BusinessDay 21 Oct 2020 by BusinessDay

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news you can trust ** wednesday 21 october 2020 I vol. 19, no 676

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#EndSARS: Protesters shift focus to good governance, reforms, jobs Chuka Uroko, Odinaka Anudu, Lagos; Idris Umar Momoh & Churchill Okoro, Benin; Innocent Odoh, Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

he ongoing nationwide protests are shifting from ending police brutality to institutionalising better governance, reforms, economic equality, equity, jobs and

FG says demands now unreasonable Commuters groan, trek, pay more for shorter distances Senate asks Buhari to address nation Why Nigeria’s police reform

better infrastructure. “We want a new Nigeria where we will have the same opportunity as

children of politicians and the rich,” said Ogundele Amos, who joined a Continues on page 31

is stuck, three years after

Endurance Okafor & Mercy Ayodele

ith four attempts in three years, Nigeria has been unsuccessful in its quest to reform its police force, a situation that has pushed many Nigerians to the streets in pursuit of justice as many now feel threatened by the security agency established to protect them. Since 2017, when the first advocacy campaign was steered on social

media to demand end to police brutality, mostly perpetuated by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), the story has remained the same as the outcry from Nigerians have increased following the human right abuses, illegal stop and search, illegal arrest and detention, extra-judicial killings, and sexual harassment many have suffered till date. “The motive for the so-called police reform is totally deceptive, there is Continues on page 30

Inside

Do modular refineries stand a survival chance against Dangote Refinery? P. 2 Orile Iganmu Divisional Police Station set ablaze by suspected hoodlums in Lagos yesterday as a result of the continuous #EndSARS protest, Pic by Pius Okeosisi

65,000 Nigerian farmers to benefit from N9bn MasterCard intervention P. 2

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

news PAN’s new investor plans $150m injection in retooling, upgrading plant MIKE OCHONMA

esbitt Investment Limited, new owner and core investor in PAN Nigeria Limited, says it plans to inject $150 million into the automobile assembly plant over the next three years. This was disclosed Monday by Wadada Aliyu, the new chairman of PAN Nigeria Limited, at the handover ceremony in Kaduna. The said amount is for retooling and upgrading of the assembly line, support infrastructure and for working capital. Until it was handed over Monday, it was under the control of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), holding in trust for the Federal Government after purchasing unserviceable debts. It is expected that the Peugeot franchise will be relinquished to the newly formed Dangote Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (DPAN), which was unsuccessful in its bid to buy PAN. The new core investors of PAN Nigeria are holding a controlling share of 79.3 percent. According to Aliyu, “As the core investor, we strongly believe in the principle of responsible, responsive and sustainable investments, while we add not only financial muscle and strength but also social value to the investments we embark on. “We will not only be providing employment, but we shall also provide economic

benefits throughout the supply chain and to local service providers (local content). In all our investments including Pan Nigeria, health and safety guidelines are always a priority.” The chairman thanked the AMCON “for the opportunity to invest in PAN as the new core investor, and given the status of Pan in Nigeria as the number one automobile company, we are humbled and fortunate to be the company tasked to awaken this huge sleeping giant of immense economic potentials.” To Aliyu, “we treasure our human capital and strongly believe in them to drive our visions and aspirations for Pan Nigeria, and that is why we are immediately putting in place an attractive condition of service that will retain and motivate our human capital and also attract the best hands, so as to restore Pan Nigeria to its number one position in Nigeria and within the ECOWAS region. “Pan under the supervision of the board shall undergo massive restructuring, and in so doing, we shall observe strict corporate governance protocols, transparency, business integrity, efficiency and ethics in all our undertakings.” The chairman recalled that “in 2019, Nigeria imported at least 400,000 used cars (tokunbo) as against 68,000 brand new vehicles. Because of this imbalance, Pan Nige-

espite protest, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed Aisha Umar (North East) as the director-general of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM). This followed the adoption of the screening report presented by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service Matters, Ibrahim Shekarau. The report overruled the petition written by the Minority Leader, Eyinaya Abaribe, against her nomination as the director-general designate. Abaribe had argued that Umar from the North East was not from the same zone with the immediate past DG, Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, from the South-East, who was removed before the completion of her tenure. According to Abaribe, the nomination violated the Act that established PENCOM. The Senate president, Ahmed Lawan, explained that the nomination was for a fresh board and not the continuation of the expired one, so could not be taken for

Dipo Oladehinde & Favour Olarewaju

igeria’s quest to one day eliminate the import of refined oil products will come under scrutiny in coming weeks over debate concerning strict competition facing upcoming modular refineries ahead of the much-awaited Dangote Refinery and Bua Refinery. Africa’s biggest oil-producing country is expecting three modular refineries to come on stream before the end of this year, providing a

EXPLAINER capacity to refine over 20,000 barrels per day of crude oil. However, most experts have questioned their existential risk because of the impending Dangote Refinery owned by billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote. The 650,000bpd Dangote Refinery is expected to begin production in 2021; it will be the world’s largest singletrain 650,000bpd refinery. Also, France’s Axens signed a deal in early September on providing technology for a new 200,000bpd refinery in Akwa Ibom, under an agree-

ment with Bua Group. Still, many have raised concerns about the market fate of the above development for other smaller modular refineries who might struggle to sell their refined products as a result of massive refinery projects by Dangote and Bua Group. Experts’ opinions Layi Fatona, immediate past managing director of Niger Delta Exploration and Production plc, owner of Ogbele Refinery, says the upcoming Dangote Refinery does not pose a threat to modular refineries because of the huge market demand.

“Our products don’t come to Lagos. Roughly about 20 to 24 million litres of our products disappear into the local economy of south-eastern states legitimately,” Fatona tells BusinessDay. Fatona notes that Ogbele Refinery is certainly not in any competition with Dangote Refinery because the market is too large for Dangote alone to operate in. “So, we are not under any threat or in any competition at all,” Fatona said. Also, CEO of Crown Refinery and Petrochemical Lim-

Continues on page 30

Despite protest, Senate drops one, confirms five for PENCOM KAMARUDEEN OGUNDELE, Abuja

Do modular refineries stand a survival chance against Dangote Refinery?

a replacement. Umar was among the six nominees of President Muhammdu Buhari for appointments into the PENCOM. The Senate, however, stepped down the confirmation of Hannatu Musawa as a commissioner representing North West. The committee in its report stated that Musawa failed to present her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate. Those confirmed are Oyindasola Oni, North Central, (chairman), Aisha Umar, North East, (Director-General); Clement Akintola, South West, (Commissioner); Ayim C. Nyerere, South East (Commissioner) and Charles Emukowhale, South South, (Commissioner). Abaribe while opposing Umar had said, “I recall that the tenure of the incumbent was truncated therefore the new letter from the president that has now moved the Chairman of the Commission to another zone may not be correct. “It is against the law setting up the National Pension Commission and the Federal Character Commission.” www.businessday.ng

President Muhammadu Buhari (r), and his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, during a virtual inauguration of NPF Pensions head office in Abuja on Tuesday.

65,000 Nigerian farmers to benefit from N9bn MasterCard intervention … Alluvial to help farmers double yields, build credit history to access loans CALEB OJEWALE

bout65,000smallholder farmers in Nigeria are to directly benefit from quality land, seeds, fertilizers, mechanisation, and storage over the next two years, as part of a new programme to achieve sustainable recovery and build resilience from the Covid-19 pandemic. Launched by the Mastercard Foundation, the programme focuses on building food security and increasing digital and financial inclusion within the most vulnerable farming communities. The programme, which is aimed at helping the country reverse the pandemic’s impacts on food security and bolster it even further, will support more than 3 million people, while helping farmers increase their farm productivity and incomes. It is expected to “tackle the root causes of hunger and poverty through a $20.4 million com-

mitment by the Mastercard Foundation,” according to a statement sent BusinessDay. Out of the 65,000 target beneficiaries, BusinessDay exclusively learns that 80 percent of them will be women and there is also a conscious effort to ensure many new farmers are introduced into agriculture through the programme. Toachievethis,Mastercardis workingwithAlluvial,described asahighlyscalableprivatesector response to decades of failure by various parties to tackle one of the world’s most pressing issues: food security. It deploys an innovative business model that provides comprehensive support to small farm enterprises and smallholder farmers. The Mastercard Foundation’s Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme will be implemented in partnership with Alluvial Agriculture, and enable participants to significantly improve yields, increasing from 2.5 tons of rice per

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hectare to 4.5, for example, or from 1.5 tons of maize to 4 tons. “Farmers must be at the forefront of helping us recover from this crisis,” said Chidinma Lawanson, country head, Nigeria, at the Mastercard Foundation. “This is a sector where there is tremendous potential, not just to create food security, but to enable work. But this isn’t just about recovering from the impacts of the pandemic; it’s also about building long-term resilience in the agricultural sector so that it can withstand the effects of emerging and future issues—like climate change.” Dimieari Von Kemedi, managing director of Alluvial, told BusinessDay that the organisation was working with CIAT and IITA, in introducing best agronomic practices to farmers and in the case of maize and soybean, exploring new improved varieties that can be introduced in the country. “We are going to be doing some seed multiplications @Businessdayng

around new varieties which we have brought in from Mexico for the maize,” he said. The project provides 50 percent of the cost of mechanization and 75 percent of inputs and the balance will be paid by the farmers at the end of the season, when off takers would have also been secured to purchase their harvests. “Assuming we were planting only rice at a modest 4 tons per hectare, this would be 260,000 tonnes of rice produced by this project in one season,” said Kemedi. “This is being done at serious scale”. Alluvial’s innovative business model provides comprehensive support to smallholder farmers, including training, technology, land preparation, irrigation, input supplies, and market access. The companyachievesthisbyorganizing adjacent farms in community blocks. This means that tractors, forexample,canefficientlyplough each of the smallholdings, saving weeks of toiling by hand.

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EndSARS, NNPC & Nigerian leaders: Beware the ides of March!

FRANKLIN NGWU

ust as we are grappling with the ongoing EndSARS protest, the Federal government released a disappointing 2021 National Budget. And to put salt to injury, an audit report released on Monday 19th October revealed that the liabilities of NNPC as a group far outweigh the assets by a whooping N4.4 trillion. With such an unprecedented level of liability, the auditors are highly doubtful of the continued existence of NNPC as a going concern. While the above is our situation, Saudi Aramco, the equivalent of NNPC in Saudi Arabia was the most profitable company in the world in 2019 with a profit of about $88.2 billion. Relatedly, Equinor of Norway declared a net operating income of $9.3billion in the same year of 2019. The most disappointing aspect of our glaring failures as a Nation is that our leaders consistently show very poor understanding of the issues and the solutions required. Obviously in so many instances with the reactions and handling of the EndSARS protest the most recent, the question is when will it get better? Reacting and handling the EndSARS issue as an isolated issue with the police is not only inappropriate but counterproductive. EndSARS is just a tip of the litany of governance failures in Nigeria requiring urgent and holistic attention.

Nigeria requires a deep and holistic overhaul! Analysing our lamentable situation as a country and the reactions of the government, a friend exacerbated my worry with the request that we should intensify our prayers to avoid what happened in Roman Republic in 44BC and more recently in some African countries. Dissatisfied with his then governance style including the fear of overthrow of the Roman Republic to establish a monarchy, Roman senators led by Marcus Brutus, Decimus Brutus and Cassius Longinus conspired and killed Julius Caesar on the 15th of March 44BC. Interestingly, a soothsayer had forewarned Caesar based on observations and deductions of actions and inactions of Caesar and other Roman leaders of their time. While it is about 2063 years that Caesar was killed and we do not wish, pray or support any killing or violent approach, it is important that our leaders pay utmost attention to demands and expectations of the citizenry as things are really falling apart. While the EndSARs protest might likely reduce and possibly end, the possibility of another and more serious rounds of protests is very high as long as the cries of oppression, marginalisation, persecution, negligence, corruption, poor governance and other social vices that negate or suppress the freedoms and opportunities of citizens are not addressed. When entire villages and communities are repeatedly attacked with many killed, injured and others permanently displaced even within their own country, another and higher protest is being prepared. Even though many of those killed and displaced are most of the time helpless and unable to fight back, the feelings of hate, oppression and desire for revenge are deep. An encounter with many poor, hungry

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While being in power can create illusionary appreciation of our sad state as a country, it is important that they remember that power is transient and the appropriate legacy is to listen to wise counsels such as the rapidly growing calls for the restructuring of the country

and unemployed young men and women across Nigeria clearly shows that things are not well with our dear nation. My friend Jonah from Chibok is a vivid example of a failing Nigeria. After running away from Chibok about 8 years ago, Jonah is unable to return or visit his most cherished village, powerless to see or even hear from his mother and younger ones, he is left frustrated and deeply embittered while he toils for daily survival on the streets of Lagos. As we have millions like Jonah in almost all parts of the country and with no clear and convincing plan to properly address their pitiable and avoidable sufferings, more and higher protests are being encouraged! When very patriotic calls for the restructuring of the country based on overwhelming evidence that we are in a wrong direction and failing in all measures of acceptable human existence are ignored, we are preparing for more serious and impactful protests. The problem is not really with rejecting calls for restructuring, the frustration is the inability of the few who reject it to provide a convincing alternative or even commit to a proper discussion on the merits and demerits of restructuring for our dear country. While being in power can create illusionary appreciation of our sad state as a country, it is important that they remember that power is transient and the appropriate legacy is to listen to wise counsels such as the rapidly growing calls for the restructuring of the country. Continuing to reject these genuine calls from South West, South East, South South, North Central, North East and even North West can only be described as allowing the feelings and sentiments that lead to both peaceful and violent protests to fester and grow in Nigeria. When over 22 million brothers and sisters are reported as unem-

ployed while our leaders especially the governors continue to seize unaccountable hundreds of millions of Naira every month in the name of security votes, then we are sprinkling the petrol that will light the next protests. Not only do they confiscate the hundreds of millions of naira, many of them seem to have abdicated their governance responsibilities such as job creation and provision of basic development amenities. In such situations which is lamentably true of many of our states, the only feelings and behavior that will emerge and grow will be the ones that motivate both peaceful and violent protests. The same goes with our over-bloated and overpaid National Assembly members in a country described as the poverty capital of the world. While the turn of events might be surprising to the government, PMB, governors and local government chairmen/ladies, it is not to many Nigerians who warned them for over 5 years just as they warned PDP for sixteen years with their cries, hardship, insecurity, joblessness, unprovoked killings and destruction of property. When it is reported that Nigeria is now the poverty capital of the world with about 91 million Nigerians living in extreme poverty, it should not be glossed over, rather, it should alarm us and trigger concerted short, medium and long term commitment and actions of the federal, state and local governments. No amount of accusation, counter accusation, denial and inaction will save any party, government or leader for long. Nigeria is at a tipping point and our leaders should beware the ides of March!

Dr. Ngwu, is an Economist/Associate Professor of Strategy, Risk Management & Corporate Governance, Lagos Business School and a Member, Expert Network, World Economic Forum. E-mail- fngwu@ lbs.edu.ng

#ENDSARS: President Buhari, you’re missing it, again Your excellency, hat you haven’t seen the urgency to address the nation over the outcry regarding police brutality is most unfortunate. You have missed opportunities in the past to show that you’re a leader we can look up to at critical moments. You’re missing it, again. Yes, we read your tweet but it didn’t say much. There was no shared meaning because it sharply contrasted with the yearnings of several thousands of youth across the country that had had enough of police brutality. The protests were firm and unfaltering evidence that the youth, indeed Nigerians, are tired of being “Do-Nothingists”. “There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over…” This is unmistakably one of such a time when Nigerians would rather sleep on the streets, be tear-gassed and shot at, than to continue putting up with indignities in their own country. The youth have power. And for the first time in a long time, we used it. No violence; no political motivations; no pecuniary inter-

ests; just a consistent, untiring, and unyielding desire to be heard and an unquenchable passion to reject an entrenched social disorder in the name of ‘SARS’. The world got the message, and proudly joined in solidarity. For some reason, I’ll like to believe that something was born in the Nigerian youth. No one should be mistaken; this is only the beginning of creative resistance to tyranny and injustice. You should be happy with this development. You have urged the nation with the ‘Change-begins-with-me’ message. The youth have just increased the volume of that message. I must add that the #ENDSARS campaign must never be seen as an effort to condone crime. On the contrary, it is a struggle for the recognition of every Nigerian’s somebodiness; that every Nigerian has worth. It is a struggle for a Nigeria where innocent Nigerians don’t have to live in perpetual fear of the very institutions in which they should find solace and security. It is a struggle for Nigeria that treats its future leaders with dignity and respect. By extension, it is the

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beginning of a youth-centric struggle for Nigeria that the youth play an active part in. There is still a long way on this journey but I believe that the patriotic youth are concerned enough to understand the enormity of the tasks ahead. To the pleasure of history, you are the man in charge now. By the time the story of this historic moment is written, those of us that witnessed, and contributed in some way, would glowingly remember the heroes. It’s not too late to etch your name in the council of those Nigerians. Your actions over the next few days may well guarantee that. Your people have asked you to address them. We shouldn’t be begging you to speak to us like some god we are trying to appease. We are asking you to do so as a public servant who enjoys the public mandate at this time. I have used ‘we’ because I am confident I speak the minds of many Nigerians on this issue. There are many times when your silence may be golden; this is not one of them. As we go through this third week into

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SAMUEL AKINNUGA

our 61st year, I’ll like to share a conviction. I believe 2020 is the year that many of us prayed about and looked forward to. Perhaps, this is a perfect independence gift: that the youth actually led. Before you is a great opportunity to rekindle the hope of many, empathise with the victims of police brutality (painfully, some are no longer here with us), and build a solid support of Nigerian youth for the Police Reform Act, and other institutional reforms, of your government. The youth are watching. The world is watching. I wish you the very best. And kindly accept this as another voice calling for an end to police brutality. Nigerian lives matter. May God bless Nigeria.

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When the moderates take a walk CHARACTER MATTERS WITH DAPS

DAPO AKANDE

ave you ever found yourself in a situation where you wish you had done the comparatively little thing someone had asked of you instead of dilly dallying to the point when the person vexes and says, “forget it, now I want it all?” Or, “I’m not even doing again?” If the government had adequately tackled the SARS issue after repeated complaints by the people in the past, the current crisis may never have occurred. Now, the government has come out to propose a new outfit, giving assurances on how they’ll operate strictly by the book but with a loud voice the people have responded, “this is not enough! We want more.” In a small segment on CNN titled CNN Modern Explorers, I heard Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss psychiatrist and arguably the world’s most famous balloonist, say something remarkably profound. For a man who happens to be the first to ever circumnavigate the globe nonstop in a hot air balloon, I was surprised to hear him remark that the modern day explorer is not one who searches out new territories but instead is one who seeks new ways to bring better meaning to human existence and improve the quality of human life. It surprised me to no end that a man,

who also holds the record of being the first to successfully fly around the world in a solar powered plane, would relegate the thrill and novelty of such an astonishing achievement to second place, in terms of his motivation. The impetus that drove his ambition can therefore be better traced to finding ways to surmount issues which trouble the wellbeing of much of humanity than to discovering new frontiers. His submission gave me a refreshingly new perspective to Edmund Burke’s quote which says, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. Following the embarrassingly acrimonious US Presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Biden which took place recently, and where Trump, in typical Third World dictator-style, seemed to be preparing the electorate’s mind to the possibility of him not accepting the election results, Thomas Friedman offered the country a stark warning. He said, “when extremists go all the way, and moderates just go away, the system can break.” He based this on what he witnessed as a foreign correspondent when he covered Lebanon’s second civil war. While not repudiating Mr Friedman’s submission in any way, kindly permit me to direct this statement to the Nigerian situation in a way that’s relevant to this discourse. For the sake of this article, let’s apply the “extremists” term to those who go all out to make sure they grab political power at all cost in Nigeria. The often better qualified in terms of character, ability and noble intention, whom we can refer to as moderates, on the other hand, refuse to struggle and are not given to making any sacrifices for what they want; and what the country

obviously needs. Unwisely, they remain in the shadows. They “go away” as it were and when the time comes to vote, they either don’t bother to vote or find themselves faced with a lack of credible alternatives, they end up voting for one of the very same people who put us all in this mess in the first place. Funny thing is that that won’t stop them from complaining when the leopard proves he’s still a leopard and is unable to change his spots. And the sad cycle continues. It was Christian D. Larson who once said that, “To keep any great nation up to a high standard of civilisation there must be enough superior characters to hold the balance of power, but the very moment the balance of power gets into the hands of second-rate men and women, a decline of that nation is inevitable.” Rafael Nadal, my favourite tennis player, is a phenomenon by any standard. Born right handed but converted to left handed as a child by his uncle and coach, Tony. Uninhibited by any cultural or social considerations, uncle Tony, as he’s fondly called, made what could only be described as a cold and very incisive calculation. Having done extensive research, he discovered that left handed tennis players proved very difficult and tricky to play against and so he set about his plan to convert his young nephew, who had shown visible promise and who undoubtedly possessed an impressive tennis brain, into a left handed player. He wasn’t wrong. Because of that singular move, Rafa escaped the distinct possibility of growing up to become a good but forgettable right handed tennis player to becoming a living legend. His uncle’s gamble paid off. To prove it, he recently equalled

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It surprised me to no end that a man, who also holds the record of being the first to successfully fly around the world in a solar powered plane, would relegate the thrill and novelty of such an astonishing achievement to second place, in terms of his motivation

Akande is a Surrey University graduate with a Masters in Professional Ethics. An alumnus of the institute for National Transformation and author of two books; The Last Flight and Shifting Anchors. Contact: dapsakande25@gmail. com

Will strategy-based banking predominate? (1)

ome things are permanent in their construct. The sun always rises in the East and, every time sets in the West. Contrasted with the sun, the market environment suffers sheer impermanence. It is amorphous. In this arena, the only phenomenon that endures is change; nothing else stays the same including the wants and aspirations of the critical stakeholders. Change is constantly active. It doesn’t stare at the nape of the marketplace. It gazes deep into its eyeballs. Besides seeking its smile, amongst others, by trending along, great organisations must play servants to the epoch. Otherwise, they gain the weak end of the market-space rod. Change, like evolution, treks more like time rather than the clock. It’s noiseless. Time speaks more of an era and clocks more about a moment. Those who see its quiet meanders ahead, survive. Unlike evolution, it’s fast. Those who track along with its speed, also survive. The marketplace isn’t an empty landscape. It is a powerful and fate-determining zone occupied by motley stakeholders of extreme shades whose eyes are fixed on the transmission and exchange of value and, on survival. Amongst others, the changing aspirations of these variegated stakeholders are the prime forces behind marketplace transformation. Of its many attributes, the instructive capacity of change tops it for me. It points organisations in the right promenade in their stretching quest for continuity. In any advancing free market environment, the forces that can obscure the effective roles of the market in deciding business fortunes are increasingly declining. The Nigerian financial services industry evolves like those of the other climes. And, it has. Over the previous six decades (1960 – 2020), the industry has witnessed two evolutionary phases

in the instrumentality of its market access. Marketaccess philosophies are epochal in strength. What deeply penetrated the market in an era may be quite inadequate or completely wrong in another age. Just like water flows in line with the contours of its terrain, market-access philosophies must trend along with the epochal conditions of the market. Simplistic market-access models only appeal to simplistic market conditions. Between 1960 and 1990, the industry experienced the armchair market-access philosophers. With their slack approaches, the business of banking was snail-paced. Business eagerness was clearly too low for zero. Customers endured the time-wastefulness, rigours, traumas and cries of tally numbers and other numerous anti-service culture practices. The armchair bankers went tone-deaf when the market honked so loudly for change. With time, their sloppy attitude greatly backfired. And, they paid dearly, in the extreme, death for most of the financial institutions. A different college of professionals appeared on the block, beginning in 1990 - the marketingdriven bankers. They observed the market had transitioned along a critical path. At the ready, they quickly rode along, into town in full force, upsetting and resetting the landscape. The old books of banking were deeply inadequate. They devised new rules and operated under them. They embraced the market and decided how it needed to be served. They respected the customers’ perspectives, adopted them as part of survival and growth strategies. It worked. They went any- and everywhere with the customers, including “being around them over weekends”. They waited on the customers rather than have the customers waiting for them. They led their lives closely by the customers’ prayers. When the customers aspired to satisfaction, they delivered. When the custom-

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TONI MONYE

ers upped the ante – cherished being delighted, the marketing-modeled bankers again delivered. The outcome – the business of banking gained massive traction. Numbers across indices were unbelievable. For thirty years, the marketing-driven banking philosophy predominated. Unfortunately, the winning sensation has its weakness too. In spite of its sugariness, winning can also be blinding. While celebrating, a higher percentage of winners have less time for in depth analysis of the critical manoeuvres that led to victory. It is one of the forces often cited behind the emergence of new champions. Pause. Take a look at the English Premiership. It is not squawking too much to say it is much easier to win (and to regain) the Premiership than to retain it. Against the arguments of marketing-driven banking, the marketplace again has, without alarm, morphed. A different sort of atmosphere exists. Marketing-driven bankers are in a struggle to retain the marketplace. Yesterday’s customers (other stakeholders too) are not nearby. They are largely no more. Their whims and caprices are diametrically different from today’s clients. Relationally, the environment of the 1990s and the 2020s cannot be differentiated further. For starters, in the 1990s, the competitive landscape was less eclectic. Product range, customer types were not so dissimilar and the understanding and application of the marketing concept was slim. Cold calls were the norms. There was a complete absence of the digital space. Landlines predominated, not mobile phones. Competition was more or less basic, not strategic. Under a changing marketplace, the many handicaps of marketing-based strategy are being exposed. The philosophy is increasingly yielding less in a marketplace more advanced than its

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Roger Federer’s record of winning 20 Grand Slams. That’s an extremist right there, if ever I saw one. His motivation however is infinitely nobler. The one track minded, vigorous, unrelenting pursuit by our second-rate men to ensure they fill all meaningful decision making positions in our political space and the complicit, lackadaisical attitude of our most competent men, tilted the balance of power to the detriment of our society a long time ago. But are we currently witnessing the precursor to a seismic shift? Is this the eve of a new day? I guess only time will tell. If we’re to be guided by those who went before us though, it may appear fitting to close with the timeless words of one of history’s most revered freedom fighters, Martin Luther King Jr. who cautioned, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” When all the proverbial dust settles, I hope those without a voice won’t turn on those of us who do, but were never seen or heard to have used them. There’s something I’ve always said and it’s this. The problem isn’t that people don’t know what the problems are; it’s that they don’t see themselves as part of the problem. Ponder on that for a moment. We all have a part to play. #ENDSARS....what do they say about an idea whose time has come? It’s unstoppable!!! Changing the nation...one mind at a time.

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planks and promises. A well-known and heavily dissected strategy has lost the bite in its wind. After three decades (a whole generation), the need to change the model is no longer opaque. Besides, a generation has its re-definitional inclinations. Like the armchair bankers, the marketing-based template operators are slipping/ sleep-walking into the same pit. Many are failing to see the moving hand writing on the wall. It is not apostatic to drop it. It is time. Today’s marketplace is whistling for the transition of strategy from generic to specific, from individual to corporate. Built on customer engagement, the strategy-driven banking (foresight banking) promises that and more. Its era is here. It is about the eyelids, rubbing the eyes except those of stone-blind organisations. Marketing-based and strategy-driven market-access ideologies are wholly opposed. Given its data-mining capacity, the new model most appropriately tracks with customers’ emerging dynamics. While taking into account critical stakeholders insights and their probable behaviours, strategy-based banking templates promises superior outcomes. It’s longer ranged and it aspires to sustainability in relationships. It is more systemic, built on systemic strong-points and organisations’ overriding realities rather than the individual inclinations of its counterpart. Deep into the foreseeable future, the discourse will remain in the domain of the strategy-driven banking ideology. The count for the marketingbased banking philosophy is closer to ten than five. It’s over. Welcome strategy-based philosophy!

Monye is the managing partner, Rham Durham Consulting Ltd

F a

BUSINESS DAY

Wednesday 21 October 2020

COMMENT

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Only SARS?

EMEKA OKOLO

he centrality of security in an economy cannot be over stressed. This explains my taking out time through this medium to key in into the trending issue of Special Anti-robber y Squad, otherwise called SARS in Nigeria. So, finally SARS has been dissolved! The journey to this feat came after days of sustained protests by youths across the country. That SARS had been associated with all manner of misdemeanour that amounts to antithesis of what a security outfit should not be is common knowledge. To be candid, SARS had always been there but its notoriety came to a head with the ramping up of activities of “yahoo yahoo boys”. That made some of the elements of the outfit abandon their core mandate which was checkmating armed robbery, especially on the high ways. Victims of the excesses and high handedness of SARS operatives have had tales of chilling stories to relate. They framed peo-

ple, especially youths with a view to extorting money from them. They stopped people indiscriminately on the roads, searched their phones or laptops and then came up with “incriminating” evidence which could only be “quashed” with sums of money. Their victims would be thankful if the harassment ended with just extortion. In many cases, victims were tortured, maimed, or even raped. May abundant blessings be yours if you harbour tattoos on any part of your body or ear rings on the ears or spot dreadlocks on your head! In addition, many extra-judicial killings were attributed to it. But SARS was only and had always been a unit of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF). When it was carved out and given prominence, it was greeted with derision by some Nigerians who questioned whether the offspring would be any different from the mother. From the activities of the outfit so far, those Nigerians who were called pessimists then are today being proved right. There is a popular saying that in every twelve, there must be a Judas. But in the case of SARS, it seems that in every twelve, there were eleven “Judases”. This stems from the fact that there was preponderance of very many bad eggs in that outfit, empirically speaking. They dressed shabbily even like the armed robbers they were meant to catch. Their modus operandi reeked nothing but disgusting. As at the time of penning this article, there was no letting in the protests even with the announcement of the dissolution by the

Inspector General of Police (and the subsequent announcement of a replacement - SWAT) and the address to the nation by the President on the determined efforts by his government to reform the Police. That bears eloquent testimony to the total disconnect between the citizens and the Police on one hand and the contempt with which the force is held by the citizens on the other. The continued protests clearly show that the matter is beyond just SARS and its excesses. Has there been any trust between Nigerian citizens and the Force that is supposed to be their friend? That there has never been any love lost between the two is just stating the obvious. Is there any Nigerian dead or alive or a relation/friend of his that has not tasted the brutality of the Nigerian Police? As with SARS, there are other pockets of units of the force and nobody is talking about them. How professional, for example, is the unit that deals with cultism and drugs? Its modus operandi is not any different from that of SARS. Its members always appear in mufti (as if wearing police uniform is now an anathema) and move in unmarked and sometimes dilapidated and rickety vehicles. If a thorough searchlight is beamed on its activities, there is no doubt that tales of woes and lamentations from its victims will compare favourably with that of SARS. The bottom line to the scenario being played out is that the Nigerian Police Force has been on life support before now. Disbanding and redeploying SARS members

‘

The bottom line to the scenario being played out is that the Nigerian Police Force has been on life support before now. Disbanding and redeploying SARS members and coming up with an entirely new outfit to perform the functions of the dissolved SARS will be mere cosmetic and an exercise in futility

Dr. Okolo is a Chartered Stockbroker and Management Consultant based in Lagos.

Why is #EndSARS the hill the Nigerian government wants to die on?

he 14th of October 2020 marks the seventh day Nigerians will be out protesting against the Special Anti-Robber y Squad (SARS). The Nigerian government is not used to being opposed for more than 24 hours. Many times, before protests even start, they are called off. In recent history, the only protest that shook the Nigerian government was the Occupy Nigeria protest in January 2012. The protest was against the removal of fuel subsidy by the leadership of Nigeria’s former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Nigerian politicians and elite from the then opposing party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) alongside the Nigeria Labour Congress and other activists organised the protests. After a while, soldiers were brought to the streets and the protests died. Just like that. The Occupy Nigeria protests served to advance the political interest of the elite. Eight years is a long time in a country’s lifetime. In those years, President Muhammadu Buhari’s Congress for P ro gre ssi ve Cha ng e (C P C ) merg e d with ACN to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) which was voted into power in 2015. And in those years, a new generation which was in their teens in 2012, grew into their twenties to become

the most fierce generation the Nigerian society is yet to come across. In the space of those eight years, the leadership in Nigeria has continually failed on all fronts, from the National Assembly to the Presidency. The government has shown an ineptitude to handling problems of the 21st century. In 2012, what Nigerians experienced was a possibility of what a revolution could really be. But career activists, after a brief meeting with the presidency, came to a resolution with the government. The #EndSARS protests deliberately avoided having any leader negotiating with the government. This is partly what is a cause of worry to the Nigerian government. How are young Nigerian men and women not falling for the same traps other previous activists have fallen into? But this is not even the main question. How hard is it for the Nigerian government to ban SARS and reform the police? A few days into the #EndSARS protests, the Nigerian police declared that the rogue unit had been dissolved. There was a brief joy, then a quick realisation that this was a hoax. The same day of the announcement by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, young Nigerians were still brutalised. On the 13th

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of October, the IGP again announced the formation of a new police unit, the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit. And again, Nigerians, linked the change of National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), didn’t bring about a change of electricity supply. This was SARS in a new shell but the same flesh. The Nigeria Police Force does not serve Nigerians, its services are sold to “Vagabonds In Power” (VIP). The threat to withdraw the security details of those supporting the #EndSARS campaign tells us about the police system in Nigeria. In every election that takes place across Nigeria, the police has played a major role in determining what level of possible rigging can take place. Reducing a country’s police force and attaching its importance to political activities places more value on the police force with its duties to the elite than its service to the ordinary people. The Nigerian police are for sale, and while many Nigerians know this, the government does not want to change this. It benefits the Nigerian government to have a police system that protects its 469 lawmakers. These 469 lawmakers who have held the country hostage rely on the police as their army to defend their ill-gotten wealth. It was

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and coming up with an entirely new outfit to perform the functions of the dissolved SARS will be mere cosmetic and an exercise in futility. Where will the new members come from? And where will the disbanded members go? Solving the problems of the Force requires utmost sincerity of purpose. The government will review critically the funding of the Police. It is either the country has a force worth the name or it should forget about it entirely. A situation where a policeman is made to buy his own complete outfit (uniform, boot etc.) is totally unacceptable and repugnant, not to talk of the ill equipped nature of the stations where complainants, for example, are made to provide writing materials in order to enter statements. What of the barracks where they live? What type of psychological wellbeing of the inhabitants of such barracks do you expect? Mouthing of overhauling/reforming the force has been there but this present situation offers a perfect opportunity and time to walk the talk. A lot needs to be done in the recruitment process and the funding of the force. For those already in the force, mental, emotional and psychological evaluation needs to be carried out on them. Those not in good standing should be shown the way out. It is better to have a lean and efficient force than a bloated and sadistic one. Massive recruitment along a newly designed template should be embarked on.

SOCRATES MBAMALU

in the presence of a policeman that Ishaku Elisha Abbo, a senator, assaulted a lady and called the Assistant Inspector General of police on the issue. A win for young Nigerians will mean the dismantling of many myths the older generation has used to oppress them. The Nigerian government understands that once it gives in to the demand of young protesters that will be the beginning of the end to an old generation of leaders ruling the country. These young protesters will further make demands that the Nigerian elite is not yet ready to compromise or give up. This hill the Nigerian government wants to die on is a hill that is represented by privilege and a generational difference between the ordinary people and those in power. Young Nigerians have shown more determination to occupy both online and offline streets. And the more the streets are occupied, the more they understand their power as a people and a generation.

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Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

EDITORIAL

PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Frank Aigbogun EDITOR Patrick Atuanya

DEPUTY EDITORS John Osadolor, Abuja Lolade Akinmurele NEWS EDITOR Osa Victor Obayagbona NEWS EDITOR (Online) Chuks Oluigbo MANAGING DIRECTOR Dr. Ogho Okiti EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha ADVERT MANAGER Ijeoma Ude MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (South East, South South) Patrick Ijegbai COPY SALES MANAGER Florence Kadiri DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

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

#ENDSARS protest: Time to address the real issues

The earlier we stop chasing shadows and address the real issues the better

he on-going protest by Nigerian youths to end police brutality among other demands strengthens the fact that Nigeria can achieve desired results when sentiments are set aside. In the history of Nigeria, this is one protest that has been devoid of political influence and shows the power of oneness in demanding results from the government. The protests started on Twitter then seamlessly transitioned into the ‘real world’, and remarkably they continue to straddle both. The youths have raised serious issues that need urgent action by the government. The protest has moved from the initial demand to end the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and police brutality to the demand for total police reform, good governance, transparency and accountability by those in government. Among the number of challenges facing this country, the most severe ones include, insecurity, unemployment, lack of shelter, hunger, poverty, rising inflation, high cost of goods and services, and bad governance. Others are low quality education, poor infrastructure, dilapidated health facilities, insincerity on the part of the rulers, corruption, economic mismanagement and global coronavirus pandemic. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous

country of about 200 million people, has more than 60% of its population below the age of 30 years, who are intouch with the changing world of work and advancements in information technology – particularly well connected on social media. These young people are the hope of the nation, and today’s leaders who need all the support that they can get. Regrettably, education and health very critical to youth advancement have been at the receiving end of government policies. For instance, in the last seven months , public universities have been under lock and key because the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) have been on strike since March 2020, leaving many students in limbo. The sorry state of public health facilities was exposed by COVID-19. It became clear that they were “mere consulting clinics”. During the pandemic lockdown period, neighbourhoods in Lagos were terrorized by gangs of armed robbers known as ‘One Million Boys’ who robbed an entire neighbourhood, systematically going from house to house, with the police often nowhere to be found, and the Anti-Robbery Squad themselves additionally terrorizing innocent Nigerians. The unity amongst the protesting youths is not common. Thanks to the power of social media, they have everything cut out perfectly for them. They mobilized needed funds for the protesters (about N40million raised in less than 10 days, plus additional

bitcoin). They arranged daily food and drinks, amassed a database of over 600 volunteer lawyers across the country working on unlawful arrests, negotiated the release of arrested protesters, arranged ambulances and settled hospital bills – in effect acting as a government. Disbursements from the protest fund are announced on Twitter, and response units were set up to cater quickly to funding requests for planned or ongoing protests. Responsiveness, transparency, accountability – the demands of the youth have been provided by this group of young Nigerians. Yet the protests remain proudly leaderless, a strength that hopefully does not prove to be a weakness in the coming days or weeks. Talks about organising ‘towards 2023’, the next Nigerian elections, have also begun to take place. In other words, the youths are putting into practice, what they want the government at all levels to exhibit- good governance, responsiveness, transparency, accountability, exemplary leadership and good governance. Our young people are facing a lot of challenges. They are the ones that are jobless, the ones that are trooping out of the country in search of greener pastures. Majority of them are involved in insurgencies. Some of them have joined occult and other pressure groups out of frustration. The best and only way to solve the problem of our society is to address the challenges facing the youths.

Our young people are feeling insecure: Generally, our society has become an insecure place. It is a place where people are killed indiscriminately; a place where people are kidnapped, raped and robbed. As a result, most of our young people are no longer feeling safe in their places of studies and work. Most of our young people are feeling rejected: Our young people are no longer feeling accepted in their homeland and that is why most of them are trooping out of the country. Our young people are homeless: The high cost of living, especially, the cost of building materials has rendered most of our young people homeless. Some of our young people are sleeping under the bridges while others are sleeping in market places and club halls. Our young people are jobless and are not carried along: The elderly ones have refused to retire. They keep falsifying their age in order to retain their jobs whereas their children, especially graduates, are roaming about without job. Those in power have refused to carry the youths along. They only use and dump them during and after elections. These and more require urgent attention by the authorities. The earlier we, as a country, stop chasing shadows and address the real issues the better. No amount of weapon or force can solve the problem. Only meaningful dialogue and pragmatic action would assuage the anger in the land.

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Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

BANKING

Share your experience at banks with us via: hope.ashike@businessdayonline.com

How Access Bank is transforming financial services landscape with digital banking Stories by HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

ccess Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading Tier-1 financial services institution, has demonstrated capacity for innovation in the manner it handled the fallouts of the Coronavirus pandemic, which literally crippled businesses and crashed economies around the world from the beginning of the year. Whilst the pandemic threw up challenges that caught many organizations napping, caused disruptions that affected operations, it provided Access Bank an opportunity to test the resilience and workability of its investments made over the last two years. Prior to its merger with Diamond Bank, Access Bank invested heavily in information communication and technology (ICT), training and innovation. The Covid 19-induced lockdown not only made the investments come in handy, it also provided an opportunity for the bank to progress its far-sighted strategies of digitalized support for customer banking needs, and supported its quest for enhanced re-skilling of its greatest asset – employees – for the emerging demands and habits of its over 11million (Mobile App) customers during the Covid era and beyond. Although, Access Bank is well known for its customer-centric approach to service delivery, it further stepped up such services using numerous digital platforms, which allowed customers transact businesses from their point of comfort and in the convenience of their homes and offices. For the non tech-savvy customers, the USSD remains a most convenient and available platform for use. During a recent chat, the

Roosevelt Ogbonna, deputy group managing director, Access Bank Plc

Deputy Group Managing Director, Roosevelt Ogbonna FCA, said these investments have seen the Bank recording continuous signon of new customers, thus making it the largest mobile banking network within Nigerian’s banking system, with 11 million customers using its mobile app. The bank is said to also leverage its’ agency banking platform, enabling customers transact businesses within their localities, rather than go far to do so. Ogbonna also confirmed the Bank’s growth through the COVID- 19 situation with several of its innovations, helping to increase service delivery to the satisfaction of its customers, at this time of experiencing the ‘new normal’. Quoting him, “as we go into the future, more customers will rely on the digital platforms and alternative channels for their banking transactions and business. Access Bank is well resourced with the

infrastructure required to serve our customers and help them through the journey to arriving at a very profitable place,” Ogbonna said. He continued that, Access Bank has long come to terms with the fact that change has come in the way things were done, in terms of having big offices and big branches. The world may never go back to the pre-COVID-19 way of doing things. He further expressed that, investments made by banks and other institutions in technology would begin to pay off as the world readies itself for the post-Coronavirus era. Although, branch network would remain relevant, about 70 to 80 per cent of transactions would be done via alternative channels, progressively. “The new normal is here and it is a reality”, he said. “It is about banks and customers seeking out effective platforms that enable

them perform their daily transactions without hindrances. As such, there is a channel for every customer depending on the level of security they require, skill and awareness on the adoption of technology”. In his opinion, banks, especially Access Bank, is ready to provide alternative platforms for all customers to transact their daily business with ease. Speaking further, Ogbonna confirmed that Access Bank has in the past shared with the market, every five years, its plans for expansion for the purpose of achieving its vision of becoming one of the dominant and most respected African financial institutions, as well as the continent’s gateway to the world. In doing so, the bank must remain relevant in the African market. Its current five-year plan is expected to run up to 2022. The plan entails making its presence and operations felt on the continent through involvement in viable markets. In one of such involvements, Access Bank has operated in Zambia in the last 10 years, consolidating its franchise in the East African country. It has also acquired a bank operated in Kenya, with the thinking that in leveraging its global network, it should be able to add significant value to the market in that country. “In East Africa, you cannot rule out Kenya because it is central to doing business in that region”, says Ogbonna. “Kenya for us is a key hub as we spread across East Africa. We currently operate in Rwanda, also in Mozambique and we aim to use Kenya as our hub in managing the entire network in that region. There are two or three other markets in Southern Africa that look interesting, but Zambia will be our anchor as we invest in the rest of the Southern African region”. According to him, “The Bank’s

thrust is that in every significant market we play, we want to be in the top five rank in those markets. If we are not going to do so, then there is no point being in that market”. Access Bank’s plan to be a major player not just in the African but international financial market is quite an ambitious one, such that it inspires confidence in the financial institution as one that is capable of placing Nigeria prominently on the world financial market. “In our plans, we have divided the Access world to have global financial centers, which includes London, Hong Kong, New York and Tokyo”, Ogbonna said. “We have to be in several of these markets over the course of the next two to three years. We also have what we consider as trade hubs in Dubai, Mumbai, China and Lebanon. In these hubs we have created, several of them will operate as branches or representative offices and of course we have the rest of Africa. Thus, we are connecting Africa to the rest of the world as well as ensuring that Africa connects with itself”.  Our Bank has identified new areas into which it may channel investments, as 2020 draws to a close. This includes infrastructure, telecoms, food and beverages to mention. We are working closely with the Central Bank of Nigeria in the area of healthcare, to support its growth. Others are small, micro and medium enterprises, women and personal banking, as well as agriculture. For sectors not adversely affected by COVID-19, the Bank will make payment extensions to ensure they survive through the pandemic. For now, number one on the list of priorities is ensuring that the year ends on a positive note. There are indications that this objective will be achieved.

AfDB president, Zenith Bank CEO, others for CIBN investiture Union Bank’s independent non-executive ctivities in the banking in- managingdirector/CEO, WEMA become Elected Fellows while 105 director resigns for Jigawa State appointment dustry are expected to be Bank Plc, Abubakar Suleiman, man- Senior Management staff of banks

ollowing her appointment as director general of the Jigawa State investment promotion agency, Furera Isma Jumare has resigned her role as Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. This is in line with regulatory guidelines precluding certain categories of public servants from serving on boards of banks and other financial institutions. Commenting on the Jumare’s resignation, Beatrice Hamza-Bassey, chairman of the board said, “Since joining the board in May 2017, Furera has been an invaluable voice in the Boardroom. Her experience and professional coun-

sel directly contributed to our wins in recent years and in helping us navigate challenging times. She also served studiously as the Chair of the Board Governance Committee and Member of the Board Audit and Risk Management Committees. On behalf of the Board, I thank her for her diligent service and wish her much success as she answers the call of service to her State.” Emeka Emuwa, Chief Executive Officer, said, “Furera’s appointment is a clear acknowledgement of her experience and accomplishments in her long career including in her role as Director with Union Bank. The Board and Management are grateful for her service and wish her the best in her new role.” www.businessday.ng

upbeat when captains of the industry and leaders of thought in the economy will receive fellowship awards from the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). The eminent bankers who will be formally conferred with the prestigious Fellowship of the Institute on Saturday October 24, 2020 include Adewunmi Adesina, President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Kelfala M. Kallon, Governor, Bank of Sierra Leone, John Davies III President, West African Bankers Association and President Liberia Bankers Association; Demola Sogunle, GMD/CEO, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, managing director/CEO, Zenith Bank Plc, Ademola Adebise,

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aging director/CEO, Sterling Bank Plc, Walter Akpani, managing director/CEO, Providus Bank Plc, Lamin Manjang, managing director/CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Limited; Arc Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, managing director/CEO, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Anya Duroha, managing director/CEO, Nova Merchant Bank Limited, Prince Bimbo Olashore, Board Member, Lead Capital Group of Companies, Bimbo Ashiru, Board Member, Oodua Investment Company Limited, Caroline Anyanwu, Former DMD Diamond Bank, and Ugochukwu Chijioke, Former Executive Director, Fidelity Bank. Out of the 201 awardees to be honored in Lagos, 19 would be Honorary Fellows and 77 Associates will @Businessdayng

and the academia will become Honorary Senior Members of the Institute. According to a statement by the head of Corporate Communication & External Relation of the Institute, Nelson Olagundoye, the honour is in recognition of the awardees’ meritorious services, commitment to professional responsibilities and valuable contributions to the industry in particular and the economy. The gathering will reflect on the theme: “Financial Services in a post COVID 19 Environment: Strategic Imperative:” In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s edition of the Investiture, will be executed using the hybrid of virtual and physical platforms, with strict adherence to the COVID-19 Safety protocols.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

insurance today

E-mail: insurancetoday@businessdayonline.com

Insurers seek deeper penetration in agric business space

....targets smallholder farmers Modestus Anaesoronye

nsurance companies seeking to deepen penetration in agricultural sector have identified smallholder farmers as important segment of the business. They believe that the agricultural sector currently contributing N10.50 trillion to nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019 in a potential market for insurers, when you consider the risks faced by dominance smallholder farmers. Muftau Oyegunle, president of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) speaking at its 2020 annual education seminar with theme: ‘Managing Small Holder Farmers: The Insurance Perspective’ said smallholder farmers are the drivers of many economies in Africa even though their potential is often not brought forward.

L-R: Bola Onigbogi, president, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB ) presenting Group Personal Accident (GAP) policy to one of the Traffic Volunteers, Okunade Adeolu, an ace presenter on Bond FM

He noted that this form of agricultural production faces a lot of risks, adding that some of these risks include risks caused by potential volatility in prices, damage to crops

or livestock, production risk resulting from uncertainty about the levels of production that primary producers can achieve from their current activities amongst others.

Oyegunle maintained that insurance operators owe it as a duty to understand and be able to assess the risk smallholder farmers are exposed to and be able to develop rel-

evant policies to help them. He also noted that as risk managers, it is the lot of insurance operators to increase the tempo of campaigns for insurance awareness and professionalism in order to get more people to stand up and take notice and for more Nigerians to embrace insurance as a profession and as a service offering. Folashade Joseph, managing director/CEO, Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) in her presentation noted that smallholder farmers are responsible for about 98 per cent of locally produced food consumed in Nigeria, adding that 80 per cent of the total farmers, including medium and large ones are smallholder farmers. She noted that smallholder farmers are the backbone of Nigerian Agricultural sector and they deserve every support to enable them produce more food, grow more raw materials for the agro-indus-

trial sector and contribute in the ending a food deficit that cost the country $20 billion in food import annually. Joseph maintained that it is noteworthy that smallholder farmers having been applying most of the ex-ante and ex-post methods for years without achieving desired level of income stabilization, with the advent of formal agricultural insurance system, the smallholder farmers could not only avoid devastating financial losses, but such insurance would also act as a major potential enabler of progress by limiting farmers’ downside risk from investing in their productive capacity. She opined that the way forward into giving cheap, adequate and accessible insurance cover to smallholder farmers will entail conducting and intensifying farmers education; swift adaption of available technology for operations of insurers; insurers getting more innovative and more.

Cordros gets regulatory approval for three new African Alliance Insurance names subsidiaries in Insurance, Trustees, Registrars Joyce Ojemudia MD/CEO Modestus Anaesoronye

ordros Capital Limited has announced a major corporate expansion with the establishment of three (3) new subsidiaries. In a statement released to the media, the company announced that it had obtained all relevant licences and regulatory approvals to open shop for its Insurance Brokerage, Trustees, and Registrars businesses. According to Wale Agbeyangi, group managing director, Cordros Insurance Brokers Limited has been granted an operating license by both the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM). Also, Cordros Trustees Lim-

ited, and Cordros Registrars Limited have been granted operating licenses by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Following the achievement of this new corporate milestone, the statement confirmed that the new businesses will commence operations in earnest. Agbeyangi explained that it has always been the passion of the Cordros Group to help its clients grow their wealth and assets, regardless of their economic class. “We are committed to delivering top-range financial services and consolidating our strengths to sustain leadership positions across our various businesses. This includes Securities Trading, Investment Banking, Asset Management, and now Insurance Brokerage, Trustees, and Registrars. We

are also deploying the right technology to ensure all our services are accessible remotely, and our clients can achieve their investment objectives on the go” he added. Charles Osezua, chairman board of directors, stressed in his comments that the announcement of the new businesses is in line with the strategic direction of the group to evolve into a leading financial services powerhouse in Nigeria, and with a bold intent for the rest of Africa. It would be recalled that after commencing operation as a Securities Trading business in 2007, Cordros recorded significant milestones in 2010 and 2013 when it started its Investment Banking and Asset Management businesses, respectively.

Premium Pension top peers in absolute Unit Value Modestus Anaesoronye

remium Pension Limited (PPL), one of Nigeria’s leading Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in terms of investment return has achieved great milestone in the Nigeria’s pension industry as the leader in returns in investment in terms of absolute unit value. A review of the website of

PFAs as at 30th September reveals the highest value of N5.1416.Further investigation revealed that the performance of Premium Pension is being followed by NLPC Pension Limited and Crusader Pension with absolute unit values of N5.1156 and N50726 respectively. Also, based on our investigation of other PFAs indicates that ARM Pension has achieved N4.7933, IBTC Pension N4.6527 and FCMB Pension N4.5399. www.businessday.ng

The unit values of other PFAs are PAL Pension with N4.4532, AIICO N4.1548, First Guaranty N4.0614, TrustFund N4.0108, Leadway N4.0025 and Sigma Pensions with N3.8267 as at 30th September, 2020. The absolute unit value is a measure of fund performance which reflects cumulative investment return on pension contributions overtime with long term strategic focus.

Modestus Anaesoronye

oremost life insurer, African Alliance Insurance Plc, has announced new appointments to its Board following approvals from the National Insurance Commission. Accomplished Insurance sales expert and Risk Manager, Joyce Ojemudia was named the firm’s Managing Director/CEO with effect from 12 October 2020. Ojemudia is an astute manager of resources with over twenty years of experience in Insurance sales, Business Development, Risk Management, Claims Administration and Reinsurance. Throughout her glowing career, she has inspired various businesses and departments to profitability with her inclusive leadership style, grit and a clear sense of direction. An alumnus of the prestigious Lagos Business School (SMP 40) and the University of Lagos, Ojemudia is a Fellow of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, an Associate of both the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria and the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria. She is the current President of Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA). Other appointments are Macaulay Atasie, Emerging Markets Consultant and ecommerce solutions leader; Abatcha Bulama, proven fi-

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Joyce Ojemudia

nancial analyst and banker; and Adiele Ekechukwu, respected researcher and Management Consultant all of whom have joined the board either as a Non-Executive or Independent Director. With over two decades’ experience across the fintech space, Atasie has offered strategy development services both to leading public and private sector organisations including regulators and is the Strategy Advisor to at least 2 states in Nigeria. A distinguished alumnus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he is the current President of E-Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (EPPAN), an umbrella body of all e-Payments providers in the country. On his part, Bulama has four decades of experience in Banking, Financial Advisory, Administrative Services and Accounting and currently sits on the boards of Ikeja Hotel PLC (Owners of Sheraton, Lagos), Tourist Company of Ni@Businessdayng

geria (Owners of Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos) and Capital Hotels PLC (Owners of Abuja Sheraton). He is an alumnus of the famous Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and holds an honorary doctorate in Management from the Commonwealth University, Belize. Ekechukwu boasts almost four decades combined experience in consultancy and advisory, project management/ training and capacity development. He was one time Head, Monitoring and Evaluation, European Union, Nigeria. Under his watch, major European Development Fund (EDF) projects in Nigeria, valued at about 300 million European Currency Unit (ECU), were completed. He is an alumnus of the University of Ibadan and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) UK. Commenting on the appointments, Anthony Okocha, chairman of the Board, African Alliance Insurance Plc, said, “These appointments are clear strategic indication of the direction the Board is headed. In Joyce, we have a hands-on business development expert with excellent track record in driving business growth. Her exploits in the industry as a shrewd marketer and exemplary manager of men and resources makes her fit for African Alliance at this point in our corporate life,” Okocha said.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Interview Our focus is to make Nigeria’s digital ecosystem support wealth creation targeting entrepreneurs Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, a technology expert and the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), worked at Galaxy Backbone and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), where he dedicated his time to developing the technology architecture repository. The architecture gives a 360 degree view of the bank’s IT Infrastructure and facilitates ease of decision making on new IT investments. He was part of the team that executed software license rationalization that has increased cost savings for the bank in license annual subscriptions. The young, brilliant, dynamic and humble CEO has managed the execution of increased ICT contribution to Nigerian GDP by over 13% in Q2 2018. He also coordinated local content initiatives that increased ICT local production by over 200% in 2017. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Bashir Ibrahim Hassan, GM, Northern Operations, BusinessDay, Kashifu revealed his plans to make Nigeria’s digital innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem the most vibrant sector of the economy.

his interview is about you telling the public, as a public officer accountable to the public, the world what is and has been your duty since your assumption of duty as the Director General of this important institution. What is your policy direction for this institution and what have you been able to achieve in terms of success in tune with the policy direction as a leader? Thank you very much Bashir, for this opportunity to share with you my vision, policy directions and achievements so far. My vision started 7 years ago, when I was with Galaxy Backbone Limited. I remember the day I was assigned to help an important costumer. The customer said to me: “Young man, we invested so much on this application, but we are not getting value from it.” He was furious, but I calmed him down and asked him to give me time to investigate what went wrong. After my preliminary investigation, I asked him: ‘Sir, can I have your business requirements so as to enable me have a clear understanding why you invested in this application?’ He said to me: ‘Young man, what is the business requirement? The company that sold this application to us told me this is the best and latest technology; so what business requirements are you talking about?’ I went further to ask him what he really wanted to achieve with the application. We sat down for about an hour during which he provided me with inclusive details of what he wanted to achieve. At the end of our interaction. I realized that he didn’t need to do that big investment to achieve what he wanted since he could use Microsoft office (to achieve the purpose). I advised him to use Excel to do it, after which we could customize the application to meet his expectations. We used Excel and he got what he wanted. My experience with that customer got me thinking why some investors in IT spend so much without adequate knowledge of the concept cost-benefit analysis. This scenario changed my whole perception about investing in Information Technology. As we all know, marketers of technology always try to convince their customers to buy the latest technology, whether or not it is required for their business or can proffer immediate solution to any problem. I also realized that there is a huge gap between business and technology, as most people buy technology and then start thinking of what to do with it, when reverse should be the case.

For instance, if I own a business, the first thing is to design a business architecture where the mission and objective are clearly stated before identifying the required capacity in terms of technology and human capital to be deployed. However, experience has shown that most business owners buy the latest technology and start engaging it for their businesses, whether or not it is required to provide any solution their business was set up for. This got me thinking on the best way to assist people and help them actualize the mission of their businesses effectively and efficiently. In order to achieve this, I realized that I need to launch out something different. Rather than being the regular cool techy person, I chose to focus on the enterprise architecture, which is field within IT that helps organizations or governments to design their businesses before investing. As an analogy, someone who wants to build a house would first acquire a land after which he engages an architect to design the house according to specification. In the same way, organizations and governments have their mission, vision, and strategies clearly spelt out before designing their operational architecture. Every business therefore should have their business architecture before thinking on what best technology is required to meet the objective of that business. The architecture has four layers -- the business architecture, information system architecture, technology architecture, and security architecture. If you are going to do a business, or operate any business, you should have that architecture. So, I started by researching on these after switching my career from being a coordinator to a solution architect. As a solution architect, my responsibility was to sit down with a customer, understand his business objectives and requirement, identify the gaps associated with the business, before setting out to develop the required solutions using technology. I started that unit at Galaxy Backbone Limited. I was the head of Insuring Architecture unit. After sometime, the Central Bank of Nigeria opened a new division called enterprise architecture. CBN was the first in this country to develop that architecture practice as an organization. They were looking for people to work in that division. I didn’t apply for the job rather I got contacted. So, they employed me as a technology architect and I was the first technology architect with the Bank because it was a new division. The bank employed three people including myself outside the bank and two people within the

bank, making it a five-man team. I was the technology architect and my responsibility was to develop a technology repository for the bank so that the bank would have a 360-degree view of its IT investment and also help the bank to identify areas that needed reinvestment and capacity increase. Part of the work I did for the bank was application rationalization because the bank had invested alot of money on applications. During this period, a lot of IIT applications were sold to the Bank, which were not required, but unfortunately, the Bank was paying huge annual subscriptions. However, as the technology architect, I was able to save the Bank lots of money with application rationalization. How much did you help the bank save? Initially it was around 5 million, but before we finished, we were able to save over 7 million USD. That really broadened my mind about the vision. When I started, it was a new profession and, for the multinationals, as you know, the Chief Technical Officer, Chief Information Officer, etc., are mostly the ones responsible for enterprise application in the organization. Their responsibility is to bridge the gap between business and technology, requiring understanding of the mission and vision of the company to translate them into how to use technology to achieve that. As at that time, my career goal was to become CIO of a promising organization, be it government or private, because I liked the title. I was with the bank when the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy was appointed as the DG/CEO of NITDA. He has been my mentor for almost 22 years. I met him within my first 5 weeks in the University and we have been together in close contact since then. He was my lecturer. When he was appointed as the Director General of NITDA, he called me and asked me to work with him as his technical assistant, because he was coming from the academia outside the country, and he wanted someone that understands the language here. When I joined the team, the first thing we did was to review NITDA’s mandate and look at what NITDA was doing and what it should have been doing. When we reviewed the mandate, it was in the mandate that we discovered that the DG is also the Chief Information Technology Officer of the country. I was so impressed and motivated by the revelation. If you would recall, I said my vision was to be a CIO of an organization, and now, presently, I

am the CIO of the country (laughs). NITDA was established in 2001 to implement the National IT policy. So, we looked at the mandate of the agency, we baselined it with the Nation’s current reality and came up with a strategic roadmap. The then DG was appointed in 2016, I joined the agency in 2017 as his Technical Assistant and led a team that designed and implemented the strategic roadmap. My experience at Galaxy Backbone and CBN was very helpful and instrumental during this period. The strategic roadmap has 7 pillars and it was a 4-year strategy. NITDA’s critical mandate is IT regulation and development. The agency has two main program responsibilities. The first pillar on the strategic roadmap is developmental regulation because we see regulation as an enabler, something that can unlock opportunity and trigger business opportunities rather than something that stifle innova-

tion. We want to unlock innovation and opportunities which is why we called it developmental regulation. The second pillar is capacity building. When you talk about ICT, you can only use it when you have the knowledge to. We tied it to the Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (ERGP). Remember that, in 2015, the country ran into recession and the President set up a committee that came up with a plan. The plan had 3 objectives: firstly, to restore growth; secondly, to build a globally competitive economy; and, thirdly, to accelerate inclusive growth by investing in our own people. It identified ICT as a major key headed plan. When we say investing in our own people, it means building their capacity, giving them the right knowledge, they need. The third pillar seeks to promote indigenous content. If you have the enabling environment, you have the knowledge you need, the next thing you need is to turn your knowledge into skills or products and services. So we need to

encourage people and government to buy from you. To strengthen this pillar, the government issued Executive Orders 003 and 005 (the first of its kind) on local content and on Ease of Doing Business that says if you have expertise in the country you are not allowed to import experts. Rather, you must employ or engage the indigenous experts. The third pillar stresses on job creation. You have the enabling environment, the right skills and knowledge, government is encouraging and willing to buy from you. When government starts buying from you, it means we are creating jobs for you in terms of digital jobs. The fifth pillar is about Digital inclusion. A part of Government’s commitment towards encouraging people participation in the use of technology, we came up with interventions where we helped the unserved and underserved communities with Digital infrastructure. The sixth pillar is promotion of government digital services where we encourage government to buy and invest

in IT. And the last pillar is cybersecurity. We are putting everything in the cyber space. As a result, we need to have robust infrastructure that would secure it. So to answer your first question about my vision, that’s how the vision started. It’s not something I started when I was appointed. Rather, it’s something that has been in me for long, just that my appointment reinforced my efforts to achieve my vision in helping people to get value for money invested on IT. And for your second question on my Policy direction, if you observe very critically, you will note that our policy direction is in line with the Agency’s 7 Pillars which I talked about earlier and have been the Agency’s roadmap for the past 3 years, Though it’s going to expire end of this year, we are coming up with another one. Policy as you know is beyond the Agency as it is usually at the Ministerial level. Departments and Agencies are only created to design effective strategies to implement policies initiated by the Government. On the 23rd of October 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari extended the mandate of our ministry to cover Digital Economy, and on the 28th November, he launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a digital Nigeria. If you look at that policy, it has 8 strategic pillars. 7 Out of that 8 can be easily aligned with NITDA’s strategic pillars. For the new Digital Economy Policy, the first pillar is on developmental regulation. The second one is Digital literacy and skills, which are clearly in line with the Agency’s Developmental Regulation and Capacity Building. In the same vein, the Digital Economy Policy’s third pillar, which is on Solid Infrastructure, can be likened to the Agency’s Digital Inclusion. The fourth one is the Soft Infrastructure, which is embedded within the Agency’s cybersecurity and Capacity Building pillars. The 5th one is service infrastructure -- that is where we have the government digital services. Then we have the emerging technologies, which you can link with the Capacity Building pillar as well. The rest are more relevant to NCC and other agencies. In 6 out of the 8, NITDA is playing critical roles. So in all, you will observe that the Agency is just to create strategies towards implementing Government’s policy directions. Where do you think this country should be and where is it now, in terms of information technology?

Generally, I would say as a country we are not doing badly in terms of IT. From the global perspective, when you look at Nigeria, where is our place? Is this where we should be? If not, then when are we getting there, we have people like you with brilliant plans? As indicated earlier, at the moment we are not doing badly. We are leading in Africa in the innovation ecosystem. Last year, the African tech ecosystem raised 1.34 billion US dollars, according to Techmate Report. Out of it, Nigeria attracted about 50.5% of that amount, which is over 600 million USD. Also, globally, Nigeria has been on the map of tech innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. And you will recall that in the past two years, global IT players like Mark Zuckerberg visited Nigeria. Also, Nigeria was the first country to have Unicorn in Africa. Jumia was the first Unicorn Company in Africa with modern US dollar valuation. We are not doing badly, but we can do better. We need to carve out our niche so that we can build on that. We need to know our strengths and weaknesses. To achieve that, NITDA, under the leadership of the Honourable Minster Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami who is championing the cause, is partnering with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a programme called MIT REAP (Regional, Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme), which involves helping to identify innovation and entrepreneurship capacity in Nigeria and helping to develop a strategy to strengthen that ecosystem and get the optimal value of that niche they have globally. We started with Abuja and our target is to reflect it in all the states capital in the country. The idea is to create the ecosystem which has since commenced. We have identified key 5 categories of stakeholders, namely: • Universities, which produce the human capital; • Cooperate organizations, which absorb the human capital and buy the product; • Entrepreneurs (can be anyone, students, lecturers etc); • Risk capital, which is needed to help these innovators with seed funds to start because government cannot provide for everyone; and • Government itself: the government is to provide enabling environment, policies and other intervention in the infrastructure but government has no business in business We have started working on some policies with on the first being the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy. The idea is to identify our strengths. One

of the areas we have identified is business process outsourcing. This is a huge market, which India and Bangladesh are currently dominating. If you look at Nigeria, we have more competitive edge to take over that market. We have a better time zone in terms of providing services to American and European companies, and we have a huge English-speaking population. India is running out of English-speaking people. We can leverage on this and leverage on that market segment. When you look at FinTech, Nigeria today is one of the leading countries in the world. Four years ago, when we started the ATM, with the chip, Americans were still using the magnetic type. Already, we are there in FinTech. We want to come up with policies of digital innovation that can help boost that market. I have seen opportunities in that area, but you know it’s beyond NITDA. As a country, we need to agree and carve out our niche and build on it, so that we would be building globally in that aspect.

What is the impact of Corona virus on IT? Has Covid-19 provided an opportunity for speedy growth of information technology or otherwise? On the contrary, I would say it has accelerated it. I remember vividly, before the lockdown, we had plans and were working on how to achieve it within the year, based on the National Digital Economy Policy. But, unexpectedly, the Covid-19 pandemic surfaced. I reached out to my Honourable Minister. After speaking with him, I got some sense of stability. When I asked him how we could meet the targets he gave, considering the lockdown, he said he had done his own part by giving us targets and that we should figure it out (laughs). So I went back and started thinking of what to do. Just a week before, I remembered Microsoft installed Microsoft teams for us

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Interview Our focus is to make Nigeria’s digital ecosystem... he has a business idea or wants to start his own business. We want to harness this capacity using innovation and technology to make Nigeria a startup nation and grow our digital economy contribution more than any other sector. Today agriculture is leading, followed by finance and insurance services, which are highly powered by technology. We are branching into Agriculture as well.

17 to get it free of charge. I called one of my Directors and told him I had a management meeting today using Microsoft teams. He said they just finished installing the facility and wondered how they were going use it. I asked him to go get it ready because we had to use it. There was so much panic. So we set up a committee of experts and invited them for a virtual meeting. We held the first virtual meeting on what to do. We discussed on what to do concerning the economic impact. We gave them a target, but they said they didn’t trust the government. So we asked what they wanted us to do to get their trust. They complained that some technology-enabled service providers locked their warehouses and they couldn’t perform their essential services. I related that to the Honourable Minister, who called the IG and he gave them permits to carry out their essential services. The other start-ups came with their own requests too, and we were able to meet their request within 24 hours. We, however, earned their trust. How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect your growth? It was emerging before the pandemic. We had Digital Economy policies, but we were not using them. The tools were there but most organizations were not using them. We started by using the virtual meetings, which scaled down to meetings with committees. It scaled down to meeting with the Honourable Minister. It challenged innovators to come up with innovations that could help contain the virus. At the end of the challenge, we had 3 start-ups emerging as winners. The first one developed a ventilator. As you can remember, every country was in need of ventilators. We wanted something local. The second one has a decontamination chamber; the third one was MyClinic.ng; because people were afraid of visiting the hospital to avoid contamination. He developed an idea of an app where you can consult a doctor and get prescriptions without physical meeting. We funded the development of the prototype of these projects. As we speak now, the ventilator made is being tested on animals at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital. The one that made the decontamination chamber deployed one here, but he needs to tweak it because it discharges water that gets people wet, and we told him we want a gas form to avoid people getting wet. The third one MyClinic.ng is currently being used in Edo state to consult doctors free of charge. You may also recall that the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy championed the commencement of Virtual Federal Executive Council meetings, thereby ensuring continuation of government business. Now we have virtual commissioning of projects across the country. Considering this emerging trend, if you ask me, the silver lining in this pandemic is virtual technology, because the Nigeria ICT contribution before Covid-19 was a little above 13%, but today is 17.38 % as we speak. What challenges are you facing in discharging your duties to the country My major challenge and part of the things I did was to rebrand the agency -- from its logo, the mission, vision and the core value. This is because most of the staff doesn’t know the mission and vision and they don’t live the core value. That’s why we changed

the core value and made it 3: the first one is people. We need to be customer-centric. We are a government agency, but we provide services to our colleagues in the agencies and the public. So we need to be professional in what we do. If we can be professional as an organization, then we can increase the velocity of doing things in the agency. For me, what I achieved in a week during the lockdown was more than what I achieved in 3 months before it, because it helped me identify people I can go to, to get things done easily than following the bureaucratic structures. Where do we see NITDA under your leadership in the next 3 to 4 years, in terms of effective regulation and also the development? Our vision is to make Digital Economy the highest contributor to Nigeria’s GDP. We are working with different strategies to achieve this. You may recall that in response to an earlier question, I discussed our efforts in business process outsourcing. We have developed the Regulatory Framework and Guideline and on Ecosystem with the Min-

‘

I want to see at the end of my tenure that we have a vibrant ecosystem. That is why we are working around the clock with the ecosystem to help government come up with the right policies

istry to come up with a policy that can help us create an industry. Secondly, we are focusing on the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. As indicated earlier, we are working on this with the Ministry to come up with a policy. We have involved the stakeholders in it and our vision is to identify the strength of every state and build innovation on it. Lagos, for example, has been identified for FinTech. Our vision is to transform Lagos into the world FinTech capital and with the involvement and active support of stakeholders, this vision is realizable. We are also working on identifying Abuja’s strength and building upon it, so that when it comes to that area, it would have a global recognition. We want to put more energy in harnessing the youthful population we have, using their talents and coming up with innovative products and services. We are building IT hubs and innovation and incubation parks across the country. We want to identify at least one in each state whereby we will be sending our startups for training. After training, we put them on internship programmes and provide a startup ventures for them. Those that cannot afford to rent a work office space, we will give them the venture and they would have a working place, meeting room and address to start a business. We don’t just want to train people and leave them. Rather, we want to take them to the market. We will help them, mentor them and accelerate them to develop products and services. And we will help them to market these services to government so that government can buy it from them. That is why we have series of activities innovation challenge programmes. We want to identify, every year, at least 3 areas where we need a groundbreaking solution initiative that can solve a problem in this country. We will work with these startups; help them come up with products and services that can be taken to the market, just like what we did with other innovations -- ventilators, decontamination chamber and the MyClinic.ng app. - we took them to the market. Our own is to create jobs, make Nigeria a startup nation, because we already have this entrepreneurial capability. Nigeria is known globally when it comes to entrepreneurship. An average Nigerian will tell you

What is your motivation coming to work every day? Three things -- firstly my family core values. When I was growing up, my father always told me to be honest, dedicated and committed to whatever I do. I never asked him why, but it’s been in me. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and I have always had a flexible mindset to getting things done. Secondly, I look up to Mr. President and the enormous challenges of leadership. He appointed us to support him in ensuring that Nigerians enjoy the dividends of democracy. You know that there is no better way to facilitate the attainment of this than through IT. Thirdly, I am representing a constituency; that is the youth. The youth are agitating for opportunities to participate in governance. You may recall how the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ campaign started and ended. The campaign resulted into the Bill being passed at the National Assembly and on the 31st May, 2018, Mr. President signed the Bill into Law. I see my appointment as an opportunity for us to show our people that we can perform. If I fail, people would not say Kashifu has failed, they would say the youths have failed. Whatever has a beginning has an end. After the job here, what legacy would you want to leave behind in NITDA and the National Economy at large? For NITDA, the first day I met with my staff as DG, what I promised them was to make NITDA a smart organization. I came from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the way we dress, look, the environment was totally different from how NITDA was as at that time. So we have started, and within a year, we were able to put up this structure. This structure was not here at about this time last year. We put up the structure and renovated the old one. We are changing mindsets. I want to make NITDA a fore thinking organization. I want to leave an organization where everybody will be happy to come and work, a conducive environment, an organization using technology. We are getting there at the agency. We started with the mindset of the people. We are changing the culture and we are starting our new building, hopefully this year. For the country, we want to make the digital innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem the most vibrant sector in the country’s economy. The Ministry has started by having the ‘digital economy’ added to its name. Before, we saw ICT and technology as just a tool, when the ICT was just a means to an end, the end is the economic value. We use technology as a productivity tool to do our work, but technology is not what we need -- it is the end value; how efficiently we deliver the work and that can be translated to the bottom line which is the economy we are talking about. I want to see at the end of my tenure that we have a vibrant ecosystem. That is why we are working around the clock with the ecosystem to help government come up with the right policies. And I have the 100% support of my Honourable Minister. We are always on the same page and with his help I am hoping we will achieve a lot within 3 years.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

AGRIBUSINESS

In association with

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Why Nigeria must bridge infrastructural gaps to aid food production JOSEPHINE OKOJIE

s Nigeria makes efforts to ensure that agriculture plays a key role in its quest for revenue diversification, stakeholders in the sector have charged the Federal G over n m ent to b r i dg e infrastructural gaps to aid agribusiness development in the country and ensure food security. Indubitably, some of t h e g re at e s t p ro b l e m s confronting rural farmers and communities in Nigeria are the absence of critical infrastructures such as motorable roads, storage facilities, and irrigation facilities among others. Farmers continue to suffer low levels of agricultural productivity due to infrastructural deficit across the country, which reduces their profit and impact on their capacity to increase productivity. The provision of critical infrastructure is a prerequisite for enabling Nigeria to stimulate economic growth and to reach the targets for economic diversification and food security. Obiora Madu, former chairman, export group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said that Nigeria does not have an effective agricultural infrastructure, stating that the country’s export drive can only be successful with adequate infrastructural facilities such as storage, good road networks amongst others, stressing that the lack

of it has made the cost of food production higher. “The costs of logistics are also very high. It is cheaper to transport a commodity to Europe than to transport the same commodity within the country,” Madu said. After a few days of heavy rainfalls, most farming areas and markets become impassable and this has continued to impact negatively on the prices of food items across the country. Samson Akwah, organising secretary-yam section, Mile 12 market said that the cost of transporting yam tubers using a Mercedes Bens truck (911) from the middle belt region to Lagos has increased from N350, 000 to N700, 000 due to the bad state of road infrastructures. Despite Nigeria ranks top

in the production of some crops, the infrastructures needed to store the excesses are lacking. According to Abiodun Olorundenro, manager, Aqua Shoots, the problem with Nigeria agriculture is infrastructure, stating that the countr y is growing enough to feed its people but most of what is grown often rots in the field because it is difficult to move them easily from the farms and the facilities to store them are lacking. “ We c a n o n l y f e e d ourselves when the infrastructures needed to boost productivity across the value chain are there. We can even move our foods from the farm to the market easily,” Olorundenro said. He stated that developing

agriculture is very critical in the country’s efforts to diversify, which he said can only be achieved when heavy investments are made in infrastructures. Investments in t h e c o u n t r y ’s p r i m a r y agricultural infrastructures will help integrate poorer sections of the population into a sustainable process of economic growth and development, experts say. In turn, this will reduce poverty by providing jobs, directly and indirectly, that will serve as a stimulus to the economy and the agricultural sector. Nigeria’s population is fast rising and it’s growing at an annual rate of 3.1 percent, therefore the need to bridge infrastructural gaps is necessary for food security and economic growth.

Boosting rubber production will create 68,000 jobs - Igbinosun MIKE ABANG CALABAR

eter Igbinosun, national president of Rubber Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NARPPMAN) has said that the country can generate 68,000 jobs from rubber production. He says with the necessary support to boosting farmers’ production of the crop, Nigeria can provide jobs for its teeming youths population through the sector. “Our association can provide 52,000 direct and 16,000 indirect employments. It will open up rubber industrialization in the states through establishment of factories and cottage industries,” he said. “This will further open up opportunities for more employment and economic empowerment,” he said. He noted that the rubber industry has not been given the necessary attention by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and appeal for collaborations. “As concerned operators and contributors to the development of the nation’s economy, we wish to draw the attention of NDDC to the development of rubber and its value chain in the Niger Delta Region,” he stated. “As one of the country’s cash crops that have over 50 by-products, its values cut across all sectors of the economy, a foreign exchange earner, a contributor to the country’s GDP and a massive employer of labour,” he added. According to him, rubber is also an environmentally friendly crop, an

internationally sought after non-perishable commodity. He revealed that the history channel, model marvel series, rated rubber a s t h e w o r l d ’s f o u r t h most important national resource after air, water, and petroleum. “It is a strategic material because it cannot be replaced by synthetic rubber in most important applications,” he said. He lamented that despite the foregoing attributes and the premium that highly industrialized nations placed on this time tested natural raw materials, our governments have by an act of omission or commission paid less emphasis to its development. “The overt neglect of this sub-sector notwithstanding its important contributions to our economy has become worrisome,” he said. He says 85 percent of the country’s total production c o m e s f ro m t h e Nig e r Delta Region and most of the factories for rubber production also located in the region. “The presence of Agro Rubber – multinational c o m p a n i e s - Mi c h e l i n Plantations, now Rubber Estates Nigeria Limited, Pamol Ltd, Enghaut Plantation Ltd, Okomu rubber Plantation, Royal Farms and Estates Ltd, and Imoniyamen Holdings Ltd among others are all located in this region,” he said. Explaining further he stated that most of the plantations were planted in the early sixties by the defunct eastern region and are no longer economically viable due to old age and outdated clones.

Kwara commits to food security, zero hunger SIKIRAT SHEHU, ILORIN

h e Kw a r a s t a t e government says it’s putting various measures in place and collaborating with different stakeholders to ensure food security and zero hunger targets in the state. Speaking at a food summit organised to commemorate the 2020 World Food Day last Friday in the state, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, Kwara state Governor listed steps taken to serve as a guide towards attaining food security and zero hunger as well as the proposed Agricultural Transformation

Plan to boost farmers’ productivity. “This year’s programme is another opportunity to rededicate ourselves to improve agricultural productivity and agribusinesses that will reduce food importation, enhance the local economy, and create a sustainable livelihood and food security for the people,” he said. “All of these would be made possible with the support of all stakeholders in the state, including the Kwara Agriculture Network which is our partner in the Zero Hunger Kwara Project,” he further said. He says his administration www.businessday.ng

has taken deliberate efforts to boost agro productivity in the state, adding that farmers were provided support in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have paid counterpart funds of N200m for the World Bank RAAMP project to ensure that several farming communities are connected with good roads. Between 500 and 600 rural roads would be fixed under the scheme,” he said. Abdulrazaq noted that the state keyed into the Federal Government’s National Livestock Transformation program and met the criteria of the AfDB to be among

the hub of Special Agroprocessing Zones in Nigeria (SAPZ). “We have enrolled in the World Bank CARES and APPEALS programme to support rural livelihoods. “Our administration has also facilitated the participation of commodity associations such as Maize Farmers Association to access loan facilities from CBN. We have also recently distributed 25,000 of cocoa seedlings to support our farmers,” he added. Abdulrazaq added that at least 5,000 women in the state will benefit from the CBN Noiler chicken

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empowerment programme. “We are also working out a partnership with the FrieslandCampina Wamco to develop our dairy sector,” he added. Muritala Olanrewaju, Commissioner for Agriculture appreciated t h e o r g a n i s e r s ( Kw a ra Agricultural Network) for a carefully-chosen theme ‘Grow, Nourish, Prosper together’ which aligns with the present administration’s policy on food and nutrition in the country. Also speaking, A b d u l Q o w i y O l o d o d o, technical assistant to the Governor on Agriculture, @Businessdayng

explained that the event was part of the government’s actions aimed at promoting food security, food safety, and achieve zero hunger in the state. Collaborating with the state government, Kwara Agriculture Network organised the event to promote food security. Panellists at the event i n c l u d e d O l aj i d e Aja o (Prof), from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho; Achebe Paul from the Union Bank; Jamila Bio-Ibrahim (Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals; and Nasir AbdulQadir.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

FINANCIAL INCLUSION

& INNOVATION

Retail-Payment Solutions are ‘’having a moment’’ and transforming E-commerce JADESOLA OPAWUMI

he last few months have become a landmark for shifting cons u m e r b e h av i o u r s and as the pandemic is catalyzing change. Nigerians who used to be sceptical about online shopping and payments are increasingly adjusting to their new normal. Categories such as generators, Smart TVs, Washing Machine and laptops picked up serious steam as consumers adjusted to stay-at-home conditions. As consumer shopping behaviours are evolving, retailers are investing in e-commerce and flexible payment methods to access new markets and improve customer experience. Though online shopping and instalment payments are nothing new, the pandemic has amplified their use to empower consumers to buy what they need and help retailers grow their sales. Fintechs such as Paystack and Flutterwave recently launched retail solutions to help retailers easily set up their e-commerce stores and collect payments online. The solutions are simple enough that retailers who are not necessarily tech-savvy can create their online store straight from the app and the best part is that it’s free to use. There has also been a new wave

of retail-payment innovation in instalment payments, known as buy now, pay later or BNPL. While BNPL service was more popular with in-store retail, providers are beginning to branch out to e-commerce. Fintechs like Payqart and Credpal are redefining instalment payment through check-out financing for online shopping. In a BNPL transaction, a shopper making an online purchase can set up instalments, such as six equal monthly payments at the time of checkout. The BNPL

provider then screens the shopper and arranges for a lender to originate the loan and assume the risk. Once approved, the customer gets the product upfront and makes payment in convenient monthly instalments. The whole process could take between 24-48hours. With the recent devaluation of the naira and scarcity of products as a result of reduced importation, prices of goods in the market are skyrocketing. Reduced purchasing power due to economic downturn and aggravated by this pandemic

is likely to push more consumers and retailers to consider instalment payment plans, which is beneficial to both parties. With this option, consumers can buy what they need and free up their cash flow for other expenses while retailers stand a chance to grow their sales. Now BNPL transactions are not void of risks. The lenders providing the financing and not the retailer usually bears the risk. During a recession like this, lenders have to be very thorough with their bor-

rower selection criteria especially since the payment plan appeals to consumers across the credit spectrum; both those with good credit history and those with less-thanstellar credit history. Although BNPL transactions have a slightly different risk profile than regular personal loans, the provider may request for up to 30% down payment and also collateralize the assets being financed. This means that ownership of the asset resides with the BNPL or financial provider even though the asset will be in the possession of the consumer. Ownership will only revert to the consumer after completion of payment. The success of an instalment payment plan in this era therefore hinges on making responsible approval decisions. Consumers are looking to pay for things in a smarter way that lets them manage their finances; BNPL plans may just be the relief that will take some sting out of this economic downturn. Jadesola Opawumi is a 3rdtime startup founder with expertise in the E-commerce and Fintech Space. She currently serves as the Co-founder/CEO at PayQart and Spredda. Before founding these startups, I was the head of Consumer Banking & Specialized products at Addosser Microfinance Bank.

FirstBank deepens financial inclusion drive, disburses N17bn loans through FirstAdvance ENDURANCE OKAFOR

ustomers of First of Bank Nigeria Ltd have been able to access over N17billion worth of loans through the bank’s FirstAdvance, a digital lending solution, as compiled from the tier-one bank. According to the lender, FirstAdvance is designed to offer convenient and easy access to cash for salary earners whose accounts are domiciled with First-

Bank and have received regular salaries for two months, before the loan request. In barely a year since the launch of FirstAdvance, over 128,000 unique customers in over 782,996 successful transactions have so far benefitted from loans. Meanwhile, the World Bank believes financial inclusion does not only end with having access to financial services but being able to access credit. Data by EFInA shows about 40 million Nigerians are outside the formal financial

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system, a barrier that is constraining many from accessing loans. Explaining how FirstAdvance works, FirstBank said: “Processing a loan with FirstAdvance is implemented in less than a minute and it is accessed in two ways, the USSD code; *894*11# or the Bank’s recently upgraded mobile banking application, FirstMobile”. Further to its pursuit of providing options to Nigerians across all income bands, FirstBank also offers Personal Loan Against Salary (PLAS) to individuals in

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paid employment who need long term loan to meet their financial obligation more especially as the economy returns to normalcy post-COVID-19 pandemic and as schools resume. FirstBank’s Personal Loan guarantees a convenient repayment plan of up to 60 months. According to Gbenga Shobo, FirstBank’s Deputy Managing Director, meeting the needs of “our customers have always been our priority and we are delighted with the volume of loans disbursed

@Businessdayng

to Nigerians as it reinforces the confidence of Nigerian workers in FirstAdvance, our digital lending solution and also our long-term offerings through Personal Loans for people in paid employment.” The deputy MD explained that the bank is excited that its FirstAdvance has been added to the channels through which the bank is “deepening financial inclusion as it is no doubt an expansion of our commitment and support to every household in the country”.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

MARITIMEBUSINESS SHIPPING

LOGISTICS

Kano Inland Port: Gov. Ganduje seeks port of origin status, rail line extension …As Shippers’ Council assures on December target to obtain approval AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

ollowing the importance of Dala Inland Dry Port to Kano’s economy and that of its neigbouring states, the Kano State Government has called on Federal Ministry of Transport through the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), to facilitate the approval and declaration of the Inland Port as a Port of Origin and Destination. Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who made the request in Lagos at the weekend during an official visit to Hassan Bello, executive secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, also called on the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to extend its rail line to the dry port in order to facilitate seamless cargo evacuation from the port. “We also want Shipper’s Council to ensure the cooperation and collaboration between shipping lines and their agents with the Inland Port to allow seamless flow

of both import and export cargoes; the actualisation of the Inland Port as a transport and logistics Free Zone as well as the linkages and access to markets in the Sahel African countries particularly Chad and Niger Republics,” the governor solicited. According to him, the state would exploit all the opportunities offered by the Port to aggressively grow exports in order to boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange in addition to growing Kano States internally generated revenue. While appreciating the effort of Shippers’ Council in actualisation of the project, Gov. Ganduje said the state government is fully committed to supporting the realisation of the Port, which will facilitate efficient handling of import and export cargoes from the state. “The Kano State Government under my watch had provided the 200 hectares of virgin land free of encumbrances required for the two integrated projects, the Inland Dry Port and Special

Economic Zone; critical infrastructure required for the project including construction of standard dual carriage access road, provision of power and water to the project site among others,” he said. Earlier in his welcome, Hassan Bello, who acknowledged that the Inland Port has enjoyed the support of the state government which recently invested over N2.4 billion in development of infrastructure, assured that the Council is perfecting plans to ensure that the Port project would get Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) approval before December. According to him, Nigeria has to get ready to receive and utilise the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), which is expected to expand the size of African economy by $29 trillion in 2050, cover more than 1.2 billion people across 54 countries and generate over $3 billion in GDP. Stating that it is not population or

size that would make Nigeria to benefit from the ACFTA, Bello said that the country can only benefit from opportunities provided by the ACFTA depending on how far it has gone in building infrastructure and industries at state levels. Bello further said that the Kano Inland Port would be a transit port that would connect landlocked countries of Niger Republic, Chad, Northern Cameroon and other Sahel African countries. He however implored the concessionaire on the need to operate a modern dry port with electronic gate, good access roads devoid of gridlock, short delivery time for cargo, 24-hours port operation and multimodal approach to cargo delivery among others. Emmanuel Onwodi, representative of Chidi Izuwah, director general of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) assured the state government that the commission would work with Shippers Council to get FEC approval for the Inland Port.

L-R: Hassan Bello, executive secretary/CEO, Nigerian Shippers’ Council; Ibraheem Olugbade, executive director, SIFAX Off Dock; John Jenkins, managing director, Ports & Cargo Handling Services Limited, a subsidiary of SIFAX Group and Abdullahi Ganduje, Governor of Kano State during an assessment tour of Ports & Cargo Handling Services Limited, a subsidiary of SIFAX Group by the governor at the Tin-Can Island Port, Apapa, Lagos at the weekend.

MARITIME e-COMMERCE

Gulf of Guinea records 40% surge in number of kidnappings at sea - IMB report

…As IMB commends Nigerian Navy, NIMASA for timely information shore also involved the most crew kidnapped from a single vessel in 2020. On 17 July 2020, eight pirates armed with machine guns boarded a product tanker underway around 196 nautical miles southwest of Bayelsa, Nigeria. They held all 19 crewmembers hostage, stole ship’s documents and valuable items, and escaped with 13 kidnapped crews. The tanker was left drifting with limited and unqualified navigational and engine crew onboard until a nearby merchant vessel later helped the tanker to sail to a safe port. IMB further stated that regional Authorities were notified and the 13 kidnapped crewmembers were released safely one month later. On 8 September 2020, armed pirates attacked a refrigerated cargo ship underway around 33 nautical miles south-southwest of Lagos, Nigeria, and two crewmembers were kidnapped, but the rest of the crew managed to retreat into the citadel – one of the industry’s recommended best practices endorsed by IMB. It was learnt that a Nigerian naval team was dispatched, who boarded, conducted a search, and then escorted the ship to a safe anchorage for investigations. The IMB piracy report gave a special thanks to the Nigerian Authorities, particularly the Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) who ‘continue to provide timely information, actions and valuable cooperation between Agencies’. Howlett said the IMB PRC has always believed in the power of sharing and exchanging information: “Understanding the true risk in the area is an important step towards improving safety for all seafarers. IMB PRC not only relays reports to appropriate response agencies and broadcasts incident information to ships via GMDSS, but also use the reported statistics to raise awareness of these crimes and be a catalyst of change.”

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

he International Maritime Bureau (IMB) figures has seen a rise in piracy and armed robbery on the world’s seas in the first nine months of 2020, with a 40 percent increase in the number of kidnappings reported in the Gulf of Guinea West African waters - compared with the same period in 2019. According to the report, pirates armed with guns and knives were abducting bigger groups of seafarers at further distances off the West African coast. The report disclosed that there have been 132 attacks since the start of 2020, up from 119 incidents in the same period last year. Of the 85 seafarers kidnapped from their vessels and held for ransom, 80 were taken in the Gulf of Guinea – and 14 attacks were reported off Nigeria, Benin, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Ghana. In the period under review, seafarers reported 134 cases of assault, injury and threats, including 85 crewmembers being kidnapped and 31 held hostage onboard their ships. A total of 112 vessels were boarded, six were fired upon, while 12 reported attempted attacks. Two fishing vessels were hijacked, both in the Gulf of Guinea. “Crews are facing exceptional pressures due to the outbreak of Covid-19, and the risk of violent piracy or armed robbery is an extra stress. While IMB liaises with authorities swiftly in case of a pirate attack, we encourage all coastal states and regional co-operations to take responsibility for ensuring maritime security within their Exclusive Economic Zone to achieve safer seas and secure trade,” said Michael Howlett, director of IMB. With approximately 95 percent of global kidnappings reported from within Gulf of Guinea waters, IMB warns that pirate gangs in the area are ‘well organised and targeting all vessel types over a wide range’. The furthest attack from

University of Port Harcourt appoints NIMASA DG as chairman of CELTRAS

he University of Port Harcourt has announced the appointment of Bashir Jamoh, director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), as chairman of the Governing Board of the institution’s Centre for Logistics and Transport Studies. According to a letter signed

by Stephen Okodudu, Vice Chancellor of the university, Jamoh was chosen by virtue of his position as director-general of NIMASA, and his outstanding contributions to national development. Jamoh, an alumnus of the university, was requested to assume office as the new chairman of the 10 member Governing Board of the Centre www.businessday.ng

for Logistics and Transport Studies, University of Port Harcourt, which would be inaugurated at a later date. In his acceptance remarks, Jamoh expressed his appreciation to the University, describing the recognition as an encouragement to do more for the improvement of the nation’s transportation sector. “I appreciate this recogni-

tion by my great alma mater. It is a huge honour to me, the Agency, and the entire transport and logistics community. This appointment is a great spur for me to work hard to not only elevate the position of the Centre for Logistics and Transport Studies, but to also improve transportation, generally, at this critical moment in our national development,” he said.

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The Centre for Logistics and Transport Studies, University of Port Harcourt, was established in 2012 as a foremost institution for logistics/supply chain and transport management in Nigeria. The Governing Board is charged with the responsibility of identifying and developing strategies for the growth of the Centre. Other members of the @Businessdayng

Board are managing director/ CEO, Delta Marine Limited; representative of the Minister of Transportation; representative of the Rivers State Commissioner for Transport; representative of the Corps Marshal/CEO, Federal Road Safety Corps; national executive director, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Nigeria, and among others.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

TRANSPORTation Motoring

RailBusiness

ModernTravel

Roads

30 start-ups for ‘’Smarter Mobility Africa Live’’ summit

FG charges CCECC on rail template handover on project completion

MIKE OCHONMA Associate Editor

other contractor understand your in case there is a need for repair”. At the recent inspection visit by the transportation minister, he also reminded the Chinese contractor that, the federal government is concerned on the need to utilize the country’s local content in the construction of the standard gauge rail lines on the ground that it meets the standard quality including the major and minor stations that are 10 in total which are under various stages of completion. Responding to complaint made by the Chinese contractor, on the poor quality of some local content, Amaechi placed emphasis on safety, speed and quality as the guide for the project, urging the contractors to ensure completion of the stations before the set date. According to the minister, “We want you to patronize our local products but that doesn’t mean you should give us something below standard and quality. Do whatever it would take you to deliver the best. Our

For Kajola station, the minister has asked the architect to ensure the construction of an easy route to enable easy accesse to the rail station. He was reacting to the complexities associated with accessibility into the station On local content, Fidet Okhiria, managing director of Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) said the construction of all rail slippers would be with with concrete slippers that are locally sourced, while other equipment, concrete mixer, the technology, and some of the things used for the slippers can be imported. Responding to the challenges of community dwellers on the likelihood of erosion caused by the rail line and the difficulty in crossing the rail line, Ibrahim Alhassan Musa, chairman of the board of NRC said the corporation would work in collaboration with the state government to provide optimal location where people can cross. “We would ensure the construction of over passes and under passes where necessary”, he noted.

all for participation of startups in “Smarter Mobility Africa Live” slated to hold next week Tuesday has kicked-off in a move to explore workable alternatives to the mobility needs of people living on the continent. The Smarter Mobility Africa Live summit will be held from October 27 to 29 on the online platform dedicated to the programme. Registration on the summit platform closed yesterday. This year’s Smarter Mobility Africa Live summit will bring together more than 50 speakers that will be converging to discuss intelligent mobility solutions in Africa, such as walking, cycling, shared transport, public transport and electric vehicles. The ultimate goal is to consolidate efforts to transition to smarter mobility across the continent. It is a showcase for Af-

igeria’s minister of transportation, Rotimi Ameachi has urged the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) contractors handling the $1.5 billion Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail project to provide the program of work, action plan, equipments schedule and chart for installation which are necessary documents that would enable Nigerians run the station effectively without the help of the Chinese contractors. In thw submission of the minister, “It is composry you provide the program of work, action plan, equipments schedule and chart for installation. We don’t want a situation where everything about the rail is tied to you even after the contract. You are to provide the necessary documents that would enable any

major aim is to deliver a quality product that would withstand the test of time. We don’t want the job to be found wanting even after 10 years.” During the project inspection, Amaechi expressed concern over the protracted delays on some of the stations urging the contractor to do everything possible to meet the December delivery deadline. On the security of the Lagos Ibadan rail line, the minister said, it is very expensive to fence, but attention would be focused on critical areas along the corridor that would require fencing where necessary. On project performance evaluation, Rotimi Amaechi stated that CCECC have done well but he reminded the contractors that, the contract agreement was that delivery of the minor stations should be by end of October and November, for Ibadan Abeokuta while Ebutte-Metta junction linking the Apapa seaport is slated for completion by December this year.

MIKE OCHONMA and GIFT WADA, Abuja

rican start-ups operating in the intelligent mobility sector. The nuggets will have the opportunity to present their intelligent mobility solutions to decision-makers in the sector, investors and the media. The selection of the start-ups will be made by the high-tech company Generation.e, in partnership with Arigo Investments Africa, a consulting and Investment Company. It will be through a competition. Among the successful applicants, 30 start-ups

will be offered a free virtual exhibition stand at the Smarter Mobility Africa Live 2020 Summit; as well as free tickets and marketing benefits. “15 of the 30 start-ups will have the opportunity to showcase their solutions on the main stage during the event,” say the programme managers. The 30 selected companies must be between 0 and 3 years old and based in one of the 54 African countries. In addition, they must present projects that address at least one of the mobility challenges

identified by the organisers of the Smarter Mobility Africa Live summit, including reducing carbon emissions, reducing air pollution, reducing mobility congestion; and improving access to mobility. The event is supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the National Automobile Manufacturers Association of South Africa (NAAMSA), the auto company AutoTrader and the Department of Roads and Transport of Gauteng Province in South Africa.

Searchlight into Toyota Celica at 50, 7 generations after MIKE OCHONMA

ver since the demise of the 7th Celica in 2006, there have been rumours that Toyota would eventually revive the name, be it for a new sports car or a different model altogether like, say, a crossover. However, ove 14 years have passed since the last Celica rolled off the assembly line in Japan, and it is clear by now that, the automaker has no intention of making another one, at least for the time being. Here is a look back at the sports coupe history since 1970. TA22: 1970-1977. Built on the same platform as the Carina sedan, the first-gen Celica, whose name is derived from the Spanish word “celestial” (heavenly), had independent front and rear suspension and rear-wheel drive. Power came from a series of reliable four-cylinder engines, with 1.4, 1.6, 1.9, 2.0 and 2.2 liters in displacement, coupled to a four or a five-speed manual transmission or a three-speed automatic. First units were shipped to Europe in 1971, and the range was topped by the Celica GT the following year, which

had a 1.6 engine with two overhead camshafts and two double carburetors. Facelifted iteration came out in 1976, with a liftback body style added to the range and the 2000GT spec, as a reference to the model bearing the same name from 1965. TA40: 1977-1981. The second-gen came out towards the end of 1977, in two-door coupe and liftback body styles, and as a convertible produced by Tropic under the Celica Sunchaser nameplate. This iteration retained the front-engine and rear-wheel drive layout, and was offered with an even more diverse powertrain lineup, consisting of four-pot units, two fivespeed manual transmissions and two automatics, a threespeeder and a four-speeder. TA60: 1981-1985. Donning the first Japanese highwww.businessday.ng

volume 16-valve engine under the long hood, the third-gen came out in 1981, in three body styles: two-door coupe, two-door convertible and three-door liftback. Engine lineup was even more generous and, depending on the chosen powertrain, customers had to make do with either a four-speed automatic or a five-speed manual gearbox. Those wanting a more powerful variant could order the Celica Supra 2.8i, which had a 170 PS (168 HP / 125 kW) six-cylinder engine. TA160: 1985-1989.For the fourth generation, Toyota retained the three body styles and the front-engine, rearwheel drive layout, but added a four-wheel drive version, the Celica GT-Four. The rallyspec model catapulted the automaker to a series of WRC victories and made the sports car even more popular.

TA180: 1989-1993. The rallying success was continued by the fifth-gen, which won three WRC drivers’ and two manufacturers’ titles between 1992 and 1994. This new iteration continued to be offered with fourwheel drive in the GT-Four, but switched to a front-biased allwheel drive system, whereas the lesser variants came solely with front-wheel drive. TA2000: 1993-1999. Perhaps one of the most famous Celicas out there, the sixthgen was front-wheel drive too, or four-wheel drive in the GT-Four, had a four-speed automatic or a five-speed manual transmission and a selection of four-cylinder engines. Besides the usual two-door coupe, it was also sold in the two-door convertible and three-door liftback body styles. TA230: 1999-2006. Sold solely as a three-door liftback, the last Celica was based on Toyota’s MC platform that was shared with a lot of models, including the Corolla, Prius and RAV4. It also come with front-wheel drive, had a choice of just two engines and three transmissions, two manuals with five and six speeds, and an automatic with four speeds.

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Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

TRANSPORTation Motoring

RailBusiness

ModernTravel

Business Event

Roads

‘Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri rail project presents huge potentials for economic growth’ MIKE OCHONMA AND GIFT WADA, Abuja

he Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri rail line, a critical rail line for the import and export trade has been envisaged to boost economic growth in the Southeast, South South and North Central due to its proximity to the Warri port and production companies. According to Fidet Okhiria, managing director, Nigeria Railway Corporation, , the rail line which commenced operation last week Thursday. The corridor referred to as the central railway line, has 13 coaches, 3 locomotives that carries 22 wagons each was originally intended for the transportation of iron ore to Ajaokuta, Kogi, and Aladja steel rolling mills and transport processed steel to Warri

service. In 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari announced the funding of the ItakpeWarri rail line at a cost estimate of $200 million equivalent to N72 billion. The project was re-awarded to three construction firms. They are Julius Berger, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, (CCECC), and ZTE. A total 12 new stations were proposed between Itakpe and Warri in a new arrangement broken into two stations between Itakpe and Ajaokuta while the remaining 10 would stretch between Ajaokuta and Warri. These include Itakpe, Eganiy, Adobe, Itogbo, Agenebode, Uromi, Egehen, Igbanke, Agbor, Abraka, Okpara and Ujewu stations. According to the president, projections indicate that the commencement of operation of the Itakpe-

massive vandalisation, before it was resuscitated by the Buhari administration. “There is no loan on this project, it was funded from the budget and I had the directive of the President to go and revive it and complete it as soon as possible”. The minister said. Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state who was present at the inauguration of the rail station, appealed to the federal government to extend the rail line to the industrial park in Benin City to facilitate the movement of goods to the northern part of the country. Delta state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa during his remark, urged government in collaboration with the states to provide adequate security cover for the rail line corridor. Okowa also urged the private sector to take advantage of the historic corridor by establishing investments that

L-R: Femi Olubanwo, vice president, Igbobi College Old Boys Association, (ICOBA); Bode Thorpe, chairman, board of trustees, ICOBA; Aderemi Esan, member, board of trustees, ICOBA; Kehinde Smith, chairman, board of governors, Igbobi College; Foluso Phillips, past president, ICOBA, and Olumuyiwa Kinoshi (sitting), president, ICOBA, at the annual general meeting of the association in Lagos.

L-R: Deepanjan Roy, managing director, Chi Limited; Adeniji Fatima Adejoke, principal Dietitian/Nutritionist, National Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi, and Toyin Nnodi, marketing director, Chi Limited, during the celebration of the 2020 Chivita World Juice Day event.

port in Delta State. The project started under the military era of Ibrahim Babangida in 1987 and was initially planned to be delivered in five years, however, after about 254 kilometres had been constructed was abandoned for over 30 years due to paucity of funds In 2009, the administration of Good luck Jonathan approved N33bn for the redesign and completion of the remaining 22 kilometres and contract awarded to Team Nigeria and Julius Berger plc. Project was meant to be delivered in March 2013. The new construction contract covered other areas. They include the construction of the sidings of the Ajaokuta-Warri rail line up to Delta Steel Aladja, the construction of six stations, and the rehabilitation of the completed and vandalized portion of the line. The railway line which connects three states: Kogi, Edo, and Delta states and lately, the FCT, Abuja, was originally conceived as a cargo rail but was later redesigned to provide passenger

Ajaokuta-Warri Rail line will account for close to one million passengers annually and also unleash approximately 3.5 million tonnes capacity of freight annually that will service all off-takers on the corridor and beyond. Buhari speaking virtually at the inauguration directed the federal ministry of transportation to link all the nation’s ports of origin and destination including Apapa, Tin-Can, Warri, Onne and Calabar seaports to the rail network in order to significantly improve overall transportation and economic capacities. However, the management of the NRC revealed that the extension of the rail line to Warri and Abuja is already ongoing. Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, speaking at the official inauguration of the project for commercial use, revealed that the rail line is fully funded by the federal government. He explained that the project at the inception underwent protracted hiccups, prolonged abandonment, and

will create jobs for locals, curb youth restiveness and stem the tide of criminality. On the significance of the railline, a rail operation expert, Christian Aondover Madza, noted that the rail line, which was long awaited for, would ease transportation of cement, steel and Agricultural produce to the northan part of the country and as well improve the country’s economy as it would generate employment and business opportunities. “In terms of manufacturing, moving of commercial goods and other trade activities along that side, it will increase the per capital income of Nigeria because there would be that general addition to our internally generated revenue” Madza noted that if the Warri’s port starts functioning optimally, the region would experience more settlement as most Lagosians would have an alternative business arena. He further envisage that the area would experience development as companies and business initiatives would spring up

L-R: Abubakar Muhammad, Amir,1Ummah Convention; Abdul Fatah Adeyemi, life coach; Kabirah Kafidipe, movie producer, and Rizqah Sodique-Lasaki, during the movie premiere of ‘A date with Asmau’ in Lagos.

L-R: Shobowale Babatunde, 1st vice president, Ikorodun Metropolitan Lions Club; Akamo Lookman, past president; Okon Matilda; Oduguwa Iyabo; Oseni Fausat; Adefunke Esan, club president; Aluko Kayode, past president; Iwatuje Sunday and Olaniyan Folake, ( all are beneficiaries of eye glasses); Oredipe Tunji, Club service chairperson, all at the club project to observe the World Sight Day held at Ikorodun

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

interview ‘To change the narrative of paper packaging industry requires innovation, technology’ Corporate paper packaging industry across Africa is taking a new growth dimension backed by technology and innovation. FUNLAYO BAKARE OKEOWO, managing director, FAE Limited, in this interview with KELECHI EWUZIE speaks on the strides the company has made in pushing envelope manufacturing and customization across the country. She also speaks about plans for more collaboration via African Continental Free Trade Agreements to guarantee safety of confidential documents for corporate entities across the continent. EXCERPT:

s a company that has operated for over three decades? What are some of the success stories that have made you stay above competitors? I will ascribe the success story of FAE to the zeal of the management team towards embracing innovation and technology. Prior to now, many believe that paper envelope must tear; but with our latest innovative products, we have changed the narrative of paper packaging with our tear resistance, water and tamper proof envelopes proudly manufactured in Nigeria with the finest technology. Tamper proof envelopes are ideal for security documents for banks, law firms, election materials, examination materials, forensic evidence materials etc. We do not take this feat for granted as FAE Limited is the only indigenous manufacturer who offers such product and a range of other unique paper packaging products in the whole of West Africa. FAE Limited has managed to retain its leader title in the industry, due to her penchant for excellence, innovation and customer satisfaction. Moreso, with the premium services we offer in the paper packaging sector, FAE Limited conveniently compete with global brands offering clients within Nigerian and beyond the best of paper packaging products. We also pride ourselves in manufacturing products that covey style, professionalism and guarantee safety for all our customers. For you to come this far, you must have had some ups and downs in the journey. Was there any point in time when you felt like quitting? Any regrets being where you find yourself as a company? There is no human endeavor that is devoid of challenges. My personal resolve has always been to face challenges squarely and overcome it. I have never and will never entertain the idea of quitting in the face of obstacles because this disposition can be demoralizing and harmful to the health. Ultimately, my default response to challenging situations is to embrace changes and make good use of the opportunities that lies in wait for me. To the Glory of God, FAE Limited grew from a humble beginning as a stationery merchant to a full blown manufacturing concern with million-dollar investment in state of the art equipment. So far we have no regrets but testimony of how we daily satisfy our clients with the best of paper packaging products in the last 40years. Increasingly, technology is narrowing the space for professional practices across all sectors with its disruptive impact. How true is this? How prepared are you as a

chief executive officer of a company for this new normal going forward? Technology is good because it makes running a business easier. Albeit, I strongly believe in the envelope manufacturing business because technology growth or not some documents are best dispatched in an envelope. It is given that technology plays a key role in development, nonetheless, it is advisable not to follow technology blindly but strategically. Communication through electronic mails may be the trend but that should not hamper hardcopy approach to sending letters or confidential documents as we must imbibe a culture that encourages the survival of the paper manufacturing sector. Also, balance has to be created as there is need for consideration of people who prefer their communication in hard copy and others who have little or no access to internet for accessing online information. Hence our message has been for Government to ensure there is balance in our adoption of what technology has to offer. For instance, Royal Mail in England is about the biggest money making avenue for the British government, the same goes for the Canadian posts and that of America. if these countries had brushed hardcopy aside or brushed posting letters aside, will their post offices thrive? As Nigeria daily embraces digitization, our recommendation is for it not to be used at the detriment of paper based communication. Coronavirus pandemic has www.businessday.ng

greatly impacted organizations globally, is this in any way impacting operations of your company. What measures have been put in place to overcome these challenges? The Corona virus pandemic dealt a huge blow on a number of businesses and many have sort ways to re-strategize having evaluated the impact of the pandemic on their business. As a company, we had to totally shut down operations in the peak of the pandemic. But with the easing of lockdown, the company started with about 20 percent production personnel. Later 50 percent after ensuring necessary precautionary measures are being put in place to curtail the spread of the virus while adhering strictly to NCDC and WHO guidelines. Even presently, we are not yet operating at 100 percent staff capacity as we wish to take everything in steps to prevent putting the lives of our staff and customers at risk. It may interest you to note that FAE during the lockdown ensured members of staff were paid their salaries and made sure no one was sacked during the period we didn’t produce. How would you assess the corporate paper packaging industry in Nigeria? How would you score its performance? Corporate paper packaging industry in Nigeria is performing relatively well, but the industry has a major challenge in the sense that government is not paying the needed attention to the paper industry in Nigeria. A country like

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Egypt has over 25 paper mills fully operational, but the same cannot be said of Nigeria. Currently, the country can only boast of about three paper mills which is servicing the corrugators, (these are cartons manufacturers), all they do is brown craft. However, if you look at our day to day corporate operation in Nigeria, every office no matter the size makes use of white papers. Ironically, Nigeria does not have a paper mill that produces white paper. This is worrisome because the consumption of white paper in Nigeria is enormous and we are not taking advantage of this opportunity. Imagine the huge sum of foreign exchange expended in the importation of raw materials and the Nigerian government is not taking advantage of this golden opportunity by having its own paper mill that produces white paper. We believe Nigerian government can conserve the already scarce foreign exchange through investment in a paper mill. The country needs a paper research Institute, a functional and effective forestry department because there are lots of developments that researchers in the country can engage in to give the paper packaging industry the support it deserves. Investing in a research institute is something that the government should look into to help grow the paper industry. What are some of the challenges you have faced playing in the paper packaging industry and what strategic steps have you taken to solve them? There are several frustrating challenges players in the paper industry face. The challenge of stable electricity is one. Only recently there was an increase in electricity tariff as well as an increment in petrol pump price. As much as I understand that the government is faced with its own challenges they should not forget that companies are paying taxes and this must count in the provision of basic infrastructure needed to operate competitively. Government need to understand that if companies are frustrated out of business the window of revenue generated from company tax will be shut and ultimately lead to a shortfall in the nation’s revenue. With Nigeria joining the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) taking off January 2021, now is the time for the government to encourage businesses to thrive. Access to raw materials and forex, Research and development are major challenges in your industry. What measures are being put in place to keep the business flowing? I am in Nigeria producing for Nigerians. I am proud to be in Nigeria. I don’t have anywhere to go to. This @Businessdayng

is my fatherland and I have made up my mind. I have this zeal that despite all the challenges, I must move on. A businessman (Trader) can quit his business and venture into another at will but this cannot be the same for an industrialist who has invested in machineries and raw material and most important with a passion for manufacturing. Quitting is not in the DNA of manufacturers, all we need is encouragement and support. The solution to the challenge of lack of raw materials in the industry is backward integration which government should encourage. My appeal to government is to give manufacturers, grace period of 10years to backward integrate and gain sufficiency to effectively operate. The projection is that in the next 10 years, manufacturers will be exporters of goods that will earn the country more foreign exchange. For now, scarcity of forex is a burning challenge which manufacturers need immediate intervention on as its unavailability is fast telling an untold hardship in production process and adversely affecting the competitiveness of Made in Nigeria Products. When you look at economic indices like poverty, high unemployment rate, health and education. What advice do you have for the government to address these issues? My recommendation to Government is to have the political will to address corruption, inefficiency and halt policy summersaults. I can understand that government have their challenges, but I think having political will, help to resolve so many things. At the moment, government is making provision for soft loans to be accessed by qualified Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, an initiative I believe is laudable and should be encouraged. In addition, government should enforce the implementation of business friendly policies that will help existing businesses strive and encourage new ones for the growth and development of the economy. As a woman in manufacturing, I am impressed with the current administration’s drive to help women succeed in business, a move I must say is in the right direction. What are your projections for FAE limited in the next 5 years? In the next five years, my projection for FAE Limited is to be the Number One Paper Packaging Manufacturer in West Africa vis-a-vis the African Continental Free Trade Agreements which would take off in January,2021. We are currently working on ensuring our company’s brand of envelopes are readily available all over regions in West African and beyond.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Live @ The Exchanges Market Statistics as at Tuesday 20 October, 2020

Top Gainers/Losers as at Tuesday 20 October, 2020 LOSERS

GAINERS Company

Opening

Closing

Change

Company

Opening

Closing

Change

MOBIL

N186.9

N178.3

-8.6

GUINNESS

N17.65

N17

-0.65

ASI (Points) DEALS (Numbers)

N49.2

N51.5

2.3

FLOURMILL

N22

N23

INTBREW

N5.86

N6.44

0.58

WAPCO

N18.5

N18.1

-0.4

VOLUME (Numbers)

JBERGER

N16.9

N17.35

0.45

GUARANTY

N30.8

N30.4

-0.4

VALUE (N billion)

N6.7

0.3

UNILEVER

N13.5

N13.15

-0.35

UACN

28,665.82 4,736.00 297,311,966.00

MARKET CAP (N Trn)

2.926 14.983

Stock market records mild gain of N4bn ...NSE, FinTech Association of Nigeria to highlight capital raising opportunities for FinTech sector Iheanyi Nwachukwu

i g e r i a’s stock market closed slightly in the green zone on Tuesday as investors raised bets in mid/large cap stocks. The market’s benchmark performance indicator - the NSE All Share Index (ASI) - increased by 0.03percent to 28,665.82 points, from preceding day low of 28,658.31 points. Stock market trading data for Tuesday October 20 showed the equities market’s positive return year-to-date (YtD) stood at +6.79 percent. Also, the value of listed stocks on the Bourse increased by N4billion to N14.983trllion, from N14.979trillion recorded the preceding trading day. Nigerian Breweries Plc led the gainers table after

its share price moved from N49.2 to N51.5, adding N2.3 or 4.67 percent while Flourmill followed after rising from N22 to N23, adding N1 or 4.55 percent. In 4,736 deals, investors exchanged 297,311,966 units valued at N2.926billion. Meanwhile, the introduction of Financial Technology (FinTech) in Nigeria’s financial landscape has led to enhanced proposi-

tions across the value chain. With over 200 FinTech standalone companies in Nigeria, the sector is still relatively young offering significant opportunities for growth and expansion across the consumer spectrum. To facilitate access to these opportunities, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has partnered Fintech Association of Nigeria to a FinTech

Stanbic IBTC continues to create positive impact in host communities

tanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a member of Standard Bank Group, has reiterated its commitment towards creating positive impact within its host communities through its Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives. The organisation recently touched the lives of people in various communities where it operates through the donation of household and skill acquisition items, as well as the renovation and equipping of a hospital cafeteria. Speaking during the commissioning of the renovated cafeteria at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos; Remy Osuagwu, Executive Director, Personal and Business Banking (PBB), Stanbic IBTC Bank said that positively impacting communities where Stanbic IBTC operates is one of the ethos of the organisation. Osuagwu noted that staff of the Personal and Business Banking department of Stanbic IBTC embarked on the renovation of the cafete-

ria to ensure that patients at the hospital eat their meals in a hygienic and conducive environment. According to him, the humane choice of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos was borne out of the need to support the hospital, which plays a critical but often overlooked role in the health care sector. Expressing her gratitude to the management and staff of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Oluwayemi Ogun, Medical Director, Federal NeuroPsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, explained that one of the ways the hospital is being assessed is the present state of its infrastructures. She noted that Stanbic IBTC has provided a conducive environment where the kitchen staff can work seamlessly in making nutritional meals available to the patients. Ogun (a medical doctor), however, called on other organisations to emulate the good work done by Stanbic IBTC in supporting NeuroPsychiatric Hospitals across the country, noting that www.businessday.ng

mental health is one of the most critical aspects of life. Earlier on, the department of Enterprise Data Office, Stanbic IBTC Holdings and staff of Stanbic IBTC Insurance Brokers Limited donated household items to St. Monica Orphanage Home, Iju-Ishaga and Heritage Homes llupeju, Lagos, respectively. The Procurement and Group Real Estate Department of Stanbic IBTC also donated skill acquisition items and empowerment machineries to the Freedom Foundation in Lekki, Lagos. Similarly, the Card Operations department donated food items, toiletries and home utensils to the Old People’s Home, Yaba, Lagos. Peter Ashaolu, Manager, Card Operations, Stanbic IBTC Bank said that one of the organisation’s strategic drivers is to give back to the community. According to him, the elderly and less privileged in the society must always be remembered and well taken care of.

sector webinar on Thursday, October 22, 2020. The webinar with the theme, Accelerating Growth in the FinTech Ecosystem through the Nigerian Capital Market, will bring together industry experts and regulators to identify these challenges and jointly collaborate to provide solutions to address the needs of the FinTech community in Nigeria.

Global market indicators FTSE 100 Index 5,889.22GBP +4.57+0.08% S&P 500 Index 3,446.14USD +19.22+0.56% Generic 1st ‘DM’ Future 28,266.00USD +166.00+0.59%

Deutsche Boerse AG German Stock Index DAX 12,736.95EUR -117.71-0.92% Nikkei 225 23,567.04JPY -104.09-0.44% Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index 3,328.10CNY +15.44+0.47%

Sunu Assurances begins share capital reconstruction

unu Assurances Nigeria Plc through its s t o c k b r o k e r, FSDH Securities Limited, has submitted an application to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for share capital reconstruction. Dealing Members of the Exchange were notified that this follows the special resolutions passed by the shareholders of Sunu Assurances Nigeria Plc at the Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on March 9, 2020. The share capital reconstruction will result in the cancellation of four (4) existing ordinary shares out of every five (5) ordinary shares of Sunu Assurances Nigeria Plc held by its existing shareholders. The total number of

Nigeria’s SEC, other stakeholders join to commemorate world investor week Iheanyi Nwachukwu

igeria, represented by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other stakeholders, will, in the month of October 2020, join the rest of the world to commemorate the fourth annual World Investor Week (WIW) under the auspices of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The WIW stresses messages regarding mobilising savings and investment and also delivers key message on financial literacy. While IOSCO commemorated WIW from October 5 to 11, jurisdictions are at liberty to choose alternative weeks in October or November, as may be convenient, to stage their events. SEC Nigeria has chosen the week of October 26, 2020 to stage a series of events in this respect.

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As part of the commemoration, all the exchanges in Nigeria will be expected to, on the first day of the commemorative week, ‘ring the bell for financial literacy’. Additionally, the Commission, working with the Financial Literacy Technical Committee (FLTC), will host a webinar titled ‘Mobilising Savings and Investments”. The WIW is a weeklong event aimed at raising awareness about the importance of investor education and protection, towards engendering the financial and overall wellbeing of the individual, and particularly in view of the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic. The WIW key messages for 2020 highlight the basics of investing, including, among other things, the importance of assessing the impact of fees when choosing an investment and understanding that all investments entail risks. The SEC and others players in the capital market

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issued ordinary shares post the capital reconstruction exercise will be 2.8billion ordinary shares of 50kobo each while a total of 11.2billion ordinary shares of 50kobo each will become cancelled and unissued. The Qualification Date for the capital reconstruction was Friday October 16, 2020 while trading in the Company’s shares will be placed on suspension effective Monday, October 19, 2020.

have, over time, continually sought to boost the level and quality of financial literacy in Nigeria. Major among the current initiatives is the plan to introduce capital market studies in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, a project which has reached an advance stage and will likely be delivered soon. No doubt the delivery of this project will change the face of financial literacy in Nigeria for ever. The import of this years’ event cannot be overestimated given the peculiar state of world affairs. Paul Andrews, IOSCO Secretary General, said, “Every year, WIW attracts growing international support and new participants, thereby underpinning IOSCO´s steadfast commitment to investor education and protection. This fourth reiteration of WIW is particularly relevant, given the impact of COVID 19 on global capital markets and investor protection.”

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

news PAN’s new investor plans $150m injection... Continued from page 2

ria will be introducing new brands of vehicles into the market to re-launch brand affordability in Nigeria, such that Nigerians will have access to brand new vehicles. “We will also be introducing a robust car financing scheme which will be a collaboration and partnership between our dealerships and a few selected banks. This will be in fulfilment of President Buhari’s wish for Nigerians to afford brand new vehicles.” He also stated, “Pan Nigeria as the number one auto assembly plant in Nigeria shall take the leadership role in engaging stakeholders such as the National Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment (FMIT), National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), etc. Pan Nigeria shall be involved in the activities of the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) committee set up to examine the auto industry. However, he expressed some concerns, as according to him, “our biggest concern is the over 50 assembly plants who have not made any

matching investments and are enjoying the incentives of the auto policy at the same time. Pan Nigeria will initiate conversations with NADDC to enforce the assembly classification and equipment standardisation. “We will be appealing to CBN to support us and all other genuine assembly plants so that foreign exchange is made available for our imports. “We thank President Buhari for creating the enabling environment for our company to be able to commit to this huge investment. We hope the President will continue to sustain this favourable environment for more investors into Nigeria. “We are appealing to Mr. President to fast track legislation on the automotive policy so that NADDC can enforce its implementation. We shall also network the national assembly to support Mr. President in this regard.” It would be recalled that PAN Nigeria, built in the 70s under Nigeria’s second industrial plan, has passed through many phases, being an exclusive assembly line for Peugeot vehicles until recently when Higer and Geely brands were introduced.

Do modular refineries stand a survival chance... Continued from page 2

ited, Kassim Adeleke, says there are lots of uncovered vacuum in the petroleum downstream sector while also adding that upcoming refineries can fill lots of uncovered vacuum in the downstream sector. “The market is deep enough. For us, it is more of contributing to an industry output that will meet the demand,” Adeleke states when asked how his company would compete successfully in this market, considering the number of like modular refineries springing up in the country. Multinational professional services network with headquarters in London, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says the West African market holds significant potential as refineries such as Ivory Coast, Gabon and Senegal cannot meet current demand for refined products in the region, estimated at 39 billion litres. “There is an opportunity for potential uptake by neighbouring countries if the market has Nigeria’s refined products readily available,” PwC notes in a report titled ‘Nigeria Refining Revolution.’ PwC notes that this shift will see Nigeria become a net exporter of refined products and the refining hub of West Africa by the start of the next decade. What are modular refineries? Modular refineries are

basically mini refineries with reduced specified output level compared to full blown refineries with the capacity to produce diverse finished petroleum products with an increased output quantity. The main features of these mini refineries are their portability specified output and the reduce cost of setting them up. Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemicals Modular Refinery, with a capacity to refine 5000bpd, which secured a key equity investment from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) alongside two other refineries, is a good example of a modular refinery. Modular refineries are usually available in capacities ranging from 1,000 to 10,000bpd. They provide flexibility and can be constructed in a phased manner, also the relatively low capital cost and flexibility for upgrades can make it a cost-effective supply option for investors, especially if diesel is planned to be the lightest yield. The model has proved attractive, with Equatorial Guinea expressing interest in a similar shift. Nigeria is the second-largest oil producer in Africa, producing over 1.6 million bpd as at September 2020, while proven crude oil reserve is also estimated at about 37 billion barrels as at 2015, and Nigeria boasts of about 29 percent of the continent’s crude reserves. www.businessday.ng

L-R: Ayuba Shuaibu, executive secretary, Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF); Adebayo Adewusi, DG, Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST); Aliyu Abubakar, DG, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC); Abimbola Alale, MD/CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT); Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy; Kashifu Abdullahi, DG, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); Maska Ubale, executive commissioner, technical services, NCC, and Olusola Teniola, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), during the stakeholder consultation on implementation of Nigeria National Broadband Plan, at the Communications and Digital Economy Complex, Abuja.

Why Nigeria’s police reform is stuck... Continued from page 1

no will power on the part of those (government leaders)

that are pushing to execute the reform,” rights advocate and senior advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, said. According to Adegboruwa, another reason why the police reform has not been successful is because of the issue of collusion between the executive in using the police to “extort and oppress people.” “It is in the interest of the executive that the police are brutal, and a police that is oppressive because that is the only way they can continue to subjugate the masses,” he said, adding that if the police are reformed impunity will come to an end. In 2018, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo ordered the then Inspector General of police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to carry out reforms in the police but only a handful of the reforms were implemented. Among the reform measures implemented were the change of name for the unit of the police force, from SARS to FSARS (Federal Special AntiRobbery Squad). Following the name change, the voices pushing for police reform died down and the hashtag disappeared. But in 2019, when Ibrahim Idris was succeeded by Mohammed Adamu, it became more obvious that the reform measures apart from the new name – FSARS were rescinded. The SARS officials terrorised people and the outcry began once again. Even though the anti-torture legislation was passed in 2017, to prosecute bad police officers and provide justice to Nigerians that have been brutalised, no police officer has been prosecuted for the torture of any Nigerian citizen. The abuse and extra-judi-

cial killings by SARS continued but it was not until a video of a SARS officer who shot a young Nigerian in Ughelli, Delta State, started trending online that the latest round of protests against the excesses of the dreaded unit resurfaced as Nigerians commenced a nationwide protest on October 8, 2020. With the hashtag of end police brutality and end SARS, Nigerians’ demand for police reform became the global trending topic on Twitter. After three days of nationwide protests on ‘End SARS’ and more than two weeks of outcry and anger with videos and pictures showing police brutality, harassment and extortion in Nigeria, the IGP, Mohammed Adamu, on October 11, bowed to pressure and disbanded the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad. Even though the government assured protesters that the police unit responsible for the alleged killings and assault have been scrapped, protests have got more vicious as they pushed beyond the demand for police reform. Blocking major roads that lead to government houses, airports and other commercial hubs, predominately young protesters are now demanding good governance and a better Nigerian free of injustice. “When we are done with the end SARS protest, we move to the next phase of what is lacking in the country like bad governance and so on,” Yele Bademosi, founder of Bundle, a social payment app for cash or crypto, said. “End SARS, end police brutality, end hunger, end poverty, end insecurity, end nepotism and end bad governance, this is what the youths are saying, anything less is not representative of our demands,” an activist at one of the protest centres in Lagos

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said. According to the former chairman, Network on Police Reforms, NOPRIN, and founder of Rule of Law Accountability Advocacy Centre, Okechukwu Nwangwuna, underfunding of the police is one of the reasons police officers rely on complainants and accused persons for funds to carry out basic investigations. ”This creates the opportunity for extortion, torture and extrajudicial killings. The new Police Act, which repealed and replaced the Colonial Police Act provides a funding framework for the Nigeria Police which attempts to address the police budget process and the management and accountability for police funds. “There is also the Police Trust Fund which fills the gap in police funding. Lack of security of tenure and operational autonomy for the IGP has been a major bane of leadership stability and long-term visioning and planning,” Nwangwuna said. The recruitment process of police officers is another reason cited by analysts as one of the key factors responsible for the reform failure. “The recruitment pro-

cess of police officers is compromised by corruption and political interference. The recruitment process needs to be fixed to ensure that candidates who lack the basic qualification and are unsuitable are not recruited,” an analyst who asked not to be identified said. According to him, “When un-trainable candidates with criminal mind-set are recruited, it makes training useless and ineffectual. It is such candidates that constitute the bulk of rogue elements that commit the atrocities that discredit the police which, otherwise, boast of excellent officers.” Narrating how most officers are recruited into the SARS unit of the police force, an officer who has served in the Nigerian Police Force for over 10 years said most of them bribe their way into the unit. “A colleague of mine that joined the police force with me some 10 years ago told me he paid over N200,000 to get a slot in SARS and since he moved to that unit he has got a car and is now currently building his house,” he explained.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

Hammed Rosheedat Ojutomori and Hammed Rosheedat Ojutomori and Lamidi Rasidat Ojutomori is the same person but now wish to be known and addressed as Lamidi Rasidat Ojutomori, GTB and General Public take note.

Alao Serifat Olanike and Alao Susan Olanike is the same person but now wish to be known and address as Alao Susan Olanike. All former documents remain valid. Access bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known as Ujah Chukwudi now wish to be known and addressed as Ujah Levi Chukwudi. All documents bearing my former name remain valid. Nigerian Immigration Service, Banks and the general public, please, take note. @Businessdayng

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known as WADA FRIDAY UNEKWU now wish to be kn own and addressed as WADA FRED UNEKWU. All documents bearing my former name remain valid. General public, please, take note.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

News #EndSARS: Protesters shift focus to... Continued from page 1

horde of protesters at Ilas-

amaja in Lagos on Tuesday. “I finished my National Youth Service in 2016 after graduating from a federal university the previous year with a second class upper degree, yet I can’t get a job. When you have a problem as a young Nigerian, you are on your own. Is Nigeria’s wealth for politicians and their families alone?” Amos asked, rhetorically. Nigerian youths started #EndSARS protest almost two weeks ago to put an end to the activities of a rogue police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The Federal Government

general of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), said, “We should all have the humility to admit that none of us have ever seen anything like the #EndSARS protests. You can say it’s about police brutality/reforms, or cost of governance, or arrogance of politicians, or injustice. It’s all of them. It is the youth saying ‘Otoge.” ‘Otoge,’ a Yoruba political campaign slogan meaning ‘enough is enough’ was used to dethrone former Senate president Bukola Saraki in Kwara State. But language experts say it represents change in the way Nigeria is structured. On Tuesday, protesters

#EndSARS protesters at Jakande Gate, Oyingbo, Lagos, yesterday. Pic by Pius Okeosisi

has since changed SARS to Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), but young Nigerians want total police reforms and prosecution of rogue police officers involved in killing Nigerians extra judicially, especially officers at Awkuzu, Anambra State, and those indicted in APO Six massacre of Nigerians. Protesters are now demanding better governance, youth development and education reforms, reduc-

along Lagos-Badagry Expressway demanded that the state government fix the largely collapsed road linking Nigeria to the West Coast. The protesting youths, who marched on the expressway brandishing placards with various inscriptions, turned back both incoming and outgoing commuter vehicles, forcing them to discharge their passengers without refunding the fares already paid.

#EndSARS protests at Ago Junction, Okota, Lagos, yesterday. Pic by Pius Okeosisi

tion in cost of governance as well as constitutional, public office, health and institutional reforms. On his Twitter handle on October 17, Joe Abah, an institutional reforms expert and former director-

When BusinessDay took a long distance walk on the expressway to monitor invents as they were unfolding, it was observed that many of the passengers, rather than returning to their houses, preferred to trek to their deswww.businessday.ng

#EndSARS protesters at Ikotun, Lagos, yesterday.

tinations where, according to some of them, they needed to get to for their daily bread. “Really, I do not know what next to do. I need to get to my shop today else my family will starve. To get to where I am now, I have spent N800 on transport yet I am not close to where I am going to,” a man who introduced himself simply as Raphael told BusinessDay. Raphael added that he left his house quite early and had to trek much of his journey because of road blocks by protesters. “And motorists have increased their fare by over 300 percent. Before now, the fare from Agbara to Igbo-Eleri First Gate was N150. Today, I paid N400 to get there and my destination is Igando,” he said in pains. A young lady at the IgboEleri bus stop, who introduced herself as Rose Mustapha, agreed, disclosing that she had gone to pick her daughter from school and had spent over N1,000 for a journey she used to spend between N400 and N450. Mustapha, who was angry with the authorities of her daughter’s school for asking parents to come and take their children home, slammed the whole of Nigeria’s leadership for insensitivity to the plight of the people. “What the youth are doing is the right thing to do. People are hungry and tired of this country,” she said. The protesters, who had no apology to anybody for obstructing movement on the Expressway, contended that people living in that part of town were not regarded as citizens of Lagos State and that was why they had been allowed to suffer on an expressway supposed to be an international route. “It is wrong for anybody to call this road an expressway because it is not one. The whole road is full of deep potholes and nobody cares. If you are moving on the road from the Benin Republic, it is smooth until you leave the border between Nigeria and the small West African country. Just imagine that,” one of the protesters who

Pic by Pius Okeosisi

refused to disclose his name lamented. The Lagos-Badagry Expressway is a Federal Government road that links Nigeria to the countries of the West Coast including Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana. The Lagos State government in 2009 undertook the reconstruction and expansion of the four-lane Expressway to 10 lanes with a light rail track. Eleven years down the line, the road is still under reconstruction with less than 40 percent of the work done. Successive governments in the state have been paying lip service to the reconstruction of the Expressway. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the current governor of the state, on assumption of office, went on tour of the road and boasted thereon that the expressway would be completed in December 2020. Recently, the governor recanted and moved the completion date to December 2021. The protesters took a swipe on the governor for what they called “inconsistency and insincerity,” insisting that the road would be blocked everyday until the governor made a firm commitment on when reconstruction work would actually end on the expressway. Meanwhile, the Federal Government has warned that it will not fold its hands and watch a group of people with ulterior motives hijack the #EndSARS protests across the country to destabilise the government and cause anarchy. Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, told members of the Diplomatic Corps in Abuja on Tuesday that in the last couple of days, arsonists and those with sinister motives had infiltrated the peaceful protests attacking, killing and destroying people’s property, blocking roads and causing mayhem. He said despite the fact that the government had been responsible and responsive to the genuine demands of the protesters,

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some subversive elements had hijacked the movement and exploiting it to make unreasonable demands including calling for the end of the President Muhammadu Buhari government that was democratically elected. He said, “No responsible government will fold its hands and allow the country go into anarchy,” adding, “The government owes Nigerians a responsibility to protect their lives and property.” Speaking earlier, Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs, said the government had taken adequate steps to respond to the demands of the protesters and had largely met them. With curfew in Lagos after an attack by hoodlums on police stations at Orile and Ajegunle areas of the state, the situation seems to be getting out of hands. As a result, the Senate on Tuesday urged President Muhammdu Buhari to urgently address the nation on issues raised by protesters. The Senate also appealed to the protesters to end the protests and allow government deal with issues raised in their five point demand. The requests followed a motion moved by the Sena-

ricaded the roads. The suspected hoodlums also barricaded Upper Mission Extension by Lucky Way Junction, Lucky Way Junction by Ramat Park, Evbuotobu, Dumez Road and Agbor Road all in Benin City. They also set bonfire and prepared meals on tarred roads while vehicles, especially private owned and few commercial transporters, were seen moving on the road. There were no presence of security operatives on the roads to enforce the curfew, except at the University of Benin main gate, where #EndSARS protesters converged, and being monitored by the men of the Nigeria Police Force. Some hoodlums also attacked and set ablaze the Oba Market Police Station. They had on Monday attempted to burn down the station but their action was resisted by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and other officers who released tear gas canister to chase them away. There was however reported case of gunshots exchange between security agents and hoodlums at Santana Market along

#EndSARS protesters in Imo State.

tor Biodun Olujimi (PDP -Ekiti South) at the plenary presided over by the Senate president, Ahmed Lawan. In Edo State, the state government said the 24hour curfew imposed in the state on Monday would continue till further notice. The Edo government had on Monday imposed a 24-hour curfew across the state with effect from 4pm. Despite the announcement, majority of the residents, especially suspected hoodlums in the guise of the protest, defiled the order and continued with the protest. The youths suspected to be genuine #EndSARS protesters also defiled the government curfew order. At Upper Sakponba, Ikpoba Hill, Sapele Road, Ekenwan, Ugbowo (at the University of Benin Main Gate), New Benin and Aduwawa, the protesters bar@Businessdayng

Sapele Road in Oredo Local Government Area. A civil servant who pleaded anonymity said thugs and street boys had hijacked everything including the curfew from the government. Meanwhile, some youths were seen along the Benin/ Agbor Road, with a coffin, saying they were “burying the present Federal Government with its bad policies.” However, a statement by Crusoe Osagie, media aide to the governor, on Tuesday said the 24-hour round-theclock curfew imposed in the state on Monday was active till further notice. Osagie said by the order everybody was expected to remain indoors, saying security agencies had been deployed to the streets to ensure full compliance and that anyone found contravening the directive would be dealt with according to the law.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

NEWS

#EndSARS: LCCI calls for calm as economy loses N700bn in 12 days

Naira slides to N460 as BDCs receive over $50m amid #EndSARS protest HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

igeria’s currency on Tuesday exchanged with the dollar at N460, depreciating by N1.00k from N459 it stood since last week at the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange market. Operators of BDC numbering over 5,000 across the county received over $50 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid the End SAS protest on Tuesday. Aminu Gwadabe, president Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) said the protests could not stop the disbursement as measures were put in place. “All necessary precautions have been deployed to ensure smooth operations nation wide,” Gwadabe told BusinessDay on Tuesday. Th e Ap e x b a n k s e l l s $10,000 twice weekly to the BDC segment of the foreign exchange market. The banks and financial institutions regulator has sold over $500 million to BDCs since September 7, 2020, when it resumed dollar sells to them. Naira exchanged at an

average rate of N461 on the black market on Tuesday. This represents N1 appreciation when compared with N460, which the dollar was sold for at Lagos airport and Festac town. It showed a N1 loss when compared with N462 which Naira exchanged with the dollar at Eko Hotel and Apapa areas of Lagos. The foreign exchange market at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window opened with an indicative rate of N386.38k, which signaled N0.38k depreciation from N386.00k opened with on Monday, data from FMDQ revealed. Naira weakened further by 0.04 percent as the dollar was quoted at N386.00 on Monday as against the last close of N385.83 on Friday. The daily foreign exchange market turnover declined by 27.39 percent to $120.93 million on Monday from $166.55 million recorded on Friday. The foreign exchange market has witnessed dollar shortages since early this year as a result of sharp drop in oil prices, which accounts for about 90% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and low inflows from remittances due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

ODINAKA ANUDU

he Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently grant audience to the leadership of #EndSARS movement to deliberate on the way forward and to agree on an action plan for the delivery of agreed outcomes. The chamber said this has become necessary given that Nigeria has lost N700 billion in the last 12 days. “Over the past twelve days, economic activities have been crippled in most

parts of the country and has been particularly profound in the urban areas. The Nigerian economy has suffered an estimated ₦700 billion loss in the past twelve days,” the chamber said in a statement signed by Toki Mabogunje, president of the LCCI. The LCCI expressed condolences to the families of all who have lost their lives through the brutal actions of the police and all those who have suffered in one way or the other the cruel and unjust acts of the police, especially the officers of defunct SARS, appreciating the value of citizens’ engagement and the demand for account-

ability which the EndSARS protest represents. It said these are in consonance with democratic norms and also form vital ingredients for good governance. It regretted that the country has started witnessing various unintended outcomes of the protest, which are not good for the nation. “There is a great risk that the situation may degenerate into a case of the complete breakdown of law and order which is certainly not in consonance with the objectives of the #EndSars peaceful protests,” it noted. “It is important to avoid

a situation where even more hardship is inflicted on the very citizens that the protesters are seeking to protect,” the chamber counselled. The LCCI said government should commit to rapid improvement in governance quality and accountability by effecting necessary institutional, policy and regulatory reforms not only for the police but the entire public sector ecosystem. It stressed the need for the leadership of the #EndSars to occupy the seats provided to participate in the reforms to be implemented by government in response to their demands.

Buhari nominates Sanusi Garba to replace retiring NERC chairman ISAAC ANYAOGU

resident Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Sanusi Garba, the current vice chairman and commissioner, Market Competition & Rates, to serve as the chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) sequel to confirmation by the Nigerian Senate. In a letter sent to the senate on Tuesday, read by the senate president, President Buhari also appointed Musiliu Olalekan Oseni as vice chairman and Aisha Mahmud as a commissioner. According to the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005, (ESPR), the president nominates one nominee Commissioner to represent his/her geopolitical zone in the country for a fixed tenure of 4 years, renewable once only. The chairman/CEO, has a period of five years, also renewable once only. The nominees are duly screened by the Nigerian Senate. The current chairman James Momoh, a professor of Electrical Engineering with Howard University, USA was inaugurated chairman/chief executive of the NERC was appointed May 3, 2018 and should be in office till 2023. But at 70 years, he is due for retirement creating a vacancy. Garba holds Bachelor of Engineering degree from Ahmadu Bello University. He later obtained a Master of Science degree in Industrial

Management from the University of Birmingham, UK. His professional career started at the design & standards department of the then National Electric Power Authority headquarters, Lagos where he was posted for the National Youth Service. Prior to his nomination for the position of vice chairman of NERC, Garba had served as the chief executive of Katsina Steel Rolling Co. Ltd and director (Power) in the federal ministry of power with responsibility for generation, transmission and distribution aspects of the electricity industry. He also served as executive director (Generation) at the Niger Delta Power Holding Co. Ltd during which he provided technical and commercial leadership for the efficient operation of seven (7) NIPP thermal power plants. Garba has served on many Federal Government committees including the Presidential Committee on Power Sector Reform (2007/8) and the Presidential Task Force on Power. The ESPR, provides for the tenured appointment of seven commissioners, with one of them designated as chairman/CEO, and another as vice chairman. The commissioners are nominated by the president and confirmed by the senate. The commission is made up of seven divisions, each with its strategic role in ensuring the smooth running of day to day activities of NERC.

L-R: Modupe Ajayi, wife of CEO, Marketing Edge; Emmanuel Agu, outstanding marketing personality of the year; Steve Babaeko, brand personality of the year/CEO, X3M ldeas; Wasiu Ola-Abiola, head media, digital, brand PR and sponsorship, Nigerian Breweries plc, and Representative of Jane Maduegbuna, a recipient of brand personality of the year award, during the Marketing Edge Summit and Awards 2020 in Lagos.

Tension builds in Rivers as #EndSARS protest takes partisan pathway …Wike alleges Amaechi’s men plan violent protest …it’s a lie, say Amaechi’s camp

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IGNATIUS CHUKWU

he ongoing protest against human rights violations and brutality by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force seems to be assuming a political dimension in Rivers State. The state governor, Nyesom Wike and the camp of his political rival and current minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi have started accusing each other of plot to use the protest to instigate and promote violence in Rivers State. The commencement of protest last week was marked by a ban by Governor Wike, who bounced back to welcome the protesters in Government House and addressed them, claiming to be the only governor against SARS. The state capital, Port Harcourt remained quiet for a

better part of last week, only for the governor to alert the state on Sunday night, October 19, 2020, that his administration has uncovered a plot by the Amaechi camp to stage a violent #EndSARS protest. The governor in a statement went said: “Rivers State government has received intelligence report that the Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi-led faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) wants to capitalise on the #EndSARS protest to cause the destruction of lives and property in the state. “ The recruited protesters who would be carrying placards with inscriptions: “#EndSARS,” and “End Unemployment” have been fully mobilised to cause the planned mayhem. “It is worthy of note that #EndSARS protest in the state has not only been peaceful but has also received overwhelm-

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ing support from the government and people of the state. “Surprisingly, Rotimi Amaechi who did everything to frustrate the implementation of the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry that indicted SARS operatives in the state, is now turning around to support #EndSARS protest. “We wish to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call Rotimi Amaechi who is not happy that Rivers State has remained peaceful since the nationwide protests began, to order. “Security agencies are also enjoined to be aware of the plot by Amaechi and his cohorts to hijack the #EndSARS protest.” Wike urged the local government chairmen to remain alert and ensure that youths in their local government areas were not used to carry out any form of destruction. “Rivers youths, who are the @Businessdayng

genuine and patriotic protesters, must understand the evil antics of these enemies of the state and reject their ulterior motives. “Our detractors do not want us to enjoy the peace that the government and security agencies have worked very hard to achieve. We must resist their devilish plots by remaining law abiding. We remain irrevocably committed to our stand against the atrocities of the now disbanded SARS. “All well-meaning citizens of the state are hereby advised to vehemently oppose any attempt by any individual or group to make our dear state to suffer violence.” However, spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ogbonna Nwuke, responded, saying it is whenever Wike has sinister intention that he comes out speaking this way.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

NEWS PAN’s new investor plans $150m injection Local content: FG to exclude foreign firms from contracts below N5bn in retooling, assembly upgrade KAMARUDEEN OGUNDELE, Abuja

MIKE OCHONMA

esbitt Investment Limited, new owner and core investor in PAN Niger ia Limited, says it plans to inject $150m into the automobile assembly plant over the next three years. This was disclosed on Tuesday by Wadada Aliyu, the new chairman of PAN Nigeria Limited at the handovet ceremony in Kaduna. He said the amount to be injected into the newly acquired assembly plant was for retooling and upgrading of the assembly line, support infrastructure and for working capital. Until it was handed over yesterday, it was under the control of AMCON, holding in trust for the federal government after purchasing unserviceable debts. It is expected that the Peugeot franchise will be relinquished to the newly formed Dangote Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (DPAN), which was unsuccessful in its bid to buy PAN. The new core investors of PAN Nigeria are holding a controlling share of 79.3 percent. According to Aliyu, “As the core investor, we strongly believe in the principle of responsible, responsive and sustainable investments, while we add not only financial muscle and strength but also social value to the investments we embark on’’. “We will not only be providing employment, but we shall also provide economic benefits throughout the supply chain and to local ser vice providers (local content). In all our investments including Pan Nigeria, health and safety guidelines are always a priority’’. The chairman thanked the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) “for the opportunity to invest in PAN as the new core investor, and given the status of Pan in Nigeria as the number one automobile company, we are humbled and fortunate to be the company tasked to awaken this huge sleeping giant of immense economic potentials’’. According to him, “we treasure our human capital and strongly believe in them to drive our visions and aspirations for Pan Nigeria, and that is why we are immediately putting in place an attractive condition of service that will retain and motivate our human capital and also attract the best hands, so as to restore Pan Nigeria to its number one position in Nigeria and within the ECOWAS region. “Pan under the supervision of the board shall undergo massive restructuring, and in so doing, we shall observe strict corpo-

rate governance protocols, transparency, business integrity, efficiency and ethics in all our undertakings.” The chairman recalled that “in 2019, Nigeria imported at least 400,000 used cars (tokunbo) as against 68,000 brand new vehicles. Because of this imbalance, Pan Nigeria will be introducing new brands of vehicles into the market to re-launch brand affordability in Nigeria, such that Nigerians will have access to brand new vehicles. “We will also be introducing a robust car financing scheme which will be a collaboration and partnership between our dealerships and a few selected banks. This will be in fulfilment of President Buhari’s wish for Nigerians to afford brand new vehicles.” He also stated that “Pan Nigeria as the number one auto assembly plant in Nigeria shall take the leadership role in engaging stakeholders such as the Nat i o na l A ss e mb l y , t h e Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment (FMIT), National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) etc. Pan Nigeria shall be involved in the activities of the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) committee set up to examine the auto industry. However, the chairman expressed some concerns, as according to him, “our biggest concern is the over 50 assembly plants who have not made any matching investments and are enjoying the incentives of the auto policy at the same time. Pan Nigeria will initiate conversations with NADDC to enforce the assembly classification and equipment standardisation. “We will be appealing to CBN to support us and all other genuine assembly plants so that foreign exchange is made available for our imports. “ We t ha n k P re s i d e nt Buhari for creating the enabling environment for our company to be able to commit to this huge investment. We hope the president will continue to sustain this favourable environment for more investors into Nigeria. “We are appealing to Mr. President to fast track legislation on the automotive policy so that NADDC can enforce its implementation. We shall also network the national assembly to support Mr. President in this regard.” It would be recalled that PAN Nigeria, built in the 70s under Nigeria’s second industrial plan, has passed through many phases, being an exclusive assembly line for Peugeot vehicles until recently when Higer and Geely brands were introduced. www.businessday.ng

he Federal Government on Tuesday declared that contracts not above N5 billion would no longer be awarded to any foreign firms in the country. The government said this was to patronise and strengthen indigenous firms as part of amendment in the local content laws in the country. Making the declaration at the public hearing conducted by the National Assembly joint committees on local content, the minister of state, works and housing, Abubakar Aliyu, said contracts worth N5 billion and below would be the exclusive preserve of indigenous firms . “As part of measures being put in place for strengthening of local content laws in the country, contracts that are not more than N5 billion are to be exclusive preserve of indigenous firms or companies for bidding, award and execution,” he said But when asked by the chairman of the committee, Teslim Folarin, a senator representing Oyo Central, on whether the new policy would affect construction giants like Julius Berger, the minister said proper categorisation wouldbemadetodeterminethat. “Julius Berger PLC is more or less an indigenalised foreign firm going by high involvement of Nigerians in its operations

and management over the years which makes its categorization in this respect a bit difficult”, he explained. He added that other measures like registration of expatriates and proof of valid residence permit etc, were also part of recommendations being made into the local content development bill. Earlier, Folarin said the three bills being considered were very important to the development of the country’s oil and gas industry, which is one of the most viable sectors of the economy. He explained that the bills, among other things, sought to consolidate on the gains of the implementation of local content component in the oil and gas industry, pursuant to the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010. “One of the bills also seeks to provide the needed legal framework for the implementation of local content in other key sectors of the economy, including power, ICT, construction and transportation. “The enactment of this bill, will no doubt, provide the legal basis for the enforcement of the Presidential Executive Order No. 5 of February 5, 2018, which seeks to improve local content procurement with regards to science, engineering and technology components of the economy,” he said.

#EndSARS: Senate asks Buhari to address the nation …demands end of protest

KAMARUDEEN OGUNDELE, Abuja

he Nigerian Senate on Tuesday called on President Muhammdu Buhari to urgently address the nation on issues raised by #EndDSARS protesters. The senate also appealed to the protesters to end their protest and allow government deal with issues raised in their five-point demand. The requests followed a motion entitled, #EndSARS: need for comprehensive and holistic reforms, sponsored by Biodun Olujimi, a senator representing Ekiti South, during a plenary presided over by the senate president, Ahmed Lawan. She recalled that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was created in 1992 as a unit of the Nigeria Police Force to deal with crimes such as robbery, motor vehicle theft, kidnapping amongst others. She added that a June 2020 report by Amnesty International entitled, “Time to End Impunity,” documented 82 cases of torture, ill-treatments and extra-judicial killings of Nigerian citizens against SARS between January 2017 and May, 2020.

Olujimi noted that police brutality could be traced to the colonial era when the force was mainly used to suppress dissent against colonial rules, force the people to obey draconian policies and thwart protests against colonial repression. According to her, some of the documented police brutalities during the colonial era included the killing of 21 miners and wounding of 50 workers during the Enugu Colliery strike of 1949; suppression of the women’s riot (December 1929 – January 1930) in the Eastern parts of the country, which led to the death of 55 women and injuring of more than 50 others; and the quelling of the Tiv riot of 1960 where 19 civilians were allegedly killed and 83 injured. Olujimi lamented police brutality had continued during the post-colonial era. She, however, expressed concern that despite the disbandment of SARS unit by the Inspector- General of Police, Mohammed Adamu and the promise to reform the police, the EndSARS protest had increased in intensity and violence with socio-economic activities paralysed across Nigeria.

L-R: Sam Egwu, chairman, Senate Committee on Housing; Ahmed Dangiwa, managing director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), and Yisa Ashiru, deputy chairman of the Committee, during the committee’s oversight visit to FMBN headquarters in Abuja.

Airlines cancel flights as Lagos imposes curfew over #EndSARS protest IFEOMA OKEKE

omestic and international airlines have been forced to cancel their Lagos bound flights following the 24-hour curfew imposed by the Lagos State government with effect from 4pm on Tuesday. Although the airspace is not shut down to essential flights but airlines have had to cancel flights and reschedule. BusinessDay’s checks show that Air Peace, Arik Air, Azman and Ibom Air have all cancelled flights, while international airlines such as

Africa world airlines and Delta Airlines have also cancelled. Arik Air cancelled all its flight operations for Wednesday, October 21, 2020 due to the 24 hours curfew. Adebanji Ola, public relations and communications manager, Arik Air explained that all booked passengers on the cancelled flights are advised to reschedule their flights for later dates at no extra cost. Azman Air through its twitter handle @AzmanAir stated, “This is to inform all our Lagos bound passengers that all flights are hereby cancelled till further notice” A Delta Airlines Flight DL

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54 from Atlanta, United States, heading to Lagos on Tuesday was forced to return to America following the ongoing #EndSARS protests in Nigeria. The aircraft first terminated its journey in Dakar, Senegal, before making its return to the JFK Airport in New York with the entire crew and passengers on board. A source close to the airline told BusinessDay that following the 24-hour curfew imposed by the Lagos State government with effect from 4pm of on Tuesday, Delta flights in and out of Lagos on Wednesday will be cancelled. Obi Mbanuzuo, account@Businessdayng

able manager, Dana Air stated that the governor made an announcement but the airline is currently trying to get clarification but none is forthcoming. Mbanuzuo noted that although other states are open, most domestic airlines are based in Lagos and if the airline can’t operate, then most domestic services in the country are grounded He stated that airlines can probably base some aircraft and crews outside Lagos to perform flights in modified schedules to those states still open, adding that airlines need to know Lagos state Government’s plans.

A4 BUSINESS DAY

Wednesday 21 October 2020

NEWS

Nigeria’s battered economy risks further slide amid escalating #EndSARS protest …as prices food items, transportation soar MICHAEL ANI

ust when Nigeria thought it w on’t g et any worse, after suffering its biggest contraction in more than a decade from the fall out of the coronavirus pandemic, situations in Africa’s biggest economy could get even worse w i t h t h e p ro t e s t t hat i s forcing governments across the country to impose curfews. For the first time since Nigeria returned to civilian rule, youths in the countr y put aside ethnic a n d re l i g i o u s d i v e r s i t y , to embark on peaceful demonstrations in their demand to see an end to police br utality after videos emanated online showing a young man whose car was wrongfully taken after being shot by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the Nigeria Police Force created in 1992 to check crime. That sparked public o u t r a g e w i t h Ni g e r i a n s recounting various painful experiences with the police unit, thereby triggering the #EndSARS campaign. Even though the government the police hierarchy has disbanded SARS and created another unit called Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), it still hasn’t been able to calm the ner ves of the protesters, who have for the third time witnessed disbandment of the unit. The protest has since escalated, with protesters moving from requesting an end to police brutality to demanding good g ov e r na n c e, re f o r m s i n the police and a cut in the humongous pay of members of the National Assembly and senators and the political class. Te n s i o n s a r e b r e w ing in all parts of the c ou nt r y , w i t h t hu g s i n f i l t rat i ng t h e p ro t e s t t o unleash mayhem and destroy proper ty across the countr y. About 15 deaths have been recorded across the country since the protest started, according to reports from human rights group, Amnesty International. But in what could worsen the countr y’s situation, Babajide SanwoO lu, governor of Lagos, N i g e r i a ’s c o m m e r c i a l city which accounts for more than 30 percent o f t h e c o u n t r y ’s G D P, announced a 24-hour curfew over what he said was due to escalating tensions.

The curfew came after hoodlums set ablaze two police stations in Lagos and carted away several items. According to the governor, only essential service providers and first responders must be found on the streets. B efore now, the g overnment of Lagos had ordered the shutdown of s cho ols until fur ther notice. BusinessDay reported on Monday how business es w ere fe eling the heat of the protest with many passengers missing their flight and events put on hold due to the nationwide protest. With business activi ties being disrupted, it could lead to a downside in the economy, according to Joachim MacEbong, a senior analyst at SBM Intelligence. In Edo, the state government also imposed a curfew following escalating tension in the state that led to the loss of lives and jail break. There are expectations that with rising tensions across the country, other states may be forced to impose curfews to calm the already tensed atmosphere. “Naturally a prolonged cr isis usually has a no table effect on the economy, and the most notable effect comes in the form of output contraction and inflation,” one economist told BusinessDay “O u t p u t c o n t r a c t i o n will arise in the sense that several firms will exper ience shr inking revenues particularly those in non-essential sectors,” the economist said on condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to speak on political issues The economy is yet to re c ov e r f ro m t h e b l ow s of the pandemic and the continued protest that has crippled businesses and triggered the imposition of curfews could pose threat to economic a c t i v i t i e s, a na lyst s w h o spoke to BusinessDay on the matter said. With protesters mounting roadblocks and taking siege on virtually all major roads in the country, prices of items including food and transportation have almost doubled. This could worsen N i g e r i a’s i n f l a t i o n f i g u re w h i c h j u m p e d t o a 30-month high of 13.7 percent in September and creates more headache for the Nigerian populace who wallets have been strained due to increasing commodity prices.

Ipalibo Harry-Banigo (r), deputy governor, Rivers State, addressing the Rivers women, during the #EndSARS protest in Port Harcourt, yesterday. NAN.

Despite producing nothing, OK LNG project costs Nigeria N991m in one year DIPO OLADEHINDE

ifteen years after it was initiated, Okolola Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal project also called OK LNG is bleeding Nigeria’s economy with a loss of about N991 million despite processing zero gas. The $9.8 billion project designed to produce an initial 10 million metric tons per annum was expected to create thousands of new jobs, spur domestic gas demand, generate electricity, create an opportunity revenue diversification for the Nigerian government and turn the country into a dominant geopolitical player in Africa. However, the project went down the drain after international oil companies such as Chevron, Shell and British multinational BG group pulled out of the project in 2013, citing the lack of progress on the project leaving the NNPC as the sole shareholder, a devel-

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opment that comes with huge cost implications. According to the latest audited Nigeria’s National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the OK LNG project cost Nigeria a loss after tax of N991 million as of 2019 compared to N952 million in 2018. “NNPC share of loss in OKLNG was not recognised since the accumulated share of loss is higher than the initial investment,” NNPC said in its audited 2019 financial statement. Had the project been allowed to come on stream, some stakeholders say it would definitely have served as a major contributor to Nigeria’s economic development and put Nigeria at the forefront of African LNG production. “The project never progressed beyond the drawing board despite the fact that billions of dollars have already been expended on them, which is very sad,” Charles Akinbobola, an energy analyst at Lagos-based Sofidam Capital, said.

Other factors leading up to the stalled state of the project could be linked to the various controversies around it during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime. The former president was accused of sowing the seed of discomfort with OK LNG project when he also initiated the project in 2005 barely one year from the conception of the Brass project. However, none of the two LNG projects has progressed beyond the drawing board despite billions of dollars already expended on them. The projects have been stalled by lack of Final Investment Decision (FID) as well as delays caused by unnecessary bickering, lack of political will and, above all, uncertainties around the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Some energy analysts say the stagnation of the two projects is robbing the country over $24 billion in estimated revenue, as well as about 18,000 jobs while others insist that the failure of the present and

past administrations to act proactively on the Brass LNG project has led to a loss of $3 billion yearly revenue. “We also have plans for Olokola LNG as well as Brass LNG; we have a little challenge with market windows for these projects which we are reviewing on a monthly basis. Once the appropriate market window opens up, we will quickly get more shareholders to join us for the projects,” late Maikanti Baru, former group managing director of NNPC, said last year. But nothing substantial was achieved. Nigeria’s natural gas reserve is estimated to be about 202 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF), and that places the country as the largest holder of proven gas in Africa. While the country’s LNG projects continue to suffer setback, other countries, including Mozambique are pushing ahead with their own projects. Seven countries are backing a $20 billion project to extract, liquefy and export gas from Mozambique, lead operator Total revealed in August.

#EndExtortion: Truck drivers, clearing agents protest cripple business activities at Lagos ports AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

usiness activities were on Tuesday grounded at the Lagos ports Apapa and Tin-Can Island as truck drivers, clearing agents and truck owners joined protesters clamouring for an end to police brutality under the #EndSARS campaign. The protesters in their hundreds sought an end to extortion by security agencies controlling traffic and sharp practices by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The protesters succeeded in blocking the two major ports access roads with articulated vehicles, thereby hindering entry and exit in and out of the port.

They were seen dancing and chanting solidarity songs in front of the nation’s premier port, Apapa Port. Speaking on this, Remi Ogungbemi, president, Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) said the protest was against extortion by security agencies and passage of trucks to access the seaport for evacuation of cargoes. “Truly we are protesting and our demand is to the authorities to dissolve the presidential task force controlling traffic into the port because of extortion. They should prioritise clearance of export trucks to discharge export to the port. We are also demanding the passage of refrigerated containers, dissolution of all

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illegal security checkpoints of extortion in Apapa and Tin-Can island Ports,” he said. According to Ogungbemi, the protesting truck drivers and clearing agents also want the Federal Government to remove all Customs officers from exit gate. “Removal of all Customs checkpoints outside the port, Customs should leave the port gates and exit containers from APM Terminals. We want unconditional release of all trucks seized by the Nigeria Customs Service, unconditional release of cargoes and trucks seized at CMS jetties, unconditional release of all trucks seized by the Lagos State Traffic Maintenance Agency (LASTMA) and all shipping companies must @Businessdayng

have functional holding bays,” he added. Also speaking, an executive of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) at Tin-Can Chapter, who does not want his name in the print, said the protest would continue until all the anomalies in the clearance procedure were addressed. “This time around we have woken up, nobody would capture any job or pay duty this week, by the time the government realises that no revenue is coming in, they would come out and address the situation. How can we release a job at the port by a senior officer at the port, and a junior officer of FOU is stopping it at Mile 2,” he questioned.

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BUSINESS DAY Wednesday 21 October 2020 www.businessday.ng

A house divided

Covid-19 and an atmosphere of distrust pose grave risks to America’s election New burdens mean the country may not see the sort of clean election result it has come to expect on election night FRANK ELEANYA

N HIS FINAL debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016, Donald Trump refused to commit himself to accepting the results of the coming election. The following day he made his position clearer. “I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election,” he said in mock solemnity—before adding, with fingerwagging emphasis: “If I win.” The stubby finger levelled itself at the crowd, which erupted into cheers; the not-yet-president grinned. President Trump went on to win with 304 Electoral College votes to Mrs Clinton’s 227, and so how he would in fact have reacted had things gone the other way remains a matter of speculation. This year there appears to be a strong chance that he will not win; The Economist’s electionforecasting model currently puts his chances at one in seven. Mr Trump, though, denies any possibility that he could lose a fair contest: “The only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged,” he told his followers in August. There can be no real doubt that, should he indeed lose, he would claim that the election was stolen. That, come November 4th, such a theft will actually have taken place is remarkably unlikely. Admittedly William Evanina, who directs the National Counterintelligence and Security Centre, says that China and Iran have joined Russia in seeking to influence this election through covert means, presumably emboldened by Russia having paid little price for having done so last time. This is a shocking development. But even if they were all pushing in the same direction—which is unlikely—there is no reason to think that they could decisively tip the result. America’s electoral system is sufficiently decentralised for attempts to rig the vote on a large scale to be incredibly hard. And though voter fraud occasionally takes place, both in-person and by means of absentee ballots, it is harshly punished and very rare; various studies have found the rate to be well below one in a million votes cast. But this does not mean that Mr Trump’s protestations will be of no account. America is deeply polarised, and in a few places armed partisans have taken to the streets. Both parties have portrayed this year’s contest as existentially important to America’s future, warning that the country will be forever altered for the worse if the other candidate wins. The new round of foreign interference, like the lies and fearmongering from the president himself, add both

to the stock of disinformation and the pervasive sense that things are not to be trusted. As a result a significant number of Americans of all political stripes doubt that the election will be held fairly (see chart). On top of it all, the election is being held during an epidemic that will, by election day, have killed over 200,000. In June a bipartisan group of campaign veterans, elected officials, journalists and academics convened by the Transition Integrity Project, a group founded last year, set about war-gaming four different possible election results: a commanding victory for Joe Biden, a narrow victory for Mr Biden, a narrow victory for Mr Trump achieved, as his previous one was, without a majority of the popular vote, and a result in which, because of contested outcomes in battleground states, the identity of the victor was unclear. In all four scenarios the role playing produced levels of gamesmanship and tumult beyond anything seen in recent American elections. In the narrow-Biden-victory scenario the Secret Service escorted Mr Trump from the White House on inauguration day. It is hard to overestimate what such a sight would mean to Americans—and to the rest of the world. More, not merrier In principle, an election is a fairly simple thing. Identify the

people entitled to vote; provide them with the means to vote; accurately count their votes; after that, just abide by the results in the way the constitution requires. As far as the first step goes, America’s constitution says that only citizens can vote, and that those over the age of 18 cannot be barred from doing so on the basis of their race or their sex. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 took aim at the legal requirements, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, by which Democrats in southern states had contrived to maintain race-based disenfranchisement. Those changes saw conservative whites in the south switch their allegiance from Democratic to Republican. In the decades since, conservative whites have become increasingly central to Republican fortunes and an increasingly smaller share of the American electorate. The party has thus developed an interest in limiting electoral participation, rather than increasing it. As Mr Trump put it earlier this year, discussing a proposal greatly to expand postal ballots, “They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” Erecting barriers to voting has grown easier to do since the Supreme Court in 2013 struck down a provision of the Voting

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And this is not the best of times. Covid-19 makes standing in a long November queue particularly unappealing. It may also make the queues, and the time taken to vote, longer

Rights Act that required jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to “preclear” any electoral changes with the Justice Department. In 2016 a federal court struck down a voter-ID law in North Carolina because it “target[ed] African-Americans with almost surgical precision”. The fact that courts have ruled in this way is heartening; the fact that they have to is not. America’s electorate is becoming ever more diverse regardless. This year non-whites comprise one-third of eligible voters, an all-time high, with Hispanics outnumbering African-Americans for the first time. The electorate is also younger than in recent times—another factor that favours Democrats. Most analysts predict a high turnout in November. As much as 70% of the 240m-strong electorate is expected to vote, compared with 60% in the 2016 election and 50% in the 2018 midterms. They will not all find it easy. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, an umbrella group, has found that nearly 1,700 polling places were closed between 2012 and 2018 in states formerly covered by the preclearance rule. The largest numbers have been in Texas, Arizona and Georgia—three battleground states this year. Many of the closures are in areas where the population is disproportionately black or Hispanic. Polling-place closures can be expected to lead to queues elsewhere, and queues are already a problem. The Bipartisan Policy Centre, a think-tank, found that in 2016 over 560,000 voters failed to cast a ballot because of pollingplace management problems, including queues. Predictably, a study of the 2018 midterms from the Brennan Centre for Justice, another think-tank, found that black and Latino voters were markedly more likely than white voters to

find themselves waiting more than 30 minutes to vote. Such delays can be expected to discourage voting at the best of times. And this is not the best of times. Covid-19 makes standing in a long November queue particularly unappealing. It may also make the queues, and the time taken to vote, longer. The epidemic meant that Wisconsin had trouble recruiting enough poll workers for its primary election in April; as a result, the state’s biggest city, Milwaukee, had just five polling places, down from 180 in 2016. There has been more time for planning since then, which will doubtless improve things, but America remains grievously short of poll workers. With local governments already cash-strapped, private enterprise has begun to step in: the National Basketball Association, for instance, says it will convert many of its arenas into polling places. Coronaviruses are not the only invisible threat such places need to take account of. Computer viruses, ransomware and other hacks and attacks are also a worry. The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is chaired by a Republican, Marco Rubio, concluded in 2019 that Russian hackers probed all 50 states’ electoral systems in 2016, looking for vulnerabilities. Congress’s ability to look into what is happening this time, though, may be circumscribed. John Ratcliffe, a three-term congressman with no previous intelligence experience who was recently installed as the administration’s Director of National Intelligence, has stopped providing personal briefings to the Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee. He argues that written briefings will somehow reduce the chance of leaks; they will also eliminate committee members’ opportunity to question him. According to Mr Rubio, Mr Ratcliffe will continue in-person briefings for the Senate committee. At the state level, according to Marian Schneider, president of Verified Voting, a non-partisan group focused on election technology, “There have been significant improvements” since 2016. Many states have got rid of voting machines that do not produce paper trails for validation, thus inviting fraud. But Ms Schneider sees much more to be done: “America has woefully underfunded election infrastructure forever.” And new support does not always get to where it can do the most good. According to Mac Warner, who as secretary of state is West Virginia’s chief election official, “The most vulnerable piece is the county. They may not have [an] information officer, and even if they knew the problem, they might not have the money to fix it.”

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