BusinessDay 20 Oct 2019 by BusinessDay

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www.businessday.ng Sunday 20 October 2019

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p.24

p. 22-23

Vol 1, No. 285 N300

income in Q3 2019

Nigeria and plight of hapless citizens ‘Poverty pushing Nigerians to ‘fetch’ fuel with buckets’ Government policies not forward-looking, says Angwe

pp.35 41.

Story on page 2

Current administration has interest of Nigerians at heart – Varsity don

inside

You cannot build a system where there is no rule of law - Dania

Fuel bazaar

Dangerous train ride

Rising youth unemployment

Refugees without war

p. 18

Tough times for Nigerians, local manufacturers as FG insists on border closure AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

s the Federal Government continues to say ‘no’ to the reopening of the nation’s land borders to export and import trades, families in Nigeria would continue to pay premium to put food on their tables following the increasing prices of food items in the market. Meanwhile, prices of food stuffs including imported and locally made rice, vegetable oil, imported and local frozen chicken, turkey and other fast moving consumer products have hit the roof in the last one month that the nation’s land borders were shut. BDSUNDAY recalls that Hameed Ali, comptroller-general of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), said in Abuja last Monday that no item can be imported or exported through the nation’s land borders, thereby, postponing the reopening of borders

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Gbajabiamila, Ishaku celebrate Gowon @ 85 JAMES KWEN (Abuja) & NATHANIEL GBAORON (Jalingo)

he Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and Darius Ishaku, governor of Taraba State, have extolled the virtues of Yakubu Gowon, a former Nigerian head of state, at his 85th birthday anniversary. Describing Gowon as a sym-

bol of national unity, Gbajabiamila, eulogised him for his love for Nigeria and his belief in the oneness of the country. The Speaker, in a statement by Lanre Lasisi, his special adviser on media and publicity, said it is to the credit of Gowon that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), which brings Nigerians together, came to being in 1973. “On this day, I join millions of Nigerians, and friends of

Nigeria, to celebrate this icon and symbol of national unity as he marks 85 years on earth,” he said. According to him, “In the years since he retired from active service, General Gowon has worked across the country to see to the establishment of peace and abiding prosperity and it is this work that will long be remembered as his greatest legacy. “Nigerians will not forget in

a hurry that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), which worked to bring Nigerians together at a critical time in our history, is the brainchild of this great Nigerian. Indeed, the history of our country will not be complete without a mention of Gowon. “On this occasion of his 85th birthday, I join fellow Nigerians in offering special prayers to Continues on page 4

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Cover Nigeria and hapless plight of citizens CHUKA UROKO, OBINNA EMELIKE & INIOBONG IWOK

uccessive administrations in Nigeria have not been fair to the masses in the country. When government revenue grows, it is only the privileged few that enjoy it. But when it is shrinking, the trouble of the poor masses increases as government finds reason to impose all sorts of taxes on them. Whether in the military or in democracy, the story of the Nigerian poor has not changed. As deprivation and poverty led to the untimely death of many citizens 21 years ago in Jesse, a sleepy village in Delta State, as they scooped fuel from burst oil pipeline, it is worse these days, despite various sources of revenue generation employed by government. Citizens are still dying of treatable diseases. Many school-age children are still out of school, while the wealthy few enjoy the best of education within and outside the country. The consensus is that the gap is always widening between the haves and the have-nots in the country. The high level of corruption going on in government, which has over the years been blamed on the fear of the future by public office holders, has so badly infected many citizens that they no longer see anything wrong with stealing other people’s property. Bemoaning the corruption level in government, Patricia Onah, a legal practitioner, told BDSUNDAY that it has become part and parcel of public office and may not be tackled in the nearest future. “The Nigerian political class is manifestly corrupt. They earn huge salaries and other perks of office, but they are hardly satisfied. Their greed is out of this world. If possible, a politician would want to own everything in Nigeria. This poverty of the mind and greed have been adopted by many citizens who now believe that the end justifies the means, not the other way round. It is very dangerous for the country and we are seeing the negative fruit,” Onah said. According to the World Poverty Clock, no fewer than 94,541,014 Nigerians are currently living in extreme poverty. This is 47pecent of the total population of 198,276,041. Nowadays, it is common to see Nigerians begging for financial assistance on major streets, worship centres and other public places, even online. The true poverty situation in Nigeria, perhaps, was well captured in the report by the World Poverty Clock in 2018, which showed that the country had overtaken India as the nation with the most extreme poor people in the world. India has a population seven times larger than Nigeria. A large chunk of the population cannot afford basic necessities of life, such as healthcare, education and decent accommodation. Experts believe that as one of the most endowed countries in the world in terms of natural and

human resources, the current situation is an indictment on successive governments that mismanaged the country’s vast oil wealth through incompetence and corruption. The unemployment rate among the youth population, has continued to rise, creating all manner of social problems. The unemployment rate in Nigeria has risen from 5.10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 23.10 percent in the third quarter of 2018. The situation is not better among the working class due to the poor wages being earned by a large percentage of Nigerian workers. In America, a worker earns $7.25 per hour, which is in contrast with the $0.6, a Nigerian worker earns a month based on the recent signed N30,000 national minimum wage. The human rights abuses, which characterised the military era in the country, are still rampant in a democracy. Since 1999 when Nigeria returned to civil rule, cases of rights abuses have been on the rise. Mike Ikpeme, a public affairs analyst, said that Nigerians are not enjoying freedom again. He expressed the opinion that what is in place in Nigeria today is far from democracy. “You cannot call this democracy when opposition is endangered species, the masses cannot express themselves again and security operatives are behaving as if we are in a military rule,” Ikpeme said. The angry Ikpeme is worried that if government officials are clamping down on critics, how would they improve on governance and ensure dividends of democracy get to everyone? Mathew Angwe, a politician from the Middle Belt, fears that the military is still in power, and lacks words to describe the use of military tactics in democratic setting. “In the military regime, the head of state is everything and no challenge from anybody, except through coup. But with the leadership of the National Assembly in its pocket, the presidency is ruling like a military head of state. You don’t want protests, you don’t want criticism, you don’t want people to make money, you don’t want them to express themselves, and then what is the difference with military rule?” he said. He further said that in a country where thieves are forgiven for supporting a ruling party, corruption will thrive. “If Ayo Fayose, for instance, joins the ruling party like some others did, no court will summon him for any corruption charge. Many of those whose cases are with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are in government, operating at the highest level of governance. It is a bad example to our children who are watching the inanities going on. They are destroying the future of Nigeria. So, the intimidation and persecution of people is much and those who cannot endure it are joining the ruling party,” he said. The worst fear for him is Nigeria running one party system, without opposition, and an

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo (l) and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde at the 30th anniversary of Victory International Church and Divine Proclamation service for Dominion University at Rehoboth Cathedral, Ibadan. Photo: Oyo State Government anomaly in the 21stCentury for a country of 200 million people across many ethnic lines that need welfare and equitable representation in the scheme of things in the country. But Musa Ibrahim, a university lecturer, thinks that the country is passing through a phase that would later usher boom. For him, the present administration has the interest of Nigerians at heart, especially with policies that are meant to address the economy, ensure food security, diversification and prosperity. “Though people are complaining of border closure, it will ensure self-reliance, food security and save foreign exchange. We need to support this government,” he said. But Angwe countered Ibrahim saying that the government should listen to the people. “You cannot formulate policies that are backward. The poor are suffering because of these policies and you are telling them not to do anything to survive. It is like beating a child and telling the child not to cry. Crime will definitely increase,” he said. Poverty pushing Nigerians to ‘fetch’ fuel with buckets’ In the 21st Century Nigeria, when the rest of the world has moved on, Nigeria appears not in a haste to join her peers. Today, 59 years after independence from her colonial masters, Nigeria has failed to provide the basic needs for its citizens. People are feeding from dust bins, and taking dangerous risks just to put food on their table. The incident of Tuesday, October 15,2019 at Mile 2 area of Lagos State may have justified the categorization of Nigeria as the world poverty headquarters. A video that went viral captured a scene where Nigerians were seen fetching inflammable petrol with open buckets! An eyewitness account has it that the tanker driver, who was trying to avoid a mild traffic, had ignored the directives of officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and rammed into a container lorry. The

tanker was punctured by the side as a result of the crash, causing intense fuel spillage. In the confusion that ensued, some bystanders saw the accident as an opportunity to make a brisk business at the risk of their own lives. An eyewitness, Gabriel Adekunle, was quoted as saying that “Because of the hardship in the country, people around the area started using bowls to steal the fuel. But some community members, traders and drivers’ union members at the garage cautioned them against scooping the fuel for fear of an explosion. Poverty-stricken Nigerians were seen collecting the product with any container in sight. Some used basin, some jerry cans, and some others used buckets and they were drenched in the petrol. What they forgot was that a spark of fire anywhere around the scene could send them to painful death. They could have been roasted. The Mile 2 episode did not degenerate to a national calamity because of timely intervention of some security agents that cordoned off the area. Nigeria has had several cases of infernos that consumed many souls. In 1998, it was said that about 1000 people were roasted to death when they rushed to scoop petrol from a burst oil pipeline. Their charred bodies were given a mass burial. Several others were left with various degrees of burnt. Since that incident, close to dozen other infernos have taken place in various parts of Nigeria with different casualty figures. It has happened in Rivers, claiming the lives of over 100 people. It has also happened in Abia State, Anambra State with high figures of casualties and also in Odukpani in Cross River State on January 12, 2019 where about 60 people were said to have lost their lives. The similarity in all the tragedies is that most of those who died went to fetch fuel as the tankers fell on the road spilling its content. In the Port Harcourt incident, those that were terribly affected

were motorbike riders and taxi drivers who were trying to scoop the spilt fuel into their own tanks, which then also exploded when the fire started. The repeated incidences also illustrate the lack of safety education for poor rural people who do not fully understand the risks and blinded by excruciating poverty in the land. Lagos could be said to have just escaped the tragedy last Tuesday by an act of God. The push to reap where one did not sow has also become a national identity. People are eager to cart away other people’s property and vandalise shops to satisfy their hunger. Beyond scooping fuel from a burst tanker without any atom of sympathy for the owners, some Nigerians today loot trucks conveying bags of rice, beans and other edibles. They do so with impunity and without conscience that it is a huge loss to the owner of such business. It is pure greed! Today, many Nigerians have been so pushed to the wall that they take dangerous decisions. Fetching petrol with open vessel is highly suicidal; trying to emigrate to Europe on open boat in a ravening Mediterranean Sea is also a desperation occasioned by an inclement socioeconomic weather in the country. It is the same desperation occasioned by long years of deprivation and abject poverty in the land that may have driven many other citizens to enlist in dangerous criminal activities. Speaking with BDSUNDAY recently on part of the reasons for insurgency in the North East, Chidi Amuta, a former University lecturer, now a publicist, said it was unlikely that anyone with a paid job would strap him/herself with explosive as suicide bomber. According to Amuta, “Anyone that has a fairly reasonable means of livelihood would not easily strap himself with explosive to end his life tragically. It is only those who have been pushed to the wall and believe there is no reason for living that go to that extreme. There is nobody that wants to die for the sake of dying. Life is sweet, you know.”

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Gbajabiamila, Ishaku celebrate Gowon... Nigerians benefit annually from ITEC

$10bn line of credit - Indian Envoy

Continued from page 1

INNOCENT ODOH, Abuja

he High Commissioner of India to Nigeria, Abhay Thakur has said that Nigerians and other nationals of other African countries have immensely benefitted from $10 billion line of credit provided by the government of India through the Indian Technical and Economic cooperation (ITEC) for Training and capacity building programmes. The envoy said this while giving his remarks at the 2019 ITEC Day held at the Indian High Commission at the weekend. He noted that ITEC, which began in 1964, is a fully sponsored, fully funded programme for both government officials and professionals from all walks of life from 160 partner countries. “We have also made a commitment of 10 billion US dollars in line of credit through the Exim Bank for Africa and I am happy to say that more than 6 and half billion dollars of these lines of credit have been committed or utilised,” he said. He said that during the ITEC 2019/20, India is offering around

Gowan

Allah to grant General Gowon continuous good health, protection and guidance.” By the same token, Ishaku, while celebrating Gowon, said the former Nigerian head of state “is a man of peace who fought for the unity of Nigeria”. Ishaku added that Nigerians were proud of Gowon and would continue to appreciate his numerous contributions in shaping the destiny and fostering peace and unity in Nigeria. The governor, who also conveyed his message in a statement he personally signed, described Gowon as an ambassador of peace and unity, saying that the entire people of Taraba were behind the distinguished African personality. “On behalf of myself, the government and the entire

people of Taraba State, I rejoice with a distinguished African personality, statesman and ambassador of peace and unity - General Yakubu Gowon, GCFR, former Nigerian head of state, who is 85 years old today, October 19, 2019,” he said. According to Ishaku, “Nigerians are proud of you, our dear General, and will continue to appreciate your numerous contributions in shaping the destiny and fostering peace and unity in Nigeria. History will forever be kind to you. “I wish you many more years in good health and fruitful service to our dear country, Nigeria”, the statement reads.” Gowon was born on October 19, 1934 in Kanke, a Local Government Area in Plateau State.

14,000 scholarships for partner countries out of these 250 slots are available for Nigeria, 32 for Cameroun, 10 for Benin and 5 for Chad as well as 5 for ECOWAS as an organisation. “In the last three years, Nigeria has utilised 530 ITEC slots, Benin 20, Cameroun 90 and Chad 21. I would add that the number of slots can be increased further if we see significant number, say 80percent utilisation of existing ITEC slot,” he said, adding that some of the slots go unutilised. ITEC has also established a large network of ITEC alumni across continents that have become brand ambassadors and powerful links between India and their respect countries. ITEC has also evolved with changing times adopting new methods to enhance its outreach. It has adopted a more focused approach through customised country specific courses. According to the Envoy Continuous accumulation of knowledge and technological progress are the driving force of nations and societies in the 21stcentury. He added that more than 200,000 professionals from across the world have been

trained under the ITEC propramme so far. He disclosed that as against the target of 50,000 training announced four years ago for Africa, more than 40,000 persons from Africa in the last four years, have been trained, which he said is a huge success. ITEC is devised to share India’s socio economic development success and technological achievements with other developing countries through a wide range of trainings, project related cooperation, deputation of Indian experts, exposure to visit Indian, supply of equipment/material for specific projects and aid for disaster relief. It serves as a knowledge bridge between India, Africa Europe, Oceania, South East Asia, other parts of Asia and Latin America with India. The areas in which ITEC trainings are available are accounts, audits, banking, finance, insurance cyber technology, education, government functioning, health Yoga, irrigation, water resources journalism and defense and strategic issues related. Such courses are impacted in many prestigious institutes in more than 100 across India.

Management consulting firms will deepen transparency - IMCON ANTHONIA OBOKOH

xpertsfromtheInstituteofManagementConsultantsofNigeria (IMCON) say management consulting firms is a critical factor and a tool for public and private sector organisations to improve openness, transparency and accountability. “Management consulting firms is linking appropriate incentives to performance and result/outcomes such as financial management, procurement, social and environmental safe guards, monitoring and evaluation,” IMCON said. This was the view of management consultantsduringthemaidenedition of the Management Consultancy Conference (MCC) with the theme - The Evolving Economy: The role of management Consulting in the Public

and Private sector’ in Lagos. “Management consultants are expected to offer innovative solutions and recommendations. The consulting industry is perceived to be both prestigious and lucrative, and consultants are reputed as leaders and experts in the field,” Olatunde Adekola, senior education specialist, World Bank, said. Adekola said that many business organisations retain the services of consultants to help them assess areas of opportunity, develop strategic plans, and implement change in order to achieve desired growth or surpass specific hurdles. Speaking on challenges, Adekola said that management consulting has its own pros and cons. “One of the challenges that face management consultants is the slice of disapproval from people around them. At times,

their presence pushes other employees to think that the company managers in private sector and civil servants in public sector aren’t competent enough to resolve their own problems.” In her opening remark, Jacqueline Samuel-Odiadi, Co-Convener, Management Consultancy, said: “The conference was conceived after extensive consultations with professionals in the industry, the recurring decimal from these interactions is the knowledge gap amongst the practitioners, the multi-facet nature of the practice which poses a challenge to definition, the unregulated nature of the practice in Nigeria and the void created by the absence of laws and regulations to address issues of practice and ethics of the profession.”

Who will bear the burden of stamp duties on PoS transactions?

he Federal Government recently mandated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strictly implement Merchant Service Charge which would impose more charges on all point of sale (PoS) transactions. To this end, the CBN issued a circular to banks, processors and switches, titled: ‘Review of Process for Merchants Collections on Electronic Transactions’. Accordingly, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) issued a circular titled: ‘Returns on Stamp Duty Collection for Merchant Transactions’. Both bodies are working closely in setting remittance processes that ensure the stamp duty charges for PoS are collected. The new policy specifies on individual transactions that occur on PoS, rather than previous plans where charges occurred on

aggregate transactions. So, for every POS transaction of over a thousand naira, a stamp duty of N50 will be collected. It is instructive that citizens must be aware that this directive has gone out, they must be aware that it does not change the prices of goods and services they incur but they may have to pay extra N50 depending on the volume transaction and method of payment. For example, the directive does not change the price of fuel, however, if anyone chooses to pay with PoS and what the person is purchasing is over a thousand naira, he or she will pay a one- time transaction fee of N50 for their purchase. So, for the oil and gas retail business, customers are going to bear the burden of paying N50 per transaction any time they choose to pay with PoS for a transaction

of over N1000. Assuming you purchase 10 litres of petrol at the prevailing rate of N145, the total cost is N1,450. But with this new policy, if you are paying the N1,450 using PoS, you will be incurring an additional cost of N50, taking your total cost to N1,500. The problem with this directive is that customers may see it as an increase in the pump prices of fuel or any other goods and services. Therefore, there is an urgent need to make it clear that it is a government instruction enforced by the Central Bank of Nigeria. It is not an increase in price of fuel or increase in goods and services, but it is a stamp duty occasioned by the payment method. It is important people are aware that they can pay cash. Nonetheless, if they choose to pay with card, they will be charged N50 on every transaction.

The new circular is basically a tax on the volume of transactions and could rake in billions in stamp duty charge for the government. However, it could inadvertently affect the CBN’s drive to promote a cashless society. The expected benefit of the CBN’s cashless policy such as increased convenience, reduced risk of cash-related crimes, access to credit and financial inclusion are clear gains but the charges could create an undesired effect. Last month, the CBN approved additional charges for cash deposits and withdrawals above N500,000 for individual accounts and N3 million for corporate accounts. The CBN explained that the new charges on cash-based transactions are aimed at reducing the amount of physical cash circulating in the economy while encouraging

more electronic-based transactions (payments for goods, services, transfers). If we are discouraging cashbased transactions, and at the same time adding charges to electronic-based transactions, we may be running the risk of policy somersault. The average Nigerians are already suffering the burden of various charges from carrying out various transactions. It is unfair for the Apex Bank to impose additional charges on PoS transactions in a bid to promote cashless economy. The fact that we are also imposing taxes on online payments is a negation of the drive to encourage people to move away from cash. Our cultural orientation is that we use cash to make payment. So, if we want people to move away from cash, we need to remove charge electronic-based transactions.

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Kogi guber: APC youth leaders sign peace pact VICTORIA NNAKAIKE, Lokoja

he All Progressives Congress ( A P C ) Yo u t h Leaders across the 21 council areas of the state on Friday signed peace pact with the Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change In Development (PIBCID), a nongovernmental organisation in collaboration with the National Democratic Institute to ensure free, fair and credible poll in the forthcoming gubernatorial election slated for November 16. The state, zonal and local APC Youth Leaders drawn from the three senatorial districts of the state were involved in the peace agreement with a promise to desist from illegalities that could disrupt the electoral process before, during and

after the governorship election. Speaking at the ceremony, the Senior Manager with the National Democratic Institute, Ben Aga who counselled the Youth Leaders on Electoral Offences and their penalties, urged them to strive to take the path of peace or risk facing the wrath of the law. He enumerated some of the electoral offences and their implications which the youths must endeavour to avoid at all times to include, forging of PVC cards, wilful removal or destroying of ballot papers or boxes from polling units without authorisation as well as interference with them and their contents such as result sheets. Other electoral offences mentioned by the resource person are, illegal printing or possession of ballot papers, improper use of voter’s card,

vote-buying, selling, impersonation of voters and unruly behaviours at political party meetings. Ben Aga also warned youths across the state not to allow themselves fall victim of electoral fraud to avoid being sanctioned in accordance with the law of the land. Earlier in her opening remarks, the Acting Executive Director of Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change In Development, Halima Sadiq disclosed that their target audience for the peace talk project are the young people that are prone to violence during elections, as she appeals to political gladiators, party members and supporters to embrace the spirit of issue based campaigns devoid of hate speech and spreading of unfounded information that could mar the electoral process.

28 international schools participate in ENAA education fair

Josephine Okojie

wenty eight international schools have participated as exhibitors in this year’s Europe, North America, Africa & Asia (ENAA) fair organised by ALTS Education Advisory, which took place in Lagos and Abuja. The education fair in both cities- Lagos and Abujasought to give Nigerians access to representatives of some of the world’s most reputable schools abroad. Some of the visiting international schools include La Garenne and Brillamont both of Switzerland, Lincoln Academy USA, Albert College of Canada and Swiss International School from Dubai among others. “ALTS is supporting these events to help ensure that

the company’s mission of looking after the interests of Nigerian students around the world is best served,” Anthonia Sawyerr, founder of ALTS said. “The good turnout at the Lagos event despite heavy rains was testimony to how seriously Nigerian parents and students take education,” Sawyerr noted. We hope to support the ENAA 2020 Education Fair, she said while adding that the organisation will also get more participation of Nigerian schools. “Nigerian education has a lot to offer the world and we are keen to see Nigeria also become an education destination,” she said. The events attracted school proprietors and school heads from Nigeria’s Grange School, Edgewood

School, Noble Hall School Abuja, Lagoon School, Atlantic Hall, St Saviours Schools (Ikoyi & Yaba), Louisville School and British International School. Families in attendance were treated to interesting seminars and presentations on various educational topics and had a chance to network around education space. According to Sawyerr, with over the 10 years of operation, ALTS Education Advisory has guided many through what might sometimes be quite a confusing option. “Many Nigerian clients have studied abroad and have returned to Nigeria to make and are still making positive and impactful contributions to Nigerian society and the nation,” she added.

SIFAX Groups empowers 30 blind students through ICT training AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

total of 30 blind students have benefitted from a digital and ICT skill training programme sponsored by SIFAX Group as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR). The training, which was held at the Nigeria Society

for the Blind School in Oshodi, was done in conjunction with the Initiative for National Growth Africa, a nongovernmental organisation that caters for the less privileged in the country. Racheal Inegbedion, team lead, Initiative for National Growth Africa, said the training was aimed at equipping the students with contemporary skills that will

add value to their lives. “The world is already digitally connected. It takes those who can tap into ICT to survive. The physically challenged also need to be fully equipped with these skills and this is why we have taken the initiative to equip them with ICT and digital skills,” she noted. Ad e k u n l e O y i n l o y e , group managing director,

WANEP calls for empowerment of the girl-child …Says, ‘they are tomorrow’s women’ Ngozi Okpalakunne

he West Africa Network for Peace-building (WANEP) Nigeria has expressed deep concern over issues affecting the girl child in Nigeria such as early marriage, female genital mutilation and called for the protection and empowerment of girls as they are the women of tomorrow. A statement signed by the WANEP Board Chair, Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi enumerated other problems that continue to pose challenges for girls to include inequality, genderbased violence, low selfesteem, human trafficking, poor health and sanitation. According to the statement, children, particularly girls have been kidnapped, abused, used as machineries to convey weapons for the insurgents and as suicide bombers in densely populated urban centres.

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Quoting community early warning reports, it said, “Media reports have recorded devastating impact of the use of girls as suicide bombers in the ongoing insurgency in Nigeria. “Major highlights include June 17, 2019 detonation of explosive at a community football viewing centre in Konduga, Borno State by two girls and a boy which left 30 people dead and 40 others injured. This incident brings the number of children who have been used as human bombs to five, since January 2019. “In 2018, 48 children were used in suicide attacks with the number of girls placed at 38 within communities. “Also, of great concern is the increasing number of out of school children in the country which hinders the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on education.”

According to the report, school participation remains a challenge across Nigeria, and obstacles are particularly severe in the northern states. “In addition to issues of school access, family and school resources, as well as attitudes towards education, school attendance in northern Nigeria is impeded by the increasingly attacks by the extremism of Boko Haram. “In Borno State, feedback reports from the communities have revealed that majority of the out of school children particularly girls have taken to prostitution to survive with untold hardship and gender based violence. This has left a large number of girls traumatised and unable to speak out on the violence. “If not nipped in the bud, this ultimately translates to a future with a higher number of women being illiterate, compared to men”.

SIFAX Group, who was represented by Olumuyiwa Akande, Corporate Affairs manager, said the company’s resolve to make the society a better place for everybody including the physically challenged, was the main reason for sponsoring the training. “At SIFAX Group, we take delight in supporting social causes that positively

impact and add value to the society. The major beneficiaries of our social intervention programmes are the less privileged – the poor, orphans, widows, physicallychallenged children, among others,” he said. He said the physicallychallenged are constantly shut out of many opportunities in the country due to their condition. “This is

rather unfortunate because we believe they have something meaningful to contribute towards national development, even with their condition. Akande further noted that many of them are immensely gifted and these potentials should be properly harnessed by giving them the required support and encouragement.

Search for MTN Nigeria’s first kid-CEO begins …. As MTN calls for collaborative initiatives to protect children online SEYI JOHN SALAU

ollowing the successful completion of the first phase of the Lagos State Spelling Bee Competition which was concluded in July, the 2nd batch of the MTN mPulse sponsored competition has begun in earnest at Gladys High School and Tombey Foundation School, Lagos. Similarly, MTN Nigeria expressed the need for collaborative initiatives aimed at protecting children online at a workshop titled: “Child Online Protection: Consumer Awareness on Cybercrimes.” The two-day training was hosted by the Digital Bridge Institute in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the GSMA; the workshop tackled the need for a deliberate approach to providing adequate online

education and protection for potentially vulnerable user groups, including teaching children how to use mobile services safely. Furthermore, the second batch comprises intraschool competitions in 32 schools across the state that will field qualifiers for the inter-school phase of the spelling bee. Ronik Comprehensive School; Princeton Schools; Gracefield schools; Jextoban secondary schools; Christ the King schools, are among the schools that will compete over the four-week duration. Winners from the 70 schools at the inter-school phase will vie to become district champions in October. Subsequently, these champions will take up the spots at the grand finale later in the year. The winner will, for one day, take over the reins from MTN Nigeria, chief executive officer, Ferdi Moolman, as the company’s CEO.

“The first batch exposed us to the crop of talented young Nigerians living in Lagos and we have seen the multiple ways that the teen and tween offering, mPulse can facilitate further expansion of those talents. As we inch closer to the finals, we are even more excited for the outstanding talents about to be discovered in these other 32 schools,” said Rahul De, the chief marketing officer of MTN Nigeria. According to Rahul, sponsoring the spelling bee is an avenue for MTN to assist thousands of young Nigerians build their grammar and vocabulary skills, and also learn from their relationship with words and language. “mPulse has always been focused on helping them be better versions of themselves in a controlled and safe environment such as the spelling bee,” Rahul stated.

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El-Rufai, Badaru head APC Kogi, Bayelsa governorship campaign councils James Kwen, Abuja

overnor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State has been appointed Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign Council for Kogi State while Governor of Jigawa, Abubakar Badaru is chairing the Committee for Bayelsa. Adams Oshiomhole, APC National Chairman while inaugurating the Campaign Councils in Abuja charged them to ensure that Yahaya Bello is re-elected in Kogi State and David Lyon emerged victorious in Bayelsa. Oshiomhole told the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to go and learn new tactics of winning elections legally as electoral outcomes would no longer be determined by the barrel of the gun as it has always been in Bayelsa. The National Chairman of the APC, noted that the people of Bayelsa have never really determined their leaders because their votes never counted but it was going to be different scenario this time.

Nasir El Rufai

Abubakar Badaru

While expressing optimism that APC will take over Bayelsa, Oshiomhole said: “In Bayelsa, the heart of the people will be turned to elect a man that will make a difference, that will demonstrate that in a genuine democracy, very ordinary people who connect with their people, who understand and live with their people and share the joy, pain and aspirations of their people, even if they do not have the history of a political dynasty can rise to become a governor and I believe that is the story of our candidate in Bayelsa. “The reaction of PDP

shows they are in trouble. My very good friend, Gov. Dickson is in trouble, but I assure him that his labour pains will soon be over by the time we win the elections. “We take these two elections very seriously, because we believe in the power of the ballot, we believe that the issues should be contested in a peaceful environment and not by the power of gunshots which has been the tradition of the opposition and we know that people want a change. “Let me use this opportunity to assure the opposition that we are ready for campaigns, it is not a fight,

International Day of Girl Child: Create enabling environment for girls’ development - Odumakin it is not a war. The only thing we will insist on is that the votes must count because Bayelsan are not used to votes being counted. They have to be encouraged to understand that the votes will not only be cast in a free and fair atmosphere, it must not be through the power of the barrel of the gun. The PDP must know that and learn new tactics in winning votes and not fight wars”. A member of the Campaign Council for Bayelsa and Kano State Governor, Umar Ganduje who spoke on behalf of the Chairman, Badaru said it was time the APC took over the governance of Bayelsa. “This assignment is a historic one because this is the time to take over the governance of Bayelsa state. We will use our political dexterity to ensure that every vote counts because this time around, it is a matter of democracy, not aristocracy”, he said. On his part, Chairman of the APC Kogi state Governorship Campaign Council and Kaduna El-Rufai said his Committee would work towards the final burial of the PDP in the Confluence State.

Alleged N108m SMEDAN fraud: EFCC presents fourth witness against Masari Innocent Odoh, Abuja

he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, October 16, 2019, presented a fourth Prosecution Witness (PW4) in the ongoing trial of the former director general of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, Umar Bature Masari, before Justice Okon Abang, of the Federal High Court, Abuja. According to a state-

Umar Bature Masari

ment issued on Friday by the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, Masari is facing prosecution for fraud, money laundering and gratification in an amended 22-count charge to the tune of N108million when he was first arraigned before the trial Judge on April 10, 2019 on a 17-count charge. At the resumed hearing, the witness, a civil servant with SMEDAN, Abu Ozigi, while being led in evidence by prosecution counsel, E.E. Iheanacho, told the court that he knew the defendant

well as the former director general of SMEDAN, and had worked with him since April 11, 2005. He said they worked together in executing specific projects through SMEDAN capital allocation and zonal intervention programmes, which were basically constituency projects, located in the various senatorial districts and federal constituencies, the statement said. “We do this through capacity building and facilitating their (national legislators) access to the resources required for their development such as work space, equipment and machinery”, he said. “We undertake their responsibilities by executing specific projects through SMEDAN capital allocation and zonal intervention programmes which are basically constituency projects located in the various senatorial districts and federal constituencies.” Giving his evidence, he stated that on November 27, 2014, that the defendant who was his boss invited him to his office and told him that he needed to give money to honourable members, namely: Honorable Abubakar Wambai, and late Engineer Anthony

Madawatti and he volunteered his company, Kike Engineering Services Ltd, bank account details and that the following day the sum of N9million was transferred to the account. According to the Ozigi, his boss, the defendant instructed him to transfer N3million to the late Honorable Madawatti, and N2, 850,000.00 (Two Million, Eight Hundred And Fifty Thousand Naira), only to Honorable Abubakar Wambai, who had earlier told him to retain N150, 000 (0ne Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira), only, adding that the defendant later told him to transfer the balance of N3million back to the defendant’s account. The statement said further that Ozigi also told the court that he knew Honourable Madawatti and Honourable Wambai prior to the instructions given to him by the defendant and added that they were frequent visitors to their office just like many other members of the National Assembly. After the cross-examination of the witness by the defence counsel, M.A. Magaji, the trial judge adjourned the case to November 4, 2019, for continuation of trial.

Desmond Okon

osephine Okei Odumakin, activist and president of Centre for Change, has called on all stakeholders, particularly the government, to create an enabling environment for the development of girls so that they can voice their opinions. She made the call while speaking at an event that brought secondary school girls together in commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child organised by Hacey Health initiative with support from Access Bank Plc for the eighth time in Lagos. Although this year’s theme was ‘GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable’, the organisers canvassed for investment in girls under a theme: ‘Empowering Girls for a Brighter Future’. Originally celebrated on October 11, the global event is a time when the pains, gains, and future of the girl child are brought to the fore. The annual celebration highlights the issues concerning gender inequality facing girls. The main aims of the day are to promote girl’s empowerment and fulfillment of their human rights. “The government has not done enough in addressing the issues concerning the girls and ensuring more girls get into schools,” she said. These issues- nutrition, legal representation, medical care, protection from discrimination, violence against the girl child, child marriage, right to education/access to education are the challenges girls face all over the world.

Odumankin said education leads to growth and if it is not taken seriously, it would impact negatively on the development of the nation. “The girl child remains the lubricant for the survival of a great country called Nigeria, and that’s why we need more awareness, and we also need parents to change their mindset, (about) early childbirth, early child marriages. Some of them don’t even know what reproductive rights is all about. “The success or failure of the girl child resides in the community, parents and the government. Government has to be more responsive and responsible in creating an enabling environment in terms of security, in terms of making education free or less expensive, in also having a strong judiciary so that anyone that flouts the regulations will be brought to book as to serve as a deterrent,” She said. Odumakin also said parents and guardians should know that they do not have any right to keep their wards out of school or to force them into trading their bodies. Answering questions on the event, Rhoda Robinson, executive director, HACEY Health initiative said the event was to celebrate girls who are the focus of the organisation. “We are calling on people to invest in empowering girls because when you empower girls, you’re empowering a nation. It has multiplier effects, and this is one of the investments that we need to push across sectors to ensure that everybody knows how important this is at the end of the day,” she said.

Travelstart launches Cabo Verde Airlines to the Nigerian market OBINNA eMELIKE

rom December 10, 2019, a new airline will arrive on the tarmac of Nigeria. Cabo Verde Airlines, the national airline of beautiful Cape Verde, flying across the globe from its base in Praia, will land in Lagos. Cape Verde is a visa-free destination but had previously proven difficult for Nigerians to fly to. A four-hour distance from Lagos, flight times before the entrant of the new airline, could be as long as over 20 hours. Philip Akesson, country manager, Travelstart Nigeria, stated, “We are so excited to facilitate the launch of Cabo Verde Airlines in Lagos. At Travelstart, we do our best to support and promote the expansion of the travel sector - the arrival of Cabo Verde Airlines is a big win.”

Christmas season is upon us, and Cabo Verde Airlines is offering early bird deals to help you stay ahead of peak season prices. The Travelstart Nigeria country manager urged Nigerian travellers and intending holiday makers to book today with Travelstart as the Early Bird Christmas deals offer customers cheap return flights to destinations like Cape Verde (Cabo Verde), Lisbon, and Washington DC. Named after the picturesque Cabo Verde, also known as Cape Verde, Cabo Verde Airlines will get visitors to the mysterious island paradise off the coast of West Africa in less than five hours. “With available departure dates from December 9, 2019 to January 31, 2020, enjoy a Christmas getaway with family or friends from as low as N145,599,” Akesson further urged.

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News Call for impeachment of Taraba Governor, Ishaku, is funny, laughable - PDP Nathaniel Gbaoron, Jalingo

he Taraba State Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday described as laughable the call for the impeachment of Governor Darius Ishaku. State Chairman of the party, Victor Kona, represented by the Publicity Secretary, Inuwa Bakari at a press conference in Jalingo, said Governor Ishaku has not committed any impeachable offence. A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Nigerian Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Hassan Ardo had on Wednesday called for the impeachment of Governor Ishaku for alleged gross violation of the constitution. Ardo had accused Ishaku of awarding frivolous contracts that have not been executed, yet monies siphoned. He also accused Ishaku of keeping local government chairmen illegally. The APC Chieftain was quoted as saying: “Today, southern Taraba has been engulfed in crisis since April

Nnamdi Opara, executive director, Sundry Foods Limited (m), flanked by Emmanuel Isiwu, Area manager, Industrial Training Fund, Port-Harcourt (l), and Mmeme Best Agbi, head, Human Resources, Sundry Foods Limited, during the ITF presentation of Best Contributing Employer in Human Resources Award to Sundry Foods Limited in Port-Harcourt, recently.

and the governor has failed in bringing it under control. In fact, it is not out of place to argue that he is behind the crisis considering the scathing remarks he has been making concerning the issue. “This man is not capable of governing a state like Taraba. He is grossly incompetent and violates the constitution without remorse. I call on the state House of Assembly to wake up to its responsibility and commence the process of impeaching him

before he sinks the state completely.” But at a press conference, the PDP described the allegations as spurious, saying the governor will not be intimidated by such baseless allegations, but will remain focus in the task of governing the state. “We urge the public to disregard the false information which Ardo and his agents recently dished out. The administration of Governor Ishaku has done so much in the areas of health, roads construction, water,

empowerment and electricity and will do even more in this second term. “Governor Ishaku is working very hard to achieve lasting peace in the southern part of the state and will not be distracted. “The duty and responsibility of this administration is to rescue the state from poverty and infrastructural decay which is already on course. We call on Tarabans to support government efforts to take development to the nooks and crannies of the State,” he said.

EFCC arraigns ECOWAS Secretariat staff for N587.7m fraud …Secures conviction of fraudster in Sokoto Innocent Odoh, Abuja

he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Friday, Oc t o b e r 1 8 , 2 0 1 9 , a r raigned one Muhammad Dangana before Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja on a 15-count charge, bordering on criminal diversion of funds, misappropriation and money laundering to the tune of over N587.700million. This was disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday by the Head of Media

and Publicity of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, saying that Dangana, an executive assistant to the Financial Controller, ECOWAS Commission Secretariat, Abuja is facing prosecution alongside Aliu Sesay, Saleh Dangana and others, all of whom are at large. Count 14 of the charges reads: “That you Muhammad Dangana , male adult, being the executive assistant to the Financial C o n t r o l l e r, E C O WA S Commission Secretariat, Abuja, sometime in 2016 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did launder the sum

of N200,000,000 you dishonestly diverted from E C O WAS C o m m i s s i o n funds, entrusted in your care and management by using same to purchase a plot of land, being Plot 36 Guzape District, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, thereby committed an offence, contrary to Section 15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 11 (as amended) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.” The defendant pleaded not guilty to all the charges, prompting the prosecution team, led by Mr. Wahab Shittu to ask the court for

a trial date and to remand the defendant in prison custody. Justice Abang remanded him in prison custody and fixed the matter for November 11, 12, 13 and 14 for trial, the statement said. In a similar development, the EFCC, Sokoto Zonal Office, on Friday, October 18, 2019 secured the conviction of one Momoh Ibrahim Onimisi before Justice Malami Umar Dogondaji of Sokoto State High Court. Onimisi was convicted on a one-count charge of intent to defraud to the tune of N300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira) only.

economic prosperity in Kwara and the nation at large; revealed that “next year, we will build a small factory in Nigeria. We have registered the company in Lagos- Nigeria. Our products are meant to address health challenges and ensure healthy living. “Health is wealth. What Quantum energy products do to the body include improving blood circulation, osteoporosis, prostatitis

and eliminate toxic from the body, relief among other benefits.” Also speaking at the event, the programme facilitator in Kwara State, Akorede Zakariyyah explained that the e-commerce platform allows members to trade in various products including household items, cosmetics, medical, jewelries on an online international market and make profit with ease.

Chinese firm berths in Nigeria

...As Sairui E-Commerce launches in Ilorin SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

hang Yuang, a renowned Chinese entrepreneur and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of Sairui E-commerce business has disclosed that the company will soon have a factory in Nigeria. Yuang made the disclosure at the launching of Sairui E-Commerce; an

online business platform for people desirous of a viable and legal means of livelihood, held recently at Kwara Hotels, Ilorin. According to him, Sairui is registered business in Nigeria and their quantum health products have started entering the country to share health and wealth opportunities nationwide. Yaung had while expressing optimism that the business will bring about

Darling announced as official hair sponsor for Lagos Fashion week IFEOMA OKEKE

arling Hair, one of the hair extension manufacturers, is proud to announce its partnership with Africa’s largest fashion event, Lagos Fashion Week as the official hair sponsor for this year’s edition. Billed to take place from the 23rd to 26th of October 2019 at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island Lagos, the 4-day event is set to celebrate the best of African fashion with an array of exciting activities. Since its inception in 2011, the annual event has featured runway shows from the biggest names in the Fashion industry like Mai Atafo, Lisa Folawiyo, Maki Oh, Tiffany Amber, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi, Orange Culture, Maxivive to mention a few.

This year, Darling is bringing creative hairstyles to the frontlines of Lagos Fashion Week by collaborating with renowned fashion designers and hair stylists to host a runway dedicated to showcasing a unique fusion of hair and fashion. Ayodele Otunjinrin, the Marketing Manager, Godrej Nigeria, said that the company’s sponsorship of Lagos Fashion Week is hinged on its commitment to promote the beauty of Africa women through trendy and affordable hairstyles. “Darling is known for creating trendy and affordable hairstyles for all African women, and over the years we have continued to promote beauty and confidence across Africa through different channels including the just concluded Big Brother Naija Season 4 and Arise Fashion Week.”

Foundation targets teenage girls in empowerment programme for youths Iniobong Iwok

non-governmental organisation (NGO), Youths Em p o w e r m e n t Foundation (YEF), has launched a programme for youths, especially girls, in Nigeria with the aim of aiding their success in career and business. The programme called ‘Future Makers’ is targeted at empowering teenage girls who had benefited f r o m t h e f o u n d a t i o n ’s GOAL mentoring and empowerment programme to get the right tool to help them secure jobs and be successful in business, while properly positioning them to be successful in their careers. Speaking during a recent quiz competition organised for benefiting secondary school students of the GOAL programme in Lagos State, Head of Corporate Affairs and Branding, Standard Chartered Bank, sponsors of the programme, Joke Adun, said the programme was initiated to help teenage girls who had benefited from the GOAL programme to be successful in their career and education. The competition was part of its GOAL project aimed at inculcating teenage girls with life skills such as financial literacy, sex education, and sports. Adun added that the GOAL programme had recorded a significant success since its inception in 2010, stressing that thousands of teenage girls had benefited

in several areas. “One of the reasons we continue to do this is because we believe the future of Nigeria is the children. We have been doing this since 2010. We are not just saying we are doing this and would stop half way; we are committed to this programme. “The girls that started in 2010 are in universities, while some are starting their businesses. We recently launched a prog r a m m e c a l l e d Fu t u r e Makers, the benefit of the programme is to empower girls with the right tool to help them find jobs and success in business, and to positioned them to get the right tool they need to get the right education and career,” Adun said. Speaking on the quiz competition, Executive Secretary of the Foundation, Iwalola Jimoh Akinjimoh, said the impressive performance of the students of the participating school proved that the students had inculcated the value of the GOAL programme. “ Th e p r o g r a m m e i s opportunity to bring the schools together. For us it is more important because the more young people are able to learn from each other; through this they are able to reinforce positive values in their behaviour,” Akinjimoh said. At the end of the quiz competition, Community Junior secondary school, Akoka, emerged winners; Onike Girl’s Secondary School placed second, while Idea Secondary School placed third.

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News

Makinde’s policies attracting interests from development partners - SDG Coordinator REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

yo State Coordinator of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Kunle Yusuff has said that the development initiatives and welfarist approach of Governor Seyi Makinde to governance is already attracting the attention of development partners. Yusuff, who is also the senior special assistant to Makinde on SDGs, made the position known during a stakeholders’ meeting on the ‘Institutionalisation of the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs), held at the Head of Service Conference Room, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Economic Matters, Musbau Babatunde, who also spoke at the meeting, said that welfarist policies and integrity in governance of the Makinde administration have started achieving results in respect of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The duo and stakeholders from 33 local government areas in the state said that efforts of the state government to move the state from poverty to prosperity based on the four pillars of the administration have received commendations from coordinators of the SDGs across the states. Some of the stakeholders in attendance included the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Funmi Orisadeyi;

Executive Assistant (Administration) and Oyo State focal person for the Human Capital Development Goals, Idowu Ogedengbe; Executive Assistant on Disabilities, Ayodele Adekanmbi; the Director of the Centre for Sustainable Development, University of Ibadan; Professor Olanrewaju Olaniyi; Professor Adebayo Ajala from the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER); representative of the State Bureau of Statistics and Directors of Budget and Planning in all 33 local governments of the state. According to Yusuff, the meeting, which coincided with the United Nation’s International Day on Poverty Eradication, was convened for all relevant stakeholders at the state government, local government, social

policy researchers and other critical levels to come up with a framework to institutionalise what he described as the Integrated Sustainable Development Goals for the betterment of Oyo State. He maintained that the Makinde administration’s commitment to doing things differently necessitated bringing together all the critical stakeholders, adding that the governor’s commitment to moving the state from poverty to prosperity would yield fruits in no distant time. Similarly, Babatunde maintained that the agenda of Governor Makinde were related to the SDGs, noting that the meeting was on how the Goals could be institutionalised and achieved in a way that the state would be taken to greater heights. He maintained that the

framework for the SDGs would be developed in a way that other developmental agenda such as the Agenda 2063 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Federal Government would be given adequate consideration, noting that Makinde would continue to deliver developments that have positive impacts on the lives of Oyo State people. “Oyo State has two things working for us right now, the governance of inclusion and integrity. When a government has integrity and it is carrying everybody along; that is a good scorecard with the United Nations. Presently, the Federal Government and everybody sees Oyo State as a pilot society; they refer to us now as a welfarist state, where everybody is be-

ing carried along on all the subject-matters of development. The administration has been working hard to make sure Sustainable Development Goals are achieved in the state. “Today is important to us in the SDG Unit, because it is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The SDG Office, with the approval of the governor, picked today to bring together directors of Budget and Planning in all the 33 local governments; the directors of Developmental Planning; directors in the State Bureau of Statistics; NISER; the University of Ibadan and others, so that we can brainstorm and formulate a framework to institutionalise what we call Integrated Sustainable Development Goals.”

Media practitioner decries drug abuse among youths, impact on society UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

incent Kalu, a media practitioner, has said if the destiny of youths is destroyed through drug abuse, the destiny of such a nation has also been doomed. Kalu made the assertion in Ohafia, Abia State during a one-day a campaign tagged ‘Ohafia Fight Against Drug and Cultism: The Origin, Spread and Impact’, powered by Ohafia Summit. He noted that the campaign cuts across all ages, adding that drug abuse and cultism start from primary schools to tertiary institu-

tions and beyond. Kalu said even those not in schools were equally involved in the ugly trend that has eaten deep into the fabric of the society. He disclosed that the essence of the campaign was to restore the Ohafia spirit and glory. “OFADAC wants to take back our children because the only end for drug users is to go to hell. So, we want to tell them that there is no road there. If we tamper with children, we have tampered with future of Ohafia,” Kalu said. Eziogo Mba Odo Okereke, traditional ruler of Akanu Autonomous Community, Ohafia, while speaking on the topic ‘The Role of

Traditional Rulers in Ensuring Drug and Cultism Free Community,’ noted that the causes of drug abuse, addiction and cultism were, among others, peer group influence, idleness, unemployment, political thuggery, moral decadence, and lack of fear of God. Eziogo Okereke observed that users of drugs were also part of the community, adding that it was the duty of traditional rulers to identify persons, places, areas of both dealers and users. “A traditional ruler who is on ground, and is in tune with the community has the mechanism to fish out such criminals and stop their activities,” he said.

Ex-BBNaija 2019 Housemate, Esther, unveiled as PayPorte ambassador

ayPorte.com has announced the unveiling of Esther Agunbiade, one of the former housemates of the just concluded Big Brother Naija reality TV show, season four, as its “Fashion Ambassador”. “This is like a big occasion for me since leaving the Big Brother Naija season 4 house. I am excited to have been considered one of the ‘influencers’ to the coolest fashion and lifestyle brands in Nigeria,” Esther said during the unveiling event. Popularly called the Qu een o f Spade s, th e 22-year-old lawyer and ExBBNaija housemate, joins the list of other fashion

and lifestyle ambassadors signed on as influencers for the PayPorte brand by sharing moments with PayPorte’s stylish collections. She would be featured in a new integrated campaign for PayPorte which will run across TV, print and online channels as well as in-store – rolling out from October 2019. During the unveiling event, CEO PayPorte, Eyo Bassey, said: “Our brand promise is to clothe Africa in body, mind, and spirit and to inspire self-confidence and self-belief. “Esther is a strong, passionate woman who believes every woman should embrace all aspects of her-

self. She is another perfect ambassador to carry the PayPorte brand in helping women to feel the best about themselves. We admire her for her principles, talents and her ability to juggle a demanding law career with entertainment”. Hilda Bacci, PayPorte Talent manager, said: “Esther brings in a dash of freshness to the brand as she stands for everything that clearly defines the attributes of Brand PayPorte viz. young, stylish, cheerful, aspirational, innovative and consistent. We are very excited about our association with her and hope to have an exciting journey with her.”

L-R: Phillip Olusegun Ojo, director-general of the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC); Muhammad Sabo Nanono, minister of Agriculture, and Sandor Beer, Hungarian ambassador to Nigeria, at the annual Seed Fair and Farmers’ Day organised by NASC in Abuja.

Jos Polo field bubbles as Lalong, Glo storm Trade Fair

he Jos Polo Club in Plateau State was a beehive of activities as Globacom participated in the 2019 Jos International Trade Fair. Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, who was accompanied by his wife, Regina, and his deputy, Sonni Tyoden, a professor, to officially open the 2019 Jos International Trade Fair holding at the Jos Polo field on Joseph Gomwalk Road, visited the Glo stand at the fair where he lauded the brand. Lalong poured encomiums on Globacom for the role the network is playing in strengthening the economic viability of Plateau State. The governor noted that, as an indigenous company, Globacom has proven

to be a force to be reckoned with in the socio-economic life of Plateau State and Nigeria at large. “Glo products are strong , the network is smooth and the business proposition is effective,” he enthused. He expressed delight with the way Globacom had bonded with the indigenous people of Nigeria with its affordable and quality services, products and promotions while particularly commending the ongoing Recharge and Win Big Promo, also known as My Own Don Beta, which is designed to empower hundreds of Nigerians with entrepreneurial tools. The governor opined that the promo would ben-

efit the people of Plateau and Nigerians in general thereby boosting the economy of the nation. According to him, the wide range of prizes available in the promo showed that Globacom was intent on raising self-sufficient families across the country. Zonal Business Coordinator, North East Zone of Globacom, Muyiwa Ogundimu, while welcoming the governor to the company’s well branded stand disclosed that Globacom had chosen to give winners of the promo tangible entreprenuerial tools to set them up in viable businesses rather than dole out cash prizes to them, adding, “This will have direct impact on their life situations”.

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News Feature Stemming the tide of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta as oil mining companies bleed Olusola Bello

overnments at all levels have been advised to collaborate in tackling the rising menace of crude oil theft across the Niger Delta. This is because the criminals are fast extending their original frontiers in the eastern Delta region to the west. The criminal activities of crude oil thieves used to be more pronounced in Rivers, Bayelsa and Imo states but now it has spread to states like Delta, Edo and Ondo. The latest development in which the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 26 located in Delta State and jointly owned by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company and First Hydrocarbon Nigeria Limited is most worrisome. Almost on a daily basis, illegal oil bunkers find new frontiers for their illicit operations in Nigerian oil fields. They keep expanding their nefarious activities through bunkering, illegal refining and, desecration of the environment, with its huge negative impact on the nation’s economy. Crude oil theft in all its forms has been going on in the oil-rich Niger Delta states for decades despite efforts by government and the operators to curb the menace. The Oil Mining Lease (OML26) has suffered series of attacks by the thieves in recent times. OML26 is located in Delta State and has two oil-producing fields in Ogini and Isoko. Its equity is shared 55:45 percents between the NPDC and FHN, and a technical partner, Asset Management Team (AMT), is managing it on behalf of the NPDC. Between June and September 2019, between 400,000 and 450,000 barrels of crude have been lost to the thieves who carry out their bunkering operations every day even in full glare of a military formation stationed near their scene of operation in the area. What has been happening at the OML26 fields for the past four months is that the thieves, allegedly aided by unscrupulous security operatives, steal crude by illegally connecting their pipes to the NPDC/FHN pipelines and start siphoning. They also have refineries where they produce diesel and sell to people in cellophane containers. According to Blessing Okpowo, manager, Government, Security and Community Affairs, the thieves started stealing from about 500 barrels a day, then to 800 barrels; they increased to 1000, to 1,500 barrels a day. In recent times the asset

Crude oil theft

Crude oil theft is losing 5, 400 barrels every day. When this is calculated over time, it has lost well over 450,000 barrels of crude within three months. “We discovered a 3-inch pipe which they connected to our 10-inch pipeline; they would connect their hose to this pipe (one of the pipelines in Agbarha-Otor), insert a valve and begin to load into the truck and go away. Underneath this place is where our 10-inch pipeline that goes to the LACT Unit in Eriemu. “We came and harvested the three-inch pipeline that was connected to our pipeline and dug underneath three kilometres away before inserting their valve, we removed the pipe and clamped the hot tap spot,” Okpowo said. According to him, this is just the preliminary of what they do, the real refinery, that is, where they are cooking the crude, is deep inside the forest. “What happens here is, they bring their trucks, connect their hose to this pipe and begin to steal our crude. If the truck gets filled up, it goes and another one comes. That’s what they do here. They operate at nights”. “This line comes from our Flow Station at Ozoro. It is 29 kilometers from the company’s flow station to the LACT Unit where the company offload into the major trunk line that goes to the TFP (Trans Forcadoes Pipeline). So, it is in-between the 29 kms that they have this tapping points and steal our crude,” Okpowo further said. The situation further raises question as to the credibility of security agents to really protect the nation’s oil assets that are part of their statutory duties. Different industry operators have for so long been accusing security operatives assigned to

guide the pipelines and other oil industry assets of colluding with oil thieves to steal crude because of pecuniary gains from the proceeds of such crimes. The bunkers steal crude from the pipelines, load into their trucks and pass a military formation, the headquarters of the 222 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, without being caught. The distance between the 222 Battalion in Agbarha-Otor and the NPDC/FHN LACT Unit where crude is being stolen is just about 700 meters difference. But Okpowo attributed that to acts of few bad eggs among many good ones, saying they have been working closely with the Force in the community despite all odds. “We work closely with them, they support us, and we have over 40 soldiers that are in our operations and support our operations. It is a mystery to me how the thieves come here and begin to steal the crude even with the presence of the soldiers. “But we work closely with them, we work in collaboration, and don’t forget that there is always a Judas among the 12 disciples which is why we are saying that the press needs to help us and expose them,” he said. He that there is a “collaboration between us and the leadership of the military. But the mystery is, in spite of that collaboration, the stealing is still taking place under their nose and that’s what we can’t explain. “But to be fair to them, one of the challenges they have is shortage of manpower. Because it is the 222 Battalion that sees from here (Agbarha-Otor) down to Kwale. So, Midwestern operations, Neconde

Crude oil theft

operations, Agip operations, our operations, Heritage operations, all of them, are under them. “So the manpower they have is not enough to really take care of the situation. There are situations when we would report that the crude oil thieves are operating, let us go and raid them, but they would have deployed their men to other operations at the same time, maybe, where the thieves are destroying illegal refineries in Enwe or in Uzere or in Ewreni or somewhere else. “I think that is one of the major reasons why they are unable to cope with the high level of stealing that is taking place. And I must also say that if you recall, most of these things used to be a familiar occurrence in the heartland of Niger Delta– Bayelsa, Rivers State.” Okpowo further said that the management of the asset had even gone as far as contracting some other people to help in safeguarding the assets and to inform the asset owners of any development but that such could not still curb the stealing. He also informed that the failure of the contractors to deliver led to the termination of the contract which was supposed to be a yearlyrenewable contract. “The contract was for them to work here 24 hours. What we are saying is that there is serious compromise across board. We have now decided to terminate the surveillance contract because of the level of stealing here. We said we cannot continue to pay you when the job you are doing for us is suffering. It was a yearly renewable contract. So, every year we renew it. The contract lasted from August to September 2019,” he said. Okpowo also regretted that

despite spending over a billion naira on the 34 host communities as corporate social responsibility, through a Community Development Board (CDB) set up after a Group Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU), the criminality still goes on unabated. He said: “We pay money into that board and we have paid over a billion naira to the board. Why this is still happening in spite of all that is beyond us. Again, it is not the communities themselves that are doing this. There are criminals within the communities. So, at the leadership level of the communities you have people who want to collaborate with us, who want to take actions to stop this ugly menace. “The Chairman of the CDB, Prince Johnson Akpomalue actually stopped payment of the fund to two of the communities where the stealing is scandalous. Apart from Agbarha-Otor, there are two other communities where you see diesel being sold in cellophane containers. “The thieves refine it in the night, then in the morning people will come and buy in 25 litre cellophane containers and load them and go. It is done with impunity under the nose of security agencies as if to say, come and dare us if you can. “The Police and the soldiers have made several arrests. This is the second time we are embarking on illegal refineries destruction. We have destroyed some in the past. Because it is a cartel and a syndicated criminal operation, as soon as you finish the destruction of the refineries, they will go and mobilise, reinforce and begin to build again, and because access to the terrain is difficult, you cannot just go in there, it is difficult. The terrain is marshy and swampy, so it is not something you go every day but they have mastered the act. “We don’t know how they do it, they bring in their equipment and they build. For instance, we destroyed seven the last time and the security agencies in Isoko North Local Government told us that they had information that the thieves were building another 16 new illegal refineries.” “It’s a syndicated arrangement. So, we want this thing to be really exposed because the economy of this country is bleeding. So, until the federal and state governments come to our rescue, we may not be able to fight this fight all by ourselves,” he further said.

12 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 20 October 2019

Focus

Eastern travellers sleeping on road two months to Christmas

CHUKA UROKO

t is still two whole months to go and the ghost of Christmas is already hovering over the many Federal Government roads that take travellers, especially the Igbos, to Lagos and other parts of Nigeria. Christmas was the only period Eastern travelers occasionally slept on the road due to congestion. Today, the story has changed such that what was known as a seasonal event is now a daily experience—travelers spending more money to come to Lagos, staying longer on the roads and ending up sleeping on the way because of the terrible and deplorable state of the roads. Arguably, the South Easterners of Nigeria are the most itinerant race in Africa. Unconfirmed report has it that the Easterners, especially the Igbos, have the highest record of travelling from one point to another in Nigeria and beyond. They usually have reasons, ranging from the mundane or ludicrous to the sublime or elevated, for hitting the road at any given opportunity. The Igbos of the South-East Nigeria are known for, and chiefly associated with trade and commerce; they are also known for close-knit family relationships just as they excel in familial bonding and return to their roots during festive periods. This race is therefore, known to be on the road every day in pursuit of business and in this particular instance, they are seen either going or returning, night and day, mainly from Lagos, the nation’s commercial capital, where they go to buy or to sell local products. The Easterners travel home oftentimes to attend family meetings; for marriages, burial ceremonies and other social engagements. Because of their penchant for going back to their roots no matter their accomplishments outside, many Igbo children go home for their secondary or tertiary education. For these and more reasons, they are always on afoot. They are more on the roads leading to Lagos. Depending on their take off points, Owerri-Onitsha Road, Enugu-Onitsha Road, Asaba-Benin, Benin-Ore-Sagamu, and then Sagamu-Berger-Ojota routes are their sure-bets. Coming to the West from the East through these routes used to be fun and pleasurable. It is no longer so. In recent time, it has been hellish traveling through these routes. When Onyinye Chukwu, along with her colleagues, set

out on her homeward journey to Lagos from Enugu where she is schooling, little did she know that the journey that started by 7am would keep her on the road till 1am the next day. To her parents, the joy of having their daughter back after eight months away in school died after 8 pm and the poor girl was still far away in Ogun State, not at all within the approaches of Lagos. “Our journey was smooth only for a brief moment from Enugu Park to 9th Mile. From here, as soon as we hit EnuguOnitsha Road, we began to crawl and for a journey that would ordinarily last for two hours, we spent close to four hours. That was where and how our travail started. “To make things worse, our vehicle broke down immediately we left Benin approaching Ore where the road was also terrible. We were trans-loaded to another bus and the new bus was not any better. Almost every step of the way after Ore, it was a slow, bumpy journey. But our experi-

ence on Enugu-Onitsha Road remains the worst,” Chukwu narrated to BDSUNDAY. Peter Adiukwu is a driver with one of the big transport companies on East-West route. Last Sunday, Adiukwu left Umuahia in Abia State in the morning and reached his company’s bus station in Lagos by 10pm. “As at 5pm, I was already in Lagos at Berger Junction where construction is going on,” he said, predicting that travelling for this year’s Christmas would be a nightmare for Easterners. According to him, there was no single good road in the whole South East and Abia State has the worst roads network in the region. “I wonder what the governors of the South East states are doing even if the federal government has turned blind eyes to federal roads in that of the country,” he said. Virtually all federal roads in the five south eastern states are in utter ruin, making traveling within the region an ordeal. Painfully, vehicular movement in the east is never smooth. It is all skid-

ding experience that often leaves vehicles and their owners in terrible state. It is either the bad roads send one to a mechanic or to a doctor or both. In extreme cases, the roads send people to early graves. Whether it is a bumpy ride on Enugu-Onitsha or Enugu-Port Harcourt, Aba-Owerri, Aba-Port Harcourt, Aba-Umuahia, etc, the truth is that no federal road in the zone is in good condition. Efforts made to effect some changes have not yielded the desired result. “But it seems the harder the push, the more adamant are those who grant the favour. Daily, the people struggle to maintain some level of sanity on the highly accident-prone roads. Reports show an accident rate of between five to seven deaths daily on these roads,” says Ejike Anyaduba, a public affairs analyst. The deterioration of the roads has now reached critical stage where people can no longer understand why they should still be paying tax to the government.

Temper is running high because people’s patience, like a taut muscle, has been stretched to its limit. “What is more, everybody in authority is now an accursed of the people. Even the sane minds, blinded by anger and frustration, find it rather difficult to make a clear distinction on who to blame on the matter,” Anyaduba noted. It was in the face of all these that the federal government, on August 24 this year, closed down the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu, deceiving the people into believing that it would start the reconstruction of the airport’s runway immediately and complete it by December this year. Despite his being “aware of the central nature of the airport”, President Muhamadu Buhari did not, until Thursday this week, 54 days after, approve the N10 billion requested for the repair of the airport. The president’s approval was made known via his Twitter handle where he stated, “I have approved the sum of N10 billion for an intervention fund for the upgrade of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. I have the assurance of the Minister of Aviation that the work will be done speedily and to the highest standards. “Even as we have many items competing for our limited resources, we will continue to prioritise infrastructure investments in every part of the country. It is our responsibility to ensure Nigeria’s infrastructure is fixed; we will keep doing this,” the president assured. For those at the corridors of power, what the president has done deserves applause, but Adiukwu is neither impressed nor amused. “The closure of the airport at a time when all the federal roads in the whole of South East are in deplorable condition speaks volumes about the underlying intentions,” he said. Continuing, he said, “Besides the poor state of the roads, this action was taken at a time when insecurity in the region was at its peak. There were cases of kidnapping while herdsmen were busy killing everybody and everybody, including a Reverend Father in Enugu. “The delay in starting work on the airport meant that the federal government did not attach importance to the security situation in that region. I may be wrong but I thought that given the importance of that airport to the entire region, the federal government would have given the repair quick attention,” Adiukwu said.

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BDSUNDAY 13

Interview Current system of debt utilisation appears opaque, says Oladeji-Johnbrown

Akin Oladeji-Johnbrown is an international financial advisor and stock broker. He is also the CEO of Futures and Bonds Limited of Nigeria, USA and Canada. In this chance interview, he expressed worries over the rising debts of Nigeria without commensurateimpactoninfrastructuraldevelopment,pointingoutthatCurrent systemofdebtutilisationappearsopaque.Healsospokeonotherissues.Excerpts:

The South East travelers should really brace up for the worst during the Yultide season. The airport repair was supposed to begin in August and be completed in December. The delay in getting approval for the release of fund has just happened at the middle of October and approval does not always translate to release of the fund. It follows that the completion of the repair work may be somewhere in March next year. This is just part of the grand scheme to marginalize and emasculate a people; unfortunately in this country, we play politics with everything, including the safety of life. “Before Abuja airport was closed for repair, it was not only that fund was approved expeditiously for the work, Kaduna Airport which is the nearest to Abuja was upgraded so that Northern and other travelers could land there and commute by road to Abuja,” Adiukwu said. “Owerri Airport is the best alternative airport to Enugu; we had expected that, at least, the roads connecting the two states should have been rehabilitated and made motorable before Enugu Airport would be closed. That was not done and so, we

”

Our journey was smooth only for a brief moment from Enugu Park to 9th Mile. From here, as soon as we hit EnuguOnitsha Road, we began to crawl and for a journey that would ordinarily last for two hours, we spent close to four hours

are being subjected to the pain and stress of traveling on road,” he added. But when one blames the federal government for the neglect of the South East, there is also need to pause and ponder on what the governments and governors of the five states in the region are doing to better the lives of their people. Given the business enterprise of their people, these states are supposed to form a formidable economic bloc that will be the envy of other states of the federation. Nothing stops the region from developing itself, if anything, the roads infrastructure to ensure seamless connectivity of towns and communities as the first step towards integration and shared prosperity. “Conscious of the security situation in the region, nothing stops the governors of the five states from approaching the federal government with a view to partnering with them to hasten the repair of the airport. Yes, they would be doing that for all Nigerians, but more for the south-easterners,”, Pius Ekeoma, a social commentator, said. Unlike governors in other parts of the country who come together when the need arises to defend their regions, South East governors are always indifferent, giving them away as people that lack touch with their people. “The Southeast governors do not behave like true Igbo people. They act in ways that betray their conscience and portray them as self-serving and selfish,” said Mbazulike Amechi, frontline nationalist and first republic minister of aviation, adding, “men must be men; our governors are not acting like true Igbo people.” Amechi spoke the minds of many Igbo people at home and abroad. It is a view generally held by Igbos and their friends that the South Eastern region has the potential to become whatever it wants to be. That it only demands the commitment of its leaders to develop the region, especially providing good roads network and building worldclass markets. “It does not matter how small they start. With that, they will start changing the narrative and the pitiable plight of their people in the larger society called Nigeria. If Igbo travelers have started sleeping on the road when Christmas is not yet in

here are worries over the rise in the Federal Government debt profile. According to recent reports by DMO, total debt profile is N25.7trillion ( $ 8 3 . 8 8 b i l l i o n) , c o m p r i s ing N17.38trillion ($56.72bn) domestic, and N8.32trillion ($27.162bn) external. In the 2020 Appropriation Bill, N2.48 trillion was allocated to debt servicing. What is your take on these? There is nothing unusual in debt financing by any nation. In fact, in theory a little level of debt is required for enhancing corporate value. What is of concern is excessive debt. In the case of Nigeria, the statistics have shown that our debt service to revenue ratio is above 60percent, which is exceedingly high. Such high ratio increases the country’s default risk perception. The ability to withstand revenue shock decreases with increasing debt level. As a monoproduct economy, a significant fall in oil price may affect our ability to meet debt obligation and subsequent spiral effects. A further break down indicates Debt stock of N9,69 trillion, Treasury bonds of N125.99 billion, FGN promissory notes of N 77.76 billion and FGN Sukuk of N2 billion. Can you say that the impact of these borrowings is being positively felt in Nigeria? That is the real challenge for the government. We are increasing our debt and debt mix, but what are we doing with it? Is it to service expenditures or what? Frankly, there is no visible impact of these borrowings on infrastructure development. We still have a lot of abandoned projects here and there. Government as a matter of public policy should attach debt issuance in a transparent way to enable the public know how the debt is being utilised. It appears the current system of debt utilisation is opaque to the generality of the people; hence, government must improve on information flow. Three additional bonds were auctioned in July, August and September 2019 to raise money to part-finance 2019 Budget. Another issuance of Eurobond is expected in the late 2019 or early 2020. Yet there remains a great infrastructure deficit in Nigeria. All the major sectors are being neglected. What is your advice? At this point, it may be advisable for government to stop further borrowing or restructure the use of existing debt for other uses. Our infrastructure borrowing should be directed to revenue-yielding assets rather than use same for social reasons. Of what use is a rail line to middle

Akin Oladeji-Johnbrown

of now where? Your rail or transport infrastructure should be constructed where you can move goods and services not where you just move people around for social reasons. Furthermore, government should create enabling environment for private capital to flow into the economy without hindrances. Although government trumpets so much on ease of doing business, the reality is that the bureaucracy is not making it work as intended. In addition, small scale businesses should be encouraged particularly from foreign investors. We should de emphasis focusing on big players. Little foreign capital inflows will generate greater multiplier effects too Another contending issue is the closure of Nigeria’s land borders. It is affecting the nation’s economy. For example, the prices of staple food items, including locally made rice, have gone up. Some of the neighbouring countries are also adversely affected. Do you think the closure can achieve government objectives? This is sovereignty issue. Nigeria has the right to decide how she wants to deal with land borders with other nations. While current approach or method may be faulted, the truth is that it can’t be closed indefinitely. Although border closure is against the spirit of ECOWAS Treaty, Nigeria cannot continue to allow the country to

be a dumping ground for foreign goods or means of sabotaging government economic policy. We are all aware of illegal trade via smuggling of items that are inimical to the populace, not to mention the tax evasion associated with smuggling. Is there any alternative course of action available to the government? There is no one-fit-all-solution. There must be multidimensional approach to tackle each problem. Government has given indication through the finance minister of its intension to raise VAT from 5 percent to 7.5 percent. Labour leaders have expressed their opposition to it, claiming that it will wipe out the gains of the new minimum wage. Do you support this increase? VAT increase is a disincentive to manufacturing and indirectly a burden to the populace. In reality, there is no increase in wages if you consider inflation and devaluation in naira in the last couple of years. What can government do to cushion the effect of the increase? We need to go back to the drawing board. I think each state should constitute economic advisory team that will meet quarterly with counterparts in other states of the federation. All the states’ economic teams should meet biannually to share ideas for the development of the country.

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Social media, fake news and a botched presidential wedding

Frank Aigbogun EDITOR Zebulon Agomuo DEPUTY EDITOR John Osadolor, Abuja

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STRATEGY, INNOVATION & PARTNERSHIPS Oghenevwoke Ighure ADVERT MANAGER Ijeoma Ude FINANCE MANAGER Emeka Ifeanyi MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (South East, South South) Patrick Ijegbai COPY SALES MANAGER Florence Kadiri DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

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

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Sunday 20 October 2019

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha

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TAYO OGUNBIYI Ogunbiyi is of the Lagos State Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

t is no longer news that the much hyped social media induced ‘wedding of the year’ between President Muhammadu Buhari and Hajia Sadia Umar Farouq, the current Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management is nothing but a hoax. Recall that social media promoters of the said event had made elaborate plans for the nuptial. Colorful invites had been produced and carefully distributed via the social media to selected guests. In order to give the event a presidential touch, the Aso Rock Villa mosque, was chosen as the preferred setting for the ‘wedding’. Notable Imams and other charismatic clerics were placed on the red alert to officiate at the ‘wedding’. However, as near perfect and elaborate as the plans for the ‘wedding’ were, its social media sponsors committed a major blunder that made a mess of all the efforts they have put into the whole venture. They failed to secure the consent of the groom and the bride. How awful! No

Imo Itsueli Mohammed Hayatudeen Afolabi Oladele Vincent Maduka Opeyemi Agbaje Amina Oyagbola Bolanle Onagoruwa Fola Laoye Chuka Mordi Mezuo Nwuneli Charles Anudu Tunji Adegbesan Eyo Ekpo Wiebe Boer Paul Arinze Boye Olusanya Ayo Gbeleyi

event planner that worth his salt does that. So, the wedding turned out to be yet another social media scam. From the outset, the President’s men had clearly denied knowledge of any such event. Also, the would be bride, Hajia Farouq had vehemently disclaimed the whole arrangement. In order to really demonstrate that her husband was not part of the entire phony affairs, wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, who for some time has been on vacation outside the country, is back at the villa. Her return to the rocky lodge has, at least for now, signified that there is no vacancy in the ‘other room’. But then, the fact that Hajia Buhari had to hurriedly find her way back home to protect her grip on the ‘other room’ is a proof of the far reaching damage that fake news engenders. What if the First Lady was yet to fully complete her business abroad? Without a doubt, the social media accelerates conversations in a more interactive way that makes communication more effective and worthwhile. It takes communication beyond the limitations of the traditional media, which most often delivers content but doesn’t permit readers, or as the case may be, viewers or listeners, to participate in the formation or development of the content. In short, social media offers an opportunity to be seen and be heard without any restriction, which the traditional media does not give. Today, our world

has been radically transformed courtesy the social media. Information dissemination is now faster and easier while genuine business transactions can be promoted through the medium for a vast global market. Certainly, the social media has made our world more exciting. But then, that is where it all stops. The social media has unfortunately become an avenue for the display of unconcealed acts of boundless social madness. In the social media, there is little or no regard for the truth. Indeed, the advent of the social media has given rise to the incidence of fake news. A few years back, fake news was not a familiar term, but globally it is now seen as one of the greatest threats to democracy, security, free debate and unity. Aside being a favourite term of President Donald Trump of the United States of America, fake news was also named 2017’s Word of the Year. Fake news is as wicked as terrorism. It divides the people. It poisons the mind of an unsuspecting public. It promotes falsehood and celebrates deception. Unfortunately, fake news spreads like wildfire on the social media; getting quicker and longer-lasting attention than the truth. For instance, a deep dive into Twitter shows that fake news was re-tweeted more often than true news was, and carried further. The outcome of a research led by Sinan Aral of the Massachusetts Institute of Technol-

ogy, has shown that fake news diffused significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information, and the effects were more pronounced for false political news than for false news about terrorism, natural disasters, science, urban legends, or financial information. According to the research, it took the real news about six times as long as fake news to reach 1,500 people. On many occasions, the genuineness of information posted on the social media is suspicious. While the conventional media processes and scrutinizes news gathering and dissemination and, thus, exercises control in addition to operating a feedback mechanism which gives room for refutation when practitioners erred, the social media affords faceless individuals the space to send conniving and spurious information. Sadly, promoters of fake news usually get away with it, since there is no compelling process or law to insist on confutation. The result is unlimited madness on the social media space. Someone with no concrete substantiation comes up with a carefully crafted fake story or video, puts it on the social space and before you could say jack the whole space becomes animated, discussing and sometimes freely passing judgments based on the ‘strength’ of an unsubstantiated story. Note: the rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https://businessday.ng

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LASG, traders to bridge infrastructure deficit around Ojo markets JOSHUA BASSEY

agos State government and traders under the aegis of Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association (ASPAMDA), among others, have opened discussions on upgrade of infrastructure around markets in Ojo axis of the state. The first leg of the interactive meeting on Thursday, October 17, saw the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu joined by his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, and Nnamdi Okonkwo, managing director of Fidelity Bank and the leadership of Igbo traders and businessmen from ASPAMDA and Alaba International markets agreeing to partner on the way forward. The consultative meeting, which was at the instance of Sanwo-Olu and coordinated by Okonkwo, centred on the state government’s plans to improve security and upgrade infrastructure around the markets. Sanwo-Olu said that he was not satisfied with the conditions under which businesses were conducted in the markets, expressing disappointment over the state of roads and absence of relevant public facilities around markets. According to SanwoOlu, his administration was prepared to change the condition by investing in infrastructure that would improve the quality of lives and commercial activities in the area. “We had an interactive session with the leaders of various markets around Alaba, ASPAMDA, Trade

Fair areas in Lagos West Senatorial District. We have agreed that we all have roles to play to address infrastructure and other challenges around the markets. As a government, we are taking up the responsibility to design an all-inclusive model that will improve the economic wellbeing of people around the markets. Once we put infrastructure in place, not only would businesses flourish, employment will also be created. He said aside constructing network of roads surrounding the markets, part of the long-term plans, he said would be to complement the efforts with provision of amenities, including fire stations, clinics, general hospitals and security units that would aid commercial activities in the markets. Sanwo-Olu said the market leaders agreed to work with the government on documenting all businesses in their respective jurisdictions, which would facilitate easy payment and collection of tax for developmental purposes. He said: “We had con-

versations around being socially responsible. So we will see the traders living up to the expectations in terms of doing what they are meant to be doing to support government in the areas of their taxes, wages and levies. We also want to eliminate multiple taxation; any agency that is not meant to be around the market will be stopped. The governor issues bordering on security would also be prioritised in the area and the state in general. “We will also address the menace of Okada riders all around those markets. We will also ensure that the work that is going on around Lagos-Badagry Expressway is well coordinated, so that they can have some relief at various periods of the day, even when construction is going on.” Added that the meeting would not be the last in his engagement with the market leaders, pointing out that chairmen of local councils in which the traders operate would be invited to subsequent discussions before the start of regeneration work across the

markets within the senatorial district. NnamdiOkonkwo,MD/ CEO of Fidelity Bank, commended the move by the government, saying the partnering with the market leaders would drive the regeneration programme. He said Fidelity Bank was one of the first banks to open in the area and “we understand their challenges from the extensive engagements we do have with them. We bank most of them and when there are issues we come together to interact and find solutions. This is exactly the approach that Governor Sanwo-Olu is using today. President-general of Alaba Amalgamated Market, Fabian Ezeojika, welcomed the discussion with the government and promised to mobilise traders to work with the government. Among the markets in the axis are Alaba International Market; Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association (ASPAMDA); BBA Trade Fair; Alaba Fancy and Furniture Dealers, and Electrical Dealers Association of Nigeria

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15 Inside Lagos

Again, fire outbreak cuts water supply to Lagos Island JOSHUA BASSEY

agos Water Corporation has appealed to customers on the Lagos Island, particularly residents of Onikan and its environs to be patient as it was working to restore regular water. Muminu Badmus, managing director/CEO of the corporation in a statement on Friday, said the appeal became necessary following another outbreak of fire at the corporation’s Onikan booster station on October 17, 2019. “Unfortunately, it destroyed more of our facilities, and the further disrupted operations. Luckily, the Lagos State

Fire Service, Onikan Station, and Federal Fire Services came on time to put the fire under control and curtailed it spread to other major facilities and neighboring properties. Badmus said further investigation was ongoing to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the fire. According to him, areas mostly affected include Awolowo Road, Broad Street, Marina , Ikoyi and other adjoining streets in that axis. As s u r i n g t h a t t h e cause would soon be revealed, and the affected facilities would be repaired for full operation to commence soon and improve Service delivery in the areas, he said.

Man charged with N1m ‘theft’

23-year-old man, Godwin Effiong, on Friday, appeared at a Badagry Magistrate Court for allegedly obtaining one million naira under false pretences. Effiong is facing a twocount charge of obtaining money under false pretences and stealing, but he pleaded not guilty to the offences. The prosecutor, Clement Okuoimose, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on September 17 at First Bank and UBA, Agbalata International market road, Badagry. Okuoimose said that the defendant fraudu-

lently collected the money from one Mufutau Sanusi on the pretext that he wanted to sell a Sienna vehicle to him, which he knew to be false. “The defendant stole a sum of one million naira belonging to the complainant, Sanusi. The offences contravened sections 312 and 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,” said the prosecutor. The magistrate, Segun Aka-Bashorun, granted the accused bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum. The magistrate then adjourned the case to November 13 for mention. NAN

New ferry jetty to berth at UNILAG waterfront JOSHUA BASSEY

boost is expected in the water transportation sector of the Lagos economy, as the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has consented to a request by the authorities of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), to float a ferry jetty at the university’s waterfront overlooking Third Mainland Bridge, to complement transportation on the campus. To this effect, Governor Babajide Sanw-Olu has asked the school authorities to forward a formal letter of their request to his office for an immediate approval.

He said the government would also help the university to build capacity in water transportation. Sanwo-Olu disclosed this while delivering an address at the International Week organised by the university. He said: “I just had a discussion with the Vice Chancellor who informed me that the school needs a jetty to complement transportation within the campus. I have asked the authorities to formally make a request for immediate approval. “We are ready to do all that this required to ease transportation for our people. Just last week, we unveiled collaboration with Uber with the

launch of Uber boats. We will be adding another one before the end of the year.” Restating his pledge to make the state livable for residents, the governor said his administration would not rest until able to solve myriad of challenges facing the state. He said that the government has started addressing infrastructural challenges, with the commencement of road construction, saying there would be relief after the projects are completed. Speaking on “cities of the future, future of cities”, the governor said he was excited because there was a renewed focus by stakeholders at proffering solutions to

various developmental challenges, ranging from road congestion, waste management, and renewable energy. Sanwo-Olu said: “Urban transportation in mega cities has become the focus of development experts and investors. Lagos has not been lagging behind in this discussion, because of the challenges we face. We have seen investment coming to waterways and rail, but we need to restore sanity on land transportation by rehabilitating bad roads across the State. “We are investing so much in waterways and light rail system so that we can move people not only on the road but on water and on the rail. The blue line

will be completed soon and we will have a complete integrated urban transportation system.” Sanwo-Olu said the government would be embarking on improvement exercise around 60 identified junctions prone to high traffic in the state. He decried the attitude of some road users, who deliberately obstruct free-flow of traffic, urging members of the public to join the government in the advocacy aimed at restoring sanity on the road. Sanwo-Olu challenged students and scholars in the school to engage in research that would provide solutions to urban challenges facing the State. He said the

government was willing to collaborate with the institution for the growth of the state. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the vice chancellor of the university, said the jetty, when approved, would facilitate ease of movement for members of the university living in Ikorodu and other riverine axes. Ogundipe told the governor that the school had a committee of scholars engaging in applied research to proffer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges plaguing the state. He said the university would welcome collaboration with the government to bring about more development.

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Sunday 20 October 2019

Politics To have a better Nigeria, politicians must Rural electrification key to my change their wasteful lifestyles - Onyebueke administration’s Fidelis Onyebueke is a constitutional lawyer and human rights advocate. In this interview with MIKE ABANG, he says Nigeria is gradually becoming a failed state, urging the Muhammadu Buhari administration to take governance seriously. He spoke on the 2023 presidency, among other issues. Excerpts:

hat are your expectations from, and suggestions to Buhari’s economic team? You know I am one of the greatest admirers of Buhari. Even when he contested in 2015 I wrote an article defending him. I have been saying time without number that I met him March 1970 immediately after the civil war and how he reacted on the punishment meted out to our people when he was the Commanding Officer of that part of the South Eastern region. But then, even after the last election I also defended him. I discovered that Buhari is a nice person, it seems to me that some people are jostling around trying to spoil things for him, no matter the age whether 74 or 75 he still has brain to work, but things are falling apart in this country, in the issue of herdsmen he didn’t come out early enough to condemn, even though now I am happy that Nigerians realise that there is need for peace, because people reacted over issues, some on herdsmen, some talking of RUGA and all those sorts of things. I start wondering whether it was the same Buhari who has been championing this cause. People said America is more than 100-years but we are still a child? You cannot grow more than how you build yourself to grow, you cannot grow because a character is inherent, you can’t buy it, although it can be influenced by society, but is inherent, how can you say you are a child? Are you a child more than Ghana, in Ghana there is light in 24-hours, Ghana that we were supplying food in some years back that was why we came out with ‘Ghana must go’. But now, they are better than us, why can’t we do it here today? Site one example that will convince you that in the next 50-years, you will be better than America or you will near America; the only way is that we must have a new orientation in life. This new orientation, we should not think of ourselves, we should not be selfish. What would we do to Nigeria to make Nigeria better? Now you are thinking of 200-years, are you sure Nigeria would be up to 200-years. It is not possible the way things are going; so I am afraid. I want Nigeria to be because the quest for personal aggrandisement would not stop even though you create Biafra it would not stop; the quest for cheating would not stop. If you are giving a criminal the whole wealth in this nation, he would still look for more; so there should be a re- orientation

injustice; but even if that comes on board, the problem is how would you implement it? Is it possible for everybody to join APC in Igbo land, assuming they join APC, PDP also brings somebody in the North, how is it possible that PDP would not win. Politics they say is a game of what? Numbers. The only thing is that if they would include zoning in the constitution, which would have been a good arrangement that means there would be a time for the Igbos. Zoning is the matter for the big man of the party. If zoning favours them simple; but if it doesn’t favor them they reject it. It is unfortunate that Igbo people, their ‘egg is in one basket’, and that is why I am worried. If all things are properly done, they should be given a chance to rule this country.

Onyebueke of our people to enable us focus for the future and how to do Nigeria better. Otherwise, we have missed it. What then are your expectations from the Federal Government next level agenda? All these things are stories, whether there is anything to lure people to believe that. But there are some steps so far taken? I have not seen any step yet taken; any responsible person will know that no steps yet have been taken; we are still where we were since the first verse of this regime, because the Naira is where it was, cost of living is still high, there is nothing to show that Nigeria is changing; to me, I have not seen any change yet, are we sincere to ourselves that something is changing? The only way things will change in this country is when the politicians would change their lifestyle, that is the only thing that would change this country, then how would politicians change their ways. The only way that this could be achieved, is when the government would take steps to cut excesses of those politicians that things would change. When they are talking about cars, they budget Fifty Billion Naira (N50billion) on their cars alone, why a common man cannot feed; some Senators have up to 37-cars, each would not be less than Ten Million Naira (N10million) and now you are blaming a small criminal who went to steal fish somewhere. It is just unfortunate. The only way to justify the word, ‘Next Level’ is change of lifestyle. Let there

be a change in the activities of these politicians- senators, House of Reps members, Executives of the Federal Government and the governors and their commissioners. The president can order this by special order. Nigerians would be happy. When you see a criminal before, turning now to be a senator, living a flamboyant life, those who know him before as a criminal won’t be happy seeing him at that level. They will now feel that the best way to be a rich man is to be a criminal; that is why the country is like this. So, I don’t blame people who condemn Buhari for the appointments he made. How do you appoint people who are facing cases in EFCC as ministers? What are the chances for the Igbo in 2023? I have said it before. I am very, very pragmatic when I am saying something. I don’t believe in all these or being cosmetic over issues, because I am very positive in my thinking. Igbos would not get it except they put their house in order. Igbos are predominantly PDP states and it is natural that the party in power must struggle to succeed itself not the opposition; that is natural in Africa which I know is wrong. But there is a sense in this. How do you expect a man in power to handover to the opposition? Igbo man must have a base. Where is the base of an Igbo in APC? Except there is re-arrangement of the rotation of government of this country that these people have suffered a lot, the only ethnic group that has not produced a president, anything out of this would be an

Even if they zone it to the South East, every autonomous community would come up with their own presidential candidate? I know that that is true of Igbos, they must have learnt their lesson, they would have to sit down at a round table and resolve the issue. The issue now is would it be done or would they allow the equitable distribution of power? So that they bring one presidential candidate, then if it is not done, blame the Ohanaeze. That is my take, they didn’t behave well. The Xenophobic attack on Nigerians in South Africa was taken to a frightening height recently. As a Nigerian, how do you feel about it? There is need for someone to reflect back how South Africa won their independence and it is a story known to the whole world, particularly those who were approaching a reasonable age when the struggle of independence in South Africa how Nigeria champion it, and if someone like, Nelson Mandela were to be alive, I think such nasty actions of South African people won’t be tolerated by Nelson Mandela. Nonetheless, I am not speaking the mind of those who died now, I feel there were many more eminent South Africans who witnessed and participated in the S.A. independence and also witnessed how Nigeria contributed immensely to the emancipation of that country from the oppressive White regime. It is an unfortunate situation, very unfortunate and very sad. No reasonable person should be anticipate that this should happen, except by spirit that would do so but no human being would think so because immense contributions by the Nigerian government but the same having happened it is very unfortunate.

agenda - Makinde REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

yo State government is partnering Austria on renewable energy, especially in power generation from dams in the state. Governor Seyi Makinde who disclosed this when he received a delegation from the Austrian Embassy led by Commercial Counsellor at the Austrian Embassy, Guido Stock, who paid a courtesy visit to his office said his administration was committed to developing the rural areas in the state by providing electricity and accessible road networks to all the length and breadth of the state. While saying that the rural electrification is important to his administration, Makinde said: “When I was informed about this courtesy visit on a talk regarding renewable energy, especially on power generation from some of our dams around Oyo State, I felt elated as someone who studied Engineering. It was like being teased by something one really loves. So, I quickly accepted the visitation.” According to a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Taiwo Adisa, Makinde said: “We are very much interested in developing our rural areas and providing electricity in those places; providing access road to the rural communities and it is one of the areas through which we feel we can expand our economy. So, I guess after this meeting, we can meet again to discuss privately on the projects. “We are very much interested in looking through this proposal. I know Austria for skiing. I am sure you would probably be the world leader in skiing equipment but unfortunately for us here, it’s a warm environment all year round.” Earlier, Stock said his country was a small country in the heart of Europe, with a population of about nine million people, but that it “is technology-driven.” “I may say we are big country when it comes to technology,” he said. Stock, who noted that he had been in Nigeria since 1990 as commercial counsellor and that he “loves and enjoys living in Nigeria,” said that Austria with its technological advancement could be of help to Oyo State. “We can work together successfully. Austria has over 300 enterprises that specialise in different technologies such as airport firefighters, railways equipment, plastic machinery, waste collection/processing items. “If you look for renewable energy, you will see that it is from Austria,” he said.

Sunday 20 October 2019

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Politics Despite peace initiatives by INEC, drumbeats of war still herald Bayelsa guber poll ...Traditional rulers call for arms mopping as Police deploys 30,000

JAMES KWEN, Abuja

espite steps taken by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State is peaceful, credible and transparent, drumbeats of war continue to herald the exercise. Bayelsa is one of the states in Nigeria where elections, especially governorship is characterised by violence and manipulation as the militants who engage in oil bunkering are employed by politicians to intimidate their opponents to their advantage. In 2015 for instance, the governorship election in which the incumbent, Governor Seriake Dickson of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) contested with Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC) witnessed widespread violence across the eight local government areas of Bayelsa with scores killed, particularly in Southern Ijaw where elections were canceled and Nembe where Sylva hails from. The February Presidential and National Assembly elections in Bayelsa were also bloody as APC, the party at the centre and PDP, the party in control in the state engaged in battle royale for the soul of the oil-rich state and setting the tone for crisis-laden forthcoming governorship election. Obviously worried by this phenomenon, INEC recently embarked on what could be termed; ‘Peace Mission’ in Bayelsa during which it met separately traditional rulers and stakeholders comprising political parties, civil societies, security agencies, among others in Yenagoa. Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman while addressing the Bayelsa State Traditional Council, lamented that elections in the state always posed challenges to the Commission due not only to difficulty in terrain but serious security concerns. Yakubu decried the actions and utterances by the political actors in the state which are capable of breaching peace during the campaign, on election day and during the collation of results and warned that INEC would not accept attack on its personnel and materials. The INEC Chairman hinted

INEC chairman

that another stakeholders’ meeting with the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu would be held in the state a week to the election for last minute security arrangements to ensure violencefree poll and called on the traditional rulers to use their vantage positions to preach peace to their subject ahead of the election. “This will be the first major election since the 2019 general election. The lessons learnt would help the Commission improve in the conduct of Kogi and Bayelsa elections. Bayelsa and Kogi are not easy states to conduct major elections. The challenge is not the landmass or the impact on electoral logistics but the attitude of the political class, which is source of concern to the Commission. “We all witnessed what happened during the parties’ nominations for candidates. We are concerned with mobilisation of armed persons to the voting and collation centres as we experienced in previous elections. In 2015, out of the eight local government areas in Bayelsa State, INEC was able to declare result in only one local government area, Kolokuma/Opokwuma. “In 2015, we had only one stakeholders’ meeting, one week to the election. This year, we are meeting with stakeholders, one month to the election which include the traditional rulers and political actors. “No one can accuse you of partisanship. You are fathers of

all. Your words are laws in communities. So, we appeal to you to continue to speak to your subjects, the political actors and their supports for peaceful conduct during the electioneering campaigns, the voting process and beyond,” he appealed. Similarly, at the stakeholders’ meeting, Yakubu reiterated that the Commission would no longer tolerate attacks on its officials and expressed commitment to free, fair and credible polls in Bayelsa, adding that voters should be allowed to freely elect candidate of their choice as INEC on its part is neutral. “We want to remind candidates and their supporters that attacks on officials of the Commission will this time attract severe sanctions. It has happened before where we refused candidates who attacked our staff their Certificates of Return. “In one of such cases, the court ordered that we give the candidate his COR and as a respecter of court order, we did. But we are determined to follow the matter to the Supreme Court to ensure that the matter is decided once and for all”, he said. The Bayelsa traditional rulers, while responding to the demands of INEC called for mopping up of arms from supporters of various political parties to have violencefree election and declared that they were tired with the killing of their subjects at elections. They also suggested the use

of Military Helicopters for the deployment of sensitive and nonsensitive materials for the election considering its difficult terrain to avoid the scenario where politicians hijack the materials under the pretext of assisting in the transportation of poll officials and materials to the polling units. Alfred Diete-Spiff, chairman of Bayelsa State Council of Chiefs, one of the traditional rulers decried the huge Military presence in the last elections, leading to the killings of their subjects and appealed to the Army particularly to control their operatives deployed for election duty. Diete-Spiff called on INEC to make efforts towards avoiding the disenfranchisement of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the state and assured the Commission and other stakeholders of the neutrality of the traditional rulers in the election. The former Military Administrator of the old Rivers State advised INEC to engage the services of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency on drug consumption by youths and the Nigerian Customs Service on the proliferation of arms imported abroad to ensure peace during elections in the state and the country at large. Also, Police which is the lead election security agency had announced that it has deployed over 30,000 policemen for the Bayelsa governorship election. The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, represented by Deputy Inspector -General Operations, Abdulmajid Ali at the stakeholders meeting said the Force have made adequate deployment for the election to protect the people, INEC officials, and election materials. Ali while warning politicians against utterances that may likely lead to breach of peace before, during and after the election, said: “The police will not be here for a Tea Party. Campaigns must be done according to rules and regulations. We will provide enabling environment for all the aspirants. “We are also aware that some people are planning to wear police uniforms. That I can tell you will be met with strict resistance. Our men will be on ground three to four days to election”. But to prove the INEC, Police and of course the traditional rulers wrong, the Chieftains and

supporters of the APC and PDP demonstrated their battle-readiness in the presence of security agencies during the stakeholders’ meeting which was disrupted by their action. At the meeting, Francis Doukpola, chairman of the PDP Bayelsa Elders Forum, alleged that thousands of people in Nembe Local Government have been internally displaced for refusing to vote for candidates of a particular political party (APC) during the Presidential and National Assembly elections and something must be urgently done to enable them exercise their franchise at the November 16 governorship elections. “For me, the worst election we had in Bayelsa was the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections. We had very better experience, as a result of that election. “I regret to inform you that half of the communities in Bayelsa now are in IDP; they are no longer in their communities simply because they belong to certain political party. “Efforts to return those people to their communities so that they can exercise their franchise in the forthcoming election are not yielding result. The name of the community is Basambiri in Nembe Local Government Area”. Doukpola was interrupted by an APC Chieftain, Dennis Otiotio, who warned him not to mention the name of Nembe, throwing the meeting into a rowdy session and ending it abruptly to avoid escalation as supporters of both parties were ready to exchange blows despite efforts by security operatives to restore order. Before the open display of their animosity during the stakeholders’ meeting, APC and PDP supporters in Bayelsa are said to be in a war-like mood preparatory to the election which some observers say is the last battle between the outgoing Governor, Dickson, and former Governor Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum. This is as Dickson, who is leaving power is doing everything humanly possible to deliver his anointed candidate in PDP, Douye Diri, while Sylva who now has power at the centre, is bent on taking over the state with his anointed candidate in the APC, David Lyon, making the political atmosphere highly charged.

18 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 20 October 2019

Politics

You cannot build a system where there is no rule of law - Dania

Emmanuel Dania is the national chairman of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN). In this exclusive interview with INIOBONG IWOK, he says the party would challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) plan to deregister non-performing political parties; he also urges Nigerians to resist impunity, and that it is difficult to build a system where there is no rule of law. Excerpts: which was used for the collation of 2019 election results; what is your party’s position on that? The general belief is that when you have somethings like card readers, there must be a central server where those results are collated. It is an electronic system, people understand these things, there must be a central server, but INEC says they don’t have a central server to store votes; for me, it is surprising and an embarrassment to the commission. I know but the question is; how did they store the information in the card readers? It is electronic; there must be a data thing. So, I believe in what Atiku and the PDP are arguing; yes, to some extent there has to be sever, where do you store the data? Anybody who understands information technology would know that there has to be server; if INEC says something different then I am surprised. How is your party strategising ahead after the election? We are focused, we understand the issues of what Nigeria is; it is not an issue of whether someone can reform the nation, change the nation and advance the economy. The major problem we have is that the constitution is not being followed. Any government that does not submit itself to the constitution of the country has failed on arrival; there is nothing we can do more than that. The structure that would make the country strong is not properly funded, so they are weak. The Nigerian Police, the judiciary is in a mess, so how do you stabilise? You can’t do that at all. Are you among those calling for restructuring of the country? No, but I shared the sentiment of those saying the

1999 constitution is not the best for the country; it is the constitution, I think we should respect this constitution and while doing that we should try and amend it. But we cannot just take out the constitution, we do our business on the basis of the 1999 Constitution, you cannot build a system where there is no rule of law. You cannot build a system which feed justice, which is what we are lacking in Nigeria. Even if you initiate policies, it has to be implemented; at the point of implementation, if the person is not afraid of the law, what would stop such person from implementing it the way he wants it? When the President does not respect the rule of law, people would not. Until we fix that problem even if you bring all the top economists to Nigeria, things would not work. If people do things and they know there are consequences they would sit up. I have realised that there is a bigger problem in Nigeria than religion; Nigeria has too many religions. The religious problem is not between Christians and Muslims; no; the biggest problem is greed. It is because we cannot do anything collectively, is because the rule of law is not enforced. And when you don’t enforce the law, even you are Muslims, Christians from the West or South there would be problem. So, we need to really make sure the laws are enforced. I said recently; when they

Emmanuel Dania

said government wants to recruit 10,000 police officers, how come some individuals still have personal security guarding them when we don’t have enough? We have to fix the salary of the Nigerian police, if we insist that the salary of the police is 100, 000 do you know the kind of people that would show interest in joining the police? We must also reform the judiciary. What is your view on INEC’s move to deregister non-performing political parties? We have a right to association. It would be very wrong for INEC to delist political parties that had made considerable impact in the elections just because they did not win certain number of positions. It is a system that we know; the election has not been free and fair; we would go to court and take them on. May we know your position on the on-going dispute between NLC and the Federal Government on the payment of 30,000 minimum wages? I think the statement that they can’t pay to all

”

hat is y o u r party’s position on the 2019 general election? The 2019 election was a sham. We know that the election was rigged; we have evidence that the election did not reflect the will of the people. The reason we came into politics was because we wanted to change things; we intend staying alone and make the impact on Nigerians. All through the period that we campaigned, we made sure that we did not allow what they were doing to affect us; that is the 20 years vision. We discovered clearly that the result did not reflect the will of the people. We got the information from the media; we had our people on ground, so we know how the election went. Some officials disappeared with election materials, but resurfaced after with results. It was not an election, and that is where my disappointment lies about this government; the man who says he as Mr. Integrity, is the head of a government that does not have legitimacy. Do you think Buhari’s refusal to sign into law the amended Electoral Act affected the credibility of the general election? Yes, very clearly, and it was an intentional act; they knew what they were going to do. There were lots of stories of how electoral officials were just going to collation centres to submit result, while in Abuja they were already announcing the election results for the state. For us, we did not expect much; immediately he refused to sign that amended Electoral Act, we knew that we were going into such a situation. The PDP claimed that there was a central server

We have to fix the salary of the Nigerian police, if we insist that the salary of the police is 100, 000 do you know the kind of people that would show interest in joining the police? We must also reform the judiciary.

category of worker is an insincere statement. The moment you go into an agreement with people that you would pay a certain amount you cannot renege. In the course of negotiation you know what the expectations are; which shows that this government is not a serious government. To my party, N30, 000 minimum wages should not be too much to pay workers in Nigeria. What is your take on the closure of the border; the government says it is to protect local industries? I think that is not the reason why they closed the border. If government said that they close the border for security reason, to be able to identify and stop the inflow of arms and ammunition it makes sense; but when you close the border because you want to protect the local industries it is wrong because people doing legitimate business would be affected. People who you are trying to protect cannot export, so they are not genuine, whose business are they protecting? Is it Dangote? Local businesses can’t sell to international market, and then you are killing the economy. Atiku and the PDP are in the Supreme Court challenging the result of the presidential election; what is your take? It goes back to what I said in the beginning; there is a judiciary error, the judi-

ciary is in a mess, there is a lot of manipulation. It is what we know that people can do anything and get away from it. Impunity is Nigeria’s problem. Because the government has not subjected itself to the constitution of the country, they keep ignoring Court orders, so what examples are they setting? But some people would argue that there have been some progress; Buhari just presented the budget? It was lacklustre; like I always said our objective as a party is not to criticism this government, but to show them the way things are done that they have not seen, so that they can do better. This government is its own worst enemy; they do not know how to sell what they are doing. Look at the VAT increase; you would have expected that a sensible government would have spent some time educating the people before initiating it. Show them and say if we get the money, these are the things we are going to put it into. This government does not appear democratic; it is bad for democracy. What does the future hold for ANN? Our performance in the last fourteen months has been impressive and shows our strength; we were recognised not just as a party, but on our principles. We would also focus on the grassroot.

Sunday 20 October 2019

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BDSUNDAY 19

PhotoSplash

L-R: Adesanya Aderonke, assistant director of nursing services, Mushin Local Government (MLG); Sanusi Rasak, founder, Sanusi Cares Foundation (SCF)/special adviser to the chairman of MLG; Emmanuel Bamgboye, chairman, Mushin Local Government/host; Olubunmi Gbadamosi, secretary to the Local Government, and Korede Fadimuluyi, supervisor for health, MLG, at the ‘save the motherhood initiative’ theme: maternity mortality, organised by SCF and MLG, in Lagos. Pic by David Apara

L-R: Olasupo Shasore, author and producer of the documentary, ‘A Platter of Gold’; Gbemi Shasore, executive producer; B.B. Shasore, director, and Paul Adefarasin, pastor of House on the Rock, at a special screening of ‘A Platter of Gold: An Untold Nigerian Story’ recently. Pic by David Apara

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Tolaram Group West Africa, Pawan Sharma; former First Lady Of Lagos State, Abimbola Fashola; winner of 2019 Indomie Independence Day Physical Bravery Awards, Yayah Zaki; Minister of State for Health, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora; Chief Executive Officer, Colgate Tolaram LFTZ Enterprises, Girish Sharma and CEO, CMC Connect, Yomi Badeji-Okusanya at the 2019 Indomie Independence Day Awards celebration in Lagos.

L-R: Remco Bohre, commercial director, Air France KLM Nigeria & Ghana; Bukky Akomolafe, commercial manager, Travelstart; Vincent van Hooff. executive vice president, flight operations, KLM; and Michel Colleau, general manager, Air France KLM Nigeria & Ghana, at KLM Private event in Lagos recently.

L-R: Member of Lagos State of House of Assembly, Hon Desmond Elliot; Assistant Director, Lagos Zonal Office, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mrs Joy Okuna and representative of Secretary to Lagos State Government, Mrs Oyinade Nathan-Marsh when the first draw of Glo Recharge and Win BIG promo (My Own Don Beat) was held at Computer Village, in Lagos

L-R: Babatunde Ruwase, president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Chinwe Abama, GM, Nigeria Ports Authority; Funmi Iyayi, MD, LACIAC; Dayo Adu, managing partner, Famsville Solicitors, at the 2019 Maritime Business and Disputes Conference in Lagos.

Cross section of students and facilitators at the SIFAX-sponsored ICT Training, recently

L-R: Babalola Obilana ,executive director, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management; Dele Sotubo, chief executive, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management; , Lateef Salako , baale of Otubu Morohunfolu, and Shittu Okanlawon , chairman CDA, at the commissioning of a borehole by Stanbic IBTC Asset Management on Oshidehin Street, Otubu-Ogba on Friday, in Lagos. Pic by Pius Okeosisi

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Sunday 20 October 2019

Arts There is No Room For Fear in Atlantic House OBINNA EMELIKE

f you have been following trending event across the world, you will discover that we are in a more troubled world. From climate change, senseless crimes, killings, political instabilities, natural disasters, among other issues, today’s world has over dose of trouble. But the trouble also presents opportunity for creative people to express themselves and to campaign for a peaceful world. One of such expressions is coming from 12 African artists with intertwined cultural roots spreading across Europe, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, and Jamaica. The artists are united in an exhibition titled ‘No Room For Fear’, a title derived from one of the popular quotes by Toni Morison, a late American novelist, Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer Award winner. She said, “This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” Therefore, No Room For Fear, which holds at the Atlantic Hall, London is coming at the right time, especially with all the anxieties around BREXIT in the United Kingdom, amid discrimination and racial hatred that are at an all time high across the world. Also, the exhibition is timely because October is Black History Month and a time to celebrate cultural diversity and recognise the important contribution of people of African and Caribbean descent in the UK. Since October 1, 2019, when the exhibition opened, visitors have been thrilled by works on display by the artists including; Adelaide Damoah, Ayesha Feisal, Carleen de Sozer, Chibuike Uzoma, Enam Gbewonyo, Gabriel Choto, Justina Kehinde, Kenny Adewuyi, Kelani Abass, Olumide Oniadipe, Sanaa Gateja and Tyna Adebowale. Through their paintings, drawings, sculpture, tapestry, mixed media works, spoken word and performances, the artists celebrate the power of their rich diversity, while fighting all forms of discrimination, and tackling socio-political issues. Taking closer look at their works, the creativity, originality, message and theme all combined to make each work distinct and

collectors’ favorite. For instance, Sanaa Gateja’s intricate tapestries of bark cloth, raffia, and paper beads, woven by rural women’s cooperatives in his native Uganda, are an exploration of materiality and nature. The East African artist touches on the importance of preserving natural resources and biodiversity, as climate change threatens the survival and health of communities across the globe. But Enam Gbewonyo’s mixed media works using paper, photographs and nylon tightly crisscrossing her canvas, revealing a complex web of seen and unseen forces, visible and invisible societal pressures and realities existing under the skin of our collective subconscious, calling for healing and restoration. Also, Chibuike Uzoma’s collage portraits with pencil sketches covered by newspaper strips, diary notes, and hundreds of lines written by 14 secondary school students, question historical and contemporary concept of sin and retribution, challenging us to think about what constitutes a just punishment. In same vein, Carleen de Sozer’s street art inspired airbrushed canvases, explore afro-centric galaxies populated by cartoon styled characters with big afros, contemplating the meaning of life and which path to embark on towards a brighter future, while Olumide Onadipe’s large colorful wall hangings created out of twisted,

woven and burnt recycled plastic bags, touch on the wave of migration due to political instability and environmental pressures, and reminds us of everyone’s intrinsic need for supportive relationships. Ayesha Feisal’s work presents emotional and psychological worlds, human forms painted across vibrant red, blue and yellow mindscapes, exploring the many layers of our psyche and the aching need for inner transformation. The Child of My Youth, a video installation by Justina Kehinde, a performance artist, is enthralling to watch. It exhorts youths in the Diaspora growing up racially ambivalent or confused, to seek knowledge and intellectual stimulation while embracing the beauty of their ”living gold” skin color and rich African heritage. Adelaide Damoah’s powerful works explore sexuality, race, and identity through monochrome pigment and gold leaf works alongside performative body paintings rooted in her native Ghanaian language of Twi, Ga and Fanti, while Kelani Abass’ mixed media works use archival printing materials and intricate small paintings and sketches to explore historic socio-political events and personal family and individual narratives, frozen against time and memory. His portraits on scanned passport pages touch on immigration, and how people are labeled within host communities. Gabriel Choto’s delicate portraits are rich in subtle expression,

also touching on intimate domestic scenes such as the poignant communication between grandmother and grandchild; his works highlight strong relationships with finely painted faces and everything else rendered in simple outline. Tyna Adebowale’s faces are covered with intricate lines and patterns calling for an end to all forms of discrimination, as she explores identity, gender, visibility, and the cycle of birth, life, and death, signified by red dots against plain colored backgrounds. Kenny Adewuyi’s bronze sculpture with its elongated and exaggerated human forms, use typical poses to touch on the life of every man and woman dealing with the daily struggle for survival. “No Room for Fear creates space for this commonality to be experienced in one space, to share one breath and to form one powerful statement,” Enam Gbenwonyo, one of the artists who doubles as the exhibition co-curator, and founder, Black British Female Artists’ Collective, said. Speaking on the exhibition, Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, exhibition co-curator and founder, SMO Contemporary Art, said, “Whether we look to the United States where the Black Lives Matter movement is coming at a time when racial tension has peaked yet again, or we consider South Africa, where black on black hate crimes have increased, our artists’ work is a powerful positive force calling for a more globally inclusive world”.

Speaking further, Obiago explained that the group exhibition showcases an exciting range of creative expression by 12 exceptional artists who have a global vision while celebrating a rich, intertwined cultural heritage with roots spreading across Britain and Europe to Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe,and Jamaica. For her, the exhibition is worth seeing because the artists use their art to fight all forms of discrimination, and tackle moral and socio-political issues of equity, social justice, representation and diversity. “Celebrating African art and culture is a crucial part of our commitment to respect Africa, one of our four key pillars. We regularly host African art exhibition in our London and Johannesburg offices, to provide a platform for talented artists from the continent to showcase their work and give them much deserved exposure to international audiences”, concluded Andrew Skipper, partner/ head of Africa Practice at Hogan Lovells and advisory board member, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC. No Room For Fear, is co-curated by SMO Contemporary Art and the Black British Female Artists Collective (BBFA). It is being hosted by Hogan Lovells, leading international law firm. However, it is open until October 30, 2019 at the Atlantic House in London.

hubs for content creators, publishers, and social media influencers, with thousands of users currently signed up on its platform. Plaqad continues to connect brands and individuals to bloggers, news websites, publishers and social influencers’ micro bloggers, ensuring that these brands irrespective of their size and budget are able to make their voices heard in an increasingly noisy marketplace. The 25 housemates include;

Mercy Eke, BBNaija Season 4 winner, 1st runner-up Mike, 2nd runner-up Frodd, and co-finalists Omasola and Seyi. They will join other celebrities and social media influencers who have already been signed up on the Plaqad platform. Other BBnaija Season 4 housemates include; Elozonam, Diane, Ike, Isilomo, Avala, Kim Oprah, Ella, Khaffi, Gedoni, Jeff, Esther, Jackye, Tuoyo, Sir Dee, Venita, Cindy, Enkay, Thelma, Nelson and Joe.

Plaqad signs 25 Big Brother Naija housemates SEYI JOHN SALAU

laqad, Nigeria’s influencer marketing platform, has signed 25 housemates of the just concluded “Big Brother Naija” (BBN) season 4 on its platform. Gbenga Sogbaike, CEO, Plaqad, confirmed that the decision to onboard the former housemates was to ensure seamless collaboration with the newest set of influencers

and to help the housemates maximize their new status. According to him, the development further bolsters the platform’s readiness to meet with the dynamics of consumer engagement via online and offline platforms and to better serve its growing clientele. “At Plaqad, we are all about value and we do this on all fronts for our clients, as well as, the influencers we work with. Our decision to sign up these 25 superstars is a

testament to our commitment to this vision and we are very excited to have them as part of our family. We have already begun talks with them and some of them will be collaborating with Plaqad on a number of brand campaigns in the next few days,” Sogbaike said. Since its launch in 2017, Plaqad has through its impressive showing in the influencer marketing and media content distribution space, quickly become one of the biggest

Sunday 20 October 2019

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Arts Artist in focus

Ibe Ananaba; master of many artistic expressions of how fashion is consumed within the Nigerian society. After observing the flaunting and flamboyant nature of people, he said that the exhibition “is my interpretation of the lives around me from a contemporary fashion perspective”. Moreover, if there one Ni-

OBINNA EMELIKE

beabuchi Ananaba is an experienced cartoonist, fashion illustrator, graphic designer and painter. Born in 1976, the artist is called Ibe by his close friends, grew up in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria where he had his primary and secondary education. He graduated in 1999 with a Distinction from Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, Nigeria where he studied Fine and Applied Arts and majored in Painting. Propelled by a strong passion to provoke thoughts through his creativity, the adventure has taken him through multiple creative phases as a fashion illustrator, graphic designer, cartoonist and painter. Ibe loves to sketch, enjoys jokes and listening to music. His works are privately collected in Nigeria, UK, South Africa and United States with his major public collection at National Assembly, Abuja, Nigeria. He has participated in several group and solo art exhibitions both locally and internationally. Also, he is listed in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries Collections. He has critical eyes and social conscience, and uses his creativity as vehicles for advocacy through artistic expression. He has participated in several solo and group exhibitions. One of his popular solo exhibitions was ‘Long-drawn Shadows’ which offered him

opportunity to mull over poignant personal experiences resulting from livelihood in a dysfunctional society. As well, one of his popular group exhibitions was titled ‘Of Music, Migration & Meaning’, where he joined forces with Tony Nsofor to respond creative to global issues. Both used the exhibition to introduce art enthusiasts to the very heart and pulse of Nigerian creative response to global issues such as migration and the effect of social media on inter-personal communication. “Ibe Ananaba creatively explores human relationships and pressing global issues through strikingly diverse and engaging styles that express an exciting range of honest and bold contemporary creativity,” Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago, commented on ‘Of Music, Migration & Meaning’ exhibition. “Ananaba is an artist with a critical eye and social conscience who is using his cre-

gerian artist that is constantly seeking new ways to hone his skills, it is Ibeabuchi Ananaba. He once engaged in International Watercolour Portrait face-off with David Lobenberg, a California-based art professor. The face-off was a joint portrait challenge initiative where both exchanged

images of themselves and paintings. For him, the exercise spotlighted how borderless and interactive art can be. Ananaba says he draws inspiration for his works from literature and poetry, as well as, spoken word and rap music. “I appreciate word plays a lot,” he says.

ativity as vehicles for advocacy through artistic expression”, she further said. For some of his followers, the Yeah Yeah Series was a highlight when it was displayed at a pop-up space at Temple Muse in Lagos. For them, the series was successful because of the focus on Fela Anikulapo Kuti. The Yeah Yeah Series featured Ananaba’s nine water colour and two oil on canvas paintings, which depicted Fela in his legendary performance poses, as well as, the mood and energy of the pulsating music complete with steam, sweat, and smoke rising through the colours. Ibe is also big in fashion illustration and believes that fashion is a vast topic. In his well attended exhibition at RELE Gallery, Lagos, which he entitled ‘SÉLÉNSÉ’, the fashion illustrator used the platform to take his art to a new height. The exhibition was a result of Ibe’s observation

How Design Fashion Africa discovers, inspires talents in Africa OBINNA EMELIKE

ecently, some young fashion talents across the African continent engaged in healthy rivalry at Design Fashion Africa (DFA), a platform that aims to help them to reach their potential and harness opportunities to grow their business. The DFA, a brainchild of Oracle Experience, a Lagosbased marketing agency, aims to help fashion talents to hone their creative ingenuity in tune with global best practice, as well as mentor existing and new talents on how to expand their business to global clientele. At the grand finale fashion show, which held on October 5, 2019 in Lagos, the DFA platform hosted fashion experts and upcoming ones across Africa to a new level of creative exploration. The 3-day event, which calumniated in the fashion show, started with designers selling their submissions online, amid other activities such as

a reality show, marketplace, a master-class and conferences that featured various panel sessions. The marketplace brought 77 vendors who showcased their wares and provided network opportunities for designers to meet their clients and explore their areas of needs. Prior to the final show, DFA featured a boot camp where various upcoming fashion designers submitted their creative sketches on instagram amid a live screening.

The contest saw 10 successful designers who participated in the final fashion show where the final winner emerged. The three-day event also featured DFA Academy amid master-classes where participants were mentored on the etiquettes of fashion and photography. Mao Atafo, a fashion icon, Ogechukwu Agada, a modeling expert, House of Tara (makeup), as well as, Kelechi Amadi Obi for photography, were present. It was a whole knowledge of experience for the contes-

tants as they met with the experts. There was also a conference that featured panel session attended by designers from many parts of Africa who shared their experiences with the upcoming designers. One of the highlights of the event was the crowning of Abubakar Jubril as winner of the DFA 2019 Fashion Show, while the second and third positions were considered winners as well. Speaking at the event, Abubakar Jubril, said the DFA has given him the platform to launch his fashion business to the international stage. “I am so happy to win the contest. DFA gave me the platform to excel. For my collections to be featured on the runway, where Mao Atafo was present, is something I never thought of even in decades to come”, he acknowledged. At a media briefing held recently in Lagos, Felix King, managing director and CEO, Oracle Experience, explained

what the DFA is doing differently from other fashion platforms adding that the objective is to capture young designers and bring them on the big stage. King noted that DFA provides the hub for young designers to excel through trainings, interactions and networking with established designers, while uniting Africans through fashion. “The DFA differs from other fashion platforms because it focuses on upcoming designers rather than the established ones. From the feedback we have gotten so far, designers should no longer have to wait because DFA is available for them to leverage and promote their business”, he said. He said the platform discovers, empowers and inspires new fashion talents with whole lots of experiences hence equipping them with knowledge they would have taken a long time to acquire. For him, the DFA idea is changing the dynamics in the fashion industry because a

lot of people in the business are trying to expand their business to include trainings, engagements and empowerments. The Oracle Experience boss gave insight on the limitations faced by upcoming designers in the fashion industry, saying many designers are constrained by inability to market their wares, as well as, increase their profit earnings. He stressed that achieving such feat needed the experience of experts in the industry like a Mao Atafo. He also attributed lack of access to finances to fund fashion business as challenge for upcoming designers. But through the DFA such barriers, according to him, are broken because it provides links that solve the challenges. The event was powered by Oracle Experience in partnership with Jakaranda, Soundcity TV, OnTV, Spice TV and Urban Radio. Sponsorship included the Ethiopian Airline, House of Tara, Heineken and Access Bank.

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Sunday 20 October 2019

Interview Every successful economy must be built SEHINDE JOHNSON, managing director/chief executive officer of Infinity Paints International Limited and a Fellow of Institute of Brand Management of Nigeria, in this interview with ZEBULON AGOMUO, Editor, spoke on the prospects in the paint industry sub-sector of the economy; the challenges of manufacturing in Nigeria; the need for government to protect manufacturers from traders who have used the country as a dumping ground for foreign paints, and that the real sector remains the hope of any successful economy. Excerpts:

ay we know a little bit about your background in the area of your business? By training, I am an accountant, but by my pedigree and stint at a paint manufacturing outfit. For almost about 10 years,I managed people, finance, materials, market, methodologies, machineries and many others. So, we were well equipped to handle every aspect of paint manufacturing. That’s what I did at thetop echelon; and that provided the basic pedigree for me to launch on, and moved to the industry, and take it to the next level. So, by the time we started Infinity, we were not just looking at paint manufacturing, we were looking at total paint solution house. We do paint manufacturing; we do estheticconsulting; we do property branding, and paint application. So, it is an organisation you come in and everything about your paint requirement is met. It is a one-stop-shop for paint manufacturing. It is quite an experience for us. We have done Infinity now for over a period of 10 years. We started out late 2008; since then we have been doing the best we could to carve a niche; to add colour to the Nigerian building industry and to see what next we could, to do paint in a way that it has not been done before in Nigeria. Manufacturing in Nigeria is fraught with many challenges. How have you been weathering the storm in terms of harsh operating environment? I am an incurable optimist. A system will not be a system unless it has a weakness and of course, strength. We ordinarily expect that in a business system, there would be challenges; and of course, in our own economic milieu there are bundles of challenges. People talk about infrastructural deficit; the ease of doing business in Nigeria, multiple taxation and whole lot of bottle-necks all over the place; there is also the issues of insecurity, power, easy access to financing, among many others. But if you look at it from the angle that every system in the world has its weakness and its strengths; that gives one the courage to say let me engage the weaknesses in the system and maximise the strength; make whatever you can make out of it, and I think that cando spirit of an average Nigerian has been what has been keeping us going. It has been tough and it could be tougher; but as they say, ‘Tough time never last; but tough people do.’ We do not have an option. It is not all of us that will do politics; everybody will not travel out of the country and stay back somewhere and build other economies. For a few of us who have decided to stay back, we just felt that we have to contribute our

own quota, even if it is three, four, five…ten families that you can take out of the street and all that; it is an impetus. An impetus to want to go on and take another one family out; another one family out, etc; maybe,in the process you can turn out to be the next Dangote that could come out of this land. Those are possibilities, and of course, the motivation is not just that you are making money but that you are adding value.This is because, I must say that the part of the underpinnings behind the insecurity we have in the country is unemployment. If people are not working, consumption cannot be equal to zero; so, it becomes a security threat and you have an avalanche of generation of graduates that are on the streets doing ‘Okada’, and stuff like that. They are not happy and at the end of the day, when you look at the multiplier effects of all of these, it impacts negatively on our security challenges in the country. So, it is an impetus to say that you are taking a number of families out of the streets; you have given them hope; you have given them reason for living and they are happy. Though we may not do it on a big scale, we are positive that with time things will improve in our country and we can do better than we are doing at themoment. There are many other brands of

paints in the Nigerian market; how do you cope with competition? Well, I believe that‘what is worth doing at all is worth doing well’. There are so many paint companies in Nigeria; the truth of the matter is, it is a perfectly competitive market; there is free entry and free exit. But we can say we have about three tiers of paint manufacturers in the country. The first tier is made up of those that came in and were bought over from the British Colonialists. A number of foreign people came in and started paint manufacturing industries in Nigeria in the 60s and when they were leaving they sold to Nigerians who took it over. So, you have such big paint manufacturing companies who are publicly quoted. The next (second tier) are privately-run paint companies and they are doing very well. They have carved a niche for themselves. We also have the lower cadre which is the third tier. Somebody has had a stint in the production department of a paint manufacturing company; now he is out of a job and he feels he has a little knowledge of formation; so, in order to keep the family going he tries to do whatever it is he can do to stay in business at his own level. But by and large, the fact that there is competition makes it even better so that people can be

on top of their game.If you want to stand the test of time, you can’t afford to give just anything to the market.In our own instance, based on our pedigree having operated at the highest echelon of the paint industry for about 10 years before we started Infinity Paints, that provided a pivot upon which we can build a brand; a brand that is going to stand the test of time. We are not willing to just do anything. We want to do a kind of quality product that can be called the Nigerian value paint, not only in terms of quality, but in terms of cost and effectiveness. Because you bear in mind also that when you are looking at the building industry generally, by the time a man begins to do a building construction, paint comes at the very last point of finishing. At that time, may be, his budget has been exhausted by almost about 50 or 100 percent variance; his capacity to do a kind of finishing that he would have loved to do has been whittled down; he doesn’t have access to extra funds any longer. Not only that you must make paint that is of very high quality, it must be cost effective and that is the niche that we have carved for ourselves at the Infinity Paints. We have done a brand that we can call the Nigerian value paint. It is cost efficient; it is durable, adding value in terms of esthetics and that

informed why quite a number of players in the building sub-sector are married to Infinity Paints. Those of them that have signed us on over the years have stayed with us; and they are happy with us because we are passionate about adding colour and values. We are passionate about the esthetics that we give to buildings, not just about the paints and the quality, but the esthetics. When you go out in the city and see beautiful properties and they are traceable to your factory and the impact your work is making, it gives you great joy. To that extent, we can say that competition is healthy. There is always a gap there for you to feel in the system. We have been able to carve a niche in the gap that we have filled so far. In measurable terms, what is the size/ percentage of demand for your product at the moment, compared to, say, five years ago? Yes, let me say this; we don’t operate at the first tier, we operate at the second tier. The first tier are largely quoted companies that have spanned generations, decades in the business environment, especially in the paint manufacturing sub-sector.We operate in the 2nd tier, and for us, over time, we narrowdowntoprojects.Weareprojectcentric. We have a few number of people that come to us to pick up products because they have seen the products on the will; we deal mainly with builders who build estates and do high prestige projects such as schools, hospitals and

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Interview on the real sector, Infinity Paints MD quiteanumberofothers.Tothatextent, I cannot say this is the percentage of the market that we share; we have a kind of this clientele that we serve. We are project–centric.Wearehappythatthey are happy with us. But having said that, you know, the industry generally is facing a lot of challenges. When you look at the paint sub-sector in the country, it is a turn-over of about $250 million (Two Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars) annually. Unfortunately, we don’t have a protectionist policy for the indigenous manufacturers. The trend over time is that you see an influx of foreign paints into the country, in the market place. Not only that, it is as good as dumping from India, China, from all over the place. They just bring in paints and flood the market; that makes it even more difficulttonowsay,thisisthesizeorpercentage of the market that you share; because most of the players in the industry merely trade; some of them don’t even have traceable offices and addresses.So, it is not helping the local manufacturers. The Paint Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has been in the vanguard of government raising duties on imported paints as a way of protecting the local players. Because, when you now reduce manufacturing to a situation whereby it is even more profitable and better for them to trade, local manufacturers might even want to close shop and begin to import and you can imagine the multiplier effect of that on the labour market. How many people can a trader employ compared to a full-fledged manufacturing company that has all strata of workforce in their employ. So, if there is no protection; if people find it easy to trade, and of course, the banks are happy with trading because the value chain is shorter compared to manufacturing. By the time the raw materials come in; you turn it around and send to the market; it takes quite some time; but for those who are trading, they just import and sell. How many staff are they engaging? So, these are areas of challenges generallyfortheindustrythatonewouldhave expectedthatgovernmentwouldhave taken a responsibility and do a little more such that the local manufacturers can have a sense of protection and do more than they are doing now, by government providing the enabling environment, in terms of regulation, to make it a bit difficult to not only bring imported paints, but to prevent people frommakingNigeriaadumpingground for all manner of paints from different countries of the world. These are some of the things constituting challenges to us. Technology appears to impact both positively and negatively on business. Some people have gone beyond the use of paint, they now opt for glazing and cladding. How are you looking to leveraging technology to improve your business? And how has the use of these alternatives affected your market? Cladding has always been there and quite a number of alternative products thatarebeingusedforfinishing,butthat notwithstanding, all these products are not really substitutes to paint. The fact remains that when you take cladding for instance, the cost of replacement is heavy and it will not last forever. When you begin to use cladding, by the time it begins to wear out and degenerate, you may not be able to change it over night because it is very expensive to do that. But when you look at painting, it is not something that would take you

a long time to renovate. When it comes to technology, unlike the traditional paints where you have a few colours, colours are now being personalised. Without some bits of technology, you cannot meet the demand and taste of the client, especially in the decorative segment. People come and they would want a unique colour and if you are traditional in your method of production, you would not be able to do that.So, you need technology. Paint manufacturing now is technologically-driven to a large extent in Nigeria and everybody is buying into it. If somebody gets into your shop, within a space of an hour, youaregivinghimhiscolourandheis taking his paint. So, you already have the gauge fixed into your system. Sometimes,itisdoneonlinebecause we do a lot of online marketing. So, in the comfort of your office because you can imagine the time it takes to get down here. Some young executives would not want to take the trouble of coming down here. They just go to the internet, chat with us and place their order. We get it done on record time and deliver. So, it is a smart city thing, and we are getting compliance from our clients. I know that some of the components that you use are not sourced here. How do you deal with the forex or are you getting forex at N305? Thepointisthatwehavealotofvendors,whocomplementwhatweare doing in the industry. They bring in the products and we source from them. So, while we concentrate on production, they concentrate on supply of the raw materials. By and large, I don’t know if anybody is getting forex at N305 but theoretically it is possible but there are bottlenecks in the system that do not make it so easy because at the end of the day, you have left your primary job to begin to pursue some other things, which can bring distraction. Although, you cannot

consistent in doing that. Once people know your brand for a particular quality, and because of pressure in the market, you begin to vary that brand, you become inconsistent. And once people know you for inconsistency,nobodywouldbuyinto that brand. For us, our quality is the Nigerian value quality and we stick to it. The truth is that you cannot afford to serve every client in Nigeria, look at a gap that you want to fill and stay right there. People will appreciate you for what you are doing and your customers will stick to you. It is our philosophy not to joke with our goodwill, which is a function of the quality of the product. If it is about few tricks, make some good money in the industry and move on, it means you don’t have future in business, but if you want to remain in business for a long time, you must be consistent with the quality of products you do. We don’t do all manners of qualities of paints that are in the market place today. So, if you are looking for cheap paint that is next to water, you can get it in the market but you cannot get such in Infinity Paint.

get forex as cheap as you see it on papers. It takes more time and the bottlenecks are always there. So, what do you do? The clients are not going to wait for you, and projects have their own timeline. And if you cannotgetitatofficialrate,youhave to pay for what you see. There are also some restricting policies of government when it comes to importing some of these things. How do you deal with that? We do not have any problem with government policy when it comes to importation, only that some materials that are injurious to health have been restricted in manufacturing. To a large extent, there are

substitutes to it and people are becoming compliant. So, bottlenecks are challenges that you have a way to play around them and to ensure that you would continue to have your raw materials to sustain the industry but a large number of our materials are sourced within, especiallycalciumthatisalmost100 percent sourced in Nigeria. We only hope that government will have the will power to divest from oil and look at the second phase of our petrochemicaldevelopmentwhere you see quite a number of these raw materials that we bring in coming out. Then, you would not have to be importing some of these raw materialsifthegovernmentwillhavethewill power to look at the second phase of the petrochemical development. There are products that are done in Nigeria now and there is supply sufficiency. We only expect that things willgetbetter.Withtheglobaltrendin petroleum,quiteanumberofvehicles do not go on fuel. We expect that the government would look into all of that and be able to glean whatever they thing they can glean. And that would be like an impetus for them to divest from oil. If you take the petrochemical industry for example, a lot of by-products come from that and they would also impact our industry positivelyandminimiseourforexuse in Nigeria. You talked about personalising products and producing to suit client’s need; can client also tell you to lower the quality in proportion to the size of his or her pocket over dwindling purchasing power? Off course, anything is possible but for us we have decided to carve a niche by filling a gap, building a brand that is known for a kind of quality, and we are consistent in giving that quality. And that is the only way our client can stay glued to us. If you want to add goodwill, which is the greatest asset that you have in business then, you should not just have a good quality but you must be

The 2020 Budget has been presented. As a businessman, what are your expectations? Wecannotover-emphasisethefact that our economy is public sectordriven. The public sector drives the economy of Nigeria but unfortunately the monies are not trickling down. Government is not finding it funny, resources are dwindling, insecurity in the North-East, and banditryhasimpactedonthesourcesof revenueforthegovernment.Byand large, you will also appreciate the fact that over a period of time, when the budget is announced, it is not yet tobearuleuntilyouseethepercentage of the budget that is executed. Sometimes, when budget comes in like that and you see the figures, it could be heartwarming but a lot of caution. What is the percentage of the budget that is being executed? Wewishthegovernmentwell.They are doing a lot that they could do to ensure that things go well but it may not come so cheap.I believe that the manufacturing sector is the pivot upon which modern economies thrive. If I have an opportunity I will continue to say it over and over that you cannot build a skyscraper hanging in the air. The real sector must always be the foundation upon which national economies are built from America to Zimbabwe, from China to India, every part of the world. From the first world to the third world, any successful economy must be built on the real sector.Aslongaswearestilldancing around this in our country, I am sure that we are still far from the reality. Thegovernmentmusthavethewillpower to divest our economy from being mono and oil economy to the real sector where the medium and small businesses are given their priority place in ensuring that the real sector is built.They are the once that will provide employment for the masses and give hope for the future generation that are coming. Look at the whole of China, millions of small and medium scale enterprises are driving the economy of China, and they don’t stay on that. They also import. So, it is as good as a revolution to conquer the whole world.

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Sunday 20 October 2019

Interview I will ensure Abia continues to maintain first in external examinations – Ogbonna

LawrenceOgbonnaistheexecutivesecretaryofAbiaStateSecondaryEducationManagement Board, who is a professional teacher and architect. In this interview with UDOKA AGWU, Ogbonnax-rayshisachievementsinceassumptionofofficeayearago;hisstrategy to ensure that Abia continues to maintain first position in all external examinations and his efforts to ensure that Igbo Language does not go into extinction by the 2050 as predicted by UNESCO, among other issues. Excerpts: When exactly did you assume office as the Executive Secretary of the Board? I was appointed the Executive Secretary of Secondary Education Management Board on August, 8, 2018 by his Excellency, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu. I resumed office effectively on September 2018. Since assumption of office, what are the major achievements you have so far recorded? We have been able to get effective working vehicles for monitoring of school system. We have reroofed and painted some office buildings, we now have active office, and our offices are now functional. We have harmonised the part-time teachers system which has been the effective method of organising the schools in order to give them their sense of belonging and encourage them to do more. The Board has restored/revived collapsed/ closed down schools in the state and also refurbished old vehicles to ease supervision, among others. What efforts are you making to ensure that Abia continues to maintain first position in external exams? We have embarked on training and re-training of our teachers and deployment of more to fall in line with the new curriculum. We have equally trained and deployed 150 Science Teachers employed by our Education-friendly governor after retraining to secondary schools in the state. We also embarked on effective supervision of schools. We have procured more utility vehicles to enhance effective supervision. The Board has equally partnered with Old Students Associations of various schools in the state to restore their lost glory. What problems do you face as the secretary and how have you been solving them? That is before the government. Whatever problem we have, the government is addressing it. What are your charges to the teachers? We are going to do more

Lawrence Ogbonna and the government has pledged to do more and we promise them that they will get a better system, their salaries have been taking care of by his Excellency and we are going to make sure that they get all they need to work with. What efforts are you making to ensure that Igbo Language does not go into extinction as predicted by UNESCO come 2050? We have recruited and formalised the appointment of about 300 Igbo teachers and posted them to various schools. We are also looking into the area called Culture and Creative Art. we are going to do our cultural exhibition, and all the students will participate, same to language which is also part of culture, we are putting all efforts to ensure that schools put cultural exhibition in their inter-house sports, so that next year they will come together and do cultural exhibition and other traditional cultures, which is the means of getting our children to fall in line with our value system and being encouraged both in school and at the state level. Even History, which was

hitherto removed from the school curriculum, has been restored back by the Federal Government. We have deployed more teachers in that area into the school to teach History, which is an important subject. It recalls your memory back, like what happened in the past so that you can cue in and move forward. What efforts have you made to checkmate loitering of students on the streets during school hours? We have what we call clocking truancy cards. In the next few weeks, the cards will be sent to schools, which will be used in checking and to ascertain how often a student has been in school and also will be given to students as their permit cards to be in the class room, of which if seen outside without the card such student will be arrested. The truancy cards will be used to assess the number of times a student has attended classes and also absenteeism. We have set in motion measures to enforce the law. Law Enforcement Agencies have been directed to arrest any student seen loitering street after 9am. In Aba,

we are working with an organisation called NAPOS; they will arrest any child seen outside the school after 9’ o’clock, without permit card. I hope that with this development, loitering about and being absent from school will be a thing of the past. May we know the efforts your Board is making to motivate teachers in schools? To motivate our teachers we have a lot of things apart from the housing programme that has not taken off; we have established an NGO which is Abia Teachers Agricultural & Industrial Service Scheme. We are going to train our teachers in the area of agriculture both in oil palm growing and in various areas of Agriculture, so that by the time a teacher is retiring he/she will have something to lay hands on. My promise to the people is that with the concept we have on ground, in the next 10 years some teachers apart from being teachers, will also acquire other knowledge which will help them in the area of entrepreneurship. We have a lot of entrepreneurship courses in schools; so, with teachers being entrepreneurs they will practise it with students. We have also been able to revive our technical schools, for sometimes now it has been that of Aba only. But the one at Afara in Umuahia, Umuahia North Local Government Area and that of Ohafia in Ohafia Local Government Area have taken off. The one at Ohafia , some weeks ago we have 14 teachers that came to pledge support for new employed teachers, that they are engineers who have promised to make sure that the school bounces back, so the technical schools have taken off effectively. Science school at Ariam, we have posted a principal there who is an award winner in science. Presently, he is the principal of that school. We have given him a charge to turn out student- scientists.

Sanwo-Olu, Okonkwo parley ASPAMDA, trade fair market leaders on infrastructure development Hope Moses-Ashike

agos State Gove r n o r, Ba b a j i d e Sanwo-Olu on Thursday, met with market leaders from Alaba, Trade Fair axis in Lagos West senatorial district. The consultative meeting, which was at the instance of the Governor and coordinated by the Managing Director Fidelity Bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo, lasted for about 90 minutes and it was centered around the State Government’s plans to improve security and upgrade infrastructure around the markets. Sanwo-Olu said the discussion was aimed at fostering collaboration with the traders and to carry them along in the plans of the Government. The Governor said he was pu satisfied with the conditions under which businesses were conducted in the markets, expressing disappointment over the state of roads and absence of relevant public facilities around markets. In fulfilling his campaign promises to the traders, Sanwo-Olu said his administration was prepared to change the condition by investing in infrastructure that would improve the quality of lives and commercial activities in the area. He said: “We have just finished an interactive meeting with the leaders of various markets around Alaba, ASPAMDA, Trade Fair areas in Lagos West Senatorial District and the discussion was coordinated by our friend in the banking sector, Fidelity Bank. We all agreed that we all have roles to play to address infrastructure and other challenges around the markets. As a government, we are taking up the responsibility to design an all-inclusive model that will improve the economic wellbeing of people around the markets. Once we put infrastructure in place, not only would businesses flourish, employment will also be created.” Aside constructing network of roads surrounding the markets, the Governor said part of the Government’s long-term plans was also to complement the efforts with provision of amenities, including fire stations, clinics, general hospitals and security protections that would aid commercial activities in the markets. Sanwo-Olu said the market leaders agreed to work with the Government on documenting all businesses in their respective jurisdic-

tions, which would facilitate easy payment and collection of tax for developmental purposes. The Governor said: “we had conversations around being socially responsible. So, we will see the traders living up to the expectations in terms of doing what they are meant to be doing to support government in the areas of their taxes, wages and levies. We also want to eliminate multiple taxations; any agency that is not meant to be around the market will be stopped.

News “We also discussed security issues, and I assured that government would help to improve on the security of lives and properties in the area and the state in general. We will address the menace of Okada riders all around those markets. We will also ensure that the work that is going on around LagosBadagry Expressway is well coordinated, so that they can have some relief at various periods of the day, even when construction is going on.” The Governor said the meeting would not be the last in his engagement with the market leaders, pointing out that Chairmen of local councils in which the traders operate would be invited to subsequent discussions before the start of regeneration work across the markets within the senatorial district. Fidelity Bank’s Managing Director, Nnamdi Okonkwo, hailed Sanwo-Olu for partnering with the market leaders to drive the regeneration programme, saying the Governor understood the importance of engagement in leadership. According to him “Fidelity Bank was one of the first banks to open in the area and we understand their challenges from the extensive engagements we do have with them. We bank most of them and when there are issues we come together to interact and find solutions. This is exactly the approach that Gov. Sanwo-Olu is using today. The Governor has outlined a course of action and we also use our knowledge of their needs and working in collaboration with the government, to come up with a model that will work for all stakeholders. The traders are ready to take this collaboration to the end and make sure they have better market conditions so when they want to pay their taxes, they will pay them happily.”

Sunday 20 October 2019

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BDSUNDAY 25

ExecutiveBookshelf With Chido Nwakanma • Reviews • News • Interview • List

Expert guidance in managing the human capital of the firm Chris Enuke (2017), The Practice of Human Resource Management with Examples from Nigeria. Ibadan: Feathers and Ink. ISBN: 978-978-53624-7-3. 670pages

ith its positive approach to human resource management, this tome belongs on the bookshelf of Csuite executives in MSMEs as well as the bigger and smaller players. It is a comprehensive handbook on best practises in the management of the most critical asset of any organisation. It draws on a quarter-century and counting of practice in a global exemplar in managing the human capital, the behemoth Unilever, with practical examples backing every subject. While most firms agree that people are a crucial asset, the management of that asset is often sub-optimal. Chris Enuke, a veteran of HRM in Unilever and consultant to local and international organisations, commences this dissertation with the case for clear-headed policies and structures in talent management. “Of all the factors of production, it is only men who can think and answer back. Because man can be temperamen-

tal, exhibiting good and bad moods, we need specialists to manage them. There should be a system in place to accomplish this; there should be a Human Resource Policy, well-articulated, and in writing and well-known to all key performers in the enterprise.” People management is critical to organisational success. The Practice of Human Resource Management with Examples from Nigeria makes the case and systematically outlines the how and why of managing this vital function. Practical examples in the best pedagogical traditions fill the book. However, the reader will search in vain for management theories and influences on HRM. Missing are classical management theory, classical organisation theory, systems theory, the behavioural school, TQM, excellence studies. There is no exegesis on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory, or McClelland’s three needs theory. The Practice of Human Resource Management

My book world

My Book World: Bunmi Oke

with Examples from Nigeria shows how to do things in talent management with sample forms, tables, queries, letters and policy documents. It then explains why with an exposition of the theories and history. It covers the employ-

sign the cheques or supervise the entire workforce. It educates on the seven laws central to managing employer-employee relations. They are the Labour Decree No 21 of 1974 and subsequent amendments to it; Factory’s Decree (as amended) 1987; and the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1987. Others include The Trade Union Act No 31 of 1973, Wages Board and Industrial Councils Act of 1973, Trade Disputes Decree No 7 of 1976 and Trade Disputes (Essential Services) Decree No 23 of 1976 and subsequent amendments. The Practice of Human Resource Management with Examples from Nigeria covers the core issues in HRM. They include training and workforce development, performance appraisal principles and policies, and employment maintenance issues such as welfare, medical, health, uniforms and protective clothing. Other areas include wages and salary administration, job analysis and job evaluation, human resource records and management of the human

ment cycle, from entry into employment, recruitment, engagement, firing or retirement and exit from work. Chapter Four x-rays “The legal basis of employment, and Nigerian Labour Laws”. It is a must-read for ownermanagers and those who

resource function. What determines the structure of your organisation? Is it structured along with the functions or the roles senior executives played in its formation? Company organisation and structure, grievance and discipline, industrial relations and relations with trade unions, collective bargaining, strikes, and negotiations also feature. Appendices containing practical examples and templates take up more than half of the book. They ought to be incorporated into the relevant departments as the term appendix may make unsuspecting readers fail to pay attention to the rich trove of material herein. The absence of theories of human resource management is a minus from the appeal of the book. Good theories provide a sound handle for the practices espoused here. Many students will treasure this book. They include those seeking chartered status with the CIPM, as well as in MBA and similar programmes where HRM features. It is luxurious, practical, global, yet local.

Reading must be pleasant based on our different personality types Mrs Olubunmi Oke is CEO/Lead Consultant of Ladybird Ltd. She is a council member of Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology, Abeokuta, a past president of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, and delegate to the 2014 National Conference. She has served on the council of APCON, is a multiple award winner and fellow in advertising in Nigeria as well as member of the Executive Council of WIMBIZ. Olubunmi Oke What are you reading currently? am reading and re-reading about three books: The Complete Idiots’ Guide to Social Media Marketing by Jennifer Abernethy; How to Manage a Government Public Affairs & Communications Office. I was given by the Public Affairs Dept of the US Embassy over two decades ago with contributions from Dee Dee Myers -Former White House Press Secretary and The Little Blue Book of Advertising by Steve Lance and Jeff Woll. What informs your choice of a book to read? I tend to read with an objective/goal in mind: pass exams, acquire new knowledge of a country or management principle. I believe a lot in selfdevelopment and preparedness for new opportunities while remaining contemporary in knowledge about the

marketing communications profession locally & globally. Each stage and phase in life in terms of my career/ business and personal life requires studying, and I read books for same; marriage, sex life, body changes, work principles from the Bible. I even have a copy of the best seller Twins Handbook which I sourced from the UK when I had twin sons over 25 years ago and learned that the Yoruba race from Nigeria has the highest twinning rate in the world. That is the power of booksknowledge & facts! Which books would you rate as the Top Ten in your reading experience? I am very much an ‘out -of -the- box reader’! I have always been very unconventional with my book-reading habits. I am a very auditory learner; hence my learning style depends a lot on listening and speaking as a main way of learning. I read a lot of news & magazines in my professional calling and any other area of interest. I can listen to news programmes on TV or

radio ALL DAY. So, my top ten reading experience will be all leading newspapers in Lagos, leading international business and newspapers/ business journals. I also love a combination of lovely illustrations or cartoons that get me thinking about the messages! I, however, can read voraciously about any business where I may have to pitch or discuss as a paper/ presentation, as I like to be appropriately informed about facts and free to express or even debate opinions confidently. What books would you return to again and again? I tend to revisit professional and self-development books a lot, like the book I am currently re-reading on ‘managing a government public Affairs office. I also love the book ‘GIRLBOSS’ written by Sophia Amoruso (founder of Nasty Gal)! amongst a few others. The phase of life also dictates books to return to!! Which books would you consider essential or critical in your profession or line of business?

All the ‘Made Simple’ series: Marketing Made Simple, PR Made Simple, by the Jeffery Adams & Phillip Kotler’s of this world! I also subscribe to cable network channels that are informative, Nigerian professional magazines & brand building/ business columns in leading magazines and titbits on radio to keep abreast. Fortunately, the internet is now an on-line library and deep repository of knowledge too. Please suggest essential books in your field and five general interest books that are must-reads for young people. This is a tough question in Nigeria if I must be honest, as our profession is so hands-on, you need practical experience and training to learn. I will, however, recommend books written by leading lecturers in mass communications, psychology & sociology, across our key universities and in universities abroad which cover the fundamentals of marketing, public relations, brand build-

ing, management Which three to five books would you recommend as a leader and manager? At this phase of life, I would recommend Banker to The Poor’ by Muhammad Yunus, as poverty eradication is critical for our nation. Flashes of Thought by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, so we learn how they turned Dubai Emirate into a world-class destination;TheSmartMoney Woman by Arese Ugwu; Identity Theft -Reclaiming Who God Created You to Be by Mike Breaux; The Strategy Book by Max McKeown Do you do audiobooks? What are your thoughts on audiobooks? I tend to do this when I travel out of the country. I can tune my auditory skills fully to the book, without having to have other worries in mind. I find it helpful mainly when confined for long, like on a very long-distance flight, where I am travelling alone. Any preference between Nigerian or foreign authors in your choice of books?

Which ones predominate in your library and why? I tend to have more business books written by foreigners and many advertising management books for international brands have foreign authors. As more Nigerian brands reach ‘classic brand or ‘super-brand’ status, we will have more books written by Nigerians based on the authentic Nigerian experience. Do you share the notion that Nigerians do not read? What informs your response either way? Like most things in Nigeria are not based on facts. That is a cliché amongst the Nigerian reading public. We do have peculiar issues due to low literacy levels, but literacy in local language reading, in Arabic reading, is not measured. We do not measure even reading habits in English language with any clear-cut indices. What is critical is the amount of quality knowledge from learning as digital technology enables multimedia learning opportunities too from sight, sound, hearing, reading and talking.

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Sunday 20 October 2019

Travel ‘With CWT partnership, BTM is now able to elevate its service delivery with the right technology’ Recently, Business Travel Management Limited (BTM), a corporate and managed travel solution company, celebrated its partnership with CWT, a global business-to-business-for-employees travel management platform. Excited over the development, LOLA ADEFOPE, managing director of BTM, in this interview, tells OBINNA EMELIKE what the partnership means for corporate travel business in Nigeria, improved and technology aided services on offer, projections, among other related issues.

hat does the partnership with CWT mean for BTM?

Business Travel Management Limited (BTM) has always been at forefront of travel technology for not only Nigeria, but for West and Central Africa as well. So, within the region we operate, we have been focused on providing efficiencies to the travel, aviation, hospitality and domestic tourism industry. One of the challenges that we have always faced is convincing partners whether technology or card services providers. We have approached several people to bring their technology in Nigeria and in West and Central Africa, and they insisted that unless we are based in South Africa and in recent times in East Africa; places like Kenya or markets that infrastructure, safety measures among others, where they could easily forecast profitability. So, unless we were based in such countries or those two countries specifically, they are not willing to provide us with technology. One of the things that BTM did was to go out there to source technology ourselves, recruit our team members and grow our technology arm, which is BTM Tech, so that we could develop and provide this technology ourselves. Whatever technology we brought in or we developed here at BTM, we will then provide to a lot of our international clients within the network we are in. We provide to Cameroon, Senegal, Kenya and so on. But it was not a sustainable model. With the CWT partnership, BTM can now match the level of service delivery that we are able to provide with the level of technology that we require. It means that we can improve the standard of managed travel solutions and travel technology within West and Central Africa. We are looking forward to working with CWT, they are the strongest travel management company globally and also the only company that is focused on B2B4E (business to business solutions for everyone). It is mostly for employees because what usually happens is that corporate and travel management organisations come to deal with each other and sell technology and travel solutions to each other. What CWT does is to customize the technology and the travel management programmes (travel apps) that they have for the end user, so that the person that is doing the booking is able to control and has full oversight of their travel programme, travel spend, their bookings among others. So, by partnering with CWT, BTM is now able to elevate our service level and marry it with the correct level of technology. What are the targets BMT

Lola Adefope, managing director, Business Travel Management Limited wants to achieve with CWT partnership in the short period? Obviously, there is a strategic plan with CWT going by the way they want to focus on Africa, and the developments they want to do in Africa. They appointed and agreed to work with BTM to achieve all these, and let us not pretend that this is a one-way decision. We know what CWT is all about; they organised themselves globally and they positioned themselves in such a manner that they will be an asset to the African continent. They do not operate in the same way lots of other travel management companies do whereby they send somebody to sign contracts and they disappear. They are a very involved organisation. Within this year, we have had 20 flights between CWT and BTM in Nigeria. They have sent their directors to Nigeria to help us with the implementation, to talk about technology, about training and the African continent. Their plan for Africa is a partnership plan and an elevation plan as opposed to how much money they can get out of this continent. They are looking at being well-placed as a strategic partner within Africa. So, the fact that over the next five years, they are looking at doing this with not only BTM, but also with other strong African partners that they already have on the continent, it is a very exciting thing for me. We are now looking at driving the travel technology and managed technology space, and providing business efficiencies to indigenous Nigerian companies primarily, as well, global and multinational companies, so that they can do business easily within Africa because what they

can bring to the table is going to be beneficial to Africa countries. I love traveling within Africa and seeing other countries. It breaks my heart when you go to different countries and see the poor level of development. We tend not to realize the level we are at in Nigeria and the expertise we have to share with some of our neighbours in Africa. BTM is present in Angola, we are looking at different markets that we have interest in and we do have a strategy, we are focused. Energy; oil and gas is the driving force in Nigeria at this point in time, with lots of industries coming up at the same time in Nigeria and in other strategic countries around Africa. We are interested in how these things are going to happen, we are interested in those countries, whether it is to work with the CWT partners in that country, if there is nothing in that country, maybe we can be the CWT partner in that country, but that connection with the CWT network, forging it and making it very strong, is what we are really focused on and it is worth exciting for us over the next few years. What are the trends in corporate travel? The travel, aviation and tourism industry has gone through several levels of evolution. When BTM started, we were the first company to provide managed travel solutions. Before there was no travel management company in Nigeria; they really did not exist. What we had was travel agents (but not in a disparity manner) that dealt directly with the end user. So, it was mostly leisure travel

and if people were traveling for business it was not in a structured way or managed travel solution. When we were working with previous partners, we recognised the fact that business in Nigeria and Africa was changing. Africa has also always been seen as the final frontier, it is seen as the last place that business can be done, and money can be made. International and global entities are now focusing on Africa because of the volume, the opportunity, and resources. The mining companies were there, then Nigeria found oil and gas, the energy sector then became extremely prevalent, especially in Nigeria because we were previously a British colonial entity, lots of those global ties are still affiliated with Nigeria. Nigeria sits in a very strategic position; we call it the armpit of Africa, whereby we have access to desert, land transportation, and the sea. It is very easy to get to us from Europe, from South Africa, and the United States through the ocean. So, we were very strategically positioned. With the discovery of oil, and focus on the energy sector we then became globally relevant and the shift in business in Nigeria and the West and Central African then metamorphosized. It then became obvious that with the global attention, especially from multinationals on Nigeria, business solutions needed to be more organised. So, where you had investors and multinationals coming in, they needed to be properly managed, they needed safety and tracking measures, they needed proper ticketing, descent accommodation to a certain standard. So, global entities have standards of travel for their employees and as travel management company, we needed to adhere to these standards of travel; whether of safety, manage the rotations, standard of car, helicopter services, we could not do that as a travel agency and we could not do it to the level it was required without a global partner. So, the travel industry shifted; that is where the trend was, we still have a very buoyant leisure market. Nigerians love to travel. We are respected when we travel, people see Nigerians as spenders, explorers, and travelers. So, that leisure market is going to always be there. With the interests and spotlight on Africa, we needed to improve corporate and managed travel solutions. I am not saying that everything is at the level where we need to be, but we can get there. The way we can get there is through strategic partnerships. There is no such thing as ‘I can do it by myself’ or ‘I know everything’ because the way in which business is moving and the way the travel industry is moving, it is extremely fast and that is through the development of technology. Of course, technology changes rapidly, and

always improving. If you look at your phone, what it can do today is more than what it did two years ago. With technology, things are getting more sophisticated. It is the same thing with the travel industry; airplanes have gotten more sophisticated, their equipment have gotten more sophisticated, now you can work in the air as you fly over the ocean with wifi onboard. Everybody is consistently connected and everybody wants immediate responses, it is not enough to call your travel consultant and he says ooh let me look up the fare and get back to you. People want answers immediately; they want to make decisions immediately. They either want to do it themselves or have consultants who have everything on their fingertips. In order to provide that service, you need to make sure that you are working with the best, that your fingers are on the pulse of technology developments, and we cannot do that when we only look at our country, our region and our views. A lot more needs to be done and many globally strategic partnerships need to be forged in order for the Nigerian tourism, inbound, outbound and the managed travel space to improve. Do you think that the managed travel space is improving in Nigeria? It is definitely improving and that is one of the best things of being the pacesetter; it wakes other people up and encourages competition. At BTM, everybody is consistently improving themselves. We have training programmes for staff members such as IATA courses among others, which they attend for continuous improvement. Olufemi Adefope, the chairman of BTM and my father, was strategic in appointing the partners that we worked with within our network before. In the network we are working with now, we have very close relationships with them. It is very interesting working with them before as competitors and now as partners because we know what our strength and weaknesses are and what our competitors’ strength and weaknesses are. So, we can plan, share our views and work together. It is improving because of the competition in the market and the global standards that we are now required to adhere to. If nobody said you have to respond to me within 30 seconds of the phone ringing, we wouldn’t have found a way or technology to help us answer the phone within 30 seconds. If someone said we need data and we need you to report the data every second, we have to find a technology partner that will help us track the data. Story continues onlinne at www. businessday.ng

Sunday 20 October 2019

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BDSUNDAY 27

Travel

How Istanbul airport makes history as largest aviation design of the world IFEOMA OKEKE

nly very few airports are fast developing to become not just home away from home but home that serve your holistic work life balance. One of such airport is the new Istanbul airport, which has set itself apart from other airports to meeting your ‘every’ need. Considered the largest airport in the world at 818 million square feet (25 percent larger than Manhattan), the Istanbul Airport has been lauded as one of the greatest engineering feats of the last two decades. It was developed by a joint venture group called iGA, which includes several large Turkish contractors and other international companies. The airport’s design has also won numerous awards thanks to a large-scale design effort by three British firms: Grimshaw, Scott Brownrigg, and Haptic Architects, as well as Oslo-based practice Nordic, and two Turkish firms Fonksiyon and TAM/Kiklop. Phase one of the project opened in April with three runways and 15 million square feet of terminal space. The remaining three phases are expected to be completed by 2025 and together will accommodate up to 200 million passengers annually. Technology The aviation sector is rapidly developing. Technology and efficiency are gradually gaining importance within the process. The Building Information Modelling (BIM) was developed so as to complete the Istanbul Airport Project in a timely and fault-free fashion and to create the entire project process from design to fabrication, construction, operations and maintenance. The BIM model used in Istanbul airport ensured accessibility for information of all sizes for the use of various stakeholders. It is interesting to know that more than 35,000 people worked in the construction site during the most hectic periods of the project. BIM technology offered a multidimensional information sharing process enabling all parties to examine the 3D model, realise conflicting elements, ambiguous or deficient designs, share their ideas during coordination of the model and monitor quality control processes. The

technology was applied over an area of 76.5 million square meters and made history as the largest aviation design of the world. The aesthetics The roof of the terminal building was inspired by the grand master Sinan the Architect. Natural rays radiate into the indoor area through 461 dooms on the uppermost part of the roof. 500 roof materials each of which weighed 80 tons were used during the process. Baggage handling systems Length of the conveyor is 42 kilometers, check-in points are 566, capacity of Explosive Detection Systems (EDS) is 24 and capacity of Early Baggage Storage System (EBS) is 10,800 (For the phase one). When the first phase of Istanbul airport offers services at full capacity, 48 robots within the EBS system will carry luggage into relevant shelves. Besides, 48 out of 76 carousels will be allocated for ground services personnel to pick up the luggage of departing passengers while the remaining 28 carousels will be used for the luggage of arriving passengers, (20 for narrow-body aircraft and eight for wide-body aircraft). Luggage of passengers entering through the terminal from departure floor will go down to transfer floor following check-in. They will be scanned through the X-ray device. If suspicions arise, the luggage will go down to arrival floor and may be checked by operators again. If the luggage proves to be

‘dirty’, it will be directed to the bomb detonation area. The runways Currently, there are three runways at the Istanbul airport. As the first phase is complete, two independent asphait-pavement runways with a length of 4,100 and 3,750 meters, respectively are serving at Istanbul Airport with a total width of 75 meters including a main part of 60 meters and a shoulder of 15 meters. Besides, two auxiliary runways are present next to each main runway with a length of 4,100 and 3,750 meters, respectively and with a total width of 60 meters including a main part of 45 meters and a shoulder of 15 meters. The runways of Istanbul Airport are suitable for the landing and take-off of the largest aircraft. For example, the runway with a length of 3,353 meters is sufficient for a380-800 and even the short runway of Istanbul airport. AOCC, the centre of the airport Istanbul airport hosts millions of passengers, tons of cargo and thousands of aircraft. To do this safely, the support of the state-of-the-art technology is required. The Airport Operations Control (AOCC) is an operational centre which combines cutting-edge technology and innovative vision with the existing, holistic structure to monitor operations at the Istanbul Airport 24/7 and take the required actions when necessary. The AOCC employs 120 personnel from various units

and stakeholders who monitor and coordinate –at a single centre-safety, security and emergency services as well as all key functions of the airport including air traffic control and aircraft runway traffic in addition to the entire airport resource planning. This enables terminal, airside, technical services and IT units to work in full integration. Information sharing Despite the busy nature of the airport, passengers are kept abreast of their flight information. Passengers receive information regarding their boarding gates and flights through IGA mobile application. Traffic integration continuously provides instantaneous flight information during their airport journey. Passengers also arriving at the airport receive information on their checkin counters and boarding gates through this mobile application. While waiting for the take-off of their aircraft within the airport, they use free-of-charge internet connection at the speed of 500 megabytes. It is easier to find vehicles parked at the airport by using the application ‘Where is my Car?.’ It is possible to access your car using the navigation system. All these features show Istanbul airport as one of the most technological airports across the world and acting like a silk road connecting the entire world in digital terms. Duty Free The Istanbul airport duty free is 35,000 square meters of the 53,000

square meter area located at the international departure floor where the products of over 1000 brands are exhibited for all kinds of needs for passengers. Inspired by the Bosporus, the duty free is divided into zones named after the neighbourhoods of the Bosporus such as Hog and Lux Hills with the most special brands of the world, family palace zone hosting Turkish brands, Turkish Bazaar offering traditional delicacies and products, jewellery zone housing jewellery stores as well as fashion garden and style beach. Each zone welcomes passengers with the concept-related brands offering a rich variety of products. A very wide range of products from local and foreign luxury, premium and affordable fashion brands to accessory, jewellery and watch brands, children’s wears, toys, home textile and electronic products are offered to guests. Business class Lounges The Turkish Airlines Business Lounge is open to all Star Alliance business class passengers. The lounge is open 24/7 operated. The Turkish Airlines Business Lounge is located near gate E1, which is near the center of the massive terminal of the new Istanbul Airport. Once inside the lounge, passengers will be facing a massive TV screen, showing a bunch of scenery of Istanbul, and scenes from Turkish’s recent short film. Just inside and to the left are some storage lockers. This means passengers don’t have to worry about your belongings being stolen while you roam around the lounge. Also near the entrance to the lounge are wifi kiosks. Passengers have to scan your boarding pass, and then they will get a receipt with a username and password to access the wifi. Inside the lounge and to the left is some seating, consisting mostly of white leather chairs. These seats look very similar to what they had in the lounge at the old airport, so I’m not sure if they transported them over, or if they just ordered the same ones. Just inside the entrance and to the right is a self-playing piano. The set up at the center part of the lounge is amazing. It has dining tables as well as an open kitchen concept, adding some flair to the lounge with this. Along the side of the lounge there are some more seats. There are few private conference rooms too. Then along the other side of the lounge is some seating in a darker room. This is cozy, and a nice change from the rest of the lounge. Then there was a really cute play area for kids, including an awesome plane model you could play in. Turkish Airlines is known for the spectacular food in their lounges, and this lounge is no exception. The food selection includes a mix of self-serve buffets, live cooking stations where you could custom order, and open kitchens where dishes were being prepared, and passenger could serve themself.

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Sunday 20 October 2019

Life&Living Flytime music festival: Showcasing Nigerian lifestyle, arts and culture through music IFEOMA OKEKE

usic they say is magical. It could sometimes be an escape from reality as you listen to the rhythm of songs and lyrics that ring feeling and thoughts of love, hope, joy and aspirations, as against the realities on ground. Little wonder why good music still sells. Good music transcends the limitations of economic downtown and touches the very nature of humans. Good music lives with us and that is why it is very difficult to determine the origin of music because in all probability, it is likely to have begun with singing and clapping or beating the hands on different surfaces, for which there is no of course no archaeological record. As good music continues to sell and globally, Nigeria is not left behind in this left in this exponential growth as our music continues to impact both locally and globally. In making this growth a reality, very few festivals have helped over the years to promote and support Nigerian music and one of such is the Flytime Music Festival which will be holding for the 15th years in 2019. Cecil Hammond, festival owner, president Flytime Group said a lot of people do not believe that Nigerian music will be where it is today but I believed this since 2003. “I love the music so I thought why we can’t be international. When I started, I was close to D’Banj and Don Jazzy and I did a lot with them and I saw the kind of mileage the music was getting.so I believed more and more in the music. “I do this for the love of music not for the love of money. I have lost a lot of money on many shows but I kept on going. A normal person will have given up. I just believe we need to promote our artists more and people need to believe in them. The good thing is that we have people who believe in the brand. The thing with sponsorship is that they need to see that you believe in yourself and you are consistent,” Hammond said. He assured that in five years, Nigerian music will be huge and will take over in the international stage as long as the US and UK continues to play the music the way they are supposed to play it. Speaking on how he started, he said “I use to go for small events years back and I believe it could be bigger. I have always loved Nigerian music and I have always been in the entertainment space. So, I said one day to myself that I want to bring the best of Nigerian music and the best of Nigerian comedy on stage. So I started talking to people in the industry. I spoke to artists and they all loved it” On some of the challenges he has faced putting the festival together, he said, they for every single

performance on stage. “Another big problem we have is the venue. The biggest venue we have now is Eko Convention Centre but I believe if we had somewhere bigger, it will be better for us. “If I have a bigger venue, I can charge less for ticket sales and the only reason why we sell tables is so we can meet up with the costs. Not that we want to segregate but it is because we want to pay for costs.” Flytime Promotions presents its second edition of the Flytime Music Festival, 2019. Owners of the flagship Rhythm Unplugged, decided in 2018 to create a multi-day indoor concert to allow more guests enjoy the stellar performances and amaz-

ing stagecraft. For the seventh year in a row, the concert will be held at Eko Convention Centre in Lagos, Nigeria on the 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 25th December 2019. With 15 years in the business, Nigeria’s foremost concert organizer, Flytime Promotions is set to shut down December and leave guests speechless for months. The event will kick off 20th December 2019, with Rhythm Unplugged, the longest running concert in West Africa, with the hottest Nigerian artists and upcoming acts. American rapper and songwriter; Mase and Jamaican Reggae singer, songwriter, rapper; Koffee and several other surprise acts will grace the

stage to thrill over 5,000 attendees. On 21st December 2019, there will be attendees travelling down memory lane with American R&B and hip hop vocal group, Boyz II Men. Concert goers will remember last year when RBRM with Bobby Brown and Bel Biv DeVoe shut down the stage! Boyz II Men will also be as mesmerizing, as they perform ‘End of the Road’, ‘I’ll Make Love to You’ and many more. Hammond, said “We have always been proud to launch upcoming Nigerian artists to stardom from the Flytime stage. 2019 is no different as we introduce a new concert franchise, an Alternative style night. This is the focus of Day 3”

On 22nd December 2019, there will be a showcase of Nigeria’s new unique sound with artists that are showcasing their musical freedom. The newest franchise to the Flytime Festival lineup with also star the hottest girl of the summer, American rapper, singer and songwriter; Megan Thee Stallion. From Nigeria to the World may be evidently relevant in 2019, but Flytime Promotions has been pushing that message since 2004, with powerful headliner concerts. In 2017, Flytime played host to the Wizkid the Concert and in 2018, was Olamide Live in Concert. 2019 as the celebration of 15 years, will play host to two headliner acts over two days. DAY 4’s headliner has been released! 23rd December 2019 will be “Everything Savage” with African Bad Gyal, Tiwa Savage. Concertgoers can expect a mind blowing experience as the African queen of afro-pop, takes us back in time with songs like, ‘Love Me’, ‘Kele Kele Love’ to the recent chart topper; ‘49-99’. A Christmas Day show stopper will end the festivals 2019 run. 25th December 2019 is going to be Lit! The festival’s last day will be shut down only as the evening holds one of the biggest headlining concerts Lagos has ever seen. Expect a captivating show by a yet-to-bedisclosed, world renowned, A-list Nigerian Artist, as Flytime Promotions treats guests to the biggest Christmas concert ever. 15 years in this industry isn’t an easy feat to achieve, Hammond will proudly present the “Evolution of Rhythm Unplugged“ documentary at a private screening taking place at Silverbird Cinemas on Wednesday 16 October, 2019. The one-hour film gives a rich background to the heritage and shows behind the scenes footage of what it takes to put together these shows.

Sunday 20 October 2019

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BDSUNDAY 29

Ogun Watch OGSG adopts PPP initiatives to unlock potentials in sports

Stories by Razaq Ayinla aving been relegated to second tier football league - Nigeria National League (NNL) over the years, Ogun Stateowned Gateway United Football Club, the State government now adopts public private partnership (PPP) initiatives to run the State club and all other sports. Consequently, the Ogun State Ministry of Youth and Sports on Friday organised a Stakeholders Forum on Gateway United Football Club in Abeokuta where people charted new course for football and other sports development in the state. BDSUNDAY reports the Stakeholders Forum which was held at MKO Abiola International Stadium in Abeokuta had in attendance some sports administrators, ex internationals, football managers, sports writers, private investors, among others, where several issues centred on Gateway United FC rebranding and uplift to Nigerian Professional Football League were discussed. Speaking on business aspect of sports, Lekan Olude, Special Adviser to the Governor on Job Creation and Youth Empowerment, declared that Governor Dapo Abiodun’s administration is ready to

...moves to rebrand Gateway United FC

L-R: Dapo Okubadejo, Ogun State Chief Economic Adviser; Noimot Salako-Oyedele, deputy governor; Dapo Abiodun, governor, and the Olu of Ilaro, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle at the Town Hall Meeting for Ogun West Senatorial District on the 2020 Budget held in Ilaro.

adopt PPP initiatives to drive football and entire sports development in the state as private investors are welcome to partner government on sports growth and development. While speaking against external factors and imposition of players on coaching crew which inhibits desired success expected to have been recorded in that sector, Olude noted that necessary procedural law would be enacted to break bureaucratic bottlenecks and other challenges that affect sports development. He reiterated that the administration of Governor Abiodun is passionate about sports development and would ensure revamping all sporting infrastructure

across the state and make them for even international sports festivals and all the businesses that are attached to football and sports growth and development. Also, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sport, Kolawole Fagbohun, who stated that government alone could not shoulder expenses and operations of sporting activities, however advocated for alternative sources of funding for the Gateway United Club Football and other State teams in all sports. He advised the leadership of Gateway United FC and all State teams to expand their fan base by making civil servants and other residents to key into sporting events and programme

through the purchase of souvenirs and attending matches played within and outside the state. The Chairman of the event and Proprietor, Remo Stars Football Club of Sagamu, Kunle Soname, however pledged to rehabilitate some sporting facilities, assist the club with some players and canvass for capacity development of young players. So name, who spoke in company of the people like Bukola Olapade and Afolabi Afuape, former Commissioners for Youth and Sports and Ex Super Eagles Player, Ike Shorunmu, also promised to ensure a synergy between Gateway United Football Club and other Football Clubs.

Half of my cabinet may be women - Abiodun

…To priotise roads, education for Ogun West road in 2020 Budget

gun State Gove r n o r, D a p o Ab i o d u n h a s promised that women would constitute between 40 and 50 percent of his cabinet appointments. He also promised to prioritise road construction and rehabilitation as well as education for the Ogun West Senatorial District as the 2020 budget is being prepared. Roads in the senatorial district were described as the worst in the State when the state government held a Town Hall meeting with critical stakeholders of the zone at Ilaro on Wednesday. “I want to assure you that my cabinet will have if not 50 percent of women, it will have at least 40 per cent. You voted for me to give you good governance and we will ensure that it cut across the nook and

crannies of the state. “We will ensure we give over 100,000 women loan without interest,” he said he said at a town hall. The governor promised that the era of non-implementation of budget estimate was over, saying that he would ensure proper implementation of the 2020 budget when passed into law. Abiodun also said that Ogun State Government was taking full advantage of its strategic geographical location and as the industrial hub of the nation to improve its socio-economic development and create wealth for the people. He described Ogun West as the engine room of the State. “We are taking maximum advantage of our geographical location as the largest economy in Africa and a window into the West Africa corridor.

“It is self evident truth that without the Ogun West Senatorial District, we cannot be Gateway State. I therefore consider this District a priority, not only because you are the engine room of the State, but the people are our priceless jewels.” The governor noted that the people of the zone have been in the forefront of the socio-economic development of the state with its status as the industrial hub, with increase in the number of industrial establishment and level of commercial activities. He said hosting the meeting will strengthen the partnership of government with the people, as a way of having good input into the budget. “We have come to learn how to ensure strategic allocation of our Commonwealth to cover proj-

ects and programmes that would have most meaningful impact on the people. “We will take copious note of all your comments, recommendations, proposals and these will be taken as an important factor in the preparation process of the State Budget,” he added. The general consensus of the people of the District at the town hall meeting was that the area has been neglected. The meeting had in attendance traditional rulers, elders and tradesmen, artisans and party stalwarts. Stakeholders had demanded that road rehabilitation be made the topmost priority for them. The leaders took turns to lament the deplorable state of intra-city roads as well as those leading to villages, farmlands, and industrial hubs in the five local government areas of the zone.

Ogun moves to take over moribund FG-owned Oyan dam for power generation, irrigation

s part of effort to unlock potentials offered by moribund Federal Government-owned Oyan Dam in terms of power generation, water production and agricultural purpose via irrigation system, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state has signified State government’s intention to take over the dam. Oyan Dam, which is located in Odeda local government area of Ogun state, was constructed by President Shehu Shagari-led Federal Government in 1983 for irrigation and power generation within some Southwest states, but was never officially handed over and operational before 1983 Coup D’etat staged by Buhari-Idiagbon Military Regime that toppled and abruptly ended the Second Republic. But speaking on the proposal to take over the Dam from the Federal Government at the third round of Ogun State 2020 Budget Town Hall Meeting for the people of Ogun Central Senatorial District held in Abeokuta on Friday, Governor Dapo Abiodun noted that the Dam could be better used to create wealth, boost economy, agriculture and generate employment opportunities through power generation and irrigation. “Oyan Dam is a Federal Government Project and we have been engaging Federal Government on how to take over that Dam, that Dam is meant to generate a 9 Megawatt of electricity in this corridor. That Dam has not been functional. It was never commissioned we are trying to see how the Federal Government can transfer that Dam to us so that we can use it and contribute that 9 Megawatt into our electricity”, he said. Speaking on what the government’s plan on drinkable water, electricity and farm irrigation, Governor Abiodun said that two new agencies would be created in that regard, adding that “a Bureau of Water Supply will soon be created. Also on the pipeline is Energy and Electricity Board.” “These two new parastatals will be created to tackle the problem of water and power supply in the State. The two agencies will be headed by people with track record in those fields”, he added. On the rationale behind the establishment of the two agencies, Governor Abiodun noted that it was imperative to have adequate power and water supply to power

the new towns and the proposed industrial parks in the three Senatorial Districts of the State, as industrialisation would not be achieved without the availability of these basic amenities. “We are creating a Bureau of Water Supply on it own so that water supply can get the attention it requires. We are also creating the Energy and the Electricity Board because we cannot be planning to be a sustainable state or city if we do have adequate power and water. I can assure you that these new agencies would be headed by those who have the track record in these areas. In the area of electricity, we are currently conducting power audit across the State to intervention in all the new towns. We are also creating industrial parks in the three Senatorial Districts and they will have power, water and good drainages,” he said. The governor observed that judging from the people’s request from the three Senatorial Districts; good road network was the consensus, adding that government was currently experimenting on a novel technology to construct rural roads in the State. Governor Abiodun, who lauded the people for the sincere contributions and observations, said the positive feedback from the people of Ogun East and West Senatorial Districts was an indication that there was no better way to encourage participatory democracy than the civil engagement of the people. The Governor noted that people’s involvement on how their Commonwealth should be use, has validated his position that participation strengthens democracy and inclusiveness which in turn deepens democracy. He observed that the avalanche of goodwill, informative and productive ideas could not be anything, but a sure way towards a realistic people’s oriented budgeting process. “Coming from these experiences, one cannot but be assured and without any doubt that today’s meeting will be the icing on the cake,” he said. Earlier, the Consultant to the Governor on Budget and Planning, Olaolu Olabintan, said since good government entails prudent management of scarce resources, government would utilise every available resources for the benefit of the people, calling on the people to make meaningful contributions to the budget.

30 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 20 October 2019

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I never planned falling in love with Mercy – Ike

ke Onyema has become a household name by virtue of being a housemate at Big Brother Naija reality show that just ended few weeks

ago. Ike, in fact, became more popular especially as he became an item with his love interest, Mercy, who also won the show. However, even as their love is waxing stronger, Ike told Bliss recently that he never planned falling in love with any housemate let alone Mercy. “I never knew I was going to get into any form of relationship when I was getting into the house. I didn’t plan it at all. But the connection with her was just too strong for me to fight it,” he said in a chat with Bliss. And inasmuch as Ike didn’t become the eventual winner of the show, he said he was glad his lover won the prize money. “I only came for the money but Mercy came for the money as well and won. So since I didn’t win, I am so happy that Mercy won it, I am definitely happy.” Mercy, in series of interviews recently, has said being a millionaire will not affect their relationship as she is so much in love with Ike. Ike, concurring what Mercy said, also feels that the prize money of N30m and other perks that came with being the winner, will not affect their relationship. “I think we are still taking it (our relationship) slow. But I would say that anything is possible right now. I think the money

she won would affect it positively. There is no negative influence.” Ike also said no matter how the game eventually ended, he was glad he was a part of the show and there was no regret at all. “My stay in the house was well worth it, I don’t regret it one bit.” Now that the reality show has ended, Ike said it will not be the end of him as he is all set to explore new terrain and wax stronger in the entertainment circle.

“And now that the show has ended, I would definitely get into modeling and acting. I have already started doing stuff on that. I want to spread out and put my hands on everything.” One thing Ike has yet to lose is his accent. He talks as if he has spent all his life in the US and he said he has got used to the way he speaks. “I don’t know when I would lose this accent. I know I am going to be in Nigeria for a long time. This is the way I talk; I don’t even know what to say to that.”

Fans congratulate Funke Adesiyan on recent appointment

ctress Funke Adesiyan is among the celebrities that are trending at the moment as she has been announced as one of the aides of the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari. Though the actress has yet to say anything on social media concerning her recent appointment, so many fans and friends have besieged her Instagram account to congratulate her over her recent appointment. Funke, was announced to be the Personal Assistant to the first lady on domestic and social events and she is expected to resume duties immediately at the office of the First Lady, which became effective after the return of Aisha Buhari from London. One of her fans with the handle, @is_mutiu said, “Congratulations on your appointment, you’re really worth it”, while @abayomisaad also sad, “Funke, congratulations on your well deserved appointment as personal assistant to the first lady off the fede4ral republic of Nigeria.” Funke, who is also not a rookie in the politics scene, joined the political terrain when she emerged as the southwest

coordinator for Mallam Shekarau’s presidential campaign in 2011. She was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party where she contested for a seat at the Oyo State House of Assembly until 2018 when she defected to the APC.

2baba to shut down Lagos with 20YearsAking Concert in December

ultiple award winning veteran singer, Innocent Idibia, popularly known as 2baba, has clocked two decades in the music industry and he is not ready to let this milestone slide without staging a huge concert.

As such, according to the singer, Lagos will be bubbling in royal excitement come December as the legendary music icon will be staging his concert tagged ‘20years A King’ on the 28th of December, 2019, at Eko Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

The concert is a celebration of 2baba’s 20 years in the Nigerian music industry since the release of classic hit ‘knock me off’ as a member of the now-defunct Plantashun Boiz in 1999. 2baba who has been praised by fans and critics for his consistency over the years revealed the night will be one to remember as he is fully prepped to make the Lagos concert a lot bigger than previous live shows. The music star announced the Lagos concert on his social media pages, he said, “December 28! Lagos, are you ready? Make it a date with me. It’s going to be a December like no other”. Since the announcement of the show, fans and music lovers have dominated the comment section expressing excitement and anticipation. The concert will witness oneof-a-kind performance as 2baba is set to take fans down memory lane; performing songs from the early stage of his career till date. Organisers have also said 20years A King Concert will feature performances from other big shots in the Nigerian music scene.

Afrogourmands titillates Lagos

here was excitement in among chefs and those in culinary business in Lagos recently when the European Commission in partnership with the French Dairy Interbranch Organisation (CNIEL) hosted cooks and professionals to the first edition of Afrogourmands in Lagos state. The event was aimed at promoting the diversity and excellent quality of the European dairy products – milk, butter, cream and cheese - used in the African cuisine. Speaking at the event held in Lagos, Laurent Damiens from CNIEL said, “The purpose of the campaign is not to displace the use of local produce, rather it is to show the culinary possibilities that can be achieved with a fusion of local and international produce. In 2018, over 248 tons of French cheeses and 178 tons of milk and dairy beverages were exported to Nigeria.” During the workshop proper, Pierre Gay, Best Cheesemonger

in France Meilleur Ouvrier de France Fromager), held so many people spell bound with his incredible knowledge of cheese, milk, butter, and cream as well as their origins, manufacturing techniques and uses. Likewise, Cameroonian Chef, Christian Abegan, also showcased how cheese could be incorporated into one of Nigeria’s staple food, ofada rice, to the astonishment of most guests. He said, during his presentation, “Incorporating European dairy products in local cuisine will improve and upgrade the African food culture. It will also increase the demand and interest in African cuisine.” The organisers noted that through “AfroGourmands,” the continent’s chefs and Africans in general would be able to discover the various European dairy products available for use in African cuisine, as more preparation methods, tips and tableware would be shared on its social media platforms regularly.

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BDSUNDAY 31

Consumer Watch Prince Ebeano Supermarket marks 10th anniversary with jumbo sales promotion

Chidinma Omar, Abuja rince Ebeano Superm a r k e t , Ni g e r i a ’s foremost indigenous one-stop neighbourhood supermarket is ten years old and it is rolling out the drums to celebrate its success story and customers who had kept faith with her through the years. The week long celebrations kick off Monday, October 21 in all its eight outlets and end with a Super Jumbo Sales Promotion on Saturday, October 26, 2019 On the reason for the ‘Super Jumbo Sales Promotion’, Chidi Kossi, manager at the Lokogoma, Abuja outlet of the supermarket chain, said: “We are marking down our prices in a massive discount. During the week long celebrations, we will be offering the largest discounts nobody, I repeat, nobody, can beat.’’ Prince Ebeano Supermarket, from one outlet, has grown to eight outlets in Lagos and Abuja with more on the drawing board. The company presently boasts of outlets in Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase I; Chevron Drive, LekkiAjah; Oniru, Lekki; and Ikota Shopping Complex, Ajah Others are in Isheri Magodo; Gbagada; Isaac John, Ikeja GRA and Lokogoma, Abuja. More are on the drawing board. Kossi further said that the celebrations were indeed dedicated to customers and the first item on the programme is ‘Customer Appreciation’ where “we would celebrate customers who have stayed with us rain or shine. We will dig into our records and identify these customers who made us what we are today. We will fete them, fuss over them and say ‘Thank you! Keep standing with us, we complement each other. Of course, we would put a smile on their faces. Like all successful brands focusing on customer satisfaction, Kossi traced Prince Ebeano Supermarket’s fast-paced growth to customers. ‘’Those who were happy shopping here told their friends and neighbours, and it spread like that. “One satisfied customer to another spreading the good news,’’ he noted. For making customers happy, the Prince Ebeano brand has become the place to shop - It is a fulfilling prophecy of the name ‘Ebeano’, meaning ‘the place to be’ “Yes, we are ten this year, and we owe it all to customers. No matter what we have done to make Prince Ebeano Supermarket the best in town, if the customers never came, we would not be here today. So, this tenth year anniversary celebration is dedicated to our customers. We want to say big ‘Thank you’ to them,’’ Kossi said. From a humble beginning, first as a provision store in a market, in Isolo, Prince Ebeano Supermarket

…Tells ‘from grass to grace’ story

has continued to walk towards its vision, which is ‘’...to become the most preferred retail chain store in Nigeria and West Africa as we establish more one-stop retail stores to meet the daily needs of the customer with quality products in a friendly, courteous and professional environment.’’ The Supermarket’s unique offering includes the Village Market where customers can get fresh farm produce, and seasoned seafood like crayfish, stockfish, dried fish, and food items like palm oil, garri, local seasoning, plus other ingredients to make that special soup like white soup or afang or kpegiri. The section has become irresistible to shoppers who appreciate the one-stop shopping for all their needs. “Customer is always King at Prince Ebeano Supermarket and for us, going the extra mile to provide a variety of quality products and services to meet their daily needs stands next to nothing’’, Kossi further explained. “Of course, we agree with Steve Ballmer that ‘.... unless we’re in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There’s no substitute for being in touch’’’ From their rave reviews and comments on the company’s social media arms, it is obvious customers derive pleasure from Prince Ebeano Supermarket’s excellent customer service and its clever mix of goods where they can get practically everything from food and grocery; butchery and bakery; fresh fruits and vegetables; wines and spirit; cosmetics, books, electronics, to

fresh vegetable, fresh tomatoes, palm oil under one roof. Such loyal customers who keep coming back are often surprised with loyalty cards with fantastic discount sales promo thrown in every now and then. At ten, Prince Ebeano Supermarket has every reason to celebrate even as it continues to innovate and to live up to its claims of offering the widest variety of quality products and services at unbeatable prices and discount. Indeed, its dream of becoming a continental supermarket brand is becoming a reality sooner than projected. “We are Nigeria’s foremost indigenous supermarket with one-stop neighbourhood stores catering to the daily needs of a wide range of clientele’’, Prince Ebeano Supermarket company proclaims in the ‘Who We Are’ column on its website. The road to that claim reads like the mustard seed story, smallest of all seeds, becoming the largest of all garden plants: At ten, Prince Ebeano Supermarket can justifiably lay claim to Nigeria’s foremost indigenous supermarket brand. Its story is one of passion for excellence wedded to integrity, vision, hard work and focus on customer satisfaction. The supermarket chain’s narrative is that of two heads better than one and harvesting a good reward for their labour. Like all successful brands focusing on customer satisfaction, Prince Ebeano’s fast-paced growth has been enhanced by appreciative words from one satisfied customer to another spreading the good news. For making customers happy,

the Prince Ebeano brand has become the place to shop - It is a fulfilling prophecy of the name Ebeano, meaning ‘the place to be’ The root to its humble foundation was laid in 1991, when Sunday Egede, (Prince), established a provision store in a market, in Isolo. From here, he expanded fast, establishing first, De Prince Supermarket in Gbagada and another in Magodo, two high net worth locations. He was driven by hard work, innovation and prudence. Then came David Ojei, an Accountancy graduate, who desired the creativity, hard work and rewards of an entrepreneur. He apprenticed himself to Egede, his uncle and on completion, went on to set up a provision store in Shomolu, Lagos State. He later scaled up, setting up The Ebeano in Ikota Shopping Complex, VGC. He was thirsty to conquer fresh grounds and his quest led him to a vision of a goldfield of wealth and opportunities in Nigeria’s food and grocery sector. To exploit these opportunities, he went into partnership with his Uncle, Egede and in 2009, Prince Ebeano Supermarket - a one-stop shop model - to exploit these opportunities was born. From one, it now has eight outlets in Lagos and Abuja and more on the drawing board. There are Prince Ebeano Supermarkets in Admiralty Way, Opportunities may abound, but it demands superlative entrepreneurial vision and skill to build any business from scratch to a fast growing on-going concern. What is therefore, the recipe for Prince Ebeano success story?

First, their ceaseless search for innovation in their business. The founding fathers were guided by Peter Drucker’s apt words ‘Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship; the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.’ Ojei said: “My mind was constantly occupied with finding answers to how to acquire customer loyalty and keep them coming back.” Two is customer satisfaction. ‘’Customer is always King at Prince Ebeano Supermarket and for us, going the extra mile to provide a variety of quality products and services to meet their daily needs stands next to nothing’’. This approach concurs with Steve Ballmer who said: ‘’But unless we’re in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There’s no substitute for innovation, of course; but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either.’’ Indeed, Ojei, having found his answers, did put them to work. Thus, customers derive pleasure from Prince Ebeano Supermarket’s excellent customer service and its clever mix of goods where they can get everything from cosmetics, canned foods, books, electronics, wine to fresh vegetable, fresh tomatoes, palm oil. Such loyal customers who keep coming back are often surprised with loyalty cards with fantastic discount sales promo thrown in every now and then. What else makes the Prince Ebeano Supermarket chain stand out? “Integrity”, says Egede. ‘’Integrity, sound moral and ethical principles are important to me at all times’’, he noted. Ojei added that they also found strength in 24/7 excellence. ‘’Indeed, 24/7 excellence is non-negotiable’’, he stressed. There is yet another, Corporate Social Responsibility. Here Prince Ebeano Supermarket stands tall like a colossus. It is constantly giving back to communities in need, including those where it does business, amounting to several millions of naira. The company has received awards and commendations from an appreciative public and business establishments including an ‘Award of Recognition’ from Friesland Wamco Nigeria Plc; ‘Distributor Award’ from Nestle Nigeria Plc and ‘2018 Merchant Award’, as the most compliant in cashless policy as at June 7, 2018, from Intermarc Consulting Limited; And from P&G, it received the ‘Best in Class on P&G SKU Distribution in Abuja, FY18/19’ The Ewuru Elites Group, Hayat Kimya Nigeria Limited and Development Africa has respectively gifted the company a ‘Gold Award of Appreciation’; while from the Industrial Training Fund, it has received a ‘Special Merit Award.’ At ten, Prince Ebeano Supermarket has every reason to celebrate. Beyond profit making, the supermarket chain is also a big investor in human resources development. The company currently employs several Nigeria youths, while others are being trained on scholarships offered by the directors.

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Sunday 20 October 2019

TheWorshippers

‘If we allow the word of God, it will go a long way in building the church’ The General Overseer of Christ Apostolic Church, Power of God Saves, Pastor Moses Olagunju speaks on the ministerial challenges and lesson learnt in pastoral work as the church celebrates 30 years of changing lives and presenting Christ to the world. Excerpts by SEYI JOHN SALAU:

Can you share your experience for these 30 years? e thank God for those who were hopeless but got hope. We thank God for those who could not do something good with their lives had God’s intervention and their lives change. I thank God for what he has done for 30 years and the rest of our lives; he will do greater things in the coming years ahead. We must not remember the things that got spoilt and the things that make our heart sad. When there is life, there is hope. The ministers that has left the ministry should be over 200 plus and those left behind are over 500 ministers. Could you share with us lessons learnt during these years? I have learnt that ministry and the church of God is not business, if you think you want to make money, then you can go astray. There are people who come to church, but are not born again. Though, they may bring in their money but will slide back into the world because they have not given their lives to Jesus. Some will be in church and will do nothing while some will be seeking the downfall of the church but by the grace of God, wherever there is the word of God, there is power. If we allow the word of God, it will go a long way in building the church. Men of God should see to the building the church and not focus on monetary gain. We started small and we have grown big. There is joy in Christ more than anything. If you have children of God, you will have rest of mind but if you have nominal memberswhoevencontribute to the work of God, when they know the truth, the work of God will become easier. All the churches we have give us peace of mind. So, how does it feel celebrating

30th anniversary as the general overseer of the ministry? I give God the glory and we thank God. Some people started for one year or two and died but if God can spare one’s life for these 30 years, then it calls for thanksgiving. That the church did not scatter, we found mercy, and it is not by power nor by might. To God be the glory. How did the ministry start? We started from a Room and Palour, and we were just 18. Nine people can be sent an errand and the rest were children and since the night we started, God has proved himself mighty in our midst. The people then sat on 17 blocks, am not sure we have three left as the Holy Spirit took control. With the fact that we started in a room and parlour, people were sitting outside. It really surprised me. My thought initially was that when we started, I will go and work in Port because our landlord then was working in Port. My thinking was to follow him to Port in the morning while in the night, we embark on revival programme. I saw God’s hands. There was no money but God’s power was there. Some people who came in and complain that the prayer was too much; they met themselves on the altar. The power of God in me gave me so much joy. When did you hear the call of God? I had the call of God upon my life in 1984-1985. I gave my life to Jesus, December 21st, 1984 and was a church member until 1986 January, when I started the work of God. I was wondering that even when I accepted Christ, the whole family rejected me, what if I now become a pastor then hell will be let loose. But with God and because Christianity in those days was backed by Holy Ghost fire baptism so much so that

Moses Olagunju

when one gets to the church you will know you have received something from God. You will ask for the Holy Spirit baptism, followed by the word of God through the Sunday school service, then the sermon that will teach one how to be independent in God, knowing God fully, and not prosperity messages that have flooded the church today and these really established us in those days. Do you ever think of going back to your first love? I never heard anything to regret. There was no money but there was power. Some people who feel prayer is too much and they came to our church and went down on their knee to pray. God at a point asked me whether I was pastoral or deliverance ministers. God told

me that if I want deliverance, he will give me but I will not live long but I told God that I want to start a church and he told me that he will reduce the power of God upon my life. I went to OPM bible school. There are two type of Bible School. I went to a bible school under a prophet. Some people went to a conventional Theology Bible School but full time is what is good. If you had not answered the call of God for ministry; what else would you have been doing? I would have gone into agriculture full scale. That was what I wanted to go and study in the higher institution. The little secondary school knowledge I gathered in agriculture, if I touch a soil, I know what the soil can give in returns. I

learnt about different kinds of soil and their potentials in Farming. I also love livestock farming. There is no book I will read in life, I will not jettison farming. What should the congregation and participants expect in the next one week of the celebration? We will be having revered men of God like the president of the Christ Apostolic Church, pastor Akiosun, the general superintendent of CAC, the General Evangelist of CAC, the former general evangelist of CAC, Pastor Samuel Abiara, ace gospel musician, evangelist Bola Are, among others. The celebration will start on the 21st to 27th of October, and there will be free health care programme, pep talk. God told me that after 30 years in our ministry, he will fight for us and take over the work. Things will be hard in Nigeria but there will be respite soon. Finally, our readers would want to know about your background? I started out as a vulcanizer early in life. I learnt it from my brother. Although, the profession I learnt early in life was driving. I learn driving after I left Primary school. While driving, God told me that I should not do personal work, though, I was a Muslim then. I wanted to go to school but finance was my challenge. I was still learning driving as an apprentice. One day, I was with my boss and we were going to Coca-cola in Ilorin in Kwara State and I told him that I want to go and ease myself. As soon as I finish easing myself, the vehicle conveying us to Coca-cola had gone and I had to trace the vehicle. On my way, I met a prophet who told me that if I continue my work as a driver this year, I don’t know you but go back to the first love. I went to secondary school and there, I gave my life to Jesus and afterward I heard the call of God upon my life.

Lagos to experience renewed revival, as PFN brings divine liberation to Ikeja SEYI JOHN SALAU

ollowing the high prevalence of social ills in the country, the Ikeja province of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) is bringing divine liberation to the populace, especially Lagosians. Themed, ‘Divine Liberation,’ the crusade captures the collective expectation of Christian faithful in Lagos as to what God is going to do during the event which will be held at the Police College ground, GRA, Ikeja , starting from Friday 15 to Sunday, 17 November. “We are all aware of the state of affairs, not only in our country but all over the world. There is preponderance of evil in the land and this has given rise to untold insecurity, starvation, misery and hopelessness. But God, in his infinite love

and mercy is not only able but willing to deliver those who look up to him,” Tope Ilesanmi, chairman of PFN, Ikeja province, said. According to Ilesanmi, the cru-

sade will provide a rare platform for the demonstration of God’s love and power. “People are going to be set free from the power of sin, healed of sicknesses and dis-

L-R:Godspower Okoboba, publicity director, PFN Ikeja province; Patrick Anidi, the general secretary, PFN Ikeja central; Babatope Ilesanmi, chairman, PFN Ikeja province; Steve Obidi, head, media committee of the crusade and represents Deeper Life Bible Church in PFN Ikeja; and Bisi Olaoye, chairman, Alausa chapter of PFN, at the PFN divine liberation crusade press conference held in Ikeja.

eases and delivered from satanic bondage,” Ilesanmi said. In being sensitive to the happening in the society and Lagos in particular, the PFN is taking the crusade beyond the spiritual by introducing other beneficial side attractions like free medical check and treatment for participants. The group therefore announced that on Thursday, 14 November, a day before the commencement of the crusade, there is going to be free medical care from 9am till evening. According to the crusade organisers, some medical professionals have volunteered to attend to people who may want to take advantage of the programme to carry out some medical check-up and receive some treatment free of charge. Furthermore, participants at the crusade will also enjoy some welfare packages that have been worked into the programme, such

provisions like special welfare for widows and distribution of some clothing items for participants that indicate interest in receiving welfare packages by registering before the crusade proper. Ilesanmi opined that the crusade has a parade of outstanding men of God who are going to minister under great anointing of the spirit of God to cause remarkable transformations in the state. According to the PFN chair, the general superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC), William F. Kumuyi, Apostle Alexander Bamigbola, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) will minister at the crusade. “We are trusting that this crusade will usher in a significant healing of our land. Seasoned gospel artistes are also coming to minister and inspire the people with songs,” Ilesanmi said.

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BDSUNDAY 33

TheWorshippers Inspiration Experience is not always the best teacher...God is! With Rev. Yomi Kasali

info@yomikasali.com

am an avid fan of proverbs and adages but also a thinker and student of life so I implore you to give me your undivided attention for the next 5 minutes as you read through this piece with an open heart. I have learnt many things from God that I did not have to experience in life and ran into some scriptures that have molded my philosophy of life and ministry. One of the scriptures I love is found in Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians and it’s about how the church learnt Christ, ‘But ye have not

so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus (Eph. 4 v 20-21). The word I love in the passage is, ‘YOU HAVE NOT SO LEARNT CHRIST’, so it gives me pleasure to reveal many other ways we can learn outside Experience so that we may be wiser. In fact, I love to say that ‘wise men learn from other people’s mistakes and errors and only fools learn from theirs by making the same mistakes.’ I do not believe a lady has to Experience Sex before marriage to learn about how terrible men are. I do not believe it’s great to have or Experience a broken marriage to know how to teach people on what to do to avoid a Broken Marriage. I do not just think it’s wise to Go to Hell and come back (impossible) so that you can come and write books on how to avoid going to Hell; the Bible tells us what to do. Let me Inspire you today on 4 Ways to Learn and be taught in life and I will also share my opinion on the Best Teacher of all the 4 Ways. 4 S I M P L E WAY S T O LEARN IN LIFE BE TAUGHT BY SOMEONE: This is probably the most common and popular

Jehovah’s Witnesses Convention highlights how love can triumph over adversity Isaac Anyaogu

he much-anticipated series of “Love Never Fails” 2019 Regional Conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses continued during the past 2 weekends at Badagry, Ota, Lekki and Daluwon. The program featured a Dramatic Bible reading, the sixth in a series of talks, interviews, video dramas, demonstrations and musicals that make up the 3-day program. The audio drama,based on Genesis 37:1-36;39:1-47:12, was presented by Kenneth Cook JR, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It highlighted the story of the Biblical character Joseph, who was unjustly treated by his brothers, presumed dead by his father, sold as a slave to Potiphar, accused of attempted rape by his master’s wife, and forgotten by his former

prison inmate. But he remained positive, didn’t become bitter and was in the right mental and spiritual frame of mind to accept God’s next purpose for him. He became the second most-powerful ruler in Egypt and used by God to preserve the lineage of his family leading to the Messiah. Cook concluded that while Christians may not be able to control the situations they face they can control their reactions and attitudes. The drama was followed by a discourse by Akinwunmi Akinyera: “Jehovah Loves Those Who Love His Son”. Mr. Akinyera reminded the delegates that showing love for Jesus can be done in three basic ways: 1) preaching and teaching people about Jehovah and Jesus. 2) Doing God’s will and conforming to his standards. 3) Loving their Christian brothers despite differences in race, colour, status and language.

way of learning. We learnt how to walk by being taught, we learnt our alphabets in school (formally) when our teachers taught us, we learnt many things like how to greet and so on at home (informally) when our parents and siblings taught us. This is the most common way today; we learn a lot by being Taught by Teachers. So, I celebrate Parents and Teachers today for teaching us things informally and formally. BY EXPERIENCE: There are some things that our

parents and teachers did not teach us but we learnt by ourselves through Experience. Sometimes, we may have been taught these things but we did not believe them until we had to experience it ourselves. For instance, I remembered my parents taught me not to steal but I had to steal while in Boarding house and it took me experiencing different strokes of the cane and days on the field cutting grasses to know that stealing is bad. It was a nasty Ex-

perience and I immediately knew there was something wrong with stealing. Experience indeed can be a nasty teacher but not the best in my opinion. BY STUDYING PEOPLE AND OBSERVING CONDUCTS: This is another way of learning and those who are deeply reflective and intelligent have used this method to their advantage. I also prefer this method because I’ve had to add to my knowledge bank through observation of people, Politics, Power,

animals, conducts, etc. Solomon the wisest man on earth learnt like this and wrote most of his wise proverbs through this way, ‘And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl…’ (1 Kings 4 v 32-33). LEARNING FROM GOD: God is the Best Teacher any day and anytime. The Holy Spirit is introduced to us in scriptures as our Teacher and Helper, many believers do not consult Him in times of trials and troubles, we trust Men more than God in my humble opinion. In fact, I believe some secular preachers have portrayed God as an Old Man who is not techy and up to date with Situations of men on earth, hence they have taught people to use their ‘wisdom’ and ‘brains’ when it comes to some issues with the exact words “take God out of it.” God is All knowing and is the Ancient Of Days that knows about All Days including Today. He is not Archaic but Ancient. I pray you have been Inspired today by this article and will change your position about learning. Drop me a note of acknowledgment and encouragement. Be Inspired!

‘Bigger than size’ album is to preach Christ and depopulate hell, says Umeh

ony Umeh, the CEO of Honesty Music Entertainment, has announced the release of its new album tagged: ‘Bigger Than Size’ by Abraham Akatu, saying the album is to preach Christ and depopulate hell. He stated this at a press conference held recently at Honesty Music Entertainment Studio in Akonwonjo, Lagos. According to Umeh, the 15 tracks album is filled with messages of Christ love, hope, grace, and the possibilities of saving the most wretched sinners and de-

populating hell. “We want to refocus Gospel artistes and produce brand of high quality gospel music that truly represent Christianity. We also want to bring the Glory to God through gospel music and take the music to all levels for human race,” he said. Umeh, who had marketed A lists gospel brands like Frank Edwards, Nathaniel Bassey, Eben, Samsong, and Mercy Chinwo, said: “l have seen what God can do through divinely inspired songs as those songs touch the souls of men and turn their heart to God”. Abraham Akatu is a Lin-

guistic graduate from Benue State University and hails from the Idoma speaking part of Benue State. According to him, he gave his life to Jesus at age 14; stating that the practical reality of how God could save a sinner was real, adding that that was a turning point in his life. On how he was inspired to write the songs, Akatu said: “We don’t write or buy songs; God single-handedly is the source of our inspiration. The songs came almost too frequently. I record two to three songs on my phone every day.” According to him, his

focus is to worship God and turn men’s heart to him and not to entertain people. “We are moved by the hand of God to touch the world,” he said. Akatu posited that the vision of the album is to fulfil the instruction God gave the disciples in the scripture, which is to preach the gospel starting from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and unto the uppermost part of the world. “This album will get to the world and be a blessing, not just a tool for popularity of the artiste but as a message of the gospel to the whole world,” he said.

Regular fitness can tame depression, says Cleric

iyi Eboda, the senior pastor of CEDARS House of Grace, has urged Christian faithful to consider regular fitness exercises, affirming that it has the capacity to tame depression and other emotional, as well as physical conditions. Eboda stated this at a fitness event organised recently by the church in Lagos. The 6 Kilometers fitness walk tagged, ‘FIT4LIFE’ gathered hundreds of people from Lagos, Ibadan and

other parts of the country. According to Eboda , emotional fitness is a consequence of physical and spiritual well-being. “When your mind is stayed on God’s word, you have peace and you are stable, no matter the challenges life throws at you,” he said. He noted that bodily exercise carries some profits and it helps us in staying fit for life’s opportunities, adding that although opportunities always come, they are never static; they are always

in transit. Eboda opined that the fitness walk is about helping people stay fit, knowing full well that though one is ageing, one can slow down the ageing process by staying fit. He therefore stressed that staying fit emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally come through regular fitness exercises. “This will also make us be in our best shape for life,” he said. He posited that FIT4LIFE was coined from the idea of one staying fit for one’s

entire life. “Having time to exercise is imperative because if you don’t take time to rest, you will be forced to rest.” Eboda further charged the federal government to put in place infrastructure that would aid and support regular fitness in Nigeria. Fliers, air fresheners for cars, water bottles and energyboosting drinks were distributed freely during the exercise. There were also aerobics sessions for the participants.

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Sunday 20 October 2019

BrandsOnSunday SPOTLIGHTING BRAND VALUE

Many books on brands have case-studies about companies that are not Nigerian –Okuhu Ikem Okuhu is a journalist with bias towards brands and marketing reportage. He has also worked at ExxonMobil, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Ecobank Nigeria where he headed the external relations unit. He later resigned to run his company, Reliks Media Limited. In this interview, he discussed a number of marketing issues and gave reasons for publishing a book on marketing and brands. Excerpts There is information that you are publishing a book, could tell us more about it? hat is true and the formal public presentation will be held on November 26. The book will be my first, although I have made some contributions in some books and journals in the past.

begin to read the giant strides of companies in Nigeria in books, same way we have been reading about Apple, HP, General Motors, General Electric, Samsung, Virgin Atlantic, IBM and so many others. So this book, apart from addressing some issues long held sacred, also seeks to infuse what I may call the “Nigerian Content” in the body of marketing literature.

The Title: Pitch: Debunking Marketing’s Strongest Myths, What informed the choice of title What I tried to do with this effort was examine certain strongly held views and trends in the wider marketing world in the context of their relevance and impact in the realities of everyday effort to facilitate exchange. A number of these views and trends have been with us for years. Some just became the rule as a result of practice and because they have been left unchallenged, certain levels of myths shrouded them, making people to consider them “no-go” areas. But I took a look at them and thought there are no longer the needs to sustain these myths for the overall good of the market. The title was chosen, therefore, in reflection of the central goal we set out to achieve, which was to straighten a few things and perceptions about the business of advertising, public relations and management of the sales process.

Ikem Okuhu

What does this book and its contents seek to address? I found certain gaps in the industry. There are no indigenous books in the subject. The ones we have are mainly academic books put together by lecturers and sold to students, most of which are not even as original as they should be. In my journey in the industry, I have read a lot of books on brands and marketing and I always found some sort of dissonance in most of the case studies and examples

used to drive home points by these authors. These case studies and examples are always about companies and individuals that are not Nigerians. I therefore wondered why we shouldn’t have well-written books that discuss brands and marketing with Nigerian examples and cases? This, in my view, will facilitate uptake because these brands and projects and individuals are people we see every day. I was convinced it wouldn’t be a bad idea if we

Have we really tapped into the potentials of what marketing communications can do for the country when you look at it from image and brand-building benefits? This is a very important question. I am one of those that believe that Nigeria has not even scratched the surface in terms of deploying professional marketers in managing the country’s image. The closest we came was during the era of the late Dora Akunyili as Minister of Information. Nigeria has been paying lip-service to the country’s image management and that is why most of the time, you find a disconnect between what the country’s leaders are saying with what our overall national interests and needs should be. It was in reaction to this challenge that I devoted an entire chapter to address the issue of nation branding in the book. The chapter is titles, “Every Nation is not a Brand,” and there I used the examples of India,

South Africa and Rwanda to demonstrate how nation-branding works. But we cannot achieve this in a regime where political leaders make deliberate efforts to avoid professionals. Do you know that since this government came into power in 2015, the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) has not had a proper Council constituted? Do you know that the Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, has not met with APCON for once? I am sure the situation is the same with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria. This is not how others who wish to positively impact the world and its citizens with strong country-brand proposition works. What message do you want readers to take from this book which is about to be launched? There are a few messages that I wish to pass across but they are all subsumed in one central message, which is that the book is all about the need to put the Nigerian story forward. Besides trying to argue against certain norms in the marketplace, I am also trying to push the strengths and values of the Nigerian story and wit this book, I am working to send a message that books capable of making global headlines could come from this part of the world.

Innovative Nigerian children beg Ogbonnaya Onu to further their dreams Daniel Obi

nthony Lawrence is a 14-year old boy from Um u o k p a r a D i b i a , Okohia, Isiala Mbano Local Government area of Imo State. From his restless drive and instinct, he constructed a functioning prototype police patrol van employing electronic components salvaged from waste bin, carton boxes and glue. “Manufacturing of the van started in my dream. I saw the construction of the van in my dream and when I woke up, I started assembling the materials for the same car. “I will go the dustbin and pick necessary materials. I will ask my dad for money to buy other things. This is how I made the van. I control the van to move front and back with remote made by me”. “I am begging any individual or government to assist me to take

my dream further” Anthony Lawrence whose van has siren and other functions of police van said. His ingenuity moved Prima Dufil Foods, maker of Indomie to reward him with N1m in the Intellectual bravery category of the company’s 2019 CSR Indomie Independence Day Awards (IIDA) initiative. In Nigeria, there are many others like the young soft-spoken Anthony Lawrence who is in JSS 3 at Osu Technical College Mbano, Imo State who are calling for assistance to continue their innovation. Without such assistance, especially from the Ministry of Science and Technology currently overseen by Ogbonnaya Onu, the children’s dream and budding innovations will die. Lifting of nations through technology and other wonderful creations starts from dreams and aggregation of innovations such as that of Lawrence. It is not all about literary knowledge

which has enveloped Nigeria over the years but technical knowledge. China, Israel, Japan, Taiwan are good examples of countries that understand the importance of technical knowledge. Their school curriculum has been tweaked in this direction. Many Nigerian children have displayed creativity - ability to make new things or think up new ideas - but often times they lack motivation, encouragement to continue with their innovations. Perhaps, Ministry of Science and Technology needs to create special scheme for such children, either bring the children with similar ideas together or find other ways to ensure that their innovations are not wasted. Nigerian history is replete with stories of Nigerian teenagers who have made fabulous creations, but they end up at that stage without anybody, including government advancing their course. It is time for those in authority

to pay attention to the children’s creativity as other climes have made efforts to encourage children from schools to build things very early in life which they take to adulthood. “People like Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple; Mark Elliot Zuckerberg born May 14, 1984), an American technology entrepreneur and philanthropist, and most other people who started their companies from garages in America came from this culture that persists till today”. But in Nigeria, there is still this culture of degrees from schools. “Education has been re-envisioned and it is now far from mere literacy programme … where graduates live with a perpetual sense of entitlement because they simply bagged two cardboards from university and NYSC camp”, human rights advocate, Segun Awosanya said in his speech titled, ‘Equipping the Nigerian child for innovation

in a climate of accelerated global advancement’ at Indomie award in Lagos recently. He said that it is time to pay attention to children’s areas of interest and guide them through what they love to do. “Children are the arrows in our quiver, they are the innovators, change makers, and world changers we shoot into the future to accomplish a task we may never be able to do ourselves. They are the trees we plant today” he said. Dufil Prima Foods has done well by combing the nation to identify children with such intellectual wherewithal and equally reward them for exemplary accomplishments. It is therefore expected that Federal Ministry of Science and Technology should take up from where Dufil and other organisations stopped to follow the children up and ensure that their dreams are realised not just for themselves but for the nation.

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EquityMarket GTB’s foreign operations generate N54bn income in Q3 2019 ...as overseas profit grows by 33% to N18bn

TELIAT SULE

uaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc generated N53.95 billion as revenue from its eight foreign subsidiaries in the first nine months of this year, representing an increase of 25 percent over N43.3 billion that those foreign centres made in similar period in 2018. This is part of the insights gained from the analysis of its third quarter unaudited results for the period ended September 30, 2019, released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week. GTB has subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Cote d’Iviore, Kenya and Tanzania. Outside the African continent, it maintains a subsidiary in the United Kingdom. While the combined overseas gross income grew by 25 percent, the tier-one Nigerian lender posted 239 percent, 45 percent and 41 percent growth rates in gross incomes from Tanzania, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire respectively. Revenue from Tanzania grew from N71.66 million last year September to N242.62 million as at the end of the third quarter of 2019, an increase of 239 percent over corresponding revenue made in similar period in 2018. The bank’s subsidiary in Ghana increased its revenue by 45 percent from N16.72 billion in September 2018 to N24.25 billion same period this year. Gross income from Cote d’Ivoire’s operations grew by 41 percent from N1.53 billion last year September to N2.16 billion by September 2019. In Kenya, another East African, gross income increased by 21 percent from N7.76 billion to N9.39 billion during the period. In the Gambia, revenue increased by 19 percent from N2.72 billion to N3.24 billion during the period. Revenue also increased by 9 percent in Sierra Leone but de-

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Market Returns Jan 31, 2019

Market Returns Mar 29, 2019/Q1

Market Returns June 28, 2019(H)

Market Returns July 31, 2019

Market Returns Aug 30, 2019

Market Returns Sept 30, 2019/Q3

-‐2.78%

-‐1.24%

-‐4.66%

-‐11.81%

-‐12.42%

-‐12.09%

-‐3.05%

0.40%

9.17%

4.17%

5.40%

-‐2.57%

-‐1.37%

-‐13.11%

-‐22.55%

-‐0.60% -‐4.04%

1.69% -‐1.73%

-‐1.45% -‐11.39%

-‐2.49%

1.26%

-‐3.26%

Market Returns Oct. 18, 2019

A Year Ago: Market Returns Oct. 18, 2018

-‐15.85%

-‐14.12%

3.49%

0.17%

-‐6.28%

-‐23.88%

-‐21.45%

-‐25.74%

-‐15.83%

-‐1.80% -‐19.60%

-‐1.87% -‐23.25%

-‐2.46% -‐19.06%

-‐2.46% -‐24.55%

-‐27.13% -‐15.60%

-‐8.04%

-‐16.49%

-‐19.49%

-‐18.44%

-‐19.97%

-‐12.46%

-‐0.40%

-‐2.16%

-‐8.49%

-‐15.52%

-‐4.81%

-‐4.12%

-‐10.82%

6.91%

-‐5.15%

-‐16.89%

-‐26.74%

-‐29.74%

-‐28.85%

-‐31.59%

-‐23.60%

-‐7.27%

-‐3.87%

-‐16.21%

-‐25.26%

-‐34.35%

-‐22.86%

-‐25.47%

-‐13.55%

0.72%

1.51%

-‐12.03%

-‐20.11%

-‐22.25%

-‐23.35%

-‐24.46%

-‐11.55%

5.77%

0.14%

-‐12.12%

-‐13.26%

-‐11.85%

-‐13.16%

-‐14.95%

-‐23.06%

-‐3.12% -‐1.16% -‐12.35% -‐19.85% -‐23.34% -‐19.93% -‐21.75% -‐11.62% Market -‐2.78% -‐0.41% 12.67% 15.25% 14.25% 14.76% 9.85% -‐11.90% Capitalisation Computed by BusinessDay Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU). For enquiries, please call 08098710024 or teliat.sule@businessday.ng ; biodunteliat24@gmail.com

clined by 13 percent in Liberia. tions this year compared with 55 in corresponding period in 2018. The same trend was observed GTB’s fcontinent, oreign operations generate N54bn in combined Q3 2019 profit after tax in Ghana where the bank made Outside the African kobo to generate 100 koboincome in The ...as verseas profit grows b2018. y 33% to N18bn revenue growth inothe UK was September (PAT) realised in the eight coun- N11.67 billion as PAT in Q3 2019 at 5 percent from N4.55 billion Cost to revenue ratio was not tries rose by 33 percent from as against N8.37 billion in Q3 to N4.79 billion during the refer- favourable in the United King- N13.83 billion last year Septem- 2018. In the first nine months ence period. TELIAT SULE dom and Liberia during the pe- ber to N18.44 billion in Septem- of this year, GTB’s operations in Operating expenses in all the riod, whereas the ratio declined ber 2019. The highest growth in Ghana accounted for 63 percent Guaranty Trust Bank GTB) regions. Plc generated 53.95 billion as revenue from its where eight foreign subsidiaries foreign subsidiaries managed in(other Cost to N revenue profitability was in Kenya of its overseas PAT and that was in the first nine months of this year, representing an increase of 25 percent over N43.3 billion that to grow by 7 percent from N24 worsened in the United Kingdom PAT jumped by 148 percent slightly higher than 61 percent as billion to N25.6 billion during as itmade rose from 78 koboperiod to a naira fromThis N822.4 million to N2.04 September those foreign centres in similar in 2018. is part of the insights at gained from 2018. the the reference analysis of its third quarter unaudited results for the period ended September 30, 2019, released to period. Operating in 2018 to 86 kobo to a naira in billion. Cote d’Ivoire operations Notwithstanding, GTB’s Tanzaexpenses actually declined in September 2019. In Liberia, the produced 70 percent growth in nia subsidiary ended up recordthe Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week. Kenya by 6 percent and 1 per- ratio rose from 50 kobo to 57 PAT which moved from N387.8 ing a loss after tax during the cent in LiberiaGTB has subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Cote d’Iviore, Kenya and Tanzania. which was in total kobo. million to N657.9 million during period. It made a loss after tax contrast to the general trend. By The ratio fell in Ghana to 28 the reference period. of N425.5 million by September implication, itOutside the African continent, it maintains a subsidiary in the United Kingdom. While the combined means that in the kobo as against 35 kobo; 58 Profitability rose by 42 percent 2019 and that compares with a overseas gross income by 25 the tier-‐one Nigerian lender posted loss 239 after percent, 45 nine months ended September kobogrew as against 68percent, kobo in The in the Gambia where the bank’s tax of N461.3 million in 30, 2019, when assessed by cost Gambia; 63 kobo to 76 kobo subsidiary in that country made September 2018. This is the only to revenue ratio, it cost GTB in Cote d’Ivoire; 65 kobo to 83 N889.09 million PAT as at Sep- subsidiary where the bank made 48 kobo to generate 100 kobo kobo in Kenya and to N2.74 in tember 2019 compared with a loss after tax during the period revenue from its overseas opera- Tanzania compared with N7.41 N628.09 million in Q3 2018. under review.

United Capital posts N5.32bn revenue in third quarter 2019 TELIAT SULE

ne of the leading investment banks in the country, United Capital Plc, has announced N5.32 billion as gross earnings for the period ended September 30, 2019. This compares to N5.97 billion the investment outfit made in September 2018, indicating that revenue was down by 11 percent year on year. United Capital made N241

billion as investment income, N1.39 billion as fees and commission income, N77.9 million as net trading income, N411.6 million as net interest margin while the net operating income was at N4.29 billion. Unlike same period in 2018, the investment bank realised N2.66 billion as investment income, N1.49 billion as fees and commission income, N121.3 million as net trading income, N578.6 million as net interest margin resulting in a net operat-

ing income of N4.84 billion. The Nigerian stock market is down by 15.9 percent year to date. The steady realisation of profitability by United Capital in spite of the market trend could be attributed to the management thinking outside the box. Commenting on the latest financials of the company, Peter Ashade, group CEO attributed the development to the challenging environment. “While the business environ-

ment in 2019 has been quite challenging, compared to what was obtainable in 2018, united Capital Plc Group has been able to consistently deliver on improvement in its numbers as evidenced in the growth in revenue. Profit before taxation and profit after taxation over the three quarters of 2019. This increase was driven majorly by the growth in revenue to the group from advisory business which has seen a CAGR of about

19 percent considering the first three quarters of the year and we also expect this to grow further in view of the various strategic initiatives up our sleeves. More so, revenue from other line items are showing signs of improvement save for revenue from investment income which is made up of income from fixed deposit and investment securities, given the persistent decline in interest rate this year’, Ashade, Group CEO said.

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Sunday 20 October 2019

Feature Kula oil zone:

Oil dispute over, chieftaincy tussle sets in as peace may elude OML 25 host communities again …Rivers State government: Hope Dan is the king … Kula chiefs: He is not chief, let alone king Ignatius Chukwu

ula is a kingdom jutting into the Atlantic Ocean and awash with oil and gas of about 40,000 barrels per day; but when it is not fighting for more amenities, it is fighting over kingship or titles. Just smarting from over two years of shutting down Oil Mining Licence (OML) 25, the area has exploded in another fierce dispute that may end at the heart of the oil economy. The Rivers State government has just conferred 3rd class status to a king or paramount ruler in a section of Kula in Akuku-Toru Local Council of the state, but a strong rejection sprang up almost immediately. A group calling itself the ‘Opusingi Group of Houses’ in Kula kingdom expressed dismay and what it called utmost disappointment at the decision of the Rivers State Government to confer 3rd class chieftaincy title on Hope Dan. The statement said Dan parades himself as paramount ruler of a non-existing community known as Opu-Kula. The statement signed by Adumoba Dumo Sokari, the public relations officer of the Opusingi Group of Houses, stated: “Hope Dan is neither a chief nor the head of Opusingi Group of Houses. The chief, Gibson Suku Tyger, Opusingi (VII) is the head of Opusingi Group of Houses. “He was duly nominated by different lineages of the Opusingi family, installed and recognised by the Abonnema Council of Chiefs as well as the Kalabari Council of Chiefs (Sekobiri), the highest decision-making organ of the traditional institution of Kalabari kingdom. “It is an undisputed fact that the Opusingi Stool is not a paramount stool in Kula Kingdom as to head Opukula to warrant its classification to a 3rd class status by the Rivers State Government. Oko was the last king of Opu-Kula before they migrated to the present day Kula Community. “It is highly preposterous and disheartening that a state that is governed by a lawyer would confer such a legitimate chieftaincy title on someone without first visiting the socalled Opukula community to authenticate the veracity of the claim of the existence of such community. “The action of the Rivers

Kula royals and chiefs at an event in Offoin-Ama square State Government is tantamount to legalising illegality and encouraging false claim as neither the authorities of Kula kingdom nor any court of competent jurisdiction has declared the said Opu-kula as an existing community. “The decision of the governor further undermines the Supreme Court position on the disputed territory. It also fell below any responsible and acceptable action of a government.” The group also said the action of government questions the credibility of the classification of chieftaincy stool by the Wike-led government and brings to disrepute the traditional institution of Rivers State. “We view the action of the Rivers State government as an attempt to balkanise Kula kingdom and trigger a resurgence of chieftaincy crisis in the area. We also warn that if this charade is allowed to stand it would distort the history of chieftaincy stool in Rivers State and set a wrong precedent. “We therefore appeal to His Excellency to have a rethink and reverse his decision in the interest of peace and to save the state of further embarrassment.” However, some supporters of Dan have taken out radio slots to commend the Rivers State governor on the decision taken. They have not only defended the emergence of Dan but have stated that it would bring peace to Kula kingdom. One such statement rejected the right of Dumo Sokrari, saying the king is yet to appoint a spokesman and that

Sokrari is not the mouthpiece of Opu-Kula. Reacting, however, Stanley Benibo Gold Ekeke (I), the traditional head of Ibiame in Kula kingdom, has raised alarm over alleged plot by the Rivers State

“The decision of the governor further undermines the Supreme Court position on the disputed territory. It also fell below any responsible and acceptable action of a government.” Government and some other persons to carry out arrests on trumped up charges. Ekeke mentioned those he believed to be behind the plan to arrest Christian Don Pedro, Sopakiriba Igbikis, Gibson Suku Tyger Opusingi (VII), Akubo Dokubo Erise, Vuva Willy Ikalama and others. The whistleblower said the arrest would be hinged on roles played by the named persons in the OML25 saga. The petitioners said the actions by the threatened persons were rather what led to the peaceful resolution of the dispute by the

federal government in favour of the host communities. They said: “It is worrisome that a state government that is supposed to queue behind the laudable peace initiative of the federal government would again engage in such surreptitious and vindictive move. “The only offence of these innocent persons targeted for the unlawful arrest is their noble contribution in the liberation of the host communities of OML25 from the shackles of extreme poverty, total neglect, enslavement, under development and the worst form of human backwardness of an area which contribute immensely to the wealth of this nation. The federal government acknowledged this fact with regret and rendered unreserved apology to the host communities during the official re-opening of the Flow Station. “These worthy Kula sons are among the heroes of the OML25 struggle. We treasure them for their individual roles in the actualisation of the purpose of the struggle for emancipation, development and advancement of Kula Kingdom. “In the light of the above, we therefore put on notice the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva; the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari; the Group General Manager of NAPIMS, Musa Lawan; the Ijaw elders under the auspices of the PANDEF; relevant security agencies and other stakeholders who played roles in the peaceful resolution of the dispute and the re-opening of the Flow Station of the alleged plot by the Rivers State

Government and its allies to arrest these worthy Kula sons on trumped up charges. “We warned that this plot if not checked is capable of jeopardising the fragile peace in the area.” The group warned that the deteriorating crisis could endanger the newly restored peace at the OML25 Flow Station. Dan (or Hope Opusungi) and his supporters fought on the side of the Rivers State government and Shell against the side of Belemaoil and the kings of Kula and Belema during the over two years of dispute that led to the shutdown of ONL 25. The political hint is also that Dan supported the political party that the governor belongs to and is said to have played roles for their victory against the ones supported by other groups. He and his group heavily endorsed the position of the Rivers State government and Shell and supported the Wike-induced peace agreement which was never accepted by the other kings and chiefs supporting the Belemaoil case. When the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum stepped into the matter, they seemed to embrace the other kings and chiefs and not the Dan group. The state government now seemed to compensate his side by conferring on him the 3rd class chieftaincy title. By this, the division in Kula may have only begun. The billions of naira expected from Shell as accumulated and new rights to the Kula cluster may be the apple in everyone’s eye and may head back to court as the opposing groups may not be in any shape to unite and qualify to collect the compensations. The funds may remain in the usual escrow account where none of the contending factions may come near for a long time to come. The new crisis may linger for long because while Belemaoil and the FG may be in sympathy to one group, the Dan group may feel backed by the Rivers State government and a major oil company. Funds may not be a hindrance in prosecuting their objectives but any losing side would likely fall back on OML 25 as scapegoat and may seek shut down to attract FG attention.

Sunday 20 October 2019

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Feature NLNG:

30-year-old secret emerges at 20:30 anniversary night in Bonny …How Abacha saved the dream from abrupt abortion

NLNG MD, Tony Attah, lays foundation stone for Bonny Consulate Building as (L-R) Julius Berger MD, Lars Richter; Sadeeq Mai-Bornu; Oma Attah; and the Amanyanabo of Bonny Kingdom, His Majesty, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, Perekule XI, look on.

IGNATIUS CHUKWU

he secret is finally out; how the late General, Sani Abacha, made the setting up of the biggest single project in Nigeria, the $30billion Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) possible. Many had had feelings or hints that Abacha played crucial role but how he did it remained a secret known only by innermost caucus of the NLNG and the then kitchen cabinet of the late General, until last Saturday in Bonny. Last Saturday evening was a special night in Bonny Island in Rivers State. It was a gala night meant to bring to an end the three-day celebration of two milestones at same time; the 30 years of existence of the NLNG and 20 years marking the first export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Many things happened from Thursday with a literature prize ceremony in Abuja to the visit to the king of Bonny by the largest crew of present and past topmost leaders of the corporation, local or foreign. This visit with full royal rites was declared the take off of the next 30 years of the NLNG. It was here that the CEO of the corporation announced a N75billon chest to develop Bonny’s economy in pursuance to the Bonny-Dubai scheme aimed at making Bonny look like Dubai. The money would be released N3billion per year till the next 25 years. Could this be a replication of the Indorama-Eleme model whereby the host community is given 7.5 percent equity in the Petrochemicals Company? This time, the offer is not in equity but in stakeholdership. Next was the tree planting session near the plant with fanfare and emphasis on the future of the company that may span to Train-10. Then, the notable groundbreaking ceremony of the Bonny Consulate Building to

return the one that was demolished by the departing British Consul who wanted the building to be paid for and when the then king refused, he threatened and went ahead to demolish it. Launch over, the stage was set for the gala night at the main auditorium of the Residential colony of the NLNG. The RA is simply an European enclave in Nigeria with the trappings of Pretoria in those days. The city or RA runs by biometric identification and card system, nothing less. The lawns are mowed per day and the sewage system runs like fresh water system. Fish runs through the channels without harm. The temperature is even like in Europe. The large hall was filled quickly, with many dignitaries that had valid entry permit not able to wade through. At a point, the main entrance was reserved for the king, who is treated with utmost reverence and respect. Lesser mortals had to search out other inlets to press for a crack to wriggle through. Regality and royalty played together inside the glittering hall. The anchor person was top class while the entire cast for the evening was something else. Rib-cracking jokes were unleashed. Onyeka Onwenu made an appearance and made it clear she is a Port Harcourt girl. A national dress parade was caste through a fashion parade to show the North/Hausa, the West/Yoruba, the Middle West of Edo and Delta, the Niger Delta state by state, and Rivers State with a lot of ethnic groups. It was announced that Nigeria was complete, but many murmured why South-East/Igbo was omitted and Nigeria was said to be complete. When it was time for remarks, though the VIPs admitted it was not a speechmaking night, the tone changed. The line began with the managing director, Tony Attah. He kept it soft, but did not fail to say that the NLNG today is at an advantage to pursue the next 30 years. He said Train-7 is the only way to move from the pres-

NLNG Board Chairman, Chief Osobonye LongJohn; NLNG MD, Tony Attah; DMD, Sadeeq Mai-Bornu, Julius Berger MD, Lars Richter and the Amanyanabo of Bonny Kingdom, His Majesty, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, Perekule XI during the unveiling of the plaque at the ground breaking of the Bonny Consulate Building to commemorate NLNG’s 20-30 Anniversary.

ent 22 million metric tons to 30mmt. “Our task is to remain healthy. The king has said it all; that the NLNG is a blessing to Bonny Kingdom. It’s worth dancing for.” The chairman of the board, O.R. Lonhjohn, spoke but alluded to a hilarious disclosure that his speeches are usually written and handed to him. It was the voice of restriction in luxury. He however said the NLNG is committed to being a world class company. Amanyanabo of Grand Bonny, Edward Asimini William Dappa Peple 111, who is Perekule X1, spoke in his usual calm and measured style. He said Bonny has interacted with businesses since the 16th century but the one of NLNG is remarkable. “It has led in many development projects especially the upcoming health insurance scheme. We commend you. We wish you greater success ahead.” Bomb in a whisper One of the former deputy directors, Abba Gana, had his say along the line. He simply threw a bombshell. It was in series. First, he said some individuals made sacrifices without which the NLNG (that now looks and sounds so exotic and everybody is running to) would not have been a reality. The most significant was the revelation that the day the NLNG partners were to sign the deal was same day that Ken Saro Wiwa was executed. The narrow escape was that before the news of the execution would filter into the hall, the signatures had been appended. The Nigerian delegation whistled and clutched the MoU like life and death. This was because pressure came from everywhere in the world for the NLNG deal to be cancelled. The next bombshell was when he said they went round the world seeking funds without success. One evening, they went to Abacha highly exasperated. The General turned and said to them: “Nobody will give you money as long as I am president of Nigeria.”

The then head of state made moves and handed all the money they needed to them. Gana said this was a time when oil was $12 per barrel. There was much need because of low oil income, but the General sourced the funds needed and the NLNG roared into life. As the pressure mounted on the partners to pull out, they searched for cogent reason to do so. They now saw a loophole. The NLNG land papers were in the name of the NNPC, a public institution. The partners refused to go ahead with the final investment decision (FID) except the certificates were in the name of the NLNG instead of NNPC. Huddles and helplessness! Gana said he rushed back to Nigeria and apparently scared to go face Abacha, headed straight to Port Harcourt where then Colonel, Musa Komo was state military administration. He briefed the Military Administrator and tabled the madness of the urgency and what needed to be done. There was no time and the international partners may not have expected the team to get through. He said Komo summoned all the Rivers State government officials that had anything to do with the land. In less than no time, each man was doing one thing or the other. Gana said his team walked off with the C/O. The hall exploded in applause and excitement. So, this was how the NLNG came to be? So, if Komo did not act in a jiffy, the dream would have evaporated? After all, 1989 was not the only time that Nigeria’s topmost leadership had proposed of the NLNG. So, at each time, the dream was to crash; from the hanging of Wiwa same day of the signing; to where to get the funds to start in the face of international uproar and revolt; to the land papers trap. Gana said what he did was to share the land into two and got separate certificates. He gave the

first one to the partners who had no other excuse for FID. He said the second is the place where the Train-7 is being prepared. The hall exploded in deafening applause. So, this is how this golden egg was laid and hatched? Gana made a bitter remark and a request. The bitter remark was that by all that they went through, the project or any such project can only go through in a military regime. The audience shouted in agreement but signed heavily. Many remembered how Train-7 suffered setbacks in the hands of politicians, how Brass NLNG is suffering same fate, how PIB that would push the oil industry to the next level has been stuck for over 19 years, etc. His words; “Unfortunately, this kind of project can only happen in a military regime.” The request is for the leadership to get President Muhammadu Buhari to visit Bonny and see what exactly the NLNG looks like and the magnitude of the investment. He did not explain why but by his tone, he may mean that only by seeing and appreciating the massive NLNG structure that the president can be on same page with the management and board. After all, Buhari is the Minister of Petroleum and must have much to do with how fast and how far the NLNG would move. It was a loaded speech. He wants Nigerians to realize that a people can do any project they set out to do if only they set their minds at it. The workers seemed highly elated all day and night. One union leader who mounted the rostrum spoke with oozing pride how an expatriate had entered a bet with some Nigerians that the NLNG would never work, would never deliver gas, as long as it was a Nigerian project. He recalled how he called the man one day on the bet when ships carried off gas from Bonny to Europe. This is the true story of the Bonny NLNG, the true story of Nigeria, the true story of the fate of the nation in the balance; Can democracy deliver mega projects in Nigeria? Can democracy deliver the PIB?

38BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 20 October 2019

SundayBusiness The critical element of preservation in food security Food & Beverages With Ayo Oyoze Baje

ne of the critical issues to be addressed towards meeting the ever increasing demands of food security is that of preservation. Several researches have shown that in many countries where there are no good access roads to farm centres, or stable electric power supply, adequate water and application of relevant technology to support preservation, there is a lot of post harvest losses. There may be enough raw food materials as produced for everyone but theses critical factors could lead to food insecurity.Nigeria is no exception. For instance,it is not unusual in states such as Benue, Edo, Ekiti, Osun and Ondo to find heaps of fruits like oranges, grapes,pine apple and bananas rotting away at the rural farms due tolack of processing knowhow. The various Ministries of agriculture at the state and federal level should therefore, put in place measures that would reduce post harvest losses by providing the

enabling environment. It is also by engaging in massive human capital development through farm extension workers who should be graduates in the field of agriculture and related disciplines. There should also be the upgrading of local food preservation methods adaptable to their immediate needs. For instance, many local farmers may not be aware of some relevant research findings in this regard.A Nigerian teacher, Mohammed Bah Abba has invented a cooling system with the capacity to preserve perishable food in climates that lack sufficient water or rainfall. His motivation was out of concern for the rural poor and by a deep interest in using indigenous African technology to develop practical, local solutions to rural problems. His “pot-in-pot” cooling system is based on a simple physical principle that was even in use in ancient Egypt.It is simple, affordable and made form local materials. A clay pot is filled with wet sand, which is kept moist. A second smaller pot, is placed into the wet sand in the bigger pot, which is then covered with a damp cloth. As the water in the sand evaporates, it drops the temperature, and cools the inner pot. The invention that has been made public since 2009 is expected to have a significant impact in Nigerian villages. It allows young girls to attend school since they don’t have to hawk food every day. It also increases family income and helps to reduce disease. The truth however, is that a lot more still needs to be done for mass public enlightenment. The more farmers who are aware and deploy such local technology the better for Nigeria’s food security. Home makers too need to know what they could do to preserve some basic food items they are not going to

cook immediately. In addition, the issue of food preservation should not be left to the government alone. The private sector has to come in. The different scientific methods of food preservation: Preservation usually involves preventing the growth of bacteria, fungi (such as yeasts), and other micro-organisms (although some methods work by introducing benign bacteria, or fungi to the food), as well as retarding the oxidation of fats which cause rancidity. Food preservation can also include processes which inhibit visual deterioration, such as the enzymatic browning reaction in apples after they are cut, which can occur during food preparation. Many processes designed to preserve food will involve a number of food preservation methods. Preserving fruit by turning it into jam, for example, involves boiling (to reduce the fruit’s moisture content and to kill bacteria, yeasts, etc.), sugaring (to prevent their re-growth) and sealing within an airtight jar (to prevent recontamination). There are many traditional methods of preserving food that limit the energy inputs and reduce carbon footprint. Ma i n t a i n i n g o r c r e a t i n g nutritional value, texture and flavour is an important aspect of food preservation, although, historically, some methods drastically altered the character of the food being preserved. In many cases these changes have now come to be seen as desirable qualities – cheese, yoghurt and pickled onions being common examples. Drying Drying is one of the most ancient foodpreservationtechniques, which reduces water activity sufficiently to prevent bacterial growth. Refrigeration Refrigeration preserves food

Bookings Africa leverages technology to enhance earning potential of young entrepreneurs

KELECHI EWUZIE

etermined to unlock the earning potential of young entrepreneurial Africans and monetise their latent skillset, Bookings Africa, a leading pan-African marketplace, has launched its new mobile App. Bookings Africa says it is also out to leverage technology to disrupt and revolutionise how talent in the lifestyle, entertainment and media industries across Africa is sourced. Fade Ogunro, founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bookings Africa, says the App will revolutionise the pan-African marketplace for the Gig economy. Ogunro says through the app, users can search for a variety of talents, compare their transparent prices, book online, pay securely and provide ratings and reviews for services across Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. Speaking at the official launch of the App and the successful completion of the company’s latest fundraising round in Lagos, Ogunro stated that Bookings Africa currently offers over 14 talent categories including make-up artists, photographers, DJs, hair stylists, and social media

influencers with plans of increasing to over 40 categories and expand to other countries across Africa by December this year. According to the founder, “I believe Africa is the future, yet, the biggest problem we face is unemployment. Bookings Africa tackles this issue by enabling millions of freelancers gain recognition, monetize their talent and build a sustainable career on their own terms. This means you can create your personal profile, upload your work portfolio, set your own rates, availability and manage yourbusinessbetterwithguaranteed payments all at the tap of a button”.

Mayowa Ayodele, chief investment officer of Unicorn Group, said: “We are excited to partner with Fadé and her team who have built a strong technology-led and scalable business that is harnessing and monetising the latent talent of Africans across the continent. We believe that investing in Bookings Africa has the potential to revolutionise a highly fragmented industry and positively impact lives. Since its launch in April 2019, Bookings Africa has signed up over 2,000 freelancers and served clients such as: Coca-Cola, Anap Jets, May D, Film Factory and The Luxury Lifestyle Market.

L-R: Eric Otieno, Business Development manager, Kenya Bookings Africa.Com ; Uzo Akumah, general manager Bookings Africa.Com; Fade Ogunro CEO/founder Bookings Africa.Com; Saada B. Abdalla, Country manager, Kenya, Bookings Africa.Com, and Tshque Harcharan, Country manager, South Africa Bookings Africa.Com at Bookings Africa. Com App media launch in Lagos.

by slowing down the growth and reproduction of micro-organisms and the action of enzymes which cause food to rot. The introduction of commercial and domestic refrigerators drastically improved the diets of many in the western world by allowing foods such as fresh fruit, salads and dairy products to be stored safely for longer periods, particularly during warm weather. Freezing Freezingis also one of the most commonly used processes commercially and domestically for preserving a very wide range of food including prepared food stuffs which would not have required freezing in their unprepared state. For example, potato waffles are stored in the freezer, but potatoes themselves require only a cool dark place to ensure many months’ storage. Cold stores provide large volume, long-term storage for strategic food stocks held in case of national emergency in many countries. Smoking is used to lengthen the shelf life of perishable food items. This effect is achieved by exposing the food to smoke from burning plant materials such as wood. Most commonly subjected to this method of food preservation are meats and fish that have undergone curing. Fruits and vegetables like paprika, cheeses, spices, and ingredients for making drinks such as malt and tea leaves are also smoked, but mainly for cooking or flavoring them. It is one of the oldest food preservation methods, which probably arose after the development of cooking with fire. Canning and bottling Canning involves cooking food, sealing it in sterile cans or jars, and boiling the containers to kill or weaken any remaining bacteria as a form of sterilization. It was invented by Nicolas Appert. Foods have varying degrees of natural

protection against spoilage and may require that the final step occur in a pressure cooker. High-acid fruits like strawberries require no preservatives to can and only a short boiling cycle, whereas marginal fruits such as tomatoes require longer boiling and addition of other acidic elements. Low acid foods, such as vegetables and meats require pressure canning. Food preserved by canning or bottling is at immediate risk of spoilage once the can or bottle has been opened. Lack of quality control in the canning process may allow ingress of water or micro-organisms. Most such failures are rapidly detected as decomposition within the can causes gas production and the can will swell or burst. Ho w e v e r, t h e r e h a v e b e e n examples of poor manufacture (underprocessing) and poor hygiene allowing contamination of canned food by the obligate anaerobe Clostridium botulinum, which produces an acute toxin within the food, leading to severe illness or death. This organism produces no gas or obvious taste and remains undetected by taste or smell. Its toxin is denatured by cooking, though. Cooked mushrooms, handled poorly and then canned, can support the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, which produces a toxin that is not destroyed by canning or subsequent reheating. Mass public enlightenment on the methods, mechanisms and adaptation of these preservation methods has become imperative towards achieving national food security, starting from the rural areas.

Baje is Nigerian first Food Technologist in the media ayobaje@yahoo.co.uk; 08057971776

Firm holds workshop to tackle stagnation, promote growth

Iniobong Iwok

n a move aimed at tackling stagnation and to promote growth, Hanan Consulting, a human Capacity building firm, is set to stage a one-day transformational workshop designed to equip leaders and those aspiring to lead self, family, business and ministry assignments. Managing Partner of Hanan Consulting , Idongesit Ufot noted that stagnation was no respecter of persons or organisation, stressing that the workshop was organised to tackle the problems associated with the act. He further added that growth and development was inbuilt in everything in Nature, stressing that the duty of human or organisation was to seek the solution if the situation was otherwise. Ufot further stated that the workshop would hold on Wednesday 13, November,

2019 at NECA House, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State. Some of the speakers expected to at the workshop i n c l u d e La m p e O m o y e l e , managing Director/CEO of NITRO 121, a seasoned business leader, Marketing expert and coach; Keith Poole, CEO/ Founder, LEAD UK, a leadership development expert and an Executive Director with the John C Maxwell Team, Em m a n u e l Jo n e s , Fo u n d e r of the Jones Foundation, a Transformational leadership consultant, Coach and change strategist. According to him, “Stagnation is no respecter of persons or organisations to this end, we have put together a team of national and international leaders of thought in Business Management and Ministry, whose combined knowledge stand them in good position to diagnose and counsel on a broad range of factors connected to stagnation”.

Sunday 20 October 2019

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BDSUNDAY 39

SundayBusiness Time to take another look at mortgage lending and borrowing

ith rising unemployment and shrinking disposable income, Nigeria has reached a time when operators should take another look at mortgage lending and borrowing with a view to widening the net and increasing accessibility and affordability. In other countries of the world where the mortgage system works, mortgage is readily available to people who need same and mortgage institutions give out loans for them to build, buy or renovate existing houses. In Nigeria, the story is different. Many Nigerians, particularly those who need it, do not believe that there is anything mortgage in the financial system, not necessarily because of its relative newness in this environment, but more because of its unaffordability and inaccessibility. Though affordability is a relative term, houses in Nigeria are generally unaffordable such that when experts talk about unaffordable housing, almost always, they trace the cause to mortgage which is only available to, and affordable by those who don’t need it—the rich. Poverty level is high. It is so per-

vasive that it is almost synonymous with existence and so many people are so poor that those that are classed as the rich are just a small fraction of the society. Again, just a few people are on employment and within this group are so many that are under-employed. For this reason and more, mortgage borrowing and lending is always a big issue for both the lender and the borrower, because here is a country where interest rate on mortgage loan is not in any way different from the rate on commercial loans given by deposit banks. Mortgage lenders still anchor their loans on good jobs with fat pay, meaning that a mortgage loan seeker is expected to be somebody in a good job or private business with an assured and regular stream of income. As against 6 percent interest rate and repayment tenor of between 25-30 years, depending on the borrower’s age, mortgage lenders charge 18- 22 percent interest rate with a repayment tenor as short as 12-24 months. The ever widening housing demand-supply gap easily finds explanation in commercial interest rate charged on mortgage loans which makes such loans unaffordable to home-seekers. “Though

the ability of banks to provide money for mortgage has changed on account of credit challenges in the financial system, mortgage affordability or the fundamentals for lending has not changed”, said Adeniyi Akinlusi, MD/CEO,Trusbond Mortgage Bank. “The mortgage industry does not operate in isolation of the economy. Certainly, as an integral part of the economy, it has to be affected by the economic crisis. Nevertheless, the fundamentals for lending have not changed, which means that if somebody has a good job with a financial institution or a multinational company, and the pay package is high enough for him to afford a mortgage, the present crisis has not changed that affordability”, he informed. The past few years have seen quite a number of mortgage products aimed at enabling subscribers own their own homes, but these products are yet to help reduce existing housing gap by increasing housing stock. But experts say mortgage products offered by some mortgage banks offer are not the type that will make any impact on housing. Such products are commercial mortgages from which the investor wants to recover his money. It

Talking Mortgage with CHUKA UROKO (08037156969, chukuroko@yahoo.com) is just like someone else who has invested in any other venture. He has to recover his money because he borrows from the same place like any other person. Mortgage products can make impact on housing only when there is government intervention and, in other jurisdictions, there is government intervention to make mortgage affordable to everybody, no matter the income level. In developed economies, mortgage has been used to move the economy from being import-dependent to a producing and exporting one. Akinlusi says mortgage institutions need long term funds for housing finance, insisting that when there are enough funds to lend to property developers and to home seekers, the entire economy would be stimulated. It is expected that by the time there are enough funds in the hands of mortgage institutions for long

term loans to property developers, there will be a lot of property development activities and when this happens, a lot of other activities will be generated and the economy would be better for it. “You can imagine when there are many developments going on at various parts of the country. The long term effect would be the development of industries and factories that produce building materials such as cement, rods, roofing materials, wooden materials, etc”, Akinlusi posits. This will ultimately impact on the wider economy and your guess is as good as mine as to what follows when people have enough capital at their disposal. Definitely, investment is the next line of thought and, depending on the prevailing business environment and government policies, people will invest in anything including taking up mortgage loans.

Tough times for Nigerians, local manufacturers as FG insists on border closure Continued from page 1 indefinitely. He said goods can only enter the country through the air and seaports, where they can undergo thorough scanning and certified fit for consumption before allowed into Nigerian markets. By implication, analysts are beginning to see difficult times ahead for poor Nigerians as the festive season approaches. BDSUNDAY survey on market prices shows that in the last one month, prices of basic food items have skyrocketed due to lack of price control mechanism for the much-talked about locally produced goods. For instance, a carton of Nigerian chicken now sells between N12,000 and N12,500 as against N8,000 and N10,000 sold before the border closure. This shows a 25 percent increase in price. Similarly, a carton of imported frozen ‘Orobo’ chicken formerly sold for N8,500 or N9,000 now goes for N15,000, showing a 67percent increase in price. Prices of life whole broiler now sells for N3,500 as against N3,000 sold before the border shutdown, while layers now sells for N2,000 as against N1,700 eight weeks ago. According to the latest report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS),

there has been a spike in prices of food items as the consumer price index, (CPI) which measures inflation increased to 11.24 percent (year-on-year) in September 2019. This shows 0.22 percent points higher than the rate recordedinAugust2019(11.02) percent. On month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.04 percent in September 2019, showing 0.05 percent rate higher than the rate recorded in August 2019 (0.99) percent. Apart from food prices, manufacturers have also raisedconcernsoverthelosses and supply chain disruption suffered by genuine businessmen since the closure of the nation’s land border for over one month. Muda Yusuf, director general of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday that while government has recorded some benefits in suppressing smuggling,thelossesbusinesses and individuals have suffered as a result of the border closureposesseriousdilemma. “The closure of Nigerian land borders for close to two months now has come with benefits and costs. There are upsides and downsides. Reports indicate a drastic reduction in smuggling of rice, poultry products and sugar. The smuggling of petroleum products outside the country to neighboring countries has

also declined considerably. We note and appreciate these outcomes,” he said. However, he said, it is important to reckon with the costs, supply chain disruptions and loses that businesses and individuals have suffered as a result of the closure. According to him, corporate bodies, large number of informal sector players and individuals doing legitimate businesses across the borders have become victims of the border closure. “As we celebrate the benefits, we should also count the costs. Jobs have been lost, prices have skyrocketed, legitimate exports to the subregion have been halted, intermediate products for some manufacturers have been cut off, some multinationals companies have been de-linked from their sister companies in thesub-region.Therearemany innocent casualties,” he said. BDSUNDAY understands the economies of border communities have been paralysed with consequences for unemployment and poverty such that over 90 percent of Nigeria’s trade with the West Africa sub-region is by road. Currently, Nigeria exports manufactured products as well as agricultural products –detergents,toothpastes,plastic products, steel products, kitchen utensils, grains, ginger, and onions, among others. Export of these products has become source of livelihood

formanyNigeriansdoinglegitimate businesses. Apart from export trade, there are also thousands of transporters whomakea living from these legitimate trading activities,whoseearningshave remainedflatsincetheborders were closed by government. To address this, Yusuf, who said that the stagnation of these businesses results to costs that would run into hundreds of billions of naira, advised the government to begin toweighthecostsandbenefits. Statistically, traders play a major role in the value chain of the real sector activities in the economy. The trade sector is perhaps the largest employer of labour in the Nigerian economy. “We should not underestimate the contribution of trade and commerce to the economy of the country. For instance, distributive trade sector accounts for about 15 percent of the nation’s GDP, which is estimated at N20 trillion,” Yusuf said. Yusuf, who stated that it is the responsibility of the governmenttocurbsmugglingand check insecurity by deploying appropriate responses, said that until the government fixes the structural, institutional and policy shortcomings that perpetuate the phenomenon ofsmugglingandincreases vulnerabilities, it would be difficult to put an end to the menace. Pundits believed that in as much as Nigerians will like to

support government policy on borderclosure,therearethings the government must do first before imposing such policy. They pointed out that government needs to begin to change peoples’ orientation and attitudes towards the consumption of foreign-made products, and that Nigerian manufacturersmustalsobegin tochurnoutqualityproductsat affordable prices. “In simply economics, consumption drives supply and supply must be of quality. We must also remember that we are not going to close our borders forever. If after opening the borders as long as we close it, Nigeria cannot meet up the food production needs ofitspopulation,thesmuggling and importation trend will continue,” Emmanuel Obi, an economist, said. According to him, the government needs to bear in mind that the smugglers and importers of these goods know that Nigeria does not have the capacity to meet the demand. “The truth remains that why Nigeria’s population is growing geometrically, food production capacity is growing arithmetically due to lack of a sustainable development plan targeted at growing the agricultural sector for sufficient food production,” he said. He however, wondered the number of Nigerians that are willing to go into farming as many believe in going to

school in order to end up with white collar job. “We all want to be in the urban cities. Who will go to the farms to produce food stuff to feed over 190 million Nigerians,” he questioned. Meanwhile, many Nigerians believed that the continued border closure will do more harm to the Nigerian economy by producing many jobless people than good, which will end up resulting to increased crime rate. Nicholas Ozioko, an exporter, said restricting export and import through the seaports and airports was without consideration that many Nigerian businessmen cannot afford the cost of using the airport especially to move goods to other neigbouring countries. On his part, Chris Adegbe, another exporter, said it is always difficult to move most perishable goods through the airport while the seaport sometimes fails to meet up with timely delivery of the export goods. Adegbe pointed out that items such as fresh tomatoes and vegetables and other agricultural products cannot be moved through the airport that was while many make use of the border posts to move such goods. He emphasised that the policy was targeted at poor traders who are struggling to survive through small scale trading within border areas.

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Sunday 20 October 2019

SundayBusiness

Monkey Pox: Lagos alerts public to precautionary measures JOSHUA BASSEY

agos State government has alerted residents to maintain adequate personal and environmental hygiene as part of precautionary measures to prevent the outbreak of infectious diseases, including Monkey pox which was recently reported in the state. Ak i n Ab a y o m i , t h e state commissioner for health, while updating on Monkey pox disease on Friday, noted that “highest possible standards of personal and environmental hygiene especially through regular washing of hands with soap and running water and paying attention to environmental exposure”. Giving details about the outbreak of the disease in Lagos, he said three suspected cases were reported by health facilities in the past one month noting that the cases were positive for Monkey Pox as revealed by reports of laboratory investigation. “ Th e p a t i e n t s w e r e treated at the specialised infectious disease isolation centre of Mainland Hospital, Yaba have since

recovered and have been discharged. The close contacts and family members of these cases were actively monitored for 21 days for any development of signs and symptoms of monkey pox and none of these contacts develop any symptoms,” Abayomi said. He, however, said there was no cause for panic, as the state government in collaboration with the federal ministry of health and Centre for Disease Control, is keeping surveillance in all local government areas to prevent an escalation of the disease. He explained that the State Epidemiology and the Monkey pox focal persons from Nigeria Centre for Disease Control had earlier carried out sensitisation for clinicians and community members in some local government areas of the State three months ago to increase awareness and reporting of any suspected case. He advised health workers to ensure that they take universal safety precautions when dealing with patients stressing that appropriate personal protective clothing must be worn when attending to cases of contagious infectious diseases.

Minimum wage: NECA tells FG, states to stick to agreement …As labour cautions against hike in electricity tariffs, fuel, taxes JOSHUA BASSEY

i g e r i a Em ployers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has advised federal and state governments to stick to the agreement signed on the consequential adjustment of salaries of workers in the public sector. This comes as organised labour also cautioned against hike in electricity tariffs, fuel price and increase in taxes, saying any of these would amount to collecting back what is being given to workers through the salary increment. The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), comprising government and labour representatives, in the early hours of Friday, October 18, finally reached an agreement on the controversial consequential adjustments of salaries of workers after a series of meetings in Abuja, punctuated by threats of national strike by labour. In the agreement signed, workers on grade level 07 will earn 23.2 percent; grade level 08, 20

Nigeria to host biggest Retail Sourcing Fair in West Africa Anthony Nlebem and Desmond Okon

ith the intention to impact on the distribution chain, improve market penetration for manufacturers, and connect stakeholders to global investors, Atlantic Exhibitions will hold the 2019 edition of the Retail Sourcing Fair. Re t a i l So u r c i n g Fa i r (RSF) is a trade-only fair focusing exclusively on retail and commercial products for the home, office, gift and textile sectors. The trade event will hold on the 12th to 14th of November, at the Convention Center, Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos. Welcoming guests at a press briefing on the upcoming fair, Ayo Paul Olugbade, managing director, Atlantic Exhibition, describes RSF as a platform that will connect local distributors and retailers across West Africa, and offer exposure on an unprecedented scale. Many factors and favourable forecast may have contributed to the position that Nigeria’ retail sector now enjoys as the largest for local

and international investors. Most notably, the burgeoning population has been said by experts to be a key contributing factor. Estimated at a population of nearly 200 million, Nigeria offers a fast growing middle and emerging middle class with a consumer spending in excess of $100billion (N36.2 trillion) a year. Nigeria’s middle class has grown by 600 percent and now includes 4.1 million households, equivalent to 11 percent of the population, Olugbade said in his welcome address. Further on the growth of the industry, a research by the Global Retail Development Index puts Nigeria as the leading retail market in Africa with a record of $125billion retail sales in 2016. Nigeria’s domestic luxury market is valued at $213 million. Wholesale and retail sales are already the third largest contributors to Nigeria’s GDP, contributing 16 percent, according to the report. Therefore, Olugbade is convinced that the planned fair “is the most cost-effective way to access the

African marketplace.” He also stated that his organisation is in partnership with Leoht Africa in order to bring the event together. Speaking on market growth in Nigeria, the project director of Leoht Africa, co-oraganisers of the fair, and China Brand Show, Bunmi Aliyu their believe in the opportunity for future growth led to the establishment of Leoht Africa’ international office in Lagos. She said the fair is focused at establishing a presence for manufacturers in key markets on the continent and attendees from across 12 countries including over 400 Manufacturers, 3000 trade visitors across the public and private sectors. “We have long championed new designs and African manufacturers. Now we are excited to add Homegrown: Best of Africa pavilion, a new area focused on Manufacturers and with talent for producing extraordinarily products from across East and West Africa including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana among others. This section is aimed at export and intra African Sourcing,” she said, explaining what to expect at the event.

percent; grade level 09, to earn 19 percent; grade level 10-14, 16 percent while grade level 15 -17 will receive salary increase of 14 percent. Timothy Olawale, the director-general of NECA, in a statement on Friday, praised both parties for resolving the impasse without another avoidable strike, which could have further stifled the economy. He urged the government to abide by the contents of the agreement, especially given the fact that the new National Minimum Wage had been signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari since April 24, 2019. He also called on organised labour to roll up their sleeves for improved productivity, as the nation needed all hands to be on deck to exit the present economic challenges. “The time is ripe to ensure and align reward system with productivity in the workplace, and this should be applicable in both the private and public sectors in the country,” said Olawale. On its part, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), described the agreement as “victory for all.”

Ayuba Wabba, president of the NLC, said: “We want to thank Nigerian workers and our affiliate unions for their support, solidarity and unity of purpose throughout the difficult negotiations. It is heartwarming that the process was eventually rewarding. We must say that, as always, we disappointed the antics of those whose interest lies elsewhere than the common goal of protecting and advancing the interest of ordinary Nigerian workers. He said that the hardwon salary adjustment will benefit all categories of workers including those in the military and paramilitary services. “Apart from workers, the recent salary increase will also benefit ordinary citizens especially those in the informal sector as the increase in the available disposable income of workers will translate into a stronger purchasing power for our people,” NLC said. Labour, however, urged the government to resist the temptation to hike the prices of utility services so as not to erode the gains of the salary increment. “Any further increase

in the prices of petroleum products, electricity tariff and personal income taxes would amount to collecting with the left hand what is given to workers with the right hand,” it said. While commending state governments that have already commenced implementation of the new national minimum wage, the NLC urged that the implementation should be a product of collective bargaining process in line with ILO Convention 98 on organising and collective bargaining. It also called on all employers of labour in the 36 states and Abuja as well as the Organised Private Sector (OPS) to complete the implementation process of the new national minimum wage and consequential wage adjustment forthwith. “State councils of the NLC are hereby directed to offer leadership and work harmoniously with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and JNPSNC and all unions to ensure effective implementation of the new national minimum wage and the consequential salary adjustment that must be reached through a process of collective bargaining,” the NLC said.

Oyo targets N20bn monthly IGR in the next four years REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

yo State government has set a target of N20 billion monthly internally-generated revenue (IGR) before the end of the Governor Seyi Makinde’s first term in office. The state’s IGR was reported to be between N2billion and N2.5billion during the tenure of the former governor, Abiola Ajimobi. The state’s Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Wasiu Olatunbosun said all efforts were concentrated at plugging tax holes so as to increase the state’s revenue. “It is the belief of Governor Seyi Makinde that Oyo State can be taken from a civil servicepropelled economy to an agro-business-driven economy and before the first term of this administration runs out, we will be looking towards

achieving about N20billion IGR target. Th e c o m m i s s i o n e r, who spoke at a one-day workshop for the state media officers which held in Ibadan, said the four cardinal focus of the administration were education, primary healthcare, agrobusiness and security. While urging the media officers to key into the agenda of Makinde to achieve the set target, Olatunbosun said: “You cannot enlighten people as a media practitioner if you are not enlightened; therefore, the current administration believes in training of its officers to achieve maximum yield and productivity, especially for them to key into the agenda and aspirations of the government. “This government is pro-people and would always deal with communication from the bottom to the top, we believe in the use of town hall meetings where all stakeholders would gather and set target for government

as well as give feedback on the activities of the administration. “All these require government media officers to be up-to-date, diligent and efficient, they are the reasons government has embarked on training the officers in this particular cadre among others.” Also, at the event were the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Taiwo Adisa and the Executive Assistant to the governor on Administration, Idowu Ogedengbe, who said the state government was working towards improving human capital index of the state workers towards enhancing the economy of the state. One of the State Media officers, Temilola Akarah said she benefited immensely from the training as the last time the state government organised such for the media officers was over ten years ago, urging the government to continue to provide facilities needed for their job.

Sunday 20 October 2019

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BDSUNDAY 41

LifestyleHomes&Suites

Paul Ojenagbon pauloje2000@yahoo.com

Pacific Shelters for the midas touch

n the beautiful stable of Pacific Shelters & Projects Limited is an array of jaw dropping houses and mini estates in various locations of the Lekki Phase 2 corridor of Lagos. At the modern Chevyview Estate is a collection of 12 units of newly completed 5-bedroom detached duplex for sale. The well appointed house have been getting considerable attention in the real estate realm in recent time,so much that only a unit is left of the fantastic lot. For a start, Chevyview in which the duplexes are located is a private,gated estate provided with modern amenities and facilities including electricity, street lights, treated water, staff quarters, paved roads with covered drains. On a beautiful landscape that belies a serene location are also police post,schools, hospital while a shopping mall is just nearby. Each duplex is ensuite,infact with 6 bathrooms and two living rooms. The rooms are spacious and each unit comes with a rugged stampede floor.Electricity supply is constant and is guaranteed round the clock. What is more, the change- over is automatic and thus stress free. Airconditioners are pre-installed in all the bed rooms, kitchen and living room. The kitchens are fully fitted and complete

Pacific Shelter

Chevyview Estate

with fridge, microwave, smoke detector among others.Also pre-installed are speakers for multi-sound system to listen to radio in all rooms including the kitchens on 7 different channels.

Security is enhanced with a gated entrance,heavy surveillance with CCTV and other devices. There is adequate parking facility with delineated parking spots.For recreation and func-

Chevyview Estate

Orchid Road Houses

tions of residents, a green area has been set aside. The development at Orchid Road is ongoing and comprises 6 units of 4-bedroom semi-detached duplexes. The

houses,each attached with a boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; quarters are designed to be impeccably finished with high functionality and adorned with modern,top notch quality fittings,well interlocked compound with carport. The units with proximity to Chevron Headquarters are located on tarred road with well connected drainage.The major entrances have solid security doors. The windows are high and wide to provide good lighting and ventilation. The kitchen is fully fitted and with a pantry for storage. There is CCTV camera around the house to boost security. The development at the Ad d r e s s Es t a t e c o m p r i s e s 5-bedroom detached maisonettes. The features of the others are somewhat replicated in different dimensions but it offers a premium range with its swimming pool and classy gym house. The rooms too are particularly large to pass for executive massive living room and the bedrooms as executive suites purportedly in a top rate hotel. They all have Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consent for title which is the highest title in the state,thus dousing any doubts about the land ownership.Each unit of the Chevyview duplexes carries an N85 million price tag,the Orchid Road houses N65 million and the Address Estate duplex N90 million. Interestingly, there are just a few units left of any to confirm that the developer commands immense appeal.

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Sunday 20 October 2019

Analysis 2020 Budget, oil benchmark and Amnesty programme

ZEBULON AGOMUO resident Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, October 8, 2019, presented the 2020 Appropriation Bill, which has N10.33 trillion as an aggregate expenditure proposed for the Federal Government. The budget also has the sum of N8.155 trillion estimated as the total Federal Government revenue in 2020 and comprises oil revenue N2.64 trillion, non-oil tax revenues of N1.81 trillion and other revenues of N3.7 trillion. The budget was based on the assumption of $57 per barrel with crude oil production of 2.18 million barrels per day and the exchange rate at N305 to $1. From the budget proposal, observers say that continued peace in the Niger Delta would go a long way in determining the successful execution of the budget. According to those who hold this view, any crisis in the oil-bearing region would prove detrimental to the realisation of the revenue for the execution of the projects laid out in appropriation bill. Charles Dokubo, special adviser to the President and the coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, recently acknowledged the real impact of the Presidential Amnesty Programme with improved stability in the Niger Delta region. He highlighted that it has allowed daily oil production to grow from less than 700,000 barrels, since he came into office, to the current level of close to two million barrels per day. For some time now, the Niger Delta region has continued to enjoy peace and tranquility. Some observers have attributed this to the effort of those handling the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) despite some misgivings in some quarters. “The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is very lucky for the relative peace that is being enjoyed in the Niger Delta since he assumed office. I think the Presidential Amnesty Programme should be commended for this,” Ambrose Oke, who claims to have followed developments in the Niger Delta since 1999, said. Oke, who traced the wanton destruction that used to be synonymous with the region, recalled that between 2007 and 2009, activities of militants and armedbearing youths of the region disrupted crude oil production in the area, costing Nigeria huge revenue losses. According to him, “The decision of the then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to float the Amnesty Programme was to stem the agitation and to halt the financial bleeding. Although there were also some threats here and there during the Goodluck Jonathan administration from some of the militants, particularly on how the Amnesty

President Buhari presenting 2010 Budget

Programme was being implemented, especially those who alleged they were not being captured or that they were being excluded, today, the Programme has been able to weather the storm and a lot of those involved are happy. Of course, you cannot rule out some complaints here and there. By and large, it has been a success and ultimately for the good of the country in general.” An analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that there has been relative peace in the region which the current government is also enjoying. “Although the 2020 budget proposal is not all about oil, it however, occupies a significant portion of the expected revenue even at a benchmark of $57 per barrel. We know that government has always reaped hugely far above the estimate, because price of crude oil could go as high as $75 and above per barrel. So, all I am saying is that, if there is an unrest in the Niger Delta today, of the proportion we experienced some years back when oil companies fled the region and production nosedived, you could imagine the danger the Federal Government would be in,” the analyst said. “I think both the Niger Delta ministry and the Amnesty Programme should be commended for a good job so far, and there is need for more support from the centre,” he further said. Today, many of the restive youths, who used to carry arms, have either been trained or are being trained in various skills to earn a descent living, hence, the peace

that is being enjoyed in the area. It is said that the over 33,000 exmilitants are enjoying the payment of monthly stipends, vocational training and education to reintegrate them into the society. In addition to this number, However, Dokubo is said to have introduced the concept of “Empowering Niger Delta people and women from impacted communities.” This means that the office, from time to time, will empower people from those communities scattered across Niger Delta who were directly affected by the 2009 Niger Delta crisis, in a effort to rehabilitate them and provide a better means of livelihood for them. Speaking recently, Dokubo insisted that the programme has provided an impetus to efforts to sustain and consolidate peace in

Charles Dokubo

the hitherto restive Niger Delta region. Dokubo, who spoke during an interactive session with beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme undergoing training in various skills, said the Programme has been taken to higher level. “The Amnesty Programme has been at the forefront of the peace consolidation and peace enforcement. It has brought peace and stability to the Niger Delta. We have been able to interact with those in that environment and have bought them into our dreams. “Niger Delta is now known for peaceful development because there is no development without security. I want you to show Nigerians that Amnesty is now into more of training so that our beneficiaries can develop a skill after

being trained, and then work. That is the last aspect of the Amnesty Programme which is the reintegration phase,” he said. “When we train people, we give them jobs and they earn salaries. When they earn salaries, they can take care of their families, not with stipends,” he further said. Last month, the Programme empowered 100 rural women in coastal communities across the Niger Delta. They were given starter packs to enable them be self-reliant. They were the first batch among 400 rural women to be empowered in the fishing sector. Murphy Ganagana, special assistant (Media), quoted him as saying: “We are doing a lot to ensure the sustenance of peace and development of the Niger Delta. The flag-off of the empowerment of rural women in fishing is tailored towards actualising our objectives. Training and empowerment of beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme will be pursued vigorously in the days ahead so that Mr. President will realise his dream for the Niger Delta”. “You will agree with me that when you empower women, you are empowering a nation. Today, history is being made as a new chapter of the Presidential Amnesty Programme is written which to me can be chronicled and archived as actualising the economic eldorado of the Niger Delta women,” he further said. The Amnesty Office said it had adopted a new strategy to sustain the stability and security in the Niger Delta region, adding that the new strategy combines training of ex-combatants with their job placements on graduation. He said the senior members of the ex-combatants group who have graduated from the training have been encouraged to deploy their skills to establish industries and other business to create employment for others. “The ex-combatants, who acquired trainings in different fields have now established industries that are employing other people. If all those who have been trained under the amnesty programme could go back to their states to establish industries, the country would be talking less of conflicts and crisis in the Niger Delta region,” Dokubo said. Speaking on the essence of extending the empowerment to the rural women, a Delta State indigene, who claim to work in the Amnesty Programme office, said: “Don’t forget that it was some mothers that encouraged their children to join the militancy in the first place. These women were being provided for by those boys; now that the boys are being weaned off such dangerous activities, their mothers also need to be taken care of by government, which is what is happening now to achieve the desired peace. I can tell you that it is paying off.”

Sunday 20 October 2019

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BDSUNDAY 43

Sports Barcelona, Real Madrid agree December 18 for El Clasico … but LaLiga insists on December 4 to protect TV rights of other clubs

Anthony Nlebem

arcelona and Real Madrid have proposed December 18 as new date for El Clasico after the October 26 match was postponed, according to statement from both clubs. The Barcelona will not host Real Madrid in the first El Clasico of the season at the Camp Nou on October 26 due to security fears amid the Catalan political crisis. Instead, Barcelona will propose the date of Wednesday December 18, which is a favourable date for Real Madrid as well. As part of a club statement, Barcelona have defended their fans and their exemplary behaviour at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid issued a statement of their own not long after Barcelona did, confirming that December 18 was the preferred new date for the sides. “After the resolution of the Competition Committee of the Spanish Football Federation to postpone the game that was to be played on Saturday October 26 between FC Barcelona

and Real Madrid CF, and which establishes that the clubs agree on a new date for the event, Real Madrid announces that the date proposed by both clubs is December 18.” “On Thursday the Barcelona informed the Spanish Football Federation’s (RFEF) Competition Committee of its decision to say no to playing the game at the Santiago

Bernabeu Stadium, as proposed by the Spanish Football League (LFP),” the statement read. “Barcelona’s desire was to play the Clasico at Camp Nou on the 26th, the date and time previously agreed and the Committee was informed of this in writing. “The Barcelona has the utmost confidence in the civic and pacific attitude of its members and fans

who always express themselves in exemplary fashion at Camp Nou,” Barcelona published on their official website. “Nevertheless, having received the decision of the RFEF Competition Committee to postpone the game citing “exceptional circumstances” and given that it falls to the clubs to agree a new date for the game before

Monday, the Club will propose 18 December. “The Club regrets the inconvenience that this postponement may cause to members, supporters’ club members and fans and it has now begun the necessary steps to refund money from Monday 21 October for tickets already purchased,” it concluded. But LaLiga is advocating that El Clasico be played on December 4th to protect the economic interests of the other clubs. With the initial October 26 date postponed due to the current political unrest in Catalonia and therefore fears over security, the two teams agreed that December 18 would be their preferred rendezvous. However, LaLiga feel that the teams competing in the Copa del Rey on December 18 would suffer from a loss of TV money as El Clasico would take centre stage. According to LaLiga sources, a December 4 meeting would “would defend the interests of the professional clubs, whose TV rights are commercialised collectively, and not just two of them” in reference to Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Buhari leads dignitaries to First Bank Georgian Cup Centenary grand finale

Verve promotes fitness and wellness with ‘Go Hard or Go Home’

ANTHONY NLEBEM

s the battle for top honours at the ongoing 2019 First Bank Georgian Cup centenary Polo Tournament reach its feverish heights this weekend, there are strong indications that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari would led a long convoy of dignitaries to the closing ceremony of the international polo fiesta on Sunday. President of Kaduna Polo Club, Suleiman Abubakar who dropped this hints, lauded the ground breaking participation of the Presidency with the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika leading the campaign for the First Bank powered 400 Georgian Trophy that is celebrating its 100th edition this year. Abubakar, who hailed First Bank on the landmark of Georgian Cup commitment, stated that Nigerian Presidents and Heads of State have over the years patronized the tourney since its inauguration a century ago, as the biggest international sports cum tourism event in the cosmopolitan city. “Yes, we would be greatly honoured to have the President as the Special Guest of Honour of the grand finale of our international festival that celebrate one of the world’s oldest polo prizes and the Guinness Book of Records sponsorship by Nigeria premier banking institution, First Bank Plc, that spans a century now,” says Abubakar. According to the organizers, president Buhari will be joined by first class emirs across the country,

Georgian Cup final match between defending champions Kaduna EL-Amin and Abuja Rubicon last year. President Buhari is expected as the Special Guest of Honur at the 2019 grand finale of the Georgian Cup Centenary tournament.

diplomats and business gurus at the closing ceremony of the First Bank tournament that promotes the development of polo and sports generally in the country. “This is yet another bold statement of our resolve to contribute to the development of the noble game of kings as well as impact positively on the physical and mental wellbeing of the teeming youths in the country,” Abubakar pointed out. Already, a record entry of teams from all the major polo centres across the country, are jostling for top prizes at stake in the weeklong festival that would remain the biggest tourism cum polo event in the years to come. Top Nigerian patrons like Sueliman Abubakar, Mohammed Babangida, Senator Hadi

Sirika, Murtala Laushi and Bashir Bashir Dantata since last week are locked in epic polo battles to decide the king of the Centenary edition of prestigious First Bank Georgian Cup polo grand slam. The race for the Emir of Katsina, Imani and EL-Amin cups have been fierce with no clear favorites in sight since the tourney galloped off on a blistering note, as equally match 35 teams with enough horse power and foreign professionals are pushing for the finals. President Buhari is expected to roll in the ball for the final match of the Georgian Cup thereafter, lead other top dignitaries to present prizes to the winners and runners up at a colourful closing ceremony and centenary would draw the curtain on the international polo extravaganza.

erve International continues to blaze the trail and inspire Nigerians to a lifestyle of fitness and wellness. On Saturday October 12, 2019, the pan-African innovative payment Card brand hosted fitness enthusiasts with fun and wellness enhancing sessions at the event tagged: ‘Verve Life 3.0’. This year’s event is the third edition, themed “Go Hard or Go Home”; aimed at motivating Nigerians to push themselves, adopt healthy lifestyle, workout regularly, keep fit and refuse all excuses that peopleoftengiveforkeepingsedentary habits. Participants at the event were treated to sessions of exciting body transformational workout and healthy routines. Cherry Eromosele, Group Chief Marketing and Communication officer, Interswitch, said: “We tap into identified customer passion points because that’s what make people tick. We have therefore designed the Verve Life event experience to leverage fitness, fun, healthy food and living. Fitness and wellness enthusiasts thus come out in un-

precedented numbers year after year to work out and network”. This year, not even the torrential rain that fell all day could dampen the excitement. The event was well attended by corporate executives, celebrities and individuals from all walks of life. Celebrities who attended the event this year include Mike Edwards, first runner up of the just concluded Big Brother Naija; Tobi Bakre, ex-BBN star; Kaffy, the choreographer; Bovi, comedian, Sani Danja and Odunlade Adekola both Nollywood stars. Participants were treated to delightful and engaging sessions involving fitness challenges, as well as Masterclasses on Boxing, Strength and Conditioning, Dance, Yoga, Zumba, Martial Arts, Nutrition and much more. There was a fitness challenge where Elastiick Abah and Ngozika Okwundu emerged winners in the Male and Female categories, respectively. They went home with handsome sums of money as reward. Three runners-up in the male and female categories of the fitness challenge also went home with exciting cash prizes each.

L-R: Odunlade Adekola, Nollywood star; Mike Edwards and Tobi Bakre, both from Big Brother Naija; Babafemi Ogungbamila, Chief Information Officer, Interswitch; Mike Ogbalu III, CEO, Verve International; Cherry Eromosele, Group Chief Marketing Officer, Interswitch and Mitchell Elegbe, GMD / Founder, Interswitch Group at Verve Life 3.0 held in Lagos, recently.

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NEW YOU CAN TRUST

SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER 2019

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Can the Economic Advisory Council make the difference?

hen in early November 2015 yours truly raised an alarm over an impending economic recession via an opinion essay, published in some newspapers, it was taken by policy makers with a pinch of salt. In fact, there were denials from government quarters that any form of an economic downturn was in the offing. To those with the philosopher-king mentality, who never make mistakes, one’s position then was but a figment of someone’s weird imagination! But barely two months later, precisely in January 2016, it became one harsh reality that could not be wished away with a wave of even a magician’s hand. That essay was titled: ‘Are we prepared for the looming economic recession?’ Instructively, one had admonished Mister President to assemble a team of top technocrats, outside government circle as a think-tank on the country’s economy as what earlier reflected in another essay entitled: ‘The Power of Change’. The caveat was that the pilot of the ship of state must be ready and willing to listen to the wise counsel of these men and women of honour, to steer the nation safely out of the stormy economic waters. One can therefore, only imagine the immense delight felt when on September 16,2019 the Federal Government made public the names of the members of the new Economic Advisory Council(EAC). Made up of Prof. Doyin Salami as Chairman; Dr. Mohammed Sagagi (Vice-Chairman) and Dr. Muhammed Salisus (Secretary). Other distinguished members include Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Bismark Rewane, Dr. Iyabo Masha, Dr. Shehu Yahaya and Prof. Ode Ojowu. The EAC has come to replace the Economic Management Team (EMT) as once headed by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. The new body will be reporting directly to President Muhammadu Buhari. Essentially, members are to advise him on sundry economic matters traversing policies and their direction, economic growth or otherwise, as well as local and global economic matters and their impact on the quality of life of the hapless citizens of Nigeria. Honestly, this move has become an imperative. One does not need rocket science to realise that all is not well with our economy. With the economic growth reducing to 1.94percent at the end of Q2, 2019 compared to a positive performance report, with the gross domestic product (GDP) growth at about 2.38 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) calls for

concern.What with the parlous state of infrastructure, characterised by pothole-riddled roads, epileptic electric power supply and increased flooding that has ravaged farmlands across the country? What more for a pauperised populace that has to pay 7.5percent(up from 5percent) for Value Added Tax (VAT), multiple taxes after increase in the pump price of petroleum products and gearing up to pay toll-gate fees? Add these to the sudden increase in the cost of bags of rice and poultry products after the closure of borders! That all these economic shenanigans are playing out in the face of rising unemployment, and poverty, humungous, unjustifiable debts that have reached N25.7 trillion escalating by N3.3trillon in only one year dims hopes for an early economic growth. According to the World Bank Group on Nigeria Overview, it would be recalled “that in 2016 during its first recession in 25 years, the economy contracted by 1.6percent. Since 2015, economic growth remains muted. Growth averaged 1.9percent in 2018 and remained stable at 2percent in the first half of 2019”. Though recent data, in October, 2019 suggests that the economy gathered momentum in Q3, and preliminary OPEC data showed that oil output averaged higher in Q3 than in Q2, the absence of true fiscal federalism cannot grow the economy. Let us glean from the views of two members of the EAC- Rewane and Soludo, going by their public lectures. According to Rewane, in his thought-provoking lecture delivered during the 8th Convocation of Bells University of Technology, Ota in November, 2016 economic development can be measured by looking at the state of human development, institutional structure/evolution as well as physical development. The Human Development Index (HDI) as the closest measurecovers thethreerelateddimensions of knowledge, a long and healthy life and a decent standard of living. Another measure is the state of institutions in a country. He had admonished that we do away with the mentality of polarised institutions, certain group of individuals and organisations that tend to capture all the wealth, power and opportunities the country has to offer. He lamented that Nigeria, which recorded one of the fastest growing economies in the world between 2006 and 2016, found itself during the recession in 2016 “in one of her darkest moments.

According to him, the flicker of hope we have is that digital technology that has taken precedence with the growth of startups in areas such as hospitality, tourism, agriculture, education and financial services. The fastest growing segment in the Service Sector is ICT which accounts for 10percent of the country’s GDP. Nigeria’s capacity for innovation was ranked 77th amongst 138 countries. Internet penetration has hit47.44percent the second highest in Africa. And four telecoms operators have rolled out 4G services. On his part, Soludo’s lecture themed: ‘Redesigning the Nigerian Economy with New Ideas’ was held at The Covenant Place, beside the National Theatre, Iganmu on October 1, 2019 at the instance of ‘The Platform’. In his candid view, for the national economy, it will be difficult to have a competitive and prosperous post-oil economy of the future with the same legal and institutional foundation designed for consumption of oil rent. Said he: “You can’t build a 100 storeybuilding upon a foundation of an old bunga-

“Things may get even more difficult…But any sustainable economic progress will require a new direction, driven by a cocktail of comprehensive and timely policy actions implemented by a forwardlooking and innovative government.” -Bismarck Rewane (November, 2017) low. You can’t clap with one hand. Once the focus is wealth-creation rather than sharing and consumption of oil rents, we need a new national business model”. He has therefore, advocated devolution

AYO OYOZE BAJE Baje is Nigerian first food technologist in the media and author of ‘DRUMBEATS OF DEMOCRACY’ 07068638066

of powers according to the principle of subsidiarity and variable geometry - away from the current system of unitary-federalism, with its choking concentration of powers and responsibilities at the inefficient centre; thereby giving power back to the people. In addition, he has suggested the Productive ProgressivePPConstitutionthatwouldunleash the competitive spirit, hard work, innovation and efficiency which are the hallmarks of prosperous economies of the future.Nigeria urgently needs a new Fiscal Responsibility Act to constrain irresponsible fiscal behaviour and provide incentives to create wealth. It also needs a Legal-Judicial infrastructure for economic transformation. For me, answers that members of EAC should be fathoming for the President and the country are fuelled by some salient economic questions. For instance, how do we provide the enabling environment (secur i t y , stable infrastructure, single-digit interest loans, increase in purchasing power) for manufacturing to thrive? How do we increase, not just food production but the value chain issues of safe, secure, storage facilities, preservation and processing to international standards for both local consumption and export? Something should be done to resuscitate the long-prostrate Ajaokuta Steel Company that has the capacity to generate over half a million jobs if functioning effectively. The EAC certainly has to find pragmatic solutions and advise the President on the best way out of the economic wood. And the President must have a listening ear, muster the political will to do the needful beyond personal, parochial, political sentiments, all in the national interest. Only that would stand his legacies in good stead.

Quick Takes

Off the Cuff

N170.7bn

Shiites and FG: War without end? M

embers of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), popularly known as Shiites, again clashed with men of the Nigerian Police Force, who who were said to have dispersed the Shiites, following a simultaneous protest march organised by the group in parts of the country and the nation’s capital on Friday. The march was planned to be a prelude to a bigger one nicknamed ‘Araben march’ slated for yesterday (Saturday). Spokesman of the sect, Ibrahim Musa, hinted that the essence was to demand the release of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zak Zaky held by the Department of Security Service (DSS). Musa claimed that the march was largely peaceful in Kano, Kaduna states and in other places but that in Abuja, the police fired canisters of teargas at the IMN members at Custom Jumàat Mosque zone 3, Abuja as they were marching and chanting free El-ZakZaky slogans. The group has remained undaunted in its request for the freedom of their spiritual leader, who has been incarcerated since 2015 by the Federal Government. There have been violent protests by the group as well as peaceful ones. A good number of members have lost their lives in the struggle. Some judicial pronouncements had since mandated government to al-

low the man to go home, on bail. These have not been heeded, a situation people say may have aggravated the impasse. A court in Abuja had declared the group a terrorist organisation and proscribed its activities, while the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu had warned that the group would be treated like terrorists should they disturb the peace of the nation. The sect has clashed severally with the security agencies while demanding the release of their detained leader, leading to casualties. In the last Ashura procession they held nationwide, to commemorate the revered Shia Imam Ali, about 12 members of the sect were said to have died when the security agents tried to quell the procession in September. In July, the clash between the police and the sect in Abuja led to the death of a Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), DCP Usman Umar and a cub reporter with ChannelsTV serving out his NYSC with the television station. Recently, a court in Kaduna granted ElZakZaky bail to seek medication in India but controversy over his choice of doctors in the Indian hospital soon led to his sudden return to the country and he has since been held by the DSS. Although the Federal Government has established reasons to prosecute the religious leader,

many influential Nigerians have, however, asked government to allow the rule of law take its course to avoid being accused of trampling upon the grundnorm that confers legitimacy on the government in the first place. Government has stuck to its guns, believing that the man’s freedom at this moment may not serve the country well. But El-ZakZaky’s followers think otherwise, hence the repeated standoff. It does not appear that there is any sign of rapprochement soon. It does appear that the members of the IMN are not in a haste to back down, and the Federal Government does not also seem to be perturbed by the man’s lingering stay in custody. Efforts made to contact Anjuguri Manza, the Force Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Police FCT Command, to react to the current protest and claim of arrest by the IMN did not yield fruit as he did pick his calls neither did he respond to a text message sent to him. Unconfirmed reports said that 15 of the sect members were arrested by the police. The question on the lips of many Nigerians is, ‘when will this war end?’

•Innocent Odoh, Abuja

This is the amount of money said to have been declared by the Guaranty Trust Bank Plc as profit before tax for the period ended September 30, 2019. It means that the profit is for nine months.

The bull’s eye “I am not aware of the core values of the economic development of this administration; because it should be clear to them that the first thing to do is to lay a sound foundation of infrastructure”. Olu Falae, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and ex-minister of Finance, speaking recently on government economic policies.

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