Binder123456789000 november 10,2014

SATURDAY

Sanctity Of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

Monday, November 10, 2014

/newtelegraph

Vol. 1 No. 265

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com NEW TELE

GRAPH

Money Lin

e

MONDAY,

NOVEMBER

10, 2014

New York Times Editorial on Boko Haram }24 B usiness Delayed payments threaten s GESS of N126m

Issue of

35

More snag s

36

the Week

for bank s with huge

NPLs

Stock Wa

tch CAP Plc: Resilient environm to ental chal lenges

Interview

37

Nigeria’s top 100 companies W

hich companies are most admired amongst their peers and why are they so? A survey by New Telegraph, shows that suc-

cessful companies share common traits such as remarkable corporate culture, innovative customer service, positive attitude, proactive business strate-

gy, discipline, risk management, financial roadmap, business processes, information technology, marketing, sales, training and a forward-looking team of

advisors.

Come December 1, 2014, New Telegraph, Nigeria’s authoritative newspaper in business and politics,

What's neWs

Nigeria ble through eds aviation lopsided –Operatopact rs

Nigerian of Airlin airlines under the aegis e Operators (AON) have of Nigeria governme again cried out halting nt for assistanc to the gran foreign ting of route in airlines. es to

p.22

Govt los import es N222bn to waivers

Drop in oil dampene prices has furth er d investor s’ appetite –Ajayi

Nigerian banks, lose N4.8 bn to e-others frauds

DISTURB ING

Lenders recorded 916 cases of attempt ed e-fraud Kunle Aze ez

D

21

42-43

volume of 30 case N72.5 s valu mill ed at resulted ion, which, that are million in a total losshe said, global espe stan to “As it the institut of N32 Indu cially the Pay dards, mos stry ment Car t security a need stands now ions. dard (PCI Data Secu . for oper , there rity Stand dustry The mat DSS),” to com ators in the is erials essary ply in- andThe PCI-DSS Ojior said. - framewo include payment with all necoffe com tools, meark of spec a certifica and sup prehensive rs robust suremen ifications, tions port standard ts and enhanc porting mat s tion resources to e paymen eria help orga sups ensu re the t card ls to safe han nisadata dling CON TINU

espite tions the innova and ben the cash efits less Nigerian has brought policy ED ON into the PAGE 22 economy is faci , the ng arising series of chalscheme as Nige from electron lenges rian com ic frau other ds, financia mercial ban (OFIs) ks, l inst p.22 incl ment oper uding mobitutions ators (MP ile paylost a who Os), have this year pping N4.8 billion has excl alone, New Tele usively gatheredgraph The . within losses were of the the first ninerecorded year months Chief .

Inter-Ba Risk Officer, (NIBSS),nk Settlement Nigeria System closed Mr Osioke Ojio this to dent in our corr r, dis- L-R: Corporate Lagos. espo n- Governor, Mrs Services Manager, Ojior, Alaba Fada Fidson Oyeleye, The Busines sideline who spok Healthcare iro and durin e s Desk Plc, Mr electron of this year on the Plc in Lagos. g the presentati Executive Direc Oladimeji ayodele on of CERF tor/F Oduyebo; ganised ic fraud conf ’s annual award for ounder, Child Deputy Editor aminu Represen erence by the ren Emer Best Child tative of ment orgenc Health Bayo akom(Business) Provide Electronic Pay Care supp y Relief Foundatio Lagos State of Nig rs Ass Deputy Asst. Editor olafe orting Orga eria n (CERF), (Maritime) electron (E-PPAN ociation nisation Mrs Abos ), said sunday to Fidso that new dimic fraud is assu n Healt ede Asst. Editor Ojeme hcare (Insurance) requirinension in the ming a Godson coun g urgent Ikoro curb.

Asst. Editor actions try, (Money to Citing Dele alao Market) an electron report Industry by & Agric icles caseNIBSS, whi ic fraud Dayo ayey Editor ch chro s of onli perpetra emi nne Property Editor tween ted in the indu frauds January adeola Yusu stry Wol 2014 beand Sept e Shadar , Ojio Energy Editor f emb e recorded r said that Wole shad the ban er port is espite volume an attempt ks are the ed Aviation state. in a sorry, unfi lion spen over N40 Editor to N4.7 of 916 cases amoe-fraud billion, Chris Ugwu nished t to rem bilN4.8 billi but fina unting airp most of Alth odel Captain Capital Marke on. the lly lost orts ure has ough no offic Also his pap Noggie Meg abdulwah t Editor swipe , airlines havenation’s been give ial figspen at the corded , OFIs and ab take n nar at er presented gison, in Finance EditorIsa attempt MPOs re- cay at mos infrastructu n a pert t on the rem as amount the at a sem t of the s odel re ed e-fr that the weekend, saying Kunle azee aerodrom de- projectare of the view ling, exlamente iaud most of and baggpassenger proc Senior Corres z ly the could have es, d that them Lagos N40 billi age essi grossed the have internat, especialChuks Onuapondent on. been modcollection win ng over ional airExecuti nyin gretted gs ernised, Energy INFLATIO Operato ve chairma but are falli that the fing Septemb N n, Airl nnamdi rs of Nig er brid reamadi er 2014........ RATE ng apar eria (AO ine t and deca ges August Repor .............8.

Rates N), 2014........

LENDING ying 3% Johnson ter Dashb ................

July 2014 InterBank RATE adebayo CON TINU oard ....8.5% ................

Asst Produ Rate........

ED ON ction Editor ................

PAGE 22 Prime Lend ............11. .8.3% EXCHANGE 57% ing Rate Maximum ...........16.

RATE (Parellel 93% Lending As at Nov. USD . .

Rate...25 ..

EXCHANGE .83% Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7) . .

RATE Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N173 (Official l Forei .......

As at Nov. gn Reser USD . . . . . . . . . . . . N278 .. ves – $38.0 . . . . . N216 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7) 7bn as . . at 6/11/ 2014 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N156.80 .......

Source: . . . . . . . .N249.43 CBN . . . N196 .04 The Fede N222.33 ral Government in the lastbillion to impo has lost three year rt waivers s.

N150

Airport over N40remodelling gu lp bn –Exp rs decry erts s Lagos ai rp

•Operato

Pages 21 - 46

13 pages of Business inside

Plot thickens over Tambuwal CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

lPDP, APC redraw battle plan

D

ort deca

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Quick Read L-R: Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu; Manager, NGOs and Stakeholders Relations, Dr. Alice Ajeh and General Manager, Shell Nigeria Content Development, Mr. Igo Weli, at the 2014 Social Enterprise Report and Awards where Shell won awards in two categories in Lagos...at the weekend.

New Telegraph staff win media awards Muritala Ayinla

L

ess than nine months after it hit the newsstands, New Telegraph newspa-

pers at the weekend shone at this year’s edition of the Nigeria Media Merit Awards (NMMA) where two of its staff members won awards.

Besides, of about 1,800 entries submitted for the prestigious awards that seek to reward excellence in the media industry, New Telegraph members

of staff had 10 nominations and won in two different categories.

Multiple awards winning journalist and Editor, Investigations, Mr.

Isioma Madike, emerged the Telecommunications Reporter of the Year while Mr. Cornelius Emeka Emenike won the CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Editorial:

Expressways as death traps

}19

‘Politicians have visited impunity on Nigerians’ }14

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

5

Plot thickens over Tambuwal Ayodele Ojo

T

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have intensified efforts in their attempts to outdo each other to maximally profit from the crisis in the National Assembly, especially in the wake of the defection of House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal.

New Telegraph learnt yesterday that following weekend’s decision by the PDP to review the timetable for its primaries as a way of preventing the APC from exploiting the crisis expected to arise from the

exercise; the opposition party has fixed a series of meetings for this week to respond to the new challenge.

The APC was hoping to lure PDP lawmakers who would lose out in the primaries with automatic tickets to bolster its numerical strength in the legislature.

The two parties have been locked in a game of numbers in the wake of Tambuwal’s defection and the ongoing crisis in the Senate over PDP senators’ grievances that President Goodluck Jonathan had colluded with governors elected on the party’s platform to edge them out of 2015 elections.

The PDP, which has been adamant on removing Tambuwal since his defection, lacks the required two-thirds of the 360-member legislature to actualise its agenda while the APC is considering luring the ruling party’s lawmakers with return tickets to further deplete its membership and strengthen its claim to the House leadership conferred on it by the speaker’s defection.

A member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC told New Telegraph yesterday that the decision of the PDP to review its timetable has thrown spanners in the works of the opposition party.

The source said the APC had hoped to benefit from the fallout of the PDP primaries, where it expected to give automatic tickets to some of the members of the National Assembly and governorship aspirants on the platform of the ruling party who might feel shortchanged with the process.

This calculation, it was learnt, informed the decision of Tambuwal, on October 28, to adjourn House sitting until December 3 after the PDP would have completed its primaries.

The initial plan of the PDP was to conclude the National Assembly primaries by November 22, but the review has set the House of Representatives

primaries for December 6 and Senate primaries for December 7.

The APC had fixed its senatorial primaries for November 29 and the House of Representatives for November 24, a few days after the PDP would have concluded its own before the new change of plan.

Initially, the PDP was to hold its national convention on December 6. This has now been shifted to December 10 and 11.

“This has put the APC in a tight corner. The opposition party had hoped to reap from the expected fallout from the PDP primaries. Already the party has started luring PDP

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu with First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan at the annual harvest and thanksgiving service of the Adoration Catholic Ministry, Enugu... yesterday.

Speaker: Court can’t question Jonathan’s power –FG Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

T

he Federal Government has told the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that it cannot question the powers of the president or authority of any minister to the Inspector General of Police on lawful directive in respect of maintenance and securing of public safety and order.

The government premised its submission on Section 215(5) of the 1999 Constitution.

The IG had ordered the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s aides immediately he (Tambuwal) defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The position was contained in the notice of pre-

liminary objection filed by both the IG and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) through their counsel, Ade OkeayaInneh (SAN) who are 5th and 7th respondents in the suit filed by Tambuwal seeking to stop the House from re-convening and mandating the Federal Government to restore his security aides.

Joined as defendants in the suit are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its national chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Inspector General of Police and the AGF. The PDP and its national chairman had also told the court that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain

the suit.

The Federal Government, however, asked the court to strike out the name of Mu’azu from the suit and, at the same time, dismiss the suit.

In its objection, the government contended that at all material time to the institution of the suit, the IG and AGF have acted lawfully and in accordance with the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other extant laws.

In its counter affidavit, the Federal Government argued that Tambuwal vacated his seat in the House of Representatives as a member when he became a member of the APC, having been elected in 2011 on the platform of the PDP. Okeaya-Inneh further argued that the member-

ship seat of Tambuwal at the House became automatically vacant at the point of his defection to the APC. Furthermore, he submitted that Tambuwal, having ceased to be a member of the House of Representatives by a voluntary act, neither the IG nor the AGF had anything left to declare vacant and did not so declare.

Debunking Tambuwal’s claims that there is division in the PDP, the Federal Government submitted that there is no crisis in the PDP and that there is no party that is registered as or known as the ‘New PDP’.

The court had, last week, heard an ex parte application brought by Tambuwal seeking to stop the House from reconven-

ing and mandating the Federal Government to restore his security aides.

The court, in its ruling, then ordered parties to maintain status quo.

At the last adjourned date, the trial judge, Justice A.R Mohammed further ordered the parties to maintain status quo.

He later adjourned till November 17 to hear the objection and the substantive suit.

In the suit, Tambuwal is asking the court to declare that the attempt to declare his seat vacant as a member and Speaker is unlawful and unconstitutional.

He further wants the court to declare that he remains a member and the Speaker of the House until the expiration of his current term of office on June 5, 2015.

lawmakers with the automatic tickets,” the source said.

According to the source, the APC will meet in Abuja this week to restrategise and respond to the challenges the PDP has thrown on its way ahead of the 2015 polls.

The meeting is also expected to come up with ways of protecting Tambuwal, who the presidency and the PDP leadership want out of office at all cost following his defection to the APC. “We are holding emergency meeting this week to review new developments in the polity, especially the review of timelines for the PDP primaries which will alter our calculation.

We will devise a means to handle the situation. It is all politics and we understand the game. We will respond appropriately.

“So, what they are doing now by reviewing their timetable is to deprive us of poaching. That has a collateral effect, but we will find a way around this,” a senior member of the party said.

But a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC said irrespective of the decision of the PDP, the opposition would still reap from the expected crisis to be triggered by the primaries of the ruling party.

“We don’t need to be worried on this matter; we would still poach from the PDP lawmakers. Even the senators and the House of Representatives members, they know that they are already endangered species.

We are meeting tomorrow and when we get there, we would restrategise and plot the necessary graph,” he said.

It was further learnt that a group of APC lawmakers in the National Assembly had been luring some of their PDP colleagues with automatic tickets if they fail to get the PDP tickets.

Meanwhile, the PDP leadership is still at loggerheads with the state governors over the party’s candidates for the 2015 elections.

Already, the governors have kicked against the purported agreement reached with the senators where the state chief executives are either to pick their successors or forgo their senatorial ambition.

It was learnt that the party leadership suspects that the governors might breach the arrangement which informed the decision to review the dates of the primaries.

“You can see that the National Assembly priCONTINUED ON PAGE 7

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News

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Enterprise Bank: SEC spots flaws in Heritage Bank’s bid lDocumentation delays Skye Bank’s approval Ayodele Aminu

H

opes for the immediate takeover of Enterprise Bank Limited by Heritage Bank Limited has been dashed, following the discovery of defects in some of the documents submitted by the latter for approval by the

Nigeria’s top 100 companies CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

will unveil Nigeria’s top 100 companies that have weathered the storm and stood the test of time. Not only have these companies continued to delight their shareholders and relevant stakeholders, they have also become global icons.

It promises to be a collector’s item.

Further enquiries: Ayo 0803-330--9119; Biodun 0811181-3092; Ahmed 0803-3042915

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

New Telegraph also gathered that Skye Bank Plc is yet to submit all the documents relating to its acquisition of Mainstreet Bank Limited to SEC, whose approval must be granted with a ‘no objection’ response before any major merger or acquisition could be consummated.

A top SEC official who yesterday confirmed the developments in the acquisition of the two bridged banks, said: “Heritage Bank has submitted their documents but when we scrutinised it, we found out that there were some deficiencies, which SEC has asked them to correct.

“In the checklist, they did not do what they need

to do and you can ask them.

But I learnt they have been making spirited efforts to correct the lapses.”

On the consummation of Skye Bank’s deal to acquire Mainstreet Bank, the source said the buyer was yet to file for the commission’s approval.

Heritage Bank, in its response to inquiries by New Telegraph, admitted the lapses, saying that they have been rectified.

“As informed, these are simply administrative documentation and really not a critical issue to the transaction.

“This has subsequently been rectified and a ‘no-objection’ letter, as expected, should be granted by tomorrow (today), God willing,” the bank’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr.

Fela Ibidapo, said.

Similarly, Skye Bank admitted that it is yet to file for SEC’s approval because of some procedural issues relating to the transaction.

“Yes, it is true that we have not filed for SEC’s approval. We still require some documents from Mainstreet Bank and we cannot approach them directly. Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the owner of Mainstreet Bank, hired its own financial advisers and we also hired ours. So, you can see the gap.

“But there is no cause for alarm. Everything would soon be sorted out as soon as possible,” a top official of Skye Bank, who carved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak about the transac-

tion, said.

Last week, the Managing Director, AMCON, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi, had said Heritage Bank and Skye Bank had said it was only SEC approval that was delaying the consummation of the process to seal the purchase of the two bridged banks as the buyers had got all necessary endorsements, including that of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

While Skye Bank, which bought Mainstreet Bank, paid N126.8 billion, Heritage Bank Limited that purchased Enterprise Bank, shelled out N56.1 billion.

AMCON, the sole owner of the two lenders, had raked in a total of N183 billion from the sale of the two bridged banks.

19o C 18oC Cloudy

ABUJA

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PORT HARCOURT

23o C 18oC Storms

KANO

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ENUGU

L-R: Akwa Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio; Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III and his wife, Memunat, during the monarch’s visit to the governor in Uyo…at the weekend 31o C 23oC Storms

IBADAN

30o C 23oC Thunder Storms

CALABAR

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MAIDUGURI

ONITSHA

37oC 19oC Sunny

30o C 23oC Storms

FIRST NATION AIRWAYS LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06.50; 09:30; 11:45; 16:00 (SAT) 06:50; 11:45 (SUN) 11:45; 16:00 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 11:30; 13:40;18:30 (SAT) 09:00; 13:40 (SUN) 13:40; 18:30 LAGOS-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 14:45 (SAT) 16:15 (SUN) 14:45 PORT-HARCOURT-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:50 (SAT) 18:20 (SUN) 16:50 AEROCONTRACTORS LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06:50; 13:30; 16:30; 19:45 (SAT/SUN) 12:30; 16:45 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:30; 13:00; 19:00 (SAT) 12:30 (SUN) 15:30 MEDVIEW AIRLINES LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 07:00; 08:50; 12:00; 15:30 (SAT) 10:00; 15:00 (SUN) 17:30; 18:30 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 14:00, 15:00; 18:30 OVERLAND AIRWAYS LAGOS-ILORIN (MON-FRI) 07:15 LAGOS-IBADAN (MON-FRI) 7:00 IBADAN-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:00 IBADAN-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:30 ILORIN –ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:30 ILORIN –LAGOS (MON-FRI) 17:00 ABUJA-ASABA (MON-FRI) 10:00 ASABA-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 14:15 ASABA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 11:30 LAGOS-ASABA (MON-FRI) 13:00 ABUJA-ILORIN 16:00 ABUJA-IBADAN 15:00

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST LAGOS

FLIGHT SCHEDULE

New Telegraph win two awards, 10 nominations CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Cartoonist of the Year at the awards ceremony in Owerri.

Madike had earlier won the best report on children at the second edition of the Promasidor Quill, held in April in Lagos.

He had, before then won the Adamu Mu’azu Prize for Tourism Reporter of the Year and Gani Fawehinmi Prize for Human Rights Reporter of the Year at the 21st edition of the NMMA in 2013.

He had six nominations in

this year’s edition.

Emenike had also won Cartoonist of the Year at NMMA 2013.

New Telegraph’s Energy Editor, Adeola Yusuf also had two nominations: Conoil Prize for Energy Correspondent of the Year and Chevron Nigeria Prize for Oil and Gas Reporter of the Year.

New Telegraph’s Lagos State House Correspondent, Muritala Ayinla, also had a nomination in the Nigerite Prize for Real Estate and Construc-

tion Reporter of the Year category.

Commenting on the awards by the staff members, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, New Telegraph, Mr. Eric Osagie, said: “This is just the beginning. What has just happened has shown that this is a solid brand for today and the future.

The awards showed confidence in the newspaper by our readers and advertisers.”

Meanwhile, The Punch newspaper emerged the

winner of Babatunde Jose Prize for the Newspaper of the Year while its Editor, Mr. Martins Ayankola, was the 2014 Editor of Year.

The Nation won six awards from eight nominations while Tribune won four awards from eight nominations.

Channels Television also maintained its dominance in the television segment of the awards as it, for the ninth time, emerged the Television Station of the Year.

ARIK AIR LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 07:00; 08:00; 09:00; 11:00 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SAT) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SUN) 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00; 20:00 (SAT) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SUN) 09:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 LAGOS-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 07:00; 09:30; 11:00; 13:30; 15:00; 17:30 (SAT) 07:00; 11:00; 15:00 (SUN) 09:30; 11:00; 13:30; 15:00; 17:30 PORT-HARCOURT-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:30; 09:00; 11:30; 13:00; 15:30; 17:00 (SAT) 07:30; 11:30; 09:00; 13:00; 17:00 (SUN) 11:30; 13:00; 15:30; 17:00 ABUJA-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 06:45; 10:10; 13:30; 16:50 (SAT/SUN) 06:45; 10:10; 13:30 PORT-HARCOURT-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:30; 11:50; 15:10; 18:30 (SAT/SUN) 08:30; 11:50; 15:10

7

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

Nigeria attracts $6.5bn foreign investments in three months lInflation eases to 8.1% Abdulwahab Isa

Abuja

N

otwithstanding the security challenge facing the country, Nigeria attracted $6.5 billion in foreign investments in the last three months, up 48.1 per cent from a year ago, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS, in a statement yesterday, said more than half of inflows of the foreign investments went to the stock market.

Inflation also eased for the second consecutive month to 8.1 per cent in October, from 8.3 per cent the previous month, driven by lower food prices.

“Equity remained the largest contributor to capital imported in the portfolio investment sector, with a value of $3.77 billion. It represented 57.6 per cent

of all capital imported in the quarter,” the statistics office said in its report.

Nigeria’s main stock index shed 11.5 per cent in one week to stand at 33,225 points last Friday, as pressure on the naira persisted owing to the decline in the oil price, unnerving foreign investors, the major buyers of local shares.

Compared with the second quarter value of $5.8 billion, there was an increase of $738.69 million or 12.73 per cent foreign investments, whilst year-onyear growth amounted to $2.12 billion, up 48.06 per cent from the $4.41 billion of capital imported in the third quarter of 2013.

Analysis of the foreign investment indicated that capital importation values post-financial crisis were exhibiting a strong recovery throughout 2012, peaking at $6.69 billion in

the first quarter of 2013.

However, 2013 saw a steady decline in inflows, bottoming out at $3.9 billion of capital imported in the opening quarter of 2014.

This represents a decline of $2.69 billion or 69.05 per cent from the

peak recorded just one year earlier. Despite the steady rises in inflows observed throughout 2014, the cumulative total for the year of $16.25 billion is still $385.97 million or 2.32 per cent below the 2013.

However, the drop in inflation rate contradicted

experts’ earlier prediction that inflation was likely to be steady at 8.3 per cent.

Food prices, the biggest contributor to headline inflation, declined to 9.3 per cent last month, down from 9.7 per cent in the previous month.

“In October, the pace

of increase in food prices eased for the second consecutive month, representing the lowest price increase since March, 2014. The highest price increases were recorded in the coffee, tea and cocoa; fish, dairy, and fruit groups,” the NBS said.

All set for Jonathan’s declaration lSecurity beefed up as Eagle Square wears new look Onwuka Nzeshi, Emmanuel Onani, Anule Emmanuel and Ibraheem Musa

A

ll is now set for tomorrow’s declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 presidential election.

The presidential declaration committee recently inaugurated by the president has chosen the Eagle Square in Abuja as venue for the declaration.

Ahead of the event, security operatives including the army, police, men of the Department of the State Security Service (DSS) have been deployed to secure the venue.

When New Telegraph visited the venue yesterday, perimeter fencing around it had been replaced with a new one as part of measures to further secure it and ensure a hitch free ceremony.

According to the planning committee, no fewer than 2,000 different groups are expected to attend the declaration.

Chairman of the Media and Publicity Subcommittee of the event, Senator Aniete Okon, told reporters yesterday in Abuja that the theme of the ceremony is: “Nigerians first, Nigerian always.”

However, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has assured guests of maximum security during the occa-

sion.

The command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Okechukwu Peter, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) told New Telegraph that all police divisions within the territory would be involved in providing security.

Asked to be specific on the number of officers and men to be deployed, the he said: “Our deployment is massive, and we deploy based on necessity. Our metro and all divisions within the FCT command, are involved.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmadu Coomassie, has said that Northerners will vote against Jonathan if he emerges the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 election.

He told New Telegraph yesterday ahead of the president’s declaration that ‘’under normal circumstances, the president should have even resigned and allowed someone to fill his position and not to seek re-election.”

According to him, since Jonathan has refused to step down, ‘’I’m telling you that as chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum(ACF), come 2015, it will be the turn of Northern Nigeria to produce the president. Whether it is legally right for the president to seek re-election let the court decide.’’

L-R: Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Joseph Odumodu; Director-General, Consumer Protection Council, Mrs. Dupe Atoki; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga; Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Abdulkadir Musa and Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, at a workshop in Abuja...at the weekend.

315 soldiers flee to Niger Republic lDozens killed as terrorists capture Malam Fatori

B

oko Haram has seized yet another town in Borno State, forcing about 315 soldiers to flee to Niger Republic.

A report at the weekend

by Agence France Presse (AFP), quoting sources said the insurgents captured Malam Fatori, a town near the Niger border, in a battle that raged from Wednesday to Thursday.

The report quoted a senior official in the Niger town of Diffa as saying that scores of people were killed in the battle while about 30 people were injured.

“The town of Malam Fatori was taken by Boko Haram after violent fighting with the Nigerian army overnight Wednesday to

Thursday,” said the official in Diffa, where thousands of refugees from the conflict have fled to.

According to the official, 315 Nigerian soldiers fled over the border to Diffa. Thirteen, who were wounded, were treated in a Diffa hospital, while the others have been repatriated.

The official’s version of events differed from the one given by a Nigerian senator, who on Thursday spoke of the attack, but did not say that the town had been taken.

Senator Maina Maaji Lawan said the insurgents met stiff resistance from soldiers from a multinational task force in the region that includes troops from Nigeria, Chad and Ni-

ger.

Lawan, however, said soldiers were later forced to flee after being overpowered by the insurgents. He said that 21 civilians were killed.

Boko Haram has killed thousands in its five-year insurgency in Nigeria, and it has, in recent months, taken control of a growing number of areas in the North-East.

It has occasionally carried out cross-border attacks, and another such raid occurred on Saturday in Cameroun.

In that attack, Boko Haram members attacked a Cameroun border town, leading to six hours of fighting that killed a soldier and several insurgents, authorities said.

The attack occurred in Kerawa, near areas of Nigeria recently taken over by Boko Haram. The nearby Mandara mountains have been used as a hideout by Boko Haram members.

“Boko Haram attacked Kerawa around 4:00 am (0300 GMT),” a police officer in the region said on condition of anonymity.

“A man from the BIR (elite army unit) was killed. Several assailants were also killed.”

He said gun battles between the extremists and soldiers rocked the area until around 10am.

Cameroon has reinforced its military presence in the region in a bid to stop an escalation in attacks by Boko Haram.

PDP, APC redraw battle plan CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

maries come before governorship primaries. The idea is to ensure that if the governors don’t play ball, then they also will not have the successors they want or their own second term. So, that is one of the reasons why the party reviewed its timelines for its

primaries. The party does not trust the governors, so it is very simple,” a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) said.

It was learnt that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP and presidency will soon meet with the governors to find a common ground

on choosing candidates for the 2015 elections.

However, Senator, Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman representing Kogi Central Senatorial District has debunked claims that the president had granted automatic tickets to 40 out of 72 PDP senators to return to the Senate in

2015.

The senator, in a statement yesterday, described the alleged deal, struck at a meeting the president held with the senators, who had embarked on work-to-rule to protest their alleged marginalisation, as misleading and completely untrue.

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News

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NATIONAL

Dangote Cement boosts capacity by 9m metric tonnes Kunle Azeez

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angote Cement has further increased its production capacity in Nigeria with additional nine million metric tons of cement.

The company said that the addition of nine million metric tons capacity to its original 20 million metric tons per annum capacity across its various plants, had significantly

increased its ability to supply its consumers.

Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, said these at the official unveiling ceremony of new Dangote Cement bags in Lagos at the weekend.

He said that the company’s expansion drive has continued to boost its production capacity in the African continent.

“Our current expansion drive across Africa is dear to us and we are on course

towards consolidating our leadership position on the continent,” he said.

Edwin said that before the end of the year, Dangote would commission four new cement plants in Senegal, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Zambia.

“We have commissioned the plant in South Africa.

Other plants that are currently at various stages of completion in eight additional African countries will be commissioned between next year and 2016.

We aim to rank among the biggest cement producers in the world in the next few years, ” he added.

Speaking on the official unveiling ceremony of the new Dangote Cement bags for 32.5kg and 42.5kg, Edwin said that the initiative was in compliance with the recent directive by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to all local manufacturers of cement in the country, on proper standardisation of cement bags to reflect the

different grades and applications.

According to him, SON came up with this new regulation as a panacea to building collapse in the country, which, he said, had been giving stakeholders cause for concern.

“So, in line with the SON regulation, we have recalibrated our products and are today launching our brand new 32.5 grade, and re-packaged 42.5 grade cement bags. As you can see, the new bags are

clearly labelled to reflect their grades and usage.

“The 32.5 grade will be used for plastering purposes only, while the 42.5 Grade will be used for block moulding, casting of columns, beams and slabs, and the higher grade brand of 52.5 cement, for the construction of reinforced structures, such as bridges and dams.

We are increasing our product bouquet to give consumers more options,” he said.

FAAN partners EFCC on corruption Wole Shadare

M

L-R: Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Knut Ulvmoen; Chief Operating Officer, Dangote Cement, Mr. Kunle Alake; Special Assistant to the Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement, Hajia Fatima Dangote; Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Mr. Joseph Makoju; Group Managing Director, Mr. Devakumar Edwin and Special Assistant to the President/ Chief Executive, Dangote Group, Hajia Halima Dangote, at the unveiling of Dangote 32.5 and 3x Cement in Lagos…at the Weekend.

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Igbo leaders clash over Jonathan, fail to endorse him Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

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fter hours of intense deliberations, even politicking on the issue of Igbo presidency yesterday, Igbo leaders who met under the umbrella of Imeobi Ohanaeze, literally clashed over the possibility of endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 election and ended up not endorsing him.

It was gathered that the meeting which held for

hours yesterday ending late, attracted prominent leaders of the Igbo nation because the agenda of the meeting contained in the text of the invitation extended to members by its President-General, Chief Enwo Igariwey, had been couched around the theme: “Ndigbo and 2015 presidential election” He told members that he had deliberately designed that invitation to attract them in that number.

However, In spite of alleged efforts of some

prominent Igbo politicians in the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Imeobi, the highest decision making organ of Ohanaeze Ndigbo refused at the meeting to endorse Jonathan for the 2015 Presidential election.

Among the leaders present at the meeting included Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, a stalwart of the PDP, who has been canvassing a position whereby Ndigbo would shelve presidential ambition till 2027; Senator Hope Uzodinma,

Ndume prays for end of insurgency Ahmed Miringa Maiduguri

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he senator representing Southern Borno at the National Assembly, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, has called on the Federal Government to come to the assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in the NorthEast because of the Boko Haram insurgency.

The Senator, who made the call yesterday in Maiduguri, said in Gwoza, his home town alone, over 17,000 people were displaced by the insurgency. He added that with the capture of Mubi, people who were taking refuge in Mubi were also forced to flee to Yola.

He said thanks to the prompt reaction of the Gwoza Local Government chairman and the Borno

State government, they were able to relocate almost 17,000 IDPs from Yola.

Ndume called on the Federal Government to do something quickly to reclaim the captured local government areas and put to an end the insurgency, so that people will go back to their homes, stressing that now, over 14 local governments are under the control of the insurgents.

said to have insisted at the meeting yesterday that Ohanaeze should not be completely left out of politics; former OHANAEZE President General, Dr Dozie Ikedife, first republic parliamentarian, Chief Mbazuruike Amaechi, Chief Chekwas Okorie, who is the national chairman of political party, the United Progressive Party(UPP); Dr. Chris Ngige who is a chieftain of the opposition All Progressives Congress, among others.

inister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, has urged staff of the Federal airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to always consider how their actions would add value to the aviation sector and make it more efficient and customer friendly.

He made this remark during his address at the EFCC anti-corruption interactive session, organised for management staff of FAAN yesterday at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Lagos.

He added that FAAN staff had no reason to undermine the system because they had a stake in it and appealed to them to ensure that service delivery to passengers and other airport users is undertaken accordingly to establish international standards and best practices.

BBOG condemns unchecked Boko Haram attacks Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

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he BringBackOurGirls group has again, condemned the continued attacks and activities of the Boko Haram sect which it said have been going on without check or adequate response from the security forces or the Nigeria government.

The group, which has been advocating for the rescue of the remain-

ing 219 Chibok girls for the past six months, also condemned the reaction of the Chief of Defence staff, Alex Badeh in which he said it was not a big deal that his town has been taken over by the Boko Haram.

The group, wondered why the number one security person in the country would come out in public to assert that an outlawed terrorist group, taking over his home town was not a big deal.

Akwa Ibom debunks death, stampede at stadium Wale Elegbede

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kwa Ibom State government has debunked rumours of deaths and stampede during the opening ceremony of the ultra modern Ibom international stadium in Uyo. The State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Aniekan Umanah, speaking to sports journalists, who were physi-

cally present at the event, on the news making the rounds on the internet that two deaths were recorded due to stampede, said it was complete falsehood, intended to discredit the very successful event that has attracted commendations from around the world.

According to him: “Though there were cases of exhaustion and tiredness due to the massive

crowd that turned out to part of the grand occasion, no death was recorded throughout the duration of the event that lasted for about seven hours.”

Umanah maintained that the robust medical team of over 100 specialists and ambulances on standby, effectively took care of the few cases of exhaustion and minor injuries that arose during the occasion.

NEW TELEGRAPH monday, november 10, 2014

News

national

INEC: Why Lagos has reduced voters

Nigeria is comatose under PDP, says Atiku

lPVCs distribution in favour of PDP, says APC Wale Elegbede, Johnchuks Onuanyim and Kunle Olayeni

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he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained the decrease in the number of registered voters in Lagos State from 6.1 million to 4.6 million voters.

In a statement issued yesterday by Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Kayode Idowu, the electoral commission also denied allegations that it has colluded with the presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to delist registered voters in Lagos State and denied them their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for the 2015 general election.

A former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had on Saturday slammed INEC over the shoddy distribution of PVCs in Lagos, declaring that the exercise was a total failure and unacceptable to his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Tinubu added that the commission has joined forces with the PDP to rig the 2015 elections.

Explaining the chal-

lenge the commission is facing in Lagos, Idowu said: “It is completely false that INEC has removed the records of 1.4 million persons from the Register of Voters compiled in 2011 in Lagos State. It is true that at the end of the 2011 general registration exercise, the commission announced a figure of 6.1 million registrants in the state.

“But when that data was subjected to the Automated Fingerprints Identification System (AFIS) software, 82,892 multiple registrations were eliminated. Also, there was the technical challenge of loss of data and incomplete data affecting about one million records – mostly in 1,792 polling units that were identified and made public before the present exercise. That was why or how the Post-Business Rule figure for Lagos State (on the basis of which PVCs were printed) came down to about 4.6 million registrants.

“For avoidance of doubt, a pre-acknowledged data loss and incomplete data of some registrants is not a ‘conspiracy’ issue as has been alleged by some notable persons. It is a back-end technical challenge that is

far from sealing the fate of affected persons, and for which INEC has already put in place measures to ensure redress.

“The commission has made provision for eligible persons for whom PVCs could not been printed due to data loss or defective data to come out from Wednesday, November 12 to Monday, November 17 for their data to be recaptured during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

“In special consideration for the 1,792 polling units in Lagos State where the challenge of data loss is much pronounced, the CVR will take place at the polling unit level, as against the Registration Area (RA) level in other parts of the state.”

Also, INEC yesterday extended the distribution of the PVCs across Ogun State till today, urging all eligible voters to make judicious use of the new deadline.

The state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Sam Olumekun, disclosed this in a statement made available to reporters in Abeokuta, the state capital.

The extension followed protest and complaints in some parts of the state over

9

Adesina Wahab

missing names in voter’s register, non-availability of personnel at polling centres and poor logistics by the electoral commission.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday alleged that the distribution of the PVCs in 12 states was intentionally programmed to fail as it was skewed to favour the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to the APC, the distribution which ended on Sunday was to disenfranchise voters in the states with the highest number of voters.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement said the fact that most of the 12 states in which the process has been largely botched in the past three days have the highest number of voters and are under the control of the APC point to a clear collusion between INEC and the PDP. He said most registered voters were unable to collect their PVCs because INEC engaged in a programmed incompetence to swing the elections in favour of the PDP, in what is a clear case of rigging at source.

Ado-Ekiti

F

ormer Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has lamented that Nigeria is sick and has gone into a state of comatose as a result of the ineffective leadership foisted on her by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking in Ire-Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State on Saturday, Atiku said the PDP-led Federal Government had brought untold hardship on Nigerians.

He spoke while inaugurating a 32-bed hospital built and donated by a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bimbo Daramola (Ekiti North Federal Constituency 1), to his constituency.

While lashing out at the PDP, Atiku said poor economy and insecurity were what the PDP could reward Nigerians with.

His words: “Certainly, Nigeria is not healthy.

When you look at the economy and insecurity in the country, you will know that certainly, Nigeria is not healthy.

“The only thing that can salvage Nigeria’s situation

is to seize the opportunity to bring about a change by voting in the APC in next year’s general election.”

Atiku also carpeted the PDP over recent developments in the House of Representatives.

According to the presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), it was “irresponsible” of the PDP to ask the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, to resign from his position for defecting from the party to the APC. Atiku, who commended Daramola for the initiative, advised Ekiti people not to mortgage their future for a bag of rice.

He said: “I believe the people of Ekiti surely don’t need stomach infrastructure. Would you forgo education for stomach infrastructure? Would you forgo healthcare for stomach infrastructure? Would you forgo infrastructural development for stomach infrastructure?

“Today, Japan is the third economy in the world. They don’t have the farmland that you have in Ekiti but they have education and technology. Anybody who is telling you all you need is a bag of rice; no Ekiti people.”

FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ZARIA, P. M. B. 1041, ZARIA, KADUNA STATE

INVITATION FOR PRE-QUALIFICATION FOR THE YEAR 2013 TETFUND SPECIAL INTERVENTION PROJECT AS AN ADDENDUM TO THE PREVIOUS ADVERTISEMENT PUBLISHED ON 15TH SEPTEMBER 2014.

The Federal College of Education, Zaria is desirous of undertaking a prequalification and tender exercise for the “under listed projects” under the TETfund Special Intervention Projects. This is in addition to the advertisement earlier published by the College in New Telegraph and Daily Sun Newspapers of 15th October, 2014. Consequently, the College wishes to invite reputable contractors to submit their technical and financial bids for the following projects lots.

1. Provision of Desktop Computers/Computer Table and Chairs (Lot 1) 2. Provision of Laboratory Equipment and Facilities for Biology Lab (Lot 2) 3. Provision of laboratory Equipment and Facilities for Chemistry Lab (Lot 3) 4. Provision of Laboratory Equipment and Facilities for Physics Lab (Lot 4) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL BID REQUIREMENTS To be considered, potential Companies are required to submit all the under listed verifiable documents: 1. Evidence of Company registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and evidence of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in case of joint ventures to include names of Directors and Shareholders.

2. Tax Clearance Certificate for the last three years (2011-2013).

3. Current Company’s Audited Accounts for the last three years (2011-2013) duly stamped by registered Auditors.

4. Annual Turn-Over of the Company.

5. Evidence of Financial Capability and Banking support (Bank reference from reputable Bank).

6. Verifiable evidence of similar jobs successfully executed or being executed within the last five (5) years, indicating type, cost, location and evidence of award and completion certificate.

7. List of names of key personnel to be involved in the project stating their qualification, year of cognate experience and professional registration where applicable (Enclose photocopy of (Credentials).

8. Evidence of compliance with Pension Reform Act, 2004 by inclusion of clearance Certificate from National Pension Commission (PENCOM) 9. List of plants and equipment to be used for the project stating owned, leased or hired (where applicable).

10. Evidence of compliance with Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Amendment Act by inclusion of compliance Certificate from ITF. 11. Copy of VAT registration and evidence of past VAT remittances for completed projects.

12. Original Bank Statements for the past 12 months.

13. Company’s registered Address, functional contact Address, GSM phone number and e-mail address.

14. Reference letter from three previous clients of similar projects satisfactorily completed.

15. Sworn Affidavit satisfying that: a. The Documents submitted for Technical Bid must not only be genuine but correct. b. The Directors of the company seeking for Technical and financial bid had never been a trouble maker or convicted by any court of law. c. The company shall not be bankrupt. d. None of the Officials of FCE, Zaria is a former or present Director of the company.

16. Original copies of the documents would be requested to be made available for sighting whenever required.

OBTAINING TENDER DOCUMENTS Tender documents can be obtained from the Estate Department upon payment of N15, 000.00 only non-refundable tender fee for each of the lot of the project to the Bursary Department of the College and quote the reference number of the project on the receipt issued.

SUBMISSION OF PRE-QUALIFICATION AND TENDER DOCUMENTS The Financial and Technical documents arranged in the order listed above are to be submitted neatly bound and sealed in an envelope with the outer envelope marked“pre-qualification and Tender documents for “……………….” (quote the appropriate project name and Lot” boldly written on the top right hand corner of the envelope) and deposited in the Tender box in the office of the Registrar, Federal College of Education, Zaria to reach him not later than 29th December, 2014 at 12:00pm.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION A) Failure to comply with the above requirements will automatically result in disqualification.

B) The College reserves the right to verify the authenticity of any claim made on the Pre-qualification and Tender documents submitted by companies.

C) The College reserves the right to reject any pre-qualification and tender document and is neither committed nor obliged to give reason for the rejection of any of the company responding to this invitation.

OPENING OF TENDER DOCUMENTS Contractors or their representatives are hereby invited to the public opening of Technical and Financial bids documents scheduled to hold on 29th December, 2014 at 12:30pm in the College Conference Room.

PLEASE NOTE: The execution of these projects will depend on the release of fund by the appropriate funding organs. F.C.E Zaria will not be liable if there is any delay and/or failure in the release of funds for the projects.

(Signed) Danlami Saidu Head Procurement Unit

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

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Metro

Corporal’s attack on wife: Victim dies nine days after Camillus Nnaji

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he woman, Mrs Dupe Ikharia, whose legs were allegedly crushed by her husband, Corporal Lucky Ikharia, over a N2,000 dispute, is dead.

Family members of the deceased said that she died from complications resulting from the injuries she sustained during the attack.

Dupe died unawares that her husband had also killed their only son, David.

She gave up the ghost after nine days at the Bone Orthopaedic Hospital, Mushin, Lagos.

Dupe’s younger brother, Mr Segun Akhiode, who said the woman died on Friday, added that they were already making plans to take the matter to court.

On October 30, Lucky allegedly used a bus to crush his wife’s legs. He did not check whether his wife was dead or not, but abandoned her, where she had fallen after the attack.

The corporal went home and allegedly stabbed 14-month-old David to death. He was also said to have inflicted knife injuries on himself.

It was gathered that Lucky was rushed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) for treatment and was arrested on Thursday.

Lucky, who allegedly abducted David a few days before the attack on his wife, brought the child back home dead last week.

According to Dupe’s family

Lucky (left), the late Dupe and David, when the going was good Photo: Online

members, Lucky had always threatened during marital quarrels that he would kill his wife, son and himself.

Akhiode told our correspondent yesterday that the family was already discussing with their lawyer and would soon take the case to court.

He said: “Dupe has just died from complications resulting from injuries she sustained when Lucky ambushed her as she was heading to her sister’s place at Mushin. Lucky used the bus to crush her legs twice.

“On Friday, around 5:30pm, her conditioned worsened. She suddenly started breathing ir-

regularly. Nurses came to infuse her with drip and blood but she did not respond to any treatment. She started convulsing.

“The hospital said we should take her to another hospital. It was in the process of looking for an ambulance to carry her that she died.”

Akhiode said that a few hours before Dupe died, she started asking about her son’s whereabouts.

“She kept asking me to go and bring her son, saying that she wanted to see him,” he added.

Dupe had told our correspondent last week that Lucky used

to maltreat, beat and torture her.

She said: “This time, the problem was because of N2,000, which he said was missing from N5,000 he gave me to keep. I asked him if he was the one that took the money. He became angry and beat me. He dragged my two legs and I hit my head on the flour.

“The following day, he took David to an unknown place. I went to Makinde Police Station, where he works to report him. They told me he said he would bring back the child.

The remains of Dupe had been deposited at the Yaba General Hospital mortuary.

Three die in police, kidnappers’ shootout Tony Okafor Awka

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t least three suspected members of a gang of kidnappers yesterday died during a gun duel with the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) at Okpoko in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Also, one Mrs Edith Maduekwe, who was kidnapped by the suspects at Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area in October, was rescued at an erosion site in Oraukwu in Idemili North Local Government Area.

The police recovered N776,000 part of the N1.4 million ransom paid by the family of the victim.

Apart from the money, the police recovered one AK47 rifle of 90 rounds, one pump action gun, 10 live cartridges, and assorted charms among other things.

Parading the suspects yesterday, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Uche Ezeh, said the leader of the gang, known as Charlie Parker, had been on the police wanted list for four years.

He said the SARS Commander, CSP James Nwafor, led his men to Okpoko on a tip-off where the suspects were sharing their loot.

According to him, on sighting the police, the suspects opened fire at them.

Ezeh said three of the suspects escaped with gun wounds while three others were apprehended with fatal injuries.

Four face trial over attempt on Lagos monarch’s life Akeem Nafiu

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our members of a Lagos royal family, Oluwa ruling house, have appeared at an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court over an alleged attempt on the life of Oluwa of Lagos, Oba Mu-

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

kaila Lawal Oluwa, contrary to Section 363(2)(b) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011.

Their attempt on Oluwa’s life was predicated on the chieftaincy crisis rocking the ruling house over the elevation of the incumbent from ordinary chief to a monarch.

The accused are Abayomi Shamsideen Oluwa (62), Ismaila Abayomi Oluwa (67), Tajudeen Ototo Oluwa (58) and Muse Adegboyega Oluwa (56).

However, they pleaded not guilty and were allowed go home on bail.

At the resumed hearing of the matter, in evidence-inchief, Oluwa gave graphic details of how he survived two assassination attempts.

Oluwa added that it happened on November 21, 2013

while he was in the family office at Apapa when he had the news that a family land had been fenced without being sold.

He said: “On moving to the place, I sighted the defendants with other hoodlums, from afar, getting close to Nwokolo Street, Apapa, running towards us, carrying dangerous weapons. I saw the danger and quickly alerted my driver to make a U-turn so we escaped.

This was the second threat on my life by the defendants.”

Oluwa said the defendants who had instituted a series of litigation against his promotion despite a Supreme Court judgement which was delivered in his favour, went ahead and forged a High Court stamp, the principal registrar’s signature and put up a notice which

never came out of the court.

He said: “This forged notice was pasted on the wall of my palace and all areas of our homestead, including Araromi, as well as Lagos Island, including my official residence, creating fear in the minds of my people and other residents.

“As a result, I received various telephone calls. They also published a notice in The Punch newspaper in March 2013 as a result of which I received telephone calls from friends and relatives asking me whether I have been removed from the palace.”

According to Oluwa, the defendants took part of the ruling of Justice I. O. Harrison of the Ikeja High Court and superimposed words that did not emanate from the judge

and put up a public notice.

He tendered the ruling in suit No: LD/1420/2010 whether the judge delivered a ruling on April 22, 2013 as exhibit.

Harrison said: “The court observes that both parties appear to have misconceived the scope of the order of interlocutory injunction granted by the court on the 21st day of February, 2013. The above resulted in the purported certified true cope of the public notice attached as Exhibit AR3 to the 1st defendant’s application dated 18/3/2013, which is not a document originating from the court but which bears the signature and name of the court’s Registrar, Mrs A. Akinola, and was purportedly certified by H. S. Adeniyi, Principal Registrar, an official of the court.

Metro 11

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

Man remanded for importing fake drugs Akeem Nafiu

J

The recovered drugs

Solomon

Man arrested for concealing cocaine in female shoes Juliana Francis

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he National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 27-year-old man for concealing substances suspected to be cocaine weighing 2.235kg inside female shoes.

The suspect, Mama Solomon, was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) during search of passengers on board an Etihad flight.

The NDLEA Commander at the MMIA, Mr Hamza Umar, said the suspect claimed to be a shoe merchant.

He said: “However, during interrogation, it was discovered that he only used the shoes as modes of concealing the cocaine.

Solomon had two bags containing female shoes and hand bags. The drug was discovered in the soles of the female shoes and he was immediately arrested.”

According to Solomon,

he was given the bag by a friend in Brazil to bring to Nigeria.

He said: “I live and work in Brazil. I was given the drug with a promise that I will be handsomely rewarded if I successfully deliver the bag in Nigeria.

They also assured me that somebody will help me in collecting the bags at the airport in Nigeria.

“Unfortunately, officers demanded to search my bag and in the process, the cocaine was found in my bag.”

The Chairman NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, said the seizure would serve as a warning to drug cartels.

“Efforts shall be intensified to train and retrain officers on interdiction techniques and intelligence gathering in order to maintain our superiority over drug traffickers. NDLEA shall continue to seize narcotic drugs and prosecute offenders,” he said.

The suspect risks 15 years jail term if convicted.

Nine held for vandalism, adulteration Shola Adefuwa

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ine suspected oil pipeline vandals and adulterators are now in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

The Lagos State Commandant, Mr Ikemefuna Donatus Izuka, said the suspects were arrested on November 6 at Amuwo Odofin, Festac area of the metropolis.

Izuka said that the products were intercepted in three trucks.

The commandant added that NSCDC, which was saddled with the responsibility of monitoring and protecting the oil installations, would do it to the best of its ability.

Izuka decried the unwholesome practice of the perpetrators, who he described as ‘economic saboteurs.’

According to him, they ap-

peared determined to cripple the country’s economy.

He said: “I wonder why somebody will risk spending 21 years in jail for illegal dealing in petroleum products.”

The commandant said that the case was still un-

der investigation.

While urging the residents of Lagos to desist from participating in illegal practices and channel their energy into useful and legal vocations befitting law-abiding Nigerians,

Izuka said that the suspects would be arraigned soon.

He enjoined the public to cooperate with the corps by giving it useful information on illegal activities being carried out in their areas for quick intervention.

The suspected vandals

US court convicts Nigerian in Ballow fraud scheme

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44-year-old Nigerian, Sikiru Olubunmi Bonojo, residing in Houston, has admitted to laundering the proceeds of a fraud scheme directed by Harris Dempsey “Butch” Ballow, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

According to The Rancher, Bonojo and Ballow met in prison in 2003 when they were both in custody on unrelated criminal charges.

Ballow, 71, formerly of Galveston County, pleaded guilty to one-count of money laundering in September 2003

and was permitted release pending sentencing.

However, he fled to Mexico and remained a fugitive for more than five years. After Bonojo’s release from prison, he continued to communicate with the fugitive Ballow.

In 2004, Bonojo helped obtain fraudulent British passports for Ballow. In 2005, while living in Mexico under the alias of “John Gel,” Ballow gained control of E-SOL International Corp. (E-SOL), a Nevada company with shares traded on the over-the-counter

securities market under the symbol, ESIT. Ballow then carried out a

ustice James Tsoho of a Federal High Court in Lagos at the weekend remanded a middleaged man, Olisaemeka Osefor, in prison for allegedly importing fake drugs into the country.

The accused had earlier been arraigned before the court by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on a four-count charge of importing and being in possession of fake drugs.

He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The oral bail application made by his counsel, Funmi Adeogun, was opposed by the prosecution counsel, Umar Shamaki, on the grounds that there should be a formal bail application before the court, to give the agency a room to reply.

The matter was consequently adjourned till November 11, for the hearing of the bail application.

The accused is, however, to remain in prison custody pending the hearing of the application.

In the charge, NAFDAC accused Olisaemeka of being in possession of some fake drugs, namely; Funbact A Triple Action Cream, Skineal Compound Ketoconazole Cream, Heel Balm and Imam Luxury Pressed Powder.

He was also accused of importing some fake drugs, namely; Mycoten Cream (Clotrimazole), DGF Neurogesic Greaseless Ointment, Funbact A Triple Action Cream, Skineal Compound Ketoconazole Cream, Heel Balm and Imam Luxury Pressed Powder.

The offences were said to have been in contravention of Section 1(a) of the Counterfeit and Fake Drug and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Cap LFN C34 2004 and punishable under Section 3(1)(a) of the same Act.

Jonathan congratulates Onobrakpeya on African Arts’ honour Anule Emmanuel

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan has congratulated Bruce Onobrakpeya, one of Nigeria’s most renowned artists for the honour conferred on him by the Smithsonian National Museum of African Arts in Washington DC last week.

The President has sent a congratulatory letter to the 82-year-old sculptor, painter and print-maker, who was named the Artist Honouree during the Museum’s 50thanniversary celebration.

Jonathan said that Onobrakpeya’s outstanding and remarkable portfolio of works over several decades made him very worthy of the recognition by one of the most distinguished art institutions in the world.

The letter reads in part: “You are indeed a living treasure of Nigeria. From your first, decisive intervention as a member of the Zaria Art Society when you and your colleagues fused colonial art practice with traditional art-forms and philosophy, you have been the consummate artist.

fraudulent scheme to sell stock in E-SOL and interests in a non-existent Mexican vacation resort supposedly developed by E-SOL to unsuspecting investors. The victims included citizens of the United States and Canada who wire transferred money to a bank account in the name of E-SOL at Wells Fargo Bank in Reno, Nevada.

In 2006, Ballow began causing large sums of money to be wire transferred from E-SOL’s bank account at Wells Fargo to accounts controlled by Bonojo at banks in the Houston area, including an account in the name of Guiding Angels EMS Inc. at Trustmark National

Bank. Bonojo admitted in court proceedings that he knew the money sent from Wells Fargo was proceeds of some kind of felony, further acknowledging he withdrew much of the money in cash in order to conceal and disguise its source.

Bonojo used a lot of the cash to make payments Ballow directed, including to his grandson who was living in or near Houston.

U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal, who accepted the guilty plea, has set sentencing for March 3, 2015, at which time Bonojo faces up to 20 years of federal imprisonment and a possible $500,000 fine. He will remain in custody pending that hearing.

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News

spread

Like wildfire, insurgency could spread to other parts of the country Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

A

pparently convinced that President Goodluck Jonathan is not doing enough in the fight against the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents, a Professor of Law from the University of Ibadan, Adeniyi Olatubosun, has counseled the Federal Government not to think that the raging terrorism in the country is a mere northern region affair, but that which could spread to other parts if not urgently deterred.

In his 2013/2014 inaugural lecture delivered at the weekend, entitled: “Tough on Crime but Soft on Justice”, the Dean, Faculty of Law of the institution, warned the Federal Government

monday, november 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

national

Boko Haram not northern problem, Don tells FG that, “believing that Boko Haram terror will be limited to the northern part of the country is wishful thinking. We must not seem blind to the enormous cultural and global impact the teaching of the insurgents has had and is having on some Nigerian people.

“We must therefore do all that is necessary now to fight with all our might to wage war against a minion tyranny that has unleashed a catalogue

5m

of heinous crime, on the Nigerian people. The battle may take far longer than we would wish.

It will entail military, law enforcement and diplomatic approaches. With foreign assistance, Nigeria should prepare for a long, tough fight. This is because the same ideology that drove Abdulmutallab to attempt to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear, while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253

The estimated number of people with Alzheimer (state of memory loss amongst aged people) in the US. Source: Alz.org

enroute from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas day, 2009, must have inspired hundreds of youths that are getting radicalized in the country, though we continue to live in denial of this uncomfortable truth”.

At the occasion witnessed by the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Isaac Adewole and other principal officers of the institution, Olatubosun expressed the worry that the conflict had

N124.8m

The total capital importation value of the Trading sector in 2007.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

spread from North East to the North Central states including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, thus “posing a fundamental domestic challenge to the country’s security for nearly five years”, with many innocent souls being killed randomly without ceasing.

To get out of the wood of this security challenge, the professor of Public and International Law therefore advised the Federal Government

15%

The projected percentage rise of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) globally between 2010 and 2020.

Source: Who.int

to adopt the soft approach to countering the terrorism through de-radicalization of prison system on one hand, and “mobilising family, cultural, religious and national values through partnerships with faith-based organizations, communitybased organizations, and NGOs”.

He, however, blamed the failure of breakthrough in the fight against terrorism on corruption.

€42m

The amount of money realized from TV rights by Athletico Madrid in 2013-2014 season.

Source: Goal.com

Oshiomhole may recall sacked perm-sec, CMD Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

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eprieve may have come the way of the sacked Permanent Secretary in the Edo State Hospitals Management Board, Dr Ofure Eboreime and the Chief Medical Director of the Central Hospital, Benin City, Dr Edith Kayode-Iyasere, as the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Uyi Igbe weekend pleaded for their recall.

The duo were relieved of their appointments, last week, by Governor Adams Oshiomhole for their role in engaging casual workers in the Central Hospital.

Igbe had led the Majority Leader of the Assembly, Hon Philip Shaibu; Hon Elizabeth Ativie and Hon Folly Ogedengbe to the governor’s office to plead for the sacked doctors. He begged the governor to temper justice with mercy.

He said: “We are here, the leadership of EDHA, to see you concerning Dr. Ofure Eboreime, the Permanent Secretary, Hospital Management Board and Dr. Mrs. Edith Iyasere, Chief Medical Director, HMB. “The House Standing Committee on Health had gone to the hospital for an oversight function where the lawmakers found that Dr Eboreime is somebody who is very competent and capable.”

A prospective voter checking her name during the distribution of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) in Lagos …yesterday.

PHOTO: SULEIMAN

HUSAINI

Eleme-Onne road to gulp N43bn Joe Obende Warri

A

s the dualisation of the East-West Road in the Niger Delta Region attains 80 per cent completion, the Federal Government is soon to award another 12-kilometre stretch from Eleme Junction to Onne Junction at N43billion.

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr. Steve Oru, who made this disclosure at the weekend, when he took a working tour of the East - West Road dualisation project in the region, said the project would be awarded to Reynolds Construction Company which is handling part of the ongoing project.

He added that 79.4 per cent of the on-going East - West Road project had been completed.

The Eleme Junction - Onne Junction stretch of the East - West Road is

one of the most dreaded sections due to its terrible state and also because it had in recent times experienced incidents of high profile criminality.

Speaking on the plan to reconstruct the part he identified as Point 00, Oru said the about 15-kilometre stretch was not part of the original contract of the East - West Road project, as it was in a good state as at the time the initial contract was awarded.

The project, which he said, would take between 18 and 20 months to complete, was costing so much because of the peculiar terrain of the region and the numerous bridges and interchanges factored into it.

“We are expecting the Federal Government to award a new contract very soon which will lead to the reconstruction and construction of what is Point 00; Eleme to Onne Junction, a distance of 15 kilometres,” Oru added.

APC’ll restore confidence, says aspirant Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

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senatorial aspirant for the Osun Central District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of Osun, Dr. Ominiwe Ibrahim, at the weekend said that if the APC is voted in at the federal level in 2015, the problems confronting the country would be surmounted within six months.

After he obtained his

Expression of Interest form at the party secretariat, the APC stalwart said Nigeria’s problems were surmountable if a serious government like the APC were at the centre.

“Leadership is about confidence. Once the followers do not have confidence in the leader, such a leader will not achieve anything. Nigerians have lost hope in the PDP-led government because they have failed woefully in all ramifications. APC as a party is the last hope for

the Nigerian masses”, he said.

Addressing a mammoth crowd of supporters after obtaining the form, the aspirant said if he is given the opportunity to represent his senatorial district at the Senate, he would make life better for Nigerians and make life bearable for them.

“Going by my pedigree, I make bold to say that I possess the required credentials to represent my senatorial district purposefully and diligently”, Ominiwe said.

Akpata for burial November 21 in Benin City

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he remains of late statesman, administrator and nationalist, Chief ‘Tayo Akpata, C.O.N will be committed to mother earth November 21, 2014 in Benin City, Edo State.

Funeral arrangements for the late Ima of Benin, who passed on in his Ikoyi home on October 13, 2014, according to a

press statement released by the family over the weekend, commences on November 14, with a Memorial Dinner and Concert at 5pm to celebrate Akpata’s raison d’etre (his life and times).

The screening of a documentary film titled ‘A sage goes home’ will also hold the same evening at the Landmark Village in

Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos.

On November 20, 2014, a commendation service will hold at Ikoyi Baptist Church at 8am, after which the body leaves for Benin. And on Friday, November 21, 2014, the Funeral Service will commence at 9am at the Central Baptist Church, Kings Square, Benin City.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

Governance

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Politicians have visited impunity on Nigerians –Akinyemi

14, 15

Politics

LEADING GOVERNORSHIP ASPIRANTS

Imo: Crowded race to Douglas House Steve Uzoechi Owerri

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he 2015 governorship election is gradually gathering steam in Imo State. The battle for Douglas House, the seat of governance in Imo State, is peopled by political heavyweights.

As at the last count, no fewer than 25 aspirants are angling for their respective party’s governorship tickets. In the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), 19 people have obtained governorship forms. In the weeks ahead, these parties would have their day in the field where delegates of the parties would decide who flies the parties’ flags.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) seems to have a candidate in the person of Governor Rochas Okorocha. But the choice of who becomes the candidates of the PDP and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) is tearing the parties apart.

Rochas Okorocha Governor Okorocha has earlier voiced his resolve to seek re-election in 2015. Though recent antics convey conflicting signals, close acolytes insist all efforts are geared towards consolidating his office as governor.

Okorocha had boasted that the APC will rule Imo for 20 years. It is indeed obvious he had a sweeping victory in 2011 but the variables are not exactly the same presently, and it is believed that he is well aware of the gathering of forces to unseat him.

Though there is an avalanche of governorship aspirants gunning for his seat, Okorocha is not a stranger to political contests and intrigues.

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY Editor, POLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Okorocha

In 2011, Okorocha altered the zoning arrangement in the state by emerging governor so soon after his kinsman, Chief Achike Udenwa, had served as governor of the state for eight years. Both Okorocha and Udenwa are from the Orlu zone of the state, while the Owerri zone is yet to get a shot at the governorship seat of Imo State since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999. With Okigwe zone kicking that they are yet to have a full share, zoning will definitely be an issue in the 2015 governorship election in Imo. The governor had at different fora attempted to dismiss zoning as fostering mediocrity, it is definitely one of Okorocha’s major disadvantages in the forthcoming governorship election.

Okorocha has put some structures in place – whether qualitative or not; people-oriented or not; purpose-driven or egodriven; futuristic or impulsive – there are some new infrastructures in place in Imo that people can point to.

Much as some extol the governor for this, very many others would easily accuse the governor of indiscriminately erecting structures that bear little or no relevance to the welfare of the people.

Whatever is the case, Governor Okorocha is in the 2015 Imo governorship race for good. He

Ohakim

Araraume

is a major and formidable contender with immense capacity.

In fairness, it will take diligent effort in mass mobilisation and strategic planning to unseat him. He has a lot going for him, and even a lot more going against him, but only a meticulous strategy can oust the Ogboko-born politician who at present is testing the waters for the presidency of the country while locking down the governorship ticket of his party in Imo for himself.

It will take diligent effort in mass mobilisation and strategic planning to unseat him. He has a lot going for him, and even a lot more going against him

Ikedi Ohakim Ohakim, a former governor, is a key stakeholder in the politics of Imo State and a power broker in his own right.

He comes into the race with a four-year experience as a former governor.

If his party, the PDP, is looking for a candidate from Okigwe zone that can solve the equity question since 1999 and guarantee to govern for just one term before Imo East (Owerri zone) takes their slot in the governorship seat of the state, then Ohakim is the man as he has, by law, only four years to serve out his second term in power.

Ohakim is a team player and among all the aspirants in the PDP fold, he is the only aspirant who is in a position to match the incumbent governor, manifestofor-manifesto and projects-for-

projects.

The supposed errors he made during his time as governor, for which he was pilloried, have mostly been found to be largely exaggerated human errors of exuberance which have since been deflated and relegated to the trash bag of history. Today, he enjoys the solidarity of the party and the citizens of the state.

Ohakim is gifted with a string of loyal followers most of whom were former appointees during his days as the governor of Imo State. While some of them are now operating at different levels of the party hierarchy, a good number of them are delegates to the governorship primaries.

Again, most of the officials and structures of the PDP in the state were set up by Ohakim during his tenure as governor and he does not seem to have lost grip on this structure. Their loyalty may come in handy in the forthcoming PDP primaries.

Ifeanyi Araraume Since 2007, Araraume has been in the race for the governorship of Imo State, having served two uninterrupted terms as senator for Imo North (Okigwe zone) from 1999 to 2007. Araraume is coming into the race for the PDP governorship ticket CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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Politics

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Politicians have visited impunity on Nigerians –Akinyemi Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi has crisscrossed several spectrum in Nigeria. The 72-year-old political scientist was a former Minister of Foreign Affairs. In recent times, he has served in three critical panels – Electoral Reforms, Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges Panel (Boko Haram), and National Conference, where he functioned as the deputy chairman of the 492-member group. In this interview with AYODELE OJO and TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE, he speaks on the state of the nation, 2015 elections, defection and botched arms purchase deal.

Excerpts:

How has it been after the National Conference?

As you can see, I have regained my energy level. I have sufficient time to rest and I am fine.

Since you left as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1986, you have been out of government.

Why this?

No, everybody keeps saying that. During the administration of former President Umaru Yar’Adua, I served on the Electoral Reforms Panel and that was for almost a year. In 2013, I served on the Boko Haram Panel, which took us about seven months or so. And in 2014, I served in the National Conference. Because of my age, I am one of these people, who from time to time, you bring down from the shelf and once you finish with him, you put him back on the shelf. So, I am what I will call ‘shelf statesman’. You are at an age where you are not talking about permanent government job and it is when there are problems to be addressed, that you are called upon.

Few days ago, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). A day after, his security details were withdrawn by the police. How do you see the development?

I think there is a phrase that they normally use; ‘it is a party affair’. I am neither a member of the PDP nor APC for that matter. Let us move away from Tambuwal; to me the whole idea of cross carpeting or whatever, stinks, because it shows politics without principle, politics without ideology, politics of the stomach.

I am not talking about Tambuwal because he will not be the first one to cross carpet. Governors, senators, members of the House or Representatives and chairmen of local governments have done so.

So, it stinks as far as I am concerned.

lSays, Nigeria must crush Boko Haram

Akinyemi

The constitution is very clear about this; that if you cross carpet or if you leave your party and you move to another party, you lose your seat. They put an exception there but in interpreting the rule, presiding officers have shown less honour in interpreting that constitutional provision and now it is coming back to hunt all of them. I believe the first person to defect if my memory serves me well was an Alliance for Democracy (AD) senator, who defected to the PDP. The principle and the constitutional provision was very clear; so the Senate President at that time should have ruled that; “You have lost your seat, go and re-contest” instead they started playing the kind of dubious games they played when they are being dishonest.

And now, a major figure; the same thing has now come to haunt the PDP. In politics, let us always be principled.

That is the only way you can avoid chaos.

Take your stand and be prepared to pay a price for your stand. That is what it means to be honourable. But you take a stand and you don’t want to pay the price for that stand, then what honour are we talking about? Once again, I want to stress that I am not talking about Tambuwal; he is not the only one who has done it, several other people have done it. So, good luck to them.

How about the withdrawal of his security?

He has gone to court. Politicians and political office holders have visited on Nigeria and on ordinary Nigerians such impunity that when they themselves suffer impunity, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. What goes round comes round.

Do you see this impunity and lack of principle among politicians as being responsible for the challenges confronting the country?

• • • • • • • • •

BIO-DATA

Born January 4, 1942 in Ilesa, Osun State Professor of Political Science and expert in international affairs, law and diplomacy Director General, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, NIIA (1975 – 1983) Minister of External Affairs – (1985 – 1986) National Secretary of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) Member, Presidential Electoral Reform Committee in 2007 Chairman, Presidential Think Tank in 2007 Member, Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North in 2013.

Deputy Chairman, 2014 National Conference

Of course, it is. I served on the Boko Haram committee and I saw the flip flop on almost on daily basis; people living in a state of denial about Boko Haram. Some leaders from the North claiming; “These boys are misunderstood; they are not really that bad, they are misunderstood. It is poverty or unemployment that drove them into doing what they are doing.”

I remember we got a security briefing which said one of the principle aims of Boko Haram was to set up an alternative caliphate in the North-East. The security chief was almost turned to shreds by some members of the Boko Haram committee. Haven’t they done so now?

So, what are we talking about?

Just recently, Boko Haram captured the hometown of the Chief of Defence Staff and hoisted their flags despite the fact that government announced a ceasefire with the insurgents. Are you not disturbed with the development?

I am just as baffled as you are as to what interpretation one should give this ceasefire agreement. What even bothers or upsets me more now is the excuses that are being given on the side of the government; maybe the order didn’t go down to all the factions or maybe some factions don’t agree or maybe this, maybe that. I mean obviously, somebody was been taking for a ride. I recall that several times, people approached the Boko Haram committee claiming to be acting on behalf of Abubakar Shekau. And here I must praise the wisdom of the chairman of that committee, Kabiru Taminu Turaki (SAN), the Minister of Special Duties. He would say if you are coming from Shekau; after all you people are very good with video recording, bring a video of Shekau, saying I recognise this committee on dialogue and you are empowered to negotiate on behalf of the Boko Haram; you have my authority. They will not come back.

In this kind of thing, anybody can step forward and say I am representing Boko Haram or Shekau has sent me. The first thing is for that person to prove it. I was watching the BBC the other day and so much song and dance was been made about whether Shekau is dead or not.

Insurgency groups would often adopt a name which is not theirs. For example, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) spokesman is known as Jomo Gbomo. Jomo Gbomo was not a name of an individual; obviously it was a name of a title which anybody can claim. So, if you kill one Jomo Gbomo, the next person stepping into that office would also be called by that name. So, if you kill one Shekau, the next guy, may be his name is Bolaji, the moment you elect him a leader, he becomes Shekau and

Politics

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

fighting a foreign force because there are some demarcated sovereign lines but with an internal insurgent group, no.

So, is it wrong for the government to have announced ceasefire that is not working?

I wouldn’t say it was wrong because there were three parties involved; the Nigeria government, the Chadian government and of course Boko Haram.

And the initial statement actually came from those claiming to be Boko Haram, that there is a ceasefire which was then confirmed by the Nigerian side. But we are now doing a post-ceasefire analysis.

The ceasefire broke down from day one and the girls who are supposed to have been released have not yet been released.

And I just wonder the insult to authority.

There was an Inspector General of Police who said Boko Haram was finished, and I think the following week they attacked police headquarters. Now you have the Chief of Defence Staff who announced the ceasefire on behalf of government and few days after the announcement, they attacked his home town (Mubi).

Their flag is now flying from the top of the Emir of Mubi’s palace. Boko Haram is making fun of authority.

Akinyemi

So, what should the government do?

You take the fight to them as they have been doing.

Akinyemi

you are wasting so much valuable brain power talking about whether Shekau is dead or not; chasing shadows rather than facing the real issue at stake. So, even if Shekau is alive, so what? The critical thing is the people you are dealing with.

One, have they been sent by Shekau, the leader? Two, if they have been sent by Shekau and Boko Haram is still mounting these attacks, then it raises two questions. Is he in control of the organisation or is he playing games with you? Shekau, the peace maker and Shekau, the warrior; so you are doing two things at the same time.

So, I am just as baffled by what is going on but if I were involved, I would ask the questions. Why is it this time when Nigerian troops seem to be winning that all of a sudden the question of ceasefire came up? But having said that, I then must also say that for the sake of the international community and for the pains that the parents of those girls are going through and thirdly for people who are playing politics with the Chibok girls, the president must be seen as going the extramile to ensure that those girls are returned until it is clear to all doubting Thomases that the president did his best and that the Boko Haram should really take the blame for the non-release of the Chibok girls.

So, I can understand, you want to dialogue, alright, then we would dialogue if that is what you want, but we should just ensure that Nigerians don’t lose the focus that Boko Haram must be defeated. It is an evil force. It got to be defeated; there is no question of concession to Boko Haram. What would the concession mean?

That you would surrender sovereignty to them; that they would govern the area they occupy or what? You don’t have a ceasefire with an insurgency on your territory; you have a ceasefire if you are

PHOTOS: GODWIN IREKHE

Boko Haram must be defeated. It is an evil force.

Its got to be defeated; there is no question of concession to Boko Haram... You don’t have a ceasefire with an insurgency on your territory; you have a ceasefire if you are fighting a foreign force

What about the risk involved on the girls who are still held captive? How about the demand of the terrorists who are asking for swapping of the Chibok girls with their commandants, wives and children, who are in custody?

The government is in a very difficult position. Yes, one must feel the pain of the parents of the girls, but as part of my work as a member of the Boko Haram committee, I met victims of several bombings; people who lost fathers, children, and even parts of their bodies. I am talking about young people. I am talking about babies. I carried in my arms a baby that the mother handed over in Mandala, just outside Abuja where a Catholic church was bombed. All members of the Boko Haram committee were weeping. And you now want those who perpetrated all that bombings to be released. How do you want their family to feel? How do you want those victims to feel? So, I can feel the pain. On one hand, you have the pains of those Chibok girls but on the other hand, the Boko Haram members and their commanders have blood on their hands. What do you want the victims of Boko Haram to feel? Would they feel they have got justice? So, it is a difficult situation. I cannot say the girls should be sacrificed, no. If my daughter was there, I wouldn’t say that. But at the same time, when you are a government, you have tough decision to take.

There are a number of electoral issues in the system generating controversies like defection, campaign before approved time and high nomination fees. How do you see all of these?

I was with Prof. Attahiru Jega last week Thursday and I raised that issue with him. And I said clearly to him; “I don’t know whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) law allows you to do anything about the high nomination fees but at least no law says you cannot express concern about the issue. We have given all the impression that public offices are for sale. I have no other interpretation of that and if you win an election, having spent N22 million or N27 million on nomination form, when you get in, are you not going to recoup your money? Are they not laying foundation for corruption and it is not just one party; all of them are doing it. So, what is this talk about there is going to be change when the foundation being laid by both parties are the same. I think it is indecent.

When we were at the Electoral Re-

15

forms Committee, we actually considered the issue and we said there ought to be a limit on campaign funds. Even though we know that it is unenforceable.

In a country where you can’t even completely and honestly assemble statistics, how are you going to know the amount spent on presidential campaign? You are not going to know but at least make an attempt. Let them break the law; at least you said the law is there. It is like campaigning before the time they are supposed to do so. At least, the whole of Jerusalem know that they are breaking the law even if INEC can’t do anything about it. So, it was part of the recommendations we made in our reports that there have to be a cap. Although, we are not thinking of this insane deposit; we were actually thinking of the amount of funds that is actually spent for campaigns. So, you have my view that it is insane, immoral, and indecorous. You just give the impression that offices of state are for sales and then don’t complain when corruption sets in as people make effort to recoup the money they spent.

What was the reaction of the INEC chairman when you discussed this with him?

He didn’t respond. Prof. Attahiru Jega didn’t respond.

But the parties are saying that the nomination fees are meant to fund their activities.

Is that excuse tenable?

No, what should be used in funding parties are membership fees. That was the way it was done in the 50s and 60s. Those collecting N27 million for presidential nomination fee may make a point that this is to wield out the unserious people. But I think that the argument against the indecent amount carry more weight with me.

To what extent have some of the recommendations you made at the electoral panel committee been implemented?

They didn’t implement them in bulk as we wanted but each time they are either having a constitutional amendment, they take a bit and pieces of it. For example, we recommended that nobody should be sworn in if there is a petition pending.

That is one of our recommendations. I think they have finally gone around accepting that now. Also, is the issue of independent candidacy. I am personally opposed to independent candidature because it cheapens governance.

There is a silence on the report of the National Conference. What is on the front burner is what the National Assembly is doing. How do you feel about this?

Frankly, I am at peace with myself and history will judge who betrayed this country or who had the best interest of this country at heart. History would judge and fortunately we are all around.

The people who are making noise and riding motorcade 20 years ago, where are they now? They are also now suffering the consequences of what they did 20 years ago. So, let the National Assembly continue on its ego trip; history would judge. And I believe that the National Conference, history would be fairer with it than to the National Assembly.

But the record is there that 492 Nigerians met and reached agreement on over 600 resolutions. It is an achievement in itself that history would acknowledge; you can’t take that away and these resolutions were not on mundane and irrelevant things, no.

We confronted the critical issues that we felt needed to be addressed to save this country. We addressed issues relating to youth unemployment, issues of impunity. We adopted a resolution removing the issue of immunity from the president, governors and anyone on criminal matters. The National Assembly has now extended immunity to their own memCONTINUED ON PAGE 20

16 Politics

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

LEADING GOVERNORSHIP ASPIRANTS

Okorocha, Ohakim, Ihedioha, 22 others battle for the soul of Imo C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

with years of field experience in party primary elections.

Against all odds, Araraume won the PDP governorship ticket for Imo in 2007, beating among over a dozen contenders, aspirants favoured by the then governor, Chief Achike Udenwa.

Araraume’s governorship ticket in 2007 was sabotaged by the party when they rendered it nugatory by declaring that the PDP did not have a candidate for the governorship election; after the keenly contested primary election, which he won.

In 2011, when his kinsman, Ohakim was running for a second term, Araraume was forced to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) where he also secured the party’s ticket to run for the governorship seat.

Araraume in all his bids for party tickets have always shown doggedness, meticulous execution of political strategies and the capacity to pay the attendant bills that go with the race.

Chris Anyanwu The interest of this two-term senator represents a radical departure from the previously male-dominated governorship race in Imo politics.

Anyanwu understands the politics of party primaries. She fought for her mandate to the Senate every step of the way. In 2011, she fell out of favour in the PDP when the party’s ticket was served Kema Chikwe on a platter after two controversial primary elections.

She pulled out of the party and pitched tents with APGA, bagged their senatorial ticket and again faced Chikwe in the election proper. She beat Chikwe to a second place against all odds.

So, it is not moot that Anyanwu’s governorship ambition represents the strongest bid of the women folks for the Imo governorship seat since the return to democracy.

However, Anyanwu’s principled disposition seems too often, to envelop her with a seemingly haughty exterior.

She may indeed make immense inroad for the female folks by her formidable bid for the highest office in Imo, but it is highly uncertain whether the Imo electorate is yet prepared for a female governor bearing in mind their cultural proclivity to the men folk when it comes to leadership.

Emeka Ihedioha Ihedioha is the Deputy Speaker and a third-term member of the House of Representatives. Nobody can win three successive federal constituency elections by chance without a stroke of dexterity and some measure of experience in the electioneering process.

One of the front runners in the Imo governorship race and long-standing member of the PDP, Ihedioha understands the workings of the party organs and the internal politics of the PDP. He is politically grounded in his constituency to the extent that even in the face of the white-wash of the PDP by APGA in 2011, Ihedioha held his ground for PDP in the three Mbaise council areas and the Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala federal constituency conceding no ground to the rampaging APGA machinery at the time.

Anyanwu

Ihedioha

Agbaso

Chukwueke

Anumudu

Amadi

Given his enormous political clout within the state and at the federal level, with his supposed affinity to the presidency, most of his co-aspirants view him as a major hurdle to their ambitions.

Fact gleaned from interviews and interactions indicate an unspoken accord among most of his co-aspirants in the PDP who, by gut-feeling have gradually started mustering clusters of anti-Ihedioha aspirants and sentiments within the PDP fold.

All the more, the recent defection drama by Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker of the House of Representatives may, if not handled well, rub off on Ihedioha. There is a pervasive opinion that Tambuwal and Ihedioha are political allies. Their emergence as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively was akin to a palace coup against the leadership of the PDP and now at the twilight of their tenure, Tambuwal comes up with another sensational game plan; a crosscarpeting stunt that turns out a thunderous slap on the face of the PDP leadership and the presidency. Tambuwal’s dumping of the PDP for APC is convenient for him since Sokoto is an APC state. It is believed in some quarters that if Imo had been a predominantly APC state, Ihedioha may have joined his Speaker in APC. It is, however, expected that while Ihe-

dioha strives to douse the mistrust and questions of divided loyalty that may be thrown at him, other elements and vested interests within the party would do all there is to stoke the fire against him.

With the events of the not-too recent past, it is presumed that the Deputy Speaker understands and has what it takes to manoeuvre political situations in the party to his advantage and this may not be an exception.

However, barring this political baggage which is capable of tilting the balance against him, Ihedioha remains a force to reckon with in the race for Imo PDP governorship ticket.

litical landscape. A section of Owerri politicians believe that Agbaso ceded the governorship seat due Owerri zone to Okorocha from Orlu in 2011 and may not be inclined to give him another chance.

Agbaso’s recent defection from APGA to the PDP is no guarantee of a governorship ticket especially when there is already a long list of well-grounded and loyal PDP aspirants gunning for the same ticket. The best he would do is to just fall in line and bid his chances which under the present circumstances, are not much.

Intelligent and dexterous as he is, it is certainly going to be an uphill task for Agbaso to make any meaningful impact in the PDP governorship primaries.

Martin Agbaso In spite of his string of political misfortunes, Agbaso remains a known name in Imo politics. Having run for the Imo governorship seat since 2003, Agbaso has on more than one occasion been tipped as a governor-in-waiting especially in 2007 when it was widely believed that he won the election. Most of these episodes went sour just at the last minute with the political calculation turning against him.

His surprise support and backing of Okorocha in the 2011 governorship election, which turned a sordid misadventure, may after all take its toll on his political credibility in the Imo po-

Emmanuel Ihenacho Ihenacho may not be a regular politician but his humanitarian approach to politics has gained him quite a large space and followership in the Imo political landscape.

Having been a PDP member since 1999, Ihenacho was temperate enough to move out of the crowded PDP umbrella and head to APGA to execute his ambition. Gunning for the governorship seat of the state for Ihenacho, is apparently, not a justifiable reason for over two dozen aspirants to swamp one political party when all that should matter is the cred-

Politics 17

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

LEADING GOVERNORSHIP ASPIRANTS His large Mbaike federal constituency are totally rooting for him but his major challenge lies in the fact that he is perceived as often distancing himself from the electorate after every election year, only to reappear after four years.

In 1999, Anumudu emerged candidate of the party after the primaries but superior party decision urged him to step aside for Udenwa who was not even a front runner in the primary election.

Anumudu conceded to the wishes of the party.

Odom

Ihenacho

Ahamba

Njemanze

ibility and competence of an aspirant.

Since the time he hit political limelight as Nigeria’s Interior Minister, Ihenacho has remained a choice brand in Imo politics. He easily conveys integrity and purposefulness.

Ihenacho had everything going for him, as the party leadership both in Imo and at the national level were favourably disposed to him, until he overstepped his bounds recently.

The purported adoption of Ihenacho by a clique of party men loyal to him put Ihenacho in the news for several weeks for all the wrong reasons. The plot somehow portrayed him as a schemer who was manipulating an influential section of the party to hand him the party’s ticket without a fight and by so doing deny other aspirants in APGA the right to a fair contest.

One of his major rivals for the party ticket, Okey Ezeh, pounced on the opportunity and garnered for himself public sympathy and media mileage. He fought Ihenacho’s purported endorsement with everything he had until the party leadership saw it was unhealthy to remain in the sideline much longer. Chief Victor Umeh, the party’s national chairman at a rally in Imo dismissed the purported endorsement of Ihenacho as APGA’s consensus governorship candidate as not feasible.

Apparently for some strategic reasons, the leadership of the party still seems well disposed to an Ihenacho governorship candidature.

It has been hinted in certain quarters that the party leadership seems to pander towards Ihenacho because he has been funding the party since his joining and

also would have the capacity to run a robust governorship campaign when the chips are down.

Jerry Chukwueke Much as Chukwueke is assiduously working up a formidable political profile for himself, the Germaine Group boss is largely perceived as a seasonal leader who remembers his responsibilities to his people only in an election year. By far, he cannot be said to be on ground, but his immense work rate in recent times is gradually creating foot soldiers for him where there hitherto was none before.

It is not clear how close he has been with the state leadership of the PDP but for his entire sojourn in partisan politics, his appointment early in the year as the Chairman, Contact and Mobilisation Committee of the PDP, seems the highest party position and recognition he has attained since joining the PDP. The last that was heard of him was in 2007, when he tried to establish his presence in the politics of Imo State. Thereafter, he disappeared from the political scene until recently when he became a regular voice in the media. Chukwueke may be working quite hard but not hard enough to bag his party’s governorship ticket.

Humphrey Anumudu Anumudu’s outing in the 1999 governorship race in Imo State cannot be forgotten in a hurry. Though he seems to have progressively lost steam, Anumudu still boasts of a large chunk of loyal followers especially among the crowd that recalls his exploits during his 1999 bid for the Imo governorship seat.

Bethel Amadi Amadi is a third term legislator in the House of Representatives. Hitherto believed to be disconnected from his constituency, Amadi has in recent times put forward empowerment programmes that impacted a vast area of his constituency and gave a little more visibility to his person.

With some level of street popularity and an unexpected grassroots appeal, Amadi emerged candidate in 2011 defying the plots of the state government at the time and the conspiracy of some political heavyweights to strip him of the Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Federal Constituency mandate.

Though he is believed to be efficient in working quietly from the background, there is an air of aloofness around him that tends to contradict his supposed political savvy.

Chuka Odom Odom is a brilliant politician and lawyer. His intelligence easily stands him out in a crowd, but the Imo governorship is a different ball game altogether.

Odom has never been perceived as one who is on ground in Imo State despite the fact that he has been aspiring for the governorship seat of the state since 2007.

It is common knowledge that Odom is well connected to the high and mighty.

His stint as a minister further enlarged his political horizon bringing him in contact with even more influential power brokers in Nigerian politics.

His linkages of friends outside the state alone, may not adequately guarantee him the ticket of his party but if he has a corresponding network of allies strategically positioned in the power structure of the state, he may get more than a fair chance of securing his party’s confidence.

But as for competence and credibility, Odom has these in very rich supply, across diverse spheres.

Obinna Adim Very little is known of Adim in Imo besides being a former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Youth Empowerment. Not even the members of the state PDP executives knew anything about him until his sudden visit to the state party office to express his desire to run for the governorship of the state and display his Nomination and declaration of Interest forms.

Mike Ahamba Ahamba (SAN) has spent more years in opposition politics than he has for a ruling party.

He joined the PDP only recently.

Ahamba is respected in the Imo political circles but the governorship ticket of the party is for one who has grassroots appeal and a measure of acceptability across internal power blocs in the PDP. Ahamba is likely not the man for the ticket.

Ken Njemanze Scion of the Njemanze royal family of Owerri, Ken Njemanze (SAN) is a former Attorney General of the state.

Njemanze hails from the largest vot-

ing section of Owerri which is the municipality and has the ear of most of the influential power brokers in the state PDP. He is well able to fund his aspiration but may not be disposed to throwing money about as is often obtainable in primary elections.

Ken Ojiri Ojiri is a young and flourishing entrepreneur. His ambition to govern Imo in 2015 is his first foray into partisan politics. Though he is believed to have a sizeable chunk of the youth population in Owerri on his side, he evidently lacks depth in the real politics of party primaries.

Ojiri is generous and has enormous goodwill; yet it would still amount to an expensive gamble for the PDP to field him to fly the party’s flag in such a high-stake electoral battle.

Charles Onyeagbako Onyeagbako is a renowned lawyer with over 30-year experience at the bar.

Politically, he rose from the ranks; rising from a local government legislative leader to become the chairman of Owerri North council area and thereafter the Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Urban Planning.

Onyegbako primarily belongs to the political family of Udenwa. He is a product of the Redemption 98 structure. He has been running a robust, though quiet consultation tours across the 27 council areas in Imo State. Onyeagbako is running to win the PDP governorship primaries. The challenge is that while the Udenwa power bloc in the PDP favours a candidate from Owerri zone, Senator Hope Uzodinma and his group favour a candidate of Okigwe zone extraction.

This is where the strength of Onyeagbako’s political structure and reach comes into play. There may not be any certainty of securing the party’s ticket, but with Udenwa’s support, Onyeagbako may be a prospect.

Okey Ezeh Very little was known about Ezeh until recently when he threw his hat in the ring to contest the Imo governorship election on the platform of APGA. Ezeh is passionate about the possibilities before Imo under a selfless and astute governor.

But the ticket of the party is not always for the most promising but involves a lot of political variables of which seemingly, Ezeh knows relatively very little about.

Ezeh, a former banker, is battling Ihenacho for the APGA governorship ticket.

Chris Brown Amadi Amadi is a business mogul from the Ohaji Egbema axis of the state. He is widely known as a philanthropist but his decision to run for the top job in the state is by far ill-advised.

He happens to be the only Orlu man in the race and it needs no saying that Orlu is totally outside the calculation for the 2015 Imo governorship.

Osmond Imo Ukanacho Ukanacho is running for the governorship of the state on the platform of the United Progressive Party (UPP). Not much was known about him before now except that he is a successful businessman.

Ukanacho is likely going to emerge the sole candidate of his party but his walk to Douglas House thereafter, may not be entirely impossible given the dynamism of politics, but would indeed be tortuous and herculean.

Prof. Jude Njoku and Chief Chief Charles Onuoha are also in the governorship race.

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion

Stephen Keshi and Law 47

Simbo Olorunfemi “There is no better time to stop and walk away than after a victory. Keep going and you risk lessening the effect, even ending up defeated.”

- Robert Greene

I

t is obvious that Stephen Keshi has been reading the wrong book. If he had taken time to read Robert Greene’s “48 Laws of Power”, life might have turned out differently for him, and perhaps Nigeria, than it did in the last few months. In less than two years, he has gone full circle – from hero to zero. Knowing the right time to walk away never comes easy for anyone.

For Stephen Keshi, with the intrigues and shenanigans that attended his first stint as Chief Coach, even after he won the Nations Cup, to have opted to stay on is a study in naivety.

But then, he is not the first to make such a mistake.

Vincente del Bosque immediately comes to mind. He too fell for it, even though his circumstances differ. Finally, he can see that the signs are not good. He has smelt the coffee. He has announced his plan to quit as Spanish Football Manager after Euro 2014 - many years late, if you ask me. But he has luck on his side – his destiny still lies in his hands. Not many are that fortunate to have the privilege of leisure to decide on when to quit, when the results no longer go in tandem with expectations.

Knowing when to quit has never been the strength of many African leaders. Ibrahim Babangida did not see to stepping aside, until he had personally buried his own goodwill in a bid to rewrite history. Rather than fly away on the wings of June 12, he clipped the wings of a free

and fair election and buried himself in the rubble, as his plans came crashing, as if a plane from the synagogue hovered around it. He frittered away the chance fate had bestowed upon him for a rebirth. Twenty-one years after, he is still struggling to explain himself. He seeks, in vain, to re-enact the magic he lost in 1993.

There is a fable by Leo Tolstoy in Greene’s book – “Two cockerels fought on a dungheap. One cockerel was the stronger; he vanquished the other and drove him from the dungheap. All the hens gathered around the cockerel, and began to laud him. The cockerel wanted his strength and glory to be known in the next yard. He flew on top of the barn, flapped his wings, and crowed in a loud voice : ‘Look at me, all of you. I am a victorious cockerel. No other cockerel in the world has such strength as I.’ The cockerel had not finished, when an eagle killed him, seized him in his claws, and carried him to his nest.”

Stephen Keshi has been very fortunate as a football player and Coach. He is a Leader one can easily follow to battle, blind-folded. He has proven himself on and off the field. In fact, there are many things about the Keshi model that can positively impact the governance methodology that has run Nigeria aground. He came to the job prepared. He was able to stand his ground and build from the ground up, even in the face of cynicism.

Indeed, Nigeria needs a leader like Keshi, one with a road-map detailing where he wants to take the country. One who is ready to stick with it, and see his vision through, irrespective of criticism from those who do not know and do not know that they do not know. Nigeria is in dire need of a Keshi - a man not afraid to work with strong lieutenants. A man not intimidated by paper tigers mouthing jaded jargons borrowed from templates

handed down by Bretton Woods institutions, but one who can see original thought and locally-grown solutions for what they are. A man ready to push on a track he designed, irrespective of cynicism and sabotage by detractors. Nigeria needs a Keshi - a man ready to lose it all on the strength of his conviction. A man who will be ready to lay down his life so Nigeria can have hers.

Yet the Keshi leadership model has its limitations.

Stephen Keshi himself obviously has a few more things to learn. His strategy and tactics, sprinkled with a dose of good luck might have won Nigeria the Nation’s Cup, but good luck can only take one so far, especially when in violation of Robert Greene’s Law 47. Instructively, he argues that “…good luck is more dangerous than bad luck. Bad luck teaches valuable lessons about patience, timing, and the need to be prepared for the worst; good luck deludes you into the opposite lesson, making you think your brilliance will carry you through.”

The moment one chooses to quit is of great importance, Greene tells us. To keep going after a victory puts one at risk of lessening the effect of the accomplishment, with the possibility of defeat looming large. He reminds us that “the moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat.” Stephen Keshi missed the plot. He failed to seize the right moment to walk away. Law 47 enjoins one to “Always stop with a victory”. Keshi violated it. He is paying dearly for it.

• Olorunfemi, a brands and political strategist, works for Hoofbeatdotcom, a Nigerian Commmunications Consultancy.

Kalu: The attraction in Abia PDP Ebere Wabara

N

ot long ago, a bunch of disgruntled, famished and misguided rascally scallywags under the aegis of “PDP Youth Wing Abia State” sent a boyish open letter to the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, which was entitled “Orji Uzor Kalu: The distraction we don’t need in Abia PDP”. I giggle at this kind of inebriate juvenility!

I would have headlined this intervention “Kalu: A distraction indeed”, but had to settle for the above title to avoid needless misconceptions that could arise from some readers’ cerebral laziness and for the benefit of headline scanners. At the risk of intellectual sophistry, ‘distraction’ could be negative or positive depending on the level of one’s vocabulary capacity, etymological appreciation and contextualization. Having underscored this, it is certain that Kalu is positively a distraction to these boys’ benefactors’ shenenigans in the state! Otherwise, how can any sane person in his right frame of mind without any memory loss (amnesia) declare that Kalu, a founding member and foundational financier of the ruling party, is a distraction in Abia PDP in the negative sense? Even Abia PDP elders, patriots and other members of the oligarchy in the state know full well that this erroneousness is falsehood in its brazen blatancy!

The Abia youth messengers are like computer systems which when fed with garbage inevitably produce garbage too—there cannot be any sensibility in such applicative results. It is even worse when these unemployed, unemployable and easily pliable youth do not have minds of their own and are essentially concerned with survivalist instincts and other allied stomach infrastructural issues. In the manipulatively asphyxiating circumstance, any political jobbing is worth more than their while! Just finance and egg them on and they are ready to break

coconuts with their heads or even snuff out their own lives for a bowl of messy porridge suffused with condiments from slush funds and loot.

After needlessly and wastefully toasting to the ‘divine mandate’ and revolutionary credentials of Alhaji Mu’azu in the kindergarten full-page advertorial, published in THE NATION ON SUNDAY of September 14, 2014, Page 66, the first juvenile umbrage goes thus: “We did tell you among things (sic) that we do not want ORJI UZOR KALU readmitted into Abia Chapter of the Party. Apart from the collateral damage his re – entry (sic) may cause the Party, we are aware that his readmittance (sic) would (sic) reintroduce politics of division in Abia, which was the most prominent trait of his years in Abia PDP.” The nursery blunders apart, admission or readmission of political party members is not the function of the office of the chairman. Those who sent these ignorant chaps should have let them know the guidelines concerning these associational basics. How will Kalu’s fundamental return to the party cause any ‘collateral damage’? There is need for specificity in these matters—not just drunken blanket petitions and specious probabilities (“may cause”). These children need to be civilized: in politics, there will always be disagreements, agreements, alignments, realignments, defections, garrulity, antagonisms, gobbledygook, combativeness, rancour, reunions, friendships, unity and divisions, enmities, altercations, misquotations, squabbles, pugilism, rambunctiousness, betrayals, treachery, fixations, suspicions, distrusts, fisticuffs, backbiting, backstabbing, ingratitude, hatred, love, denials, rebuttals, fatalities, fatalistic tendencies and other innumerable untoward and unwholesome manifestations. Overall, there are no permanent friends, but fixed/stock interests.

Therefore, to childishly say or fear that Kalu’s inevitable comeback to the PDP family has the potentialities of igniting or reigniting any of these domestic elements of our brand of democracy is to advertise shallowness! One of my sons in primary 5 about to sit his common entrance examination knows these

Nigerian political drawbacks like a mature adult. They will always be there whether Kalu returns or not.

The misbegotten youth also talked about Kalu “reintroducing politics of division in Abia”. I will not expend my precious time on this nonissue except to call the attention of these boys to a full-page advertisement in major national newspapers of October 30, 2014, including DAILY SUN (Page 9), by Abia Senators Caucus of the National Assembly, Abuja, entitled “Petition Against Illegal Congress/Primary Election Committee in Abia State”. Is this exemplar a creation of Kalu? Where then lies the phony unity? The scales are belatedly falling off the eyes of our representatives and they are beginning to see clearly the truck-loads of lies, deception and dubiousness.

Another gangster deceit by the youth wing: “The Youths (unnecessary capitalization and ‘youths’ or ‘the youth’) were (no longer?) insistent in (on) their rejection of the admittance (no, re-admittance) of Orji Uzor Kalu.”

Are these boys members of the PDP NEC and NWC to dogmatically prescribe entry, exit and re-entry parameters in the party? In a sane society, can these characters look Kalu in the face for whatever reason? I can understand the leadership grouse about Kalu in the state, but where do I place these boys in the entire scheme of politicking and intrigues? Are they equally detractors of Kalu and over what? Even if anyone sends you to commit patricide, must you do it no matter the recompense?

Yet another deviancy from the boys under reference: “Orji Uzor Kalu seems (a demonstrative uncertainty!) to have fraternized with those who are in opposition with (against) PDP more than any person living or dead. There are ominous signs (suspicious realm!) everywhere that PDP’s political enemies are his friends.”

Who are these political neophytes and kindergartners? Pre-eminently, Kalu is a nationallyknown pan-Nigerian with friends and associates across all the country’s six geopolitical zones: he is at home in all places. No apologies for this. In any case, these messengers should be educated on the norms of democracy to wit that there are no more associational Berlin Walls or ideological rigidities/obstinacies in

politics globally. The current trend is that it is a thin line between one party and the other.

What matter most are the people—not the platforms. And this explains why the Constitution allows defections and political party mergers.

In fact, if there was independent candidacy, Kalu would be in the forefront.

These boys also quoted the personal opinion of my friend Ochereome Nnanna which contradicts Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) on freedom of association in morbid support of their ludicrous advertorial. No columnist has the right or freedom to challenge/ question or misinterpret any part of the Constitution no matter the grounds or subject.

The moment we allow this kind of subjective effrontery and journalistic rascality, the society becomes irredeemably endangered, if not doomed. If anyone is disenchanted with the laws of the land, there are cumbersome constitutional methodologies for amendments and reviews. Nothing else is acceptable!

The anaemic and wrong-headed advertorial signed by one Jerry Ogbonna, State Youth Leader, makes this last odious submission in upper case: “AN ORJI UZOR KALU IN ABIA PDP WOULD (will, you mean?) INTRODUCE AN UNNECESSARY DISTRACTION INIMICAL TO THE SUCCESS OF ANY SERIOUS POLITICAL PARTY DETERMINED TO WIN ELECTIONS AND OFFER QUALITY LEADERSHIP.” As I pointed out in the preface, Kalu’s distraction is necessary and contributory to the expansive fortunes of the PDP which he co-founded and on which platform he seeks to serve as a senator after two terms of better leadership as governor of Abia State.

At the risk of overemphasis, Kalu is the only political asset in Nigeria that is grossly misunderstood, most mismanaged, rabidly maligned, viciously mud-slung and ruthlessly misperceived to the hilt! His political sagacity, candour, clout, envious entrepreneurship, local famousness and international popularity have combined to be his antithesis where his jealous hypercritics tread vanishingly!

•Wabara (ewabara@yahoo.com/08055001948) is the media adviser to Dr. Kalu.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

19

EDITORIAL

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Expressways as death traps

he whole essence of government is about the people.

No organisation exists in a vacuum; there must be individuals to make meaningful impact and in the case of administration, citizens are the hub in any society.

What goes on is a two-way traffic. Government relies on citizens for effective administration while the governed also contribute their own quota in a give and take manner.

There has been so much blood shed on our roads that Nigeria ranks among the highest in terms of death through traffic accidents. The factors cannot be ignored.

Recklessness on the part of operators and road users, bad roads, rickety vehicles and so many other factors are responsible.

Perhaps, negligence on the part of government has not been properly factored into the outrageous death rate.

There are laws in place, especially in Lagos that criminalise pedestrians crossing the Expressway, where there are Pedestrian bridges. So, many of the awaiting trial inmates in our prisons were arrested by government offi-

Over the years, there have been a number of deaths on our roads, simply because pedestrians are compelled to dash across very busy roads in pursuit of their daily bread cials for this singular reason.

It is baffling that the same government that orders the detention of citizens for not using pedestrian bridges is also guilty of not providing these same safe alternatives.

Over the years, there have been a number of deaths on our roads, simply because pedestrians are compelled to dash across very busy roads in pursuit of their daily bread.

The toll from these government induced deaths keeps rising by the day. Our roads have not only become free for highway robbers to operate; they are more of death traps.

We can name some of these dangerous roads. Lagos, with all the huge popu-

lation stands out, not just as the Centre of Excellence; it is also a theatre of death through road crossing. The Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway could have taken more lives than Boko Haram.

A few spots will suffice. Cement and Mangoro Bus stops might as well be named Black Spots. Such tags will help to remind road users of the danger around those areas.

Even posterity might use it to judge some leaders. After all, the sea port of Point Noire [Black Point] in Congo was so named because of the obnoxious trade in humans.

The Oshodi-Apapa Expressway is another blood sucking freeway. Sanya and Iyana Isolo bus stops have taken more lives than the Ebola toll in the whole of West Africa.

In Benin,University of Benin students were almost going to block the Ugbowo- Uselu road, following multiple deaths through hit and run drivers before government provided the much needed flyover.

In Owerri, students of Alvan Ikoku College of Education had more than enough deaths in front of their gate before the present pedestrian bridge was constructed.

Questions must be asked:

why should any government award a road contract without provision for pedestrian bridges? There is even one irony in Lagos.

Construction giant, Julius Berger has one bus stop named after it just before Ojota. That busy spot has no overhead bridge. A trip to the area is a call to bloodletting.

Pedestrians are crushed as much as children are orphaned in Gwoza.

Government talks of safety and standards, yet the same government is guilty.

There are cries over building collapse and government is pointing accusing fingers at landlords and developers. The same government is also guilty of building roads without necessary pedestrian bridges.

It is time to take responsibility and apportion blame.

Citizens are compelled to pay tax, and at the same time, they are compelled to venture across roads in what could sound like suicide mission.

It is the duty of government to play its part. Laws are not only for citizens, irresponsible government should not be spared. We demand a change and Nigerians should be spared all these unnecessary gory sights on our roads.

Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief n Eric Osagie Deputy Managing Directors n Gabriel Akinadewo

Felix Oguejiofor Abugu

Managing Editor n Suleiman Uba Gaya

Editor, Daily n Yemi Ajayi

Editor, Saturday n Laurence Ani

Editor, Sunday n Emeka Madunagu

Deputy Editors, Daily n Emeka Obasi, Ayodele Ojo

Bureau Chief, Brussels n Leo Cendrowicz

Bureau Chief, Washington DC n Marshall Comins

Editorial Coordinator, Europe n Sam Amsterdam

Ag. Bureau Chief, Abuja n Onwuka Nzeshi News Editor n Geoffrey Ekenna

Business Development Manager n Taiwo Ahmed

Ag. Sales/Circulation Manager n Uchey Okezie

Head, Graphics n Timothy Akinleye

Head, Admin. n Robinson Ezeh

20

Politics

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 5

bers for words spoken on the floor, or in the chambers.

We addressed the issue of institutional governance. We addressed the question of legal reform of the court. We addressed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act on interlocutory appeals against judgements of the court on motions. This is why no governor has been jailed; instead they are in the Senate. No minister has been jailed; instead they are still walking on the streets. All because of the way the court themselves have breached the act on the cases brought before them. We addressed all those issues. The record is there. They may not take it today, but when the system collapses and things fall apart, they will go back to the National Conference report.

How did you feel when attacks came your way while presiding over sessions or when you took some decisions while the conference was on?

Let me give you one illustration. The first people to be dissatisfied with a ruling I gave were the people from the SouthWest and so the word got around that; “The deputy chairman has sold out to the North and that the people from the South-West were very displeased.” Two weeks later, the Northern caucus led a delegation to the chairman to say they were unhappy with the deputy chairman because he was carrying out a South-West agenda. So, the chairman said to them; “Wait a minute, is it the same deputy chairman that the SouthWest have come to complain about that he has sold out to you that you are now complaining about?” I was sitting next to the chairman and everybody just burst out laughing as people picked up their files and bags, and just walked out.

When you are occupying a position and playing a role like that, be your own man and be faithful to your own conscience. Of course, there are people who will not like the decision you have taken because it goes against them. But be your own man and at the end of the day, people came round to apologise, and like I said, I was just laughing. This is Nigeria, so you expect it. How many people attack judges for judgement given? Even lawyers whom I think at times step beyond the line; you are holding a press conference in front of the Supreme Court that God is the only ultimate Supreme Court judge and we would do this or we would do that.

So what were your low and high moments while you were at the confab?

I don’t think I had any low moment Even when you were accused of having sold out?

It didn’t bother me. I was angry. May be that stands like a contradiction. I was angry because it was to intimidate me.

You want me in your corner as deputy chairman and because I refused to be in your corner; then you now accused me of being with someone else. But at the end of the day, we still managed to have a safe landing.

In politics, as in life, there is no absolute truth; none. When people talk about true federalism, what does that mean?

The federalism practise in Sweden is different from the federalism practised in Canada and it is different from the one practised in United States and in Nigeria.

What we need to do is to look at the realities of our own national life and try to design a system that would address those realities and not talk about some theoretical concept called true federalism.

Right from day one, I thought that my role as deputy chairman was to assist the chairman to make sure there was no break down; to make sure there was no walk-out. And at the end, that is what we did. There was no walk-out, there was no break down but there were major dis-

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

‘High nomination fees breed corruption’

heard people saying; “I have never heard of something like this happening in any other countries in the world.” And some of the people that say this are people I respect a lot. The reason you have never heard of it happening in any country in the world is because they don’t talk about it. Every day, billions are moved in surreptitious ways to buy arms for one purpose or the other and nobody talks about it. In matters of security and intelligence; you should always ask two questions: Did the government know about this? If the answer is no; then there is a problem and it must be investigated.

But if government says I know about it, the money is mine, then it’s okay. Two, what for and they said to buy weapons to fight the insurgency. The National Security Adviser (NSA) signed the end user certificate, which the law dictates.

What more do you want. What business is yours in the plane it is flown? Do you know how many airlines the CIA has set up all around the world that it uses?

This happens all the time; government buys weapons under the table, over the table, beside the table, whatever it is and they pay for it in all kind of ways. You give them crude oil to pay for it. And people now want to make a song and dance about it.

Akinyemi

agreements. There were times we got to the edge of the cleave. A diplomat is used to that; how you get people back from the edge of the cleave; that is diplomacy.

Nobody ever gets 100 per cent of what you want but you get enough to protect your interest and so, you declare victory.

But I also get enough to protect my interest and I declared victory. And that is what happened that over 600 recommendations were adopted and none by voting but by consensus.

And if you are to vote in 2015, who will you choose between President Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari or Atiku Abubakar?

I will vote in 2015 but who I vote for would remain a secret. That is the essence of the secret ballot. I am not going to endorse any of the candidates simply because I have had a view for a long time that some people who have held high offices of state, whether as president or minister should remove themselves from partisan politics so that when crisis arises, their voice can be raised and when their voices are raised, Nigerians would give credibility to what they are saying. But if we all leap into the political fray, endorsing this, endorsing that, campaigning for this, campaigning for that, then when the rainy days come and you are now trying to rescue people from the flood, they would be looking at you and say is this not this PDP man or this APC man or this panadol or aspirin man? I don’t want people to box me into one partisan corner.

Just as I think that former presidents and former Heads of State in this country should elevate their role above partisan politics. To me, that is statesmanship and that is when you are going to have statesmen you can call upon in times of troubles.

You were once a Minister of Foreign Affairs and recently there were issues between Nigeria and South Africa over $9.3 million and $5.7 million arms deals. How do you see the whole situation?

South Africa has returned the money.

Yes, but the money generated a lot of issues.

You know we are a funny country and at times we are a stupid country. I have

Why then did South Africa make issues out of it?

Why did South Africa return the money? It is South Africa you should ask, why did you make the noise only for you to return the money quietly.

It is insane, immoral, and indecorous. You just give the impression that offices of state are for sales

What is your take on the creation of new polling units by INEC? What is your advice to Nigerians as the 2015 general election approaches?

INEC should make absolutely sure that it does not embark on anything that is going to be controversial. It could be right but if it is controversial for an election that already is hyped; people have developed high blood pressure higher than the world had ever known over something that is coming; then be very wise in the measures you are going to put in place.

And it is not everything that is legal that is wise. That is my advice to INEC. My advice to all of us is that we must douse the tension in the country. The world is not going to end in 2015 irrespective of who wins that election. There is going to be a winner and a loser. Unfortunately, we Nigerians are bad losers; it will still go all the way to the Supreme Court.

So, the Supreme Court will finally decide who is the president, who is the governor and even who is the chairman of the local government as the case goes up and down. But the world will not come to an end. There would be life after the election.

So, don’t let us behave as if the world will come to an end if X loses or if Y loses.

The confab recommended 18 additional states whereas the existing states are battling to survive.

Yes, the confab did. I just sat there counting the votes. It is not my faults. I didn’t agree with everything they did.

But some of the existing states are even finding it difficult to pay salaries and now we want to expand...

When you have 492 delegates; different caucuses now reaching different compromises to make sure that you scratch my back, I scratch your back. So, are you giving me my own state, I will support your own state.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

21

Money Line

Issue of the Week

More snags for banks with huge NPLs

CAP Plc: Resilient to environmental challenges

Drop in oil prices has further dampened investors’ appetite –Ajayi

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42-43

Delayed payments of N126m threatens GESS

Stock Watch

Interview

Business Nigerian banks, others What's news

Nigeria bleeds through lopsided aviation pact –Operators

Nigerian airlines under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have again cried out to government for assistance in halting the granting of routes to foreign airlines.

p.22

lose N4.8bn to e-frauds DISTURBING Lenders recorded 916 cases of attempted e-fraud

volume of 30 cases valued at N72.5 million, which, he said, resulted in a total loss of N32 million to the institutions.

“As it stands now, there is a need for operators in the industry to comply with all necessary payment certifications

that are global standards, most especially the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS),” Ojior said.

The PCI-DSS offers robust and comprehensive standards and supporting materials to enhance payment card data

security.

The materials include a framework of specifications, tools, measurements and support resources to help organisations ensure the safe handling CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Kunle Azeez

Govt loses N222bn to import waivers The Federal Government has lost N222.33 billion to import waivers in the last three years.

p.22

The Business Desk Ayodele Aminu

Deputy Editor (Business)

Bayo Akomolafe

Asst. Editor (Maritime)

Sunday Ojeme

Asst. Editor (Insurance)

Godson Ikoro

Asst. Editor (Money Market)

Dele Alao

Industry & Agric Editor

Dayo Ayeyemi Property Editor

Adeola Yusuf Energy Editor

Wole Shadare Aviation Editor

Chris Ugwu

Capital Market Editor

D

espite the innovations and benefits the cashless policy has brought into the Nigerian economy, the scheme is facing series of challenges arising from electronic frauds, as Nigerian commercial banks, other financial institutions (OFIs) including mobile payment operators (MPOs), have lost a whopping N4.8 billion this year alone, New Telegraph has exclusively gathered.

The losses were recorded within the first nine months of the year.

Chief Risk Officer, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Mr Osioke Ojior, disclosed this to our correspondent in Lagos.

Ojior, who spoke on the sideline of this year’s annual electronic fraud conference organised by the Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN), said that electronic fraud is assuming a new dimension in the country, requiring urgent actions to curb.

Citing an electronic fraud report by NIBSS, which chronicles cases of online frauds perpetrated in the industry between January and September 2014, Ojior said that the banks recorded an attempted e-fraud volume of 916 cases amounting to N4.7 billion, but finally lost N4.8 billion.

Also, OFIs and MPOs recorded attempted e-fraud

L-R: Corporate Services Manager, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Mr Oladimeji Oduyebo; Representative of Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs Alaba Fadairo and Executive Director/Founder, Children Emergency Relief Foundation (CERF), Mrs Abosede Oyeleye, during the presentation of CERF award for Best Child Health Care supporting Organisation to Fidson Healthcare Plc in Lagos.

Airport remodelling gulps over N40bn –Experts

•Operators decry Lagos airport decay Wole Shadare

D

espite the over N40 billion spent to remodel most of the nation’s airports, airlines have taken a swipe at the infrastructure decay at most of the aerodromes, saying most of them, especially the Lagos international air-

port is in a sorry, unfinished state.

Although no official figure has been given as amount spent on the remodelling, experts are of the view that the project could have grossed over N40 billion.

Executive chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON),

Captain Noggie Meggison, in his paper presented at a seminar at the weekend, lamented that the passenger processing and baggage collection wings have been modernised, but regretted that the finger bridges are falling apart and decaying CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Abdulwahab Isa Finance Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE September 2014.....................8.3% August 2014............................8.5% July 2014.................................8.3%

LENDING RATE InterBank Rate....................11.57% Prime Lending Rate...........16.93% Maximum Lending Rate...25.83%

EXCHANGE RATE

(Parellel As at Nov. 7)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N173 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N278 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N216

l Foreign Reserves – $38.07bn as at 6/11/2014

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Official As at Nov. 7)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N156.80 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N249.43 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N196.04

22

Business | News

FAIR DEAL

Stakeholders canvass 5 per ecnt route consumption charge on all BASA frequencies that Nigeria currently reciprocates Wole Shadare

N

igerian airlines under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have again cried out to government for assistance in halting the granting of routes to foreign airlines.

They noted that the nation is bleeding through the generous granting of traffic rights to international airlines, which they said violates the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and foreign nations.

The operators stated that it would be very unfair to Nigerian aviation if this source of income were lost.

One of the operators, who preferred anonymity, said that aviation should be seen as an economic resource that should be tapped, adding that BASA should be equitable and mutually benefitting between Ni-

Nigeria bleeds through lopsided aviation pact –Operators geria and other foreign countries, as obtainable in the oil sector.

The source disclosed that the chairman of AON, Captain Noggie Meggison, had written a long and strong position on the issue in a letter first dated July 16, 2014.

Corroborating the source, Meggison told

rapidly with temperatures over 40C in the afternoons.

Noggie who spoke on behalf of the operator regretted that it is “becoming a disgrace to the face of our beloved country as this is the first point of contact on arrival into Nigeria.”

He, however, recommended that airlines, banks and blue-chip companies should be allowed to bid for the 16 finger-bridges, adding that the bid should be thrown open to them with a maximum of one finger awarded to each successful bidder to develop and brand to a minimum laid-down standard by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The Chief Executive Officer of Jed Air disclosed that airplane parking is becoming a nightmare, with ground accidents, which he said has tripled over the past three years.

His words: “Thirty per cent of cargo planes cannot find space to park at the cargo ramp. They are sent to international

New Telegraph that Nigerian government should start charging a certain percentage in the name of “Route Consumption Charge, adding that five per cent route consumption charge should be levied on all BASA frequencies that Nigeria currently reciprocates.

According to him,

“for example, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have a total of 21 frequencies into Nigeria while Arik Air only reciprocates seven frequencies. Therefore, seven reciprocated frequencies should be charged at five per cent.”

The remaining unreciprocated 14 frequen-

cies should be charged at 25 per cent. 40 per cent route consumption charge should be levied on all BASA frequencies to countries where Nigeria is not reciprocating at all like what is obtainable in Kenya, Ethiopia, France, Turkey, Germany and other places.”

The duo recommend-

L-R: Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Banking & Currency, Jones Onyereri, Deputy Chairman of the committee, Haruna Manu and MD / CE NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim discussing during the House committee’s oversight visit to NDIC Lagos office.

Airport remodelling gulps over N40bn CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

wing of the Lagos airport or have to park on the taxi temporarily. The ramp has not been expanded in the past three decades.”

“At MMA 1, the ramp can only take six airplanes. Arik’s 11am departures are a problem.

As of now, Arik not only uses the maintenance apron for boarding, but now have to park airplanes inside their hangar to board passengers. With Air Peace joining soon with seven airplanes, one can only imagine the impending chaos.”

He stated that MMA 2 has two processing points/scanning machines to process passengers, with about 15 departures before 8am, stressing that with the entrance of more airlines into the sector, the airport lack more parking spaces for airplanes which he noted could cause serious chaos.

“MMA 2 also has parking issues. Airplanes sometimes have to keep engines running with passengers on-board while waiting for a space to park.”

ABUSE Past governments were responsible for reckless abuse of import waivers to individuals Bayo Akomolafe

T

he Federal Government has lost N222.33 billion to import waivers in the last three years.

It was learnt that government granted N196.53 billion worth of import waivers between 2011 and 2013.

Data from the Federal Ministry of Finance revealed that the country lost the sum of N55.96 billion, N55.34 billion and N59.42 billion to import waivers in 2011, 2012 and 2013 fiscal years respectively.

Also, in the first five months of 2014, the country lost N25.8 billion to waivers and exemptions.

In 2003, N12.4 billion; 2004, N55.8 billion; 2005, N71.244

ed that internal multicity hops by foreign carriers must be prohibited and stopped with immediate effect to save local airlines from extinction, that is, Air France flying Port Harcourt-Abuja, Ethiopian Airlines flying Abuja-Kano.

To them, foreign carriers should be compelled to interline with local carriers of their choice and develop them up to their standard. This, they said, would encourage transfer of skills and technology and also create jobs for Nigerians.

On unemployed pilots, Meggison, stated that currently, there are over 300 youth pilots and 150 aircraft maintenance engineers without jobs in Nigeria.

He recalled that 150 pilots and engineers from the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme have been trained by the Federal Government and are without jobs, adding that Kano State government is training another 100 pilots in Jordan, due to return in December, 2014.

Govt loses N222bn to import waivers billion; 2006, N54.921 billion; 2007, N42.598billion; January and March, 2008 N9.512billion were lost to individuals.

It was alleged that the import duty waivers of N165 billion were granted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to 1,843 beneficiaries in 2007 alone.

Concessions were also granted indiscriminately to state governments, companies, government agencies, private sector operators and religious organisations.

It was revealed that importers of steel, rice and palm oil were feeding fat on the abuse.

The importers of steel, for instance, were allowed to pay 20 per cent levy instead of the normal 50 per cent.

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, blamed past government for reckless abuse of import waivers to in-

dividuals instead of corporate organisations and investors.

At a forum organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs in Abuja, the minister described the previous import waiver policy as being selective.

She explained that the trend had provided an unequal playing field for businesses operating in the country, but said that the Federal Government now grants import waiver to different sectors of the economy instead of individuals and individual industries.

Okonjo-Iweala said that the decision was as a result of the reform of the country’s import waiver policy to encourage more investment in the country to boost the economy.

Nigerian banks lose N4.8bn to e-frauds CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

of cardholder information at every step.

He explained that there was a need also for social cooperation among all stakeholders to ensure that electronic frauds are nipped in the bud or reduced significantly.

“We need to strengthen our laws by ensuring that necessary bills pending at the National Assembly are passed into laws and are enforced appropriately. We need to tighten the noose because, as more electronic payment channels are created by the banks and other institutions, e-fraud is also assuming an

amazing dimension,” he said.

To encourage more Nigerians that are not yet participating in the nascent e-payment system to come in, Ojior said: “The system has to be secure to give them the confidence and build thrust in them, so that they can transact businesses electronically without fear and uncertainty.”

INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

In collaboration with

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 Copyright © 2014 The New York Times

Sanctity of Truth

Conflict Feeds Erdogan’s Power in Turkey

By TIM ARANGO

ANKARA, Turkey — Sprawling over about 20 hectares of forest land that was once the private estate of Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a new presidential compound has nearly 1,000 rooms, an underground tunnel system and the latest in anti-espionage technology.

It is larger than the White House, the Kremlin and Buckingham Palace. The reported price: nearly $350 million.

Then there is a new high-tech presidential jet (estimated price, $200 million), not to mention the new presidential office in a

restored Ottoman-era mansion overlooking the Bosporus, all of which have been acquired to serve the outsized ambitions Recep of one ma n: Tayyip President Recep Erdogan Tayyip Erdogan.

Mr. Erdogan has been in power for more than a decade, an Islamist politician and prime minister who was touted as a role model in the Muslim world for having reconciled his faith with democracy. But now

Mr. Erdogan stands for something quite different. As with Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, it does not matter which position Mr. Erdogan holds: He is his nation’s paramount leader.

In Turkey, the president is technically second to the prime minister. But in practice, when Mr. Erdogan was elected president in August, he absorbed the power and privilege of the prime minister’s post into his new position. And like Mr. Putin, who also shifted between the presidency and prime minister’s office, the stronger Mr. Erdogan has grown, the tenser relations have become

with the United States.

“He really has both offices, in a lot of ways,” said Steven A. Cook, a Turkey expert and fellow at of the Council on Foreign Relations in the United States, referring to Mr. Erdogan.

At the beginning of the year, none of this was assured. Still reeling from the antigovernment demonstrations of the summer of 2013, Mr. Erdogan was confronted with a wide-ranging corruption scandal that targeted him and his inner circle, prompting many analysts to predict the demise of his government.

Instead, he has used his con-

flict with Washington and his political enemies as a force to help consolidate power, as he continues to carry out the duties associated with the prime minister. He has rallied his conservative base behind his religiously infused agenda, clashing with United States policy for confronting Islamic State militants, while also blaming foreign interference for the growing catalog of crises he faces. As Turkey’s challenges have magnified — fighting on its border with Syria, strained relations with its NATO allies,

Con­­tin­­ued on Page 26

Defying Death To Regain Viewers

By EMILY STEEL

For live television, luring viewers has truly become a matter of life and death.

As the sun set over the Chicago skyline on November 2, the daredevil Nik Wallenda stepped onto a tightrope suspended 180 meters above the ground and walked more than two city blocks from the Marina City west tower to the Leo Burnett Building. It took him 6:51 minutes and was done at a 19-degree slant across the Chicago River, setting the world record for the steepest incline in a tightrope walk between buildings.

Then Mr. Wallenda made it still riskier. He took the elevator down, returned to the Marina City west tower, put on a blindfold and crossed to the east tower at a height of more than 150 meters. He walked the rope quickly, in 1:17 minutes. It was the highest blindfolded walk recorded.

Both stunts were carried out without a net or a harness as a multitude of cameras documented them for the Discovery Channel, which beamed each step onto television and digital screens across more than 220 countries and territories. In the United States, the stunt drew 6.7 million viewers.

The high-wire act illustrated the extreme risks some television networks are taking to attract lucrative, live audiences in the age of fragmented,

JEAN-MARC GIBOUX/AP IMAGES FOR DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

Nik Wallenda’s high-wire walk over Chicago on November 2, was seen in 220 countries and territories.

ONLINE: RISKY TELEVISION

A blindfolded aerialist walks between skyscrapers in a windy Chicago: nytimes.com Search daredevil Chicago

on-demand viewing. Beyond sports and major pop culture events, luring mass live viewership is a challenge.

Discovery is finding that extreme stunts are the exception.

“There is something just really compelling about watching people push themselves to the limit,” said Howard Swartz, Discovery’s executive pro-

ducer for the “Skyscraper Live With Nik Wallenda” stunt. “There is an element of must-see. There is an element of risk. There is an element of awe and danger and inspiration that is very compelling and relatable.”

Though it was marketed as a live event, viewers didn’t see Mr. Wallenda’s walk in real time. Discovery used a 10-second delay. Should anything have gone wrong, network executives said, “nothing that is insensitive or inappropriate” would have been broadcast.

Events like this have raised questions about how far entertainment companies should go in programs

where the threat of death is real.

“To show something like this live truly borders on the grotesque,” said Grant McCracken, an anthropologist who studies television and culture.

Mr. Wallenda walked across Niagara Falls in 2012. ABC broadcast the stunt but required that he wear a safety device, he said. The next year, Mr. Wallenda took his act to Discovery, which did not require a safety net or a harness for his walk across the Grand Canyon. The program drew 13 million viewers and was Discovery’s

Con­­tin­­ued on Page 27

INTELLIGENCE

WORLD TRENDS

MONEY & BUSINESS

ARTS & DESIGN

Capital punishment loses support. PAGE 24

A gaming obsession in South Korea. PAGE 25

The new behemoths of ocean transit. PAGE 31

For the Dutch, a death still haunts. PAGE 34

24

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2014

O P I N I O N & C O M M E N TA RY

ED I T O R I A L S O F T H E T I M ES

A Boko Haram Rampage

More than six months have passed since the Boko Haram extremist group seized the world’s attention by kidnapping 276 schoolgirls in Nigeria. After a “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign went viral, the United States, France, Britain and Israel joined an international effort to locate the girls. That effort has been fruitless. Fifty-seven of the girls have escaped, but 219 remain captive. In recent months, Boko Haram has stepped up its efforts, kidnapping young women and teenagers from their homes and schools.

On October 18, the day after the Nigerian military announced

that it had reached a cease-fire agreement with the group, Boko Haram went on a house-to-house search for young women in two Nigerian towns, taking 60. The following weekend, Boko Haram kidnapped 30, including girls as young as 11 years old.

A horrible fate awaits the abducted, as documented by Human Rights Watch in a recent report. Boko Haram singles out mostly Christians, threatening them with death if they do not

convert to Islam, and forcing teenagers into “marriages” with Boko Haram fighters. The captives are raped, beaten and tortured.

More than 7,000 Nigerians have died since Boko Haram began its insurgency in 2009. In the first six months of this year, the group killed 2,053 civilians. Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs, Aminu Wali, claimed in October that talks with Boko Haram were continuing and a deal would be

reached soon. Nigerians have heard such promises before.

The government and army are part of the problem. The government has failed in its fundamental duty to protect some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens and help the victims who have escaped recover from their trauma. The army — corrupt, ill-equipped and understaffed — has itself committed grave human-rights abuses. The Nigerian government must ensure that

perpetrators of abuse on both sides are called to account.

President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to announce that he will run for re-election in February. Securing the captives’ release would give Mr. Jonathan’s candidacy a boost. But to break Boko Haram’s sway over one of Nigeria’s poorest regions, Mr. Jonathan must find ways to distribute the nation’s oil wealth more fairly and provide the jobs, education and vital services many Nigerians lack. These are long-term tasks, but signs of a genuine effort to address inequality and to reform the army would help.

INTELLIGENCE/SYLVIE KAUFFMANN

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Nudged Away From Executions

Flying Blind in a War

Paris When Felix G. Rohatyn went to Paris as the American ambassador in 1997, he expected the most controversial subject he’d face to be the famous French mistrust of “American hegemony.” To his surprise, the number-one issue turned out to be the death penalty.

The “enormous revulsion of the French” over the issue, he told me in 2001 after his return to New York, was eye-opening, as was his friendship with Robert Badinter, the French minister of justice who, under President François Mitterrand, led the fight for the abolition of capital punishment in 1981.

“All those demonstrations, in front of the embassy and the consulates, showed how really passionate people were,” Mr. Rohatyn said. “And in the end, I thought they were probably right.”

Two recent magazine articles — one French, the other American — demonstrate that while the issue has not gone away in Paris, it has taken a new turn in the United States. There has been a big change in American attitudes toward capital punishment during the last decade, and Europe has played a part in it.

In September, Le Monde magazine published a story about Mr. Badinter’s return to La Santé prison in Paris, now closed for renovation. There, in 1972, he witnessed the execution by guillotine of one of the last inmates senSylvie Kauffmann is the editorial director and a former editor in chief of Le Monde. Send comments to intelligence@ nytimes.com.

tenced to death in France, a man for whom he, as a lawyer, had desperately tried to win a reprieve.

“The shadow of the guillotine is everywhere,” Mr. Badinter, now 86, somberly observed.

Across the Atlantic, the September issue of Texas Monthly carried a long profile of Michelle Lyons, a former reporter with The Huntsville Item who spent more than a decade working as a public affairs officer for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. By the time she departed, she had witnessed 278 executions. She told Texas Monthly, “I think about it all the time.”

If Mr. Badinter is haunted by the guillotine 42 years after the one execution he attended, it would come as no surprise to Europeans that Ms. Lyons is troubled after witnessing 278 inmates die.

What’s new is that Ms. Lyons is unloading her feelings, and finding an audience in her own country.

Support for the death penalty in America, according to a Gallup poll, is now at 63 percent, down from 80 percent in the ’90s.

Relentlessly, over the past three decades, European public opinion, campaigners and, finally, governments have pressed the mighty United States on the issue. Even the European Commission got involved in 2011, banning the export of eight lethal-injection drugs used by states’ prison departments. The European Union’s “Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy,” adopted in 2012, makes the fight against the death penalty a priority.

Capital punishment remains a legal sentence in 32 states, but the trend is clear: Six states have

INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY NANCY LEE Executive editor TOM BRADY Editor ALAN MATTINGLY Managing editor The New York Times International Weekly 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018

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abolished the death penalty in the last six years, and more than a dozen others are observing a moratorium on executions.

Two factors have been decisive in the retreat of capital punishment in the United States over the past 15 years. One is the campaign waged by admirable American lawyers to prove the innocence of wrongly convicted people, sometimes with the help of DNA evidence; this campaign has led to the exoneration of 146 inmates on death row since 1973.

The fact that these men could have been executed for crimes they did not commit is troubling to many American citizens.

The other factor is the shortage of drugs used for execution because, under pressure from European activists, pharmaceutical firms stopped selling them to death penalty states. The shortage has plunged the execution industry into disarray.

Some states began experimenting with other drugs or different protocols. Sometimes this works, sometimes it does not. Botched procedures, like the April 29 execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma, which had to be called off as he writhed, convulsed and tried to rise from the gurney, but nevertheless died from a heart attack 43 minutes later, have given new meaning to the “cruel and unusual punishments” banned by the Constitution.

To European campaigners, for the machinery of death to be so stubbornly persistent is beyond comprehension and only strengthens their determination.

Europe and America, after all, are supposed to share the same values.

“The death penalty has never fit well with the fundamental ideals of this country,” remarked Richard Dieter, head of the Death Penalty Information Center, at a recent meeting in Washington.

It has not fit well either with the European idea of American ideals. And the European Union has made it known. This is Europe’s soft power at its best.

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, has accompanied its brutal takeover of large swaths of Iraq and Syria with the kidnapping and beheading of journalists. Any Western journalists who would dare to venture into ISIS territory today would be risking their lives every second. So the United States is now involved in the first prolonged war in the modern Middle East that American reporters and photographers can’t cover firsthand. That is not good.

But it gets worse. The Times reported in October that ISIS had one of its British hostages act as a combat reporter in a propaganda video from the Syrian town of Kobani, “forecasting that the town is about to fall to militants despite waves of American airstrikes,” and suggesting that ISIS was getting even more savvy in promoting its cause by adopting the techniques of a 24-hour news channel. “ ‘Hello, I’m John Cantlie,’ the hostage says in the video, ‘and today we are in the city of Kobani on the Syrian-Turkish border. That is, in fact, Turkey right behind me.’ ” And it will get even worse.

Dylan Byers, Politico’s media reporter, wrote on October 23 that the F.B.I. had sent a bulletin to news organizations warning that ISIL had identified reporters and media personalities as “legitimate targets for retribution attacks” in response to the American-led airstrikes.

What are we missing by not having reporters permanently present inside ISIS territory?

A lot. We can’t answer for ourselves important questions: How is our bombing campaign being perceived? Is it drawing ISIS fighters and local Iraqi Sunnis closer together or pushing them apart? How is ISIS governing, running schools and the justice system, and how is this perceived by Iraqis and Syrians under its rule?

What motivates so many los-

ers and lost souls to join this jihadist movement? Do we have the right message directed at them?

Recently, Vice News used the veteran Al Jazeera and Arabic photojournalist Medyan Dairieh to produce a documentary from Syria, called “The Islamic State.” But that was a one-shot deal done with “conditions in order to get in and get out with your life,” Jason Mojica, the Vice News editor in chief, told a panel at New York University, according to The Huffington Post.

I asked Mina al-Oraibi, assistant editor of the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, how an Arabic daily covered ISIS: “We have our correspondents supported by a few local stringers who risk their lives by being in touch with us from Iraq. However, we have a blackout from ISIS-controlled areas in Syria, especially Raqqa.

In Iraq, our use of phones and emails to get information leaves us worried about the safety of these reporters, and often they are working without knowing how they will eventually get paid. ... Having said that, our coverage is enriched by networks of Iraqis and Syrians reaching out to tell us their stories, in addition to relations with Iraqis, Syrians, and other Arabs who have either interacted with some ISIS militants or had relations with them when they were under other banners.”

But the reality, she added, “is that much of what we know is either from ISIS militants, or anecdotal stories from observers or people with families in places controlled by ISIS.” Indeed, ISIS is telling us what it wants us to know through Twitter and Facebook, and keeping from us anything it doesn’t want us to know. So be wary of what anyone tells you about this war — good, bad or indifferent. Without independent reporting on the ground, we’re in for some surprises.

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South Korea’s Gamers Are a Generation’s Heroes The obsession of South Korea with e-sports was on display in October at the League of Legends world championship in Seoul.

By PAUL MOZUR

SEOUL, South Korea — Top video game players in South Korea are household names. Millions of people tune in to watch game competitions on television.

The largest Internet portal, Naver, has its own section covering the results.

Competitive video gaming is now taking off in places around the world, attracting thousands of people to major events. But in South Korea, more than anywhere else, it has already made its way to mainstream culture.

Couples going to game clubs is about as common as couples going to the movies.

Time and again, South Korea has provided glimpses of technology-related transformations before they expand globally, including widespread broadband availability and smartphone adoption. The country has also led in professional video game competitions, often ca lled e-sports, creating organized leagues, training well-financed professional teams and filling giant stadiums with frenzied fans.

Such excitement was on display in Seoul on a Sunday in October, when more than 40,000 fans filled the outdoor soccer stadium used for the 2002 World Cup semifinal to watch the world championship for League of Legends, one of the world’s most popular games. On stage, two teams of five players sat in front of computers wielding mouse and keyboard to control fantastical characters in a campaign to destroy the opposing team’s base. Three screens displayed the action.

The clear favorite of the raucous crowd was Samsung White, a team of Koreans, which went on to win the championship and $1 million in prize money. The throng of fans erupted early on, when a Samsung White player wielded a spear to kill a player Su-hyun Lee contributed reporting.

JEAN CHUNG FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

from the Star Horn Royal Club, a team of three Chinese players and two Koreans.

“Pro gaming exists in its current form and size in large part thanks to the people who made it possible in South Korea,” said Manuel Schenkhuizen, a Dutch pro gamer. “Other countries took years to catch up and are to this date trying to mimic some of their successes.”

Though gamers and industry insiders have different theories about how e-sports became popular in South Korea, nearly all versions start in the late 1990s.

At the time, in response to the Asian financial crisis, the South Korean government focused on telecommunications and Internet infrastructure. By 2000, a vibrant community of gamers emerged, largely thanks to Internet cafes, known as PC bangs, that used the new connections.

The government also became

ONLINE: LEVELED UP

Photos of an unparalleled video game culture: nytimes.com Search South Korea e-sports involved, creating the Korean E-Sports Association to manage e-sports. Cheap television stations took off as well, and it was only natural that one, then more, would focus on e-sports.

“Fourteen years ago, you had a government that gave a thumbsup to e-sports — it was professionally organized, and it was on television, so it became a mainstream thing,” said Jonathan Beales, an e-sports commentator. “The way soccer is around the world.”

The PC Bangs remain an important arena for gamers, though. On a recent Thursday night in a residential area in southeastern Seoul, one club was

filled with high-school students.

They sat in plush chairs in front of PCs, barking strategies or crying out in joy or frustration.

After gunning down a friend with an assault rifle in the game Sudden Attack, Kang Mi-kyung, 15, said she was at the PC bang about five times a week.

“I love this game, though I think it’s too violent,” she said.

About a decade ago, companies began to see the promise in sponsoring e-sports stars. Before long the companies, like Samsung, the technology company, and CJ Games, one of Korea’s most successful game developers, were sponsoring teams that lived in communal houses and trained 12 hours a day.

That professionalism has spread outside Korea. Still, few take the games as seriously as players in South Korea. Players practice relentlessly, spending their days in front of a screen.

Afghan Leader Sets a New Tone

By AZAM AHMED

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s new president, Ashraf Ghani, is a man in a hurry to break from his predecessor’s governing style.

Already, the lavish dinners that were a hallmark of President Hamid Karzai’s meetings have been slashed as Mr. Ghani imparts the message that palace meetings are for business, not pleasure.

Just a few weeks into his tenure, Mr. Ghani has delivered on some big issues, including signing a long-term troop deal with the United States.

Mr. Karzai used a courtly style to keep rivals working together, keenly aware that in Afghanistan, guests expect to be fed and tradition trumps expedience.

Mr. Ghani, on the other hand, is all about efficiency and building institutions. And his desire to move fast is coupled with a

A brusque manner that some worry will alienate officials. quick temper. There is a concern among some here that his temperament, Western style and didactic approach, sharpened in a career at the World Bank and in academia, could alienate the Afghan official class.

Consider this: Forgoing the huge convoys favored by Mr. Karzai, Mr. Ghani takes only a few cars when he travels in Kabul. That will probably be a public-relations success with residents, as Mr. Karzai’s convoys snarled traffic for hours.

It also allows Mr. Ghani to make surprise inspections. After visiting the Kabul military hos-

pital to meet wounded soldiers, Mr. Ghani was told there were doctors on duty around the clock.

When he went back later and found no one around, people were promptly fired.

“Right now, he is focusing 95 percent of his time on institutions and 5 percent of his time on politics,” said a former Afghan official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid appearing to criticize the president. “There needs to be more of a balance.”

Mr. Ghani’s supporters say that such fears are misguided and that his efforts to signal a change in approach on women’s rights, for instance, exemplified by his wife’s higher-profile role in public life, are meant to be an example of forward-thinking leadership.

Some have speculated that Mr. Ghani’s rough-edged style could be tempered by the presence of Abdullah Abdullah, his bitter

JAWAD JALALI/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

Ashraf Ghani emphasizes efficiency over politics. election rival, who is now the chief executive of a unity government with Mr. Ghani.

But Mr. Ghani has wasted no time pushing ahead on his own.

He has ordered all ministries to submit a list of every employee

The monomania of gamers here has led to concerns about addiction and the potential harm caused by spending too much time playing games. Occasionally, news articles report on a gamer’s dying of exhaustion in a PC bang after playing for days.

A law requires the clubs to force children under 18 to leave after 10 p.m.

Days before the League of Legends championship, in the hotel near the stadium where Samsung White trained, Cho Se-hyoung, the team’s leader, said the pressure he felt from the country’s fan base was immense. He hinted that at 20 years old, he was contemplating retirement. But after the championship, talk of changing careers seemed more distant. He said the team had to get back to work to prepare for future competitions.

Asked how he viewed himself, he said, “I’m a sports player.”

they have hired, with qualifications and résumés. He has also demanded their procurement contracts and related paperwork in an effort to bring the process under the banner of the president’s office.

Last month, nearly a thousand dignitaries gathered in the governor’s compound in Kunduz, a province hit by a surge of Taliban violence in recent weeks.

Leaders from across Kunduz, some living under Taliban rule, gathered to see the new president, whose strict schedule was marred only by technical difficulties in the video conference, during which he was seen scribbling notes. After the speeches, Mr. Ghani acknowledged that the situation in Kunduz posed a threat to national security and vowed to disarm militias sowing chaos.

Then he promised change — and delivered right away.

“I have already approved a new governor for the province,” he told the shocked crowd, including the suddenly fired governor.

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WORLD TRENDS

Wandering Minds Never in a Hurry

TARA TODRAS-WHITEHILL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to move into this palace, despite court challenges.

In Turkey, Power From Conflict Con­­tin­­ued from Page 23 pressure on the economy — Mr. Erdogan’s authority has grown only stronger.

In a recent speech, Mr. Erdogan offered an assessment appealing to his religious Sunni Muslim base — and echoed by militants with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL — that the Middle East crisis stems from the actions of the British and French after World War I, and the borders drawn between Iraq and Syria under the Sykes-Picot pact.

Mr. Erdogan invoked the pact, saying, “Each conflict in this region has been designed a century ago.” He suggested a new plot was underway, and that “journalists, religious men, writers and terrorists” were the collective reincarnation of T.E. Lawrence, the British diplomat and spy immortalized in the movie “Lawrence of Arabia.”

“It is our duty to explain to the world that there are modern Lawrences who were fooled by a terror organization,” he said.

Ahmet Davutoglu, the former foreign minister, is Turkey’s prime minister. But Mr. Erdogan is the one on the phone with President Obama discussing Turkey’s role in combating ISIS. Turkey’s refusal to allow the United States to use its bases for airstrikes against ISIS — and insistence that the coalition target the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria — have laid bare deep divisions between the two countries that have analysts questioning Turkey’s reliability as an ally, and some have even suggested that Turkey be expelled from NATO. The relationship with Washington has long been uneasy. In 2003, Turkey denied the United Ceylan Yeginsu contributed reporting.

CORRECTION Because of an editing error, a caption that accompanied the article about ISIS prisons misspelled the name of a Spanish hostage who was released. He is Javier Espinosa, not Espinoza.

States the use of its territory to invade Iraq. In 2010, the Turks infuriated Washington by voting against United Nations sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program, and by working with Brazil to broker a proposed deal with Iran.

Early in his career, as mayor of Istanbul, Mr. Erdogan was jailed for reciting an Islamic poem in public. In his early years as prime minister, with the Turkish military still safeguarding the country’s secular order, he kept in check his desire for a greater role for religion, while pushing for membership in the European Union, a pursuit now stalled.

With the military having been neutered through a series of sensational trials, he has become a more overtly Islamist leader. After the Arab Spring uprisings, Turkey sought to play a greater role in shaping regional affairs, supporting Islamist movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which was

Blaming problems in the Middle East on past Western actions. voted into power in Egypt, and then ousted, dealing a painful blow to Turkey’s ambitions.

Mr. Erdogan has partly consolidated his power by purging thousands of police officers, prosecutors and judges who he believed were behind the corruption probe. He accused those people of being followers of the Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and who once was an important ally to Mr. Erdogan. His victory over Mr. Gulen in the power struggle that ensued has erased a moderate, Western-leaning Islamic voice from the Turkish governing elite.

“For Tayyip Erdogan, like the Muslim Brotherhood and Muslim movements everywhere, the problems of the Muslim world are because of the West,” said Rusen Cakir, a scholar in Istanbul.

For Mr. Gulen, he said, “the problems for the Muslim world are because of Muslims themselves.”

Suat Kiniklioglu, an outspoken critic of Mr. Erdogan, said the speech referring to Sykes-Picot demonstrated “how much Erdogan detests Western powers operating in the region.”

Omer Taspinar of the Brookings Institution in Washington said, “The Lawrence of Arabia speech was a part of this act — to show how the borders of the Middle East were drawn up by imperialists and how we are face to face with a new Western agenda.”

This deep-seated view that the problems of the Middle East can be explained by Western actions over the past century, combined with a measure of ambivalence among Turkish religious conservatives who form the core of his constituency about joining the West in a fight against Sunnis, helps explain Mr. Erdogan’s reluctance to take a stronger role in the United States-led coalition.

A recent essay by Pankaj Mishra, an Indian intellectual, in The Guardian newspaper about the demise of Western civilization as a model for the developing world has been widely circulated. The article’s argument about Western decline has been embraced here, even though the piece is sharply critical of Turkey. It places Turkey among a group of countries — including Russia, under Mr. Putin, and India, under its new prime minister, Narendra Modi — that have combined economic improvement, democratic elections and increasingly authoritarian leadership.

Turkey’s presidential compound has an underground tunnel system and the latest in anti-espionage technology. The alternative composition of the national anthem used in the video caused fury among secular circles that consider the anthem sacred to Turkish nationality.

The new palace, originally intended for the prime minister, has become a potent symbol for Mr. Erdogan’s many critics.

The construction has continued despite court rulings that the development was illegal. Early this year, Mr. Erdogan said of the court challenges, “If you have the power and courage, then come and demolish the building.”

No one did, and Mr. Erdogan and his family will soon take up residence there.

I waited until the last minute to write this. That should surprise no one.

After all, as Anna Della Subin wrote in The Times recently, “procrasLENS tination is the archdemon many of us wrestle with daily.”

Ms. Subin, a contributing editor at the Middle East culture magazine Bidoun, quoted one professional estimate that 20 percent of Americans were “chronic procrastinators.”

To some of us, that number actually seems low and is worth investigating further, someday. But for now, consider another estimate quoted by Ms. Subin: trillions of dollars lost every year because of procrastinating employees in the United States. That procrastination can be costly not only to the company and the economy as a whole, but also to the employees themselves.

Sendhil Mullainathan, an economics professor at Harvard University, described this “personal struggle” in The Times: “Tomorrow we want to finish that memo, review several files and plan that project.

We know that some of the work will be tedious, but benefits like career advancement, fulfillment or just sheer survival outweigh the costs. When tomorrow becomes today, though, we may discover that we have all kinds of pressing problems.

The tedium we had anticipated suddenly feels very large. It is tempting to take a break and just let our minds wander.”

The procrastinators clearly understand that this is happening. Mr. Mullainathan described a study in which he and other researchers made an offer to data-entry workers in India. The workers could take their usual per-item rate of pay regardless of how many items they completed, or accept a contract in which they were paid the same rate but set a workload goal, with this catch: If they failed to meet the goal, the pay rate was cut in half.

For comments, write to nytweekly@nytimes.com.

For many, the time to work can always be postponed.

“Yet they chose it because it helped them work much harder and earn much more,” Mr. Mullainathan wrote.

That sort of incentive has been a hallmark of industrialization. Mr. Mullainathan noted the contention of Greg Clark, a professor at the University of California, Davis, that the Industrial Revolution “was in part a self-control revolution.”

“As Professor Clark provocatively puts it: ‘Workers effectively hired capitalists to make them work harder.

They lacked the self-control to achieve higher earnings on their own.’ ” So the factory brought a discipline that paid off for employers and workers alike. But Richard Conniff, who writes about the productivity of other species, would like for everyone to just relax for a moment.

“I am bored,” he wrote in The Times, “of pretending usefulness is the thing that really matters.”

In his work, he is often asked to lend support for endangered wildlife. “It’s my job to convince people that they should care,” he wrote. That usually involves pointing to the practical applications for humans, like a gentler bandage for sensitive skin that is modeled on the silk of spider webs.

He understands the politics of putting such production goals on the spider, the snake, the bee. But the bottom line, as he sees it, is this: “Wildlife is and should be useless in the same way art, music, poetry and even sports are useless. They are useless in the sense that they do nothing more than raise our spirits, make us laugh or cry, frighten, disturb and delight us. They connect us not just to what’s weird, different, other, but to a world where we humans do not matter nearly as much as we like to think.

“And that should be enough.”

ALAN MATTINGLY

DAMON WINTER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Nature’s lesson for the work force may be that usefulness is overrated. At the Juneau International Airport.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

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Scrutiny Shrinks Eiffel’s Shadow in South America

By WILLIAM NEUMAN

AREQUIPA, Peru —People here call it the Iron Bridge, a graceful span across the Chili River with garlic fields below and the cleft-topped Misti volcano rising above it in the distance.

Travel books, tour guides and residents all proudly point to the bridge, a fluent expression of the Industrial Revolution, as the work of Gustave Eiffel, the 19th-century French engineer who built the Eiffel Tower and designed the iron skeleton inside the Statue of Liberty.

Except that it is not. And neither are many other bridges and buildings around Peru and the rest of South America that are attributed to the Frenchman.

“Anything made of metal in South America, people say it is

by Eiffel,” said Darci Gutiérrez, a professor of architecture in Arequipa, Peru’s second-largest city, who has spent years debunking what she calls the Eiffel myth.

The myth does have a grain of fact to it. As a young man, years before his tower for the 1889 Paris World’s Fair made him famous, Eiffel ran an engineering business in France, designing buildings and bridges for clients around the world and shipping the structures in prefabricated iron pieces, to be assembled on the site.

French bankers encouraged him to seek opportunities in Peru, a country that was growing rich from exports of guano fertilizer, but did not have the foundries or technical expertise for state-of-the-art iron construction. Eiffel sent a representative in 1871.

Eiffel’s company missed out on a lucrative contract to develop Peru’s main seaport in Callao, but he was chosen for at least two projects in southern Peru, which was rebuilding after the earthquake of 1868 — a church in Tacna, and a customs house and pier in Arica, now part of Chile.

According to Eiffel’s French biographer, Bertrand Lemoine, Eiffel’s representative died in 1873. The company apparently had no projects on the continent after that.

That much is history.

But in Arequipa, the Eiffel myth persists despite clear evAndrea Zarate contributed reporting.

Con­­tin­­ued from Page 23 highest-rated live event. It had two million online streams.

Soon after he landed on solid ground, Mr. Wallenda said that walking between skyscrapers was his next goal. He started training. Discovery and NBC’s Peacock Productions started preparing the logistical and production details.

The resulting high-wire act took place in one of the windiest sections of the Windy City. It was the highest skyscraper walk a member of the Wallenda family had tried. Mr. Wallenda said the walk was dedicated to his family, especially his great-grandfather Karl Wallenda, who tried a tight-

When Peruvians see iron, they think of a tower in Paris.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MERIDITH KOHUT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Many people still attribute the Iron Bridge and the Church of San Marcos to Gustave Eiffel. A link to Eiffel, above, at a customs house in Arica.

idence against it. In addition, many people here believe that Eiffel designed and built a railway station and the bustling San Camilo market — attribution that a leading historian of the city, Eusebio Quiroz, said “has no basis in fact.”

The urge to attribute buildings and bridges to Eiffel may be rooted in a tendency in South America to equate Europe, and France in particular, with sophistication and modernity, which got a further boost after the Paris World’s Fair. “In that moment, France seemed like the height of progress,” Mr. Quiroz said.

The San Camilo market, with tall iron columns supporting a

corrugated metal roof, was actually built in the 20th century by a local company, years after Eiffel had left his engineering firm. The train station and the bridge are older, but they were put up by the American entrepreneur Henry Meiggs, who built the Southern Railway, among other projects in Peru.

The bridge — now used for a single lane of car traffic, with pedestrian walkways on either side — was erected around 1870. It is a latticework of iron struts and posts that these days are painted blue. It is easy to imagine the bridge as the work of the Eiffel Tower’s creator, but forged into its supports are the words “Phoe-

nix Iron Co. Philada.” Phoenix was a Pennsylvania company that specialized in railroad bridges, and Philada is short for Philadelphia.

Still, many Arequipa residents choose to believe. “This bridge was built by the guy who built the Eiffel Tower,” said Lucio González, 60, a farmer whose small stone house is directly under the span.

Mr. González said that life there was generally quiet, though the bridge is often the site of suicides. “They come here because it’s a famous bridge, and they jump into the river,” he said.

Professor Gutiérrez said research had raised questions about Eiffel’s supposed connec-

Risking Death to Attract More Viewers rope walk between two skyscrapers in Puerto Rico 36 years ago, lost his balance and plummeted to his death.

“If I want to inspire others, I feel like I have to continue to push myself,” said Mr. Wallenda, 35, a seventh-generation stuntman who has been performing with his famed Flying Wallendas circus family since he was a toddler.

Since the days of the gladiators on through the illusionist Harry Houdini and the motorcycle- and rocket-jumping Evel Knievel, daredevils long have captivated audiences. The recent rise of

reality television and extreme sports has encouraged viewers to seek out entertainment that is increasingly raw and unmediated, said Mr. McCracken.

Extreme stunts command a huge live viewership and social media attention, leading advertisers to pay a premium to reach captive audiences.

Some experts said the resurgence of death-defying stunts started two years ago when the Austrian sky diver Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier with his free fall from the stratosphere. Sponsored by Red

Bull, the event drew a record 9.5 million concurrent viewers on YouTube. Discovery televised the stunt, scoring 7.6 million total viewers.

Soon after, stuntmen started pitching death-defying feats to Hollywood. One was “Big” Ed Beckley, a 125-kilo motorcycle daredevil who is preparing to recreate Mr. Knievel’s failed 1974 attempt to jump across Idaho’s Snake River Canyon, which is up to 150 meters deep and 400 meters wide.

“People get bored with real life,” Mr. Beckley said. “Kids

tion to other structures in Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela and other countries, including the Iron House in Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon.

“The system of construction is different,” she said. “All you have to do is look at them to know they’re not by him.”

Even in the few cases where Eiffel’s involvement is undisputed, the story can be far from simple. For the church in Tacna, documents and photos show that Eiffel was given a contract to build it, that iron columns and other pieces arrived, and that two stone bell towers for the church were partly erected.

But the work stopped in 1879 when war broke out between Peru and Bolivia, on one side, and Chile on the other. The Chileans seized Tacna and did not relinquish it to Peru until 1929. By the time work on the church restarted in the 1950s, Eiffel’s plans had been lost or forgotten, and a new design was drawn.

Chile also seized the port of Arica and kept it when the boundary with Peru was redrawn. Here, Professor Gutiérrez said, historical documents show that the red and white brick customs house, now used as a cultural center, was indeed designed and built by Eiffel’s company before the war.

But she has raised questions about the city’s most acclaimed architectural landmark, the Church of San Marcos. A plaque says the church was built by Eiffel in 1875. Professor Gutiérrez found documents that say the church was shipped in pieces from the United States, and that a “master workman” was sent to supervise its assembly.

Patricio Letelier, 41, an architect who walked past the San Marcos church on a recent afternoon, said that the church’s unusual all-iron construction would make it an important building with or without the Eiffel association.

“The form of the church, the Gothic style, is still interesting,” he said.

need new shoes. House payments are due. Rent is due. Car payments are due. I don’t give a damn who you are, but you are going to watch these stunts and not think about the bad things that are happening in your life.”

Discovery executives said Mr. Wallenda came to them with the idea for the Chicago stunt and said he would do it with or without them. The executives said they often reject pitches for stunts. This year, they canceled plans for a live jump off Mount Everest after an avalanche there killed at least 13 people.

Marjorie Kaplan, Discovery’s interim president, said, “We’re not trying to play, ‘Can you top this?’ ”

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WORLD TRENDS

Liberia Scrutinized Over Ebola Crisis

By HELENE COOPER

DANIEL BECERRIL/REUTERS; BELOW, JANET JARMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Missing From a Fiery School A makeshift memorial to 43 missing students at the Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos.

Above, student teachers waiting to unload donations.

By PAULINA VILLEGAS and RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

AYOTZINAPA, Mexico — In their first week of school, the new students eat and drink nothing but beans and cold coffee, and spend days cleaning up the buildings and planting crops.

It is a “boot camp” to foster a sense of community and prove that they really want to be here at the Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos. The small teachers’ college in southern Mexico has been at the center of a national crisis since 43 of its students disappeared in September after a violent confrontation with the local police force, which has been infiltrated by a drug gang.

The school’s students read books on Marxism, have weekly discussions on political documentaries championing leftist causes and try to adhere to the social justice ideals underpinning the school since its founding in 1926 after the Mexican Revolution, one of several such schools begun to keep alive its fires of social transformation.

“It was not only about the academic stuff but the political side of it, the risk of the activities they did and the sense of belonging,” said Ricardo Jacinto, a student there, explaining why he and his brother Israel, 19, as well as two uncles have attended the school.

Israel is one of the students missing since September 26.

He was part of a large group of students who went to the industrial city of Iguala, about two hours away, to collect money for school activities and to steal two buses to help transport them to demonstrations on October 2.

The “appropriation” of the buses — routine and temporary, students here say — was a function of the threadbare life and revolutionary ferment running through the school, where portraits of Che Guevara and other socialist figures line the walls and students are taught to push the boundaries in their protests.

Students have routinely blocked highways and these days have regularly taken over

tollbooths on superhighways in southern Mexico, asking for donations while federal police officers sit nearby, apparently unwilling to risk a confrontation.

Such tactics have often put them at odds with the local authorities, who have viewed them suspiciously and question their ties to leftist guerrilla and political groups in the state, Guerrero, one of the most violent and prone to social and criminal upheaval.

The school’s students, in turn, often rage over what they consider to be shortfalls in state

A Mexican college clashes with the police and gangs. financing, job placement and other support for the school.

In 2011, during a protest blocking the main highway between Mexico City and Acapulco, the police shot and killed two students from the school in the state capital, Chilpancingo, just to the west of here.

“We have a popular saying here that goes, ‘If you found the door slightly open, try to open it a bit more, never close it,’ ” said a student leader who wanted to be identified by his nickname, Acapulco, out of fear that gangs may target him or his family.

The Jacinto family knew well

the school’s history but, like other families, saw the school as one of the few options for a life outside farming and other lower-wage jobs.

“Before coming here, I had a blindfold, I couldn’t see many things,” said one 19-year-old student leader, Ulises. “Here you become much more analytical, you develop a real conscience.”

The authorities now believe that the mayor of Iguala had close ties to the drug gang and ordered the police to round up the students before they interrupted a speech his wife, a social services official in town, was giving.

In the confusion and chaos, the police opened fire, killing six people, including three students, and detained several others, who were turned over to the gang, federal officials have said.

The students here flatly deny any connection to crime gangs or to armed guerrilla movements, other than sharing their socialist principles.

But they do admit to employing radical tactics, including throwing rocks at the police, blocking roads and stealing buses. Their extreme protests are the only way to draw attention to the school’s needs, including class materials and transportation, they say.

“This has always been a combative and militant school, no doubt,” Ricardo Jacinto said.

“We fight for our rights, and this is often considered ‘guerrilla’ in this country.”

MONROVIA, Liberia — The president waited until her family members were seated around the dining table before announcing, with no fanfare, the latest defection from her cabinet.

“I lost my justice minister today,” she said, picking up a spoon before heading out to visit Ebola treatment units.

As the table erupted with questions, the president, having said all that she intended to, finished her lunch and rose.

“We’re late,” she announced, not mentioning that everyone had been waiting for her for four hours. “Let’s go, let’s go.”

For the last eight years, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 76, has walked a precarious political tightrope. As Liberia’s first elected leader after a devastating civil war, she has juggled enemies and allies while pushing this country on its first sustained course of economic growth in decades.

Now, Ebola has brought many of those gains to a screeching halt. The foreign investors so lovingly wooed by Ms. Johnson Sirleaf, a former World Bank bureaucrat, have fled. Businesses have closed, employers have left and road construction has ended.

Public schools, in a country where less than 50 percent of primary-school-age children were enrolled, have been shut for months. The World Bank warns that Ebola could slash Liberia’s fragile economy by nearly 12 percent. All but two foreign airlines stopped flying here.

“Right now, all the international attention is on Ebola,” she said of critics, including at the United Nations, who say she has been more worried about the economy than a health catastrophe. “If we don’t focus on our economy, we will not be able to sustain it when they are gone.”

Ms. Johnson Sirleaf is the first woman elected president of an African country, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and arguably the most recognized leader on the continent. Rising from a junior bureaucrat, she became one of the few top Liberian officials not executed by firing squad during the 1980 military coup.

But Ebola is threatening to derail that legacy. The epidemic has exposed crippling weaknesses in the public health system, decrepit infrastructure and endemic corruption that, despite Ms. Johnson Sirleaf’s protestations of “zero tolerance,” continue to characterize the interactions be-

ONLINE: BRAVING EBOLA

The survivors and workers at a Liberian clinic: nytimes.com Search Ebola portraits

tween Liberians and their government.

“The international community has arrived and is now seeing our backyard for the first time,” said Francis Dunbar, a former deputy finance minister who now supports Benoni Urey, a Johnson Sirleaf rival. “The front yard is clean, but the backyard is dirty.”

Karin Landgren, the United Nations secretary general’s special representative here, echoed a similar theme. “Ebola has shone a very harsh light on the many things that had not been done adequately. Very tangible things, like the health care system.”

When Ms. Johnson Sirleaf took office in 2006, unemployment was so high no one bothered to calculate it. There was no running water and no electricity.

Downtown Monrovia at night looked medieval.

Children routinely died of curable diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and measles. Even among the unafflicted, few went to schools. Liberia was $4.7 billion in debt.

By just about every economic indicator, the country has come a long way since.

Many Liberians, including some critics of Ms. Johnson Sirleaf, say that Liberia has no political leader more capable of steering the country out of its latest crisis, especially given her international reputation.

When she sat down on the night of September 9 and wrote a letter to President Obama pleading for help, the response came days later and dwarfed anything that neighboring Sierra Leone and Guinea have been able to muster: 4,000 American troops, to build 18 Ebola treatment units.

Now, Ms. Johnson Sirleaf is trying to leverage Ebola help for broader economic projects — like fixing the runway at the airport.

“The support that’s coming must not all go into Ebola,” Ms. Johnson Sirleaf said.

The weeks since Ebola hit have been dotted by crisis after crisis, some big, many minuscule.

“This will end up as one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in a life of many challenges,” she said.

“And like all the other challenges, we will overcome this.”

The Ebola outbreak has erased many gains made

by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, here in a quarantined area of Monrovia.

DANIEL BEREHULAK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

Sanctity of Truth

29

WORLD TRENDS

In Japan, Pressure to Forget the Sins Committed in War After getting menacing messages, Sarufutsu halted construction of a memorial to Korean laborers who died building an airfield during World War II. Koichi Mizuguchi found their graves.

By MARTIN FACKLER

SARUFUTSU, Japan — More than a half-century has passed since the postmaster in this seaside hamlet on the frigid, northern tip of Japan pulled aside a young man and shared a secret.

Somewhere in the village, he said, was a lost graveyard hiding Korean bones.

It took years for Koichi Mizuguchi to grasp the significance of that utterance, and decades more to pry the grim truth from his neighbors: At least 80 Korean laborers died of abuse, disease and malnutrition here as they built an airfield during World War II. Eventually, Mr. Mizuguchi helped find the graves, and he and other residents began building a two-meter stone memorial at the site.

A decade ago, a village trying to preserve the memory of its wartime sins might have gone unnoticed in Japan. But Sarufutsu was inundated late last year with menacing phone calls denouncing residents as traitors. The campaign, orchestrated on the Internet, also called for a boycott of the village’s scallop industry. The mayor halted construction.

Pressure in Japan to erase the darker episodes of its wartime history has intensified recently with the rise of a small, aggressive online movement seeking to intimidate those like Mr. Mizuguchi who believe the country must never forget.

Known collectively as the Net Right, these cyberactivists have gained outsize influence with the rise of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative government, which shares their goal of ending negative portrayals of Japan’s history.

“I don’t blame the mayor for giving in,” said Mr. Mizuguchi, 79, an architect. “I blame the rest of Japan for not speaking out to support us.”

Hisako Ueno contributed reporting.

KO SASAKI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Scholars say the Net Right has only a few thousand members, many of them contract workers who have been unable to find coveted lifetime jobs. But these extremists have benefited from a broader upwelling of frustration among young Japanese over their nation’s long economic and political stagnation.

The activists blame a crippling lack of national pride, arguing that Japan’s self-confidence has been sapped by 70 years of unfair portrayals as the villain in the war by those who ignore their own wartime crimes.

“We are tired of Japan being constantly told to apologize,” said Kazuya Kyomoto, 26, a popular blogger among conservative youth who condemned monu-

Japanese tributes to fallen Koreans draw threats and protests. ments like the one in Sarufutsu for promoting a “masochistic” view of Japanese history.

Mr. Kyomoto and others said their resentment was fueled in part by intensifying disputes over history and territory with China and South Korea.

The extremists, who sometimes attack ethnic Koreans in Japan with racist hate speech, hold more sway now in part because of the collapse of Japan’s

left-leaning political opposition, which is in disarray after a resounding election defeat two years ago and an unsuccessful stint in power.

In July, the government of Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo, decided to remove a decade-old monument to Korean forced laborers after angry phone calls and protests. A similar campaign led the city of Nagasaki, long a bastion of antiwar sentiment, to delay approval of a cenotaph to Korean laborers who perished in the 1945 atomic bombing.

A Net Right activist, Mitsuaki Matoba, defended the pressure tactics and objected to the term “forced laborers” to describe the Koreans who perished in Sarufutsu. “If Koreans were involved

BAAN KLANG JOURNAL

Animal rights activists target a ‘cruel’ trade.

Dog-Meat Trade Besieged In Nation of Dog Lovers

By THOMAS FULLER

BAAN KLANG, Thailand — The dog-eating community here, a small minority of rice farmers and day laborers, has long understood that its culinary habits repulse people from other parts of Thailand.

But these days, they feel under siege.

Thailand’s military government, which seized power from an elected government in May, is considering a law that would ban the dog-meat trade, a move that animal rights activists are portraying as a way the junta can enhance its image internationally.

The national police began a crackdown two years ago, arresting those involved in the business who did not have licens-

es required for the slaughter or transportation of animals.

The police have set up sting operations in the forests where dogs are slaughtered and have arrested what they describe as dog-meat kingpins, who export trucks loaded with the animals to Vietnam and China, where dog eating is prevalent.

Dog lovers far outnumber dog eaters among Thailand’s nearly 70 million people. The residents of this picturesque village profess to be both.

“We only eat the fierce dogs — the dogs that bite people or kill chickens,” Praprut Thanthongdee, 45, a rice farmer, said as he stroked his pet dog, Money. Eating dog is confined to isolated pockets, mostly in northeastern Thailand.

in the construction of the airfield, they came of their own free will,” he wrote.

Historians say that as many as 700,000 Koreans were forced to work in wartime Japan. Villagers in Sarufutsu described hundreds being held in prisonlike barracks.

Mr. Mizuguchi, the architect who first heard about the Koreans from the village postmaster, helped organize three excavations of the grave site from 2006 to 2010.

On a recent visit to the site, he said he had not given up on building the monument.

“These outsiders are trying to intimidate us into closing our eyes again,” he said. “We cannot let them prevent us from finding closure.”

AARON JOEL SANTOS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

One man in Baan Klang said only fierce dogs, ‘‘that bite people or kill chickens,’’ are eaten. A pet dog in a yard there.

Mr. Praprut’s wife, Jantima Thathongdee, was arrested in July and sentenced to a two-year suspended jail term for running a small dog-meat market.

She was also fined about $150, a large sum for a family that owns three buffaloes and a few hectares of rice paddies.“Dog meat is delicious — it’s like pork but without all the fat,” Mr. Praprut said. “There is supposed to be freedom in this coun-

try, and there should be freedom to eat what you want.”

Near Baan Klang, in Tha Rae village, roadside vendors openly sell sinewy smoked dog meat, a kind of dog jerky.

Soi Dog, an activist group, was founded by Dutch and English residents of Thailand and focuses on sterilizing street dogs.

“It’s a horrendously cruel business from start to finish,” said John Dalley of Soi Dog.

“The dogs are crammed into cages, and it’s not unusual that live dogs are thrown into pots of boiling water.”

But butchers say the killing is as humane as possible.

A butcher allowed a visiting photographer to witness the slaughter of a dog, which was killed with a sudden blow to the head, then bled out. The dog appeared to be dead within seconds.

The butcher, who said printing his name would be too “dangerous” in the current environment, said he killed problematic or unwanted dogs.

Another man, Kawai Thanthongdee, 66, who has been eating dogs since he was young, said, “Dogs are man’s best friend.” Then he added, “But some dogs deserve to be killed.”

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Sanctity of Truth

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

MONEY & BUSINESS NEWS ANALYSIS

China as Unstoppable May Be Only a Myth

By NEIL IRWIN

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MERIDITH KOHUT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Crude seeps from the ground in Mene Grande, but oil wealth has not lifted the town out of poverty. Venezuela started producing oil 100 years ago in Mene Grande.

Venezuela Opens Oil Industry

By WILLIAM NEUMAN

MENE GRANDE, Venezuela — On a hill overlooking this heat-baked town, a small oil well painted in the national colors of yellow, blue and red bobs up and down.

Crude oil flows through pipes here just as it did 100 years ago, when this was the country’s first successful oil well, setting Venezuela on the path from a sleepy backwater of coffee farmers and cattlemen to one of the most petroleum-rich countries.

Today, just a short distance from this landmark oil well, known as Zumaque 1, the streets are unpaved and people live in shacks made from corrugated metal sheets. Even after a century of being pumped, the oil is still so close to the surface that it seeps from the ground on its own, a sticky black reminder of wealth amid poverty.

“Look at the riches of Venezuela,” said Ramón Materán, 64, a laborer, gesturing toward the oozing crude oil that seeped from the ground in his neighborhood, called Baralt 1. Then, looking around the neighborhood, with its potholes and shacks with no sewer connections, he said, “For all of Venezuela’s riches, things are pretty neglected here.”

The Venezuelan economy is struggling and so is its government-run oil monopoly, Petróleos de Venezuela, or Pdvsa. The company has had to tap the Central Bank for millions of dollars in loans. It has considered selling its United States gas station subsidiary, Citgo, and is contemplating raising gasoline prices at home, which are the cheapest in the world. But in a quiet change that might surprise many Venezuelans, who have grown accustomed to seeing Pdvsa as a symbol of national sovereignty, the company has been discreetly moving to giving more control to foreign oil companies that participate with it in joint ventures, according to five people familiar with the recent agreements it negotiated Those changes have been done

without fanfare, raising the question of whether President Nicolás Maduro, in office less than a year and a half, worries that supporters would see them as a betrayal of the expropriation of foreign oil interests by the country’s former president, Hugo Chávez.

In the hopes of jump-starting stagnant production through increased investment, Pdvsa has signed or is negotiating financing agreements with numerous foreign oil companies operating here. These agreements give the companies greater say over how drilling operations are run and how they buy supplies and equipment, as well as greater control

Where gas is cheapest, outsiders gain more control. over spending and profits, according to those familiar with them. Outsiders no longer have to go through Pdvsa-controlled subsidiaries, a frequent source of delays and corruption.

“If the previous Pdvsa had signed something like that, Chavistas would have accused them of treason,” said Francisco J. Monaldi, a professor of energy policy at the Harvard Kennedy

School of Government, referring to the followers of Mr. Chávez, who turned the oil company into a banner of his populist policies.

“These are contracts signed out of necessity,” said Carlos Bellorin, a senior analyst at IHS Energy, a London consulting firm.

“They don’t have enough cash flow to invest in exploration and production or enhancing production in existing projects.”

While the oil companies remain minority partners with Pdvsa, the new agreements give them a greater say in running Venezuela’s oil fields than they have had in years.

Venezuela has the world’s largest estimated oil reserves and oil makes up more than 95 percent of export income. It is the fourth largest foreign oil supplier to the United States.

Mene Grande, with a population of about 21,000, is where the nation’s oil era was pioneered.

There were earlier attempts to drill for oil in Venezuela, but in 1914 Zumaque 1 (said to be named for the sumac trees that grew nearby) became the first successful well. Roberto Morón, 40, a partner in a building supply store, said Mene Grande should have received more from oil taken from its soil.

“Things around here should be a lot better,” he said. “There are so many wells here. Mene Grande gives and gives, and it gets nothing.”

There has been plenty of discussion lately about signs that China’s economy is slowing down. But put aside the challenges China faces this quarter, or next year, and there is one view that is overwhelming: China is a long-term economic juggernaut that will stand astride the global economy in another generation’s time.

For years now, major magazines and editorials and books have told me about the Chinese Century. And official forecasts — from international agencies like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank, and from United States intelligence circles — envision China’s continuing to grow rapidly over the next couple of decades, its economy eventually becoming larger than that of America.

But what if it’s all wrong?

Many of the most bullish forecasts are based, more or less, on extrapolation. For more than three decades, China’s economic output per person has been rising at an extraordinary annual rate of 6 percent to 10 percent, climbing rapidly toward levels in the richest nations. If that continues for a couple of decades, the bullish forecasts will prove accurate.

But if you look at the long arc of economic history, such performance would be a remarkable aberration. That’s the argument that the Harvard University economists Lant Pritchett and Lawrence H. Summers make in a new working paper. In short, past performance does not predict future results. What tends to happen, rather, is “reversion to the mean”: Countries having long periods of abnormal growth tend to revert to something around 2 percent growth, closer to the long-term global average.

“China’s experience from 1977 to 2010 already holds the distinction of being the only instance, quite possibly in the history of mankind,” with sustained super-rapid growth for more than 32 years, they write.

“Why will growth slow? Mainly, because that is what rapid

growth does.”

But part of what makes the argument from Mr. Pritchett and Mr. Summers interesting is that they don’t trouble themselves with details of why growth may slow; they say just that the historical evidence suggests it is likely. Maybe concerns about debt levels and bad investments in China will prove justified. Or maybe not.

Regardless, we should think that a change is more likely than not.

The strongest arguments that Mr. Pritchett and Mr. Summers may be wrong focus on details of why China has the potential to keep growing rapidly for many years to come.

I asked Jim O’Neill, the former Goldman Sachs strategist who popularized the term “BRIC” for the large emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, for his take on the matter.

“In the case of China and

History shows that rapid growth doesn’t last.

India, the core driver of why a more positive path is likely to continue is the simple process of urbanization,” Mr. O’Neill wrote in an email. “If and when each get close to 70 percent urbanized, I’d have more sympathy with their findings, but this is a long way off.” (Just more than half of Chinese and a third of Indians live in cities.)

For decades, economists have been building models to try to understand what drives growth. Is economic destiny shaped by culture? By government? By patterns of industrialization? Those debates have been inconclusive.

Years of work on growth theory suggest that there is no secret recipe for a developing nation to achieve prosperity.

As it turns out, a simplistic reversion-to-the-mean approach explains economic growth about as well as do some more complex approaches.

China’s economy has grown rapidly for decades.

A wine etiquette class.

TAYLOR WEIDMAN/GETTY IMAGES

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MONEY & BUSINESS

As demand to move freight between Europe and China has risen, container ships like the Mary Maersk have grown to 400 meters long. Securing lines in Germany.

Giant Packhorses Of Globalization

By DANNY HAKIM

A helicopter appeared in the sky over the North Sea. At about 400 meters long, the ship, the Mary Maersk, was hard to miss: Longer than the Eiffel Tower is high, the Mary and its sister ships are the biggest container ships in the world.

Gradually a man was lowered onto the ship’s deck. His job was to pilot the Mary down a narrow dredged channel in the Weser River, toward the port of Bremerhaven, Germany.

Later that morning, the Mary would undertake the largest-scale act of parallel parking ever — or at least since the last time it docked, the day before, in Gothenburg, Sweden.

As companies look for more efficient ways to move freight from factories in China to consumers in Europe, the Mary is among the newest giants, known as the Triple-E’s. Owned and operated by A. P. Moeller-Maersk of Denmark, the world’s largest container shipping company, the Triple-E’s went into service last year in the $210 billion container industry. They have also gained a following: Hobbyist spotters post pictures of the ships online, and Lego has created a mini version with 1,516 bricks.

Until the late 1990s, the largest container ships could carry about 5,000 steel shipping

ONLINE: BEHEMOTH AT SEA

A video look at huge cargo ship, with some of its 27 crew members: nytimes.com Search Big Maersk PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW TESTA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

containers, each about six meters long. Today, such ships are dwarfed. The size of container ships has grown, reflecting their role as the packhorses of globalization. Each year, the maritime shipping industry transports nearly $13 trillion worth of goods, roughly 70 percent of total freight, according to the World Trade Organization.

The Triple-E’s can carry more than 18,000 containers, piled 20 high, with 10 above deck and 10 below. But they sail only between Europe and Asia, as their nearly 60-meter-wide hull is too large to fit into American ports or to slip through the Panama Canal.

The Mary will stop at a dozen ports, going from Gdansk in Poland to Ningbo, Yantian and Shanghai in China. It carries seafood, auto parts, perfume, grated cheese and frozen pork.

While computers and clothing are among China’s biggest exports, chemicals and timber are more likely to leave Europe.

The Mary — stacked so high with cargo that little is visible beyond two smokestacks and a glassed-in command center — is

an apt symbol for an increasingly global marketplace. But it also represents the container shipping industry’s overreaching ambitions. Few carriers besides Maersk are profitable, too many new ships are being built, and demand for space on container ships is slowing as economies in Europe and Asia face challenges.

Maersk, based in Copenhagen, ordered 20 Triple-E’s from Daewoo of South Korea in 2011, increasing its worldwide capacity more than 10 percent. But demand for space has lagged since 2008, according to Drewry, a shipping consultancy.

“It’s a simple logic, bigger is better,” said Ulrik Sanders of the Boston Consulting Group, “if you can fill it.”

The Triple-E’s were built for $190 million each. By comparison, in 2007 China Shipping Container Lines paid $1.36 billion for eight ships, or about $170 million a ship — but those had a capacity of about 13,300 containers, nearly 5,000 fewer per ship.

“In this down cycle, the newbuilt prices are low and money is cheap, so you would much rather

On a ship too big for the Panama Canal, 18,000 containers. go and buy the vessels than go and acquire a company” that has older ships, said Martin Dixon of Drewry. “Many shipping lines are struggling to make money, so cost leadership is key to survival.

Hence, you’re seeing a lot of investment in bigger ships.”

The bigger ships, though, have been sustained by a growth rate in containerization traffic that has been two and a half to three times global economic growth for decades — and that seems to be coming to an end.

“There are two types of companies that will survive this,” Mr. Sanders said. “Either you have the very large companies like Maersk” that “take advantage of scale and make money, or particular shipping lines that operate a niche where they dominate, like a feeder line out in Southeast Asia.

“The other guys,” he added, “are caught in the middle and will have a hard time to make a decent return.”

In 2009, Maersk lost $1 billion.

This year, the company is on track to make $4.5 billion in profit, according to Bloomberg.

No country more than China has spurred the containerization boom. Maersk has more than 20,000 employees in China.

It operates container terminals at seven ports and has bought Chinese-made ships worth $3.5 billion.

China, too, is trying to foster its own shipping lines. This year, China Shipping Container Lines ordered five ships that will each hold 19,000 containers, about 1,000 more than the Triple-E. But Jakob Stausholm, the chief strategy, finance and transformation officer at Maersk’s container shipping division, said that there was little room for ships to grow.

“I really think that right now,” he said, “given the size of container lines, given the level of sea freight, there is no benefit going toward bigger vessels.”

NEWS ANALYSIS

When iPhones Ring, the Economy Listens

By JEFF SOMMER

The iPhone may not be widely viewed as a financial powerhouse. After all, it’s just a pocket-size consumer good.

But since September 19, when the iPhone 6 and its larger sibling, the iPhone 6 Plus, went on sale, consumers have been ordering the gadgets faster than Apple can deliver them, and the ripple effects are being felt in the economies of the United States and other countries.

“The iPhone is having a measurable impact,” said Michael Feroli, the chief United States economist for JPMorgan Chase.

“It’s a little gadget, but it costs a lot and it seems that everybody has one. When you do the multiplication, it’s going to matter.”

He estimated that iPhone sales are adding one-quarter to

one-third of a percentage tend to be priced more point to the annualized cheaply. growth rate of the United Toni Sacconaghi, States gross domestic an analyst at Sanford product.

C. Bernstein, says the The starting price for gross profit margin for a new, basic iPhone is the iPhone is close to $649, and models with 50 percent. Because more memory and bigger the iPhone is Apple’s screens cost much more. most popular product This price structure is — with more than 39 lucrative for Apple. million sold in the last “The cost of building a quarter — it accounts SEAN GALLUP/ basic phone has stayed for a disproportionGETTY IMAGES at about $200 for years,” ately large percentage said Andrew Rassweiler at IHS of Apple’s overall profit, someTechnology. where between 60 percent and 70 That estimate doesn’t include percent, Mr. Sacconaghi said. expenses like research and mar“Apple is now so big that it takes a lot to make it grow apketing. It helps explain how, as Apple disclosed in a court filing preciably,” Mr. Sacconaghi said. two years ago, its profit marThe company is producing an impressive interrelated ecosysgins for the iPhone are roughly double those for iPads, which tem of products and services,

including its forthcoming digital watches, its new digital payment system, its revived Mac line, refreshed iPads and new operating systems. None are likely in the next year or two to rival the financial impact of the iPhone.

“The iPhone is the core of Apple right now,” he said.

Apple is the biggest company, by market capitalization, in the world. It accounts for about 3.5 percent of the weighting of the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, and for 18 percent of the entire rise of the index this year, according to calculations by Paul Hickey, co-founder of the Bespoke Investment Group.

Because the iPhone is made mainly overseas and sold worldwide, it is stimulating the economy in other regions, particularly in East Asia, Mr. Feroli said.

The profit margin on phones is higher than on the iPad. Even people who don’t buy iPhones and don’t directly own Apple shares have a stake in the company. Nearly every pension fund holds some stock, and these days, there’s a good chance the biggest holding is Apple.

All of that helps explain why Apple is such a formidable force, especially at this stage in its product cycle. And as the holiday shopping season approaches, and iPhones keep flying off the shelves, Apple may well keep moving the world.

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Wearable Technology That Fits Skintight

By NICK BILTON

It is almost certain that the next era of computing will be wearables. But it is commensurately uncertain what these wearables will be and where on your body they will be worn.

Apple and Samsung, for example, are betting on the wrist; Google, the face. Some tech companies believe clothing will simply become electronic.

Yet there’s a whole new segment of start-ups that believes we humans will become the actual computers, or at least the place where the technology will reside.

These start-ups are working on a class of wearable computers that adhere to the skin like temporary tattoos, or attach to the body like an adhesive bandage.

Many of these technologies are stretchable, bendable and incredibly thin. They can also be given unique designs, to stand out like a bold tattoo, or to blend

Integrating electronics and biological systems. in to the color of your skin.

Attachable computers will be less expensive to make and provide greater accuracy because sensors will be closer to a person’s body (or even inside us).

MC10, a company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is testing attachable computers about the size of a piece of gum that can include wireless antennas, temperature and heartrate sensors and a tiny battery.

Scott Pomerantz, head of MC10, said: “Ours are always on you. We have the smallest, most flexible, stretchable, wearable computer, and you can collect all sorts of biometric data tied to your motion.”

MC10 recently teamed up with John A. Rogers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who has been working for nearly a decade to perfect flexible devices that can be worn on the skin or implanted.

How would these gadgets work? Imagine being able to slap a few sensors to your body when you go for a run, then seeing a micro-level reading of your exercise on your phone.

Maybe you want to figure out which deodorant would be best for you. A sticker that tracks your sweat level would email you a few recommendations.

Or if you want to monitor your baby’s breathing, a little sensor on the baby’s chest would alert you to any problems.

“We’ll eventually see a more intimate integration of electronics and biological systems,” Mr. Rogers said. “Without that kind of intimate physical contact, it’s going to be difficult, or maybe even impossible, to extract meaningful data.”

The health applications are enormous. Over the past year, Mr. Rogers and his team of scientists have been working with patients with Parkinson’s disease to monitor their motions, with dermatologists to treat skin diseases, and with beauty companies like L’Oréal to develop digital stickers that track skin hydration.

Anke Loh of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has been experimenting with making the attachable computers look like body art. “You see these patches and you really want to put them on your skin, even without knowing what the function is,” Ms. Loh said.

“There’s a lot of potential to combine fashion and technology.”

Scientists at the University of Tokyo have been working on an “e-skin,” which is an electronic skin that sits on top of real skin.

It looks like a stretchable sheet of plastic wrap, yet contains lots of health-related sensors.

In another iteration of e-skin, scientists are working to add a layer of LEDs, turning it into a screen that sits on the body.

Digital skins offer numerous applications, not only in monitoring a user’s health, but also as a visual user interface. They may even replace smartphones one day.

But don’t throw aside your smartwatch or Google Glass just yet. It will be a while before our wearable future becomes known.

JOHN A. ROGERS/THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

MC10 has been testing bendable, stretchable and superthin computers that come with wireless antennas.

SIAN PROCTOR/UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA; BELOW, BRIAN SHIRO/UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA

Set in Hawaii, Aiming for Mars A six-member crew has begun an eight-month stint in a dome in Hawaii, in preparation for manned missions to Mars. Training for participants in Wyoming.

By KENNETH CHANG

On the way to Mars, Neil Scheibelhut stopped by a store for mouthwash and dental floss.

“We’re picking up some last-minute things,” he said via cellphone on a recent afternoon.

Mr. Scheibelhut is not actually an astronaut leaving the earth.

But three hours later, he and five other people stepped into a dome-shaped building on a Hawaiian volcano where they will live for eight months, mimicking a stay on the surface of Mars.

This is part of a study financed

by NASA, the American space agency. The goal of the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or Hi-Seas for short, is to examine how well people, isolated from civilization, can get along and work together.

When astronauts finally head toward Mars years from now — NASA has tentatively scheduled the 2030s — it will be a long and lonely journey: about six months to Mars, 500 days on the planet, and then six months home.

“Right now, the psychological risks are still not completely understood and not completely corrected for,” said Kimberly Binsted of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the principal investigator for the project. (She is not in the dome.) “NASA is not going to go until we solve this.”

Isolation can lead to depression. Personality conflicts can escalate over the months.

“How do you select and support astronauts for a mission that will last two to three years in a way that will keep them healthy and performing well?” Dr. Binsted said.

Or as Mr. Scheibelhut put it: “I’m so interested to see how I react. ‘I don’t know’ is the short answer. I think it could go a lot of different ways.”

Several mock Mars missions have been conducted in recent years. A simulation in Russia in 2010 and 2011 stretched 520 days. Four of the six volunteers developed sleep disorders and became less productive as the experiment progressed. The Mars Society, a nonprofit group that promotes human spaceflight, has run short simulations in the Utah desert since 2001 and is planning a one-year simulation in the Ca-

nadian Arctic beginning in 2015.

Hi-Seas has conducted two four-month missions, and next year, six more people will reside for one year inside the dome, a two-story building 11 meters in diameter with about 140 square meters of space. It sits in an abandoned quarry at an altitude of 2,440 meters on Mauna Loa. The six crew members in the Hi-Seas dome are largely cut off. Their communications to the world outside the dome are limited to email, and each message is delayed by 20 minutes before being sent, simulating the lag for communications to travel from

Six people settle in to test the stress of a long space trip.

Mars to Earth and vice versa.

On a real mission, the lag time would be considerably shorter as Mars and Earth moved closer together but, Dr. Binsted said, “We went with the worst case because we’re trying to solve the worstcase situation.”

The crew members are granted some exceptions. They can check a few websites, like their banking accounts, to ensure that their earth lives do not fall apart while they are away. There is also a cellphone for emergency communications.

Some 150 people applied to participate. Dr. Binsted said the three men and three women were chosen to have a mix of experience and backgrounds similar to

those of NASA astronauts. Some aspire to go to space.

The commander is Martha Lenio, 34, an entrepreneur looking to start a renewable-energy consulting company.

Mr. Scheibelhut, 38, had worked on the first Hi-Seas mission as part of the ground support crew. “I thought it would be really cool to be part of what’s going on inside,” he said.

Each crew member is receiving round-trip airfare to Hawaii, a $11,500 stipend, and food and lodging.

The goal is to maintain cohesion among the crew members, but that can lead to problems.

“They become more independent when they are more cohesive,” Dr. Binsted said, and an independent-minded crew could spar with mission control.

The researchers will also be looking for signs of “third-quarter syndrome.” At the beginning of the mission, the experience is new and exciting. Then, in the second quarter of the mission, people fall into routines. Near the end, people can look forward to getting out and returning to the real world.

In the middle, there can be a stretch when routines turn into tedium without end. “That third quarter can be a bit of a bummer,” Dr. Binsted said.

Like real astronauts, the HiSeas crew will be busy performing a variety of scientific work, including excursions outside the dome in spacesuits.

“If you’re going to keep people in a can for eight months, you want to get as much science out of them as possible,” Dr. Binsted said. “It also means NASA gets a lot of bang for their buck.”

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

33

N E W YO R K A R T S

An Urban Park Veers West, and Into the Past If the newest, last stretch of the High Line doesn’t make you fall in love with New York all over again, I really don’t know what to say. Phase 3 of the elevated park is a heartbreaker, swinging west on 30th Street from 10th Avenue toward the Hudson ESSAY River, straight into drop-dead sunset views.

It’s hard to believe now that some New Yorkers once thought renovating the decrepit elevated rail line was a lousy idea. Not since Central Park opened in 1857 has a park reshaped New Yorkers’ thinking about public space and the city more profoundly. Like Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim museum in Spain, it has spread a dream, albeit largely a pipe dream, around the world: how one exceptional design — in this case, a work of landscape architecture — might alter a city’s fortunes.

Yes, at roughly $35 million, Phase 3, like the rest of the High Line, cost more per hectare than probably any park in human history. With most city parks struggling to make ends meet, that kind of money is an inevitable source of resentment, notwithstanding that the High Line was, in significant measure, constructed with and is maintained by private funds.

And, yes, nowhere is the city’s widening economic divide clearer to see than along this stretch of Manhattan’s West Side. The new phase loops around Hudson Yards, a 10-hectare site becoming a multibillion-dollar architectural sampler, with super-tall office and apartment towers, at least one of them to rise higher than the Empire State Building. The development’s raised plaza, built atop the West Side rail depot, will be flush with the nine-meter height of the park, its

MICHAEL KIMMELMAN

TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

A view along the third, and last, leg of the High Line, built on an elevated rail line on Manhattan’s West Side. skyscrapers forming a canyon of glass. The chaos and cranes will be interesting for kids; parents may weep to see another swath of industrial New York yield to luxury condominiums.

James Corner Field Operations designed the High Line with Diller Scofidio & Renfro. Mr. Corner calls the city around the park its “borrowed landscape.”

Already choked by five million visitors a year, it’s a park custom-made for tourists — and those who can’t take a walk without a destination.

“You come up here and start looking,” is how the architect Ricardo Scofidio puts it. Toward that end, the park is arranged as a varied sequence of paths, vistas, overlooks, plantings — episodes linked by an architecture

The final chapter in the High Line’s tale of green and gritty. of reclaimed hardwood benches, rusted rails and concrete planks.

A simple shift in orientation of the planks signals the turn from north-south to east-west. A few benches have morphed into love seats, picnic tables and a seesaw.

Beyond, a bridge over 11th Avenue supports a catwalk, flanked by low benches: a spot to see and be seen. From there, a section of rail bed is excavated, its girders and beams coated with silicone so children can climb them safely and crawl into

nooks outfitted with periscopes.

Then the path narrows, funneling into the section skirting the Hudson River.

Here, rusty tracks are filled in with bonded gravel to make a level path; timber dunnage is stacked to make a bleacher from which people can peer out at the water and over the rail yards; nature is left to its own design.

Stripped bare, this section of viaduct, with its self-seeded landscape, looks scruffy, stubborn and wild. Evening primrose and Queen Anne’s lace stir in the breeze; trains creak in and out of the yard. Time suddenly reverses, and the sleek High Line evaporates.

This third phase completes a tale about 21st-century New York as a greener, sleeker me-

tropolis, riven by wealth, with an anxious eye on the past. Occupying an in-between sort of space between buildings, neighborhoods, street and sky, the park makes a convenient receptacle for meaning. Neither an authentic ruin nor entirely built from scratch, a sign of runaway capital but also common ground, it is a modern landmark capitalizing on the romance of a bygone New York — the “real,” gritty city — a park born of the very forces that swept that city away.

“Everything is as it should be, nothing will ever change, no one will ever die,” Vladimir Nabokov once wrote.

There, with the Hudson on one side and the skyline on the other, 360 degrees of New York unfold, suspended and infinite.

Role of Cameras in Picasso’s Work

By CAROL VOGEL

As a friend of Picasso’s during the 1950s, while the artist was living in the south of France, John Richardson saw more than most.

He can reveal juicy snippets about Picasso’s sexual escapades and recall many of his personal quirks: How Picasso would rub a concoction of oil heated with sticks of lavender into his scalp to make his hair grow; his passion for salt cod purée; his loathing of classical music. Mr. Richardson can also describe in riveting detail Picasso’s methods of painting, sculpting and drawing.

But it was only recently that Mr. Richardson, who has written biographies of Picasso, realized the role photography played in Picasso’s life and work.

“It’s a subject few people have gotten into,” Mr. Richardson said. “It’s proved much more complex, fascinating and eye-opening than I’d ever imagined,” he said. Picasso always had cameras, Leicas mostly, he

ONLINE: PICASSO SNAPSHOTS

John Richardson on how the artist used photography: nytimes.com Search Repos lens

said, “although we can’t find any surviving ones.”

But thousands of the artist’s photographs, as well as a cache of his home movies, have survived.

Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the artist’s grandson, has a trove, which has never been shown publicly, and it forms the core of “Picasso & the Camera” at the Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea. It includes more than 40 paintings, 50 drawings and 225 photographs.

There is an enclosed space showing home movies Picasso took on vacations, along with others depicting his life at Château Boisgeloup, his home in Normandy, France, during the 1930s. One shows Paul, Picasso and Olga Khokhlova’s son, at the age of 8, dressed as a toreador

with his nanny, Mimi, playing the part of the bull, her fingers mimicking its horns. There is also a movie taken by Man Ray in 1937, while with Picasso in the South of France.

“Picasso was the most photographed artist in history,” said Michael Cary, a director of the Gagosian Gallery. “He becomes this icon all over the world, yet he also took what we now would call selfies, posing as if trying on different identities — the dandy, the bohemian, the macho guy.”

Picasso also turned to the camera to record the progress of his sculptures. “In the case of the heads he made in 1931, we can see from his photographs that he tried to push two of them together to make a kiss, like the famous 1908 Brancusi sculpture,” Mr. Richardson said, a reference to that Romanian artist’s primitive-style block depicting two entwined figures. The exhibition displays a sequence of images showing how Picasso moved his

John Richardson, a Picasso biographer, is the curator of ‘‘Picasso & the Camera’’ at the Gagosian Gallery. angular rooftops, now thought to be the inspiration for the painting “Le Réservoir, Horta de Ebro,” on loan to Gagosian from David Rockefeller.

By far the most startling discovery Mr. Richardson made is Picasso’s use of “L’Art en Grèce,” a book of photographs of ancient Greek sculptures.

The show will illustrate just how Picasso reinterpreted images of ancient sculptures in his own modern vocabulary.

“What is particularly revealing about the book,” Mr. Richardson said, “is the way it shows how photography really opened Picasso’s eyes to possibilities of Modern sculpture.”

TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

sculptures into the garden of his house in Boisgeloup and photographed them on their pedestals from different angles, pushing them together.

“He finally gives up,” Mr. Richardson said. “And two years later does a painting of the kiss, which we have in the show.”

In 1909, the beginnings of Cubism began creeping into Picasso’s work. “This was especially true in the photographs he took at Horta de Ebro,” in Spain, said Valentina Castellani, a Gagosian director. It was there that Picasso took snapshots of the landscape, with its jagged hillsides and rect-

34

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

ARTS & DESIGN

The Murder of a Provocateur Haunts the Dutch

By RACHEL DONADIO

AMSTERDAM — Nothing marks the spot on an unremarkable street in east Amsterdam where on November 2, 2004, Mohammed Bouyeri, a 26-yearold Moroccan Dutchman — saying he was acting to defend the name of Allah — shot dead, then slashed the throat of the Dutch filmmaker, television host and provocateur Theo van Gogh.

The day, now 10 years ago, is still seared in people’s minds.

In this tidy country of 17 million, which prides itself on tolerance, the murder opened a polarizing debate. Was this a salvo in a larger war between radical Islam and the West? Or the act of one angry young man from a generation of young Dutch Muslims who feel shut out of the mainstream?

What is the line between free speech and hate speech? Has self-censorship taken hold?

The debate is still raging. But in the cultural realm, the picture is more complex. Books and at least one film have been inspired by the murder. A haunting 2005 portrait of Mr. Bouyeri by the Amsterdam artist Marlene Dumas has been prominently displayed in the Stedelijk Museum.

Various actors, writers and prominent cultural figures shied away from discussing the murder. One declined to comment for fear that he would be exploited by right-wing populists. Some were concerned that even the slightest criticism of Mr. van Gogh would be seen as an apology for his killer and invite attacks from “friends of Theo,” as his staunchest defenders are known.

“The polarization has become bigger and bigger and bigger,” said Abdelkader Benali, a Moroccan-Dutch novelist.

A memorial to Mr. van Gogh

A portrait of Theo van Gogh, far left, painted in Amsterdam following his murder in 2004, and a memorial sculpture, above.

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: ARIE KIEVIT/HOLLANDSE HOOGTE; HERMAN WOUTERS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES; REUTERS

stands in a park in a gentrified neighborhood filled with halal butcher shops and hipster cafes; it shows his face in multiple profiles, meant to convey a voice shouting, a reference to his insistence on free speech.

The murder “changed our way of thinking of who we are,” said Leontine Coelewij, the curator of a retrospective of Ms. Dumas’s work at the Stedelijk.

Theodor Holman, a journalist and one of Mr. van Gogh’s best friends, took a harsher view: “Tolerance has been transformed into cowardice.”

For years, in his writing and television appearances, Mr. van Gogh (a distant relative of the artist) loved to antagonize. He crudely insulted everyone respected in postwar multicultur-

al Dutch society, including Jews and Muslims. But he also helped bring Muslim actors onto Dutch television, as in “Najib and Julia,” a Romeo and Juliet story that was broadcast in 2002.

Two years later, Dutch television broadcast “Submission, Part I,” a short film that Mr. van Gogh had made with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee turned Dutch politician, in which verses of the Quran were written on the bodies of naked women, to protest what they saw as their subservient status in Islam. His death, a direct result of the film, opened a tense time in Europe.

After the murder, all Muslim men here became suspect, said Mr. Benali, a self-described secular Muslim. “You are confronted on a daily basis with an amount

of hatred,” he said. “If I say something that may sound apologetic for Muslims or Islamic practice, they hang me.”

A television director, Abdelkarim el-Fassi, and two other Dutch-Muslim actors have started a social media campaign where Dutch-born children of immigrants take photographs of themselves holding their Dutch passports and post them online with the hashtag #bornhere.

The Dutch government recently said it would reopen its investigation into the van Gogh murder, including what the Dutch secret service may have known about Mr. Bouyeri in advance. That is the subject of “2/11,” a new film

by Mr. Holman, which posits a far-fetched theory that the C.I.A. was in a way responsible for the

Finally Wrapping Up Welles’s Last Picture

By DOREEN CARVAJAL

PARIS — For more than four decades, Hollywood insiders, financiers and dreamers have been trying to recover “The Other Side of the Wind,” the unfinished last film of Orson Welles.

Cinema buffs consider it the most famous movie never released.

Endless legal battles among the rights holders, including Welles’s daughter, kept the 1,083 reels of negatives locked away inside a warehouse outside Paris.

Now a Los Angeles production company, Royal Road Entertainment, says it has reached an agreement with the sometimes-warring parties for the rights. The producers say they want to have it ready for a screening May 6, the 100th anniversary of Welles’s birth.

“This is like finding the Land of Oz or some lost tomb,” said Josh Karp, the author of a book about the movie to be published next year. “This film is art imitating life and life imitating art. It’s become so mythical because of what happened with all the fail-

ures to finish it and the players involved.”

During the last 15 years of his life, Welles, who died in 1985, worked obsessively on the film, which chronicles a temperamental film director — much like him, but played by John Huston — who is battling Hollywood to finish an iconoclastic work. The cast included Dennis Hopper and the director Peter Bogdanovich.

One of Welles’s investors in the movie, Mehdi Bushehri, brotherin-law of the shah of Iran, later clashed with Welles over spending and took control of the negative reels in France.

Welles left behind a 45-minute edited work print that he managed to smuggle out of Paris in 1975. His longtime companion and collaborator, Oja Kodar, said she has it now in Primosten, on the Adriatic coast in Croatia, where she lives.

French laws protecting artists’ rights gave Beatrice Welles — as the direct descendant — sole legal control over the reels.

“It’s hard to say why it’s com-

JOSE CASTELLVI

Orson Welles, far right, filming ‘‘The Other Side of the Wind.’’ The reels have been locked in a French warehouse. ing together now except that everybody realizes that the longer we wait the less people will be around to know Orson’s wishes,” said Frank Marshall, 68, who was a line producer on “The Other Side of the Wind.”

Filip Jan Rymsza of Royal Road saw the reels for the first time in mid-October. “I was relieved to see it was in such good condition — no mold or any degradation and the materials were in their original boxes,” he said.

Mr. Marshall said that he and Mr. Bogdanovich would assemble the film in Los Angeles. “We

have notes from Orson Welles,” he said. “We have scenes that weren’t quite finished, and we need to add music. We will get it done. The good news is that it won’t take so long because of all of the technology today.”

Mr. Marshall and Mr. Bogdanovich savor the memories of Welles’s low budget, guerrilla style. The crew would sneak into a movie lot or a California drivein, posing as university film students if anyone demanded production permits, Mr. Marshall recalled.

The origins of the script date

murder by pressuring the Dutch secret service not to arrest Mr. Bouyeri to use him to get to bigger figures with ties to Al Qaeda.

The Dutch writer Leon de Winter included Mr. Bouyeri and Mr. van Gogh in his 2012 novel “Acts of Kindness,” which imagines Mr. van Gogh as a guardian angel protecting children whose school has been the target of a terrorist attack.

Even though Mr. de Winter’s books about his Jewish roots made him the target of some of Mr. van Gogh’s attacks, he said he wants to live in the kind of society that lets people voice even the most offensive views.

“I cannot deny to a certain degree I miss this guy,” Mr. de Winter said. “Whatever way you look at it, it’s a loss.”

back to a tense encounter in 1937 between Ernest Hemingway and a young Welles. Welles described a whiskey-drinking Hemingway taunting him as one of those “effeminate boys of the theater.”

When Welles mocked him back, Hemingway threw a chair and they scuffled — settling it with a toast that led to an on-again, offagain friendship.

The main character’s life has echoes in Hemingway’s: his father’s suicide, the day of his death, his love of Spain, his name (Jake, like the protagonist in “The Sun Also Rises”).

Mr. Bogdanovich said he is ready to carry out a pledge he once made to Welles in the 1970s.

“He just turned to me rather casually during lunch and said, ‘I want you to promise that you will finish the picture if anything happens to me.’ I was shocked and said, ‘Nothing is going to happen to you.’ ” The challenge now is to follow Welles’s unique style. “He did some very complicated editing before it was taken away from him,” Mr. Bogdanovich said. “I don’t even know if I can approximate that kind of cutting because it is very fragmented and idiosyncratic. All we can do is the best we can, using the script, his notes and what he has left.”

Business | Money Line

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

35

Delayed payments of N126m threatens GESS BAD BUSINESS Interests on loans obtained from banks have built up Stories by Godson Ikoro

T

he good intentions and positive impacts, which the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) is having on agriculture is being threatened by the delayed payment of agro dealers and suppliers deployed by the various state governments to keep the scheme running.

New Telegraph investigations showed that

agro dealers who supplied fertilizer and other inputs were owed the sum of N126.01 million out of the N252.16 million worth of transactions for as much as nine months before they get paid. The state and federal governments are to pay for the half of the total outlay in any farming season.

Some Agro dealers said the Scheme, which operates on the basis of buy one free and get one free, said that both the federal and state government who are supposed to pay for half of their investment are delaying payment of N126,080, 750 to the disadvantage of the suppliers, who borrowed from the bank to

supply the inputs. Some of them claimed that they obtained loans from banks for the 90 days tenure but from January when they procured the loans, the bank interest had built up for them.

While Government said they have a loan scheme for the GESS, which pegged the interest at 10 per cent, “accessing the loan is quite cumbersome because you must get the GESS code before you approach the bank, access to the loan does not work in tandem with the way the GESS is designed” said one of the agro dealers, who preferred anonymity.

But the International Fertilizer Development

Center (IFDC), supply chain managers representative in Lagos, Mr. Mohammed Isiaka, the idea of the GESS is a very brilliant one and should not be demeaned by complaints, which he said were predicated on lack of understanding of the system by the dealers and suppliers before embarking on the projects.

While acknowledging that the delay in payment is a setback on the programme, he said that a lot of the agro dealers or suppliers do not have complete understanding of the payment terms before embarking on the contract the government gave them.

According to him,

Access Bank grants $250m credit facility to firm

A

ccess Bank Plc has granted a $250 million credit facility to Sea Truck Groups, an international group of companies offering offshore installation, accommodation and support services to the oil and gas industry worldwide.

Group Managing Director Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, said that the lender has recorded commendable expansion and growth in the last

decade. “This has positioned the bank within the top five banks in the country. With regards to our regional spread, Access Bank is currently in seven countries inclusive of the UK and now has an office in China with plans to establish presence in Dubai next year,” he said.

Expressing his appreciation to Sea Truck Group for the opportunity afforded the bank, he said: “Sea truck Group is a company that

•Naira gains 2.3%

N

igeria’s interbank lending rates slipped to a three-year low after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced a restriction on the volume of idle cash that banks can place with it, traders said.

According to Reuters, the apex bank last Thursday restricted lenders and discount houses from depositing more than N7.5 billion ($45.25 million) each, increasing interbank naira liquidity.

Interbank lending rates closed around 8 percent across the board at the weekend 2.2 percentage points lower than last week’s 10.2 percent.

Dealers said many banks were taken aback by the new limit on CBN deposits and were willing to place funds with borrowers at whatever rate.

“Many banks are left with idle funds that should ordinarily be attracting some interest at the central bank, but now

As at N14,737,618.7m N16,509,472.5m 8 0.0000 12 10.899 7.96 17.01 US$109.9 US$42,604,781,796.6

Description

TTM

4.00% 23-Apr-2015 13.05% 16-Aug-2016 15.10% 27-Apr-2017 16.00% 29-Jun-2019 16.39% 27-Jan-2022 10.00% 23-Jul-2030

1.21 2.53 3.22 5.39 7.98 16.47

Tenor (Days) Call 7 30 60 90 180 365

Rate (%) 11.9167 12.3333 12.6667 12.9167 13.2167 13.5000 13.7500

NIBOR

Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 2/5/2014 1/20/2014 11/6/2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 1/20/2014 2/5/2014 Source:CBN

FGN Bonds Bid Price 90.20 99.25 104.10 109.35 114.15 76.60

Offer Yield 13.01 13.40 13.47 13.49 13.44 13.59

Price 90.35 99.40 104.40 109.65 114.45 76.90

Tenor (Months) 1 2 3 6 9 12

Rate (%) 12.1827 12.2737 12.3744 12.8521 12.8535 13.8443

Treasury Bills Maturity Date 08-May-14 07-Aug-14 22-Jan-15

Bid 12.10 12.10 12.05

FX

Bid Spot ($/N) 163.28 THE FIXINGS –NIBOR,NITTY and NIFEX of February 6,2014

NITTY

Yield 12.86 13.33 13.35 13.42 13.38 13.53

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80 Offer 163.38

Open-Buy-Back (OBB) Overnight (O/N)

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

are running the generic supply chain for fertilizers and seedlings are those worst hit by the seeming delays because they do their supply at the beginning of the farming season and had to wait till the end of the farming season. He added that the scheme will revisit the payment system.

The GESS, which is being managed by the supply chain management is a federal government initiative to actualise the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) It was aimed at subsidising the costs of major agricultural inputs, such as fertiliser and seedlings for farmers.

Interbank rates at three-year low

is dear to our heart. We will always support the company in its dealings, as we are confident that this mutually beneficial relationship will provide the backbone for future more robust dealings”.

President/Chief Executive Officer, Sea Trucks Group, Jacque Roomans thanked Herbert for arranging the signing ceremony and also commended the bank for the successful close on the transaction.

Economic Indicators M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91-day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res**

Government has a protocol of payment, which they follow in making payments. The idea of Government is that the payment to the dealers and suppliers should wait until the end of the farming season, which varies for the three value chain – generic, aqua culture and sheep and goat.

Going by the procedure of payment, the value chain managers must collate the report at the end of the farming season and submit it to the permanent secretary, of the Information Technology platform providers Cellulants, which has to confirm the report before the payment.

He said that those who

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

are floating with zero interest,” one dealer said The cash balance banks held at the banking watchdog opened around N500 billion last Friday. The new restrictions meant more than 60 percent of those funds were not earning interest.

Any amount deposited above the stipulated N7.5 billion by each bank will not attract any interest payment, the new rule specified. The regulator currently pays on 10 percent of cash deposited with it by banks.

Both Open Buy Back (OBB) and overnight placement with other banks were traded around 8 percent each last Friday, lower than 10.15 percent and 10.25 percent for OBB and overnight last week.

Dealers said interbank lending rates are expected to rise back to around 10 percent this week as banks adjust their lending to the new central bank rule.

Union Bank showcases products, services at fair

U

nion Bank of Nigeria is showcasing its array of products and services to visitors and exhibitors at the ongoing Lagos International Trade Fair.

The Fair, according to a statement, kicked-off last Friday at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Onikan, Lagos and will run till November 16, 2014.

Organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Lagos International Trade Fair is the largest Trade Fair in the West African Subregion and attracts more than a hundred thousand business visitors over a 10 day period.

The Head, Corporate Affairs & Corporate Communication at Union Bank, Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem, said Union Bank is participating in the fair to demonstrate its commitment to supporting SMEs and meeting its custom-

ers’ financial needs through simple and accessible banking services.

She said :“Union Bank has been attending the Lagos Trade Fair since its inception and has found it to be a forum where we can showcase our products and services to existing customers and prospects.

This year, the Bank is showcasing its innovative Bank of the Future platform, which will enable attendees of the fair open accounts instantly.

Our presence at the fair also supports the participating SMEs and ensures that they are able to perform their banking transactions conveniently and effortlessly”.

Visitors and exhibitors at the Fair will have the opportunity to carry out a variety of banking transactions using Union Bank’s highly secure platforms.

36

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Business | Issue of the Week

Abdulwahab Isa, Abuja

R

elying on the potency of its monetary instruments, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been able to rein in excess liquidity as well as ensuring that inflation remains in the single digit.

In the last 18 months, the banking watchdog has also sustained tightening of key rates by retaining the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) on public sector deposit rate at 75 per cent, and the Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) at 12 percent – all geared towards stabilising the economy.

But these developments ignited spontaneous reaction as lenders raised interest rate charged on loans to their customers.

The new order In a bid to prevent banks that have not made profits from using their capital to pay dividends, the banking watchdog recently introduced a new rule to prevent banks that do not meet minimum capital requirements from paying dividends to shore up the sector.

In a memo dated October 8, 2014, to banks and discount houses entitled: ‘Internal capital generation and dividend payment ratio,’ the CBN introduced new rules to prevent banks that do not meet minimum capital requirements from paying dividends.

The apex bank insisted that the amount banks can pay in dividends would depend on their capital levels, statutory reserve requirements and the proportion of non-performing loans.

Signed by the CBN Director, banking supervision, Mrs Tokunbo Martins, the circular noted that in order to facilitate sufficient and adequate capital build-up for banks in tandem with risk appetite, any bank or discount house that does not meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio shall not be allowed to pay dividend.

Other key pronouncements in the circular included that banks and discount houses that have a Composite Risk Rating (CRR) of ‘high’ or “a Non-Performing Loans (NPL) of above 10 per cent shall not be allowed to pay dividend; no banks or discount house shall be allowed to pay dividend out of its reserves while banks are to submit approved dividend policy to the CBN before dividend payment is permitted.”

The old order Before now, dividend payout policy for banks as stipulated in section 16 (1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2004 as amended and prudential guideline for DMBs 2010 states: “Every bank shall maintain a reserve fund and shall, out of its net profit for each year (after due provision made for taxation) and before any dividend is declared, where the amount is less than the paid up share capital, transfer to the reserve funds a sum equal to but not less than 30 per cent of the net profit, or equal to or in excess of the paid-up share capital transfer to the reserve fund a sum equal to but not less than 15 per cent of the net profit provided that no transfer under the sub-section shall be made until all identifiable losses have been made.”

Section 17(1) stipulates: “No bank shall pay dividend on its shares until all preliminary expenses, organisational expenses, shares, selling commission, brokerage, amount of losses incurred and other capitalised expenses not represented by tangible assets have been completely written off and adequate provision have been made to the satisfaction of the bank for actual contingency losses on the risk of assets, liabilities, off balance sheet commit-

More snags for banks with huge NPLs

Godwin Emefiele

ments and such unearned income as are derivable therefrom.”

Implications Before the CBN’s recent rule on dividend, banks had already been pushed to the wall, with the sustained tight monetary stance of the apex bank. For 18 consecutive months, CBN has continuously kept the CRR on public sector at 75 per cent and MRR at 12 per cent – all in a bid to cage inflation and preserve the value of the naira.

In addition to these, lenders’ cash cow (commission on turnover), which has be slashed, is also gradually being phased out. Banks made their sizeable percentage of profits by mopping up government deposits and using the cash to buy high-yielding treasury bonds and declaring huge dividends, thus leaving them with little cash to lend to the real sector, which are the engines of growth.

Furthermore, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) have also raised its annual levy on banks to 0.5 per cent from 0.3 per cent of the lenders’ assets.

Taking cognisance of the tough operating milieu, analysts at global rating agency, Fitch Ratings, could not but conclude in a recent report that Nigerian banks’ assets growth and earnings would experience further fall over the next 18 months.

Fitch said that all the Nigerian banks it rated were profitable in 2013 and 2014 but their performance slipped. The report noted: “Banks are now seeing some asset quality deterioration with rising absolute non-performing loans, reflecting fast loan growth since 2011.

“Most banks’ NPL ratios remain below the five per cent prescribed by the CBN, but Fitch views this as unsustainable in the long-run. Very high loan concentrations by borrower and sector expose banks, particularly the smaller

Aruma Oteh

banks, to significant event risk.

“Banks are also seeing moderate liquidity pressure with rising loans/ deposit ratios. In response, the banks’ large customer deposit bases are continuing to expand on strong GDP growth and increasing banking penetration.

“The focus is on raising low-cost retail deposits to strengthen funding profiles, particularly following the cash reserve requirement hikes on public sector deposits. Several banks have successfully tapped the Eurobond market to raise longer-term US dollar funding to meet the strong demand for US dollar loans from major corporates, although it exposes the banks to foreign exchange-related risks.”

Basel II implementation The global rating agency expects

Banks are now seeing some asset quality deterioration with rising absolute nonperforming loans, reflecting fast loan growth since 2011

the banks’ capitalisation to come under pressure due to the Basel II implementation in 2014 and the proposed new regulatory capital computation rules.

Basel is a comprehensive set of reform measures developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, to strengthen the regulation, supervision and risk management of the banking sector.

The new rule on dividend payment, which takes off with immediate effect, has shut doors for banks with huge NPL from paying dividend.

Experts’ opinion Commenting on the new dividend policy, Sunny Nwosu, the National Coordinator of Independent Shareholders’ Association of Nigeria (ISAN), expressed surprise. He told New Telegraph that he was not aware the directive was issued by CBN. He pleaded for more time to read it and promised to revert but never did.

A banker who pleaded not to be quoted, welcomed the new rules, but warned it could be injurious to banking stock.

Specifically, he said that it might hurt banking stocks if cash payments to investors fall. The rules may also reduce banks’ loan growth as they become more cautious in granting credits, which may also negatively affect bank’s profits. Banks have also had to adopt a stricter international capital requirement, which has seen capital ratios for most lenders drop by 100-400 basis points to near the regulatory minimum of 16 per cent under the new rules.

Analysts at Renaissance Capital said FBN Holdings, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and First City Monument Bank (FCMB) have capital ratios close to this minimum requirement. But some have also been shoring up their balance sheets.

Access Bank got the nod from shareholders to raise up to N68 billion naira last month, while Sterling Bank Plc plans to seek approval to raise $320 million.

Some analysts are also of the view that investors in banks stock could be forced to dump their shares for other viable stocks that would pay mouthwatering dividends.

Conclusion The bond that endures between banks and shareholders is rooted in attractive dividend payout which banks’ board of directors approve as part of their net profit for shareholders.

With the likelihood of poor or no dividend declaration scenario, vocal shareholders such as Sunny Nwosu, will have a mouthful probing questions to ask bank directors at Annual General Meetings (AGMs) in the first quarter 2015.

Reacting to the development, Chairman, Renaissance Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Ambassador Olufemi Timothy, described the policy as a welcome development.

He said: “Going by my experience in the capital market, no company is allowed to pay dividend from its capital. I don’t see it as a new law. So, we support CBN in that direction. It is necessary for companies to pay dividend only when they make profit. We support the decision and it is a welcome development that will help to regulate the banking industry,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, President of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Okezie, said banks or any other company don’t need to pay dividend from their capital.

“It is strange to hear that such will happen. Payment of dividends must be from the profits declared by companies.

To me, the policy is a step in right direction,” Okezie said.

Business | Stock Watch

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

PROSPECTS

Economies of scale cuts production cost Chris Ugwu

T

here is no doubt that the security challenges in some part of the country with the attendant consequences of loss of lives and properties, domestic constraints such as depletion of fiscal buffers, dwindling foreign reserves, erratic supply of public electricity, poor infrastructure, among others, have remain a thorn in the business operating environment especially the real sector of the economy.

However, while it has been accepted generally that the overall economic and business climate is a mixed due to mounting economic challenges, Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) Plc has fairly maintained an upward trend in its financials.

Notwithstanding the difficult business environment, the company sustained its performance in 2013 through proactive responses to market dynamics and competitive pressures.

While some companies were unable to successfully weather the storm due to difficulty in business milieu, others, like CAP, managed to firm up its bottom line with a turnover of N6.2 billion in 2013, a growth of 18 per cent over the previous year and a Profit Before Tax of N2.1 billion, which represents an increase of 26 per cent over the previous year.

Market watchers believe that the relative patronage on the stock could be adduced to high liquidity of the shares due to high level of confidence investors have had on the stock for some time now as a result of its consistency in releasing significant results.

The group has continued to retain one of the top spots among the industry competitors listed on the building materials sub-sector of the industrial goods sector in terms of share price to what financial analysts believe will be sustained in the next few years.

Due to recent lull in the market following massive sell off that saw the market lose considerable chunk of investors’ wealth, the share price which closed at N50.00 per share on November 30, 2013 stood at N41.00 when the closing bell rang on Friday, a decrease of N9.00 or 21.9 per cent year to date.

Corporate profile Chemical and Allied Products Plc evolved from the world-renowned British multinational Imperial Chemical Award Industries Plc, which formalised its Nigerian operations in 1957 under ICI Exports Limited. In 1962, ICI Paints was also incorporated to manufacture Dulux paints. In 1965, ICI Exports Limited changed its name to ICI Nigeria Limited and in 1968 it subsumed the paints company.

Following the promulgation of the first and second Indigenisation Decrees in 1972 and 1977, ICI Nigeria Limited at first sold 40 per cent but later 60 per cent of its share capital to the Nigerian public, and went further to change its name by a special resolution of the shareholders to Chemical and Allied Products Limited (CAPL) in the spirit of indigenisation.

In 1991, the ‘Limited’ appellation was dropped for ‘Plc’ in compliance with the provision of the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990.

In 1992, ICI Nigeria Limited finally disposed of its minority 40 per cent shareholding in CAP Plc when it sold

37

CAP Plc: Resilient to environmental challenges Share price movement of CAP Plc 2013 Nov 30

N50.00

Dec 31

N48.45 2014

Ettah

35.7 per cent of the equity to UAC of Nigeria Plc and the rest to the Nigerian public on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange. Today, CAP Plc is a Nigerian Company operating in Coatings Business.

Financials CAP’s performance indicators for first quarter ended March 31, 2014 remained positive as the company recorded a 23.3 per cent in net earnings.

The company in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange posted a profit after tax of N402.53 million during the first quarter as against N308.7 million in 2013.

The company’s revenue grew by 16.6 per cent to N1.747 billion in 2014 from N1.460 billion in 2013.

CAP Plc also recorded an improved profit for the half year ended June 30, 2014. The company posted revenue of N3.349 billion in 2014, showing an increase of 16 per cent from N2.883 billion in the corresponding period of 2013.

Profit before tax stood at N1.09 billion in 2014, indicating an increase of 20 per cent. A further analysis of the unaudited results showed that CAP Plc’s cost of sales went up by 10 per cent from N1.481 billion to N1.633billion, while distribution/administrative and other expenses rose by 25 per cent from N584 million to N728 million.

The company had also recorded a 19 per cent growth in net earnings during the third quarter ended September 31, 2014.

The company in a filing with the Ni-

The expansion in bottom line was supported by 15 per cent growth in other income and 18 per cent rise in finance income

gerian Stock Exchange posted a profit after tax of N1.128 billion during the third quarter as against N946.2 million in 2013.

Its revenue grew by 15 per cent to N5.054 billion in 2014 from N4.412 billion in 2013.

Profit drivers Addressing shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) recently in Lagos, Chairman of CAP Plc, Mr. Larry Ettah, said the company expanded its spread during the year with the opening of eight new Dulux colour shops in Umuahia, Dopemu, Akure, Jigawa, Abuja, Katsina, Aba and Ughelli.

“We successfully executed the Dulux Mobile Room Makeover, an innovative marketing campaign in the Nigerian clime, to the delight of our teeming consumers. We commenced

Jan 31

N47.68

Feb 28

N40.55

Mar 31

N40.62

Apr 30

N40.35

May 30

N37.51

Jun 30

N40.00

Jul 31

N39.00

Aug 29

N39.05

Sept 30

N39.00

Oct 24

N41.00

ink jet coding of our product packages, making adulteration of the product more difficult. We will ensure that our products continue to meet global quality standards; hence retained the NIS ISO 9001: 2008 certification of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON),” he said.

He noted that CAP Plc’s consistent drive to conduct its operations in a ‘healthy and safe manner, complying with all relevant laws and regulations and ensuring minimal impact on the environment, was rewarded in the year with the award for the first time, of ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management System (EMS) certification.’

On the challenges of the economy, the Chairman noted the growing insecurity in the Northern part of the country with its attendant consequences in the loss of lives and properties and the denial of the enabling environment hampered business.

Analysts’ perception According to analysts at Meristem Securities, the company showed continued commitment to attaining cost efficiency as cost–to–sales declined by 1.23 per cent to 49.08 per cent while operating margin moderated to 20.09 per cent from 21.45 per cent in 2012FY. They noted that the company sustained two-digit earnings growth in the first half of 2014 with a 20.43 per cent increase in profit after tax, largely driven by CAP’s continued cost saving measures.

The expansion in bottom line was supported by 15 per cent growth in other income and 18 per cent rise in finance income.

“We expect CAP to consolidate on the first half returns and therefore project PAT to settle at NGN1.695bn

by FY: 2014, representing a growth of 20 per cent from 2013.

“Factoring into our blended valuation model (Absolute and Relative models) CAP’S strong YoY performance and consistent boost to shareholders’ value as well as the rising country risks, we arrived at a target price of NGN49.88 (as against previous TP of NGN50.35) suggesting a 21.66 per cent capital gain at current price levels,” the analysts noted.

38

Business | Capital Market Report

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Investors lose N3 trillion in four months PANIC SALES

Upset in financial market takes toll on stock market

Chris Ugwu

T

he Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) stepped into the second half of the year on a favourable note with key measurement indicators tilting northwards, exceeding the N13 trillion mark it opened the year during the first quarter to hit N14 trillion.

Expectations by some market watchers that positive second quarter results would drive investor optimism to galvanise stock market activities in third and fourth quarter were dashed, as the market ended the quarter in a negative trajectory and has ever since continued to dwindle in fortune.

Available statistics show that the market capitalisation of the equities during the half year period of 2014 gained N802 billion, translating to 6.06 per cent from N13.226 trillion it opened the year to close at June 30, 2014 at N14.028 trillion.

Although this was not impressive when compared with N2.452 trillion recorded during the half year of 2013, representing 27.32 per cent from N8.974 trillion it opened in 2013 to N11.426 trillion on June 30, 2013, it is, however, encouraging judging from the colossal sell off being witnessed in the market.

Activities on the floor of the NSE have continued to skew downward, as the market, which opened high at N14.027 trillion in market capitalisation and 42,482.48 in index at the beginning of trading on July 1, 2014 closed on Friday November 7, at N11.001 trillion and 33,216.31 index points, hence earned a loss of about N3.026 trillion or 28 per cent.

Even earnings being posted by some quoted companies with promises of dividend payout could not rescue the stock market from limbo as sell pressure continued unabated, raising concerns in the investment community over the possibility of another stock market crash.

The low sentiment in the market was worsened by upset in the financial market arising from insecurities, build up to 2015 elections, Ebola crisis, recapitalisation fever, and lately, drop in oil price among others.

Financial analysts believed some of these factors sent a shock wave to both local and foreign investors and created uncertainty in the investment environment, which led to retreat on the part of the bargain hunters.

Nigerian stocks on negative part Specifically, the Nigerian stock market last Monday

NSE building

opened the week on a bearish note as the market continued to witness persistent sell pressure.

The key benchmark indices maintained negative trajectory to close in the red, as activities in the shares of blue chip companies dragged down the equity market.

Consequently, the All-Share Index dipped 206.39 basis points or 0.55 per cent to close at 37,343.85 as against 37,550.24 recorded the previous day while the market capitalisation of equities depreciated by N68 billion or 0.55 per cent from N12.436 trillion the previous day to N12.368 trillion as market sentiment remained in red.

Meanwhile, a turnover of 285.1 million shares worth N3.2 billion in 4,306 deals was recorded in the day’s trading.

Just as in the previous day , the banking sub-sector of the financial services sector was the most active (measured by turnover volume); with 93.2 million shares worth N753.4 billion exchanged by investors in 1,288 deals.

Volume in the banking sub-sector was largely driven by activities in the shares of Sterling Bank Plc and UBA Plc. Cement firms drag equities down On Tuesday, overall market performance indicators, the NSE ASI and market capitalisation, declined 1.63 per cent each – extending losses to the ninth consecutive trading day.

Sell pressure forced the values of equities lower across board, resulting in dip in market capitalisation by N198 billion.

Consequently, the All-Share Index dipped 599 basis points or 1.63 per cent to close at 36,744.46 as against 37,343.85 re-

Five most capitalised stocks@ Nov 7, 2014 Dangote Cement Plc

N3.2trn

Nigerian N1.07trn Breweries Plc Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

N706.3bn

Nestle Nigeria Plc

N665.3bn

Zenith Bank Plc

N631.3bn

corded the previous day while the market capitalisation of equities depreciated by N198 billion or 1.63 per cent from N12.368 trillion the previous day to N12.170 trillion as market sentiment remained on the southwards trajectory.

Meanwhile, a turnover of 752.7 million shares worth N4.1 billion in 4,997 deals was recorded in the day’s trading.

The insurance sub-sector of the financial services sector was the most active (measured by turnover volume); with 496.7 million shares worth N251.3 billion exchanged by investors in 226 deals.

Massive sell-off The bears, on Wednesday, maintained its stronghold on the NSE as major bluechip companies continued to witness massive sell off, causing investors to lose N527 billion or 4.4 per cent in three trading days Market watchers have attributed the sustenance of bears not only to profit takings by investors but also foreign investors’ penchant to pulling more money out of the stock

market, mainly in the relatively liquid blue chip companies as the oil prices continue to drop.

They also attributed the southwards movement to uncertainty in Nigerian business environment following security challenges and 2015 general election.

Specifically, at the last sound of the bell, the NSE All-Share Index depreciated by 786.08 points or 2.19 per cent to close at 35,958.38 from 36.744.46 recorded the previous day while the market capitalisation of equities declined to N11.909 trillion from 12.170 trillion, representing a drop of N261billion or 2.19 per cent as market sentiment remained negative.

At the close of transactions, eight stocks appreciated in price during the day as against 50 that depreciated in value.

Panic sales triggers colossal slide Activities on the Exchange for the fourth trading day of the week sustained negative trajectory on following massive offloading of shares by both local and foreign investors.

At the close of transactions, the NSE’s market capitalisation lost a whopping N484 billion, unprecedented in the history of Exchange since the market crash in 2008.

Market watchers attributed the persistent bearish trend at the Exchange to the exit of foreign investors due to the drop in oil price at the international market Nigeria’s naira fell to a record low against the dollar and stocks declined the most among global markets on speculation the currency of the economy would be devalued because of lower oil prices.

Foreign investors exit “Foreign investors are exiting the market. They don’t want to be stuck in Nigeria when the naira will be devalued. The fall in the oil price has given a challenging outlook to the economy,” Pabina Yinkere, head of research at Lagosbased Vetiva Capital Management Limited, said.

Specifically, at the close of business, the NSE All-Share Index depreciated by 1,463.45 points or 4.2 per cent to close at 34,494.42 from 35.958.38 recorded the previous days while the market capitalisation of equities declined to N11.425 trillion from 11.909 trillion, representing a drop of N484 billion or 4.2 per cent as market sentiments remained negative.

At the close of transactions, five stocks appreciated in price as against 49 that depreciated in value.

According to Bloomberg News, the naira headed for its steepest one-day depreciation in almost three years as oil prices extended losses after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut demand forecasts and the European Central Bank said it was ready to implement further stimulus measures.

Nigeria, which relies on oil for 80 per cent of government revenue, is facing lower export earnings as the average crude price among members of OPEC drops below $80 for the first time in four years and the commodity falls into a bear market. The central bank has run foreign-exchange reserves to a three-month low to defend the naira and avoid raising interest rates or devaluing the currency before elections in February.

Market sustains negative sentiment The stock market, last Friday, closed the week in the red as the bear maintained grip for the 12th day, longest stretch of losses since the crash of the market in 2008.

Panic sales forced the values of equities lower across board, resulting in dip in market capitalisation by N424 billion.

Consequently, the All-Share Index dipped 1,278.62 basis points or 3.8 per cent to close at 33,216.93 as against 34,494.93 recorded the previous day while the market capitalisation of equities depreciated by N424 billion or 3.8 per cent from N11.425 trillion the previous day to N11.001 trillion as market sentiment remained on the southwards trajectory.

Meanwhile, a turnover of 1.01 billion shares worth N6.8 billion in 4,906 deals was recorded in the day’s trading.

The insurance sub-sector of the financial services sector was the most active during the day (measured by turnover volume); with 515.5 million shares worth N268.6 billion exchanged by investors in 184 deals.

Business | Insurance

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

NAICOM moves against poorly run firms C

39

Custodian and Allied grows profit by 54%

INSOLVENCY Local underwriters yet to recover from the 2008/2009 financial meltdown

Sunday Ojeme

D

espite the outcry by underwriters over ‘high handedness’ of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the regulator has vowed to wield a bigger stick in future, saying that it will no longer allow companies with solvency gaps to operate in the market.

Giving the warning in Lagos, the Commis-

sioner for Insurance, Mr Fola Daniel, said that the excuse that firms lost major part of their investment capital during the 2008/2009 capital market crash was no longer strong enough and would be unacceptable.

It would be recalled that the insurance operators recently complained over the commission’s high handedness.

The complaint came almost the same time the International Monetary Fund (IMF) castigated the commission for handling the industry with kid’s gloves.

Daniel said that the commission had been magnanimous by showing some understanding against the backdrop of massive investment

losses following the capital market crash of 2009/2010.

He said: “Whereas other sectors have achieved reasonable recovery, insurers and NAICOM may no longer be able to invoke the excuses of the market crash as justification for the poor turn of event.

“The commission shall therefore have zero tolerance for solvency gaps in the ensuing year in the interest of the insuring public and for the avoidance of exposure of NAICOM to regulatory risk.”

The commissioner pointed out that enforcing this regulation had become necessary, because from the audited financials of nearly a dozen insurance com-

panies, solvency gaps were recurring features of their activities for as much as three consecutive years.

He said, “Appropriate regulation should have resulted in either suspension of the operating licence and possibly withdrawal.”

He also castigated the operators over late submission of annual returns, saying that it showed either the companies were lacking integrity issue or withholding some information to the public.

He affirmed that going forward insurance companies must comply with all requisite regulatory requirements without plea subsidies from the commission.

ustodian and Allied Plc has announced an unaudited profit after tax of N3.2 billion for the nine months period ended September 30, 2014.

The result represents an increase of 54 per cent over the N2.06 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2013.

Similarly, shareholders’ funds increased by 11per cent to N21.2 billion from N19.1 billion as at December 31, 2013, while total assets stood at N49.9 billion compared with N45.6 billion reported as at December 31, 2013.

Custodian and Allied recently paid an interim dividend of 6 kobo per 50 kobo share after paying a total of 16 kobo per share on the preceding year’s results.

The company’s Chief Finance Officer, Ademola Ajuwon, said the results had been sent to

the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

He also highlighted favorable underwriting income from the insurance subsidiaries and remarkable efficiency gains group-wide as factors that contributed to the improved result.

“The performance is a concise representation of Custodian and Allied unrelenting commitment to its corporate ideal of exceeding customer and other stakeholders’ expectations at all times as demonstrated daily through customer focus, comprehensive systems, processes and operations integration.”

He also expressed optimism that the company’s well-articulated business plans and forecast would be achieved in the short, medium and long terms to ultimately benefit all stakeholders.

Guinea Insurance records 67% profit growth

G

L-R: Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Public Relations, Col. John Agim; Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Lagos Chapter, Mr Joseph Okonmah and Head of Department, Media Enterprise, School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University, Dr. Issa Momoh, at the 1st Lagos NIPR stakeholders’ conference in Lagos . PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Old Mutual eyes further African expansion

O

ld Mutual’s sales have been dented by the weakness of the rand, though the Anglo-South African insurer and investment firm said its assets had risen and it was working on expansion elsewhere in Africa.

The firm was managing £307.6bn at the end of September, up five per cent on the same point a year ago, but quarterly sales fell almost five per cent on last year to £6.2bn.

Last month, Old Mutual’s South African subsidiary, Nedbank, bought 20 per cent of lending group, Ecobank, with a view to expanding banking and insurance services. The pair currently op-

erate together in 39 African countries.

The Chief Executive Officer, Julian Roberts, said the firm had also seen strong demand for its new fund offering UK retailers the chance to invest directly in African equities.

“I would like people to think of us immediately when they think about investing in Africa,” he said.

He disclosed that the company had no plans to sell more of its stake in Old Mutual Asset Management, which raised £317m through a stock market float of 20 per cent of its equity in New York last month.

Old Mutual, which shifted its main stock market listing from Johannesburg to London in 1999, has also bolstered its wealth management business after agreeing to buy Quilter Cheviot from Bridgepoint for £585m last month. The deal is set to complete next year after getting regulatory clearance.

Old Mutual Global Investors, which hired star manager, Richard Buxton, from Schroders last year, managed £18.4bn at the end of September, up from £17bn three months ago, on flat gross sales of £2bn. The overall wealth business managed £82.2bn, up from £80.3bn.

uinea Insurance Plc recorded an increase of 67 per cent in its business transactions for the year ended December 2013.

At the company’s 56th Annual General Meeting, the Chairman of the company, Sir Emeka Offor, said the company’s profit before tax increased by 67 per cent to N300million in 2013 as against N179.7million recorded in 2012.

In the same vein, the total asset increased by six per cent to N4.2billion in 2013 as against N3.9billion recorded in 2012. Insurance contract liability decreased by four per cent to N533million in 2013 as against N555million recorded in 2012.

Total equity also increased by 16 per cent to N 2.9billion in 2013 as against N2.5billion recorded in 2012 while claims expenses increased by 15 per cent to N324million in 2013 as against the sum of N 281million recorded in 2012.

Offor said that in spite of the daunting challenges in the operating environment, the company remained focused and true to its ideals of becoming an insurer of first choice by persistently building capacity, exploring opportunities within the industry and strategically directing its internal processes on the path of returning the company to profitability.

The Managing Director of the company, Polycarp Didam, while

expressing his profound gratitude for the support and understanding of stakeholders, reiterated his commitment to restructure and reposition the company for better performance.

He said: “To achieve this, part of our laid down measures have been to improve our performance management method, a move that led to the recent elevation of 22 of our deserving members of staff following the outcome of the company’s 2014 half year performance appraisal.

On the industry front, we have continued to keep faith with our pledge to constantly support initiatives aimed at pioneering and advocating for increased insurance penetration and awareness in the polity. For some years now, we have been executing various ‘street presence’ CSR initiatives, one of such tagged “Guinea Cleans,” was aimed at creating awareness and keeping its immediate environment clean, because we believe strongly that clean care, is safer care.”

On the company’s decision to donate educational materials to schools, the managing director the fact that the youths were considered the future leaders of tomorrow there was need for them to possess the right attitude and information about insurance in order to advance the progress of the country’s underwriting portfolio.

40

Business | Financial Market News

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Business | Financial Market News

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

CAPITAL OUTFLOWS Foreign investors exit market as naira lowers value Stories by Chris Ugwu

E

merging-market stocks headed for the steepest weekly loss in two months after an unexpected drop in the US jobless rate and stocks in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, entered the bear market.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index retreated the most among emerging markets, falling 3.7 per cent on concern due to declining oil prices, which spur capital outflows.

Emerging stocks drop as Nigeria Exchange joins bear market The gauge has tumbled 23 per cent from this year’s high on July 9. The naira rallied 2.6 per cent after the central bank sold dollars to the market to support it.

According to Bloomberg News, PetroChina Co. fell to a six-month low in Hong Kong. Crude rose, paring a sixth straight weekly decline.

India’s S&P BSE Sensex Index slipped 0.2 per cent. The Micex index fell less than 0.1 per cent in Moscow after erasing a gain of as much as 1.9 per cent on signs of a return to open warfare in eastern Ukraine.

The ruble rebounded from a record low amid speculation Russia’s central bank will take steps to defend the currency.

The Ibovespa ended a two-day drop as Brazilian exporters rose.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.3 per cent to 988.68, taking the five-day decline to 2.7 per cent. A gauge of 20 developing-nation currencies was little changed after falling 1.7 per cent last week. The US jobless rate fell to a six-year low of 5.8 per cent, indicating companies are optimistic the US economy will withstand a slowdown in

Sterling Bank seeks shareholders’ approval for fresh funds

S

terling Bank Plc will tomorrow (Tuesday) hold an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) in Lagos to seek shareholders’ approval to raise fresh capital for the bank.

The management of the bank in a statement made available to newsmen at the weekend, stated that the meeting would consider, and if thought fit, pass the following as Special Resolutions: “That subject to regulatory approvals, the Directors be and are hereby authorised to issue up to 7,471,698,113 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each from the company’s share capital by way of Special/Private Placing to Messrs. Silverlake

41

Investments Limited or such other identified strategic investor at a price of N2.65 per share or such other price as the Directors may determine in the interest of the company and subject to other terms and conditions and at such times as the Directors may deem fit, and in respect thereof, the Directors be and are hereby further authorised to appoint such advisers, professionals and parties that they deem necessary, upon such terms and conditions that the Directors may deem appropriate.

“That without derogation from the above, additional capital up to $200 million or its equivalent in naira be raised through any or a combination of the following:

equity, global depository receipts, quasi equity, convertible loans, medium term notes, bonds and any other debt instrument (s),whether secured or unsecured, senior or subordinated by way of a public offering, rights issue, private placement either as a standalone transaction or by way of a programme, in such tranches, series or proportions, at such coupon or interest rates, within such maturity periods, at such dates and time subject to such terms and conditions, including through a book building process or other process(es) all of which shall be as the Directors may deem fit and subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities.

some overseas markets.

“A good number on US payrolls is likely to push EM lower, as rising US yields will create more worries about capital flows to the emerging world.

Currencies are falling on commodity-price concerns and weak EM growth performance. Equity markets struggle in times of currency weakness,” Maarten-Jan Bakkum, an emerging-market strategist at ING Groep NV in The Hague, said.

Seven of 10 industry groups in the MSCI measure fell, led by telecommunications and consumer discretionary

stocks.

The Ibovespa advanced 1.1 per cent in Sao Paulo. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, led the gain, rising 3.6 per cent after the government allowed the state-run company to raise gasoline and diesel prices. Ironore producer Vale SA gained 2.7 per cent, leading a gain in commodity exporters.

The ruble, which has depreciated 30 per cent this year, rose for the first time in five days.

Since the Bank of Russia abandoned its currency-intervention policy on November 5, traders have

tested how far the ruble needs to drop before Russia injects cash to prop it up. The ruble slid to a record 48.6495 per dollar as new fighting in Ukraine and Brent’s longest weekly declining streak since 2001 put pressure on Russian assets. It rebounded on speculation over central bank plans for an emergency meeting, Citigroup Inc. and OAO Promsvyazbank said.

“The turnaround must be related to speculation about possible CBR actions,” Ivan Tchakarov, the chief economist at Citigroup in Moscow, said by e-mail.

Ecobank reports 31% growth in net earnings

E

cobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has posted 31 per cent growth in net earnings for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014.

The growth in profit was attributed to reduced costs as the Pan Africa bank continues to seek organic growth through business combinations.

For the first nine months through September, Ecobank’s profit after tax (PAT) appreciated by 31 per cent to N52.49bn from N39.96bn in the same period of the corresponding year (Q3) 2013.

The bank grew gross earnings by 16 per cent to N207.75bn while interest income were up by 10.70 per cent N187.67bn in the period under review.

Commenting on the feat, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Albert Essien, said, “Our strong results for the first nine months of 2014 show solid revenue growth and a further reduction in our cost-income ratio. The sustained improvement in our

Nigerian business, the largest of our 36 countries in Africa, and another strong treasury performance, has helped deliver earnings per share up 26 per cent.”

Breakdown of the result shows that the bank’s cost to income ratio reduced to 66.56 per cent in Q3 2014 from 71.20 per cent the preceding year. Additionally, net margin moved to 19.51 per cent in Q3 as against 17.23 per cent the preceding year.

Its loans to deposit ratio jumped to 71.63 per cent in Q3 2014 from 66.80 per cent as at Q3 2013. Loans and advances were up by 16.55 per cent to N1.97trn in Q3 2014 from N1.69trn as at Q3 2013. Deposit from customers also spiked by 8.69 per cent to N2.75trn in Q3 2014 from N2.53trn as at Q3 2013.

Total assets were up by 10.69 per cent to N3.83trn in Q3 2014 compared with N3.46trn the preceding year. Ecobank’s share price closed at N18.20 on the floor of the NSE while market capitalisation was N290.40bn.

42

Business | Interview

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Drop in oil prices has further dampened investors’ appetite –Ajayi Managing Director, Vetiva Fund Managers Limited, Mr Damilola Ajayi, in this interview with Chris Ugwu, speaks about the equities market, Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) and the development of the Nigerian capital market. Excepts…

Ajayi

How do you assess the current depression in the Nigerian equities market?

Currently, the Nigerian equities market year-to-date return is negative, coming from a year high return of about four per cent, albeit starting the year quite flat. General analysts’ views at the start of the year suggested a modest 2014, having seen the market rally to a 47 per cent return in 2013 and 36 per cent in 2012. The negative sentiments being witnessed was largely triggered by market sensitive developments both on the global and domestic scenes.

The liquidity impact of the US Fed’s tapering programme on capital flows to emerging markets, concerns around tran-

sition dynamics at the Central Bank of Nigeria in anticipation of a new governor, uncertainties around upcoming 2015 general elections and pressured earnings from banks as a result of regulatory-driven policies, were major events that shaped the investment landscape at the start of the year.

The market has dragged along for most part of this year, as there has been no sustaining catalyst to keep it positive.

Although, it is expected that major macro indicators – inflation, MPR and currency would show relatively flat prints in the short term (that is till year-end), the recent drop in oil prices has further dampened investors’ appetite and, consequently, market

performance.

The market has dragged along for most part of this year, as there has been no sustaining catalyst to keep it positive

As a fund manager, what are the challenges fund managers face in Nigeria?

One of the common things you keep on hearing is that there is lack of alternative instruments to invest in, but this is changing. When the new management of Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) came on board, one of the few targets they set was that every year there will be an introduction of new products in the market and this started with the Exchange Traded Fund.

So, we are improving and things will only get better. The days of lack of products are changing and this is encouraging. When it comes to the challenges faced by

fund managers, one of the key issues is credibility. In the past, fund managers have suffered credibility matters, but I can assure everyone that with new regulation in place on Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and NSE, the industry is properly regulated. Also, the Fund Managers Association of Nigeria is doing a lot to ensure that we have proper fund managers in the market. So, investors need not worry, fund managers are professionals and will do the best to your portfolio and add value to it.

During the year, your company listed the first equity-based Exchange Traded Fund in Nigeria, the Vetiva Griffin 30 ETF, on the

Business | Interview

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

43

Nigerian Stock Exchange, what has been the level of patronage by investors?

There are two ETFs listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

We have the Newgold ETF, which tracks the price of Gold Bullion and the Vetiva Griffin 30 ETF that tracks the NSE 30 Index.

Being a new Asset Class, the market is going through a learning curve, but from what we are experiencing, the appetite for ETFs has been very encouraging, especially as investors are beginning to appreciate how to use ETFs in their portfolios.

Why has ETFs been successful globally?

Exchange Traded Funds were introduced in the 1980s and became popular very quickly because they were generally much cheaper than other traditional Collective Investment Scheme products. Information available reflects a phenomenal growth in the ETF industry. The ETF industry has grown to over $2.4 trillion in assets compared to the approximately $534 billion worth of ETF assets in 2008. Currently, almost 20 per cent of trading on the New York Stock Exchange is in ETFs. The on-going success of ETFs is driven by two factors: Low cost and convenience to the investing public. Going forward, however, I believe that innovation and further cost efficiencies will be a global driver of ETFs. The ability of ETF issuers to create products that will grant access to asset classes or investment opportunities that would ordinarily have not been available is also key going forward.

What is the difference between Mutual Funds and ETFs? Actually, ETFs are quite similar to mutual funds as they both invest in a pool of securities to offer investors diversified portfolios. There are, however, significant differences between ETFs and traditional mutual funds. While ETFs can be bought and sold like any stock on an Exchange – meaning they can be traded continuously throughout the day, mutual funds trade just once a day through the fund manager. Another major difference is the cost structure - ETFs are typically cheaper since the underlying assets are passively managed with minimal trading costs. A third key difference (even though not in all cases) is portfolio transparency. Investors have full access to the Portfolio or asset composition of ETFs which may not be possible with Mutual Funds except for fully replicated index funds.

What is the objective of the Vetiva Griffin 30 ETF? The Vetiva Griffin 30 ETF tracks the 30 most capitalised and liquid stocks listed on the NSE and seeks to provide investors with the yield and return profile of the NSE 30 Index. It provides investors seeking longterm capital growth access to the Nigerian Capital Market in a simple and transparent manner.

Why did Vetiva decide to launch an ETF and how relevant is this to the development of the Nigerian Capital Market?

According to Ernst & Young,

In line with the growing ETF industry, Vetiva developed the VG 30 ETF to give investors optimal exposure to the Nigerian bourse by tracking the movement of the NSE 30 index

the global Exchange Traded Fund industry as at October 2013 had 5,042 ETFs, with 10,053 listings, assets of US$2.4 trillion, from 215 providers on 58 exchanges and annual growth of 15 per cent to 30 per cent is predicted around the globe over the coming five years.

In line with the growing ETF industry, Vetiva developed the VG 30 ETF to give investors optimal exposure to the Nigerian bourse by tracking the movement of the NSE 30 index, which represents over 90 per cent of the NSE All Share Index Vetiva believes that the listing of Exchange Traded Funds will broaden the choice of investment options available to investors in the Nigerian capital market, especially retail investors. Also critical to the role of an Exchange is capital formation. ETFs facilitate capital formation by allowing ETF issuers to bring products to the market that offer investors unique investment opportunities in multiple asset classes that they might not otherwise be able to access.

The Nigerian capital market has gained great visibility when it comes to Equities and Bonds.

Is the ETF segment likely to

Ajayi

experience similar success?

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) will inevitably achieve greater visibility as investors become more aware of the benefits of ETFs in investment Portfolios. Nigeria joined the league of markets with listed ETFs in 2011 and currently, there are two ETFs listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The listing of the NEWGOLD ETF in which Vetiva Securities acted as Sponsoring Broker came first – in 2011 and the Vetiva Griffin 30 ETF, listed recently tracks the NSE 30 Index. Being a new Asset Class, the market is going through a learning curve, but from what we are experiencing, the appetite for ETFs has been very encouraging. Globally, the success

Ajayi

of ETFs has been driven by the relatively low cost of investing in ETFs and the convenience of investing in ETF products. As I mentioned earlier, ETFs will continue to grow rapidly as investors become more aware of these benefits. There are a number of ETFs in the pipeline and this is very positive for the market.

Many investors have made huge losses by putting their money in instruments that they don’t understand. What are the key factors you would advise people to take into consideration before investing in ETFs? I think retail investors should take advantage of the transparent structure of ETFs. The Vetiva Griffin

30 ETF, for example, tracks an Index that was developed independently by the Nigerian Stock Exchange, which is the NSE 30 Index. The composition of this Portfolio is public information. Also, investors can feel free to visit the ETF page or send us an e-mail to ask any question or seek clarification. We are committed to investor education as part of our role in developing the market. Many investors either lack the expertise or the time for developing asset allocation and stock picking strategies. For these investors, ETFs are excellent for obtaining market exposure.

Also, ETFs allow investors to track market performance instead of taking the risk of betting against the market or betting on specific stocks.

Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Micro-Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

Business | Capital Market

44

Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014

Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032

Symbol FORTISMFB NPFMCRFBK Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

No. of Deals 3 9 12

Current Price 5.42 0.88

Quantity Traded 35,028 781,492 816,520

Value Traded 196,136.80 687,712.96 883,849.76

No. of Deals

Current Price

Quantity Traded

Value Traded

13 714 61 2 26 70 961

3.25 9.26 3.22 0.53 26.74 1.53

286,988 87,322,542 27,312,689 872 1,772,500 2,377,537 135,970,245

932,711.00 796,002,171.64 87,948,181.58 468.44 47,396,650.00 3,645,921.62 977,637,519.77

915,868,624

4,489,483,661.78

Quantity Traded 1,109,880 266,221 35,100 35,000 396,010 1,842,211

Value Traded 3,383,187.38 12,401,067.55 57,462.00 30,450.00 982,104.80 16,854,271.73

75 2.59 16,897,117 41,711,415.49 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at November 7, 2014 Daily Summary (Bonds)

Activity Summary on Board DEBT Federal

Bond Name 16.39% FGN JAN 2022 Federal Totals

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals Symbol FG9B2022S1

DEBT Board Totals

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 122.50

3

Bond Activity Totals

3

Quantity Traded 1,634 1634

HEALTHCARE Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014 Pharmaceuticals Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC PHARMA-DEKO PLC. Pharmaceuticals Activity Summary onTotals Board EQTY

Value Traded 2,079,519.42 2,079,519.42

1,634

2,079,519.42

1634

2,079,519.42

Daily Summary (Equities)

Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

Symbol FTNCOCOA OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 3 2 7 12

Current Price 0.50 31.35 24.82

Quantity Traded 114,211 11,510 179,900 305,621

Value Traded 57,105.50 342,882.90 4,465,118.00 4,865,106.40

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 1 (Equities) 1

Current Price 2.57

Quantity Traded 89,934 89,934

Value Traded 231,130.38 231,130.38

395,555

5,096,236.78

Daily Summary

AGRICULTURE Totals Activity Summary on Board EQTY

CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CHELLARAMS PLC.

TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

13

Symbol AGLEVENT CHELLARAM TRANSCORP UACN

CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. ROADS NIG PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014 Real Estate Development Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032 UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Totals

Current Price 1.45 3.95 3.08 44.68

Quantity Traded 9,751 Page 33,570 21,845,055 90,068 21,978,444

21,978,444

71,447,622.22

Current Price 0.89

Quantity Traded 708,650 708,650

Value Traded 610,710.00 610,710.00

Symbol JBERGER ROADS

No. of Deals 3 2 5

Current Price 67.20 6.29

Quantity Traded 11,550 56,314 67,864

Value Traded 737,352.00 371,672.40 1,109,024.40

Symbol UAC-PROP

No. of Deals 26 26

Current Price 12.01

Quantity Traded 202,430 202,430

Value Traded 2,317,208.20 2,317,208.20

Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Daily Summary (Equities)

Quantity Traded 520 520

Value Traded 4,446.00 4,446.00

3 3

9.00

Page 979,464

51

2

No. of Deals 5 5

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 41,125 41,125

Value Traded 20,562.50 20,562.50

Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals

Symbol CHAMPION GUINNESS INTBREW NB

No. of Deals 3 17 50 155 225

Current Price 11.58 160.60 30.99 142.31

Quantity Traded 60,000 215,530 1,379,081 4,439,013 6,093,624

Value Traded 694,800.00 34,628,483.00 41,557,945.03 631,753,516.74 708,634,744.77

Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals

Symbol 7UP

No. of Deals 33 33

Current Price 135.00

Quantity Traded 67,942 67,942

Value Traded 8,926,734.97 8,926,734.97

No. of Deals 1 163 20 18 12 (Equities) 2 216

Current Price 6.55 4.97 58.33 3.48 6.96 0.50

Quantity Traded 1,000 14,994,344 78,381 179,134 682,310 400 15,935,569

Value Traded 6,230.00 73,984,013.54 4,571,963.73 592,933.54 4,748,877.60 200.00 83,904,218.41

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR NASCON Daily Summary UTC

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

CONSUMER GOODS Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

Page

3

of

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

No. of Deals 40 71 111

Current Price 34.82 839.33

Quantity Traded 80,479 609,614 690,093

Value Traded 2,698,801.27 511,717,954.52 514,416,755.79

Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Household Durables Totals

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals 6 2 8

Current Price 4.09 0.97

Quantity Traded 77,000 50,500 127,500

Value Traded 314,930.00 48,985.00 363,915.00

Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals 32 70 102

Current Price 17.54 28.32

Quantity Traded 309,713 772,983 1,082,696

Value Traded 5,436,984.42 21,901,240.51 27,338,224.93

24,038,549

1,343,605,156.37

Current Price 7.40 5.31 16.72 1.65 24.00 2.36 2.20

Quantity Traded 25,468,915 44,155,705 9,790,155 15,132,328 46,249,148 8,780,827 562,353

Value Traded 184,429,042.52 232,923,482.20 163,626,778.65 24,936,791.06 1,060,531,175.02 20,246,693.90 1,240,391.75

Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Daily Summary (Equities)

Quantity Traded 37,368,529 1,106,196

CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014 ACCESS BANK PLC. Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032 DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. Daily Summary as BANK of 07/11/2014 SKYE PLC Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032 STERLING BANK PLC.

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICES Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Banking UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC.

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals

700 Symbol ACCESS DIAMONDBNK ETI FIDELITYBK GUARANTY Daily Summary SKYEBANK STERLNBANK

UBA UBN

Symbol UNITYBNK WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

4.30 6.97

Page

4

of

Value Traded 152,005,873.37 7,289,906.28

Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals

SERVICES Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014 Courier/Freight/Delivery Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032 RED STAR EXPRESS PLC

Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC.

Quantity Traded 200 6,161,000 195,100 3,641,270 500 10,666 1,500 300,000,000 3,522,154 1,476,331 3,052,055 200 473 197,030,580 Page 10

Symbol FORTISMFB NPFMCRFBK

No. of Deals 3 9 12

Current Price 5.42 0.88

Page Quantity Traded 35,028 781,492 816,520

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

No. of Deals 75 13 714 61 2 26 70 961

Current Price 2.59 3.25 9.26 3.22 0.53 26.74 1.53

Quantity Traded 16,897,117 286,988 87,322,542 27,312,689 872 1,772,500 2,377,537 135,970,245

Value Traded 41,711,415.49 932,711.00 796,002,171.64 87,948,181.58 468.44 47,396,650.00 3,645,921.62 977,637,519.77

915,868,624

4,489,483,661.78

Quantity Traded 1,109,880 266,221 35,100 35,000 396,010 1,842,211

Value Traded 3,383,187.38 12,401,067.55 57,462.00 30,450.00 982,104.80 16,854,271.73

No. of Deals 31 23 8 7 2 71

Current Price 3.02 49.00 1.64 0.91 2.48

Page

Quantity Traded 1,594,870 1,594,870

Value Traded 797,635.00 797,635.00

Symbol CHAMS

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 1,000,000 1,000,000

Value Traded 500,000.00 500,000.00

2,594,870

1,297,635.00

16 Symbol ASHAKACEM BERGER Daily Summary CAP CCNN

No. of Deals 6 4 (Equities) 23 9

Current Price 22.37 8.00 38.38 10.99

Quantity Traded 81,634 15,600 198,256 146,000

Value Traded 1,832,002.58 118,560.00 7,609,618.32 1,604,540.00

Symbol DANGCEM WAPCO

No. of Deals 20 80 142

Current Price 188.53 76.84

Quantity Traded 52,773 6,332,351 6,826,614

Value Traded 9,949,293.69 486,578,151.76 507,692,166.35

Symbol CUTIX

No. of Deals 4 4

Current Price 1.55

Quantity Traded Page 50,700 50,700

Value Traded 8 of 13 75,040.00 75,040.00

Symbol BETAGLAS

No. of Deals 5 5

Current Price 22.05

Quantity Traded 52,960 52,960

Value Traded 1,165,554.00 1,165,554.00

6,930,274

508,932,760.35

151 Symbol JAPAULOIL

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 42,460 42,460

Value Traded 21,230.00 21,230.00

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 410 410

Current Price 16.90

Quantity Traded 20,650,112 20,650,112

Value Traded 334,183,818.06 334,183,818.06

Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Daily Summary (Equities)

Quantity Traded 2,230 134,607

Value Traded 104,297.10 448,241.31

CONOIL ETERNA

4 7

49.23 3.33

Symbol FO MOBIL MRS TOTAL

No. of Deals 22 19 2 24 78

Current Price 175.77 161.98 56.00 152.00

Quantity Traded 245,840 28,213 1,555 34,965 447,410

Value Traded 43,276,008.14 4,569,941.74 82,726.00 5,412,523.50 53,893,737.79

Symbol SEPLAT

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 535.29

Quantity Traded 4,830 4,830

Value Traded 2,456,199.90 2,456,199.90

21,144,812

390,554,985.75

Page

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Symbol RTBRISCOE

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.72

Quantity Traded 51,800 51,800

Value Traded 37,296.00 37,296.00

Symbol REDSTAREX TRANSEXPR

No. of Deals 8 1 9

Current Price 4.00 1.29

Quantity Traded 971,000 500 971,500

Value Traded 3,870,000.00 615.00 3,870,615.00

Quantity Traded 117,787 117,787

Value Traded 58,893.50 58,893.50

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol No. of Deals Current Price

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL TOURIST

No. of Deals 55 3 58

Current Price 2.52 3.51

Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC Media/Entertainment Totals

Symbol DAARCOMM

No. of Deals 4 4

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 11,000 11,000

Value Traded 5,500.00 5,500.00

Printing/Publishing LEARN AFRICA PLC UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. Printing/Publishing Totals

Symbol LEARNAFRCA UPL

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 1.51 4.15

Quantity Traded 600 1,176 1,776

Value Traded 864.00 4,645.20 5,509.20

Road Transportation ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Transportation Totals

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 12 12

Current Price 0.62

Quantity Traded 1,949,779 1,949,779

Value Traded 1,192,905.40 1,192,905.40

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

No. of Deals 2 16 18

Current Price 1.83 5.00

Quantity Traded 2,000 315,600 317,600

Value Traded 3,480.00 1,511,384.00 1,514,864.00

Symbol CAVERTON

No. of Deals 8 8

Current Price 3.99

Quantity Traded 244,579 244,579

Value Traded 975,913.81 975,913.81

Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014 Transport-Related Services Totals Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032

CILEASING

Daily Summary (Equities)

Page Quantity Traded 13,293,360 90 13,293,450

Page

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Activity Summary on Board EQTY SERVICES SERVICES Totals

20.00 263,814.66 268,638,915.01

EQTY Board Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

13

10 of 13 Value Traded 34,985,555.27 300.60 34,985,855.87

11

of

117

16,959,271

42,647,352.78

4,905

1,012,732,074

6,873,961,071.36

Quantity Traded 100 100

Value Traded 167.00 167.00

100

167.00

13

Activity Summary on Board ASeM SERVICES Food/Drug Retailers and Wholesalers JULI PLC. Food/Drug Retailers and Wholesalers Totals

Symbol JULI

No. of Deals 1 1

SERVICES Totals

Current Price 1.75

1

ASeM Board Totals

1

100

167.00

Equity Activity Totals

4,906

1,012,732,174

6,873,961,238.36

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund

6Value Traded of 13 196,136.80 687,712.96 883,849.76

of

Current Price 0.50

0.50

Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC Support and Logistics Totals

Value Traded 100.00 4,895,388.00 165,123.00 1,820,640.00 250.00 5,333.00 750.00 150,000,000.00 10,242,743.52 744,828.81 1,984,292.52 100.00 236.50 98,515,290.00 5 of 5.0013

7

No. of Deals 15 15

3 3

SERVICES Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. Hotels/Lodging Totals

Current Price 0.50 0.80 0.85 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.99 0.51 0.65 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.58

Symbol FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH PHARMDEKO

TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

Employment Solutions Totals Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Value Traded 15,350.00 4,351,888.71 1,390,726,003.78 3,242,323,377.24

7 of 13 16,854,271.73

Symbol COURTVILLE

OIL AND GAS Totals

No. of Deals 1 37 12 8 1 1 2 27 16 12 45 1 1 4 1 (Equities) 2 13 184

3,176

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC.

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Quantity Traded 30,700 4,691,481 70,204,439 263,540,776

40 449,004 515,541,083

OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment and Services Totals Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014 Integrated Oil and Gas Services Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032 OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © OIL AND GAS Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

13

1,842,211Page

71

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

Current Price 0.50 0.95 20.11

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC PHARMA-DEKO PLC. Pharmaceuticals Totals

290 39

Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals

13

Current Price 3.02 49.00 1.64 0.91 2.48

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Electronic and Electrical Products Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals

No. of Deals 5 46 320 2,019

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Symbol AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC AFRINSURE AIICO INSURANCE PLC. AIICO CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CONTINSURE CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. CORNERST EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. EQUITYASUR INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC INTENEGINS LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LASACO LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC LINKASSURE MANSARD INSURANCE PLC MANSARD MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. MBENEFIT Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014 N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NEM Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032 NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. NIGERINS PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE STANDARD TRUST ASSURANCE PLC STACO Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. STDINSURE Daily Summary UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC UNITYKAP WAPIC INSURANCE PLC WAPIC Activity Summary on Board EQTY Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Micro-Finance BanksExchange © Published by The Nigerian Stock FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals

No. of Deals 261 92 108 84 615 (Equities) 138 21

ICT Totals Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014 INDUSTRIAL GOODS Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032 Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials DANGOTE CEMENT PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals

of 13 4,041,388.60

Symbol DUNLOP

Foodas Products Daily Summary of 07/11/2014 DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC U T C NIG. PLC. Food Products Totals

Processing Systems CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Totals

67,283,409.40 4,024,238.24 71,447,622.22

No. of Deals 17 17

UPDCREIT

ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Computer Based Systems Totals

Value Traded 13,751.38 1 126,223.20 of 13

Symbol COSTAIN

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE © Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Automobiles/Auto Parts DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC Automobiles/Auto Parts Totals

No. of Deals 4 1 99 12 116 116

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Symbol No. of Deals FIDSON 31 GLAXOSMITH 23 MAYBAKER 8 Daily Summary (Equities) NEIMETH 7 PHARMDEKO 2 71

HEALTHCARE Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © HEALTHCARE Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014 PRESCO PLC Printed 07/11/2014 16:15:32.032 Crop Production Totals

3,176

Name Daily Summary as of 07/11/2014 NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) Printed 07/11/2014 VETIVA 16:15:32.032 GRIFFIN 30 ETF

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 1,842.00 14.87

Quantity Traded 11 500 Page

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Value Traded 20,262.00 7,435.00 12

of

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund

Name Exchange Traded Fund Totals

13

Symbol NEWGOLD VETGRIF30

Symbol

No. of Deals 2

Current Price

Quantity Traded 511

Value Traded 27,697.00

ETF Board Totals

2

511

27,697.00

ETP Activity Totals

2

511

27,697.00

13

Business | Movers, Shakers & Careers

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

45

Shobanjo: A rare breed of advertising profession TUTELAGE Leading CEOs of advertising agencies passed through Biodun Shobanjo-led Insight Communications Dele Alao

M

r. Biodun Shobanjo needs little or no introduction as far as Nigeria’s marketing communications landscape is concerned, especially in the advertising industry. The Ogun State-born marketing communications guru has seen it all. Today, he is idolised. In fact, the fairskinned, daring Shobanjo, noted for always rocking a bow tie, is described as the Czar of Advertising in Nigeria.

Shobanjo is the chairman of Troyka Holdings which comprises The Quadrant Company, Insight Communications, Optimum Exposure, among others. These companies, through Shobanjo, who had

Shobanjo

been the managing director of Insight Communications for many years, have trained leading chief executive officers of advertising agencies.

Shobanjo’s company is famous for breeding advertising practitioners, who by dint of hard work have become big boys in the industry.

Jimi Awosika is the current Managing Director, Insight Communications and has been with Shobanjo for almost three decades. He is regarded as Shobanjo’s protégée, so to speak.

Funmi Onabolu: He is another advertising practitioner who has passed through what some called Insight School of Advertising. He is the managing director, Cosse, and was also the past president of Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria. He joined Insight in 1982 and left as Executive Director a few years after.

Gabriel Abah is the managing director, Solutions Communications Ltd. He joined Insight Communications as account director and later became senior account director.

Celey Okogun: He is the managing director, Novelpotta and also passed through Insight Communications where he rose to the position of account manager before leaving to set up his agency.

Lanre Adisa is one of the highflying advertising practitioners who also passed through Sobanjo’s Insight Communications’ school.

Adisa, whose agency has won several local and international awards, became executive creative director at Insight.

Udeme Ufot: The managing director of SO & U is an alumni of Insight Communications. He was a deputy creative director while at Insight.

Kayode Oluwasona, former managing director, Rosabel Advertising, is another representative of Insight Communications. Oluwasona, who is currently the managing director, Harmony Concept, joined Insight as senior account director in 2001.

Funke Nwankwo: She is another breed of advertising practitioner from Shobanjoled Insight Communications.

Now the chief operating officer, Weatherhead Group, Mrs Nwankwo spent eight years at Insight. She rose to the position of Account Director from Account planner.

Yomi Benson, the current managing director, Culture Communications, also had a dose of Insight Communications advertising experience.

He left Insight few years ago as senior account director.

Daniels, others join Social Media Awards Africa’s board

Hetal

T

he Planning Committee of Social Media Awards Africa, supported by Sterling Bank Plc, has announced the appointment of members of the Advisory Board and Jury of the Awards.

The Committee also disclosed in a statement, that a total of 923 nominations were received during the nomination period.

The Committee announced the appointment of Mr. Toby Daniels, Founder, Social Media Week; Fred Swaniker, African Leadership Academy Founder and Eric Chinje, Chief Executive Officer, African Media Initiative (AMI) into Advisory Board and Jury for the Social Media Awards Africa (SMAA).

Their appointment came after the successful completion of the nomination phase.

The planning team for SMAA expressed delight for the over-

whelming response and enthusiasm from organisations and individuals across the continent on the Award.’

Other eminent members appointed are: Ken Banks, Founder, kiwanja.net; Hetal Shah, Director Operations, Mara Group of Companies and Francis Ebuehi, Vice President, VAS, Airtel Nigeria. Others are Dr.Kasirim Nwuke, Chief, New Technologies & Innovation, UNECA and Louis Onyango Otieno, Director, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft Africa.

Also included are Thebe Ikalafeng, Founder and Chairman, Brand Africa; Abubakar Suleiman, Executive Director, Strategy & Finance, Sterling Bank Plc.; Ryan Silberman, Chief Operating Officer, Popimedia, South Africa and Dele Fatunla, Communications Coordinator, Royal African Soci-

ety, London.

Others are Obi Asika, Founder, Dragon Africa; Duncan Onyango, East Africa Director, Acumen; Odo Effiong, Special Adviser Communication Technology Development – Cross River State Government; Muyiwa Moyela, External Relations Lead, IBM West Africa, and UdoJude Ilo, Nigeria Director, Open Society Initiative for West Africa.

Members of the Advisory Board serving to oversee the entire process are: Abdul Tejan-Cole, Executive Director, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA); Toby Daniels, Co-founder and CEO Crowdcentric; Ini Onuk, Lead Consultant/ CEO, ThistlePraxis Consulting; Tunji Lardner, Executive Director, West African NGO Network and Prof. Francis Nyanmojoh, Head of Social Anthropology, University of Cape Town.

The Social Media Awards Africa initiative was unveiled at a closed event on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 to a cross section of media professionals and social media influencers in Lagos, Nigeria. Nomination into four categories opened on October 1, 2014 at www.smaafrica.com until midnight on October 27, 2014.

A total of 923 nominations were received during the nomination period as follows: Personality Based (468),

Platform Specific (266), Institutional (115) and Indigenous (74). Also in the window period, over 5.5 million connections, at least 821,886 retweets and 29 million accounts were reached through all 22 social media platforms where the messages were promoted.

According to the statement, winners will be announced and celebrated at the ‘Night of Virtual Wonders’ holding on December 6, 2014 in Lagos, Nigeria.

Each winner will take home a cash prize of $1,000

Daniels

USD and SMAA Plaque. Other benefits include social media training, access to memberships and attendance of social media events, publications on social media and complimentary advertising on Social Media Africa Portal.

The Social Media Awards Africa is sponsored by Sterling Bank Plc. AIESEC Africa, West African NGO Network (WANGONET), Beat FM, Fan Milk Nigeria, Zisatand African Media Initiative (AMI) are also Partners.

46

News

south — west

monday, november 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Ajimobi risks jail for contempt Sola Adeyemo IBADAN

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overnor Abiola Ajimobi and three of his officials risk being convicted for contempt of court as an Oyo State High court has frowned on the alleged disobedience of its orders by an agent of the government over a disputed 404.74 hectares of land worth N16b.

Following report of the counsel, Dele Akinmusuti, to the family owners of the land that an agent of the government had continued to construct structures on the land despite injunctions restraining all parties to maintain status quo, Justice Adegboye Gbolagunte on Friday advised the counsel to file the necessary application against the government.

The family members

had instituted the suit against Ajimobi and other defendants over the non-release of the former Federal Government-acquired land to them. The Federal Government according to the family had released the unused parcels of the land to the families, but Ajimobi refused to allow them take possession.

While adjourning further hearing of the case till 16th December, Gbola-

gunte told Akinmusuti to on behalf of the families file necessary application papers before the court with a promise to look at them and deliver the necessary order.

Ajimobi and two of his Commissioners in the Ministries of Land, Housing and Survey, as well as Justice Commissioner had been dragged before the court over the matter.

Akinmusuti, had told the court that despite the

court injunction restraining all parties from the disputed land, the agent of the government under the leadership of one Muhammed Buhari, the CE0 of the Briclinks Integrated Services Limited, had been seen engaging in building construction on the land.

Meanwhile, Akinmusuti at the hearing requested for further adjournment to clear the ambiguity in respect of the letter written to them

by the Attorney- General of the state on behalf of the government.

Counsel to Ajimobi, and his two commissioners, Nurudeen Abiola, however confirmed to the court that they had engaged in discussion with the claimants counsel and agreed that they would go and discuss the issues raised by his learned friend and tidy up some areas before final draft of the agreement.

Ambode woos Lagos Assembly members

A

L-R: Secretary of Conference, Methodist Church Nigeria, Rt. Revd. Chibuzo Raphael Opoko; His Eminence, Dr. Samuel Chukwuemeka Kanu Uche and the newly consecrated Bishop of Osogbo Diocese, Rt Revd. Amos Oluwakayode Ogunrinde, at the service of consecration/investiture of Ogunrinde in Lagos…yesterday

APC: Fayose inherited stomach Oyo: Makinde dismisses adoption as PDP’s flagbearer Alhaji Akeem Azeez, and Clearing the air on the infrastructure from Fayemi Sola Adeyemo made available to New issue, the media assitant to

T

he Ekiti chapter of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), has debunked governor, Ayodele Fayose’s claim that the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), programme is his original idea, stating that was part of the former governor’s initiative, which the successor governor now claim his ‘stomach infrastructure’ programme aimed at reducing poverty in Ekiti State.

The APC also accused Fayose of throwing away due process in the award of contracts, saying that he has turned himself into the state’s despotic sole administrator. ‘In the past three weeks, Mr Fayose, has awarded contracts worth N2 billion without passing through due process’, the APC claimed.

In the statement by the State Publicity Secretary, Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party described Fayose’s claim of ownership of the CCT as dishonest.

“The truth of the matter is that the CCT, which is

a joint programme of the State Government and the MDGs was initiated by the Kayode Fayemi administration one year ago.

“There were 2,250 beneficiaries in 5 local governments of Ise/Orun, Ikere, Irepodun/Ifelodun, Ilejemeje and Ido/Osi cutting across 450 households of carefully selected vulnerable women.” Olatunbosun said the total money expended on the programme was N375 million out of which Ekiti State under Fayemi, contributed N187.5 million while the Federal Government paid the other half.

He said “the programme which is to achieve Universal Primary Education, Gender Equality and women Empowerment, was coordinated by the office of the Special Adviser to Governor Fayemi on MDGs.” The first batch of 2,250 received N5,000 monthly for one year and a telephone set with N100,000 after one year to start an agriculture related business.”

IBADAN

T

he campaign organization of one of Oyo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s)governorship aspirants Seyi Makinde, has described as baseless, the claim that the seven aspirants of Ibadan origin have adopted him as the flagbearer of the party for the 2015 election.

The ‘Seyi Makinde 2015 Governorship Campaign Organisation’ popularly called ‘Omititun’, in a press release signed by

Telegraph in Ibadan, yesterday said that the rumour was “nothing but figment of imagination and absolute lie of the said aspirant”.

Akeem described the rumor as “baseless, misleading and very mischievous to say the least which is aimed at hoodwinking the mindset of our party members and to dampen the morale of our teeming supporters who have continued to show concerns since the rumor broke out”.

Makinde further revealed that at no time during the meeting of group of 7 aspirants from Ibadan did they agree to bring forward a consensus candidate but the group had only deliberated on having a rancor- free primaries and the need to present most popular candidate among them for the good of the party in the general election, and to proclaim publicly their supports for the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan”.

‘Ogun APC crisis won’t affect Amosun’s re-election’ Kunle Olayeni ABEOKUTA

A

stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Ogun State, Mr. Kehinde Shatoke, has said that the opposition of some notable political figures within the party to governor Ibikunle Amosun, will not affect the fortunes of

party in the state as well as governor’s re-election bid in 2015.

Shatoke, a House of Representatives aspirant, said that rather, the sterling performance of the governor in various sectors would earn him a second term in office.

He spoke shortly after submitting his nomination forms to contest the Abeokuta South Federal Constituency seat on the

platform of APC on Friday.

The APC in the state had been divided along two camps with one loyal to the governor and the other being controlled by former Governor Olusegun Osoba.

The Osoba group is, however, reportedly perfecting plans to defect to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the 2015 poll.

ll Progressives Congress (APC), governorship aspirant in Lagos, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, has moved to boost his candidacy, as he hosted members of the Lagos House of Assembly to a dinner.

The private dinner which held at a location in Ikeja, was said to have witnessed a huge attendance while strategic consultations were seen during the meeting. The legislators were also said to have applauded Ambode’s speech with a standing ovation that lasted for several minutes.

It was said that thirtysix out the 40 members of the Assembly attended the event, a development that was said further affirmed Ambode’s popularity and acceptability across board.

At the dinner, the governorship aspirants, presented himself as an informed, articulate but humble candidate who does not only profess respect for the legislative arm of government but one who also submits himself totally to the authority and guidance of the party.

In addressing the honourable members, he spoke about his desire to build on the achievements of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Governor Babatunde Fashola, both of whom he worked with as Accountant General and Permanent Secretary in the state.

He also highlighted his core programmes under the acronym LAGOS Leadership, Accountability, Good Governance, Opportunities and Service and promised not to let the state down if he secures the party’s nod at the primaries on December 2.

Meanwhile, Ambode who had a talk-of-the-town declaration at the Onikan Stadium last month will commence a tour of the 20 local government areas in Lagos from this Monday.

NEW TELEGRAPH monday, november 10, 2014

News 47

south — east

Councillors’ forum backs Ugwuanyi’s governorship bid boost

Ugwuanyi is riding high as Chime end Ekweremadu douse tension

Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

T

he governorship ambition of Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in Enugu State yesterday got a boost as the state chapter of the Nigerian Councillors’ Forum threw its

193

weight behind his bid for the coveted seat.

Ugwuanyi is contesting the governorship seat on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The leadership of the forum has expressed support for the lawmaker, who has been endorsed by the party in the state.

But the tension that has gripped PDP members in the state, especially those of them caught in the cross fire of the recent factional fight between Governor Sullivan Chime and Senator Ike Ekwere-

The number of probable cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea as at October 19, 2014.

Source: Who.int

madu, has seemingly reduced following news of reconciliation between the factions.

According to a statement by the forum of councilors, signed by its Chairman, Hon. Hyginus Makata, and its Secretary, Mr. Francis Ani, the body expressed support for the zoning of the governorship seat to Enugu North by the party while also enjoining all to endorse Ugwuanyi, who has emerged the party’s consensus candidate for 2015 governorship election in the state.

1.48m

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions of United Arab Emirates in 2010.

Source: Itu.int

“We express our support to the leadership of the party on the zoning of the governorship seat to Enugu North in fairness and equity and also thank Governor Sullivan Chime for all he has done to ensure a smooth transition in the state.

“We are not just supporting the endorsement of Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, but we are part of his endorsement by the state caucus of our party, the PDP and the entire stakeholders in the state,” said the group.

The councillors also

46

The sex ratio of women to 100 men in Holy See in 2010.

Source: Un.org

said that the choice of the consensus candidate “is one singular action that has saved the state from what onlookers thought was going to be a very knotty governorship race that would have torn the party apart in our dear state,” because he has “remained a solid bridge builder whose main attribute is calmness in the face of all provocations.”

Yesterday, in spite of news reports suggesting that a faction of the party appeared to have had a better part of the fight, other feelers, which

429,000

The total population of women in Fiji in 2012.

Source: Un.org

filtered in, doused the tension as it was learnt that Chime and Ekweremadu have made up their differences.

We gathered that whereas the close supporters of two gladiators, who have been at daggers drawn over the Enugu West senatorial ticket of the party, seemed to have carried on as if war was imminent, even at the weekend, “the truth is that the two, alongside some top leaders of the party in the state, have reached a truce in Abuja” and that they did that in liaison with Mr. President.

Perhaps, the agreement to work together, was the reason the Deputy Chairman of the party, Elder David Aja, who has claimed to be the acting chairman, not minding the emergence of Chief Ikeje Asogwa, as a replacement for the former chairman, was reported to have signed the statement releasing the result of the special local government delegates billed to hold last Saturday, yet, many of those who made the list in Enugu North are said to be allies of Chime.

INEC commends PDP over Anambra delegates’ congress Tony Okafor Awka

T National Organising Secretary of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha (right), receiving the party’s nomination form from Imo State governorship aspirant, Chief Ikedi Ohakim and his supporters, at the party’s National Secretariat, in Abuja …at the weekend.

PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI.

Ohuabunwa gets endorsement Igbeaku Orji Umuahia

S

takeholders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Arochukwu Local Government have endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan as their presidential candidate even as they also endorsed Chief Mao Ohuabunwa, as their senatorial candidate for Abia North in the 2015 general

elections.

The members made the declaration in a rally held at the Ibom Primary School playground in Arochukwu, where the Chairman of the occasion and a PDP chieftain in the area, Chief Ota Kalu, said it was time for the people to support their candidate after supporting others for the senate for years.

Speaking at the event, the senatorial aspirant said he was overwhelmed

by the support given to him, stressing that the endorsement shows that “Arochukwu Local Government now has better understanding.”

He said he left the House of Representatives after eight years in the spirit of equity and fairness, noting that of all the five local government areas in Abia North, it was Arochukwu that has not been to the senate, nor had other federal appointments.

Obaze tasks APGA on primary polls Tony Okafor Awka

F

or mer Anambra State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs under former Governor Peter Obi, Chief Dubem Obaze, who is currently eyeing Anambra North’s senatorial

seat, yesterday tasked the leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on the party’s primary elections ahead of the 2015 general polls.

He specifically warned against fielding new entrants into the party as candidates in the elections.

Obaze handed down

the warning while addressing APGA faithful in his Ochuche country home in Ogbaru Local Government.

He recalled that the major reason the party did not produce a senator in 2011, was because non- members of the party were imposed on the people as candidates in the election.

‘Abia North needs change’ Chukwu David Abuja

A

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, aspiring for the Abia North senatorial district position in 2015, Dr. David Onuoha, has lamented the alleged poor representation of the district in the last 12 years, stressing the need for a representative that would bring about radical change in the area.

Onuoha, in an interview with New Telegraph in Abuja, said though Senator Uche Chukwumerije, currently representing the district, is a worthy son of Abia, who served Nigeria in various capacities in the past; he has not been able to give the people the required representation.

He said rather than continue to occupy the exalted senatorial seat

without attracting corresponding dividends to the people, he (Chukwumerije) should retire and offer advice to strong and active politicians, who would give effective representation to the people.

The aspirant also said, having done well in the private sector as a successful entrepreneur, who contributed immensely to the growth and development of the nation’s economy, he had the requisite potential to bring positive change to Abia North.

Apart from Chukwumerije, Onuoha said past politicians, who represented Abia North and the federal constituencies within the district did not do well, and therefore, should not attempt to return to the National Assembly in 2015.

“The Abia North senatorial seat is about delivery of change and innovation to a famished people.”

he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the national delegates’ congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 21 local government areas of Anambra State.

The national delegates’ congress is meant to produce those who would elect the president in the forthcoming convention of the party.

Anambra State Public Relations Officer of the commission, Mr. Frank Egbo, who addressed newsmen at the commission’s headquarters in Awka on the development, said the exercise was duly monitored by members of staff of the commission, who gave impressive reports about the conduct of the exercise at designated places in the local governments.

He described the development as the growth of democracy, adding that with time, the country would get her electoral system right in all ramifications.

Speaking with newsmen, Chairman of the party, Chief Ejike Oguebego, described the exercise as a huge success even while it was hitchfree.

48

News

CRISIS The last has not been heard of the Ward Congresses conducted by the PDP nationwide Clement James Calabar

T

he national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the weekend shifted the national delegates’ election in Cross River State to a later date on grounds of threat to national security and pending court case.

In a press release made available to New Telegraph, the party said

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

SOUTH-SOUTH

PDP suspends delegates’ election in Cross River the suspension was “consequent upon the interim injunction issued by the High Court of Cross River State, and the escalating security situation with regards to the conduct of the above stated election.”

The release, dated November 8, was signed by the three members of a committee that was set up by the national leadership to look into the crisis rocking the party in the state over the composition of del-

egates’ list during the ward congress election a fortnight ago.

Members of the committee include Princess Georgina Jogo (Chairman); Hon. Mannehta Abu (member) and Nasiru Uba Danbaba (Secretary).

In the interim, all materials relating to the conduct of the national delegates’ election in the state have been deposited with the state police command, pending the resolution of the matter.

The statement, which was titled; “Suspension of national delegates’ election for Cross River State,” reads in part; “Consequent upon the interim injunction issued by the high court of Cross River State, and the escalating security situation with regards to the conduct of the above stated election, the committee constituted by the national party secretariat hereby suspends election for national delegates until further no-

tice. Consequently, the materials for the state exercise will be deposited with the Cross River State police command.”

It will be recalled that since the ward congress election penultimate Saturday, the state PDP has been embroiled in crisis over the composition of delegates’ list, with the state Chairman, Ntufam John Okon, out rightly accusing some prominent members of the party of giving the state chapter fake forms.

Former Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Power/chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Rivers State, Beks Dagogo-Jack (left) and former Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, at PDP, National Headquarters, during the submission of their expression of interest forms, in Abuja…recently

Obuh: I’ll create more jobs Dominic Adewole ASABA

A

frontline governorship aspirant in Delta State, Sir Tony Chuks Obuh, yesterday revealed his passion to create wealth through gainful employment as from next year if voted into office.

Obuh, who proclaimed prosperity and years of favour for the people of the state, if elected, also vowed to build his government around economic development strategy of ‘Delta Beyond Oil.’

While he said agriculture and industrialisation would attract attention with strong emphasis on agro-based industries, the aspirant hinted that his government would not rely on statutory allocation from the federation account.

Speaking in Asaba yesterday on his blueprint for the development of the state tagged; Service, Empowerment and Transformation (SET), Obuh said his administration would take concrete steps to reinvigorate and energise the

state’s internal revenue generation system.

He said: “I am passionate about wealth creation and economic development for our people and I am also passionate about the wellbeing of our people.”

He continued: “We will pursue our policies and programmes with renewed vigour, deep sense of responsibility and deliver proactively to every nook and cranny of the state.

“Unemployment is a major challenge. To engage the large pool of the

Ozekhome lauds traditional institutions, media Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

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ights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome, at the weekend, lauded the contribution of traditional institutions and the media in the development of the country’s democracy.

Ozekhome, who spoke after he was conferred with the title of Enobakhare by the Benin monarch, Oba Erediauwa, which places him among top ranking chiefs in the ancient city of Benin.

The Oba’s gesture came barely a month after President Goodluck

Jonathan also conferred on the legal luminary, the prestigious national award of Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR).

Speaking with newsmen shortly after the ceremony, Ozekhome commended the nation’s traditional institution for helping to shape the country’s development.

youth population in the state, we need to redirect the curriculum of technical colleges and skills acquisition centres, so that they can sharpen the skills of graduates and add professional touch for purposes of self-employment and survival in a world that is more ICT and self-employment driven.

“Our health policy,” he continued, “will aim at reducing exclusion and social disparity in healthcare by placing emphasis on primary healthcare.”

Delta to reward NYSC members Gabriel Choba Ughelli

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elta State government, at the weekend, promised to reward outstanding performance by corps members in all facets of service to the state.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan stated this in a goodwill message at the official opening/ swearing-in ceremony of the 2014 Batch ‘C’ orientation course of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), at IsseleUku, Aniochs North Local Government area of the state.

He congratulated the corps members on the successful completion of their studies, which culminated in their call up by the NYSC. Represented by the his Deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama, the governor noted that the orientation exercise is designed to instill in corps members, the requisite leadership virtues of perseverance, endurance, discipline of mind and purpose, adding that it includes the ability to live peacefully with others from different sociocultural backgrounds.

He urged corps members to avoid undue lobbying for posting to urban areas as they are already congested, noting that those who will require and appreciate their service are the helpless majority in the rural communities.

Court asks INEC to restore suspended Delta constituencies Gabriel Choba Ughelli

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he age-long suspension of two federal constituencies of Ughelli South 1 and Isoko North 1 in Delta State by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been finally restored by a Federal High Court sitting in Warri.

It will be recalled that before 1999, Ughelli South and Isoko North had two constituencies each, but INEC suspended one constituency each in the two lo-

cal governments since 1999.

Delivering judgement on the matter, which was brought before it by one Godwin Sito and five others against INEC, the presiding judge, Justice Shitu Abubakar, ordered INEC to immediately conduct a by-election to fill the vacant seats created by the unlawful suspension of the two constituencies.

Abubakar in the judgement said; “Accordingly, reliefs one, two, three, four, five, six and seven are granted, while relief eight is hereby refused for the purposes of future elections.”

Elumelu promises to continue with Uduaghan’s policies Philip Nyam Abuja

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hairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Health and a gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, Hon. Ndudi Godwin Elumelu, has vowed to build on

the legacy of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, if voted into office in 2015.

Elumelu, who disclosed this while submitting his nomination form in Abuja said: “My fervent wish is to further champion Governor Uduaghan’s unequaled legacy if given the chance to occupy Asaba Government House next year.”

He continued: “I will transform the state from its present state with modern day rail transportation to the admiration of all residents.

“My empowerment scheme will be all encompassing as evidenced in my constituency, which today hosts a 1000-bed state-of-the-art hospital.”

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

News 49

NORTH

32 feared killed in Nasarawa’s renewed attack BLOODLETTING Nasarawa’s bloodletting continues as more deaths are recorded in a renewed attack Cheke Emmanuel LAFIA

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t least 32 people were feared killed yesterday when suspected Fulani

insurgents reportedly shot at Eggon villagers at Arikya-Soni about 3.00pm in Lafia East Development Area of Nasarawa State.

The AK 47 wielding suspected Fulani insurgents, who reportedly ambushed and killed their victims on their way to the farm, also made away with nine motorcycles belonging to the deceased persons.

Reports said those killed were from Umme, Arugbadu and Bakyano villages all in Nasarawa Eggon Local Government.

While their bodies had been recovered, the report further said that the bodies had been buried in a mass grave at Umme, amidst tears from family members and sympathisers.

A resident of Arugbadu, Mrs. Saratu Mustapha,

who survived the attack with gunshot wounds, told New Telegraph in Arugbadu, where she is receiving treatment, that she was returning from the farm together with her husband and sister on a motorcycle, when some Fulani gunmen attacked them on.

Saratu said her husband, including her sister was killed in the attack, adding that she has

to run to the bush and to escape the insurgents.

Another survivor from Arugbadu, Habibu Mohammed, told newsmen in an interview yesterday that he was returning from his farm along with his parents when Fulani gunmen opened fire on them.

Mohammed, who was crying uncontrollably, said he lost his parents in the attack, including his

motorcycle, with which he was conveying them.

A member representing Nasarawa Eggon East constituency, Mohammed Muluku, who led newsmen to the scene of the incident, expressed shock over the killings, and called on the Federal Government to establish a permanent military base in the area to prevent further attacks on his constituents.

Eight killed, 20 injured in fresh Taraba crisis Sabiu Mustapha JALINGO

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t least eight people were reportedly killed at the weekend while more than 20 were wounded in fresh ethnoreligious violence that erupted in the troubled Wukari town of southern Taraba State.

According to sources, the violence started about 10.30am on Saturday, when a Hausa youth was allegedly killed by Jukuns, an incident which triggered off an attack by Hausa youths on the Jukuns in the area.

Taraba State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Joseph Kwaji, when confirming the incident to News Telegraph, said only one person was reportedly killed in the violence, but that on Saturday morning, a gunman shot and killed a Muslim youth and that shortly after that, sounds of gunshots were heard from everywhere in Marmara area of the town.

The PPRO further said that the situation has since been put under control by the police and men of the Nigerian Army and that normalcy has been restored in the town.

An internal displaced person, worried as pots behind her seems empty at the Internal Displaced Persons camp in Riyom Local Government Council, Plateau State…yesterday

INEC officials in PVC scandal in Jigawa Dahiru Suleiman Dutse

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part from the arrest of three officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for fraud over the Permanent Voters Card in Malam Madori council in Jigawa State, the issuance of the PVC in the state was hugely

INEC extends PVC collection to Monday Muhammad Kabir Kano

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ollowing the lack of sufficient Permanent Voters Cards and the series of complains of missing names that nearly marred the distribution exercise in Kano, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has extended deadline for the final collection date to Monday.

The INEC Resident Commissioner in Kano, Abdullahi Umar Danyaya, said yesterday that they are extending the final date for the collections of the PVC to Monday because of late commencement of

the exercise in Kano which made it difficult for many to get their cards.

It was observed that many wards in the state have their names missing on the Computers of INEC, creating doubts and tension among residents on the sincerity of the commission in providing them with the cards after they have registered.

For example, the entire community of Tudun Wada ward of Nassarawa Local Government area of Kano State, said they are afraid that they might miss the chances of casting their votes as part of their fundamental rights in the forth coming elections.

successful.

The Jigawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ibrahim Bogobiri Mafara disclosed this yesterday.

Reports from Hadejia indicated that during the week long exercise, at-least three INEC officials were apprehended

by NSCDC detectives on an alleged missing of 202 voters cards in Tanukutaru ward, Gandun Sarki Polling Unit of Malam -Madori council.

Briefing newsmen in his office, the Jigawa State Commandant of the NSCDC, Muhammad Gidado Fari, named the suspects as Zahridden Baita, Muhammad Sa’id, and Ibrahim Umar Musa.

According to Fari, all the three suspects were arrested in connection with the missing of 202 PVC, stressing all the three were paraded as INEC adhoc staffs.

He stated further that their arrest followed a tip-

2015: APC calls for vigilance in Niger Dan Atori MINNA

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday described the recent claim by Niger State governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, on his party presenting credible candidates for the 2015 general elections and for collecting 500, 000 signatures for him to contest the senate seat as laughable, adding that such are the antics of clowns.

The APC in a statement signed by its spokesman, Comrade Jonathan Vatsa

and made available to our correspondent, said they find it difficult that a man, who said permanent secretaries and commissioners must have masters and doctorate degrees decided to deceive the people of the state ahead of 2015 by parading those with questionable academic background.

But in a swift reaction, the Niger State government yesterday described the allegation of imposition of candidate as a deceitful ploy of the APC to mask the impending election disaster that awaits it in the 2015 polls.

off by the Mallam Madori Electoral Officer, which made the Command to order for their arrest, pending when investigations was completed. He said that if found guilty of offence, they will be taken to civil court for prosecution.

Fari contended that all the three accused persons admitted committing the offence, and the missing of the cards, in their possession, but were not certain on whose instructions the cards got miss-

ing. He said it was either in the hands of the INEC officials or other influential personalities.

“Based on the aforementioned first hand information, I ordered for the arrest of the accused persons, while we intensify investigations to unravel the root cause of the whole scenario”, assuring to hand over whoever “was involved no matter how highly placed, if the culprits were found guilty”

PUBLIC NOTICE

THE FILlIP BEARERS FOUNDATION

The general public is hereby notified that the above named FOUNDATION has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission Abuja for registration under Part ‘C’ of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990.

The Trustees are: 1. Lanre-Akinsiun Modupe Oluwafunmike - Chairman 2. Akinsiun Olarewaju James - Secretary 3. Akade Joy Omoyeme AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To provide women with relevant resources that will make them to impact their community and the nation at large.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420 Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

Signed: TRUSTEES

50 WORLD | News

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Germany marks 25 years of Berlin Wall’s fall

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s Germany celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall yesterday, Elke Rosin recalled how lucky her family had been. Her pet parakeet and a few personal belongings were all that Rosin managed to grab before her family fled from East to West Berlin 53 years ago. Hours after their frantic escape, the communist authorities in East Germany sealed off the border and began building the Wall.

“We all got away and nobody died,” said Rosin, who is now 70.

Others weren’t so fortunate. During its 28-year existence, at least 138 people died at the Wall, and hundreds more were jailed for trying to escape.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel honored their memory and paid tribute to those who helped bring down the Wall, calling its collapse an example of the human yearning for freedom. On the night of Nov. 9, 1989, thousands of East Berliners streamed through the once-closed border crossings after communist authorities caved in to mounting pressure and relaxed travel restrictions that had prevented their citi-

zens from going to the west for decades. “It was about reclaiming freedom, about being citizens, not subjects,” Merkel said at the main memorial site for the Wall on Bernauer Strasse.

The protests in East Germany were spurred by changes that had already taken place elsewhere in Eastern Europe, she said, citing the examples set by democracy movements in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. “The fall of the Wall has shown us that dreams can come true,” said Merkel, who grew up in East Germany.

“Nothing has to stay the way it is, however big the hurdles

Visitors gather in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany yesterday

Sudanese army denies Darfur ‘mass rape’ report

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he Sudanese army yesterday said a media report that its troops had carried out a mass rape in the war-torn western region of Darfur was “unjustified and unreasonable”. The denial came days after the military refused peacekeepers access to Tabit in North Darfur state, where they were travelling to investigate the alleged rape of 200 women and girls.

Army spokesman Colonel AlSawarmy Khaled Saad told reporters mass rape “cannot be committed by any Sudanese institutions, military or otherwise”. “Mass rape is something completely new to us as Sudanese,” he told a news conference.

A local news website had re-

ported, November 2 that troops entered Tabit at the end of October after a soldier went missing and raped 200 women and young girls. “Tabit is a small village and our operation there is very small, and numbers around 100 soldiers,” Saad said. He also said that the allegations concerned 600 women and girls, instead of the 200 reported. The UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said it sent a patrol from state capital El Fasher to Tabit on Tuesday and Sudanese soldiers barred it entry. “We welcomed them, but we asked them about the official permissions which they have to have with them, and they returned to El Fasher,” Saad said. He said a soldier was missing after visiting a family in Tabit, and that the

army had ordered the family not to leave the village.

The army is still searching for him, Saad said. Darfur erupted into conflict in 2003 when ethnic insurgents rebelled against the Arabdominated Khartoum government, complaining of being marginalised. President Omar al-Bashir, 70, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes committed in Darfur. Rising criminality and fighting among Arab tribes over resources and water have seen the security situation in the region deteriorate even further. The United Nations says 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and more than two million displaced since 2003.

Bomb explodes in Libyan town as UN envoy meets PM Thinni

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bomb exploded yesterday in an eastern Libyan town where a U N special envoy was due to meet Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, but there were no casualties, officials said.

One government official said at least one car bomb went off in front of the security headquarters in the eastern city of Shahat. Thinni and U N envoy Bernadino Leon were due to

meet in a different building, and a security official said the blast had been near the venue of the meeting of other government officials.

Libya is in turmoil as two governments and parliaments allied to armed groups who helped toppled Muammar Gaddafi three years ago vie for power and control of the country’s oil wealth. Thinni, the country’s internationally recognized pre-

mier, has worked out of Bayda near Shahat since former antiGaddafi rebels led from the city of Misrata seized the capital Tripoli and installed a rival government and parliament. In the main eastern city of Benghazi 300 people have been killed in three weeks of clashes. The recent turmoil has also lowered Libya’s oil exports to below 500,000 barrels per day, based on previous published figures.

are.” Activists staged a small demonstration during the memorial event, holding up a banner with the words “No wall around Europe” to protest the treatment of refugees trying to reach the continent. A million people were expected to attend yesterday’s festivities in Berlin, which included an open-air party at the city’s

Brandenburg Gate and the release of hundreds of heliumfilled balloon strung along a 15-kilometer (9-mile) stretch of the former border.

“That was the opening note for the murder of millions,” said Merkel, adding that Nov. 9 each year “I feel not just joy, but the responsibility that German history burdens us with.”

Queen leads Britain to mourn war victims

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ueen Elizabeth II led Britain in paying silent tribute to the Commonwealth war dead on Remembrance yesterday, an annual event made particularly poignant this year on the centenary of the start of World War I. The 88-year-old monarch, senior royals and politicians laid wreaths at the Cenotaph national war memorial in London, as thousands of military veterans looked on.

Security was tighter than normal amid heightened fears of the risk of a terror attack, but the programme of marches and military music was unaffected.

In Afghanistan, the queen’s grandson Prince Harry returned to the country where he served two tours with the British army to lay a wreath at the NATO base at Kandahar.

The centerpiece of yesterday’s events was the two minute’s silence at 1100 GMT, observed by millions of people across Britain and marked in London by the firing of a 13-pounder World War I gun. “Today we stand united to remember the courageous men and women who have served our country, defended our freedoms and kept us safe,” Prime Minister David Cameron said ahead of the event. “We remember all those who have fallen and those who have risked their lives to protect us.”

He noted the “particularly poignant” timing of this year’s events, 100 years after the start of World War I, 70 years after the

D-Day landings and just as Britain was leaving Afghanistan.

Remembrance Sunday is the Sunday nearest to Armistice Day on November 11, the anniversary of the 1918 signing of the peace that ended fighting in World War I. More than one million people from the British Empire died in the four-year conflict, but the day has become a time to remember all the troops killed in wars since then. It is thought there has been only one year -- 1968 -- without a British military fatality on active service since the end of World War II in 1945. Security this year was “intensified” following fears the event could be a target for attack, according to the head of Britain’s armed forces, Chief of Defence Staff General Nicholas Houghton.

Police arrested four men overnight Thursday on suspicion of “Islamist-related terrorism”, which media reports said concerned a plot intended for British soil. “Certainly the proximity of the sense of threat for this weekend, which has intensified the nature of the security that’s attendant on it, has contributed to quite a different feel about this year,” Houghton told BBC television. The national terror level was also raised in August to “severe”, meaning an attack is “highly likely”, due to fears over the threat of jihadists fighting in Iraq and Syria. Scotland Yard said it had an “appropriate and proportionate” policing plan in place for the London commemorations.

1,000 killed in battle for Syria’s Kobane

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ore than 1,000 people, mostly jihadists, have been killed in Kobane since the Islamic State group launched an offensive on the Syrian town nearly two months ago, a monitor said yesterday.

IS jihadists, who proclaimed a “caliphate” in June straddling territory captured in Iraq and Syria, launched their offensive for the town also known as Ain al-Arab in mid-September.

“At least 1,013 people have been killed in fighting in Ain al-Arab from the beginning of the offensive till last night,” said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Militants from the Sunni extremist IS group accounted for 609 of those killed in the Kurdish town on the Turkish

border, he said. Another 363 of those killed were members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), 16 were Kurdish volunteers, and one was a Syrian Arab fighter who had joined the ranks of the Kurds. There were 24 civilians among the dead, said the director of the Britain-based group which relies on a network of sources on the ground for its information.

The toll for jihadists excludes those killed in US-led strikes on the Islamic State group.

Syrian Kurdish forces have been battling to repel IS militants from Kobane since September 16. The fighters from the town have been joined by Syrian rebels who have fought both President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and IS, as well as by Iraqi Kurd peshmerga forces.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

Sports News

International Sport

I want to be as good as Ronaldo – Bale

Ogbeche, Ujah, Shittu on song

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How NFF saved Keshi from angry fans

Sport

Sports News

51

Did you know?

That Messi is the only player to top-score in four consecutive Champions League campaigns, and also holds the record for the most hat-tricks (four) scored in the competition.

Omeruo’s lack of match fitness worries Keshi

Ifeanyi Ibeh

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ith only five days left before the Super Eagles’ all-important 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo, the team’s coach, Stephen Keshi, has expressed concern over the match fitness of Kenneth Omeruo.

Omeruo, despite enjoying the best of starts to the campaign at Middlesbrough, where he is on a season-longloan from Chelsea, has found

game time hard to come by in recent weeks owing to Aitor Karanka’s preference for two of the club’s English-born defenders.

And after impressing in his first seven league games of the season, as well as in the Carling Cup, loss to Liverpool Spanish-born Karanka has consigned Omeruo to the substitutes’ bench in his club’s last four games following Omeruo’s poor showing in the October 21 loss to Wolves; a situation that has been causing some anxious moments for Keshi as the No-

vember 15 date of the AFCON qualifier in Pointe Noire draws closer.

“He has been worried, and who wouldn’t be? We are talking about one of our key players here; someone we are all banking on for the games against Congo and South Africa,” said a highly-placed source within the Nigeria Football Federation, who spoke to New Telegraph on the condition of anonymity.

“He wouldn’t admit it, as he is not the type to show any weakness, especially in the open, but you can tell that he is

worried.

“It is not enough to train every day because when you don’t get to play matches regularly chances are that you’d be prone to committing basic errors when thrown into a big game like the one that is coming up.

“But Keshi has a whole lot of faith in him (Omeruo) and it won’t come as a surprise to any of us if he sticks with him and (Godfrey) Oboabona, who, fortunately for us, has been playing regularly for his club,” added the NFF official.

FG sets contract target for Keshi

Omeruo

Ajibade Olusesan

The Sport Team

Adekunle Salami l Deputy Editor, Sports Emmanuel Tobi l Assistant Editor, Sports Ifeanyi Ibeh l Sports Correspondent

Ajibade Olusesan l Sports Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya l Sports Correspondent © Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

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ew Telegraph can exclusively reveal that returnee Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, may not get a new contract if he fails to qualify the national team for the Africa Nations Cup. The coach was reinstated to his post penultimate weekend after the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation met with President Goodluck Jonathan.

But our correspondent who

obtained details of what transpired at the peace meeting between the presidency, NFF and Chris Giwa can report that President Jonathan actually appealed to NFF to allow Keshi see through the qualifiers and can fire him if he fails to qualify the team for the tournament.

Our sources revealed that the Senate President, David Mark, who has become a personal friend of the coach and the Minister of Sport, Tammy Danagogo, actually prevailed on the President to take the decision on Keshi.

Jonathan has therefore given NFF the go ahead to discard with the services of Keshi if he fails to lead the team to qualification.

But according to the source, the President actually asked the federation to give the coach all the support for him to succeed.

“NFF has denied the fact that the President indeed

asked the body to recall Keshi as the Eagles coach. I don’t know why the officials had to deny the effort of Mr President to restore normalcy to Nigerian football,” our source said. “Mr President actually advised them to retain Keshi, although it was not an order. The President felt that since Nigeria still has a chance to qualify, the coach should be allowed to see through the qualification and the agreement was that if Keshi did not qualify the team they should not renew his contract.”

And our correspondent also learnt that Keshi may get a new contract earlier than scheduled especially if he gets the needed result against Congo in Ponte Noire next weekend.

“NFF can start the process to get Keshi a new contract as soon as the team gets a good result against Congo, so as to encourage the coach,” the source added. Keshi

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

COUNTDOWN TO Nigeria v CONGO AFCON QUALIFIER

How NFF saved Keshi from angry fans

...uncovers plan to boo ‘Big Boss’ Adekunle Salami

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he Nigeria Football Federation at the weekend saved Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi from embarrassment in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

It was learnt reliably that there were plans to boo the Big Boss as he steps into the pitch with the team.

The NFF got the information and advised that the Eagles tactician should not move near the bench especially with the number one citizen, President Goodluck Jonathan, in attendance with two Presidents of neighbouring West

African countries.

Though he was on the pitch for the Nigeria, Ghana match, he did not move near the bench.

“Keshi is having problems with the public for now and we have to manage the situation. He did not arrive early to handle the team but would have been on the bench but for the reports we heard,” a member of the NFF said.

Eagles Media Officer, Ben Alaiya, however said Keshi was not part of the team in Uyo because he was busy at the NFF secretariat in Abuja.

“He was not part of our training all through and he decided to allow Coach Daniel Amokachi to handle the team. It had nothing to

do with fans and I am not aware there were such plans,” Alaiya said.

Assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi handled the team as they defeated Ghana 1-0 to win the Transformation Cup as part of programmes to open the ultramodern Akwa Ibom International Stadium.

The returnee Eagles coach however joined the team to collect the gold medal and trophy won in the highly interesting match.

Keshi has won only one match in the four games in the Nations Cup qualifiers and the country is placed third on the table with a slim chance of qualifying for the 2015 Nations Cup. Nigeria is billed to meet Congo and South Africa on November 15 and 19 in must win encounters.

Keshi

Enyimba ace Sokari Congo’s Bifouma warns Eagles with goal gets invitation N

Congo’s Bifouma in action against Barcelona

igeria must again beware of Congo striker Thievy Bifouma when both teams clash on Saturday in a crucial AFCON qualifier on the evidence of the class he showed against Barcelona.

Bifouma’s club Almeria may have lost 2-1 at home on Saturday to Barcelona, but the star scored a well-taken goal and his pace troubled the Barca defence before he was replaced in the 77th minute.

The 22-year-old striker, who last season featured in the English Premier League for West Brom, has already

showed how dangerous he is when he grabbed a brace as Congo stunned Nigeria 3-2 in Calabar in September.

Ironically, Nigeria midfielder Ramon Azeez, who played against Bifouma in September, was involved in the striker’s 37th minute opening goal against Barcelona.

Azeez started the swift counter attack and Bifouma, who is on loan to Almeria from Barcelona local rivals Espanyol, used his fearsome pace to finish off a brilliant solo run with great composure.

Prayers, unity key to victory, says Onazi lEagles arrive in Abuja for Congo

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uper Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi, has set his sights on victory in Congo over the host in next weekend’s Nations Cup qualifier but has stated that there are conditions to be met if victory must come Nigeria’s way.

Onazi, who was expected in Nigeria on Sunday night, said Nigerians desirous of the Nations Cup ticket must come together and pray and that the football community must be united to achieve success.

“Once I arrive Nigeria, I will

go to my father in the Lord to pray with me, because I want the Nations Cup ticket and I know we can win in Congo. We must also cooperate and forget past differences to achieve our aim”, he said on the telephone from his base in Italy.

Preparations for the makeor- break Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo Brazzaville in Pointe Noire is expected to be kick-started on Monday following the arrival of invited Nigerian league stars to Abuja on Saturday, after a highly im-

pressive 1-0 win over Ghana in the maiden Restoration Cup at the ultra-modern Akwa Ibom International Stadium last Friday.

The players who came into camp with Head Coach Stephen Keshi, his assistants and other members of staff of the national team are goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim, Warri Wolves skipper, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Solomon Kwambe, scorer of the epoch making goal in Uyo, Emem Eduok, Nasarawa United’s Tony Edjomari, Christian Osaguona Ighodaro, Gbolahan Salami and new comer Kingsley Sokari.

Home-based Eagles protest in Uyo

...lament poor treatment Charles Ogundiya

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he home-based Super Eagles players that represented Nigeria in an international friendly match against the Black Meteors of Ghana to officially open the Uyo Stadium Complex, has lamented the way they were treated after the game.

The players protested vehemently that the football ruling body, the Nigeria Football

Federation, was unfair to the team.

Some of the players who spoke to our correspondent said despite making the country proud, they were treated like roadside footballers and not as professionals.

The players said they were given the sum of $1000 after the victorious outing which to them was a big shame.

“Imagine they gave us 1, 000 dollars as winning bonus

after the game. Even some of us receive more than that in every match for our clubs,” one of the players who craved anonymity said.

Another player said it was obvious with the treatment that they were not considered the real Eagles.

The player said; “It is obvious they didn’t take us as the real team, even the main national team will not be offered such an amount for a friendly match against a local club let alone for playing against a national team.

A

s predicted by many, exciting Enyimba International midfielder, Kingsley Sokari has broken into the Super Eagles squad for the two remaining qualifiers against Congo and South Africa next week and this is official.

Before now, Assistant Coach, Dan Amokachi had said the player was as exciting as former Super Eagles skipper, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, a view also held by his other assistants, Hyandonou Valere and Ike Shorunmu. But he also put a caveat. “We must allow our boss, Ste-

phen Keshi to make the final decision”.

Last Friday at the Uyo International Stadium inauguration game against the Black Metoers of Ghana, Keshi had a first-hand opportunity to assess the player and his final verdict was that the player is excellent and good enough for the main national team. He subsequently ordered him on the plane to Abuja for the remaining two games. Sokari is currently at the Bolton White Apartment with the rest of the stars from the Nigerian league.

Historic goal excites Eduok Adekunle Salami

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he scorer of the historic goal in the Nigeria, Ghana encounter on Friday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Emem Eduok, has expressed delight over the feat.

Uduok scored the only goal which incidentally was the first at the 30, 000 capacity Akwa Ibom International Stadium which was inaugurated that day by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Eduok told our correspondent that he was elated for many reasons to have hit the target in the encounter.

He said: “I was playing before my people and I was eager to make an impact.

Eduok

Many chances came my way but I was not lucky enough to convert more than one.

“All the same, I am happy the goal was good enough to win the trophy and to beat our rivals, Ghana. It was also the first at the stadium. I believe it was an act of God to crown my efforts this year.”

The Dolphin FC player scored 20 goals in the Nigerian elite league so far this season and could still emerge highest scorer if he could score two or three goals on the last day.

“I enjoy scoring goals, I always want to score goals in every match and I want to carry that attitude into the national team,” he added.

International Sport 53

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

I want to be as good as Ronaldo – Bale

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eal Madrid forward Gareth Bale says he is desperate to reach a level similar to that of team-mate and 2013 Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Wales international bagged Madrid’s opener in their 5-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, his fifth in eight Liga matches, before Ronaldo rounded off the scoring with his 22nd goal in just 16 games this season.

Bale, who joined los Blancos in a record €100 million deal from Tottenham last year, has

often referred to Ronaldo as an inspiration and is determined to join him as the world’s finest player.

“I’m improving all the time and trying to get to the level Cristiano’s at,” Bale told the BBC. “The amount of goals he scores and what he does for the team is incredible.

“Nobody is living up to that at the moment. At the moment he’s on another level to everyone else.

“By seeing him in training and in games it gives me that kind of platform to aim for and keep improving, and hopefully one day I can get there.

“If you don’t want to be

Mourinho sets sights on EPL title Bale (left) and Ronaldo celebrating goal

Beckham joins Arsenal on short-term deal

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rsenal have seen off competition from Manchester United and Chelsea to sign Brooklyn Beckham on a deal until the end of the season, according to reports.

The 15-year-old son of former England international David Beckham is said to have impressed Gunners coaches after a spell at the North London club’s training ground.

An Arsenal source is quoted by the Daily Star as saying: “Brooklyn is talented and he has stood out in all of the training sessions and games he has played.

“He has had other teams sniffing around and it was always going to be a case of when, not if, he was signed up by a big-name club.

“Next summer we may see him sign a big-money deal and with Arsenal.”

Brooklyn’s younger brothers Romeo and Cruz are already involved in the Arsenal youth setup.

S

Beckham

ayern Munich sporting director Matthias Sammer has dampened rumours linking the German giants with a move for Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos.

The World Cup-winning centre-back has recently been suggested as a potential January target to help ease the strain caused by injured players David Alaba and Javi Martinez, but Bayern’s director has stated that such talk is just pure speculation.

“If the rumours in Spain were true, we’d be made up of four teams and have another

R

Kroos

Spanish sporting director,” Sammer told Sky News.

“Ramos has a long-term contract with a pretty club.”

Ramos (left)

eal Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has heaped praise on midfielder Toni Kroos after his superb display against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

The Germany international arrived from Bayern Munich during the close-season and has quickly become anintegralpartof Ancelotti’s

midfield, forming a formidable partnership with Luka Modric.

Kroos scored his first goal for the club on Saturday, producing a fine finish into the bottom-right corner from 25 yards to beat Cristian Alvarez in the Rayo net, restoring

European Premier League Sunderland 1 – 1 Everton Tottenham 1 – 2 Stoke City West Brom 0 – 2 Newcastle Liverpool 1 – 2 Chelsea Burnley 1 – 0 Hull City Man United 1 – 0 C/Palace S’ampton 2 – 0 Leicester West Ham 0 – 0 Aston Villa QPR 2 – 2 Man City Swansea 2-1 Arsenal Bundesliga Augsburg 3 – 0 Paderborn Leverkusen 0 – 0 Mainz Freiburg 2 – 0 Schalke Hoffenheim 3 – 4 FC Cologne

Bremen 2 – 0 Stuttgart

La Liga Sevilla 1 – 1 Levante Almeria 1 – 2 Barcelona Mourinho

ergey Kovalev put on a masterful display to outclass Bernard Hopkins and unify the light-heavyweight division after a unanimous points decision at Atlantic City at Broadwalk Hall.

Hopkins, who turns 50 in January, was floored in the opening round by a straight right by his Russian opponent who did not look back, with the judges scoring the fight 120-107, 120-107 and 120106 in his favour.

Hopkins, who has given himself the moniker ‘The Alien’ for the longevity of his career had two of his greatest career victories at the New Jersey venue - beating Kelly Pavlik in 2008 and his first light-heavyweight championship victory

Ancelotti salutes Kroos’ display

RESULTS

Frankfurt 0 – 4 Bayern

from 2003-04.

“I think it is possible to be champions - before the season started we considered ourselves contenders but in modern football, especially in the Premier League, I don’t believe in an unbeaten run,” said the Portuguese. “It is a good start and I believe my team can keep this stability.”

Kovalev ends Hopkins’ reign

No Bayern move for Ramos – Sammer

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J

ose Mourinho has set his sights on the Premier League title after Chelsea extended their unbeaten run with a 2-1 win over Liverpool.

Mourinho insists his side’s unbeaten run will not last forever but victory at Anfield has only reinforced their position as title favourites.

Goals from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa, with his 10th of the season, saw the Stamford Bridge side recover from Emre Can’s first goal for the Reds. It made it 11 games unbeaten from the start of the campaign and consolidated their position at the top of the table, but Mourinho cannot see his side emulating Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’

the world’s best you probably shouldn’t be playing football.”

Ronaldo has now found the net in 18 of his last 19 Liga matches, helping Madrid to 42 goals in 11 games this season – their joint-best ever record at this stage of the campaign, along with the 1950-51 season.

against Antonio Tarver in 2006.

However, on Saturday night he was outclassed by 31-year-old Kovalev, who had not been past the eighth round in his professional career.

Kovalev, already the WBO champion heading into the bout, has now added Hopkins’ WBA Super and IBF world titles to his collection of belts.

Real’s two-goal lead just after the break.

Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema also netted in the 5-1 romp at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Ancelotti Sergey Kovalev (right) singled out Kroos as having lands a punch on Bernard Hopkins impressed him the most.

Getafe 0 – 0 Elche Real Madrid 5 – 1 Rayo Celta Vigo 0 – 0 Granada Malaga 2 – 1 Eibar

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Team P GD 1 Chelsea 11 17 2 Southampton 11 18 3 Man City 11 10 4 West Ham 11 5 5 Swansea City 11 4 6 Arsenal 11 6

Pts 29 25 21 18 18 17

7 Man United 8 Newcastle 9 Stoke City 10 Everton 11 Liverpool 12 Tottenham 13 West Brom 14 Sunderland 15 Hull City 16 Aston Villa 17 C/Palace 18 Leicester 19QPR 20 Burnley

16 16 15 14 14 14 13 12 11 11 9 9 8 7

11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

11 11

3 -2 -1 2 -1 -2 -2 -7 -2 -11 -6 -7 -11 -13

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SPORT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Ogbeche, Ujah, Shittu on song Ajibade Olusesan

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layers outside the mainstream of Super Eagles continued to do well for their clubs abroad as Bartholomew Ogbeche, Anthony Ujah, Danny Shittu and John Utaka hit target in Europe last weekend.

Ogbeche, on Sunday, scored his seventh goal in all competitions this season in his club, Cambuur’s 4-2 home loss to Ajax. The Nigerian who has now scored six goals in just eleven league appearances for the modest side hit target in the 90th minute to reduce the margin against his side.

Similarly, Ujah scored his

third league goal on Saturday for German club, Cologne, in their 4-3 win over Hoffenheim.

Utaka scored his second goal in Turkish league this season to ensure struggling Sivaspor got a 1-1 draw at home with Eskisehirspor.

Utaka opened the scoring in the 46th minute. Sivaspor were almost running away with victory before an Oemer Sis-

Schools Sports Festival:

Mark pleads for understanding over facilities

S

enate President, David Mark, has pleaded with participants and the leadership of Nigeria School Sports Federation to make the ongoing seventh edition of Nigerian Schools Sports Festival a success despite the inadequate facilities in Otukpo, the venue of the tourney.

Mark who hosted the delegates and officials of NSSF on Saturday said he would do something quickly to address the hardship the participants

were going through.

He pleaded with them to show understanding since Oturkpo was only a local government and not yet fully developed as a state capital, assuring participants of his total support to make their stay enjoyable.

“We all know that Otukpo is not a state capital yet; it is only a local government with its own limitations as far as sports facilities are concerned but l am assuring you that with my support,

the competitors will enjoy their stay in Oturkpo. I am aware of the difficulties you are all facing in Otukpo because some of our facilities are not up to international standard, but this is school sports where the basic requirement is to have schools and playgrounds where boys and girls will compete.

There are no tartan tracks in Otukpo but we will make the best use of the facilities available,” the senate president explained.

Boxing: Nwankpa faults government’s fire brigade approach Charles Ogundiya

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ne of Nigeria’s boxing greats, Obisia Nwankpa, has laid the blame for the dwindling fortunes of sports especially boxing in Nigeria, at the doorstep of government.

Speaking with our correspondent recently, Nwankpa said unlike in the past when there were various programmes to discover athletes, the country

Nwankpa

only embarks on fire brigade approach ahead competitions.

Popularly called Golden Gloves in his heyday, the former Africa light welterweight champion said such attitude would not help sports.

“I have invested all my life in boxing, what I can tell you is, we don’t run program in Nigeria. In athletics they are lucky because so many of their athletes are based outside, they have opportunity of engaging in several meets which has been sustaining them. In boxing and other sports nothing like that.

“Commonwealth Games takes place every four years, same with All Africa Games and Olympics; while all other countries prepare for four year, Nigerian government only call their athletes to camp three months to a competition, how do you

want to make any meaningful impact?” he asked.

He said the ministry must design a programme that would help the athletes to be in a good shape ahead of major competitions.

manoglu equaliser in the 90th minute.

However, it was mixed fortunes for forgotten Super Eagles central defender Shittu, as he scored at both ends of the pitch when Millwall lost 3-2 at home to Brentford Town Football Club on Saturday.

The defender who was handed a starter’s shirt

by Ian Holloway netted Millwall’s first goal, but he was unlucky to put the ball in the net for the visitors’ winning goal at The Den. Ogbeche (left)

England, Egypt win Lagos Int’l Squash Classics Emmanuel Tobi

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ngland’s Adrian Grant and Egypt’s Heba El-Torky have emerged champions at the Lagos International Squash Classics concluded at the weekend.

The tournament which attracted top players across the globe was sanctioned by Professional Squash Association and Women Professional Squash Association. It is pointhauling event that held at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

From the start of the competition, England’s Grant was outstanding in all his matches and this became obvious in the men’s final against Egypt’s Karim Ali Fathi.

Despite stiff resistance from the Egyptian in the first game, the Englishman had his way to win the match at 11-9, 11-6, 11-2 to lift the title.

Also in the women’s event, Egypt’s El-Torky confirmed her status as the best ranked player in the championship as she fought hard to humble Netherlands’ Milou van der Heijden 11-9, 15-13, 11-9 to emerge as the top player.

For their efforts the Egyptian and Briton got cash rewards and they will also get points for their world rating.

In the boys’ U-19, it was battle between two brothers – Onaopemipo and Temilolu Adegoke with Onaopemipo having the upper hand after beating his sibling to the title at 3-2.

Pinnick backs Enyeama,Musa for Glo/CAF Award

Enyeama

Emmanuel Tobi

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resident of Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Amaju Pinnick has backed Super Eagles’ stars Vincent Enyeama and Ahmed Musa for the 2014 Glo/CAF award.

CAF on Thursday listed 25 players, including Ivoirian

Yaya Toure – who has won the award in the past three years – in the initial pool for the Player of the Year, ahead of a shortlist of five that will be released early December.

“If we look critically at the list, it will be difficult to see any player who has done more for club and country in the outgoing year than Vin-

cent Enyeama and Ahmed Musa.

“Both were in fabulous forms for their clubs (Enyeama with Lille OSC of France and Musa with CSKA Moscow of Russia) during the year, and also played brilliant roles as the Super Eagles reached the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil,” Pinnick stated.

The Glo-CAF African Football Awards will take place in Lagos on January 8, 2015.

Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory; 1993), Emmanuel Amuneke (1994), Nwankwo Kanu (1996 and 1999) and Victor Ikpeba (1997) are the only Nigerian players to have won Africa’s top prize.

Globacom has been sponsoring the awards for the past eight years.

Uyo stadium not for athletics field events –Egbe Special Olympics Nigeria appoints national director igerian licensed FIFA agent and letics field events like hammer throw sports facility expert Ebi Egbe and javelin. Using it for athletics field N pecial Olympics Nigeria has apA statement from the organisation has warned that the Uyo stadium turf events will make the pitch to become should not be used for athletics field uneven and it can equally make the S pointed Naomi Lawal as the new said Lawal joined the soNigeria afnational director of the organisa- ter a 12-year stint in Nigerian and events if the grass must remain lush green and smooth.

“I think Governor Godswill Akpabio deserves all the accolades he is getting over the stadium, but the big challenge now is that of maintaining it. I’m happy he has given the job to the construction outfit that built the stadium. But beyond that, to ensure that the turf remains green and smooth they must not use it for ath-

grass to wither no matter how much it is watered.”

It is worthy of note that world athletics governing body, IAAF has certified the edifice for athletics events.

The stadium boasts an eight lane tartan track and another six lane warm up track. The first athletics event at the arena is billed for later this month during the NNPC/Mobil sponsored secondary school athletics championship.

tion.

This appointment follows the departure of the body’s former national director, Mrs. Folashade Bolumole.

According to SONigeria, the new national director brings on board a wealth of experience in fundraising, relationship management, corporate structure management and a passion for children.

British financial sector. She rose to become the Head, Client Services for Guaranty Trust Bank, United Kingdom before her new appointment.

Special Olympics Nigeria is an affiliate of an unprecedented global movement that aims at transforming lives through the joy of sports and improving the lives of people with intellectual disabilities.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

55

Sanctity of Truth

On Marble

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

– William James

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

I

World Record

John Logie Baird: Invented the television - its first public demonstration was at Selfridges in London (1925)

N150

Religion: The great delusion

read Mr. Don C. Adinuba’s article titled ‘Toying With The Fire Of Religion’ in Thisday Newspaper on 5th November 2014. He raised some interesting points, some of which I will attempt to address here. There is a grave affliction that has gripped our land. That affliction is known as willful delusion. Thankfully, not all Nigerians suffer from it but many of them do: particularly those from the south. They believe that religion does not, play a role in our politics and that it never has done.

I agree with those that believe that religion OUGHT NOT to have a place or play a role in our politics but I am compelled to concur with those that admit, albeit in hushed and nervous tones, that it does. Whether we like it or not that is the reality.

It is the bitter truth. It is the elephant in the room that everyone pretends is not there. It is the proverbial demon that has come to stay and that we have no choice but to live with. It is the bad smell that emanates from a silent but deadly fart at a well-attended and well-heeled dinner party: everyone can smell it but everyone pretends that it is not there and that it never happened. Sadly, whether we like to admit it or not, that is the reality.

Yet many still close their eyes to the veracity of this assertion and the glaring consequences of this sad and unfortunate state of affairs. Those that live in this wilful yet blissful denial can easily be identified by the fact that they consistently and loudly repeat the lie that religion does not play any part in our politics.

Even though they know that it is not true, they say it over and over again as if to say that the repetitive chanting of this vainglorious and masturbatory mendacity is capable of changing anything or of melting away the bitter truth.

Sadly, it does not and only the abjectly ignorant believe that it ever could. Worst of all is the fact that ignorance is not only a terrible disease but it is also a very dangerous one. As a matter of fact, it is even more dangerous and debilitating than cancer, Ebola, heart disease and AIDS all put together and it is responsible for far many more deaths.

For those that honestly believe that religion plays no role in Nigerian politics, permit me to suggest the following. They should tell the residents of the predominantly christian town of Mubi, which has now been captured by Boko Haram and renamed ‘’Madinatul Islam’’ (meaning ‘the City of Islam and Peace’) that there is no religion in the politics of our country. They should find out what has since happened to the good people of Mubi and what they have been subjected to. They should tell the hundreds of thousands of northern minority Christians that have been slaughtered in the north over the last 50 years that religion has no place in politics in our country. They should tell the Berom people of Plateau and the Sayyawa people of Bauchi. They should tell the people of southern Ka-

Crossfire FEMI FANI-KAYODE ffk2011@aol.com

duna and the people of Zangon Kataf.

They should tell the people of Zuru and the people of southern Zaria.

They should tell those that have been forcefully converted to islam or those that have been made to appear in sharia courts in northern Nigeria even though they were not muslims, that religion has no place in the politics of Nigeria. They should tell the people of Taraba, Adamawa, Benue, Plateau and the Christian minorities of Kogi and Kwara that religion has no place in the politics of Nigeria.

They should tell all these people this and they will laugh them to scorn.

They should tell General Theophilius Yakubu Danjuma, the greatest and most respected general in the history of the Nigerian Armed Forces, that religion has no place in our politics and see what his reaction will be. I could go on and on. The worst thing to do to a festering wound is to ignore it and pretend that it is not there.

The fact that we refuse to acknowledge certain things and the fact that those things are unpalatable and unpleasant does not mean that they do not exist. They should tell the thousands of Igbo Christians that have been slaughtered in the north over the years both before and after the Nigerian civil war that there is no religion in Nigerian politics.

They should tell the millions of christians that have been denied the right to buy land to build churches in many parts of the core north that there is no religion in Nigerian politics. They should tell those that have witnessed the hundreds of churches that were burnt down to the ground

It is the bitter truth.

It is the elephant in the room that everyone pretends is not there. It is the proverbial demon that has come to stay and that we have no choice but to live with

Danjuma

over the last four years all over the north by the islamists that there is no religion in Nigerian politics.

They should tell the thousands of muslims that were slaughtered in Zangon Kataf, Southern Zaria and Plateau state over the last twenty years that there is no religion in Nigerian politics. They should tell the muslims who were murdered in cold blood and had their flesh cooked and eaten in Jos by some Berom christian youths two years ago that there is no religion in Nigerian politics.

The truth is that it is a selfish and selective recourse for anyone to say such a thing and it smacks of nothing but insensitivity. That insensitivity is well- manifested by the millions of very comfortable southern middle class elites who continue to view the dire religious tensions, discriminations, perversions and divisions in the north as essentially a northern problem which does not concern them.

They forget the adage that when your neighbours house is on fire you better help him to put it out before yours catches fire as well.

Many in the south have forgotten the fact that Sir Ahmadu Bello, the late Saurdana of Sokoto and the most revered political leader in northern history, said that it was the intention of the people of the north to ‘’continue their march to the south and dip the Koran in the Atlantic ocean’’ after the British had left and thereby perfect their grand scheme to conquer and islamise the whole of Nigeria.

It took Chief Obafemi Awolowo,

the erstwhile Leader of the Yoruba, to stand up and reply him in very clear and decisive terms by saying that rather than for the Yoruba to bow down to the hegemonists of the north and succumb to their horrendous agenda they would prefer to face death.

For those amongst us that are still delusional and that insist on holding fast to the erroneous view that religion does not play a role in our politics permit me to end this contribution with the words of Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje who is a banker, an economist and a lecturer at the Lagos Business School. On 4th October 2014 on his Facebook page he wrote the following: “I know it sounds intelligent, modern and sophisticated to say that religion should not be a consideration in politics. I know that is also the politically correct thing to say. As a matter of fact, that is how I have always lived my life and that is how the South West has always practiced its religion. We have always adopted a tolerant, accommodating and matured view about the place of religion in social, cultural and political affairs. However if you live in a country in which eleven (11) states in one region of the country have established a Sharia regime with religious laws, police and policies, there is nothing intelligent or even rational about saying religion is not a consideration in politics. Indeed in the Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri Islamic North, religion is not a factor in politics, it is the ONLY factor! If you live in a country in which a religious terrorist group called Boko Haram has killed over 20,000 people in just four years, it is almost insane to say that religion is irrelevant! I agree it should be, and indeed would have preferred that it is, but evidently and unfortunately due to the actions of the sponsors of religious politics, today it is NOT irrelevant! Sadly but clearly!

If the country you live in was smuggled into the OIC and remains there; if a region of your country has been overwhelmed by religious terrorists with millions of displaced people; if there are substantial allegations that one of the two dominant political parties has a preponderance of one religion among its officials, office holders and candidates; if infact the leading presidential candidate of the party is a former military dictator who has PUBLICLY declared his intention to establish sharia all over the country; and if the whole world is contending with religious extremists including ISIS, Al Qaeda, Al Nusrah, Hamas, Al Shabab, Seleka, Daesh and Boko Haram who are trying to establish Islamic Caliphates in Northern Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia, CAR, Egypt, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia’s Caucausus region, India’s Kashmir, China’s Uighur region and even the US, Europe and Canada are battling religious extremists, there is nothing at all smart about saying religion is not a consideration in politics! Instead, frankly such a statement would be delusional!!!’’

How right Mr. Agbaje is. I need say no more.

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by Banex Junction, Mabushi, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Advert Hotline: 01-8541248, Email: info@newtelegraphonline.com Website: www.newtelegraphonline.com ISSN 2354-4317 Editor: YEMI AJAYI.