Binder1 04 november, 2014

SATURDAY

Sanctity Of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

/newtelegraph

Vol. 1 No. 259

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

N150

PDP rakes in N2.6bn from governorship aspirants }5

FG needs $14bn to fix infrastructure, says Okonjo-Iweala Abdulwahab Isa Abuja

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igeria requires $14 billion every year to close its

infrastructure gap, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala has said.

According to her, the Federal Government cur-

rently spends about $6 billion on infrastructure, but will soon jack up the amount to $10 billion.

The minister said yesterday in Abuja while declaring open a training

programme on Public Private Partnership arrangement (PPP), organised by the African Development Bank (AFBD) for stakeholders, that the funding gap would be bridged

through the PPP. She added that government had long imbibed the concept of PPP in executing key projects across the country and listed such projects to include the Le-

kki Deep Sea Port, LagosIbadan Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge.

“I am proud of what ADB is beginning to do in Nigeria and all over West CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

APC Reps threaten to impeach Jonathan lCourt stops PDP’s bid to reconvene House

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; with the President, Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), Ms. Osayi Alile (seventh right); Conference Chairperson, WIMBIZ, Mrs. Leila Fowler (eighth left) and others at the 13th Annual Conference of WIMBIZ in Lagos...yesterday.

Suicide bomber wipes out 25 worshippers in Yobe

lGunmen free 144 inmates in Kogi l Atiku: Boko Haram can overrun Nigeria HASSAN JIRGI, Ibrahim Abdul and Muhammad Bashir and Idris Salisu

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suicide bomber yesterday detonated explosives during a religious procession in Potiskum, Yobe, killing himself and 25 worshippers,

who are mostly children.

It was gathered that the suicide bomber joined the religious procession and detonated the explosives.

Although the police put

the casualty figure in the incident, which occurred about 11pm, at four, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yobe State, Mallam Mustapha Lawan

Nasidi, told reporters that 25 persons were killed in the attack.

Nasidi added that over 80 people injured in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

}3

Quick Read Editorial

Corruption as national albatross }19 Reps indict MDAs of recruitment rules’ abuse }7 Ex-ministers, deputy gov, others battle for Suswam’s job }14

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

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APC Reps threaten to impeach Jonathan Philip Nyam and Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

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ouse of Repr e s e n t a t ive s Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the House yesterday launched a twopronged approach to stop the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan from

removing the speaker following his defection to the opposition party.

PDP and Jonathan had, since last Tuesday when Tambuwal defected from the ruling party to APC, held a series of meetings to plot how to oust Tambuwal, who has already been stripped of his security aides in the aftermath of his defection.

On the political front, the APC lawmakers have begun moves to sack the president by compiling

alleged constitutional breaches committed by him.

Tambuwal and the APC lawmakers also went to court, asking the Federal High Court to stop PDP lawmakers from reconvening the House for the purpose of removing the speaker and declaring his seat vacant.

The speaker got a reprieve, as the court ordered that the House should not reconvene pending the determination of the case.

The APC lawmakers, at a news conference yesterday in Abuja, warned Jonathan to back off from the bid to remove Tambuwal or face the consequence.

They also warned their PDP colleagues to jettison the efforts to reconvene the House before the December 3 adjourned date.

The lawmakers also reaffirmed that Tambuwal remains the speaker and only him can reconvene the House in accordance with the House Standing

Orders.

Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibril (APC, Kano) who addressed reporters after the APC House caucus meeting, said: “Nigerians are watching. All the breach of the constitution that is going on, we are noting. All the impeachable offences that have been committed by a lot of public officers, we’ve taken records of it.

In the next few days, we are going to watch and see

the fact that no inch of the territory taken over by the insurgents has been recovered so far.

Atiku, whose press briefing centred on the capture of Mubi by Boko Haram, decried the situation in the town.

In a related development, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe State governments have warned that if the Federal Government fails to step efforts to check the ravaging insurgency in the North-East, Boko Haram will soon capture the area.

The governors of the affected states said its seemed there was no seriousness in the fight against the insurgents, who have captured about 17 local government areas in the three states.

Deputy Governor of Borno State, Zanna Umar Mustapha, who spoke to reporters in Yola, said with the effrontery of the in-

how events unfold. And whatever happens, we will respond accordingly.

“When we get to the bridge of using such impeachable offences, we will cross it. We are going to reconvene on December 3. It is written in all our articles. All the offences, we are putting everything together, and by the time we reconvene, the fireworks will start.”

On the alleged plots to impeach Tambuwal, the lawmaker said: “We need to be careful not to overheat the polity. And what I am referring to is this issue of impeachment being bandied around.

“We don’t want a situation where the hunter will become the hunted.

Already, we the APC members of the House, we are fully prepared. We are waiting for a situation like this. And we have the capacity to deal with any situation in the House.”

The APC lawmakers warned against any illegal attempt to impeach Tambuwal, saying it will be setting a bad precedent in the National Assembly.

House Minority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (APC, Lagos) also stated that nobody could compel the House to reconvene before December 3 and no one could impeach Tambuwal.

He said: “The House cannot be reconvened without the speaker’s consent. Now the issues are in court. Under our rules, they cannot be a subject for debate. We ask the presidency and the PDP to leave the House alone.

“Our House rules provide for how and when an adjourned House can be reconvened. The president cannot do it, a political party cannot do it, the deputy speaker lacks the powers and, indeed, it is beyond the signatures of 120, 150, 250 or 350 members. That power resides solely and exclusively with Mr. Speaker.”

He urged Jonathan “to busy himself with the security situation and possible economic indicator that our country may be bankrupt.”

According to him, any political party that seeks to meddle in the internal affairs of the House should perish the thought.

“Let us make it abundantly clear; the legislature is a separate, but equal arm of government.

It is not inferior nor is it subservient to the executive. Their powers are separated under the constitution and it can never be an extension or department of the presidency or PDP. “Just as the legislature cannot regulate the work-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

Chairman, Transcorp Power, Mr Tony O. Elumelu (right), with the Managing Director, Mr. Adeoye Fadeyibi, at the board meeting of the company in Lagos...recently.

Gunmen free 144 inmates in Kogi CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

incident were receiving treatment at the Potiskum General Hospital.

The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Markus Danladi, who confirmed the incident, said: “I am just receiving a sketchy report of the incident. We are yet to receive the details because it is just happening now. I am on my way to Potiskum to see things for myself.”

One of those in the procession, Mohammed Mai said: “We were four that came to the programme, but I can’t find any of them now. I don’t know whether they are dead or alive.”

Three months ago, Potiskum was jolted by a suicide bomb attack in a mosque in which scores of people were killed while many others were injured.

Meanwhile, barely two years after a terrorist gang attacked and freed prison inmates at Koton Karfe

Prison in Kogi State, another gang of gunmen on Sunday night bombed and again freed inmates at the prison.

After the attack, no fewer than 144 prison inmates were freed by the gunmen.

Some of the freed inmates are said to be members of the Boko Haram.

It was learnt that the hoodlums blocked the Lokoja-Koton Karfe and Abuja- Koton Karfe highway to prevent vehicular movements.

Sources said after blocking the highway, the hoodlums started shooting sporadically and operated for three-and-a- half hours.

Some of inmates whose jail terms would soon be completed were said to have returned while others have escaped.

While speaking with journalists at the premises of Koton Karfe prison yesterday, the Comptroller of Nigeria Prisons Ser-

vices, Mr. Aminu Suley, confirmed that that atthe tack happened on Sunday night.

Suley stated that the gunmen, who came in a large number around 10pm, forcibly gained entry into the prison to free all the inmates.

He said the prison accommodated 145 inmates, comprising 26 convicts and 119 awaiting trials.

He said one prison inmate was killed in the attack while 12 others had been re-arrested.

The state Governor, Idris Wada, who visited the prison, expressed shock at the incident. He promised that the state government will continue to provide adequate security in the state.

Also yesterday, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar expressed fear that the Boko Haram insurgents could overrun the country if nothing is done urgently to tackle the menace.

He called on the international community to come to the aid of Nigeria in fighting the insurgents.

He said at a press briefing in Abuja that many citizens had lost faith in the ability of the Federal Government to quickly resolve the matter.

“They suspect that the seeming inability of the government to end the crisis is a ploy to weaken some parts of the country ahead of the 2015 elections. Can we, in all honesty, blame them for having those suspicions?

“Nigeria needs world support. The world must not leave Nigeria at this time of great need. The way the insurgents easily overrun states suggest they can easily overrun the entire country in a matter of months. A crisis in one part of the country is a crisis in all parts of the country,” he added.

The former vice-president hinged his fear on

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

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PDP rakes in N2.672bn from guber aspirants Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

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his, indeed, is a harvest time for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has so far raked in over N2.672 billion from the sales of nomination forms for the February 28, 2015 governorship election, according to collation done by New Telegraph.

Before the extension of the sale of nomination forms by one week last Thursday, a total of 223 governorship aspirants had purchased the PDP nomination forms in 29 states where gubernatorial elections will be conducted in 2015. Eleven of these aspirants are females.

Governorship aspirants were made to cough up N1 million for the Expression of Interest (EOI) form and N10 million for nomination form. Female aspirants are, however, exempted from paying the N10 million nomination fees.

A state-by-state breakdown of governorship aspirants shows that Imo State is leading the pack with 19 aspirants; three of them females.

This is followed by Delta with 17 governorship aspirants; again with three

female aspirants.

While PDP made N179 million from Imo State, it got N157 million from Delta State.

PDP raked in N177 million and N132 million from Akwa Ibom and Benue States respectively.

The ruling party also made N176 million from the 16 governorship aspirants from Rivers State who bought the nomination form .

In the South-West, PDP got N132 million in Ogun State from its governorship aspirants; N121 million in Oyo State and N55 million in Lagos State.

The party has so far made N55 million each from Enugu, Zamfara, Kebbi and Nasarawa

states, totalling N220 million.

Also, Taraba, Sokoto and Kano each contributed N44 million to the party’s coffers while the ruling party netted N77 million each from Ebonyi and Borno States’ aspirants.

The party also got N88 million from Niger State; N89 million from Kwara State; N99 million from Katsina State; N66 million from Jigawa State; N87 million from nine aspirants from Abia State; N100 million from Plateau’s 10 aspirants and N88 million from Cross River State.

Bauchi State brought N22 million to the party’s purse; Gombe State N11 million while Adamawa State’s aspirants has so far

contributed N165 million.

Governorship aspirants in Kaduna State also paid N22 million while their counterparts in Yobe State paid N33 million.

The least revenue earning states for the party are Gombe, Bauchi and Kaduna which has one and two governorship aspirants respectively.

This is basically, because PDP is giving its governors seeking re-election an offer of first refusal. Two of these states, Gombe and Kaduna have PDP returning governors – Ibrahim Dankwabo and Ramalam Yero.

Governorship elections will not hold in seven states in 2015. The states are Anambra, Edo, Ondo,

Ekiti, Osun, Bayelsa and Kogi.

Since the PDP adopted President Goodluck Jonathan as its sole presidential candidate, the party made only N22 million from the sale of one presidential nomination form, although it yesterday decided to open the race to others who might be interested in challenging the president to the party’s ticket.

Though the figure for the National and state Houses of Assembly are yet to be ascertained as at press time, PDP also raked in several billions of naira from the sale of nomination forms to interested aspirants.

PDP EOI and nomi-

nation forms for Senate were pegged at N4.5 million and N2.5 million for House of Representatives.

The forms for House of Assembly were purchased at N1.2 million.

Given the fact that not less than two aspirants obtained forms to contest for the 109 senatorial and 360 House of Representatives seats, it is estimated that PDP will make above N981 million and N1.8 billion respectively from senatorial and House of Representatives aspirants.

However, 15 per cent of the nomination fees will go to the state chapter and five per cent to the state chapter and zone where such money was generated.

Atiku: Boko Haram can overrun Nigeria CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

surgents, the three states would soon become history.

“If the Federal Government will not add extra efforts, in the next three months, the three NorthEast states will not be in existence.

“The Federal Government has tried its best, but its best is not enough because rather than going after the insurgents, it is the insurgents that are going after us,” he added.

Meanwhile, suspected cattle rustlers have attacked several villages in Zamfara, killing 41 people.

Several houses were also set ablaze while 30,000 hectares of farmlands were destroyed.

The attacks, which were carried out at the weekend, in Ruwan Mesa, Mashema and Gidan Kaso left 41 people dead.

According to reports, the attacks claimed seven people in Mashema, 19 vigilante members in Gidan Kaso while 15 people lost their lives in Ruwan Mesa.

The state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) , Lawal Abdullahi, confirmed the attack and the killing of 13 members of the vigilante groups.

L-R: Head, Business Operations, Globacom, Mr. Bisi Koleoso; Head, Special Promotions and Public Relations, Mr. Bode Opeseitan; Head, Finance, Mr. Michael Toluhi; Mrs. Grace Ojougboh of the Nigeria Communications Commission and Chief Executive Officer, Ceragon Nigeria, Mr. Bekele Tadesse, at the 2014 AFRICT Awards.

Court stops PDP’s bid to reconvene House CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

ings of the presidency or determine for the president when he should call the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings, so also can the president not determine for the House when to reconvene or meet.

“We would like to use this opportunity to appeal to our colleagues in the PDP not to embark on a futile exercise, but to put country first and self, second and do only that which is right as is our prayer every morning before sittings.”

He carpeted the acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, for removing the speaker’s security aides, saying: “Where was the police when the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly just recently defected from the Labour Party to the PDP?”

Also yesterday, the speaker got respite from the Federal High Court in a bid to keep his position.

The court, ruling in an ex-parte motion he filed, stopped the House from reconvening before November 7 when the suit filed by Tambuwal will be heard.

Tambuwal had approached the court yesterday through an ex-parte application seeking an order of interim injunction stopping the House from reconvening and removing him from office pending the determination of the suit he filed on Friday.

Joined in the suit are the PDP, its National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu; the House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker of the House, Inspector General of Police(IG), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney General of

the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF) as first to seventh defendants.

Tambuwal had, on Friday, filed a motion on notice seeking to stop his removal from office and an order of the court for the restoration of his security aides.

He also prayed the court to stop INEC from conducting any bye-election to fill up his position pending the determination of the suit.

He also wants the court to stop the Federal Government and its agents from further interfering in his rights and privileges as the House speaker pending the determination of the suit.

Also, the plaintiff is praying for an order of mandatory injunction directing the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation to restore his security aides, rights, ben-

efits and privileges of his office.

Tambuwal also seeks an order of interim injunction stopping the defendants from taking any step from removing him from of office as speaker and member of the House or taking any step to diminish his rights and privileges as speaker and a lawmaker.

In a five-paragraph affidavit of urgency attached to the application, Tambuwal averred that the defendants planned to remove him as speaker and member of the House despite the pending suit before the court.

He averred that the PDP and its chairman had threatened to ensure that his seat is declared vacant to enable INEC to organise a bye-election to fill it.

He also averred that he is receiving threats from the defendants that they

will cause the House to remove him from office as speaker and member because of his defection from PDP to APC. Ruling on the motion ex-parte, Justice A. R. Mohammed held that parties in the suit should maintain the status quo until the substantive suit is heard.

He further ordered the defendants in the suit to appear on the next adjourned date to show cause why Tambuwal’s prayers should not be granted.

He later adjourned till November 7.

In another suit, APC House members, led by the Minority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, also filed a suit seeking to stop the House from reconvening.

The plaintiffs also want the court to stop the House from removing Tambuwal as the speaker.

News

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Insurgency: NSA threatens sanctions against unpatriotic politicians Johnchuks Onuanyim and Emmanuel Anule

Abuja

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ational Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki, yesterday warned those aiding insurgency and political instability to desist from it or face the wrath of the security agencies.

The NSA gave the warning in Abuja, at a workshop on security consciousness and awareness organised by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

Dasuki alleged that some political parties and a section of the media thwart the efforts of Federal Government to curb insurgency and conduct a free, fair and credible election.

Warning the accomplice of insurgency, he said: “I, therefore, warn these people to desist from such unpatriotic acts which are capable of overheating the polity. Any further attempt to derail our common resolve to forge a united, peaceful and pros-

perous Nigeria will be rebuffed by the relevant security agencies. I assure you there will never be sacred cows. Every Nigerian must learn to live by the rule and strive to be our neighbour’s keeper.”

Explaining the implication of such acts, he said: “As we approach the fifth democratic transition period which some western countries claimed could either make or break the

country, there is compelling need for us, as a people, to understand our differences, unite and forge ahead for the greater interest of the nation.

“As you are aware, the acts of terrorism is spreading fast across the globe with increasing viciousness and it is imperative that Nigerians remain patriotic. The degree of support and encouragement in the fight against terror-

ism by many Nigerians is yielding positive result especially in our effort against Boko Haram criminalities in the North East.

We must therefore unite, as the cooperation of all citizens, especially the media is required to ensure peace and development.

“Consequently, the determination of government to ensure peaceful, fair, transparent and successful elections will

ensure that political thuggery, assassinations, incisive, provocative and libellous publications, etc are decisively dealt with.”

Director, Special Services in the SGF office, Abdullahi Shehu, said the programme is intended to equip all Nigerians to be more security conscious to enable them understand the importance of security, safety and various precautionary measures.

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Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim (left) and Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, during a visit to the SGF’s office in Abuja...recently

FG needs $14bn to fix infrastructure, says Okonjo-Iweala CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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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

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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

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Africa, which this hub will serve. For Nigeria alone, we need about $14 billion a year equivalent for infrastructure investment; about $10 billion of that at the Federal Government level alone. But we are only investing about $6 billion all through the country.

“What it means is that there is a big gap, especially as it is without the costing of a new infrastructure master plan which we are still waiting for. What I am just given is just figures that are not even complete because it did not encompass all of the cross-cutting type of infrastructure in the master plan.

“But even if it is a conservative figure, we already have a gap and like many countries in the world, since budgetary resources and private sector investment alone will not be able to fill this gap, we have to look for other models of financing and that is where the PPP model

comes in.

“We have really struggled to establish this model by trying to concession certain things like our ports; we also have some other public private sector projects we are looking at.

More importantly, we have this feeling that we never get this model right the way it should work. We also lack the technical capacity to support the PPP projects going on, which was why government established the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).

“Most infrastructure ministries have established PPP units, including the Ministry of Finance since it was clear that some of the financial implications of this signed PPP arrangements were not very crystal clear to those signing them. We found some agreements that cannot just work.

“We will have some regional and sub-regional infrastructural projects to be done on PPP basis

since the type of resources needed are very difficult for government to muster.

We have to involve the private sector, the right type of structure, legal agreements and the right kind of financing to make it work. That is why personally I am quite excited at this PPP hub,” the minister said.

She tasked participants to identify some of the challenges inherent in PPP arrangement for immediate rectification.

However, a problematic area she pointed out is the amount of time needed to complete a PPP project, saying that studies have shown that it takes seven years to complete a PPP project in Africa.

“This is too long. For policy makers and political leaders who are operating on a four-year term, seven years to deliver a project which they have promised the people is not very attractive. The difference in time horizon between policy makers and techni-

cal partners needed to be reduced. PPPs need to be processed faster,” OkonjoIweala stated.

She also stressed the need to overhaul the legal framework guiding PPP, saying that the way its presently framed puts government at a disadvantage.

“Sometimes the legal arrangements are too complicated in my view.

We will like to have a legal framework for PPPs. It is fairly straightforward that risks are shared appropriately. Some of the frameworks and agreements I have seen, load virtually every risk on the government while the private sector partner works away with very little risk,” she said.

Earlier, AFDB Country Representative Dr. Ousmane Dore, had lauded the conference, saying the bank is involved in the monitoring and supervision of some projects executed under PPP arrangement by establishing PPP advisory board.

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NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

Reps indict MDAs of recruitment rules’ abuse lCustoms recruited 5,559 officers in secret Onwuka Nzeshi

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damning report detailing how Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government have circumvented the rules and engaged in sharp practices in recruitment into the public service emerged at the weekend with indictments on the Federal Civil Service Commission, Federal Character Commission (FCC) and Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation for failing to enforce the rules.

Also indicted were the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), which were found wanting in their less than transparent recruitment processes.

The report, exclusively obtained by New Telegraph, is the outcome of an investigative hearing which was undertaken by the House of Representatives’ Joint Committee on Public Service Matters, Labour Employment and Productivity, Anti- Corruption, National Ethics and Values.

The document has some “startling and disturbing” revelations on how MDAs have adopted recruitment procedures that were prone to easy manipulation and underhand dealings rather than complying with the standard procedures stipulated in the Public Service

Rules.

The House had, on November 7, 2012, passed a resolution mandating the joint committee to conduct a comprehensive probe into the alleged employment racket in recruitment into the public service.

In order to deliver on the mandate, the committee identified key sectors in the public service that are representative enough of the over 500 MDAs and how they fared in terms of staff recruitment between 2007 and 2011.

The sectors covered were the civil service, armed forces, paramilitary institutions, education, economy and regulatory agencies.

According to the report, during the period under consideration, only a few of the agencies sampled advertised their vacancies consistently.

“The whole situation presents very strong evidence that recruitments were done behind the scene and were shrouded in secrecy,” it added.

The report showed that only a few agencies had clear-cut procedures for staff recruitment. The implication is that many qualified Nigerians were not given the opportunity to compete for the available positions in the public service.

In addition, the MDAs had no proper records and statistics of their staff recruitment between 2007

and 2012 and where records existed, they were often in pieces and difficult to reconcile.

“There is complete lack of co-ordination of recruitments into the public service by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation,” the report stated.

The report said a federal circular dated February 21, 2012, issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service was consistently and flagrantly ignored by most of the agencies. The circular had directed that MDAs desiring to recruit must secure a waiver from the Office of the Head of Service.

“Worse still, the Federal Character Commission usurped the powers of the Office of the Head of Service by acting outside its constitutional powers; issuing waivers to the various agencies of government. For example, in 2013, the Federal Character Commission gave waiver to the Nigeria Customs Ser-

vice to recruit 5,595 officers without advertisement and no waiver from the office of the Head of Service was obtained. The obvious implication of these waivers is that MDAs should not advertise for any vacancies before recruiting staff.

“It is a sad commentary to note that unemployed youths desiring to secure paid jobs are being directed to pay application and or processing fees to consultants in order to be employed by their own government. More worrying is the fact that even with these payments, they may not even be employed,” it added.

For example, the Federal Ministry of Interior appointed a consultant to recruit about 4,500 new staff and the applicants were expected to pay N1, 000 each. So far, over 700,000 applications were received, implying that the consultant would have made about N700 million from this singular programme. The report said

it was regrettable that the job was contracted out to a consultant when the Nigeria Immigration Service has a well-established Administration and Human Resources Department to execute the task.

New Telegraph investigation revealed that in the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), there were no advertisements for recruitment into the commission for three consecutive years (2007-2009) and employments were done secretly.

According to the report, a total of 35 temporary staff was converted to permanent and pensionable staff between 2004 and 2011.

As a way of remedying the situation, the report recommended that the Federal Public Service must develop and adopt a standardised procedure for recruitments into the service.

“It is not advisable that agencies in the same public service continue to

adopt different procedures in recruitment into the service.

“It should be mandatory on all MDAs to advertise all vacancies for employment in at least two national dailies, to give every Nigerian the opportunity to apply for the positions existing in its own government. It said henceforth, no agency of government should request applicants to pay fees before being give jobs.

According to the report, agencies that believe the cost of processing huge applications for employment would be high should properly provide for such costs/ charges in their annual budgets as it is “immoral” to levy a charge on applicants whose employments are not even guaranteed.

It also demanded that the consultant recruited by the Federal Ministry of Interior to hire 4,500 immigration officers should be further investigated to establish its existence and capacity to undertake the task.

Five crops increase Nigeria’s revenue by N778bn, says FG

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he Federal Government yesterday said Nigeria made a total of N778 billion as revenue from the production of five crops under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).

President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the ATA in 2012.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said this yesterday in Abuja during a public affairs forum organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs.

He listed the crops to include maize, rice, cassava, sorghum and soya bean.

Adesina said the country made N259 billion from the production of maize, N407 billion from rice, N94 billion from cassava, N5 billion from sorghum and N13 billion from soya bean.

The minister said the government was able to put an end to 40 years of corruption in the fertilizer sector, a development

that impacted positively in the production of various agricultural crops.

He said: “The old system of government direct procurement and distribution of fertilizer was corrupt. Between 1980 and 2010, over N873 billion ($5.4 billion) was spent on fertilizer subsidies. No more than 11 per cent of farmers received these fertilizers.

“Over N776 billion ($4.8 billion) was estimated to have been lost to corruption or an average of N26 billion ($162.5 million) annually. The system displaced the private sector and Nigerian farmers lost dignity.”

He said the government built a national database of 10.5 million farmers with participation in every state of the federation.

Adesina observed that the Growth Enhancement Scheme initiative for Nigerian farmers had increased the number of farmers who get fertilizers from 11 per cent before the programme to 92 per cent.

L-R: Executive Director, Ivory Banking, Heritage Bank Limited, Mrs. Mary Akpobome; President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Mrs. Debola Osibogun; Managing Director, Heritage Bank Limited, Mr. Ifie Sekibo and Second Vice-President, CIBN, Mr. Uche Olowu, during a visit by the CIBN delegation to the bank in Lagos…yesterday.

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

PDP opens presidential race to others Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

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espite the decision of the various organs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to adopt President Goodluck Jonathan as the sole candidate for the 2015 election, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) yesterday threw open the race to interested aspirants.

Last week, two aspirants, Dr. Abdul Jhalili Tafawa-Belewa and Prof.

Akasoba Zainab Duke-

Abiola, said they were denied presidential nomination forms after paying the required fees.

Abdul Jhalili, son of the First Republic Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, said he was told that the forms were not ready while Duke-Abiola, wife of the late MKO Abiola, said she was told by the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu that the party printed only one presidential nomination form.

Balewa said he paid the sum of N22 million on

October 28 to PDP account number while Duke-Abiola paid N2 million.

But in a statement yesterday, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said “all aspirants who paid for nomination forms, including the presidential forms, but yet to collect same, should come to the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja with verifiable evidence of payment for purposes of collection of their forms.”

Metuh restated the decision of the party to extend

the purchase and collection of nomination forms for all elective positions to Thursday, November 6.

The party held its ward congresses throughout the country last Saturday while the National Convention for the nomination of its presidential candidate will hold on December 6.

Jonathan was, last Thursday, presented with his presidential nomination forms by the PDP National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha.

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valid

The green Nigerian passport is here to stay and remains valid Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

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irector-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Chris Onyemenam, yesterday said the Federal Government will not substitute the country’s international passport with the new National Electronic

tuesday, november 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

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FG won’t drop international passport for e-ID card, says NIMC Identity Card.

Onyemenam disclosed this to reporters when he led other senior officials of NIMC to present former President Olusegun Obasanjo his e-ID card at the latter’s hilltop residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

According to him, it was mere speculation that the government is planning to substitute international passports with the electronic iden-

tity card, which was launched by President Goodluck Jonathan in August.

He said: “This card works with existing electronic payment infrastructure. We are not building any new one.

This card has the feature of biometric based authentication. The ECOWAS region has adopted the policy that national identity card can be used as a travel docu-

ment. Once the Nigerian Immigration Service decides on what it wants to do, this card can be useful to them in meeting that obligation.

“And there is one impression I will like to use this opportunity to correct: I have seen in several newspapers where it is stated that the National Identity Management Commission is canvassing for the national identity card to

substitute the Nigerian international passport; that is not true.

“In fact, we feel very embarrassed, because we have a very good working relationship with the Nigeria Immigration Service and it is helping us to check the incidence of illegal residents and non-citizens coming forward to enrol as citizens for the national identification number.”

L-R: Coordinator, Nestle Nutrition Institute Africa, Nigeria and Anglophone Countries, Central and West Africa, Mrs. Chioma Emman-Nwachukwu, former President, Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Prof. Tola Atinmo; Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Dr. Samuel Adenekan and Registrar, National Institute for Sport, Dr. Gloria Obajimu, at the Nestle Health Kids Programme on Parent/Child Nutrition Workshop in Lagos

Okorocha shows interest in presidential race

Fashola lambasts FG

Ibraheem Musa

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Kaduna

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overnor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has said that he is the only person that can defeat the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in the coming presidential election out of all the presidential aspirants that are jostling for the All Progressives Congress(APC) ticket.

Okorocha, who warned that APC will lose the presidential election if it does not field him as its flagbearer, gave this advice at a rally that was organised by the Arewa Peoples Grand Coalition in Kaduna yesterday.

According to him, the greatest threat to APC is not the PDP but how it will chose it presidential candidate.

Okorocha, who said that he is the best man for the APC ticket, said none of the contestants has ever provided free educa-

tion in either the whole country or in a state.

The Imo State governor said that he has been providing free education in his state and will do so for the entire country if elected president.

Okorocha, who spoke in both Hausa and English languages, asked the mammoth crowd whom they would vote in the coming election and they responded by calling his name.

The presidential aspirant said that ‘’there is need for a change in Nigeria. It is a must, and it must happen. The change has become necessary in our country.’’ As a leader, Okorocha said that he will never relent until things get better.

“Our problem in this country is hunger. My first four years if elected as the President will be years of radical transformations and change in the federal Republic of Nigeria,’’ he promised.

Muritala Ayinla agos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday said President Goodluck Jonathan’s government has nothing to offer Nigerians, even as he lambasted the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) for deceiving Nigerians.

Fashola, who said the nation’s power supply is going from bad to worse with unemployment rate increasing by the day, said he remained convinced that the country under the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not transforming the country.

Stressing that “This government is unwilling; it has nothing to offer Nigerians,” Governor Fashola said it was unfortunate that under this administration, the nation’s economy has continued to nose-dive; the country cannot refine its crude oil, but depend wholly on importa-

tion.

The governor spoke as a keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of Women In Business (Wimbiz) conference held at the Eko Hotels, Lagos. He said it was disheartening that the North East is under siege.

He said he felt duty bound to point to the reality on the ground as against the Transformation Ambassadors that perceived the present situation as good to the extent of promoting the return of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government.

Speaking on the theme; “Nigeria Rising...Accelerating Transformation,” Governor Fashola said there are so many indices to show that the country is yet to be transformed.

He read part of the Transformation Agenda’s document as published by the government to the hearing of the business women.

‘Ebola won’t ground tourism’ Wole Shadare London

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rom London came cheery news yesterday that the Ebola scourge ravaging parts of West Africa, killing over nine thousand persons, would not have great impact on the economy of the region.

This was the view of experts at the ongoing World Travel Market (WTM) 2014, which began yesterday at the magnificent global travel expo centre in Excel, London.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony, Head, Travel and Tourism Research, Euromonitor International, Caroline Bremner, said despite the numerous challenges, the continent has recorded a three per cent increase in the influx of tourists into Africa.

According to her, the percentage growth is not a very bad development.

Presidency harps on honour T

he Presidency yesterday urged opposition political parties to be honourable by exhibiting character and patriotism in their response to the current security challenges in the country.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said this while addressing members of the civil society and professional groups on the third day of a programme tagged Public Affairs Forum organised by his office in Abuja.

Okupe said the only reason why the opposition continues to harp on insecurity in the North East as the sole basis for assessing the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was because they do not want the world to see the Nigeria in the light of its various attainment in agriculture, transportation, health and other sectors, which are the real driving force of any nation’s economy.

According to the President’s aide, “Almost every country in the world now has one security challenge or the other to contend with, yet nationalists in those countries do not close their eyes or shut their ears to the remarkable things happening in other sectors, because they do not like the face of the President.”

Impersonation: IPMAN stops Okoronkwo Igbeaku Orji Umuahia

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t was drama yesterday when the national secretariat of the Independent Petroleum Markers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) stopped the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) award to Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, who was billed to be honoured with an award as the national president of IPMAN. Okoronkwo was slated for the South East Media Summit of the NUJ Award of Excellence In Entrepreneurial Development, but the Chief of Staff to the National President, Elder Chinedu Ukadike, who led the team from the national secretariat drew the attention of the police and the SSS to the impersonation, saying Okoronkwo was not the national president, but Chief Obasi Lawson.

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south - west

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Alao-Akala shuns congress panel Sola Adeyemo and Adesina Wahab

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ollowing the receipt of complaints from stakeholders regarding the disruption of ward congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State conducted last Saturday, the party’s appeal panel yesterday met with governorship aspirants in the state.

2%

Led by its Chairman, Prof. Alphonsus Nwosu, the panel heard complaints on the alleged illegality that marred the exercise and received petitions and other forms of evidence from aggrieved aspirants.

Some of them said the congress never held, because there was no election materials provided them, while others said it held even without the materials.

Senator Ayo Adeseun,

The annual population growth rate of Central African Republic in 2010-2015.

Source: Un.org

Femi Babalola, Seyi Makinde, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, Kehinde Olaosebikan and Prof.

Soji Adejumo, were the governorship aspirants present at the sitting.

Another aspirant, Dr. Isaac Owolabi, was represented by a former Attorney-General in the state, Abdulsalam Are. Former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin and Wole Oyelese, did not appear

96,760

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions in Angola in 2005.

Source: Itu.int

before the panel.

Meanwhile, Ekiti State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Kolawole Faleye, yesterday said last Saturday’s ward congress of the party was devoid of any malpractice or manipulation.

Addressing newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, he said party leaders were on the field to monitor the exercise and that nothing unusual happened.

Faleye’s remark was

206,650

The number of refugees in Burma at the beginning of 2010.

Source: Blatantworld.com

a reaction to the claim by former Senator Ayo Arise that the exercise in Ekiti North senatorial district was manipulated to favour a particular senatorial aspirant in the district.

“The allegation that the exercise was manipulated is unfounded unless proven beyond reasonable doubt. Party leaders at state level and those sent from Abuja monitored it and nothing untoward happened.”

660

The number of pending asylum seekers of South Korea at the beginning of 2010.

Source: Blatantworld.com

L-R: Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi; Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba AbdulGaniy Adekunle Salau and Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Akin Oke, during the governor’s visit to Aseyin’s Palace …on Monday

Osun tribunal: Judge’s absence stalls ruling R uling on cases brought before the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Osogbo on the August 9 Governorship Election in the Osun State by the gubernatorial candidate of the PDP, Senator Iyiola Omisore, against Governor Rauf Aregbesola, over claims that the election was rigged by the APC suffered a setback yesterday, following the absence of one of the tribunal judges.

The tribunal could not sit when it heard that the judge was indisposed, forcing it (tribunal) to adjourn its proceedings till tomorrow.

One of the tribunal clerks came to announce that the tribunal would no longer be able to sit because, a members of the panel was sick while counsel to parties in the matter were waiting for

the ruling on the issue before the tribunal.

Speaking on the development, counsel to the PDP, Mr. Charles Uche (SAN), said “adjournment should not be seen as delay tactics, since it was forced by the health issue of one of those that would adjudicate on the matter.”

Also, the deputy governorship candidate of the PDP in the election, Hon. Adejare Bello, said “the party is ready to see to a logical end, its petition against Governor Aregbesola’s victory.”

Bello charged people not to peddle rumours on the tribunal’s proceedings as the case could still be taken as far as the Supreme Court by either of the parties who fill dissatisfied with whatever would be the tribunal’s judgement on the case.

Monarchs set up committee to probe abandoned projects in Ilaje Babatope Okeowo Akure

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raditional rulers in oil-rich Ilaje Local Government in Ondo State have set up a six-man committee to look into the deluge of abandoned Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) projects in their domain.

The six-man committee comprising of prominent

indigenes of the area is to look at the cost of the projects, the companies that were awarded the contracts and the level of work or its completion.

The monarchs said the committee, which also has experts from the private sector, would look into the claims of the contractors, address their complaints and recommend appropriate steps to be taken by the

chieftaincy council to see to the completion of such abandoned projects.

The Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan, disclosed this at a panel set up by Ilaje Local Government Traditional Chieftaincy Council to investigate why “Ilaje communities have turned into a big graveyard of abandoned projects running into billions of naira.”

Efon League calls for scrapping of new Ekiti LCDAs Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

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he people of Efon Alaye, Ekiti State, yesterday called for the scrapping of the 19 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) created by the former state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, in the

twilight of his administration.

At a press conference in Ado-Ekiti, the PresidentGeneral of Efon Development League, Chief Patrick Ojo, described the LCDAs as a product of shoddy and hurried process, done in a manner that stood sensibility and commonsense on its head.

Ojo, who supported the idea mooted by Governor Ayodele Fayose that the new councils be phased out, lamented that the last administration came up with the LCDAs to the exclusion of many interested communities, which he said had gone a long way in making nonsense of the entire process.

“Anybody with any complaint should channel that to the appropriate quarters. As at today, nobody has lodged any formal complaint and the Appeal Committee from Abuja has been at the state secretariat since morning.”

INEC visits Oba of Lagos Wale Elegbede

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head of the November 7 commencement date for the distribution of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) in Lagos State by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, yesterday pledged the support of traditional rulers in the state for the exercise.

He said the seamless conduct of PVC distribution is one of the processes to a successful conduct of the 2015 general elections.

Akiolu, who alongside other traditional rulers received the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola and other members of the commission, who paid him a courtesy call, urged the electoral body to ensure that it conducts a hitch-free election in 2015.

While urging residents to ensure that they fully participate in the exercise, Akiolu called for more recognition and roles for traditional rulers in election matters.

“I pledge the support of the Lagos State traditional institutions in ensuring that INEC’s programmes in the state go hitch-free.

“I urge churches, mosques, educational institutions and the private sector to assist in the sensitisation of the people on the need to obtain their voters’ cards for the 2015 election.”

Earlier in his speech, Ogunmola said the commission involved the traditional rulers in its working scheme, owing to their proximity to the people, adding that no one would be allowed to vote in the 2015 polls without the permanent voters’ card.

“We are here to intimate the Oba of Lagos and other traditional rulers on INEC’s distribution of cards from November 7 to 9, in 8, 465 polling units across the state.

“We have also undertaken other means to enlighten the residents on the need to be fully involved in the processes leading to the emergence of new leadership in Nigeria in 2015.”

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Cult members kill one, injure 10 at naming ceremony

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Some of the vandalised vehicles

According to Alabi, before the Aiye group reached the party, they had stopped at Akinrinlo junction and attacked shop owners. He said almost all the shops were looted.

Mr Eze James, a foodstuff seller, said he was also attacked and all the money he made was stolen.

He said: “I was inside my shop, attending to a friend who came to visit me, when I suddenly heard gunshots. My and friend I managed to leave the shop. My friend’s video camera and my N35,000 were stolen from my shop.”

A food vendor, who identified herself as Mama Tawaka, said she was preparing to go home when the youth struck.

She said: “Two of the cult members held my granddaughter. They said if I did not give them money, they would kill the little girl. While the drama was going on, nobody came to my aid. The whole street was deserted. Everybody was scared of being attacked.

“I was begging them to have mercy on me, that I didn’t have enough money. One of them threatened to shoot me if I did not cooperate with them, I was forced to gather all the money I made for the day and handed it over to them.”

It was also gathered that innocent people who came to Alarape Oyidiran market in the area were attacked while their money and phones were

Widows protest Onitsha South LG chair’s removal Tony Okafor Awka

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cores of widows in Onitsha yesterday besieged the headquarters of Onitsha South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Dominic Adewole, ASABA

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Taiwo Jimoh ne person was feared killed while over 10 people were injured at Akinrinlo Street, Shomolu area of Lagos State when suspected cult members clashed at a naming ceremony.

The killing occurred on Sunday.

But witnesses said that the fighting between the two rival cult groups, Eiye and Aiye confraternity, started on Friday and spilled over till yesterday. Over 20 vehicles were also damaged.

It was gathered that on Sunday, around 4pm, while the naming of the baby was going on, some suspected Aiye cult group stormed the venue and started shooting sporadically, forcing guests to scamper for safety.

The fighting continued yesterday, leading to swelling of the number of those injured.

When our correspondent visited the area yesterday, over 20 cars and tricycles parked along the streets were vandalised. Broken bottles littered the area.

One Wale alias Osama, a member of Aiye group, was reportedly killed in the clash that occurred on Sunday.

A resident, Taju Alabi, said: “Immediately the Aiye group got to the venue of the party, they started shooting into the air to scare people away. When the people who came to the party were trying to escape from the scene, many of them sustained various degrees of injury.”

Robbers abandon vehicle, tools after attacking police team

The women, bearing placards with various inscriptions, were protesting the alleged removal of the local government Chairperson, Lady Ann Chukwuneke.

The 60-year-old Chukwuneke, who is the only female local government chair out of the 21 chairmen in the state, was allegedly removed by some councillors while she was away on official duty in Abuja. Another person was sworn in by a magistrate.

Displaying the placards, some of which read: “This is grave injustice,” “We reject this exercise in its entirety,” “They are doing this to her because she is a widow,” “NCWS please look into this matter urgently” and “Onitsha South widows say no to Lady Ann’s removal,” the protesters said Chukwuneke was the only local government chair who took care of them.

They said that removing Chukwuneke from office was a ploy to make them remember that they had no husbands to take care of them.

The protesters wondered what offence the chairperson committed.

snatched.

In another development, two factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) at Tipper Garage, Ketyu, clashed.

When our correspondent visited the area, broken bottles littered the area. Some shops were locked because of the fear that the fight could spread.

Attempts made to get the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Kenneth Nwosu, to confirm the incident and the number of those arrested in both incidents, were abortive. His phone rang several times, but he did not pick it.

Nwosu also failed to respond to a text message sent to his mobile phone.

rmed robbers, who laid siege to Ogwashi-Uku– Nsukwa Junction in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State yesterday, got more than they bargained for when they attacked a police team.

The hoodlums were cruising in an Audi A6 car with registration number NKK 506 PP with three occupants when they encountered policemen attached to Dragon Patrol team 22.

The state acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Roland Preston, said at the command headquarters yesterday that on sighting the police the suspected hoodlums opened fire on them and zoomed off.

He said: “Consequently, the policemen gave them a hot chase up to Ishagu village where the miscreants abandoned their vehicle and fled into the bush.”

Preston listed the items recovered from them to include the abandoned vehicle, two voter cards bearing the names of one Emekwuma Stanley of Ogbeowelle Quarters, Ibusa in Oshimili North Local Government Area of the state and one Okonkwo Ugochukwu of Umushi Street, Abah-Unor, Oshimili South Local Government Area.

Other items recovered are two mobile phones and some vehicle particulars with the name of one Chief Megwai Godwin of Umushi Quarters, Abah-Unor.

He also said the Audi A6 car had a different registration number, AQ 353 ASB, which was engraved on its body.

Four arraigned for Ekiti NURTW chairman’s murder Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

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our persons were yesterday remanded in prison custody over the murder of former Ekiti State Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Chief Omolafe Aderiye (alias Lafeade).

Those remanded included the state Chairman of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Adebayo Aderiye, aka Ojuigo.

Aderiye, 58, who was not related to the RTEAN chairman, was murdered on September 25 at his office in Ijigbo area of AdoEkiti, the state capital.

The three other suspects

taken to court over the murder and who are also members of RTEAN are Sola Durodola, Kayode Ajayi and Oso Farotimi.

They were taken before Magistrate Adesoji Adegboye.

Although Fred Izuange and Yemi Ogunremi, counsel for the defendants,

raised objections that the name of the person alleged to have been murdered was not expressly stated in the charge sheet, their pleas were not taken as the case involved murder.

Police prosecutors, Samson Osobu and Sunday Nwachekwa, told the court that the case file had been duplicated and forwarded to the state Ministry of Justice for legal advice.

The offence, according to the charge sheet, was punishable under Section 324 and 319 of Criminal Code Law Cap C16, Laws of Ekiti State.

Adegboye consequently ordered the four suspects to be remanded in custody till the legal advice from the ministry is obtained.

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NNPC receives 720 drums, kegs of stolen fuel Camillus Nnaji and Shola Adefuwa

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he Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has handed over 20 drums containing 250 litres each and 700 kegs, each containing 30 litres of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS), to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The Lagos State Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the NSCDC, Assistant Superintendent Mefor Chibuzor, said in a statement yesterday that the products were recovered from suspected oil pipeline vandals on the high sea at Iwoko, Adjido, Ebute Olofin area of Badagry Local Government between July and October.

These products, according to the statement, were loaded from the Escravos Apapa, Festac area of Lagos for onward movement to Benin Republic and Togo.

The state NSCDC Commandant, Mr Donatus Izuka Ikemefuna, who handed over the products on Sunday, said the operation was successful as a result of intelligence information gathered by undercover

Online customer service complaint platform debuts

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NSCDC officials handing over the product

agents.

Ikemefuna used the opportunity to appeal to all Lagos citizens to always provide the corps with necessary information concerning any form of illegal activity in the state.

The commandant said the corps had zero-toler-

ance to any form of criminality.

He stressed the need for collaboration by security agencies in the state while shunning all forms of unhealthy rivalry which, according to him, does not help the task of securing lives and property of Nige-

rians.

According to Ikemefuna, the information office is open 24 hours for the public to provide any security information.

The commandant promised that the information so provided would be treated with utmost secrecy.

n online customer service complaint platform designed to receive reports on good and bad customer service has been launched.

The online complaint platform, Reportam.com.ng, will give different customers or consumers the opportunity to complain about any unsatisfied sector in the country.

Its Operations Manager, Mr Olu Bello, said the platform was created out of personal experiences of bad customer service which were unaddressed or resolved in Nigeria.

He said: “I am sure this is an exciting development that will become the first port of call for all Nigerian consumers regarding any bad and good service experience.”

The mobile app (Apple IOS and Android) has a unique auto alert notification to post a report after calling a company.

The current platform is just the first phase as a bigger phase would be launched before the end of the year.

Companies also have benefits to enjoy from the platform.

Bello urged Nigerian corporate organisations should see this as a golden opportunity to hear and reach out to their customers.

He said: “Nigerian companies must see the value and positive part of this initiative as 88 per cent of consumers are less likely to buy from companies who leave complaints unanswered, according to an online research.”

Man beats LAGBUS sales representative to coma

36-year-old man seeks N500,000 to remove tumour

Muritala Ayinla

Camillus Nnaji

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26-year-old artisan, Sarafa Rasak, has allegedly beaten a LAGBUS ‘ticketer,’ Oladele Oluwatobi, to a state of unconsciousness over a disagreement.

The incident occurred at the weekend at Idiroko area on Ikorodu Road.

It was learnt that the misunderstanding ensued following the refusal of a LAGBUS driver to stop at a bus stop where Rasak and other passengers wanted to alight.

The injured ‘ticketer,’ who had his nose broken, was rushed to the Accident and Emergency Unit at Tollgate, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway by other passengers and staff of the LAGBUS Asset Management Limited while the assailant, a panel beater, was arrested.

Speaking with journalists, Head of Drivers’ Training, LAGBUS, Mr Babatunde Shoderu, who was among those people who rescued Oluwatobi from the artisan, said he was inside a training bus when he saw that there was a squabble in one of the buses inward Ojota.

He said: “By the time I got there and entered the bus, I saw that passengers were holding the panel beater tightly and saying that he should not be allowed to go and that he

Victim, Oluwatobi

The suspect, Rasak

was the assailant.

“The ticketer was beaten to a state of unconsciousness. I had to resuscitate him and decided to take him to the Accident and Emergency Unit for treatment.”

Shoderu said Rasak would be taken to the police station for prosecution, adding that there had been several cases of assault against LAGBUS captains (drivers) and ticketers by members of the public.

Rasak was arrested and taken to the LAGBUS office from where he was handed over to the police.

The suspected assailant, however, denied beating the ticketer to coma, saying that the ticketer must have missed his steps and fallen

down, which made him to be unconscious.

Rasak explained that he boarded the LAGBUS at Ijora and intended to alight at Anthony, but that the driver refused to stop, claiming that the bus did not always stop at Anthony, an act that got him annoyed.

He said: “The ticketer informed me that they don’t normally stop at Anthony. He got up to attack me and slipped on the stair and broke his nose.”

But Shoderu said the man was lying.

He said that the agency would prosecute the suspect to serve as deterrent to other commuters who usually assault LAGBUS staff over slightest provocation.

36-year-old man, Umoru Muhammed, who is battling with a tumour in his jaw, has called on individuals and corporate organisations to raise over N500,000 for surgery.

Muhammed, a 500-Level Law student at the National Open University (NOUN), hails from Ohimiri Local Government Area of Benue State but resides at No 20, Shomefun Street, Pen Cinema, Agege, Lagos.

According to him, his parents are late, adding that he has been in severe pains for 17 years.

He said: “It started 17 years ago, when I started observing that my lower jaw was swelling up. I started experiencing pains as well, which made me to go to Otukpo General Hospital in Benue State for medical examination. But the hospital told me that it could not handle it, that I should go to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) in Kaduna.

“ABUTH diagnosed me and prescribed surgery which requires removal of my lower mandible, unfortunately, the hospital did not have the required surgical equipment.”

Muhammed said at that time he had lost his parents and all his five siblings.

According to him, he was left in the care of his uncle, who tried the best he could but the surgery was not performed.

He added: “My health started deteriorating and I was facing serious pains, lack of medical treatment and financial support.

“In 2003, I decided to move to Lagos to look for a job. I ended up working with two security outfits, Fountain Guards and Superflux. But my salary was not enough to pay for the surgery.”

Muhammed said he decided to seek medical attention at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, where he was re-diagnosed and asked to make available a tentative

amount of N500,000 for surgery.

His case is confirmed by a medical report of March 4, 2014 signed by Dr E. O. Okoturo, Chief Head and Neck Oncology Division, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, LASUTH. It reads in part: “The above-named patient, Muhammed Umoru, was presented at our department on December 12, 2013 with complaint of swelling in the lower jaw.

“A clinical impression of a benign odontogenic tumour was made, and he is being planned for an incisional biopsy followed by surgery and lower reconstruction under general anaesthesia, attached is the estimate treatment cost. Incisional biopsy -N10,000, reconstruction plates – N250,000, ward admission and surgery – N250,000. Total cost-N510,000.”

Muhammed can be reached on 08159781393, while money can be paid into his First Bank account – 3057177257.

Mohammed

12

News

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

SOUTH-EAST

Kalu submits senate nomination form

F

ormer Governor of Abia State and founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Orji Kalu, yesterday submitted his expression of interest and nomination form to vie for the Abia North Senatorial seat on the platform of PDP in the 2015 general elections.

Loyalists of the former governor, under the auspices of the ‘Aides of OUK, had some weeks ago, picked funded the obtaining of the nomination form for the former governor.

A member of the Kalu’s aide group, Mr. Ugo-

27.4%

chukwu Obialo, who submitted the form on Kalu’s behalf, said, “Today marks a new beginning in the history of Abia North, as an astute politician has accepted the clarion call by his people to run for Senate in 2015. I commend the national leadership of the PDP for their commitment to internal democracy as all party processes remain transparent and this is the beauty of democracy”.

“Considering the accomplishments of Dr. Kalu in business and political spheres, he is the best man to represent the people of Abia North. I say a big thank you to our

The percentage of the urban population of Burkina Faso in 2012.

Source: Un.org

49

followers, supporters, loyalists, friends and colleagues for their moral, spiritual and financial support so far. I salute everyone”, he added.

The former governor’s aide re assured the people of Abia North that his boss will ensure a better representation for them in the 8th National Assembly.

Obialo acknowledged the positive impact of the transformation agenda of the present administration and called on Nigerians to vote en masse for President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term in office in 2015.

The life expectancy of men at birth in Chad Republic in 2010-2015.

Source: Un.org

In a similar development, a group of professionals from Abia North, Patriotic Professionals (PP), has joined in the campaign for Dr Kalu as Senator, Abia North, in the 2015 general elections.

In a statement signed by the group’s coordinator, Engr. Kalu Andrew, on Sunday, the group promised to ensure that the forthcoming elections in Abia State are devoid of rigging and other irregularities.

Andrew said, “Time has changed and we will not allow the intimidation that occurred in the last election to repeat itself,

85

The ratio of NCD age-standardized deaths per 100,000 female inhabitants of high-income countries in 2008.

Source: Who.int

especially in Abia North, as our people are ready to sacrifice for democracy. We urge all sons and daughters of Abia North, in the interest of our district, to vote for Dr. Orji Kalu in the next election”.

Oguebego, who secured a re-election as the State Chairman of the party in the state against Prince Ken Emeakay, commended the entire members of the party for their peaceful conduct during the Saturday ward congress in the state as he got letter of commendation from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

9.12

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of Belize in 2011.

Source: Itu.int

L-R: APC South-East Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu; APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh; Chairman, NUJ Enugu State, Mr Louis Dilibe and Chairman, NUJ Enugu Correspondents’ Chapel, Mr. Petrus Obi, during the inauguration of NUJ Enugu State Correspondents’ Chapel Executive in Enugu…on Monday

MAN to promote local industries’ growth in Anambra Okegwo Kenechukwu Onitsha

T

he Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has said it will partner with indigenous industrialists in Anambra state, to revive moribund industries and promote standard trade and investment in the country.

The association stated this at Ogbaru Industrial habour Layout, in Ogbaru

Local Government Council Area while addressing captains of industries and the executive Chairman of the Local Government council Chief, Victor Agolua at Pokobros Group Industries, at Iyiowa Community.

Speaking through managing director Chief Executive of Pokobros Group Ltd, Chief P.A. Okonkwo, the association remarked that Anambra state has the

highest concentration of Industries in the South East State, with over fifty percent foreign partners.

According to MAN, all the Industries in the state estimated to over three thousand manufacturing companies have passed the standard production, set by the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON).

It commended president Goodluck Jonathan’s pragmatic approach to commerce and trade de-

velopment while promising that it would continue to support the ideals, policies and programmes of the Federal Government in the manufacturing sector.

It also used the opportunity to congratulate the Chairman of Ogbaru Local government on his successful election and promised to continue to pay their IGR and other entitlement due to the local government Council as at and when due.

Aspirant promises enhanced legislative process in Imo Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

A

n aspirant on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC), for Njaba State Constituency seat in the Imo State House Assembly, Chief Samjack Okoro, has prom-

ised to enhance legislative representation in the legislature as he assured that he will give the people of his constituent the right representation.

Speaking with journalists at the party’s secretariat after picking his nomination and expression of interest form to contest

the House of Assembly election, Okoro said he came out to vie for the position because of his passion to serve his people According to him, the people of the constituency have been yearning for good representation in the legislature over the years, stating that the gap he is

ready to fill the gap with his indication of interest.

“People who have been representing us in the past have been so dormant and insensitive. There is no voice for Njaba in the state House of Assembly. Because of that, our youths are disconnected from emerging opportunities.

NB donates school blocks in Abia Peter Osondu ABA

A

s part of its social responsibility, Nigerian Breweries Plc, at the weekend in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State ,handed over a school block of six classroons with fully equipped library and toilet facilities to the authorities of Ngwa High School, Abayi in Osisioma Local Government Area.

The handing over and commissioning exercise was attended by the Deputy Governor of Abia State, Sir Emeka Ananaba, Anglican Bishop of Aba North Diocese, His Lordship, Rt. Rev. Nathan Kanu, commissioners, Special Advisers, members of staff from the Nigerian Breweries PLC and some members of the school’s Old Boys Association.

Speaking at the event held at Ngwa High School, NB Aba Brewery manager, Mr. Udah Ukeje, who represented the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the company, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, said the project was built through the Felix Ohiwerei Trust Fund Foundation with the aim of enhancing the educational standard of Abia State children.

According to Verdelde “Education remains the most veritable tool to develop and transform the child for a bright future and enhance sustainable Development of our country.

Nigerian Breweries Plc, being a world class Company recognizes the importance of education for our youth, hence our resolve to continuously support education all over Nigeria and Abia in particular”.

Ward Congress: Anambra BOT member flays fake results Uwakwe Abugu ENUGU

F

ollowing the crisis that characterised last weekend’s ward congress of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in Enugu state and announcement of purported doctored results for the exercise by a faction of the party, a member of the party’s Board of Trustees, Ambassador Justina Eze, yesterday bemoaned those behind the crisis, saying the perpetrators are politicians who do not enjoy the support of the electorate in their constituents as they claim.

Also yesterday, our reporter observed that politicians in the two factions of the party in the state are gripped with fears of the unknown as threaten to tear the party apart.

Ambassador Eze, a former member of the House of Representatives, made the claim while reacting to the claim by a factional leader of the party in the state, Elder David Aja, a loyalist to the deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, currently at daggers-drawn with governor Sullivan Chime over who picks the West senatorial ticket of the party for next year’s election.

Some National Assembly members from the state who were said to have kept vigil at the Enugu residence of Ekweremadu, on Saturday for the arrival of the congress materials and electoral officials for the exercise were enraged as news emerged that the exercise had been concluded successfully.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, November 4, 2014

Governorship aspirants

Ex-ministers, deputy gov, lawmakers, journalists scramble for Suswam’s job

Ogun

2015

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20

Amosun: Testing popularity with LG tour

14, 15

13

Okoko’s uncommon sacrifice in A’Ibom

Politics Buhari: Another date with history Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, has always predicated his interest to lead the country again on two compelling objectives – need to sanitise Nigeria’s polity, and delivery of dividends of democracy at all levels of government.

FELIX NWANERI examines his chances of returning to the seat he vacated three decades ago

T

here is no doubt that former Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari has raised the ante ahead of the 2015 presidential election with his formal declaration for the poll and purchase of the expression of interest and nomination forms of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

The declaration did not come to many as a surprise, as the Katsina State-born General had never hidden his ambition to return to the position he occupied between 1983 and 1985, even after three unsuccessful attempts since the country returned to civil rule in 1999.

At his formal declaration recently before a crowd of supporters and party members who thronged the Eagle Square, Abuja, the former military ruler averred: “I humbly wish to present myself before you, before all Nigerians and before God, seeking to be elected as the APC presidential candidate.”

Buhari has to scale the hurdle posed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who are also in the race for the APC presidential ticket before he gets the opportunity to confront President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) again for the country’s top job.

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY Editor, POLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Buhari

The first attempt by the former head of state to return to power after his regime was toppled in 1985 by General Ibrahim Babangida was in 2003 on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), but he was defeated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP. He was back in 2007, also on the platform of the ANPP, but was defeated by late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who hailed from the same state with him.

In March 2010, he left the ANPP to form the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). It was under this platform that he contested the 2011 presidential election against President Jonathan, scoring about 12 million votes against Jonathan’s 22.3 million.

The intrigues and power play which characterised the election, especially the collapse of an alliance between the CPC and the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), forced Buhari to declare at the eve of the presidential poll that he will not seek any elective office again. “This campaign is the third and last one for me since after it I will not present myself again for election into the office of the president,” he said.

He however made a detour last year, when he said: “I am still in active politics until the polity is sanitised and people enjoy the fruits of democracy at all levels of government.” The rescission unsettled some elements in the North who have been waiting to step into his shoes.

2015 race Indications that Buhari will take another shot at the presidency despite his declaration to stay off politics after the

Since 1999, PDP has presided over our country’s decline. Nigeria, in my experience, has never been so divided, so polarised by an unthinking government hell bent on ruling forever.

We, in APC, are resolved to stop them in their tracks and rescue Nigeria from the stranglehold of PDP

2011 elections came to the fore shortly after the formalisation of the merger of leading opposition parties – ACN, CPC, ANPP, and registration of the APC by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on July 31, 2013.

While the then interim leadership of the party realised the tricky nature of power balancing and other vexatious issues such as zoning, and left them out of discussions to avoid upsetting the apple cart of the party at its formative stage, Buhari’s body language and declarations by his supporters showed that he would not drop his presidential ambition in 2015.

Though the ambition was then said to be at variance with an earlier understanding that the former military ruler and a former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who are the principal promoters of the merger arrangement that gave birth to the APC, would not run for any elective office to give the party a semblance of a new beginning, Buhari’s supporters vowed there was no going back to his bid to take another shot at the presidency.

The picture became clearer when the former spokesman of the CPC and Buhari’s close ally, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, declared that nobody can stop the former head of state from testing his popularity at the APC’s presidential primaries, as there was no time any arrangement precluding him from contesting the 2015 presidency was made.

“We all know that the said arrangement is a mere propaganda to stop General Buhari from again testing his popularity, but it will not work. Come 2015, General Buhari will participate in the APC presidential primaries and nobody can stop him, I repeat, he will contest and no one can stop him from doing so,” he said.

Buhari later confirmed the position, though with a caveat. “My decision will be tied to the constitution of the APC. If the party chooses me as its candidate, I will contest. If the members do not consider me, I will not contest, but I will still support the party. My decision to run for 2015 will solely be that of the party,” he said.

Nine-Point Agenda A critical question most analysts and stakeholders have asked, is: What new is he bringing to the table at a time the Jonathan administration is said to be stabilizing the polity with its Transformation Agenda?

To those who hold this view, President Jonathan has done well, and should be returned to power for a second term to complete the various programmes initiated by his administration. They also noted that a second term for the president, would to some extent address the issue of power balancing, as the South-South, where he hails from have never ruled the country before now.

Justified as their argument may be, BuCONTINUED ON PAGE 20

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Politics

TUESDAY, November 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

LEADING GOVERNORSHIP ASPIRANTS

Ex-ministers, deputy gov, lawmakers, Philip Nyam and Cephas Iorhemen

A

s the 2015 general election draws nearer, political activities have been intensified by aspirants for various positions. In Benue State, the race for the gubernatorial tickets of the major political parties has reached a frenzied level as no one is leaving any stone unturned to fly the flag of his or her political party. The politics of zoning have however assumed the centre stage in the build up to next year’s elections in the state and how each of the leading parties in the state handled the zoning arrangement would go a long way in determining where the pendulum will swing come 2015.

It is clear that the battle of who succeeds Governor Gabriel Suswam will be decided on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

The zoning debate: Since the inception of the state in 1976, zoning has always played a significant role concerning who wins the governorship. Although, Benue has three senatorial zones, the governorship has been rotated between only two, which are controlled by the predominant ethnic group, the Tivs. This time around, the people of the zone C otherwise called Benue South senatorial zone made up of the Idomas, Igedes and Agatus are making a serious claim to the gubernatorial slot and insisting on power shift.

This has thrown up a heated debate.

The argument is whether Zone B (Benue North West Senatorial Zone), which has ruled for eight years or Zone C (Benue South Senatorial Zone), which has never tasted the exalted position would produce the next governor is the contention. Or even zone A (Benue North East), where Governor Suswam comes from and has ruled for more years than any other area would retain the number one position.

Benue is made up of 23 local government areas: seven each in Zone A and B controlled by the Tivs while Zone C dominated by the Idomas (also has the Igedes) controls nine local government areas with Idoma controlling six, Igede two and the Agatus one. In Zones A and B, apart from the Tivs, there are other minority groups such as the Etulos and Abakpas. The Tivs control about 75 per cent of the states’ population.

Since the creation of the state in 1976, no indigene of Idoma, Igede and Etulo has ruled the state. All the four civilian governors who have governed the state are of the Tiv ethnic stock.

The first civilian governor, Mr. Aper Aku (1979-1983) was from Ushongu Local Government Area of the Kwande block of Zone A made up of Kwande, Sankera, Jechira. The second civilian governor, Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu (1991-1993) also came from Zone A but from Jechira block (Konshisha Local Government Area). The third civilian governor, Senator George Akume (19992007) is from Zone B and Jemgbagh axis (Tarka Local Government Area). Governor Suswam (2007-2015) is from Zone A and belongs to the Sankera axis of Logo Local Government Area.

While the people of Zone C, made up of the Idomas, Igedes and Agatus, are making a case for power shift, the other section of Zone B otherwise known as MINDA (Masev, Iharev, Nongov Development Association) comprising Gwer,

Ortom

Biem

Lawani

Jime

Nyitse

Adum

Gwer West, Guma and Makurdi Local Government areas (Tiv speaking) are also insisting that it is their turn to produce the next governor. Even within Zone C, the Igedes are arguing that if the Idomas want governorship; they should relinquish the senatorial seat, which they have monopolised since the inception of the state. Senate President David Mark, an Idoma, has been in the Senate since 1999. All the previous senators have been Idomas; no Igede or Agatu man has tasted it either. Senator Godwin Okpe, Second Republic and former Senate President Ameh Ebute (Third Republic) are all Idomas.

Samuel Ortom Largely seen as a God fearing man, the former Minister of State for Trade and Industry does not attract any controversy in spite of his many years in politics both in the state and at the national level. He is very experienced and is respected by even elders both in the PDP and the APC. There are permutations that he may be the APC’s joker should the PDP deny him ticket through a dubious process.

A highly industrious and principled man, Ortom began his life as a motor park tout and through sheer dint of hard work earned a doctorate degree. He is also a successful businessman by his own standard and began his career as a local council chairman during the Ibrahim Babangida transition programme between 1991 and 1993 on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). He also served as the scribe of the defunct National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN).

In the current dispensation, he served as secretary of the defunct All People’s Party (APP) and later defected to the PDP and subsequently served as the state secretary of the PDP when Akume was governor and later moved on to the national level as internal auditor where he was nominated by President Goodluck Jonathan as a minister in 2011.

Strength: Dr. Ortom is one of the lucky four governorship aspirants who

were endorsed by political elders in the MINDA bloc who met and resolved unanimously that they should contest.

Ortom, 51, has a financial war chest to prosecute his ambition. He is favoured by the zoning arrangement being a Tiv man from MINDA where the next governor is likely to come from.

Weakness: Political pundits insinuate that although, he maintains a good relationship with Governor Suswam, many believed he is miles away from those the chief executive may want to hand over to. He is from Guma Local Government Area in the MINDA axis, the same area with the current Tor-Tiv, HRH Alfred Akawe Torkula. Many fear this may work against him as his opponents maintain that the state cannot afford to have a paramount ruler and governor from the same local government area concurrently. Many believe the governorship ambition may slip off his hands as a result of this.

Leading contenders A roll call of the gubernatorial aspirants from all the parties indicates that they are predominantly from Zone C and Zone B (MINDA axis). Based on their campaign efforts and strategy, it is clear that some are only whiling away time and are not oblivious of the fact that the exalted position is never within their reach. Yet, there are some serious aspirants who are desirous of administering the state after Suswam. There are these leading aspirants? Apart from the leading aspirants, there are also fringe aspirants such as Senator JKN Waku (APC), Chief Mike Iyordye (APC), Comrade Simon Anchaver (PDP), Chief Michael Aondoakaa (PDP) and a host of others

Hinga Biem Many political analysts conversant with PDP politics in the state have argued that the party’s ticket is between Biem and Ortom. Biem is said to be one of the favourites of Governor Suswam.

A seasoned administrator, bureaucrat and journalist, Biem began his career as an information officer in the then Benue State Ministry of Information and Culture in 1982 and from where he moved

Politics 15

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, November 4, 2014

LEADING GOVERNORSHIP ASPIRANTS

journalists scramble for Suswam’s job

Ode

Ker

23 local government areas of the state and this has endeared him to hearts of not a few youths.

The vocal lawmaker is said to be in the good books of the leader of the APC in the state, Senator Akume and considering his towering political image in his last seven years in the National Assembly, Jime may be the aspirant to beat in APC and if he gets the ticket, he may spring surprises in the governorship election in 2015. Jime is courageous, outspoken and independent minded and this informs his nomination of Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal in 2011 as Speaker against the directive of his then party, the PDP. Weakness: Some analysts have contended that some highly placed politicians in the state are not favourably disposed to Jime’s principled lifestyle and may not support his candidature. Yet, others have argued that when the chips are down, he may not have the financial muscle to bulldoze his way to the top.

Shijah

Atume

to the Benue Printing and Publishing Corporation (publishers of The Voice) in the same year as features writer, till 1985, when he was elevated as editor of the Sunday Voice.

Given his vast experience, Biem was once again moved to the Governor’s office in 2009 as permanent Secretary, Bureau of Internal Affairs and Special Services, a position he held until he resigned in January this year to vie for the office of governor of Benue State.

Strength: Biem’s closeness to Governor Suswam is a major plus for his ambition and most importantly, his alleged strong ties with the governor’s elder brother, Dr. Terkula Suswam, who has some appreciable level of influence over the governor will also contribute positively to promoting his campaign and chances of clinching the party’s ticket.

He is popular among his people due to his acknowledged assistance to the less privileged, especially his sponsorship of indigent students.

Significantly, Biem hails from Gwer Local Government Area (Masev) within the MINDA bloc. He is also very popular across the state as his campaign has already gained momentum since retiring from the civil service and if things do not change, he may just emerge as the PDP’s candidate.

Weakness: Biem’s major drawback is his lack of political experience. He has never contested for any political position

before and as such may not be versed in the intrigues of politicians.

Also, if the trimming down of the number of aspirants by MINDA elders is anything to go by, Biem may not be on the cards. According to reports, the elders have chosen the former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the state, Barr. Alex Adum as the representative of Gwer local government in the gubernatorial contest ahead of Biem.

Tivlumun Nyitse A retired permanent secretary, Government House, Makurdi, Nyitse like Biem is a trained journalist. He was a former editor of the state owned Voice Newspaper and had worked variously as a reporter with the defunct Concord Newspaper, where he rose to the position of managing editor, North-Central zone.

Nyitse, who is among aspirants said to be very close to Suswam, hails from Guma Local Government Area, which is within the MINDA zone. There are allegations that he is the candidate of the Tor Tiv and is also close to Governor Susuwam. Before now, stories were rife that he has been endorsed by the governor, although that belief has waned down lightly with the emergence of other aspirants on the scene.

Strength: He is said to be humble, generous and widely accepted by his people and his popularity transcends across the length and breadth of the state. Perhaps, his closeness to the Tor Tiv may add value to his ambition. He is also from MINDA bloc, the area favourably considered to produce the next governor.

Weakness: Nyitse may not have the requisite political exposure having worked all his life as a civil servant.

He may not understand the intrigues of high wire politics. This will count against him. Again, his closeness to the Tor Tiv may also worked against him as those oppose to the paramount ruler will not want to see anyone linked to him to emerge as governor.

Emmanuel Jime Currently, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Jime represents Makurdi/Guma Federal Constituency in the House. A former Speaker of the state House of Assembly during the aborted Third Republic, he dumped the PDP for the APC in December 2013, where many believed he stands a good chance of picking the gubernatorial ticket. Jime is also very popular especially amongst the youths. A cerebral lawyer with progressive instincts, he is not a neophyte to the state politics and is indeed the aspirant to be beat for the APC ticket. If he eventually clinches the ticket, he will be a thorn in the flesh of the PDP come 2015.

Strength: Hailing from Makurdi Local Government Area, the hub of MINDA, Jime’s ambition is on track. A clever politician, he has initiated a scholarship programme for Law students across the

Alex Adum Immediate past Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the state, Barrister Alex Ter Adum is one of the chosen four by the MINDA elders to test his might in the PDP primaries.

A PhD student of Law, Adum’s name rings bell in the state especially among the youths. He is new to politics and his first attempt at contesting for an elective position to the House of Representatives was unsuccessful. A young but vibrant lawyer, Adum is less than 45 and his popularity cuts across the state though he only came into limelight in 2011, when Governor Suswam appointed him as Commissioner for Commerce and Industries. In just about four years, he has been able to build a strong political network transcending the length and breadth of the state. He is ambitious, fearless and courageous.

Although, Suswam is keeping his anointed aspirant close to his chest,

some people have submitted that Adum will smile at last because the governor seems to be considering handing over to him. Those who believe this, lay claim to the fact that the governor had sometime last year declared that he will not support any aspirant above 45 years to succeed him. If this assertion is true, then Adum falls within the age limit placed by the governor.

Strength: Adum has a close personal and working relationship with Suswam.

He enjoys the governor’s confidence and also has the financial strength to prosecute a governorship campaign. He is young and very enterprising and can stand his own anywhere. Adum is also from MINDA bloc, from Gwer local government area.

Weakness: Many believe that he has not garnered enough political experience to be saddled with the responsibility of running the affairs of a complex state like Benue. His appointment as commissioner was his first political experience.

David Ker Former Vice Chancellor of the Benue State University and pioneer VC, Veritas University, Abuja; Prof. Ker is vying for the Benue gubernatorial ticket on the platform of the PDP. He hails from Gwer Local Government Area, one of the MINDA areas where the governorship is believed to have been zoned to. If the party finally zones the position to the MINDA area, he will also give his opponents some sleepless nights. As a former VC of the state university, the renowned linguist is not new to anybody within the state. His wife is Idoma by tribe.

Strength: Ker is known for his academic excellence everywhere he worked and so for those who have followed his career closely, he may be their candidate.

His exploits as the second vice chancellor of the state university can also attract sympathy from parents and students as well. He is also from the MINDA axis, which every Tiv man believes should produce the next governor of the state.

Weakness: The emeritus vice chancellor may not have the financial muscle to effectively tackle his other competitors such as Ortom, Biem. Again, MINDA elders have already chosen a different aspirant from his local government, Gwer to be the torch bearer.

Terhemba Shijah A trained broadcaster and university don, Dr. Shijah hails from Vandeikya Local Government Area within the zone A. He is one of those aspirants seeking for a level playing ground for all interested in governing the state to be chosen based on merit. Shijah is also a grassroots man and has come a long way in Benue politics. His sojourn into the state politics began during the aborted Third Republic when he was elected into the House of Representatives on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). At the collapse of the Republic, he was appointed the Director General of the Benue State Liaison Office in Lagos. In 1999, he became a commissioner under the administration of Governor Akume. In 2011, he wanted to run for Senate but was convinced by Suswam to help run his reelection bid. Shijah thereafter dropped his senatorial ambition and served as the Director General of the Governor Suswam Campaign Organisation in 2011.

His supporters say that he had a pact with Suswam to succeed him in 2015 and CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

16 Politics

TUESDAY, November 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

LEADING GOVERNORSHIP ASPIRANTS

PDP, APC battle for Benue Govt House C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 5

that accounted for his decision to abandon his senatorial ambition in 2011. Shijah, being one of the first aspirants that signified intention to contest the Benue governorship, is running an issue based campaign.

Strength: He is popular across the state and is also known for his hard work and commitment to service. Shija’s closeness to the governor will also play a part in him securing the party’s ticket ahead of the gubernatorial election in 2015. He is a thorough bred grassroots man and will flow with the powers that be.

Weakness: Shija hails from outside the areas widely expected to produce Suswam’s successor. He is from the same Zone A with Suswam, who is just rounding off his eight-year tenure so it will be difficult for the position to be retained by the area, when other zones have never tasted it before. This is a major minus because zoning is a very serious issue in the state particularly amongst the Tivs who believe strongly in ‘ya na wan igbian’ (eat and give your brother).

Steven Lawani Suswam’s deputy, Steve Lawani is following the footsteps of the late Ogiri Ajene who attempted to succeed Akume in 2007 after serving for two terms as deputy. He was one of the early birds in the gubernatorial race and has so far carried his campaign widely across the state. Largely seen as a very loyal deputy, Lawani is Idoma from Ogbadigbo Local Government Area in the zone ‘C’ senatorial district. Many criticised him when he accepted to serve as deputy to Suswam in 2007 considering the age disparity between them. Lawani is 67 years and going by the history of governors in Benue; he may be well off the track because all the elected governors came into office in their 40s. Perhaps, if he has good understanding with his principal, he will be favoured to step into his shoes.

But Suswam had last year declared that he had no pact with anybody on his successor, adding that only Benue people would decide for themselves. Even if the Tivs decide to cede power to Zone C, Lawani may not make the required impact.

Strength: He is the incumbent deputy governor and if he has had a cordial working relationship with his boss, he should be the natural successor. He also has adequate financial resources.

Weakness: Age is not on Lawani’s side and looking at the manner Benue people chose their leaders, he may not get close to the bottom line in spite of his long standing friendship with major stakeholders across the state. Again, he is from Zone C and whether the Tivs would like to abdicate the position of governor to the Idomas is a million dollar question. Indeed, Lawani will have an uphill task to accomplish to emerge as the candidate of the PDP and subsequently win the governorship.

Sam Ode A close ally of Governor Suswam, the former Special Adviser to the governor on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs is one person that if the Tivs allow power shift to Zone C may be hard to beat.

The former Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs enjoys dual indigeneship.

He is Idoma but his mother is Tiv and he was literally brought up in Tivland. This gives him an edge over the other Idoma aspirants. He is one of the most popular aspirants among all those who have so far signified intention to contest. Ode

Chenge

Tarzoor

Aliegba

hails from Otukpo Local Government Area as Senate President David Mark and if the Tivs decides on him, he will not have any problem swaying the votes of his kinsmen. Just like Akume, Ode understands the politics of Benue and is a known philanthropist. Presently, Ode, who is the Chairman of the Board of Upper Niger River Basin Development is in pole position amongst Idoma aspirants.

Strength: Ode’s major strength is his affinity with the Tivs by virtue of his mother. If the Tivs agree to cede power to zone C, they will be at home with him because he has always identified with them. If he gets votes from the Tivs, he will be home and dry.

Secondly, his philanthropic activities are widely celebrated across the state and this will give him an edge over other aspirants especially those seen to be tight fisted. As a gregarious youth, he will enjoy an overwhelming support from the youths of the state.

Weakness: Ode hails from Otukpo local government area just as Senate President David Mark and this may work against him. Mark has been endorsed for a record five times in the Senate and the people would not allow both the Senate President and governor to come from the same local government. His victory is also dependent on the quality of support he gets from the Tiv area and the possibility of the Tivs to abandon their own and team up with him is slim.

in the state and this may work against him. He may be popular amongst his people but the primary election is a collegiate election, which is most times controlled by the elites. This may give him some cause for concern.

Audu served variously in that capacity at the Ministry of Youths and Sports Development, Local Government Pensions Board. He has a reputation for excellence and hardwork. His retirement was linked to his refusal to work under Suswam administration and had worked assiduously to build the defunct ACN now APC in the run-up to the 2011 general election.

He is a close ally of Senator Akume and as leader of APC in the state; Akume may prefer him to other aspirants having worked closely with him.

Strength: Audu has a strong war chest and is capable of mobilising enough financial resources to prosecute his ambition. His political loyalty to the leader of APC in the state and Senate Minority Leader, Akume, is also a plus for the retired bureaucrat.

Weakness: In the history of the state, no one above 55 years has assumed the governorship. Audu is 62 and this may work against him. It is doubtful if the people of the state would opt for someone so advanced in age during the 2015 elections.

Felix Atume According to reports concerning the meeting of stakeholders and elders of MINDA, which scaled down the number of aspirants to four, Atume is the chosen aspirant from Gwer West local government area. A renowned engineer and academic, the former registrar of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) is also strong contender to replace Suswam come 2015.

A former General Manager of the Benue State Rural Development Agency (BERDA), Atume is very popular amongst the people of the state. The engineer, who was once a commissioner, retired from the state civil service as a director.

Strength: His selection by the MINDA elders as representative of Gwer West in the gubernatorial contest is a testimony to his popularity with his people.

It shows that he is close to the people and may garner the required support to give other aspirants a run for their money.

Weakness: Atume seems to be far off from the powers that be in the PDP

Roseline Ada Chenge Chenge is the managing director of Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority, Makurdi and is contesting for the gubernatorial slot for the second time. She contested in 2007 but could not savour much steam to take her up the ladder. Her story is similar to that of Ode. Though she is Idoma, Mrs. Chenge is married to a Tiv man from Zone A, which means she can contest whether there is power shift or not. The Agabanya 1 of Ojira is so far the only female aspirant in the race. She is contesting on the PDP platform.

Strength: Chenge’s main strength is in her gender.

Weakness: Whether the people of the state would accept that it is time for a woman to preside over the affairs of the state is not clear. Again, whether her campaign or ambition is being taken serious is also an issue of debate.

Terhemen Tarzoor Hon. Tarzoor had represented Makurdi North in the state House of Assembly. He is popularly called ‘Home Boy’ and was raised and educated in Makurdi where he hails from. While he was Speaker, staff of the House and the public nicknamed him “The man wey sabi” in fond reference to his generosity, deep concern for the welfare and good of others.

Strength: Tarzoor has electoral value and his youthfulness places him in a vantage position with his rivals. His depth of learning and quality of political exposure and experience have equipped him with the needed knowledge about the developmental needs of the state.

The aspirant appears to be enjoying the support of the government at the centre and is humane, humble and generous.

Weakness: From all indications, Tarzoor does not have the resources to successfully prosecute the governorship campaign looking at money politics that is the trend.

Chief Akange Audu A former permanent secretary in charge of Internal Affairs, Audu appears to be serious as he has since purchased his forms to run. While in active service,

Eugene Aliegba A former commissioner who resigned late last year to pursue his gubernatorial ambition, Aliegba is also believed to enjoy the support of Governor Suswam.

The former lecturer at the Benue State University is very serious with his campaign and has not hidden his resolve to pursue it to the last point. He hails from Gwer Local Government Area of the MINDA stock and is said to have cultivated a long standing relationship with the governor right from their high school days. Although, he is equally popular, the Political Scientist-turned politician would have to step up his generosity in order to warm himself into the hearts of majority of the delegates and Benue electorate. A cerebral, Aliegba also has vast experience about issues affecting the state and has promised to continue from where Suswam will stop to continue to provide enduring infrastructure for the state.

Strength: Aliegba is popular and is one of the aspirants close to the governor’s heart. In fact, as at December last year, the sing song was that he is the governor’s anointed. He is also from MINDA, the anointed area.

Weakness: The elders have chosen another aspirant to fly the flag of the local government (Gwer), where Aliegba hails from. This is minus to his ambition.

Politics 17

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, November 4, 2014

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, last week, rounded off his assessment tour of the 20 local government councils of the state with a rally that was indicative of his popularity in the state. ETAGHENE EDIRIN reports

A

s part of efforts to assess completed and ongoing projects in various parts of the state, as well as the impact of government policies and programmes on the people, the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun for about three weeks, toured the 20 local governments in the state.

The carnival like tour was however laced with fanfare as the people in each of the area visited trooped out to welcome Amosun, particularly appealing to him to seek re-election in 2015, having seen the effort of the governor on infrastructural initiative spread across the state.

Amosun ended the tour last week in Abeokuta North Local Council in Ogun Central Senatorial District, where the paramount ruler, Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo expressed satisfaction at the rapid development and transformation the ancient city of Abeokuta has witnessed in the last three years.

Oba Gbadebo remarked at the event that the past three and a half years of Amosun’s government have been like 20 years of development in the state, adding, that “We have come to appreciate politics of good roads, politics of good schools and health facilities.

We believe that the person who did all this within this short time will do more if given the opportunity because the best is yet to come,” he said.

Other royal fathers equally showered encomiums on the governor, whom they said had done a lot for the state during his tenure, so far. The Osile of Oke-Ona Egba, Oba Adedapo Tejuoso, described Amosun as a beloved son of Egbaland, who has changed the face of the state and urged residents to give him another chance to complete the good work he has started.

“The work he has started in three and a half years should be completed. If they are abandoned, it will be shameful to all of us. He should be given a chance to return to office to complete his good works,” he stated.

The Agura of Gbagura, Oba Alidu Laloko, submitted that the present administration has made good its electoral promises and described the governor as a man of vision, who does not need too much of campaign for a second term.

“Amosun has performed creditably well. He does not need to campaign too much for a second term. His works will speak for him. If he has not done well, we will not come out to welcome him

Governor Amosun addressing residents of Abeokuta North Local Government at Ita Iyalode, Abeokuta, on the final day of his assessment tour of the 20 local government areas in the state.

Amosun: Testing popularity with LG tour and show our appreciation,” Oba Laloko said.

The Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Adegboyega Dosunmu said: “We are not resting our oars on our support for the governor’s good works. We still want to use our votes to send him on another four years of the rebuilding mission, to fully re-construct our roads and all sectors of the state.”

An elated Amosun, however, appreciated the state’s workforce and residents for their massive support, which he said has brought about the success of the tour, assuring them that all the requests by the various communities would be well attended to without delay.

“We have gone round to see the hard work we have put into rebuilding our dear state and listened to your requests for further development. We have taken note of all that you have told us. Let me assure you that we will not let you down,” Amosun said.

The 20-day tour started at Imeko Afon Local Government where Amosun preached violent free election in the state. He appealed to the people as well as political parties contesting for election to ensure an outing devoid of violence.

At Remo North Local Council in Ogun East Senatorial district, Amosun promised the people improved facilities in the area and restated his commitment to the five cardinal programmes of his administration.

“My mission here in Remo North is for a feedback, to enable us know where to improve and to concentrate. This is not a political rally but a government visitation to know how its people are feeling,” he said.

While speaking at Odogbolu council area, Amosun disclosed that his administration has laid the foundation for an enviable state, adding that “We have laid

Amosun has performed creditably well. He does not need to campaign too much for a second term.

His works will speak for him. If he has not done well, we will not come out to welcome him and show our appreciation

the foundation for a state that will stand tall in the nation. We will now start building on it.”

The governor, who took his visit to Ipokia local council appealed to the presidency to develop the oil-rich Tongeji Island in the state to avoid losing it to the Republic of Benin.

He said the skeletal naval base on the Island could be expanded to ensure that the presence of Nigerian government is well felt in the area, to avoid a situation like that of Bakassi Peninsula, which the country ended up losing to Cameroon. He said Tongeji Island has huge potential of increasing the nation’s economy and improving the livelihood of the people.

“Tongeji Island is of serious concern to me. Each time I see President Goodluck Jonathan, I call his attention to the need to as a matter of urgency expand the naval presence on the Island, which is rich in oil and other mineral resources, so that it does not go the way of Bakassi.

“If the Federal Government does not register its presence on that region on time, I pray we do not lose it to neighbouring Republic of Benin. This is an island that has the huge potential of improving the nation’s economy and by extension, the livelihood of the people of Ogun State.”

The governor also said arrangements have been concluded with a world class tourist outfit to make Akere community in Ipokia Local Government area, a first of its kind tourist centre in Africa.

He said the state government would immediately commence the construction of the 10km Ipokia-Akere road, which leads to the Lagoon, adding that the intention was to transform the

community into the tourism hub it was originally designed to be.

He also assured the people that Ipokia Local Government Area would be made to have two Local Council Development Areas, pointing out that one additional model school would be constructed as a starting point to having a full fledged higher institution.

The high point of the grand finale was the drive round by the governor in a long fleet of vehicles by supporters and admirers, who took the pain to go round town with him, acknowledging cheers as well as feeling the pulse of the people.

Taking off from Akin Olugbade area of Abeokuta, Amosun’s convoy embarked on a drive of over one hour through Totoro, Ago Ika, Oja Igbo, Itoku, Sapon, Isale Igbehin and to other parts of the central district before arriving at Oke Igbehin, which houses the Government House.

The beauty of the drive-around was that the governor was able to further feel the pulse of the people as well as access their degree of support for him. Indeed, people trooped in large numbers to at least catch a glimpse of the governor.

Several people came out to catch a glimpse of and acknowledge cheers from Amosun. Some even told him right on the spot what their problems were, and the governor also gave an onthe-spot response that he would address their problems as soon as possible.

It is the belief of many observers that with the growing support the governor enjoys across the state, especially on the grounds of performance and as evidenced by the reception extended to him everywhere he went, the next year’s election could very well be a fait accompli. And this, perhaps, they reckon is a summary report of Ogun 2015.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion Still on PDP’s performance tour of Abia Nwachukwu Ngige

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etuh and PDP Rating of Abia by Onuoha Amadi and Metuh; a bull in Abia shop by Willie Ikpeazu in the Sun and New Telegraph newspapers respectively are one of the same kind . Their disgust as well as bad blood for the administration in Abia State was hardly hidden through the length and breadth of the their acerbic and heavily subjective commentaries; therefore their hatchet exercise in deconstructing the PDP Performance Tour of Abia State. Why should Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP bring the legitimacy of the party in acknowledgement of the efforts of Gov. T.A Orji whom we are working hard to undermine?I had Onuoha and Amadi murmur. For daring to make the world see a different picture of Abia away from their lurid paintings, I heard them shout at the top of their voices at Metuh , " crucifice eis"- crucify him! Their tales, full of venom, were artfully edited to fit a pre-conceived whim but alas, a huge failure for whatever reason it was meant to serve.

The level of bile, venom and irresponsible character assassination compacted in that small space is repulsive to decent readership. I do not therefore wish to associate with, by replying to such uncivilized tantrums especially of Ikpeazu but will take point by point, the major issues raised in the essay.

First is that heckle at Metuh's performance as the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, the flank from which Ikpeazu opened his attack on his credibility. This matter, notwithstanding the wild and tenuous thesis of comparison he took the readers to, speaks for its self. I have spent fifteen years in the service of the PDP as a media strategist and know that the performance of successive publicity secretaries of our great party would be measured against the extant milieu . I do not even want to dabble into the unnecessary assessment of the would-have-been impact of an unsuccessful aspirant to that office. It should however reckon that the PDP in its sixteen years history has never faced as formidable an opposition as obtains at present. With their varying levels of successes therefore,

Metuh has definitely proved a match to the challenges of his tenure. Last week, even before Ikepazu came up with his lame yardstick, I had cause to state in a piece published in Leadership and New Telegraph newspapers that under Metuh, " the PDP became resilient, gave the lead and acquired an agenda setting knack, the lack of which was the reason for a disabled media proactivity . Power of anticipation and deep capacity for prompt situational diagnosis ably authorized Metuh's analytical accuracy, fearless interpretation and correct prediction of topical trends. " Therefore, the debilitating effects of this media strategy has many times, affronted and forced the opposition's relentless torrents of missiles off target . It has on several points, turned the APC strategists back to the drawing board, retracting and frenetically explaining themselves out of the tight corner that PDP's interpretation of their utterances and body language forced them . Need I say that for the first time in the history of democracy in Nigeria, the opposition has been forced by the media fire power of the ruling party to engage foreign media consultants. That not withstanding, the APC continues to reel from punches delivered pivotally on its door step. What then conceives Ikpeazu's yardstick for competence? Wilfred, each time the APC accused PDP of incompetence, Metuh simply replied, " yes, we are yet to get to the destination but we have certainly moved away from the tethers of backwaters." He did not stop there, he constantly would draw attention in a lestwe-forget style, the achievements of the PDP led federal government. He then draws comparison with the goingson in the opposition camp and invites Nigerians to draw their conclusion. The messianic claims of the APC and the exposure of its clique dictatorship by Metuh could only come from practitioner's mastery. And so also is the inference from the APC's words and body language on insurgency that elicited the Janjaweed appellation.

The misrule in the states controlled by the APC was objectively x-rayed against its drumbeat of incompetence of the PDP administration. And then, the restoration in the national consciousness, of the core values of the

PDP, all in a style of acceptable standard of public relations practice seamlessly rubbishes Willie Ikpeazu's ill conceived measure of Metuh's competence?

Sure, the reason we were in Abia is simple. Metuh is the driver of the PDP Performance Publicity train that had before Abia, been to Jigawa, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa states. I must add that Abia was of particular interest because of questions commentators have raised on the stewardship of Governor Theodore Orji. Indeed, friends on PDP Facebook page did specifically request for his achievements. Like many, some of us on the tour were already deceived by the pervasive accusation of non-performance against the governor until we got to Umuahia. I left a post on my Facebook page thus; " I have spent the last 24 hours in Abia and contrary to opinions in certain quarters , Abia is not stinking. " I reckoned bias, mischief and prejudgement in the reporting of the state. Though Metuh never at any time during the trip termed Abia the " Dubai or mentioned the former governor of the state, he acknowledged that the picture on the ground does not reflect the allegations of incompetence against the governor . His very words is that Abia is gravely under reported and that it fits into a paradigm of deliberate media sabotage. His view is that the modest achievements of the governor needed to be commended while grey arrears constructively critiqued.

No doubt, Onuoha Amadi was right when he wrote that " good governance has three legs: economic, political and administrative," but betrayed his bias when he denied the spirit and letters of that definition to rub off on his assessment of T.A Orji. Anyway, while addressing a world press conference on Sunday , September 21, 2014 to usher in the PDP Performance Publicity Tour, Metuh declared " henceforth, we shall answer our critics with our achievements as a party in custody of the sacred mandate of the people. We will bring the records to the limelight and allow the objective judgment of history to take its course." In Abia. I think this has succeeded.

• Ngige, a journalist, is Head of Social Media at the National Secretariat of the PDP.

Enugu: No, not again Raymond Okereke

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nugu State is in the news for the wrong reason, once again, and the state’s chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is at the receiving end this time.

For over two weeks, forces loyal to the Sullivan Chime administration have consistently suppressed rumours that the Chairman of the State PDP, Mr. Vita Abba had been flown overseas on a medical emergency. He is one of those whom the Governor had allegedly promised to hand over power to, but only to eventually favour Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. The other person hitherto regarded, as heir apparent was the driver of the Enugu chicken impeachment and Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Eugene Odoh.

Enugu was therefore jolted when the State Governor, Sullivan Chime and the State Secretary of the PDP hurriedly convened a meeting of the State Executive Council, SEC, of the party to announce the sudden resignation of Abba and the purported appointment of the Managing Director of the Enugu State Housing Development Corporation, Mr. Ikeje Asogwa, as his replacement.

Typical of Enugu in the last few years, due process was thrown overboard, while impunity and lawlessness regained momentum. First, the Deputy Chairman of the PDP in Enugu, Mr. David Aja was, from his outcry in the media, totally side-

tracked in the whole process. He was not even as much as informed or invited to the meeting. His own words: “Someone informed me of a meeting of the State Executive Council holding behind my office and I decided to go there and ascertain what was happening and on getting there, I saw Governor Sullivan Chime and some members of the party already seated. On inquiry, I was informed that the state Secretary of the party, Steve Oruruo convened the meeting and I decided to sit down and listen. The meeting was informed that Abba had resigned and that the meeting was called to select a new state chairman.

“I told them that what they were doing was null and void since the meeting was not convened by me. They rejected my submission, claiming that they have the right under section 47 (6) of the PDP constitution to convene the meeting.”

Although the purported letter of resignation is dated 20th October wherein Abba hinged his resignation on the desire to run for the House of Representatives seat, Enugu people know that the Enugu cabal has still not told the people the truth about Vita Abba’s health and whereabouts. Instead, the cabal is trying to use section 47(5) of the PDP Constitution to perpetrate an illegality.

Section 47(5) provides that "Any officer elected into the Executive Committee of the Party at any level may resign his or her office by giving thirty days notice in writing to the appropriate Executive Com-

mittee, except in the case of resignation for the purpose of vying for an elective office which shall be effective within the period stipulated in the guideline issued for such elective office by the State Executive Committee in respect of Local Government elections."

Section 47(6), which the Enugu cabal relies on provides that “Where a vacancy occurs in any of the offices of the Party, the Executive Committee at the appropriate level shall appoint another person from the area or zone where the officer originated from, pending the conduct of election to fill the vacancy”.

However, it is clear that Chime and his men are progressing in error. First, the meeting to appoint the said replacement ought to comply with Section 35(1) of the party Constitution. Section 35(1) provides that “There shall be a National Chairman who shall be the Chief Executive of the party, and his functions shall be to: (a) Summon and preside over the meetings of the National Convention, the National Executive Committee, the National Caucus and the National Working Committee of the party. Section 35(3)(b) provides that the Deputy Chairman shall “Deputize for the National Chairman in the latter’s absence”. This applies with equal force to the States.

The section is unambiguous about the fact that only the Chairman of the State Executive Council (SEC) and the Deputy Chairman (in the absence of the Chairman), are duly empowered to convene a

SEC meeting.

Furthermore, section 24(1)(a) of the PDP Constitution (on the Establishment and Composition of the State Executive Committee, SEC) makes it clear that the State Chairman of the party is the Chairman of the SEC while the Governor and Deputy are members by virtue of section 24(1)(c). They cannot therefore convene a SEC meeting. The same goes for the State Secretary. In this case, the Governor in collusion with the Secretary convened a SEC meeting to which the Deputy Chairman was not even invited.

Section 45 of the PDP Constitution which spells out the process for resignation and transmutation of powers in the event of the resignation of any official of the party has not also been respected.

According to Section 45(1), “If a National Officer of the Party is removed or resigns from office, he shall immediately hand over to the National Secretary all records, files and other properties of the Party in his or her possession”. Subsection 2 clearly states that “In the case of the National Chairman, he shall hand over to the Deputy National Chairman who shall, without prejudice to Section 45 (6) of this Constitution, act as the National Chairman pending the election of a Replacement”. Very importantly, Subsection 4 provides that “This provision shall apply mutatis mutandis to other levels of the Party structure”.

• Okereke wrote in from Enugu

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

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Corruption as national albatross

he Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 has just been released by the Transparency International and shows that corruption remains a global phenomenon, while Nigeria now ranks 31 among the most corrupt nations. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013, according to the TI, serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world.

“The index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

No country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries score below 50. This indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem,” TI said in the report.

The global anti-corruption crusader therefore calls for urgent renewal of anti-graft war by building transparent public institutions. “The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions. It is time to stop those who get away with acts of corruption,” TI said.

Countries that are rated the best 17 in zero tolerance for corruption are Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, and Canada. Others are Luxembourg, Germany, Iceland, United

Kingdom, Barbados, Belgium and Hong Kong in that order. Both Denmark and New Zealand scored 91 per cent, Finland and Sweden 89 per cent, Norway and Singapore 86 per cent, Australia and Canada 81, Germany and Iceland 78 while Barbados, Belgium and Hong Kong scored 75. However, while no African country made the first 17, they dominate the first 10 while Nigeria ranks 31 on the list.

To be sure, this is an improvement on the previous situation. But there is still a lot to be done in the effort to rid the country of graft. In our view, being 31st most corrupt out of 177 countries is just not good enough. It is disheartening that those who are supposed to review and examine the damning report and formulate and implement strategies to tame the menace of corruption either ignore or condemn such reports. This suggests a lack of a genuine commitment to fighting corruption in the country.

Nor is the menace limited to the public sector alone. Corruption is at all levels and in every sector of the political economy. All levels of the education sector, for instance, are sadly entangled in massive corruption. Indeed, it is so widespread these days that it is almost like an official policy of the state.

Corruption also generates economic distortions in the public sector by diverting public investment into capital projects where bribes and kickbacks are more

plentiful. Officials may increase the technical complexity of public sector projects to conceal such dealings, thus further distorting investment. Corruption also lowers quality of standards of compliance with construction, environmental or other regulations. It reduces the quality of government services and infrastructure and increases budgetary pressures on government.

This may be the reason the federal government still finds it quite difficult to balance its annual budgets, despite the unprecedented surge in oil revenues following hikes in oil prices over time.

In the private sector, corruption increases the cost of business through illicit payments, high cost of negotiating with officials and the risk of breached agreements or detection. Although some claim corruption reduces costs by cutting red tape, an emerging consensus holds that the availability of bribes induces officials to contrive new rules and perpetrate delays. Where corruption inflates the cost of business, it also distorts the playing field, shielding firms with connections from competition and thereby sustaining inefficiency.

Political corruption, probably the worst part of the malady, is widespread in many countries, and represents a major detriment to the well-being of their citizens. Political corruption means that government policies tend to benefit the givers of bribes, not the general public.

Another example is how politicians would draft laws that protect large corporations while hurting small businesses. These "pro-business" politicians are simply returning favours to those commercial enterprises that contributed heavily to their election campaigns to the detriment of the larger population.

The establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as the Code of Conduct Bureau and its Tribunal is a laudable step in the war against corruption. Unfortunately, though some successes have been registered by these bodies, the general impression is that they have gone after the tail of the monster of corruption rather than its head.

If corruption is to be given a short shrift in Nigeria, then the social, business and bureaucratic environments must be corruption-hostile rather than friendly.

To this end, the country must take decisive and very harsh measures to put paid to corruption.

The fight against corruption in the country must go beyond flash-inthe-pan approach, and the tempo must remain sustained and all-encompassing. In China for instance, corruption attracts death penalty and since nobody wants to die, people stay away from corruption. That is a measure Nigeria must adopt in the fight to exterminate corruption from the polity.

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

Felix Oguejiofor Abugu

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Politics

TUESDAY, November 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Okoko’s uncommon sacrifice in A’Ibom Inspired by the efforts of the Godswill Akpabio administration in transforming Akwa Ibom State, a governorship hopeful on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Benjamin Okoko says to maintain such endeavour requires uncommon sacrifice.

ETAGHENE EDIRIN writes

T

he confidence exuded by Mr. Benjamin Okoko, a governorship hopeful on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) belies his understanding of the daunting challenges ahead of him in his quest for the Akwa Ibom State Government House.

According to him, he is not cool and calm for lack of appreciation of the issues, but because he thinks he has the gravitas to not only tame those challenges, but also emerge victorious at the end of it all.

A foundation member of the PDP, Okoko is equally not alien to the character and actions surrounding the governorship battle in his volatile Akwa Ibom State. He’s been on the turf since 1999 and had taken several shots at the seat, though unable to pull through for different reasons at different times.

Undisturbed by his previous unsavoury experiences, he therefore sees 2015 as his best bet. Justifying why he has not given up on his governorship dream, he said “greatness is not in how many times you fall, but being able to rise each time you fall.”

He goes down memory lane to tell his past electoral story. He said: “1999 is a story everybody knows. That election basically was supposed to have been a coronation for me as everything was set. But some leaders of the party approached and prevailed on me to withdraw my candidature for the governorship election. I accepted it without any condition.

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

hari is of the view that the PDP-led Federal Government has failed to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians. “Since 1999, PDP has presided over our country’s decline? Nigeria in my experience has never been so divided, so polarised by an unthinking government hell bent on ruling forever. We, in APC, are resolved to stop them in their tracks and rescue Nigeria from the stranglehold of PDP.” Against this backdrop, he unveiled a Nine-Point Agenda, which he said will salvage Nigeria from the increasing rot in all critical sectors of the polity if elected as president come February next year.

The agenda is comprised of: Protection of lives and property; pursuing economic policies for shared prosperity and immediate attention on youth employment; quality education for development, modernity and social mobility; agricultural productivity to take millions out of poverty and ensuring food security, and reviving industries to generate employment and “make things” not just to remain hawkers of other peoples’ goods.

Others are: Developing solid minerals exploitation which will substantially attract employment and revenue for government; restoring honour and integrity to public service by keeping the

Okoko

“In 2003, I contested, but the party decided that the incumbent should have a second term. In 2006, we had a crowd of about 60 aspirants. There was complete confusion, but the party decided it was Governor Godswill Akpabio that should have the ticket. He got the ticket and ran.

In 2011, I didn’t run because I became wiser; I came to understand my party better knowing that it is not easy to run against an incumbent seeking a second term.

“In 2015, Governor Akpabio is finishing his second term, so I feel I have to come out. With the experience I have had in the previous years, I really understand the politics better this time. I am quite optimistic to be successful this time.”

Coming from these experiences and the fact that he has had to understudy the outgoing governor who’s achievements have been tagged as ‘uncommon

transformation’, Okoko is taking the challenge a step further by breasting what he has also tagged ‘uncommon sacrifice’.

Hear him: “It has to do with my own value of life. How do I see life? What do I want in life? For me, great societies are built on the sacrifices of people, at some point in time, who determines that the cause of history must go this way.

“If water is flowing towards a specific direction, you can say no let it flow this way and change its cause. I’d like to go into history as the poorest man that left the Akwa Ibom governor’s lodge after my tenure as governor. What does that mean? I will give my own to the service of the people.”

Okoko knows that government will

never have enough resources to do everything it should, so he intends to commit every resource of the state to the development and wellbeing of the people of the state. He said: “I hope that sacrifice of my stewardship will help the cause of our people and inspire others who will come after me to truly see that there is greatness in giving your own and greatness in poverty; that there is greatness in contentment.

“After my tenure, if I leave office with a pair of trousers, I wear it and I will be a happy man – very satisfied. I will be a true soldier and die at my post provided the needs and welfare of the people of Akwa Ibom are met and that is why I have christened my aspiration uncommon sacrifice.”

Aside this, Okoko is not oblivious of other challenges in the state, amongst which he has identified security. “We always have this issue of insecurity even during the period of the military.

There were always cases of uprising here and there. Leadership is supposed to ensure and guarantee the safety of the citizenry.

“In a democracy that is made by politicians and run by politicians, the buck stops on their tables. They take responsibility. If the polity is doing well, the administration gets accolade for it.

If they have problems, they get a knock for it. But I don’t think the political class will deliberately, or has deliberately gone out wilfully to create a situation that will bring the country to a point of this insurgency and insecurity that we have today.”

According to him, it could be through act of omission or commission by leadership, adding, that it cannot be wilful or premeditated to create insecurity or crisis because they know people will die as a consequence of that.

Although events have begun to pick up at high speed in the state as stakeholders countdown to the party’s primary, and the governorship election proper, Okoko has been tipped by a number of stakeholders as not only deserving of the ticket, having paid his dues in the party; but that he also boasts of the requisite experience and maturity to govern a state like Akwa Ibom, given his involvement in its development since creation.

Buhari: Another date with history best and attracting the best; tackling corruption which has become blatant and widespread, and respect for the constitutional separation of powers among the executive, legislature and judiciary and the rights of citizens.

PDP welcomes challenge Buhari’s entrance into the presidential race, no doubt has revved up political activities ahead of the 2015 polls. Already, it is optimism in the opposition’s camp given the belief that the former military ruler has what it takes to give the ruling party a run for its money in the election.

Despite the upbeat in the APC camp, the PDP seems not bugged. The party has instead welcomed Buhari to the presidential race.

Buhari’s strength Should the former military ruler get the APC presidential ticket, he would be banking on his popularity, particularly in the North, where he enjoys a kind of cult-followership. This explains why the party is more disposed to having its presidential candidate from the North-West, where Buhari and Kwankwaso hail from.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar hails from the North-East.

Buhari’s popularity in the North explains the support his ambition is getting from APC governors. The former head of state had before his declaration, held meetings with virtually all the APC governors, seeking their support for his ambition, and New Telegraph learnt this topped other aspirants in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis by the governors.

Kwankwaso was knocked out of contention because of his “limited” political scope, which is restricted only to Kano State while the former vice-president was seen as not being “strong” enough to defeat President Jonathan in the North.

Buhari’s electoral strength as demonstrated in the previous elections, especially in the 2011 presidential election, in which he garnered about 12 million votes, convinced the governors of his ability to beat President Jonathan.

In the 2011 election, Buhari won in 12 out of the 19 northern states of Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Borno, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara. Jonathan won in seven states of Kwara, Kogi,

Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Adamawa. The former head of state polled 11, 914,953 votes while Jonathan secured 22, 350, 242 votes to emerge as president.

The calculation against this backdrop is that Buhari’s candidature will guarantee APC substantial votes from the North-West and North-East as well as South-West, where Tinubu holds sway.

The three zones have a total 44.8 million registered voters, and which accounted for 61 per cent of total registered voters of 73.5 in the 2011 election.

The party is also banking on Governors Chibuike Amaechi, Adams Oshiomhole (South-South) and Rochas Okorocha (South-East) to make a strong showing in Rivers, Edo and Imo states, which were hitherto PDP’s strongholds. The two zones and the North Central have 27.7 million registered voters. This accounts for 39 per cent of total registered voters.

No doubt, Buhari’s popularity, particularly in the North, will boost APC’s chances in the forthcoming presidential election; however it would be too early to draw a conclusion on what becomes of his ambition, as politics remains the doctrine of the possible.

NEW TELEGRAPH tuesday, november 4, 2014

21

Theatre

The Rebirth at 12th Macmillan Literary Night

22

Arts Despite the buzz gradually being created by performers of the ‘Spoken Word’ poetry in Nigeria, it still remains a genre of art that is little understood and appreciated by the people, like other forms of art. EBERE AMEH writes about this emerging genre that is revolutionising the face of art and entertainment in Nigeria

Spoken Word poetry, goldmine largely untapped

A

dozen Hail Marys’ didn’t give us a premonition / A motorcycle drove by, / Dropped something wrapped in polyethylene / The guards got curious and went close to examine / What happened next is best imagined / The content went off / The impact sent the roof on an errand.”

That is an excerpt from Ajibola Adeoya’s Spoken Word poem that borders on the wanton bombings of places of worship by the Boko Haram terrorist group. Titled Mary’s Song, he renders it with such finesse and effortless action, that he jolts his audience back to the consciousness of the pains of the populace as we battle the dreaded group.

That is the beauty and power of the spoken word. Though a form of entertainment, it is also a tool used to appeal to the conscience and consciousness of the people, a means of increasing literacy, a means of communication and re-orientation, a means to help businesses grow among many other uses.

Though written down, spoken word is a form of poetry that are read aloud and performed for an audience. It could also be done with other art forms such as music, theatre, and dance.

It focuses on the aesthetics of word play. It is actually poetry in action on stage; it involves po-

TONY OKUYEME tony.okuyeme@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Lasisi (right) in performance

Iquo Eke in performance

etic components such as rhyme, repetition, slang, improvisation, and more. Because it is performance based, it is always woven to create an atmosphere the audience can experience.

“Spoken word is about taking word from the page into action.

It is about giving life to words,” Ajibola Adeoya, one of the proponents of the genre in Nigeria said. “Its beauty lies in its delivery and the poet assumes the position of a prophet or sage reflecting on issues affecting his society. Usually a product of deep meditation, some are humorous, some are serious, others are there to engineer a social change but all depends on the audience and the occasion,” Adeoya added.

Spoken word poetry has become an important part of many social events and art functions in Nigeria, gaining some degree of acceptance and followership.

Even though ‘spoken word’ (poetry performance) is the oldest form of art that started even before man began to write, the history of contemporary poetry performance in Nigeria could be said to be young.

According to Olumide Holloway, the inintiator of Word Up Nigeria’s biggest spoken word poetry & soul music event, spoken Word has always been part and parcel of Nigeria’s history.

“In Yoruba tribe for instance, there is what is called Ewi and Oriki which are pure ‘Spoken Word’ done in the Yourba language. Fortunately and unfortunately, due to westernisation and modernisation some of these cultures were relegated and eroded, which reduced the popularity of ‘Spoken Word’.”

That form of traditional art, which is almost extinct, is however re-emerging as a form of art and entertainment. Contemporary Spoken word (poetry performance) came into prominence in the late 90s and early 2000 when Sage Hasson performed at the Hip Hop Awards and a couple of other shows.

“This created a buzz for the art form, and was followed by the emergence of poets like Plumbline, Rez Tha Poet, Efe Paul and so on. Open mic events such as Taruwa and Freedom Hall also helped in the growth of the art form,” Holloway ex-

Spoken word poetry has become an important part of many social events and art functions in Nigeria, gaining some degree of acceptance and followership

plained.

For Akeem Lasisi, a journalist, author, and renowned spoken word exponent, Spoken word poetry has come to stay and it is very good for the development of our poetry. “It gives many people the opportunity of enjoying poetry. This is because more people have access to it as against poetry that is locked up in books. The reading culture of Nigerians is poor and apart from that, many people don’t like poetry. But when it is being offered in a spontaneous way as slam poetry, more people not only have access to it, they come to enjoy it. Besides, with musical accompaniment, it makes spoken word poetry more entertaining and less academic,” he said.

Despite the numerous uses of this genre of art, many are still at a loss as to its lucrativeness.

While musicians, comedians and actors smile to the bank, is it the same for the spoken word artist?

“Spoken word is still struggling to find its footing, but CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

22

Art

Tuesday, november 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Tony Okuyeme

A

s this year’s edition of Macmillan Literary Night, the 12th in the series, organised by Macmillan Nigeria Publishers Limited, holds on Thursday 6th November, 2014, at the Agip recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, the focus will be on the need for national Rebirth.

Announcing the hosting of the event at a press conference, the chairman, Macmillan Literary Events Committee, Mrs. Francesca Yetunde Emanuel, CON, said the choice of the theme for the event which is “The Rebirth”, reflects the characteristic responsiveness of Macmillan Nigeria Publishers limited, sponsor of the event to the promotion of ennobling and productive values, essential to our national development.

“You will recall that for each edition, we choose a theme which we believe is important and relevant to the point in time. Examples are ‘Echoes of the Children of the Land’ in 2004, ‘Thematic Concerns of Nigerian Writers’ 2005, ‘Leadership and Governance’ in 2008, ‘Literature and the Burdens of Nigeria’ in 2009, ‘Penning our March to the Golden Year’ in 2010, when we attained 50 years of independence, and we reviewed Nigeria’s developmental challenges.

In 2012 in frustration, the theme was, ‘Break it – Stumbling Blocks to National Development’. In 2013, in a desperate cry for change, we chose the theme, Fix it – the Nigerian Character,” she said, noting that in spite of these efforts, it would appear that we are yet to reap the expected dividends of our democracy, and of our immense natural wealth.

“We all know our problems, but we blame others for our failures. We refuse to see each and everyone of us as part of the problem. We distance ourselves as far as we are not directly affected.

We are not concerned, as long as we feel we can take care of our own needs. We amass wealth by hook and crook, stupidly thinking that our wealth will see us, our children, our children’s children (ad infinitum) through whatever ills befall our country. All of us, the helpless, the silent, the desperate, the stingy, the greedy, all of us are part of the problem.

And when religion is used to foist mayhem on the populace, it becomes really frightening. When society exhibits these symptoms, a ‘Rebirth’ becomes imperative. Hence our theme pointing the direc-

L-R: Mrs. Emanuel, Adelekan, Promise and Tomoloju at the Press Conference

The Rebirth, as 12th Macmillan Literary Night holds in Lagos tion for us to see, to address, to know and to actualize.”

According to Mrs. Emanuel, Nigeria can be a great nation. It has produced many resourceful, intelligent and talented sons and daughters, who have exhibited strong passion to take us to greater heights. “Every day, these men and women are making immense contribution to making the world a better place.

We therefore cannot give up hope, nor can we continue to wait for a messiah to come and deliver us. Solutions must be found and we are the ones to do it. There is urgent need for a re-birth, a change of attitude, a re-instating of our norms, values and tenets, which can have positive impact on our society. Faith, unity, honesty, love, justice, honour, these are words entrenched in our motto, our anthem and our pledge. Let these words guide our intentions and actions.

“I say with every sense of modesty and of candour that Macmillan Nigerian Publishers Limited is the singular corpo-

There is urgent need for a rebirth, a change of attitude, a re-instating of our norms, values and tenets, which can have positive impact on our society

rate organisation in Nigeria that has consistently and solely sponsored a literary event for 15 years, purposely to create an awareness of our socio-economic realities, with a view to evoking the requisite positive attitudinal change for our development, she also said.

As usual, the various genres of the arts will be utilized to sensitise and entertain the audience in a refreshingly different way. The Re-Birth will feature some of Nigeria’s outstanding performers, namely Joke Silva, Ihria Enakimio, and Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, as well as the popular and dynamic Crown Troupe of Africa directed by Segun Adefila.

The press conference which held at the Ilupeju, Lagos office of Macmillan Nigeria Publishers Limited, had in attendance, the Managing Director of Macmillan Nigeria Publishers Limited, Dr. Iyiola Adesanya Adelekan, playw media consultant, Mr. Ben Tomoloju, Dr. Promise Ugochukwu, among others.

Spoken Word, poetry takes centre stage CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

we shall soon get there. Like comedy, when Ali Baba and co. started, it was not as lucrative but they have put in a lot of energy and it has gained popularity. Fortunately, there are people putting in a lot of energy into the promotion of spoken word in Nigeria,” Adeoya said.

“Our vision for poetry in Nigeria is to create a vibrant Spoken Word Poetry Industry where poets can earn a decent living from their performances,” Holloway who is also the CEO of i2X Media Company Limited, an organisation that sponsors, supports and promotes Spoken Word and soul music events in Nigeria said.

Despite the challenges the genre is facing as an emerging art form in Nigeria, the future of the spoken word industry is very bright. “The Spoken Word industry is fast growing.

Judging by the daily responses we get via mails and messages

from poets from different parts of Nigeria asking for a chance to perform and/ or at least attend at our flagship event, Word Up, which is being shown weekly on NTA. We also get a lot of video entries for our bi-annual Poetry Competition, War Of Words, which is a platform for new and emerging poets to showcase themselves. It will soon be a source of employment just like music and comedy are,” Holloway explained.

“The future is bright for slam poetry. It is likely to develop if they just up their game,” Lasisi said, noting that when the stand-up comedians were starting some 15 go 20 years ago, because they professionalised it and worked more on creativity, what now happened is that as Nollywood was growing, the music industry was growing too, the comedy industry became something you cannot wish away. “Slam poetry or performance poetry has that potential too. It now depends on how

Spoken Word Poet in performance

the professionals try to develop and promote it,” Lasisi intoned.

As a matter of fact, some youths are already making Nigeria proud in this new art form. Atitiola Moronfolu who dazzled her audience at the UN organised youth convention in Geneva is going to Brazil for a Slam Poetry Competition.

As an emerging art form, which is not as popular as music, acting and comedy, it is good to know that the acceptance of Spoken Word Poetry is great and keeps getting better. However, the art form still has some cogs in its wheel of progress.

“I sense a little danger. Much of what I have observed in terms of youngsters going into spoken word poetry is that their material tend to be watery and less poetic. The question now arises, ‘Is it actually poetry, or just a combination of words?’” Lasisi queried.

But there is a way out. He said they can still do their spoken word but advocates that they en-

sure that their presentation has elements of imagery. “That will make the work last longer and have a lasting impression on the audience. They should also bring in elements of culture. It makes it more interesting and more nationalistic to the extent that if a spoken word from Nigeria is performed in South Africa or UK, for instance, people will know that it is from Nigeria,” Lasisi advised.

Outside that, “The lack of enough awareness of the art form does not make it as lucrative as it should be,” Holloway said.

“The key issues are lack of awareness and lack of funding i.e. sponsorship of Spoken Word events. Given that, awareness brings funding, and funding brings awareness, we can drill it down to “lack of funding.”

If and when corporate organisations get involved in the art form, it would provide jobs for the millions of creative poets that abound in Nigeria.”

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

Mom&Parenting

23

Okolo: Effective parenting curbs social vices

Dr. Nkem Okolo is a director with the Federal Ministry of Education, Inspectorate Service, Lagos. She is the founder and Chief Coordinator of “The Wife”, a non-governmental organisation. In this interview with CHIJIOKE IREMEKA, she says effective parenting in grooming the Nigerian child, amidst huge access to uncensored social media information, is the only way out of prevalent social vices in the country Recently, “The Wife” has been engaging more in women programme than children-based, as she is known. Why the current trend?

First of all, let me tell you who “The Wife” is and then, you would understand the way we operate. The Wife is the body of married women with aim of building excellent homes to transform our society.

This is predicated on the notion that the family, in which the wife is the nerve centre, is the basic unit of the society. We achieve this, through concerted effort of each wife in effectively fulfilling her role in marriage, homes and the re-orientation of family values.

Having said this, women and children are the same. You can’t separate the two.

There is a lot the country will achieve training women. It is said that when you train a woman, you have trained the whole world.

I was reading an article in one of the electronic media and they were saying that women are the answer to corruption. But they weren’t saying that women are saints but from point of view, they were saying that the women will not be as greedy as men, who would want to be rich, secure riches for the next generations of their children and his numerous wives.

Women are nation builders and there is no better manager than women, who manage husbands, families, children, offices and rest of other things and still stand firm. The women in politics are doing well and that is why we encourage more women to go into politics to help build our nation.

Many women shy away from becoming politicians because they said it for the women of low virtue. But I must tell you that it’s not true. The former Deputy Governor of Lagos State is a woman and not a woman of low virtue.

She is living with her husband. My mother is a politician and not a woman of low virtue. Till now, she is still a woman leader at the national level. We have such women here and there and they are not women of low virtue.

So, when you want to get a child, getting his mother will do the same job and faster because the child is always

Team Oluwatosin Omoniyil Coordinator

Grace Essen l Contributor

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

to their children. The mothers took turns to view the germs and particles under microscopic electron.

We also gave them demonstration on balanced diet, how to prepare natural fruit juice in a way that the children would prefer drinking of natural fruits than coke and other artificial beverages.

We demonstrated hand washing techniques to them in order for them to learn the right way a child should wash his hands against germs before eating, especially in the era of deadly Ebola Virus flying around.

We also, taught them the management of child’s body temperature, where we shared thermometer to the wives and mothers and trained them on how to use them. We also trained them on the primary first aid required for their children before taking them to the hospital in case of ill health.

These were the things we taught them on ‘operation rescue our children 1’. Now, the operation rescue our children II, is on the effective parenting. We are training them on skills and techniques of training, modelling, and enlightening them on the need they should do so.

We are just around to respond to societal needs in the any area. We have a lot of child criminality, juvenile delinquency and rest of them. Rapes are done by our male children against the girls and through effective parenting, we will overcome these vices.

There are a lot that the women need to do in preserving our children. Child soldiers being carried about by Boko Haram are our children and that’s why we are training women to forestall these ills, by ensuring that the children are brought up in the right manner to live good lives.

Okolo

with the mother, and he’s trained more significantly by the mother. That is why you hear mother and child; maternal and child.

You are indirectly saying that The Wife’s ‘Operation Rescue Our Children’ will achieve the same result, training the mothers?

Yes. For instance, groups of women we train today are wives and mothers. We believe that they are the ones that bring up the children and if they put in efforts at bringing them up in the right way, we will have a wonderful generation of children to take over from us.

The purpose is to train the mothers so that they will train their children. We are developing their skills to know how and the reasons they should train their children properly. This is a great legacy to leave behind for the children.

In modelling them, we ensure that they understand the meaning and need for parenting and appreciate the need for effective parenting. We challenge them on good legacy, which their children will leverage on, when they have gone.

When did you start this project, ‘Operation Rescue Our Children’ and what is the reason behind it?

We had the mission rescue our children in 2011 and it was a measure developed by The Wife to keep our children alive.

During the first phase of this project, we went round with teams of medical doctors, mobile pharmacy, mobile labs, from Kings College, Lagos to experiment with mothers.

We try to show mothers germs, under microscope in the community water that their children drink, as a way convincing them to boil and treat the water they give

Children’s access to social media is a big challenge confronting effective parenting.

How would parents effectively control the level of exposure their children get from social media and television?

It’s a very tough one and that is why we are challenging mothers to be vigilante in supervising their children to know what they do on the internet and televisions.

How do we go about this? By doing the same thing together!

If your child doesn’t know how to read, or finds it difficult to read, then, you teach him by reading with him. You should do what you ask them to do, so that they will know it is doable.

Secondly, there are security locks on our electrical gadgets, which will not allow the children have access to certain programmes on the television. This is called parental control. Parents make use of these control system to be in command of their children exposure to certain programmes.

You could enforce parental lock on movies, say, under 13 movies alone. With CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

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Mom&Parenting

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Signs your child suffers from low self-esteem

W

e may think that praising our children provides them with plenty of confidence, but sometimes, praise isn't enough. Often, no matter how hard we cheer for our little ones, they tend to fall short on self-esteem. As parents, it's our job to identify their lack of confidence and build it back up.

Leah Rocketto of www.Popsugar of circle of moms provides an insight as to when a child needs a self-esteem boost.

1) He can't accept feedback: We aren't just talking about constructive criticism, which he tends to agonize over.

Children with low self-esteem are unable to accept a compliment, because they don't be-

lieve it to be true. They usually respond to praise by disagreeing, shaking their head, or rolling their eyes (or, in some cases, all three).

2) She shies away from challenges: Does your child avoid tasks without even trying? Or give up at the first sign of frustration? This usually signals a fear of failure, which stems from low self-esteem.

3) He keeps to himself: While not every child is a social butterfly, sometimes shyness could be the sign of a larger issue. A child who stays clear of social settings may do so because he worries what others will say or do. This trait can also appear out of the blue. So, pay attention if your child starts to with-

draw from friends or activities he once enjoyed.

4) She makes self-critical comments: This may seem obvious, but it's still worth pointing out. Though negativity is more noticeable in the twee and teen years, young children are also susceptible to poor self-image. If your child is constantly putting down her looks, intelligence, or personality, perhaps it's time to step in and provide some muchneeded praise.

He bullies his peers: We tend to think that bullies have all the confidence in the world. After all, they walk with their heads high and don't care what others think. But most of the time, they are lashing out because of their own insecurities.

Effective parenting curbs social vices CO NTINUED FROM PAG E 23

this, the child will not have access to movies for ages above 13.

These are in some of our electronic gadgets.

Also, the media have their part to play in censoring the kind of information they pass across, especially at those hours, when children are still at home, before bedtime. So, we beg all stakeholders to join us in effective parenting of our future generations.

Child upbringing is not one person’s thing. It’s a whole community’s responsibility and everybody has to be involved. Information is important but there are levels of information that are meant for a particular age. So, we want information graded.

Also, in grading your information, you must tell the children the truth. A child asked her mother, where does baby come from? Before the mother could talk, she said, I know it; I saw it on the internet. So, if the mother of such child had said children come from heaven, the child would never believe her mother again. We just have to be careful, dealing with these children.

You need to find out the extent and level of information they have to correct them and put them through in a situation where they have the wrong side of information. This means, you must spend time with your children on regular basis to discuss.

Never shut them down when they come to you; for someone else may give them attention and take advantage of their ignorance.

These are the things we teach the mothers to know how to channel and guide them. But for information, we can’t hide it completely.

Grading information for children, does it also affect sex education?

Sex education is different.

When we are talking about sex education, we don’t teach them how to perform sex. We are teaching them about their sexuality as human beings.

We can teach them about their body parts and changes that can take place in their body when they are growing from childhood to the puberty level, teaching them safety rules to shield them from sexual abuse.

So, when we say sex education, we are not talking about teaching a child how to perform sex or romance. It’s an awareness of safety and changes in the body, appreciating their body and the way God made them. So, we grade it from different level.

Then, when they are young adult, about getting married, we train them on things that are related to that. We grade what happens at different ages and for different people.

So, have you started seeng the impact of these training since the project started?

Of course, its impact is felt across board. People call from all parts of the country to thank us and to appreciate what we are doing. A man called sometime, and was very thankful of the ministry, saying that since his wife joined The Wife, everything about her has changed for good.

Today, we have a number of groups, giving us award, including Lagos State, in recognition of what we are doing. In fact, I don’t even have time to attend the award ceremony and they have to pursue me to where I am to deliver the awards.

The impact of what we are doing has gone beyond individualistic appreciations. It now comes from groups of people and corporate organisations in Lagos and all parts of Nigeria.

What are the major challenges militating against this project?

The challenges are human capital. We are few, believing God of harvest to send us labourers.

We are not up to seven women doing this work, coordinating this project over the years. The same group of people you see today are they same people you will still see tomorrow.

What experiences pushed you into this?

You know, when I was grow-

ing up, I gave my life to Christ at the age 14, and I love God and His people. While I was in my ‘A’ level, God asked me to affect the lives of children. Then, I was to do some other courses and when I heard that, I said then, I must be a teacher for me to do that.

So, I pursued a course in education, which the people didn’t believe, including my family. I wanted to go in for medicine but I went in for education. My classmates at the University of Lagos were like, what is this small girl doing in the mist of headmasters of schools?

So, the same way God called me to affect the lives of children, He asked me now to go and affect the lives of women. In fact, if you look at it, they are linked. If I affect the lives of women, who are mothers, they will affect the lives of children. This is why I’m passionate about the ministry.

When I’m spending for this project, I don’t look back. A friend once said to me, if you must do this, go to your state and do it. But I told her that God did not define children and women to state level, He told me to affect the lives of children.

I started it in 2006, and financed it myself. I started it myself, training, and sponsoring people before some women started joining. We don’t have any foreign sponsors and we don’t even want to be called NGO, but so far, my pastor, Wole Adefarasin has been helping too.

He is one minister that has supported us over the years and members of the church too. We contribute to do projects and that’s how we raise our money.

When we do fasting and prayers, we encourage every woman to convert her breakfast and lunch to offering as a contribution to what we do.

And during a programme like this, we challenge people to support us. Also, my books are source of our income. Three of them sell well – ‘See what the Lord has done; Enriching marital sex; and Grooming the next generations.’ They are very impacting.

MOM’S ALERT with

Grace Essen

grace.essen@gmail.com

Stepping out of the ‘rush’

O

ne Thursday evening, I was sitting and running through all the things I had to do in my mind and thinking of how best to meet my deadlines in the smartest possible way, when my phone rang.

It was my friend Julie, she wanted to make a buying decision on an item and needed my opinion, we talked for a while and she thought it was better to come over. In a short time, there was a knock on the door and she came in. She had so much to talk about and she tried to do so in the rather short time we had together. It was obvious that she had lost a lot of weight and looked really stressed.

There was so much to do in such short time. She went through all she needed to do and I could see it myself. “Why not leave your children with your help and rest on Sunday,” I asked.

“I have to make my hair on Sunday!” she said, and tiny braids at that. We took a few minutes to adjust her schedule a bit to ease her stress, and help her achieve most of what she needed to do. As she left, I thought about my own schedules and how it was not far from hers. I was behind in my work too. And I wondered why we have to let so much pile up, and then we feel overwhelmed trying to get through it all. Suddenly Julie calls to say she is so afraid things might not tur n out well and so she had decided to put off a few things she needed to do for another time – I guess she meant a time when life didn’t feel so busy. Is there ever such a time for a mom?

The demand on us can get so much at times, and when we think of how limited our time is, we let anxiety set in. It affects our decisions, makes us imagine the worst, and sometimes robs us of the peace we need to actually get things done. Then we find ourselves rushing to do everything - rushing to get a cab, rushing to get to a meeting, rushing to drop the kids off to school and rushing to pick them up at the end of day, rushing to everywhere and nowhere in particular, and often missing what’s most important – connection. Connection with spouse, connection with children, connection with friends, and other family members, connection with colleagues at work, connection with our Maker,

and connection with life.

Then we begin to feel the exhaustion gnawing deep in our hearts, demanding that we slow down. But how? When we are caught in the mad rush of endless demands on us?

Sometimes it takes stepping out of the ‘rush’ to see things. When we do, we will see that rather than tackling things a little bit each day when we have free time, we use that time for other things ... things that are not really important and not urgent, like chatting away endlessly on social media. And then we count on adrenaline surge to get us through what matters most. Well, that does work sometime doesn’t it?

But over time I have learnt an important life-lesson: ‘Last-minute rush’ isn't a good approach to tackling important things. I guess we all know that, but if only we can get ourselves to apply it to our lives. It is really easy for ‘last-minute rush’ to become a way of life, with bursts of efforts interspersed between bouts of exhaustion. And for some, nothing would get done if it weren't for the last minute.

Unfortunately, that's a pretty hectic way to live.

And while you might get by for a time using the ‘last-minute’ approach, that kind of random effort doesn't have a cumulative positive effect. Whether it is planning a trip, planning an event, losing weight, preparing for a presentation or achieving set goals, random effort makes little difference.

However, I've discovered a different approach that has proven successful. It's actually less complicated and more peaceful, but it takes intentional effort. When I apply these two simple habits, I see a difference: Value small blocks of time: There is great value in small bits of time. We don't need hours to start something or make a difference in any area of our lives. Fifteen or thirty minutes spent on something every day, every week or month, adds up.

Set priorities based on what is important: Not everything - but what's most important. The idea is to do this before you even get into the tasks of the day – responding to emails, doing laundry, sitting in meetings or cleaning up after children, etc. Otherwise, the current of the day will sweep you away, and you’ll be back to the habit of pilling up tasks and never getting much done.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

25

'Sanctions not imposed on perpetrators' Infertility, major factor in baby harvesting Authorities do not punish baby farmers, given impetus to others to join the business

Women engage in outrageous, sometimes dangerous rituals to birth biological children

26

27

Sale of babies,abominable,says Orelope-Adefulire Increased community vigilance to bring cases readily for agencies' appropriate action

28

Investigation

Breeding babies for sale (2) The current and rampant production of kids for commercial purposes from network of baby farms claiming to be orphanages is somewhat becoming a nuisance in the Nigerian society. But, how can this ugly trend be curbed? Find out, as ISIOMA MADIKE concludes this two-part series on ‘human farms’ where babies are the products

M

ost of the young mothers are secondary school dropouts. They share a common destiny; they all carry unwanted pregnancies.

The teenage girls are lured into the poultries where the business is routinely conducted in tiny, dilapidated and filthy buildings. Most often, the locals do not suspect anything phony because many of these “farms” are disguised as something else. Some are labelled maternity homes while others bear the inscription of orphanages.

There are usually bushes around these structures, small trees and oddly built walls with open air passage ways. Right inside, the girls are crammed into the miniature rooms where they slept on bare floor and sometimes, straw mats. The babies are conceived in these quarters, right on the floor while the teenagers are lined up and forced to have sex one after the other in full view of other young woman.

In most cases, the girls are intimidated so much that many of them

ISIOMA MADIKE

Editor, InVESTIGATIONS isioma.madike@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Scene at a suspected human poultry

An alleged baby farmer in police net

can hardly relate their experience freely. They are sometimes tricked into thinking it was a safe haven for teenagers, who did not want to keep their babies, but did not want an abortion either; and so, many give up their babies for what they thought would be a formal adoption.

Once they are in the compound, they are held prisoner and forced to get pregnant repeatedly. They are seen sometimes milling around the centres but leave alone after putting to bed.

Buyers are always on queue waiting for babies to be delivered. While some pregnant girls found their way to these farms, the farmers in turn hired deviant boys to engage them in sexual orgies to make the girls pregnant. The fruits of such exercises are, thereafter, left with the operators of the farms.

PHOTO: CKNNIGERIA.COM

Babies in maternity

There are also those in the poverty bracket. And others, who get pregnant by accident and want to dispose of their babies, are similarly welcomed in the farms. In most cases, they would turn around to claim that their babies died shortly after delivery.

In the last category are those, who cannot fend for their many children. They would sell some and use the proceeds to cater for the rest. The patrons have contacts in high places.

According to some of the victims, who craved anonymity, “we are kept and fed miserly until we put to bed.”

One of those bizarre farms was uncovered recently in the Surulere area of Lagos State. A married woman, who had been unable to bear children, arranged to buy illegally from the poultries. She was married for five years and when faced with fam-

PHOTO: LATESTNEWSLINK.COM

PHOTO: LEADERSHIP.NG

ily discomforts, was lured by her lady friend into buying a baby from a “farm” in Aba, Abia State.

The lady went to Aba, met the farmer and was asked to pay N2 million for a male child. She was also given some medicines, which enabled her to deceive her husband to think she was pregnant. Towards the time of her supposed delivery, she told her husband she was travelling abroad to have the baby. The husband consented only for her to make a U-turn to Aba where a baby boy had been arranged and handed over to her after paying the full amount as agreed.

Before the child trade boom, however, dumping of children was commonplace and people with dubious business sense, realising that the dumped children could be source C ONTIN U E D ON PA G E 2 6

26

Investigation

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

‘Sanctions not imposed on perpetrators'

Enabulele

Faduyile

Orelope-Adefulire

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 5

of joy for childless couples, exploited the situation to make money. Consequently, organised baby racketeering drastically reduced child-dumping cases.

Initially, it was not seen as illegal because some “smart” people just set up homes where young girls with unwanted pregnancies went to give birth, gave up their babies and returned home to their parents as if nothing had happened. The new babies were later sold to those in need. Thus, many people set up child trade outlets and anyone with enough money walked in and smiled home with a baby of his or her choice.

In this business, the law of demand and supply applies Today, there are plethora of orphanages and motherless baby’s homes in many cities and rural communities alike. Majority of these homes, though, have licence to operate and carry out such activities under the law.

They help childless couples, after meeting certain laid down rules, to adopt any baby of their choice and end their many years of childlessness. Overtime, the Homes got inundated and infiltrated by dubious characters such as cultists, ritualists and people, who breed and sell babies for many selfish and inhuman reasons.

Incidentally, many of such centres have been raided in the past by the police, but a host of them are still thriving. The search for the fruit of the womb

has equally driven many women to take extreme steps. When women are unable to conceive and bear children, the huge psychological toll makes them fall prey to fraudulent people and patrons of ‘baby farms’.

This is the case of Desope Cecilia, 61, and Joy Ibe, 43. A midwife, Oby George, promised them “miracle” twins and triplets respectively. Cecilia said she had not been able to give her 78-year-old husband a child since they got married.

“A lady, who knew I had tried to conceive without success for a long time, told me about the midwife (George). The lady gave me the phone number of the woman and I learnt her clinic is in Port Harcourt. When I got there, she explained to me that she would be able to treat me with herbs and I would get pregnant. I was told to pay N1.5m, which I paid to her.

“She gave me some herbs to take back to Lagos with me and take for nine months. I took the herbs religiously. My tummy began to swell, and my feet too.

Those were the only signs I had that made me think I was pregnant. George forbade me from going for any form of ante-natal session or scan. So, within the nine-month period that my tummy protruded like that of a pregnant woman, I visited no hospital. She told me that if I did, they would not see anything because what I was carrying was a “miracle” pregnancy,” she recounted.

Cecilia said she left George’s clinic, thinking she had, in-

Our common humanity binds us together in a common cause against tyranny

Ali

Akiyode-Afolabi

deed, been blessed with “miracle twins”. However, the then Lagos Command PPRO, Ngozi Braide, said the bubble bust when Cecilia took the twins for immunisation at the Amuwo Odofin Health Centre, Lagos.

“The medical officials at the centre were suspicious that Cecilia was not the biological mother of the twins. They then alerted the Area A Police Command. During investigation, she told the police that they were “miracle babies”. Our men got the address of the midwife and went to Port Harcourt, where the midwife was arrested,” Braide said.

In Ibe’s case, she wanted triplets. For that, she had to pay N2.7m to George for the babies.

Like Cecilia, Ibe was referred to George by a friend. She contacted the midwife few months after Cecilia did.

“After I went to Port Harcourt to meet the midwife, I paid the N2.7m and I was given some herbs, which I drank regularly. My belly began to grow and my feet became swollen too. The midwife told me not to go to the hospital for scan or any ante-natal. I went to Port Harcourt to ask when I would be due for delivery. She told me I was not due yet. Since it was too late to go back to Lagos, I slept over at her house. It was when I was there that police came to arrest her,” Ibe narrated.

But, the disclosure that could pass for the most bizarre and shocking was the case of a 62-year-old “mama”, who supposedly gave birth in spite of her age as a cover to steal another woman’s baby some years back.

The incident, which occurred at Ojota, a suburb of Lagos was said to have been facilitated by some dubious nurses in the clinic, who tricked the original mother into believing that her child died at birth and had been buried.

Though, another woman jumped in the tussle to further confuse the already mesmerized Nigerians, it was evident that “mama” bought her way through.

Medical experts argued vigorously to prove that only a miracle could make a woman conceive at that age.

Investigations anchored by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), which ran and were monitored over a period of years, just like a soap opera, made bare the intrigues of “mama” and her cohorts. It only became evident at the end that “mama” only came to the village square to dance naked in a bid to have what eluded her for years.

Nigerian police had equally uncovered series of other baby farms in recent years, notably in the South-eastern part of the country. The intended buyers of the children though, were often not established. But, the massive compounds were always a beehive of activities, and teenage girls as well as flashy cars were always not in short supply around such neighbourhood on a daily basis.

Yet, it is usually difficult to see what goes on in such complexes from the outside because of their high walls.

As with many businesses, the law of demand and supply C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2 7

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

27 Investigation

Infertility, major factor in baby harvesting

Moonlight Clinic and Maternity C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 6

applies. Many are of the opinion that the farms would not thrive if there were no demand for their products. Others believe that the premium placed on having biological children in Nigerian society and cultures is one important root cause of baby farms in the country. Infertility, they say, remain another most difficult challenge a couple will have to face, especially in Nigeria.

In a country where many cultures place a heavy value on biological children, the burden of infertility is not merely a personal cross, which a couple may have to carry, but an overwhelming encumbrance placed by the society on a marriage. Add to that is the burden of living in a society where having a child is not a matter left to choice, where religions actively encourage adherents to multiply and fill the earth, and infertility begins to take on the appearance of a crushing affliction.

Before the child trade boom, dumping of kids was commonplace and people with dubious business sense exploited the situation to make money

Ritual killings are guaranteed in this macabre manner In many Nigerian homes, it is not out of place to begin to query couples a year or two after marriage about children or for alternatives to be suggested three or four years after. Frequently, the burden of explanation, and the shame, falls on the woman, whom many assume to be the problem, despite increasing education and exposure to differing wisdom.

For some parts of Nigeria, the consequences of infertility for women include domestic violence, divorce, polygamy, lacking rights in relation to burial of one’s husband, and loss of inheritance rights. Many can recite personally the cases that they know in which second wives were brought into the home.

Women are also thrown out, or go without their husband’s consent to engage in outrageous and sometimes dangerous rituals in order to birth biological children. Such story lines have been a Nollywood staple of late even as many believe they are rooted in reality.

PHOTO: NIGERIANEWSDAY.COM

Rescued pregnant girls

Men are not exempted from this burden, although, society typically does not impose the same weight of shame on them.

Damage is done to family relations as the couple trades blame with extended family. Sometimes the help of witches and wizards are invoked. Apart from the demands and collateral effects of culture and religion, very little research has been done on the psychological effects of infertility, but anecdotal evidence suggests that it is extensive.

Although, infertility is a difficult terrain to navigate, it is difficult to prescribe for couples how to deal with a challenge that no one, who desires children, would like to have to deal with it. This is where the law, according to informed minds, must stand up to its prescriptive and protective role. As a State, Nigeria, those in this divide say, must choose to protect children, including those yet to be born. The government, they maintained, should strive at all times to put in place policies and implement the legislation required to ensure that children do not become commodities to be sold to the highest bidder.

This, perhaps, may be why many Nigerians are becoming uncomfortable about the growing incidences of this sort of farms across the country in recent times. For instance, the deputy registrar of the Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH), Victor Ndifon, has said that the social consequence of this “heartless and brisk business” is profound and wide ranging.

He said quite apart from the continuous debasement of motherhood, there is certainly going to be a rise in ritual killing when the supply of hapless victims is guaranteed in this macabre manner. According to him, a number of vulnerable teenage girls are going to be either forced or enticed with money into the baby farms just to ensure that there is continuous harvest.

“Another reason for baby farms is the fact that police have not been very proactive in terms of following up reports of missing teenage girls suspected

New born babies

Grace Onye and friend

PHOTO: 9JAFLAVE.BLOGSPOT.COM

PHOTO: BIZWATCHNIGERIA.NG

PHOTO: NIGERIANEYE.COM

to have been held captive by operators of these illicit farms.

In essence, a comprehensive breakdown of the nation’s welfare, security and identification system has aided the savage and barbaric business to thrive.

“It could also be due to the near impunity under which the baby trade is conducted. Those involved seemed to be immune from the law as it is difficult for a case of baby sale to appear in the law courts. When offenders of this section of the law are allowed to get away with their crime, it goes a long way to substantiate rumours of complicity at the highest level of the society.

For a country whose people were serially victimised by centuries of foreign and domestic slavery, it could be disheartening and ridiculous to hear that such savage

practice is still rampant in a nation that prides itself as the giant of Africa,” Ndifon stated.

He is not alone. A public affairs commentator and media consultant, Ezeudu Ken, equally attributes the cause of this crime to the fact that serious sanctions were not being imposed on those involved in the act by the government. According to him, “these days government does not punish those who are into it. This gave impetus to others to join the business and it continues to grow.”

Ken said, to control the trend, government should monitor very seriously, the activities of motherless baby homes and hospitals, just as proper orientation should be given to the girls on the need for them to desist from the act.

C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2 8

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sale of babies, abominable, says Orelope-Adefulire C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 7

Others, who spoke on the issue, also point to the quest for male child by many families as part of the cause.

In Nigeria, statistics on the prevalence of baby breeding farms are hard to come by. But, anti-trafficking campaigners say it is widespread and run by wellorganised criminal syndicate.

“We believe the scope is wider than we know. Many people don’t even know that what they are doing is criminal. They just think its adoption. You walk into a clinic, pay a fee and you have a baby,” said Ijeoma Okoronkwo, former head of NAPTIP in Enugu State.

Government seems to lack the political will to stop the trade Globally, hundreds of thousands of people are trafficked annually. The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) estimates that at least 10 children are sold daily across Nigeria, where human trafficking is ranked the third most common crime after economic fraud and drug trafficking, according to United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO).

Dr. Francis Faduyile, former chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State Chapter, believes that many of the gladiators in the baby farm menace are not medically qualified. According to him, “the major problem is that Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) only regulate medically qualified people. So, it does not have the power to sanction nonmedically qualified people. That is the reason for the seemingly helplessness of the MCDN in this regard.”

In like manner, the vice president, Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA) and immediate past President of NMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, says that doctors should not be singled out of medical personnel as perpetrators.

Some dubious retired midwives and nurses, he says, are also involved.

“The best NMA can do in this instance is to expose this issue to the appropriate organs of government and table the cases before MDCN, which is the regulatory council of doctors. I will give you an instance of the case in Abia State, which was tabled before the MDCN. It was taken out by the Investigating Panel. Though, I cannot say precisely now at what level the case is at present,” he said.

To Lagos State Deputy Governor and one-time Commissioner for Women Affairs, Joke OrelopeAdefulire, who had been at the vanguard of ensuring that the interest of the child is protected, “the sale of babies is abominable.

It is very damaging for the image of the country.

“The act of child theft is an international offence and it attracts a jail term. If anybody is found trafficking in children, such a person will face the full weight of the law. It is forbidden by God and it is against the law,” OrelopeAdefulire said.

Curiously, many wonder if there are laws in Nigeria that deal

Another set of pregnant teenagers

Suspects alleged to have been impregnanting the young girls

Arrested suspects in a baby farm

with issue of this nature. To this end, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Yusuf Ali says, “there is no doubt that the country has laws that handle such incidences. It is a form of slavery, which the appropriate punishment is enshrined in Nigeria’s Constitution. Culprits could be charged for kidnapping, for instance, and the law stipulates a minimum of seven years imprisonment.”

But, has the laws been effective

PHOTO: PHILIPNWELIH.BLOGSPOT.COM

since the shocking revelations of this inhumanity to babies?

Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, also a lawyer and Executive Director, Women Advocates' Research and Documentation Center (WARDC), agreed that there is existing legal framework but regretted that there has been an ineffective enforcement mechanism against such dastardly trade. According to her, the best from government had been to seal off baby farms but hardly

PHOTO: CKNNIGERIA.COM

PHOTO: CKNNIGERIA.COM

do anything thereafter to the perpetrators.

“Engaging in human pregnancy and the sale of the product thereafter is a criminal offence, though a new development in our context. There are laws in Nigeria, no doubt, that guide against sale or trafficking of human beings, such as the Anti-Trafficking Law; Child right law also has a comprehensive protection for children. But the laws, so far, have not been effectively used to punish the baby farm trade; this is so because the government seems to lack the political will to stop the trade since the racketeers of this trade are a cartel/cabal.

“Although, there is a move by the lower house of the National Assembly to amend the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration so as to end the growing incidences of baby breeding for business purposes. The bill, also seeks to stop harbouring of pregnant persons under 18 years of age as well as selling or attempting to sell newly born babies in the country,” she said.

Concluded • Additional report from Appolonia Adeyemi

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

Property

Energy

29

Aviation

Lobbying for Q4 allocation heightens

Building collapse: Engineers seek more legislation

A380: Poor infrastructure exposes Africa’s soft underbelly

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38

Business What's news

South African Airways holds code share talks with Aero South African Airways (SAA) has held preliminary talks to code share with Nigeria’s leading airline, Aero Contractors, in a bid to reap from the huge passenger traffic between Johannesburg, South Africa and one of Africa’s most populous cities, Lagos.

Nigeria’s $20bn gas supply to Europe project threatened DISTRUST West African nations doubt Nigeria’s sincerity to meet their energy needs

Adeola Yusuf

p.30

Shell, Chevron, others flare 800m gas scuf daily –FG Companies operating in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry now flare a cumulative 800 million cubic feet of gas on daily basis, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said at the weekend.

p.30

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

T

he $20 billion Trans-Sahara project through which the Nigerian gas will be supplied to Europe is facing a new threat occasioned by the growing investments’ draught for gas exploration in the country, New Telegraph has gathered.

Although the Federal Government has promised to invest $700 million on the project, this newspaper gathered at the weekend that the growing demands for gas locally, which are produced from associated sources, has made government to rethink its commitment to supply the commodity to other countries.

Nigeria was recently fined $10 million by Ghana over her inability to meet the contractual agreement on gas supply to the West African country.

But the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said that though Nigeria has vast deposit of gas, the growing demand for the one produced through oil production at the local market will continue to put pressure on supply to third parties.

The $20 billion trans-Saharan project when completed, will transport about 30-billion cubic metres of natural gas from Warri through Niger Republic to Algeria and to Spain and Europe. It will be operated by the NNPC and Sonatrach of Algeria, both of which will hold 90 per cent shares of the equities of the project.

The national oil company of Niger Republic, SONIDEP, will hold 10 per cent equity.

Meanwhile, the NNPC’s view was shared by Head, Oil and Gas research Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Kanya Williams James, who maintained that

gas exploration and production contracts are yet to be commercial.

This, he said, was due to disparity in local and international gas prices regime.

“Gas price will be inelastic until it is $15 per standard cubic feet (scuf),” he said.

While noting that security is an issue, Kanya, however, said that oil and gas businesses could be done when the security issues are minimal.

“As we are talking now, bombs are flying everywhere CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

L-R: Marketing Manager, DANA Motors Limited, Mr Peter Ayewoh; Executive Director North, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Mr Adams Nuru and Head Retail Asset Products, Mr Oljire Awofisibe, at the launch of the FCMB/DANA Motor Alliance on Auto loan in Abuja. PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

Experts query FAAN’s $560m revenue from just two sources Wole Shadare

A

staggering amount of $560 million was generated by the aviation sector last year as taxes from tickets and security paid by each passenger that travelled through the Murtala Mu-

hammed International Airport, Lagos and other international airports across the country.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had given international traffic for all the international airports at about 11 million, amounting to

$400 million, while each traveler was charged $20 amounting to $220 million.

However, experts and other users of the aerodromes have begun to query why there is this humungous revenue just CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

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 Oct 31)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N170.50 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N278 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N217

l Foreign Reserves – $38.76bn as at 29/10/2014

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Official As at Oct 31)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N156.76 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N252.02 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N199.32

30

Business | News

PACT

Aero has had serious challenges over the last few years

Wole Shadare

S

outh African Airways (SAA) has held preliminary talks to code share with Nigeria’s leading airline, Aero Contractors, in a bid to reap from the huge passenger traffic between Johannesburg, South Africa and one of Africa’s most populous cities, Lagos.

Although, details of the deal is yet to be made public, a very reliable source said that the “discussion was fruitful.”

New Telegraph learnt that the talks had to do with both carriers’ exchange of passengers on the route they operate, and feeding into each other’s traffic in Lagos.

Aero has had serious challenges over the last few years following the takeover of the airline by government-owned Asset Management Company (AMOCON).

Currently, the legacy partners are seeking the permission of the court to repossess the airline.

SAA on its part has been bedevilled with boardroom crisis, which led to the sack of six board members penultimate week, while the government owned carrier is willing to sell

South African Airways holds code share talks with Aero stake to a willing technical partner to turnaround the beleaguered carrier.

In the past, Air Nigeria entered into a code share pact with Ethiopian Airways after the latter accepted to be technical partner to the former.

The deal later collapsed after Air Nigeria ceased operations two years ago.

A codeshare agreement is an aviation business arrangement where two or more airlines share the same flight.

(Sharing in this sense means that each airline publishes and market the flight under its own airline designator and flight number as part of its published time table/ schedule.)

For instance, a seat can be purchased on each airline’s designator and flight number, but is actually operated by only one of these cooperating airlines, commonly called the operating carrier or more precisely (and in line with definitions in IATA) Standard Schedules Information Manual.

Most of the major airlines today have code sharing partnerships with other airlines. Code sharing is a key feature of the major airline alliances.

Experts query FAAN’s $560m revenue CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

from two sources out of the over 50 sources of revenue that are opened to the several agencies of government.

They told New Telegraph that what is deplorable about the taxes and other charges that rank Nigeria, as one of the countries with high charges is that it is not reflected in the upgrade of airport facilities and there are still bureaucratic bottlenecks when seeking for flight approvals and other requests from Nigeria.

A visit to many of the airports shows that the level of remodeling work done does not in any way match the huge revenue coming from the aviation industry.

Some of the remodeled airports have started decaying. The claddings used for aesthetics have started falling off; further exposing the underbelly of the entire airports projects.

Sources told New Telegraph that the $560 million is just a conservative

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

estimate of what the airport authority rakes in from the two sources of revenue, arguing that the figure could be more.

Aviation analyst, Francis Ayigbe said the FAAN is highly constrained to spend what it generates because of its spending limits, adding that like the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), they generate revenue to the coffers of government while just little money is appropriated to it.

According to Ayigbe, “It makes sense to privatise the airports because the new owners would be ready to spend money to provide basic facilities like what Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited is doing at the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, which as at today has some of the best facilities”.

It has been established that Ghana, for instance, charges zero taxes for cargo export and relatively minimum charges for scheduled flight operations for international destinations.

Typically, code-sharing agreements are also a part of the commercial agreements between air-

lines in the same airline alliances.

When a flight is sold under several designa-

tors and flight numbers as described above, the one published by the “Administrating carri-

er” is commonly called a “prime flight” (as opposed to a codeshare marketing flight).

L-R: Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Walter Drenth and winner of Gulder Ultimate Search 11, Chinedu Ubachukwu, receiving a dummy cheque of N10 million star prize and dummy keys to the brand new SUV,at the Gulder Ultimate Search 11 Reveal party, at the Women Development Centre, Awka, Anambra State.

Shell, Chevron, others flare 800m gas scuf daily –FG WASTE

Nigeria loses N300 billion to gas flaring daily Adeola Yusuf

C

ompanies operating in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry now flare a cumulative 800 million cubic feet of gas on daily basis, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said at the weekend.

Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, Dr. David Ige, disclosed this, quoting a new data from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), on the side-line of the Nigeria Gas Association (NGA) in Abuja.

Shell, Chevron, Total, Eni and other firms whose daily operations led to the new volume of gas flaring, control the oil exploration and production in Nigeria.

“We are flaring less than 1 billion cubic feet per day. According to DPR, about 800m cubic feet is flared per day,” Ige said.

Although Ige perceived this new volume of flaring as an improvement, checks revealed that Nigeria loses N300 billion to the gas flaring daily.

With the new gas price of $2.5 per cubic feet, the 800 million scuf flared amounts to the loss of N300 billion daily.

Ige admitted that there is 760 million scuf gas shortfalls, which is hampering power generation.

He, however, promised that

the Integrated Power Plants (NIPP) across the country would soon enjoy adequate gas supply.

“All eastern NIPPs will have gas supply very soon,” he promised, adding that “the entire gas requirement of NIPP in the east will be met within the next three to four months.”

He affirmed that all “the Western demand will also be addressed.”

Meanwhile, the legal lacuna on gas flaring deadline, which the National Assembly created, has been on for 23 months.

The latest deadline for gas flaring in Nigeria expired on December 31, 2012 and the legislators have neither renewed nor reviewed the deadline since then.

Nigeria’s gas supply project threatened CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

in Iraq but drilling is still going on in the country,” he said.

Executive Director, APPA Fund for Technical Cooperation, Babafemi Oyewole, the Partner, Detail Commercial Solicitors, Dolapo Kukoyi and Managing Director, UBA Capital, Mr Wole Shonibare, said that slow execution of the trans-Saharan project, corruption and nepotism are

parts of problems facing gas investment in Nigeria.

“Average Life cycle for completion of the project in Africa is seven years, while in Europe it is three years,” Shonibare said.

The problem, he explained, is that promoters of projects in Nigeria are individual rather than been institutional. “Those of institutions are the promoters of projects in Europe and

Western world, but the challenge we have in this part of the world is individual and in most cases those that have secured political favouratism are the ones that are promoting some of the projects.

“In this case, financial institutions find these projects difficult to take to the market to raise money. Other challenges are low corporate governance models.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

Will reforms at NNPC, DPR curb industry’s rots? p.33

31

Energy

DPR gets financial autonomy p.34

Lobbying for Q4 allocation heightens IMPORT

Nigeria imports over 80 per cent of petrol required for her domestic use

• As PPPRA, fuel importers meet today

Adeola Yusuf

O

ver 28 fuel importers are jostling to secure permits in the delayed fourth quarter fuel allocation, which is “scheduled to be announced this week.”

New Telegraph gathered at the weekend that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulating Agency (PPPRA), which had concluded the presentation and defense of allocation-schedule for importation of about 1.8 million tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the quarter, is scheduled to meet with the importers before the allocation will be announced.

The federal government had, according to New Telegraph, held onto the fourth quarter fuel allocation last Thursday, the day in which the 600, 000 metric tons imports permits it issued for the third quarter supplementary allocation expired.

Nigeria imports over 80 per cent of petrol required for her domestic use as the 445,000 barrels per day refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna are operating below capacity.

The meeting with PPPRA is scheduled to hold with Managing Director of companies like A-Z, Aiteo, Avidor, BSR, Bovas, Conoil, Cybernetics, Folawiyo, Forte Oil,Gulf Treasures, Hyde, Integrated, Matrix, Mettle, NIPCO, Oando, Rainoil and Sahara on the meeting.

Others who received the let-

Adeola Yusuf

T

he Federal Government has revoked mineral titles it earlier issued to Dantata & Sawoe and 19 other mining companies for non-compliance.

The management of the Mining Cadastre Office, which announced this in a notice, directed the affected companies to “submit all records, maps, plans and all other documents concerning their respective mineral titles within 30 days to the office or the Mines Officer within the state where the mineral title is located.”

It also threatened to drag the affected companies to court if they fail to comply within the stipulated time frame.

The Mining Cadastre office would not hesitate to take

Fuel tanker-vessel

ter are Shorelink, Total, TSL, Mobil, Ascon, Hudson, Dee Jones, Techno and Masters Energy.

“The fourth quarter allocation is expected to have been approved yesterday and without sounding alarmist, the delay may put pressure on reserves and create a lacuna in the product’s supply in the event of scarcity.

“The minister of finance has called importers to a meeting on Monday while the im-

porters are also billed to meet with the Executive secretary of PPPRA on Tuesday (today).

The two meetings are compulsory for the Chief Executive Officers of these companies to attend,” an industry source had told New Telegraph.

Spokesperson for the PPPRA, Lanre Oladele did not pick calls put across to his mobile phone last Thursday, but a source at the agency confirmed that the PPPRA sent notice of the meeting to the importers

with a stern warning that their CEOs must attend in person.

The delay in the approval for the fourth quarter fuel imports permit was to sought out issues relating to subsidy on previous approvals.

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, findings by this newspaper revealed, had summoned all the Chief Executive Officers of oil marketing and trading (OM &T) companies in Nigeria to ‘a compulsory’ meeting yesteray

where issues on outstanding subsidy was discussed.

Further checks showed that the Executive Secretary, PPPRA, Farouk Ahmed, is also billed to meet with the importers at another meeting today (Tuesday, October 4).

The Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) is also expected to import over 1.4 million tonnes per quarter through crude-for-product swap agreements with traders.

FG revokes Dantata, 19 others’ mineral licences • Threatens to sue firms

necessary steps, including, but not limited to, legal action to ensure compliance with the provision of the Act, the notice read.

It continued: “Pursuant to Section 151(1) (b) & (c) of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007, Notice is hereby given to the underlisted companies/ mineral title holders that the honourable minister has revoked their mineral titles for non-compliance.”

The affected companies include Westcom Technologies Energy Ltd; C.G.C. Nigeria Limited; Indumine Industries Mineral Ltd; Boab Mining Nigeria Ltd; Qeeneb Construction

Co. Ltd; G.D.M. Communications Nig Ltd; Hampton Global Resources Ltd; Kwik-Fix International Ltd and Xmatrix 369 Ltd. Others are Dantata & Sawoe; L. C. Concrete Limited; Starlet Minerals Resources Services Company Limited; Holy-Field Agric and Industries Limited; Berachah Rock Quarries Limited; Chikopa Properties Nigeria Limited; Honsef Limited; Solid Rock Quarry Limited and Ambrit Investment Nigeria Limited.

Also affected are Thubok Geoprojekts Limited; Queeneb Construction Company Nige-

ria Limited; Mutual Dynamic Engineering Limited; Hebron Cares Nigeria Limited; Pilab International Nigeria Limited; Winnings Associate Limited; Geiconn Nigeria Limited; Clematrix Limited and Dai Jin Jia Investment Limited.

These companies had previously secured approval to mine either one or more of limestone, granite, barite, zinc, lead, gold, laterite, sand, copper and iron lead.

Meanwhile, the notice indicated that the revocation was based on the companies’ non-compliance with Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007

dormancy. non-submission of statutory report and non-payment of annual service fees.

The revocation of the mining titles of 19 companies based in the Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory was based on public Interest.

The affected mineral title holders, the Federal Government added, are also “to note that, notwithstanding the revocation of their mineral titles, they shall remain liable for the performance of any obligation arising out of environmental obligations incurred prior to the date of revocation as prescribed under section 155 of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007.”

32

Business | Energy

SHORT FALL

Power distribution firm records 800 MW supply shortfall Adeola Yusuf

T

he board of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) has invested over N1 billion on the rehabilitation of vandalised transformers, replacement of overhead conductors, completion of abandoned distribution projects and reduction of estimated billing issues.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Mr Abiodun Ajifowobaje, disclosed this during an interactive session with reporters in Lagos.

He said that IKEDC was currently receiving between 350 Mega Watts to 450 megawatts of electricity instead of a daily energy supply of 1,250 megawatts from the national grid.

Ajifowobaje, however, said that IKEDC is involved in talks with several partners to explore supply from embedded power generation, independent power projects and other sources, to improve supply.

The IKEDC, he said, would also roll out

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Equipment vandalism, others cost IKEDC N1bn –CEO 500,000 electricity prepaid meters to customers in the next three years.

According to him, IKEDC had also centralised its billing system and introduced the Automatic Meter Reading

system to drive accuracy and remote access to meters for efficiency and effective monitoring.

He said: “We have injected about N1 billion to improve electricity supply through the comple-

Oil in longest slump since 2008 Adeola Yusuf

T

he recent slide in crude oil prices has not affected Exxon Mobil Corporations plans to spend $37 billion over the next three years in Nigeria and other countries of operations, an executive told investors at the weekend.

“Our guidance is no different,” Jeff Woodbury, head of Exxon investor relations said, adding that the company plans to spend “just shy” of $37 billion from 2015 to 2017.

Exxon’s spending peaked at $42.5 billion in 2013, he said.

Meanwhile, a surge in refining profits boosted quarterly results at Exxon Mobil Corporation and Chevron Corporation, helping to offset declining oil and gas production and falling

boost electricity supply while about 115 abandoned transformer projects were almost completed in its various sites.

Promising that the installation would commence by December, the

Power sub-station

ExxonMobil sticks to $37bn budget for Nigeria, others NOSEDIVE

tion of on-going network expansion and rehabilitation projects within our network.”

About 40 vandalised transformers had, according to him, been repaired and installed to

crude oil prices.

Both companies reported better-thanexpected third-quarter profits last Friday, with executives touting the importance of owning massive refineries alongside oil and gas wells.

Refining profits tend to rise when oil prices fall, though low prices dent the profitability of wells.

Having both in a company stable can allow for a bit of insurance during price swings.

“Exxon Mobil’s quarterly results demonstrate the strength of our integrated business model,” Chief Executive Officer, Rex Tillerson, said in a statement after his company posted results.

Chevron, the secondlargest US oil producer after Exxon Mobil, said that production sagged as new wells failed to offset declines at old wells.

Still, the fall in crude oil prices in recent months - down about 25 per cent since July - helped profit at the company’s refining unit jump nearly fourfold.

“It was a common

theme for both companies,” said Brian Youngberg, an oil company analyst with Edward Jones in St. Louis. “Refining exceeded expectations and basically offset lower oil prices and the lack of production growth.”

Oil’s losing streak, it would be recalled, continued for the fourth consecutive month last Friday, with prices tumbling, as another round of monetary stimulus from Japan pumped up the US dollar and pounded a crude market already suffering from robust supply.

US crude dipped briefly below $80 a barrel before paring losses later in the day as short sellers closed their books for the month and took profits.

Pressure came from monthly surveys showing that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) made almost no effort to curb production this month even as oil prices extended a months-long rout to fouryear lows.

IKEDC CEO said that his company would ensure effective metering of customers currently without meters to stop estimated billing.

He said that the company was faced with challenges of inadequate meters and insufficient energy from the national grid.

He, however, said that IKEDC was working out modalities for a lasting solution to the problems.

“We are equally working on a robust metering model that will promote transparency in billing and eradicate energy theft to improve power supply to customers.

“To date, the company has installed over 5,000 pre-paid meters to customers at no cost since we took over the company,’’ he said.

Ajifowabaje said that obsolete and malfunctioning metres would also be replaced, adding that the company had made significant progress to ensure a robust metering system that would enhance accuracy in billing.

FG to engage students in fight against vandalism Johnchuks Onuanyim

Abuja

T

he Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has stated that the Federal Government is ready to partner with the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) for the protection of the nation’s infrastructure.

He said that the campaign would focus on vandalism so as to ensure that the goal of adequate and constant power for every Nigerian is made a reality.

According to statement by Deputy Director, Press, Mr Timothy Oyedeji, the minister spoke after receiving an award of excellence from the association led by its President, Usman Tijani.

He said that NANS as a responsible body would be engaged as agents of change in the fight against sabotage of government assets in the sector, a hazard, which had greatly undermined the efforts of both the past and present administration in the provision of uninterrupted power supply.

On capacity building, the minister said that the National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN) will, henceforth, incorporate students into its programme, as they would have

undergone necessary skill acquisition before graduation.

This, he observed, would enable them have seamless transition as mechanical and electrical engineers to contribute positively in the new power sector.

He also spoke about the plan of his ministry to leverage on its proposed National Power Sector Apprenticeship Scheme (NAPSAS) to reduce overdependence of the sector on foreign expertise, especially at the artisan, joinery, machinists and other categories of technical people.

Nebo also spoke about government’s plan to launch Energy Conservation and Energy efficiency initiative that will assist in substantially reducing energy consumption at household levels which would be made freely available for industrial uses.

“Our people have the right to know, NANS should be involved in our sensitisation efforts, as we will gladly support any robust programme aimed at building enterprise and patriotism,” he added.

Earlier, the NANS President had commended the Nebo-led power sector for “stabilising the sector, as there have been noticeable improvement in the supply of power nation-wide.”

Business | Energy

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan has effected major reforms in the 37 years existence of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and 43 years of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), writes ENERGY EDITOR, Adeola Yusuf

33

Will reforms at NNPC, DPR curb industry’s rots?

W

ithout the slightest hint of impending changes, President Goodluck Jonathan, last Tuesday, executed major reforms in the NNPC, as he approved the creation of a new office of the Deputy Group Managing Director (DGMD), the first ever since the creation of the corporation on April 1, 1977.

A few hours after, the president also empowered the oil and gas industry regulator, the DPR, to retain four per cent of the multi-million naira revenue, which it collects monthly.

By this approval, the DPR will no longer feature in Federal Government’s budgeting process.

The new office The new office of Deputy Group Managing Director is expected to strengthen the corporate governance structure of NNPC and help ensure that value for money and return on investment increasingly become key factors in all operational decisions.

Jonathan who also approved the appointment of Mr Bernard Otti, NNPCs current Group Executive Director (Finance and Accounts), as the new Deputy Group Managing Director/Group Executive Director (Finance and Accounts) of the corporation, disclosed that this was in furtherance of on-going efforts to transform the organisation into a commercially-driven entity.

The appointment of Mr Otti, who hails from Anambra State, came just three months after the President appointed Dr. Joseph Dahwa as GMD, NNPC through a major change that led to the exit of the former GMD, Andrew Yakubu, just a year before his retirement.

Otti has held senior positions in some of the largest financial institutions in Nigeria and internationally.

He has also served on the boards of numerous public and private institutions.

Autonomous budget Checks by New Telegraph showed that the new dispensation is likely to kick off in the 2015 fiscal year where these costs will be taken care of from the four per cent cost of collection approved for the agency by the president.

The DPR which collects revenue on behalf of the Federal Government and the other two tiers of government every month, had hitherto, depended on budgetary provisions for its operations.

In the 2014 budget, DPR got a total of N34.51 billion. The breakdown of this shows that N31.39 billion was allocated for personnel; N852.03 million for overhead and N2.27 billion for capital projects.

DPR is empowered by the Petroleum Act of 1969 as amended, to collect royalties on producing concessions on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Monies so collected are paid into a designated Royalty Account with the

Jonathan

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and credited to the federation account on a monthly basis.

The long road to reform The Minister of States for Finance, Bashir Yuguda, had recently written President Goodluck Jonathan on the need to grant cost retention to DPR just like other agencies that collect revenues for government.

The president, however, granted the approval that set DPR at par with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

In addition, it has established National Data Repository, NDR, which provides a digital platform for DPR regulatory activities and the National Production Monitoring System, NPMS, which provides the platform for transmission of production & export data by companies to DPR and for the generation of certificate of quantity at terminals and FPSO during crude loading.

With 21 branch offices for effective monitoring of oil and gas facilities nationwide, the agency has metamorphosed over the years, taking up and shedding responsibilities to reflect its status at each point in time.

As far back as the early 1950’s, the DPR was established and named the Hydrocarbon Section of the Ministry of Lagos Affairs and reported to the then Governor-General and was later upgraded to a Petroleum Division within the then Ministry of Mines and Power.

In 1970, the Division was renamed the Department of Petroleum Resources, but retained its statutory supervisory role in the industry, when the Nigerian National Oil Corporation (NNOC) was created to engage in commercial activities in 1971.

By 1975, it was constituted into the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, but excised from energy matters, and be-

Diezani Alison-Madueke

came the Petroleum Inspectorate Department in 1977, when the ministry and the NNOC were merged to form the NNPC. The GMD The president who has promised to ensure smooth transformation of the NNPC had on August 1, 2014, effected major changes in the top echelon of the corporation with the sack of Yakubu as well as the former Managing Director of its subsidiary, Exploration and Production (E&P) company, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Mr Victor Briggs.

Dr. Joseph Thlama Dawha, who had served previously as the Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production of NNPC, was appointed by Jonathan as the new GMD of NNPC, while Briggs, who only last March took over from Abiye Membere, will make way for Mr Anthony Ugonna Muoneke as the new Managing Director of NPDC. A statement from the Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, through

The new office of Deputy Group Managing Director is expected to strengthen the corporate governance structure of NNPC and help ensure that value for money and return on investment increasingly become key factors in all operational decisions

which the transformation was announced, stated that the appointments and changes in the management of NNPC and NPDC will take immediate effect.

Those who were also appointed alongside Dahwa are Ms Aisha Mata Abdurrahman as the Group Executive Director (GED), Commercial and Investment of NNPC as well as Dr. Attahir Yusuf as the GED Business Development of the corporation.

The new GMD, Dawha, is from Borno State. He had also worked for the corporation as the Managing Director of Integrated Data Services Ltd (IDSL), a subsidiary of the NNPC. The erstwhile GMD, Yakubu was appointed in June 2012, with some new group executive management team. He took over from Oniwon, who retired having attained the mandatory retirement age of 60 in 2011.

Announcing Yakubu’s appointment in 2012, the president, through Abati, said in the statement that his appointment was “to further strengthen the on-going reforms and transformation of Nigeria’s petroleum sector, and in furtherance of efforts to achieve greater transparency and accountability in government.”

But under him, the NNPC had gone through series of challenges that threatened its integrity and accountability as a state-owned oil company; one of such was the disagreements between the NNPC and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over alleged unremitted $49.8 billion crude oil revenue.

Conclusion The reforms, which those at the Presidency and at the NNPC preferred to be addressed as transformation, is a welcome development if it will address the cries and woes of Nigerians for transparency and accountability in the country’s oil and gas sector. Only time will tell.

34

Business | Energy

SOVEREIGN

The regulating agency now has right to keep four per cent of its monthly revenue Adeola Yusuf

N

igeria’s oil and gas regulator, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), has secured the Federal Government’s nod to retain four per cent of the revenue, which it collects monthly.

Consequently, DPR will no longer feature in Federal Government’s budgeting process.

The DPR which collects revenue on behalf of the Federal Government and the other two tiers of government every month, had hitherto, depended on budgetary provisions for its operations.

In the 2014 budget, DPR got a total of N34.51 billion. A breakdown shows that N31.39 billion was allocated for personnel; N852.03 million for overhead and N2.27 billion for capital projects.

Checks by New Telegraph showed that the new dispensation is likely to kick off in the 2015 fiscal year.

DPR is empowered by the Petroleum Act

DPR gets financial autonomy of 1969 as amended, to collect royalties on producing concessions on behalf of the Federal Government. Monies so collected are paid into a designated Royalty Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

T

and credited to the federation account on a monthly basis.

The Minister of States for Finance, Bashir Yuguda, recently wrote President Goodluck Jonathan on the need to grant cost retention to DPR just

like other agencies that collect revenues for government.

The President, however, granted the approval that set DPR at par with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Customs

Service (NCS).

FIRS also receive four per cent of its collection as cost incurred.

Last September, for instance, the service retained N5.84 billion from Value Added Tax, Company Income Tax, Personal In-

come Tax and other taxes collected for government.

NCS, on the other hand, receives seven per cent as cost of collection.

In September, the service retained N3.63 billion as cost of revenue collection.

NNPC headquarters, Abuja

Europe must fight export ban, says Total’s new boss he new head of French energy major, Total, challenged Europe to fight Washington over the US oil export ban, in his first public appearance since his predecessor, Christophe de Margerie, was killed in a Moscow plane crash last week.

Patrick Pouyanne said at the weekend that the export ban flouts free-trade agreements and puts European and Asian refiners at a disadvantage, making a bold appeal to European politicians.

“We need to fight and put this topic on the table,” Pouyanne said during a sometimesemotional appearance at London’s annual Oil & Money conference, where de Margerie had been a popular speaker over the years.

“I hope the European Commission raises this issue ... the refiners in Europe and Asia are suffering from one rule.

That is the US cannot export oil.”

Painted by some as a quieter figure to lead Total by comparison with

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

de Margerie - who was known as “The Big Moustache’ for his charisma, risk-taking, and elaborate facial hair - former refining head Pouyanne said he would keep the company on the course set by his predecessor.

But his pointed comments on US policy, made during a near-45 minute long question and answer session that was met with a rare standing ovation, suggested he has inherited some of his flamboyant mentor’s talent for controversy.

De Margerie was an outspoken critic of US and European sanctions against countries like Russia and Iran, arguing business relations forge deeper ties between countries and increase understanding.

He was also not afraid of making bold statements at odds with many in the often conservative industry, saying oil production would peak and struggle to keep up with rising demand back in 2008 as prices raced to a record high near $150 a barrel.

NO PRESSURE

Exporter group says its members are in no hurry to cut output Adeola Yusuf

O

il production by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is unlikely to change much in 2015 and there is no need to panic at the crude price drop, OPEC’s secretary general, Abdullah al-Badri said at the weekend, adding to indications the exporter group is in no hurry to cut output.

Al-Badri also said output of higher-cost oil supplies such as shale would be curbed if oil remained at around $85 a barrel, while the OPEC enjoys lower costs and will see higher demand for its crude in the longer term.

Oil drop below the $100mark, the level many OPEC members had endorsed, has raised the question of whether OPEC will cut supply when it meets in November.

Badri said OPEC’s output was unlikely to change much next year, adding to signs a decision to cut in November is unlikely.

“I don’t think 2015 will be far away from 2014 in terms of production,” Badri told reporters in London at the an-

OPEC anticipates little output change in 2015 nual Oil & Money conference.

“There is nothing wrong with the market.” Brent crude LCOc1 has dropped more than a quarter from above $115 per barrel in June as abundant supplies of high-quality oil such as US shale have overwhelmed demand in many markets, filling stocks worldwide.

But lower prices pose a threat to supply outside OPEC. While OPEC’s oil production costs are low, as much as half of shale output would be under threat if prices remain at current levels, Badri said.

“If prices stay at $85, we will see a lot of investment, a lot of oil, going out of the market,” he told the conference.

“About 65 percent of the producers, they have high costs.

Not OPEC.” Badri did not predict the outcome of OPEC’s meeting on Nov. 27, saying the decision was up to the group’s oil ministers, and appealed for calm over the decline in prices.

“We do not see much change in the fundamentals.

Demand is still growing, supply is also growing. OPEC is reviewing the situation,”

he said. The most important thing is we should not panic,” he said.

“Unfortunately, everybody is panicking. We really need to sit, and think and see how this will develop.”

He dismissed suggestions that OPEC countries, in setting lower official selling prices for their crude oil, have embarked on a price war to preserve market share.

Badri declined to specify a level at which oil prices might find a floor, saying OPEC did not have a price target but would instead leave that to the market.

“OPEC’s average price will still be $100 at the end of this year so we are fine for 2014,” he said. “The fundamentals do not reflect this low price.

OPEC does not have a price target. We must let the market settle down.”

Brent LCOc1 was trading around $87.30 by 10.30 a.m.

EDT after reaching a fouryear low of $82.60 two weeks ago. Badri said last month that he expected OPEC to lower its oil output target when it meets in Vienna, which would be its first formal output cut since the 2008 financial crisis.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

LagHOMs: Lagos to roll out more housing schemes p.36 STOCK TAKING No additional delivery of a large modern shopping mall in Lagos since 2011 Dayo Ayeyemi

D

35

Property&Environment Hurdles to delivery of large-scale malls, by experts NCF seeks govt attention for slum dwellers p.37

espite the modern retail revolution in Nigeria, which gave birth to the development of Palms Shopping Mall in 2005, renovation of the Adeniran Ogunsanya Shopping Mall in 2011 and opening of the Ikeja Mall in 2011, experts at MCO Real Estate have listed some of the hurdles inhibiting the delivery of more large scale mall developments in Lagos metropolis.

The experts noted that though UPDC’s Festival Mall in Festac is currently under construction and is due to be delivered in 2015, there has been no additional delivery of a large modern shopping mall in Lagos since 2011.

The obstacles In the Q3 2014, Lagos Real Estate Investment report released at the weekend by MCO firm, the experts/analysts mentioned hurdles that need to be surmounted in order to deliver large scale mall developments in Lagos.

The hurdles, according to them, included clean title to large tracts of land, easy access to fast planning permission and lining up the required financing, among others This corroborates World Bank’s Doing Business in Nigeria 2014 report released last week, in which Lagos State performance was not too impressive.

As the largest commercial city in Nigeria that has attracted many foreign investors, one would have expected Lagos State to outperform others in improving its business environment.

However, the DBN 2014 report showed that Lagos State improved only in one of the indicators: starting a business. Other indicators adopted by the report in measuring performance included dealing with construction permit, registering property and enforcing contracts.

The analysts at MCO Real Estate noted that while large modern malls were limited, numerous smaller mall developers were securing land, gaining planning permission, undergoing construction and becoming fully let out in very short time.

“As regards time to market, it does appear that bigger may not always be better,” they expressed.

Taking critical analysis of real estate sector in Q3, the report showed that land prices were stable. It noted that while it seemed to be an over-supply in residential apartments, commercial property, on the other hand, was experiencing strong supply meeting strong demand.

Hospitality vibrant It also emphasised that hospi-

Ikeja Shopping Mall

tality segment of real estate was vibrant as new players have been seeking entry due to high room rates and high occupancy. From the report, local financing is still a big challenge.

On commercial real estate, the analysts stated that there has been increased interest in commercial office space in the hubs of Victoria Island and Ikoyi, noting that interest for grade A office space has been on the high side.

Distinction Going by the increased interest from institutional investors in the commercial office segment of the market, the analysts noted that it has led to developers seeking to differentiate themselves through the delivery of higher quality buildings, including green credentials, improved ICT and better car parking allowances.

Moreover, they explained that increase in interest from institutional investors seeking to buy fully let grade A buildings has shown that it is easier to exit from investments, making the market more attractive for equity investors.

The analysts said: “There is also a strong supply pipeline of high quality office space coming to the market through 2015 into 2016. With prime rents currently at $1,000 per square metre, this will ensure rents remain stable.”

On residential segment, the report stated that the prime residential apartment tower market with sale prices starting from N100 million ($600,000) has continued to suffer from a supply overhang built up during the economic re-

Even with the MPR rate at 12 per cent for the past three years, coupled with a gradual fall in inflation rates, lending rates have stubbornly refused to fall to levels anywhere near the MPR and currently stand at circa 22 per cent

cession.

This, it stated, was further hindered with a withdrawal of traditional sources of demand in particular from the international oil companies who with a new focus on offshore assets have reduced staff numbers and housing requirements.

At the opposite end of the market, the experts expressed in the report that the low to middle housing market has benefited from rising incomes, leading to an increased ability of the low to middle class to afford to move from rented to owned occupation.

On real estate financing, the experts noted that the Nigerian Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), the rate at which banks lend to each other, currently stands at 12 per cent and that it has held at this rate since September 2011.

High lending rates “Even with the MPR rate at 12 per cent for the past three years, coupled with a gradual fall in inflation rates, lending rates have stubbornly refused to fall to levels anywhere near the MPR and currently stand at circa 22 per cent,” the experts said.

According to them, the quantitative tightening instituted by the Central Bank of Nigeria in recent times has also led to banks scrambling to shore up their capital bases with even less of an incentive to lend to the real sector But they said that the finance story is much more positive for institutional grade prime real estate development where expected rental receipts are denominated

in dollars.

The experts see hope of home ownership when the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company fully commence operation.

They said: “In addition to this Federal Government/private sector driven initiative, both commercial and mortgage banks are now seeing the housing sector as offering consistent and repeatable investment returns. The time taken for housing developers to find off-takers and sell out schemes is shortening with a greater percentage of buyers able to access mortgages rather than the traditional means of paying the entire sales price within one year.

“It is hoped that with the introduction of the NMRC, institutional investors will also be drawn to the sector with the expectation that large scale development using new rapid build technology will help to lower the cost of housing in the country.”

Ebola They also noted that knock on effect of Ebola has been a considerable increase in visitor numbers to the country and attendant rise in hotel occupancy rates, adding that the vibrant hotel market is a draw for international operators.

“Expected growth in hotel rooms by the Protea Group, Marriot and Starwood, among others, over the coming years, is put into perspective by a recent PWC Hospitality Report which has highlighted estimated total hotel room revenue to grow by 150 per cent over the next four years,” they said.

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Business | Property & Environment

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Building collapse: Engineers seek more legislation LEGISLATURE Structural design and supervision of structures, must be handled by competent engineers Stories by Dayo Ayeyemi

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orried by the continued incidences of building collapse in the country, which have claimed many lives in recent times, the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NIStructE) has called on the Federal Government to back competent and qualified practice of structural engineering in Nigeria through legislation.

The built environment professionals made the call in the communiqué issued at the end of the 27th Conference and Annual General Meeting of the institution held in Lagos.

The communiqué was signed by the institution’s President, Dr. S. K. Ilugbekhai, an engineer.

The theme of the conference is “Effect of cement strength on concrete performance,” aimed at nipping avoidable buildings collapse in the bud, saving lives and avoiding waste of national resources.

This, they noted, could be achieved through advocacy on the proper use of cement for the production of concrete, which is the predominant structural material in the low/medium rise zone of the built environment where the incidences of building collapse are most prevalent in Nigeria.

Justifying the call, the group explained that structural engineers are specialists trained to design and superintend the construction of structures and structural systems, “of which buildings are just an aspect,” for their integrity, good performance, safety and comfort of the users The group argued that structural design and supervision of structures should be handled by only competent and qualified structural engineers.

Besides, the professionals also want the checking and approval of buildings for construction to be done by or under the supervision of a competent and qualified structural

engineer in the office of the relevant approving authorities.

All these demands, the structural engineers said, are to ensure the prevention of loss of lives and colossal wastage of resources associated with the avoidable incidences of collapse of buildings in Nigeria.

The communiqué stated: The construction of buildings should be handled by a team of competent technical personnel, one of whom must be a structural engineer, to ensure the integrity and efficiency of the structure throughout its life span.”

On the issue of proliferation of substandard iron rods in the country, the group urged

I

Fashola

“Only clean and potable water should be used for the production of concrete to avoid chemical impurities which have adverse effects on concrete,” he said.

The conference requested the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers to spearhead more collaboration with SON, universities, polytechnics, research institutions, manufacturers and other stakeholders to provide the professional, intellectual and scientific expertise to complement the current objectives of ensuring global best practices in the correct application of cement for the production of concrete.

Rescue operation at the collapsed building of Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos recently

LagHOMs: Lagos to roll out more housing schemes n order to ensure the sustainability of the Lagos Home Ownership Scheme (LagHOMs), the state government has assured of the rolling out of more housing schemes to meet the demand of the people.

Executive Secretary of Lagos State Mortgage Board, (LSMB), Mr Akinola KojoSagoe, gave the assurance during the last draws where 34 people emerged as new

the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to effectively enforce the production of high yield and mild steel rods with characteristic strengths of 460N/mm2 and 250N/mm2 of appropriate sizes respectively.

They also want SON to compel all steel manufacturers to clearly label their products by size and yield strength and issue certificates of quality assurance on every consignment.

The group warned that the use of beach sand, especially in Lagos, for block making and the construction of buildings be stopped because of the negative short and long term effects of salt on reinforcement and other components of concrete.

homeowners in the state.

Kojo-Sagoe disclosed that in no distant time, upcoming schemes at Sangotedo in Ibeju-Lekki; Omole in Ikeja; Oko-Oba in Agege; Ajara in Badagry; Magodo II and Iponri would be ready for draws.

He stated that the schemes available for the draw were the Alhaja Adetoun Mustapha and Olaitan Mustapha schemes in Ojokoro; Rotimi Shotomiwa Estate in Igbogbo, Ikorodu; Igando Gardens in Alimosho; Ilupeju Scheme; Mushin Scheme and Shogunro Schemes one and two in Ogba.

Kojo-Sagoe explained that the last home winners were selected out of the 93 applicants that were pre-qualified for the draw, adding that the winners met the criteria for participation in the scheme.

“The housing sector has become a major focus of this administration through the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme,” he said.

State Deputy Governor,

Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, stated that government would not relent on its promise to deliver at least 200 homes every month while appealing to tax-paying residents of the state to key into the scheme.

She added that the scheme was the state government’s intervention strategy to reduce the housing deficit in the country.

The deputy governor urged new home winners to continuously spread the news to their families and friends so that they too could benefit from the initiative.

She said: “This scheme does not encourage discrimination in terms of religion or race; people from different parts of the country and of different religious backgrounds have won in the past draws and are now proud homeowners by virtue of just being Lagos residents, with evidence of tax payment and the Lagos State Resident Registration Agency’s identification card.”

India relaxes rules on foreign investment in property ndia has relaxed its rules on where project size is genIstruction, overseas investment in con- erally small, yet requires which is expected to heavy investment, due to give a huge boost to property development in the country.

The government’s union cabinet, according to World Property Channel’s report, has approved measures including reducing the minimum foreign direct investment (FDI) requirement in construction development to $5 million from $10 million and lowering the minimum built-up area demanded of overseas investors to 20,000 square metres from 50,000 square metres. India has also eased the exit rules for foreign investors in the sector.

Head of the Real Estate and Construction sector at KPMG in India, Neeraj Bansal, said: “The recent relaxation of FDI norms in construction development is expected to provide an immediate breather to the cashstrapped real estate sector.

“In the near term, we expect the policy to support housing and commercial office projects in metro cities such as Delhi and Mumbai,

expensive land parcels and high construction cost.”

India’s government in a statement said that the changes in the rules are expected to result in more inflows into the industry, with development of affordable housing and smart cities among the areas of the property sector that could stand to benefit the most.

The new Indian government, which came to power in May in a landslide victory, is aiming to develop 100 smart cities across the country. There are urban housing shortages in India, so it is hoped that the eased rules will help alleviate such problems.

Experts also note that there could be other benefits.

CEO of RealtyCompass, Nimesh Bhandari, said: “The government’s decision to relax the FDI norms in the real estate sector is very encouraging as it will reduce the cost of funds for builders significantly and would translate into lower prices for the endconsumers.”

Business | Property & Environment

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

37

Planners tasked on revitalisation of Nigerian cities BEST PRACTICES Strong and incorruptible institutional framework is required to run the cities Stories by Dayo Ayeyemi

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oday, 3.3 billion people are already living in cities and by 2030 that number will have risen to almost five billion, according to United Nations (UN)’s estimates. It goes further that the total population is increasing by 280,000 people per day and the bulk of the increase is occurring in less developed regions with promoting economic growth.

Worried by this, stakeholders that gathered at the weekend in Lagos have tasked settlement experts in the country to assist in the revitalisation of Nigerian housing and urban development sector.

Leading the calls during the 45th Annual General Meeting/ Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners in Lagos, was President Goodluck Jonathan.

Represented by the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs Akon Eyakenyi, the president lamented the state of Nigerian cities, saying that despite the urban growth, it has become worrisome that cities in the country do not contribute much to economic growth.

He said: “The contribution of our cities to economic growth is embarrassingly low compared to other developed and emerging countries. There is no doubt that careful management of cities and the physical manifestation of urbanisation provides a strong springboard for sustaining and up-scaling national economic growth trends.”

The president further stated that in the near future, there would be over 800 urban settlements, including Lagos, with about 15 million people and 10 other millionaire cities as well as many other intermediate cities.

The president disclosed plans to help the Lagos State government in managing its population through the development of housing and relevant infrastructure, adding that programmes have been lined up to contain population explosion in Lagos.

He said: “When there is de-

velopment, people tend to move there. Government is coming up with diverse projects in the state. We have concessioned the FESTAC Phase II. It is made up of housing project which will help the surge in population.”

Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, Mr Reuben Okaya, an architect, charged town planners to rise to the challenge of quackery and eliminate the works of impostors to give Nigerians the type of human environment that is conducive for living, work, recreation and interaction in peace and harmony to promote growth and development.

These, Okoya said, would be achievable through creative thinking, proactive steps and effective management of resources within their disposal for the benefit of people they plan for.

He said: I make bold to say that Nigerians are earnestly waiting for town planners to ‘cut the shots’ to give our cities the befitting status, physically functional structures, balanced land use patterns, aesthetic beauty and environmental quality to promote growth and development in safety in this nation as well as helping out other nations

Makoko waterfront community, Lagos

in this sub-region.”

Justifying the theme of the conference - “Management of cities in developing economy: Issues, challenges and opportunities,” President of NITP, Mr Steve Onu, said that the theme of the conference was expected to benefit all professionals, administrators and city managers based on the calls over the year on the need for planning the human settlements which has been emerging sporadically leaving the administrators helplessly in search of ways of navigating through the challenges the cities imposed on them.

He said: “Even though these settlements have emerged, in most cases, without any development plan, and have grown from small towns to cities, to metropolis, and as in Lagos, to a mega city, their administrators are faced with the challenge of provision of basic necessities of life as well as the necessary physical and social infrastructure to make these settlements liveable.

“We have also found out from our experience that no matter how beautiful a development plan may look, how grandiose the implementation programme and execution of development, projects resulting from the programme may appear, its post development management holds the key. Most of our towns and cities lack the legal and administrative framework required for their management.”

President, Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC), Professor Layi Egunjobi, noted that urban planners have been faced with formidable challenges on how to manage the consequences of rapidly growing cities and evolving new strategies that would make the city centres of economic development in the face of sharply limited resources.

He explained that managing the cities has become one of the most critical challenges of the 21st century as a result of the uncontrolled and unplanned sprawling of the cities.

He said: “This rapid process causes a lot of different ecologi-

cal, economic, social and infrastructural problems and risk.

Considering the high density and large number of inhabitants combined with the accelerated urban development, cities in particular run highest risks in cases of natural and manmade disasters.”

Despite the importance of economic growth, social wellbeing and sustainability to present and future generations, the university lecturer stated that cities have not received the level of attention they required in the study of global economic change.

“They are not just risk areas; they also hold best chances for sustainable future. They are the engines of economic growth and social development. It is hoped that participants will be exposed to new tools, techniques, and policies that are required as baseline and the social, economic and environmental factors associated with Nigeria cities,” he said.

He urged participants to come up with valuable recommendations to improve on the capacity to manage the urban centres in the country. This is with a view to adopting best practices in approach and procedures towards the attainment of identifying spatial tools, general principles, norms and standards.

President, Ghana Institute of Planners, Dr. Steve Yirenkyi, noted that city management and urban governance go out of control because planning standards were no longer respected while regenerating of city could not be sustained due to twin factors of cost and pace.

This unfortunate situation, he said, has called for a strong and incorruptible institutional framework required to run the cities.

“The question is: Can Africa be without corruption, can planning overcome politics so that sanity will prevail in our built environment? Shall we throw our hands up in despair and allow the cities to go down the drain with our noble profession?

I hope not,” he said.

NCF seeks govt attention for slum dwellers W orried by the plight of urban slum dwellers across Nigeria, environmentalists at the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) have called stakeholders in all sectors of the society to come to their aid in order to make life more meaningful to them.

According to NCF, slum dwellers need more attention in the areas of education, health care delivery, social infrastructure and development.

At the 2014 World Habitat Day celebration organised by the Nigerian Conservation with the support of the MTN Nigeria Communication Limited, partici-

pants, including children, stressed the need for serious interventions of government and corporate bodies in the life of the slum dwellers.

The theme of 2014 World Habitat Day celebration is: “Voices from slum.”

NCF, for some weeks, assembled school pupils to go to about seven selected slum communities in Lagos and document the social and environmental peculiarity of each slum as it concerns their problems and threat, while suggesting solutions through creative art works depicting “Life in Lagos slum.”

The objective is to give a voice to slum communities

in relations to the theme.

Speaking at the final presentation of the art works by the pupils, Director General of the NCF, Mr Adeniyi Karunwi, expressed concern that people in slums were disproportionate affected by climate change, with houses often built precariously on slopes or unsuitable building space and with inadequate materials making them vulnerable to landslides, floods and earthquakes.

He said: “NCF in support of this global corn has locally engaged her school Conservation Clubs to project Lagos slum scenario in a creative manner that engages the student on learning about the social and

environmental concerns of the slum dwellers. This we are sure will contribute to the Millennium Development Goals of improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by year 2020.”

An environmental activist, Desmond Majekodunmi, linked the challenges faced by the slum dwellers to environmental concerns. According to him, the more we have bad environment, the more we have bad slums hence, the need to stay alive by protecting the environment.

Quoting the United Nations Secretary - General, Bank Moon, Majekodunmi said: “Ensuring that our towns and cities expand in a well-planned and managed

Ensuring that our towns and cities expand in a well-planned and managed way is not only necessary to meeting the housing needs of our growing urban population, it is also vital for combating climate change, protecting the environment and supporting sustainable development

way is not only necessary to meeting the housing needs of our growing urban population, it is also vital for combating climate change, protecting the environment and supporting sustainable development. Let us focus on a new urban agenda that leave no one behind.”

The Founder of Slum 2 School Initiative, Otto Orodaam, enjoined people to be part of solutions to the challenges facing the slum dwellers. Orodaam whose initiative has facilitated about 650 pupils of a popular Makoko, Lagos slum, to have access to education challenged the youth to be proactive and take initiatives that solve societal problem.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

38

Aviation

Four Nigeria travel agencies merge p.39 It is not a good story to tell. While many countries in Europe, Asia and the United States are modernising their airports for expansion for A380 aircraft, save for a few African nations like South Africa, Cote d’ Ivoire, airports in the continent have no facilities for the superjumbo jet, writes, Aviation Editor, WOLE SHADARE

Arik flies over 15m passengers in eight years p.40

A380: Poor infrastructure exposes Africa’s soft underbelly

The super-jumbo jet The Airbus A380 is a doubledeck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by Airbus. It is the world’s largest passenger airliner, and the airports at which it operates have upgraded facilities to accommodate it.

The plane dwarfs every commercial jet in the skies. Its wingspan barely fits inside a football field. It was initially named Airbus A3XX and designed to challenge Boeing’s monopoly in the large-aircraft market. The A380 made its first flight on April 27, 2005 and entered commercial service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines.

Competing conclusions A little over a decade ago, the two dominant airplane makers, Boeing and Airbus, looked at where their businesses were headed and saw similar facts: air traffic doubling every 15 years, estimates that the number of travellers would hit four billion by 2030 - and came to radically different conclusions about what those numbers meant for their future.

“The A380 is not made for every route, but it is ideal for high-traffic routes, high-volume routes that are congested, or where there are flying constraints,” says Antonio Da Costa, the head of A380 marketing for Airbus.

The A380-800 has a design range of 15,700 kilometres (8,500 nmi; 9,800 mi), sufficient to fly non-stop from Dubai to Los Angeles and a cruising speed of Mach0.85 (about 900 km/h, 560 mph or 490 kn at cruising altitude).

Africa’s poor airports facilities The discourse is not about comparison of the airplane with its bitter rival’s B747, which dominated the skies for decades, it is about the lack of infrastructure by virtually all the airports in Africa to handle the magnificent bird.

Air France had last month de-

Etihad interior

ployed the A380 on three weekly rotations between its Paris hub and Abdijan. The airport in Abidjan is one of the few airports that have facilities to handle the aircraft. Long before the airplane was first launched, South Africa, Cairo, Bole International airport, Addis Ababa and Nairobi airports are few of the airports that have infrastructure for the aircraft.

Sadly, no airport in Nigeria, not even the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, has world class facilities for this machine.

A top official of one of the leading foreign airlines told New Telegraph under a strict condition of anonymity that it would not make sense for his airline to bring the plane to either Lagos or Abuja.

He said that because of the huge frame of the airplane, the old terminal has to be further upgraded, with modern avio bridges, expanded taxi ways, aprons and parking areas which the Lagos aerodrome lacks.

Experts said that it is unlikely that an airport that does not meet Code F requirements will have an aircraft stand on which an Airbus A380 can be parked without difficulties. It can be expected

The discourse is not about comparison of the airplane with its bitter rival’s B747, which dominated the skies for decades, it is about the lack of infrastructure by virtually all the airports in Africa to handle the magnificent bird

that the maximum aircraft that can be parked on the stand is a Boeing 747-400 or equivalent.

An aviation security expert stated that when parking an A380 on stands where it is not designed for, marshalling is recommended and towing the aircraft on to the stand is an option.

Taxiway challenges If an A380 cannot operate on the taxiway parallel to the runway, taxiing on the runway becomes necessary. Turning pads at the end of the runway must then be available.

Back tracking on the runway after landing or before take-off is not uncommon and normal practice on many airports around the world. It is uncommon on airports where parallel taxiways next to runways are provided and where normally traffic volume is high.

Back tracking on the runway could, in that case, not only cause operational disturbance (runway is blocked for a longer time), but could also be source of additional runway incursion risk. Caution should be made for alternate airports where in practice only the occasional A380 movement needs taxing on (part

of) the runway.

Other obstacles The taxi route between an aircraft stand and the runway can contain taxiway bridges or tunnels. Taxiway bridges can be critical not only in width, but certainly also in bearing strength. If that is the case, it is wise to define taxi routings that bypasses the taxiway bridge or tunnel.

Sometimes this will not be possible as the only route between runway and terminal area will be over the Taxiway Bridge/tunnel. In that case, it is advisable to look for a parking position somewhere between the runway and the Taxiway Bridge/ tunnel. In the extreme situation, this could be part of the taxiway system or even a non-used runway.

Fortunately, flight diversions are rare. Therefore, the pilot is likely to be less familiar with the airport, its lay-out and special procedures. Disorientation is more likely to occur. To prevent mishaps during taxiing, especially when specific taxi routing have to be followed, guidance by “follow me” may be advisable, especially in cases other than diversion to a planned alternate.

Business | Aviation

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

39

British Airways’ Boeing 777-236ER

Four Nigeria travel agencies merge Earlier, travel agencies had a safe business model, but now the business has become risky Wole Shadare

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he domestic travel industry in Nigeria is heading for further consolidation as traditional travel agencies are coming together to form a partnership in a bid to survive in a fast-changing business environment.

With margins coming under pressure and online travel agencies fast gaining popularity, many of them, primarily engaged in ticketing service, are either up for sale or seeking mergers with financially stronger players.

Survival Travel experts are of the view that earlier, travel agencies had a safe business model, and now the business has become risky, adding that it has become difficult for them to survive.

To them, in the last few days, they noted that they have received calls from several people who are running travel agencies for over 25 years with reasonable business expressing intention to exit or aligning themselves with stronger players.

On the high end of changes in the strategic travel operations landscape, is the consolidation of several travel agencies, stressing that consolidation in this regard simply means one or more travel agencies coming together to form a consortium or a franchise group.

Consolidation However, four of the biggest travel agencies, Quantum Trav-

els Limited, Touchdown Travels Limited, Finchglow Travels Limited and Dees Travels Limited have come together to form the first-ever consolidation in the travel industry.

Chief Executive Officer of Travel Investment Company Limited (TICO), the firm midwifing the project, Irene UtiEgbeogu, said that the travel sector is not remiss of these changes that could possibly drive innovations to change the way business is done in the sector.

She stated that recently, the sector experienced a wind of change where travel agents no longer enjoy commissions from airlines, adding that with these changes in the industry, analysts, travel agents and their clients have now narrowed their concerns to what this means to the nation’s balance sheets and even more importantly, what this translate to in terms of overall travel experience.

Competition This change by the airlines, according to her, was necessitated by their imperative to stay competitive and increase travel tickets sales while generating increased revenue year on year in order to meet their various route targets to ensure profitability and sustainability of the airline.

The airlines have, therefore, been forced to find ways to increase revenue while reducing costs and reducing travel commission is a major way in achieving that.

Most airlines that reverted to a zero commission structure were able to redistribute a portion of the cost saved to generate more revenue which has appeared to work in this industry for the airlines that followed that path. Others simply reduced their commission levels to achieve the same results.

It would be recalled that the current global impact on increased jet fuel cost is another

key factor that has led the airlines to re-evaluate their business models and strategies in all their routes in order to run a sustainable airline.

Travel agents are now forced to reconsider their business models to accommodate alternative means of revenue generation, which will involve growing their portfolio to include a broad range of products and services. Uti-Egbeogu further explained that the Nigerian industry is half a decade late to this development as other countries had already encountered this change and are currently comfortable in their present model of driving their business. With all this, travel agencies are in a bid to not be heavily reliant on airline commission.

In the light of airlines’ zero commission policy, in the market, the Nigerian travel market is said to be gradually evolving to mirror other mature travel markets like South Africa, USA travel markets which mainly run a zero commission model.

Change of business model To guarantee long term profitability in these changing climes, it is necessary for travel agents to gradually streamline their business by shifting from a “commission-revenue” model to “service-fee model.”

This implies that there is the need to sell the value of services and expertise to sustain long term relationship with their customers.

According to TICO boss, “this implies there is a need to sell the value of services and expertise to sustain long term relationship with their customers. For travel agents and travel management companies who already operate a service-fee model, this will mean an expansion of their current service-fee model, both in terms of amounts charged and the number of services for which these fees are charged.

“There are different models

of consolidation as seen in other markets, but the core objective usually remains the same - to use the strength of more than just number, but skill, to broker better fees in other lines of ancillary revenues.

She disclosed that with the merger, the Nigerian travel industry has now experienced the first of such consolidations and is currently experiencing another evolution.

TICO is the first consolidation this industry has seen where agencies have teamed up with former arch competitors to create a consortium. This consortium was

set up to offer much more than just commission earning to its members but works towards enhancing efficiency in operations of its members which would increase overall profitability and, in turn, create opportunities to re-invest in their businesses in areas covering technology, education and training.

The firm also offers to its members one-to-one marketing and data-mining initiative that would provide the data needed to run an intelligent business which will inevitably provide a better positioning with airlines, customers and partners.

AIR RAGE

WITH

HISTORY

Wole Shadare

Still in search of good business model for Nigerian airlines

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t is an open secret that service delivery in the Nigerian airline industry is appalling. The aviation regulatory body, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), seems to be helpless. Airlines do not care how they serve the public. They feel it is a favour they do to travellers who pay to travel by air.

Yet, despite the need for change, traditional and established airlines continue to feel they are blocked by a complex and, in some cases, insurmountable set of constraints that prevent them from invoking major changes to their business models.

Making concerted efforts to understand customers’ needs and concerns will give airlines a better idea of the changes required in their business models to deliver and re-

ceive value.

The starting point for realigning business models so that they address passenger needs is to agree on which passengers to target; acquiring detailed knowledge of their travel behaviour; and designing appropriate processes and committing resources – whether it’s building new systems and facilities or training staff – to provide the right services.

This sounds fairly basic and easy. Yet, passenger frustration continues to exist and, in fact, in many cases, it is increasing.

Why? The first reason is that most airlines try to cater for the needs of far too wide an array of customer segments – while satisfying only a small percentage of passengers in each segment.

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Business | Aviation

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Arik flies over 15m passengers in eight years EXPANSION Courier to extend flight to Abijan, others Stories by Wole Shadare

N

igeria’s flag carrier airline, Arik Airline, recently announced that it has airlifted over 15 million passengers since it started operations on October 30, 2006.

Managing Director of the airline, Mr Chris Ndulue, disclosed this at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, at the airline’s

8th year anniversary.

Ndulue said that the airline would soon begin flight operations to Abidjan, Lome and Libreville as it would also add two Bombardier Q400NG aircraft to its fleet.

He explained that the two new Bombardier aircraft would arrive in the next few days.

Ndulue reiterated that the carrier had been able to face the challenges in the aviation industry, particularly in the area of high rate charges by various agencies in the industry.

According to him, the airline has leveraged with the agencies to settle all

controversies on the issue of charges.

His words: “We are about to overcome all the controversies we have with the various aviation agencies in the area of paying charges.

“Every business has various challenges, but if you allow the challenges to overwhelm you, then you will be a failure.

“We have never being overwhelmed by the challenges in the industry. We will make sure we serve the public adequately,” he said.

The Arik boss noted that the airline now operates into 19 domestic and 12 regional destinations.

L-R: CEO, MMA2, Christophe Penninck, a former Director with defunct Nigeria Airways, Mrs. Fatima Gabarti and CEO, Nigeriatravelsmart.com, Mr. Simon Tumba at the unveiling of the travel website at the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2.

Sahcol acquires, deploys tools for improved service

A

s part of its determination to improve the face of ground handling in Nigeria, in line with International best practices, the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) has taken delivery of additional Ground Support Equipment (GSE).

The equipment, manufactured by TUG, United States; Denge, United Kingdom and TBD, United Kingdom, includes Conveyor Belt Loaders and Baggage Tractors; Baggage Carts; Pallet & Container Dollies, respectively, which are already being deployed to further improve services to clients across the network.

Meanwhile, as part of the growing profile of the Company, SAHCOL was awarded the contracts to provide ground handling services to Max Air, Kabo Air, West Link Air, Medview Airline and Skypower Airline for the outbound and inbound of the

on-going Hajj Operations.

SAHCOL handled seventy-five outbound flights, from Nigeria to the Saudi Arabia operated by these airlines, from Lagos, Ilorin, Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Kebbi, Dustse/Yola and Portharcourt.

Also, as part of the transformation of ground handling services in Nigeria, SAHCOL shall soon open to the public a cargo warehouse complex which shall rank with the best in the world aviation community, and by implication a pride to Nigeria, especially the country’s Aviation Cargo Warehousing Services, as it promises modern/automated warehousing facilities.

SAHCOL is spare-heading a change, that will make available the best of facilities/equipment, such that will bring about the desired satisfaction in total aviation ground handling Services to all customers.

New travel website launched

A

new travel website, Nigeriatravelsmart. com, dedicated to informing and educating travel readers, has been launched with a promise to add value to travel journalism.

Speaking at the launch, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of the nigeriatravelsmart.com, Mr Simon Tumba, said that the idea was to break travel/tourism/aviation stories and to educate policy makers on the need to promote travel industry in the country.

In attendance was Board of Director of NTM, Mrs Fatima Gabarti, a renowned aviator of over 25 years of experience and an expert in Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA). Others were Chief Executive Officer of Bicourtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operator of Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, Mr Christophe Peninck, Chika Ubendu from Commercial Department, Aero, Communications Consultant/Blogger, Ambassador .T. Brikins and Mrs Funmi Tumba.

Tumba lamented that the travel industry in the country contributes little to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but expressed confidence that the sector has great potentials with a multiplier effect on the economy if given the necessary attention.

His words: “Our vision is to build a solid foundation for responsible travel journalism and to be a premier voice in the sector. We strongly believe that Nigeria has huge potentials in this sector which can change the entire economy of the nation if well managed. We hope to play a leading role in this

sector to the benefit of our nation and all stakeholders.”

The NTM boss stated that there is a gap in the industry for real time online publication to cater for stakeholders and key decision makers, adding that the mission of the company is to transfuse responsible journalism, with the aim of shaping a strong, virile Nigerian travel industry for the pride of stakeholders.

While unveiling the website, he said there are two unique sections of the site.

He listed them as the punctuality rating of domestic airlines; which is aimed at making carriers more responsible to their schedules.

Others are the i-Complain sector which he noted is for travellers who experience poor customer services to file their complaints to the Consumer Protection Directorate of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) through the site.

Speaking in the same vein, Peninck lauded Tumba for the good initiative, stressing that adequate attention should be given to infrastructure development in the website to put government on their toes to providing facilities at the airports to aid seamless facilitation of travellers.

Tumba, a veteran aviation and travel journalist with over 25 years of experience in travel and aviation journalism, is an Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Business Administration, Zaria graduate, and cut his teeth in journalism with the defunct Concord Group where he covered the Transport and Aviation sector for Business Concord between 1989 and 1991.

Emirates receives 100thBoeing 777-300ER mirates celebrated and back again.”

Ray Conner, president and another milestone reE President of Emirates CEO, Boeing Commercial cently with the delivery of Airline, Sir Tim Clark, “the Airplanes. “The operating the airline’s 100th Boeing 777-300ER, the world’s largest, long-range twin engine commercial aircraft.

Boeing 777-300ER forms the backbone of Emirates fleet with the aircraft type currently operating to 77 destinations on the airline’s global network.

Delivery of Emirates’ first Boeing 777-300ER took place in March 2005 and with a further 52 aircraft on order, the airline is the world’s largest operator of this aircraft type - in fact, one in every five 777-300ERs flying today is in Emirates’ livery.

A statement from the airline said that “it takes 47 days to build a 777-300ER and each aircraft is made of three million parts. If you took all of the wiring contained within Emirates’ 100 777-300ERs and placed it end-to-end, it would stretch from Dubai to New York

Boeing 777-300ER is one of the most remarkable aircraft ever built, and its combination of efficiency, range and payload is second to none.

Our customers are equally excited by the aircraft and its on-board product and, to date, over 108 million passengers have flown on an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER. “We have 204 more Boeing 777s on order, which supports over 400,000 jobs in the United States of America, including those from various suppliers such as General Electric which provides the GE90 engines that power all of our 777300ERs,” added Clark.

“We are proud of our long-term relationship with Emirates and for the confidence they have in Boeing’s products and services beginning with the 777 and continuing with the 777X in the years to come,” said

economics and long-range capability of the 777-300ER have played a prominent role in the success of Emirates’ business strategy.”

The range of the Boeing 777-300ER is 14,490 kilometres, and Emirates’ longest flight with this aircraft currently operates between Dubai and Houston which is a total distance of 13,120 kilometres.

The Boeing 777 is manufactured in Everett, Washington. The Everett plant is so large that it requires its own fire department, security force, fully equipped medical clinic, electrical sub-stations and watertreatment plant.

The site’s main assembly building, which the Guinness Book of World Records acknowledges as the largest building in the world by volume, covers 98.3 acres (39.9 hectares).

Business | Money Line

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

STABILITY

Greater resilience at the individual bank level reduces the risk of system wide shocks Godson Ikoro

T

he noose on banking regulations has been further tightened by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision with issuance of the final standard for the Net Stable Funding Ratio (“NSFR”).

This new ratio was approved at the weekend by the Committee’s governing body, the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS).

The NSFR is a significant component of the Basel III reforms, which Nigerian banks are expected to comply with next year.

It requires banks to maintain a stable funding profile in relation to their on- and off-balance sheet activities, thus reducing the likelihood that disruptions to a bank’s regular sources of funding will erode its liquidity position in a way that could increase

Basel Committee approves new funding ratio for banks the Basel Committee and Governor, Sveriges Riksbank, said: “A key lesson from the crisis has been the need to prevent overreliance on short-term, volatile sources of funding. The NSFR does this by limiting the use of volatile short-term borrowings to fund illiquid assets. In finalising the standard, the Committee has essentially completed its regulatory reform agenda, undertaken to promote a more resilient banking sector following

the risk of its failure and potentially lead to broader systemic stress.

A statement from the Bank of International settlement (BIS) said the NSFR will become a minimum standard by 1 January 2018. The Committee is currently developing disclosure standards for the NSFR and expects to publish them for consultation before the end of the year.

Explaining the import of the new standard, Stefan Ingves, Chairman of

the financial crisis.”

While the final NSFR retains the structure of the January 2014 consultative proposal, the key changes introduced in the final standard published last Friday cover the required stable funding for short-term exposures to banks and other financial institutions.

Besides, it also covers the derivatives exposures; and assets posted as initial margin for derivative contracts.

I

n a bid to be able to manage the large number of telecoms towers outsourced to it by telecoms firms in the African continent, Nigerian phone tower group, IHS, said it has raised $2 billion in equity and $600 million in debt, in what it says is the biggest equity fund raising by an African company this decade.

IHS, the continent’s larg-

est tower company, will use the money to finance infrastructure spending and recently agreed acquisitions, according to a company statement released yesterday.

It said the equity funding was from new and existing shareholders, but did not provide further details.

The loan facility is split into two parts: a seven-year tranche of $500 million de-

As at

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

and its implications for financial market functioning and the economy.

In January 2014 the Committee issued a revised standard that was recalibrated to focus on the riskier types of funding profile employed by banks while improving alignment with the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and reducing cliff effects in the measurement of available and required stable funding.

• As Wendel’s investment in IHS hit $779m

Kunle Azeez

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

In addition, the final standard recognises that, under strict conditions, certain asset and liability items are interdependent and can therefore be viewed as neutral in terms of the NSFR. The proposals on the NSFR were first published in 2009, and the measure was included in the December 2010 Basel III agreement.

At that time, the Committee put in place a rigorous process to review the standard

Nigeria’s tower firm seals new $2.6bn deal

Economic Indicators M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91-day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res**

41

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

Offer 163.38

Open-Buy-Back (OBB) Overnight (O/N)

P

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

oon, Rwanda and Zambia.

IHS, in August, agreed to buy and lease back 2,136 towers from Etisalat Nigeria, a unit of Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat.

Darwish said a “substantial part” of the money IHS had raised would go towards paying for its recent acquisitions, with the remainder spent on boosting its infrastructure in the five countries it operates in.

Darwish predicted Africa could need 200,000-300,000 mobile towers over the next 10 years to meet future broadband demand, including up to 40,000 in Nigeria alone.

IHS may raise further debt before the end of 2015.

Meanwhile, a French investment company, Wendel said it has increased its total investment in IHS to $779 million by additional $304 million.

According to Wendel, the first tranche of investment is to close in 2014 with investment of $195 million. Subsequent tranche of investment is expected to close in mid 2015.

Also, as a result of new deals, Wendel will now hold about 26 per cent of HIS share capital directly, remaining principal shareholder With this, Wendel said that it will hold, together with its co-investors, 36 per cent of voting rights in IHS.

President unveils commemorative N100

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80

nominated in United States dollars and an eight-year tranche of $100 million in Nigerian naira.

The Chief Executive Officer, Mr Issam Darwish, who disclosed the transaction to Reuters, said Ecobank, Standard Chartered, Standard Bank, Investec and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) participated in the loan.

Building and maintaining mobile communications towers in Africa is typically more expensive than in other regions because of security costs and electricity shortages, while revenue per user is often lower.

That has prompted many mobile operators to sell or lease towers to specialist companies such as IHS, which can reduce building and maintenance costs by hosting multiple tenants, mobile operators and Internet providers, on the same towers.

In September, South Africa’s MTN agreed to sell 9,151 mobile towers in Nigeria to a new joint venture with IHS in a deal MTN said would cut its costs and boost its call and data capacity in Africa’s most populous country.

The deal was MTN’s fifth tie-up with IHS following deals in Ivory Coast, Camer-

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

resident, Goodluck Jonathan, is to unveil the specially designed commemorative N100 banknote by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday, November 5, 2014.

The commemorative note, according to a statement from the CBN, is part of the apex bank’s contribution to the centenary celebration, which is in line with its mandate of issuing legal tender currency in Nigeria.

The banking watchdog said: “The choice of the N100 denomination is to mark the

centenary celebration of Nigeria and is consistent with best global practices for Central Banks around the world during the celebration of national events.”

Part of the features of the commemorative banknote according to the CBN, is the inscription of the theme of the centenary celebration: “One Nigeria, Great Promise” as a micro-text. While retaining the portrait of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo on the front, the new note features Nigerian traditional dancers at the back.

Business | Financial Market News

42

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

3-Nov-14

The FMDQ Daily Quotations List (DQL) comprises market and model prices/rates of foreign exchange ($/N) products, fixed income securities and instruments in the OTC market. The use of this report is subject to the FMDQ OTC PLC Terms of Use and Disclaimer Statement on www.fmdqotc.com.

Bonds FGN Bonds

Price

Rating/Agency

Issuer

NA

NA

Description 4.00 23-APR-2015 13.05 16-AUG-2016 15.10 27-APR-2017 9.85 27-JUL-2017 9.35 31-AUG-2017 10.70 30-MAY-2018 16.00 29-JUN-2019 7.00 23-OCT-2019 16.39 27-JAN-2022 14.20 14-MAR-2024 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.49 22-MAY-2029 8.50 20-NOV-2029 10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.1493 18-JUL-2034

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

23-Apr-10 16-Aug-13 27-Apr-12 27-Jul-07 31-Aug-07 30-May-08 29-Jun-12 23-Oct-09 27-Jan-12 14-Mar-14 28-Nov-08 22-May-09 20-Nov-09 23-Jul-10 18-Jul-14

4.00 13.05 15.10 9.85 9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 16.39 14.20 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00 12.1493

535.00 563.89 452.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 371.68 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 130.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,675.13

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,637.30

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

23-Apr-15 16-Aug-16 27-Apr-17 27-Jul-17 31-Aug-17 30-May-18 29-Jun-19 23-Oct-19 27-Jan-22 14-Mar-24 28-Nov-28 22-May-29 20-Nov-29 23-Jul-30 18-Jul-34

0.47 1.78 2.48 2.73 2.83 3.57 4.65 4.97 7.23 9.36 14.07 14.55 15.05 15.72 19.70

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

10.72 12.22 12.50 12.60 12.61 12.66 12.67 12.74 12.65 12.65 12.84 12.86 12.87 12.76 12.74

10.37 12.12 12.43 12.53 12.54 12.55 12.59 12.64 12.59 12.60 12.80 12.81 12.82 12.70 12.69

96.99 101.25 105.40 93.77 92.43 94.48 111.40 79.33 117.35 108.30 113.89 97.60 71.21 81.45 95.75

97.14 101.40 105.55 93.92 92.58 94.78 111.70 79.63 117.65 108.60 114.19 97.90 71.51 81.75 96.05

#

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

24-May-10 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

24.56 3.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.55 1.29 2.10 2.46 2.67

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

13.44 13.98 14.42 13.57 13.60

93.01 103.94 101.27 98.81 96.04

Agency Bonds FMBN ***LCRM

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.97

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

318.77

Sub-National Bonds A+/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.82

4.44

15.59

97.64

A/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.66

3.23

14.18

99.79

A-/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

6.27

30-Jun-16

0.95

4.46

15.76

98.77

A+/Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

7.37

30-Jun-16

0.95

3.48

14.78

101.18

A+/Agusto; A+/GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.46

5.59

18.16

84.36

A-/Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

29.92

30-Jun-17

1.50

1.00

12.96

101.39

A/Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

3.16

1.79

14.42

98.91

A+/Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.33

1.80

14.32

99.54

A-/Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

3.92

1.00

13.69

100.89

A/Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

14.96

09-Dec-18

2.33

1.00

13.52

102.10

A-/Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

11.13

12-Dec-18

2.33

4.78

17.30

93.95

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.71

1.00

13.60

101.99

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*GOMBE

15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019

02-Oct-12

15.50

16.23

02-Oct-19

2.97

1.00

13.62

104.47

Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR

LAGOS

14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019

22-Nov-12

14.50

80.00

22-Nov-19

5.05

1.00

13.74

102.69

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019

12-Dec-12

14.75

27.51

12-Dec-19

2.94

2.74

15.35

98.68

A/Agusto

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020

10-Oct-13

14.75

11.40

10-Oct-20

3.49

1.00

13.65

102.92

Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR

LAGOS

13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020

27-Nov-13

13.50

87.00

27-Nov-20

6.07

1.00

13.71

99.11

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020

31-Dec-13

15.00

5.00

31-Dec-20

6.16

1.94

14.65

101.32

A/Agusto A-/GCR

*EKITI *NASARAWA

14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

31-Dec-13

14.50

4.78

31-Dec-20

3.64

1.44

14.10

101.20

06-Jan-14

15.00

4.79

06-Jan-21

3.67

1.95

14.62

101.18

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

471.18 464.56

Corporate Bonds Aa/Agusto Nil Bbb-/Agusto A-/Agusto

GTB NGC

13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014

18-Dec-09

13.50

13.17

18-Dec-14

0.12

5.21

16.17

99.58

µ

17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014

01-Apr-10

17.00

2.00

31-Dec-14

0.16

8.71

19.54

99.44

*UPDC

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

17-Aug-10

10.00

3.61

17-Aug-15

0.54

4.88

15.68

97.60

*FLOURMILLS

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

09-Dec-10

12.00

13.62

09-Dec-15

0.62

1.00

11.89

100.50 100.95

BB+/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.60

06-Jan-16

0.70

2.63

13.61

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

29-Sep-16

1.91

1.00

13.30

99.48

A-/Agusto

FSDH

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

1.98

1.34

13.70

100.91

A/GCR

UBA

13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

2.91

1.00

13.61

98.54

BBB-/GCR

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.73

30-Nov-17

1.72

1.88

14.02

107.25

Nil

*C & I LEASING *DANA#

MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

09-Apr-11

16.00

6.30

09-Apr-18

1.93

3.48

15.80

100.48

A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.90

09-Sep-18

2.10

5.20

17.62

100.94

#

101.82

AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR

*TOWER

MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.80

09-Sep-18

2.10

5.06

17.48

A/Agusto; A/GCR

UBA

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

22-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

22-Sep-18

3.89

1.35

14.03

99.86

Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.40

18-Oct-18

2.21

2.29

14.75

101.86

BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

17-Feb-12

17.00

0.41

17-Feb-19

2.29

6.11

18.61

97.47

Nil

*DANA

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

3.16

2.16

14.79

102.97

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

6.03

2.76

15.47

99.12

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

N/A

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.91

1.00

13.71

86.59

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.91

1.00

13.71

97.52

11-Feb-18

3.27

1.00

13.64

91.12

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

144.16

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

143.59

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

IFC

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

12.00 10.93

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value ($mm)

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

5.13

4.98

108.54

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

FGN

BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

109.37

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.32

4.09

102.72

103.49

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

5.44

5.33

106.39

107.18

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,500.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

1,588.24

Corporate Eurobonds B/Fitch; B-/S&P

AFREN PLC I

11.50 FEB 01, 2016

01-Feb-11

11.50

450.00

01-Feb-16

8.60

8.60

103.30

103.30

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

4.08

4.08

105.04

105.04 101.72

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

6.54

6.54

101.72

B/Fitch; B/S&P

FIDELITY BANK PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

9.17

8.45

93.23

95.31

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

6.29

5.68

99.00

101.13

B/Fitch

AFREN PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

9.68

9.68

102.00

102.00

B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ZENITH BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

6.45

6.45

99.25

99.25

B/Fitch; B/S&P

DIAMOND BANK PLC

8.75 May 21, 2019

21-May-14

8.75

200.00

21-May-19

9.07

8.84

98.83

99.68

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

8.10

8.10

99.75

99.75

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

8.21

8.21

92.50

92.50

9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021

24-Jun-14

9.25

400.00

24-Jun-21

9.16

9.01

100.63

101.38

8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

23-Jul-14

8.00

450.00

23-Jul-21

8.20

8.20

97.95

97.95

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

8.47

8.29

100.41

101.31

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

AFREN PLC III

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC II

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK LTD

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,760.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,748.20

**Treasury Bills DTM 10 17 24 31 38 52 59 66

Money Market

FIXINGS Maturity 13-Nov-14 20-Nov-14 27-Nov-14 4-Dec-14 11-Dec-14 25-Dec-14 1-Jan-15 8-Jan-15

Bid Discount (%) 10.65 10.55 10.70 10.75 10.40 10.80 10.95 10.70

Offer Discount (%) 10.40 10.30 10.45 10.50 10.15 10.55 10.70 10.45

Bid Yield (%) 10.68 10.60 10.78 10.85 10.51 10.97 11.15 10.91

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 10.5000 12.3291 13.3001 14.3345

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

10.25

O/N Tenor Call 1M

10.50

REPO

Rate (%) 10.25 12.36

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M 3M

165.65 165.76 166.03 166.68 167.81 168.98

165.75 166.00 166.34 167.29 168.88 170.61

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

318.77

Sub-National Bonds A+/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.82

4.44

15.59

97.64

A/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.66

3.23

14.18

99.79

A-/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

6.27

30-Jun-16

0.95

4.46

15.76

98.77

A+/Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

7.37

30-Jun-16

0.95

3.48

14.78

101.18

A+/Agusto; A+/GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.46

5.59

18.16

84.36

A-/Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

29.92

30-Jun-17

1.50

1.00

12.96

101.39

A/Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

3.16

1.79

14.42

98.91

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.33

1.80

14.32

99.54

04-Oct-18

3.92

1.00

13.69

100.89

102.10

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, A+/Agusto; A+/GCR *DELTANOVEMBER 4, 201414.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

Business | Financial Market News

43

A-/Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

A/Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

14.96

09-Dec-18

2.33

1.00

13.52

A-/Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

11.13

12-Dec-18

2.33

4.78

17.30

93.95

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.71

1.00

13.60

101.99

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*GOMBE

15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019

02-Oct-12

15.50

16.23

02-Oct-19

2.97

1.00

13.62

104.47

Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR

LAGOS

14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019

22-Nov-12

14.50

80.00

22-Nov-19

5.05

1.00

13.74

102.69

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019

12-Dec-12

14.75

27.51

12-Dec-19

2.94

2.74

15.35

98.68

A/Agusto

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020

10-Oct-13

14.75

11.40

10-Oct-20

3.49

1.00

13.65

102.92

Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR

LAGOS

13.50

87.00

27-Nov-20

6.07

1.00

13.71

99.11

Nigerian stocks dip further by N68bn 27-Nov-13

LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 while the market capitalito witness 13.50 persistent sell 31-Dec-13 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 pressure. sation of equities31-Dec-13 depreA/Agusto *EKITI 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 Shares open the *NASARAWA 06-Jan-14 A-/GCR 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021ciated by N68 billion or The key benchmark TOTAL OUTSTANDING week on negativeVALUE indices maintained nega- 0.55 per cent from N12.436 trillion the previous day TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION tive trajectory to close in path to N12.368 trillion, as marthe red, as activities in Corporate Bonds the shares of blue chip ket sentiment remained 13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014 18-Dec-09 Aa/Agusto GTB µ in the red. companies17.00 dragged down NGC 31-DEC-2014 01-Apr-10 NGC Nil Meanwhile, a17-Aug-10 turnthe equity 10.00 market.

UPDC 17-AUG-2015 Bbb-/Agusto *UPDC Stories by Chris Ugwu 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 A-/Agusto 09-Dec-10 *FLOURMILLS over of 285.1 million Consequently , the All14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 BB+/GCR he Nigerian*CHELLARAMS 06-Jan-11 shares worth N3.2 bilstock Share Index lost 206.39 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 A+/Agusto; A-/GCR 29-Sep-11 NAHCO basis points or 0.55 per lion in 4,306 deals were market yesterday 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 A-/Agusto 25-Oct-13 FSDH opened the UBA week cent to close at 37,343.85, recorded in the30-Sep-10 day’s 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 A/GCR on a bearish note, as against 37,550.24 retrading.

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 BBB-/GCR 30-Nov-12 *C & I LEASING asNilthe market continued corded theMPR+7.00 previous day, Just as in the09-Apr-11 previDANA 9-APR-2018 *DANA#

REGRESSION A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

T

ous 15.00 day, the banking 5.00 sub-sector of the4.78 finan14.50 15.00 4.79 was cial services sector the most active471.18 (measured by turnover 464.56volume); with 93.2 million shares worth N753.4 bil13.50 13.17 lion exchanged by2.00 inves17.00 tors 10.00 in 1,288 deals.

3.61 12.00 Volume in the13.62 banking 14.00 sub-sector0.60 was 13.00 largely driven 15.00 by ac14.25 5.53 tivities in the shares of 13.00 20.00 Sterling Bank Plc 18.00 0.73 and UBA16.00 Plc. 6.30

Insurance 6.16 sub-sec-1.94 31-Dec-20 tor activated 3.64 with the1.44 31-Dec-20 06-Jan-21 of Hallmark 3.67 shares In-1.95 surance followed with 51 million shares valued at N29.2 million in 207 deals.

18-Dec-14 0.12 5.21 On the gainers’ 31-Dec-14 0.16 chart,8.71 shares Bank Plc4.88 17-Aug-15of Skye0.54 09-Dec-15 0.62 1.00 rose by the maximum 06-Jan-16 0.70close at2.63 10.00 per cent to 29-Sep-16 1.91 N2.64 per share, while1.00 25-Oct-16 1.98 1.34 shares of United Bank1.00 30-Sep-17 2.91 of30-Nov-17 Africa Plc (UBA) ad1.72 1.88 vanced per cent3.48 09-Apr-18 by 5.26 1.93

to close at N5.00 per 14.65 101.32 share. 14.10 101.20 14.62 losers’ 101.18 On the chart, fast moving consumer goods company, PZ Cussons fell by 9.73 per cent to close at N21.52 per 16.17 99.58 share, 19.54 while automobile 99.44 marketing 15.68 company 97.60 RT 11.89 Briscoe dropped100.50 by 8.89 13.61 to close 100.95 per cent at 82 13.30 kobo per share.99.48 Brew13.70 100.91 eries firm, Champion 13.61 98.54 Breweries Plc shed 14.02 107.255 per cent to15.80 close at N13.49.

100.48

A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.90

09-Sep-18

2.10

5.20

17.62

100.94

AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.80

09-Sep-18

2.10

5.06

17.48

101.82

A/Agusto; A/GCR

UBA

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

1.35

14.03

99.86

Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

2.29

14.75

101.86

6.11

18.61

97.47

2.16

14.79

102.97

2.76

15.47

99.12

1.00

13.71

86.59

Conoil’s Q3 profit falls by 32%

C

BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

onoil Plc, one of Revenue also to 16.00 DANA IIfell 1-APR-2019 *DANA theA-/GCRpetroleum N78.51 billion, compared 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020 A+/Agusto; NAHCO 182D T.bills+1.20 A/GCRmarketing compaSTANBIC IBTCwith N79.63 billion inSTANBIC the IA 30-SEP-2024 13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024 A/GCR nies listed on the STANBIC floor IBTCsame period of the previVALUE ofTOTAL the OUTSTANDING Nigerian Stock ous year.

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Exchange (NSE), has The company’s chairposted a 32 per cent drop man Mr. Mike Adenuga, Supranational Bond inAAA/S&P its nine-month pre-tax while addressing share10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018 IFC profit. holders at the company’s TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE The company in a fil- recent annual general TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION ing with the NSE said meeting noted : “The comits pre-tax profit for the Issuer pany scored many firsts Description Rating/Agency period ended September in the areas of product de30,FGN 2014, fell 32 per cent to velopment, service delivEurobonds N2.09 billion from N3.08 ery and set new standards 6.75 JAN 28, 2021 BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P billion recorded during with groundbreaking iniBB-/Fitch; 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 the comparable period FGN tiatives.”

BB-/S&P ofBB-/Fitch; 2014.

The results revealed 6.38 JUL 12, 2023 BB-/S&P Turnover was also that the company mainTOTALto OUTSTANDING VALUE down N104.22 billion tained its leadership inTOTAL the MARKET nine months to position in the industry, CAPITALISATION September from N121.80 reaping bountifully from Corporate Eurobonds billion a year ago. its huge investments in 11.50 FEB 01, 2016 B/Fitch; B-/S&P AFREN Conoil had reported 25PLC I its business portfolios.

7.50 MAY 19, 2016 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P per cent decline inGTBANK pre- PLC I The company also B+/S&P during the ACCESS PLC 289 per cent7.25 in-JUL 25, 2017 profit half BANKposted 6.88 MAY 09, 2018 B/Fitch; B/S&P PLC year ended June 31,FIDELITY 2014. BANKcrease in profit before 6.00 NOV 08, 2018 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC The company in a fil- tax from N1.15 billion 10.25 APR 08, 2019 B/Fitch AFREN PLC II ing with the Exchange in 2012 to N4.58 billion, 6.25 APR 22, 2019 B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P ZENITH BANK PLC said its pre-tax profit while it recorded profit 8.75 May 21, 2019 B/Fitch; B/S&P DIAMOND BANK PLC dropped 25.25 per cent after tax of N3.07 billion, 8.25 AUG 07, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRSTto BANK PLC N1.48 compared per DEC 09, 2020 B-/Fitch;billion B/S&P AFREN PLC IIIwhich amounts to 3306.63 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P billion in ACCESS PLC II increase over with N1.98 theBANKcent what 8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK LTD same period last year. was posted in 2012.

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

22-Sep-18 3.89 he Nigerian14.00 Stock Ex- 35.00 15.75 2.40 18-Oct-18 2.21 change (NSE) in collab17-Feb-19 2.29 17-Feb-12 17.00 0.41 oration with the Con01-Apr-14 16.00 4.50 01-Apr-19 3.16 vention on Business Integrity 2.05 14-Nov-13 15.25 14-Nov-20 6.03 30-Sep-14 N/A 30-Sep-24 9.91 (CBi) yesterday launched the 0.10 30-Sep-14 13.25 9.91 foremost Corporate Gover- 15.44 standards30-Sep-24 of excellence. nance Rating System (CGRS) 144.16 Companies would not only 143.59 for quoted companies. set themselves apart from CGRS is designed to rate their peers, but also concompanies listed 10.20 on the Ex- 12.00 tribute to11-Feb-18 improving3.27the 11-Feb-13 change based on their cor- 12.00 climate for doing business in Nigeria” porate governance and anti- 10.93 The Executive Director corruption culture, thereby Outstanding Value improving the overall percepof CBi, Mr. Soji Apampa in Issue Date Coupon (%) Maturity Date Bid Yield (%) tion of and trust in Nigeria’s ($mm) a presentation shared the capital markets and business design & pilot phase of practices. the Corporate Governance 07-Oct-11 6.75 500.00 28-Jan-21 5.13 The Chief Executive Of- Rating System, which was 12-Jul-13 5.13 12-Jul-18 ficer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Ony- 500.00 done between May 20134.32and ema, speaking at the event, September 2014.

6.38 12-Jul-23 5.44 said12-Jul-13 with rating system, it 500.00 “The rating system is based on a holistic multiis anticipated that there 1,500.00 would be an improvement 1,588.24 stakeholder approach that in the overall perception of uses a diverse information capital markets and busi- collection and verification 450.00 8.60not ness01-Feb-11 practices. 11.50 approach,01-Feb-16 which relies 19-May-11 19-May-16 4.08 of “It is expected 7.50 that com- 500.00 only on self-assessments 25-Jul-12 panies will enjoy7.25tangible 350.00 companies25-Jul-17 but also on 6.54 expe09-May-13 6.88 9.17 business advantages from 300.00 riences of 02-May-18 stakeholders and 08-Nov-13 6.00 400.00 08-Nov-18 6.29 risk-oriented and/or ethi- experts. It is envisioned to 08-Apr-12 10.25 300.00 08-Apr-19 9.68 cally sensitive 6.25 business 500.00 be more 22-Apr-19 transparent on 22-Apr-14 6.45 partners and investors. rating procedures and rat21-May-14 8.75 200.00 21-May-19 9.07 In 07-Aug-13 addition, competitors ing governance 8.25 300.00 07-Aug-20 than other 8.10 would be challenged to es- 360.00 Corporate09-Dec-20 Governance 09-Dec-13 6.63 8.21 in24-Jun-14the same 9.25level of 400.00 24-Jun-21 said. 9.16 tablish dices”, Apampa 23-Jul-14 23-Jul-21 8.20 good governance 8.00 by setting 450.00 The HUMBOLDT-VIAD18-Oct-13

Nil

B-/S&P

T

NSE, CBI inaugurates corporate governance rating system

22-Sep-11

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

8.47

8.29

4,760.00

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

14-Aug-21

1.00 13.71 RINA School of 97.52 Governance (Berlin/Ger many) was appointed as the Inter national Observer to review and support the 1.00 13.64 91.12 process of establishing Nigeria’s Corporate Governance.

The CGRS launch event Offer Yield (%) Bid Price Offer Price attracted over 500 corporate sector participants joined Prices & Yields by government and civil 4.98 108.54 109.37 society delegates from Ni4.09 103.49 geria and 102.72 across the globe.

A series of high-level dis5.33 106.39 cussions around the107.18 theme, “Better for Business”, provided participants with unique insights into issues of leadership and corporate 8.60 103.30 governance within 103.30 the Ni4.08 105.04 105.04 gerian context.

6.54It also 101.72 101.72 the highlighted 8.45 93.23 95.31 CGRS framework, which 5.68 99.00 101.13 has been designed to evalu9.68 102.00 102.00 ate companies based99.25 on the 6.45 99.25 quality of corporate integ8.84 98.83 99.68 rity; compliance; 8.10 corporate 99.75 99.75 understanding of fiduciary 8.21 92.50 92.50 9.01 100.63 101.38 responsibilities by directors 8.20 corporate 97.95 reputation.

97.95 and 100.41

101.31

3-Nov-14

4,748.20

The FMDQ Daily Quotations List (DQL) comprises market and model prices/rates of foreign exchange ($/N) products, fixed income securities and instruments in the OTC market. The use of this report is subject to Money Market **Treasury Bills FIXINGS Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) the FMDQDTM OTC PLC Terms of Use and Disclaimer Statement on www.fmdqotc.com.

Maturity Bid Discount (%) Offer Discount (%) Bid Yield (%) Tenor Rate (%)

10 13-Nov-14 10.65 17 20-Nov-14 10.55 24 27-Nov-14 10.70 FGN Bonds 31 4-Dec-14 10.75 38 11-Dec-14 10.40 Rating/Agency Issuer Description 52 25-Dec-14 10.80 59 1-Jan-15 10.95 4.00 23-APR-2015 66 8-Jan-15 10.70 13.05 16-AUG-2016 73 15-Jan-15 10.80 80 22-Jan-15 10.55 15.10 27-APR-2017 87 29-Jan-15 10.80 9.85 27-JUL-2017 94 5-Feb-15 10.10 9.35 31-AUG-2017 101 12-Feb-15 10.90 10.70 30-MAY-2018 108 19-Feb-15 10.30 16.00 29-JUN-2019 115 26-Feb-15 10.90 NA NA 7.00 23-OCT-2019 122 5-Mar-15 10.80 16.39 27-JAN-2022 129 12-Mar-15 10.90 14.20 14-MAR-2024 143 26-Mar-15 11.00 15.00 28-NOV-2028 150 2-Apr-15 11.05 12.49 22-MAY-2029 157 9-Apr-15 10.80 8.50 20-NOV-2029 164 16-Apr-15 11.10 10.00 23-JUL-2030 171 23-Apr-15 10.30 185 7-May-15 10.20 12.1493 18-JUL-2034 276 6-Aug-15 10.70 TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE 3-Sep-15 304 10.40 *for the Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration

10.40 10.30 10.45 10.50 10.15 Issue Date 10.55 10.70 23-Apr-10 10.45 16-Aug-13 10.55 10.30 27-Apr-12 10.55 27-Jul-07 9.85 31-Aug-07 10.65 30-May-08 10.05 29-Jun-12 10.65 23-Oct-09 10.55 27-Jan-12 10.65 14-Mar-14 10.75 28-Nov-08 10.80 22-May-09 10.55 20-Nov-09 10.85 23-Jul-10 10.05 9.95 18-Jul-14 10.45 10.15

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Agency Bonds FMBN Modified Duration Buckets

***LCRM

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

<3 3<5

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION >5

Market

Sub-National Bonds

Tenor O/N 1M 3M Outstanding Value 6M (N'bn)

535.00 23-Apr-15 563.89 16-Aug-16 NITTY 452.80 27-Apr-17 Tenor Rate (%) 20.00 27-Jul-17 1M 10.7513 100.00 31-Aug-17 2M 11.1136 300.00 30-May-18 3M 11.1183 351.30 29-Jun-19 6M 11.2963 233.90 23-Oct-19 9M 11.5958 600.00 27-Jan-22 12M 11.6105 371.68 14-Mar-24 75.00 28-Nov-28 150.00 22-May-29 NIFEX 200.00 20-Nov-29 591.57 Current Price ($/N)23-Jul-30 BID($/N) 130.00 165.5275 18-Jul-34

OFFER ($/N)

4,675.13

OBB

Rate (%) 10.5000 12.3291 13.3001 Maturity 14.3345Date

165.6275

10.25

O/N

10.50

REPO TTM (Yrs) Bid Tenor RateYield (%) (%) Call 0.47 1M 1.78 3M 6M 2.48

10.25 10.72 12.36 12.22 13.35 14.19 12.50

Tenor Spot 7D 14D Yield Offer 1M (%) 2M 10.37 3M 12.12 6M 1Y 12.43

2.73 12.60 12.53 2.83 12.61 12.54 3.57 12.66 12.55 :Benchmarks 4.65 12.67 12.59 * :Amortising Bond 4.97 12.74 12.64 µ :Convertible Bond 7.23 12.65 12.59 AMCON: Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria 9.36 12.65 12.60 FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria 14.07Mortgage Bank12.84 12.80 FMBN: Federal of Nigeria 14.55 Finance Corporation 12.86 12.81 IFC: International 15.05 12.87 Management 12.82 LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables 15.72 Aviation Handling 12.76 Company 12.70 NAHCO: Nigerian O/N: Overnight 19.70 12.74 12.69 NOTE:

UPDC: UAC Property Development Company WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

165.65 Price 165.75 165.76 166.00 166.03 166.34 Bid Price Offer 166.68 167.29Price 167.81 168.88 96.99 97.14 168.98 170.61 101.25 101.40 172.71 176.14 180.20 188.21 105.40 105.55

93.77 93.92 92.43 92.58 94.48 94.78 NA :Not 111.40 Applicable 111.70 # :Floating Rate Bond 79.33 79.63 ***: Deferred coupon bonds 117.35 117.65 108.60 †: Bond 108.30 rating expired 114.19 N/A :Not113.89 Available 97.60 97.90 71.21 71.51 81.45 81.75 NGC: Nigeria-German Company UBA: United 95.75Bank for Africa 96.05

4,637.30

# Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills

Rating/Agency

NIBOR

Bonds

10.68 10.60 10.78 10.85 10.51 Coupon 10.97 (%) 11.15 4.00 10.91 13.05 11.04 10.80 15.10 11.09 9.85 10.37 9.35 11.24 10.70 10.62 16.00 11.29 7.00 11.20 16.39 11.34 14.20 11.50 15.00 11.58 12.49 11.33 8.50 11.68 10.00 10.82 10.76 12.1493 11.64 11.39

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 Total Outstanding Porfolio Market Value(Bn) 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 Volume(Bn) 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

Coupon (%)

BOND 24-May-10FMDQ FGN0.00 03-Apr-12 17.25 09-Dec-11 0.00/16.00 Weighting by Weighting

by Mkt Outstanding Value 20-Apr-12Vol 0.00/16.50 06-Jul-12 0.00/16.50

1,048.18

1,016.68

1,095.45

951.30

33.21

33.25

31.08

34.75

1,008.84

1,093.25

35.71

3,152.47

3,061.23

100.00

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

INDEX 24.56

3.00 112.22 Bucket Weighting 116.70 66.49

0.33

322.97

Maturity Date

24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 % Exposure_ Mod_Duration 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

14.59

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

0.55 1.29 2.10 Implied Yield 2.46 2.67

12.37

12.65

#

Risk Premium (%) 2.63 2.27 2.00 Implied Portfolio Price 1.00 1.00

119.1473

133.7764

Valuation Yield (%)

13.44 13.98 14.42 INDEX 13.57 13.60

1,131.66

1,132.77

Indicative Price

93.01 103.94 101.27 YTD Return (%) 98.81 96.04

13.1657

0.31

32.00

318.770.36

30.17

13.2767

55.24

12.72

102.9580

1,203.76

20.3760

100.00

1.00

100.00

12.65

117.9117

1,125.95

12.5954

A+/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.82

4.44

15.59

97.64

A/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.66

3.23

14.18

99.79

A-/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

6.27

30-Jun-16

0.95

4.46

15.76

98.77

A+/Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

7.37

30-Jun-16

0.95

3.48

14.78

101.18

A+/Agusto; A+/GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.46

5.59

18.16

84.36

A-/Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

29.92

30-Jun-17

1.50

1.00

12.96

101.39

A/Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

3.16

1.79

14.42

98.91

A+/Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.33

1.80

14.32

99.54

A-/Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

3.92

1.00

13.69

100.89

A/Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

14.96

09-Dec-18

2.33

1.00

13.52

102.10

Daily Summary as of 03/11/2014 Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010

Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Business | Capital Market

44

Daily Summary as of 03/11/2014

Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010

Symbol

No. of Deals

Current Price

Quantity Traded

Value Traded

TUESDAY, 207 NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH 51,080,403 29,203,373.71

Micro-Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals

Symbol FORTISMFB NPFMCRFBK

No. of Deals 1 9 10

Current Price 5.42 0.92

Quantity Traded 3,600 226,000 229,600

Value Traded 19,800.00 200,260.00 220,060.00

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Symbol ABBEYBDS RESORTSAL

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 1.30 0.50

Quantity Traded 20 20 40

Value Traded 27.20 10.00 37.20

Symbol No. of Deals AFRIPRUD 53 CUSTODYINS 37 FBNH 437 FCMB 61 ROYALEX 5 STANBIC 38 Daily Summary (Equities) UBCAP 79 710

Current Price 2.93 3.70 11.30 3.88 0.53 29.67 1.82

Quantity Traded 1,626,971 3,001,284 13,569,110 9,159,472 179,489 881,374 2,310,034 30,727,734

Value Traded 4,741,011.30 11,023,824.93 152,424,640.33 35,306,814.27 95,129.17 26,568,913.32 4,200,137.13 234,360,470.45

175,282,791

1,017,227,229.86

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at November 3, 2014 Daily Summary (Bonds)

Activity Summary on Board DEBT Federal

Bond Name 15.10% FGN APR 2017 16.00% FGN JUN 2019 Federal Totals

Symbol FG9B2017S2 FG9B2019S3

DEBT Board Totals

No. of Deals 2 2 4

Current Price 106.50 112.80

4

Bond Activity Totals

Quantity Traded 200 300 500

Value Traded 213,746.70 355,318.33 569,065.03

500

569,065.03

500

4

Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC Daily Summary as of 03/11/2014 FBN HOLDINGS PLC Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010 FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

569,065.03

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals

HEALTHCARE Medical Supplies MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Medical Supplies Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU PALM PLC. Daily Summary as ofOIL 03/11/2014 PRESCO PLC Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010 Crop Production Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

Symbol FTNCOCOA OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 2 6 7 15

Current Price 0.50 31.35 28.93

Quantity Traded 3,000 6,850 56,140 65,990

Value Traded 1,500.00 204,061.50 1,624,130.20 1,829,691.70

Symbol

No. of Deals 10 10

Current Price 2.98

Quantity Traded 65,465 65,465

Value Traded 192,925.60 192,925.60

131,455

2,022,617.30

LIVESTOCK Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Totals CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS PLC. Published by The Nigerian StockNIGERIA Exchange © CHELLARAMS PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

25

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction ROADS NIG PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals

Daily Summary of 03/11/2014 RealasEstate Development Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010 UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Automobiles/Auto Parts ActivityDN Summary on BoardPLC EQTY TYRE & RUBBER

No. of Deals 12 3 359 79 453

Current Price 1.45 3.95 3.92 51.00

453

Quantity Traded 74,881 Page 300 67,641,500 891,609 68,608,290 68,608,290

308,156,033.33

Symbol COSTAIN

No. of Deals 32 32

Current Price 0.90

Quantity Traded 1,227,315 1,227,315

Value Traded 1,116,474.69 1,116,474.69

Symbol ROADS

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 6.29

Quantity Traded 2,833 2,833

Value Traded 18,697.80 18,697.80

Symbol UAC-PROP

No. of Deals 18 18

Current Price 14.00

Quantity Traded 90,847 90,847

Value Traded 1,208,575.10 1,208,575.10

1,320,995

2,343,747.59

51

Daily Summary (Equities)

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 200

Value Traded 100.00

Symbol

No. of Deals 1

Current Price

Page Quantity Traded 200

2 of 13 Value Traded

Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. JOS INT. BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. PREMIER BREWERIES PLC Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals

Symbol CHAMPION GUINNESS INTBREW JOSBREW NB PREMBREW

No. of Deals 2 85 18 4 172 1 282

Current Price 13.49 161.50 31.30 2.12 161.50 3.98

Quantity Traded 51,555 495,633 204,907 2,900 4,383,423 2,000 5,140,418

Value Traded 695,105.10 80,052,496.20 6,433,979.04 5,858.00 709,392,242.61 7,580.00 796,587,260.95

Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals

Symbol 7UP

No. of Deals 9 9

Current Price 160.00

Quantity Traded 414,220 414,220

Value Traded 66,228,985.00 66,228,985.00

Symbol No. of Deals DANGFLOUR 5 DANGSUGAR 36 FLOURMILL 9 HONYFLOUR 28 NASCON 28 Daily Summary (Equities) NNFM 9 UTC 1 116

Current Price 6.55 6.99 61.40 3.85 8.10 20.90 0.50

Quantity Traded 7,640 1,630,021 12,588 1,169,290 323,069 107,460 20 3,250,088

Value Traded 47,597.20 11,396,093.40 734,258.04 4,501,007.04 2,612,304.83 2,245,914.00 10.00 21,537,184.51

Automobiles/Auto Parts Totals

Food Products Daily Summary as of 03/11/2014 DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. U T C NIG. PLC. Activity SummaryTotals on Board EQTY Food Products CONSUMER GOODS

Products--Diversified Published by Food The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

Symbol DUNLOP

No. of Deals 11 69 80

Current Price 40.65 980.00

Quantity Traded Page 88,175 213,103 301,278

Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Household Durables Totals

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals 37 6 43

Current Price 4.29 1.23

Quantity Traded 1,312,213 101,600 1,413,813

Value Traded 5,394,304.66 113,813.30 5,508,117.96

Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals 73 69 142

Current Price 21.52 34.30

Quantity Traded 590,336 1,189,166 1,779,502

Value Traded 12,736,050.72 40,791,073.90 53,527,124.62

12,299,519

1,153,741,761.93

Quantity Traded 6,753,646 4,016,504 4,966,861 4,366,583 7,841,806 6,261,995 34,952,471

Value Traded 56,646,288.55 23,536,323.96 94,319,981.95 8,240,172.01 197,502,511.20 16,529,280.27 80,386,027.95

CONSUMER GOODS Totals

DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANKas TRANSNATIONAL Daily Summary of 03/11/2014 INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. EQTY Activity Summary on Board

FINANCIAL SERVICES Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Banking UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

673 Symbol No. of Deals ACCESS 111 DIAMONDBNK 88 ETI 107 FIDELITYBK 55 Daily Summary (Equities) GUARANTY 235 SKYEBANK 95 STERLNBANK 31 Symbol UBA

Daily Summary (Equities)

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals

No. of Deals 256

Symbol UBN UNITYBNK WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Symbol AIICO INSURANCE PLC. AIICO CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CONTINSURE CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. CORNERST EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. EQUITYASUR CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC HMARKINS INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC INTENEGINS LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. LAWUNION LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC LINKASSURE MANSARD INSURANCE PLC MANSARD MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. MBENEFIT Daily Summary as of 03/11/2014 N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NEM Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010 NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. NIGERINS Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC SOVRENINS STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. Daily SummarySTDINSURE (Equities) UNIC INSURANCE PLC. UNIC WAPIConINSURANCE WAPIC Activity Summary Board EQTYPLC FINANCIAL SERVICES

Current Price 8.40 5.85 19.00 1.90 25.20 2.64 2.30 Current Price 5.00

Page Quantity Traded 12,341,809

No. of Deals 54 5 30 221 1,288

Current Price 7.90 0.50 0.96 22.26

Quantity Traded 125,925 18,600 2,039,832 9,558,982 93,245,014

No. of Deals 24 14 13 1 2 4 5 25 10 1 36 2 19 3 1 1 46

Current Price Quantity Traded 0.82 1,816,100 0.99 756,352 0.50 1,019,648 0.50 28,791 0.50 20,000,020 0.50 562,204 0.50 80,890 0.50 19,587,439 3.00 651,800 0.52 1,000 0.72 3,050,395 0.50 53,000 Page 5 of 13 0.50 1,456,663 0.50 100,120 0.50 100 0.50 1,000 0.69 1,914,881

Quantity Traded 1,000 Page 1,000

7

Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH PHARMDEKO

No. of Deals 5 40 34 3 6 1 89

Current Price 2.20 3.35 54.00 1.64 0.97 2.61

Quantity Traded 2,420 2,430,525 261,636 130,000 64,800 8,000 2,897,381

Value Traded 5,335.00 8,152,583.41 13,428,561.98 213,200.00 61,062.40 20,000.00 21,880,742.79

2,898,381

21,882,472.79

IT Services

90 Symbol Daily COURTVILLE

No. of Deals Current Price Summary (Equities)

Symbol

0.55

Quantity Traded 63,500 63,500

Value Traded 33,655.00 33,655.00

No. of Deals

Current Price

Quantity Traded

Value Traded

No. of Deals 4 4

Current Price 12.83

Quantity Traded 2,470 2,470

Symbol NCR

ICT Totals

10

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DN MEYER PLC. FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Totals Daily Summary asMaterials of 03/11/2014 Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010 Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC.

Electronic and Electrical Products Totals

Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS CO PLC. Activity Summary on Board Packaging/Containers TotalsEQTY

Quantity Traded 477,477 48,098 82,990 386,251 1,934,140 155,738 20 1,223,735 4,308,449

Value Traded 14,518,295.80 366,142.96 3,364,426.81 4,741,642.72 399,183,331.18 152,951.10 10.00 127,902,694.50 550,229,495.07

Symbol CUTIX

No. of Deals 10 10

Current Price 1.52

Quantity Traded 189,608 189,608

Value Traded 288,504.16 288,504.16

No. of Deals 6 6

Current Price 21.00

Quantity Traded 78,111 78,111

Value Traded 1,635,712.60 1,635,712.60

248 Symbol MULTIVERSE

No. of Deals 1 1

Quantity Traded 51,080,403

Page Value Traded 29,203,373.71

Micro-Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals

Symbol FORTISMFB NPFMCRFBK

No. of Deals 1 9 10

Current Price 5.42 0.92

Quantity Traded 3,600 226,000 229,600

Value Traded 19,800.00 200,260.00 220,060.00

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Symbol ABBEYBDS RESORTSAL

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 1.30 0.50

Quantity Traded 20 20 40

Value Traded 27.20 10.00 37.20

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

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

No. of Deals 53 37 437 61 5 38 79 710

Current Price 2.93 3.70 11.30 3.88 0.53 29.67 1.82

Quantity Traded 1,626,971 3,001,284 13,569,110 9,159,472 179,489 881,374 2,310,034 30,727,734

Value Traded 4,741,011.30 11,023,824.93 152,424,640.33 35,306,814.27 95,129.17 26,568,913.32 4,200,137.13 234,360,470.45

175,282,791

1,017,227,229.86

2,217

Value Traded 25,300.00 25,300.00

50,600

25,300.00

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 159,110 159,110

Value Traded 79,555.00 79,555.00

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 208 208

Current Price 21.61

Quantity Traded 3,299,635 3,299,635

Value Traded 71,408,311.42 71,408,311.42

No. of Deals 12 11 84 38 5 16 166

Current Price 49.23 3.49 212.00 170.50 56.00 157.71

Quantity Traded 41,230 291,031 390,463 125,512 1,493 7,224 856,953

Value Traded 1,928,327.10 1,015,868.19 83,411,597.59 21,194,956.13 79,427.60 1,127,441.60 108,757,618.21

Current Price 544.59

Quantity Traded 8,704 8,704

Symbol SEPLAT

No. of Deals 19 19

OIL AND GAS Totals

399

Value Traded Page 4,504,662.27 4,504,662.27

4,324,402

184,750,146.90

10

of

13

Symbol RTBRISCOE

No. of Deals 19 19

Current Price 0.82

Quantity Traded 1,642,478 1,642,478

Value Traded 1,355,506.74 1,355,506.74

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

Symbol REDSTAREX

No. of Deals 23 23

Current Price 3.82

Quantity Traded 9,549,005 9,549,005

Value Traded 38,082,393.95 38,082,393.95

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL TOURIST

No. of Deals 38 4 42

Current Price 2.70 3.51

Quantity Traded 2,255,221 480 2,255,701

Value Traded 5,888,874.80 1,603.20 5,890,478.00

Symbol DAARCOMM

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 17,000 17,000

Value Traded 8,500.00 8,500.00

No. of Deals 6 1

Current Price 1.30 1.51

Quantity Traded 321,289 10

Value Traded 417,689.70 14.40

Symbol UPL

No. of Deals 3 10

Current Price 4.15

Quantity Traded 2,610 323,909

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 13 13

Current Price 0.65

Quantity Traded 1,298,106 1,298,106

Value Traded 844,639.44 844,639.44

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

No. of Deals 4 24 28

Current Price 1.83 5.09

Quantity Traded 11,300 468,222 479,522

Value Traded 20,720.00 2,285,918.56 2,306,638.56

Symbol CAVERTON

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 4.21

Quantity Traded 2,453 2,453

Value Traded 9,812.00 9,812.00

139

15,568,174

48,925,982.29

4,306

285,126,745

3,291,292,788.82

4,306

285,126,745

3,291,292,788.82

Daily Summary as ofCOMPANY 03/11/2014 TOURIST OF NIGERIA PLC. Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010 Hotels/Lodging Totals

Value Traded Media/Entertainment 1,013,941.96 DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 9,300.00 Media/Entertainment Totals 1,953,233.77 212,460,915.96Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 753,443,288.50 Activity Summary on Board EQTY LEARN AFRICA PLC

Value Traded PublishedSERVICES

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © 1,505,386.59 Printing/Publishing 739,254.40 UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 509,824.00 Printing/Publishing Totals 14,395.50 10,000,010.00 Road Transportation 282,504.64 ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC 40,445.00Road Transportation Totals 9,793,719.90 1,955,474.00 Transport-Related Services 520.00 AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC 2,202,151.72 NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC 26,500.00Transport-Related Services Totals 768,941.09 50,060.00 Support and Logistics 50.00 CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC 500.00Support and Logistics Totals 1,313,636.87 Daily Summary as of 03/11/2014 SERVICES Totals of

Quantity Traded 50,600 50,600

No. of Deals 6 6

Symbol CONOIL ETERNA PLC. ETERNA FORTE OIL PLC. FO MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MOBIL Daily Summary (Equities) MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. MRS TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL Activity Summary on Board EQTY Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

6

Current Price 0.50

552,153,711.83 9 of 13

Symbol JAPAULOIL

and Petroleum Products Distributors Daily SummaryPetroleum as of 03/11/2014 PLC Printed 03/11/2014CONOIL 14:41:10.010

SERVICES Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

4,576,168 Page

1

Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals

63,785.00

Current Price 30.40 8.00 41.90 12.20 212.50 0.95 0.50 104.50

Symbol BETAGLAS

OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment and Services Totals

OIL AND GAS Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals

65,970 of 13

8

No. of Deals 10 9 21 37 115 3 1 36 232

NATURAL RESOURCES Totals

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Page

Value Traded 30,130.00 30,130.00

Symbol ASHAKACEM BERGER CAP CCNN DANGCEM DNMEYER FIRSTALUM WAPCO

Daily Summary (Equities)

INDUSTRIAL GOODS INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © NATURAL RESOURCES Mining Services MULTIVERSE PLC Mining Services Totals

Value Traded 1,730.00 of 13 1,730.00

6 6

Daily Summary (Equities)

Symbol ACADEMY LEARNAFRCA

Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010

Current Price

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals

Current Price 1.82

ICT IT Services NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. IT Services Totals

4 of 13 Value Traded 60,845,310.92

No. of Deals 207

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

3Value Traded of 13 3,584,313.75 206,768,675.14 210,352,988.89

Symbol

Published

by The Nigerian Stockand Exchange Insurance Carriers, Brokers Services©

ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Computer Based Systems Totals

100.00

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

FINANCIAL SERVICES Daily Summary as of 03/11/2014 Banking Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010 ACCESS BANK PLC.

No. of Deals 1 1

Printed 03/11/2014 14:41:10.010

Value Traded 1 113,528.72 of 13 1,128.00 262,589,696.84 45,451,679.77 308,156,033.33

No. of Deals 1

CONSUMER GOODS Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Automobiles/Auto Parts

Symbol MORISON

HEALTHCARE Totals Symbol AGLEVENT CHELLARAM TRANSCORP UACN

CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals

Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC PHARMA-DEKO PLC. Daily Summary as of 03/11/2014 Pharmaceuticals Totals

2,217

13

EQTY Board Totals

Equity Activity Totals

Exchange Traded Fund

Name NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals

ETF by Board Published TheTotals Nigerian Stock Exchange © ETP Activity Totals

Daily Summary (ETP) Symbol NEWGOLD VETGRIF30

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 1,879.00 16.70

Page

Quantity Traded 7 10 17

11

of

13

Value Traded 10,309.50 428,013.60

Value Traded 13,153.00 167.00 13,320.00

2

17

13,320.00 Page

2

17

13,320.00

12

of

13

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

Features

45

Cement grades and collapsed buildings The House of Representatives’ directives for cement manufacturers on the categorisation and standardisation may save Nigerians the agony of collapsed buildings, writes ABIODUN BELLO

O

n September 12, the guest house of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) came tumbling

down.

At the end, 116 people, mostly foreigners of South African stock, died in the tragedy.

The church headed by Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, fondly called TB Joshua, claimed a plane hovered round the building being reconstructed about four times before it collapsed. The church insinuated that the collapse was not natural.

But testifying at the Coroner’s Inquest into the incident on October 30, the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Olutoyin Ayinde, said that the building had no permit.

He said the approval discovered in the name of SCOAN was for a fivefloor building but the guest house had been taken to eighth floor.

On July 9, one of the newly constructed buildings in a mega school in Ajoda axis of Ejigbo in Ejigbo Local Government Area of Osun State collapsed, critically injuring two persons.

Many lives have been lost in incidents like the two mentioned above. It has almost become a daily occurrence in Nigeria. This has also raised concerns among Nigerians.

But like every issue, reasons for the high level of collapsed buildings, which has almost become a national dilemma, have sharply divided Nigerians, especially experts on construction.

Many people have blamed substandard materials for the situation.

Recently, attention has been shifted to cement as the chief culprit responsible for collapsed buildings.

According to the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), there are three grades of cement in the country - the 32.5, 42.5 and 52.5 grades.

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Cement

Dangote

Odumodu

The SON Director-General, Dr Joseph Odumodu, explained that the 32.5, 42.5 and 52.5 grades of cement are supposed to be used for different purposes.

The 32.5 is suitable for block making and plastering or rendition, 42.5 is for general construction purpose, while 52.5 is reserved for concrete, high-rise structures, bridges, flyovers and marine construction.

SON, the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), and the Block Building Association of Nigeria (BBAN), have joined the fray.

But the kernel of the fight is the struggle to dominate the market by the two leading cement manufacturers – Lafarge and Dangote.

For about 50 years, Lafarge has dominated the cement industry.

The emergence of Dangote Cement Group has ostensibly changed the face of cement business with its Ibese Plant near Ilaro in Ogun State.

Dangote cement, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, produces the higher grades of 42.5 and 52.5 from all its three plants in Obajana, Kogi State, Gboko, Benue State and Ibese while many of its precursors produce only the lowest grade. This grade is also sold in the market for the price of higher grade.

But to comply with SON’s directive on the various grades of cement and their prescribed uses and the need to offer consumers alternatives for various construction needs, Dangote Cement said it would soon launch its brand of the premium 32.5

cement grade.

The Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement, Devakumar Edwin, said that the 32.5 grade, which has the lowest strength among the various cement products, would be sold lower than the others.

According to him, it will be sold at N200 lower than the price of the 42.5 grade.

“This, in addition, offers our numerous customers and end users the prerogative of choice and its appropriate application,” Edwin added.

But before the current imbroglio, cement was just cement and importers and manufacturers were making money at the expense of Nigerians who did not know that cement has grades, depending on the ability to carry load or withstand inclement weather.

A group of professionals raised the issue of improper cement categorisation, saying that many Nigerians use one grade of cement for almost every aspect of construction.

The professionals, who lambasted SON for not effectively monitoring the cement industry, said users were not properly educated by manufacturers on the use of different categories of cement.

Based on this, SON presented a memorandum to the Ad-Hoc Committee of the House of Representatives to Investigate the Composition and Pigmentation of cement in the country.

Odumodu, who presented the memorandum, said it was to appraise the committee on the efforts

Most stakeholders will prefer it if given the chance to choose between 32.5mpa and 42.5mpa

made by SON so far, in line with its extant statutory responsibilities, to end the controversy on cement categorisation.

After its public hearing on the issue, the House of Representatives set the 42.2 grade as the minimum standard to be deployed for construction in the country.

It mandated SON to immediately commence the enforcement of the new cement quality standardisation.

The House Ad-Hoc Committee on Composition and Pigmentation of Cement, in its report of its public hearing, recommended that cement bags should henceforth indicate clearly and boldly, grades, uses, and expiry dates with tamper proofing on the packages to prevent repackaging by unscrupulous middlemen.

In its 12-point recommendation in the report submitted by its Chairman, Yakubu Dogara, the legislators said that 42.5 cement grade should be the minimum standard for construction works because it is less susceptible to misapplication.

“Most stakeholders will prefer it if given the chance to choose between 32.5mpa and 42.5mpa,” the report said.

Stemming from this, the committee demanded that the SON Governing Council be properly constituted in line with the relevant Act setting up the agency and should require all cement manufacturers to retool and upgrade their production lines to start producing the 42.5mpa cement grade within a reasonable time taking into consideration the cost of social dislocation and Article 111 B.15 of the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection 1999, a protocol to which Nigeria is a signatory.

The lawmakers also asked SON to ensure that any cement manufacturer or distributor implicated in the sale of expired cement be adequately sanctioned to ensure sanity prevail in the construction industry while all cement distributors be made to withdraw expired cement from their warehouses and market and destroy them forthwith.

The report reads in part: “Lack of Building Code, coupled with the fact that over 90 per cent of the construction works in Nigeria is undertaken by non-professionals, overwhelming majority of who are quacks.”

Perhaps the most heart-warming of the committee’s recommendations is that government, as an interim measure, should create a cement fund from contributions of N10 per bag of 50kg of cement produced locally and N20 per bag of 50kg of cement imported into the country.

It also recommended that the fund be managed by SON, Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) and NIOB for the establishment of state-of-the-art functional laboratories for use in each of the geo-political zones in the country.

This, if done, is expected to sanitise the construction industry and reduce losses, human and material, arising from collapsed structures.

46

FEATURES

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Raphael James: Stamp collector with impact on youths Stamp collection is almost alien to Nigeria, but Dr Raphael James of Centre for Research, Information Management and Media Development shows it can be a fulfilling passion, writes NORMAN OBINNA

I

n a society where most graduates remain unemployed for several years, where companies, more often than not, offer graduates casual employment and derisory salaries, only a crazy man can turn down an automatic offer of employment from a state government.

But Dr Raphael James did that in favour of uncommon and alien job of collecting fish teeth, cowries and stamps.

James, then a young graduate of Psychology from the Ondo State University who won the best corps member award in 1991/92 service year and was offered automatic employment by the then Ondo State Government under the administration of Governor Bamidele Olumiluwa because of his uncanny ingenuity.

The Chief Executive Officer, the Centre for Research, Information Management and Media Development (CRIMMD), James is no stranger to controversy.

He is perhaps the only a man of Igbo extraction to marry a Yoruba princess from Ode Remo in Ogun State, against cultural and ethnic circumscriptions.

The princess is the daughter of Prince Hector Osindero who relinquished the kingship to his cousin, the popular Chief Eleyimi of the Village Headmaster TV drama, the late Oba Funsho Adeolu.

According to James, the oddity of his life is his desire to follow his passion and do things others will not want to do.

He said: “In my primary school days, I started collecting stamps because I watched a movie where a stamp collector was killed. By then I did not understand the importance of stamp collection.

“But by the time I got to secondary school and visited a stamp club in Lagos where I met a lot of stamp collectors my eyes were opened. I realised the value in stamp collection then and went on collecting it.”

James noted that aside stamp collection; he also collected fish teeth and cowries.

According to him, he now has 123 cowries from different countries of the world.

He also in addition collected bottles of different kinds, but decided to stop when he had his first child because he “realised the risk in keeping bottles where a little child that craws is”.

Though he had everything going well for him after his university degree and was even fortu-

James (left) welcoming Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi (second right) and Prof. Wole Soyinka to his library

nate enough to serve during the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) service year in Ondo State University - the same school he graduated from - at the Registrar’s office, James said he turned down the offer of automatic employment from the state government simply because he wanted to go to Lagos and expand on his stamp collection business.

Probably forgiven by providence and perhaps ancestors based on Nigerians’ ontological belief as Africans after turning down the first employment offer and came to Lagos in pursuit of his passion, James got yet another job just after three days in Lagos.

This time it was in Newswatch magazine in a most bizarre manner but resigned just after two years because, according to him, he felt the job was not challenging enough.

The resignation did not come without sacrifice as James, who did not know the value of the stamps he had collected then, suffered untold hardship for years owing to disappointments and rejection from companies and wellplaced individuals in society after successful job interviews.

But after one of such disappointments, a decision he took while inside a bus on his way home changed his life’s history.

“I applied for the position of a business development manager in the Sun Newspaper when they debuted and had a successful interview. But somewhere along the line something went wrong and I was offered the position of the advert manager instead and I declined because that was not my field and left in anger and disappointment.

“But between the Sun newspaper and my house I said to myself, if I am willing to work for somebody in the capacity of a business development manager why not for myself ?

“I got home, called my printer friend and begged him to do 20 complimentary cards for me but he did 100 instead and put business development manager, CRIM

– Centre for Research and Information Management - which is now known as CRIMMD. So I had complimentary cards without address or phone number but I was using my house address then.

“My wife had our baby and was at home and I told her to allow me make use of the shop for now since she is still nursing her baby and she accepted. I only put my laptop on a small table with signpost outside ‘workers wanted’ and that was the genesis of my outfit today.”

But since research is alien to Nigerians who are mainly interested in quick fix and short term success nobody visited the shop for any sort of inquiry or patronage for three weeks. With a wife and a new born baby to look after, James was thrown off balance and was at the edge psychological breakdown.

James also went through tougher times before arriving at his present destination.

According to him, he spent over N3 million to set up his museum.

He said: “I remembered that before I started the project, I went to my wife and said, ‘Madam, there are two options - A and B. The A is, we buy a jeep and the B is, I set up a museum’.

“But she said ‘let’s set up the museum’ and I asked her why, she said, the museum would generate the money for the Jeep later.

“Tears rolled down my cheeks but I was encouraged and today I have the museum.”

Though the museum has not started generating returns, with over 10,000 photographs telling the story of Nigeria, CRIMMD should be the largest photo museum in Nigeria today.

Despite his challenges, James has also contributed in shaping and reshaping the lives of a number of Nigerian youths.

According to him, many people have benefitted immensely from his library, which offers free services to readers, apart from those doing research.

He said: “A young lady walked into the library some time ago and

asked me if I still recognised her and I said no. She said she is now a medical doctor and that she prepared for her JAMB (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Boardconducted examination), reading in the library.

“She said she has graduated and now serves as a medical doctor. You need to see how fulfilled I was at least to realise that I am actually living my dreams.

“About three weeks ago, another young man, who introduced himself as John, also a medical doctor, who prepared for his JAMB in this library, insisted that I should come for his graduation at the University of Ilorin.

“I have had so many of them who are successful today who used the library either to read for exam or gain knowledge. It’s so amazing and I am very happy to be part of their success stories.”

On his stamp collection hobby, James said when he started initially he did not know the value.

He said: “I saw it as a sweet hobby, but one day I got broke and remembered the stamps, so I picked six of the stamps and went to stamp club to see if I can sell them. To my bewilderment, I was offered N300,000 for the six, but the thought of losing them forever made me refuse to sell them.

“But as we speak, my stamps are in the bank. I have to keep them in the bank because they worth over N23 million. What interesting thing about stamp collection is that its value increases as the year progresses, I have stamps of 1940s, 1950s, 60s, and 70s. I got so much worried that I had to keep them with my bank.”

On whether he has plans to sell them in the future, James said: “I am no more under financial pressure. I have decided to leave the stamps for my children, and that is why I kept them in the bank.

So I will say I have N23 million treasure for my children in the bank, just collecting stamps.”

• Obinna writes from Lagos.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2014

CHARADE

Walson-Jack, 15 others see the panel as Wike’s effort to stay afloat Emmanuel Masha PORT HARCOURT

T

he sixteen aggrieved governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who boycotted last Saturday’s ward congress election, have also shunned the appeal panel set up by the party’s leadership to entertain complaints from party members on the congress.

They also restated their demand for zoning and rotation of the governorship, in line with the party’s constitution

News 47

SOUTH-SOUTH

Rivers: 16 guber aspirants, delegates shun congress panel if the party really wants to win the state in the 2015 general elections.

Also, more than 2000 delegate-aspirants that were unable to take part in the ward congresses because they could not submit the nomination forms they purchased at the PDP national headquarters in Abuja have equally shunned the panel.

The panel began sitting in Port Harcourt, yesterday and is expected to entertain complaints from party members across the 319 wards in the state’s 23 local government areas

within 48 hours.

But the 16 governorship aspirants stressed that the panel had been compromised, arguing that two of the members, the chairman, Barr.

Afam Okeke, and Lambert Oparah, are aides of the immediate past Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike.

In a protest letter to the national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, the aspirants faulted the ward congresses.

One of the governorship aspirants, Nimi Walson-Jack, described the

appeal panel as a sham, adding that nobody will appear before it. He said: “The appeal panel will listen to appeals from those who set it up. It is clear from the characters of those selected for the appeal panel that it has been compromised from the onset.

“We, the group of 16 acting under the coalition of governorship aspirants do not have any iota of confidence in the so-called appeal panel and we will have nothing to do with it. We will not and cannot give legitimacy to a sham. Let

them regale themselves with the premeditated charade they have since designed for the interest of an aspirant against the collective interest and electoral fortune of our party.”

Barr. Soalabo West, the Director-General of Major Lancelot Anyanya Campaign Organisation, while speaking on behalf of the 2,100 delegate-aspirants, said that none of the delegate-aspirants will appear before the appeal because they lack confidence in the ability of the members to do justice to their complaints.

Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole (left) and widow of Hon. Peter Aliu, member, Edo State House of Assembly, Mrs. Maria Aliu, who passed on after a brief illness, during the Governor’s condolence visit to the family… yesterday.

Oshiomhole mourns Edo lawmaker Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

O

utpouring of condolence has continued to trail the demise of a lawmaker of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Peter Aliu, representing Etsako East constituency, in the House of Assembly.

Aliu, died in the early

hours of yesterday at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), after a protracted kidney related illness that saw him being bed ridden for several months in the hospital.

The state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, leader of nine PDP controlled house of assembly, Chief Festus Ebea, the Major-

ity leader of the house Mr. Phillip Shaibu and others have expressed shock at the death of the seasoned lawmaker.

Oshiomhole, described, as a man of character and principle whose stand on state and national issues was unwavering.

The Governor, who paid a condolence visit to the widow of late law-

Calabar.

L

oyalist of the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, whose interest were protected during last Saturday’s ward congresses were in jubilation mood yesterday as they got wind of sweeping victory during the congresses.

Even though Imoke is not contesting for

any elective position, thousands of his loyalists trooped out to major streets on Sunday to celebrate the outcome of the just-concluded ward congress election.

New Telegraph can authoritatively report that in some wards and towns in Central and Northern senatorial zones especially at Ikom and Etung Local Government Areas, it was celebration galore for governor’s loyalists who saw

the outcome of the exercise as a re-affirmation of Imoke’s leadership of the party in the state.

In recent times, there has been no love lost between Imoke and the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba over the battle for who controls the central senatorial zone where both hail from.

At Ikom town on Sunday, hundreds of commercial motorcyclists said to be sympathetic to one of

Wale Elegbede

T

he immediate past deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State and one of the governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nsima Ekere, has refuted claims that governor Godswill Akpabio has adopted him following the truce reached by major political stakeholders in the state.

Ekere, said the governor’s aid made the claim in a statement titled, “Governor Akpabio Reconciles with Don Etiebiet as PDP Stakeholders adopt Nsima Ekere for Governor.” stating, that the development is one of the many distractions and misinformation by people and interests that are not ready to focus their political aspirations on issues.

In a statement signed by the chairman of the steering committee, Joseph Effiong on behalf Ekere’s campaign organization, the group reiterated that Ekere’s governorship aspiration represents the best option for the state and will therefore not operate on trivialities and insinuations.

The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a press statement While we thank the authors for their good wishes, we wish to state that we are neither aware of the meeting nor the purported adoption of Mr. Ekere by PDP stakeholders.”

PDP defends ward congresses maker, Mrs. Mary Aliu, yesterday, said Aliu was like a brother to him.

“In moments of temptation, he showed courage and good character. When people plotted to betray us, he stood firm, remained on the side of fairness, justice and principle. When people brought money, he refused money in favour of principle”, he said.

Imoke’s loyalists sweep ward congresses in Cross Rivers Clement James

Ekere debunks claims of adoption

by Akwa Ibom PDP

the senatorial aspirants, were seen performing some stunts along Etomi road axis in jubilation of the outcome of the poll while some women were seen dancing round major streets shouting we “have won;” “our people have done it again.”

Also at Presbyterian Primary School field, Ikom, another sets of hundreds of party supporters gathered there celebrating the results of the ward congress.

Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

T

he leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo state yesterday, urged its members and supporters not to be discouraged by the propaganda being deployed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to discredit its successful conduct of ward congresses held across the 192 wards in the 18 councils of the state.

Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the state, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, who stated this in a chat with newsmen in Benin the state capital, dismissed allegations of imposition of candidates, doctoring of delegates list and other manipulations, insisting, that the exercise was peaceful in most parts of the state and was conducted in line with the party’s constitution and

internal mechanism.

Nehikhare said, “like it is expected in all things that have to do with elections, those who don’t have their way now find fault in the process. In the wisdom of the party it was decided by all stakeholders that delegates should emanate from the ward levels and that all members of the wards with the leadership should come together to draw up an acceptable list under consensus and an arrangement”.

The party’s new scribe said the opposition PDP was sorry to have disappointed the expectations of the ruling APC in its hope that the congress would bring a lot of brouhaha, assuring that the members and leadership were getting stronger to achieve the desired goal to get back to government in 2016 which he said would begin with the 2015 state and National Assembly polls.

48

News

tuesday, november 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

north

Kaduna celebrates third best Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

T

L-R: Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo; Benue State PDP governorship aspirant, Mr. Sam Ode and PDP National Chairman, Mallam Adamu Mua’zu, after a closeddoor consultative meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja...at the weekend.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

Tambuwal’s kinsmen protest in Sokoto Umar Danladi Ado Sokoto

D

elegates from Tambuwal/ Kebbe federal constituency in Sokoto State have protested the withdrawal of the security detail of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, describing the action as unconstitutional and the reasons for doing so as frivolous.

The delegates yester-

28

day stormed the House of Assembly in large numbers, carrying placards on which was written; “IGP allow judiciary to interpret the constitution,” “Tambuwal our worthy ambassador,” “GEJ enough to impunity,” “No to executive rascality,” and chanting “Sai Matawalle,” meaning ‘we are in total support of Aminu Tambuwal.’

It will be recalled that the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, last week announced the withdrawal of the secu-

The life expectancy of women at age 60 years in Hong Kong, China in 2010-2015.

Source: Un.org

rity detail of the speaker on the ground that he defected from the PDP to the APC. An elder in the area, Alhaji Isa Kebbe, who led the delegates, presented a letter of protest to the House of Assembly member representing Tambuwal West Constituency, Hon. Abdulsamad Dasuki, who later forwarded it to the Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Lawal Muhammad Zayyana, for consideration and necessary action.

The eight-page-peti-

77.86%

The percentage of the individuals using the internet in United States of America in 2011.

Source: Itu.int

tion was duly signed by the council chairmen, councillors and elders from Tambuwal/Kebbe federal constituency.

The letter reads in part; “We condemn the usurpation of powers of the judiciary by the Inspector-General of Police on the directive of the Presidency to interpret the constitution, thereby arrogating to itself the powers it did not possess under a civilized existence, which is clearly detrimental to the federation of Nigeria.”

28,748

The total area (in sq. km) of Albania.

Source: Worldfactsandfigures.com

They also demanded the immediate restoration of all rights and privileges accruing to the speaker.

Responding, Speaker of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Lawal Muhammad Zayyana, pledged to take the letter to the appropriate authority after consideration and deliberations by the members.

Zayyana also said that justice would be done to the petition and promised to inform them of the deliberations on the issue.

4.29m

The total population of men in Burundi in 2012.

Source: Un.org

he impressive results that Kaduna State recorded in the last Senior Secondary School Examination is one of the dividends of the huge investment that Governor Muktar Yero has made in overhauling the education sector.

Governor Yero’s Director General of Media and Publicity, Malam Ahmed Maiyaki, who made this known in an interactive session with journalists yesterday, said Kaduna State was in the third position in the overall results released by WAEC throughout the country.

Lalong picks APC form Musa Pam Jos

A

ll Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in Plateau State and former Speaker of the state House of Assembly during the administration of Governor Joshua Dariye, Hon. Simon Bako Lalong, has vowed to defeat any PDP candidate that Governor Jang may impose the people in the 2015 general elections.

Lalong disclosed this yesterday in Jos, when he picked his governorship nomination form at the APC secretariat along Yakubu Gowon Way.

Al-Makura’s former PDP elders vow to support Buhari endorses El-Rufai commissioner joins guber race candidate from Kwara South El-Rufai had wanted to Ibraheem Musa

Cheke Emmanuel LAFIA

O

ne of the immediate past commissioners in Governor Tanko Al-Mukura’s cabinet, Mr. Innocent Lagi, has join the governorship race in Nasarawa State on the platform of Labor Party (LP) with a pledge to develop strong political will to tackle the security challenges currently bedeviling the state.

Lagi, a former attorneygeneral and commissioner for justicewho declared his intention to contest the governorship race at a news briefing in his country home, Kurmi-Wamba, Wamba Local Government area of the state, said he would formulate policies and programmes

that would stimulate holistic infrastructural development in all the sectors of the economy, if voted into office.

He said the current situation in the state needed someone like him that has strong determination to unite all the diverse ethnic nationalities to live in peace, thereby paving the way for a holistic development.

The aspirant blamed lack of political will by the present administration to tackle headlong persistent communal crisis ravaging some parts of the state.

Lagi said setting up of commissions of inquiry was not a solution to the crisis, but an approach that would engage all communities and stakeholders for genuine dialogue that would bring about sustainable peace.

Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

P

eoples Democratic Party (PDP) elders from Kwara South senatorial district rose yesterday from a meeting in Ilorin, the state capital, with a resolution affirming their support for the emergence of the party’s gubernatorial candidate from the zone for the 2015 election.

The meeting, conveyed by former deputy governor and a stalwart of the party, Chief Joel Ogundeji, became the first major public pronouncement by politicians from the southern senatorial district on the forthcoming election. The ruling APC is picking its candidate from the zone in the person of incumbent governor, Alhaji AbdulFattah

Ahmed.

It was gathered that the resolution to support one of the five aspirants from the zone was tabled by the Secretary of the Elders Forum, Dr. Hezekiah Oyedepo and was affirmed by all those present through a unanimous voice vote. Elders from the seven local government areas in the zone participated in the meeting.

Aspirants present at the meeting were Alhaji Jani Ibrahim, Mr. Sunday Babalola, Deacon John Dara, Senator Makanjuola Ajadi and Senator Simeon Ajibola. Others present at the meeting include Chief Samuel Adedayo, Chief Henry Olaosebikan, Hon. Kola Bukoye and Chief Lanre Ogundeji, younger brother to the former deputy governor.

Kaduna

T

he presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday told the people of Kaduna State that they will be doing themselves a favour and not Malam Nasir El-Rufai, if they vote for him as governor in the 2015 general elections.

Buhari, who made this known while presenting El-Rufai, during the latter’s formal declaration to run for the governorship of the state, said although he was not supposed to attend the declaration of any aspirant, it has become imperative to do so for the former FCT Minister.

According to Buhari,

work full time for him, but he had directed him to contest for the governorship of Kaduna State, because he has three key leadership qualities which are competence, integrity and courage.

Buhari further said that the way El-Rufai handled his assignment as Minister of the FCT showed that he has these three qualities. He pleaded with the people to support the former minister to become governor of Kaduna State.

The presidential aspirant noted that Kaduna State is the epi-centre of the north, where every tribe resides, adding that it needs a competent person like El-Rufai to govern it in order to bring peace and development to the people.

News 49

NEW TELEGRAPH tuesday, november 4, 2014

Jonathan asks court to dismiss eligibility suit

Ekiti poly shut over protest

Tunde Oyesina

Adesina Wahab

Abuja

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan has asked the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to dismiss the suit challenging his eligibility to re-contest in the 2015 general election.

A lawyer, Mase Daphine and two others have approached the court seeking to stop the President from re-contesting next year on ground that he has served two terms as provided by the Con-

stitution.

The President and his Vice, Namadi Sambo, through their counsel Ade Okeaya-Inneh SAN and Dr Fabian Ajogwu, SAN filed a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court.

They contended that the plaintiffs have no locus standi to institute such suit and that they also failed to disclose any sufficient interest to warrant a claim in Public or Private Law. In the particulars of objection, the defendants

cited the Supreme Court judgment in 1981 in the matter between Senator Abraham Adesanya and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and others, as reported in All Nigerian Law Reports part 1.

They submitted that the court ruled “that to entitle a person to invoke judicial power to determine the constitutionality of legislative or executive action, he must show that either his personal interest will immediately be or has been

adversely affected by the action or that he has sustained or is in immediate danger of sustaining an injury to himself, and which interest of injury is over and above that of the general public.”

Monehin emphasising on the benefits of epayments to government said it will help government reduce cost and promote transparency, spur economic growht, increase civic engagement, create savings and efficiencies.

He said the Nigerian

economy relies heavily on cash, driving up management costs for banks. In 2005, the Central Bank of Nigeria took action to alleviate the economic impact of heavy cash use by issuing a Cashless Nigeria Policy to increase the proportion of electronic transaction; decrease banks high cost of managing cash; retain large proportion of cash within the banking system, decrease risk inherent in holding or moving large amount of cash.

Ado-Ekiti

P

art time students of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti yesterday went on the rampage over hike in tuition fees, leading the management to shut down the Continuing Education Centre (satellite campus) of the institution.

The students alleged that their tuition fee was increased from N9000 to N34000 per semester.

The protesting students said their effort was to draw the attention of the Rector, Dr Mrs Theresa Taiwo, to their plight.

They also alleged that at an earlier meeting with their representatives, the rector said though it was inevitable that the fees would be increased, that the increment would be done every four years.

EFCC seeks sole trial of Nnamani Akeem Nafiu

S

L-R: Prof. Uche Isiugo-Abanihe of the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan; President, Nigerian Anthropological and Sociological Practitioners Association (NASA), Prof. Ifeanyi Onyeonoru and Executive Director, African Population and Health Research Centre, Kenya, Prof. Alex Eze, at the 19th Annual National Conference of NASA entitled: Leadership, Governance and Development in Lagos…yesterday.

PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

IMC, MasterCard deny security Return speaker’s post to Yoruba, OPC urges Tambuwal breach on ID card project Wale Elegbede

T

he Yoruba sociocultural organization, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) has described the Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, as a usurper who hijacked the position since 2011, saying he should immediately cede the post to a Yoruba legislator in the lower chamber.

Reacting to a circulated statement yesterday that it had dispatched about 60 of its men to provide protection for Tambuwal after police authorities withdrew the security detail attached to the Speaker, following his defection from to the opposition APC, the president of the organisation, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, denied any security pact with the embattled Speaker, adding that its members were not providing him protection.

According to Fasehun, there could no meeting point between OPC and Tambuwal because he had usurped the position originally zoned to the South-West.

The organization recalled that it had raised a voice of protest when in June 2011 Tambuwal mounted the seat of Speaker, a position originally zoned to the South-West by the ruling PDP. “Back in 2011, we told Tambuwal that he was a usurper of a seat reserved for the Yoruba, and asked him to vacate the position. But he refused. No way can we now extend any form of assistance to him,” the statement said.

“And we still maintain our stand that Tambuwal should hand over the position of Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives to the Yoruba people, who have an authentic claim to the position.”

Kunle Azeez

T

he National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and MasterCard sub-Saharan Africa yesterday in Lagos denied allegations making rounds on the internet that the national identity card project could be compromised by shipping of database

of Nigerians to America

by Mastercard.

Chris Onyemenam, Director General, NIMC, who laboured to clear the air, said on no account is the national ID card information secured in the National Identity Management System (NIMS) warehoused anywhere outside the shores of Nigeria.

10.8m Nigerian children not enrolled in school – Shekarau Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

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he Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, yesterday disclosed that about 10.8 million children of school age are currently not enrolled in school.

Shekarau, who spoke at the opening of the technical session of the 60th National Council on Education (NCE) meeting in Abeokuta, Ogun State,

said the country was facing enormous challenges in the education sector.

The week-long meeting had as its theme: “Access and equity: Imperative for national development.”

Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr MacJohn Nwaobiala, the minister noted that the country was grappling with low enrolment, completion and transition rates in primary education.

Contractors plan showdown with FERMA over N4bn debt Abdulwahab Isa Abuja

A

group of local contractors that claimed it has over N4billion unpaid debt with the Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) for jobs completed since 2012 is planning a showdown with the management of road maintenance agency.

The group resolved to stage protest both in FERMA office and the National Assembly in the next two weeks following repeated failure by the agency to honour payment obligation two years after contracts awarded had been executed by the contractors.

New Telegraph learnt the decision to stage protest to bring to fore predicament facing indigenous contractors of FERMA was taken at a recent meeting of Abuja chapter of FERMA indigenous contractors.

even years after his arraignment, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), yesterday asked Justice Mohammed Yunusa of a Federal High Court, Lagos to separate a former Governor of Enugu State, Chimaroke Nnanami, from being tried alongside others accused of alleged laundering of N5bn belonging to the state.

The former governor is currently standing trial alongside; Sunday Anyaogu, Rainbownet (Nig) Ltd, Hillgate (Nig) Ltd, Cosmos FM, Capital City Automobile (Nig) Ltd, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School on a 105-count charge of money laundering.

IGP inaugurates committee on communal clashes Emmanuel Onani

T

he Acting Nspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Suleiman Abba, has inaugurated a committee saddled with the responsibility of preventing and managing communal clashes across the country.

A statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the committee is co-chaired by six Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs).

The statement said the committee is charged, among others, “To encourage and facilitate dialogue among warring parties.”

50 News

PDP Congress

Imo: Power play shifts to Abuja, aspirants call for cancellation Steve Uzoechi

OWERRI

F

ourteen gover norship aspirants in Imo State yesterday left for Abuja to protest last Saturday’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegate congress in Imo at the party’s national headquarters.

The aspirants now

operating under the aegis of Coalition of Governorship Aspirants of PDP, Imo State are outraged at the conduct of the delegate election which they allege was skewed to favour a the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha.

Their petition reads in part: “No election held in 90 per cent of the wards. Rather, a

governorship aspirant colluded with the Electoral Panel sent to Imo State from the National Headquarters to totally disenfranchise the PDP electorate in Imo state.

Results were written in several homes and hotel rooms of aspirants.

Some of them by-passed the state executives of the party to submit their personally concocted results directly to the Delegate Election Panel Team.”

WORLD | News

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Burkina Faso leader to hand over power to transitional body

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urkina Faso's interim President Isaac Zida, said yesterday that the army would cede power to a transition government headed by a consensual leader, in a bid to calm accusations that it had seized power in a military coup.

The country's long-

time president, Blaise Compaore stepped down last week after two days of mass protests over his bid to extend his rule. On Saturday, the military appointed Lieutenant Colonel Zida in a move criticized by opposition politicians and Western powers seeking a

return to civilian rule.

"Our understanding is that the executive powers will be led by a transitional body, but within a constitutional framework that we will watch over carefully," he told a gathering of diplomats in the capital Ouagadougou, without giving a timeframe.

Three feared dead in Benue Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

A

t least, three persons were feared dead and many others including the Chairman of Ado Local Government Area of Benue State, Mr. Alex Ogaba badly injured while attempting to snatch sensitive materials meant for the conduct the last Saturday's ward congresses in the area. New Telegraph gathered that Ogaba, who arrived the venue of the ward congresses in com-

pany with security aides, was accosted by irate youths, who pounced on him and later recovered the materials from him. The council boss was reportedly beaten to pulp and stripped naked. It was gathered that what followed shortly was sporadic shooting by the security personnel to scare away PDP supporters taking part in the congresses; a situation that gave rise to a stampede in the hall where the exercise was been held that resulted to the death of three persons. Our cor-

respondent also gathered that a similar incidence played out in Otukpa, the headquarters of Ogbadibo Local Government Area as many supporters of the PDP sustained varying degrees of injuries when crisis ensued in the area. Benue State Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ezeala, in a reaction said no arrest has been made in connection with the crisis, adding that the exercise was postponed in some local government areas of the state due to late arrival of materials.

Three gubernatorial aspirants in Jigawa reject result Muhammad Kabir KANO

T

hree aspirants in Jigawa State, Hon. Abba Anas,Alhaji Danladi Auyo and Architect Aminu Kani yesterday rejected the outcome of the last Saturday’s PDP congress in the state and called for its cancellation. The three aspirants, who briefed journalists in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, said Governor Sule Lamido and his loyalists in the state manipulated the process for his anointed candidate, Mallam Aminu Ringim. "We the under

signed appeal to the PDP ward congress electoral Appeal Panel to cancel the so-called ward congresses held on Saturday because it is a fact and common knowledge that forms were surreptitiously sold to one of the gubernatorial aspirants who filled the names of his cronies as the various ward delegates without any congress held as alleged on the 1st of November,2014’.

“It is to our knowledge that the forms were to be sold publicly to any party member interested in being a ward.

Congress delegate and

a receipt issued but in a situation where an aspirant purchased all the forms in one swoop to obtain an undue advantage over other aspirants is anything but democratic" According to them, since the time for the sale and return of expression of interest and nomination form was extended by the party, the ward congress election ought to have been put on hold until the close of the sale of and return of the forms to give those who purchase their forms during extended time to encourage their supporters to purchase the ward congresses form.

Oyo appeal panel visits aspirants Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

F

ollowing receipt of complaints from stakeholders regarding the disruption of ward congresses of the Oyo State Peoples Democratic conducted last Saturday, the party's appeal panel yesterday visited the party secretariat in Ibadan and met with the governorship aspirants. Led by its chairman, Prof.

Alphonsus Nwosu, the panel heard complaints on the alleged illegality that marred the exercise and received petitions and other for ms of evidence from the aggrieved aspirants. Some of them said the congress never held because there were no election materials provided them, while others said it held even without the materials. Senator Ayo Adeseun, Femi Babalola, Seyi Makinde,

Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, Kehinde Olaosebikan and Prof Soji Adejumo were the governorship aspirants present at the sitting. Another aspirant, Dr. Isaac Owolabi, was represented by a former Attorney General in the state, Abdulsalam Are. Former governor in the state, Adebayo AlaoAkala, former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin and Wole Oyelese did not appear before the panel.

Berliners sing and dance on top of the Berlin Wall to celebrate the opening of East-West German borders

Berlin Wall crosses stolen before anniversary

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erman police say a set of crosses commemorating people who died trying to cross the Berlin Wall has been stolen, days before the 25th anniversary of the barrier's fall.

Police were alerted early yesterday that the seven white crosses on

the Spree riverbank, near the Reichstag parliament building in central Berlin, had gone missing. Similar crosses stand at several points along the former border.

A group calling itself the Center for Political Beauty claimed it was behind the crosses' disappearance. It said it

wants to draw attention to the plight of refugees trying to get across modern Europe's external borders. At least 136 people died between 1961 and 1989 trying to cross the wall that divided communist-run East Berlin from West Berlin. The wall fell November 9, 1989.

Terminally-ill Brittany Maynard takes own life

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he woman with brain cancer who revived a national debate about physicianassisted suicide ended her life two days ago by swallowing lethal drugs made available under an Oregon law allowing terminally ill people to choose when to die. She would have been 30, November 19.

Maynard had been in the spotlight for about a month since publicizing that she and her husband, Dan Diaz, moved to Portland from Northern California so that she could take advantage of the Oregon law. She told journalists she planned to die Nov. 1, shortly after her husband's birthday, but reserved the right to move the date forward or push

it back.

Maynard ended her suffering right on schedule after hinting at a possible delay in a video released last week. "She died as she intended — peacefully in her bedroom, in the arms of her loved ones," said Sean Crowley, a spokesman for the advocacy group Compassion & Choices. Crowley said Maynard "suffered increasingly frequent and longer seizures, severe head and neck pain, and stroke-like symptoms. As symptoms grew more severe, she chose to abbreviate the dying process by taking the aid-in-dying medication she had received months ago."

The issue of physician-assisted suicide

is not new, but Maynard's youth and vitality before she became ill brought the discussion to a younger generation.

Working with Compassion & Choices, Maynard used her story to speak out for the right of terminally ill people like herself to end their lives on their own terms. Maynard's choice was not without detractors. Some religious groups and others opposed to physician-assisted suicide voiced objections.

"We are saddened by the fact that this young woman gave up hope, and now our concern is for other people with terminal illnesses who may contemplate following her example."

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

Sports News

International Sport

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Basketball

2015 AFCON: CAF gives Morocco Nov 8 deadline

Liverpool not scared of Real Madrid –Rodgers

Heart surgery survivor, Edoka, close to return

52

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53 Did you know?

Sport

That Mfon Udoh became the first player to score 21 goals in the history of the Nigeria Premier League as Enyimba drew 1-1 with Dolphins at the Liberation Stadium on Sunday, November 2, 2014

Keshi’s return, bad precedent – Kpakor Charles Ogundiya

F The NFF asked him to go and the president asked for his return, so we are definitely heading for anarchy

Keshi (right) and Mikel at a training session

or mer inter national, Moses Kpakor, has said the gover nment directive to retur n Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, was wrong.

According to him, the directive was a bad precedent which must not be encouraged.

The for mer BBC Lions of Gboko star, while speaking to our correspondent on the telephone, said the decision to remove Keshi initially was cruel, but to force the coach on the board of the Nigeria Football Federation is even worse.

“I heard that the president of the federation, Goodluck Jonathan, ordered the return of Keshi, if that is true, then we are doing a wrong thing and we are setting a bad precedent that might jeopardize our football.

“When Keshi was sacked, I said it was a bad decision but what we have now can cause more confusion. The NFF asked him to go

Kpakor

and the president asked for his return, so we are definitely heading for anarchy,” he said.

Speaking further on the clamour for some players in the national team, Kpakor said the coach had the right to invite players of his choice to the team.

Kpakor said; “Countries like Spain and the Netherland despite the ar ray of stars in their teams have been having a bad spell of recent, even Ger many after winning the World Cup suffered a slump. So we cannot say we have been recording bad results because some players were not invited to the team.

“The coach does not have the luxury of inviting all the players in the world, the best thing is to support the team and the players invited.”

A’Ibom plans extravaganza for stadium opening Adekunle Salami

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

T

he Akwa Ibom State Government is planning a big extravaganza to open the ultramodern Akwa Ibom International Stadium on November 7 in Uyo. It is no longer news that the home-based Super Eagles will be playing a friendly match on the inauguration day of the 30,000 capacity stadium, but beyond that there are plans to make the event lively with cultural display, live show by a notable Nigerian artiste and also lots of other surprises.

A member of the planning committee told New Telegraph on Monday that there were plans to make the stadium opening event a ‘big show.’

“We want to stage a concert of sorts and give people a lasting impression about the state. People will appreciate our tradition the more after the opening of the stadium.

There are plans to also bring in a popular artiste to thrill the audience.

“The government believes the attention of the whole country will be in Uyo on Friday and so we are ready to do well to justify the expec-

tations of Nigerians. We are also thinking that the first impression we give with this ceremony could mean a lot for the stadium,” the committee member said.

Top global football personalities including Edson Arantes De Nacimento, popularly known as Pele, are also on the cards to grace the occasion.

Governor Godswill Akpabio has said that the stadium was part of his desire to leave a lasting legacy for the Nigerian youths.

President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to be in Uyo on Friday to declare the stadium open.

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SPORT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

2015 AFCON: CAF gives Morocco Nov 8 deadline

Senforce boss backs NFF on referees’ development

l Insists on Jan 17 kick-off date

Emmanuel Tobi

T

he Confederation of African Football on Monday said that there would not be changes to the dates for next year’s African Cup of Nations despite the Ebola outbreak,.

CAF also said host country Morocco has until Saturday to agree to the schedule or lose the tournament.

CAF maintained its position on Africa’s top football tournament after a meeting of its executive committee over the weekend and then meetings with Moroccan officials — who want the cup postponed — on Monday.

In a statement, CAF said Morocco’s football federation should now “clarify its final position” on the tournament

by Saturday.

CAF will meet next Tuesday to make a final decision on Morocco’s hosting, it said.

CAF will talk to other countries willing to host if Morocco doesn’t agree to hold the tournament on the planned dates of January 17

till February 8, although it’s unclear if anyone wants it.

Possible stand-in hosts South Africa, Egypt and Sudan have all said they won’t stage the tournament. Ghana and Nigeria are believed to be considering if they want to act as short-notice hosts.

GOtv boxing night holds Nov 23 Emmanuel Tobi

A

s part of efforts aimed at reviving boxing in Nigeria, major digital terrestrial service provider, GOtv, has thrown his weight behind the sponsoring of the Boxing Night billed for November 23 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos.

New Telegraph gathered that the event which will feature six professional bouts is aimed at creating a platform for the long-sought rebirth of the sport, which enjoyed huge popularity right up to the 80s before suffering depression.

Expected to be in attendance are boxing legends, top officials of boxing regulatory bodies, representatives of boxing clubs and boxing enthusiasts.

The event is conceived to bring back the lustre of boxing through adequate encouragement of boxers in the country while a press conference has been slated for Thursday, 6 November, 2014 at the Brai Ayonote Boxing Complex, National Stadium, Lagos.

Super Eagles players protesting to Grisha Ghead during the 2013 AFCON in South Africa

T

he Confederation of African Football has named Egyptians referees to handle the 2015 AFCON qualifier between Nigeria and Congo Brazzaville in Pointe Noire.

Leading the pack is Ghead Zaglol Grisha who will be at the centre and will be assisted by compa-

Babatunde eyes Volyn exit in January

N

igeria forward Babatunde Michael has revealed that he could quit his Ukrainian club in the January transfer window.

“My club asked me to hold on for a while, but I am still very hopefully that I could move in January or February,” Michael disclosed.

The Nigeria World Cup star was close to a move in the summer, but he said the hand injury he suffered at Brazil 2014 blocked the move eventually.

The Volyn of Ukraine left winger also said he was looking forward to return to action for the Super Eagles after injury also stopped him from doing so last month.

Coach Stephen Keshi has named him in his 25-man squad for the double header against Congo and South Af-

T

he Chairman of Senforce Insurance Limited, Mr. Ani Ojuya on Monday, reiterated his company’s full support for the new executive committee of the Nigeria Football Federation led by Amaju Pinnick, even as the schedule for the forthcoming capacity –building programme of Nigeria’s elite referees in the United Kingdom has been unveiled.

“Nigeria football is big, and if the support is there, it will certainly get bigger and fulfill its potential in the long run.” Senforce Insurance had, a few years ago, actually bankrolled a capacity –building programme in England for two Nigerian referees at the instance of Pinnick, while he was chairman of Delta State Football Association.

The arbiters, to be led by the President of Nigeria Referees Association, Alhaji Ahmed Maude and the Chairman of NFF Referees Committee, Alhaji Yusuf Ahmed Fresh, will arrive in London on November 30, and be at the FA’s High Performance Training Facility at St Georges Park, Burton-on Trent on the first two days of December and visit a community –based youth football project on December 3.

The team will visit Wembley Stadium, offices of the FA, attend a Premier League match to assess refereeing operations, tour the Emirates Stadium (home ground of Premiership giants, Arsenal FC amongst others before heading back to Nigeria on December 13.

Egyptian referees for Congo, Nigeria game Ajibade Olusesan

rica.

“I am very happy that I am on the list. I cannot wait to come and help my country qualify for AFCON,” the player stated from his base.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES Juventus v Olympiakos 8:45pm Malmo v Atletico

8:45pm

Basel v Ludogorets

8:45pm

Real Madrid v Liverpool 8:45pm Zenit v Leverkusen

8:45pm

Benfica v Monaco

8:45pm

Arsenal v Anderlecht

8:45pm

Dortmund v Galatasaray 8:45pm

triots Tahssen Abo El Sadat Bedyer (Assistant Referee 1), Ahmed Abou Elela (Assistant Referee 2) and Mahmoud Ashor (Reserve Referee).

The African body also named Aboubakar Alim Konate from Cameroon as Commissioner while Moroccan Naciri Abdelali will be Security Officer.

Ghead was in charge of the Nigeria vs Zambia Group C second round game on January 25, 2013 and awarded an unworthy 86th minute penalty to the Zambians.

The resultant penalty saw

Zambia equalised and ended the tie in a 1-1 draw with a top official of CAF quoted as saying that the referee committee was totally dissatisfied with Ghead’s mishandling of the match, and as a result suspended the Egyptian from the competition.

CAF has also disclosed that the crucial game will start at 3.30pm Congo time, which will be 2.30pm in Nigeria.

Stephen Keshi’s 25 –man squad for the battle will start to arrive the Bolton White Apartments camp in Abuja as from Sunday.

avid Luiz led the congratulations for Novak Djokovic after the tennis star reclaimed his Paris Masters title in the French captial on Sunday.

The world number one beat Milos Raonic in straight sets to lift the trophy once more, and the Paris Saint-Ger main defender was front and centre of the plaudits after the match.

Brazil inter national Luiz posed for a photo with both players before Djokovic was presented with the award in Paris on Sunday evening.

Luiz later took to Twitter to once again explain his admiration for the Serbian superstar.

He tweeted: ‘Gift of God to be part of the ceremony and for the opportunity to watch

Akwa Utd players protest three months unpaid salaries

P

layers of Nigeria Professional Football League club, Akwa United, on Monday stormed the government house protesting the non-payment of salaries owed them.

The players are asking the government to pay up their sign on fee for this season and the balance from last season.

The players also said they’ve not been paid salaries in the last three a great match between these months while two match amazing players! bonuses are still pending.

“We are hungry; we can’t play on an empty stomach. This isn’t funny at all,” a source told SL10.ng.

“We are here at the government house to protest and demand that they pay us salaries, sign on fee and match bonus owed us,” Akwa Ibom State will host the Super Eagles in the opening of the ultramodern Uyo Stadium on November 7, but it’s unfortunate that the players of Akwa United are left to play with empty stomach.

Luiz (left) and Djokovic

Luiz congratulates Djokovic for Paris Open win

D

Pinnick

INTERNATIONAL SPORT 53

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

UEFA Champions League:

Liverpool not scared of Real Madrid –Rodgers

L

iverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insisted his side won’t be overawed

by Real Madrid as the two sides meet in the UEFA Champions League tie at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.

“We’ve worked very hard over a couple of years to get to this level,” he said.

“To play Real Madrid at the Bernabeu tells us that we’ve been doing okay. But, of course, we’re in a transi-

tion phase. We want to be better and we need to be better. So the game Tuesday night is a wonderful one for us.

“We’re still very much in the group to qualify, which is the objective. It’s a big task playing against arguably the best team in the world at the moment.

“But we’ll go into it with confidence. The players will be back up again after Saturday’s result and we’ll go into that game looking to get

something from it.”

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo will be aiming for another record as the Champions League’s all-time leading scorer. Ronaldo’s opener in the European champions’ 3-0 win at Anfield two weeks ago took him to within one goal of Madrid legend Raul’s 71 Champions League goals.

A 12th consecutive victory in all competitions would allow Real to seal their place in the last 16 with two games to spare in Group B.

Sterling (right)

Allegri ready for ‘decisive’ Champions League clash

M

Allegri

assimiliano Allegri expects Tuesday’s clash with Olympiacos to be crucial in deciding Juventus’ UEFA Champions League fate.

The Italian champions sit third in Group A after three games and suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat to the Greek side last time out in Athens.

Trailing Atletico Madrid and Olympiacos by three points going into Tuesday’s fixture at the Juventus Stadium, Allegri’s men have work to do if they are to ensure progression from the group stages,

having bowed out in third place last year.

“It’s an important test against a team who play decent football. We need to tackle it with plenty of focus and intensity,” he said.

“Anything can happen in football, but I think [this] game will be decisive as far as our Champions League destiny is concerned.

“We need to improve on our display in Athens. We were sloppy with our passing in the first half.

“We need to make the most of all the time we have to get the right result.”

Basketball Flakes Heart surgery survivor,Edoka, close to return

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igerian basketball prodigy, Emmanuella Edoka, who a few years ago underwent a six-hour open heart surgery to repair her heart, is happy to have joined the basketball programme of New York-based Siena College, even as she inches closer to full recovery from an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury.

Edoka, who arrived in the United States at the age of 15 through the Ejike Ugboaja Foundation, and was subsequently enrolled at Bishop Kearney High School, became one of the most sought-after youngsters in the US following her impressive performances for her high school and picked Siena ahead of other top colleges interested in her services such as Syracuse, Providence, LSU, Dayton, Rhode Island and North Carolina State.

“After my heart surgery, I thought maybe I was done playing basketball because it was my heart,” said Edoka, in an interview posted on a Siena College dedicated site. “But then after my follow-up visit to the cardiologist, I was cleared and I was able to continue to play and I was very happy for that.”

She added: “I love it. I’m excited and I’m happy to be here.

The environment, it was home

away from home being from Nigeria. It just fits perfectly because I could relate to the people on campus and they were just welcoming compared to other campuses that I visited.”

“It’s been a tough journey coming from Nigeria to the US. I’ve had three surgeries since I’ve been here. I’m still recovering from the recent one I had.

I’m just thankful to be here because of the support system,” said Edoka, who suffered a torn ACL while playing for her high school earlier in the year.

Concerns grow over Muhammad Ali ‘s health

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here have been concerns over the weekend concerning the health of former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali after his doctor confirmed that he is struggling to leave the house as he is unable to speak as well as having significant difficulties with walking, according to the Daily Mirror.

However, despite that, his doctor, Dr Abraham Lieberman, has denied that the 72 year old’s life is in any immediate risk.

“I don’t know that he is more or less at risk than anyone else but anything can happen,” he said.

“I don’t see anything immediately that leads me to think that he is going to die in six months or a year.”

with Ifeanyi Ibeh 08054175662

Rebounding not all about strength – Aminu

N

igeria and Dallas Mavericks forward, Al-Farouq Aminu, believes he has got what it takes to outrebound the opposition and succeed as a power forward in the National Basketball Association despite his size.

The 6-foot-9 Aminu, who weighs just 97 kilogrammes, has spent almost his entire NBA career playing from the small forward position.

But following his switch from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Mavericks in the summer, the 24-year-old American-born Nigerian

looks set to be used mostly as a power forward this season mainly due to his rebounding prowess.

“I think (rebounding) is just a lot of luck, as far as the ball bounces in your vicinity,” he said. “It’s just something I like to do, I guess.”

Aminu led all small forwards in the NBA in total rebound percentage two seasons in a row. But even though the odds are against him repeating that feat against much bigger and stronger opposition, the Nigerian insists he is up to the

challenge, even going as far as citing as an example retired NBA player, Dennis Rodman, who at 6-foot-9, was one of the best rebounders to have ever played in the NBA. “It’s not always about just strength when it comes to rebounding,” continued Aminu.

“Dennis Rodman was proof to that. He wasn’t the biggest guy, but he was an unbelievable rebounder. There’s different way to get rebounds.”

With Dirk Nowitzki still going strong, Aminu will have to be content coming off the bench for the Mavericks.

FIBA ref,Ojeaburu,hails newly badged trio

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igeria’s foremost basketball referee, Kingsley Ojeaburu, has hailed the trio of Olusegun Adekanmbi, Samuel Sofoluwe and Musa Gumel for getting their international badges from the Federation of International basketball Associations, .

Adekanmbi, Sofoluwe and Gumel were last week, at the FIBA referees clinic in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, given their international officiating certification from the world Emmanuella Edoka body bringing to six the attempting to block an opponent number of international referees in the country.

And Ojeaburu, who officiated at the recently concluded FIBA World Cup in Spain, has offered some words of advice to the newly badged trio.

“Before they went for the clinic, Tunde Popoola and I had a session with them where we told them of what to expect and what was expected of them,” Ojeaburu told New Telegraph.

“We spoke to them about their conduct, attitude and comportment, and how to answer any questions thrown at them.”

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

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Sanctity of Truth

On Marble

Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.

– Gilbert K. Chesterton

World Record

1893: A handful of different makes and models of electric cars were exhibited in Chicago

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

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Oritsejafor and the angel’s advocate

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astor Ayo Oritsejafor, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has a character and a reputation. He was into all sorts before he wisely sorted himself out. With the Bible in one hand and personal revolution in the other, it was only a matter of time before the good pastor conquered the world. But, first, he had to conquer the demons that were resident in his soul. With spiritual pillar of fire, he incinerated the demons and blew their ashes into the wind of self-cleansing. The angels took over his soul and he surrendered to the Commandments of God rather than the temptations of the flesh. So, yes, the pastor’s character was notoriously flawed before it became immensely redeemed. His reputation as a fiery crusader against the fundamentalism of Boko Haram in particular and the antiChristian atrocities that have pushed our northern Christian brethren to the brink of existential destruction in general, has carved a special chapter in history for his name.

This swashbuckling character is at once enigmatic and pragmatic. A superjet-flying minister of God and a stomper on the highest echelons of the corridors of power, who defines controversies as much as controversies define him, is nothing less than the very essence of enigma. But, at the same time, his pastoral concerns and celebrated generosity towards the truly wretched of the earth count among the qualities that present him as a pragmatic preacher, politician, leader and, arguably, statesman.

Before I proceed, however, let me quickly acknowledge and explain my sudden disappearance on these pages in the last couple of weeks. Speculations that I had retired or grown tired are altogether unfounded. I am a writer of biographies and my attention had been seized by that passion in recent weeks, and utterly consumed by it in the last two.

My unqualified apologies are, therefore, tendered with the utmost sense of humility and respect to the readers and fans of Broadside whose expectations were disappointed. Secondly, the superior wisdom in the editorial judgement that has resulted in the movement of Broadside from Saturday to Tuesday is not open to question or appeal. It is neither the day of the week nor the location of the page that matters. A columnist can best be judged by the contents of his output.

But of course failing to write does not translate to failure to read. I read Rev Chris Okotie’s nationally syndicated essay entitled: “Why Pastor Oritsejafor must resign now” with amusement and cynicism. When the good Reverend signed off as “Rev. Okotie, a Presidential Aspirant, wrote from Lagos,” it provoked a wry smile. That is quite some self-designation. It easily supplied an intimidating platform on which to spew platitudes and encrust vendetta in the authority of presidential aspiration. And of course, as one potential president addressing the folly of an incumbent president, presidential authority and prestige were brought to equilibrium. However, some of Okotie’s broadsides aroused my natural cynical reaction to chastisements that issue from

Broadside EMMANUEL ONWE agubata@aol.com

the forked tongues of politicians: “That is what the ecclesiastic responsibility of his calling as a gospel minister dictates, once he finds himself in a situation where his continued occupation of public office suffers moral deficit, on account of any error of commission or omission. If one may ask: Why should Pastor Ayo’s jet be the one that was chartered for this ill-fated transaction when there are numerous competitors in that business in which he is obviously a new player?” This brief excerpt from the essay in which Okotie called for the resignation of Oritsejafor in connection with the muddy business of arms for cash is a ready reminder that there is more politics in religion than there is politics in politics.

I salute Rev Okotie for a degree of competence. His composition, diction and syntaxes are very good - much better than the median efforts that stain the pages of national dailies on a daily basis.

But his rationalisations, logic and inferences are so weak they cannot withstand elementary examination.

The warped logic that demands completeness of knowledge and purity of transactions in the murky field of capitalism can only be spawned by a Reverend of Okotie’s ilk. I make no attempt to present a defence for Pastor Oritsejafor beyond his insistence that his jet was commercially operated by a third party establishment and over whose activities he has neither operational control nor directorial supervision. Unless Okotie can tender irrefutable evidence to the contrary, then his ludicrous question does not arise.

“Considering the collateral damage that Pastor Ayo’s close relationship with the president has done to the Christian

It is difficult to sustain the argument that a civilian aircraft is ideal to ferry weapons of war

Oritsejafor

community, it is fit and proper for the pastor to resign immediately as CAN president to salvage what remains of the battered image of the association.” What the particular ingredients of the damage allegedly done to the Christian community by the friendly relationship between two great leaders who share a common faith are not enunciated by Okotie. The Christian community cannot be shown to have been either better off or worse off than it was prior to the commencement of the famous relationship between the President of CAN and the President of the Republic. Fat claims devoid of substantiating evidence are quite simply fatuous.

“It is difficult to sustain the argument that a civilian aircraft is ideal to ferry weapons of war. A sitting President of CAN should never be involved in any way in the procurement of arms to fight insurgents like Boko Haram which claims Islamic principles in its war against the state. To do so is to expose Christians to more deadly attacks.” This point is so comprehensively bereft of reason that no thinking person’s time should be wasted to dignify it with refutation. But the temptation to kick it into touch is too powerful to resist. What law or custom forbids the deployment of a civilian aircraft in the transportation of “weapons of war?” How is it possible that Boko Haram’s dubious claim to Islamic principles as the basis for its horrendous atrocities could ever be accepted as a deterrent element in considering the expedient measures that might be marshalled in confronting and crushing it? That Okotie’s mind could entertain this line of thought is evidence of an addled brain.

“His friendship with the president has been the centre of controversies that mark his explosive tenure as the leader of the eponymous religious organization

in Nigeria. Not that it is a sin to be the president’s pal, but when such relationship becomes provocatively patronizing, or self-serving it is unacceptable. The pastor does not show restraint in any way that he goes about, publicly hobnobbing with the president as if he is the chaplain of Aso Rock. This certainly has compromised the integrity of his office as CAN president and this latest incident is just the climax of embarrassing incidents that we can’t tolerate any longer.” Now, this does demand ignominy and it’s accordingly ignored – with terminal prejudice!

A time was when the Christians in the northeast of Nigeria came under ferocious attack, felt besieged, abandoned and on the dark brink of annihilation. Pastor Oritsejafor stood out in his international mobilisation efforts against the crude jihadists, often coming against the foreign and domestic policy of the very administration with which he now stands accused of fraternising. He was resolute in his stance until, finally, the nation and the world cohered around his position. Consequently, if not directly, his efforts have aided the positive results that have been harvested in anti-terrorism operations against Boko Haram thus far. On which side has Rev Okotie pitched his tent?

“The Bible commands us to ‘flee from all appearance of evil.’” Come on, Reverend, you really don’t want to go there.

Trust me.

Men of God come in categories. There are those whose ecclesiastical currency is naira and those for whom the pulpit is a ready opportunity and a platform on which to propound life-affirming values.

This latter category may find utility in naira but it does not comprehensively define their pastoral inclinations. There are the stiletto pastors – venal, corrupt, grabbing, lying and thieving men of God who not only use the dog collar as a shield but the pulpit as a rapier to pillage and plunder; lie and cheat; proclaim falsehoods and claim the powers of phantom miracles.

Pastor Oritsejafor has committed himself to a mission, and that mission is demonstrably beneficial to himself, his community and to a large number of Christians, particularly those that have come under the jackboot of totalitarian jihadism. What does Rev Chris Okotie stand for?

In the world of superstition and faith, the supremacy of being is total devotion or surrender to an immortal essence or thing. I wonder whether Rev Okotie’s commitment is to an immortal essence, in this case, God; or to a thing – ostentation, gaudy flamboyance, colourful eccentricity or un-dialectical materialism.

Rev Okotie has a colourful past – and colourful in this sense spans the full spectrum: flashy, ostentatious, populated with women, pop and a bit of rock ‘n’ roll. His pastoral proclivities and specialism are flash. His politics is stylised, shallow and razzmatazz. His raison d’être is showmanship. His civic qualifications to take on Pastor Oritsejafor are not in doubt. But his moralisations and righteous indignation are questionable. The basis does not exist. If it did, it would be suspect.

• Onwe, an ordinary citizen who never met Pastor Oritsejafor, wrote from Abakaliki.

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