Binder1 13 november, 2014

SATURDAY

Sanctity Of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Vol. 1 No. 268

/newtelegraph

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

N150

Govs demand review of automatic tickets for PDP senators }6

Hunters hit Boko Haram

lKill 75, recapture Adamawa town lFemale suicide bomber attacks Niger college

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Hunters hit Boko Haram in Adamawa Ibrahim Abdul, Dan Atori, Suleiman Husaini

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o fewer than 75 Boko Haram militants have been killed in Maiha, Adamawa State, by hunters who launched a reprisal to recapture the town from the insurgents.

Maiha is about 25 kilometres from Mubi, which was captured about two weeks ago by Boko Haram.

Maiha fell to Boko Haram on Monday after a fierce battle with Nigerian troops.

It was learnt that the local hunters, during the battle to retake the town from the insurgents, ambushed them and killed scores of the terrorists.

According to sources, the hunters were roused to battle following a report that the insurgents had killed a Lieutenant Colonel, whose identity could not be ascertained as at press time.

“The hunters gave the insurgents a hot chase during which many Boko Haram sect members were killed. Over 75 were killed in the fight. We commended them for the gallant fight,” said Bello Ya’u, a fleeing resident.

Also corroborating, Baba Dauda, a local hunter said: “We have to wake up and fight the bastards that kept plaguing our society, killing innocent souls. People should brace up and start fighting them. We’ve killed many of them and we are not afraid of being killed.”

Already, there is a fear of a possible reprisal by the insurgents as thousands of residents of Maiha are presently moving to Yola.

It was learnt that over 20,000 hunters in Adamawa had been mobilised to team up with the Nigerian troops to liberate some captured towns from the insurgents.

The state coordinator of Civilian JTF, Alhaji Bako Aliyu Goni, said over 2,000 people, including youth vigilantes, hunters, retired military, police and para-military operatives, artisans and traders had vowed to confront Boko Haram in the state.

The insurgents have taken over Madagali, Michika, Mubi and Maiha.

Meanwhile, a female suicide bomber yesterday detonated a bomb in front of the Federal College of Education library in Kotangora, Niger State, killing three and injuring several students.

The suicide bomber,

who wore hijab, detonated the bomb at 12:30p.m as the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) was organising examinations in the auditorium.

According to a student, Naomi Gana, who was lucky to have finished her papers, “I am still in shock because after I finished my exams, I sat under the tree waiting for my friend when the bomb exploded.

“I saw the bomber; she wore hijab. I saw her running towards the library and thank God before she got to the entrance, the bomb went off. The other girl that died was just unlucky because she is a

student who was walking away when the bomb went off.”

An eyewitness, who spoke with New Telegraph on the phone said: “Presently, about eight people are injured out of which one broke his leg because of the stampede.

“I thank God the bomb did not affect or take many lives because the bomber’s target was the school library but fate met her when the bomb went off leaving her and two other females who just finished writing their examinations dead.”

The Provost of the college, Nathaniel Adediran, said the incident might

make the authorities to close the college.

Among those critically injured by the bomb blast and taken to the hospital are Suleiman Mohammed and Danladi Muhammed.

The Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ibrahim Gambari, who confirmed the bomb blast, said only the suicide bomber died while several others were injured.

Reacting to the incident, the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) condemned the blast, describing it as a dastard act.

The forum through its chairman and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu

Babangida Aliyu, said full scale investigation had commenced into the incident.

Aliyu, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Israel Ebije, called on the people to be vigilant.

He stated that the state government had doubled security in all schools and put up a team to ensure continuous screening of people in school environment to prevent more attacks.

It was also learnt yesterday that the death toll in a suspected Boko Haram suicide bombing of a secondary school in Potiskum, Yobe State, has risen to 58.

A school official told AFP yesterday that the number of the injured has also risen to 117.

“From records at our disposal, the death toll now stands at 58 while the number of those injured has soared to 117,” he said.

A bomber disguised in school uniform blew himself up as students gathered for morning assembly at the Government Comprehensive Senior Science Secondary School before classes began on Monday.

Police previously gave the death toll as 47 with 79 injured and said that Boko Haram was believed to be responsible.

Former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu (left) presenting a copy of New Telegraph to Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Gu Xiaojie, during a visit to the former governor in Abuja...on Tuesday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

Judge’s absence stalls suit to sack Mu’azu Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

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he absence of Justice Evoh Chukwu of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday stalled the commencement of the suit filed against the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, seeking to sack him as the party’s helmsman.

The suit also seeks to stop the national convention of the party slated

for December 10.

In the suit, the plaintiff, Aliyu Ayuba Gubrin, a House of Representatives aspirant from Adamawa State, through his counsel, Lilian Ojimma, in an originating summon is seeking the removal of Mu’azu as the chairman of the PDP. The plaintiff also in a motion on notice asked the court to restrain Mu’azu from acting as the chairman of the party.

The court was sup-

posed to hear an ex parte application for substituted service and a motion for accelerated hearing yesterday, but the judge’s absence stalled the case.

The originating summons has been fixed for December 20 for hearing.

In the motion on notice, the court was asked to stop the planned national convention of the PDP scheduled for 10th and 11th of December 2014.

The plaintiff in a suit marked FHC/AbJ/

CS/821/2014 and dated November 10 contended that the resignation of the immediate past national chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, did not comply with the provision of Section 47(5) of the constitution of the party which stipulates that a 30-day notice be given to the National Executive Committee (NEC) by Tukur.

The defendants in the suit are the PDP, Tukur, Mu’azu and the Independent National Electoral

Commission (INEC).

In the suit, the plaintiff asked for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the PDP from holding its national convention slated for the 10th and 11th of December under the chairmanship of Mu’azu pending the determination of the suit.

He also asked for an order of the court restraining Mu’azu from acting as the national chairman of the PDP pending the final determination of the suit.

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Abiola’s wife files suit to stop president lCourt fixes Dec 1 to determine eligibility case Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

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ne of the wives of the late business mogul and politician, Chief MKO Abiola, Prof. Akasoba Duke-Abiola yesterday approached the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to file a suit seeking to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from re-contesting in the 2015 general election.

Joined as defendants in the suit are the Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Duke-Abiola, who stated that she has interest in contesting for the position of the president on the platform of the PDP, through her counsel, Festus keyamo wants the court to decide whether by virtue of section 50(1) of the PDP Constitution, and Section 87(1) and (9) of the Electoral Act 2010, the PDP is not under an obligation

to comply with all the rules made under the Electoral Guidelines for Primary Elections 2014 of the PDP. She also wants the court to decide whether by virtue of Article 3 (1) (a) and (b) of the Electoral Guidelines for Primary Elections 2014 of the PDP, the plaintiff is not entitled to obtain the Expression of Interest Form in relation to Presidential Primaries of the party having paid the mandatory sum of N2 million into the account of

the party.

The plaintiff, however, prayed the court for a declaration that by virtue of Section 50(1) of the PDP Constitution, Section 87(1) and (9)) of the Electoral Act 2010, the party is under an obligation to comply with all the rules made under the Electoral Guidelines for Primary Elections 2014 of the PDP. She also wants the court to declare that by virtue of Article 3 (1) (a) and (b), Electoral Guidelines for

Primary Elections 2014 of the PDP, the plaintiff is entitled to obtain the Expression of Interest Form in relation to Presidential Primaries of the PDP, having paid the mandatory sum N2 million to the party.

She further wants the court to declare that the failure, refusal or neglect of the PDP to make available to the plaintiff the Expression of Interest Form code no PD 002/P, despite repeated demands

L-R: Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; former Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari; Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole and his deputy, Dr. Pius Odubu, at the sixth anniversary of Oshiomhole’s administration in Benin City…yesterday.

Terrorism, corruption worsen under Jonathan, say APC leaders Felix Nwaneri and Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

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ll Progressives Congress (APC) leaders yesterday took on President Goodluck Jonathan over the account of stewardship he rendered while declaring to run for a second term in office.

The leaders, including House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal; former Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari; former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu; former Minister of Communication, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said contrary to the president’s claim, incidence of terrorism, corruption and other crimes have worsened under the Jonathan administration while the ship of the state is adrift.

The opposition leaders, who spoke in Benin

City at a rally to mark the sixth year anniversary of Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, particularly expressed dismay that the presidency cannot wage a serious war against Boko Haram because of the laughable state of the armed forces.

Tambuwal described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government as a cabal that has hijacked the resources of the people for selfish interest.

He urged Nigerians not to be deceived again by the antics of the PDP in the 2015 general election, as it has been proven that the ruling party will not provide good governance.

He described the APC as a movement for change with the objective of ensuring better living conditions for the people, advising those campaigning for the re-election of Jonathan to go and settle debts they owed the Asset Management Corporation of

Nigeria (AMCON) before soliciting for votes from Nigerians.

Buhari and Abubakar, who also addressed the crowd, urged Nigerians to sustain the momentum that brought the APC to power in Edo State by giving their votes to the party all over the country.

APC National Chairman, Chief John OdigieOyegun, said the party promised a new Nigeria and expressed confidence that it would sweep the 2015 elections.

Ogbeh, in his speech, wondered why the president promised to create a special force to fight Boko Haram when he has not fully use the military to fight the insurgents.

He said: “Yesterday (Tuesday) in Abuja, we had a ceremony, the (President Goodluck Jonathan’s) declaration.

We love our president; he is our president, but we found it difficult to swallow a lot of what we heard

yesterday. We were told that power supply is now better; we were told that poverty had been reduced by half. We were told that the railways have been restored and all roads are now fine and yet the World Bank said that in the next 15 to 20 years Nigeria will be the major contributor to world’s poverty.”

In his speech, Tinubu charged Nigerians to use their votes to liberate the country from PDP’s imposed poverty.

He reiterated the party’s call that Jonathan must resign or APC will sweep him out office in the forthcoming polls.

He said: “Jonathan danced on the blood of the Yobe schoolchildren when he went ahead with his declaration for the 2015 presidential election yesterday (Tuesday) in Abuja. Insurgents are taking over parts of Nigeria; who is responsible? How can soldiers who stake

their lives fighting the insurgents be rounded up and sentenced to death?

Jonathan must resign. If he fails to resign, we will sweep him away.”

He warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against collaborating with the PDP to rig the 2015 elections as the APC will resist such a plot.

Oshiomhole, who also warned against rigging the next elections, said any attempt by the Federal Government to use the military to rig the polls would be resisted.

He said: “Nobody will govern Nigeria in 2015 with a stolen mandate.

So, let them stop using the language ‘fall’ because we are ready to defend our land. And any attempt to use the armed forces to rig the elections; it will be fire for fire. We will stand and defend our democracy because only a coward dies a million times before his death.”

and upon payment of the mandatory N2 million is a breach of Article 3(1)(a) and (b) of the Electoral Guidelines for Primary Elections 2014 of the PDP. The plaintiff in addition wants the court to also declare that in view of Section 87 (1), (7) and (9) of the Electoral Act 2010, the PDP cannot lawfully hold a valid primaries to nominate a presidential candidate for the purpose of 2015 general election.

The suit has not been assigned to a judge.

In another development, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has fixed December 1st for hearing in two different suits challenging the eligibility of President Jonathan to re-contest in the 2015 general election.

In the first suit, the plaintiffs, Mase Daphine Acho, Saeeq Umar Sarki (both lawyers) and Murtala Abubakar were also contending that Jonathan and Namadi Sambo were ineligible to be elected president and vice president respectively.

In the second suit filed by two politicians, Adejumo Ajagbe and Olatoye Wahab, are seeking an order restraining INEC and the AGF from allowing Jonathan and Sambo to seek re-election in 2015.

A similar suit had been earlier dismissed by Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi formerly of the Abuja High Court.

At the resumed hearing of two fresh cases yesterday, parties in the suit are yet to file one process or the other, a situation which prompted the court to adjourn till December 1 to enable all parties in the suit to file and serve all their processes.

The trial judge, Justice A.R Mohammed had last month when the matter first came up granted an order of accelerated hearing of the suit.

Joined as defendants in the first suit are Jonathan, Sambo, PDP and INEC. In the suit filed by Daphine Acho and two others, they contended through their counsel, Mustapha Ibrahim, that by virtue of the Supreme Court’s decision in Marwa V Nyako (2012) 6 NWLR (Part 1296) at 199, both Jonathan and Sambo were not qualified to be elected as president and vice president respectively.

In his own response, President Jonathan and Sambo through their counsel, Okeaya-Inne (SAN), prayed the court to dismiss the suit.

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Govs demand review of automatic tickets for PDP senators

lSuswam denies Jonathan, lawmakers’ deal Chukwu David and Philip Nyam

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eoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors have demanded a review of the agreement to give automatic tickets to the party’s senators.

Sources said yesterday that the governors made the demand in Abuja at a meeting they held with President Goodluck Jonathan after his declaration for second term on Tuesday.

The president, at a meeting with the PDP senators, attended by party chiefs, had last week conceded automatic tickets to two senators per state to calm the lawmakers who had embarked on work-torule to protest the alleged connivance between Jonathan and governors to deny them second term.

It was learnt that the governors argued that the president should critically examine the issue of automatic tickets to senators.

One of the sources said

the governors insisted that instead of granting 40 automatic tickets to senators, they should be allowed to take up the issue and review it on a state-by-state basis.

However, the senators saw the governors’ demand as a fresh move to outwit and short-change them.

The source said the senators were suspicious of the plan by the governors and resolved to send Senate President David Mark to the president and the party to drive home their point.

“We were told at the meeting that governors met with the president late on Tuesday and resolved that the party should allow them review the issue of automatic tickets to the senators on a state-by-state basis instead of granting auto-

matic tickets to the senators just like that. We see this as a ploy to outwit the senators and undermine our agreement with President Jonathan and the party.

“We believe that the move by the governors is a fresh bid to short-change the lawmakers and reverse the conclusion of the meeting we held with the president and the party. Senators are not happy and I can tell you that a number of people are already contemplating ditching the party,” a source said.

After plenary yesterday, PDP senators held another emergency meeting where they reviewed the situation.

It was gathered that the lawmakers resolved to renew their battle with the party and resume the work-to-rule to stop any review of the agreement.

Besides, 11 PDP senators from the North-West have threatened to dump the party in view of what they considered its high handedness.

A source said the senators told their colleagues at the meeting that PDP ticket was fast becoming a “poisoned chalice” in the zone and that the treatment being meted out to them by the governors was further compounding the situation.

It was also learnt that the senators decided to strengthen the hands of Mark by asking him to take up the matter and brief them regularly.

“If care is not taken, the PDP could become a minority in the Senate before the end of the year.

The danger again is that, going back and forth on agreements reached with the highest organs of the

PDP is painting a bad picture of the party,” another source at the meeting said.

Meanwhile, Benue State Governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswam, yesterday said neither the party nor Jonathan had promised automatic ticket to any senator.

Suswam, at an interaction with journalists in Abuja, warned that no senator should be under any illusion that he will get automatic ticket as only Jonathan was granted the privilege of first refusal by the party.

He said: “So, no president has given any senator any automatic ticket.

There is nothing like that – nobody has promised anybody anything. There is no such arrangement and no person should be spreading falsehood anywhere that the PDP has given automatic tickets.”

39o C 25oC Thunder Storms

ABUJA

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L-R: Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele and President Goodluck Jonathan at the presentation of the new N100 note to the president in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

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Yobe massacre: Senate summons service chiefs

Rain Showers

Chukwu David IBADAN

Abuja 32o C 23oC Isolated Storms

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37oC 19oC Mostly Sunny

22o C 20oC Rain Showers

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

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST LAGOS

FLIGHT SCHEDULE

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he Senate Committee on Defence and Army has again invited the Service Chiefs to appear before it today and update it on the progress of military operations in the North-East and the attendant inhibiting challenges.

The summon was sequel to the recent bombing of the Government Science School in Yobe State, by a suicide bomber, which killed many students and left several others with varying degrees of inju-

ries.

Briefing journalists on the invitation of the military leadership, the chairman of the committee, Senator George Sekibo, expressed serious concern that elections were fast approaching without insurgency in the affected areas coming to an end the inhabitants of the region would do if the war continued till the time of elections.

His words: “I believe that we cannot stay here while we have not heard from the service chiefs.

That is why we have summoned the service chiefs

to appear on Thursday by one o’clock. We want to hear from them, to know areas they have problems and whatever the problems will be, we want to advise them to properly open up because Nigerians are tired of asking the same questions.

“We want to ask questions different from what we had been asking. I believe everyone is worried, especially after the last bombing in the school in Yobe State.

Meanwhile, Senate President, David Mark has urged the Federal Government to fight the Boko

Haram insurgents with all available resources, just as he also invited the sect to dialogue with government and end the senseless killings.

Mark spoke during plenary while decrying the massacre of students by a suicide bomber at the Government Science School, Potiskum in Yobe State.

He described the school bomb attack as the height of the sect’s atrocities in the country.

Mark described the attack as barbaric and inhuman, saying “it is condemnable by any right thinking member of the society.”

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

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APC must be gnashing its teeth in Ogun following this development Chukwu David Abuja

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he three senators from Ogun State yesterday submitted their letters of defection from the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the Social Democratic Party, SDP, to the Senate President, David Mark.

Senators Adegbenga Kaka ( Ogun East ), Akin Odunsi (Ogun West), and

thursday, november 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

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Kaka, Obadara take defection letters to Mark Gbenga Obadara, in their separate letters, claimed that their decisions were informed by factionalisation of the APC in the state.

The Chairman of the Ogun State lawmakers in the National Assembly, Kaka, on behalf of his colleagues, told journalists that the factionalisation of the APC in the state had led to the formation of two parallel executives.

Kaka further explained that seven out of the nine House of Representatives members from the state had also submitted their letters of defection in the lower chamber.

He said, "This is to formally inform you and the general public that we, the three Senators representing Ogun State, have just delivered our letters to the leadership of the Senate, notifying them of our resignation from the APC and declaring for the SDP. "This was consequent upon the factionalisation in the party (APC in Ogun State) leading to the emergence of parallel executives from wards, local government areas to state levels.

"All our protests, appeals and demands for justice from the national leadership yielded no re-

sult. Rather, the faction that flagrantly flouted the party guidelines was given recognition by the national executive.

"We subsequently did not partake in the national convention, as we rightly believe in the legal aphorism that, 'you cannot build something on nothing and expect it to stand.'

"We are therefore left with no option than to withdraw our membership of the APC after due consultation with our constituents."

The Senator also posited that, from the registration of the APC, the

situation in Ogun State was greeted with series of crises and since they saw that the marriage cannot work, their constituents demanded that they should pull out of the arrangement.

"Enough is enough; there is no forced marriage anywhere. Since it could not work, we have resolved to part ways with them and we believe that where there is no justice, there is no peace and unity," he stated.

The senators also threw their weight behind the action of the Deputy Governor of the state, Prince Segun Adesegun,

L-R: Manager, Youth Segment, MTN, Abimbola Gold Oladipupo; MTN Brand Ambassador, Tiwa Savage and a student, Federal College of Education, Akoka, Lagos, Shodeinde Zainat Afolashade, at MTN Season of Surprises Tour in Lagos… on Tuesday.

Abdulkadir faults Jonathan Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

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he Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke,(SAN) should stop President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2015 election because he is pursuing a third term agenda, the North West zonal Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir has advised.

The APC chieftain, who gave the advice in a letter to the Justice Minister, had described Jonathan as unqualified to contest the coming presidential election.

Inuwa, who is the immediate past Minister of Youth Affairs, said that the president’s declaration to seek re-election amounts to pursuing an unconstitutional Third Term Agenda .

The North West Vice

Chairman of the APC said that Adoke should intervene and take a patriotic stand on the matter, along with other statutory bodies, in good time before political parties conclude the nomination of candidates, who would contest the forthcoming presidential election.

Inuwa gave two reasons why the Minister of Justice should act with dispatch. “Firstly, without at all intending to be patronizing, your timely intervention would afford the Peoples Democratic Party opportunity to field a qualified person as its candidate for the office of the President,’’ he noted.

“Secondly, to avoid the enormous waste of fast dwindling national resources in conducting a presidential election with an unqualified person and the acrimony and tension that results of such elections have been known to breed in Nigeria."

APC governors won't determine presidential ticket, says Abubakar Wale Elegbede

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ormer Vice President and All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirant, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has said that the eventual outcome of APC presidential primaries would not be at the behest of governors on the party’s platform, adding that ticket of the APC would be decided by delegates of the party.

Abubakar in an interview with an online medium, The Cable, said he is really prepared for the presidential primaries, adding that he is the only aspirant crisscrossing the country to woo delegates of the party.

He said: “This is not a party dominated by the influence of governors.

In other words, the governor is trying to force delegates to vote even against their conscience like it happens in the PDP.” On his readiness for the primary, he said, “ I have been involved in primary election since the early 90’s, and that has given me a lot of experience when it comes to primaries whether they are direct or indirect primaries.

“The perception that the ticket is there for Buhari to take is a mistaken perception, because Buhari has never participated in any primaries in the three elections he contested, he was simply given the tickets. I believe that is not going to be helpful to him in this very case.”

who also left the APC for the SDP, and still refused to vacate his seat.

According to them, "the defection of the deputy governor would not be the first; it had happened before. We have states like Nasarawa, where the governor and his deputy belonged to separate political parties."

Judge's absence stalls trial of Chinese over forgery Akeem Nafiu

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earing in the trial of a Chinese, Hong Dong Shen, over alleged forgery of rice brand, at a Federal High Court in Lagos, was yesterday stalled following the absence of the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Yunusa.

The accused is standing trial on a four-count charge of forgery, fraud, unlawful possession and stealing.

No reason was, however, given for the judge’s absence and the case has since been adjourned to December 10, for continuation of trial.

The matter was adjourned during the last hearing at the instance of the prosecution, following the absence of its witnesses.

The judge had then advised the prosecution to exhibit more diligence in the suit, since it bordered on a criminal charge.

The accused, upon his arraignment on July 29, 2013, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

NAFDAC workers embark on indefinite strike Isioma Madike

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orkers of National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday embarked on indefinite strike after the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum they gave to the management.

Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), the umbrella union, which NAFDAC belongs to, had given the ultimatum to the management for proper consideration of their demands, which it allegedly failed to utilise.

The workers arrived the premises of their office in Oshodi as early as 7a.m. carrying different placards with various inscriptions like ‘Orhi, a sadist must go’, ‘NAFDAC leaders have failed Nigerians’ ‘Admin. is corrupt’ “implement skipping” “we have suffered

enough” among others.

Chairman of the area council of MHWUN, Comrade Stephen Ibe, who addressed the staff of the organisation while declaring the strike, said: “The union gave management sufficient time to address all their grievances.

Unfortunately, it failed to exploit such opportunity, but pretended as if nothing happened.

“For this reason, we have no choice than to padlock the premises of the organisation to all transactions throughout the federation including the sea and airport until their demands are met.

“It is now or never; we have had series of meetings with all the stakeholders since last year’s march but to no avail.

“Therefore, the union has no choice than to declare indefinite strike until our expectations are met,” Ibe said.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

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Metro

Two men arrested with 50 litres of blood Camillus Nnaji

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olicemen attached to the Imota Police Station in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State have arrested two men for allegedly being in possession of human blood stored in two jerrycans of 25 litres each.

It was gathered that while one of the men was identified as Alfa Balogun Tajudeen Ogunsanya, who hails from Gberigbe community in Ikorodu, the other man was a stranger who resi-

John Edu

A

man, who killed a truck pusher over N5,000 disagreement and tried to conceal the body, was shocked after his relations discovered it and reported to the police The suspect, 26-yearold Lawrence Ikonne, said he killed Isa Yaya, 22, for getting him worked up.

Ikonne said that he

dents were not able to identify.

One of the residents of Gberigbe, who gave his name as Amos Oludero, told our correspondent that the men were arrested while trying to alight from a car near Gberigbe Town Hall in Ikorodu.

He said: “We identified one of the men as a native of this town but the other man is strange to us. They wanted to alight from a car near the town hall opposite Fezbam filling station, each of them with a 25-litre jerrycan.

While Ogusanya came

down first, the cover of the jerrycan being carried by the second man opened and blood spilled on the ground.”

Oludero said this attracted the attention of other residents and passers-by who came together and discovered the kegs were full of blood.

He added that they were immediately arrested and taken to Imota Police Station by policemen.

Another resident, who craved anonymity, said that it might be a move by Ogunsanya to incriminate another family over land dispute.

Aderanti, Lagos Commissioner of Police

He said: “This was attempted in the past since.

The Appeal Court ruled in favour of Orelabi family on the disputed mass of land in Gberigbe.

“The Alfa arrested yesterday is from Ogunsanya family. He might be going to keep the cans

in the compound of the other family and later call the police to arrest members of that family.”

Meanwhile, a police source said the men had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, for further inves-

tigation.

Efforts made to speak with the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Kenneth Nwosu, for confirmation failed as he refused to pick his calls or responded to text message sent to his mobile phone.

Businessman kills truck pusher over N5,000 disagreement had wanted to sell his condemned air conditioner and had gone to Alaba International Market to look for a buyer.

It was there he met the deceased. Yaya used to buy condemned aluminum items from people, which he puts into his

truck and would later be recycled.

When Ikonne told him about the condemned air conditioner, Yaya went with him home to check it out.

The business, however, did not turn out as both men wanted. Yaya said the N5,000 Ikonne was

asking was too much.

Ikonne said that since Yaya could not pay the amount he asked for, he should assist him to carry the air conditioner back to the store.

Rather than assist, Yaya refused, insisting that Ikonne should even pay him for assisting him to

Sex workers weep as fire guts hotel Juliana Francis

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ex workers at Phase 2 Hotel at the Tolu area of Ajegunle, Lagos State wept profusely when fire, which gutted the hotel, destroyed their personal belongings.

Two men sustained severe burns as fire erupted while one of

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

them was refilling the generator.

One of the sex workers, who gave her name as Grace, disclosed that the incident occurred on Sunday evening while the manager was refilling the generator.

Grace said the manager, whose name she did not give, sustained serious burns and was rushed to the general hospital where he was battling to stay alive.

The sex worker said another man who was close to the scene also sustained injury and was rushed to the same hospital.

She said: “Many of the sex workers were not at home when the incident occurred and that was why they could not remove their property.”

Grace said she only managed to remove her DVD before the fire engulfed the hotel.

“The building was burnt down. The fire destroyed our television sets, DVD, ceiling, standing fans, clothes, mobile phones and many things,” she added.

bring it out in the first place.

The two men started quarreling and before one could say Jack Robison, Ikonne had picked a log of wood and slammed it into Yaya’s stomach, killing him instantly. The incident occurred about 1pm on

October 10.

Ikonne tied Yaya’s body and concealed it in nylon, apparently planning to dispose it later.

He would have got away with the murder but for a relation, one Echezona Omenaka, who stumbled on the hidden body and alerted the police.

Aspirant promises electronic libraries in Osun Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

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n All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant seeking to represent Osun Central Senatorial District, Dr Saka Ominiwe, yesterday promised to present bills that would impact on the masses, if elected.

Addressing party supporters in Osogbo, Ominiwe said he would build an electronic library in each of the 10 local government areas that make up the senatorial district.

The politician added that youths in the 118 wards of the district would be empowered to make them to become selfreliant.

He promised to represent the senatorial district with

honesty of purpose and fear of God. Ominiwe, who noted that youths represent the engine room of any given country, promised to create employment opportunities for them and give them all necessary impetus to equip them mentally and physically.

The aspirant also promised to ensure the provision of quality education and training that would give the youth their rightful position in economy and politics.

He said: “APC, being a disciplined political party, will ensure that the youth take their rightful position in the management of the economy by giving them functional empowerment.”

Metro 11

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Three siblings burnt to death in Lagos Taiwo Jimoh

T

hree children of the same parents died in a fire incident which destroyed the topmost floor of block 56, Jankande Estate, Mile 2, Lagos.

The incident, which occurred about 10pm on Tuesday, burnt to death the kids identified as Ayomide, 10, Darasimi, 8, Kemi and 7.

The residents of the area said that the fire was caused by a candle, lit by the mother of the children after they returned from church.

The burning candle fell on the rug, spread and burnt the kids who were asleep.

The mother was in her shop in another section of the street, while their father was downstairs.

A neighbour, Kingsely Efon, said the children and their parents had just returned from church when their mother took them inside to go and sleep.

He said: “I was downstairs when we noticed the fire. I started shouting fire, fire, to alert neighbours and their parents. Some people and I rushed upstairs with buckets of water, to see if we could put out the

fire and rescue the children.”

Efon explained that the fire spread too fast, getting to the living room and soon the kids.

“Some of us found our away upstairs, but there was no space to rescue the children, let alone the property as the sitting was covered with thick smoke.”

Christy Macaulay, one of the occupants of the building, said she was inside the house when she heard the noise.

She said: “I peeped through the window. I saw my neighbour shout fire. I ran inside and woke my husband, because he was already asleep.

My little girl was behind me and my boy was playing football in the sitting room. I started hearing footsteps upstairs.

We managed to come out.

“My husband, my kids and I escaped through the window.

We would have been killed too.

I learnt that my neighbour’s three children were inside when the fire started. All of them got burnt to death. It was just unfortunate that things like this had to happen at this time.”

Another resident, who simply identified himself as Emmanuel, said it took the officials of the Lagos State Fire Service several hours to ar-

File picture of burning buildings in Lagos

rive at the scene.

He said: “Even when they finally arrived, they were complaining of not being paid for months. They said they could not kill themselves trying to safe another person’s life.”

Emmanuel said that if the firefighters had come on time, the children would have been rescued alive.

The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Razak Fadipe, said that three children died

in the fire disaster, explaining that the fire service was not called on time.

He said: “We got a distress call last night (Tuesday) and when we got there, we discovered that it was a building that was on fire.

“The fire was caused by a candle which was lit by their mother. Two water tanks were used in putting out the fire.

The Osodi and Festac Fire Stations were involved in putting

out the fire.”

According to him, the top floor of the building was razed, particularly the two flats on the top floor where the children were.

Fadipe appealed to the residents to desist from using candle in their homes as it could be very dangerous.

He added that they could purchase cheap rechargeable lamps that would be more useful for them at night.

LAGBUS inducts 40 female drivers Two women held for issuing fake driving licence Okegwo Kenechukwu Onitsha

O

fficials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Onitsha Unit Command, yesterday smashed a driving licence racketeering syndicate.

The FRSC men arrested the kingpin of the syndicate, Mrs Ngozi Onwuzulike, one of her staff members, Miss Chinenye Ugwu.

Onwuzulike is said to be the director of the company the suspects were using for the racket, Mega Web Investment Limited, based in Onitsha, Anambra State, while Ugwu is a member of the Marketing Department.

Confessing to the crime, Onwuzuluike, who claimed to be a product of Imo State University, said she acted in ignorance, adding that she thought the product was genuine.

Curdling a-four-monthold baby, the mother of three claimed that she went into the business out of frustration, resulting from joblessness after graduation.

On her part, Ugwu, who hails

from Enugu State, claimed she was employed two months ago.

She added that within the period, the company had issued about 15 driving licences and vehicle papers to unsuspecting clients.

Parading the suspects at the Unit Command Office at Onitsha, the Unit Commander, Assistant Corps Commander, Emeka Metta, said the reports from his Intelligence Unit operatives, showed that almost all the traders at Bridgehead Drug Market, Onitsha, had fallen prey to the syndicate.

Metta, therefore, warned the public to be cautious and desist from cutting corners.

Shortcuts, according to him, most times lead to danger and disappointment.

Items recovered from the suspects include suspected fake driving licence plastic plates, vehicle papers, complimentary cards and a sales book.

The suspects were later handed over to officials of the Department of State Service (DSS), Anambra State Command for further interrogation and investigation.

Edu flanked by some of the drivers

Muritala Ayinla

T

he LAGBUS Asset Management Limited, owners of commercial buses known as LAGBUS buses, yesterday inducted 40 of the 80 women who applied as female drivers in the company.

The LAGBUS Managing Director, Mr Babatunde Disu, who disclosed that the 80 women were short-listed out over 300 that applied for the job, also said the women would commence driving in the metropolis, once they completed their training.

It was gathered that the

majority of the applicants are graduates who have Bachelor of Science and Higher National Diploma in various disciplines.

Disu said the decision to employ female drivers was to encourage more women with interest in driving public buses for a living and to further serve the commuters in the state.

According to him, studies have shown that women are more careful while driving.

The MD added that the company had also found out that some passengers using LAGBUS preferred female drivers to their male counterparts.

He said: “The idea behind this is that first, we recognise women are more careful, they are more caring and dedicated. And also a lot of women don’t know what they are doing have the interest in driving bus but they have not be given the chance. That is what LAGBUS is doing.

“We short-listed 80 out of 300 women that applied for the job.

The 80 women will be trained from the scratch on how to drive. We are doing induction for the first batch. We already have three qualified female bus captains (drivers). This set of female trainee drivers will learn from the scratch because none of them knows how to drive.”

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News

Synagogue: Lagos identifies 70 bodies Muritala Ayinla

T

he Lagos State government, yesterday said it had identified 70 bodies, out of 116 persons, said to have died in the Synagogue Church building collapse.

This was even as the state Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) gave approval for the repatriation of the 54 bodies identified as South Africans.

Speaking at a meeting with delegates of the South African government at his official residence in Marina, Fashola said his

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NATIONAL

administration had no reason to delay the repatriation of the dead bodies in line with the South Africa culture and traditions. He added that the state government was only being careful to ensure bodies were released to the right families and countries.

The governor, who was reacting to the complaints that the bodies were being held for too long, also said it would ensure justice is done on the tragic incident that claimed the lives of the victims, even as he expressed regret over the incident.

He said: “Unfortunately, I have managed such issue during the Dana plane crash and I understand the anxiety of families who want closure and the religious undertone as well. Our responsibility is to ensure that families get closure. And those culture exist here. I know that this is an issue that has attracted global attention.

“I understand the call

by South Africans to get the bodies of their relatives but we cannot at this time get the process wrong because if we release a body, we want to ensure

that each families take the body of their relative.

It will be unpardonable for us to make mistake.

“And the choice of South Africa for the test was a special decision to make the process easier for South Africans who bore the bigger brunt of the tragedy. So, since the relatives were in South Africa, it was easier to use a laboratory in the country, where we could easily take samples from the deceased families for the test. It was meant to further demonstrate what our intentions were.

Chibok girls: NLC women group threatens boycott of 2015 election Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

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he National Women Commission of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed to mobilise women across the country to boycott the 2015 general election if the Federal Government failed to rescue the abducted 219 Chibok Secondary school girls.

Chairperson of the commission, Comrade Lucy Offiong, who stated the position of the women unionists during a two-day NLC State Women Leadership Training, rued the state of

the abducted girls, stressing that they would have been seriously violated by their abductors.

She said that it was regrettable that rather than doing anything within its fold to ensure that the girls are rescued, the Federal Government, under President Goodluck Jonathan was busy preparing for election.

In demonstration of their concerns as mothers, Offiong urged all women to use their voting rights to insist on the release of the girls, failure of which they should all boycott all elections stated for 2015.

2015 elections may not be credible, says Gov UPN refuses to withdraw suit on polling units Dan Atori

T

he Governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has said that the 2015 general elections in the country may not be credible unless solutions are found to the prevailing security crises in the North East region of the country and elections held in the area.

Aliyu said people will criticise the outcome of the election, once the crisis in the region is not contained to make conduct of election possible in the country at the same time.

He made the remarks

in Minna yesterday when he spoke at the 4th MBA International Literary Colloquium held at the Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre as part of activities marking his 59th birthday.

According to him: “The legitimacy of the 2015 general will be contingent on how security is provided in the North East. What is happening in the North East cannot be described as terrorist attacks because terrorists do not acquire land as it is being done” Aliyu said there was the need for the country to speak out to its neigh-

bours to stop harbouring those undermining the security of the country.

He, however, regretted that the areas under the control of terrorist in the North East and its periphery is up to three states put together, asking the Federal Government to act decisively by declaring an all out war against the insurgents.

The governor also took a swipe at the attitude of Nigerian soldiers, who instead of defending the territorial integrity of the country, always take to their heels, when confronted by the terrorists group.

Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

D

espite the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, suspending the creation of 30,000 additional polling units till after the 2015 general elections, the Unity Party of Nigeria UPN, yesterday refused to withdraw originating summons pending before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

The party, based on the decision of INEC, withdrew its interlocutory application, seeking to restrain the electoral body from em-

barking and implementation of the project.

The UPN had sued INEC over the creation of the 30,000 additional polling units.

Counsel to the party, Mrs. Nella Andem-Rabana, SAN, who withdrew the interlocutory application, explained that the party was no longer interested in proceeding with the motion in view of the current decision by INEC to suspend the project.

She, however, said the party was not going to withdraw the substantive suit for now until the reliefs contained therein are been ad-

dressed by the commission.

The trial judge, Justice Abdul Kafarati after striking out the interlocutory application, adjourned to December 4, 2014 for definite hearing of the substantive suit.

The judge directed that hearing notice on the substantive matter be served on INEC before the adjourned date.

The plaintiff in the substantive suit had contended that it was speculative and premature for INEC to purportedly create additional polling units across the country based on projected registered voters.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Action plan

2015

Critique

Abia

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Waziri: I’ll stop Boko Haram

The governor Lagos needs,

by George

Udenta: Fashola lacks morality to criticise Jonathan

13

Ufomba: Orji’s govt, a failure

Politics

Saraki: How I staved off governors, senators’ crisis in 2011 Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Dr. Bukola Saraki, believes that the security situation in the country is enough to vote out President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. The former governor of Kwara State also speaks on how he managed the crisis between state governors and senators over re-election bid in the build up to the 2011 general election.

In this interview with BIODUN OYELEYE, he also speaks on the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kwara politics and the 2015 general election. Excerpts: How do you feel about the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the petition against your election as senator?

The case was baseless and I think that is why the Supreme Court judges in their comments were very hard on the lawyers. I think the case was propelled further by the comments of President Goodluck Jonathan when they went to see him. He said that very soon the seat will become vacant. Sometimes, the president seems to forget that the executive and judiciary are two different arms of government. The president’s comment during the visit of some members of the Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to him gave them the impetus to pursue the case to the Supreme Court.

It is unfortunate; we tried before then to find ways internally to pre-

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY EDITOR, PoLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Saraki

vent the case from getting to the apex court. It was not because we are weak, but part of our own mechanism of carrying everybody along. A lot of people will bear witness to the series of meetings we attempted to have at that time with the other person to find a way out.

The judgement has put the case to rest.

Again, it is to tell you that majority of those things are propaganda and hype.

At the end of the visit to Abuja, they all came back jubilating that very soon my seat will be vacant. That the powers of Abuja will make it happen. There is no power of any Abuja, the power is here with the people.

That is the same thing that we saw at the rally where Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed declared to take a shot at the seat for another term. It was again to show people that do not know that the All Progressives Congress (APC) of less than a year has strength; because it is the strength of the people, it is not the name of the party but what you represent.

This has also put a lie on the perception again that parties are driven

We worked till very late, practically begging some.

I used my position, relationship and experience to get an agreement with the governors at that time to see that one senator in each of the PDP states come back

from Abuja. Until politicians begin to associate with the people and know it is the people that we represent, we will always have a dismal showing. When you now compare that with the following day’s rally when the powers from Abuja came, you will know there is a difference between night and day. I thank the people of Kwara yet again who have continued to show consistently where they belong.

The key issue is that until other actors and actresses in the political space are ready to play a consistent politics of being with the people, not for selfish reason of when they are seeking election the people will not accept them.

People are wiser than they think; people appreciate those who are always with them and that is the difference between us and other parties. That is why come 2015 APC will win resoundingly. The only time you see the PDP doing anything here is when the president or his wife is coming to Kwara that it holds rallies. It sums up what Kwara CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

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Politics | Interview

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Waziri: I’ll stop Boko Haram You have been in the gubernatorial race for quite sometime, but you seem not to have given up. What could have prompted your interest to contest again in 2015?

When I obtained my nomination form, I did it in exercising my inalienable right to seek elective office under our great party, the PDP, and also under the constitution of this country. On a personal level, I am doing it because I have passion for my people and my state. I am a product of public expenditure, I was brought up, educated, exposed to public office and also the treasury. And I feel I have got so much in terms of experience, borne out of my education and holding of public office to give back to my state so that there will be added value to the lives of our people.

I was the state coordinator for the creation of this state in 1991, who at that time and still believe that carving out what is now Yobe from Borno would bring accelerated development in what is now Yobe. That was the driving motive.

Unfortunately, we have not realised this dream. And the reason is that from the time the state was created, it has not lived up to expectation. With due respect to all those who led this state at the highest level, their testimony based on the available Human Development Indices (HDI) and the national average, places Yobe State below the national indices.

And I find myself doing a disservice to myself and the citizens of the state if I remain hands akimbo as they say. Furthermore, I have come across a number of aspirants vying for the office of governor. With due respect to them, I am convinced that based on our public records, I can do better than all of them. That is why I want to give this thing another shot.

Some people believe that the PDP in Yobe State is shaky; do you still believe that vying for governorship position under your party will take you where you want?

The truth of the matter is that I have been into this thing for some time; I have built supporters and structures in all nooks and crannies of this state. I pride myself as a politician that has gone to the nooks and crannies of this state more than any other politician in Yobe State all in the quest of looking for leadership.

I can contest under any party under my own identity, but I have a moral obligation. I was the one who carried the flag of the PDP in 1998 from the old parade ground in Abuja, it was six of us. I was the one who carried the flag and the mandate to come to Yobe State and set up the structure of the PDP. It would be absolutely irresponsible for me to desert the party, I will remain in the party; my dreams may never be fulfilled, but I have an obligation to continue the journey.

And that is where I am.

You have described the administration of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam as a bad government, why did you say so?

I was asked this question before and I said there are two issues involved. One, there is Ibrahim Gaidam, a nice gentleman whom we have much more respect for, who

Adamu Maina Waziri is a former Minister of Police Affairs, former Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and onetime Minister of Agriculture. He is a veteran in governorship election. He was the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections in Yobe State. In this interview with AHMED MIRINGA, he speaks on failure of governance in Yobe, how he will tackle insurgency and his recuring governorship ambition. Excerpts: ment in Yobe State public service.

Don’t you think this is why people are afraid of you becoming governor?

It’s okay.

Waziri

has contributed his quota like his predecessors to the development of the state. But there is also the government involving him and so many people, but he has to take full responsibility, both for his actions and those of his subordinates as still they maintain Yobe below the national average of the HDI. So, I hold him partly responsible for what is happening in the state. I feel that there are quite a number of things that are bedevilling this state that a focused, courageous, experienced and well educated leadership could do better.

And I feel I can do better if given the mandate.

In terms of the national HDI, in which areas do you think the present administration has performed below expectations? Do you think you still have the structures to pursue your ambition?

The HDI is looking at the standard of education and other performances. If you look at the average pass mark of Yobe students, are they much more qualified to be admitted into tertiary institutions? What is the infant mortality rate, what is the mortality rate of our mothers, how many people have access to potable drinking water, how many have access to self sustainable employment, how resourceful are we with the money that is accruing to the state?

These are things that aggregate to define society and the leadership. How many have they been able to achieve, what is the value

If I become the governor, this insecurity will start to abate, because they know me. A number of the people that are involved in the insurgency are citizens of Yobe State...

I will extend a hand of fellowship to them...

Nobody is going to restore peace in Yobe unless you have a perfect and purposeful leadership

addition to the people? I am saying that the indices have fallen below what we had in 1991 when we were under Borno State, because, every part of Nigeria and our neighbours have all moved ahead.

I was in Jigawa State recently, I have seen the airport, it’s the best airport in Nigeria.

In Gombe, over 70 per cent of its citizens have access to potable water. Come to Damaturu, none, we don’t have good hospitals, we don’t have good schools, these are things you measure leadership with.

You earlier made a distinction between a governor and government, if you become the governor, how are you going to address some of these lapses, because you will still have to deal with the people in government?

Now let me give you part of my albatross, nine out of 10 people in Yobe State still believe I can do the job, seven out of 10 people are afraid of me. So, I have no problem, because, I will not allow what they are used to continue. But that will not make me change my mind because I will not be deceiving them. I want to maintain an identity; it’s left for them to choose.

But the truth of the matter is that, if I become the governor, I would be sworn in with the holy book to discharge my duties based on my abilities. And I want to take that very serious, and I will do it.

So, I assure you that by reputation, based on my antecedents, the moment I am sworn in, there are certain attitudes that will die that mo-

Do you think after the primaries, you people will sustain the relationship, because it was alleged that the last primaries of the PDP in 2011 when you did not get the ticket, you didn’t support the candidate that emerged.

How true is this?

Yes, there were allegations that I didn’t support the candidate that emerged. But by natural justice, if I take a gun and shoot you right here, with all these witnesses, I am suppose to go under trial before I am sentenced to death. That is natural justice. So, people said I didn’t support, I did not support, why? because while we were there on ground, some people went to my own house where my supporters were, killed two of my supporters, wounded seven, burnt seven cars and destroyed 10 vehicles.

Nobody cared about that. The greatest anti-party activity is to kill a party man. It didn’t happen at the venue of the primaries, it happened in my residence. And to date, nobody came to me to apologise, nobody has gone to sympathize or support the families of those that were killed. If there is law in this country, some people ought to have been tried and executed because it was unprovoked, whatever I did, I cannot return the lives of those that were killed, and if I knew that they were going to be killed because of me, I wouldn’t have even contested in the first place. But I went out of my way to meet those people, whom I suspected and publicly said I have forgiven them. But they should also forgive and forget, that is part of the reason we held this meeting.

How do you intend to tackle the issue of insecurity posed by Boko Haram in the state if you become the governor?

Well.... First and foremost, with due respect to the Almighty Allah, if I become the governor, this insecurity will start to abate, because they know me. A number of the people that are involved in the insurgency are citizens of Yobe State, they know me by name, they know me by reputation, they know I will be just and fair, and I will be firm. They know it. And I will extend a hand of fellowship to them.

And I am confident that I will do it. Nobody is going to restore peace in Yobe unless you have a perfect and purposeful leadership. And they know that I say what I can do and I don’t say what I will not do. I am 62 years old, sometimes some say I am an old man, some say I was rude; I have no respect for elders. I was young, now that I have grown older, I have grand children, and I repeat, they all know what I can do and what I cannot do.

Politics | Interview

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

How true is the insinuation that you have a preferred aspirant among those vying for the Lagos PDP governorship ticket?

I will answer this question exactly the same way the president answered his own when he came to visit us in Lagos. I think it was former Deputy Governor of Lagos, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, who asked the same pertinent question that ‘Mr. President, I am told that you have a preferred candidate for Lagos PDP in 2015.’

He replied by saying ‘No, I don’t have any preferred candidate. But everywhere I went, I heard one name. To my left, to my right, to the centre, to the back, I hear one name. Even some of my friends who are not members of PDP are mentioning the same name.’

The president told us he didn’t have any preferred candidate but if there is any name that keeps resonating all the time even from the opposition, then that kind of person will also be his own preferred candidate.

In this game, as a leader, all members of a party are your children. I come from a profession where you look at the direction of your boss; you don’t start creating your own way. Politics and military operations are similar, they are not completely the same but similar. You watch the ways of your boss and you fall in line. But because it costs a lot of money to purchase the form by the aspirants, we advised them to tarry awhile and be very careful, go into serious introspection and do a deep-seated thinking.

The truth is that these aspirants also hear what others are saying outside. As a naval officer, I will say, don’t swim against the tide.

For me, that is purely very advisory and I believe a child should heed the voice of his father. When he advises you on the way to go, you don’t throw that into the dustbin. As a politician, you listen to the voice of your elders and your leaders. All along, as I told all of them, I said this game is not just about us alone during elections.

Even as we start the primaries and congresses, it will have an effect on the national election. So, the first step is very important.

What attribute is the PDP looking for in its candidate?

Who governs this state must not be the decision of Lagosians themselves, it has to be the business of the whole nation. Whoever is coming in as governor must reflect the future we are looking at. All eyes are on Lagos and we know we need to get the right candidate with the right mien, right attitude, right pedigree and right educational qualifications, somebody who will be marketable to the larger society. Whatever it takes to win must be given because not only are the down-trodden people are affected, even the middle level people and the business community are also affected.

We have to look at who can meet all these things I have outlined in terms of his education, pedigree and exposure to management, managing men and resources.

Those are the defined areas that we are looking at. At the close of the day, we will see how many are still remaining on the line. But for others who are still hell-bent that no matter what, they want to take a shot at it, you can’t stop them.

They will still be allowed to compete but the people will decide who

15

medium level and the low level people. These are the parameters we will use to put everybody on that scale. Every aspirant should leave the presidency out of it.

All these criteria you have mentioned, do you see any of the PDP aspirant meeting them?

Absolutely. I can say yes to that.

George

The governor Lagos needs, by George Chief Olabode George was a former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview with WALE ELEGBEDE, he speaks on the stance of the presidency and his party ahead of the governorship primaries in Lagos. Excerpts: they want.

It is not a matter of any uncivilized methodology. This is Lagos.

People want to see the procedure, the transparency of what we call primaries. It is not a matter of hijacking those who are coming from Abuja to conduct primary election and you think you can put them in your pocket. That is very primitive.

So, for preferred candidature, I have given you the parameter which we are going to look at. No Chicago or Toronto certificates. No kind of dirty tricks that were the attitude at the beginning in 1998, if you remember. We are now in a world of technology. A little Google search, whatever you claim that you are, people will Google it and get the result instantly. So, if you are coming to lie, you better keep off. The party cannot even afford to field anybody with tons of albatross because the world is modern now. So, those with blemish should just stay off the track. This party will not touch such people. Whatever the centre is advising us to do, I am equally taking a cue from there and I am also advising all the other aspirants. But I believe the whole process will be transparent.

As for me, it is vox populi, vox dei.

Voice of people, voice of God. Whoever the people want, that is who I want and whoever that will be, we will find out.

Are you going to adopt consensus arrangement in the selection of candidates?

The elders are still working and are adopting more of persuasion

and not the emperor style of leadership, the Emperor in Bourdillon.

That is not our style of leadership in PDP.

Whoever is coming in as governor must reflect the future we are looking at. All eyes are on Lagos and we know we need to get the right candidate with the right mien, right attitude, right pedigree and right educational qualifications, somebody who will be marketable to the larger society

There is this belief that you are queuing behind Jimi Agbaje and there is also a former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, who some believe the presidency has endorsed.

Do we have a two-horse race in PDP? This is the season of rumours.

He said that he resigned as minister because the president endorsed him, that is the greatest lie. Quote me. That is the greatest lie. And when you build your house on lies, it cannot stand a little storm.

Who asked him to be minister? I think the president has made his statement on the Lagos governorship ticket. He is still very much alive. Nyesom Wike too in Rivers resigned; is it the president who asked him to resign? Did he put his name on the paper? Who signed the paper? Is it the president? People lie. That is a blatant lie. And you can put it down that I said that. The president did not say that and he would never have said it.

Now on queuing up behind anybody, as a leader, like I said they are all my boys. I have defined the type of candidature that we should have. A man with a sound pedigree that you can trace his lineage, sound education not Toronto, not Chicago, a man who has shown semblance of top level management. A man who is respectable, responsible, acceptable, manageable and marketable to all the three tiers of existing top executives, the

Will the PDP consider zoning and religion in the choice of Lagos governorship candidate?

The beauty of Lagos State is that you find people whose parents came from Epe or Ikorodu and they have lived in Lagos West Senatorial district for years and have established himself there.

Lagos is big in population but is very compact. So, people keep moving all over the place. If anybody now says I have a claim because you are from Ikorodu, you cannot contest because of zoning. What are you zoning? The fluidity and movement of people is not as serious as if you go to neighbouring states like in Ogun State When people now talk about zoning, it is laughable. It may even interest you that maybe someone’s mother is from Ikorodu or the mother is from Lagos Island, he can lay claim to Ikorodu or Lagos Island. I have those I can give as examples. Take, for instance, Dapo Sarumi. He is an Epe man but he is so well established in Agege.

Lagos is a melting point. That is the summary of it all. As at the last registration, there are 5.8 million registered voters in Lagos. That is the largest in the country. If you look at only the indigenes, how many do we have? This is because Lagos is the economic nerve centre of Nigeria. If you go to Alaba today, you have to put an Igbo man there to win. The same goes for Agege, you have to present an Arewa candidate. That cannot happen in other states because Lagos is a melting point. So, if you talk about zoning, you will just be getting into more trouble. On the issue of religion, ideally it should never be a problem because hardly do you find a family in Lagos that doesn’t belong to either the Muslim, Christian or traditional religion. My immediate older sister is an Alhaja.

She married a Muslim and then she converted, yet I send both she and her husband on pilgrimage to Mecca. I have a younger brother whose wife originally is a Muslim, today she is a pastor.

So, religion should not be an issue. But today, some people said we have had persons from a particular religion ruling the state for 16 years. I don’t know where that idea came from, but like I said vox populi, vox dei. You must take cognisance in your tactical table of the arrangement because they will vote. In Lagos, we have the Pentecostal, the Catholics, Anglicans and so on. If they are demanding for it, whatever it takes, you follow the way. Don’t swim against the tide. That is why the emperor in Bourdillon quickly anointed somebody and Akin Ambode’s father is a Cherubim and Seraphim adherent. Just like President Jonathan said; he said anywhere he goes, people are mentioning a particular name as their favourite. If someone now says he is deaf to it, he will remain deaf to his detriment.

So, it is a very strong parameter in the equation and we must follow it if we want to win the hearts and minds of the people.

16 Politics | Interview Dr. Udenta O. Udenta is the former National Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). In this interview with TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE, the Director of Public Communication and Strategy of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) speaks on criticisms trailing the activities of TAN. Excerpts: How do you see the defection of House of Representatives’ Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal?

Let us deal with the moral element. The decision to resign or not, even in the context of the legal issues surrounding his audacious political move, rests squarely with him. My personal take on the matter is that he should take the narrow path of honour rather than the highway that inexorably leads to political perdition and resign his position as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a position he immorally occupies.

Again, having joined the club of name-callers whose idle past time is to heap abuses on President Goodluck Jonathan because they have very little to offer the nation in terms of governance, ideas and empowering vision as he did recently at Ilorin, he should be reminded that there are those out there who have elected to protect the humanity of our president and defend the integrity of the institution of the Nigerian Presidency. Enough is enough even though he may have ran with his mouth, as the saying goes, to garner the accolades of his fellow travellers.

Are you not worried about the state of defection in the polity?

Let us take a cue from Prof.

Attahiru Jega’s two potent statements of late on the matter. During the last All Political Parties and Political Stakeholders’ Summit, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared that political decampment across board is a form of crippling political nomadism that imposes unnecessary stress and strain on Nigeria’s democratic process, stultifies the growth of party infrastructure and damages the coherence of Nigeria’s political evolution.

I cannot but agree with him that this trend is a curse on Nigeria’s democratic system and an eloquent testimony of the opportunistic and amoral character of some Nigerian political elite.

Again, just a week or so ago, Jega also stressed that carpet-crossing is not a feature of the Nigerian constitution. I also agree with him. His first position is loaded with ethical issues, the second with legal principles.

The activities of the TAN have come under heavy criticisms, particularly from the All Progressives Congress (APC). How do you feel about this?

I have addressed this issue in the past but because of the

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Udenta: Fashola lacks morality to criticise Jonathan persistence of the ill-conceived, ill-mannered and ill-informed attacks and unwarranted vituperations being poured on TAN and President Jonathan by some leading figures in the opposition APC, it is necessary to set the record right again. These unconscionable attacks on TAN and President Jonathan stem from a distorted mindset and a warped worldview.

The APC is embarrassed by TAN’s success and the effortless ease with which we deconstructed their false narratives about President Jonathan’s ability to govern the nation efficiently. If you examine the context and content of their wild and fanciful claims you will notice that it is nothing but a rehash of the pitiable falsehoods they have been peddling for sometime; claims that are rightly confined to the garbage heap of forgotten history where they belong.

Take the case of Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, for example. His rising media profile may well stem from the fact that he may well be undergoing grooming for a major political assignment within his party. That is no skin off our nose in TAN, yet every time he opens his mouth to attack TAN, insult the person of President Jonathan and demean the office and institution of the Nigerian Presidency, he reveals the depth of his ignorance and portrays himself as a subject suffering from what I have previously described as the baffling disease of intellectual indolence.

Apart from being a beneficiary of massive central government investments in Lagos State from the colonial times to about 1991, in the same way that if Abuja were to ever become a state in future, the inheritor government will benefit handsomely from the on-going investments in the FCT, Fashola should, without delay, publish all Lagos State’s revenue receipts since June 2007, both revenues from the federation account, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), sale of bonds, loans, etc, in all leading newspapers in Nigeria. He surely has the money to do so.

Nigerians will be shocked by the scandalous criminal looting of the people’s patrimony invidiously covered by high media propaganda, sanctimonious selfeffusions and the empty can.

You are particular about Governor Fashola. Why? Precisely because Fashola is not just particular about TAN, he is obsessed by his mission to criminalise and demonise it as an entity. As he has embarked on this destructive course he must be reminded that TAN is not a faceless organisation or an amorphous public advocacy platform.

TAN is rich with highly informed and very knowledgeable human resources who are spiritually, intellectually and strategically equipped with the right skills and tools to respond to the challenges we daily confront.

Udenta

He must be reminded that every time he attacks TAN he is attacking each and every single one of us, our integrity, our reputation and our very humanity.

Every time he attacks TAN he attacks me as its spokesperson, its public face. He surely must be naive not to expect a strong rebuttal from TAN. Let me make it abundantly clear that from now on not one single attack on TAN or President Jonathan will go without a robust response from us. Some of us have come a long way and do not need to blow our trumpet.

When I was the National Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), he was an aide to Governor Bola Tinubu, so our path never crossed. But as often happens in Nigeria with our style of leadership production and reproduction, he somehow became the darling of the Lagos political establishment that proceeded to foist him on the state as its governor. I don’t know where he was between 1993 and 1998, but surely not in the struggle for democracy or in political exile or detention because I would have known.

In the midst of security challenges, how easy is it to sell the Jonathan brand?

As a patriot, I will first of all extend my condolences to the families of all those whose lives were cut short by these barbaric hordes, and deep sense of empathy with those who are either injured or displaced by these callous and shadowy forces of darkness and evil. I extend a hand of encouragement to the men and women of the nation’s armed and security forces who put their lives on the firing line that we may be safe, who confront an enemy. I will most of all appreciate our presi-

Nigerians will be shocked by the scandalous criminal looting of the people’s patrimony invidiously covered by high media propaganda, sanctimonious self-effusions and empty can

dent for the steady, mature and robust manner he is confronting this threat. President Jonathan is doing the right things, taking the right steps and co-ordinating well with our regional and international partners. Of course, there is always room for improvement in terms of intelligence gathering and sharing of data.

Yes, it is easy to sell the Jonathan brand in the context of the current situation in some states in the North East in the same way that it was easy to sell the George W Bush brand in 2004 in the midst of two wars and the Obama brand in 2012 while those wars were still on-going, and are still on-going if I may add.

Are you optimistic that Jonathan will be re-elected in 2015?

Our optimism stems from the success of the on-going project of deepening Nigerian democratic system and human transformation prerogatives by the Jonathan administration in the context of the paradigm of national transformation. You are living witnesses to the revolution TAN has brought to the national advocacy space and the ground breaking multimedia strategies we have used to showcase the achievements of the Jonathan government. When you add this to the massive political apparatus of the PDP that has met and overcome different historic tests in the past 15 years, there is no doubt that the president will be re-elected handsomely in 2015. Also, Nigeria has no viable political opposition in terms of being radically different, meaning that the APC is nothing but a pale imitation of the PDP in spite of the loquacious claims and false narratives about its progressive credentials in the hands of its pseudo-demagogues.

Politics | Interview 17

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Ufomba: Orji’s govt, a failure Ochiagha Regan Ufomba is the leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia State. In this interview with FELIX NWANERI, he speaks on the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan by his party, how governance has taken flight in Abia and his vision for the state. Excerpts:

to leave the party. People continue to ask me why I am still in a divided house, and I say the problem is man-made and it will take men like us to solve it. Quitters don’t win and winners don’t quit. The problem we have in Nigeria’s politics is that people are so selfish, they think of themselves alone. People should think of what legacy they are going to leave and not about themselves. I have always said that the easiest way to get to the centre is to have an Igbo vehicle that will take us to that centre, and for me, the definition of that vehicle is APGA. What do you make of the recent defection of some of the party’s leaders and members to other parties?

I have always maintained that when God wants to give new leadership for a people, some people must give way. Remember these people you said leaving the party are people who have not been able to move the party forward. Since 2003, APGA has remained only in Anambra, as against what Bola Tinubu had done with AD (Alliance for Democracy) in the South-West. So, if that leadership could not move APGA forward to Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi so that we can have a platform to bargain with the rest of the country, then God is setting that leadership aside and bringing a new leadership that will propagate APGA and take it to the nook and crannies of Igbo land and Nigeria as a national party.

You are giving the Abia governorship position another shot after the 2011 experience, what’s the motivation?

The motivation remains the same; our people still need good governance and the basic amenities of life. Aba has gotten worse, now you spend close to four hours to get into Aba from Osisioma junction. So, in view of all these, I have decided to do something to help rescue the situation and help the people of Abia State.

When you say to rescue the people of the state, there are many who believe that the incumbent governor has liberated the state. What is your view on this?

What are the indices? Is it on agriculture, education or roads? Who has he liberated? I don’t want to go into that.

That is so petty for me to go into. What we are saying is that our children still go to school paying high fees, no science laboratories, no clear cut direction on agriculture and nobody is asking how we can store what we are producing. After storing, what do we do with them?

Are there processing plants in Abia?

Do we have a marketing board? Are we exporting? In commerce, can anybody freely access Ariaria Market, Ngwa Road Market, Obohia Market or is it Ogbo Hill Market, all in Aba? Can anyone come in through Ikot Ekpene into Aba or go into Umuahia through Ikwuano? So, what has changed in Abia? What have changed are the bumps and the gullies which are now deeper. If they were one metre before now, they are five metres deep now.

We need to place Abia on a pedestal of growth. What has been going on in the state, if there is anything at all, is what you call playing to the gallery and misapplication of funds. The government has failed to prioritise and as far as I’m concerned it is a failure. Nothing has really changed, I don’t want to go into the issue of whether the incumbent has liberated us or not because, it is clear to all who visit Abia that there is nothing to talk about.

What are you bringing to the table if you emerge the governor of the state come 2015?

There has to be transparency, accountability and prioritisation in government. That’s key. There must be human capital investment. Is it difficult to train our children? My government will give free education from primary to tertiary levels; we are going to mechanise and in fact, revolutionalise agriculture.

We are going to separate industrialists and traders from Aba and clean up the town because it is the economic life centre of not just Igbo land but Nigeria. If you get Aba right, you get Abia right.

You have heard of the stealing that is going on in the name of security vote, where one man takes N1 billion. That is enough to empower our youths. If I win, that stealing is not going to happen.

Ufomba

Some people will argue that Abia doesn’t have the resources to run free education.

How would your government fund that?

Is there money in Imo? During my 2011 campaign, I told the people of Abia that I will introduce free education and said the incubation step is the secondary school. Once you get it right at that level, you will get it right all through. We have what it takes to offer free education at secondary and tertiary levels. We are also going to return boarding schools.

People have been saying there is moral decadence and that the standard of education has also fallen, but my opinion on that is that people should ask why the standard has fallen.

There is the issue of the governor anointing his successor. Do you think it would be easy to win the party and candidate of an incumbent governor?

This anointment we all talk about depends on whether it is the anointment of the Holy Spirit or the devil. We are talking about a government that has failed anointing a successor, Abia people will reject that. Also, we should know that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) never won an election in Abia in 2011. I defeated a sitting governor, but the election was rigged, and because people like us are social crusaders, we are not like selfish politicians who wouldn’t mind dying pursuing a selfish agenda. At the point the election was rigged, if I had said no, Abia will still be burning till today. However, I can tell you that in 2015, they can never rig election again in Abia State.

You said you won in 2011 and was rigged out, what practical steps are you taking now to avoid a repeat of that?

Then I contested against a sitting governor and we know that the power of incumbency is always there. Of course, we learnt that there was order from above and certain persons came to Abia and said that whether the people like it or not, the governor must return. Then it was do-or-die, but there should be morality and integrity in politics. When

people come and say whether the people like it or not, it is not the democracy that we are yearning for. But I can assure you that we have learnt from our mistakes.

This time, we will cross the Ts and dot the Is. So, such things will never repeat itself in Abia in 2015.

Why did you choose to run under APGA, a party believed to be in crisis?

I’m a true blooded Biafran, real blooded Igbo man and APGA is our party.

APGA is the legacy Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu left for us, and I’m not in a haste

So, what has changed in Abia? What have changed are the bumps and the gullies which are now deeper. If they were one metre before now, they are five metres deep now

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State recently said that APGA will sweep the 2015 elections in South-East, do you share that optimism?

It is not enough to say that APGA will win the South-East because there is a big divide in the APGA and what practical steps are being taken to ensure that the party comes together? Governor Obiano wouldn’t have been governor if not for people like us who sat down and got Victor Umeh and Peter Obi together so that we could have a free Anambra election. He should now work the talk and take practical steps to bring the factions together.

Don’t you think that APGA adopting Jonathan in 2015 will affect your party’s chances?

Definitely, it will affect our chances and negate what APGA stands for, because the act reduces the potency of APGA. It shows the party doesn’t have the strength and capacity. Even though we will support and vote Jonathan, I’m of the opinion that the endorsement was hasty and those who did that did it for personal goals. It was not discussed by anybody. In 2011, I supported Jonathan, I made billboards for him, branded cars and posters for him, then Governor Peter Obi convinced us on why we should support him, but I tell you as a governorship candidate, I didn’t get a handshake from Jonathan or a letter of appreciation and I’m a politician. So, I’m going to review the stand upon which I’m going to support Jonathan again in 2015.

Again we voted for fresh air, I have not seen enough fresh air coming from President Jonathan. I had expected a restructured Nigeria which is key to the economic development of this country. I have expected that he will reduce the overhead by scrapping the state structure. The states are drain pipes. I thought he would have arrived at a six zone structure for the country and strengthen the local governments, which is the only way development can get to the grassroots. He is a graduate and I had expected drastic changes but we have not seen enough of that.

18

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion

ITU eulogises Shola Taylor’s heroics

Okoh Aihe

T

he race for the Deputy Secretary General of the ITU was seen as a straight fight between the United Kingdom and Canada.

Poland also featured a lady flaunting some intimidating credentials. Nigeria didn’t feature so much in the expectations of the delegates who under- estimated the fighting spirit of the country in whatever she is determined to do.

By the time a winner emerged in the person of Malcom Johnson of the United Kingdom after two days of balloting, even the Secretary General, Dr. Hamadoun Toure who is due out in December, praised Nigeria for setting the record of taking the voting process to a fourth round.

Nigeria lost but was hailed as the hero of the contest.

The Nigerian team led by the Honourable Minster of Communication Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson; others being the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Olaopa; Dr Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission; Ms Josephine Amua, Director, Policy Competition and Economic Analysis, NCC; Nigerian Acting Ambassador to South Korea, Mr. S. Momoh; Mr Peter Emuze, a Director from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and some other Directors from the Ministry and some of its parastatals had done so much of shuttle diplomacy that an outright win was not impossible.

By this time, the adrenalin was pumping so hard.

Expectations and tension were so thick that a butcher’s knife could hardly go through. Ab initio, five candidates began the journey with two dropping out after the first ballot. They are Magdalena Gaj (Poland), representing Eastern Europe and Northern Asia; Bruce Gracie (Canada), representing The Americas; Malcom Johnson (United Kingdom), representing Western Europe; Fatimetou Mohamed-Saleck (Mauritania), representing Africa; and Shola Taylor (Nigeria) also representing Africa. From the foregoing, only Africa presented two candidates as neither of them agreed to step down for

the other. But after the first round of votes, Canada and Mauritania had dropped having scored the least votes.

Nigeria was in the third place after Britain and Poland.

Climax in a big show can be something very difficult to achieve. The candidates had worked very hard; flying across the continents to persuade countries to align with their viewpoint to help vote them to that exalted position. The permutation can very interesting to work out. After eight years as the Secretary General of the ITU, Toure, a great son of Africa has contributed his best to elevate the ITU to an unprecedented height and he is leaving at the very point ovation is loudest.

It is quite possible for the incoming Deputy Secretary General to think that after the term of Houlier Zhao of China who is assuming office in December as the new Secretary General it would be his or her turn. So, the battle was fierce with ideas and international diplomacy and no country was prepared for an easy, pin-fall.

After the second round of ballot Nigeria had climbed to the second position behind the United Kingdom. It was now a straight fight between Nigeria and the United Kingdom. This wasn’t projected by most people in the hall. Both the British and the Canadian candidates had been favoured for obvious reasons: Johnson was the Director for Standards at the ITU for two terms and it was expected that within the period he should build a large following that would make his election easy. While Gracie was a long time Chairman of Financial Human Resource Committee of the ITU. He too was an insider trying to swing an important election.

Instead it was the Nigerian team that made the process very exciting and heightened expectations for two days.

Two factors were responsible for this. The first which had been mentioned is the solid Nigerian team led by the Minister and the credentials of Dr Taylor that could hardly be faulted. Dr Taylor had held so many international positions in various organisations, including RASCOM, INMARSAT, and ITU among others. In terms of the campaign he had been very focused, clearly enunciating the value proposition he was placing on the table for one of the most important agencies of the United Nations. He was actually hailed for running the best issue-based

campaign.

In the final vote last Friday Johnson had 104 vote against Taylor’s 64 votes. But the margin of defeat belied the efforts of the Nigerians whose heads remained unbowed. It is pertinent to point out here that the Nigerian efforts were weakened by the two candidates featured by Africa, although most of the African countries would later fight for Nigeria to get elected after the withdrawal of Mohamed, Saleck from Mauritania. Her refusal to withdraw even when it was very obvious that she was the weakest link had proved a major damage, and quite a few African countries did not feel very comfortable with it. Johnson had enjoyed some swing votes from both the Canadian and Polish candidates to help overwhelm the very strong efforts of Nigeria. Europe remained together and most parts of the world decided to go with it while Africa exhibited a soft underbelly too fragile to accommodate a major diplomatic punch.

But we are no bad losers. While praising the election of Malcom Johnson, Nigeria’s Communication Technology Minister, Mrs Omobola Johnson declared that the best out of the team of quality candidates had won, pledging the readiness of the country to work with the new Secretary General. She also hailed the qualities of Shola Taylor who ran a wonderful campaign and has done Nigeria proud.

While thanking the delegates for voting Johnson, the British Ambassador was full of praises for Taylor’s campaign vision which she prayed the ITU would help bring on board in the days ahead.

One dispassionate delegate summarized the proceedings thus: “Nigeria had the best candidate. That is why the election went to the fourth round. But geo-politics took over.”

Recounting his experience, Taylor said: “It was an unprecedented election because for the first time, the election went to the fourth round. There were strong candidates. I have to be appreciative of the Minister, the Permanent Secretary, the EVC and the entire NCC for being very supportive. There is need for African coordination programmes like this. We missed some votes,” he advised.

• Aihe sent this material from Busan, South Korea

Blaise Compoare, his rise and fall Mike Arayuwa Wilkie

B

urkina Faso was formally known as Upper Volta. The country is landlocked. It is situated in the Sub-Saharan West Africa. Burkina Faso was a Francophone territory with Ouagadougou as its Capital City. It has a total land mass of 274,200sq kilometers with an estimated population of 17.3 million people as at 2014. Burkina Faso gained Independence from France in 1960. The Sovereign State is a member of the Africa Union, community of Sahel-Saharan States, La Francophone, Organization of Islamic Co-operation, ECOWAS and the United Nations. It is imperative to add that the country is one of the poorest in the world.

So many rulers had occupied the centre stage of government until 1983, when Captain Thomas Sankara became the Head of State of the country via a successful coup de tat against Major Dr. Jean-Baptiste Quedraogo. Thomas Sankara was a political ideologue who embraced and implemented the Marxist doctrines in Burkina Faso. Satanically, Captain Blaise Compoare, his best friend and comrade in the Marxist revolution staged a bloody coup against him.

On October 15, 1987, Thomas Sankara was killed along with twelve other army officers. Blaise Compoare however described the killing of Sankara as an error. On assumption of duty as a military Head of State, Blaise Compoare revoked

the Marxist inclinations of his erstwhile friend, comrade and predecessor in office.

According to him, he was of the strong view that the ideology was controversial based on the fact that the West which is purely capitalist was against the new doctrine of Thomas Sankara.

Another reason as canvassed by him was the deterioration of Burkina Faso’s diplomatic relations with fellow African States and of course France, the country’s ex-Colonial Master. Blaise Compoare reversed the nationalization, overturned almost all of Sankara’s policies, returned the country to the IMF and finally destroyed all of his friend’s local and International policies. As a result of these changes, Blaise contested and won elections in 1991, 1998, 2005 and 2010. Captain Blaise Compoare was born on February 3, 1951 in Ziniare, Upper Volta now Burkina Faso. After his ascension to power, he founded the ruling political party, the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP). Even the election he won in 1991 was boycotted by the opposition political parties. This could not be said to be an accepted election result in a democratic dispensation.

In September, 1989, two army officersHenri Zongo and Jean Baptiste Boukary Lingani who were also friends of Blaise were arrested and charged with Treasonable felony. They were given a kangaroo trial and summarily executed. On April 14, 2011, he fled from the Capital City to Ziniare, his Ancestral hometown after the Army revolted in their barracks over un-

paid allowances. In the night of the same day soldiers and hoodlums took advantage of the situation to loot shops, supermarkets, banks, properties belonging to both private persons and Government including other visible properties in the cities.

In June 2014, the ruling political party led by Blaise Compoare attempted to amend the constitution that would have enabled him to seek for re-election in 2015 after the expiration of his tenure this year, 2014 in accordance with the country’s constitution. When the alteration of the constitution became almost a reality, the protesters stormed and occupied everywhere in Ouagadougou against President Compoare who has ruled the poor country for 27 years. In fact they called for his resignation from office as President. This was precisely on October 28, 2014. In October, the aggrieved protesters set the parliament on fire and seized the Nation’s Television Headquarters.

Ouagadougou International Airport was closed while members of Parliament suspended the constitutional amendment which would have allowed Blaise Compoare to contest the next election. On the same day, October 31, 2014. His voluntary resignation and the declaration that his office as President was vacant was therefore an after-thought. Lt Col Isaac Zida seized power from President Compoare and he is expected to act as an interface during the transitional period. The incumbent Military Head of State is however said to be a close pal of Blaise Compoare; the deposed

President.

The revolutionary traits of the Arab World has perhaps, permeated the SubSahara African continent commencing from Burkina Faso which is not predominantly Muslims. The country’s profile has clearly revealed that 50% are Muslims while the Christians are also 50%. It may not be necessarily a Muslim revolt but an unavoidable revolution which is peculiar to Burkina Faso. For a man of 63 years to have governed such an under-developed country which ranks 111st in the world for 27 years and still insist on the continuation of Governance, is to say the least, a deft dictator and unacceptable to the Burkinabes.

It would appear to me that daft despots are deliberately unwilling to learn from the characteristic traits of dictators from historical perspective. Virtually all dictators still behave like the Bourbons of France who learnt and forgot nothing. Blaise Compoare, a voluntary evil character eliminated a beloved and the peoples’ Captain Thomas Sankara, his bossom friend, in order to take-over the reigns of power. He equally executed Jean Baptiste, and Henri Zongo who were alleged to have planned to stage a coup de tat against him while another Army Officer was sentenced to prison throughout the rest part of his life.

Other opposition elements who stood in his way were uprooted and shown the misery of life.

• Wilkie can be reached at pmikky1950@yahoo.com (08023097251)

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

19

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Ending strikes in education sector

L

ast week, the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau gave Nigerians a little hope that the nation’s moribund public education system might have reached an abyss and is now on its way back to redemption when he said that the era of strikes in the sector is over.

The Minister made the statement in Lagos while on an impact assessment tour of three higher institutions in the state.

The statement is significant because for two decades now, prolonged and very damaging strikes, especially in tertiary schools, by unions of academics, non-academics, senior staffers, researchers and teachers have been the highlights of the sector.

And because it was made by Mallam Shekarau, who has managed to maintain some measure of credibility among the nation’s top politicians, and was able to resolve one of such prolonged and damaging strikes within days of assuming office as Minister.

Indeed, unions in the education sector have become notorious for strike actions. A strike by the major union, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), often leads to a wildcat of strikes by all the other unions.

These strikes are usually claimed by the union leaders to have been called to force more funding by the

government, or implementation of a previous agreement, and/or better work conditions. But, the real reasons are often little of these.

And more of trying to get more pay, or as a result of pay rivalry between members of different unions, or to protest high pay and allowances of legislators and other elected office holders.

Prolonged and damaging strikes in the education sector by ASUU and other unions began during the military era, and were considered by some as the academia’s contribution to the struggle to force a return to civil rule. However, this feature has remained a constant since the advent of democracy in 1999.

As example, since 1999, ASUU has gone on strike every year, or every other year. According to available records, in 1999 its strike lasted for five months; in 2001 for three months; 2002 for two weeks; 2003/2004 for six months; 2005 for three days; 2006 for one week; 2007 for three months; 2008 for one week; 2009 for four months; 2010 for five months and one week; 2011/2012 for three months; and 2013 for over six months.

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has followed in the footsteps of ASUU in calling prolonged and damaging strikes.

Its last strike which was suspended in July, this year, lasted a whole 10 months. It was suspended only after Shekarau assumed office and promised to address grievances.

Of course, successive governments at the federal level and education ministers share a large chunk of the blame for these strikes. Corruption, mismanagement and incompetence on the part of these characters who found or wangled themselves to high offices have been fuel to these plague of the nation’s education system.

The appointment of Mallam Shekarau, a former teacher, has brought about some calm in the sector. And he himself seems determined to negotiate an end to these damaging strikes.

While announcing his vision of an end to the era of strikes in the sector, in Lagos last week, the Minister said that the resolution of the then prolonged ASUP and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) strike less than 24 hours after he assumed office was a clear pointer to his commitment to realizing this.

He also said that his mandate was to bring dignity into the teaching profession in Nigeria.

In line with this, also last week at the 60th Education Council Summit, the Minister announced plans to host, in a few weeks, a National Summit on Teachers, with President Goodluck Jonathan presiding.

The summit, he said, will look at ways of addressing the challenges of ensuring the availability of quality teachers in Nigeria.

We commend the Minister’s vision and the steps he has taken

so far to see to the era of strikes in the Education sector, and seek the cooperation of all the unions with him towards achieving this very important goal. We believe the strike option has been overused by the unions in the sector, and has become counterproductive. Strikes have done serious damage to our schools, and it would be nonsensical for any union to continue to call strikes on the argument of trying to make these institutions better.

It is noteworthy that four major unions in the tertiary arm of the education sector, who have called most of the strikes, about two weeks ago, issued a communique after holding a joint summit in Abuja, and called for declaration of state of emergency in the education sector.

It is however worrisome that they are seeking a state of emergency because “The current educational system is characterised by chronic underfunding, bad leadership, and infrastructural decay, poor conditions of learning and service, promotion of mediocrity, shortage of personnel (academic, technical and administrative) and entrenchment of orthodoxy, parochialism and chauvinism.” No mention was made of the negative impact of frequent and prolonged strikes.

We believe imposition of a 20-year moratorium on strikes should be the first component of any state of emergency for the education sector.

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

Felix Oguejiofor Abugu

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20 Politics | Interview C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

PDP is all about. It is not about the people at all. They should go and station their party either in Abuja or Bayelsa.

I know that Kwarans are wiser, they can see what some of us have been talking about. Otherwise, how do you explain when people have opportunity to serve, they give up such opportunity for selfish ambition like is going on now. For me, we are confident here and we have made our point that Kwara is no-go area for PDP. I thank the judiciary again for standing firm, for playing the role that make a lot of us have great respect for them. They have shown that they are independent and stand for the truth.

I pray and hope they continue as they are; the last hope, especially when you have an administration that believes it can do anything and continues to do things that are against the constitution and rule of law.

Do you see Buhari, Atiku, Kwankwaso staying put in the APC after the primaries?

These are democrats who have taken a decision that a victory for any of them is a victory for all. They do not see the primary election as do or die. We have had discussions with them and if you talk to any of the three of them he will tell you whoever emerges at the primaries will be supported. Tell Nigerians that none of those three is going anywhere.

We have all come to stay. We have shed those that want to go off.

It is clear that what we are fighting for is what Nigerians want. We are not doing what Nigerians don’t want. It is only if it is about ambition that you begin to get concerned. That is why I took the painful decision not to contest. It is about the ambition of the country today.

No matter how we want to paint it or gloss over, if all of us as Nigerians want to be truthful to ourselves, we know that things are not going on well. We know that this is not the Nigeria we all dreamed about. For over so many years some part of Nigeria is under siege, or you see Nigerians becoming refugees in neighbouring countries. Is that the Nigeria we dreamed about? Or is it APC that is causing that? Before they tried to use religion and ethnicity but both Christian and Muslim towns and villages are being attacked. What are we doing? What is being done?

I always say to people it is not about Jonathan, whoever is the president now whether he is a Muslim, Christian; from the north or south and he is running a government like this then the person has to go. If tomorrow the president becomes born again then it is a different ball game.

But we must talk about issues and that is on ground.

The level of insecurity and impunity is a thing that can be corrected. They are not things that we are fabricating. When you make comments that they attack you, that does not change the issue. That is the way they operate.

Address the issues and if you are not capable of doing them, step aside. As a country, if a scorecard says a government has not been able to provide security, then honestly that government should be

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

‘I sympathise with PDP senators’ now said how can I be the chairman of NGF who had told all my colleagues to bring back at least a senator, and not abide by the agreement?

That was why I went to appeal to them in Kwara South to please allow Ajibola come back based on that agreement. That is how Ajibola came back as a third term senator. It was based on the same issue that laid the foundation for the current Senate President David Mark. When this came, we saw in PDP that the leadership was not there to implement this thing, because it is about leadership. You can do the primaries many times, the governors will always get what they want. The only way you can change this is by discussion, appealing to them because the governors control the political structures in their states.

But for the selfish interest of President Jonathan’s re-election he cannot look at the governors and tell them point blank what he wants. What I disagree with is that because the issue pertains to PDP it is being made very important. I sympathise with their struggle, because in fairness I think it does help a bit. That again re-emphasizes that every politics is local. You cannot sit in Abuja and not play your local politics back at home. You say the governors are emperors, yet the system that gives those powers to the governors is something that should have been addressed, because some of us saw it coming.

Saraki

voted out.

Throughout last week, senators suspended legislative duties because their re-election bid was threatened with the outcome of the PDP ward congresses. How do you see the development?

The crisis between the PDP state governors and their senators is an internal affair of their party and it shouldn’t have been allowed to affect the running of the upper chamber of the legislature.

I sympathise with my colleagues from the PDP where they find themselves, but some of us had told many of them before now that this was going to happen. Some of us do things that people in this country don’t appreciate until after they have left the scene. I know and you can go and check the record, personally what I did to prevent this situation in 2011. It was the same situation. I was the chairman, Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) then. The PDP went for delegate election, by the time they finished the exercise no senator was coming back. The late President Umaru Yar’Adua called by that time to talk to the governors and save the situation.

This same problem; I moved in and summoned an emergency meeting of all the governors.

We worked till very late practically begging some. I used my position, relationship and experience to get an agreement with the governors at that time to see that one senator in each of the PDP states come back. One used his relationship with them and the respect they have for one and we got the deal. It was the deal that brought back some of the senators then.

It was the deal that even brought back our Senator Simon Ajibola from Kwara South.

Before that delegate Ajibola had gone. He had done two terms and as far as people here were concerned the thing should go to another part of the district. I

We have ministers now that all they do is just to go on television to haul abuses on us, instead of focusing on the issues.

I have not even heard the minister talk about the economy

What is your take on the budget implementation and the state of the economy?

They put a lot of pressure on the National Assembly and say the budget is on the table when are they going to pass it? And then you ask, the one we have passed what is the level of implementation? The 2014 budget we have passed what is the level of implementation? Because a budget is only as good as the level of implementation; you can only be agitated about a budget if you know that once it is passed what is there will be implemented. I am telling you that the level of implementation of the 2014 budget cannot be more than 20 per cent. And we are in November.

The benchmark of the 2014 budget is very unrealistic and inconsistent in the fact that in the last three years, the Ministry of Finance has been very consistent in saying that we must be very conservative in our benchmark; this has always led to a lot of argument between the executive and the legislature.

I get worried and concerned hoping that these are being driven by economic reasons not political reasons. More importantly what is the contingency plan in the event that the crude oil price drops to $78 per barrel? Another point I emphasise is that if there had to be sacrifices that would be made, before we tell Nigerians to go into another hardship, certain wastes must first be eliminated.

Government must be able to eliminate corruption in policy like kerosene where it is a subsidy that is not getting to any in-

dividual. Meanwhile, it has taken over N300 billion. After that you get rid of the inefficient policies that are in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

There are fears about elections not holding in some states in the North East as a result of insurgency. Do you share that fear?

Honestly, everything is not about the issue of election. What is important as a government, we must not just accept the fact that we cannot restore law and order in certain parts of the country.

The biggest economy, most populated and big brother of Africa, we want to get used to the fact that three or two states are under siege and we should just accept this. There must be something wrong. The material and human resources are there. There must be a collusion that is dampening the moral of our troops.

As Prof. Attahiru Jega said, even in war zones like Afghanistan elections take place; so he has no excuse not to hold elections.

One of the responsibilities of government is to secure lives and property. INEC has made it clear as far as we are concerned, that it has the capacity to carry out elections in some of these areas that are under siege. Though those states are APC’s, election in every part of the country must rise above ethnicity and religion and look at the issue. We should ask ourselves, has this government done enough to deserve our vote?

As such we as a nation must do the right thing and vote for a new administration that will come in and do the right thing. People must have the ability to choose.

How prepared is the APC in the state for the 2015 elections?

We are very prepared. We are waiting for them to bring their candidates. Until we see their candidates, I will not be able to tell you more. Let them cross that bridge first but we are ready and going ahead to sell our party and candidates to Kwarans. In this trying time, it is not a time for trial and error. It is a time for tested hands and when the time comes Kwarans will compare and contrast the candidates.

We have ministers now that all they do is go on television to haul abuses on us, instead of focusing on the issues. I have not even heard the minister talk about the economy or the planning.

All I hear is Saraki, Saraki and Saraki. Again, that shows you the type of government we have.

In the past, the kind of ministers we had in Planning, where those who used to talk about planning; how Nigeria will move forward.

They should make him Minister for Saraki then; minister for special duties in charge of Saraki. It shows the way this government thinks about everybody.

It is about governance. Even having had opportunity to be minister you rise to the occasion. May be the man has not got the capacity. He should go into a debate not just talk about Saraki.

After him, Saraki will continue.

It should be an embarrassment to the Federal Government.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, november 13, 2014

21

Interview

News

Jurist

Damabide: E-voting will restore confidence to NBA future elections

Estate agent remanded for stealing N7m

Adesina: Why FG must pursue ceasefire agreement with insurgents

22&25

23

24&25

Law Days after a 30 yearold man, Monday Ilade Prosper escaped the hangman’s noose following the success of his appeal at the Benin division of the Court of Appeal, the controversy over the abolition of capital punishment for capital offences has again pitted lawyers against each other. While proponents of its abolition believe it is long overdue, others insist that capital punishment should stay to serve as a deterrent to criminals. FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE reports

M

onday Ilade Prosper, a 30 year-old man was 19 years old when he was arrested and charged with armed robbery in Benin, the Edo State capital about 11 years ago.

His offence: Prosper forcefully collected his salary from his employer who refused to pay him for three months. According to a record before the court, Prosper who had begged his employer for his salary without success, trailed him to the bank where he forcefully took the bag from his employer, threw sand on his face, counted his salary and returned the balance to the employer.

This, however earned him a robbery charge and eventual conviction. He was sentenced to death in 2006 by an Edo State High Court. For eight years, Prosper waited for the hangman especially with the resumed execution last year.

But his conviction and sentence was overturned by the Benin Court of Appeal which cleared him of the robbery charge.

Thankgod Ebhos and Sunday

FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE JUDICIARY Editor

foluso.ogunmodede@ newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Condemned criminals

Izinyon, Nwobike, Quakers, Agbaje differ on death penalty Eze Onyeabor’s case was not different from Prosper. The duo of Ebhos and Onyeabor, two death row inmates narrowly escaped execution alongside the famous four inmates of Benin prison after their death warrants were signed by the Edo state government. Ebhos, who was the fifth inmate, was taken to the gallows but was not hanged unlike the four who did not escape the hangman’s noose.

While Prosper was freed by the court, the duo of Ebhos and Onyeabor were released by the Kaduna State Governor, Ramalan Yero, who signed their release in exercise of his power of Prerogative of Mercy as contained under Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution.

Just last week, Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan advanced reasons why his government had distanced itself from signing death warrants on condemned criminals.

To Uduaghan, his belief in the sanctity of life was the major reason he was not favourably disposed to appending his signature to death warrants.

His declaration however

Izinyon

Our prisons have become a place to oppress the political enemies and not a place to reform criminals

raised the already rested poser: Should death penalty be expunged from Nigeria’s legal system? Lawyers say yes and no.

Ostensibly, it pitted lawyers against each other on whether death penalty be abolished from the country’s legal system.

To those who queued behind its abolition, death penalty has never served its desired purpose especially the imperfect nation’s judicial system.

For instance, an activist lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo simply said “if people were wrongly executed, how will you bring them back to life?’’

Keyamo was supported by Mr. Fred Agbaje and Mr. Norrison Quakers, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who believe that capital punishment should be abolished.

Quakers said he was against capital punishment especially when he had canvassed his conviction before a Lagos High Court which declared that death penalty for criminal offences must be expunged from the Constitution.

His words: “I do subscribe to its abolition because I am one

of those who believe that death penalty in our society should be abolished. I am also aware that there is a provision in the Quran where some scholars believed that some crimes are economical and they are as a result of the inability of the government to put certain things in place. So, rather than executing people, the government should improve on people’s welfare and infrastructure. There is also a need to address certain ills in the society so that we can have economic equilibrium’’.

In Agbaje’s view, said he would not support the abolition of death penalty for criminal offences notwithstanding the views of others about it.

Also, a non-governmental organization (NGO), The Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) and its national Coordinator, Mr. Chino Obiagwu simply said: “It is time to abolish the death penalty. Many of my friends on CC(condemned cell) in Kirikiri are innocent. I know that as a fact”.

But Dr. Joseph Nwobike, a SeCONTINUED ON PAGE 26

22

Law | Interview

Until his appointment as the Senior Special Adviser to the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson on Legal Matters, Stanley Damabide chaired the state branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) between 2009 and 2011. Damabide, in this interview with APPOLOS CHRISTIAN, speaks on his achievements as NBA chairman, the justice system in the oil rich state, corruption, proposed NBA e-voting, human rights abuse and varied issues How would you look at the progress recorded by the NBA, Bayelsa branch during your tenure as chairman?

The NBA here in Bayelsa is almost as old as the state itself because shortly after the creation of the state some indigenous legal practitioners of Bayelsa State felt the need to establish the Bayelsa branch of the NBA. The initial makeup of the Bar was essentially the protection of the professional base of the persons from this place, there the basic started and we continued in that light to a time we realized that the Bar in Yenagoa will have to be protected in the interest of its members.

But we also get involved in issues that concern the society at large and see how it can affect the society positively. This, however, brought about the rebirth of the NBA and its priority in Bayelsa state because the Bar started getting involved in the struggles that are primarily aimed at protecting Bayelsa State as a whole and what is good for it.

I recall vividly between 2002 and 2003, the Bar was really concerned with ensuring that basic social amenities were provided for the people of Bayelsa state and had to take the propaganda war to the door step of the then governor. Thereafter on the side of the people, we took up the issue of having the right Chief Judge for the state.

So far, we’ve been able to nurture a vibrant Bar that looks beyond the protection of its own interest but issues that address the Bayelsa society in particular and their contributions to the Nigerian society at large.

What are the challenges you faced while at the helms of affairs as the NBA boss?

The first challenge we faced was being able to attract the confidence and trust of our members to deliver in terms of our leadership responsibilities, and by the grace of God it didn’t take us much time to discharge that responsibility though people concentrated on our physical impression such as age. But as we lived up to our responsibility in addressing the

THURSDAY, november 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Damabide: E-voting will restore confidence in NBA’s future elections needs of the Bar, create innovations that enhanced the quality of the Bar. The second challenge was finance to pursue and achieve set goals and objectives and that was naturally difficult because no matter how laudable your ideas and objective are, money is inevitable as it is necessary to actualize them.

But we managed to survive the challenge by cutting our coat according to our clothes.

But one very difficult but interesting challenge I faced was dealing with the then government of Bayelsa state. It wasn’t easy because there were so many issues and disaffection within the polity that unfortunately led to some people stoning the then governor and the Bar had to be in forefront to point out the administrative maladies.

We did this not because we wanted to be spiteful of the government but because we saw a responsibility and the need to call the government to address issues that would impact positively on the society that he was governing, and that put us on war part with the then government. This obviously led some of us being labelled and branded as rumor mongers, but ultimately I felt happy that we discharged our duties as a reputable body of learned professionals who stood for justice and equity.

While doing all this, did you get the full backings of your members?

Yes, to a large extent, we had the full backings of members.

The good thing about the NBA is that we are men and women of intelligence and fairly exposed and civilized as well. So, whoever is serving as the chairman enjoys maximum cooperation of the members especially when you are taking the right steps, and you can continue to secure the cooperation and support of the members here if you remain in the path of rightness.

And that is frankly what is very commendable about us here in NBA. There is cooperation so long as what is right and honorable is being done and if you try anything contrary, they will let you know that you cannot get away with doing the wrong thing.

What would you consider as the biggest challenge of your association especially from your experience?

I think we have slightly a mentality problem because we seem not to know that we need to be deeply committed to the Bar to make it function as we all expect. It is not just enough to want to have an umbrella where you will be shielded from the effects of rainfall or the sun but people need to understand the importance of building the umbrella with their little contribution of the shade that cov-

between the government and the Bar in Bayelsa.

What is your assessment of justice delivery system in Bayelsa state?

The foundation of justice is creating a required environment and empowerment of judicial officers. In its bid to create a vibrant justice system in Bayelsa state, one of the first bills passed into law by the present government was the Judicial Financial Autonomy Bill which was recently passed by the Delta state government.

The essence of this bill is to ensure and guarantee the financial independence of the judiciary which will in turn galvanize the judiciary in order to be effective and active in the discharge of its responsibilities to the citizens in terms of justice system without any form of interference. Also, government of Bayelsa state regularly ensures adequate training of judicial officers to ensure they are up-to-date with regards to current knowledge and information in their field to enable them discharge their duties properly.

Damabide

ers the top. And we also need to have a Bar membership that is mindful of what happens both nationally and internationally for proper improvement in all areas.

Government of Bayelsa state regularly ensures adequate training of judicial officers to ensure they are upto-date

Now you are on the other side, what would you say of the relationship the Bar and the government?

Interestingly, the government of Bayelsa state has maintained and sustained the tradition of assisting the Bar. For the first time, a serving governor hosted the Bar with a view to fostering an understanding with the Bar. Also, the government of Bayelsa has made it a culture to assisting the Bar annually so as to make it easier for its members to attend the NBA Annual General Conference such as the recent one held at Owerri in Imo state and you will agree with me that such is not very common with other states of the federation. There is an open door to interaction between the government and the NBA here in Bayelsa through the office of the state AttorneyGeneral and this is because the NBA in Bayelsa believes that it has a duty to making sure the government does not do as it pleases to the detriment of the citizens. And more importantly, the government is willing to accept responsibilities that come from the Bar so long as they are genuine and reasonable and these are indeed the evidence of the level of the relationship

Human rights abuse is a challenge in the country, what is the government of Bayelsa state doing in this regards?

Hitherto, there was a case with a security outfit known as operation beat and throw away.

As the present government detests the abuse of fellow humans, so it is a serious issue for the government to have a security that instead of thinking of securing the peace will rather be beating and throwing away.

So, the present government seriously dealt with that psyche and mentality because that security outfit was practically living out to its name. And when you are living out that kind of name, there is no way the fundamental rights of the people will not be trampled upon. So, the government instead stood its ground to make sure that the state and the people living enjoy a security outfit that creates a secured and calm environment for every one living in the Bayelsa state. So, security is prioritized and security agents must be heard or let alone seen harassing people unduly in Bayelsa state, and neither do government on its own trample on the citizens here for any reason. Bills have been passed to make sure anyone found in any related human rights abuse faces the law. The abuse of human rights of the people living in Bayelsa state may not have been totally eradicated but it has drastically reduced and reducing as it is constantly checked by this government.

Two months on, would you say the NBA President, Mr. Augustine Alegeh, SAN has started well as CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

Law | News

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, november 13, 2014

Estate agent remanded for stealing N7m Shola Adefuwa

F

or allegedly stealing N7million by forging some documents to perpetrate the foffence, an Ikeja High Court, Lagos has remanded an estate agent, Alhaji Hakeem Ashogbon in prison custody till December 16 pending definite trial.

Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya ordered the accused person’s remand in prison custody after he pleaded not guilty to a five-count charge bordering on possession of fraudulent documents, forgery and stealing brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

According to EFCC, Ashogbon trading under the name and style of Hamashogbon Investment and Property Developer, with an intent to defraud had in his possession a document dated December 30,1991 and title ‘Building Agreement’ purported to have been entered

Atilade, Lagos CJ

into between him and one late Alhaji Alade Aromashodu.

The charge reads that “Alhaji Hakeem M. Ashogbon between 1991 and 3rd day of March, 2011 whilst being the developer and caretaker of the property comprising two units mini-flat, room and parlour and several single rooms situated at No 29, Odunlami street, Shomolu, Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division of this court converted to your own use

the sum of N7million.”

He was also alleged to have forged document title ‘Power of Attorney’ dated December 30, 1991.

“Ashogbon with an intent to defraud, had in possession a document dated December 30,1991 and title power of Attorney purported to have been entered into between Alhaji Alade Aromasodun (deceased) and Mr H.M Ashogbon of Hamashogbon Investment and Property Developer, having on it a forged stamp duty of Lagos State Government of Nigeria containing false pretence to wit that by the document you are empowered to build and manage the aforesaid property to collect rent therein for a period of 32 years”.

The offence, according to the commission contravenes Section 390(8)(b) and (9) of the Criminal Code Cap C.17 Vol. 2,Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.

Hearing continues on December 16

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Oyo CJ lauds late colleague death

Bar and the Bench described the exchief judge of Oyo’s death as a loss to the judiciary Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

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yo State Chief Judge, Justice Mukthar Ladipo Abimbola at the weekend in Ibadan, lauded a former and late Chief Judge of the State, Justice Mashood Olayiwola Adio, describing his death as a loss to the Judiciary.

“The judiciary has lost one of its finest, quintessential jurists”, the Chief Judge said.

Speaking at a special valedictory session held at the Oyo State High Court of Justice, Ring Road, Ibadan in honour of the deceased, Justice

Abimbola said Adio’s passage had left a big vacuum in the Judiciary, not only in Oyo State, but the nation at large.

The deceased CJ, who once served as the Chief Justice of Gambia and later the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Nigeria, passed on September 28 at 78.

According to Justice Abimbola, “to us in the judiciary, we have lost one of our finest and quintessential jurist.

Even though Hon. Justice Adio’s voice can no longer be heard, his unheard voice will resonate in his various judicial pronouncements.

He went on: “We have much tears to shed than you can see us shed. Although we have lost one of the brightest stars in the legal horizon, the children have lost a father, and the other family members have lost a mentor, yet, his works which we have access to

will console us”.

Also paying tributes at the event were the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Oyo State, Mr. Bayo Ojo; the Chairman of the State branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Kazeem Gbadamosi, as well as a representative of the Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Ibadan Branch, Mr. Richard Ogunwale.

They all concurred that the late Justice Adio was a Godly public officer who did his best to elevate the standard of the legal profession while alive.

Responding on behalf of the family, the eldest son of the deceased, Mr. Seni Adio, was full of appreciation to the entire judiciary including the Bench and the Bar while vowing to keep up the good virtues left behind by their benefactor, for posterity.

N1.3bn debt: GTB, AMG know fate Nov. 21 litigation

Parties adopt addresses in N1.3bn suit as court rules next week Akeem Nafiu

J

ustice Saliu Saidu of a Federal High Court in Lagos will on November 21, determine whether he would vacate a mareva injunction on AMG Petroenergy Lim and it’s promoter, Risqua Mohammed on October 15, over an alleged N1.3 billion debt.

The judge fixed the date after lawyers to parties in the suit adopted their written addresses in the matter.

It will be recalled that the judge had in the mareva injunction ordered that Mohammed and AMG Petroenergy Limited should not tamper with their funds in any financial institution in Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of a debt recovery suit filed against them by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).

The defendants’ lawyer, A.O. Omotosho had informed the court that he had filed a written submission in respect of

his contention that the mareva order had lapsed by operation of the rule, adding that he had served same together with his reply on points of law on the plaintiff ’s lawyer.

Omotosho had at the last proceedings urged the court to discharge the injunction placed on his clients’ account saying it had expired just as stressed that the court’s action had caused untold hardship on his clients as the condition imposed by the applicant for settlement terms remains unacceptable to his client.

He said: “I will be urging the court to pronounce that the order made on October 15 has elasped by effluxion of time. The order has caused untold hardship to my client and the order cannot continue to subsist’’.

Besides, Omotosho argued that the rules stipulates that such orders could only last for 14 days, hence the order made on October 15 expired on October 29.

Counsel to the plaintiff, Mr. Norrison Quakers (SAN), also informed the court that he had filed a 5-paragraph counter affidavit and an exhibit in respect of the defendants’ application including a

written address.

After adopting his written address as his oral argument, Quakers urged the court to refuse the defendants’ application as the court was duty bound to preserve the funds as it were.

While maintaining that the 14-day rule would not apply in the instant case, Quakers said such rules apply only in ordinary injunctions and not mareva.

He urged the court to discountenance the argument saying it was not in compliance with rules of the court.

GTB had filed the suit against AMG and Mohammed over their alleged refusal to liquidate a multi-million dollars credit facility despite repeated demands.

While ruling on an exparte application filed by counsel to GTB, Quakers, Justice Saidu restrained the defendants jointly and severally by themselves, directors or others from tampering, withdrawing, drawing down, transferring, dissipating, paying out to or issuing in favour of any person or persons whether natural or artificial either wholly or in part, the sum of N1.3billion pending the hearing of motion on notice.

L-R: Justice Moshood Abass, Acting Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Muktar Abimbola and Justice Solomon Akinteye at the Special Memorial Court Session in Ibadan

L-R: Olatunde Busari (SAN), eldest son of the deceased, Seni Adio, Babatunde Ajibade (SAN) and Babatunde Aiku (SAN).

L-R, Mrs. Yemisi Gbenle, Mrs. Anna Adio and widow, Mrs. Olayinka Adio

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Law | Jurist

THURSDAY, november 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Adesina: Why FG must pursue ceasefire agreement with insurgents He is a member of the Body of Benchers. Deacon Dele Adesina, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, in this interview with AKEEM NAFIU, speaks on the controversial Federal Government’s ceasefire agreement with insurgents, the Nigerian state and the CJN’s directive to judicial officers.

A

lthough both the Federal Government and the Boko Haram sect have denied the existence of a ceasefire agreement, Deacon Dele Adesina, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria is pushing for such planned step to be pursued with a view to halting further destruction of lives and property.

Even though he described the unending insurgency as a failure on President Goodluck Jonathan-led government to ensure that the nation’s territorial integrity including lives and property are well protected as contained in the 1999 Constitution, Adesina believes that the ceasefire agreement as a viable option be pursued as it would bring a long lasting peace to the nation and its citizenry.

Adesina said: “Yes. I think we should start from the point of whether the ceasefire agreement is desirable or not before answering whether it is real.

Speaking for myself, I believe it was desirable. Every single soul is important. A threat to the life of one person is a threat to the life of the entire community. You are fully aware that so many lives have been lost since this insurgency started in this country and whether anybody likes it or not, it has assumed a full scale war. It couldn’t have been less than that because the government owns it as a duty to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and that they have been doing.

“However, a lot of people too have suggested that the doors to negotiations and discussions should not be shut down. I am one of those people. In fact, about two weeks ago, I delivered a paper somewhere in Ondo State, entitled, non-violence approach to conflicts resolutions and I dwelt extensively into this issue of Boko Haram. So, for me to answer my earlier question, it is desirable for the government to extend that hands of come let us talk to the insurgents which have led to the idea of the ceasefire. As to the question whether the ceasefire agreement is real or not, it is a statement of fact and not of law. It just appears to me that it is either it is not real or the people did not mean it. When I say the people, I mean the insurgents. Don’t forget that the government is dealing with an amorphous body and unidentified group of people. Don’t also forget that the real goal or objective of the aggression is sub-

stantially unknown. That is why today, you hear of political Boko Haram, criminal Boko Haram, economic Boko Haram and all sorts of Boko Haram divisions.

“But, I believe that government has demonstrated sufficiently that as far as it is concern that the ceasefire agreement is real. Hence, it gives instructions and orders to their commanders to say hold on, there should be no further shootings. But surprisingly and unfortunately, the other side continued its activities unabated. We read in the papers that certain numbers of people were killed in Borno and Adamawa States when we are looking at a realistic implementation of whatever the terms and agreement of the ceasefire were. So, I must state clearly that I doubt if the ceasefire is real at least, from the standpoints of the insurgents. Though, I don’t think the ceasefire agreement is a ploy by the government to deceive Nigerians as we are entering the election year because government does not talk about ceasefire yesterday, last week or last month, but you will agree with me that a good number of Nigerians, public commentators and opinion moulders have been talking to government to open dialogue with these people. It even got to the extent at which people were saying that amnesty should be offered. How do you offer amnesty to people you don’t know. So, I don’t think it will be fair to say government was deceiving the people. I think government is only demonstrating its sincerity with the ceasefire agreement by asking those soldiers on the field to hold on and not to shoot. I have also heard a lot of people saying they did not know the terms of the ceasefire. This is a matter of utmost security importance and one wonders if it can be discussed in the open.

I think we need to give some concessions and also try and have some level of confidence in what the authorities are doing as far as this matter is concern.

The truth is that the approach of government must be multidimensional and that is why I believe soldiers have been able to respond immediately to the insurgents’ attack after the ceasefire agreement was announced by the government. I don’t think I have any new idea to suggest to government on the crisis because it is already doing what one feels should be done. One, repel the attacks and reclaim the

Adesina

It is desirable for the government to extend that hands of comelet-us talk to the insurgents which have led to the idea of the ceasefire

territory of this country, which I think the government has done and it is still doing.

Second, negotiate, dialogue, discuss with them and draw them out for us to know exactly what the objectives of these aggression are. This also the government is doing. The only thing one will probably add is that government should not stop one for the other. I see no reason both cannot go together. That is why I said, may be, one may say on points of strategy that government offered the carrot by saying gentlemen come let us sit down and talk but if the carrot is rejected, then, give the stick, which I think is what the government is doing.

You see, I want you to look at this situation from this perspective, one, the people we are fighting are faceless. It’s like a guerrilla war; you can’t tell where you can meet the next aggressor.

Also, and most importantly, the issue of over 200 chibok girls that have remained in captivity for over six months, I will not say Nigeria has won this war until those girls are released and I will want to believe that this was the major factor the government considered in entering into dialogue with these insurgents.

This is because among these

over 200 girls, future Presidents are there, Governors are there, Professors are there, lawyers are there. I believe saving them is a priority of the government and that is how it should be. That is why the clamour for their safety and release has become an international issue. I am not part of the government team but I am only rationalising from the point of view of reasonableness that I believe that was what must have driven the government to say come let us talk to the insurgents despite the manifest victory that government appears to be recording against the insurgents.

However, Adesina gave a hard knock on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for nation’s harsh economy, describing the government as insensitive to the yawning gap between the citizenry and a few elite as the standards of living of an average Nigerian has gone from bad to worse.

He said: “Well, in terms of economic advancement and the standard of living of the majority of the Nigerian people, I don’t think we have fared well.

It is clear that the standard of living in Nigeria is becoming more and more expensive. It is also clear that poverty appears to be on the increase. In this country today, there is no middle level anymore. It is either you are rich or poor. The degree and percentage of poverty has brought a heavyweight to bear on the few that are rich. There was a time in this country that you don’t have to be a rich person before you can take a taxi on the road. But rather than taxi cabs on the street, what did we find? Tricycles. For me, that is an evident of poverty. Some people thought tricycles are better than motorcycles, for me, there is no difference. The only difference is that one has two wheels while the other has three. But, is this the kind of life we want for our people? The answer is no. Although, we recognise that some measure of infrastructure are being put in place by some state governments and in some places Federal Government, construction of roads and so on and so forth. But, we are talking about the quality of lives of the people.

Look, democracy is useless as far as I am concerned if it does not translate to a better quality of life for the people. If it does not improve the standard of living of the Nigerian people, how do we improve on the lives and security of the Nigerian people?

These are the issues for the moment. I agree with you that a lot needs to be done to stabilise this nation and its people in view of the forthcoming elections because all these things have a direct impact on the process leading to the election and the election itself. Development CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

Law | Interview

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, november 13, 2014

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‘Mukhtar is Nigeria‘s best CJN’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22

regards his agenda for the Bar? I respect the person of the NBA President, Mr. Augustine Oyarekhua Alegeh. One thing I know is that he wouldn’t have thought of pursuing these objectives without gearing himself to see that they are achievable at the end of his administration. I am in agreement that we in the NBA need to seriously make some certain positive changes, some of which has been mentioned by Alegeh himself. I think that given the realities on ground, all that he has said to do are very achievable. Yes, there could be some complications particularly on e-voting and all that has to do with it, but I believe that the NBA can set the pace for Nigeria at large to follow with regards to proper and accurate electronic Bar for free and fair election. The idea of reducing practicing fee to 10 per cent is indeed a laudable one because primarily, the legal profession is a public service and if we consider that; we then have in mind that the one that has offered to serve the public should not be tasked too much with regards to what will authorize them to render such services.

So, taken 10 per cent off will not bring poverty to the NBA, instead it would be acceptable to lawyers.

Would you say the Bar has lived up to Nigerians’ expectation especially in the last one decade?

I think that the expectations of the society from the Bar have not been met, because our progress has somehow slowed down a little bit. The NBA I knew before I graduated from the university was very vocal and authoritative. Its objectivity on every issue was sine qua non for

Nigeria’s stability just as it took visible laudable steps on issues and situations that affected the society with one voice. But presently, we seem to have become more partisan and very quiet on issues we should be more vocal. Our independent, sense of objectivity, frankness, ability to speak at all times righteously had seemingly slowed down, which is not good for us at all.

Justice Mariam Aloma-Mukhtar, Nigeria’s Chief Justice is retering next month, what is appraisal of her leadership?

I will say that the current CJN, Justice Aloma Mukhtar has demonstrated the fact that she is aware of her responsibility. She has well showed that she shouldn’t just occupy an office for the sake of occupying an office. She has as well lived up to the expectations of both the Bench and the Bar and the Nigerian people at large, with respect to instilling discipline and frankly calling on the appropriate authorities to heed to their responsibilities towards the Bench and the Bar. She has given commendations to those that deserved it as demonstrated when she applauded the Governor of Bayelsa state concerning his effort towards granting financial autonomy to the judiciary.

Corruption is endemic in the nation and the judiciary is not an exception. How would you look at this monster called corruption in the judiciary?

It’s indeed clear that there is corruption in the judiciary and both the Bar and the Bench are largely culpable. Nevertheless, it does not mean that there are no eminent members of the Bar and the Bench that stand out; whose stand for integrity.

It is unfortunate that the quest to win at all times which is not

She has lived up to the expectations of both the Bench, the Bar and the Nigerian people at large

in consonance with the clear spirit of our profession makes people to want to change the rules in order to get what they want irrespective of the attendant implications and consequences. That is what has brought corruption into our fold, no thanks to a few corrupt officers that had allowed themselves to be used by desperate politicians.

Do you share the view that executive influence is a major factor why corruption cases are swept under the carpet?

I am not aware of judges being easily sacked or being killed for doing their job. So, it boils down to the fact that if we have the right persons on the Bench, we will be able to address all these problems. We have had cases where judges sacked sitting governors who had the money in the world to bribe them, but the judges stood their ground and dispensed justice without fear or favour. So, let’s focus on integrity building for our judicial officers after having

Damabide

ensured in the first place that only persons with the required integrity are appointed to the Bench. For me, that is where the whole issue lies because no matter the influence, judges still have the ultimate power to decide cases before them.

What is your take on a six-year single term for president and governors?

It’s not in conformity with the current democratic practice. Nothing can be more reasonable than the system we already have, because I think the two term tenure of four years each is just the best for us. You have four years to prove yourself and if you don’t, the people will vote you out and if you do, the people will be encouraged to give you another four years opportunity to do more. For as

much as I am concerned, all this wanting to avoid another period of campaign and voting will not solve the problem of addressing the need to give our people quality leadership.

Six years is not a short period at all and anyone who gets there will do as much as he wishes knowing full well that there is no more opportunity, and I see less good and more corruption and underdevelopment the idea of six-year singe term will do for us. So, it should not become a practice in our democratic system. And to be honest, our problem does not lie on the length of the period used in governing or re-electing someone for second term that the thinking of extending it will solve our problems, so we should look elsewhere for the solution to our problem.

‘Citizens’ standard of living worse under Jonathan’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24

though is an on-going process there is always something to do. But, I think that more than ever before, the forthcoming elections impose an extraordinary duty on the government at all levels to strengthen their hearts at providing security for the Nigerian people.

This is the highest demand as the protection of lives and properties is the primary goal of government under the constitution. People need assurances and confidences that they can go out there to exercise their franchise and vote for people they desire to vote for. Also, in the face of the serious contentious issues that are going on in certain parts of the country, it will cast a lot of doubts and aspersions on the process, if there is no conclusive solution to all of them before the elections. It is also important to re-assure the Nigerian people that every single arm of government is important and they should be able to operate under a free and fair atmosphere as provided for by the constitution.

Adesina

On judiciary and its retiring helmsman, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam Aloma-Mukhtar over the directive that judges must seek permission

before embarking an oversees’ trip, Adesina described it a dent on the nation’s federal system.

Adesina said: “The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) is the head of the judiciary in this country and she also doubles as the Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC). If that statement is true, then, I will ask questions. What has become the issue of federalism in Nigeria because we are operating a federal system? Even though, in practice, the judiciary may be older than federal but that shouldn’t be the liberty to be asking for example, the Chief Judge of a state to take order from the Chief Justice of the Federation before he or she can act.

This is because the Chief Judge of a state is also the head of the judiciary in that state and he is the head of that arm of government.

The totality of the government of a state comprising the three arms is supposed to be under the constitution which enjoys some level of independence, autonomy and some freedom from interferences.

These are the basic elements of federalism granted that some insti-

tutions even created by the constitution itself may have wittingly and unwittingly compromised some of these fundamental principles of federalism.

For example, the National Judicial Council (NJC) is a federal agency, a federal executive body created by the constitution and it has given the powers to the same NJC under the Chairmanship of the CJN to make recommendations before appointment of judges can be done in the states. It is an aberration. Secondly, to take on responsibilities for discipline of judges in the state, it is an aberration. I believe as we progress in this journey of democracy, we will continue to address some of these key issues that are militating against the practice of true federalism in Nigeria. If the directive is true, then, it will be against the principles of federalism and under the constitution of Nigeria, we are supposed to be a republic that is based on the principles of a federal system. Nigeria is a federal system and I think such a directive will be a violation of that provision.

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Law

Etaghene Edirin

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former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Mr. Olasupo Shasore has been in the news lately.

It is for no other reason than the fact that the man is willing to step into the much dreaded political turf.

However, that he has an ambition is not the issue, the fact that his alleged intention to be Lagos governor may have created some panic and sent jitters down the spine of a few interests within the state is the bone of contention.

Unfortunately, for those not comfortable with his ambition, he is being touted, albeit erroneously, as the preferred candidate of the outgoing governor of the state, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, a development believed to have accentuated the already uneasy atmosphere that the many and conflicting ambitions on the terrain has elicited.

Whilst Fashola has not bothered responding to rumours, his supporters have established his rather fatherly disposition, which they reckoned supported free and fair primaries, thus dismissing insinuations that he has his eyes on anyone. But the question this rather needless debate has raised amongst the

THURSDAY, november 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Shasore, Lagos and 2015 elections discerning in the state is: what is the problem with Shasore if at all he nurses the intention of flying the party’s flag? Or who is it that is afraid of Shasore such that there have been carefully orchestrated attempts to discredit him as much as undermine his chances in the event that he throws his hat in the ring?

Shasore, a self-effacing and cerebral legal practitioner was a Litigation Partner at Ajumogobia and Okeke, a leading commercial law firm in Nigeria before he was made the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State between 2007 and 2011.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Shasore currently serves as the President of the Lagos Court of Arbitration and also chairman, Arbitration & Dispute Resolution Committee of the Section on Business Law of the Nigerian Bar Association. He is also the chairman of the Lagos State Law Reform commission.

It was Shasore, who led the Lagos delegation to the 2014 Nigerian National Conference, where the delegation made a case for a ‘special status’ for

Shasore

Shasore is being touted, albeit erroneously, as the preferred candidate of the outgoing governor

Lagos. The delegation also canvassed and achieved consensus on several recommendations including the need to restructure federal revenue allocation to create an increased distributable pool of funds for the states from the Federation account; devolve legislative and executive power to sub-national level and create State Police Jurisdiction.

In the period that he was Attorney-General, he led the reform of the Criminal Code Law, and the Administration of Criminal Justice Law as well as the Magistrate Court framework.

He also authored and issued the first Prosecutors’ Guidelines (2011), and initiated the first African Regional Conference of the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP).

Also, during his time as Attorney-General, Shasore chaired the Mortgage and Property Law Reform Committee, which produced and recommended the Mortgage& Property Law (2009).

He authored the Home Ownership and Mortgage Policy (2011).

As chairman of the Lagos Home Ownership Scheme (Lagos HOMS), he oversaw the scheme’s development and delivery of two hundred homes

per month for mortgage-assisted purchase for the people of the state. He initiated the policy and crafted the tenant friendly Tenancy Law of Lagos State, to balance the inequality between landlords and tenants.

As vice-chairman and later chairman of the Lagos State Procurement Agency (State Tenders Board) between 2007 and 2011, Shasore supervised the award and execution of all major infrastructure and capital projects in Lagos State, providing roads, hospitals, schools and housing.

Born in Lagos Island, Lagos in 1964, his father Taoheed Olakunle Adio Shasore was a diplomat and Africa policy expert, who later became Chief of The Shasore of Lagos of 8 Shasore Court, Lagos Island.

His mother Bilkis Oladoyinbo Adufe was a civil servant and a businesswoman.

Shasore started his education at Christ Church Cathedral Primary School, Lagos in 1968. He graduated from Federal Government College, Lagos in 1980 with his West African School Certificate - Grade 1 and proceeded to Igbobi College Yaba, Lagos from 1980 to 1981.

Lawyers push for repeal of death penalty CO NTINUED FROM PAG E 21

nior Advocate of Nigeria, President Voters Awareness, Mr. Wale Ogunade, Akinlolu.T Kehinde, SAN, Ahmed Raji, SAN, Dr. Alex Izinyon SAN , Mr. Kayode Ajulo, Innocent Jegede and Osaghie Owambe differ.

All canvassed that there should be no alternative for death penalty for capital offences.

Nwobike believes that whoever that commits capital offence must face the music.

He said: “The authorities take their time to ensure that there are no pending appeals and to see that there will be no intervention by way of prerogative of mercy. So, when all that has been exhausted, they will execute the person. So, I think with all sense of responsibility, death penalty should remain in our books’.

Nwobike was echoed by Izinyon who simply said “the judiciary should ensure that there is adequate fair treatment and justice in the matter so as to ensure that innocent people are not convicted and executed unlawfully”.

To Ogunade “I don’t see it as a punishment because one day all of us will die. So, killing somebody for an offence is not a punishment’’.

Kehinde said although death penalty had been overflogged for various reasons,“the soul that sinneth must die. So, if a person is found guilty of an offence that carries capital punishment then, he must be sentenced in line with the law”.

He went on: “But there is a big caveat to this position. Life is very sacred. So, before it is taken, we must make sure that all, and I mean all opportunities to defend an accused person has been exhausted fully. If after all the opportunities have been exhausted and all appeals made up to the Supreme Court of Nigeria and the accused person is still convicted, then he must be punished in accordance

Nwobike

Agbaje

with the law.

“It is however sad, speaking from experience now, that some of the convicted persons in our prisons may actually have not been guilty. Many of them ended up there because of the poor legal services they employed when they were charged to court , some of the cases are taken pro bono by counsel who do not have the heart or passion for the matter and they turn out badly at the end.

“But I believe sincerely, that if a man is accused of a crime and he is truly not guilty of same and his defence is properly made out by a lawyer who knows what he is doing, then he will not be convicted but where a man is guilty, then I stand by it that if capital punishment is what is prescribed by the law, our society must not cave in to the campaigns for the abolition of capital punishment but again, I must emphasize that in cases involving life, the best legal defence must be employed for the accused by the State which has a duty to preserve the lives of the citizens and on no account must the life be taken except after a very exhaustive exercise of all

Quakers

the rights of appeal”.

Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ahmed Raji said “there are some offenses that attract capital punishment even in the holy books.

For instance in Islam, if you take life, your life must be taken except you are forgiven by the relation of the victim.

Even in America, it is not all the cases that capital punishment is given. ” Technically, I did not believe in the abolishment, but it should be sparingly used and limited to just very few cases. Although some people have advocated that in corruption matters, there should be capital punishment to deter people because when somebody steals so much and you sentenced him to may be three or four years and he left with the bulk of the stolen money not forfeited, such will prefer to go and spend some years in jail and come back to enjoy the stolen money. “ Like in China, anybody caught on corruption charge will be sentenced to death. The thought of capital punishment will discourage you from embarking on corruption since you know that when you are caught

you will not benefit from what you have stolen. In most cases, people engage in corruption because they want to enjoy not because they want to go and do humanitarian service as countries like Malysia, China and Singapore where capital punishment is in place have a very low crime rate and that criminals do not even bother to go there”.

In his view, Ajulo said “it is still permissible for capital punishment to serve as deterrent to commission of some crimes, classified as heinous and capital offences.

“However, efforts should be made to re-orientate the populace and device other form of deterrence towards a total eradication of capital punishment from our legislation.

To Owambe , “capital punishment is still okay, even the Holy books support it. Although, other punishments like imprisonment would have been better because the essence of punishment is to reform and correct the offender. “”But our prisons no longer have the tendency of reforming rather it has become a school where criminality is learnt. A criminal who gets to court because of a lesser crime will surely leave the prison with a greater knowledge of how to perpetuate greater crime.

“Our prisons have become a place to oppress the political enemies and not a place to reform criminals and so it will become impossible to expunge capital punishment from our laws.

“If killing is not punished with killing, the society will become lawless and the killing will become a means of retaliation as the slightest provocation.

“Well to me, the court had considered all the evidence before it and found the man guilty of all, there is nothing wrong in the death sentence passed on him. l Additional reports by TUNDE OYESINA and AKEEM NAFIU

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Health News

Healthy Living

Health Inetrview

Health News

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NAFDAC deploys officials to combat counterfeit drugs

Metabolic syndrome: Shed that pot belly

Water as a therapy

Beer not responsible for pot belly -Expert

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Health SAFETY

City declared secure for living and enterprise Appolonia Adeyemi

F

or the rest of their lifetime, current generation of Nigerians who are of age will live to remember the day the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Nigeria free of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). Despite the declaration however, the attitude of the world community towards Nigeria has not been encouraging, tainting the definite feeling of relief and nostalgia that trailed the parting on the head by this prestigious world body. The country and many of its citizens continue to suffer stigmatisation in spite of the certification.

The resultant effect of this snobbish act on the socio-economic fortune of Nigeria has been significant. The business community, the tourism industry generally and the hospitality industry specifically was the hardest hit as numerous business trips and tours to this county are cancelled as a result of Ebola scare.

Highlighting the impact of Ebola on the Hospitality Industry at a forum where Lagos was declared safe to live and conduct business as well as for hospitality, Mr. Simon Grinrod, general manager, Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, disclosed that the hospitality industry recorded 25 percent decrease in business, occasioned by EVD. Worried by the loss and the false profiling of Nigeria despite the WHO Ebola-free certification, the Lagos State Government initiated a campaign to re-position the state in its right perspective.

Addressing business moguls in the hospitality industry at the forum tagged “Lagos Welcomes Visitors” organised by the state’s Ministry of Tourism and Intergovernmental Relations, last Wednesday, Commissioner for

Appolonia Adeyemi appolonia.adeyemi@newtelegraphonline.com

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‘Lagos development drive, key to Ebola success’ Health in Lagos, Dr. Jide Idris, explained that the policy implementation of the state’s Megacity status laid the cornerstone for the success against EVD. Speaking at the event which attracted officials of the WHO and other international partners, the commissioner for health said, “The Ebola epidemic was unprecedented”. It killed so many people.

Right now it has occurred in over seven countries, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Senegal, Nigeria, Spain and the United States (U.S), three continents - Africa, Europe and North America, with over 14, 000 cases and over 5,000 deaths.

“However, out of these countries, Nigeria only contributed about 0.22 per cent of all the cases and about 0.17 per cent of the deaths,” he asserted.

According to Idris, several policy decisions of the government to attain a Megacity status by year 2000 and implementations of those plans paved the way for the victory the state recorded over Ebola.

With a purposeful leadership on ground, he noted that the state government had the vision to make Lagos the centre of excellence and a Megacity. Hence, the government implanted programmes to ensure security and emergency preparedness, modern housing schemes while addressing the terrible flooding situation of the state through regular clearing of drainages as well as clearing the coastlines.

Speaking further, he said, “Government had put in place a number of structures, mechanisms and built capabilities and it was the structures we had put in place under command, called Incident Management Structure, with support of our partners who advised us when Ebola started that helped to contain Ebola.

“We designated our Infectious Disease Hospital at Mainland Hospital, Yaba, which had been built a long time for infectious diseases for the purpose of Ebola when we heard of EVD outbreak in March. It was there we later built our isolation centres and the treatment centres,” Idris told the businessmen and women.

He also said: “We already have

Ebola virus

In addition, the enactment of the Coroners’ Law made the establishment of a crematorium possible and its existence in Lagos became very useful during the Ebola outbreak.

an effective response system in which we have trained personnel and this has been cascaded down to the local government areas and that was what we tapped into when Ebola outbrake occured in Lagos.

This is because a lot of people had been trained as first responders, second responders and integrated to be able to address emergencies when they occur.

“The ambulance system was also part of the emergency system and when the outbreak happened, we had to dedicate at least three ambulances that were packed at the centre, to ferry suspected EVD cases from their various homes to the isolation centre.”

According to Idris, “When we enacted the public health law, people did not know why?

But in the content of a mega city status, we needed to make sure that there is public health infrastructure in place.

“It was that law we used when the first incident case The Liberian Mr. Patrick Sawyerr went to First Consultant Medical Centre (FCMC) in Obalende, Lagos.

When the Embassy of Liberia was going to move the patient out of that hospital, the late Dr. Stella Adadevoh and other management team providing him

PHOTO: www.bellanaija.com

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola PHOTO: niyitabiti.blogspot.com

care refused, based on some provision of that law. Their refusal to allow Sawyer leave the FCMC which was hinged on the law which safeguards public health.

Similarly, the state relied on some provisions of that law in case anyone did not conform in terms of contact tracing or quarantine. “These were not by chance,” Idris stressed.

In addtion, the enactment of the Coroners’ Law made the esCONTINUED ON PAGE 29

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Health News

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NAFDAC deploys officials to combat counterfeit drugs Obinna Odoh Abuja

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he National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has deployed task force in all the nation’s ports of entry and indeed states to combat the influx of counterfeit drugs which is often on the increase during Christmas period.

NAFDAC’s Director Special Duties, Dr. Abubakar Jimoh who disclosed this to journalists in Abuja said that the directorate of NAFDAC saddled with the responsibility of combating and prosecution of drug offenders has put all the necessary mechanism and plan of action in place to tackle the enormous challenges of counterfeit drugs which usually thrives during Christmas season.

“We have the true scan machines a hand held device that is positioned at the various port entry to scan all the drug coming in to detect the counterfeit ones,” he stated.

Jimoh encouraged the general public to avail themselves the opportunity of using text messaging system always to identify

Fake drugs being destroyed

if a drug is the original one or counterfeit.

Speaking further, Jimoh said, “The Director General, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii has passed a matching order to the directorate and all the relevant stakeholders to go ahead in all the ports of entry and 36 states of the federation to arrest and prosecute any drug trafficker found during this season.

“This directorate is like the police man going round for surveillance.

They have drawn a plan and going round with the help of the state offices to interface with the movement of the drugs so that if you escape our officials in the border you will not escape in the states. This is intended to flush out the movement of counterfeit drugs in the various circulation centres. We have our officials at the various ports of entry including the airports, seaports, land borders,” said Jimoh.

Dr. Jimoh said that the aim of this matching order is to keep in tune with the mandate of the agency so as to guarantee the wellbeing of the general public. He stated that NAFDAC will not hesitate

to punish any offender in furtherance to providing good health to the public.

He however regretted the porosity of the Nigeria’s border and said that the rational for posting officials to the states is if one escapes through the borders he will not escape the surveillance team in the states.

“We have over 1400 illegal port of entry in this country where those mischievous drug traffickers use in smuggling in counterfeit drugs into the country but we have put alternative measures to combat that.

Jimoh encouraged the general public to avail themselves the opportunity of using text messaging system always to identify if a drug is the original one or counterfeit

PHOTO : www.dailymail.co.uk

Obesity: Nestle advocates active life for children Shola Adefuwa

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he Managing Director of Nestle Nigeria Plc, Mr. Dharnesh Gordhon said that regular physical activity and healthy eating habits help children achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.

Gordhon disclosed this during “Healthy Kids Parent-Child Nutrition Workshop” which held in Lagos recently.

In his speech to hundreds of teachers at the workshop, the managing director said, knowing how and why to eat healthily is important but knowledge alone does not enable children

adopt healthy eating behaviours.

He said, we believe that regular physical activity and healthy eating habits help children achieve and maintain healthy body weight which will enable them to become healthy adults.

The program aims to improve the nutrition, health and wellness of school-age children through improved diets, physical activity and hygiene, Gordhon said.

“Nestle believes we can contribute to the knowledge of nutrition, using education as a tool to help young children understand the value of

nutrition and physical activity, he stated”.

We believe that we can make significant contribution to the development of nutrition education through our extensive knowledge of nutrition.

Gordhon further said nutrition education which encourages specific healthy eating behaviours, like eating less fat and sodium and eating more fruits and vegetables. Focus on behavior is a key determinant in the success of nutrition education initiative. Nestle will continue to promote healthy diets and lifestyle change which includes adopting physical activity.

Healthy Living Dr. Ihuoma Uko-Ndukwe ada.ndukwe@yahoo.com

M

Metabolic syndrome: Shed that pot belly

etabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors that is responsible for much of the cardiovascular disease deaths among overweight, obese, persons with diabetes mellitus.

The major characteristics of metabolic syndrome include insulin resistance, abdominal (central-love angle) obesity, high lipid {cholesterol levels especially low levels of the good cholesterol (HDL).

The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome increases with age and increasing body weight. It is estimated that it will overtake cigarette as the primary cause of cardiovascular disease and it is a stronger indicator of possible development of type 2 adult onset Diabetes mellitus.

It affects 25 percent of the adult populace and four percent of teens.

Risk factors Risk Factors include strong family history, prior history of gestational (pregnancy)diabetes, obesity, increased waistto-hip ratio (love angle) increased waist line-circumference (pot belly), for men, having more than 40 inches waist line and for women having more than 35 inches waist line, and when the good cholesterol HDL is less than 40 in men and less than 50 in women.

For those whose risk factors are not reduced by adequate life style changes, pharmacologic interventions can be used to control their cholesterol, blood sugar level, blood pressure.

Prevention: Intensive behavourial dietary counseling for adult patients with known risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Exercise: Moderate aerobic exercise for 30 minutes every day or 150minutes /week of brisk walking is recommended.

Physical training has been shown to reduce skeletal muscle fat levels and insulin resistance. Skeletal muscle is the most insulin sensitive tissue in the body,

a combination of resistance and arobic exercise is best, but any activity is better than none.

Similarly, people who have been sedentary need to start with walking and gradually increase duration and intensity. Use of low weight dumbbells, elastic exercise bands, can help provide the needed

weight resis- tance training.

Diet: The primary goal of dietary changes for metabolic syndrome is to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus.

Decrease calorie intake to keep fat intake less than 30 percent and saturated fat less than 10 percent. Take salad, vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes. Fish is high in omega 3 fatty acids. In addition, reduce intake of simple sugars.

Increase consumption of dietary fiber. Low salt diet helps maintain lower blood pressure.

Also, reduce food portions sizes to lower calorie intake.

Weight reduction: a weight loss of 20 percent significantly improves all aspects of metabolic syndrome. Both the cholesterol level lowers blood pressure and improves central obesity {pot belly). While many

PHOTO:fpnotebook

people find weight loss difficult to achieve, exercise and diet modification can help Moderate alcohol consumption defined as one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men reduces insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease while excessive alcohol consumption increase triglycerides/fat levels in the body.

While many people find weight loss difficult to achieve, exercise and diet modification can help

Health Interview 29

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Water therapy is a scientific method of drinking water to promote health and bring healing, reports APPOLONIA ADEYEMI.

H

ave you done your water therapy? Mr. Ade Cooker, a farmer residing in rural Ikorodu, Lagos asks his wife this question every morning. It is not new to him as he has practiced it for over three years, claiming that it works.

Explaining the therapeutic benefit of water to health, an expert on medicinal uses of plants and African healing systems and Director of Pax Herbal Clinic & Research Laboratories, Ewu, Esan, Edo State, Fr. Anselm Adodo urged individuals to drink at least five cups of water on waking up in the morning. It is better to do this as soon as the person wakes up even before brushing the teeth, he recommended.

“Drink more water during the course of the day; drink as much as you can but never while eating,” he stressed.

He said, “Drink water one hour before or after meal and never during meals. “This is because the body produces its own enzymes for digestion.

So, drinking water while eating leads to dilution of these enzymes which makes the enzymes lose their concentration.

Similarly, he recommended that people should drink two to three cups of water at night before going to bed.

The idea of drinking water with the objective to achieve better health can easily be taken for granted. Most people do not perceive water as a medicine neither do they believe it has tremendous health benefits.

However, Adodo said the efficacy of water has been scientifically proved and documented. “Cases of Diabetes, Cancer, Hypertension, Arthritis, Stroke and other illnesses have been reversed through water therapy. “Let us make use of water for the health and betterment of ourselves, our children and the world,” he stressed.

Benefits According to Adodo, water aids the metabolism of food as well as CONTINUED FRO M PAG E 27

tablishment of a crematorium possible and its existence in Lagos became very useful during the Ebola outbreak. “When Sawyer died, we decided within 24 hours that he would be cremated and that was where his body was sent,” he said.

“The state Environmental Monitoring Unit which was created about 10 years ago was also modified and personnel trained (as it formed part of the tools under the law), and they became members of the decontamination team who followed those in charge of contact tracing and as the team was going on tracing of any suspected case and picking them, the decontaminated unit was decontaminating the houses of these men and women to prevent any spread.

For now, Idris said all the structures that helped in the success to contain Ebola would remain. “We are still sensitising people. We are still training people.

washes the digestive system. It keeps the blood thin and light so that it flows freely and smoothly to supply the essential minerals needed for a healthy body.

In addition, water also moderates body fat, preventing it from rising too high or too low.

Furthermore, water serves as a lubricant for the muscles and joints, keeping them healthy and strong.

Water is an excellent detoxifier as it helps flush out toxins from the body and gets rid of waste primarily through sweat and urine.

It also promotes kidney function and reduces kidney stones by diluting the salts and minerals in urine that cause kidney stones.

Though you need to drink adequate amount of water throughout the day, experts has warned against drinking too much water (although uncommon still, it is possible) as it may reduce the ability of the kidneys to filter out waste.

Thus, it is recommended to drink the amount of water the body requires. As the amount of water required by the body tends to differ from one person to another, it is usually suggested to drink to your thirst, and also include other fluids and foods with high water content in one’s diet.

If you think you are not getting enough water, these tips may help: • Carry a water bottle for easy access when you are at work of running errands.

• Freeze some freezer safe water bottles. Take one with you for ice-cold water all day long.

• Choose water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages.

This can also help with weight management. Substituting water for one 20-ounce sugar sweetened soda will save you about 240 calories.

For example, during the school day students should have access to drinking water, giving them a healthy alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages.

• Choose water when eating

Water as a therapy

Tap water PHOTO: www.burnaby.ca

out. Generally, it will help individuals to reduce calories.

• Add a wedge of lime or lemon to water. This can help improve the taste and help you drink more water than you usually do.

Adodo said the efficacy of water has been scientifically proven and documented

Water helps your body: l Keep your temperature normal l Lubricate and cushion joints l Protect your spinal cord and other sensitive tissues l Get rid of wastes through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements

Ebola: Lesson from Lagos success story “Every one of us must be vigilant. We will continue to strengthen the points of entry - airports, seaports, and land borders. Fortunately, the federal government has taken this up as it is under its jurisdiction.

“We will continue to train and retrain our health workers. One of the problems we had during the outbreak is that a lot of people died not because of Ebola but because they were denied treatment following the scare. Once health workers saw patients with fever, they referred them to Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH).

“These are the things we plan to counter and that is the reason we would train and re-train our health workers,” equipping them with treatment protocol which must be followed. For instance, he said, the health workers must get travel history of patients, adding that this

can help to break the circle of Ebola transmission. The case

of the late Liberian, Thomas Eric Duncan which was ini-

Adodo

tially mishandled at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in America initially, is a practical example of not following protocol.

L-R: Idris; Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba; and the state Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed at the interactive session on “Lagos Welcomes Visitors” held at the Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island last week.

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Health News

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Breast cancer: IESL advocates regular screening for women Charles Ogundiya

T

he chairman of International Energy Services Limited, Dr Diran Fawibe has advised women to constantly check their health status to avoid falling victim of the dreaded breast cancer disease.

Making this declaration over the weekend during the organisation’s power walk for breast cancer awareness in Lagos, Fawibe said people should be more enlightened and stop associating cancer to an attack from enemies or family members.

“People should be aware of this deadly disease. There is need for women to check their status constantly and do the needful so as to prevent the disease,” he said.

While explaining the reason for the awareness, the chairman said; “it is part of our corporate social responsibility. We really want to do something to let people know that they can prevent cancer from killing them by detecting it early.

“This is to give back to the society. It is not just to cre-

ate the awareness, but to give room for free ultrasound scan for those that come, and I can tell you that anyone detected to have breast cancer, we will try to do more in helping such person.”

In her own words, the president of Care Organisation Public Enlightenment (C.O.P.E), Ebunola Anozie said an early detection of breast cancer will help the victim to manage it and probably cure it.

According to her, it is not just enough to go for scan but to do something about it when detected. She however said people should stop associating cancer to family attack.

While talking about the best way to prevent breast cancer, Anozie said good hygiene and the consumption of fresh food all the time is the first step.

“We need to eat fresh food daily and stop taking preserved foods. If we look at our grandparents, they lived longer because they prepared their food daily. Personally, that is what I do till date and it has been helping me and my family,” she said.

Total launches campaign against HIV/AIDS in Rivers Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

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otal Upstream Companies in Nigeria and Total Nigeria PLC have launched a campaign against tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS through an education programme to protect the people of its host communities in Rivers State against the deadly diseases.

Total said that it was better to prevent contracting any of the diseases and that the only way to achieve that was by educating the people in communities on how to live without diseases.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive of Total Upstream in Nigeria, Elizabeth Proust, who stated this at the company’s Expanded HIV/AIDS preventive awareness and care project, at Total Filling Station, Slaughter Roundabout, Port Harcourt, said it was possible to have an HIV/AIDS free society.

Proust, who was represented by Dr. Mrs. Nkoyo Attah, the Deputy General Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deep Water Total Upstream, said the company, was

committed in addressing the HIV/AIDS challenges in line with the National Strategic Framework (NSF) 20052006.

She said: “Our fight against HIV/AIDS is a fight to protect our great nation Nigeria, our host communities, employees, families, organisations and society. This fight has been adopted by the Total Group worldwide as an essential component of our group’s Sustainable Development Policy.

“For us, the watchword is prevention, which obviously is far less expensive and less complicated than cure.

We all know that as at today, the only known cure for HIV is prevention, using education as the vaccine.”

She added that the company would monitor the use of the screening machines it donated under the HIV/AIDS programme to “ensure sustainability and durability of the project.”

The highlight of the event was the presentation of health equipments and materials to trainees that would penetrate communities to educate the people on HIV/AIDS.

L – R: Ag. Head, Department of Food Technology, Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, Dr. Olu Malomo; Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Breweries PLC, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde; Prof. Bankole Omotosho of the Department of Drama, University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa; and Senior Strategy Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Tony Agenmonmen at the first Nigerian Beer & Health Symposium held at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos recently.

Beer not responsible for pot belly -Expert

N

utritionist and Professor of Human Nutrition at University of Ibadan Oyo State, Professor Tola Atinmo has stated that people suffering lower abdominal obesity (also known as pot or ‘beer’ belly) should blame other attitudes in their lives than drinking for their predicament.

Prof. Atinmo made this known while presenting a paper titled: “Beer As Part of A Healthy Lifestyle” at the First Nigerian Symposium on Beer and Health which held in Lagos recently.

Against longstanding beliefs that beer contains chemicals and is injurious to health and do not go well with food as against alcoholic beverages like wine, Professor Atinmo stated that beer is made from four natural ingredients - water, barley, hops and yeast and ranks as one of the world’s healthiest drinks ever.

Much in line with the Editor of Harvard Men’s Health Watch, Harvey B. Simon’s, reply to a young man’s eagerness to know if beer is really responsible for his ‘Pot belly’?”, Prof. Atinmo stated that beer cannot be blamed for pot bellies.

While it is common for

people to describe fat bellies as “beer bellies, empirical researches have proved beer is not to be blamed for it.

“Is there something about beer, specifically, that leads to weight gain around the middle? New researches are showing probably to the contrary,” Harvey wrote.

Citing empirical research findings and reports, Prof.

Atinmo unearthed numerous health benefits derivable from moderate consumption of the beverage adding that beer seems to play no role in the so-called ‘beer belly’ and is no potential obesogen, neither in men nor in women.

“Moderate alcohol consumption decreased fasting insulin and HbA1c concentrations.

There is a lower risk of type 2 diabetes with moderate alcohol consumption due to improved insulin sensitivity or improved glycemic status,” he said.

Despite the name and the stereotypes, experts affirm beer is not specifically responsible for the beer belly.

Research from the beer-loving Czech Republic tells the tale. In a study of nearly 2,000 adults, beer consumption was not related to girth.

The question is, if it’s not beer, what is to blame? The

culprit, according to health and nutrition experts, is calories. Several reports posit that if you take in more calories with food and drink than you burn up with exercise, you will store the excess energy in fat cells. And unfortunately for men, their abdominal fat cells seem to enlarge more readily than the abdominal fat cells in women.

When it comes to weight gain, many want to find a specific cause for those extra pounds, which is one possible reason that the myth of the beer-induced gut has stuck around so long. But science shows that is not just a few too many hoppy beverages that is causing your excess abdominal fat.

Atinmo

Coca-Cola, Red Foundation battle HIV with music

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n support of global efforts to halt mother to child transmission of HIV in Africa, the Coca-Cola Company, has joined forces with anti-HIV campaign group, RED Foundation, leveraging its unique entertainment platform, Coke Studio, to battle the scourge by raising awareness of the need to provide anti-retroviral drugs for pregnant women and nursing mothers.

Brand Manager, Colas, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Olufemi Ashipa disclosed that legendary Haitian singer, songwriter and music producer, Wyclef Jean, an ambassador for Red-

Foundation, has recorded an African version of a HIV awareness song with Nigeria’s Chidinma, which would be used to increase HIV/AIDS awareness on the continent.

“Music transcends all barriers- age, language, distance, so it is a vital tool for delivering such an important message across a continent as diverse as Africa,” Ashipa said He further highlighted that the anti-HIV hit-track would feature prominently on the final episode of Coke Studio Africa Season 2, during which tag-line for downloading the song would be

made available.

“Wyclef ’s anti-HIV song, which features Chidinma and five other Coke Studio Season 2 artistes, will be played during the final episode of the series. We expect that both Wyclef and Chidinma would be available as we approach the season finale, so Nigerians can phone in during radio programmes to speak with them and also enter a fun lyrics contest to win free airtime” he added.

The partnership with RED Foundation further expands Coca-Cola’s interventions in the fight against HIV in Nigeria.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Industry

ICT

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35

Nigeria moves to regain lost businesses

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Combating electronic fraud

Business What's news

Nigeria, others to drive global Internet users to 3.8bn –Report Half of the world’s population estimated at 3.8 billion will be using mobile devices to access the Internet by 2020, according to new data released

by Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) Intelligence, the umbrella body of GSM operators in the world.

p.32

Over 17m MSMEs in Nigeria, says SMEDAN There are over 17, 284, 671 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Bature Umar Masari, has said.

p.32

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

Cashless: CBN phases out physical cheques by 2018 PROGRESS Nigeria’s e-payment system has come of age Kunle Azeez

T

he cashless economy initiative in Nigeria continues to gain traction as the Central Bank of Nigeria has resolved to phase out physical cheque issuance by 2018.

Division President, sub-Saharan Africa, MasterCard, Mr Daniel Monehin, disclosed this in an exclusive chat with New Telegraph in Lagos.

Specifically, he said: “CBN is currently working with necessary stakeholders to ensure that come 2018, the cheques are phased out completely from the economy in line with the apex bank’s strategy to deepen e-payment system.”

According to him, although there is no country in the world where there is complete cashless economy, current global economy tends toward more of electronic than physical cash transactions.

“The CBN and other stakeholders seek to drive electronic transactions in the country and I can tell you that in terms of development of e-payment, Nigeria is far ahead of countries such as United States, where magnetic strip Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards are still in use, compared with the situation in Nigeria, where the country has transmitted from magstrip card to a more secure Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) card standard,” he said.

Monehin, whose company

May begin one-day cheque clearing soon is privy to most of the regulatory activities of the apex bank in driving electronic payment transformation in Nigeria, said that as a technology company in the global payments industry that develops advanced pay-

ment solutions and seamlessly processes billions of transactions around the world every year, MasterCard will continue to partner with the regulator to improve cashless economy scheme in the country.

“We would work with the CBN to achieve its mandates.

As you know, we operate the world’s fastest payments proCONTINUED ON PAGE 32

L-R: Group Managing Director/CEO, ARCO Group Plc. Mr. Alfred Okoigun; Group Chairman, Chief Joseph Akpieyi and Company’s Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mr. Dennis Ayisire, at the Group’s 32nd Annual General meeting, in Lagos.

FG moves against IOCs, raises gas flaring penalty

$17bn lost to gas sector snags

Adeola Yusuf

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he Federal Government has heightened gas-flaring war against international oil companies (IOCs) and their local counterparts, with a plan to raise penalty by 583 per cent.

The fine, which was recently increased to $0.6 per million standard cubic feet (mmscuf) flared, will now be raised to $3.50 per mmscuf.

Director, Department of Pe-

troleum Resources, Mr. George Osahon, who gave the hint at the pre-conference workshop of the Nigerian Association CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

Abdulwahab Isa Finance Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE October 2014............................8.1% September 2014.....................8.3% August 2014............................8.5%

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

EXCHANGE RATE

(Parellel As at Nov. 7)

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

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

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Official As at Nov. 7)

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

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Business | News

MOBILITY

Mobile has been identified as gateway to the Internet for billions of citizens currently ‘offline’ Kunle Azeez

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alf of the world’s population estimated at 3.8 billion will be using mobile devices to access the Internet by 2020, according to new data released by Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) Intelligence, the umbrella body of GSM operators in the world.

Almost all of the additional mobile Internet users are expected over the next six years will come from Nigeria and the rest of developing world. It is calculated that there were 2.2 billion mobile Internet subscribers in 2013, representing approximately 30 per cent of the global population.

GSMA Intelligence forecasts that an additional 1.6 billion citizens world-

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Nigeria, others to drive global Internet users to 3.8bn –Report wide will become mobile Internet users over the next six years, bringing the total number to 3.8 billion, or around half of the world’s expected population in 2020.

“Our new findings underline how mobile is now the gateway to the Internet for billions of citizens across the world and will be responsible for connecting millions of currently ‘offline’ global citizens to the Internet in the years to 2020 and beyond,” said Director General of the GSMA, Anne Bouverot.

Bouverot said: “Developing innovative ways to accelerate digital inclusion in the form of affordable mobile Internet access is now a key focus for the GSMA, its operator members and the broader mobile industry ecosystem.”

According to GSMA Intelligence, the number

of mobile Internet users in the developing world will double from 1.5 billionin 2013 to 3 billion by 2020, rising from 25 per cent of the developing world population to 45 per cent over the period.

“Here in sub-Saharan Africa, just 17 per cent of the population were mo-

bile Internet subscribers in 2013, but penetration is forecast to increase to 37 per cent by 2020,” said Bouverot.

The GSMA report also said that many users in the developing world still access the mobile Internet via 2Gconnections, over 60 per cent do so in

sub-Saharan Africa.

However, a rapid technology migration is currently underway towards mobile broadband (3G/4G) Internet.

In 2013, 900 million of the 2.2 billion mobile Internet subscribers connected via 2G, while 1.3 billion connected via mo-

bile broadband. By 2020, it is forecast that, of the 3.8 billion total mobile Internet users globally, the number of 2G mobile Internet subscribers will shrink to 800 million and mobile broadband Internet users will have more than doubled to reach three billion.

FG raises gas flaring penalty CONTINUED FROM PAG E 3 1

of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Lagos, maintained that government is determined to encourage end to gas flaring through adequate use for power generation and other means.

This came hours after the minister of power said that while large volume of gas, which could be used for electricity is being flared on daily basis, the shortage of the commodity is still the major challenge facing power generation in the country.

Nebo said in a pre-

sentation at the preconference workshop that gas will remain the main source of fuel for the electricity industry, filling about 70 per cent of the demand.

President of NAPE, Mrs Adedoja Ojelabi, said: “Fines imposed by the government, which have also increased over the years to about N10 per million standard cubic feet (mmscuf),” will also be increased to $3.50 per mmscuf.

“There is consideration about increasing this penalty to $3.50,” she said, adding that the downsides in the gas sector have cost Nigeria about $17 billion.

CBN phases out physical cheques CONTINUED FROM PAG E 3 1

cessing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in over 210 countries and territories.

“MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday electronic commerce activities such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of Public Sector and Corporation at the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS),

Mr Osamuede Odiase, told New Telegraph in Lagos that, working closely with the CBN and the banks, NIBSS will ensure that cheque truncation is reduced to one day.

He said: “Before now, cheque clearing in Nigeria took several days and weeks, but we have reduced cheque clearing from T+2 to T+1. This means, we have reduced it from clearing within three days (T+2) to two days (T+1). Our next move now is to further reduce the cheque truncation system to T+0, which means if you pay in a cheque today, your account will also be credited today.

L-R: Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce Nigeria (ICC NIGERIA), Olubunmi Osuntuyi; Vice-Chairman Banking Commission, Mrs. Omolara Akanji; Group Head, Business Services, Heritage Bank, Wunmi Adeniyi and Head, International Service Department, Heritage Bank, Nneka Oshohi, at the Banking Technique and Practice Commission meeting in Lagos.

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

LAGOS LEADS

Lagos has the highest number of small and medium enterprises

Dele Alao

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here are over 17,284, 671 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Bature Umar Masari, has said.

Of the total number, micro enterprises account for the majority 99.87 per cent of the MSMEs in Nigeria with 17.26 million enterprises.

“Lagos State has the highest number of small and medium enterprises (4,535) while Osun State has the least (100),” he said at a forum in Abuja.

He said that the total number of persons employed by the MSME sector as at December, 2010, stood at 32,414,884.

The female entrepreneurs accounted for 42.1 per cent in the ownership structure of microenterprises as against 13.57 per cent in small and medium enterprises,” Masari said.

On the National Enterprise Development Programme

Over 17m MSMEs in Nigeria, says SMEDAN (NEDEP), the SMEDAN boss, who noted that the aim of the programme was to generate a minimum of one million jobs yearly, said it was also to revitalise the rural economy, improve employment opportunities, create wealth and alleviate poverty in rural areas in Nigeria.

“This will be done through the establishment of sustainable MSMEs in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) based on comparative and competitive advantages,” the SMEDAN boss said.

He added: “This would entrench entrepreneurial culture, industrialisation of rural areas, enhanced industrial cluster development, increased MSMEs contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and increased export potentials, among others.”

On the NEDEP journey so far, the SMEDAN boss said that state councils on MSMEs in Kano, Edo, Ogun, Kogi, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Enugu, Ekiti, Bauchi and Taraba states have been inaugurated, while the induction of the state councils on MSMEs in other states will be done sub-

sequently.

He, however, said that barring any last minute change, the inaugural meeting of the council will hold today.

Masari said that the agency is partnering with the SUREP programme secretariat to implement the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) across the country.

He said: “Under the partnership, the agency is verifying the authenticity of the firms that are requesting for the graduate interns.”

Masari added that the agency is currently finalising plans to undertake the National MSMEs survey in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The SMEDAN boss further said that the agency is also partnering with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to empower women-owned cooperative societies across the six geopolitical zones under their ‘livelihoods and youth empowerment project’ for 2014.

“A total of 10 women-owned cooperative societies made up of 100 women are involved in this project,” he said.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Wholesale trade liberalisation policies counter-productive, says PAN MD p.34

33

Industr y

Ministry targets 20,000 cooperatives by 2014 p.34

Nigeria moves to regain lost businesses lBoI disburses N171bn to energy, others

NEW PATH FG unveils new strategies to bring back closed firms Stories by Dele Alao

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he Federal Government has put measures in place to bring back businesses that had closed shops in the country and moved to neighbouring countries.

Executive Secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Hajia Saratu Umar, stated this in Abuja at a seminar organised for business editors and correspondents by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.

Umar said that the Federal Government has put in place strategies that would ensure the return of those businesses.

Some of the businesses that closed shops in Nigeria and moved to neighbouring countries include Dunlop and Michelin, among others.

The companies blamed their exit on alleged harsh economic environment, especially issues that had to do with power supply and security challenges.

She listed some of the strategies put in place to resuscitate these firms to include NIPC Investment insurance scheme, efficient industrial zones and the on-going repositioning of the NIPC. “I believe with these strat-

egies and many more, those businesses that have left the country will come back and even new ones will come in,” the NIPC boss said.

The executive secretary, who presented a paper on: “Impact of a friendlier business environment on Nigeria’s investment drive, noted that the country has witnessed improved foreign direct investments since the assumption of office of President Goodluck Jonathan.

She, however, added that background checks and due diligence were carried out on businesses coming into the country.

While also presenting a paper on: “Economic diversification: Increased non-oil export as game changer,” the chief executive officer, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr Segun Awolowo, said that the country has improved on its non-oil exports since 2011.

According to him, the Council has intensified efforts to ensure that local products meet with international standards.

Earlier in his presentation, the Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said that his ministry, as the engine room of the economy, would not leave any stone unturned to protect the country’s economic interests.

For instance, Aganga noted that no bilateral or multinational agreement that would lead

to discouragement of investments, discourage exports and loss of jobs would be signed.

The minister added that the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has been empowered to stem the tide of faking and adulteration.

Meanwhile, the managing director, Bank of Industry (BOI), Rasheed Olaoluwa, said that the bank had expended about N171 billion loan on agro allied, gas, energy and

L-R: Founder, Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR), Columbia Business School, Prof. Murray Low; Founder, Computer Warehouse Group Plc and Entrepreneur in Residence, CBS, Mr Austin Okere, and Programme Director, EIR, CBS, Mr. Cliff Schorer, during the Entrepreneurs in Residence Week in New York.

Kaduna, SMEDAN to create 5,000 jobs LOAN Government creates N2 billion funds for disbursment

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he Small and Medium Enterprise Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and Kaduna State government are into a partnership for the establishment of business support centre to provide support services and capacity building to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs.) Kaduna State Governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, stated this in Kaduna while declaring open a three-day opportunity exhibition and trade fair for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for the North West region, organised by SMEDAN. The governor said that his government had consummated an agreement to conduct graduate vocational

and entrepreneurship skills training to build capacity of 1,000 graduates expected to create 5,000 jobs in the state.

He said: “As a deliberate policy, government had established the Kaduna State industrialisation and micro credit management board as a special purpose vehicle for micro delivery to support the growth of SMEs in the state.”

Represented by the Director of Industries in the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Mr Mamman Danka, the governor urged the participating entrepreneurs to take advantage of the opportunity of the fair and exhibition to ensure the sustained development of the SMEs sub-sector in their respective states.

He said: “Just recently, government has entered into a matching fund partnership with two major development banks, the BOI and BOA and created a pool of funds in the sum of two billion naira to be disbursed to MSMEs as mi-

petrochemical and creative industries.

Olaoluwa stated this in Abuja.

Giving a breakdown, Olaoluwa said that about N125 billion loans were granted to agro services, N44 billion was for finance in energy, oil & gas and petrochemical sector.

While N3 billion was granted to the entertainment or creative industry.

The Bank of Industry boss

noted that over the years, the institution has been at the forefront of industrial development. For instance, he said that N18 billion is in the custody of the bank to manage on behalf of the National Automative Council (NAC).

Olaoluwa said that the N5 billion Cottage Agro Processing (CAP) Fund was launched recently to boost cottage businesses in the country.

He assured Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that the bank has been refocused to take care of them.

cro loans as well as for the development of agriculture in the state.”

Representative of SMEDANs’ Director General, a Deputy Director in the agency, Alhaji Shehu Sada, urged the participants to take advantage of the exhibition/trade fair to showcase their skills and also interact with one another and build their capacities through idea sharing, among other opportunities.

He assured that the agency was doing all it could to encourage entrepreneurs in all ways possible, and further urged the entrepreneurs to tap into government policies aimed at bettering their lives and businesses.

SMEDAN Consultant, Hajia Safiya Adamu, of Messrs Leadership Paradigm Consultants Limited, said that the fair was for entrepreneurs to showcase their talents and skills, and also create enabling market environment for them.

Coleman to open N10bn factory

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escribed as the first of its kind in West Africa, foremost cables and wires manufacturing company, Coleman Wires and Cables, will soon commission a N10 billion mega high voltage XLPE factory in Sagamu, Ogun State.

Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr George Onafowokan, said that the company had so far invested over N2 billion in the factory to enable it achieve its target of meeting demands of wires and cables not only in Nigeria, but across Africa.

He added that the objective of the company in building the magnificent factory was to ensure the production of quality wires and cables as well as other products for customers at all times in line with the Federal Government’s local content law.

This, he said, comes with a great social impact of providing employment opportunities for over 650 people.

Onafowokan said: “This is a project that has cost us over three billion naira, though the overall expectation is about N10 billion. It is Nigeria-focused and it is in line with the local content law. As the pioneer wires and cables manufacturers, we expect to meet the requirements and capacity of customers at all times. We are targeting 48,000 at full capacity for cables and 30,000 at full capacity for aluminium.

We also aim at over 50 billion capacity in the next 24 months. Our expectation is not only in Nigeria, but across Africa. We give kudos to Fidelity Bank, which made this possible and it is coming at a time when most banks shy away from such venture.”

On his part, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, commended Coleman Wires and Cables for such initiative.

34

Business | Industry

Merger: Consolidated Breweries’ board, shareholders to meet

COMPETITIVENESS The fusion aims at putting partners ahead of competition Stories by Dele Alao

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

ollowing a court order mandating the Board of Directors of Consolidated Breweries Plc to convene a strategic meeting with shareholders to discuss, among other issues, the proposed merger with Nigerian Breweries Plc, the board has confirmed that it will hold the mandated meeting on December 4, 2014, where shareholders

of the company will review, and if deemed fit, approve resolutions for its proposed merger with Nigerian Breweries Plc. Managing Director, Consolidated Breweries Plc, Mr. Boudewijn Haarsma, stated that the court-ordered meeting would be held at Victoria Island, Lagos.

This decision follows the recent approval of the Scheme Document by the Securities and Exchange Commission

(SEC) and the receipt of an order from the Federal High Court to convene a court-ordered meeting.

The company also confirmed that it had “concluded plans to commence the dispatch of the Scheme of Merger document to all its Shareholders which contains, amongst other things, the notice of meeting, the consideration and other terms of the proposed merger.”

Haarsma further explained

that the proposed merger, which was announced on May 9, 2014, is premised on a compelling strategic rationale as the proposed merger will enable the combined businesses to capitalise on the future growth potential of the Nigerian beer and malt market. The proposed merger is also expected to be beneficial to employees, customers, distributors and suppliers as well as the Nigerian economy as a whole.

Speaking on the proposed meeting, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Consolidated Breweries, Mrs. Oyin Odutola- Olurin, said that “It is expected that the proposed merger will create significant value for shareholders as the broader product offerings and the robust operating and marketing capabilities of the enlarged entity will create operational efficiencies and boost revenue and profitability.”

Firm offers customers used equipment at rock-bottom prices

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L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Coleman Wires and Cables, Mr. George Onafowokan; Executive Director, Coleman Wires and Cables, Engr Micheal Olusegun Onafowokan, Managing Director/CEO Fidelity Bank, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo and Executive Director, Corporate Banking, Fidelity Bank, Mr. John Obi, the facility tour of the new Coleman Wires and Cables multi-billion naira factory in Sagamu, Ogun State.

Wholesale trade liberalisation policies counter-productive, says PAN MD

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he Managing Director/CEO, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), Mr. Ibrahim Boyi, has said that given Nigeria’s level of development, wholesale trade liberalisation policies, that damage local production is counterproductive and undesirable.

Speaking at the 2014 annual symposium of the automobile and allied products sectoral group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), tagged “Resuscitating the Nigerian Automotive Industry: Getting it Right,” Boyi said that whilst there is a marked decline in protection of local industries and reduction in some cases, elimination of trade barriers through duty removal among cooperating countries, such policy options cannot be equally desirable across developing economies.

He said that the main objectives of the Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plans (NAIDP) established by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga,

is to protect the local automotive industry, enhance competitiveness, stimulate vehicles demand, encourage investments in the sector and develop local capacity.

“The plan rides on the weakness and gaps within the sector vis-a-vis the factors that have contributed to the immense successes recorded at other developing districts. By far the strongest attributes, the NAIDPs recognise that the transformation of the sector must take a term perspective of various initiatives and actions working simultaneously towards well defined outcomes,” he said.

He added: “As formulated, the NAIDP is an integrated plan covering the entire spectrum of vehicle manufacturing value chain with strategic focus on a non-disruptive transition from vehicles assembly to full-fledged manufacturing during the plan period.”

The president of LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, said the new Nigerian Automotive Policy target is to place Nigeria among industrlised nations,

thus, the transformation agenda must be consistent and driven by international best practices. He added that various reports indicate that since the recent increase in the duty and levy paid on imported new vehicles by the Federal Government, Nigeria’s automotive market has started witnessing a systematic drop in the volume of imported new vehicles.

“From research conducted by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Nigerian Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA), the Nigerian automotive industry has the potential to create over 700,000 jobs. As at 2012, only 2,584 persons are directly employed by the assembly plants.

“With over 200,000 new/ used vehicles introduced into the economy on yearly basis, the Nigerian auto industry has the potential to surpass the South African auto industry in contribution to the GDP. This is feasible if the industry is revitalised and made vibrant by addressing inherent concerns,” the LCCI president said.

wing to the harsh economic realities and budgetary constraints which oftentimes make it difficult for contractors to purchase brand new equipment in the smooth execution of their jobs, the authorised Caterpillar dealer in Nigeria, Mantrac Nigeria, is offering customers across the country the opportunity to purchase a wide-range of high quality used caterpillar certified equipment at very affordable prices.

These used equipment come with a six-month warranty and free nation-wide delivery.

Mantrac Nigeria also organised a 3-day exhibition at its head office in Oregun Lagos, where some used equipment were on display.

Speaking during the exhibition, Head of Sales, Construction Machine Equipment, Mr Alex Nwoko, said that the exhibition was aimed at interacting and fostering a stronger relationship with customers as well as giving customers the opportunity to see the quality of machines on display.

He said: “This exhibition is the fourth in the last four years. As a market leader in

the industry, this is something we do to bring the customers together to foster a stronger relationship with them and educate them more about our offerings.”

Commenting on the quality of the used equipment on sale, Nwoko stated that, “the fact that the used machines are coming with a six-month warranty and free nationwide delivery, shows that we are very confident of the standard and quality of the machines we are selling.

When it comes to reliability, Caterpillar machines are topclass performers.”

Also speaking during the exhibition, the Used Machines Sales Manager, Greg Obioha, stated that one of the aims of the exhibition was to educate Nigerians on the rudiments and choices that are available in the used equipment market. He said: “When buying used equipment, there are certain indices that need to be put into consideration to determine that the buyer is not taking so much risk. Mantrac Nigeria has taken it as a responsibility, as a Caterpillar certified dealer, to help the customer make the right choices,” he said.

Ministry targets 20,000 cooperatives by 2014

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he Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said that 20,000 cooperative societies are to be encoded in the ministry’s data base to beat the current 17,000 so as to give appropriate assistance where needed.

The minister also tasked cooperatives to educate their members on the process of due diligence standards required for eligibility to access funds.

“The apex federation was also complementing the efforts of the ministry to significantly improve on current low access of agricultural credit from financial service providers by agric cooperatives and farmers

groups,” the minister said.

The minister, who was represented by the Minister of State, Mrs. Asabe Ahmed, made the call at the 5th National Council on Cooperative Affairs meeting with the theme: “Building an enduring cooperative movement for sustainable growth,” in Abuja.

Adesina said: “We have introduced the cooperative data analysis system as part of our efforts to make the cooperative societies become more hard-working in order to be self-reliant, progressive and competitive. This system will enable us track individual performances and their respective needs so that appropriate assistance can be given to those that require help.”

News 35

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

ICT

NCC gives technical details on 2.6GHz band p.36 As electronic crimes stare the country’s cashless economy scheme in the face, stakeholders have identified the need to strengthen criminal justice system as a key mechanism for tackling e-frauds in the country, KUNLE AZEEZ reports

Ugbe: No monopoly in pay-TV sector p.37

Combating electronic fraud

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his year’s edition of the annual e-fraud forum organised in Lagos by the Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN) has again brought to the fore the problem of electronic frauds plaguing the nascent cashless economy in Nigeria.

While the introduction of the cashless economy has widened the scope of channels through which individuals and corporate organisations carry out financial transactions electronically with more convenience, the e-payment revolution has also exposed the banks and other players in the epayment system to a wide range of online frauds.

Not only the banks are affected by the fraud cases, other financial institutions (OFIs) and mobile payment operators (MPOs) as well as individual account holders are also at risk.

Losses Available data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), showed that Nigerian banks lost a total of N40 billion to different e-fraud cases last year, according to the bank’s Chief Information Security Officer, Mr Taiwo Longe, who spoke in Lagos earlier this year.

Longe said, electronic frauds and, by extension, cybercrimes remain one of the issues the apex ban is not treating with kid glove.

Similarly, speaking at this year’s E-PPAN’s annual fraud forum, stakeholders lamented the menace of e-frauds which, they said, is threatening the nascent electronic payment system in the country.

According to the Chief Risk Officer, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Mr Osioke Ojior, who spoke at the forum, within this year alone, banks and other institutions have recorded various cases of e-frauds resulting in huge losses.

“Between January and September 2014, a total of 946 attempted e-fraud cases were recorded on the networks of the banks, OFIs and MPOs, resulting in a loss of N4.8 billion,” he said.

Also speaking at the forum, Director of Operations at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Olaolu Adegbite, said that the Commission had opened investigation into an e-fraud case, involving the transfer of N500 billion from a state government’s fund within three minutes.

Onajite

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele

According to him, the illegal transfer took place sometime this year between 4.29p.m and 4.31 p.m.

“The fund was subsequently transferred into over 250 accounts residing with five commercial banks in the country.”

Between January and September 2014, a total of 946 attempted e-fraud cases were recorded on the networks of the banks, OFIs and MPOs, resulting in a loss of N4.8 billion

E-fraud channels It is instructive that most efrauds are orchestrated through the same payment platforms used by the banking public for transaction.

“Processes used in perpetrating e-frauds include Point of Sales (PoS) machines, National Instant Payment (NIP), Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), cash withdrawals, fund transfers and NIBSS Electronic Fund Transfers (NEFT) and online channels,” Adegbte said. He stressed that cybercrimes have assumed a complex dimension.

In its wider scope, however, Chief Justice of Lagos State, Justice Oluwafunmilayo Atilade, who

also spoke at the forum, said that e-fraud often takes many forms including, but not limited to, advance fee fraud, obtaining by false pretences, bank card and cheque fraud.

Others, according to her, take the form of credit and or debit card fraud, identity fraud or theft, loan scams, mobile phone fraud, money laundering, online fraud, phishing, lottery scams, among others.

Weak criminal justice Though Nigeria’s federal lawmakers recently passed the Cyber security Bill into law, stakeholders at the E-PPAN forum believed that there were still a lot of legal inadequacies in the criminal justice process in Nigeria.

According to the stakeholders, the criminal justice process in Nigeria, in relation to electronic frauds, is evolving with relevant

laws still being enacted and law enforcement agencies and judicial system still in the process of understanding the technicalities of the e-payment.

For instance, Atilade said: “The legal environment is traditionally conservative and the wheels of justice always turn slowly,” a trend, which poses delays to criminal justice system on e-fraud cases.

According to the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive of E-PPAN, Mrs Regha Onajite, Nigeria’s criminal justice system in investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating e-fraud cases are considered weak as to discourage cyber criminals from indulging in online frauds.

This realisation, she said, has informed the theme of this year’s conference aiming to lay the foundation for a robust and successful criminal justice process in addressing electronic fraud as the cashless initiative goes nationwide in Nigeria.

“The criminal justice process in investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating electronic crimes plays a critical role in tracking down the perpetrators of financial crimes and bringing them to justice. Yet, within many organisations, there remain questions about when, how and what the process entails,” Onajite lamented.

Consequently, she said that the forum had been designed to provide clear understanding and enlightenment of the criminal justice process in a cashless economy; explore collaborative opportunities between the industry, law enforcement agencies and the judiciary.

Way forward Atilade, while stating that e-payment industry is prone to manipulation and attacks by fraudster’s, insiders and outsider alike, said that: “It is, therefore, imperative for the criminal justice sector to develop the appropriate tools and strategies for combating e-crimes and e-fraud.”

IT expert extols Nigeria on $5.6bn FDI Kunle Azeez

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n Information and Communication Technology expert, Mr Austin Okere, has thumped up Nigeria over the level of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) being attracted into the economy in recent years.

Quoting figures from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Austin, who is also the founder of Computer Warehouse Group Plc and Entrepreneur in Residence at the Columbia Business School, reiterated that of the total $57 billion FDI, which Africa attracted last year alone, Nigeria got the lion

share of about $5.6 billion.

Nigeria’s FDI’s figure is significant, given that only six other countries attracted investments above $3 billion, Okere said.

He said this is coming on the heels of Nigeria moving up five places in the latest issue of World Bank Doing Business report.

“This is well above the average improvement of two positions by the MINT countries, comprising Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. More importantly, the “Starting a Business” and “Getting Credit” pillars saw the most significant changes, moving up nine and 73 places respectively, indicating better engagement

with the Small and Medium Enterprises(SME) sector, which tends to be the engine of growth in most developing economies,” he said.

Okere stated these while addressing a group of students at CBS’s annual Entrepreneurs in Residence Week in New York recently with Prof. Murray Low of the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Centre.

Providing impressive FDI figures recorded in the ICT sector, Okere noted that between 2012 and July 2014, the sector attracted FDI worth N7 billion, bringing the total FDI into the sector to over N32 billion.

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Business | ICT

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NCC gives technical details on 2.6GHz band GROWTH Nigeria increased its internet penetration from 1.4 per cent in 2004 to about 47.8 per cent Stories by Kunle Azeez

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s clock ticks towards the historic auction of the 2.6 gigahertz spectrum band next month, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that the nation’s telecoms sector will benefit significantly from the auspicious auction, in the area of further deepening broadband Internet penetration in the country.

This is even as the Commission explains some of the technical details of the planned auction as contained in the recently-released Information Memorandum (IM) by the regulator which defines the process for the licensing of paired Spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band.

According to NCC’s Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, the process for the licensing of the 2.6 GHz Spectrum is predicated on demands by operators for additional Spectrum to enable the provision of Advanced Wireless Broadband services in

line with international trends.

He maintained that this is also in furtherance of the objectives of the Federal Government as set out in the Nigerian National ICT Policy 2012 and the Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2013.

“Based on the positive outcome of earlier consultations with necessary stakeholders and the direction of the National Broadband Plan, the Commission has decided to undertake the 2.6 gigahertz spectrum auction to award Spectrum licenses to build and operate networks in this Spectrum band to provide Advanced Broadband Wireless Services to subscribers in Nigeria,” Ojobo said.

To qualify to bid in the forthcoming auction, the IM explains that the applicants may not have to be licensed network operators (LNOs) in Nigeria.

“However, any successful bidder who does not have a Unified Access Service License (UASL) will be granted one upon payment of the specified fee. The tenure for the UASL will be 10 years, subject to renewal,” Ojobo explained.

Elucidating the technical details of the spectrum, OJobo stated that the spectrum is offered by the Commission on a technology neutral basis, saying, however, that for roll-out of services, the Commission

intends to follow the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recommendation setting aside Spectrum in the 2.6GHz band for the provision of advanced wireless broadband services.

Subsequently, he said that the Commission will offer 14 Lots of 2 X 5 megahertz FDD paired Spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band ranging from 2500-2570 mega-

artistes whose songs will be available on the Glo Mobile’s CRBT platform in Lagos.

The artistes unveiled included cross-over highlife rave-of-the-moment, Flavour, and talented female artistes, Omawumi and Chee. Also presented to the media are Hip Hop stars - Burna Boy, MI, Naeto C and one of the best known artistes from the North, Sanni Danja.

“Nigerians would readily recall that we blazed the CRBT trail in Nigeria over seven years ago when, for

vourite tunes and make them their ring-back tunes. Others were to follow the trail and today, Nigerian artistes net millions of naira in revenue from their music distributed by mobile operators in the country through the CRBT platform,” said Nagasai.

He said that consistent with its pedigree of leadership in innovation, Globacom is yet again raising the bar by expanding the collection of songs available to customers on its CRBT platform.

We prioritise safety in our operations, says MoboFree

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ollowing its official launch in Lagos, a social marketplace in Africa, MoboFree.com, has emphasised that it places greater attention on safety in its operations, going by the increasing cases of scamming online.

The platform is mostly for businesses, advertisers and advertising agencies to put their online marketing materials where they have the opportunity of leveraging various means of interaction with their targets using the internet.

“Online scam and high level of crimes is serious problem in our target markets. It can be dangerous to go to ‘blind date’ with

buyer or seller with money or expensive item in your pocket,” the company said.

Co-founder and Chairman of the board of MoboFree, Mr. Cristobal Alonso, speaking at the launch, said that most boards of classifieds provide only poor contact info – phone and sometimes email and as such, the company used a different approach in relating with people on the portal.

“We are social and empower our social network to make trading more safe.

Before going to meet buyer or seller, each member can communicate and negotiate online without leaving MoboFree, can check common friends, photos, his-

Access Service Licence (UASL) will need to obtain such a licence also.

“Nigeria currently has growing levels of Internet take-up, PC penetration and broadband adoption. The trend of Internet use in Nigeria shows an increase with the overall number of users rising from 1.4 per cent of population in 2004 to about 47.8 per cent by 2014.

L-R: Secretary, Universal Service Provision Fund, Mr Abdulahi Maikano; Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah; Secretary General, International Telecommunication Union, Dr. Hamadoun Toure and Director, Policy and Competition, NCC, Mrs. Josephine Amua, at the just-concluded ITU Plenipotentiary in Busan, South Korea.

Telecoms firm unveils new caller tunes ubscribers on Nigeria’s Globacom’s top execu- the first time in Nigeria, we S indigenous telecoms tives, led by Viswanath Na- made it possible for our suboperator, Globacom, have gasai, unveiled some of the scribers to download their fabeen provided with new and exclusive hit songs of its musical ambassadors as an addition to the network’s Caller Ring Back Tune (CRBT) platform.

Glo Mobile subscribers will, as a result of this, be able to have exclusive access to many of Nigeria’s new music releases from popular artistes by simply subscribing to Glo Mobile’s Caller Ringback Tunes. The artistes include Naeto C, MI, Omawumi, Flavour, Bez and Chee, among others.

hertz and 2620 to 2690 megahertz (totalling 2 X 70 megahertz) for auction. This will be awarded to winning bidders in multiples of 2 X 5 megahertz lots aggregated in contiguous arrangements.

A reserve bid price of $16 million has been fixed by the Commission on each of the 14 lots in the 2.6 gigahertz spectrum with a clause that a winner of the spectrum without Universal

tory, feedback and ratings of other members,” he said.

Launched over two years ago with head office in Vilnius, Lithuania, Eastern Europe, the company said it has achieved 2.5 million registered members without any outside investment.

“Today, we have 3.3 Million registered members total. More than 3000 new registered members are joining MoboFree every day. Our top market is Nigeria with over two million registrations and that is why we have come to Nigeria to create a physical presence. We also have a strong footprint in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Ghana,” Alonso said.

Micro Station opens Sango-Ota retail outlet

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ne of the foremost and leading phones and telecommunication trading companies in Nigeria, Micro Station Limited, is upbeat in its expansion drive as it opens a retail outlet at Sango-Ota in order to serve its growing customers better.

The company, in a statement, said that the SangoOta outlet, to be opened to the public in a matter of weeks, is in line with its continued commitment to bringing cutting-edge IT devices and unique after-sales services closer to Nigerians.

The company, in recent times, has embarked on an aggressive branch network expansion, which will take it to as close as every doorstep of every discerning individual that desires quality mobile devices at a time when Nigeria’s mobile telecoms industry is awash with fake and substandard products.

“Conspicuously and strategically located on Idi-Iroko Road, Sango-Otta, beside Mr Biggs outlet, we believe that the location is accessible enough for customers living in the area and its environs as they can go there to buy all their devices instead of having to travel several kilometres to Lagos before getting what

they want,” Managing Director, Micro Station, Mrs. Tinuola Coutroupis, said in the statement.

She added, “It is on a major road with ample parking space for our customer’s convenience. We also believe that accessibility is key and therefore, we chose an area that is easily accessible, no matter where our customers are coming from.”

Micro Station currently has seven of such modern sales outlets with several more coming up before the end of the first half of 2015.

“Our outlets in Victoria Island, Otigba Street in Computer Village, Awolowo Way in Ikeja, Oshogbo, Mushin and Ikorodu, which also has a section created for the display of cuttingedge electronic systems, are all in a bid to serve our growing customers effectively. We hope that by the end of the New Year, we would have been able to move as close to all our customers in every part of the country,” Coutroupis said.

With the opening of Sango-Ota branch, Micro Station said that customers will have access to different kinds of devices that will be on sales - both highend phones and low-cost phones.

Business | ICT

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

37

Ugbe: No monopoly in pay-TV sector Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr John Ugbe, spoke on the challenges of the pay television industry in Nigeria and dismissed the notion that his company is engaged in unfair game to prevent indigenous entrepreneurs from operating in the sector. Tony Okuyeme brings the excerpts How do you respond to the notion that your organisation is a monopoly designed to stifle and kill competition?

Well, I think if we go back to the definition of the word monopoly, I could talk for a whole day.

Just using that definition alone actually proves that very wrong. We’re in an industry where there is competition. Not only is there competition for us because we play in a market where the user has a choice, we’re also not a public service, say a power company, where there is a particular zone the cable is for company A and everybody buys from that company.

So, we operate in an industry, where there is competition from the perspectives of different people being able to fully make choices about who to buy from. Also, there are many channels available to each of the competitors to buy and put together to offer a service. I think we tend to look at it from the positives we see in it. I think our competition is not how we can compete with everyone to buy, but we’ve been more of a company that believes in creating and in creating, you have to invest not just time and money, but a lot of effort. In creating, you then also perform a dual role of developing. If you go out there, you probably see that a lot of the stars in the music industry, in Nollywood and in the entire entertainment industry, have been touched at some point in their careers. So, I think the simple answer to that is we’re definitely not a monopoly.

What are your reactions to a Bill before the National Assembly seeking to break the ‘monopoly’ of MultiChoice?

I think the first question is how do you break what doesn’t exist? You know if I want to compare, it’s like putting a bill before the House to break the monopoly of Coca-Cola.

But of course, every village you go today, there is access to Coca-Cola. This may be due to the reach of Coca-Cola, so you can almost begin to feel it’s a monopoly. But in every village, you always find some alternatives. Some of these may just be local brews by the person who is selling Coca-Cola. That, in itself, is a choice and I think that’s the same with our industry.

There is a bill and we’ve always said that we welcome competition, not just in Nigeria.

We’re a global company. We welcome competition everywhere we operate and we always try to engage and provide a deeper understanding of the industry. I think the challenge, perhaps, is that we haven’t been able to tell enough about how the industry works. People ask about buying new movies at massive amount and stuff like that. Take a club in the Barclays Premier League as an example. When our club buys a player for 50 million pounds, we all rejoice. But I always tell people that the money has to come from somewhere. And a lot of it comes from TV rights. If you look at the balance sheets of the clubs in the UK, you will see that much of the revenue actually comes from TV rights, which unfortunately have been going up. So, for us, it’s to review what the bill says and try to engage and understand and also try to build a deeper understanding of our industry to the general populace and to our stakeholder.

We’ve always had that good relationship with our stakeholders. We believe in engaging and from time to time, we engage and try to explain the nature of the industry. We work with our regulators in the broadcast industry and the Broadcasting Act is very clear on competition in the market.

One of the arguments brought up by the Na-

I think you know as Nigerians, we feel that it is something that we must all collectively work on. However, with satellite technology, we cannot confirm whether you’re at home watching DSTV or not. So, it’s not even possible technologically for me to stop the kind of billing when you’re not watching because your decoder doesn’t talk back to me to say you’re not watching at this time or that time. On the other hand, the model of pricing is we have caters for some kind of aggregated pricing.

The business model of pay-TV is very different from the business model of the telecoms, where you can argue that there is per second billing.

But I can give you an example. When you go to the cinema how much do you pay for a movie? It’s probably around N750 for one movie. If we had the same model, how much do you think you would pay at the end of the month if we sold you content strictly based on what you watched?

tional Assembly is the need to crash the price of subscription. Is that possible?

As a business, the price of your product is

How do you react to calls that MultiChoice should resell some of its premium content to competitors?

Well, like I said, I think our efforts have been in developing. Our sister company, SuperSport, invests a lot in developing the Nigerian Premier League. May I ask you when you watched the Nigerian Premier League. We all know the problems in the country with security, with infrastructure etc. We go to great length to service this industry.

You know when Nigeria qualified for the Olympics, everybody was happy. Let’s take the basket ball story. The game was completely dead. We then, as MultiChoice, offered to sponsor the basketball league. Not only did we sponsor the league, we ensured that we still provided many facilities. I would ask you to go and look at the collegiate players in U.S.A in the last five years.

You would see that the kids in those clubs came out of Nigeria. Check the NBA draft.

Ugbe

proportional to the size of the market. So, as a business, we’re always looking for how more efficiently we can serve the market, the best price we can sell the products because we want to grow. If you look at the transition of the business over the 21 years since we started, you’ll see the business coming from where it was only one subscription buyer right down to today where with N1,500, you have access to over 40 channels. Even with GOtv at N1,000, you have access to exciting channels. So, we have continuously reduced our prices over the years and the business will continue to look at innovative ways of doing this. However, we’re a responsible business, as we have shareholders and different stakeholders. So, we have a responsibility to our stakeholders, so we’re not going to take our prices down to where the business is no longer viable or the business folds up.

What’s the objective of the business at the end of the day? It’s some form of profitability, investment in the society and being able to ensure that there is a proper relationship with your people. Don’t forget that if we take our prices to the position where the business goes out of existence, we would probably be taking with us over 20,000 Nigerians. The people that work for us are some of our key stakeholders.

Same with those involved in business relationships with us. We have over 6,000 small businesses doing business with us.

The lawmakers complained about what they consider rigid subscription rates. What is MultiChoice doing to address this?

I think you’re asking of the pay-per view window. I think one of the challenges is that people haven’t really understood what payper-view is. I give you an example. If Manny Pacquiao is going to have a big boxing match in U.S.A, it would be available on pay-perview. If you’re in the U.S, you would be paying your monthly subscription, which could be anything from $50-$100 or whatever. The fight would be on pay per view for $70, lasting just two hours. That fight alone would cost you say $70 to watch. So, that is what pay per view is. Your subscription, which you pay monthly, will not give you that fight. But guess what. We bring you that fight as part of your subscription in Nigeria.

People have complained about power and

It is also widely believed that Nigerians pay more than other countries in Africa in terms of subscription. Is this real?

For me, it’s not real. We’ve always maintained that we’re an independent company. As MultiChoice Nigeria, we’re an independent company.

We would set our prices with the realities of our market. I think even the Internet has made it possible for anyone to log on today and tell me how much a bottle of Coke sells in the UK and elsewhere. It’s the Coca-Cola Company that can say why your Coke is more expensive here and it’s cheaper there? The company would tell you that Coca-Cola Nigeria is an independent company or Cadbury Nigeria is an independent company and it has got shareholders. It means we must come up with a business plan and ensure that we can do business. The reality is that the cost of my doing business here is not the same as doing business in Ghana. I have to fix my prices. But I always welcome such comparisons. But beyond comparison, they should look at the real amount.

We have actually invested over N1.5 billion on developing and acquiring content in the last 10 years

Some multinationals have been accused of capital flight. What has been your experience from MultiChoice perspective?

We have actually invested over N1.5 billion on developing and acquiring content in the last 10 years. If any company is being accused of capital flight, it shouldn’t be MultiChoice. To see what we collectively spend on content, all you have to do is to just watchAfricanMagic.

When the Nigerian economy was rebased and it became the largest economy in Africa, one of our greatest joys in-house was that the entertainment industry was being finally recognised.

As such, I think we can beat our chest to say we were the foundation of that achievement.

38

Business | Movers, Shakers & Careers

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Firm gets sales director I

S Internet Solutions Nigeria Limited, a Division of Dimension Data, has appointed Taj Onigbanjo as its new sales director.

Onigbanjo will be responsible for setting the sales strategy and objectives for the company, building and developing the sales team, growing revenues and margins, new business development and strategic account management.

He is an experienced telecoms expert with over 20 years hands-on experience in sales, marketing and consultancy.

Before his appointment, he was the Head of Africa for Cable & Wireless Worldwide, one of the world’s largest telcos.

He has a record of success with experience spanning the African and International telecoms environment.

The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Olu Teniola, said that he was confident that Onigbanjo would deliver on the company’s objective of growing its market share, revenues and margins.

IS Internet Solutions, a Division of Dimension

Onigbanjo

Data, entered the Nigerian market by acquiring a local ISP, Accelon.

The company provides its suite of Cloud and Managed Services to small, medium and large organisations in the public and private sectors, either through direct

Jamodu now PZ Cussons’ chairman

T

he Board of Directors of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc has appointed Chief Kola Jamodu as chairman.

He succeeds Professor Emmanuel Edozien who

Jamodu

retired from the Board after 11 years as chairman.

Already, the company had notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange of the new appointment.

Jamodu is assuming the position with a portfolio of diverse experience from both private and public sectors.

He was an employee of PZ Cussons group from 1974 and served in Executive positions for 24 years, rising to the position of Chairman/Chief Executive Officer until he retired in 1999.

Jamodu thereafter continued as the Board Chairman until 2001 when he joined the Federal Executive Council as the Minister of Industry.

He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Boston, USA, and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Accountants, Nigeria; Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation Nigeria; Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries.

Also, he is currently on the Board of Nigerian Breweries Plc as its Chairman, in addition to his membership of the Boards of United Bank for Africa Plc and Ashaka Cement Company Plc.

sales or via a national network of Partners.

It currently provides services to over 80 per cent of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as well as a large number of blue chip organisations in Nigeria.

New MD for insurance firm T he Board of Directors of Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc has named Mr Akinjide Orimolade as Managing Director of the company.

Chairman of the board, Princes Adenike Adeniran, said that his appointment was expected to fast-track and further deepen the on-going rejuvenation and turnaround of the company.

Orimolade is the immediate past managing director of AIICO General Insurance Company Limited.

With over 22 years’ experience in insurance marketing, general underwriting and claims administration, Orimolade is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Insurance of Nigeria (CIIN).

He holds a B.Sc. and MBA in Insurance and Marketing respectively from the University of Lagos.

Before the appointment, Orimolade was Executive Director, Marketing, at AIICO Insurance Plc before he was appointed Managing Director AIICO General Insurance, a sub-

sidiary of AIICO Insurance Plc. Prior to joining AIICO, Orimolade was Regional Director, West Africa, at Liberty Life, South Africa and General Manager and later Chief Executive Officer of Zenith General Insurance Limited.

Since the takeover of Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc’s majority interest in 2012, the board and management have been revamped. The company is said to be better positioned for excellence, enhanced g rowth and better financial performance.

The turnaround of the company has yielded improvements in its corporate governance, risk management, investment portfolio and higher level of trust as a result of the seamless and prompt settlement of claims.

Law Union prides itself as having engaged the service of professionals and high calibre people on its board to strategically guide the company and ensure its management remains effective.

New deputy governor for CBN

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan has recommended Dr. O. J. Nnanna, as the new Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria following the exit of Dr. Kingsley Moghalu.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, had earlier announced the receipt of a letter from Presi-

dent Goodluck Jonathan forwarding Nnanna’s name as nominee for screening on the floor of the Senate.

Nnanna’s name was sent to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency for screening.

He was a former director of research at the CBN and Special Assistant to the CBN Governor from 1994 to

1999.

Before then, he was a staff economist and desk officer in the African Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC. He graduated from the William Paterson University (New Jersey) and the University of Houston, Texas, United States.

Nigerian appointed to Pennsylvania State Board

A

Nigerian woman, Dr. Teni Atalabi Osundeko, has been appointed

by Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Corbett, to the state’s Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counsellors.

The appointment which was approved by the Senate of Pennsylvania took effect from last month.

As a member of the Board, she will assist in the promulgation of rules and regulations on the practice of social

work in Pennsylvania.

Born and raised in Nigeria with roots in Emure Ekiti, Osundeko is an author, public speaker, business owner and psychotherapist.

She graduated from the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria and holds other degrees from Capella University and the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Osundeko is the owner and Clinical Director of Teni Counseling & Consulting Services; one of Central Pennsylvania’s few black

and female-owned counselling agencies.

She is an adjunct faculty at the Temple University Graduate School of Social Work and an active volunteer who has served on the Executive Board of many organisations both at home and abroad.

Osundeko is Founder and Director of the Bibi Atalabi Foundation, a charity that provides educational scholarships and resources to disadvantaged children in Nigeria.

Firm to appoint new director as non-executive director quits

A

fren Plc has resolved to appoint a new director to replace Mr Ennio Sganzerla who resigned as NonExecutive Director.

Sganzerla joined the board on June 26, 2009, and has served as a Director of Afren Plc for over five years and has been

an integral member of the audit and risk, nomination and remuneration committees.

Egbert Imomoh, Executive Chairman of Afren, said that the company will announce new appointments to the board committees in due course.

Sganzerla

Photo | News

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

L-R: Former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai; Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun; Overseer of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare; his wife, Olaide and former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Okwesilieze Nwodo, at Pastor Bakare’s 60th birthday at the church premises, Ogba, Lagos.

PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

L-R: Chairman, FBN Capital Limited, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika; Guest Speaker, Prof Anil Gupta; Group Managing Director, First Bank Plc, Mr. Bisi Onasanya and Chief Executive Officer, FBN Holdings Plc, Mr. Bello Maccido, at the 4th annual Investor’s conference organised by FBN Capital Limited in Lagos

All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon (left) submitting his governorship nomination form to the Party’s National Organizing Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Kari, in Abuja

L-R: Oyo State Deputy Governor, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo; Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Vice- Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adewole and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Emilolorun Ayelari, at the Convocation lecture/76th Founder’s Day held in Ibadan

39

L-R: Assistant Director, Corps Inspector and Monitoring, National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), Ogun State, Mr. Samson Oluwole; Deputy Director, Banking Supervision Department, Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Mr. Umar Yayangidi; Camp Director, Ogun State, NYSC, Mrs. Elizabeth Adejumo and Camp Commandant, Capt. Mohammed Sadiq, at the NDIC sensitization seminar for corps members Batch B, in Sagamu

L-R: Daughter of the late Ralph Alabi, Mrs. Yetunde McGwen; President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mr. Ademola Olorunfemi; Mr. Adeola Alabi and Chairman, NSE, Ikeja branch, Mr. Adeolu Ogundare, at the 5th Ralph Alabi memorial lecture and induction of new corporate members in Lagos.

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti (left), and General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, at a special end of the year programme, entitled “Anointed Police Officer” in Lagos.

PHOTO: ADEYANJU OLOWOJOBA

L-R: Member, House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf; Zamfara State PDP gubernatorial aspirant, Ibrahim Shehu Gusau; Hon. Ibrahim Ebbo; Hon. Jones Onyrere and others, at the official declaration of Gusau for the governorship race of Zamfara State, in Gusau.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

40

Features

Inadequate funds and space may hinder the ability of Lagos Cheshire Home to care for those with disabilities, reports FLORA ONWUDIWE

Caring for the handicapped despite challenges

T

here is ability in disability, says a maxim.

This typifies the lives of some residents and nonresidents of the Lagos Cheshire Home in Mushin.

The home is for the physicallychallenged.

According to the President of International Women Society (IWS), Mrs Folasade Oyeniyi, it is not for children with developmental challenges such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autistic spectrum disorder, among others.

She said: “Those are for mental cases and not the physically-challenged. We deal with the physicallychallenged.

“Before they become residents of the home, their parents are usually invited for an interview. A panel, involving medical doctors, is set up. The medical team will look for remedy for their cases.

“We prefer children or teenagers with physical disabilities who can learn. But if they cannot function well, they are sent to acquire skills such as bead-making, hairdressing, shoe-making, fashion designing, beads’ curtain, carpentry, among others at Modupe Cole, Akoka, Yaba or Atanda Olu in Surulere.”

According to Oyeniyi, those are special schools for people with disabilities.

“Government has introduced inclusion in schools for people with disabilities so that they are not isolated,” she added.

According to her, when they are through with their training, they are graduated just like what is obtained in a normal school environment.

“They are established with all the necessary facilities in line with what they had been taught and they start their own life.

“This is not a home you reside for life; after graduation they are sent out into the community so that they are not isolated from the society,” Oyeniyi added.

It is, however, not usually sweet stories that come out of the home.

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Some residents and members of the management committee of the home

Meal time for the residents

The handlers also encounter difficulties.

Oyeniyi said that the home had recorded cases where some parents had abandoned their children.

According to her, when the managers of the home trace their contact addresses, they sometimes discover that the parents have relocated.

“But when we discover that they can stay on their own, we encourage them to have a life after the home. This place is not for life,” she added.

According to the IWS president, the home does not have a regular income but depends on private individuals, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs), and corporate bodies, among others.

She added that the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), an NGO, visited the home early this year and donated some items, including foodstuffs.

Oyeniyi said that individuals usually walk into the home to donate cartons of noodles, bags of rice, packets of sugar, money, etc.

She said: “That is how we have been surviving. In a normal situation, we are supposed to be on an annual subvention from the government. But for a very long time, nothing has happened; except for the former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was personally assisting the home every year and not from government’s purse.

“But since he left office, nothing has come from him. It could be that he is too busy.”

According to her, people also volunteer to work at the home.

“I am volunteer officer. I come once a week to look after the welfare of the residents and non-residents.

“Apart from people who come from outside to take them on training, we also organise in-house training. Two former residents who were discharged from the home take them on bead-making and shoemaking.”

The IWS president added that the principal challenge was to have a standard home which could accommodate all the facilities.

A former resident making beads

“The home is close to the bus stop and the children’s movement is restricted, the environment is noisy,” she said.

The Chief Operations Officer, Mr Sunday Ojebiyi, also said that the home was constrained because of space.

He said: “A parent came from Mowe/Ibafo in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State with a physically-challenged child. We had to send her away because of space. If the home is crowded, the residents will face a lot of inconveniences. We have more than 50 people on the waiting list.”

Group Captain Leonard Cheshire established the home in 1948. But today it has become a global organisation.

Leonard was living alone in an isolated mansion –Hampshire Windhill – in United Kingdom.

He started a community project for former service men and women at the end of the Second World War. Cheshire discovered that one of the members of the community was terminally ill and had nowhere to go. He then offered to care for the terminally ill man in his own home.

Cheshire was surprised he found others who were in need coming to him for help and he started what was to become a worldwide organisation developing ability for disabled people.

But the question on the lips of some people is that if Lagos Cheshire Home, located in the Centre of Excellence, faces challenges of lack of funds and space then what is the state of other homes established in Ibadan in 1959 by the late Justice Adetokunbo Ademola named Oluyole Cheshire Home for the handicapped which marked the beginning of Cheshire services in Nigeria followed by Lagos in 1961, Enugu in 1962, Orlu in 1968 and Port Harcourt in 1973?

Business | Money Line

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

41

Investors see fall ahead of naira–Reuters Forwards show currency at N200

ATTACK

The naira is a prime target for attack by speculators

P

lunging oil prices, terrorism and messy preelection politics, are setting the stage for a rough time for Nigeria’s battered currency, the naira, with some seeing it highly vulnerable to attack from speculators.

Africa’s largest economy relies on oil exports for 80 per cent of government revenues and has been hit hard as crude prices have fallen to four-year low around $80 a barrel.

According to Reuters, along with a worsening domestic picture - attacks by the Islamist militants Boko Haram are almost a daily occurrence - oil’s collapse has fuelled an 18 percent plunge in the local stock market. The naira has shrugged off repeated Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) interventions to hit record lows last week.

Some in the market

reckon that with Nigeria’s reserves running at four-month lows and the oil price collapse preventing any replenishment, the naira is a prime candidate for an attack by speculators, who build up short positions by borrowing and selling a currency in hope of profiting from a swift exchange rate plunge.

“The markets are starting to see the blood here,” said Emad Mostaque at Eclectic Strategy, a consultancy set up by former Deutsche Bank veteran John-Paul Smith.

“We are now entering a particularly dangerous period for the naira as time constraints and low resources to fight against speculative attack make the currency vulnerable,” he said.

“Everything is lining up for that currency attack.”

There is in theory very little ammunition to defend the naira - data from the CBN showed its liquid reserves have declined since the start of

the year by $5.77 billion or more than 15 percent to $36.69 billion by Tuesday.

Despite three interventions this week, the naira closed at N167.60 to the dollar on Wednesday, well above the apex bank’s trade band of N150-160 - a range it burst out of in May and

which appears to have become merely cosmetic.

Non-deliverable currency forwards - shortterm contracts used by counterparties to lock in a future exchange rate - indicate a nairadollar exchange rate of N176 in three months, a roughly five percent

P

resident Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan yesterday, formally undraped the redesigned commemorative N100 banknote at the Council Chamber, State House, Abuja.

A statement from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the commemorative banknote has been designed and produced with the most advanced and security technology features with strong résistance to counterfeiting.

“It is meant to be durable, attractive and reflects our collective heritage and memory as a united nation,” added the apex bank.

The front side of the new banknote according to the banking watchdog retains the portrait of late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and

Economic Indicators As at M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91-day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res**

N14,737,618.7m N16,509,472.5m 8 0.0000 12 10.899 7.96 17.01 US$109.9 US$42,604,781,796.6

Description

TTM

4.00% 23-Apr-2015 13.05% 16-Aug-2016 15.10% 27-Apr-2017 16.00% 29-Jun-2019 16.39% 27-Jan-2022 10.00% 23-Jul-2030

1.21 2.53 3.22 5.39 7.98 16.47

Tenor (Days) Call 7 30 60 90 180 365

Rate (%) 11.9167 12.3333 12.6667 12.9167 13.2167 13.5000 13.7500

NIBOR

Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 2/5/2014 1/20/2014 11/6/2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 1/20/2014 2/5/2014 Source:CBN

FGN Bonds Bid Price 90.20 99.25 104.10 109.35 114.15 76.60

Bid 12.10 12.10 12.05

FX

Bid Spot ($/N) 163.28 THE FIXINGS –NIBOR,NITTY and NIFEX of February 6,2014

Offer 163.38

raised embossed line to assist the visually impaired persons in recognising the face value. The back side incorporated Quick Recognition Code (QRC) window, which encrypts significant information that highlight Nigeria’s 100 year journey thereby making it one of the best as smart-connected paper banknote using smartphones as identity and security tool for de-encryption of information.

In a brief remark at the

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

NITTY

Yield 12.86 13.33 13.35 13.42 13.38 13.53

Open-Buy-Back (OBB) Overnight (O/N)

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

event, the Governor, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, stated that central banks issue new banknotes mainly to replace or occasionally, to commemorate epochal events.

He noted that the new N100 banknote unveiled yesterday is for the second reason—to commemorate our 100 years as a single united nation.

Meanwhile, the new banknote will be issued to the public at a later date next month.

Access Bank targets youths with online platform The platform offers lender digital advantage to connect youths

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80

Jonathan unveils memorial N100 banknotes

DIGITAL EDGE

Treasury Bills Maturity Date 08-May-14 07-Aug-14 22-Jan-15

depreciation. Over 12 months time, forwards show the naira at N200.

A speculator attack may not necessarily materialise - analysts point out that in a relatively small market it would be technically difficult to “short” the naira on a huge scale. But investors believe a fall trig-

gered by an exodus of foreigners and locals from financial markets and banks is likely.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Oyin Anubi said his clients - US equity investors - feared that as sinking oil prices deplete Nigeria’s war chest, a sharp correction is ahead: “Naira devaluation is fast becoming consensus,” he wrote in a note.

Kunle Azeez

A

ccess Bank Plc has deployed a online social interaction platform, AccelerateTV, which is aimed at connecting with the Nigerian youths.

The bank, in a statement, said the platform, which is targeted at young adults, has an array of creative content ranging from information and entertainment articles to punchy videos, fashion trends and real time reportage of world’s latest trends.

Head, Inclusive Banking, Access Bank Plc, Ms Ope Wemi Jones, described the platform ‘as new, exciting and the most interactive platform for youths.’

She said: “Exciting premium services are available to youths who visit the platform and are also solo account holders of the bank. These services include discount on movie

tickets and clothing, VIP access to some of the hottest events in Nigeria, internships, scholarships and other personal development opportunities.”

To participate and enjoy premium service, she advised that interested people should go to any of Access Bank’s branch to open a solo account.

Speaking in the same vein, Head, Strategic Brand Management, Mr Amaechi Okobi, said : “AccelerateTV is the ultra cool blog for professionals and youths interested in world trends.

In fulfillment of the bank’s promise to cater for the needs of its heterogeneous customer base, we identified a gap and sought to fill it with the creation of this unique platform.”

He further stated that AccelerateTV is a digital platform with design and content that is youth friendly.

He predicted that soon AccelerateTV by Access Bank will take over the cyberspace and it will be the number one website for information and entertainment content.

Also, Head Digital Communication, Access Bank, Mrs Toyin Henry-Ajayi, described AccelerateTV as the next best blog in Nigeria.

Business | Financial Market News

42

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

12-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

Price

FGN Bonds Issuer

Rating/Agency

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

4,623.24

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Agency Bonds FMBN ***LCRM

Description

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

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

0.44 1.76 2.46 2.70 2.80 3.55 4.63 4.95 7.21 9.34 14.04 14.52 15.02 15.69 19.68

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

10.70 12.08 12.68 12.86 12.87 12.90 12.85 12.95 12.78 12.80 12.81 12.81 12.80 12.78 12.79

10.34 11.98 12.61 12.79 12.80 12.79 12.77 12.86 12.73 12.75 12.77 12.76 12.74 12.73 12.75

97.14 101.45 104.95 93.25 91.91 93.87 110.70 78.73 116.60 107.45 114.08 97.92 71.60 81.30 95.35

97.29 101.60 105.10 93.40 92.06 94.17 111.00 79.03 116.90 107.75 114.38 98.22 71.90 81.60 95.65

#

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

0.53 1.27 2.07 2.44 2.65

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

13.33 13.08 14.49 13.80 13.86

93.36 104.99 101.49 98.65 95.77

31-Aug-15 30-Sep-15 30-Jun-16 30-Jun-16 19-Apr-17 30-Jun-17 31-Dec-17 30-Sep-18 04-Oct-18 09-Dec-18 12-Dec-18 14-Feb-19 02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19 10-Oct-20 27-Nov-20 31-Dec-20 31-Dec-20 06-Jan-21

0.80 0.64 0.93 0.93 2.43 1.48 3.13 2.31 3.89 2.31 2.31 2.69 2.94 5.03 2.91 3.46 6.04 6.13 3.62 3.65

4.44 3.23 4.46 3.48 5.59 1.00 1.79 1.80 1.00 1.00 4.78 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.74 1.00 1.00 1.94 1.44 1.95

14.78 13.78 14.63 13.65 18.39 12.40 14.67 14.49 13.92 13.69 17.47 13.86 13.87 13.95 15.61 13.90 13.90 14.83 14.35 14.86

98.29 100.16 99.81 102.24 84.08 102.15 98.32 99.24 100.19 101.71 93.64 101.41 103.87 101.92 98.11 102.27 98.40 100.61 100.53 100.51

322.97

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

318.77

Sub-National Bonds A+/Agusto A/Agusto A-/Agusto A+/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR† A-/Agusto A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro A/Agusto A-/GCR

KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS KOGI *EKITI *NASARAWA

31-Aug-10 30-Sep-10 30-Jun-11 30-Jun-09 19-Apr-10 30-Jun-10 30-Dec-10 30-Sep-11 04-Oct-11 09-Dec-11 12-Dec-13 14-Feb-12 02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12 10-Oct-13 27-Nov-13 31-Dec-13 31-Dec-13 06-Jan-14

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

12.50 13.00 14.00 15.50 10.00 13.75 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.50 14.00 15.50 15.50 14.50 14.75 14.75 13.50 15.00 14.50 15.00

8.50 4.18 6.27 7.37 57.00 29.92 25.00 34.14 9.00 14.96 11.13 27.00 16.23 80.00 27.51 11.40 87.00 5.00 4.78 4.79

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Corporate Bonds Aa/Agusto

13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014

GTB µ NGC

Nil

17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

Bbb-/Agusto A-/Agusto

*UPDC

BB+/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

*FLOURMILLS

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR A-/Agusto

NAHCO

Nil A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR A/Agusto; A/GCR Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR Nil A+/Agusto; A-/GCR A/GCR A/GCR BBB/GCR

*C & I LEASING *DANA# *TOWER# *TOWER

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

UBA

BBB-/GCR

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

FSDH

A/GCR

471.18 462.62

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018 MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

#

UBA

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

*DANA

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

NAHCO STANBIC IBTC

182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024

STANBIC IBTC FCMB

14.25 FCMB I 6-NOV-2021

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

18-Dec-09

13.50

13.17

18-Dec-14

0.10

5.21

14.60

99.82

01-Apr-10

17.00

2.00

31-Dec-14

0.13

8.71

18.38

99.67

17-Aug-10

10.00

3.61

17-Aug-15

0.52

4.88

15.59

97.75

09-Dec-10

12.00

13.62

09-Dec-15

0.59

1.00

11.62

100.62 101.26

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.60

06-Jan-16

0.67

2.63

13.14

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

29-Sep-16

1.88

1.00

13.19

99.65

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

1.95

1.34

13.67

100.94

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

2.88

1.00

13.87

97.95

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.73

30-Nov-17

1.70

1.88

13.72

107.66

09-Apr-11

16.00

6.30

09-Apr-18

1.91

3.48

15.72

100.64

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.90

09-Sep-18

2.07

5.20

17.69

100.85

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.80

09-Sep-18

2.07

5.06

17.55

101.84

22-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

22-Sep-18

3.86

1.35

14.27

99.17

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.40

18-Oct-18

2.18

2.29

14.87

101.69

17-Feb-12

17.00

0.41

17-Feb-19

2.26

6.11

18.76

97.22

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

3.13

2.16

15.04

102.35

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

6.01

2.76

15.66

98.44

30-Sep-14

11.93

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.88

1.00

13.85

89.77

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.88

1.00

13.85

96.78

07-Nov-14

14.25

26.00

06-Nov-21

6.98

1.80

14.65

98.28

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

170.16

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

168.72

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

IFC

Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P

AfDB

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

11-Feb-18

3.25

1.00

13.89

90.58

11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021

10-Jul-14

11.25

12.95

01-Feb-21

4.47

1.00

13.96

91.66

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Rating/Agency

Issuer

24.95 22.74 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

5.30

5.14

107.59

108.43

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.44

4.20

102.28

103.10

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

5.62

5.50

105.08

105.95

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

FGN

BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,500.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

1,574.76

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

8.54

8.54

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

4.89

4.89

103.75

103.75

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

6.83

6.83

101.00

101.00

B/Fitch; B/S&P

FIDELITY BANK PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

9.30

8.85

92.93

94.20

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

6.31

5.82

98.93

100.62

B/Fitch

AFREN PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

9.67

9.67

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

6.57

6.57

98.78

98.78

B/Fitch; B/S&P

DIAMOND BANK PLC

8.75 May 21, 2019

21-May-14

8.75

200.00

21-May-19

9.24

9.00

98.22

99.10

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

8.11

8.11

99.75

99.75

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

AFREN PLC III

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

8.11

8.11

93.00

93.00

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC II

9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021

24-Jun-14

9.25

400.00

24-Jun-21

9.34

9.11

99.75

100.88

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK LTD

8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

23-Jul-14

8.00

450.00

23-Jul-21

8.35

8.35

97.25

97.25

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

8.43

8.23

100.61

101.64

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,760.00 4,730.14

**Treasury Bills DTM 8 15 22 29 43 50 57 64

FIXINGS Maturity 20-Nov-14 27-Nov-14 4-Dec-14 11-Dec-14 25-Dec-14 1-Jan-15 8-Jan-15 15-Jan-15

Bid Discount (%) 8.10 8.60 7.45 9.00 10.10 10.30 10.20 9.85

Offer Discount (%) 7.85 8.35 7.20 8.75 9.85 10.05 9.95 9.60

Bid Yield (%) 8.11 8.63 7.48 9.06 10.22 10.45 10.37 10.02

Money Market

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 11.1700 12.1799 13.3331 14.1771

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards)

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

10.96

Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

11.17

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M 3M

167.50 167.84 168.11 168.73 169.91 171.10

167.60 168.08 168.42 169.35 171.04 172.74

O/N Tenor Call 1M

REPO

Rate (%) 10.25 12.81

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

318.77

Sub-National Bonds 31-Aug-10 30-Sep-10 30-Jun-11 30-Jun-09 19-Apr-10 30-Jun-10 30-Dec-10 30-Sep-11 04-Oct-11 09-Dec-11 12-Dec-13 14-Feb-12 02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12 10-Oct-13 27-Nov-13 31-Dec-13 31-Dec-13 06-Jan-14

A+/Agusto KADUNA 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 A/Agusto *EBONYI 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 A-/Agusto *BENUE 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 A+/Agusto *IMO 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 A+/Agusto; A+/GCR LAGOS 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 A-/Agusto *BAYELSA 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 A/Agusto EDO 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, A+/Agusto; A+/GCR *DELTA NOVEMBER 13, 2014 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 A-/Agusto; A-/GCR NIGER 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 A/Agusto; A-/GCR† *EKITI 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 A-/Agusto *NIGER 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 A/Agusto; A-/GCR *ONDO 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 A/Agusto; A-/GCR *GOMBE 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR LAGOS 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 A/Agusto; A-/GCR *OSUN 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 A/Agusto *OSUN 14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020 Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR LAGOS 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro KOGI 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 A/Agusto *EKITI 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 A-/GCR *NASARAWA 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

12.50 13.00 14.00 15.50 10.00 13.75 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.50 14.00 15.50 15.50 14.50 14.75 14.75 13.50 15.00 14.50 15.00

8.50 4.18 6.27 7.37 57.00 29.92 25.00 34.14 9.00 14.96 11.13 27.00 16.23 80.00 27.51 11.40 87.00 5.00 4.78 4.79

31-Aug-15 30-Sep-15 30-Jun-16 30-Jun-16 19-Apr-17 30-Jun-17 31-Dec-17 30-Sep-18 04-Oct-18 09-Dec-18 12-Dec-18 14-Feb-19 02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19 10-Oct-20 27-Nov-20 31-Dec-20 31-Dec-20 06-Jan-21

0.80 0.64 0.93 0.93 2.43 1.48 3.13 2.31 3.89 2.31 2.31 2.69 2.94 5.03 2.91 3.46 6.04 6.13 3.62 3.65

4.44 3.23 4.46 3.48 5.59 1.00 1.79 1.80 1.00 1.00 4.78 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.74 1.00 1.00 1.94 1.44 1.95

14.78 13.78 14.63 13.65 18.39 12.40 14.67 14.49 13.92 13.69 17.47 13.86 13.87 13.95 15.61 13.90 13.90 14.83 14.35 14.86

98.29 100.16 99.81 102.24 84.08 102.15 98.32 99.24 100.19 101.71 93.64 101.41 103.87 101.92 98.11 102.27 98.40 100.61 100.53 100.51

101.69

Business | Financial Market News

43

Bulls sustain stronghold with N98bn gain market had witnessed against 33,670.75 recordconsistent depression ed last Tuesday, while the market capitalisafor 10 days.

Blue chip stocks TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE The NSE ASI rose tion of equities appredrive TOTAL market MARKET CAPITALISATION by 0.87 per cent on the ciated by N98 billion or back of position taken 0.87 per cent, as market activities Corporate Bonds by bargain hunters on 18-DEC-2014 sentiment remained on 13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-Dec-09 Aa/Agusto GTB µ 17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 01-Apr-10 the highly capitalised the green territory.

NGC Nil 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 Bbb-/Agusto *UPDC stocks.

Meanwhile, a 17-Aug-10 turnChris Ugwu 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 A-/Agusto 09-Dec-10 *FLOURMILLS The northwards over of 299.9 million 14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 BB+/GCR 06-Jan-11 *CHELLARAMS movement13.00 was driven bilhe Nigerian NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 shares worth N7.5 A+/Agusto; A-/GCR 29-Sep-11 NAHCO stock market by the activities of blue lion in 6,120 deals was 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 A-/Agusto 25-Oct-13 FSDH 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 A/GCR recorded UBAupchip companies. recorded in the30-Sep-10 day’s 18.00 C&I LEASINGthe 30-NOV-2017 BBB-/GCRward trends 30-Nov-12 *C & as I LEASING Consequently, trading.

9-APR-2018 Nil *DANA# the bulls further overAll-Share MPR+7.00 IndexDANA gained The banking09-Apr-11 subMPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR 09-Sep-11 *TOWER# sector of the financial whelmed the bears for 296.73 basis points to # MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR 09-Sep-11 *TOWER the third day afterUBAthe close at 14.00 33,967.48 as services sector was the UBA II 22-SEP-2018 A/Agusto; A/GCR 22-Sep-11

CONFIDENCE

T

Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

InvestData hosts investment summit BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR Nil

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR A/GCR A/GCR

BBB/GCR

*DANA

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

STANBIC IBTC

182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024

STANBIC IBTC FCMB

14.25 FCMB I 6-NOV-2021

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION institutional investors’ Chris Ugwu

competitive skills. nvestData ConsultOmordion said that 10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018 AAA/S&P IFC market stakeholders ing Limited, a capital 11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021 Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P AfDB market independent need to update their inTOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE research company, has vestment skills to surTOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION concluded arrangements vive the nation’s present highly volatile market.Description to hold an investment Issuer Rating/Agency summit tagged ‘INVEST He said investors FGN Eurobonds 2015’. would learn the techThis was contained niques and strategies6.75 onJAN 28, 2021 BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P in a statement issued by ways to identify winning BB-/Fitch; 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 Mr. Ambrose Omordion, FGN stocks at a minimised BB-/S&P the company’s Chief Re- risk.

BB-/Fitch; 6.38 JUL 12, 2023 BB-/S&P Officer. search Omordion stated that TOTAL OUTSTANDING He said that theVALUE sum- participants would be edTOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION mit would provide trad- ucated on ways to move ers, individual and in- with the market trend Corporate Eurobonds stitutional investors’ and how to make money 11.50 FEB 01, 2016 B/Fitch; B-/S&P AFREN PLC I techniques on ways to in the post-election mar7.50 MAY 19, 2016 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC I invest in the post-elec- ket with knowledge and 7.25 JUL 25, 2017 B+/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC tion year. confidence.

6.88 MAY 09, 2018 B/Fitch; B/S&P FIDELITY BANK PLC He noted that theGTBANK pro-PLC Other benefits of 6.00 the NOV 08, 2018 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P longed 10.25 APR 08, 2019 B/Fitch corrective mood AFREN PLC II summit are simple steps 6.25 APR 22, 2019 ofB+/Fitch; the BB-/S&P nation’s capital ZENITH BANK on PLC how to survive a down 8.75 May 21, 2019 B/Fitch; B/S&P DIAMOND BANK PLC market and the prevailmarket in profit and ways AUG 07, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK PLC ing market dynamics to manage profit and 8.25 loss 6.63 DEC 09, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P AFREN PLC III called for continuous using technical analysis, 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC II update of individual and among others. 8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

I

Supranational Bond

FIRST BANK LTD

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.40

18-Oct-18

2.18

2.29

14.87

17-Feb-12

17.00

0.41

17-Feb-19

2.26

6.11

18.76

97.22

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

3.13

2.16

15.04

102.35

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

6.01

2.76

15.66

98.44

30-Sep-14

11.93

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.88

1.00

13.85

89.77

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.88

1.00

13.85

96.78

07-Nov-14

14.25

26.00

06-Nov-21

6.98

1.80

14.65

98.28

250.00

14-Aug-21

Wole Shadare

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

with a turnover of 55.3 per share. Cadbury Nimillion shares valued geria Plc added 10.21 per at N45.5 billion in 175 cent to close at N42.30 deals. per share.

The number of gainOn the other hand, ers at the close of trad- Champion Breweries Plc led 99.82 on the ing session was0.10 36 while 5.21 Nigeria14.60 18-Dec-14 31-Dec-14 18.38 99.67 decliners closed0.13lower at 8.71 price losers’ table, drop0.52 4.88 ping at15.59 97.75 27.17-Aug-15 9.66 per cent to 09-Dec-15 100.62 N8.98 per share Oando Oil 0.59 Nigeria 1.00 close at11.62 06-Jan-16 0.67 2.63 13.14 101.26 Plc led on the1.88 gainers’ 1.00 while Learn Africa Plc 29-Sep-16 13.19 99.65 table with 10.22 per followed with a loss of 25-Oct-16 1.95 1.34 13.67 100.94 30-Sep-17 97.95 cent to close 2.88at N21. 1.00 9.27 per13.87 cent to close at 1.70 13.72 share.

107.66 6830-Nov-17 per share, while PZ 1.88 N1.37 per Flour 09-Apr-18 15.72 Cussons Plc 1.91 equally 3.48 Mills Nigeria Plc100.64 gained 09-Sep-18 2.07 5.20 17.69 100.85 followed with 10.22 per 5.02 per cent to close at 09-Sep-18 2.07 5.06 17.55 101.84 cent to close at 22-Sep-18 3.86 N21.25 1.35 N52.64 per 14.27 share. 99.17

Medview Airlines eyes listing on NSE

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

NAHCO

most active (measured by turnover volume); with 116.5 million 471.18bilshares worth N1.3 462.62 lion exchanged by investors in 1,764 deals.

Volume in the13.17 bank13.50 17.00 ing sub-sector was2.00 large10.00 by activities 3.61 in ly driven 12.00 13.62 the shares of UBA Plc 14.00 0.60 and Zenith Bank Plc. 13.00 15.00 Also, 14.25 insurance 5.53 sub 13.00 20.00 sector of the financial 18.00 0.73 services sector, boost6.30 ed by16.00 activities in the 18.00 2.90 shares of Continental 16.00 0.80 Insurance Plc, followed 14.00 35.00

in March 170.16

2011.

168.72Bankole listed the interedview Airlines said national routes the airline it had commenced plans to service to include 11-Feb-13 10.20 12.00 11-Feb-18 3.25 Abuja-Dubai, Lagos-Dubai, discussions to be 12.95 10-Jul-14 11.25 01-Feb-21 4.47 listed on the Nigerian Stock Kano-Jeddah, Lagos-Dakar, 24.95 Enugu-Singapore among Exchange (NSE).

22.74 The carrier also plans to other routes, which he said launch international operawill start Maturity next Date month.Bid Yield (%) Outstanding Value Issue Date Coupon (%) tion to Dubai next month ($mm)He said that his firm has while other routes are ex- airlifted over 750, 000 passenpected to commence early 500.00 gers since 28-Jan-21 it started opera07-Oct-11 6.75 5.30 next year. tions in 2012, while over 250, 12-Jul-13 5.13 12-Jul-18 4.44 000 pilgrims were also flown The Managing Director of 500.00 to Saudi Arabia since incepthe airline, Muneer Bankole 12-Jul-13 6.38 500.00 12-Jul-23 5.62 made these disclosures yes- tion. He described his carrier terday at a press briefing to 1,500.00 as a major player in the Hajj exercise. mark the second anniversary 1,574.76 of the carrier at the airline’s Bankole said he was exoffice in Lagos. cited with the fact that the 01-Feb-11 11.50 450.00 01-Feb-16 8.54 The carrier would be the carrier had been cleared by 19-May-11 7.50 500.00 19-May-16 4.89 third airline to list on the the United Arab Emirates 25-Jul-12 7.25 350.00 25-Jul-17 6.83 Exchange if it is eventually (UAE) to start services to the 09-May-13 6.88 300.00 02-May-18 9.30 listed. area, stressing that he was 08-Nov-13 6.00 400.00 08-Nov-18 6.31 not unmindful chalAviation Development 08-Apr-12 10.25 300.00 08-Apr-19 of the 9.67 22-Apr-14 22-Apr-19 would Company (ADC) 6.25 was the 500.00 lenges the carrier face 6.57 21-May-19Lagos-Dubai 9.24 first21-May-14 airline to be8.75 listed in 200.00 on the lucrative 1994,07-Aug-13 followed by8.25Albarka 300.00 because of 07-Aug-20 competition 8.11 from 09-Dec-13 09-Dec-20 Emirates and Arik Air. 8.11 Airline, which was6.63listed on 360.00 24-Jun-14 9.25 400.00 24-Jun-21 9.34 August 14th, 2002 but delisted 450.00He said:23-Jul-21 “You are aware 23-Jul-14 8.00

M

8.35

14-Aug-14

8.75

8.43

that we said we will commence Accra route, which we have done. On two of our aircraft that are coming, we plan 1.00 13.89 90.58 to1.00 expand to13.96 Uyo, Calabar and 91.66 other airports we feel we can expand to. We have three frequencies for now to Dubai”.

BankoleBid however, appealed Offer Yield (%) Price Offer Price to the government over the high cost of aviation fuel, Prices & Yields otherwise known as JET A1.

5.14 107.59 108.43 “It is bad that airline op4.20 103.10 erators pay102.28 $1.20 (about N174) for a litre of105.08 the aviation fuel 5.50 105.95 in a country that produces oil. This price translates to 40 per cent of our total operational costs,” Bankole said.

He urged the government 103.30 to8.54 arrange a103.30 meeting between 4.89 103.75 103.75 the major oil marketers and 6.83 101.00 101.00 airline operators on how best 8.85 92.93 94.20 to5.82 reduce the costs. 100.62 98.93 He called on the Federal 9.67 102.00 102.00 Government to remove 6.57 98.78 98.78mid9.00 98.22 99.10 fuel dlemen from the aviation 8.11 99.75 99.75 business and allow operators 93.00 to8.11 buy it directly from 93.00 the ma9.11 99.75 100.88 jor marketers.

8.35

97.25

97.25

8.23

100.61

101.64

4,760.00 4,730.14

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

12-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 FIXINGS Money Market Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) FMDQ OTC PLC Terms of Use and Disclaimer Statement on www.fmdqotc.com.

**Treasury Bills

DTM 8 15 FGN Bonds22 29 43 Rating/Agency 50 57 64 71 78 85 92 99 106 113 NA 120 134 141 148 155 162 169 176 267 TOTAL OUTSTANDING 295

VALUE

Maturity 20-Nov-14 27-Nov-14 4-Dec-14 11-Dec-14 25-Dec-14 Issuer 1-Jan-15 8-Jan-15 15-Jan-15 22-Jan-15 29-Jan-15 5-Feb-15 12-Feb-15 19-Feb-15 26-Feb-15 5-Mar-15 NA 12-Mar-15 26-Mar-15 2-Apr-15 9-Apr-15 16-Apr-15 23-Apr-15 30-Apr-15 7-May-15 6-Aug-15 3-Sep-15

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

Bid Discount (%) 8.10 8.60 7.45 9.00 10.10 Description 10.30 10.20 4.00 23-APR-2015 9.85 13.05 16-AUG-2016 9.50 15.10 27-APR-2017 10.05 9.85 27-JUL-2017 9.90 9.35 31-AUG-2017 10.15 10.70 30-MAY-2018 10.40 10.70 16.00 29-JUN-2019 10.55 7.00 23-OCT-2019 10.70 16.39 27-JAN-2022 10.65 14.20 14-MAR-2024 10.60 15.00 28-NOV-2028 10.65 12.49 22-MAY-2029 10.70 8.50 20-NOV-2029 10.80 10.00 23-JUL-2030 10.95 12.1493 18-JUL-2034 10.25 10.50 9.00

Offer Discount (%) 7.85 8.35 7.20 8.75 9.85 Issue Date 10.05 9.95 23-Apr-10 9.60 16-Aug-13 9.25 27-Apr-12 9.80 27-Jul-07 9.65 31-Aug-07 9.90 30-May-08 10.15 10.45 29-Jun-12 10.30 23-Oct-09 10.45 27-Jan-12 10.40 14-Mar-14 10.35 28-Nov-08 10.40 22-May-09 10.45 20-Nov-09 10.55 23-Jul-10 10.70 18-Jul-14 10.00 10.25 8.75

Bid Yield (%) 8.11 8.63 7.48 9.06 10.22 Coupon (%) 10.45 10.37 4.00 10.02 13.05 9.68 15.10 10.27 9.85 10.13 9.35 10.42 10.70 10.70 11.04 16.00 10.91 7.00 11.09 16.39 11.08 14.20 11.05 15.00 11.13 12.49 11.21 8.50 11.34 10.00 11.53 12.1493 10.78

NIBOR

Bonds

11.37 9.71

Tenor O/N 1M Outstanding 3M Value 6M (N'bn)

535.00 563.89 452.80 20.00 Tenor 100.00 1M 300.00 2M 3M 351.30 6M 233.90 9M 600.00 12M 371.68

23-Apr-15 16-Aug-16 27-Apr-17 27-Jul-17 Rate (%) 31-Aug-17 9.1484 30-May-18 10.1006 10.3057 29-Jun-19 10.7816 23-Oct-19 11.1588 27-Jan-22 11.3805 14-Mar-24 75.00 28-Nov-28 150.00 22-May-29 NIFEX 200.00 20-Nov-29 591.57 23-Jul-30 Current Price ($/N) 130.00 18-Jul-34 BID($/N) 168.9775 OFFER4,675.13 ($/N) 169.0775 NITTY

4,623.24

*for the Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration #

Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums Rating/Agency Issuer **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills

Agency Bonds FMBN ***LCRM Modified Duration Buckets

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION <3

3<5

Sub-National Bonds A+/Agusto A/Agusto A-/Agusto A+/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR† A-/Agusto A/Agusto; A-/GCR

>5 KADUNA Market *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO

Description

Issue Date

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 Porfolio Market Total Outstanding 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017 Value(Bn) Volume(Bn)

1,047.27 1,088.49

1,016.68 951.30

1,004.27

1,093.25 3,061.23

12.50 KADUNA3,140.03 31-AUG-2015 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

Rate (%) 11.1700 12.1799 13.3331 Maturity Date 14.1771

Coupon (%)

24-May-10 0.00 03-Apr-12 FMDQ FGN 17.25 BOND 09-Dec-11 0.00/16.00 20-Apr-12 0.00/16.50 Weighting by Weighting

by Mkt 06-Jul-12 0.00/16.50 Outstanding Vol Value

33.21 31.08

33.35 34.66

24.56

112.22 116.70 66.49 Bucket Weighting

322.97

0.33 0.31

318.77

Rate (%)

OBB

10.96

Tenor

Spot O/N 11.17 7D Offer REPO 14DYield TTM (Yrs) Bid Yield (%) Tenor Rate (%) 1M (%) Call 10.25 2M 0.44 10.70 10.34 1M 12.81 3M 1.76 12.08 11.98 3M 13.50 6M 2.46 12.68 12.61 6M 14.36 1Y 2.70 12.86 12.79 2.80 12.87 12.80 NOTE: 3.55 12.90 12.79 :Benchmarks 4.63 12.85 12.77 * :Amortising 4.95Bond 12.95 12.86 µ :Convertible 7.21Bond 12.78 12.73 AMCON: Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria 9.34 12.80 12.75 FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria 14.04 12.81 12.77 FMBN: Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria 14.52 12.81 12.76 IFC: International Finance Corporation 15.02 12.80 12.74 LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables Management 15.69 12.78 NAHCO: Nigerian Aviation Handling Company 12.73 19.68 12.79 12.75 O/N: Overnight UPDC: UAC Property Development Company WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

INDEX 3.00

Tenor

Maturity Date

24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 % Exposure_ 06-Jul-17 Mod_Duration

14.50 30.14

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

0.53 1.27 2.07 2.44 2.65 Implied Yield

# Risk Premium (%)

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 Implied 1.00 Portfolio Price

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

Price 167.60 167.50 167.84 168.08 168.11 168.42 Offer Price Bid Price 168.73 169.35 169.91 171.04 97.14 97.29 171.10 172.74 101.45 101.60 174.86 178.31 104.95 105.10 182.47 190.56 93.25 93.40 91.91 92.06 93.87 94.17 NA :Not110.70 Applicable 111.00 # :Floating Rate Bond 78.73 79.03 ***: Deferred 116.60coupon bonds 116.90 107.45 107.75 †: Bond114.08 rating expired 114.38 N/A :Not Available 97.92 98.22 71.60 71.90 81.30 81.60 NGC: Nigeria-German Company 95.35 95.65 UBA: United Bank for Africa

Valuation Yield (%) 13.33 13.08 14.49 13.80 13.86 INDEX

Indicative Price 93.36 104.99 101.49 98.65 YTD Return 95.77 (%)

12.40 12.80

119.4302 133.4708

1,134.34 1,130.18

13.4344 13.0180

102.8443 117.8702 4.44

1,202.43 1,125.56 14.78

20.2431 12.5557 98.29

35.71

31.98

0.36

55.36

12.79

100.00 31-Aug-10 30-Sep-10 30-Jun-11 30-Jun-09 19-Apr-10 30-Jun-10 30-Dec-10 30-Sep-11 04-Oct-11 09-Dec-11 12-Dec-13 14-Feb-12

100.00 12.50 13.00 14.00 15.50 10.00 13.75 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.50 14.00 15.50

8.50 1.00 4.18 6.27 7.37 57.00 29.92 25.00 34.14 9.00 14.96 11.13 27.00

100.00 31-Aug-15 30-Sep-15 30-Jun-16 30-Jun-16 19-Apr-17 30-Jun-17 31-Dec-17 30-Sep-18 04-Oct-18 09-Dec-18 12-Dec-18 14-Feb-19

12.74 0.80 0.64 0.93 0.93 2.43 1.48 3.13 2.31 3.89 2.31 2.31 2.69

3.23 4.46 3.48 5.59 1.00 1.79 1.80 1.00 1.00 4.78 1.00

13.78 14.63 13.65 18.39 12.40 14.67 14.49 13.92 13.69 17.47 13.86

100.16 99.81 102.24 84.08 102.15 98.32 99.24 100.19 101.71 93.64 101.41

44

Business | Capital Market

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH Daily Summary as of 12/11/2014 Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049

Daily Summary as of 12/11/2014

Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at November 12, 2014 Daily Summary (Equities)

Daily Summary (Bonds)

Activity Summary on Board DEBT Federal

Bond Name 16.00% FGN JUN 2019 Federal Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Symbol FG9B2019S3

No. of Deals 1 1

DEBT Board Totals

Current Price 110.55

1

Bond Activity Totals

1

Quantity Traded 1,000 1000

HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals Totals

Value Traded 1,165,825.87 1,165,825.87

1,000

1,165,825.87

1000

1,165,825.87

Processing Systems CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Totals

Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049

Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

No. of Deals 1 15 37 53

Current Price 0.50 29.79 27.29

Quantity Traded 12,000 142,330 544,260 698,590

Value Traded 6,000.00 4,029,362.30 14,752,381.32 18,787,743.62

No. of Deals 42 42 Daily Summary (Equities)

Current Price 2.50

Quantity Traded 1,000,187 1,000,187

Value Traded 2,529,854.10 2,529,854.10

1,698,777

21,317,597.72

Symbol LIVESTOCK

AGRICULTURE Totals

95

Activity Summary on Board EQTY CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. CHELLARAMS PLC. Published by TRANSNATIONAL The Nigerian Stock CORPORATION Exchange © OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

Symbol AGLEVENT CHELLARAM TRANSCORP UACN

No. of Deals 20 1 75 52 148

CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Daily Summary as of 12/11/2014 ROADS NIG PLC. Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049 Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals

148

Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals

Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. Daily SummaryHONEYWELL as of 12/11/2014 FLOUR MILL PLC Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. Food Products Totals Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC.

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Food Products--Diversified Totals CONSUMER GOODS PublishedHousehold

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Household Durables Totals Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking BANK PLC. Published byWEMA The Nigerian Stock Exchange © ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. MANSARD INSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. Daily Summary as of 12/11/2014 WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049 Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Micro-Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals

INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & TRUST PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

34,795,118.53 Value Traded 230,552.50 230,552.50

Symbol JBERGER ROADS

No. of Deals 7 1 8

Current Price 67.20 6.29

Quantity Traded 19,590 300 19,890

Value Traded 1,250,625.60 1,980.00 1,252,605.60

No. of Deals 21 (Equities) 21

Current Price 12.00

Quantity Traded 130,320 130,320

Value Traded 1,563,793.00 1,563,793.00

430,216

3,046,951.10

Symbol UAC-PROP

Daily Summary

45

Symbol CHAMPION GUINNESS INTBREW NB

No. of Deals 7 43 16 348 414

Current Price 8.98 163.68 29.50 164.98

Quantity Traded 188,910 Page 91,291 732,395 8,119,339 9,131,935

Symbol 7UP

No. of Deals 27 27

Current Price 148.83

Quantity Traded 35,962 35,962

Value Traded 5,316,725.59 5,316,725.59

No. of Deals 5 137 252 32 1 73 1 501

Current Price 6.55 6.62 52.64 3.45 0.50 8.30 19.00

Quantity Traded 17,820 5,908,252 5,512,288 592,619 6,000 6,310,426 1,200 18,348,605

Value Traded 111,018.60 38,233,810.44 277,566,548.76 2,043,113.40 3,120.00 52,487,260.00 21,720.00 370,466,591.20

Current Price 42.30 910.00

Quantity Traded 329,950 187,606 517,556

Value Traded 13,949,717.54 170,357,723.12 184,307,440.66

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR MULTITREX NASCON NNFM

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol No. of Deals CADBURY NESTLE

53 70 123

Value Traded

21,720,499.30 of 13 14,946,145.94 21,833,710.66 1,338,790,942.49 1,377,291,298.39

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals 26 5 31

Current Price 4.06 1.01

Page Quantity Traded 486,612 145,577 632,189

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals 243 33 276

Current Price 21.25 29.76

Quantity Traded 4,315,288 342,750 4,658,038

Value Traded 91,636,695.77 10,200,240.00 101,836,935.77

33,324,285

2,041,333,135.52

Current Price 8.00 6.02 17.30 1.69 24.43 2.66 2.31 5.16 8.05 0.50

Quantity Traded 15,316,832 16,161,517 11,007,605 2,962,648 17,019,787 6,289,395 1,781,739 24,935,158 971,023 3,000

Value Traded 124,738,334.10 94,999,370.21 192,365,004.24 5,043,942.52 417,290,751.92 16,782,892.20 4,110,207.71 130,389,407.67 7,813,747.75 1,500.00

No. of Deals 26 377 1,764

Current Price 0.97 21.00

Quantity Traded 1,133,173 Page 18,944,897 116,526,774

No. of Deals 15 10 5 1 1 1 8 5 43 3 1 82 175

Current Price 0.80 0.89 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 3.00 0.51 0.74 0.50 0.50 0.60

No. of Deals 2 7 9

Current Price 5.42 0.90

1,372 Symbol No. of Deals ACCESS 212 DIAMONDBNK 94 ETI 55 FIDELITYBK 47 GUARANTY 395 SKYEBANK 98 Daily Summary (Equities) STERLNBANK 50 UBA 357 UBN 51 UNITYBNK 2

Symbol WEMABANK ZENITHBANK Symbol AIICO CONTINSURE CORNERST GUINEAINS HMARKINS LASACO MANSARD MBENEFIT NEM PRESTIGE STDINSURE WAPIC Symbol FORTISMFB

Daily Summary (Equities) NPFMCRFBK

Symbol INFINITY Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS DEAPCAP FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC PHARMA-DEKO PLC.

6,370,099 Quantity Traded 280,006 280,006

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICES Published byMortgage The Nigerian Stock Brokers Exchange © Services Carriers, and

13,012,960.90 34,795,118.53

Current Price 0.82

CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking BANK PLC. Daily SummaryACCESS as of 12/11/2014 DIAMOND BANK PLC Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049 ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. Activity Summary on Board EQTY UNITY BANK PLC

Value Traded 630,845.81 376.00

121,150,935.82 of 13

No. of Deals 16 16

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals

CONSUMER GOODS

Quantity Traded 493,793 100 Page 5,595,519 280,687 6,370,099

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 1.45

No. of Deals 71 55 1 677 104 5 57 128 1,098

Current Price 2.97 4.00 0.79 10.51 3.35 0.51 27.64 1.89

3,048 Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH PHARMDEKO

No. of Deals 4 4 22 28 20 1

Current Price 2.20 3.25 51.00 1.56 0.91 2.48

Value Traded 165,000.00 197,774.40 362,774.40

5 of 13 Value Traded 16,720.00 16,720.00

Value Traded 7,210.50 360,750.00 23,096,139.36 882,773.80 527,031.60 520.00

Page

6

of

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 1,001,000 1,001,000

Value Traded 500,500.00 500,500.00

1,020,894

510,667.00 Value Traded 25,924,423.42 1,224,880.21 2,744,515.80 10,675,284.84 3,016,923,498.64 1,181,526.13 132,294,678.82 3,190,968,807.86

No. of Deals 59 21 16 36 231 (Equities) 10 130 503

Current Price 26.56 7.60 36.60 11.56 169.74 5.21 81.00

Quantity Traded 979,126 157,234 75,345 920,989 18,112,219 230,529 1,633,229 22,108,671

Symbol CUTIX

No. of Deals 12 12

Current Price 1.48

Page Quantity Traded 201,700 201,700

7 of 13 Value Traded

Symbol AVONCROWN BETAGLAS

No. of Deals 3 8 11

Current Price 1.59 22.05

Quantity Traded 9,874 117,700 127,574

Value Traded 15,839.66 2,595,760.00 2,611,599.66

22,437,945

3,193,879,511.52

299,104.00 299,104.00

Symbol BOCGAS

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 5.48

Quantity Traded 3,100 3,100

Value Traded 16,151.00 16,151.00

Symbol MULTIVERSE

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 50,000 50,000

Value Traded 25,000.00 25,000.00

53,100

41,151.00

Quantity Traded 196,600 196,600

Value Traded 98,300.00 98,300.00

Symbol No. of Deals Daily Summary (Equities) JAPAULOIL

6 6

Current Price 0.50

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 392 392

Current Price 21.68

Page Quantity Traded 13,147,911 13,147,911

9 of 13 Value Traded 283,633,845.96 283,633,845.96

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

Symbol CONOIL ETERNA FO MOBIL MRS TOTAL

No. of Deals 2 54 126 33 3 13 231

Current Price 49.23 3.38 207.99 165.00 56.00 159.00

Quantity Traded 3,000 1,207,642 495,613 109,204 435 12,310 1,828,204

Value Traded 140,310.00 3,980,628.26 102,612,751.27 18,013,500.92 23,142.00 1,958,498.40 126,728,830.85

Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals

Symbol SEPLAT

No. of Deals 41 41

Current Price 483.11

Quantity Traded 153,787 153,787

Value Traded 74,296,137.57 74,296,137.57

15,326,502

484,757,114.38

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 100 100

Value Traded 50.00 50.00

Current Price 0.60

Quantity Traded 61,557

Value Traded 38,780.91

OIL GAS Totals Daily Summary asAND of 12/11/2014 Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049 SERVICES Advertising AFROMEDIA PLC Advertising Totals

SERVICES Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

Quantity Traded 30,000 219,320 249,320

Quantity Traded 3,450 111,000 456,519 562,955 578,760 200

No. of Deals 6 6

4

OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment Services Totals Activity Summary and on Board EQTY

Automobile/Auto Part Retailers

Value Traded 966,842.21 35,486,652.20 87,500.00 2,500.00 500.00 50,000.00 59,126.97 21,170.00 2,816,403.74 47,900.00 2,500.00 6,049,199.07 45,590,294.19

1,781,923,677.83

Symbol CHAMS

NATURAL RESOURCES Totals

Activity Summary on Board R T BRISCOE PLC. EQTY

Value Traded 4 1,091,790.83 of 13 399,033,896.13 1,393,660,845.28

214,598,945

Mining Services MULTIVERSE PLC

Mining Services Totals Daily Summary as of 12/11/2014 Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049

OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals

1,970,757.30 143,386.61 2,114,143.91

Value Traded 5,889,839.12 23,586,467.25 380.00 239,032,266.79 22,744,181.69 32,880.44 43,662,762.73 7,344,265.94 342,293,043.96

Value Traded 10,167.00 10,167.00

526

NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals B.O.C. GASES PLC. Chemicals Totals

24,874,425.26

Quantity Traded 19,894 19,894

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

OIL AND GAS

3Value Traded of 13

Quantity Traded 1,960,391 5,911,571 500 22,209,663 6,756,917 63,098 1,603,960 3,919,503 42,425,603

Packaging/Containers AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals

Integrated andExchange Gas Services Published by The Nigerian Oil Stock ©

Quantity Traded 1,234,675 39,872,980 175,000 5,000 1,000 100,000 19,709 41,000 3,813,451 95,800 5,000 10,022,633 55,386,248

Quantity TradedPage 11,000 11,000

CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals

1,712,884 Current Price 0.50

Symbol ASHAKACEM BERGER CAP CCNN DANGCEM Daily Summary PORTPAINT WAPCO

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Published by The Nigerian Exchange © Electronic and Stock Electrical Products

Value Traded 24,874,425.26

No. of Deals 2 2

8

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials Daily Summary as of 12/11/2014 ASHAKA CEM PLC Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049 BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Activity Summary on Totals Board EQTY Building Materials

Quantity Traded 1,712,884

Symbol COURTVILLE

ICT Totals

Symbol COSTAIN

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION PLC. Published by The NigerianBREW. Stock Exchange © GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC.

Current Price 1.27 3.95 3.78 46.80

Current Price

79

ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Computer Based Systems Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Symbol FTNCOCOA OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 79

HEALTHCARE Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Cropas Production Totals Daily Summary of 12/11/2014

Symbol

670 Symbol AFROMEDIA

Daily Summary

No. of Deals 1 1 (Equities)

Symbol RTBRISCOE

No. of Deals 7

Page Quantity Traded 61,557

10 of 13 Value Traded

Symbol

No. of Deals 7

Current Price

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

Symbol REDSTAREX

No. of Deals 14 14

Current Price 4.00

Quantity Traded 161,350 161,350

Value Traded 646,028.95 646,028.95

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL

No. of Deals 11 11

Current Price 3.04

Quantity Traded 1,394,400 1,394,400

Value Traded 4,238,976.00 4,238,976.00

Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC Media/Entertainment Totals

Symbol DAARCOMM

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 1,050 1,050

Value Traded 525.00 525.00

Symbol ACADEMY LEARNAFRCA UPL

No. of Deals 4 6 16 26

Current Price 1.13 1.37 4.13

Quantity Traded 61,100 69,100 215,344 345,544

Value Traded 69,043.00 95,017.00 825,894.14 989,954.14

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 13 13

Current Price 0.62

Quantity Traded 205,700 205,700

Value Traded 128,229.00 128,229.00

Symbol NSLTECH

No. of Deals 1

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 1,000

Value Traded 500.00

Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LEARN AFRICA PLC Daily Summary as of 12/11/2014 UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049 Printing/Publishing Totals Road Transportation ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Transportation Totals Specialty

Activity Summary on Board EQTY SECURE ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY PLC Published SERVICES

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Specialty Specialty Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

Page Quantity Traded 1,000

38,780.91

11 of 13 Value Traded

Symbol

No. of Deals 1

Current Price

Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

No. of Deals 2 33 35

Current Price 1.83 4.62

Quantity Traded 8,600 634,123 642,723

Value Traded 14,964.00 2,994,216.10 3,009,180.10

Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC Support and Logistics Totals

Symbol CAVERTON

No. of Deals 11 11

Current Price 4.02

Quantity Traded 43,461 43,461

Value Traded 172,622.37 172,622.37

SERVICES Totals

EQTY Board Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

500.00

121

2,856,885

9,224,846.47

6,116

299,830,532

7,595,704,196.33

Quantity Traded 82,000 82,000

Value Traded 46,230.00 46,230.00

Daily Summary as of 12/11/2014 Activity Summary on Board ASeM Printed 12/11/2014 14:50:49.049

FINANCIAL SERVICES Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services OMOLUABI SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Symbol OMOSAVBNK

No. of Deals 3 3

Daily Summary (Equities)

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals

3

Activity Summary on Board ASeM Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © SERVICES

Food/Drug Retailers and Wholesalers JULI PLC. Food/Drug Retailers and Wholesalers Totals

Current Price 0.57

82,000 Page

Symbol JULI

No. of Deals 1 1

SERVICES Totals

Current Price 1.75

46,230.00 12

of

Quantity Traded 100 100

Value Traded 167.00 167.00

100

167.00

1

ASeM Board Totals

4

82,100

46,397.00

Equity Activity Totals

6,120

299,912,632

7,595,750,593.33

13

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund

Name NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals

13

Symbol NEWGOLD VETGRIF30

No. of Deals 1 2 3

Current Price 1,907.00 15.53

Quantity Traded 15 330 345

Value Traded 28,605.00 5,092.90 33,697.90

ETF Board Totals

3

345

33,697.90

ETP Activity Totals

3

345

33,697.90

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Page

13

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13

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2014

News 45

SOUTH-WEST

Olanipekun urges Fayose to disregard tantrums ENDORSEMENT Ekiti governor gets high marks from top lawyer and indigene Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

F

ormer National President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA),

Chief Wole Olanipekun , has advised Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, to disregard all the opposition’s tantrums being thrown at his administration, which he described as distractions if he wants to lead the state to greater heights.

Olanipekun, gave the advice in Ado-Ekiti, when he paid the governor a courtesy visit in his office.

In a statement by the governor’s Chief Press

Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi yesterday, the former NBA president said Fayose’s victory in last June governorship election was well-deserved.

“You are an achiever going by your performance during your first term in office. Your victory in the June 21 governorship election is welldeserved. You laid the foundation for the state during your first term.

“I am sure you are go-

ing to do more this time around.

Don’t allow the opposition to distract you. The people of the state have not made a mistake voting for you, as they made the right choice. Face the implementation of the programmes you have lined up for execution as Ekiti people will not judge you by how you have replied the opposition, but by what you do to improve their living standard,” the

statement quoted Olanipekun as saying.

The senior litigant, said though there were some challenges the administration inherited, he expressed optimism that they would be surmounted.

Olanipekun, promised to support the government and urged the people of the state to do same.

In his remarks, Fayose appreciated him for the visit, saying he had

known and seen Olanipekun as a great son of Ekiti who is respected.

“You have distinguished yourself in your calling and I respect you as a great Ekiti son and leader. I need the support of people like you and all Ekiti sons and daughters. I promise not to allow the ranting of the opposition to distract me and I will deliver on my electoral promises,” he added.

FIRS apprehends defaulters Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

S

L-R: Timi of Ede, Oba Munirudeen Lawal; representatives of Osun and Oyo State governors, Mr. Oguntola Togun and Prof. Solomon Olaniyan; book presenter, Prof. John Ayoade and his wife, Adedoyin; at the presentation of “The Legislative and Governance in Nigeria” in Ibadan …yesterday

Ekiti to enjoy regular power supply Adesina Wahab ADO-EKITI

T

he Ekiti State Government, has urged authorities of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), to urgently rectify the fault in the Osogbo/ Akure 330kv transmission line which has thrown parts of Ekiti and Ondo states, into darkness since last week Monday.

Special Assistant to the Governor on Information and Civic Orientation, Hon. Lanre Ogunsuyi, who made the call during a visit to the District Business Manager of the BEDC in Ado-Ekiti,

expressed dissatisfaction of the State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, with the power situation in the state, adding that the company should not bring unnecessary suffering to the people of the state as the situation had crippled many businesses that rely mainly on electricity to operate.

The Special Assistant stressed that Governor Fayose, would not allow any form of suffering to be meted to the people, adding that he would not continue to watch people suffer for no just reason.

Stating that the governor had approved the re-

lease of the sum five million naira to offset part of the debt owed the BEDC in Ifaki-Ekiti, as a palliative measure for better service delivery, Ogunsuyi appealed to people of the state not to take the law into their hands by vandalising BEDC installations.

Wondering why the past administration should owe the BEDC over N130 million debt within four years, Ogunsuyi promised, that he would ensure that the present administration look into the debt profile and pay as soon as possible.

He enjoined the people

to exercise more patience assuring that all hands were on deck to overcome the present challenges in the sector.

Responding, the Business District Manager for Ado-Ekiti, Engr. O.K Ajani, said efforts were in top gear to rectify the problem along the OsogboAkure 330KV lines which supply power to Ado-Ekiti, Akure, Igbara-Oke and Owo supply districts.

Ajani said the task of rectifying the problem was tedious as the transmission lines pass through thick forest and very difficult terrain.

‘Tinubu has no anointed governorship candidate’ Temitope Ogunbanke

A

governorship aspirant in the Lagos All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adekunle Disu, has revealed to New Telegraph some issues that formed the fulcrum of the meeting between the former Lagos State governor and APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the party’s governorship as-

pirants on Sunday.

Speaking to New Telegraph in an exclusive interview, Disu said issues discussed at the AP leader’s Ikoyi home include how to ensure cordial relationship among the party’s governorship aspirants and it has nothing to do with the endorsement of any aspirant for the forthcoming December 2 gubernatorial primaries of the party.

“The meeting in Asiwaju’s house was not for any agreement. It was purely a family parley for everybody to know that there is no anointed candidate and that everybody is qualified to be governor. And since we are all members of the same family, there should be no misunderstanding. We should move freely with one another and work together.

There would only be one

governor and whoever wins at the primaries, everybody would support him or her.

“There was no instruction or any agreement at the meeting and it was not meant for any agreement or anything.

It was just for the aspirants to know that the party’s leadership in Lagos recognised those who have obtained and submitted nomination forms,” he said.

even companies that have allegedly evaded tax payments estimated at N250 million, have been apprehended and quizzed by officials of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), South-West Zone.

The affected companies would soon be charged to the Federal High Court, Mr Nureni Ibrahim of the Special Enforcement Unit, FIRS South West Zone said, “We shall persecute them at the appropriate courts where we hope to see the law make it mandatory for them to pay the total outstanding amount.

Fashola blasts FG over unfulfilled promises Muritala Ayinla

L

agos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday advised Nigerians not to be swayed by the promises of the President Goodluck Jonathan led- Federal Government again, saying all promises made four years ago were not fulfilled.

Lamenting the insecurity being presently experienced in the country, Fashola, who pointed out that Nigerians have the right to correct the wrong they made with the election of President Jonathan four years ago, urged that they should not make the same mistake of being deceived to vote the same President, whose administration have allowed some parts of the country to be taken over by insurgents.

The Governor, who spoke in Lagos at the monthly Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme’s (LagosHOMs) draw held at LTV 8 compound in Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, wondered why the security situation in the country

worsens by the day, regretting the extent to which the country has degenerated.

According to him,”They enjoy making promises they cannot keep. You have heard promises about security, not so? Promises made four years ago. But, we handed them the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with all its components parts intact and we are back four years after with some parts of Nigeria already taken away from them and they are saying the next four years will be better.”

He therefore advised Nigerians to be wary of politicians who come to them during this electoral period to make superficial promises, urging them to critical assess the track records of the politicians and their political parties before deciding for them.

He blamed the federal government over the activities of Boko Haram insurgents, saying FG’s failure on security was responsible for the sect’s takeover of some parts of the country.

46

News

thursday, november 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

south — EAST

Ex-commissioner faults automatic ticket for Ojukwu’s son Tony Okafor Awka

T

he purported automatic ticket offered to the son of the late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Emeka, to run for the Nnewi North/South / Ekwusigo House of Representatives seat by the leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has become a sub-

ject of controversy among party members.

Addressing newsmen in Awka yesterday, erstwhile commissioner in the administration of former Governor Peter Obi, Okoli Akirika, flayed the endorsement, describing it as undemocratic.

Akirika, a lawyer, who acknowledged that the late Igbo leader deserved some privileges and concessions because of what he stood for, however, said before such privileges

could be accorded him, it ought to be discussed and agreed by members.

He said the automatic endorsement of Ojukwu for the seat was a misrepresentation of intent as the party had caused some aspirants to purchase forms and embark on electioneering activities, believing that there would be level playing ground for all contestants only to be told that the position had been ‘reserved’ for somebody.

The former commissioner also criticised some actions of the party that could bring about catastrophic consequences.

He said the party’s 2014 electoral guidelines violated many sections of APGA constitution and extant laws.

“For instance, the guidelines in its preamble clause said in the event of any conflict between APGA constitution and the guidelines, that the guidelines would pre-

vail" that would amount to standing the law on its head, a guideline should be inferior to the constitution.

He said the guidelines lacked legitimacy, having been signed by the national legal adviser rather than the national secretary of the party, who is constitutionally authorised to sign documents on behalf of the party.

Contending further, Akirika said Article 10 (4) of the party’s constitution

recommended a 10-man state delegates’ congress while the guidelines reduced it to three, an act which he described as unconstitutional, undemocratic and exclusionary.

He called on APGA leadership to redress the situation to save the party from the impending electoral jeopardy in the 2015 polls.

Emejor emerges Abia NUJ chair Igbeaku Orji Umuahia

A

L-R: Anambra State Deputy Governor, Dr Nkem Okeke; Director General Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Joseph Odumodu and Alhaji Adebowale, at the Block Moulders / All Cement Allied Products training/Sensitisation forum in Awka, Anambra State…yesterday

UNN students welcome Why I remain in politics, by Umeh reduction in school fees Tony Okafor Awka

cheery

Lagos and other universities need to visit Nsukka for lectures of fees

Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

R

eturning and fresh students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu, now paying their school fees for the 2014/2015 session met a pleasant surprise as the authorities of the institution have reduced the fees.

When we contacted the Vice-Chancellor, Prof.

Chukwuma Ozumba, on telephone yesterday, he confirmed the development saying; “UNN is the only institution in the country that has reduced school fees,” adding that others are rather increasing theirs.

Although, the detail of the reduction was not available, New Telegraph

gathered that for old students in the Faculties of Arts and, perhaps, Social Sciences, the fee payable per student is N34, 000 as against N45, 000 paid last session.

One of the affected returning student, a third year student of the Department of Mass Communications, told New Telegraph that each new student of the Faculty of Arts would now pay N38, 000 this new session as against N54, 000 paid last session.

Another student said those who gained admission this session into UNN through direct entry admissions would each pay additional N5, 000 in the Arts Faculty, a situation which would bring the amount payable per direct entry fresh students to N43, 000.

Most of the students who spoke on the development recalled the harsh days that ushered in the administration of the immediate past vice-chancellor of the institution, Prof.

Bartholdi Okolo.

N

ational Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, yesterday justified his reasons for remaining in politics after the expiration of his tenure as APGA boss on February 10, saying he would need to stay back and perfect certain agenda for Ndigbo before bowing out.

He said that was why he had chosen to run for the senate seat, rather than retiring to man his business after serving APGA for nearly a decade as was his initial contemplation.

Umeh said for him, “things are not going the desired direction for the Igbo in Nigeria.”

He spoke at the convention of Catholic Women Organisation Deanery II, Awka and at the 50th year anniversary of Bubendorff Memorial Grammar

School, Adazi, Nnukwu, his alma matter.

He called on Anambra electorate to demonstrate and appreciate the quality services APGA rendered to the people of the state for nine years by voting overwhelmingly for the candidates of the party in the 2015 legislative elections in the state so as to form the desired synergy with Governor Willie Obiano and continue to turn around for the state for the better.

Don blames FG over varsities’ neglect Charles Onyekwere ABAKALIKI

T

he Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ebonyi State chapter, Prof. Ndubusi Idenyi, has blamed the Federal Government for allegedly neglecting to rehabilitate universities across the country.

Idenyi made this known yesterday while briefing journalists in Abakaliki during the first year an-

niversary of the death of Prof. Festus Iyayi, the former National Chairman of ASUU, who died in his struggle for the betterment of the union last year.

He said the Nigerian educational sector is drastically going into oblivion and asked the Federal Government to provide valid infrastructures in the nation’s universities.

According to him, “The symposium is to mark the one year anniversary of the death of Prof. Festus Iyayi,

who died on his way to Kano to attend ASUU NEC meeting, which would have resulted in calling off the strike embarked upon by the union then.

The one day symposium with the theme; “The life and struggles of Prof.

Festus Iyayi,” according to Idenyi is a great loss to the union, but lamented the suspension of four universities across the country by ASUU for allegedly resuming academic activities before the officials called off the strike.

Director of Information in the Abia State Ministry of Information and Strategy, John Chijioke Emejor, has emerged the Nigeria Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) chairman of the Abia State council.

Emejor emerged yesterday after beating his opponent, another director in the Ministry, Uzoma Isiapku, by 73 votes to 29 at the triennial delegates’ conference of the union at the NUJ Press Centre, Umuahia, supervised by the National Vice-President of Zone C of the union, Chris Isiguzo and the National Assistant Secretary, James Uweh.

Other positions in which the contestants were returned unopposed are the Vice-Chairman, Boniface Okoro; Secretary, Uche Arungwa; Financial Secretary, Emeka Okafor; Treasurer, Chubuzor Madukairo; Assistant Secretary, Adaeze Ralph Igbokwe and Internal Auditor, Victor Ndukwe.

In his acceptance speech, Emejor said he was overwhelmed by the support of his colleagues, assuring them that he will not disappoint them. He also promised to sustain the legacies of the former Chairman, Comrade Hyacinth Okoli.

Egwu calls for consultation Charles Onyekwere ABAKALIKI

F

ormer Governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Sam Egwu, has called for an all-inclusive form of consultation before choosing candidates for the 2015 general elections.

In a chat with journalists in his Ezzamgbo country home, Egwu spoke of his readiness to contest the Ebonyi North senatorial seat, charging politicians not to allow their personal interests override the collective aspiration of the people of the state.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2014

PROTEST Placard-carrying youths storm party secretariat over delegates’ list Clement James CALABAR

A

bout 400 youths under the aegis of the Peoples Democratic Party Movement yesterday besieged the State Secretariat of the party, to demand for the release of the congress results.

Carrying placards with various inscriptions such as; “Release our delegates congress result;” “PDP stop keeping us in suspense;” “We are tired of wait-

News 47

SOUTH-SOUTH

Youths protest non-release of PDP’s delegates’ list in C’River ing;” among others, the youths gathered at the along Murtala Mohammed way, chanting songs to press home their demand from the state leadership of the party, to release the results.

The leader of the group, Mr. Solomon Edem, said the reason for the protest was to appeal to PDP to release the names of those that were elected during the ward delegates’ congress.

“We are here to express ourselves. On Nov. 1, PDP ward delegates’ congress were conduct-

ed across the state and up till now, we have not seen the result.”

He further noted; “we have been here since morning. We are not happy, we need our result. Even those who wrote WAEC have since got their result. So we need our delegates’ result too.”

He said they were tired of waiting indefinitely for the result, hence the protest.

“Let the national leadership of PDP release our result because we are tired of waiting.

Our prayers now are that those that came from Abuja to conduct the election, should release our result to us’’, he said.

According to him, the delay in releasing names of the elected delegates “may result in changing the names in the real list to other names.”

Addressing the youths on behalf of the party chairman, the Administrative Secretary of the party, Barr.

Peter Bebia, said that the delegates’ congress was conducted in a free, fair and transparent

manner.

Bebia, appealed to the youths to maintain calm and assured them that their message would be taken to the appropriate authority.

He however used the opportunity to dismiss rumours that the state PDP secretariat in the state was sealed off over the weekend, explaining that the secretariat was locked because members of the state exco went to Abuja to witness the declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan for 2015 election.

L-R: Head, Regional Sales, South–South, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Enekwachi Aja; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, River State, Mr. Minabelem Michael West and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Cross River State University of Technology, Prof. Gabriel U. Ikpi, at the Etisalat Merit Awards 2014 in Port Harcourt…yesterday

Uduaghan sacks aides for disloyalty Dominic Adewole ASABA

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elta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, has wielded the big stick against some disloyal aides, as he announced the removal of some members of his cabinet in a move purported to ensure the governor gets a substantial level of the party machinery in the state ahead of the 2015 general elections.

The move, was said to have seen the governor’s hammer on the former Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr. Kingsley Emu and his counterpart in Local Government Affairs, Newworld Safugha.

Their appointments were also said to have been immediately given to new appointees already in the administration.

While Emu was sacked

for allegedly hobnobbing with Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, who is gunning for the governorship seat of the state in 2015 against the Governor’s leaning, Sefugha was kicked out for partnering Senator James Manager to scuttle the governor’s senatorial ambition next year.

They were thrown out of the Governor’s administration, a top government source told the New Telegraph at the Government House in Asaba yesterday because the duo of Emu and Sefugha refused to yield to several warnings from the governor, asking them to resign.

“The governor has warned that anyone who has contrary view to his political advancement among us should resign honourably but these two Commissioners refused.

Instead, they enaged in conspiracy with the governor’s opponents and were

leaking vital information concerning his progress to his detractor.”

“What broke the Carmel’s back was the meeting convened at the instance of one of their principals in Warri, where several governorship aspirants teamed up against the Governos’s perceived aspirant, Sir Tony Obuh”, the source hinted.

While Safugha was allegedly occupying Senator Manager’s slot in the Governor’s cabinet, Emu was said to have been co-opted into the system by Okowa when he was the Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

The source continued, “since the meeting between the Governor and Senator Manager on Delta South Senatorial race was deadlocked with the latter demanding for the Deputy Governorship of the state, the Governor had no other choice than to take his destiny in his hand.”

Urhobo disown claim on Emerhor’s endorsement Gabriel Choba UGHELLI

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ontrary to recent media report that that the apex body of the Urhobo in Delta State, the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), has endorsed Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, who is currently aspiring to contest the Delta State governorship election in 2015, the Union has disowned the claim of any such endorsement.

The report had said that Union had equally promised to mobilize Urhobo nation to vote enmass for the aspirant as the tribes Union distance itself from all the claims.

UPU, while speaking to select Journalists through its President General, Chief Joseph Omene, said, “We have not endorsed anybody from any political party.

When Olorogun O’tega Emerhor came last Sunday to consult with UPU on his aspiration to govern Delta State through the APC, we told him and his entourage that Urhobo nation shall only vote for any political party that fields an Urhobo person. At the same time, it is not our best interest to play opposition politics in 2015.”

“We are therefore requesting PDP to field an Urhobo person as a condition to get our enbloc votes both at the governorship and at the presidential election.

Ijaw warns Jonathan against EPZ flag-off Gabriel Choba UGHELLI

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n order to avert another likely bloodbath between the Itsekiri and Ijaw in Delta State, the people of Sokobolou and Yokiri communities in Ogulagha Kingdom, Burutu Local Government Area of the state, have warned President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, to urgently halt the proposed flag-off of the Export Processing Zone,

in the state.

In a letter signed by Comrades Adowei Binaebi and Daniel Comboye, Youth Presidents of Sokobolou and Yokori communities respectively and addressed to Jonathan, with a copy made available to New Telegraph, the communities noted that their decision to urge Jonathan to stop the flag-off of the EPZ project proposed for Friday 14 November, 2014 was due to the fact that

the issue of exclusion of their communities’ (Sokobolou/Yokori) name as host communities to the project, has not been addressed by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan.

The statement reads, “As part of his promise to create employment for the youths, we heard from reliable sources that President Goodluck Jonathan will flag-off the EPZ project on Friday 14 November, 2014.

Briggs to PDP: Give guber ticket to Wike and lose Rivers Emmanuel Masha PORT HARCOURT

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rontline Niger Delta activist, Ann Kio-Briggs has warned the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),in River State, not to contemplate the idea of giving the party’s governorship ticket to the former Minister of State for

Education, Barr. Nyesom Wike, stating that doing so, would cost the party the outright loss of the State in the 2015 general elections.

She also urged the national leadership of the party to urgently intervene in the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party, and equally warned that no level of rigging, would guarantee the PDP

victory in the state’s governorship if the party chooses the former minister as its flagbearer.

The Niger Delta activist, stated this in Port Harcourt, noting that it was wrong for Wike, to succeed Governor Rotimi Amaechi, his kinsman, in 2015, adding that other ethnic groups would kick against the move.

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News

dynasty

Murtala Mohammed's son, Abba and Sani Abacha's ward, Mohammed, want to rule too Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

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urviving son of the late Head of State, Murtala Mohammed, yesterday said he is the candidate to beat in the December 8 governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State.

Mohammed also predicted victory for the PDP in Kano State in the 2015 general elections in the state.

“PDP is very formidable and I am convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the PDP will win the election in Kano State. If I was not convinced, I will not have been aspiring on the platform of the PDP. We will deliver Kano State to PDP come 2015 by God’s grace,” he stressed.

Mohammed was at the PDP national secretariat yesterday to return his nomination and expression of intent forms for the governorship primary.

With his entrance into the race, PDP now has two sons of former heads of state from Kano State seeking to fly its flag. The other candidate is Mohammed Sani Abacha.

The candidates, however, may have difficulty beating Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau’s anointed candidate, Mallam Salihu Sa-

Murtala's son sure of victory in Kano gir Takai.

But Mohammed said leaders of the party were guided by the interest of the state and would allow a level playing field among the aspirants.

“I am not aware that any candidate has been endorsed by anyone. I believe that the two honourable ministers that are representing Kano are statesmen; they are fa-

T

araba State Acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, yesterday said peace has returned to the troubled areas of the state, contrary to the immediate past Minister of State of Niger Delta Affairs, Darius Ishaku’s comment that the state is at war.

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Aaron Artimas, the acting governor warned politicians against statements capable of leading the state into crisis, emphasising that Taraba is not in a state of war.

He also added that politicians have a duty to focus more on encouraging the people to live peacefully instead of lining behind religion and ethnic sentiments to advance personal and political interest.

The acting governor also chided Ishaku, a Peoples Democratic Par-

thers of the party in Kano State and they represent the interest of everyone and I know that they will be neutral in this quest to come up with a candidate that will represent the interest of the citizens of Kano State,” he argued.

The former special assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo on international relations and privatisation said he is the

8.08%

The percentage share of passenger air travel of Port Harcourt airport (domestic wing) of Nigeria’s air passengers in 2012.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

only candidate with clearly defined blueprint in the Kano gubernatorial race.

He said his administration will be anchored on electricity generation as the engine of growth while education, health and agriculture will be developed alongside the needed infrastructure for poverty eradication.

This, Abba said, will breed contentment among

€42m

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

Source: Goal.com

the people.

“I believe I have a lot to offer the people of Kano State. I have already come up with my programme, which focuses on electricity, education, healthcare agriculture and infrastructure. I believe that once we have been able to provide electricity in Kano, everything else will fall into place, because electricity will be the en-

5m

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

gine of growth.

“Then, we can have prosperity, once we have prosperity, the standard of living of our people will be improved significantly. Once the standard of living of our people improves then everything else will fall into place," he added.

“As far as I am concerned, there is no other candidate who has come up to offer what I am offering to the people of Kano."

My fundamental aim is to put food on the table for our people, so that we will have a decent and content citizenry and also a peaceful environment where we will be able to strive,” he said.

Council asks court to jail INEC boss Muhammad Bashir Lokoja

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Leader, Adamawa Peace Initiative (API) and President, American University of Nigeria (AUN), Margee Ensign (right), presenting relief materials to a woman, during a visit to the Internally Displaced Persons' Camp in Bole Area, Yola Town …yesterday

'There's no war in Taraba' Temitope Ogunbanke

thursday, november 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

north

ty (PDP) governorship aspirant in the state, for wrongly misleading the people while speaking at a recent public function that there could be an impending Boko Haram takeover of Wukari if care is not taken.

“Taraba has been generally free of the Boko Haram menace and it is completely imprudent to imagine it for the state. It was never the wish of the three affected states to go through the nightmarish experience they are going through, the threat of Boko Haram should not be gleefully used as campaign material.

“Perhaps, a stranger like Darius will need to know that apart from Wukari, Ibbi, Gassol and Bali, the rest of the state has been generally peaceful in the last two years.

Peace has returned to the mentioned local government areas except some sporadic incidents of violence usually influenced by criminal tendencies,” he said.

Low turnout cripples PVCs’ distribution in Benue Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

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he rescheduled issuance of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) to eligible voters, which commenced on Tuesday in Benue State, was marred by low turnout across the state.

New Telegraph gathered in some local government areas, including Vandeikya, Gboko, Tarka, Logo, KatsinaAla, Gwer West and

Makurdi that eligible voters, most of who did not obtain their PVC's during the last exercise held in June, were busy carrying out farming activities while few went to collect their cards.

At Agan, Fiidi, AnkpaWadata, North Bank 1 and 2, Wailomayo, Market Clerk and Makurdi Central Wards, New Telegraph observed that officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were on ground to attend to pro-

spective voters, while few eligible voters were seen hanging around to collect their cards.

Speaking to our correspondent, an electoral officer who did not want his name in print, attributed the low turnout to inadequate sensitisation of the electorate by the commission, and implored voters to avail themselves of the opportunity provided by the commission to collect their cards to enable them exercise their franchise in next year's polls.

lamaboro Local Government Council in Kogi State has urged the Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, to jail the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof.

Attahiru Jega, for defying a court order.

The federal high court presided over by Hon. Justice P. Ayua, had on September 29, 2014 ordered the restoration of the “suppressed Ogugu state constituency.”

Counsel to the local government and 18 others, argued that INEC has since the ruling, refused to obey the court order, thereby disobeying the rule of law.

The local government in a suit filed by its counsel, Alhaji O. Onoja, applied to the court asking that the INEC chairman be put in prison over his refusal to restore Ogugu state constituency within the Kogi State House of Assembly.

The plaintiffs/applicants in suit no: FHC/ LKJ/CS/19/2014, also sought the court to enforce the restoration of the Ogugu constituency without further delay.

Gumi tasks opposition on presidential candidate Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

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Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, yesterday advised the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to present a presidential candidate with national appeal as part of its strategies to win the 2015 elections.

The sheikh, who stated this in a statement yesterday, said the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan has formally declared to seek re-election, shows that the 2015 elections will definitely hold.

According to Gumi, almost every Nigerian is tired of the present administration and needs change, but if the wrong choice is made, “the sta-

tus quo for many will remain.” He further advised the opposition to desist from what he referred to as “acrobatic stunts of political immaturity.”

Gumi said although INEC is underfunded, it has, however, instituted changes in the electoral process that “only a foolish populace and an irresponsible opposition can be out smarted.”

As victims of bad government, Gumi advised the people to “make sure their votes are counted and the results sheets made public,” adding that “nobody can steal or conceal your rights.”

Gumi said Jonathan is seeking re-election “at the very moment the nation is crumbling after almost four years of serious security challenges."

NEW TELEGRAPH thursday, november 13, 2014

News 49

south - west

Fayose, Ekiti lawmakers bicker over Assembly's account who blinks?

When two elephants fight... Speaker, governor in war of words over Assembly funding Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

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he no love lost relationship between the All Progressives Congress (APC) dominated Ekiti State House of Assembly and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Governor Ayo Fayose, worsened yesterday as the Speaker of the Assembly,

Hon. Adewale Omirin, accused the governor of freezing the accounts of the Assembly.

Omirin, who spoke through his media aide, Mr. Wole Olujobi, in a statement in Ado-Ekiti, said the governor froze the account of the Assembly because the legislators refused to do his bidding.

Adewale also alleged that three lawmakers, Kayode Fashakin, Kehinde Boluwade and Olasehinde Ogunrinde, were attacked by some thugs in their constituencies on Tuesday over their stance on some issues deliberated upon by the Assembly earlier that day. The lawmakers are APC members.

In a swift reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, said the allegations were not true.

“Governor Fayose has not ordered the freezing of the account of the House of Assembly and neither has the governor asked anybody to either insult or assault the speaker.

“The speaker is only playing politics and in the course of that maligning Governor Fayose. The speaker should understand that today, Fayose is his governor, and the office is sacred, and he is the symbol of Ekiti people.

“If he, in the name of politics, continues to denigrate that office, he is denigrating Ekiti people."

‘Only 28% of registered voters collected PVCs in Ogun’

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gun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, yesterday decried the situation whereby only 28 percent of the registered voters in the state have so far collected their Permanent Voters’ Card (PVCs).

Amosun, who described the trend as worrisome, was speaking at an extended State Executive Council meeting yesterday. He said densely populated areas of the state like

Ifo, Ota, Sagamu, Ibafo and Obafemi Owode, were not given the expected priority by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The governor said this is capable of disenfranchising eligible voters from carrying out their civic responsibilities, lamenting what he called ‘the total non-availability of any voters' card for eligible voters at Imeko-Afon.’

“In fact, as it is now, we would have to speak to INEC to know if fresh registration would be conducted for people of Imeko-Afon,” he said.

Amosun also called on the INEC to be more proactive in its approach towards the voters' registration exercise to ensure it delivers its promise of ensuring the electoral mandate of the people are not violated.

CP slams bankers over fake security alerts Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

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kiti State Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Taiwo Lakanu, has slammed some bank executives in the state for raising fake security alerts.

The CP also indicted them for not cooperating

with the police in tackling bank robbery and other financial crimes.

Lakanu was reacting to the decision of some banks to close shops yesterday over alleged threats to their operations by hoodlums.

The CP, who spoke through the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Vic-

tor Babayemi, said what the bankers did amounted to raising false alarms that could send wrong signals across and beyond the state.

Many residents of the state were stunned when they got to the branches of First Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc yesterday and were turned back.

Ekiti PDP asks tribunal to dismiss APC's petition Tunde Oyesina Abuja

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State yesterday told the state election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja to dismiss the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the election of Mr. Ayodele Fayose as

governor.

While the PDP called only one witness and closed its case, Governor Fayose is expected to open his defence against the petition today.

Giving evidence before the tribunal, PDP Secretary in the state, Dr. T. K. O. Aluko, told the panel that the election that brought in Governor Fayose was peaceful, transparent, free

and fair. His evidence was, however, not challenged under cross-examination.

Some documents were also tendered by the counsel to the party, Robert Emukperuo, who led the witness in evidence.

The APC had filed a petition challenging the results of the June 21 governorship election won by the PDP’s candidate, Ayodele Fayose.

SDP, Ogun differ over campaign billboards' removal Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

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he Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Ogun State yesterday raised the alarm over alleged removal of the party's campaign billboards by the state government.

The party described the removal of billboards as ‘politically-motivated’ while also fingering the Ibikunle Amosun administration for their ordeal.

The SDP, which recently received members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) loyal to exGovernor Olusegun Osoba

into its fold, had last week commenced the erection of billboards in Abeokuta and other parts of the state.

Speaking with New Telegraph yesterday, SDP Chairman, Chief Olu Agemo, said billboards erected at the Sagamu Interchange along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

PUBLIC NOTICE

FEDERAL MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT PUBLIC DISPLAY EXERCISE ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) OF THE PROPOSED EKO ATLANTIC CITY DEVELOPMENT PHASE 11, VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS STATE. SOUTH ENERGYX NIGERIA LIMITED (SENL) In accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act CAP E12 LFN 2004, which makes it mandatory for proponents of all new major development activities to carry out Environmental Impact Assessment on their proposed projects, the Federal Ministry of Environment hereby announces a twenty-one (21) working day Public Notice for Information and comments on the draft EIA report submitted by South Energyx Nigeria Limited (SENL).

Project Description The proposed project is a large scale green city development on reclaimed land adjacent to the Victoria (Bar) Beach. The project shall involve the construction of buildings, bridges, roads and utilities infrastructure.

The Display Centers are: i Headquarters, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Ikoyi, Lagos State. ii Lagos State Ministry of the Environment, State Secretariat, Alausa, Lagos State. iii Federal Ministry of the Environment Office, Lagos State. iv Federal Ministry of Environment House, (Brown Building), Independence Airport Road, CBD, Abuja-FCT. v Federal Ministry of Environment, Plot 444 Aguiyi Ironsi, Maitama, Abuja.

Duration of Display: Date: 10th November - 11th December, 2014 Time: 8:00 am - 4.00 pm Daily

ALL COMMENTS SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE HONOURABLE MINISTER, FEDERAL MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT ON OR BEFORE 18th DECEMBER, 2014.

SIGNED PERMANENT SECRETARY FOR: HONOURABLE MINISTER.

50

WORLD | News

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Protests hit central India as sterilisation death toll rises

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urious protesters took to the streets in central India yesterday, smashing up cars and demanding the chief minister resign, as the death toll from a mass government-run sterilisation programme rose to 13. Another 14 women are seriously ill in Chhattisgarh state after the surgery, which women are paid 1,400 rupees ($23) to have under a government scheme to reduce population growth.

“Preliminary examinations suggest septic shock may have caused the deaths,” said local government official Amar Thakur. “It looks like the equip-

ment that was used was probably infected. We are waiting for the report,” he told AFP by telephone from Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district, where around 80 women had the surgery over the weekend. The victims had suffered vomiting and a dramatic fall in blood pressure after undergoing laparoscopic sterilisation, a process in which the fallopian tubes are blocked.

As the death toll rose to 13 yesterday, a local official said women who attended a second sterilisation camp in the area on Monday had also fallen ill.

“Six women from Gorella camp developed complications and they have been brought to Bi-

laspur for treatment,” district commissioner Sonmani Borah told AFP. Shops and businesses shut their doors in the state capital Raipur yesterday as scores of demonstrators took to the streets to demand the resignation of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh. Television footage showed the protestors, many of them opposition party workers, chanting slogans and smashing up vehicles.

Sterilisation is one of the

most popular methods of family planning in India, and many state governments organise mass camps where rural women can undergo the usually straightforward procedure. Although the surgery is voluntary, rights groups say the target-driven nature of the programme has led to women being coerced into being sterilised, often in inadequate medical facilities.

Under pressure to meet targets, some local governments of-

fer additional incentives such as cars and electrical goods. In the latest case, one doctor reportedly operated on 83 women in just five hours, using the same instruments on all of them. Some of the women also said they had been forced to attend the camps, according to local media. Sona Sharma, joint director at advocacy group the Population Foundation of India, said the quality of care provided to women undergoing sterilisation is “abysmal”.

Israel approves 200 new homes in east Jerusalem

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sraeli authorities gave preliminary approval yesterday for construction of 200 new homes in a Jewish area of east Jerusalem, a move likely to ratchet up already heightened tensions in the city. The decision came shortly before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was to arrive in neighboring Jordan on a mission aimed at restoring calm in the Holy Land after weeks of unrest.

Much of the recent violence has stemmed from tensions surrounding a sensitive holy site revered by Muslims and Jews. The collapse of U.S.-brokered peace talks, Israel’s bloody war last summer in the Gaza Strip and continued Israeli settlement construction in east Jerusalem have added to it.

Brachie Sprung, a spokeswoman for the municipality, said city officials approved 200 homes in the Ramat area.

Sprung said the approval was just a preliminary stage of the planning process meaning construction would be years away. She also said city officials approved an additional 174 homes for construction in an Arab neighborhood.

Any Israeli construction for Jewish areas of east Jerusalem risks setting off a diplomatic firestorm especially in the current fragile environment. Israel captured

east Jerusalem in 1967 and annexed the area in a move that is not internationally recognized. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their capital. The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty in the area and opposes settlement construction. More than 200,000 Jewish Israelis live in developments like Ramat that ring east Jerusalem to help cement Israeli control.

The Israeli announcement came before Kerry was to arrive in Jordan and meet King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the situation in Jerusalem. There was no immediate plan for Kerry to travel to Israel. Under a longstanding arrangement, Jordan holds custodial rights over Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, including the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Visits by Jewish worshippers to the site have raised concerns among Muslims that Israel is secretly trying to take over the site.

The tensions have boiled over into violent demonstrations and deadly violence.

Abbas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week of leading the region toward a “religious war.”

South Africa: Opposition rejects report exornerating Zuma

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outh African opposition parties have rejected a report absolving the country’s president from financial wrongdoing in the upgrades of his personal home.

Opposition parties yesterday released their own report calling for President Jacob Zuma to be removed from office. They also demanded a criminal investigation and that Zuma pay back a portion of the more than $20 million in state funds used to improve his

rural homestead in Nkandla in the Kwazulu-Natal province.

Tuesday evening, a parliamentary committee released the findings of its investigation which cleared the president. The opposition walked out of that committee last month. The investigation began after South Africa’s government watchdog, the Public Protector, released a report concluding that Zuma inappropriately benefited from state funding.

Women who underwent botched sterilisation surgeries recieving treatment at a government mass sterilisation camp.

Botswana’s president shies from naming brother as VP

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otswana’s president yesterday shied away from nominating his brother as vice president, ending a political and legal battle that threw the country’s democratic reputation into question.

President Ian Khama instead put forward Mokgweetsi Masisi for the vice presidency, and lawmakers confirmed the education minister with 38 votes in favour and 19 abstentions in a secret ballot.

Fresh from winning a second and final five-year term, the 61-year-old Khama had looked set to name his younger brother Tshekedi as deputy and heir apparent. That prompted a backlash from within his own party amid fears he was trying to create a presidential dynasty in one of Africa’s most democratic nations. Khama’s father Seretse Khama was the southern African country’s first president after independence from

Britain in 1966.

The current president’s administration had tried to force lawmakers to confirm the vice president in a non-secret ballot, a bid slapped down by the High Court and Court of Appeal.

In October’s election, Khama’s Botswana Democratic Party -- which has governed uninterrupted since independence -- won less than 50 percent of the votes for the first time.

EU chief calls for more tax law harmonization

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he European Union should harmonize tax practices better to counter the sweet deals that countries like Luxembourg have used to attract multinationals and the super-rich, the EU’s executive chief said yesterday.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker denied allegations that he was part of the problem since he had been prime minister of Luxembourg for most of the past two decades before taking up the top job at the EU’s executive early this month. “I have never given illegal tax instructions,” he told the European Parliament. “Don’t depict me as a friend of big capital.”

As commission president now, he said he would do his utmost to make sure the system becomes watertight for any loopholes to profit from unethical tax avoidance.

“What we want to see are fairer rules between the different European member states,” he said. Juncker said if EU nations are sometimes “almost diametrically opposed” between high-taxation and lowtaxation systems, it “can lead to results that are not in line with ethical and moral standards.” Germany yesterday threw its formidable weight behind Juncker.

Spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz said Germany had “confidence in the Commission that these incidents will be cleared up, and there is no reason not to believe Mr. Juncker can do this job as Commission president. The German government has confidence in Mr. Juncker.” Germany also said it was proposing that EU countries in future disclose and regularly share information on so-called “tax rulings”

agreements between tax authorities and companies.”We stand by tax competition, but this competition must be fair and transparent,” German Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said, agreeing that this proposal followed reports on Luxembourg’s practices, Luxembourg has said it did nothing illegal in its deals with corporations like Pepsi and IKEA offering very low corporate tax rates.

But other European nations, including neighboring France, criticized the tiny country’s tax practices particularly when they have to impose austerity cuts on their citizens to make ends meet. Still, Luxembourg is not alone in being aggressively competitive in attracting companies. Ireland and the Netherlands are being investigated.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Sports News

International Sport

Ronaldo denies insulting Messi

Oshodi challenges Quadri, Onaolapo

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Forget Euro football style, Keshi warns Eagles

Sport

Racket and Bat

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Did you know?

That Tom Cleverley has won more Champions League games than Manchester City have won in their entire history.

We need cohesion to beat Congo

–Oboabona

Oboabona

Emmanuel Tobi

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uper Eagles defender, Godfrey Oboabona, has said the team needs cohesion to scale the huge hurdle of beating Congo in a crucial Nations Cup qualifier on Saturday.

He noted that it was important to take the match seriously from the beginning and force the host to chase the game throughout the encounter.

“We all know it is a dicey encounter and so we cannot afford to lose concentration at any point. It is also crucial to dictate

the pace to show our superiority.

We must be well organised and be solid in all the departments,” the defender said.

Oboabona urged his teammates to play as a unit against the Red Devils of Congo to make the match easier for Nigeria and very difficult for the Congolese.

Nigeria cannot host 2015 Nations Cup - Bassey The Sport Team Adekunle Salami Deputy Editor, Sports

Emmanuel Tobi Assistant Editor, Sports

Ifeanyi Ibeh Sports Correspondent

Ajibade Olusesan Sports Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sports Correspondent

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Adekunle Salami

T

he forthcoming General Election in Nigeria is a strong point against the chances of Nigeria to host the 2015 Nations Cup scheduled to hold between January and February.

A member, Media Committee of the Confederation of Africa Football, Paul Bassey, who stated this noted that government was hugely involved in the hosting and elections also would be staged by government.

He stressed that security during the Nations Cup was important but between January and February Nigerian government would channel its energy on providing security

for its citizens during the polls.

Basssey said: “You cannot handle these two events together. It is not possible. CAF has clearly stated that the dates for the Nations Cup won’t change and in the same vein, I don’t expect Nigeria to move elections because of Nations Cup hosting.

“There will be a huge assemblage of people in the country and it is not good to bring two events together. It is almost impossible as it is.’

CAF on Tuesday confirmed that the continental football event will go ahead between January 17 and February 8 next year. Morocco pulled out of the meet because of the Ebola Virus Disease in some parts of Africa and CAF has expelled the North African country from the com-

petition.

Investigations revealed that following the poor run of the Super Eagles in the ongoing AFCON qualifiers, the ministry of sports began moves to convince President Goodluck Jonathan to endorse the country as a replacement for Morocco.

Bassey however said he would not be part of such moves.

“We should qualify outright since we have been in the race from the start. If we want to host, we should be looking at the benefits in terms of economic gains, infrastructure, manpower development and so on. We should not be looking at hosting to bring the Eagles in from the backdoor. I won’t be part of such move,” he said.

The Rizerspor of Turkey player stressed the need for the players to fight for one other on the pitch just as they did at the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa.

“We have a score to settle with Congo on Saturday but most importantly, we must play for one another which was crucial to our winning the 2013 Nations Cup,” he told New Telegraph.

The former Sunshine of Akure captain added that the experience garnered during 3-2 loss to Congo in Calabar would be very helpful in Pointe Noire.

“Like I said in the past, we were complacent against the Congolese and we paid dearly for it. We knew nothing about them before the game in Calabar, Now, we are going to play them as if it’s the final of the Nations Cup,” he stressed.

The Super Eagles currently lie in third place in Group A with four points from four matches and a win on Saturday will see Nigeria draw level on points with Congo.

Nigeria’s team will travel from Abuja to Congo on Thursday for the all-important encounter.

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Forget European style, Keshi warns Eagles Emmanuel Tobi

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uper Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, has warned his players to forget European football pattern, urging them to expect tough football when they battle Congo on Saturday in Pointe Noire.

Congo are second in the standings on seven from four matches, three points ahead of third-placed Nigeria with only the top two teams guaranteed automatic passage to the tournament proper.

The returnee coach who expressed confidence in the Eagles’ quest to secure a win in Congo, however maintained that his players must not lose focus throughout the duration of the match.

“It is not European football and so I always tell my players that once they leave Europe they must switch from the European to African mentality,” he said.

“We just have to be ready. This is African football.

“The boys are focused and of course they know why they are here; it’s the business and so we

Lagos ready to host 2014 CAF Awards –Globacom

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lobacom, the official sponsor of the annual CAF Awards, on Wednesday said plans were on to stage a memorable Glo-CAF Awards for the third time in Lagos since the company became the sponsor of the Awards in 2005.

Excitement is gradually building up in the city of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve-center, as it prepares to host top stakeholders in the African football community at the event slated for January 8, 2015 at the Convention Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites.

The Confederation of African Football announced in October that Lagos, Nigeria, would host the prestigious gala nite of the 2014 Glo- Caf Awards.

Globacom, in a press statement in Lagos on Wednesday, said that “the Glo-CAF Awards 2014 would parade the greatest African football legends, including the new African Footballer of the Year and winners in 12 other categories.”

The categories include African Player of The Year (Based in Africa), National Team of The Year, Club of The Year, and Coach of The Year.

Yaya Toure of Cote d’ivoire is the current Africa’s best player.

have to go and do what we need to do.”

Meanwhile, Keshi has ruled out any form of sanction for the duo of Vincent Enyeama and Ikechukwu Uche who reported late to camp on Tuesday instead of the Monday deadline.

Congo has an advantage over Nigeria having beaten the Super Eagles 3-2 in the first encounter in September with the Eagles needing at least two clear goals on Saturday to have the edge on the head-to-head statistics.

Nowitzki relishes breaking Olajuwon’s NBA record Ifeanyi Ibeh

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erman basketball player, Dirk Nowitzki, has expressed delight after scoring 23 points to surpass Hakeem Olajuwon as the highest-scoring player born outside the US. The Mavericks came from behind on Tuesday night to beat Sacramento 106-98 for their 21st straight regular-season win at home against the Kings.

“You know to pass ‘The Dream’ is unbelievable,” said the 36-year-old Nowitzki, in his 17th season with the Mavericks. “He was unguardable on the block. His footwork, his skill level, his hands, his touch were second to none, so I’m pretty proud.”

Nowitzki hit a jumper from just inside the three-point line early in the fourth quarter to pass Olajuwon at No 9, and he finished the night at 26,953 career points.

That’s seven more than the 7-footer from Nigeria, who starred for 17 years in Houston before retiring in 2002 after one season in Toronto.

Before Nowitzki’s milestone, Monta Ellis scored 10 of 16 points in the third quarter, including a fadeaway three-pointer at the buzzer after the Mavericks had taken their first lead.

Rudy Gay scored 26 and Ramon Sessions had 18 for the Kings, who were outscored 58-28 from the middle of the second quarter to the end of the third.

Nowitzki

Badminton training excites participants, experts Comfort Chukwu Abuja

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Super Eagles in training session

articipants at the ongoing Level-One Coaching Course organised by the Badminton Federation of Nigeria, in collaboration with the Badminton World Federation, have applauded the programme which they believe will go a long way in improving the quality of coaching in the country.

Twenty participants commenced the five-day programme on Monday at the Abuja National Stadium. And according to Susan Agboola, one of the participants from Delta State, it has been productive.

“We have been delighted by the quality of our resource persons and the innovative ideas being shared. I feel honoured to have been one of the lucky few selected by the Jonathan BFN for the programme,” They were spotted at the Ea- said Agboola, who is now gle Square wearing the national contemplating making green and white colours. the switch from playing

Kanu, Okocha, Rufai back Jonathan for second term

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ormer Super Eagles players on Tuesday threw their weight behind President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid as they storm Abuja to show their solidarity.

Thousands of supporters from different parts of Nigeria gathered in Abuja on Tuesday for a “mother of all rallies” where President Goodluck Jonathan publicly declared his bid for reelection on February 14, 2015.

Among those who came to show support for Jonathan were ex-international footballers, Peter Rufai, Jay-Jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, Victor Agali, Dahiru Sadi and Alloy Agu.

to coaching.

Another participant from Ekiti State, Paul Fagbemi, said: “It’s really very exciting to see such open discussions on the challenges of and suggestions for badminton development. There’s a real sense of unity and purpose.

An expert from the BWF, Annirao Dajee, who is also the Development officer of the Badminton Confederation of Africa, said he was very optimistic about the future of the sport in Nigeria.

“Nigeria is an emerging country in terms of its world rankings in badminton with encouraging results at junior and senior levels in Africa,” he said.

“The tutors and teachers here are very motivated to learn the basics of badminton and inculcate the passion of the game in their students. It is going to be a very intense and fruitful experience for them.”

Oshikoya, Quadri arrive for Nigerian Sports Award Ighalo eyes EPL with Watford Emmanuel Tobi

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eteran Nigerian athlete, Modupe Oshikoya, and Table Tennis star, Aruna Quadri, have arrived Lagos from their respective base in the United States of America and Portugal for the third edition of the Nigerian Sports Award billed for Thursday(today) at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

General Manager, Unmissable Incentives Limited, organisers of

the award, Mr. Kayode Idowu, noted that all was set for the award ceremony which promises to be better than the second edition which was held last year.

“We are very proud to tell you that all is now set for the event. We are indeed elated over the quality of dignitaries that have not only confirmed but are already in Lagos for the award” he said.

Idowu urged all invited guests, and nominees to be at the venue at 5pm

prompt’.

This year, as a result of the partnership deal between Supersports and Unmissable Incentives, the Nigerian Sports Award will be televised on Supersports for the general public.

There are a total of 14 categories of the award to be won. These include the Sportsman of the Year Award, Sportswoman of the Year Award, Footballer of the Year Award (Male & Female).

Charles Ogundiya

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atford FC of England striker, Odion Ighalo, says his main reason for joining the Championship side is to fulfill a childhood dream of playing in the premier league.

Watford are currently fifth on the table, three points behind leaders Derby County on 29 points, but well within the premises of promotion to the elite league in England.

Ighalo

“I have been watching the Premier League; I was a Manchester United fan since I was playing grassroots football in Nigeria. I have always dreamt that I would one day be there.

“When I came to Europe

I wanted to play in England and La Liga. I have played in La Liga and I have faced some of the best like Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

“My dream remains the Premier League. One day I will get there with Watford.”

His Watford career began with sporadic appearances from the substitute’s bench.

He scored three times in five starts and his loan deal was then made permanent.

INTERNATIONAL SPORT 53

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

FIFA lists Rodriguez, van Persie Ronaldo denies insulting Messi goals for Puskás’ Award R

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eal Madrid midfielder, James Ro d r i g u e z ’s wonder strike against Uruguay and Robin van Persie’s goal against Spain at the 2014 FIFA World Cup are among the 10 goals listed for the FIFA Puskás Award for the “best goal of the year”.

Fans from across the world will decide which of the 10 goals chosen by FIFA and selected Football Committee members will be the winner of this award.

The 10 goals are (in alphabetical order of the scorer’s names): 1. Tim Cahill (18 June 2014, Australia v.

Netherlands, 2014 FIFA World Cup), 2. Diego Costa (23 November 2013, Atlético Madrid v.

St. Germain v. SC Bastia, Ligue 1, France), 5. Pajtim Kasami (21 October 2013, Crystal Palace v. Fulham, Premier League, England), 6. Stephanie Roche (20 October 2013, Peamount United v. Wexford Youths, BEWNL (Rep. Ireland), 7. James Rodriguez (28 June 2014 – Colombia v. Uruguay, 2014 FIFA World Cup), 8. Camilo Sanvezzo (6 October 2013 – Vancouver Whitecaps v.

Portland Timbers, MLS (USA/Canada), 9. Hisato Sato – 8 Rodriguez March 2014 – Sanfrecce Hiroshima v. Kawasaki Getafe, La Liga, Spain), Frontale, J.League, Ja3. Marco Fabian (15 Febpan), 10 ruary 2014, Cruz Azul Robin van Persie (13 v. Puebla, 1a División June 2014 – Spain v.

2014 Clausura, Mexico), Netherlands, 2014 FIFA 4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic World Cup).

(19 October 2013, Paris

Sturridge happy to be back in training

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aniel Sturridge has said that he is “happy to be back” after making his return to training with Liverpool on Wednesday.

The striker has not played since injuring his hamstring while on England duty in August, while

his recovery has been hampered by a calf injury sustained in training last month.

After taking part in a session with those not involved in internationals on Wednesday morning, the 25-year-old wrote on Twitter: “Training was class. Sturridge (left)

eal Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo has rejected allegations that he insults Barcelona rival Lionel Messi behind closed doors, claiming that he has nothing but respect for his rival.

The pair have been engaged in a battle on the pitch to become the best player in the world with Messi recently beating the Portuguese to equal Raul as Champions League’s all-time record goalscorer, while Ronaldo ended Messi’s run of three consecutive Ballon d’Or trophies to claim the title last year.

Ronaldo (left) and Messi

However, Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague claims in his new book ‘MESSI’ that, according to his teammates, Ronaldo regularly calls his rival an offensive expression - something that the

Omokaro wants more local players in Eagles’defence Charles Ogundiya

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ormer international, Bright Omokaro, has advised Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, to fortify the team’s backline with more players from the Nigerian league following the impressive performance of the Super Eagles in last week’s international friendly against Ghana at the Akwa-Ibom Stadium, Uyo. The quartet of Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars), Chima Akas (Sharks FC), Umar Zango

(Kano Pillars) and Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves) provided cover for goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim as the Super Eagles ran away with a 1-0 victory over the Ghanaians.

And Omokaro told New Telegraph that the game against the Black Meteors had shown that players from the domestic league had what it takes to play in the main Super Eagles team.

“Watching that game against Ghana and the display of the defence line

WhyNigerianplayerscan’twinGovernor’s Cup-NTFboss Rackets& Bats

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he vice-president of the Nigeria Table Tennis federation, Yemi Owoseni, has said it is difficult for Nigerian players to win the Lagos Governor’s Cup as the tournament serves off November 17.

Foreign players have always dominated the competition while Nigerian players usually crash out of the tournament in the early rounds.

And in an interview with our correspondent, Owoseni said that the local players were not competitive because they do not have the right kind of experience and exposure.

He said “It is difficult for our players to compete with these foreign players because they don’t go out to play in circuits. Some of the foreign players you see would go to about 11 circuits in a year before they even come here, so what can our players do against those with such experience and exposure? A player needs about $50,000 to attend circuits in a year and where will a Nigerian player get that kind of money if not through corporate sponsorship. We don’t have that kind of money in NTF, our role is to provide technical support for these players and encourage corporate organisations to support them.”

He however assured that the 14th Lagos Governor’s Cup would be full of glamour despite the absence of players from various part of the world.

The tournament’s ITF status could not be retained due to the fact that it is restricted to

players invited from African countries; part of the consequence of the Ebola Virus Disease reported in Lagos some few months ago which almost caused the outright cancellation of the tournament which has one of the biggest prizemoney in Africa.

Madrid star has strenuously denied.

“This is absolutely false and I have ensured that my lawyer takes action to sue those responsible,” the Portuguese wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

with Ajibade Olusesan 07065377853

Fashanu organises tennis tourney for late mum

gave me joy as I am now certain that we can address the defensive problems in the Super Eagles,” said the former Nigeria defender.

“The players displayed a great level of maturity in the game despite coming together less than a week to the game.”

According to the former New Nigeria Bank of Benin player, if the home-based players are given more opportunities to showcase their talent, Nigeria will be the better for it.

Snippets

Yan An defends Swedish Men’s singles title

hina’s Yan An will defend his C Men’s Singles title at the forthcoming GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open.

Proceedings commenced in Stockholm on Wednesday, with the 21 year-old seeking to find the form of one year ago; form that saw him beat compatriot Fan Zhendong in the final.

Notably, success in the final came after Fan Zhendong had won an all-Chinese nail biting semi-final duel against Xu Xin, the top seed.

platform.

Fashanu said: “My mother stayed with me agos-based legal for five years before she practitioner Badied last year. I am a batunde Fashanu, member of lawn tennis has promised to make court. Each time I was Taslimat Alake Fashanu coming to the club, she Memorial (Ileya) Tennis will say you can’t leave Classic an annual event. me alone here; I am comHe said that the ing along with you. tournament was held And that was how she in the memory of his became a sport woman, late mother and he that she developed interest would ensure his conndy Murray faces Roger in tennis. It would be an tinued support for the Federer at the O2 Arena in annual event that everycompetition so that budbody will be looking for- London on Thursday with a place ding talents would be ward to, and to discover in the semi-finals of the ATP Tour discovered through the Finals on the line after Monady talents.” night’s victory over Milos Raonic.

Murray defeated the Canadian keep up the good work.

6-3 7-5 to set up the big showdwon “We are very happy about what Ojo Onaolapo has done, winning with Federer, who eased past Kei Nigerian ever in the International the Italian championship. He is Nishikori - conqueror of the Scot Table Tennis Federation rankings. one of the highest-ranked U-21 on Sunday - 6-3 6-2.

The player who was ranked 234 “It’s a nice match to look players we have out there doing in the world in February moved well. Aruna has set a perfect exam- forward to, it’ll be a great more than 200 places to become ple with discipline and hard work. atmosphere again,” said Murray world’s number 30 in October. He I always say that Aruna is not the of his final Group B match against is clearly the biggest mover in the most talented player we have in the Federer.

ITTF rankings, and accolades have “It’s always a pleasure to play country but he is hardworking. He continued to pour in. against Roger. He’s one of the is now in the first 30 in the world; And Oshodi told our corresponfor us in the table tennis federa- greatest players that’s ever played dent that the NTTF was extremely tion, it is like Nigeria winning a so to get the opportunity to play happy about the development and football World Cup, for him playing him in an atmosphere like this is had challenged the two players to excellent.” with the best in the world.”

Flora Onwudiwe

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Murray faces Federer in London

A

Shehu Lawal

Oshodi challenges Quadri, Onaolapo

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resident of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, Enitan Oshodi, has said that the success recorded by Aruna Quadri and Ojo Onaolap has placed on the players’ shoulders enormous challenge to work harder.

Onaolapo emerged the best player in Italy after winning the Italian championship two Sundays ago, three months after he became a foreign-based professional. And Quadri became the highest-ranked

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NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Mubi: A road not taken Thursday with

Yemi

YEMI AJAYI 0807 991 0957 (sms only) yemiajayi3010@yahoo.com

B

oko Haram’s seizure of Mubi, the second largest town in Adamawa State, after Yola, the capital, is symptomatic of everything that is wrong with Nigeria. Nigeria is a country where little things do not matter. Big things also make no difference.

It is a country in a hurry to wish away its problems.

The rulers, knowing that the people have a short attention span, make no spirited effort to make a difference. For them, it is business as usual. When they do make any attempt, it is just an exercise in tokenism.

For the people, the gruelling quotidian task of survival has made them to seek solace in quietism. So, they demand no high standard from their leaders.

Mubi is not only the second largest town in Adamawa State, one of the three states in the North-East that has become the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency; it superintends over Vintim, the hometown of Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh. Badeh, a former Chief of Air Staff before he was promoted in the wake of the changes in the top echelon of the military last year, saw nothing wrong with the loss of his hometown to a bunch of terrorists. In an interaction with State House reporters recently, he sought to down play the overrunning of the area by Boko Haram.

Although he did not put it so callously, he doesn’t give a damn that as Nigeria’s defence chief, he could not even defend his town. Of what worry should the lost of Mubi, which Boko Haram has renamed Madinatul Islam, be to Badeh, when it is just another attack on another town? A country that rewards failure of leadership as we are wont to, will see nothing wrong in his action.

That is the sad irony of Nigeria; a nation that rewards failure. In a sane clime, Badeh would have voluntarily quit his position to protect the military.

But I guess if the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, would not resign for overseeing a job recruitment system in the Nigeria Immigration Service that led to the death of 23 applicants, why should Badeh resign for his inability to defend Nigeria, more less his hometown?

The lost of Mubi and the inability of the military to stop the ongoing land grab by the terror group, that has killed over 2,000 people so far in 2014, according to figures from the Human Rights Watch, show that almost four years after the onset of a full-blown insurgency, the military has not been able to fashion out an appropriate counter-terrorism strategy to stop the insurgents.

Boko Haram has over the years gradually metamorphosed from a band of

rag-tag militia whose warriors were drawn from an army of malcontents bred by years of neglect of youths by successive administrations, to a welltrained and efficient killing machine.

Unlike the military, the sect has been able to rise to the challenge to rout it.

A sect that started with attacks on symbol of government such as public buildings, security agents and public officeholders, among others, has turned into a conqueror of territories.

Not that the military has not made an impact in its anti-terror war, it more operated from a reactive mode. At least, we could say gone are the days when Boko Haram attacks Abuja, Kano and Kaduna at will. The anti-insurgency operations embarked by the military have succeeded in confining the sect to Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, which have been under emergency rule for about 16 months. However, the limited scope of its terror arena has made Boko Haram to be deadlier and it is to prove a point that it has the capability of achieving its agenda.

In contradistinction, Boko Haram seems more adept at adapting to challenges posed by the military to its overall objective of excising an Islamic state out of Nigeria than the military has done in defeating it. Its current territorial seizure and expansion seems the final phase in its outlandish assignment.

While Boko Haram has been innovative in its strategy to achieve its sinister objectives, moving away from its last phase of attack on soft targets such as the April abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State, to territorial seizure, the Federal Government has maintained its reactionary stance.

Part of the government’s difficulty in defeating Boko Haram lies not only in the fact that like every asymmetrical war, the odds favour the sect in the ongoing insurgency in the North-East, but in the misreading of the situation by political and military authorities. From the onset, the presidency and its supporters have considered the insurgency as the North’s comeuppance. Northern leaders over the years created the system that led to the age-long neglect of the youths. They have hidden under the cloak of culture, right from Lord Lugard’s day, to promote theocracy.

As a teenager growing up in Katsina, I had watched with a sense of foreboding, the burgeoning army of itinerant Islamic pupils as they go about scavenging for survival. I needed no soothsayer then to tell me that their future was bleak. The Frankenstein monsters created by the feudal system have come to exact their pound of flesh from Nigeria.

It is just unfortunate that the recrudescence of religious violence, which

Defeating terror requires two vital ingredients: the will to take all the necessary risks in troops and equipment deployment as well as the right strategy

Badeh

was what Boko Haram was at the onset, has worsened under the President Goodluck Jonathan. The nation had been able to deal with the Maitatsine and other forms of religious extremism because there was the political will to tackle the menace. What has been absent under Jonathan is the ability to walk the talk. That is why the administration has played to the gallery all these years until Boko Haram grew to a fiendish organisation that the Federal Government is finding difficult to tame.

The Nigerian military, which is number fifth in Africa after Egypt, Algeria, Ethiopia and South Africa, according to the Global Fire Power ranking (GFP), cannot repeat the feat it performed in Liberia and Sierra Leone, among notable global peacekeeping missions because it lacks the political support to defend the nation’s territorial integrity.

The lack of political will has hobbled the military from demonstrating its capability in dealing with Boko Haram when it should and now that the sect has transformed into a hybrid force, partly insurgency and partly traditional army, as demonstrated by its capacity in recent time, the task is much more difficult.

But yet, it is not insurmountable.

The Federal Government needs to move away from tokenism as occasioned by consolatory platitudes whenever Boko Haram strikes, just as it did in Potiskum on Tuesday, killing at least 48 pupils and in Kotangora, Niger State yesterday, killing three.

It must accept responsibility for the insurgency; irrespective of whether or not it predates the current administration.

What has been apparent so far is that the Jonathan administration has blamed everybody but itself for the growing wave of terror attacks on Nigeria. That is why government officials and favour seekers have made a sport of scapegoating others, including the United States, South Africa and the opposition.

Defeating terror requires two vital ingredients: the will to take all the necessary risks in troops and equipment deployment as well as the right strategy.

But sadly, Nigeria is still tinkering with the matrix. The answer to how long it will take to get it right blows in the air.

Sanctity of Truth

On Marble

To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.

– George MacDonald

Yemi Ajayi Mubi: A road not taken

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

N150

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Zoning in Akwa Ibom, no zoning in Rivers

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he season is here. Season of deception, intrigue, manipulation and falsehood. Season of ‘all motion, no movement’, when politicians will lie endlessly and Nigerians will swallow the lies. As usual, this is the season national interest will be replaced with selfish interest.

From Sokoto to Lagos, Calabar to Enugu, it is the same slogan on the lips of politicians: change. But the question is: change from what or to what?

It is only foolish Nigerians who still believe that elected public officers are fighting their causes. If you go to Ifaki-Ekiti, Ekiti State where the town has been without electricity for nine months, you will understand the reason behind such pessimism.

Something happened on November 4 in Abuja which clearly showed that the brand of democracy practised in this part of the world will take this country nowhere.

On that day when the attention of the global audience was directed at the United States’ midterm elections, some of our Senators on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hitherto, known for their cool headedness, proved to Nigerians that they were in the Upper Chamber for selfish reasons.

Their action that sunny Tuesday was a complete injustice against the interest of Nigerians. A motion was moved that all items on the Order Paper for the day be stood down till another legislative day. Immediately, they filed out of the chamber.

Reason: the PDP refused to protect them from governors, thereby denying them automatic tickets. As if that was not enough embarrassment, they repeated same the next day and they were later led by the Senate President, David Mark, to a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan. Eventually, 40 of them have reportedly been given automatic tickets to return to the Senate. When I read the list of these senators given automatic tickets, honestly, I didn’t even know some of them were members of the Senate. And that says something tragic about our brand of democracy: garbage in, garbage out.

Because I don’t know why a party will reward some idle members with automatic tickets.

There is a saying that anything free is not good and anything good is not free. Now that they have been given automatic tickets as PDP candidates in their districts, should Nigerians expect anything from them between 2015 and 2019? It is unfortunate that the presidency succumbed to the blackmail of these senators. If this is not a rape and desecration of democracy, I wonder what is. It is an affront that some elements will sit in a conclave and deny other Nigerians their rights to vie for public office. Ironically, majority of these senators, who have lost the confidence of their people, are being imposed as PDP candidates on these same people. Obviously, this democracy is not ready to build institutions but individuals. This inglorious act is already being replicated at state levels as lawmakers are holding their governors hostage. In

Talking Tough GABRIEL AKINADEWO gabyfola@hotmail.com

08023010222, 08052097814 (sms only)

fact, this is a coup against Nigerians who fought for the enthronement of democracy in 1999.

Pitiably, this attitude is not just starting. There was a particular governor between 1999 and 2007 who was so idle that the moment he heard that one of his colleagues was travelling abroad, he would just follow him. The situation was so bad that there was a time this ‘flying governor’ was nowhere near his state for about three months.

Despite the fact that this is the 15th year of this Republic, it is still back to square one in terms of national development because the democracy we practise is different from the one practised elsewhere. Many politicians here don’t struggle for public offices. They don’t even have plans for the people.

That is why they will continue to disappoint Nigerians. Because they have no second addresses, to them, public service is an avenue to make themselves relevant. I saw one governor the other time celebrating the construction of borehole. In the 21st Century. Borehole.

A facility that I have in my house. What is the big deal celebrating the construction of borehole and placing advertisement in newspapers? I have never seen a country that is so insensitive to the plight of its citizens like Nigeria. The Apapa and Tin Can Ports in Lagos generate billions of naira for the country everyday but the road leading to this axis continues to bring shame to this

Nigeria existed before the PDP came into being in August, 1998 and Nigeria will continue to exist after the extinction of PDP and other parties because this country is bigger than them. Politicians are leading this country astray

Mark

country. Nigerians unfortunate to be working in that axis spend hours everyday on this bad road. To our idle senators, this is okay as long as they get automatic tickets.

Sadly, individual security has replaced collective security. In many of the photographs published of governorship and senatorial aspirants in newspapers, they were all guarded by heavily-armed policemen as if they were on their way to the dreaded Sambisa Forest.

While reading my article last week entitled ‘May God save Nigeria from Nigerians’, highly revered journalist, celebrated columnist and distinguished publisher, Elder Lade Bonuola (Ladbone), drew my attention to the impunity in the land. He said, inter alia: “There must be minimum shared values flowing from our nature. That, we don’t have. What a people”.

I couldn’t agree with him less because in the build-up to 2015, the situation is farcical and hideous. Or how else will a sane Nigerian describe a situation in which the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has zoned the governorship ticket in Akwa Ibom State and refuses to zone the same ticket in Rivers State? Same party, same governorship ticket, same geo-political zone (South-South), two rules.

In Akwa Ibom, the party said the candidate must come from Eket senatorial district and other aspirants from Uyo and Ikot-Ekpene can go jump into River Niger. In Rivers, it said aspirants from all the three senatorial districts

can contest. Why another rule applies in Rivers is because of the alleged interest of the presidency in one of the aspirants who is an Ikwerre like the governor, Rotimi Amaechi.

If not because of the impunity in the land, what the PDP is driving at with this ‘zoning and no zoning’ formula, I still don’t understand. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a Yoruba, was president between 1999 and 2007. Given the zoning formula being canvassed in the country, was it possible for the PDP to have imposed another Yoruba as Obasanjo’s successor without the country going up in flames? Because the people are not always in the equation, the PDP wants an Ikwerre to succeed an Ikwerre in Rivers State in 2015. Even the man Amaechi succeeded in 2007, Celestine Omehia, is also an Ikwerre.

Obviously, there is nothing altruistic in all these decisions. And it is not just the PDP. Same applies in the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the situation is showing in Lagos State. A particular governorship aspirant has been ‘anointed’ and others are kicking.

In the South-East, a governor wants to go to the Senate and wants to impose his son as the Speaker of the House of Assembly. We now have a situation in which Dame Patience Jonathan summons aspirants to Aso Rock and nobody sees anything wrong with this. What a country. During the midterm elections in the U.S., it was never reported that Mitchell Obama summoned Democrats to White House or anywhere at all. Even President Barack Obama lost his state, Illinois, to Republicans and he congratulated the winner immediately.

Of course, he couldn’t do otherwise because there is a system in place that guides the conduct of Americans and this must be strictly followed.

In this country, the way money keeps flying from majority of the aspirants to principal officers of their parties is, in fact, a national embarrassment. That is why most of these officers keep talking from both sides of their mouths. For selfish reasons, politicians trample on the constitution every second and tell Nigerians to go to hell and Nigerians are actually looking forward to the journey.

One thing is clear. PDP is not Nigeria. Nigeria existed before the PDP came into being in August, 1998 and Nigeria will continue to exist after the extinction of PDP and other parties because this country is bigger than them.

Politicians are leading this country astray. Because I don’t know why a few individuals, whose election in the first place was questionable, will continue to hold this country to ransom like what the senators did. Why politicians continue to indulge in this act is because of the faulty system being operated which they have refused to change due to the fact that it is in their interest.

Politicians will continue to fight for the ticket of the ruling party in any state or at the federal level because the moment you get that, it is assumed your election or reelection is assured. This democracy is not working. And that is the tragedy of the Nigerian situation.

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by Banex Junction, Mabushi, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Advert Hotline: 01-8541248, Email: info@newtelegraphonline.com Website: www.newtelegraphonline.com ISSN 2354-4317 Editor: YEMI AJAYI.