increase spending on emissions technology, batteries and better software to compete with new entrants.

Traders eye ‘bad trade’ in Swiss franc flash fall Currency abruptly dropped early in the Asian trading day Katie Martin

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he Swiss franc is the latest currency to have gone bump in the night.

At the point where the week’s global trading got under way in Asia, the euro abruptly shot up one whole point from SFr1.1325 before immediately dropping back down.

The dollar made a similar move.

The way the swoon happened, with a drop in one big hit from around 22:06 on Sunday, London time, followed by a slightly longer path back up, suggests that the

move was the result of human error, rather than a computer programme somehow spitting out the wrong price.

A public holiday in Japan meant that markets were quiet and the shock absorption that would normally have come from wider flows did not appear.

It seems that “a badly executed [trade] triggered the move, which was exacerbated by the thinnerthan-usual liquidity due to the Tokyo holiday,” said Lee Oliver at market intelligence firm InTouch FX. The mini flash crash, which

took the franc down only to levels seen in the previous week, is the latest in a series of late-night wobbles in the foreign exchange market.

In the opening days of January, the yen leapt higher with no obvious trigger for the move.

That was a flicker in comparison with an ugly flash crash in sterling in October 2015.

Investors are increasingly unnerved by such events, with some 40 per cent of those polled by JPMorgan saying poor liquidity was a concern for them, up from 29 per cent in the previous year.

Smith & Nephew leads European stock decliners on acquisition talk Just Eat rises after shareholder urges group to turn to a tie-up rather than new chief Sarah Provan

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hares in Smith & Nephew were the heaviest decliners among Europe’s largest listed companies on the first trading day in London since the Financial Times revealed talks that could mark the medical instruments group’s most substantial acquisition.

The British medical devices company, which shed as much as about 4 per cent in early Monday trading, has held negotiations to buy Californiabased NuVasive for $3bn, people with direct knowledge of the talks said.

The exact terms of any discussions could not be learnt and talks between the two sides may fall apart, these people said.

S&N shares have risen 23 per cent over the past year, giving the group a market value of £13.3bn.

Elsewhere in London Just Eat rose 1.5 per cent in early London trading.

Cat Rock Capital Management, a US hedge fund that owns 1.7 per cent of the company’s shares, on Monday urged the online delivery group to turn to growth by acquisition rather than shaking up its management board. The shareholder takes the

stand that Just Eat would benefit from merging with a “well-run industry peer”, rather than relying on a new chief executive.

Peter Plumb stepped down as chief executive of Just Eat last month after 16 months at the helm. Cat Rock Capital said in December that Just Eat had become the “worst performing public equity in online food delivery” and criticised Mr Plumb, who had been in the job since September 2017, for creating targets that “have been remarkably undemanding and have created little accountability for management to execute”.

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Tuesday 12 February 2019

ANALYSIS

The Maldives counts the cost of its debts to China

Queens native delivers a jolt to Amazon’s New York ambitions

Simon Mundy and Kathrin Hille

Local politician stands in the way of tech giant’s new headquarters

The government joins a backlash against Beijing-financed infrastructure projects

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rowned with a soaring blue archway, the fourlane China-Maldives Friendship Bridge loops over 2km of the Indian Ocean to connect the Maldivian capital with its international airport and the fast-growing artificial island of Hulhumale.

Opened last year, the bridge was the flagship project in a surge of Chinese investment into the Maldives under former president Abdulla Yameen, who left office in November after a shock election defeat brought to an end his five-year rule.

But while China has portrayed its Maldivian projects as an example of how its Belt and Road Initiative can drive development in smaller countries, the new government in Male is taking a darker view. It claims that Mr Yameen’s administration saddled the country with vast debts — owed principally to China — through inflated investment contracts that involved personal gain for corrupt Maldivian officials.

Over the past two months, the Maldives has been struggling to establish the full scale of its exposure to Chinese debt, most of which is in the form of sovereign guarantees on Chinese loans to companies. Finance ministry data show that these guarantees amount to $935m, on top of the $600m directly owed to Beijing by the government.

Mohamed Nasheed, a key adviser to new president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and himself a former president, believes that hitherto unreported guarantees could bring the total exposure as high as $3bn — an unaffordable sum, he tells the Financial Times, in a country of 400,000 people where gross domestic product in 2017 was $4.9bn.

Ibrahim Ameer, finance minister, says the new government will ask China to reduce the sums owed, as well as amending the interest rates and repayment schedules for them.

Its argument is blunt: that the stated project costs, and the loans that funded them, were substantially inflated, with much of the surplus flowing to the pockets of Yameen administration officials.

“Everything was engineered by government officials so as to ensure the most enrichment for them,” Mr Ameer says. “It was done that way by design.”

The Chinese investment boom in the Maldives got under way in 2014, when Xi Jinping made the first ever visit by a Chinese head of state to the archipelago. Beijing’s growing interest in the Maldives, despite the country’s tiny population, reflects its strategic location.

With 1,200 islands stretching over a latitudinal distance of 850km, the Maldives claims an exclusive economic zone of 859,000 square kilometres — well over triple the land area of the UK — in a section of the Indian Ocean that touches the main shipping route between China, the oil suppliers of the Middle East, and Europe.

The year before Mr Xi’s visit to Male, he had announced a grand new centrepiece to his foreign policy: the Belt and Road Initiative. The hazily defined strategy brought a new push by Chinese state companies to finance and build large-scale infrastructure projects across Asia and beyond.

Mr Yameen’s ambitious plans for Greater Male made it a promising target for BRI projects. His government argued that it was unfeasible to provide decent

Joshua Chaffin and Shannon Bond

A public services to all the country’s 200 inhabited islands, and that it was more logical to concentrate the population on Male and Hulhumale, an artificial island created in stages since 1997 by filling in a nearby coral lagoon.

Hulhumale had been the creation of Mr Yameen’s half-brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the Maldives as a dictator for 30 years. After taking power in 2013, Mr Yameen pushed through plans to triple the size of the new island to accommodate 240,000 inhabitants — more than half the entire country’s current population.

Chinese funding was central to these projects. Maldivian finance ministry data show that well over $1bn in loans were agreed in the four years after Mr Xi’s visit, all either borrowed directly or guaranteed by the Maldivian government. Chinese state companies lent $547.9m to fund the construction of 11,000 apartments in high-rise blocks that would be built in the second phase of Hulhumale. They lent a further $180.9m for work to extend the electricity grid to the new island, and $421m to expand the airport serving Male and Hulhumale.

The most celebrated project was the $210m Friendship Bridge, funded mostly by a $126m Chinese government grant and a $68m loan from Export Import Bank of China.

“The project is of great political significance,” China Central Television said in a report on the bridge, soon after its construction was completed last year. “The Chinese helpers and builders are using their intelligence and their sweat to give glory to the Belt and Road Initiative!”

But just two weeks after the first cars and scooters rolled over the bridge last September, Mr Yameen was swept from power in a shock election outcome that suddenly increased the scrutiny of Chinese lending in the island nation.

The controversy around recent Chinese investment in the Maldives is part of a worrying recent pattern for Beijing, in which newly elected governments have sought to cancel or amend supposedly unfavourable deals with China agreed by their predecessors.

Last month, Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad told media that the country would be “impoverished” if it proceeded with a $20bn Chinese rail project agreed by his predecessor, Najib Razak. On a state visit to Beijing soon after his return to power last year, Mr Mohamad had pointedly warned about the risk of “a new version of colonialism”.

Similar criticisms have been made in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

“We should not sell our debt for equity,” says Mr Nasheed, warning against an outcome that would give China effective control of Maldivian territory.

Mr Nasheed, who served as the Maldives’ first democratically elected president from 2008 to 2012 and remains the leader of Mr Solih’s Maldivian

Democratic party, has been the most prominent critic of the former government’s relationship with China.

China has hit back against allegations that the BRI is pushing some countries into a “debt trap”, saying that the programme is allowing developing nations to benefit from its capital and expertise.

“The BRI has been warmly welcomed to an extent that has far exceeded our expectations,” vice-minister for foreign affairs Le Yucheng told the FT last year, calling it “an effort to build a more fair and equitable international order”.

In late January 2016 Wang Fukang, then China’s ambassador to the Maldives, travelled 36km south to the tiny island of Olhuveli to witness the signing of the biggest resort development deal in Maldivian history.

As Mr Wang looked on, a representative of state-owned China Communications Construction Company signed a contract with Ahmed Siyam Mohamed, the leader of one of the parties in Mr Yameen’s ruling coalition and one of the biggest tycoons in the country’s lucrative tourism sector.

An online update from the Chinese embassy said the companies had agreed to build the Maldives’ biggest resort, with 509 rooms, and its first to be built by a Chinese company.

The embassy release did not reveal the terms of the deal, which remained secret until the new government took power. According to finance ministry data, Mr Siyam’s company funded the project with debt from the Export Import Bank of China — with the loans guaranteed by the Maldivian government up to an amount of $127.5m.

Officials in Male’s new government say such arrangements were typical of the opacity accompanying the huge debt increase under the previous administration. “There’s no information on many of these contracts centrally available — we’re collecting it now,” one senior official says.

Sun Siyam, the resort operator, did not respond to a request for comment.

The new government’s biggest concerns relate to the $646m of sovereignguaranteed Chinese loans to Housing Development Corporation, the Maldivian state company responsible for developing Hulhumale. Of this, 85 per cent went to fund the construction of 11,000 apartments in the island’s second phase.

Work on these residential projects, including the construction of 16 25-storey tower blocks by China State Construction Engineering, is continuing. But the economic logic for such large-scale development has been weakened after the new government dropped Mr Yameen’s policy drive to concentrate the population in greater Male, instead promising more support for communities in the many smaller islands.

mazon prides itself on knowing what consumers want — often even before they know themselves. But when it comes to the Queens borough of New York, Michael Gianaris is convinced he knows better than the tech giant.

Mr Gianaris, a child of Greek immigrants, has spent virtually his entire life in the borough’s Astoria neighbourhood. He was born there and attended its public schools. The only appreciable period he has spent away was his time at Harvard Law School — although he returned soon after graduating and entered local politics.

legislation that would limit some tax benefits for the company.

Soon it was revealed that Amazon was having second thoughts about Queens. Executives have been riled by the local hostility they have encountered, which they had not anticipated and is in sharp contrast to the loving embrace they have received in Virginia, the location they selected for another satellite headquarters.

They are particularly concerned, according to a person briefed on Amazon’s deliberations, about demands to allow its New York workers to unionise — something the company has refused elsewhere.

“Amazon is a non-union company and did not realise this would have to change in New York,” this

New York state senator Michael Gianaris calls on supporters to remove the Amazon app from their phones and boycott the company at a rally in New York last November © AP

“I feel like I have my finger on the pulse of this neighbourhood better than anybody else,” Mr Gianaris said. “I walk these streets. I live here. Other people don’t.”

That native knowledge might explain why Mr Gianaris, now a Democratic state Senator, has been so effective in leading opposition to Amazon’s plan to build a satellite headquarters in Long Island City, Queens.

Amazon announced its plans in November after an exhaustive, nationwide competition in which hundreds of cities vied for the tech giant’s favour. Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic governor who led Amazon’s recruitment, celebrated the outcome as the city’s greatest ever economic development win.

The company has pledged to create 25,000 well-paying jobs over 10 years.

Rather than celebrate Mr Gianaris began questioning the cost of luring Amazon: some $3bn in tax incentives that he and other opponents likened to corporate welfare at a time when the neighbourhood’s schools and transit networks are under strain.

“The fact that Amazon is slated to receive $3bn and the governor has identified a $2.6bn budget shortfall does not require a mathematical genius to figure out the connection between these two,” Mr Gianaris said.

Such resistance once seemed quixotic. But it entered a new phase last week when fellow Democrats broke with Mr Cuomo to appoint Mr Gianaris to a three-member state review board, giving him potential veto power over the agreement. Mr Gianaris then proposed

person said.

If it so decided, Amazon could easily bolt: it has not signed a formal lease or broken ground on the new campus. Another suitor, nearby Newark, New Jersey, has offered $7bn in tax incentives.

Flummoxed Cuomo aides initially assumed Mr Gianaris and other local politicians were merely sore at being cut out of the big deal.

Politicians, as one observed, are always against backroom deals when they are not in the room. After some grandstanding they would eventually fall in line.

But, unlike other critics, Mr Gianaris has so far refused to even take a meeting with Amazon executives to discuss the deal, demanding that it first be scrapped.

“Gianaris has outplayed Cuomo,” one New York property executive remarked — although it was still early innings.

Like other observers, the executive believed Mr Gianaris was trying to appeal to a small but vocal minority of leftwing activists in hopes of heading off a challenge from the progressive wing of the party led by Alexandria OcasioCortez. The 29-year-old shocked the Democratic establishment by defeating longtime incumbent Joe Crowley in last year’s primary to represent parts of Queens and the Bronx in Congress. “AOC is the ruler of Queens now, not Joe Crowley,” one Cuomo aide said.

Mr Cuomo seemed to have that in mind on Friday when he accused opponents of “pandering” to fringe activists and committing “governmental malpractice” and warned that they would bear the consequences if Amazon withdrew.

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SOUTH EAST

Anambra youths call for peaceful polls Eligible voters in Aba disenfranchised over lack of PVCs EMMANUEL NDUKUBA, Awka

... As INEC staff at Osisioma caught taking bribes GODFREY OFURUM, Aba

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igerians will go to the polls on Saturday, February 16, to vote a president and national assembly members for the next four years.

Unfortunately for Aloma Agomuo and many eligible registered voters in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, and its environs, they would not vote because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could not provide them with permanent voter cards (PVCs) as the deadline for collection of PVC ended yesterday, February 11.

Agomuo of Ward 8, Umuagbai, in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of the state, was at Osisioma Local Government Secretariat of INEC on Monday to collect his PVC. But like many other disenfranchised eligible voters, he will not vote because INEC could not provide him with a PVC, even though he registered to vote in the elections.

“I’ve been to INEC office in Osisioma several times to collect my PVC, but on each visit, they told

me my PVC was not there. I won’t be happy if I don’t get my PVC because I want to vote; it is my right as a citizen,” Agomuo said.

At Umuocham Girls in Osioma Ngwa Local Government Area, Nkechi Agwuncha, who faces a similar fate as Agomuo, said she had been to pick up her PVC six times, but each time she was told that they couldn’t locate her PVC. “I’m willing to vote for my choice candidate, but from what is happening, I may not vote, like so many other eligible voters,” Nnanna Chukwuemeka Nwokocha of Ward 2, Okpuluumobo, Osisioma Ngwa LGA, who has also been disenfranchised because he could not get his PVC, said, expressing shock at what he termed the “nonchallant attitude of INEC”.

“This is my fourth visit to this place. I have been to my ward for about three times, but they referred me to INEC office at the LGA secretariat. I registered in the LGA secretariat in September 2018. I even have a temporary card issued to me by INEC, but I’ve been here on several occasions but on

each visit, they told me they cannot locate my PVC. I want to vote,” Nwokocha said.

Sunday Onwuma, a resident of Aba North LGA, was, however, lucky as he collected his card after four visits to INEC office in Umukalika, Aba North.

Onwuma, who said he sorted his card by himself, observed that the PVCs were not properly arranged, which made it difficult for INEC staff.

“I got mine, but it was clumsy somehow because the cards were not properly arranged,” he said.

Onwuma said many eligible voters would be disenfranchised because they could not collect their cards.

BusinessDay checks at Osisioma office of INEC showed some staff of INEC, including corps members on primary assignment in INEC, brazenly collecting money from people to help them search for their PVCs. Further checks revealed also that eligible voters, who refused to part with a minimum of N100, were not attended to by INEC staff whose responsibility it is to give people their cards.

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nambra youths on Monday carried out s ensitisation cam paigns to promote peaceful polls in the state.

The campaign was a collaborative effort between Anambra State Library Board, Kings Faith Development and Youth Empowerment Initiative, Not Too Young to Run and Young African Leadership Initiative.

The groups took to the streets of Awka, the state capital, to educate the public on the need for peaceful elections.

Nkechi Udeze, acting director, Anambra State Library Services, decried the rate at which youths engage in election violence and urged them to shun fury and rather come out en masse to participate in voting during the polls.

Nkwachkwu Oji, resident commissioner, INEC, Anambra State, re-assured the people of INEC’s readiness for the general

EEDC bemoans destruction of installation in Anambra EMMANUEL NDUKUBA, Awka

T L-R: Stella Odife, treasurer of Eastern Peoples’ Front (EPF); Ken Emechebe, national coordinator of EPF, and Chinedu Nebo, former minister of power, during a news conference on EPF’s endorsement of Atiku/Obi ticket in Enugu, yesterday. NAN

2019: Anambra CP pledges free, fair and credible elections ... as NOA advocates violence-free polls EMMANUEL NDUKUBA, Awka

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he new Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Dandaura Mustapha, promised on Monday that the police would ensure the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in the state.

The new CP, who spoke when he assumed duty at the state police command headquarters, Amawbia near Awka, the state capital, said he does not have any favoured candidate or political party in the forthcoming general elections in the state.

“The Nigeria Police will remain focused. We are going to be fair. We are going to conduct free, fair and credible elections in the state. I want to also assure that during my term in office, Anambra will be one of the safest secured states in the country,” Mustapha said.

This is even as the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in the state conducted campaigns for violencefree elections at Eke Market Square, Adazi-Ani, Anaocha LGA of the state.

Speaking further, Mustapha as-

sured that the electorate would be allowed to go and cast their votes without intimidation, adding that no political thug would be allowed access to the venue of the election.

He warned political office-seekers that election day was neither for rally nor for campaign, pointing out that it was a day for the electorate to just cast their votes and go.

“No political thug would be allowed to cause any havoc during the voting period. In case of any recalcitrance, the perpetrators will be decisively dealt with according to law. I am warning the political thugs in the state to stay away from the polling centres,” Mustapha said.

The police commissioner also visited the scene of petrol tanker fire incident at Amawbia roundabout, where many people lost their lives and several shops destroyed.

Nkechi Onwuka, while speaking during the NOA campaigns for violence-free elections in the state, said educating the youths on dangers inherent in election violence was necessary as they were always used

to foment trouble.

Onwuka, who led the campaign team, urged mothers to persuade their children not to get involved in electoral violence because of dangers inherent in it.

“Mothers are likely to be seen more here at the markets but they are in vantage position to caution their children at home,” she said.

Onwuka taught the people how to thumb-print to prevent the problem of invalid votes cropping up, even as she enjoined the people to conduct themselves in orderly and civil way during the elections to stem eruption of violence at polling stations.

Asadu Onyekachi, Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Anaocha LGA, who was represented by Sunday Nnamani, an inspector, urged Anambra people to exhibit good behaviour and desist from executing violent acts during the elections.

He re-assured of adequate deployment of police personnel during the polls and urged the mothers to convey the message to the youths.

elections.

Oji, who was represented by Leo Ikedife, head, Department of Voter Education, INEC, said the non-sensitive materials needed for the elections were already in INEC premises and that INEC ad hoc staff had been recruited and trained for all the strands of elections.

Oji re-confirmed that collection of permanent voter cards ended at the local government offices of the commission yesterday, February 11.

While reassuring of INEC’s commitment to credible, free and fair elections in the state, Oji urged for more mobilisation of voters as he decried the rate of voter apathy in the state.

Chukwuma Chukwura of Kings Faith Development and Youth Empowerment Initiative noted that the youths were ready to participate fully in the elections, assuring that the group would eschew vote trading and violence.

He urged INEC to ensure that every vote would count.

he Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has decried the destruction of its electricity installation by the petrol tanker inferno in Anambra State.

Chukwuemeka Ezeh, head of the company’s communication department, who made this known in Awka on Monday, said the inferno gutted a transformer and feeder pillars near Anambra Governor’s Lodge and affected the Enugu-Agidi 11KV line.

Recall that a petrol tanker caught fire on February 9 around the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia, killing no fewer than seven persons.

The police command in Anambra confirmed no fewer than seven persons died, while about 13 vehicles were burnt in the accident.

Ezeh expressed sadness over the sudden power cut to some parts of the capital territory,

while assuring that engineers of the company were already working to restore supply.

The company commiserated with those who lost their loved ones and property in the fire.

“The fire incident was an unfortunate one. It affected our Enugu Agidi 11kv line, through Amawbia roundabout. One of our transformers and feeder pillars got burnt, and the aluminum conductor feeding Governor’s Lodge burnt down,” Ezeh said.

“Our men couldn’t restore supply to our customers immediately, but were able to restore supply this morning (Monday), except our customers feeding from the burnt transformer and Governor’s Lodge. Effort is, however, on to ensure the remaining areas are restored. We appeal to our customers affected by this development and appeal for their patience and understanding while we work at resolving this issue,” he said.

Court affirms Etim John as Cross River APC chairman MIKE ABANG, Calabar

T

he Federal High Court in Calabar on Monday affirmed the judgment of an Abuja High Court declaring Godwin Etim John as authentic state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

An Abuja High Court presided over by Justice A. O. Musa had on December 13, 2018 declared Godwin Etim John as authentic state party chairman of APC. The court annulled the congresses that produced the late Mathew Ojong recognised by the

APC National Working Committee, describing them as illegal.

The court also ordered the NWC of APC to forward the list of candidates as submitted by Godwin Etim John to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Reacting to the judgment, Ekpeyong Cobham, director general of Usani Campaign Organisation, said the enforcement of the judgment had been long overdue and appealed to both INEC and the security agencies to do the needful by complying fully with the judgment.

42

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BUSINESS DAY

43

Live @ the Stock exchange Prices for Securities Traded as of Monday 11 February 2019 Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities) BANKING ACCESS BANK PLC. 202,495.80 7.00 5.26 326 101,620,983 UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC 273,595.37 8.00 4.58 463 69,912,842 ZENITH BANK PLC 783,342.52 24.95 2.25 554 46,510,154 1,343 218,043,979 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC 290,751.87 8.10 1.25 306 26,172,343 306 26,172,343 1,649 244,216,322 BUILDING MATERIALS DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 3,152,493.87 185.00 -0.27 119 4,020,618 LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 108,417.85 12.50 - 126 12,399,753 245 16,420,371 245 16,420,371 EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 332,765.40 565.50 0.89 30 237,436 30 237,436 30 237,436 1,924 260,874,129 REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC 1,900.00 95.00 - 0 0 UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) 11,300.89 45.20 - 0 0 UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST 15,876.20 5.95 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND 411.91 552.20 - 2 290 VALUEALLIANCE VALUE FUND 3,312.39 103.20 - 0 0 2 290 2 290 2 290 CROP PRODUCTION FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 440.00 0.20 - 2 42 OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 81,082.35 85.00 - 23 212,283 PRESCO PLC 60,000.00 60.00 - 1 2 26 212,327 FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC. 511.20 4.26 - 0 0 0 0 LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 1,500.00 0.50 - 2 5,002 2 5,002 28 217,329 DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. 714.77 0.27 - 1 1,200 JOHN HOLT PLC. 186.79 0.48 - 1 1,243 S C O A NIG. PLC. 1,903.99 2.93 - 3 497 TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC 59,346.07 1.46 9.77 252 45,066,962 U A C N PLC. 27,372.32 9.50 1.60 64 2,853,987 321 47,923,889 321 47,923,889 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ARBICO PLC. 711.32 4.79 - 1 299 1 299 INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 34,320.00 26.00 - 16 86,248 ROADS NIG PLC. 165.00 6.60 - 0 0 16 86,248 REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 4,962.94 1.91 6.11 13 19,703,481 13 19,703,481 30 19,790,028 AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 954.53 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS CHAMPION BREW. PLC. 12,683.78 1.62 - 9 203,850 GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. 242.22 0.89 - 0 0 GUINNESS NIG PLC 142,374.88 65.00 - 53 145,938 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 249,280.00 29.00 -3.33 10 3,090,300 NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 623,758.36 78.00 - 115 445,988 187 3,886,076 FOOD PRODUCTS DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC 37,500.00 7.50 9.49 83 2,051,710 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 175,200.00 14.60 1.04 81 1,341,397 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 82,007.59 20.00 - 57 576,425 HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 10,229.95 1.29 -1.55 46 2,530,450 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC 1,340.10 0.36 - 0 0 N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. 766.26 4.30 8.86 3 108,400 NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC 47,689.89 18.00 0.56 16 112,917 UNION DICON SALT PLC. 3,676.41 13.45 - 0 0 286 6,721,299 FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 20,660.22 11.00 10.00 24 207,729 NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 1,188,984.38 1,500.00 - 25 11,322 49 219,051 HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. 1,680.31 22.10 - 1 100 VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 4,992.95 4.79 - 23 122,799 24 122,899 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 50,028.01 12.60 3.70 34 1,263,323 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 224,055.21 39.00 5.41 30 129,463 64 1,392,786 610 12,342,111 BANKING DIAMOND BANK PLC 55,584.93 2.40 2.13 235 52,607,179 ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED 255,976.24 13.95 1.82 62 1,715,755 FIDELITY BANK PLC 76,783.21 2.65 8.16 239 41,430,705 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 1,143,401.31 38.85 0.52 429 29,407,457 JAIZ BANK PLC 14,732.12 0.50 -5.66 32 4,835,798 SKYE BANK PLC 10,687.83 0.77 - 0 0 STERLING BANK PLC. 71,976.05 2.50 1.20 111 12,440,651 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 182,004.70 6.25 - 19 120,884 UNITY BANK PLC 11,806.23 1.01 4.12 18 436,193 WEMA BANK PLC. 29,316.59 0.76 7.04 103 7,858,265 1,248 150,852,887 INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC 4,117.00 0.20 - 0 0 AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 5,336.26 0.77 6.94 30 1,462,950 AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC 21,315.00 2.03 - 11 135,713 CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC 2,276.40 0.28 3.70 17 2,746,926 CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 19,811.94 1.91 - 0 0 CORNERSTONE INSURANCE PLC 2,945.90 0.20 - 16 988,000 GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 2,411.47 0.53 - 0 0 GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. 1,228.00 0.20 - 1 2 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE PLC 487.95 0.38 - 0 0 LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 2,416.73 0.33 10.00 15 1,171,902 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. 2,191.13 0.51 - 3 30,078 LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC 5,120.00 0.64 - 2 60,000 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. 2,000.00 0.25 8.70 10 775,251 NEM INSURANCE PLC 12,990.04 2.46 -1.60 25 719,800 NIGER INSURANCE PLC 1,702.69 0.22 - 4 1,000,012 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC 2,798.93 0.52 - 2 1,802 REGENCY ASSURANCE PLC 1,667.19 0.25 -4.00 10 1,009,627 SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 1,751.57 0.21 - 8 3,056,928 STACO INSURANCE PLC 4,483.72 0.48 - 0 0 STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. 2,582.21 0.20 - 1 2 SUNU ASSURANCES NIGERIA PLC. 2,800.00 0.20 - 1 2 UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. 516.46 0.20 - 0 0 UNIVERSAL INSURANCE PLC 3,200.00 0.20 - 1 60,837 VERITAS KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC 3,050.67 0.22 -4.55 18 2,999,971 WAPIC INSURANCE PLC 5,888.40 0.44 4.76 24 1,591,696 199 17,811,499 MICRO-FINANCE BANKS FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 11,799.67 2.58 - 0 0 NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 3,429.96 1.50 -3.23 17 662,160 17 662,160

MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC 4,116.00 0.98 - 0 0 ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 7,370.87 0.50 - 0 0 INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC 5,922.05 1.42 - 1 100 RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 2,265.95 0.20 - 0 0 UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. 2,949.22 3.02 - 0 0 1 100 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AFRICA PRUDENTIAL PLC 8,580.00 4.29 2.88 30 628,857 CUSTODIAN INVESTMENT PLC 36,467.56 6.20 - 11 85,167 DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & TRUST PLC 660.00 0.44 - 0 0 FCMB GROUP PLC. 47,724.53 2.41 9.05 180 16,027,142 ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 1,337.80 0.26 - 5 128,852 STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC 491,546.54 48.00 2.13 19 204,591 UNITED CAPITAL PLC 21,300.00 3.55 6.29 51 3,178,242 296 20,252,851 1,761 189,579,497 HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS EKOCORP PLC. 1,680.29 3.37 - 1 300 UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC 959.35 0.27 -6.90 8 631,400 9 631,700 MEDICAL SUPPLIES MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. 544.04 0.55 - 0 0 0 0 PHARMACEUTICALS EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 366.17 0.50 - 0 0 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 7,050.00 4.70 - 12 169,026 GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. 14,350.52 12.00 0.42 60 2,272,442 MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 4,088.81 2.37 1.28 18 474,382 NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 1,310.42 0.69 4.55 5 203,359 NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. 556.71 3.62 - 0 0 PHARMA-DEKO PLC. 325.23 1.50 - 1 240 96 3,119,449 105 3,751,149 COMPUTER BASED SYSTEMS COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC 710.40 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS OMATEK VENTURES PLC 1,470.89 0.50 - 0 0 0 0 IT SERVICES CWG PLC 6,413.06 2.54 - 0 0 NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. 648.00 6.00 - 3 32 TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. 381.11 0.77 - 0 0 3 32 PROCESSING SYSTEMS CHAMS PLC 939.21 0.20 - 2 1,100,000 E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 12,306.00 2.93 - 1 2 3 1,100,002 6 1,100,034 BUILDING MATERIALS BERGER PAINTS PLC 2,173.68 7.50 1.35 13 229,216 CAP PLC 22,225.00 31.75 - 9 34,833 CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 289,814.20 22.05 0.23 41 343,026 FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC 654.21 0.31 - 0 0 MEYER PLC. 286.87 0.54 - 1 2,000 PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC 1,999.41 2.52 - 0 0 PREMIER PAINTS PLC. 1,279.20 10.40 - 1 10 65 609,085 ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC 2,256.91 2.09 - 0 0 CUTIX PLC. 3,522.64 2.00 - 13 1,464,566 13 1,464,566 PACKAGING/CONTAINERS BETA GLASS PLC. 36,147.98 72.30 9.55 33 382,883 GREIF NIGERIA PLC 388.02 9.10 - 0 0 33 382,883 AGRO-ALLIED & CHEMICALS NOTORE CHEMICAL IND PLC 100,754.14 62.50 - 0 0 0 0 111 2,456,534 CHEMICALS B.O.C. GASES PLC. 1,577.57 3.79 - 1 75 1 75 METALS ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. 1,803.64 8.20 - 2 12 2 12 MINING SERVICES MULTIVERSE MINING AND EXPLORATION PLC 852.39 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 PAPER/FOREST PRODUCTS THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. 50.60 0.23 - 0 0 0 0 3 87 ENERGY EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC 1,252.54 0.20 -4.76 22 3,602,242 22 3,602,242 INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS SERVICES OANDO PLC 68,372.77 5.50 10.00 113 3,055,596 113 3,055,596 PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS 11 PLC 64,907.15 180.00 - 5 1,157 CONOIL PLC 15,960.90 23.00 - 14 19,218 ETERNA PLC. 6,325.10 4.85 3.19 14 224,103 FORTE OIL PLC. 38,683.69 29.70 - 35 295,202 MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 7,055.81 23.15 - 2 4,070 TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 69,601.98 205.00 -7.20 17 22,950 87 566,700 222 7,224,538 ADVERTISING AFROMEDIA PLC 2,219.52 0.50 - 0 0 0 0 AIRLINES MEDVIEW AIRLINE PLC 16,576.10 1.70 -8.11 2 2,545,002 2 2,545,002 AUTOMOBILE/AUTO PART RETAILERS R T BRISCOE PLC. 411.72 0.35 - 0 0 0 0 COURIER/FREIGHT/DELIVERY RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 3,242.23 5.50 - 8 26,357 TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. 295.37 0.63 - 4 22,278 12 48,635 HOSPITALITY TANTALIZERS PLC 642.33 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 HOTELS/LODGING CAPITAL HOTEL PLC 4,801.22 3.10 - 2 102 IKEJA HOTEL PLC 3,430.01 1.65 - 3 1,075 TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. 7,862.53 3.50 - 0 0 TRANSCORP HOTELS PLC 46,362.46 6.10 - 3 213 8 1,390 MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 4,800.00 0.40 - 0 0 0 0 PRINTING/PUBLISHING ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 247.97 0.41 - 2 285 LEARN AFRICA PLC 1,080.03 1.40 - 5 7,699 STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. 1,183.82 1.99 - 0 0 UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 1,044.01 2.42 3.42 19 1,596,102 26 1,604,086 ROAD TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC 663.08 0.40 - 2 6,500 2 6,500 SPECIALTY INTERLINKED TECHNOLOGIES PLC 766.91 3.24 - 0 0

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INSIGHT/INNOVATION

The choice before us OGHO OKITI

T

his Saturday, the 16th of February, Nigerians will march to the polls again to elect a President for the next four years. Just as in the last election, there is a marked difference between the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), and the leading opposition candidate and People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar.

In the last three years on this page, I have consistently made four arguments, and I will now repeat them for the purpose of this forthcoming election.

The first of the arguments is that the President did not read, nor understand the manifesto of his presidency.

Consequently, he did not govern in accordance with that manifesto. The genesis of that is that the President was not in control of his campaign in 2015, and I believe the whole details are out now. The manifesto included proposals to amend the constitution with a view to devolving powers to the states, strengthen the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reduce/eliminate electoral

malpractices, consultations towards the amendment of the constitution to enable states employ police, and bring permanent peace and solution to the Niger Delta and other conflict prone areas such as Plateau, Taraba, Bauchi, Borno and Abia. In the last four years, there has been no progress in these directions.

The second argument I have made in the past is in relation to the lethargic response of the President to the herdsmen crisis in the North Central.

While clashes between herdsmen and farmers in recent years is simply an escalation, especially following pressures from climate change and population growth, increasing competition for resources in the Sahel region, the prevarication of the President on the matter cannot be explained away.

Consequently, according to the data

by Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, there were more related deaths in just the first seven months of 2018 than in 2016 and 2017 combined.The insensitivity of the President promoted the infusion of religious and tribal sentiments, further polarizing the nation. Given this background, there are two very ugly potentials. One is that the lethargic response of the President, interpreted by many as complicit indulgence, provides a long-term basis for further injustice and division. The other potential is the risk that the herdsmen crisis will follow the destructive patterns of the Niger Delta militancy and the Boko Haram terrorism. Both of these crises have precipitated the collapse of growth in their respective regions and the potency of the recent herdsmen crisis has the potential to

create a similar collapse in the North Central.

My third argument and summary of the last four years is that President Muhammadu Buhari has presided over the increase in poverty. Following the release of a damning report by Brookings in June 2018, the government initially dismissed it as lacking merit because it felt it used old data. But the report actually used April 2018 data and found that Nigeria has overtaken India to become the country with the largest population of people living in extreme poverty. The report claims that Nigeria has 87 million people in extreme poverty category and that this number is increasing by 6 people every minute. The report concluded that the rise in Nigeria’s poverty is driven by three parameters – low economic growth, high inequality, and population growth. Every kindergarten economist knows that poor and weak growth, less than population growth, means poorer and poorer people.

Nigerians have become poorer in the last four years, and it is not down to the fake fight against corruption, but bad economic policies of the government.

Not also surprising, the data on unemployment confirmed what the report on poverty said. In November 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the report that showed that unemployment increased from 18.8% in Q3 2017 to 23.1% in Q3 2018, up by 5 percentage points just in a year. Obviously, rather than create the 3 million jobs they promised Nigerians, the Buhari administration was shedding jobs

‘

Every indices of development are currently in reverse gear. Therefore, I do not want to experience, nor imagine what the next level of that will mean

at an unprecedented rate. Now, the economy requires the creation of 5 million jobs on an annual basis just to maintain the current level of unemployment. That is not going to happen in the absence of economic reforms, foreign direct investment, and a socialist mindset economy.

The final summary and the thin thread that runs through all these developments is the insularity of the President, The President, perhaps deliberately or not, has displayed gross hypocrisy in the matters of corruption and national imbalance. He has fought the corruption of the past with gusto and vigour, but feigned ignorance in the cases of corruption close to him. In the matters of critical appointments, especially in the military, he has demonstrated that only a section of the country is fit to hold such positions. Generally, therefore, more than any previous government, his presidency has further divided us, rather than unite us.

In conclusion, I do not think Nigeria should reinforce failure. That is what another four years of Buhari’s presidency will mean. Every indices of development are currently in reverse gear. Therefore, I do not want to experience, nor imagine what the next level of that will mean. And it is certainly not the road I will like to travel in the next four years, so lets have a better Nigeria and vote Atiku Abubakar.

I thank you.

Dr. Okiti is the president, Time Economics Ltd @ Dr_Okiti 081.7153.0058

INEC and technical disenfranchisement PROPHYLAXIS

AYULI JEMIDE

T

homas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States was quoted as saying: ‘’We do not have a government by the majority, we have a government by the majority who participate’’.

Hundreds of years later this saying still holds true. It is the majority of the total number of votes cast that determines who wins an election.

This underscores the point that to truly have a result reflective of the will of the people no one should be disenfranchised.I make bold to say that millions of Nigerians in all parts of the country have been disenfranchised by INEC. I will tell you why and start with my personal story. I have been a registered voter since 2011 and I lost the PVC which I used to vote in 2015.

I applied for a new one during the continuous voter registration last year.

The process of applying for a replacement was very tedious – took days to access the primary school which housed the INEC staff because there was always a stampede at the gate and there seemed to be no process. Having

applied for a new PVC and collected a slip, the process of collecting the PVC was another nightmare. I went to the local government (EtiOsa in Lagos State) three times – all the time I was told they could not find my PVC. Why did I go back three times? I did so because each time I went I encountered people who said they were told they could not find their PVC’s but they persisted until it was found.

The third time was the most interesting of the days. I went on a Sunday morning (10th February 2019) and waited about 30 minutes at the gate before a lady came to the gate to collect some slips and then she saunters off for about 2 hours and finally another gentleman comes back with a pack of PVC’s and slips. He called my name to collect my slip and told me they could not find my PVC. So, I have been disenfranchised due to no fault of mine. I have also met very many people who were told the most ridiculous thing I have heard – ‘’come back after the elections’’. For what?

To vote later? I met a gentleman who said he was told that they could not find his PVC, but they had lost his slip and then he forced his way through to go in search of his slip himself. Whilst he was in the room looking for his slip, he found his PVC. So, is there a method for stacking the PVC’s? I don’t think so. Whilst I was there on Sunday a gentleman came out with a bag full of PVC’s and started calling out the names written on the PVC’s as he shuffled his way through. After he must have called out over 50 names and no one standing

‘

I urge INEC to extend the collection dates for PVC’s until at least a day before the elections. Every Nigerian has a right to vote

in the sun responded to claim any PVC I thought something was amiss and I walked over to him and asked which PVC’s these were, and he said these are people who submitted their collection slips the day before. I then told him that it was obvious many of them were not here. I then suggested that I can join a few volunteers to help him sort the PVC’s in some alphabetic order and write down the list of names from the PVC’s which he can paste on the wall so people can check their names as they arrive. He declined and told me he will come out again and announce the names in a few hours. I was so frustrated that I raised my voice to accuse him of gross ineptitude at the expense of citizens who would come here to stand in the sun under conditions that depict a total lack of organization or a deliberate ploy to deprive people of their PVC’s.

When I think about the whole voter registration and PVC collection organized by INEC, I dare say it has been the epitome of inefficiency and disorganization. With technology why can’t people apply for a new card or a change of voting venue online? How can INEC ask thousands of people to go to the local government head quarters if you really intend to give them their PVC’s? Made worse, citizens get there to meet an ill-equipped bunch of jokers blowing loud trumpets that sing songs celebrating total disorganization. For those who tried to collect their PVC’s and were frustrated by the system we can categorically say that INEC has technically disenfranchised them. Can we ask

INEC why we must have a deadline for collection of PVC’s? Why can’t voters go to the polling unit on election day and have a separate queue for collection of PVC’s and proceed to vote immediately? I would assume that as soon as you printed a PVC for a voter their names are therefore on the register? It is so bizarre that each time INEC extends a deadline we praise them as though collecting our PVC’s is a privilege and not a right. It is also misleading for INEC to refer to all the PVC still in their possession as ‘’uncollected’’ because for many frustrated by the inefficient system their PVC’s are ‘’undelivered’’ and not uncollected.

I urge INEC to extend the collection dates for PVC’s until at least a day before the elections. Every Nigerian has a right to vote and nothing should be spared to ensure that citizens are given the opportunity to exercise that right. And for those who have their PVC’s I urge you to ignore the inefficiencies and go out there to vote.

Abraham Lincoln said:‘’Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision.

If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters”.

Go out and vote!

Ayuli Jemide is Founder and Lead Partner of Detail Commercial Solicitors. An entrepreneur, public speaker and writer.

Email: AJ@ayulijemide.org Twitter: @JemideAyuli

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