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Thursday, July 17, 2014 Vol. 1 No. 149

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Chibok parents: Why we shunned meeting with President

lTalks reschedule for next week Lateef Ibrahim, Johnchuks Onuanyim and Amadi Nnamdi, Abuja

The Chibok community

yesterday explained why parents of schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram from the town in April failed to honour an invitation to meet President

Goodluck Jonathan.

It said contrary to insinuations that they were being manipulated, they did not stay away from the meeting because that was

not their purpose of being in Abuja.

According to spokesman of Kibaku (Chibok) Area Development Association (KADA), Mr. Dauda

Idiya, Tuesday’s meeting failed to take place because proper protocol was not followed.

Jonathan, who finally caved in to pressure to meet with the parents of the abducted schoolgirls

after Monday’s visit by Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani school pupil and education activist who defied the Taliban by defending her right to education, had said the parents had CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Jonathan seeks $1 billion loan to fight Boko Haram lSays sect won’t defeat Nigeria lDanjuma: End this war now Chukwu David, Philip Nyam and Anule Emmanuel Abuja

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday sought the approval of the National Assembly to source $1 billion to enable the Federal

Government frontally tackle the Boko Haram insurgency.

The loan, according to the president in a letter read out at the plenary

sessions of the Senate and the House of Representatives will enable government upgrade military equipment, train personnel and provide logistics

that will enhance the antiterror war.

The president made the appeal on a day he inaugurated the 26-man Victims Support Fund Com-

President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-President Namadi Sambo (middle), with members of the Committee on Victims Support Fund, headed by Lt.-General Yakubu Danjuma (third right), after their inauguration at the State House, Abuja...yesterday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

Ngilari: My resignation letter was obtained by fraud lProtests in Nasarawa over bid to impeach Al-Makura lAPC accuses presidency of bribing lawmakers to impeach govs Ibrahim Abdul, Johnchuks Onuanyim and Cheke Emmanuel

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he political crisis in Adamawa State that led to the impeachment of the governor, Alhaji Murtala Nyako, took another

dimension yesterday as his deputy, Mr. James Bala Ngilari, accused the state House of Assembly of deceiving him to obtaining

a resignation letter from him.

Acting Governor, Alhaji Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who until Tuesday

was the speaker, read the purported resignation of Ngilari at the floor of the Assembly.

Ngilari’s allegation came just as the All Progressives Congress (APC) accused President GoodCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

mittee, headed by former Minister of Defence, Lt.Gen. Yakubu Danjuma, to raise funds to support victims of Boko Haram.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Nyako’s sack: Okorocha panics, lobbies Alamieyeseigha

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Jonathan seeks $1bn loan to fight Boko Haram CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

At the inauguration, Danjuma who pointedly told the president that Boko Haram is gaining the upper hand in the terror war, urged him to do all he could to end the war soon.

Jonathan, in his speech, however assured Nigerians and the world that just like terrorists have not won in the United States, Italy, China and Kenya, among others, his administration would ensure they do not win in Nigeria.

The president in the letter to the Senate, read on the floor by Senate President David Mark, explained that part of the money would enable his administration to partner with other governments in dealing with the insurgency.

The letter entitled: “Tackling Ongoing Security Challenges: Need for Urgent Action”, reads in part: “You are no doubt cognizant of the ongoing and serious security challenges which the nation is facing, as typified by the Boko Haram terrorist threat. This is an issue that we have discussed at various times.

“I would like to bring to your attention the urgent need to upgrade the

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equipment, training and logistics of our armed forces and security services to enable them to more forcefully confront this serious threat.

“For this reason, I seek the concurrence of the National Assembly for external borrowing of not more than $1billion dollars including government to government arrangements for this upgrade...”

A similar correspondence also addressed to the House Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, was

read to lawmakers yesterday.

The loan being sought by the president is to augment the N968.127 billion provision for defence in the N4.6 trillion budget the National Assembly approved for this fiscal year.

While giving a breakdown of the budget recently, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had disclosed that the military had accessed N130.7 billion between January and

April while another N3.8 billion approved by Jonathan was being processed for release to the military.

She explained that of the disbursed N130.7 billion, N85.9 billion was for personnel cost.

According to her, “Defence spending is top in everything. You know that military establishments need new things to assist them in their work and ours will not be different. No budget will be enough to meet their demands but for now, I think the sector takes almost a

trillion of the budget.”

New Telegraph learnt that Jonathan’s request may be considered and approved today since both chambers of the National Assembly will be proceeding on their annual recess and will resume in September.

Also yesterday, the president inaugurated the Danjuma-led committee.

Danjuma urged the Federal Government to urgently intensify action towards ending the insurgency, which has claimed CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

FLIGHT SCHEDULE 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

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, Hon. Jones Onyereri (second left); Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele (third left); Deputy Governor, CBN (Financial System Stability), Dr. Kingsley Moghalu (second right) with members of the committee, during an interactive session at the House in Abuja...yesterday

Protests in Nasarawa over bid to impeach Al-Makura CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

luck Jonathan of mobilising funds to suborn lawmakers in states controlled by the party to remove their governors.

In Nasarawa, one of the states where APC accused the president of setting aside about N500 million to induce the lawmakers to remove Governor Umaru Al-Makura, youths marched on the streets of Lafia, Keffi and some other towns in the state, to protest the impeachment proceedings initiated against the governor.

Speaking to New Telegraph in a telephone interview yesterday on the circumstances that led to his purported resignation, Ngilari disowned the resignation letter the Fintiri read out to lawmakers on Tuesday.

It was however learnt that the resignation letter was obtained from Ngilari under duress.

According to Ngilari, the Deputy Speaker, who is now the acting speaker, Kwamoti Laori, ordered him to tender his resignation.

He said: “The truth is that I have not sent any letter of resignation to the governor up till now because the deputy speaker of the house only came to my house yesterday(Tuesday) asking me to tender my resignation letter. He asked me to address the letter to the speaker of the house, which I did.

“When the deputy speaker met and asked me to write the resignation, I wrote it to the governor but later on they came and said that I should change it and addressed it to the speaker.”

When asked whether he signed the letter under duress or not, Ngilari simply said what he did was to send the resignation to the speaker as requested.

Nyako also faulted the purported resignation of his deputy, saying it breached the constitution.

Nyako’s spokesman, Mallam Ahmad Sajoh, in a statement in Yola, said: “Our attention has been drawn to the purported resignation of the deputy governor of Adamawa

State, Barrister Bala James Ngilari, which was supposedly read on the floor of the state House of Assembly.

“We wish to state categorically that Section 306 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, requires that the deputy resigned not to the House of Assembly but to the governor. As at the time the supposed resignation was said to have been tendered in the House, Murtala H. Nyako was the governor of Adamawa State.

“No such was written to him, none was received by him and none was approved by him. It should therefore be known that in the eyes of the law, the deputy governor has not resigned. Barrister Bala James Ngilari is still the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State.”

The national leadership however accused the presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of masterminding the impeachment of its governors by bribing lawmakers.

It said $300, 000 was given to each Adamawa lawmaker to impeach Nyako while N500 million had been set aside to ensure the removal of Al-Makura.

APC, at a press briefing addressed by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, accused Jonathan of more culpable on the allegations levelled against the opposition governors.

According to OdigieOyegun, the offences for which Nyako were impeached for were said to have been committed five years ago and brought up now because the governor defected to APC. The party decried what it calls militarisation of the nation’s democracy, stating that the nation’s military have been compromised.

He said: “In Adamawa, each member of the state House of Assembly was allegedly given US $300,000 as part payment to impeach Governor Nyako; some N500 million has allegedly been moved to Nasarawa to induce CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

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 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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Thursday, July 17, 2014

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Northern govs to confab delegates: We’re no leeches Dan Atori MINNA

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orthern governors yesterday fired back at National Conference delegates who during the debate on resource control described Northern states as leeches because they contribute an insignificant percentage of revenue to the federal purse.

Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Ali-

yu, who doubles as Chairman, Northern State Governors’ Forum (NSGF), said such comments could incite disaffection among the constituent parts of Nigeria.

A statement yesterday

by Aliyu’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Israel Ebije, quoted him as speaking on Tuesday night in Minna when the governor broke fast with a group advocating religious harmony in the country.

While addressing members of the Inter-religious Group led by a lecturer at the University of Jos, Mr. Solomon Dalung, on security situation in the country, Aliyu said the problem of Nigeria was not religion but politically and economically influenced negative comments, attitude and actions.

“Only a few days ago, I hosted some members of the National Conference and I was saddened to hear

that some members of the conference are calling the Northern states leeches on account of the ongoing debate on resource control.

“For someone to call a section of the country a leech is a matter that can cause trouble and that does not need religion or level of education to make it go out of control. Oil is not something that anyone owns and it is sad if some people want to change that law now,” he said.

He pledged the continuous commitment of the forum to explore solution to the challenges in the region, adding that the North will partner any group with good intention for its development.

Earlier, Dalung had stated that they were in Minna to solicit the support of the NSGF to key into their vision for a peaceful North.

Protests in Nasarawa over bid to impeach Al-Makura CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi waving to a crowd during his visit to communities in Ikwerre…yesterday

President reschedules talks for next week CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

called off the meeting after being manipulated by the #BringBackOurGirls campaign group.

But the people denied the allegation, saying they had never asked for a meeting with the president.

Idiya, at a news conference in Abuja, said: “In the course of the interactions with Malala, neither the parents nor the escaped girls asked for a meeting with the president or any government functionary; rather the narrative back home was to persistently ask why the president has not visited them in Chibok since the abduction.”

According to him, the parents of the abducted girls who were in Abuja during the weekend decided to review the announced visit, which they first heard of just like every other person, during Malala’s speech on Monday.

“These parents and escaped girls did not come to Abuja at the instance of government or its representative for a meeting with Mr. President but on the full understanding that

they were coming to meet with Malala.

“Consequent to their decision to revert to other family members in order to incorporate every stakeholder on the matter as well as avoid discord and suspicion on a change in plans from the original mission to Abuja, they reached out to Malala team and through them to the presidency to request for a new date for an extended and more representative meeting that has a legitimate mandate to meet with the president,” he added.

Idiya, however, condemned the insinuations from the presidency that the BringBackOurGirls campaign group influenced their decision to boycott the scheduled meeting.

“It is totally misleading, unjust and without foundation to hold the citizens’ platform #BringBackOurGirls responsible for the decision made by the 12 parents and our community. We therefore take full responsibility for our decision and welcome the formal invitation by the

presidency,” he stated.

The BringBackOurGirls campaign group also decried the allegation, saying it had nothing to do with the community’s decision not to meet Jonathan.

Leader of the group and former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, said the community had the final say in their affairs. ‘’The freedom to decide at all times is the primary right of the Chibok community and that has been the modus operandi of this group. The Chibok community is a community of its own; we simply are saying that on the basis of our shared humanity we stand for the Chibok girls. That’s what we have been doing. We have been consistent in that and we are going to stay resolute in supporting the course of the Chibok girls.

“There is no form of distraction, digression or diversion that is going to take our focus from the primary reason that we have gathered which is: ‘BringBackOurGirls,” she added.

The group, in another

statement signed by its Coordinators, Ezekwesili and Hadiza Bala Usman, yesterday tasked the Federal Government to focus its energy on ensuring that the over 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls are rescued alive soon rather than continue to use intimidation and military style repression on peaceful protesters.

It vowed to remain resolute in exploring all peaceful options to continue to convey its demand on the Federal Government to rescue the girls and bring them back alive.

It also decried the renewed harassment of its members by the police.

Jonathan will next Thursday meet with the parents of the abducted schoolgirls.

Also expected at the meeting are some of the girls that have escaped from the camp of the insurgents and some members of the Chibok community.

An official of KADA, Mr. Kolo Thlala, confirmed the new date for the meeting to New Telegraph yesterday.

He said: “We are not in the wrong place. The Chief Servant is the Chairman Northern governors; he will help us to convey our message of peace to his colleagues. We have visited the Sultan and now you. We have spoken with the spiritual leader and now we are speaking with the political leader of the North.”

the state’s lawmakers to impeach Governor AlMakura and in Edo, each lawmaker has allegedly been offered N75 million to impeach Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

“What is Governor Al-Makura of Nasarawa being threatened with impeachment for? Allegations of extra-budgetary expenditure, the same offence that President Jonathan has committed many times.

In fact, on only on the 10th of July 2014, the Senate passed a resolution asking President Goodluck Jonathan to prepare and submit to the National Assembly supplementary budget to cover the over expenditure in the sum of N90.693 billion (US$585 billion) for PMS subsidy 2012 and the sum of N685.910 billion (US$4.430 billion) for Kerosene (DPK) subsidy expended without appropriation by the National Assembly in 2012 and 2013!

“Now, who is guiltier of gross misconduct than a president who is frittering away our commonwealth to induce perfidious legislators to impeach their state governors? Who is more guilty of gross misconduct than a president who deploys troops to harass, intimidate and arrest the opposition during an election? Who deserves to be impeached for gross misconduct more than a president who uses national institutions against the opposition, and shuts airports arbitrarily?

“President Jonathan’s desperation knows no bounds, and he is willing to set a record of presiding over the greatest number of impeachments under his tenure. Before Nyako’s impeachment on Tuesday, a total of five impeachments have been carried out in all of the 15 years of the Fourth Republic.

But between now and 2015, President Jonathan is championing five impeachments, in Adamawa, Nasarawa, Edo, Rivers and Borno.”

But the PDP disclaimed the allegations against it and the presidency.

The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the allegations were part of the orchestrated plot by the APC to discredit and blackmail institutions of government, particularly the legislature, which he described as “citadel of democracy and stronghold of the will of the people”.

The attempts by the Nasarawa State lawmakers to impeach Al-Makura however led to protest in the state capital.

Some youths took to the streets in Lafia on yesterday chanting solidarity slogans in support of AlMakura.

The youths had set bonfires in strategic areas, including Emir Palace Road, Doma Road, KeffiMararaba Road, and had attempted to block the federal highway before the police intervened.

They carried placards with various inscriptions.

The protest had also resulted to heavy gridlock on Keffi-Abuja Road with youths calling on the state legislators to rescind their actions.

The protest made the police to beef up security in major towns following youths’ protest over the impeachment bid.

The state police spokesman, Ismaila Numan, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that some youths in Lafia, Mararaba and Keffi came out to protest over the notice of impeachment on Al-Makura.

Numan, however, said the police dispersed them before it could get out of control in all the affected towns.

Reacting on the impeachment bid, a member representing Tunga constituency, Takno Tunga, condemned the moves to remove the governor, which he described as a devilish act to primarily halt development championed by the governor in the past three years.

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Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Senate confirms Chidoka, Sulaiman as ministers

Chukwu David Abuja

T

he Senate yesterday confirmed the nomination of former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Osita Benjamin Chidoka, as minister.

It also approved the request of President Goodluck Jonathan to make Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, a lecturer at the University of Abuja, a minister.

Jonathan had on July 10 forwarded to the Senate the names of Chidoka

and Abubakar for screening and confirmation.

Going by the federal character principle, Chidoka will replace the former Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah while Sulaiman fills the slot of Kwara State, which has been vacant since the former Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, dropped.

Responding to questions on the insurgency and terrorism in Nigeria, Sulaiman during his screening, blamed the security challenges on the

negligence of Nigerians and the security agencies, whom he accused of not paying attention to the preliminary security threats in the country.

As a strategy towards tackling the security problem, the don urged government to check the influx of arms into the country.

He also added that the war against terrorism could not be won due to the lack of unity amongst the diverse interest groups in the country.

According to him, the

insurgents are thriving because of the sympathy they received from the people, saying that as long as they are being supported by some Nigerians, they will continue to wax strong in their terrorist adventures.

“The insurgency being perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect got to this stage because of our failure as a people and as security agencies to identify what constitutes threats to security. For years, we had the Zango Kataf crisis, we had the Sharia crisis, and we

L-R: Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tabuwal; Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Power, Patrick Ikhariale and Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Philip Aduda, during a public hearing on NEMSA Bill in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

used to see our almajiris almost everywhere doing nothing, roaming the streets.

“All these instances portend serious danger for Nigeria but nobody was talking. Even the way we are denying the Niger Delta people of what is due to them could portend great danger in the nearest future. Our problem therefore, has to do with our failure to assess this situation. If we had done that before, we will not be where we are today,” he stated.

On his part, Chidoka assured the senators that if appointed minister of aviation, though without in-depth knowledge of the sector, he would strive to revolutionise the industry.

He said Nigeria was not doing well in its national career passenger traffic when compared to what obtains in other countries, including smaller African countries that even depend on Nigeria for financial assistance.

He said:”I don’t have a very good picture of the national carrier. But I must say this, compared to other African countries; Nigeria is not doing very well in terms of passenger traffic. Between Lagos and Abuja Nigerian airports are connected to about 61

cities, out of which only about 32 are international cities. Oliver Thambo Airport in South Africa is connected to 130 cities around the world.

The airport in Turkey, in Istanbul, is connected to 170 cities around the world. Why are business class seats expensive in Nigeria? Because of constraints in supply.

“We can’t have a country of 160 million people and have 14 million passengers travelling through our airports.

The number is not good.

It is too small for a country like Nigeria. The number of aircraft coming in and leaving Nigeria is not big enough for the size of our economy.

So I think that we need to open up our space, we need share our national aspirations to be a country that plays in league with the GDP size we have.”

Confirming the two nominees, Senate President David Mark, said: “I urge these two nominees confirmed that as young men, they should bring new ideas on board. They should not go there and just fall in line and not perform. We expect that they would perform because before us they have performed very well. So we hope that when they go there they would perform very well too.”

Jonathan seeks $1bn loan to fight Boko Haram CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

about 15,000 lives in the last five years.

“But seriously, this war needs to be brought to an end. We must win this war immediately because it is taking too long.

I called it a civil war when it began, people say it is insurgency.

“The insurgents appear to be having an upper hand at this very moment. They pick and choose where to strike; they are even holding positions and displacing us.

We must win this war, Mr. President, we must do so immediately,” he said.

He assured the president that working with the committee members; they would raise adequate funds and disburse appropriately to affected victims.

“We will raise the funds, we will disburse them. I promise you we will do so diligently and transparently but we must win this war Mr. President. May God bless our country,” Danjuma

said.

Earlier, Jonathan promised to give the insurgents a good fight and bring them to justice.

He said: “The reality today is that, we are confronted with individuals whose minds have been so twisted and tutored to believe they are doing God a service.

“Those who take advantage of the vulnerability of our people to spread extremist doctrines and recruit them for murderous errands are enemies of humanity.

We will never waste any effort in bringing the individuals responsible for crimes against humanity to justice.

“For those who take pleasure in seeing innocent human beings in pains, to see limbs being shattered and blood flowing in all direction after terror attacks, we say, you shall have no hiding place. Nigerians will expose you. The people of conscience around the world have rejected you.

“We appreciate the support we are getting from foreign countries and the co-operation we are getting from our neighbours.

This has given us more fillip and we are confident that the days of Boko Haram are numbered. It is now just a matter of time.

“I call on all Nigerians to stand together in support of our security agencies against terrorism.

They are working night and day under difficult circumstances. It is unfortunate that when our security personnel prevent 1,000 attacks, it is the one attack that succeeds that makes headline news and tends to portray our security agencies as not doing enough. It is part of the realities we have to deal with. We owe Nigerians nothing but victory over terror.

“For those who have been victims, they need comfort. They need succour. We cannot replace the life of a child that has been snuffed out. We cannot replace the lives

of men and women who have been killed. We cannot return broken limbs to their original state.

We cannot take away the trauma that people have been put through.

“The menace of terrorism has emerged as one of the most complex and challenging problems confronting governments in different parts of the world. Terrorists aim to cause social dislocation, spread fear and panic among the populace and disrupt government activities. But they never win. They have not won in the Middle East, in the USA, in China, in Columbia, in Italy, in the United Kingdom, in Kenya, etc.

And they will not win in Nigeria. And, with the support of all Nigerians, we would ensure they do not win in Nigeria. Good must prevail over evil.”

Jonathan urged Nigerians to donate generously to the fund, set up to help mobilise collective efforts and resources in support for the victims; assess and

determine the appropriate support required in each case; manage, disburse and/or administer support to the victims as appropriate and to advise government on other matter(s) necessary or incidental to support victims of terror activities.

Besides Danjuma and former Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. Managing Director, Mr. Fola Adeola, who is the deputy chairman, other members of the committee include Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, Alhaji Abdulsamad I. Rabiu, Alhaji Sani Dauda, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija and Mr. Cosmas Maduka.

Also on the committee former Managing Director, Zenith Bank Plc., Mr. Jim Ovia, Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc., Mr. Wale Tinubu and Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Sani Sidi.

But despite efforts to curtail its terrorist activities, Boko Haram has con-

tinued its killing spree in Borno State.

At least 27 people were killed the insurgents attacked Sabon Gari village in Damboa Local Government Area of the state.

It was learnt that in the attack, which occurred at about 6pm on Tuesday, the gunmen killed 20 innocent civilians.

Seven others were killed when the insurgents, who regrouped, came and opened gunfire on family and friends of the deceased at the funeral yesterday.

A relative of one of the deceased, Mallam Iliyasu Ibrahim, said his cousin was among those killed by the terrorists on Tuesday.

Although the Police Public Relations Officer, Gideon Jubrin, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) could not be reached, a senior security official who confirmed the incident said over 20 persons were killed in the twin attacks on the village.

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VOLTE-FACE APC ignores Kayode Fayemi, goes to court Adesina Wahab

Ado-Ekiti

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he Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal yesterday began sitting in the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the June 21 poll, Mr. Ayodele Fayose.

However, it was the Chairman of the three-man panel,

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Ekiti poll: Tribunal begins sitting ...Strikes out APC's motion Justice Mohammad Siraj, of the Federal High Court, Jos Division, that was the only judge that presided over the inaugural sitting of the tribunal.

Meanwhile, Justice Siraj has struck out the motion ex-parte filed by the APC, seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow it inspect the materials used for the conduct of the poll based on the request of the petitioners.

The striking out of the motion followed the withdrawal of same by the petitioners as events have overtaken the motion.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria,AlhajiLateef Fagbemi, istoleadtheAPC'slegalteam, butMr.KabirAkingboluheld brief for him during yesterday's proceedings.

The first and second respondents, Mr. Ayodele Fayose and the PDP, did not make any legal representation at the proceedings be-

cause in law, they are precluded from announcing their appearances in argument that rested on motion ex-parte.

The APC counsel averred that what informed the petitioners' action for the withdrawal of the motion was on the premise that event had overtaken the demand and that the parties that were joined in the application were different from the parties in the substantive petition filed against the

respondents.

The APC had on July 11, 2014, in a petition deposed to by its Interim State Chairman, Chief Jide Awe, called for the invalidation of the election based on three grounds.

They were: That Mr. Ayodele Fayose, the candidate of the PDP in the election and winner, was not fit to contest the election on ground of his impeachment in 2006 as the Governor of Ekiti State.

The APC is also contesting

what it termed undue militarization of the election by the Chief of Army Staff, General Kenneth Minimah and the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar and also alleged that the election was manipulated electronically.

The panel has 180 days to try the case in consonance with the provisions of Section 134 of the Electoral Act, commencing from the day it was filed at the tribunal.

CNPP: Senate report on missing $49.8bn unconstitutional Leo Sobechi

he Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) yesterday said it considers the report by a Senate committee on the missing $49.8 billion crude oil sales revenue, which recommended that President Goodluck Jonathan should prepare and present to the National Assembly a supplementary budget, unconstitutional, because it was less than transparent.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, CNPP said asking the president for a supplementary budget to cover N90.693 billion for PMS subsidy for 2012 and N685.919 billion for kerosene subsidy expended without appropriation by the National Assembly, is also an impeachable offence.

The group said the sanctity of the Appropriation Act must at all times be guarded by the National Assembly, stressing that “the intendment of the appropriation process is for transparency, hierarchy of needs measurement and prioritisation of items.

“Accordingly, the Senate cannot abandon its core mandate of over-

T

Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Osita Chidoka (middle) and senior officers of the corps, riding on a bicycle, going for his screening and appearance before the Senate as Ministerial Nominee in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO:ELIJAHOLALUYI

FEC approves N1.3bn standard rail contract

Shell property divides NPDC, Delta community

Anule Emmanuel

Dominic Adewole

he Federal Executive Tproved Council yesterday apcontract worth

N1.3billion for the feasibility study of standard rail gauge system along six rail corridors in the country.

Minister of Transport, Idris Umar disclosed this while briefing State House Correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Minister, who briefed alongside the Minister of information, Labaran Maku, as well as Minister of Industry,Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, said that the rail corridors were identified under the 25 years strategic railway development policy of the Federal Government to fast track speedy economic development.

Umar said that the contract includes studies of the viability of the rail project and identification

of business and economic activities along the selected corridors.

The feasibility study will also involve identification of the rail stations along the route as well as come up with the environmental impact assessment.

According to Umar, the total length of the six rail lines will be 4430 kilometers and is expected to be completed within six months.

The corridors include Kano/ Dai/Jimbia an approximate distance of 354KM, Ilela/Sokoto/ Jega / Kontagora, 408km, Aba/ Ikot Ekpene/ Itu/ Uyo / Uduopkani/Calabr, covering a total distance of 340km, Kano/ Nguru/ Geshua/ Damaturu/ Maiduguri/ gamburu Ngala, covering 707 Km, Calabar/ Ikom/ Obudu/ Ogoja/ Katsina Ala/ Wukari/ Jalingo/Yola/ Maiduguri 1669km.

The minister said the last of the corridor is the rail line from Port Harcourt/ Aba/ Umuahia/ Enugu/ Lafia/ Jos/ Bauchi/ Biu/ Maidiguri, 550km.

ASABA

people of Polobubou Tnityhe(Tsekelewu) commuin Delta State have threatened to disrupt the operations of the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) over the refusal of its management to sign the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU).

The people said the company’s three years stay in the area amounted to gross insensitivity to the host community as it has spelt doom for the future.

Arising from the community’s national council, where an “Enough is Enough” stance was reached, the community leaders lamented that three years after the company acquired the assets of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), including the over 50 oil-wells, its management had turned deaf ears to the plight of the owners.

National President of Polobubou council Mac. Yoroki added Ebi-

late Mac-Yoroki, during a briefing in Warri, said his people have x-rayed the company and discovered that it has no blueprint for the development of the host community.

He said: “When Shell was in charge, the company signed a lease agreement with us, in it was a policy for staff employment and contracts defining stakes to the host community.

“NPDC is an intruder.

The company came to our land illegally. If they must operate here, then they should give us fair treatment. We are suffering at the moment.

“Best practices,” he continued, “dictate that NPDC signs new lease agreement and negotiates fresh GMoU before taking over the property.

Chevron operates here too, with documented GMoU. NPDC is evasive.

The management wants to operate with a draft GMoU and with a clause that the treaty will not be effective until it was negotiated and signed by parties in the matter.”

sight functions as stipulated in Section 88, in an effort to protect a president, whose metaphor is corruption. The CNPP had read from page to page and could not locate the section that mandated the Senate to make such unconstitutional and fraudulent recommendation.

“Section 81 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, only stipulates in Section 81 that; “The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each of the House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year, estimates of the revenue and expenditure of the federation for the next financial year, not years after and to cover fraud,” CNPP declared.

The group added: “We are therefore outraged that the Senate, in utter disregard of the rule of law, has covertly issued a badly compromised report that even forgot that the Minister of Finance and Coordinator of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had acknowledged after the inter-agency and ministerial reconciliation, that $12.8 billion was not remitted to the Federation Account and hence missing.”

NBA election: Obi congratulates Alegeh Tony Okafor

AWKA

governor of Fterormer Anambra State, Mr. PeObi, has congratulated

the new Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) executive council led by Mr. Augustine Alegeh, SAN. In a congratulatory message made available to the media yesterday, Obi said Alegeh’s triumph in a keenly contested poll was obviously a confirmation of his leadership qualities and vision for the association. He described his success as a ‘deserved vote of

confidence.’

Obi added that being chosen to lead the body was both a great honour and challenge, but expressed hope that Alegeh would rise to the occasion.

“Your rich credentials and the goodwill of your colleagues would expectedly spur you to provide vibrant and focused leadership.”

The former governor tasked Alegeh to use his tenure to continue to advance civil liberties, rule of law and the tenets of the Nigerian democracy.

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Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Tension at Lagos airport as agents protest Wole Shadare

empers rose yesterday at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos as the members of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, staged a peaceful protest around the complex over the imposition of consolidated charges

by Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria, AFARN. ANLCA, however, returned to work later in the afternoon after a meeting with major stakeholders in the Nigerian aviation industry, which included the Nigerian Customs Service, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, the State Security Service, SSS, and the leadership of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, at the headquarters of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company of Nigeria, NAHCO, Plc.

T

Earlier, the members of the association with various inscriptions like ‘Foreign airlines stop milking Nigerians; ‘ No more charges for all the airlines; ‘ don’t kill cargo business in Nigeria;’ ‘say no to illegal charges’ and ‘foreign airlines are stealing from our economy’ among many others, insisted that the charges amounted to double taxation on the clearing agents.

Addressing reporters at its secretariat at the Lagos Airport, the National President, ANLCA, Prince Olayiwola Shittu said the strike action by his members has been called off after a closed door meeting with the stakeholders at the headquarters of NAHCo. He, however, insisted that its members would no longer pay the charges, which he described as arbitrary, warning that any attempt to further impose the charges on would be kicked against.

Peugeot set to build cars in Nigeria SA Peugeot Citroen will PNigeria start producing cars in this year after the

French carmaker signed an assembly and sale of cars agreement with PAN Nigeria Limited.

In a statement yesterday, the Paris-based Peugeot said it would begin building its 301 sedan in small volumes at a plant operated by PAN Nigeria Ltd in Kaduna.

The vehicle, will be produced from semi-assembled kits of parts shipped from Peugeot’s plant in Vigo, in Spain.

“On Friday, 11 July 2014, PSA Peugeot Citroën (Paris:UG) and PAN Nigeria Limited signed an assembly and sale of cars agreement in Nigeria,” PSA Peugeot Citroen said in a statement. “The first vehicle concerned by the agreement will be the Peugeot 301, the assembly

of which will begin in the second half of 2014 at the Kaduna plant.

“Under the terms of the agreement, PAN Nigeria Limited will also be able to assemble the Peugeot 508 and the Peugeot 308.”

Peugeot will leverage a network of roughly a dozen dealers that will be capable of rapidly implementing the quality standards required by the Brand and supporting its business growth in Nigeria.

The agreement is aligned with the new automotive industry development policy established by the Nigerian government.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation with about 170 million people, and its largest economy with GDP of 372 billion in 2013 and growth of 7.4 per cent forecast for 2014.

RIVALRY NERC boss Amadi says power ministry is using its power to frustrate him Philip Nyam

Abuja

T

he Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Dr. Godknows Igali and the Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, yesterday disagreed openly on the bill seeking to establish the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Authority (NEMSA).

The disagreement took place at the public hearing organized by the House of Representatives committee on power.

Amadi, who spoke first accused the Federal Ministry of Power and other stakeholders of propagating personal interest and urged the House to discard the bill as it would whittledown the statutory powers of the Commission.

He alleged that the ministry had since 2009 made

Power ministry, NERC disagree on NEMSA bill frantic efforts to frustrate the Commission and argued that the proposed "bill does not serve any useful purpose but would deter the achievements recorded so far in the power sector.

Amadi maintained that the conversion of the Company to a statutory regulatory agency will "impose cost on investors" and generate untoward conflicts with NERC, which performs similar functions.

But a visibly angry Igali in his counter presentation, took exception to the allegation leveled against the Minister of Power, Prof. Nebo and himself.

Earlier, speaker of the House, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal; Senator Phillip Aduda, chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and other operators spoke in favour of the bill.

Tambuwal, who lauded the protectiveness of the

Ikhariale-committee in convening stakeholders' meeting on the proposed bill, bemoaned the poor service delivery in the power sector.

While stressing the need for deliberate action towards addressing various challenges in the sector, the Speaker noted that electricity supply has negatively impacted on the nation's economic development, hence the need to urgently put measure in place to ensure technical standards, inspection and safety in all ramifications.

Speaking on the intent of the bill, chairman House Committee on power, Hon. Patrick Ikhariale, noted that the proposed bill will ensure safe, reliable and uninterrupted power supply to the citizenry as well as guarantee safety of lives and properties in homes, offices, work places, industries, among others.

He noted that the agency

when functional will address the non-committal attitude of the utility operators as well as address various challenges hampering power generation and distribution despite the unbundling of the PHCN. Prosecutor reviews alleged link between UK aid and Ibori Britain's leading fraud prosecutor is evaluating materials alleging aids from the United Kingdom might have been channelled to companies linked to a former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori. Ibori is in jail in the UK. "As part of that review, it (the Serious Fraud Office) is examining whether there is any indication of an offence falling within the criminal jurisdiction of England and Wales as opposed to criminal jurisdictions overseas," Solicitor-General Oliver Heald said in written response to a parliamentary question.

L-R: Deputy Managing Director/Deputy Editor-in-Chief, New Telegraph, Mr. Felix Abugu; Managing Director, Chikason Group of Companies, Nnewi, Anambra State, Engr. Linus Ilozue and Editor, New Telegraph (Saturday Edition), Mr. Laurence Ani, during the presentation of New Telegraph to Engr. Linus in his office at Umudim Nnewi, Anambra State

Kwankwaso wants CBN to reverse BDC policy

TAC sends 50 lecturers to Uganda

Muhammad Kabir

Philip Nyam

KANO

State Governor, Khasano Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso appealed to the Central

Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to revise its new policy on Bureau De Change, BDC, operation in the country.

He argued that part of the measures introduced to sanitize the sub-sector will be counterproductive.

He said specifically that as entailed in the new policy, the increase in the minimum capital requirement of N25 million for Bureau De Change operation in the country, representing 250 per cent raise from the previous N10 million would

render many operators out of business, as many of them cannot meet the new benchmark. He observed that majority of them are from the northern part of the country.

The CBN had recently issued what it called “Guidelines for International Money Transfer Services in Nigeria”, which the apex bank explained was in line with the provisions of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 17 of 1995 and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, BOFIA of 1991, which empowered it to license and regulate BDC operations in the country to achieve set objectives.

Abuja

Department of TechTdayhenicalsent Aid Corps yester50 Nigerians as

university lecturers in different academic fields to the Islamic university of Uganda as TAC volunteers.

This is just as the volunteers have been advised to be good ambassadors of the country by positively projecting her image through their work and action.

Director General of TAC, Dr. Pius Osunyinkanmi, who disclosed this at the departure ceremony for the 50 volunteers in Abuja, said the Technical

Aid Corps programme was being revived and expanded in line with the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Addressing the volunteers, made up of various professionals, the director general said ““I congratulate you our volunteers. We have 50 of you that will be departing to a single university in Uganda. You will be there as university lecturers. We know what this portend especially for those that lack the cognate experience of teaching in the university before.

“Let me emphasise that the country you are going to is desirous of your ser-

vices and you cannot afford to give less than what is desired of you”.

Osunyikanmi warned the volunteers against indulging in activities that would smear the name of the country saying, “Discipline should be your watch word. You are carrying the Nigerian flag and you must be able to do Nigeria proud. Market and project Nigeria positively, letting them know that Nigeria is a country that is peaceful, progressive and developing.

According to the DG, President Jonathan has decided that there is need to rework the entire frame work of the Nigerian foreign policy with a view to making it

much impactful adding that one of the major aspects of the nation’s foreign policy has to do with the technical aids corps which is with the objective of widening the technical know-how and manpower assistance to African, Caribbean and Pacific, (ACP) countries.

He said although, the scheme had witnessed its ups and downs over the years, the new management has realized the fact that there is a need to re-energise the Directorate in line with President Jonathan’s charge that the recruitment process should be reviewed with a view to making it 100 per cent merit driven.

8

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

High food prices raise inflation to 8.2% Abdulwahab Isa Abuja

F

Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji (left), receiving the keys to 10 security vehicles from the General Manager/Group Zonal Head, SouthSouth and South-East, Zenith Bank Plc, Dr. Augustine Njoku in Umuahia…yesterday

Reps move to regulate production, sale of tobacco Ndubuisi Ugah and Philip Nyam, Abuja

T

he House of Representatives yesterday explained that it did not intend to ban the production or sale of tobacco in the country but only to regulate it.

Chairman of the House Committee on Health, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, gave the clarification at the public hearing organsied by the committee on the health related bills including the tobacco bill.

Meanwhile, the British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) has reiterated

l BATN seeks balanced regulation

its support for the passage of balanced regulation for the industry.

The company made its position known during the public hearing for the National Tobacco Control Bill at the National Assembly in Abuja.

The Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, BAT West Africa, Mr. Freddy Messanvi, said that BATN had always supported the passage of a balanced and evidence based regulation of the tobacco industry in Nigeria.

“Through co-operation

between BATN and regulatory agencies, we have achieved reduction in the incidence of illicit trade from over 80 per cent to around 20 per cent today,” he said.

The tobacco bill seeks to regulate the production, promotion, advertising and packaging of the product and not meant to ban the production, sale or smoking of tobacco in the country.

Also, collaborating Elumelu’s position, chairman of the House committee justice, Hon. Ali Ahmed said contrary

to speculations in certain quarters, the bill is not to ban tobacco smoking in the country.

According to Ahmed, the parliament lacked the power to ban tobacco smoking outright but has the duty to protect the citizens, including children, who are likely to be exposed to the hazards of unregulated regime.

Messanvi explained that any proposed regulation must not force the legal and regulated businesses out of operation and leave the market at the mercy of smugglers and illicit traders.

Special task force rescues 218 cows in Plateau Emmanuel Onani

T

he Defence Headquarters (DHQ), has announced that soldiers of the Special Task Force (STF) operating in Plateau State, have recovered over 218 cows, said to have been stolen by cattle rustlers at different points.

The disclosure was made in an unsigned statement posted on the official website of the Defence Headquarters yesterday.

Some of the animals were said to have been rescued, when troops on

special patrol were alerted and they confronted the group of young rustlers, who were said to have made away with some cattles after allegedly killing some herdsmen in Kanke town.

Another separate operation was said to have been undertaken by the STF operatives in Panchiki, culminating in further recoveries.

The statement reads in full: “Operatives of the Special Task Force (STF) in Plateau State, North Central Nigeria have recovered over 218 cows stolen by

cattle rustlers in various parts of the state.

Some of the cattle were salvaged when troops carrying out special patrols to deescalate cattle rustling in the region were alerted to a group of youthful cattle rustlers who had made away with some cattle after killing herdsmen at Kanke town.

“The Operatives who swiftly trailed and intercepted the rustlers have taken one of the suspects into custody for preliminary investigations after which he will be handed over to the appropriate

prosecuting agency.

“A separate operation carried out by the special patrol operatives has also led to the recovery of 30 cows from cattle rustlers in Panchiki village in Plateau State. The cattle were recovered following a pursuit by the troops, compelling the rustlers to abandon the cattle. All the cattle have been returned to their rightful owners across the state.

“Cattle rustling have been a major cause of violence and the bane of peaceful coexistence in North Central Nigeria.”

Prison boss condoles with Adewoye’s family he Deputy ControlTOgun ler General of Prison, State Command,

DCP Afolabi Akinyemi has commensurated with the family of Assistance Commissioner of Police (ACP), Olukayode Adewoye, who passed died recently.

According to Akinyemi, ACP Kayode Adewoye was a very brilliant police officer who served the Nigeria police force meritoriously well, praying that God will give the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

He called on the Nige-

ria police force to expedite action in the quick payment of all the entitlement of the late Adewoye so as to enable his wife to take good care of herself and the children that he left behind.

Akinyemi stated further that late Adewoye will

not only be greatly miss by the Nigeria Police Force but also the good people of his home town of Iba community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Osun state because of his immense contribution to the socio/economic development of the area.

or four consecutive months, headline inflation again rose marginally by 8.2 per cent in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.

The new inflation figure, according to NBS, is an increase of 0.2 per cent point from the 8 per cent recorded in May. The report attributed the increase in June to higher prices in bread, cereals, meats fish and dairy groups, a repeat of May price trend.

This is the fourth consecutive month of year-onyear increases in inflation since the pace of price increase eased in February.

NBS said the prices in the food sub inflation were weighed down by relatively slower increases in the oils and fats, fruits and vegetable groups.

On the food sub-index, the report said this increased by 9.8 per cent in June, marginally higher from 9.7 per cent recorded in May. It said while food prices had increased for the fourth consecutive month

during the first half of the year, the pace of increase in prices had slowed relative to the first half of 2013.

According to NBS, from January to June of 2014, year-on-year rates averaged 9.4 per cent, which is 0.5 percentage points lower than what was recorded in the previous half year.

On a month-on-month basis, price increases in the headline index rose by 0.77 per cent in June, marginally lower from a 0.78 per cent increase in May. It said price increases had continued to move in one direction since the start of the year.

For instance, the report explained that urban prices increased at a faster rate for the second consecutive month in June to 8.4 per cent, up 0.2 percentage points from May. Inflation had crept up from a five-year low of 7.8 per cent in October due to rising food prices.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had said its target was to keep inflation between 6 and 9 per cent this year with a longerterm goal of reducing it to around 5 per cent by the end of 2015.

Accident claims policeman in Edo Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

ghastly motor acApolice cident involving a patrol van and a truck yesterday claimed the life of a policeman.

The dead officer until his sudden demise was attached to Afuze Divisional station of Owan

East council of Edo state command.

A source close to a vigilante team in the council area told newsmen last night that policemen from Afuze division were chasing persons suspected to be carrying cannabis in a vehicle when the ugly incident occurred near Sasaro location.

Anambra demolishes three suspected kidnappers, den Onah O. Onah Onitsha

more buildings Ttieshree used for kidnap activiat Okija, Ihiala local

government area and Uruagu, Nnewi in Nnewi North local government area were yesterday demolished by a team of Anambra Security Network led by the Anambra State Commissioner of Police Mr. Gwary Mohammed.

Governor Willie Obiano has since assumption of office knocked down 9 buildings associated with kidnapping in the state in his ongoing onslaught against kidnappers and criminals.

New Telegraph reports that the governor on assumption of office promised the people of Anambra State that the state will be most unsafe for kidnappers and criminals as he vowed to sanitize the state. This he did

by inaugurating the Operation Nkpochapu to ensure that nobody benefits from proceeds of crime in the state.

Mohammed and SA to Governor Obiano on security, Chikodili Anara led the team to Okija and Nnewi. At Umuatuegwu , Uhuobo Okija the team pulled down a storey building and a bungalow belonging to late Mr. Pius Osuchukwu but used by his two sons, one ‘’Akwaa’’ still at large and his elder brother now in police net for hiding kidnapped victims.

The Police boss alleged that the gang used the buildings to shelter many kidnapped victims including Access Bank Manager and Cashier, Manager of Julius Berger who was on holiday, a member of the state House of Assembly, Dr. Emeka Aniebonam and manager CCC Construction Company among others.

news

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

9

Lawmaker faults confab delegates on committees' reports Cajetan Mmuta

BENIN

representing Leralawmaker Egor/Ikpoba-Okha fedconstituency in the

House of Representatives, Hon. Jim Adun, yesterday faulted delegates to the National Conference over the controversy surrounding many of the knotty issues that arose from resolutions on committee reports.

He said it was a clear manifestation of waste of energy and public funds.

Adun told newsmen in Benin that the outcome of the deliberations would be an exercise in futility.

The lawmaker, who hopes to seek election to

L-R: National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; National Secretary, Alhaji Maimala Bunni and Deputy National Chairman, North, Alhaji Shaibu Lawal, during a press briefing on the state of the nation in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

50%

The percentage drop of capital importation of Nigeria in 2009 from the preceding year.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

103

The ratio of women to 100 men in Burkina Faso in 2010.

Source: Un.org

12.45%

The percentage of individuals using the internet in Gambia in 2012.

Source: Itu.int

Nyako’s impeachment: Okorocha panics, lobbies Alamieyeseigha lWe are not troubled, says Imo govt HURRICANE JONATHAN

With the tide turning against APC in Ekiti and Adamawa, the Owelle of Douglas House rushes to Bayelsa for cover Steve Uzoechi

OWERRI

F

ollowing the wind of impeachment blowing across All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled states, Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, may have resolved to seek succour across party lines.

This came to light re-

cently when he played host to a kinsman of President Goodluck Jonathan and former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, at the Government House, Owerri.

Though, details of their discussions were not made public,dependablesourcesin GovernmentHouse,however, saidGovernorOkorochawas moving to placate Mr. President through the facilitation of Alamieyeseigha, who is believed to be an influential confidant of the President.

It is also widely believed that only President Jonathan can stay the actions of rampaging PDP legislators in such APC states as Nasarawa, Edo, Rivers and Imo in the event of an impeachment threat, hence the need

to mend fences before the storm breaks.

The source also said Alamieyeseigha mayhavegiven the Imo State governor some conditions that must be fulfilled before any meaningful interventioncouldtakeplace.

Meanwhile, it has been severally averred by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders that Governor Okorocha would suffer the same fate like Dr. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State in the 2015 governorship election in Imo State Fayemi lost his re-election for a second term in office to the PDP candidate, Mr. Ayodele Fayose on June 21.

The latest threat to Okorocha’s position has been credited to a PDP chieftain in the state, who is also a former commissioner for informa-

tion in the immediate past PDP government, Nze Elvis Agukwe, who boasted recentlythat“Okorochawillreceive the Fayemi treatment” in 2015.

Reacting to the threat by Agukwe yesterday, Okorocha’s spokesman, Sam Onwuemeodo, dismissed his assertions, insisting that the PDPisnotevenconsideredto beincontentionforthegovernorship contest in 2015.

He said the Imo government is not in any way troubled as the PDP lacks organisation and the candidate to unseat the governor.

Onwuemeodo added that all the noise about the Imo PDP would always be traced to three or four leaders of the party, and some of the governorship aspirants on the platform of the party only.

Group endorses Jonathan for second term Clement James

Calabar

A

political group under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Cross River State, “Cross River Consensus For Goodluck Ebele Jonathan” has endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan, for a second term in office.

The group said it has started mobilising the grassroots to ensure full support for the secondterm bid of the President in 2015.

The group also said Tuesday’s endorsement

of President Jonathan

by PDP governors and caucus lawmakers in the House of Representatives, was meant to streamline the process of ensuring the party’s victory in the 2015 presidential election.

Coordinator of the group, Mr. Paul Adah, who spoke with journalists in Calabar yesterday, claimed that Jonathan would be unopposed and given bloc votes in Cross River State during the party’s primaries and the general elections respectively.

He said notwithstand-

ing the security challenges in the North-East; there was nothing wrong in drumming support for the 2015 re-election of President Jonathan, adding that the country must move forward.

“We are compelled to start mobilising for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, because he has shown that he has the vision to lead this country in the right direction. He is entitled to a two-term tenure of eight years and we will give him that 100 per cent support in Cross River,”

he explained.

According to Adah; “There is nothing wrong in endorsing President Jonathan at this moment, not even the security challenges would deter us, as the problem is being handled effectively by the military. Jonathan has transformed the country to the level that it is and therefore deserves to complete his second term.”

He said the group was working with the leader of the party, Governor Liyel Imoke, to ensure that Jonathan was returned unopposed beyond Cross River.

represent people of Edo South senatorial district at the National Assembly under the APC in 2015 said: “I am one individual who is against the national conference.”

According to him; “It is an exercise in futility. How do you expect unelected people to waste public resources and make recommendations for elected lawmakers to pass into law.

“We must face the truth; we have weak people in government. If you are elected, you are elected for the good governance of the people.

You can shut down the state and national assemblies and let us go and have a national conference.”

FG makes entrepreneurship education compulsory in varsities Yekeen Nurudeen

Abuja

s part of measures to Aunemployment tackle the problem of in the

country, the Federal Government has made the study of entrepreneurship education compulsory in the nation’s universities and other institutions of higher learning.

This, government said would help deal with the vexed issues of low employability rating of Nigerian graduates and the general unemployment problems confronting the nation.

Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, stated this in Abuja yesterday while declaring open the 2014 Annual National Entrepreneurship Week (ANEW) and stakeholders’ sensitisation forum.

The minister said this

will also discourage Nigerian graduates from cravings for ‘white-collar’ jobs that are non-existence.

He was represented by the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie, at the event organised by the commission in collaboration with Kaduna State University.

He said: “Government noted that if the global best practices must be adapted to Nigeria, entrepreneurship development must be institutionalised.

“Against this backdrop, the Federal Government in 2006 issued a Presidential directive through the Federal Ministry of Education, making entrepreneurship education compulsory for all students of higher education institutions with effect from the 2007/2008 session.

Rivers: Amaechi pledges more development, less campaign ivers State Governor, Remphasised Chibuike Amaechi, has his adminis-

tration’s commitment to increase its development drive in rural communities to meet specific needs and improve the people’s living standard.

Amaechi spoke on Tuesday during his “Meet the People Tour” of seven communities in Ikwerre Local Government of the state.

The communities visited include Igwuruta, Ipo, Omademe, Ozuaha, Omuanwa, Ubima and Omerelu.

At Igwuruta, Amaechi said the purpose of his visit was to bring government closer to the people and discuss ways of ensuring more development in the grassroots before the expiration of his tenure.

The governor announced the construction of two more model primary schools to serve the

growing population of the area and has planned empowerment programmes that will positively affect the lives of the people.

He said: “This visit is not for campaign, we are here to discuss what will benefit the people at the grassroots. I am interested in the politics of development. I will build two new primary schools in Igwuruta. The primary schools will have 20 classroom blocks.

“This is because, the population in Igwuruta has increased and the geo-political setting of the area has also changed.

I urge you to be patient and peaceful; No more Azumba and Ihumba conflicts. When we build the schools, please send your children to them. The increase in population in Igwuruta has also called for more development,” he said.

10

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THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2014

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com; otuntise@yahoo.co.uk

0802 393 8212

Police nab four Chadians for robbery, recover guns DANGEROUS GUARDS Some foreigners, who are notorious armed robbers but disguise as security guards, terrorising the rich in Magodo, Omole and other estates are now in police custody Juliana Francis

F

our Chadians, who specialised in placing sharp objects on the road to puncture tyres before robbing motorists, are now in police custody.

The suspects were said to be part of the gang that had been terrorising different parts of the Lagos metropolis until their arrest.

They were arrested by the Lagos State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) at Kara Cattle Market in Ogun State, after the police received a tip-off from an informant.

The gang leader is one Mustapha, also a Chadian, but still at large. According to the suspects, it was Mustapha who recruited all of them.

Their modus operandi was to place sharp objects on highways to perforate the tyres, forcing motorists to halt, before pouncing and robbing them of their valuables.

The suspects identified as Jamal Nasiru, Ahmed Mohammed, Umaru Abubakar and Sale Abubakar, are being detained at SARS. Also arrested were people who used to buy stolen items from the gang after their robbery expeditions.

According to the police, four

The suspects and items recovered from them.

pump action guns, locally-made pistols, cutlasses and charms were recovered from the suspects. Also recovered from them were several laptops. Most of the laptops were snatched from the residents of Magodo.

All the members of the gang are Chadians who came to Lagos to become security guards, but decided to form a robbery gang.

Aside from the four suspects, three others are still on the run.

A police source said that one of the suspects at large was still working as a security guard at a house in Omole Estate, before escaping after he learnt that his gang members had been arrested.

“The state Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, was

alerted on the activities of a notorious armed robbery gang, terrorising the residents of Magodo, Omole and other estates in that axis.

“The informant also hinted that the same gang operated on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on the long bridge where they used to place dangerous obstacles on the highway to puncture tyres of unsuspecting motorists in order to rob them.

“Also, the gang constant raided Kara cattle market,” the source said.

Immediately Manko received the information, he instructed the Officer in Charge of SARS, Mr Abba Kiyarri, a Superintendent (SP), to investigate the matter and ensure that the suspects were arrested.

Gunmen abduct German in Adamawa Ibrahim Abdul Yola

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en gunmen riding on five motorcycles yesterday abducted a German in Gombi town in Adamawa State.

Security sources and the residents said the incident occurred about 6:45am at Anguwan Faransa area of the town.

The German, who is the principal in charge of Government Technical Skill Acquisition Centre, was on his way to work when he was abducted.

A resident of the town, Mr Joseph Ga’anda, said that the man, whose name he gave as Mr Fisch, was a very popular figure in the town.

He said: “The abductors laid siege to his house.

They either slept near his

house or came in the wee hours because we saw their abandoned blankets near the house.

“The gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram came on motorcycles.

And as soon as the man came out and was about to get into his car, two persons on foot approached him and pointed a gun at him. They now called the two other people on motorcycles and they carried him away on their motorcycle.

“Almost everybody in this town knows him because he helps us a lot, especially in the area of repairing the town’s water boreholes. Most of the time he uses his own money to buy equipment and repair our boreholes.”

Another resident, who did not want his name in print, said that the incident

occurred when the police escort attached to the abducted man was away.

Efforts to get details of the abduction from TTS, the firm handling the training scheme in Adamawa State proved abortive.

When our correspondent visited the company’s office in Yola, the state capital, none of the senior staff was available.

Also, the German Embassy in Abuja said it was not aware of the incident.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Othman Abubakar, said he was in a meeting and promised to call back.

But he did not call at press time.

Adamawa is one of three states under emergency rule due to the activities of Boko Haram.

It was gathered that after investigation, the receiver of the stolen goods, Atom Haruna, was arrested.

The end for the gang began after police received information of its criminal activities and embarked on surveillance.

It was apparently based on their discoveries that SARS decided to go after the buyers of the stolen goods.

Detectives used the buyers as bait to catch the four suspects.

“A joint team of SARS and men from the Isheri Police Station first arrested their buyer with many laptops at Ojodu Berger. The buyer took the team to Omole Estate and Kara Cattle Market in Ogun State, where the four suspects were arrested.

“The four Chadians con-

Clement James Calabar

residents of the FedTingheeralEstate Low Cost Housin Calabar,

Cross River State, have appealed to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for assistance following perennial flood in the estate.

The Chairman of the residents’ association, Dr Vincent Ogbeche, said in a letter made available to our correspondent in Calabar that the estate was usually flooded between July and October every year.

This, Ogbeche said, was because the road was not tarred and had a poor drainage system, with one side of the road out of use which had not been rehabilitated for many years.

He said: “As new build-

fessed to the crime. They also confessed that they attacked several houses at Magodo and Omolo estates before we arrested them and recovered for four pump action guns, locallymade pistols and cutlasses from them,” another police source said.

One of the suspects reportedly said they were paid N15,000 every month as security men.

“The money is not enough to take care of our needs. We were trying to think of other things to do to make more money when our gang leader, Mustapha, told us how lucrative armed robbery was and convinced us to form a gang. That was how we started until we were arrested,” he added.

Calabar residents decry perennial flooding, seek NDDC’s intervention ings are springing up rapidly, draining water into the same gutter, the volume of water and intensity of flood also increase.”

The chairman said the flood had been wreaking havoc on houses and impaired movement of the residents to work and school.

“Each time we experience this, we run to some media houses for help, and sometimes the Ministry of Works for rescue, but often we got no assistance,” he added.

Ogbeche said residents heard that contract for the drainage project was awarded by government several years ago, “but nothing has been done”.

The letter reads in part: “Sir, your esteemed commission is presently rehabilitating the Federal Housing Estate Police Station road through the Estate Nursery/Primary School up to the Customs’ Quarters.

“We wish to seize the opportunity of your presence and humbly request you to kindly extend this ongoing project from the Estate Nursery/ Primary School to Mangel Hotel, a distance of half a kilometre.

“By graciously doing so, you will not only have done what the proverbial Napoleon could not do, but also extend your magnanimity to save a downtrodden people.”

METRO

Thursday, July 17, 2014

New Damaturu Hospital ready soon, says Gaidam Hassan Jirgi Damaturu

G

overnor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State has given an assurance that the new ultramodern hospital in Damaturu would be completed in the next three months.

The governor, who spoke while inspecting medical equipment at the hospital, said that in the next one month, the remaining equipment would arrive for installation.

He said: “After completion, we are going to invite President Goodluck Jonathan to commission it and see what we have done despite security challenges.”

Gaidam said the goal of his administration on the hospital was to provide a standard referral medical centre capable of handling referral cases in Yobe and neighbouring states.

“It is our hope that the hospital will compete favourably with other referral hospitals across the country,” he added.

The governor reiterated that the 200-bed hospital would be handed over to the Yobe State University to serve as a teaching hospital.

The Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Bello Kawuwa, expressed satisfaction with the quality of equipment and expressed the hope that in the next three months work would be completed.

He described the hospital as the biggest heath care investment in northern Nigeria.

Ugo Willies Gombe

A

t least 260 villages in Gombe State are going to benefit from the rural electrification project of Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo’s administration.

Briefing journalists after the State Executive Council meeting, the Commissioner for Information, Rev Habu Dawaki alongside his counterparts in the Works Ministry Shehu Hadi Ahmed (an engineer) and Rural Development Ministry, Mr Hassan Ahmadu, said contract for the project to be executed within the next 10 months had been signed.

Dawaki explained that 38 villages under Kashere, Pindiga and Tumu all in Akko Local Government Area would be electrified at the cost of over N448.839 million.

According to him, 25 other villages under Malala and

260 villages to benefit from Gombe rural electrification project

Dankwambo

Lubo in Dukku and Yamaltu-Deba local government areas would also be electrified while 30 transformers would be purchased for some other villages.

This is expected to cost over N240 million and would be executed within a period of 10 months.

Register or risk jail, ISPON warns safety managers Muritala Ayinla Institute of Safety of Professionals of TersheNigeria (ISPON) has warned safety managin Nigeria to register with it or risk six

months’ imprisonment and N100,000 fine.

The institute also warned owners of companies to engage the service of professional safety managers in line with the ISPON Act 2014 to ensure adherence to safety rules.

This, according to the institute, would minimise many avoidable disasters.

The ISPON National President, Dr Nnamdi Iloduiba, who gave the warning at the Professional Induction ceremony held at the institute’s secretariat.

Iloduiba said with the assent of President Goodluck Jonathan on the ISPON Act on May 19, safety could no longer be toyed with in the country.

He said: “Before now, the institute could only control the practice and ethics of the profession as performed by its members.

This gave room for all and sundry to claim to be safety professionals.

“With the Act, anyone wishing to practice as a safety professional must register with the institute, which will afford the institute the opportunity to assess the person’s qualifications to do so.”

Also speaking at the ceremony, the Executive Director of Strategy, Safety Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (SAEF), Jamiu Badmus (an engineer), called for the change of attitude among Nigerians.

He said: “We need to change our attitude towards safety. Our attitude in Nigeria is ‘it is not my portion,’ ‘God forbid,’ ‘it will not happen in Jesus name’ or ‘in Allah’s name.’

These are the attitudes that we need to work on through advocacy.

“We need to talk to people in offices, homes and various places. There are more enabling laws that will assist us in bringing enforcement to some of the safety rules.”

Harping on the penalty for recalcitrant safety managers who are yet to register with ISPON, former President of the institute, Shaw Fregene, said such managers might be jailed or fined.

He said: “We are going on with sensitisation of people on safety. We run training programmes in states where we have agency.

We have trained five million people in this country. We don’t seal factories, but we can advise the regulatory agency.”

File picture of Apete bridge, Ibadan.

Apete bridge collapses again Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

fter a few days of reprieve, Amunity the residents of Apete comin Ibadan, Oyo State,

yesterday woke up to discover that flood has washed away the pedestrian bridge.

The makeshift bridge was constructed last week by the state government.

About three weeks ago, the makeshift bridge constructed Taiwo Jimoh here was pandemonium at Boundary Market in AjeTgunle area of Lagos State as

bandits said to be members of the notorious One Million Boys invaded the area.

The rampaging One Million Boys attacked the residents of Nosamu Street.

About two months ago, the hoodlums had invaded Nosamu Street, killed a father of three, Yusuf Ademola, in their attempt to supplant the Tricycle Owner Riders Chairman, Ashamu Fagbenro.

It was learnt that when One Million Boys attacked Nosamu Street at the weekend, they went straight to the shop of one of the tricycle riders’ sister in the market

11

after the August 26, 2011 flood in which many people died, collapsed after a downpour, and allegedly washed away about 10 people.

The makeshift wooden bridge was constructed to allow easy access of the residents of Ijokodo and Apete communities.

But after it was collapsed in the flood again, Governor Abiola Ajimobi instructed the engineer handling the main

Other villages earmarked for electrification are 11 Bakasi villages, 32 villages in Chilo, Chila and Doho towns in Akko and Kwami local government areas which were awarded at over N629 million.

The commissioner added that these projects were in conformity with the desire of the Dankwambo administration to electrify 95 per cent of the communities in the state before the end of its first term in 2015.

Other contracts awarded by the state government during the State Executive Council meeting, which lasted over six hours, included the reconstruction of the road to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Secretariat and to connect Federal Govern-

ment institutions in the area.

The project is expected to gulp N232,642 million.

Dawaki disclosd that the Dankwambo administration was planning to construct additional township roads to further open up various areas of the metropolis and provide easy connection.

This would also include installation of street lights in areas such as Jekadafari and Federal Low-Cost Housing Estate all at the cost of N2 billion with a completion period of nine months.

The commissioner said that reconstruction of road network would be carried out between Cham and Degiri in Blanga Local Government Area at over N48.462 million to fulfil the promise made by the governor.

bridge to put another pedestrian bridge in place.

The palliative makeshift bridge was opened for use last week, but it was washed away by another flood on Tuesday night.

Nobody, however, was washed away unlike the previous ones, some of the residents told our correspondent.

The major bridge, which linked the densely populated Apete community with Ijokodo, and which was being reconstructed since 2011, has not been completed till date.

The government has nevertheless given reasons for the delay and promised that it would be ready by September.

The only route left for the Apete people had been the Ajibode Road behind the University of Ibadan Annexe, but plying the road has been stressful for the residents of the communities in the Ido Local Government Area.

Exactly two weeks ago, two persons were killed on a commercial motorcycle popularly called ‘Okada’ by a hit-andrun car on the Ajibode Road, sparking off protest from the transport operators.

Responding to the development, a distraught resident, who identified herself as Alhaja Risikat Alowonle, said,

“we are back again on another agonising moment as residents of Apete because our movement in and out will be hampered.

“The Ajibode route is too narrow for the kind of traffic being experienced. We are again being forced to concentrate on it as a result of diversion occasioned by the collapsed of Ajimobi bridge.

We even thank God it happened in the night otherwise, we would have been singing another song of sorrow now”.

She added: “The main concern of the Apete residents is about quick completion of the main bridge that collapsed over three years ago, and not about palliative. Unfortunately, there seems not to be that seriousness, as well as eagerness on the part of government to complete the job.

“Since the so-called pedestrian bridge that just collapsed last night was put up, nothing concrete could be said to have been done on the real bridge, yet, the government boasted that by September this year, the bridge would be completed.

I don’t see that happening.”

Attempts to get the reaction of the state government however proved abortive as the Commissioner for Works, Mr Bimbo Kolade, did not pick his calls.

Hoodlums injure one at Lagos market

Nurudeen

and destroyed her goods.

The woman, Mrs Khadijat

Abiola, said that she had to run for her life.

She said: “When they wanted to pounce on me, I ran out of the market; not minding the damage they have done to my goods.

“They were about 15 who stormed my shop in Boundary Market on Saturday, shouting this is Afeez Eniba’s sister, let us beat her and destroy her goods.

“In the process, one of them brought out a gun and a cutlass, I fled immediately to avoid being killed.

“I don’t know what my offence is. I am not a member of the tricycle association; I have my own business. Then why did they come to destroy

my livelihood. The Lagos State Government should come to our rescue here. We are tired of these boys.”

It was also gathered that One Million Boys also attacked and injured a man identified as Nurudeen, who was running a betting agency. They destroyed his machine.

The victim was said to have been rushed to a private hospital in the area, while one of the suspects identified as Gafar was arrested by the youth who handed him over to the Ajeromi Police Division.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ngozi Braide, did not pick her call to confirm the incident.

12 NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

New LGs: Ignore referendum, PDP urges Ekiti people DUE PROCESS Few months to departure Gov. Fayemi is still working hard.

But PDP calls it confusion Adesina Wahab

Ado-Ekiti

E

kiti State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the people of the state to ignore Saturday's planned referendum for the creation of new local council development areas, saying the exercise will be futile at the end of the day.

The party, in a statement by the State Publicity Secre-

tary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole yesterday, described the planned referendum on the creation of 18 new local governments in the state as a grossviolationof dueprocess.

The party said the action by the State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission(EKSIEC)amounted to contempt of court.

"The proposed referendum is an illegal act, as it is not following the due process expected of such an exercise.

Thelegalmatterovertheconstitution of EKSIEC is still in court. Apart from the matter of theconstitutionof EKSIEC being at the Supreme Court, Ekiti PDP has also gone to courtchallengingthecreation of the new LCDAs and that is still in court.

"Any action taken by Fay-

emi, EKSIEC and the Ekiti State House of Assembly on thematterisnullandvoidand we are calling on the people of the state not to waste their timegoingoutonSaturdayfor anyreferendum.Itwillendup a sheer waste of time and resources.

"It is going to be an exercise in futility and we are calling on the people of Ekiti State not to allow themselves to be used, as the incoming administration will not recognise any such illegal act.

We are reiterating again that the PDP is committed to the growth and development of the state in all ramifications and as a law abiding party, will never support any illegal act," Oluwawole said.

He added that well-meaning people of the state should prevail on Fayemi and the APC to follow due process in the handling of the matter.

Oluwawole noted that it hadbecomeclearthatFayemi andAPCwereonlyinterested in causing confusion in the state and create problems for the incoming PDP government.

He referred to the case, HAD/75/2014, filed by the party challenging the creation of the new LCDAs and that people should now see who believes in the rule of law and who does not.

The PDP is seeking the following reliefs: A declaration that it is an exercise in futility for the first defendant to embark on the creation of local governments or LCDAs at the twilight of his tenure, being a process that cannot be completed before the expiration of his tenure but meant to cause confusion for the incoming government.

A declaration that any local government or LCDA

created by Governor Fayemi in contravention of the 1999 Constitution as amended is null, void and of no effect.

The party is also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from embarking on further process towards the creation of additional councils.

It also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the third defendant, the Ekiti State House of Assembly from receiving and or considering any process forwarded to it by the governor in relation to the creation of new councils.

The Ekiti State PDP also wants the court to determine the followings: "Whether Governor Fayemi can validly create local governments or LCDAs in contravention of Section (3) of the 1999 Constitution”,

among others.

Meanwhile, some aggrieved indigenes of some towns that were dissatisfied with the siting of the headquarters of Ero Local Council Development Area in Igogo-Ekiti yesterday stormed the State House of Assembly in protest, describing government’s action as unjustifiable and capable of creating animosity among the constituent communities.

The irate members, who displayed placards of various inscriptions, were drawn from Erinmope, Irare, Ikun and and Ikosun-Ekiti all in the present Moba Local Government Area, saying the choice of Igogo-Ekiti did not represent the collective interest of all the seven towns in the constituency.

2015: Kwara group wants Saraki to replace Jonathan Biodun Oyeleye

Ilorin

Kwara state based group, AChange Nigeria Needs Positive Group (NNPCG)

Residents of Lafia protesting the rumoured impeachment of Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura…yesterday

School director charges FG on appointment of Education Minister Muritala Ayinla

he Federal Government has been urged to reexamine its motive for appointing Education Minister, saying whoever must be appointed for such position must have passion for education and be desirous of addressing the rots in the nation's education sector.

The director of Good Shepherd Schools, Dr Oluyemisi Oyeyemi who gave the indication during the 16th Valedictory and Prize Giving Day of the Ogun State Campus of the school, said the new Education Minister must be able to have a clear cut vision of what the nation's education system should be in the nearest future.

She said such a person must be independent minded and must not be engrossed in the political debates, issue or conflicts in the country but only be interested in the strategic and innovative ways of repositioning the nation's dwindling

T

education fortune.

This, according to her, is the solution to the exodus of Nigerians going abroad to study describing a situation where an Education Minister enmeshed in political crisis as unpalatable for the nation's education sector.

Oyeyemi added that appointing an Education Minister on the basis of how much political support such a person could garner or how much votes such a person could win for the party during election is not the best for the nation, lamenting that the nation's education sector would remain in comatose unless political motive is totally eradicated in the appointment of a minister.

She said: "Where exactly are we heading for? What is the situation of education sector? If we do not really prepare our youth in a way that they will be able to handle emerging challenges in technology, then we will be getting nowhere."

Kwara CP’s wife advises against widows’ exploitation Biodun Oyeleye

Ilorin

ife of the Kwara state W Police Commissioner, Mrs. Josephine Aisabor

has pleaded with officers and men of the force against exploiting widows of their former colleagues in the process of perfecting the documents of their deceased husbands or seeking other forms of assistance.

Mrs. Aisabor, who gave the challenge while presenting empowerment items to some 15 widows and two orphans in the state command on behalf of the Police Officers Wives Association (POWA) also tasked officers and men in the command to contribute generously to the fund being operated for taking care of such women saying anyone who understands what an average widow goes through would not hesitate to help out.

She lamented what she described as sad stories of alleged exploitation of widows while they attempt to perfect documents of their late husbands saying officers and men in charge of such engagements or who are approached by widows for assistance should render such helps freely without seeking to compromise the affected women.

“You must be ready to help widows without any string attached”, she told the officers and men who attended the event inside the Police Officers Mess, Ilorin, pointing out that “this world is not meant for only one person and you must learn to do to others what you would want to be done to you.”

According to Mrs. Aisabor, no woman married to a police man wishes to become a widow but once such happens, their situation must not be made worse by demands that are out of the bounds of morality.

yesterday called on former Kwara state governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki to contest the 2015 presidential election.

Saraki, currently the chairman, Senate committee on Environment and Ecology was an aspirant on the platform of the PDP in the race to the 2011 presidential primaries of the party but later supported incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan before parting ways with him to join the APC. The group, led by Alhaji Mas’ud Aluko in a statement made available to newsmen in Ilorin, the state capital, appealed to Saraki to take a shot at the office in the interest of salvaging Nigeria.

They described Saraki as ‘architect of modern Kwara’ and a worthy Senator, representing Kwara Cen-

tral senatorial district at the National Assembly, adding that he has what is needed to make Nigeria great again going by the former governor’s proven track record of achievements.

“Saraki represents the future hope of our country and somebody like him should, in the interest of our dear country, take a shot at the Presidency of this great country and save Nigerians and Nigeria from imminent and glaring catastrophe threatening our nationhood.

“The Nigeria Needs Positive Change Group, (NNPCG) a non-governmental and a public commentator group, strongly believes in his (Saraki) ability and with the records of his unprecedented achievements and transformation he brought to state of harmony, Kwara, as well as his outstanding performances so far at the National Assembly are enough evidence of his ability to lead this country out of the woods."

Ogun APC hails Osoba's at 75 he Ogun state chapter of Tgress the All Progressives Con(APC), has felicitated

with former Governor of the state, Chief Segun Osoba on his 75th birthday, applauding his leadership qualities and contribution to the development of Ogun state.

APCinastatementsigned by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Sola Lawal described Osoba as a prominent son of Egbaland, whose contributions to the development of the state as a son, politician, governor and leader are commendable and worthy of emulation.

The party said the former governor laid a solid foundation on which the Ibikunle Amosun led government is rebuildingtheGatewayState, adding that "Chief Olusegun

Osoba is a politician and statesman whose zeal for the growth of Ogun State in particularandNigeriaingeneral is exemplary. He weathered the storm in the dark days of the Gbenga Daniel administration to ensure the emancipation of the people of the state from the jaws of a brutish government renowned for its illegality, injustice and maladministration.

"Chief Osoba was unrelenting in his fight to ensure the ouster of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) government of Gbenga Daniel to ensure the enthronement of the Ibikunle Amosun government which has brought succour to the people." Lawal added.

SOUTH AFRICA AGAINST CRIMINALS, NOT NIGERIANS, SAYS ANC TREASURER GENERAL / PAGE 15

POLITICS

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AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY EDITOR, POLITICS

ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

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THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2014

Chief Barnabas Gemade, a former National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and incumbent senator representing Benue North East spoke with journalists on why he is seeking re-election into the Senate and declared that he is not overwhelmed over Governor Gabriel Suswam’s plot to pull the rug from under his feet. New Telegraph’s CEPHAS IORHEMEN brings the excerpts: How are you preparing to re-contest for the Senate seat in 2015?

My preparation for the Senate contest of 2015 is well advanced. You would not expect to see too much jumping and gallivanting on the issue because an incumbent occupant of an office does not have to be jumping about like those who are intending to be contestants for that post.

Normally, it should be assumed that as an incumbent senator and the fact that the general practice in Nigerian politics, and the specific arrangement of our own party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), it is expected that he must contest a second term, except if he chooses not to do so. And if somebody who is in his first term in any office has not said he is not contesting, it is normal that everyone should assume that he is contesting.

But in this particular case, it is not even an issue of assumption as I have already indicated and stated clearly that I am going for a second term in the Senate for Benue North East Senatorial District, and arrangements are well advanced. I do not need to do the type of consultation new comers need to do for this particular office since I already have operational structures for this office. In the Senatorial District, I have offices in every single local government and satellite offices in many towns and villages in the area. I already have a functioning senatorial office at Katsina-Ala which was opened by the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2011.

So, I can simply say that all we are doing now is waiting for the whistle to be blown by the party to commence electioneering for primaries which normally should not be earlier than 90 days to when the primaries should take place. So, you will see us all over the place when the time comes.

Sir, going by the way things stand in the state are you not worried that Governor Gabriel Suswam who is regarded as your political son is going to challenge your reelection at the polls?

How can a son overwhelm his father?

You are the one who said he is my political son. There is no such thing as being overwhelmed. Besides, I was not unopposed in 2011 when I contested this post.

It was a keen contest in Katsina-Ala at

13

OBANIKORO: APC GOVERNORS MORTGAGING FUTURE OF SOUTH-WEST

p-14

Why I want to return to Senate, by Gemade

ing the incumbent governor to run for Senate. I don’t know whether that is a prerequisite for you to enjoy your job.

But whatever it is, my comments will only be relevant when he comes to say what he is going to do.

You are said to have publicly promised that you were going to run only one single term of four years if elected in 2011. How true is this?

What promise? I never made any promise to anybody about running one term. If anybody makes statement about running one term, maybe it is for his own election and not my own.

Gemade

the primaries when I contested for this seat that I’m occupying at the moment.

And even at that time, the hand of the aspirant you are referring to was all over the place in that election.

So, if I was not overwhelmed at that time, why should I be overwhelmed now? I don’t want to say much about it but the issue is that if you are reading people’s body language on an issue and

want to comment on it, you will destroy it by yourself. I will make comments on the matter when he comes out to contest the election. For now, it is simply a matter of body language and a matter of all the people who are working in the government that he is running. I don’t know what happens there but it appears that if you are working in that government, you are supposed to be encourag-

CROSSFIRE Oshiomhole is stirring up the political crisis in Edo State to prevent an official investigation into findings that he has been squandering the state’s resources -Olisa Metuh

The crisis in Edo Assembly is a product of PDP’s desperation for power in its attempt to capture anything in sight like a bunch of famished baboons -Kassim Afegbua

Okay, a recent publication in a news magazine alleged that you failed in an attempt to assassinate Suswam’s character…? (cuts in…)That’s very strange. I’ve never heard of that before. I think it will be extremely childish for anybody to say that a man of my standing who has been subject of a lot of activities by political enemies to reduce me would at the same time be involved in trying to reduce anybody. If those who have tried so hard over a long period of time to reduce my political standing through publications, through radio broadcast, through propaganda, through even fighting to remove me from offices that I have occupied in the past, sometimes succeeding, and they are still unable to reduce my political position, what is the attraction in trying to engage in any publication to reduce anybody? I don’t believe in assassination of character by any form of publication whatsoever because as a Christian, I know that the biggest judgment for any particular individual is the conviction of the truth in your own mind.

So, if something is there and you are not involved in it, for me coming to say you are involved means nothing. It should not even hurt you at all even if I did. But it is too childish for someone like me to be involved in something like that. If it were a magazine or newspaper that exists, then I would have said I am surprised because nobody from such kind of publication has ever spoken to me to know my position on any issue.

But if it is just a strange publication as you have called the name now, it would appear to me that it may have just been created for the purposes of making that headline over me.

Be that as it may, I want to say categorically that I have not failed in an attempt to assassinate anybody’s character because I will not assassinate anybody’s character, and if I will not do it, how can I fail? I have not read the story, so I cannot tell you how or what they said I did in that attempt. But if it is the publication of Power Steering which I also saw on the street and I was also served a copy strangely enough, free of charge, maybe because they were talkCONTINUED ON PAGE 18

14 POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW For the Minister of Defence for State, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, the policies of All Progressives Congress (APC) governors in the South-West has pitched them against the masses in the zone. He told WALE ELEGBEDE in this interview that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will repeat its Ekiti State gubernatorial feat in the forthcoming election in Osun State. Excerpts

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Obanikoro: APC governors mortgaging future of South-West We have a winning formula that we know will win Lagos, Ogun,Osun and Oyo for us. The APC has made our job very easy because of its anti-people policies. You cannot accumulate that kind of debt they have accumulated in few years, especially in Lagos in 16 years, where close to N1 trillion is hanging on the future of our state. We have seen accumulation of debts in the US and we saw the consequences on the economy more over the states in the US. Some of us who have seen that are afraid with what our governors in the South-West are doing. Look at the pension scheme that they signed for themselves particularly in Lagos, where a governor who has profited from a state for eight years will now leave office and ask the state to buy them two houses of their choice either in Ikoyi or Abuja. That package in itself will cost the state over a N1 billion just for one man who we have put our resources at his disposal for a while. This is insensitive and unfair. They also woke up one night to increase school fees from N25, 000 to N300,000. That shows they are insensitive because they don’t want to give opportunity to the poor. Our secondary schools are dead, healthcare is in comatose, and the ambulance service they are celebrating is better meant for rams and not human beings. When you want to have ambulance to deal with emergency situation, it must have the capacity to deal with trauma but these are just empty ambulances. Most businesses are moving out of Lagos because taxation is killing them. Recently, my 92-year-old mother got a document to come and pay levies to Lagos. You can see how insensitive they have become.

We are with the people, we know where we are coming from and we can’t forget the people.

What informed the recent tune of the PDP in the South-West that it is a party of the masses?

It is about time we liberate our states from recklessness, insensitivity and arrogance. We are not just talking because I am not the type that criticizes for the sake of criticism. When I was going to school, my mum was a roadside pepper seller but some people made it possible for us to go to school without stress, that is why I can stand in front of you today as a minister in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. When you now remove the ladder that has taken some of us to this level from the weak in the society, then people like us must stand up to say something. The biggest investment you can make anywhere in the world is education. That we are enjoying some good things of life today is as a result of the investment some people made in education. So, Lagos as a state of excellence cannot afford to do otherwise. That is why the PDP is out to ensure that the interest of commoners is heard and put it across to the people that there is a party that is neck-deep in trying to resolve some of the challenges that an average resident in Lagos is going through.

There are speculations that you will still run for the office of the governor of Lagos State in 2015, as your banners are already surfacing. When are you going to formally declare your ambition?

I am a grassroots politician, I have supporters and I understand the language of the people at the grassroots better than most of these elitists politician. That is why they want to say or belief that we didn’t go to school because we identify more with the commoners and they identify more with the elite. I won’t stand here and tell you that the recent array of activities and awareness in Lagos PDP is about my interest in running for the governorship of Lagos State. If I decide to run, the media will be the first point of call and I will tell you that I want to offer myself again for the office of the governor of Lagos State. So, don’t equate banners with posters.

What is the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) doing in the state that your party, the PDP, thinks it wants to change and improve upon?

We have a party in APC that is running away from its record and the reality of life. The site of the Lagos State Polytechnic in Ketu is now owned by one of the chieftains of the APC. I grew up knowing Ikoyi Local Government, today, the secretariat is now owned by a chieftain of the same APC. Lagos people can open their eyes to see what is happening. I have never seen this kind of recklessness and impunity that we are seeing in Lagos in any part of the world. The normal practice if you want to sell a government secretariat is that there should have a referendum where

Obanikoro

the tax payers should have a say whether the government property should be sold or not, but they sold a local government to themselves. I am well-travelled all over the world and I have not seen anywhere where a shopping center is placed beside a secretariat but it is happening in Lagos because of a vested interested. I have never seen in 16 years of governance that not a single house is built for the poor. You cannot tell me that an average worker in Alausa can afford a property of N8 million because the maximum that the lowest cadre is getting is N12,000 and you don’t have a mortgage plan for them. In this state, we don’t have a fire service institution that can respond to a serious emergency. This is supposed to be the most populated state in West Africa, yet no capacity to confront emergency, our educational system has gone down completely, parents can no longer afford school fees because nobody cares, what you now have on top of all that is the mortgaging of the lives of our children by accumulating trillions of debts in the name of these people that they have refused to serve. I think the campaign is out there itself without the PDP saying anything but it is when we win that they will now say that we have brought soldiers, but that is not so. The APC in Lagos have militarized the people, when the governor doesn’t interact but speaks as if he answers to all issue, which is not governance.

Don’t you think that the recent campaign

Lagos people can open their eyes to see what is happening. I have never seen this kind of recklessness and impunity that we are seeing in Lagos in any part of the world train of the PDP is running afoul of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) election window?

I have told you that it wasn’t a campaign but a celebration of what happened to us in Ekiti. There is no law that says we cannot celebrate. Lagos is like the centre where we have the convergence of all ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, so there is no other better place to celebrate other than Lagos and to also serve them a notice that what befell them in Ekiti is moving to Osun and then Lagos.

What is the significant of the victory rally of the PDP across the South-West?

The victory party is a way of serving a notice to the APC that we are coming to take over the entire South-West.

What we are doing across the zone is a celebration of victory in Ekiti State.

Are you worried about the politicisation of insecurity in the country?

We must remove politics from the security challenges that we have because terrorists do not know PDP, APC or Labour Party. We are all Nigerians and this is our fight. Some people are trying to change our way of life and we cannot allow them to win. So, it is not about PDP. For us as a government, we are ready to put an end to this insurgency. There is nowhere in the world where terrorism has been a 100 metre dash but a marathon. All of us must be prepared to win it. We need the support and understanding of Nigerians; we must come together and be vigilant.

This terrorism is not about Jonathan or the PDP. We should not politicise this unfortunate challenge.

Why is it difficult to announce the names of politicians linked with the Boko Haram sect?

You see, the opposition that we have in Nigeria today has the biggest propaganda machinery that you can ever imagine anywhere. Recently, they said they have hired an American for about $30 million in their propaganda war. To fight such is almost difficult. You don’t conduct security issues on the pages of newspaper. You strategise and then go out to implement. Few days ago, the stretch of forest between Bauchi and Jigawa was reclaimed by our military, they deserve kudos. The governors of Jigawa and Bauchi were full of praises for our men in uniform. While you knock us when there are incidences, you must also give us kudos when success is recorded. The media also has a responsibility to assist us in projecting in what will unite us other than which will divide us.

POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW 15

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

South Africa against criminals, not Nigerians, says ANC Treasurer General Dr. Zwelini Mkhize is the Treasurer General of Africa National Congress (ANC) South Africa. He also doubles as Brand Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa. In this interview with SONY NEME, Mkhize explains his roles towards a sustainable bilateral relationship with Nigeria in particular and other African countries in general.

The essence he said is towards creating barrier free trade zones among Africans.

Sir, what’s your mission to Nigeria?

I am here in my capacity as the Brand Ambassador for Brand South Africa.

This is a position wherein the president has appointed a number of leaders who go to promote relationship of South Africa with many other countries. In particular I am here to promote the relationship between South Africa and Nigeria.

It is a kind of role that involves us with very influential people and leaders in government, in politics, and in administration, as well as in various business corporations.

Therefore, the idea being that more information should be shared on what developing a working partnership between South Africa and Nigeria would be like. The particular role is to encourage investment into South Africa; and to encourage business partnership between South Africans and Nigerian entrepreneurs. I have been around to with such people. At this point I have met with investors’ groups.

How long have you been in Nigeria for this?

It has been two days. I have met a lot of business people, government ministers, political parties; the ruling party in particular. And then working with the embassy we have been able to meet with the Nigerian-South African Chamber of Commerce. All of it is about looking at how we can strengthen the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa.

As a Brand Ambassador, your job is not an easy one as it goes beyond economic and political gains, how are tackling the issue of perception on employment as it relates to South Africans’ attitude towards Nigerians in South Africa?

No doubt my job is not an easy one.

Firstly, what we are doing is I have discussed with a number of Nigerian businessmen, and we brought in a delegation of South African companies, then we merge them to create partnerships, and work together to develop various aspects of Nigerian infrastructure, on energy and power.

At the same time, we have an invitation for them to come home to South Africa, and produce partnership and work in South Africa. That way you will have lots of Nigerian companies in South Africa with lots of participation by South Africans; and lots of South African companies with lots of participation by Nigerians.

On the issue of relationship, we are basically looking at one of the specific

is being addressed, I am quite convinced that it is being addressed, the issue is crucial and it’s being discussed. There is also the issue of attitude you sometimes get from officials who work with negative attitude, particularly the immigrations.

This is a matter we are going to take up with the ministers and foreign department to ensure that the treatment Nigerian tourists and business people receive when they come does not in any way damage the relationship with South Africa. From where we stand that issue is what we have to continuously deal with. The other issue is that we understand that sometimes fight does happen.

Some people in South Africa fight over resources and it results in a lot of violence. Sometimes it comes looking like a racial issue, whereby people in same communities are divided in the fight. It happens to South Africa, it happens with Nigerians and other foreign nationals.

A recent issue that we as a government have virtually taken very strong interest in, is try to get these people to ensure that they understand that African nations are part of same family. Therefore there is no need for any tension.

What we are fighting is criminal misconducts. When they want to rob somebody, they will create a smoke screen. But it is same community that will stand against such injustice. So we are welcoming continuous awareness that will isolate the criminals and their activities.

Mkhize

challenges that make it difficult for people to do business together, to strengthen relationship and look at the positives.

What is there to achieve, either by people who make all these personal relationships possible. On that a number of issues have been identified and South African companies I have discussed with are saying that Nigeria is a great country; there are lots of opportunities for investment.

They also believe that lots of physical expertise and skills from South Africa can actually be used to develop Nigeria so that they can build on existing institutions and help Nigeria to grow. On the other hand, we also have a number of Nigerians who are saying, there a number of companies in South Africa with lots of skills and expertise, but if they want to grow, they need partners from Nigeria, especially as most of them have invested heavily in properties in J’Bourg and Cape Town among other places.

How do your countrymen perceive Nigeria’s business community, infrastructure and government policies?

For most South African companies, Nigeria is a place they need to invest heavily in, but they have to start by partnering with Nigerian businessmen. Also Nigerians are looking for opportunities in South Africa. Already many Nigerians do business in South Africa. All of these are important and their children are in some top schools in South Africa.

Some are already running Nigerian companies in South Africa. These for us are very important.

In terms of positives, there are too many positives. And of course, the main positive is that Nigeria and South Africa have lots of them. So both countries

African nations are part of same family. Therefore there is no need for any tension. What we are fighting is criminal misconducts must work together in partnership, in brotherhood and ensure that what each of them has must be shared with the other in terms of business and political progress. In that vein, whatever weaknesses, whatever challenges they might be facing must be tackled for a way forward.

In so saying, we must look at a number of issues in relation to some of the challenges that should be resolved. For example, the issue of business, everybody is of the opinion that there is need to make it possible for easier visa application. The South African ambassador has assured they are going all out to talk to business people, because Nigerian businessmen do not have to go through the rigours anymore. Also South African businessmen are also complaining of the pains of getting visa, and even renewals from the Nigerian Embassy. So on that I am quite confident that the issue of visa is in good hands.

What is your office doing to relax the harsh treatment of Nigerians by airport officials?

The other issue is transport. South Africa Airline (SAA) flights coming from South Africa is not delayed. That issue

Are you by this saying there is no deliberate policy to frustrate Nigerians by South Africa?

No, there is no such decision, policy or whatever of such. But we still have some individuals who need to be taught.

For example, sometimes when someone has bad upbringing, or lack discipline, they can always cause trouble for other individuals.

Then there are instances when someone wants to rob or take advantage of others, then he looks at what is the weakness that they can exploit. When they are apprehended they will turn around to claim that they are fighting because the people they are robbing don’t belong to the community. Gladly, it is the same communities that promptly deny them because it is a criminal case. They are out to rob, loot and commit all kinds of crime. That is the reality.

In some of the townships criminal activities are high. It is not about targeting a particular people in the country. Sometimes, we even get some white communities who feel they are being targeted. But we said no. what people don’t know is that there have been lots of criminal activities in the African areas that people don’t know, because of the restriction (occasioned by apartheid) that existed, no one knew how bad the situation was in the townships.

When they now migrated to the townships that now mean that you will see criminality spreading to people who are not used to it. Thankfully it is much less than what it used to be, because it is never useful when people begin to think that they are targeted because of their nationalities.

Nigerians where shocked that President Goodluck Jonathan was not one of the few that presented a speech during the burial of Madiba, Dr. Nelson Mandela, despite the country’s huge investments and sacrifices that led to the collapse of apartheid. Why would those who encouraged apartheid be given spotlight instead?

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

16 POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW Dr. Muiz Banire is the National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He was commissioner at various times in the ministries for Transportation and Environment in Lagos State. In this interview with WALE ABIODUN, he opens up on various national issues including, 2015 elections, Boko-Haram insurgency and his assessment of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and the current administration in Lagos State.

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Politicians have turned youths to scavengers –Banire

As a former commissioner of Environment, are you satisfied with the current performance of the ministry?

I am not satisfied with the current performance of the ministry of environment; I think the ministry needs to be more funded. There are still so many challenges they are facing that I am aware is as a result of lack of money. I can say without contradiction that the bulk of the administration in Lagos state is about environment. Government must ensure that what we put on ground when we were there is not only sustained, there must be consolidation. I am aware that their challenge is money to carry out various projects.

You initiated the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) when you were the commissioner for Transportation, is today LASTMA the LASTMA of your dream?

No, today LASTMA is not the LASTMA of my dream at all. The LASTMA of my dream could have gotten beyond the level they are now. When I was the commissioner for Transportation, we were training more than twenty of them outside the country exposing them to various practice mechanism. We were ensuring and promoting the dignity of labour among the workers. We must go back to that. LASTMA is not for anybody, it is a career on its own. They must be well trained. There must be more opportunities for these officials to be more exposed.

How prepared is APC for 2015 elections?

We are just starting up, we are warming up and we are preparing.

Do you think Nigerian political parties are operating with ideologies as it is obtainable in the developed world?

It depends, we have so many ideologies. Some are even saying that these parties do not even have ideologies. But I can only tell you that APC for example stands for welfarism and the party is pursuing that to the letter.

What is your own political ideology?

I believe in welfarism in total. I believe that governance is meant for the welfare of the people. Government needs to supply security, survival, health, qualitative education and others. These are the essence of governance. I don’t believe in emulating what is obtainable in another world, I believe in indigenous development and home grown development that will take cognizance of the people. We must give governance human face.

What do you think is the way out of BokoHaram insurgency and kidnapping in some parts of the country?

The way out is justice. If there is justice in the land all these things will disappear. People are angry because there is no justice. A lot of Nigerians do not have means of survival. All we need to do is to ensure that there is justice in the land. I believe that we have the resources to cater for our people.

What is your view on regional integration and self determination?

For regional integration, to me I have no problem with it at all. We must develop our regions and it is always good for the system. I believe it is a way to go.

Some stakeholders see the national conference as a way out of Nigeria socio-economic problems, what is your view on this?

I am not averse to that, I am in support of the national conference because as a nation today we are being faced with lots of challenges and some stakeholders are calling for justice.

If you find yourself in the shoes of Mr. President today, what are those things you will do differently?

The first thing I will address is the issue of power supply. The issue of power supply is affecting everybody and is killing productivity.

What is your assessment of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration?

It depends on the angle you want to look at it from. If you look at it from the economy angle, that is, from the data they are releasing, one will say they are trying. But some economists are com-

What is your assessment of the current administration in Lagos?

Honestly speaking, it depends on what you are benchmarking him with.

Banire

ing out to challenge the integrity of the data, so one cannot be really sure what the situation is.

As a chieftain of APC and former commissioner in Lagos State what should your admirers expect from you in 2015?

They should be expecting that I will continue to serve them in whatever capacity I find myself.

What is your advice to the youths concerning Nigeria politics?

They need to wake up more; people are already compromising their future.

They have been sitting idle somewhere, they need to wake up. They are the people that are in large number when it comes to employment. They are the people who seem to be hopeless, so they need to come out. They should not sell their votes. Some politicians have turned them into scavengers. When the election is approaching now you will see the political leaders distributing money. I want to advise the youths to come out and support the good people, who have the interest of the masses at heart. They must be conscious and be vigilant about these people. They should support those who have the interest of the masses at heart.

Youths are alleging that the so called godfathers in politics are marginalizing them, what is your view on this?

I agree entirely with them, but for them to actualize their dreams they must actually come on board. It is true that the elders are compromising, but when they come out there is a constitution that guide any party. There is procedure for the emergence of candidates, so do not allow yourself to be bought over with money. Stand by your candidate regardless of how much they offer you.

I believe they need to stand up for their right. It is true, godfathers are there and marginalization is there, but they need to come out and fight for their own right.

Some stakeholders are calling for local

They should not sell their votes. Some politicians have turned them into scavengers.

When the election is approaching now you will see the political leaders distributing money government autonomy, what is your view on this?

I am in support of local government autonomy; our party opinion might be different. But I as a person I believe in local government autonomy.

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

The issue is simple. Nigeria no doubt made a very commendable contribution during the apartheid reign in South Africa. Apart from government, even students and workers contributed money to assist the ANC. That is apart from harbouring lots of ANC chieftains and scholarships for education, as well as full employment to some of them. They were very outspoken. It’s a great role against apartheid that is actually highly appreciated.

In fact that encouraged other African states to commit same measure of contribution as South Africans lived in almost all African countries. And there are countries that made land, money weapons and clothes available. Some were even attacked by apartheid South Africa. Nigeria even took extreme measures like the indigenization of companies from countries that were relating with apartheid.

But imagine that as South Africans were fighting apartheid, there were lots

What are the areas that you think need improvement?

There are lots of areas that need improvement especially in the areas of maintenance. The only thing is not to construct roads or putting infrastructures in place, the most important thing is to have proper maintenance, so that we do not continue to lose our investment.

Do you think there is a culture of sustaining the previous policies by subsequent governments in Nigeria?

Cancellation of previous policies is always a case of personal issues; it is not a product of collective decision. I believe that before we arrive at any decision at any level of governance we need to consult wide and all stakeholders needs to be carried along.

‘South Africa of fights among themselves. And the violence went beyond the 1994 democratic dispensation. It took quite a while to cool everybody down. It was about some blacks against blacks, when the issue concerns the white. Many people were confused because they don’t know the kind of society that we have. This lingered on for a long time inside South Africa. So Nigerians would have been shocked when they see such situation.

But as I am saying, the government, the political parties, particularly the ANC, we work together with Nigeria.

During Madiba’s burial there were a number of programs. One of them was the speech by leaders, and those picked to speak because it was a very short program where the leaders of various blocks like the African Union, European Union, and someone from America and so on to contain the programme.

POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW 17

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Deputy National Chairman, (South) of All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) Chief Onwuka Ukwa, in this interview with LEO SOBECHI, says that Ndigbo did not go to the national conference with a definite agenda. He also noted that the call for amnesty programme for the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, (MASSOB) and the Biafra Zionist Movement, (BZM) is misplaced. Excerpts As the national conference draws to a close, what are your impressions?

I think Ndigbo did not get what they deserved from the national conference.

People are rejoicing that a mere resolution was passed at the confab approving the creation of a state in the South East but they forget to read the proviso.

What they said is that an additional state should be created in South East and nineteen others. Do you think Nigeria can do with twenty more states? We did not go to the confab with a clear cut agenda; our delegates are just responding to the agenda of others.

Look at the state of roads in South East. Each year the Federal Government keeps awarding contracts for maintenance while in the last fourteen years vehicles run on only one lane on the Enugu- Onitsha expressway. Now they say they are constructing the Second Niger Bridge; but do you know that a similar bridge is being constructed across the Benue and it is fully funded by the Federal Government? The Second Niger Bridge whenever it is constructed would be at the expense of our people.

They are going to encumber our people with tolling on the bridge. But the question remains, when is the Second Niger Bridge going to take off ? Ndigbo are getting the short end of the stick in this country. What is going on?

Some people have called for amnesty for members of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Biafra Zionist Movement (BZM), how do you see this?

At the confab some people were talking about special allocation for development. That may have prompted a delegate to the confab from South East to call for amnesty MASSOB and BZM. What

Ndigbo had no definite agenda for confab, says Ukwa are the details of that amnesty? But I maintain that there must be a crime committed before talking of amnesty.

Has MASSOB committed any crime?

MASSOB and BZM have done nothing to demand for amnesty, so the call for amnesty is misplaced. MASSOB has been peaceful in its search for justice and equity, the group adopted non-violence approach in its agitation. What we need is development in South East.

For me at my age, nobody can deceive me with flashy words; we should look at the content of everything critically.

Boko Haram could talk of amnesty because they committed crimes against the state for which they seek forgiveness.

The state of infrastructure in the north does not compare with what obtains in South East. Ndigbo living in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina come home and lament at the state of road infrastructure in South East. They despise our governors for being more federal than those that enjoy the Federal Government. Should we be talking of amnesty at this point in time?

The civil war ended a long time ago.

We should be talking of the substance of what is on the ground about development. The same north that is asking for five per cent for the self-inflicted harm

by Boko Haram; even at that, the Boko Haram they are talking about are not Nigerians. So can you give them amnesty in the Republic of Niger or Chad? We are talking about reckless invaders of our territory. These are invaders from the outside. That point has been established.

So what do the Ndigbo need from Nigeria to still the cries of alleged marginalisation?

Our place is under-developed as such we should be talking about what could be done for Ndigbo. We cannot be talking about these things only at the approach of any election. Truly we deserve an additional state in the south east but we have to watch the caveat-‘and other nineteen states’. Do you now think that the Southeast would get its one state without the others? We went to the confab

We did not go to the confab with a clear cut agenda; our delegates are just responding to the agenda of others

holds Nigeria in high esteem’ There were other programmes where the Heads of State where supposed to speak with full media audience. Those where the other programs; it was not discriminatory as only one or two leaders were able to speak from the African continent.

That did not have any issue with Nigeria that we hold in high esteem. It was the protocol platform that decided on that because they had a limited number of two so. And it was allotted to AU and a very elderly close ally of the late Madiba in Africa. Most importantly I want Nigerians to understand that we accept that Nigeria was as bereaved when Madiba passed on, as everybody else.

Even in South Africa there were questions whether former presidents could have been able to speak. But it was not possible because Madiba had so many friends who rightfully could have been

availed the opportunity, but for time constraint.

Since your diplomatic shuttle, which aspect(s) would you point to as most critical and or challenging?

The most critical for me is to work behind the scene to facilitate communications, and to facilitate meetings of important players. Especially the economic field so that they are able to link up and ensure that they can create partners in business. We then pick up those issues, which are militating against smooth economic and political relationships, and interfacing with the minister and the ruling parties. I also double as the treasurer general of ANC. We facilitate all these at the lower level, because at the presidential level, CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

Ukwa

without a well-articulated, practicable agenda. We lack a focused agenda. We are merely responding to the agenda of others. Is that how to do things?

Every time we say President Goodluck Jonathan is our man. Yet our governors hold tea, lunch and dinner meetings often with the president, can’t they tell him about these things, especially our problems back home. We have impassable roads. Now they are talking about Aba, Arochukwu road and Enugu – Port Harcourt expressway. But the most distressing is Enugu- Onitsha expressway.

Every December they patch it up in an endless construction. How many years have things gone this way? You send people that have something to offer to the national conference, people who represent their people that articulate these problems and negotiate effectively. We are coming out with the short end of the stick. Others are talking about power and we are here talking about amnesty. Do we have a problem that needs amnesty? Give us development, simple! Create jobs, support entrepreneurs; we don’t even have one single foreign company where our youths can go and get experience.

Painfully there is no place in Igbo land you can go to obtain visa. Yet our governors are busy running to Abuja every other day. There is a place the north can go, ditto for South West, but none for Ndigbo in Southeast. We have great entrepreneurs who travel overseas but when they want visas they travel to South West or North. Why can’t these governors come together to get these things for our people? Do you know the economic implication of traveling up and down in search of travel visa?

There are hotel bills, transportation and other incidental expenses. So we enrich the economies of those states. Our governors are more Federal Government than other governors that benefit from the government.

Look at the agricultural infrastructure of the other states including energy through Independent Power Plants. In some of those states you need to see their roads; federal funded roads fully constructed. What we have in our zone is endless construction of roads within

the past fourteen years. How can you say you are plying a federal road that is dual carriage and you keep to one lane for fourteen years? Nobody talks about the deaths happening on those roads; our governors have no shame. However, there are few governors that try to make a difference.

But why wait for the Federal Government, what are the state governors themselves doing?

One governor we are looking up to, to make a difference is Willie Obiano.

He is one governor that has a development agenda. People may be lambasting Peter Obi but Anambra state has good networks of roads. Sullivan Chime also did much in Enugu which one could be proud of. And the new governor of Anambra state has shown in his hundred days in office that his administration has enthusiasm for development including education, agriculture and infrastructure. This is a governor that has vision for his people. The other state governments have thrown back their states to the stone-age. And yet they run all over the place proclaiming power to the people.

So what needs to be done now?

We need to improve the lives of our people. It is totally a disjointed agenda our delegates took to the national conference and it is not what could help our people. We need to sit down and articulate these things and find a leadership with clear vision to pursue them. That is the way to help our people. Nobody gives you political power, you fight for it. Let me tell you, Nigeria is anchored on tribal politics. And unless you occupy your political space, you cannot get anywhere.

We dream about a united Nigeria but you must occupy your political space. Or what do you think all these fights are all about? All Progressives Congress, (APC), Boko Haram; it is all focused towards control of individual political spaces.

Until we control our political space the confab remains a waste of time. We cannot continue this way. We must have pity on our people. But it’s a pity that we have unfocused and selfish leadership.

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POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

‘I’m not jittery over Suswam’s ambition’ be in a hurry to put someone else who may not be able to do so. Interests differ; someone may be very powerful but may be thinking about himself mainly. These are two things you cannot do together, you cannot be in office, worry about making yourself big, and again, helping your people, you can only do one of these things, you can’t do all. I’m sure that you yourself, when you analyse all the people who are in offices, you will be able to see who is working to satisfy his people and who is working to make himself bigger.

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

ing about senate seat of Benue North East Senatorial District involving me, I found out that a lot of issues written there about the governor are not new.

These are things that have been written for a period of over six or seven years and it is also a subject of about six or seven court cases. And by and large, all along, I have been part of the defense because it was meant to actually dismiss an election which my party won. And I was part of those who fought to ensure that judgment was not given against us.

How would I be at the same time using the same thing to assassinate the character of the governor? I think that is very childish. People should look for something more serious to talk about.

The governor’s brother, Chief Terkura Suswam recently said that he made you a senator in 2011 and that in 2015; it would be the turn of his younger sibling to occupy the seat. How true is this?

There are two things in that claim.

One is making me senator. I don’t think the person you have mentioned can lay claim to that kind of feat at all because he had his own candidate in the primaries, and publicly advanced the course of that his candidate. He was going round very dutifully working for that candidate and they lost. So, if he has anything to say about 2011 election, he should talk about how he was unable to make someone a senator. That is all I know regarding the issue of making anyone a senator because I was not his candidate. And if I became a senator, then, it is very clear that he did not make me.

Secondly, you talked about him saying that in Gaav, there had been another senator. I don’t think we are contesting senate on the basis of clans in Benue State because if it is on the basis of clan, he too cannot be talking about his brother contesting because there has been a Shitile man who had been a senator.

So, we are not contesting on the basis of clans in Tiv land. And if it is on the issue of the local government, more than one person had become senator from Zone A before. Abaagu was senator from Ushongo Local Government, and later, David Iornem became Senator from the same local government. And Tsumba Chia was senator immediately after him; Prof. Hagher was senator both from Katsina-Ala local government. So, there too, he failed to pass his own understanding of the business of zoning. So I don’t see any reason why he can talk about somebody having being senator in my clan.

Why do you want to return to the senate?

Because I’m giving service to the senatorial zone in a manner nobody has ever done before. That is true. The workings of the Federal Government are such that there has got to be a lot of political influence over the people that run government from the executive point. Because you are in the legislature, you don’t have the authority to site projects or to award contracts or to site institutions in the state. So, you must be in a position to speak to those who are in the executive branch to whom the constitution gives the authority to do these things, to be able to convince them to do things in your own area.

When I went into Senate as a matter of fact, I realized that the only Federal Government’s establishment in the whole of Benue North East Senatorial District is the Unity College in Vandeikya local government which Senator Iorchia Ayu made possible to be brought there when he was minister. The Federal Government has no other establishment in the whole of that Senatorial District.

Of course, if people representing that zone were strong enough and had enough influence to influence anything to be brought there, they should have

Gemade

done so. We didn’t even have what we can call a serious large economic institution that can boost the economy of that zone. And all I am trying to do is to lay the foundation where we would be able to get some of these things actualized.

I am almost concluding arrangement with government in establishing a federal polytechnic. Even contracts like highways, dams, electricity and so on, major ones, nothing like that has ever been done in my Senatorial District until I was able to influence the construction of the Branch-Acher-VandeikyaTsav-Obudu road which was awarded in 2012 at the total cost of N3.7 billion. I don’t think the Federal Government has ever done anything in that zone even up to N500 million. This is the first time.

I do recall when I was national chairman, I was the one that influenced the rehabilitation of Katsina-Ala-AmafuZaki-Biam-Ugba road. It was even recorded in the budget as one single contract. Because at that time, the Obasanjo administration said the state of the federal highway was so bad that he would rehabilitate one project per senatorial zone. And having been a minister and knowing everything within that ministry especially what happens with federal highways, I was the one that caused that project to be entered in the budget as one single project even though we cannot say that the road from Katsina-Ala to Buruku can just be one road. They are two or three different roads.

But it was awarded and because I was not in government in any paying office, I even had the benefit of being the consultant. We were the consultant on that job because I’m a Civil Engineer. And

These are things that I am able to do as a senator, or even before becoming a senator. And since many other people have been senators, I didn’t see anyone being able to do any of these the firm of PW Nigeria Limited was the contractors. We did that job and that is why today you can boast of a road that is fairly in good condition between Katsina-Ala through Zaki-Biam linking Ugba right up to Buruku on the bank of the river. I also put in the budget when I was national chairman, the design of the bridge across River Benue at Buruku.

The design is completed and just awaiting the possibility of funding so that the bridge is built. Of course, the road from Yandev to Buruku was also constructed by me when I was minister in 1992.

So, these are things that I am able to do as a senator, or even before becoming a senator. And since many other people have been senators, I didn’t see anyone being able to do any of these. I thought that you must always try to maintain a winning team. In this case, thinking about the people of Benue north Senatorial District, if they have the chance of producing a senator like me, who can reach out and get things done for them, they should not

The bombs are still going off. What solutions can you proffer to end insurgency in the country?

Criminality can only be stopped by implementation of law and order. And to maintain law and order, you need the operatives responsible for maintaining it.

The security forces are doing their best and in my own opinion, they are doing a very good job. The only problem that brought us to where we are is that nobody paid attention to this matter early enough, until the criminals perfected their plans, completed their deployment and completed their sensitization of the people involved to the extent that the security people are running behind them.

That is why we are where we are today.

The answer to this matter is to re-double efforts and use every single opportunity available and every single talent available to apply it directly to the issues that are required to be done to deal with this matter. And of course, it is a very long list of what one would say that needs to be done. But the very basic ones are to enable the security agencies to be in a position to tackle these issues effectively.

And the only way a soldier can tackle a security problem effectively is if he has enough intelligence, if he has enough resources and if he has enough arsenals to deal with those matters.

The second issue is that the society itself must become responsive to the fact that not every agitation in a community is a sensible one. Some agitations are positive and some are criminal. An agitation that results in the death of innocent people must be criminal because for instance, if you want education, or development, employment or food, that does not come by killing innocent people. So, when you are agitating poverty and killing innocent people, you are not involved in positive agitation. The society must be responsive so that whoever they know is involved in these matters, they should not have his sympathy.

They should be clearly ready to help the security agents in fishing out those who are planning this kind of criminality. When we are able to draw a line between those who are agitating for benefits from the federation which is the entitlement of every citizen of Nigeria and those who are criminally destroying the federation, then we will be well on the way to building a nation that will have harmony, peace and tranquility.

‘South Africa holds Nigeria in high esteem’ CO N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 7

the governors and ministers end it with Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Our own is to water the ground and ensure we link people together, and link companies together; encourage delegations to move from one side to the other.

For example, the delegation that will be going to South Africa in October or November from Nigeria; but also the Minister of Trade in South Africa will be coming here in a few weeks from now. He will be inviting the Nigerian counterpart over. These are what we do behind the scenes. We also explain things in the media, so that they will understand the basis of the relationship so that people can develop it from

there, and improve on it.

As a chieftain of ANC, the ruling party in South Africa, which area are you collaborating with Nigeria politically?

The ruling party of Nigeria has been working in collaboration with ANC for a long while. It is helping to strengthen the political support to government, and enable the president to break down barriers for an improved institution support. It helps to evaluate what has been achieved by people on these personal relationships. Because it helps to ensure that the political link is understood, and it strengthens the political leadership of both countries with good appreciation of the relation-

ship and the need to encourage and promote it.

Somewhere along the line you may find that more ministers will visit each other to compare notes, and more political leaders will visit each other. In fact the chairman of the ruling party led a delegation to the inauguration of President Zuma. Apart from that, President Jonathan has visited South Africa a number of times, and they have reasoned together.

The end result is that there is good appreciation to ensure that we grow the relationship and ensure that our countries have enough goodwill, and that our people can relate as families, friends and partners.

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EDITORIAL

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Sanctity of Truth w w w.new telegraphonli ne.com

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth – Buddha

THURSday, JULY 17, 2014

Drawing inspiration from Dangote Group

n today’s tough economic realities, when competition is fierce over scarce investment capital, it is inspiring that the Dangote Group is continually betting on the Nigerian economy by investing massively in it and other African and global markets. Established 37 years ago, the Dangote Group’s growth has been meteoric, burgeoning into a wholly-owned indigenous conglomerate with billions of dollars in investments that the country is not only benefitting immensely from, but should also be proud of.

With a loan of N500, 000 from his uncle, Sanusi Abdulkadir Dantata, gutsy Aliko Dangote, the restless spirit behind it all started the small trading company in 1977 when he was just 21 years old. This has today blossomed into what is known as the Dangote Group with flourishing subsidiaries steadfastly involved in cement manufacturing of which he is the largest on the African continent with more than $22 billion in assets.

The group is also deeply involved in sugar refining and is the major supplier of sugar to the country’s soft drinks companies, breweries and confectioneries. Salt refining, flour milling, steel, oil and gas, textiles, rice, gum Arabic, transportation and packaging materials also form parts of the group’s areas of focus in business, with services in logistics and real estate.

The group’s factories are almost

everywhere in Nigeria and beyond its shores, with strong investment presence in Benin, Cameroon, Togo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia. The group further has large stakes in Nigerian banks in addition to American and European property and stock markets. More inspiring is the fact that while other rich Nigerians were basking in the euphoria of their successes, the group crafted and vigorously implemented cutting-edge strategies to have a hold in all the businesses in which it has interest.

Armed with this, it tip-toed into the investment arena like a quiet predator, acquiring controlling shares in several companies including the National Salt Company (NASCON), Nigerian Textile Mills (NTM) into which the group invested $3 million worth of machinery in 1996. Currently, Dangote Group dominates the sugar market controlling more than 70 per cent of the market. It is the largest refinery in Africa and the third largest in the world, producing 800,000 tonnes of sugar annually.

Dangote Group was recognised as the largest foreign direct investor in South Africa when Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) on October 15, 2010, formally increased its stake in Sephaku Cement (Pty) Limited based in South Africa, from 19.76 per cent to 64 per cent in a R779 million investment deal. The transaction is the largest ever foreign direct investment (FDI) by an African company in South Africa.

The emergence of the group as West Africa’s largest conglomerate group and one of the largest in Africa employing 22, 000 is commendable and should not only challenge other Nigerian companies to raise the bar of competition, but also make government see reason to further support entrepreneurial initiatives by its citizens to take root and establish their hegemony in the global market.

Dangote Group also deserves praise for daring to invest a whopping N1.5 trillion $9 billion in building a petroleum refinery in the business environment that is vehemently hobbled by insurgency and terrorism. Only recently, the group further accentuated its unwavering belief in the country with a commitment to invest N372 billion ($2 .3 billion) in the effort to rebuild the badly traumatised economy of the north.

Dangote Group’s irreversible belief in the Nigerian, and by extension, African economy has seen investments worth more than N30 billion, putting Aliko Dangote who owns about 90 per cent stakes in the group on a fast upward trajectory from his $3.3 billion net worth when he debuted on Forbes’ billionaires list in 2008 to add $21.7 billion to his fortune spurred by the amazing success of his crown jewel, the publiclyquoted Dangote Cement which has a market capitalisation of $24 billion and has operations in 15 African countries.

The capacity of the driving force of the Dangote Group to create and grow wealth in sustainable fashion should to be a big lesson which competitors and would-be entrepreneurs should carefully emulate.

For Dangote, it is not all about business, profits and smiling to the bank. He also gives. His endowment of the Dangote Foundation to the tune of N194 billion ($1.2 billion) is an eloquent testament and should be rightly recognized.

Getting this far has also not been easy for the Dangote Group which, for years, has contended with primordial prejudices and distractions unleashed by competition and harsh operating environment.

Attempts to acquire the interests held by the federal government in some cement companies had been decisively resisted, for instance, and it is not unlikely that investment misadventures might have been experienced leading to colossal losses. Yet the group carries on with tenacity of purpose and single mindedness wrapped around all its businesse engagements to triumph over all odds.

Overall, Nigeria should be proud that the Dangote Group has not only given it some identity products in cement which has been improved to the 42.3 grade, but has produced Africa’s richest man and the 23rd richest on the planet. This is why we believe that the group is a positive inspiration that is praiseworthy.

GABRIEL AKINADEWO Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief FELIX OGUEJIOFOR ABUGU Deputy Managing Director/DEIC SULEIMAN BISALLA Managing Editor, North YEMI AJAYI Editor, Daily LAURENCE ANI Editor, Saturday EMEKA MADUNAGU Editor, Sunday LEO CENDROWICZ Bureau Chief, Brussels MARSHALL COMINS Bureau Chief, Washington DC SAM AMSTERDAM Editorial Coordinator, Europe EMMAN SHEHU (PhD) Chairman, Editorial Board GEOFFREY EKENNA News Editor PADE OLAPOJU Production Editor TIMOTHY AKINLEYE Head, Graphics ROBINSON EZEH Head, Admin.

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Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

OPINION National confab and ‘feeding bottle federalism’ (1) Ike Ekweremadu

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ederalism is the “only guarantee that the country will grow evenly all over; we can spend the money we receive, the money we raise, in the direction best suited to us” - Sir Ahmadu Bello

Not unexpectedly, the on-going National Conference has been caught in the web of the curse of “Feeding bottle federalism” and it is my prayer that the stalemate be broken by the time this piece is published.

The concept of “Feeding bottle federalism” was theorised by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu in Canada at the 6th Oputa Lecture usually hosted by the Osgoode Hall Law School, York University in Toronto. In summary, “Feeding bottle federalism” is a scenario where the 36 states keep coming back monthly with their long, spongy beards to be bottle-fed like spoilt adults. Whenever there is a hiccup in the milk flow, they begin to cry aloud like irresponsible kids, tossing about in death throws like fish fetched from the river unto the hot, dry sandy beach.

Simon Kolawole’s narrative on Nigeria’s federalism throws more light on the Ekweremadu theory as it aptly captures the squabbles over the sharing formula at the confab. Egbon Simon wrote in 2012: “The story of Nigeria is like that of a father who has 36 children. He takes the income of his wealthy children to a central port and distributes it among his 36 children. A good father will encourage all his children to be creative and hardworking so that they can make the money to sustain themselves. A bad father will ignore the larger picture of every child being self-sustaining and insist on redistributing his children’s wealth. The ultimate danger is that you will have children who are extremely lazy and unwilling make good use of their talents and gifts. Every month, they will go to “papa” to give them their own share of the other children’s wealth. It will now reach a stage that they will start complaining that the money is not enough to buy the limousine of their dream.”

Today, the crux of the confab stalemate is the insistence of a section of the country to have “5 percent of revenue allocation, principally for the North-east, North-west and the North-central.” According to Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, it is to be called Funds for Stabilisation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction. It’s all about extra share.

But why did our founding fathers opt for federalism?

To Chief Awolowo, anything other than a federal constitution, “will be unsuitable and generate ever-recurring instability which may eventually lead to the complete disappearance of the Nigeria composite State”. Dr.

Tayo Ogunbiyi

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Azikiwe opined that Nigerian’s prosperity lay in the heterogeneity of both the composition and endowments of a federal structure for the unleashing of the energies of the federating units for national development. Sir Ahmadu Bello reasoned it as the “only guarantee that the country will grow evenly all over; we can spend the money we receive, the money we raise, in the direction best suited to us”. We all saw the wonders the First Republic leaders did with proceeds from palm produce in the East, cocoa and rubber in the West; and groundnut in the North.

It was the General Yakubu Gowon’s Regime, which actually introduced the culture of robbing Peter to pay Paul. First, the percentage of accruals to federating units on the basis of derivation principle dropped from 50% derivation at independence to 45% between1969 to 1971. The downward trend continued thereafter: 45% (excluding offshore proceeds) from 1971 to 1975; 20%(excluding offshore proceeds) from 1975 to 1979; 0% (yes, Zero%) from 1979 to 1981; 1.5% from 1982 to 1992; 3% from 1992 to 1999; and 13% from 1999 till date. It has been a culture of creating more shareable/free monies for all, irrespective of their inputs into the federal purse. Still wonder why agriculture and industry are dead?

I read an interview by a North West Governor last year where he claimed that instating fiscal federalism would further impoverish his region. He forgot that the North fared much better under fiscal federalism in the First Republic, but has retrogressed gravely since the coming of free oil money, which only oiled a few elites while leading to the abandonment of agriculture that provided both mass employment and foreign exchange for the entire Northern Region. The North had so many bourgeoning industries and remained West Africa’s textile headquarters. Thanks to prudent and honest application of groundnut proceeds. Today, the factories have parked up under “feeding bottle federalism”. The warehouses are now mostly worship centres.

Yes, fiscal federalism will put some states, including my own State, Enugu, through temporary crucibles. But it will certainly challenge the federating units to put on their thinking caps, mobilize their abundant resources and unleash quantum potentials. I summarised the data on the nationwide distribution of mineral resources per state as provided by Senator Ekweremadu: Abia-19, Adamawa – 13, Akwa Ibom - 11, Anambra – 8, Bauchi- 35, Bayelsa - 4, Benue - 32, Borno 23, Cross River - 28, Delta- 12, Ebonyi - 8, Edo -11, Ekiti - 13, Imo - 8, Jigawa 10, Kaduna - 13, Kano - 20, Katsina - 23, Kebbi – 10, Kogi – 14, Kwara -12, Lagos - 6, Nassarawa - 15, Niger -17, Ogun -11, Ondo - 6, Osun -10, and Oyo- 13. Others are: Plateau

- 16, Rivers -5, Sokoto -10, Enugu - 11, FCT - 10, Gombe - 11, Taraba – 18, Yobe - 15, and Zamfara - 8. These do not include our rich farmlands and tourism potentials.

Sadly, everything lies prostrate and unexploited because a Governor can afford to sleep for a whole moon only to return to a self-appointed Santa Claus called Federal Government to suckle at the feeding bottle by month end.

On the other hand, the United Arab Emirates, UAE, is an example of an oil-rich federal state, which has made the most of her resources due to the entrenchment of fiscal federalism. Perhaps, only a handful of Nigerians know that Dubai is not a country, but just one of the seven Emirates (states) making up the UAE. Dubai accounts for a tiny chunk of the UAE oil output compared to the oil rich Abu Dhabi Emirate, for example.

In fact, Dubai’s oil is also running out as I write, but the Emirate has no reason to worry itself or begrudge sister emirates. Its leaders have transformed it into an amazing financial, commercial, and tourism bride of the Middle East. The world is flocking into Dubai like suitors that ate a love portion. But Dubai’s spell is just her bubbling financial, business and tourism capacities.

By the way, UAE’s GNI per capita is USD40,760 compared to our miserly USD1,280 (World Bank 2011) - no thanks to “Feeding bottle federalism”.

Let our leaders (North or South) note that we are in an era of knowledge-driven global economies. South Korea has no oil and other mineral resources, but it is the World’s 13th largest economy and the 3rd in Asia. That country has no iron ore, but its steel company, POSCO, is among the top in the global steel industry. Unfortunately, we depend on importation of steel even though we are over-blessed with iron ore and limestone. According to the World Bank data (2012), South Korea’s GNI per capita is USD20, 270. Compare it to the USD1, 280 of an oil and mineral rich Nigeria.

It suffices to state, therefore, that the sharing formula stalemate at the confab not only lay credence to the notion that free oil money is actually the real gum binding this expansive land together, but that we are a nation living in denial. Yes, no two federalisms are the same. But federalism has its irreducible minimums such as fiscal federalism, multilevel policing, etc. We cannot build a train, put it on the road, and expect it to run well. If it is not federalism, it cannot be like federalism. Like Benson Akintola, a political scientist let us pause to ponder: “What does a state amount to when it lacks the means to meet its basic financial obligations? A mere name? A pretension?

A chimera? A buga-boo? A destitute?”

• Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President, wrote from Abuja

Protecting the Lagos environment

agos population, according to the United Nations projections, will be 20 million by 2015 making it the 3rd largest city in the world. With over 3 million cars and 100,000 commercial vehicles on the roads (the national average is 11 vehicles per kilometer), Lagos daily records an average of 227 vehicles per every kilometer of roads. Lagos is home to about 2,000 industrial complexes, 10,000 commercial ventures and 22 industrial estates. It accounts for over 60% of Nigeria’s industrial and commercial activities; 70% of national maritime cargo freight, over 80% of international aviation traffic and over 50% of Nigeria’s energy consumption. All banks in the country are not only located in Lagos, but actually have their headquarters in the state. Aside this, Lagos consumes about 45 percent of the petroleum products in the country.

The above statistics are what actually make Lagos a unique economic and industrial hub in Nigeria and, indeed, Africa. It is what is partly responsible for the prosperity of Lagos. It is, however, ironic that the sheer uniqueness of Lagos, in terms of population and economic activities, portends great danger to the Lagos environment, if not well managed. Lagos, for instance, gen-

erates 10,000 tonnes of waste daily, almost three times higher than what the whole of Ghana generates daily.

Also, the kind of industrial pollution experienced in Lagos is second to none in the country. The peculiar Lagos traffic situation also poses serious threat to the Lagos environment.

It is in order to address this that the Babatunde Fashola administration in Lagos is pre-occupied with environmental regeneration. The government is challenged to invest heavily in the environment because of the status of Lagos as a littoral state, which is greatly exposed to environmental abuse due to intense economic and social activities. Not only were agencies established for enforcing sanitation, integrated mass enlightenment and social mobilization on maintenance of sanitary environment has become an on-going activity in the state.

The state government is also playing a leading role in its approach to the climate change phenomenon through an integrated tree-planting drive across the state. Trees have been scientifically proven to be very useful as first line of defence in the fight against global warming as they absorb the carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere, replenish the air with oxygen and also contribute immensely to the aesthetics of the en-

vironment. They also check erosion and stem the tide of windstorm by serving as wind breakers.

To complement government’s investment in the Lagos environment, Lagos residents are gradually coming to terms with the reality of an improved environment. They now willingly buy into the state government’s environmental renewal programme through tree-planting, proper disposal of waste, improved sanitary habit among others. However, a lot still needs to be done, especially in terms of enforcement and enlightenment, for the efforts of government in regenerating the environment to achieve sustainable impact. But, it is not just about what the government is doing but also about the people’s attitude.

Lagos residents need to understand that the quality of our lives, as human beings, is considerably a reflection of the quality of the environment in which we dwell. Many still seem not to comprehend that the environment which we inhabit, like the air which we breathe, is life.

Or how else can we explain the attitude of some who persistently make their living abodes unsanitary and inhospitable environment? On the streets, stagnant gutters still occupy pride of place next to convenientlylocated food hawkers – all the easier for garbage disposal. Even some of

the fanciest areas are not exempted – “pure water” sachets (which surely rank very high on the list of the most environmentally-unfriendly products ever invented!), bottles and unofficial garbage dumps circle the gated walls of posh homes and wellmanicured lawns. This dirty habit is not justifiable in a state where the government is doing so much on environmental sanitation. It is detrimental to our common good.

We need to change our attitude to environmental issues. The earth, for now, is our home. It is where we live, breathe, eat, raise our children, etc.

Therefore, we cannot afford to destroy the environment because our whole essence depends on it. Consequently, when we imbibe positive attitudinal change towards the environment, we are sure of living free of any pollutants or hazards that we might introduce into our environment through human induced activities. Protecting the environment allows future generations of human beings to grow and live without having to deal with anything we have done to contaminate the environment in which we do live and they will live. Protecting the environment is, without doubt, the best way to protect ourselves against diseases and other environmental hazards.

• Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa-Ikeja.

LAW THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2014

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'Only autonomous judiciary can fast track justice delivery system' }p-24&25

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Okocha, Sagay, Falana divided over separation of AG, Justice Minister’s office

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awyers are divided over the recommendation by the national conference Standing Committee on Law, Judiciary and Human Rights that there is need to separate the office of the Federation Attorney-General and the Minister of Justice so as to guarantee independence and undue interference from the executive.

While some backed the Committee recommendation, others sharply disagreed, insisting that such recommendation would not be interest of nation building.

The Committee had adopted a recommendation with a view to ensuring absolute independence from what it described as political influence.

Its Deputy Chairman, Prof Auwalu Yadudu, said if the recommendation sails through, it will guarantee the independence of the office from political influence.

He said that the two offices should not be occupied by an individual if there must be equity, fair play and justice in the country.

He said: "Of course, we have adopted a recommendation that will help, if we separate the office of the AttorneyGeneral from that of the Minister of Justice.

"This will ensure that the person appointed to the office of the Attorney -General enjoys sufficient independence and autonomy to do justice to all cases that will come before him”.

Mr. Roland Otaru, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, a former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Chief OCJ Okocha, SAN and Micheal Agbamuche, all queued behind the Committee, saying it would assist the nation’s justice system should the recommendation sail through.

The trio unanimously agreed that it was a ‘wise decision’.

For instance, Otaru said: “ I think it is a wise decision. The office of the minister of Justice and the AttorneyGeneral should be separated because the Minister of Justice should be a neutral person that is devoid of politics.

“You know that it is the president that appoints the Attorney-General and there is no how the Attorney-General will not dance to the tune of the appointor. I think that in a country where we have different ethnic nationalities and different political parties, etc, there is need for the two offices to be separated so that the minister of Justice would be regarded as a neutral person, devoid of any political patronage, affiliation and leaning. The Attorney -General may be seen as being aligned to a political party. Even in the United States, the office of the Attorney-General is by election.

“To the best of my knowledge, the state of Minnesota in the U.S, the Attorney-General there is a Republican whereas the president is a Democrat.

The office is subject to election, but in our own case here, the appointment is by the president. There is no how both offices joined together cannot be used as a witch hunt. The president can use the office of the Attorney-General to witch hunt perceived enemies. The minister of Justice should be appointed by the National Assembly so that he would be seen as a neutral person and

Should the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation be separated from the Minister of Justice? Lawyers say yes, no. Judiciary Editor, FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE and JOSEPH ONYEKWERE report

Adoke

Okocha

Sagay

Falana

he would not be loyal to the president.

The office is called Minister of Justice and not that of injustice because Justice must be manifestly done and be seen to be done. It is not to be used to witch hunt those who are in opposition or those, the President see as perceived enemies. We should be able to do things right because the country belongs to us.

“In fact, I commend the national conference for the efforts they are making.

I will also commend the president for setting up this national conference. He has done very well because initially people thought it won't be a reality. I doff my hat for the president.

Otaru was echoed by Okocha, who simply said: “it is a welcome development”.

He went on: “I think it is a welcome development because most of the Attorneys-General, minister and commissioners do not understand that the role of an Attorney-General is really apolitical. An Attorney-General advises the government on what the law is. A minister of Justice is obviously someone likely to toe the line of partisan

politics, not really understanding that when you hold these offices together, there are great responsibilities. I was the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in River state under a military regime and I did try my best to advise my military government on the basis of law. So, I think it is a welcome development because our politicians these days appear not to understand the implications of the oaths of office which they all swore to uphold.

Agbamuche said: “I think it is a good idea. Essentially, the Minister of Justice is a party man so he may particularly find himself unable to offer advise that is precarious to his boss. The AttorneyGeneral generally should be the leader of the Bar. The office is sacrosanct irrespective of political considerations.

So, it makes sense to separate the two.

You know that it is the only office of the Attorney-General among other ministerial offices that is mentioned in the Constitution. It is a good idea. It will go a long way to making sure that only the right man is made the AttorneyGeneral, because right now, if you are

not a good party man, they can't make you Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. But it can make the AttorneyGeneral's office purely professional if separated. The idea is very good.

Differed, Professor Itse Sagay, Femi Falana and Dayo Akinlaja, all Senior Advocates, said it was not necessary.

Sagay said: “A lot of lawyers are advocating for it on the grounds that the Minster of Justice should be a politician; that the Attorney-General should not be because he is supposed to particularly prosecute and defend matters involving public interest.

“He has considerable powers to prosecute and also terminate prosecution started by others. Generally, the Attorney-General is one who represents government in court cases, so they said it should be separated and given to a neutral party. I see the theory of the argument, but I do not see the practicability because even if you separate it; knowing the psychology of Nigerians, once the government appoints you an Attorney-General, you will still be loyal to that government even though in law, you are supposed to be neutral and independent. That is why I am not enthusiastic about that.

“At the end of the day, what is important is the person. If he has integrity, is independent minded, has a good sense of Justice even if he is a member of a political party, he will still be upright and do what is right. The bottom line is the person. If you have integrity and ready to do your job, then it doesn't matter whether you are the Attorney-General or minister of Justice combined. If you are not ready, then, it doesn't matter too because wherever you are put, you will still be corrupt and unprincipled.

Falana said: "One of the reasons is constitutional. By virtue of Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution, while the President has the power to appoint an Attorney -General, it is not required by law that the Attorney-General shall be the Minister of Justice.

"Section 174 does not say that the Attorney-General shall be the Minister of Justice but by convention over the years, the President has always asked the Attorney- General to be the Minister of Justice.

"But in line with the common trend and based on our experience as a people, the two offices have not worked in the public interest most of the time.

"We had an Attorney-General in the recent past who, upon the completion of his term, was suspended as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria because he grossly abused the office and became the defence counsel to accused persons being tried by the government of which he was the chief law officer”.

Many Attorneys-General at federal and state levels terminated serious corruption cases by filing that government was not willing to prosecute whereas the public was demanding for justice because the minister of justice is a member of the government and the President or the governor wants a case discontinued, it is always a very difficult decision to take.

"We also want to relieve our colleagues of the burden of having to fight CO NTINUED O N PAGE23

22 LAW

Sanctity of Truth

Married at 17, widowed at 23, became lawyer at 32:

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Sad story of mother of four

At 17, she was forced to marry a man old enough to be her father because her parents could not afford to send her beyond secondary school. Five years into the marriage, everything went on well with her new life as a wife as she had three children to show for the marital bliss. But on her sixth wedding anniversary, tragedy struck. Her husband of six years, died when she was expecting her fourth child. She was a month-old pregnant when the tragedy occurred. But Dunkwu Kelechi Rosy overcame her challenges to face the future. She picked up the pieces of her life and at the age of 32, she became a lawyer. Rosy, who was called to the bar two years ago, in an emotion-laden voice, tells APPOLOS CHRISTIAN her journey into the legal profession.

A

lthough she is two yearsold at the Bar, her road to the ‘noble profession’ was tortuous. Rosy lost her husband at the age of 23. She is a lawyer today (by his grace), she told New Telegraph. Apparently believing that as a housewife, with no means of income, three kids and a month-old pregnancy, she thought it was the end of the road for her.

But Undaunted, Rosy picked the pieces, her seeming challenge notwithstanding. Kelechi vowed to rise above her challenge until she became a lawyer nine years after her husband died. Although the journey was tortuous, she told New Telegraph that at a point she was fed up with life.

This, according to her took her to contemplate suicide as the last resort as she gave it a trial twice when there was no glimmer of hope on the horizon.

The beautiful and soft spoken lawyer, who is one of the litigation counsel in the Rubicon Chambers located at 13, Isiokwe road, Onitsha told the story of her life of ‘tenacity’ and ‘determination’ to acquire a university education before becoming a lawyer despite the challenges on her path.

She said: “My mother had us four, two boys and two girls and I am the second child. We lived in Aba then but at the age of four, my parents separated. For us the kids, it was a traumatic experience, I remember seeing my father beating and pushing my mother up and down the house.

One particular night was remarkable because after another round of molestation, my mum left the house the next morning and a few weeks later she came and took us to Onitsha.

On life with her mother without a father, Rosy said “I grew up in Onitsha under the care of my mother who raised me and my siblings independently and it was really tough. I did not allow the breakup of my parents to distract me as I faced my studies squarely though I was not what you would call a first class student. But I was always within the first ten in the class.

At 16,I passed out from secondary school and did well in the Senior School Certificate Exams (SSCE). I passed out of secondary school same time with my elder sister but because of my stature I looked more mature than my age which attracted men who sought my hand in marriage.

But due to lack of funds because my mother was a poor trader who was struggling to put food on our table, it was clear that a university education was out of the question. So, instead of wasting time at home it was decided that I should get married which I eventually did in April 1999 at 17 years.”

The Nnewi born lawyer disclosed that her marriage though blissful was short-lived.

Her words: “Emmanuel, my husband was a pastor who hailed from Aniocha North Local Government Area in Delta state. It was like a fairy tale marriage and despite the about nineteen years of age difference between us, he treated me like a queen and I enjoyed a blissful relationship with him which was cut short suddenly.

Six years into the marriage, he died in the month of May 2005, leaving me with three kids and a month-old pregnancy.

It was a whole new world for me because at age 23, I had no job, no skills nor vocation; I was a full time house wife while he was alive. In fact, at that time my world crashed because my husband was the sole bread winner of the family and my world revolved around him. My husband was my first man because I married him as a virgin. I felt I could not survive without him because the house we were living in then was rented and there was no money in our account”.

“I subsequently discovered the true nature of people; it dawned on me that some people who claim to be your brothers and sisters are really as they would always abandon you when the chips are down. I got closer to God who consoled me but before then I tried to commit suicide twice as in one of the attempts, I took an overdose drugs so as to terminate my life but I was rescued and resuscitated.

At the end of the day, I sat down and asked myself questions: If you die now, what will happen to your kids? Who will you leave them for? I made up my mind to take up as much as I could, establish them and probably when they are comfortable, then take my life. Looking back now, the decision was funny but then it was not. That was my motivation.

“My family was my backbone, and the only people I could count on at that time. My late husband’s family was more concerned in making trouble; they were not bothered with my

welfare and that of the little kids he left behind. When my family saw that I had overcome my grief which had reduced me to a shadow of my former self, they rallied around and raised some funds for me which I used and started selling foodstuffs in the compound where I lived. It was a quiet area and besides there were other people dealing in the same items in other compounds, so, selling the items daily was a tug of war because of the fierce competition. I had four kids I was raising alone so at the end of the day I ate into my capital and it was becoming difficult to survive.

Speaking on her academic quest, she said “one day, I asked myself, what is it that my mother did not have which I could use to make a difference and I came to a realization that it was a university education.

“Meanwhile, I had previously sought a teaching job and was offered a monthly salary of six thousand naira by the authorities of the school. I couldn’t understand if it was for house rent, feeding or other miscellaneous expenses because I was living in a flat then. At that point in time, I vowed to go to school no matter the challenges on my path.

I just saw it as a way of the life of drudgery I was living. But another problem arose; whom do I confide in? Who do I tell of my dreams and where do I get the funds from? I secretly purchased and filled a jamb form, back then; the idea was to choose one professional course and other courses. I put law first and then mass communications second. I also choose Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka because it was close to Onitsha so that I could be going from house to the school.

On the day of the exam I brought my kids to my mum and told her I was attending a church meeting. I rushed to the

I had previously sought a teaching job and was offered a monthly salary of six thousand naira... I couldn’t understand if it was for house rent or feeding...

exam centre, wrote and was the first to finish and rushed back to my mother’s house and told her the meeting was over. When the result came out, I went just like other prospective students to check my score, and was dazed when I saw 253 as my score. On my way back, I was thinking, who will sponsor me? Where do I start the race from? It was only my younger brother who I confided in. When it was time for the post- UME test, I sneaked to the school to write the test, finished early and rushed back home. When the result came out again, I got the required score for admission into the law faculty of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka but the dilemma was how to finance the quest.

“After some days of rumination, I summoned courage and told my mum about my JAMB examination and the outcome of the post-UME test. She was surprised at how I was adept in hiding it all along. Overwhelmed with emotions, she started shedding tears and made a declaration that no matter the circumstances, I would go to school that she did not know it was still uppermost in my mind.

She called a few of her relatives who were impressed with my performance and one of my aunties who is a legal practitioner took up the responsibility of paying my fees, my kids and sending us allowances too.

There were other relatives who also contributed to my academic pursuit. I started school with the challenges of waking in the morning, preparing the kids for school and preparing to go to Awka.

The kids were with me initially for three years and I also had a cousin who was staying with me and helping out. During the holidays, I took them to my mum who managed to take care of them alongside her petty business. The fourth year, she requested that I bring the children completely over to her end where we all lived together till I rounded up my studies.”

Speaking further on the challenges she faced in combining full time law program as a single parent with raising her little kids, Rosy said “several times, I

broke down due to the pressure on me but because of my determination to succeed, I did not relent and most importantly, my mother and siblings were there for me.

“It was not easy combining school with the kids for five good years to and from Onitsha to Awka every day for lectures though I could not meet up with all. God gave me the grace, encouraged me and I kept pressing on irrespective of the challenges. I give Him glory for everything, He was with me, I never had any carry-over. I went through five years of academic study smoothly and graduated in 2012 with a 2nd Class Upper and proceeded immediately to Yenagoa campus of the Law School in Bayelsa State where

by God’s grace, I also came out with a second Class Upper and was called to Bar last November.

Going down memory lane, in an emotion laden voice, the amiable legal practitioner recounted her travails in the hands of her in-laws after the death of her husband.

“My experience is not different from the usual widow’s tale in the Eastern part of the country, once a man dies suddenly; it is assumed that the wife killed him.

When he died, they accused me of killing him. His nephew was living with us then and at the end of the day, he was used as a tool against me. They came up with all sort of unbelievable stories just to demonize me. I was the one who served him his last meal before he died. Funny enough, he took the tea which I had been making for him for six years.

One of the most absurd tales they used in their campaign against me was that I killed my husband in order to hide the real paternity of my pregnancy because I was just a month old pregnant when he died. So, I now told them that if the allegation was true that I would die in labour but if it was untrue that they would be put to shame because I would deliver in good health and to the glory of God, that was the CONTINUED ON PAGE23

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Thursday, July 17, 2014

Ex-army chief sues military, AGF, others, seeks N786m over wrongful retirement Tunde Oyesina Abuja

T

he National Industrial Court, Abuja, has fixed October 13 for further hearing in a suit initiated by an army chief, BrigadierGeneral Muhammad Adeka, to challenge an alleged violation of his rights by the military hierarchy.

He is asking the court to compel the nation’s military council to pay him N786m.

Sued are the Nigerian Army Council, the Chief of Army Staff, the Military Secretary (Army) and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

In the suit, Adeka, is asking the court to grant an order for the Nigerian Army to pay him N786 million for the alleged violation of his rights and desecration of his rank as a first class senior officer in the Nigerian Army.

However, the matter was stalled on May 19, when the case came up for report of settlement following an appearance for the Nigerian Army and the other four defendants by new lawyers.

Adeka, an indigene of Nasarawa state said his travails began on March

18 when he was arrested by the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and subsequently handed over to civil authorities.

According to him, he was detained for four years and one month during which he was tortured, humiliated and prosecuted for alleged treasonable charges.

Besides, he said he was released by the Federal High Court, Lagos, on April 11, 2008 when the charges against him were struck out for lack of diligent prosecution.

This, he said had led to his premature retirement from service by the Army rather than being promoted to his next rank of Major General.

Adeka is seeking among others, a declaration that the entire process leading to his retirement by the defendants infringe on the Armed Forces Act, Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Nigerian Armed Forces Officers 2012 (revised), Promotion Regulations 2006, Nigerian Army Officers and Instructions for completion of performance evaluation report NA officers Form NA 2077A

(revised) 2006".

Also, he seeks a declaration his retirement on December 10, 2013 was wrong, unlawful, invalid and ultra vires, hence null and void.

Others are a declaration that the non-inclusion of his name on the list of officers presented for promotion dated October 25, 2013 violates the Armed Forces Act, harmonized terms and conditions of service of Nigerian Armed Forces Officers 2012 (revised), Promotion regulations 2006 Nigerian Army Officers and instructions for completion of performance evaluation report NA officers form NA 2077A (revised) 2006" among others.

“An order of general damages to be paid to the claimant in the sum of N786million (seven hundred and eighty six naira) for the illtreatment of the claimant, humiliation of the claimant, violation of the rights of the claimant and the desecration of the rank of the claimant as a First class senior officer in the Nigerian Army".

faces at the Conference on Justice Administration-Beyond the Rules and the Law held in Lagos

L-R: Permanent Secretary, PMO, Lagos State, Lekan Ogunbanwo; Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Ayo Phillips...

L-R; Hon. Justice Adeyoola Phillips; Heads Judge, Lagos State Judiciary, Justice Funmilayo Atilade; Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola and Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Hon. Ade Ipaye

Okocha, Sagay, Falana divided over separation of AG, Justice Minister’s office CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

with their conscience because the president or governor has insisted that a case be discontinued.

"In the francophone countries, the AttorneyGeneral is called de procure generale; he’s the defender of the public interest.

"Whether the president or governor is interested in a case or not, the Attorney-General as the defender of public interest will prosecute any indictable offence and that's what we are calling for in our country”.

In his view, Akinlaja said: “there is no reason why we should tamper with the present arrangement. My view is that there is nothing fundamentally wrong in the present arrangement. What is most important is the character of the person who is appointed to that office.

The constitution says that there shall be an Attorney-General who shall be the Minister of Justice at the federal level and commissioner

for Justice at the state level. That is the provision of the Constitution and the argument has been that somebody to be appointed to the office of the AttorneyGeneral must be a professional to the core and the commissioner for Justice should be a politician of some sort.

I was in that office as an Attorney- General.

“To my mind, there is nothing wrong in the combination per se, in the sense that the Attorney-General will do his duties and responsibilities as the Attorney-General. The point remains that if somebody will be the Attorney-General, who is going to be the appointing authority?

“Is it not going to be the same governor? If a person is appointed the Commissioner for Justice or Minister of Justice at the federal level, the appointment would be made by the governor or the president respectively and the loyalty issue would still be there.

It is the personality that is appointed to the office that matters. I was

in that office and by the grace of God I was able to put professionalism into it. My attitude to this is that if somebody is appointed to the office of the AttorneyGeneral or Commissioner for Justice, the primary thing is to use your position to advance the course of Justice in the system. Whether it is the Commissioner for Justice, it would turn to commissioner for injustice, if the major consideration is politics at the expense of fairness and detriment of justice.

“Anybody blinded by political consideration would not be able to do what is right and proper.

The basic thing though is: is it fair, is it proper, is it what would advance the course of Justice and better the lot of the citizenry? To my mind, there is nothing wrong in the combination. It is just being unnecessarily duplicitous. For me, there is nothing wrong with the present arrangement. It is the personality of the incumbent of that office that matters.

Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye; Permanent Scretary, Lagos State Government, Mr. Lawal Pedro (right) and Executive Secretary, Lagos State Security, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey (centre)

PHOTOs: TONY EGUAYE

Sad story of mother of four CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22

easiest child delivery I had because my baby came out smoothly when it was due.”

Rosy who disclosed that in the fullness of time, she would author a book where she would chronicle her detailed story for the world to read, stresses that it has not been an easy road for her.

She admonished those who may be passing through similar challeng-

es to“hold on, it is not the end of the world yet, the only comfort you would ever get in any challenge is the one you give yourself and not what your pastor, imam, priest or any religious leader tells you. If you have a dream, remember it is not the end of your dream but believe in it and push towards its actualization.

Today, by the grace of God, I am a legal practitioner despite the odds I faced. My ultimate dream

in my profession for now is to be a judge,” she said.

At 32 years, with a lot of admirers from the male folks and persuasions from relatives to give marriage a second chance, Rosy said “I do not know yet if I may remarry, whichever one God decides, I will abide, but for now my focus is to give my kids the best in life. It is all in God’s time, but for now, my daughter and three sons are my priority”.

24 JURIST

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Alegeh: Only autonomous judiciary can fast track justice delivery system

Augustine Alegeh, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is an active member of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and is presently the chairman of the data base and documentation of Nigerian lawyers committee, the committee set up by the NBA. He is a member of the international Bar Association. He has attended several international and local conferences. In 1994, he was appointed a notary public by the Chief Justice of Nigeria. He has acted as lead counsel in a host of decided land mark cases in Nigeria and is actively engaged in appellate litigation. Besides, Alegeh had argued several continuous matters before the Supreme Court of Nigeria which are widely reported in the law reports. He has just emerged the President of the NBA In this encounter with JOSEPH ONYEKWERE, before the election, he shares his views on myriads of legal and national issues.

Alegeh, SAN

Unicameral legislature "I believe that various systems have worked for various people. It is not the system that you choose that is important, but the faith you have in the system. We practice parliamentary democracy and we claimed that was what led to the challenges that led to the fall of the first republic. We started again with presidential system and Shagari government was overthrown and we are back again in presidential system.

But if you look at America, they have used presidential system consistently and it has served them over the years.

Look at Britain, parliamentary system has served them. We appear to be too much in a hurry to keep changing and changing. The ones that we have, let us make them work. If you remove this and put this, it doesn't solve anything. Everybody have a view and atimes, we find out that what we are doing are merely cosmetics. Yes, we are running an expensive presidential system, but what makes it expensive? Is it that it is expensive or the way we have run our own presidential system by providing much more than the people need? Even if you go back to parliamentary system, what will still be the cost of running that system? If we decapitate the local governments, who will then attend to them? We have states, which repair government roads and claim refund from local government because federal governments are far from the states. Who will then deal with the local government issues?

I believe that the local governments are fundamental if properly structured. It would be the first line of provision of social amenities. In any case, it is most unlikely that the National Assembly would legislate itself out of office."

National conference and its report According to him, the conference report would be submitted to the National

Assembly as prescribed by the constitution. He explained that the national conference is not the prescribed procedure for amending the constitution, adding that there is no other way of doing that except to go to the National Assembly as provided by the constitution. He stated that it would have been a different matter if our constitution recommends that amendments can take place through referendum, insisting that the constitution has a set out mechanism for amendment.

He believes that the sovereignty of the people have been delegated to members of the National Assembly who are elected.

His words: "If sovereignty belongs to the people and the constitution says, let those who have the sovereignty elect people into the National Assembly in order to help them exercise the sovereign right, and the constitution says whenever you want to amend the constitution, let it be the representatives.

Those in the national conference, were they elected? So, who best ideally has the mandate of the people in the exercise of their sovereign right? It is the elected representatives. I didn't vote for anybody to represent me at the conference and you didn't either. So, how can a man you did not vote for but was selected by someone else decide that he knows what you want? We must look at it objectively and not sentimentally".

The learned silk suggested that Nigeria can adopt a version of any form of government, insisting that Nigerians must have a belief in that system for it to work. According to him, Nigeria can keep working whatever system adopted with a view to making it better. He said that whenever we keep throwing away old system and adopting new ones, we will never get to understand the difficulties off the last one. He maintained that Nigerians should have a sense of

responsibility to work things out.

National Assembly He pointed out that the cost of running the parliament is very huge. He suggested that the government can control the emoluments of the parliament.

Alegeh said: "You can tell a man to cut down on his excesses than to tell him to legislate himself out of existence. I think that is a more daunting challenge.

If there is a corresponding financial realignment on the part of the executive, there won't be any difficulty in convincing them. The government should know that the idea of having the recurrent expenditure taking 75 or 80 per cent of our annual budget is unacceptable. Those who spend all those monies are they up to 20 per cent of the entire population?

Let us assume that they are 20, why would 20 per cent of Nigerians take 80 per cent of our resources and leave 80 per cent of us to rely on 20 per cent?"

He queried, insisting that it is imperative to reduce the salaries to be at per with an American senator, if not lower.

Alegeh wondered why the president should need myriads of advisers who all constitute a drain on the system with low productivity. He added that it might not be the fault of the system today because they are working with what they met there. "We must make a firm balance between the costs of representation. When the cost of representation outstrips the cost of providing for you, you know that

He believes that the sovereignty of the people have been delegated to members of the National Assembly who are elected

there is a major challenge. So, those are the issues we should be dealing with.

So, we have a fewer mouth spending the same amount. So, we are still in the same position when we have no money for development", he posited.

Judiciary autonomy He commended the 180 day timeframe allotted to the election petition tribunals within which cases should terminate and suggested that more tribunal should be set up in order to accommodate others with electoral grievances.

He frowned at the old system where election petitions linger on for a long time after the purported winner has been sworn in.

Alegeh hinted that judicial autonomy would assist in fast tracking speedy dispensation of Justice. His words: "If you look at the constitution, it provides for financial autonomy for the judiciary. Any money for the judiciary in the account of the federal government should be giving to them. Firstly, our judiciary don’t have to go cap-in hand to beg for funds.

Our courts are in appalling state. Our courts are not digital. If you watch the Oscar Pistorious trial on DSTV channel 199, you don't see the judge recording in long hand, she was listening. Judicial funding must be taken seriously. So, we need to provide sufficient infrastructure and understand that infrastructural backbone for delivery of an efficient justice system. We need to have functional courts and proper equipment on place; we need to have research assistants for judges. There is a whole lot of backbone that supports speedy dispensation of Justice. If not, it would just be a mirage.

If you have the best judge in the world and he is recording in long hand for 20 witnesses, he becomes a slow judge."

Boko Haram and foreign assistance Reacting to the argument about the

LAW | NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

We need to have functional courts and proper equipment on place; we need to have research assistants for judges. There is a whole lot of backbone that supports speedy dispensation of Justice. If not, it would just be a mirage propriety of accepting foreign assistance in these fight against Boko Haram, he explained that it is normal to seek assistance whenever one is faced with difficulties he cannot deal with alone.

“You have a challenge that you alone cannot deal with; you always call for assistance. If our own security agencies are having challenges in combating the insurgence and securing the release of the girls without harm, they need support from other security agencies. It's a welcomed form of cooperation between states. And when state cooperates and share intelligence, it's a form of security that helps.

And if you remember the Malaysia plane that is being searched for from Australia to china, all the countries, America, United Kingdom, they all put heads together in trying to resolve the problem. So, there is nothing new about it. Personally, I see it as a welcome development.

Swap insurgents for Chibok girls On the issue of negotiating swap with them, he described it as a deep security matter. "It is a deep security matter which security agencies know whether it is an offer made in good faith or not.

I know that prisoner exchange is something that has happened in other jurisdictions successfully. So government should explore every avenue possible to try and resolve and secure the release of the girls as soon as possible. I want the girls released and in good time too and anything that would secure the release, I will want. But whether this offer of self-release in exchange of prisoners is a true fact, I am not in position to know.

Whether the persons they seek their release are alive or dead, I am not in a position to know. I believe that there is no sacrifice that is too great to be made to secure the release of those girls. Truly, there is an offer, for the sake of the girls and their future, I beg the government to consider the matter very seriously", he submitted.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Expressing views about the ADR, he stated that the purpose of ADR is noble, but that it is doubtful whether it is achieving that purpose which is to fast track justice delivery.

"ADR is good because it affords one the ability to resolve disputes amicably without recourse to our formal courts.

But the ADR that we are embracing is more or less a forum shopping where we come to an agreement that Nigerian courts are bad, so let us take our matter to a court we choose by ourselves to resolve it. So what is happening currently is that the adversarial system is being transferred out of the courts to the private tribunals. You find out that most of the lawyers in arbitration are foreigners who don't have interest of our nation at heart. Most of them put London, New York and Geneva as the seat of the arbitration. Whereas ADR is very good, we have to sit down, examine it carefully and decide the direction we want to go. We don't have to assume that what they are giving to us as ADR is good", he admonished.

Augustine Oyarekhua Alegeh is an indigene of Ikabigbo, Etsako west Local Government area of Edo State. He was born on August 10, 1964 to the family of late DCP and Mrs. Matthew Alegeh in Warri, Delta State.

He attended St. George's Primiary

School, Falomo, Lagos for his primary education. In 1974, he commenced his secondary education at St. Paul's seminary, Benin City in the hope of becoming a reverend father. In 1975, his parents transferred him to Edo College, Benin City to continue his secondary education.

He obtained his West Africa School Certificate (O'levels) from Edo College in 1980 and further proceeded to Federal Government College, Warri in January 1981 for his A levels but completed only lower six before gaining admission to the university. He gained admission to study law at the prestigious University of Benin in 1981 and graduated with the law degree of Bachelor of Law (LL.B) Hons, second class lower division in 1985.

He attended the Nigerian law school, Lagos in the 1985/1986 section and was duly called to the Nigerian Bar on October 16, 1986 after obtaining his LL.B, second class upper division from the Council of Legal Education. At the Bar qualifying examination in 1986, Alegeh won the Bola Ajibola prize for civil procedure. Between 1986 and 1989, he cut his legal teeth in the law firm of Sadoh & Co. Legal practitioners. In March 1989, following the appointment of the former principal partner of Sadoh $ Co., as a judge of the Bendel state High Court, Alegeh became the managing partner of the firm, which then became known as Alegeh, Agun & Co. In September 1990, the firm became known as Alegeh & Co., following the departure of the firm’s partner, Francis Agun to practice in New York Bar. He expanded the practice and opened offices in Lagos and Abuja. The law office presently employs over 50 lawyers and support staff. The law firm is again expanding with the opening of offices in Warri and Asaba, both in Delta state.

In recognition of his modest contribution to the development of law in Nigeria, the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) elevated him to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2007. Despite his elevation to the prestigious rank, and being undeterred in his quest for knowledge and in keeping abreast with the dynamics of the practice of law, he attended Keble College, Oxford University, United Kingdom and was awarded a diploma in international commercial arbitration in 2009. He was in 2010 made a fellow of the Institution of Chartered Arbitrators, United Kingdom. He sits on the board of directors of host of companies with vast interest in construction, oil and gas, information technology, engineering, real estate and fast moving consumer goods.

He is a lover of games of cricket and football and as a demonstration of his interest in the game of cricket, he was made chairman, Edo State Cricket Associaition between 1996 and 2000. He was a founding secretary of Crescent sports club, Benin city, a football club of young intellectuals and professionals, he later became the president of the sport club.

He also has a burning passion for general reading. He is happily married to his amiable wife, Mrs. Ferishat Alegeh and the marriage is blessed with children.

As a legal scholar, Alegeh has delivered a number of papers in a number of NBA events. Among them are: "The effect of a dynamic judiciary in a democratic regime", delivered at NBA Ohafia branch law week in 2014; "repositioning our courts for effective justice delivery" presented at the law week of NBA Minna branch in 2013; "100 years of hath Nigeria judiciary; how far, how well?" Presented at the law week of NBA, Warri Branch in 2013; "towards a just court; should our courts be that of law or discipline?" Delivered at the inauguration of new executive officers of NBA, Ilesha branch in 2013 as well as "in defence of the rule of law or political exigencies; the dilemma of the state counsels", presented at the 53rd NBA annual general conference ( section on law officers association of Nigeria) in August 2013.

25

*Dr. Oghenesivbe, is a member, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (M.NIIA), a political and socio-economic analyst.

FredLatimore Oghenesivbe

Caveat emptor and the need for pre-contract investigation in sale of land

I

CO N T I N U E D FR OM L A S T WEEK

t is a legal truism that contract of sale of land is in five stages namely; the pre-contract stage (negotiation and pre-contract inquiries), contract stage (preparation of agreement and signing of contract of sale agreement), post-contract stage (legal drafting of Deed), Completion stage (execution of conveyance) and Governor’s consent.

Due to the technicality involved in searches, investigation and legal drafting it is strongly recommended that a purchaser should engage the services of a solicitor from the very beginning in the transaction.

Involving a solicitor at the middle or final stages of the contract of sale of land can be very costly. Void the use of quack estate agents who merely dub agreements that may not necessarily fit into the legal technicalities needed to protect your transaction because every property transaction has its own exclusive merits and demerits. Once there is dispute in the property purchased, the weak agreement executed by the quack agent may mess up your case in Court. Avoid using quacks, engage the services of a solicitor.

There are several cases of land disputes in the courts across the country owing to the fact that some buyers fail to involve a solicitor and allow the vendor to dominate the transaction. It is also recommended that the purchaser should engage the services of a separate lawyer from that of the seller. But where one solicitor act for both parties he or she must ensure that the title is sound, the terms are unambiguous and agreed upon and solicitor should not have personal interest in the property.

The court held in Smith v. Mansi (1962) that were the same solicitor acts for both parties (the vendor and the vendee), he has to first obtain all the facts about the property from the vendor and to give all information at his disposal concerning the property to the vendee (the purchaser) and obtain a written confirmation of the acceptance of the terms of offer from the purchaser before drafting the contract of sale agreement.

The solicitor when acting for both parties is to ensure that money paid in the transaction goes to the right person such that if the contract is successful he pays money to the seller and if transaction hit the rocks money is given back to the purchaser. In this case, the solicitor owes fiduciary relationship to both parties ensuring that no one looses in the transaction. From the above explanation it can be seen that contract of sale of land is the first step in the process of transferring interest and title in land for valuable consideration. The existence and validity of a contract for sale of land depend upon ordinary rules of contract. The parties must have capacities to contract; there must be an offer, an acceptance, a consideration and intention by the parties to enter into a legally binding relationship.

The contract for the sale of land is regulated by common law, the general principles of equity and customary law as well as applicable statute and laws

The principle of “Caveat Emptor” is to the effect that the buyer of a piece of land or real property is duty bound to first carryout proper investigation before the contract of sale of land is executed of various states of the federation. It is recommended that parties to a contract of sale of land should adopt the formal contract principle which sets out the rights and duties of the parties.

It generally limits the application of implied terms and clearly introduces some assurance to conveyancing matter, it crystallizes the positions of the parties, the contract can be used to circumvent implied covenants or even create restrictions in the use of the land, it complies with the requirements of section 4 of the Statute of Fraud which requires that for an agreement for sale of land to be enforceable by an action in court, it must be evidenced by a sufficient note or memorandum in writing signed by the parties to be bound or his agent lawfully authorized which is why pre-contract searches and investigation is necessary to determine whether or not the purchaser is prepared to execute a contract of sale.

In a formal contract for the sale of land duly executed, the death of either party would no longer affect the contract because the vendor’s estate, his executors, heirs and legal representatives are lawfully bound by the terms and conditions of the contract. Also, the purchaser acquires an immediate equitable interest in the property upon possession pending transfer of legal interest by the vendor through a deed of transfer or assignment with Governor’s consent.

In conclusion therefore, it is safe to assert that for the purchaser to get a good title, he or she should engage the services of a solicitor, to conduct searches and investigation on the property so as to ensure that the purchaser is not buying a property that is defective. The pre-contract stage therefore is one of the crucial stages in the process of acquiring property because it affords the purchaser the unique opportunity to know through the diligent searches carried out by his solicitor whether or not he is buying a good and valid title. To buy a law suit simply means that a buyer fails to do searches on the property and it turned out that the vendor had no capacity to sell. The vendee only discovered at the post-completion stage that he transacted with the wrong party. Of course, in family land, if a purchaser deals with other principal members of the family without the consent of the family head, is void ab initio. Therefore, your solicitor is to use his professional expertise to do the searches and draft a legal document that will protect your interest in the entire transaction. Ignoring the pre-contract stage in sale of land contract can be very costly. Avoid it.

26 LAW | INTERVIEW

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Toye: Legislature, judiciary don’t comply with procurement law He is a former majority leader Osun state House of Assembly in third republic and President of the Bureau of Public Procurement. Wahab Toye, who read law as a third degree, having obtained a master’s degree in International Relations, plies his law trade in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. In this interview with TUNDE OYESINA, Toye speaks on the judiciary, executive, legislature and the procurement law. time, they get their funds from the executive.

Toye

How would you appraise the judiciary in the last 15 years of democracy?

Whether we like it or not the worst civilian democracy is better than the other illegal government of military that we have had in the past, and we remember that the era of the military in Nigerian governance is more than that of the civilian government.

This has affected the three organs of government, meaning that during the military rule, it is the executive that usually shows prominence while the legislature is like a dominant factor.

The judiciary is there but whoever heads the government always dictate the pace of justice for them and not the law.

But when the civilian government came on board in 1999, in the first two years of Obasanjo's regime, the performance of the judiciary was not noticed because it was like a lesson period and the performance of the legislative arm too was not noticed but more or less like a collaborative efforts to the executive, everybody was looking forward to what the President will do, but at the tail end of that year, there were a lot of litigation that really put the judiciary to test especially whether they are really independent or not. Due to the fact that we are practicing Presidential System of government, the three arms of government need to be independent but at the same time co-operate with one another.

The Constitution really empowers the judiciary to be independent but in terms of finances, as at that

So, all these are checks and control mechanism that made the judiciary not to be truly free from the executive incursion by way of informal influence in their decision. But Atiku came on board, to put some tested cases, remember the issue of Atiku belonging to the PDP and romancing the ACN and at the end of the day, Obasanjo threatened to remove him.

When Atiku approached the court, it held that the moment you are elected as the President or Vice President, your loyalty is to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that PDP was unknown to the law.

That was the decision of the Supreme Court. With that, the judiciary showed that it is indeed, an independent organ. Again, what happened in Oyo state, in the impeachment of Ladoja, whereby it was an illegal act, at that time, the pronouncement of the Supreme Court that declared it illegal further showed that the judiciary is really waking up to its duty.

But before that time, there was the impeachment of Alamiesiegha, where the state assembly members were being captured, arrested and taken to Lagos state where the impeachment took place. In law, there is what we called jurisdictional effect; that the state assembly of Bayelsa state could not have exercised their jurisdiction outside Bayelsa.

So, what they did then was illegal and the Supreme Court kept quiet.

It was Ladoja's case that woke them up. So far, so good, the judiciary is displaying sense of maturity in its

judgement. But be that as it may, they may not be perfect because of corruption and the current CJN is really trying to sanitize that arm. The judiciary under the current CJN is trying, other CJNs tried but this woman is trying to sanitize.

How would rate the legislature?

This 7th Assembly has displayed independence but with questionable words, they are too silent, they only talk on issue that will affect their interest in terms of monetary gains. I believe that democracy in that area should be looked into. What is the character and educational background of people elected into the office? What is the level of their exposure and means of livelihood before coming into politics? Because we could see that there is one canon of subjection to the executive that is persisting now and that is money.

When it comes to the issue of money, you will not hear anything from them. As we speak now, have they passed the budget? What about the security challenge? Nevertheless, nothing will disturb their allowance because the law says government can spend money on essential services, which captures personal emoluments and wherein a legislature is earning about N15 million in a month, he will not think of what the citizen will gain in the budgetary allocation.

The essence of the legislature is to advance the interest of the people at the national or state level, the executive position is to execute the policy of government as enshrined in the appropriation Bill. The current assembly is docile, highly monetized and commercialized their conscience and have relegated from civil duty to Nigeria. But so far so good, the three arms are still better compared to the illegal military rule.

What is your assessment of the public procurement, its law and litigation?

Any procurement the National Assembly have done without the compliance with the law starting from 2007, is illegal. I remember one of the cases against the former House Speaker, Dimeji Bankole was caused by the breach of the Procurement Act

The procurement law was passed in May 2007 and it was the first official duty performed by the late President Umaru Musa Yar'adua.

For having that political will to sign it, his action is highly commendable.

Procurement essentially means acquisition of works, goods and services by government for the citizen.

90 per cent of money spent by the government is on procurement, in that wise, if we are able to manage that aspect very well, we will get value for money spent. When a study was conducted by Obasanjo shortly after he became the President on how to block all the leakages, that was what led to due process, which means transparency, accountability and value for money spent by government in acquisition of goods and services.

The era of over inflation of invoices by government officials, who are the government and also the contractor, who normally ask people to go and bring quotation, telling them what to put there. All these ills are what the procurement act has come to cure by eradicating corruption from our procurement activities and getting desired result from our money. By Section 15 of the Public Procurement Act, all federal government agencies must comply with the rules. Second, if any project is to be expended on whereby 35% of that project will received from consolidated revenue, it must pass through that law. Any ministry, parastatal, that wants to buy anything must put the public on notice, bids must be called for in a national newspaper, procurement journal and the website and such must not be less than six weeks for people to read it and respond. So, competent contractors will now apply. Section 16 says that company that will compete must be duly analysed, whether it is duly registered with CAC, whether it has the personality to handle such service. It will be used to determine whether a company can truly bid.

The law now created the Bureau of Public Procurement which is to ensure compliance with all government agencies. The introduction of the bureau had through their review exercise this year, save Nigeria the sum of N410 billion, that one sixth of our budget for this year. That is a good development. That is why we are having results in procurement today. To my mind, the National Assembly is part of the structures that should apply this law but as I speak now, I have not seen any advertisement from the national assembly inviting the public to come and bid for work, ditto the judiciary and they are spending money. It is only the executive arm of government that has really complied. In essence, the legislature and the judiciary,are breaching the procurement law.

What is the remedy for this?

Any procurement the National Assembly have done without the compliance with the law starting from 2007, is illegal. I remember one of the cases against the former House Speaker, Dimeji Bankole was caused by the breach of the Procurement Act. Everybody must comply with the law. Both the National Assembly and the Judiciary must comply.

HEALTH THURSday, JULY 17, 2014

Acrimony between 27 doctors and health workers, root cause of strike

NEW TELEGRAPH

www.newtelegraphonline.com/health

}p-29 appolonia adeyemi appolonia.adeyemi@newtelegraphonline.com appoloniaadeyemi@gmail.com

Ebola: FG focuses on prevention, places land, air borders on alert Without a known cure for the Ebola virus disease, which has killed over 500 infected persons in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, maintaining good hygiene practices, avoiding the consumption of bush meat as well as fruits contaminated by bats, can help to put the disease at bay, reports APPOLONIA ADEYEMI and OBINNA ODOH

lAvoid bush meat, fruits eaten by bats lMaintain proper hygiene CRITICAL Deadly virus spreads, leaving death in its wake

T

he meeting of health ministers from West African countries for emergency talks about Ebola virus disease which held in Ghana last week was cheering, raising the hope that relevant skill will be ultimately acquired in the case of any emergency outbreak in more West African countries. However, there was unease among Nigerians on Thursday, July 7, when news broke that a certain American citizen suspected of having contracted the Ebola virus was tested and quarantined at the private Nyaho Clinic in Accra, Ghana..

As news of this development spread through the electronic and print media, it sent fear down the spines of many. "Its a lie,” shouted Teju Alarape as he rode in a public transport on his way home

Key Facts lEbola virus disease (EVD) formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. lEVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90 percent. lEVD occurs primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rain forests lThe virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission lFruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are considered to be the natural host of the Ebola virus lSeverely ill patients require intensive supportive care. No licensed specific treatment or vaccine is available for use in people or animals.

Manifestation of ebola virus disease

after work, listening to the broadcast on the Metro FM 6 p.m news. Another passenger plying the same route with Alarape said, “If indeed this Ebola has got to Ghana, a neighbouring country that is close to Nigeria, then there is problem”.

Ebola virus disease (EVD) formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.

Yet, as it has no cure, all efforts to prevent its spread is invariably focused on prevention.

Speaking on what is being done to prevent this terrible affliction, Kehinde John, director, Environmental Health and Head, Emergency Response & Disaster Management in the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), advised Nigerians to

John confirmed that surveillance activities are going on in 41 land borders identified, sea borthers and in nine recognised international airports

PHOTO: thecitizenng.com

Chukwu

Idris

avoid bush meat for now because this is the means through which Ebola or other homorganic fever can be contracted.

"People should avoid bats and fruits contaminated by bats," he stressed.

According to him, there is what is called bat fruits and bats do feed on them.

"These fruits are dangerous," John said, listing them to include mango, guava, paw-paw, among others, adding, "People should avoid them or be careful not to eat any fruit that had been eaten by bats".

John told New Telegraph (NT) Health that eight teams comprising health emergency response management, has been set up by the ministry to handle issues of emergencies or disaster rapid response.

"So we have multidisciplinary approach in handling Ebola, yellow fever, dengue fever and lassa fever.

Speaking further, he said, "worthy of note is personal hygiene, which involves washing of hands with soap or ash and washing fruits and all the eatable thoroughly”.

In addition, he urged health workers to observe universal precaution".

Similarly, John said proper disposal of human dead bodies (copse) should be encouraged. “Mortuary attendants should be careful in the handling of corpses and should further embrace personal C O N T I N U E D on PA G E 2 8

28 HEALTH

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

with Dr. Ihuoma Uko-Ndukwe

Health personnel kitting themselves to care for Ebola virus patient PHOTO: www.timeslive.co.za

Eating bush meat should be avoided

PHOTO: www.operationcharm.orG

Ebola virus disease spreads across some Central and West African countries C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 7

hygiene within and outside mortuary premises.

“People should also avoid the use of unsterilised needle and other sharp objects to avoid blood contact”.

While alerting the public on measures to prevent the spread of Ebola into Lagos State on Sunday, Lagos State Commissioner for health, Dr. Jide Idris called on the public to reduce the risk of infection through washing of hands often with soap and water, avoiding close contact with people who are sick and ensuring that objects used by the sick are de-contaminated and properly disposed.

In addition, Idris who is a public health physician also advised health workers to be at alert: “wear personal protective equipment, observe universal basic precautions when attending to suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola infection and report same to their local government area or the ministry of health immediately.

Ebola virus disease should be suspected in persons who develop bleeding from the body openings like the mouth, nose, rectum and ear; a close contact of person who is infected; or health worker who had treated either suspected or confirmed infected person.

Early symptoms of disease include fever, headache, chills, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, backache, and joint pains. Later symptoms include bleeding from the eyes, ears and nose, bleeding from the mouth and rectum, eye swelling, swelling of the genitals and rashes all over the body that often contain blood. It could progress to coma, shock and death.

The Health Commissioner said infected persons will need to be admitted into the hospital for specialised care and treated in isolation. Acrimony World Health Organisation (WHO) said the disease has killed more than 500 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since February. Hundreds more have been infected. WHO officials said there have been at least 50 new cases of Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone since July 3. Although no new cases have been reported in Guinea in the past week, the number of suspected cases and deaths continues to rise almost daily in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Ebola disease is caused by the Ebola virus which can be spread through, close contact with the blood, body fluids, organ and tissues of infected animals; direct contact with blood, organ or body secretions of an infected person.

The transmission of the virus by other animals like monkey and chimpanzee cannot be ruled out.

According to the head of Emergency Response & Disaster Management in the FMOH, considering that the disease has

Ebola virus.

PHOTO:givinglifeonline.com

no known cure anywhere in the world, the importance of prevention is key.

“That is why the early warning alert has been sent to all the states and tertiary health institutions in the country.

All the health officers are instructed to get prepared ahead for any emergency or outbreak," said John.

On his part, Prof. Abdulsalam Nasidi, director, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, said medical laboratory facilities that had been established in the country from 2007 and 2009 to contain bird flu, and thereafter lassa fever are now being strengthened to enable the country cope in case of the outbreak of Ebola. The surveillance system is also being improved through the empowerment of the surveillance team.

Surveillance While speaking on how the surveillance system in the country is being improved on July 4, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu said the FMOH is carrying out surveillance through Port Health Services and at the point of entry in all border areas in this country.

In an interview with the NT Health, John confirmed that "such surveillance activities are going on in 41 land borders identified, sea borders and in nine recognised international airports.”.

During the briefing in Abuja on July 4, the minister of health disclosed that port health officers who on their duty post always adorn white garment and cap are saddled with the responsibility of screening new arrivals into the country. They work at the various ports of entry including international airports, in tertiary health institutions and on land border posts.

Speaking further, Chukwu said, the FMOH is working with the Ministry of Agriculture which is currently monitoring the migrant populace especially nomads.

Similarly, he noted, the Ministry of Interior is also involved in terms of checking the borders. “What we do is that we watch out for people travelling from Central Africa. When they come into Nigeria, we monitor them and track to ensure that even when they have fever, we will know what that fever is".

Quarantined According to the Head of Emergency Response & Disaster Management at the FMOH, Ebola patients are quarantined wherever they are being taken care of so as to limit their contact with healthy persons.

Consequently, he said, Isolation Units have been established in 59 tertiary health facilities in the country and in all the specialist and medical centres.

"Also we sent letters to all the epidemiologists in 36 states of the federation and federal capital territory (FCT), to be at alert in case of Ebola outbreak,” he said, adding, "All the states should wake up. Ministers of health of each state should be at alert”.

On the way forward, John urged every Nigerian to prepare ahead of time in preventing Ebola fever through “our attitude toward things that lead to contracting Ebola infection”.

On our own part, John said, "we are already working and have asked the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to prepare their contingency plan that we use during disaster period.

ada.ndukwe@yahoo.com

Hepatitis: Causes and complications DEADLY PRACTICES Avoid alcohol intake, sharing razor blades as well as needles to prevent diseases

H

epatitis is caused by the virus hepadnavirus family comprising of five family members including A, B, C, C and E. While a,b and c are the most common hepatits infections, there are others like d

and e, both of which cannot infect anybody Tattooing a woman's back

PHOTO www.schoolsliaison.org.uk.png independently. On the contrary, D and e normally co infect with Hepatits B (hep B). in the body, Hepetitis A is transmitted through the There is a 90 percent recovery if you are oral-fecal area, that is, by touching the rec- infected after age five but if infected before age five, the chances of being chronic is tal/anal area, and touching the mouth.

Similarly, there may be outbreaks much higher. through food sources. Most people recover Similarly, if there is a confection with from the infection within two months of Hepatitis D, the consequences can be contracting the active infection but it can deadly. It makes it more conducive for liver also cause serious complications resulting cancer to develop. in death.

Periodically checking the chemicals However, it can be prevented with vac- that the liver uses to do work in the body cine. The virus is shed in the faeces and is one of the ways of knowing how bad the spread by food contaminated with faecal disease has progressed. matter. It can be contracted through conWhile B can be prevented through vactaminated water, personal contact, (by be- cination of the three series in a child and ing in the same household), sexual contact in an adult, treatment is available but does especially with men having sex with men not cure. Treatment only stalls progression and controls adverse consequences. and users of illicit drugs.

Some of the symptoms include nausea, On its part, Hepatitis C is the most vomiting, diarrhoea, dark urine, jaundice, common cause of liver transplant. It can fever, headache, weight loss, and abdomi- be found in the blood. Within three weeks of exposure and it is almost transmitted nal pain.

HepetitisB is most common in sub Sa- in the body the same way as hepatitis B. hara Africa, China, Southeast Asia.It can Except with it is less common with sexual contact and less in body be acquired in an earIntravenous drug user fluids like saliva, tears ly age and stays in the PHOTO: www.thehillsbody for years before and breast milk, seen center.com causing any disease in in most people born the individual. between 1845 and 1965, It can be transmitpeople that received ted through exposure blood transfusions to needle stick, by and those that received hemodialysis. Most sharing non sterile people when infected needles, tattooing, show no symptoms and sexual contact, exposure during childbirth it stays dormant in the from mother to unborn child and those body till much later in life that work in healthcare field like hospitals.

There is no cure but treatment can delay The virus can be present in blood and body progression. Also, treatment helps mainsecretions like saliva, tears, vaginal secre- tain decent quality of life and one of the simple ways to slow liver damage progrestions and breast milk.

Some of the risk factors for contracting sion is to avoid foods that under normal hepatitis b are increase in those with HIV, circumstances will break down the liver. intravenous drugs users, promiscuous They include avoiding alcohol intake individuals, when contracted, it takes 60 and eating low fat diet. Other ways to preto 90 days before taking up space in your vent transmission is to avoid sharing razor blades, needles and vaccinating against body cells.

Some of the early symptoms are nausea hepatitis A and B decreases Hepatitis C , tiredness, low grade fever, stomach pain, progression joint pain and urticaria. In later stages, Complications of hepatitis include liver Hepatitis B causes jaundice which can cirrhosis where the structure of the liver reflect as yellow eye, pale skin color, yel- dry up and becomes non-functional. Liver loewish nail beds. cancer and a lot of non-healing skin condiFurthermore, it affects the liver and tions is another complication of Hepatitis C. damages most of its body structure thereby not allowing the liver to function well A lady in tears PHOTO www. deathandtaxesmag.com

Hepatitis A can be contracted through contaminated water, personal contact (by being in the same household), sexual contact especially with men having sex with men and users of illicit drugs

HEALTH

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

29

Patient ownership h lt a e h , s r to c o d s r a te workers apart Since July 1, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) declared a nationwide strike which has resulted in doctors deserting their duty posts, while urging the federal government to meet its various demands. The Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Abia State, Dr. Gad Uzoaga, in this interview with IGBEAKU ORJI, discusses the grouse of doctors and factors hindering a breakthrough in the crisis. Excerpt:

SWORN TO SAVE LIVES Medical doctors dither over their primary duty

W

e understand medical doctors are on strike. What is the grouse?

In the last two to three years, there have been some issues in the health sector. There has been an unholy alliance of all the unions in the hospital against the doctors. They include unions comprising the pharmacists, the nurses, the laboratory scientists, the optometrists, the administrators, among others. They aligned together under the name they call Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), fighting the doctors in the hospital and have been making things very difficult including agitating for things that do not belong to them.

From the look of things, government is granting those requests to them without considering the feelings of doctors.

For instance, with regards to appointing consultants in the hospitals, for now the government has granted them the request that anybody in the hospital can be appointed a consultant which is not proper. This can cause anarchy and chaos in the health sector.

The position of the consultant is the right of the medical doctor who owns the patient. Also, presently they are agitating that anybody in the health sector can be made to head the hospital. We all know very well, for instance, in the university environment, we have non-academic staffs; we have Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and so on. You can hardly hear a situation the vice chancellor is appointed from the non-academic staff.

Similarly, there are other places in this country where doctors work. What they are doing with these agitations is to cause chaos in the health sector. They have been going about, making one propaganda or the other against doctors as if we do not want them to exist in the health sector. This is not true. There are things we call ancient landmarks in the medical profession. These are the things they want to shift and it is not going to be in the interest of the people.

Before you embarked on this strike, did you consider the interest of the patients at the hospitals?

We did that and we have tried severally for years to resolve these issues amicably. We have even challenged the government to go to neighbouring African countries to compare how they run their health care system, as well as find out the relationship that exist between one medical professional and the other and then come back to the country to implement them. Government has not done that. The government has set up committee since last year but has not

been able to come up with recommendation.

People are concerned with the timing of this strike, considering the present security challenges in the country especially the number of people that get injured one way or the other because of insurgency. In spite of this,medical doctors are on strike. Does that not amount to insensitivity to the national problem?

It is not. We have been discussing these issues with government. We have made every effort to address it. It was last yearthat we were supposed to go on this strike.

Although, we have been talking about it, but they feel we do not matter in the health sector.

Are you not worried that the doctor’s strike is becoming incessant? At the slightest provocation, doctors as essential service providers go on strike and patients die before them, yet, they are not touched.

This is Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) strike. It is not any other. We hardly call out our members for strike.

It is once in a while that we do that. So, we have been discussing this issue with government and the government does not appear to take us serious. It is not insensitivity on our part but on the part of government because they can afford to travel abroad with our money and get themselves treated. That is the reason they do not want to bring lasting solution to the problem in the health sector.

The doctors are also accused of encouraging strikes so that patients come to their private clinics. What is your reaction to this?

I tell you, more that 70 percent of people agitating for these things do not have private hospitals. If you come to the Federal Medical Centre now, more than 80 percent of the doctors there do not have private hospitals.

What will you do if the government insists on the decision it has taken?

The health care sector in the country is in a state of anarchy. Something is wrong especially with regard to the relationship that exists among the workers there. We have been expecting the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) as a regulatory body to come out straight and define issues in the health sector. They do not want to do that. They stay aside enjoying the whole confusion. It is not proper. You see this group would rise up today; another group would rise up the following day. We have been challenging them. Let there be order in the health sector.

If the federal government grants the doctor’s request and the pharmacists and other professionals go on strike, what happens?

Orji We have challenged them to go to other countries and look at how the health sector is organised and thereafter, come to Nigeria and apply what was seen. They do not want to do that.

If I understand the issue very well, I believe that the position of consultant is the peak that the medical doctors can reach in the health sector?

It is not necessarily the peak; it is even the beginning.

Then, what is actually wrong with somebody who is a nurse or somebody who is a laboratory technologist rising up to a high position like a consultant? What is wrong with that?

Being a consultant in the health sector is actually different from the way we understand consultancy in the sectors.

It does not necessarily have to do with money; it has to do with responsibility and who owns the patient. If you have one patient in the hospital, A is claiming responsibility for the patient; B is claiming, C is claiming, there will be anarchy. Just as we say a goat that is owned by many people die of hunger, it has to do with who owns the patient. Who are you going to look up to as the person responsible for the patient? That is what we are talking about; it is not even the money.

It is very unfortunate that this thing is happening at a time when the health minister happens to be a medical doctor. Does it mean that you do not have wonderful relationship with him?

I think that the health minister has made efforts to define things in the health sector but they are accusing him of taking sides with the doctors. They do not even want to hear him talk. Even sometimes, when they want to discuss issues that have to do with doctors and other health professionals they even may not invite him. The other group may request

We have been expecting the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) as a regulatory body to come out straight and define issues in the health sector. They do not want to do that. They stay aside enjoying the whole confusion. It is not proper that he should not preside over the issues.

So, that is the problem.

The federal government is your employer in this regard. Is it proper for one to quarrel with his employer? The employer has the right to say this is how I want my system to run.

The employer also needs to be well informed and should do things the way it is done in other civilised nations. You do not just come and turn things upside down because you want other people not to agitate. Things that are not granted to them in a more civilised world aregranted to them in Nigeria and they allow confusion and anarchy to reign everywhere. It is not proper.

What is your message to the patients who are at the receiving end of your action?

The NMA has been lenient enough not to call out the private sector to join this strike. The private sector is under NMA but because of the consideration we have for the patients, we have not called out the private sector to join the strike for now.

30 HEALTH NEW FINDING Debunking research that moderate drinking is good for the heart

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new research study has found that even among people who drink only light to moderate amounts of alcohol, reducing consumption can improve heart health, reduce body mass index, and bring down blood pressure.

The large multi-center international study, which was co-led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, has questioned previous research that suggests light to moderate drinking may be good for the heart.

The researchers found that people with a particular gene consumed 17 percent less alcohol per week, were less likely to binge drink, and were more likely to abstain from alcohol altogether, than non-carriers.

The study defines ligh to mod-

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Study: Alcohol does not benefit heart erate drinking as consuming 0.6 to 0.8 fluid ounces of alcohol a day, or 17 to 23 ml, which is roughly what a 175 ml glass of wine contains.

The 155 researchers - from the United Kingdom (UK), continental Europe, North America, and Australia - pooled and analysed data about links between drinking habits and heart health from 56 epidemiological studies covering more than 260,000 people of European descent.

They found that people with a particular gene consumed 17 percent less alcohol per week, were less likely to binge drink, and were more likely to abstain from alcohol altogether, than non- carriers.

These lower alcohol consumers typically had a 10 percent average reduced risk of coronary heart disease, lower blood pressure and a lower body mass index (BMI).

The researchers conclude that reducing alcohol consumption across all levels of consumption -

even light to moderate drinking - is beneficial for heart health.

Co-lead author, Michael Holmes, a research assistant professor in Perelman School of Medicine's department of Transplant Surgery, said, "Contrary to what earlier reports have shown, it now appears that any exposure to alcohol has a negative impact upon heart health."

He explained how for some time, observational studies have suggested only heavy drinking is bad for the heart, and that light drinking might even provide some benefit, and this has led some people to believe moderate consumption is good for their health, even lowering their risk of heart disease.

Even for light-to-moderate drinkers, reduced consumption may improve heart health.

"However, what we are seeing with this new study, which uses an investigative approach similar

Wine being served in a glass

PHOTO newsfeed.time.com

to a randomised clinical trial, is that reduced consumption of alcohol, even for light-to-moderate drinkers, may lead to improved cardiovascular health," said Prof.

Holmes.

The focus of the study was

investigating the heart health of people who carry a particular version of the gene "alcohol dehydrogenase 1B" which codes for a protein that helps to break down alcohol more quickly than in noncarriers.

Antiretroviral drugs may prevent HIV among gay men – WHO

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L-R: Vice President, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Titus Ibekwe; President, NMA, Dr. Kayode Obembe and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Health, Ndudi Elumelu, during the Stakeholders meeting on the Industrial Strike of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), in Abuja.

PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

Maternal child health: FG signs $15 million deal with Norway to meet MDGs

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he federal government and the the Norwegian Government have signed a funding agreement meant to scale up the programme of maternal and child health care to meet up with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5.

The Minister of Health, Prof.

C.O Onyebuchi Chukwu who disclosed this in Abuja during the signing of the agreement, said the agreement is tagged, ‘Tripartite Agreement’ because both countries agreed to use the Clinton Health Action Initiative (CHAI) to execute it.

"The tripartite agreement programme is to scale up ORS and will reduce child death resulting from diarrhoea. We will continue to support the strong effort of the Nigerian government in these areas and we hope for the very best result for this programme and other activities that are on," said Rolf Ree, the Ambassador of Norway to Nigeria, According to the minister of health, CHAI has been working for Nigeria and has demonstrated capability and capacity to work in the health sector par-

ticularly in this area of maternal and child health.

Prof Chukwu charged CHAI to commit that they will do exactly what the two countries want the money to be used for.

The Minister urged all families across the country, especially those with mothers and children who will be directly or indirectly affected by the implementation of this project to be grateful to the government and people of Norway for their generous gesture in providing the financial backing for this critical intervention.

The minister maintained that the contributions of CHAI and the staff of the Federal Ministry of Health among others are also recognised and heartily appreciated. Prof Chukwu vowed over commitment to meeting the Health-Specific Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

According to him “although Nigeria has main-streamed MDGs target into various national initiatives and strategies in order to fast-track the attainment of the MDGs, more efforts continue to be required to ensure we achieve the goals,

or come as close to achieving them as possible by the end of next year.

"The development of Harmonise Country Plan of Priority Interventions for 2014-2015 (HCPPI), is one of such initiatives to step up our efforts in this regard.

he World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on all sexually active gay men to take antiretroviral drugs to reduce the spread of HIV. The organisation said the move may help prevent a million new HIV infections over 10 years.

Experts in HIV/AIDS have warned that rates of HIV in this group remain high across the globe. Activists have however suggested that this could discourage the use of condoms - one of the best methods to stop the virus spreading.

According to the WHO report, men who have sex with men are 19 times more likely to have HIV than the general population. “The idea of treatment as prevention is not new, but the idea of extending treatment to HIV-negative people from highrisk groups is.”

According to health experts, offering antiretroviral drugs to all at-risk men - known as pre-exposure prophylaxis - will provide an additional way to prevent infection, together with condom use.

When taken consistently by people at high risk, studies show the medication can reduce the chances of getting HIV by

up to 92 percent.

Besides, scientists said encouraging this group of men to take these pills could lead to a 25 percent reduction in new cases across the globe. Dr. Rosemary Gillespie, of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "We already know if someone has HIV, using treatment drastically reduces the likelihood of them passing it on, as does using condoms.

"The idea of treatment as prevention is not new, but the idea of extending treatment to HIV-negative people from highrisk groups is.

"Pre-exposure prophylaxis is an exciting approach, and likely to be one of a number of ways in which we can reduce the spread of HIV in the future.

"However, we need to evaluate how effective it will be in preventing HIV among gay men."

She said until the results of the United Kingdom (UK) trials are known, condoms and regular testing remain the best weapons against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

And while the number of people dying of Aids is falling sharply, the WHO said key populations need more attention.

Cancer issues move to social media

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or the first time in Nigeria, a social media campaign aimed at equipping Nigerians with the right information to incorporate cancer issues in their every day discussion will be flagged off today, July 17.

The campaign, which basically is aimed at moving cancer discussions from the clinics and scientific committee into the social space, would rely on the power and popularity of social media and social networking sites without leaving out the support of traditional mass media.

Beyond improving the quality of very day conversation on cancer, the campaign would promote access to resources such

as counseling, fee or subsidised screening, referrals (where to find help and how to go about it), prevention and treatment.

Expected to run for the next six months and beyond, the Oncology in the News campaign would feature: l Regular media training/ capacity building session for journalists around various cancer issues for effective reporting of the disease. l A session with select oncologists on working with the media and leveraging on the power of media relations to improve journalists and public access to quality information on cancer;

l Recording of 30 short videos on various topics on cancer and uploading such videos on Youtube and promoting these videos on a facebook page to be created for this campaign; l Engendering informed media coverage of cancer by granting journalists access to resource persons for interviews and other relevant data; l Giving a voice to issue of survivorship and treatment access/affordability via interactions with survivors; and, l Promotion of cancer issues using celebrity involvement and endorsement of some of these activities.

BUSINESS Thursday, July 17, 2014

What's news AGRA plans to reduce food, nutrition insecurity by 50% The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) intends to reduce food and nutrition insecurity by 50 per cent in at least 20 countries.

}p-32

FDC sees minor rise in inflation to 8.1% in June Experts at Financial Derivative Company Limited (FDC) have predicted a marginal increase to 8.1 per cent in headline inflation for the month of June as against eight per cent recorded in the previous month.

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‘82% young Nigerians have business sense’ About 82 per cent of Nigerian young people perceive a good opportunity to start a business while 86 per cent believe that they have the skills and knowledge necessary to start a business, a recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report on Nigeria has said.

}p-34

Economy: LCCI laments unfair competition The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) lamented, recently, the challenge posed by unfair competition, automotive policy and traffic gridlock along the Oshodi-Apapa motorway.

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BUSINESS CREW AYODELE AMINU, Deputy Editor (Business) Simeon Ogoegbulem, Dep. Business Editor BAYO AKOMOLAFE, Asst. Editor (Maritime) SUNDAY OJEME, Asst. Editor (Insurance) SIAKA MOMOH, Asst. Editor (Industry/Agric) Godson ikoro , Asst. Editor (Money Market) JONAH IBOMA, ICT Editor DAYO ADEYEMI, Property Editor ADEOLA YUSUF, Energy Editor

31 NEW TELEGRAPH

www.newtelegraphonline.com/business

}p-37 ayodele aminu, Deputy Editor, business

ayodele.aminu@newtelegraphonline.com ayodeleaminu@yahoo.com

States abstain from Natural Resources Devt Fund STRINGENT CONDITIONS Only two states - Kaduna and Katsina have applied to access the fund this year Simeon Ogoegbulem Abuja

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he 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are reluctant in accessing the Natural Resources Development Fund (NRDF), investigations by New Telegraph have revealed.

The NRF is domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and is derived from the 1.68 per cent of revenue accruing to the federation account.

The amount is set aside every month before disbursement by the three tiers of government during the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meetings.

The NRF is said to have accumulated over N900 billion with the funds sitting pretty idle in the coffers of the apex bank.

It is available to the 36 states and FCT for the development of natural resources as well as other critical infrastructural needs of their states.

Further investigations by New Telegraph showed that only two states namely Kaduna and Katsina states have applied to access the fund this year.

Only recently, Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Elias Mbam, urged state governments to take advantage of the NRDF to develop minerals resources in their states.

He said: “The Federal Government earmarked 1.68 per cent of the Federation Accounts allocation to the fund to enable states of the federation access and utilise it for the development of the mineral resources in their domains.”

He had urged the states that have not applied to take advantage of the fund to develop their natural resources for improved

L-R: Mr Sunday I. Agboola, Assistant Director, Payment Policy & Oversight, Banking Payment System Division, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mrs Elizabeth Kwaghe, Principal Manager, Financial Policy & Regulation, CBN and Mr Richard Oshungboye, Head, Financial Inclusion, Sterling Bank Plc at the Workshop on Financial Inclusion organised by CBN for banks in Oshogbo.

revenue in such states.

However, Mr Timothy Odaah, chairman of the Forum of Commissioners of Finance, blamed the reluctance of the states in accessing the fund on

two key factors.

Odaah, who is also the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Finance, said that the conditions attached to accessing the fund are not only stringent but

DELE ALAO, Brands/Marketing Editor Abdulwahab Isa, Finance Editor Chuks Onuanyin, Energy Nnamdi Amadi, Reporter JOHNSON ADEBAYO, Asst. Production Editor

also cumbersome.

He also blamed lack of proper awareness of the existence of the NRDF on the part of the states to their inability to readily access the fund.

Petroleum minister meets IPMAN factional presidents behind closed door CEASE FIRE The minister has called for immediate end to IPMAN leadership tussle Adeola Yusuf

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inister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, on Tuesday, held a closed door meeting in Abuja with the two factional leaders of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

The meeting, which was held at the minister’s office located at the Nigerian National pe-

troleum Corporation (NNPC) Towers, was to find a lasting solution to the lingering crises rocking the association.

A source at the meeting told New Telegraph that MrsAlison-Madueke tasked the two factional presidents - Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo and Mr Obasi Lawson, to "immediately sheath their sword and embrace peace" in the interest of the association.

“While Obasi was relying on the court ruling to back his claim as the president, Okoronkwo also believed that he is the president based on the transition.

“But the minister wanted the two of them to close ranks

WOLE SHADARE, Aviation Editor CHRIS UGWU, Capital Market Editor

Towards achieving success of cashless policy in Nigeria

and work together for the betterment of the association and the industry,” the source said.

The meeting was still on going as at the time of filling this report last Tuesday night.

It would be recalled that the embattled former National President of the IPMAN, Aminu Abdulkadir, on April 2, 2014, stepped down from his leadership position in the crisisridden association.

Abdulkadir also handed over the reigns of the association to his former deputy, Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, who is now acting as the president of the association.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE May 2014..................................8% April 2014...............................7.9% March 2014............................7.8%

LENDING RATE

EXCHANGE RATE

(Parellel As at July 11)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N166.50 InterBank Rate . . . . . . . . . 10.50% Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N288 Prime Lending Rate. . . . . 16.93% Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N223.00 Maximum Lending Rate..25.83% • Foreign Reserves – $38.13bn as at 11/07/2014

EXCHANGE RATE

(Official As at June 11)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N156.73 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N261.45 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N212.90 Source: CBN

32

BUSINESS | NEWS

FOOD SECURITY AGRA rolls out strategy to reduce food and nutrition insecurity by year 2020 Siaka Momoh

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he Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) intends to reduce food and nutrition insecurity by 50 per cent in at least 20 countries.

It also plans to double the incomes of 20 million smallholder families and move at least 30 countries onto a pathway, leading to a sustainable green revolution that fits local needs.

These were contained in a report just released by AGRA, titled ‘AGRA in 2013: Transforming African Agriculture through Partnerships.

The institution said such convening efforts – which include the annual African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) – are inclusive, involving farm-

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

AGRA plans to reduce food, nutrition insecurity by 50% in 20 countries ers and their organisations, researchers, policymakers, development specialists, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and members of key civil society organisations.

The report said: “Our aim is to amplify the voice of smallholder farmers so that their needs and views are taken into account, build conducive agricultural policy environments that can foster growth and productivity, and unite the full range of public and private stakeholders who are determined to make Africa food secure.

“We take a value chain approach AGRA operates all along the African food production and marketing value chain. In broad strokes, our work starts with investing in agricultural

research and building a cadre of ‘next generation’ agricultural scientists, market specialists and policy analysts.”

AGRA according to the study, strengthens the knowledge and skills of farmers in managing their soils and using improved inputs, and help them to organise themselves into effective, well-run farmer groups.

“We invest in fledgling agribusinesses (especially private seed companies, agro-dealers and agro-processing ventures).

And we strive to open the door to market opportunities that will put money into the pockets of smallholder farmers.

“African agriculture cannot be transformed everywhere and all at once by a single organisation. In order to get the most from AGRA’s finite resources,

we invest a large portion (about 40 per cent) in just a few promising locations – areas we call ‘breadbaskets’. These are large, high-potential agro-ecological regions that have good soils, dependable rainfall, and basic rural infrastructure already in place. Our objective is to achieve rapid progress in these areas, and in so doing, demonstrate the positive potential of new technologies and approaches,” added the report.

AGRA noted that its breadbasket strategy provides an investment platform for catalysing the uniquely African green revolution and its envisions one that puts smallholder farmers first, increasing their productivity and profits.

“The aim is to create vibrant

agrifood systems that extend from farmers’ fields to local, national and regional markets,” it explained.

The report noted: “AGRA’s breadbasket investments currently focus on four countries – Ghana, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania. The key to this strategy is the implementation of tightly linked agricultural projects in these countries, with support coming, not just from AGRA, but also from governments and various partner organizations.

“We have placed Country Leaders in each of these countries to work with all those involved, both locally and within AGRA, in achieving progress where it matters most – at the ground level.”

SON impounds N200m substandard handsets in Computer Village Siaka Momoh

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L-R: Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Jibril Aku; Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola and Country Head, Personal Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Mrs Olukorede 'Demola-Adeniyi, at the launch of Premier Banking by Ecobank in Lagos

FOOD PRICES Inflation has been rising since the beginning of the year occasioned by rise in the food and core subindices of the CPI Abdulwahab Isa Abuja

E

xperts at Financial Derivative Company Limited (FDC) have predicted a marginal increase to 8.1 per cent in headline inflation for the month of June as against eight per cent recorded in the previous month.

FDC in its latest report noted that although, the year-on-year (y-o-y) inflation had been within the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) band of six to nine per cent for 2014, the trend in the last quarter has shown that inflation has been creeping upward.

There have been three consecutive upward notches, which have been caused primarily by the steady rise in the food and core sub-indices of the CPI, the experts noted.

Since the beginning of the year, inflation has been gathering steam, rising slightly to 7.8 per cent, 7.9 per cent and 8 per cent in March, April and May.

FDC sees minor rise in inflation to 8.1% in June Inflation rates from June 2013 to May, 2014 has been a maximum of 8.7 per cent and minimum of 7.7 per cent, thus remaining under the CBN single digit target.

The Lagos-based finance and research firm, also beamed its searchlight on Lagos urban Consumer Price, which it said indicated a decline in price level from 9.99 per cent in May to 9.38 per cent in June.

Specifically it said: “Disconnect between urban and national price level is because of a more than proportionate decline in food prices resulting from the harvest, and the relative strength of the bargaining power of the urban markets to the farmers. The food basket eased to 8.58% in June from 9.16% in May while the non-food basket moderated to 9.79% from 10.42% in the previous month.

“We are of the opinion that there would be a further increase in the headline inflation rate in spite of the commencement of the harvest season. The projected increase in July will be partly due to factors that include: Steady growth in money supply - annualised money

supply growth was 5.81% in May, slow but steady impact of the new automotive policy on transportation cost; disbursement of capital votes under the 2014 budget and higher cost of power.”

Other reasons cited by FDC for likely increase in inflation for the month of July include, increased security spending and policy response.

he Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) took sanitisation of the industry to Otigba Computer Village on Saturday where it confiscated suspected substandard telephone handsets worth over N200 million.

According to the Organisation’s Head of Intelligence and Compliance Directorate, Bede Obayi who briefed the press after the operations, the exercise was diligently carried out as a result of its surveillance team’s reports, which monitors products displayed for sale in all the markets across the country.

He said that a handset dealer at Otigba Road, Computer Village market, Lagos, Trinity Technologies and Communication Ltd came to SON and registered one H-Mobile phone in his name only for SON to discover thereafter that the company had embarked on the importation of different brands of telephone handset other than the H-Mobile he registered with SON. Besides, Obayi further said that the company also imported large quantity of unbranded handsets into the country, labelling them as popular brands in the market,

thereby deceiving unsuspecting buyers.

Managing Director of the company who apparently got wind of SON presence took to his heels, but two of his staff are now helping SON and the police in attempts to locate his warehouse where he was believed to have stockpiled the fake handsets.

However, Obayi expressed shock at the unholy attitude of the market leaders who instigated their boys to fight SON officials and the police with dangerous weapons during which some of its vehicles were destroyed.

Said he: “Our operation in the market was very smooth as our target was only in Trinity Technologies and Communication Ltd shop and we requested other traders who converged around us to go and be doing their businesses. Nobody was molested or insulted by our men nor the Police as we consulted with the police in charge of the market and they provided us with a place to park our vehicles. Even their market leaders were also informed about our operation in the market as SON and market associations in major markets across the country have been collaborating to rid markets of fake and substandard goods."

Petroleum minister meets IPMAN factional presidents CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31

It was, however, gathered that the development was in contempt of an existing judgment of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, which had ruled in favour of Obasi Lawson as the president of the association and ordered Abdulkadir to handover the leadership of IPMAN to him.

Abdulkadir's handover of affairs to Okonkwo was also followed by an alleged stakeholders’ meeting, which was summoned by the Managing Director of the Pipeline and

Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Haruna Momoh, in Abuja last March.

Okoronkwo, who hitherto was the vice-president of the association, has taken over the affairs of IPMAN, while efforts are on to call for a congress to elect a new leadership for the association.

But the Chief of Staff to Lawson, Ukadike Chinedu, who was earlier declared president of the association from the court ruling, insisted that the move amounts to contempt of court as the court had declared Aminu and his executives null

and void.

Okoronkwo had said: “I have assumed the leadership of the association. We need peace to move the association forward.

“I am banking on God and the elders of the association to get through the leadership crisis, nothing is impossible with God, and with the right people, we will overcome.”

Chinedu, however, noted: "The court has pronounced Obasi president of IPMAN and declared Aminu and his executive null and void. Aminu does not have the right to inaugurate anything in IPMAN."

33

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

SABMiller to boost brewing FactFile operations with $1.09bn

l Revenue from outside South Africa, which accounts for almost a fifth of Shoprite sales, increased by 27 percent, little changed on the previous year.

•Divests from S'African hotel, Tsogo Sun

l Oil palm stakeholders in Nigeria have commenced measures to beat the 2015 deadline set by major players in the consumption of oil palm products across the globe for investors in the agro-sector to have their products certified. l In order to ensure that it beats the deadline, stakeholders in the sector across the country, non-governmental organizations, media representative among others recently converged in Edo State in a “Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Africa Road show” to discuss ways to key into the policy. l RSPO initiative is geared towards repositioning Nigeria oil palm production for global competitiveness in the world palm oil trade.

Brewery production line

Its Nigerian investment may benefit as Tsogo Sun has over 90 luxury hotels in seven African countries including Nigeria and the Seychelles Siaka Momoh

S

ABMiller Plc’s (SAB) brewing business in Nigeria is set to heighten as this brewing giant said it would sell a $1.09 billion stake in South African hotel and casino operator Tsogo Sun Holdings Ltd. (TSH) to bolster beverage operations in Africa, according to Bloomberg.

Tsogo Sun has over 90 luxury hotels in seven African countries including Nigeria and the Seychelles. SABMiller currently has multibillion naira investments in Nigeria, largely in the brewing sector. Its interests include Montecasino, Johannesburg’s Tuscany-themed hotel, theatre, and casino complex. Nigeria may therefore benefit from this planned investment.

Two-stage transaction Following a review of its 39.6 percent holding in the Johannesburgbased company, SABMiller will divest the stake in a two-stage transaction involving a sale to institutional investors and a buyback of shares by Tsogo Sun, the maker of Peroni and Castle Lite said recently in a statement.

The beverage maker generates almost one-third of its earnings from the African continent, and South Africa is the second-biggest provider of the company’s revenue after Latin America. It struggled to grow in South Africa last year amid rising inflation and increased competition from Heineken NV and Diageo Plc (DGE), while expansion across Africa has been hampered by tough economic conditions in South Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Heineken and Diageo Heineken NV and Diageo Plc (DGE)

are the parent companies of Nigerian Breweries Plc and Guinness Nigeria Plc respectively, Nigerian big brewers which SABMiller has moved into Nigeria to compete with.

In addition to protecting market share in South Africa, “there remains a lot of whitespace opportunity for them in Africa as well,” Philip Gorham, an analyst at Morningstar, said in an e-mail. “Kenya is an opportunity. Their presence is quite patchy, and they could look to plug some geographic gaps.”

Cotting costs Since taking the helm last year, SABMiller Chief Executive Officer, Alan Clark, has sought to offset declines in Europe and a difficult U.S. market by cutting costs and targeting developing economies across Latin America and Africa. SABMiller gets more revenue from developing regions than other major brewers.

“Gaming and hotels are not core to our operations and we have concluded that the time is right for us to exit our investment,” Clark said in the statement.

SABMiller shares fell 0.9 percent to 3,368.5 pence as of 1:19 p.m. in London.

Tsogo Sun declined as much as 7.4 percent, the most on an intraday basis in more than a year, and traded 2.8 percent lower at 26.15 rand in Johannesburg, giving the company a market value of 30.9 billion rand ($2.9 billion).

“We support Tsogo Sun in buying back the shares,” said Johnny Copelyn, CEO of the casino operator’s biggest shareholder Hosken Consolidated Investments Ltd. (HCI), which now owns 47 percent of the company. “It’s a good

Gaming and hotels are not core to our operations and we have concluded that the time is right for us to exit our investment

company. The industry has a good future,” he said by phone.

SABMiller said in April that it was considering options for the stake. The possibility that the brewer could sell its holding increased after SABMiller merged Tsogo Sun with Gold Reef Resorts Ltd. in 2011, a transaction that reduced its stake from 49 per cent.

SABMiller was founded in South Africa, where it first sold beer to thirsty miners over a century ago. The company controls about 90 per cent of the beer market in South Africa, yet the slowing economy, social instability and the weakening rand have weighed on improvements there.

“We think SABMiller is likely to report another quarter of anemic growth before trends improve,” Trevor Stirling, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said in a note Monday.

“There are wider implications in that it further entrenches HCI as the parent in Tsogo,” De Wet Schutte, a Cape Townbased analyst at Avior Research, said by phone. The buyback “won’t stretch Tsogo’s balance sheet, they’ve got ample capacity in the balance sheet to buy back these shares and still continue with the fairly large capex programme.”

SABMiller in Nigeria It would be recalled that SABMiller, in 2009, bought Pabod Breweries, Port Harcourt, where it owns 57 per cent and Voltic Nigeria Limited (Voltic produces tablewater), Lagos, owning 80 per cent of the company, and Standard Breweries in Ibadan, using these companies for soft landing in Nigeria. In its quest to tap a $3 billion (N45.9 billion) informal market, the giant brewer is encouraging farmers to raise cassava and barley for its new discount beers.

In an apparent response to SABMiller’s entry into the Nigerian market, Heineken N.V., Nigerian Breweries Plc's parent company stepped up the struggle for domination of the Nigerian beer market in Nigeria with its acquisition of two holding companies from the Sona Group which has controlling interests in five breweries in Nigeria.

l The objective of the initiative was to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil through co-operation with the supply chain and open dialogue between its stakeholders. l Other objective of the initiative is to ensure that no primary forests or other high conservation value areas are cleared for new palm oil plantations and that oil palm plantations minimize their environmental footprints while respecting the basic rights of local land owners, farm workers and indigenous people. l RSPO is a global mechanism for ensuring and sustaining the production of palm oil worldwide in an economical viable, profitable, socially responsive and environmentally responsible manner. l RSPO is collaborating with Proforest in U.K and Solidaridad West Africa to bring training into Nigeria that is named RSPO road show Africa. l The programme has already been taken to a number of West African countries. It offers unique opportunities to further sensitive stakeholders in the supply chain of palm oil and to build their capacity that would of course help us to be able to come up with our own National Interpretation of the principles and criteria as postulated by RSPO. l In Nigeria we have been producing palm oil from the traditional system and at the large estates level they have brought in sophisticated and modern production technology but then there has not been standard or industry practices that are guiding the operations. l So, what RSPO will do is to also assist us to conform to such international best practices and the entire precautionary standard as to be proactive especially in the environmental point of view and social point of view much more than economical and profit consideration for palm oil production.

34

BUSINESS | INDUSTRY

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

‘82% young Nigerians have business sense’ START-UPS

Large number of young Nigerians yawn for starting their own business Siaka Momoh

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bout 82 per cent of Nigerian young people perceive a good opportunity to start a business while 86 per cent believe that they have the skills and knowledge necessary to start a business, a recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report on Nigeria has said.

However, young males tend to have slightly higher intentions and perceptions of good entrepreneurial opportunities and capabilities than the young females, says the report.

According to the report, “over 82 per cent of Nigerian youths see entrepreneurship as a good career, 77 per cent believe that successful entrepreneurs have high status and recognition and 78 per cent are comfortable with the level of visibility that entrepreneurs enjoy in the media. The decision to go into entrepreneurship was mostly influenced by parents and friends.

This is reflected in the fact that the majority of young entrepreneurs source their start-up finance from family and friends,

and nearly half of them conduct their business from home or on the street.”

It says that the youth therefore represent a major pool of talent and motivation for the private sector, and one that could be used to maintain the momentum of business creation that is already being identified in the population as a whole.

“In order to support the youth in their initiatives, education generally should emphasise the role of entrepreneurship in career choices and the skills that are needed for young people to pursue those career ambitions.

“Furthermore, since young people are both the employers and the employees of the future, paying attention now to facilitating policies is one way of supporting efforts to achieve Nigeria’s 20:2020 Vision and build for future prosperity,” it notes.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) study in Nigeria assesses the current and future state of entrepreneurship, while, in concert with similar surveys globally, including nine other sub-Saharan African countries, allowing for a cross-country comparison of entrepreneurial activities and aspirations. The study aims to inform the planning and design of policies that are intended to foster entrepreneurship.

The GEM study will be particularly useful in Nigeria, because of criticism at home

and abroad that, despite its vast wealth and large population of over 160 million people, the country has failed to create employment and raise income levels. The results of the study reveal the true situation of entrepreneurial activities, and the need for government and private sector to provide an enabling environment for business to flourish.

Nigeria has taken a number of steps to support small and medium-sized enterprises and the federal government has established support for the private sector as a policy priority.

A number of schemes to help small business are in operation and a decade ago, the first development finance institution (DFI), the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank Limited (NIDB), was restructured to become the Bank of Industry.

The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN) was established to help entrepreneurs in their business ambitions and smallscale financing schemes in co-operation with commercial banks – the Small and Medium Scale Industries Equity Investment Scheme (SMIEIS) and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF), among others – were introduced in recent years, but, despite good intentions, they have not had the impact that had been anticipated.

Nigerian youths... want to run their own business

No magic formula for small-business success The hard part is finding people with the right character traits. I look for people who like working on a team

I

f you think there is a short cut to small-business success you are wrong, Robert Reid, contributor to Entrepreneur tells you point blank. He has been asked many times to lay his magic formula for building a successful small or medium-sized business.

His response: “I usually respond

by saying there's no magic, only hard work and experience.”

For him, while this is certainly true, the success of a small or medium-sized business depends on dedicated execution of the following: articulating a clear mission, hiring the right people, setting goals and measuring progress toward them -- and then resolving the inevitable conflicts that arise. The latter task is truly the tricky part!

With that in mind, he states here, the five ingredients in what he calls “my not-really magic formula for small or medium-sized business success”.

Develop a compelling mission A clearly articulated, compelling mission attracts talent to the organization and encourages strong commitment to the team. It also acts as glue to keep members of the team unified over time. When formulating a mission, start with the why not how. Why is the company here?

Why have other companies been unable to solve the problem?

Find the right people Locating talented people C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 3 6

Enterprise with

Strokes

Siaka Momoh

siakamomoh@yahoo.com 08061396410

Still on palm-oil roadmap draft policy

M

onths after stakeholders in the palm oil sector sent the palm oil roadmap draft policy to government, the waiting game for government endorsement is still on.

According to the draft roadmap policy, the palm oil sector is favourably positioned to potential investors due to a number of traits. The traits listed include its rich and natural oil palm endowments and existing infrastructure which represent attractive investment opportunities; Nigeria’s 160 million plus population which represents available labour and market for domestic and industrial uses of oil; exports to regional markets like ECOWAs and select developed markets like U.S. via AGOA tariff regime also present attractive opportunities; and significant improvements in yields are very feasible with marginal investments.

My findings: Government is likely to give it the same treatment that it is giving rice and sugar - the treatment that cement manufacturers enjoyed which is taking us to self sufficiency in the cement supply. It will be good news for the industry if government can hasten the endorsement of the policy.

As a reminder and to refresh our mind, we present excerpts of the draft policy here: The draft policy says government should henceforth stop the granting of waivers and concession under any guise to import crude palm oil and refined vegetable oil.

It says government will maintain the existing tariff regime of 35 per cent for the importation of crude palm oil and prohibition on the importation of refined vegetable oil.

It recommends that government should provide a pilot a ‘land bank’ programme (pool of land from which potential investors can acquire large tracts of land) with participation from interested states, encourage private sector initiative and strengthen NIFOR to provide research support to the industry.

It also asks that states should be encouraged to establish and implement smallholder schemes in all the oil palm producing states and that government should provide land clearing support to include large estates and review policies on the importation of seeds, fertilizer and other agrochemicals so that they can be less cumbersome.

It recommends government should facilitate establishment of crop processing sites/ clusters to improve smallholders’ processing efficiency, offer long-term (10 years) tax holidays for integrated plantation/refineries in production

and maintain and implement zero-duty on imports of required plant, machinery and equipment including accessories and spare parts.

The draft policy advises the use of all available Nigeria Industrial Standards (NIS) for the palm oil industry, that labelling and stamping to identify product source should be encouraged and that special grading system for domestic grade palm oil in view of the peculiarities of some Nigerian traditional cuisine should be encouraged.

Arbitrary taxation by Local and State Governments should be abolished in all forms.

There should be a common and harmonized tax policy and updating of the current tax laws nationwide and the promulgation of gazettes, at Federal and State levels, which will ensure transparency.

It recommends equipment used in the sector should be termed agricultural equipment/machinery and should enjoy Zero duty as others in the Agric sector. This, it says, will encourage access to modern equipment needed to galvanize the sector. It also recommends government should establish a N100 billion Palm-oil development fund with a disbursement of N20 billion per annum for the next five years.

The policy recommends land Banks should be established, surveyed, advertised and made available to investors by Government and that land titles should be freehold. It says encouragement will be given to value chain downstream operators to invest in backward integration programme, policy declaration will come into effect immediately and notifications issued to all relevant arms of government for effective dissemination and government will liaise with ECOWAS member states for effective enforcement of ETLS. It notes that these policy proposals and roadmap will help to boost the palm-oil industry and provide direction and a guide to the palm-oil value chain development in particular and the economy in general and will provide predictability and consistency of government policy for the sector and provide sufficient direction for both industry players and development partners. It says it also assures operators of a level playing field where their interests are respected and protected.

The draft says it is expected that Nigeria will attain selfsufficiency in CPO within the next 10 years i.e. by 2025.

“However, it is important to stress that all these would happen with effective enforcement “it says.

BUSINESS | INDUSTRY 35

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

I n d u st ry C h i e f ta in

Lesson from S'Africa: Putting people first elsewhere, where free market economy is the vogue, will agree. And Ingrid is sincere about this. “Being part of this exciting, but also difficult journey has made me find a depth in myself which I never knew I had. There is always an element of uncertainty when you try to find a new and truthful way of dealing with the challenges of your environment, but I would not want it otherwise.”

The Wolfaardts are South African farmers who put people first in the running of their businesses.

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ut against the standpoint of whites who in the apartheid days enjoyed the luxury of paying slavish wages to black and coloured labour hands, and still want such to continue now when there is a new dispensation, the Wolfaardts must be commended.

Julie Streicher, a white who witnessed the dehumanization of non-whites, the black man in particular, related the story to this writer in details. According to her, officially, now, an appropriate and meaningful minimum wage is being pushed but the whites are not comfortable with it. They hold to the archaic view that at least they are providing means of livelihood for those they have hired and as such these ‘fortunate labourhands should be grateful.

This is the view that is still being held 10 years after apartheid!

Profits for people But at the Wolfaardts’, it is a different picture altogether.

The Wolfaardts are thinking ‘profits for people’. Said Ingrid: “Our natural inclination is always to put people first (sounds Pat Utomic), because we believe that people lead to profit." She was quick to add that “there is however no guarantee that putting people first will give rise to financial success.” In the current depression we have in the fruit industry, the advantage we have as a people’s company is that we have 200 people pulling together to make it work and get us through, as opposed to one or

Fruits packaging

two key people in management who have to think up all the plans to make it happen”.

How sincere can an entrepreneur be in respect of this talk of people first when, generally speaking, the ultimate goal of the business person in a free market economy is to make money, make good money? Can the Wolfaardts’ remuneration system qualify as putting people first? Julie reports them as a duo that always put themselves in the shoes of their employees.

She reports them as saying, “We ask ourselves if we are willing to live with that salary, in that house, doing that sort of job?”

And a gauge of the fairness of the Wolfaardts’ remuneration package is reflected in Ingrid’s reaction to meeting her staff in Ceres on a shopping Saturday: “It’s wonderful to see people radiating good health and confidence as they go about their business in town. I am proud to be associated with them. It’s an easy relaxed relationship – greeting Lea with a hug in front of the bank saying: “How gaan

Wolfaardts

dit (How are you). Gaandit goed met you? (Are you well?)” – That’s Afrikaans for you; there are 11 spoken languages in South Africa and by extension, 11 ethnic groups. I hope I am right? It has to do with normalising relationships.”

Perhaps the scenario here will be clearer if you imagine Mike Adenuga of Globacom or humility epitomizing Aliko Dangote or Tony Elumelu hugging and chattering away with his low cadre staff on Broad Street, Lagos!

Let the EEG stay Its offerings are in consonance with its objective, though we have its ugly side to contend with. But we can find a way of dealing with the hideous side in question, writes SIAKA MOMOH

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e should let it stay. It should, because empirical evidence has proved that the scheme is yielding positive results; that its offerings are in consonance with its objective, though we have its ugly side to contend with. But we can find a away of dealing with the hideous side in question.

It would be recalled that at a parley of the Minister of Industry Trade and Investments, Olusegun Aganga, and industry stakeholders in Abuja, which spanned about three hours, the contentious Export Expansion Guarantee scheme (EGG), turned out to be at the heart of

the exporters.

Responding to a question by the minister on whether the EEG had been very effective, they gave a chorus answer affirming that the policy had been of tremendous assistance to the sector. One of the participants said that the introduction of the grant moved the export earnings of the nation from less than N300 million to about N2.8 billion per annum, since its introduction. Another participant urged the minister to visit Kano and see what the EEG had done to the sector.

Many of the stakeholders however regretted that the

Aganga

implementation of the scheme has been fraught with unpredictability and incessant hiccups. They observed that many exporters, in recent times, have not benefitted from the scheme because of official bureaucracy.

Because of delay in paying

For John Wolfaardts, “One can consider people as one of the required components along with fruit, cartons and machines, in the manufacturing of products,” “but people are not a means to an end for us.”

He explains, “people are creating products and are not part of the components required to produce the. If people are merely one of the components, then there will automatically be a very clear division between business and labour, and trade union will be the interface between the two.”

John and Ingrid have taken an alternative route, where all the people, at all levels take ownership and responsibility for the production process.

Says John, “Ingrid and I don’t separate our life philosophy from the way we do business.

The way we go about with our children and our friends is the same way we interact with all the people in the workplace…”

The path the Wolfaardts have taken in not an easy one. Many entrepreneurs in Nigeria and the grant, some were alleged to have stopped using official means to export their goods choosing rather to use the backdoor. This, according to the exporters, has not allowed government to track the quantity of goods exported to other countries of the world from Nigeria.

They appealed to the minister to help facilitate the removal of the bottlenecks as this would help boost the confidence of the exporters and make them patronize government agencies when carrying out their exporting activities.

It was good news listening to Aganga then saying: “I know all the challenges with the implementation of the scheme. But all that will become history soon, as we are putting in place structures that will enable us to continue with the scheme while also tracking the loose ends. “ Stakeholders at the meeting agreed that there was a need to ensure the efficient implementation of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) pointing out that the EEG was crucial to the sur-

Skaapriview and Northridge John and Ingrid produce and export fruits. Skaapriver is a production client of Northridge Packing Store, which like Skaapriver, is also owned by the Wolfaardts. Skaapriver apart, 23 other growers of various fruit kinds far-flung from the Wolfaardts’ Ceres, also supply fruits to Northridge for export.

There is beauty in this business arrangement, which our local entrepreneurs can take a cue from. Produce fruits, outsource supplies to make large tonnage (just like cocoa, cashew nuts or sesame seed exporters outsource supplies tonnages of commodities so that they could meet contract deadlines) and own independent outfits for export. Our entrepreneurs can even go a step further like Multi-Trex is currently doing with cocoa, by processing commodities for export.

Nigerian manufacturers of Chivita and Caprisone import pineapple concentrates from Accra Ghana. If Ghana can do it, why can’t we do it?

Northridge, I gather, was one of the first companies (in 1997/98) season) to venture into export marketing. There was no one for it to learn from then. It made mistakes and learnt and became fit for the business. We can do same, more so when we have many to learn from. vival of the non-oil sector of the economy.

The EEG scheme is an import incentive for Nigeria non-oil exports, one that is meant to make them globally completive. It aims to provide incentive ranging from 5 per cent to 30 per cent of the export value to exporters.

This however is not paid out in cash. Rather the EEG is paid out in the form of Negotiable Duty Credit Certificate (NDCC).

The NDCCs are redeemable against payment of customs duty and excise duty. Most exporters do not have significant import businesses and therefore they sell the NDCCs that they earn on their exports to various importers who use these certificates to settle their customs duty payments. Thus the funding for the EEG scheme is currently being done by “forgoing revenue” rather than direct funding.

The implementation of the scheme has come with the following prospects and burdens: C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 3 6

36 BUSINESS | INDUSTRY

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Economy: LCCI laments unfair competition GROUSE Lagos business people worried about stumbling block to business in Nigeria Siaka Momoh

T

he Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) lamented, recently, the challenge posed by unfair competition, automotive policy and traffic gridlock along the Oshodi-Apapa mo-

torway.

President of the Chamber, Alhaji Remi Bello, who spoke in Lagos at the Chamber’s second quarter review of the economy briefing, said that many sectors of the economy were faced with the problem of unfair competition as a result of the unbridled importation of consumer products into the country.

The situation, he said, has continued to hurt the real sector of the economy, especially the manufacturing sector, citing smuggling, faking and counterfeiting; influx of substandard products; evasion of import duty payment; un-

der invoicing of imports; and granting of waivers that are underserved as areas of concern. All these create uneven playing field for investors in the economy, he said.

The LCCI also cried out on the challenges posed by the issues of poor power supply, insecurity and poor access to credit by businessperson across the country.

Commenting on these issues in its second quarter review for 2014 recently in Lagos, Alhaji Remi Bello said, and “The challenges of the operating environment for business persisted in the

Containers at the port

No magic formula for small-business success C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 4

with the right skills and experiences is essential, but that's the easy part. The hard part is finding people with the right character traits. I look for people who like working on a team.

Many smart and successful people don’t work well in teams, and it’s harder to create a successful organization with them, in part because as the organization grows in size, conflicts become harder and harder to resolve.

I also want to hire people who are champions of change and with a natural ability to establish plans, structures and processes. These traits are critical because people lacking them simply won’t be able to support a rapidly growing organization. Ultimately, it's the personality traits of staffers (their attitudes, beliefs and actions) and their commitment to the mission that results in a company culture that's capable of fostering successful execution.

Set clear goals The process of creating long-term goals and shortterm objectives to support the mission is also essential for successful execution. Clearly articulating these goals helps ensure that the people and processes will be geared toward moving the organization in the right direction.

Consider a school of fish or a flock of birds: If the goal is to move from Point A to Point B, no progress is made if each individual creature moves in a direction of its choosing.

In a workplace each member of a company's team should strive toward the same goals.

Measure progress Setting goals doesn’t mean much if its not possible to measure progress in achieving them. Attach specific financial, operational and processoriented performance targets to specific activities supporting the objectives.

Measuring these activities against the targets offers a clear picture of the progress toward the long-term goals.

Based on the picture that develops -- and with input from the team and the marketplace -- continually refine the objec-

tives, supporting activities and measurement targets to ensure continued successful execution.

Be prepared to resolve problems No matter how successful a company is in developing a compelling mission, hiring the right people and measuring progress toward goals, problems will arise related to strategy, execution and culture.

To tackle problems, I like to start with the empirical data.

I look at the progress made toward the measurable targets to determine what the problem really is. Is there a profile of the customers not adopting the company's solution? Are partners not moving forward with the company because of an unforeseen problem? Finding empirical data points can help in determine how big the issue is.

second quarter. Across all sectors, there were productivity and competitiveness concerns.

Structural and institutional problems persisted as well,

putting pressures on operating cost. This however, does not diminish the robust opportunities that the economy offers for investment.”

Let the EEG stay C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 5

• The non-oil exports have grown almost five-fold from 2005 levels of $600 million when the current EEG scheme was started - so the current EEG policy has certainly been helpful in achieving the policy objective of enhancing Nigeria’s non-oil export growth, which needs to be sustained; • The incentives being paid out/payable have also grown in line with the growth in non-oil export volumes; at present levels the EEG incentives would amount to approximately N6080 billion per annum; • However, because of various administrative issues, significant backlog has developed over a period of time in relation to processing of old EEG claims, and addressing the backlog can add another 15-25 billion per year to the NDCCs being issued for the next 1-2 years.

According to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) data, Nigeria’s non-oil exports are on the rise as official commodities exported by end of 2013 rose to 117, from 106 reported by year-end 2012. This amounts to an addition of 11 products to the number recorded in 2012.This is in tune with the testimony of the stakeholder form Kano cited earlier on.

The NEPC, in 2013, embarked on 13 export outings with 126 companies, mostly small enterprises. Orders generated by these companies within the period were worth $3.716 billion, immediate sales totalled $627,108, while executed orders reached $763,247.

This scheme is doing well and so should be allowed to stay like Olusegun Aganga believes going by his remark cited herein earlier on. One recognises the fears of the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala but should we throw away the baby with the bathwater?

The EEG scheme is an import incentive for Nigeria non-oil exports, on that is meant to make them globally completive. It aims to provide incentive ranging from 5 per cent to 30 per cent of the export value to exporters.

This however is not paid out in cash. Rather the EEG is paid out in the form of Negotiable Duty Credit Certificate (NDCC).

The NDCCs are redeemable against payment of customs duty and excise duty. Most exporters do not have significant import businesses and therefore they sell the NDCCs that they earn on their exports to various importers who use those certificates to settle their customs duty payments. Thus the funding for the EEG scheme is currently being done by “forgoing revenue” rather than direct

funding.

The implementation of the scheme has come with the following prospects and burdens: • The non-oil exports have grown almost five-fold from 2005 levels of USD600 million when the current EEG scheme was started - so the current EEG policy has certainly been helpful in achieving the policy objective of enhancing Nigeria’s non-oil export growth, which needs to be sustained; • The incentives being paid out/payable have also grown in line with the growth in non-oil export volumes; at present levels the EEG incentives would amount to approximatelyN60-80 billion per annum - however, because of various administrative issues, significant backlog has developed over a period of time in relation to processing of old EEG claims and addressing the backlog can add another 15-25 billion per year to the NDCCs being issued for the next 1-2 years.

But according to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) data, Nigeria’s non-oil exports are on the rise as official commodities exported by end of 2013 rose to 117, from 106 reported by year-end 2012. This amounts to an addition of 11 products to the number recorded in 2012. This is in tune with the testimony of the stakeholder form Kano cited earlier on.

The NEPC, in 2013, embarked on 13 export outings with 126 companies, mostly small enterprises. Orders generated by these companies within the period were worth $3.716 billion, immediate sales totalled $627,108, while executed orders reached $763,247.

This scheme is doing well and so should be allowed to stay like Olusegun Aganga believes going by his remark cited herein earlier on. One recognises the fears of the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala but should we throw away the baby with the bathwater?

According to reports, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, announced the possibility of resting the incentive. The minister alleged severe inefficiency in the management of the EEG in the ongoing review of the scheme and said unless government “is able to device methods that will enable the grant return economic value commensurate to the huge amounts being injected into the scheme, it may likely be scrapped”.

She said while over N200 billion worth of Negotiable Duty Credit Certificate (NDCC), the instrument of reward in the scheme had been honoured by the federal government in the past, it still had about N82 billion as outstanding.

BUSINESS 37

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Nigeria’s quest towards developing an economy where financial transactions are based on the use of less cash recently entered a new phase with the commencement of nationwide cashless policy.

JONAH IBOMA states how success in this quest can be achieved through promoting the use of technologybased options

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t last, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the nationwide launch of its cashless policy following the successful introduction of the initiative in selected states including Lagos and Rivers.

Cashless policy, in simple terms, means transacting business “with little or no cash.” Although some success has been made, this has not suddenly translated into a case in which most transactions are done without cash.

Transactions via cash still lead the way.

A lot of reasons have been adduced for the situation including the failure or reluctance of the apex bank to aggressively promote the cashless drive.

Awareness According to the Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Enugu State, Mr Isaac Onukwube, the implementation could be hindered due to lack of adequate sensitisation of the people.

“My fear is that many people are not aware of the policy and this will affect its implementation. It would have been better if the citizens were given enough sensitisation on what the policy is all about before its commencement nationwide.

“As it is, it appears that the CBN is busy rolling out the policies without engaging the people who are the end users of the policies,” Onukwube said.

According to a recent research by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), very few Nigerians are aware that they can pay in many shops with debit cards, even those that are aware only use their cards when they have exhausted the cash they have in their pockets.

According to the EFInA Financial Inclusion Insights study, as of November 2013, only 12 per cent of Nigerians aged 15 and older were aware of mobile money, and less than one per cent of them used mobile money.

The research said that mobile money awareness and usage was slightly higher in ‘Cash-less Phase II’ states (Abia, Anambra, Kano, Ogun and Rivers states, and the FCT) where the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Cash-less Policy was introduced. EFInA research also found that as at October 2013, only 4 percent of adults in the Cash-less Phase II states used mobile money.

The EFInA study also revealed that

TECHTalk

W it h

Towards achieving success of cashless policy in Nigeria

Benefits Generally, the cashless policy is considered as a good initiative, especially given the benefits of convenience, fraud reduction and security that it offers users as it will make people to stop carrying heavy cash about.

In order to achieve greater success of the scheme, many opinion leaders have also harped on the need for better engagement of the people. But an aspect of the entire mix that is important in order to achieve success of the cashless policy is the need to ensure that the technology infrastructure is extremely reliable.

Challenges Managing Director, Kenob-Lyn Nigeria Limited, Mr Kenneth Nwachineke, said that poor infrastructure could stall the cash-less policy.

According to Nwachineke, “the initiative by the CBN is a wonderful one, but if issues like poor communication are not properly addressed, there may be problem with people embracing the policy.”

It was gathered that high downtime of PoS terminals, one of the key e-Payment channels expected to drive the cash-less scheme, posed a threat to the success of initiative. Till today, poor telecommunications services are still a big issue in Nigeria. That is why many hotels, schools, shops, restaurants and other businesses which have PoS terminals cannot use them and

As it is, it appears that the CBN is busy rolling out the policies without engaging the people who are the end users of the policies

have to resort to the cash-based option.

Mrs Onajite Regha, the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the E-Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN), also stated that a robust telecommunications infrastructure was important in order to ensure success of the cashless scheme.

IT support However, the Computer Professionals Registration council of Nigeria (CPN) noted that the development and ready availability of local manpower and expertise that can resolve issues related to equipment and technology that runs the cashless system is important to make the scheme a success.

The body recently urged its members to be ready to offer solutions that will help address potential challenges of the new policy.

According to its Executive Secretary, Mr Sikiru Shehu, “the transition to a cashless economy will raise a lot of security issues in our financial institution. IT professionals should be ready to provide a robust IT support.

Therefore, the indigenous professionals should rise up to this challenge and support the banks on making the policy a huge success.”

CPN noted that the advantages of a cashless economy are enormous. According to it, the cost of transportation and the danger of carrying large sum of money about will possibly reduce.

“The policy will enhance the integration of our economy as presently 78.8 per cent of the country’s rural populations are largely unbanked.

Nigerian’s huge informal economy which is driven by small scale farmers, traders, craftsmen and other types of small and medium-sized businesses would be integrated into the formal economy,” the council said.

It noted, however, that this will potentially result in an extensive application of computer technology in the financial system, as technologies are developing rapidly on the transfer of funds from one place to another. This, it stated, “places the Computer Professional Registration Council at the centre of control and regulation of the emerging technology in our economy.”

08050498516

Quality of service and subscriber satisfaction

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in these states, cards (debit, credit and pre-paid) were the most widely known and used electronic payment instrument among respondents; and that men were more likely than women to use electronic payments.

Jonah Iboma

oor quality of service is one thing that Nigerian mobile phone subscribers have been putting up with for a long time. Various reasons have been adduced for this unsatisfactory development including incessant theft and damage of optic fibre cables, network congestion, insufficient electricity and insecurity caused by the various social upheavals in the country. The latest reason to be adduced by operators emerged last week during the 75th Telecom Consumer Parliament held in Lagos.

According to Akinwale Goodluck, Corporate Services Executive, MTN Nigeria and an executive, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), the poor quality of service being witnessed on various networks across the country this year is due to excessive rainfall.

I consider this excuse to be one of the most surprising ever put forward by operators. Although the months of April to July is a period of heavy rainfall in Nigeria, the excuse that this is a reason for poor service quality has never been brought forward since GSM services began in the country in 2001.

However, this year has witnessed far less rainfall compared to recent years including 2011 and 2012, when there was mass flooding in the country occasioned by extreme rainfall across many countries within the West and Central Africa. At that time, nobody said massive rainfall was affecting service quality. So, I think that operators need to look elsewhere for the reasons for poor service quality But another surprising revelation that emerged at the event was the claim by Dr. Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) that Nigerian telecoms services are better than those of central London and Dubai, despite calls for improved quality.

I am alarmed by such claims. If service quality in Nigeria is better than these other nations mentioned, how come we do not hear of constant sanctions against operators in those countries as is the case in Nigeria?

I would, however, not get into any argument on the veracity or otherwise of this claim, but will rather state that the claims by the EVC is a wake-up call for Nigerians to look beyond mobile services in order to meet their communication needs.

A situation where almost all communication activities are done with mobile phones need to be redressed. In addition to that, I expect NCC to find ways to promote fixed telephony in the country beyond the plans to license infrastructure companies.

The delay in liquidating the assets of the moribund Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) is one reason for the poor services in the country because certain types of services that the firm would have provided have been denied Nigerians, due to its death.

I believe that the country needs to develop a more robust infrastructure in the country that can withstand the various pressures that a few operators are bearing today. In Nigeria, fixed telephony service has literally died and all that is now left is the mobile system that often witnesses constant service quality problems.

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BUSINESS | ICT

Illumination RGB LED provided to transform and beautify the theatre façade Stories by Jonah Iboma

R

oyal Philips, the global leader in lighting, has unveiled a special lighting makeover of the renowned Nigerian National Arts Theatre in Lagos, one of the most iconic buildings in the city, as part of its fifth consecutive pan-African Cairo to Cape Town roadshow.

Philips has installed its latest range of RGB (red, green, blue) LED luminaires around the National Theatre complex, emphasizing the beauty of the structure and cutting energy consumption by up to 80 per cent as compared to the existing conventional lighting.

The firm said its concept is focused on highlighting

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

National Arts theatre gets energyefficient lighting from Philips the significance of this iconic building as an architectural masterpiece and as a source of national pride and in so doing, assist with the building’s energy saving performance. The new Philips lighting will transform the theatre façade, while illuminating the distinctive, memorable and eye-catching mass and structure. The visual lighting concept will provide the building with an imposing look in the Lagos skyline.

“The spectacular lighting of Nigerian National Arts Theatre demonstrates the incredible advances that are being made in the efficiency and beauty of LED illumination,” said Abdallah Hussein, Chief Executive Officer, Philips West Africa. “LED lighting innovations provide completely

new opportunities to policy makers and governments to enhance city beautification and, at the same time, contribute to energy saving. We are extremely proud to see how Philips’ lighting solutions are contributing to improving the attractiveness of this stunning architectural marvel while reducing energy consumption in Nigeria.”

The National Arts Theatre is a cultural landmark located at Iganmu, in the heart of Lagos. It is the primary centre for the performing arts in Nigeria and, as such, is considered a monument and a celebrated icon within Lagos. Covering an area of about 23,000 square meters and standing well over 31 meters tall, the multipurpose National Theatre was es-

tablished for the preservation, presentation and promotion of Arts and Culture in Nigeria.

It is a sophisticated building which acts as a rallying point for both Nigerian and international artistes wishing to share experience with their Nigerian counterparts.

The National Arts Theater is already a popular attraction in the city, with thousands of visitors yearly. The spectacular Philips LED lighting is likely to further improve the tourism value of the monument.

Philips has used a total of 48 LED luminaires, combining red, blue and green in each single luminaire which provides an endless spectrum of colours to highlight the features of this architectural masterpiece. There are also 30 LED white light projectors, which highlight the pillars of the theatre.

The firm said that the advantages of the LED lighting installed at National Arts Theatre, Lagos, include: The installed capacity of the lighting system is just 3.3 kW, dy-

namic lighting that makes it possible to adjust the atmosphere of the site (change of intensity and colour) and a longer lifespan of the installation: around 100,000 hours compared to 20,000 hours with conventional lighting Lagos is the fifth stop on Philips’ annual flagship Cairo to Cape Town roadshow (from April 14 to September 3, 2014) which focuses on key challenges facing Africa today - the need for energy-efficient lighting and the revitalisation of African healthcare infrastructure.

Philips has committed to lighting up and illuminating iconic monuments in every city visited during the roadshow with the latest LED technology. As the number one LED lighting company in the world, Philips will now provide a stunning lighting makeover of historic, well-recognized monuments in African cities.

The Roadshow will make its way across seven countries and ten cities in Africa. The next stop will be Accra, Ghana on July15, 2014.

Airtel unveils affordable roaming bundles

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L-R: Chairman, Publicity Committee, Nigerian Computer Society, Mr. Jide Awe; President, Prof. David Adewumi; and Chairman, conferences Committee, NCS, Mr. Moses Braimah at press briefing on the 2014 Conference of the Nigerian Computer Society in Lagos…on Tuesday

Gemalto joins GSMA pan-African mHealth Initiative W orld leader in digital security, Gemalto, has announced that it has joined the GSMA1 pan-African mHealth Initiative (PAMI), a mobile ecosystem that aims to improve maternal and child health and nutrition in subSaharan Africa.

The firm said that it would be contributing its digital security expertise to two key mhealth programmes: the United Nations Every Women Every Child Global Strategy and the Global Nutrition for Growth Compact.

GSMA’s PAMI brings together stakeholders from the mobile and health industries, as well as from the public sector. The project will leverage on a wide range of communications products, solutions and infrastructures to deliver sustainable and effective mHealth support that meets the needs of over 15 million pregnant women and

mothers with children under five years old.

The first phase of the initiative will be launched across seven countries (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia) in September 2014, extending to a further four (Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania) in early 2015.

Gemalto will help bring mHealth and nutrition services to the masses dynamically through its advanced SmartMessage interactive messaging solution, leveraging its existing relationships with mobile operators across the region. The aim is to simplify the relationships between patients and health stakeholders to deliver targeted nutritional and health advice via mobile phones.

“As the world is becoming ever more digital and wireless, we are thrilled to see our solutions being used to support a

noble social cause with this initiative,” Philippe Vallée, Chief Operating Officer at Gemalto, said. “There can surely be no clearer illustration of the potential of mobile solutions to fundamentally change the expectations and outcomes of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.”

GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning over 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

irtel Nigeria has introduced a unique roaming package that will empower telecom consumers to connect with business associates, friends and family members at discounted rates.

Dubbed Airtel Roam and Home, the specialised bundle plan is designed to provide easy, convenient and affordable services to travellers who roam, offering free incoming calls and discounted roaming tariff by up to 90 per cent.

According to Airtel, the new package is consistent with its vision to be the most loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians, empowering telecoms consumers to roam at a discounted rate on 28 selected networks in 26 countries.

To enjoy the service, the firm said that customers are expected to dial *789#. It added that the bundle was a renewable monthly plan and available in 26 countries including top international destinations such as UK, US, Canada, India,

Airtel MD, Segun Ogunsanya

China, Dubai, South Africa and Israel, among many others.

The Chief Commercial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr Maurice Newa, stated that through the package, Airtel Nigeria was poised to create unique and exciting experience for its customers who travel for business, trade, holiday, leisure, pilgrimage, festivities or other important activities.

Newa noted that roaming services are often very expensive and complex to activate hence the importance of providing convenience and ease to our esteemed customers.

He said: “Airtel Nigeria clearly understands the lifestyles of its highly valuable customers in Nigeria and we are positioned and able to deliver according to their needs.

We are keen on contributing to the success of our customers and remain committed to providing unmatched, quality products and services to them.

That is one of the reasons why this unique Roam and Home bundle has been designed as a holistic plan for our customers travelling abroad.”

The bundled plan simplifies the roaming process and addresses high rates with reductions of up to 90 per cent in 26 countries. As a bundle for both pre and post-paid customers, there is no need for activation as customers can simply subscribe by dialling *789#.

Activation can be done before or while roaming. Once there is sufficient credit, the customer can just dial the appropriate code for the bundle they want.

BUSINESS | ICT

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

PARTNERSHIP Globacom partners world leading networks for seamless roaming accross the globe Stories by Jonah Iboma

T

elecommunications operator, Globacom, has said that it has deepened its roaming services offering with the addition of over 100 leading network partners across the world in the last one year.

According to the Head of Glo Gateway, Globacom’s international services arm, Steve Stretch, subscribers to Glo who are on the post-paid platform can enjoy seamless roaming services in almost every part of the world as Glo has interconnectivity arrangements with over 430 partners in 176 countries.

With the development, Glo is now the network in Nigeria with the largest international post-paid roaming footprint, according to the firm, adding that this has enhanced its reputation as one of the biggest voice and data carriers in Africa.

Stretch noted that Glo had similarly extended its prepaid roaming to more destinations as the service is now avail-

Glo has Nigeria’s largest international post-paid roaming able in most major destinations where it is partnering with over 80 leading networks.

The countries include Unites States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, South Africa, Ghana, UAE, Italy, India and Israel. They also include Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin Republic, Cameroon, Egypt, Gambia, Kenya, Russia, Turkey and Qatar.

The firm also said that its General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) roaming footprint is also one of the largest in Africa. The service which enables data roaming for mobile phones, laptops, ipads, Blackberry and android handsets is available in 115 countries comprising all major travel destinations. GPRS roaming enables the subscriber to access the value added services available on the Glo GPRS technology such as Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and Mobile Internet.

Stretch also said that the company’s multi-billion dollar infrastructure, extensive

Nintendo plans console for emerging markets intendo Company Limited In China, Iwata said NinNkind plans to introduce a new tendo would try a different tack of games console and to Microsoft Corp. The US rival software for emerging markets as early as next year, to capitalise on higher entertainment budgets amidst a growing middle class, according to its chief executive, Satoru Iwata.

Iwata told Reuters that Nintendo would develop hardware and games oriented towards consumers with lower incomes and less gaming experience than those in developed countries.

Nintendo is searching for new business opportunities as it buckles down and seeks to stem losses on its latest home game console, the Wii U, whose flop has contrasted with blockbuster sales for rival Sony Corp’s PlayStation 4.

Satoru said there were no plans to launch existing hardware such as the Wii U or 3DS in emerging markets, including China.

“It would be difficult to enter those markets if we didn't create something new... For the mass market you need to provide something that most of the middle class can afford,” he said in an interview following an analyst briefing on Thursday.

Iwata declined to elaborate on the design and specification of such a new device and did not specify the countries where it would be sold; saying only that “emerging markets” referred to those whose gaming potential had not yet been cracked.

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last month said it would begin selling its Xbox One console through a Chinese partner from September in Shanghai's free trade zone, after the government lifted a ban on the sale of foreign consoles there.

“We think the Chinese market has a lot of potential, but I don’t think the lifting of the ban has solved all of the difficulties in entering it. We need to study it more,” he said, adding that Nintendo would adjust its pricing to fit consumers in emerging nations.

“For us, Microsoft’s approach wouldn’t work” Iwata also said Nintendo will release high-tech figurines of some of its most popular characters in time for Christmas this year. The company hopes the models, which will be able to send and receive data from games, will also stimulate software sales.

But the chief executive said he could not give any more details on a new “non-wearable” platform announced in January that will be oriented towards improving customers’ quality of life and encouraging them to stick to healthy pursuits.

Nintendo released its fullyear earnings on Wednesday, booking its third year in the red after disappointing sales of its Wii U home games console. It has pinned a return to profit this year on new game titles spurring higher sales of the hardware.

footprint and manpower had made Glo Gateway a major force in international telecom business Globacom made history in 2004 as the first operator in Africa to launch gateway switches outside the continent to carry international voice and data traffic. The international switches in the

United Kingdom and Africa have strategically positioned the network as a major player in the global telecommunication industry as they have enabled Glo Gateway to directly interconnect with other leading international carriers, Stretch said.

He said: “Glo Gateway’s mission is to build strong cus-

tomer relationships, loyalty and satisfaction by delivering high-quality cost-effective international communications services on the African continent and the rest of the World through a state-of-the-art network infrastructure, best in class business practices and its empowered, highly skilled employees.”

L-R: Head, Corporate Communications, High Value Events and Sponsorship, Etisalat Nigeria, Ebi Atawodi; Chair of Judges, Sarah Ladipo Manyika and Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher at the unveiling of patrons and judges for the 2nd edition of the Etisalat Prize for Literature, in Lagos... recently

How technology aided Germany’s success in Brazil 2014, by SAP M anaging Director of SAP West Africa, Richard Edet, has said that the German National Team (DFB), benefitted from innovative technology developed together with SAP in their recent triumph at the World Cup held in Brazil.

According to him, the journey started last year when the country’s national team general manager, Oliver Bierhoff, conducted some “market research” inside the locker room. He found that the players were most happy communicating with each other via digital platforms.

Edet said that since communication was one of the main concerns during the tournament planning stage, Bierhoff commissioned SAP to develop an application that could facilitate the

exchange of information about the team’s schedule, as well as data about the opponents.

Edet said that together with SAP, the DBF developed an application called SAP Match Insights, which analyses vast amounts of data about members of the German team and their opponents, based on their on-field performance.

“SAP’s involvement has transformed the football experience for coaches, players, fans, and the media,” said Bierhoff.

“Imagine this: In just 10 minutes, 10 players with three balls can produce over seven million data points. SAP HANA can process these in real time and the team was able to analyse a huge amount of data and customise training in preparation for all

of the matches.

“This data can then be converted into simulations and graphs that can be viewed on a tablet or smartphone, enabling trainers, coaches and players to identify and assess key situations in each match,” says Edet.

“These insights can then be used during pre-match preparations to improve player and team performance. SAP Match Insights (based on HANA technology) synchronised the data from scouts with the video footage taken from the pitch to make it easy for coaches to identify key moments in the game.

Bierhoff liked it so much that he asked SAP to have the solution ready for the World Cup in Brazil and the rest, as they say, is the future.”

Uganda included in Mozilla digital literacy programme

he Mozilla Foundation will, Tmore in the next two months, have than 100,000 people partici-

pate in learning basic internet use and other digital skills, the Ugandan capital, Kampala, earmarked as one of the starting points, followed by New York, San Francisco and cities in India, Indonesia and several other African countries.

Dubbed the “Webmaker”, the series of events will run through September 15, aiming

to boost digital literacy skills, including computer coding, designing web pages, and creation of apps and videos.

“Digital literacy is as important as reading, writing and math in modern society,” Mozilla Foundation executive director, Mark Surman, told AFP in a telephone interview.

“We set out with these parties to teach the world how the web works.”

The events tie in with the

“maker movement”, which, according to Surman, “is the idea that technology should be something we all can take control of, not something that is given to us by companies.

“In the end, the broad majority of people are going to have a computer in their hands or in their pockets in the next few years,” Surman said.

“We need to make sure those five billion people understand what the web is now.”

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FEATURES

NEW TELEGRAPH

newtelegraphonline.com/entrepreneur

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES EDITOR

THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2014

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com otuntise@yahoo.co.uk

Lagos blast: Spreading terrorism T he horrendous gun and bomb attacks resulting in thousands of deaths of Nigerians have probably been seen by many people in parts of the country, apart from the North, as emanating from a sectional crisis.

This is because the atrocious killings and maiming of innocent Nigerians and foreigners alike, including children, teenagers, men and women, young and old, and pregnant women, as well as wanton destruction of billions of naira worth of government and individual properties by the terrorists, have largely been confined to the North-East.

In the past, there have been rumours of invasion of the South-West by the extremely lethal terror group. But they have always remained in the realms of rumour.

On April 23, a report of invasion of Lagos went viral on the social media. It said 18 terrorists, armed with AK47 rifles, had killed nine policemen and 11 civilians on the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway.

The rumour came after the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, was quoted in a video released to AFP in the wake of the bloody attack in Nyanya that Boko Haram was going to unleash more terror across the country. Shekau, who claimed responsibility for the Nyanya attack, dared the Federal Government to catch him.

He said: “We are the ones who carried out the bombing in Abuja in an area called Nyanya. (President Goodluck) Jonathan you are a lame duck. Jonathan, you are too small for us.

“You should know that we are worshipping God, that is why we are always victorious in all our attacks; if you are that wise and knowledgeable, why is it still very difficult for you to locate where we are up till date despite the fact that we are within Nigeria?

“Look at us, we are right within your city and you don’t even know how to find us. Let me tell you now; I am here, very close to you; I dare you to get me, if you can.”

On January 6, 2011, there was rumour of a bomb planted by Boko Haram members in the Motorways Complex at Old Tollgate, Ojota, Lagos.

The rumour of the bomb in the complex housing over 45 companies, including two banks, caused a stampede as those working there scampered to safety.

Motorists and commuters deserted the area.

Anti-bomb policemen, the State Security Service (SSS) and others rushed to the complex and evacuated about 1,000 people.

However, it was discovered to be a hoax.

But all that ended on June 25, with the explosion at the Folawiyo axis of Creek Road, Apapa.

Although both the Lagos State Government and the Federal Government claimed, in what some people said was an attempt not to crate panic in the Centre of Excellence, that the explosion near a tank farm was an accident.

But the video clip the terror group released to AFP on Sunday put a lie to such attempt.

In the 16-minute video, the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, flanked by about 10 gunmen in front of two armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and two pickup trucks, claimed responsibility for the explosions at EMAB Plaza, Abuja and Lagos.

He said: “We were the ones who deto-

Claims by Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, that his group is responsible for recent the explosion in Lagos is giving a new dimension to terrorism in Nigeria, writes ABIODUN BELLO

Mba

The scene of the Apapa explosion

Ekhomu

Shekau

Tsav

nated the bomb in filthy Abuja…

“A bomb went off in Lagos. I ordered (the bomber) who went and detonated it.

“You said it was a fire incident. Well, if you hide it from people you can’t hide it from Allah.”

Expectedly, Shekau’s claim has elicited a flood of reactions.

The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr Frank Mba, told New Telegraph it was too early to conclude the statement came from Shekau.

Mba, who refused to comment on the allegation that the explosion at Creek Road was bomb, said that an Information Technology (IT) test and forensic analysis would be carried out to determine the authenticity of the video.

He said: “We are studying the video.

After we have studied the video, our approach will first be to conduct a thorough forensic analysis of the picture to authenticate the veracity of the video. It is only after then that we will be able to know what to do. Anybody can produce a picture or video and post it. IT and forensic analysis will determine the truth.

I am not saying more than that.”

A renowned security expert, Dr Ona Ekhomu, said Shekau’s claim was not credible.

He said: “Shekau is not a credible person. He is dubious. He may want to create fear in the minds of the people.

Terrorism is about instilling fear in the populace.

“I don’t have doubt that the video was released by Shekau but unless he is able to prove that what happened at Apapa was a bomb blast, we should not believe him.”

The president of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON) urged Nigerians not to play into Shekau’s hands by agreeing with him that the Apapa explosion was a bomb attack.

He said what happened in Apapa was an explosion based on accident.

According to him, it is not every explosion that is criminal. Criminal explosion, Ekhomu added, is man-made explosion intended to harm.

But he urged Nigerians to be more careful, vigilant and be observant as well as look out for parcel, car, etc bomb.

He said the Lagos State Government was trying in sensitising the people on what to do in case of emergency situations.

But Ekhomu advised the government to raise that to terrorism level.

Also reacting to Shekau’s claim, former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Dr Abubakar Tsav, said that the video showed that Boko Haram could infiltrate anywhere.

Tsav blamed President Goodluck Jonathan for the continual existence of the sect, saying that he was handling the issue with kids’ gloves.

The former commissioner said it was

now left for Nigerians to secure their lives by knowing the people within their communities.

He said: “By that video, Boko Haram is telling us that we must be vigilant and security conscious. They are telling us that they can infiltrate anywhere. If they can infiltrate Lagos, it means they can infiltrate anywhere.

“It is a very serious issue. But it is sad that the government of Jonathan is not taking the issue very seriously or it would have done and finished with this Boko Haram.

“Look at the case of the Chibok girls.

For the first 18 days after they were kidnapped, nothing was done until more girls were kidnapped.

“Everybody should now become security conscious. Let us adopt operation know your neighbours. If strangers come into the community, we should alert security agencies. Let us not leave it in the hands of the security agencies.

They cannot do it alone. We should all be involved.”

The Lagos State Government had earlier said it was still studying the footage of the Apapa explosion but with Shekau’s claim, it may be difficult for the government to convince the critical Lagos residents.

One thing is, however, sure; Nigerians’ perception of the capability of Boko Haram to unleash terror in any part of the country will no longer remain the same.

business | MONEY LINE

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Nigeria to reap $800bn FDI in five years –Bamanga Tukur

INVESTMENT HAVEN Some countries in Europe are ready to invest $200 billion in the Nigerian economy

needs to do is to strengthen its democracy and begin to fight all elements that have been militating against its internal cohesion to attract good foreign investments, which according to him, have been hanging.

He said some countries in Europe are ready to invest not less than $200 billion in the Nigerian economy if given the right opportunities to establish strong foothold in the country.

He said the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China, Korea and others have of late been exploring opportunities to invest in Nigeria, whereas many of them have been talking to President Goodluck Jonathan on their interests.

The Ambassador-at-large received his letter of Credence from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali penultimate week, to assume office.

He told the visiting team

Abdulwahab Isa Abuja

A

mbassador-at-large, and former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has predicted that over $800 billion worth of Foreign Direct investments (FDI) could come to Nigeria in less than five years going by high level talks currently on-going between Nigeria and some Eurpoean countries.

He also said that Nigeria has all it takes to become a major economic player at the global level, stressing that all it needed do was to tackle some of the present fleeting challenges.

Speaking when he received some Nigerians in the Diaspora that paid him a courtesy visit at his Wuse 2 residence, Tukur said the only thing Nigeria

that Nigeria has always been at the center of consideration by developed countries on investment matters.

Tukur said: “I know this much, because most of the foreign investors have been talking to us. They have the monies to dip in our soil here and they wanted us to assist them do so.

They (investors) want to come.

They have interest in oil and gas, telecommunications, road and transport sectors. Others are power, agriculture, Nollywood, Housing and urban development, road construction and sectors. And with this, I say let peace begin to reign in Nigeria.

“Their interest in Nigeria is not starting today. They have always been very eager to invest in Nigeria. Some came and left because the situation here, to them, was scary. Some insisted on investing and they are reaping the benefits today.

“The truth is that many

Naira unchanged, supported by offshore dollar flows

T

he Nigerian currency, the naira was unchanged at N161.90 naira to the US dollar at yesterday's market close, supported by inflows from offshore investors participating at a government debt auction, amid lower dollar demand, dealers said.

The naira according to

Bloomberg, closed at the same level as the previous day, remaining at a seven-week high it touched against the US currency on Tuesday.

"The market remains very liquid to support the naira," one dealer said.

The federal government sold N100 billion ($617.8 mil-

lion) in bonds at an auction yesterday. Auction results are expected today.

Dealers expect the naira to trade within a range of N161.50-N162.30 as more oil companies start to sell dollars towards the end of the month to fund their local obligations.

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

ernment to end our nightmares on insecurity.

“This is your era, this is your time and this is your opportunity to stamp your feet on the ground to lead in the ongoing battle to rid Nigeria of terrorism and other related crimes associated with the youths”

New BDC rules to safeguard forex reserves –CBN

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed an unwavering determination to stem the depletion of the country's foreign reserves in flimsy and unproductive transactions.

The Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, made this assertion when he appeared before the committee on banking and currency of the House of Representatives yesterday to interact with members on new BDC regulations which the apex Bank recently introduced.

Mr Emefiele noted that far from achieving the laudable objectives for which BDC were set up to achieve and complement financial system, that over time the operations of the BDC have been bedeviled by rent-seeking, weak operational structure, financing of illicit transactions, gradual dollarisation of the Nigerian economy and multiple ownership of BDC licences.

The apex bank governor, therefore, reiterated that the Bank has resolved to sanitise

Abdulwahab Isa Abuja 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

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80

more investors have been dying to be in Nigeria and have never even been bothered by the challenges we have been having on security. This is why I am appealing to you younger Nigerians to understand our plights and predicament by cooperating with the Federal Gov-

the operations of the BDCs among other measures to stop what he described as hemorrhage in the foreign reserves of the country.

While fielding questions from members of the committee, Mr Emefiele clarified the misconception that the policy is targeted at a particular section of the country, that the Bank formulate policies for the good of the entire country.

On the short duration given to the operators to recapitalize, the apex Bank helmsman disclosed that the time frame is not only adequate, and that over 200 BDC operators have already complied with the new requirements as today.

He appealed to the legislators to support the Bank in its resolve to strengthen the economy for the benefit of all Nigerians.

It would be recalled that the CBN recently increased the capital base of the BDC from 10m to 35m in addition and cancellation of multiple ownership structure before July 31.

WAMZ: Emefiele is central bank governors’ chair

Treasury Bills Maturity Date 08-May-14 07-Aug-14 22-Jan-15

41

Open-Buy-Back (OBB) Overnight (O/N)

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

C

entral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has been elected chairman of the committee of the central bank governors of the West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ).

His election yesterday in Abuja came amid the declaration that Nigeria was the only country that satisfied all the four primary criteria for convergence.

Emefiele’s election as the chair of the continental body for the next six months was unanimously endorsed in Abuja by all participating central bank governors of WAMZ. He took over from the governor of the central bank of the Gambia, Mr Amadou Colley, who pioneered the affairs of the zone in the last six month.

In a brief acceptance remark, Emefiele expressed gratitude to his colleagues for the confidence reposed in him and pledged his commitment to work collectively with other members of the committee to-

wards achieving the objectives for which the committee was established.

The governor had earlier in his key note address to the 31st meeting of the committee of governors of WAMZ, enumerated various challenges besetting the WAMZ, which has denied the zone several attempt to foster common monetary integration.

He however, lamented that no two countries had been able to satisfy all the four primary convergence criteria consistently for two consecutive years.

“It is imperative at this meeting for us to objectively examine the numerous challenges before us, assess the state of preparedness of member states for monetary integration at short notice, and realistically appraise the directive of the Heads of State and Government for a Modified Gradualist Approach to monetary Integration by 2020. This meeting provides a veritable platform for this comprehensive exercise and enables us to adopt appropriate strategies towards meeting our set objectives.

Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014

Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034

42 BUSINESS | CAPITAL MARKET Daily Summary (Bonds)

Sanctity of Truth

Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014 Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034

Thursday, July 17, 2014

No Debt Trading Activity

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at July 16, 2014 Daily Summary (Equities)

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals

Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

Symbol OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 17 7 24

Current Price 33.00 38.06

Quantity Traded 135,234 225,000 360,234

Value Traded 4,464,079.21 8,558,750.00 13,022,829.21

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 21 21

Current Price 3.05

Quantity Traded 2,526,441 2,526,441

Value Traded 7,863,049.00 7,863,049.00

2,886,675

20,885,878.21

Quantity Traded 97,298 864 56,396 27,774,255 293,847 28,222,660

Value Traded 128,545.12 3,248.64 64,291.44 160,714,399.61 18,212,297.50 179,122,782.31

28,222,660

179,122,782.31

AGRICULTURE Totals CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014 CHELLARAMS PLC. Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034 JOHN HOLT PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

45 Symbol No. of Deals AGLEVENT 11 CHELLARAM 1 JOHNHOLT 6 TRANSCORP 357 UACN 49 Daily Summary (Equities) 424

CONGLOMERATES Activity Summary onTotals Board EQTY CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE PublishedBuilding

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. G CAPPA PLC Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals

Current Price 1.33 3.95 1.20 5.78 62.00

424

Quantity TradedPage 176,580 200 176,780

1 of 13 Value Traded 212,676.00 2,748.00 215,424.00

Current Price 64.28

Quantity Traded 392,858 392,858

Value Traded 25,247,611.04 25,247,611.04

No. of Deals 19 19

Current Price 18.30

Quantity Traded 54,292 54,292

Value Traded 971,291.61 971,291.61

No. of Deals 10 10

Current Price 9.95

Quantity Traded 311,127 311,127

Value Traded 3,095,713.65 3,095,713.65

935,057

29,530,040.30

Quantity Traded 6,450 82,764 606,032 689,432 200

Value Traded 62,371.50 16,482,811.99 17,799,510.38 120,403,122.87 160.00

Symbol COSTAIN GCAPPA

No. of Deals 8 1 9

Current Price 1.19 14.46

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals

Symbol JBERGER

No. of Deals 27 27

Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals

Symbol UAC-PROP

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Totals

Symbol UPDCREIT

CONSTRUCTION/REAL Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014ESTATE Totals Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034 CONSUMER GOODS

Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. BREWERIES ActivityPREMIER Summary on Board PLC EQTY

CONSUMER GOODS Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

65 Symbol CHAMPION GUINNESS Daily Summary INTBREW NB PREMBREW

No. of Deals 2 49 (Equities) 15 101 1

Current Price 10.17 198.90 29.50 176.80 0.77

Page

2

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Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals

Symbol

No. of Deals 168

Current Price

Quantity Traded 1,384,878

Value Traded 154,747,976.74

Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals

Symbol 7UP

No. of Deals 27 27

Current Price 100.03

Quantity Traded 21,032 21,032

Value Traded 2,208,990.96 2,208,990.96

Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC P S MANDRIDES & CO PLC. NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. Food Products Totals

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR MANDRID NASCON NNFM

No. of Deals 28 59 26 49 1 102 8 273

Current Price 8.01 9.05 77.87 4.50 5.35 11.00 18.77

Quantity Traded 192,737 1,070,859 51,228 664,143 200 7,260,225 297,931 9,537,323

Value Traded 1,546,098.73 9,857,717.16 3,917,984.99 2,982,768.74 1,120.00 78,809,139.15 5,592,894.87 102,707,723.64

Food Products--Diversified

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

No. of Deals 32 52 84

Current Price 74.25 1,124.90

Quantity Traded 98,187 102,342 200,529

Value Traded 7,093,849.63 114,872,089.15 121,965,938.78

Symbol

No. of Deals 7 2 9

Current Price 4.38 1.44

Quantity Traded 38,934 200 39,134

Value Traded 164,228.15 274.00 164,502.15

Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014 CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034 NESTLE NIGERIA PLC.

Food Products--Diversified Totals

Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Activity Summary on Board Household Durables TotalsEQTY CONSUMER GOODS Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange Personal/Household Products © P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

Daily Summary (Equities) VITAFOAM VONO

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

CONSUMER GOODS Totals

No. of Deals 49 42 91

Current Price 36.00 52.80

13

3Value Traded of 13 12,044,610.09 45,295,383.85 57,339,993.94

Current Price 0.50 0.80 1.12 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.52 0.54 0.79 0.50 0.54 0.50 0.50 0.92

Quantity Traded 500 1,058,547 Page 6,686,200 500 50,000 500 2,992,237 642,500 1,500 70,608 1,559,707 1,542,500 508,000 409,884 2,000 124,000 8,915,635

Value Traded 250.00 854,741.91 47,586,603.05 of 13 250.00 25,000.00 250.00 1,496,507.72 321,430.00 750.00 177,470.08 842,293.78 1,234,716.24 254,000.00 221,617.36 1,000.00 62,000.00 8,119,740.41

Symbol

No. of Deals 258

Current Price

Page Quantity Traded 24,564,818

5Value Traded of 13

Micro-Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals

Symbol FORTISMFB NPFMCRFBK

No. of Deals 1 13 14

Current Price 5.96 1.05

Quantity Traded 1,000 580,755 581,755

Value Traded 6,000.00 583,335.00 589,335.00

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Symbol INFINITY UNHOMES

No. of Deals 1 2 3

Current Price 1.60 0.50

Quantity Traded 5 41,250 41,255

Value Traded 8.00 20,625.00 20,633.00

Symbol No. of Deals AFRIPRUD 69 CUSTODYINS 37 FBNH 356 FCMB 49 ROYALEX 3 STANBIC 26 UBCAP 96 Daily Summary (Equities) 636

Current Price 3.43 3.80 16.05 4.19 0.53 27.50 2.20

Quantity Traded 790,949 848,185 18,025,127 1,606,122 103,285 237,140 3,878,559 25,489,367

Value Traded 2,667,160.03 3,200,639.49 291,375,755.95 6,669,181.84 54,741.05 6,560,284.47 8,484,366.46 319,012,129.29

235,048,687

1,122,865,006.29

HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC © Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. Pharmaceuticals Totals

Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NIG-GERMAN

HEALTHCARE Totals ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Computer Based Systems Totals

No. of Deals 1 12 8 13 1 35

Current Price 2.30 2.95 69.00 1.71 7.36

35

Quantity Traded 10,000 268,540 Page 18,292 317,600 1,000 615,432

Quantity Traded 818,400 818,400

Value Traded 464,174.00 464,174.00

IT Services COMPUTER WAREHOUSE GROUP PLC NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. IT Services Totals

Symbol CWG NCR

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 5.00 15.20

Quantity Traded 500 1,500 2,000

Value Traded 2,450.00 22,500.00 24,950.00

Processing Systems

Symbol

No. of Deals

Current Price

Quantity Traded

Value Traded

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Page

7

of

No. of Deals 1

Current Price 2.00

Quantity Traded 1,000

Value Traded 2,090.00

Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals

Symbol CUTIX

No. of Deals 6 7

Current Price 1.80

Quantity Traded 39,333 40,333

Value Traded 71,732.73 73,822.73

Packaging/Containers AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals

Symbol AVONCROWN BETAGLAS

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 1.69 16.30

Quantity Traded 450 22,000 22,450

Value Traded 760.50 376,420.00 377,180.50

8,147,627

657,090,813.09

Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © INDUSTRIAL GOODS

Daily Summary (Equities)

Page

417

OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment and Services Totals

8

of

Symbol BOCGAS

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 5.76

Quantity Traded 24,000 24,000

Value Traded 131,520.00 131,520.00

Symbol MULTIVERSE

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 4,000 4,000

Value Traded 2,000.00 2,000.00

28,000

133,520.00

Quantity Traded 6,525,440 6,525,440

Value Traded 3,852,355.97 3,852,355.97

4 Symbol

No. of Deals 36 36

Daily Summary (Equities) JAPAULOIL

Current Price 0.59

13

Page

9

of

13

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 599 599

Current Price 26.57

Quantity Traded 17,281,206 17,281,206

Value Traded 466,327,226.12 466,327,226.12

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 18 19 112 31 10 34 224

Current Price 65.60 4.29 240.00 147.15 62.43 179.60

Quantity Traded 81,220 390,407 263,944 56,273 21,370 122,071 935,285

Value Traded 5,149,256.16 1,679,766.45 62,019,454.99 8,273,293.20 1,280,050.80 21,606,184.40 100,008,006.00

Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals

Symbol SEPLAT

No. of Deals 18 18

Current Price 702.00

Quantity Traded 45,764 45,764

Value Traded 32,094,917.35 32,094,917.35

24,787,695

602,282,505.44

Current Price 1.04

Quantity Traded 5,059 5,059

Value Traded 5,414.82 5,414.82

Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Daily Summary (Equities)

Quantity Traded 163,900

Value Traded 778,727.00

SERVICES

Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014 Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034

R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

877 Symbol RTBRISCOE

No. of Deals 6 6

REDSTAREX

12

4.85

Symbol TRANSEXPR

No. of Deals 3 15

Current Price 2.06

Quantity Traded 8,500 172,400

Value Traded 18,190.00 796,917.00

Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. Employment Solutions Totals

Symbol CILEASING

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 200 200

Value Traded 100.00 100.00

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL

No. of Deals 15 15

Current Price 0.78

Quantity Traded 997,800 997,800

Value Traded 721,441.50 721,441.50

Printing/Publishing LEARN AFRICA PLC STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. Printing/Publishing Totals

Symbol LEARNAFRCA STUDPRESS UPL

No. of Deals 4 1 16 21

Current Price 1.65 2.40 4.40

Quantity Traded 19,428 500 133,042 152,970

Value Traded 32,284.80 1,140.00 574,591.36 608,016.16

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 9 9

Current Price 0.89

Quantity Traded 340,500 340,500

Value Traded 302,359.00 302,359.00

Symbol

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 4.90

Quantity Traded 700 700

Value Traded 3,262.00 3,262.00

Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

No. of Deals 9 36 45

Current Price 2.23 4.94

Quantity Traded 289,250 576,342 865,592

Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC Support and Logistics Totals

Symbol CAVERTON

No. of Deals 13 13

Current Price 6.79

Quantity Traded 62,210 62,210

Value Traded 421,719.00 421,719.00

127

2,597,431

6,342,970.02

5,079

316,474,322

3,060,479,265.87

Quantity Traded 684,236 684,236

Value Traded 342,118.00 342,118.00

684,236

342,118.00

Page

Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014 Road Transportation Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034

ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Transportation Totals

Specialty INTERLINKED TECHNOLOGIES PLC Specialty Totals

Daily Summary (Equities) INTERLINK

10

of

13

Activity Summary on Board EQTY SERVICES Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

SERVICES Totals

EQTY Board Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

Page

11

of

Value Traded 647,304.30 2,836,436.24 3,483,740.54

13

Activity Summary on Board ASeM OIL AND GAS Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CAPITAL OIL PLC Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

No. of Deals 19 19

Current Price 0.50

19

ASeM Board Totals

19

684,236

342,118.00

Equity Activity Totals

5,098

317,158,558

3,060,821,383.87

Exchange Traded Fund

Name NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals

13

Symbol CAPOIL

Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014 OIL AND GAS Totals Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

2,601,000.00

Current Price 0.57

250.00 489,624.00

Symbol AUSTINLAZ

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

SERVICES Courier/Freight/Delivery TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

Value Traded 23,100.00 819,226.00 of 13 1,207,778.00 543,896.00 7,000.00 2,601,000.00

No. of Deals 17 17

500 821,400

Value Traded 151,374,428.07 95,962.00 8,760,649.50 3,725,934.48 299,719,271.98 1,000.00 1,470.00 377,866.80 192,583,227.03 656,639,809.86

Electronic and Electrical Products AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC

Symbol ASHAKACEM BERGER CAP CCNN DANGCEM FIRSTALUM PAINTCOM PORTPAINT WAPCO

1 21

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

6

Symbol COURTVILLE

Value Traded 250.00

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

21,198,620.55

615,432

Quantity Traded 500

Quantity Traded 4,587,293 11,000 219,070 335,304 1,239,291 2,000 1,000 73,230 1,616,656 8,084,844

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC

No. of Deals 1 44 46 1 1 1 13 5 1 7 6 18 7 (Equities) 11 1 3 92

2,412

Current Price 0.50

OIL AND GAS Totals

Value Traded 4,317,785.07 57,016,993.50 1,387,078.33 182,706,124.85 782,044,288.45

Activity Summary on Board FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals EQTY

No. of Deals 1

Current Price 33.02 9.00 40.10 11.00 240.00 0.50 1.40 4.92 119.85

OIL AND GAS Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals

Quantity Traded 450,850 114,033,987 1,381,014 7,238,671 184,371,492

Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014 FCMB GROUP PLC. Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034 ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

Symbol MTI

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Current Price 9.54 0.50 0.97 25.20

FINANCIAL SERVICES Insurance Carriers, and Published by The Nigerian Stock Brokers Exchange © Services Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Value Traded 250.00 250.00

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

No. of Deals 76 62 37 294 1,501

Symbol AFRINSURE AIICO CONTINSURE CORNERST EQUITYASUR HMARKINS INTENEGINS LAWUNION LINKASSURE MANSARD MBENEFIT NEM NIGERINS Daily Summary PRESTIGE SOVRENINS UNIVINSURE WAPIC

Quantity Traded 500 500

NATURAL RESOURCES Totals

Value Traded 82,993,265.85 16,110,003.27 16,318,561.96 13,448,247.99 258,361,634.37 77,031,082.23 4,628,178.53 67,725,332.50

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC AIICO INSURANCE PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © PLC CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034 LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC MANSARD INSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC UNIVERSAL COMPANY PLC Activity SummaryINSURANCE on Board EQTY WAPIC INSURANCE PLC

Current Price 0.50

No. of Deals 156 5 23 33 64 1 1 2 123 408

Mining Services MULTIVERSE PLC

Quantity Traded 8,513,525 2,566,810 938,737 6,831,248 8,332,684 23,700,561 1,986,223 8,397,182

Symbol UBN UNITYBNK WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014 FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034 PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC. Building Materials Totals

Miningas Services Totals Daily Summary of 16/07/2014 Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034

Current Price 9.68 6.27 17.39 1.96 31.00 3.22 2.31 8.09

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals

No. of Deals 1 1

ICT Totals

NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals B.O.C. GASES PLC. Chemicals Totals

439,135,126.21

Symbol No. of Deals ACCESS 141 DIAMONDBNK 57 ETI 72 FIDELITYBK 96 GUARANTY 309 Daily Summary (Equities) SKYEBANK 106 STERLNBANK 97 UBA 154

Telecommunications Services MASS TELECOMMUNICATION INNOVATIONS NIGERIA PLC Telecommunications Services Totals

Symbol CHAMS

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

12,383,658

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. Daily Summary as of 16/07/2014 DIAMOND BANK PLC Printed 16/07/2014 15:17:34.034 ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. Activity Summary Board EQTY UNITED BANKon FOR AFRICA PLC

652

Page Quantity Traded 331,406 869,356 1,200,762

ICT Processing Systems CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Totals

Page

Daily Summary (ETP) Symbol NEWGOLD VETGRIF30

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 2,033.00 19.58

Quantity Traded 20 100 120

12

of

Value Traded 40,660.00 1,958.00 42,618.00

ETF Board Totals

2

120

42,618.00

ETP Activity Totals

2

120

42,618.00

13

business | FINANCIAL MARKET 43

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

16-Jul-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.

Bonds

Price

FGN Bonds Issuer

Rating/Agency

NA

NA

Description 9.25 28-SEP-2014 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

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

28-Sep-07 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

9.25 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

100.00 535.00 500.27 452.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 165.17 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57

28-Sep-14 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

0.20 0.77 2.09 2.78 3.03 3.13 3.87 4.95 5.27 7.54 9.66 14.37 14.85 15.35 16.02

10.99 10.77 11.22 11.32 11.28 11.29 11.34 11.49 11.48 12.00 12.20 12.18 12.19 12.19 12.24

10.25 10.05 11.14 11.26 11.16 11.17 11.25 11.42 11.40 11.95 12.15 12.15 12.14 12.14 12.19

99.60 95.11 103.30 108.75 96.40 94.99 98.00 116.65 82.61 121.35 111.10 118.84 102.02 74.63 84.40

99.75 95.61 103.45 108.90 96.70 95.29 98.30 116.95 82.91 121.65 111.40 119.14 102.32 74.93 84.70

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Rating/Agency

4,375.01 Issuer

Agency Bonds AMCON FMBN

NA

***LCRM

Description

0.00 AMCON 31-OCT-2014 (SR.5 TR.1) 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

#

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Issue Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

28-Dec-11 24-May-10 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

0.00 0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

978.35 24.56 6.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

31-Oct-14 24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.29 0.85 1.46 2.40 2.76 2.97

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

11.88 13.36 13.14 13.17 12.24 12.27

96.66 89.52 105.37 99.64 98.08 95.56

05-Aug-14 15-Oct-14 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 30-Sep-20 27-Nov-20 31-Dec-20 31-Dec-20 06-Jan-21

0.05 0.25 1.13 0.73 1.25 1.25 2.76 1.80 3.46 2.43 4.22 2.63 2.63 3.01 3.08 5.35 3.14 3.76 6.37 6.46 3.94 3.97

1.56 3.29 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

12.44 14.17 15.16 14.02 15.24 14.26 16.83 12.02 13.10 12.98 12.37 12.21 15.99 12.28 12.28 12.50 14.03 12.34 12.71 13.67 12.79 13.30

100.04 99.84 97.29 99.86 98.78 101.52 85.36 102.79 102.41 102.29 105.18 105.05 96.09 105.37 108.16 107.59 101.79 106.91 103.35 105.58 105.01 104.93

07-Oct-14 18-Dec-14 31-Dec-14 17-Aug-15 09-Dec-15 06-Jan-16 29-Sep-16 25-Oct-16 30-Sep-17 30-Nov-17 09-Apr-18 09-Sep-18 09-Sep-18 22-Sep-18 18-Oct-18 17-Feb-19 01-Apr-19 14-Nov-20

0.23 0.42 0.46 0.60 0.92 1.00 2.21 2.28 3.21 2.02 1.98 2.15 2.15 4.19 2.26 2.34 3.46 6.33

1.00 5.21 8.71 4.88 1.00 2.63 1.00 1.34 1.00 1.88 3.48 5.20 5.06 1.35 2.29 6.11 2.16 2.76

11.88 16.09 19.59 15.72 11.71 13.30 12.14 12.49 12.29 12.98 14.57 16.33 16.19 12.72 13.44 17.27 13.47 14.46

99.83 98.91 98.85 96.29 100.59 100.75 101.58 103.35 101.78 109.70 102.76 103.29 101.90 104.01 104.69 99.67 106.80 103.14

11-Feb-18

3.58

1.00

12.32

94.00

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,304.32

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto A-/GCR A+/Agusto A/Agusto Nil 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

KWARA NIGER KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS KOGI *EKITI *NASARAWA

14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014 14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 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 30-SEP-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

05-Aug-09 15-Oct-09 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 30-Sep-13 27-Nov-13 31-Dec-13 31-Dec-13 06-Jan-14

14.00 14.00 12.50 13.00 14.00 15.50 10.00 13.75 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.50 14.00 15.50 15.50 14.50 14.75 14.75 13.50 15.00 14.50 15.00

17.00 6.00 8.50 16.50 13.00 18.50 57.00 50.00 25.00 50.00 9.00 20.00 12.00 27.00 20.00 80.00 30.00 11.40 87.00 5.00 5.00 5.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

572.90

Corporate Bonds A+/Agusto; AA/GCR Aa/Agusto Nil Bbb-/Agusto A-/Agusto BB+/GCR A+/Agusto; A-/GCR A-/Agusto A/GCR BBB-/GCR BBB+/DataPro†; BB+/GCR A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR A/Agusto; A/GCR Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR BBB/GCR A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

LAFARGE WAPCO GTB µ NGC *UPDC *FLOURMILLS *CHELLARAMS NAHCO FSDH UBA *C & I LEASING *DANA# *TOWER# *TOWER# UBA *LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS# *DANA NAHCO

11.50 LAFARGE WAPCO 7-OCT 2014 13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014 17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 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 14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018 15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

07-Oct-11 18-Dec-09 01-Apr-10 17-Aug-10 09-Dec-10 06-Jan-11 29-Sep-11 25-Oct-13 30-Sep-10 30-Nov-12 09-Apr-11 09-Sep-11 09-Sep-11 22-Sep-11 18-Oct-13 17-Feb-12 01-Apr-14 14-Nov-13

11.50 13.50 17.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 13.00 14.25 13.00 18.00 16.00 18.00 16.00 14.00 15.75 17.00 16.00 15.25

11.80 13.17 2.00 15.00 37.50 1.50 15.00 5.53 20.00 0.94 8.01 3.63 1.00 35.00 3.00 0.54 4.50 2.05

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

180.17

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

IFC

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Rating/Agency

12.00 Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Issue Value ($'mm)

Maturity Date

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

4.79

4.63

110.86

111.79

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

18-Dec-09

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.05

3.84

103.90

104.69

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

01-Apr-10

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

5.19

5.07

108.38

109.33

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

Corporate Eurobonds AFREN PLC I

11.50 FEB 01, 2016

01-Feb-11

11.50

450.00

01-Feb-16

3.82

2.97

111.29

112.64

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

4.97

4.10

104.37

105.93

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

6.08

5.84

99.68

100.61

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

7.03

6.41

100.59

102.30

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

8.67

8.26

94.27

95.55

AFREN PLC

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

4.94

4.07

113.32

114.90

ZENITH BANK PLC FIRST BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

6.39

6.09

99.41

100.66

B/S&P; B-/Fitch

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

7.26

6.56

103.42

105.92

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

AFREN PLC

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

5.44

5.09

104.56

105.96

B-/S&P; B/Fitch B+/S&P; B+/Fitch B+/S&P B/S&P; B/Fitch B/Fitch B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC FIDELITY BANK PLC

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

3,460.00

**Treasury Bills DTM 8 15 22 29 36 43 50

FIXINGS Maturity 24-Jul-14 31-Jul-14 7-Aug-14 14-Aug-14 21-Aug-14 28-Aug-14 4-Sep-14

Bid Discount (%) 10.00 10.55 10.35 10.55 10.50 10.40 10.50

Offer Discount (%) 9.75 10.30 10.10 10.30 10.25 10.15 10.25

Bid Yield (%) 10.02 10.60 10.41 10.64 10.61 10.53 10.65

Money Market

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 10.9583 12.5783 13.4040 14.4336

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards)

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

10.71

Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

O/N

10.96

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M

161.80 162.07 162.33 162.96 164.09

161.90 162.34 162.67 163.63 165.27

Tenor Call

REPO

Rate (%) 10.75

06-Jul-12

0.00/16.50

66.49

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

06-Jul-17

2.97

1.00

12.27

95.56

1,304.32

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto A-/GCR A+/Agusto A/Agusto Nil 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

44

KWARA NIGER KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS KOGI *EKITI *NASARAWA

14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014 14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 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 market capitalisation, rising 30-SEP-2020 by 14.75 0.13OSUN perII cent each.

13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 Nestle Nigeria; Total Oil 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 and Mobil Oil were some of 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 the15.00 securities responsible for NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

05-Aug-09 14.00 15-Oct-09 14.00 31-Aug-10 12.50 30-Sep-10 13.00 30-Jun-11 14.00 30-Jun-09 15.50 19-Apr-10 10.00 30-Jun-10 13.75 30-Dec-10 14.00 30-Sep-11 14.00 04-Oct-11 14.00 09-Dec-11 14.50 12-Dec-13 14.00 14-Feb-12 15.50 02-Oct-12 15.50 22-Nov-12 14.50 12-Dec-12 14.75 Specifically, the market cap30-Sep-13 14.75 italisation of equities appreci27-Nov-13 13.50 ated by N19 billion as market 31-Dec-13 15.00 sentiments remained positive.

31-Dec-13 14.50 At 06-Jan-14 the close of trading, 22 15.00

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 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 14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018 15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 16.00 cane DANA IIyield 1-APR-2019 sugar remains low at 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

25-Oct-13 30-Sep-10 30-Nov-12 09-Apr-11 09-Sep-11 09-Sep-11 22-Sep-11 18-Oct-13 17-Feb-12 01-Apr-14 they noted.

In 14-Nov-13 Q1 2014,

business | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS

17.00 05-Aug-14 0.05 6.00 15-Oct-14 0.25 8.50 31-Aug-15 1.13 16.50 30-Sep-15 0.73 13.00 30-Jun-16 1.25 18.50 30-Jun-16 1.25 57.00 19-Apr-17 2.76 50.00 30-Jun-17 1.80 25.00 31-Dec-17 3.46 50.00 30-Sep-18 2.43 9.00 04-Oct-18 4.22 20.00 09-Dec-18 2.63 12.00 12-Dec-18 2.63 27.00 14-Feb-19 3.01 20.00 02-Oct-19 3.08 80.00 22-Nov-19 5.35 30.00 12-Dec-19 3.14 ket capitalisation of equities 11.40 30-Sep-20 3.76 gained N19 billion or 0.13 per 87.00 27-Nov-20 6.37 cent from N14.189 trillion to 5.00 31-Dec-20 6.46 N14.208 trillion.

5.00 31-Dec-20 3.94 analysis of 3.97 the 5.00Further 06-Jan-21

1.56 12.44 100.04 3.29 14.17 99.84 4.44 15.16 97.29 3.23 14.02 99.86 4.46 15.24 98.78 3.48 14.26 101.52 5.59 16.83 85.36 1.00 12.02 Thursday, July102.79 17, 2014 1.79 13.10 102.41 1.80 12.98 102.29 1.00 12.37 105.18 1.00 12.21 105.05 4.78 15.99 96.09 1.00 12.28 105.37 1.00 12.28 108.16 1.00 12.50 107.59 2.74 14.03 101.79 On the activity chart, the 1.00 12.34 106.91 banking sub-sector dominat1.00 12.71 103.35 ed 1.94 in volume13.67 terms with 184.3 105.58 million shares worth N782 1.44 12.79 105.01 million in 1,501deals.

The 1.95 13.30 104.93sub Sanctity of Truth

Nigerian stocks record three-day high ASCENDING

Nigerian stocks sustain bullish rally TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Corporate Bonds

Stories by Chris Ugwu

A+/Agusto; AA/GCR LAFARGE WAPCO Aa/Agusto GTB µ Nil he market continued NGC its Bbb-/Agusto *UPDCall the positive streak with A-/Agusto *FLOURMILLS market performance indiBB+/GCR *CHELLARAMS cators, the NSE ASI and A+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO A-/Agusto FSDH A/GCR UBA BBB-/GCR *C & I LEASING BBB+/DataPro†; BB+/GCR *DANA# A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR *TOWER# AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR *TOWER# A/Agusto; A/GCR UBA Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR *LA CASERA BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR *CHELLARAMS# BBB/GCR angote’s second*DANA quarter A+/Agusto; A-/GCRin 2014 NAHCO earnings are ex-

T

the bullish activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday.

11.50 LAFARGE WAPCO 7-OCT 2014 The key benchmark indices 13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014 maintained positive trajectory 17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 to close in the green as bargain 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 hunters responded positively 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 in 14.00 anticipation of significant CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 second quarter results.

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016

stocks recorded price appreciation, while 26 others constituted the losers’ table.

07-Oct-11 11.50indicaThe twin market 13.50 Index tors, 18-Dec-09 the All-Share 01-Apr-10 rose by 58.71 basis 17.00 points or 17-Aug-10 0.13 per cent from10.00 42,971.56 09-Dec-10 12.00 recorded the previous day to 06-Jan-11 14.00 close 29-Sep-11 at 43,030.27, while mar13.00 14.25 13.00 18.00 16.00 18.00 16.00 14.00 15.75 17.00 16.00 15.25 grew

Dangote Sugar: Analysts forecast weaker Q2 earnings

D

just 30 tonnes/ha. Management anticipates yields could be raised to 100 tonnes/ha within the next 20 Supranational per cent in the short term, Bond analysts at FBN Capital have two10.20 years,” they said.

IFC 11-FEB-2018 AAA/S&P IFC forecast.

The analysts however, said TOTAL OUTSTANDING The experts in anVALUE equity re- they have increased their price search carried out and obtained target by 12 per cent to N10.0 Description Rating/Agency Issuer

by New Telegraph, attributed and EPS forecasts by about 7 per the anticipated weaker earn- cent on average over the 2014FGN Eurobonds ings to scheduled plant main- 15E period, following Dangote tenance its Lagos refinery as Sugar Refinery’s (DSR) Q1 2014 6.75 JAN 28, 2021 BB-/Fitch;at B+/S&P results, which came in ahead of well as gas supply concerns.

BB-/Fitch; FGN 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 They noted that raw sugar their estimates.

BB-/S&P price increases are also expected “We do not expect raw sugar BB-/Fitch; 6.38 JUL 12, 2023 to BB-/S&P weigh on earnings in Q2. prices to rise above US$0.20/lb in The analysts noted that fol- the near term due to a surplus TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE lowing discussions with man- globally and high inventory levCorporatethey Eurobonds agement, expect Savannah els. Our new price target implies 11.50 FEB Sugar a potential upside of01,72016 per cent B-/S&P; (the B/Fitch first farm-to-table AFREN PLC I project) to be earnings accretive from current levels.

DSR 7.50 MAY 19, 2016 shares GTBANK PLC I B+/Fitch have shed 20 6.00 perNOV cent ytd (ASI: byB+/S&P; 2016 at the earliest.GTBANK PLC 08, 2018 “Currently , only ACCESS 5,000 hect+4 per cent ) and are25,trading on 7.25 JUL 2017 B+/S&P BANK PLC ares (ha)B/Fitch has been cultivated, rep- a 2014E P/E multiple 6.88 MAY 09,of 20188.2x for B/S&P; FIDELITY BANK PLC resenting 20 per cent of targeted 11 per cent EPS growth in 2015E. 10.25 APR 08, 2019 B/Fitch AFREN PLC cultivation area. InZENITH addition, Neutral rating,” 6.25 APR 22, 2019 B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P BANK PLC We retain our TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE pected to be weak by about

day’s 572.90

trading showed that Nestle topped the gainers’ table with N12.90 to close at N1, 11.80 0.23 124.90, while07-Oct-14 Total Oil followed 13.17 N8.55 to 18-Dec-14 0.42 with close at N179.60 2.00 share. Mobil 31-Dec-14 Oil gained 0.46 per 15.00 17-Aug-15 N7.00 to close at N147.15. 0.60 37.50 09-Dec-15 0.92 On the flip side, Julius 1.50 06-Jan-16 1.00 Berger Plc led the losers’ 15.00 29-Sep-16 2.21 with a drop of N2.72 to close 5.53 25-Oct-16 2.28 at share, while 20.00N64.28 per 30-Sep-17 3.21 Oando Plc shed N1.13 to close 0.94 30-Nov-17 2.02 at 8.01N26.57.

09-Apr-18 1.98 3.63 1.00 35.00 3.00 0.54 4.50 2.05

09-Sep-18 09-Sep-18 22-Sep-18 18-Oct-18 17-Feb-19 01-Apr-19 14-Nov-20

2.15 2.15 4.19 2.26 2.34 3.46 6.33

sector was enhanced by the activities in the shares of Unity Bank and Skye Bank Plc. 1.00 11.88 99.83 Other financial services 5.21 16.09 98.91 acsub-sector boosted by the 8.71 tivities on the19.59 shares of 98.85 FBNH 96.29 Plc4.88 followed 15.72 with 25.4 million 1.00 100.59 units, worth11.71 N319 billion in 2.63 13.30 100.75 6361.00 deals. 12.14 101.58 When the 12.49 close of trading, 1.34 103.35 investors exchanged a total 1.00 12.29 101.78 of 1.88 317.2 million worth 12.98 shares,109.70 N3.06 in 5,098deals.

3.48 billion14.57 102.76 5.20 5.06 1.35 2.29 6.11 2.16 2.76

16.33 16.19 12.72 13.44 17.27 13.47 14.46

103.29 101.90 104.01 104.69 99.67 106.80 103.14

Emerging Capital Partners to sell 50% stake in Continental Re

PAT 10 per cent y/y to N3.8 billion. Although 180.17rivate equity firm Emergsales declined by 6 per cent y/y ing Capital Partners plans to N25.9 billion, a gross margin to sell its 50.6 per cent stake 11-Feb-13 10.20 12.00 11-Feb-18 3.58 expansion of 158bps to 27.8 per in Continental Reinsurance, 12.00 cent combined with a 31 per cent the African insurer said in a y/y decline in opex resulted in filing with the Nigerian Stock Issue PAT Date advancing Coupon by (%) 6 per Issue Value ($'mm) Maturity Date Bid Yield (%) PBT and Exchange (NSE). cent y/y and 10 per cent y/y to Emerging Capital Partners N5.8billion and N3.8billion re- is the majority shareholder spectively . in Continental Reinsurance, 07-Oct-11 6.75 500.00 28-Jan-21 4.79 Sequentially, sales were up which has operations in Cam18-Dec-09 (2 per cent 5.13 500.00 Ivory12-Jul-18 Coast, Kenya,4.05Nimarginally q/q). eroon, However, PBT and PAT were up geria and Tunisia.

01-Apr-10 6.38 12-Jul-23 5.19 markedly (338 per cent q/q and 500.00 The private equity firm ac196 per cent q/q respectively) on 1,500.00 cording to Bloomberg, first the back of a 306bp q/q expan- invested $25.8 million in the sion in gross margin and a 71 per insurer in 2007 for a 30 per 01-Feb-11 450.00 stake, 01-Feb-16 cent q/q reduction in 11.50 opex. cent to help increase 3.82 “Compared with 7.50 our esti- its 19-May-11 500.00underwriting 19-May-16 capacity 4.97 to mates, sales missed 6.00 by 12 per $80 from $15 million, 08-Nov-13 400.00million 08-Nov-18 6.08 Capital Partners cent. 25-Jul-12 However, PBT 7.25 and PAT Emerging 350.00 25-Jul-17 7.03 beat our forecasts by 19 said 09-May-13 6.88per cent 300.00 on its website.

02-May-18 8.67 and 13per cent respectively Continental Reinsurance 08-Apr-12 10.25 ,” the 300.00 08-Apr-19 4.94 experts said. did a reason for6.39 the 22-Apr-14 6.25 500.00 not give22-Apr-19

P

sale.

Shares in the insurer, which gained 62 per cent last 1.00 12.32 94.00 year, fell 4.27 per cent on yesterday to N1.12, valuing the company at 12.14 billion ($75.1 Offer Yield (%) Bid Price Offer Price mln).

Insurance companies in Prices & Yields economy are Africa's largest betting on growing premiums 4.63 110.86 111.79 as Nigeria develops its infra3.84 103.90 a consumer 104.69 structure and class that would demand pro5.07 109.33 tection from108.38 risk.

FBN Insurance launched a bid this month to buy out the 28.8 per cent minority stake in 2.97 Oasis Insurance that it 111.29 112.64 does a deal 4.10not already 104.37 own in 105.93 valued at N1.03 5.84 99.68 billion.

100.61 Continental 6.41 100.59Reinsurance, 102.30 Nigeria's second-largest 8.26 94.27 95.55 insurance firm, covers life 4.07 113.32 114.90and non-life business.

6.09 99.41 100.66

B/S&P; B-/Fitch

FIRST BANK PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

7.26

6.56

103.42

105.92

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

AFREN PLC

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

5.44

5.09

104.56

105.96

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

3,460.00

16-Jul-14

The FMDQ Bills Daily Quotations List (DQL) comprises market and model prices/rates of foreign exchange ($/N) products,FIXINGS fixed income securities and instruments in the OTC market. The use of this report is subject **Treasury Money Market Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) to the FMDQ OTC PLC TermsMaturity of Use and Disclaimer Statement. Offer Discount (%) DTM Bid Discount (%) Bid Yield (%) Tenor Rate (%)

8 24-Jul-14 10.00 9.75 15 31-Jul-14 10.55 10.30 FGN Bonds 22 7-Aug-14 10.35 10.10 29 14-Aug-14 10.55 10.30 36 21-Aug-14 10.50 10.25 Issuer Description Rating/Agency Issue Date 43 28-Aug-14 10.40 10.15 50 4-Sep-14 10.50 10.25 9.25 28-SEP-2014 28-Sep-07 57 11-Sep-14 10.80 10.55 4.00 23-APR-2015 23-Apr-10 64 18-Sep-14 10.65 10.40 13.05 16-AUG-2016 16-Aug-13 71 25-Sep-14 10.65 10.40 15.10 27-APR-2017 27-Apr-12 78 2-Oct-14 10.60 10.35 9.85 27-JUL-2017 27-Jul-07 85 9-Oct-14 10.40 10.15 9.35 31-AUG-2017 31-Aug-07 92 16-Oct-14 10.60 10.35 10.70 30-MAY-2018 30-May-08 99 23-Oct-14 10.55 10.30 NA NA 16.00 29-JUN-2019 29-Jun-12 106 30-Oct-14 10.70 10.45 7.00 23-OCT-2019 23-Oct-09 113 6-Nov-14 10.50 10.25 16.39 27-JAN-2022 27-Jan-12 120 13-Nov-14 10.80 10.55 14.20 14-MAR-2024 14-Mar-14 127 20-Nov-14 10.60 10.35 15.00 28-NOV-2028 28-Nov-08 141 4-Dec-14 10.50 10.25 12.49 22-MAY-2029 22-May-09 176 8-Jan-15 10.35 10.10 8.50 20-NOV-2029 20-Nov-09 190 22-Jan-15 10.30 10.05 10.00 23-JUL-2030 23-Jul-10 204 5-Feb-15 10.40 10.15 218 10.40 10.15 TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE 19-Feb-15 232 5-Mar-15 10.40 10.15 267 9-Apr-15 9.90 9.65 281 23-Apr-15 10.05 9.80 Description Rating/Agency Issuer 295 7-May-15 9.90 9.65 *from the Amortising #bonds, the average is Agency Bonds Risk Premium is a life combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums 0.00 AMCON 31-OCT-2014 (SR.5 TR.1) AMCON **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills 0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 FMBN 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 NA 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 ***LCRM 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

10.02 10.60 10.41 10.64 10.61(%) Coupon 10.53 10.65 9.25 10.99 4.00 10.85 13.05 10.88 15.10 10.85 9.85 10.66 9.35 10.89 10.70 10.86 16.00 11.04 7.00 10.85 16.39 11.20 14.20 11.01 15.00 10.94 12.49 10.89 8.50 10.88 10.00 11.04 11.09 11.14 10.67 10.89 Issue Date 10.76

28-Dec-11 24-May-10 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

Bonds

NIBOR

Tenor O/N 1M Outstanding 3M Value (N'bn) 6M

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto A-/GCR A+/Agusto A/Agusto Nil 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

OBB

10.71

Tenor

Spot O/N 10.96 7D Offer Yield 14D TTM (Yrs)REPO Bid Yield (%) (%) Tenor Rate (%) 1M Call 10.75 2M 100.00 28-Sep-14 0.20 10.99 10.25 1M 12.64 3M 535.00 23-Apr-15 0.77 10.77 10.05 3M 13.31 6M 500.27 2.09 11.22 11.14 NITTY 16-Aug-16 6M 13.96 1Y 452.80 27-Apr-17 2.78 11.32 11.26 Tenor Rate (%) 20.00 27-Jul-17 3.03 11.28 11.16 1M 10.6350 NOTE: 3.13 100.00 31-Aug-17 11.29 11.17 2M 10.7268 300.00 30-May-18 3.87 11.34 11.25 :Benchmarks 3M 10.8182 351.30 29-Jun-19 4.95 11.49 11.42 6M 10.9067 * :Amortising Bond 233.90 23-Oct-19 5.27 11.48 11.40 9M 10.9158 µ :Convertible Bond 600.00 27-Jan-22 12M 11.5808 AMCON: 7.54 Asset Management12.00 Corporation of 11.95 Nigeria 165.17 14-Mar-24 9.66 Government of 12.20 12.15 FGN: Federal Nigeria 75.00 28-Nov-28 14.37 12.18 12.15 FMBN: Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria 150.00 22-May-29 14.85 12.19 12.14 IFC: International Finance Corporation NIFEX 200.00 20-Nov-29 15.35 Contractors Receivables 12.19 12.14 LCRM: Local Management Current Price ($/N) 591.57 23-Jul-30 12.24 12.19 NAHCO:16.02 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company BID($/N) 161.8325 O/N: Overnight 4,375.01 OFFER ($/N) 161.9325 UPDC: UAC Property Development Company WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company # Risk Avg. Life/TTM Coupon (%) Issue Value (N'bn) Maturity Date Premium (Yrs)

(%)

0.00 0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 FMDQ0.00/16.50 FGN BOND

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Modified Duration Buckets KWARA NIGER <3 KADUNA 3<5 *EBONYI >5 *BENUE Market *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS

Rate (%) 10.9583 12.5783 13.4040 Maturity Date 14.4336

978.35 24.56 6.00 112.22 116.70 INDEX 66.49

31-Oct-14 24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.29 0.85 1.46 2.40 2.76 2.97

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

161.80 Price 161.90 162.07 162.34 162.33 162.67 Offer Price Bid Price 162.96 163.63 164.09 165.27 99.60 99.75 165.36 166.99 95.11 95.61 169.00 172.59 103.30 103.45 176.77 183.74 108.75 108.90 96.40 96.70 94.99 95.29 98.00 98.30 NA :Not Applicable 116.65 116.95 # :Floating Rate Bond 82.61 82.91 ***: Deferred coupon bonds 121.35 121.65 111.10 †: Bond rating expired 111.40 118.84 119.14 102.02 102.32 74.63 74.93 84.40 84.70 NGC: Nigeria-German Company UBA: United Bank for Africa

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

11.88 13.36 13.14 13.17 12.24 12.27

96.66 89.52 105.37 99.64 98.08 95.56

1,304.32 Porfolio Market Total Outstanding Value(Bn) Volume(Bn) 14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014 14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 1,009.20 953.07 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 1,137.89 951.30 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 682.79 756.74 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 2,829.88 2,661.11 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 30-SEP-2020 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020

Weighting by Outstanding Vol 05-Aug-09 15-Oct-09 35.81 31-Aug-10 35.75 30-Sep-10 28.44 30-Jun-11 100.00 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 30-Sep-13 27-Nov-13

Weighting by Mkt Value 14.00 14.00 35.66 12.50 40.21 13.00 14.00 24.13 15.50100.00 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

Bucket Weighting

17.00 6.00 8.50 16.50 13.00 18.50 57.00 50.00 25.00 50.00 9.00 20.00 12.00 27.00 20.00 80.00 30.00 11.40 87.00

0.36 0.36 0.28 1.00

% Exposure_ Mod_Duration 05-Aug-14 15-Oct-14 17.66 31-Aug-15 36.35 30-Sep-15 45.99 30-Jun-16 100.00 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 30-Sep-20 27-Nov-20

Implied Yield

0.05 0.25 11.28 1.13 11.84 0.73 12.24 1.25 11.92 1.25 2.76 1.80 3.46 2.43 4.22 2.63 2.63 3.01 3.08 5.35 3.14 3.76 6.37

Implied Portfolio Price 1.56 3.29 117.4795 4.44 133.0704 3.23 99.0862 4.46 117.8225 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

INDEX

12.44 14.17 1,115.82 15.16 1,126.79 14.02 1,155.92 15.24 1,119.19 14.26 16.83 12.02 13.10 12.98 12.37 12.21 15.99 12.28 12.28 12.50 14.03 12.34 12.71

YTD Return (%) 100.04 99.84 11.5816 97.29 12.6789 99.86 15.5921 98.78 11.9188 101.52 85.36 102.79 102.41 102.29 105.18 105.05 96.09 105.37 108.16 107.59 101.79 106.91 103.35

NEWS 45

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Chime: My successor must be man of the people service

Enugu governor thinks more of the people as politicians prepare for 2015

Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

A

s if to tacitly break the silence over what manner of person he would anoint to succeed him, Gover nor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State has revealed that those who would take over the reins of power from him “are people whose primary objective will be to serve the people”.

Chime, who was addressing a gathering of

9.91m

the Enugu Association USA INC (Enugu USA), the umbrella body of the people of the state resident in the United States of America, promised to sustain the current momentum of development in the state.

He told the group that he will take every democratically acceptable step to ensure that those who will succeed him in office “are people whose primary objective will be to serve the people of the state well”.

He spoke through his commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Dr. Jude Akubilo, when he was honoured with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Enugu Association USA. Chime’s clueless posture as to who would suc-

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions of Argentina in 2010.

Source: Itu.int

ceed him has remained a source of frustration to many politicians and political observers in the state; a situation that brought a huge lull to bear on all political activities in the state even as activities leading to the 2015 polls are supposed to be rolling off the ground by now.

However, those who seem to understand the governor and his brand of politics well say he has masterfully foisted that regime of lull to shorten the period during which much tension would grip the political landscape of the state.

The group, in a citation presented at its just concluded 2014 Annual Convention in Houston, Texas, said the governor was being honoured for

2,297

The number of people in refugee-like situation in Bhutan at the beginning of 2010.

Source: Blatantworld.com

his unprecedented records and achievements in “promoting the general welfare and prosperity of the people of Enugu State”.

It stressed that “the governor has radically transformed the lives of the people of the state through his critical interventions in all aspects of development in the state and by his visionary and exemplary leadership”.

Receiving the award during the ceremony held at the Marriot Westchase Hotel, Houston, Governor Chime thanked the body for the tremendous assistance that it has continued to render to his administration towards the actualization of the collective aspirations of Enugu people.

22%

The percentage of male population above 60 years old in Bulgaria in 2012.

Source: Un.org

We’ll find commissioner’s killers, says Orji Igbeaku Orji Umuahia

State government Ainbia will spare no effort finding the killers of

former Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Ken Nwosu, who died on Monday night from gunshot wounds by unknown gunmen.

Governor Theodore Orji, who made the declaration yesterday, said “We are determined and prepared to give them a fight.” The Governor noted that security has been uppermost in the priority of the state government, which he said, was necessary for businesses to thrive.

Accordingly, the government would do all

within its power to chase criminal elements out of the state.

The gover nor dropped the hint when the management team of the Zenith Bank Plc presented 10 double cabin patrol pick up vans to the state government.

He stated that Abia State must be made safe for business. He observed that the banks are partners with the state government in security, adding that during the kidnapping era, bankers were not spared.

This, he noted, affected their performance and productivity. The governor observed that since peace returned, businesses including banks have revived.

Igbo chiefs in America extend honour to Imoke Clement James Calabar

he Association of Nze, TUSA), Ozo and Chiefs (ANOCan umbrella of Ni-

gerians of Igbo extraction residing in United States of America has conferred an Award of Excellence on the Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke.

Presenting the award at the Governor’s office in Calabar on Tuesday, President of the association, Chief Jones Okeke, who was represented by Chief F. Akpamgbo, said the award was in recognition of Imoke’s achievement in the area of human and infrastructural development.

He lauded the governor for planning to leave a legacy of development behind, maintaining that his sterling leadership style has

translated into landmark achievements recorded in the area of rural transformation, education and capacity building.

Okeke pointed out that even though they were in the Diaspora, they have been keeping in touch and have followed closely programmes of governance at all levels back home, an interest, he said, has necessitated the choice of Imoke for the award, having gone through his scorecard.

Responding, the governor, who was apparently overwhelmed by the award said: “I know there are many people and many governors deserving of this award, but for you to identify me and the state for the award is humbling, and this would boost our morale in putting more effort in serving our people.”

Amosun makes new appointments

State Governor, Osungun Senator Ibikunle Amohas appointed four L-R, Producer, Airtel Touching Lives Programme, Patricios Spero; Managing Director/CEO, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya and Mrs Tijani Azizat, at the unveiling of Airtel Touching Lives CSR programme in Lagos…yesterday.

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Rep intervenes over collapsed bridge in Abia Igbeaku Orji Umuahia

T

he member representing Arochukwu/ Ohafia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Prince Arua Arunsi, has assured the Ndiebe community in Arochukwu Local Government Area of the reconstruction of the collapsed Igwu River Bridge linking the community with its neighbours.

The bridge, which was built in the 1960s, collapsed last week when a heavy duty vehicle loaded with concrete climbed it in an attempt to enter the community. Since then,

the people have been cut off from the rest of the state, as no vehicle can enter the village.

Arunsi gave the assurance when he visited the community to assess the extent of damage and sympathize with them.

According to the lawmaker, the matter had been brought to the notice of the House of Representatives under the matter of urgent public importance which ordered the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to commence immediate repair of the bridge.

The House of Representatives, he disclosed, also approved the distri-

bution of relief materials to victims of the collapsed bridge by the national emergency maintenance agency.

The community through their traditional ruler, Ezeogo Tu Obe and executive of the town union said the collapsed bridge has cut them off from their neighbours and made the evacuation of their farm produce.

They also thanked their representative for his concern and efforts made in repairing the bridge.

Similarly, the member representing Arochukwu in the Abia State House of Assembly, Chief Agwu U Agwu, has renewed his

appeal to the state government to carry out palliative work on the collapsed Igwu River Bridge, pending the construction of a standard bridge across the river. The appeal became necessary according to him, to enable the people have easy movement and interaction with their neighbours.

Agwu described a newspaper article on the bridge as misleading saying the writer could not differentiate between the Mmuri River Bridge in Ohafia LGA, which was rehabilitated by the state government and the Igwu River Bridge in Ndiebe, Arochukwu LGA

new aides on student and youth affairs as well as rectors for the state-owned Institutes of Technology, located in Ijebu Igbo, Igbesa, Itori and Sapade.

Also, the state government has constituted a new Governing Council for the Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun.

A statement signed

by Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, a lawyer, said the new special assistants, who will be sworn in at a date to be announced are Mr. Clement Olusegun (Student Affairs), Hon. Kunle Adegboyega, (Youth Affairs - Central), Mr. Rafiu Awoyemi (Youth Affairs - East) and Hon. Musefiu Lamidi (Youth Affairs - West).

The new rectors, whose appointments take immediate effect, are Prof.

(Mrs.) Jumoke BilesanmiAwoderu for the Institute of Technology, Ijebu Igbo; Dr. (Mrs.) Olufunke Olanike Akinkurolere for the Institute of Technology, Igbesa; Dr. Adeola Odedina for the Institute of Technology, Itori, and Dr. Kolawole Oyeyinka for the Institute of Technology, Sapade.

The statement said the 16-man council of TASUED is to be headed

by Professor Olufemi Bamiro, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, who will serve as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman.

Other members are Professor (Mrs.) Oluyemisi Obilade, who is the Vice Chancellor; Eng. Afolabi Sorinmade, Prof.

Ayo Alabi, Prof. Seun Omotayo, Dr. (Mrs.) Mulikat Salaam, Hon. Kunle Elegbede, Comrade Tunde Oladunjoye, High Chief George Afolabi Ibirinde and Chief Derin Adebiyi.

46 NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Ogoni group blasts elders over governorship slot demand diversionary

This is not about tribe or tongue. Some ogoni believe nothing is wrong with a nonOgoni governor Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

T

he Center for Peace and Development in Ogoni (CPDO), has described as deceptive and diversionary the clamour by some Ogoni leaders for somebody from the area to become the next governor in 2015, stressing that such pursuit would amount to the emergence of a “parochial and sectional governor.”

6%

The group said the 2015 governorship pursuit being canvassed by some Ogoni’s, as well as the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report run contrary to what most Ogoni’s want from the Nigeria.

President of the group, Barine Nnah urged Ogonis to prepare to change the leadership if the entire nationality will not be shortchanged and the dreams of the Ogoni to manage their own affairs be dashed forever.

The CPDO condemned the attempt to change the focus of the Ogoni people from seeking self-determination within the federal republic of Nigeria and reducing that vision to that of a mere Rivers

The percentage share of nuclear power of the world’s primary energy demand in 2005.

Source: Unesco.org

State governorship ambition of few individuals in 2015.

Nnah, who stated this in Port Harcourt, said Rivers needs a governor that will treat the entire state as his primary constituency and govern in the interest of all sections of the state.

While charging the Ogoni’s to change their leadership in order to ensure that their dreams and aspirations to manage their own affairs is not hindered, Nnah condemned the alleged attempt by some leaders to divert the focus of the Ogoni people from seeking self-determination within the federal republic of Nigeria to mere governorship ambition of a few individuals.

14%

The percentage of population under 15 years old in Bulgaria in 2012.

Source: Un.org

He said that those clamouring for an Ogoni governor were desperate to field a candidate to occupy the position, and did not speak on behalf of the Ogoni’s, just as he noted that the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) was not in support of the leaders who met a few days ago at a mini summit to chart the way forward in Ogoniland.

Nnah said: “We are concerned about the desperation of some Ogoni politicians to occupy government house in 2015 after governor Amaechi and should wonder if such desperation would serve the interest of all sections and people of Rivers State.

“We wish to clearly

1.14m

The number of air travel passengers of Port Harcourt airport (domestic wing) in 2012.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

state that while we are sympathetic to the Ogoni whose sacrifices and contributions to the restoration of democracy in Nigeria has not been rewarded, we do not see the

desperate pursuit for the emergence of an Ogoni governor in 2015 as representing a reward for the Ogoni whose demands are clearly contained in the Ogoni Bill of Rights.”

Anambra LP crisis deepens

Tony Okafor Awka

he leadership crisis TParty rocking the Labour in Anambra state

has deepened as the embattled state chairman of the party, Sam Oraegbunam has dragged it to court for unlawful removal.

The matter, New Telegraph gathered would come at the Federal High Court on September 25, for mention.

This is coming as the national leadership of Labour Party (LP), waded into the crisis advising the suspended acting State Chairman, Mr. Sam Osita Oraegbulam to maintain peace and stop further harassment of the party members in the State.

In a letter which was written to the suspended

Chairman by the national secretary of LP, Alhaji A.A Salam, and copied to the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Usman Gwary, the national leadership of LP directed Oraegbulam to stop further harassment and intimidation of members of the party in the state .

Salam in the letter said it was not in the interest of the party that its activities came to a halt after the November 2013 governorship election, which denied them the success of the mobilisation made in the party ahead of the election.

He reminded Oraegbunam that as an acting chairman, any other deputy chairman elected in the last congress could equally act as the chairman until a new congress is held to elect a new chairman.

Ebonyi voter’s registration: NULGE set to mobilise members Charles Onyekwere ABAKALIKI

he leadership of the NiTGovernment gerian Union of Local Employees

(NULGE) Ebonyi state Chapter has yesterday reiterated its readiness to mobilize its members across the thirteen local government areas to participate in the forthcoming voters' registration exercise scheduled to hold in the state.

The State President of L-R: Beneficiary, Safiya Aliyu; Chairman, Presidential Committee on Distribution of Relief and Rehabilitation of Flood Victims, Alhaji Sani Lugga; hamlet the union, Chief Leonard Head, Ungwan Turaki, Bauchi State, Alhaji Ayuba Garba and others, during the launch of distribution of relief materials to victims of insurgency and Nkah, said its members communal clashes in 10 states in Bauchi …yesterday would be enlightened and mobilized to participate in Temitope Ogunbanke the exercise as the election of bad leaders into office he Publicity Secretary would make them suffer.

According to him, workof the All Progressives ers are now more politiCongress (APC) Lagos State chapter, Joe Igbokwe has stressed the need presidency to the North APC and the defection of amawa, from Nasarawa to for President Goodluck will guarantee peace in some PDP governors to Edo, etc, it is fight to finJonathan to step down the country, Nigerians APC, I warned that there ish in order to remain in from contesting the 2015 should work toward it would be intimidation, power at all cost. presidency, warning that for peace to rein in the subterfuge, brigandage, “Whoever never knew Emmanuel Masha Jonathan’s ambition to country. He therefore told suppression, oppression, what happened in Nige- Port Harcourt rule Nigeria for 10 years Jonathan to forget his repression, force, harass- ria prior to June 12, 1993 women group, Evmay break Nigeria. re-election to pave way ment to fight APC. They and the advent of demoery Woman for Good Addressing a press for the North to produce first went to court to stop cratic rule will walk away conference in Lagos yes- President in 2015. the governors and failed. with the impression that Governance (EWOFGG) terday, Igbokwe said as an Igbokwe while speak- Now they have resorted democracy is all about seeking to maximize the activist and one of those ing on the circumstances to using stolen money to stealing, impunity and dividends of democracy who participated and wit- surrounding the impeach- buy lawmakers in vari- lawlessness, as has been in Rivers State has emnessed the struggle for de- ment of Murtala Nyako ous State Assemblies to demonstrated in the past barked on a campaign to mocracy in Nigeria from as governor of Adamawa impeach APC governors.

15 years. A government uplift good governance.

1985 to 1999, he believe State said: “Given the ac“Using the heavy, that has been so conThe group, which also strongly that any attempt tivities of President Good- weighty instrumental- demned and ridiculed in encourages more women

by President Jonathan to luck Jonathan and PDP ity of the federal govern- the international com- to get involved in politics seek for another term of today, it is now obvious ment, the presidency and munity for its clueless as 2015 approaches, said four years will endanger that total war has been the PDP have decided to handling of the ship of through prayers and conthe country’s politics and declared on the opposition decimate, and desecrate the State for years now, is sultations, the next Govcreate ethnic and reli- and democracy. the opposition by crude not the right government ernor of the state will gious tension in Nigeria.

“I saw it coming. Af- and rough tactics. From to lead Nigeria at this turn emerge through a peaceHe said if taking the ter the registration of Rivers State, Ekiti to Ad- of the century.” ful electoral process.

T

2015: Jonathan’s ambition may break Nigeria, Igbokwe warns

cally conscious than other unions in the councils because our duties bring us into direct interaction with politicians.

He noted that the union visited Abakaliki Local Government Area branch with the intention to unite the workers and ensure good relationship with their management.

“The visit would give us the opportunity of encouraging those that are doing well and generally correct areas of deficiencies while improving their welfare.

He noted that the councils’ leaderships would be urged to devout more time to activities of development centers, as most councils are performing well while the development centres are not.

Women group mounts campaign for good governance

A

Its president, Ms. Eyaalada Akari, who disclosed this in Port Harcourt said the group has put plans in place to ensure that government focus on more womenoriented programmes to aid the advancement of women in the state.

She added: “My group shall focus on the priorities of women, the girl child and the family unit and ensure that our children who are the future generation grow up confidently in a qualitative and conducive environment."

47

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

JOHESU sues NMA over strike Sola Adeyemo

Ibadan

HE Joint Health Sector TNigeria Union has dragged the Medical Associa-

L-R: PDP Women Leader, Mrs. Kema Chikwe; Vice-Chairman, Uche Secondus; Akwa Ibom Governor, Godswill Akpabio; National Chairman, PDP, Adamu Mu'azu and Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, at the grand breaking of Akwa Ibom PDP Permanent Headquarters in Uyo…yesterday

Julius Berger: Why 2nd Niger Bridge may not be ready soon Onah .O.Onah –Onitsha

ope for the completion of the 2nd Niger Bridge project as projected by the Federal Government during the ground breaking ceremony early this year in Onitsha Anambra State

by President Goodluck Jonathan may not be realized soon.

The contracting firm handling the project, Julius Berger International Construction Company revealed this yesterday.

New Telegraph authoritatively gathered from the Spokesman of the company Mr. Ojelabi Joseph, that the company is yet to get the right of the way from the Federal, Anambra and Delta State

H

Government, which is a must for the take off of the project.

He told New Telegraph that the stage they are now is installation of their asphalt yard, which is nearing completion. The company is also doing an access road inside Okoh in Delta State to the Bridge Head, aside the Engineering designs and drawing going on in Germany and Abuja respectively.

“But there is no cause of alarm because the project will take-off as soon as we have the right of the way where the bridge will pass through”.

The right of the way will only be handed over to us when government and owners of properties

along the way may have concluded their negotiation and compensation paid them.

“As I am talking with you, the Impact Assessment Officer, I learnt, is also talking with the property owners and the communities. We can only start the proper project as soon as this is concluded” he said.

New Telegraph also gathered that the bridge, which has two bye–passes will terminate on the Onitsha side where it will link the interchange at the Obosi bye-pass along Onitsha-Owerri Road and on Asaba end at Asaba Airport terminus.

When our reporter visited the project site,

the project manager, Mr. Pecky was not on hand to speak to him, but very few workers were seen carryout some installation of a machine while the rest of the site is still occupied and used by soil escavators from the River Niger for their commercial use.

M e a n wh i l e the spokesman of the company said that the time of the project will start to run when the projects commence in earnest, expressing the hope that there is no cause for alarm because according to him, the company’s policy was to always deliver quality project , that would stand the test of time and competition anywhere in the world.

Obanikoro, Agbaje’s ambition creates tension in Lagos PDP Wale Elegbede

ith the 2015 election still six months away, a crisis of confidence is already brewing among leaders of the Lagos chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over who will emerge as the gubernatorial candidate of the party in the state.

Since the advent of the Fourth Republic in 1999, the PDP has been playing second fiddle to the now APC in the governorship election in the state.

According to a leader of the party, who craved anonymity, the alleged polarization of leaders in the party stems from the purported governorship ambitions of the Minister of State for De-

W

fence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and the governorship candidate of the Democratic People’s Alliance (DPA) in 2007, Jimi Agbaje.

Obanikoro in 2007 contested on the platform of the PDP against the incumbent governor, Babatunde Fashola, coming second to the candidate of the now defunct Action Congress, who pulled 828,484 votes as against 389,088 votes garnered by Obanikoro.

Though the Minister has not made his decision to contest public, his core supporters in the party, who are mostly local government executives of the party in the state are already rooting for his emergence as the party’s candidate. How-

ever, some members of the state executive, who are said to be allies of a former National Deputy Chairman of the PDP Chief Olabode George, are firmly opposed to his ambition, saying that the former envoy can’t be the beneficiary of a ministerial slot and governorship ticket all within one year.

Speaking with New Telegraph on the surfacing of his banners in parts of Lagos, Obanikoro said: “I won’t stand here and tell you that the recent array of activities and awareness in Lagos PDP is about my interest in running for the governorship of Lagos State. If I decide to run, the media will be the first point of call and I will tell you that

I want to offer myself again for the office of the governor of Lagos State.

So, don’t equate banners with posters.”

Similarly, it was learnt that some elders of the party purportedly welcomed Agbaje into the PDP and assured him of their support in realising his aim at using the party’s platform in 2015.

Early yesterday, the campaign posters of Agbaje surfaced in the social media with the inscriptions: “Eko Initiative. JayKayok.

Jimi Agbaje for Governor 2015”. Already, there are indications that the pharmacist turned politician just concluded his tour of all 57 local councils in the state.

tion (NMA) to court over its ongoing strike, claiming that the medical organisation lacks the constitutional right to do so.

Among the defendants are the Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Registrar of Trade Unions, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Speaking at a press conference called by JOHESU in Ibadan yesterday, the General Secretary of Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions, Moshood Akinade, said

the doctors acted in an unprofessional manner by their refusal to treat patients, adding that COHESU has challenged the action of the doctors in court.

COHESU is of the claim that NMA lacks the constitutional right to call the strike because it is not a legally- registered trade union.

“We have presented eight points in court which will show that NMA is acting unconstitutionally when the court rules. Their strike is illegal and all what the doctors want is to scuttle the effort and agreement that JOHESU has reached with the Federal Government. The doctors are punishing the masses and denying them the right to medical care in government hospitals.

Reps summon Jega over reckless distribution of voters' card Philip Nyam

Abuja

of Representatives Htheouse yesterday summoned Chairman of the Inde-

pendent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega over alleged reckless distribution of voters' cards in some states.

The decision to invite the INEC boss and his management was taken after the adoption of a motion titled: “alleged haphazard distribution of permanent voters’ cards by the Independent National Electoral Commission and the imminent disenfrachisement of eligible voters in some states of the Federation” In the motion moved

by Hon Yakub Abiodun Balogun (APC, Lagos), the lawmaker argued that it was imperative that INEC

should present its progress report on the distribution of the permanent voters cards within the next 48 hours to the House Committee on Electoral Matters.

He reminded the House that INEC is the body empowered by the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) to conduct elections in Nigeria.

He noted that part of the responsibilities of INEC was to ensure free, credible and peaceful elections as well as the provision of voters’ cards to all eligible Nigerians.

Balogun, however, expressed worry that available reports from states where the distributions were presently ongoing indicated that INEC had not been able to effectively replace all the temporary voters’ cards with permanent ones in those states.

Amaechi is fighting for Rivers, says Abe Emmanuel Masha

Port Harcourt

he senator representTSenatorial ing Rivers South-East District in the

National Assembly, Magnus Abe, has said that the path Governor Chibuike Rotimi has taken was not for his own selfish interest, but the for the generality of the people of the state.

He said there was need for the people of the state to continue to support Amaechi, who he noted was fighting for their betterment.

"Our leader, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, is clear with what we want for Rivers State. He is not fighting for himself; he is fighting because of

us, so that our state will be better; we made him governor and nobody can stay anywhere and dictate to Rivers people.

If they want anything they should talk to him," he said.

Abe, who stated this while receiving almost 90 members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) at Afam, the headquarters of in Oyigbo Local Government Area to APC, assured the new members, mostly broom wielding men, women and youth, that they will not regret their decision because they are in the right party.

The Senator, who danced around them, said “you will be carried along.”

osun 2014

48 NEWS

Sambo: We’ll reclaim Osun mandate

Mr. Vice President sure of PDP victory come August Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

T

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Campaign Committee for the Osun State governorship election yesterday met in Abuja ahead of the August 9 governorship poll.

The committee, headed by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, met for about one and a half hours at the PDP Presidential Campaign Office,

Legacy House, Abuja.

The party’s governorship candidate for the election, Senator Iyola Omisore, was present at the meeting.

In his opening remarks shortly before the meeting went into a closed-door session, VicePresident Sambo assured that the committee was committed to reclaiming the state, which he said belonged to the PDP in the first place.

“The President wants Osun to be brought back where it belongs. Osun State belongs to the PDP. The people there did not get there through election process.

“PDP is a party that respects elders, traditional

rulers, the youth, women and everybody. We are a peaceful party and we are looking forward to having a peaceful election in Osun and I want to assure you that the mandate that was taken through the back door will come back to PDP as it was seen after the election in Ekiti State.

“The people will now have the chance to choose for themselves where they belong and they belong to the PDP,” the vice-president said.

He added that the president has promised free and fair election in Osun State, noting that the meeting was for the committee to strategise and ensure that the peo-

ple are given the opportunity to decide who holds their mandate.

With barely three weeks to the August 9 governorship election, there are indications that the PDP national campaign rally in Osogbo, the state capital, might hold before the end of the month.

The party’s success in Osun State will further boost its chances of retaking the South-West, which it lost to the opposition party in 2011, having won Ekiti State last month.

Governorship election will hold in three SouthWest states of Lagos, Oyo and Ogun in next year’s general elections.

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Laoye-Tomori woos traders Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

sun State Deputy OTitilayo Governor, Mrs. Grace Laoye-Tomori,

yesterday called on market men and women in the state to troop out en masse and participate in the sensitisation rally organised to educate market women on the need to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the August 9 election.

The deputy governor made the call in Osogbo at a programme organised at the popular Igbona, Oluode and Oja Oba markets in Osogbo, to attend to loan seeking traders.

She urged the market

women not to succumb to the antics and manipulation of the opposition, advising them to guard their voters’ cards jealously and desist from giving them to the opposition, who are hell bent on returning the state to its dark days.

“Also, youths in the state should avoid the temptation of being used as thugs by desperate politicians who are perpetrating plans to seize power at all cost.

“Your actions and inactions are strong determinants to the future and that is why you should not allow yourselves to be bought over by money bag politicians.”

Stop politicising civil service, Akinwusi tells governor Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

he governorship canTDemocratic didate of the Social Party (SDP)

in Osun State, Mr. Olusegun Akinwusi, yesterday told Governor Rauf Aregbesola to stop politicising the state civil service in his bid to garner votes ahead of the election on August 9.

Akinwusi, in a statement in Osogbo, also accused the Aregbesola administration of sharing money and rice to induce and buy workers’ support.

He said: Large sums of money are regularly L-R: Member, Senate Committee on Privatisation, Senator Barnabas Gemade; Senator Ibrahim Gobir; and Secretary to the Committee, Senator Abubakar Tutare and Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, during the committee's courtesy call on the governor at the Government House, Osogbo…yesterday disbursed to local govern-

Military deployment: Aregbesola’s court action exposes his agenda, says Omisore

lPDP is anti-democratic, has no respect for rule of law, APC

O

sun State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyiola Omisore, yesterday said he has uncovered moves by the Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, to stop the deployment of military and other security agencies into the state during the forthcoming election.

Omisore in a statement made available to newsmen by his Director of Publicity and Strategy, Prince Diran Odeyemi, said: “Our attention has been drawn to an anti-law and order litigation just filed by Governor Aregbesola to stop the lawful deployment of military and other security agencies to provide security during the forthcoming governorship election.

“We find it reprehensible that a supposed chief security officer of a state can take judicial action to stop the maintenance

of law and order while he actively armed thugs and miscreants to cause mayhem.

“The court action has exposed the governor’s hidden agenda to unleash mayhem on the people before, during and after the August 9 election.

“The latest act of Governor Aregbesola has lent credence to the fact that he is training a killer squad known as ‘State boys,’ who he has been flaunting at several fora to kill and maim those who do not share the same political belief with him.

“Already, his thugs are attacking citizens in many towns and villages even before the date of election.

“The question to ask Aregbesola is, why would a governor rush to court to stop the President from deploying military if that is what will guarantee the safety of the people dur-

ing the poll as witnessed in Ekiti recently?

Reacting to the allegations, however, APC Director of Publicity and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, said in a separate statement that “the PDP is anti-democratic and it has no respect for the rule of law.

“Our primary law, which is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has no provision whatsoever for the use of military in the electoral process. The use by the PDP of the military is the height of cowardice usually associated with dictatorship.

“If the PDP is popular, what does it need soldiers for in a democratic election. Only gangsters in banana republics resort to the use of the military to conduct election.”

But the PDP insisted that “it is on record that Aregbesola’s campaign slogan of recent has

been, rig and roast, take charms and amulet to polling booths.

“This is unbecoming of the governor, who had threatened that the PDP will have to march on blood to win Osun governorship. It is now crystal clear that the APC has prepared its ‘standing army’ to unleash mayhem on the people because we are inundated daily with attacks on PDP supporters across the state.”

ment workers to buy their conscience.

“I appeal to the workers to be wary of the governor’s antics, for it is a mockery for a regime that failed to recognise the worth and importance of civil servants in the last four years to wake up four weeks to election to curry their favours.

According to the former Head of Service (HoS), public servants are saddled with the sacred duty of ensuring continuity of government institutions and are expected to be anonymous, neutral and impartial and therefore should enjoy security of tenure.

LP governorship candidate promises enabling environment Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

he governorship canTParty didate of the Labour (LP), Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, yesterday promised to create an enabling environment that would make the youth thrive in their chosen fields by providing the needed training and resources that would be required.

Akinbade, who gave the assurance while addressing a cross section of youths in Ilesha, during the party’s

campaign, said; “We shall establish skills acquisition centres as platforms for providing gainful employment for our teeming youths, who are not engaged.”

He also said that “skills acquired by the youth would be enduring and will help create wealth and reduce poverty.

“To really bring this to the fore, emphasis will be placed on the development of medium enterprises for the purpose of structural transformation.”

Police arrest seven for disturbing public peace were said to have conState police com- the state.

Ohassun mand yesterday said it Before their arrest, the fronted the police while arrested seven people thugs were said to have trying to resist arrest. it described as political thugs causing problems in the state.

The report said those arrested were members of the alleged political group known as the ‘State Boys,’ who had been accused of fomenting trouble in different parts of

clashed with the police while returning from the re-election campaign of the APC in Ilesha.

The arrested members, who were said to be caught with dangerous weapons like guns, knives, axes, clubs, broken bottles and others,

Sources at the scene of the incident, who identified himself as Ogunsanya Adenifuja, hinted also that the drama that ensured as a result of the development, disturbed the free flow of vehicles while people around the vicinity ran for safety.

AFRICA | NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

49

Malawi police probe ballot box fire after disputed count

M

alawi police are investigating a fire in a government warehouse that destroyed ballot boxes containing votes from a disputed election just days after a court ordered a recount, a spokesman said yesterday.

Opposition parties claim that the fire was deliberately

started to destroy evidence that could have overturned the parliamentary victory of a member of newly elected President Peter Mutharika’s party. Police Inspector General Lot Dzodzi told state television that police had called in experts to probe the fire, which happened, Monday night.

The warehouse contained

1,500 ballot boxes, gas cylinders and gas lamps used during the May 20 elections. Last week, a high court in the capital Lilongwe ordered a recount of the votes in a constituency that was won by Bently Namasasu, a candidate for Mutharika’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Opposition Malawi Congress Party candi-

date Ulemu Msungama, who lost the election by 98 votes, had challenged the results and the case was due back in court, Thursday.

“We are suspicious of the fire because it comes after a court order to recount the votes.

We believe it is a grand conspiracy to hide the truth,” Ken Ndanga, a spokesman for the opposition United Democratic

Front, told AFP. “We are yet to establish the cause of the fire,” chief elections officer Willie Kalonga told AFP. The electoral commission does not link the fire to the court dispute at this stage and will await the results of the police investigation, he said.

Despite widespread allegations of cheating, outgoing president Joyce Banda conceded defeat.

Egypt: Life jail for sex criminals

A

Workers and officials store ballot boxes at the Malawian Electoral commission headquarters

Mali peace talks start in Algiers after prisoner swap

M

ali’s government and rebels held peace talks in Algiers yesterday to end decades of uprisings by northern Tuareg tribes after an exchange of prisoners helped to get the negotiations started. Mali’s vast desert north ,called Azawad by the rebels - has risen up four times since independence from France in 1960, most recently last year, when French forces intervened to drive back Islamists who had taken advantage of a Tuareg-led rebellion and were advancing on the south. The talks are the first since fighting in the Tuareg stronghold of Kidal killed around 50 Malian soldiers in May. The light-skinned Tuaregs and Arabs perennially accuse black African governments in the capital Bamako of excluding them from power.

France, Mali’s northern neighbor Algeria and the West Africa regional bloc ECOWAS are all pushing for talks despite deep distrust between Bamako and rebels, and among the separatist groups.

The negotiations, which include representatives of the United Nations, European Union and the African Union, are aimed at aimed at laying out a framework for a broad peace deal.

“The government is committed to talks in good faith, in a spirit of openness and confidence, to reach a definitive agreement with our brothers

in the north,” Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said, according to the Algerian state news agency APS. Algeria’s government said it had helped to broker the prison swap - 45 civilians and troops from the government in exchange for 42 members and sympathisers of rebel movements - before the talks started. Three main rebel groups - the Tuareg MNLA and High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA), as well as the Arab Movement of Azawad (MAA) - have sought to unify their positions, but there are divisions within the different Tuareg factions and between Tuareg and Arab separatist groups. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was elected last year partly for his reputation for taking a firm stand against previous uprisings, and is under pressure from the more densely populated south not to give in to rebel demands.

But the army’s inability to defeat rebel forces has severely undermined Bamako’s position. The U.N. Security Council has warned that failure to hold inclusive talks could further radicalise rebel fighters.

Talks advanced in June after a preliminary accord. But analysts said the rebels had yet to make concrete, coherent proposals and overcome splits in their ranks. Andrew Lebovich, a New York-based researcher and analyst on the

Sahel region, said an agreement was possible in Algiers, but a deal signed outside Mali would not necessarily carry weight with the diverse and fragmented fighters on the ground. “An agreement is only one step in a much longer process, and a deal itself will not guarantee or even potentially lead to a resolution to the various conflicts in northern Mali,” he said.

French troops were dispatched to Mali last year to force back al-Qaeda linked Islamist militants who occupied swathes of northern Mali.

Isolated attacks by Islamists have continued in northern Mali despite the presence of thousands of French and U.N. peacekeepers. A French soldier was killed this week in the first suicide attack on French forces in Mali. Paris is in the process of reorganising its deployment in the region, with its 1,700 soldiers in Mali being folded into a broader, Sahel-wide counterterrorism force.

n Egyptian court sentenced seven men to life in prison yesterday for sexual assaults on women during public rallies in Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, in the first such heavy sentences since the government vowed to crack down on rampant sexual violence.

Sexual harassment has long been a problem in Egypt, but assaults have become more frequent and brutal over the past three years of turmoil, with frenzied mobs targeting women who take part in political gatherings.

The charges stemmed from four different incidents of sexual assault this year and last year, including one during celebrations of the inauguration of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in June.

Videos of the brutal attacks posted online caused a public outcry, and pushed the new leader to make the highest profile condemnation of the escalating phenomenon and order a crackdown on perpetrators. A week later, 13 suspects were sent to trial in a speedy referral aimed to send a message of deterrence.

The various charges against the defendants ranged from attempted rape,

kidnapping and assault to torture and attempted murder.

The maximum sentence was life in prison.

In a nationally televised session yesterday, the judge sentenced the seven men to life in prison. Three of them received multiple life sentences for taking part in different assaults.

Another two men each received two 20-year sentences. The men were to be placed on surveillance for five years once they finish their sentences. They were also ordered to pay financial compensation.

In one of his last decisions before stepping down in June, Adly Mansour, Egypt’s interim president and el-Sissi’s predecessor, decreed sexual harassment a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

The decree amended the country’s existing laws, which did not criminalize sexual harassment. Harassers face between six months to five years in prison, with harsher sentences reserved for offenders holding a position of power over their victims, such as being a woman’s superior at work or being armed.

Four dead in Burkina Faso blast

F

our people were killed and dozens wounded when an illegal explosives cache blew up accidentally in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s top security official said yesterday.

“Two of the dead have been identified and parts of human remains have been found in the rubble belonging to two (other) people,” national security head Omer Batiolo told reporters, ruling out an attack. He said 32 of a reported 38 people injured in the blast early Tuesday evening had been taken to hospital.

A medical source said seven people were in a serious condition, including a woman who underwent emergency surgery. Batolio said the explosives had been intended for use in illegal mining operations.

The blast damaged or destroyed 21 houses within a 100-metre (-yard) radius, he said.

The location of the blast near the home of a traditional leader who has joined opposition sparked rumours that it may not have been accidental.

South African plane hits turbulence, 20 injured

S

evere turbulence struck a South African Airways plane that was heading to Hong Kong, injuring 20 people before the aircraft landed safely on yesterday, the airline said. Medics were waiting at the Hong Kong airport to assist passengers on SA286, which had

departed Johannesburg on Tuesday, the airline said in a statement.

Television footage showed rescue workers wheeling one injured passenger on a stretcher. Three crewmembers and 17 passengers were injured, airline spokesman TlaliTlali said.

The Hong Kong fire department said two people were critically injured. The victims were taken to three hospitals. The airline said 165 passengers were on the Airbus 340-300 when the turbulence hit the aircraft as it flew over Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.

50 WORLD | NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Swedish court upholds arrest warrant for Assange

A

Swedish court yesterday upheld an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who has spent two years at Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault. Swedish prosecutors want to question As-

sange over the allegations made by two female former WikiLeaks volunteers. Assange denies the allegations and has been fighting a legal battle against extradition since his arrest in Britain in Dec. 2010.

Assange says he fears Sweden could in turn extradite him

Ukraine: Bloody day as more bodies are discovered

F

ighting raged in Ukraine’s east on yesterday when separatists tried to break through the lines of government forces near the border with Russia and a tentative step towards agreeing conditions for a ceasefire failed.

Eleven more Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the space of 24 hours while hundreds of bodies of rebels were found in shallow graves in a former separatist stronghold, the army said.

Fighting has escalated sharply since Friday with the downing of a Ukrainian military transport plane and the deaths of civilians in air and artillery attacks on residential areas on both sides of the border, which Russia and Ukraine have blamed on each other.

Accusations of direct Russian involvement in the three and a half month conflict, in which hundreds have died, is being pushed hard by Ukraine to persuade the United States and its European allies to impose tougher sanc-

to the United States to be tried for one of the largest leaks of classified information in U.S. history. “All in all, the district court makes the assessment that the reasons for the arrest warrant offset the infringement and adverse effects the measure entails for Julian Assange,” District court judge Lena Egelin said. “He should therefore continue to be wanted for arrest in his absence.”

Assange’s lawyers have argued the arrest warrant should

be repealed because it cannot be enforced while Assange is in the embassy and the Swedish prosecutor had not considered the possibility of interrogating him in London. Thomas Olsson, one of Assange’s Swedish lawyers, said he would appeal the verdict.Ecuador, which has granted Assange political asylum, wants London to assure him safe passage to Quito.

But Britain has surrounded the Ecuadorian embassy with police officers round the clock

ready to detain him if he leaves it. British police say they have spent 6 million pounds ($10.28 million) from June 2012 until March this year on policing costs at the Ecuadorian embassy. In an interview with Reuters last year, Assange said he would not leave the sanctuary of the embassy in London even if Sweden stops pursuing sexual assault claims against him because he feared arrest on the order of the United States.

tions on Russia. In telephone conversations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, late on Tuesday, President Petro Poroshenko again set out evidence of fighters crossing into Ukraine from Russia with heavy military equipment, his website said.

“Everything which is happening in Ukraine has been planned by Russia since 2004.

Putin has a clear plan and that is to destroy Ukraine and establish his influence over post-Soviet space,” he said in a public speech carried by his website.

Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s defense and security council, told journalists that separatists had kept up attacks overnight on government positions along the border.

Government troops had been ambushed by separatists at Izvarino on the border and there had been early morning clashes near the border settlement of Stepanivka when separatists tried to break out of encirclement by the army.

Julian Assange’s lawyer Tomas Olsson centre talking to the Media prior to a public court hearing yesterday.

Israeli navy kills four Palestinian kids in Gaza

F

our Palestinian children were killed and one was critically wounded on a Gaza beach yesterday by a shell fired by an Israeli naval gunboat, a Palestinian health official said.

Asked about the incident, an Israeli military spokesman in Tel Aviv said he was checking the report. “The kids were playing football on the beach. They were all under the age of 15,” said Ahmed Abu Hassera, 22.

“When the first shell hit the land, they ran away but another shell hit them all,” said Abu Hassera, whose shirt was stained with blood. “It looked as if the shells were chasing them,” he told Reuters. Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the

Gaza Health Ministry, said four of the youngsters were killed and a fifth youth was in critical condition.

“This is a cowardly crime,” he said. The Gaza beach area has been shelled frequently since Israel began its offensive in the enclave on July 8 following a surge in Palestinian crossborder rocket strikes. Gaza health officials said 207 Palestinians, most of them civilians, had been killed in air and naval barrages, in the worst flareup of Israeli-Palestinian violence in two years. One Israeli has been killed by shelling from Gaza that has made a race to shelter a daily routine for hundreds of thousands in Israel.

Bomb scare shuts down Louisiana university campus

S

tudents at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette were told to stay in their on-campus apartments and commuters were sent home yesterday morning, after police found a suspicious device in a park next to the campus.

Lafayette police spokesman Kyle Soriez says police received a phoned-in threat shortly after 5:35 a.m. that a bomb had been placed at Girard Park, which sits next to

the sprawling, 1,500-acre university campus. Soriez said police and fire-fighters located what they believed was a suspicious device in a trash can. He said authorities had not yet attempted to remove it.

Soriez didn’t have a description of the device. State police said they were sending a hazardous materials team. The university is one of Louisiana’s largest with an enrollment of nearly 18,000 students.

Confident Assad launches new term in stronger position

B

ashar al-Assad was sworn in for a new term as Syria’s president on yesterday, after an election which his opponents dismiss as a sham but which he said proved he had achieved victory after a “dirty war” to unseat him.

Once written off in the West as certain to fall, he launches his seven-year term in his securest position since the early days of the three-year-old war.

Those close to Damascus say he now believes his Western and regional foes will be forced to deal with him as a bulwark against Sunni Islamist militants who advanced across northern Iraq last month.

At his inauguration he delivered a defiant speech, vowing to recover all Syria from Islamist insurgents and warning that Western and Arab countries would pay dearly for supporting rebels he described as terrorists.

Looking calm and confident, the president of 14 years repeatedly took aim at the West and Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab monarchies who have funded and armed the rebels that have taken control of much of the north and east of his country.

“Soon we will see the Arab, regional and Western states that supported terrorism pay a high

price,” he said in the speech at the presidential palace in Damascus, broadcast on state TV. “I repeat my call today to those who were misled to put down their guns, because we will not stop fighting terrorism and striking it wherever it is until we restore security to every spot of Syria,” Assad said. But with swathes of the country still in rebel hands, opponents said the speech showed Assad was delusional.

“This is completely separated from reality. Assad is going on as if everything is normal and as if he didn’t lose two-thirds of the country,” Monzer Akbik of the Western-backed National Coalition opposition group told Reuters.

“It was a theatrical election and this is a theatrical swearing in.”Syria’s war has been the battleground for a sectarian struggle between groups supported

by Sunni Muslim states including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and Assad’s government backed by Shi’ite Iran. Last month it spread dramatically in Iraq, where an al Qaeda offshoot operating on both sides of the frontier, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), seized cities, changed its name to the Islamic State and declared its leader ruler of all Muslims.

ISIL has officially been rejected as a terrorist group by the Gulf states that support other Sunni fighters in Syria, but Damascus, Baghdad and Tehran all blame the Gulf kingdoms for supporting the wider Sunni militancy that feeds it. Since advancing in Iraq, ISIL has also expanded its reach in Syria, using weapons seized from the fleeing Iraqi army to fight against rival rebel factions in Syria. Those around Assad now feel that the ISIL threat will force Western leaders to seek a way to work with him against the common foe, said Salem Zahran, a Lebanese political analyst who is sympathetic to Assad and meets Syrian officials regularly. “The Syrian leadership truly feels that the time of isolation is over.”

Assad took power in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez who ruled for three decades. He has held firmly onto control in Damascus since the revolt began, defying confident predictions by Western leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, that he would be swiftly toppled. The revolt, which began with pro-democracy protests in 2011 that Assad dismissed in his speech as the “fake Arab Spring”, rapidly descended into sectarian civil war in which more than 170,000 people have been killed.

SPORT

NEW TELEGRAPH

newtelegraphonline.com/sports

ADEKUNLE SALAMI, DepUTY Editor, SPORTS

kunle.salami@newtelegraphonline.com adekunles@yahoo.com

AUTHORITATIVE VOICE IN GLOBAL SPORT

51

Did you know?

Bulgaria was the only soccer team in the 1994 World Cup in which all 11 players’ last names ended with the letters “OV.”

thursday, july 17, 2014

Sunshine Stars emerge FIFA’s second casualty

lFalconets, Eaglets may be next in line

By Emmanuel Tobi

S

unshine Stars of Akure on Wednesday, became the second casualty of the crisis rocking Nigerian football after the an international friendly match involving the club and Benin Republic in Cotonou, was called off following FIFA suspension on Nigeria.

The FIFA ban already cost former FIFA referee Linus Mba a CAF appointment for this weekend.

“The match did not take place as planned because of the FIFA ban on Nigeria, which forbids any international football contact with Nigeria,” a Benin FA official revealed.

Benin had planned to use this test game to prepare for a 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Malawi in Cotonou on

Sunday.

Sunshine Stars are now due back in Nigeria by weekend after being in Cotonou for several days.

Similarly, the Falconets are on the verge of being replaced at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Canada if the Nigeria Football Federation board is not reinstated, while U-17 male team, the Golden Eaglets face elimination the team was due to take on their DR Congo counterparts on Sunday in a qualifying match billed for Kinshasa.

I’m not scared of Fabregas –Mikel

Blatter

Mikel

Emmanuel Tobi

S

uper Eagles and Chelsea midfielder, Obi Mikel has maintained that he is not scared of his club’s new acquisition, Cesc Fabregas, despite his limited playing time at the London club.

Chelsea are looking to offload the midfielder with clubs in Italy claiming they have been offered the Nigerian for £5million.

With Fabregas joining the club in a £30m deal from Barcelona, Mikel’s chances for regular football will be

Fabregas

lAs Chelsea to offload Eagles star for £5m

even rarer.

Mikel had a not too impressive performance at the Brazil 2014 World Cup where he played in all of Nigeria’s games as the Super Eagles reached the second round and were beaten by France, but the 23-year-old star has maintained that he was not scared by Fabregas’ arrival.

He said: ‘I don’t have a problem with the signing of Cesc Fabregas,’ ‘We have played against each other a lot of times

when he was at Arsenal. We don’t play in the same position anyway.’

Mikel started just 11 Premier League games for Chelsea last season as he struggled for game time alongside Nemanja Matic, Willian and Ramires.

Chelsea coach, Jose Mourinho, revealed that Fabregas was exactly what his side needed as he plot a title challenge for next season.

“He is the kind of player we [Chelsea] need,” Mourinho said.

“Not just for his qualities as a player, but also his competitive personality.

“He is a player in the best years of his career – 26, 27, 28. He knows England well, he knows the Premiership well, so he will not need time to adapt.

“I think he is the kind of player who will come and train for a couple of weeks and be ready to prove himself.”

52 SPORT

A

controversial dance by a group of Germany international players during the World Cup festivities in Berlin on Tuesday has triggered a debate in the country over how to celebrate winning the tournament.

On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands welcomed Die Nationalmannschaft back home on the streets of Berlin and the “Fan Mile”, where the official party for the world champions took place in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

The Germany players, who had been living in apartments of six at the Campo Bahia -- the squad’s tournament base in Brazil -- were called out in groups by the presenters of the show, and had thought of special ways to take the stage.

Flat mates Andre Schurrle, Mario Gotze, Miroslav Klose, Toni Kroos, Roman Weidenfeller, and Skhodran Mustafi entered the stage stooping and singing “that’s

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

FIFA WORLD CUP FALL-OUT

German players criticised over

Pellegrini rejects Brazil coaching job

celebratory dance how the Gauchos walk”, before standing tall and singing “and that’s how the Germans walk” -- a fan chant originating from the Bundesliga at the beginning of the century, used to belittle defeated opponents.

While the capacity crowd of 300,000 at the Brandenburg Gate celebrated the “Gaucho dance”, it did not go down too well with parts of the German media, who dubbed the performance “Gauchogate” and questioned whether it is right to ridicule an opponent defeated in a World Cup final.

anchester City manager M Manuel Pellegrini has reportedly rejected the op-

“The celebrations at the Brandenburg gate turned into a gigantic own goal,” the conservative broadsheet FAZ said, and complained that “the German world champions jeopardised their image as an open minded, tolerant nation.”

The left-wing paper Taz published a highly critical article on the German football association’s marketing efforts at the celebration, stating: “The absurd staging of the marketingfan-mile-truck-parade was crowned by a performance of the Nationalmannschaft lacking modesty.”

German players doing the controversial dance routine

Ozil donates N65.7m German victory celebration: Thieves make off with beer truck to Gaza children

G

er man police on Wednesday were hunting thieves who made off with 10 truckloads of beer while the country was distracted

by World Cup football fever.

“We’re following up on two or three leads,” said a police spokeswoman from the western city of Krefeld, where the pallets of beer were stolen from

a warehouse sometime between last Thursday evening and Monday morning.

The thieves carried away some 300,000 litres of canned beer while Germans were transfixed by their team’s heroics in Brazil, beating Argentina in the final on Sunday.

Appealing for help from the public, police in the state of North

Rhine-Westphalia said: “Has anyone noticed a very large amount of beer? Does anyone have information about where it could be stored?”

The police spokeswoman told AFP that there was no indication the beer had ended up in the hands of the vast and jubilant crowds who welcomed the national team home on Tuesday.

England can learn from world champs – Grant

ormer Chelsea manager FEnglish Avram Grant believes that clubs as well as the

national side can learn from the newly crowned world champions, Germany.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Grant said: “We need to compliment the German Football Association. They left Jogi (Joachim Löw) to be the coach, and since 2006 they have lost every important game, finals and semifinals.”

The former Portsmouth manager went on to say: “It

was a big difference from Germany of the old days when they won titles, but they stuck with his philosophy.

“Spain have a good philosophy of football and Germany have (created) a good philosophy of football over the last eight years, even when they haven’t won.

This is not a typical German style it is completely different. They are passing the ball and it is less physical and aggressive.”

The 59-year-old who

spent four years as a coach in England has also heaped criticism on the way that British clubs hire and fire on a regular basis.

The former West Ham manager said: “In English clubs and associations, if Jogi was the coach he would have been sacked.

We need to think why this has happened – it is a good message for English football. They need to decide what the philosophy of the English team is and not change it.”

Boateng mocked after brother’s success erman media took time to count the GBoateng number of attacks Kevin Prince made on the team ahead of

Kevin-Prince Boateng (left) and his brother Jerome

the World Cup, in what is seen as a direct slap on the face of the Ghana star.

Kevin’s first attack was boldly captured “Germany has no leaders and characters to deal with this pressure.”

This statement before the World Cup provoked a lot of people in the German national team.

But just four weeks after this last comment, his younger brother made him eat a humble pie by helping Germany bring home their fourth World Cup title becoming the first European team to triumph on South American soil.

G

ermany and Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has reportedly decided to donate his World Cup earnings to the children of Gaza amid conflict in the Middle East.

The 25-year-old, who is of Turkish descent and a practising Muslim, has been celebrating in Berlin after Germany secured their fourth World Cup title with a 1-0 win over Argentina in Sunday’s final in Brazil.

Reports have claimed

that Ozil pocketed a £237,000 (N65.7 million) bonus for winning the trophy and £118,000 for securing victory over Brazil in the semi-finals.

According to the Middle East Monitor, Ozil is expected to give all of the money that he earned from the tournament to the territory occupied by Israel.

It is believed that Ozil refused to shake hands with a FIFA official in Brazil due to his support for Israel.

Ozil

portunity to replace Luiz Felipe Scolari as Brazil boss.

ESPN has reported claims from El Mercurio suggesting that Brazil approached Pellegrini just 24 hours after Scolari quit.

Pellegrini apparently refused to enter talks with the Brazilian FA because he is happy at the Etihad Stadium and determined to see out his current contract, which has two years left to run.

Brazil have never appointed a foreign manager, so moving for Pellegrini is seen as a big deal.

Chilean Pellegrini has a strong reputation, having taken charge of Universidad Catolica, Palestino, LDU Quito, San Lorenzo, River Plate, Villarreal, Real Madrid and Malaga.

European clubs to blame for Brazil failure – Zico Brazil internaFtheormer tional Zico believes main reason why Bra-

zil performed poorly at the World Cup is because Brazilian clubs are selling their talented young players to their European counterparts.

He told the Economic Times: “The biggest problem is that Brazil has become an exporter of football talent. The clubs from Europe take away all the talent from Brazil.

“Brazilian boys as young as 14 and 15 are now based in Europe. They spend their best years in Europe and come back to Brazil when they are past their prime.

“This has destroyed local clubs and championships. Unless we stop the talent from leaving the country in such huge numbers at such a young age, we can’t revive football in Brazil.”

Van Gaal begins Man United reign

van Gaal has arLtoouis rived in Manchester start his reign as the

new manager of Manchester United.

The Dutchman - who guided the Netherlands to the semi-finals of the World Cup - landed at the city’s airport around midday and immediately headed out to United’s Carrington training base.

He later met with the United squad for the first

time and put the players through their paces at a training session.

Van Gaal has already spoken about building a strong bond within the squad, with reports suggesting the players will be told to eat together every day after training.

United fans will be hoping for improvement after last season’s disappointing Premier League finish and lack of major Van Gaal silverware.

COUNTDOWN TO COMMONWEALTH GAME Thursday, July 17, 2014 Sanctity of Truth

SPORT 53

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

FearforTeamNigeriaas Brazil 2014: Moses,Omeruo bughitsathletes’village make Chelsea fastest five Emmanuel Tobi

Charles Ogundiya

orld football governing body, W FIFA, has listed Nigerian duo of Victor Moses and Ken-

N

igerian contingent to the Commonwealth Games, in Glasgow, Scotland, has been thrown into some panic after the athletes village was hit by a bug during the week.

At least 10 people are believed to have been struck down by a suspected vomiting bug at the Glasgow 2014 athletes village, just as star performers begin to arrive.

The workers have reportedly gone down with diarrhea at the multi million pound venue in the last few days.

The bug, which health officials fear, may be the highly infectious norovirus, is so far believed to be limited to the 2014 Games employees. There have been no reports of athletes being affected.

The first of 45 000 athletes have moved into accommodation at the 700 home site at Dalmarnock with the rest due to arrive in the next few days.

A Nigerian official who spoke with our correspondent on condi-

arial view of athlete’s village

tion of anonymity said; “We hope the bug is wiped out as soon as possible before our athletes get there. We don’t want a situation where they will be exposed to such a contagious bug.”

Glasgow 2014 chief executive David Grevemberg said staff were monitoring the situation in the village.

“It’s a very isolated group

of people, a couple of people in our workforce, and business is operating normally,” he said.

“In any health and safety situation, we always take it very, very seriously, but it’s an isolated incident, the residents at the village have not been affected and have been well briefed, but we’ll continue to monitor the situation,”

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the sporting event.

Occupancy is sitting at 88 percent and is predicted to climb as high as 95 during the Games.

Most rooms in hotels, guesthouses, serviced apartments and universities have been booked.

The Games are predicted to provide a multi-million pound boost to the hotel, restaurant, retail and bar economy in the city.

Scott Taylor, chief executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: “This will be the largest party Glasgow has ever hosted.”

Organiser releases seeding for badminton efending champion of the The mixed team event mixed doubles. The 23 parDmonwealth last edition of the Com- consists of a group stage fol- ticipating teams are divided Games badmin- lowed by a knockout phase into six groups: five groups ton mixed team event, Malaysia, will maintain their top spot, with England being the second seed ahead of India and Singapore in third and fourth respectively.

with each tie determined from best-of-five contests featuring matches in each of the five categories: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and

consisting of four teams each and one with three teams.

The six group winners and two runners-up with the best records in the groups will progress to the knockouts.

Weir on course for Commonwealth gold S

ix-time Paralympic champion David Weir i s o n c o u r s e fo r C o m monwealth Games glory should the speed of his outing at the Sainsbu r y ’s G l a s g ow G r a n d Prix be re plicated on his retur n to Scotland later this month.

We i r, w h o f i n i s h e d s e c o n d a t t h i s ye a r ’s London Marathon, stor med to victory almost a second clear o f t h e re s t o f t h e T 5 4 1,500m field, clocking a t i m e o f t h re e m i nu t e s 8.78 seconds – more than three seconds faster than the time produced to win gold in the event at London 2012.

A n d w i t h o u t h av i n g the distraction of a g ruelling marathon to close out the Commonwealth Games, the Wallingtonbor n ‘Weirwolf ’ is now targeting the only major

medal missing from his bulging trophy cabinet.

“There were a few f aster guys in this race just to push me and I feel

like I’m in g reat shape,” said the 35-year-old, who t r a i n s at K i n g s m e a d ow stadium and in Richmond Park.

Kiwi judoka withdraws due to health issues ew Zealand judoka Patti Nwithdraw Grogan had been forced to from the team for

the Commonwealth Games, citing health reasons, which sidelined her during final preparations in the Netherlands.

The 25-year-old’s withdraw- Grogan al has reduced New Zealand’s women’s judo contingent at the monwealth Games. She was to games to three. contest in the 52kg weight diviShe has been unable to train sion. to 100 percent for the last two The New Zealand squad is weeks and will be out of action reduced to 10, with Moira de for at least another week.

Villiers, Darcina Manuel and Oceania champion Grogan, Chanel Kavanagh the remainwho is ranked second in the ing women. All three are ranked Commonwealth, would have in the top three in the Commonbeen attending her first Com- wealth.

Moses (right)

League resumes on Sunday as LMC adjusts fixtures Moyosore Makinde

Glasgow hotels record massive patronage

early 90 percent of Glasgow’s hotel rooms have been snapped up ahead of the Commonwealth Games’ opening ceremony.

Almost 175,000 rooms have been sold, as the city prepares to welcome hundreds of thousands of overseas visitors for

neth Omeruo among the top five fastest Chelsea stars based on their performance at the just concluded World Cup in Brazil.

Statistics compiled by FIFA, clocking a player’s top sprint speed, record Spanish defender, Cesar Azpilicueta, as quicker than any of his teammates.

Azpilicueta recorded 31.6 kilometres per hour, way short of Costa Rica’s Junior Diaz’ top speed of 33.8, but enough to be Chelsea’s quickest.

Victor Moses was very disappointing on loan at Liverpool last season, and it would be a surprise if he remained at Chelsea this coming season. Omeruo on the other hand has been linked with a loan move, most recently with QPR.

As for Azpilicueta, his pace underlines another strong facet of his game, to show why he will not be giving up his left-back spot to the incoming Filipe Luis without a fight.

Chelsea’s top five: (1st) Cesar Azpilicueta 31.6 k/ph, (2nd ) Victor Moses 31.4 k/ph, (3rd) Willian 31.1 k/ph, (3rd) Ramires 31.1 k/ph, (5th) Kenneth Omeruo 30.7 k/ph.

hief Operating Officer of the C(LMC), League Management Company Salihu Abubakar, has an-

nounced that the second round of the Nigeria Premier League matches will resume this weekend, stating that there are slight adjustments in the fixtures which he attributed to the changes in the already listed Federation Cup Match Days.

“Sequel to the change in Federation Cup Match Days, we have been constrained to also slightly adjust our fixtures to accommodate Premier League teams involved in the Federation Cup Round of 16 and quarter finals games.

“The match in Jalingo between FC Taraba and Gombe United and that in Warri between Warri Wolves and Kaduna United will

hold as scheduled on Sunday, while on Wednesday, July 23, the other fixtures will be played but excluding those clubs that qualify for the Federations Cup quarter finals”, Abubakar said.

He disclosed that clubs that qualified for the quarter finals of the Federation Cup will play their Match Day 20 games on Wednesday, August 13 and added, “we have taken these steps to avoid any major fixture disruptions in the remaining half of the 2013-14 season”, Match Day 20 fixtures of the Glo Premier League scheduled for Sunday, July 20 will hold as scheduled except for fixtures involving Premier League clubs involved in the Federation Cup Round of 16 games that come up on Thursday, July 17 and those that may qualify for the quarter finals which will hold next Wednesday.

Transfer Updates

54 SPORT

Newcastle get sixth summer signing

Man Utd set to up Vermaelen bid

anchester United are set MArsenal to increase their offer for centre-back, Thomas

Vermaelen.

United have held talks with Arsenal over the signing of the 28-year-old this summer, but saw enquiries regarding a £6 million bid knocked back by the Gunners.

The Old Trafford side is now hoping to convince Arsenal to part ways with Vermaelen with an improved offer closer to £10m, but is reluctant to negotiate further for the defender.

‘Vidal not for sale’

J

uventus chief executive Giuseppe Marotta has insisted Manchester United target Arturo Vidal is “not for sale”.

New United manager, Louis van Gaal, has reignited his interest in bringing the Chile star to Old Trafford after initially being quoted a £45 million-plus-Nani fee.

Antonio Conte resigned as Juventus manager on Tuesday over reported displeasure with the Serie A champions’ transfer plans - namely the potential sale of the 27-year-old.

Iturbe close to signing with Roma

Iturbe, currently of HelJinguanlaswithVerona, is close to signRoma.

Reports are emerging that he will sign with Roma and not Juventus who were one of the front runners in signing him. The fee is reported to be in the 30 million dollar range.

Mourinho to hijack Khedira deal

C

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ewcastle are close to completing the £6 million signing of Monaco’s French forward Emmanuel Riviere, their sixth summer

signing.

The forward jetted into Tyneside last night to complete his move to St. James’ Park.

Sources in France suggest Monaco have sanctioned the move and he is set to become Alan Pardew’s sixth signing of what is proving to be a busy summer.

Tello completes Porto switch

arcelona have confirmed that Spanish Ba two-year starlet Cristian Tello has completed loan move to Portuguese

giants Porto.

The Spanish club announced the deal on their official website, stating: “FC Barcelona and Porto FC have reached a n agreement for the loan of striker Cristian Tello for the next two seasons, with the latter having an option to buy.

Under the terms of the deal Porto will have to pay a loan fee for Tello, reported to be around £1.6million and will have the option to make the deal permanent at the end of the first season, with reports claiming the fee would be £6.5million.

Oblak set for Atletico switch

Milan want Alves

helsea boss Jose Mourinho remains determined to stage a last minute hijack of Arsenal’s well-publicised move for Sami Khedira, and has even picked up the phone himself in an attempt to convince the German to choose Stamford Bridge over the Emirates Stadium.

The sensational claims are made by Spanish website ABC, who say that despite the fact that the general consensus centres around the fact that Arsenal have agreed a €29million deal to sign Khedira, Mourinho is hell-bent on spoiling the party. The source states that the Blues boss has contacted Roman Abramovich and made clear his desire to have the German international at Stamford Bridge.

Milan are interesting in signing BarATheCcelona defender Dani Alves.

Brazilian has been linked with a move

Jara signs for Mainz

Xavi’s future still undecided, says

C

hile defender Gonzalo Jara has joined Mainz on a free transfer, signing a two-year deal with the Bundesliga club.

Jara, who missed the decisive penalty as his country exited the recent World Cup at the hands of hosts Brazil in the last 16, has spent the past five years in England, representing West Brom, Brighton and Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest.

However, after being released by Championship side Forest, the 28-year-old full-back will now continue his career in Germany’s top flight.

Gotze joins Bayern

B

Chelsea agree deal to sign Atletico’s Luis

to Paris Saint-Germain this summer and only has one year remaining on his current contract with the Catalan club.

Alves has always insisted he would like to stay with the Spanish side but it seems the Italian giants are plotting a move for him.

Milan are expected to make a move for Alves and his club team mate Alex Song and reports in Italy back up those claims.

The 31-year-old failed to impress during the 2014 World Cup and was eventually dropped by then Brazil head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. avi’s Barcelona future is still XEnrique in doubt after coach Luis revealed that the

midfielder has yet to decide whether to stay.

The 34-year-old has spent his entire career at Camp Nou and still has two years to run on his current Barca contract.

Speaking at his first press conference since taking over as Barca coach, Luis Enrique said;”Yes I’ve spoken to Xavi and it’s a matter that hasn’t been decided yet.”

ayern Munich have secured the services of promising youngster Felix Gotze - the younger brother of Germany hero Mario Gotze - from Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer.

Felix plied his trade with Dortmund’s U-17 team last season, but will now continue his career at the reigning Bundesliga champions after deciding to follow his brother’s example by joining Bayern.

“Felix has left Dortmund for Bayern, that is correct,” Bayern’s youth director Michael Tarnat confirmed to Sport Bild.

Dortmund to get Ginter

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orussia Dortmund are closing in on the signing of Germany international Matthias Ginter from Freiburg for a fee believed to be in the region of €10 million.

The Bundesliga giants are keen to add some fresh blood to their defence ahead of the 2014-15 campaign and they see the 20-year-old as a valuable addition in the long-term.

Ginter came through the ranks of the Freiburg youth academy and has developed into a key player at the Mage Solar Stadion since making his first team debut in January 2011.

Eagles’ transfer Update

helsea have reached a deal to sign Filipe Kilmarnock snap Luis from Atletico Madrid subject to the C defender agreeing personal terms with the up Obadeyi Premier League club. cottish Premier League club Luis impressed as Atletico won the Spanish SKilmarnock has announced title and reached the Champions League final last season, and the hiring of Nigerian winger Tope the Brazilian left-back is likely to fill the void left by Ashley Cole’s move to Roma.

A statement published on Chelsea’s official website read: “Chelsea Football Club can confirm an agreement has been reached with Atletico Madrid for the transfer of Filipe Luis.”

Ba keen on securing Besiktas switch

D

emba Ba has declared his excitement at a prospective move to Besiktas after arriving in Turkey for talks.

The Senegal international has largely been used from the bench since joining Chelsea from Newcastle United last year, and the arrival of Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge would limit his opportunities further.

Ba’s Besiktas switch is yet to be formalised, but the 29-year-old is keen to make it happen.

“I feel so happy because Besiktas’ fans interest me a lot and the construction of the new stadium impressed me,” he said. “I’m so excited to play for this club.”I really want to play. I want to show my potential to everybody quickly.

Allegri replaces Conte at Juventus

tletico Madrid and Benfica have Atransfer reached an agreement over the of goalkeeper Jan Oblak to

the Spanish champions.

The 21-year-old Slovenian stopper is set to sign a six-year contract at Vicente Calderon, pending a medical.

Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois had been Atleti’s first choice during a three-year loan spell in the Spanish capital, but with the chances of a fourth temporary deal looking unlikely, the acquisition of a goalkeeper was high on the club’s list of priorities for the close-season.

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

assimiliano Allegri has made his M return to coaching by replacing Antonio Conte at Serie A champions

Juventus.

Conte led Juve to three conseuctive top-flight titles, but left his post on Tuesday, parting company with the Turin club by mutual consent.

And it is Allegri who has been selected as the man to fill the void, joining Juve after six months out of the game.

Allegri’s previous coaching job saw him spend over three years at Milan, leading them to the Scudetto in 2010-11.

However, the 46-year-old was dismissed by the San Siro outfit in January.

Barbosa signs two-year Sevilla contract evilla have completed the signing of Mariano S Barbosa from Las Palmas, with the goalkeeper signing a two-year deal.

Coach Unai Emery revealed on Monday that the 29-year-old was on his radar, as he sought to acquire competition for Beto.

And Barbosa has now followed Iago Aspas, who joined on a season-long loan from Liverpool with the option of a permanent deal earlier this week.

“Sevilla have completed all the formalities and Barbosa has signed a contract to join for the next two seasons,” read a statement from the Liga club on Wednesday.

Navas close to Real move

rsenal look set to miss out on Costa Rica keeper, A Keylor Navas, who is poised to join Real Madrid in an £8million deal. Gunners boss Arsene

Wenger has been tracking the Levante star as he attempts to sign a new goalkeeper but, according to Marca, the player is heading to Real.

Navas impressed at Levante last term and enjoyed a superb World Cup campaign in Brazil with Costa Rica, form that has alerted European Champions Real. Bayern Munich and Liverpool have also been credited with an interest in t h e 27-year-old shot-stopper, but it seems as if he could be heading to the Bernabeu.

Marca claim Los Blancos are willing to meet the £8million release clause in Navas’ Levante contract and will hand the Costa Rican star a five-year deal. Wenger is believed to have now turned his attention to Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy.

Tottenham ready to snap up Davies

T

ottenham look to have won the race to sign Ben Davies from Swansea after reports claimed they had agreed a £10m fee.

Mauricio Pochettino was said to be a big fan of the left-back and now looks set to secure his f i rs t signing at the club as he looks to bolster his left sided options.

Kyle Naughton and Danny Rose shared the role last season, with help from Jan Vertonghen as well, but the signing of Davies would automatically place him as first choice for the new campaign. Liverpool, who can offer Champions League football, were also said to be keen as they too look to be short of cover on the left but it remains to be seen whether they will match, or even better, Spurs’ bid.

Obadeyi.

The former England youth international has penned a three - year contract that keeps him at Rugby Park till the summer of 2017.

Kilmarnock is his eighth club in the United Kingdom following stints with Bolton Wanderers, Swindon Town, Bury, Rochdale, Shrewsbury Town, Chesterfield and Plymouth Argyle.

“Tope can play as a left winger or as a striker and is another one with great pace, he puts a lot of crosses in the box and he looks a real threat going forward,” manager Allan Johnston said.

Reuben Gabriel and Rabiu Ibrahim both represented the Killies until they were released in the January transfer window.

Okwuosa welcomes Uzochukwu reunion

United defender James Creunitehippa Okwuosa said he was thrilled to with Ugonna Uzochukwu at

the South African club.

Chippa United have announced they have snapped up former Enugu Rangers midfield star Uzochukwu.

And Okwuosa, who also featured at Rangers before he moved to South Africa, told AfricanFootball.com it was a great union which will make him feel more at home.

“Uzochukwu is a good signing for us, I feel very happy that he has joined us at Chippa United,” Okwuosa declared.

Agboyi joins Orelesi at Skenderbeu Korce

champions Skënderbeu Amentlbania Korçë have reached an agreewith Nigeria youth interna-

tional Ovbokha Agboyi regarding a contract.

However, the transfer will become completed when the UEFA Champions League campaigners receive his International Transfer Certificate, probably before the end of this week.

Agboyi , a defensive midfielder who last played for Bayelsa United, has been training with the back - to - back Albania champions for the past couple of months.

The 19 - year - old will sport the number 11 jersey for Skënderbeu Korçë if his deal is finalised, He played four times for the Flying Eagles at the last Fifa Under 20 World Cup held in Turkey last summer.

Eagles defender eyes summer move

international, Ugo Ukah, has reNclubsigeria vealed that he was in talks with some over a move this summer.

The Italian - Nigerian is now a free agent following the expiration of his contract with Jagiellonia Białystok few weeks ago.

Linked with a move to Panathinaikos in the close season, the Greens have not yet made an approach to the player or his representative.

“There are a couple of deals I am negotiating but for now I do not want to reveal anything in order not to spoil negotiations,” Ukah said.

The central defender has played continuously in the Polish topflight for the last seven years.

SPORT

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Athletics, weightlifting,

55

paralifting teams storm Scotland Charles Ogundiya

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igeria’s first contingents to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, departed on Wednesday, making the country one of the earliest to arrive at the Games which get undereway on 23rd July.

Making this disclosure to New Telegraph was the President of the Nigeria Olympics Committee, Sani Ndanusa, who said athletics, weightlifting and paralifting teams were the first

to depart for Glasgow, with the others set to join them soon.

“I can tell you that our athletes are on their way to Scotland,” Ndanusa said on Wednesday. “We want our athletes to get there on time to be able to acclimatise. We don’t want to leave anything to chances because we want to perform very well at the games.

“Some of the federations are perfecting their preparation with camps around the country. The wrestlers

are currently in Bucharest, Romania, and they will be joining their colleagues in Glasgow next week.

“The athletes village is already open and the athletes will have the opportunity of making use of the facilities for the games during training immediately the team arrives there,” Ndanusa said.

Team Nigeria will be competing in seven sports at the games with the hope of winning as many medals as possible.

Baribote to withdraw case against NFF on Thursday

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he crisis in the Nigeria Football Federation is set to be resolved with the withdrawal of a suit against the body by the owners of Nembe Football Club.

The suit filed against the Nigeria Football Federation at a High Court in Jos by owner of Nembe Football Club, Mrs Ebiakpo Baribote, is expected to be heard on Thursday, which is also the new deadline given

by FIFA for the reinstatement of the Aminu Maigari-led NFF board.

Top sources at the National Sports Commission and State House said Wednesday that Mrs Baribote had been persuaded to

withdraw the case in the interest of Nigeria, while the powers that be will ensure the 15-year ban imposed on her husband Victor Rumson Baribote was not only lifted, but that he will also have the chance of returning to the NFF although with a clause – through due election.

The complainant agreed after a meeting with the top sports administrators in company with her husband on Tuesday, to set machinery in motion to get the case thrown out from the Plateau State High Court in Jos. “As I speak with you now, some top officials from the federal government level have waded into the matter and Mr

DStvshiftsattentiontoEuropeanleaguefootball

World Cup may be over, but Tonheworld class football continues DStv with a host of pre-season friendlies involving clubs from all the major European leagues.

Over the next five weeks leading to the start of the league season, SuperSport will broadcast pre-season friendlies and tours involving heavyweight teams Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.

As with every World Cup year, the transfer market is experiencing a boom as clubs outbid each other for standout performers and hidden gems revealed during the month-long spectacle.

This year is no exception as big money deals have been concluded for players like Alexis Sanchez of Chile, Uruguay’s Luis Suarez and Mario Mandzukic of Croatia. A bidding war for the signatures of Colombian diamond, James Rodriguez, Germany’s star man Toni Kroos, Chile’s midfield kingpin, Arturo Vidal and Argentina’s rock at the back, Ezequiel Garay, is in full motion.

Pre-season tournaments and friendlies play an integral part in the integration of players into their new clubs, and SuperSport’s extensive coverage will offer viewers an early opportunity to see their club s’ new signings in action before the season proper gets underway.

President (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan) wants the issue to be resolved early enough not to incur FIFA’s ban, because as a sports lover he knows what football means to an average Nigerian fan and youths too.

“So I am confident that by tomorrow (Thursday) the case will be withdrawn for FIFA to lift the suspension placed on Nigeria which is the most important issue on ground now,” a top sports administrator told Goal.com.

Oke

NFF crisis: Club managers to visit Sports Minister

gainst the backdrop of the crisis rocking AFIFA the Nigeria football with regard to the suspension, the Association of Pre-

The proposed visit was part of the resolutions of an Emergency meeting of mier League Club Chairmen and Managers the Club Owners Associa(Club Owners), is set to meet with the Hon. tion held last Monday in Minister/Chairman National Sports Com- Abuja. mission, Dr. Tammy Danagogo to chart the Acting Secretary of the way forward.

Club Owners, Alloy Chukwuemeka, who confirmed this development in Abuja, said: “the foundation of every country’s football is rooted with the clubs and as such the Chairmen and Managers of football Clubs are in a better position to proffer solutions to issues that border on the principles and protocols of football management and administration” “Yes, the need to meet with the Minister was canvassed at the meeting and we are making efforts to ensure that the meeting holds as soon as possible” he said The Club Owners also called on all the concerned stakeholders in football to cooperate and ensure that everything possible is done to get the FIFA suspension on Nigeria lifted, just as they advocated for respect and strict adherPhilemon Dimka, in jersey No 13 of Plateau Peaks, going for a dunk against a Kano Pillars ence to football statutes, player, during the 2014 Nigeria DStv Premier Basketball League Final 8, held at the Indoor rulebooks and extant Sports Hall of National Stadium, Lagos. Pillars won by 94-53 points.

Laws as approved by FIFA.

Real Betis ready to sell Igiebor DStv PBL Playoff: Pillars, Mentors out to avoid defeat Ajibade Olusesan Eagles midfielder, Nosa SRealuper Igiebor, has been told he can leave Betis but his employers are not

ready to part with the midfielder on the cheap.

Our correspondent learnt that a couple of clubs have shown interest in the player but none of them have met Betis’ valuation.

New Telegraph leant that the player has not been training with the rest of the club since he came back from season-ending break, a development that suggests that he may not be in the plan of Coach Gabriel Calderon, as they settle for life in the lower division in Spain.

Arrived Igiebor had a terrible experience last term. He arrived late to camp after the Africa Nations Cup

triumph and he also suffered an injury that limited his playing time Ifeanyi Ibeh at the club. Even the coach was believed to have been angered by Igieano Pillars and Mark Menbor’s lack of commitment especially tors will be out to avoid defeat as he failed to take his learning of in their respective semifinal enSpanish seriously. counters against Gombe Bulls and Dodan Warriors on Friday and secure tickets into Saturday’s final of the DStv Premier Basketball League currently ongoing at the National Stadium, Lagos.

Savannah Conference champions, Kano Pillars, who finished top of Group A, will take on Group B runners-up, Gombe Bulls, who are also from the Savannah Conference, by 4pm, while Group B winners, Mark Mentors, another side from the dominant Savannah Conference, will come up against Dodan WarIgiebor

K

riors, the only side left from the Atlantic Conference, by 6pm.

Kano Pillars, led by Abubakar Usman, who poured in 31 points in Tuesday’s decisive 84-79 win over Dodan Warriors, won all three group stage games against Warriors, Union Bank (88-71) and Plateau Peaks (93-53) to top Group A, while Gombe Bulls posted an impressive 2-1 record with wins over Islanders (45-42) and Oluyole Warriors (53-34), and a 76-58 loss to Mark Mentors, who finished top of Group B with wins over Oluyole Warriors (82-61), Gombe Bulls (76-58) and Islanders (53-50).

Dodan Warriors finished second in Group B with a 2-1 record, defeating Plateau Peaks (71-57) and Union Bank (65-52), before going down to Kano Pillars.

Pillars are expected to make easy meat of Gombe Bulls, having already beaten the side from Gombe twice already during the regular season, but Bulls coach, Abdulrahman Mohammed, a former star of the DStv Premier Basketball League, will be out to upset the applecart and secure a berth in Saturday’s final.

An epic battle is however on the cards when Mark Mentors and Dodan Warriors take to the National Stadium court as both sides share lots of similarities with several players on the roster of the Abuja-based Mentors having at some point in their career featured for Dodan Warriors, including Mentors head coach, Peter Ahmedu, and his assistant, Chris Okoh.

World Record

On Marble

Never say anything about yourself you do not want to come true.

Moroccan woman (Zahra Aboutalib, 75-year-old) gave birth to a ‘stone baby’, 46 years after it was conceived. The baby developed outside the womb.

Sanctity of Truth

– Brian Tracy

w w w. new tel eg rap ho nl i ne. co m

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth – Buddha THURSday, JULY 17, 2014

N150

Underestimating Jonathan’s ‘bilisi’ I TALKING TOUGH GABRIEL AKINADEWO like the name of the capital of Georgia. Not the state of Georgia in the United States whose capital is Atlanta. But the other Georgia, a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia, located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. It is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan.

The capital of Georgia is called Tbilisi.

In Yoruba language, if you remove letter ‘T’ from Tbilisi, what you are left with is ‘bilisi’ which means ‘wahala, trouble, crisis’.

With the type of politics practised in this part of the world, when ‘bilisi’ is imminent, students of history will know and alert those involved, directly or indirectly.

The worst thing that can happen to any politician is to underestimate anybody in this deadly game of ‘kill or be killed’. Now, ‘bilisi’ is here and those who, hitherto, underestimated President Goodluck Jonathan, are wiser.

When the Crimea crisis started, I watched a documentary in March on a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) channel.

Some American journalists visited a military base in Crimea controlled by Ukrainian soldiers and the soldiers were being interviewed when Russian soldiers stormed the base and ordered the Ukrainian soldiers to leave immediately.

The commander of the base approached one of the Russian soldiers and told him: “American journalists are here and they are recording this”.

This got the Russians angry and they threatened to shoot anybody who disobeyed the order.

Despite the fact that it was a day American Secretary of State, John Kerry, and Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Latrov, were meeting in London, the Russians overwhelmed the Ukrainians and seized the base.

The lesson here is, you don’t mess up with somebody who has maximum power over you. Same with the Nigerian system.

Democracy or no democracy, you don’t joke with a Commander-in-Chief. If you do, the penalty is instant.

In Nigeria, election is not just election. It is war and you deploy your full arsenal on or before election day to achieve maximum result. This is exactly what Jonathan has started and Nigerians are likely to see more ‘bilisi’ in the next few weeks.

The general belief is that Jonathan has not declared his intention for re-election but the body language is a clear indication that the Otuoke, Bayelsa-born Zoologist will seek re-election on February 14, next year and given the way things are going, he may likely win.

Since he became the President in May 2010, Jonathan has not ceased to tell Nigerians that you underestimate him to your own peril.

What happened in Germany before the Second World War is instructive in this regard. When the Fuhrer-Chancellor came to the scene, he was gentle as a dove. The tearyeyed Adolf Hitler walked into the presidential office of Paul von Hindenburg on January 30, 1933 to become German Chancellor with genteel refinement and humility.

In fact, the popular sentiment then was that he would be manipulated by the powersthat-be.

Conservative leader, Alfred Hugenberg’s ambition was to use Hitler to replace the republic itself with a military dictatorship “to solve the crisis of political stagnation”.

gabyfola@hotmail.com - 08023010222 (sms only)

Jonathan

Nyako

To keep Hitler in check, Hindenburg had told the Vice Chancellor, Franz von Papen, that Hitler would only be received in the office of the president if accompanied by Papen. In secret, Hindenburg and Papen agreed that the latter would use the conservative majority in the cabinet, along with his own political skill, to run the government himself and sideline Hitler. Of the 11 positions for ministers, Hitler only controlled three (Nazis), including himself. The other two were Hermann Göring, Minister of the Interior of Prussia and Wilhelm Frick, Minister of the Interior. Papen controlled the remaining eight.

Papen boasted to Hindenburg: “Within two months, we will have pushed Hitler so far in the corner that he’ll squeak”.

Because they wanted to return to the days of the Kaiser, put an end to the republic and a return to authoritarian government that will bring back old privileges, Papen and many non-Nazis thought having Hitler as chancellor was to their advantage. For them, putting Hitler in power was just the first step toward achieving that goal and believing that he would likely wreck the republic, they would replace Hitler with a descendant of the Kaiser.

Even the military supported the move, believing that Hitler would tear up the Treaty of Versailles, expand the Army and bring back its former glory.

All of them were wrong. Why? They underestimated Hitler.

It was only General Erich Ludendorff who saw through Hitler’s facade and warned Hindenburg through a telegram: “By appointing Hitler Chancellor of the Reich, you have handed over our sacred German Fatherland to one of the greatest demagogues of all time. I prophesy to you this evil man will plunge our Reich into the abyss and will

inflict immeasurable woe on our nation. Future generations will curse you in your grave for this action”.

Within weeks, Hitler set in motion his ‘bilisi’ and became a dictator. He used democracy to come into office and consolidated himself by removing democracy. On February 27, 1933, the parliament building (Reichstag) was razed by Nazi agents. Hitler knew that he could be removed by Hindenburg so, he manipulated the old man to pass the Enabling Act, abolishing democracy in a legal way. The Act was a special law which gave Hitler the power to pass laws by decree, without the involvement of the Reichstag.

The rest is now history.

In history, people who shout, scream and do all sorts to attract attention or tell you that they can deal with you are easily predictable.

But a gentleman will always disarm you with his facade and you will flow with him. By the time you realise your folly, it will be too late.

Given what happened to Vice Admiral Murtala Hammanyero Nyako on Tuesday in Yola, Adamawa State, it is clear that the Nigerian president is one of the most powerful in the world.

Last month, a governor told me that it was wrong for Nyako not to control ‘a single member of the House of Assembly’ and continue to fight the President. Today, he has been proved right as Nyako, one of the most trusted loyalists of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in this administration, has been left in the cold.

Hitherto, it was believed that Jonathan is too weak, not active, not fit to be president, too slow, not decisive. What happens now that ‘bilisi’ is being unleashed? Are Nigerians already changing their perception of the president?

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, a member of the All Progressives Congress

(APC), leaves office on October 15, this year for the PDP Governor-elect, Ayodele Fayose who will be sworn in on October 16. Nyako, another APC governor, left office last Tuesday. Governor Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State (also APC) is preparing to say bye to his office. With the current ‘bilisi’, only God knows what will happen in Osun State in the August 9 governorship election.

In Edo State, there is ‘rumble in the jungle’ as Governor Adams Oshiomhole is battling a divided House of Assembly and his former comrades who defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In Ogun State, the rumour is that 10 of the state lawmakers are on their way out of the APC. Former Governor Olusegun Osoba is already making available the three senators and the House of Representatives members to be used by the presidency against the reelection of Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

In Kano, the powerful networks of the Abachas and Shekaraus are already with the presidency to be used against Governor Musa Kwankwanso.

With one of the financiers of the APC, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, willingly giving his enormous political machinery to the presidency to be used, Governor Kashim Shettima is also jittery in Borno State.

With the exit of Senators Ayo Adeseun, Femi Lanlehin and others from the APC in Oyo State, Governor Abiola Ajimobi is already strategising on how to avoid the Ekiti treatment on February 28, next year.

With the imminent exodus of some members of the state executive council alongside some lawmakers from the APC to the PDP, Governor Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari of Zamfara State is also not finding this ‘bilisi’ tsunami funny.

In Nigeria, there is no sentiment in politics. Some may argue that Jonathan is learning late but better late than never. The next presidential election is less than eight months and if you want peace, prepare for war.

Is Jonathan already preparing for war to achieve re-election?

God will only save the ‘political righteous’ from this ‘bilisi’.

OmoBaba

OSUN: POLITICIANS IN FAKE ARMY UNIFORMS WILL NOT GO UNPUNISHED -PDP

– Does it include security masked men ?

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