BusinessDay 21 Apr 2019

Nigeria can’t achieve security with single federal police agency – Opeyemi Agbaje

Jolly Easter as Nigerians adjust to economic realities

peyemi Agbaje is the chief executive officer (CEO) of RTC Advisory Services Ltd, a leading strategy and business advisory firm in Lagos, Nigeria.

He actively participated in the last general election, contesting the governorship primary on the

IFEOMA OKEKE AND BUNMI BAILEY

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…Airlines record full load, deploy more aircraft

platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). But he is not happy with the trends and direction of Nigerian politics. He believes that the country needs some form of restructuring, and is also worried about the challenging security situation in the country.

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onsumers across the country appear to be having a better outing this Easter than was the case last year, checks by BDSUNDAY have shown.

Unlike last year when many

people said they were not able to afford basic items for celebration including the necessary food stuff and commodities associated with festivities, the story appears different this time around.

The marked difference was also noticeable in the transportation sector where transporters seem to Continues on pages 2

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Vol 1, No. 260 N300

?? Tiger Woods and the

return of a Champion

p. 40

p.47

Market & Commodities Monitor Brent Oil

5yr Bond

$71.99

0.00 13.94%

Gold

10yr Bond

$1,276.10

0.03 14.54%

Cocoa

$2,372.0

20yr Bond

0.11 14.56%

inside NJC extends Muhammad’s tenure for another three months

p. 4

The Redemption Price: As Christians all over the world gather today in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, otherwise known as Easter, it is noteworthy that man’s redemption would not have been possible without the events of Good Friday. Here, St. Kizito Catholic Church, Iju, Lagos, displays a drama depicting Jesus carrying the cross towards his crucifixion in remembrance of His death.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

P. 21

Easter with the arts

Survival on the fringes Informal sector thrives in spite of government

CHUKA UROKO AND AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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ife appears to be very difficult for many Nigerians. Many today are surviving on the fringes, providing virtually everything including water, light and roads, in some

cases, by themselves.

A true reflection of the state of the nation and its economy is the phenomenal growth of the informal economy where operators that include carpenters, welders, plumbers, vulcanisers, motorcycle (okada) and tricycle (keke Maruwa) riders, bean-cake (akara) fryers, corn roasters, hawkers, etc, hang on to life by making ‘kobo-kobo’

and surviving on daily basis in spite of government.

But even though life and living have become a risk, the resilience brought to bear on them has produced positive outcomes. Some of these people, out of their meager earnings, have made remarkable achievements for themselves and their families.

Stories are told of a good num-

ber of Okada riders that have trained themselves in schools up to university level while ‘akara’ fryers, mostly women, train their children in schools and pay family house rents. Unarguably, Nigerians deserve a better deal from their government and it is only hoped that the next four years would lift them from the present situation.

See Pages 43-44

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News

EU collaborates with Cross River Government, signs MoU on N1.3b ICT project MIKE ABANG, Calabar

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he Cross River State government with support from European Un i o n ( E U ) , m a n aged by World Bank, has awarded a contract worth N1.3billion to Counterhouse Limited for the upgrade and reimplementation of the State Integrated Financial Management Information System (SIFMIS) of State and Local government Reform Project (SLOGOR).

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Calabar by the Ministry of International Donor Corporation and the Consultant.

The Commissioner for International Donor Corporation, Francis Etta said the project was aimed at addressing the financial opera-

Governor Ayade

tions of the state with ease.

He added that the project was also targeted at adopting a long term strategy where Information and Communication Technology would be integrated into its operations and its Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

According to him,” The project is what we call SIFMIS and if that comes operational, it means the financial operations of Cross River State would be digitalised, at a press of a button, the budget is out, the accounting systems are out and the audited account of the state will just be out unlike the way we have been going manually that takes a whole lot of time to produce an account, that would become a thing of the past and that is the core essence.

“With the governor’s concept, being a digital governor, we want to digitalise the operations in Cross River State for him.”

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Counterhouse Limited, Rotimi Olugbohungbe assured the state of delivering the project in two weeks, immediately the necessary things are put in place.

While commending Governor Ben Ayade for choosing to digitalise, he said, “We always deliver ahead of schedule and that is what we are going to do for Cross River State and when the necessary thing is done, I think we can deliver in the next two weeks.”

Speaking earlier before the signing of the MoU on behalf the state, the State Coordinator of SLOGOR, Joseph Imbufe, disclosed that the National Project Coordinating Unit (NPCU) of SLOGOR had engaged the services of expert consultants to provide technical and quality assurance support towards the success of the project.

items like a 2.6 litres Power oil pure vegetable sold at N2, 065 from N2,150, Spar classic bread for N350 from N370, Fresh frozen chicken for N1,095 from N1,246, a 750ml Ocean Breach Californian red wine for N1,220 from N1,650, a 900g Ariel brilliant strain removal for N655 from N685, and Honeywell spaghetti 500gm for N185 from N200, In the satellite television services segment, Startimes is offering an upgrade on all its bouquets for subscribers starting from April 1st to May 15th.This will give customers the opportunity to pay for subscription package on Nova, Basic, Smart and Classic bouquets and get an instant upgrade to view a higher bouquet within hours of activation.

If subscribers pay N1, 800 for two months on Nova bouquet, they get to enjoy all Basic bouquet channels for 2 months, if they pay N2, 600 for two months on the Basic bouquet, they enjoy all Classic bouquet channels for 2 months and if they pay N2, 850 for one month and half on the Classic bouquet, they enjoy 2 months subscription.

In the electronics market, Samsung is selling its LED television set of 40N5000 series for N115,000 from N146,000, Panasonic LED television 40F336m series for N98,500 from N104,000, Samsung washing machine WA75 for N139,00 from N147,200, its refrigerator RT32 series for N190,000 from N208,500 and Panasonic 2HP Air Conditional RC18RKD series for N205,000 from N215,000.

Nigeria was in recession for five consecutive quarters but returned to positive growth of 0.72 percent in the second quarter (Q2) 2017 from -0.67 percent in Q1 2016.

The economy has been recovering

since then as it grew by 1.9 percent in 2018 from 0.8 percent in 2017 Food inflation also called food prices moderated year-on-year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report inflation moderated by 2.6 percentage points to 13.45 percent in March 2019 from 16.08 percent in same period of last year “Petrol prices and CPI has been treading down and this is showing positive movement in economic activities. Mostly, you would see some sort of improved demand compared to what we had last year.

Looking at last year, there was not too much celebration. A couple of retail stores that I visited said that they are running prom unlike when they could not this last year,” Ayorinde Akinloye, a consumer goods analyst at Lagos-based CSL Stockbrokers said.

Speaking on his organisation’s plans and special offerings for its customers this season, Amalia Sebakunzi, marketing director, Domino Pizza, said: “We are doing Easter proms for all our brands. For the pizza, we have package of pizza, with chicken and two drinks for N4, 000 and cold stone ice cream, you get a family bundle of two big ice cream, two kids ice cream and cupcakes for N4, 000 and for pink perry ice cream, if you buy two cups, you get one cup for free. This started in the beginning of this month month.”

According to Sebakunzi, “So far, sales have really surged for us for the Easter promos. We will also be having bouncing castes for kids in certain places, football, games etc. this weekend and we also have an Easter eggs search on the pinkperry social page. All you have to do is look for the number of white eggs and if you tell us the right number, you get something for free.”

Jolly Easter as Nigerians adjust ...

Continued from page 1 be having a hectic time meeting up with the demands of commuters.

The aviation segment of the transport sector seems to be enjoying an increased patronage as against this time last year.

Many more people are engaging in various social activities for the Easter celebrations as prices of commodities stabilise.

Experts say this is an improvement on last year when prices of food stuff increased, making it very difficult for many people to spend and enjoy Easter celebrations.

A consumer, with a family of four, says his family will be able to celebrate this year’s Easter better than the previous year.

According to him, last year, he was not able to afford a bag of rice or a live chicken, nor was he able to take his family on outings to mark the celebration. But with food prices gradually reducing, he can afford those items he could not afford last year.

Additionally, analysts in the consumer sector say this year’s Easter celebration is quite better compared to last year’s celebration.

Yinka Ademuwagun, a consumer analyst at United Capital who believes that this year’s celebration is better, said that most companies have been able to adjust prices and consumers have been able to attune to the adjusted prices.

“There was no market last year because we just came out of recession and people were still battling with prices from the companies because most of them increased their prices due to devaluation of naira, so consumers were still trying to adapt.

“But this year is better because most of the companies have been

able to adjust prices and consumers have already adjusted to the prices,” Ademuwagun explained.

The airline business is also experiencing boom with full load factor despite increase in air fares to top destinations within Nigeria such as Abuja, Lagos, Owerri, Enugu and Port Harcourt.

BDSUNDAY’s checks show that a one-way ticket from Lagos to most of these destinations cost between N23,000 to N25,000 but as at Thursday, airfares on AirPeace rose to N45,000 to N60,000.

A one-way ticket on other domestic carriers such as Dana Air and Max Air on the above destinations cost between N36,000 to N45,000.

Despite this significant increase, airlines are experiencing full load factor, such that AirPeace and Dana Air had to deploy more aircraft to cater to the demand from these routes.

AirPeace pulled a big surprise on the travelling public as it deployed wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft for its domestic operations on the Port Harcourt-Abuja and Abuja-Port Harcourt routes on Easter Friday and Monday.

Air Peace recently acquired four Boeing 777 aircraft for its long-haul operations to Sharjah, Dubai, Johannesburg, London, Houston, Guangzhou and Mumbai. Three of the wide-body aircraft have so far been delivered to the airline in readiness for its soon-to-start international operations.

Chris Iwarah, by Air Peace Corporate Communications manager, said the carrier decided to deploy its Boeing 777 aircraft at Easter to “give Nigerians and the travelling public a taste of the luxury to expect on our international routes starting soon. The deployment of our beautiful big birds, the Boe-

ing 777 on our domestic routes this Easter begins with our Port Harcourt-Abuja and Abuja-Port Harcourt services on Easter Friday and Monday.

“Although our decision to deploy our wide-body aircraft on the domestic routes has huge financial implications for us, we are pleased to honour our pledge never to spare anything in giving our esteemed customers an exceptional feel of air travel experience.”

Kingsley Ezenwa, Media and Communications manager, Dana Air, said the airline just received one of its aircraft that had been out of the country on maintenance and quickly deployed it to Uyo and Owerri routes.

“We have recorded full load factor on our Owerri route. This Easter has been really good for us across board. Fares are determined by demand but our fares have been very pocket-friendly,” Ezenwa added.

Road transportation is also experiencing a surge in passengers and prices from Lagos to top destinations like Abuja, Imo, Owerri, Aba, Delta, Asaba have also increase from N5,000 to about N8,000 to N12,000 on Peace Mass, Young Shall Grow, EkeneDili Chukwu and God is Good.

Businesses have also experienced boom as retail outlets and stores are wooing consumers with promotional offers and pushing out affordable items for shoppers.

Some of these retail stores reviewed by BDSUNDAY include SPAR, one of the largest chains of hypermarket stores in Nigeria, Panasonic and Samsung electronics stores and Startimes, a TV station provider.

SPAR store at Opebi, Lagos State Easter promo sales is currently showcasing discounted

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News Insecurity: Kwara Assembly makes case for establishment of army barracks in Kaiama SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

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he Kwara State House of Assembly has called on the state government to liaise with the Federal Government to expedite action on the establishment of Army Barracks in Kaiama Local Government Area of the state to curtail bandits’ activities.

The lawmakers equally called on the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to extend the ban on illegal mining to Kaiama/ Baruten axis of the state to reduce infiltration of miners and criminals in the area.

The call was part of the resolutions of the House on a motion on the resurgence of banditry in Kaiama moved by Ahmed Ibn Mohammed, representing Kaiama/ Kemanji/Wajibe Constituency, and read by the Speaker, Ali Ahmad.

The House also admonished the federal ministries of Agriculture and Environment to reduce the size of the over 43,000 sqm forest in the town by allocating part of it for farming.

The state legislature also called on the State Government to intervene in the security of lives and property in the area.

The Ali Ahmad-led legislature

advised the traditional institution in the state to be vigilant, especially with the influx of strangers into their different communities.

Shedding light on the motion,

NJC extends Muhammad’s tenure for another three months TONY AILEMEN, Abuja

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he National Judicial Council (NJC) on Saturday said it has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to extend acting appointment of Justice Tanko Muhammad by three months.

In a statement signed by Soji Oye, the director of information, the NJC took the decision at its 88th meeting held on Thursday.

The statement puts to rest speculations on the status of Tanko Muhammad, who tenure as acting chief justice of Nigeria is expected to expire, midnight of April 25, 2019.

Recall that Tanko Muhammad took office as acting CJN when he was sworn in by president Muhammadu Buhari on January 25, 2019, following the suspension of Walter Onnoghen, former CJN, on alleged corruption charges.

But the NJC in a statement on Saturday stated that its attention “has been drawn to an online newspaper and daily newspaper reports stating that the Council would meet next week to deliberate on

the extension of the acting appointment of Justice Tanko Muhammad, as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.

“Contrary to the above, the Council actually met on Thursday April 18, 2019 and at the 88th Meeting considered and approved the request of President Muhammadu Buhari for the extension of the appointment of Tanko Muhammad as the acting chief justice of Nigeria for another three (3) months and Council has since forwarded its approval to the president.

With the extension, it is expected that president Buhari will any moment send Justice Tanko Muhammad’s name to

the Senate for confirmation as the substantive CJN as provided for in Section 231(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Section 231(5), which gives the NJC powers to recommend the CJN for appointment states that “Except on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, an appointment pursuant to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, shall cease to have effect after the expiration of three months from the date of such appointment and the President shall not re-appoint a person whose appointment has lapsed.”

its prime mover, Ibn Mohammed said the resurgence of banditry in Kaiama was unfortunate as it could escalate into serious danger to lives and property.

Others who contributed to the motion included Kamal Fagbemi, AbdulRhaman Akani and the House Leader, Hassan Oyeleke expressed fear and called for urgent action.

The state lawmakers therefore, urged the state government to intervene in the security of lives and property in the area, as they even advised the traditional institution in the state to be vigilant, especially with the influx of strangers into their different communities Meanwhile, the House has set up a 3-man committee to liaise with the APC Transition Implementation Committee on the letter it wrote to the House requesting for handing over report.

The 3-man committee headed

by Kamal Fagbemi (Oke-Ogun Constituency) has Felicia Ebun Owolabi (Ekiti Constituency) and Ahmed Ibn Mohammed (Kaiama/ Kemanji/Wajibe Constitutnecy) as members.

The committee, according to the Speaker of the House, is to interface with the House on the essence of the letter given the fact that the legislature is not an Executive arm of government.

NYSC denies negligence, cover up in Bauchi female Youth Corps’ death HARUNA NINGI, Bauchi ‎

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he management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Bauchi State has denied negligence or attempt to cover up the death of a female youth corps member in the state.

The Bauchi State NYSC Coordinator, Afolayan James in a statement confirmed that the deceased, 28year old corps member, Magdalene Yohanna died about two weeks ago at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) Bauchi.

He said that the deceased was rushed to the hospital when she had a suspected Asthma attack during the Batch A Orientation exercise.

He however denied media reports that the NYSC was negligent and covered up the incident.

According to the statement, the deceased lied in the medical report she submitted during her registration.

James informed in the statement that, the NYSC management refused to respond to the story in one of the national dailies on April 17th, 2019 captioned: “How NYSC concealed the death of Corps member in Bauchi camp”.

The Bauchi State NYSC Coordinator Corps member Magdalene Yohanna reported to camp hale and hearty full of enthusiasm to serve in Bauchi State and participated in all activities in

the camp willingly without being forced.

“Therefore, the Corps member did not indicate any health challenge in the registration documents she completed and neither did she complain of Asthma on arrival on camp. Furthermore, the Medical Certificate of fitness presented by the Corps member gave her a clean bill of health,” he said.

He said that the NYSC accords priority to the health, welfare and general well-being of the Corps members which informed management’s decision that Prospective Corps members must come to the orientation camp with a duly signed Medical Report by a registered Medical practitioner from a recognised Government Healthcare stating the true health condition of every Prospective Corps member.

He added that, Corps members who have serious health challenges are relocated instantly to any place where they can have adequate attention.

The NYSC Coordinator said the Morning Meditation in NYSC Orientation Camp does not involve any strenuous activities.

According to him, rendition of the National Anthem, NYSC Anthem, recitation of the National Pledge, saying the National Prayer, listening to inspirational write ups in any topic that could inculcate patriotism and selfless service in the Corps members are the only activities during morning meditations.

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News IEIEPC holds workshop for teachers on special, inclusive education Obinna Emelike

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non-governmental organisation, the Inclusive Education and Individualised Education Plan Centre (IEIEPC) has held a train-thetrainers workshop on Special and Inclusive Education for teachers in Lagos State.

A total of fifty teachers drawn from the state’s six education districts as well as some private schools participated in the one-day training held at the International Press Centre, Lagos.

The workshop covered such focus areas as best practices for inclusive and special education, effective teaching strategies for inclusive and special education teachers, classroom management strategies for children with special needs and nutrition for special needs children.

Speaking in his welcome address, the Director of the Inclusive Education and Individualised Education Plan Centre (IEIEPC) and Convener of the workshop, Oyeyinka Oluwawumi, said the Workshop was part of coordinated public-private efforts to bridge the knowledge gap and improve the capacity and capability of both special education and regular classroom teachers to facilitate the development of potentials of children with special abilities.

Oluwawumi,whiledecrying the absence of a standard national plan, also called for a modified inclusive cur-

riculum that is capable of guaranteeing a sound future for the concerned children.

“We know that ‘disability is not lack of ability to succeed; it only becomes an inability if necessary tools/ aids are not maximised’. It is quite unfortunate that there is no standard plan in most schools in Nigeria, although some consent to be using some timetable. But then again, one is obligated to ask what informed the timetable? And if teachers don’t have guides or see good reasons to have a modified curriculum to enable them specially attend to students with disabilities, how on earth do we give these children opportunities to fulfil their dreams and become successful?,” said Oluwawumi whose only daughter suffers from disability.

In her remarks, an official of the Child Guidance School, Counselling and Special Education Unit in the Lagos State Ministry of Education, Abolarin Abimbola, said the workshop is critical and supportive of the State’s commitment to giving quality education to children with special needs through capacity development of the teachers.

Also speaking in a lead presentation, a Professor of Special Education at the University of Ibadan, Professor Olufemi Fakolade, called on the participants to recognise the uniqueness and difference in behavioural needs of students in creating effective classroom management strategies.

167 promoted police officers decorated with new ranks in Edo IDRIS UMAR MOMOH /CHURCHILL OKORO, Benin

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bout 167 police officers in the Edo State police command promoted by the Police Service Commission (PSC) were recently decorated with the new ranks.

The promoted officers were decorated by the state Commissioner of police, Danmallam Mohammed.

The commissioner represented by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Danladi Isa said two Assistant Commissioners of Police were promoted to Deputy Commissioners of Police while three Chief Superintendents of Police were elevated to the rank of Assistant Commissioners of Police.

Mohammed also gave the breakdown of the promoted officers to include 10

Superintendents of Police, 24 Deputy Superintendents of Police while 128 were promoted to Assistant Superintendents of Police.

While decorating the newly promoted officers, he charged them to be diligent and dedicate more efforts to protecting the lives and properties of citizens.

He noted that their promotion came at the time when their experiences and services are crucial to abating the current incessant killings of citizens by insurgencies and internecine bloodletting among cult groups, as well as community conflicts.

“Promotion comes from God. The promotion is in line with the Inspector General of Police agenda towards boosting the image of the force and the moral of the police personnel for effective service delivery. The promotion is rather based on merit, and dedication to duty,” he said.

UK firm, 9Mobile partner to boost healthcare in Nigeria

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United Kingdom-based telemedicine company, Mobihealth International, has entered into partnership with 9Mobile to bring quality and affordable healthcare services to Nigerians.

According to a statement, the British start-up company has launched a revolutionary integrated digital healthcare telemedicine app in Nigeria to bridge the gap in Africa’s healthcare landscape.

The launch was attended by dignitaries from various walks of lives including Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the UK, Justice George Oguntade, (rtd), and the First Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser on Africa, to the United Nations, Professor Ibrahim Gambari.

Speaking at the launch in London, the Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Funmi Adewara, a UK-based physician of Nigerian heritage and Cambridge-trained bioscience entrepreneur, said: “The explosive rate of adoption of mobile technology across Africa and global digital revolution globally bodes well for the future of telemedicine.

“Nigeria is one of the fastest growing countries in mobile technology adoption with more than 160million subscribers, 40 percent smart phone penetration, 3G/4G network that rivals the United States and Europe

L-R: Nasir Ado Bayero, chairman, 9Mobile; Justice George Oguntade (rtd), Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom; Funmi Adewara, founder/chief executive officer, Mobihealth International and Ibrahim Gambari, First Under Secretary General and Special Adviser on Africa, United Nations, during the launch of Mobihealth International in London... recently.

with more than $600m spent monthly on airtime and data.

It is no longer defensible that millions of people continue to die from preventable causes when the technology exists to change the dismal narrative. Our mission is to provide people in developing countries timely access to quality healthcare services from around the world when they need it and the most costeffective manner through telemedicine.

The Chairman,9Mobiole, Prince Nasir Ado Bayero, who was at the launch, was quoted as saying, “The partnership with Mobihealth is

in line with promises made to our customers of improved service delivery in the New Year, with focus on exploring new grounds to satisfy our subscribers, this partnership could not have come at a better time where millions of Nigerians have suffered from the consequences of poor healthcare infrastructure, shortage of doctors, counterfeit medicines, quackery and high cost of treatment with millions of lives being lost annually to preventable causes.

“I am very excited that Mobihealth has chosen 9Mobile as a worthy part-

ner as it makes inroad into the Nigerian market- I have no doubt that this is a smart solution that will alleviate sufferings for millions of people.’’

The Executive Director, 9Mobile, Abdul Ado, said, “The partnership with Mobihealth International is in furtherance to 9mobile’s commitment to delivering superior customer experience.”

In his keynote speech, Gambari was quoted as saying, “Mobile connectivity remains a rallying platform for innovation and the driving force for greater inclusion.

Bauchi State University matriculates 5, 896 students …As VC cautions freshmen against cultism, exam malpractices, others Haruna Ningi, Bauchi

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auchi State University Gadau (BASUG) has matriculated 5, 896 new students for 2018/2019 academic session who gained admission into the Faculty of Social and Management sciences of the University.

The matriculation was held at the Yuli campus located some few kilometers outside Bauchi metropolis.

In his address, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Auwalu Uba revealed that 16, 908 candidates applied for admissions this year out of which 6, 353 were admitted into various programmes across the three campuses of the university at Itas/Gadau, Bauchi and Misau.

He added that out of the

6, 353 students who got admission, 5,896 registered for various courses.

He advised the new students to see their admission into the university as an achievement and study hard in order to excel in their academic pursuits.

Professor Uba further said that matriculation confers the students full member-

ship of the institution having fulfilled all necessary requirements.

“Flowing from this, every matriculated student is entitled to all rights and privileges recognised by the university which include right to access information in the library and enjoyment of all available teaching and learning facilities in the university,” he said

He enjoined them to shun cultism, sexual misbehavior, indecent dressing, examination malpractices, thuggery, fraudulent acts and other nefarious activities to avoid being expelled from the university. The Guest Speaker, Aminu Tukur while delivering a paper entitled ‘Academic Culture Processes and Procedures Guiding Studentship in the University System’, said that people who have problems like ill-health, financial difficulties and other reasons could defer their admissions after paying a non-refundable fee.

According to him, students can also have their courses changed if they could not register due to deficiencies, withdrawal on academic ground or interdisciplinary transfer due to low performance.

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BusinessDay partners Cross River’s Agric Ministry to grow state’s economy MIKE ABANG, Calabar

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usinessDay, Nigeria’s foremost business and financial daily newspaper has entered into a partnership agreement with the Cross River State Government through the Ministry of Agriculture to grow the state’s economy.

The partnership for a conference with the theme, ‘Agriculture and Food Security for Sustainable Prosperity: Cross River State Roadmap’

is to be organised by BusinessDay in collaboration with the state government.

Speaking with a team of BusinessDay at the weekend led by the Business Development Manager South-South and South East, Patrick Ijegbai, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Anthony Eneji said the partnership with the state government is a welcome development because most of the key projects of the state government are Agro-based like the rice city in Calabar, cocoa factory in Ikom, Rice Mill in Ogoja, Banana plantations in

Odukpani toothpick factory in Obubura, among others.

Eneji, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Remi Ugbe, said: “We see the need to, in a mutually beneficial collaboration, bring the potentials of the State Ministry of Agriculture to the public domain.”

In his remarks, Patrick Ijegbai said that the partnership and the conference seek to bring together critical stakeholders in the agricultural value chain to identify with the massive agricultural revolution taking place in Cross River State.

Imbibe lessons of Easter, GLO urges Christians

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lobacom, total telecommunications solutions provider, has sent a message of goodwill to Nigerians on the occasion of this year’s Easter celebrations.

In the statement, the company enjoined the Christian faithful to be sober and circumspect as they celebrate the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

While reminding Nigerians of the lessons of the season which are entrenched in “love and sacrifice,” Globacom advised Christians to use the “Easter period to further reflect deeply on the sacrifice that Jesus Christ

made on the Cross, and engage in acts of sacrifice, peace and love for one another as well as the nation during this season and beyond.”

“We pray that the mercies of our Lord Jesus Christ, which were released unto mankind at the cross of Calvary, be upon Nigerians so that they would not only live Abundant Life here on earth but would also have the joy of eternal life on the great resurrection,” Globacom said.

The statement further called on all Christians to supplicate for the peace and unity of Nigeria, urging them to exemplify the teachings of Jesus Christ which are deep-

rooted in peace for mankind and mutual forgiveness, especially at this critical time of our nation building.

Globacom used the opportunity to assure all its subscribers of quality service on the network throughout the holiday period and beyond while urging them to “spread the good news of Christ’s resurrection through the network” by making calls and sending messages of goodwill to their loved ones.

The Biblical purpose of Lent is to purify believers through prayer, sacrament, repentance of sins, almsgiving, atonement and self-denial, leading to the celebration of Easter.

Nigeria’s Prisons decongestion gains traction on N2.8bn FEC approvals ...digitalises record keeping Stella Enenche, Abuja

H AAMA keen on building competitive African maritime sector – Peterside AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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a k u k u Pe t e r side, chairman of the Association of African Maritime Administration (AAMA), has urged maritime administrations in Africa to put efforts together towards competing favourably with its counterparts in other continents.

According to him, building of a competitive maritime sector in Africa can only be achieved through continuous engagements and sharing of ideas among member states.

“Our primary aim is to uphold the tenets of the African Maritime Transport Charter (AMTC), to improve the capacity, capability and performance of Africa’s Maritime Administrations and the maritime/shipping sector with great emphasis on human resources development, technology and information sharing,” said Peterside during the 3rd session

of the Executive Council (EXCO) of the Association held recently in Casablanca, Morocco.

He said the choice of the various countries in the EXCO was to ensure geographical spread and regional representation.

Peterside, who doubles as the director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), enjoined the participants to make valuable contributions to the course of promoting the African maritime administration, as this will help to achieve set goals for the body in African.

“We will not relent in our efforts to building competitive and vibrant maritime and shipping sector, and to give Africa a voice among comity of maritime nations”, he said.

Peterside expressed optimism that the meeting will yield results and profound way forward to actualising the African Maritime Transport Charter (AMTC).

The AAMA Executive Council is made up of representatives of Central Africa (Cameroun, Cape Verde); West Africa (Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana); East Africa (Tanzania and Comoros); Southern Africa (Mozambique and South Africa); North Africa (Egypt and Sudan) and Uganda representing land-locked countries.

Recall that in 2017, Dakuku Peterside was elected as the chairman of AAMA during the 3rd conference of the body held in Nigeria and in 2018, he was reelected during the 4th AAMA Conference in Egypt.

Th e 3 r d Se s s i o n o f EXCO will focus on several issues that will continue to drive AAMA’s vision, ambition and strategy for the sustainable development of Africa’s Maritime Domain.

The meeting had in attendancel members from Cape Verde, Ghana, Tanzania, Comoros, Mozambique, South Africa, Egypt, Sudan, Uganda and Nigeria.

opecametheways of awaiting trial inmates in various Prisons across the country recently following Federal Executive Council approval of N2.8b Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), digitalisation funds The approval is expected to add spark to the process of decongesting prisons across the country, through a process of digitalisation of inmates’ records.

The development will enable the Prison authorities track records of attendance of the inmates in courts, as well as next adjourned dates of hearing of their respective cases.

Spokesman for the Service, Francis Enobore, made the disclosure in an exclusive interview with BusinessDay, in Abuja.

It will be recalled that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently approved a whopping N2.8 billion, for the digitalisation of the prisons system in the country.

This is coming in the face of the rising inmates’ population, which currently stands at 76, 000.

A breakdown of the num-

ber shows that, Awaiting Trial inmates are about 50,000, while the figure of those convicted is about 26,000.

According to Enobore, the Service was only implementing an aspect of the whole digitalisation project, which is to be implemented by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

“The federal government is intending to carry out that project under the auspices of the attorney general of the federation.

“However, the one that the Nigeria prison service did is the Prisons Information Management System (PIMS).The component of the PIMS is to have a kind of digitalised record keeping for the inmates including their court attendance.

“The essence is to ensure that cases are given speedy hearing .With the introduction of PIMS, we are able to monitor court attendance, know why cases are adjourned, do a follow up and know where there are gaps in addition to that, it will enable us keep permanent record of anybody that has ever been to the prison.

“Like what happened in the country sometime ago where someone was alleged

to have been prison and was subject to speculation with this technology, anybody who has ever had contact with the prisons will have his/her biometrics taken and kept permanently so that at any point in time the identity of such a person will be revealed”, Enobore said.

When asked how the NPS will come in, since they already have the PIMS on ground, he said’: “Now that a concept that is been propagated , you know everything is geared towards giving acceleration to pending cases so, whichever way it comes ,it is going to be of tremendous benefit to the prisons because of course you already know that one of the biggest challenges we have is the issue of congestion.

“If we are able to have a digitalised system that will ensure that cases of awaiting trial are heard speedily, it will enhance the management of that category of prisoners in our custody.

“Now that the Federal Government has graciously approved that the project will be carried out the prison service, as a custodian of these prisoners, it will be of great interest to us”.

WhenBusinessDayasked for further clarification of the project, against the backdrop of fear of duplication, the Prisons’ spokesman noted thus: ’’No, they are not going to do the same kind of jobs. The one approved by FEC, is under the auspices of the attorney general of the federation. Of course you know justice process involves those that have the arresting power, those that prosecute and those that pronounce judgment and those of us that keep those that are sent to us.

Sunday 21 April 2019

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BDSUNDAY 7

PhotoSplash

L-R: Waheed Olagunju, celebrant; Kayode Fayemi, governor, Ekiti State, and Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, Ooni of Ife, at his retirement and 60th birthday celebration of Dr. Waheed Olagunju in Lagos.

L-R: Wole Fagbola, sales director, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Nigeria; Chinwendu Amagba, member, Young Pharmacists Group, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria; Bhushan Akshikar, managing director, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Nigeria, and Shaibu Halimat, member, Young Pharmacists Group, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, at the Make a Difference event organised by GSK in Lagos recently.

L-R: Olatunji Disu, Commander Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP); SP. Akinwunmi Oke, head operations, RRS, and CSP. Samuel Awopetu, 2ic (2nd in command), RRS, during official decoration of Akinwunmi Oke to the new rank of Supretendent of Police (SP) at the RRS head office in Alausa Lagos.

L-R: Amaka Kekeocha, training manager, Infinix Mobility, Nigeria; Benjamin Jiang, global head, Infinix Mobility; Jay Liu, country manager, Infinix Mobility, Nigeria; Eric Wang, marketing director, West region 1; Amanda Zhang, marketing manager, Infinix Mobility, Nigeria, and Opeyemi Adewunmi, marketing executive, Infinix Mobility Nigeria, at the Spring media launch of Infinix S4 and hot 7 Pro device.

L-R: Doris Ohio, deputy manager, external relations, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Limited; Chioma Nwachuku, general manager, external affairs and communications, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc; S. O. Obamwonyi, the Esere of Benin Kingdom, who represented the Oba of Benin, and Operations Director, SEPLAT, Effiong Okon, at the closing ceremony of 2019 SEPLAT Eye Can See programme held at the Palace of the Oba of Benin, Edo State, on Friday.

L-R: Monday Ebong Uko, honorable commissioner ministry of youths and sports, Akwa Ibom state; Augustine Azuka “Jay Jay” Okocha, ex captain, Super Eagles; Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, governor, Akwa Ibom State; Carles Puyol, ex captain, Barcelona FC; Jourdi Borrut Bel, MD, NB PLc, and Sade Morgan, coporate affairs director, NB Plc, at the Star Unmissable Match In Uyo.

L-R: Ayo Daniel, secretary, Church Administrators Society of Nigeria [CASON]; Seyi Oladimeji, president CASON; Oluwole Oshin, guest speaker and MD, Custodian Investment Group; Steve Akoni, vice president CASON, and Segun Shelleh, treasurer CASON, at the 5th annual general meeting in Lagos.

L-R: Sunil Sawhney, MD, TGI Distri Limited, Onyekachi Onubogu, executive director, commercial, TGI Distri Limited, and Tanvi Savara, business development and strategy manager, TGI Distri Limited, at the formal introduction of Terra Seasoning Cubes into the Nigerian Market in Lagos.

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Sunday 21 April 2019

10 years after, construction work on Lagos-Badagry road offers no respite JOSHUA BASSEY & TEMITAYO AYETOTO

E

ven before the rains began, the LagosBadagry Expressway had been a challenge to residents and motorists along that axis.

But with the rains, the condition of the road has gone from bad to worse. To thousands of residents who need the road to access their homes along the Badagry corridor, this is really a time of anguish.

Sadly, there has been no firm comment from the Lagos or Federal Government to raise hope of any interventions soon. It is about one year since CCECC, the contractor, to which the state government awarded phase 2 of the road, left site with its personnel and machinery.

In the bid to upgrade and expand the Lagos-Badagry Expressway from its original four lanes to ten, the administration of former governor of Lagos, Babatunde Fashola (current minister of works, power and housing) in 2009, awarded contractor to Julius Berger Plc, which handled phase 1 of the road (from Eric Moore end of Orile- Iganmu to Maza-Maza), near Mile 2, which had been completed.

The government subsequently awarded the phase 2, (Maza-Maza to Okokomaiko) to CCECC, who is also saddled with the rail component of the road. Although a lot has been done on the phase 2, the pace of work, however, has been snaillike due to what sources say has to do with funding.

Ten years after work commenced on the road, some sections already excavated by the contractor have been abandoned. One of such sections stretches from the Lagos Trade Fair Complex to the Nigerian Army Barracks, Ojo. As the rains continue to

Collapsed Abule-Oshun section of Lagos-Badagry road

pound, together with the legion of trucks, petroleum tankers, commercial buses and private vehicles that ply the road daily, the excavated earth has been sinking. The situation today is such that vehicles can no longer pass through the trade fair under bridge , as the ditches have sunk deeper, enough to swallow cars.

As a result, pressure had long shifted to the alternative Old Ojo road and, as should be expected, the Old Ojo road has also collapsed. Communities along that axis- Tedi, Abule-Oshun, Ira, Abule-Oshun Waterside, etc have been cut off, as residents can no longer access the LagosBadagry expressway with their vehicles.

After the heavy rainfall on Sunday, April 14, hell was let loose on the expressway, as hundreds of private and commercial vehicles got stuck on the collapsed stretch- Abule Oshun to Barracks.

In front of the military barracks, a gully filled with rainwater was sighted, preventing motorists from having easy movement.

Commercial motorcycle riders were not spared.

As always the case anytime it rains, hapless commuters were seen wading through the murky waters to their destinations. It was, to say the least, a disgusting moment for those trapped in the mess.

Some who narrated their ordeal said they never got home until late night. “Since the rainy season intensified, many sections of the road have failed and the contractor is not on ground to repair the bad portions,” said a resident of Tedi, Samson Akpanta.

Another resident, Paul, described the road as a death trap and lamented its neglect by both the federal and Lagos State governments.

“This is where the Federal Government collects huge rev-

enue, yet nothing to show for it,” said Paul.

Due to the condition of the road, commercial bus drivers have raised transportation fares and resorted to plying against the flow of traffic (one-way).

“If I don’t ply one-way, I would be locked down by traffic. The most problematic area on this road is barracks and Abule-Oshun, towards trade-fair. We have to ply one-way when returning from barrack and soldiers collect N100 from us,” Lukmon Olajina, a frustrated commercial bus driver who operates between Mile-2 and Badagry told Inside Lagos.

Rather than running about four or five trips daily, Olajina these days can only make two and is forced to transfer the cost of the trauma on commuters.

“I charge N300 from Mile 2 to Badagry normally but it could be N400 and even more. And because of the impact of the road on this vehicle, the stirring parts

and tyres are the most affected.

Tyres that should serve for about two years get condemned in only 2 months.”

Emmanuel Ezeife, the CEO, Much More Nigeria Limited, a company which deals in the supply of electrical accessories is even more frustrated about the contraction of operations and the rate with which bill on transportation has been increasing.

The company located on Abule-Oshun road, has in the last two years halted delivery to customers due to the extension of decay into the inner roads by both heavy and light-laden vehicles avoiding the collapsed sections of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

For him, dark clouds only heighten his frustration as he is forced to abandon his CEO repute and use the service of commercial buses and motorcycle to get to work.

“Once there is rain here, it will be impossible to pass by. I will stop coming with my car and trek because of this road,” explained Ezeife “The situation is terrible for us. The road is half-done and it is like they destroyed the road even more. Sometimes containers will fall and moreover, many of these containerised trucks have converted the roads to the parking lot,” he added.

A commuter, who identified himself as Tony, also parked his car at home whenever he has anything to do on that axis. He wondered why government has been able to deliver the road ten years after the first contracted was awarded in 2009.

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Tiger Woods and the reward of resilience

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Frank Aigbogun editor Zebulon Agomuo DEPUTY EDITOR John Osadolor, Abuja

Tayo Ogunbiyi EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STRATEGY, INNOVATION & PARTNERSHIPS Oghenevwoke Ighure GENERAL MANAGER, ADVERT Adeola Ajewole ADVERT MANAGER Ijeoma Ude FINANCE MANAGER Emeka Ifeanyi MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (South East, South South) Patrick Ijegbai CIRCULATION MANAGER John Okpaire DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua ASSIST. SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Florence Kadiri GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)

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

I

don’t really fancy the game of golf. It looks somehow too elitist. For me, football, boxing, basketball, wrestling, athletics and Rugby, among others, are more fascinating sports. But then, the personality, competitiveness and successes of American Tiger Woods endeared me to golf.

For years, Woods was the face of golf. In 1997, he brought world focus to the sport when he won his first Masters by a record 12 shots. As a result of this feat, golf players became fitter, prize money increased while awareness of the game swelled considerably.

Woods has given golf a breadth of fresh air, something refreshingly exciting.

Naturally, it wasn’t quite long before Woods began to swim in fame and wealth. Major sponsors began to queue behind themselves to have him endorse their products. Soon, the great golfer became superbly rich and famous. Soon, Woods transcended the game and

became an iconic sporting figure, widely celebrated by sports fans across the world. For years, he was world number one golfer, breaking records upon records. A star has not only been born, but a shining star is on the horizon, soaring higher and higher.

But then, like an overblown balloon that suddenly dissolves in the air, Woods world came crashing without giving any sign, at least to the public. It all began in 2009.

Early that year, at the US PGA, the legendary golfer had failed to seal the win for the first time in his major career, losing to South Korea’s YE Yang. Unknowingly, that was just the beginning of years of many troubles for Woods. As they say, when trouble comes it comes in droves.

Later in 2009, news of a great brawl between Woods and his wife, over alleged extra marital affairs, broke out. Found asleep at the wheel of his car at the side of a road in Palm Beach, Florida, pictures and dash cam video of a perplexed and bewildered Woods were flashed around the world. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving and was put on a diversion program, but from that lowest point, Woods’ descent has just begun.

Before long, women of all shapes, heights and colours began to come into the open to expose tales of diverse sexual escapades with the golf megastar. One thing led to the other, a bitter divorce suit between him and his estranged

wife followed and eventually, Woods nearly lost all his earnings from the game he loved so much.

Rapidly, things blossomed into a case of ‘One Week, One Trouble’ for the iconic sports star. His world was crashing fast! Not even his legendary dexterity in the golf course could save him.

Major sponsors started revoking their sponsorship deals with Woods on moral grounds. Chroniclers were already penning a narrative that captured the details of ‘The Rise and Fall of the Great Tiger’. Wounded and embittered, Woods tried hard to get his way back to becoming the great golfer he used to be, but it was never to be. His world ranking plunged so significantly that he dropped from formerly being World number one to being outside the top 1,000! At last, a star had dimmed. So, we all thought.

But then, as it is often said, it is not over until it is over. Yes, that was the astonishing account of Woods’ recent comeback that has continued to resonate across the world. A few days back, the Tiger roared back in style to global reckoning Woods clinched his fifth Masters and 15th major title to seal one of the greatest comeback stories in global sporting history. The 43-year-old braved his way through a closely filled leader board to win by one shot at Augusta for his first major title in 11 years and first Masters win since 2005.

His latest breathtaking triumph puts the former world No.1 just three majors behind the all-time record of Jack Nicklaus. Only fellow American Nicklaus has won more Masters, with six. Woods also joins Nicklaus as the only player to have won the Masters in three different decades after he clinched his first as a 21-year-old in 1997.

And suddenly, the world remembers Woods again. Characteristically, maverick American President, Donald Trump, took to twitter to ‘celebrate a great sportsman’. Also, Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, dubbed his comeback a ‘dramatic one’. NBA star Steph Curry called it “the greatest comeback story in sports,” while tennis legend Serena Williams said she “was in tears” and said it was “greatness like no other.” Till date, showers of praises have continued to pour in for this Tiger, who has just gotten out of the wood.

The main lesson in the Woods trajectory is that nothing is too strong to stop a determined and focus person. But for his rugged determination to keep forging ahead and not to take to pity party, Woods would have become history by now. One only hopes that upcoming sports folks and, indeed, all folks across the world would learn from his exceptional experience to always turn adversity to advantage.

Ogunbiyi is of the Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

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BOLA DANIELS

A

s Governor Ibikunle Am o s u n o f Og u n State is about winding down his administration to give way to that of Governor-Elect, Dapo Abiodun, it is wise to run an audit of how well his government implemented the ‘Mission to Rebuild’ Ogun State, which he voluntarily imposed on himself.

According to Governor Amosun, The ‘Mission to Rebuild’ Ogun State was geared “To rebuild the dilapidated infrastructure, re-engineering the distressed finances (of Ogun State), rebuild the shattered confidence of the people in the ability of the government (to work for the people), to rebuild the dreams and aspirations of the good people of Ogun State, and most importantly, to rebuild the people’s sense of pride in what is arguably the greatest state in this great nation, Nigeria.”

The underlying philosophy of the ‘Mission to Rebuild’ is anchored on what Governor Amosun described as the “Ogun Standard,” which states that governance shall be carried out with the highest standard of practice; and a trademark of quality and excellence.

He affirms that the Ogun Standard represents world class facilities, close attention to details, and iconic projects and enduring projects. It is not just about quick fixes, but enduring legacies that anticipate the needs of present and future citizens of Ogun State.

But Governor Amosun articulated five planks that include AffordPaul Ojenagbon Paul Ojenagbon, pauloje2000@ yahoo.com

I

t was the biggest gamble to merge Power, Works & Housing into a humongous Ministry in 2016 following the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari. A more focused nation would never dare that. It was clearly an unthinkable thing to do. No nation still wallowing in the throes of development would attempt to place the most critical sectors of its economy under the control of a super minister. It is akin to laying all one’s eggs in one basket! What it means is that if the minister failed, the entire nation would ultimately fail in all these important indexes of development. Even the developed nations with perhaps lesser risks to take would not attempt it. If the thinking was to curtail the administrative overhead of running these key ministries separately, it follows that the magnitude of the resultant failure now staring the nation in the face has been more monumental not only on the economy but also on Nigerians generally.

Give it to him, Babatunde Fashola was an excellent performer as governor in Lagos which probably

Sunday 21 April 2019

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Daniels is a public affairs analyst, based in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State

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Amosun’s mission to rebuild Ogun in sequence able Qualitative Education, Efficient Health Care Delivery, Agricultural Production and Industrialisation, Affordable Housing and Urban Renewal, and Rural and Infrastructural DevelopmentandEmploymentGeneration.

This tall order resembles the Four Cardinal Points of Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of the Second Republic, which were, Free Education, Free Healthcare system, Agriculture and Integrated Rural Development.

To enhance education in Ogun State, the Amosun administration gave free exercise books to primary and secondary school students under its free and qualitative education, equipped school laboratories, and embarked on retraining of teachers.

The government also paid off outstanding fees of West African School Certificate Examination candidates, rehabilitated dilapidated school buildings, introduced uniform examinations in secondary schools, provided more than N4billion subventions to revive tertiary institutions in the state.

To guarantee improved human capital, the administration upgraded the General Hospitals, renovated and provided boreholes, electricity and other equipment to the Primary Health Care centres in the local government areas, resuscitated the almost moribund Central Drug Store, and embarked on an aggressive deworming of children throughout the state.

To augment efforts at healthcare delivery, the government bought tipping trucks, hydraulic hook loaders, Difac tippers, and refuse compactors to evacuate and process solid waste throughout the state. In addition to control flooding, government introduced monthly sanitation exercise, and employed street sweepers to

keep the roads and drainage free of waste.

To attract the young and educated into agriculture, the administration provided access to N1billion CommercialAgriculturalCreditLoan Scheme to those who want to go into agriculture and agri-business, provided tricycles to move meat from the abattoirs to the meat vendors, and rehabilitated farm settlements that were established in the First Republic, but were neglected by past governments. Governor Amosun even established a brand new 125 hectare Model Farm in Ewekoro.

Governor Amosun has successfully made Ogun State investor friendly, first with the Investors’ Forum that he held on the 21st March 2012, barely one year into his first term as Governor. Some of the blue chip companies that have relocated to Ogun State are May & Baker pharmaceutical company, and giant cement companies Lafarge and Dangote.

Even as the Amosun administration is preparing to hand over to a new one on 29th May 2019, the government is developing new industrial parks, the most prominent one being at Onijanganjangan, which the government has massively supported with water, electricity and access roads. The government is also partnering with the Bank of Industry to make as much as N1billion loans to businesses in Ogun State.

The twin issues of affordable housing and urban renewal took a phenomenal turn when Governor Amosun took over the helm of affairs in Ogun State. To answer those who wonder why he is building bridges and flyovers in places that do not need such facilities now, he says he is looking into the future when increased population will catch up

with those facilities.

He has also taken low cost housing to all local governments, established the medium housing scheme in Idi Aba in Abeokuta, the Makun Estate along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and another such estate in the Ota axis, for outright purchase or mortgage.

Apart from the ambitious redevelopment of Abeokuta city centre to accommodate hotels, offices, shopping malls, and conference centres, Governor Amosun embarked on exquisite urban landscaping that includes widening of roads, construction of flyovers where necessary.

Apart from widening, rehabilitating, and even constructing new roads in other parts of the state, Governor Amosun did not fail to complete housing and road projects that were abandoned by previous administrations in Ajebo and Sagamu. And the icing is that many of the owners have takenpossessionof thoseproperties.

To bring electricity to the rural people who are not on the national grid, the government purchased transformers with capacity ranging from 200 to 500 KVA. It also introduced a pilot scheme to generate “clean” solar powered energy in the Ado Odo Ota Local Government Area.

All these, of course, should translate to employment and small and medium-sized enterprises for Ogun State indigenes. Though the government has directly employed more than 11,000 workers, the focus of the economic plan is to engage the private sector to create enterprise that will employ workers and pay taxes into the coffers of the state.

Already, Ogun State’s internally generated revenue is the third after Lagos State and Rivers State.

Within a short period, the state IGR increased from a mere N742 million to more than N2 billion per month. But more importantly, Governor Amosun has put his accounting background to good use by reducing expenditure, while increasing the revenue profile.

Because of its proximity to metropolitan Lagos and the porous border to Benin Republic, citizens of Ogun State must be protected by security agencies and agents at all times. Governor Amosun procured Armoured Personnel Carriers and patrol vehicles for the police State command. He was also able to get the buy-in of corporate organisations that generously contributed to the State Security Fund.

There is no doubt that any government that is able to achieve all these, and more, in just a period of eight years, has done a lot. But Governor Amosun is not even done yet. He has offered himself as a senator, to provide more services to the people of Nigeria, in the incoming 9th National Assembly.

But what greater acknowledgement can Governor Amosun get than the endorsement offered by his incoming successor, Governor-Elect Dapo Abiodun, who volunteered that “Government is a continuum.

Therefore the next administration will continue the implementation of the ongoing projects (for the) upliftment of Ogun State and (of) benefit to the people.”

This shows that Amosun has raised the bar of governance in Ogun State, and it cannot be denied or easily discarded. It has become a template upon which successive governments must build on to make Ogun State the Gateway State for innovation, development, security, and peace.

Unbundling the power, works & housing ministry informed his being given this portfolio but like most Nigerians I am yet to see a commensurate performance as minister in charge of the consolidated ministry. Instead, it has been baskets of excuses why Nigerians are not enjoying reasonable power supply. Most times, Fashola speaks on power situation in the country; his oft bloated assessment is starkly different from the reality on the ground.

As I write this piece, my area has been in darkness for three days not because the transformer has broken down but for reasons that only EKEDC can adduce. Not all of us have the resources to run substations called generators throughout the dreadful night transition period.

Most Nigerians put off their generators between 12 midnight and 1am and resort to the use of rechargeable lamps and fans. Because they have worked for long spells of time longer than they were meant for, the rechargeable lamps soon lose their brightness and the fans go off exposing the ‘inmates’ to heat and mosquitoes. At that point, it is very difficult to sleep but to wish that the day should just break. This is a routine experience of most Nigerians

that clearly indicate our terribly poor quality of life. But what are governments meant for? I would never stop praying for better leaders! Kudos to the Chinese, a country with a monstrous population about ten times ours but never stop to think and create a better world for hapless societies like ours that cannot invent even the most basic things.

We eagerly look forward to when the Chinese shall come up with rechargeable refrigerators and even air-conditioners.

But electricity supply in my area has never been this bad. Before now, we took consolation in the fact that though we were denied during the working day hours, most nights it would come and we could sleep with it till the following morning. Now, they would rather bring it for few hours, 2 or 3 in the day time and that is all for the whole day. Now, we are counting days, not sure when it will come again.

Some energy statistics running currently in the social media credited to African Outlook of power generation in certain parts of the world would clearly show that the so-called giant of Africa

is still light years away from true civilisation. India with a population of 1,339,000,000 generates 1,368,000,000MW with power to population ratio at 1.022, USA with a population of 320,000,000 generates 4,324,000,000MW with a power to population ratio of 13.513 and the UK with a population of 67,000,000 generates 338,000,000MW with a power to population ratio of 5.045. Nigeria with an estimated population of 180,000,000 generates 5000MW accounting for power to population ratio of abysmally 0.000027.

Any little wonder why the country stagnates, the economy is down and teeming population is unemployed. Power supply is the catalyst of any growth in a country. The industrial revolution in Europe was driven on power from coal. Today, they are advanced and their citizens have all the comforts. What values are politicians or indeed democracy adding to the fortunes of the country? Is it just to enjoy the spoils of office and abdicate the responsibilities? What a shame!

Like several other matters choking on the front burner of our polity, the Federal Government- past and

present- have not done enough to exorcise the “abiku” called electricity supply. The reforms brought in were cosmetic and not deep. The Discos cannot distribute what they do not have; generation is still largely the problem though there is barrage of other problems. Often times, the solution to our problems stare us right in the face but lack of political will makes us to jettison them. The present structure is one glaring example. Power, Works and Housing are three key, troublesome sectors that would galvanise the growth and development of this country. Each of them has enough problems of its own and to have merged them is to multiply these problems by three and to commit them into the hands of one minister to solve. The minister cannot give adequate attention to the needs of each of them. Focus is not guaranteed either. Why are the Independent Power Projects (IPPs) not working out? To underscore the urgency of the situation, a state of emergency would have been suggested but has this ever made a difference? Fashola has too much on his hands to manage these ministries together as one.

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Perspective

Atiku, the Nigerian of our dreams Louis Okoroma

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nce again, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its lacklustre government has shown that they are too bereft of knowledge of even the history of the country, Nigeria whose government it controls in the type of information it dishes out to the public.

When the news went round that the APC while presenting its argument at the Presidential Election Tribunal sitting over the election case brought against it by the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, said that Atiku Abubakar is not a Nigerian citizen but a Cameroonian, because he was not born in Nigeria, I was taken aback. The thought that came to my mind was that has the ruling party become a children’s party to give such information to a tribunal whose work is of a public nature, perhaps, thinking that the information would be treated confidentially, and not shared with the public.

It seems that common sense of the APC delegation or defence team at the tribunal failed them abysmally when they uttered that travesty. Atiku Abubakar comes from Adamawa State where he has been Governorelect before being elevated to the distinguished position of a Vice President of Nigeria, and a holder of the country’s second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).

Adamawa State is the second of the 36 States listed in the First Schedule, section 3 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as constituting the component parts of the Federation of Nigeria. Let’s assume that the top echelon of the party and even the Presidency were busy thinking of how to inflict more hardship on ordinary Nigerians by increasing the pump price of fuel, what of the young Turks of the party and the government who are always on the internet abusing Atiku. It seems that the internet warriors of the party and government because of the problem of falling education standard and rabid dislike of Atiku Abubakar whose noble ways contradict the crude manners for which the APC is known, there were no people in the party and government sober and educated enough to call the rest to order. Now, this nonsense about a former Vice President of Nigeria being a Cameroonian has gone out to the world thereby exposing the deep ignorance and poor education that characterise the APC people and their government for which Nigerians are afraid of their remaining in power.

If Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of Nigeria is not a Nigerian citizen as the APC would want us believe, it means the party has served notice to many leading Nigerians from Adamawa, Taraba and Borno

Atiku

States, who were not born in Nigeria before independence to start thinking of where they come from! Among these people are many members of the APC party like Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to Federal Government and the Chief of Army Staff, General Buratai and others too numerous to list.

The most laughable aspect of the presentation of the Area Boys’ Party, the APC at the Presidential Election Tribunal is that apparently, all the party chiefs, their high officials in the government and their internet warriors do not know that it is not only by birth in a country that somebody becomes a citizen of a country.

Among the diverse ways to become a citizen of a country include; naturalisation, registration, presidential decree or grant or when a country acquires territory in which case, millions of people at once become citizens of another country recognised under both municipal and international law.

Atiku Abubakar and his generation including their parents became Nigerian citizens through the last method when millions of people in the then Northern Camerouns became Nigerian citizens after a special vote for that purpose, supervised by the defunct United Nations Trusteeship Council, not INEC, in 1961. Originally a German colony, the British and French invaded the colony of Cameroun at the outbreak of World War One and quickly subdued it. They agreed to divide the territory between them. This division was confirmed by a League of Nations Mandate after the war. They were referred to as the Northern and Southern Camerouns. Both of them were administered from the neighbouring colony of Nigeria. In 1954 both parts were joined to the Nigeria colony. However at independence only the Northern part remained with Nigeria, the Southern part joined the Republic of Cameroon, following the

If Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of Nigeria is not a Nigerian citizen as the APC would want us believe, it means the party has served notice to many leading Nigerians from Adamawa, Taraba and Borno States, who were not born in Nigeria before independence to start thinking of where they come from

same plebiscite of 1961.

It should be noted that the Northern Cameroons, was neither a colony nor protectorate of Northern Nigeria, but a mandate of the League of Nations (1922 to 1945) and later, a trusteeship territory of the United Nations (1945-1961) handed to Britain to administer after Germany was defeated by the allied forces in the First and the Second World Wars. At the close of colonisation and the independence of most African countries, particularly the British colony, Nigeria and the French colony, Cameroon in 1960, the political future of the Northern Cameroons as an integral part of Nigeria was actualized by the plebiscite of 1961.

The question now arises as to why did the APC, the Presidency and their handlers commit this tragic error? Could it be that they thought that the UN plebiscite is like the elections which they organize under INEC which are usually inconclusive and hence can be nullified in a competent Court or they do not know their own country’s history? If it is the latter, then it is tragic indeed!

Atiku Abubakar, a Man of God by his many good deeds, was born on November 25, 1945 in Jada local government of Ad-

amawa State. Atiku Abubakar’s father was from Sokoto state and later travelled to Borno for farming and trading activities as is the practice among the Fulani people. Later, his family settled in Jada which is now Jada local Government of Adamawa State.

After his education, he joined the Nigeria Customs and worked for 20 years, rising to the position of a Deputy Director and secondin-command of the para-military outfit. On April 30, 1989, the law abiding Atiku paid the mandatory three months’ salary and left the Customs.

Atiku’s political odyssey, triumphs and failures are entertaining and puts the toga of troublemaker on any person or group that questions his citizenship. Such nonsense has been done in the past by mercenary politicians in the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) during the second republic, who have resurrected in the APC, when then President, the late Shehu Shagari was misled by his party hawks to deport to neighbouring Chad, the then Majority Leader of the Borno State House of Assembly, Alhaji Shugaba Abdurrahman Darma.

The NPN people lied to themselves that Shugaba, a hard fighting politician and member of the defunct Great Nigeria People’s Party (GNPP), was not a Nigerian citizen. The Supreme Court eventually quashed the ill-fated case, following the footsteps of the Maiduguri High Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, Kaduna.

Atiku’s politics is so profound and far-reaching that many Nigerians would attest to his willingness to assist both individuals and political parties in the hours of their need. He has also fought many political and legal battles to deepen democracy, human rights and the rule of law as well as engaged in good causes that has improved the lives of the downtrodden and oppressed peasants in Northern Nigeria.

The ruling APC and President Muhammadu Buhari have at different times and circumstances benefitted from and eulogised Atiku. In 2014, the man whom they say is a Camerounian took part and came third position due to underhand dealings at the presidential convention of the then fledging All Progressives Congress in Lagos, after APC leaders begged him to join the newly-formed party.

In fact, for the dangerous falsehood they unleashed at the Presidential Election Tribunal, and for seeking to deceive and mislead our people and distort the country’s history thereby laying foundation for division and civil strife, the APC deserves to be proscribed while its leaders and its accomplices in the Presidency are deported to Cape Verde, the adopted home of their National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole!

Okoroma is a Public Affairs Analyst based in Abuja.

Fayemi ready to work with former political office holders – Afolayan Akinremi Feyisipo.

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he Governor Kayode Fayemi administration has expressed its willingness to work with former political office holders who are ready to collaborate with it to restore the esteemed values of Ekiti, not minding under which government or political party they have earlier served the state.

The State Commissioner for Local Government and Community Development, Adio Afolayan gave the indication in Ado-Ekiti while receiving the association of the former Local Government Chairmen who paid a courtesy visit to his office.

Afolayan, a professor, said that the present administration was favourably disposed to working with all citizens of Ekiti not minding their political affiliations, because Governor Fayemi believes that every Ekiti person has potentials that could be harnessed to move the stateforward.

He urged the people to be optimistic and have confidence in the ability of the government of Governor Kayode Fayemi to deliver on His electioneering promises despite the meager resources accruing to the state coffers.

He also pleaded with the ex-chairmen to give their full support to the governor and see the mission and vision of the present administration as a collective responsibility which must be achieved together.

Earlier, Tope Olanipekun who spoke on behalf of other ex-Chairmen, described Adio Afolayan as a stalwart and loyal party man who have served the state in various capacity before now.

He congratulated him on his well-deserved appointment and pledged the support and co-operation of his colleagues to the present administration to move Ekiti State forward.

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VOXPOP How insurgency can be curbed in Nigeria Jonathan Aderoju

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or many years now, Nigeria has suffered from insurgency. Many parts of the country, the north east, have been badly hit.

The Boko Haram sect has left millions of Nigerians homeless, orphans, widows and widowers.

The more recent is the killing spree by security operatives. These are same people who should be protecting the citizens.

The Zamfara killings have raised a lot of dust and the Federal Government is doing its best to end these bloody campaigns.

BDSUNDAY spoke with some Nigerians whose views on how to combat the menace are represented here.

Nnabuihe Ikenna George From all perspectives considered so far, it seems as if Nigeria has no mastery curriculum of oneness or togetherness and from the look of her government so far, it seems as if the killings are above their control or they are comfortable with it as one or two tribes are the victims of these killings.

To this end, as a result of this incessant killings and weaknesses of relevant authorities, my take is that Nigeria should think about adopting federalism. I think that will be the best way to stop all these killings.

And for the recent killings by security officials, I think they need to be more sensitised because the rate at which it is going, it could result to revolt soon.

Eruoghe Rejoice The killings have shown the high level of insecurity in this country and how poorly the government values the lives of the citizens.

Though it’s in the constitution that the government is to protect the lives of its citizens, the reverse is the case here in Nigeria. So, the government has to upgrade the security architecture.

Felix Eniogeru The killings are absolutely senseless and despicable, and should be so condemned by every sane Nigerian. It’s quite painful that in Nigeria of our day, that unwarranted and avoidable bloodletting every now and then attracts little or no punishment from government. In all the killings, we have heard no one punished as a result of these. So, people kill and walk away.

It has become so persistent and consistent in recent times that we are gradually accepting it as a norm in our society.

Be that as it may, this recur-

ring, incessant killing isn’t a monster that can’t be tamed.

It can be controlled, or totally stopped in our clime.

My belief stemmed from the fact that when the government of the day is out to emasculate a perceived political enemy, all arsenals are unleashed with alacrity and reckless abandon to grind such individual to point zero in a flash.

A lot of pre- and post-election events this year speak volume in buttressing my stance. Imagine if such effort is deployed to fish out and deal ruthlessly with the culprits of unlawful killings in any part of this country, then other intending murderers will be put on check.

Human lives need to become more sacrosanct to each and everyone, including the government to move us in this direction.

And of course, making it a law that all political office holders have all their family members residing within the borders of this nation would be masterstrokes in getting the government of the day take security of lives more seriously.

Juwon Oshinowo It’s a complicated issue, the solution does not lie on the government alone; individuals are also part of it. Most of the time, government must have done their parts but the people to execute it are corrupt, the government disburse money for arms, most times it is embezzled or they go out to buy arms that are not even in use by other countries. I think there should be a way checkmate all that is being purchased and duly implement every order given. And for the recent killing of young people by security operative, I will still call for reformation of the squad.

Emeka This is a security problem we can use historical records to strategically reduce it. The killings that had happened in those areas should be analysed; how did the killings happen? What methods were used? This entire question should be answered and proper planning should be done to be a step ahead of those people that are planning and executing the mass murder.

Secondly, proper training should be given to the officers, especially those that concern alertness and assertiveness.

Thirdly, government should create defence systems leveraging ICT to get proper information to combat this problem.

Pius Michael It is simple logic. The miners are now talking by exposing the who’s, how’s and ways of the

bandits and their banditry. In the long run, the good people will be better off. Let’s give effort a chance.

Philemon I think that the Zamfara killings should be blamed more on the governor of the state than the President. He knew about the mining situation than the President and did nothing. So, why blame the President when we elect people who are not competent instead of intellectuals as governor.

Musa Christopher Abayomi I totally stand against it because we are talking about constant harassment from herdsmen killing innocent people in their farms, invading villages and cutting people down like trees, and the people we are meant to run to, who are in quote “our friends” the police, are now the ones doing the killings.

Truly, I feel sorry for parents who have had to weep over their children in recent times and some other parents that, for these recurring killings, have refused to give their children the liberty they once had.

I feel the new implementation of the shock guns by Mohammed Adamu will not be effective because you cannot come up against an enemy wielding an Ak47 and start using a stun gun to attack; it’s like bringing a knife to a gun fight. I feel the solution to these painful occurrences lies in building a wellequipped facility for training; re-screening the whole police force; re-orienting them on the ways of using every weapon they will be given, and training and retraining these men.

This is because when they come out, they won’t see the gun as a weapon of killing or a reactive means but as a proactive means that will make more people want to join the force towards achieving a safer community and nation at large.

Sunday 21 April 2019

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Perspective Remembering Gani Fawehinmi

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Emmanuel Umohinyang

pril 22, 2019 marks another post-humous birthday anniversary of the late Legal Icon, Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, SAN. Gani, as he was fondly called was many virtues personified and positively too.

Indeed, his greatest love was fighting against oppression in any form, especially on the side of the government and tackling corruption.

What perhaps sharpened his resolve was his training as a lawyer and his experience while growing up.

Gani abhorred cheating in any form and was ready to lay down his life to fight the scourge of corruption.

He meant different things to different people, depending on where you belong.

To government, he was seen as an interloper, a busy body and trouble maker, but to the masses, he was their mouth piece and defender of the oppressed.

One of the greatest lessons that could be learnt from his life is that he was a firm believer in using non violent means in fighting perceived injustice.

He was a classical example of using the law to fight his many battles, most of which were about the ordinary people.

This should not be surprising in view of the fact that he lost his father at a young age, making him come face to face with poverty and deprivation, with only his mother left to cater for him.

His conviction that he could achieve so much as a lawyer contributed immensely to whatever he later became in life.

Gani dared the lion in its den severally, even under the worst military dictatorships at the expense of his life.

Courage, determination and an uncommon belief in the instrumentality of the law saw him swimming successfully against the tide.

As a man who was steadfast in his beliefs, Gani took the battle to the enemies’ camp alongside some of his comrades.

These were friends from different backgrounds who were of the same school of thought with the Ondo – born lawyer.

These included the late Alao Aka Bashorun, Olu Onagoruwa, Chima Ubani, Tai Solarin, Beko Ram-some Kuti, Baba Omojola, Femi Aborishade, Femi Falana, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Prof. Wole Soyinka etc.

On some occasions, he fought his battle all alone,

Late Gani Fawehinmi

...It said that a tree does actually make a forest, but Gani’s tree actually strove assiduously to make a forest in the struggle for social justice and freedom relying on his conviction.

In this connection, he was severally arrested, detained and even jailed, along with his colleagues in dehumanising prisons, but he was never cowed.

As Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi rightly put it, “It said that a tree does actually make a forest, but Gani’s tree actually strove assiduously to make a forest in the struggle for social justice and freedom.”

Like other humans, the late lawyer had his weaknesses, but that does not include not standing up for what he was convinced about.

According to Femi Falana, SAN who was his close ally for decades, “He (Gani) stood up for his conviction by tirelessly offering the public ideas to some socio – economic and political problems.

It is to the eternal credit of the late Fawehinmi that he fought and won the battle to widen political space by getting more parties registered to vie for elections using the instrumentality of the law.

Though the idea might have been abused by some unscrupulous politicians, there is no doubt that it has provided a platform for the

likes of Kingsley Moghalu, Omoyele Sowore, Oby Ezekwesili, Donald Duke etc to take a shot at presidency.

Gani may not be alive today; however, his contributions to legal research will remain indelible.

As a firm believer in documentation, Gani through his company, Nigerian Law publications enriched the Practice of Law by printing books on cases regularly for use by lawyers, judicial officers and researchers.

Though, it is unfortunate that the company is not doing well today, it will not be a bad idea for friends and associates of Gani, especially those who learnt under the feet of the legal Icon to rise to the occasion by joining his family to restore the company’s lost glory.

Sadly too, Gani’s death has created a lacuna in the fight against corruption being prosecuted by the present administration.

Aside lacking the muchneeded support from lawyers, even some of those close to Gani are sworn enemies of the war against corruption.

This is rather unfortunate as the Gani we know would have thrown his weight behind this great opportunity to rid our country of a monster that has held us back for decades.

The good thing however is that the current administration has shown an uncommon passion to face head – long a battle Gani fought with the

last drop of his blood.

Recall that the late legal icon had after unsuccessfully realising his Presidential ambition told Nigerians to back Buhari for President.

The on – going battle against corruption is the continuation of a battle to rid this country of a malaise that has held us down for years.

As we mark another post humous birthday anniversary of the late legal icon, the greatest legacy we owe this country is to join hands with the Buhari Administration to ensure Gani’s dreams come to fruition for the betterment of our society.

This has become expedient going by the experience of the Buhari administration in its task of fighting corruption in the last four years.

The humongous amounts of money, both in local and foreign currencies recovered from officials of the immediate administration should fire the adrenaline of all to tackle corruption.

Like Gani, we need to fight to bring to an end, all impediments in the way of a just and equitable society using all legal means available.

No doubt this was what Gani’s ally, and former Attorney – General and Minister for justice, Olu Onageruwa saw when he said poverty, corruption and democracy are strange bed fellows.

According to him, the corruption of our rulers escalated poverty in Nigeria, adding that there is no moral edification for the poor.

Who would not be angry that 400 Billion Dollars of development assistance that flowed into Nigeria since independence was squandered?

Surely, it is only in Nigeria that people are cheated and the same people look the other way as if nothing happened.

The beauty of it all is that Gani has shown the way, but greatest challenge is for us all not to allow his struggle to be in vain.

We must therefore rise to the challenge by taking up the gauntlet from where the late Legal Icon dropped it and forge ahead.

Though there may never be another Gani, we must hover ever rekindle the flame for social justice by joining forces with the Buhari Administration towards uprooting corruption and other social vices which Gani lived and died for in our interest and that of our future generation.

Umohinyang, a social commentator and political analyst, wrote in from Lagos.

Salami urges Nigerians to prepare for tougher economic outlook as ‘Next Level’ approaches SEYI JOHN SALAU

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oyin Salami, the chief executive officer, Kainos Edge Consulting, has urged Nigerians to prepare for tougher economic outlook for 2019 as Nigeria transit into the ‘Next Level’ of President Muhammadu Buhari second term in office, stating that the next four years could signal the beginning of needed reforms for the administration and the economy.

Salami stated this at the Members’ Evening of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria with theme: ‘Where do we go from here’. He also opined that the current position of the exchange rate is not sustainable; “but we had not undertaken the reforms that are expected to see.”

However, Salami expressed the hope that the current exchange rate would remain stable in 2019, since there is no change in government and nothing is likely to change before the May 29, inauguration of the new government.

But, he stated that international oil prices, capital movement in the international market and international interest rates are the three key indices to look out for in 2019, stating that oil prices would adversely affect forex …“in 2019, there is need to make a decision about what happens to forex.”

“Whether we like it or not, the next four years will be difficult. Nigeria had an economic strategy based on spending her way out of recession, but we had not undertaken the reforms that are expected,” Salami said, adding that the quick question to consider is to find out if the country is going to be better for it or worst of.

Salami further noted that there are a number of ways to examine the exchange rate; adding that it could either be in the short term or medium term respectively. “… economics is very clear that in the medium term, especially when you are looking at two currencies, the naira and the US dollar, you consider the inflation rates of those countries; the difference between them is a difference that must be made up by the movement in the exchange rate, in other words, you are looking at Nigeria with inflation rate of about 11 percent and the US with an inflation rate less than 2 percent.

“The population is growing at between 2.8 and 3.8 percent, and agriculture is currently at 2.5% then you don’t need to be a genius to figure out that the prices of food are headed northwards; there is a lot of dead capital in agriculture, the land which people could use which are not available because the title is not available for people who own the land.

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Sunday 21 April 2019

Interview Quality remains our watchword in ANAMCO - Okeke The return of Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (ANAMCO) to full operation with a new logo “Dongfeng”, one of the oldest Chinese motor manufacturing companies founded in 1969, added glamour to the recently-concluded Enugu International Trade Fair. ANAMCO was known with Mercedes logo, but this time around it has a DONGFENG logo displayed on its brand new trucks at a special corner at the trade fair ground. In this exclusive interview with REGIS ANUKWUOJI, Chairman and Chief Executive of ANAMCO, who also is the Chief Executive of G.U.O, Motors, Godwin Ubaka Okeke, spoke on the challenges and future of the company. Excerpts:

S

ir, ANAMCO has been in the cooler for a very long time. What has been happening?

It has been a very difficult long journey getting to where the company is now. Nigeria is not an easy place; we took over ANAMCO with a lot of problems but by the grace of God the problems are being solved. By the grace of God and by the help of Board members here, we have taken a lot of decisions and decided to come and see the new product we are having and we are showing the world.

It is better than any other truck you can talk of in the world from one of the biggest Truck manufacturing companies in China. A lot of Nigerians have started placing order because they know that it is a very good quality. More of these trucks are coming; they are going to be assembled in ANAMCO. Marketing and every other thing will be done in ANAMCO, we are only praying that CBN will take us into account and start releasing some funds to us so that we can move ahead.

What are your plans to ensure that what happened to ANAMCO when you were with other partners does not happen again?

You see, it is unfortunate that Nigerians are depending solely on oil. It is unfortunate that Nigerians are depending solely on oil; grabbing money from oil thereby allowing some expatriates to move in and keep on defrauding the country, all in the name of manufacturing or assembling.

Now that it is hundred percent owned by Nigerians, that type of thing will not happen because you cannot kill your own son for money and that is why we are working hard to ensure that things are okay.

The greatest challenge to new vehicles are fairly used vehicles; how are you going to favourably compete in the market since a lot of Nigerians depend on fairly used vehicles that are cheaper?

Yes, what we are doing today is to let the world know that new vehicles are better than the fairly

Godwin Ubaka Okeke, chairman of ANAMCO, with two directors of the company at the Enugu International Trade Fair.

used ones and you see, when you talk of fuel consumption you can mark China number one; they know how to plan it; they know how to re-adjust to make sure that things are okay.

Coming to the maintenance, the spare parts, the Chinese people will sell product to you and make the parts available; it is not like old companies that Nigeria mortgaged itself to, where they will kill you and supply new vehicles without spare parts.

So, now we are taking every possible measure to make sure as a transport by the grace of God that we are planning a way that once you buy these vehicles the spare parts are there, the drivers will be trained by us, your own mechanic will come to ANAMCO and will be trained because we have professionals including some Chinese people. So, we are taking every possible measure to make sure that we safeguard the company and also protect our customers to ensure that whatever we sell to them serves them for more than ten years or more.

What is your relationship with the Chinese company?

Is it in partnership with your company or you engage them

to manufacture for you?

The partnership is also there; you see, you cannot boast of everything hundred percent.

Once we are still in first stage we will move into the second stage.

They will bring in everything and we will start proper assembling.

What most of these companies are doing is just bring nuts, tight this or that; they do not have the facilities ANAMCO is having.

So, we are gradually developing that one. You see, in the early 90s up till 2000 you know we were building some trucks and also some buses; I hope you remember 1414 buses; at least 60 percent was being constructed in ANAMCO. So, that is our target to move back to the old system of getting things done in the proper way. Depending on the availability of foreign exchange ANAMCO will soon start producing vehicles here.

What assistance do you need from both the state and Federal Governments?

We are trying to make government understand that we require f o re i g n exc h a n g e t o g e t t h e goods; a lot of banks are ready to give us money; it is not the question of that we don’t have money; people are ready, the banks are

interested in partnering with ANAMCO. Then another area is patronage from the government; once we get these two things; I tell you in the next one year, come to ANAMCO you will see things for yourself; we are hoping that over 1000 people will be back to job.

How affordable are these vehicles?

By Nigerian standard and by the value of the naira, they are very much affordable; we have done the calculation; the company G.U.O has also placed a very good order to use the trucks; also it is affordable; it is easy to maintain and the spare parts are available also. So, as a transporter with many years of experience, I don’t think I will allow that to collapse.

Why is it that the trucks on display do not have ANAMCO logo?

What you call the normal ANAMCO logo you are talking of Mercedes; we are no longer with Mercedes because of one or two things they created, and we have also proven to the world that this is by far, better than what we used to know about ANAMCO. This new company is number one in the world; go and crosscheck Dongfeng in China.

Sunday 21 April 2019

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15

Interview

‘We transform lives by creating beauty, style and comfort in the process’

Ify Ighodalo is the founder and owner of DO.II, a company focusing on furniture manufacturing, interior design, space planning and turn-key remodelling projects for the high-end residential, property development, hospitality and corporate market. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE, she speaks about her motivation and newly opened flagship store in Lagos. Excerpts:

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an you tell us about DO.II and your new flagship store?

DO.II is currently in transition phase. We started out as Design Options 32 years ago, the company transitioned to DO.II seven years ago. For strategic reasons, we maintained the same place which was a one-storey residential building on 292c Ajose Adeogun. So, this move is to an open floor of three storey building and a paint house. We moved from a space of about 300 square meters to the current space of over 1,300 square meters. This is a space over four times of what we had before. This is part of our transition.

There has always been a vision for the company. We are a pioneer in this level and style of furniture manufacturing in Nigeria and being the pioneers, we have always tried to stay at the forefront of being the leaders and others will follow.

This place is our flagship store because this is the exact definition of a flagship store. There are many stores and you see a little bit of everything that you do, from designing scenes and air conditioners, with the positioning of everything, to floors, to toilet, to the kitchen. So, as a brand that is proudly African; everything here is made in Nigeria and made by us. We are a Nigerian brand, with a local outlook but having global standards. For us, this is the way that furniture is sold all over the world.

What we have always tried to do from the first day in Design Options is to style locally, what happens globally. This is a one-stop store. You can get your office furniture, bedroom, kitchen, interior design and everything in one place. We focus on office and home furniture and fittings. We focus on the manufacture of homes and office furniture, so that when you walk into the space, you can just pick what you want.

What attracted you to furniture business?

The truth is that I studied Accountancy in University and when I was there, my parents had started an interior company. I just found out that I had this interest in my surrounding, so I will paint my room, put throw pillars here and there and do just soft furnishing.

My friends will plead with me to do their furnishing. I did Accountancy because I am very good in mathematics and I like numbers. I had said to my parents that I knew that I was going to run a business but I don’t know what it was going to be.

I couldn’t decide then. I did my Youth corps in First Bank of Nigeria. My father did everything to get me into banking but I said I’ll be too bored doing that. I am a very restless person. When I graduated in 1981 and finished youth corps in 1982, I then went to work in my friend’s company for about one year. I met my darling husband when I went to England in 1983 and we came back together in 1984. I worked in my parents company one last time. I had my first job and from there I started my own company in 1987.

This is about 32 years ago.

How have you been able to sustain this key position as a leader in the furniture industry?

We have built a very strong and effective team. I have an amazing team, from marketing, to projects, to produc-

Ify Ighodalo

tion, to logistics, they are all trained. I have three foundation members. One has been with me for about 15 years and another ten years. We have a factory in Ojota.

Our vision is to make your spaces come alive. Our mission is to beautify spaces in which people can live and work better.

We work with wood; a lot of the home furniture is made from wood and metals. We don’t manufacture the metals but we are recently signing up with someone who can manufacture the metals locally to reduce cost and time.

We work with fabrics, sofas and chairs and we are going slowly into leather but mostly for office furniture. We also do window treatments.

We have designed, created and delivered over 2000 design projects and sold over 5million pieces of furniture, starting from design options into DO.II as well. We have been transforming lives by creating beauty, style and comfort in the process.

What is your staff strength and what steps are you making to build capacity development?

We have capable team of over 100 trained and committed blue and white collar staff. Most of them have been with us for years. We are very proud of our women and women make up about 50percent in the line-up of our white collar staff, we don’t have as many yet in the actual furniture manufacturing section. We have a lot of women in the tailoring session. Last year, we had a good year, with securing this new place and having the highest turnover, which was generally a bad year for most, so the staff took home good bonuses.

Our current daily production capacity is over 1000 pieces and over the next 18 months to three years, we plan to qua-

druple that number to meet with the Nigeria and Pan-African demand. I am currently attending the Seed Transformation programme, which is an initiative of Stanford University that is based in different parts of the world. It is for business leaders. So, I spend one week every two months outside Nigeria for the course and they come in and they hold workshops with my team here. The idea is to transform into an even better leader and also transform my company, thereby grooming leaders.

We have a lot of big goals that we have set for ourselves but with the required funding and corporate governance, we should be able to meet our target. In the next three to five years, we should have a permanent factory and warehouse location in Ekpe.

Knowing that your job sometimes demand youto travel all over the world, how do you manage the home front?

Luckily for me, I have a most understanding husband. My husband is the best lawyer in Nigeria, and he has the best law firm, not only in Nigeria but in West Africa. His late mum was the first female permanent secretary from Western region, she was a career woman, so my husband understands what it is to be married to a career woman. He is my greatest fan and advocate and he markets me everywhere he goes. But I do take care of the home front. Food is always ready. We are blessed with one child and she just graduated from Manchester University. The last six years before she graduated, I was flying back and forth to England every three weeks.

Everything has just come together at the right time. She has graduated and doing her National Youth Service Corps and we are able to find a place for her

and we give God the glory.

What motivates you in having to put colours, designs and furniture together?

My greatest motivation is just making people happy. If you look at my life, all I do is geared towards making people happy. You have a place like this and you are looking at it and thinking what you can do. It may just be a coat of paint, a few throw pillows or just anything to put a smile in people’s faces. I am very conscious of my surrounding. I have been able to transform my own space, so I proceeded in assisting others to transform their own spaces. I pay attention to details. My mum trained me in this.

How affordable are your products compared to your competitors’?

We are very affordable. Everybody that has come here in the last two weeks is now aware of how affordable our products are. We have some premium things but generally we have very good quality. Paul of PQuare shot a video with our facility and it is coming out very soon.

How have you been able to thrive in a business that is perceived as male dominated?

I have a very good team. Head of operations is a woman and the head of logistics is a man. Furniture manufacturing could be seen as a man’s thing but if you look at it, it is a balance that you have some men and women into furniture manufacturing in Nigeria. In the board of Interior Designers Association of Nigeria, (IDAN), we have a mixture of men and women.

How do you compete with foreign products especially knowing that most Nigerians have penchant for foreign products?

I was brought up as the first son in my father’s house, so I don’t look at myself as a woman. Even if it is 10 men there, I will go there and become the 11th man. The reason I started manufacturing is because I am proudly Nigerian. I am proud of the fact that this is manufactured in Nigeria by Nigerians.

The materials are mostly Nigerian materials apart from one or two finishing like the fabrics. I started manufacturing in 1987 because I found out that the locally manufactured goods could not compete with the imported goods. So, from the day we started manufacturing, we started competing with the imported goods. Most people who come here are surprised that our products are made here. Imported fabrics are as expensive as imported leather. Our fabrics are far cheaper. One of the jobs we did last year for a property developer was amazing.

He had put up the building and he asked us to furnish one flat and he loved it so much. After this, he gave us additional eight flats and one paint house to furnish between October and December.

He just added another paint house and we have started putting it together for him. He just told us to have the furniture waiting, knowing that he can call me at any time. He told me I am the best and just today, he has added two more flats.

This is high end. So he is getting high end furniture but at a reduced price.

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Sunday 21 April 2019

SundayInterview

Nigeria can’t achieve security with single federal police agency – Opeyemi Agbaje Opeyemi Agbaje is the chief executive officer (CEO) of RTC Advisory Services Ltd, a leading strategy and business advisory firm in Lagos, Nigeria.

Agbaje, who has worked in banking and finance firms for 16 years before founding RTC in 2004, recently contested the governorship primary on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Ogun State. In this interview with ZEBULON AGOMUO, he shares his experience in politics, calls for devolution of power from the federal to state governments, and speaks on the state of the nation. Excerpts: The 2019 general election has come and gone in terms of the exercise itself, but it is not yet over as some of the results are still being contested at electoral tribunals. As a Nigerian who keenly followed the polls, what’s your take away? n the whole I’m worried by the trends and direction of Nigerian politics, on many levels including substance and process-first the political party system has become a farce.

Basically, the same set of actors oscillate between the two major parties pretending to be opponents, but essentially we have a united, homogenous political class that acts in essentially the same manner! The 2019 general elections in substance were a regression in the quality of electionsviolence; involvement of the military in a manner that did not inspire confidence in the voting populace; monetisation and commercialisation of voting; and suspicions of abuses throughout the process.

The evidence of all these is the high number of supposedly “inconclusive” elections! I was particularly worried about the conduct of the polls in two states- Kano and Rivers- and I’m quite worried about what happened in those places. The number of people who died during these elections should worry all of us.

clusive legislative list significantly reduced with most powers becoming concurrent. I want states to be able to take responsibility for their own security. Law and order is collapsing in Nigeria- when are we going to take the rational action and end these tragic descents into lawlessness, all over Nigeria? So, I want to see state policing. I want fiscal and economic federalism in relation to derivation, VAT, fiscal autonomy, ports, airports etc.; I also want economic reforms to empower MSMEs; reduce government control of markets and sectors and create employment.

O

There’s the belief in some quarters that the declared results, in some instances, were not a reflection of the choice of the electorate. If that allegation is anything to go by, do you foresee any legitimacy challenge for those regaling in alleged “stolen” mandates?

Clearly, there seem to be cases in which the will of “strong forces” may have overwhelmed that of the people! Fortunately, the judiciary is an option for anyone who feels cheated. As bad as things may be, sometimes the courts come through for those who are victims of large scale electoral malpractices You actively participated in the last election to the extent that you contested the governorship primary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Ogun State.

What was your experience, especially as a first timer?

I fully enjoyed my participation in the politics of my state, and I have absolutely no regrets. That does not mean that all of my experiences were savoury, however! I started over a year before the party primaries with my Project Oseese visits across Ogun State, indeed, to every single local government in the state engaging ordinary people, young people, students, workers, farmers, traders, teachers, artisans etc. I went round the entire state, from Abeokuta, Odeda, Ota, Ifo, Warewa, Ewekoro, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun Waterside, Ijebu-Imushin, Ife, the whole of Ijebu-East, all of Remo including of course my base, Sagamu; we did townhalls in Abeokuta and Sagamu; we went round Yewa land, Ewekoro, ImekoAfon, Ipokia; now I know Ogun State thoroughly in terms of its economy, geography, people and politics… So, I don’t regret all that. On the other hand, I was never naïve about the reality of our politics- I hoped we could persuade our people

Opeyemi Agbaje

that their lives could be better if they made more enlightened choices, but evidently that would have to be a work-in-progress!

In terms of party politics, it’s tragic what the party I joined did to itself, given its inherent potentials, but I take some of the things that happened as a compliment! If you’re irrelevant, people will not conspire against you! The full story of my political experience of 2017-2019 will be told at a later date, but believe me, I thank God for the experience.

Some pundits say it is difficult for some of you who are active players in the private sector, without prior political exposure, to get elected as state governors. In fact, that it would be as hard as a Carmel passing through the eye of a needle. Do you think there is any merit in that thought-line?

Don’t forget that in this same Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel came straight as governor from the private sector! Seyi Makinde who was just elected in Oyo State has never held political office, though he has contested previously. The guy just elected in Kwara, I don’t think he’s previously held political office. Yes, there are differences in context in all cases, but I don’t think it’s about being from the private sector or prior political exposure; I think the sources of competitive advantage in our politics should worry everyonemoney, loads of money, thuggery and generally possession of the instruments of violence; some people say significant levels of occultism and cultism play a large part perhaps; it also does seem that the noble art of politics increasingly requires higher and higher levels of criminality and criminal behaviour, admittedly not in all the participants, but increasingly so! It’s also becoming clear that Nigerian politics has become partitioned between the APC and PDP, with all others mostly satellites, agents or franchisees of those two!

To what extent does it bother you that, seemingly, those who get elected to occupy decision-making seats in government are not usually on the ‘first eleven’

list of the brightest of Nigerians? How true is the belief that “good people” either shy away from elective positions or do not get voted even when they contest elections?

I don’t blame the so-called “second eleven”- let the “good people” come out! No one will come and call you from your house. I have satisfied my conscience. We need more professionals, people from the private sector, retired civil servants, lawyers, community activists etc. in politics. If there is one thing I hope, it is that those of us who participated have encouraged and served as an example for others. Perhaps, in 2023, many more people should get involved, but they should come early. If you’re interested in 2023, start now!

Many people believe that Nigeria is adrift in many respects- politically, socially and economically. May we have your perspective on the current state of the nation?

I’m very worried about Nigeria- politically, socially, economically. I think something insidious is going on. I think people, especially our youth, are losing faith in Nigeria and voting with their feet- to Canada, US, South Africa, anywhere! I think hope is dying; in the economy; in security of lives and property; in the prospect of development; in social cohesion. I personally think we have an emergency, but we don’t recognise it as such. I personally devoted moreor-less the last two decades of my life to public advocacy at some significant personal cost, because I wanted to help realise Nigeria’s potential. I am not disillusioned, but right now, I’m frankly not encouraged.

Nevertheless, I remain committed to helping salvage Nigeria, the Yoruba nation and Ogun State, if I have an opportunity to do so. I will choose to remain optimistic.

There have been calls from many quarters for restructuring of Nigeria. What type of restructuring do you want to see and when would you like to see it happen?

I want devolution of power from the federal to state governments; I want the ex-

What do you consider as Nigeria’s most pressing challenges that need urgent attention?

We must embrace re-invigorated economic, social and political reforms. It is not a co-incidence that unemployment has risen rapidly in the few years since we essentially suspended economic reforms. We need huge private, domestic and foreign investment in infrastructure, industry and services. We need reforms in upstream and downstream energy. We need to harmonise exchange rates and eliminate fuel subsidies. We must diversify and increase government revenue and exports. We need rates of GDP growth higher than 7percent, perhaps up to 10percent to address poverty and unemployment, and our massive infrastructure deficit. We need huge private and inevitably foreign investment in infrastructure. Of course, we must have social investment, not just handouts, but investments in public health and education, public transportation and rural development.

There has been an increasing wave of insecurity in the country, and despite government’s efforts, the situation is degenerating. Do you think there is no solution or what are the steps not taken?

I mentioned one aspect- the impossibility of achieving security in a country the size of Nigeria with a single federal police agency.

State policing is part of the panacea. I also think we need a zero tolerance regime for crime- there should be no sacred cows when it comes to crime, murder, kidnapping, communal violence etc. The state itself must lead in this regard.

It seems these are not the best of times for Nigeria; the country is being poorly and negatively rated on many fronts.

Some of the recent rankings (Misery Index, food crisis, open defecation, poverty headquarters of the world) speak volumes. As an expert, what message do all these send to Nigeria and her managers?

I earnestly and sincerely believe economic policy is on a wrong track. We need to refocus economic policy towards investment, production, diversification, private capital, employment etc. We seem to want a statecontrolled economy, which as the evidence clearly indicates is not working. We must of course invest in people- education, health insurance and enhanced healthcare delivery, rural infrastructure, public transportation, but we must get investment and growth back in Nigeria. Nigeria will remain desperately poor if our economy continues to grow at 2.0 or 2.1 percent!

Sunday 21 April 2019

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PersonalityOfTheWeek The crowning of Shimite Bello, spirit behind Delta’s entrepreneurship drive Ignatius Chukwu & Mercy Enoch

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omorrow, April 22, 2019, Shimite Bello would walk into a room at the palace of Onu of Ebu Kingdom and step out as ‘Akpeli Ugo Fufu 1’. Applause would definitely follow her emergence as the most celebrated Ebu woman on that day.

Bello is the woman that heads Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s entrepreneurial drive in the micro, small, and medium levels in Delta State. The crowning would crown a career in public service and care giving especially in mobilising entrepreneurs in the oil-rich state in the journey to life beyond oil.

Shimite Bello is the Executive Secretary of the Delta State Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Dev Agency (DEMSMA) who has galvanized the state bottom-of-the-pyramid layers of the state and is widely said to have won hearts for Gov Okowa. Prior to this, she served as CEO and president of several companies in the media, travel and agricultural segments in the country. Bello infuses her leadership with a thorough understanding of the African rural community, rural financing strategies and the African marketplace. She has strength in Strategic Planning, Public speaking, Micro Credit, Cottage Industry Development, SME Development and financial literacy training.

Bellow has carried all of this knowledge and strength to Delta State and to her Ebu Kingdom, mobilizing businesses and funds to meet each other. Thus, she has always said her dream is for Delta State to be number in one in the economy, social and political realm. “I do not want to see Delta taking second place in anything. We want our GDP up, we want Deltans happy, we are going with the Delta State Executive Governor saying prosperity for all Deltans”.

Her dream has taken round the crannies of the state many times over, encouraging the economically active poor, seeking funds for business owners, training them, defending them. Through DEMSMA, she has created about 10 products namely YAGEP Smart Credit which is loan for YAGEPreneurs; STEP Smart Credit which is loan for STEPreneurs; GEEP Smart Credit for those that do the graduate employment and empowerment programme; the technical and vocational credit; the cottage industry development credit with Ministry of Commerce and Industry; the micro retailers credit for market women (with men and all other traders); and the Cold-chain Credit. In ll of these billions of naira have been given out and thousands of entrepreneurs have been boosted.

In all this, no single case of extortion or bribery has been reported; there has been no scandal, as if it is not in Nigeria again. There are business support plans that can give between N500,000 and N50m credit. That is Shimite Bello for you.

The crown BDSUNDAY gathered the reasons the good people of Ebu bestowed this title on her is because she identifies greatly with them and it is obvious to her Kingdom that she is proud to come from Ebu. She explained further; “Over the time I have been in Delta State I engage with the youths, women, elders and the palace in Ebu. I keep them abreast of

Beauty in a crown: The Akpeli Ugo Fufu 1 of Edu Kingdom what government is doing and the offers within the SMART Agenda and ensure they participated each time, whether they are short-listed or not. I also played an active role in the voters’ registration exercise and I am active in the political space of my ward and my cell.”

This seems to be the kind of representation that the grassroots people crave for. “The market women and men in Ebu are very important to me and we work closely in building our community.

They also conferred a title on me, which means a lot to me. Not necessarily the title, but the honour and acceptability there in. “Eboh Oja” is the honour given me, which means “The shelter to all of our kingdom and beyond”.

“They believe that market men and women everywhere in Delta State have cause to rejoice because my principal and boss, His Excellency the Governor, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, has ensured that from 2015 - 2019 traders have been major beneficiaries of his interventions.

“They are receiving their bank alerts and they have not heard anyone accused of taking any form of gratuity, kickbacks or bribes from any beneficiaries. They are proud of what they hear about me and my people have the utmost love for the Governor of Delta State who made this possible.

“I was also given a small chieftaincy status of “Agbojor”. This was the first one. My councilor, the honourbale, Kema Egenu, and a few others ensured this was done as an appreciation of our close working relationship and the peace we are enjoying in Ebu among the political class, as well as the closing of bridge between the “elites” and our hardworking and dexterous people at the bottom of the pyramid. Friends and family have used me as a conduit to get empowerment to our people, especially those in Diaspora, outside the awesome job the Delta State Government and Federal Government are doing.

Edu roots and the rare title Shimite Bello went on: “Later on the Ebu people gave me the title of “Akpeli” which is the highest chieftaincy honour in our land. Our people are Igala-speaking

and originally migrated from Idah and settled near the banks of the River Niger where they found conducive land to fish, farm and rare their livestock. This land is now located in the Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State. But for the title of “Akpeli” our original traditional headquarters must be informed and other Akpelis from there attend.

We also have brothers in Ukwani LGA of Delta State and in Edo state, they all attend this particular ceremony. There I get my own Ivory Tusk (animal lovers please don’t be upset), my horse tail and my red cap. This makes me a bona fide red cap chief. Anyway, we have no women in this select group. I am the first female to sit among these groups of elders and I hope to continue to build my kingdom which I love from the bottom of my heart.”

The D-Day The title that she would receive tomorrow is from the king, His Royal Majesty, Onu Paul Odilile Okpili, the Onu of Ebu Kingdom. The title is called Ugo Fufu 1 of Ebu Kingdom which means the White Eagle of Ebu Kingdom.

The White Eagle is said to be a symbol of the ‘Great White Spirit’ whose wisdom and knowledge transcends over the ages.

The White Eagle is a spiritual teacher that

“I am from OKwuru village.

We migrated from Idah in today’s Kogi State to our current settlement now in Delta State. Over the time I have been in Delta State I engage with the youths, women, elders and the palace in Ebu

conveys the powers and messages of the spirit; it is seen as man’s connection to the divine because it flies higher than any other bird. If the eagle has appeared, it bestows freedom and courage to look ahead, the myth says. “The eagle is symbolic of the importance of honesty and truthful principles. The Eagle symbolises - Pure Spirit.”

The Executive Secretary of DEMSMA went on: “Everything done in my father’s kingdom in Ebu ward is well communicated in my mother’s homestead of Illah.

Therefore my mother’s homestead need not repeat this if they ever felt the need to. I feel really fortunate to come from both Ebu and Illah, from Oshimili North and I am surely proudly Anioma. If you did not know, know now, Delta is the best state to come from on this side of Heaven. We are blessed and we know it.”

In touch with Ebu Ebu Kingdom is located in Oshimili North LGA in Delta State and is made up of eight villages Okwuru, Uchebe, Ekpechor, Aganike, Iyagoshimi, Ugbolo, Ogor and Amamaugelo. “I am from OKwuru village. We migrated from Idah in today’s Kogi State to our current settlement now in Delta State. Over the time I have been in Delta State I engage with the youths, women, elders and the palace in Ebu. I keep them abreast of what government is doing and the offers within the SMART Agenda and ensure they participate each time, whether they are short-listed or not. I also played an active in the voters’ registration and I am active in the political space of my ward and my cell.”

Shimite Bello is at home with multiple awards in the areas of community development, micro finance, youth and women development, media and agricultural development.

Ebu is bordered by Illah, Ezi and being a border town Edo State. “Our traditional attire is Ofefele also known as Akwa-ocha and our traditional delicacy is pounded yam and obobo (corn) soup.

“The people of Ebu are very much in harmony with their culture and traditions as exhibited in their dance, masquerade display (Ebu wonder), their greeting, and their way of life. The people of Ebu are hardworking, united, innovative and peace loving.

On the 6th of April 2018, the Delta State Governor represented by his deputy, Kingsley Otuaro, presented the Staff of Office to the Onu, HRM Paul Odilie, Onu Umukojodu, The Onu Ebu in Oshimili North Local Government Area.

Similar Igala speaking communities can be found in Ukwani LGA of Delta State and the Illushi people found among the Esan people in Edo State, Nigeria. Ebu’s position as an Igala-speaking enclave within the majority Igbo- Benin speaking region is unique. As a result of Ebu’s proximity to Benin and Igbo areas, several authors have assumed that it is part of either Benin Kingdom or Igboland.

Ebu is a largely an agrarian community growing yam, cassava, corn, vegetables, livestock amongst others.

They also engage in petty trading and wholesale trading of key agricultural produce such as yam and rice.

Ebu, through their daughter, Shimite Bello, has gained more national limelight and may soon become a key spot on the national map.

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Sunday 21 April 2019

Politics ‘Our vision is to provide good and focused governance in Ogun’

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eing the address delivered by the Governor-Elect of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Economic Transition Committee and Work Groups, held at TCC Resort, Ogere-Remo, recently.

Protocols, I heartily welcome you all to this occasion of the inauguration of the Economic Transition Committee and the Work Groups. This is a major milestone in our commitment to the Building Our Future Together Agenda, the central theme of my campaign manifesto and I sincerely appreciate all of you for hearkening to the call to serve our dear Ogun State by volunteering your time, expertise and experience for this important assignment. Posterity will adequately reward you for this selfless service with a honourable mention.

The importance of the task at hand cannot be over-emphasised. You are being called upon to elaborate on the campaign manifesto, identify and distil the pressing needs of the state and our people, recommend specific programmes and policies and develop a measurable and realistic roadmap, including identifying low hanging fruits, for implementation. The Terms of Reference for the Work Groups will be provided to guide the assignment. However, should there be a compelling reason to tweak any of the items, I believe the Secretariat will be favourably disposed to consider such adjustment.

I am confident that the main committee and the Work Groups are most suited to deliver the objectives of this assignment, what with an array of leading lights of our state in all fields of endeavour, rich blend of perspectives across professions, political affiliations, gender, demography, among others. While our non-partisan technocrats are expected to bring to bear on the assignment their rich, global and detached “outsider” perspectives, the professionals in politics and other political actors will provide context and knowledge of the environment to develop a Policy Document that is deep in concept, broad in scope, ambitious in vision but takes cognisance of the current realties.

Equally important, it will enjoy the ownership and buy-in of the critical stakeholders, an important component of our commitment to inclusive government. In this regard, each work group should identify critical and relevant stakeholders and seek their input, as may be necessary.

Our vision is to provide good and focused governance that creates an enabling environment for sustainable economic development of the state that translates to significant improvement in the welfare of our citizens and their individual prosperity. In traversing the length and breadth of the over 16,000 square kilometres of the state during the campaign, I gained further appreciation

Dapo Abiodun

of the vast natural resources spread across the state. These natural resources, coupled with the premier status of Ogun State as the intellectual capital of the nation, should make the job easy. The challenge here is to bridge the gap between the potentials and actual performance.

There is no gain-saying that funding will be a major constraint, hence, our recognition of public-private partnership as a veritable tool for funding in a manner that keeps the interest of the state paramount while delivering significant value to all the stakeholders. Therefore, the Work Group on Finance is enjoined to identify creative means of funding to support the realisation of the governance agenda.

There are two other issues that I believe are worth emphasising. First, the Transition Committee and the Work Groups are requested to come up with recommendations on Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism that will ensure that agreed initiatives are not only implemented, but there is a framework to track progress and ensure desired outcomes are achieved. As Larry Bossidy, co-author of ‘Execution: The Discipline of Getting Done’, once said: ‘Strategies are intellectually simple; but the implementation is not.’ On our part, I want to assure that we are fully committed to this process and that the document that will emerge will not be used to decorate the shelf but will be diligently implemented.

The second point I will like to reiterate is that the government is a continuum. Therefore, the next administration will continue the implementation of the ongoing projects that have a clear line of sight to upliftment of Ogun State and benefits to the people.

I am hopeful that the incumbent government will provide to us timeously accurate information on all the ongoing projects in the state and the general state of affairs of our common patrimony.

At this juncture, I must acknowledge and appreciate an incredibly large number of people in and outside the state who have expressed a desire to participate in this exercise but cannot be accommodated because of the limited available slots. Your offer to volunteer your service is appreciated and has strengthened our resolve for good governance. I have directed that a database be developed and continually updated on the abundant human resources of Ogun State extraction across the globe for our Administration to tap into from time to time. The consortium of project management service providers and subject matter experts who have come together, at no costs, to provide their much sought-after professional services for this planning process deserves appreciation and commendation, and I so do.

Let me conclude by stating that I am conscious of the fact that the expectations from the next administration under my watch are high and that people have become cynical of government and the political class in general. And the task is not made easier by paucity of funds. Nonetheless, the incoming administration is determined to make a difference and provide leadership that earns the confidence of the people, a government that has character and can be trusted. We believe the Transition Committee and the Work Groups will make this task lighter with the outcome of your assignment that is expected ahead of 29 May, 2019. This will enable us hit the ground running without any delay.

On this note, it is therefore, my pleasure to inaugurate the Economic Transition Committee and the Work Groups to the glory of God and service of Ogun State.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu

Immediate tasks before Sanwo-Olu

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Iniobong Iwok

recisely on March 29, the Governor-elect of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy-elect Babafemi Hamzat collected their certificate of returns from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Sanwo-Olu, who was the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the gubernatorial election had scored 739,445 votes to defeat Jimi Agbaje candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 206,141 votes in the March 9 election. He won in all the Local Government Areas in the state.

However, less than two months to his inauguration, Sanwo-Olu appears ready for the enormous task of repositioning the commercial capital of the country placed on him by Lagosians.

This was apparent in his speech after collecting his certificate of returns. The Governor-elect, had assured Lagosians that his administration would strive to reposition the state and run an all-inclusive government. He urged residents of the state to prepare for better times, calling his opponents that lost during the March 9 election to support him in making the state enviable.

“We are taking up this leadership and saying that the confidence that you have put in us will not be in vain. We will not misuse the confidence that you have put in us. I want to extend our congratulations to all the other 44 candidates that were not so successful, but I dare say that victory to one is victory to all.

“It is victory to all of us; it is a victory for the entire Lagosians. It is a call to order, it is a call that there is no victor, no vanquished.

All of us are on the same pedestal, that is, to make life a lot better for our people.

“That is why on the campaign train, we said we are going to run an inclusive government; we will bring about strategies that will take Lagos to greater heights.

“We are using this unique opportunity to open our doors; we don’t even have a door again, the doors are open for all our other colleagues in the other parties that we are one and the same”.

According to him, “Let us build the schools, the hospitals, traffic manage-

ment, the public transportation, the environment to make Lagos a cynosure of the entire African race.”

However, what is apparent is that the task of rebuilding Lagos State would not come easy for a new administration.

The incoming Sanwo-Olu administration must be ready to make tough decisions, and act swiftly. However, three key areas urgently need his immediate attention in the state.

Firstly, the current wastes disposal system in Lagos State is chaotic. A drive across the state shows that wastes are being disposed and littered on the roads, indiscriminately.

Sanwo-Olu needs to immediately initiate an efficient wastage disposal and management system across the state, even if it involves partnering with the private sector, but must be affordable to the residents of the state.

In achieving this, the new administration will need to urgently reorganise the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), which in recent times, it appears to have lost steam.

Perhaps, the biggest headache among Lagosians in the last few years has been the traffic gridlock across the state.

The commercial capital of the country urgently needs a light rail system which would run across the state; this would ease movement, aid commerce and ease pressure from the road, while equally creating jobs for the residents of the state.

Unemployment remains a serious issue in the state, even across the country among the youths. There is the need for the new administration in Lagos State to revive and increase funding for the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) which was set up by the current Akinwunimi Ambode administration.

Experts said that about 7,000 to 8,000 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have benefited from the agency in the last three years.

Paucity of funds appears to have slowed down its operations. Therefore, to make the agency impact more people and support entrepreneurs in the state, the incoming administration should consider partnering with the private sector or donor agencies to secure more funding for the agency, to enable it realise its objectives.

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Politics Governors must stop politicising security issues in their states – Senator Yusuf

Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf is the senator representing Taraba Central district in the Senate of the National Assembly.In this interview with NATHANIEL GBAORON in Jalingo, the re-elected senator spoke on the leadership tussle over the in-coming 9th National Assembly, the increasing wave of insecurity in the country, illegal mining and other issues of national interest. Excerpts:

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How would you assess the performance of the APC in Taraba in the last election? think the party has done extremely well; very, very well.It has beaten all past records. We have done very well. There are lots of things that happened; we have to look at it in the context of the election itself, the manner of election, the method of the election,how the election was conductedwhether it was free and fair and the rest of it. APC is very popular in Taraba State.

Infact, the people are APC while the government is PDP. Now we can see in the context which the election was conducted, what has happened and we are going to redress the situation.

Do you see the party winning, especially the governorship, at the tribunal?

Well, when a matter goes to the election tribunal, alot of things will come into play, because we have our own facts and I am sure the PDP governorship candidate also has his own facts. You know, how the election was conducted, from the figures that were pasted left, right and centre. We are challenging the figures; we have a very good case in challenging the governorship election of Taraba in the 2019 election.

Security is one of the major challenges facing the country and the situation seems to be deteriorating; what do you think is actually the problem and how can it be addressed?

Thank you very much. Alot of people are piling blame on the government, especially the Federal Government and Mr. President in particular. My own take on this is that even the citizenry has the responsibility of curtailing the insecurity in this country. This is my simple reason; the citizenry are stakeholders of this Nigeria project, the government is a stakeholder, all of us are stakeholders as to our roles that we are going to play in identifying best ways in which we can solve the problem of insecurity, it is tied to many things; it has political connotation, socio-economic connotation, religious connotation and somany reasons. It is the responsibility of both the government and the governed to make sure that they come together and solve this problem. For me, the government will engage the citizenry and the citizenry will engage the government in each state of the federation. I could remember the governor of Kaduna once said,‘we should not blame the President but the governors who are the chief security officers of their respective states’. We have to come together to solve the problem and stop blaming the Federal Government in this kind of situation because there is a limit to which the President can go; he cannot just take the security agents and

give you an example, who has the land?

Who has the authority over land in the state? It is the governors. Now, let’s take an example, you have your land and I went to the ministry of mining they gave me a licence to come and mine, there will be issues; that is why the issue of mining is very complicated until we sit down and address those issues that are conflicting we might not be able to get these things right. For me, I don’t think the North is cheating the South.

Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf

start bombing and shooting people here and there; it has to be consultative.

All the security institutions are under the Federal Government,but the governors are calling for the establishment of state police to enable them have total control of security in their states; how possible is it?

I totally disagree with that.When you are not communicating with the Federal Government but you say you are a state governor,you think the federal structure has given you your own level of participation in the Nigeria project, and because the Federal Government is headed by a different party, I think this is where we have the problem.Every governor should work with Mr. President. Look at all the monies he has given them to meet

I could remember the governor of Kaduna once said,‘we should not blame the President but the governors who are the chief security officers of their respective states

pensions,salaries and gratuity. The Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari is doing very well to extend his hands of fellowship to the governors.

It’s now left for the governors to reciprocate the gesture and stop politicising the issues. Insecurity is real and serious; every governor should sit up so that they can relate very well with security architecture in their states. State police should not even be contemplated at this point in time where we have governors who cannot even pay salaries, pension and gratuity, cannot even meet their usual requirements of running the states; how can they run the police? For us, not that it is not appropriate, it is not ripe at this point in time.

The APC accused Atiku Abubakar of not being a Nigerian; do you subscribe to this?

I don’t have much to say on this because it is a constitutional matter and I am not an expert in constitutional issues. Let us leave it at that; let the party explain the position it has taken so that we can find out what is the constitutional requirement. If Atiku meets the constitutional requirement of being a Nigerian well and good but if he doesn’t let the Constitution tell us.

The south is complaining that crude oil is extracted for the benefit of Nigerians while mining of other resources like gold, etc is exclusively for the North; what is your take on this?

Mining is a very complicated issue. I can

Senator, the current 8thNational Assembly is almost winding down; can you give us an overview of your personal performance and your plans for the 9th Senate?

Thank you very much, I try to look at my own participation in the National Assembly from two or three perspectives. One, I am a lawmaker; two, I do over-sighting and three, I do representation.These are the basic mandate of every parliamentarian. Within these mandates, I try to sponsor some bills which are in the pipeline and I hope the bills will be passed before the end of the 8th Assembly. I also do a lot of good will, alot of over-sighting and I have done a lot of effective representation which will protect the members of my constituency which I have done to the best of my capacity. Outsidethat I have done alot of projects. I have empowered youths, women and I also try to support the Federal Government on the issue of Mambila Hydro Power which will not only benefit central Taraba but Nigeria and mankind in general.I am also trying to see that we bring electricity into Taraba Central. To that extent, I have done the little that I can; we now have extension to the next level;here, we will support Mr. President for meaningful development, sponsor more bills and generally run an all-inclusive government.

In this 8th Senate many people blamed the President for not being able to determine the leadership of the National Assembly and that it affected the running of government; now it seems the APC wants to determine the leadership of the 9th National Assembly; what’s your take on this?

National Assembly is an independent arm of the FederalGovernment,and so we have our own checks and balances; it will be difficult for one to detect who will be the Senate president and the Hon. Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives. However, in the 8th Assembly, yes there was a miss-communication between the party, executive and the legislators. We have seen what happened.

The leadership of the National Assembly Continues on page 20

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Sunday 21 April 2019

Politics

The youth factor in Bayelsa’s next governorship election

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Samuel Ese, Yenagoa

ith the next governorship election in Bayelsa State just a matter of months away, there has been a renewed zeal among stakeholders for inclusion in the poll which could be a way forward for the state after 20 years of democratic governance.

One important stakeholdergroup is the youth bracket, which also comprises students and make up over 60 percent of the population that has rarely enjoyed any benefit due to what they described as policies and programmes that are skewed against them.

Though they have always participated in all elections, the roles they have played have been ignoble as they succumbed to unscrupulous politicians who saw them as only fit to be used as thugs, ballot box snatchers and cannon fodders, thus making it difficult for them to be reckoned as progressives.

But, that is set to change going by their declaration at a recent one-day youth summit organised by a non-governmental organisation, Coalition for Development and Democracy in Bayelsa (CDDB) in Yenagoa.

The summit with the theme: ‘ Bu i l d i n g Ba y e l s a To g e t h e r through Participatory Democracy: The Youth Perspective’, the attendance exceeded all expectations as the event which was projected to host 300 youths saw over 500 present, which underscored the importance they placed on the major issues raised at the summit.

Since 1999, Bayelsa State has been governed by four different governors and though within that period a number of tertiary institutions have been established as well as vocational centres including arts and craft centres and a youth

Seriake Dickson

development centre, the youth cannot be said to be holding their own.

As they observed during the event, they are faced with the twin challenges of ignorance and poverty while the education system lacked deliverables as students continue to engage in drug abuse, thuggery and violent crimes.

This could be due to lack of opportunities, scholarships that are out of the reach of children of the poor, imposition of candidates on the electorate and absence of consultations between elected representatives and their constituents, among others.

In the communiqué issued at the end of the summit on the way forward and signed by CDDB Executive Director, Ekiyor Welson, the youth stressed the need for a declaration of a campaign against the twin challenges of ignorance and poverty.

They agreed to build a consensus and use their large population to lead a revolution against bad leaders in order to right the wrongs in the education system which is skewed against students from

poor background.

They called on youths across the state to “shun all inducements in electing the best candidates during elections” and “make electoral choices for the growth and development of the state.”

The communiqué also called on legislators to hold consultations with their constituents in order to entrench a bottom-top approach to the issue of development while the evil of imposition of candidates on the electorate should cease in the state.

On drug abuse, the youth were advised to desist and pursue the best education while calling on the government to ensure that scholarships are awarded to indigent students on merit and not patronage.

They called for an uncompromising stance to exterminate negative effects of poor leadership and urged government to provide adequate opportunities for the youth.

It was a promising start for the youth to ensure their proper participation at the forthcoming poll if indeed they would engage

whoever emerges governor on the challenges confronting them and use their huge population to lead the revolution to put right those issues bedeviling them.

Speaker after speaker, from traditional rulers to politicians, highlighted the issues at the core of why the youth have been unable to play their proper roles in the society and rather are at the beck and call of those who only use them as means to actualise their aspirations.

A governorship hopeful, Reuben Okoya, in his goodwill message, gave a salient advice to politicians in the state, an advice that should apply to the entire nation, that politics should not be a full time job, arguing that the strength of a good politician is the ability to stay away from politics and still survive.

Okoya urged the youth to play active roles in politics, saying, “I want young men to go into politics, but also have the capacity to survive out of politics so that they will have dignity and honour.”

He challenged them to pursue those things they are good at in practice such as law, medicine and agriculture before engaging in politics, pointing out that he is a living proof of that kind of independence.

“I am a living proof. Nobody can blackmail or make me do anything because I’m an independent person. I have my own private business which I run. So, if I go into politics and it is not favourable, I go back without rancour.

“I’m not going to kill anybody because somebody told me to kill somebody. Bayelsa people have to realise that politics is not a profession. It is not a full time profession.

It is a part time profession. You go, you serve and you leave.”

The keynote speaker, Charles Ambaoiwei, a one-time Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure in the state, expressed

dissatisfaction over the management of the state by politicians, blaming them for the woes being experienced.

Ambaoiwei traced the history of the state and delved into the challenges facing the youth vis-avis the type of leaders that have engendered these challenges typified by the phrase that “just call yourself a leader and the gullible will take you as a leader.”

He threw three posers on the issues of a politicised Niger Delta, physical conquest and development of the Niger Delta and education and human capacity development while concluding that “we must be uncompromising in ensuring a peaceful disposition for the youth to participate in democratic processes and help achieve peace building, security and sustainable development of an enterprising community in Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta.”

Chairman of the occasion and monarch of Ekpetiama kingdom in Bayelsa State, Bubaraye Dakolo and royal father of the day, Joshua Igbagara, monarch of Oyaikhri kingdom also urged the youth to shun negative tendencies, get good education and make good electoral choices.

Youth leaders, Governor Henry Seriake Dickson’s appointees and others were all unanimous in their calls on the youth to hold their place, become self reliant and play their proper roles in society.

For keen observers at the event, it was an awakening of a sleeping giant as the youth were vociferous in their calls for inclusiveness and participation in all forthcoming elections in the state.

Going by their declarations, the youth could be a major factor in the determination of the next governor of the state and with their sheer weight of numbers could hold the governor accountable if they make their votes to count.

Governors must stop politicising security issues ...

Continued from Page 19 was not in good communication with the membership of the party and the executive. If I can remember,throughout the last two or three years, it is only once or twice that the leadership of the National Assembly had meeting with the party. It is natural of one to fill that in the 9th Assembly we should have a better communication between the leadership of the National Assembly and the party. Probably, that is why the party has taken upon itself, that look, we will not allow what transpired in the 8th Assembly to happen in the 9th

Assembly;so it has taken the lead trying to have a good communication with the senators and to make sure that the repeat of the 8th Assembly is not done at the 9th Assembly. The party has already indicated or recommended a senator who the party is trying to sell to the remaining senators. It is not an imposition contrary to what a lot of people are insinuating.This is where we are at this point in time.

The party has taken a position but some members of the National Assembly are not comfortable with this and they are saying they will go ahead and

contest; don’t you think the opposition will take advantage of this seemingly crack in the party and repeat what happened the last time?

We still have over 40 days to inauguration. In politics, 24 hours is a long period of time.Whoever is interested should not depend on the dictation,nomination or the recommendation of the party, but to go and meet each and every senator to sell his or herself as to the intention to vie for the Senate president. I think what the APC leadership is doing is not an imposition, it is a guide or a direction, it is now left for the candidates to

go and sell their candidatures to the other members; it is not like other members of the party in the Senate are not interested or are opposing to give room to the opposition, no. Once you are elected senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to me, you are not an APC senator,PDP senator, Yoruba senator, an Igbo senator or a Fulani senator.Once you are there, you’re going to work in tandem with one another. Luckily enough, the Senate president’s seat has been zoned to the North East and so, whoever in the north east that is qualified has a responsibility to vie for it. But the party said this

is the direction that we are going.

It is the candidate that will go even to meet with the opposition because they are also members of the Senate.I think that’s what I will say at this point in time.

You are a very qualified senator from the North East; are you thinking of contesting for the Senate presidency?

Iam not vying, for the simple reason that the time is too short to talk about it. We see the direction of the party so we work with the candidate or the candidates that are interested, but we know that about six or seven of us are qualified to vie for the position.

BDLife Sunday 21 April 2019

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BDSUNDAY 21

NO SUBSIDY REMOVAL! ... But when will this bleeding stop?

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here has been high level apprehension in the polity over the rumored likelihood of an increase in the pump price of petroleum products. This followed an equally rumored plan by the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy following the recent advice by the

THE PROLOGUE International Monetary Fund (IMF). Although government has insistently denied ever nursing such a plan, the fear has refused to ebb. People say that most times, it is difficult to swallow hook, line and sinker everything that comes from government. A cartoon on the back page of a national daily on Thursday, April 18 says it

all. The inscription on the cartoon reads, ‘FG: No plan to remove fuel subsidy’. This piece of news was followed by what seemed a doubt: ‘Hmmm, let’s just hope it’s not another ‘April Fool’!

This is where most Nigerians stand, but government has a choice to prove the doubting Thomases wrong.

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Sunday 21 April 2019

BDLife Fuel: Beyond fear of scarcity, subsidy is a drain pipe OLUSOLA BELLO

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he recent slip in the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, which resulted in the short supply of the commodity, and long queues at filling stations, may have been responsible for Nigerians insinuating that the government was about to increase the pump price of the product.

The fear was aggravated by the fact that it was about the same time that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised Nigeria and other countries (still subsidising fuel for domestic consumption) to stop doing so.

The IMF President, Christine Lagarde, said this during the IMF/World Bank meeting.

Lagarde said that subsidy payment had consumed about 5.2 trillion dollars globally from 2015 till date. In particular, she said IMF wanted Nigeria to remove the subsidy due to paucity of fund to take care of its infrastructure reforms and other social services.

The World Bank in its report threw a bomb shell when it said questionable N780 billion was spent on subsidy in 2018.

“The calculations for the fuel subsidy are based on heavily inflated fuel consumption estimates, with the fiscally severely constrained Nigerian government effectively subsidising neighbouring countries’ petrol consumption as some of the fuel is informally re-exported through the porous borders”, she said.

All these combined to fuel the fear of a possible hike in the price of petrol or removal of subsidy by government.

An industry source said that if the government has the plan to remove subsidy it has not shown it and that for now, nothing on ground to suggest that government may increase the price of the commodity or remove subsidy because is still a source of making cheap money by government officials.

“Whether we like it or not the subsidy thing is still one source of corruption that the government will not even address now,” he said.

According to him, “What led to the rumour of likely price hike must be all the scenario above but the one that amplified the fear most was the fuel scarcity that resulted in queues in some parts of the country. Nigerians probably believed that the government was trying to create a scenario which it would want the public to see and support its action.”

The fuel queues occurred because of high prices of crude oil at the international market which has made participation in the NNPC’s direct supply and direct purchase (DSDP) scheme unattractive for some of the companies engaged in the programme.

DSDP is a programme put in place by NNPC to ensure uninterrupted supply of fuel, but with the upward movement of the price of crude oil at the international market some of those that are contracted to supply have abandoned supplying fuel for diesel.

The price of crude oil is $71.64 per barrel and this could be higher because of the ban on exportation of Iran crude and the crisis in Venezuela which has led to a slip in the supply to the international market

‘‘

There is need to separate those who need subsidy from those who don’t; you will find that 80 percent or more of those who get subsidy today do not need it. There is nothing necessarily bad with some elements of subsidy if it is well-managed and is very little, and if the private sector can take it away completely; that is fantastic. That is the most ideal situation

and consequently pushed the price of crude oil. If the price goes higher this may make more companies to suspend importing fuel to the country.

An industry source told BDSUNDAY that some of the companies are finding the scheme difficult, thereby preferring to import diesel without NNPC raising objections. This was the major factor responsible for the recent slip in supply that led to queues resurfacing at filling stations in some parts of the country.

The source said the country is yet to see the end of the situation as long as the price of crude oil continues to rise and the country’s refineries are not working.

The depots which are being used as throughput by NNPC are empty because it is only NNPC that imports fuel even though NNPC claims it has products that can last for 27 days This situation, he said, has put pressure on NNPC as it has to go to spot markets to source for fuel at a premium. This would certainly lead to rise in subsidy claims for fuel.

Already, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has said landing cost of PMS is N35 higher than the pump price of N145 per litre.

The rise in global crude oil prices after the 2016 hike in petrol price, the minister said, brought back subsidy.

Recalling the experience of 2016, when the government increased petrol price from N86.5 to N145 after months of severe scarcity, he described fuel subsidy as an emotive issue.

According to him, even when there was a consensus on how stakeholders were going to do it, there were still issues at the end of the moment; NUPENG and PENGASSAN supported but the other

members of the trade unions pulled out.

Nigerians, he said, saw through what the government was trying to do and allowed it to happen. “When you look at the gap today, the landing cost is about N180 per litre and sale price is N145,” Kachikwu said He stated that dealing with subsidy requires a very efficient management of information – getting everybody who is stakeholders to tie into it.

The minister noted that the government had not paid marketers all the outstanding subsidy arrears, adding, “there is need to find a way of fixing refineries quickly, whether it is governmentfunded or whatever – my preference is always private sector funding.”

The labour union has never really said they would not be supportive of an attempt to take away this subsidy element; the union has always argued, ‘if you are doing it, show me what you (will) do with those new receipts of income. Two, what do you do with the refineries? Therefore, we need to address those to even get their buy-in”.

“There is need to separate those who need subsidy from those who don’t; you will find that 80 percent or more of those who get subsidy today do not need it.

There is nothing necessarily bad with some elements of subsidy if it is wellmanaged and is very little, and if the private sector can take it away completely; that is fantastic. That is the most ideal situation,” the minister said.

The NNPC, which has been the sole importer of petrol into the country for about two years after private oil marketers withdrew from the importation of the product, bears the burden of subsidising the product.

Sunday 21 April 2019

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BDSUNDAY 23

BDLife Fuel scarcity and price hike rumours STEPHEN ONYEKWELU & DIPO OLADEINDE

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t was Bunmi’s first visit to Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital territory, during the week ending April 13 and she was surprised to see a very long queue of over 50 vehicles at 7:14pm waiting to buy petrol at the NNPC mega station in Garki.

She was even more surprised when she landed in Lagos on April 13, the shuttle bus driver that conveyed her from Mile 2 to Festac first gate at 11:45am was complaining about how long it had taken him to buy petrol.

In addition, Bunmi overheard on the streets that the Federal Government was planning to increase the retail price of petrol. She started asking questions and realised there was a bigger problem when she spoke to some people with in depth understanding of Nigeria’s downstream oil and gas sector.

Earlier in March, President Muhammadu Buhari warned of tougher times for Nigerians, following his renewed mandate to pilot the affairs of the country in over the next four years.

“I think it is going to be tough because people are being forgetful,” Buhari said while receiving members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) who came to congratulate him.

When rumours surrounding fuel scarcity resurfaced, Nigerians were already preparing their minds on what to expect following the President’s earlier statement as stakeholders believed the government would borrow heavily to fund subsidy and recurrent budget in 2019 and subsequent years.

Does government really want to increase pump price?

Rumours over increase in the pump price of petrol are commonplace in Africa’s biggest oil producing country, where the downstream and upstream oil market is still heavily regulated by government and government has to spend huge sums in subsidy payments.

Long queues were reported in filling stations in Ilorin, Port Harcourt and a few other states due to panic buying sparked by rumours of a looming fuel scarcity and likely hike in price of petrol.

Against the backdrop of long queues emerging at some filling stations amid the fears that fuel subsidy removal was imminent, Zainab Ahmed, finance minister reiterated government’s resolve not to remove fuel subsidy.

Ahmed spoke during a joint briefing with Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele and Minister of Budget and National Planning Udoma Udo Udoma on the side lines of the 2019 International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC. “There is no plan to remove subsidy now because we have not yet found an alternative package to subsidy. We will not remove subsidy without another social safety net package,” the minister of finance said.

She noted: “One of the issues that always comes up in the report, espe-

cially by the IMF as a corporate body, is how we handle fuel subsidy. In principle, the Fund is saying fuel subsidies are better removed, so that you can use the resources for other important sectors. But in Nigeria, we don’t have plans to remove fuel subsidy at this time because we have not yet designed buffers that can enable us to remove fuel subsidy and provide cushions for our people. So, there is no plan to remove subsidy.

Also, speaking at Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of

siding price of fuel in 2018, an amount which was far higher than funds allocated to education, health, infrastructure and other key ministries and parastatals that would have increase the economic growth or standard of living of its 0ver 180 million people.

Over the years, the Nigerian government subsidises things like electricity and petrol paying the difference between the cost to produce and the cost charged to customers in order to make them more affordable, but in the end is it worth the cost?

Like many other countries, Nigeria began controlling the price of petrol

Nigeria (OGTAN) Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for Petroleum Resources, asked the public to ignore rumours of planned upward review of pump price of petrol.

“As far as I’m concerned, there is no discussion within government circle about petrol price review and wondered how the rumour began and impatient motorists didn’t interrogate the speculation and gossip,” Kachikwu said on April 15.

and other fossil fuels decades ago, largely to provide stable and secure prices to families and small businesses.

Also in common with other countries, these price controls became more expensive as demand, some of it driven by cheap, subsidised prices, grew exponentially, and as world oil prices increased, notably in the past decade.

Dilemma of subsidy Subsidies are also a hot topic because it is politically unpopular to reduce them and force consumers to pay more.

With landing cost of petrol in Nigeria put at N171 per litre, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) incurred N37 on each litre of fuel at a depot price of N133.80, leading to a daily subsidy of N2.046billion for 55million litres. The landing cost of petrol has been higher than the pegged retail price of N145 per litre, after crude oil prices rose to $45 per barrel in January 2017.

Nigeria spent N730.9 billion on sub-

Way forward Stakeholders say the challenges facing Nigeria’s downstream sector ranges from poor governance and management of refining assets, to low operating margin for operators leading, low return on equity, huge debts/ receivables on account of unpaid accumulated subsidy and unpaid interest and foreign exchange differentials on product importation.

Major Oil Marketing Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) suggested some important strategic steps which include introduction of corporate governance, full deregulation of the sector, introduction of guilds which will increase availability of skilled workmen and artisans in the industry.

“Improved regulations of fuel standards, improved customer service, improvement in port reception logistics, development of transport infrastructure, and improved security,” MOMAN suggested in the 16 page report.

Leading consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said Nigeria as the largest market in Africa offers unique opportunities for investment in the petroleum downstream sub-sector.

“However, the government needs to create the necessary business environment through price liberalisation and strong independent regulation. In

addition, challenges around pipeline infrastructure, technology, supply consistency and capital need to be addressed,” PwC said in its report titled “Nigeria: looking beyond oil.”

Nigeria’s inability to refine adequate petroleum products domestically in order to meet local demand has continued to render the downstream sector vulnerable to foreign exchange volatility particularly for petroleum independent marketers.

Recent efforts to revive the local refineries have failed as they have struggled to refine up to 30percent of their installed capacities despite the huge amount ($1.6billion) reportedly spent on repairs and maintenance over the past 19 years.

The advent of Dangote refinery, which is set to produce 0.65 million barrels per day of refined products and other modular refineries will significantly impact the current landscape in the downstream sector which upon completion will exceed domestic consumption levels and subsequently export excess refined products to neighbouring African countries.

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Sunday 21 April 2019

BDLife Anxiety as fuel price hike looms I INNOCENT ODOH

n some major fuel stations in Abuja and some major cities in the country last week, the dreaded fuel queues returned albeit temporarily, and there was a mass hysteria that the Federal Government may have planned to remove fuel subsidy, which will resort in fuel price increase.

This was against the backdrop of the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Nigeria should remove fuel subsidy. The Managing Director, IMF, Christine Lagarde, had on April 12, during a press conference at the joint annual Spring meetings with the World Bank in Washington DC, called the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy, because of low revenue mobilisation that existed in terms of tax to Gross Domestic Product.

Recall that immediately he was declared winner in the 2019 Presidential election, President Muhammadu Buhari, said his next four years will be tough and Nigerians may have started feeling the heat.

The government through the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, had earlier given the impression that the government could consider the IMF advice but later said the templates to have a complete removal of subsidy have not been created yet, fuelling rumours that the government may after all heed the IMF call.

The reaction from Nigerians were immediate and sharp against any planned increase in fuel price, which many said will affect the already impoverished Nigerian masses and throw the country into deeper crisis.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) immediately rose to denounce any planned removal of subsidy on fuel saying “it would result in astronomical increase in the pump price of petroleum products and cost of other goods and services.”

NLC President Ayuba Wabba said in a statement that the IMF advice is harmful because among the agenda usually set for any president that emerges in the country are “the devaluation of currency, removal of subsidy, and opening of the country’s borders to free trade.” He added that in the understanding of the NLC, fuel subsidy is nothing but funding inefficiency in the downstream sector.

According to him, the solution to the problem of subsidy is local refining of products, which will drive down cost of products and end the corruption associated with the present subsidy regime.

“In Nigeria, the removal of subsidy is synonymous with price increase and all of us know that the system is shrouded in corruption. So, clearly that recommendation is not only faulty, it is wrong. NLC consistently said that what needs to be done is to refine products for domestic use.

“So, naturally, you will kill subsidy and corruption. And to do what IMF is prescribing is to transfer the corrupt tendencies of the so-called subsidy now to the citizens.

The fact of the matter is that Nigerians are so impoverished that any price increase certainly cannot be pushed down the throat of every Nigerian and so let’s tell our government that they should be wary of this decision,” he said.

Also reacting, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NU-

PENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) quarreled with the suggested fuel subsidy removal arguing that it is devoid of human feelings.

In a statement signed by Okugbawa Lumumba, PENGASSAN General Secretary and Afolabi Olawale, NUPENG’s General Secretary the two unions said that the IMF advice on how to recover Nigerian economy “was worrisome as it had become counterproductive.”

“Any economic policy that is devoid of human feelings can lead to more social dislocations and upheavals, which will later become counterproductive as currently experienced,’’ it said.

The unions said that IMF had “created panic in the country with associated hoarding of petroleum products, panic buying,

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Citizen’s involvement in this fight is the only way out to get things from the government.

Government cannot impose VAT if the citizens do not want it. We are already overtaxed

and skyrocketed increases in prices of goods and services in the country.”

They warned that “imposing more stringent reforms in domestic revenue mobilisation including increase in VAT and securing more domestic oil revenues through subsidy removal was an attempt to destabilize the nation.”

Speaking to BDSUNDAY on Friday, Director of Partners for Electoral Reforms, a civil society organisation, Ezenwa Nwagu, who a policy analyst, said The IMF is not a head master that will dictate to Nigeria how it should manage its economy.

He argued that there are evidences of the fact that those who have swallowed IMF pill, rather than get well became sicker, adding that the struggle for a better society is not essentially left in the hands of the government but the citizens that “will brace up to ensure that the rabid nature of capitalism and its promoters does not snuff life out of the people.”

He added that it is not a matter of what policies the government initiates but the ability of the citizens to mobilise against any policy that is against their interests, saying “we have to mobilise the citizens to ensure that the conspiracy against the ordinary Nigerians does not survive.”

He however lamented that even as it appears as though the government does not have concrete plan to increase fuel price, “it is possible the government is just testing the waters.”

“The issues of fuel subsidy removal should be thoroughly debated by the stakeholders. But what I want to say is that there is no concrete plan anywhere to increase fuel price but Muhammadu Buhari has done it before and succeeded why won’t he try it again?

“How did he succeed? He just divided the country into north and South, so instead of seeing it from the logic of the argument we started seeing it from partisan lenses, from ethnic lenses and they profited from it.

“Citizen’s involvement in this fight is the only way out to get things from the govern-

ment. Government cannot impose VAT if the citizens do not want it. We are already overtaxed,” he said.

He lamented that when President Buhari increased the fuel price in 2016, he was part of the mobilisation to resist it but Nigerians did not come out.

“The people who profit from the fuel subsidy are holding the country on the jugular and most of those people are close to or in government. These people have conspired against Nigerians and the Nigerian people have allowed them to use ethnicity, political party and religion to confuse us. So a country that is bifurcated in this manner cannot resist anything.

“The truth is that Buhari has large followership and most of his followers are not on the social media and after you have ranted on the social media and come to the real thing they will hold you down there. If you do a protest that is not a Nigerian protest, it will lead you nowhere. Okay if you do a protest in Abuja and there is no protest in Lagos, Enugu, Ibadan, Kano what kind of protest is that?

“So if you see things from the point of where you come from or from the point of where the President comes from you cannot mobilise for common interest,” he said.

On the question of price of crude oil going up in the international market and local consumers paying higher for fuel, Nwagu noted that it is “a Nigerian phenomenon,” adding that it is in the flawed system and structures of Nigeria.

“Former President Goodluck Jonathan sold crude for almost 100 dollars per barrel, what did we get for it? The one before him (Yar ‘Adua) sold like that what did we get?

Obasanjo sold, what did we get? Nigerian leaders read from the same text book. The mistake that the citizens continue to make is to think there is a difference. When have the resources of the country been used for the benefit of the citizens? We must see it as us against the elite. The rulership of this country is subversive to the interest of the citizens of this country,’’ he said.

Sunday 21 April 2019

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Arts Easter with the arts OBINNA EMELIKE

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f you are a lover of the arts, especially visual, there are many engaging works to see and artists to appreciate this Easter.

There is no lack of galleries to visit as some are within your vicinity.

To enjoy the Easter holiday with the creative minds and hands among us, all you need do is ask around for galleries, google for information and step out to see what the galleries are offering.

But one place to be is Omenka, a leading art gallery on 24 Ikoyi Crescent, Ikoyi. At the gallery, visitors enjoy a fine selection of works of established and emerging contemporary Nigerian and international artists working in diverse media.

The good thing about visiting the gallery is that it is located just by the shore of the Atlantic Ocean and hence offers fresh breeze amid tranquil atmosphere. It also host a restaurant overlooking the ocean and under tree shade.

You can also visit Temple Muse.

Located on 21, Amodu Tijani Close, Victoria Island, Lagos, The Temple Muse offers curated art exhibitions and bespoke events, set within the beautiful setting of an in-house gallery, champagne bar and poolside, which are designed to further inspire visitors. Corporate gifts, luxury hampers and a wedding gift registry are also available in store within the gallery.

One reason to visit the Temple Muse this Easter is to see ‘Diffusion’, an exhibition of paintings and mixed

media works by Promise Onali and Chibuike Uzoma; two young and ambitious visual artists who are keen on doing things boldly and differently. The exhibition, which is curated by SMO Contemporary Art, consists of 45 works. It opened on March 30, 2019 runs until May 17, 2019.

As well, SMO Contemporary

Art, which specializes in showcasing contemporary art in non-traditional exhibition spaces, focusing on established and emerging artists based in Africa and the Diaspora, is also an outfit to check for quality visual art exhibitions even this Easter.

Aside Temple Muse, another foremost exhibition space SMO Contemporary uses is The Wheat-

baker Hotel, Ikoyi.

You can visit the boutique hotel to see breathtaking artworks, especially the ongoing exhibition titled, ‘Rare Prints by Bruce Onobrakpeya’.

The Wheatbaker is celebrating Bruce Onobrakpeya with the exhibition, which showcases thirty-one rare prints in commemoration of 60 years of his studio practice. The

exhibition, which commenced on April 27 runs till July 22, 2019. So, you can breeze in to see the works of the legendary artist.

You must not take a room at the premiere luxury boutique hotel before you fete your eyes on the creative works of Nigerian artists because The Wheatbaker is at the forefront of promoting contemporary Nigerian art with its robust and innovative art exhibitions all year round since it opened its doors in 2011.

As well, the Alexis Gallery on Akin Olugbade Street in Victoria Island, Lagos is worth visiting this Easter to see buy art works at the shop, unwind at the coffee shop or see the works of Sam Ovraiti.

Alexis Gallery is exhibiting 40 oil and pastel paintings by Ovraiti in a solo exhibition titled ‘Sam Ovraiti, Retrospective; Exposition of 36 Years Romance with the Language of Colours’, to celebrate the artist’s 36 years of practice. Visit to see, delight and buy some works by the great contemporary artist better known as a colourist.

Besides these galleries, you can visit Nike Art Gallery in Lekki, National Museum Onikan, Myrdim Gallery, among others to fete your eyes on creative ingenuity of master visual artists and emerging ones.

If you are a lover of theatrical performances, Terra Kulture in Victoria Island is staging Queen Moremi the musical, while MUSON Centre, National Theatre, Freedom Park, all have one stage play or more to show across the days of the holiday.

Just give it a trial and you will delight in doing that. I wish you a happy Easter with the arts!

Olu Oguibe’s Documenta 14 Obelisk returns to Kassel, Germany

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hough it only debuted two years ago, in 2017, a t Do c u m e n t a 1 4 i n Kassel, Germany, Olu Oguibe’s 50-foot-tall obelisk sculpture Das Fremdlinge und Flüchtlinge Monument (Monument for strangers and refugees) has already had a complicated history. Originally shown in Kassel’s main square, it was acquired by the city government but entered a limbo state after being taken down in September of last year. But now—for the time being, at least—the controversy surrounding the work has come to an end, as the obelisk officially returned to Kassel on Thursday, this time in a square nearby its first location.

“It means a lot to me that this important Documenta 14 art work is now permanently back in Kassel’s center,” Sabine Schormann, the director general of Documenta, said in a statement, adding that “the city society is now invited to welcome the obelisk to its new location at a citizens’ festivity.”

In a statement, Oguibe said,

“I am glad that the obelisk will be rebuilt.”From the first time it was shown, Oguibe’s work was viewed as a provocation by some local politicians. The work, which was shown in the city’s Königsplatz square during Documenta, features a quote from the Book of Matthew, “I was a stranger and you took me in,” in four different languages—Turkish, Arabic, German, and English. It celebrates the influx of foreign peoples in a country that has, in recent years, made attempts to close off its borders and restrict immigration, and so the work drew the ire of conservatives within country.

In spite of this, Das Fremdlinge und Flüchtlinge Monument won Oguibe the Arnold Bode Prize, an award given during each edition of Documenta to one participating artist that comes with a €10,000 ($11,200) grant.

The controversy did not end there, however. When the city of Kassel announced in 2018 that it was acquiring the work for €126,000 (or about $140,000), via funds raised through crowdsourcing, with the intention of

keeping it in the central Königsplatz location, right-wing officials lashed out. The price had been one source of contention—Oguibe originally said he would sell the work to the city for €600,000 (about $675,000), causing one person to scrawl the words “€600,000? Are you

Olu Oguibe’s obelisk in its new location.

crazy?” onto the monument. The ideas behind the work were also an issue. Members of the farright Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party began targeting the work, decrying its message, and in October of last year, the city said it would remove the work, even after Oguibe tried to ar-

range for it to appear in a less central location.

“To say that the city leaders tried in so many ways over the course of the past year to avoid acquiring the work would be a gross understatement,” Oguibe told Hyperallergic at the time.

Then, a couple weeks after the removal was announced, the city went back on its decision and said it would display the work, with the stipulation that it could not appear in the Königsplatz. “We thank Olu Oguibe for conceding to the wishes of many people in our city,” Christian Geselle, the mayor of Kassel, said at the time. Now the work is situated in the Treppenstrasse, a street with shops and other works that have previously been acquired

by Documenta, by artists such as Jonathan Borofsky, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, and Lois Weinberger. To celebrate the work’s re-installation, the city will hold a street festival on May 11.

Courtesy of artnews.com

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Sunday 21 April 2019

Arts CNN meets Wana Udobang, the inspirational poet

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n this week’s episode of African Voices, CNN International meets Nigerian poet Wana Udobang who shows the programme how the streets of Lagos inspire the work she does.

Udobang explains to the programme how poetry helped her express herself during hardships she faced.

She says: “What inspired me to become a poet, I think it started… as a child, I was going through a lot of difficulty with my parents getting divorced and then general teenage angst. And for some weird reason, I’ve found that just writing them down kind of helped… poetry for me was catharsis and therapy… And I found that every single time I wrote something down, it just released me in some way, shape or form.”

Udobang didn’t realise she was writing poetry until it was pointed out by her best friend.

She explains: “My best friend saw a couple of things I had written and said, ‘Dude, this is

Wana Udobang

like poetic’... It just planted the seeds of something inside me.

And she bought me a journal, so I had to stop writing on scraps of paper. I think those were like the early beginnings of it. And I became more conscious of the idea of poetry.”

While at university in the UK, Udobang was inspired to transform her poetry into a performance. She tells African Voices: “It was my second year at University… I was watching stuff on the internet.

And then I was on YouTube

Life lessons from Mudipapa to launch May 5 as Awhefeada reviews book

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ife Lessons from Mudipapa, a book written by Francis Ewherido, a newspaper columnist and managing director of Titan Insurance Brokers Limited, will be formally unveiled in Lagos on Sunday, May 5, 2019.

Life Lessons from Mudipapa chronicles the life and times of a fictional character, Julius Mudiaga Orien, Ph.D, a native of Effurun-Otor, Delta State. His childhood dream was to be a Catholic priest, but he chickened out because of the vow of celibacy.

Francis Ewherido

He was to find out that married life has its challenges.

Life Lessons from Mudipapa deals with issues of courtship, marriage, family life, parenting, business startups, preparing for retirement and life after retirement, amongst others, presented in a unique and racy manner. It also contains traditional marriage ceremonies among the Urhobo, Itsekiris and Isokos.

In a related development, Sunny Awhefeada, professor of English and Literature and Dean, Faculty of Arts, Delta State University, Abraka, will

be the book reviewer of the book. Awhefeada belongs to the new generation of Nigerian literary scholars.

He studied English at the Universities of Benin and Ibadan before settling down as a lecturer in the Department of English and Literary Studies at the Delta State University, Abraka where he rose through the ranks to become a professor and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts. Professor Awhefeada is a columnist with the Daily Independent newspaper and he currently edits The Guardian Literary Series.

The event will take place under the distinguished chairmanship of Johnson Modika Barovbe, chairman, Board of Trustees, Urhobo Social Club, Lagos and Proprietor, Westminster College, Lagos; while the President General of Urhobo Progress Union, Moses Taiga, is the father of the day.

The acting rector, Seminary of SS. Peter and Paul, Bodija, Ibadan, Rev. Fr. Anthony Ewherido, Ph.D., is the chief host. The book presentation will attract prominent Urhobos, including members of Urhobo Social Club, as well as other prominent Nigerians in the Christian community, media, insurance sector, business community and other areas of national life.

and then this lady comes up called Bassey Ikpi. She’s Nigerian, and she does this poem called homeward. So, I think that moment like watching her like really connect, and it was like, oh, wow, like, so you can write stuff and you can

perform.”

Udobang’s success has seen her perform at different arts festivals around the world and seen her become a recognised name in the spoken word community.

However, there’s also a part of the poet who believed her skills were written in fate. She says: “My full name is Wana Abbasi which means the light of God. There’s this thing that Africans, you know, say a lot about your name and how it’s tied in with your destiny and you know who it is that you’re going to become. I really do feel like a strong sense of connection with my name. I feel like the work I’ve always done has always been about light either as even as a character, my personality, about bringing light to a space.”

For Udobang, the best place for a poet to be is in Lagos: “I think I feel like if you’re an artist or you’re a writer especially Lagos is definitely one of the ultimate spaces to be in. And the reason is because Lagos is an assault on the senses. I always say I

love the city so much. It is it is an assault in that sense it is [a] theater, life theatre… I mean, there’s just storytelling stories and storytelling is just breathing around you.”

On her future, Udobang tells CNN how she is currently working on her third album and hopes to continue being successful: “I am currently writing material for my third album. I have a working title for this third one, but I think it’s going to be called something like transitions. I’m trying to explore a lot of the themes. I’m looking at exploring generational relationships between mothers and daughters. I also have an interview series, which I run where I interviewed artists… I call them like my friends and members of my artistic community and it’s a space for them to share their work share their process… because I think that our stories shouldn’t be erased.”

African Voices is sponsored by Globacom and aired on Friday April 19, 2019 at 1130 WAST on CNN International.

Miss Apex Queen Nigeria 2019 for May 11

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reparations are in top gear for the hosting of this year’s edition of Miss Apex Queen Nigeria 2019. The beauty pageant, which made its entry into the Nigerian pageantry calendar last year, is set for its grand finale and award night billed for May 11, 2019 at Gracepoint Hotel, Wuse, Abuja.

The pageant is the pet project of Queen of Tourism Nigeria 2017, Miss Favour Amarachi Uzochukwu, who hails from Anambra State and a final year student of History and Diplomatic Studies of University of Abuja.

The beauty pageant is promoted under Apex-white Empire Bloc, an outfit set up by her to groom the girl-child and give meaning to their existence by offering them the platform to realise their lifetime ambitions.

As the queen of tourism, she is also dedicated to the development and promotion of tourism related activities hence the twin events, Miss Apex Queen Nigeria Beauty Pageant and Apex Achievers Award, which are being promoted by her to draw attention to the child-girl.

The achievers award, according to her, is devoted to honouring and celebrating leaders, businesses, personalities and celebrities who have contributed immensely to the development of the country and that of the youth especially the girl-child through

their various humanitarian activities.

Aside of its tourism activities, the former Miss Queen of Tourism disclosed that the strength of her outfit lies in its girl-child advocacy, which has become a big issue in the country following the ill - treatments meted to them by the society. ‘‘The organisation supports more opportunities for girl - child and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by them worldwide,’’ she said. ‘‘These inequalities include areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and child marriage.’’

According to her, the event this year will be a very colourful and enriching one, with a lot of entertainment, informative and educative

line ups for the people. Some of the activities include: Dance drama, fashion show, and musical performances by some of the notable and upcoming Nigerian musical acts.

Participant’s age for the beauty pageant is put between 18 and 27, with no height or statistical restrictions. While prizes to be carted home include official car, vacation trip, cash prize, movie and modelling contracts as well as lots of sponsored projects as the winner is expected to be a girl – child and tourism advocate.

She also revealed that at last year’s edition, which was staged at Marantha Suite, Owerri, Imo State, five beauty queens were crowned as ambassadors with Queen Cynthia Ocheze Opara as Miss Apex Queen Nigeria 2018 representing Imo State; Queen Precious Ogwumike as Miss Apex Queen Nigeria Tourism; Queen Jessica Charles as Miss Apex Queen Nigeria Culture; Queen Ellah Mbah as Miss Apex Queen South East; and Queen Christopher Juliana as the Photogenic and face of the company.

Some of the personalities crowned with the achievers award include: Chinyere Ogidi, publisher and editor -in -chief, Waka About Afrika, as the most supportive media of the year and Obinna Muomah CEO, Inside Nollywood Production, as the next rated production outfit of the year.

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Life&Living What Easter means to family and friends

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BUNMI BAILEY

aster is here again and the atmosphere is full of celebration. Apart from Easter being a Christian holiday to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is a time when family and friends gather together for a special meal.

There are also some more modern traditions to mark Easter, which are very common such as Easter eggs, the Easter bunny and chocolate.

Ronke Olubokun, a social work graduate, said, “Easter is a period I have sober reflection on how Jesus Christ died for me and how He resurrected so that I can access to him directly. It is a period that reminds me about the love of Christ for the whole world. I will also use this period to celebrate God’s sacrifice with families and friends.”

Although to some, it is not as special as Christmas, it is still worth celebrating. “It is not as special as Christmas to me and it is not a special occasion to cook special meals. But I will probably use that time to catch up with some friends that I have not seen in a long while,” Wale Labiyi, a photographer, said.

Also retail outlets are not left out as they are also celebrating the holidays by wooing consumers with promotional offers.

Some of these stores are Domino’s pizza , SPAR, Startimes, among others.

Domino’s pizza is currently

offering Easter promos, which include having a package of pizza, chicken and two drinks for N4, 000, and a family bundle of two big cold stone ice cream, two kids size ice cream and two cupcakes for N4, 000. For the pinkperry ice-cream, if you buy two cups ice cream, you get one cup for free.

They will also be having bouncing castes for kids in certain places, football, and other games this weekend and also an Easter eggs search on the pinkperry social page where all you have to do is look for the number of white eggs and if you tell the right number, you get something for free.

SPAR store at Opebi, Lagos State, is currently showcasing discounted items like a 2.6 litres

pure vegetable oil sold at N2, 065 from N2, 150, Spar classic bread for N350 from N370 and Fresh frozen chicken for N1, 095 from N1, 246.

It is also doing a shop n’ get free gifts promo where you buy items for N3, 000 and above and get a gift. The store promo is valid from March 22, 2019 till April 30, 2019.

In the pay TV segment, Startimes is offering an upgrade on all its bouquets for subscribers starting from April 1, to May 15, 2019.This will give customers the opportunity to pay for subscription package on Nova , Basic, Smart and Classic bouquets and get an instant upgrade to view a higher bouquet within hours of activation.

Speaking on the prices, some consumers are optimistic that this year’s Easter celebration will be quite better compared to last year’s celebration as prices of food items have been gradually reducing.

Kayode Oseni, a photographer, said that last year was boring for him and his family as there was no money and could not afford to buy food items but that this year was different as price are lower compared to last year.

“As you can see I can bring my daughter to Shoprite to shop with me and buy her something unlike last year, I could not afford to get her something. She is part of my expenses,” Nike Shopgbetun, a sales woman, said in a happy

mode.

Another shopper said that his Easter celebration will be better as prices of most consumer items are lower.

Also, food inflation moderated year-on-year. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report inflation moderated by 2.6 percentage points to 13.45 percent in March 2019 from 16.08 percent in same period of last year.

But some consumers do not see any difference as it is still the same for them.

“For me this year is dry. There is no money in circulation. If I want to enjoy my Easter, my company should pay my salary before Easter so that I can enjoy it”, Taiwo Bolaji, an accountant, complained.

Busola Olamenin, a purchasing manager, said that she does not do much spending for Easter but she celebrates it with just drinks.

“There is no much difference for me because a pack of Pepsi was N950 last year and it is still the same this year,” she said.

“For now, I cannot say how the celebration will be for me because businesses are just picking up after the elections,” an anonymous woman said.

Easter, also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday celebrated once a year by Christians to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day after his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD.

Making your living space come alive

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IFEOMA OKEKE

here’s nothing more thrilling than planning with a professional in interior design the decor for your home. For those lucky enough to be moving into a new home, this is a chance to create your own fantasy rooms. Even if it’s not a new house, and you are just redecorating to bring a new vibe into your home, it’s time to be out with the old and in with the new.

Before we begin, look around you. What your new home will look like and the furniture and wonders it will contain will depend on the creativity of your choice of interior designer.

The best interior-decor and creative interiors are products of utility and practicality. In other words, you’re going to need a study desk in the children’s room, or a recliner in your balcony if it faces a fantastic view. Capitalise on your home’s strengths and

make it more comfortable for residents.

All these are what DO.II Designs Limited which focuses on furniture manufacture, interior design, space planning and turnkey remodelling projects for the high-end residential, property development, hospitality and corporate market, offers to its clients.

With a vision of making people’s spaces come alive, the com-

pany is also focuses on beautifying spaces in which people live and work.

Ify Ighodalo is the founder and owner of DO.II, said her greatest motivation is just making people happy. “If you look at my life, all I do is geared towards making people happy. You have a place and you are looking at it and thinking what you can do. It may just be a coat of paint, a few throw pillows

or just anything to put a smile in people’s faces.

“I am very conscious of my surrounding. I have been able to transform my own space, so I proceeded in assisting others to transform their own spaces. I pay attention to details. My mum trained me in this,”Ighodalo said.

Speaking on her new flagship store in Lagos, she said: “This place is our flagship store because this is

the exact definition of a flagship store. There are many stores and you see a little bit of everything that you do, from designing scenes and air conditioners, with the positioning of everything, to floors, to toilet, to the kitchen.

“So, as a brand that is proudly African; everything here is made in Nigeria and made by us. We are a Nigerian brand, with a local outlook but having global standards.”

She said DO.II I a local brand but makes furniture’s that can compete globally. “What we have always tried to do from the first day in Design Options is to style locally, what happens globally.

This is a one-stop store. You can get your office furniture, bedroom, kitchen, interior design and everything in one place.

“We focus on office and home furniture and fittings. We focus on the manufacture of homes and office furniture, so that when you walk into the space, you can just pick what you want.”

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Sunday 21 April 2019

Entertainment Illegal mass migration tops jazz festival’s agenda

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ragic stories of people being smuggled illegally abroad and finding themselves at the risk of abuse, slavery, organs harvesting, sex/human trafficking, among others are among the many issues that influenced the organisers of the Lagos International Jazz Festival(LIJF) to place social menace caused by illegal migration on the front burner. The LIJF 2019 colloquium seeks to find ways to tackle the challenges through the use of music and the creative arts with the theme – ‘Music and the creative arts as tools for addressing the dangers & perils of illegal/ irregular mass migration’.

When asked about the topic and the thrust of the festival this year, Ayoola Sadare, festival founder and director, stated, “After the 10th anniversary of the Lagos International Jazz Festival in 2018, someone close embarked on the journey to Europe through the Sahara in spite of strong advice and evidence of what transpires during the journey. This shocked me and I reaIised how hopeless people must feel and desperate they were to escape their situation and embark on this journey.

This phenomenon is serious! We at the festival then felt it is only right that such a platform as ours in collaboration with others should be able to do more than just promote Jazz and get musicians to perform.

It should be a voice, to give back to

Ayoola Sadare, festival director, LIJF, Steve Ayorinde, Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism and Tope Phumba Adeyemi of Loud Beach Festival, during a courtesy visit to the commissioner.

society and help raise awareness.

Working closely with the media, the creative arts has the power to do this and effect change. The response of people to music, Jazz inclusive and the creative arts is a positive one and must be used as a medium to strongly communicate the anomalies in the society easily.” Speakers at the Festival colloquium will include, Steve Ayorinde, commissioner for tourism, arts and culture, Lagos State, Pretty Okafor, the PMAN president, and others.

The Lagos International Jazz Festival, which is scheduled to holds from April 29 -30, 2019 at the Freedom Park, Lagos, also incorporates the Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) and UNESCO recognised International Jazz Day on April 30. During the April

Jazz Appreciation month, LIJF will collaborate with other events like the Loud Beach Festival, Industry Nite, Umutu Jazz Immersion and a few others to bring the music closer to the people. LIJF 2019 is a one venue, two nights, and three stages event.

This year’s edition will feature both home-based and international acts like David Friesen (USA), Christine Kamau (Kenya), Bright Gain, Orliam, Sam Ayunke(SA), Wole Oni, DJ Humility, Temmie Ovwasa – Ybnl Princess and a host of others. The event is organised by Inspiro Productions and Sloweganzi International. It is supported by the Lagos State Ministry Of Tourism Arts & Culture, PMAN, Sovereign Trust Insurance PLC, among others.

Beejay to light up Lagos with sax concert

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bolaji Banjoko, a trailblazing saxophonist, who is popularly known as Beejay Sax, is taking sax music to another level with the 2019 edition of his concert ‘Beejay Sax Live’.

This year, the event will feature Mercy Chinwo, Eben, Tim Godfrey and a list of other multitalented artistes.

The ceremony also featured performances from other notable artistes both home and

abroad.

Aside the performing artiste, top personalities from business, politics and the mover and shakers of the society will be attending from all over the world.

The most anticipated event promised to be an extraordinary experience of purely uplifting, soul liberating and joyful sound.

The event will take place on Sunday May 12, 2019 at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Smirnoff x1 Tour offers a unique experience of music in Calabar

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he city of Calabar witnessed a rush of music, colour and fun as Smirnoff X1, Smirnoff Ice and Double Black Gurana brightened up

the city with the Smirnoff neonthemed party recently at the Municipal Garden, Ndidem Iso road, Marian, Calabar.

Party lovers in the city, tagged

‘Nation’s Paradise’ trooped out in their numbers to express themselves in glowing colours as mixologists kept the scene alive with cocktails made with Smirnoff X1 Extra Smooth and Smirnoff X1 Intense Chocolate. Guests also savoured the great tastes of Smirnoff Ice and Smirnoff Guarana.

Top Boy DJ Spinall, set the tone for the night spinning the wheels, dishing out hit after hit in the neonthemed evening, while Dem Mama singer, Timaya and Iyanya, Kukere singer dialed up the energy with glowing performances that kept audience on their feet. Calabar based DJ Jemmy also added excitement to the event with her fascinating performance.

Calabar is the first stop of the annual Smirnoff X1 tour party this year.

‘Guyn Man’ is a bad movie that portrayed women as pleasure seekers

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‘

uyn Man’ is a movie on love and romance. Two best friends in a platonic relationship are unaware they are suppressing an underlying deep feeling, love and attraction that truly reflects how they feel about each. I was not impressed with the movie; I endured it to the end because perhaps, I was looking for anything that could salvage my impression about the film.

After all, I rate the film 3 over 10.

The ineffective film featured Ireti Doyle, Lolo Eremie, Jimmy Odukoya, Adunni Ade, Ben Lugo Touitou, Keira Hewatch, Bucci Franklin, Tope Olowoniyan, Chico Aligekwe and many more.

I was surprised to see Ireti Doyle cast in an insignificant role. She was just a meddlesome bartender, a role the film could do without. I don’t see the essence of her role in the film.

When a good film has a problem of perception, it always attracts the epic debate on the functionality of art to either teach or delight. In this regard, ‘Guyn Man’ did fail in both, it neither taught me anything nor was I entertained. What could have been a remarkable story even though it wasn’t original got distracted by a stereotypical depiction. Of course, there are so many lovers who have found themselves in the same position as the lead characters Ikechukwu Mordi Jnr (Jimmy Odukoya) and Anaya Ekiye (Lolo Eremie), but the film missed an opportunity to solve what could be a challenge for these people through its weak plot, crisis, and denouement, making the film fundamentally a bad drama. The crisis is valid, and reflected true life situations and challenges. So many persons that have the opposite sex as best friends are sometimes confused on how to express themselves when they discover that what they share is beyond mere friendship. ‘Guyn Man’ failed to depict the real challenges that come with such situations and was chasing shadows with its focus on the erotica (sexual satisfaction).

Naya had to set her best friend Iyke with females in order to get a story for her magazine on relationships. She decided to use her bestie Iyke as a case study to get true-life perspective. At the end of the day, with testimonies from the women she had set up with her best friend, she realised she feels jealous over these artificially fixed affairs, and became over protective of a man who has been a mere friend. The movie’s fault lies in its portrayal of women as sexual pleasure seekers whose definition of a good man is his sexual prowess which in the film was described as 10 over 10, what became too repetitive (even with its insignificance) in

the film. Maybe they should have titled the film 10 over 10. While sexual satisfaction is an important factor in a relation, ‘Guyn Man’ exaggerated it and portrayed it as the only factor women seek in relationships. Even when the best friends Naya and Iyke have confessed their love for each other, the next thing they did was to experiment the sexual virility other women testified Iyke had.

Lolo Eremie had to confess to her friend Keira Hewatch when she inquired about Iyke’s sexual ability that he is 10 over 10. The story was just whack; the conflict was not well developed and was also too easily resolved. I am tempted to say I did not see any real conflict in the movie.

The cast was not outstanding, particularly Jimmy Odukoya. At the beginning of the film when he was shown typing on a laptop, he was just clicking on the same keys throughout that scene. His fingers were on the same spot.

He could have moved his hands to show he was really typing. His face expressions were the same throughout the film. In performance, face expression must suit the circumstance; it shouldn’t be the same in every situation.

The actors did a lot of screaming even in situations where they should be talking. In fact it was as if the film was just about shouting match. Voice is an important aspect of a film and an accurate

Lolo Eremie, the lead femal character in ‘Guyn Man’

modulation of pitch and tone in dialogues adds credibility.

There were a lot of exaggerated performances that made the acting unbelievable. There were also sound issues in the film for instance, at the car scene where Jimmy Odukoya and Lolo Eremie were arguing about the sexual relationship Jimmy had with a character Omanwumi (Tope Olowoniyan), and at the scene were Omanwumi was whining about being laid by Iyke. The sound in these scenes was a kind of rowdy.

The director of the movie did a bad job. I was not impressed after seeing the movie but you may want to spare your time, money and popcorn for ‘Guyn Man’, it’s your call.

Destiny Isiguzo Follow on instagram @destinyisiguzo and on twitter @isiguzocid

Sunday 21 April 2019

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Travel Why President Buhari should bring back Tourism Ministry, PCT OBINNA EMELIKE

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onsidering the fact that Nigeria did not truly seize the opportunity offered during the economic recession to double efforts at diversifying the economy, the stakeholders in the Nigerian tourism sector are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to rethink his stand on tourism as a means of earning sustainable revenue for the economy.

The stakeholders, who are dissatisfied with the subsuming of the tourism ministry under the information ministry by the Buhari administration, are calling on the president to rethink tourism by creating a standalone tourism ministry and reviving of the Presidential Council on Tourism created by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in order to make tourism count in the economy.

For them, the many issues impeding the development of a robust tourism sector in the country can be addressed when a full-fledged ministry headed by tourism thoroughbred professional is created. The minister, according to them, will have time to coordinate all the government parastatals and agencies under the ministry while offering more open doors to the private sector to truly drive the sector.

But the most pressing issues for them include the uncoordinated tourism activities across the states, the Supreme Court ruling in favour of Lagos State sometime ago that has made most state independent of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), the effective tourism master plan, weak regulations and lack of the enforcement of uniform standards across tourism and hospitality outfits and organisations, among others.

For Rabo Saleh, president, Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), one of the means of diversifying the economy is tourism. But to do that, he said government has to open tourism

by creating the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, which will be a body that will be responsible for the promotion and development of tourism in Nigeria. “Government does not need to drive tourism, we the private sector drive tourism. But we need favourable policies to do so and that is why we need the ministry. If the ministry is there with all the strong policies, then the private sector will drive it”, Saleh said.

Saleh is also concerned about the revival of the Presidential Council on Tourism (PCT). He argued that it is the minister of tourism that should drive PCT and use that platform to gather concerned stakeholders, bring in governors that are tourism-friendly, and connect with ministers that are related to tourism. “The PCT is a good reason to have a Minister of Tourism because if you do not have a minister that will sit on that

Council on behalf of tourism, then who is going to do that. You need that minister because he is the one that will meet with his fellow ministers and together will find a way to help him push for the development of tourism. If you need a road to a particular destination, electricity in a rural destination or security, it is the minister of tourism that will meet his fellow ministers whose responsibilities cover those areas of need in tourism for solution. That is a way to fast track tourism development and that is why we need a tourism minister now”, the FTAN president said.

But Nkereuwem Onung, former president of the Nigeria Association of Tour Operators (NATOP), who now chairs the association’s board of trustees, decried that the absence of a fullfledged Ministry has left Tourism adrift and also left stakeholders speculating on matters of tourism.

The ex NATOP president opined that tourism is more than just selling tickets and building hotels, hence a ministry that recognises the whole gamut of the tourism value chain is needed. “It is my opinion therefore that, Federal Government should restore the Tourism Ministry, re-establish the PCT with relevant sub-sectors like travel agents, hoteliers and tour operators as members. Federal Government should also begin to market the destination Nigeria, which is one of the most viable on the Africa continent with a view of attracting tourists”, Onug said.

Emeka Umeadi, a hotelier, regrets that the federal government has refused to give tourism the needed attention, funding and right policies because the crude oil wells are still flowing. “Revenue from crude oil is an easy money for the government, but it should be used to further develop other

sectors of the economy particularly tourism as UAE has shown example with Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain are doing same and these are all oil-producing countries. We can copy them and develop our tourism as well”, he said.

He decried that it was due to the inability of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to capture earnings from tourism activities and impact on the economy that made the administration of Muhammad Buhari to relegate tourism to the background.

“If the tourism ministry was doing well, it would not have been subsumed under the present Ministry of Information when President Buhari was merging ministries to cut cost. But tourism is and will ever remain goldmine for those who are serious at funding and developing it. UAE, France, Thailand, the UK, USA and even Kenya and South Africa, among others top tourism destinations across the world are always smiling to the bank because of the tourists’ dollar”, Umeadi added.

According to Adetunji Balogun, an economist, for tourism to count in Nigeria against the domineering factor of crude oil, you need a tourism ministry that would be led by a thoroughbred tourism practitioner, who would among other things work in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics to truly capture the earnings from tourism and impact on the economy. He also needs to coordinate all the parastatals, agencies and bodies under the tourism ministry and them work closely with the private sector to woo inbound flows and receipts.

“Politicians like to see big figures to act and you need to gather every kobo from tourism and present it publicly for everyone to see that tourism is truly a goldmine.

From the hotels, airlines, national and amusement parks, entertainment, cultural events, tours, beach and water business, sports among others, revenue accrues to tourism in billions but not well captured”, Balogun lamented.

Top tourism, aviation, other stakeholders to grace Transport Tourism Summit and Expo 2019

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s operators and different stakeholders in tourism and transport sectors converge on Abuja next week for the second edition of the Transport Tourism Summit and Expo 2019, the organisers have released an impressive list of specials and awards expected at the event that is focused on brainstorming on the interconnectedness between transportation and tourism and showcasing the best of the two worlds.

According to Abiodun Odusanwo, who is the president of the Institute of Tourism Professionals (ITP), the body in charge of the summit, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, is expected to

give the keynote address of the event, which has as a theme: Tourism and transportation interdependencies for inclusive growth and sustainable development.

A host of government officials and practitioners across tourism and transport sectors have been announced as awardees for the gala and award night of the summit, which is billed to hold between April 29 and 30 at the International Conference Centre. The list include: minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, minister of state, aviation, Hadi Sirika; and managing director, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman.

Other awardees are: Wanle

lai-mohammed

Akinboboye, founder, La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Olusegun Runsewe, director general, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Folorunsho Folarin Coker, director general, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), CEO of Transcorp Group Inc, Valentine Ozigbo, and Samuel Alabi of Eko Hotels and Suites.

According to Odusanwo, the two days gathering offers ‘‘opportunity to forge the desired synergy between tourism and other vital lined sectors especially of transportation. Tourism and transport connectivity are critical issues relating to bridging transport and tourism policies while reaffirming

the need for developing programmes of inter-ministerial cooperation between bodies responsible for tourism and transport so as to improve and strengthen the basic conditions for the sustainable development of both industries.

Furthermore, he state that: ‘‘The National Tourism Transport Summit is created to deliberate on the complex relationship between transport provision and tourism in boosting the economy of both sectors.

Participants at the two-day event will be drawn from major key players and stakeholders in the transportation and tourism sectors from the international community in critical areas.’’

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Sunday 21 April 2019

Travel The strength of Ethiopian airline is its people IFEOMA OKEKE

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thiopian Airline has continued to rise up to the challenge of sustaining its position in representing Africa airlines on the global map. This has precipitated questions on why the airline appears to be the only successful African carrier, while others struggle to stay afloat.

The answer to this question may not be too far-fetched. While other numerous reasons may be instrumental to the airline’s success but one best explanation for this sustained success is its investment in human capacity development.

It is human capacity development that makes development and progress possible in any company and organisation. A company that invests only in infrastructures will always deal with the challenge of having to upgrade its infrastructures with evolving times but when companies invest in people, the ripple effect is always enormous.

According to Jim Collins, an American author, consultant and lecturer on the subject of business management and company sustainability and growth, “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.”

This quote clearly showcases the importance of hiring and nurturing people or employees so that you can create a pool of great talent to achieve the exponential growth for your organization which has been envisioned by the founders of the company.

To make your vision a reality first you need to take great care in choosing the right candidate for your company and then in a systematic and scientific way you must engage them in training and development programs so that they can always contribute positively towards the growth of the organisation.

It is therefore not coincidental that the company makes conscious efforts in upgrading its academy to train and retrain its pilots, engineers, cabin crew, ground handlers and other key personnel involved in its flight operations.

The airline has over the years also extended a helping hand to other airlines in training and retraining its staff, thereby reiterating its belief in healthy competitive environment.

Ethiopian Aviation Academy The Ethiopian Aviation Academy (EAA) was established in 1956, and is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) TRAINAIR Plus and International Air Transport Association (IATA) authorized global training center.

No doubt, the academy remains the largest Aviation Academy in Africa with full capabilities in all aviation professions and with the capacity to train 4,000 students a year.

Thousands of overseas trainees are carried out in the academy and pilots from around 50 countries have attended trainings at the Academy. Until the latest graduation on March 9, 2019, EAA has trained and graduated a total of 17,509 Aviation Professionals in different Aviation fields, of which 1585 are foreign nationals from different African countries and elsewhere.

Today the Academy is increasing its scale and scope is better positioned to cater to the growing needs and demands of Aviation Industry in Africa and the Middle East. The academy encompasses five independently running aviation training schools, catering to both local and international aviation training needs.

Schools under Ethiopian Aviation Academy There are several schools under the academy providing comprehen-

sive aviation related training in the area of pilot, aircraft maintenance, cabin crew, Airline sales & marketing and ground operations on basic and recurrent basis.

The Pilot Training School provides Commercial Pilot License training program, Multi-crew Pilot License (MPL) training and licensing program that is adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The Cabin Crew Training School provides basic and recurrent courses for Ethiopian Airlines recruits, other customer airlines, and individual trainees.

TheCommercialTrainingSchool provides basic and recurrent trainings in Reservation, Fares, Ticketing, Airport and Cargo Operations, Ground operations, Airline Accounting, Sales and Marketing trainings to new recruits and Ethiopian employees.

In addition, Aviation Maintenance Technician School provides basic and recurrent training programs for Aircraft Maintenance Technicians, Power Plant Technicians, Aircraft Structure and Avionics Technicians.

The academy’s Leadership and Career Development Training School offers a wide range of courses for supervisory and managerial personnel with the aim of developing the leadership and managerial skills of Ethiopian and other organizations’ personnel.

The Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy (EAA) is an IATA Regional Training Partner, ICAO designated Regional Training Center of Excellence, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approved Maintenance Training Organization, Authorized Training Center (ATC) and Accredited Training School (ATS) by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Approved Training Organization (ATO) by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority.

The academy is approved by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA), African Airlines Association (AFRAA), Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), amongst others.

The impact of the academy in the company’s bottom line trickles down from its relentless strive to build knowledgeable staff, which in turn provide safe and reliable service, which impact on passengers that, will prefer to fly the airline as a result of its safety record. This has made the airline grow in leaps and bounds as its profits are invested back into the airline. This in turn has helped the airline its vision of being a pan African airline.

ET’s position as a pan-Africa airline In fulfilling its motto of bringing Africa together and beyond, Ethiopian Airline has been creating air connectivity across the continent. The airline facilitated travel for African leaders before, during and after the establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and played its role in the anti-colonial struggle.

Following the liberation of African countries, the airline has been facilitating the economic and political integration of Africa. Over the decades, Ethiopian has expanded its African network today serving 61 cities in the continent, the largest intra-African network by an airline.

All the international passenger and cargo destinations of the airline have reached 120.

As stipulated in Vision 2025, Ethiopian pursues fast, sustainable and profitable growth strategy through heavy investment in the four pillars of the vision: fleet, infrastructure, human resource and system. As a Pan-Africa carrier, Ethiopian seeks to drive the growth of Africa’s aviation industry through partnerships with the continent’s indigenous carriers in line with its multiple-hubs strategy in Africa.

Such partnerships are aimed at creating better air connectivity in Africa and claiming the rightful share for African carriers in the region’s air transport market. Currently, Ethiopian is partnering with ASKY Malawian Airlines, TChadia Airlines,

Ethiopian - Mozambique Airlines, Zambian Airways.

Ethiopian strategic partner and ASKY Airlines partnership covers services to and from the West African cities of Monrovia, Freetown and Banjul.

For Malawian Airlines, ET partnered the airline in 2014 to operate daily from Lilongwe to Johannesburg, with a stopover in Blantyre.

In August, 2018, ET and TChadia Airlines also signed an agreement to launch Chad’s new national carrier.

Ethiopian Airlines is also in agreement with the Government of Zambia for the re-launch of Zambia Airways. The Government of Zambia has the majority shareholder with 55 percent and Ethiopian will have 45 percent stakes in the airline.

Ethiopian Hubs Airline hubs or hub airports are used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations at a given airport. They serve as transfer (or stop-over) points to get passengers to their final destination.

Unlike most airlines with a concentrated hub, Ethiopian airline has succeeded in spreading its tentacles to build various hubs. Apart of Addis Ababa (Ethiopian Main Hub), being its major hub, the airline also has Lome (Togo) as its second hub and Lilongwe (Malawian) as its third hub. This has further made its connectivity to other countries efficient.

Youngest fleet size On June 5, 2018, Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of its 100th aircraft, a Boeing 787-900, the first for an African airline to operate 100 aircraft fleet in the history of the continent, thus maintaining its pioneering aviation technology leadership role and ascertaining its leadership position in all aspects of Aviation Services in the continent.

The airline now operates one of the youngest and most modern 100 aircraft, with an average age of less than 5 years. Fleet modernization and expansion is one of the four critical pillars of its Vision 2025 strategic roadmap, in support of its fast expanding network, which has now reached over 110 international destinations covering five continents.

The airline’s new and cuttingedge fleet composed of B787s and A350s offer unparalleled on-board comfort to our customers and offer the best possible connections when traveling within Africa and between the continent and the rest of the world.

Ethiopian Airline is at the forefront of the efforts for the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision which aims to liberalize Africa’s skies and unleash the industry’s growth potentials.

Its contribution to the growth of aviation technology in Africa is evident in the introduction of its first jet service in the continent, the first African B767, the first African B777-200LR in 2010 and the first African and second only to Japan B787 Dreamliner in 2012. It was also the first in Africa to acquire Airbus A350 XWB.

Sunday 21 April 2019

Bliss with Nonye Ben-Nwankwo

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My boyfriend still loves me despite the nude pictures scandal - Matilda Lambert

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ast rising actress, Matilda Lambert has said her boyfriend stood solidly behind her all through the time a computer generated nude pictures of her went viral on the internet.

Earlier in the year, the police arrested a female member of a gang of criminals who was threatening the Nollywood actress with the nude pictures.

And all through the saga, the actress said her boyfriend didn’t leave her.

“I have the best boyfriend in the whole world. If not for him, I would have been so down. I don’t know what I would have done. But he has been encouraging. He even said they should go ahead and release the pictures. He said I am his girl and he loves me and nothing would change it. It is a big deal to have such a guy as my boyfriend.”

Explaining what went on during that time, Matilda said she had to pay the blackmailers about N200, 000.

“At a point, I started talking to the guy for a long time. He thought I was going to do what he wanted me to do; he didn’t know I just wanted to get information from him. I have paid them over N200, 000. I paid that money because I wanted them to see me as a fool. I got the lady who was collecting the money from me arrested. According to her, it was her fiancé who was in prison that was using her account to do the business. Her fiancé still said I didn’t do anything to him; it was still another person that gave him the ‘job’ to do. The case is still in court.”

Matilda said she was traumatised during that period even though it was not her body that was in the picture.

“Anybody in my shoes would

feel terrible. I felt terrible when the pictures were released. But people who know me one on one knew I wasn’t the one in the picture. I didn’t let it get to me so much though I am human. But how many people would you tell it is not your body in the picture when they are seeing your face? It is just God; He has a way of helping out. I just feel whoever did those things did it out of jealousy. I can’t remember doing any wrong to anybody that the person would want to go to that extent of releasing those pictures that had my face. Anybody who could do that could actually kill you.”

According to Matilda, the incident, instead of bringing her down, opened more doors for her.

“The incident didn’t affect my career. It even opened more doors.

People that weren’t even calling me for jobs before started calling me after the incident. When people tend to bring you down, God has a way of turning it around for your good.

“I have learnt to get closer to God. Even if you want to be careful,

you don’t know where your carefulness would take you. The incident didn’t reduce my activities on instagram. I even post more pictures now.

I know I inspire a lot of people with my posts, I wouldn’t want this incident to affect those who I inspire.”

And when some people would have regretted being in the acting profession, Matilda said she still enjoys her job.

“The incident didn’t make me regret being an actress. When this happened, I knew it was because I was doing well and somebody wanted to bring me down. Even if I wasn’t an actress, this could still have happened. During the course of investigation, we found out there was another victim. The person is not even an actress. It is like a business this people have been doing over the years. I am very soft hearted person. The lady arraigned in this case is about 35 years old. I am not even up to 30. I imagine her going to jail and I feel that would just be a waste of her life. I will forgive her if she can turn a new leaf.”

Livespot 360 to produce NECLive 7

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he organisers of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference, are thrilled to announce that prominent Nigerian creative events and production agency, Livespot 360 is one of its major partners for the forthcoming seventh edition which comes up on the 24th of April, in Lagos Livespot led by Deola Art Alade, wife of singer, Darey, is reputable for executing industry redefining projects and out of the world concepts. They will be responsible for managing the production execution of NECLive 7.

Notable among their past projects include Darey Art Alade’s ‘Love Like a Movie’ concert series

which had some of the world’s top celebrities – Kim Kardashian, Kelly Rowland, and Ciara attending successive editions.

ID Africa who are organisers of #NECLIVE 7 has said that this year’s edition themed ‘Mobile, Data, Consumers and The Future Of Entertainment’, will be a memorable experience with the line up of world-class partners involved.

Uduak and Jemine Hymnvicted as Hymnodia Grand Finale Looms

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wo more hymntestants have been hymnvicted (eliminated) in Stanza 11 of the Hymnodia reality show as the duo of Olumide Dada and Kenneth Ekhuemelo maintained their status as outstanding performers in the tussle for the ASAPH, the grand prize of the reality TV show, which will culminate on April 24.

The hymnvictees, Uduakobong Akpan and Jemine Edukugho, who were on probation in the previous Stanza scored the least votes and had to leave the show after exciting renditions that thrilled the audience in what was the final Performance Show for the Hymnodia season.

In his comments after the show, Mr. Kufre Ekanem, Managing Director of Philosoville Limited, initiators of Hymnodia, clarified that, “Our theme for this stanza was hymns in added verses. The hymntestants had to create and graft additional verses to popular hymns of their choice but retaining the poetic metres, rhyming schemes and syllabic structures of

the selected hymns. No hymntestant was put on probation in the final performance show”.

Prior to exiting the Hymnodia stage, Uduakobong and Jemine rendered revised versions of the hymns Whispering Hope and All to Jesus I surrenderrespectively.Nextfollowed a battle of the Final Five in an intense but wholesome show which will ultimately reward the winner with the Asaph (a specially designed award named after David’s chief musician), a brand-new car and N5 million.

Mobolanle Oladimeji and Abigael Nnadi, who had earlier survived the hymnviction process, performed His eye is on the Sparrow and How great Thou Art respectively, after Rachael Darley had kicked it of with a sonorous take on God will take care of you. Olumide, whose trademark is his baritone voice, performed Old Rugged Cross, while Kenneth rendered Come Christians Join to Sing with a creative blend of several Halleluyah components.

‘Why we cast Kizz Daniel, Chidinma in Love Me’ D espite the rumoured romance between singer, Chdinma Ekile and Kizz Daniel, Felix Odion, the director of a soon to be released blockbuster, Love Me, has said his team didn’t consider the allegation before featuring the duo in the movie.

According to Odion, they were looking for people who would deliver the characters they are playing and Chidinma and Kizz Daniel fitted the roles perfectly.

He said, “When the casting was done, we didn’t have in mind of pairing these two people because they are alleged to be an item. We were looking for characters. The process of selecting the characters was done over a period of time.

“Some of the people playing the role today are not the original people we had envisaged. What we have here was totally unintended. We never had it in mind to pair two people who are supposedly an item. I don’t know the stories you have in the media but I think we made the right decisions

in our characters. We simply selected people who could deliver individual roles. I would say when you see the result, you would agree we made the right choice.”

Odion said it wasn’t so difficult working with the singers even though they weren’t professional actors before now.

“What Chidinma has put in

has been absolutely fantastic.

Beyond that, I am a very detailed person. My fastidious approach in directing movie made me ensure I had the best. I want to do a movie that people would watch and my name would not be blemished.

I want a production that people would see and call for more. That is what will happen with this proj-

ect. People would yearn for more of this, I am sure of it.

“It wasn’t a problem for me working with the celebs. I have worked with various actors across board. Whoever they are changes when they come on set.

In relation to this, Chidinma’s level of modesty has been very helpful. Chidinma is the lead character. Hers wasn’t cameo and she did a great job.”

Explaining why the movie, which has line up of A-list actors including Alex Ekubo and Linda Ejiofor, didn’t feature so many up and coming actors, the Odion said, “I am just the director and not the producer. I think the producer was probably thinking not just artistically but commercially as well. I like working with greenhorns but it is the producer’s choice and in doing that, we ensured that whoever we are putting in a particular role is somebody who would slide into that role.”

According to the direc tor, Love Me is currently being shot in Lagos, Nigeria. The cast

and crew of the movie will shift location to Dubai in the UAE next month.

Giving a brief synopsis of the movie, the director said Love Me is a romantic comedy that explores the universal love triangle between the opulent lover and the ordinary one, both vying for the same girl’s heart.

A feisty and charming hotel cleaner’s life goes topsy-turvy as she gets torn between Nigeria’s chart-bursting music star, who’s madly in love with her and ready to splash the cash just to prove it, and her lovable but flawed boyfriend, who is also crazy about her and ready to prove it with a proposal.

“It is a deviation from the stereotype love story and it teaches the values of having a strong character, and the courage to make the right choices, while also addressing true friendship as one that ought to remain constant when situations oscillate between the good and the bad,” he said.

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Sunday 21 April 2019

Interview

Why Nigeria should sign the AfCFTA in next AU meeting - Kenyan envoy High Commissioner of Republic of Kenya to Nigeria, WILFRED MACHAGE, is urging the Nigerian government to sign the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in the next meeting of the African Union (AU), stressing that the Agreement reached in Rwanda in 2018 is a noble exercise of unity of African countries in trade. In this interview with INNOCENT ODOH, the Kenyan envoy, who says his country enjoys cordial bilateral relations with Nigeria, calls for improvement in the volume of trade between both countries. He also reels out some areas of collaboration between both countries, especially in the fight against terrorism, adding that his country has made great strides in the area of tourism, which Nigeria can tap from. Excerpts:

W

hat is the current level of bilateral relations between Kenya and Nigeria?

Kenya and Nigeria enjoy cordial relations starting way back in 1972 that was when Yakubu Gowon was the leader of Nigeria and President Jomo Kenyatta was the President of Kenya. Kenya first opened its Mission in Lagos and Nigeria likewise opened its Mission in Nairobi. Since then, high-level meetings, Agreements and Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) have been signed between the two countries in many spheres. In summary Kenya and Nigeria are friends.

The volume of trade and investment between both countries has not been encouraging. May we know why the two nations despite their potentials have not created much investment opportunities for their peoples?

Your observation holds water. The trade volumes between the two countries have not been very encouraging. A look at the available statistics indicates little trade going on between the two countries in spite of the immense opportunities to improve on this aspect. For instance, in 2015 exports from Kenya to Nigeria were at $36.5 million while Kenya received from Nigeria imports valued at $2. 05 million. In 2016 exports from Kenya to Nigeria reduced from $36.5 million to $25.5 million while imports from Kenya to Nigeria increased slightly to $ 4.59 million. In 2017, Kenya exports to Nigeria were valued at $26.49 million, slight increase while the value of imports stood at $4.25 million. The trade balance over these years shows a little in favour of Kenya. But in view of the economic muscle of the two countries in economic indices it is insignificant.

Both countries have huge opportunities to make it better for their mutual benefit.

Most of the exports Kenya to Nigeria focused on Tea, Jute, Paper and paper boards’ products, Plastic articles, Vegetable fibers, Medicaments, other food preparations, Tobacco, coconut, Cartons, boxes and other packaging containers from Kenya to Nigeria.

Most of the products Nigeria exports to Kenya were Semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel, Ginger, saffron, turmeric, curry, Printed books, brochures, leaflets, x-ray tubes and generators, wigs and sauces.

The areas of focus between the two countries could be in the direct importation of cut flowers, tea, coffee and horticultural products.

The Kenya High Commission is therefore, charged with the responsibility of helping Kenya to improve the trade statistics between the two countries by providing information on areas that need to be exploited for economic benefits. In fact, this is a perfect opportunity for me as a High Commissioner to inform both Nigerian and Kenyan investors the huge opportunities that they need to take advantage of due to the fraternal relations between the two countries Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan and his counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta five years ago witnessed the signing in Nairobi of seven agreements that will boost bilateral and trade ties between Kenya and Nigeria. The documents signed were MOUs on Trade and investment: oil and gas; Tourism; visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders; conclusion of agreements on double taxation; agriculture, livestock and fisheries. President Buhari also visited Kenya in 2016 to perhaps consolidate the agreements. How far has implementation gone?

A lot has been done to implement issues and commitments that formed the basis of the various agreements and MoUs signed between the two countries.

First of all, a signing of a Bilateral Trade Agreement was completed by the two countries soon after the signing of the MoU on Trade. On the area of oil and gas, there was a delegation from the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Kenya that toured Nigeria in 2016 to learn about the revenue sharing formula used in distributing the oil money to the States of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The team also collected information and learnt a lot

terrorist groups, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab, share a common platform of allegiance to the ISIS. And further to this, we can see the similarity in the involvement of armies of our two countries in a bid to stop the menace of terrorism. Thus, the continuation of attacks from the terrorist groups only points to their very nature – the desire to inflict harm to the innocent population and cause damage to economic activities so that they appear heroic. This is the international nature of terrorist organisations.

Further still, their method of warfare is asymmetric, meaning that the government armies that are trained on conventional warfare strategies have had to metamorphose a lot to contain these insurgent groups. We need to congratulate our gallant soldiers, some of whom had had to pay for the fight against terrorism with their dear lives.

Wilfred Machage

from relevant Nigerian institutions in the oil sector on the laws that are in place for compensation of people who inhabit areas where oil is found that helped Kenya come up with rules and regulations in exploration.

On visa fee exemption for diplomatic passport holders, this is now already in effect by both countries.

In the area of Double Taxation, the two countries have shared the documents but have not agreed on the final draft to be adopted to implement this proposal. At the appropriate time, and at the instance of the leadership of both countries, relevant Committees will be set up to conclude on this matter.

On the area of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, I can authoritatively say that there are a number of agronomists who are now coming into Nigeria to assist individuals and companies in agricultural expertise in the setting up of Green houses in various parts of Nigeria like in Lagos and Jos area. For instance, Farm Fresh in Jos (Plateau State) has employed Kenyan experts in to oversee the quality of milk products in its farm.

Recently, we had a visit to Nigeria by two Directors from the Kenya Tea Development Authority and Department of Agriculture, Fish and Food Authority in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. They had fruitful engagements with prospective tea buyers in Abuja, Lagos and Kano cities.

Still in the Agriculture sector, the Kenya High Commission participated in the Osun Agro Tech 2019 and the High Commissioner gave a presentation on Success of Kenya’s Agriculture and Success of Agribusiness in Kenya. Osun State is interested in learning from Kenya the best practices in Agriculture and it is willing to receive Kenyan experts in the Agriculture sector on areas of Animal Husbandry and improvement of cattle breeds.

One other area critical to both countries’ relations, is the desire to eliminate tariff and nontariff barriers to trade such as visa restriction and poor infrastructure. Has there been any progress made in the Draft Agreement on Immigration matters by both countries?

On the desire to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers, the two countries are now getting visa on arrival for Ordinary Passport holders on arrival in Kenya for Nigerians and vice versa for Kenyans travelling to Nigeria.

However, Nigeria continues to ban import into their country of a host of common trade commodities from Kenya. These include; fruit juices, pasta, liquid dietary supplements, beer, bagged cement, soaps and detergents, footwear, furniture, suitcases among others.

The Nigerian Government has also not signed the Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) signed by 44 African countries in Kigali Rwanda on 12th March, 2018. This is expected to create a big trade

bloc of 1.2 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than $2 trillion.

I beg to persuade Nigeria to look at the volume of trade in the continent and sign the AfCFTA. Nigeria has asked for more time and we respect the sovereignty of the Nigerian government and I believe that Africa is waiting for Nigeria and let’s hope that in the next African Union meeting Nigeria will give positive response to this noble exercise of unity of African countries in trade and append its signature to the agreement. Nigeria has cited its reasons for delay as being “National Interest and protection of local Industries”. The agreement commits countries to removing tariffs on 90 percent of goods and to liberalise services.

Kenya and Nigeria have been ravaged by terrorist attacks by Al-Shabaab militants and Boko Haram insurgents respectively. The situation appears more threatening as both countries despite all their efforts have not tamed the terrorists, who have succeeded in launching attacks with heavy toll on both countries’ economies. What is your take on this?

It is bad that both Kenya and Nigeria have had their sad share in terrorist attacks perpetrated by militants.

Kenya has had a number of terror attacks perpetrated mainly by the Al-Shabaab militant group, which operates in the Horn of Africa and other parts of East Africa. Al-Shabaab was born out of the anarchy that followed the collapse of the Government of Somalia after Siad BARRE was deposed in 1991.

Al-Shabaab has also often pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). AlShabaab similarly pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda in 2011 after operating for several years under shadowy but strongly coordinated networks. The group also became involved in serious kidnappings for ransom and piracy along the Somalia waters of the Indian Ocean and these acts seriously affected the tourism industry in Kenya.

On 16th October, 2011, Kenya Defence Forces launched an operation “Linda Nchi” loosely translated as “Protect the Country” right inside Southern Somalia as a possible means of pushing back the Al-Shabaab insurgents so as to keep Kenya safe. The Operation has largely been successful in achieving peace albeit with occasional attacks from rogue elements within the terrorist group.

On the other hand, acts of terrorism in Nigeria have been perpetrated by the Boko Haram insurgency group, which has its base in the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, North East of the country.

The fight against Boko Haram is led by the Nigerian Army’s operation known as ‘Lafiya Dole’ (Hausa for ‘Peace by All Means’). Across the countries of the region, the war against terrorism is led by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJT), headquartered in N’Djamena (Chad) comprising troops from Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

Therefore, at the strategic level of major world

How much collaboration have you reached with Nigeria to battle the spreading of terrorism ideology?

The fight against terrorism cannot be achieved by any single country acting as an island. Various continental strategies in the fight against terrorism have been drawn at the African Union level and adopted

by African countries as uniquely as their individual situations dictate. At bilateral levels, Kenya and Nigeria have held exchange programmes to share experiences in the fight against terrorism. From time to time, the security agencies of the two countries that are involved in the fight against terrorism hold specific meetings to discuss various strategies and improvements along similar lines. These exchange programmes are continuous and will continue to shape how the war against terrorism progresses.

Some of these meetings may not obviously be known to all citizens because of their very nature, and also to avoid exposing too much news to the open media.

However, we are all aware that many Africans, including Nigerians and Kenyans have been trained

by ISIS as Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) and since they share similar doctrines, they are likely to pose same security problems to both countries. This is the reason why our two countries will continue to collaborate in necessary efforts to combat terrorism at all costs.

Additionally, there are many Kenyans working in the humanitarian sector in Nigeria. Any time a terrorist bomb goes off in North East of Nigeria, a Kenyan could easily be caught as an innocent victim.

Kenya also hosts many Nigerians involved in various economic activities in the country. Thus, acts of terrorism in Kenya have ripple effects in Nigeria and vice versa. Hence, the reason collaboration, information and intelligence sharing become imperative in the fight against terrorism.

Kenya has a thriving tourism industry and this is one area of collaboration with Nigeria. However, we have not seen much impact of this on Nigeria.

What is your reaction to this?

As a Tourist destination, Kenya is perhaps the most versatile and most adventurous country on the continent. It is renowned for its great safaris and the romance of the culture and people. Kenya has a number of tourism attractions that include: National Game Parks e.g Amboseli National Reserve, Lake Nakuru National Park, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Tsavo National Park. Nairobi National Park is the only park located within a city; Marine Parks e.g Malindi Marine Park, Kiunga Marine National Park, etc; Beaches spread out in Mombasa, Malindi and Kilifi areas; Lakes- Victoria, Nakuru, Bogoria, Turkana, etc; Mountains like Mt Kenya, Mt Longonot, Aberdare Mountains, Mt Elgon etc.

Another area Kenya can offer expertise to Nigeria in is in the area of training at the Utali College, the top hospitality training facility in Africa.

On Medical tourism, Kenya can offer affordable medical procedures to Nigerians at half the cost instead of them going to Europe and America to seek medical treatment at exorbitant costs.

Kenya too can offer Agri tourism visits and excursions for Nigerians to learn from the country’s best practice, which they can replicate in their country.

Sunday 21 April 2019

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33

For The Record Corruption and the underdevelopment of Nigeria (3) Being the concluding part of the paper presented at the 20th Bassey Andah Memorial Lecture by Professor Sola Akinrinade, provost, Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria. The event was held recently at the University of Calabar International Conference Centre, Cross River State.

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n the average, 82.3 million bribes were paid to officials during the period covered by the survey, giving an average of 0.93 bribe by every adult Nigerian per year. The average sum paid as cash bribe was approximately N5,300, which translates to 28.2percent of the average monthly salary of approximately N18,900. With bribe payers paying an average of 5.8 bribes a year, 92percent of which are paid in cash, an average of N28,200 is spent annually on cash bribes, equivalent to 12.5percent of the annual average salary. Such is the problem that after high cost of living and unemployment, Nigerians surveyed for the report consider corruption to be the third most important problem facing the country, well ahead of the country’s infrastructure and health service, which in themselves are major sources of worry.

Public officials show little or no hesitation in requesting for bribes with almost 70percent of bribes paid before service is rendered. Such is the situation that it would appear that bribery is an established component of the national administrative procedure.

In certain instances, bribery takes the form of sexual services. A large percentage, a massive 42percent of bribes paid are meant to speed up or finalise an administrative procedure that may otherwise be delayed for long periods or indefinitely, making bribery the most effective option for facilitating affected service. With bribes being collected for virtually every service being rendered to the public, it is clear that petty corruption perpetrated at the administrative level most probably affect the lives of ordinary Nigerians more than other forms of corruption.

Indeed, it has been suggested that the oft-quoted figure of $400 billion stolen from the Nigerian treasury between 1960 and 1999 were mostly stolen by career civil servants with the rest by elected and appointed office holders.[1] Which way forward?

At this point, we may want to ask: what is the way forward?

In his essay titled ‘The 4 Pillars of Corruption, and how to topple them’, Adam Blackwell identified what he considered the four pillars of corruption, namely: The Corrupters, the Corrupt, Impunity and Tolerance.

In the context of this discourse, I consider Tolerance as probably the most damaging pillar. By this, I mean our infinite capacity as a people and as a nation to tolerate aberrant behaviour on the part of our public officers and elected leaders. Tolerance of corruption is difficult to target and to eradicate, especially as it is a state of the mind and cannot easily be codified; it translates corruption from individual aberration to societal acceptance.

In his book, The Trouble with Nigeria, the late literary icon, Chinua Achebe stated that: “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely

Sola Akinrinade a failure of leadership… There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land, climate or water or air or anything else.” On the question of leadership, we probably all will agree that Chinua Achebe spoke very well. But I find it difficult agreeing with his statement that, “There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character.” Indeed, there is a lot wrong with the Nigerian character, and which is hindering our development potential as nation.

The character of the average Nigerian is aptly summarised in the song by Fela Anikulapo Kuti released in 1978, ‘Shuffering and Shmiling’. Embedded in the lyrics of that song is a sad commentary on the Nigerian character, that is, our readiness to accept anything without complaining, making us easy to lead, and dare I say, making it easy for those who get hold of power to exploit us without much questioning.

The argument has been even pushed further: that the people not only tolerate but actually encourage their leaders to be corrupt and excuse their behaviour when exposed. It would seem that, as a people, we have become numb to the atrocities being committed by our public officials. Yes, we talk about corruption all the time; we express our hatred, our revulsion for the phenomenon but we acquiesce in its perpetration and perpetuation. We are prepared to condemn others but when one of our own is caught, we turn the blind eye and even accuse the government of partiality in persecuting our own.

In tackling the menace of corruption on a long-term sustainable basis, we need to activate a national strategy. Fortunately, we now have in place a National Anti-Corruption Strategy which addresses all required areas in fight-

ing corruption from prevention to enforcement. Over the years, various governments have put in place laws to address the problem of corruption in the country. Apart from national laws, there are also international instruments including sub-regional, regional and international legislations to which the country has subscribed. These include the ECOWAS Protocol on the Fight against Corruption, the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). All these protocols require State parties to establish adequately funded independent bodies to be in charge of implementing criminal and preventive policies on corruption.

Nationally, Nigeria is one of the countries with the largest number of legislations for combating corruption. Legislations in place to tackle corruption include the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004, the Public Procurement Act, 2007; the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Act, 2007, and the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007. The existence of multiple acts and agencies to implement the provisions of these acts is evidence of the multidimensional nature of corrup-

...that the people not only tolerate but actually encourage their leaders to be corrupt and excuse their behaviour when exposed

tion in Nigeria and possibly of the weakness of the legal response to the problem.

Observers of the Nigerian political process will attest to the fact that there has been a lot of investment of efforts during the past several months in the anticorruption drive, particularly on exposing corrupt officials of the past administration and recovering stolen funds. We have heard stories of former officials of the previous government being accused of stealing huge sums of money that generation yet unborn cannot finish spending. There are official statements that as soon as investigations are completed the alleged crooks would be taken to court. Certainly, arresting, prosecuting and jailing of offenders cannot be discarded as a means of tackling corruption and deterring others. Without enforcing the law, there is no basis for condemning corruption. As we cannot stop people from stealing in ordinary life, it is futile to expect corruption to disappear completely in public life. So, the legal route for seeking societal redress must continue.

However, for the fight against corruption to succeed, we should transcend the arrest and jailing offenders to prevention. Beyond the legal route, it is time we explored building the structures for a sustainable long-term response that will transcend regimes and administrations in the country. The cost of enforcement including cost of investigation and prosecution, relative to the value of recoveries, point squarely to the need to take prevention seriously. Till today, Nigeria is still struggling to recover the so-called Abacha loots. It is not soothsaying that the country will never be able to recover all that was stolen from its treasury by leaders who betrayed the sacred trust committed to them either directly by the electorate or through

appointments to high offices of State.

If history has any message for us, it is that enforcement has never provided a failsafe solution to the challenge of corruption in Nigeria.

If it is about anti-corruption laws, Nigeria has one of the largest collections of anti-corruption legislations and anti-corruption bodies anywhere in the world. The question is, why is it that one anti-corruption legislation and body after the other, the phenomenon, rather than abating keeps intensifying?

Nigerians are usually tantalised by stories of former officials and/ or their cronies caught and being placed in handcuffs or sentenced to jail. But let us ask ourselves, how many of those paraded in the past have ended up in prison serving jail terms commensurate with their crime?

Conclusion In the final analysis, the foundation of long-term sustainable war against corruption and development of this country lies in attitudinal change. It is enlightenment or education that promotes attitudinal change that in turn encourages prevention. That is a sustainable way of promoting belief in the future of the nation. First, we need to create a culture that abhors corruption. As a people, even though we mouth commitment to anti-corruption on regular basis, we daily tolerate it when we tolerate corrupt officials who live near and around us and flaunt ill-gotten wealth without as much as provoking a reaction from us. We promote corruption when we rise to defend officials indicted for corruption, on the basis of primordial connections including ethnic and religious affiliation and claim they are being persecuted as we have seen many times in the past. We promote and tolerate corruption when we encourage corrupt officials to live above their legitimate means by making requests of them that they cannot meet within their legitimate income as public officials. We must assist our leaders to live within their means and our leaders must demonstrate leadership by living above the unethical norms that have become the standards in our society. Leaders should stand out and not fit into the unwholesome culture which we have defined for ourselves as a people.

There is a future and there is hope for this country. Everything is in our hands. At this juncture in our nation’s history and development, we cannot afford to miss it again.

It has never been for lack of ideas or options that things have not worked in the past; it was simply the failure to pursue the options to their logical conclusion that would have yielded the desired results.

Without doubt, we can perceive a new collective frowning at the corrupt tendencies of those in power and public despise of authority stealing. It is time we put the “public” back into public service in this country. And, truly, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will one day kill us. We must not allow that to happen.

34 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 21 April 2019

BusinessInterview ‘In my entrepreneurial journey, I take critical decisions in the most uncertain of times’ Eseoghene Odiete runs the Hesey Designs Empowerment Centre where over 1,000 women and youths have been taught how to make fashion accessories such as bags and shoes at little or no cost since 2014 it was established. Ese, as she is fondly called by friends and associates, has been recognised as one of Africa’s 25 Best Entrepreneurs Under 25 by Ynaija (2015); and one of the 40 Under-40 Nigerian Entrepreneurs by BizWatchng (2015). She is a finalist at the Tony Elumelu Prize in Business (The Future Awards) in 2014. She also won a scholarship to the prestigious Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship. In this interview with BDSUNDAY, she talks about her trajectory in life, the challenges and reward of entrepreneurship. Excerpts:

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May we know a little about your career? had my early education – nursery, primary and post-primary – in Lagos and my university education at the Covenant University, where I graduated with a degree in Mass Communication. After my service, I took up a job at the C&F Porter Novelli, a foremost and leading public relations consultancy, where I worked for 22 months before quitting to fully focus on Hesey Designs.

What is Hesey Designs about?

Hesey Designs is a fashion accessories label, specialising in the design and creation of handmade shoes, bags, corporate gift items and other fashion accessories using African traditional fabrics like ankara, aso oke and adire. We also use leather in the production of these and other fashion ensembles. Our designs are uniquely and creatively crafted to meet the demands and aspirations of the trendy. We are always on the lookout for what’s happening in the fashion world and we tailor our designs to appeal to the young and fashionable people.

Also, Hesey Designs empowers young girls through our skills acquisition initiatives. In the last four years, the brand has been offering regular vocational skills training to many unemployed young girls and others who seek an alternative income stream in the area of handmade fashion accessories. We do this through our training arm, the Hesey Designs Empowerment Centre.

May we know some of the exposures you have had on Hesey Designs’ platform?

The Hesey Designs brand has earned me various opportunities to grow myself and the business. The very first opportunity was the one the Google’s Africa Connect competition, which I won,afforded me.

Apart from the monetary grant, I also had a six-month mentorship programme with a Google Team member.

Then came the British Council’s Enterprise Challenge, a partnership between the British Council and the Virgin Atlantic Airways. Part of the prize for the award was a mentoring session with Sir Richard Branson. I also had to design the sneakers which he wore to the Virgin Atlantic’s 30th Anniversary ceremony. The award offered me a very rare opportunity to meet with a lot of people based in the UK and helped propel Hesey Designs further. We got a lot of news buzz around us and Sir Richard Branson

Eseoghene Odiete

across the globe. This took us from where we were at that time to a whole new level.

What informed the switch to fashion designing after a degree in mass communication?

I have always been intrigued by the fashion industry. Even as a child, I have always wanted to build a fashion brand that would promote the Nigerian socio-economic potentials. I passionately believe that trade is what Africa needs for development. So, after my university degree, I decided to set up a fashion brand with a mission

As a young entrepreneur, starting up was difficult. My first main challenge was sourcing for fund. I had to make do with the little savings I had and grew from there

to promote Nigeria and Africa, so Hesey Designs was born.

Were there some initial challenges after you quitted your job to be an entrepreneur?

It wasn’t so challenging as that.

From the get-go, I knew I wasn’t going to stay on the job for very long. The job was a learning ground for me and when I felt I had learnt enough to fully be an entrepreneur, I knew it was time to quit. But before then, I juggled between my job and my business for about a year; so, the business was already running. The sad part of quitting was the leaving the relationshipsI had built with my colleagues.

How has your experience as public relations consultant influenced your business?

As a PR consultant, I was exposed toworking with brands and managing their communication.

The skills I learnt currently play a vital role in helping me build the Hesey Designs brand. I am the chief marketer and the brand communication specialist for Hesey Designs.

I handle the social media and was able to build a brand identity and create a unique brand messaging.

What were the discouraging factors at the starting point, when you wanted to start your business?

While I had a lot of encouragement and support from family and friends when I was venturing

out, I also had a few people who had reservations about leaving the comfort that a regular paid employment offers for the murky waters of business, especially in Nigeria.There were some who even advised that I keep running the business part-time until it has proven to be sustainable. So, I wouldn’t call it discouragement as they were very concerned about my well-being.

Do you miss the 9-5 days?

Not so much. I have an amazing team I work with and daily we are faced with challenges and opportunities that a regular 9-5 would have brought. One thing I have found out in my entrepreneurial journey is that, in the most uncertain of times, one has to take some critical decisions, make deft moves albeit having limited information in the hope that things would turn out good. My biggest moments are those moments I realised that those decisions I took at those uncertain times were the best decisions, going by their results. This gives me the biggest satisfaction as an entrepreneur.

Tell us in details about Hesey Designs Empowerment Centre?

Hesey Designs Empowerment Centre teaches women and youths how to make fashion accessories such as bags and shoes at little or no cost, thereby helping Nigerian youths and women start and grow their own businesses. Over 150 of Nigeria’s micro-, small and medium scaleenterprise (MSME) owners have benefited from the Hesey Design Empowerment Centre, which has helped to strategically position them as key players in the fashion industry.

We run regular training programmes from time to time at the Centre and the slots are fully booked each time. Before now, we used to be focus only on the skills training that is to say on the art of making these fashion accessories but we have noted that, to be a good entrepreneur, one should have some management skillsto make his or her entrepreneurial journey more smooth-sailing.

To this end, we have introduced some entrepreneurial courses to help the candidates become better business managers. We aregoing into discussion with some government and corporate organisations in this regard. So, our next batch of trainees would not only be imbued with the skills that will enable them be good crafters of fashion accessories, but also good managers of their businesses.

How does your initiative plan to help and uplift underprivileged women?

Researches have shown that a large number of girl children, instead of being in school, work as maids, shop helps and street hawkers and the use of these young girls with little or no education in economic activities oftentimes exposes them to dangers such as sexual assault and exploitation.

So, we modelled our empowerment programmes to target these young women so as to minimise their vulnerability.

Also, I believe that if you empower a woman, you empower a nation. A woman who has a regular income would use her resources to take care of her family. So, empowering women would place them on a good pedestal to complement the men’s efforts in uplifting their families.

If you have the chance to change something for Nigerian women, what would that be?

The fact that a woman believes she can’t be all she dreams of – a wife, a great mum and a successful business or career woman.

What are some of the challenges you have faced and how did you overcome them?

As a young entrepreneur, starting up was difficult. My first main challenge was sourcing for fund.

I had to make do with the little savings I had and grew from there.

Also getting the products out was another challenge. I couldn’t afford a store so I made use of the Internet. I sent emails to fashion sites requesting that they feature my designs. I knew I had great products but I needed to be known. So many of them featured the products with my contact. A lot of people started contacting me, requesting for the products.

I started after the university and didn’t have an idea of how to go about running a fashion label. So, I read up a lot of articles and business management books from the Internet. The books and articles I sourced from the internet that deal on how to start and run a fashion label, especially in developing countries, helped me a lot.

What inspired your designs?

We are Afrocentric in character and in deed. Our designs showcase the beauty of Africa to the world and meant for the elegant, sophisticated and fashionable Africans and non-Africans. Our designs speak to different themes to suit variouspersonalities, occasions and moods.

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Sunday 21 April 2019

BDSUNDAY 35

SundayBusiness Understanding NMRC’s role in raising liquidity in mortgage system

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lliquidity and high cost of funds remain major impediments to the growth of the mortgage system in Nigeria and, by extension, poor access to affordable housing in the country today.

Though the federal government has made interventions in the system with the aim of raising liquidity and making funds available for borrowers, those interventions are yet to yield the desired fruit.

The National Housing Fund (NHF) which was set up with the purpose of making mortgage borrowing a lot easier at 6 percent interest rate for low income earners remains elusive and difficult to access.

The coming of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) was another bold step by the government towards raising the liquidity level in the mortgage market, but five years after, close industry watchers are becoming uncomfortable, wondering if the company is out on an experiment.

But that thinking may be borne out of lack of clear understanding of what the company is, or what it is doing at the moment, or both.

Its promoters, on their part, are betting on their commitment to raising the game in this sector of

the financial system with a view to making mortgage accessible and affordable by a good number of Nigerians who need it.

In spite of all these, many people don’t know much about this company, hence this effort at bringing to the fore a few things an average Nigerian, especially a home-seeker, should know about the company.

NMRC was launched into the financial system by the Federal Government under former President Goodluck Jonathan as a response to the illiquidity and the high cost of funds in the mortgage system.

This, many believe, is styled after the Fannie Mae in the US. A company conceived by the government but led by the private sector, NMRC was set up solely to drive liquidity into the mortgage system by refinancing mortgages originated by primary mortgage lenders. It is also aimed to create jobs and enable development of low income housing, among others.

Reduction in Mortgage Rate: All other things being equal, the highpoint of this is that the current mortgage rate that fluctuates between 20 and 25 percent in the country will drop to between 9 -14 percent and what this means is that more people will be able to access mortgages and pay within a rela-

Procurement and Supply Chain

with Gob-Agundu Uche Branch chair (CIPS), Nigeria (Culled from CIPS Position on Practice) Developing a partnering arrangement artnering arrangements normally develop once the supplier/buyer relationship has been established.

However, should a competitive process such as tendering be used to identify the suitable partner then the evaluation criteria would have to be specific to the partnering arrangement in question – this would not necessarily be the same as that for the provision of supplies for instance. Whether or not a competitive process is employed, there should be specific discussion and negotiation on the objectives of thepartneringarrangementsandthe respective roles to be undertaken by the two parties.

CIPS advocates the use of output or outcome specifications when developing the partnering arrangement so that innovation and creativity can be encouraged. The two parties need to determine those

P

areas where close co-operation between the two businesses will generate the most valuable benefits.

Partnering is based on the principles of trust and collaboration, with the two parties working very closely in specific areas. It is good practice to establish an audit trail so that close business relationships remain at a professional level.

Businesses engaged in partnering should take care over their contractual arrangements. Some organizations prefer to employ a written ‘partnering agreement’ which simply describes the working relationship i.e. what is required of the two parties without any legal document. CIPS advocates the use of ‘partnering agreements’ but believes these should be supported by a carefully written contract. The close working relationships involved in partnering give rise to specific legal issues which may well be beyond the scope of normal contract terms.

For instance, the parties may work jointly on product development and so issues such as which party owns the resulting intellectual property rights need to be clarified. Equally,

tively convenient 20-year period.

Affordable Housing: It has always been argued that the transactions in Nigeria’s housing sector account for just about 5 percent of the market potential and this is even within the luxury-high-to-mid market. The reason the remaining 95 percent is left out is because there is no effective demand here due to high interest rate on mortgages, unemployment and job insecurity. But with the NMRC, it is hoped that a substantial number of people in the mid-low will become landlords.

Jobs, jobs and more jobs: It is estimated that Nigeria requires an average of one million houses annually for the next 17 years to be able to meet its housing needs.

However, the NMRC estimates an annual 75, 000 homes with an attendant 30,000 direct and 488,000 indirect jobs after the initial project period. What this means is that those who can’t afford a lease-toown house now can afford, at least, a decent living.

For the real estate industry, the coming of NMRC has strengthened the industry and with re-capitalisation of the Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs), the company is working on implementing one of its objectives to raise the number of completed mortgages from the

Talking Mortgage with CHUKA UROKO (08037156969, chukuroko@yahoo.com) current 20,000 units to 200,000 units.

These will see other sectors such as development, manufacturing, designing, services and construction do more businesses in the years ahead, thereby increasing the industry’s contribution to the nation’s economy.

It is expected that NMRC will create an investor-friendly market, leading to the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDIs) in residential housing as they are currently doing in the commercial space. The ability of the mortgage sector to regenerate more funds from the NMRC pool as they raise mortgages will also excite local investors.

New skills, innovation: This new direction in the mortgage market will definitely come with demand for innovations. One of such innovations will be the much debated alternative building solution. Also, local artisans will be required to step up their games in terms of

skill set and delivery, as activities in residential and commercial sector simultaneously will require more efficient way of working. Also, brokerage services which are already going digital will require new skill to manage multiple customers with different demands.

As for the economy, there will be increased GDP because an economy that can create 30,000 jobs annually will definitely not suffer growth problem. If more jobs are created through the construction industry, the impact will be felt.

Also, the present low contribution of real estate to GDP will give way to a refreshing new figure.

NMRC is not an old wine in a new bottle. Though it is not a perfect scheme because it is not going to put a roof over every head, particularly the lower end of the market, NMRC partners real estate developers to develop mass housing and rent-to-own scheme which enables Nigerians to own the homes they rent.

Partnering Part 2 open book accounting and other open disclosure policies give rise to a confidentiality requirement which needs to be agreed. CIPS also recommends the inclusion of a suitable Dispute Resolution procedure in the contract.

Typically, arrangements are set for an initial period of say, five years with an option to review at the end of the period. If the contract is meeting expectations, and market testing has demonstrated that the costs associated with the contract are still competitive, the contract can be extended, or re-negotiated, for a further period. Some organizations prefer to structure contracts on an ‘evergreen’ basis; with no specific end date envisaged. This can lead to complacency, and such contracts require carefully thought-through exit strategies.

It could be argued that an element of traditional ‘arm’s length’ purchasing can legitimately be introduced into the process when negotiating such aspects as payment mechanisms, allocation of risk and contractual terms and conditions. However, this attitude should be replaced with a friendlier atmosphere once the contract has been agreed and market forces are no longer given a priority.

It is important that there is compatibility between partnering organizations and that the individuals involved can work comfortably together. One way of being introduced to individuals in a potential partnering organization is to arrange for a presentation from

potential partners to be given by those who would be contributing to the relationship rather than by the sales team.

Partnering often requires a cultural shift in at least one of the organizations involved in the arrangement. Any such arrangement should be sponsored by senior management within both organizations but driven from the bottom with appropriate change management to support any required cultural shift. An important aspect is expectation management which requires attention from the very beginning of the partnering arrangement through to its conclusion. There should be at least one individual (quite possibly the purchasing and supply management professional) who is personally responsible for ensuring the partnering arrangement is properly managed. This role requires a strong personality in order that the arrangement remains on a professional footing with demonstrable measurable benefits being defined on an on-going basis.

CIPS believes that one key objective of any strategic partnering arrangement should be continuous improvement. Objectives and targets must be measured, and progress monitored.

This measurement and review will help reduce any tendency towards complacency between partners. Partnering arrangements shouldenableallinvolvedtobecome more flexible, more communicative, share ideas, risks, resources, and

benefits within an ‘umbrella of security’. Partnering can thus be useful in underpinning further corporate initiatives such as joint ventures.Thereismuchemphasison ‘soft’skillswiththeneedforexcellent interpersonal and communication skillsonbothsides.Regularmeetings between the ‘partners’ are essential withrepresentativecross-functional teams from both organizations working together in an atmosphere of confidentiality to develop the relationship to its full potential. Being able to work effectively in a team is a key requirement for anyone involved in partnering; the logic beingthatthroughworkingtogether, the whole can become greater than the sum of the parts.

Open book costing Maximum value can be derived from a partnering arrangement which includes open book costing.

However, the extent of openness is a subject for negotiation. The supplier would probably prefer to reveal costs relating to the contract in question only, as opposed to its entire business. Both parties must feel comfortable with the extent of the transparency, and to minimise any risk associated with this intimacy, a confidentiality agreement should be drawn up.

If an open book policy is introduced, it should be on an equitable basis with both parties sharing information. There should be a clear and valid reason for it that is understood by both parties, for instance to cost, and subsequently price, change.

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Sunday 21 April 2019

SundayBusiness Food & Beverages With Ayo Oyoze Baje

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opularly called nature’s “wonder plant”, s o y b e a n s ( Gl y c i n e max) is a leguminous plant which grows up to one metre in height and possesses varieties of red and black beans. Its star status stems from its valuable nutritional benefits, which the Asians and vegetarians have cashed on as alternative to meat, milk and eggs.

Nutritionally, it has as much as 40 percent of high biological quality of proteins (dry weight), containing almost all the essential amino acids. Its 20 percent fat is formed principally of poly-unsaturated fatty acids, including linoleic acid.

This is an essential amino acid needed for body growth, building of nerve tissues formation and renewal of skin, hair, nail as well as the synthesis of prostaglandins.

Therefore, soya bean meals are effective in lowering blood

Making millions from Soybeans cholesterol and the risk of heart attack all because of the presence of linoliec acid.

Additionally, this wonder plant has two percent lecithin, a significant phospholipid which facilitates the functions of the nervous system. Like linoleic acid it contributes to the lowering of the blood cholesterol level. Rich in vitamins B1, B6, E, niacin, calcium, iron and magnesium, soya bean’s major deficiency is the low level of methionine which is more abundant in starchy foods.

That notwithstanding, milk from soybeans is good enough and even recommended for nursing babies, who require an appreciable supply of essential amino acids. But it should be enriched with vitamin B12 and calcium for children allergic to cow milk. Another warning is that though soya bean is of high nutritive value, it should neither be eaten excessively nor on daily basis.

The products derived from soya beans include sprouts, flour, milk, cake, oil, fofu, sauce, composite flour bread making and as substitute to meat.

The soya bean sprouts are used in raw salads and desserts,. They are very rich in vitamins, enzymes, chlorophyll and proteins. When eaten raw the nutritive value becomes available to the consumer.

To process soybean into flour, the beans are handpicked to remove stones and broken beans.

Boil the selected beans for 30 minutes. Remove the seed coat or testa and separate beans from the husk. Wash and dry in the sun or roast the beans. Roasting removes the lysine which inhibits absorption of vitamins and other nutrients. Grind and store in an

air tight container. Roasting also improves the digestibility for infants and flavours for adults.

On the alternative, the soya beans could be soaked in water overnight. The water is thrown away in the morning after to reduce factors that inhibit the availability of protein. High temperature and humidity are responsible for the Hard to Cook (HTC) phenomenon in soya beans. From researches in Kenya and Cameroun it has been revealed that soybeans take up to 12 hours to soften because of changes in the plant cell wall.

Due to its high protein content tea spoonfuls of soya bean flour could be added to yam flour, ogi, soups and garri as is being currently done by Ondo women with resounding success.

Soya bean flour is used in pastries, pasta, desserts and when added to wheat flour it enhances its nutritive value. When used to replace eggs in pastries, it has added advantage of reducing the health problem associated with cholesterol.

Soya Milk This is obtained by adding water to soya bean paste in the ratio of 2 to 1. For home preparation, 4 milk tins of water could be added to 2 milk tins of soya flour. With the use of a sifter separate liquid from chaff.

The liquid portion is the protein -rich soya milk. The chaff is used as an animal feed.

Nutritionally, it is about 75 percent that of cow milk and good for infants, except that it lacks the s-containing amino acids. Soya milk is rich in linoleic acid with the aforementioned advantages. It also contains iron, vitamin B1 (thiamin), and niacin, even higher than that of

cow milk. It should be enriched with vitamins A and D. Soya Oil Regarded as a high quality table oil with natural flavours, it has up to 61 percent poly-unsaturated fatty acids. They are used as flavours in salads, pastries and cooking in general.

To extract soya bean oil, the carefully selected wholesome beans are roasted, fed into oilextracting machines, filtered, refined and bottled ready for sale.

Investors in this field according to O. Oni and Chief Consultant of Nucleus Ventures Nigeria Ltd should take cognisance of some salient factors. These include feasibility studies, getting a project site, purchase and installation of plant and for raw materials.

Recruitment of experienced personnel, for production and marketing are necessary. A mouth watering profit of N20,000 per ton of soya beans with the crushing plant of 400 metric tons on annual basis.

Cerolina For Olabisi Alao the Managing Director of the Ojodu- based Morrison Nigeria Ltd, who holds a masters degree from the German Institute of Milking Technology, soybeans business has been a life-long passion. The visionary technologist who first came into contactwithsoybeansprocessingin 1980 at the Kansas State University USA established Nigeria’s first soybeans extrusion plant in 1983.

Through it he has developed the protein-rich Cerolina, a highly digestible product which can be prepared either as ogi for breakfast or like amala, eba for lunch and dinner, taken with vegetable soup. It

can also be fried like akara. Cerolina, which is NAFDAC-approved, has a shelf life of 18 months.

Morrison Foods has also processed a soya–product known as Fastomeal which is a complete breakfast meal that can be taken without the addition of sugar.

According to him soya oil extract from the beans is in high demand by cosmetic and printing ink companies.

Soya cake This is a highly proteinous concentrate used for compounding animal ration, for growing animals, fatteners and layers which is in very high demand. Alao reiterates that soya cake lasts for one year.

For other products Tofu is soya cheese, prepared by adding lemon, a coagulant to soya milk. Apply pressure for several days until it acquires a semi solid state. It is used to replace white cheese, has a natural taste and seasoned with salt and consistency and very useful in cooking.

Soya Sauce is fermented with water and marine salt for between 6 – 12 months and used as a condiment.

Investment profile A pre-investment working capital of N500,000, accommodation of N400,000 and another N500,000 utilities are required. With careful management of soya cake and oil plants, the investors will surely smile all the way to the bank.

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

News Mixed reactions trail Senate’s move to override President on budget timeline bill OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja

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enate, Wednesday took bold steps to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto of the ‘Budget Timeline

Bill” The move buoyed by the report of the Senate Technical Committee on Declined Assent to Bills by the President , headed by David Umaru (APC, Niger East), has received mixed reactions, even as it is seen as positive steps by law makers of the Upper Legislative Chambers to address the intractable challenge of budget delays.

While some analysts have commended senators for the initiative, others believe they are embarking on a wild goose chase.

This comes as Senate President Bukola Saraki last week referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Constitution Review for further legislative work.

The Committee chaired by Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu (PDP, Enugu) is expected to carry out public hearing on the all important bill any moment from now.

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration, No. 28), which was ear-

lier rejected by President Buhari in 2018, seeks to amend Sections 81 and 121 of the 1999 Constitution by making it mandatory for the President and Governor of a state to lay the annual budget estimates before parliament, three months to the end of a financial year.

It also compels the Parliament to pass the annual budget before the commencement of the next financial year.

It would be recalled that President Buhari had in 2018 declined assent to the constitution amendment bill on the grounds that Section 2 (b) and 3 (b) of the proposal ‘appear not to take full cognizance of the provisions of Section 58 (4) of the 1999 constitution’.

In rejecting the President’s submission, the David Umaru-led panel had posited that the bill was not in conflict with the 1999 constitution, as claimed by the President.

The purpose of the bill, the Committee had explained, was to ensure that Nigeria reverts to the January to December budget cycle.

Section 58 (5) of the 1999 Constitution provides that two-third of both legislative chambers of the National Assembly (73 senators and 240 members of House of Representatives) are required to override the President’s veto.

In an interview with BusinessDay, Austine Aigbe of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), said the move was commendable.

According to him, the process ought to have been started before now.

His words: “The National Assembly ought to have attempted to override the President’s veto. If they had done so before and it went through, the President would have been conscious of the way he was not signing bills.

“Even if they may not have the

numbers, the question is they should just try it. What kills business is not taking risks. The National Assembly needs to take risks by trying to veto a bill that the President rejects”.

“There are many other crucial bills like constitution amendment bill that would have improved our budgetary process and the PIGB that would have improved our petroleum sector. And just now, we have been ranked very high in terms of misery index. IMF just ranked us the second lowest in terms of the way we use our sover-

eign wealth fund. Bills that would have strengthened our economic architecture have been thrown out based on political affiliation.

And I think it is not helping us as a country”.

Other political commentators say overriding the President’s veto would be a tall order considering the fact that not only are both chambers polarised along party lines but lawmakers against the President’s action cannot garner the required two-third to upturn his decision.

Checks by BusinessDay revealed that APC currently controls the Senate with 57 senators, as against PDP with 47 lawmakers. Others are African Democratic Congress (ADC) two, while All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) have one senator each.

“Getting two-third majority to override the President’s veto is not a tea party. Since none of the political parties in the Senate can garner twothird, I can say with all confidence that the move by the Senate is dead on arrival. You will also recall that since Nigeria’s return to the Fourth Republic in 1999, the National Assembly has been able to override the President’s veto only once.

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BDSUNDAY 37

SundayBusiness Team Nigeria wins medals at technology, robotics tournament in California Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson

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he saying that ‘Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win Championship’ became reality on March 30, 2019 when a team of young Nigerian children, aged 6-10 years, from Port Harcourt, Rivers State won the Teamwork award at the FIRST® LEGO® League Junior (FLL® Jr.) International Expo in California, United States of America.

The team members include: Okechukwu Samira Peculiar; Amos Uduak and Ayeba-Enenimiete Owatarite. They were coached

by Uchechukwu Odiaka and Mercy Makagni.

Recall that Enterprise Software giant SAP (#SAP4Good) and CODERINA Educational Foundation (the operational partner of the programme in Nigeria) took a leap of faith, five years ago by helping to start FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) in Nigeria.

The programme has grown over the years and it is now yielding the expected fruits. 28,000 students and 1,134 teachers have been introduced to robotics, coding and project-based learning through the FLL and the FLL Jr. programmes.

The three popular programms, Jr. FLL, FLL and FIRST Tech Challenge are the world leading robotics and project-based learning programmes. All three programmes are available to future prove Nigerian kids and prepare them to compare and compete with other kids around the world.

FIRST® LEGO® League Jr. is exciting, is an entry level experiential and fun global robotics and project-based programme that ignites an enthusiasm for discovery, science, and technology in children.

FLL Jr. captures young children’s curiosity and directs it toward discovering

the wonders of science and technology.

The programme was developed to introduce 6 to 10 year-olds (grades primary school and early JSS) to science concepts and teamwork. The programme was created through a partnership between FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and the LEGO Group.

The advanced level programme for JSS and SSS level students, FLL® is a programme for a team (comprising of 2-10) of children from ages 9 to 16 and has three components comprising of project, robot game and core values.

Through each of these components they are tasked (working during the FLL season lasting about a period of 8weeks) with the responsibility of carrying out research on an annual theme by offering innovative solutions to issues, build, design and programme robots to carry out certain missions on the FLL table and also interviewed based on the core values of FLL - gracious professionalism and competition.

In January 2019, spectators cheered on as six hundred (600) contestants, ages 9 to 16, demoed their robotic ideas.

At the end of the twoday annual FLL Nigeria National Championship hosted by Baze University, Abuja, Team AI Squad hillside school emerged champions; Kings college Lagos – project; Ikot Obio Itong, Akwa Ibom State - core values; FGGC, Odogbolu & Team Kids Mechanics from Hide school- robot design; Command School Lagos - judges award; Deeper life school - robot performance; Coach Enoch - outstanding mentor/ coach, while, the Federal Science and Technical College, Michika (North East), won the “Against all odds” awards.

The National Championship also created avenue for teams to represent Nigeria at

international championship.

Thus, the Nigerian team from Port Harcourt had a good outing in California winning the Teamwork Category which is one of the most important categories for young kids of their age.

It is interesting to note that the Federal Ministry of Education, having realised the potential impact the programs have on students, recently partnered with Coderina to introduce coding and robotics to schools across the country. The programs will help Nigerian students discover the excitement of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering Arts and Mathematics) as it makes these subjects easier to learn in a fun and relatable way.

Speaking at the National championship in January, Adamu Adamu, minister of education, who was represented

by Elizabeth Adedigba, the director, technology and science education department, at the ministry, said that Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) are very crucial in the development of any nation.

According to her, capacity building is very essential in determining the way the pendulum of development of any nation will swing in the next decade. “Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind”.

“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to wellmeaning Nigerian and other well-wishers of the education to support this initiative of setting the pace for our future generation”, Adedigba said.

Speaking on the pupil’s successful outing, Olajide Ademola Ajayi of SAP and programme coordinator said that they deserve accolades as great ambassadors of the country.

He said that these are great programmes that introduce students to the world of innovation and critical thinking. The programmes equip students with requisite skills for the knowledge economy.

L-R: Gift Amadi, business development; Osita Oparaugo, chief executive officer, and Elakeche Abutu, business development, all of Reddot Television Network Ltd, at the press conference in Lagos.

Ogelle set to revolutionise how African content is served globally ...targets 5m content creators in 3yrs

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eddot Television Network Limited on Thursday announced the coming onboard of its new product, Ogelle, an online resource and entertainment user generated content platform targeting to become the highest aggregator of African content with at least 5 million content creators in the next three years.

Ogelle, the first user generated content in Africa with 100 percent focus on African content from films to music, comedy, tourism, cuisine, vocation, news and lifestyle, according to Osita Oparaugo, CEO, Reddot Television Network Limited, will revolutionise the way African content is served globally.

“We want to ensure we bridge the gap between content creators and content consumers. This is our focal point. We will in the next three years become a platform that will be considered the highest aggregator of African content with at least 5 million content creators and more,” Oparaugo announced at a press conference in Lagos.

Ogelle, an Igbo word that translates as “gong”, is symbolic as a tool for information dissemination, he said.

“Ogelle is not a television station but rather a resource and entertainment platform where the general users can create

their own channels, create their own content, upload same on Ogelle and the world is watching. With Ogelle, every African now has his or her own television channel,” he said.

Ogelle, he said, provides multiple opportunities for African content producers whose work will now be available around the globe, thereby giving them a global voice. It also presents lovers of African content with world-class content that is rich in Africa’s customs and traditions – bold, diverse and globally appealing.

“The process is easy.

Any content creator in Africa is allowed to go on the platform to create their content on our platform free of charge.

If people’s view on your content reaches any of our thresholds, we pay you for creating nice content,” he said.

He explained that the company would pay $500 to any content producer whose content hits 100,000 views, while 1 million views will attract payment of $5,000.

Oparaugo, however, said the platform does not allow the uploading of repulsive content line pornography, violence, and much more.

Also of great importance on the Ogelle platform is its vocation centre.

Tagged Ogelle Vocation, the section which, according to Oparaugo, presents

an excellent avenue for learning, allows vocations training content creators to upload their training modules on different skills so that interested persons can come and learn.

“Our key strength lies in our extensive creative sector knowledge backed up by a network of commercial relationships which provides Ogelle with the opportunity to act as the bridge between creative content creators and consumers globally,” Oparaugo said.

“At the same time, we create competitive returns for content creators by monetising any content that exceeds 100,000 views produced in line with our partner programme,” he said.

Running on four dedicated servers on Amazon with quality and crisp video experience, Ogelle (www.ogelle.com) could be accessed on Androids, TV and all internet-enabled platforms, Oparaugo said.

He added that the firm is working with a global team of experts, industry insiders in content creation, acquisitions, distribution, film financing and film production.

“Together, we leveraged our pan-African and global network of relationships to establish Ogelle as the first only-Africa UGC resource and entertainment centre. Africa is indeed content,” he said.

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Sunday 21 April 2019

TheWorshippers ‘Nigeria will flourish again with righteous living’ The annual Word Explosion Conference of the Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, themed ‘New Creation Realities’ was held last week. In this interview, Pastor Alfred Ohiani, assistant pastor to Taiwo Odukoya, the senior pastor of the church; who worked with department of petroleum resources (DPR) and rose to the level of deputy director before his retirement in 2016, spoke on God’s faithful over the years, as the Fountain of Life Church marks its 27th anniversary. Excerpts by SEYI JOHN SALAU The church just concluded the 2019 word explosion conference: what was the experience like? he programme usually comes in as a means of celebrating our anniversary. The first service we had was 15 of April 1992, so within those weeks every year, we always have word explosion conference. One of the words God gave to the set man when the church started is that ‘where the carcass is, there the eagles will surely gather’. The interpretation of that is, where the word of God is, the people will be there because they will be strengthened. And so, the word explosion is a time to bring ministers to come and also give us whatever the lord has given to them for us. This in most cases supporting what we are being fed by the set man and the ministers in church. And it’s been quite great, so this week promises to be a wonderful week for every member and we always strive to make sure that we are present – it is a weeklong activities beginning Sunday 14 April. We had ministers within the country and outside the country that ministered to us in the course of this conference.

Going by the theme of the conference: ‘New Creation Realities’, what would be your word of advice to Nigerians considering the economic and security realities

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Pastor Alfred Ohiani, assistant pastor, Fountain of Life Church, Lagos

being experienced in the country?

Well, like the bible says; because of lack of knowledge, people perish. We will continue to pray for the nation, but one thing we need to know is that a nation that fear God will be blessed; but a nation that does not will always face challenges. Challenges we are facing

– we are evolving but much more the bible says that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach.

What that means is that if we have a righteous living, the country will continue to flourish. But we are all witnessing that what we have seen over the years has been too much of evil. How do we deal with it? It’s

L-R: Pastor Tola Odutola; Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, host Pastor; Pastor Nomthi Odukoya; Apostle Bobby Hogan; and Pastor Tolu OdukoyaIjogun, at the Fountain of Life Church 2019 Word Explosion Conference themed, “New Creation Realities,” held recently in Lagos

nothing new; we have seen it in the bible and that is why one of the thing that this church does is to always commit ourselves, praying for the nation because where there is fear of God, people will continue to do things right. People in my generation will know that the kind of fear of God that existed in time past is different, and of course some will argue with you that churches are increasing and evil is increasing – the bible says in the last days evil shall increase, but then the grace of God shall be multiplied. But, God is not the God that forces people, it has been a matter of choice – so the prayer therefore is to bring people to the point of conviction to know that this God is good, and if they change all of us; starting from the individual will have to know that doing things that are right pays. If you have the fear of God you will know that anything you do will have to be acceptable before God; things will change.

What about the security situation in the country, some will argue the government is not doing enough?

The security problem we are having is just unfortunate that people like to benefit where there is confusion and being masterminded by others. There is a lot the nation is doing, but individually we also have to make ourselves accountable to God, and that brings fear for God and makes us to reference God, and to always look to God first before we act – things will not be the way we are. Majority are just looking at how I can amass wealth without caring; how will a Nigerian take a human being and begin to extract what is inside to begin to sell; such cannot be mentioned in those days, but it is the evil that is coming all because of the things of this world: the flambouyant lifestyles and others but our God is a loving and merciful God, and therefore we can only continue to hold unto him because he is able to change the situation. So, we call everybody to prayers and never to stop; the bible says pray without seizing and as we keep on praying he who is merciful will hear us and turn our situation around. One scripture I always use

for this nation is psalm 126: that is, when the lord turns again the captivity of Zion, they are like them that dream. And, whatever situation we are facing today we believe God is changing it and we shall all rejoice – it’s just a matter of time.

Why the choice of foreign ministers?

Well, the very first minister is a Nigerian just that he is ministering abroad. However, must of all these things are by the leading of the spirit and relationship the set man has with other ministers. So, when you identify a minister that has unusual gift, you want them to come and bless your people because one man is not an island, and one man cannot have it all. In this conference we have local ministers like Bishop Mike, and so many others like Bishop Abioye of Living Faith which is in Abuja and a host of other ministers.

Away from the conference, what is the ministry doing to touch lives?

One of the things the ministry is very much into is affecting the environment and the community. We have a lot of community related programmes, supporting children in schools; medical support; and others which pastor Taiwo got that vision years back.

Anything that will continue to uplift, the ministry is focus in ensuring that homes are established so as to affect the society and ensure that ministers are raised to that effect in Jesus name.

How successful has the community intervention been?

Well, it’s been quite successful and by the grace of God; like I just told you about the hospital that the church established for that purpose of supporting people that are sick.

People get there and are treated, while the church subsidized 100 percent and of course there are cases of those that cannot afford, that the church had to take responsibilities. The church also support members who have challenges with the education of their children; health challenges, and I believe the church will continue to do that, as a way to show that we are a family church, and that is the way we have been over the years.

Bishop Olumakaiye urges Nigerian youth to stay focus on nation building SEYI JOHN SALAU

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iocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Lagos, (Anglican Communion) Rt. Rev. Humphrey Olumakaiye, has urged Nigerian youth to stay focus on the task of nation building, as he calls for continued prayers to promote peace, unity, as well as socio-economic and political development of the country.

Olumakaiye stated this at the Annual Lenten Talk, Coral Renditions and Breaking of Fast recently

held at the Island Club, Onikan Lagos.

According to the bishop, Nigerian youth, especially the unemployed, should remain focused so as to transform the nation. “Nigerian youth must be focused; they should walk on the path of dignity of labour, because there is reward when we walk on that path; God created us to make impact.

“The youth should try to engage in things that can better their lives so that their future will be improved, rather than wait for the government. They should think of what

they can contribute to the society to make Nigeria great, they should shun greed and other vices so that God will bless the works of their hands,” said Olumakaiye.

However, in his message to the nation, the Anglican bishop of Lagos said Nigerians should be united to make life worth living for others, and make positive impact in the society.

“We should imbibe the spirit of Christ, and that is total love and sacrifice, and we should strive to be our brother’s keeper.

“A praying nation is a great na-

tion; we should walk on the path of righteousness, honesty, and sincerity,” said Olumakaiye stating that Nigeria would only overcome the current challenges through fervent prayers.

“Easter reminds us of the suffering, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our saviour.

The Christian faith hinges on resurrection. It is believed that if there was no resurrection, there would be no Christianity,’’ said Olabanji Oladapo, the chairman of Island Club.

According to Oladapo, the

Lenten talk is one of the ways the Island Club is celebrating the 100 years existence of the Lagos diocese of the church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion. “The Centenary celebration (100 years of existence) of Lagos diocese has started and we are happy to be part of the celebration especially with this Lenten talk being delivered. We say hearty congratulations to our lord bishop and the entire church of God,” said Oladapo stating that lent is one of the most important times of the year for Christians around the world.

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BDSUNDAY 39

BrandsOnSunday SPOTLIGHTING BRAND VALUE

GEEP, Tradermoni on global stage as programmes earn recognition Daniel Obi

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his seems be a season of international commendations for the microcredit scheme of the FGN. In recognition of its impact driving financial inclusion in Nigeria, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) and its products have earned recent recognition from the United Nations, African Leadership Institute and Oxford University, according to a report.

GEEP, a microcredit initiative of the Federal Government started in 2016, includes MarketMoni, FarmerMoni, and the TraderMoni scheme which generated some controversy during the elections.

However, with about 2 million Nigerians at the bottom of the pyramid accessing credit in 3 years and being brought into financial services of bank account and mobile wallets, there is consensus on the scale of impact the initiative wields. GEEP is today the largest public microcredit scheme in the world. 54.2% of its beneficiaries are women.

In a March session of 62ndUnited Nations Commission in New York, GEEP was commended for pushing the envelope in technological innovations for successful last-mile delivery of credit at massive scale. This was in recognition of the programme’spioneering roles in building a completely digitised loan operation,positioning of Bank Verification (BVN) as digital collateral

Uzoma Nwagba, chief operating officer, GEEP making a presentation.

to aid financial inclusion, use of facial recognition for de-deduplication, GPS-based mapping and profile of candidates to markets, and exhaustive data capture to truly formalise the informal sector.

The radical approach to GEEP’s operation was perhaps a major influence for the recent recognition bestowed on the programme’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Uzoma Nwagba, by a partnership between the African Leadership Initiative and University of Oxford. Recently, precisely April 16, the COO, together with 22 other emerging African leaders picked across the continent, were announced as recipients of 2019 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellowship. The Desmond Tutu Fellowship is set up by AFLI

and Oxford to identify and cultivate young African leaders whose work have achieved “far reaching impact on the continent.”Selection into the lifelong Fellowship is an attestation of Uzoma’s role in delivering one of the world’s most impactful tech-based SME intervention programs, and the world’s largest public microcredit scheme. From the AFLI release, Nwagba is Harvard MBA who, prior to GEEP, worked as an Analyst at Goldman Sachs, Product Manager at Microsoft, and Senior Associate at African Capital Alliance. He is passionate about running public institutions like ethical businesses.

On the home scene, beneficiaries affirm the efforts and contributions of GEEP to economic empowerment and growth with

the effective deployment of MarketMoni, FarmerMoni and TraderMonicredit initiatives. According to Mrs Sherifat Salau, a N50,000 MarketMoni beneficiary from Kwara who received her loan in 2016, “Before receiving GEEP MarketMoni, if I request for a 100,000 naira loan, I will have to deposit 7,500 naira before the loan is released. Aside from the high deposit, the interest on the 100,000 naira would be almost 22,000 naira. By the time I am done paying back the loan, my goods would have reduced drastically and it stops me from growing the business. The loan has been of help in growing my business. With this loan, I have peace.”

Mallam Amidu’s testimonial in the statement is similar to the story of Sherifat Salau , a petty trader at Marna market, Sokoto. He narrates, “The day I heard about Tradermoni, we just came into the market and we saw their officials registering fellow traders.The people registering told us it was a loan scheme by the Federal Government to empower traders and they asked us if we would like to register. We said yes and we got registered.It will definitely empower my business, buy more stock and make more sales. I really have nothingtosaytotheFederalGovernment rather than to say I am very grateful.”

GEEP, a financial inclusion scheme driven by technology has registered over 7million microenterprises in less than 3 years – and it is on a mission to deliver access to finance and financial inclusion at Nigeria’s base of the pyramid.

Culinary Delights opens first Pizza King, Mama Mia restaurant in Lagos

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fter about two and a half years , Culinary Delights has finally opened the doors of its first outlet to customers with the launch of its first two brands, Pizza King and Mama Mia . Located at 67 Coker Road in Ilupeju, Pizza King will serve customers pizzas and sides while Mama Mia will serve rice meal options and chicken relishes from across the world.

Speaking at the grand opening, General Manager, Culinary Delights, Charles Ovat Peter, said, “We are very excited to welcome Nigerians to a unique concept in catering and restaurant services.

Our vision is to set up several brands catering to different global culinary trends. We will be stepping things up several notches in terms of quality, pricing, packaging and variety at Mama Mia where we will offer cuisines from all over the world, initially offering Chinese, Persian and Indian dishes. The menu will be regularly updated to include new and exotic dishes popular worldwide, with an emphasis on rice meals”.

“At Pizza King, we aim to understand our customers’ tastes and

preferences and introduce new flavours based on local tastes and demand. We have launched with 9 pizza variants - the classic mar-

gherita, spicy Hawaiian, chicken suya, chicken tandoori, vegetarian exotic, minced beef pepperoni, butter chicken, butter cottage cheese.

L-R: Moshood Agbalaya, marketing executive; Charles Ovat Peter, general manager and Bolaji Adesina, Pizza chef at the unveiling of Culinary Delights Pizza King and Mama Mia in Ilupeju, Lagos recently

We will be offering many more delightful toppings, with a conscious emphasis on our quality of ingredients. Customers can look forward to many interesting promos first of which is the ongoing ‘Buy 1 pizza, get 1 orange drink and a 150ml cup of packaged ice cream” he added.

Peter disclosed that his organization is looking at expanding by next year from its current kitchen concept model to setting up standalone outlets for each of the brands they have launched. “We seek to provide better value to our customers by choosing reputable suppliers, purchasing best available raw materials, creativity with our packaging and aesthetics, consistency with our products and most importantly keeping our prices at very competitive levels,” he added.

According to the management of Culinary Delights, their restaurants will operate as a quick service / quick drive through / takeaway option where customers can have their orders ready in 15-20 minutes or order online for delivery to their homes and offices In Illupeju and other areas covered by Pizza King and Mama Mia.

Customers commend 9mobile’s Iska Weather Service

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ustomer-focused telecommunications company, 9mobile, has said that its Iska Weather (forecast) service launched recently in partnership with weather forecasting portal, Ignitia, has gained impressive traction among the target users over the short period since its introduction.

The telecom firm said users have commended the innovative service because of the positive impact it has had on their businesses.

A user, Jibrin Yakubu Gama – a Kano-based businessman, in his testimonial said, “I use the weather forecast for trading. It helps me know how to schedule my plans for the day.” Another subscriber, Nazif Umar, lauded the service in these words, “I use it for driving so I know how the weather will be to be careful when driving.” In the words of Abubakar Zaaki Baiti – a Birnin-Kebbi farmer and user of the service, “I use the weather forecast for farming. It helps me know when to fertilize and helps me to know what to even do at the farm.”

Dettol launches ‘Clean Naija’ initiative, unveils Funke Akindele-Bello as brand ambassador SEYI JOHN SALAU

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n its bid to promote cleaner and healthier living among Nigerians, Reckitt Benckiser (RB) Nigeria, maker of antiseptic brand, Dettol in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources recently launched a national campaign tagged, the ‘Clean Naija Initiative,’ as it also unveils Funke Akindele-Bello as brand ambassador.

The initiative comes at a time when a lot of people in Nigeria are exposed to communicable diseases, with children being the most susceptible. The Clean Naija Initiative is expected to contribute to individual-led behavioural change that improves public health nationwide.

Recent reports have placed Nigeria amongst the top nations that bear a significant portion of the global disease burden and high under-5 mortality rates. Many of the diseases responsible for this, like diarrhea, can be prevented by proper hand washing habits and widescale hygiene education, hence the partnership with the Clean Naija Initiative.

Dayanand Sriram, the general manager, RB West Africa, said the Clean Naija Initiative was developed as an all-inclusive campaign with various levels and phases aimed at creating awareness, and driving behavioural change to achieve a cleaner and healthier Nigeria.

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EquityMarket

Motor, engineering, two others generate 90 percent underwriting profit in 2018 Stories by TELIAT SULE

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inety percent of the underwriting profits made by AIICO Insurance, Sovereign Trust and AXA Mansard Insurance from non-life insurance segment was realised from four insurance activities in 2018, an indication of the depth of insurance practices in the country. The four activities are motor insurance, engineering, accident and fire insurance services. That most of the non-life underwriting profit came from just four services shows the most profitable insurance services in the last financial year.

The three aforementioned firms realised N7.18 billion underwriting profit and the portion that came from motor insurance amounted to N2.98 billion representing 42 percent of the gross underwriting profit by three firms. Engineering insurance generated N1.49 billion which translated to 21 percent of underwriting profit. Accident insurance comprising personal and general, earned the three insurers N1.28 billion representing 18 percent of the entire underwriting profit for 2018.

The three aforementioned insurance firms earned N730.5 million from fire insurance which translated to 10 percent of the underwriting profit. This implies that the underwriting profits from the four insurance services amounted to N6.48 billion or 90 percent of the total underwriting profit by

AIICO, Sovereign Trust and AXA Mansard insurance companies in 2018.

Marine insurance generated N648.07 million representing 9 percent share of the underwriting

profit. Both casualty and liability insurance services earned N422.6 million and N48.41 million which amounted to 6 percent and 1 percent of the total underwriting profit made by the firms respec-

tively in 2018.

On the flip side, contributions from aviation, oil and gas insurance services were negative during the period. The combined underwriting loss from aviation insurance

stood at N119.5 million while the loss from oil and gas insurance services equalled N304.02 million.

Stakeholders may have to wait for some weeks to be able to appraise the financial status of the insurance industry in Nigeria. This is because a number of insurance firms have applied to the Exchange to be given more time before they could release their audited financial statement for 2018.

The list includes Law Union and Rock, NEM Insurance and Wapic Insurance, among others.

According to WAPIC Insurance, which might not submit the first quarter 2019 unaudited results as mandated by the regulators within then stipulated time, the delay in the submission of the Q1 2019 results was as a result of the delay in submitting the audited financial statement for 2018 to the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) as a result of the adoption of the IFRS 9 on financial instruments and IFRS 4 (as amended for insurance contracts) in compliance with the directive of NAICOM. That is similar to the reason given

by NEM Insurance for the delay in the release of the 2018 audited financial statement.

“Our industry regulator , the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is currently reviewing the company’s audited financial statements and has requested that we provide additional documentation in respect of the newly adopted IFRS 9 full option adoption approach”, NEM management said in a note to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Access Bank grows post merger’s Q1 PAT by 86% to N41bn

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igns of good things to come for shareholde r s o f t h e n e w Ac c e s s Ba n k e m e r g e d last week when the tier one bank announced its first post merger results, which showed that profit after tax for the period rose by 86 percent from N22.12 billion in March 2018 to N41.15 billion as at March 2019. Net interest income rose from N44.63 billion last year to N56.84 billion same period this year, representing an increase of 27 percent. The made recorded such feat despite 6 percent increase in interest expense from N50.94 billion in 2018 to N53.94 billion same period this year.

But net fee and commission income marginally declined from N13.92 billion in March last year to N13.07 billion this

year. Profit before tax trended upwards by 64.4 percent from N27.4 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2018 to N45.1 billion by March 2019.

However, analysts are cautious in concluding that the first quarter results are enough to predict the healthiness of the merger between Access Bank and the defunct Diamond Bank.

“Firstly, interest income was driven by a surge in interest income from financial assets (at FVOCI) which increased to N25.5bn from N4.6bn in the prior year. Depending on the type of financial assets (not stated), incomes reported at FVOCI are subject to vagaries of the economic cycle, and can consequently print lower in the subsequent quarter. Secondly, the Q1-19 result is unaudited, and thus, should be taken with

a pinch of salt.

Again, Net Interest Margin (NIM) eased 2bps to 5.6% while Cost of Funds (COF) decreased 140bps to 4.4%.

Also, impairment charges fell 32.0% y/y and OPEX was stable at N55.1bn. As such, Cost to income Ratio moderated to 53.2% (vs. 62.0% in Q1-18).

However, all these metrics did not factor in the DIAMOND merger. Accordingly, PBT and PAT jumped 64.4% and 86.1% to N45.1bn and N41.1bn respectively, while annualized ROE and ROA came in at 30.9% and 2.9%”, analysts at the United Capital, one of the leading investment banks in the country said, in a note to clients.

When the appraised the capital adequacy ratio of the bank, they expressed divergent views.

“Also, Capital Adequacy Ra-

tio (CAR) reduced from 20.1% in FY-2018 to 19.1%. We think these ratios are slightly bloated given that some (such as COR and COF) of them are pegged against P&L item which does not account for DIAMONDBNK’s operations during the period. Meanwhile, others (such as CAR & NPL) may have been understated given that this result is not audited”, United Capital stated.

The share price of Access Bank closed last Thursday at N6.85 per share which amounted to 0.7 percent increase in its share price year to date.

Analysts at United Capital also enjoyed investors to consider their investments worthwhile in view of hold rating placed on it.

‘Our views on ACCESS remain modest given that the numbers above are yet to cap-

ture the full impact of the merger. For instance, the annualized ROE of 30.9% is clearly unsustainable given that OPEX is yet to account for the merger and interest income for financial asset (FVOCI) which may or may not be reversed, depending on the nature of the asset.

“Accordingly, we maintain a c a u t i o u s o u t l o o k o n P BT and PAT for 2019. While we maintain that CAR and NPL ratios may be bullish due to a possible understatement of Risk-Weighted Asset (RWA) pending audit, the management has stated that maturing Eurobond for DIAMOND in May will be fully paid-down. Overall, we retain our HOLD rating on ACCESS pending H1-19 audited earnings report”, United Capital opinionated through a note to clients.

Sunday 21 April 2019

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BDSUNDAY 41

LifestyleHomes&Suites

Paul Ojenagbon pauloje2000@yahoo.com

Waterfront Apartments Redefines Luxury In Lekki

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he Waterfront Apartments located prestigiously at Admiralty Road, Lekki Phase 1, is an upcoming development that will up the ante of luxury in this axis.

Berthed on the exquisite stable of Misa Nigeria Limited, with a pedigree of fascinating homes, Waterfront Apartments present luxurious living in 44units of 1- bedroom, 2 -bedroom and 3- bedroom apartments.

This up-scale development, on the prestigious Lekki waterfront, offers an excellent lifestyle worth coming home to – from the well laid out parking lot to the 5-star concierge/lobby. The infinity pool overlooking the Lagoon brings pleasure, the sauna and steam room are designed to help you relax while keep fit buffs will deeply fancy the well equipped and spacious gym. And with the private cinema, billiards room and lounge, the expectations of the most discerning home owners could not be better met. The development is certainly a refreshing deviation from the established norms. The title on the land is certificate of occupancy.

It consists of 8 units of 3-bedroom, 30 units of 2-bedroom and 6 units of 1-bedroom apartments respectively. Formal construction work commences at the site in June but following the good reputation Misa has garnered over the years on various projects it developed and delivered successively, off plan marketing of the units has commenced in earnest. The project is estimated to cost whooping N2.6 billion and will run for two years duration with delivery slated for June 2021. The Number 7 Admiralty Road Lekki development beautifully integrates the elements through architecture to create some residences that reflect the character of Lekki.

The 3-bedroom type offers three variants and 2-bedroom two variants. Option A of the 3-bedroom covers 208 square

meters, B covers 240 square meters and C 225 square meters respectively. All variants of the 3-bedroom are on two floors, upper and lower levels. The differences between the variants are basically in terms of the configuration of spaces. Variant B is most generous in space and thus offers the largest master bedroom of 35 square meters and is also endowed with a box room, A does not have this. On the lower floor, variant C offers largest living areas/dinning space of 55 square meters. Similarly, while the 2-bedroom variant A occupies 119 square meters, B occupies 127 square meters and is also on two floors. Also while A integrates living/dining and kitchen space over 52 square meters, B gives clear demarcation of living room/dinning space of 35square meters and kitchen with store of 15 square meters. The 1-bedroom type is of one variant and covers 66 square meters.

In addition, Waterfront Apartments which makes seamless service and efficient management a point of note provides two passenger and one good elevators, private jetty for residents who have speed boats and desire to have fun in the waters or quick get away from traffic snarls. There is pre-planned high speed internet facility combining with strict digital access control to check intruders and enhance security.

Other amenities include generator house to accommodate generators of the residents, potable water from borehole and treatment plant and 24 hour power supply.

With close attention to safety, provision is made for two escape staircases. Adequate parking is assured for 90 cars. A Laundromat provides quick laundry services, gate house for both entry and exit and a facility manager’s office to attend management issues post development. Refuse collection receives attention in the dump/chute provided in the building. Other outdoor recreational facilities aside the earlier ones

mentioned include basketball and changing rooms.

The price tag on the apartments varies from N45m for each unit of 1-bedroom, N70m and N75m for each unit of the variants of the 2-bedroom, A and B and N120m

for any of variants of the 3-bedroom apartment respectively. An initial payment of 25 percent is required while the balance is spread out installmentally over the period between construction and delivery or handing over of keys.

Behold Jerico Villa in Ajah

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erico Villa is situated at Number 6, Dr. Jerry Nwakobi Street, off the Lekki Gardens detour from the Lekki-Epe Expressway, near the Abraham Adesanya, Roundabout, Ajah-Lekki, Lagos. It is a well secured a gated community with an admixture of serviced plots and built houses being put together

by Jenesis Colony Limited. The estate is a corner piece site that proceeds from the termination point of the detour from the expressway. It is an all-inclusive development as it includes Jerico Villa Hotel &

Suites radiating in beautiful, royal white, located near the entrance. The flagship product is Jerico Villa which the developer described as “a masterpiece of the modern day luxury that is quite affordable and distinct”. he estate offers serenity, comfort and natural ambience that identifies succinctly with the environment. The houses donned in white shows tasteful architectural design that is contemporary and postmodern.

The house types include 5-bedroom detached house, 3-bedroom and 2-bedroom apartments respectively. Completed are 2 units of detached house, 6 units of 3-Bedroom and 2 units of 2-Bedroom apartments. Empty serviced plots approximately 30 are also available for sale in sizes of 300 and 600 square metres while other sizes can be negotiated upon request. Services provided include paved access road with functional drains, reliable security system boosted with CCTV cameras, electricity connections with prepaid metering system among others.

Each unit of the 3-bedroom serviced apartment sells for N35million white the 5-bedroom detached house sells for N120million. A standard plot of 600 square metres carries a price tag of N13 million.The title in the land in certificate of occupancy.

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Sunday 04 November 2018

Feature NCPC: Burnishing Nigeria’s image, enhancing its economy Innocent Odoh, Abuja

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s preparation for the 2019 pilgrimage get underway, the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) has re-strategised to improve the Christian pilgrimage and use it more as a tool to burnish the image of Nigeria abroad and exploit the economic opportunities available in the State of Israel and other countries where Nigerian Christians go to perform pilgrimage.

This perhaps is against the backdrop of some unsavory stories about the negative exploits of some Nigerians in some foreign countries and the need to inform the rest of the world that the country beyond any negative appellation has a great number of its citizens, who can make meaningful and productive contribution in diverse areas.

The Executive Secretary of the NCPC, Uja Tor Uja buttressed this during the NCPC thanksgiving service to mark the success of the 2018 pilgrimage at the Redeemed Christian Church of God on Sunday, April 14, attended

by Board Members, Management Staff and well wishers of the NCPC. During the thanksgiving service, the protracted battle stop pilgrims from absconding and staying illegally in Israel gained traction as the commission appeared to have developed the requisite model to stop the menace.

In the words of Uja “in the past year, we flew about 9,800 pilgrims in the cause of the year.

We had an abscondment of below 20 and the government of Israel commended us for the feat.

Even the government of Nigeria commended us for the feat. Nigerian Christian pilgrimage has never recorded anything about drugs, about theft. So we are

Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) Executive Secretary, Uja Tor Uja during the annual Media Parley with press members covering the Commission at NCPC corporate headquarters in Abuja

already on a good ground and we want to do better, we want to come to zero abscondment.

The pilgrims were extremely well-behaved, nothing about contraband or any illegality and more importantly our arrangements were very good and successful.”

There is also a strong factor in the last three years for the commission as records show no deaths as everybody who went on pilgrimage came back alive.

“Looking back at 2018, we are going to strengthen our structures and infrastructure both in Nigeria and in Israel and influence the world with the Nigerian brand of the gospel as we travel around,” Uja added.

The NCPC had since 2014/15 initiated training sessions in collaboration with the Institute for National Transformation, to train Nigerian pilgrims on good leadership, capacity building in fish farming, poultry, industrial capacity and management including training in high-tech.

Thousands of pilgrims have been trained and equipped with the necessary skills, which have transformed lives and created employment opportunities for

the youths.

As part of this expanded vision, pilgrims camps worth about N559 million will be built in May this year, both in Israel and Nigeria to provide the pilgrims with the facilities that will make them acquire skills for productive development to help exploit the potentials of the country to enhance its economy.

This expanded vision however requires adequate funding of pilgrimage activities which the government alone cannot foot.

Since he emerged as the Executive Secretary of the Commission in 2016, Uja, adopted Pilgrimage mobilization and outreach to critical stakeholders especially governors and many business ventures in Nigeria. The idea is to challenge all agencies of government in Nigeria to join in the crusade to assist the commission to meet its expanded vision and process Israeli amazing strides in agriculture, high-tech and other innovations to give Nigerians technical skills.

During a dinner interaction with the media on Tuesday, April 16, Uja said “Many visions require a little time to get gestation and bear fruits. Our people

Uja Tor Uja (middle) with press members covering the Commission at NCPC corporate headquarters in Abuja

need to go there and think of something bigger. That is why we conceived the idea of farmers’ pilgrimage by 2020. We have not only taken Nigerians to Israel for training we have also brought Israelis here to train both in agriculture and in hightech and also in skills including carpentry.”

He stressed that his vision is also to move pilgrimage from too much government into a more private-driven enterprise even as he called on Nigerian Christians to invest in pilgrimage either by sponsoring somebody or sponsoring a group or some of the pilgrimage activities as government may no longer subsidize pilgrimage from this year.

In the past two years NCPC was subsidized but from this year the commission appears no longer in the position to subsidize. Therefore pilgrimage in 2019 according Uja, is going to cost about N740, 000 per pilgrim as government has no intension of subsidizing pilgrimage.

Tor Uja intimated that 2018 came with so much difficulties and challenges, but God saw the Commission through it all and

gave NCPC the best pilgrimage ever. “Despite the Challenges we faced as a Commission we had the best pilgrimage ever and ended the pilgrimage with surplus.” He added “no live was lost and every activity of the Commission in 2018 recorded a huge success”, he said.

He further informed that the Commission has registered over 120 Christian Pilgrimage Operators (CPOs) and challenged the northern Christians to set up CPOs and take up their responsibility so that they can own the land and endear people’s attention to the north.

The NCPC helmsman said that the major goal of the Commission is that Christ should be at the center of pilgrimage and to use pilgrimage activities to preach the gospel in Nigeria and the world at large. According to him, “we want our pilgrimage to be such that everyone who goes on pilgrimage should have an encounter with Christ.”

The expanded vision of the commission despites its successes so far have some challenges needed to addressed especially in the area of funding amidst lean resources.

Minister woos investors, says Nigeria Economy’s Outlook positive Oyin Aminu, Abuja

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he Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the Buhari Administration has laid the necessary groundwork for the growth of the nation’s economy, and urged investors to take advantage of the government’s efforts by investing massively in Nigeria.

The minister, who made the call in London on Thursday, at a breakfast meeting with investors, lawyers, the business community and diplomats with ties to Nigeria, and described the country as the largest economy and a political power-

house in Africa as it represents a highly attractive market and investment partner.

“Not only is our administration positive about our economy’s outlook, but the $5 billion in foreign investment that we have secured after the recent elections signals that you, the international community, share our positive outlook and confidence in the administration’s policy,’’ he said.

Mohammed said in the past four years, President Muhammadu Buhari has led the nation’s economy from recession to growth through his Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), in addition to

diversifying the economy.

“While there is no denying that oil remains an important part of the economy, we have diversified, with real GDP growth being driven by the expansion of non-oil activities, adding that the service sector, for example, is responsible for 54percent of GDP and has become the primary driver of growth for the economy.

The Minister further said Nigeria’s successful battle against insecurity and corruption has made the country an advocate for transparency and accountability in Africa, while further strengthening its economy.

Speaking on the recent gen-

eral elections, Mohammed said the re-election of President Buhari is a validation of the fact that Nigerians recognized the change and transformation that the administration has brought to the country.

He however, described as disappointing and deeply irresponsible the attempts by the opposition to discredit the election and undermine the democratic choice of the Nigerian people, saying local and international observers have described the elections as credible.

“We will not be distracted from our vision and we hope that the opposition will join us

in shaping a better future for Nigeria, for the benefit not only of the people of Nigeria but the region and the continent,’’ Mohammed said.

The event is part of the ongoing visit of the Minister to the US and the UK to meet with the international media, opinion molders and think tanks.

The Minister, who was interviewed by the BBC, VOA, SKY TV, Al-Jazeera, Washington Post, Reuters, The Economist, Financial Times and the Africa Report, among others, also met with the Atlantic Council, the Council on Foreign Relations and the international notfor-profit corporation FINCA, all in Washington, DC.

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The SundayMagazine ‘Wazonomics’: Survival on the fringes CHUKS OLUIGBO

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s an emerging economy, Nigeria has a sizable and thriving informal economy that accounts for a significant portion of employment and national GDP. By the last checks, operators in the Nigerian informal economy constituted 67.54 million of the country’s 81.15 million work-force and their annual income was estimated at N81.048 trillion which was quite huge.

Wazonomics is a coinage that captures the segment of the Nigeria’s population that survives on the “koko-kobo” businesses.

Among those in this sector of the economy are carpenters, welders, plumbers, vulcanisers, motorcycle (okada) and tricycle (keke Maruwa) riders, bean-cake (akara) fryers, corn roasters, hawkers, etc, many of them making ‘kobo-kobo’ and surviving on daily basis in spite of government.

The growth of Nigerian informal sector is a true reflection of the country’s ailing economy.

The downturn in the economy has seen many people who were doing well in the formal sector as bankers, oil and gas workers, blue-chip industry workers suffering job losses and resorting to dollar-a-day jobs.

The good news, however, is that some of these people, out of their meager earnings, have made remarkable achievements for themselves and their families. For instance, quite a good number of commercial motorcycle (Okada) riders have trained themselves in schools up to university level while those who fry ‘akara’, most women, train children in schools and pay house rents.

Emmanuel Chukwu is a young ‘okada’ rider in his late 20s. After his secondary education in Izzi Local Government Area of Eboyi State, about 10 years ago, Chukwu, who lost his father in his final year, could neither find a gainful employment in his home state nor proceed for a higher education.

Two years after leaving school and tired of staying idle with his widow-mother in the

village, Chukwu made his way to Lagos where he ‘squatted’ with a distant family relation and picked up Okada business on hire-purchase basis, plying the okada and paying the owner an agreed sum on daily basis.

In 24 months, he was able to pay off the price of the ‘Okada’ and it became his own.

In another six months, Chukwu rented oneroom apartment and from there he worked day and night, denying himself of the minimum comfort of life. His mind was on how to further his education.

Today, Chukwu is a graduate of Marketing.

“It is all about determination and focus,” he explained to BDSUNDAY last Wednesday on a trip from Ejigbo to the popular Cele Bus Terminal on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

On what his next plan is after a degree in Marketing, Chukwu, a typical Igbo man, does

not have any plan for a white collar job. “By June this year, I will buy Keke Maruwa (Tricycle). My plan is to use it for 12 months and buy a shop. As it is now, I have not decided where or what I am going to be selling. I need the shop first,” he said, adding that marriage would have to wait “till money comes.”

Chukwu is just one out of many others out there who have not allowed themselves to be “crippled” by resigning to fate or waiting for government in a country of impoverished and traumatised populace.

Oluwaseun Oludare has seen what is, in all ramifications, comfortable life and living as the wife of a branch manager of one of the banks in Nigeria. Mr. Oludare was a victim of the economic downturn that led to massive retrenchment and downsizing arrangements in many banks. He lost his job in the bank.

“When my husband lost his job, I did not see it as the end of the world because even if it was death, the family would still outlive any of us, ” Oludare began a story that sounded stranger than fiction.

“My first step was to tell my husband that we needed to relocate and downgrade our housing accommodation from a duplex in a middle class settlement in Lagos to a three-bedroom flat in a suburb where we live today with our four children, the first two in the university and the other two still in the secondary. My husband was stunned, but given the reality on ground, it did not take long before he acquiesced.

“I was determined to see all my children through school. My first outing was frying bean cake (akara) and yam with tomato sauce. At a time, I saw that selling roasted and boiled corn was moving and I had to involve all my children in the trade. It was unimaginable what our daily proceeds were and even my husband was ready to help.

“With this, we were able to pay children’s school fees, house rent and other bills. Neighbours never knew what we were into because our ‘shop’ was some streets away from our house. Thank God, today, even though we have not arrived, so to speak, our condition is better. I am now a major distributor of recharge cards for one of the networks which a friend introduced me to”, Oludare enthused.

The informal economy is not a Nigerian thing. An economic development perspective by the Bank of Industry (BoI) notes that the informal economy currently accounts for over half of global employment and as much as 90 percent of employment in some of the poorer developing countries.

This form of economy has some advantages. Due to its flexible nature, the informal economy, in some ways, is better able to adapt to difficulties such as the economic recession, providing some measure of support to those most in need.

But despite its importance, the informal economy is often overlooked and misunderstood, with some viewing it as transient, and expected to eventually be absorbed into the formal economy.

The BoI notes that there is no unanimous perspective with regard to the informal economy, pointing out that some people take the view that it encourages fraudulent activities that results in the loss of revenue from taxes, weakens unions, creates unfair competition, leads to a loss of regulatory control, reduces observance of health and safety standards, amongst others.

But it remains to be disputed that the informal economy offers significant job creation and income generation potential, as well as the capacity to meet the needs of poor consumers by providing cheaper and more accessible goods and services, especially in residential enclaves.

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The SundayMagazine

Survival in spite of government

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AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

oday, many Nigerians both educated and illiterates are setting up small businesses to put food on their tables and make ends meet.

This was due to the high level of unemployment in the country, especially in the formal sector of the economy, where workers are being laid off every day to cut cost, and the retained ones even get salary cut.

BDSUNDAY understands that about 20.9 million Nigerians are currently unemployed while 18.2 million are underemployed. This brings the total of unemployed and underemployed Nigerians to 39.1 million out of a total labour force of 90.4 million.

As a result, many people are now seeking an alternative means of surviving in the midst of joblessness. This was why Nigeria has several citizens earning their living from the informal sector of the economy. Most of them borrow or even save up small capital that enables them to start without having to go to the bank.

They do businesses ranging from photography, catering, hairdressing, motorcycle services, tailoring, fashion designing, carpentry, painting, buying and selling, among others.

For instance, BDSUNDAY spoke with a 46-year old Mojisola Abiodun, a widow with four children. She lives in Ajegunle area of Lagos State with her children and she does her petty trading in Apapa, the city that not only houses the two major seaports in Nigeria (Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports) but is also notorious for its persistent traffic congestion.

Abiodun has been in the business of buying and selling small household items especially provisions for over 10 years and it is from the same business that she has been taking care of her home front.

“I have been managing my small business

since my husband died 10 years ago. When he died in 2009, and left me with our four children to care for, there was nobody to help us at that time. So, I started by borrowing small money from people to start small buying and selling business. Then, there was no money to rent a shop. So, I had to hawk until I was able to save little money to rent a small space in Apapa where I am today.

“Today, my children have been going to school, though, it has not been easy for me.

Just recently, I had to stop one of my sons from going to school because there was no money to pay for the school fees of four of them at the same time. As you see me, I owe several people because I had to borrow money from them to stock up my shop and pay most of them back in a flexible way with little interest on it,” she said.

“The truth of the matter is that God has been helping me because today I am able to pay my house rent, feed my children, pay their school fees and also provide all our needs from the little money that I generate from this business without depending on anybody or even government,” she further said.

By the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimation, Nigeria’s informal sector stands at about 60 percent of the entire Nigerian economy, representing about $240 billion in revenue.

When BDSUNDAY cut up with another young man in his late 30s, named Suraji Alao, a mechanic that repairs power generating set, he shared his experience.

“I am a Yoruba Muslim, who hails from Osun State. My father married three wives.

We are 15 children. Where I come from, we are predominantly farmers and my parents were not different. At my growing up stage, my father did not have enough money to send all of us to school and I was the first from my mother but the eighth child in the family.

“So, after my secondary education, I had to drop out because my father could not afford the tuition fee for my tertiary education. Then, I relocated to Lagos with one of my elder brothers, who was a generator mechanic. This was how I learnt to repair generators.

“Today, I am married with three children and two of them are in the nursery school.

But, when I got married in 2013, the money I was making from generator repairs was no longer sufficient to take care of my wife and children, pay house rent, because one could stay in the shop for whole day without getting any repair job to do.

“So, I decided to save some money to buy a motorcycle to enable me start an Okada business. With the bike, any day I don’t have repair job, I will ride my okada in the morning and break in the afternoon, to return in the evening.

“For instance, after paying all the daily levies as an okada rider, I can go home with N3,000 ($8.3) or more on a day when business is good. But on a day when business is slow, I may go home with just N1,500 ($4.2). Though, the money is small but my family and I will be able to have decent meals for at least two times that very day.

“Meanwhile, as a mechanic, I charge my customers about N1,500 ($4.5) to repair one generator and that was just my service charge because if there is any parts to replace, the person will give me money to buy new parts. So, in one day I can make N3,000 or more if I have two or more generators to repair. On that same day, I can still do my okada riding later in the evening to earn extra money for the family upkeep.

“I started running two businesses because the economic situation in Nigeria was getting tougher for average homes. This was because family needs increases by the day and when

you add that of the extended family members, you will agree with me that there was every need to keep hustling to make ends meet,” Alao added.

In her own case, another woman in her late 60s, who gave her named as Nneka Udochukwu, is a widow from one of the Eastern states in Nigeria. She told BDSUNDAY her experience in running her small businesses.

Udochukwu is into the business of making white hard pap popularly known as agidi and she supplies her products to restaurants, especially beer parlors, that uses the agidi to serve pepper soup to their customers.

She said that those days when her husband was still alive, that she was making enough money from the business even more than my husband, who at that time was an okada rider. “With the resources from my business, I was able to send two of my children to tertiary institutions.

“Today, things are no longer the same as my agidi business hardly put food on our table. This was why I also started the business of planting seasonal vegetables such as green leaves and pumpkin vegetable.

“Most times, when I wake up in the morning, I will go to my small farm to irrigate the vegetables and if it was the day I will pluck the vegetables, I will do that very early in the morning and supply them to my customers before going to prepare agidi for my restaurant customers,” she said.

According to her, “It was not every day that I harvest the vegetables but on the day I will harvest, and also make agidi, I will go home with nothing less than N2,000 ($5.6) or even more. But on the day that it will be only agidi, I make between N1,000 ($2.8) to N1,200 ($3.3). The only thing I know is that with both businesses, my family and I will be able to eat for at least, once in a day.

Sunday 21 April 2019

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45

CityWatch My encounter with ‘ladies of the night’ in Lagos RUTH UDEMBA

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s I toured some streets of Lagos, particularly Kofo Abayomi in Apapa, Allen Avenue in Ikeja, and others in Yaba, I encountered women (not below 26 years) in-between clubs, in brothels and in the open streets.

Branded ‘ladies of the night’, these women are driven by poverty and vanity, hence subjected themselves to a means of survival painted with scars and emotional pains. In their quest for survival, they pass through many ordeals leaving behind sad stories they never wish to tell.

At a hotel with Eniola I met Eniola in a dark small hotel room and was lucky to listen to the phone conversation with one of her numerous clients. She called the client to send her money to fix the light in her room. After the call, she sat comfortably to narrate her story while enjoying a meal.

In 2013, Eniola, who is popularly known as Eniolowo (wealthy person) by her clients, joined the ‘ladies of the night’ not because of financial lack but emotional reasons. “I am unapologetic of who I am and what I do. It is a path I have chosen”, she said.

She was in a relationship that ended abruptly coupled with the unstable relationship with her mother that drove her further away from sanity. After meeting a friend at a club and saw how much she makes for satisfying a man sexually, Eniolowo decided to become a ‘lady of the night’.

“I will use what I have to get what I want”, she said.

She has been on the job for seven years now and feels no remorse for the business. She feels she can get to where ever she wants and can even become the minister of aviation if she sees fit because she works with the aviation sector in the day time. “I am just a passer-by in life, I will not die here because I am going to move forward”, she assured me and insisted that younger women who are into prostitution can reach their goals if they are determined and focused.

I could not help but wonder how she felt so positive about what she does for a living. I do not have any right to condemn her, but I thought to myself, “She is so intelligent and filled with optimism, how about focusing this zeal on positive initiatives she can be proud of”.

Her shapely figure is the attraction for men, while her educational achievement and vocational enhancement make her the perfect candidate for

any client who is ready to spend time and money on her. She has asserted herself in the business, earning N30,000 to N50, 000 daily, and at least N120,000 to N150, 000 monthly, amid the chance to tour exotic destinations, stay in exquisite hotels and meet famous people along the way.

She sleeps with at least one man in a day and makes enough money to fend for her son who is in one of the best schools in Nigeria.

Eniola has no dream of settling down as she regards her son as her source of joy and her tomorrow.

“We all fear death but the only reason I fear death is my son. I will be there for him with God by my side”, she says regarding the health and hazards associated with her work. “We in this business are the easiest to get connected with people in power but we are also the easiest to get killed”.

She regards herself as a tough and strong girl who will decisively break a bottle on the head of any man who tries to be violent. What she hates most is “osho free” offering herself for free, which has happened only once in her lifetime and will not repeat itself again.

At the club with Grace While in Banilux, a club in Yaba, I came across a girl who looked quite young and dressed in a jumpsuit and golden hair.

I tried to talk to her regardless of all the distraction from other ladies. It was difficult, but she later listened and agreed to narrate her story to me.

“If I was born rich I would go

to school and become a nurse to save lives”, Grace told me.

Her parents died when she was six years old, and after completing her primary and secondary education in public schools, her aunt had no money to enable her continue her education. At 22 years, circumstances brought her to Lagos in search of financial footing, and thus she was introduced to a life of risk by a

She was in a relationship that ended abruptly coupled with the unstable relationship with her mother that drove her further away from sanity.

After meeting a friend at a club and saw how much she makes for satisfying a man sexually, Eniolowo decided to become a ‘lady of the night’. “I will use what I have to get what I want”

friend who helped her to find suitable partners who sleep with her and pay her.

Grace is aware of the risk of her job, but has nothing to look back to or someone to turn to.

She prefers having few friends in the business and picking men who look responsible enough so she does not get entangled with ritual killers.

Grace plies her craft in a street in Yaba and makes from N10,000 per night and would gladly retire immediately she found something better to do.

She would like to settle down but believes that love does not exist for people like her.

On the streets of Allen Avenue with Chioma I came across Chioma under the golden fluorescent light outside the gate of one of the myriads of hotels lined up on the streets of the famous Allen Avenue in Ikeja.

Chioma, who is also known as Bawu, which means ‘thick and strong’ said she has been in the business for three years to sustaining herself. She dropped out of school and got a job of 15,000 a month, which was not enough for her. “I cannot do any labour work for N15,000”.

In a day, without the use of charms as she claimed some other girls do, she makes up to N5,000 to N15,000, which she uses to pay for her house rent, liquor, medicine, hair and clothing.

Chioma’s father is from Liberia while her mother is Delta Igbo. But her mother, who makes enough money to take care of herself and her only brother, is unaware of the kind

of business she does.

She started the business in Ghana due to frustration and was brought to Nigeria by Charles Taylor, the ex-president of Liberia, who is also her ‘baby daddy’.

She deems her occupation as risky as she has met a lot of wicked and terrible men but tried not to think of them. “If I think of the bad people in this business, I will not make it. I pray not to meet the bad ones that will take my life” she said.

She frowns at men who sometimes sleep with her without paying. “Some of them will either blow you, fight you if you challenge them and sometimes I end up spoiling their car”, she said. But the police often catch and charge her to court for destroying clients’ properties, hence she has been to Kirikiri Prison five times.

Regarding health and safety, she has had more external injuries than internal ones due to various road accidents and beatings by men. She often goes to the general hospital to treat herself but the injuries have affected her brain and some other parts of her body.

Chioma has two kids (a boy and a girl); one stays with her second ‘baby daddy’ and the other stays with her mother.

Chioma and most of the ladies in the brothels want to quit the infamous job and the ‘streets’, some even want to marry someday, but the harsh economic realities of our time and the abuses young girls are passing every day, are holding them back.

46 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 21 April 2019

Health&Science Healthful diabetes meals Poverty, lack of awareness still fuels malaria prevalence in Nigeria - Ndigwe A ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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icole Ndigwe, a film Writer and producer is calling for deeper awareness in Nigeria to reduce the frequency of child and maternal mortality caused by malaria.

She made this call as World Malaria Day 2019 approaches, by making a new short film, Anave, which foreshadows the five United Nations’ sustainable development goals that form the foundation of the Malaria, Child and Maternal Mortality Eradication( MACMME) project.

Anave tells the story of an eightyear-old boy whose mother dies from malaria complications at childbirth. It also traces the journey of the underprivileged Nigerian child in his or her daily struggle for survival.

Malaria is a life-threatening blood disease caused by parasites transmitted to humans through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito. This parasite can live for up to 30days in a body.

In Nigeria 97 percent of the population is at risk of malaria. The pregnant woman and her unborn child are most at risk of dying from the disease.

According to Ndigwe, Anave, which is produced in partnership with Sterling Bank, serves as an advocacy tool for creating awareness and raising a voice for the plight of the underprivileged Nigerian child and mother.

“Going by the statistics which says that each year in Nigeria an average of 300,000 children are killed by malarial, the same malaria that some people think it’s nothing. 2, 300 under five year old and 145 women of child bearing age also die monthly in Nigeria making it the second largest contributor to under five and maternal mortality rate in the world.”

“Burden of child and maternal mortality can be linked to problems such as homelessness, malaria, hunger and other opportunistic infections,” she said.

Also speaking Frank Nweke, a former minister of Information and National Orientation, urged that government at all level and other key stakeholders

in the health sector need to constantly sensitise the people on how to prevent diseases and outbreaks.

He said, “I’m very happy that there is a movie, Anave that tell the story of what is actually possible when institutions step up to the kind of support needed to develop the health sector and the society at large.

“Anave is an advocacy tool aimed at bringing about change, to draw attention to the issue around preventable disease. When you look at the statistics it is incredible, a situation where you have about two to three thousand kids die because of preventable diseases like malaria, diarrhea, which is not supposed to be so.”

WHO commends Ondo on polio eradication area of routine immunization.

Akeredolu, who compared the first quarter of 2019 to the last mong the seventeen states quarter of 2018, said the 2018 had in the southern region of 71 percent coverage, while the 3rd Nigeria, the World Health dose of the Pentavalent vaccine Organisation (WHO) has rated (Penta-3) in the aggregated data Ondo State as the best perform- for January and February 2019 ing state in polio eradication cam- had a remarkable increase of 79 paign and routine immunization. percent.

This was disclosed by the repre The governor noted that he is sentative of the State Coordinator aware that there are some chalof WHO, Opeyemi Ekun at the lenges being experienced in the 2019 first quarter meeting of the conduct of routine immunization, state taskforce on polio eradica- adding that his administration tion on Thursday, held at the Co- is daily putting efforts into surcoa Conference Hall, Governor’s mounting them.

Office in Akure.

According to him, “For the Ekun, who lauded Governor northern senatorial district, the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu led ad- security situation has improved ministration, said this was achiev- significantly. Despite this, we able due to the sustain and scale are not relenting in our efforts to up progress on immunization of ensure that the activities of the the living and unborn children in criminal elements are reduced to the State. their barest minimum in the area Akeredolu said he stood strong and indeed the entire state so that in the belief that immunization is a our health workers can go out to gospel that must not be weary of vaccinate children. spreading and actualising due to “For the two riverine local govthe fact that every life, especially ernment areas of Ilaje and EseChildren under the age of five, Owo, I have been briefed that the matter.

Ondo State Primary Healthcare The Governor, who was repre- Development Agency (OSPHCsented by the Deputy Governor, DA) has begun discussions with Agboola Ajayi disclosed that the the Ondo State Oil Producing last quarter of January to March, Areas Development Commis2019 under review, showed that sion (OSOPADEC) to forge a the State is not doing badly in the partnership.

YOMI AYELESO, Akure

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“This partnership is billed to help overcome the challenges of unavailability of motorised boats, difficulty in assessing the hard-to-reach areas and low incentives for healthcare workers who deliver immunisation and other primary healthcare services to our people in difficult terrains of Ilaje, Ese-Odo, Idanre, Odigbo, Akoko North West, just to mention a few. I am convinced that in no time, this partnership will yield better immunization coverage for these areas.

The Governor also revealed that he has approved the recruitment of more healthcare workers to boost the capacity of primary healthcare to deliver on its mandate.

Akeredolu also said he has approved the renovation and the upgrading of 18 primary healthcare facilities across the 18 local governments to meet the Minimum Service Package (MSP) guideline of the federal government.

He however reaffirmed the commitment of his administration of providing functional primary healthcare, saying he recently demonstrated this by the 2nd phase of the commissioning of multimillion naira worth of basic and essential medical gadgets for 300 primary healthcare facilities in the State.

ny meal that blends several of the above ingredients will offer excellent nutrition. To keep meals healthful and flavorsome, people with diabetes should avoid using too much added salt or relying on prepackaged ingredients that are high in sodium.

Careful calorie counting will also support glucose control. Excess calories can turn an otherwise healthful meal into a risk factor for excessive weight gain and worsened insulin sensitivity.

Some simple meal options include: avocado, cherry tomato, and chickpea salad, hard-boiled eggs and roasted beets with black pepper and turmeric, low-sodium cottage cheese spread on toasted sweet potato slices.

Add black or cayenne pepper to boost the flavor tofu burger patty with

Balancing less healthful foods with more nutritious ones is a way to remain healthy while also satisfying a sweet tooth. For instance, eating a cookie or two per week is usually fine when balanced by a high-fiber, plant-rich diet.

People with diabetes should focus on a balanced, overall approach to nutrition. There is a risk that forbidding certain foods can make them feel even more appealing. This can lead to poorer control over food choices and raised blood sugar over time.

Vegetables are bursting with nutrition, but they are just one part of managing a lifestyle with diabetes.

People should eat a wide variety of foods from all food groups and plan to stop eating 2–3 hours before bedtime, in most cases, as 12 or more hours of

spinach and avocado, spinach salad with chia seeds, tomatoes, bell peppers, and a light sprinkling of goat’s cheese, quinoa and fruit added to unsweetened Greek yogurt with cinnamon, quinoa with pepper or vinaigrette season, or on its own and almond butter on sprouted-grain bread with a topping of avocado and crushed red pepper flakes.

nighttime fasting helps glucose control.

A doctor or dietitian can provide an individualized diabetes meal plan to ensure that a person with the condition receives a wide enough range of nutrients in healthful proportions.

Culled from Medical News Today

Universal quality maternal, new-born care is key to ending maternal mortality

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Joint report (Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2015 by WHO, UNICEF, World Bank and United Nations Population Fund) estimates that Nigeria has approximately 58,000 maternal deaths, accounting for 19% globally; at least 800 women die in every 100,000 live births. Northeast has the highest maternal mortality rate, compared to other regions with 1,549 deaths per 100,000 live births.

According to WHO, Maternal mortality is defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.

Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries, one of the biggest lapses amongst the health care providers is the inability to detect these complications in time.

The present state of reproductive, maternal and sexual health for women and girls is far from optimal, many still lack accesses to insufficient information, care and access to quality healthcare.

In addressing the defects that characterizes the maternal health system, there is need for improved funding in the health sector to enhance the quality of service provided.

According to WHO, Midwifery education is a key solution to the challenge of providing universal, quality maternal and new-born care to meet the Sustain-

able Development Goals, while improving access to care is critical, ensuring good quality of care has an even greater impact in terms of lives saved. Women and girls require a comprehensive package of sexual and reproductive health services (contraception, maternity care, diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS).

HACEY Health Initiative, under our Maternal health program, developed the End Malaria Initiative, to battle the scourge of malaria in pregnancy in Nigeria, which has reached over 1 million people in 1,200 households with information on ending Malaria, and the Project Agbebi, a community health project aimed at reducing the incidence of pregnancy related deaths and complications by providing education and support for traditional birth attendants, reaching over 2,000 TBAs in various communities both Lagos and Ogun state providing training workshops on the use of birthing kits and educating them on proper use and disposal.

The Maternal Health Event organized

by HACEY Health Initiative and supported by Access Bank, conducted a Panel and Interactive session on Accelerating the Impact of Maternal Health Interventions in Nigeria.

To effectively reduce maternal mortality rates in Nigeria, it is crucial that the government works with stakeholders across different sectors to scale up investment in providing quality care; maternal health advocates, researchers and providers to provide comprehensive, respectful and rights-based maternal health care available to all.

Sunday 21 April 2019

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BDSUNDAY 47

Sports Tiger Woods and the return of a Champion

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Stories By ANTHONY NLEBEM

he Tiger in Tiger woods is back against the backdrop of negative criticism, which the 43 years old golfer has endured for eleven years.

Woods rose to the ladder on Sunday after winning the 2019 Masters ending his 11 years drought.

Tiger Woods, arguably one of the most successful golfers in the history of the sport, and is often referred to as the “World’s best athlete.”

Woods got married to Swedish model Elin Nordegren, and the couple had two children together.

In late November 2009, a story sparked news of an affair scandal.

Following a car incident, at least 10 women were romantically linked to the pro golfer, and since then, Tiger Woods have struggled to get back to the top.

After spending frustrating 11 years in the dark, Tiger Woods made a sudden resurgence following a scintillating performance that earned him the 2019 Masters Cup. The triumph marks a remarkable comeback in Tiger Woods illustrious career who once dominated golf to become one of the most marketable sporting stars in the world.

Woods finished 13 under par for the tournament, a single shot ahead of a trio of compatriots, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele.

It represented his fifth win at the famous Augusta course, 22 years since Woods’ first Masters victory.

The victory puts him just three behind the all-time record of major championship victories held by Jack Nicklaus.

“It’s overwhelming, just because of what has transpired,” said Woods during presentation of the green jacket, the prize handed to the annual tournament’s winner.

“Last year, I was lucky to be playing again to now be the champion, 22 years between wins, it’s a long time.

But it’s just unreal for me to experience this” Woods said.

Golf fans all over the world rose as one as they knew the champion they once knew and loved is back. It was one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history.

In 2015, Tiger Woods was struggling for form and many golf experts had written Woods would never return to the champion again.

Greg Norman was among many experts who wrote the 2019 US Masters champion off when asked

by TMZ Sports if Tiger would return to previous form he simply replied “No”.

It would have been easy for Tiger Woods to concede defeat and announce his retirement and it very

nearly happened at a champions dinner two years ago when he was overheard whispering to another Masters champion, ‘I’m done. I won’t play golf again.’

Despite the golfing world writing him off and series of injuries that almost crippled his career; Tiger Woods fourth back surgery in a final attempt to resurrect his golf career.

After a six months recovery period, Woods returned to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. He shot rounds of 6968-75-68 and finished tied for 9th place. His world ranking went from 1,199th to 668th, which jumped his world rankings.

On Sunday, March 11, 2018, he finished one-shot back and tied for second at the Valspar Championship in Florida, his first top-five finish on the PGA Tour since 2013. He then

tied for sixth with a score of five under par at the 2018 Open Championship.

Woods finished second at the 2018 PGA Championship, two shots behind the winner Brooks Koepka.

It was his best result in a major since 2009 (second at the 2009 PGA Championship) and moved up to 26th in the world rankings. His final round of 64 was his best ever final round in a major.

At this point, fans and experts could feel that there was a small chance that Tiger could be back, but it was all still a dream.

Woods got back in the winner’s circle for the 80th time in his PGA Tour career on September 23, 2018, when he won the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf

Club for the second time and that tournament for the third time. He shot rounds of 65-68-65-71 to win by two strokes over Billy Horschel.

Lining up for his chance to win his 5th green jacket Tiger was confident he could return to old form but the bookies had him at long odds and experts weren’t convinced he could mix it with the young talent at the Masters.

“WOOOOOOO!!!”TigerWoods screamed as he headed for the scoring room with chants of “Tiger! Tiger!

Tiger” echoing as loud as any of the roars on the back nine at Augusta National.

“It’s overwhelming just because of what has transpired,” Woods said.

“I could barely walk. Couldn’t sleep.

Couldn’t walk. Couldn’t do anything.

“To have the opportunity to come back, it’s one of the biggest wins I’ve ever had for sure.”

The raw emotion that was shown was not only due to the excitement of overcoming all of the obstacles he had experienced in the past but also a sign of relief that he had denied the critics and doubters.

It was not only fans all over the world that were excited for Woods but also the players that had grown up following the 5-time champion.

“You want to play against the best to ever play — you want to go toe to toe with them,” Koepka said.

“I enjoy the battle. I enjoy everything that goes on with it. He got the better of me this time, and it’s fun and I’m sure he’s ecstatic about it, but hopefully there will be more.” he added.

The victory also drew the awe of US President, Donald Trump who will award Woods with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom.

Tiger Woods is back and golf lovers are hopeful he remains up there for a long time, but we will have to wait for the P.G.A Championship coming up in May to see if Tiger will continue his resurgence.

Candlelight Foundation creates hunger awareness with novelty match

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andlelight Foundation, a non-profitable organisation in a bid to create more awareness on the need to address the issue of hunger on Easter Friday organized a novelty match tagged ‘Football Over Hunger’ that saw two teams; Page and Fint played a friendly game at the national stadium.

In a thrilling cracker, team Fint emerged winner on penalty after both sides played 2-2 in regulation time.

Speaking after his side victory, Nnamdi Okeke, the captain for Team Fint was super excited that his side won the game and attributed the victory to passion.

“Passion gave us the victory today; as you can see, we have not been able to train for this game, we all came at different time and agreed to play the game.”

He applauded Candlelight Foundation for their initiative tackle hunger. “ This is a charity event and Candlelight Foundation is using one of the most thing in Nigeria which is football to make an impact. Making an impact using football over hunger is a very smart and efficient tool that everybody will want to be part of. I will advise them to make this a yearly event and also do other sports like tennis.”

Marvelous Owugo, the captain of team Paga could not hid his feelings as his side narrowly lost to team Fint.

“Everybody loves to win and we wanted to win, but we did not win, next time we will do better” Commenting on the impact of the initiative, Owugo said: “It’s a laudable initiative, for the fact that they are feeding the motherless and people that can not afford a meal makes it a

good program.”

He advised other corporate organistions to be part of Candlelight Foundation in alleviating hunger in the country.

“I would advice other corporate bodies to join this initiative because the thing about giving

is that its gets back to you and you are touching lives and impacting the world by giving positively.”

In her remarks, Uzoma Okeke, the executive director of Candlelight foundation revealed that the motive behind

the initiative is to drive hunger awareness in the country.

“Basically, there is hunger in the country, this is to create awareness to the public about the hunger emergency in Nigeria and solicit for supports from the public in alleviating hunger in the country.

“The Candlelight Foundation is a charity and we give out free food every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we take kids off the streets and provide education for them.”

She added that, the foundation intends to deepen the awareness to other sector in coming months. “ Today, we had Fint and Paga played a novelty game to show awareness of the things that we do at Candlelight Foundation, we are hoping to have more participating teams. The next one hopefully will be with the banking sector, insurance or manufacturing sector.”

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SUNDAY 21 APRIL 2019

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Bank as collecting agents for FIRS: A conundrum

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he Federal Inland Revenue Service has intensified its drive to recover outstanding tax liabilities from tax payers in default of tax obligations.

To this end, FIRS has been writing to tax payers’ bankers, appointing the banks agent of the banks’ customer, to collect outstanding tax liabilities from the tax payers’ bank account balance. This is referred to as tax substitution.

FIRS bases its appointment of the banks as collecting agents on the provisions of Section 49 of the Companies Income Tax Act 2004, and Section 31 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007.

Section 31 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007 provides: 1) “The Service may by notice in writing appoint any person to be the agent of a taxable person if the circumstances provided in subsection (2) of this section makes it expedient to do so.

2) The agent appointed under sub-section (1) of this section may be required to pay any tax payable by the taxable person from any money which may be held by the agent of the taxable person 3) Where the agent referred to in subsection (2) of this section defaults, the tax shall be recoverable from him.

4) For the purposes of this section, the Service may require any person to give information as to any money, fund or other assets which may be held by him for, or of any money due from him to, any person.

5) The provisions of this Act with respect to objections and appeals shall apply to any notice given under this section as if such notice were an assessment.”

Section 49 of the Companies and Income Tax Act, 2007 also empowers the FIRS to collect tax due from companies and appoint agents to collect tax due from companies, thus: “The Board may by notice in writing appoint any person to be the agent of any company and the person so declared the agent shall be the agent of such company for the purposes of this Act, and may be required to pay any tax which is or will be payable by the company from any monies which may be held by him for or due by or to become due by him to the company whose agent he has been declared to be, and in default of such payment, the tax shall be recovered from him”.

Typically, FIRS instructs the bank to set aside an amount equivalent to the tax payer’s outstanding tax liability, and remit same to FIRS. FIRS also directs that the bank place a restriction on the tax payer’s accounts and inform FIRS of any transaction on the tax payer’s account prior to execution on the accounts.

The bank is also expected to release the tax payer’s bank statements and other financial records to FIRS. The banks, probably concerned about compliance and cooperation with government agencies are quite swift to comply with the directives. Some valued customers are lucky to receive some notification, prior to the bank’s execution of FIRS’ directives; others, not so much.

Understandably, given how difficult it often is to recover outstanding debts from recalcitrant debtors, it may not be so surprising that FIRS devised this strategy. But the appointment of banks as collecting agents has stoked several fundamental issues in relation to the propriety or otherwise of the action. Chief of which, is the constitutionality of FIRS’ appointment of banks as collecting agents to collect and remit outstanding tax liabilities of tax payers, without court orders. This is besides the conversation around the hardship that may be occasioned the tax payer who has had its bank account restricted, particularly where it turns out that the restriction is unjustifiable.

However, a salient issue that seems to have eluded discussion is the query, “Is a bank legally enabled to act as collecting agent to collect outstanding tax liabilities from its customers’ bank account(s)on behalf of the FIRS?” FIRS’ appointment of banks as collating agent imoses mandatory responsibility On a cursory reading of the provisions of Section 31(3) FIRS Establishment Act and Section 49 of the Companies Income Tax Act, it may appear that the provisions create an ordinary principal/agent relationship between FIRS and the appointed collecting agent. By principles of law an agency relationship presumes a payment obligation between the principal and the agent. This is not the case with tax substitution, because the appointed/ declared agent is the agent of the tax payer, and not FIRS. The provisions of Section 31(3) of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007 and Section 49 of the Com-

panies and Income Tax Act, 2007 impose a mandatory responsibility on the bank appointed as collecting agent, rather than a commission earning activity. By these provisions, where the FIRS appointed bank fails to remit the outstanding tax liability from the tax payers’ funds in its custody, such bank would be personally liable to FIRS for the tax payer’s outstanding liability. This certainly places the banks between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Banks owe a duty of confidentiality/ secrecy to their customers with some exceptions A pressing issue for concern, as to the propriety of the banks’ appointment as collecting agents for FIRS, is the unavoidable breach of a bank’s fiduciary duty to its customer. This issue has raised a lot of hue and cry, over FIRS’ appointment of banks as collecting agents over their customers’ outstanding tax liabilities.

A bank and its staff are obliged to keep secret, information regarding the business and account(s) of its customers. In Tournier v National Provincial and Union Bank of England, (1924) 1KB 461, BankesLJ of the Court of Appeal of England held that confidentiality was an implied term in the customer’s contract and that any breach could give rise to liability in damages if loss results. As with every general rule, there are exceptions to the duty of the bank to keep secret, every information regarding the customer’s account(s). These exceptions are: a. Where the bank has duty to the public to do so. b. Where the bank’s own interest requires disclosure: - This occurs for example, where legal proceedings are required to enforce the repayment of an overdraft or where a surety has to be told the extent to which his guarantee is being relied upon. c. Where the bank has the express or implied consent of its customer to do so: - where he supplies a reference to its customer or where it replies to a status inquiry from another bank. d. Where disclosure is required by law.

FIRS’ appointment of banks as collect-

IFEATU MEDIDEM Medidem is a senior associate/practice manager Olisa Agbakoba Legal

ing agents in respect of the bank’s customer’s outstanding tax liability, ostensibly falls under the exception (d) above; given the provisions of Section 31(3) FIRS Establishment Act and Section 49 of the Companies Income Tax Act. Yet, the manner in which the banks typically respond, with swift compliance, undeniably raises issues of conflict of interest and breach of the bank’s fiduciary duty to its customer. The banks’ compliance with the directives imposed by the FIRS, against ‘tax defaulters’ (customers of the banks) involve a glaring breach of the duty.

A bank cannot perform the obligations of tax substitution, without impairing the confidential obligation it owes its customers.

This confidentiality obligation is the pillar of banking.

Clearly, the banks, as collecting agents for FIRS, are conflicted, in that they are torn between complying with directives of FIRS, a government agency; and fulfilling their obligations to their customers.

There is however, no positive law to safeguard the relationship between a bank and its customers. It is advisable that banks tread with caution, and take steps to secure their position.

Banks as collecting agents for FIRS – Possible safeguards In light of the foregoing, where a bank is faced with tax substitution directives from FIRS, the bank may rely on Section 31(5) FIRS Establishment Act to protect itself. The bank ought to take into consideration that as with all tax assessments and notices, a tax payer has the right to object or appeal.

Quick Takes

Off the Cuff

When will Nigeria delist her name from ‘black books’?

I

ncreasingly, Nigeria is hitting low all round.

From being the headquarters of povertystricken people, where six people slip into extreme poverty every minute, to being the 6th most miserable country on earth, to wearing the tag as a country notorious for open defecation and all that, the country has become a sad story.

On security, Nigeria is not faring better.

Every disease and infirmity resides in the country. Nigeria hardly attends meetings where progressive countries compare notes on developments. She is always being invited to present her wish list; always going cap-inhand begging for one favour or another.

During the Jonathanian era, the Nigerian government cried from one part of the world to another and from one international meeting to another for various forms of assistance. It begged for the repatriation of the country’s funds stashed abroad, particularly the Abacha loot. It cried endlessly for assistance to combat the Islamist sect, Boko Haram.

Promises were made; uncountable numbers of memoranda of understanding (MoU) were signed at various points, but most of those promises did not go beyond the meet-

Continues on www.businessonline.ng

ing rooms. In the last four years, the Buharian administration has been running from pillar to post on the same scores. While the promises are still piling, the insurgents have scaled up their bloody campaign. Worst still, the government is now, not just begging for external help against terrorism, adding a long list of wishes, mainly on security which seems to be the major problem of the country at the moment.

The amalgamation of other forces of darkness- bandits, armed robbers, ritualists, kidnappers, trigger-happy security personnel- which has made lives hellish in the country, has further placed Nigeria in bad light. Today, anyone who says all is well with the country must be telling himself a big lie. The country is in dire straits.

While our record is nothing to write home about at home, our brothers and sisters are further painting us black on the international scene by their satanic activities in illicit drug deals that have seen some of them jailed or beheaded in Saudi Arabia.

Just a few days ago, Jurgen Stock, International Police Security-General, was in Abuja where he dropped another shameful news.

He pointedly said that criminal networks in narcotics, weapon and migrants’ smuggling were taking advantage of lack of information

sharing system by security agencies in West Africa to carry out their nefarious activities unhindered. He warned that transitional criminal gangs were converging on the subregion and feeding off one another.

If Stocks’ warning is anything to go by, it then means that Nigeria should brace up for more security challenges. Although all the security apparatchiks were present as the Interpol chief was reeling out the bleak future, the fear is on the capacity of the nation’s security agents to brace up for the impending challenge.

For several months now, the security situation in the country has become so threatened that Nigerians live constantly in fear despite series of strategy meetings by security eggheads. It has become very unpleasant to the point that some days, over 30 people are killed in a single swoop by so-called bandits.

It is high time Nigeria removed its name from black books and enlist in books that contain the names of progressive nations.

We hope this will be achieved as soon as we get to the Next Level!

Zebulon Agomuo

N57bn

This is the pre-tax profit reportedly recorded by the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc in the first three months of this year.

From the horse’s mouth “The Federal Government has made it clear; petrol will continue to sell at N145 per litre. NNPC is not operating subsidy. What we have done is under-recovery of which we make up from other sources. Yes, the under-recovery will continue. The corporation plays many roles in the country.

We are an importer of the last resort where others refuse to import.”

- NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndu Ughamadu, on the rumoured imminent fuel price hike by government.

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