BusinessDay 26 Jul 2020 by BusinessDay

Isa Funtua: Beyond just another death

Countless Nigerians in checkpoints on Lagos-Benin-Onitsha psychological torture road squeeze Eastern businesses 7 11

Port Harcourt: Wherever there are problems, there are opportunities, says Primeport CEO

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Vol 1, No. 321

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NDDC’s cyclical drama exposes FG’s failure at fighting corruption Junaid, Galadima, others pick holes

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Ondo 2020: APC, PDP in a battle of wits

Govt. should domesticate international, regional treaties that will protect women, girls - Ezeilo Herbert Wigwe, group managing director/CEO, Access Bank Plc, (right) during a courtesy visit to Oniru of Iruland, Oba Abdul Wasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, Abisogun II, on his 50th birthday at the Oniru Palace, Victoria Island...on Friday.

How Covid-19 is inspiring new ideas despite being disruptive The disruption of Covid-19 has fueled some enterprising responses from Nigerians who are 15 creating a new normal from emerging opportunities. TEMITAYO AYETOTO reports.

‘Anyanwu’, the timeless masterpiece 25

here is no doubt that the outbreak of the coronavirus has resulted in a public health catastrophe, which in no time has evolved into not only an economic crisis but also escalated into a

security threat. The relentless growth in the spread of the virus and the curbing measures that followed, also spelled doom for many business outfits and entrepreneurs, who have experienced dis-

rupted operations, laid off staff and witnessed sudden stoppages in cash flows, among other negatives. Despite this obviously distressing situation, some enterprising Nigerians have refused to give in to

the tales of woe and are turning the seeming gloom into positive prospects. According to the findings of the second round of Nigeria Covid-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (Covid-19 NLPS), con-

ducted in June 2020, some entrepreneurs remained unmoved, and assumed a can-do mindset, to leverage on emerging opportunities. Before Covid-19 crept

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NDDC’s cyclical drama exposes FG’s failure at fighting corruption Innocent Odoh, Abuja

he gale of corruption and mindless thieving being exposed by the investigation into the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) last week burdened Nigerians so much that many are beginning to lose hope of any redemption of the country from the scourge of corruption. According to a Senate Report presented by Olubunmi Adetunmbi, on Thursday, the commission, between October 2019 and May 2020 spent a whopping N81 billion without tangible projects to show for it, adding that the commission also paid staff all kinds of inexplicable allowances. “Spending N81 billion in six months is one of the most terrible crimes anybody can commit in a country even as people are dying of poverty in the region,” the report said. Some of the funds that were allegedly squandered include N85.7 million for overseas travels to the United Kingdom; N105.5 million for scholarship grants and N164.2 million for union members trip to Italy. Other are, N1.9 billion for Lassa Fever kits; N1.1 billion for ‘public communication’ and N1.5 billion for Covid-19 relief. The commission also reportedly spent over N40 billion “without recourse to established processes of funds disbursement which has opened up further suspicion among stakeholders of the Niger Delta region.” The NDDC spent N4.9 billion on medicals between October 2019 and May 2020 and spent billions of naira on “overseas travel allowance” at a time when countries were on lockdown and international flights were not operating, the report added.

President Buhari

Kemebradikumo

On Monday the Managing Director of the NDDC, Kemebradikumo Pondei, fainted during the probe exercise, while the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio while facing interrogation by the House of Representatives panel probing the alleged corruption, accused the federal lawmakers of benefiting largely from the NDDC contracts. He later changed his position. The Senate had asked the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC to refund N4.9 billion paid to staff, in breach of procurement process and approvals and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to disband the IMC. The NDDC, the Niger Delta Ministry and the Amnesty Programme of the Federal were all established by the government of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to address the socio- economic challenges facing the Niger Delta region, Nigeria’s oil rich region. The institutions became necessary following agitations by militant groups over the neglect of the region by successive governments.

The region has suffered massive environmental degradation, arising from oil spillage, gas flaring and deplorable level of poverty. These interventionist agencies have however, not invested much of the funds to reclaiming the environment, neither have they improved the lives of the people of the region. The agencies have largely been captured by those who go into government offices to corruptly enrich themselves with funds leaving the region in a more sorry state. Speaking to BDSUNDAY on the culture of corruption in Nigeria, Second Republic lawmaker, Junaid Mohammed said: “Nigeria’s corruption is impossible to handle because those who claim to be fighting corruption are at the centre of it and that is why we are making no headway. “There is absolutely no hope of fighting corruption in the country. The corruption fight in Nigeria especially under Buhari is nothing but a ruse, the country is not sincere and the government is not sincere. Sadly, Nigerians have to live with the consequences of this disaster.”

Buhari most followed African leader on Twitter – BCW study reveals IFEOMA OKEKE

resident Muhammadu Buhari has emerged the most followed Sub-Saharan African leader on Twitter during the Covid-19 pandemic, reveals leading global communications agency Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW) on Tuesday, July 21. The newly released BCW Twiplomacy study 2020, which focuses on how world leaders have tweeted during the coronavirus pandemic and how

Twitter has tried to keep the chatter clean from disinformation reveals that President Buhari recorded 3.1 million followers ahead of President Paul Kagame of Rwanda’s 1.9 million followers. PMB’s Twitter follower growth within the period when Coronavirus emerged in Mid-March until June was 51 per cent. Commenting on the outcome of the research, Chad Latz, Chief Innovation Officer, BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe), said: “It is therefore vital for world leaders to use channels like Twitter to

reach out to their followers to spread critical health warnings and keep their followers abreast of the latest COVID19-related information. As the pandemic abates in some countries, world leaders will find themselves with an expanded audience for future engagement.” Group Managing Director CMC Connect BCW (the affiliate company of BCW in Nigeria); Yomi BadejoOkusanya commended the BCW global network for the professionalism that culminated in the timely release of the study.

He added that if the nation must make progress in the fight against corruption, current institutional arrangement would have to change. Junaid however, suggested that Nigeria should copy the method of anti-corruption from South Africa, which has built strong independent institutions. “There is the need for us to copy what other countries have done successfully particularly the South Africans who took away some of the functions of the attorney-general and created the Directorate of Public Prosecution and also created a National Independent National Prosecution Authority (NIPA). “In the case of South Africa’s NIPA, it was a creation not of the President or his initiative it was the policy of the party, the African National Congress ANC. So everybody is bound to the institution because the party is a credible party. Everyone knows that the party is above every one of them. But in the case of Nigeria individuals think they are more important than the party and if he is the governor he puts the party in his pocket, the

President also wants to put the party in his pocket,” he said. Popular political analyst and former ally of President Buhari-turned critic, Buba Galadima, said the situation is getting worse because the institutions that would have fought corruption have been compromised and destroyed especially under the government of President Buhari. “The institutions were destroyed by the very people who are supposed to protect and develop them and, I can give you reason. Everybody had hope that when Buhari becomes President he will fight corruption because of his antecedents as former head of state and general. Everybody thought he will use the position to fight insecurity, provide employment and provide equitable environment. “But today, we are surprised that Buhari cannot even sack an ordinary minister that has allegedly stolen, he is passing the buck. The situation is sad and if Buhari cannot address corruption at this stage, I am beginning to wonder whether there is anybody who could do that,” he said. Public intellectual Katch Ononuju also decried the situation, stressing that no meaningful progress will be made in the fight against corruption going by the rhetoric and pretences of President Buhari. “The revelations at the House of Reps showed that since Buhari came to power N3 trillion has been spent at the NDDC without a formal budget, this is Buhari’s administration, this is the government of the man who claims that he is fighting corruption. So, people should not deceive themselves, Buhari is not fighting corruption. All he is doing is rhetoric, which does not amount to action. “We have vivid evidence to show that Buhari’s government is the most corrupt in Nigeria’s history that is the fact. Buhari’s government is worse than corruption,” he added.

L-R: Nkeiruka Onyeojeocha, deputy chief whip and member representing Umunneochi/ Isuikwuato Federal Constituency; Collins Igwe, representative of the permanent secretary, Ecological Fund Office, Office of SGF Dr. Habiba Lawal, MC and Eze Okey Udeh, the traditional ruler of Oguduasa Autonomous Community in Isuikwuato LGA, at the hand over of the contract by the federal government to the contractor, Messrs Foldams Engineering Company Limited on the gully erosion and flood control works at Oghoghe/Urualla Ohukabi Aligbara/Ohukabi Ndijibe in Oguduasa, Isuikwuato Local Government Area (LGA)of Abia State.

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NDDC crisis: ‘Developing the Niger Delta is Buhari’s responsibility’ ...Niger Delta professionals say ‘the buck stops at his table’ ...FG is culpable by encouraging ad-hoc committees instead of boards ...We must end this cyclical drama - Adegboruwa ...FG must properly prosecute those frustrating the efforts

Ignatius Chukwu he Federal Government of Nigeria has been urged to take a decisive step in the development of the Niger Delta which bears the crude oil, which is the mainstay of the country. A number of professionals from the region, who spoke with BDSUNDAY, said it amounts to naivety to think that an interventionist agency like the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) or an exclusive ministry to the Niger Delta could meet the humungous development needs of a region that has been degraded over the years. They urged Nigerians to look beyond the orchestrated drama at the National Assembly (NASS), adding that it was wrong for anybody to say that the Niger Delta has remained undeveloped because of the allegation of corruption or existence of it in the NDDC. They rather put the blame on the seeming insincerity of successive administrations and governments in doing the needful in the oil-bearing South-South. Beyond the drama/entertainment Many Nigerians may be cheering at the seeming entertainment going on at the National Assembly and in the media in the name of probe of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, but many others across the nation may be mourning. The seeming shenanigan seems to remind chief executive officers of government agencies of what most of them go through in the hands of lawmakers at the National Assembly where there have been outlandish accusations of bribery and demand for contracts and slots in everything the MDAs plan to execute. That must be why beyond entertainment, most Nigerians have urged the Federal Government to take development of Niger Delta seriously. The drama going on at the National Assembly, they contend, would not develop the oil region for which an intervention agency of about N350bn every year was set up, and for which a full ministry with two ministers has been devoted to. Instead of seeing fast pace of infrastructural and other developments in the Niger Delta, lawmakers are said to have turned their oversight function duties into means of enriching themselves, or looting machinery. Contractors are angry that huge sums of money are being collected by senators and members of the House of Representatives. From testimonies, it is either the contracts are directly awarded to the lawmakers or the contractors serve only as fronts. The story has been told of how one senator pocketed 1000 contracts in the NDDC and said he was doing so on behalf of other lawmakers. Another senator has been

President Buhari

mentioned in a scandal involving 300 contracts where payment for 200 was made upfront, yet, none was executed. The likes of Arunma Oteh, then of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), had one also accused members of the National Assembly of trying to hijack her job as the DG. The minister of state for labour and employment, Festus Keyamo is in a running battle with the same NASS; the ComptrollerGeneral of Customs, Hameed Ibrahim Ali, a retired colonel, and the suspended chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu have had their nightmares in the hands of lawmakers at the NASS. The same thing is happening in the present circumstance. Observers say the case of the NDDC should be different because of the special circumstances of the oil region right from the days of the Willink’s Commission far before the amalgamation. The Commission is an interventionist agency and thus, the buck stops at the table of the President under the relevant sections of the Act establishing NDDC. Ebun Adegboruwa, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), believes that corruption or allegation of it should not stop the Federal Government from developing the Niger Delta as it has not stopped the development of Abuja, Lagos or other parts of the country where there is no oil. He believes that it is wrong for anybody to say that the Niger Delta has remained undeveloped because of the allegation of corruption in NDDC. For him, the central government has the responsibility to develop the region. The mood of the nation at the moment seems to suggest that Nigerians cannot continue to entertain themselves by listening to revelations about corruption or those who are corrupt. “What

Nigerians are interested in seeing is punishment for those found guilty. What the politicians have perfected doing is to dull us, stage drama and a few days after, everything is swept under the carpet and a new drama is staged and Nigerians are once again being entertained,” Adegboruwa insists. The consensus seems to support the view that those found guilty should be punished. They argue that there are many laws in the land that can take care during trial of those accused of corruption. A Lagos-based Niger Delta technocrat who preferred anonymity said: “No electricity, no development in the Niger Delta that has been ravaged for many years. There is nothing to show for the resources being taken away from the region to develop other places. To think that to develop Niger Delta and assuage the anger of the people is to put everything on NDDC is a deceit. FG should focus on developing the place; if in the course of doing so and some individuals are seen to frustrate the efforts by compromising the efforts, they should be properly prosecuted. “What is going on is pure theatrical meant to divert attention of the public. Nothing will come out of the probes. No electricity in most parts of the region; the East-West Road that started 10 years ago has since been abandoned. There is sufficient reason to believe that there is some kind of politics around the development of the region. Nobody should pull wool over the eyes of Nigerians hiding under interventionist agency. “Since 2000, the Commission has been run illegally outside the Acts establishing it. It has been run on ad-hoc basis with interim management committee as against well constituted board. The forensic audit is germane, but there is more to what is happening in the Niger Delta than meets the eye.”

Many observers have wondered why President Buhari had remained silent, but the Pesident spoke last week, urging all government officials to honour invitations from the parliament. He however, asked both the forensic audit (that most persons seem to target in sabotage) and the probe in the NASS that the NDDC seems to kick against, to continue. While this is going on, many intellectuals and professionals in the Niger Delta have started looking for other viable ways of developing the oil region. This could be dangerous signal that the masses may have lost confidence in all the development agencies and ministries dedicated to the development of the oil region. Anger in the land The perceived anger seems to have led some experts to suggest scrapping the NDDC. Others have recalled previous position papers that had kicked against the setting up of the NDDC. Chika Onuegbu: Problems are multifaceted The industrial relations, financial expert and commercial law master thinks the NDDC has failed. His view: “The Niger Delta development problems are multifaceted. There is the need to pay special attention to the development of the Niger Delta which was identified by the colonial masters. This need was discussed and recommendations made by the Henry Willink Commission. However, despite several of such reports including the Ledum Mitee Technical Committee Report on the Niger Delta and the establishment of the NDDC, the painful reality is that the region is grossly underdeveloped. “As a matter of fact, the level of deprivation, hunger, poverty and neglect of the Niger Delta that produces the oil and gas that sustains Nigeria is unprecedented. This is obviously a structural violence against the region and its people. Unfortunately, the revelations from the ongoing probe and forensic audit of the NDDC has revealed what many already know; which is that the NDDC has been a massive failure and cannot as presently set up under the NDDC Act guarantee the development of the region. “Therefore, it is my considered opinion that the NDDC should be disbanded and the funds transferred to the Petroleum Host and Impacted Communities funds which will be organised using the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU) model with proper governance and accountability structures. This structure would involve the local communities and backed up by law.” According to Onuegbu, “It is also important to note that the youth and people of the Niger Delta have an important role to play. They have to maintain and sustain peace in the area. They must eschew the entitlement mentality and put pressure on the state governments and political leaders in the region to deliver good governance to the people and the region.

“There is also a need for the collaboration of all the political and business leaders from the region to ensure that the region speaks with one voice and that the people are able to attract development from the FG. “Our seaports, infrastructure and the environment conducive for business should be collectively put in place. This will encourage businesses and investors to invest in the region and generate employment which will, in turn, promote peace and security of the region. The fact is that no investor will invest in an environment that he or she does not feel secured or where he/she has to spend unnecessarily to do business. He would rather invest the funds in better alternative locations.” NUPENG/PENGASSAN In 2008, both bodies submitted position paper to the National Assembly on the vexed issue of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). The oil-related unions suggested the setting up of what it called Petroleum Host and Impacted Communities Development Trusts. In the memorandum, the unions said there is need to clarify the Licensee and Lessee that section 2(1) of the PIB is not applicable to. This is because the provisions of this Bill are not mandatory for such Licensee and Lessee as section 2(2) provides that, “Any other licensee or lessee of upstream, midstream or downstream assets to whom the provisions of subsection 1 of this section is not applicable may decide to incorporate a trust for communities designated by the licensee or lessee...The need for this clarification is to ensure that no licensee and lessee will hide under this provision to deny its host and impacted communities the benefits due them as provided in the bill. In dealing with how the host communities trusts would be funded, the unions raised on what it called the adequacy of funding for Petroleum Host and Impacted Communities Development Trust Fund. The unions said: “Our interactions with host communities indicate that the 2.5 percent operating budget is grossly inadequate. However, our interactions with the oil and gas companies raise concerns that the Bill imposes additional financial burden on the oil and gas companies who are already paying their taxes, fees and royalties, 3 per cent budget to NDDC, 2 per cent Education Tax and 1 percent Nigerian Content Development (NCD). Our further reflections on the need for the Petroleum Host Community Fund indicate that the massive failure of the NDDC is a major driver for the need for this fund.” Moreover the 2.5 percent of operating expenditure (OPEX) provided in this bill is just a fraction of the oil and gas companies contribution to NDDC. It is therefore our considered opinion that the National Assembly and the Federal Government should accept the reContinues on Page 5

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News 3rd Mainland Bridge: It’s no time to arrest motorists for every minor offence - LASTMA boss …as Lagos assures that only 25% of traffic will be affected JOSHUA BASSEY, KELECHI EWUZIE AND JOHN SALAU

agos State Traffic Management A u t h o r i t y (LASTMA) has tasked its officers to be civil with apprehensive motorists as the Third Mainland Bridge has been partially shut to traffic from midnight of Friday, July 24, for a six-month maintenance works. General manager of LASTMA, Olajide Oduyoye, gave the admonition at a press conference jointly addressed by state officials, including commissioners for information and strategy, Gbenga Omotoso; transportation, Frederick Oladeinde; special adviser on works and infrastructure, Aramide Adeyoye and Oluwatoyin Fayinka, special adviserontransportationand chairman of the presidential Ta s k Te a m o n Apap a , Kayode Opeifa, ahead of the commencement of the repair works. According to Oduyoye, “This is not the time for the officers to arrest offenders for every minor traffic infractions” because of the ongoing repair of the bridge. Ov e r 6 5 0 L AST M A officials will take the lead in traffic management to be complemented by other traffic agencies, including the federal road safety corps.

L-R: Adedamola Kuti, Federal Controller Of Works, (South-West); Olajide Oduyoye, general manager, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA); Frederick Oladeinde, commissioner for Transportation, Lagos State; Aramide Adeyoye, special adviser to the Governor on Transportation, and Olukayode Popoola, federal controller of Works during the joint inspection of Third Mainland Bridge by the Lagos State Officials and Federal Ministry Of Works On Friday.

Meanwhile, officials of the state have reassured that it would do everything to lessen the traffic trauma this might trigger. The state government also said that funding for the reconstruction of AbuleEgba-tollgate route on the Lagos-AbeokutaExpressway was ready but work is being delayed due to the procurement process. Omotoso assured that all well-known traffic management strategies have been put in place to ensure a smooth ride on alternative

routes to the Third Mainland Bridge. Oladeinde, the t r a n s p o r t a t i o n commissioner, said there was no need to worry as up to 75 percent of road users would not be affected, pointing out that the 25 percent that would be affected, would use the 10 alternative routes already made motorable for ease of movement. Meanwhile, Adedamola Kuti, the Federal controller of works, South-West, said the first phase of the maintenance work will be

on the Mainland bound lane, and the part that needs to be repaired with some expansion joints will be from Adeniji end to Ebute-Meta for the first three (3) months. According to Kuti, in the morning hours, from 12 midnight up till 12 noon, traffic coming from the Mainland accessing the Island will be free, while traffic coming from the Island going towards the Mainland will be diverted in the afternoon between 12 noon and 12 midnight at the Elubirin junction.

Block makers emerge first winners of Dangote Cement Season 2 Consumer promo … As group lauds Dangote for alleviating impact of Covid-19

arely a week after its launch, two Block makers from Lagos and Oyo States have become first star prize winners of N1 million each in the ongoing Dangote Cement Bag of Goodies Season 2 Consumer Promo that was recently launched. The promo, which the management said was partly to reward loyal customers and ameliorate the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on consumers, offered the winners cash prize apart from other commercial and household items is expected to run from July 15 to November 15, 2020. Besides, the National Secretary of Block Makers Association, Apostle I.I. Aina has commended Dangote Cement for investing on its consumers through the national promo.

A block maker based in Lanlate, in Ibarapa East local government area of Oyo State, Ojediran Kayode Stephen, who emerged the first N1 million winner in the “Spell Dangote and be a millionaire” promo, said he got the winning letters from among the 500 hundred bags of cement, which he bought to make blocks for customers. Apart from the N1million, Ojediran said that he also won several recharge cards and extra N2000 in the promo. On what he would do with his winnings, he explained that he is going to invest the N1 million to expand his block making business. “I am very happy for becoming one of the first sets of people to win in the Dangote Cement Promo. I intend to use the money to expand my business. I am

going to buy more bags of cement to produce more blocks. “I thank Dangote Cement company for organising this promo in this era of COVID-19 and I believe the money will go a long way to reduce the pain of the pandemic in the country”, he said. Another lucky winner, the Managing Director of Afolabi Adefila Block Industry, said that he has been a user of Dangote Cement since the inception of his business, which he started several years ago. According to him, he buys over 300 bags of Dangote Cement weekly for his block factory located in Lagos. “I patronize only Dangote Cement. This money is timely, most especially during this era of COVID-19. Dangote has been doing a lot to

ameliorate the challenges of COVID-19 on Nigeria. I am aware of what the company has been doing to reduce hardship in Nigeria. The promo is just an added effort to what Dangote has already done in terms of poverty alleviation,” he said. Reacting to the news of the first winners, the Block Makers association Secretary, Aina said that he is excited that members of his association have emerged as the first set of winners of the ongoing Dangote Cement promo. He described Dangote Cement as best in terms of quality, saying the promo would help improve the association’s members’ revenue. He lauded the company’s innovate efforts of producing best product for building construction from the stable of Dangote cement.

Methodist cleric solicits collaboration in fighting Covid-19 UDOKA AGWU, UMUAHIA

aphael Chibuzo Opoko, archbishop, Methodist Church Nigeria (MCN) Umuahia diocese, has called for a collaborative effort towards the fight against the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Opoko, while speaking at Methodist Training Institute, Umuahia, Abia State during the 59th synod of the church attended by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) with her outreach - Advocacy Campaign on Increased Risk of Communication and Community Engagement on Covid-19 in Abia State, the cleric said that the MCN had embarked on the distribution of facemasks and palliative materials three weeks before government’s intervention and insisted that the fight against Covid-19 should not be left to government alone. In her speech earlier, Ngozi Okechukwu, Abia State director, National O r i e n t a t i o n A g e n c y, appealed to religious leaders to use the pulpit to influence and redirect the misconception people have about the pandemic. Okechukwu said: “The war against the novel coronavirus is far from being

over and likely to have longlasting economic, human and social consequences. Since this coronavirus was reported by the World Health Organisation on the 31st of December, 2019 in Wuhan China, it has become an unprecedented global pa ndemic with a c tiv e community transmission in all the states in Nigeria. National Orientation Agency has taken the responsibility to respond to the impact of Covid-19, which has disproportionately affected the world’s poorest and most vulnerable in society. “When this pandemic began, the NOA took the chargeofriskcommunication and community engagement very seriously. With a strong foundation in public enlightenment, social mobilisation and attitudinal change and with offices in the 17 local government areas, NOA was structurally positioned to communicate coronavirus messages even into the hinterland”. To sensitise citizens on the facts on the Covid-19 pandemic, Okechukwu said that NOA utilised every platform in the federal, state and LGAs, along with partnering with different ministries, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), and international bodies.

National Merit Awards on MSME to two Abians attributable to Ikpeazu’s investment in SME - Wachukwu UDOKA AGWU, UMUAHIA.

n y e m a Wachukwu, Abia State commissioner for Small and Medium scale Enterprises Development (SMED), has attributed the National Merit Awards won bytwoAbiansrecentlyduring the National Merit MSME Awards in Abuja in Fashion Design and leather works to the huge investment by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in the SME sector of the state. Wa c h u k w u , w h o disclosed this in Umuahia while briefing the press on the latest MSME national merit Award where two Abians, Chidinma Erem and Clement Orjinta won awards, said that Abia was the only state with two awardees at the event, adding that Abians were naturally blessed with entrepreneurial skills. He said that Governor Ikpeazu had leveraged on the ingenuity and creative mindset of an average Abian in placing the state on the global map. The SME Development Commissioner extolled Ikpeazu for his relentless efforts in developing the SME sector of the state and

assured that his ministry was determined to make positive impact on the SME sector of the state. Chinenye Nwogu, senior special assistant to the governor on job creation, lauded the passion of Governor Ikpeazu in SME development which led to the infrastructural revolution in Aba and other parts of the state, adding that the first ever seven thousand capacity automated shoe factory built by the present administration would be commissioned for use in no distant time. He disclosed that the 30 shoe makers earlier trained on Automation in China by the present administration have the choice to fully work or as partners in the factory, pointing out that Governor Ikpeazu was determined to the creation of millions of jobs through SME ecosystem of the state. Onyebuchi Ememanka, chief press secretary to the governor, said that Ikpeazu as the brand Ambassador of made-in-Abia goods had laid a solid foundation for further growth and development of SMEs, adding that the recent awards in SME were the 3rd Abia had received under Governor Ikpeazu.

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BDSUNDAY 5

News Covid-19: Abia threatens to ban ceremonies Abia police command arrests suspected …Targets 10,000 rural testing to break transmission chain kidnappers, one-chance operators in Aba UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia.

h e Ab i a St a t e government has threatened to place a total ban on public gathering if citizens continued with flagrant disobedience to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols on Covid-19. Chris Ezem, secretary to Abia State Government and Chairman Inter-ministerial committee on Covid-19, made the threat in Umuahia South Local Government Area of the state during the flag-off ceremony of ‘Breaking the chain of transmission of Covid-19 through community surveillance and testing.’ Ezem, who said that Abia was the first state to embark on the community testing, extolled Governor Ikpeazu for the novel exercise. He enjoined Abians to take the exercise seriously, adding that for one to test positive did not mean a death sentence. “If you test negative does not mean you are free but to be more cautious. We are out to break the chain through those who have been tested

GODFREY OFURUM, Aba

Ikpeazu

positive, “We are targeting 10,000 persons within a short time in the state. In the next two weeks if people fail to maintain the protocols of Covid-19, we ban weddings and burial ceremonies,” Ezem said. Joe Osuji, Abia commissioner for health, in his speech said the Covid-19 pandemic had brought the entire world to its knees. He recalled that since Abia

recorded its first two index cases, the number had risen to over 380. Osuji disclosed that Governor Ikpeazu mandated 10,000 rural testing in communities so as to break the chain of transmission, adding that the state government would continue to mobilise Covid-19 leading team. He disclosed that the exercise would start off with Umuahia South, Ikwuano and Isiala Ngwa LGAs.

Firm set to launch real estate programme on NTA International Ngozi Okpalakunne

s part of effort to enable Nigerians both home and in Diaspora get information on real estate, an investment firm has concluded plans to launch real estate TV programme on NTA international. A statement signed and made available to B D S U N D AY b y t h e promoter of the programme,

Meckson Innocent Okoro explained that the programme which will be aired on NTA International starting from August, 2020 will enable all Nigerians living all over the world to get firsthand information on real estate investment and purchasing guides in Nigeria. “You will recall that our first episode hit the Air on NTA 2 Channel 5 just two months ago and within the said eight weeks, National Real Estate TV Programme

expanded to TVC News under the platform of NIESV half hour and also Silver bird Television. Our major reason to commence airing on NTA International platform is to spread our good news on real estate to all Nigerians”, Okoro added. It could be recalled that Okoro is a real estate professional whose experience spans 30 years of exposure in the practice of real estate consulting in Nigeria and overseas.

Group set to launch ‘Akuluouno forum’ …Urges Igbos in Diaspora to think home Ngozi Okpalakunne

gbos in the Diaspora have been urged to think home in their investment decisions so as to develop their home land. Speaking at a press briefing held recently in Lagos to herald the official launch of “Akuluouno - Think Home Forum”, the initiator of the group, Okwudili Ijezie emphasised that it was time for the Igbos across the globe toextendtheirwealthnotonly to their host communities, but also to their father land. Ijezie stated that the forum which would be launched in August 2020, in Owerri, Imo State capital hoped to

mobilise Igbo professionals, academia, business women at home and abroad to begin think home in their asset resolution as part of Igbo development agenda while maintaining their diversified investment . Other aims of the Forum, he said include organising free annual lecture series and other lectures and sensitisation to brainstorm on the Akuluouno philosophy as a way of keeping the campaign alive strategically focused and sustainable from generation to generation. According to him, the group had set up not less than twenty committees drawn from various sectors of the economy. “We have set up a lot of committees, such as health,

education, media, Agriculture and a host of them and some of their chairmen are based abroad, the idea behind it is tap their talents,” Ijezie added. While describing Igbos as verycreativeandenterprising, he stressed the need for them to encourage and patronise one another in business. “The Igbos are like the Jews, they are scattered all over the world, but one thing that is special in the lives of the Jews is that they assist one another, before their money circulate outside they would assisted their own five times and that is what is lacking in the Igbos,theyshouldlearnhowto assist one another particularly those in the manufacturing industriesbecauseacceptance brings turn over,” he said.

he Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Abia Police Command says it has arrested four kidnap suspects in connection with the kidnapping of one Chekwas Daniel in Aba. The suspects were identified as Bright Chinonso (34) of number 38, Afam Road Obigbo, Eze Ernest (30) of number- 2 Afam Road Obigbo, and Chisom Godwin (24) of Number 64 Isaiah Eletuo Street, Obigbo, all in Rivers State and Chinoyerem Chineye (25) of Number 220, Uratta Road, Aba, Abia State, who was accused of plotting the kidnap of the victim in his shop on Tuesday, July 21, 2020.

The state’s Police Commissioner, Janet Agbede, confirmed the arrest in a telephone interview, on Friday, July 24, 2020. According to the Abia CP, “The investigations will be concluded today and the suspects will be charged to court. I think what they did was a deliberate action. “The suspects saw the number of the man written on his shop door and then they called him while he was in church attending service. “They told him they wanted to buy some 90 yards of a certain material, which huge volume motivated him to rush out to attend to them before church service ended. “When he got to his shop, he did not see them so he called them back and they

came and as he opened the shop, they grabbed him and put him in a vehicle. “But as he was being moved into their vehicle, SARS men, led by Johnbull Obioguru got a tip off and chased them and arrested them at Ngwa Road, by Mosque Street, Aba and rescuedthevictim,”shenarrated. BDSUNDAY gathered that two of the suspects, who were wielding the guns they came with dispersed people, by shooting sporadically into the air while they escaped. The SARS team also arrested Azuka Emmanuel Ojiegbe, male, (28) of 214 B, Aba - Owerri road and Bethel Onyenso Onyebuchi, male, (19) of Mkpuka Village, Isiala-Ngwa South Local Government Area (LGA) of Abia State for kidnapping.

NDDC crisis: ‘Developing the Niger... Continued from Page 3 ality that NDDC has been a massive failure, go ahead to repeal the NDDC Act and disband the Commission, and channel the NDDC funds directly to fund the Petroleum Host and Impacted Communities Fund. This is in our view will deliver better value than the NDDC. Our concern about the adequacy of the mandatory contributions in the bill is because inadequate provision of funds or subjecting the funding to donations and other optional means may scuttle the laudable objectives of the bill, dash the hopes of the petroleum host and impacted communities and further breach the trust between these communities and the government of Nigeria. Forensic audit must continue – export promotions technocrat This expert who preferred anonymity said: “The forensic audit should be allowed its full course. It should be extended to the beginning of the Commission. Outcome of this should not be covered up or allowed to cool-off in our usual manner. Supervision of Commission should directly be from the Presidency - as it was before the establishment of Niger Delta Development Commission. The board that was announced should be allowed to function. Stricter monitoring and evaluation strategies should be instituted. And its frequency of monitoring and evaluation increased. All present dramatis personae should be relieved of their positions to allow for free and in-depth auditing. But where they are found wanting the law should take its course. NDDC’s counterparts like the one in North East should also be torch-lighted. They

are the same conduits all over the place. Let the NDDC come back under the Presidency – Public Relations guru If the President retains it, let the NDDC come back under the supervision of the Presidency or office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation. Let NDDC be run by technocrats and not by politicians who only go there to loot. Award of contract for community development should follow strict guidelines such as needs analysis, cost evaluation, quotation by at least 3 companies, audit verification, due process evaluation, project supervision and report, commissioning of project and final payment. For now, I wonder if these procedures are followed. Our recommendation to NASS - Darlington Nwauju of Niger Delta Rights Advocates We recommended to NASS for amendments to two sections of the NDDC Establishment Act 2000 as follows: (a) Prescribing functions and powers of the two Executive Directors under the Act. The Act in its present form did not prescribe functions for the other two EDs leaving them at the mercy of the MD who has very omnibus powers under the present Act. (b) Make the periodic financial reports to the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, compulsory and prescribe punishment for default. This is strategic to avoid the Agency taking taxpayers movies every fiscal year without accounting for what was spent the previous year. (c) Finally, we recommended the setting up of a National Procurement Council or Commission (NPC) in order to regulate procurement practice and set bench-

mark and stiff guidelines for procurement. Ekama Emilia Akpan: Education, human capital development urgently needed The CEO of Showers Schools and top member of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) who has a passion for youths, education and human capital development said: “Human capacity through education and skills acquisition should be the centerpiece of the development focus. Emphasis should be on those subject areas most suitable to Niger Deltans, ie, Arts, artisan skills like drawing, weaving, and others. The development agency dedicated to the region should publicise how the skills with education can bring them wealth. Those earning well now are in hands own businesses. They should also publicize and encourage the natural advantages they are endowed with, intellectual endowment, artistic skills. Mentoring of the youth by the older ones in organized setting should be a new target. They should build business clusters for empowering the young and small businesses. Finally, there should be a system of applauding achievers in all fields, education, sports, business etc. Conclusion: It is obvious that the confidence of the people of the region has been vigorously shaken. The bottom line however, is that developing the Niger Delta should return to the front burner of government activities. This is because, after each decade, posterity will certainly look back. Then, the Federal Government, not any other arm or agency, would either be a hero or a villain. And posterity usually has the final say.

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Sunday 26 July 2020

Special Feature

How Covid-19 is inspiring new ideas despite... Continues from Page 1 into the world, the use of personal protective equipment was largely preserved for surgeons to maintain sterile fields during operations or avoid respiratory droplets and the spraying of body fluids on the face. In other cases, it was used occasionally by sick patients to prevent the spread of pathogens. However, as the invisible enemy raged, the application of PPEs rapidly moved from the shadows of critical clinical procedures to the stage of common use by all and sundry, ill or not. Consequently, the spread of the disease in Nigeria, left healthcare workers nationwide, struggling to care for an ever-increasing number of patients, with not enough protective gear like masks, gowns, gloves, and other personal protective equipment (PPE), to safeguard themselves. Azuka Ijekeye, founder of Interstreet Messenger Technologies, is one entrepreneur who recognised a pressing need in government’s response and management of Covid-19 in hospitals. His firm built a Covid-19 sample collection booth, to ramp up testing in Africa’s most populous country, with a focus on eliminating what had quickly become a perennial need for personal protective equipment (PPE). Ijekeye revealed: “We realised that though sample collection is very important because it leads to testing, the biggest constraint was personal protective equipment. It is expensive, usually used only once and mostly required at the frontline where the doctors and nurses are attending directly to patients.” According to the CEO, “At the sample collection stage, we feel that if we can remove the need for personal protective equipment, we will be helping the cause. It means more of the personal protective equipment will be used by those at the frontline and that’s where our TS Module comes in.” Azuka’s TS Module, a positive pressure test sample collection booth for Covid-19, which delivers a sealed, sterile environment for medical staff, while ensuring zero direct contact between healthcare professional and patients. It was designed and built within three weeks, by the Lagosbased IMT, to service this need. Built as a 2-station booth with a positive pressure, PPEs are not required by medics, freeing up scarce PPEs for other frontline workers. Having 2-stations allows for simultaneous sample collection that maximises booth use and delivers optimal return on investment. To set this up, Azuka combined his knowledge of biological sciences, manufacturing and technology, with the efforts

of his small team of industrial designers, engineers and fabricators. Their objective was to build a product that could help flatten the curve. He explains further: “It has been done in Korea but they had single use booths. Our TS Module, built by local hands with locally sourced materials, needed to maximise the use of all the invested funds. For that reason, we have put in two stations, so that there’s a simultaneous collection of samples on both sides of the booth. That ensures that the return on investment is ramped up and with 20 of our booths, each state can test almost 5,000 samples daily.” While expected government patronage is yet to take off, the initiative has been receiving encouraging traction from private sector entities. It could prove to be a prototype that can help

“

We are doing master-classes on data analytics with excel and having about 100 people fill the form. You can see the difference. In as much as the revenue has not gone up exponentially, the business is at least moving and we are able to do something that the market actually wants

the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) achieve its target of testing 50,000 people in 36 states by the end of July, 2020. Kelechi Uchenna is another entrepreneur who has identified the positive side of the Covid-19 crisis. Uchenna is head of a training and development company called Innovative Digital Learning (IDL) a platform that works with businesses to improve their staff productivity through high quality training programmes. Uchenna’s initiative aligns with what the multinational, Pr i c e w a t e r h o u s e C o o p e r s (PwC), describes as accelerating digital transformations for working remotely, to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. Taking the pulse of his customers and thinking through longer-term considerations around shifts in core markets or business models as a result of the pandemic, Uchenna launched the IDL Digital School, the digital skills training arm of IDL in May, 2020. The core focus is on digital skills training. Th e e n t r e p r e n e u r t o l d BDSUNDAY that “What the market really wanted was digital skills training such as data, analytics, product management and artificial intelligence, which are the core tech digital skills

that help individuals get jobs and help businesses increase their revenue and profit.” The new goal became clearer when Covid-19 hit and training demands dropped along with shrinking consumer spending. He had to rethink the business when he reviewed the result of an online market survey, using a Google form questionnaire sent to career professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs. He sampled the key training areas they believed were needed the most going forward post-Covid-19. He found that there was a high demand for data analytics, data science, product management, project management and virtual work skills, confirming to him the market need during this period. These are the skills that could help individuals get jobs and businesses increase their revenue. IDL trainings are now held online with a faculty of 10 experienced professionals and a learning community of about 300 people constantly engaged. The new virtual business was the same that barely got three people to sign up for soft skills training in 2019. The cost of switching including marketing and internet and online subscription was about N100,000. “Now, we are doing masterclasses on data analytics with excel and having about 100 people fill the form. You can see the difference. In as much as the revenue has not gone up exponentially, the business is at least moving and we are able to do something that the market actually wants,” the IDL chief executive said. BDSUNDAY notes that there are many other entrepreneurs who have continued to exploit opportunities such as face-mask production, production and sale of sanitisers and water dispensers, in the wake of the surge in

hygiene awareness. The advocacy for building a strong immune system against the fast spreading virus has equally boosted production and sale of local spices and herbs such as ginger, garlic and turmeric, as well as other immune enhancing products. The latest World Bank Nigeria Development Update (NDU) released in June, predicts that the collapse in oil prices, coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, is expected to plunge the Nigerian economy into a severe economic recession, the worst since the 1980s. According to the report, “Nigeria in Times of Covid-19: Laying Foundations for a Strong Recovery,” it estimates that Nigeria’s economy would likely contract by 3.2 percent in 2020, if the spread of Covid-19 in Nigeria is contained by the third quarter. If, however, the spread of the virus becomes more severe, the economy could contract further. Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, the Nigerian economy was expected to grow by 2.1 percent in 2020, which means that the pandemic has led to a reduction in growth by more than five percentage points. The report shows that while the human cost of Covid-19 could be high, beyond the loss of life, the pandemic shock alone is projected to push about 5 million more Nigerians into poverty in 2020. While before the pandemic, the number of poor Nigerians was expected to increase by about 2 million largely due to population growth, the number would now increase by 7 million - with a poverty rate projected to rise from 40.1 per cent in 2019 to 42.5 percent in 2020. Indeed, the report also reveals that over 40 percent of Nigerians employed in non-farm enterprises reported a loss of income in April-May 2020. Nevertheless, Nigerians are known for being enterprising, hard-working and optimistic. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) the re-opening of activities by big formal sector players, account for why the commerce and services sectors those hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis – experienced among the largest recoveries within the workforce. In addition, while some skill-thirsty individuals are picking up new courses on various free online platforms for self-development, others are turning to completely new paths and careers in order to adjust to the new normal. The economy will no doubt show greater signs of recovery, as the effects of the reduction of lockdown measures, begin to manifest. This report was facilitated by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under its COVID-19 Reality Check project.

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Feature Countless checkpoints on Lagos-Benin-Onitsha Road squeeze Eastern businesses ...Puts travelers’ health at risk ...Trip to Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom now lasts two days

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE s we set out on our journey exactly at 6:45am that fateful Friday morning, July 17, 2020 from our bus terminal at Ejigbo, a suburb located in the Isolo area of Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial hub centre in the Western region, I was so convinced that by leaving Lagos few minutes to 7 in the morning, I would be able to get to my destination in Imo State, not later than 4pm. In making these plans, I never envisaged that travelling to the eastern part of Nigeria from Lagos has become very excruciating as uniform military and paramilitary officers have laid siege to the roads in the guise of mounting security check points. When we departed from our bus terminal, it was a smooth ride all through Oshodi to Gbagada as we were able to get to the Oworoshoki axis of the city in a matter of minutes and were trying to connect to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the only motorable exit out of Lagos, and that was where our problem started. Three hours into our journey, we only managed to reach the Toll-Gate/Motorway axis of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at exactly 10am that morning. This was due to the heavy traffic gridlock on that axis of the LagosIbadan Expressway, which has become a daily occurrence such that travelers and commuters now spend longer man-hour on the road caused by the perpetual construction works on the road. Sadly, Lagos has other alternative exit routes to Ijebu-Ode in Ogun through Ikorodu and Epe, but motorists avoid them especially the Ikorodu axis, which is presently in poor condition as a result of government negligence. Back to our trajectory, having spent 3 hours without making any headway out of Lagos, our driver had to maneuver through Ojota and diverted to the ‘dreaded’ Ikorodu-Ijebu Ode Road from where we were able to find our way out of Lagos at about 12:35pm because the road was garnish with potholes and gully. On hitting the Ijebu-Ode/OreBenin Expressway, I discovered that the checkpoints mounted by military and police officers were unbearable such that at every three to five minutes drive, approximately 200 meters, the vehicle will slow down to traffic logjam caused by either military or police checkpoint. From IjebuOde to Onitsha Bridge Head, we encountered over 80 check points. Due to the excessive stop over on our way to Imo State, we managed to get to Onitsha Bridge Head at 6:32 pm at exactly

12 hours after leaving our bus terminal in Lagos. Connecting Onitsha Bridge Head to OnitshaAba-Owerri was also a very difficult task due to the heavy traffic gridlock caused by bad state of that axis of Onitsha-Aba-Owerri. With this situation, it is no longer fun to travel to the Eastern part of Nigeria by road. At exactly 9:19 pm, we arrived in Owerri, Imo State where we finally had to stay the night to continue the journey to my country-home the next morning due to the 10pm to 4am dust to dawn curfew. In actual sense, I did not get to my final destination till the next day. It has now become a traumatic experience travelling to the Eastern part of Nigeria because on getting to my destination the next morning, it took me another two days to recover from body pains, head ache and other health chal-

Christians and thrives on commerce. Since the return of Nigeria to civil rule in 1999, it has remained a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) major enclave, although it lost a state, Imo, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Today, owing to a combination of neglect of federal roads to the zone, either from the North or South West geo-political zone, and the over-militarisation of the area, a journey to the East has become a nightmare. Take your mind back to 2019, when travelling to the South East geo-political zone of Nigeria from Lagos, Abuja or any other part of the country, was a high risk venture. Kidnappers laid siege to travelers. While a number of people suffered terribly in the hands of the kidnappers and bandits, some were even killed even after heavy ransom had been paid

bad as we now find it difficult to come to Lagos to buy goods as we normally do. Formerly, I used to take night bus into Lagos, buy goods and leave the following night to Onitsha to reopen my shop. Now, this routine is very difficult because we cannot embark on night trip anymore due to the curfew and bad roads,” said Cletus Eze, an Onitsha based trader. According to him, it takes an average of three to four days or even more to complete one business trip to Lagos and back to Onitsha. While stating that the long trip to and fro Lagos Onitsha is eating deep into his business, he said that going to buy goods takes nothing less than five days now, which is not healthy for businesses in the Eastern Nigeria that depends on Lagos for sourcing of their goods. “After the very bad experience

lenges that I faced for spending two days on the road for a journey of originally 8 or 9 hours under normal circumstances. The Eastern part of Nigeria, known as South East geo-political zone, is one of the six major zones so named for political exigency. The zone is made up of five states, namely- Abia, Imo, Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi. Historically, the zone has suffered government neglect, which can be seen in the poor state of infrastructure, which has now worsened after the civil war. Since the civil war, it appears there is an unwritten law that the zone would no longer be reckoned with in the scheme of things in the country. This is not lost on most people from the zone. Successive administrations and governments have pursued the alleged exclusionist agenda. For this reason, the zone has the worst road networks in the country and lacks Federal Government presence in terms of infrastructural development. The region is predominantly

by victims’ families. Cries for security beef up on such routes were every day refrain. Today, there seems to be what could be described as an overkill of such security beef up, which has sadly created a fresh hurdle for travelers to Nigeria’s south eastern states. Although their presence gives a sense of security that every 200 meter you meet a checkpoint, it also creates a lot of apprehension and bottlenecks in business and impacts negatively on travelers’ health. Apart from health implication of the multiple check points on the Lagos-Benin-Onitsha Road, businesses situated in the SouthEast and South-South parts of the country are seriously passing through hell to move goods from Lagos to these regions. Presently, traders and other travelers that usually come to Lagos to buy goods including importers, who rely on Lagos seaports to move goods are now cut in the middle of the situation. “The situation has gone really

I had on the Lagos-Benin-Onitsha Road the last time I travelled to Lagos on business trip. I decided to send money to Lagos to enable my customers buy the goods and waybill them to me but that turned out to be the worst as it took almost a week for the goods to arrive Onitsha in Anambra State,” Eze stated. Most commercial buses and other vehicles going to Eastern states such as Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi States including some states in South-South region like Akwa Ibom now take two days to get to their destination, said Jude Ikem, a commercial bus driver. According to him, many of his co-drivers now stay the night in Asaba, Delta State whenever they are travelling to those far away states and they continue their journey the next morning. On how the multiple checkpoints impact on the Eastern economy generally, Tony Anakebe, managing director of Gold-Link Investment Ltd, a Lagos-based clearing and for-

warding firm, who have been doing business with firms in that region, said that these multiple checkpoints that came up on the Lagos-Benin-Onitsha Road in the last couple of months have helped in increasing the cost of doing business for shippers. Importers and exporters, according to Anakebe, have been recording serious losses due to high cost of moving their cargoes from either the hinterland to ports in Lagos or port to the markets in the Eastern region. “The existence of multiple security checkpoints manned by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Police Force (NPF), and Nigerian Army along the Lagos-Ore-Benin-Onitsha Road are taking toll on businesses. This has made the cost of haulage to skyrocket in recent time as truckers now charges between 800,000 to 1 million to move one container from Lagos to East due to the delays on the road,” he said. Continuing, he stated that the longer it takes to move laden container from ports in Lagos to warehouse in the East, means that the cargo owners would pay heavily as demurrage to shipping companies for not returning the empty container in due time. “Corruption will continue to thrive in the country if these checkpoints are being allowed. In most cases, the essence of putting security operatives on the road is becoming almost defeated as these officers use the opportunity to feather their own nest. It has become very absurd that truckers would be compelled to ‘grease the palms’ of these security operatives on the highway before they could be allow to pass the checkpoints mounted at every 200 meters on the road,” Anakebe noted. BDSUNDAY can recall that Justin Bayili, executive secretary, Borderless Alliance while presenting a paper on the role multiple checkpoints plays on length of time it takes to do business across the border posts within the West African region, said that countless checkpoints are responsible for high cost of trade in West African region. Bayili pointed out that the existence of multiple Customs and Police check points along the routes from the ports to the border posts, physical state of the roads as well as unlawful extortion are issues contributing to delays and cost for businesses. “Nigeria needs to reduce the outrageous number of checkpoints to facilitate regional trade. Time is money in transport and businesses, and delays encountered at the border stations and on the roads translate to money that includes payment of demurrage and storage charges at the ports,” he said.

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On the partial closure of Third Mainland Bridge

editor Zebulon Agomuo

for completion of repairs were sourced abroad because they were not available locally. In order to ensure a seamless repair exercise, the Federal and the Lagos State Governments had engaged in several consultations aimed at developing a perfect traffic management plan. Thus, the Federal government will be working with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) as well as the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) to manage traffic during the period. About 600 LASTMA personnel would be deployed to direct traffic to ensure free vehicular movement on major routes across the axis. During a recent press conference jointly held by the Federal Controller of works in Lagos, Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Frederic Oladeinde and the Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Works, Aramide Adeyoye, Lagosians were assured that necessary measures would be put in place to reduce gridlocks during partial closure of the bridge. Consequently, there would be diversion of traffic in two phases during the partial closure of the bridge between Friday July 24, 2020 and January 24, 2021. The phase one of the diversion, which will last for three months for repairs of the Oworonsoki bound lane of the bridge, would be from 12:00am to 1:00pm from Oworonshoki to Lagos Island on the Lagos Island bound lane, while the afternoon traffic from 1:00pm to 12:00am would be from Lagos

Frank Aigbogun

DEPUTY EDITOR John Osadolor, Abuja MANAGING DIRECTOR Dr. Ogho Okiti EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STRATEGY, INNOVATION & PARTNERSHIPS Oghenevwoke Ighure 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

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

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

eginning from Friday, July 24, the second longest bridge in Africa, the Third Mainland Bridge, will be partially shut down for maintenance work. The bridge, which starts from Oworonshoki and links Apapa-Oshodi Expressway as well as the LagosIbadan Expressway and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island, is arguably the busiest in Africa. The bridge, which was inaugurated in 1990 by the Babangida military junta, used to be the longest in Africa until 1996 when The 6th October Bridge in Cairo, Egypt was completed. There has been reports about some weak joints of the bridge, which has raised some serious safety worries for users of the bridge. According to the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr. Olukayode Popoola, the bridge was last closed for repairs in August 2018 for three days of investigative maintenance check. Thereafter, some components needed

Island to Oworonsoki on the Lagos Island bound lane. The phase two, which is to last for another three months for repairs of the Lagos Island bound lane of the bridge, would be for morning traffic from 12:00am to 1:00pm from Oworonsoki to Lagos Island on the Oworonsoki bound lane, while the afternoon traffic from 1:00pm to 12:00am would be from Lagos Island to Oworonsoki on the Oworonsoki bound lane. In order to ease the inconveniences which the maintenance of the bridge might cause, especially in terms of traffic build up, motorists have been urged to ply some alternative routes such as Carter Bridge through Iddo through Oyingbo to join Adekunle ramp inward Oworonsoki. Secondly, motorists could also ply Ijora Olopa through Western Avenue to Ikorodu Road. According to the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Oladeinde, priority would be given to motorists driving from Mainland to the Island in the morning and afternoon to use the Third Mainland, while those driving against traffic will use the alternative routes. Meanwhile, the Lagos State government had carried out improvement work on alternative routes mapped out for diversions. According to the State governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, more roads have been furnished while the design of the alternative routes have been improved. The State government is equally working on other arterial routes so that motorists and commuters

can have seamless journey times to and from their places of work. Significant efforts have been made toward providing alternative routes during the closure. The Federal Ministry of Works has repaired Iddo-Oyingbo Road, while the drains on the road has equally been cleared. Failed portions of the Independence Tunnel on Ikorodu Road have also been fixed. With all these measures, the partial closure would likely affect only about 25 per cent of the regular traffic on the bridge. The 75 per cent of vehicles that normally ply the route will still have access to move on the bridge during the period of repair. To further assuage the discomfort that may be experienced by commuters and ease the roads of gridlock, the State government had strengthened the State-owned Lagos Ferry Service (LAGFERRY) by doubling its capacity for mass movement, thereby giving the residents an alternative through water transportation. Consequently, commercial operation is to commence on two new routes, Ilaje-Bariga Terminal, where passengers would be conveyed from Oworonsoki to Victoria Island to Falomo-Ikoyi to CMS-Marina and Ebute-Ero; as well as Bayeku to Oke Ra Nla to Badore. The increase in LAGFERRY’s daily operation will see most of the large passenger-boats, like the 50 Seater MV Mobolaji Johnson and MV Bola Tinubu, embark on two trips every morning and evening respectively.

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BDSUNDAY 9

The writer and society (Part 2) Prof. B. Chima Onuoha (Onuoha, a professor of Management and a former ASUU leader, writes from University of Port Harcourt)

y contribution in re-orientating our youths to the right direction are found in my two books and chapter – (1) The Evils of Campus Life: Problems of Education in Nigeria; (2) Nigerian Youths: Claim Your Future & Destiny and (3) My Epistle to the Youths (chapter 11) in Okrika Nweke Our Beloved Community: A Narrative of Ezeship Tussle in Igboland, which I edited. In one of my recent articles – Radical Solution to Educational Crises in Nigeria, I clearly stated that universities and research institutes in the advanced nations have more positive impact on their environments.

Apart from their core mandate of knowledge providers, they are also agents of technological and economic development of their immediate environment. In other words, they directly ensure that their research findings/ writings address societal problems or directly develop their environments. For example, you cannot mention Silicon Valley (in California, USA) a home of many of the world’s largest and richest high-tech corporations and thousands of start-up companies, without mentioning the role of Stanford University, its industrial park (Stanford Research Park) affiliates and graduates. Most global technological centres trace their foundation, growth and visibility to nearby universities. I still ask – do we have any university in Nigeria that have pioneered or engineered any industrial hub or serious, visible business environments? There are many perspectives in writing. The writer’s training (in writing and communication skills), profession, religion, history, culture, sports, experience, inspiration, idiosyncrasies, development issues, sincere reflection about the society, etc. If the writer is a student – undergraduate or postgraduate, he or she is required to follow the approved format for writing term papers, projects, dissertations and theses. The student is assisted with a course – research methods. It is important to note that no article is perfect. And it is subject to further inputs or criticisms. The most important ingredients are clarity, logic and sincerity of

purpose. On my part, I try to do a lot of homework or historical and comparative researches before putting any article in the public domain. Critics should endeavour not to be intellectually lazy, religious bigots, emotionally shallow, tribal champions or political jobbers. They should be conceptual, diagnostic and analytical. They are free to write the same or similar article(s) from their own perspective(s). They must not agree with the writer. They can point out areas of the article they don’t agree with, provide superior points, better still, with data from authoritative source(s). Critics must avoid name calling, abuse or raising innuendos. Don’t be lazy, write yours and let others read and comment. That is how scholarship can grow. One can’t dismiss a ten-paged article, or a serious academic effort with one sentence or two paragraphs. That is intellectual lousiness. Again, stop hiding in that small corner or comfort zone. We must write position papers, identify topics of public interest and provide solutions to many other challenges in our community or nation. We must be impactful. Let’s make our society a better place to live in – a place of equity, justice, fairness, egalitarianism, equal opportunities, meritocracy, etc. One of my recent articles – Spiritual Angle to Development got one of my former students angry that he wanted to be rude. As a very weak but loquacious student, I could understand his anger coated in One-Nigeria mantra. This man cannot go to

his village because Fulani herdsmen have taken over his community. The menace of herdsmen is both a topical and security issue that should worry all and sundry. In addition to wishing him luck, part of my response to him reads … “If your challenge is that I use my Igbo race as a case study, no problem. Write about your own race and tell us her uniqueness … I will learn, other people will learn. There are thousands of write-ups and books on the Jews, and their achievements/global relevance. Nobody is losing sleep on that. Rather, many tribes and nations are striving to emulate them”. This reply is also relevant for those of the same ilk with this guy. As a matter of fact, I am an avid reader of Jewish documents and books … call me a Jewish fanatic, you will not be wrong. And I try to emulate them as much as I can, with enormous benefits. What are the motives for writing? They are many and include: 1. Academics are required to write and publish to be relevant in their professions and for promotions. The parlance in the academia is publish or perish. All academics are supposed to be good writers, but some are not, for reasons outside the scope of this write-up. Conversely, not all good writers are academics. Many are in other fields of human endeavour. For example, majority of those in the literary world, seasoned journalists and columnists are good writers. 2. For the purpose of graduating, students are required to write term papers, projects, dissertations and theses.

3. Some writers have passion in addressing societal or developmental issue. 4. Some write-ups are educating, entertaining or upholding religious, cultural and societal values. 5. For mentoring purpose. For over 25 years, I have been mentoring some of my colleagues mostly junior ones, to be both relevant in their professions and society by writing. This I did by joint authorship, financial assistance and providing avenues for publishing. I even founded African Journal of Entrepreneurship as part of the program. As the Editor-in-chief, I reworked a lot of badly written articles. I also exposed them to other journals where I am a member of their editorial boards or in books I edited. As expected, a good number took advantage of these little efforts from me. Some chose the easier options of hero worshipping, sycophancy, and other channels for advancement. Very few succeeded, others got stagnated. In the last eight years, I have been mentoring my PhD/DBA students in the art of attending academic and professional conferences, and presenting papers. They are also required to write and publish serious papers in peer reviewed journals. I have achieved enormous results in this direction, with over 75 published articles. As an author, I am eagerly looking for successors. I am mortal, after all. Few of my other colleagues are also in this mentoring programme for the benefit of the society.

Bashir Jamoh: A burning passion for service (Part 2) Vincent Obia Obia is a staff of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

he Deep Blue Project is a brainchild of the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi. The policy intervention takes into consideration the lapses of previous security arrangements and seeks to address them, according to Bashir Jamoh, DG, NIMASA. “When the minister came in at the inception of the present government in 2015, he sought to emplace a maritime security architecture that is strong enough to overcome the failures of the past systems, sophisticated enough to outpace the ever-growing complexities of crime, and flexible enough to fit into the country’s own peculiarities as well as international best standards,” the Director-General said. “Those were the thoughts that went into the

making of the Deep Blue Project, and that is why the current management at NIMASA takes very seriously the question of synergy among the maritime stakeholders, both locally and internationally.” He added, “In trying to harmonise, we have agreed to make these platforms interface with each other because we all are serving the same government. After taking stock, we would be able to see where the gaps exist in terms of what is still lacking, so that we can connect the dots. With this, we can build a concrete platform to fight maritime insecurity.” There have also been vigorous attempts by NIMASA to ensure safety at sea. The Agency hosts the Regional Maritime Coordination Centre (RMCC), located at the Nigerian Maritime Resource Development Centre, Kirikiri, Lagos. The Lagos RMCC, one of the five designated Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres in Africa, is the secretariat of the West and Central African Search and Rescue Region. It coordinates Search and Rescue activities, and assists craft or persons in distress within the waters of nine countries in the region, namely, Republic

of Benin, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Congo Democratic Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Togo. Besides the one located at NIMASA’s Nigerian Maritime Resource Development Centre, which is fully up and running, there are three other centres in the country. They are located at Tarkwa Bay, in the Lagos/Western axis, Bonny, Escravos, and Oron. These three are expected to be fully operational by the end of this year. The search for maritime safety and security through collaborative efforts has not been limited to domestic stakeholders. NIMASA co-chairs a working group of international stakeholders, including International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO), an association of independent tanker owners throughout the world; International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO); International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which brings together the main international trade association in the shipping industry, representing shipowners and operators in all sectors and trades;

international oil companies; and Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), the largest international shipping association representing shipowners, with membership in over 120 countries. BIMCO members control about 65 per cent of the world’s tonnage. The working group meets monthly with representation from the Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police, Federal Ministry of Transportation, and local stakeholders. The meeting discusses issues of common interest and solutions are proffered, with the ultimate aim of ensuring safety and security in Nigerian waters. The recent initiatives, especially the attempt to stem piracy in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea, have earned Nigeria special praise from IMO. In a letter to the NIMASA Director-General last month, Secretary-General of IMO, Kitack Lim, said with the current prosecution of arrested pirates, Nigeria was sending a “strong and valuable message” to the global community about its commitment to safety and security in its waters and the Gulf of Guinea.

Lim commended the steps “taken by Nigeria to address maritime security threats in the region.” He stated, in a glowing appraisal of Jamoh’s style at the wheel of power, “I commend your leadership and proactive response. I would also like to reiterate my congratulations to the Nigerian Navy on the successful capture and arrest of pirates from the fishing trawler Hailufeng 11, and more recently on the rescue of the crew members of the containership Tommi Ritscher. “Those actions, together with all the other initiatives you highlighted in our meeting, including progress with the Deep Blue Project, send a strong and valuable message to the international community with respect to the considerable efforts your government is making to curb piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Gulf of Guinea.” Many believe Jamoh’s proactive early steps are likely to prove very consequential in determining the trajectory of the maritime sector in the years ahead. As one stakeholder put it, “This voyage certainly has the right man in the wheelhouse.”

10 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 26 July 2020

Perspective NDDC N81.5bn scandals: Why Speaker Gbajabiamila must bring back Akpabio’s mic

Ikeddy ISIGUZO .Isiguzo is a major commentator on minor national issues

bong Godswill Akpabio had something important to say. The House of Re p r e s e n t a t i v e s had mandatorily asked Akpabio, former senator, former governor of Akwa Ibom State, and minister of Niger Delta Affairs, to make a presentation on the investigations of corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Akpabio was in mid-flight when Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Niger Delta, Thomas Ereyitomi abbreviated him. The drama was just starting. “Is ok Hon. Minister. Is ok. Is ok. Is ok Hon. Minister. Is ok. Don’t talk again. Off your mic,” Ereyitomi ordered, his voice laced with panic. What did Akpabio say that created the pan-

Sanda Yakubu Yakubu, a Reform and Privatisation specialist, writes from Lafia.

The Power Sector Reform he Electric Power Sector Implementation Committee (EPIC) produced the National Policy on Electric Power and a draft Electric Power Sector Reform Bill. The two instruments were approved by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) in 2002. The draft bill was forwarded to the National Assembly and passed in 2003. In 2005, a significant landmark that was to change the Nigerian Electricity Industry landscape was undertaken with the enactment of the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act. The EPSR Act, 2005 gives legal authority and support to the reform activities i.e. restructuring and eventual privatisation of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) which was re-designated Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and incorporated as a public limited company, in line with the reform of the electricity industry. The EPSR Act 2005 also repealed all previous legislations (NEPA Act, Electricity Act and Utilities Charges Commission Act as applicable to NEPA). The Federal Government power sector reform had three key components namely: Restructuring of existing utility; Liberalisation and privatisation; and Reinforcement of existing infrastructure through NIPP and other government intervention. The electricity industry reform was/is aimed at improving the overall industry efficiency through restructuring, private sector participation, and competition. Competition which is a major driver of the industry’s efficiency, through additional power generation, improved customer satisfaction and reduced tariff, is introduced at the various levels of the market as it develops from stage to stage. The reform process will be completed

ic? Why was Ereyitomi shouting as if another word from Akpabio would put Nigeria in permanent ruination? Why should Akpabio be denied his freedom of speech? Why then did the House invite him? He said that more than 60 percent of NDDC contracts were awarded to members of the National Assembly. Was he wrong? We had no time to find out. It was an issue the House of Representatives did not want to be public. Was the probe sheer hypocrisy? Did the House of Representatives have agenda it wanted to install with the probe? What was the House of Representatives covering? What was Committee protecting, the House, other Nigerians? How did the House intend to probe scandalous expenditures of NDDC without knowing who were involved? Should the House determine what should be said? Did Akpabio, broadly accused as the author and perfecter of the scurrilous expenditures in NDDC, not have a right to defend himself? Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the House of Representatives, was present at the event. He did his office and the investigation a huge disservice. His curious pres-

ence at the hearing, and silence when Akpabio’s presentation was disrupted, has brought the findings to disrepute well before they are known. Which member of the House of Representatives would oppose a report that the Speaker witnessed its production and that would be presented to the same Speaker for debate? The final report would have been superintended by Gbajabiamila as the Speaker. He rather chose, through his silence, to supervene on the side of the corruption in NDDC. What would Gbajabiamila do with a report he joined in abridging at source? Are people not right to see the investigation as a charade? Away from the flurry of questions that floored acting NDDC Managing Director, Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, the house arrest of Ms. Joi Nunieh, and the television appearances of Akpabio and Nunieh, where allegations filled the air, the House of Representatives has made no efforts at transparency in the investigation that has overtaken that of the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu. The Speaker had a chance to redeem the image of the House. He

rather confirmed the House was the problem as much as NDDC boards and managements that took care of themselves at public expense. He should have protected the public. House member and Chairman of its Committee on Niger Delta, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo had to recuse himself after Pondei accused him of being an interested party in NDDC. Pondei walked out on the Committee. His condition for further participation in the investigations was that Tunji-Ojo should not be part of the investigation. Akpabio told the House he had no evidence that Tunji-Ojo was among NDDC contractors. The question marks over the investigation have multiplied after the curious muffling of Akpabio who was allowed to speak until he charged that National Assembly members were challenges to the works of NDDC. Mr. Speaker, a day after, ordered Akpabio to submit names of legislators who were NDDC contractors in 48 hours. There would be consequences if he failed. Should the names not have been made public? What about remaining parts of Akpabio’s presentation? The House of Representatives

- out to protect its members’ interests - has blown the opportunity of any meaningful resolution of the corruption that has crippled the development of the Niger Delta. A small opportunity remains for the House to rescue itself from the tar it uses in burnishing its image. Akpabio should be invited back to conclude his presentation without interruption. Akpabio must continue speaking beyond the House. He has to do more by setting up structures that would make NDDC work for the peoples of the Niger Delta. It is important that the public knows. More importantly, the peoples of the Niger Delta also know a bit more about how their sons and daughters lead in the dispersal of resources that should be for the good of the Niger Delta. Even if there is nothing we can do, we have a broader idea of the numerous locusts that devour the resources of the Niger Delta. Does anyone still doubt that President Muhammadu Buhari is worried about corruption? There are enough reasons to wonder what his convictions are about combating corruption. The President ordered probe of NDDC since October 2019. Nine months after, the probe has not started.

Federal Government reform activities and economic liberalisation (Part 2) when full competition in all the competitive parts of the industry, namely generation and supply is attained. The reform is a necessary tool to lay solid foundation for sustainable power generation and sector efficiency. It is a means to an end and not the end itself. It is therefore expected that the Federal Government will in the short-medium term, continue to provide funding support for the electric power sector, through yearly FGN’s appropriations so as to improve transmission, and distribution infrastructure which are key components of the energy value chain. By 1999, the Nigerian electric power sector reached, perhaps, its lowest point in its 100 years history with the following statistics: Of the 79 generation units in the country, only 19 units were operational. Average daily generation was 1,750 MW. No new electric power infrastructure was built between 1989 and 1999. The newest plant was completed in 1990 and the last transmission line built in 1987. An estimated 90 million people were without access to grid electricity. Accurate and reliable estimates of industry losses were unavailable, but were believed to be in excess of 50percent.

investment environment for private sector investment and managerial expertise; investor-friendly Electric Power Sector Reform Act enacted in 2005.

Objective of the Reform There are two key objectives for embarking on the Power sector reform. These are: the need for improvement in the efficiency of the distribution, generation and transmission network and the need to provide the people with the basic and affordable infrastructure to enable them create employment for themselves.

Seaports Reforms The NCP in 2000 inaugurated a steering committee to develop a National Transport Sector Policy. The resultant policy thrust focused on improving asset management and structural reform by redefining the role of government and the private sector. One of the key objectives for the reform in the Transport sector was to promote trade competitiveness of Nigeria through an effective and affordable integrated transport network. BPE championed the reforms of the nation’s seaports and carried out the concession of

Approach Power Sector Policy formulated in 2001: Aimed at ensuring electricity supply by creating a conducive

Breaking the Monopoly: Introduction of a competitive electricity market PHCN unbundled into six generating companies; one transmission company & eleven distribution companies (6-1-11 configuration). 18 successor companies corporatised and assets, liabilities and employees of PHCN transferred to the successor companies. Successful privatisation/concession of the Successor Companies which have been handed over to private investors. Regulator: NERC established in 2006 Securitisation arrangement to mitigate financial and regulatory risks; The Nigeria Electricity Bulk Trading Company Plc (NBET) & the Nigerian Electricity Liabilities Management Company (NELMCO) established and capitalised to stabilise the market in the interim for 5 to 7 years; NELMCO to absorb legacy liabilities and stranded assets as the PHCN SCs.

the various port terminals to the private sector. Before the reform, it was practically impossible to carry out meaningful business activities at the ports as it took months to clear goods. Ports operations were characterized by long waiting periods, diversion of Nigerian bound vessels to neighbouring countries and very high and duplicated charges to ports users. The benefits of the Ports reform are of two types Primary benefits: Direct savings in resource costs, such as ships’ time, port labour costs and investment. Specifically these are: Faster ship turn-round time; faster cargo turnround time; faster truck turn-round time; use of larger ships; increased port capacity, postponing the need for further investment; lower port operating costs, and opportunities for inland distribution by rail. Secondary benefits: Such as reductions in freight rates and port charges, and fiscal transfers between government and the private sector. These show how the primary benefits are re-distributed within the economy and affect ordinary Nigerians. Specifically, these are: Increased competition; lower port charges; lower freight rates; increased private sector investments; labour force improvements, and net financial transfers to the government (including taxes). Pension Reforms in Public Enterprises The Pension Reform Committee was inaugurated in 2001. Membership of the committee cut cross all stakeholders in the public and private sectors. The committee was saddled with the following responsibilities amongst others; Review existing studies, reports and other background materials on the pension scheme, particularly in public

enterprises of the public sector of the Nigerian economy; Review existing regimes, studies, reports and background materials on the implementation of pension systems in other countries, especially countries that share common economic characteristics with Nigeria; Determine the actual amount of unfunded pension liabilities in all Public Enterprises (PEs), particularly those slated for privatisation and commercialisation as of December 2000; Advise the Federal Government as to the best way forward for handling the matter in a manner that would not jeopardise the expectations of the gains of the privatisation programme and prepare draft legislation on the new pension system to be debated upon by all relevant stakeholders before presentation to the National Assembly for eventual enactment into law for implementation. The work of the Committee led to the passage of the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and the establishment of the National Pension Commission (PenCom). Prior to the enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2004, Nigeria operated a defined benefit scheme type of pensions whereby PEs habitually deducted pension contributions from their employees and lumped same with recurrent expenditure and spent it. That resulted in huge funding deficits in most of the PEs thereby creating serious social problems for retirees. The strategy midwifed by BPE simply separated the agency that deducted pension contributions from the agencies that manage such contributions. The scheme is popularly referred to as the Chilean model or Contributory Scheme. With the establishment of the National Pension Commission and entrenchment of a stable pension policy in Nigeria, retirees are now guaranteed payment on retirement.

Sunday 26 July 2020

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Politics Nigerians in psychological torture …As billion, trillion naira allegations trend OBINNA EMELIKE (Lagos) and INNOCENT ODOH Odoh (Abuja)

he average Nigerian citizen is a victim of the Nigerian state on multiple fronts. But he is perhaps more prone to the trauma associated with the unbelievable level of corruption and brazen looting of the nation’s resources amid dwindling fortunes of the economy by people mandated to protect such wealth. Stories of flagrant thieving dominate the news waves and stream the mind of the Nigerian with ceaseless discomfort and easily break his resolve to pay allegiance to the national cause. Citizens of other nations who follow events in Nigeria, particularly as they touch on humongous amount of money being mentioned as stolen by public office holders, would be tempted to think that money grows on the tree in the most populated black country. Since the return of the country to civil rule in 1999, a lot of probes had been instituted against various individuals over allegations of one sleaze or the other. Infinitesimal number of people has been punished for their involvement in corruption. Whereas the nation’s education and health sectors are in a sorry state; whereas infrastructural deficit abounds across the country, the masses of the country are inundated with stories about financial corruption allegations to the tune of several billions and trillions of Naira. Nowadays, it appears that graft fighting is no longer about cases that involved millions of Naira, but billions. In fact, attention is being diverted to foreign currencies. Recently, a former managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Andrew Yakubu said that $9.7 million; 74, 00 Euros found in his house were gifts. The Acting Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) boss, Professor Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei said N1.32billion was used on palliative for staff to cushion the effect of Covid-19 pandemic. Even the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) Ibrahim Magu is facing multiple allegations of corruption leveled against him by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. All these are happening in a country with high poverty and unemployment rates. The indices of development in Nigeria continue to deteriorate dashing hope of even the most optimistic citizen. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its recent projections said that Nigeria’s economy will contract by 5.4%, a very gloomy situation that is sure to usher in another recession if the nation is not already deep in it. The World Bank in December 2019 warned that without fundamental reforms, a quarter of the world poor will reside in Nigeria by 2030. The same World Bank about two months ago projected that by the end of 2020; nearly 96 million Nigerians will be plunged into abject poverty if serious steps are not taken to address the impending doom. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s inflation rate has hit 12.54% and threatening to intensify in a country which population growth hovers around 3.2% per annum. The nation’s currency-Naira has lost over 70% of its value as the productive capacity of the nation has been terribly encumbered. The rate of unemployment is 23.1% and is threatening to hit 33% by the end of 2020 just as Foreign Direct Investment has

Sani Abacha

reduced by at least 50% in the last five years. These realities are grim and fill the discerning mind with trepidation that Nigeria is on a dangerous path to economic destruction and the concomitant crises it will engender in the coming days even as crime triggered by youth restiveness continues unabated. The nation’s attempt at fighting corruption especially by the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is having difficult time coping with the challenge in a nation where corruption appears to have been institutionalised, idolised and celebrated. The poignant situation has produced a feeling of hopelessness and much of resignation as the war against corruption falters with the criminals still keeping their loot and even at times brandishing them in the most offensive manner. Speaking to BDSUNDAY on Friday, an Economist and Presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), in the 2019 elections, Tope Fasua, appears to have resigned to fate over the unimaginable looting and the helplessness of the current government to tackle the scourge. “It is beyond pathetic. At a time when countries are competing for very tight resources in the globe we are decimating our chances and openly vilifying ourselves therefore narrowing our chances. But it is also a good thing as we are seeing the underbelly of what we call governance in Nigeria and hopefully something will spark a reaction which sets the nation right forever,” he said. “That the nation’s anti corruption Czar is being indicted is beyond shame. The NDDC charade not only puts a lie to the Niger Delta agitation but almost reveals that perhaps every Nigerian is corrupt or waiting for a chance to get their hands on the booty. It is all so depressing and indicates that by our nature our period of economic downturn may be more extended than that of our peer nations.” It is baffling that after over three decades, the Nigerian government is still recovering funds looted by General Sani Abacha, the late military head of state. In May 2020, the US government returned $311 million to Nigeria, which is part of the $5 billion stolen by the late dictator during his military rule. To date, Nigeria has recovered $2.6 billion of Abacha loot, with the bulk of this, $2.017 billion, recovered under President Olusegun Obasanjo. However, it seems the $5 billion Abacha loot has become the benchmark for looters of national treasury in Nigeria as new looters make efforts to surpass Abacha’s record. This is evident in the humungous amount allegedly stolen by individuals and groups nowadays. Between 2016 and 2017, during the

tenure of Usman Yusuf, the controversially sacked executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), staff and management of the scheme helped themselves with several ‘irregular’ and unapproved allowances totalling N6.8 billion, the worst in NHIS’ history. As well, in 2017, the Federal Government arraigned Ibrahim Tumsah, the then director of finance and account in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, over his alleged failure to declare his ownership of 86 exotic cars, half of which were amourred, over six houses, a plant, among other investments across the country recovered by the EFCC. While Tumsah had courage to spend his loot, others hid theirs in places people will never think of. That was the case for the $43.4m, N23.2m, £27,800 uncovered by the EFCC in an apartment at Osborne Towers Ikoyi in April 2017, then all the money combined worth over N13 billion on prevailing exchange rate. Sadly, the money, suspected to be looted fund, was returned to the Federal Government as nobody came to claim it including Adamu Mu’azu, former governor of Bauchi State, who owns the building. Of course, there are many cases to cite including the fraud at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which is trending now. Since the return of the country to civil rule in 1999, a lot of probes had been instituted against various individuals over allegations of one sleaze or the other. Infinitesimal number of people has been punished for their involvement in corruption. Whereas the nation’s education and health sectors are in a sorry state; whereas infrastructural deficit abounds across the

country, the masses of the country are inundated with stories about financial corruption allegations to the tune of several billions and trillions of Naira. Nowadays, it appears that graft fighting is no longer about cases that involve millions of Naira, but billions. In fact, attention appears to have been diverted to foreign currencies. The irony of the looting spree is the fact that the stolen funds are in few hands while majority of the people are in penury. Moreover, looters no longer steal millions but billions and in foreign currencies. The development is worrisome. According to Ferdinand Esoro, an economist and university don, the news of billions stolen by individuals always put Nigerians in psychological torture, especially the poor, considering that such money is available while they wallow in abject poverty. “These are part of the reasons people don’t believe in government, its promises or even support its projects. How can you explain that in a country where majority (about 40 percent) live on less than $1 a day, yet a few share billions everyday and flaunt their ill-gotten wealth. It is traumatic for many Nigerians”, Esoro said. The economist decried that the psychological torture is even more when government keeps borrowing from foreign agencies with a promise to use the loan for infrastructural development, which the poor never benefited from. “Truly, going by the level of looting of public funds, any time government wants to borrow, most people are against it because they believe the loan would be shared among the cabals. But their fears are often confirmed, if not what has all the money borrowed since we returned to civil rule in 1999 achieved,” he queried. Probing further, Ademola Ogunbiyi, a civil right activist and school proprietor, asked where all the recovered funds are, and why borrow when we can use them. “We keep recovering the Abacha loot, over N13 billion was recovered some time ago at an Ikoyi apartment, the EFCC is recovering so much from individuals such as Diezani Alison-Madueke, but where are these recoveries,” he asked. According to him, the N13 billon recovered from an Ikoyi apartment can build 20 public schools and 10 good hospitals across the country. “Government can give it out as soft loans to small scale enterprises and entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and employ the poor. Sadly, government partakes in relooting the money and cannot probe itself. There are other individuals the government has failed to punish, if not, Orji Kalu should still be in jail, Isa Funtua should have been in jail before his death, and even some top EFCC personnel for stealing recovered funds and properties,” Ogunbiyi said. But Nduka Ezimora, a lawyer and onetime legislator, blamed the sad development on lack of strong institutions to enforce criminal law and justice in Nigeria. “We have anti-graft agencies like EFCC, and ICPC, but they are often used as tools for fighting the opposition by the ruling party, hence they lack public confidence. If they had been fair, firm and non-partisan, corruption would have been a thing of the past in Nigeria,” Ezimora said. He suggested that non-interference by government would help in strengthening anti-graft agencies, while being fair and firm in their work would help restore public confidence on the agencies and curb corruption as culprits would be found and dealt with according to the law.

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Sunday 26 July 2020

Politics Ondo 2020: APC, PDP in a battle of wit to win Alagbaka Government House seat KORETIMI AKINTUNDE, Akure

s preparations for the October 10, 2020 forthcoming governorship election in Ondo State begins, both Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the incumbent governor and Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will now be contesting for the Alagbaka Government House seat of power for the second time. Both men had earlier slugged it out four years ago during the 2016 governorship election while Akeredolu emerged victorious. But as it stands, the battle ahead will be interesting as the political atmosphere will be charge as soon as the electioneering campaigns commence fully in spite the COVID-19 pandemic. The PDP and APC will surely leverage on their areas of advantages to solicit for the votes of electorates in order to win the October 10 governorship election. Besides, politically there will be alignment and realignment of the main gladiators in both political parties before the state governorship election. Governor Akeredolu had already started the process of the alignment by reaching out to some of the aggrieved members of his party might want to work with the main opposition party. Last week, the governor began the move by extending an olive branch to some of the aspirants who contested the ticket of the party alongside with him after meeting with the Reconciliation Committee of the party for the state, led by the Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Bello in Akure, the state capital, said: “We must allow for peace. Let us get all of us, the aspirants, to sign that whoever wins, others will support him. Anybody I have offended I will apologise to the person. We must allow peace.” Akeredolu maintained that the APC is in the heart of the people of the state, stressing that what the people desire is for the dividends of good governance to be visible. Besides, Governor Akeredolu who had read out his acceptance speech after he was declared winner noted that he will soon commence the process of reconciliation to heal all wounds seeking for the support of his co-contestants that had lost in the primary for the APC regain power in the election. Meanwhile, all the co-contestants such as Olusola Oke, Isaacs Kekemeke, Olusola Iji, and Segun Abraham, promised to support his second term bid so that Ondo state will

Oluwarotimi Akeredolu

Eyitayo Jegede

remain an APC state showing a sign of support and unity. With this reconciliation move by the governor and with the support of the people of the state, particularly voters, may likely boost Akeredolu’s second term re-election bid. It would be recalled that out of the 3,127 delegates who voted during the primaries, Akeredolu polled 2,458 votes to emerged winner while his closest rival Oke scored 262 votes. Kekemeke, who was the former APC Chairman in the state, came third with 19 votes with Ambassador Iji polling nine votes in the fourth position. In the camp of the PDP, the contest was fairly between the embattled deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi and Eyitayo Jegede who was mostly favored by his long standing membership of the party since he defected with his former boss, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko from Labour Party to the PDP in 2014. Jegede, who had said he dedicated his victory at the primary election held on Wednesday to the people of the state and his co-aspirants. There were also jubilations particularly in Akure, the state capital over the emergence of Jegede as PDP candidate. The reason was hinged on the fact that no Akure indigene since the creation of Ondo state in 1976 has governed the state. They believed this is an opportunity for their kinsmen to occupy the Alagbaka Government House as from February 24, 2021 having lost the race in 2016. Also, in order to boost the strength of

the party, Jegede, had begun reconciliation and interface with other contestants urging members of the party to unite together with a view to winning the October 10 Governorship Election. “Occupying Alagbaka Government House should be our primary objective now as a party. “I can assure you all that we shall win the forthcoming Governorship Election by His Gods grace.” It was also gathered that the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar is still on his decision to support Jedege, his personal lawyer, to win the October 10 election. Jegede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, while featuring on a Radio programme on Friday at ‘Crest 87.7FM Akure, said APC doesn’t appear to be interested in governance now, saying everyone must have access to governance. “We will torch the lives of every residents of the state in all the 18 Local Government Areas, We will address the issue of power outage in the Southern part of the state.” Jegede, who also promised to reduce the tuition fee being paid at tertiary institutions in the state if elected said, “All those who are planning to rig this election should just put a stop to their thought. While the political permutations in the state keeps moving on, the people are eager, particularly those from the South wants to know who will be the running mate of Jegede. Jegede, who is currently under pressure to pick Deputy Governor of the state, Ag-

boola Ajayi, as his running mate. But he is still keeping his cards close to his chest. Sources said that apart from the fact that Ajayi is a grassroots mobiliser, Jegede needs a running mate that can match whoever picked by the APC as Akeredolu’s running from the southern senatorial district so that PDP can unseat the APC led government. Besides, the largest votes comes from the South Senatorial District of the state which many people believe that if Jegede picks Ajayi as running mate, will give PDP the chance to vote out the Akeredolu led government from power. These and others may likely smile on him, (Jegede) to be the governor. Besides, the role of the voters cannot be underrated, as they are to decide who will occupy the Alagbaka government house seat in the forthcoming gubernatorial election which would be an horse race between the two popular gladiators, Akeredolu and Jedege. A chieftain of the PDP in the state who spoke in an interview said the opposition party would have better chances in the governorship election because the people already want a revolutionary change in all sphere of the state’s economy and sectors. “I can only assure you that come October 10, we are only appealing to Federal Government and INEC, not to come and repeat what happened in the last Kogi State Governorship election in Ondo state. “We will beat them (APC) silly and that is the truth of the matter. Ondo state people are tired of APC government, they want to go back to people’s oriented PDP government in Ondo state.” Also, independent findings revealed that people from the Southern Senatorial District who are the major contestants with Jedege at the PDP primary would avoid any arrangement that will not favor the zone in the 2024 governorship election. After the eight years of the Northern senatorial district, the people are expecting the paradigm shift of power to the south where it will hold sway for another eight years before returning to the central where Jegede hails from. Some powerful APC members and supporters of the Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi that are still within the APC and outside, are already rooting for victory of Jegede in order to unseat the ruling APC government in Ondo state. Also, political fortunate if smile on Jegede, according to some political analysts will put a stop to second term of any governor in Ondo state.

Dogara’s return to APC elicits reactions

Iniobong Iwok

he defection of the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) came as a surprise to political watchers. Recall that Dogara who represented Bogoro/DassTafawa Balewa federal constituency of Bauchi State in the House of Representatives, had defected to the PDP alongside former Senate president, Bukola Saraki and incumbent Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal in 2018. He alongside Saraki fell out with the

leadership of the APC over their controversial emergence as leaders in the eight National Assembly, a move that was against the interest of the party. Throughout the four years, the duo did not have a cordial working relationship with the Buhari-led executive, culminating in the ruling party working assiduously so that Saraki and other lawmakers who defected to the PDP did not return as federal lawmakers after the 2019 election. Observers say Dogara’s decision to dump the PDP may not be a surprise considering that not much has been heard about him in the party lately.

There are insinuations that Dogara is not comfortable with the way some leaders of the PDP have hijacked the structure of the party. However, Dogara’s defection to the APC less than two years after, perhaps justifies the popular held belief that Nigerian politicians are after pecuniary gains, personal interest while lacking self-respect. Reacting to his defection, analyst Ayo Kusamotu said he was not surprised about Dogara’s defection from the PDP because it was politics, saying that the circumstances that led him to leave the APC could have changed.

According to him, “Politics is fluid and fair, and we are developing; he may have his reasons, the situation could have changed. Maybe, his family, community have resolved their differences with the party. “Dogara is a young brilliant politician, future leader; I want to believe he knows what he is doing. He did well as speaker, there was no scandal around him as a speaker; that is politics; we can’t be too strict at this stage of our politics. “There is nothing like ideology here, in other countries, you can be a republican for a generation. Let’s give him a chance,” Kusamotu said.

Sunday 26 July 2020

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Politics PDP and high cost of nomination forms for LG elections in A/Ibom ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

emocratic tenets demand that elections should be conducted as stipulated by the constitution. In Nigeria, elections are held every four years when the tenure of the administration might have ended. This applies to the state governments but the local government elections are at the mercy of the state government. Though there has been the suggestion that the conduct of local government elections should be undertaken by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure uniformity, this has not materialise yet. In Akwa Ibom State, there are plans by the state independent electoral commission to conduct the local government elections in for October this year as the tenure of the current local government council chairmen elected in 2017 has since expired. Though there are many political parties in the country but only two have so far released the timetable for the sale of forms in the state with 31 local government councils and as expected it is only the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) that have done so. But surprisingly, the fees demanded by PDP for the collection of forms and expression of interest have gone by over 500 percent and this attracted mixed reactions and generated a lot of debate whether the increase was in the best interest of democracy at the third tier government which is supposed to be the government that is closest to the people which in turn should encourage mass participation and be people-centred However, that of the APC which is the opposition party in the state is comparatively lower and seems to be in contrast to that of the PDP. For the PDP, it is not only the outrageous fees that people are kicking against, it is also the short period assigned for the collection and submission of the forms.

Udom Emmanuel

According to the statement by Ini Ememobong, publicity secretary of the PDP who has been cleared to be a member of the state executive council apparently in recognition of his contributions to the party, acknowledged during his confirmation hearing, the sale of forms ends this weekend, July 26 while the screening of all aspirants begins on Monday, July 27. In a press release made available to the media and titled, ‘Preparatory information for congresses for the nomination of councilors and chairmen of local government councils,’ it stated that the state working committee of the party had issued preparatory information sequel to the proclamation of elections and the publication for local government elections by the Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission, adding that the information signed by Paul Ekpo, chairman of the party, was in compliance with the provisions of the constitution of the party. It advised “those seeking to purchase the forms to go to the party secretariat to do so.” The notice on the cost of the forms was signed by the party’s publicity secretary. Since then, tongues have been wagging

and debates and discussions have centered around why the party did not give enough time for the purchase of the forms and what it stands to gain if ‘quality’ aspirants failed to be part of the process due to high cost. According to observers, if the cost of the form is so exorbitant, it has the tendency to scare many aspirants away giving room for moneybags to sponsor their loyalists and cronies and moreover, the campaigns which are expected to last till end of August would likely take a toll on the finances of the indigent aspirants. For the aspirants, each of them who wants to be a councilor has to pay N100,000 for expression of interest, cough out N500,000 for nomination form and pay N150,000 for tax clearance, totaling N750,000. Similarly, chairmanship aspirants are to pay N250,000 for expression of interest, N150,000 for tax clearance and N2,500,000 for the nomination form making a total of N2,900,000. In sharp contrast, the APC has pegged the amount for collection of the form and expression of interest at N50,000 and N5,000 respectively for councilors and N10,000 and N100,000 as expression of interest and nomination forms accordingly. It says female aspirants are to collect all the forms free of charge. It is assumed rightly or wrongly that any candidate of the PDP who is successful at the party’s congress ahead of the elections is likely to be elected as winner in the local government polls and this has made many wondering whether the votes would actually count during the elections. Interestingly, the local government in the state has witnessed lack of development with many of them not being able to renovate the primary schools in the locality nor being able to grade any road leading to rural communities in their areas. Apart from internal squabbles which have resulted in two local government chairmen in the state being suspended from office over petitions said to have been written by

their councilors to the state assembly, the councils have generally been devoid of any activity in terms of physical development. For instance, a caller on a radio programme recently in Uyo, the state capital, voiced his concerns over the absence of electricity supply in one of the local government councils, saying the situation has remained the same over the years despite repeated elections. At the national level, when President Muhammadu Buhari signed the executive order granting financial autonomy to the local government councils and the state judiciary, it was seen by many as a deft move to free the third tier of government from the apron strings of governors. This happiness in many circles did not last long. This was because the governors after a meeting with the President were able to convince him that giving financial autonomy to local government councils was not the best thing to happen now. So, the jubilation which had greeted the decision has since been subdued by despondency. Certainly, the high cost of obtaining forms for election into local government councils set by PDP in Akwa Ibom state is likely to discourage many of the aspirants and may send a wrong signal to the entrenchment of democracy at the grassroots. According to a former councilor in Uyo Local Government, Imo Ben many have lost interest because of the high cost of forms, adding that it is worrisome that leaders of the party could wake up to hike the fees up to 500 percent under this depressed economy without any official reason. “This is why some aspirants and supporters are murmuring in their closets why PDP had to take an unpopular path; channels should be opened to listen to reactions against it so that if there is need for a rethink it should be done to respond to popular opinion,” he said. Ben is not alone. There are many others who have raised objections against the sad development.

Mali’s political tension mirrors governance decadence across Africa Iniobong Iwok

ot many would be surprised when reports emerged recently of political tension in the West African country of Mali. In Africa, political divisions and crises resulting from bad governance, citizen’s frustration with the political leaders and inter-ethnic rivalries are rife. The political tension in the last few weeks in Mali, perhaps, reflects a deep governance decadence which has plagued the continent in recent decades. Infuriated by corruption, disputed local election results and army losses to jihadists, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Mali, sparking clashes with police in which the United Nations says at least 14 protesters have died this month. The opposition, a group called M5-RFP whose leader is Saudi-trained Muslim cleric Mahmoud Dicko, has said it would not quit until President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita steps down, raising concerns in neighbouring countries of a protracted crisis. A few days ago, Presidents from five West African countries, including Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, were in Mali to try to negotiate an end to the political crisis that has rocked the country, raising fears it could undermine a regional fight against Islamist militants. Perhaps, the bravery of the Mali’s opposition to take to the street, and call for an

end to the administration of Keita deserves commendation. The situation in Mali epitomises deep governance failure, citizens’ increasing disenchantment with leaders and government policies across the continent. In Cameroon, the English-speaking North-West and South-West regions have been experiencing a civil conflict since 2016, when protesters and security forces clashed. The English region had alleged marginalisation from the Paul Biya-led administration. In recent years, there have been demonstrations over the use of French in the English majority regions; it started from teachers and lawyers marching the streets with tree branches. But the related security crackdown led to a spiral in the demands as a group of activists declared a security-political push to secede from Cameroon. Hundreds of people have died in the clashes between secessionists and government forces. Thousands have also been displaced by the violence. In Nigeria, the situation is the same; though corruption has become systemic and endemic, despite a promise by the incumbent President Buhari to tackle graft when he assumed office in his first tenure in 2015, observers are of the view that the situation has worsened in recent years. A recent report published by Transparency International (TI), a global corruption watchdog, shows that corruption has

worsened in Nigeria in 2017. According to the 2018 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Nigeria which scored 27 ranked 148 out of the 180 countries assessed in 2017; meaning that it was only better than 32 out of the 180 countries. In 2016, Nigeria comparatively ranked better when it scored 28 and took 136th position among the 176 countries evaluated for that year; meaning that Nigeria was in 2016 better than 40 other nations. The one-point reduction in Nigeria’s score slipped the country down by 12 positions; from 136th in 2016 to 148th in 2017. Critics are of the view that the country is in a bad shape. The Buhari administration has been criticised for its failure to halt and find a solution to the senseless killings, banditry and other criminal activities which have led to deaths of thousands of people in recent years. Frustration is daily growing over the unfortunate state of affairs in the country as many more people call for political and fiscal restructuring of the country. Recently, leaders of socio-cultural groups from the Southern and Middlebelt parts of the country dragged Buhari to court over alleged lop-sidedness in his appointments. They urged the court to award N50 billion against them to represent punitive, aggravated and exemplary damages to their constituents for the illegal, wrongful discriminatory and unconstitutional acts committed by the administration against the people and geo-political zones. Political scientist, Sylvester Odion, said

the situation in Mali should be a source of concern across the region considering the worsening security situation in Nigeria and other West African countries. “They are working with insurgents that have complicated the situation; in the Northern part of Mali; people there cannot go to their farm because of insurgency and that is why the Military went there some years ago. “But there is a general problem of democracy in Africa, with incumbent leaders not wanting to go after their term. But there would also be a problem when the views of the citizens don’t reflect outcome of elections and you add that to the economic situation there. “There is worry about the Malian crisis; because it could extend to other parts of the African continent. “The Malian guys have been linked here, to movement of the army into Nigeria from Libya. There is need to be worried; that is why people are concerned about the worsening security situation there,” Odion said. Wunmi Bewaji, a political analyst, said the crisis could escalate with the challenge imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, and people are not happy with their governments. “The coronavirus pandemic has brought a sharp fall in revenues across the world, but Africa is affected more, there is little revenue to take care of added responsibilities and help is not coming because most of the bigger countries have their issues too to deal with.

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Sunday 26 July 2020

Politics Zoning will continue in Akwa Ibom because it encourages fairness - Ememobong Ini Ememobong is the publicity secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State. In this exclusive interview with Iniobong Iwok, he speaks on governance in the state and the administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel. Excerpts: The local government election is slated for October; how is preparation for the election? e are the most prepared party for the election; and for the level playing field, that is the question for the organisers not us; what we do is to play the game fairly. We ensure that we engage in mass mobilisation, we ensure that there is internal democracy; because immediately we have internal democracy, mass mobilisation and concentration gives carpet for mass turnout. We make sure that our candidate selection process is done democratically. So, at a certain time we have always made sure that we are the party with the highest investment in terms of preparation. It would not change now.

has brought sanity and peace not only to Akwa Ibom but across the country. Even in Ukanafun, elections used to amount to a large number of deaths, but today between Afaha and Ukanafun they can select their people without crisis. Today, zoning has come to stay and it is a constitutional issue in the party. We members of the party would say when we are tired of zoning; even in this local government election we would zone. Some offices have been zoned, because if not, you would allow the chairman and the secretary to come from the same place. How would you feel if in Akwa Ibom, the governor and the deputy come from Ibibio who are the majority in the state? It does not bring equity in distribution of positions in the state.

But there are fears in the opposition parties that there would not be a level playing field? In the previous elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) how many posts did they win? APC does not have a significant presence in Akwa Ibom; they are a minority. We are the clear majority, how many wards would you see APC flag and offices in the state? You can’t count APC wards in the state. Many of the people who were chairmen in the wards have defected to the PDP. So, they can continue to express fear; our concern is to prepare for the election and work toward holding transparent primary, so that we choose a strong candidate for the election. Even if NUJ would conduct the election we would win.

May we know some of the achievements of Governor Udom Emmanuel in the last five years in office? You should answer that, because when you come here you fly through a plane, how many states in the country can you do that? Ibom Air is the youngest airline in the country. The airline is functional and is a huge achievement for the state. In a state where the indices, the government is still trying to attract investment in the productive sector; to be able to do this is a great achievement. We are able to maintain peace; that is why everybody wants to come here. You post Army, Police officers here they don’t want to go; and when they go they leave their families here.

Your name was among those recently nominated for commissionership position sent to the state House of Assembly; what is your expectation? The man who sent the name has an expectation; until you are assigned the portfolio, you may not know what the general demand may be, but the general demand would be to help in a critical area to complete the development agenda of this administration. You know the development agenda has a human face as its

Ini Ememobong

centre point. But the general expectation is that you would assist the Governor to fulfil its agenda to the people of the state. It is not to create vision for yourself. Governor Emmanuel has been accused of embarking on several projects at the same time, which has resulted in several of them being uncompleted. What is your take? He has eight years tenure in the state, so let people judge him after that. Let them wait and judge him after May 29, 2023. Eight years mandate broken into two, the midterm mandate was affirmed by the people by giving him a second term. When the miracle of Atuemba happened; people did not know that the 300 bedspace world class hospital was possible at such speed. No need to worry a man who is alive and still working. He is alive to his responsibilities as governor of the state and to his people and managing the affairs of the state; there should be commendation but people want to talk just

for criticising sake. He can create magic before 2023, and until then we should just watch and pray for him. What is your take on insinuation that the zoning formula should be discarded since all the three senatorial zones have occupied the governor’s seat? Zoning is a PDP matter, if there is anything PDP has entrenched in Nigeria, it is the culture of zoning; that is why someone from a minority can be the governor, and that is the beauty of zoning. If you allow politics to be a game of numbers it means that Bayelsa State would not have a president that it had, PDP should be applauded. Zoning is a matter of PDP and only PDP understands. I have heard such complaints from two people, formerly PDP members and now APC members in the state. They said then that in 2019, that zoning should be discarded, but we did not agree, but when we went to the election they went to Eket to bring a candidate. Why did they not go to Uyo to bring a candidate? Zoning

But some local governments, like Orukanam are alleging marginalisation in the siting of infrastructure? You can get statistics, there are people even if the road in front of their house is tarred, they would still complain. But you need to go and do a vox-pop in Orukanam and know. What about the state university where the other campus is located? It is in Orukanam; if you go there you would see the buildings and other infrastructures when they were commissioned and built and you compare.

Dogara: PDP disillusioned by impending mass defections - APC James Kwen, Abuja

he ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said the recent and unintelligible rants by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is not unconnected with the impending mass defections set to hit the failed opposition party. APC, apparently reacting to the call by the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus that President Muhammadu Buhari should resign over rising insecurity and corruption, said the call for the resignation of the President is silly.

The party in a statement by Yekini Nabena, its deputy publicity secretary, said nobody expects the PDP to provide ideas on good governance going by their inglorious past and antecedents. Nabena said: “We only reiterate that the PDP stays quiet while the President Muhammadu Buhari administration clear the rot they foisted on the country. “Nigeria deserves a vibrant, purposeful and credible opposition not the laughing stock we have been subjected to in the name of the opposition PDP. It is well within the rights of PDP members to abandon a rudderless and sinking ship for the progressive fold. Going by the

Yekini Nabena

popular axiom: Why fly like a hen when you can soar like an Eagle? “We are particularly gladdened by the return of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara to the APC. “As we work collectively to achieve the Nigeria of our dreams, we will no doubt encounter challenges along the way. But one thing is sure. Under the focused and sincere leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, we are already delivering on key electoral promises of securing the nation, fighting corruption and improving the economy and livelihoods”.

Sunday 26 July 2020

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Women World Govt. should domesticate international, regional treaties that will protect women, girls - Ezeilo Joy Ngozi Ezeilo is a professor and dean, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria (UNN), Enugu Campus. Ezeilo who is also a member, United Nations Civil Society Advisory Board on prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse as well as the founder, Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), in this interview with NGOZI OKPALAKUNNE says that Nigeria Law enforcement agencies have not done enough in handling cases of sexual violence in the society. Excerpts:

eportshaveshownthat there is an increase in the cases of rape and other Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Nigeria,especiallysincethelockdown order due to Covid-19 pandemic; what do you think is responsible? One of the unforeseen consequencesoftherecentlockdownisthe geometricspikeinthecasesofsexual andgender-basedviolence.Factsand figures are already emerging that this is becoming globally a hot issue of focus. Some civil society organisations like Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL) were inundated with distress calls from victims trapped at homewithabusivepartners.Reports from acrossthecountryindicatethat manyNigerianwomenandgirlsfaced varying degrees of mental, physical, psychological and sexual violence. Common forms of sexual and gender-based violence against women andgirlsreportedarerape,defilement of children sexually, wife battery, torture, physical abuse, verbal abuse, threat to life, abandonment of wife and children, disinheritance and nonprovisionofwelfare.Unfortunately,it is believed that some victims of such violence adopted a culture of silence and opted to remain in abusive relationship because they cannot afford tolosethe‘benefits’theyreceivefrom their abusers. This is more so as the lockdown makes it difficult to access thesupportservicesprovidedbycivil societyorganisationsandavailablein fewstatesinNigeria.Theeffectisthat most women are trapped in an unending cycle of violence. The causes attributed to the increase in violence related cases against women and girls are varied and include: idle stay at home by estranged couples, lockdown of businesses, depleting family finances due to the lock-down and increased fear and anxiety over the future and life after COVID-19. It is also fathomable that the affected persons may be inclined to resort to unconventional stress inhibitors like illicit drugs and alcohol at this difficult time. Itispertinenttorecognisethatthe most dangerous place in the world for women in abusive relationships during this pandemic is their homes. There has been rise in reported cases of violence against women and girls as lockdown consequences of COVID-19. Can you Imagine situations where couples who cannot stand each other are now forced to look at eachother’sfacetwenty-fourhoursa day, seven days of a week and weeks undetermined?Thereisnogainsaying thatthestay-at-homewhichnecessitateswomeninabusiverelationships to stay with their abusers has heightened the affected women’s risk and vulnerability to domestic violence and sexual abuses. We advise that during this pandemic that one avoids spousal alter-

Joy Ngozi Ezeilo cations and instead show tolerance, endurance and love. Understand that this lockdown is temporary and you will get your space back when it isover.Peopleshouldfindproductive things to engage them while at home orinselfisolation.Forexample,teaching your kids, online businesses and classes,embracingself-development opportunities among others. Look out for the vulnerable and the lessprivileged people around you and honestlycareforthem.Donotforget; boldly and promptly ask for help when you need it. Do you think the law enforcement agents have done enough in handling the menace? Not really, although we are encouraged now by current action of police leadership like the InspectorGeneralofPolicesignalingthathenceforth it is zero tolerance on violence against women and girls, especially sexual violence. He has a very good track record of advocating against such acts of violence. There are also fewsupportingstatecommissioners

of police like in Enugu State where the Police Commissioner, Ahmad Abdurrahman is working earnestly in re-focusing the police force not to settle rape cases out of court and to act promptly in arrest, investigation and prosecution. The police PRO at Force Headquarters is always cooperative and works closely with CSOstodealwithsuchgenderbased violence cases. It was a privilege to leadagroupofwomenleadersandactivists to the Enugu Police Command Headquarters on Friday, 5th June, 2020 on a stand still campaign. The CP in solidarity joined us to inscribe our graffiti ‘stop rape now!’ ‘Time to end the impunity of sexual violence’ and ‘declare a state of emergency on this heinous crime of violence against women and girls in Nigeria’. Notwithstanding, the police need to do more and rapidly too, we cannot afford to waste any further time. Nigerianwomenaresayingenoughis enough and we must all be poised to endtheimpunitynow.Afterall,itisnot a crime to be born a woman. There is

need to build the capacity of police to understandbetterissuesaroundgender based violence and how women are disproportionately affected by rape,traffickingandphysicalviolence. The police should respond promptly to avoid exacerbation of pandemic of sexual and gender-based violence againstwomenuponthedevastating coronavirus pandemic. We urge the governmenttohavearapidresponse police squad on ground, including a hotline for service providers and complainants. Also, for the Courts to assign emergency Judges to hear casesandadmittobailormakenecessary order to come with extant laws. Undoubtedly, these cases point to a pandemic of violence against women and girls upon the coronavirus pandemic and urgent action is required,includingspecialpolicerapid response and dedicated numbers, service providers and organisations like WACOL, FIDA, Mirabel Centre, among others can use to assist victims/survivors during this Covid-19 that restricts movement and operationofCourtswheresuspectsshould be charged. Many women and women groups are agitating for stiffer penalties for rapists? What is your take on that? Rape is the most serious form of sexual assault. Section 358 of the Code imposes a life imprisonment with or without caning while section 359definesanattempttocommitthe offence of rape as felony punishable by imprisonment for fourteen years with or without caning. Under the Penal Code the punishment for rape is a term of imprisonment which may extend to fourteen years in addition to a fine and shall be liable to a fine. The punishment for rape under the PC appears softer or lighter when compared with the life imprisonment which the same offence attracts under Section 358 of the Criminal Code. Hence, the call for stiffer penalties, especially in Northern Nigeria. However, the punishment for rape under recent legislations like the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of FCT, 2015 and various states Violence Against Persons Prohibition Laws is stiffer. The punishment for rape under this recent legislative jurisprudence is life imprisonment. Importantly, an offender gets a minimum sentencing of twelve (12) years imprisonment without option of fine, and in case of gangrapebygroupofpersons,theoffendersareliablejointlytoaminimum of 20 years imprisonment without option of fine. The idea of minimum sentencingisverygood.Ihaveargued severallywhenconfrontedwithquestions and calls for stiffer penalty that the problem is not with the law, but rather the lack of effective enforcement of extant penal laws, including judicial interpretation of ingredients orelementsoftheoffenceofrapelike

consent, corroboration, penetration and capacity to commit the offence of rape.. With the VAPP Act/ Laws we got the concept of minimum sentencinglegalised.Otherwise,yousee rapists getting away with six months orpaymentoffine.Notwithstanding, the problem is still with trivialising of serious crime of rape/defilement, stigmatising and blaming the victim or rape survivor. Reports have shown that the Nigerian government is yet to domesticate Convention on the EliminationofallformsofDiscrimination AgainstWomen(CEDAW);howdo yourelatethattotheincreasedcases ofGender-BasedViolence(GBV)in the society? The problem of lack of domestication of international instruments protecting women’s rights is a major challenge in advancing the gender equality agenda and eliminating all forms of violence and discrimination against women. It might interest you toknowthatitisnotonlyCEDAWbut alsotheAfricanCharter’sProtocolon theRightsofWomeninAfrica,2004is yet to be domesticated. And as far as I am concerned it is even of a higher thresholdthanCEDAWandincludes our peculiarities or particularities as African women. As an African feminist I want to see quick domestication of the African Charter’s Protocol adoptedbytheAfricanUnionandalso the United Nations Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which Nigeria ratified as far back as 1985 under military regime of IBB. If these international and regional normative frameworks are transformed to local laws by domestication or incorporation it will afford women and girls in Nigeria better protection. Doyouthinkmothershavedone enough in protecting their female childrenfromSexualGender-Based Violence? Iwanttobeclearthatitisnotonlythe responsibilityofwomenormothersto protecttheirgirl-childrenfromSGBV.It should be the responsibility of parents, family,societyandthegovernment.We arejustpushingtheburdenonwomen that are also victims of gender-based violenceanddiscrimination.Areyounot aware that mothers are even battered and abused in front of their children? All hands must be on deck to protect children, especially girls. However, on sexual violence I urge mothers to pay particularattentiontotheirfemalechildren and spot any strange behaviour, awkward looks and walks, including signs of infections or bruises in their genitals when bathing them. Again, they have to discuss frankly sexuality issues with their daughters and instill confidence and self-esteem in them to report any sexual abuse, including ones perpetrated by their husbands/ fathersoftheirchildrenandsometimes boyfriends.

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Sunday 26 July 2020 Sunday 26 July 2020

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Sunday 26 July 2020 Sunday 26 July 2020 Toyin Abraham, Adebayo Tijani and many more, winning more than 30 awards to her credit. She is also the brain behind several soundtracks used in many Yoruba films.

Reminisce, Tim Godfrey, Ayanjesu, Paul Ik Dairo and many others.

History and mythology collide in the Legend of Òrònpòtò

THE LEGEND The legend of òrònpòtò OF ÒRÒNPÒTÒ The first female Alaafin of Oyo Her story retold in exceptional animation

KEMI AJUMOBI

here are women in recent times who have succeeded in shattering the glass ceiling, who have given hope to other women to believe their limitation is only in their mind because if you can conceive it, then it is doable. I n Ni g e r i a , w o m e n l i k e t h e Chairman of First Bank, Ibukun Awosika; the Deputy SecretaryGeneralof the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, Amina J. Mohammed; Nigerianborn economist and international development expert, currently being nominated for World Trade Organisation (W TO) as one of the candidates for the position of the Director-General of the organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Media Mogul and CEO, Ebonylife Tv, Mo Abudu…to mention a few, are outstanding and proof that daring to do the seemingly impossible, especially as females, is achievable. Reading up on Òrònpòtò surely confirms to me that the ability of women to rise above man-made, gender influencing decisions is indeed possible. When I see or read about women

who were/are at the fore of a movement to dare to do what was/is regarded as undoable, it leaps hope in me that if you dare to do what the world says isn’t female acquiescent, you will be leaving your imprints in the sands of time and history will never forget you. Talking about history, let’s talk about Òrònpòtò, my cover story for this week. Òrònpòtò was a female Alaafin of Oyo, a Yoruba empire. The empire of which she ruled is located in what is modern day western and northcentral Nigeria. Òrònpòtò was the sister of her predecessor, Eguguojo. She became the first woman to become “king” of the Oyo in the imperial era and the first woman since the pre-imperial ruler Yeyeori. Òrònpòtò assumed the throne because there was no male successor within her family at the time. She helped drive the Nupe from Oyo in 1555. Òrònpòtò lived in the 16th-century. She was the second Oyo monarch to reign in the new capital of Igboho. Some traditions of the oral record hold that she was miraculously transformed into a man before assuming the throne there. Òrònpòtò used horses extensively in military battles and may have

EDITOR Kemi Ajumobi Email: kemi@businessdayonline.com TEAM: Desmond Okon Osaromena Ogbeide Designed by Aderemi Ayeni

obtained them from Borgu. She was reportedly masterfully skilled on horseback, and created a specialised order of cavalry officers within her army that were subject to the Eso Ikoyi. The first of its kind, the cavalry was a force to be reckoned with in the various wars with Oyo’s enemies. Considered a skillful warrior herself, she is said to have distinguished herself at the battle of Illayi. While fighting her enemies there, she lost three war chiefs in quick succession, titleholders that are known as Gbonkas in Oyo. The third of them is believed to have fallen with his face locked in an unnerving grin. The enemies thought that he was still alive and was making a mocking gesture, and were overwhelmed by what they considered to be their inability to best the Oyo gbonkas. They abandoned the battlefield thereafter, and the Oyo later claimed victory. She was succeeded by Ajiboyede. It is interesting to know that the story of Òrònpòtò is currently being retold by Akin Alabi, a Nigerian music video director, writer and entrepreneur. What is more fascinating is that, the story is being told in animation.

The Oyo empire which was founded by Oranmiyan son of Oduduwa had always maintained a tradition of having men as kings. But destiny gave Òrònpòtò a chance when her elder brother who was the king died and there was no adult male to succeed him. Though she was a skillful warrior, she was considered unqualified to become the Alaafin of Oyo because she was a woman. She refused to accept their opinion and will have to overcome every obstacle placed on her path to eventually become the Alaafin of the greatest empire in Yoruba land. Òrònpòtò was the first Alaafin to introduce horses into the military of Oyo cavalry. As a military strategist and tactician, she was able to conquer the neighbouring enemies and reclaim the glory of Oyo empire.

Our dream We want to share the untold story of a 16th century African female Warrior/King with the whole world especially the young generation who do not have any idea about their history. We want to inspire the idea of a society where gender is not a barrier in achieving their dreams. We want to showcase the rich yoruba culture to the world, our music, our art, our rich language, our proverbs, our fashion.

Projections I have a global vision for The Legend of Òrònpòtò. The first teaser released has been translated to Portuguese and we are working on the French version. There are lots of Yoruba Portugese in Brazil and Cuba. I have been able to connect with them with the Portuguese version of the teaser. The response has been positive from people in the diaspora.

Release date The Legend of Òrònpòtò is set to be released in December 2020 or January 2021 at most.

Casts Currently, we have four major casts on board and it will increase as the production progresses. We have Bukunmi Oluwasina, Lolo (Adaku of Jennifer’s diary), Woli Arole, Muyiwa Ademola playing various roles.

I chose animation because the story is set in the 16th century and there are a lot of props and architecture that can be easily recreated in animation than in real life. Also, because of the fact that the movie is a fantasy movie and lots of scenes will require special effect. Scenes like the battle scenes where we might need hundreds of horses, soldiers, arrows and so on. I also chose it because, children are attracted to animations, and my goal is also to create historical stories that will be appealing to the African child.

Producer/Director, Òrònpòtò

Challenges in production The greatest challenge currently is raising the funds necessary to finish the movie. Animation is expensive

On her role I played the role of the lead character, the voice behind Òrònpòtò. What I love about this concept is the fact that it reminds us of our culture and the origin of where most stories started from, some parts of the stories of the Yoruba culture that has never been told. I like seeing new things about old things, so it is unique to me and it is not the regular story line. I love the fact that the theme of the story talks about female empowerment, urging women to take their space in the society, talking about gender equality and giving voice to the female strength. It has a lot to offer especially to the women, a lot to learn and awareness to be awakened. I am honoured to be part of the project. It is going to reach out to many people so we can build such content to contribute to the society and the people in it.

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manager of Lagidi Fm. I also play the role of Adaku in Jenifer’s diary. I love this project because Òrònpòtò was a game-changer and paradigmshifter back then in the old Oyo empire. She challenged female discrimination back then and dared to become a leader. Her story should serve as a motivation to give women more space in leadership and government. Leadership should not be about gender but about what the person can deliver regardless of gender. One of my major role in the movie as Òrònpòtò’s mum was to be a constant source of affirmation and motivation for Òrònpòtò right from childhood. This gave her the needed self-esteem and self-belief to aspire for greatness.

OMOTUNDE Omotunde Adebowale ADEBOWALE DAVID David (LOLO)(Lolo) Played Òrònpòtò’s mother My name is Omotunde Adebowale David. I am popularly known as Lolo1. I am a Lawyer by training, an actor, movie producer, O.A.P and a mother. I am currently the general

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Bolu Essien BOLU ESSIEN

Co-Producer, Òrònpòtò

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My word for everyone out there especially the women is, You can be whatever you want to be with God on your side. You just need to be clear on your goals, be diligent and give your very best at every given opportunity - all of these traits you will see in Òrònpòtò as a woman. One thing I can assure you is that the world is in for a ride with this movie.

Bolu Essien is a marketing professional with strong passion for film making and brand building. When Akin Alabi invited me to work with him on his project as a CoProducer, I was super excited and said to myself, “this is it”. The Legend of Òrònpòtò project stirred my interest and drew me in because it is a great story that has never been told before in such a way. It is a novel project that showcases our rich culture, the strength of a woman and enlightens our younger ones on the history of the old Oyo Empire. To help bring this beautiful story to screens, I helped to source for funds and ensure that brands get media value for sponsoring the movie which in turn will drive top of the mind awareness for them and increase purchase intent.

(Filmmaker cinematographer) Tunde Kelani, popularly known as TK, is a Nigerian filmmaker, storyteller, director, photographer, cinematographer and producer. In a career spanning more than four decades, TK specialises in producing movies that promote Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and has a root in documentation, archiving, education, entertainment and promotion of the culture. He is also known for his love of adaptation of literary materials into movies as most of his works have followed that style of filmmaking including Ko se Gbe, Oleku, Thunder Bolt, The Narrow Path, White Handkerchief, Maami and Dazzling Mirage. At an early age, he was sent to Abeokuta, to live with his grandparents. The rich Yoruba culture and tradition he experienced in his early years, coupled with the experience he garnered at the London Film School where he studied the art of filmmaking, prepared him for what he is doing today

the pot with leaves to lock in steam before finally covering with the pot cover. 6. Check every 8-10 minutes to add water till moin moin is cooked. This will take about 45 minutes to an hour and the leaves would have changed colour. Serve and enjoy

Bukunmi Oluwasina BUKUNMI OLUWASINA (Played Òrònpòtò) Bukunmi Oluwasina is a super talented and famous Nigerian actress, movie producer, musician, playwright, song writer and director, a model and a brand influencer. A young lady in her mid-twenties, and a graduate of Theatre Arts from the prestigious University, Obafemi Awolowo University. She produced the multi award winning movie, “Ayomi”, one of Nollywood’s most trending movies which premiered massively in cinemas with the support of big brands like Pepsi and more. Ayomi has won many awards and got a number of nominations including the 2015 Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards in the Best Indigenous Movie (Yoruba), the Best of Nollywood Awards (BON Awards), MAYA Awards, and ACI Awards. She has also produced 9 award winning movies which she featured in. They include Hey, Beautiful Song, Ranti Mi, You Are Me, Akalamagbo and many more. Bukunmi Oluwasina has also featured in several Nigerian movies and also worked with top Nigerian movie makers like Kunle Afolayan,

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Ma cke re l f i s h b o i l e d a n d deboned

PREPARATION

RECIPE • • • • • • • • • •

1 cup Black eyed peas or brown beans 2 Bell peppers 1-2 Scotch bonnet 1 large Onion 3 Bouillion (maggi) cubes 1/4 cup Ground crayfish or whole crayfish or mix of both 1/4 cup Oil Palm oil or vegetable oil Salt to taste Optional Boiled Eggs

dissolved maggi, the fish stock from mackerel, salt to taste, crayfish and mix well.

ChickenCurry CurryRice Rice Chicken

On Òrònpòtò I am supper excited about the new film project, Òrònpòtò by the film maker Akin Alabi. It gives us the link historically to observe the great Oyo empire of the Yoruba people in the South West Of Nigeria, which extended beyond present day Benin Republic, Togo and even as far as Ghana. What makes this film so great and interesting is that, up until that time, the throne has always been reserved for men but Òrònpòtò is a woman and you find out how she was able to manipulate the power of politics and the aristocracy of a woman to sit on that throne. The film is going to be in animation which opens visually, the opportunity to observe the architecture in lands and the people in all its glory. It is a project that should be supported.

• • • • • • • • • • •

1 Handful Fresh Coriander chopped 4-6 Cloves Garlic minced 2 Thumbsize Ginger minced 1 teaspoon Paprika 1 Scotchbonnet Optional) chopped 2 Plum tomatoes chopped 1 Large Onion Sliced 1/4 teaspoon Cameroon pepper or black pepper 2 Cups Long grain or Sella basmati Rice 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Optional 3 Stock cubes 1 to marinate

2. Cut, wash, season and boil the mackerel fish. Set the stock aside for use later. Debone and shred the fish.

10. Add water to have a not too thick mixture. This part is another important determinant of the end result moin moin. You do not want a stone hard Moin Moin or one you will be scooping like water.

3. Blend the peeled beans with scotch bonnet, bell pepper and onion. Blend as smoothly as possible.

11. Add sunflower oil or palm oil or combination of both to the beans mixture. That’s the mixture ready for cooking.

4. Using electric mixer, mix the blended beans till fluffy. This will take roughly 5-10minutes.

TO WRAP IN LEAVES (MOIN MOIN ELEWE)

2. Add oil in a pot and put on stove then add in the marinated chicken. Brown the chicken. This takes about 5-8 minutes.

1. Layer the inside of your pot with the leaves, add a little water and put a leaf on top.

3. Pour in sliced onions, garlic, coriander, ginger, thyme and curry powder then stir and fry for a minute to release the flavours.

1. Peel the beans

MEALS TO ENJOY BY BY K’S CUISINE

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Tunde TUNDE Kelani KELANI

Moin Moin Moin Moin

Why the choice of animation?

Akin AKINAlabi ALABI

Akin Alabi, born in Lagos State, Nigeria, is a Nigerian music video director, writer and entrepreneur. He is renowned as one of the video directors that pioneered the era of hip-hop music video production in Nigeria and has worked with several top artistes including 9ice, Timaya, Tope Alabi, Onyeka Onwenu,

to produce anywhere in the world. We are looking out for sponsors who believe in the cause of the project and what it stands for - gender equality, cultural preservation and promotion

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5. This is the second determinant of the texture. If you want very fluffy Moin Moin don’t skip on this part. 6. If using palm oil, heat the palm oil in a pan and leave to cool to lukewarm. 7. Heating the palm oil prevents curdling or raw taste of palm oil in moin moin. 8. Dissolve the maggi in 1/4 cup of hot water and leave to cool. 9. To the blended beans add the

chicken and 2 for use later on PREPARATION 1. Get all ingredients ready then marinate the chicken with paprika, 1 stock cube, tablespoon of curry powder, thyme and salt.

2. Wash the leaves thoroughly in warm water. 3. Fold the leaf, put in the beans mixture, put a portion of the mackerel and egg, seal leaf and place in the pot. 4. Repeat this process till you’ve used up the beans mixture 5. Cover the moin moin wraps in

Recipe • • • •

3500 g Chicken breast 1/4 Cup Vegetable or sunflower oil 4 tbspn Curry powder halved 1 tbspn Dried thyme

4. Add in tomatoes, scotch bonnet, Cameroon pepper or black pepper, stock cube and water. Stir then add in the washed rice and salt. 5. Cover and cook on low heat for 30 minutes or till rice is soft. 6. Stir rice before taking off heat. Ready to eat.

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Sunday 26 July 2020

Interview The culture, practices and values of CNN are the same as mine - Busari Stephanie Busari is a journalist and editor at CNN Worldwide. She heads CNN’s Nigeria bureau where she pioneered CNN’s first digital and multiplatform bureau. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE, she speaks about her experience working with CNN for almost 13 years now and how she is helping tell African stories. Excerpts:

an you give a brief background on yourself and your journey working in CNN, one of the most powerful media platforms worldwide? I am now in my 13th year at CNN and I have held a variety of roles during that time. The one thing that has remained constant is my passion for telling African stories. It’s one of the reasons I was sent by CNN to come to Nigeria to lead their multi-platform coverage of the continent from here and to find new, exciting ways of doing so. I remain as ever passionate and committed to telling those stories. As CNN’s Nigeria bureau head, how does the experience covering events and situations in Nigeria differ from covering similar events in other climes? One of the biggest differences is the pace compared to say the UK, people don’t always get back to you immediately, even for routine inquiries, or they say something like the person you need to speak to is not around. Often that is the only person that can give a comment because they are the most senior and no one else has been authorised to speak in their absence. It can be frustrating, but I have learned to be patient. You need a lot of patience to work as a journalist here. There’s a clip on my Instagram page where I was interrupted by some loud horns in the middle of filming. The energy in Lagos is off the charts but it can be so full on! I came to Nigeria determined to make the most of an amazing career opportunity in a place that is home in my heart. You have to roll with the punches. Everything is about the mindset, I find. I choose to remain positive, even in the face of challenges. What are some of the new narratives for African storytelling and telling stories about Africa’s change-makers and innovators you have crafted during your course of duty? Since my arrival at the bureau, we have grown our audience significantly and we have done that by telling stories of impact. Our bureau is truly multi-platform and we are writing digital news stories and features, filming packages, and reporting live from there. The team works hard to ensure that the stories of everyday talented, dynamic and resourceful Africans are

won a Peabody Award among others. There is also the Libya slave auction story which reverberated around the world if we are looking at Africa stories. The motto of ‘Go There’ really typifies CNN. I am happy to be part of a team of an extraordinary and talented group of journalists. What would you say distinguishes CNN from other global broadcast platforms? CNN is committed to telling the world’s stories, the company is innovative and has managed to grow and pivot successfully several times in its 40-year history, with new storytelling platforms, but the ethos of fair, balanced and accurate reporting never changes. There is still a strong thread of the original, entrepreneurial spirit of Ted Turner in this company’s DNA – we have always innovated, and we continue to do so. A lot of people who work here say that CNN is like a family, and that’s also true – you get a lot of support and encouragement from colleagues and that inspires you to keep going, even when things are at their toughest.

S- tephanie Busari represented in our coverage. From Nollywood to tech, we have spotlighted those at the top of their game such as Kemi Adetiba and Mo Abudu. And in the tech sector, we featured a 9-year-old Nigerian boy who has built more than 30 mobile apps. Another change maker was Barrister Mustapha Zannah who is teaching Boko Haram orphans and children of Boko Haram fighters in Maiduguri. The list is numerous. I am also very proud that my team secured the only interview with Monica Osagie, t h e w h i s t l e b l ow e r s t u d e n t who recorded her professor demanding sex in exchange for better grades. Following CNN’s reporting, the professor was sacked by his university, Nigeria’s senate launched an investigation. Professor Akindele was also prosecuted leading to a rare conviction of a lecturer harassing his student for sex. In April 2016, you exclusively obtained the ‘proof of life’ video that showed that the missing Chibok schoolgirls were still alive. This video helped to kick-start negotiations with Boko Haram and secured the release of more than 100 of the kidnapped schoolgirls. Could you share your experience on how you were able to

achieve this milestone? The Chibok girls’ story is really a story that has stayed with me and is about persistence and the importance of staying on top of a story. It is one that I have covered since 2014 and I got to know family members and key players over the years and was able to obtain the exclusive video through a contact. I always put important anniversary dates in my diary so I can go back periodically to a story. It is essential for original journalism and to set your content apart. The abduction of the Chibok girls was one of the biggest stories of the last decade and I am proud of what I was able to achieve for the Chibok girls and their families. CNN celebrated its 40th anniversary on June 1. Would you say the media outfit has achieved a lot at 40? CNN has achieved an astonishing amount in 40 years. It is a pioneering cable news network. There is a reason it has stayed at the top as the number one news broadcaster in the world. The company has created a lot of impact in its reporting, there are numerous examples and prestigious industry awards to show for that. Some examples include of course the Chibok Girls coverage, for which the network

As CNN marks 40, what are some of the innovations and ideas you are thinking of bringing on board for the betterment of the organisation? I am focused on growing our digital footprint to really go where the audience is. There is a new generation of audiences who are not necessarily watching content on TV but on mobile, like my daughter, who is nine. Recently, we pivoted our Instagram account to create a live series called Covid Heroes and Newsmakers to give voice to the people on the frontline of the pandemic across Africa. Some of the guests include the doctor who detected Nigeria’s first Covid case. A Nigerian doctor working in one of the isolation centers, a Covid survivor, and people who have set up food banks to help their communities and many other everyday heroes. We also interviewed newsmakers who are in charge of strategy and policy decisions such as the Lagos State governor. We have received fantastic feedback on connecting with a younger and more mobile audience and taking our programming to where they are. It’s a truly multi-platform and multi-faceted approach, which was my remit when I started this bureau. We are looking forward to building

on this success. How are you able to translate the cultures, practices and values of CNN worldwide to Nigeria, considering Nigeria’s totally different environment? The culture, practices and values of CNN are the same as mine. I embody in my team a strong work ethic, and a facts-first-approach. There is rigorous sourcing and attribution to every story we write. We simply do not run a story if we have not verified and spoken to the people involved firsthand. Having been listed among 25 of the most powerful female journalists in Africa by Women in Journalism Africa, what is your advice for young girls who are aspiring to reach similar heights in Nigeria? It was a real honour to be listed as one of the 25 most powerful female journalists in Africa! It came as a shock, but I loved what they wrote about why I was selected, they said I didn’t throw my weight around because of the CNN name and that I built influence through soft power and collaborated with people on stories and projects. I thrive on connecting and collaborating with people, so it is very true. You really don’t know who is watching your work! My advice is that you should hone your craft. This is the information age; there is a wealth of free courses, information at your fingertips. Use it wisely. Show enthusiasm by building up a portfolio of what you are passionate about. Even your Instagram page can showcase your talents if you use it in the right way. Keep at it and the consistency definitely pays off. Being a recipient of the Outstanding Woman in the Media Awards, how are you able to do so well in a profession arguably dominated by men in Nigeria? I believe that you really have to embody excellence to succeed in places where the odds are stacked against you. Does it mean you have to work twice or three times as hard? Yes. Is it fair? No! But I learned very early on that life is not fair! I am teaching my daughter the same. It may take me longer to achieve because of the obstacles of race and gender, but I am always determined to come out on top. I never compromise my values and I always put my best foot forward.

Sunday 26 July 2020

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Encounter Port Harcourt: Wherever there are problems, there are opportunities, says Primeport CEO TestimonyandtipsfromawesternNigerianwhohaslivedfor11yearsinPortHarcourtandkeepsgrowingwithoutonesingle incident.Inthisencounter,theCEOofPrimeportLogistics,FemiAdewunmi,toldIGNATIUSCHUKWUthenextopportunitieswouldbeinthedeliveredservicesandlastmileaswellasHSEtasksbecauseofnewregulationsandguidelinesontheway.

hat I normally tell people is that Port Harcourt is suffering from perception crisis; bad perception, bad public relations. People often ask me what I am still doing in Port Harcourt, but I say, when you are looking for investment, you follow basic law of economics. This is, wherever there is problem, there are opportunities. The militancy crisis (which has more or less evaporated) has created a perception issue whereby people have a fixed opinion of the Niger Delta and Rivers State, whether it is wrong or right. It is important to note this, to be honest. I live here I know it is actually a perception. Most big people in Port Harcourt like to scare people. In a way, they do not want outsidercompetitors to join them here. There are opportunities lying fallow, untapped, in the Niger Delta. It depends on how hungry you are or how much you want on return of investment (RoI). Do not sit somewhere and be telling me about problems in Rivers State. That means nothing else is going to motivate you. As far as I am concerned, wherever there is problem, there is huge opportunity. That is why I am still in Port Harcourt to this day. I have been here for 11 years, and none of these things they talk about has affected me. You are out there shouting there is kidnapping in Port Harcourt, and I am a Yoruba guy here; and I am growing. It means you are not looking at opportunities and the way they present themselves. Where everything is working well, there is no money to make. You make money where there is problem. All those who are faraway saying there is problem; we tell you, that is fine for us. We will be making it here. When you come here, do not allow perception to overtake your experience. I talk from my own personal experience. People say I talk about Port Harcourt, but I moved in here 11 years ago. Every single indicator is better from when I first came: light is better, water is better, roads are better. People are not seeing this. People have a culture of complaining and not seeing anything better. The strategy is; look at perception versus reality; then see business opportunities. I will say to potential investors; if you want to come to do any business in Port Harcourt, you would probably be number two or three. If you go to Lagos or Abuja, you will be far

Femi Adewunmi

behind on the list. In Port Harcourt, you will be first to market. There are many untapped opportunities in the Niger Delta. Most people want to sit there and make money. They only go for low-hanging fruits, things at arm’s length, contracts, etc. they do not see the real opportunities, in the structural gaps in the market. People say there is skills-gap, but it is because you do not want to pay people well. If you pay the right price, you attract the right workers. You can’t treat people the way you do in Lagos and think they will work for you in Port Harcourt. We are more localised in this region. Lagos and Abuja are more cosmopolitan. What they will accept there will not fly here. Here, the people still have their roots. The people around here still go back to the villages every weekend and culture still influences how they handle things. This is not Lagos. So, don’t be telling me about skills gap. I have good people in my company. Do not dwell on what government has not done. Government is doing what governments do. People that use government as an excuse will use anything such

as militancy, rains, insecurity, etc, as an excuse. You cannot change government overnight. Govern-

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Stop going out at night to look for what you are not supposed be looking for, they will kidnap you. The way you treat people around you is important

ment focuses on population. The business people need to take their face away from barriers and be looking at opportunities and solution. Look for what you can add after government had done the much it can do. In my stay here, I have never seen two persons fighting, let alone abduction taking place or happening to me. You might say government is not giving enough security, but there is something you can do yourself. For instance, I still live in same house since I came, people around here know me. But if you move up and down, nobody knows you. Stop going out at night to look for what you are not supposed be looking for, they will kidnap you. The way you treat people around you is important. You do not care about anybody but you want people to care for you. Treat people with respect anywhere you go. Spread whatever you have as much as you can. Do not be chasing contracts, avoid government work, look for your own work, do not look for quick wins, and do not do partnership. These are simple things. Even if government provides mobile police (Mopol) on every street, if you do not do those things, you are still at risk. People will say I have Mopols but they are only for opportunistic risks, not for somebody planning for me. If they do, they know when I am not with my Mopol, they know my details. It is what you do that they look for. If you sweat for your money, they will not look for your money. That’s a rule. If you got money one way or the other, they will come for you, but nothing will happen to you if you work for your money. Government Government is here already doing some of the things they ought to do. They are looking into fake tax collectors who disturb on the roads. The government needs to incentivise some of us that are here. If you look locally, there must be somewhere they can support those doing their best here. For instance, when they award contracts, they would insist that you must route supplies and imports through the closest sea or airport. You do not need to name the port. If a contract is for Rivers State, then let the items to be imported be routed through the nearest seaport or airport in that city. It is not right to be using faraway airports. Government must insist that you must not import from Lagos. You must use our sea and airports. For me, there is ample opportunity especially in the non-oil and gas sector. New opportunities It is in the service sector. It

is going to be opportunities in the delivered service sector. The new business must look at how you deliver services. You must ask where are the opportunities, where is that service being needed or consumed? There are opportunities in logistics; last mile service which means taking service to the doorsteps. Others logistics can bring it to the last mile, then you now deliver to the last mile delivery. There is going to be a lot of opportunities. Consider fumigation, sanitisation, and decontamination. Health and Safety laws are going to change soon. Companies are going to be mandated to do decontamination every other week. COVID-19 has changed humanity. It is same way Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) for companies will change companies. The same way they say you have to do eye test, etc. There are statutory things in HSE. There is no way contamination, fumigation, sanitisation, etc, will become the new way. For you to do anything for government, there will be certification and HSE. It’s not about chemicals but how you delivered or fumigated houses, shops, stadium, etc. It is how you delivered these services that will position you. Everything now is service. Many opportunities abound but people come here (PH) thinking only about oil and gas. We are a logistics company but we do a lot of work for non-oil companies. There is brewery in Aba, EnuguAma, Onitsha, Awomamma, PH, Benin, Warri, everywhere. They are producing ad manufacturing. There are many opportunities not oil and gas and people are not looking at them. People are not hungry for action. They are complaining. We living around here discourage people. Friends outside do contact us before coming. When they come, we carry Mopol, siren, and drive and swerve and say, be careful oh. Unconsciously, you are sending the impression that when you are here, you must be scared. But, we are still here. We see people from here going to look for work in Lagos and Abuja when there is work to be created in the Niger Delta. If people can use initiative, they will create more jobs here. Government is doing roads, Governor Nyesom Wike is doing many roads, Amaechi did at his time. We are seeing their handwork every day. Things are better than before. The Niger Delta is full of investment opportunities for those who know the key.

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Sunday 26 July 2020

TheWorshipper Lockdown: Uncertainty cannot define the believer - Adefarasin created a general feeling of anxiety resulting in general uncertainty as it concerns the future. “Change is a part of life and history; but the difficulty in the midst of change is the uncertainty, because there is no certainty as to what will happen as a result of these changes,” said Adefarasin. While teaching on the place of faith and grace in Christendom on the final day of the conference, Adefarasin said great faith receives great grace. Ac c o r d i n g t o h i m , faith is that violence force (spiritually) to take anything that grace has made available to the believer. “Exceeding faith receives exceeding grace, that is, you cannot work in exceeding grace in certain

Stories by SEYI JOHN SALAU

he senior pastor, Ho u s e o n t h e Rock, Paul Adefarasin has urged believers to build their faith in God amidst the socio-economic challenges of the coronavirus (Covid-19), on the back of the lockdown initiated to curb the spread of the pandemic. “Uncertainty does not have to define your life at this moment because God is the one certainty in your life.” Adefarasin stated this at the recently concluded Word Conference 2020, themed, ‘Exceeding Grace in Uncertain Time.’ According to him, the shutdown in itself was a problem because everything across the world w a s sh u t do w n , w hi c h

Adefarasin

I’m a product of Grace, says gospel singer

multiple award winning gospel musician and actress, Shade Oshoba has revealed in her newly released album titled, ‘Product of Grace’ how grace helped her through the challenges of life. “If you take a look at today, I am not looking what I went through. Guess what? Grace found me and Christ bought me with a price so I can say “I’m a product of Grace,” said Oshoba. According to the gospel singer, ‘Product of Grace’ produced by Hykey Music in Lagos, was inspired by the Holy Spirit after her reflection on life experiences growing up and how grace found her and uniquely distinguished her in all life accomplishments. Speaking on her collections, Oshoba said she already has two audio albums and two video albums to her credit, and her debut album ‘Awesome Praise’ is still striving in the gospel music industry.

According to Oshoba, her previous albums are signed under Merryheart Music, a subsidiary of Smile Media Development Concept Plc. Oshoba, a worship leader and co-founder of Celebrity Band, said: “Roman 3: 23- 24 says for all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace through the

redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” “We are all bought with a price and that is made manifest through grace. It can only be grace that saw me through all my challenges in life when I lost my father as a teenager. “Miraculously, God came to my rescue as a father to the fatherless and took care

Shade Oshoba

of me and from that time till now it has been awesome experience of stages of grace to greater grace,” said Oshoba. Oshoba, who started her career in 1998, noted that she has been privileged to perform on stage alongside top Nigerian artistes like Nathaniel Bassey, Mike Abdul, Tope Alabi and Frank Edwards and others. “I have recorded and released so many songs and three albums to the glory of God. I am a seasoned praise and worship leader who is naturally imbued with the unflinching passion for the restoration of hope through soul lifting songs,” she said. She is also an actor with special features on Mount Zion Films and other Christian drama groups. She has worked with other private film producers on several projects and recently stared along Dstv Ambassador, Eliel Otote in a soon-to-be-released film “So long a Night”.

‘Living a daily life based on biblical principles impact society positively’

astor of Praise Arena, Kingdom Light Christian Centre, Lekki Lagos, Pastor Jummy Adetoyese-Olagunju, has urged Nigerian Christians to imbibe the life of Christ by living an evidence-based life, stating that living a daily life based on biblical principles can impact the society positively. According to Olagunju,

the more we choose to be righteous as believers, there will be great reward as a living proof that miracle is real. Olagunju in a message themed, ‘Building a Better Society, Choosing to Make a Difference’ said, “Righteous living is about the individual and not about collective grouping of the church hence, the true meaning of the church is the people that have been called

out,” said Olagunju. Olagunju in his response to the question on why there are crises in society with high level of ungodliness despite having many churches and people professing to be Christians, stated that most godly nations are built on biblical principles. “If you see a society working out correctly, the people must have built it on godly

values based on the principle instructions contain in the scriptures,” he said. According to him, findings in a religiosity index revealed that most godly nations of the world are not necessarily the nation with most churches. However, the unique feature of most godly nation is that they have institutionalised most scriptural principles and made it a way of life.

time unless you feed your faith in certain ways correctly,” he said. The senior pastor House on the Rock said grace is how God expresses his love; grace is how he manifests his love. “God’s love appears to man through grace,” said Adefarasin, stating that God’s love for us is not based on what we are, but on who he is. Ac c o r d i n g t o h i m , grace has many ways to free believers, hence in receiving grace, believers must appreciate that the law impedes their faith for grace. “Grace only answers to faith. If you stay under the law, you cannot receive the benefits of the rich exceeding largess of God toward you,” Adefarasin further said. The Word Conference

2020 focused on building the believer’s faith in God through Christ as indicated b y Cr e f l o Do l l a r, t h e American televangelist in one of the messages delivered at the conference. “Faith is made void when you are under the law. When you choose self-effort or are trying to perform to please God, you void your faith and you make the promises of God of no effect. “Self-effort will literally make your faith useless and vain when you try to obtain the finished works of Jesus by performance”. Held virtually, the Word Conference 2020 creates a significant opportunity to learn about God’s plans for the believer and how He has provided His exceeding grace to carry mankind through these uncertain times.

The church is growing despite lockdown, says Oyedepo

ishop David Oyedepo, founder of Living Faith Ch u r c h Wo r l d wide (Winners Chapel), has disclosed that the Church of Christ cannot be held down by any human action or the gate of hell, because the church must move forward and has been growing despite the global lockdown on the back of the coronavirus pandemic. “We are growing despite the lockdown and all antiChrist policies.” Oyedepo stated this during the early morning covenant hour of prayer held virtually by the church on Thursday 23 July. According to him, 310 new churches were planted last Sunday, noting that not less than 300 churches were planted by the ministry each week in the last eight weeks. According to him, the goal of the church is to plant 10,000 new churches this year across the world. “God has not only been helping us to plant the churches but He has also been raising the army. Training is going on now. Is there anywhere you enter without finding a Winner’s member? God’s agenda is unstoppable,” said Oyedepo. Speaking further on the

Oyedepo

impact of the church on society, Oyedepo opined that God is raising men and women with divine impact. “An army of giants is rising from this platform. A lot of you standing here today will be mighty instruments in the hands of God,” he said. According to him, God is still taking cities, hence every city is takeable by God’s intervention. “We serve a city-taking God. God takes towns and cities through signs and wonders. He took the city of Samaria through Philip. “People are in need and they want practical solution to their problems. We serve a practical God who gives practical solution to problems,” said Oyedepo.

Sunday 26 July 2020

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BDSUNDAY 21

TheWorshipper Inspiration With Rev. Yomi Kasali

info@yomikasali.com

his is a subject that I would NOT want to write about or attempt to Inspire my readers with but for the several developments in the Nigerian Church over the last few years. I honestly feel compelled by the Holy Spirit to write on this knotty difficult subject, especially because I strongly believe we are building Cults not Churches. I watched a Naija ghost prank yesterday on YouTube

Cult or church when I was bored and truly enjoyed the skits, however I got worried by some of the reactions of the people that were pranked by the gentleman. Most of the people were ‘fearfully’ screaming the name of Jesus and Blood of Jesus to show their faith in God. I got troubled when some of them also made statements like, ‘The God Of My Pastor...’, ‘The God Of This church or that church.’ I wouldn’t want to mention the churches so that you do not leave the message and start debating the churches after reading Inspire Today. The Bible speaks about False Prophets and Teachers, some will even claim to be Christ and Jesus, but the Word tells us to be warned about them... ‘For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many’ (Matt 24 v 5), ‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves’ (Matt 7 v 15). Some people are unknowingly becoming false prophets raising CultLike followership because of our Cultural nuances and practices. There is a difference between Cults and the Occult. Many people don’t know that the latter is more secretive, dark, magical, using

know a church, or should I say cult that tells their members to take their daily devotional in equal ‘inspiration’ as the bible. That is absolutely heretic and definitely a sign of being a Cult not a Church. strange powers to control their followers and claim esoteric knowledge of things, while the former (Cults) are usually religious organizations and sects that have extremist beliefs and unorthodox practices of faith, the adherents often live outside conventional ways in most societies like Jim Jones in America that led almost 1000 people to their untimely deaths. Cults are very dangerous, and we need to be aware of these ugly truths in today’s world and Nigeria in particular. Let me share my sincere thoughts on Signs of Cults that are Church like in expressions but really are simply Cults by the signs. Don’t forget what Jesus Said, ‘...by their fruits you shall know them’ (Matt 7 v 16,20). 7 Signs of a cult that is not church Leaders are worshipped

and idolised: There is a difference between Honouring Men of God and Worshipping them. It’s important that we realise that when people are Worshipped, then it’s a Cult not Church because most True Servants of God will refuse worship of Men. Worship occurs when the followers believe THEIR LEADERS CAN NOT BE WRONG. Followers do not think or reason on their own: That is exactly what happened with Jim Jones, the people couldn’t think or reason on their own. It’s what the Leader has said that must be done even if it means doing something that ‘common sense’ adjudges as wrong. Followers just obey and do whatever they are told. It’s a Cult not a Church. Magnify another book or literature above scriptures: Most cults have ways of lifting new writings above the Bible and make this new literature sacred somehow. I

The new family above your family: I have noticed this happening in the Nigerian church today and many of our true church leaders are keeping quiet. Whenever a leader tells his followers that their new Family is more important and above their biological families, it’s a Cult not a Church. I remember someone telling me that when I got born again and was encouraged to abandon my family members because they were Muslims, then told me to take this New Family as the only Family I’ve got. I almost fell for it but thank God I didn’t. Refrain from associating from other believers and churches: This is brazenly practiced in Nigeria and shamefully as well because it’s a terrible doctrine. Cults always thrive when they determine who their members associate with because of CONTROL, this is a sign of a Cult not a Church. Extreme teachings and

doctrines of christ: Most Cults start out with something different from other churches in doctrinal positions and always claim to know better or have a different revelation of Christ that other pastors don’t have. You should be careful about those who teach different things about common things like Communion, Blood of Jesus, Fellowship, Grace, Worship, Tithing, etc. They are Cults and not the Church. Ascetic way of life: They sometimes live an ascetic way of life even in the cities. That was why Jim jones left the US to move to Jonestown while developing his cult several years ago. There are many cults in Lagos but many are not aware. Let me stop here and hope you can think about what I’ve written. I pray you are Inspired and protect your heart from Cults around us. Find a good bible believing church to attend and worship your Maker. Be Inspired!

Rev Yomi Kasali is Senior Pastor, Foundation of Truth Assembly (FOTA), Surulere, Lagos.

NEWS More women in Kwara cabinet reduces fraudulent acts - Oshatimehin SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

denike Afolabi Oshatimehin, Kwara State commissioner for Communications on Friday said that the higher number of women commissioners in the present administration of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has reduced fraudulent activities in the government. Oshatimehin, who stated this while fielding questions from members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the state council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ilorin, explained that having nine women out of 16-member state executive council is highly beneficial to the government in the state. According to her, the financial pressure on men makes them do what they are not supposed to do. She says: “Women are very conservative. To a large extent, there hasn’t been anything like fraud coming from the women because you know that you men, you have many tentacles. You have many people you want to extend your hands to. As

such, not that you want to do it, you’re being pushed. “The pressure is there. Often, you find out that men are doing what they are not supposed to do. But for women, the fear is there that I don’t want my image tarnished. And I would say that, to a large extent, that there could have been a lot of that in this present administration, but with the involvement of women in the cabinet, that has been minimised. “I will cite an example of what happened in the ministry of Agriculture where I just left. They tried to carry me along in a fraudulent sale of certain forms but the moment it came to my table that forms had to be sold, the first thing I asked was that, ‘do you have approval for this?’ “They said that the permanent secretary gave an approval and I know that that was wrong to do. And you know because I was a woman and I know the implications of my name getting in the mud, I was able to think through it very well. And the moment it escalated, the concerned people came to me to say this and this is what had happened. “I stopped the sale of the forms and they still went be-

hind me to do it thinking she’s a woman, we can do what we want to do. They sold about 15,000 forms. They remitted about less than 3,000 forms’ proceeds, thinking that if they do that nothing will happen. “What I am saying in essence is that that happened because a woman was there. And several other ministries are like that. “Women are also very conservative. You men, we pull you at home. We need this, we need that. Many at times because of the pressure that you have, you also overlook some things or rather it pushes you to do some other things that are not supposed to be done. But in the case of the women, when she’s given N10,000 to go to market, if you give a man same amount of money, the man wouldn’t be able to do what a woman would do.” The commissioner further said: “We are very conservative and that has helped this government a big deal. Because looking at a state we met this state, it would have been difficult to do anything, if, in the first instance, we don’t have a conservative principal, and as well a conservative executive council.

Kwara cancels Eid prayer as Covid-19 cases continue to rise SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

s part of measures to curtail the spread of Covid-19 pandemic in Kwara, the state government has cancelled congregational Eid-ul-adha prayers for 2020 across the state. Kayode Alabi, deputy governor and chairman of the Kwara State Technical Committee on Covid-19, who announced this on Friday at a press briefing in Ilorin, the state capital, explained that the decision was painful but was made in the interest of all. “in the past few days, the Kwara State Government has held meetings with different stakeholders in the state on the way forward in our collective fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. “ Th e e n g a g e m e n t s , which are a continuation of what we were always doing, were necessitated by the spike in Covid-19 cases in the state and of course, the upcoming Ileya festival which is a special period for

our people. “As it stands today, Kwara has 707 confirmed cases, out of which 449 are active. We have successfully managed and discharged 244 patients to rejoin their families. And just yesterday (Thursday), we lost another patient. That brings to 15 the number of casualties from the pandemic in our state. May God rest the souls of the departed ones and comfort their families,” the deputy governor said. According to him, “The last few days have seen an unprecedented jump in the number of our cases. Between 9th of July 2020 and yesterday July 23rd, we recorded 56% of our total confirmed cases! Increasing number of our patients now require intensive care to survive. This points to a grim situation that requires drastic measure.” The government equally announced a ban on vigils in churches and mosques while restating the ban on concert, clubbing, beer parlour, and bar in hotels. Alabi disclosed that the

government is setting up a task force to enforce all the new directives, including new guidelines on transport unions and market associations. The Kwara State shopping mall (Shoprite), the Amusement Park, markets, and University of Ilorin Zoological Garden are to close down on Eid Day and the day after Eid, according to the Deputy Governor. The briefing was attended by cabinet members; police commissioner Kayode Egbetokun; State Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp Bello Ale; representatives of the Council of Ulamah the Imam Imale of Ilorin Sheikh Abdullah Abdulhameed and Justice Salihu Muhammed; representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria (Kwara) Pastor Moses Popoola; leader of the state transport union Abdulrazaq Ariwoola; representatives of the bankers’ committee led by Victor Inyang; and representatives of the market associations in the state, among others.

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Sunday 26 July 2020

PersonInTheNews Isa Funtua: Beyond just another death …superman who stood for press freedom

W Daniel Obi

hen the news broke last Monday that Ismaila Isa Funtua has joined his ancestors in a dramatic way, his exit sparked a controversy akin to what transpired at the announcement of the departure of Abba Kyari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. By the next day (Tuesday) all manner of write ups had started to surface; some of which detailing the real or imaginary Funtua depending on information at the disposal of the individual writers Conversations centered around his alleged role in the Buhari administration in the mould of the late Kyari. The sentiment is so strong that some commentators pointedly said that there remained one more of the member of the cabal that had held the country hostage, whatever that means! Indeed, Funtua was among the three musketeers that were dreaded and on whose personalities many Nigerian weaved a lot of myth. He was also said to be one of the four former journalists very close to Buhari. Three other names that made the list were the late Kyari, Babagana Kingibe and Mamman Daura. And these individuals have continued to wield so much influence in the corridors of power in the last five years to the extent that it is said by those in the know that there is nothing they cannot do in the current administration, leveraging their rapport with the President. When in April some permutations were made on the likely replacement for the late Kyari as chief of staff to Buhari, Funtua did not take the mention of his name in the pack lying low as he considered it belittling listing him for that post. He believed he had passed that level and preferred his position as an “unofficial consultant” to the government. Those who knew him very closely said he had every reason to think so. Sometime ago, when a picture of his trended on social media, where it appeared Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was taking orders from him, reading from the latter’s posture in the picture, there were lots of interpretations. When Emefiele was reappointed despite a welter of permutations surrounding his fate as his first tenure was winding down, there were strong indications that he owed his reappointment to Funtua’s influence on President Buhari. At that time, critics alleged that the likes of Funtua needed the CBN boss in

Isa Funtua

the saddle for special functions in watering their own interest. During his life time, the late Isa Funtua who was president of Newspapers’ Proprietors of Association of Nigeria (NPAN) did not hide his penchant for press freedom whether under civilian or military rule. He practically demonstrated this during the faceoff mid last year between National Broadcasting Commission, NBC and DAAR Communications Plc., owners of Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Ray Power FM. The faceoff over debt payment led to the suspension of operating license of Daar Communications. Worried about this development, Mallam Isa Funtua was among the frontline personalities that held late night meeting to resolve the crisis. The stakeholders intervention was a demonstration of commitment to freedom of expression and the constitutionally guaranteed role of the media under sections 22 and 39 of 1999 Constitution to hold governments accountable, which states amongst others that the press, radio, television and other agencies of mass media are to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in the 1999 constitution and ensure the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people. In one of the NPAN meetings during the days of Olusegun Obasanjo as Nigeria’s president, Funtua recognised the increasing level of freedom which was different during the dark days of dictatorship when seminars and conferences were routinely aborted, when newspapers and magazines were routinely proscribed and when journalists were routinely incarcerated. He said then that the press is a dynamic institution that can sustain democracy. He called on

the media to ensure democracy survives. It was therefore, not surprising that the Nigerian Press Organisation has named the newly rebuilt Nigerian Institute of Journalism House after Isa Funtua who was its former president and life patron. A report states that the President of the Newspapers’ Proprietors of Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nduka Obiagbena, on behalf of the collective leadership of the Nigerian media revealed the decision to name the journalism house after the late Funtua. The statement reads: “For his untiring contributions to the development of Journalism and Freedom of the Press in Nigeria and around the world, it is the privilege of the Nigerian Press Organisation – Newspapers’ Proprietors Association of Nigeria ( NPAN); Nigerian Guild of Editors ( NGE) and The Nigerian Union of Journalists ( NUJ) – to name the newly rebuilt Nigerian Institute of Journalism House, Adeyemo Alakija Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, as ISMAILA ISA HOUSE to honour the life and times of Mallam Ismaila Isa Funtua, OFR, Mni, who died on Monday, July 20, 2020 after a life of dedicated service to Nigeria that spanned politics, business and media. “His contributions to the development of journalism is innumerable: including, but not limited to his co-founding of Democrat Newspapers; presidency of the NPAN at a time of national crises, and later a life patron; services to the international Press Institute where he served on the global board; contributions to journalism education as Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, etc “Samaila Isa Funtua, 1942 -2020, will be deeply missed but not forgotten.” Reacting to his demise, Chief

Obasanjo, through his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi in a report said: “There is no doubt, this is a grievous loss to his family, his friends and associates, Katsina State and, indeed, the entire nation. We commiserate with the entire family of Mallam Isa Funtua and the great people of Katsina State over this great loss. “Mallam IsaFuntua was a well-respected elder statesman, an accomplished business mogul/publisher, an astute politician and a frontline industrialist whose various contributions to the development of governance and public administration have ensured for him an evergreen memory in the hearts of many admirers and associates, particularly during the administration of President Shehu Shagari under whom he served as Minister of Water Resources as well as during his membership of the committee of the 1994-1995 Constitutional Conference that came up with models in key areas of Nigeria’s existence”. Similarly, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media, Ola Awoniyi, said among others; ”He was a man who touched many lives and impacted the development of Nigeria with his foresight, industry, enterprise, boundless enthusiasm, magnetism, friendliness and accommodating spirit. Mallam Isa Funtua made friends across tribe, religion, generation and class in Nigeria, and touched many lives in public service as well as in his private life.” On his part, Asiwaju Tinubu in a statement by his Media Office, said: “The passing of elder statesman, nationalist, newspaper publisher and prominent businessman, Mallam Ismaila Isa Funtua, is a saddening national loss. He was a rare individual of immense talents, abilities and generosity. Similarly, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ekerete Udoh, described the late Isa Funtua as ‘’a great Nigerian patriot, a strong advocate for press freedom and a highly successful businessman and journalist whose intellectual rigour added deep value to our national discourse. Above all, he was loyal to causes he believed in. He will be deeply missed. Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, said it is deeply saddened by Mallam Funtua’s demise, describing him among others, as an elder statesman, newspaper publisher, a brilliant administrator, a former minister and a feisty defender of free press. In a statement by its President and Publicity Secretary, Mustapha Isah and Ken Ugbeche, respectively, NGE said: “A friend and political associate of President Muhammadu Buhari, Ismaila

Funtua has, over the decades remained consistent like the Northern Star, whose influence stretched beyond journalism to manufacturing and politics. In him, the nation will miss a forthright and bold patriot who deployed his defunct newspaper, The Democrat, to foster national unity, promote free speech and engender a culture of high ethical standard in journalism. Isa Funtual was a Nigerian statesman who also served as a Federal Minister in the Second Nigerian Republic. After government service, Isa Funtua went into business where he cultivated clients, business associates and friends who extended his interests beyond the normal scope of a businessman. He was a long time personal friend and close associate of President Muhammadu Buhari; and was a very influential figure in the Buhari administration. Information on Wikepedia states that Ismaila Isa was born in Funtua in January 1942. He received Islamic education, where he learnt the Qur’an, Islamic jurisprudence and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. He later attended the Commercial College in Zaria, Federal Training Centre in Kaduna and the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. He also attended the University of Manchester, and was the Monitor-General of Course 9 of the Senior Executive Course at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies. A highly capable administrator, Isa Funtua started his career in the Katsina Native Authority, where he eventually rose through the ranks working in the defunct North Central State. He later joined United Textiles Limited in Kaduna, where he was the personnel manager showcasing great managerial finesse over ten thousand workers. Isa Funtua later became the Federal Minister of Water Resources in the Second Nigerian Republic. He was a member of the 1994 Constitutional Conference under General Sani Abacha. He then retired into private business where he became a director of several companies. He was the founder of Funtua Textiles Limited, and managing director of the Democrat Newspaper. “He was also the founder and Chairman of Bulet Construction Company (one of the largest indigenous construction companies in Nigeria), responsible for building several federal buildings.” May God grant his family, the good people of Katsina State and all his friends and associates the fortitude to bear his unfortunate demise and let the press freedom he stood for endure.

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Travel

A soothing bath at the waterfalls Obinna Emelike

he ride to Erin-Oke, a little and sleepy village in the south-west of Nigeria, may not be smooth for the normal passengers because of the bumps and the asphalt that has worn off and, overtime, overridden by sand and dirt, but it is for the adventurous ones. They visit to explore the wonderful nature that lies in the rural enclave. On daily basis, especially weekends, the peaceful Erin-Oke community wakes up to these nature-loving visitors who come to see the Erin-Ijesa Waterfall. “Welcome to Erin-Ijesa Waterfall. The Living spring,” reads a weather-beaten signpost at the entrance. Although the inscription is almost fading, the words are legible. Your adventure starts from a brownish black gate erected to keep intruders at bay, while the writing on the battered wall advertises a barely visible price list: Children N50; Adult N100; Photo camera N500. Used packs of food and can drinks that litter everywhere attest to the growing visitors the water fall hosts. Food, drinks, and shower cap vendors advertise their wares in the hearing of adventurous tourists and picnickers who throng the waterfall daily. At any time you visit, there will always be a group of tourists finding its way out or coming in with you. The joy of every visitor is the pleasure-climbing of the

Erin Ijesha

different levels of the stairway for better view of the waterfall and also pausing a while up there for a couple of photos before moving on. The lapping sound of the spring can be

heard miles away as you climb the muddy dilapidated stairs of the waterfall as the coolness of the spring permeates everywhere. After walking for about 10 minutes, you come face-to-

face with the famous Erin-Ijesa Waterfall. The water cascades down slimy rocks turned green by the constant flow of water. Broken pieces of rocks serve as stepping stones through which you climb up to the water. The Olumirin Waterfall, as it is also called, is lovely and its sight is breathtaking. At its sighting, visitors scream for joy and behold with awe the gift that Mother Nature bestowed on the sleepy village. At climax of their excitement, some visitors move with a blind rush, while a few pull off their clothes to have a firsthand feel of the cool water gushing out of the rock. Many people climb to the third floor with the hope of reaching the water source. There are tour guides around to explain the mysteries of the waterfall to interested, listening and, most importantly, ears that are ready to pay for the information. One of them explains that the source of the spring is on the seventh step, which is about two hours journey from the first step where most visitors stay. “There are seven steps. Where we are now is just the first step. The last step is a flattish area covered in trees. There are all kinds of fruits like pineapples, oranges, among others there. The source of the spring is a rock like the shape of a pot from which the water gushes like a pump,” explains the tour guide, who believes that for most tourists and fun seekers, climbing up to the third level can

best be equated to traipsing the snowy steeply Mount Everest. Obviously, being at these different levels and just basking in the invigorating freshness of the falls is an unforgettable experience for most people. “The place to be is definitely the seventh level,” he says. “Not only does it lie at the peak of the falls, it is also hosts a settlement where many of its inhabitants have lived for several years, including a church”. According to him, from the top of the falls one could see the town of Erin-Ijesa itself, and even feel the very warmth of people and their rich culture. “Amazingly, the fall doesn’t look like anything out of this world until you begin climbing the seven levels of the ascending plains of the waterfalls. The view at all the levels is wonderful and the freshness of the water is energising. However, the last and seventh level is definitely the most intriguing; well, that’s if you ever dare it,” says the tour guide, who has been there several times. Although many visitors are scared of climbing far up, the refreshing water from the falls is very irresistible, which is why it is usually saddening when parents announce to children that it is time to go. The waterfall awaits your visit, especially now that coronavirus pandemic has made foreign trips almost impossible and has turned attention to domestic destinations.

Reflection and resolve as tourism looks to the future

cross the world, especially in Europe, the responsible restart of tourism is now underway. But even as growing numbers of tourists cross borders and businesses open up again, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has warned that this is no time for complacency. Just as the UNWTO stressed at the beginning of the Coronavirus induced crisis, words of support are not enough for tourism to recover, the global organization is insisting that concrete actions are needed now to aid quick recovery of tourism. For UNWTO, the concrete actions mean supporting Member States and the wider tourism sector as it adapts and transitions towards a more resilient and sustainable future and the visit of a UNWTO delegation to the Canary Islands allowed it to do that. Speaking on the visit and need for concrete action in support of tourism recovery, Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary general, United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), said,

“Through inviting members of the media, private sector leaders and political leaders to join us for this official visit, UNWTO was able to show that tourism’s return can be managed safely and responsibly. It is possible to prioritise health while at the same time safeguarding jobs and promoting economic recovery”. At the same time, the innovation running through the global tourism sector, according to Pololikashvili, means that the restart of tourism can help get the global community back on track as stakeholders work together to fulfill the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The UNWTO Sustainable Development Goals Startup Competition, which was launched last week, is aimed at identifying new ideas with the power and potential to reimagine tourism and enhance the sector’s positive impact on people and planet. Pololikashvili urged all entrepreneurs and innovators to step up and take part, noting that only through embracing the new can tourism emerge

Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary general, United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) from the present crisis stronger, more resilient and better prepared for the challenges that lie ahead, including addressing inequality and climate action. “As we look to the future, however, we must also pause to reflect on the terrible human cost of the pandemic. This week, I was honoured to join His

Majesty King Felipe VI, alongside the Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and guests including the Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO, as

well as other national and international political leaders at a special event to commemorate all those who have lost their lives to COVID-19 in Spain. “The presence of such highlevel figures from within and also from outside of Spain was testament to the international solidarity that has characterised our response to this pandemic. It also represented an opportunity for us all to express our appreciation to the health workers who worked – and continue to work – on the frontline of this public health emergency”, Pololikashvili said. The UNWTO secretary general disclosed that throughout the coronavirus crisis, Spain, UNWTO’s host country, has shown great resolve and now carries that spirit into a determination to grow back and recover. “UNWTO offers our full support to Spain, as we do to every other Member State, and will continue to work closely with the government to ensure tourism fulfils its unique potential as a tool for economic recovery and social cohesion”, Pololikashvili concluded.

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Sunday 26 July 2020

BrandsOnSunday SPOTLIGHTING BRAND VALUE

Femi Adelusi, MIPAN president, girds loins to propel industry growth Twenty one-old MIPAN is an association of media independent companies, presently with 31 members who control about N90 billion annual above-the-line advertising budgets. It recently elected Femi Adelusi of BrandEye Media to lead it in this challenging time and beyond Covid-19. The new president appears equipped for the task as he gathers momentum to add velocity to industry wheels. Daniel Obi writes.

or next two years, Femi Adelusi, the CEO of BrandEye Media will be on the driving seat of Media IndependentPractitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN). With 25years working experience in Sales and in various Marketing Communications roles, behind him, Femi already knows the best road with fewer pot holes. He emerged the MIPAN president at a time when marketing communication industry is going through rough times worsened by Covid-19 but he has already tied his loins to bring his members into the bus to navigate the challenges. In addition to the hard economic environment, with GDP growth at low 2.7%, oil price sliding to as low as $30 in international market, poor electricity and insecurity, the pandemic has further laid prostrate a number of businesses with organisations and institutions adversely affected. As economies slide, the first reaction of most brands is to cut down advertising budget, a development which has unwittingly become a tradition but should not be the norm. When records are taken at the end of this year, it might show that advertising budget was drastically cut which affected media agencies resulting in trimming of business and staff. However, Adelusi appeared prepared for the challenges ahead. Speaking at Nosak Nigeria organised agenda setting stakeholder Forum for newly elected President of MIPAN recently, Nosakhare Uwadiae, the moderator who looked at Adelusi’s career success and his manifesto, was confident that Adelusi is poised to take MIPAN to another level. “Femi and his Exco have their vision of getting MIPAN to greater height. The mantle of leading MIPAN through a Post-Covid Era is not an easy task at all but from what I can see from the manifesto of the new MIPAN team, I think they are headed to the right direction”, Uwadiae said. Who leads MIPAN established in 1999 is important to stakeholders as the association perhaps is top in the organogram of agencies. Their members who are 31 presently control about N90 billion annual advertising budgets of local and multinational companies. Recognising the importance of MIPAN at the Nosak stakeholders forum, Uwadiae further said that “essentially, MIPAN member companies control the bulk of Above the Line spending in Nigeria. Most of the TV, Radio, Press, Out-of-Home adverts you see, the large number is controlled by MIPAN executives

Femi Adelusi

and MIPAN companies”. Uwadiae recounted the enormity of the role played by MIPAN members within the media spectrum. For instance, in 2014 a total of N93 billion was spent on ATL (Above the Line); in 2015, N97.9 billion was spent; in 2016, N91 billion passed through the MIPAN companies in Nigeria specifically; in 2017, N88 billion was the general billing; in 2018 there was not less than N81 billion. This spending “means that substantial part of this industry contributes substantially to the GDP no matter how you look at it. So MIPAN essentially is a force to be reckoned with. At lot of companies are getting their Bread and Butter from MIPAN, in the sense that they are linked to media houses, entertainment, they are linked to every aspect of media and marketing communications because everything you do in terms ofcreativitysomehowendsupbeing exposed to the media. So they are not a push over association at all. It is the goose that lays the golden egg”, Uwadiae stated. Femi Adelusi who took over from Ken Onyeali Ikpe, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Insight Redefini Group, Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest Marketing Communication & Advertising group plans is to improve most performance indicators in MIPAN which will rub off on the entire industry. On his approach, Adelusi coined his strategy into THINC as his game plan. Under the plan is Technology Data and Innovation; Human Capital Development; Industry Thought Leadership; Inclusiveness & Collaboration; and Commercial stability of the media ecosystem.

Speaking on technology, he recognised that Data is a very critical on the account of complexity of Media today, the consumer sophistication, the proliferation of Media. He said the industry needs fresh consumer insight, needs fresh media insight to be able to make scientific and well informed media decisions and that’s why technology plays a big role. According to the new president, the industry needs to work together to migrate from what has served the practitioners for the last 15 years or there about and then begin to move towards a new audience measurable platform. He said at the Nosak forum that pitches for right partners in this regard are on the pipeline but expressed worry on funding. He however got consolation that this has gotten the attention of the Federal Government. In the area of building capacity, he said that there are different levels at which the association can build capacity; at junior level from the entry-level to the executive or to the senior executives level. On industry thought leadership he said the association need to work with other bodies such as ADVAN, AAAN, EXMAN, BON and of course the regulators APCON to achieve some milestones and goals. According to him, an underlining word in his agenda is collaboration and partnership. “So we anchor all of these programmes under what we called the ‘Partnership For Growth” Femi Adelusi will be working with his executive members to facilitate the development of an enabling environment for the media advertising industry in Nigeria,

among other objectives. Some of the executive council members include: Dozie Okafor, Managing Director of PHD who emerged Executive Vice President; Samson Oyebamire, Finance Controller, Intenciti Media Ltd emerged Financial Secretary. Others are Yetunde Adegbite, Managing Director, Postersope (Mediafuse Denstu Aegis Network) emerged Assistant Secretary; Akam-Ekpo Enoch, Head Buying & Investment, Starcom Media Perspectives emerged Assistant Publicity Secretary; Henry Ononiwu, Business Development Manager, PHD Nigeria emerged Publicity Secretary and Eki Adzufeh returned as the Executive Secretary. Similarly, the Ex-official members are: Tolu Ogunkoya, Regional Managing Director, Media ReachOMD;EmekaOkeke,Group CE, Media Fuse Dentsu Aegis Network; Oba Ayodele Kupoluyi, Managing Consultant, Ashmaukups; and Dr. Ken Onyeali Ikpe, Group Managing Director/Ceo, Insight Refefini. Femi in his acceptance speech thanked the members and industry stakeholders for their support and appealed for their continued support as the new executive commences work to take the association to a greater height. “In the weeks ahead, we will re-constitute some of our various working committees and welcoming them as well. I thank you in advance for your cooperation, sacrifice, and contribution to moving our association forward,” he said. In addition, he explained, “This unique year marks the 21st anniversary of our association. It is no longer news that we are in a pandemic and we live in a new normal where most aspects of life and business have been disrupted. “The world and indeed Nigeria is faced with a health crisis and a financial crisis in which we are forced to decide on which matters most, Lives or Livelihoods? We must find the right balance as one cannot exist without the other. “We therefore must face the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing consumer and marketing landscape by finding new insights and pivot continuously to leverage new opportunities. “As a nation, we must face these changes boldly and creatively leveraging our non natural resources i.e intellection capital, creativity, youthful population, technology adoption, resilience, hard work, and can-do-spirit as we know, ‘Naija no dey carry last.’ “This unusual time calls for a new type of skills, resilient and data/technology driven business

and communities.” On his own apart, Ken urged the new executive to continue from where the past executives left and strive to make the association achieve even much more. “Clearly our association has come a long way and made some giant strides. However, there is still much to be done. We still have some key issues like quackery in our industry; unprofessional and sharp practices that still need to be addressed; ensuring that we bring more agencies into our fold; making more revenue for the association to be able to purchase landed property and official car for the use of the secretariat, among other things. I am therefore very confident that the future is bright for the association. In the same vein, Eki said “Our association has come a long way and needs to occupy its rightful place among the sectoral groups in the advertising industry. This association was birthed over twenty years ago and although it has gone through thick and thin and through a lot of learning curves, the maturity time has come and we must do things as a matured association”. “To do this, however, we need a sincere change of attitude towards the issues and activities of the association by many of our members, especially the heads of our agencies. We must all take ownership of the association and be more interested in its growth and success as we would like it to be.” Interesting to note, the new president holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees as well as an MBA – all from the University of Benin. Before founding the agency in 2015, he was at various times the Head, Media and Marketing Communications at Guinness Nigeria, Integrated Marketing Communications Manager at Coca-Cola International, Director, Media Planning & Strategy at MediaReach OMD, and Client Services Manager at Tequila Nigeria Limited. A self-motivated man with a vision to ‘finish strong’in his career, family, health; and to positively influence the new generation of business entrepreneurs and leaders in Nigeria, Femi is a philanthropist per excellence who always aspires to give back to the community and his country at large from the abundance of God’s blessings and favour that he enjoys. There is no doubt that Femi Adelusi and his exco have daunting task ahead and the pandemic has further dug potholes on their way. But the new president appears energised to move on. All he needs is industry support to achieve his dreams especially in this challenging time.

Sunday 26 July 2020

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Arts

‘Anyanwu’, the timeless masterpiece Stories by OBINNA EMELIKE

A ‘

nyanwu’, which literally means Sun in Igbo language, is a masterpiece bronze cast by the late Ben Enwonwu, known and celebrated as one of Africa’s great modern sculptors and artists. The work is often regarded as the Igbo Sun goddess. Standing at 6ft 10 inches, ‘Anyanwu’ depicts a woman dressed in the royal regalia, a ‘chicken-beak’ headdress, heavy coral necklaces and bracelets, and it is not an artwork to ignore. Besides, the distinctive body of the bronze work speaks volume of feminine beauty in African cultures and heritage. It was commissioned by the Nigerian government in the 1960s, and the first cast stands in the Lagos National Museum. The bronze work is historic with its first unveiling to the public on October 5,

1966, when it was presented by Nigerian to U-Thant, the then Secretary-General of the United Nations. Of course, then, the enigmatic sculpture gave Nigeria the opportunity to affirm its position as a leading African nation and established Enwonwu as a self-aware African modernist, and the sculpture in turn as a potent symbol of modern, independent Africa. Ac c o r d i n g t o Ch i k a Okeke-Agulu, Nigerian artist and art historian, ‘Anyanwu’ was Enwonwu’s response to the very rhetoric of African cultural revival and political independence that had attracted earlier modern sculptors. “It depicts an elegant African dancer, but, as her piercing gaze implies, it is the manifestation of the Igbo sun god”, Okeke-Agulu, an artist, independent curator, art historian and associate professor at Princeton University, said. Trailing the ever growing value of the sculpture, on

May 25, 2016 when over 20 works by Enwonwu featured in Africa Now Sale, Bonhams auctioned a cast of the iconic ‘Anyanwu’ sculp-

Nigerian writer selected for IWP residency

ana Udobang, an award-winning Nigerian poet, writer and spoken word artist, has been selected to participate in the 54th International Writing Program (IWP) Fall Residency at the University of Iowa, courtesy of the United States Department of State. Over the course of 11 weeks, Udobang will join 29 other accomplished writers from across the globe in the world’s oldest and largest multinational writing residency. She and the other participants will give readings and lectures that share their work and cultures, collaborate with artists from other genres and art forms, and travel to interact with audiences and literary communities across

Wana Udobang

the United States. In addition, the residency will provide the writers a oneof-a-kind inter-cultural opportunity to forge productive relationships with colleagues and translators, and take part in the vibrant social and academic life of the University of Iowa, as well as, the larger American literary scene. Claire Pierangelo, the United States Consul General, congratulated the Nigerian writer on her acceptance into the residency program. According to her, the goal of the IWP Fall Residency is to provide outstanding writers with a platform for cultural exchange and collaboration. “This is an extremely competitive program and we are proud to have you represent Nigeria. Your accomplish-

ments as a poet and writer are well-known and we hope this is an opportunity for you to take time to focus on your writing, connect with well-established writers from around the globe, learn more about the United States, and contribute to literature courses both at the University of Iowa and across the country”, the Consul General said. Udobang has recorded three spoken word studio albums – Dirty Laundry, In Memory of Forgetting and Transcendence. Her poems have been published in numerous anthologies and her poetry film Dear Father was screened at the British Film Institute’s African Odysseys Festival. Udobang’s writing has appeared in Aljazeera, The Guardian, The Rumpus and the BBC. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the fall residency program has been postponed until spring. Health, safety, and travel conditions permitting, the rescheduled program is expected to run from February 28 to May 3, 2021. To date, 35 Nigerian literary figures have participated in the IWP Fall Residency. Notable among them are Elechi Amadi (1973), Cyprian Ekwensi (1974), Ola Rotimi (1980), Femi Osofisan (1986), Niyi Osundare (1988), Festus Iyayi (1990), Lola Shoneyin (1999), Obari Gomba (2016), and Tade Ipadeola (2019).

ture at between £70,000£100,000. The development was on the heel of Bonhams smashing the record for the Nigerian artist in 2013, and

selling a series of Enwonwu’s sculptures for £361,250. Speaking on the growing values for Enwonwu’s works, especially ‘Anyanwu’, at the Bonhams auction last year, Giles Peppiatt, head of African modern and contemporary art, said, “Enwonwu is the ultimate African modernist, who also draws deeply from Igbo culture, and this sculpture has a real sense of pride and grace to it. We are delighted to offer this iconic piece at a time when the demand for African modern and contemporary art is booming”. Riding on the heels of the Bonhams auction in London in May 2016, Enwonwu’s ‘Anyanwu’ broke national record in Nigeria. The iconic artwork sold for N54,050,000 at the May edition of the Arthouse Contemporary Auction held on May 22, 2017 at the Kia Showroom, Victoria Island, Lagos. The N54,050,000 auction sale made the artwork the top sale of the evening graced

by notable art collectors, art enthusiasts, and dignitaries across all walks of life. As well, with the evening top sale, the artwork broke a new auction record as the highest selling work of art in an auction in Nigeria. Of course, Ben Enwonwu who came from a lineage of traditional African artists, was trained by his father and Kenneth Crosthwaite Murray, an archaeologist. He then sailed to England in 1944, aged 27, to attend the Slade School of Fine Art, graduating with a prize for sculpture. Upon his return to Nigeria in 1948, he was appointed the first Nigerian art adviser to the federal government. His art began to glean the highest accolades from art critics, with Eric Newton extolling the ‘lithe rhythm’ of his wood sculptures, and the British press comparing his ‘daring’ work to that of Henry Moore, while the US Ebony Magazine described him as ‘Africa’s greatest artist’.

France takes first legal step towards restitutions to Benin, Senegal Twenty-six objects looted from Abomey Palace to return to Benin, Omar Tall’s sword to be transferred to Senegal

he French cabinet discussed a draft law yesterday allowing the restitution of 26 looted artefacts to Benin and a historic sword to Senegal, the first legislative step towards fulfilling French President Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 pledge to return African heritage taken during the colonial era. The law, which compels the authorities to return the artefacts within one year, is necessary to bypass a principle of French law under which treasures in public museum collections are deemed “inalienable.” Prime Minister Édouard Philippe already returned the sword last year to Macky Sall, the president of Senegal, in a symbolic gesture of commitment to Macron’s promise. Previously held in the collection of the Musée de l’Armée in Paris, the sword is now on display in Senegal’s Museum of Black Civilisations. It belonged to Omar Saïdou Tall, a prominent 19th-century Muslim spiritual leader who fought French colonial-

Senegal President Macky Sall, right, receives the sword El Hadj Omar Saidou Tall during a ceremony at the Palace of the Republic in Dakar, Senegal, on November 17, 2019

ists in the 1850s in a region of West Africa that now includes Senegal. His possessions, including the sword, were seized decades later by French troops. The objects to be returned to Benin include anthropomorphic statues bearing royal emblems looted during the sacking of Abomey Palace in 1892 and donated by the French colonel Alfred Dodds to a predecessor of the Musée de Quai Branly in Paris. In December 2019, France

and Benin signed an agreement for a joint programme involving French financial support to build or renovate museums and to provide training for heritage experts. According to a report by Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr, commissioned by the French government and published in 2018, there are around 90,000 sub-Saharan artefacts in French public collections, most of which are housed in the Musée de Quai Branly.

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Sunday 26 July 2020

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SundayBusiness The benefits of honey production Food & Beverages (Seven ways to determine pure honey) With Ayo Oyoze Baje

Introduction ne of the most sensitive aspects of farming is that of honey production. There is also an increasing demand for it not only in Nigeria but across the world because of its several nutritional benefits and its profitability. Unfortunately, some fraudulent famers adulterate it. One needs to know the difference between original and fake honey. As part of the FARMRUSH we hereby present the answers to the questions posed to one of the young Nigerians actively engaged in the booming business Your profile My name is Prince Collins Em e z i e Ug w u o z o r. I a m a geoscientist, nature enthusiast, social impact person and a honey merchant. I and my wife are founders of BeeDrops Pure Honey, it started from our quest to use 100percent organic honey because of its numerous health benefits and we found out that most in the market

are adulterated. Our proactive approach to agriculture led us to the discovery that Lagos residents might be faced with the challenge of sourcing for unadulterated honey. So, we decided to bridge the gap with BeeDrops Pure Honey. I am happily married and blessed with children. What gave you the inspiration to venture into agriculture, when and where? I grew up in an environment where almost every family understood the value of Agriculture, though subsistence but it helped to shape my interest in agric. growing up watching my mother tender and nurture her small poultry farm also played a part role. It became more interesting when I found out that I and my wife have the same interest. In March 2020, we ventured into honey harvesting and sales, our business operates in Lagos while we source from Nsukka, Enugu State. What aspects of agriculture are you actively engaged in and why do you like them? I am into Organic honey extraction, which is a process in apiculture and sales of honey at all levels (retail and whole sales). Our choice of honey extraction and distribution spurred from the urgent need to provide consumers with organic alternatives to honey. There are so many options of sugar syrup and adulterated honey in the market and consumers are not given the opportunity to explore other alternative and thus make healthy choices. What were the initial challenges and how did you overcome them? One of them was the problem of logistics especially during the lockdown. We had to pay more than necessary to ensure that

the honey kegs are transported back to Lagos. Secondly is the expensive nature of sourcing for pure organic honey because we are a brand and our brand is a promise to provide our customers with 100percent organic honey as a better alternative, we had to pay more to source for unadulterated honey. May we know some of your your farm produce, and their nutritional benefits? There are more than 10 types of honey from different species of bees but we at Bee Drops produce and package only two types, which are raw honey and filtered honey: Raw honey is unprocessed. It is honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by extraction, settling, or straining without adding heat (pasteurisation). Raw honey contains some pollen and may contain small particles of wax. Raw honey comes out of the comb and goes into the bottle: it is one of the purest foods on the table. Filtered honey or strained honey has been passed through a mesh filter to remove particles without removing pollen. It has a cloudy appearance due to the included pollen and tends to crystallise more quickly than ultrafiltered honey. It is in popular demand. Nutritional benefits One hundred percent organic honey like the Bee Drops honey revamps your body system and repairs some of your internal organs. Is rich in Vitamin B6, Riboflavin, Calcium, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Sodium. Below are some of the scientifically proven health benefits of Organic honey like Bee Drops: Memory booster 2. Heals mouth wounds to avoid bacteria infections 3. Improves blood circulation

and aid digestion 4. Good antibacterial. Honey not only heals wounds; it can help clear the scar. 5. Natural source of energy 6. Calms the nerves and helps combat insomnia 7. Clears sore throat and acts as natural antibacterial against throat bacteria that causes cough 8. Honey improves cholesterol; its antioxidants help lower blood pressure. 9. Honey can suppress coughs in children (suitable for kids above a year ONLY) Every family deserves a good honey like Bee Drops, place your order now! How can we know original honey- whether one is buying an original honey or sugar syrup? It is so easy to be misled in today’s market in your quest to have access to healthy food alternatives as the majority of the so-called organic food sellers can be dishonest. This is why BEE DROPS original honey does not just sell 100percent organic honey to you but also provides you information on how not to fall prey to syrup in place of honey. 1. Ant Test Drop a small amount of honey at the corner of your room and check it after 48hrs. Pure honey will not attract ant. 2. The Thumb Test Place a small amount of honey on your thumb and check if it spills or spreads around. Pure honey sticks to the surface it is applied to and doesn’t drip away. Pure honey is thick while impure honey will be runny. 3. The Water Test Take a teaspoon of the honey and put in a glass full of water. Fake or adulterated honey will dissolve in the water while pure honey which has a denser texture will

settle right at the bottom of the glass as lumps. 4. The paper test Place a small amount of honey on White paper. Pure honey will not get absorbed or leave stains. 5. The flame test Take a dry matchstick and dip it in honey. Strike the matchstick against the matchbox. Pure honey will light immediately. 6. The heat test If you heat pure honey, it will caramelise quickly and not become foamy. But, in the case of impure honey, it may not caramelise and become bubbly on heating. 7. Appearance test Pure honey is dense and trickles only into a stream. It has a soft texture, will never separate into layers, and offers a distinctly sweet aroma. Natural honey, which is honey in its purest form, often leaves a slight tingling feeling or a mild burning sensation in your throat. What are your marketing strategies and how effective are they? It is simple, telling the beneficial stories of organic honey using relatable events via all channels available to me and my team. What exactly do you want the government to do to assist with your processes? We need funds to expand our business and broaden our states of distribution. Currently, our market is mainly Lagos and some parts of Enugu, but with more capital we can reach more Nigerians with this healthy alternative. Like I said earlier, everyone deserves a better alternative and Bee Drops pure organic honey is here to offer that.

Baje is Nigerian first Food Technologist in the media ayobaje@yahoo.co.uk; 07068638066

The impact of creative storytelling on the Nigerian economy Tony Nlebem

h r o u g h Mu l t i Ch o i c e Nigeria’s socio-economic investment, for 27 years, the company has made significant contributions to the growth of the Nigerian economy. At the heart of this investment is entrepreneurship and employment opportunities through multiple channel distribution platforms and a commitment to the continuous growth of the sports, technology, film and video sectors through infrastructural development. In 2015, when a set of big goals called the Millennium Development Goals that were set two decades ago reached their ‘expiry date’, with some of the key objectives still unmet, a new 15-year timeline was set for yet another group of goals, this time called the Sustainable Development Goals. From eight goals to seventeen new goals, five years in, the world can say that a major shift seems to be happening. One clear indication of this is in the way business operations

for many organisations around the world have evolved. With many companies becoming more conscious of how their affairs affect the environment, how consumers interact with their products, and how much value they really add to society, corporate social responsibility or value, has moved from being an item on the checklist to become a business core. Now, while many businesses seem to be playing catch-up, there are others even in Africa, who unknowingly, but with great startup vision, had laid the foundation and built a template for what a socially responsible company should look like. Established in 1993, Multichoice Nigeria had a 7-year lead time, before the MDGs became a guide and used those years to build a solid business that combines profit and purpose. Today, that business represents what shared prosperity is, having created the right mix of opportunities for its people to grow, while helping to build an industry that ranks as the second-largest in the world and the most loved in Africa.

As people say, if content is king, distribution is definitely queen, and this thinking remains why Nollywood owes a lot of the accolades it gets today to Multichoice Nigeria. Between 2015 and 2019, Accenture in its new report for Multichoice, estimates that about $428million has gone into the local content production business of Multichoice, mostly in developing local creativity and building the production infrastructure to support it. To put thisinvestmentinmoreperspective, it directly translates to 117,459 hours of local content. That’s huge, on both an African and global scale, even huger given that it’s only from 5 years of enriching lives; definitely more if the organization’s 27 years is brought into view. These sorts of investments rarely occur without a ripple effect on human capital development, but leaving things to chance isn’t the Multichoice way. The Multichoice Talent Factory further drives the local content goal for Multichoice, as they welcome a cohort of 20 students who after one year graduate, are better equipped

to keep the African film industry innovative and constantly growing. It is an intentional play at giving equal opportunities to anyone with film and broadcast dreams to pick the skills they require to make a mark in the industry. On one hand, as Multichoice continues to build more credibility for the entertainment and media industry in Africa, through its investment in local content, future talents, even award shows, it is also ensuring the market for the content they produce grows on the other hand. This process has required a strong supply chain and Multichoice Nigeria has proven equal to the task investing over $1 billion in their distributor, supplier, even installer network in just the last 5 years. With further investment in their 961 employees, in the areas of training and other benefits, it is safe to say they have gone beyond building a business, to building an ecosystem. Whether this ecosystem model works is a question their recently released socio-economic value report put together by Accenture

and covering the last five years of operations answers perfectly. The contribution of an estimated US$2.1bn to the Nigerian economy between that 5-year period, shows that they understand the role they play in achieving a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development. In Multichoice’s 27 years of operating in Nigeria , their commitment to actually enriching lives as their mantra says, has never been in doubt. Beyond the strides their video content business has made in employing people directly, creating jobs for even more people in adjacent industries, training talents and building infrastructure; the company has always still found a way to give back to the different communities where they operate. With a portfolio of grassroots sporting programs, various awards that recognize great work from inspiring Africans, essential care for people with sickle cell disorder and investments in education and educational content, Multichoice Nigeria shows it is more than just business.

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BDSUNDAY 27

SundayBusiness LG Electronics upgrades Ogba free wash centre to cater for more families …Introduces commercial washing machine to enhance efficiency AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

G Electronics, a global leader in consumer electronics, has upgraded its Life’s Good with LG Wash, Free Wash Centre in Ogba, Ikeja, suburb of Lagos, with new sets of commercial washers and dryers for efficient free service delivery to families in the community. Th e m a j o r p a r t o f the upgrading was the introduction of the company’s commercial washing machine known as Giant C Pro, developed to add value to its teeming customers. Officially launched in 2018 as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to its host community, the free laundry service was targeted at alleviating the problem of shortage of water and power supply in the area, for residents to efficiently carry out their laundry activities. The laundry cabin is equipped with state-ofthe-art facilities to effectively take care of laundry needs of up to 50 local families each day at no cost. “The newly added set of commercial washing machines/dryers will not only improve the living conditions, as well as support the daily washing

L-R: General Manager, Home Appliances, LG Electronics, West Africa Operations, Jiung Park, Showroom Manager, Fouani Nigeria Limited, Samir Abdo and Head, Corporate Marketing Division, LG Electronics West Africa Operations, Hari Elluru, at the opening of LG’s Life is Good Free Wash Center upgrade held at Ogba, Lagos.

needs of people in the area , but will also save time, because of its high efficiency, Hari Elluru, head of Corporate Marketing Division, LG Electronics West Africa, said in Lagos on Friday. According to him, LG commercial washing machine called the Giant C Pro which has an easy installation process accompanied with high efficiency and performance is the ideal commercial laundry product to save costs and get users ahead of their competitors in the laundry business.

“It has adaptable controls that provide the space saving and convenience without compromising capacity while retaining easy to reach controls. The controls are always at a convenient height and are versatile enough to match your needs,” Elluru added. Ji u n g Pa r k , g e n e r a l manager, Home Appliances Division, LG Electronics, said the upgraded washing machine has enabled LG to use its capabilities through the Life’s Good with LG Wash, to help local communities solve some of their regional issues, and allow residents

spend more quality time with their families. “For us, we believe that ‘Life’s Good’ when shared with others. We have remained competitive while improving sustainability; we have enabled investment and innovation required to deploy new technologies and to safely and responsibly develop progressive products. With this upgrading, LG Electronics will continue to support communities even in the future,” Park further said. According to him, LG Electronics has been at the forefront of giving back to the society, engaging in different activities from different sectors including education, health and youth empowerment, among others over the years. He said that after Lagos, two free laundry centres have been launched in Port Harcourt, River State and Kano State, and plans are on the way to launch another centre in the next couple of months. BDSUNDAY gathered that LG constructed the facility, which included the installation of a constantly replenished water tank, uninterrupted power supply, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners and sufficient supply of detergents and laundry bags to cater for the laundry needs of the people.

UK-chartered surveyor, Ojo, becomes GM of Ogun Housing Corporation ...says Abiodun plans to build 1,000 housing units in medium term

RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta

o v e r n o r Da p o Abiodun of Ogun State has appointed Akinwale Ojo, a graduate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Programme at the University of Reading, United Kingdom, as general manager of Ogun State Housing Corporation. Ojo, who had undergone sev er a l a c a demic a nd pr ofessiona l tr a ining s in surveying, town and regional planning, estate management both in Nigeria and United Kingdom, was appointed General Manager of the State-owned Housing Corporation, having spent over two decades as a career staff member of the Corporation, starting from Estate Surveyor Grade II. G o v e r n o r Ab i o d u n announced the appointment of Ojo, a Doctoral candidate in Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management at the University of Salford, United Kingdom in company of Yemi Sanusi as the Chairman; Abidemi Alimi, Adeniyi Edun, Adebayo, Aladejobi, Ademola Balogun, Omitaomu Ekundayo and Olumide Soyemi, all as membersoftheState-owned Housing Corporation Board. Speaking on the appointment in Abeokuta on Friday, Akinwale Ojo noted that the appointment is a clarion call to him and all other members of the Board and Staff to work more and

help Governor Abiodunled administration to bridge housing deficits in the state through the provision of massive and affordable housing units for residents of the state. He said although, Governor Abiodun had already delivered hundreds of housing units, covering two- and three-bed room apartments at the newlycommissioned Prince Court in Abeokuta, government is working towards the construction of 1,000 housing units in the medium term across the three Senatorial districts of the

Ojo

state. “We are following the policy of Prince Dapo Abiodun MFR, Executive Governor of Ogun State. The policy of the current government is to take staff welfare very serious and a priority. I am going to consider that. I have been involved in the system and now that I involve in policy formulation and implementation, we shall serve welfare of our workers and offer affordable housing for our people.

NIMASA, Customs move to check abuse of temporary import permit on vessels AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

he Nigerian M a r i t i m e Ad m i n i s t r a t i o n and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have agreed to join forces to close loopholes in the Temporary Importation Permit (TIP) system, which importers often exploit to avoid payment of levies due to the government. Bashir Jamoh, directorgeneral of NIMASA, stated this recently in Abuja when he visited the ComptrollerG e n e r a l o f Cu s t o m s , Hameed Ali (rtd). Jamoh said the temporary import permit issue was one of the biggest challenges faced by the maritime sector, which has denied Federal Government huge revenue. According to him, foreign ship owners bring in their own ship and after one year,

they will take it back to their country and import it back with a different name, and this is not beneficial to Nigerian ship owners. He said that Cabotage trade, which falls within the core functions of NIMASA, was suffering as a result of the abuse of the temporary import permit. Jamoh said the Merchant Shipping Act provided that vessels used in importation should be registered with the Nigeria Ship Registry, but in most cases, the foreign ship owners do not. He called for greater synergy between NIMASA and Nigeria Customs, and indeed, all agencies in the maritime sector, to address pertinent issues and improve the sector. Jamoh appreciated the efforts of the NCS under Ali to curb smuggling in the country and enhance revenue generation. Ali spoke in a similar vein,

saying it is important for the Customs and NIMASA to develop a common platform for dealing with problems arising from the TIP.

Ali pledged the commitment of the service to pooling resources with NIMASA to address the highlighted issues hindering

the growth of the sector. He said there was need for both agencies to design a common framework for tackling the issues.

L-R: Hameed Ali (Rtd.), comptroller-general, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), making a presentation to Bashir Jamoh, director general of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), when the NIMASA boss paid a working visit to the Customs CG at the Headquarters of the NCS in Abuja, recently.

Ali said such approach would ensure that if Customs register a ship and gave it a Temporary import permit, NIMASA would also have records of that registration on its own platform. According to him, the synergy should be based on ICT. “NIMASA IT staffs need to synergise with ours to develop a platform that will create that collaboration, such that everything we record or register will reflect in your own record.” He said the Customs was in the process of launching two patrol boats that would go beyond the creeks, to enhance maritime security. “It is my hope that we will strengthen the relationship and increase the synergy between us as maritime operators, and, most importantly, to ensure that not only the revenue aspect is improved, but also to secure our waters,” Ali added.

28 BDSUNDAY

Sunday 26 July 2020

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SundayBusiness Real reasons those in need can’t access mortgage, homes

t is a fact of life that every adult person needs a decent house of his own he can call a home. But it is becoming, increasingly obvious that home-ownership is not for everybody. In most economies of the world, especially the developed ones, home-ownership is not as difficult because people in such places have easy access to mortgage unlike Nigeria where people buy homes from own savings. A major requirement for getting a mortgage loan facility that will enable the borrower to own a home is having a good job with regular income. But it becomes very challenging when the earning is low. At N18,000 per month minimum wage, public sector workers cannot afford mortgage loan. Even with the new minimum wage of N30,000, this class of people will not still be able to afford mortgage loan. Therefore, for many years to come, unless a drastic change occurs, home-ownership through mortgage will continue to elude workers who earn the national minimum wage. This is because, based on the terms of mortgage structuring which requires not less than one third or 33.3 percent of this N30,000 per month, the borrower has to deduct approximately N10,000 for loan repayment, and a monthly payment of this sum for 30

years as required by the mortgage law, will mean that the prospective home owner will contribute the sum of N3 million for the 30-year period.However, apart from the fact that there is no decent accommodation for N3 million in a good location, there is no 30-year mortgage available for loan applicants. Besides, at the current minimum wage, 33.3 percent of N18, 000 will be N5, 994 and a monthly payment of this sum over a 30-year period will amount to N2.15 million. Taking it further, Adeniyi Akinlusi, president of Mortgage Bankers Association of Nigeria, emphasizes that many households cannot own homes through mortgage because, given their low per capita income, they won’t qualify for mortgages. Mortgage deficit, he noted, stands at N49.05 trillion and out of a population of 180 million people, 30 percent representing the 44.4 million working class, the mortgageable adults are only 19.9 million, representing 45 percent of the total population. This is why mortgage experts insist that job creation is critical to ease homeownership. They maintain that government and private sector developers could build all the affordable or social housing they want to, but people have to have jobs to be able to buy either cash or through mortgage. Nigeria is one the world’s most

expensive housing markets where the cost of renting a three-bedroom apartment ranges from N15 million to N20 million per annum in highbrow areas like Victoria Island and Ikoyi in Lagos; Asokoro, Maitama in Abuja; GRA phase 2 in Port Harcourt or Trans Amadi also in Port Harcourt, among other areas in Nigeria. The country’s latest effort at improving access to housing finance was the establishment of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) which is aimed to provide liquidity in the mortgage system by raising money from the capital market and using same to refinance primary mortgage banks for on-lending to loan applicants. A report on ‘The Lagos Housing Market’ notes that a mortgage period of 30 years and a housing unit of N2.15 million are hardly available and this amount excludes interest rate on the mortgage facility. Consequently, even the middle income earners struggle to have access to affordable housing. The report notes further that Nigeria is faced with a multi-dimensional housing problems stemming from poor planning. It recalls that many initiatives have been launched in the past which did not translate to visible results. “The country is fraught with abandoned low cost housing projects, inadequate funding, regula-

Talking Mortgage with CHUKA UROKO (08037156969, chukuroko@yahoo.com) tory bottlenecks, lack of focus on residential housing development and unsupportive finance mechanisms,” the report says, pointing out that in most developed countries, affordable housing at different income levels is achieved through assistance from government through planning incentives, tax credit, land provision, infrastructural support and required building approval concessions. The bane of mortgage access in Nigeria is high interest rate which hovers between 20 percent and 25 percent and this is one of the major reasons for the low homeownership level in the country whose housing deficit is in excess of 20 million units. Roland Igbinoba, Vice Chairman, Roland Igbinoba Real Foundation for Housing and Urban Development (RIRFHUD), publishers of the report, laments that, though Lagos currently has the most vibrant property market in Nigeria, home ownership is still at less than 20 percent. “With a daily intake of 3,000 immigrants, the housing supply has

failed to keep up with rapid urbanization and population expansion, especially in the low income market. The housing demand estimate is roughly 4.4 million units while the estimated current supply of housing in the state is 1,417,588 units”, he reveals, adding that “this leaves a gap between housing demand and supply at roughly 3 million units; output is relatively low although there has been increased participation in housing projects from both the government and private sector,” he notes. The extent of housing shortage in Lagos is enormous and the deficit is both quantitative and qualitative, such that 72 percent of Lagos residents are tenants paying rent as high as 50 percent of their monthly income while most of the existing accommodations are provided by private landlords. On the qualitative housing deficit side, most low income earners live in congested settlements usually characterised by buildings with structural defects, bad roads, poor drainage and pollution, posing health hazards for the inhabitants.

Strong growth seen in Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority’s capital injection into vital sectors HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

ith the uncertainty of the long-term economic impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Government at all levels and agencies need to design policies and programme that would engender economic growth and jobs creation. Th e I n t e r n a t i o n a l Monetary Fund (IMF) projected sharp recession with growth contraction of 5.4 percent in 2020. This showed further plunge in Nigeria’s growth from -3.4 percent it predicted in April 2020. The success of the pace of recovery will depend crucially on policies undertaken during the crisis said the Washington based IMF. Determined to engender real growth in the country, the Nigeria Sovereign I n v e s t m e n t Au t h o r i t y (NSIA) manager of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund, said it would continue to deploy capital into vital sectors of the economy.

The areas of focus for the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund to include agriculture, healthcare, power, toll roads and gas industrialisation. Asset allocation strategy remains stable across the various funds according to Uche Orji, managing director of NSIA, who said the future generations fund remains 25 percent public equities, 25 per cent private equity, 25 per cent absolute returns and 25 per cent other diversifiers. NSIArecentlyannounced its results for the 2019 financial year, which showed that the Authority sustained its positive performance trajectory in the period under review. 2019 was a mostly favourable year for the Authority. In the first instance, its diversified asset strategy was buoyed by positive returns from the international markets as almost all the investments made in equities, hedge funds and private equity outperformed. Secondly, domestic developments also favoured the Authority and enabled its infrastructure investment strategy to deliver value

to the Nigerian people as more capital was deployed in key projects leading to the attainment of significant milestones. C o n s e q u e n t l y, t h e Authority recorded a five per cent growth in its total assets, from N617.7 billion in 2018, to N649.84 billion as of the end of 2019. It also recorded a profit after tax of N34.4 6 billion in the 2019 financial period. The NSIA also recorded total comprehensive income of N36.15 billion in 2019 as against the N44.34 billion it recorded in 2018. Ex c l u d i n g f o r e i g n exchange gain of N18 billion in 2018 and N1.28 in 2019, the net income in 2019 was N34.87 billion compared to N26.28 billion in 2018. Al s o, i t c l o s e d k e y transactions and increased capital deployment on domestic infrastructure projects specifically in agriculture, healthcare, and infrastructure enabling financial institutions. In the healthcare sector, the NSIA operationalised the Cancer Centre at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in May 2019. Th e Au t h o r i t y a l s o

recorded significant progress on the civil and construction works at the Advanced Diagnostic Centres at both the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. These construction works, were subsequently completed in 2020 and awaiting the easing of the lockdown on account of the covid-19 pandemic to operationalize the facility. Or j i s a i d t h e N S I A closed key transactions and increased capital deployment on domestic infrastructure projects specifically in motorways, agriculture, healthcare, and power: “Operationalising several subsidiaries of the NSIA will be a key focus especially in the healthcare sector where we have several projects in the pipeline,” Orji said. NSIA has invested in several financial companies that help develop the capital markets including Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company, InfraCredit, NG Clearing, Development Bank of Nigeria, and Family Homes Funds. “We will continue to work on strengthening these

entities and making new investments in companies that strengthen financial market infrastructure.” The NSIA Boss said the agency would continue to deploy capital into vital sectors of the economy with increased focus on sectors that will engineer real growth. U n d e r Pr e s i d e n t i a l Fertiliser Initiative (PFI), NSIA delivered 6.5million 50kg bags of NPK 20:10:10 in 2019, bringing total deliveries since inception ~20m bags, increased accredited participating blending plants to 31 plants as of year-end 2019 from 18 plants in 2018, enabled the creation of significant direct and indirect jobs across the agriculture value chain including in logistics, ports, bagging, rail, industrial warehousing, and haulage touch points amongst others. It aimed to deliver between 10 million to 12 million bags in 2020. The PFI took off in 2017 after the visit of the King of Morocco to Nigeria in December 2016 and the subsequent signing of a 3-year bilateral agreement with Morocco for the supply of Di-ammonium Phosphate

(DAP), a key ingredient for fertilizer production. Prior to the agreement, the Nigeria’s fertilizer industry was in comatose, with only 5 blending plants operating below ten percent of installed capacity. No one expected a miracle to happen on account of the agreement between Nigeria and Morocco due to the well-documented cases of corruption that had plagued the sector, and which had shortchanged Nigerian farmers for decades. The mandate of PFI was to make high quality fertilizer available to Nigerian farmers at the right time and at an affordable price, and to revive the ailing fertiliser blending industry so that Nigeria could achieve food security. Three years down the line, PFI has proven to be a legacy initiative that has changed the agricultural and agro-business industry in the country for good. It has achieved a substantial chunk of its mandate in a way that recommends it as a model for government intervention in critical sectors and a template for governmentled import substitution.

Sunday 26 July 2020

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News Xtral

Olusola, McKinney, Storey offer insights on building mindsets, thriving in post Covid-19 era Three of the world’s distinguished names in human growth, coaching and empowerment Michelle McKinney Hammond, Tim Storey and Lanre Olusola have come together to equip people with the right mindset to navigate the present times and create the future they desire. From entertainment legends to professional athletes, fortune 500 organisations; executives, entrepreneurs and more, these three masterminds have traveled round the world and continue to inspire people from all walks of life. In this exclusive interview, Modestus Anaesoronye reports their impacts about the Uncommon Mindset and how to ignite change and overcome some of the underlying problems of lives, especially at this time when the whole world is ravaged by Covid-19 pandemic.

n the feedback from the First Uncommon Mindset Series and why people should equip themselves for the days ahead Lanre Olusola noted that most people have been thankful for how apt and timely their messages have been in this covid-19 crisis “especially because it related with all the top challenges that people are going through today, and their topmost concerns about their immediate future.” “The decisions we made yesterday influenced our actions and set the stage for our experiences today. So, it only makes sense, that if we want to experience positive, fulfilling, happy, prosperous, peaceful and successful futures, then we need to learn the principles that will help us; recreate, redesign and live our desired future.” Olusola said. On how 3 of globally renowned leaders from different countries – Lanre Olusola from Nigeria , Michelle McKinney Hammond in the UK and Ghana and Tim Storey from America - came together to create the Uncommon Mindset Series, McKinney Hammondwho used to live in the US says she has been friends with Tim Storey for years and always wanted to do something together. “Lanre is my personal coach. I thought it would be a powerful combination if we could combine our specialties and skill sets to create something no one else is offering. So we decided to come together. Combining insights from a Practi-

Michelle McKinney Hammond

cal, Spiritual and Psychological base, we holistically equip others to incorporate all of who they are to maximize their potential to function at their highest level,” she added. It is no secret that it’s been a challenging time for everyone. Some people have however not been able to respond to setbacks dealt by the covid-19 pandemic due to fear and other emotional issues. Lanre Olusola says that lack of emotional intelligence is creating an emotional crisis. According to him, emotional crisis is a cry from deep within about a perceived uncontrollable situation this creates a state of anxiety, worry, fear, depression, and overwhelming stress. Speaking on the same vein, McKinney Hammond says that many people feeding on the wrong information incessantly. Growing hopeless or even

Lanre Olusola accepted into Forbes Coaches Council

Tim Storey

worse, paralysed. “One has to recondition the mind to cancel out the mindset of limitations and instead see the endless options and possibilities.” She said. “This state of mind liberates you to literally reinvent your life. It gives you flexibility to forge new

ground professional, personally and relationally” For people who are experiencing emotional crisis, Olusola encourages them not to despair, stating that in these kinds of situations, one has to be aware of some important principles. “Breathe; Get the complete facts and be honest with yourself; Take back control of your thoughts and actions; be patient with yourself and trust the process,” Olusola shared. Although change is the only constant thing, it can be quite a tough experience to go through especially one that is unprecedented and occurs with cataclysmic fatality like the covid-19 pandemic. Tim Storey likened the current situation to the metamorphosis of a butterfly. “When people look at a butterfly, it’s easy to forget the caterpillar. Metamorphosis is a process. Most people want to be a huge success right away, but don’t understand that there is a process. We must learn to prosper where we’re planted, because today’s decisions are tomorrow’s realities,” he explained. The second part of the Uncommon Mindset series hosted by McKinney Hammond, Storey and Olusola is billed for the 1st of August. Themed Metamorphosis – Birthing Your Next, Taking Your Life to the Next Level, one wonders how individuals and organisations can leverage the concept of metamorphosis as it relates to the new normal we now find ourselves living today? “It is important for us to know that the greatest opportunities

in life, business and career are hidden in the greatest crisis and challenges; light shines brightest in the deepest darkest.” Olusola said. “People’s progress, growth and success are always hindered by the way they see the problem. Change can only come if you change your habits, thoughts, beliefs, values, emotions, behaviors, associations and actions. finally change for optimal living is synonymous with the metamorphosis process.” With the current situation, so many people have abandoned their goals and aspirations and are now focused on just surviving 2020, owing to the devastating effects of coronavirus across the globe. According to Storey, there are times in history when the entire world feels a setback. He acknowledges that this is what 2020 feels like for many. “Wearing a mask, social distancing and sanitising everything doesn’t change your purpose. Your purpose is not subject to physical circumstances, but how you live out your purpose is. We must find new ways to fulfill the purpose within us. “he said, adding that the Uncommon Mindset series is being organised; to help Nigerians and everyone across the world who connects to the series develop an uncommon mindset for success. “We didn’t allow this pandemic to change our purpose, we just found a new way to share our message via Zoom and other technology. We got creative within the setback,” Storey said. Profiles: Michelle McKinney Hammond is a Renowned Speaker, Bestselling Author, Emmy-Award winning Television Co-host and Relationship Expert. Tim Storey is an acclaimed American author, speaker, and life coach associated with global individual and corporate brands including Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Steve Harvey, Robert Downey Jr. etc

FG sets eye on new source of forex with Presidential gold mining initiative HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

ederal government has set its eyes on opportunities offered by goldmine through a Presidential Artisanal Gold mining development Initiative, a step that would see it take full advantage of its over $ 200 billion dollar local market in the global gold market share while also shoring up its reserves for its scarce foreign exchange. Nigeria boasts of about 200 million ounce of gold reserves and has produced, for the first time ever, in June 2020,artisinally-mined gold that has been processed and refined according to the London Bul-

lion Market Association (LBMA) standards required for or the use of gold as a reserve instrument by the Central Bank of Nigeria. On the back of this development, the Central Bank has taken the decision to develop a gold purchase framework under the Federal Government’s Presidential Artisanal Gold mining initiative. Also, the standardised gold bars, which would be purchased in Naira from Nigerian miners and refiners would not only create thousands of jobs for the artisans, but would provide a new sources of foreign exchange accretion to our reserves and stability of the naira. Industry analysts have hailed

the initiative stating that the step taken by the government would eliminate piracy, create jobs and tax revenue, amid concerns of dwindling oil resources. “The initiative seeks to replace gold with crude oil. The presidential policy is quite good. So I mine gold,its mine. I sell that gold to the federal government, and I pay taxes,” said a financial analyst Kalu Aja in his official tweeter hande@finplankaluAja. Celestine Okeke, a small and medium enterprise development expert told BDSUNDAY that the initiative is good, but also wants the government to ensure proper weighing of the ounce of gold ex-

change and harmonious relationship with various communities involved to avoid concerns of environmental degradation and illegal smuggling. “For us to have good control there must be harmonious relationship with the local chiefs. Also to bring ethics to the mining the miners must access equipment to avoid environment degradation. The government should also ensure that local miners are not exploited .A proper community development agreement would help to avoid illegal operations and smuggling,” Sani Ahmed an official of Bhajia mining company in Kano told our correspondent. However, with the steps taken

by the federal Ministry of Mines in and Steel Development in formalising the activities of artisanal miners and assisting them in forming cooperatives to access an intervention fund from the put together by the federal government and domiciled in the Bank of Industry, analysts see more revenue coming to the government, rather than what it is losing through smuggling. PresidentBuharihasatthelaunch of the programme in Abuja noted that the operations will help in diversifying our revenue base as sale of gold by artisanal miners and SMEs at accredited centres will help the governmentinrealisingroyaltiesand taxes from the sale of these assets.

30 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 26 July 2020

Health&Science Suicidality in Nigeria! Why this matters

Anthonia Obokoh

ith the recent link by experts, this breakdown in the ability to deal with life stresses, economic hardship, relationship break-ups and mental health are among the factors speeding up suicidal cases in Nigerians. Imagine its 1916 lunatic law passed on to the country by the colonial masters, after 103 years Nigeria still using old mental health law. Up till now hundreds of thousands of Nigerians still die from suicide unnecessarily. Meanwhile, legislations on Nigerian Mental Health Act policies that could have enhancedaccesstobettermental healthcare and expanded the coverage for Nigerians have continued to suffer approval from the National Assembly. In Nigeria, the Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SURPIN), which partners with the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN), has found that about one-fifth of suicide cases seen at its affiliated institution are those aged 13-19 years, and that the majority of the callers were aged 20- 39 years, and 63.5 percent of them were having thoughts of suicide at the time of calling; 28.2 percent were students The majority of suicides worldwide are related to mental illnesses. Among those, depression, substance use, schizophrenia and other psychosis constitute the most relevant risk factors, but also anxiety, personality-, eatingand trauma-related disorders as well as organic mental disorders significantly add to unnatural causes of death compared to the general population. There is always tendency to trivialize suicide and attempted suicide. The temptation of being judgmental, stereotypical, hostile and negative criticism is very high and this leads stigma “Suicidality represents a major societal and health

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Abayomi Ajayi

care problem; it thus should be given a high priority in many realms,” said Taiwo Sheikh, president of the Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria (APN) who spoke recently during the 10th Annual Symposium of Health Writers Association of Nigeria (HEWAN) in his presentation Suicide Prevention and Mental Wellbeing: Creating an enabling environment through legislation. According to Sheikh, creating an enabling environment for suicide prevention in Nigeria through legislation requires urgent overhaul of our criminal legalsystemthatwilldecriminalise suicide and attempted suicide, passage of the mental health bill that will promote mental wellbeing, prevent mental illness and ensure access to treatment of mental disorders. “Lunatic Law currently practised is archaic; the law has been unable to adequately provide for mental health care on equal footing with physical health and gives no attention to mental health care financing or access to such services within primary care settings. “It envisages the presence of ‘asylums’ which would usually be established by ‘local government councils and It fails to focus clearly on such rights as those related to dignity and human autonomy and it provides no direction as to healthcare issues such as consent, privacy as well as confidentiality,” he explained. In Nigeria, there are socioeconomic reasons which push people into suicide than a traditional exercise in the mental health sector. There are fewer than 500 psychiatrists nationwide to take care of 200

million people. “Suicide is the second leading cause of death especially among the youth and it is sad that government has not prioritise any form of intervention programme to prevent the trend,” said Sheikh. Sheikh said that the high incidents of suicide on the lack of prevention strategies and programmes in the country. “In Europe, they have 13 programmes, America has eight, Western Pacific has five, South East Asia has two programmes while in African and Nigeria, we have zero intervention programmes.” “So, you can understand why suicide rate is on the increase here in our country. It is declining in those places because they have put certain things in place,” he said. In view of the severe deficiencies of the current State legislation and the lack of a national and comprehensive modern mental health act, several attempts have been made to enact a brand new national mentalhealthact,whichwillapplyinallstatesofthefederation. The most current one is the 2019 “Mental Health and Substance Abuse bill” which has attempted to address many of the lapses observed until then and has included substance abuse. However, a health industry expert says “Mental health professionals, doctors and counsellors can be reached out to manage suicidal tendencies. The proactive steps taken by several such professionals in the capacity of leaders has helped and has the potential to help save thousands of lives.”

Indomie Fan Club ‘Bright Minds’ app debuts on Google play store

ndomie Fan Club, the largest children fan club in Nigeria created by Dufil Prima Foods Plc, makers of IndomieInstantNoodleshave launchedanewchild-centered educationalappcalledIndomieFanClub(IFC)BrightMindsappforitsteemingmembers on Google Play Store. Bright Minds, the newly launched app offers a curated collection of kid-friendly subjects and games exclusively for Indomie Fan Club (IFC) members. What makes the app unique is the substantial educational value it offers to kids, especially primary school-aged students. Speaking on the app, Faith Joshua,National Coordinator of the club, ex-

Finding your fertile window when you’re trying to conceive

plained that children’s education doesn’t have to stop as a result of the restriction of movement occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic. “The app is available on iPhone, iPad, and Android and will keep fan club members mind actively engaged outside the classroom. The great thing about the app is that it works offline, a necessity in Nigeria where internet access is not always available.” Mrs. Faith Joshua noted that all fan club members will need a passcode to access the app after download. “When you launch Bright Minds, you can filter the app selections by recommended ages, classes, subject matter (e.g. math-

ematics, vocational aptitude, art, social studies, general science, etc.).” Also speaking on the app, Tope Ashiwaju Group Public Relations and Event Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, disclosed that as the children’s favourite brand, Indomie will continue to strive to ensure that the Nigerian child is happy by creating fun, excitement, bonding, and an enabling environment for them through the fan club. “Indomie is a childrencentric brand, and as such we will continue to support causes and activities that will help their development both mentally and physically and as well ensure that they are happy,” he said.

ne important piece in the jigsaw puzzle of your chances of conception is known as the fertile window. Every couple that is trying to conceive must know that a woman is most likely to get pregnant during her fertile window which is a six-day span each month when she is most likely to get pregnant. This includes the day of ovulation and the five days leading up to it. If you want to know how to find your fertile window and increase your odds of successful conception, read on. During ovulation, an egg is released from one of your ovaries and travels down into the fallopian tube. It survives in the reproductive tract for 12-24 hours. Conception can occur if sperm is available to fertilize the egg during this period; otherwise, the egg sheds with the uterine lining during menstruation. There are clues that your body is baby-ready, but you may have to look for them. If you are getting your periods every 24 to 35 days, then you are probably ovulating normally. A regular cycle is one of the clearest signs that your hormones are working properly and releasing an egg each month. You may not know it but your chances of getting pregnant are highest within 24 hours of ovulation and one day beforehand. But conception is also possible if you have sex in the five days leading up to ovulation. The explanation for this development is simple. It’s because sperm can survive in your reproductive tract for up to five days, meaning that if you had sex on a Monday, for instance, and ovulate on Friday, you can become pregnant because even 5-day-old sperm can still fertilize a newly released egg. There are several types of ovulation calculators with which you can calculate your fertile window and there are even online ovulation calculators that can give speedy results. But except you have consistently regular cycles, they aren’t always accurate. An effective way to cal-

culate your fertile window is through tracking. When trying to predict the fertile window and ovulation, it’s important to determine cycle length by creating a menstrual diary. Start by tracking your menstruation for a few months using a paper journal or mobile app, then look at the data to determine your average cycle length. Aside from cycle length and predictability, being able to detect your body’s subtle clues that ovulation is actually occurring each cycle is a good sign. In addition, knowing the exact window of time when you ovulate is the best way to time your baby-making sex to boost your pregnancy odds. The first day of your menstrual period is considered day 1 of the cycle, and ovulation usually happens about 14 days before your next period is due. For example, if the interval between your periods is 28 days, ovulation predictably will occur on day 14. Alternatively, if your cycle length is 30 days, expect ovulation on day 16 of the cycle. Since you are most likely to conceive on the day of ovulation and the five days before it, your fertile window in this instance would be days 9-14 and days 11-16, respectively. Ovulation predictor kits use a urine test to identify the fertile window. They work by monitoring the luteinizing hormone (LH), which surges roughly 36 hours before ovulation. You should plan to have intercourse shortly after detecting this surge. Another method is the monitoring of cervical mucus. During the fertile window, cervical mucus increases in volume, and it tends to be clearer and slippery compared to other times of the cycle. If you notice your mucus looking slimy and thick (almost like egg whites) there’s a good chance you’re ovulating. A woman’s resting body temperature rises during ovulation by at least twotenths of a degree. Taking your basal body temperature first thing in the morning with a special thermometer can help monitor ovulation. This method only detects ovulation after it has already occurred, so it is often recommended to help confirm ovulation or to enable you to gain a sense of your average ovulation day. If you are having fer-

tility issues, your doctor can take a sample of your blood to check your progesterone levels, which can confirm ovulation. A pelvic ultrasound can be used to monitor ovulation. The bottom line is that the best way to conceive is through regular intercourse, so it is advisable to aim to have sex every 1-2 days during your fertile window. Keep in mind, however, that conception probably won’t happen right away. Even if the timing is perfect and there are no other diagnoses at play, the chance of pregnancy per month is about 25 percent for even the healthiest young women (under the age of 30) and drops to less than 5 percent by the time you get into your 40s. It would help you to be aware that if your typical menstrual cycle isn’t between 21-35 days, you might not ovulate regularly. Couples may be infertile if they’ve not conceived after one year of trying (or after 6 months of trying if you are over 35). In this case, consider visiting a Gynecologist and infertility specialist because many factors could be at play. Some are related to lifestyle and may be modifiable, but in other cases, medication and even surgery may be required to induce ovulation. Your weight also counts in the baby-making equation, weighing too much or too little can make you more likely to have fertility problems. This is not to say heavy or thin women do get pregnant, on the contrary they do, all the time. If you are overweight or obese, excess body fat can disrupt the delicate balance of hormones needed for ovulation and helping a new embryo develop and thrive into a healthy pregnancy. On the flip side, if you are having too little body fat, you may have difficulty getting pregnant because your body is conserving energy to keep the rest of you functioning properly; this can shut down your ovulation. Ultimately, having a normal menstrual cycle is the most important clue that you’re fertile, regardless of what you weigh. But losing or gaining weight to reach a healthy Body Mass Index (ideally 20-24) before you start trying to get pregnant is a smart move when done in a healthy way and will help you have a healthier pregnancy and in to postpartum period too.

Sunday 26 July 2020

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Sports

Leicester host Man United in fierce battle for top four Stories by Anthony Nlebem

ootball fans will be treated to a bumper package this weekend as the final games of the 2019/2020. It will be a fierce battle for one of the remaining two spots of the UEFA Champions League available to English teams when Leicester City host Manchester United at King Power Stadium on Sunday. The permutations for both teams to secure a ticket into Europe’s most prestigious club competition is crystal clear. Leicester must win their final home game of the season in order to secure qualification. If the game ends in a draw, the Foxes’ only hope will be on Chelsea losing their final game at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers to finish in fourth position. Manager Brendan Rodgers knows that a loss is simply not an option for his team. For Manchester United, a draw will guarantee fourth position for them, which is a play-off spot for the European competition. A win, however, ensures the Red Devils pick up England’s final automatic qualification spot. There is no margin for error for Ole Gunnar Solskjær and his players, including Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo. Also on Sunday, Roma host Fiorentina at Stadio Olimpico in a Serie A fixture. Roma have seen their pursuit for the final qualification spot suf-

EPL: 2020/2021 season to start on September 12

fer a setback after their 2-2 draw with Inter Milan last Sunday. Giallorossi remain in fifth position, but manager Paulo Fonseca knows that a win is crucial to his team’s qualification chances while hoping for a slip-up by Lazio. Fiorentina, on the other hand, are comfortably placed in the 10th position but know that they have an outside chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League. Coach Giuseppe Iachini knows that a victory against their opponents will certainly boost La Viola’s chances of qualification and help his team conclude the final phase of the season on a high. Champions-elect, Juventus will welcome Sampdoria at the Allianz Stadium, Turin, in another Serie A fixture on Sunday. Juventus recovered from a bad

patch of two consecutive draws and one defeat with a win over Lazio last week. The Old Lady are guaranteed to win their ninth consecutive league title and will come into the game either as champions or needing just a single point to confirm their winning status. Manager Maurizio Sarri will be hoping that his charges end their season strongly and use their remaining four league games to prepare for their second leg of UEFA Champions League round of 16 encounter with Lyon. Meanwhile, Sampdoria know that they are not yet safe from relegation battle despite being in 14th position. In order to secure his team’s Serie A status, manager Claudio Raineri will be hoping to get a much-needed victory against his old side.

Top five African players of 2019/20 LaLiga season

rom defence to midfield to attack, there were so many Africans who excelled during the past LaLiga campaign. Some of the best players in LaLiga history have come from Africa and, once again, many of the league’s stars of 2019/20 hailed from that continent. There were so many excellent performers this year and the Granada CF duo of Yan Brice Eteki and Ramon Azeez deserve a special mention, while Pape Diop, Samu Chukwueze and others were all standouts as well. But, here comes a look at the most impressive quintet based on this past season. Thomas Partey (Atlético Madrid) Thomas Partey has become one of the first names on each of Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid team sheets. The Ghanaian midfielder took further steps forward this past campaign as he dominated in the centre of the park for the Rojiblancos. Even if he didn’t score as many goals as he has in some other seasons, his efforts in the middle propelled the capital city club to an eighth consecutive top three finish. Iddrisu Baba (RCD Mallorca) Although RCD Mallorca were ultimately relegated, the main reason they came so close to avoiding the drop is Iddrisu Baba. The central midfielder, who is from Ghana

The forward netted eight goals in total over the course of the LaLiga season, evenly split with four for CD Leganés and four for Sevilla FC. By finishing the campaign well, those close to his new club are expecting his first full campaign at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán to be an impactful one.

but who has come through the ranks at RCD Mallorca’s academy, played the third-most minutes of all the island team’s players this campaign and was a key cog in their system. His midfield efforts didn’t always show up on the stats sheets, but he absolutely passed the eye test and the 24-year-old looks to have a big career ahead of him. Youssef En-Nesyri (CD Leganés and Sevilla FC) Youssef En-Nesyri started the season with CD Leganés and finished it with Sevilla FC, with his performances at Lega so impressive that Sevilla’s renowned sporting director Monchi decided to pay the Moroccan’s release clause in January.

Mohammed Salisu (Real Valladolid) There was concern at Real Valladolid last summer when they lost Fernando Calero, one of their starting centre-backs, in the transfer market. But coach Sergio González had a plan and promoted Mohammed Salisu from the club’s academy into the first team. It was a stroke of genius as the 21-year-old Ghanaian was excellent in the Pucela back line, so much so that he has been constantly linked in recent months with a transfer to some of Europe’s top clubs. Allan Nyom (Getafe CF) After a very good 2018/19 campaign with CD Leganés, Allan Nyom made the switch to LaLiga Santander’s other southern Madrid side Getafe CF last summer. The Cameroon international fit in straight away in José Bordalás’ system. Versatile enough to play at right-back, on the right wing or even at left-back in the team’s 4-4-2 system, Nyom’s tricky dribbling ability and pure speed saw him cause opposition full-backs problems all season long.

h e 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 Pr e m i e r League season will begin on September 12 and conclude on May 23, the English top-flight announced on Friday. Most clubs will have a sevenweek break between the end of the 2019/20 season this weekend and the start of the new campaign. However, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Wolves could have just three weeks off if they were to progress to the finals of the Champions League or Europa League in August. The Champions League final will take place in Lisbon on August 23 with the Europa League final two days earlier in Cologne. “Premier League Shareholders today agreed to start the 2020/21

Premier League season on 12 September 2020,” the league said in a statement. “The final match round of the campaign will take place on 23 May 2021.” The English Football League confirmed the Championship, League One and League Two will also start the same weekend. The Premier League said it “will continue to consult The FA and EFL regarding the scheduling of all domestic competitions” amid difficulties with packing the League and FA Cup in their current formats into a congested calendar. A September start means the season will almost certainly begin behind closed doors, with spectators only set to return to venues in England on a socially-distanced basis from October 1.

FIFPro suspends Ivorian players’ union for not backing Drogba’s FA candidacy

lobal footballers’ union FIFPro has suspended the Ivory Coast Footballers Association (AFI) for failing to endorse Didier Drogba’s bid to head the country’s football federation. In a letter addressed to the president of the AFI Cyrille Domoraud, FIFPro said it was suspending his organisation “with immediate effect.” The letter said that this “exceptional intervention” was motivated by “extreme urgency”. The AFI decided last week to not sponsor Drogba to run for the presidency of the Ivorian federation (FIF) in the September 5 election and instead backed Idriss Diallo, the current FIF vicepresident. Candidates need an endorsement from one of five Ivorian football organisations to enter the presidential race. With only the association of medical staff yet to announce their endorsement, the former Chelsea and Marseille striker does not have a sponsor. In its scathing letter, FIFPro attacked what it called the “iniquitous decision” of the AFI saying it is likely “to have a negative impact, in the Ivory Coast and beyond, on the defence of footballers, the chief objective of FIFPro and its members”. “Your decision shows a flagrant omission of this obligation and a total lack of consideration for your members,” the letter continued.

FIFPro said the choice “is the result of various serious statutory breaches committed by the AFI in recent years” and had failed to take into account the “strictly democratic expression of the will of Ivorian footballers.” “The suspension means that the AFI immediately loses all its rights as a FIFPro member, and in particular its rights to income,” it said.

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Sunday 26 July 2020

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State of the Nation: Where do we go from here?

he time for self-deceit has come and gone. Nigeria should no longer be run on this path of perfidious profligacy. Those who have any iota of love for, or allegiance to the nation-state would agree that we have reached the precipice of all that could undermine the peace, political stability, unity and economic prosperity of our dear country, Nigeria. From unending insecurity through overt nepotism to monumental corruption and self-decimating impunity, all these antidemocratic storms rage against us all. In fact, they batter us right on our forlorn faces. Should we not get worried, and talk about them? We should. In fact, more importantly we should collectively act to steer the ship of state from capsizing into the deep sea of ignominy? Indeed, we should have acted as the agents of positive change long ago. For instance, when the avatar, Nelson Mandela (of blessed memory) openly lamented the sorry state of the Nigerian paradox, we did not take him seriously. He Said: ‘’Your leaders have no respect for their people. They believe that their personal interests are the interests of their people. They take the people’s resources and turn it into personal wealth. There is a level of poverty in Nigeria that should be unacceptable.’’ That was over a decade ago! And in June, 2010 some concerned Nigerians out there in the United States of America (USA), precisely in New York, raised a similar alarm. Speaking under the platform of Nigeria Democratic Leadership Form (NDLF), it stated that: ‘’While other nations are faced with the challenges of the 21st Century, we are bogged down by the avarice of the elite. Every time we believe we have seen the worst from our country, the shameless, opportunistic power grabbers take us back to a new low.’’ How prophetic! Perhaps, we thought we had truly ‘’seen the worst’’ with the severally reported incidents of brazen pillaging of our common till under the military jackboots. That was especially so during the terrifying times of the Gen. Ibrahim Babaginda and Muhammed

‘’Yea, they are greedy dogs which cannot have enough. And they are shepherds that cannot understand. They all look their way everyone for his own gain’’ -Isaiah 54 verse 11 Abacha-led regimes. But we were yet to know what the 16 years of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had in stock for Nigeria and her long-suffering citizens. As at this day, there are still more questions than credible answers over the once popular ‘power probes’. That was with regards to the epileptic electric power supply that could not give value for the huge sum of $16 billion said to have been spent on it. So it was for the energy sector that has Nigeria behaving like the proverbial foolish farmer with four lazy wives (refineries). But he is one who is more interested in sending his raw, big yams (crude oil) to other more agile women in other farms(foreign refineries) to be pounded(refined) and he is curiously always g etting excited at paying more for the pounded yam (refined oil). Not left out is the telecommunications sector, as Nigerians are yet to know whatever happened to the mouth-watering contracts awarded! According to Ewan Sutherland in his work titled: ‘Telecommunications-the case of Nigeria: Digital Policy, Regulations and Governance’ (Emerald Insight, 14th May, 2018), ‘’the corruption is pervasive and systemic, showing severe problems with governance in general and against corruption’’. Is anyone talking about the issue of corruption, again? No one! Years later, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) claimed that it was able to trace N47billion and $4876.5 million in cash and properties to former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke. That was according to Premium Times on August 8, 2017. But over two years later, it was reported by

pulse.ng on November 26, 2019 that the same EFCC had dropped charges of corruption allegations brought against her! Wonders will never end, at least not here in Nigeria. Fears are rife that nothing will come out of the on-going probes into the EFCC activities under the embattled, erstwhile Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu and the steaming sleaze under the Senator Godswill Akpabiodominated Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). But it should not continue this way. If memory serves right, one of the main reasons that incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari won the hearts of several millions of Nigerian voters back in 2015 was on the moving mantra of integrity. He rose on its smooth back to the pedestal of political power. But with the recent revelations of stinking allegations of monumental fraud at the EFCC and the NDDC under his administration there is still much more to be done than said, on finally nailing the coffin of corruption here in Nigeria. To do so, we have to look at the root causes of corruption, narrowing it down to financial crimes. The so-called ‘public servants’ feel no string of moral compunction to dip their hands into the ‘public purse’ to feather their nests, over and over again, because Nigerians are not brought up, or weaned on the milk of patriotism. There is little or no allegiance to the nation called Nigeria. In fact, millions of the young ones cannot mention what they have gained from the country, in terms of scholarship awards, bursaries, free healthcare delivery, and free transport system. There are no palliatives to cater for their needs when they have no jobs. This is in no way an excuse for any citizen to steal from his government, because no wise child would pilfer from his family resources, but something must be done about it. The second reason is traceable to the loopholes made available by the aberrant structure. And because there

Ayo Oyoze Baje Baje is Nigerian first food technologist in the media and author of ‘Drumbeats of Democracy’

are no strong, punitive measures in place, as well as the sickening issue of impunity whereby thieves are treated with kid gloves, others muster the courage to do the same thing, because they believe they would get away with it. They can still see the Mainas, the Babachirs, the Yakubus walking our streets as free men. The way forward therefore, is for Mister President, in the national interest, to allow for the holistic restructuring of the country, as promised by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) back in 2014 during the electioneering campaigns. Matching words with timely action is integrity. Let the states or geo-political zones control their resources and pay an agreed percentage of revenue into the federation account. That was how it played out during the First Republic, that served as catalyst for faster economic development. Let him sign the Electoral Amendment Bill into law, to ensure that the voice of the voters is heard loud and clear. Above all, there should be special courts set up to speedily try issues related to financial crimes. Let there be the political will, on the part of our incorruptible political leaders to step on the mightiest of toes, no matter how closely linked they are to the seat of power. Only these would serve as strong deterrence for the criminally-minded politicians. For now, the EFCC and NDDC investigations are litmus tests for this administration’s war against financial fraud. Any attempt to turn them into comedy shows or political witch-hunt would undo the image of even the president. The world is watching us.

Nigeria’s rising debt and implications

DR. AKIN OLADEJI-JOHNBROWNE (A Fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountants, Institute of Taxation Nigeria and Securities and Investment Institute, United Kingdom is currently based in Canada as Independent Public Policy Advisor)

he statistics of Nigeria debt profile is a mixed bag of inaccurate information for public use. What is incontrovertible is that the debt had been increasing since 2015 to date. As of March 2020, total public debt figure was $79.3billion as compared to $63.8 billion in 2015. It represents an increase of 24.2% between 2015 and 2020, being average of 4.8% growth per annum. If compared with Gross Domestic Products (GDP),average annual growth rate of 2.6% within same period, it is obvious that our productivity is lagging behind the growth of the debt. This debt and GDP scenarios are an indication of a country moving towards bankruptcy. In reality rising debt should ordinarily not be an issue. The use of debt in literature of economics shows that it has value when the assets that are purchased with the debt capital earn more than the cost of raising the debt that was used to finance them. Under both of these circumstances, the use of debt increases the company’s

value. Historically, there is no evidence to support the justifications for the increasing debt profile of Nigeria in terms of usage and physical infrastructural development. In fact, previous debt crisis of 1980s affected the credibility of private sector businesses which resulted in an humungous unconfirmed letter of credit challenges by the banking system. In Nigeria, the problem of government debt issuance has to do with its usage. Government utilisation of debt has always been opaque in project execution for economic development. Most of the debt taken in the past cannot be properly accounted for in terms of usage. Even when utilization records are scrutinized, what is observed is that the loans are mainly used to support recurrent expenditure. Whereas, the use of debt in budget implementation programme should vary by the sector of the economy government intends to develop rather than just using same to meet a budgetary gap. This is a major bane in Nigeria rising debt. With the new exposure of Nigeria to Chinese loan, the country is tilting towards the risk of debt trap diplomacy scenario. The humungous Chinese lending and the lack of strong institutional mechanisms to protect the debt sustainability of Nigeria is making default risk imminent and the economy is highly vulnerable to failure. Furthermore, when debt is used for non-revenue earning development assets, there is tendency for such debt to

increase the revenue to debt ratio. Based on publicly available information as of March 2020, Nigeria revenue to debt ratio is about 99%, which questions the sustainability of Nigeria in meeting debt obligations and or accessing new external loans. Not surprising why international rating agencies continue to downgrade the country’s credit rating. Standard and Poor and Fitch rating was Bminus in March and April 2020 respectively. It is now high time for Nigeria to consciously monitor the rising debt built up before it explodes. In terms of structure, the cost of debt servicing is high and not self-sustaining. The debt servicing to revenue is above 61%, being amongst the highest is sub-Sahara Africa. The debt to GDP is in excess of 27% though comparably better than other countries in Africa, except that the component of the GDP is not reflective of the standard of living of the populace. The way forward for Nigeria on debt issues are multidimensional. First, government should do a debt auditing, to ascertain accuracy of loan interest obligations to ensure over or underpayment. The auditing will provide guidance for solving utilisation challenges and also form the basis for establishing debt marching rules. The debt marching rule will make government identify gaps in debt

utilisation as originally contemplated prior to obtaining the loan. Second, government must exert political will to restructure the debt profile in terms of components and pricing. To achieve this, a committee of experts whose mandate is outside the current civil service norms must be constituted. The committee whose tenure should not exceed three years, must be independent and private sector focus. The committee might work cooperatively with debt management office for synergy. The office of the committee should reside in the Presidency and operationally funded by the executive arm of government and non-governmental organisations. Finally, government must begin the process of accepting the reality of debt embargo to achieve her budgetary goals. In order for this to work the government fiscal policies on taxation and revenue must change. The tax and other revenue agencies must be creative to provide incentives and adequate penalty for tax compliance and or avoidance. The tax machinery and manpower should be based on competence and not unproductive federal character mentality. Both the states and federal government must accept these tax and revenue generation realities as quickly as possible. In particular the state government must avoid creating taxes and revenue agencies just for political reasons of jobs for their supporters.

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Ghana office: Zion House, Shiashie, OIC-Galaxy Road, East Legon, Accra. Tel:+ 233 243226596, +233244856806: email: bdsundayletter@businessdayonline.com Advert Hotline: 08033225506. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08054691823 Editor: Zebulon Agomuo, All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.