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news you can trust I **FRIDAY 15 JUNE 2018 I vol. 15, no 76 I N300

Sell

$-N 360.00 362.00 £-N 479.00 489.00 €-N 416.00 426.00

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FMDQ Close Foreign Exchange Market

Spot $/N

I&E FX Window 361.07 CBN Official Rate 305.85

3M 0.00 11.20

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5 Years

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Mandatory insurance seen resolving healthcare challenge CALEB OJEWALE, ANTHONIA OBOKOH, MICHAEL ANI, OLUWATOSIN DOKUNMU, & ABDULLATEEF ENIOLA-GIWA

T

he immediate past governor of Ondo state, Olusegun Mimiko has officially joined the Labour Party from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), describ-

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Continues on page 33

As World Cup kicks off, suspended betting firms remain in business

Continues on page 4

Inside

Jonathan Aderoju, David Ibidapo, Emeka Ucheaga, Abimbola Hassan

R-L: Godwin Obaseki, governor, Edo State; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; His Royal Highness, Osayande Aigbe, Enogie of Ukhiri, and Isoken Omo, executive chairman, Edo Development and Property Agency (EDPA), during the groundbreaking ceremony of the 1800 housing-unit Emotan Gardens project in IkpobaOkha Local Government Area, Edo State, yesterday.

Consumers shun Nigerian rice on high cost, taste preference Josephine Okojie

...fuelling smuggling

ot only do Nigerians prefer imported rice varieties to local rice, they balk at the price of the grain in domestic markets,

BusinessDay investigations found.

Consumers who spoke with BusinessDay attributed the low patronage of Nigeria’s rice to individuals’ unwillingness to change

N

Mimiko returns to Labour Party, despite opposition Iniobong Iwok, Lagos & YOMI AYELESO, Akure

as state governments lead reforms

private sector driven investment climate and mandatory health insurance appears to be the solution to Nigeria’s debilitating health sector as government shows itself incapable of providing an environment for quality healthcare delivery in the country.

Currently, a little over eight million Nigerians are covered

Osinbajo commends private sector-led economic expansion in Edo P. 34

fgn bonds

Treasury Bills

taste preference, high cost of the local varieties and the inability to easily find them in nearby markets. “I am a caterer and I buy only imported rice varieties because

the local rice is more expensive and have shorter grains. The imported rice varieties are less

Continues on page 33

A

total of 14 betting firms currently suspended by the Lagos State Lottery Board (LSLB) have remained in business despite the suspension, BusinessDay investigations have shown. The list of the suspended betting firm can be Continues on page 33

World Cup Result Russia -5 v Saudi Arabia -0

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Friday 15 June 2018

Occupational safety should not be ignored DESMOND OKON

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xperts have said that the lack of implementation and enforcement of safety policies and regulations poses a threat to Occupational Safety and Health, OSH, practices in Nigeria. They also called on the government and stakeholders to enforce these laws in other to stall occupational hazards.

This was made known at the Lagos Safety Summit, held, at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, 7th June, 2018. Discussing the topic ‘Taking ownership and developing tactics to improve compliance’, the conference dealt with sacrosanct issues such as chemical and biological hazards, control of communicable respirator y diseases at work places and other topical matters affecting safety and health at workplaces across all sectors.

Statistically, the International Labour Organisation, ILO, estimates that 2.3 million women and men around the world succumb to work-related accidents or diseases every year; this corresponds to over 6000 deaths every single day.

Worldwide, there are around 340 million occupational accidents and 160 million victims of work-related illnesses annually.

Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest number of deaths, said the Third Vice President, Nige-

O

n May 9, 2011 my work day started out as most days with a meeting at a local coffee shop with a few co-workers then the drive to my first doctor ’s office.

Having been a medical sales representative for almost 13 years in Central Virginia I was accustom to long hours of driving on curvy two lanes roads to travel from town to town and conduct sales calls with physicians. On this day I was headed north on Route 20 to the little town of Orange, VA. It was a beautiful spring day and I was still reeling from spending a wonderful Mother’s Day the day before with my husband, Chris and son, Beck.

I remember looking down at my speedometer and I was going the posted speed limit of 55 mph and then at my clock which indicated it was around 10:43 am. Next I noticed the sign that said I was 1 mile away from Montpelier, James Madison’s Home, and 6 from Orange. It all happened so fast. Within the next 3 seconds I saw a car driving southbound roll off the side of the road. My first thought was he is going to over compensate and come back and hit me. I looked to the right, but there was not shoulder. I looked to the left and remember saying “no” right before he hit me head on.

As I took the impact I remem-

rian Institute of Architect, Mobolaji Adeniji.

“This calls for very serious attention. This is something that need to make us go beyond just coming to talk about it. We have the beautiful laws, but we need to go beyond it.”

She adds.

Adeniji, while presenting her lecture: ‘Safe Design: Designing with safety in mind’, also said that the laws were not the problem because they were already in place, rather implementation of the policies had been neglected.

“It’s not that it’s not in place. It is implementation that we need to make sure there is enforcement.

Unfortunately, the impact of enforcement of policies is ineffective as the key stakeholders pay less attention to OSH regulations thus rendering the scheme dysfunctional, and at the same time impeding OSH development. For instance, how many inspectors do we have really ensuring that these laws are actually being effected?”

Speaking to newsmen from her architectural background, she said: “What we’ve discussed today was that officials in companies, governments as well as stakeholder need to ensure the safety of their workers. And even beyond this, what about the unorganized workplaces like the market place?

How is the government ensuring safety in that place? We see many times open drains, we see many times people doing street trading.

Do you know this very hazardous?

I’ve seen in many instances where people who are doing street trading were run over by trucks. I’ve seen cases where people who are trading under high tension wires and they collapse and they die. I’ve seen places where, because of the use of poor materials in public places, people slip and fall.

“So many things are happening out there and the government needs to take notice. We have the laws, but are we enforcing it? Who have we employed to enforce it? The regulatory bodies of our professional institute also need to work with members to ensure that we have people monitoring, particularly sites. Are the right materials being used? Every site for instance is supposed to have a board showing who the architect is, who the engineers are –this is a monitoring system to ensure that the right professionals are in place, but how many project sites in Nigeria are complying?

“So we need to all come together to see safety as a responsibility of all. If you see something is not done safely, report it promptly. The authorities need to keep their eyes

I Survived ber preparing to die and not being afraid. Then the crash was over and I opened my eyes and saw white. At that moment I really thought I’m dead. Then the air bag deflated and was I sitting in the middle of the mangled wreckage of my once 2011 Chevy Malibu with the dashboard in my lap. My legs had been crushed.

I knew immediately it was bad. I looked down at my legs and saw my patellar tendon hanging out so I stopped. A woman who witnesses the whole thing ran up to my car to check on me. I told her I was alive but to call the helicopter to come take me to

UVA Medical Center. I knew I needed to get there as soon as possible because that is the place that saves lives when they have to cut you out of a car. I tried to get out of the car but my door was crushed in and would not open. I was shaking all over from head to two. Then I remember the smell. The smell that I’ve never smelt before but it was probably a combination of electrical, car fluids and who know what else. I panicked because I thought the car was on fire. I’d survived this crash and I was not going to die burning up in the wreckage. I tried to bust the door window out with my fist but that did

open. We must enforce the laws that we propagate”.

Chinyere Emeka-Anuna, Senior, Programme Officer, International Labour Oragnisation, ILO, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra-Leone, said that government could enforce OSH regulations by having OSH committees both at the enterprise, sectorial, and national levels. For her, having these regulations was not enough, rather, absolute enforcement was key to ebbing and eradicating work-related hazards.

“You need to also ensure they are implemented to the latter. Also you can have OSH policies both at the national, sectorial and enterprise level. One of the things you can do is having OSH committees in place, both at the enterprise level and the sectorial level, and then like I said, at the national level. At the national level you are supposed to have a national tripartite body made up of the government, the employers, and the workers, discussing and also monitoring the implementation of OSH regulations, policies and laws.” She asserted.

The Occupational Safety and Health Inspector, Federal Minis-

try of Labour and Employment, Olajumoke Joseph, revealed that communicable respiratory tract diseases was a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among employees; and it was very important to prevent and control these diseases in order to achieve zero accidents and diseases at workplaces.

While speaking to Women’s Hub, she said that the role of the employer in curbing the spread of these diseases was to “organize an educative programme involving consultants that have the technical knowledge, who understand how to control communicable respiratory tract diseases, to educate everyone at the office both the management, the employer and the employees on what communicable respiratory tract diseases are.”

“The next stage is structural development like installation of washbasins, hand sanitizers dispensers at strategic places in the work premises.” She said.

She also noted that it is the responsibility of the workers to abide by the safety and health regulations made by the employer through the help of experts.

screaming at his car obscenities. She then told me he was dead. I calmed down and a lady still in her nightgown came out of her home and lay down next to me in the road and comforted me. I told her to cover up my legs so no one would see them.

I remember just telling everyone to get the helicopter and get me to UVA. The lady who was first on the scene came over and I asked her to call my husband.

She called my husband, Chris and put him on speaker. I remember telling him “I’m okay, just go to UVA”.

Next, the ambulance arrives and the EMT’s start to work on me. They wrapped my legs and put me on a stretcher. I was screaming and yelling for help. not work. Two men come up I spent 11 days in the UVA to my car. I told them to bust Medical Center. During that time the window and pull me out. I was put under 3 times for surOne ran for something from geries to start the slow arduous his car and he smashed the process of rebuilding my legs. window in and was able to I was discharged to UVA Health unbuckle my seat belt and South for Rehabilitation for two they pulled me out. The men weeks. Once there I started to carried me and I told them process what had happened to don’t let my legs touch the me. I could not even imagine ground, they are crushed. I what life would be like moving also apologized for weighing forward. I just focused on getso much. ting by one day at a time. My son They laid me behind my was graduating from high school car on the side of the road. the first week of June and I was Sometime during all of this determined to go. I asked my the lady who was first on the therapist what I need to do to get scene came over and told me out of here. They set goals for the driver of the other car had me; I quickly met them and was open beer in his car. That’s able to be discharged before my when I got man and started son graduated.

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Mandatory insurance seen resolving healthcare...

Continued from page 1

by any form of health insurance, representing less than five percent of the country’s over 190 million population.

However, majority of Nigerians cannot afford the out of pocket payments at hospitals, making it imperative that the entire country, or at least a substantial part is covered.

BusinessDay findings have shown that the National Health Insurance Scheme has since 2014, barely captured 4 million Nigerians (working in the civil service), with private sector insurers having about 4.5 million enrolees.

Industry sources however opine that, when health insurance is made compulsory, market driven, and properly regulated, the resulting competitiveness will be the making of a new health sector in Nigeria.

“The idea of universal health coverage was initiated by the Obasanjo administration. This of course led to the creation of National Health Insurance Scheme NHIS. The aim is to ensure that all Nigerians irrespective of gender, social standing or income are given the opportunity to access care with ease whenever the need arises.

“It is a shame that (since then) the population of Nigerians that have signed on in terms of percentile are not up to 10 percent. Even five percent I suppose, but this is 2018 for God’s sake,” a rather disappointed Ogbonnaya Igbokwe, CEO, Heartwells Group, told BusinessDay. Francis Faduyile, president, Nigerian Medical Association, also reiterated that “Today, enrolees are so few. But if we can open up and get more enrolees, I am sure that the national health insurance will help in achieving the Universal Health Coverage.”

Currently, Nigeria is ranked 187 out of 191 countries, and Faduyile explained that for the country to improve there is a need to encourage more private sector driven operators, “in such a way that once the sector is properly deregulated, private institutions can have their own enrolees, whom they can cater to. And with these if we have the federal government, state government and the private sector coming into health insurance, it will help in achieving the universal health coverage.”

Tope Adeniyi, CEO, AXA Mansard Health Limited, also told BusinessDay in an exclusive interview that, with competitiveness, and compulsory health insurance, more health insurers and particularly medical centres will be striving to offer the public the possible best in terms of facilities and infrastructure.

“The health insurance system itself is not mandatory, but still optional. Some employers can do without health insurance for their staff and family members, even individuals do not possess health insurance.

“However, it is just reasonable that health insurance is

in fact a priority list in terms of being mandatory by all employers of five and above just like we do in pension. Just like we do in other critical areas of people’s welfare, health should come on top. So by law, it should become mandatory so as to make sure that people understand that this is very important,” said Adeniyi.

Some state governments however appear to be taking the lead to reform the health sector by making health insurance mandatory.

A document exclusively made available to BusinessDay, indicated that 15 states are in the process of implementing their legislation on compulsory health insurance.

They include; Lagos, Cross Rivers, Kwara, Delta, Oyo, Abia, Anambra, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Kano, Ogun, Sokoto, and Kaduna. In two places; Bayelsa, and Abuja, FCT, they are currently implementing Health Schemes, however legislation to transition to SSHIA is in progress.

Other states with “on-going plans” to make health insurance compulsory are Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, and Enugu.

Those with “Legislation in Progress” are; Benue, Borno, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Nassarawa, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.

In the case of Lagos, whose plans appear to have been widely circulated, Igbokwe described it “as quite commendable, and a step in the right direction. However, a lot of work still needs to be done.

“The scope of coverage and the capitation costs must be looked at very closely if the objective must be realized,” he said.

Many experts also emphasised the need for a truly competitive health insurance sector, in order for the public to get the best services. One source who pleaded anonymity said, “Very soon, PENCOM will open the window for people to choose (their preferred PFA). So you can choose your administrator at any point in time. In the same vein you must be able to choose your HMO. “This will invariably make the HMOs to step up their game. So in the instance of complaints such as HMOs not paying hospital, by the time the enrolees move the next month or next three months, what will happen? It is either they swim (by getting competitive) or sink (by remaining complacent).

You either drown or you swim back to life. It is the view of industry sources that it is very easy to improve the quality of service delivery by HMOs by simply “giving power to the users”. Until this liberalisation of the sector is done, the country may continue to struggle with under-performing HMOs. In the same vein, when hospitals are aware they can be easily dropped by users on account of poor services, they will also have to either innovate to survive, or get run over by the competition.

L-R: Ogenevwoke Ighure, executive director, digital services, BusinessDay; Uzoamaka Uzosike, director of accounting, Andela; Frank Aigbogun, publisher/CEO, BusinessDay; Seni Sulyman, vice president, operation, Andela, and Anthony Osae-Brown, editor, BusinessDay, during a courtesy visit by BusinessDay Pic by Olawale Amoo management team to Andela office in Lagos, yesterday.

FG’s properties abandoned in Lagos amid mounting housing deficit

…Lagos says interested in acquiring them

CHUKA UROKO & JOSHUA BASSEY

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mid mounting housing and infrastructure deficit in Nigeria, a number of Federal Government’s abandoned properties have continued to rot away in Lagos several years after the federal capital was moved from Lagos, the country’s commercial capital, to Abuja.

These properties which include the old Federal Secretariat, Ikoyi, old National Assembly Complex at Tafawa Balewa Square, Independence Building that housed the Defence Ministry and former Federal Ministry of Commerce, at Tinubu Square have been left un-utilised since the seat of power was moved to Abuja by the former military president, Ibrahim Babangida.

Housing industry professionals and sundry stakeholders are worried that these properties are allowed to rot away in a country with an estimated 17 million housing deficit and in Lagos where housing deficit is both qualitative and quantitative and estimated at 3 million units.

The professionals posit that it would be an advantage to Nigerians if the custodians of these properties, particularly the old federal secretariat, valued at N40 billion a couple of years ago, look inwards and proffer creative ways the buildings could be transformed for commercial or residential purposes.

“These properties can be transformed into mixed use developments or work, live and play facilities. They can also be used as a co-work space, multi-studio apartments. Alternatively, they, the old federal secretariat especially, can be used as retail facility in order to reduce the 2.7 million space deficit across the nation,” Udo Okonjo, Fine and Country West Africa CEO, suggested in an interview.

But officials of Lagos State government confirmed on Thursday that discussions were ongoing with Abuja to have the properties either sold or ceded to Lagos on the grounds of being the original

owner of the lands, particularly the Federal Secretariat, Ikoyi.

Backing Lagos’ position is Femi Okunnu, a former federal commissioner of works in the first republic, under whose tenure most of the lands were acquired by the Federal Government.

Also sharing this view is Babatunde Ruwase, president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), who has described the abandonment of these properties as ‘economic waste’.

An official of the Lagos Lands Bureau who spoke with BusinessDay on Thursday, said “the state government is very interested in having these properties, especially the federal secretariat in Ikoyi. I can tell you that discussions are ongoing at the highest level between Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and Abuja,” said the official who craved anonymity.

But there is a challenge here.

The old federal secretariat was part of the Federal Government’s properties in Lagos offloaded into the property market between 2003 and 2006 by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in the country.

Wale Babalakin’s Resort International Limited which acquired the property had the intention of redeveloping it into residential properties but the redevelopment effort which would have provided homes for a good number of families was stalled by the Lagos State government.

The state government demanded that Resort International must obtain a fresh Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) irrespective of documents issued by the Federal Government on the property. The company was also required to apply for the consent of the Lagos governor on the property; apply for a change of use as well as a development permit from the state government.

The state government’s insistence on having these requirements met and the company’s decision for legal interpretation have left the facility in its present state, even after an Arbitration Tribunal awarded N88 billion against

the federal government for the damages the company suffered as a result of the breach of a clause in the Development Lease Agreement (DLA) which they entered into with the Federal Government in 2006, granting them 99 years’ lease to redevelop the secretariat complex into luxury apartments.

But Okunnu insists that apart from the abandoned properties, other un-utilised lands acquired from Lagos by the Federal Government should revert back to the state.

Okunnu who chaired a special committee set up by the Ambodeled administration on Federal Government Assets in Lagos, said the whole of Ikoyi, Banana Island, Osborne Foreshore, Festac Town, Satellite Town, Trade Fair, among others belonged to Lagos State, and title of the lands were vested in the governor of the state, stressing that it was time the federal authorities handed over the titles to these properties to Lagos State.

“Federal Secretariat gives me sadness because I built it when I was the federal commissioner for works. The land upon which the secretariat is situated is part of the Crown land now State land. It is not only the quarters but the land on which many of these buildings in the areas are situated,” said Okunnu.

Similarly, Ruwase, president of LCCI said the abandoned assets could be put into use and made to add value to the nation’s economy.

“The Federal Government should either return the property to the Lagos State which is the original owner of the land or give them out on lease to the private sector.”

He noted that aside the economic waste, many of the buildings served as hideouts for hoodlums, criminals and posed security risk to residents.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government in 2017 handed over the Presidential Lodge, Marina, Lagos, and the Muritala Muhammed International Airport Road, to Lagos State Government, on the request of the state government.

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Shrinking market suffocating Nigeria’s cotton production JOSEPHINE OKOJIE

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igeria’s cotton industry is fast sliding into extinction on account of a shrinking local market and low seeds available to farmers, despite incentives of an alluring $3 trillion global industry.

Many of Nigeria’s cotton farmers have consequently shifted to growing other crops.

Stakeholders have attributed the decline in cotton production to low quality key inputs such as seeds, inadequate finance for farmers and death of the country’s textile industry.

Nigeria’s cotton production is put at 51,000 metric tons on 253,000 hectares, with average yield of 202kg per hectare, while global cotton consumption is put at 24 million metric tons, according to International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) 2016 data.

Cotton, which used to be one of Nigeria’s major cash crops in the 70s, was not even among the top 15 agricultural commodities exported in 2017 full year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show.

“A lot of farmers are no longer growing cotton because of low patronage and lack of inputs. The inputs we get from the govern-

ment usually come ver y late. When you delay in planting cotton, it affects the productivity,” Abubakar Shiyaki, a cotton farmer in Niger State, said.

“When we buy our seeds ourselves, we only buy low quality seeds. As a result of all these challenges, a lot of farmers growing cotton are now growing other crops because they cannot break-even with cotton,” Shiyaki said.

The Federal Government in the 2017 proposed budget set aside N51 billion to promote the development of the country’s garment and textile industry.

Data from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment shows that between 1980 and 2016, about 145 companies operating in the textile sector had shut down, due to policy somersaults, poor research and development (R&D), lack of competition in the supply of cotton (raw materials), smuggling and poor power supply, among others.

Salmanu Abdullahi, chairman, Ginners Association of Nigeria, said “the total collapse of cotton production was as a result of government neglect of agriculture. We however believe that things would be different now that there is renewed commitment to the sector.

Air ticket sales in Nigeria up by N82.7bn in 2017 - NCAA … administers 90 sanctions from 2014 till date IFEOMA OKEKE

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irlines operating in Nigeria in 2017 sold tickets in the value of N505,170,290,201.40, which represents an increase of N82,763,686,301.09, from N411,564,564,692.80 value of tickets sold in 2016.

The authority explained that in year 2017, domestic airlines sold tickets worth N93,605,725,508.60, while international airlines sold N411,564,564,692.80 worth of tickets.

In 2016, domestic airlines realised N79,482,958,601.60 from ticket sales, while international airlines realised N342,923,645,298.71 from ticket sales.

This is as the regulator disclosed that no fewer t ha n 9 0 sa n c t i o n s have been applied from October 2014 to December 2017, affecting airlines, Aircraft Maintenance Organisations (AMO), cockpit and cabin crew as well as engineers by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), stressing it would not go back on regulation.

Usman Mukhar, NCAA director-general, made this known in Aviation Round Table (ART) Q2 2018 Quarterly Business Breakfast Meeting with theme Evaluation of Safety and Security Performance of Aviation

Agencies in the last four years.

Mukhar, who was represented by Adamu Abdullahi, director of consumer protection, said the 90 sanctions applied included 15 pilots, five cabin crew, engineers, a private security firm, four Aircraft Maintenance Organisations (AMO) and five airlines.

According to Abdullahi, however, sanctioning is not an achievement but a deterrent made to ensure that violators do not repeat violations.

Speaking on some of the NCAA’s Key Performance Indexes (KPI), Abdullahi stated that the NCAA in the past four years had had steady improvements in certain areas, especially as regards professional advancement.

He stated that for the t h i rd y e a r r u n n i n g t h e country’s aviation industry had recorded zero accidents, and this was due to airlines adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs), brought about by well-trained safety instructors.

Other KPIs used to show advancements is that between January to December 2017 licensed pilots has increased by 130 from 2016 as the number is now 2,356 from 2,226.

L-R: Erin Renzas, head of marketing, Branch; Matt Flannery, CEO/co-founder, and Maria K. Rotilu, country manager, Nigeria, at the Branch stakeholder meeting in Lagos, yesterday.

World Cup spending may lift GDP of manufacturing, entertainment sectors HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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pending associated with the World Cup, which kicked off on Thursday in Russia, is expected to boost Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), especially in manufacturing and entertainment sectors of the economy.

Meanwhile, the 2018 new Super Eagles jersey kit was sold out completely at Nike at the rate of N41,000, higher than the nation’s minimum wage of N18,000.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had, last year, said its total budget for 2018 activities was N6.4 billion. Marketing and promotions around the World Cup are expected to double this year compared to total spend in 2014, when Nigeria did not qualify for the tournament hosted by Brazil. Taiwo Oyedele, head, Tax and Regulatory Services, PWC, says the world Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world commanding billions of dollars in spending across the world.

Nigerians love football, not just for entertainment but also as a matter of national pride and sense of unity.

“These feel good factors mean that more money will be spent on merchandise, entertainment and related services.

We’ve already seen the frenzy surrounding the Super Eagles’ jersey which sold out in just a few days,” Oyedele says in an interview with BusinessDay. Overall, he says the World Cup spending will boost the GDP of the manufacturing sector like brewing and entertainment sector, among others.

On the downside, he notes that although the recent increase in excise duties on sin products may taper the effect.

In June 2014 FIFA World Cup, Nigeria’s real GDP grew by 6.23 percent (year-on-year) in the third quarter of 2014, higher by 1.06 percentage points from rates recorded in the third quarter of 2013, and lower by 0.31 percentage points from the second quarter of 2014.

Relative to the second quarter of 2014, the economy grew by 8.67 percent in the third quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In the third quarter of 2014, the human health and social services sector grew by 24.25

percent (year-on-year) in nominal terms. This was by 6.20 percentage points higher from the corresponding quarter of 2013 and 17.13 percentage points higher from the second quarter of 2014. Quarter-on-quarter, the sector grew by 1.08 percent. The contribution of Human Health and Social Services to nominal GDP was 0.68 percent. The third quarter of 2014 was up by 0.07 percentage points from the third quarter of 2013 and 0.71 from the second quarter of 2014.

“Looking at the structure of the GDP, the World Cup hosted

by Russia may not necessarily be large enough to influence GDP,” Ayodeji Ebo, managing director, Afrinvest Securities Limited, said.

Ebo said the impact of the world cup on consumer spending would be in terms of spending on TV Subscription, Jersey Purchases, and Flight Travels. It doesn’t have significant weighting on the GDP as such, not substantial enough to influence GDP figures in Q2:2018, which ends in two weeks. The country to feel the major impact of such a major tournament would be the host nation, so when Nigeria hosts one, we could feel the impact.

500 individuals, 20 companies comply with VAIDS in Kwara - CTLO SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

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eader of the Community Tax Liaison Officers (CTLOs), Paul Ajiroba, had disclosed that about 500 individuals and 20 companies have complied with the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) in Kwara State.

A CTLO is a young Nigerian graduate who has been trained by federal agency and deployed to various communities to raise awareness and educate citizens at all levels on the tax system in Nigeria.

Ajiroba, who spoke with journalists in Ilorin the state capital on Thursday, said: “When we started campaigning and sensitising the public about the importance of keying in by declaring their assets, but the people were reluctant in Kwara State.

“We let them realised that declaring their assets will enhance revenue generation through taxes collection by federal, state and local governments in return use it for infrastructural development. With this conviction people began to embrace the scheme.

“Going by our statistics, about 20 companies and no less than 500 individuals have keyed into the programme in Kwara State. More people are willing to declare their assets if there is opportunity, he said.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government has extended the deadline for the VAIDS to June 30, 2018.

The Scheme provides a platform for non-compliant taxpayers to make honest declarations to the tax authorities and pay the required taxes in exchange for a waiver

of accruing interests and penalties.

The CTLO leader however, called on other tiers of government to support President Buhari-led administration by providing basic amenities so that the people can feel the dividends of their tax, just as he urged the federal government to change the tax system whereby the rich will pay more and poor people pay less in the country.

On their sensitisation programme he noted that apart from covering Ilorin metropolis some of their colleagues have been deployed to Kwara north and Kwara south senatorial districts to reach people at the grassroots.

“The Penetration of the scheme to these people have started yielding positive result with the level of their compliance.

Edo decries vandalism, defacement of infrastructure, orders removal of substandard, unauthorised projects

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do State governor, Godwin Obaseki, has decried the defacement and destruction of the state government’s infrastructural projects across the state, and has ordered the immediate removal of substandard and unauthorised road furniture and similar projects, on roads and other projects across the state.

Obaseki gave the order after the state’s weekly Executive Council meeting, in Government House, Benin City.

“It is not right to destroy roads, vandalise drainage system without government approval and erect substandard electricity poles that are either abandoned mid-way or lack sustainable maintenance plan and pose safety risk,” he said.

“The state is littered with substandard projects that disrupt the infrastructure master plan and violate laid down rules for such projects.

“The chaotic and indiscriminate execution of substandard and unapproved projects, which are not known to state government agencies and other tiers of government, is unacceptable. This ugly trend must stop,” the governor said.

He explained, “The decision became necessary in order to streamline project execution across the state and eliminate the chaotic situation we are currently having.

“We have a template for the wide array of developmental projects which are being implemented in every ward in the state and anyone who is executing any project in any part of the state should seek approval from the relevant government agencies.”

He noted that several projects have been lined up for different parts of the state by his administration, and said that checks with the agencies of government would avail anyone embarking on a project, the insight into the plans of the state government for such areas, and the necessary approvals given.

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Insurers brace up for risk management ahead of regulator push MODESTUS ANAESORONYE

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nsurance companies are gradually instituting risks management mechanisms that will enable them fall in line with regulatory expectations for effective control and monitoring of the risks they carry.

This is coming ahead of enforcement expected in the Risk Based Supervision (RBS) policy that will soon redefine insurance business in Nigeria.

RBS, a new insurance policy aimed to protect stakeholders’ interest and guard against unprecedented failure of organisations, either as a result of negligence or ignorance, will focus on firms with huge risk profile, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) says.

According to the Commission, the policy will concentrate on companies that have highlevel risks that could undermine the interest of shareholders and policyholders, particularly as it affects capital against the liability they carry.

RBS is a structural supervisory approach that is aimed at identifying the most critical risks that face each company and through a focused review by the supervisor assesses the company’s management of those risks and company’s financial vulnerability to poten-

tial adverse experience.

Therefore, being more sensitive to the risks incurred enables supervisors to protect policyholders’ interests as effectively as possible and in accordance with common principles, experts say.

Bareneka Thompson, director, NAICOM, in a presentation on Transition to Risks Based Supervision had said, “RBS requires supervisors to review the manner in which insurers are identifying, measuring and controlling their risks and to assess system of risk response of a firm with the supervisor’s own processes and interventions in line with the assessment.”

According to Thompson, it also involves assessing whether an insurer’s governance, risk management and internal controls are adequate, and whether the solvency and liquidity of the insurer are sufficient to withstand unexpected shocks.

“The central tenet of RBS is the relationship between risk and capital - the higher the risk profile of the insurer, the higher the capital it must hold,” Bareneka further stated that the benefits of RBS to policyholders, the financial soundness of operators and general stability of the economic system is enormous.

According to analysts, this

development will also result in emergence of specialised insurance companies, where some firms by virtue of their level of capital could decide to do only motor business, fire & burglary or any other aspect of the business.

At the moment, insurance Companies doing general business have as statutory capital N3 billion while life companies have N2 billion, whereas Composite firms, that is those doing both general and life have statutory capital of N5 billion. Reinsurance companies in the other hand have statutory capital base of N10 billion.

The plan for RBS in the Nigerian market actually began in July 2012, when NAICOM introduced Risk Management Framework Guidelines for identifying, measuring, monitoring and limiting the risk involved in the business for insurance and reinsurance companies.

The guidelines also laid down the processes for reviewing risk, identifying and prioritizing risk, and corporate governance issues, among others. The guidelines is primed to facilitate risk based approach and regime in the industry to ensure performance and effectiveness in its Risk Based Supervision and Risk Based Capital Approach.

NEITI opens information accessibility to public with data dashboard launch for oil, gas, solid mineral HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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he Nigeria Extractive Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has launched data dashboard to ensure information accessibility focusing on Nigeria’s Oil and Gas and solid mineral, while also making understanding of released reports easier for the readership of the public.

NEITI revealed that the dashboard data made available information disclosure in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas sector, as well as the solid mineral sector from 1999-2015.

In the information portal, NEITI noted that there was a dedicated page in a spreadsheet that makes available issues on

pricing, how much was sold, how much royalty was paid, and oil mineral resources pricing per time.

NEITI at the launch on Thursday in Abuja said the initiative is coming on the heels of its commitment to open data policy that it was signatory to and to ensure accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources, which accounts for about 90% of Nigeria’s revenue resources.

Waziri Adio, executive secretary of NEITI, said the data dashboard launch was supported by Mac Arthur Foundation, who had assisted in simplifying data information, and a newly improved website design to encourage easier readership.

According to Waziri, “The

dashboard launch covers a period of 1999 to 2015 reports of the Oil and Gas sector and the solid minerals sector. All the information regarding the sectors, such as how much oil Nigeria produced, how much price they were sold? how much was for domestic allocation?

Who gets royalty pay by the government and how much is it we made from exports.

“Whatever you are looking for from 1999-2015,you go to a dedicated page, and all the information you are looking for is outlay ed there in a spread sheet, and the same thing for the solid mineral sector. NEITI officials were also trained on Freedom of Information Act requests in the course of their training.”

EMEA Finance bestows on AFC president, CIO 2017 Champion of Finance Award

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hampion of finance awards bestowed on Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and its leadership.

These awards are given to those individuals whose lifetime contributions to finance and the EMEA region have demonstrated excellence and provided an impactful result for shareholders and clients alike.

Additionally, the Corporation received recognition in EMEA Finances Achievement Awards 2017 for success in accessing international capital markets. The Corporation won the following accolades: Best Supranational Bond, Best

Supranational Sukuk, and Best Supranational Borrower.

Andrew Alli, who has served as Africa Finance Corporations President and CEO since 2008, was awarded the Champion of Finance Award for his outstanding achievement in, and lifetime contribution to, the field of Finance, and for relentless contributions to the sustainable development of Africas infrastructure.

This is demonstrated through projects that have transformed the continent, particularly in countries that traditional investors have typically shied away from.

Andrew has previously worked for organisations International Finance Corporation, Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), that have reflected and built on his driving passions: To use financial innovation and expertise to develop Africa and to unlock the continents vast and unrealised potential, and to build African financial institutions that can effectively deliver that focused investment.

He has concentrated on delivering this during his term leading Africa Finance Corporation.

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BUSINESS DAY Online

Highlight of the news reports on our digital platforms this week

Best five stories this week Toyin Sanni, CEO of United Capital bows out The group CEO of United Capital Oluwatoyin Sanni is to leave her job after a glowing career to pursue another passion according to sources.

Brain drain 2.0: Nigeria’s best doctors are leaving

Airport (MMIA) Jayne Shoboiki is causing untold hardship and chaos for Nigerians who have found it difficult to clear their goods, some of which are lifesaving drugs from the airport warehouses since the past three weeks.

The numbers that tell how bad Nigeria’s healthcare system is 187 out of 190, is how low the World

Health Organisation ranks Nigeria’s healthcare system in the World Health Report 2000 – Health systems: Improving performance” published in February 2017.

Specta breaks online lending record with N2bn in four months Just four months after its market entry, Specta, the revolutionary lending platform powered by Sterling Bank, has advanced consumer loans worth N2 billion to salaried workers who are members of the lending platform’s pre-approved community.

Less than 24 hours after BusinessDay reported the number of Nigerian trained medical doctors working in the UK, the number increased by one when BusinessDay checked again yesterday bringing Nigerian doctors practicing in the country to 5,340, according to data from the UK General Medical Council website.

For more visit our website at businessdayonline.com to catch up on full news stories

POLL RESULTS: The Poll question: As a Nigerian citizen, do you have to leave the country in order to make it?

The result of the poll carried out during the week on social media shows that 69% of the voters believe that you don’t have to leave Nigeria to ‘make it’ while 31% of Nigerians believe that you must leave Nigeria to succeed or ‘make it’.

Write us with your opinion at digital@ businessdayonline.com to let us know what your preference is.

Poll of the week

New Customs area comptroller causes chaos at Lagos airport The new Customs Area Comptroller, of Murtala Muhammed International

Cartoon of the week

Video of the week

Tweet of the week

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The key attribute of a performing organization WITH

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ften times, when I ask people in organizations to list their attributes or what classify them as a high performing organization, the list is always long. Organizations on their own also invest in so many things or areas they think will make them high performing at least by their own assessment. However, one key attribute – that is critical to innovation, transformation, growth, new discoveries and new ways of doing things has been kept off the radar all these years. And that is “creating a culture of questioning”. Is the culture of questioning part of your organization’s attributes?

In this era of complexities and competitiveness, a major advantage organizations will have over others is the ability of their employees (regardless of unit or department) to ask smart or thought provoking questions. Every transformation, innovation or initiative stem from understanding or knowing the right questions to ask. Conversely,

NNANNA NWAFO Nwafo, a public affairs commentator, sent in this piece from Abuja.

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‘UJU ONWUZULIKE

Uju Onwuzulike is Nigeria’s leading authority on Systems Thinking and Strategic Management. He was a Steve Haines trained strategy and systems thinking expert and a former global partner of Haines Centre for Strategic Management, California, USA. He is the founder and Chief Results Officer of MCL – a strategy and outstanding performance specialist firm. He can be reached on 09091142093 or uju.onwuzulike@mclgroup.net.

n 2009, only 35 percent of India’s population had a bank account. By 2017, the government had successfully led a process that increased that to 80 percent. This is similar to where Nigeria is today, with a 40 percent inclusion rate and a target to achieve 80 percent by 2020. But Nigeria must deliver results in a much shorter timeframe if it is to remain on track to achieve the goals of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy.

Providing financial access to all is a challenge that many countries around the world continue to face.

Recognised widely as a critical contributor to both social and economic development, the ability for the poorest people to access financial services is a complicated challenge that has been addressed differently in many countries.

The challenge in Nigeria is to build a solution that addresses its own unique challenges. To find a model that will build out access for the most vulnerable citizens, and so enable a channel for the efficient payment of social benefits, while also offering a commercial model that will incentivise private sector investment. The urgent need to align behind a new Nigerian model was starkly portrayed by the World Bank’s Global Findex

most failures in organizations have occurred because someone was unwilling to ask questions about things going wrong, things he/she does not understand, things that show great concern (and if not resolved can cause serious problems). Yes, it is true that thought is what precedes change, but what is more important is to know that all thinking is stimulated by questions.

Does your organization have a corporate culture of questioning as opposed to depending only on answers? Frankly and sometimes, it appears better and more respectful to always provide answers to customers, managers and even business owners. This also explains why salespeople are quick to provide impressive answers too often and eventually do not win the business. The business landscape of today requires people who will not just provide answers, but know how to ask smart questions (and problem revealing questions). Little wonder Robert Focazio, (former National Vice President of Sales,

Leaders and managers have a key role to play in creating a corporate culture of questioning.

They are to create a questioning business environment where staff members will feel safe and able to trust the system and the people involved AT & T) once said, “If you improve your questions by 10%, you increase your sales and productivity by 20%... and that’s being conservative. I understand, the urge to appear smart always drives us to seem to be providing answers where we ought to ask questions (or even listen) in order to be on the same page with our managers and customers alike. The former CEO of Google (Eric Schmidt) knew the importance of having a corporate culture of questioning when he said: “We run the company by questions, not by answers”. My personal understanding of this is that great companies can only be built by asking

questions that have not been asked before as opposed to providing answers that have already existed.

But someone might say, making our organization to have a culture of questioning is something we can just introduce in our organization and that does not require serious effort or investment. I think any organization that thinks in that manner has missed it, because asking smart question and asking it in the right way (to yield result) is an art that should be learnt by organizations. Organizational activities like marketing, hiring the right staff, problem solving, improved performance, negotiation, and improving the corporate culture etc can be greatly enhanced when employees have mastered the art of right questioning. Without learning the art, organizations might only be building up questions that will always backfire. These include lousy questions, dangerous questions, manipulative questions, prying questions, showing off with questions, asking at the wrong time etc.

Having dwelt over the years with the above wrong questioning skills have not helped organization in any way. So what employees need now is a comprehensive guide that will sharpen their questioning skills – that way they will know what to ask, what not to ask and how to ask the right questions in almost any managerial or marketing situation.

Leaders and managers have a key

role to play in creating a corporate culture of questioning. They are to create a questioning business environment where staff members will feel safe and able to trust the system and the people involved. By so doing, they will build a culture in which questions are welcomed, assumptions are challenged, and new ways to solve problems are explored. As a matter of fact, questions establish an inquiring culture in organizations, and such an inquiry and culture will add to building a learning organization.

Final Note: Organizations should develop a culture where asking questions is permissible, safe and desired. The old erroneous belief that leadership is all about knowing all the answers should no more apply in today’s business world. Leadership in any facet should be viewed as knowing the right questions to ask, and carefully listening to those answers. Every organization possesses an array of knowledge, wisdom, creativity, and energy, and the surest way to harness those assets is to encourage questioning as part of the organization’s culture.

Feel free and let me know if there is any way you want me to help.

I would be glad to help.

All to your success!

Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline.

Lessons from India: The challenge of providing financial access to all in Nigeria Data for 2017, which was released in April. Despite a slow improvement in the use of mobile money, the overall number of Nigerians with access to financial services has dropped from 44 percent to 40 percent since 2014. Nigeria’s challenge is extenuated by a population growth rate of 3 percent, which means a constant stream of new young adults are captured by the numbers every time the report is released, and inclusion must grow considerably faster than 3 percent annually to be felt.

The potential benefits of successfully achieving this are well known. Enhanced economic activity leads to GDP growth.

More financially-included citizens means more deposits in the banks, which in turn means more credit available for everyone. Economic growth leads to job creation, and solutions that open up access in the rural areas that are most financially excluded can offer broader opportunities as well. Every party, from citizen to government to bank, telecoms company, fintech companies and associated service providers should benefit from a properly delivered solution.

To understand how best to approach this challenge in Nigeria, it is important to analyse the approaches that other countries have taken, the success that they have had and the mistakes that they

made. Based on the transformation that has occurred in India, it is worth analysing in some depth what they have achieved, whether it solves the problem and how they did it.

One of the most significant obstacles to inclusion is the cost of KYC required in the absence of a single point of trusted data on individuals. A national level identification number with basic personal information can dramatically reduce the cost of acquisition, and India successfully rolled out unique national identification numbers to 1.15 billion people. This reduced the cost of customer acquisition by 95 percent.

A second vital contributor to success was strong and consistent political will to ensure that every Indian had a bank account.

Between 2014 and 2017, the government’s Prime Minster Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme opened up over 300 million bank accounts while obliging banks to open up customer engagement infrastructure in 650,000 villages across the country and investing heavily in financial literacy. Banks obliged, largely because many of them were government-owned.

But these interventions alone did not solve the challenge. While hundreds of millions of bank accounts were opened to receive government subsidies, the majority (as high as 75 percent) remained inactive, acting purely as recipient

points for government payments, and failing to stimulate wider activity. While banks established physical infrastructure in 650,000 villages, many of them were simply stakes in the ground, incapable and unwilling to actually provide services. In 2013 the government realised it needed to do more if it was to achieve true inclusion.

At the heart of the problem was that it was not commercially viable, as account activity was largely limited to government subsidies (which are paid directly to the individual in India), and the cost of building fixed infrastructure in every village was prohibitive for banks, with no associated revenue return.

To address these deficiencies, government made a decision to create a new category of banking licence (payment banks) in 2014, with a specific focus on banking those communities not reached by traditional banking infrastructure and able to operate with a drastically lower cost base. By recognising that the biggest cost obstacle to serving these people was geographic proximity, a simple decision was taken to allow those companies already serving the poor to offer financial services over the top. Whether these institutions are Coca Cola distributors reaching the farthest corners of most countries, FMCG and structured retail or telecommunications companies, the principle was the same: give

the businesses already serving our poorest customers the ability to offer financial services. When this is combined with the cost reduction associated with broad adoption of national ID, the business model is fundamentally altered and considerably more viable.

India remains in the infancy of implementing these changes, but progress can already be seen. Pay TM, an e-commerce company that leveraged the new licence system, has attracted 300 million customers in just 18 months. That’s millions of accounts that have been de-risked from the core banking system, while offering customers a closer, more nimble and attractive proposition.

What can Nigeria learn from this? It can learn many lessons.

It can learn how to avoid the mistakes that India made by overleveraging traditional banking infrastructure to serve customers that don’t fit that business model. We can, and should, take cognisance of the challenges that India faced, and whether we can avoid them, and move directly to a solution that will allow service delivery to the poorest, at the lowest possible cost, and so with the highest chance of success for both the customer and the financial services provider.

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The role of business integrity in national transformation

SOJI APAMPA Olusoji Apampa is the CEO of The Convention on Business Integrity.

Twitter: @sojapa E-mail: aviga@ cbinigeria.com

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ational transformation suggests a total departure from an old negative order to a new positive order with deliberate effort over the medium to long term to yield visible positive outcomes – it is the attempt to create nationwide change involving significant alteration over time, in behaviour patterns, cultural values and norms. Business Integrity on the other hand is the strict adherence to a moral code (an ethical, accountable system for making decisions, carrying out actions and other interventions) through which business discharges its commitments and obligations to each of its stakeholders, reflected in its levels of transparency, honesty and corporate harmony. In the global business world, integrity is one of the most sought-after qualities not only of individual employees, but of companies. However, this cannot be divorced from the prevailing levels of ethical conduct in the context where business operates.

The 10:10:80 principle suggests that in most societies, 10% of the people will always do the right things and do things right regardless of the

RASAK MUSBAU Musbau is of the Features Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Information & Strategy, Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja

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istory tangles the past with the present in webs of fact. Its practice is to treat things that exist here and now as though they concerned the past and to use them in new compositions designed to equip people for the future.

Undoubtedly, society without a collective memory would be as disoriented, dysfunctional, incoherent and programmed for destruction as an individual without that critical faculty.

The present, anchored on the past, is able to confidently navigate the future.

To lovers of history, President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent announcement of June 12 as Nigeria’s new Democracy Day as well as conferment of GCFR honour on late Chief M.K.O. Abiola is a welcome historic gesture.

June 12 as a national day is a development that will not only connect the younger generation to a significant part of our history, but also inspire questions about Nigeria perceptible structural problems that Hope ’93 wanted to address. The posthumous honour conferred on Chief Abiola is a partial redemption of the June 12 watershed.

Now that June 12 has been officially recognized as our Democracy Day, it is proper to assess the state of the nation especially from the mirror of

difficulties found in the context. Another 10% will always do the wrong thing regardless of the ease found in the context however, there is an 80% who see this as a matter of business growth and survival and are therefore driven by the incentives they perceive rather than principle.

Data from 2016 NBS-UNODC study of Crime and Corruption in Nigeria published in 2017, suggests that per 100 bribe payers in Nigeria, 20% will refuse to pay, 30% will pay and 50% would be undecided suggesting the ratio could be more like 20:30:50 in the case of Nigeria. National transformation in Nigeria would then depend on encouraging the 20% to continue doing right on the basis of their principles and incentivizing the 50% to do right through appropriate triggers for them to consider alternative behaviours.

One key trend becoming noticeable in the global business sector is the campaign to change the rules of the game from (negative incentives) sanctions-based compliance alone to (positive incentives) rewardsbased compliance, or at least a mixture of the two. Over the years, companies were guided by the rule of doing right mainly because of the fear of sanctions. Some evolved this further to include doing right to retain the resulting positive image enjoyed with some of their publics. However, where the threat of sanctions is not credible due to inadequate will, skill or capacity on the part of regulators, business has tended to question the value of acting in any way not directly instrumental to the maximization of their profits. Today, challenging the relevance of business integ-

Today, challenging the relevance of business integrity, business growth and survival is pursued by many in frontier markets by any means possible reinforcing the decay in values and standards observed in many of such locations – Nigeria is no exception rity, business growth and survival is pursued by many in frontier markets by any means possible reinforcing the decay in values and standards observed in many of such locations – Nigeria is no exception.

How should this be approached in Nigeria? First, big business players are role models whether they intend to be or not. So, ensuring these role models behave properly is crucial to influencing transformation in the private sector. Transformation doesn’t have to be driven by the public sector since they often are not able to find the will, skill or incentive to push it through, but the private sector does. When Sea Ports or Terminals are inefficient, and corruption is high, the private sector suffers through high costs and unbearable delays. When public procurement is corrupt, the private sector suffers as believe it or not, corruption only works for a few, not everyone. When SMEs in their supply chains are cor-

rupt, there is a heightened risk of collusion between their staff and such partners threatening value creation for shareholders. When intermediaries such as accountants, bankers, lawyers and so on are corrupt, illicit flow of funds is possible and such activity threatens the very growth and existence of the company. We have tended to see transformation as a solely public sector affair requiring sanctions and enforcement whereas it might be more effective to have private sector driven approaches.

For example, the Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS) by the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Convention on Business Integrity incentivizes listed companies in Nigeria to choose the paths of integrity over corruption, the behavioural insight of Relative Ranking that “we are influenced by how our performance compares with others’, especially those with similar characteristics as ourselves. ”It uses a rating system (based on that designed originally by CBI for use by its signatories) to gather compliance information and, by liking it to instruments of the stock exchange such as the Premium Board and the Corporate Governance Index, it promises a direct connection between quality of board decisions and the fortunes of the listed company, thereby working towards a mechanism for behaviour modification.

This initiative could assist in due diligence by investors around selection of possible partners/investment partners in Nigeria.

As Independent Facilitator of Collective Action against corruption for SMEs appointed by the

Nigeria Local Network of the UN Global Compact, The Convention on Business Integrity has developed a self-assessment guide and toolkit for SMEs based on the 2013 COSO Framework for Internal Controls.

This was validated March 2018. It promises to help SMEs (who do not see the need to be constrained by Business Integrity Principles nor see its value) gain better access to finance (as most banks are participating in the CGRS and have come to value the work done by CBi and will thus trust this initiative) and it should help multinationals reduce exposure to corruption risks from the SMEs in their supply chains.

As facilitator of the Maritime AntiCorruption Network’s activities in Nigeria, CBI has been training officials at some of Nigeria’s sea ports on professional ethics and why it is important to adhere to their Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) developed as part of the Port Services Reforms that are ongoing.

So far, about 1000 officials were trained 2016/2017. Thereafter, CBI will carry out ratings of Nigerian Sea Ports and Terminals against aspects of their Standard Operating Procedures. The ratings will be used as quick feedback tools to help Ports Agencies monitor their performance against the Standard Operating Procedures they have articulated.

The catalytic role of the private sector in curbing corruption should not be underestimated and we strongly implore the government to seek corruption prevention in similar ways. What do you think?

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June 12, the media and democracy sacrifices that went into the struggle to revalidate the annulled election.

Beyond the latest PMB’s declaration, it is saddened to conclude that nothing spectacular has changed in our socio-political landscape, 25 years after. Sadly, there seems to be little assurance that much will change, considering our present imbalance and disheveled political structure.

What of the eminent space that anti democracy elements still occupy in our political landscape?

One is particularly interested in the activities of the vibrant press in resisting repressive acts of the military in the dark days of military rule in our country. Now that we are building a viable democratic culture, it is crucial for the press to remain in the forefront of checkmating all tiers of government. If we are to foreclose a return to tyrannical acts which the press suffered under the military, hardly can the press afford to be dormant in its denunciation of anti democratic postures of current political actors. To do that might consume the media itself.

In 1993 alone, some 300,000 publications were seized, 54 journalists arrested, more than 20 of them were summoned to appear in court, six reporters or photographers were assaulted or injured, four publications and one radio station were suspended or put under pressure by the authorities, 17 titles were proscribed by decree and 17 journalists (in government owned media) dismissed or

disciplined for political reasons; ten of them resigned in protest.

Between March and late August 1993, SSS agents raided the Lagos offices of The News several times, seizing tens of thousands edition of the weekly.

Tempo magazine was also seized from the time it was banned in June 1993.

Between early May and late August 1993, when General Babangida was forced to step aside, more than 200,000 copies of Tell magazine were seized.

Many could still recount how the military junta flooded the space with fake editions of opposition titles during the June 12 struggle. It was alleged that the State Security Service produced fake editions of these notable pro democracy newspapers to confuse the public. Fake copies of Tell, Tempo, The News and TSM Magazines were especially in circulation in March 1994 when the Abacha junta began to employ the dirty scheme.

According to a report by the Constitutional Rights Project entitled: ‘The Press and Dictatorship in Nigeria’, the management of Tell had to issue a press release denying that it was connected with a fake version of its 20thMarch edition. Several reports had been cut and the false front page sang the praises of the military ‘New Messiah’.

In 1994, in the thick of resistance against oppressive military rule, especially with the highly successful oil sector workers’ strike, the Abacha regime went a step further by banning media houses. From June 1994 onwards,

Moshood Abiola’s Concord and the Punch newspapers were cordoned off by security operatives on the pretext that arms and ammunition were stockpiled in their premises. In mid-August 1994, it was the turn of the Guardian newspaper — whose owner, Alex Ibru, was serving as Interior Minister to the despotic Abacha junta! Despite protests and a ruling by a Lagos court, the junta stood firm and in early September 94 issued a decree banning a total of 19 titles belonging to these three media groups. The ban lasted over a year and was only lifted in October 1995. It was the longest press ban ever imposed in Nigeria and had a noticeable economic and psychological effect on the press.

Perhaps, the most brutal method of repression used to silence journalists was by arresting or physically intimidating them. Thus, instead of a few hours or days, journalists sometimes have to spend months in a cell with very harsh conditions. The aim was to quell the enthusiasm of many who have families to look after. In order to ‘flush out’ a journalist who has gone into hiding, security operatives went as low as locking up members their families.

In June 1993, wife of Dapo Olorunyomi, one of the editors of The News as well as the wife of Shola Odunfa, Nigerian BBC correspondent were arrested. With such attacks and sabotage on the increase since 1995, journalists had to cautiously handle

warnings they received either directly or through relatives or friends working in the security services.

In 1995, the military regime set a new precedent by sentencing to life imprisonment- later commuted, under international pressure, to 15 years – four journalists charged with plotting to overthrow the government of late General Abacha. They were tried in camera by a military court in July 1995 alongside several dozens of Nigerian army officers. The journalists were George Mbah, Deputy Editor of Tell, Ben Charles Obi, Editor ofWeekend Classique, Kunle Ajibade, Editor of The News, and Christine Anyanwu, Editor of The Sunday Magazine (TSM).

In the light of the above, as we understandably bask in the euphoria of June 12 resurgence, the media, especially, must remain deeply committed to the entrenchment of democratic values and norms in the country.It is essential to draw some lessons and stay on the track of truth and objectivity in this period when the country is at the cross road. If current holders of power in Nigeria, most of who were practically opposed to the spirit of “June 12”, are still characterized by the culture of brazen looting of public treasury, outright commercialization of politics and personalization of public offices, the press should know that it is not yet time to celebrate.

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

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

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

Friday 15 June 2018

Making the national ID work

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he National Identity Management Commission recently confessed its inability to deliver national identity cards to millions of citizens waiting for it.

According to the commission, national identity cards that are ready are mainly for people who enrolled in 2012 and 2013, noting that it was adopting a first-come, first-served approach. The Director-General of NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, said the focus of the agency right now is on National Identification Number and not on the card.

According to Aziz: “The focus is actually on the National Identification Number. Your NIN gives you your identity and not the card. Historically, we focused ourselves on the card to be the output of what we do; but when the country went into recession, we stepped back and checked and found out that in the

United States, it is the Social Security Number that connects all the other agencies.

“In the United Kingdom, it is the National Insurance Number; and in India where recently they enrolled about 1.4 billion people, they only gave the number. This means you can now pull your own NIN and then print it the way you want it.

“Recently in Nigeria, we did the Bank Verification Number; and again, what you get is a number and not a BVN card.

But Aziz realised the Nigerian law ultimately requires that citizens be given identity card and he quickly chipped in: “However, this does not mean that we won’t give out cards, because it is there in the law that we should issue a general multipurpose card that is secure.”

NIMC’s confession of incapacity comes a full 10 years after it was established and 8 years since it commenced operation.

For national identification,

just giving each person a number would not do. Citizens across the world hold physical cards. In countries like the US, which Aziz cited as using only a social security number, states are empowered by law to give out identity cards and drivers license. The national Social Security Number is used mainly as employee identifier for tax reporting, retirement and benefits purposes. Nigeria chose the national ID card model and that is why NIMC was created in the first place.

But NIMC has been about talk than delivering on the card it was established to deliver. In the last seven years, it has received a N80.2 billion from the federal government but has only been able to capture a mere 25 percent of Nigeria’s 180 million population (put conservatively) into its database while not more than five percent of those captured have been issued with the National Identification Number (NIN),

which is soon to become a compulsory document for all Nigerians residing in the country. This is no judicious use of funds.

But lack of funds is no good reason not to deliver on the national ID card scheme. NIMC can explore several options like charging for the cards, like banks and all other card-issuing institutions do, concessioning the management of the issuance to the committee of banks that have proved adept at managing the enrolment process.

The government and the National Assembly must take stock of the work of NIMC to see whether it is delivering value for money and whether, as constituted, the agency has the capacity to deliver on the assignment it was created to deliver. It is time we adopt a business approach to governance and the public sector in Nigeria where institutions and agencies justify their existence and funds given to them.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Dick Kramer - Chairman Imo Itsueli Mohammed Hayatudeen Albert Alos Funke Osibodu Afolabi Oladele Dayo Lawuyi Vincent Maduka Maneesh Garg Keith Richards Opeyemi Agbaje Amina Oyagbola Bolanle Onagoruwa Fola Laoye Chuka Mordi Sim Shagaya Mezuo Nwuneli Emeka Emuwa Charles Anudu Tunji Adegbesan

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Friday 15 June 2018

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MoneyInsight Personal Finance: Investing Retirement

Taxes

Credit Cards

Home Buying

Small Business Shopping

Financing

CBN’s licence requirement shows why unbanked numbers is rising FRANK ELEANYA

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s at 31 May, 2018 there were 76 finance companies, which include non-bank mobile money providers, credit companies, microfinance investment firms, and wealth management services with a licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

A list released by the apex bank in June showed that 65 of the licenced companies are located in Lagos, while six states including Delta (1), Edo (1), Anambra (2), Abia (1); Kwara (1); Cross River (1); and Abuja (4) account for the remaining. By implication, financial services firms operating in twenty-nine states do not have licences.

Fintech start-ups have upturned and transformed the old system of doing banking in Nigeria, as well as other countries around the world.

They are generally seen as more flexible, less bureaucratic, efficient, and faster than the traditional banks.

Their innovative approach to banking services and creative products have become so renown that banks are fast shedding their old skins to look

Actor Yomi Gold And 41st Miss Nigeria Mildred Peace Ehiguese with Children At SPAR’s Kids Fun Day Celebration, Ilupeju Shopping Mall, Lagos

like these startups – if not in size at least in style.

Fintech startups have also consistently attracted significant foreign investment, to help them expand their services to millions of Nigerians who need them. Despite the market potential and the increased attraction to investors, most start-ups find it difficult to survive much less exist to the point wheretheybegintomakeprofitfortheir investors lack of an operating licence.

Acquiring the CBN licence comes

at a very high cost in terms of documentation and finance. Requirements for a mobile money licence for instance include 3 years tax clearance of each of the founders, draft agreements with technical partners, participating banks, switching company, merchants, telcos and any other party; payment of non-refundable application fee of N100,000 to CBN; and evidence of shareholders’ fund of N2 billion before a licence is issued.

The initial capital requirement

used to be N500 million.

Should a mobile money start-up even manage to provide the tax clearance, draft agreements from banks, telcos, partners, merchants and pay the N100,000 non-refundable application fee, where would it get the N2 billion shareholders’ fund? Would its investors be willing to give enough to satisfy what the CBn is requesting?

The requirements may also explain why over 80 percent of the licenced companies are based in Lagos. It will be easier for a telco for instance to sign a memorandum of understanding with a startup base in Lagos. In terms of investment also, Lagos based fintechs have always had an edge over those based outside the commercial city.

In January 2018, the CBN threatened to revoke the licence of more than 15 mobile money operators for failing to meet up with the N2 billion capital requirements. The operators grace period will end on July 1, 2018.

Currently,Nigeriahasjust21mobile money operators. If the CBN make goodontherevocationthreat,thecountry will be left will less than 10 licenced operators servicing the over 60 million

unbanked population in Nigeria.

According to the latest World Bank Global Findex report, Nigeria is among the list of seven countries that make up 1.7 billion adults that are unbanked. Digital financial services like mobile money are expected to help bridge the gap. However, the regulatory environment must be right for big and small players who will provide these services. A regulatory environment that encourages both small and big players will also inspire new confidence in investors.

Recently, some of the players have come together to form the Association of Financial Service Innovators (FIS), with an objective to chart a course for enabling payment innovation within the Nigerian payment space.

One of their recommendations is for the apex bank to create a multitier licence process. The process, which could be on three levels, will require that there is a category with appropriate capital requirement for big players, middle players and small players. It will give small fintechs which are not based in Lagos a chance to contribute their innovativeness in the space.

Journalists to vie for N2mn, other prizes as golden pen awards open

Navigating the 21st century work space

CALEB OJEWALE

OLALEKAN IPELE

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he 10th edition of the Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Awards has been declared open, with a promise to honour journalists who abide by the fine ethics of the profession, even as the company restated its commitment to excellence in the practice of journalism.

This year’s contest which was declared open this week, will see the Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Reporter of the Year getting a cash prize of N2 Million Naira plus a gift item; the first runner up will get N1 Million Naira while the 2nd runner up will go home with N750 Thousand Naira.

In the Photojournalist category, the overall winner will receive N1 Million plus a gift item while the first and second runners up will be rewarded with N750 Thousand Naira and N500 Thousand Naira respectively. The winner of the Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Report of the Year will receive N1 Million and a gift item.

Kufre Ekanem, Nigerian Breweries’ Corporate Affairs Adviser, during the flag off for this year’s contest, stated that the Golden Pen Awards has greatly impacted the role of the press in the socioeconomic development of Nigeria.

He added that since its inception, the award has produced nine grand prize winners in the Journalist of the Year category, six grand prize winners in the Photo Journalist of the Year category and four others in the Report of the Year category. It has also produced several runners up in the three categories.

“Looking back over the last

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L-R: Chukwuemeka Aniukwu, media relations manager; Kufre Ekanem, corporate affairs adviser and; Patrick Olowokere, corporate communications and brands PR manager, all of the Nigerian Breweries Plc, at the flag-off of the 2018 edition of the Golden Pen Awards in Lagos on Wednesday.

nine editions, we are happy that the initiative has continued to help improve the quality of journalism in Nigeria going by the quality of entries we receive every year as attested to by our independent panel of judges and stakeholders in the Nigerian media who have been part of the awards over the years,” he said.

Ekanem disclosed that in this milestone 10th edition, the company is again directing the attention of the Nigerian media to the area of Agriculture, Local Sourcing and Industrial Development as the theme for the Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Award. “As a company committed to Winning with Nigeria, we believe that the focus on Agriculture, Local Sourcing and Industrial Development is key to making our country achieve her full

potential as a self –reliant and developed country with a diversified economic base,” he added.

According to him, entries for the award opened on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 and will close on Friday, July 13, 2018. He enjoined journalists from all media platforms with reports published in 2017 and focusing on Agriculture, Local Sourcing and Industrial Development to avail themselves of the opportunity presented by the Award. A maximum of three entries is allowed per journalist.

All entries he said, should be sent to TPT International via goldenpenawards@tptinternational. com or the corporate address on PR Place, 6/8 Bola Ogunsanya crescent, Magodo GRA, Shangisha, Lagos. While encouraging journalists across the country to participate.

he need for businesses and individuals to be abreast with evolving trends in the 21st century work place is crucial. Some changing trends we see today in our different work places are business processes and technology, networking among others.

According to Joseph Stiglitz, the problems of the 21st century work environment for employers and employees alike are in the kind of jobs we have, the kind we need, the kind we’re losing, as well in the kind of workers we want.

Ngozi Osu, a book editor and communications specialist noted that effective networking and strategic partnerships enable us achieve our objectives and expand more quickly and efficiently in the 21st century work place, irrespective of the industry we work in. It’s about mutually beneficial relationships built on trust and respect. It’s about bonding with people for the greater good.

“There are currently over 18 million young unemployed individuals in the country, getting out of that pool requires you prove yourself. What sets you apart and makes you relevant is the level of personal development and skill set acquisition that helps you add value to your organisation” said Ivie Martins, HR manager ACT foundation.

Growing up, you probably had pictured the kind of work you want and how well you intend to enjoy the job only to graduate, get into the workplace, and be dazed that you are not at all prepared for what this new work place demands of you.

The fast pace, new cultures, new tools and new rules that keeps evolving in the 21st century workspace requires every goal getting career

oriented individual who either runs a business and work or operate in a competitive business environment and desire to stay relevant to literally catch up.

Charles Umeh, the author and inventor of Breaking the Coconut said “People in this era don’t just work round the clock because they are workaholics but because it is necessary. Their colleagues could be in different time zones for instance.

“You hear people say things like I’m a morning person or I’m a night person and you think they are just feeling cool but really they are not. If you respect their views and give them a chance you would be surprised by how they would blow your mind with results. So let’s just say some of us are getting to know what works for us” “The Breaking the Coconut Show is helping individuals and corporate organizations ease transitioning into this new work place. The breaking the coconut show is an offshoot of a book I published in South Africa in 2016 which was an opportunity for me to tell the African narrative from the view point of a millennial living in Africa” Umeh concluded.

A PwC’s CEO Survey (the 21st) revealed nearly three quarters, representing 74 percent of private-company CEOs the survey covered are concerned about the availability of digital talent amongst their workforce, and 50 percent say it is very or somewhat difficult to attract digital talent.

Reacting to this survey is Christopher Ahonsi, a tech expert with Microsoft said “we at Microsoft understand this problems so we try to automate these businesses to start seeing some of the benefits in terms of how businesses can actually scale up using technology”

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MARKET

Distribution license for Ariaria Market: Is it open season for offgrid business?

ISAAC ANYAOGU

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he Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in a rare show of guts, granted a distribution license to Ariaria Independent Energy Distribution Network Limited (AIEDN) in a franchise area allocated to Enugu Electricity Distribution Company in what could be a watershed case to determine exclusivity of franchise areas.

In an advertorial published in newspapers, Eko DisCo warned a private company, PIPP LVI Distribution Limited to remove all the lines it laid on its network and cease from soliciting further business from its customers.

Similarly, the Enugu DisCo in an advertorial said “Ariaria Independent Energy Distribution Network Limited (AIEDN) encroached and trespassed on its distribution licensed coverage area by illegally constructing distribution lines without a license nor the authorization of the DisCo. “This act is in clear contravention of the regulatory provision that no company can set up a distribution network within a franchise area of a distribution company where there is already an

L-R: Ebube Theophilus, benefiting shop owner; Damilola Ogunbiyi, managing director/CEO, Rural Electrification Agency(REA); Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works & housing during the inspection of the electrified shops under the Federal Government ‘s Energizing Economies Initiative at Ariaria Market Aba, Abia State on Thursday, 17th May 2018.

existing and active distribution facility in the area,” said Enugu DisCo. The DisCo argued that contrary to an earlier impression that the project was an intervention by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to salvage supply in underserved areas. The AIEDN network is owned

by Ariaria Market Energy Solution Limited (AMESL), who Enugu DisCo claimed it was implementing a compressed natural gas (CNG)

solution rather than generating power from renewable energy sources.

Enugu DisCo has gone to court to secure an injunction stopping AMSEL from embarking on the proposed rural electrification project planned for 32,000 shops in Ariria market, in Aba, Abia state.

“We are waiting for NERC to make a pronouncement but for now we have a court injunction against the company,” Emeka Eze, spokes-

man of EEDC told BusinessDay on Tuesday.

However, in a press release published late Tuesday, the commission citing “overriding public interest has granted a 9.5 megawatts embedded electricity generation license to Ariaria Market Independent Electricity Distribution Licenses to distribute same within Ariaria Market to Ariaria Independent Energy Distribution Network Limited.”

“The licenses, issued in

line with Section 71(6) of the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act 2005 were granted after careful consideration of the applications in public interest to promote access to common goods and to promote commercialisation and industrialisation for which Ariaria, a leading commercial hub in the country is reputed for.

“Both licenses granted to Araiaria were affirmation of the Commission’s commitment and response to the long-time yearnings of the market for a stable, reliable and sustainable electricity supply to improve quality of goods and services by Nigerian enterprises and entrepreneurs,” NERC said in the release.

For many offgrid operators who have had uncomfortable negotiations with the DisCos over the distribution of power in the franchise areas, this could serve as a precedent and could bolster offgrid operators to seek for distribution licenses.

In May last year, Babatunde Fashola, minister of Power, Works and Housing, said last year that the government did not grant exclusive operational rights to the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) in their areas of operation when it privatised the distribution assets in 2013.

Fashola said that none of the Discos could claim such exclusive rights on any of the distribution areas, except they can guarantee their ability to consistently provide electricity services to the areas.

The minister also accused the Discos of frequently instigating industrial disharmony in the country’s electricity sector, and said their opposition to “eligible customers” clause declaration was unlawful and unfair.

In the cases of Enugu and Eko DisCos, their concern is the loss of market share from more efficient generators who are honing in on some of their most lucrative franchise areas which presents a threat to their business.

Fashola also claimed that some of the operational actions of the Discos have largely contributed to the existing problems in the power sector Long accused of being weak and lacking independence, NERC decided to prove its mettle but it comes at the risk of violating a court injunction granted by a High court in Umuahia that ordered AMSEL to stop further work in the area.

One thing that is clear, as uncertainty clouds the project, the lawyers it seem would be the winners on this one.

INSIGHT

Corporate sourcing of renewables growing, taking place in 75 countries

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ompanies in 75 countries actively sourced 465 terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable energy in 2017, an amount close to the overall electricity demand of France, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

With the continued decline in the costs of renewables, the report suggests, corporate demand will continue to increase as companies seek to reduce electricity bills, hedge against future price spikes and address sustainability concerns.

Corporate Sourcing of Renewables: Market and Industry Trends, the first global assessment of trends and policies in corporate sourcing of renewables, shows that renewable energy sourcing by private sector

companies, made possible with the right policy framework in place, can be a key factor in the world’s pursuit of a sustainable energy transformation in line with the objectives set out in the Paris Agreement.

According to the report, environmental and sustainability concerns, social responsibility and reputation management and economic and financial objectives are the three primary drivers of corporate sourcing.

“Renewable energy sourcing has become a mainstream pillar of business strategy in recent years,” said IRENA DirectorGeneral Adnan Z. Amin.

“While environmental concerns initiated this growing trend, the strengthening business case and price stability offered by renewables can deliver a competitive

advantage to corporations, and support sustainable growth.”

The findings of the report, presented today at the Ninth Clean Energy Ministerial in Copenhagen, show that half of the over 2,400 large companies analysed are voluntarily and actively procuring or investing in self-generation of renewable electricity for

their operations. Of the companies in the study, more than 200 source at least half of their power from renewables. Electricity self-generation is the most common sourcing model, followed by unbundled energy attribute certificates (EACs) and power purchase agreements (PPAs).

“Corporations are responsible for around two-

thirds of the world’s total final electricity demand, making them central to, and key actors in, the energy transformation,” continued Mr. Amin. “As governments all over the world recognise this vast potential, the development of policies that foster and encourage corporate sourcing in the electricity sector and beyond will inject additional needed investment in renewable energy.”

The report finds that the corporate sourcing trend is widespread and dynamic, with companies participating in the practice coming from various sectors. By volume, the majority of renewable electricity was consumed in the materials sector while the highest shares of renewable electricity consumption are found in

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

the financial (24 per cent) and information technology (12 per cent ) sectors.

Countries in Europe and North America continue to account for the bulk of corporate sourcing.

Of the companies analysed in the report, only 17 per cent have a renewable electricity target in place.

Three-quarters of those targets will expire before 2020, representing a significant opportunity for corporates to develop new medium to long-term renewable energy strategies and targets that factor in improvements in renewable energy technology and cost declines The report is a contribution to the Clean Energy Ministerial “Corporate Sourcing of Renewables” campaign, co-led by China, Denmark and Germany and co-ordinated by IRENA.

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German investors widen search nets for opportunities in Nigeria

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

African airlines risk $100m losses in 2018 …Despite expansion in operational routes MIKE OCHONMA

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frican airlines may encounter as estimated combined losses of $100-million this year according to Gad Wavomba, Embraer Commercial Aviation sales director in a keynote address on the outlook for the industry he delivered to participants at a 3-day Aviation Development Conference, AviaDevin Cape Town, South Africa.

Investigations show that African airlines have notched up an encouraging number of new routes, but are still in a poor financial position overall.

The industry has improved from its lower position in 2013, but has continued to battle. “There are a lot of challenges to overcome before driving profitability for airlines in Africa,” Wavomba said.

However, connectivity into Africa has increased by five percentage points, while 70 new routes had been add-

ed in Africa alone, both within the regional and locally.

The Embraer Commercial Aviation sales director highlighted several trends

in the industry, including right-sizing, which focuses on choosing the right aircraft for the right markets. He said, in Africa, 95 percent of

flights were less than half-full.

Some countries were getting it right.

He said Tanzania had decided to right-size and

replaced its aircraft with smaller ones, while in Zimbabwe, right-sizing had led to a 65 percent increase in revenue.

L-R: Kufre Ekanem, corporate affairs adviser, Nigeria Breweries Plc , Suleiman Husaini, 1st runner up photo category, Nigeria Breweries Golden Pen Awards and Patrick Olowokere, corporate communications/brand public relation manager ,NB Plc , during the press briefing to announce the 2018 edition of the awards in Lagos.

Pic by Pius Okeosisi

He hoped the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) initiative would boost the development of routes. So far, 23 member states have signed the commitment.

Wavomba said more route competition would lead to lower fares and stimulate additional traffic volumes, adding that collaboration between airlines was also essential.

He mentioned the synergies South African Airways, Kenya Airways and Air Mauritius were working on and commended Cape Town Air Access for developing routes.

“Things are better in the industry in Africa but profitability continues to remain a challenge. We need to mitigate that through right-sizing, information technology and airport infrastructure investment and collaboration across the industry.”

Representatives and leaders from major airlines across Africa travelled to Cape Town for the three-day AirDev conference.

Benue Investment and Property Company Bayelsa seeks FG intervention on bottlenecks at Brass LNG, refinery projects plans expansion of subsidiaries …promises more job creation for state Benjamin Agesan,Makur-

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enue Investment and Property Company Limited (BIPC) has announced plans to expand the firm’s subsidiaries to improve the economy of the state and create more employment for indigenes.

Alfred Adem, new managing director/ CEO of (BIPC) made the disclosure during a media chat at the company’s headquarter in Makurdi the state capital.

He stated that his vision is to expand the Benue Investment and property Company’s Micro Finance Bank, Oil & Gas, and Guest House to boost the State’s economy and to create jobs for the people.

He said, he desire to partner with the state government to revamp some semi moribund companies such as the Taraku Mills,

while promising to woo investors to key into some businesses of the Company as a way to boost their activities as well as to expand existing value-chains Adem assured that he will reinvigorate efforts to boost the commodity trading scheme embarked opon by the company last year.

“We had a test run with paddy rice, soybeans, and sesame. We intend to expand this commodity trading and stabilize prices”.

He added that “in terms of agric, we intend to stabilize prices, and ensure that we always get the surplus, store them and then, offload them at the appropriate time”.

The MD also dismissed rumours being peddled that his immediate predecessor, Jacob Mulya had sold off shares of the Company. Noting that the Management rather re-acquired the nine million shares

which enabled the company to accrue about (5.1 percent) of Julius Berger’s shares which is mandatory to ensure the seat on JB’s Board.

He advised people of the state to imbibe the culture of investing and said the Company offers consultancy services which train people who want to invest saying, the people of the state should not wait to have plenty before investing but know that with 50,000.00 Naira, they can invest. “The BIPC will make the average Benue person understand that with as low as fifty thousand naira (N50, 000.00) they can start an investment portfolio and watch it grow over time”, he added.

He however solicited the support of the general public, Media, and Corporate Organizations to enable the company realize the vision of being a leading investment company in the country by the year 2025.

Samuel Ese, Yenagoa

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overnor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has once again called on President Muhammadu Buhari to address the bottlenecks militating against the commencement of work on the Brass Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and refinery projects.

Dickson who made the call during a stakeholders meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party in Yenagoa said the call has become imperative in view of what he described as unacceptable lack of federal projects in the state.

In a government house statement signed by the chief press secretary to the Governor, Francis Ottah-Agbo, Dickson noted that the commencement and eventual utilisation of the two projects would give the Ijaw people a sense of belonging and also expand the revenue base of the country.

The governor decried the

backwardness of the Ijaw ethnic nationality in terms of development and urged the Federal Government as well as multinational corporations to partner the state government in tackling the gaping infrastructural deficit in the area.

Dickson disclosed that his administration has been working hard with lean resources to fund developmental projects such as construction of major roads and bridges, schools and health institutions.

In his words: “I play politics of development. My team and I came in with anger to develop this place and by the grace of God, we have achieved that to some enviable level with the able support you have all been giving as stakeholders of our great party. And we are determined to do more before we leave office for another PDP government.

“I say so because only the PDP can win any election in this state. The people of Bayelsa have seen our capacity to deliver on our promises even in the face of the worst reces-

sion that hit this state and the country in general.

“As I speak with you, work is ongoing on the SagbamaEkeremor Road and we are sure of driving to Ekeremor Town by December this year.

In the next few weeks, I will invite you and we all drive to Aguobiri in Southern Ijaw.

Also, clearing of the YenagoaAyama-Ogbia road will start in the next two weeks.

“All these are capital intensive projects and that is why we are calling on the Federal Government and other development partners to come to our aid. In one of my meetings with the President, I told him to bring back the Brass LNG and the refinery projects and also convene a stakeholders meeting to talk about the Nembe-Brass Road.”

On politics, he urged PDP faithful who have ambition to contest the forthcoming state and National Assembly elections not to heat up the polity, but maintain the discipline and decorum existing in the state chapter of the party.

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German investors widen search nets for opportunities in Nigeria …business delegation to meet Osinbajo next week Iheanyi Nwachukwu

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group of German investors will be in Abuja me eting next week to meet with Nigerian Government officials led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo after which they move to Lagos as they widen search nets for more business opportunities in Africa’s biggest economy.

The volume of trade between Nigeria and Germany fell to 3.5billion Euro in 2016, a drop of about 2.5billion Euro from 6billion Euro recorded in 2015 as recession driven uncertainties affected foreign direct investment (FDI).

Nigeria exports majorly crude oil to Germany while Germany exports machineries, plants and equipment/ spare parts to Nigeria.

With gradual transition from recession and boosting of the economy again, in 2018, Nigeria remains the hub for foreign direct investment, according to Marc Lucassen, head of delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria.

He spoke Wednesday

ahead of the forthcoming 7th German-Nigeria Business Forum holding in Lagos from 20th to 21st June where German foreign investors will meet Nigerian public and private sector leaders to discuss the opportunities in diverse sectors of the economy.

Yusuf Tuggar, Ambassador of Nigeria to Germany will be in attendance while Okechukwu Enelamah, minister of industry, trade and investment and Yewande Sadiku, chief executive officer, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) are keynote speakers.

T h e t w o - d ay e v e n t themed “Leveraging Partnership for Economic Growth” will extensively highlight the importance and implementation of partnership at different levels and sectors in promoting economic growth for both Nigeria and Germany.

Key areas of focus are Agribusiness and Food Processing; Energy, with a special focus on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency; Infrastructure and Access to Finance; Digitalization and Startups; and Technical Vocational Education and Training.

The 7th German-Nigeria

Business Forum will feature panel discussions by different experts and stakeholders on the opportunities, challenges and latest developments in these fields.

Currently, there are not less than 85 German Companies in Nigeria employing about 10,000 Nigerians.

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will provide you with the opportunity to create two companies, with one of the companies to be exclusively for women.”

He noted that the state was poised for growth, explaining that the best way to achieve sustainable development is to look inwards and create opportunities for people to realise their full potential.

He added, “Through the state government’s various skills development programmes, we will continue to support and encourage youths to improve talent required for sustainable development.”

According to the governor, “if youths under 32 years, who make up 65 per cent of Nigeria’s population are assisted to discover and improve their talent, Nigeria will become better for it.

“Over the years, there have been initiatives to establish a collaborative and mutually beneficial bilateral relationship across broad-ranging sectors including diplomacy, security as well as trade and investment. The German-Nigeria Business Forum (GNBF),

which holds alternately in Germany and Nigeria was initiated for this purpose by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, the Nigeria-German Business Association and the Afrika-Verein der deutschen Wirtschaft back in 2007,” he further stated.

L-R: Adebayo Otitoloju, managing director, University of Lagos Consultancy Services; Abiodun Peters, senior compliance manager, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited; Funmilayo Doherty, president, Society for Environmental Toxicology & Pollution Mitigation (SETPOM), and Timothy Iwuagwu, chairman, Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria, Lagos State Branch, at the 2018 World Environmental Day lecture organized by SETPOM at University of Lagos.

Nigeria Bottling Company Youths Empowerment Programme gets government backing he Nigeria Bottling Company Limited, Youths Empowerment programme taking place in Benin City, the Edo State capital, has received the backing of the state government.

The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, in his backing assured participants drawn from the state in the Youths Empowered Nigeria Workshop Programme, that the state government will support the setting up of two additional firms from the pool of best ideas from the participants.

Obaseki, who said this while declaring open the workshop noted that of the two firms the state intends to support, one would be exclusively for women.

“We have set aside some funds to support you. We

“Our role is to enlighten German investors to see the opportunities in Nigeria. The German-Nigeria Business Forum is a worthy example of the long history of socioeconomic relations between Germany and Nigeria dating back 160 years,” Lucassen said.

Obaseki noted that the workshop by the Nigerian Bottling Company was crucial, as his administration will continue to create opportunities for youths to acquire skills, and match them with existing job opportunities through the EdoJobs portal.

“As companies help in developing youths’ entrepreneurial skills, my administration has set up policies that will ensure that we take advantage of such skills, and create the atmosphere for our youths to have a better future for themselves,” he noted.

He charged the participants to “register on EdoJobs portal through which we can assist you and monitor your progress and match you with existing job opportunities in construction, agricultural, manufacturing and other sectors.”

MAXUT partners OneSpan on mobile banking fraud AGNES IBOROMA

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ollowing the growing fraud trends in mobile banking and payments around the world, global data Security Company, OneSpan, in collaboration with MAXUT Consulting plans to engage stakeholders on mobile banking fraud discuss.

Consequently, the two firms have concluded plans to hold its 3rd annual Banking Security Summit on 21st June 2018.

The theme of the summit, which is scheduled to hold in Lagos is” Digital Channels and Open Banking Security”.

Olumide Ajayi-Obe, senior vice president, MAXUT

Consulting said in Lagos that the summit would give opportunity to experts, regulators and banking colleagues to discuss the current state of electronic banking and payments security landscapes as well as share experiences from around the world.

“OneSpan, which is formerly VASCO Data Security, is in Nigeria to share its vision and strategy for securing all digital interactions offered by banking and financial services industry and to better understand the specific needs of the Nigerian market.

“OneSpan recognizes the growing fraud trends in mobile banking and payments around the world and thus OneSpan and MAXUT, will

be announcing new Adaptive Authentication platform and solutions available to Nigerian Banking and FinTech customers to provide them with even more cost-effective and advanced solutions for securing all Digital Channels.

“The event will include a hands-on workshop for mobile App Developers that are interested in protecting their mobile applications from common vulnerabilities that enable frauds,” he said.

According to him, speakers at the summit include Ade Shonubi, managing director, Nigerian Interbank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), Dipo Fatokun, director, banking and payments system, CBN and Dele Adeyinka, chief digital officer, ALAT/WEMA Bank.

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COMPANIES & MARKETS EFG Hermes named top frontier markets broker in Extel Survey HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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FG Hermes, a leading financial services corporation serving institutional and individual investors in frontier emerging markets, has for the first time been ranked as the number one frontier market brokerage firm in the Extel Survey 2018, advancing from the 9th place last year.

The nod from the high-profile industry survey comes just two years into EFG Hermes’ drive to expand beyond the Middle East and North Africa into frontier emerging markets.

Prior to this prestigious ranking, EFG Hermes was named the top Africa Ex-South Africa Equities House at the Financial Mail Top Analyst Awards 2018, solidifying its strong presence in the African market.

“Coming on the heels of our ranking as the top Africa Ex-South Africa Equities House at the Financial Mail Top Analyst Awards 2018, this industry recognition highlights the core strength of EFG Hermes Research manifested in its ability to respond rapidly to the significantly increasing demand for new investment ideas and strategies amid the ever-changing dynamics of markets and economies,” said Ali Khalpey, the Londonbased Chief Executive Officer of EFG Hermes Frontier.

“Our strategy is to match our growing execution capabilities with world-class research that meets the needs of our clients. Beyond EFG Hermes’ strength as a research house in the MENA region, this is proof that our calculated investments into frontier expansion has paid off and underscores our unmatched strength in new geographies that we have entered within the past two years.”

The commendation follows EFG Hermes Frontier’s recent entry into Bangladesh, bringing its direct presence to eleven markets across four continents. In addition to ramping up execution capabilities to cover more than 95 percent of markets on the MSCI Frontier Emerging Index, EFG Hermes has focused its frontier efforts on providing clients with world-class, onthe-ground research spanning African, Middle Eastern and Asian markets.

EFG Hermes Research also dominated the MENA regional analyst rankings, with nine of the firm’s analysts ranking in the top 20 - four of them in the top 10, including Elena Sanchez-Cabezudo (financials, #3), Mohamed Abu Basha (economics, #5), Hatem Alaa (consumer, #6) and Nada Amin (consumer, #8).

Overall, EFG Hermes was the second-ranked firm in MENA and the top-ranked MENAheadquartered firm in the poll.

“These accolades underscore the outstanding capabilities of our award-winning

research team and mark the passage of another milestone in our transformation into a leading frontier player,” said EFG Hermes co-CEO of the Investment Bank Mohamed Ebeid. “We continue to seek the right opportunities to expand into high-growth frontier emerging markets, while focusing on consolidating our presence to create the right opportunities to serve our clients with a superior product offering across all markets.”

“Being consistently ranked in the top five in some of the world’s most important research surveys is a testament to our high quality standards and the firm’s overall focus on innovative products - a key component of our strategy.

By the end of 2018, we plan on adding more than 35 African equities to our research coverage, in addition to new products covering strategy, macro-economy, and sector reports. Our clients can now trade banking and financial equities, while gaining insights from our research team, which covers banks in Kenya, Nigeria, Vietnam and the MENA region,” added Ahmed Shams El Din, EFG Hermes’ Head of Research.

EFG Hermes Research’s coverage universe currently spans all major frontier markets, with 65 stocks currently under coverage. In 2018, the division plans to expand coverage to over 100 frontier stocks in the financials, consumers, utilities, telecommunications and energy sectors.

Business Event

L-R: Ayodele Antonio, general manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, (LASEPA); Ifeoma Okoye, public affairs manager, Lagos & West, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC), and Chigozie Ejimogu, national environmental manager, NBC Ltd, during the presentation of award and certificate to NBC as the best multinational company for environment at an event organized

by LASEPA to mark the World Environmental Day in Lagos.

L-R: Soni Irabor, MD, Ruyi Communications; Victor Famuyibo, managing partner Nevitt Consulting; Omomene Odike, MD, U - Connect & Gr8jobsng; Ben Afudego, partner advisory leader West Africa Ernst & Young; Adaeze Umeh, head youth segment, Diamond Bank, and Victor Chibundu, head e-commerce, Gr8jobsng, at the Launch of Gr8jobsng “Learning Management System” (LMS) in Lagos.

Grandmaster Nigel Short praises PwC’s Chess4Change initiative

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h e ss G ra n d ma ster Nigel Short has commended PwC Nigeria for supporting the development of chess in Nigeria especially by promoting the adoption of the sports among young people through her Chess4Change programme. The British former world champion who is visiting Nigeria made this remark during a courtesy visit to the leading professional services firm in Lagos.

PwC Chess4Change, a major component of PwC Nigeria’s Corporate Responsibility Strategy, is a developmental programme designed to improve strategic and critical thinking skills amongst secondary school students in Lagos State using the game of chess. It commenced in 2014.

While speaking at the forum, which had the President of the Nigeria Chess Federation and members as well as some

student participants of the initiative in attendance, Nigel Short said: “It is very good to start playing chess at a very young age and this is why I find what you are doing with chess in schools very commendable. This will go a long way in developing the sports in Nigeria while also positioning the students for future accomplishments.

Some of them could become champions and grandmasters someday. I will certainly support this initiative and will be happy to come back next year to be a part of it.”

Commenting on PwC’s involvement in chess for school students, Pedro Omontuemhen, Chief operating partner PwC Nigeria noted that as a firm, PwC is very interested in education and the empowerment of young people and this is reflected in their choice of Corporate Responsibility initiatives. He said:

“We are committed to the Chess4Change programme and this can be seen in our continued sponsorship of the initiatives which is now in its fourth year. We hope to continue expanding the programme to get to as many schools as possible involved. It will interest you to know that we started with just six schools in the pilot season and currently we cover about eighteen. This is a reflection of our commitment and we will also continue to encourage our people to volunteer in mentoring the students to equip them for a brighter future.”

The firm noted that the programme has also exposed some of the students to international chess events. An example of which is Jessica Pelemoh of Aunty Ayo Girl’s Comprehensive High School, Ikoyi, Lagos who the firm sponsored to the 2016 African Youth Chess Championship in South Africa.

L-R: Emmanuel Adeniji, faculty of aviation, Aerospace; Brent Omdahi, commercial counselor, US Mission To Nigeria; Olunuye Oluwole, managing director, African Hub International (AUI), and Ngozi Nkwoh, senior commercial specialist, US Commercial Service Nigeria, during the ahi brand extension breakfast/media parley meeting with the US Department Of Commerce Counselor in Nigeria, in Lagos.

L-R: Director, Finance and Account, FIIRO, Mr Joshua Oderinde, Director, Extension & Linkage, FIIRO, Dr. Dele Oyeku, Director, Fishries, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, DG/CEO, FIIRO, Prof. Gloria Elemo, Coordinator, Ikorodu Fish Farmers, Mrs Bolaji Dania, CEO, Senior Energy Ltd, Mr Tayo Akinkugbe, Director, Chemical, Fibre and Environmental Technology, FIIRO, Dr. Chima Cartney Igwe, during the second phase of workshop on fish smoking technology organized by FIIRO in Lagos on Monday.

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BUSINESS DAY

FINTECH News

Products Review

Technology Review

Personality Review

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Company Review

PRODUCTS REVIEW

Only free interbank transfers can fix financial inclusion in Nigeria ADEDEJI OLOWE (Guest Writer)

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inancial inclusion is a buzzword, but it’s also a real issue for third-world countries. Many things have been thrown at it, including the kitchen sink.

As far as Nigeria is concerned, nothing seems to be working.

Nevertheless, I believe that significantly reducing the cost of transactions, up to the point of free transfers, will break the exclusion barrier all through the invocation of the Network Effect.

The Network Effect, also known as Metcalf’s Law, says that the value of a network grows as the square of the number of its users increase.

In simple English; when there are many people in a network, there is always someone you want to do aproko with.

Why am I so confident that this is possible? Well, I have the evolution of mobile telephony in Nigeria as a reliable basis.

Before MTN and Econet transformed mobile telephony in Nigeria, you would have imagined that we all used witchcraft to talk to ourselves.

Apparently, we did! Or how would you describe 400K active lines for a nation of 126M disconnected souls?

However, what most people don’t know is that just before the GSM licenses were awarded, Nigeria had 6 GSM licenses issued by Obasanjo, and before then, 33 GSM licenses were given by the Dark Goggled General.

Many licenses and nobody was talking. The GSM provid-

ers felt telephones were for the middle-class and HNWI (High Net Worth Individuals, the fancy name for people who have hammered). Maybe that was true. But unfortunately, Nigeria never had many of the rich guys. The GSM providers failed spectacularly.

So, when MTN and Econet, the new kids on the block of 2001, started their operations, they came to the market with N20, 000 SIM cards; only the middle-class and Uber rich could get them. Apparently, some of them failed their networking classes and didn’t know about Metcalfe’s law.

I’m happy there were remedial classes: MTN promptly introduced BOGOF and Econet brought Buddie to the masses.

The market exploded; I finally got my SIM and phone, my friends got theirs, and we traded stories about girls. Nigeria was never the same again!

Just like telephony where you call those within your social and business circles to peddle rumors, close business deals, track errant staff, or check on your grandmother; transfer of money is also a social and business construct.

In the days when telephony was expensive and not for the poor, according to General David Mark, Nigerians thronged business centers to make local calls and cybercafes for international calls. For trivial gist, they talked to their neighbors. Today, for essential transactions such as transfers

and bill payments that cost N50 a pop, they use their mobile apps and USSD codes.

For small purchases of N10 to N1,000, they fish out dirty Naira notes from corners we can’t talk about to give their maiguards, bike men, garri sellers, etc.

Why? Because it doesn’t make sense to use N50 to transfer N200.

My fancy friends in the e-trade argue about financial literacy, money stuffed in mattresses, etc. What they haven’t been able to explain to me is that even with poor literacy in Nigeria, how does everyone know how to use mobile phones: punch in airtime credit, dial numbers, and read digits of those calling them?

Because when technology is demystified and pervasive, the knowledge becomes commonplace.

Ask yourself, when last did a new phone come with a manual even though it’s significantly more powerful than the dead-ass Motorola Talkabout of the early 2000s?

Back to cheap transfers, when the Central Bank of Nigeria crashed the cost of transfers from N100 to N50, the monthly transfers exploded from the measly 7M a month in 2016 to 58M in May 2018. The average transaction size dropped from N320K to N112K. In 2001, it cost N50 per minute to call; most people didn’t bother to call anyone.

When the networks crashed

the cost to Kobos per second, calls exploded.

Dropping interbank transfer to N5 for bank customers would do more magic than anyone could imagine. Not only that, making transfers of an amount less than N1,000 free means that the flow of money to the excluded would be free. When it is free to send money to my shoe shiner, he would learn how to receive it and also send it to others as well. After all, if he knows how to check his airtime balance, he will know how to check his wallet or account balance.

And he would be able to send to his friends and his young wife in the village; all for free.

Bankers are scared because they think of the margins that would be wiped out. But, the addressable market is so huge, probably 100 times more, than what we have today. Instead of the 58M monthly transfers we are happy about, we could be talking about 5B transfers a month. Most of these would come from the N20 to N500 transfers that are small, trivial and extremely habit forming for even the least educated, as long as they have a phone and fingers to punch the keys.

Nigerian Banks of all shades, the CBN, international Development Finance Institutions (think WHO, DFID), Bill Gates, etc. have spent years and a lifetime trying to make Financial Inclusion work in Nigeria but the efforts haven’t yielded tangible fruits. Why not try making transactions cheaper? After all, nothing beats free.

Adedeji Olowe is a Trustee with Open Banking Nigeria.

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Lifestyle changes pose huge burden on Non-Communicable Diseases ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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on-communicable diseases (NCDs) have become a primary health concern for most countries around the world, and are mostly caused by one’s lifestyle changes.

Larne Yusuf, a medical practitioner based in Lagos said cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases often referred to as ‘lifestyle diseases’ seen to spur non- communicable disease because they are mostly related to the way people live their lives and to some extent, surrounding environmental factors.

“One of the reasons

these disease prevalence is becoming outrageous is because we are all changing our lifestyle of unhealthy diets (foods high in fats, sugar or salt), tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol and physical sedentariness,” Yusuf said.

He cautioned that by healthy diet, exercise

and avoidance of tobacco and alcohol, which are good lifestyle choice will help reduce an individual risks to NCDs. He advised Nigerians to consume more vegetables and fruits and less sugar, salt and fats intake, as well as exercising to prevent and control these NCDs diseases.

Kasi Centre for Telehealth brings succour to healthcare delivery in Nigeria KEMI AJUMOBI

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asi Healthcare Centre for Telehealth Lagos Airport is offering Telepresence technology for Nigerians to connect with International Hospitals and also for training of Nigerian Doctors via video Teleeducation – will telehealth replace Medical Tourism or boost it?

Advancement in technology has given birth to a lot of

as well as getting important recovery guidance from doctors after a surgery. With its recently launched Kasi Centre for Telehealth Lagos Airport open at the Lagos International Airport Road, they are already delivering this service to Nigerians with the aim of reversing medical tourism and ensuring Nigerians get quality health care at preferred destinations.

Explaining the importance of the service to Nigerians, Pe-

Doctors conducting a remote monitoring of popular comedian and actor Chioma Omeruah ‘Chigul’ at the Kasi Centre for Telehealth, Lagos

changes in different sectors in Nigeria. However, health is the exception. Apart from the obvious improvement in equipment used for surgical procedures, the process of accessing healthcare and getting diagnosis has largely remained unchanged, and this is evidenced by growing queues at hospitals and the dangerous practice of getting health recommendation from untrained friends on the internet.

Kasi International seeks to change this by simplifying, through the introduction of technology, the process of seeking consultations from choice doctors and hospitals,

ter Adeshina, the Chief Media Officer of Kasi Healthcare, said “Kasi International, through the Kasi Centre for Telehealth, Lagos Airport, is in existence to simply fuse technology into regular medical activities such as consultation, case monitoring and even surgery. The world class centre has an internet broadband service that is 50 times faster than the fastest internet service available in Nigeria, and it is equipped with modern tools for X-ray and MRI analysis to aid doctors in fully understanding the case before proffering solutions.”

He explained further that this service is particularly im-

portant with the acute shortage of health professionals the country is presently suffering as a result of the reported mass exodus of doctors, as it allows patients speak to doctors irrespective of geographical boundaries or difference.

“The centre already kicked off operations with the remote monitoring of popular comedian, Chioma Omeruah, also known as Chigul, who spoke to our doctors from the comfort of her hotel for advice on recovery after undergoing a back surgery. A feed from the video interaction was posted on our Instagram page @KasiInternational”, he concluded.

On how the centre is able to connect with leading hospitals and doctors in India, Dubai, Turkey, Europe and America, Dayo Osholowu, Director of Kasi Healthcare and former Chief Representative Officer Africa of Turkish Hospital Group Florence Nightingale Hospitals Istanbul, explained that “Kasi Centre for Telehealth, Lagos Airport, is leveraging on professional networks gained from years of able practice and demonstrated professionalism.”

He said “Our years of excellent delivery in private service has generated goodwill which we have, in turn, converted to partnerships with relevant stakeholders both in the medical industry and transport industry. We are not just connecting our clients to their preferred doctors abroad using technology, but also facilitate medical visas and help them travel to these countries with ease, if need be”.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), global NCDs action plan 2013-2020 and the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals has set a target to reduce overall premature mortality by 25 per cent from NCDs by 2025 and reduce by 33 per cent over-

all premature mortality from NCDs and promote mental health and wellbeing by 2030.

The National Strategic Plan of Action by the Federal Ministry of Health on prevention and control of NCDs documented since 2015, states that inadequate funding of NCDs related programmes and

activities, poor legislation and enforcement of laws linked to the prevention and control and a weak health system has been major barriers to tackling NCDs. Unhealthy environmental conditions increase the risk of both non communicable and infectious diseases, which is reflected in the strong integrated nature of the goals, the policy document states.

Expert says this lifestyle of unhealthy diet has caused millions of Nigerians disease such as high blood pressure, overweight, respiratory diseases, high cholesterol level and it is a huge burden where Malaria, HIV/AIDS tuberculosis and other communicable disease are.

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Ikpeazu applauds passage of genotype testing law The dark side of junk foods ... leads advocacy against sickle cell disease

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groups, women labour associations, widows association, and others have contributed immensely to the socioeconomic development of women, children and other vulnerable persons in the state.

“A large percentage of women and children are experiencing physical, emotional, verbal, economic and sexual abuse in their homes and families” she said.

She highlighted some of the actions taken by her NGO have helped to improve the economic status and livelihood of women in the state.

“We have also empowered our women with information and knowledge that will result in awareness of their rights, how to personally ask for it and to protect it.

“This we have done by collaborating with ministries, other NGOs, women groups and the individual women here present, to organize annual training sessions, seminars, and workshops on rights of women and the girl child where we get resource persons to speak to the women about their legal and socio economic rights,” Ikpeazu said.

She noted that without adequate legal instrument to further guarantee the protection of the targeted group of persons in the state, there would be a limitation to the progress made thus far by the coalition.

Receiving the delegation, the speaker Chikwendu Kalu and members of the house of assembly assured the wife of the governor that they

will give attention to the requests of the coalition. They expressed pleasant surprise that the coalition came to express gratitude for the work done by the House, and assured that as representatives of the people, they will always hold the duties of making good laws sacrosanct.

Eunice Aguomba, former Judge of the state High Court, and Victoria Akanwa, a 2nd republic lawmaker, who added their voices to the call by the wife of the governor, emphasised the need to provide the right kind of society for women and the girl-child to thrive.

They said the bill will add a lot to efforts by several groups and individuals to ensure a better environment for hardworking, but abused Nigerians.

NHIM driving innovations to improve health outcomes in Nigeria ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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he Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PHN) created and institutionalised the NHIM platform to identify, showcase, spur and support promising health innovations to tackle healthcare challenges and catalyse progress in improving health outcomes in Nigeria and beyond.

“The marketplace explores and shapes alternative approaches to improving healthcare in Nigeria. As a result, innovations technologies and processes alike are birthed or made visible, piloted and ultimately supported with investments,” said Muntaqa UmarSadiq,CEO, PHN. Nigeria Health Innovation Marketplace (NHIM) is a convergence platform for innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, healthcare practitioners/advocates, Non- Government Organisations (NGOs), devel-

HBL TEAM

opment partners and all key actors in the healthcare value chain from conceptualizer to end user. The marketplace explores and shapes alternative approaches to improving healthcare in Nigeria.

Visit www.nhim,phn.ng to check how many innovations have been curated by the platform.

According to Umar-Sadiq, the Nigeria Service Delivery Innovation Challenge (NSDIC) was a competitive process to identify, showcase and select the most promising innovations in service delivery to improve the quality and coverage of Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal and Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) and nutrition interventions primarily in North-East Nigeria.

“The objective of the collaboration was to identify key innovations within Nigeria’s health service delivery ecosystem that could be included in the nation’s Global Financing

Facility (GFF) investment case,” he added.

Hubs have emerged from various regions in the country. Although regulated health markets can yield creative innovations with the potential to significantly improve access, quality and efficiency of healthcare services, there has been minimal traction in harnessing innovations in health for the Nigerian health market.

Low application of innovation and technology in healthcare delivery, experts believe, is one of the most significant missed opportunities in transforming healthcare delivery in the country. Unsurprisingly, none of the existing platforms currently focus on health innovation or the use of technological advances in healthcare delivery.

According to PHN, there is no end-to-end health innovation hub in Nigeria, either in the public or private sector, leading to the absence of platforms for

vegetables and whole grains are too unappealing to ignite such a craving and preference for eating.

Apart from the fact that you are usually served within minutes of ordering, there is the line of argument that junk food is typically cheap, processed and pre-packaged, making it easily available.

Over time, that convenience becomes a habit and eventually a perceived necessity to keep up with such a fast-paced society.

Essentially, if you want to be optimally healthy, you should spend 90 per cent of your food budgets on whole foods and only 10 per cent on processed once, nutritionist say.

Research studies are constantly exposing the dangers posed by consumption of junk food. In recent research, it was revealed that junk food can impact negatively on one mental health because it contains little of what your brain needs to produce chemicals responsible for happiness and productivity.

Gary Nul, in his book, ‘The Food-Mood-Body connection: Nutrition- Based and Environmental Approaches to Mental Health and physical Well-Being’ said that the foods you eat

refined carbohydrates and artificial ingredients and low in nutrients and fibre.

Choosing healthy foods is not always easy. Nutritionists say that eating foods like olive oil, salmon, nuts and leafy green produce will keep your skin, hair and nails looking healthy.

Obviously, your success and happiness depends on being in the best health possible, both mind and body. It is indeed time for us to return to nature and natural foods at least the way it used to be back in our traditional settings.

It is therefore advisory that parents especially, help their children and wards leave healthier lifestyle by training them to adopt wholesome nutritional habits. Both adult and children should be enlightened on the importance of going back to enjoying traditional home cooking. More importantly, you can make the right choice now by preventing problems in the future.

We should imbibe the healthy habit of consuming more of fruits and vegetables and less of processed foods.

With most foods, the closer they are to nature, the better, experts say.

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UDOKA AGWU, UMUAHIA kechi Ikpeazu, wife of the Governor of Abia State, has applauded Abia State House of Assembly for the speedy passage of the law that encourages genotype and blood group testing to help reduce cases of sickle cell disease in the state.

Ikpeazu stated this barely 24 hours before the State’s House of Assembly passed the law for the Identification of blood group and genotype.

Statistics have shown that one in every four Nigerian is a carrier of the S-gene which could transmute to the disease if two incompatible partners procreate.

She also led a large coalition of civil society organisations, NGOs, pressure groups, and prominent women to the State’s House of Assembly to canvass for speedy passage of bills that protect the rights of women and children in the state.

The bills, which had been stagnated for several years without any legislative action on them, include a bill for a law to prohibit all forms of violence, a bill for a law to abolish harmful and obnoxious widowhood practices and a bill designed to provide equal rights for men, women, and persons with special needs.

According to Ikpeazu, the Vicar Hope Foundation, and other members of the coalition such as the International Federation of Women Lawyers, church organisations, professional

he dark side of junk foods is not an unknown fact. Several researches have shown that fast foods and processed foods have increased childhood obesity, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

Despite this, people are easily and constantly being pulled into the culture of quick -fix obsession with junk foods.

Busy schedules, demanding jobs among others often diminish the amount of time people have to prepare healthy and nutritious meals.

This has made fast food business a thriving business in Nigeria.

For instance in Nigeria, there are so many fast food which makes it becomes too hard to resist the tantalising offers of pizzas, burgers, French fries and other appealing stuff these food chain have to offer.

The healthier alternatives of food, such as fresh fruits,

contribute to your overall wellbeing.

Most junk food contains no or little nutrients other than too many calories and fat.

Walter Willett, author of ‘Eat, Drink and be healthy: The Harvard Medical school guide to healthy eating’ believes that eating these foods is the primary reason why so many people are overweight or obese.

Studies have shown that some of the categories of junk food items you must watch out for include processed and seasoned meat especially the red meat stuff; others are fried foods and instant foods in the mould of noodles and pasta among others.

These equally have the capability of causing cancer, kidney diseases, fatigue and weakness, digestive problems and even depression among young people.

Additionally, apart from the fact that most processed foods encourage weight gain and chronic disease, they are high in sugar, fructose,

MICHEAL ANI

identifying, shaping, coordinating and spurring health innovations in the country.

Although promising health innovations exist in Nigeria, they tend not to attain scale or create sustainable impact due to inadequate support system for health innovators on issues such as lack of access to capital, business and financial management and essential business start-up support.

Added to this is minimal visibility by investors, on compelling viable health innovations and lack of convergence platforms that create necessary market and technical linkages.

The role that technology hubs (tech hubs) play in economic growth and development cannot be overemphasised. The revolution of tech hubs in Nigeria has been gradual, slightly picking up pace in the recent 2–4 years with hubs emerging in a few major cities mostly in Lagos, Abuja, and Kaduna.

ANTHONIA OBOKOH and ANI MICHAEL / Reporters I David Ogar, Graphics

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Friday 15 June 2018

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Experts/Industry Views

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Analysis

Expert Views

Changing ‘old habits’ in seed usage will spur agricultural productivity CALEB OJEWALE Twiiter: @calebtinolu

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or years, Nigeria’s agricultural output has been considered aby s ma l , a n d a m o ng the lowest in the world.

Whereas some countries could get over 5 tonnes p e r h e c t a re o f c ro p s such as maize and rice, Ni g e r i a av e ra g e s 2 . 5 tonnes. There is hardly any crop where the country can be identified to be outperforming the global average.

Perhaps deviating from crop a bit, even in dairy, Nigerian cows are said to produce about 1 litre of milk per day, whereas in places like New Zealand, Netherlands and others, a cow can give 30 litres (or more) of milk in a day.

The situation of productivity in Nigeria implies local farmers continue to grapple with poverty as their perpetually low far m yields make it difficult for them to produce enough for commercial success. In the same vein, agro-based industries which require inputs have to resort to massive importation so as to meet their required raw material demands. Apart from inadequate local production, uncertainty in the consistency of supply also makes it difficult to rely on the local value chain.

Frans Ojielu, global financial advisor, ICMG Commodities, wrote in an emailed response to BusinessDay enquiries, that “the availability of quality seeds is critical to agricultural productivity.

This is a critical input and all efforts must be on deck to ensure the availability.

The yield per hectare is bolstered by the quality of seeds. The time to maturity is also affected by the types and quality of seeds used which directly affect the economics and cashflow available to agribusinesses.

While Ojielu says that the “various seeds multiplication units are currently doing a great

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Maximizing the Agricultural Value Chains (2) OLUSOJI APAMPA Country Director, The Business Innovation Facility (BIF).

Twitter: @sojapa E-mail: soji. apampa@cbinigeria.com

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job”, he also believes that there is need for greater interface between the research institutes and the farming community.

The importance of good seeds is important, not only for the economic wellbeing of the farmers, but also for food security.

With an estimated $5 billion food import bill, better yields in Nigeria will imply less importation, while many industries which require agricultural raw materials, will also get the required inputs.

However, the problem of s e e d in Niger ia is multifaceted, with two notable elements. The first borders on dubious seed dealers, who sell fake seeds, at times ordinary grains, to unsuspecting farmers as hybrid. This experience discourages many farmers who have used such seeds from making a repeat purchase. The second; most smallholder farmers (responsible for 80 percent of output) are too poor to afford good seeds.

“It is not so much about the availability of seeds.

The seed may be available but affordability is another issue. If something is available but you cant afford it, you would want nothing to do with it,” said Hamza Ahmed Mahuta, a former key accounts manager at Syngenta, currently working as an agriculture consultant.

Olusegun Philip Ojo, director general of the National Agr icultural Seed Council (NASC), in

an exclusive interview with BusinessDay, said “Farm yield in Nigeria is dependent on numerous factors chief of which is the genetic ability of the seed as well as agronomic factors. “Furthermore, what comes to mind is how much of ‘seed’ farmers are using in Nigeria. The bulk of our crop production is still dependent use of farm saved seeds partly due to the lack of awareness on the need to use quality seeds. Over the years we have done a lot to educate our farmers on the need to drop their own saved seeds and use quality seeds purchased from reputable and approved sources.

According to Ojo, NASC has also in collaboration with the National and International Agricultural Research Institutes “made effort to inject quality early generation seeds (Breeder and Foundation Seeds) to ensure that certified seeds available to farmers are of the best quality that are superior to their own saved seeds. The changes can be seen in the level of increase in the quantity of seeds produced over the years.”

Rotimi Fashola, general manager, Elephant Group Plc, however posited that “improved seeds are not available in sufficient quantities because we are yet to fully change from subsistence farming to commercial farming.

This is a process and it will take some time and persistence. The same for

the seed quality. Therefore, more and more companies (private sector) will join seed production once its commercially viable.”

“Most farmers still recycle their seeds,” Fashola said. It complements Mahuta’s position, when he also noted that “many farmers in Nigeria are truly peasant. If you look at their lives you will realise what they produce is hardly enough to last them two to three months. The remaining periods they have virtually nothing, not even to keep as seeds but to feed their families.

And unfortunately, about 80 percent of primary production in Nigeria is in the hands of these peasants.”

He further explained that “there is one thing about farmers; generally, our people resist change, particularly for something that is expensive. So, they may not leave what they are used to and go for an expensive one they don’t even know. So, the best way to get (good seeds) to the farmers is either donating to them or giving it to them at a subsidised rate.

“This is because, by the time they try it and see the difference between it and what they are used to, they will certainly want to adopt it. That is how fertilizer was introduced to Nigerian farmers,” said Mahuta.

This article first appeared online at www. businessdayonline.com

o maximize the agricultural value chains in Nigeria, they would have to be SMART-data driven, unlocking the comparative advantage we have in each location in Nigeria.

In the previous article, we outlined a range of challenges caused by the absence of such SMART data across the value chains, from producers to processors and to a lesser extent to consumers. Who can provide this information on a sustainable basis?

Government or the Private Sector? At the moment, it would appear the processor, as the party most in need of the information for its own business growth and survival, would have greater incentive to collect such information but is also unlikely then to share it with others. So, whilst the private sector is driven to do it, the market needs actors that will provide access to data as a service.

Our solution is as follows: Imagine that instead of government, you had a network of private extension workers. Imagine that instead of the current 1:10,000 ratio of extension workers to farmer if it was 1:100. Advice on what to plant, when to plant, how to plant and good agronomical practices would lead to improved and more predictable farming outcomes per farmer. Our experience has been that where maize farmers were assisted with bundled services (of good seed, right inputs and necessary know-how) they invariably moved from 0.7t/Ha to about 3.5t/Ha in one season. Those owning the new practices went on to achieve 4.8-5.0t/Ha. In cassava, supported farmers improved from 7t/Ha to 22t/ Ha in one season.

Imagine such private extension worker had the skills to conduct farmer registration, data verification, and could manage one on one communication with each of the 100 farmers in his/her care. To cover 20,000 farmers, you would need only 200 such private extension workers.

We would then have details of who is a farmer, where, on what size of land, producing what, when, how, in what quantities and to what quality – you could literally drop a pin on GIS map on the location of each farmer.

Proximity to the farmer also means intelligence on what to

produce can flow down more easily to the farmers. Drill down is enabled through barcoded bags to identify clusterof-origin of produce, perhaps down to individual farms, thereby increasing buyer trust and confidence in the data.

This level of coordination & support could bring greater transparenc y, str ucture & a s s u ra n c e t o ma rke t transactions. It could further enable support functions like provision of finance, inputs, intermediation, & accessto-farmers by processors, especially if integrated into on-demand information systems that can link such producers with processors, service providers with service users and so on.

The question now arises as to how the private extension worker will be paid and incentivized to faithfully deliver farmer data collection, verification, management as well as extension training, support and so on. BIF is partnering with an information aggregation company to create Community Livelihoods Information Field Entrepreneurs (LIFE) as Community LIFE Agents (CLAs) in the Maize Market.

These CLAs, the first 200 of them are young graduates of agriculture, agricultural economics, and agricultural extension and so on. They are tech savvy and trained to obtain a vocational certificate i n e x t e n s i o n p rov i s i o n in collaboration with an institution of higher learning.

The information aggregation service company provides them Android devices preloaded with apps and data through which they collect and pull data but also generate multiple streams of income.

From sale of airtime and agency banking services they could earn N50,000 – N100,000 a month to sustain them during the early days of the crop cycle. The main revenue comes from production sharing arrangements related to the quality of support given to the farmer which can earn them a significant lump sum at harvest time.

For example, in maize, CLAs could take farmers on 3.5t/ Ha productivity to about 5t/ Ha productivity. The CLA then gets paid in produce, out of the extra productivity achieved – say 5% of it. In this example, his/her production bonus would be 0.05x1.5t = 0.075t or 75kg per farmer.

For 100 farmers, that would be 7,500kg or 7.5 tonnes.

At the rate of N100, 000 per tonne, the total bonus could be estimated at N750, 000.

This model is being tested this season in Kaduna State.

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Hope Derailed, a tearjerker with a purpose Stories by OBINNA EMELIKE

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hile Hope Derailed is obviously a tearjerker, the purpose of the documentary movie seems to be fulfilled with the declaration of June 12 as a national holiday in Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari who beyond the declaration on June 12, 2018, apologized for the annulment of the 1993 election and atrocities that ensued afterwards.

The movie, produced by Ose Oyanedan, a Nigerian-American filmmaker, who is based between Los Angeles, London and Lagos, is currently trending on social media because of the action taken by the Nigerian government at present to address the unresolved issues triggered by the events of June 12, 1993.

The movie is the true story of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections by Ibrahim Babangida, an army general and the then military ruler of Nigeria. The election, which was adjudged the ‘freest and fairest’ in the Nigerian history, was presumably won by M.K.O. Abiola. But his hope of leading Nigeria was dashed when the military junta annulled the election; Abiola later died in prison, hence Hope Derailed for him and the generality of Nigerians who desired nascent democracy against the then military rule.

The unique thing about the movie is that the story was told by everyone involved in the events; from the pre-election, election and post election. The producer and his team comprising crew from across the world, made efforts at getting everyone involved or at least, the major actors to air their views years after the annulment.

Shot in 2014 across cities in Nigeria, United States of America and Europe, the movie features rich cast or rather an assemblage of live cast

that has never been done before as major actors freely aired their views on June 12 election annulment in the movie.

The teaser of movies, which ran for 1: 30 minutes, started with the theme song in the background of slides, ‘Nigeria on the match again, looking for Mr. President, on the march again, MKO is our man oh’.

That was the campaign song of Social Democratic Party (SDP), the platform that Abiola ran for the presidential election.

While the song went on, the slide kept rolling and showing images and scenes from the annulled election.

One of the foremost quotes from the slide said, “There was a presidential election, a president was elected, then the generals struck, (with Babangida and Abacha in the background), then hope turned to despair as the military junta annulled the election”.

The slide continued, showing how the sad news was in every media across the world-print and TV. It also captured riots and protests across the country, especially in Lagos and south western states.

Another heavy blow was the sending of Abiola to prison and his death in prison. The movie captured the death in this manner, ‘Then a mysterious death that has never been explained until now with this documentary”.

The movies unveiled how everybody started talking from Nigeria, the human right activists, trade unions among others, Europe to America, trying to condemn or explain what was happening and how it happened. Then, Ambassador Tom Pickering, American Under Secretary of State, did not hide his true feelings as he explained in the movie.

Kola, Abiola’s first son, was seen helpless and devastated by the many

sad incidences emanating from the annulment of the election, especially his father’s death.

The movie is all about the insider accounts from the major players.

The majors characters include; General Ibrahim Babangida, former president, who annulled the elections; Ambassador Thomas Pickering, former American undersecretary of state, who witnessed the death of Abiola; Peter Hain, the former British Minister for Africa, Bashir Tofa, the other presidential candidate in the elections, Olusegun Obasanjo, former president; best friend to the late dictator, General Jerry Useni; the conductor of the elections, Professor Humphrey Nwosu; foreign envoys, senior officials from President Bill Clinton’s administrations and several retired generals. From the Abiola clan are his eldest son, Kola Abiola; daughters Wura Abiola and Hafsat

Abiola-Costello and his wife, Dr. Doyin Abiola.

As well, the generals from the Babangida and Abacha periods, revealed the intrigues in the corridors of powers that led to the annulment and Abiola’s eventual death; politicians dish about muddy world of politics in the 1990s; senior American and British government officials reveal their roles in the crisis and the electoral ombudsman, Professor Humphrey Nwosu takes viewers into the behind the scenes moves that effectively got the hopes of a nation off track.

In a nutshell, Hope Derailed is a story stranger than fiction, an explosive revelations and a documentary like no other because of the true story, original characters and impact it still has till date in Nigerian politics.

The movie is in its post-production and will be released soon.

Tunde Kelani calls for collaborative approach in the fight against Piracy SEYI JOHN SALAU

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he Chairman of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Tunde Kelani, has said that for Nigeria to fully reap the benefits of its creative work, the fight against piracy must follow a new collaborative approach by the government and her citizenry in defence and sustenance of literary and creative work. This was said at the Mid-Year Edition of Yoruba Lakotun, a quarterly cultural renaissance show that was held recently at the Ethnic Heritage Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos.

“It is our collective responsibility to fight piracy because it has eaten deep into the creative industry. Many people have gone bankrupt as a result of this menace. We have a movie made in 2014 but we have not been able to release till date due to the fear of piracy. I urged Nigerians to desist from purchasing pirated copies of creative works, but instead they should purchase original works from credible outlets and this will be a great boost for the creative industry,” said Kelani.

The edition of the sociocultural event was dedicated to Tunde Kelani who clocked 70 earlier in the year and to the

memories of one of his collaborators, late Akinwunmi Isola, a professor.

The serene atmosphere, at the Herbert Ogunde Garden of the centre, was adorned with traditionally appealing pieces of arts which demonstrated the originality of the true Yoruba culture, with participants drawn from corporate and social Nigeria.

Tunde Kelani, in a conversation with host of the show, Olutayo Irantiola, the helmsman of Mainframe Productions, mentioned that he has been a victim of piracy that has pervaded the creative industry in Nigeria.

“There was one of the movies of Mainframe Productions that had

up to five pirated versions, barrowed across major cities in Nigeria; in fact some of the versions did not give appropriate credit to Mainframe Productions.”

“There are some movies that are shipped into the country without the necessary authorisation and all of these needs to be reviewed so that the nation does not keep harbouring unapproved visual contents,” Kelani stated.

Kelani equally noted that Nigerians should be proud of their culture as the beauty of the world is in her diversity. “My upbringing as a child in Abeokuta, Ogun State, empowered me to have a different worldwide through the

camera lens that is currently being celebrated across the globe.

Our culture is beautiful and this is what we can sell to the world.

It is ours; we should take pride in that, and our ingenuity would make the world celebrate us. Our devotion to research and untiring desire for excellence is what set Mainframe Productions apart from the crowd,” said Kelani.

Other headlining activities at the event include Yoruba spoken Poetry by Yusuf Balogun Gemini World Yoruba Entertainment News taken by Adeyeri Olayinka and the art of naming by Gbemisoye Ayano among other highly entertaining and educating segments.

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Business Etiquette

Movie review – Traffik “refuse to be a victim”

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he action packed mystery and suspense movie was really exciting for me, although some critics didn’t enjoy the movie and scored it down as they did for Acrimony, I absolutely didn’t let that distort my judgment about this wonderful movie. I was right for me there was something nice about it and I was glad I saw it. A few scenes yet quiet compelling and engaging, one that you wouldn’t stop shouting till the very end, praying that help will come and save these poor helpless ladies, who have being marked for trafficking as they call it, yet most of us call it “Human slavery”. It was quiet revealing as most people never believed that this kind of inhumane act still went on till date, with even a lot of backing from the higher authorities meant to be protecting us, like the police. I absolutely did learn a few lessons and also to be very careful if I decided to go a very faraway getaway trip, one will have to stay save.

This amazing movie was directed and written by Deon Taylor, he did have a well thought out story, one which was quiet compelling and intriguing to the audience. The production, the cast and crew were also good and the combination brought about a story that looked so real. The movie kept everyone on their toes, screaming and shouting for help all through. At a point we all started praying that a miracle would happen and that the girls would be rescued from the hands of the evil men, this is what we call intriguing suspense.

The end for me was quiet consoling, would have felt so bad, if the girls were not saved, but thank God they were all saved except for those who were killed in the process of the movement.

Traffik started off calmly with a dinner date between two couples the first ones were Married Darren Cole and Malia while John had being dating Brea and was hoping to engage her on the weekend of her birthday, he knew she was the one, but was worried about her rejecting his marriage proposal, so he bought her a beautiful car and took her to a faraway country home to make the proposal one

with Janet Adetu

Style flaws in men

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Cast: Paula Patton, Omar Epps, Roselyn Sanchez, Luke Goss,Missi Pyle, Laz Alonso, William Fichtner, Dawn Olivieri, Scott Anthony Leet, and many more Ratings: R (for violent and disturbing material, language throughout, and some drug use and sexual content) Genre: Mystery & Suspense Directed by: Deon Taylor Written by : Deon Taylor Time: 96 mins Studio: Codeblack Films she wouldn’t forget. When they got to this lovely home away from the city, this was when the second dimension of this movie started, it was time for action. Apparently Brea had no idea that the lady in restroom had slipped her phone into her bag. The phone contained secrets of the great trafficking cartel, she obviously was looking for a way out, or was it a trap to get them by tracking the phone, they weren’t even sure anymore.

There was no way they were going to allow anyone who had seen the contents of that phone go scot free, so they all knew that one way or the other, they had to run to save their lives or die in the process.

The saddest part for me in this movie was that despite all the time John had in the mist of all the confusion he never got the chance to propose to Brea again, he did die to save her life, but that was useless as the one and only true love she had, passed on in the process of her saving her life. It was a long

night and a long chase, she was caught and kidnapped, but she was resilient and her determination to stay alive, kept her safe, she did kill some guys found her way out and saved the girls through the help of the FBI as the local police were also a part of the gang.

To my verdict I would say this movie deserves an 8/10, nice storyline for me and the determination by Brea to save her life and that of the other girls were compelling, she also wanted to tell a story that could risk her life, but yet save the lives of other girls out there.

A beautiful movie for me and if did want some mystery suspense movie to relax this weekend then you should definitely check out “Traffik”.

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

Linda Ochugbua @lindaochugbua

his weekend is a special one in honor of our men, yes it is in recognition of Fathers’ Day. We celebrate all our father figures, husbands, uncles, brothers, mentors, friends even colleagues and wish you all a “Happy Fathers’ Day”. Whether you are macho, tough, disciplined, gentle or kind hearted, it is good to remember the saying – “Manner maketh the man” meaning a great leader will always combine a host of attributes not just one characteristic trait in pursuit of success. It is always inspiring to see men continue to lead by good example, aspire to motivate others and aim to leave a good legacy behind.

Are you in that space right now? If so keep flying higher, if not keep aiming high you will surely get there soonest.

Everything does communicate in the business world, to move to your next level being a leader means taking great steps to excel, steering your team to success. As you step out in style and right into your panache, what does your image say about you? Are you living up to expectation? Do you portray the look of credibility, integrity, authority, approachability and trustworthiness?

Do you take the time to ask how you look before you step out? Are you a carefree dresser thinking it does not matter?

Do you think that no one is looking? Do you take care of the fine detail when it comes to your grooming?

Manners, Etiquette & Civility do maketh the Man! Your overall image speaks to your personality, character and sense of style. If your brand and perception matters to you, then every detail will make a difference. It is very easy to unconsciously sabotage your image without knowing it. What you wear influences your attitude, your behavior and your grooming style.

Unless you are told, would you know when you are sabotaging your image?

It takes very subtle overlooks to sabotage your image; if done on a regular basis it can rob you of business deals, credibility and trust. It is important to understand what you like and identify your dislikes too.

What style portrays you best? Have a signature look that works well for you.

Let me present some of the everyday simplicities that present themselves as flaws in your style and may instantly sabotage your image. When

you see them you can begin to adjust systematically.

Style Flaws Poor Fit Your clothes need to fit your present body size as a matter of must not that size you aspire to have. Your aura is seen immediately one sees you as it plays out in your overall appearance. It is that famous “First Impression Syndrome”.

Wearing clothes that are too small or too tight or even too big or too loose will automatically down play your look as you may just fail to command that due recognition.

Poor Grooming The little details as regards your hair, your mustache, beards or extra facial hair are that extra grooming details that needs special dedicated time before you step out. It also applies specifically to your nails, facial

care, aroma, as well as wearing clothing to give that sharp and credible outward presence.

Poor Color Coding Color can be a challenge for most men, coordinating colours take a little more knowledge. To avoid style flaws this is the time to quickly know your colors by having a colour analysis done by a professional image consultant. We are always on standby in our office for when style hitches quite often occur among men.

Do not be ignorant of the phrase that says “anything goes” remember “every little thing counts”. Color can attract people to you or repel them away from you, that is what spells the psychology of colour and how it has differing impact on each person. Use color to your advantage in business to draw attention, approachability and style. Watch how you use colour with patterns this is an instant style flaw if presented wrongly.

Poor Body Basics Second to good grooming includes having a good body smell. There is absolutely nothing worse than the room per-

ceiving of unusual body odour.

Wearing a fragrance is important for complete grooming, by now it is a good thing to identity your own signature smell, which makes you feel comfortable. Be mindful however in choosing a favorite fragrance as this raises issues of sensitivity where others are concerned.

Also heavy fragrances require cautious use especially in sensitive places like hospitals, be intentional in your habits.

Poor Shoe Wear The shoes you wear speaks volumes about you and your style. Cheap looking foot wear is an instant image saboteur.

Scruffy looking, dirty shoes will down play and a great outfit look. Your aim is to wear clean, shinning, well-kept shoes that indicate elements of quality and a little style, that is the secret to style success.

Poor Packaging

What is in your pocket that makes the bulge out like that?

Did you see that missing button before you stepped out?

What about that little stain you could not go unnoticed with right on your shirt?

Have you double checked your overall packaging today?

Your tie is it the right fit or size, what about the length?

Are you wearing socks with your office shoes to compliment your office suit or not?

Poor Presence Finally when you step out what message are you transmitting?

Do you look cheap and cheerful or rich and respectful? Can you be heard when you greet? How hard or soft is your. handshake.

You will need to make a habit of doing a quick audit of yourself daily just to be double sure of your finished packaging, you do not want to be found wanting at anytime.

Once again wishing you a great Fathers’ day as you step out in Style with no flaws.

Always present a language of success.

Good luck Janet.adetu@gmail.com

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Hotels ‘The hospitality is a huge industry, there are many challenges but it is never a write-off’ With an unarguably most luxurious multipurpose event centre and trendiest boutique hotel in Ibadan, Worldlillies is making a difference in the hospitality business in Oyo State and its environs. In this interview, Abiodun Olatunji, an erudite lawyer and CEO, Worldlillies, speaks to Obinna Emelike on Worldlillies’ world-class facilities and services, his passion for hospitality, expansion plans, among other related issues.

What is Worldlilies all about? orldlilies is a family business na m e.

Besides the hotel and event centre, it has an interior décor arm, which is handled excellently by my wife in Lagos and Ibadan.

As a busy lawyer, what informed your investment in the hospitality business?

The hospitality business for me has always been a thing of passion. I felt really fulfilled when we started operation, but I know we still have a lot of work to do and by God’s Grace, we will sail through.

Again, my training as a lawyer has given me the necessary background to do a whole lot of things without limitation. One thing I always tell people is that the legal profession is the best profession ever; I call it the “high leveler”.

As a lawyer, with the kind of training you get, you can fit into any business you venture into.

Why th e ch oic e of Ibadan over Lagos that seems more economically viable for hospitality business?

I grew up in Ibadan, and the city is like my second home. I had my primary, secondary and tertiary education here in Ibadan.

I have always wanted to have businesses around the globe not just Nigeria, so when I conceived the idea of World Lilies Guest House, in fact the first place that came to my mind was Ibadan and not Lagos. As a businessman, you need to have foresight and Ibadan is the third most populous place in Nigeria. By 2036, experts have predicted that the population will skyrocket to 11.3 million and you know what that means for the hospitality industry.

So, I see a new Ibadan set to emerge.

Congratulations on the beautiful edifice, what inspired the design?

Everything you see there is imported even the bricks.

But I designed the hotel with one or two contributions from my architect,

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Abiodun Olatunji

engineer and my wife who is an interior designer. I can boldly tell you that I am a man of taste and anyone who has met me can testify to that.

How has the patronage been, going by the easy nature of Ibadan?

Things are picking up fast; this is just our third month of operation. So, I do not want to be too forward but we have great expectation. So far, it has not been bad. Ibadan people are actually more social than we perceive them to be though we know Lagos is a buzzer!

What incentives do customers stand to enjoy for their patronage?

The hotel as you can see is built to taste. First, they enjoy the best infrastructure and I make sure they have great value for their money from the moment they check in until they checkout. We also have an event centre, it is about two buildings away from the guest house and our customers enjoy major discount when they book the event centre for their occasions.

You are investing at a time many people are scared by the challenges of the hospitality business, why?

The hospitality industry is a huge industry all over the world; I understand that there are many challenges but never a write off, not in this era of new technologies, tourism and development. Hotels are always in demand as more people are travelling and are in need of quality accommodation. That is why all our facilities are of international standard. What I would say is that the business is capital intensive, so you have to have patience and a lot of it, if you know it is what I mean.

Do you plan to take Worldlillies dream beyond Ibadan?

Yes, of course, even the name should tell you that.

Like I said earlier, Ibadan is just a starting point by the grace of God. Any plan to partner professional hotel managers in the future?

In the long run, we will though the team on ground

is doing fantastically well.

But you know as time goes on, we will have to expand and that means we will need more professional hands.

This must really keep you busy; does this in any way affect time spent with family?

No, not at all. I am a family man and my family is my priority. I am surrounded by a good team which makes the work easier for me because I do a lot of delegations.

What do you do for leisure?

I relax, and watch football. By the way, I am a Gunner (an Arsenal Football Club supporter). I also do enjoy travelling but I do not have that luxury all the time.

Words around here say you are a huge philanthropist, is that your own way of giving back?

Well, I would not say it the way you put it, I would just say that I do it to the best of my abilities. God has been faithful to me, so I see it as a responsibility to God.

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

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FEATURE

Trade corridors to drive growth in intra-regional business CommerzBank recently had their AG Trade seminar in Lagos with various banks in attendance and they shared on different topics including digitalisation in trade, Bank Payment Obligation (BPO), making joint use of market opportunities in West Africa, Compliance in trade finance to mention a few. KEMI AJUMOBI was there and she writes.

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ommerzBank is active within the consortium partnership with over 80 of the world’s leading financial institutions led by R3 (R3CEV). R3 is an innovation firm focused on building and empowering the next generation of global financial services technology. The consortium collaborates to develop commercial applications for the financial services industry that leverage the appropriate elements of distributed and shared ledger technology.

CommerzBank recently had their AG Trade seminar in Lagos with the participation of different banks ably represented.

Schmueser Olaf, Country Senior Representative of CommerzBank, said the reason behind the meeting was to increase better partnership between Nigeria, China and European countries through relationship with Nigerian banks.

“As Nigeria came out of recession in 2016/2017, we believed it was the right moment to engage our customers so we invited Nigerian cooperates and Nigerian Banks.

We are the intermediary for trade when it comes to exporting and importing into Nigeria. The idea is to further enlighten them on services available. We have been doing business in Nigeria since 1953. We assist with credits, we finance local banks and we have relationships with 15 banks in Nigeria.” He said.

One area of discussion during the meeting was Digitalisation in trade, BPO and digital trade finance initiatives.

Digitalisation in trade finance is the extent to which banks’ trade finance transaction processes are digitalised, but with this comes the challenges of enforceability and connectivity. When talking about digitalisation in trade finance, you cannot ignore distributed ledger technologies, artificial intelligence and big data as possible levers for trade.

Digitisation in trade finance happens in different horizons and based on “The Three Horizons of Growth” from Mc Kinsey & Co, the first Horizon involves optimising and extending current core business, the second Horizon has to do with building momentum of emerging new business and the third Horizon involves creating options for future business.

Identified as one of the core instruments of foreign trade is Bank Payment Obligation (BPO).

Executives of CommerzBank at their recent AG Trade Seminar at WheatBaker Hotel, Lagos

According to Geis Ruediger, Head of Trade Affairs, CommerzBank, “Under trade finance solution, the BPO is an irrevocable abstract undertaking of the obligor bank to the bank of the beneficiary to effect payment at the time of maturity (upon successful matching of agreed electronic trade data on a platform).

And under the Supply chain financial solution, The BPO provides new financing options for open invoices along the supply chain to optimise working capital while providing liquidity to the seller.” He said.

“With the BPO, we are already implementing the concept of smart contracts for our corporates with our partner banks” Geis added.

Toben Christein, Regional head of Financial Institutions, Africa, CommerzBank, spoke of making joint use of market opportunities in West Africa in parallel with the identification and reduction of risks. For him, trade corridors will drive growth in intra-regional trade “Trade blocks are likely to continue, although progress will remain slow and subject to setbacks, regional integration remains a shared goal. There is also the need for diversification and development of regional in-

frastructure projects are likely to act as drivers of progress however, there will be important increase of regional airlines, construction of inter-regional railways and streets.” Toben stated.

“Trade brings together different parties, buyer, seller, banks, shipping companies, forwarders, customs offices and regulatory bodies. So, as a decentralised ledger of data, which can be accessed and authenticated by all, it aligns perfectly with the industry’s needs. It opens up the possibility of having a verified trail of data, from the purchase order through to production, inventory, delivery and payment.” Toben specified.

Another area of discussion was Compliance In Trade Finance and a central area under this is Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML). The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Wolfsberg Group and the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) have drawn attention to the misuse of international trade finance as one of the ways in which criminal organisations and terrorist financiers move money in order to disguise its origins and integrate it into the legitimate economy.

According to Beckmann Oliver, Department Head, Business Advisory/Group Compliance, Com-

merzBank, Frankfurt, Germany, “TBML covers a broad spectrum of financial and other services, including transactional activities across current and deposit accounts and payments for example, which are not in the purview of trade finance operations of the financial institutions. While the trade finance products were innovated to reduce trade transaction costs, their accessibility has also made them vulnerable to TBML abuse.”

For Sybille Kroiss, Regional Head, Commerzbank Transaction Services, Trade Finance & Cash Management, “Commerzbank has a wealth of knowledge about the sectors and industries within which our customers are active.

Through our national economic research and constant communication with industry representatives and market researchers, we have comprehensive knowledge of selected industries. We understand the different challenges posed by different industries and can offer them tailor-made solutions” On benefits and disadvantages, including basic loan agreements for buyer credits, Kroiss said “Commerzbank’s export finance proposals under a Basic Loan Agreement may open the door

for you to your foreign suppliers.

Regarding lean processing, the commercial terms, legal clauses and techniques / procedures are agreed within the Basic Loan Agreement. The relevant details of the transaction to be financed are to be supplemented into the respective Individual Loan Agreement (ILA), which only consists of a few pages – therefore, the procedure is simplified, not complicated and very efficient.”

In terms of flexibility, Kroiss said interest, fees and the repayment profile can be negotiated individually for each individual loan agreement. “In terms of low cost, there is the possibility to offer financing for relatively small amounts.”

Commerzbank was founded in 1870 to serve the trade finance needs of the merchants of Hamburg.

At approximately 150 locations in Germany and some 70 locations abroad, they serve more than 100,000 small and medium-sized corporate customers worldwide.

They maintain a world-wide network of correspondent banking relationships and is among the leading banks in global trade finance. For them, it is about providing banking solutions for all cross-border activities of their strategic client base.

Friday 15 June 2018

C002D5556

BUSINESS DAY

27

INTERVIEW

‘Documents shredding helps to keep the ecosystem in good shape’ TOLU JAIYEOLA is the CEO of The Shred Station, the first shredding company in Nigeria and West Africa. In this interview with ENDURANCE OKAFOR, she explains how Nigerians can get rid of their important documents in a manner that will not pollute the environment. She also highlights the importance of handling documents carefully so that they do not get into wrong hands.

Give us a brief background of yourself and your company, The Shred Station. y name is Tolu Jaiyeola. I am a chartered accountant and I have worked in different financial institutions around the world, but I wanted to do something different. I wanted to work for myself and that is how my company - Shred Station- came about.

Shred Station came about as a way for me to bring in something different into Nigeria, as I did not want to copy anything anyone had done before. Shred Station is a mobile confidential document shredding business that goes to schools, organisations, companies and any firm that retains documents which have people’s names, addresses, email contacts and anything that is confidential that can be linked to a particular person.

The journey in this direction began when I worked with KPMG and I was seeing how all their documents were being stored and I also had the opportunity of working outside Nigeria, where I saw how documents were shredded and recycled.

want to make the name and we want it to be an organic growth not a one night wonder.

M

In bringing something different to Nigeria, why did you choose documents (paper) shredding?

The other thing I did not tell you is that I have a specific interest in things that seem exclusive for men because now, most people I talk to on the phone think that Tolu is a man and when they see me in person they have that kind of doubt in their face. I love that, as it makes it challenging for me. Even women get to ask me how I found myself doing what I do.

What is the compliance level on the part of Nigerians in this area?

Honestly, it is quite tough and slow.

I will divide the response into two: One is that there are companies in Nigeria that are international affiliates and there are the entirely local ones.

The response from the international ones is quite quick, as there are even some that you send mail to and they would want to see you immediately. This is as a result of the fact that they have an idea about documents shredding as they have offices in London, South Africa and other countries where this is already being welcomed.

The procurement process with these international accompanies may take time but at least they would want to talk to you while there are some other people who would

Tolu Jaiyeola

still want to burn their documents of over 32000kg in a warehouse and as such, they invest in machinery to burn or some people building more warehouses to store the documents as they still do not have any idea of what to do with it. So, there is a need to inform people and educate them on document shredding.

What are the benefits of companies shredding their documents, and does this have any positive impact on the ecosystem?

Our logo says we do not just protect your document, we protect your reputation. This is because, for us reputation is key to any organisation, considering if someone invests money into starting up a business, he or she would not want it to tear apart for whatsoever reason.

If you can remember some years ago, Arthur Anderson came down because of its record management practices. So, if a popular and big company like that could come down because of such a thing like shredding, then you can imagine the small companies we have in Nigeria could also come down like that. So, the advantage for them is that we go to their office, we shred the documents, instead of their staff shredding one page at a time, we rather shred in volumes, like 100kg in five minutes, and we go further into recycling the shredded documents into household products.

Take, for instance, the Ojota dumpsite which was on fire some days back, probably resulting from too much combination of different kinds of waste, as not every waste should end up in the dump site, some waste should be reused like this process that we are carrying out.

Also, documents shredding helps to keep the ecosystem in good

shape, as the shredded documents are further recycled to manufacture books, tissue papers, etc, and this helps to reduce deforestation. Our statistics show that our once shredding and recycling is equivalent to about 17 trees.

Meaning the more documents will be shredded, the more trees are left untouched, thereby saving the ecosystem.

What are the challenges Shred Station faces in carrying out its operations?

We work with machinery, and the maintenance of the machinery is something that is very difficult, as we have to import some products that we use in keeping it going, and that adds up to our cost but unfortunately, we do not reflect that in our charges to our clients. We try to go as low as possible so people can even have an idea of what shredding is about. We want to get people on board first before giving them the actual charges. So, for us now, it is not primarily about making money, we want people to know about it, we

For any kind of industry that is new, one of the most important kinds of support it can get from the government is policy

Do you shred the documents inside the companies or you take them to your factory?

We do onsite and offsite. Onsite is where our trucks come into your location, you bring out the documents and we shred it right there, so by the time the truck would be leaving your office the documents would have been shredded. So there would not be any situation of your documents falling off on the way and all of that.

Offsite, on the other had, is when we come to your office get the documents and we go to our base to shred it. Onsite is definitely more secure that offsite but whichever the clients prefer is what we will grant them. Apart from the regular shredding that we do periodically for companies, we also have the kind of say a company is moving from one location to another, or just want to clear its offices that have tones of documents to shred, we come in and help out.

For those clients that shred offsite, what are the measures put in place to ensure the documents are safe and do not get into wrong hands?

Offsite is not going to be open to the world for anyone to view and see and we also offer our clients the opportunity to come into our office and witness how it is being shredded. We also do a video recording of our offsite shredding.

A lot of companies are going digital and as such use fewer papers; will this affect your business?

World developed countries have said they want to be paper free, but till date they have not been able to do that. There will still be account documentation; there will still be the people that are not banked that would want to fill out their information on the paper. Nigeria still has a lot of people in this category and as such there is no way we can get away with paper. Although the volume may reduce, not at a significant rate at least in the next 10 years.

What are your future expectations for Shred Station?

Definitely, a household name; that is why we are having this program of going to schools and educating the younger generation, trying to change the mind-set of the younger age.

So, hopefully in the next 10 years, these kids would grow up to be teenagers and adults, telling their parents and the world at large what is right and what is wrong in this

regard. The kids we have worked with so far, now know that they should not burn documents but should shred as it is easy, safe and it is internationally recommended, and as we should not be backward.

What kind of support does Shred Station need to take it to the next level?

For any kind of industry that is new, one of the most important kinds of support it can get from the government is policy. In other parts of the world, they have privacy policies that drive document shredding, like GDPR and the rest of them, but in Nigeria we have nothing like that.

In other countries they say keep my documents for only six or seven years and after that you must destroy it and that drives the business in other countries.

Nigeria needs to create that enabling environment; this is because of the fact that storing documents for a long time is an operational risk, where a company leaves its clients documents lying around. Honestly, if I am a client of a bank and I see my bank statement being used on the road, I can take legal measures to address such negligence.

So with Shred Station, we are trying to show these companies and businesses the risk areas, people that have had their companies torn apart as a result of not using this measure.

What is your advice to companies, institutions and Nigerians at large on shredding their documents?

As an accountant, I know their bottom-line matters and their profit matters. However, profit is not driven only by the income they are able to generate, but also by how much cost they are able to save.

For example, when you have a single person putting documents into the small single shredder in your office, it takes a lot of cost, considering the time, acquisition, and utility costs, all of that could add up to overall cost and affect your bottomline.

Shred Station being the pioneer document shredding company in Nigeria and in west Africa, we are going to be available to help make our country meet up to other countries like South Africa, EU, US, etc, who already have this culture imbibed in their various countries.

What is your message to other women out there?

I would like to say to them that they may get ‘no’ most of the time because they are women but that should not stop them; it should strengthen them to be stronger.

28

BUSINESS DAY

Harvard Business Review

Friday 15 June 2018

ManagementDigest

What Hurricane Maria’s death toll reveals about health care in Puerto Rico HEIDI GRANT

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n estimated 1,833 lives were lost in 2005 in Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history. The federal government’s lack of preparedness and inadequate response to the storm was met with widespread criticism, and the need for a more robust system for responding to natural catastrophes emerged as one of the key lessons. The impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico in 2017 indicates that these lessons have not been learned: The storm, which hit the island last September, rendered tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans homeless, left over a million people without electricity for several weeks and caused an estimated $90 billion in damages (making it the third-costliest tropical cyclone in the United States since 1900).

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) on May 29 estimates that the Puerto Rican death toll associated with Hurricane Maria is at least 4,654, over 70 times the original official count of 64. (Last Friday, Puerto Rico’s Department of Health raised its own estimate by at least 1,400, still far below the estimate in the study.) The mortality rate in the immediate aftermath of the storm (September 20 through December 31) was 14.3 per 1,000 persons, a 62% increase from the official rate during the same period in 2016, researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and other institutions found. The “interruption of medical care was the primary cause of sustained high mortality rates in the months after the hurricane,” the researchers wrote.

There are three explanations for why so many people died after Hurricane Maria: the anemic response by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the

relatively poor health of Puerto Ricans before the storm and the weak infrastructure and paucity of funding for the health system prior to Maria’s striking the island. It is especially important to note that because modern medicine can sustain individuals with chronic illnesses who previously would have succumbed to their conditions, the failure of a local health care system may be particularly threatening to the post-disaster health of an affected population. These explanations are related to the different treatment Puerto Rico receives because it is a territory, not a U.S. state; although its residents are U.S. citizens, they do not enjoy the same rights as their counterparts on the mainland.

FEMA’S RESPONSE TO HURRICANE MARIA Three particularly large storms made landfall in the United States during the 2017 hurricane season: Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico shortly after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma caused widespread damage in Texas and Florida, respectively. FEMA had its hands full coordinating responses to all three disasters, at times simultaneously, but the vast discrepancy between the aid to Texas and Florida and to Puerto Rico shows that the destruction from Hurricane Maria was not treated with the urgency or gravity it deserved. The numbers

tell a sobering tale: FEMA delivered 2.8 million liters of water to Puerto Rico within nine days of Maria’s landfall, while it delivered 4.5 million liters in Texas after Harvey and 7 million in Florida after Irma. Given that Maria left over half a million homes roofless, there was a dire need for tarps in the immediate aftermath of the storm. But FEMA delivered only 5,000 tarps to the island, compared with 20,000 in Texas and almost 100,000 in Florida.

FEMA also deployed fewer personnel to Puerto Rico (10,000, compared with 30,000 deployed after Harvey and 22,000 after Irma).

It provided $2,974 in housing assistance, on average, to those impacted by Maria, while housing assistance to those impacted by Harvey was more than double that, $6,980.

The average Puerto Rican is much poorer than the average American, with a median household income of $20,078, compared with the national average of $57,617, suggesting that there was an acute, unmet need for disaster-related financial assistance.

PUERTO RICANS WERE MORE VULNERABLE TO START WITH Even before the storm, Puerto Rican adults were less healthy than Americans on the mainland. They receive less preventive care, including cancer screenings, vaccines, and immunizations, than their counterparts on the mainland.

Puerto Ricans are also more likely to report greater health needs, with 34% reporting “fair or poor” general health, compared with 18%, on average, nationally.

These existing vulnerabilities likely exacerbated the injury, illness, or loss of necessary medical services directly attributable to Hurricane Maria.

THE HEALTH SYSTEM WAS FRAIL EVEN BEFORE THE STORM Puerto Rico faced a $72 billion debt and multiple funding challenges before Hurricane Maria hit.

In addition to the health vulnerabilities of the population, Puerto Rico’s health care infrastructure was crumbling, and its public programs were severely underfunded.

Unlike U.S. states, Puerto Rico has not had access to many of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It has neither a state-run nor a federally facilitated individual insurance marketplace. Between the inability of individuals to buy subsidized individual health insurance through ACA marketplaces and its high poverty rate, Puerto Rico relies more on public programs like community health centers, Medicaid and Medicare. But because it is a territory, it gets less money and resources from the federal government for Medicaid than it would if it were a state.

The bottom line is that when Hurricane Maria hit, Puerto Rico could not meet the emergency, health-related and other needs of its population. The inadequacy of FEMA’s response worsened the situation, resulting in the alarmingly high mortality rate.

sic infrastructure and investment in human capital must take place well before hurricanes hit.

Hurricane Maria and other recent catastrophes have shown the need for health systems to adapt and build infrastructure that is more resilient to natural disasters to protect their patients and facilities. Houston’s health system was not as adversely affected by Harvey as Puerto Rico’s was by Maria because of lessons learned from a devastating 2001 storm in Texas.

Other related lessons include the necessity for FEMA to be prepared for the upcoming hurricane season. The NEJM study points out that Puerto Rico’s government suppressed the death rates and stopped sharing mortality information with the public in December 2017. Accurately counting deaths is critical if we are to be better prepared for, and responsive to, future hurricanes.

As Puerto Rico rebuilds its health system, Hurricane Katrina offers one more valuable lesson.

After Katrina knocked out much of the health care network in New Orleans, the federal government awarded Louisiana $100 million to restore and expand its safetynet services. An evaluation of the rebuilt health system found that there was an increase in the number of primary care clinics, patient encounters and patients served.

Similar targeted federal assistance could help Puerto Rico rebuild, and even improve, its health infrastructure. This could benefit previously underserved Puerto Ricans for generations to come.

LESSONS TO MITIGATE FUTURE HURRICANES’ IMPACT ON HEALTH As Sandro Galea, the dean of Boston University’s School of Public Health, wrote recently, the lessons from Hurricane Maria include a need for communities to be better prepared to handle the full range of health consequences of disasters. Improvements to ba-

(David Blumenthal, MD, is president of the Commonwealth Fund. He previously served as the National Coordinator for Health IT in the Obama Administration. Shanoor Seervai is a senior research associate and communications associate at the Commonwealth Fund.)

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

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Friday 15 June 2018

C002D5556

IMPACT INVESTING

BUSINESS DAY

29

In Association With

Invoking Impact Investing for environmental protection: The Nigerian imperative INNOCENT UNAH & ABISINUOLA DAVID-OLUSA

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ur Earth is considered an ecosystem on a large scale. When we introduce external factors such as carbon dioxide, it upsets the balance of this ecosystem and affects the inhabitants. One of the consequences of such upsets is global warming, water shortage, extinction of species, etc. These have tremendous negative impacts on humans, threatening their very existence.

Nigeria is a country faced with upsets arising from such external factors, which have caused a number of national environmental crises such as soil degradation, urban air and water pollution, rapid deforestation, oil pollution and loss of arable land. The crises have manifested in various forms in different parts of the country, some of which we explore in the following paragraphs.

Pollution in the Niger Delta: living with death After more than fifty years of negligence by the oil industry, the Niger Delta has been rendered the 9th most toxic environments in the world as a result of oil spills and pollutants from continuous gas flaring, according to Pure Earth, an organisation that focuses on identifying and cleaning up the poorest communities in developing countries with health-threatening concentrations of toxins.

As a country that generates over 90 per cent of its revenue from the sale of crude oil, Nigeria constantly witnessed activities ranging from oil prospecting to exploration, which often lead to negative environmental impacts such as oil spillages, land degradation, and air quality degradation due to gas flaring and drilling rig explosion.

Combined with the industrial waste discharged into the atmosphere, the pollution has had damaging impacts on host communities, evidenced by polluted water bodies (eliminating aquatic life) and ubiquitous health hazards.

Ogoniland: Blessed with oil, cursed with spillage An assessment carried out by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), showed that pollution from over 50 years of oil operations in the Niger Delta region has permeated through the entire environment. In at least 10 Ogoni communities where drinking water is contaminated with high levels of hydrocarbons, public health has been immensely battered.

In Nisisioken Ogale, a community in the west of Ogoniland, families drink water from wells contaminated with benzene at levels over 900 times above WHO guidelines. In this community that is close to a Nigerian National Petroleum Company pipeline, an 8 cm layer of refined oil, a product of an oil spill which occurred more than six years ago, could be seen floating on the groundwater serving the wells.

While experts agree that some attempts to clean-up the environmental mess could yield immediate results, the report estimates that countering and cleaning up the pollution and catalysing an ecological recovery of Ogoniland could take 25 to 30 years. In 2016, Hilary Inyang, a professor of environmental engineering and science, stated that Nigeria had 3,920 contaminated sites that would cost the government about $520 billion over the next 30 to 35 years to clean up.

Onitsha air pollution: delivering debilitating doses WHO estimates that up to 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air as these particles mostly lead to diseases such as stroke, heart ailments, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and respiratory infections.

According to the 2018 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) report, air quality is the leading environmental threat to public health. This is corroborated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). In 2016, IHME estimated that diseases related to airborne pollutants contributed to two-thirds of all life-years lost to environmentally-related deaths and disabilities.

Similarly, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that about 600,000 yearly recorded deaths in Africa are related to air pollution. In 2016, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) noted that annually,

close to 712,000 people are at risk of being killed prematurely by polluted air across Africa.

According to WHO, Onitsha, Nigeria, has the highest levels of Particulate Matter (PM)10 in the world followed

by Peshawar in Pakistan and Zabol in Iran. The WHO uses the PM measure to gauge the level of concentration of particles in the air. Other cities which were ranked by WHO for high PM10 levels are Kaduna, Abia and Umuahia; these ranked fifth, sixth and sixteenth on the WHO PM 10 scale, indicating that these cities are grossly polluted, not just in terms of air quality but also in terms of solid wastes that litter the streets and block the drainage system.

Lagos automobiles fumes and their hydrocarbon discharge Vehicular exhaust emissions are the greatest single source of urban air pollution in Nigeria since most of the automobiles plying Nigerian roads are run with worn out combustion engines that emit over-bearing quantities of fumes.

Diesel fumes contain about 10 times the amount of soot particles contained in petrol exhaust fumes, with the potential to cause cancer. In the short term, high level and/or persistent exposure to diesel fumes can irritate the eyes and increase the risk of lung cancer.

Port Harcourt: A Sooty garden Soot is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete burning of hydrocarbons. When inhaled, the soot particle becomes an irritant and cause cough. Persistent cough leads to an injury in the lungs.

Soot, currently experienced by Port Harcourt residents was triggered by incessant activities of illegal oil refining and bunkering as burning of tyres compound the malaise.

Environmental Protection Projects In the face of the numerous onslaughts on the various aspect of the Nigerian environment, it is marginally comforting to observe that a number of projects targeted at environmental restoration and protection. One of such projects is the Clean Lagos Initiative (CLI) of the Lagos State Government.

Clean Lagos Initiative The CLI was launched by the Lagos State Government in 2016 through its Ministry of Environment. Its mandate is to ensure a clean (Lagos) city through a viable waste management framework.

As the name indicates, this initiative is expected to eliminate indiscriminate waste disposal by enthroning effective waste management and recovery systems.

Environmental analysts say that this measure should substantially contain, and eventually eliminate, the health hazards that often arise from wanton waste disposal practices. The reform is a type of public private partnership model, involving the engagement of private contractors in the waste management process. The CLI is backed by an enabling act, the Environmental Management and Protection Law recently passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Call for Action: the role of Impact

Investing According to a 2016 World Bank report The average life expectancy of Nigerians was 53 years, a far cry from that of average for low and middle income countries, which the organisation put at a little above 70 years. A major cause of the short life expectancy is environmental pollution, with more than 9 million people are killed annually.

From the foregoing, it is fairly obvious that any serious attempt to enhance the quality of life of Nigerians through a clean-up of the environment will need huge funding. This is an opportunity that impact investors should embrace as it has the potential of delivering good returns while offering portfolio diversification alternatives. With impact investing, it is possible to shrink the negative impacts on the environment and also generate positive returns on investments.

Impact Investing environmental intervention tools A critical situation analysis shows that Impact investing for the protection of the environment is possible. It can be achieved through investments in organizations, bonds, funds and other instruments whose primary objective is to improve social and environmental conditions.

An example of such instruments is the green bond, which was initially introduced in Nigeria in December 2017.

Green Bonds are typically debt instruments issued to raise capital for specific clean power projects or projects aimed at reducing threat of climate change.

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BUSINESS DAY

C002D5556

SPORTS

Friday 15 June 2018

Kwesé Free Sports deepens sports content business … signs Asisat Oshoala as Brand Ambassador Stories by ANTHONY NLEBEM

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wenty four hours sports T V station, Kwesé Free Sports (KFS) UHF 32, has signed the 2017 African Women’s Footballer of the Year, Asisat Oshoala, as its brand ambassador in Nigeria.

The Nigeria professional footballer and Dalian Quanjian F.C. forward, will become the face of the Kwesé Free Sports brand promoting the channels’ sporting content and supporting its initiatives. She will feature in Kwesé Free Sports’s advertising commercials encompassing radio, television, print and digital. She will make appearances at Kwesé Free Sports events and feature as a guest analyst in its studios.

Arguably Nigeria’s best female footballer, Asisat Oshoala’s honours include; the African Women’s Footballer of the Year 2014, 2016 and 2017, and the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year 2015.

Also a Super Falcons star, Asisat was named; best player and highest goal scorer at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada,

L-R: Chichi Nwoko, General Manager, Kwesé Free Sports Nigeria; Asisat Oshoala, African Women’s Footballer of the Year and Elizabeth Amkpa, General Manager, Kwesé TV during the signing of Asisat Oshoala as Kwesé Free Sports brand ambassador at Kwesé offices in Lagos .

and best player and second highest goal scorer with the Super Falcons at the 2014 African Women Championship in Namibia.

Aw a re t h a t a l o t o f young girls look up to

her for inspiration, she launched the Asisat Oshoala Foundation to mentor and groom young girls who aspire to be the best they can be in their chosen endeavour, not necessarily

football, and giving them a new lease of life. The foundation has in recent times reached out to little kids in orphanages across Lagos, devoting her time in well-meaning charity

causes particularly in her home country, Nigeria.

General Manager, Kwesé Free Sports Nigeria, Chichi Nwoko explained that Kwesé Free Sports will support the Asisat Oshoala Founda-

tion as part of its commitment to youth development through sports.

“We believe that Asisat exemplifies what Kwesé Free Sports stands for. We want to be the vehicle through which she tells the story of women through her foundation”, Nwoko said.

Asisat is living a lifelong dream of being one of the best female footballers in the world and says “she intends to fully utilize her potentials as the best female footballer to ever come out of Nigeria.”

She adds that she is “happy to be a part of the Kwesé family”.

“This endorsement is a real inspiration for all women. I want to thank the Kwesé family for also giving a woman the opportunity to represent its brand.

I encourage all hardworking women to keep working because at the end, it pays-off”, she said.

Kwesé Free Sports (KFS) is a Lagos-based television station that broadcasts on UHF channel 32. It is also a part of the largest and only pan-African Free-to-Air (FTA) network available in more than 24 countries in Africa. It holds the exclusive FTA rights to the 2018 FIFA World Cup and will broadcast 32 matches during the tournament.

World Cup: Spectranet announces data bonanza for customers to watch, support Super Eagles

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s the biggest Football tournament kicks off on June 14th, Spectranet 4GLTE is garnering support for Nigeria’s National Team with a nationwide consumer promotion, Connect & Win Big World Cup Bonanza.

The promotion is part of Spectranet’sendeavour to participate in the happy moments of its customers, new and existing, and multiply their joy by offering incredible price deals on data renewals and device purchases.

Speaking on the timing and rationale behind the promo, Head of Marketing, Mike Ogor notes: “The Win Big World Cup Bonanza was coined and structured to make customers enjoy more of our affordable and smart internet experience, purchase devices at amazing prices and renew data

plans. It is coming at a time we decided to show our solidarity to the national team’s participation at the 2018 World Cup.” “We’ve got a prize for everyone. We want to make

our customers happy, thus we are propelling the promotion with major open market activations in our coverage areas- Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan. Winners will be

picked via monthly draws.

New customers can participate in the promotion by purchasing any of Spectranet MiFi s at N20,000 with 40GB and 50% data bonus on six renewals within

210 days from activation as added benefits or Freedom MiFi at N16,000 with 25GB free data and 50% data bonus on six renewals within 210days from activation as added benefits.

Top on the list of prizes in the promotion is a trip to Dubai for 2 winners. The second prize is one year unlimited data for 10 winners while 40 Inch TV Sets will be given to 20 customers.

Consolation prizes include: 7GB data for 200 customers and Bluetooth Speaker for 200 customers respectively.

Existing subscribers are not left out of the world cup exciting offers. All existing customers who renew their Spectranet accounts before Nigeria matches in June and July, 2018, will be awarded 1GB data bonus for every goal scored by Nigeria during the World Cup and 5GB

data bonus for every win by Nigerian team.

Customers can log on to www.spectranet.com.ng or visit Spectranet Shops, Express service Outlets and Dealer shops to participate in the promotion.

Spectranet Limited was the first Internet Service Provider (ISP) to launch 4G LTE internet service in Nigeria. The brand is known for providing an affordable, faster and more reliable internet broadband to Nigerian homes and offices. Its internet service is currently available across Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan and Port Harcourt. Its state of the art network ensures high speed internet connectivity for the customers.

Spectranet 4G LTE is a recipient of multiple awards for Best Internet Service and 4G LTE Provider in Nigeria in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Politics & Policy BUSINESS DAY

31

Friday 15 June 2018

C002D5556

We’ll shutdown Aso Villa if Obasanjo is touched, ADC warns

Eid el Fitri: Nigeria’s rebirth lies in equity, fairness, unity, says Ambode

INNOCENT ODOH, Abuja

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he African Democratic Congress (ADC) has warn that no amount of pressure, intimidation or blackmail will compel the party to recant the threat it issued recently to shutdown Aso Rock Presidential Villa, if former President Olusegun Obasanjo is touched by President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The National Chairman of the party, Ralph Okey Nwosu, reiterated this in a statement issued to BusinessDay on Tuesday, stressing that since his interview on the matter was published in some national newspapers on June 8, he has been inundated with calls and visitations from concerned family members, friends, colleagues, and numerous others, some of who have requested a disclaimer or retraction of the story.

“I have also received threats. I do not intend to offend anyone, but as a patriot, I still stand by all I said concerning the threat to former President Obasanjo,” he said, urging all Nigerians to be more “em-

President Buhari

boldened to speak truth to power and take action against undemocratic and draconian tendencies of elected officials, including President Buhari.”

Last week, former President Obasanjo raised an alarm over alleged threats by the President Buhari government to level trumped up charges against him and use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to clamp him into detention indefinitely, following his persistent criticisms of the Buhari administration.

Nwosu noted “This time they plan not to woo him for support, but to mow him down. The reasons are

simple, Obasanjo put their horrible report card in the public space, and in addition, he has built a national stakeholders community of patriotic elders and youths,” he said.

Obasanjo is seen as the brain behind the ADC, following the recent fusion of his Coalition of Nigeria Movement (CNM) into the ADC, which has become one of the political parties touted to form a grand coalition to unseat President Buhari in the 2019 election.

The ADC chair lamented that Buhari and the APC have failed to provide good governance they promised Nigerians and instead resorted to draconian meas-

Oshiomhole’s APC chairmanship ambition receives Benue support JAMES KWEN, Abuja

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dams Oshiomhole’s ambition to clinch the seat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman at the June 23 convention has received another boost.

This is just as Governor Samuel Ortom assured the former Edo State Governor, of the total support of Benue delegates towards the actualisation of his ambition of becoming the next national chairman of the APC. Ortom gave the assurance on Wednesday, when Oshiomhole visited him at the Benue State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja.

He said as a former governor, Oshiomhole had the requisite pedigree to efficiently run the affairs of the party at the national level.

Ortom described Oshiomhole’s decision to contest for the position as a welcome development, especially now that the APC Governor’s Forum has adopted him.

He urged the renowned unionist to use his expertise to reposition the party for the progress of the country and the deepening of the democratic process if elected.

He expressed satisfaction with the current national leadership of the party for its strides over the years but said there was always room for improvement.

Ortom expressed hope that the aspirant would interact with Benue delegates before the party’s convention in Abuja, even as he wished him well in his aspiration.

In his speech earlier, Os-

hiomhole said his visit to the governor was to condole with him, the government and people of the state over the killings and also inform him of his intention to run for the party’s national chairmanship position.

He said his desire to become APC National Chairman was on account of his desire to contribute his quota towards reinventing the party so as to increase the bonding of members for the pursuit of the progressive ideas and vision for which it was founded.

The aspirant said he was familiar with the diversity of the country and that if voted, he would not betray the trust bestowed in him by his fellow party men, as well as all the stakeholders and expressed appreciation to Governor Ortom for the warm reception accorded him.

ures characterised by death, detention without trial, hardship and intimidation.

“They chronicled myriad things to do within a given time for Nigerians. Unfortunately, they have delivered none. Rather, they have made things worse. For a government intent on change, they spent the first six months of the administration doing nothing. They isolated and denigrated people.

“Benchmarked against all his predecessors since Nigeria’s independence, the APC leader has underperformed.

Nigeria has gone from an emerging economy in the global space to an irrelevant state under President Buhari’s watch,” he said.

The ADC chair also condemned the anti-corruption fight of the Buhari government, stressing that it is selective and exposes the country to mockery even as he lamented the insecurity characterized by mass deaths and mass burials in Benue state, Adamawa, Zamfara, and Kaduna, which prompted the former Chief of Army Staff, T.Y Danjuma to lose his patience and accused the government of complicity in the killings.

JOSHUA BASSEY

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overnor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode says a new Nigeria will emerge if all persons irrespective of class, ethnic and religious affiliations, embrace fairness, equity and unity of purpose.

Ambode also stressed the need for Nigerians to imbibe the tenets of tolerance for one another as a pathway to building a strong and united nation.

The governor, in his Eid-el-Fitri message, yesterday to the citizens, particularly the Muslims, said it was only by embracing peace, unity and fairness that Nigerian could experience a rebirth.

He urged the Muslims to deepen the spirit of brotherhood and forgiveness which the period of the holy month exemplifies.

According to him, with brotherly love and harmonious c o-existenc e among her citizens above all other things, Nigeria can overc ome the numerous challenges confronting her.

The governor adde d that in the last thre e years, despite the seeming economic challenges,

the nation has witnessed appreciable level of development expressing optimism that more can be achieved if all hands are on deck.

“As we celebrate this auspicious occasion of the end of the holy month of Ramadan, therefore, let us renew our faith in our nation and implore the Almighty God to restore to us those values that place high premium on human life, love for our country, love for our neighbour and sharing even as we ventilate our faith in the unity of our dear c ountry and the possibility of her taking her proper place in the comity of nations”.

Ambode, who said that the spirit of Eid-el-Fitri resonates around the virtues of love and respect not just for God but also for humanity, stressed that it is only in the spirit of brotherly love and de dication to national service that Nigerians could build the desired nation.

He thanked the residents of Lagos for their continued harmonious and p eac eful c o-existence amid diverse ethnic and beliefs, and wished Muslim in the state a happy Eid-el-Fitri celebration.

Secondus attacks EFCC for harassing PDP states OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja

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ational Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus on Thursday, accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of bias in its execution of anticorruption war in the country.

Secondus said that the recent arrest and harassment of contractors handling projects in only PDP states has clearly exposed the anti-graft agency as doing the bidding of the ruling party ahead of 2019 general elections.

The PDP leader said in a statement by his Media Adviser, Ike Abonyi, that the EFCC has deployed its operatives to intimidate and harass contractors handling various projects in some PDP states.

He expressed regret that the Commission has remained beclouded in their bias and has refused to heed the counsel of well-meaning Nigerians and international watchers, includ-

ing the recent one from the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, for them not to take sides with any political party ahead of the 2019 general election.

He noted that the Commission, rather than listen to such counsel, has instead made itself a willing tool to assist the APC ahead of the forthcoming elections.

“Rather than encourage states who are seriously involved in the delivery of democracy dividend to their people, the envious ruling APC has been conniving with the relevant agencies to be harassing contractors ostensibly to frustrate and slow them down in their development strides.

“Contractors in Taraba and Rivers states, as well as other PDP states are being harassed

by EFCC operatives and are being arm twisted to implicate PDP leaders.

“Intelligence is available to the party that the ruling party and the Federal Government have resolved to ensure that PDP states are permanently

put on their toes, so as not to get their bearing ahead of 2019.

“It would be clear to the world and discerning minds that PDP governors are doing fantastic jobs executing projects that touch the lives of their people unlike their APC counterparts “In some states like Taraba where projects have been halted as a result of EFCC meddlesomeness, the unemployment situation has worsened,” the statement reads.

The National Chairman, according to the statement, reiterated the position of the PDP that corruption should be confronted frontally but warned that meaningful result would never be achieved in this regard in an atmosphere of bias and double standards from anti-corruption agencies.

Secondus regretted that the anti-graft agencies which were set up by the PDP administration to tackle corruption have become willing tool in the hands of the governing party.

32 BUSINESS DAY NEWS

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Friday 15 June 2018

CBN, banks offer 10% incentive FG disburses loans to over 4,000 GEEP beneficiaries in Edo to importer with Renminbi invoice MarketMoni … set to launch TraderMoni scheme for ultra-microenterprises nationwide … to unbundle 40m Nigerians without bank accounts HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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entral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the deposit money banks is offering 10 percent mark-up as an incentive to importers of machinery and equipment with Renminbi invoice.

Also, a percentage spread that is yet to be determined will be given to any importer that brings Renminbi invoice for settlement instead of a dollar invoice. Renminbi is Chinese currency.

This implies that these importers will access foreign currency at a cheaper cost than the ones who have US dollar invoice, and the idea according to the Bankers Committee, is to encourage importers to receive invoices in Renminbi instead of dollar.

“When you look at the overall cost in terms of naira, if an importer brings Renminbi invoice it is going to be cheaper for the importer in coming to the CBN to get foreign currency, which in

this case will be Renminbi.

“The importer will bring lesser amount of naira. If the importer goes ahead to bring a dollar invoice from the same supplier based in China may be in Beijing, it is going to cost the importer slightly more in terms of the naira he is going to use to get the foreign currency,” Demola Sogunle, chief executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank plc, said after the Bankers’ Committee meeting in Lagos.

Others who addressed the media after meeting include, Ahmed Abdullahi, director, banking supervision, CBN, Obeahon Ohiwerei, managing director/ CEO, Keystone Bank, Kennedy Uzoka, group managing director/ CEO, UBA, and Adesola Adeduntan, managing director/CEO of First Bank of Nigeria Limited.

The committee noted that the nation’s external reserves have risen to $48 billion driven by increase in oil prices and production and stable foreign exchange.

As part of its agenda regarding financial inclusion, the committee plans to unbundle 40 million Nigerians who do have bank

account in the next three years.

The CBN, banks, Mobile Money Operators, and Super Agents had in March this year planned to roll-out a 500,000 shared agent network within two years, to deepen financial inclusion in the country.

“We have made significant progress. We have licensed super agents and we have started licensing other agents. We have a common logo that basically show that its shared services. In the next three years we expect that we unbundle 40 million additional customers into the formal banking sector,” Adeduntan said.

The committee noted that the CBN is in a very strong position to defend the exchange rate. At the bankers committee, issues pertaining to the economy were discussed. The committee recognise the mixed signal that is coming from the global economy, rise in US interest rates and impact on Nigerian economy, the impact of trade wars on the economy, the tax cut in the US – capital outflow from emerging economy like Nigeria.

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do State has now recorded over 4,000 beneficiaries of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, GEEP. This was revealed on Thursday, at the state’s edition of Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprise (MSME) Clinic.

GEEP is one of the National Social Intervention Programmes (NSIP) of the current administration, providing interest-loans of between N10,000 and N100,000 to market women, farmers, artisans and enterprising youths nationwide. The Bank of Industry is executing it.

Speaking at the event, the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said, “The policy of the Federal Government is to support businesses, not just big business but particularly small, mediumsized businesses and microbusinesses. The whole idea is that we want to ensure that we give whatever support whether it is cash, advise or even registration to all of our small and medium enterprises.”

Apart from the existing GEEP MarketMoni scheme,

which targets market women, traders, artisans and enterprising youths, Osinbajo also revealed that the Federal Government is rolling out TraderMoni, a new micro-credit scheme to cater for ultra-micro enterprises.

“It is a different thing from MarketMoni because TraderMoni is for the smaller traders. These are the hawkers; those who are doing little things where in many cases their inventory, the whole thing they are selling is sometimes not even more than N5,000 N10,000. We want to give those kinds of people some credit as well and once they pay back, we will give them some more money,” Osinbajo said.

Under the existing GEEP MarketMoni scheme, Toyin Adeniji, the executive director of Financial Inclusion in BoI, said Federal Government through BoI had done over 4,000 loans in Edo State and 350,000 nationwide.

She also added that the pilot phase of the TraderMoni scheme already began, with 368 traders in Edo State, each walking home with N10,000 after the event.

While speaking at a separate interview during the event, Adeniji said BOI is making every possible effort to enhance the scope of the program and bring in more beneficiaries.

“Beneficiaries of the GEEP loan have been able to improve their businesses. Some of them from a one-man shop now employ six people; those who buy things in small units now buy in bulk. It is a very aggressive scheme and we have a target to reach over a million. “As at now, we have disbursed loans to over 350,000 beneficiaries nationwide, and to scale up the scheme, we have identified and categorised a new group of micro traders who need only about N10,000 to boost their businesses,” she said.

Uzoma Nwagba, GEEP MarketMoni chief operating officer, also expressed, “GEEP is to address one of the tough challenges of microenterprises in Nigeria, which is access to finance. We felt that as government backed by the execution capacity of BOI, we could target this group of people and inflate the economy from the base.”

MTN fine: PDP questions approval of N500m for lawyers OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja

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eople’s Democratic Party (PDP) has questioned the Federal Government’s approval of N500 million for lawyers who represented the Federal Government during the N330 billion fine negotiation involving MTN Nigeria.

The main opposition party charged President Mu ha m ma d u Bu ha r i t o come out clean on allegations of corruption and sharp practices surrounding the recovery of the N1.03 trillion fine imposed on the telecoms firm, which was reduced to N330 billion.

The PDP said President Buhari and his administration had a lot of questions to answer on how the fine was reduced to N330 billion, particularly on the face of allegations that certain interests in the Presidential Villa, said to be very close to President Buhari, allegedly took a bribe of N500 million before the reduction.

On Wednesday, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, announced the approval of N500 million for lawyers who represented the Federal Government during the N330 billion fine negotiations involving the telecommunication firm.

Malami spoke after the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

But in a statement on Thursday by Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP National Publicity S ecretar y, the party noted that: “It is, to say the least, disgusting that while this allegation of bribery at the Villa has

re ma i n e d u n c l e a re d by the Presidency, President Buhari, the same African Union (AU) Anti-Corruption Champion, on Wednesday, approved the frittering of another N500 million from the same fund, under controversial claims of professional fees to unnamed persons for unspecified services.

“For a government that prides itself as fighting corruption, the nation had long expected Mr. President to clear the air on the sordid allegation of bribery in the Presidential Villa. Rather than progressing in that direction, President Buhari has continued to act as if the demand by Nigerians, to know the truth about the alleged bribery in the villa over the payment of MTN fine, does not matter.

“Furthermore, the PDP challenges President Buhari to come out clear on the basis for the purported N500million professional fee. What due process instruments did he rely upon?

Who are these lawyers?

Who contracted them; under what terms and what services did they render that was beyond the Attorney General of the Federation and the team of lawyers at the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and the Ministry of Justice?

“Now that it has become clear that the Buhari Presidency is entangled in sleazes over the NTN fine saga, the PDP charges President Buhari to end his concealment of corruption in the villa and show his sincerity by allowing an open inquest into his administration’s dealings on the MTN fine payment”.

L-R: Abdulhamid Umar, director of operations, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC); Adekunle Yusuf; Modupe Adeoyo, and Oluwanifesimi Odedina, all of Digital Banking Unit, Sterling Bank Plc, receiving the 2018 Card Award for the card adjudged with most utility relevance to the card holder at the just concluded Digital PayExpo awards held in Lagos.

CBN allocates $343.06m to agric, airlines, petroleum sectors HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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entral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday intervened in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) to the tune of $343.06 million, to meet forex demand of key sectors of the economy.

Figures obtained from the bank on Thursday, indicate that the amount released was for requests in the agricultural, airlines, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors.

Consequently, the nation’s naira on Thursday ap-

preciated across segments of foreign exchange market. At the investors and exporters forex window, naira gained slightly by 0.01 percent to close at N361.07k per dollar on Thursday from N361.10k/$, data from FMDQ show.

The local currency was quoted at the rate of N305.85k to the dollar on Thursday, as against N305.85/$. Naira strengthened by 0.02 percent to N361.05k per dollar on the same day compared with N361.12k/$ traded the previous day.

Acting director, corporate communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the figures and noted that the continued intervention were in line with the assurances made by the governor, Godwin Emefiele, to sustain market liquidity in order to boost production and trade and maintain stability in the forex market.

Speaking further, Okorafor assured that the CBN remained very committed to ensuring that all the sectors continue to enjoy access to the foreign exchange required

for the business concerns.

The CBN and the Bankers’ Committee said yesterday that the CBN had enough arsenal to ensure that there was stable exchange rate, to ensure liquidity in the forex market and that any demand for forex would be met.

It would be recalled that on Tuesday, this week, the bank injected the sum of $210 million into the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market.

Meanwhile, the naira exchanged at N362/$1 in the BDC segment of the market yesterday.

Friday 15 June 2018

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As World Cup kicks off, suspended betting...

Mimiko returns to Labour Party, despite...

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

found on official site of Lagos State Lottery Board Some of the firms on the list include; Betcolony, Naija4win, Gobet3000, Stakewise, Millionaires Sportsbet, Winasbet, 360 Bet, 9japredict, Nairapower, Gidibet, Edwinbet, Rookie Bet, Ecobet and Jackpot.

A source at the LSLB decline to tell BusinessDay why the firms were suspended, when BusinessDay called to know why the action was taken against the firms. “We do not have the power to disclose such information”.

However, based on the legislation of LSLB, if the Governor on the recommendation of the Board is satisfied that grounds exist for the revocation of the licence granted in terms of section 14, the Governor shall in writing notify the licensee of the existence of such grounds and call upon the licensee to furnish reason, within 21 days of service of that notice at the registered address of the licensee, why the licence should not be revoked, failing which the licence will cease to be upon the expiration of the said period of 21 days.

BusinessDay findings show that nine of the suspended op-

erators are still operating online despite being suspended by LSLB. The suspended betting companies that have remained active are Betcolony, Naija4win, Gobet3000, Stakewise, Millionaires Sportsbet, Winasbet, 360 Bet and 9japredict.

BusinessDay findings show that the suspended betting companies may be exploiting a loophole in the law guiding the licencing and operation of betting companies in Lagos State.

According to a legal representative for LSLB, “We do not have control over online betting businesses as they could operate from other states or countries; however, we can only shut them down if they still have physical structures within Lagos.”

This means that the suspended betting companies can continue to provide betting services to Lagos residents through their online presence as long as they do not have a physical presence in the state.

However, according to a reliable source, some suspended betting companies like 360 bet still operate from their physical structures in Lagos. With these suspended betting companies serving Lagos customers without the supervision of LSLB, misconduct by these betting companies

ing the movement as a return to his political home.

The former governor, who governed the state for eight years between 2009 and 2012, returned to the Labour Party on Thursday with his teeming supporters across the state, and was received by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party led by the factional National Chairman, Abdukadir Abdulsalaam at the Ondo Civic Centre, in Ondo city.

Mimiko explained that the reason he left the party in 2014 for PDP was as result of his interest for the development of the country through restructuring which he said, the then PDP government promised by putting together the National conference.

“I have taken this decision out of the conviction on the need to catalyze a greater focus on the ideological content of the Nigerian political firmament. Recall that I was of the LP, and had won my two gubernatorial elections on the platform of the Party prior my decision to move over to the PDP in 2014. The implication of this is that there was practically no personal gain in focus for us in moving over to PDP as at that

L-R: Amaju Pinnick, president, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF); Chibuzor Azubuike a.k.a Phyno, artiste, and Francis Peters, deputy managing director, Aiteo Group, the Optimum partner of the Super Eagles, at the presentation of the official theme song of the Super Eagles Russia 2018 World Cup campaign by Aiteo to the NFF in Lagos.

date.”

“The decision was also not borne out of any disagreement with LP, either ideologically or operationally. It was simply a decision that we needed to take in the higher interest of our country.

We particularly had in focus the agenda of restructuring, which frontier the then president had extended a bit by convoking the National Conference. We thus felt compelled to work with his party, hoping that his victory in the 2015 election, would translate the vision of restructuring the Nigerian federation into reality.”

“Recall also that INEC had tweaked the order of the 2015 election, joining the presidential and National Assembly elections - to hold on the same day. It posed a huge practical challenge to get our supporters to vote a PDP presidential candidate, and LP legislative candidates, in the same election, on the same day.

We thought helping to elect a presidential candidate that had demonstrated this commitment to restructuring of the country was well worth the risk associated with our having to step out of our LP platform onto PDP, on which the former president was running.”

“Even now, restructuring remains for us the critical plank without which the much needed stability and functionality of our country cannot be procured.” He said his return to the party was a patriotic decision towards giving the people an alternative and reposition the country for better.

He advised the people to go out next week, and register for the labour party for them to have the party’s card for them to prepare for the task ahead.

The former governor earlier in the day registered at his ward 7 in Ondo West local government area of the state.

While speaking at the event, the National Chairman of Labour Party, Abdukadir Abdulsalaam noted that the party was delighted to receive the former governor to the party because of his track records.

“The Labour Party is elated that that a social democrat like Mimiko, who through his sterling performances as governor mainstreamed pro-people and pro-poor people policies, pro-

Continued from page 1

Consumers shun Nigerian rice on high cost, taste...

starchy with longer grains and appeals more to my customers,” Comfort Ezeonwu, a rice buyer at Mile 12 market told BusinessDay. “Apart from Lake Rice that is subsidised by the Lagos state government, a 50 kg of other local varieties is sold between N15,000 and N16,000, while the imported varieties sells between N13,000 and N14,000. For this reason, I buy only the imported brands,” Ezeonwu said.

Nigeria is a major market for white rice with long grains, but most of the locally grown rice have shorter grains.

Another buyer at Daleko market Aderemi Odetola , told BusinessDay that she has never patronised the local rice before, saying that the imported rice is still

better milled and more convenient to prepare.

“You cannot use the local rice to prepare fried rice and that is my favourite meal. I still do not believe that our local rice is properly milled so I do not buy them,” Odetola said.

Apart from consumers’ preference, pricing is another major issue responsible for low patronage. In spite of farmers getting subsidised inputs from the Federal Government through the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), an average price of a bag of rice paddy still sells for N11,250, a price that is too high for rice millers to compete relative to imported varieties.

As a result, Nigeria has continued to see high rate of smuggling of cheaper imported rice through

the country’s porous borders, to meet up with the ever increasing demand mostly driven by large population growth and increasing urbanisation.

According to the USDA 2018 Grain Report on Nigeria, the country’s 2018 rice imports entering through informal cross-border channels are expected to increase by about 12 percent to 2.9 million tons, from 2.6 million tons reported in 2017 season.

“The integrated rice milling operations are unable to purchase paddy from local farmers as paddy prices are too high for products of the formal and integrated mills to be competitive relative to the imported rice smuggled through numerous informal border routes,” the USDA 2018 Grain Report for

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BUSINESS DAY

Nigeria states.

“This has continued to limit the potential for increased domestic rice production,” the report added.

BusinessDay survey at Daleko and Mile 12 domestic markets, found that only two local brands; Mama Pride and Lake Rice were available in very few stores, with imported brands flooding the entire markets.

A bag of Lake Rice sells for N13,000 while Mama Pride goes between N15,000 and N16,000 in Lagos depending on the customers bargaining ability.

“Our local rice is not competitive because of the cost of paddy which constitutes 70 percent of the total price of rice processing.

Millers need to be competitive to remain in business and pricing is

grammes and projects, is returning to add value to the party. I assure you of our support and commitment at all times.”

But more Controversy have trailed the return of former Governor of Ondo state, Olusegun Mimiko to the Labour party, (LP) yesterday, even as the factional national chairman of the party, Mike Omotosho and other party chieftains have rejected his return and accused him of planning to destabilise the party.

Mimiko had initially defected to the Labour party in 2006 and won the governorship election of Ondo state under the platform of the party in 2007 and 2012, he had also defected to the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) in 2003 from the Alliance for Democratic (AD).

But in a resignation letter send to the media, Mimiko said he left the PDP for personal reasons, while adding that it was a privilege to work with eminent Nigerians in the party.

“I hereby with utmost humility inform you of my decision to resign my membership of the PDP with effect from today for some well thought-out personal reasons”, “It was an honour working with the many prominent Nigerians with whom I shared the PDP platform for the entire period I was in there as a member.”

But speaking in a telephone interview with Business day yesterday, the national chairman of the party, Mike Omotosho rejected the defection of the former Governor to the party, adding that Mimiko did not pass through the right process to become a member.

Omotosho accused Mimiko of planning to hijack the party structure for his personal gains, while advising him to come and meet the Nigeria labour Congress, (NLC) and register if he wants to join the party.

He said: “It is not true Mimiko has return to the labour party, he went to the wrong people, he did not see the party leaders, and that is why we issued a statement on that. Mimiko is not wanted in our party, he can’t just come and join us let him go through the right process and register with the NLC if he wants to join the party”.

very vital for this to happen.

A metric ton of paddy rice now cost about N234,000 and the ABP subsidising inputs for farmers is not sustainable,” AfricanFarmer Mogaji, chief executive officer, X-Ray Farms Consulting Limited said in a response to questions.

“We need to drive down farmers production cost and we cannot do this without tractors. A lot of farmers still do not have access to tractors to clear and till their lands, resulting to manual labour that has continued to drive up their production cost,” Mogaji said.

He also added that substandard inputs had also prevented farmers from increasing their yields per hectare, saying that most input suppliers under government interventions are always providing farmers with low quality inputs.

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Nigeria’s depressed economy drags down West Africa’s FDI by 11% BUNMI BAILEY

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ccording to United Nations Conferences on Trade and Development (UNTAD) investment report 2018, Nigeria’s depressed economy dragged down West Africa’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by 11 percent to $11.3 billion in 2017 from $12.7 billion in 2016.

FDI to Nigeria fell by 21 percent to $3.5 billion in 2017 from $4.4 billion in 2016.

Based on the investment report, domestic demand was well below investors’ expectations and several consumerfacing companies from South Africa exited Nigeria in 2016.

“Nigeria accounts for about 80 percent of West Africa economy. A sensational weight of Nigeria can actually influence other West Africa countries.

Even if other countries in that region have material improvements, Nigeria‘s declining economy has the capacity to bring down the whole of the West Africa region,” Johnson Chukwu, CEO, Cowry Asset Management Limited, said.

Countries in the West Africa region include Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Benin Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory

Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Nigeria and Ghana are the top investment destinations in West Africa, having an FDI inflow of $3.5 billion and $3.2 billion in 2017, respectively.

Ibrahim Tajudeem, head of research, Chaphill Denham, said, “These are the top two countries in terms of access to West Africa markets.”

Despite being one of the top investment destinations in the West Africa sub-region, Nigeria’s FDI inflows have been treading down since 2012 through 2017, with the exception of the year 2016.

In 2013, FDI inflows were $5.6 billion, down from $7.1 billion in 2017. In 2014 and 2015, FDI inflows recorded $4.6 billion and $3 billion, respectively. However, FDI rose during the hit of the recession in 2016 to $4.4 billion. By 2017, FDI declined to $3.5 billion.

“There is no particular tread for FDI. There will be some up and down movements. Investments are not planned in a day. They are planned for a long period of time. The planning process would have started five years before 2016 and it was later disbursed in 2016,” Tajudeem explained

Despite the decline, the report was optimistic that a modest recovery in oil production and the general economy in 2017 as well as the introduction of an investor and export (I&E) window to bid for foreign exchange should help entice companies to return to Nigeria in the future.

At the same time, new technology start-ups in Nigeria, backed by venture capitalists from South Africa and elsewhere, are helping to diversify FDI inflows.

Also from the report, global FDI flows fell by 23 per cent in 2017, to $1.43 trillion from a revised $1.87 trillion in 2016 .The decline is in stark contrast to other macroeconomic variables, such as GDP and trade, which saw substantial improvement in 2017. A decrease in the value of net cross-border mergers and acquisitions to $694 billion, from $887 billion in 2016, contributed to the decline.

FDI flows to developing economies remained stable at $671 billion, seeing no recovery following the 10 per cent drop in 2016. FDI flows to Africa continued to slide, reaching $42 billion, down 21 per cent from 2016. The decline was concentrated in the larger commodity exporters.

Friday 15 June 2018

Osinbajo commends private sector-led economic expansion in Edo …lauds Obaseki on 1800-unit Emotan Gardens project …project marks paradigm shift in housing delivery - Obaseki ... VP’s visits indicative of growing economy - Oshiomhole

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ice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday commended the private sector-led economic expansion in Edo State under Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Osinbajo gave the commendation at the groundbreaking ceremony of the 1800 housingunit Emotan Gardens, in IkpobaOkha Local Government Area of Edo State.

He said, “It is good to see the great and dynamic work the governor is doing. I was in Auchi recently to commission the Edo Fertiliser and Chemical Company Limited. I was in this local government for the Benin Industrial Park. I commend the governor and MIXTA Africa for this excellent idea.”

He lauded the governor’s investment drive and the increased participation of the private sector in the state’s economy.

Chairman, board of directors, MIXTA Africa, Eddy Eguavoen, said the firm was excited about the partnership with the Edo State government on the project, noting that from his experience with other governments across Africa, Edo State government’s support for the private sector was unparallel.

According to Eguavoen, “Our experience has been remarkable. I want to assure Nigerians

and those in the Diaspora that this project will be delivered with the quality and standards that MIXTA Africa is known for.”

Governor Obaseki said that the project is the realisation of his campaign to turn the state into an economic hub, noting that the project is in line with the pledge to revive the state’s economy.

He said, “I promised to create 200,000 jobs in the first instance, and some of them were to be in agriculture and construction, among others.

“We realised that housing is also key. Hence, we have reenacted the Edo Development and Property Agency (EDPA) law and set up a new management. This project is a reflection of the new direction.”

Noting that the state has proven that much can be achieved with the private sector, he said, “I am happy that we have proven that it can be done.

Obaseki added, “This building was put up in record time. I assure you that 80 percent of materials used for this project were manufactured in Edo State. They will be used for the entire project.

“We are starting a new paradigm. We expect that the houses will sell from between N3 million to N12 million. We are praticalising policies being enunciated in Abuja.”

Former governor of Edo

State, Adams Oshiomhole, noted that the Vice President’s visits to the state indicated that the Edo economy was on track with Obaseki as governor.

Oshiomhole maintained that the Vice President’s visits, the third since Obaseki assumed office, had always been to commission or kick-start economic projects that would propel growth and development and not for tea party.

“These visits confirm that Obaseki is building on the foundation I have laid for the growth and development of the state.

“I am happy because those that have doubt about our governor now know that we have a credible and a performing governor who is building on our development.”

Oshiomhole added that the governor had assured that he would concentrate on the economy and create jobs for Edo youths, noting “this he has been doing, and has attracted private investors to the state.”

The Vice President also launched the South-South Innovation Hub at the Edo Innovates facility. He also attended the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Clinic, where he and the governor had a chat with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programme (SIP).

Buhari rediscovering Nigeria for youths - Bello JAMES KWEN, Abuja

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inister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Muhammad Bello, has described the policies and programmes of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration as laying solid foundations that will rediscover Nigeria for the benefits of the youths.

Bello stated this during the Iftar Ramadan breakfast with FCT youths at his official residence in Life Camp, Abuja where he said the present administration is essentially holding forth for the youths.

He added that the progress, prosperity and tremendous transformation that is happening in the country is being done for the benefits of the youths.

“Most of us here are basically just holding forth for you. The strength, progress, prosperity and the tremendous amount of transformation that is going to happen in this country is going to be done during your time.

So, what Mr. President and his team are doing now is basically to rediscover Nigeria for your benefit, to lay a very solid foundation so that it becomes easier for you to govern it, live in it and to provide all the benefits for the teeming population”, the FCT Minister noted.

Bello who stated that it was important for the country not to miss this golden opportunity, said there is need for the youths to rise above clannish tribal and ethnic sentiments and unite to work together for the benefit of the country.

“We have to be friendly to each other, we have to love each other, we have to be unit-

ed, we have to be disciplined, we have to be honest, we have to be hardworking and above all, we have to be very broad minded to accept your neighbours, irrespective of their tribe, religion and whatever they do and to work for the good of the community. If we do these, the sky is going to be the limit for all of us.

“If all of you put heads together and really unite as Abuja symbolizes, then when it is your time, you are going to govern over a country that will be solid, that will be prosperous and that is going to be the envy of all African nations and all nations of the world,” he said.

The FCT minister equally charged youths resident in the FCT to continue to work towards improving the security and harmonious coexistence within the city to ensure it remains the city that cherished is

by Africa and the wider world.

Citing a recent statistics that shows that a larger proportion of FCT population is comprised of youths, Bello charged the youths to guard the city very jealously, including its security, beauty as well as its harmonious inter-religious, inter-communal and interethnic relationships.

“Abuja as a city is something that many people from other parts of the world admire and cherish, we must therefore guard it jealously,” he stressed.

Earlier in his remarks, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Social Investment Programme, Ismaeel Ahmed, thanked the Minister for the honour and reception given to them by agreeing to host the youths to a special Ramadan breakfast dinner.

L-R: Ajibola Olomola, partner, tax, KPMG; Ijeoma Emezie-Ezigbo, partner, deal advisory, KPMG; Wole Obayomi, partner/ head, tax, KPMG; Laure Beaufils, British Deputy High Commissioner; Bisi Lamikanra, partner/head, advisory services, KPMG; Joseph Tegbe, partner/head, technology advisory, KPMG; Kunle Elebute, senior partner, KPMG in Nigeria/chairman, KPMG Africa, during a recent courtesy visit by the British Deputy High Commissioner to the KPMG in Nigeria office.

Profit-taking: NSE All-Share Index drops further by 0.26%

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he Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index closed for the week on Thursday ahead of Eid-el-Fitr celebration with a loss of 0.26 percent.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the index shed 103.25 points or 0.26 per cent to close at 38,928.47 against 39,031.72 achieved on Wednesday.

The market capitalisation, which opened at N14.139 trillion, lost N38 billion or 0.27 per cent to close at N14.101 trillion against N14.139 trillion posted

on Wednesday.

Some highly capitalised stocks posted price depreciation with Seplat leading the laggards’ table with N14.10 to close at N754.90 per share.

Nigerian Breweries trailed with a loss of N5 to close at N110, while Presco dropped N1.70 to close at N72 per share.

International Breweries declined by 45k to close at N41.30, while Zenith International Bank was down by 35k to close at N26.40 per share.

On the other hand, Okomu

Oil Palm led the gainers’ table during the day, appreciating by N8.40 to close at N90.40 per share.

NASCON followed with a gain of 95k to close at N23.95, while Stanbic IBTC increased by 50k to close at N49 per share.

Dangote Sugar garnered 40k to close at N19.40, while Eterna Oil advanced by 30k to close at N6.30 per share.

Similarly, an analysis of the activity chart indicates that the volume of shares traded dropped by 26.26 per cent as investors bought and sold 336.62 million

shares valued at N5.25 billion in 3,667 deals.

This was in contrast to 456.49 million shares worth N4.13 billion transacted in 3,517 deals on Wednesday.

United Capital plc was the most active stock for the day, trading 101.63 million shares valued at N327.68 million. United Bank for Africa followed with an account of 66.10 million shares worth N720.79 million, while Diamond Bank traded 20.21 million shares valued at N31.64 million.

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Entrepreneurs react to Nigeria’s proposed CIT of SMEs amendment BUNMI BAILEY

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ntrepreneurs operating in Nigeria have welcomed the proposed reduction of Company Income Tax (CIT) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from 20 to 15 percent, but say it is still difficult to register and run businesses in Africa’s most populous nation.

“To the small businesses that are paying taxes, it is an advantage. But a large number of SMEs are not paying tax at all. How many registered SMEs are paying the present tax rate? The price of registering as a limited company is expensive,” Damilola Otufodunrin, CEO, DAMSCO, a Lagos-based clothing company that designs men’s wears, said.

“If they really want to favour the SMEs they should provide the basic amenities and infrastructure to boost businesses,” Otufodunrin suggested.

This new policy, if implemented, will help to improve the growth and tax revenue collection of the government “Apparently for SMEs, the tax levy was 20 percent but the proposal now in the tax policy is to reduce it to 15 percent, as part of the government’s effort to stimulate the economy and get it on the part of growth as well as reduce the tax burden on SMEs,” Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, stated this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) meeting held last week.

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown that

over the past five years SMEs have contributed 48 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Business owners have urged the Federal Government to tackle the bottlenecks and stress of registering businesses in the country, so that big organisations can be able to do businesses with SMEs “The problem why most SMEs are not paying tax is because of the bottleneck and stress that comes when registering businesses,” Temitope Nelson, executive director, Nelson Impact International, a company that trains young entrepreneurs.

“When it comes to business, most big organisation will not do business with an SME that does not have a corporate account, and this is a challenge for SMEs. Most businesses just register half way. In order for you to pay tax, you need your tax identification number and with that you can have a corporate account. But most businesses do not have that,” Nelson also said.

Analysts have said that it is a good start from the government, as this will help them capture the number of businesses available in the country.

Bismarck Rewane, managing director, Financial Derivatives Company, said, “It is a good beginning from the part of the government, because sooner or later people will come out and pay their tax because they need to get their tax clearance certificate to apply for things. Then we will be able to get more reliable data of businesses in the country.”

The Rivers State Commissioner of Environment, Roseline Konya, the representative of the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, the Guest of Honour at the recent NOSDRA-CIMAC National Oil Summit held in Port Harcourt, conferring with Comfort Isibor, NOSDRA focal person. The summit was attended by various communities in and around the Niger Delta. Some oil companies and other stakeholders participated in the one-day sensitization summit which was sponsored by CHEVRON NIGERIA LIMITED and SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED. Many strategic papers were presented by oil industry experts who spoke on the need for operators and stakeholders to maintain zero tolerance for oil spills in their operations. Left of the picture is the Project Coordinator HYREP, Marvin Dekil who represented the Hon. Minister of Environment, the Special Guest of Honour at the summit.

Bayelsa plans verification of pensioners in their communities SAMUEL ESE, Yenagoa

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ayelsa State government says it has concluded plans to carry out verification of pensioners in their respective communities as part of efforts to address payroll fraud.

Commissionerforinformation and orientation, Daniel IworisoMarkson, said this on Wednesday at Kaiama, headquarters of Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area in continuation of town hall meetings on payroll fraud.

Iworiso-Markson revealed that the monthly wage bill for retirees was N500 million,

which amounted to N6 billion annually and described the list of pensioners as ‘too bogus.’

He said Governor Henry Seriake Dickson would soon inaugurate various committees that would visit all communities to physically verify the pensioners in a bid to block leakages in the state public service.

The commissioner expressed appreciation to stakeholders in the area for their support for the reform programme and reassured genuine workers and pensioners not to entertain fears, as the process would place government at a vantage position to

effectively handle their welfare.

Commissioner for local government administration, Agatha Goma said the state government has reduced the total wage bill of the eight councils per month from N1.3 billion to N950 million as fallout of the painstaking implementation of the reforms.

Earlier in his address, the chairman, Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Council, Wisdom Fafi highlighted the benefits of public sector reforms to include the reduction of the council’s monthly wage bill from about N120 million to N80million.

Sustainable development and unsustainable popular delusions Continued from back page

ing our youth is drugs and narcotics addiction. Drugs and narcotics often go handin-hand with other societal vices such as crime, cultism, prostitution, fraud and other forms of deviant behaviour.

Those ills notwithstanding, Nigerian youth are among the most creative in the world.

When the founder/chairman of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg visited our country in the summer of 2017, he expressed how impressed he was with what our youth are doing in the technology sector. Most of our creative industries are driven by youths. I was astonished to find that in the Caribbean, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, and even as far as the islands of the southern seas, people are wild about Nollywood and Nigerian music. Stars such as Omotola Jelade, Genevieve Nnaji, Tiwa Savage and TuFace constitute a source of what Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye terms “soft power” for our country. They have boosted our external image as a creative and can-do nation.

We must do more to enhance that spirit of creativity.

Going forward, we need a national growth strategy that integrates the youth into the development process and ensures that we nurture a new

generation of well educated leaders, civil servants, professors, bankers and informed citizens.

The fourth popular delusion that affects our growth and development thinking is the notion that if we could only focus on power and physical infrastructures, everything else will fall into place. Of course, power and energy are vital for our industrial take off. So are physical infrastructures. But they are not enough. A missing ingredient is human capital development. When billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates recently warned that we were getting our priorities wrong, there were howls of protest.

Our leaders became unnecessarily defensive. But, come to think of it, Gates was right.

Sir Winston Churchill once prophesied that “the empires of the future will be the empires of the mind”. The great British wartime Prime Minister was prescient enough to foresee the knowledge revolution of our twenty-first century. In our day and age, natural resources alone are no longer a guarantee of wealth. In fact, they can prove to be more of a curse than a blessing.

The nations that prosper today are those that deploy knowledge in harnessing and adding value to their natural resources for domestic as well

as global markets. The greatest wealth of a nation is therefore its people. It is in investing in knowledge, education and skills that the foundation of national wealth and power is built.

The combined lessons of economic science and world development make it abundantly clear that human capital is the driver of the new wealth of nations. The new endogenous growth theories pioneered by economists such as Robert Lucas at Chicago and his student Paul Romer – both of them Nobel laureates – place emphasis on human capital, technology, innovation, knowledge and creativity as the critical factor in creating the society of abundance. The Parisbased OECD defines human capital as, “knowledge, skills, competencies and attributes embodied in individuals that facilitate the creation of personal, social and economic wellbeing”. It has to do with the quality of the workforce, knowledge, intellectual skills and the institutional interrelations that reinforce innovation and creativity.

Investing in people is ultimately about creating an eco-system where talents flourish. Our policymakers will need to reframe the paradigm underpinning all our

national development efforts to focus on peoples, skills, intellectual capital and the knowledge economy. Education and health are the key to human capital development.

An educated populace is also a healthy one. Research has shown that educated mothers are more likely to bring up healthy children who survive infancy. Maternal mortality is also less prevalent among literate women. Health is wealth. An educated and healthy workforce is ultimately the sine qua non of national prosperity.

The final popular delusion that must be debunked is the heresy that economic progress is possible without public sector reforms. The capacity of the state to deliver on its primary mandate is among the pillars of political wisdom in our time. No matter how visionary the programmes of political leaders, they will need the civil service to bring them into real life. State capability involves capacity to raise revenues and spend them effectively on behalf of citizens; ability to manage and resolve conflict, deliver on basic social services; and ability to uphold the rule of law and ensure accountability of rulers to the governed.

Countries that have been

particularly successful in fostering growth have also been those that operate merit-based, highly professionalised bureaucracies. It is, in my view, inconceivable that rapid economic growth could be achieved with a bloated and Byzantine bureaucracy; in the current atmosphere of lawlessness and insecurity as prevails in Nigeria today. Unfortunately, we are not hearing much of the conversation on this topic.

Addressing these problems will require, in my humble opinion, re-visiting the role of the civil service and the public sector as a whole, including the workings of government and policies to enhance state capacity and governmental effectiveness.

Nations and civilisations have risen and fallen in the past. Nigeria’s future, like that of any other nation on earth, cannot be guaranteed eternally. Our country will survive and flourish if we make the right policy choices and if we marshal the will to succeed and prevail. The future is what we make of it.

(Being the Text of a Public Lecture Delivered under the auspices of the Centre for Sustainable Development, Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan, Wednesday 12 June, 2018).

He thanked Governor Dickson and the Commissioner for Information and Orientation for organising the interactive meeting and assured government of the people’s continued support.

In their separate remarks, the member representing Yenagoa/Kolokuma/Opokuma Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Douye Diri and the Chief Whip of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Emmanuel Isenah said the people would continue to rally round the Dickson administration for the several appointments and projects.

Prisoner of conscience....

Continued from back page

be able to say that Nigeria has moved a long way since that day of horror, and that all was well.

But all was not well, as speaker after speaker was saying on the podium. Wole Soyinka; Kingley Moghalu, who wanted to be President ‘to change the narrative of leadership and followership’; Femi Falana; Ayo Obe; and Segun Osoba.

All the talk now was about how Nigeria could not continue to do the same thing and expect different results, about armed herdsmen killing citizens, about restructuring and a new way for the federating components of the nation to complement rather than hamstring one another.

Ajibade was sitting quietly with his wife on the podium, and you could picture him asking himself if this was the nation he and Beko and all the others strove for, and some actually died for. Was it worthwhile?

There had to be hope, Ajibade would conclude, in your imagination.

Later there was an evening of poetry, song and tribute at Freedom Park. And Kunle Ajibade, the journalist and writer of the ever-serious demeanour, actually danced with his wife and his friends, to the delight of all.

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FINANCIAL TIMES Missionary zeal: ‘Amlo’ promises to shake up Mexico

Euro falls as ECB takes cautious approach to ending stimulus Page A3

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World Business Newspaper

US prepares to slap tariffs on $50bn in Chinese goods Trade move comes as Trump administration seeks Beijing’s support for North Korea talks SHAWN DONNAN

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he Trump administration is preparing to impose tariffs on up to $50bn in imports from China within days as its top diplomat heads to Beijing to solicit support for negotiations with North Korea.

The White House last month said it would on June 15 release a list of products imported from China to be targeted for tariffs in retaliation for what it says is Beijing’s systematic theft of US intellectual property. The move came despite China’s pledge to buy some $70bn in US farm and energy exports and plans for more talks between the world’s two largest economies aimed at avoiding a trade war.

The tariffs were delayed until after President Donald Trump’s Singapore summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un this week as Washington solicited China’s help in bringing North Korea to the negotiating table. Releasing the list would be seen by China as a provocative gesture, with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo due to visit Beijing on Thursday to brief Chinese officials on the Singapore talks.

Senior US officials also have agreed to go a step further and begin imposing the 25 per cent tariffs quickly after the list is released, with some duties possibly taking effect immediately on Friday, according to people briefed on the preparations. The administration would have up to 30 days to impose tariffs under the law being used, but officials are determined to move more quickly, the people said.

The decision to proceed was made

by cabinet officials before Mr Trump travelled to last weekend’s contentious G7 meetings in Quebec and on to Singapore. As a result, people briefed on the discussions cautioned that the president, who has been eager to present the summit as a success, might decide to delay any rollout of new tariffs against Beijing — an outcome they said Mr Pompeo supports.

“It would be the height of irony, the irony of ironies, if the president having so long wanted tariffs and been constrained by members of his cabinet . . . now decided to go against his cabinet and to put them on hold,” said one person familiar with the White House discussions.

The person said US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and his aides think “it’s time to rip the band aid off and get on with it”.

Mr Lighthizer’s office and the state department declined to comment.

The administration is also preparing new restrictions on Chinese investment in the US and export controls on sensitive products, which it is expected to present on June 30.

But according to people briefed on those preparations the new limits have been the source of a contentious inter-agency debate. Officials at the commerce department have resisted efforts by China hawks in the administration to target “industrially significant” products for export controls, arguing that would be far broader than the current designations on national security grounds and would thus be open to legal challenges from affected companies.

Swift turn of fortunes pushes Abraaj to edge Dubai fund teeters on brink of provisional liquidation after months of value destruction SIMEON KERR AND JAVIER ESPINOZA

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ast December, Abraaj’s asset management arm was valued at about $800m in a share sale. Today, with founder Arif Naqvi fighting to salvage his reputation after allegations of mishandling investor money, the best offer on the table is $125m.

The scale and speed of the value destruction is impressive. Liquidity issues, aggravated by an 18-month delay in the sale of a Pakistani utility, have snowballed into a solvency crisis.

His detractors accuse Mr Naqvi of hubris, deferring cost cuts until it was too late, and then failing to calm the rising storm.

While the 57-year-old admits mistakes, he says he is determined to seal a restructuring deal to save jobs and pay back debts at the firm he founded in Dubai 15 years ago.

“I am working day and night to make sure that no one loses money, and everyone gets back what they are entitled to,” Mr Naqvi told the Financial Times. “I don’t care about self-interest — my intention is to make sure everyone else gets their money returned.”

The decline has humbled a man who used to hold court at the World Economic Forum in Davos, evangelising about making money and doing good deeds.

A generous philanthropist, Mr Naqvi has donated to his alma mater, the London School of Economics.

Abraaj, meanwhile, became a leading patron of Middle Eastern art, funding a prize and glitzy fair.

This is impacting us all. Our investors are turning against us and raising new funds is a nightmare Executive with a boutique firm Once the leading homegrown success in Dubai’s financial services sector, Abraaj was famed for its lavish parties, from a private Tina Turner concert in Dubai to cricket retreats at Mr Naqvi’s Oxfordshire estate.

The reversal in fortunes started last autumn when four investors in a $1bn healthcare fund, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, became concerned that Abraaj had mishandled their deposits.

Abraaj hired its longstanding auditor KPMG to assess the aggrieved investors’ claims that their money Continues on page A2

ECB to phase out €2.4tn bond-buying programme by year’s end Central bank to wind up divisive scheme widely credited with reviving eurozone economy CLAIRE JONES

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he European Central Bank is to wind up its €2.4tn bond-buying programme by the end of the year, calling time on an extraordinary monetary programme that many economists credit with reviving the eurozone economy but which became increasingly divisive within the bank itself.

The ECB will halve the size of monthly asset purchases to €15bn after September and phase them out entirely after the end of the year. It left interest rates at record lows.

The eurozone grew by 2.3 per cent in 2017 but more recent indicators suggest the pace of expansion has flagged..

Many analysts thought the bank would only set out its plans for exiting QE in late July — even though there was widespread expectation that the programme would finish by the end of 2018.

The euro fell by 0.6 per cent against the dollar to $1.1725 on the day — failing to hold highs that initially lifted it by as much as 0.5 per cent — as cautious elements in the ECB’s approach influenced market reaction.

Adding an important caveat, the ECB said it would end additional bond purchases in December “subject to incoming data confirming our mediumterm inflation outlook”.

Mario Draghi, ECB president, said the eurozone economy still needed “significant monetary stimulus” to hit its inflation target of close to 2 per cent.

Thursday’s policy decisions were taken unanimously, he added.

“Today’s decision is a truly Solomonic compromise between the hawks and the doves. The hawks finally got their end-date for QE, while the doves still have their open door for more if needed,” said Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING. The ECB’s move, taken at a meeting in Riga, brings it closer into line with the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, which have not only ended QE but also started raising rates.

ECB officials from Germany and other northern European countries argue that since growth is now stronger, it is vital to begin to normalise the bank’s approach so that it has more ammunition to deal with a future downturn.

They also contend that achieving sustainable growth depends on economic reform in more troubled

eurozone economies such as Italy and Greece.

However, Thursday’s decision does not actually tighten monetary policy.

Instead it makes clear that additional loosening via the quantitative easing programme will continue until the end of the year.

Only if and when the ECB stops reinvesting the proceeds of maturing bonds, will it begin to rein in the balance sheet it built up throughout QE, a move likely to push up corporate borrowing costs.

Policymakers in the single currency area remain cautious about when the QE stimulus should be withdrawn and on Thursday the bank confirmed its commitment to reinvest the bonds’ proceeds for “an extended period of time” after QE ends “and in any case for as long as necessary to maintain favourable liquidity conditions and an ample degree of monetary accommodation”.

Mr Draghi said the governing council had not discussed in further detail when it would stop reinvesting the proceeds of maturing securities.

The ECB also not only kept interest rates at record lows but added that it expected rates to “remain at their present levelsatleastthroughthesummerof2019”.

Jay Powell makes his mark as Fed raises rates

New chairman pledges to speak plainly and encourage openness at central bank

SAM FLEMING

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ay Powell made his personal stamp on the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, as the new chairman vowed to speak in plain English and hold more regular press conferences as he fosters “a public conversation” about what the US central bank is up to.

The Fed’s statement after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which detailed its decision to raise rates 0.25 per cent and set a course for two more increases this year, also bore his imprint, as Mr Powell stripped away some of the economic verbiage that cluttered its communications in recent years.

Yet Mr Powell’s break from the approach of his predecessor, Janet Yellen, was more a stylistic one than a radical change of monetary policy strategy.

While analysts poring over Mr Powell’s words declared them a shift in a hawkish direction, it was clear from the Fed chair’s post-meeting press conference on

Wednesday that US rates would continue to be lifted gingerly, and that the Fed’s ultimate destination was uncertain.

Mr Powell repeatedly praised the US economy’s performance, declaring it to be in “great shape”, and providing a “really good environment to be finding jobs”.

Yet he hewed closely to the gradualism that Ms Yellen championed, releasing forecasts suggesting the Fed was willing to tolerate an inflation overshoot in both 2019 and 2020 rather than clamping down on price growth.

In recent years the Fed has been encouraged to go much faster in raising interest rates, Mr Powell said. “I’m really glad we didn’t.”

The overall economic picture painted

by Mr Powell in his second post-meeting press conference was the sunniest for the US in recent memory. Unemployment is now on track to drop to just 3.5 per cent next year, the lowest since the 1960s, even as inflation remains close to the central bank’s 2 per cent target.

Growth this year is tipped to come in

at 2.8 per cent, above the Fed’s 2.1 per cent median prediction a year ago. “If you look at household surveys, confidence is high.

Look at businesses, confidence is high,” Mr Powell said. “We have a really solid economy in our hands here.”

Accordingly, the Fed is forging ahead with the rate-raising campaign that it started in December 2015, pencilling in four rate increases this year followed by another three in 2019. The Fed will “relatively soon” move rates to a neutral setting — one that neither stimulates the economy nor holds it back, Mr Powell said, teeing up a landmark moment for post-crisis central banking.

The question is what follows. If the US continues on its current vigorous trajectory it seems highly likely that the Fed will end up pushing monetary policy into restrictive territory to rein in economic excesses. The median forecast from Fed officials puts rates at 3.4 per cent in 2020, well above their estimate for the neutral rate in the longer term, which remained at 2.9 per cent.

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Erdogan threatens ‘operation’ against Moody’s ADAM SAMSON

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ecep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to conduct an “operation” against Moody’s, less than two weeks after the ratings company placed Turkey on review for a downgrade, state-run media reported.

The Turkish president was quoted by the Anadolu Agency as saying the

operation would commence after elections scheduled for later this month, according to Bloomberg.

“God willing, we will conduct an operation against Moody’s after June 24. Moody’s is making unnecessary statements despite the fact that we are not a member of it. What a shame,” AA quoted Mr Erdogan as saying.

Mr Erdogan’s comments came

after Moody’s on June 1 placed Turkey on review for a downgrade just months after it cut the country’s rating. It also follows a decision in January by Fitch to shut its Istanbul office.

A spokesperson for Moody’s in London did not immediately respond to a Financial Times request for comment on Mr Erdogan’s remarks.

Moody’s said that its decision to put Turkey on review for a down-

grade was driven by its “expectation that the recent erosion in investor confidence in Turkey will continue if not addressed through credible policy actions following the June elections”.

It also said the “the credibility of Turkey’s policy institutions has been undermined by the ineffectiveness of monetary policy, in part reflecting political interference in the policy-

US fundraising for ‘blank cheque’ buyout vehicles hits record

Swift turn of fortunes pushes Abraaj to edge...

Continued from page A1 had been misused. It exonerated the company, saying procedures had been followed, but this audit deepened the investors’ concerns because of a perceived conflict of interest.

“Whatever the legal loopholes, as soon as we told industry folk the money had been taken, and returned, they freaked,” said one former Abraaj executive. “You just don’t do that.”

When the dispute broke, a managing partner addressed staff to assure them that no money was missing and the firm was “under attack by the media”. Mollified at the time, some executives now feel betrayed.

Deloitte, appointed by Abraaj in February to audit two funds and reform governance, has since confirmed commingling in the healthcare fund and its fourth buyout fund, where the company still owes $95m.

The audit firm last week told creditors that liquidity problems led to the commingling, blaming senior management for a weak control framework in which the group and all its funds shared the same bank signatories and one finance function. It found no evidence of embezzlement, however.

The cash crunch emerged after Abraaj’s 2012 acquisition of Aureos Capital launched the Middle Eastern investor on to the global stage.

Travel costs took off — including the expense of a private jet until it was sold two years ago — as partners flew between 20 global offices. Management fees have for several years failed to cover costs by millions of dollars a year.

To placate investors, the company in February hived off the asset management business; Mr Naqvi passed day-to-day management to new cochief executives.

[Arif Naqvi] is a good man who meant well, but he was misguided and took a short-cut to get through the financial problems Adviser to Abraaj But outsiders feared that Mr Naqvi, a domineering presence, would hold sway. As recriminations grew amid constant leaks, relations broke down between Mr Naqvi and some senior partners, who later resigned.

As problems mounted, selling the business was identified as the best route to safety. The first attempted sale to Guggenheim KBBO Partners foundered in March. Colony Capital then entered the fray. Its interest waned and Cerberus Capital Management closed in, but that deal is still pending. “I just wish Arif had managed to sell out early on to square off all those who did nothing wrong,” said a former executive.

Cerberus has offered $125m for Abraaj’s asset-management arm, a deal backed by Abraaj’s main lenders as part of a $1bn debt restructuring.

But the process has been destabilised by unsecured creditors filing for liquidation.

making process.”

Mr Erdogan has struck out at ratings agencies before, and has also objected vehemently to traditional macroeconomic theory and monetary policy.

Even so, Turkey has remained active in the capital markets. It raised $4bn in two US-dollar bond offerings this year, according to the Undersecretariat of Treasury.

Goldman and hedge fund investor Daniel Loeb launch so-called ‘spac’ funds

NICOLE BULLOCK

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Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, US president Donald Trump and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un

Why does Donald Trump treat Iran differently to North Korea?

President deems Tehran ‘a regime of great terror’ that poses a threat to the US KATRINA MANSON

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resident Donald Trump has touted his summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as so great a breakthrough that Pyongyang is no longer a nuclear threat to the US. Yet he deems Iran, which is not thought to have nuclear weapons, “a regime of great terror” and recently tore up a multi-party nuclear agreement with Tehran that took years to negotiate. How different are the Trump administration’s approaches to the two countries and what are their chances of success?

How different are the threats from North Korea and Iran?

Experts stress the nuclear threat from North Korea is more serious than from Iran, because Pyongyang has developed a nuclear arsenal and means of delivery that potentially puts the US at risk. Mr Trump claimed on Wednesday that there was no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.

But scientists estimate Pyongyang has dozens of nuclear warheads and long-range ballistic missiles that could theoretically reach US soil, and much of the programme remains shrouded in secrecy.

Iran, by contrast, is not thought to have developed nuclear weapons, has capped its enrichment facilities and accepts international inspections.

Its ballistic missiles have a maximum range of 2,000km and it has no known plans to develop intercontinental missiles.

Iran also has many enemies in the region, notably Israel and Saudi Arabia, and few effective allies. North Korea has relations with neighbours China and South Korea. Seoul, under President Moon Jae-in, is particularly keen to forge a lasting peace to end decades of tension on the peninsula.

How different are the approaches?

Mr Trump prides himself on his ability to pull off big deals, and his administration is certainly tackling some thorny foreign policy problems.

But Jon Wolfsthal, former senior director of arms control and non-proliferation at the National Security Council during the Obama administration, said: “Iran would be thrilled to sign up to the exact same deal that North Korea apparently accepted from Trump in Singapore, but it is not being offered.”

Thomas Countryman, former head of non-proliferation at the US state department, said Mr Trump was asking things from Iran — such as giving up its ballistic missiles and changing its regional policy — that he had not demanded of North Korea. “There is no consistency,” he said.

Supporters also perceive a wider effort to turn Pyongyang from foe to friend. “Iran was always going to be a bad guy, it was never going to be a US ally. But the aim with North Korea is much bigger: to go from bad guy to good guy,” said a person familiar with the summit preparations of both sides.

Does Mr Trump want a more comprehensive deal with North Korea than the one he tore up with Iran?

Yes, and that is a tougher prospect.

“If it works, this is going to be something far more robust, far stronger than the Iran deal,” said the same person.

Alexandra Bell, former arms control official at the US state department, stressed that nothing this complicated had been tried before. “We’ve never convinced a country with nuclear weapons to give them up,” she said.

“What we’re attempting to do with the North Koreans will be the most complicated nuclear agreement ever negotiated and would make the Iran deal look like a cakewalk.”

Is Mr Trump offering more concessions to North Korea than to Iran?

Yes, but experts say it might be worth it. “Iran is still at a lower level of threat so the US can try to use its might to dictate terms (although I don’t believe it will work), but any progress on North Korea is progress because the threat is so much greater,” said Mr Wolfsthal, now director of the Nuclear Crisis Group.

The person familiar with negotiation preparations said Mr Trump’s decision to cancel US-South Korea war games — a move that disquieted Congress and critics — was a sensible concession and stopped short of big giveaways. “The president was giving Kim enough face to go back to North Korea — it was a smart move. He gave nothing on the important substantive issue of sanctions but gave Kim a chance to look good,” said the person, adding that Mr Kim faced pressure at home from elites who support the country’s traditionally anti-American position.

Would verification and inspection regimes differ?

The Trump administration has cast doubt on whether the International Atomic Energy Agency has conducted sufficiently stringent inspections in Iran, despite having the world’s most intrusive programme. The North Korea summit declaration made no reference of “verification” but Mr Trump insisted it would be part of any eventual deal.

Experts say verifying North Korea’s capabilities will be harder because, unlike Iran, it has not allowed inspectors into the country for nearly a decade and much of its programme was hidden.

“We had a very good view of what the Iranians had in their possession, how much material they had produced, even before the deal, but North Korea is so much more opaque,” said Michael Elleman, a former weapons inspector.

He said dismantling North Korea’s nuclear programme would take at least 10 years. Yet Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, said the administration wanted to see “major disarmament” within Mr Trump’s first term in office.

Are there other reasons why Mr Trump is treating the pair so differently?

While some argued North Korea needed handling with kid gloves because the threat was more serious, others believe Mr Trump views the geopolitics in a fundamentally different way, and nursed natural hostility towards Iran.

unds have been raised at a record rate in the US this year for shell companies that offer a “blank cheque” to sponsors to pursue takeovers, providing further evidence of the rehabilitation of a controversial tool that waned in the wake of the financial crisis.

The so-called special purpose acquisition companies, or spacs, have raised $4.5bn so far in 2018 — the largest amount for this type of fundraising in the period, according to Dealogic, which began recording the deals in 1995. That followed a brisk 2017, the second strongest year on record with nearly $10bn sold.

Goldman Sachs and hedge fund investor Daniel Loeb launched the two largest such deals in the 2018 crop for these publicly traded buyout vehicles which raise funds for an acquisition within two years.

The funds are placed in an interestbearing account until a target is identified — and spac investors can get their money back if they do not approve of the acquisition. They are basically a bet that the sponsors can find a good company at a reasonable price.

“Loeb and Goldman do have good brand names, so the pitch is easy enough: do you want to put your money alongside these investors?” said Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek.

However, before the financial crisis, many spacs flopped because deals did not materialise and their use was seen as a symbol of boom conditions in financial markets.

The two marquee deals have drawn renewed attention to this type of vehicle but some have cautioned that the market could slow after such a rush of issuance.

“Two fantastic sponsors just happened to have the same timing,” said one banker who specialises in the sector. “It gives the sense that there is a deluge but the market has been relatively full up on space since the beginning of the year from last year.”

Spacs offer investors, often hedge funds, a cash proxy with the option of the acquisition. Sponsors get a 20 per cent stake in the acquired company, if investors approve it, for a nominal amount of money.

“It addresses a need of a group of investors who are willing to fund a blind pool,” said Kathleen Smith, principal at Renaissance Capital, a manager of IPO exchange traded funds. “Hedge funds can park their money there.”

Performance hinges on whether the sponsors make the right acquisition and manage it well. Before that the shares of the spac typically tread water.

Among spacs issued in the last few years, the performance has been diverse.

Two that went on to become public relations technology company Cision and oil producer Centennial Resource Development are up nearly 80 per cent, thanks to their acquisitions. Another that became Alta Mesa, a natural resources company, is down 25 per cent.

Friday 15 June 2018

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BUSINESS DAY

A3

FINANCIAL TIMES

COMPANIES & MARKETS

@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED

Euro falls as ECB takes cautious approach to ending stimulus Dollar bulls get encouragement from strong US retail sales data, Wall St rises MICHAEL HUNTER AND ALICE WOODHOUSE

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hat you need to know • Euro falls as ECB stays cautious as it calls time on stimulus • Bourses in Europe rally after the announcement • Federal Reserve looks at a total of four rate rises for 2018 • US Treasury yields edge lower as investors move back in for the debt • China stocks lower after run of economic data misses expectations “Coming into the June central bank meetings, the key questions were how many rate hikes the Fed would deliver this year, when would the ECB announce an end to QE and when would the ECB begin to normalise rates. — Iain Lindsay, co-head of global portfolio management at Goldman Sachs’ Global fixed income team “We now have a lot more clarity on all of these questions and we think market volatility could decline somewhat as a result” Hot topics The European Central Bank’s confirmation that it will end its bond-buying stimulus policy this year is setting the pace, with the euro falling as investors parse the detail within the statement.

The shared currency is down 1 per cent $1.1672 and a seven-session low — failing to hold highs that took it up as much as 0.5 per cent — as the cautious elements in the ECB’s approach dominate reaction. Dollar bulls are also taking encouragement from US retail sales data that came in significantly ahead of forecasts.

The yield on two-year German debt is ticking lower, by 1.6 basis points to minus 0.654 per cent as investors buy the debt.

There is also demand for 10-year German Bunds, sending their yield down 2.1 bps to 0.454 per cent.

Stock markets are higher after the announcement, turning round from modest intraday declines.

The Federal Reserve lifted interest rates on Wednesday, and in its dot-plot projections, it signalled that two further increases were likely in 2018, making a total of four for the year, up from the previous projection of three.

The dollar index is up 0.3 per cent on the session, leaving it up over 2 per cent for 2018.

The Federal Open Market Committee raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 2 per cent, as expected.

It projected gross domestic product growth in 2018 of 2.8 per cent, up slightly from its March outlook of 2.7 per cent and said its preferred measure of inflation would reach 2.1 per cent this year against a March projection of 1.9 per cent.

Equities New York’s the S&P 500 is up 0.3 per cent in early US trade, having slipped 0.4 per cent overnight.

Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax 30 is up 0.9 per cent, with the Cac 40 in Paris up 1 per cent. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 is up 0.6 per cent. London’s FTSE 100 is 0.3 per cent weaker.

The Kospi index was among the biggest fallers, down 1.8 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9 per cent after a run of economic data missed forecasts. Tokyo’s Topix dropped by the same margin with industrial and consumer stocks falling.

Forex The dollar rally has taken the pound down 0.3 per cent to $1.3333, wiping out gains for the UK currency that came after UK retail sales data strongly beat forecasts for May. The yen is 0.1 per cent stronger at ¥110.21.

Commodities Brent crude is off 0.4 per cent at $76.41 a barrel while US marker West Texas Intermediate is down 0.1 per cent at $66.58 a barrel. US crude inventories fell more than expected last week, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Contrasting central bank messages affirm big yield divergence US Federal Reserve policy tightening picking up the pace versus Eurozone

MICHAEL MACKENZIE AND ROGER BLITZ

I

nvestors have heard from two of the world’s most important central banks this week and the contrast is telling.

In the case of the US Federal Reserve, the throttle of monetary policy is opening up as fiscal stimulus shows more signs of masking typical late-cycle economy dynamics. This is illustrated by the tension in a bond market that thinks the next recession is not too far away and thus keeps the 10year Treasury yield below 3 per cent.

By this time next year, the upper level of the Fed’s overnight rate should be at 3 per cent. The risk for the bond market is of a central bank — that from January will hold a press conference after each meeting, thus making them live in policy terms — moves beyond the current autopilot schedule of two more rate increases in 2018 followed by three in 2019.

For the European Central Bank, having announced that it plans to halt outright bond-buying in December from the present monthly amount of €30bn, the problem is one of a slow-

ing economy even as the central bank pulls back from stimulus. Hence the ECB’s dovish outlook that once quantitative easing halts, an actual interest rate rise doesn’t beckon until after the summer of 2019.

So while the start of 2018 generated market excitement about ECB taper talk and propelled the euro higher, investors are now more circumspect, wondering whether they have overbought into the Eurozone growth story.

Longview Economics notes that a softer economy “brought about by slowing growth in the ECB’s balance sheet, reflects the fact that the Eurozone economy has not, as of yet, convincingly weaned itself off central bank emergency support (unlike the US)”.

Compare soft Eurozone data with that of the US which continues to illustrate the strength of the US economy, the latest being a jump in monthly retail sales.

And as Eurozone monetary policy tightens via the ECB’s taper, Longview adds that this will weigh on the region’s economy alongside other factors such as slower global growth ex-US and softer trade activity.

Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell at a news conference in Washington. Traders will be closely tracking Fed language surrounding its rates decision on Wednesday © AP

Ex-Rolls-Royce engineer arrested over spying claims

Security services probe alleged Chinese plot to steal secrets on UK’s F-35 fighter jet DAVID BOND

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former Rolls-Royce engineer was arrested under the UK’s Official Secrets Act as part of an investigation by the police and security services into an alleged plot to steal secrets on Britain’s new F-35 stealth fighter jet.

The Sun newspaper, which first reported the arrest on Thursday, named the man as Bryn Jones, a former chief combustion technologist at RollsRoyce who worked for the company for 35 years.

The details of the Sun’s report were independently confirmed by a Whitehall official who added that the arrest was “significant” and followed a “long running covert” investigation into possible Chinese commercial espionage in the UK. In a statement the Metropolitan Police said a man in his 70s was arrested on Tuesday afternoon and later released “under investigation”. Two property searches were also carried out by police — one at an address in the West Midlands and another in

Derbyshire.

After leaving Rolls-Royce in 2003, Mr Jones became a private consultant in gas turbine combustion, according to his profile on LinkedIn. He was also listed as working as a visiting professor of gas turbine combustion at the Aeronautical University of Xian, in the north western province of Shaanxi.

Despite the focus on the threat from Russia — highlighted by the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury in March — and Islamist inspired terror plots, the UK’s security services are worried about Chinese commercial espionage.

Officials point to a number of recent cases in the US and Europe as evidence of the extent of Chinese spying operations in western countries. Last week Kevin Mallory, a former CIA case officer, was found guilty of espionage and lying to the FBI about his contacts with Chinese intelligence.

Although the F-35 combat jet is made by US manufacturer Lockheed Martin, Rolls-Royce provides the lift fans for the B variant being purchased

by the UK. Unlike the A class of the F-35, the B variant is designed to take off and land vertically on the UK’s two new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

The first batch of four F-35 jets arrived in the UK from the US last week.

In 2016 a Chinese businessman pleaded guilty in the US to conspiring to steal sensitive military aircraft data from computers of defence contractors. The F-35 was one of the fighter jets that was targeted.

Justin Bronk, a combat air analyst with the Royal United Services Institute, said that while China did not have any specific requirement for the type of lift fan style propulsion used in the UK F-35 jet, Rolls-Royce’s technology would still be highly sought after.

“Since Rolls-Royce is, along with Pratt & Whitney and General Electric, one of only three companies in the world able to reliably manufacture state of the art military (and civil) high thrust turbofans, it is an obvious target for Chinese espionage,” Mr Bronk said.

Blockchain insiders tell us why we don’t need blockchain, redux JEMIMA KELLY

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erald Ratner caused a crash in his stock back in 1991, when he referred to some of his products being “total crap”.

His affordable-jewellery company’s shares lost $500m in a couple of days.

The episode gave rise to the phrases “the Ratner effect”, and “doing a Ratner”, to describe what happens when people undermine the value of the precise thing they’re trying to sell.

Fast forward 27 years -- yes, ter-

rifyingly, that’s how long it has been -- and we find ourselves in the magical world of crypto, where the Ratner effect doesn’t seem to exist at all.

Take Dogecoin, for example, the jokecoin whose founder has repeatedly said its price -- and those of other cryptos -- is unhinged from reality.

Dogecoin’s current total value is estimated at a third of a billion dollars.

And then came a story yesterday

by Anna Irrera at Reuters: Banks are unlikely to use distributed ledgers to process cross-border

payments for now because of scalability and privacy issues, according to Ripple, one of the most prominent startups developing the technology.

“I will concede, we haven’t gotten there yet,” Ripple’s chief cryptographer David Schwartz said in an interview.

Ripple, the company behind centralised digital token XRP, exists to create a system for payments for banks.

At pixel time, XRP was up 3.6 per cent on the day.

Euro on track for steepest slump since October after ECB, US data ADAM SAMSON

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uropean Central Bank president Mario Draghi achieved a tricky feat on Thursday, pledging tighter monetary policy in the months ahead but also weakening the euro in a manner that should help shield the bloc from external shocks.

In recent trade, the common currency was down 0.93 per cent on the day against the US dollar at $1.1681.

The euro has not faced such a steep drop since October 2017, according to

Reuters data.

It had traded as high as $1.1851 in the seconds following the decision from Wednesday’s close of $1.1789. Its slide accelerated after a strong round of US retail sales data.

In fixed income, the two-year German Schatz was in demand, reflecting confidence in stimulative monetary policy if needed, with the yield falling by 2.2 basis points to minus 0.657 per cent. Further down the maturity curve, the 10-year German Bund yield fell 3.7 bps to 0.439 per cent.

The ECB said that it will begin slowing down its bond purchases in September to €15bn a month from €30bn at present before finally halting the quantitative easing programme at the end of next year.

It also said that it anticipates it will hold its lending rates at current levels “at least through the summer of 2019 and in any case for as long as necessary to ensure that the evolution of inflation remains aligned with the current expectations of a sustained adjustment path.”

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BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 15 June 2018

ANALYSIS

Missionary zeal: ‘Amlo’ promises to shake up Mexico López Obrador’s fans see a champion of the poor but opponents fear a leftwing populist JUDE WEBBER

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ladimir Ramos, a Harvardeducated political consultant, is advising on gubernatorial and congressional campaigns for candidates from all three of Mexico’s main political parties in the July 1 elections. But, a native of Chiapas, the country’s poorest state, his own vote for president is going to Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

“It’s time,” he says, simply. “People are fed up.”

With three weeks to go, an air of inevitability has overtaken Mexico.

Opinion polls give Mr López Obrador, a self-styled stubborn radical who is feared by some in the private sector as a dangerous leftist, more support than his rivals put together. He looks unstoppable. Or as he puts it in his trademark, folksy way: “This rice is cooked.”

Why it should prove third time lucky for Amlo, as the silver-haired, perennial presidential candidate is widely known, owes as much to Mexicans’ terror at escalating violence, disgust at endless corruption scandals and rage at a discredited political class as it does to his stump message that he alone can transform an underperforming country in which over half the population lives in poverty.

“What he is saying hasn’t changed that much, but people are hearing it differently,” says Marcelo Ebrard, an erstwhile political protégé who, like Mr López Obrador, served as mayor of Mexico City and is now organising his campaign in the country’s northern states.

The likely election of Mr López Obrador raises an important question in a world that has witnessed one startling political upset after another over the past two years: is it a sign that Latin America’s second-biggest economy simply wants to turn more to the left with greater emphasis on social issues? Or will Mr López Obrador be the latest charismatic leader to pursue a populist agenda that descends into unsustainable spending and weakens democratic institutions?

In a country where the median age is 27, young people especially are lapping up Mr López Obrador’s holy trinity of promises: honesty, security and prosperity. “It’s incredible to see his vision and such hope,” says Iván Rudar, a 23-year-old artist, after a rally in the central Mexican town of Jiutepec.

“Something different could really bring big change.”

“Amlovers”, as they style themselves, see in Mr López Obrador a champion of Mexico’s poor and middle class, a man of integrity and honour with a mission to eradicate corruption and rewrite an otherwise stagnant future.

Yet not everyone is gushing about the potential new president. Mr Ebrard concedes that, in talks with thousands of business leaders, “many thought Andrés was a communist”. Indeed, rattled at the prospect of him plunging Mexico into populism, the country’s business elite has lectured staff in letters, videos and compulsory meetings about the hyperinflation and debt crises of the 1970s and 1980s.

Many of his opponents will never be persuaded that he is not the same firebrand who cried “to hell with their institutions” and had himself invested as “legitimate president” in Mexico City’s main square after claiming the 2006 election had been stolen from him.

Their vision of Mexico under Amlo is a Venezuela-style socialist wreck run by

a nationalist implementing obsolete policies that will hit growth, stability and investment.

Mr López Obrador, 64, who cut his teeth in politics in the ruling Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI) in the 1970s in the southeastern state of Tabasco, shucks it all off as the desperation of a “mafia of power” whose wings are about to be clipped.

Keenly aware that victory is now within reach, he appears to have learnt to bite his tongue. “Love and peace,” he intones, beatifically at rallies and to opponents, instead of shooting from the lip with self-sabotaging outbursts. It is part of a mellower, less dogmatic image of a leader willing to welcome former foes, forget past transgressions, extend a hand to the private sector and drop the reform-bashing rhetoric.

His poll numbers have been swelled by voters disgruntled at both his rivals — Ricardo Anaya, who is leading a right-left coalition, and José Antonio Meade, the ruling PRI candidate. The latest poll of polls by Oraculus.mx, a specialist electoral website, gives him 49 per cent, although polls show nearly 30 per cent of voters have yet to decide how, or even whether, to vote on July 1.

Both Mr Anaya and Mr Meade champion the technocratic, market-friendly approach that has dominated Mexico since the mid-1980s, but has failed to deliver the promised growth while violence has skyrocketed. Their poll numbers have fallen in recent weeks, while Mr López Obrador has extended his lead, even as many question how much he has changed as a politician.

“Deep inside, he’s the same López Obrador,” says Alejandro Schtulmann at Empra, a consultancy. “He might not be as bad as some people think, but we’re not sure.”

Three things are central to Mr López Obrador’s political style: his tropical roots, his combative spirit and his almost divine sense of calling.

In a new biography, José Agustín Ortíz Pinchetti, who served in the candidate’s cabinet for part of his 2000-05 tenure as Mexico City mayor, paints a picture of a political animal who grew up in Tabasco just as the state was enjoying an oil boom and the national economy was expanding by 6 per cent a year, in what came to be dubbed the “Mexican miracle” of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation that would last until the 1970s.

He likens Amlo to a fighting cockerel and quotes him as admitting that he has always struggled to reconcile passion with reason. “First off, I’m a Tabasco native, and that’s my weak spot,” Amlo said. “I’m a high-risk politician.”

Mr López Obrador exploits his provincial roots with a homely, slow speaking style peppered with regional

colloquialisms that paints Mexico’s problems in black-and-white terms.

“No one should be worried if I use the word ‘radical’,” he told the crowd in Jiutepec, talking about his policy platform. “I use radical in the sense of coming from root. Because I want to uproot corruption and injustice.”

“In their desperation, the mafia say that what I am proposing is populism,” he went on. “If cutting top [officials’] salaries and increasing wages at the bottom is populism, sign me up!”

Nonetheless, he makes no secret of his admiration for the late Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro. He named the youngest of his four sons Jesús Ernesto as a tribute to Ernesto “Che” Guevara, is a friend of UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and regularly promises a peaceful revolution to transform Mexico.

Mr López Obrador, a baseball fanatic and history buff, grew up the eldest of seven children in Tepetitán, a small town where his parents ran a shop. After studying political science in Mexico City, he returned to Tabasco, the site of Mexico’s most brutal anticlerical purges and the setting for Graham Greene’s The Power and The Glory.

At a time when Mexico was sliding towards economic crisis and the US was introducing free-market policies — the “neoliberalism” against which he now loves to rail — Mr López Obrador spent five years living in a mud-floored hut in a steamy backwater in Tabasco running the Chontal Indian community co-ordination centre. He introduced a swamp drainage system to foster agriculture, built hospitals and schools and granted credits, or as he puts it in a brief autobiography released for the elections: “There, I trained as a social fighter.”

He threw himself into the tough life with a “missionary zeal”, writes Mr Ortíz Pinchetti. Enrique Krauze, one of Mexico’s most prominent historians and a fierce critic of Mr López Obrador, famously branded him a “tropical messiah”.

“Amlo thinks he’s here on a mission, to transform Mexico,” says Raymundo Riva Palacio, a journalist and commentator who knows the candidate. “He has always had a theological logic, ever since he was in Tabasco. Good versus evil, it’s very binary.”

So what, exactly, does Mr López Obrador want to do? His chief pledge is to eradicate corruption, though he is vague on how he will achieve that beyond a combination of zero tolerance and personal honesty to sweep it out “from top to bottom like cleaning the stairs”.

Using the money rescued from backhanders and a tight grip on government purse-strings, he plans a host of infrastructure projects in partnership with the private sector, especially a rail link across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, to

López Obrador campaigning in Michoacan state last week © Reuters

Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto’s PRI party may lose its grip on power © AFP

spark economic growth in Mexico’s depressed south. To prevent young people falling into the clutches of organised crime, he pledges bursaries and apprenticeships. To the elderly he promises pensions while scrapping millionaire stipends for past presidents. In keeping with his own humble standard of living, he envisages a shoestring administration, slashing top bureaucrats’ salaries and no fancy presidential plane.

Similar recipes worked when he was mayor: he built a second tier to Mexico City’s urban highways, worked in partnership with telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim to pull off a successful facelift of the city’s historic centre, instituted an oldage pension and is credited with doing a competent and fiscally responsible job.

But he has spooked many voters by talking vaguely about an amnesty for drug lords. He has threatened to suspend a landmark energy reform, which scrapped an eight-decades-old national oil monopoly and allowed private investment in the sector, while contracts already awarded are inspected. He also pledges to build at least one oil refinery — a proposal many in the industry consider is nationalist madness — and to make Mexico self-sufficient in food.

His talk of the government driving economic policy alarms many investors who fear a lurch towards inefficient central planning. However, he has quietly courted investors including Larry Fink,

head of the world’s biggest asset manager, BlackRock. According to Mr López Obrador’s team, the two men clicked at a recent meeting in Mexico City.

“I am worried by what I see as superficiality in his ideas,” says one executive in the business capital, Monterrey. Or as one chief executive puts it more bluntly: “He is pragmatic, but ignorant.”

Alberto Gavazzi, a Brazilian who runs Latin American operations for drinks group Diageo, says he would be more worried about Mexico lurching left had he not lived through Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s first term in Brazil, when the real tanked initially but the leftist president surprised many by pursuing a tight fiscal policy. “I don’t believe there will be radical changes regarding the way Mexico is run,” he says.

“He’s moved from being against-thesystem more to the centre,” says Antonio Solá, a Spanish publicist who worked on a 2006 campaign that branded Mr López Obrador “a danger for Mexico”. Gustavo de Hoyos, head of the Coparmex business confederation, says he is “worried about the contradictions, but we have gradually seen some, still timid, steps in the right direction”.

Critics fear that an autocratic leader, imbued with a divine sense of power, as Amlo is perceived by many, might be tempted to undermine Mexican institutions. But Mr López Obrador insists: “I have my feet on the ground.”

BUSINESS DAY

C002D5556

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I FRIDAY 15 JUNE 2018

Opinion Sustainable development and unsustainable popular delusions

D

uring the economic recession of the 1980s the doyen of Nigerian economics, the late Pius Nwabufo Okigbo, delivered his famous lecture at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies with the unusual title, “Sorcerers, Astrologers and Nigerian Economic Recovery”. I was among the audience during that steamy summer afternoon in Kuru in 1987.

His delivery was a magisterial tour de force that has remained deeply ingrained in my memory to this day.

Okigbo gave that dramatic title to his erudite lecture to drive home the point about how bereft we are in terms of critical thinking about the economy. Instead of basing economic decisionmaking on hard-headed analysis, profound historical knowledge, awareness of institutional dynamics, statistical research and data analytics, most of the time we seem content to hide behind abstract modelling, woolly thinking and guesswork, What was true of the Nigeria of the eighties is, unfortunately, still true of the Nigeria of today.

I shall discuss only five of those popular delusions

-- intellectual blind spots that seem prevalent in Nigerian economic thinking today.

The first popular delusion is the belief that development planning is bad and that all we need are so-called “rolling plans” and mid-term expenditure frameworks.

The history of planning in Nigeria goes back to colonial times. Before independence, the departing British brought in economists from the World Bank and the United States to assist in designing Nigeria’s first fiveyear economic development covering the years 1962-68.

The distinguished American economist Wolfgang Stolper was one of the architects of our first national plan, about which he wrote with such nostalgia in his memoirs.

Nigeria has had altogether four national plans since independence: the First National Development Plan 1962-68; the Second National Development Plan 1970-74; the Third National Development Plan 19751980; and the Fourth National Development Plan 198185. In addition, there has been the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), which, stricto sensu is not an economic plan but a general economic reform

programme.

In 1985 the Ibrahim Babangida military administration were persuaded by the Bretton Woods institutions to jettison planning altogether. Many of our so-called economists who bought into the fraud were in no position to know that works such as those by Naomi Caiden and Aaron Wildavsky, Planning and Budgeting in Poor Countries were really sponsored stratagems to ultimately ridicule planning in developing countries.

This is not, by any means, to idealise planning. Economic development planning, as the Soviet experience shows, cannot be a panacea to solve all economic ills. But I see it as a discipline and tool for resource and political mobilisation that enables leaders and the nation’s economic managers to focus on their long-term policy choices. Economic planning also helps to minimise the rampant policy inconsistencies and instability that accompanies regime changes.

Contrary to what many suppose, the emerging countries that have enjoyed accelerated growth and structural transformation are precisely those countries that never jettisoned economic devel-

HumanAngle FEMI OLUGBILE Physician, psycho-profiler and essayist

O

n the 30th of May, a unique crowd of people assembled at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island. They were there to honour Kunle Ajibade, a man who had the reputation of being an icon of ‘guerrilla journalism’ in Nigeria.

To a certain extent, the history of Kunle Ajibade, especially the last few decades of it, has been the story of Nigeria, in some of its seamier, most horrific details.

Take a snippet from his book ‘What a Country’.

At a military facility, on Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, within a few hundred yards of the venue of the birthday gathering, an event of great shame and horror had taken place on a cloudy July morning in 1995.

Beko Ransome Kuti, brother of the Afro-beat icon, and a civil rights activist in his own right, had been brought, in handcuffs, and leg-irons, to face a Special Military Tribunal (SMT) headed by a certain General

opment plans. These include: China, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

The second popular delusion that I would like to bring to your attention is the widespread assumption that we can focus on quantitative growth with total indifference to the arduous task of nation building. On the contrary, those countries that have enjoyed rapid growth have also been those where the power elites were united behind certain national historic ideals. This is particularly true of an ethnically diverse country such as Singapore, where Lee Kwan Yew made it a deliberate policy to forge a new Singapore identity. In countries as diverse as South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and India, a broad national consensus was a necessary foundation for national economic progress.

The Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, in his remarkable studies of the emergence of the political state in renaissance Italy, famously described the state as “a work of art”. It is a work of art in the sense that it does not happen by chance. A state is built by creative men and women working arduously with vision, courage, creativity and panache. Nations

are invented traditions. It calls for statesmanship of the highest order. Nation building projects need to be incorporated into our various social development interventions.

The third popular delusion that we must debunk, which is linked to the preceding, is the assumption that we can achieve sustainable growth without carrying the youth along. Throughout our continent of Africa, the youth are the majority.

They are our future. It is my deepest conviction that a society that forgets its youth is quite literally digging its own grave.

The youth of Nigeria face enormous challenges. For one thing, our system offers them little hope and virtually no opportunities. The youth, by definition, are endowed with tremendous energy.

That energy, psychologists tell us, must find an outlet one way or the other. If it cannot find outlet in creativity, it will find it in destructiveness.

But find an outlet, it must.

This is the crux of the problem. Our youths of today feel little or no pride for their country. Most are scheming on how to leave for so-called “greener pastures”. They have been brainwashed by the electronic media of world

was accused of trying to help people who had already been arrested for planning a coup, including a certain Olusegun Obasanjo, and, of course, the journalist Aiibade.

In the event, Beko received two life sentences, and Ajibade only one. ‘Only one’!

started long before the ‘Maximum ruler’. After obtaining a Masters degree in Literature in English, he worked for some time as a copywriter in an Advertising Agency in Lagos. From there he joined the African Concord, one of the publications in the MKO Abiola stable, as a senior correspondent.

The story is told of the incident which unleashed the devilmay-care readiness to sacrifice comfort, and even life, on the altar of principle. The Military President Ibarahim Babangida felt chagrined by a report carried by the Concord Press. He demanded an apology. The MKO of the time, a businessman yet to experience his RoadTo-Damascus conversion to social activism, was ready to eat humble pie and issue an apology to save his business. Not so a group of young journalists working in his stable. Kunle Ajibade, Bayo Onanuga, Dapo Olorunyomi, Babafemi Ojudu, and Seye Kehinde decided to leave Concord and join forces with similarly minded others, rather than apologise.

Thus, was born THE NEWS, and then TEMPO. Ban followed ban. The selling of ‘banned’ newspapers and magazines became a hide-andseek game between journalists, vendors, and the security forces, with the public doing their bit to ensure they got their hands on the latest edition of

Prisoner of conscience: A tribute to journalist and writer Kunle Ajibade, who recently turned 60 The MKO of the time, a businessman yet to experience his Road-To-Damascus conversion to social activism, was ready to eat humble pie and issue an apology to save his business Aziza, on a charge of aiding and abetting a coup plot against a man named Sani Abacha.

Beko – according to the writer and birthday boy – was in his trademark safari suit. In his chained hands, he held a bottle of water. In the pockets of his

safari jacket were two packs of Gold Leaf cigarettes. A sardonic exchange took place between Beko and the similarly chained people in the waiting area, who included the writer.

‘If you are expecting life imprisonment’, said Beko, as they waited to be called in to face Aziza, ‘I’m sure mine will be death by firing squad. ‘What a country! What a life!’

Beko had been arrested by a Nigerian state terror machinery that had reached its apogee. He

Ajibade would go on to spend the next phase of his life in Makurdi Prison up-country, where he was consigned, according to him, ‘to die incrementally’.

But Abacha himself, after having achieved the unprecedented feat of closing down twenty-two major publications in Nigeria, would be dead, three and a half years later, and Ajibade would regain his freedom.

The Kunle Ajibade story

THE NEW WEALTH OF NATIONS

OBADIAH MAILAFIA Dr. Mailafia is a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a development economist and public finance expert with a DPhil from Oxford obmailafia@gmail.com; 08036590990 (text messages only)

imperialism into believing that the streets of Europe and North America are paved with gold. Nobody warns of the real dangers that lie ahead: the armed killers of the Sahara, the prospects of death in the treacherous Mediterranean Sea; and, if they do make it to Europe, the rampant racism, neofascism and discrimination.

Another challenge afflictContinues on page 35

TEMPO or AM NEWS to catch ‘real news’, which was then discussed in furtive whispers in street corners from Lagos to Lokoja. Guerrilla journalism had come to stay in Nigeria, to the consternation of soldiers, who wanted to control what the people thought.

Those young ‘rebel’ journalists who walked out on MKO have gone on since to make their marks on the landscape.

Bayo Onanuga is the MD of the News Agency of Nigeria. Dapo Olorunyomi founded Premium Times, a virtual newspaper that has acquired great authority and penetration. Seye Kehinde has carved a soft-sell entertainment niche. Babafemi Ojudu became a Senator of the Federal Republic, and then a Special Adviser in the Presidency. And Kunle Ajibade is the Executive Editor of The News and PM News.

Sitting in the auditorium of the NIIA in Victoria Island in 2018, twenty-three years after the day described in Ajibade’s book, when Beko Ransome Kuti, in leg irons and handchains, with his two packets of cigarettes in his safari jacket, alighted painfully from the Maruti military jeep to face a grim tribunal which he expected to sentence him to death, you reflected that it would have been a fitting conclusion to Continues on page 35

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Ghana Office: Business Day Ghana Ltd; ABC Junction, near Guinness Ghana Limited, Achimota – Accra, Ghana.

Tel: +233243226596: email: mail@businessdayonline.com Advert Hotline: 08116759801, 08082496194. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08169609331 Editor: Anthony Osae-Brown. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.

WOMEN’S HUB Friday 15 June 2018

BUSINESS DAY

Any ‘big deal’ in men holding doors for women?

Occupational safety should not be ignored Workplace Palaver

They found out the Nanny was HIV+

5 Academic Degrees Brand ambassador Thespian Entertainer

…indeed for HELEN PAUL impossibility is nothing

Leading Woman

EDITOR’S NOTE

W

elcome to another edition of Women’s Hub. Our cover personality is the dynamic HELEN PAUL, who has scaled through various hurdles to be where she is today. Her story will inspire you.

Did you see the pandemonium caused online about whether men should open doors for ladies or not? We have a writeup on this for your reading pleasure.

In Workplace palaver, Nike finds out her nanny is HIV positive. Find out how she responded to the matter.

We also share with you reactions from Nigerians on June 12 declaration by the President among other stories.

An enlightening edition it is.

Enjoy!

KEMI AJUMOBI kemi@businessdayonline.com

Graphics by David Ogar

5 Academic Degrees, brand ambassador, thespian, entertainer …indeed for HELEN PAUL, impossibility is nothing KEMI AJUMOBI

H

elen Paul (popularly known as Tatafo) is a renowned entertainer, MC and thespian. She has won the hearts of her millions of fans across the world with her electric stage performances. She is well known with her signature baby-like voice and theatrics during her performances.

She is currently a brand ambassador for a number of notable brands which includes Glo, Harpic, INEC, NCC and Chocolate Hair .

She is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Paul Helen Productions Limited and Helen Paul Theater and Film Academy.

Helen works as a TV presenter with M-Net, where she has been presenting “JARA” on Africa Magic since 2010. “JARA” is a programme that provides ardent fans and viewers generally with inside scoops on Nollywood - the movies, the actors/actresses, directors, producers, interviews, countdown of different categories of the “Who is Who” in Nollywood, behind-the-scenes clips and so on.

Helen has a penchant for education. She has Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Degree in Theatre Arts (Upper Credit), A Master of Arts (M.A.) Degree in Theatre Arts, A Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree, A Master of Public Administration (MPA) Degree and currently rounding off her Doctorate Degree (PhD) in Theatre Arts at the University of Lagos.

Growing up Growing up was a constantly challenging experience for me. I spent most of my formative years with my grandma, a disciplinarian, a no-nonsense person. Perhaps she had an inkling about the kind of person that God had created me to be, she was always watching out for me. Though an interesting person, she gave me some liberty but always drew the line. Whilst I grew up with tough parents and a non-nonsense grandma, I also had fun and shared naughty moments with friends and peers.

Today, Helen Paul is a mishmash of sanguine and choleric qualities. This minute, I am being strictly focused and seriously narrowing my focus on business and cannot entertain any jokes around me, the next minute, I am in everybody’s face, cracking them up. Sometimes, people around me don’t understand me. Happily, God does.

Journey into the world of comedy My journey started while I was quite young. At a point, I was working as an admin assistant in Eko Reelmix Studios. During this period, I developed a habit of mimicking babies and toddlers. I played, laughed, and cried like them and also acted out their antics and mannerisms in general. I also experimented with singing and all these things worked for me because I started to sing backup vocals for music artistes and bands that came to record songs in the music recording studio (such as Infinity, PSquare, Yinka Davies to mention a few). During the same period, I also interacted with artistes like 2face, Sound Sultan, Rooftop MCs, and more and at a point, Wyclef Jean who was visiting Nigeria and enjoyed my jokes. I was just generally up and about, welcoming artistes and bands to the studio and making all of them laugh.

Fast forward to some years later and I was attending a show in my alma mater (University of Lagos). Due to some last minute glitches, one of the comedians being expected at the show (who also doubled as the MC) did not turn up. Some of my colleagues who were accustomed with my pseudo performances literally pushed me to the stage to go meet the organizers of the show. The organizers took a long leap in the dark by gambling with my performance but they were impressed at the end of the day, with very strong and positive cheers and applause from the audience also. From then on, God has been very good to me. Today, I am deeply grateful to God and everyone that He has used to help me along the way. The journey has been long and arduous but there has been a lot of very progress. I now have a lot of goodwill, support, recognition, acceptance, and awards to show for the years of labor and sweat. I remember my first personal show in 2012. I have acted in and produced a number of movies, released a music album and other singles which have enjoyed a decent measure of airplay, written and published a number of books, opened a film and theatre academy, and also manage a number of other enterprises.

Passion for the youths I do this in several ways. First, I opened an academy called Helen Paul Theater and Film Academy some years ago. The Academy, located in Ogba, Lagos and among the courses offered are Cinematography, Acting, Video Editing, Dance, Photography, Basic Presentation, Costuming and Sewing, Hair Styling, Sound Engineering and Graphics Design. There are also various segments of the Academy including a music recording studio, a rehearsal studio, a movie editing room, a photo studio, hair styling and makeup studio, costuming studio to mention a few. People that are interested in any of the different facets of entertainment enroll for any of the abovementioned courses and through partnerships with tested and trusted institutions, they are tutored and thoroughly groomed in their particular areas of interest.

By virtue of the Academy, I also have a troupe called the Helen Paul Troupe which performs stage drama, dance, and choreography every now and then at different events. Also, through personal mentoring, I have trained and mentored several prospective entertainers, grooming them towards being the best in their chosen fields of entertainment.

Education and talents, where is the synergy?

Education is indeed important. Barring factors and circumstances such as funding

BUSINESS DAY that might militate against anyone obtaining formal education; I encourage everyone to go get some form and level of formal education. In the world of today, there is a stiff competition in everything we do. Education gives its beneficiaries an edge. I mean, it does not necessarily have a direct contribution to whatever vocation or skill we decide to practice eventually but it gives that edge in comparison to others who probably never considered obtaining formal education. For starters, education aids better communication, whether written or spoken. It usually reflects in one’s presentation, language, and style. It even reflects in composure, comportment, and gestures. Overall, it reflects in what our generation loves to refer to as “packaging”. Your product or brand may be very good but you might need to ‘package’ it in a certain way that appeals to your audience. Though not a subject of its own in most institutions, some form of education acts as a guide in branding and presenting yourself and your product in an acceptable manner. However, education must be a continuous exercise in order to be useful to anyone. If anyone stops education at what was obtained in the four walls of an institution of formal learning, it may not be a wholly fulfilling exercise. After formal education, other forms of education can be obtained through constant reading, studying and researching, travelling and meeting people from other climes, interpersonal relationships and so on. What is required is a keen and teachable spirit, coupled with an open mind. Education should not be rigid or static. The world keeps changing. Some subjects that were being offered in most institutions of learning yesterday may not be relevant to our world today. Some of these subjects need to pave way for more practical and realistic subjects which are more relevant to our lives and careers. This is the difference between undergoing an academic exercise and a practical one.

How do you see the current comedy industry in comparison to when you started?

The industry, though still growing, has come a long way, thanks to pioneers and innovators who have contributed, and are still contributing, their quota to its growth and development. Also, the level of acceptance of comedy these days is impressive. Particularly in Nigeria, perhaps the fact that we are currently going through a very challenging period of our lives is a major contributory factor to the huge acceptance of comedy. People now come out in droves to attend comedy shows. Comedy was not such a big deal when I started.

Comedians then were more or less regarded as clowns or jesters in a somewhat condescending manner, even though they made people smile. Nowadays, comedians are seen as entrepreneurs in their own right since they have not only been able to create jobs for themselves, they have also created hundreds of jobs for many people. The services of comedians are now engaged to promote products and endorse brands.

There have been major developments and the list is endless. Technology has also contributed to the huge leap in the comedy industry. Nigerians at home and in the diaspora can now stream comedy skits on sites like YouTube as well as on social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. In fact, comedians uploading skits on sites has become the in-thing.

I have observed that this act is particularly appreciated by Nigerians in the diaspora who do not have the opportunity to attend comedy shows in person or watch their favorite comic acts live. They stream and download anything ranging from music to movies and comedy shows and skits. People can now assess comedy content from anywhere in the world and watch from their various mobile devices either in the comfort of their homes or on the go. This has brought comedy closer to fans all over the world. People now believe in and invest more in comedy. The various sponsors, promoters and event organizers now spend huge investments in comedy, through monetary funding and lots of time. In fact, today, no show, marriage, birthday party, or any event at all is complete without a comedian performing. That goes to show how accepted the industry is. However, the industry is not there yet.

It’s still a journey. With better collaboration amongst and a greater push from all the stakeholders, the comedy industry will be able to boast of big comic exports from Nigeria to the international community, same way we have the likes of Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy, Kevin Hart, Trevor Noah, Ellen DeGeneres, the late Joan Rivers and so on.

If you were asked for your view on the business of comedy in details, what will you say?

I would like to answer this way - it is one thing to have a natural gift at doing something, whilst it is another to know the business of doing that thing. Just like it is in music, movies, and all other spheres of entertainment, one needs more than talent to promote an art. It takes patience, endurance, perseverance, longs hours of honing ones skills, training, practice, rehearsals, interpersonal relationships, as well as support, etc., to become successful at the business of comedy.

I don’t know it all but the little I know about any business is that the God factor is the most important aspect of that business. God has a way of making all things beautiful in His time.

Now to the human factor, one needs all the elements I listed above. In addition, you cannot do it all alone. It is one thing that we need to improve a lot in Nigeria. An artiste may be his own writer, arranger, producer, manager, and all. In more advanced climes, there are ghostwriters, producers, managers, arranger and so on, that fine tunes all aspects of a song in order to make it a hit. Using the above analogy for comedy business, first; anyone interested in comedy business needs

WOMEN’S HUB

Friday 15 June 2018

to understand that although it is an act intended to elicit laughter from people, it is no longer an art meant for dregs of the society or unemployed folks who just see it as a diversion or a stop gap pending when they are able to secure a job. No. It is serious business, same way someone started the business of public toilets and saw the bigger picture of a really serious business. The other very important thing is surrounding oneself with the right people. As a budding talent, you may have a very good idea, joke, or skit. However, you need people with just the right skills to develop your plot, your storyline, put in some form of arrangement, add a buildup and punchline to your narration. Asides that, there are people that are technologically sound - they know how to upload stuff online. There are also those that are good at doing a critique of your material. Still, there are those that are good at securing shows, negotiating deals, etc. You need the right team.

Female comedians aren’t many in Nigeria. You are one of the leading lights, how have you maintained relevance till date?

I really don’t know, honestly. I simply attribute everything to God. I started out armed with nothing but a dream - just wanting to use my God-given abilities to amuse people, but as God would have it, it became a big business. As I always tell people, start. Whatever it is you know you’re good at and would have a positive impact on your society, just start. You never can tell where the journey will take you to. Starting is the most important and most difficult step. Back to the question, I would say God all the way, coupled with a sharp interest in acquiring more knowledge, being surrounded by the right people, and staying forever young at heart.

Being an ambassador for NCC I was delighted, I was thrilled. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is a big entity.

It has won awards as the best regulator in Nigeria and several other accolades. The telecoms industry is arguably the fastest and most dynamic sector of Nigeria’s economy today. As such, working with such a huge entity and being associated with such a big industry is a rare privilege. By virtue of my appointment, I am acting in some capacity for the NCC and the telecoms consumers. I am not there to cause any trouble (laughs), I am there to sensitize people about what to do and what not to do. For example, people on the Do Not Disturb (DND) List should not receive unsolicited messages, and so on. I have learnt a lot through my association with the Commission and interaction with consumers. The NCC is not known for frivolities, so I consider my appointment as a very well thought out decision. I greatly appreciate it.

What is the greatest lesson life has taught you?

Humility. Be humble always. You can never go wrong with being humble.

What is currently in your front burner? What are you looking forward to?

I am looking forward to having another show pretty soon. We had one earlier this year - in April, to be precise, and it was massively successful. It was tagged “Helen Paul 360”, a show aimed at showing the many sides of Helen Paul in characters such as Tatafo and Chukwuka the General Merchandise. In addition, I’m looking at producing more movies. I already have over four in my kitty and I keep writing and developing more scripts to be adapted into movies. I am also working towards expanding the reach of the Helen Paul Theater and Film Academy. As at today, we have locations in Nigeria and the US. More affiliates are on the way.

BA, MA, MPA, MBA, Dr… how were you able to achieve all these and still do the amazing things you do?

I am supported by a caring and understanding family.

It is indeed hard work, but with their cooperation, things have been relatively smooth. My husband understands the demands of the job and he knows what comes with the terrain. Also, there is a support system at home. People that work with me on the home front are more or less inducted into the house as part of the family, so it’s a system that works well, thanks to God. Lastly, getting anything done comes through hard work, consistency, and tenacity. I have a policy of “never say die”.

Parting words I would love to say a big thank you to all my fans and friends all over the world. To everyone supporting the Helen Paul, Tatafo, Chukwuka the General Merchant, Alhaja Bola, and other emerging brands of Helen Paul, I say a huge huge thank you! To all visionaries out there - Dream big. Start small. Break your dream into tiny and measurable steps. Write them down and put it always in view. Take it step by step. Don’t give up. Believe in yourself and you will achieve it.

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BUSINESS DAY

WOMEN’S HUB

Friday 15 June 2018

Occupational safety should not be ignored DESMOND OKON

E

xperts have said that the lack of implementation and enforcement of safety policies and regulations poses a threat to Occupational Safety and Health, OSH, practices in Nigeria. They also called on the government and stakeholders to enforce these laws in other to stall occupational hazards.

This was made known at the Lagos Safety Summit, held, at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, 7th June, 2018. Discussing the topic ‘Taking ownership and developing tactics to improve compliance’, the conference dealt with sacrosanct issues such as chemical and biological hazards, control of communicable respirator y diseases at work places and other topical matters affecting safety and health at workplaces across all sectors.

Statistically, the International Labour Organisation, ILO, estimates that 2.3 million women and men around the world succumb to work-related accidents or diseases every year; this corresponds to over 6000 deaths every single day.

Worldwide, there are around 340 million occupational accidents and 160 million victims of work-related illnesses annually.

Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest number of deaths, said the Third Vice President, Nige-

O

n May 9, 2011 my work day started out as most days with a meeting at a local coffee shop with a few co-workers then the drive to my first doctor ’s office.

Having been a medical sales representative for almost 13 years in Central Virginia I was accustom to long hours of driving on curvy two lanes roads to travel from town to town and conduct sales calls with physicians. On this day I was headed north on Route 20 to the little town of Orange, VA. It was a beautiful spring day and I was still reeling from spending a wonderful Mother’s Day the day before with my husband, Chris and son, Beck.

I remember looking down at my speedometer and I was going the posted speed limit of 55 mph and then at my clock which indicated it was around 10:43 am. Next I noticed the sign that said I was 1 mile away from Montpelier, James Madison’s Home, and 6 from Orange. It all happened so fast. Within the next 3 seconds I saw a car driving southbound roll off the side of the road. My first thought was he is going to over compensate and come back and hit me. I looked to the right, but there was not shoulder. I looked to the left and remember saying “no” right before he hit me head on.

As I took the impact I remem-

rian Institute of Architect, Mobolaji Adeniji.

“This calls for very serious attention. This is something that need to make us go beyond just coming to talk about it. We have the beautiful laws, but we need to go beyond it.”

She adds.

Adeniji, while presenting her lecture: ‘Safe Design: Designing with safety in mind’, also said that the laws were not the problem because they were already in place, rather implementation of the policies had been neglected.

“It’s not that it’s not in place. It is implementation that we need to make sure there is enforcement.

Unfortunately, the impact of enforcement of policies is ineffective as the key stakeholders pay less attention to OSH regulations thus rendering the scheme dysfunctional, and at the same time impeding OSH development. For instance, how many inspectors do we have really ensuring that these laws are actually being effected?”

Speaking to newsmen from her architectural background, she said: “What we’ve discussed today was that officials in companies, governments as well as stakeholder need to ensure the safety of their workers. And even beyond this, what about the unorganized workplaces like the market place?

How is the government ensuring safety in that place? We see many times open drains, we see many times people doing street trading.

Do you know this very hazardous?

I’ve seen in many instances where people who are doing street trading were run over by trucks. I’ve seen cases where people who are trading under high tension wires and they collapse and they die. I’ve seen places where, because of the use of poor materials in public places, people slip and fall.

“So many things are happening out there and the government needs to take notice. We have the laws, but are we enforcing it? Who have we employed to enforce it? The regulatory bodies of our professional institute also need to work with members to ensure that we have people monitoring, particularly sites. Are the right materials being used? Every site for instance is supposed to have a board showing who the architect is, who the engineers are –this is a monitoring system to ensure that the right professionals are in place, but how many project sites in Nigeria are complying?

“So we need to all come together to see safety as a responsibility of all. If you see something is not done safely, report it promptly. The authorities need to keep their eyes

I Survived ber preparing to die and not being afraid. Then the crash was over and I opened my eyes and saw white. At that moment I really thought I’m dead. Then the air bag deflated and was I sitting in the middle of the mangled wreckage of my once 2011 Chevy Malibu with the dashboard in my lap. My legs had been crushed.

I knew immediately it was bad. I looked down at my legs and saw my patellar tendon hanging out so I stopped. A woman who witnesses the whole thing ran up to my car to check on me. I told her I was alive but to call the helicopter to come take me to

UVA Medical Center. I knew I needed to get there as soon as possible because that is the place that saves lives when they have to cut you out of a car. I tried to get out of the car but my door was crushed in and would not open. I was shaking all over from head to two. Then I remember the smell. The smell that I’ve never smelt before but it was probably a combination of electrical, car fluids and who know what else. I panicked because I thought the car was on fire. I’d survived this crash and I was not going to die burning up in the wreckage. I tried to bust the door window out with my fist but that did

open. We must enforce the laws that we propagate”.

Chinyere Emeka-Anuna, Senior, Programme Officer, International Labour Oragnisation, ILO, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra-Leone, said that government could enforce OSH regulations by having OSH committees both at the enterprise, sectorial, and national levels. For her, having these regulations was not enough, rather, absolute enforcement was key to ebbing and eradicating work-related hazards.

“You need to also ensure they are implemented to the latter. Also you can have OSH policies both at the national, sectorial and enterprise level. One of the things you can do is having OSH committees in place, both at the enterprise level and the sectorial level, and then like I said, at the national level. At the national level you are supposed to have a national tripartite body made up of the government, the employers, and the workers, discussing and also monitoring the implementation of OSH regulations, policies and laws.” She asserted.

The Occupational Safety and Health Inspector, Federal Minis-

try of Labour and Employment, Olajumoke Joseph, revealed that communicable respiratory tract diseases was a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among employees; and it was very important to prevent and control these diseases in order to achieve zero accidents and diseases at workplaces.

While speaking to Women’s Hub, she said that the role of the employer in curbing the spread of these diseases was to “organize an educative programme involving consultants that have the technical knowledge, who understand how to control communicable respiratory tract diseases, to educate everyone at the office both the management, the employer and the employees on what communicable respiratory tract diseases are.”

“The next stage is structural development like installation of washbasins, hand sanitizers dispensers at strategic places in the work premises.” She said.

She also noted that it is the responsibility of the workers to abide by the safety and health regulations made by the employer through the help of experts.

screaming at his car obscenities. She then told me he was dead. I calmed down and a lady still in her nightgown came out of her home and lay down next to me in the road and comforted me. I told her to cover up my legs so no one would see them.

I remember just telling everyone to get the helicopter and get me to UVA. The lady who was first on the scene came over and I asked her to call my husband.

She called my husband, Chris and put him on speaker. I remember telling him “I’m okay, just go to UVA”.

Next, the ambulance arrives and the EMT’s start to work on me. They wrapped my legs and put me on a stretcher. I was screaming and yelling for help. not work. Two men come up I spent 11 days in the UVA to my car. I told them to bust Medical Center. During that time the window and pull me out. I was put under 3 times for surOne ran for something from geries to start the slow arduous his car and he smashed the process of rebuilding my legs. window in and was able to I was discharged to UVA Health unbuckle my seat belt and South for Rehabilitation for two they pulled me out. The men weeks. Once there I started to carried me and I told them process what had happened to don’t let my legs touch the me. I could not even imagine ground, they are crushed. I what life would be like moving also apologized for weighing forward. I just focused on getso much. ting by one day at a time. My son They laid me behind my was graduating from high school car on the side of the road. the first week of June and I was Sometime during all of this determined to go. I asked my the lady who was first on the therapist what I need to do to get scene came over and told me out of here. They set goals for the driver of the other car had me; I quickly met them and was open beer in his car. That’s able to be discharged before my when I got man and started son graduated.

CMYK

Imposition Studio 5.1.1

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Friday 15 June 2018

WOMEN’S HUB

Nigerians react to June 12 declaration by the President “Let the dead rest in peace.. Awarding them a title does not add any value to their afterlife. My take.”

- Altine Mailabar.Kyon, Social Commentator.

Any ‘big deal’ in men holding doors for women?

DESMOND OKON

W

hile debates are still hot over renowned author, Chimamanda Adichie’s comment that men should not hold doors for women as this action, which is supposed to be a love language, makes women seem weak; popular Gospotainment radio host, Obiajulu Olabisi Ugboh known as BeeCee Ugboh, has said that holding the door for women was not necessary and should not be generally adopted, and that those criticizing Adichie should move on rather than debate the matter for ‘decades’.

“I listened to her comment and she explained further, that showing such level of kindness should not just be strictly to women, but also for the weak in the society,” she told Women’s Hub in an exclusive interview. “That means the weak men and the weak women, not just women. So if you see an elderly person, a sick person you can hold doors for them, you can show love to all humans that need it, not necessarily for a gender”.

She continues: “So if we can learn to show love to not just the women but those who are in need, because there are some women who are stronger than men. But if we can practice that act with everyone, and helping the sick, the pregnant ones, the weak men, it will help us better in the society. So I share her idea.

“Her idea is showing love to not just the women alone, but the weak in the society. Some women are strong and they can handle themselves. But if everybody can just help out the weak, not because I’m a woman, that means I’m not typically able to do certain things.

There are women who can change the

tyres of their cars; there are women who can put on their generators. There are women who can do what men do. So, it’s not all women that are physically weak.

“So, weakness is not a gender thing. The action itself doesn’t make them weak; it makes it seem that they are weak. But we know that women are not weak. Physically, some of them might be because we do not have the same muscle mass like the men, that’s how we have been created.

“But I’ve seen several ladies who are stronger than their husbands physically.

Emotionally we’re stronger than men, so the action makes it seem like they are weak. It doesn’t necessarily make them weak. So that’s what she’s trying to correct.”

But she however acknowledged that different things work for different people, and urged people to do what works for them.

“What works for people is different. If a person gets married and she likes her husband to hold the door for her, he can do it. It doesn’t mean it’s general that all men should hold doors for their wives. It’s not general” she said.

Adichie made the statement while appearing on the Trevor Noah show, a daily show and an American programme.

According to her, opening the door for a woman should not be out of chivalry; rather, people should be open to helping and being courteous regardless of gender.

“Because chivalry is the idea of ‘women are somehow weak’ and need protecting but, we know that there are many women who are stronger than men,” she said.

Adichie frequently comes under ‘fire’ over her unflinching feminist comments during interviews.

The author trended in April when she said she was upset that the Twitter bio of former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, began with ‘wife’ despite her numerous achievements.

“Kudos! Buhari by restoring June12 Democracy Day in Nigeria has given Nigeria’s democracy a huge boost. This is more than good, it fulfills the line of our national anthem: “the labors of our heroes past shall never be in vain”. This generation of Nigerians and generations to come will not only look forward to MLKDay, they will know of a hero, who once gave everything for our democracy MKODay. God Bless Nigeria. MKOLives.

- Bukola Michael Nelson, Business Technology Consultant.

“It will have no effect on the minds of those citizens who have decided that their well-being has been of the lowest priority to this administration. So if it is indeed politically motivated and swaying minds is the objective, it is an exercise in futility!”

- Anengiyefa, Lawyer.

“I’m personally giving PMB full accolades for this.

Though, I won’t be voting for him next election but for pronouncing June 12 Democracy day. You try!”

- Adeyelu Gbenga

“Though a good move if not a political strategy however, will the public holiday and honouring stop the current situation which Nigeria is facing?

Situation like killing everywhere, security embarrassment, unavailability of basic infrastructure amenities.”

- Balogun Babatunde.

“When were Nigerians consulted on this revisionism you embarked upon? May 29 is utmostly significant as Democracy Day. It’s a day in 1962 when Tafawa Balewa declared state of emergency in Western Nigeria, sealed the Western Legislature and effectively truncated Nigeria’s 1st Republic.”

- Koyejo Adebakin, Writer.

Friday 15 June 2018

BUSINESS DAY

Workplace Palaver

They found out the Nanny was HIV+ KEMI AJUMOBI

N

ike has been married for 5 years. For some people who have tried in their own way to counsel her, the idea of not having children in the first 5 years wasn’t “all that bad”. If she had faith, they told her it would happen. “When? When?” She said amidst tears while talking to one of her Aunts. Nike wasn’t having it at all, she was frustrated. Her husband Kunle, did not make things easier, he longed to have a child but he did not see it as a “do or die matter”. To make matters worse, he wasn’t always around. Due to the nature of his job, he was in and out of the country frequently.

The thought of not having children always made Nike sad.

While at work, she found difficulty sometimes focusing on her job.

She had been counting down to the time she would go on her annual leave. She believed it would be a time to share moments with her husband outside the country.

Kunle and Nike had an amazing holiday. They went to Seychelles and spent two weeks there. The next two weeks were spent in their house in Texas. Nike had so much fun that she wasn’t looking forward to coming back to work.

By the time she returned from holidaying, everyone said she looked fresh and relaxed “hopefully, I don’t have breakouts on my face as a result of the stress on the job” she told Chinedu, her colleague.

A month later, Nike observed changes in her body. She wasn’t sure what it was but she and Kunle agreed they had to go and see a Gynecologist. After tests were carried out, the Doctor confirmed to them that they were expecting a baby. The news was received with so much joy.

Kunle was so particular about Nike’s health that at some point he asked her to resign because

he did not want complications “Come on now Kunle, if all pregnant women resigned, who will do the job? I am having our baby in the US not to worry; I will have enough time to rest after the birth.”

Nike continued going to work and putting in her best. Few months to delivery, she travelled and had their beautiful baby girl and they agreed she was going to be called Favour.

Kunle flew in to America to see his girls (baby and wife). It was love at first sight. The baby looked exactly like him. “Gosh! She looks so much like me” he told his wife

and she responded “I saw that coming”. “Well, I will try not to be too excited, babies change as they grow, we will see who wins” Kunle teased and gave Nike a pack on her forehead.

Luckily for her, her Aunt had helped to look for a nanny before she returned. Nike’s mum had died and Kunle’s mum was in her 80s. They did not want stress for her.

As they returned, a week later, Kunle had to travel to Morocco for a business deal. The Nanny resumed at Nike’s house but Nike wasn’t going to take things with

levity so a day later, she decided the nanny was going to undergo various tests including, Tuberculosis, HIV and the more.

When the results came out, the doctors requested for the Nanny to speak to her confidentially but she said it was okay for Nike to be there because Nike was her employer. There, the doctor delivered the sad news.

The Nanny was HIV positive! Nike almost fainted. She began to calculate how many times the nanny pecked the baby on the cheek, if the baby had scars and so on.

Nike was going nuts but tried

her best to remain calm. They left the hospital but she needed a second opinion so they left for another renowned hospital and the result came out negative. Nike concluded that she needed just one more confirmation and she got it at the third clinic. The way the nurses were jittery and the doctor tried to act like everything was okay made Nike convinced that the result was positive. She was right. The Nanny was HIV positive!

In her presence, the nanny called her husband to tell him and all he could say was that going to the city had confused her into believing what “City Doctors” said.

“Come back to the village, there is nothing wrong with you” Her husband said, trying to make little of the situation. Nike paid her off and encouraged her to seek medical attention, she was told of where she could get drugs for free. The nanny was sad she was leaving but Nike made her understand that the baby could no longer be in her care. Every now and then, she would call to check up on the baby and Nike. Nike has been very kind to her, till date.

Kunle would call and ask about the nanny because he observed the baby was always with the mum whenever he face-timed.

Nike wasn’t going to tell Kunle on the phone so she waited till he returned. Two days after he returned, Nike told him everything “I knew something was wrong. I am glad though that you did not treat the woman badly. I am proud of you.” Kunle said.

Tests were carried out on the baby but the doctor said they needed to do it again after three months and after three months, the test was carried out on the baby. Kunle and Nike are happy their baby girl, Favour, is HIV Negative.

Moral of the story, before you employ any house staff or worker, carry out ALL tests!

A MEMORABLE WEDDING UCHE UWEGBA

I

had been at home for quite a while and it was really becoming tiring. Nothing fun was happening, it was the same tedious routine every blessed day. This would explain my excitement on hearing that we would be attending Uncle Femi’s daughter wedding. I didn’t even mind the fact that I didn’t even know the daughter and I had never seen her before but at least I was associated with her father. Anything to leave home. Uncle Femi was a friend of my Aunty. He was always nice to me anytime he saw me. I was happy to hear the good news. The day to the wedding drew near and I became more and more excited. I discussed my plans for the wedding with my friends.

The D-day finally arrived and we had to wake up early so that we could get to the venue on time. The wedding was to take place at Sango-Otta and it was going to be quite a journey. We were supposed to take off at 10am. When I woke up, I did my house chores on time so I could have ample time to prepare for the wedding. Of course, my major preparation was my make-up. I had already planned on taking lots of pictures so my make-up had to be on point and I had to look sharp!

When it was time to take-off, we went outside to take the first set of pictures. After that we got into the bus as we were going as a group and took off. We left Ikeja by 10:20am and started our journey. On getting to cement Bus-stop, there was traffic as a result of the ongoing road construction. The weather was hot and the heat was becoming unbearable and you know make-up and heat doesn’t go hand in hand. In short, I was really uncomfortable. Halfway into the journey, I was already regretting going. If I didn’t know better I would have said the traffic was programmed because of us but of course that’s not possible. At almost every point of the journey we were in traffic.

Due to this fact, most of us who didn’t have time to eat at home ate their breakfast in the bus and those who had eaten…well, I guess you could say they ate their lunch. We even napped. My sleep was very uncomfortable due to the bad state of the road and the hot weather. After a restless sleep, I finally woke up. To my amazement, a friend of mine was looking at me and laughing. I looked at her and asked why she was laughing.

She just pointed at my face and kept on laughing. I brought out a mirror from my bag and looked at reflection. I smiled at what I saw. As a result of the restless nature of my sleep, my wig had come undone and was only partly on my head. I quickly put myself

together. I decided not to sleep for the remainder of the journey. After a while we finally got to the venue of the wedding. The wedding had already started. Since it was a traditional wedding, it took place at Uncle Femi’s house. A canopy was placed outside for guests but the canopy was already filled up. We had to stand in the sun for a while before provision was made for us. Thank God we were served food as soon as were seated because that was the only thing on my mind at that point. I ate my plate of Jollof rice and meat and when I was asked if I wanted more, I declined as I had lost my appetite as a result of the exhaustion of the journey. After eating, we went to greet the bride and groom and left. Everybody was tired, so we journeyed back in silence. When we got back home, we were all complaining.

I thought it would have been better if we had stayed at home. At home we started experiencing symptom of diarrhea, but mine was the worst. I was purging for a week, even after taking the famous Flagyl. I promised myself not to do what I did anymore all in the name of owambe. But within me, I know I will soon be breaking that promise because in Lagos we all know Saturdays are for parties!