Binder1 monday, december 1, 2014 by Newtelegraphonline

SATURDAY

Sanctity Of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

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Vol. 1 No. 286

Monday, December 1, 2014

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

international NEW YORK TIMEs inside

FG considers fuel subsidy removal in June 2015 Adeola Yusuf

he Federal Government has scheduled

June 2015 for outright end of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, New

Telegraph gathered at the weekend. A source at the Presidency told this newspaper

that this agenda, which he called Plan A, is to ensure that the action does not CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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42-43

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Page 21

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12 pages of indept Business

Rift over control of defence spending Top Unio more stakn Bank investor ey es in Afr ican ban es ks B

lMinister of Defence, Gusau, NSA Dasuki in cold war Quick Read

Editorial

A new lease for Nigerian prisons }19 UK court orders sale of Akingbola's property }8

New Telegraph shifts publication of Nigeria’s Top 100 Companies }8

Telegraph

Travel Advisory

Your guide to local and international flights 4

Children stand by their ration at the Internally Displaced Persons Transit Camp at Girei, Yola, Adamawa State…weekend.

Senators deny plot to impeach Jonathan Chukwu David and Philip Nyam

ontrary to speculations making the rounds that senators

were perfecting plans to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan, New Telegraph's inquiries revealed that such plan was not in the offing. There were reports that

63 senators including eight members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have signed the impeachment notice against the president. The alleged impeach-

ment plot was hinged on non-implementation of budgets by Jonathan since 2011 to date; alleged high level of corruption in his administration and gross disregard of the legisla-

ture. But Senator Ganiyu Solomon (APC, Lagos West), who is the Minority Whip of the Senate, told our correspondent that he never CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

Travel Advisory

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

International Flight Schedule

Local 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 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 AZMAN FLIGHT SCHEDULE WEEKLY SCHEDULE Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Abuja 10:30am Abuja-Lagos 12:40pm Lagos-Abuja/Kano 4:00pm Abuja-Kano 5:45pm Kaduna-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kan 10:10am Kano-Abuja/Lagos 12:40pm Abuja-Lagos 1:00pm Abuja-Lagos 2:40pm Lagos-Kaduna 5:00pm WEEKEND SCHEDULE SATURDAY Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Abuja 10:30am Abuja-Lagos 1:00pm Lagos-Kano 4:00pm Kaduna-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kano 4:00pm Sunday Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kano 10:30am Kano-Abuja/Lagos 1:20pm Abuja-Lagos 2:40pm Lagos-Kaduna 5:00pm

British Airways flights from Nigeria (Mon - Sun) Flight path

Distance

Departure

Lagos (LOS) to London Heathrow (LHR)

4990km

23.30hrs

Abuja (ABV) to London Heathrow (LHR)

4762km

08.00hrs

Flight path

Distance

Departure

London Heathrow (LHR) to Lagos (LOS)

4990km

11.00hrs

London Heathrow (LHR) to Abuja (ABV)

4762km

6 hours 25 minutes

British Airways flights to Nigeria

Air Peace

Daily flights from Nigeria (Lagos, Abuja) (Mon - Sun) Airliner

Airports

Stops

Arik Air

London to Lagos

21:30hrs

Arik Air

Lagos (LOS) to New York (JFK) 23:35hrs

Arik Air

New York (JFK) to Lagos

12:00hrs (NY time)

Delta Airlines

Atlanta Lagos

16:00hrs

Delta Airlines

Lagos to Atlanta

22:00hrs

Emirates Airlines Lagos to Dubai

14:00hrs; 20:00hrs

KLM

Lagos to Amsterdam

23:05hrs

Virgin Atlantic

Lagos to London

11:00hrs

Lufthansa

Abuja to Frankfurt

23.10hrs

Lufthansa

Lagos to Frankfurt

21.00hrs

South Africa Airways

Lagos to Johannesburg

22.15hrs

United Airlines

Lagos to Housten, Texas

22:10hrs

United Airline’s baggage allowances are the same whether you’re traveling on a domestic or international flight. All passengers get 25kg, but those traveling in business class or as premium club members have a larger checked baggage allowance than those traveling economy.

Air France

Abuja to Paris

23:55hrs

Cabin baggage

Air France

Lagos to Paris

21:20hrs

Ethiopia Airways Abuja to Addis Ababa

20.10hrs

Ethiopia Airways Lagos to Addis Ababa

14:00hrs

Qatar Airways

Lagos to Doha

14.23hrs

Air Maroc

Lagos to Casablanca

06:25 hrs

Etihad

Lagos to Abu Dhabi

09:50hrs

Air Ivoire

Lagos to Abidjan

10:15hrs (Sun and Mon)

Cam Air

Lagos to Yaounde

15:25hrs (Mon, Tues and Wed)

United Airlines international travel tips United Airlines international baggage limits

Cabin baggage is the best place to carry delicate or breakable items, advises United Airlines. United lets you bring one piece of luggage and one personal item, such as a laptop bag, purse or small backpack, into the cabin. Your piece of luggage shouldn’t be any larger than 14 by 9 by 22 inches so it can be easily stored under the seat in front of you or in one of the overhead lockers. As United places no specific weight limit on cabin baggage, you can use it to carry heavier items, so long as you can lift it into an overhead locker unaided.

Cabin baggage restrictions When packing your cabin baggage, don’t include anything that breaches Transportation Security Administration regulations. The best-known restrictions relate to liquids and gels, but the TSA’s 3-1-1 rule makes these easy to understand. Carry liquids and gels in containers no larger than 3.4 ounces, and place these containers into one quart-sized clear plastic bag. Each passenger can carry one of these bags onto the airplane. The other banned items are those that could be used as weapons, such as knives, axes, hockey sticks and firearms. Check the TSA website for the most up-to-date information.

Checked baggage Most passengers can check two pieces of luggage into the airplane hold, so long as they’re within size and weight limits. Checked bags should have a maximum combined height, width and depth of 62 inches, and weighs no more than 50 pounds each. However, if you’re traveling business class or are a member of one of the airline’s premium clubs such as Star Alliance Gold, you can bring three bags, each with a maximum weight of 70 pounds. U.S. military personnel traveling on orders can check in four bags of up to 70 pounds, while the same personnel traveling for personal reasons can bring three bags of this weight.

Checked baggage restrictions The TSA will also scan your checked baggage so don't pack anything that’s prohibited from travel on passenger aircraft. Don’t pack explosive items such as fireworks, flares, dynamite, or even realistic replicas of explosives, in your checked baggage. Also avoid packing flammable liquids like gasoline, lighter fluid or flammable paints. United recommends putting your name and address on both the outside and inside of your baggage in case the bag is mislaid during processing.

News

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

Rift over control of defence spending Our correspondents

here are strong indications of a rift over the control of the country's defence spending, with the Ministry of Defence and the Office of the National Security Adviser split over where the power to spend the fund should reside. New Telegraph gathered from highly-placed military and intelligence sources over the weekend, that the rift between the two occupants of the high-profile public offices, the Minister of Defence, Lt-Gen. Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (rtd), and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), centres on the control of the huge fund for the procurement of military equipment and arms, to prosecute the ongoing ter-

rorism war in the NorthEast. Only recently, $1 billion was approved by the National Assembly for rearming and equipping the Army. An intelligence source, who spoke in confidence, said until recently, the purchase of military hardware was done by the Defence Ministry, with the involvement of the Service Chiefs, depending on which of the Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force), was the beneficiary. He said the direct involvement of the Armed Forces in arms purchase in the past, was necessary, in view of the fact that they determine which equipment are bought at any given time, and the need to physically examine their potency, as the case may be. However, the source

said the status quo has changed to the extent that the Office of the NSA is now saddled with the authority of direct purchase of arms to strengthen the critical war on terror in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. This, he argued, could lead to the purchase of items that were either inadequate or not fully compliant to modern warfare. The intelligence source argued that Gusau naturally feels embarrassed because, as an intelligence officer, who was NSA to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he believes he should be given a free hand to coordinate military operations, including the procurement, nature as well as calibre of weapons for re-equipping troops in the frontline of battle in particular, and the military, in general.

His position was corroborated by a senior military officer, who claimed that the development, in a way, was affecting the effectiveness of the counterterrorism operations in the North. "If the two powerful men are not on the same page as far as the war efforts are concerned, progress will certainly be hindered. There is the urgent need to resolve whatever differences that exist," he said. The source drew New Telegraph's attention to the involvement of the office of the NSA in the recent seizure of $9.3 million and $5.7 million by South African authorities, meant for procurement of arms. "It is important to allow the (Defence) minister to handle arms procurement deals. I'm sure the embarrassing seizures of $15

million in South Africa, would not have happened, were the minister saddled with this responsibility," he said. The source further alleged that the twist had left the Ministry of Defence with just personnel operations, among other less critical responsibilities. To give vent to the cold war raging between Gusau and Dasuki, the source claimed that "both men are hardly seen attending the same function. That is to avoid a situation where they will exchange pleasantries." A source, however, said Gusau has no reason to complain because "at the time he occupied the office of the NSA, he took charge of defence spending. So there is no basis for the minister to complain. What is important for him is to work with the office

L-R: Regional Operations Director, West, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Macaulay; Managing Director, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya; Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed; Head, Public Relations, Airtel, Mr. Adefemi Adeniran and Zonal Business Manager, West, Mr. Ekundayo Fatoki, during a courtesy visit to the governor in Ilorin…weekend.

Defection: Tambuwal in fresh trouble

lSAN seeks mandamus order to declare seat vacant Emmanuel Onani Abuja

ore trouble lies ahead for the embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has filed a fresh suit before a Federal High Court, challenging his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). New Telegraph gathered from court documents sighted that the SAN is seeking an order of mandamus, to compel the

Speaker to vacate his seat in the Green Chamber, and by extension, his position. In the motion, the plaintiff is praying the court to compel Tambuwal to vacate his membership of the House, having regard to his defection on October 28. The plaintiff is further seeking an order compelling Tambuwal to, in his capacity as Speaker, prior to his action, declare vacant the Kebbe/Tambuwal constituency seat, which he represents. More importantly, he is asking the court to give express effect to section 68 (i) (g) of the 1999 constitution

(as amended). Section 68 (1) (g) states: "A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is member if [g]. being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.” New Telegraph gathered that an ex parte application, which will seek leave for the mandamus writ to be heard, will be argued today. A senior lawyer, who

spoke with New Telegraph on the suit, said: "Mandamus is an extra-ordinary order, which is made without the benefit of a full judicial process. "It is an order that compels an officer to perform or refrain from performing a particular act, the performance or omission of which is required by law as an obligation." The rule that guides mandamus requires the plaintiff to establish a duty on the occupant of an office on whom the order is being sought against. Tambuwal was elected Speaker of the 7th House in 2011 on the PDP plat-

form, against the earlier decision of the party, to zone the speakership to the South-West. His defection has brought him at loggerheads with authorities, including the Nigeria Police, whose Inspector General (IG), Mr. Suleiman Abba, has since withdrawn Tambuwal's security details. Also, an attempt by Tambuwal to preside over a special sitting to discuss President Goodluck Jonathan's request to extend the state of emergency in the North East, brought the speaker and some members on a collision course with the police.

of NSA to ensure that the security challenges are tackled, not about financial matters. Defence Ministry should not only be about contracts." A breakdown of the 2014 Appropriation Act, had indicated that of the total national budget of N4. 962 trillion, Defence (Army, Navy and Air Force) got about N968. 127 billion; about 20 per cent of the budget sum. Meanwhile, former Head of State and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major- General Muhamadu Buhari (rtd) has exonerated the military from any blame over failure to tame the Boko Haram insurgency threatening the nation’s sovereignty. Buhari, who spoke while addressing APC delegates in Enugu State, said it was wrong to accuse the military of complicity in the current challenge of insurgency when the soldiers have been complaining of inadequate equipment to combat the terrorists. The former military ruler said that rather than blame the military, Nigerians should hold the Federal Government responsible for the shortcomings of the security agencies as huge funds budgeted annually for security do not seem to have been utilised effectively. He said that in spite of the trillions spent on defence budget in the last three years, soldiers are still complaining of being poorly equipped to fight the insurgents. “If you consider the foreign revenue Nigeria has generated since 1999, you will be shocked at how inefficient and corrupt PDP has been. Soldiers have been saying they are illequipped, yet trillions have been voted for defence in the last three years. If we don’t vote out PDP, they will vote out Nigerians and we will all be the losers. Cast your votes for us so that wecan all fight this inefficiency and corruption” Buhari said. However, Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman,has asked Nigerians to stop blaming President Goodluck Jonathan for the growing spate of terror in the North. Instead, Sulaiman told newsmen in Ilorin, Kwara State, that Nigerians should begin to ask questions from the leadership of the armed forces. According to him, the issue of Boko Haram insurgency is not just political, it is fundamentally, a CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

News

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Senators deny plot to impeach Jonathan CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

heard anything like that neither did any senator contact him for such plot. "Honestly, I have been in Lagos for quite some time but I have not heard anything like that neither did anybody speak to me about it. But I will be in Abuja on Monday (today), so that I find out if there is anything like that," he said. Similarly, Senator Barnabas Gemade, (PDP, Benue North East), denied knowledge of the speculated impeachment plot. "I am in my home in Benue, and I don't want to comment on what I don't know anything about. I am not aware and nobody has met me on the issue you raised. But you can meet Abaribe because he is the spokesman of the Senate," he stated. Senator Joshua Dariye (PDP, Plateau Central) also told New Telegraph that he is not aware of the impeachment plot. "I don't know anything about that; I am not aware of any such plot." Former governor of Kwara State, Senator Shaaba Lafiagi (APC, Kwara North) denied knowledge of the impeachment move against the president.

An impeccable source told New Telegraph that the report was the handiwork of a few senators who by the outcome of the just-concluded PDP ward congresses across the country might have lost their return tickets to the Senate in the 2015 general election. "The so-called source claimed that out of the 63 senators that signed the touted impeachment notice, eight were from the PDP, meaning that the remaining 55 senators were from the APC. Are we saying that the opposition is now having majority membership in the Senate? From what I know, APC has only about 38 members currently. "These desperate politicians just feel that they can go to the press and feed the public with falsehood. It is

unfortunate that the media, which is the Fourth Estate of the realm has made itself available for the use of these enemies of the system.” An APC senator from the North East, who pleaded anonymity, told New Telegraph that it was an aggrieved PDP member who tried to instigate others to initiate impeachment move against the president. "For now, we take it as a child's play since it is only one man, who is not happy, for his selfish interest that is making the move," the lawmaker said. Meanwhile, indications emerged at the weekend that the House of Representatives may have decided to postpone its resumption date from December 3 until primaries of all political parties have

been concluded. New Telegraph reliably gathered that the lower house may reconvene on Tuesday, December 16. A principal officer of the House, who spoke to our correspondent, said though the leadership has agreed that December 3 is no longer feasible in view of the party primaries lined up, a new date was yet to be picked. He, however, reasoned that December 16 may be the new date considering that all the major parties, primaries would be concluded by December 11. According to the lawmaker, the postponement is to enable members vying for various positions to participate in primaries. He said, for example, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has scheduled its gubernatorial prima-

ries for December 4, a day after the House is expected to reconvene, while the PDP has fixed its own for December 6. "Some of our members like Speaker Aminu Tambuwal are contesting for governorship seat on the platform of APC and the primaries is to hold on December 4. The deputy speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, and others will participate in PDP's primaries on December 8. So, how can they come here and start going back to their states? "Mind you, we have to campaign and that period is the height of campaign activities so we may not resume till late December," he disclosed. Asked whether the impending postponement was not borne out of the fear of possible arrest of the speaker by the police,

the member said: "Tambuwal has told the whole world that he is ready for arrest so that can't be an issue at all." Defending their action last Thursday in scaling the fence, the lawmaker said: "We were between the devil and the deep blue sea and we just had to do the needful. The plan was to use a few members and impeach the speaker so we had no option but to do the unexpected and stall the plan. “We have to defend and preserve this democracy and that is exactly what we did," he disclosed. Also, Deputy Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Leo Ogor, has decried the impeachment move against President Jonathan by the APC members of the House.

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST LAGOS

30oC

26oC

Partially Cloudy

ABUJA

28oC

21oC

Sunny

PORT HARCOURT

27o C 18oC Storms

KANO

34oC

12oC

Sunny

ENUGU

34oC

L-R: Former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai; cheiftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Audu Ogbe; former Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari and Chairman, Enugu State APC, Mr. Ben Nwoye, during Buhari's visit to Enugu...weekend.

23oC

Partially Cloudy

IBADAN

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 o

33 C

23 C

Partially Cloudy

CALABAR

32o C 23oC Thunder Storms

MAIDUGURI

ONITSHA

Rift over control of defence spending

34oC 14oC Sunny

34oC

23oC

Partially Cloudy

military issue. Suleiman blamed the insecurity in the North East on alleged animosity between Nigeria and her neighbours. His words: "I don't think Boko Haram are having their ways because government is not working. They are having their ways because we are not getting enough support from the sub-region. It's fundamental. "People should be mindful of one thing when they

try to criticise President Jonathan on issue of terrorism. We should know that when it comes to fighting terrorism, counterterrorism and warfare, presidents do not go to war. It's the handiwork of the armed forces. "It's the primary responsibility of the military. And let me say this, Nigeria's armed forces today are dominated by northerners and the Boko Haram spate is in the north. If there is a problem there, we look at our tactics, military operation and suspect some

subversive tendencies in the armed forces. “The Inspector General of Police is from the north, the NSA is from the North, the Chief of Defence Staff is from the North. So, why must anyone blame the President? I think we should appreciate what the man is doing by mobilising all these forces. So, if there's problem therefore, we should ask questions from the military and troops. "Yes, it's a political issue, but fundamentally a military issue. And am not

saying they've not tried. The issue of terrorism is a global issue, regional issue and sub-regional issue. Secondly, the terrorism we have in Nigeria has internal and external dimensions to it. Some of the terrorists are not Nigerians, they are not operating from Nigeria, they are operating from Nigerian borders and they have some back up from neighbouring countries.” Efforts to get the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major- General Chris Olukolade, to com-

ment on the matter, were unsuccessful. On his part, spokesman for the NSA, Mr. Karounwi Adekunle, neither picked repeated calls to his telephone line nor did he reply our text message. However, the imagemaker of the Defence Ministry, Mr. Shehu Maikai, said Gusau will be in a better position to respond to the inquiry. "I'm not the minister; how can I know? Why not get across to the minister? It is a personal thing," he told New Telegraph.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

HIGH CHIEF GOVERNMENT EKPEMUPOLO (Ibe-Ebidouwei of Ijaw Nation)

No 1, Pere Road, Oporoza Town, Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State, Nigeria.

Re-‘Abduction’ Of 14 Journalists in Oporoza

he need has arisen to react to the mischievously-hyped ‘abduction’ of 14 journalists who were said to have been on official assignment in the creeks of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State. Ordinarily, I would have opted to remain silent. However, it has become necessary to make clarifications in the face of the deliberate distortion of facts by some mischief-makers intent on denigrating my person and questioning my integrity before the larger society. More so, I am persuaded by the fact of my experience as a crusader for equity, fairness and justice the world over including the oppressed people of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area, who have always found brotherliness and companionship in members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm. In the case of the development of the Ijaws of the Niger-Delta which I have championed over the years, journalists have been worthy partners even as their contributions have served as veritable means to ventilate our views, opinions and positions as a people who have had cause to draw global attention to our plight. However, in the matter of the hyped ‘abduction’ of journalists in Oporoza last week, it is perhaps pertinent to state that they were victims of an orchestrated and well-rehearsed saga by their Itsekiri clients who lured them into a trap. Suffice it to say that unknown to the journalists (some of whom are my friends) and before their arrival in Warri, their Itsekiri hosts had concluded plans to video-capture some Ijaw settlements, especially Ikpokpo community, to show to the world as Itsekiri lands in their desperate attempts to distort historical facts, especially as the hosting/citing of the EPZ project poses some challenges. It should be noted that the Gbaramatu people have been agitating for inclusion in the EPZ project since 2012, as of right that part of the land earmarked for the project starting from Ikpokpo community belongs to them. It was on the strength of the above that in November 2013, the Gbaramatu people were invited alongside other stakeholders, to the unveiling meeting of the project at Government House Annex Warri by NNPC and the State Government. At the said meeting, the Gbaramatu people, out of curiosity, inquired why they have not been recognized as stakeholders by way of acquisition of land from them. But to their surprise, the Governor shut them out of the project and merely identified them as ‘impacted community’. From that point on, it was obvious the siting of the EPZ project was beyond the ordinary. We needed no soothsayer to tell us that the Governor was hiding something from the Gbaramatu people. Even though the governor later set up a committee to resolve the issues raised by the Gbaramatu people, our anxiety and suspicion further heightened when the November 14 date for the ground-breaking ceremony was announced even though the committee was yet to come up with acceptable terms for the siting of the EPZ project. By way of protest, the Gbaramatu people addressed a world press conference at Oporoza on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 to press home, among other things, the need to properly identify host communities for the EPZ project before its commencement. It should at juncture, be noted that as said earlier, journalists are friends and partners in progress. It was this thinking that informed our decision to host them to the world press conference held at Oporoza without molestation of any form. Similarly, the Gbaramatu Ijaws neither

attempted to video-capture Itsekiri communities as they (Itsekiri) did in their own case. It is no longer news that the Federal Government did call off the ground-breaking ceremony pending the resolution of the issues, basically on the strength of our position and submissions canvassed at that world press conference which journalists also effectively relayed to the public. It is therefore out of place for the Itsekiri people to manipulate innocent journalists in this regard to the extent of going through the unfortunate ordeal in which I also sympathize with them. I must emphasize at this point that the claim by the Itsekiri people that the journalists were on their way to cover the ground-breaking event can only be misleading. This is because the event had been called off four days before the presence of the journalists in Ikpokpo, precisely on Sunday 16th November 2014 Of course the media has been awash with personal insults on the President just as the Ugborodo (Itsekiri) people at this point also threatened to deal with the Gbaramatu people. True to the threats, they (Itsekiri) came to Ikpokpo community in two speed boats on a Sunday morning ostensibly to attack the community. While one of the boats escaped, the community intercepted the other and discovered that journalists were among other occupants. In addition, and to the amazement of the villagers, two guns and the sum of Two Million Naira cash were found in the intercepted boat. At this point, the community had no option than to report the matter to the security agencies. It should however be noted that upon identification, no journalist was molested as widely claimed by mischief makers. The truth is that the people of Ikpokpo community immediately insisted on taking the intruders using journalists as shield to Oporoza, the traditional headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom. This was a sensible move as the continued stay on the river with the intruders could not have been in the interest of either party. To say the least therefore, it can only be out sheer mischief that people with dubious intents could describe such move as an ‘abduction’. This notwithstanding, the fact is that all the items (the two guns and the cash) are already with the security agencies. This is a commendable move, no doubt. However, it beats my imagination that the occupants of the gun-laden boat, particularly the Itsekiri youth leaders have been released by security agencies in spite of glaring evidence that showed a level of complicity. While not pre-empting the outcome of whatever investigation being carried on in this regard, I hold a strong view that this is a security matter which requires dutiful and dexterous commitment on the part of our security agencies to unravel. Not only must the outcome of the investigation be made public, perpetrators of this gun-running act that clearly breaches our laws must be made to face the law. This becomes compelling in view of the possible negative impact a negligent handling of this particular case may breed. Thanks. SIGNED:

HIGH CHIEF GOVERNMENT EKPEMUPOLO

News

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Nigerians must unite against terrorism –Catholic Bishops Onwuka Nzeshi and Ibraheem Musa

atholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) yesterday enjoined all Nigerians to unite in the fight against terrorism irrespective of religious, ethnic or political affiliations. The bishops spoke while condemning last Friday's bomb blast at the Central Mosque, Kano that killed over 100 people. In a statement issued on their behalf by the Secretary-General, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ralph Madu, the bishops described the incident as shocking and saddening. "Our hearts bleed when we realise that the casualty figures of the dead have risen up to 120, not to talk

of the increased number of those who sustained first degree injuries and are lying critically at various hospitals in Kano. "It defies any human imagination how a group of Nigerians could take up arms against fellow Nigerians, unleashing such mayhem on innocent citizens, who did not do any wrong, but only went to the Mosque to seek the face of God. “The perpetrators of this heinous crime, which is against God and humanity, have neither fear of God nor respect for the sacredness of life. They do not mean well for our country. Indeed, they are enemies of Nigeria," the statement. The clerics described as barbaric, senseless, callous and wicked, these attacks targeted at inno-

cent citizens and executed at mosques, churches, schools, bus stations, markets, shopping plazas and other heavy human targets. According to them, such attacks have no place in Christianity, Islam or African traditional religion, adding that any religion worthy of its name discourages acts of violence and terrorism as well as all kinds of selfish behaviour that would make a functioning society impossible. The Catholic Bishops said the carnage must be brought to a halt and enjoined all Nigerians to support the efforts of government in that direction by being more vigilant and security conscious at all times. Also, Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI) has called on all Muslims to take defensive

measures within the purview of the law, in order to protect themselves since government has clearly failed to do so. The Secretary-General of JNI, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, who made this known yesterday at a press briefing, also advised all Imams and their followers to intensify special prayers against the current insurgency. He advised Muslims to remain calm and keep vigil over happenings around them. He called on security agencies to live up to their responsibilities of protecting lives and property. “Why is it that anytime the ineffective state of emergency is about to lapse and an extension is being sought, attacks are carried out with sophistication?” Aliyu asked.

New Telegraph shifts publication of Nigeria’s Top 100 Companies

he management of New Telegraph Newspaper, Nigeria's authoritative voice in Business and Politics, has shifted the publication date of the Nigeria's Top 100 Companies to December 16, 2014. The publication was earlier billed for today, De-

cember 1. This special report, which promises to be a collector's item, will feature top companies on the basis of market capitalisation, profitability/bottom line, brand awareness, attraction of skilled workforce, and corporate social responsibility, among others.

Buhari no match for me, says Atiku Babatope Okeowo

ormer Vice-President Abubarkar Atiku has boasted that he will defeat former Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), and other aspirants for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket. The opposition presidential primaries hold on December 10. “As I move around, I count my delegates and by the time I conclude, I should be okay,” Atiku said at the weekend in Akure, the Ondo State capital, during his meeting with party leaders and delegates. The onetime vice president stated that the popularity of Buhari is only in the media as realities on ground in many of the

states visited showed otherwise. According to him, “I don’t think that Buhari is more popular; it is more of media hype. It is you people (journalists) that are writing that one, but with the things on ground, I think I am far ahead.” Atiku said the APC has gone beyond a consensus arrangement in picking its presidential candidate. His words: “There is no way we can adopt the system of consensus because we have gone beyond that; we are preparing for elections now. Who are the party leaders? We are the party leaders.” Atiku said the APC has all it takes to win the 2015 general election as Nigerian electorate have rejected the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

UK court orders sale of Akingbola’s property Foluso Ogunmodede

Chairman, North-West Screening Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Shaaba Lafiagi (left) and Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, displaying his certificate of clearance for the Sokoto State governorship in Kaduna … yesterday

FG considers fuel subsidy removal in June 2015 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

affect the 2015 elections, which are scheduled for February 2015. The government had earlier said that it would cut subsidies on petroleum products by half next year after sharp falls in global crude prices spurred a reversal of its 2015 budget downwards. Finding showed that the government would save about N512.46 billion with the half-cut in subsidy, which it plans next year. "The Plan A is to pay full subsidy on the product till June and end it totally then while the Plan B is to pay half subsidy, spread across

the 12 months in the Year 2015. "The Plan A is what looks attractive to the government for now because it allows status quo to remain till after the election. You know that as good and pressing as need for removal of subsidy is, the politics of opposition in the country will make it look unattractive and this can affect the outcome of the election," the source said. The Federal Government had earlier tried to end subsidy in 2012 in a bid to cut government spending and encourage investment in local refining, by doubling the price of a

litre of petrol overnight to about N150 ($0.93) from about N65. "The government has put in place adequate measure to secure the support of traditional rulers, union leaders, religious leaders, opinion moulders and all well-meaning Nigerians to support scheme, which is a part of the austerity measures to save our economy from the shock of falling oil prices," he concluded. President Goodluck Jonathan, it would be recalled, submitted the revised budget figures to lawmakers penultimate week, proposing to spend N458.68 billion ($2.59 billion) on petrol subsidy in

2015, down from N971.14 billion presented for 2014. It also assumed further cuts to petrol subsidies in 2016 to N408.68 billion and N371.18 billion for 2017. Just last Thursday, the Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had also proposed lowering the assumed benchmark oil price for the 2015 budget to $73 per barrel from the $78 proposed in September, after global crude prices plunged further. The 2015 budget proposals assumed an exchange rate of N162 to the US dollar, weaker than N160 assumed for 2014.

onths after his defunct bank, Intercontinenal Bank Plc, initiated a suit to recover the N16 billion he allegedly misappropriated, a London court has ordered the sale of Dr. Erastus Akingbola's numerous properties in the United Kingdom. The proceeds from the sale, according the court, would be the equivalent of the N16 billion funds allegedly misappropriated by Akingbola. Intercontinental Bank – now Access Bank Plc, had asked the London court to grant its request as some of the funds allegedly misappropriated by the bank's former managing director, were traceable to the acquisition of contentious properties. At trial, the court allegedly established that some of the funds were traced to the purchase of the contentious properties in London by Akingbola. Following this, the court

ordered that the properties be sold with a view to recouping the N164 billion to the bank's coffer. Consequently, some of the properties were sold and the sums of £11 million have so far been recovered. Properties known as Flats 17, 18, 19 and 20 Embassy Court London, NW 8 were sold. Upon discovery that Akingbola had acquired numerous assets hidden in a Trust in Cayman Island specifically known as 2 Cambridge Court, the defunct bank initiated an application to a Cayman Islands' Grant Court to convert the London Judgement to a Cayman Island Judgement. This, Akingbola allegedly refused to challenge, hence the Grand Court of the Cayman Island gave its verdict that Akingbola should pay N238,471,484,162 and £1,800,000 to the defunct Intercontinental Bank with interest at 2. 5/8 per cent per annum from April 2014 until payment was finally made.

NEW TELEGRAPH monday, december 1, 2014

News

national

Why I oppose Jonathan on $1bn request, by Buhari Muhammad Kabir and Johnchuks Onuanyim Kano, Abuja

ll Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential aspirant, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(rtd) has strongly kicked against the President Goodluck Jonathan’s moves to use $1billion to fight the ongoing insurgency that has nearly crippled some northern

127,149

l I didn’t give money to Imo delegates

states. Buhari said: “For 30 months as one of the Military Commandants, we fought Civil War from here to the East, and Nigeria did not borrow a single kobo. In fact, the country won the war, which continues to keep it as a single entity’. Buhari, who was in Kano to sympathize with the people and government over the last Fri-

day’s bomb attack, also met with the APC delegates at the Government House Kano. Buhari also debunked an online report that he bribed the Imo State APC delegates with N1 million when he visited them. He said there was no any basis or any cogent reason as to why Nigeria must borrow money to fight the insurgency, apart from corruption and mis-

0.94

The number of fixed-telephone The number of fixed-telephone subscripsubscriptions of Benin Republic in 2009. tions per 100 inhabitants of Guinea in 2009. Source: Itu.int Source: Itu.int

placement of priorities, adding that the money the country generated within the short period possible is more than enough to purchase whatever the military needed to curtail the problems. Buhari said the real problems that militate against fighting the insurgency is lack of political will, corruption and diversion of national treasury, not lack of suf-

73.8%

The percentage of the urban population of Cook Islands in 2012. Source: Un.org

ficient funds on the part of the government. The APC presidential aspirant noted that when the issue came on board, the National Assembly wanted to conduct a public hearing on the matter by inviting Military Chiefs but it appears the issue has once more been swept under the carpet. He was worried that on several occasions, the Military that are fighting the battle have been complaining of lack of

587

The number of pending asylum seekers of Costa Rica at the beginning of 2010. Source: Blatantworld.com

sophisticated weapons to face the insurgents, but not much has been done to them. The General, who spoke to select journalists in his campaign office in Abuja at the weekend, also reacted to the criticisms over his N27.5 million loan for his nomination forms, stating that the Buhari Crowd Funding Platform (BCFP) would pay back the loan. Speaking through the Head of Media, Publicity & ICT of Buhari Support Organization, Dr. Chidi Maduekwe, Buhari stated that the loan for his presidential nomination form would be paid back through BCFP. He said, "As at today, we have a platform called Buhari Crowd Funding Platform. That in itself is an innovation. Every second, every hour, two hundred Naira, one thousand Naira is being paid into that account by concerned Nigerians."

'NYSC members’ allowance may be increased' Mojeed Alabi

L-R: A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Olusegun Adebayo; Lagos State PDP governorship aspirant, Mr. Adedeji Doherty and National Ex-official member, South West Zone, Mrs. Margret Ikwue, at Doherty ‘s fund raising dinner in Lagos…at the weekend. PHOTO: GODWINIREKHE

optimism

Insurgency notwithstanding, Speaker Tambuwal is optimistic that election can hold in the North-East

Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

he Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji

Elections can hold all over Nigeria — Tambuwal Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has said that Nigerians should ensure that elections are held all over the country in 2015, in spite of the insurgency that is ravaging parts of the country. Speaking to journalists after he was screened yesterday at the zonal headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna, the speaker said

elections have been held in countries like Afghanistan that have far more security challenges than Nigeria. For this reason, the insurgency that is ravaging some parts of the country should not be an excuse not to hold elections in the North East zone, Tambawal argued. According to the speaker, President Goodluck Jonathan, National

Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki and all the security agencies should ensure that there is peace in the country, so that Nigerians can come out and vote in February 2015. The gubernatorial aspirant said that his decision to contest for the governorship of Sokoto State was borne out of the call of his people to and his desire to serve them.

CJN promises efficient judiciary Kano blast: APC postpones House Tunde Oyesina Abuja

he Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed yesterday said he will ensure that an independent and efficient Judiciary was in place when he lives office. Justice Mohammed said, having been part of the nation’s judicial

system for a decade, he understands its workings and its challenges, and was willing to ensure that a functional judiciary that meets the people’s needs was in place. He said, with the support of good minds in the National Judicial Council (NJC), he will build on the structure left by his immediate predecessor in achieving his set objectives.

of Assembly primaries Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

he All Progressives Congress (APC) has postponed its House of Assembly primaries, scheduled for today across the nation. According to a statement from APC National Publicity, Alhaji Lai Mo-

hammed, the primaries were postponed for one day as a mark of respect for those who were killed in terrorist attack and also in sympathy with those who were injured or affected one way or the other. The party said the House of Assembly primaries will however hold on December 2nd .

Also speaking after his screening, Governor Abdul Azeez Yari of Zamfara State, said that his achievements are so glaring that his people will re-elect APC in the coming election. He said that PDP has nothing on the ground to convince the electorate to vote for them, considering the insecurity and high employment rate in the north.

n spite of the dwindling fortune of the nation’s economy and the series of austerity measures being put in place by government, serving members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, have been promised of increased monthly allowance by the Federal Government. The government said the N19,800 they are currently being paid cannot take care of their needs. This disclosure was made recently by the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Students and Youth Affairs, Mr. Jude Imagwe, when he visited the Plateau State NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Mangu. Imagwe explained that discussions were on with the President and other stakeholders to arrive at a logical conclusion on the increment, promising that other welfare packages will also be taken care of.

...It's sin against God, says Pope

ope Francis has condemned in its strong terms Friday’s deadly attacks on the Emir of Kano’s Central Mosque in Kano, northern Nigeria, where dozens of lives were lost with several injured. He described it as an “extremely serious sin against God.” The Pope made the comments yesterday,

while rounding off his trip to Turkey. In a meeting with Turkish political and religious officials, at the start of his second trip to the Middle East this year, the Pope further urged Muslim leaders to condemn the “barbaric violence” being committed in Islam’s name against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Metro

Bullion van: Four policemen, bank officials arrested Babatope Okeowo

Camillus Nnaji

ome police officers and men have kicked against what they described as compulsory patronage of poor health services and cumbersome medical administration since inception of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). A high ranking officer had recently hinted on the plan by police authorities to compel all police of-

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

Akure

our policemen and some bank officials have been arrested in connection with the robbery attack on a bullion van at Elemoso village in Ondo East Local Government Area of Ondo State. The Commissioner of Police, Mr Isaac Eke, who paraded 32 suspected criminals arrested in the state within last month for various offences, said the preliminary investigations carried out by the police on the robbery pointed to conspiracy among the bank officials, the policemen and the suspected armed robbers. The bullion van, with registration number FST 954 AL and its escort with registration number PF 3444 SPY belonging to United Bank for Arica (UBA), were attacked on November 20. The bullion van was coming from Ondo town where it loaded cash and on its way to Akure, the state capital, to discharge the money when it ran into an ambush laid by the armed robbers. A resident, who witnessed the incident, said the robbers deflated the tyres of the vehicles and forcibly brought them to a halt along the major road. The source said the armed robbers disarmed the policemen, shot the bullion van, forced the safe of the van open, emptied the cash in the vehicle and

Party thugs kill colleague over largesse

The suspects

escaped through Ile-Oluji Road. But Eke faulted the robbery theory, saying all evidences at his disposal pointed to conspiracy. The commissioner added that the driver of the escort did not come to the department of operation at the police headquarters to ask for specific number of policemen to follow the bullion van, neither did the policemen got necessary approval before embarking on the trip. He said: “Special escort has specific guidelines to be complied with. What was used was

not a bullion van in the real sense of it. The driver did not come officially to request for escort. “How he handpicked the policemen is only known to him. The escort is faulted. If it was normal robbery operation, one of them would have been gunned down. The policemen came back to the station on their own.” Eke also disclosed that in the last one month, the police arrested six suspected armed robbers, 14 suspected members of secret cults, four suspected kidnappers, three burglary

suspects, four rape suspects and one suspected fraudster. Some of the items recovered from the suspects, he said, included one Toyota Camry car, N1.7 million cash, a Scania Lorry and one cutlass. Eke, however, said the command lost two men a shoot-out with some suspected armed robbers who were about escaping from a robbery scene. He added that the hoodlums that shot the policemen would soon be apprehended as his men were on their trail.

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries conducted last Saturday to elect candidates to contest the forthcoming House of Assembly election in Benue State turned bloody in Kwande Local Government Area as thugs reportedly lynched one of their colleagues, Terfa Iornongo, over largesse. It was gathered that trouble started when the former caretaker Chairman of the local government, Mr Terhile Iorchir, offered an undisclosed amount of money to the thugs who were trailing him through the victim. But sensing that the deceased might disappear with the money, the thugs mobilised and swooped on Iornongo, collected the money from him and allegedly beat him to death. Our correspondent, who was in the local government to monitor the primaries, observed that Iornongo’s killing ignited tension in the area as the relatives of the victim accused Iorchir of being responsible for their son’s death. It was also learnt that some of the thugs fled their homes for fear of being arrested by the police. However, the incident did not hinder the conduct of the primaries held amidst heavy security presence.

Policemen kick against NHIS Lawmaker offers constituents ficers to enrol in the scheme. Some officers at the Police College, Ikeja, who craved anonymity, told our correspondent that the scheme was a total failure. According to them, despite the substandard drugs they are using, officers on transfer cannot get the services in their new states of posting, while NHIS keeps shortchanging them every month. “The NHIS, the Health Management Organisations (HMOs) and the hospitals have been short-changing police officers. Despite their poor services, substandard drugs and lack of capable hands, the police authorities have made it clear that every police officer must compulsorily register with NHIS,” one of them said. Another officer, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said he was transferred from Ondo State to Lagos,

N50m soft loan Muhammad Bashir Lokoja

IG, Suleiman Abba

since then he had not received any medical treatment from any NHIS hospital. He said: “They refused to treat me or any member of my family even when I produced my code registration number. Does that mean that as I work in Lagos, I have to be travelling to Ondo for medical services?”

he lawmaker representing Yagba Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Hon Sunday Karimi, has given out N50 million soft loan to 120 cooperative societies in his constituency. While giving out the cheques to the beneficiaries over the weekend, Karimi said the loan was to cushion the effect of poverty in the area and to promote the spirit of selfreliance among his people. The legislator, who spoke through the Chairman of Yagba East, Mr F. G. Ibrahim, described Yagba people as very industrious and enterprising and urged the beneficiaries to embark on small-scale busi-

nesses that could enhance their economic status. Karimi, who said the loan was interest-free to enable the beneficiaries to pay back on time, disclosed that a new set of beneficiaries would be selected by January next year when the second phase of the empowerment programme would begin. In the first phase, the lawmaker said over 4,000 people in about 200 cooperative societies applied for the loan while 120 cooperative societies were picked. The lawmaker, who distributed some vehicles and household items to members of his constituency in December last year, said if re-elected for the second time, he would do more to reduce poverty among his people.

Metro 11

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

Man held for gunrunning, robbery Juliana Francis

suspected gunrunner, Sunday Samuel, is now in the custody of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos. The suspect used to bring illegal weapons into the country from Republic of Benin by concealing them inside herbs. Samuel described himself as a businessman. However, the police said he was not just a gunrunner but also a receiver of stolen vehicles. According to the police, once Samuel gets the guns into Nigeria, he recruits young men and gives them guns to go and rob. His gang members, a police source said, confessed that they target women who drive because “it is easy to snatch cars from women”. The suspect also allegedly used to hide cartridges for the guns inside the door pad of his car. A police source said that Samuel described the herbs as, ‘Ghana herbs,’ adding that they were used to prepare medicine for people suffering from different ailments. “He will hide the guns inside herbs, which he ties

together with a twine. The guns are always placed in the middle of the sticks, with the sticks of herbs surrounding them, to conceal them from security agents at the border. He also used to hide cartridges inside the door of his car,” the source said. It was also learnt that Samuel instructed his boys to always snatch exotic vehicles. “Once the robbers bring the vehicles to him, he would take them to Cotonou. He would refurbish and sell them in Cotonou. He has been doing this business now for over three years,” said the source. Samuel’s journey to SARS started after the arrest of two of the robbers, Owolabi Olaniyi aka Owo-blow and Ismaila Olukayode alias Asmail, working for him. The men were arrested based on a tip-off from a police informant. The suspects told police how Samuel used to give them guns to snatch vehicles for him. “Once we snatch the cars, we go through Ilaro, Ogun State, to meet Samuel. He would be waiting for us at an agreed venue, to collect the vehicles. Right at that place, he would collect the vehicles and hand them over to men we have never seen before that day. The men would go

Save us from robbers, monarch begs govt Muritala Ayinla

he traditional ruler of Oke Odo Elemoro in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Oba Tajudeen Elemoro, has called on the police and the state government to come to the aid of the residents because of incessant robbery attacks in the community. The monarch said that it was high time the government provided enough and adequate security measures for the people. He said: “Just last Monday, a report was brought to my palace about another robbery attack that occurred around 2am, where money and several other valuable items were lost to the men of the underworld. This is a very sad development in my community and it has to stop. “Although the Police Area Command at Ajah is trying its best in terms of security in this area but I am also using this medium to appeal to the state Police Command to hasten up the completion of Elemoro Area Command that is under construction so as to have enough hands on ground in case of emergencies such as this.” Meanwhile, the lawmaker representing the Lagos East Senatorial District, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, has promised the Elemoro Area Command would soon be completed.

File picture of guns recovered from robbery suspects

away with the vehicles. “Right there also, Samuel would give us cheques for payment of the vehicles. We go to bank to cash the money,” one of the robbers reportedly said. Investigators discovered that the gang sells neat cars, depending on the

Don’t store fuel at home, NEMA warns

make, for at least N500,000, N450,000 or N400,000. The gang said it preferred Muritala Ayinla to operate in the wee hours he National Emergency Management of Sundays and Mondays. Agency (NEMA) has warned the residents “Police don’t use to flag us of Lagos State against indiscriminate storing down because we drive in a civilised manner; in a way that of petroleum products at homes and workplacwill not arouse suspicion,” es in order to avert fire disaster. The South-West Zonal Coordinator of one of the robbers added. NEMA, Dr Abdullahi Onimode, gave the warning at a workshop organised by the agency in collaboration with the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA). Onimode said the workshop was put together by the agencies to look at the effective ways of implementing the laws that would bring about a disaster-free society. He added the workshop was to look at the available laws in the land and how the law enforcement agencies were enforcing them in a way that would reduce hazard and risk through unsafe practices. According to him, as the dry season approaches, people must be safety conscious and refrain from unsafe practices capable of causing avoidable disasters. He said: “We are approaching the dry season. Harmattan itself is a phenomenon that is always there but how do we cope with our environment when this dry season comes. Those who are smoking cigarette, do they just throw the stump away? And of course those killing bush rats when they set fire in the bush, do they wait for the fire to go out? “Those who store fuel in the house, because they think PHCN won’t give them light, how well do they store the fuel? Those are the things we want to tell them at the workshop. Hazards do ocService (SSS) who were pa- cur but what are the risks we pose to the environtrolling some streets close ment? That is why we are strengthening capacity of people to identify the hazards around them.” to the institution.

ACE students protest death of colleagues Babatope Okeowo Akure

he students of Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State went on the rampage at the weekend to protest the death of two of their colleagues in an auto crash near the institution’s campus. The victims, Akinkuotu Toyosi, a part three student of the English Department and Omobolawa Bola, a part four student of Physics Department, were returning from Asun Night organised by the ACE Alumni Association as part of the institution’s 50th anniversary when the accident occurred. Another student involved in the accident was said to be in coma and currently receiving treatment at the Ondo Trauma Centre in the town. On learning about the death of their colleagues, which happened around 11pm on Friday, the students took to the street the following morning. Armed with different placards, the students blocked major roads in the community and prevented free flow of traffic for hours. The situation led to traffic jam in various

The gate of the institution

parts of the ancient town. However, the situation prompted several heads of various security organisations to mobilise their men who were positioned at various locations in the area, apparently to prevent any breakdown of law and order. Most conspicuous among the security agencies were policemen led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Funbi-Fagun, Mr OluOjo Ogunmoyole, a Superintendent of Police (SP), and mobile police officers from the Ondo Area Command. Others included the Ni-

geria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the State Security

‘Ajimobi not handling Ibadan crisis properly’ Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

gubernatorial aspirant on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform in Oyo State, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, has called on Governor Abiola Ajimobi to return to the country to personally resolve the festering crisis rocking the state. Ajimobi left for the United Kingdom shortly after the crisis at Oke Ado area in his Ibadan

South-West Local Government where some area boys killed a policeman and injured others. Shittu said in a statement signed by the Director-General of his campaign organisation, Alhaji Abiodun Oyaremi, that it was improper for the governor, as the Chief Security Officer, to travel when there was a festering crisis in the state. The former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General said the personal attention of the governor became imperative

to douse the tension occasioned by the crisis. He said: “Today, many lawabiding citizens of the state, particularly in Ibadan metropolis, are apprehensive of their safety in the face of the escalating crises. “Why the governor should choose a time like this to travel out, in view of what he witnessed penultimate Friday at one of his campaign rallies where a policeman was shot dead, three police officers and scores of other passers-by were wounded?”

12 News

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NATION CAPTIAL

FCT seeks CBN’s support on Security Trust Fund Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

inister of Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, has solicited the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) towards the establishment of FCT Security Trust Fund to boost crime fighting in

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the nation’s capital. Speaking when the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele paid him a courtesy call in his office at the weekend, the Minister said that the apex bank could assist the FCTA in the area of working out a good financial framework for the operation of the trust fund. Senator Mohammed

stated that the CBN could assist the FCTA through the window of its corporate social responsibilities. According to him, the FCTA is already taking measures towards establishing its own Internal Revenue Board. The board, when operational, would enable FCT to float bonds as part of measures to strengthen it to operate the security trust fund

£25,263

The number of pending asylum seekers of The average weekly salary of Italy’s Serie A Romania at the beginning of 2010. players in 2013-2014 season. Source: Blatantworld.com Source: Soccernet.com

adding that his administration was doing its utmost to meet the expectation of Nigerians. “I know the CBN has been the front runner in terms of giving corporate social assistance so that people will sleep with their eyes closed. We are doing so well and we want to make sure we establish an institution that will access funds from security services”. He said He said that way, the

The number of Ebola virus deaths that occurred in Uganda in 2011. Source: Who.int

FCT administration would be in proper stead to lend its support to security organizations, so that they can provide effective surveillance, monitoring and closed circuit television (CCTV) networking. He added that the security protocol would be such that corporate institutions and individuals are supposed to comply with. Mohammed told Emefiele that the FCT admin-

9,000

The projected number of Americans above 65 years with Alzheimer’s in District of Colombia by 2025. Source: Itu.int

istration would approach the CBN for the needed support once the security protocol is approved “so that you can see visible areas and we will establish a trust fund that you will be part and parcel of”. He stated further: “We must leverage on your presence in our capital to maximally benefit from your generosity and economic buoyancy that you are associated with”.

FCTA targets 1m job creation in five years-Minister Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

L-R: Chairman, DAAR Communications Plc, Chief Aleogho Dokpesi; Company Secretary, Mr. Donatus Anupuo; Group Managing Director, DAAR Communications Plc, Mr. Tony Akiotu and Managing Director, DAAR Education Services International Investment, Mr. Raymond Dokpesi (Jr), at DAAR’s Annual General Meeting in Abuja… at the weekend

Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

he Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mobile Environmental Court has issued a bench warrant of arrest for over 100 residents of the nation’s capital for failure to comply with a redecorating directive by the Department of Development Control. The residents also face arrest for failure to pay their waste disposal bills to the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). According to Magistrate Bashir Alkali, who is the presiding judge of the court, the arrest warrant was issued following failure of the residents to honour

100 residents face arrest over waste disposal offence court summons issued to them to appear before the court last Saturday. While issuing the warrant, Alkali directed that the affected residents must be arrested by the Police and appear before the court in its next sitting. The Magistrate, who tried and fined only seven residents that appeared before the court for the waste disposal debt offence charged them N3000 each as fine. Prosecutor to AEPB and Department of Development Control, Barrister Arome Torkula,

told the court that about 96 residents of the FCT were summoned to the court for failure to pay their waste disposal bills while 94 were charged to court over failure to redecorate their buildings against the directive of the Department of Development Control. His words: “We are prosecuting two areas: the issue of failure to comply with the prescribed redecoration directive to pay, which is contrary to Section 35 sub-section 1 E and punishable under subsection 2B of the AEPB

Act, on one hand. We also have prosecution on waste bill matter which is also contrary to Section 30 sub section 4 and punishable under sub section 5 of the AEPB Act 1997. Residents in the FCT have been summoned, particularly Khatourm Street for failure to pay at stipulated time” The Public Relations Officer of the Department of Development Control, Kalu Emetu, said re-decorating is always part of the building plan approval issued to every developer in the FCT.

AEDC distributes 100 motorcycles for service delivery Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

o improve its services of power supply to its numerous customers, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has acquired 100 operational

motorcycles for residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger states. In a statement from the Head of Media, AEDC, Mr. Ahmed Shekarua, the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Neil

Croucher flagged off the distribution of the motorcycles at the company’s head office in Abuja, stating that the procurement of the bikes was in line with AEDC’s pledge of efficient service delivery in its coverage area.

The CEO, represented by the Executive Director, Commercial Services, Mr. Ernest Mupwaya, said the new motorcycles were meant to facilitate speedy response to customers’ complaints, especially in the rural areas.

inister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, has said that his administration has put all machineries in place to create about one million additional jobs in various fields of endeavour within the next five years. Mohammed disclosed this at the weekend in Okada, Edo State, in his acceptance speech of the honorary doctorate degree conferred on him by the Igbinedion University, Okada. He also disclosed that some of these machineries put on ground have been in partnership with the organized private sector, culminating in the Public Private Partnership (PPP).

2014 hajj, benchmark for future operation, says Sultan Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

he Pe r m a n e n t Amirul- Hajj and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Saad III has described the 2014 hajj exercise coordinated by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) as a huge success. The Supreme leader of Muslims in the country, who described the exercise as a benchmark for the future hajj operation in the country, spoke in Abuja at the weekend, while presiding over the Post 2014 Hajj Conference organised by NAHCON held at the National Mosque. The Sultan, who examined the entire challenges of the operation and process, also called on stakeholders to reexamine the success and the challenges and sustain the tempo towards improvement of hajj operation in the years ahead.

“The 2014 hajj would be a benchmark for a successful future exercise.” While speaking at the meeting, the Head of NAHCON Medical, Environmental and Sanitation during the hajj operation, Dr. Ibrahim Kana, said despite fears of Ebola Virus Disease before the commencement of hajj exercise, there was no record of outbreak of the disease among Nigerian pilgrims throughout the exercise. He said the commitment by the Federal Government and Federal Ministry of Health did a lot to ensure that Nigeria was not banned from the 2014 hajj exercise despite speculation in some quarters. Kana, who also disclosed that 33 Nigerians died during the exercise, said the thorough screening of pilgrims by NAHCON in Nigeria before the airlift to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia helped reduce the mortality rate.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

Governorship aspirants

Ex-govs, ex-ministers, senators, others scramble for Ajimobi’s seat

16, 17, 20

Politics Although the Ebonyi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) believes the mega rally organised in support of the second term bid of President Goodluck Jonathan was a huge success, other stakeholders, however, have a contrary view. CHARLES ONYEKWERE reports

Ripples over Ebonyi mega rally

he Abakaliki Township Stadium, venue of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) mega rally organised in support of President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid, was filled to capacity last weekend. The pro-Jonathan rally was organised by the Ebonyi State government and witnessed by PDP stakeholders across the 13 local government areas of the state. It was a day the ‘who is who’ in PDP in the state, as well as aspirants contesting elective positions in the 2015 general election, all came out towards building a united state and country. Speaking at the occasion, the state governor, Chief Martin Elechi said President Jonathan has portrayed himself as a true Nigerian by refusing to discriminate against anybody irrespective of tribe, religion, language and socio-political affiliation, even in the face of opposition. The governor stated that the choice of Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu as the consensus candidate was not his making but a public declaration, and urged all Ebonyi people not to vote for people of questionable characters in the 2015 general election. Despite provocation against the government by opposition party members, the governor appealed to the people not to resort to vio-

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY Editor, POLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

Jonathan

lence but ensure free, fair and credible elections come 2015. Elechi described those out to destabilise the state and the party, as armed robbers and liars as they tend to juxtapose themselves with the president, even when their character was not reflective of what they profess. “We are here for a purpose, to thank the man who is the greatest gift to Nigerians. Nigerians are begging him to continue his agenda for total transformation. We thank God for giving us Jonathan. We are happy for him. Some are pretending to be working for him, while they are sabotaging him”, the governor said. Senators Sunny Ogborji and Chris Nwankwo, representing Ebonyi North and Ebonyi South respectively, stated that the state is not for sale to politicians, who want to destabilise the state. They warned that any attempt against the state government would be resisted, promising to give President Jonathan support in realising his second term bid. Adding his voice at the rally, chairman of the occasion, Chief Fidelis Nwankwo urged PDP leaders to close rank and work as a team to ensure that the president emerge victorious in the poll. Dr. Emma Onwe said that the rally was a sign of Jonathan’s transformation strides in all sectors of the economy and assured him of 100 per cent votes. Reacting to the rally, former

Elechi

How can you call it a PDP presidential rally when those that matter in the party were not there, not even representatives of the party both at zonal and national?

House of Representatives member, who represented Ikwo/ Ezza south federal constituency and aspirant for the Ebonyi central senatorial zone, under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Ugo Chima accused the Elechi administration of encouraging corruption. The aspirant made this known while addressing journalists at Ezza South Local government area of Ebonyi State. He said the governor is not being sincere to the people, adding that his quest to collect another N15 billion bond from the Capital Market when he has less seven months to go is uncalled for. According to him, “no single project was commissioned since seven years ago when the present government took over power. The governor has gone three times to borrow money from the Capital Market. The first one, he got N9.5 billion, the second one, he got 16 billion and in another he applied for N15 billion to pay in seven years when he has less than seven months to go. “So we are worried, Ebonyians are worried. I was a major stakeholder in the creation of this state and we do know our problem in creating the state. Those who are in government have made Ebonyi a place of corruption where families, in-laws, close friends have invaded the state and looting the treasury. “Nothing is happening now in Ebonyi and I’m telling them that they should keep off from the state. I will do what I did before

and I will continue to speak the truth and nothing but the truth. I will work harder to deepen democracy in the state. Look at their congresses; it is what they did in 2011 that they are still doing today,” he said. The aspirant however revealed that his purpose for vying for the Senate seat is to enable him put an end to the increasing problems his constituency has been witnessing for the past years, noting that he had delivered dividends of democracy to the people when he was in the House of Representatives. However, a PDP chieftain in the state, Hon. Peter Onwe has advised President Jonathan that he will lose the state, if he relies on Governor Elechi in the forthcoming general election. Onwe stated that what happened at the weekend during the PDP mega rally for Jonathan’s re-election organised by the state government, was a sign of failure on the side of Elechi. According to him, the choice of Prof. Chukwu as the consensus candidate of the party by the governor has added more troubles to PDP family. He added that fielding the deputy governor, Engr. Dave Umahi, would make the party emerge victorious. He noted that the N2,000 each given to the crowd brought into the stadium from the 171 electoral wards in the state, showed that the governor has lost control, describing the event as a sham and laughable. “Can’t you see that the state box was empty? Where are people like Anyim Pius Anyim, former Governor Sam Egwu, the embattled speaker, Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku and other chieftains of the party? “How can you call it a PDP presidential rally when those that matter in the party were not there, not even representatives of the party both at zonal and national were represented, not even a representative of Mr. President. “You still remember that when members of Transformation Ambassador of Nigeria (TAN) were going around the country seeking support for Jonathan to declare for second term, Anyim was there. When I say that Elechi is not popular in the state, many thought I was joking. He will not deliver Jonathan come 2015. “Most of the crowd you saw at the stadium were bought, the governor made the people to believe that President Jonathan was coming to Ebonyi State for an official engagement,” he said.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

16 Politics

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

LEADING GOVERNORSHIP ASPIRANTS

Ex-govs, ex-ministers, senators, others scramble for Ajimobi’s seat In the race for the Agodi Government House, 16 governorship aspirants are poised to unseat Governor Abiola Ajimobi in Oyo State. Sola Adeyemo reports on the dramatis personae and their chances ahead of the February 28, 2015 governorship election

arely three months to the 2015 general election, the political firmament of Oyo State, otherwise called the Pace Setter State, is still getting hazy. Who rules it beyond next year remains a guess work as many candidates from various political parties have been falling over one another in a bid to ensure they occupy the Agodi Government House by May 29, 2015. Ranging from the powerful, the tested, the popular, the not-too-popular to the greenhorns, many aspirants have been engaging in a rat race to the extent of getting violent to outwit one another in the unfolding chess game of politics in the state. As expected, every incumbent governor savours the grace of incumbency to seek a second term, using the instrumentality of the party to shut the door against any party member seeking to contest against him. Such is the case with Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, who had for long been adopted by the party leadership as the sole candidate for 2015. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is also not letting off as it is still smarting from the 2011 defeat to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Very determined to wrest power back, the PDP is poised to send Ajimobi packing by 2015 going by the array of aspirants warming up. As at now, 13 aspirants are angling to outwit one another to emerge as the party’s flagbearer. The process has, however, in the last one week been ruptured with the unsuccessful ward congress of the party that had been conducted twice amidst acrimony. There have been allegations and counter-allegations of manipulation, hijacking of electoral materials as well as alleged imposition of one aspirant on the others using the instrumentality of the powers that be at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja. Another deciding factor in the race to 2015 is the Accord Party (AP) of former Governor Rashidi Ladoja. Though the decisive status of Ladoja, leader and governorship candidate of the party, appears hazy recently, he is bent on slugging it out with Ajimobi the way he did with Adebayo Alao-Akala in 2011. Though he did not win, his candidacy truncated the second term ambition of his former deputy. Abiola Ajimobi He has to his advantage the power of

Ajimobi

Ladoja

Alao-Akala

Folarin

Oyelese

Adedoja

incumbency to defeat every contender. Using the state resources at his disposal, Ajimobi is better positioned to win the next election with a landslide. This is notwithstanding the decision of Adebayo Shittu and Ayobami Adesina to rock the boat within the party. Ajimobi is also set to give the opposition candidates from both the PDP and AP as well as Labour Party (LP), a very hard fight on the field when the race eventually commences. In spite of the series of opportunities to his advantage, a critical analysis of Ajimobi administration showed a wide disconnect with many of the powers that be who contributed to his emergence in 2011. Those who have lost favour with him have defected to other opposition parties, carrying along many of their supporters. Among them is Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, who is representing Oyo South Senatorial District. He was one of the nine cocontestants with Ajimobi in 2011 before the party leadership endorsed Ajimobi over others. Lanlehin was compensated with the senatorial position, but he soon fell out with Ajimobi, citing failure of the governor to carry others along in decision-making as well as allegation of high-handedness. He has defected to the AP where he hopes to retain his senatorial seat.

Decreasing the fortunes of Ajimobi further was the loss of the senator representing Oyo Central District, Ayoade Adeseun, to the PDP. Adeseun was a member of the House of Representatives between 2007 and 2011, but he fell out with his childhood friend and then governor, Alao-Akala, thus defected to the ACN. The remaining senatorial district, Oyo North, is being represented by a PDP candidate, Senator Hosea Agboola (former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs), who hails from Oke Ogun zone of the state. With this reality, APC has no control of the three senatorial districts that make up the state, and unless it re-captures them in the next year election, ruling the state beyond 2015 is a matter of happenstance. Rashidi Ladoja Ladoja’s political journey had been tainted with an admixture of successes and failures since 2003 when he defeated the late Alhaji Lam Adesina to emerge governor of Oyo State on the platform of the PDP. His crisis with his political godfather, late Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, led to his ouster. Ladoja was illegally impeached by 18 of the 32 lawmakers in

the state. In a contrived and manipulative manner with the support of the then Jonathan Johnson-led police command, Ladoja was in 2006 impeached and his deputy, Alao-Akala, was sworn in as governor. A member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), now late, acted as the Speaker of the House of Assembly after the substantive Speaker, Hon. Adeolu Adeleke, had been forcefully removed. Undaunted, Ladoja approached the Supreme Court to declare the impeachment illegal and after 11 months, he was ordered reinstated. Before he could return to office, the Alao-Akala and Adedibu- led PDP had conducted the primary election of the party with Alao-Akala emerging as the governorship candidate. Eventually, Ladoja lost out and could not realise his second term ambition. Though he was left in the lurch by Alao-Akala for four years lasting till 2011, Ladoja floated the AP about four months to the 2011 elections. Ladoja lost the election but his party won some House of Assembly and House of Representatives seats. Though, now advanced in age, the tireless Ladoja for the third term is scheming to be governor again. He is the sole candidate of the party and he is making frantic effort to capture the

Politics 17

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

LEADING GOVERNORSHIP ASPIRANTS state. It was learnt that even before the meeting held in his Ibadan residence, Oyelese had been consulting with some elders and chieftains of the party to support him so that other aspirants could concede the position to him. Like Folarin, he did not make any public declaration nor organise any press conference to announce his intention. He had also obtained and submitted the nomination forms of the party, but in terms of aggressiveness and display of interest, not much has been recorded of him like some others. Oyelese is advanced in age, compared to other aspirants. This is a factor which many of the party loyalists see as a disadvantage to him amidst much younger and vibrant ones.

Adeseun

Gbolarumi

support of many people of the state. He was recently wooed to return to the PDP with an attempt to make him Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), but the plan eventually failed. Through the influence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide and the Senate President David Mark, he again attempted to be drafted back to the PDP to serve as a leveller between the warring Alao-Akala and Teslim Folarin. It was reported that wife of the president, Patience Jonathan, was also involved in the plan, but the permutation has also been rested due to the opposition within the PDP. The question however is: will the AP which has no national spread be able to garner the required number of votes in the state to emerge winner in the face of the series of daunting challenges from the other parties? Aside Ibadan where the party won in four local government areas in 2011, the campaign train of Ladoja has been traversing the whole of the state including Oyo, Ogbomoso, Ibarapa and Oke Ogun, trying to win the support of the traditional leaders and the people. Adebayo Alao-Akala In terms of popularity and control of followership in the party, even though Alao-Akala administration between 2006 and 2011 witnessed much uprising and civil unrest, occasioned by frequent clashes among the factional groups of the NURTW, his public declaration about two months ago for the governorship seat in Ibadan, showed that many still want him back. To many of the political supporters as well as mass of people, there was money in circulation during the administration of Alao-Akala contrary to the present situation. To them, many local

Makinde

Alli

contractors were being awarded contracts as opposed to the alleged exporting of state contracts to Lagos State. Much as he is accepted by many of the electorate, the ‘Oyato ATM Governor’ however has a very strong opposition in some seven governorship aspirants of Ibadan extraction. They have vowed that they would do everything politically possible to ensure the governorship remains in Ibadan and not to Ogbomoso where Alao-Akala hails from. Aside this, there is the strong rumour which has however been metamorphosing into reality that the presidency had anointed the former Senate Leader, Folarin for the position. The Senate President David Mark was said to be paving way for Folarin. The report which had generated so much controversy among the various groups in the party, especially those loyal to Alao-Akala and some other aspirants, was allayed when Mark declared that he had no anointed aspirant among the lot. In spite of this, seven of the 13 aspirants including Alao-Akala, who felt that there was some manipulative hand in the November 1 ward congress of the party held amidst controversy, have expressed their readiness to shun any result declared by the national body of the party against the popular wish of the majority. The anger of some of the aspirants was further aggravated during the November 24 re-run ward congress where hoodlums hijacked materials from the ward chairmen at the party secretariat. Some alleged that the thugs mobilised to the venue by a former chairman of the NURTW, Alhaji Lateef Akinsola (a.k.a. Tokyo) were responsible for the

Arapaja

Olaosebikan

snatching of the voting materials to favour Folarin. Aggrieved by the development which appears not to be in his favour, AlaoAkala has indicated his determination to dump PDP for any other party if the national body of the party eventually imposes Folarin as the flagbearer. Teslim Folarin The 50-year-old Folarin came into political limelight in 2003 when the late Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu made him a senator representing the Oyo Central Senatorial District. Folarin was later elected the Senate Leader between 2007 and 2011. Owing to the loss of the 2011 election to the ACN, Folarin lost to Ayoade Adeseun who defected from the PDP as a member of the House of Representatives to the ACN. All indications have however continued to show that Folarin may be used to tackle Ajimobi, even though many odds are against him. When told recently that many people decided not to support and follow him because he is tight-fisted and was alleged to have performed below expectation as Senator for two terms, Folarin declared that it was what he had that he would spend and that the allegations were unfounded. On the issue of performance, Folarin said he attracted many federal projects to Oyo State, which the Federal Government executed during his tenure. He is in the race with the high hope that he would be the choice of the PDP. Wole Oyelese He was a former Minister of Special Duties and a staunch member of the PDP. He hosted the meeting of the seven Ibadan aspirants who resolved that the party’s candidate must be from Ibadan and not any other zone of the

Taoheed Adedoja Prof. Adedoja was former Provost of the Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo; former chairman, State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB); and onetime Minister of Sports and Special Duties. As one of the chieftains of the PDP in the state, he commands followership among many, particularly, teachers in the primary schools who call him ‘PTA’. In terms of political structure, Adedoja prides himself as having connection in all 33 local governments of the state and has been making series of consultations. When he picked his Expression of Interest Form recently at the party secretariat, Adedoja said he was the candidate to beat because of his relationship with the grassroots. His chance is bright as an Ibadan man who is favoured to any other non-Ibadan aspirant. Seyi Makinde Makinde is a graduate of Electrical Electronics from the University of Lagos (UNILAG). An indegene of Ibadan man also, he had a stint at the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) before he venture into private business where he was engaged in metering services that propelled him into oil business. An international business mogul, Makinde recently declared that he has about 2,000 staff in his employ nationally and internationally. Because of his deep purse and international exposure, the 46-year-old governorship aspirant has a lot of loyalists and party supporters behind his ambition. Makinde has been an outstanding philanthropist since 2003 when he first showed interest in the senatorial seat of the Oyo South District. Throughout the state, he had sunk many boreholes, impacted heavily on the lives of many grassroots people through scholarship awards, job empowerment and others. The only minus in his status, according to many within the PDP, is that he has never held any public office in politics until now. However, Makinde told New Telegraph that if he could manage about 2,000 people in his business concerns, and had done it successfully for many years, there would be nothing spectacular in managing Oyo State as a governor. Just as many of the aspirants maintain links with Abuja, Makinde was also said to have the ears of the leadership of the party in Abuja. A permutation from some people is also that should Alao-Akala and Folarin fail to grab the ticket as a result of the power struggle between them, Makinde is the likely choice. He is also among the seven aspirants that are poised to reject the result if Folarin is imposed on them through the back door. CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion Ochei’s bouquet of developmental governance Nkem Osu

n the life of a people, there is always a time when pragmatic leadership is really an astounding index of societal transformation, devoid of revolutionary rhetoric but based on a prolific blue-print, which underscores the imperativeness of impacting the lives of the polity positively. In Plutarch’s great biography of Cato the Elder, he wrote: “Rome showed itself to be truly great, and hence worthy of great leaders’’. Correspondingly in our contemporary political setting, this timeless piece aptly applies to Delta State, as it is endowed with the prospects of greatness and a coterie of great leaders. The attainment of greatness by any state, depends largely on the calibre of available leadership. In other words, a leadership that takes an in-depth introspection to fashion out a productive outline, taking into consideration the hitherto deficient critical sectors and its stagnating consequences on the overall welfare of the citizenry. Rt Hon Victor Ochei, a frontline gubernatorial aspirant in Delta State, is potentially considered a paragon of this pragmatic approach to governance, considering his realistic and holistic programme, articulated for the provision of a veritable panacea and enshrining developmental governance within the Delta State polity. Naturally, no lofty project can thrive or blossom in the absence of security and law enforcement. Little wonder that this crucial element in developmental governance proposal was considered as being essentially strategic to the faithful implementation of his programme. To this end, education and enlightenment were posited as purveyors of peace sustenance, through fairness, justice and equity in government’s conduct, especially in the distribution of government projects and positions, in addition to strengthening the law enforcement agencies with equipment, finance and procedures for the reduction of crime rate in the state. This comprehensive blue print ranges from highest quality, speedy delivery of fair and evenly spread projects, the provision of free qualitative education under conducive environment, training the trainers in line with the best practises globally, to the vigorous implementation of rapid industrialisation within the state as insignia of meaningful development. It is also pertinent to observe that job creation, skill acquisition and women empowerment, which

had been recurring decimals in various governments’ programmes are adequately captured, for according to him, “one of the immediate effects of our investments in infrastructural development, will be the creation of thousands of jobs in the building and construction industry in the state, without prejudice to youth and women empowerment through the building of skill acquisition centres all over the state”. The exquisiteness of this blue-print finds anchorage on the provision of amenities, germane to human existence. For example, there is the idea of developing a public sector housing programme aimed at delivering several thousands of houses to citizens according to their housing needs, rent, lease or outright buying, irrespective of profession, tribe or political affiliation, and, of course not excluding the private sector housing developers, who will be encouraged by incentives like very low interest and long term repayment plans. The importance of water to human existence cannot be overemphasised, considering its usefulness in virtually all human endeavours. Sadly though, the provision of this precious natural mineral has remained a major challenge to successive governments, especially in the upland areas of the state with very low ground water levels. To ameliorate this plight, Ochei has pledged to deploy resources in building modern water supply systems, as well as modernising and resuscitating the old water works in the major cities of the state. Arguably there could be no shorter route to entrepreneurial and artisanal excellence without constant and adequate supply of energy by means of electricity. Be it on the small, medium and large scale entrepreneurial endeavour, the imperativeness of electricity as the coefficient in the matrix of entrepreneurship add devlopment cannot be trivialised, hence Ochei posited thus; a government I will lead will make it an urgent priority to provide electricity to every part of the state by collaborating with the relevant agencies and companies”. Health, agriculture and food security, as well as transportation are necessities for the sustenance of any society. On health, the cliché “health is wealth” reinforces its indispensability to human survival, which informs Ochei’s resolve to continue providing funding, equipment and finance for the efficient running of our general hospitals and health centres for the benefit of the young, elderly and pregnant women. Moreover, there will be a concerted effort at training and retraining the medical staff in the use of the state of the art equipment for maximum output.

Agriculture’s three core areas of animal husbandry, fishery and crop farming will expectedly form the bedrock of making the practise of agriculture attractive, aided by formation of many more cooperatives, availability of better yielding species, training, subsidised equipment leasing, veterinary services, low-interest loans and fertilizer as key factors in incentivising the farmers and investors. Transportation is one area which needs to be improved upon, even as the present administration in Delta State has posted an alpha performance. In the light of this, Ochei aspires to build on the successes recorded, especially by strengthening the capacity of the relevant agencies to attain greater heights. Sports is a veritable tool for engaging the youth as a means of discouraging truancy, and, in fact encouraging sound health, as well as providing means of livelihood. Consequently, a world-class stadium commensurate with Delta State’s attainment in sports will be built as well as more mini-stadia in addition to resuscitating the already existing ones. Civil service motivation will be paramount, as it is the hub of executive arm of government. Staff attitude to work will also be enhanced by entrenching excellence oriented programmes. Tourism, social security, underpinning the local government services, as well as establishing a policy development and implementation committee are also vital elements in the quest to render developmental governance to Deltans. In summating this piece, it suffices to posit that the faithful implementation of this lofty programme and project, depends on a leader endowed with resolute, futuristic and focussed proficiency back-grounded on a robust pedigree of impressive track record, who had demonstrated a desirable competence in cost-efficient, qualitative and quantitative service delivery, active and functional peace promotion and multi-dimensional inclusiveness, while carrying all stakeholders along, for according to Warren Bennis “exemplary leadership is impossible without full inclusion, initiatives and cooperation of followers” Without any gainsaying, Rt Hon Victor Ochei, the immediate past Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, the youngest Fellow of The Nigerian Society of Engineers, a financial management expert, a law graduate, a Harvard trained educationist, a phenomenal philanthropist and a frontline gubernatorial aspirant can effectively translate these words into action. • Osu (nkemosu2009@gmail.com) wrote in from Asaba.

Why our democracy is under threat Dan Amor

aw Mefor’s piece, “2015 AND ECHOES OF ANARCHY” (THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER November 23, 2014), page 19, is quite revealing. The piece captures the voluble and unguarded pronouncements of leading members of the major opposition political party in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress (APC) as preparations for the 2015 general elections gather mumentum. In it, the governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was quoted as saying at the Walk Rally of APC in Abuja recently that the party would form a parallel government should the outcome of the 2015 Presidential election not favour it. Amaechi went as far as saying that his party would spearhead civil disobedience in the country if they lose the election. The piece also alluded to such volatile statements made by other leading members of the APC as its national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun who postulated that: “If we do not see any discernible change of attitude on the part of the government, then we will move to the next stage on the list of actions that our party intends to

take to stop the rot being perpetuated by the PDP-led Federal Government.” General Muhammadu Buhari, Amaechi’s preferred candidate for the 2015 Presidential election for his party, was also reported to have said in 2012 that 2015 would be bloody. Given these unsavory comments by so-called ‘democrats’ and ‘progressives’, it has indeed become too evident that the greatest obstacle to Nigeria’s political advancement which has culminated in its socio-economic underdevelopment, is the absence of sportsmanship on the part of our politicians to accept defeat at the polls. It is this same dilemma that brought about the fall of the First Republic, the abrupt end of the Second Republic and the annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola.

It will be recalled that in a statement dated July 20, 2014 and released the following day, entitled: “Pull Back Nigeria From The Brink”, Buhari said that Nigeria was headed for anarchy as the consequence of the impeachment threat to the then governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako. It was the lead story of Daily Sun of July 22, 2014. The brigandage demonstrated by the estranged ‘speaker’ of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who invaded the Lower Chamber of the Na-

tional Assembly with thugs penultimate week is another clear evidence of the plan of the leading opposition political party to unleash mayhem on the country. In fact, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, another chieftain of the APC has never hidden his preference for violence as against a decent and civilized political culture. He was recently summoned by the Directorate of State Security over his comment on the possibility of violence engulfing Nigeria if the 2015 election did not favour his party and that such violence would be necessary if it would be the only way to ensure the removal of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan from office. What this portends is that the leading opposition party in the country is not even preparing for the elections but is busy arming its supporters to unleash violence on the country in 2015. It is probable that this menace has assumed a conceptual historical trend in the country. The 1964 Western regional election crisis that culminated in the 1966 military coup was the handiwork of opposition politicians who had always demonstrated a high degree of intolerance and the lack of sportsmanship to accept defeat at the polls. The coupists were later to confess that they were induced by aggrieved politicians to take over power from their colleagues. In the political upheaval that buried the First Republic, the Northern traditionalists lost power to modernist members of the dominant class- administrators, military officers, members of the learned professions and businessmen- in their part of the

country. This was what enhanced the cohesion of the dominant class in Nigeria as a whole. Ever since, dominant class interest has remained the name of the game. Even in the Second Republic, the National Party of Nigeria, the main political vehicle of the conservative class was by far more practicable and viable than the Conservative party of the First Republic. It was also by far the most broadly based of the five major parties of the Second Republic. The avowedly socialistic Unity Party of Nigeria and the more avowedly Marxian socialist People’s Redemption Party were exceptionally well run parties as were the Nigerian People’s Party and its twin, the Great Nigerian People’s Party. But in spite of their individual progressive bent and populist swagger, none of these parties threatened to unleash violence on the nation because it failed to control the central government. Of course, it was glaring that our politicians are bad losers who would not brook any nimbling in calling for the removal of a democratically elected government if electoral fortunes fail to favour them. But where has that taken the country to? The Second Republic opposition politicians bribed the military to overthrow the Shehu Shagari government in December 1983. Did the military spare the states controlled by the opposition parties? Were the opposition governors not hurled into various prison terms as well as their colleagues? • Amor is an Abuja-based journalist and public affairs analyst.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

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A new lease for Nigerian prisons

he Federal Government has banned the use of mobile phones in all prison formations by the inmates and prison officials. It also directed the Nigerian Prison Service authorities to recover all handsets from inmates within 30 days. Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, who handed down the order penultimate Saturday in Abuja, during an interactive meeting with senior officers of the Prison Service, decried indecent dressing by the inmates. He stated that no inmate should be allowed to wear their choice of clothes or shoes, as is the practice presently, “no matter how highly placed they may be.” Moro said, “I have visited some prisons in other countries as the Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Nobody, no matter highly placed you are, you don’t come to prison with your phones, not even the minister of Interior as the supervising minister over the prisons”. The pronouncement by the minister is a right step, in the right direction, but there are more important reforms and far-reaching restructuring that must be carried out. The prison system in the country as it is, is very messy and nothing to write home about. The general appalling condition is so obvious. Many of the prisons in the country today are colonial bequeathals without basic modern facilities, such that arrested

people are kept in dingy rooms lacking the commonest of amenities. It would be recalled that it was as a result of the terrible state of affairs in the prisons that inmates some few years back broke down the walls of Ikoyi prisons in a bid to escape. The Ilesha, Abeokuta, Akure and Ife prisons were burnt down for the same reason, and this has been replicated in the Port-Harcourt and Yenegoa prisons. To lend credence to the deplorable state of the prisons, there is an unusual high rate of HIV/ AIDS pandemic as well as tuberculosis amongst inmates. While about 75 per cent of the female inmates get pregnant while behind the bars. Inmates are not supposed to be treated like animals or people that can never be useful to the society again. The prisons environment is unhealthy and generally dirty. In fact, many of the inmates died while in custody, while others have spent far more years than they would have spent if convicted. Hence, the prison which should ordinarily be a place of rehabilitation, and a corrective center has more or less become a dehumanizing torture chamber, and a place where inmates are further hardened. Prisoners should be entitled to human dignity as enshrined in the constitution. To make matters worse, the conditions of service of staff of the Nigeria Prison Service is not only horrendous, but nothing to write home about, hence, they vent their frustrations on inmates,

a clear case of transferred and misplaced aggression. It is on record that the Lagos state government under the former Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, for example, wanted to relocate the Ikoyi prison to Epe area of Lagos state. The project which was planned in conjunction with a foreign partner would have involved the building a 300 capacity penitentiary as well as 1,000 units of two and three bedroom quarters for prison officials, but the whole plan was politicized and frustrated. The Ikoyi prison which initially was built for 800 inmates, is almost busting at the seams with over 2000 inmates cramped like sardines. Though sequestered in Ikoyi, the exclusive part of Lagos, they never smell the luxury of the area, so that, from Kirikiri to Ikoyi, Owerri to Awka, Kuje to Jos, the rotten state of the prisons remains the same horrifying condition. The prisons system one of the most underdeveloped and neglected public institutions. It is the very uncomfortable and uncongenial system within the prisons that makes frequent crisis and casualties a recurring decimal. Therefore, there is an urgent need for practicable prisons reform. A starting point is ensuring suspended sentences and community services should be adopted for light offences. Also, government should improve

the funding for the prisons, while modernization and transformation of the facilities should be given top priority. New prisons with top class facilities for educational advancement, skills acquisition, sports development, social activities, counselling cum psychological unit and religious worship just to mention a few, should be built in partnership with different tiers of government, the organized private sector and foreign investors. It is very possible for Nigerian prisons to be given a human face and repositioned to perform the duties for which they have been established. It has also been suggested that the prison system in Nigeria should be pulled out from the complex government’s bureaucratic set up and made into a quasi-autonomous institution that can attract foreign funding and donations. Attempts must be made to equip the police and law courts to enhance effective and prompt service delivery. To perpetually keep people on the waiting list for trial and in chains is a gross violation of their fundamental human rights and the African charter on human rights. The glaring truth is that justice delayed is justice denied. The truth is that prisons in the country must be modernised, with new facilities and buildings as well as up-to-date methodologies to manage and administer the penal system.

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Politics

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Alao-Akala, Folarin, 11 others battle for PDP ticket CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

Taofeek Arapaja He was former deputy governor to Alao-Akala and is the incumbent Nigerian Ambassador to Jordan. Though an Ibadan man, the fact that he is no longer having a robust relationship with his former boss might be a minus to his ambition. Arapaja is not on ground in most of the party activities and this will affect his chances of picking the PDP ticket. Hazim Gbolarunmi He was an aide of late

Adedibu. He was made deputy governor to AlaoAkala when Ladoja was impeached. There was much uproar against the candidature of Gbolarumi as it was rumoured that he did not attend a secondary school that he claimed to have attended. Upon being forced out of government with the reinstatement of Ladoja by the Supreme Court, Gbolarumi enrolled as a Law student at the University of Ibadan to disabuse the minds of the people that he possessed

no secondary school certificate. He will graduate next year. Like some others, even though he is an Ibadan man, he is averse to the choice of Folarin, who he had accused of not having any structure on ground to command majority support. Ayoade Adeseun He was a member of the defunct All Progressive Party (APP) in 1999 before he later joined Action Congress (AC), then moved over to the PDP in 2007. In 2011, he went back to the ACN which

transformed to APC, and now back to PDP. He was former local government chairman in Ogbomoso and member, House of Representatives on the platform of the PDP. He is currently the chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Markets. Though an experienced politician like Alao-Akala, his friend, Adeseun’s defection from one party to another for the purpose of realising his political ambitions, has earned him a label of political prostitute among many. In terms of financial

muscle, Adeseun is favourably positioned, but as an Ogbomoso man whose candidature is kicked against by the Ibadan elites, and the fact that the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, who facilitated his victory in 2011, is now overtly behind Ajimobi, his chance of winning is slim. Olufemi Babalola Babalola is standing trial along with Alao-Akala and Senator Agboola. The trio were arraigned by the Economic and Fi-

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nancial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on allegation of misappropriation of state funds through inflated contracts. Babalola’s chances are not too bright because like Makinde, he has never held any public office, more so he is not an Ibadan man. He is from Fiditi in the Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State. Kehinde Olaosebikan An Ibadan man from the Oluyole Local Government Area, Olaosebikan was former Chief Press Secretary to the late Governor Lamidi Adesina, and later appointed the Oluyole Council Chairman of the state during the administration of Alao-Akala before he was out in 2011. Olaosebikan, a former journalist, who claims readiness to bring innovative development to Oyo State if chosen as the flagbearer of the PDP, has picked the governorship nomination form of the party. He is also one of the aspirants who believe that engaging in public declaration with fanfare like Alao-Akala and some others had done, was just a jamboree, reason he has been operating at his calculative low profile level. Sarafadeen Alli Alli is a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Chief of Staff in the Ladoja administration. He parted ways with his boss when he refused to join AP. In 2011, Alli joined the ACN and was appointed chairman of the Odu’a Investment Company until few months ago when he also parted ways with the Ajimobi administration. He is a governorship aspirant in the LP. His profile rose few months ago when Governor Segun Mimiko visited Ibadan and inaugurated the LP secretariat at Oke Ado area. Now that Mimiko has returned to the PDP, facts will soon emerge whether Alli and the LP members in the state would also defect to the PDP. Unless they defect, the chance of the LP, which is now almost defunct, to make any headway in 2015 is very slim. Others An American-based surgeon, Dr. Azeez Adeduntan; former Commissioner for Health, Dr. Isaac Owolabi and former don, Soji Adejumo, are also in the race for the PDP governorship ticket. Olu Abiala is also contesting for the LP governorship ticket.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

Banks ahead in technology use, says Systemspecs

Honeywell: Strategic expansion excites investors

Stock Watch

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AXA’s incursion stirs faith in Nigeria’s underwriting market

Too many frequencies to foreign airlines killing domestic operators – Bankole

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Business What's news

Cabotage: NPA takes over NIMASA’s job The cordial relationship between the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) may soon become frosty, as the former moves to take charge of part of the duties of the latter.

Subscribers’ phone bills hit N137bn monthly –Investigation MONITORING Regulator is tracking level of customers’ complaints on mobile networks

scribers (NATCOMS), Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo, justified the growing wage bills despite gradual ARPU decline and lower tariffs. He said the telecoms industry has become a critical sector,

not only to the individual telecom consumers, but also to the economy as a whole. Ogunbanjo noted that Nigeria has recorded an astronomical uptake in telephone sub-

Kunle Azeez

p.22

Nigeria to intervene in Ghana’s gas shortage The Federal Government has promised to intervene in Ghana’s gas shortage with some 200 million standard cubic feet (scuf) gas this month.

p.36

The Business Desk Ayodele Aminu

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he amount of money spent by telecoms subscribers in Nigeria in making calls on their respective networks has reached an estimated N137 billion monthly, according to New Telegraph’s investigation. The figure is arrived at by using the latest official subscriber base and the subsisting Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). ARPU is the financial performance benchmark in the telecoms industry that measures the average monthly revenue generated by operators from telecoms subscribers. According to industry experts, ARPU in Nigeria’s telecoms market is still estimated at around $6 (N1,020), given the foreign exchange rate at N170. Official data from the country’s telecoms regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), also show that telecoms operators currently have 134.5 million active telephone lines on their networks. These include the Global System for Mobile Communications operators; the Code Division Multiple Access operators, as well as the fixed wired/wireless networks. According to New Telegraph’s findings, with an ARPU of N1,020 and subscriber base of 134.5 million, Nigeria’s telephone users now pay an estimated N137 billion monthly phone bills. Commenting on the phone bills, President of the National Association of Telecoms Sub-

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L-R: MD, Keystone Bank Limited, Philip Ikeazor and the Nigerian High Commissioner to Uganda, Ambassador Cornelius Omolade Oluwateru, when Ikeazor paid a courtesy visit to the ambassador after meeting on Nigerian investments in Uganda, at the weekend.

scriptions, both in the urban and rural areas in the last 13 years of telecoms deregulation. Quoting NCC’s data, he noted that between 2001 and September 2014, teledensity has increased from less than one per cent to 96.08 per cent. Reacting to the New Telegraph’s estimated monthly phone bills, Ogunbanjo said: “This is revealing. However, your findings may be plus or minus, but I think it provides us with an idea as to how much telecoms subscribers in Nigeria spend on their respective service providers monthly. “Next to shelter, food and other needs of man is the need to communicate, which now saves us a lot of time that would have been wasted travelling from one place to another to see relatives or transact businesses.” Also commenting, an Ikejabased telecoms consumer, Mr Seyi Adefemi, said: “It is understandable that Nigerians spend a sizeable chunk of their incomes on telecoms services, which are replacing travel expenditures for the people.” Adefemi stressed that the huge amount of money being generated by telecoms service providers daily has also raised CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

Top Union Bank investor eyes more stakes in African banks Sunday Ojeme

arely three months after raising its stake in Nigeria-based Union Bank Plc by $270million, Bob Diamond of Atlas Mara is mulling fresh incursion into much of the Afri-

can banking sector. A report by management said that since his controversial departure from Barclays in 2012, Diamond’s got into partnership with entrepreneur, Ashish Thakkar, to found Atlas Mara, a holding company that has been

investing in African finance businesses. Once dubbed the ‘unacceptable face of banking,’ after a fall-out with the government CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE October 2014............................8.1% September 2014.....................8.3% August 2014............................8.5%

LENDING RATE InterBank Rate....................12.57% Prime Lending Rate...........17.93% Maximum Lending Rate...26.83%

EXCHANGE RATE

(Parellel As at Nov. 28)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N182.50 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N286 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N226

l Foreign Reserves – $36.85bn as at 27/11/2014

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Official As at Nov. 28)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N168 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N262.80 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N209.54

Business | News

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Cabotage: NPA takes over NIMASA’s job CONFLICT The duo may clash over enforcement responsibility in the maritime sector Bayo Akomolafe

he cordial relationship between the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) may soon become frosty, as the former moves to take charge of part of the duties of the latter. NPA, according to information, would soon start raising red flags for vessels illegally operating in the Nigerian waters. The move is to recover as much as N1.2 trillion lost to foreign ships trans-

acting illegal businesses in the country. Cabotage enforcement is the sole responsibility of NIMASA, but it was learnt that NPA has decided to venture into it to ward off illegal ships on Nigerian waters. NPA is also contemplating setting up a committee to ensure effective implementation of the cabotage regime. The team would comprise of officials of NPA, Nigerian Indigenous Ship-owners Association (NISA) and other relevant stakeholders. In addition, the group would have the special mandate of identifying straying ships wanting to engage in illegal activities, alert designated persons who, in turn, would officially intimate NIMASA to enable it enforce the relevant laws.

It was learnt that the NPA management was much concerned about the way cabotage is being implemented in the country. Managing Director of the authority, Malam Habib Abdullahi, had noted that the actual implementation of the Act remains the direct responsibility of NIMASA. He has also pledged

to assist local ship owners when a delegation of NISA members visited him in his Marina, Lagos office. NISA President, Capt Dada Olaniyi Labinjo, led the team. Abdullahi told the ship owners that he would personally be glad to encourage the indigenous ship owners in their chosen career, noting that if he

joyfully handles jobs for Grimaldi Group because they pay accurately, why would he not be also happy to meet the needs of NISA, since they would also be paying. Labinjo observed that a situation that allows the loss of overN1.2 trillion on annual basis could no longer be allowed. He said: “It is only in Nigeria that we are talk-

ing about breaches to the cabotage law. In other climes, nobody talks about it, because you cannot breach it. It is taken for granted. The president called for the establishment of NPANISA Business Committee that would constantly monitor the terrain and proffer needed counsel in the overall interest of industry growth.

Union Bank investor plans more stakes CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

over his pay packet, Diamond will be hoping that the risky venture will win him plaudits and help restore at least some of his reputation. In its third significant move, the investment firm set up last year by Diamond and Africabased entrepreneur, Ashish Thakkar, increased its stake in Union Bank of Nigeria to almost 30 per cent for $270million. Atlas Mara bought a 20.9 per cent stake from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) for $270million (£165milion), pushing its total stake in UBN up from nine per cent to 29.9 per cent. Diamond is aiming to build UBN into Africa’s leading bank. UBN currently has some 340 branches across Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economy; and has about $6.3billion of assets, $3.1billion in deposits and $1.3billion in equity. “This is a very significant acquisition, With it, we will have a significant stake in a key Nigerian bank and we will also have established strategic market positions in three of Africa’s leading economic communities: the Southern Africa Development Community, the East Africa Community and Economic Community of West African States,’ Diamond said in a statement. Diamond and Thakkar raised $325million in an IPO last year to create Atlas Mara, as well as committing $20million of their own money. The

firm focuses on African financial-services companies that can help businesses manage currency and commodity risks. Earlier this year, it acquired a majority stake in pan African banking group BancABC and is also planning to buy a 77 per cent stake in the commercial arm of the Development Bank of Rwanda from the government. Africa has become something of an investment hotspot for global institutional investors in recent years. Africa’s emerging middle class is now seen as a lucrative opportunity, alongside the more traditional attractions of natural resources and mineral extraction. “There are opportunities in financial services that there haven’t been for 20 or 30 years, so I’m far from pessimistic,’ he said. “Valuations are down so they are enticing, there’s a massive amount of supply of businesses that are available, and yet the strategic investors of the last 20 or 30 years have been the big global banks and they are off the stage, in fact they are sellers. “Diamond and Thakkar launched Atlas Mara almost exactly one year ago and have since raised more than $600million (£380million) to help fund their aim of building the largest finance company in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s since acquired stakes in the Union Bank of Nigeria, the commercial arm of the Rwandan Development Bank, and others in southern Africa.”

L-R: Corporate Relations Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Sesan Sobowale; President, Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye and Chairman, Omolayole and Associates, Dr. Olawale Omolayole, at the Annual President’s dinner/induction of the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, in Lagos.

Operators flay airlines’ exclusion from official forex market OBJECTION Aviation falls under the invisible transactions Wole Shadare

he Chairman of Skyjet Aviation Services Limited, Kashim Bukar Shettima, has flayed the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to exclude the aviation sector from the official foreign exchange market otherwise known as the Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS). Shettima, who spoke with our correspondent in Lagos, said: “I think the CBN need to review this new policy because aviation is dollar-based. There is nothing related to aviation that we manufacture here in Nigeria. We do not make airplanes, we do not even make aircraft tyres here. Our insurance underwriters are 70 per cent foreign. If you have any problem, you will need to fly abroad.” Besides, he noted that there

is no facility in the country to carry out C or D checks, adding that operators have no option than to go abroad for these two major aircraft maintenance checks. The C-Check is performed approximately every 20–24 months or a specific amount of actual flight hours (FH) or as defined by the manufacturer. This maintenance check is much more extensive than a B Check, requiring a large majority of the aircraft’s components to be inspected. This check puts the aircraft out of service and until it is completed, the aircraft must not leave the maintenance site. It also requires more space than A and B Checks—usually a hangar at a maintenance base. The D-Check is by far the most comprehensive and demanding check for an airplane. It is also known as a Heavy Maintenance Visit (HMV). This check occurs approximately every six years. It is a check that, more or less, takes the entire airplane apart for inspec-

tion and overhaul. Also, if required, the paint may need to be completely removed for further inspection on the fuselage metal skin. Such a check can usually demand up to 50,000 man-hours and it can generally take up to two months to complete, depending on the aircraft and the number of technicians involved. The airline chief said: “We cannot even repair corrosion here. If you do not do those little maintenance, there will be problems eventually that will affect people and business. We cannot get our money from CBN; we have to go to interbank, which is like black market. It is a big problem for us and government needs to look at this issue. Therefore, CBN should not exclude aviation from RDAS.” Another operator that does not want his name in print, said that if care is not taken, this policy could force airlines out of business because operators will be getting their dollars through black market and not through CBN any longer.

INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

In collaboration with

Sanctity of Truth

Imprecise Truths, Inspired By Reality Is it permissible for a playwright or filmmaker to alter a story for artistic ends? What about the inherent power of the arts to explore the emotional interiors of fictional and nonfictional characters, especially bad ones, like the title characters of Verdi’s “Macbeth” ESSAY and Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” or the terrorists in “The Death of Klinghoffer,” an opera by the composer John Adams and the librettist Alice Goodman? An artist may feel that looking at a historical event in a fresh way will lead to a deeper understanding of what was going on. There are less fraught examples to consider than “Klinghoffer,” which is based on the 1985 murder of a disabled Jewish man aboard a cruise liner hijacked by the Palestine Liberation Front. A plan to broadcast the show simultaneously in theaters across the United States was canceled after protests that it was anti-Semitic. Other artistic interpretations, like the 2010 David Fincher film “The Social Network,” with an Oscar-winning adapted screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, about the founding of Facebook, did not hew exactly to what happened. Jesse Eisenberg plays the brash, nerdy young Mark Zuckerberg, who began what became Facebook while a student at Harvard.

ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Continued on Page 26

SARA KRULWICH/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Alan Opie as the title character in ‘‘The Death of Klinghoffer,’’ an opera about a 1985 murder.

INTELLIGENCE

Italy’s trouble on the outskirts. PAGE 24

India’s Ruinous Coal Quest PHOTOGRAPHS BY KUNI TAKAHASHI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

A plan to double the output of coal in India endangers a climate pact. In Jharkhand, mining coal and hauling it by bike. By GARDINER HARRIS Dhanbad, India

DECADES OF STRIP mining have left this town in the heart of India’s coal fields a fiery moonscape, with mountains of black slag, sulfurous air and sickened residents. But rather than reclaim these hills or rethink their exploitation, the government is digging deeper in a coal rush that could push the world into irreversible climate change and make India’s cities, already among the world’s most polluted, even more unlivable, scientists say. “If India goes deeper and deeper into coal, we’re all doomed,” said Veerabhadran Ramanathan of the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, one of the world’s top climate scientists. “And no place will suffer more than India.” India’s coal mining plans may represent the biggest obstacle to a global climate pact to be negotiated in Paris next year. While the United States and China announced a landmark agreement that includes new targets for carbon emissions, and Europe has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent, India, the world’s

WORLD TRENDS

Attacking Ebola in rural villages. PAGE 25

third-largest emitter, has shown no appetite for such a pledge. “India’s development imperatives cannot be sacrificed at the altar of potential climate changes many years in the future,” India’s power minister, Piyush Goyal, said recently. “The West will have to recognize we have the needs of the poor.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to build a vast array of solar power stations, and some projects are underway. But Mr. Goyal has promised to double India’s use of domestic coal from 512 million metric tons last year to about a billion by 2019, and he is trying to sell coal-mining licenses as swiftly as possible after years of delay. The government has signaled that it may denationalize commercial coal mining to accelerate extraction.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Hindering an epic journey. PAGE 31

“India is the biggest challenge in global climate negotiations, not China,” said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. I nd i a’s coa l rush could push the world past the brink of irreversible climate change, with India among the worst

affected, scientists say. Indian cities are already the world’s most polluted, with Delhi’s air almost three times more toxic than Beijing’s by one crucial measure. An estimated 37 million Indians could be displaced by rising seas by 2050, far more than in any other nation. India’s cities are among the world’s hottest, with springtime temperatures in Delhi reaching 49 degrees Celsius. Traffic, which will increase with new mining activity, is already the world’s most deadly. And half of Indians are farmers who rely on water from melting glaciers and increasingly fitful monsoons. India’s coal is mostly of poor quality with a high ash content that makes

Continued on Page 27

ARTS & DESIGN

Artists in Turkey feel the pressure. PAGE 34

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

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

ED I T O R I A L S O F T H E T I M ES Once again, a new video from the Islamic State features young foreign converts joining in the slaughter of prisoners and hostages alongside hardened jihadists. This latest one includes two 22-year-old French nationals, one the son of poor Portuguese parents and the other a middle-class man from Normandy, both of whom converted to Islam in their teens and made their way to Syria, apparently in 2013, to join the ranks of fighters. Why they did this is a matter of anguished questioning

Lured Into a Web of Jihad in France; that they did it is no longer a surprise as a growing number of foreigners, including many American, Canadian and European men — and increasingly women — from non-Muslim backgrounds are being enticed into the ranks of the barbaric and media-savvy Islamic State. Of the more than 31,000 fighters the C.I.A. estimated in September to be active in the Islamic

State, as many as half came from foreign countries, according to the International Center for the Study of Radicalization in London and the Soufan Group in New York. The majority are men from Arab and other Muslim countries, drawn to jihad by religious zeal, a chance to fight the decadent West and the lure of excitement in otherwise dreary lives. But the flow

of non-Muslim or non-religious recruits from the West is a worrying phenomenon. It is worrying, first of all, because it speaks to the surreal appeal of the most vicious Islamist terror group to arise in recent decades. It is also worrying because of the security risk it poses once surviving fighters, many radicalized, filter back home to the West. The response among

Western governments has included blocking those suspected of going off to fight, arresting returning jihadists and offering deradicalization programs. In the end, the surest way to combat the appeal of the Islamic State is to deny it success, and that must remain the priority. In the meantime, it is important to keep in mind that not all who are lured into its web will return a threat. Vigilance is clearly warranted. But there must also be a way left open for those who want to renounce extremism.

INTELLIGENCE/BEPPE SEVERGNINI

JOE NOCERA

Is Rome Burning?

Putin Plays Hardball

Milan The depressed outskirts of Italian cities are ticking time bombs; far from the eyes of rich vacationers perambulating the Colosseum, the country’s fuse is sputtering short. An entire suburban district of Rome — Tor Sapienza — recently took to the streets to protest an influx of recent immigrants, blaming them for robberies and violence and drawing a public warning of an impending “social emergency” from Pope Francis. In the Corvetto and Giambellino neighborhoods of Milan, clashes broke out over the eviction of squatters. Rioting residents in outlying areas of Naples kicked police cars, making it clear that they have more faith in the Camorra, the local Mafia, than in officialdom. Half-built hotels and parks in the Neapolitan suburbs of Fuorigrotta and Bagnoli are falling apart. “What else is new?” people might wonder in France or Britain. To them, unrest in the banlieues and council estates is nothing new. Even in Italy, suburban unrest is an old story. But what is surprising now is the cause of the unrest. Half a century ago, our migrants came from the south of the country, not the south of the planet. Millions traveled up the peninsula to the factories of Milan and Turin, or sought work around Rome, vying for living space and jobs with those displaced by World War II. The poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini Beppe Severgnini is a columnist at Corriere della Sera and the author of “Mamma Mia! Berlusconi’s Italy Explained for Posterity and Friends Abroad.” Send comments to intelligence@nytimes.com.

described Rome’s Prenestino district in his novel “Ragazzi di Vita” as full of “homes as small as dice or chicken coops, white like Arabs’ houses and black as huts, full of slobs from Puglia, Marche, Sardinia or Calabria.” Today, hundreds of people from Africa and the Middle East risk their lives at sea to land in Sicily and Calabria. Many of them manage to find their way north. The swiftness of their arrival, and the fact that they have accumulated on the edge of the cities, are reasons for concern, if only because of how poorly Italians are prepared for them. According to the Ignorance Index, an Ipsos MORI survey carried out in 14 countries, Italians are the least informed on the subject, believing that immigrants make up 30 percent of the population, when the real figure is just 7 percent. That’s less than Britain or Germany (both at 13 percent), Spain (12 percent) and France (10 percent). The new arrivals find a home — or at least shelter — on city outskirts, where they come in conflict with longtime, mostly working-class, residents. It’s a dangerous mix: Some 90 percent of Italy’s population lives in or around a city or town, and, despite the efforts of the new government, Italy is the only country in Europe still in recession. Local administrations bear much of the blame, but they inherited a dramatic situation with inadequate, and often unlicensed, buildings, decrepit infrastructure and struggling public services. Even northern, supposedly prosperous cities like Milan, set to host Expo 2015, have districts like Sarca-Testi, where organized crime runs illegal-immigration, prostitution and drug-dealing operations.

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All societies dump their problems at the edge of town, and Italy is no exception. And always, when war breaks out among the poor, someone is sure to take advantage. After years of failed attempts at secession in the Italian north, the far-right Northern League party has gone national, and now takes its cue from xenophobic movements like France’s Front National and Britain’s U.K. Independence Party. The league’s secretary, Matteo Salvini, visited a Roma camp on the outskirts of Bologna, only for his automobile to be attacked by extremists; within just a few weeks, the league doubled its support. City outskirts are also where shattered illusions are dumped. Frequently, they are the offspring of illegal building and greed. For the past 50 years, public-housing megaprojects designed by idealistic architects have decayed for want of attention. Take the Zen in Palermo (by the architect Vittorio Gregotti), Librino in Catania (by Kenzo Tange), Corviale in Rome (by Mario Fiorentino) and Rozzol Melara in Trieste (by Carlo Celli). Yesterday, utopias. Today, nightmares. Yet perhaps all is not lost. The edges of Italy’s towns are not beyond redemption. We can mend them, says the architect Renzo Piano, now an honorary senator for life. Mr. Piano has used his senator’s salary to hire six young architects who have set out to redesign the outskirts of Italy’s cities. Projects are targeted and local — repairing schools, street lighting and transportation facilities, or reclaiming desolate public spaces. “You can’t expect young people to show a spark of citizen awareness if buildings are abandoned and decaying, or recreation and sports grounds are unattractive and unsafe,” Mr. Piano pointed out. “I am convinced that beauty will save the world. Maybe one person at a time, but it will save the world.” Beauty could start by saving Italy. After all, this is its home.

The fifth anniversary of Sergei Magnitsky’s death in a Russian prison has come and gone. Magnitsky was 37 years old, a member of the emerging middle class who worked as a lawyer for a man named Bill Browder, the leader of the largest Russia-only investment firm in the world. Browder’s company, Hermitage Capital Management, started with $25 million during the Wild West era of early Russian capitalism and had $4.5 billion in assets by the early 2000s. Over time, Browder became an activist investor, exposing corruption in Russian companies and trying to make Russian capitalism more transparent. He thought he could steer Russian companies closer to the Western model while also making money. But, when Vladimir Putin became the president of Russia in 2000, he and his cronies were not interested in corporate transparency. How could they line their pockets if everything was transacted out in the open? So Browder became persona non grata. After a trip to Britain in 2005, he was refused re-entry. A few fictitious documents later, and Hermitage had $1 billion in “liabilities.” Then, officials involved in a takeover of Hermitage requested — and received within 24 hours — a $230 million tax refund. Browder pleaded with Magnitsky to flee Russia. But Magnitsky insisted on investigating the fraud that had occurred. For his troubles, he was imprisoned in 2008. By summer 2009, he had developed pancreatitis. He died that November. Browder says that when he learned of Magnitsky’s death, it was “the worst news I had ever received in my life.” Ever since, Browder has worked to find ways to extract some justice. Well before the current Western sanctions on Russia, Browder pushed for sanctions to be imposed on the Russian officials who were involved in Magnitsky’s imprisonment. In December 2012, the United States Congress passed a bill that did just that, called the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. Browder continues to

push for similar laws in Europe. Russia hasn’t taken this law lying down. The first thing it did was halt American adoption of Russian children. It has given promotions to several officials who were sanctioned. And it has continued to go after Browder and even the deceased Magnitsky. In July 2013, Russia put both Magnitsky and Browder on trial. The men were accused of tax evasion going back to 2001 — despite the fact that the statute of limitation in Russia for tax evasion is 10 years. The judge was among those who were on the United States’ sanctions list. Magnitsky and Browder were convicted: one posthumously, the other in absentia. There is another thing the Putin government has been doing to get back at Browder. It has made repeated attempts to have him put on Interpol’s “Red Notice” list — a kind of international wanted-poster for fugitives. The idea is that when a person on the list is arrested in one country, he or she would be handed over to the country where he or she is wanted. Interpol has long been accused of allowing its Red Notices to be used for political purposes. A year ago, a group called Fair Trials International accused a handful of countries of using Interpol to cause problems for dissidents and activists — among them Belarus, Turkey, Iran and Russia. The first attempt came in May 2013. Browder succeeded in pushing it back. The second attempt came two months later. Again, Interpol declined to issue a Red Notice. This past winter, a Russian delegation visited Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France. Russia could now say that Browder had been convicted of a crime. Interpol, which recently installed a new secretary general, a German lawyer named Jürgen Stock, agreed to reconsider labeling Browder a fugitive. You would think Putin has enough to worry about, with the crisis in Ukraine, Western sanctions and the fall in the price of oil. But, apparently, there is still time to attack Bill Browder.

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THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

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Sanctity of Truth

WORLD TRENDS JERUSALEM JOURNAL

Mistrust Threatens Balance at Sacred Site By JODI RUDOREN

JERUSALEM — Amid unrest over a contested Old City holy site, the Palestine Liberation Organization recently declared that the name used for the site by Jews, the Temple Mount, was “null and void.” Instead, the group said, the compound — “a symbol for all Palestinians” — must be called Al Aqsa Mosque or the Noble Sanctuary. A less-known Arabic and Islamic term for the revered plateau is Bait al-Maqdis, or “house of the holy” — the linguistic twin of the Hebrew Beit HaMikdash, which refers to the two ancient temples that once stood there. The Prophet Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven from the site precisely because of the holiness of the temples, reflecting the intertwined history of Muslims and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians, whose decades-long conflict is as much about competing narratives as it is about claiming territory. The real struggle over the site, however, is over sovereignty, between two peoples who seem unable to find a way to simply share. After seizing the

Muslim and Jewish claims date back through centuries.

since the advent of modern Zionism. More than 100 people on each side died in rioting in 1929 over access to the Western Wall below. In 1990, the Israeli border police killed 22 Palestinians protesting a Jewish group’s plans to lay the cornerstone of a third temple. More riots, after the 1996 opening of tunnels under the Western Wall, claimed the lives of about 60 Palestinians and 15 Israeli troops. Four years later, a visit by Ariel Sharon, then a candidate for Israeli prime minister, helped set off the second intifada. “The extreme factions within both the Israeli and Palestinian communities realized that holy place is a symbolic asset, so to speak, in consolidating support for their struggle,” said Yitzhak Reiter, a historian. Temple denial also has a long history: After Israel became a state in 1948, the Waqf removed from its guidebooks all references to King Solomon’s Temple, whose location at the site it had previously said was “beyond dispute.” The 14-hectare compound, sprawling over one-sixth of the Old City, has been a locus of Muslim worship since the seventh century. The entire site is considered a mosque, containing many mosques, domes, schools, homes and a museum. Thousands of Palestinians visit weekly. JIM HOLLANDER/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY Jewish history at the A scholar calls the dispute at Dome site dates back further of the Rock a ‘‘battle of beliefs.’’ — the First Temple was built by King Solomon in 957 B.C. — but few Israelis have been on the site, heeding site during the 1967 war, Israel longstanding rabbinical decrees quickly turned back all but secuthat doing so is sacrilegious. rity matters to the Islamic Waqf Israel’s prime minister has authorities. said he will not change the status Now, as more Jews challenge quo, but legislation pending in Israel’s prohibition on their Parliament would enshrine freeprayer in their religion’s most sacred space, many Palestindom of worship for all at the site. In Ron E. Hassner’s 2009 book ians fear that what they really “War on Sacred Grounds,” a want is to take over the entire chapter is about the 1967 hancompound and replace its Dome of the Rock with a third temple. dling of the site, which seems “Today, the question becomes: like a cruel joke today. Professor Is it our story or theirs?” said Hassner of the University of Sari Nusseibeh, a professor at Al California, Berkeley, said IsraQuds University. “So the whole el’s leading rabbis at the time, thing is just a battle of beliefs, guided by the government, made and it touches the deep core in what was “primarily a pragmateach side’s creeds, the denying ic decision” that the place was as well as the asserting.” “so sacred you should not go.” Palestinian leaders and rela“These rabbis never said the Temple Mount is not ours, they tives of the perpetrators of tersaid it’s very much ours, the rorist attacks that have killed 11 state of Israel ought to control it, Israelis in recent weeks contend we just aren’t permitted to walk that threats to the holy site were there,” he said. “The security arbehind that violence. The site has been a flash point gument is also a religious argument, it’s an argument about the No. 1 principle in Judaism, which Irit Pazner Garshowitz is thou shalt not spill blood.” contributed reporting.

SAMUEL ARANDA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Dozens died in Dzomankoidu before a roadblock was cleared. Siafa Sherif, 8, needed aid.

Fear of Ebola Forces Open Remote Villages in Guinea By ADAM NOSSITER

DANDANO, Guinea — “Bring out your sick!” the chief shouted angrily at the crowd, shaking his fist and warning of illness and death for the whole village if it did not obey. “Don’t hide them!” he yelled. “If you don’t expose them, you will suffer!” Slowly, a procession trudged to the village center — a student, a minibus driver, a 5-year-old girl and farmers — with bloodshot eyes betraying the symptoms of Ebola. The crowd edged away fearfully. Then something unusual happened: A Red Cross team went to work, tossing water bags to the sick, sheathing them in plastic robes, rubber gloves and masks. They were taken away by an ambulance. “There are many, and they are still hidden,” said a Red Cross nurse, climbing in. This remote, mountainous part of Guinea is where the world’s worst Ebola outbreak began nearly a year ago, in villages hidden by dense forest and a long history of resistance to the central government. Residents in the region have killed local officials proselytizing about Ebola, blocked roads and vehemently refused help from outsiders. But now, in Guinea’s inaccessible Forest Region, where staunch resistance has stymied efforts to fight the outbreak, villagers are finally opening up after being battered by the virus. “We are in a crisis here,” said the village chief, Siba Koevogui. “You’ve got to send help.” Though the refusal to acknowledge and help fight the disease appears to be dissipating, health officials and local authorities say, the resistance has already done its work, allowing the disease to spread unchecked for months on end. After so much time, tracking down Ebola victims and everyone who had contact with them — the traditional method for halting outbreaks — has

become more difficult. At first, the region’s resistance was passive, born of fear. “The people could just go hide in the bush” to avoid health workers, said Pascal Piguet, a Doctors Without Borders official in the adjoining district, Guéckédou, where the outbreak was first identified in March. But the outbreak continued coming in waves, intensifying the residents’ distrust of the government and international health workers. Vehicles belonging to Doctors Without Borders were pelted with stones. In September, eight officials and local journalists, part of a delegation sent to warn of Ebola’s dangers, were killed by a mob in the village of Womey. It became impossible for the Red Cross and other international teams

Health workers finally are able to enter dense forests. to enter villages to retrieve sick people or bodies. A history of antagonism with the government fueled the clashes. The state tried to stamp out traditional religious practices in Guinea’s Forest Region in the 1960s and 1970s, seeding a hatred of officials that still festers. Now, with the Ebola epidemic refusing to go away, the tide of resistance appears to be turning. Transmission of the disease is still “persistent” and “intense” in Guinea, the World Health Organization said in its latest report, and there have been more than 1,000 deaths. The district in which the village of Dandano is situated, Macenta, is the worsthit in the country. “The greatest danger is this reticence,” said Dr. Daniel Yota,

the W.H.O. leader in Macenta. “In three weeks, we could contain it, if every village opened up.” Amara Cissé, an elder in another village in the Macenta district that has opened, said: “We were wrong. But we didn’t understand the cause of this sickness.” Twenty-eight people died in the village, Dzomankoidu, before a barrier blocking the road was dismantled. In Dandano, it took a quick succession of deaths through October to overcome the resistance. About a month ago, people in the village were burying unprotected bodies themselves, barehanded. Now, the villagers are so fearful of the virus that they avoided two corpses lying in the street, even after the bodies had been bagged in thick plastic sacks and sprayed with chlorine. Open, darkened doorways around these new corpses spoke to emptied houses: The occupants had fled into the bush. “I’m afraid, and everyone I know is afraid,” said Sagno Marah, a 38-year-old gold miner, as the chief harangued his flock in the center of the village. In less than three weeks, at least 15 people in Dandano, population 2,000, had died. “For three weeks we negotiated with the religious leaders,” said the district health officer, Dr. Pévé Goepogue. “It didn’t work.” Finally, “when the deaths started to really multiply,” he added, “it became alarming to them. The elders came toward the deputy-prefect and declared Dandano open.” Health officials are convinced that the disease is simmering in places they have not reached. One recent rainy night, a motorcycle taxi deposited a middle-aged woman on the steps of the hospital in Macenta. She had just enough strength to say she had come from a village on the Liberian border, hours away. Later in the evening, she died.

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

WORLD TRENDS

Fishing for Fun, and College Tuition We would like to interrupt your regularly scheduled news about the ascendance of video-gaming as a competitive sport to take you someplace different. LENS Outside. Let’s go fishing. With much hand-wringing going on in the United States these days about big-time college athletics — criminal scandals, academic cheating, questions about pay for athletes — The Times reported recently on a group of sportsmen who compete in a quieter arena. The number of fishing clubs on the college circuit, only 90 in 2009, has since grown to more than 600. The national championship carries a top prize of $30,000. Some schools offer scholarships. The program at Bethel University in Tennessee has nearly a dozen major sponsors and so many applicants for spots on the team that some are turned down. And make no mistake, the fishermen are there to win. “These guys are competitive — they walk around with their chest pumped out,” said Kevin Hunt of F.L.W. College Fishing, one of three groups that sponsor tournaments. “It’s just like football and basketball.” Fishing is not the only rural pursuit that comes with a little cash and a possible college scholarship attached. For stuFor comments, write to nytweekly@nytimes.com.

Children who participate in rodeos say it’s more fun than playing with a phone. Ryker Greenwell, 5, hangs onto a sheep.

dents who like to play rougher, the rodeo starts early. The Times described the scene at a recent competition in Utah: “There were 5-year-olds riding woolly white sheep and fourth graders astride 600-pound bulls, all trying very hard not to fall off. Girls in pink tops took their turn at the goat tie, riding their horses toward a tethered goat, wrestling it to the ground and tying its hooves together with a rope.” Sustaining rodeo’s traditional place in the West hasn’t been

The Call of Duty generation hears the call of the wild. easy. Besides a large decline in the agricultural population, the price of gasoline has increased substantially in recent years. That is no small factor in youth competition, where, The Times noted, parents “shuttle their

phone.” “That’s their number-one priority, texting their ex or something,” Caylee said. For those who want to try something new outdoors but prefer a pulse rate somewhere between hook-baiting and bull-riding, Christopher Solomon wrote in The Times about his own efforts to learn skate skiing — what KIM RAFF FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES he called the “zippy younger brother” children from event to event of traditional Nordic skiing. Difacross the Western states, ferent skis, differerent strides, bringing along such necessary smoother surfaces. And faster gear as a truck, a trailer for horsspeeds. “It’s swooping. It’s fast. It’s es and a portable family sleeping graceful,” he wrote. “It’s even quarters.” a bit sexy, something its butStill, Brynt Lindsey, president of the Utah Youth Rodeo toned-up older brother has never Association, said 220 children been accused of.” took part in his recent event, But before you put down the compared with about 150 five game controller and rush out for years ago. One of those, 12-yearsome swooshing, remember this old Caylee Bradshaw, who had word of warning from Mr. Solotraveled from Idaho, mocked the mon: “There’s just one problem less fortunate children her age with skate skiing: It’s hard.” who were “obsessed with their ALAN MATTINGLY

Imprecise Truths, Created From Reality Continued from Page 23 At first unsure of how to respond to the film, Mr. Zuckerberg gave interviews to lay out what he saw as its distortions. He was upset by the implication that his work was driven in part by his desire to impress a woman who had rejected him. Still, he did not speak out strongly against the film, saying he certainly couldn’t recall attending all the wild parties depicted on screen. Mr. Sorkin said he took liberties with the story because depicting the ethos of a new generation mattered more than getting precise details about Mr. Zuckerberg and his circle right. Another example is Michael Mann’s 1999 film “The Insider,” a drama about CBS’s “60 Minutes” and its handling of Jeffrey Wigand, a former executive at a tobacco company. Mr. Wigand was ready to reveal the company had manipulated its blend of tobacco to increase the addictive nicotine. As presented in the film, the producer of the segment was forced by the network to abridge the report when it first aired in

1995, removing the interview with Mr. Wigand. Mike Wallace, the reporter for the piece, was infuriated by the way he was depicted in the film, especially the implication that he had not done all of his own reporting. Movie critics who praised the film had to take into account that the story as presented was not an entirely fair account of what took place. A film about the importance of exposing the truth seemed “manipulative itself,” Janet Maslin wrote in her review in The New York Times. Still, “The Insider” grippingly demonstrated how complicated things can be when one powerful company collides with another. Mark-Anthony Turnage and Richard Thomas made an opera about Anna Nicole Smith, the American model, hapless actress and onetime Playmate of the Year. The opera certainly has fun with her life story and skewers the tabloid culture of contemporary media. But it presents her as a determined young Texan using her assets to get ahead and mastering the personality machine, only to be crushed by it

Inaccuracies in ‘The Social Network’ raise few objections.

SARA KRULWICH/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Sarah Joy Miller in “Anna Nicole,” which portrays the late model and hapless actress in a sympathetic light. and to die tragically. There was also Nico Muhly’s “Two Boys,” which centers on a true incident in which a 16-year-old in England stabbed and nearly killed a younger boy. He said he was encouraged by voices he heard in an Internet chat room. Events are altered in this fictionalized telling, but Mr. Muhly tries valiantly to use the opera medium to get at what the lead detective was searching for: What drove this teenager to do what he did? No clear answer is provided. Still, at its best, the music taps into the inarticulate teenager’s sexual stirrings and confusion.

Then there is the first Adams-Goodman collaboration, “Nixon in China” (1987), based on that president’s 1972 trip. Naturally, whole scenes and stretches of dialogue are invented. But the opera nails what this historic journey was all about. In terms of international policy making, nothing of much substance was accomplished. But as a gesture of rapprochement, the Nixon visit was the political equivalent of grand opera. A contemporary opera proved the perfect medium. Few would object to the distortions of a film like “The Social Network.” But for many people, fictionalizing a harrowing event like the murder of Leon Kling-

hoffer in a terrorist hijacking is another matter: hurtful, even dangerous. “Klinghoffer” begins with paired choruses for exiled Palestinians and then exiled Jews. The opera suggests that these groups are also like elemental forces, locked in a conflict that has gone on for generations. Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer emerge as tragic heroes: decent, giving, everyday people with profound moral authority. The opera has been criticized for getting aspects of the event and the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict wrong. And it indeed gives voice to the hijackers who fling Mr. Klinghoffer into the ocean in his wheelchair and terrorize the passengers and crew. But “Klinghoffer” attempts to ruminate on a seemingly endless conflict and on what motivated these terrorists, without in any way explaining, let alone excusing, their actions. Music, with its murky, innate powers, is uniquely equipped for such an effort, especially music as inspired as Mr. Adams’s mysterious, elegiac and searing score.

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WORLD TRENDS

A Ruinous Pursuit Of Coal in India Continued from Page 23 it roughly twice as polluting as coal from the West. And while China gets 90 percent of its coal from underground mines, 90 percent of India’s coal is from strip mines, which are far more environmentally costly. In a country three times more densely populated than China, India’s mines and power plants directly affect millions of residents. Mercury poisoning has cursed generations of villagers with contorted bodies, decaying teeth and mental disorders. The city of Dhanbad resembles a postapocalyptic movie set, with villages surrounded by barren slag heaps half-obscured by acrid smoke spewing from a century-old fire slowly burning through buried coal seams. Mining and fire cause subsidence that swallows homes, with inhabitants’ bodies sometimes never found. Suffering widespread respi-

A plan to increase mining expected to increase suffering.

ral gas production. The country went on a coal-fired power plant building spree over the last five years, increasing capacity by 73 percent. But coal mining grew just 6 percent, leading to expensive coal imports, idle plants and widespread blackouts. Nearly 300 million Indians do not have access to electricity, and millions more get it only sporadically. “India is going to use coal because that’s what it has,” said Chandra Bhushan, deputy director of the Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment, a prominent environmental group. “Its strategy is ‘all of the above,’ just like in the U.S.” Each Indian consumes on average 7 percent of the energy used by an American, and Indian officials dis800 KILOMETERS miss critics from wealthy CHINA countries. “I don’t want to use the BHUTAN PAKISTAN word ‘pontificate’ when NEPAL talking about these peoNew Delhi ple, but it would be reasonable to expect more Dhanbad fairness in the discussion and a recognition of InINDIA MYANMAR dia’s need to reach the development of the West,” Mr. Goyal said. Bay of Bengal One reason for the widespread domestic supSRI LANKA port for India’s coal rush is the lack of awareness of just how bad the air has already become, scienTHE NEW YORK TIMES tists say. Smog levels that India has the world’s fifthwould lead to highway largest reserves of coal. shutdowns and near-panic in Beijing go largely unnoticed in Delhi. Pediatric ratory and skin disorders, resrespiratory clinics are overrun, idents accuse the government but parents largely shrug when of allowing fires to burn and asked about the cause of their allowing pollution to poison children’s suffering. them as a way of pushing peoIndia’s great hope to save ple off land needed for India’s itself and the world from poscoal rush. “The government wants sible environmental dystopia more coal, but they are throwcan be found in the scrub grass outside the village of Neemuch, ing their own people away to in India’s western state of Madget it,” said Ashok Agarwal of the Save Jharia Coal Field hya Pradesh. Welspun Energy Committee, a citizens’ group. has constructed Asia’s largest T. K. Lahiry, chairman of solar plant, a $148 million silent Bharat Coking Coal, a governfarm of photovoltaic panels on 323 hectares. And it has plans ment-owned company that conto produce within two years trols much of the Jharia region, more than 10 times the renewdenied neglecting fires and pollution but readily agreed that able energy it gets from this tens of thousands of residents facility. must be displaced for India to The benefits of solar and the realize its coal needs. environmental costs of coal With land scarce, Bharat are so profound that India has Coking is digging deeper at no other choice but to rely more mines it already controls. On on renewables, said Rajendra a tour of one huge strip mine, K. Pachauri of the Intergovofficials said they had recently ernmental Panel on Climate purchased two mammoth RusChange, the world’s leading insian mining shovels to more tergovernmental organization than triple annual production. for the assessment of climate India has the world’s change. fifth-largest reserves of coal “India cannot go down Chibut little domestic oil or natuna’s pathway,” he said, “because the consequences for the public welfare are too horrenHari Kumar contributed reporting. dous.”

DIEGO OPATOWSKI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

President Xi Jinping of China focused on trade on a recent trip, which included New Zealand. NEWS ANALYSIS

China Trying to Win Friends By JANE PERLEZ

BEIJING — When China’s leader, Xi Jinping, visited the Australian state of Tasmania recently, he was greeted by a front page of the local newspaper written in Mandarin. He ate the island’s salmon, which will soon be available in China, and met a rare beast known as the Tasmanian devil. While President Obama quickly returned home after a series of Asian summits, Mr. Xi kept going. He spent more days than Mr. Obama did in Australia, America’s staunch ally; toured New Zealand, another American ally; and flew to the tiny Pacific island of Fiji. Everywhere Mr. Xi went, he left a trail of money, a bounty aimed at showcasing China as the dominant economic power in Asia. The largess was wrapped in a long-range message: Don’t worry, he suggested in his speeches. China, the “big guy,” is friendly and is not only an economic partner, but a strategic one, too. From the opening of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing recently through Mr. Xi’s tour in the Pacific, China announced that it would spend $70 billion on loans and infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region, according to an analysis by the Australian National University. The impact of some of the money, like $40 billion for a Silk Road infrastructure fund, could be decades away, the university’s East Asia Bureau of Economic Research said. Still, it noted that $20 billion for loans and infrastructure for the 10 countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was a substantial amount for projects that could be completed soon. The figures were particularly stark when compared with American promises. The White House pledged $150 million for Myanmar during Mr. Obama’s recent visit. China pledged $7.8 billion to refurbish roads and increase energy production.

Mr. Xi does have challenges in the region. China’s ambitions to control more of the South China and East China Seas — including territory claimed by other countries — has unnerved many of its neighbors. Still, its financial ties in the region are undeniable. Besides promising money, the Chinese pushed hard on trade agreements that, analysts say, they view as being as much about diplomacy as business. During the APEC summit, China called for the start of a new free trade area in the Asia Pacific that Beijing advertised as more inclusive and less demanding in its rules than the Obama administration’s pet project, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The partnership, or T.P.P. for short, is still being negotiated and does not include China. In Australia, Mr. Xi and the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, declared the completion

A Chinese promise of $70 billion in aid for the region. of a China-Australia free trade pact, 10 years in the making, that will open China’s markets to Australian beef, dairy products and Tasmanian salmon. China, Mr. Xi said in an address to the Australian Parliament, was interested in delivering development to the Asia Pacific region through its own prosperity in “a virtuous cycle of development and security.” Beneath the reassurance, though, was a sharp reminder that China would stand firm in upholding the “core interests” of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Looking at the longer term, Mr. Xi seemed to be trying to entice Australia, one of America’s closest intelligence-sharing allies, away from its more than

half-century alliance with Washington. “We have every reason to go beyond a commercial partnership to become strategic partners who have a shared vision and pursue common goals,” Mr. Xi said. Hugh White, professor at the Australian National University, said: “Xi and his colleagues are very serious about their strategic ambitions. In the long run they believe that the gravitational force of China’s economy will pull Australia into its political and strategic orbit and keep it there.” Mr. Obama was apparently attuned to what Mr. Xi might offer. Two days before the Chinese leader appeared at the Parliament while in Australia for the Group of 20 summit, President Obama, in an address to university students there, essentially warned America’s ally not to get too close to China. Mr. Obama said: “An effective security order for Asia must be based — not on spheres of influence, or coercion, or intimidation where big nations bully the small — but on alliances of mutual security, international law and international norms.” Momentarily, at least, Australia seemed giddy about Mr. Xi. The Australian press, usually an unwavering proponent of the United States alliance, embraced the Chinese leader. Mr. Obama, by contrast, was criticized for implicitly raising objections in his speech at the university to Mr. Abbott’s opposition to ambitious climate-change goals. That salmon served to Mr. Xi at a lunch was a product that, under the terms of the free trade pact, will start arriving soon in China. The appearance of the salmon in Chinese markets will carry a strategic favor for the Chinese government: The Tasmanian variety is expected to cut further into the sales of Norwegian salmon that have already dwindled since Norway’s Nobel Committee awarded the 2010 Peace Prize to the jailed Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

WORLD TRENDS

Sanctions May Aid Russian Farmers By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

MOSCOW — Boris Akimov’s phone started to ring after President Vladimir V. Putin imposed sweeping food sanctions barring many Western imports last August. Russian grocery chains, desperate to find new suppliers, tracked down Mr. Akimov, the founder of Russia’s fledgling farm-to-table movement, to ask how many chickens and eggs he could provide or whether he could deliver 100 tons of cheese. Mr. Akimov, 36, had to turn them away — his 100 farmers produce nowhere near the amounts requested. LavkaLavka, his organic farm cooperative, sells at most 12 tons of artisanal cheese annually, for example. “In government, in business

A ban on Western imports directs focus to local suppliers. and on the streets, they have started to think more about where their food comes from,” he said in his restaurant in central Moscow. “If the sanctions give a chance to develop local farmers, to develop sustainable agriculture, it is very good. But I am not sure it will happen.” In August, Russia banned all beef, pork, fish, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia and Norway for one year, retaliating for West-

ern economic sanctions imposed after the Kremlin destabilized Ukraine. Leaders heralded food sanctions as a chance for Russians to finally stock their larders with homegrown products. Dmitri A. Medvedev, the prime minister, released a “road map” for agriculture in October, saying, “The aim of our efforts is to increase our own agricultural produce and to reduce Russia’s dependence on food imports.” Critics said the government typically announced the sanctions first and thought about the fallout afterward. A range of experts and organizations noted that beyond the populist, patriotic speeches about growing food locally, there is minimal government support when it comes to supplying the new land, longterm credit and transportation logistics that Russian farmers desperately need to expand. Russian agriculture basically collapsed twice in the 20th century. Immediately after the revolution, the new Bolshevik government organized what amounted to gangs licensed to strip the countryside of anything edible to feed the agitated urban poor. After the Soviet Union disintegrated, the government advanced large-scale corporate farming and basically favored imports. In the last 20 years, more than 44 million hectares of arable land have fallen out of production, said Vladimir V. Miloserdov, an agriculture expert. And Russia has fewer cattle now than it did in the 1940s. Sanctions so far have served mostly to raise food prices. Pric-

SERGEY PONOMAREV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Boris Akimov, the founder of a farm-to-table movement, has turned down orders from grocery chains in Russia that were too big for his farmers’ cooperative to fill. es for meat and poultry rose more than 18 percent through October, while dairy products were up by over 15 percent, according to the federal statistics agency, Rosstat. “Russia cannot provide itself with dairy products, fish, vegetables and other types of food,” said Mikhail Anshakov of the Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights, which calls for food sanctions to be rescinded. “Self-imposed sanctions under these circumstances were madness.” The public has generally supported the sanctions, however, because the Kremlin wrapped the idea in nationalist colors, and state-run television regularly broadcasts programs showing shows supermarkets bursting with goods from Africa, Asia and

Latin America. While the foreign news media tend to focus on the dismay of the urban elite over the sudden dearth of oysters and foie gras, Mr. Anshakov said, there was a potential gap in providing staples like milk. Dairy farms have plenty of forage at the end of summer, he said, but with winter comes the main challenge to farming in Russia — virtually the entire country freezes. In winter, dairy companies usually import vast amounts of powdered milk to mix with fresh milk. “Now with the sanctions that is impossible,” he said, because powdered milk from traditional suppliers is barred. While some farmers have been slightly gleeful about their prospects under sanctions, experts

have said that over the long run higher prices would not overcome more basic problems— including a lack of credit and of land for expansion — faced by small farmers like those who sell through LavkaLavka. The cooperative started five years ago after Mr. Akimov and Sasha Mikhailov started paging through the most well-known cookbook from czarist times, “A Gift to Young Housewives.” They kept coming across unfamiliar vegetables like rutabagas, parsnips and scorzonera. “When you read this book you wonder how many interesting things there were,” Mr. Akimov said, “how many delicious things we had here in Russia that disappeared during the Soviet period.”

Tunisians Are Shaken as Young Women Turn to Extremism By CARLOTTA GALL

TUNIS — Leila Mustapha Saidi returned home on a recent day to find her daughter missing, along with her computer. Mrs. Saidi, who had watched her daughter grow religious and “obsessed” with the conflict in Syria, said she feared she had run off to join Islamist fighters there. Instead, the police called four days later. Her daughter Henda Saidi was holed up in a house outside Tunis with a group of suspected insurgents. A day later, security forces stormed the house. Of six people killed in the raid, five were young women. “They classified her as a terrorist,” Mrs. Saidi said bitterly. After more than two years of mounting attacks and assassinations, Tunisians are no longer surprised by shootouts between gunmen and anti-terrorist units. But the standoff in which Ms. Saidi was killed shocked many here for the sheer number of women involved. Nearly four years after events in Tunisia set off the Arab Spring, the lure of extremism has touched virtually every part of

Tunisian forces during a raid in October in which five women were killed. Henda Saidi, above, was killed in a police raid. ANIS MILI/REUTERS

society, even the relatively affluent district of La Marsa, where the Saidis live. Henda was the third person from her high school to die for the Islamist cause in the last year, acquaintances said. Ms. Saidi’s former high school French teacher, Dejla Abdelhamid, posted a message on Facebook lamenting her death and wishing she had done more to prevent her being lured into extremism. “Her death is our

failure, and the failure of a whole society, and in some part it is my failure as a teacher who fell short, missed something,” she wrote. Her post received a storm of comments, some accusing her of leading Ms. Saidi into radical Islam when they saw from her photo that she wore a veil. Ms. Abdelhamid attributes the turn to extremism by Ms. Saidi and others to the forced secularization under the dictatorship of

President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, which she says has left Tunisians ignorant of their religion, and now easily misled by radical preachers who have rushed in with new ideas. “It’s like a tsunami we have not had time to understand,” she said. “We have to teach them to defend themselves in a solid way.” Linda Ben Osman, an art teacher who worked at the high

school several years ago and knew Ms. Saidi, and others consider the outburst of extremism to be a reaction to the authoritarianism of Mr. Ben Ali, whose overthrow ushered in a free-forall democracy. Radical Islamists released from prison and returning from exile were quick to exploit the new freedoms, taking over mosques, setting up associations and recruiting thousands of young followers. Tunisia has been grappling with a surge of extremism since. Mrs. Saidi said she could not view her daughter’s body when it was brought home for the funeral. Her husband, Hedi Saidi, refused to attend the burial. The Saidis described their daughter as highly principled but stubborn. Ms. Saidi, a 21-year-old law student, had become radicalized, and they knew she often hid her true intentions, they said. “We are all uncomprehending,” Ms. Ben Osman said. “These were smart kids, kind kids, ready for life.” She added, “The youth are desperate, I think.”

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

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Sanctity of Truth

MONEY & BUSINESS

Bourbon Lessons For Oil Industry By NEIL IRWIN

The market for crude oil is in veritable free fall, dropping 30 percent since June, and the ripples have only begun, with analysts warning of bankruptcies of Texas oil fields and economic troubles in big oil-producing nations like Venezuela and Nigeria. If oil prices stay low or keep comes harder for businesses falling, it will be one of the most and societies to make longimportant trends shaping the term decisions. world economy in 2015. But why Which brings us back to is this happening? To answer bourbon. In the market for that, it is useful to look at the high-quality bourbon, what market for another fluid that is is happening is the opposite stored in barrels: bourbon. of what is happening with oil. What oil and bourbon have in Over the last decade, bourbon common is the long time lag behas become more popular, as people who once favored vodka tween investment in a new suphave discovered the appeal of ply and availability of the finbourbon brands like Pappy Van ished product. With bourbon, a Winkle, Basil Hayden’s and Elidistiller in Kentucky must keep the good stuff for seven, 10, or jah Craig. even 20 years before it’s ready But just as oil producers can’t to drink. With oil, investment in turn the spigot on new oil supnew drilling projects frequentplies overnight, the years that boubon must spend in barrels ly involves years before the have left producers behind the crude flows. curve in keeping up with deThe result for both is that supply is basically fixed in the mand. short run. The amount of oil “In 2002 we would have been available in the near future is determined by investment decisions that oil producers made years ago. With oil, this creates big swings in prices over long time horizons that have broad effects on everything from the cars we drive to the politicians who win office. The current sell-off in oil, for example, has its roots in actions taken in the middle of the last decade. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, oil was cheap — under WILLIAM D SHAZER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES $20 a barrel at the end Years elapse before new oil of 2001. Those low pricsupplies and bourbons like es left oil producers Woodford Reserve are ready. with little incentive to invest in drilling. Global investment in new production was only about $200 making Buffalo Trace to be billion in 2004, according to essold in 2011,” said Mark Brown of Buffalo Trace Distillery. timates by an energy research “There was absolutely no indifirm, I.H.S. Herold. But early this century, ecocation that demand would have reached the levels it reached.” nomic growth in emerging In the oil market, a global nations was stronger than oil commodity with countless buyproducers had predicted, and the demand for energy soared. ers and sellers, price is the only Years of underinvestment beadjustment mechanism. But many bourbon makers are trycause of low prices started to become a problem. By 2008, the ing to avoid raising their prices price of oil topped $140 a barrel. much. Now, the world finds itself “Just because bourbon is hot living under the opposite cirright now doesn’t change our way of thinking to say let’s take cumstances. The increase in advantage of the situation,” Mr. exploration that began in the Brown said. last decade is starting to pay The bet the bourbon industry off in a big way. is making is that there is more Mea nwhile, the gaudy money to be made in the long growth rates in China and othrun by cultivating a new gener emerging markets of the middle of the last decade have eration of bourbon drinkers slowed, and the giant econoand by building loyalty among customers throughout the Unitmies of Europe, Japan and the United States have underpered States, and eventually the world. formed after years of crisis. It’s not quite what Econom“What’s the adjustment mechanism?” Daniel Yergin of ics 101 would tell you to do, but I.H.S. Herold said. “It’s price.” it may be the right recipe for But price volatility comes at eliminating the boom-and-bust a cost. Oil-producing countries cycle that has made the oil busican be flush or starving. It beness so volatile.

Resisting price increases when demand rises.

SENDER FILMS

Alex Honnold in Yosemite National Park in California. He is known for climbing without ropes. Clif Bar, a maker of nutrition bars, dropped Mr. Honnold as a promoter of its products.

Sponsor to Step Back From the Edge In the film ‘‘Valley Uprising,’’ Dean Potter is shown highlining, walking across a rope suspended between rock formations.

By JOHN BRANCH

Moments before the San Francisco premiere of “Valley Uprising,” a documentary about the evolution of rock climbing in Yosemite National Park, Gary Erickson, the Clif Bar founder, was asked to stand and be acknowledged. Clif Bar, a maker of nutrition bars, was a major sponsor of the film. Two months later, Clif Bar has withdrawn its sponsorship of five top climbers featured in the film, some with a year or more left on their contracts, saying the climbers take risks that make the company too uncomfortable. It has created rare introspection among outdoor adventurers about how much risk should be rewarded. “They’re on a really slippery slope,” said Cedar Wright, one of the five whose sponsorship deal was cut. “Where do you draw the line?” Among those whose contracts were withdrawn were Alex Honnold and Dean Potter, each widely credited with pushing the boundaries of the sport in recent years. They had large roles in the film, mainly in scenes showing them climbing precarious routes barehanded and without ropes, a technique called free soloing. Mr. Potter also was shown highlining, walking across a rope suspended between towering rock formations. Other climbers who lost their Clif Bar contracts were Timmy O’Neill and Steph Davis, who spends much of her time BASE jumping (parachuting from a fixed object, like a building, antenna or bridge) and wing-suit flying. Last year, her husband, Mario Richard, was killed when he crashed in a wing suit. “We concluded that these forms of the sport are pushing boundaries and taking the element of risk to a place where we as a company are no longer willing to go,” Clif Bar wrote in an open letter to climbers. “We understand that some climbers feel

JIM HURST

these forms of climbing are pushing the sport to new frontiers. But we no longer feel good about benefiting from the amount of risk certain athletes are taking in areas of the sport where there is no margin for error; where there is no safety net.” Ms. Davis laughed it off, saying that sponsors come and go. Her affinity for BASE jumping may have cost her Clif Bar, but she said she had recently gained two other sponsors. Mr. Potter, sponsored by Clif Bar for more than a decade,

Climbers warn of a slippery slope after they lose contracts. called it “a huge emotional blow.” What frustrated him most was that the decision seemed connected to “Valley Uprising.” Clif Bar remains a major sponsor, and said that it continues to support the film and its current tour. “It’s understandable if they say, ‘We shouldn’t have supported the film and we’re not aligned with you guys,’ ” Mr. Potter said. “I would have understood, and said, ‘Yeah, I know we’re pretty out there.’ But what they did was a filthy business move. They still support the film, but not the ath-

ONLINE: CLIMBING EVOLUTION

An excerpt from the documentary “Valley Uprising”: nytimes.com Search Clif Bar film

letes? It seemed sleazy that Clif Bar would use some of my best climbs, and Alex’s best climbs, as a marketing tool on one hand, but then fire us on the other.” Mr. Honnold seemed to accept Clif Bar’s decision. “It’s a general reflection on risk,” he said. “The risk decision that Clif is making is the same kind of decision that we all make as athletes. I think it’s completely fair for them to draw a line. It’s a very personal decision. If Clif thought about it and said that that’s the line that they want to take, I can’t begrudge that.” Clif Bar still lists 99 sponsored athletes on its website. Mr. Honnold was among those wondering why it chose to suddenly shed five specific climbers when he considers sports like big-wave surfing, big-mountain skiing and snowboarding more dangerous than free-solo climbing. Mr. Wright, a climber and filmmaker, has made movies with sponsorship help from Clif Bar featuring free-solo climbs with Mr. Honnold. He said Clif Bar had always been supportive — until now. “It shows a lack of understanding for the sport,” Mr. Wright said, “and a lack of respect for the athletes who have helped build their brand.”

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

MONEY & BUSINESS

As Japan Faces Recession, Europe Tries to Avoid It By LIZ ALDERMAN and JONATHAN SOBLE

PARIS — Japan looked like the model for economic revival. Growth was back on track. The stock market was surging. Inflation, which had eluded Japan for decades, was even returning. But Japan’s economic experiment, a combination of fiscal discipline and monetary stimulus, is collapsing — it reported in mid-November that it was officially in recession. Its strategy was supposed to offer a road map for other troubled economies, notably Europe. Fiscal restraint and tax increases, while leaning on the central bank to pump money into the economy, were expected to overcome a malaise. The formula, though, has failed to ignite a meaningful recovery in Japan — and has even added to its woes. Europe must now decide whether to follow Japan’s lead by injecting more money into the economy, as the region’s central bank considers a similarly aggressive bond-buying campaign known as quantitative easing. And the United States, which just ended its own six-year stimulus effort, doesn’t offer much of a cushion should other economies stumble further. China, too, is under pressure. Growth in China has cooled to 7.3 percent. While that is the envy of many countries, it is a slow clip by Chinese standards that has raised questions about the nation’s economic health. “The United States is about the only growth beacon in the global economy right now, and that is not a very nice place to be,” said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “An American growth pickup is positive, but it looks like the rest of the world is again going to be relying on the U.S. as a consumer of last resort.” Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, won power two years ago on

A mix of monetary stimulus and fiscal discipline is failing.

YUYA SHINO/REUTERS

A combination of higher sales taxes, which discouraged consumer spending, and fiscal restraint is blamed in part for Japan’s recent fall into recession. A shopper in Tokyo. a promise to pull the economy out of nearly two decades of corrosive wage and price declines. The initial response of both Japanese consumers and global investors was ebullient: The economy surged during the first few months of his administration in early 2013, and Japanese stock prices soared. Mr. Abe’s program, referred to as Abenomics, at first relied on a combination of government spending and financial support from the Bank of Japan, the country’s central bank. The bank sharply increased its program of buying government bonds and other assets, similar to the stimulus effort recently ended by the United States Federal Reserve. But in some ways, Japan has been more aggressive than the United States. Much of the enthusiasm for

Abenomics has evaporated, however. Some economists blame a lack of action by Mr. Abe’s government in areas beyond pump-priming stimulus, such as deregulation and trade. Tighter fiscal policy has taken the majority of the blame for the country’s slide into recession in the third quarter. The economy has been hampered by rising sales taxes that have discouraged consumers from spending. Mr. Abe is expected to back off from a second tax increase, so consumer confidence does not erode further. “What Japan shows is that if you have longstanding economic stagnation, having an aggressive monetary policy and even sizable fiscal reform is not going to work without deep-rooted structural reform,” Mr. Kirkegaard said. “The experience of Japan must

be at the top of the minds of European leaders.” The European Central Bank recently said it was prepared to take additional steps to revive the struggling economy, by lending more to banks and buying bonds backed by mortgages and other assets. Critics say the bank has not acted nearly aggressively enough to help revive growth, which has essentially stagnated. The similarities between the two places are strong, which has prompted some economists to wonder whether Europe will turn into another Japan. Europe and Japan have stuck with various versions of austerity, neither pushing ahead with deep-seated changes to their economy that analysts say are needed to revive long-term growth. Europe is also facing down the Japan-like specter of deflation as a recovery lags.

The political debate is also developing along the same lines. A number of countries, led by France and Italy, recently balked at European Union requirements to doggedly adhere to fiscal targets and eschew stimulus spending that some economists say is critical. Some economists say that Japan’s situation only adds to the argument that fiscal restraint, while sometimes needed to mend a country’s finances, hurts growth when an economy is in decline. European politicians now widely blame austerity policies for delaying a return to growth, but Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany is wary of loosening requirements for fiscal discipline after runaway debt levels and high deficits helped generate the eurozone debt crisis. The region’s leaders are scheduled to meet in early December to discuss further strategies for growth. The problems in Europe and Japan put additional pressure on the United States and China, which face their own headwinds. The United States increased at a 3.5 percent annualized pace in the third quarter. But consumer spending has been less than robust and a lift from military spending that may be temporary. Bart van Ark, an economist, speaking of the Japanese recession, said, “Europe has the potential to become a second Japan in terms of significantly slowing demographics, and weak per capita income growth.” What’s needed, he said, is a “reform agenda, and that is a very difficult strategy” for politicians to pursue in any country.

Where Buying Is Easy, Delivery Is Hard By SHANSHAN WANG and PAUL MOZUR

HANGZHOU, China — With an underdeveloped retail sector and a flourishing network of online merchants offering huge selections at cheap prices, consumers in China look to the web first to buy everything from shoes and ovens to toilet paper. The Chinese e-commerce market is already bigger than that of the United States, and by 2020 is projected to be the size of those of the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan and France combined, according to a report by the auditing company KPMG. But the country struggles with delivery, largely because of decades of underinvestment in inland logistics infrastructure and inefficient local regulation. Goods are slow to arrive in the interior of the country, and damage is a persistent problem, affecting both consumers and small businesses. Deliveries within China are so inefficient that the country spent

Chinese firms set up regional centers to solve delivery issues. 18 percent of its gross domestic product on logistics in 2013, 6.5 percent above the global average, said Fox Chu of the consulting firm Accenture. “Shipping goods from Fujian to Beijing can be more expensive than shipping something from Beijing to California,” he said, referring to the roughly 2,000-kilometer trip from the Chinese capital to one of its provinces. Recently, both Alibaba, China’s main e-commerce company, and JD.com, its smaller rival, have tried to make things more efficient, especially inland. Alibaba has pledged to invest 100 billion renminbi ($16.3 billion) in an initiative to link up

third-party companies that deliver its shipments. The idea is to form an alliance that uses Alibaba’s consumer and shipment data to make delivery more efficient. JD.com, on the other hand, is building its own warehouses and shipping its own goods. Currently, the company can manage same-day deliveries in 100 cities and next-day deliveries in 600 others, said Shen Haoyu, the company’s chief executive. Part of Alibaba’s plan to improve things is to establish warehouses at critical points to help streamline deliveries. “China is too big, so we cannot buy a lot of land for warehouses,” said Alibaba’s chief operating officer, Daniel Zhang. “Instead, we will choose key areas, very strategic locations where resources are quite limited.” JD.com’s 50,000-square-meter warehouse in southern Beijing shows the advantages it gets by building its own delivery service. The structure is ergonomically

GILLES SABRIE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

China’s e-commerce market is booming, but poor infrastructure hampers delivery. A messenger for JD.com. organized, and employees run full speed, pushing carts loaded with goods in lanes segmented for those going at different speeds. The strategy enables JD.com to process orders more quickly than its rivals, even as its scale lags. Most critically, Mr. Shen said, it is able to train the couri-

ers, whom he calls “the face of JD.com.” Zhu Sichang, 29, a JD.com courier, recounted one delivery he made to a customer after dashing up several flights of stairs. “He saw I was pouring sweat and offered me a cup of water to thank me for my hard work,” he said.

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

Sanctity of Truth

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

So Far Away, Yet So Near to Us idea they will then cast into the heavens, and wait through what may seem like another half-career for it to reach its destination. Even scientists and engineers find themselves personalizing such a consuming life experience as well as a trusted machine. Sometimes, they too are guilty of anthropomorphism, the attribution of human form and behavior to nonhuman forms. A machine is talking to us. It was shaken up by the three-bounce landing, at last coming to rest near a sheltering rock face (not a choice place, as it prevents sunlight from reaching its solar panels). Poor Philae may not have long to live. Your dog may or may not be your best friend, and who knows about the cat? But Philae talks to you. Reporters don’t always resist the temptation to make homey comparisons of faraway encounters. In 1983, the Pioneer 10 spacecraft crossed the orbit of Pluto. Pioneer had flown by and photographed Jupiter and Saturn and was still going. Writing about this, I kept hearing the rhythm of the Little Engine That Could, EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY a children’s story A panorama taken by the Philae about a determined lander from the surface of Comet toy train. So I sought 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. to alert the reader: Like the little engine that could, this was the little spacecraft that would in flight. Philae had made it probably push on to the fronto the surface on Comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko, tier of interstellar space. an icy, rocky place 510 million Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, kilometers from Earth. a French author, might have Now, as even the most stalbeen able to understand our problem with perspective, in wart human explorers remain a universe so vast in which we confined to lower Earth orbit are so small. He wrote about for the foreseeable future, the Little Prince, who lived the search for discovery in on a small asteroid where he the outer reaches of the solar cared for a single rose. The system is left to robotic probes. book was written for children, They are conceived by humans but with grown-ups very much to go where humans cannot. in mind. But that does not preclude the A fox the little prince meets development of a strong huhas some of the wisest lines. man-machine bond over years “One sees clearly only with of building, testing and flying the heart,” he says. “What is a mission. essential is invisible to the Minders of these machines eye.” may spend half a career on an “Philae is talking to us,” announced the manager in charge of the little piece of machinery that had just achieved the first landing on a comet, a frozen remnant from the formation of the solar system. “We are on the comet.” It was as if the first thing ESSAY the European Space Agency’s probe did on arrival was to call home. It was “talking” about its landing after a 10-year, 6.4-billion-kilometer journey. The “we” echoes a famous human-machine flight relationship, Lindbergh’s solo crossing of the Atlantic in “The Spirit of St. Louis.” Here, the distant robotic messenger and the human receiver — the “we” — are also collaborators in reaching a new milestone

JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

MICHAEL PROBST/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The celebration after the Philae probe landed on a comet demonstrates the depths of the human-machine bond.

STEPHEN MORTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

In an effort to aid the monarch, amateur conservationists may have caused more problems.

Path to Butterflies’ Recovery Is Littered With Obstacles By LIZA GROSS

Da ra Satterfield hadn’t planned to conduct experiments at the Texas State Fair, but that is where her study subjects showed up in October. She was in Georgia when they arrived, so she drove all night. When she got to Dallas, they were feasting on frostweed. The hungry travelers, like most monarch butterflies that migrate from breeding grounds in the northern United States and southern Canada, had stopped in Texas to consume calories to power the last leg of their flight to central Mexico and survive for five months overwintering there. So many monarchs blanketed the frostweed that Ms. Satterfield, a doctoral student at the University of Georgia, allowed herself to hope that one of the world’s most celebrated migrations could be revived. Less than 20 years ago, a billion butterflies from east of the Rocky Mountains reached the oyamel firs, and more than a million western monarchs migrated to the California coast to winter among its firs and eucalypts. Since then, the numbers have dropped by more than 90 percent, hitting a record low in Mexico last year after a threeyear tailspin. Preliminary counts of migrants this fall are encouraging, but “one good year doesn’t mean we’ve recovered the migration,” said Ms. Satterfield, 27, who studies human effects on migratory behavior. To make matters worse, Ms. Satterfield and her adviser, Sonia Altizer, an ecologist at Georgia, fear that well-meaning efforts by butterfly lovers may be contributing to the monarch’s plight. Amateur conservationists have sought to replenish drastic declines in milkweed, the only plant female monarchs lay eggs on. But the most widely available milkweed for planting, the scientists say, is an exotic species

called tropical milkweed — not the native species with which the butterflies evolved. That may lead to unseasonal breeding, putting monarchs at higher risk of disease and reproductive failure. Monarch butterflies employ an improbable strategy that splits their round-trip migration between generations. So their life cycles must be intricately synchronized with those of the milkweed on which they lay their eggs. Monarchs returning from Mexico reach the American Southeast soon after native milkweeds appear in spring, and produce the first of up to three generations that breed on new milkweed. When the perennials start dying back in the fall, a final generation of butterflies

Trying to save the monarch, known for its epic migration. typically emerges in a sexually immature state. Rather than reproduce when food is scarce and caterpillars might freeze, they fly to Mexico, to wait out the winter. Nearly 60 percent of native Midwestern milkweeds vanished between 1999 and 2009, the biologists Karen Oberhauser and John Pleasants reported in 2012 in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity. The loss coincided with increased applications of the weedkiller Roundup on expanded plantings of corn and soybeans genetically altered to tolerate the herbicide. Meanwhile, monarch reproduction in the Midwest dropped more than 80 percent, as did populations in Mexico. With the loss of native milkweeds that die in the fall, monarchs are encountering tropical

milkweeds that are still thriving. Dr. Altizer fears that when monarchs encounter lush foliage in the fall, they may start breeding and stop migrating. “It’s sad, because people think planting milkweed will help,” she said. “But when milkweed is available during the winter, it changes the butterfly’s behavior.” Recent work by Dr. Oberhauser’s lab found that some migrating monarchs are laying eggs in the Southeast when they find tropical milkweed. The reports are worrisome because nonstop breeding on the same plants can unleash a devastating parasite called OE, for Ophryocystis elektroscirrha. Adult monarchs infested with the parasite can carry millions of spores that contaminate milkweed and kill foraging caterpillars. Mildly infected monarchs often can’t fly or reproduce normally, and die early. Not all experts worry about tropical milkweed. “Monarchs utilize an immense landscape in the Eastern U.S., and this plant constitutes a tiny, tiny portion of the milkweeds encountered by monarchs returning in the spring,” said Chip Taylor of the University of Kansas. To figure out if migratory monarchs are breeding at tropical milkweed sites, Ms. Satterfield will look for eggs in females and mating behavior in males. She will know if they also abandoned the migration if individuals tagged in October are still there when the migration ends. No one disputes that loss of milkweed habitat remains the monarch’s biggest threat. But if the population gets smaller, risks once considered less important — like severe weather and disease — could prove catastrophic. Ms. Satterfield said, “Protecting the great North American journey of the monarch is crucial now, while we still have a chance.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Robots Don’t Do Windows, or at Least Not Very Well By PATRICK McGEEHAN

As a pair of window washers clung to a scaffold dangling outside the 68th floor of 1 World Trade Center recently, the captivating drama left some below wondering: Why were they up there at all? In an age when a few clicks on a cellphone can solve myriad problems, it seems fair to ask why people are still descending from the roofs of skyscrapers to rub soapy water on glass and wipe it off with a squeegee. Can’t robots take on this simple, repetitive task and relieve humans of the risk of injury, or death, from a plunge to the sidewalk? The simple answer, several experts said, is that washing windows is something that machines still cannot do as well as people can. The more complicated answer is that high-rise buildings are more complicated than they used to be. “Building are starting to look like huge sculptures in the sky,” said Craig S. Caulkins, who consults with building owners on how to maintain their exteriors. “A robot can’t maneuver to get around those curves to get into the facets of the building,” he said. Mr. Caulkins said “the robots have problems.” Most notably, he said, robotic cleaning systems tend to leave dirt in the corners of the glass walls that are designed to provide panoramic views from high floors. “If you are a fastidious owner wanting clean, clean windows so you can take advantage of that very expensive view that you

ONLINE: HIGH GRIME

A video of a skyscraper window cleaner at work: nytimes.com Search Weingard edge

ANDREA MOHIN/THE NEW YORK TIMES

A mechanical apparatus still cannot wash high-rise windows as well as people can, mainly because it can’t get into the corners. A Manhattan window washer in 1995. bought, the last thing you want to see is that gray area around the rim of the window,” Mr. Caulkins said. Prime examples of that particular shortcoming were the towers of the original World Trade Center; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey equipped those buildings with a mechanical apparatus for cleaning their windows, but it worked so poorly that human window washers had to follow behind

to catch the spots the machine missed, said Steven Plate, director of the World Trade Center construction department at the Port Authority. “It was never effective,” Mr. Plate said in an interview. “It basically didn’t clean the building.” One of the men who kept the glass of the twin towers clean was Roko Camaj, whose hazardous duty was the subject of a children’s book “Window Washer: At Work Above the Clouds.”

The book, published in 1995, quoted Mr. Camaj saying that “Ten years from now, all window washing will probably be done by a machine.” On that point, Mr. Camaj, who was killed when the towers were destroyed on September 11, 2001, was not a prophet. Mr. Caulkins said “there may be several dozen” skyscrapers in the entire country that employ robots to clean their windows. Another reason for the sparse

NEWS ANALYSIS

Epidemics Of Confusion By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, M.D.

WASHINGTON — A mysterious virus emerges in Africa and spreads. An anxious and skeptical public rejects scientific evidence that the lethal virus is transmitted only through body fluids. There are no drugs to effectively treat infected patients, nor a vaccine to prevent new cases. People shun the infected and

As with AIDS, Ebola has not been explained clearly. their contacts; some demand quarantines. Conspiracy theorists contend the virus escaped from government laboratories. No, this is not Ebola. It is the outbreak in the early 1980s of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The epidemics have prompted eerily similar reactions from health officials and the public,

raising crucial questions about why the world remains persistently unprepared to react to sudden viral threats. Experts underestimated the extent of the spread of both viruses. After development of an H.I.V. test, doctors discovered that millions of people were infected in one of the worst pandemics in history. The Ebola epidemic, which involves thousands, is confined to West Africa for now. But as long as the infection spreads in West Africa, it poses a major threat to the rest of the world; many countries will have a difficult time controlling its spread if it reaches them. Scientists quickly and clearly delineated how Ebola and H.I.V. are transmitted. But public officials, then and now, failed to communicate this information in ways most people understand. At the onset of the AIDS epidemic, officials and journalists spoke of “bodily fluids” to avoid using words like penis, vagina and sperm. Only later did officials become explicit about the risks of rectal intercourse. Ambiguity was costly. People avoided restaurants where

JOHN SOTOMAYOR/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Scientists knew early on how the virus that causes AIDS was transmitted, but the message was slow to get to the public. waiters were perceived to be gay out of fear of getting the disease from “contaminated” food and dishes. Some people called for quarantines, which made no scientific sense. Health officials have had ample time to polish their language skills. Yet the phrase “bodily fluids” is again with us, and confusion has arisen over whether the virus can be “airborne” as officials try to explain that Ebola virus is not dispersed like the influenza and measles viruses. And so history repeats. An uncertain public has stigmatized many Ebola survivors, as AIDS patients once were, even though

they are not infectious to others. Governors and health officials have clashed over the need to quarantine people returning from West Africa, though such policy is not based on scientific evidence. By its very nature, public health involves politics. As politicians, health officials have traditionally tended to play down risks to calm anxiety. Officials have not been silent about Ebola, but sometimes they have been too emphatic and absolute in their choice of words. Despite lack of prior experience, the experts predicted that any American hospital could safely

use of robots is that buildings require a lot more maintenance than just window cleaning, Mr. Caulkins said. Equipment is needed to lower people to repair facades and broken windows, like the one that rescue workers had to cut through to rescue the window washers at 1 World Trade Center, he said. “At some point you need workers up on the side of that building,” Mr. Caulkins said. If a building requires a mechanism on the roof to lower a platform for that sort of work, the owner is unlikely to invest in a second, mechanized system for cleaning the glass, he said. Gerard McEneaney, a union official, said his union’s members are willing to do the work because it pays well: as much $26.89 an hour plus benefits. Many of the window cleaners are immigrants from South America. “They’re fearless guys, fearless workers,” Mr. McEneaney said. Mr. McEneaney, who spent nine years on scaffolds in New York City, added that he understood why the owners of 1 World Trade Center would employ humans to clean the tapered glass facade. “They want that building sparkling, sparkling clean,” he said.

handle Ebola patients. That assurance came back to haunt them in Texas. To their credit, the officials quickly corrected themselves. But by then, the damage was done. Fear of the unknown plays a great role in fanning anxiety during outbreaks of deadly diseases. H.I.V. was truly a mystery at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. At first, scientists debated whether the cause was an infectious agent or a drug. Ebola was identified in Central Africa in 1976 but was unknown in West Africa when cases began to occur in Guinea earlier this year. As of November 7, Ebola had infected 13,268 people, of whom 4,960 had died, the World Health Organization said. As in the early years of AIDS, standard support therapy is the only proven therapy. If drugs are found to treat Ebola, health workers will need ways to get them to Africa’s poor. If nothing else, the AIDS epidemic may have prepared us for that. Both viruses continue to raise major challenges. A decrepit infrastructure for delivery of health care and other services is the result of years of political unrest in West Africa. Hundreds more doctors and nurses are needed from elsewhere to care for the ailing. The fact is that Ebola, like AIDS, will leave behind a tragic legacy: hundreds of thousands of orphans.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

T H E W AY W E E AT

Quest for True Thai Relies on Robotic Taster By THOMAS FULLER

BANGKOK — Traveling the globe as Thailand’s prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra repeatedly encountered a distressing problem: bad Thai food. Too often, she found, the meals were unworthy of the name, too bland to be called genuine Thai cooking. The problem bothered her enough to raise it at a cabinet meeting. Her political party was thrown out of office in a May military coup, but her initiative in culinary diplomacy lives on in the form of a government project to standardize the art of Thai food — with a robot. Promoters of the e-delicious machine say it can scientifically evaluate Thai cuisine, telling the difference, for instance, between a properly prepared green curry with just the right mix of Thai basil, curry paste

Sirapat Pratontep helped develop a machine that uses sensors to evaluate Thai food against official standards. and fresh coconut cream, and a lame imitation. The government-financed Thai Delicious Committee describes it as “an intelligent robot that measures smell and taste in food ingredients through sensor technology in order to measure taste like a food critic.” In a country of 67 million people, there are somewhere near the same number of strongly held opinions about Thai cooking. But there does seem to be some agreement on one point: Bad Thai food is a more acute

A mechanical critic takes on the bland and unworthy. problem overseas. Thais complain that Thai restaurants overseas hold back on spice and do not respect the delicate balance among sweet, sour, salty and four-alarm spicy. Ingredients like fresh tamarind, Thai limes and galangal, an aromatic root similar to ginger, are not readily available overseas, and the substitutions yield poor imitations. “There are many Thai restaurants all around the world that are not owned by Thai people,” said Supachai Lorlowhakarn, an adviser to the National Innovation Agency, which handles the program. He added, almost apologetically, “They are owned by Vietnam or Myanmar, or maybe even Italian or French.” The agency has spent around one-third of its budgeted 30 million baht, around $1 million, on Thai Delicious, including around $100,000 to develop the machine. The machine evaluates food by measuring its conductivity at different voltages. Readings from 10 sensors are combined to produce the chemical signature. Sirapat Pratontep, who led the development of the machine, said, “You just put in the food and you get a rating.” For tom yam, the spicy soup infused with Kaffir lime leaves and coriander, for instance, researchers recruited 120 tasters at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. The tasters were served 10 differently prepared soups and rated each. The chemical coordinates of the winner were programmed into the machine. Not everyone is impressed. At a tiny food stall in Bangkok, the owner, Thaweekiat Nimmalairatana, 35, questioned the very notion of standard recipes. “I use my tongue to test if it’s delicious or not,” he said. “I think the government should consider using a human to gauge authenticity.”

PHOTOGRAPHS GIORGIO TARASCHI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Thai Delicious Committee is trying to standardize the art of Thai cooking. A food stall in Bangkok.

DENNIS CHAMBERLIN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Gene Mealhow of Iowa grows heirloom corn for popcorn sold throughout the United States.

Old Strains Revive Popcorn By KIM SEVERSON

SHELLSBURG, Iowa — Corn confronts you at every turn in Iowa. Much of it will fuel cars, feed cattle and sweeten food. But, in front of Gene and Lynn Mealhow’s sturdy farmhouse, ears of corn no bigger than a child’s hand grow from seeds the family can trace back to the 1850s. The small, pearly flint corn has never been genetically modified or hybridized. Its only purpose is to pop into small, crisp puffs that taste of pure toasted corn. Mr. Mealhow, 59, spent years driving around trying to sell his precious popcorn. Now, his Tiny but Mighty brand is on the shelves of a national chain of natural food markets, Whole Foods. For a family like his, that’s like winning the lottery. The Mealhows are part of a popcorn revival, the latest reinvention of an enduring snack that has been retooled every few generations to fit shifts in technology and fashion. With the invention of steam-powered poppers and caramel-coated Cracker Jack in the late 1800s, popcorn moved from farm-family snack to cultural novelty. It buoyed the movie industry in the Great Depression. Products like Jiffy Pop, which offered pan, oil and corn in one magical purchase, brought popcorn back to the kitchen in the 1960s. They, in turn, were replaced by the microwave oven in the ’80s. Now, in an era when Americans are shopping more at farmers’ markets and embracing a do-it-yourself ethos, older popcorn varieties with names like Dakota Black, Tom Thumb and Lady Finger are being popped on the stove in coconut and olive oils, enhanced with just a kiss of fresh butter and fine salt or fortified with rosemary or wasabi powder or nothing at all. “If you look at craft beers, you’ll see that the same thing happened,” said Glenn Roberts, who founded Anson Mills, in South Carolina, to preserve old strains of rice and other grains.

co simmered popcorn in water and butter, strained out the hulls and called it popcorn grits. Popcorn appeals to several constituencies: the weight-conscious, the gluten-free and people looking for healthier snacks. Microwave popcorn remains the favorite, with nearly $900 million in sales in the United States in 2013. Tiny but Mighty now has eight full-time employees and oversees more than 80 hectares DENNIS CHAMBERLIN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES in Illinois and Iowa. It has expanded, selling Heirloom popcorn ears are small but pre-popped flavored deliver more flavor than others. corn in bags. But Mr. Mealhow ac“People are awakening their palknowledged that his was a battle that would not be easily won. ates to something that has more America is perhaps too deeply in flavor and complexity.” love with size over flavor. Mr. Roberts sells nearly 200 He blames Orville Redenbachkilos of Appalachian heirloom sweet flint popping corn a week. er, a 1928 graduate of Purdue UniChefs are his biggest customversity in Indiana and a master marketer, who used genetic maers, drawn in part by his corn’s sweet, slightly floral taste. But terial developed at the universihome cooks, too, are updating it ty’s Agriculture Alumni Seed Imwith flavors like garam masala provement Association to breed or sriracha. a high-volume corn that shifted These older popcorns cost expectations. more, pop up smaller and leave “Orville produced a giant popcorn to be a delivery vehicle for butter and salt,” he said. “He convinced the entire world that was the way to go. But it doesn’t taste like anything.” An increasing number of other farmers are joining in Mr. Mealhow’s battle. In Georgia, Charlotte Swancy has given over more than a hectare of her farm to an old strain of popping corn. After more unpopped kernels than letting it cure until the moisture their highly bred commercial content is at a popping optimum brothers. The reward, however, of 13 percent, she’ll sell it at farmis popcorn with a better nutriers’ markets. Ms. Swancy makes a pan altional profile, and hulls — the bits that stick in your teeth — that most every day, throwing in some seem to all but disappear. The chopped rosemary as it pops, or flavor can deliver in taste what tossing it with curry powder once the aroma of popping corn has it’s in the bowl. always promised. “It’s just a nice thing to have at Elite chefs are already smitthe end of the day,” she said. “We shut everything down and eat ten. A couple of years ago, Daniel popcorn.” Patterson of Coi in San Francis-

A snack given to reinvention joins the artisanal trend.

Sanctity of Truth

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

ARTS & DESIGN

From Mali to Israel, A Musical Bridge By LARRY ROHTER

CONTEMPORARY ISTANBUL

Turkey aspires to be a global arts center, but freedom is limited. The Contemporary Istanbul.

Turkey’s Arts Flourish, Warily By RACHEL DONADIO

ISTANBUL — At a glittering dinner on an island in the Bosporus here recently, Ali Gureli, the chairman of Contemporary Istanbul, the city’s annual art fair, told hundreds of international collectors, gallery owners and artists that Istanbul had secured its place as a global art capital. This metropolis, pulsing with energy, money and self-confidence, seems to prove him right. Galleries abound. The Istanbul Design Biennial is in full swing. Three new private art museums are in the works. The rock and jazz scenes are thriving. But beneath the surface, a different picture emerges. Artists say they are increasingly subject to state pressure or intervention, or withdrawal of funding by the government, which is led by the party founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose no-holds-barred capitalism has helped fuel the creative boom but whose conservative Muslim sensibility has shifted the national tone after decades in which a secular elite ran the country. After the June 2013 protests in Gezi Park revealed the depth of public anger at the government’s increasingly top-down exercise of power, cultural figures describe a climate of anxiety and self-censorship because the government’s standards for what it considers offensive keep shifting. “There are these invisible boundaries,” said the artist Iz Oztat, 33, who was asked to remove a mention of the Armenian genocide of 1915 in a booklet she wrote for an exhibition in Madrid last year that received Turkish government funding. “You don’t know they’re there until you cross them.” Omer Celik, the minister of culture and tourism, has downplayed concerns. “On the contrary, there is censorship within the established circles of culture and arts,” he said recently. Today, officials at state theaters say that they must now send plot synopses for government approval, and that gay characters rarely appear on-

TYLER HICKS/ THE NEW YORK TIMES

The novelist Elif Shafak was tried and later acquitted of ‘‘insulting Turkishness.’’ stage. Hemlines have been lowered on ballet costumes. Public-school teachers have been investigated for teaching books by John Steinbeck and Amin Maalouf. “The governing party has introduced a climate in Turkey in which the pious person is a more acceptable citizen,” said Baris Uluocak, the director of an Istanbul branch of a teachers’ union. The novelist Elif Shafak was tried in 2006 and later acquitted of criminal charges of “insulting Turkishness” for a novel, “The Bastard of Istanbul,” that explored the killings of Ottoman Armenians by Turks in 1915, which Turkey does not recognize as genocide. “Every writer, journalist or poet in Turkey knows deep within that words can get you in trouble,” Ms. Shafak said. The Turkish Nobel laureate novelist Orhan Pamuk was also tried and acquitted on the same charges. “This was always the case in Turkey but it has become worse,” Ms. Shafak added. “Critical thought is clearly unwelcome. Media diversity and media freedom have visibly shrunk. As a result, there is a lot of self-censorship.”

Last year, the government proposed a new law that would create an 11-person council appointed directly by the cabinet to fund the arts, project by project. Now, the government allocates money to cultural institutions that are free to use it as they wish. Since coming to national power in 2002, Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party has cast itself as the defender of observant Muslims and Turkey’s rural heartland and has recently been depicting state-sponsored theater, ballet and opera as vestiges of the secular past. In a speech in 2012, he criticized the secular elites for their previous hold on culture. “Is theater in this country your monopoly?” he said. “Are you the only people allowed to speak about arts in this country? Those days are over.” He also said: “With privatization, go ahead and stage your theater as you desire. If funding is needed, we, as the government, will sponsor and support the plays we want.” Last year, the government sold two leading theaters in Ankara, which together drew audiences of more than half a million people a year, to a private business group. “In theater, you can always be subject to pressure and censorship, but you find a way to get around it,” said Lemi Bilgin, 58, who was ousted as director of state theaters in 2013. “But if you rip apart the institutions and take away the venues for the artist to perform, it leaves you no room to struggle, and that is the most dangerous form of oppression.” Yet, civil society has evolved. The Gezi Park demonstrations emboldened young people. Ethnic minorities have been acknowledged, if not entirely empowered. In 2008, the Turkish state broadcaster added a Kurdish TV channel and Kurdish radio station, as well as those for Arabic and other regional languages. “It’s easier to talk about the past now,” said the novelist Kaya Genc, “but it’s still problematic to talk about the present.”

The Israeli pianist Idan Raichel was at the airport in Berlin in 2008 when he spotted the Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré. From that chance encounter has blossomed one of the most intriguing collaborations in world music, critically acclaimed CDs and an enduring cross-cultural friendship. The sound of the Touré-Raichel Collective is difficult to characterize. “Something in between” is the phrase Mr. Raichel, 37, used to describe it. “Both of us are coming from a deep heritage,” he said. “It’s like you have two chefs, one from Taiwan and the other from Mexico. If they are cooking traditional dishes, they will end up finding common ground, because some of the ingredients, like sugar and salt, will be the same.” Collaborations between musicians from Western and African traditions have been legion in the last 25 years, especially since the critical and commercial success of “Talking Timbuktu” in 1994. That album, which won a Grammy, was a joint effort by two guitarists: the American Ry Cooder and the Malian Ali Farka Touré, Vieux Farka Touré’s father. The piano is not usually associated with West African music, and Mr. Touré said that before meeting Mr. Raichel, he had always relied on stringed instruments such as the harplike kora and the ngoni to add color to his music. Although he loves the sound of the piano, at the start of his association with Mr. Raichel, Mr. Touré found it difficult to adapt to. “When he played, sometimes I had to learn with him,” said Mr. Touré, 33. “ ‘What are you playing?’ I looked at him. You have to pay close attention. But I think the most important thing is to get used to it. Now it’s very easy. We don’t even need rehearsals, we just come together and play, and it’s good.” In November 2010, Mr. Raichel arranged for Mr. Touré to perform at the Tel Aviv Opera House, then joined him and a rhythm section in a studio jam of more than three hours. When Jacob Edgar, of the Cumbancha and Putumayo record labels, heard the tape, he was transfixed.

“Now that music is so controlled and heavily produced, we don’t really get to hear this raw kind of natural music very often,” Mr. Edgar said. “It was four guys playing live in the studio, totally unprepared and unrehearsed, with no real plan, just sitting down and creating what came out of them.” “The Tel Aviv Session” was released early in 2012 and rose to the top of the Billboard and iTunes world music charts. That led to tour bookings around the world and, eventually, the recording of a second CD, “The Paris Session,” released in October. The new album has tracks ranging from a prayer sung in Hebrew to love songs in Bambara, French and Songhai (all languages spoken in Mali). Mr. Raichel is of Eastern European descent, but heard a lot of Ethiopian and Yemeni music in his teens and is probably best

A Jew and Muslim join to explore new musical terrain. known in Israel for his work in pop music. In recent years, he has also collaborated with vocalists like the Portuguese fado singer Ana Moura, the German countertenor Andreas Scholl and the Americans India.Arie and Alicia Keys, who describes Mr. Raichel as someone who “bridges cultures and promotes tolerance.” Both artists are aware that there is a political dimension to what they are doing. The symbolism of a Muslim and Jew working together is unavoidable. “People ask me all the time why I am doing this, and I tell them that for me it’s not about religion,” Mr. Touré said, adding: “I am open to all music coming from everywhere in the world. We should not say, ‘O.K. I am a Jew, so I will not play with Muslims,’ or ‘I am a Muslim, so I will not play with Christians.’ That’s why we have problems in this world.”

MATTHEW RYAN WILLIAMS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, left, said he had to learn to adjust to the piano playing of Idan Raichel.

Business | Money Line

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

COLLABORATION Lenders should be more collaborative at executing processes Godson Ikoro

igerian banks are clearly ahead in the use of technology relative to other sectors of the nation’s economy, the Managing Director of System specs, Mr. John Tani Obaro has said. In an interview with New Telegraph at the

Banks ahead in technology use, says Systemspecs weekend, Obaro said that the idea of some banks trying to create their technologies or processes might not augur well for everybody, as it incidentally increases the overall operation cost without necessarily adding commensurate value. While acknowledging the depth of technology

usage by banks, he advised them to be more collaborative at executing some processes. He advised lenders to always be on their toes monitoring changes because if a bank has an efficient technology today, it is not sure what the competition will come up with, which may bring to zero, what-

ever achievement the bank may have made. “So banks have to constantly be on the look out to be sure that their processes are optimal”, he advised. He noted that security would always be an issue wherever there is money, stressing that criminals will be lurking around.

CBN intervention fails to save naira

he naira fell 2.5 percent last Friday, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) intervention, and it briefly touched a record low on concerns the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) decision not to cut oil output would put further pressure on Nigeria’s shaky finances. The apex bank has struggled to keep the naira within its preferred band even after devaluing the currency by 8 percent last Tuesday in a bid to halt a slide in Nigeria’s foreign reserves. Oil sales provide around 95 percent of those re-

serves. The naira briefly touched a record low of N180.90, according to Thomson Reuters dealing data, before the bank intervened with dollar sales to lift it to N178.75 at the close, dealers said. The bank’s target band after devaluation is 5 percent plus or minus N168 to the dollar, but doubts remain about whether it went far enough given the bleak outlook for oil prices. The naira has consistently tested the lower end of the new band. The market is saying: ‘We like what you’re doing, but have you done enough?’ Now the oil

price is at $71 a barrel, all bets are off,” Bismarck Rewane, economist and CEO of Lagos-based consultancy Finance Derivatives, said. Foreign reserves in Africa’s leading energy producer dropped 17.3 percent year-on-year to $36.9 billion by Nov. 26, according to CBN data released last Friday. Falling world oil prices and a retreat from emerging markets have put pressure on the currencies of several oil exporters, including the Russian rouble and Angola’s kwanza. Brent crude fell more than $6 to $71.25 a barrel

after OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna left the group’s output ceiling unchanged despite huge global oversupply, marking a shift away from its long-standing policy of defending prices. In Nigeria, Saudi Arabia’s decision last Thursday to block calls from poorer OPEC members to cut oil output came as a disappointment to many. Oil prices have lost a third of their value since June and with OPEC’s decision set to send them lower still, pressure on Nigeria’s foreign currency reserves and the naira is set to increase.

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

Offer Yield 13.01 13.40 13.47 13.49 13.44 13.59

Price 90.35 99.40 104.40 109.65 114.45 76.90

Tenor (Months) 1 2 3 6 9 12

Rate (%) 12.1827 12.2737 12.3744 12.8521 12.8535 13.8443

Treasury Bills Maturity Date 08-May-14 07-Aug-14 22-Jan-15

Bid 12.10 12.10 12.05

Bid Spot ($/N) 163.28 THE FIXINGS –NIBOR,NITTY and NIFEX of February 6,2014

NITTY

Yield 12.86 13.33 13.35 13.42 13.38 13.53

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80 Offer 163.38

Open-Buy-Back (OBB) Overnight (O/N)

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

He therefore banks to be balance their efficiencies with security. Asked to compare the Nigerian banks with their counterparts in the developed world, Obaro gave credit to Nigerian lenders. “I dare say that some of the things you are able to do in the banking space, today, you are not able to do it easily even in some developed countries. If you look at the cards for instance, some of the EMV cards we use in Nigeria, it has not been that fast in the deployment in the United States. “You still have mass stripe cards, which makes

them more prone to fraud. But in Nigeria, within a short time, all cards were replaced to EMV, the kind of things you are able to do online are getting wider by the day. So, I would say that Nigerian banks have done well I that regard.” he said. According to him, in the last two years, a lot of things have happened that a lot of new firms have come up with exciting value propositions and companies and are beginning to have exciting and more efficient website. He said e-commerce space has blossomed in the last two years.

Interbank lending rates ease to 12% on liquidity boost

igeria’s interbank lending rates slipped at the weekend by 800 basis points to around 12 percent for overnight placement, following the retirement of about N415 billion ($2.32 billion) in matured treasury bills. The overnight placement according to Reuters news, rose to 20 percent from 15 percent last Wednesday, draining about N568 billion from the banking system. The increase went to meet a 500-basis-point hike in cash reserve requirements (CRR) for lenders. The apex bank raised the CRR on private-sector deposits at its monetary policy committee meeting last Tuesday. It also raised interest rates by 100 basis points, the first change in more than two years.

Dealers said the cash flow resulting from repayment of matured open market operations (OMO) bills late last Thursday boosted liquidity in the market and cut the cost of borrowing among banks, according to Reuters. “After the debiting of the CRR on private-sector deposits on Wednesday ... the central bank repaid around N415 billion in matured treasury bills, boosting liquidity in the banking system and supporting lending among banks,” one dealer said. The secured open buyback (OBB) closed at 12 percent versus 20 percent last Wednesday. That was 100 basis points lower than the new CBN benchmark interest rate, 13 percent.

UBA rewards customers for using e-channels

nited Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has announced incentives to encourage the bank’s customers to use electronic channels for their transactions in December. Tagged UBA Cashless December, the initiative, according to a statement, is aimed at encouraging non-cash transactions, in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) cashlite agenda. From December 1 to December 31 2014, UBA customers who do transactions on U-Mobile, U-Direct or pay with their cards on the web and Point of Sale (POS) stand a chance to win great prizes. In addition,

cardholders who use the bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) valueadded services such as bill payment, airtime top up and funds transfer are eligible. Prizes to be won include iPhone 6, airtime for phones, movie tickets, and shopping vouchers. These incentives are for new and existing UBA customers. “Going cashless during this festive period is not only convenient, but it also enhances your personal safety and protects your hard earned money” explained Dr. Yinka Adedeji, the Bank’s Divisional Head of e-Banking.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Business | News

Nigeria to intervene in Ghana’s gas shortage HELPING HAND Ghana to enjoy reliable electricity supply Adeola Yusuf

he Federal Government has promised to intervene in Ghana’s gas shortage with some 200 million standard cubic feet (scuf) gas this month. Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani AlisonMadueke, made this promise at an emergency meeting of energy ministers of Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria, on

the contract for the West African gas project. She maintained that the additional 200 million cubic feet per day of gas is ready to be pumped into the pipelines in December. Gas supply shortage in Ghana has drastically affected electricity generation and distribution in the country. An online news agency, Ghanaweb, which reported Alison-Madueke’s promise, added that the gas supply would be done through the West African pipelines. Represented by the Executive Director, Gas and Power, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Da-

vid Ige, the minister said: “Over the next few weeks, we expect additional volumes of gas to come into the pipelines. “That is going to be increased within the first two months of next year,” the minister said. Mr. Alison-Madueke indicated that every increase in supply is expected to stabilise “and ensure the reliability of supply in the sub-region”. She also announced that the capacity of the pipelines would be doubled for countries dependent on the West African gas project to record an addition in gas supply.

L-R: Second Vice President, Information Security Society of Africa -Nigeria (ISSAN), Mr. Martin Ikpehal; Chief Operating Officer, Digital Encode, Mr. Obadare Adewale; President, ISSAN, Mr. David Isiavwe; Mr. Olusegun Adeyemi of Kanyi Karibi-Wyte and Hastrup and Group Head, IT and E-Banking Control, UBA Plc, Mr. Laja Sorunke, at ISSAN workshop in Lagos. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Rebased GDP: Real estate can generate $385bn – Expert Dayo Ayeyemi

he size of opportunity space offered the Nigerian housing sector through the recently rebasing of nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) is estimated at $385 billion, a senior fellow at the Lagos Business School, Dr. Doyin Salami, has said. He also noted that the rebased economy has offered another opportunity to fill the nation’s mortgage funding gap of $58 billion (as at 2011). Speaking during the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development organised by the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Lagos State Chapter, the lecturer tasked the practitioners to position themselves well to tap into the opportunities being offered by the rebasing of the GDP.

He warned that if estate surveyors failed to heed to the advice, foreigners would come in, take the bulk of investment and repatriate the gains to their country, leaving local practitioners with crumbs. The expert noted that many foreign big players from aboard were already taking advantages of the rebasing by initiating projects in the area of office and commercial developments. According to him, real estate sector is now bigger than previously thought with the current size of between 30 and 40 per cent larger than previously estimated. Besides, he explained that the sector is currently the sixth largest in the economy after crop production, distribution, crude petroleum and natural gas, information and communication, telecommunication.

IMPASSE Exporters in dilemma as cocoa prices fall in the international market Bayo Akomolafe

igerian cocoa prices have jumped as much as 20 per cent since the country’s currency plunged. It was learnt that farmers have slowed their harvest since October to seek more money for the commodity. Prices of the commodity currently range from N500,000 ($2,824.70) to N520,000 per metric ton, compared with N430,000 to N450,000 in October, as the main-crop harvest started. According to chairman of the Cocoa Exporters Association of Nigeria, Oluwole Oginni, most exporters were holding forward contracts entered into when a dollar exchanged for N160. He said: “We are forced to dance to their tunes, accept their offers and thus cut our losses.”

Subscribers’ phone bills hit N137bn CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

more obligation for them: that subscribers need to get value for their money. It was, however, gathered that the industry regulator recently started a track of consumer complaints level on the quality of services delivered by the telcos. According to the result of a maiden track carried out by the NCC from July to October 2014, both MTN and Etisalat recorded 41.67 per cent each, of the total complaints in July. Glo recorded 8.33 per cent, while Airtel recorded no complaints relating to data service delivery from its over 26 million telecoms subscribers. In August, MTN recorded the highest data service-related complaints from the customers with 63 per cent; while other three GSM companies - Airtel, Etisalat and Glo - recorded 9.09 per cent each. But in September, the situation changed, as MTN and Airtel recorded the lowest customer complaints of 10 per cent, while Etisalat and Glo had 40 per cent and 30 per cent respectively. In October, MTN’s record of customer complaints on data services swelled to 42.86 per cent; Airtel experienced 21.43 per cent, while Etisalat and Glo recorded 14.38 per cent and 14.25 per cent respectively. Also, a new survey released by MyServiceRating.Info, an arm of Backup Networks Limited, revealed the satisfaction level of telecom consumers in terms of customer service delivery. MyServiceRating.Info

collected information from service user experiences after calling the customer service centres of the four major GSM operators including MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat, so as to review their response to customer enquiries. The reviews carried out on October 23 were based four parameters: quality, responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism, aimed at gauging operators’ handling of customer care services on their networks. The survey showed that Etisalat beat its counterparts in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) segment of the Nigeria’s telecommunications industry. According to the survey, which based its evaluation on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest score, Etisalat scored five points while the three other operators including MTN, Airtel and Glo scored four points each on quality index as one of the evaluation parameter. Similar trend played out on responsiveness index of the operators in handling customer complaints as, Etisalat also led with five points while Glo, Aritel and MTN scored four, three and two points respectively, according to the survey. On the third index, which is professionalism, MTN took the lead with five points, followed by Glo and Etisalat with four points, while Airtel recorded the lowest at three points. On punctuality index, Glo beat other operators with five points, followed by Etisalat and Airtel with four points while Airtel came last with three points.

Cocoa prices jump 20% on low harvest, naira Nigeria is the world’s fourthlargest cocoa producer, behind Ivory Coast, Ghana and Indonesia. March cocoa futures fell 0.4 per cent to close at $2,861 per ton in London, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nigeria produced 350,000 tons of cocoa in the 2013-14 season, according to the Agriculture Ministry. Most of the country’s output is by farmers working on small plots. Farmers who suspended their cocoa harvests amid heavy rains in October, delayed resumption as pressure mounted on naira, according to Muri Adeniji, managing director of Starlink Global, a Lagos-based shipper of the beans. Only exporters with prior commitments to overseas buyers are continuing to purchase, he said. Current local prices are not in line with international prices, said B.J. Gupta, manag-

ing director of Bolawole Enterprises Nigeria Ltd., the country’s biggest exporter shipping 70,000 tons a year. The combined prices of cocoa butter and cocoa cake in the international market are lower than the local price demands for cocoa. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had raised its benchmark interest rate to a record high of 13 per cent on November 25 and took the midpoint of its exchange rate to N168 from N155 per dollar, devaluing the currency as falling oil prices hit its mainstay crude exports. Nigeria is Africa’s biggest producer of oil, which accounts for 70 per cent of government revenue and 95 per cent of foreigncurrency income. The naira fell 2.1 per cent to 178.55 per dollar in Lagos, a record low. Oil prices headed for a fifth day of declines, losing 6 per cent to $69.40 per barrels in London, a five-year low.

Business | Stock Watch

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

PROSPECTS Investment in backward integration will drive earnings Chris Ugwu

hough the manufacturing industry has continued to play a vital role in the Nigerian economy, recurrent infrastructural challenges and insurgency, especially in the north-eastern part of the country, have continued to inhibit the growth of the sector The industry has continued to grapple with erratic supply of public electricity, weak logistics and other high costs of operations. These have made the business-operating environment difficult especially to the real sector of the economy. . These developments, according to analysts, manifests in the results being churned out by some of these companies, which are barely managing to stay afloat. For Honeywell Flour Mills Plc (HFMP), the story is not different, as the increase in the price of wheat at the international market combined with high interest costs and foreign exchange risks also pose a major challenge to the company. However, the company was able to grow its business with improved profit margin. Notwithstanding the difficult business environment, the company has sustained its performance through innovative and proactive responses to market dynamics and competitive pressures. Market watchers attributed the relative patronage on the stock to appreciable level of confidence investors have had on the stock in spite of the lull in the stock market in recent times. They also aligned the patronage to the company’s consistency in releasing its results and its growth prospect in the mediumterm following new investments in agro-allied business. However, the company got its share from the recent lull in the market following massive profit taking that saw the market lose considerable chunk of investors’ wealth. The company’s share price, which closed at N3.67 per share in December 31, 2013, stood at N3.29 when the closing bell rang last Friday, indicating a decrease of 38kobo or 11.5 per cent year to date. Backward integration The current year has seen HFMP refocusing on significant investments in backward integrated programmes, which centres on some value chains that have strategic links with its existing business. The company invested about N1billion to modify its mills for increased cassava flour inclusion in support of the Federal Government’s Agriculture Transformation Agenda. Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Lanre Jaiyeola noted that the company is exploring viable backward integration options to further boost cassava flour availability in demonstration of its belief in and support for the initiative. He urged the Federal Govern-

Honeywell: Strategic expansion excites investors Share price movement of Red Star Express 2013 Dec 31

N3.67 2014

Jan 31

N3.76

Feb 28

N3.91

Mar 31

N3.72

Apr 30

N3.69

May 30

N4.00

Jun 30

N4.00

Jul 31

N4.18

Aug 29

N4.15

Sept 30

N3.91

Oct 24

N3.85

Nov 21

N3.29

Honeywell posted a profit after tax of N1.095 billion for the halfyear ended September 30, 2014, as against N1, 005 billion, indicating a growth of eight per cent. Pre-tax profit grew by 3.2 per cent, from N1.324 billion during the comparable period of 2013 to N1.369 billion in 2014, but revenue dropped to N26.871 billion or 3.6 per cent compared with N27.858 billion in 2013. Jaiyeola

ment to provide palliatives to encourage increased investment in cassava growing, processing and utilisation. He stated that there was better understanding and collaboration between flour millers and the ministry of agriculture on the cassava initiative and hoped it would be sustained for successful implementation of the initiative. Jaiyeola also noted that as part of the company’s strategy to scale up its production capacity, civil works had commenced on its 63-hectres land in Sagamu, Ogun State in preparation for the construction of the factory buildings. He affirmed that the project was on course for completion and start of commercial production within a specified time frame. This, according to him, is expected to notch up the company’s top and bottom line to provide better returns to the shareholders. “This is cheerful news for shareholders as the company prepares for its Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the company is set to review its performance for the year ended 31st March 2014 and outline future growth plans,” he said. Jaiyeola assured shareholders and investors that the company is committed to building the wealth of shareholders not only for today but also for the future. He said that the company has a strong heritage, top quality brands, experienced board and management and has delivered

profitable growth year on year.

The company is exploring viable backward integration options to further boost cassava flour availability

Financials A cursory look at the financials showed that Honeywell posted 21 per cent growth in its turnover for the financial year ended March 31st 2014. In a report presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the company’s turnover grew to N55.08 billion from N46 billion in the last fiscal year indicating a growth of 21 per cent. Profit after tax also firmed 18 per cent from N2.8 billion to N3.5 billion, which also translated to an 18 per cent increase in Earnings Per Share (EPS) from 35.86 kobo to 42.26 kobo. The company also began the year with good numbers, reporting 81 per cent increase in profit before tax for the first quarter ended June 30, 2014. A cursory look at the financials, showed that the company posted a profit before tax of N585 million for the first quarter of the year as against N110 million, indicating a growth of 81 per cent. Net earnings grew by 83 per cent from N75 million during the first quarter of 2013 to N462 million in 2014, while revenue dropped to N13.191 billion or 0.68 per cent compared with N13.282 billion in 2013. The company maintained profit tempo during the half-year, recording 8 per cent increase in profit after tax. In a filing with the Exchange,

Looking ahead Addressing shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting recently in Lagos, Chairman of the company, Dr. Oba Otudeko, said that acquisition of over 60 hectares of land within the Flowergate Industrial Scheme in Shagamu, Ogun State, for strategic development marked a milestone in the history of the company. “From the Greenfield location, we shall develop growth opportunities, which meet the yearnings and demands of consumers, within and outside Nigeria for Honeywell brand of food and agro allied products. The complex is an integrated facility to house all of the group’s food factories such that economic of scale can be achieved to drive down overall operating costs, leading to the production of more affordable food products. “The site is planned to accommodate about 15 to 20 factories on about 80 per cent of land, while various support infrastructure will be situated across the remaining 20 per cent. The site is strategically located along the route to the Northern and Eastern parts of the country, making it easier for nationwide distribution of our products,” he said. Otudeko noted that the complex would promote the agro-allied industrialisation of Nigeria by aligning with the Federal Government’s agricultural transformation agenda to create thousands of farm and non-farm jobs as well as facilitate the achievement of food security in the country.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

FDI Most foreign insurers are focusing on selected highgrowth markets Sunday Ojeme

Insurance

AXA’s incursion stirs faith in Nigeria’s underwriting market corporate and retail clients. We view with much excitement the opportunity to bring our strong entrepreneurial orientation to bear in delivering on AXA’s subSaharan African expansionary ambitions.” Mansard’s commercial lines business represented 68 per cent of gross premium written in 2013, while the retail business, which experienced a GWP growth of 40 per cent per annum on average from 2010 to 2013, was at 32 per cent. In 2013, Mansard recorded GWP of N 13.6 billion (or Euro 64.3 million). From 2010 to 2013, Mansard achieved a GWP growth of 22 per cent per annum on average. 2013 Net income was NGN 2.1 billion (or Euro 9.9 million), a 31 per cent increase over 2012.

ast week’s declaration by one of the world’s most respected insurer, AXA, to make its way into the Nigerian insurance market as part of its African market push, has reaffirmed the confidence the world is gradually having in the local industry. The Nigerian insurance sector of late has had a number of foreign interests partnering with the local underwriters in a move to place the industry in its rightful position. The clamour to do business with the local underwriters has been attributed to the new regulatory atmosphere that has seen the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) lowering its hammer on poorly run companies. Not long ago, a long-term insurer for PricewaterhouseCooper, Victor Muguto, said expansion into the rest of Africa continues to be a key trend, with most of the major insurers focusing on selected high-growth markets. Next destination He specifically listed Nigeria and Kenya as the next destination ahead of South Africa and Ghana. In the latest venture, AXA is taking over the ownership of Mansard Insurance Plc through its 100 per cent acquisition of Assur Africa Holdings, a company that held 77 per cent stake in Mansard. The deal worth N43.14 billion would include the acquired operations within its Mediterranean and Latin American region. The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 157,000 employees serving 102 million clients in 56 countries. AXA had Euro 1,113 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2013. AXA said in a statement that this transaction would allow it enter the highly attractive Nigerian market through a very reputable local company, led by a talented management team. It added that Mansard would be able to capitalise on AXA’s extended distribution knowledge, unique product skills and actuarial know-how, to accelerate further its development and leverage its competitive advantages. The closing of the transaction is expected before the end of 2014. In his remarks, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, AXA, Denis Duverne, described the acquisition as a unique opportunity for AXA to enter the largest African economy with leading positions in all business lines and to get exposure to the fast-growing Nigerian retail insurance market. He said, “AXA will benefit locally from the knowledge of an experienced and successful management team and from a profitable platform. Thus, this transaction represents a further step in our ac-

Insurgency: Brokers advised on business strategy p.39

Daniel

Ilori

Alliance with local operators In the past, other foreign interests had gone into alliance with local operators. Some include Metropolitan Life of South Africa that owns 50 per cent equity in UBA Life, UK-based Old Mutual also boasts of 80 per cent stake in the life arm of Oceanic Insurance, while another subsidiary of Old Mutual equally took 80 per cent share in the general arm of Oceanic Insurance among others.

celeration strategy, which is at the heart of our Ambition AXA plan, and is in line with our belief that insurance is instrumental to foster economic development, by providing communities with protection and risk management expertise.”

our stakeholders. Leveraging on our complementary strengths as well as common values and longterm vision, we can now deliver even higher levels of product innovation, underwriting capacity and operational excellence to our

Mansard’s qualities On the other hand, even in the face of economic turbulence, Mansard has emerged one of the outstanding underwriting firms in the country. It traded at N3.15k at the close of market last Friday while a number of other firms are trading at nominal value of 50 kobo. It has operations in both Property & Casualty (number four with five per cent market share) and Life & Savings (number five with four per cent market share). The company is well established in commercial lines, which represents nearly two thirds of its revenues, and has been developing successfully its retail business, achieving a growth of 40 per cent per annum on average over the past three years. Mansard has built a strong competitive advantage through its multi-channel approach, with a strong focus on proprietary networks. Speaking on the deal, the Managing Director Mansard Group, Tosin Runsewe, said, “We are delighted to join the AXA Group, a global leader in Life & Savings, Property & Casualty and Asset Management. It is indeed a befitting home for the Mansard Group given our leading position in the same business lines within Nigeria and our unflinching drive to consistently create exceptional value for all

Guinea Insurance boosts academic pursuit

A The clamour to do business with the local underwriters has been attributed to the new regulatory atmosphere that has seen NAICOM lowering its hammer on poorly run companies

s part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives Guinea Insurance (GI) Plc, has donated educational materials to some schools. A statement from the company, said that the gesture being the second phase of its 2014 CSR initiative tagged “Engaging Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,” was activated in three primary schools namely: Fadeyi Primary School, Lagos Mainland Local Government (LMLG) Primary School and Onayade Community Primary School, all sited in a large school compound in Fadeyi, Lagos State. Speaking on the initiative, the managing Director, GI, Polycarp Didam, reaffirmed the company’s resolve to continually encourage academic and moral excellence from the grassroots because, it is considered a universal truth that youths are tomorrow’s leaders. He said, “Tomorrow’s leaders should be assured, flexible, selfless and ready to collaborate, this, we believe, will come to pass only when we make certain that the youths of today are properly groomed and continually nur-

tured to imbibe the elementary guidelines of leadership, which we reckon, is deeply rooted in excellence. Hence, our charge to oblige this clarion call.” In the same vein, the Divisional Director, Corporate and Legal Services, Isioma Omoshie, encouraged the pupils to be conscientious in their studies to enable them reach out for greater heights in life. In her words, “Imagine a world without schools and colleges! Impossible, right? No matter how much we hate waking up early for school or studying all night for those tests and exams, we all know that education is very important because, it is much easier for us to become successful and realise our dreams as compared to those of us that are not educated.” An array of educational items donated by the company, were branded school bags for excelling in academics, sports, morals, neatness, punctuality and creativity. Academic and non-academic staff were also appreciated for their astute presence of mind, high probity and dogged embrace of positive, organised teaching character and outlook.

Business |Insurance

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

SURVIVAL The business hub orientation of the northern region should be restored Sunday Ojeme

s insecurity continues to pervade some northern parts of the country, insurance brokers doing business in that region have been advised to be more creative in product marketing if they must remain relevant. Giving the advice last

Insurgency: Brokers advised on business strategy week the President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Ayodapo Shoderu, lamented the challenges poised to insurance and the economy generally in the north following the grinding security challenges in the region. He gave the charge at the investiture of new executives of the Kano chapter of the council.

He specifically told the brokers who are professional intermediaries in the insurance value chain to study their environment as well as people’s needs and come up with tailor made insurance policies to suit their needs. The NCRIB boss also implored government in the region to step up strategies to combat the secu-

rity challenges so that the economy of the area could come alive again. According to him, the importance of the north to the nation’s economic growth cannot be undermined going by its antecedents. He explained that the northern part of Nigeria constituted the industrial hub of the nation, considering the existence of large indus-

tries sited there. He said, “Permit me to state that in spite of all odds, if you are doggedly determined, the sky can only be your starting point. This is definitely an auspicious moment to admonish all my professional colleagues to brace up to the challenges confronting our practice, and strive at all times to be ingenious.

“My take is that if other professions and trades are thriving in Kano State in spite of the present challenges, insurance brokers can also thrive, if you brace up and evolve products that will naturally meet customer’s needs and aspirations.” In his acceptance speech, the newly elected Chairman of Kano chapter, Olalekan Olaniran, craved the indulgence of all stakeholders in the industry for support and cooperation at all times, stressing the need for the broking arm in the northern market to wake up to fully participate in the activities of the nation’s economy. He said, “Insurance Industry plays a pivotal role in the engineering of a nation’s economy hence the industry players cannot afford to be on the fence in the scheme of events within the nation’s economy. For us to be reckoned with by the government and other players in the economy, we must have to make ourselves relevant at all times. “The window of opportunities which the law on local initiative contents afforded our industry has not been fully tapped as the Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel, has challenged our industry for not taking full advantage of the law. Of course, we cannot be there to take full advantage of the law if we are not organised and work together to provide and share information that will be useful to the members of the industry. “Another reason why our industry must have to wake up fast is that insurance penetration in Nigeria is considered to be too low compared to the population and thereby contributing very small to the GDP of the nation. We cannot expect to be respected in the communities of the nations where comparative analysis of our GDP is nothing to write home about. “Here in the north, insurance acceptance is still very poor in spite of the advantages, which the large population and massive land provide the region. The government of the northern states are advised at this juncture to re-appraise their policies to embrace insurance in order for us in the north to catch up with the economy of southern Nigeria.”

Business | Financial Market News

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

28-Nov-14

The DQL contains data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income securities and instruments in the financial market (the “Information”). The Information does not constitute professional, financial or investment advice. We attempt to ensure the Information is accurate; however, the Information is provided“AS IS” and on an “AS AVAILABLE ” basis and may not be accurate or up to date. We do not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for a particular purpose of any of the Information, neither do we accept liability for the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information.

Bonds FGN Bonds

Price

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description 4.00 23-APR-2015 13.05 16-AUG-2016 15.10 27-APR-2017 9.85 27-JUL-2017 9.35 31-AUG-2017 10.70 30-MAY-2018 16.00 29-JUN-2019 7.00 23-OCT-2019 16.39 27-JAN-2022 14.20 14-MAR-2024 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.49 22-MAY-2029 8.50 20-NOV-2029 10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.1493 18-JUL-2034

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

23-Apr-10 16-Aug-13 27-Apr-12 27-Jul-07 31-Aug-07 30-May-08 29-Jun-12 23-Oct-09 27-Jan-12 14-Mar-14 28-Nov-08 22-May-09 20-Nov-09 23-Jul-10 18-Jul-14

4.00 13.05 15.10 9.85 9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 16.39 14.20 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00 12.1493

535.00 573.89 452.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 396.68 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 150.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,730.13

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,625.87

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

23-Apr-15 16-Aug-16 27-Apr-17 27-Jul-17 31-Aug-17 30-May-18 29-Jun-19 23-Oct-19 27-Jan-22 14-Mar-24 28-Nov-28 22-May-29 20-Nov-29 23-Jul-30 18-Jul-34

0.40 1.72 2.41 2.66 2.76 3.50 4.58 4.90 7.17 9.29 14.00 14.48 14.98 15.65 19.64

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

13.72 13.65 14.03 14.02 13.99 13.78 13.54 13.45 13.37 13.17 12.80 12.77 12.75 13.02 13.15

11.03 12.98 13.53 13.53 13.52 13.40 13.26 13.12 13.17 12.98 12.66 12.62 12.56 12.84 13.00

96.28 99.05 102.10 90.95 89.64 91.65 108.15 77.35 113.60 105.40 114.20 98.14 71.89 80.00 93.00

97.28 100.05 103.10 91.95 90.64 92.65 109.15 78.35 114.60 106.40 115.20 99.14 72.89 81.00 94.00

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

24-May-10 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

24.56 3.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.48 1.22 2.03 2.39 2.60

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

16.38 15.61 15.86 15.02 15.04

92.58 101.97 99.78 96.81 93.83

31-Aug-15 30-Sep-15 30-Jun-16 30-Jun-16 19-Apr-17 30-Jun-17 31-Dec-17 30-Sep-18 04-Oct-18 09-Dec-18 12-Dec-18 14-Feb-19 02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19 10-Oct-20 27-Nov-20 31-Dec-20 31-Dec-20 06-Jan-21

0.76 0.60 0.88 0.89 2.39 1.44 3.09 2.26 3.85 2.26 2.26 2.64 2.90 4.98 2.87 3.42 6.00 6.09 3.57 3.60

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

17.91 16.88 17.79 16.81 19.61 14.48 15.69 15.76 14.69 14.96 18.74 15.03 14.95 14.45 16.70 14.81 14.36 15.29 15.20 15.70

96.27 98.57 96.85 99.14 82.29 99.19 95.95 96.99 97.98 99.17 91.44 98.98 101.39 100.18 95.76 99.90 96.62 98.83 98.24 98.26

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 30-Sep-24 30-Sep-24

0.05 0.09 0.48 0.55 0.63 1.84 1.91 2.84 1.65 1.86 2.03 2.03 3.82 2.14 2.22 3.09 5.96 9.84 9.84

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 1.00 1.00

18.69 22.22 18.63 14.70 16.24 14.74 15.12 14.97 15.50 17.23 19.06 18.92 15.05 16.19 20.05 16.06 16.12 13.93 13.93

99.66 99.40 96.39 98.28 98.91 97.24 98.56 95.52 104.61 98.40 98.67 101.85 96.99 99.46 95.09 99.92 96.72 89.39 96.36

Agency Bonds FMBN ***LCRM

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.97

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

313.14

Sub-National Bonds A+/Agusto A/Agusto A-/Agusto A+/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR† A-/Agusto A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro A/Agusto A-/GCR

KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS KOGI *EKITI *NASARAWA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

31-Aug-10 30-Sep-10 30-Jun-11 30-Jun-09 19-Apr-10 30-Jun-10 30-Dec-10 30-Sep-11 04-Oct-11 09-Dec-11 12-Dec-13 14-Feb-12 02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12 10-Oct-13 27-Nov-13 31-Dec-13 31-Dec-13 06-Jan-14

12.50 13.00 14.00 15.50 10.00 13.75 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.50 14.00 15.50 15.50 14.50 14.75 14.75 13.50 15.00 14.50 15.00

8.50 4.18 6.27 7.37 57.00 29.92 25.00 34.14 9.00 14.96 11.13 27.00 16.23 80.00 27.51 11.40 87.50 5.00 4.78 4.79

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

471.68 453.14

Corporate Bonds Aa/Agusto Nil Bbb-/Agusto A-/Agusto BB+/GCR A+/Agusto; A-/GCR A-/Agusto A/GCR BBB-/GCR Nil A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR A/Agusto; A/GCR Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR Nil A+/Agusto; A-/GCR A/GCR A/GCR

GTB NGC

*UPDC *FLOURMILLS *CHELLARAMS NAHCO FSDH UBA *C & I LEASING *DANA #{r} *TOWER# *TOWER# UBA *LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS # *DANA #{r} NAHCO STANBIC IBTC STANBIC IBTC

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 182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024 13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

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 30-Sep-14 30-Sep-14

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 11.93 13.25

13.17 2.00 3.61 13.62 0.60 15.00 5.53 20.00 0.73 6.30 2.90 0.80 35.00 2.40 0.41 4.50 2.05 0.10 15.44

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

144.16

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

140.52

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

11-Feb-18

3.21

1.00

14.87

88.39

Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P

AfDB

11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021

10-Jul-14

11.25

12.95

01-Feb-21

4.43

1.00

14.52

90.01

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Rating/Agency

24.95 22.26

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value ($mm)

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

5.48

5.29

106.53

107.58

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.57

4.32

101.82

102.67

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

5.74

5.59

104.27

105.29

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

FGN

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,500.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

1,563.07

Corporate Eurobonds B/Fitch; B-/S&P

AFREN PLC I

11.50 FEB 01, 2016

01-Feb-11

11.50

450.00

01-Feb-16

8.43

103.30

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

4.81

103.75

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

7.46

99.48

B/Fitch; B/S&P

FIDELITY BANK PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

9.63

9.00

92.10

93.83

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

6.64

6.13

97.81

99.53

B/Fitch

AFREN PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

9.67

102.00

B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ZENITH BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

6.51

99.00

B/Fitch; B/S&P

DIAMOND BANK PLC

8.75 May 21, 2019

21-May-14

8.75

200.00

21-May-19

9.79

9.39

96.30

97.71

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

8.10

99.75

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

AFREN PLC III

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

10.70

82.25

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC II

9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021

24-Jun-14

9.25

400.00

24-Jun-21

9.77

9.48

97.63

99.00

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK LTD

8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

23-Jul-14

8.00

450.00

23-Jul-21

8.81

95.00

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

8.57

8.26

99.86

101.41

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,760.00 4,655.91

**Treasury Bills DTM 13 27 34 41 48 55 62

FIXINGS Maturity 11-Dec-14 25-Dec-14 1-Jan-15 8-Jan-15 15-Jan-15 22-Jan-15 29-Jan-15

Bid Discount (%) 12.99 13.00 13.29 13.00 13.55 12.83 13.20

Offer Discount (%) 12.59 12.60 12.89 12.60 13.15 12.43 12.80

Bid Yield (%) 13.05 13.13 13.46 13.19 13.80 13.08 13.50

Money Market

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 13.4167 14.0438 14.5690 15.3410

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

11.54

O/N

11.92

Tenor Call

REPO

Rate (%) 12.00

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M

178.60 171.47 171.74 172.38 173.59

178.70 171.71 172.06 173.01 174.73

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

24-May-10 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

24.56 3.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.48 1.22 2.03 2.39 2.60

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

16.38 15.61 15.86 15.02 15.04

92.58 101.97 99.78 96.81 93.83

Agency Bonds 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

FMBN ***LCRM

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.97

Business | Financial Market News

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 A+/Agusto A/Agusto A-/Agusto A+/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR† A-/Agusto A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro A/Agusto A-/GCR

KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS KOGI *EKITI *NASARAWA

313.14

Sub-National Bonds 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

31-Aug-10 30-Sep-10 30-Jun-11 30-Jun-09 19-Apr-10 30-Jun-10 30-Dec-10 30-Sep-11 04-Oct-11 09-Dec-11 12-Dec-13 14-Feb-12 02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12 10-Oct-13 27-Nov-13 31-Dec-13 31-Dec-13 06-Jan-14

12.50 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

09-Sep-11 09-Sep-11 22-Sep-11 18-Oct-13 17-Feb-12 01-Apr-14 14-Nov-13 30-Sep-14 30-Sep-14

18.00 16.00 14.00 15.75 17.00 16.00 15.25 11.93 13.25

14-Aug-14

8.75

8.50 4.18 6.27 7.37 57.00 29.92 25.00 34.14 9.00 14.96 11.13 27.00 16.23 80.00 27.51 11.40 87.50 5.00 4.78 4.79

31-Aug-15 30-Sep-15 30-Jun-16 30-Jun-16 19-Apr-17 30-Jun-17 31-Dec-17 30-Sep-18 04-Oct-18 09-Dec-18 12-Dec-18 14-Feb-19 02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19 10-Oct-20 27-Nov-20 31-Dec-20 31-Dec-20 06-Jan-21

0.76 0.60 0.88 0.89 2.39 1.44 3.09 2.26 3.85 2.26 2.26 2.64 2.90 4.98 2.87 3.42 6.00 6.09 3.57 3.60

2.90 0.80 35.00 2.40 0.41 4.50 2.05 0.10 15.44

09-Sep-18 09-Sep-18 22-Sep-18 18-Oct-18 17-Feb-19 01-Apr-19 14-Nov-20 30-Sep-24 30-Sep-24

2.03 2.03 3.82 2.14 2.22 3.09 5.96 9.84 9.84

250.00

14-Aug-21

8.57

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

17.91 16.88 17.79 16.81 19.61 14.48 15.69 15.76 14.69 14.96 18.74 15.03 14.95 14.45 16.70 14.81 14.36 15.29 15.20 15.70

96.27 98.57 96.85 99.14 82.29 99.19 95.95 96.99 97.98 99.17 91.44 98.98 101.39 100.18 95.76 99.90 96.62 98.83 98.24 98.26

5.20 5.06 1.35 2.29 6.11 2.16 2.76 1.00 1.00

19.06 18.92 15.05 16.19 20.05 16.06 16.12 13.93 13.93

98.67 101.85 96.99 99.46 95.09 99.92 96.72 89.39 96.36

8.26

99.86

101.41

NSE mulls sustainability reporting for quoted firms REGULATION

Onyema highlights landmark for transforming capital market

Stories by Chris Ugwu

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE he Nigerian Stock TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

Exchange (NSE) is initiCorporateating Bonds sustainability Aa/Agusto GTB reporting for listed NGC Nil corporates in the Nigerian Bbb-/Agusto *UPDC A-/Agusto Market, Chief Capital Execu*FLOURMILLS BB+/GCR *CHELLARAMS tive Officer of the local bourse, A+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO Mr. Oscar Onyema, has said. A-/Agusto FSDH Onyema, who disclosed this A/GCR UBA BBB-/GCR *C & I LEASING at the 4th Annual Capital MarNil *DANA ket Committee Retreat, said µ

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A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR A/Agusto; A/GCR Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR Nil A+/Agusto; A-/GCR A/GCR A/GCR

*TOWER# *TOWER#

UBA

the Exchange has taken this commitment one step further and has developed a roadmap to promote sustainability in the market. He noted that the process would be done in stages, beginning with a carefully paced transition to mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting by listed companies. The NSE boss said the Exchange has also taken a lead13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014 ership role in creating a more 17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 sustainable and inclusive 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 economy by diversifying its 14.00 CHELLARAMS business in line06-JAN-2016 with estab13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 lished global best practice. 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 “This commitment to sus13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 18.00 C&I LEASING tainability has 30-NOV-2017 inspired the DANA 9-APR-2018 NSEMPR+7.00 to sign onto the UN SusMPR+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 182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024 13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

tainable Stock Exchange (SSE) initiative and in the past year to become a member of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Nigeria local network,” he said. Onyema said in an effort to raise level of competitiveness, the Exchange launched the Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS) for listed companies in partnership with the Convention on Business Integrity (CBi). 18-Dec-09 13.50 “This mandatory17.00 rating 01-Apr-10 system raises the 10.00 bar for 17-Aug-10 09-Dec-10 12.00 listed companies, in terms of 06-Jan-11 acknowledging those 14.00 that fare 29-Sep-11 13.00 well in25-Oct-13 areas of compliance 14.25 with the SEC Code of13.00 Corpo30-Sep-10 30-Nov-12 18.00 rules rate Governance and 16.00 of the09-Apr-11 Exchange, fiduciary

‘Obstacles hold back African capital markets’

*LA CASERA frican stock exchanges *CHELLARAMS should *DANA lower transaction NAHCO STANBIC IBTC costs and encourage new listings if they STANBIC want IBTC to TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE become more attractive TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION vehicles for raising capital have to work through a bro- enough,” Oscar Onyema, and lure new investment. ker there,” he said, adding chief executive officer of Supranational Bond 10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018 AAA/S&P 11-Feb-13 According to IFCReuters that a limited number of the Nigerian Stock Ex- 10.20 AFDB 1-FEB-2021 Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P AfDB Sub10-Jul-14 News, shares on many licensed11.25 brokers and chal- change (NSE), told Reuters 11.25 TOTAL OUTSTANDING Saharan AfricanVALUE bourses lenges hindering new en- at the conference. TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION In a bid to boost volumes have offered enticing returns trants drove up costs. in the past five years, but “It is very expensive to and offer investors moreCoupon (%) Rating/Agency Issuer Description Issue Date investors complain about set up. Settlement is expen- ways to manage risk, OnyaFGN limited number of initial sive,” he said. ema said the Nigerian exEurobonds public offerings (IPOs), high Commissions on some change planned to start trad- 6.75 6.75 JAN 28, 2021 BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P 07-Oct-11 fees and poor liquidity . African markets are much ing by 2016 in derivatives BB-/Fitch; 12-Jul-13 5.13 develJUL 12, 2018 such as swaps and options 5.13 Addressing those issuesFGN higher than more BB-/S&P BB-/Fitch; will be vital if the continent’s oped exchanges. 6.38 JUL 12, 2023 on currencies,12-Jul-13 interest rates, 6.38 BB-/S&P capital markets are to keep On the Nairobi bourse, equities and equity indexes. TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE African companies growing brokerages often charged 2.5 Complaints about liTOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION and support entrepreneurs in per cent, compared with the quidity and high fees have the race to drag more people 0.5 per cent that an average not stopped African share Corporate Eurobonds B/Fitch; AFREN PLC I 11.50 FEB 01, 2016 prices doing well. 01-Feb-11 11.50 out of B-/S&P poverty, bourse chiefs, investor, rather than instituB+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC I 7.50 MAY 19, 2016 19-May-11indexes 7.50 brokers and regulators said. The benchmark tion, might pay in London. B+/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC 25, 2017 for Nigeria, South 25-Jul-12 Africa 7.25 “African exchanges have Low volumes 7.25 areJULalso B/Fitch; B/S&P BANK PLC 6.88 MAY 09, 2018 09-May-13 all up be- 6.88 to make access to FIDELITY the marpartly to blame for driving and Kenya are B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC 08-Nov-13 6.00 6.00 NOV 08, 2018 ket much, much easier,” up fees, as local brokers tween 40 and 50 per cent 10.25 B/Fitch AFREN PLC II 08-Apr-12 10.25 APR 08, 2019 said Alan Thomson, a have to charge more on over the past five years in B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P ZENITH BANK PLC 22-Apr-14 6.25 6.25 APR 22, 2019 B/Fitch; B/S&P DIAMOND BANK PLC 21-May-14 May 21, 2019 dollar terms, South African stockbroker each trade to meet8.75 costs. taking into 8.75 B-/Fitch; B/S&P BANK PLC AUG 07, 2020 account local07-Aug-13 at a conference onFIRST African “We continue8.25 to be currency de- 8.25 B-/Fitch; B/S&P AFREN PLC III 09-Dec-13 6.63 DEC 09, 2020 stock exchanges in Kenya. challenged by liquidity. valuations. But there have 6.63 B-/Fitch; B/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC II 24-Jun-14 9.25 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 been few major IPOs. “In most countries you The markets are not deep B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK LTD 23-Jul-14 8.00 8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021 B-/S&P

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8.75 AUG 14, 2021

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

awareness of Directors, and demonstrating ethical dealings in their ecosystem. By being at the forefront of promoting good business practices, we can further increase our contributions toward the sustainable development of our listed companies, and invariably, the real economy,” he said. Onyema said the NSE was 471.68 committed to the integration 453.14 of African exchanges and thus, plays a leadership role 0.05 in13.17 the West 18-Dec-14 African Capital 2.00 31-Dec-14 0.09 Markets Integration 3.61 17-Aug-15 (WACMI) 0.48 13.62 09-Dec-15 0.55 programme. 0.60 06-Jan-16 0.63 He listed the value proposi15.00 29-Sep-16 1.84 tion for integration to include 5.53 25-Oct-16 1.91 large base of over 20.00 consumer 30-Sep-17 2.84 0.73 30-Nov-17 1.65 290 million people with signifi6.30 09-Apr-18 cant domestic savings and1.86 in-

vesting potential; facilitation of momentous growth in the markets, which will empower the region to remain relevant in attracting investment flows, by creating a much larger market for local and international businesses; and opportunity for a deeper pool to raise capital for local companies. According to him, it is envisioned that DMA, under the WACMI programme, would be the first step in establishing 18.69 99.66 the5.21 foundation for expanding 8.71 22.22 99.40 global to the Nigerian 4.88 access18.63 96.39 1.00 markets, 14.70 as well 98.28 capital as oth2.63 16.24 98.91 via er West African exchanges, 1.00 14.74 97.24 new world-class technology 1.34 15.12 98.56 solutions such 1.00 14.97as sponsored 95.52 1.88 15.50 104.61 access, co-location services, 3.48 17.23 98.40 as well as virtual access.

86 listed firms for Dividend Payments Awards

total of 86 companies listed on the Nigerian 144.16 Stock Exchange (NSE) are to 140.52 receive different categories of awards in Lagos at the 2014 12.00 11-Feb-18 3.21 Maiden Awards Presentation 12.95 Ceremony 01-Feb-21 of Dividend 4.43 Pay24.95 ment Awards (DP -Awards), 22.26 being organised by Bodmas Foundation. Outstanding Value Maturity Date Bid Yield (%) ($mm)The event, which is slated to take place on December 12, is expected28-Jan-21 to be chaired by 500.00 5.48 a former Nigerian Defence 500.00 4.57 Minister 12-Jul-18 and Chairman, May and Baker Plc, Lieuten500.00 12-Jul-23 5.74 ant Gen. Theophilus Dan1,500.00 juma (rtd), with, governors 1,563.07 of Oyo State Abiola Ajimobi , Babatunde Raji Fashola of 450.00 8.43 Lagos State,01-Feb-16 and the Minister 500.00 19-May-16 of Trade and Investment,4.81Mr. 350.00 25-Jul-17 7.46 Olusegun Aganga, as chief 300.00 02-May-18 9.63 guests of honour. 400.00 08-Nov-18 6.64 In a statement issued by 300.00 08-Apr-19 9.67 the Executive Director 500.00 22-Apr-19 6.51of 200.00 21-May-19 9.79 Bodmas Foundation, Mr. 300.00 07-Aug-20 Abiodun Ayodele, the 8.10 2014 360.00 edition of 09-Dec-20 DP-Awards10.70 pre400.00 24-Jun-21 9.77 sentation ceremony signi450.00 23-Jul-21 8.81

fies the commencement of the yearly DP-Awards for Nigerian-listed companies that achieve a minimum cumulative dividend payment of 1.00 five years14.87 to their 88.39 share1.00 holders at 14.52 any given90.01 time after listing on the Exchange. A brief highlight of the list of theBid 2014 DP-Awards Offer Yield (%) Price Offer Price winners indicates that only UBA Plc and Vitafoam NigePrices & Yields ria5.29 Plc are in the gold award 106.53 107.58 category for achieving divi4.32 101.82 dend payments of 41102.67 years and respectively 5.5936 years 104.27 105.29 to their shareholders. 14 companies are in the silver award category for achieving dividend payment 8.43 103.30 years of between 20103.30 years 4.8130 years103.75 103.75 and to shareholders. 7.46 99.48 award 99.48 The bronze win9.00 92.10 93.83 ners comprises 70 companies 6.13 97.81 99.53 that have achieved dividend 9.67 102.00 102.00 payment of between 5 years 6.51 99.00 99.00 9.3915 years 96.30 and to their 97.71 share8.10 holders as 99.75 shown by99.75 their 10.70 82.25 82.25 available published annual 9.48 97.63 99.00 reports. 8.81 95.00 95.00

4,760.00 4,655.91

28-Nov-14

The DQL contains and instruments in the financial market (the “Information”). The Information does not constitute **Treasury Bills data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income securities FIXINGS Money Market & guarantee Forwards) the professional, financial or investmentMaturity advice. We attempt toBid ensure the InformationOffer is accurate; however, the Information is provided“AS IS” and on an “AS AVAILABLE ”Tenor basis and may Rate not be accurateForeign or up toExchange date. We(Spot do not DTM Discount (%) Discount (%) Bid Yield (%) (%) accuracy, timeliness, completeness,11-Dec-14 performance or fitness for 12.99 a particular purpose of any neither do we accept liabilityNIBOR for the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information. 13 12.59of the Information,13.05 27 34 41 FGN Bonds48 55 62 Rating/Agency 69 76 83 90 97 104 118 125 132 139 NA 146 153 160 167 251 279

25-Dec-14 1-Jan-15 8-Jan-15 15-Jan-15 22-Jan-15 29-Jan-15 Issuer 5-Feb-15 12-Feb-15 19-Feb-15 26-Feb-15 5-Mar-15 12-Mar-15 26-Mar-15 2-Apr-15 9-Apr-15 16-Apr-15 NA 23-Apr-15 30-Apr-15 7-May-15 14-May-15 6-Aug-15 3-Sep-15

13.00 13.29 13.00 13.55 12.83 13.20 Description 13.15 13.15 4.00 23-APR-2015 13.05 13.05 16-AUG-2016 13.00 15.10 27-APR-2017 12.70 9.85 27-JUL-2017 12.90 9.35 31-AUG-2017 13.00 12.70 10.70 30-MAY-2018 13.15 16.00 29-JUN-2019 12.83 7.00 23-OCT-2019 13.40 16.39 27-JAN-2022 12.68 14.20 14-MAR-2024 12.55 15.00 28-NOV-2028 13.00 12.49 22-MAY-2029 12.70 8.50 20-NOV-2029 12.05

10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.1493 18-JUL-2034

12.60 12.89 12.60 13.15 12.43 12.80 Issue Date 12.75 12.75 23-Apr-10 12.65 16-Aug-13 12.60 27-Apr-12 12.30 27-Jul-07 12.50 31-Aug-07 12.60 12.30 30-May-08 12.75 29-Jun-12 12.43 23-Oct-09 13.00 27-Jan-12 12.28 14-Mar-14 12.15 28-Nov-08 12.60 22-May-09 12.30 20-Nov-09 11.65

23-Jul-10 18-Jul-14

13.13 13.46 13.19 13.80 13.08 13.50 (%) Coupon 13.49 13.52 4.00 13.45 13.05 13.43 15.10 13.14 9.85 13.39 9.35 13.57 13.28 10.70 13.81 16.00 13.49 7.00 14.16 16.39 13.39 14.20 13.28 15.00 13.82 12.49 13.92 8.50 13.27

Bonds

10.00 12.1493

Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

4,730.13

4,625.87

**Exclusive of non-trading t.bills

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

FMBN

Modified Duration Buckets

TOTAL

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

OBB

11.54

O/N

11.92

Tenor

REPO

Call TTM (Yrs) 1M

Rate (%)

12.00 (%) Bid Yield 15.17

***LCRM <3 3<5 OUTSTANDING VALUE >5 MARKET CAPITALISATIONMarket

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 Market Total Outstanding 17.25Porfolio FMB II 03-APR-2017 Value(Bn) Volume(Bn) 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 1,030.74 1,026.68 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017 1,061.53 951.30 1,030.86 1,138.25 3,123.13 3,116.23

24-May-10

0.00

24.56

Tenor

Spot 7D 14D 1M Offer2MYield (%) 3M 6M 11.03 1Y

3M 16.18 0.40 13.72 6M 16.93 1.72 13.65 12.98 2.41 14.03 13.53 NOTE: 2.66 14.02 13.53 2.76 13.99 13.52 :Benchmarks * :Amortising 3.50 Bond 13.78 13.40 µ :Convertible 4.58 Bond 13.54 13.26 AMCON: 4.90 Asset Management13.45 Corporation of 13.12 Nigeria FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria 7.17 13.37 13.17 FMBN: Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria 9.29 13.17 12.98 IFC: International Finance Corporation 14.00Contractors Receivables 12.80 12.66 LCRM: Local Management 12.77 12.62 NAHCO:14.48 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company O/N: Overnight 14.98 12.75 12.56 UPDC: UAC 15.65Property Development 13.02 Company12.84 WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company 19.64 13.15 13.00

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

FMDQ FGN BOND INDEX

Agency Bonds

TOTAL

Maturity Date

535.00 23-Apr-15 NITTY 573.89 16-Aug-16 Tenor Rate (%) 452.80 27-Apr-17 1M 13.5154 20.00 27-Jul-17 2M 13.5431 100.00 31-Aug-17 3M 13.6390 6M 13.7983 300.00 30-May-18 9M 13.9466 351.30 29-Jun-19 12M 14.1014 233.90 23-Oct-19 600.00 27-Jan-22 396.68 14-Mar-24 NIFEX 28-Nov-28 75.00 150.00 22-May-29 Current Price ($/N) 20-Nov-29 BID($/N)200.00 177.5700 OFFER 591.57 ($/N) 177.6700 23-Jul-30 150.00 18-Jul-34

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE *for the Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

Rate (%) 13.4167 14.0438 14.5690 15.3410

24-May-15

0.48

Risk Premium (%) 2.63

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

178.60 178.70 171.47 171.71 Price 172.06 171.74 172.38 173.01 173.59 174.73 Bid Price Offer Price 174.80 176.47 178.64 182.15 96.28 97.28 186.43 194.63

99.05 100.05 102.10 103.10 90.95 91.95 89.64 90.64 NA :Not Applicable # :Floating 91.65 Rate Bond 92.65 ***: Deferred 108.15 coupon bonds 109.15 77.35 78.35 †: Bond rating expired 113.60 114.60 N/A :Not Available 105.40 106.40 {r} :Issuer in receivership 114.20 115.20 99.14 NGC: 98.14 Nigeria-German Company 71.89 Bank for Africa 72.89 UBA: United 80.00 81.00 93.00 94.00

Valuation Yield (%) 16.38

Indicative Price 92.58

Weighting by 03-Apr-12 Outstanding Vol

Weighting by Mkt 17.25 Value

Bucket 3.00 Weighting

% Exposure_ 03-Apr-17 Mod_Duration

1.22Yield Implied

Implied 2.27 Portfolio Price

15.61 INDEX

YTD Return 101.97 (%)

31-Aug-10 30-Sep-10 30-Jun-11 30-Jun-09 19-Apr-10 30-Jun-10 30-Dec-10

12.50 13.00 14.00 15.50 10.00 13.75 14.00

8.50 4.18 6.27 7.37 57.00 29.92 25.00

31-Aug-15 30-Sep-15 30-Jun-16 30-Jun-16 19-Apr-17 30-Jun-17 31-Dec-17

0.76 0.60 0.88 0.89 2.39 1.44 3.09

4.44 3.23 4.46 3.48 5.59 1.00 1.79

17.91 16.88 17.79 16.81 19.61 14.48 15.69

96.27 98.57 96.85 99.14 82.29 99.19 95.95

09-Dec-11 20-Apr-1232.95 06-Jul-12 30.53 36.53 100.00

0.00/16.00 0.00/16.5033.00 0.00/16.50 33.99 33.01 100.00

112.22 116.70 0.33 66.49 0.31 322.97 0.37 313.14 1.00

09-Dec-16 20-Apr-1714.12 06-Jul-17 29.46 56.42 100.00

2.03 2.3913.85 2.60 13.42 13.09 13.29

2.00 1.00 117.4932 1.00 131.4065 101.9402 116.0596

15.86 15.02 1,115.95 15.04 1,112.70 1,191.86 1,108.27

99.78 96.81 11.5946 93.83 11.2700 19.1861 10.8268

Sub-National Bonds A+/Agusto A/Agusto A-/Agusto A+/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto

KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO

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

Business | Interview

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Too many frequencies to foreign airlines Nigerian carriers are at the receiving end of airline operations. While foreign airlines with their good business models are enjoying huge traffic rights into the country, Nigerian airlines find it practically impossible to compete with them. Managing Director of Medview Airlines, one of the carriers that has been designated to Dubai, Jeddah and Singapore, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, spoke to Aviation Editor, WOLE SHADARE, on how government’s policy has stunted their growth, how Nigerian airlines can survive amid crushing challenges and get out of the woods. He spoke at an occasion to mark the company’s second year anniversary. Excerpts Considering the fact that airline business is capital-intensive, how has it been in the last two years? The very day we commenced domestic operations, all of you were there. As we are talking to you, for the past two years, we have been on this scheduled operation. We believe it is very important to bring you back on this one again, to relate with one another and to be able to discuss issues and ask ourselves the way forward because of the tremendous achievements we have been able to make in this short time. I will start by saying a big thank you and God bless you. I am proud to say that we started on a very humble beginning as a Hajj carrier. Nigerian government created an Act in 2006 to sustain the establishment of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria to regulate and oversee the pilgrimage affairs, both the lesser and the bigger one on yearly basis. Year in year out, over four million people perform Hajj and it is necessary for us to have a body. This body was empowered and, among the area of their specialisation with the technical team of the government agency, is to select carriers. Medview Airlines has been fortunate and since that time till today, it has been a major player on Hajj operations. For that figure of Hajj, we are involved for close to eight years. We have carried in and out about 250,000, both within Nigeria and other West African countries. In the last operation, we were opportuned to carry from Mali and other cities like Abidjan, Burkina Faso; we have carried pilgrims more from these countries and they are very happy. On the domestic operation, I am proud to say that we came in with two aeroplanes as part of the regulatory policy for you to commence domestic operation. After obtaining our Air Operator Certificate (AOC), we increased the capacity to three and I remember vividly I told journalists that before the end of the year, we might increase the planes to six. I am proud to say that we have acquired two additional B737-400, which are supposed to be delivered by middle of December, 2014. The aircraft are currently going through a full C-Check. We have reserved registration number for these two aeroplanes and I can quote the registration number to you 5N-MAA, 5N-MAB. The aircraft have been put in standard approach for us to have beautiful machines latest mid-January

because of expenses. We are also configuring them to two-class configuration and make it a state of the art aircraft. We hope that by the end of this year, which is coming close to December, we will be able to give you the exact day. What are the challenges of the aviation industry? The aviation industry today has a lot of challenges and it is one of the reasons we keep talking to government to look inwards because the foreign airlines we are seeing today are not adding value to the growth of our economy. As much as government could see reasons to encourage domestic carriers, I think the better for us, to create more job employment, create good environment for our people and it is to our own advantage to create jobs for the young ones because we are getting older every day.

Bankole

because of holidays going on across the globe. That will increase our capacity with the B767 that you all see that we use for Hajj operation, which is one of our aircraft that we are going to use for our international operations. We expect to increase the capacity with the B767 that we use for our Hajj operations. We expect to increase the capacity to 954. Today, going by information at my disposal, between November 2012 and October 2014, the total figure of passengers airlifted on domestic front is 756, 437. In addition to that, I mentioned to you the number of pilgrims we have carried in the short time of our involvement in Hajj - both within and outside stood at over 250,000. We have been designated to the following countries by the Federal Government: On the regional, we have AccraGhana, Dakar - Senegal, Libreville and Abidjan. On international operation, we are designated to Jeddah-Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Singapore, Tel Aviv which is Israel. So, what we did was to schedule the programme on gradual basis. As you are aware, once you are designated as a flag carrier, it is your responsibility to go to the host country where you will be operating to, to meet their regulatory requirement. That took us away for a quarter of a year and today, we are proud to say that four of those countries were fully established. In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after meeting the requirement and obtaining certificates from their general authority of civil aviation, we opened our office on a major road of Saudi Arabia. With expectation of our aircraft come first week of January, we plan to expand to Uyo, Kano, Calabar, Owerri and other airports that we feel might be important for expansion. Our plan was to commence Dubai route on Nov 23, 2014, but we are holding on to that

We keep talking to government to look inwards because the foreign airlines we are seeing today are not adding value to the growth of our economy

How have you been coping with market shares in view of competition by new entrants? You talked about new entrants. Don’t forget that we are one of them too. At the time we came in, there were about five or six airlines. You can add another three that have come in after us. That number is not enough for this country of a population of about 170 million. The capacity on ground is not enough. From the feelers on ground, one thing stands us out from the rest and that is on-time departure and you can’t buy it. It is a way to market this product because those who fly want to have value for their money. They want to go in time. Secondly, what we sell is in-flight menu. We do not sell anything; we serve you everything and make you feel you are at home. Another beauty of it is that the pilots that we have are those that have been in the sky for hours more than 10,000. What it means is that they have wide experience and they do not get threatened when they have challenges in the sky and that is why you find that the patronage continues to increase. We want to say here that we welcome the new entrants and continue to pray to God to continue to be with this country. Today, I can tell you that a committee was set up by the minister of aviation, which I got the knowledge of today to look at these charges that have done incalculable damages to our operations. They have been at Sheraton Hotels discussing the charges. I believe the problems of the airlines are double charges levied by the agencies. I will advise here that the government agencies primarily responsible for providing charges like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) that collect Ticket Sales Charge (TSC), Passenger Service Charge (PSC), should collect it once so that it will reduce the charges levied on domestic operators to the barest level because you pay NAMA, pay FAAN, pay fees on landing, parking, airport taxes, we pay all manner of taxes. For government to help domestic operators, they should put all these charges into one pocket. It could be minimal to reduce the overhead the airlines are facing because the major enemy of the game is aviation fuel. We keep going forward and backward to the extent that fuel in our country still goes for between N154 and N165 per litre. In some areas, it goes for N170 per litre. The business is down. As you are also aware about maintenance, nobody in this country is capable of providing for you any of the major checks in this country. It is very sad, very unfortunate. The money you are collecting goes to the parallel market. From the information I have, dollar is exchanged for N180. It is very sad. If you make money in naira component, you want to do services or maintenance on your aircraft, you go to the parallel market and buy at N170, N180, what is left for you to handle? This area is critical to the survival of the airlines. These are the areas I have highlighted and I believe you will help us to tell government so that government will continue to listen.

Business | Interview

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

killing domestic operators – Bankole industry. They must make reference to them and not these consultants they bring from nowhere to write papers. There are people who can tell you how many BASAs this country had in those days. We had 60 BASAs in those days. Where are they? We pray to God to be with us. For merger, fortunately for us, we have technical partnership with Aero. We do have the same with Dana Airlines. They are very good friends. These are the ways we want others to do because it is good to use one hand to wash the second. Cooperation is key in aviation. We are three airlines going to Accra and we are carrying 30, 40 passengers. If there is merger, we can come together to do just minimal operations and one airline can carry the passengers. It will help us to reduce costs. In Nigeria, it is always dog eat dog situation.

Bankole

Foreign airlines, according to the NCAA, earned N231 billion from ticket sales while domestic carriers earned N73 billion in 2013. What impact does it have on your operations? Why are Nigerian carriers yet to migrate to IOSA? In January 2014, you promised to migrate, have you done that? Thank you very much. With the revenue generated by domestic and international carriers quoted from the statement of the DirectorGeneral of NCAA, it is very important to say as I had said earlier that the foreign airlines are not adding value to our economy. The figure of reference could probably be more. Take for instance, the operations of Emirates. Before now, they operated 779 frequencies only to Lagos. It is simple arithmetic. They operate two per day. Per week, you multiply two by seven and then multiply it by four in a week and multiply it by 12, it is over 707 frequencies. Now, they are given Abuja; lo and behold, they are given Kano, even Port-Harcourt. It is either they are not ready to go, probably, they will be given Asaba airport to operate as we grow. So, what is left for domestic airlines to do? So, this is a big problem. If you add the frequencies together, average cost of flying Emirates Airlines First class seat is $10,000. I am a frequent flier on Emirates Business class and it goes between N600,000 and N800,000, just add the figure together and that of economy and take it to the numbers, it is over N60 billion. Go over these airlines, Qatar, Etihad, all of them, they don’t employ Nigerians. The few Nigerians they employ, they are paid peanut; so where are we? They come, discharge and they go. They don’t bring their own people. They don’t bring Arabs. So, these are the games. This is food for thought for our country. We can continue to give them all our airports to operate to. Ethiopian Airways operate from Enugu, they operate from Kano, Abuja and operate to Lagos with 24 flights

For fuel alone, we spend N300 million monthly. If you cut your fares to say N5,000 to Abuja, for sure, you will fill the aeroplane but then at what cost? The cost of fuel alone takes over threequarters of the operating cost

weekly. They may even be planning to operate to Owerri and to take what is left. This is why we are saying it openly that government needs to rethink itself, to think of what damage they have done to their people. That figure may be more but for it coming from the DG NCAA, at least, this is official. For all of these, we cannot sell more than N71 billion. We are even lucky because if we can sell N71 billion, we are even managing the game. Our passengers have been taken over by these foreign carriers. Before, somebody wants to go to Dubai, he goes to Lagos, but now he goes to Dubai from Enugu. For the IOSA, 10 airlines were listed in Africa and three airlines from Nigeria. We are proud to tell you that we were listed among the three. The idea of IATA encouraging airlines to be IOSA compliant is to give you the highest level of safety required. That is the in-thing now. If you are not in that category, no airline will partner with you. That is the first key element. Thank God, we just completed the third workshop; we are graduating gradually in the first quarter to continue the main business. What is your take on a national carrier? Will it affect your operations? I will support the floating of a national carrier for patriotism sake. It is good for image making for the nation because I grew up from that family when Nigeria Airways was flying. Nigeria Airways projected the image of this country worldwide in the 1970, 80s and 90s. It was our glorious days. Nigeria deserves something better. It is our wish. Ethiopia has nothing else apart from Ethiopian Airways and they are flying over 50 destinations in this continent alone. It is a big investment for their country and we need one for this country. Whatever the plan of government, they should remember that there are people who have suffered for this

How do you intend to have market share considering the competition of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar on that lucrative route? I give you a scenario. We did a study in Dubai and spoke to Etihad’s management on their cargo management. Today, we handle Saudi Arabian airline cargo business on daily basis. They fly to Nigeria with their B747-400. We are the agent. How did they get to this business? They needed to talk to Medview and Medview hosted them. First, on the list of airlines you mentioned, the only one you can talk about today is Emirates. The rest are fighting hard as well. For you to go to Dubai, you will prefer to go with Emirates than to go with Etihad or Qatar or even afford to go with Ethiopian Airline when Emirates is going direct. This game is between Medview, Arik and Emirates. These are the three players doing direct flight to Dubai. We are working not beyond today, talking to some foreign airlines, looking at their market into Dubai and looking at their market, putting it into code sharing, joint venture agreement with the same fare that we charge you from here. Because there is no serious competitor, your opponent will take a lot of advantages. Let us not hide the fact from you. We know it is not easy games, but believe me, by the time we get to that line, we will cross it and you will be part of the people to write the glorious story. There are issues we need to close up. On equipment, we flew this aircraft B767ER. B777 is in that family. We are working on inflight and also working to increase the pitch capacity to give more legroom, to make it threeclass cabin to have wider economy and business class. By point to point, like I told you, has been taken care of by other carriers in the global market. Will crash of fares make more Nigerians fly and how feasible? To be honest with you, I am not saying that we are selling at N8,000, but even if we are selling at N6,000, I will never guarantee that you should keep flying that airline. You must have an aircraft that is airworthy and there is nowhere in Africa that they are producing or manufacturing aircraft. It is not like in Aba where they produce luxurious buses or in Kaduna where they produce Peugeot. Aircraft, as we know, is something that is at a very high price. New ones start from $50 million. Again, you must be able to reserve some money for operational challenges to augment your business to be able to fly. For fuel alone, we spend N300 million monthly. If you cut your fares to say N5,000 to Abuja, for sure, you will fill the aeroplane but then at what cost? The cost of fuel alone takes over three-quarters of the operating cost. If you have to put in wear and tear of the tyres, cycles of the engines, navigational, landing, airport charges, the price the airlines are charging now is nothing to write home about. To bring down the prices lower than what we have, it means that in two months, most of the airlines will close shop. It is practically impossible because you have to pay salaries. It is not like a car you can buy and use for two years or more. The more landings you make, the quicker the tyres are changed.

Photo | News

L-R: Chairperson, Capital Market Committee Retreat Planning Committee, Oluwatoyin Sanni; Chairman, Capital Market Commission of Angola, Archer Manguera; Minister of State for Education, Prof. Viola Onwuliri and Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arunma Oteh, at the grand finale of the 2014 quiz competition in Abuja

L-R: President, Fatima Charity Foundation, Mrs. Bintu-Fatima Tinubu; former Lagos State Chief Judge, Mrs. Ayotunde Philips and Guest Speaker, Mr. Sam Omatseye, at the foundation’s democratic symposium on ” The People, Credible Polls and Good Governance” held in Lagos. PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

L-R: Hon. Ifeanyi Chukwuma; Mrs. Ada Celina Elumelu and Delta State PDP governorship aspirant, Ndudi Godwin Elumelu, at Elumelu’s 2015 governorship declaration in Asaba in Delta State.

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, New Horizons, Mr. Tim Akano; Group Captain, Command Electronics Engineering Officer, Logistics, Nigerian Air Force, Charlton Jose and President, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Lagos Chapter, Mr. Joseph Okomah, at the meeting of the military and police, paramilitary public relations officers’ forum in Lagos

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

L-R: Speaker, Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Konbowei Benson; Governor Seriake Dickson; Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah; Amayanabo of Twon Brass, His Majesty, King Alfred Diete-Spiff; Chief Chika Okpala, alias Chief Zeburudaya and Nollywood star, Mr. Peter Edochie, at the unveiling of Ijaw language books in Yenagoa…yesterday

L-R: Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency, Mr. Peter Jack; wife of the Vice President, Dr. Amina Sambo and Vice -President, NIHILENT, Mr. Ravi Teja, during the presentation of NITDA- Nihilent e-Governance awards to recognise and promote excellence in implementation of e-Governance and ICT initiatives in Abuja.

Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi (right), addressing students of the Ignatius Aguru University of Education, during an interactive session at the campus in Port Harcourt

President, Rotary Club of Lagos, Palmgrove, District 9110 Nigeria, Rotarian Bayo Banjo (left) and Head, Corporate Communications of the company, Chief Steve Omolale-Ajulo, at the handing-over of wheelchairs to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operator of the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 (MMA2), by the club, at the National Orthoepeadic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY DECEMBER 1, 2014

Leisure Arcade NUTS

NTPuzzle

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HOCKEy

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NTJokes BIBLICAL TOASTING!: Naija Style A child asked his father, “How were people born?” So his father said, “Adam and Eve made babies, then their babies became adults and made babies, and so on.” The child then went to his mother, asked her the same ques-

tion and she told him, “We were monkeys then we evolved to become like we are now.” The child ran back to his father and said, “You lied to me!” His father replied, “No, your mom was talking about her side of the family.”

Akpors Again!!

How to play SUDOkU ALIU EROJE

CHIEF CARTOONIST aliu.eroje@newtelegraphonline.com

The objective is to fill a 9x9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3x3 boxes (also called blocks or regions) contains the digits from 1 to 9. A cell is the smallest block in the game. A row , column and region consists of 9 cells and the whole game consists of 81 cells. A region has thicker lines surrounding it. This simply makes it easier to play the game.

Akpos and Mary were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while they were walking along hospital swimming pool, Mary suddenly jumped into the deep end. She sank to the bottom and stayed there. Akpos promptly jumped in to save Her, he swam to the bottom and pulled Mary out. When the medical doctor became aware of Akpos act, he immediately ordered his discharge as he now considered him to be mentally stable. When

he went to tell Akpos the news, he said” Akpos, i have good news and bad news, the good news is you are being discharged, because you were able to jump in to a swimming pool and save the life of another patient, I think you have gotten well enough and the bad news is that, the patient you saved hung herself with her bathrobe belt in the bathroom, I am sorry, she is dead.” Akpos replied, she did not hang herself, I put her there to dry! Yekpa!!

News

monday, december 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

south - WEST

Reps vow to drag Ekiti crisis before National Assembly lawmakers

While defending their ungentlemanly attitude in Abuja, NASS members attack Ekiti Speaker Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

wo members of the House of Representatives, Hon. Oyetunde

42%

The crude birth rate of Middle Africa from 2010-2015. Source: Un.org

Ojo and Bamidele Faparusi, have said the All Progressives Congress (APC), caucus in the National Assembly has waded into the crisis rocking the Ekiti House of Assembly with plans to ask their colleagues to address the crisis on the resumption of sitting. Ojo and Faparusi, representing Ekiti Central Federal Constituency and Ekiti South Federal Constituency 2 respectively, said members of the National Assembly

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would not just sit down and watch the laws of the country being trampled upon. They were reacting to the removal of the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Adewale Omirin by 10 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lawmakers in OdeEkiti, at the weekend at a social function and the subsequent election of Hon Dele Olugbemi, as the new Speaker by the same set of legislators. Ojo, who described the

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of Aruba in 2009. Source: Itu.int.

lawmakers’ conduct as an act of impunity and lawlessness, said the House of Representatives would take appropriate steps to redress the matter. He noted, "Available facts showed that Omirin never nursed any plan to remove Governor Ayo Fayose, but only wanted due process to be followed in the screening of the Commissioners-nominee. This is what democracy is all about. The process cannot allow you to assume a dictatorial sta-

3.05m

The total population of Kuwait (rep. 0.044% of the world’s population) in 2010. Source: Blatantworld.com

tus,” he said. On the chances of the APC in next year's general elections, Ojo, said his party was well-positioned to defeat the PDP. “You can see that many of our members had to scale the fence last week to defend democracy. If not, what happened to Omirin in the hands of the PDP in Ekiti would have happened to Hon Aminu Tambuwal. That is why we have to be more vigilant. “You can see that no-

14%

The crude death rate of Middle Africa in 2010-2015. Source: Un.org

body is contesting primaries with me in my constituency because the people felt I have represented them well. Let politics be based on performance and the people’s wish and not by act of brigandage. “In the last governorship election, PDP came as an opposition and won. So, the chances of APC are very bright in 2015. We will defeat PDP roundly in all elections because we have done the people proud,” he said.

Boko Haram is debased, says Tinubu

L-R; Wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs. Olufunsho Amosun; General Superintendent, Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; his wife, Esther and Governor Ibikunle Amosun, at yesterday's worship service to round-off a three-day crusade held at the church's new camp ground, Kobape, Abeokuta-Sagamu Expressway… yesterday.

APC clears 279 aspirants

Ladoja decries politics of violence

Temitope Ogunbanke

he All Progressives Congress (APC), said yesterday that it has cleared 279 aspirants for tomorrow's Lagos State House of Assembly primary elections. Speaking to New Telegraph yesterday, Lagos State APC Assistant Publicity Secretary, Hon. Abiodun Salami, said out of the 314 aspirants who obtained the party’s nomination forms for Lagos State House of Assembly race, 279 were cleared while 35 were disqualified. He said the party is prepared for the primaries assuring, all aspirants contesting on the platform of the party that the party’s primaries would be free and fair. The party’s House of Assembly primary in Lagos State will hold in the 40 state constituencies across the State.

Temitope Ogunbanke ormer Governor of Oyo State, and national leader of the Accord Party (AP), Senator Rashidi Ladoja, has advised the people of Oyo State to shun political violence as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), officially lifted the ban on election-

eering campaigns for the 2015 general elections in the state. Ladoja, in a statement signed by his Director of Communication, Akanmu Adeyanju, and made available to New Telegraph yesterday, Ladoja, urged the people of the state to troop out in large numbers to attend rallies organised by Accord Party throughout

the nooks and crannies of the state in an orderly and peaceful manner. He said the party campaign would be based on issues that would impact positively on the lives of the people as well as bring about change and development in Oyo State and therefore urged the people to come out in large numbers to listen to messages

of hope and change. The Accord Party national leader said the desire of his party in Oyo State is to make the people of the state the center of development for the progress of the state, adding that AP is a party of peace and will never encourage acts of thuggery during and after the campaign period.

Fayose slashes varsity tuition fee, explains rift with lawmakers Adesina Wahab ADO-EKITI

kiti State Governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, has ordered the reduction of the tuition fee being paid by full time students of the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti from N50,000 to N30,000. The students have also been granted the grace to pay the fees twice. Fayose, who gave the

order while featuring on a radio/television programme "Meet your governor", in Ado-Ekiti at the Weekend, said his administration would also ensure it puts in place an enabling atmosphere for teaching and learning in all the state-owned institutions. On the face-off between him and the All Progressives Congress members of the House of Assembly, the governor

accused the lawmakers of not putting Ekiti first in their considerations. "Adewale Omirin, as the speaker, did not attend my inauguration ceremony. After the event, we met and talked and we agreed to work together. They asked that their monthly running grant of N48 million be paid in full, even when other agencies have theirs slashed by 60 per cent or stopped totally because

of poor finances, we still gave them their full grant. "The N2 billion loan for SMEs that we wanted to access from the CBN, they now said they should be given 10 per cent out of it, which amounts to N200 million and I refused. They have a mindset and directive from their leaders that they must cripple my government and I know the people of the state will not allow that," he stated.

he National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday said that the recent attack in a mosque in Kano has shown how debased Boko Haram and their sponsors have become. In a statement, signed by his media office yesterday, Tinubu regretted the actions of the group and their sponsors. The statement reads: “During the last few days, Nigeria has suffered intense attacks and grave loss of lives due to the evil work of terrorist group, Boko Haram. Attacks against numerous locations in the northeast demonstrate how heinous and debased Boko Haram and those who sponsor it have become. So depraved, they have become heartless and filled with enmity against all that is good and proper. This was not the act of human beings. These attacks could only have come from the hands of those who do not know God or Serve God. This is the act of godless people. The hand of evil, deploying those who have given themselves over to wickedness, committed this terrible thing. No reason can be found for what was done except that Boko Haram has once again shown its lust for innocent blood and its disdain for life peacefully lived. Boko Haram killed people praying to God because the god of Boko Haram is Satan himself. Boko Haram seeks to scare and intimidate Christian and Muslim alike through wanton destruction. They may attack us but never shall this evil force subdue us. Christian and Muslim must stand arm-in-arm to face down this terrorist onslaught."

NEW TELEGRAPH monday, december 1, 2014

News 47

south — east

Ohakim’s men take charge as Ihedioha’s rank swells keen

It may be a straight fight between former governor and a Deputy Speaker in Imo Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Assembly primary elections, which could not hold in some council areas

14%

in Imo State at the weekend, was determined yesterday at the state party headquarters in Owerri, with former Governor Ikedi Ohakim’s men, leading the race. Altogether, 10 council areas could not conclude their primaries yesterday. They include Nwangele, Oru West, Oguta and Aboh Mbaise. Others are the six local government areas in Imo North - Isiala Mbano, Ehime Mbano, Onuimo, Okigwe, Obowo and Ihitte Uboma. Ohakim’s men emerged

The percentage of population of men above 60 years of Belarus in 2012. Source: Un.org

victorious in Oguta, Isiala Mbano, Onuimo and Okigwe, while the candidate of Chief Tony Chukwu, the billionaire businessman, was re-elected in Ehime Mbano. Former Governor Achike Udenwa and the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, produced candidates for Nwangele and Aboh Mbaise council areas, respectively. Chukwu, who participated actively in the Ohakim administration, is believed to be well disposed to Ohakim’s governorship

750m

The number of individuals using the internet in developed countries in 2008. Source: Itu.int

party from Aboh Mbaise/ Ngor-Okpala federal constituency, Imo State have adopted the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, as the PDP governorship candidate for the 2015 polls. This was quickly followed by further acceptance and the endorsement of the deputy speaker as their choice governorship candidate by delegates of Ehime Mbano, Ihitte Uboma and Obowo council areas after an interactive session

1.96m

IPMAN Aba depot inaugurates new exco

The number of people that died due to infectious diarrhoeas in 2001. Source: Unesco.org

Peter Osondu ABA

he newly elected executive of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Aba depot, was at the weekend, inaugurated in Aba, Abia State. Speaking while handing over to the new chairman, Chief Christian Ahukanna, the outgoing Chairman, Chief Gilbert Nwoke, said the election was free and fair. According to him, “Nobody can fault that election; nobody will say that the election was not free and fair. It was a wonderful election. More than 600 marketers were accredited for the election.” He said when his executive came on board four

L-R: Blind English student, Cross River University of Technology, Paulinus Akanage; Director, MTN Foundation, Dennis Okoro and Dean of Students, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Maximus Ofoh, at the presentation of scholarship to blind students in Owerri…at the weekend

INEC okays Anambra PDP primaries

Emuchay promises an all-inclusive govt

Tony Okafor

Awka

espite the multiplicity of primary elections by the different factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the race for next year's House of Assembly elections in Anambra State, at the weekend, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday told journalists in Awka, the state capital, that it was satisfied with the exercise. The commission, which said it monitored the exercise in the 30 state constituencies, said the exercise was conducted in serene environment devoid of rancour, despite the seeming division. INEC spokesperson, Mr. Frank Egbo, however, said that the commission

recognised and supervised the Ejike Oguebegoled PDP state Assembly primaries in accordance with the law and facts before it, adding that if there was any other group that held similar exercise, the commission was not aware of that. Consequent upon the Assembly primaries, some of the candidates were returned for the 2015 state House of Assembly polls in the state. They are as follows: Rebecca Ugorji-Awka North constituency, Tokas Ohazuruike, emerged in Ihiala II constituency. Others are Silas Eze (Orumba South), Mike Ikegbunam (Ayamelum), Kenneth Nwakaeze (Awka South I), Mrs. Violet Chuks-Okoye (Idemili South) and Samuel Chukwugozie Enemchukwu (Ihiala I).

Onwuka Nzeshi ABUJA

ormer Nigerian Consul-General to South Africa and governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, Ambassador Okey Emuchay, has pledged to run an all-inclusive administration if elected governor in 2015. Emuchay, in a chat with journalists at the weekend, said he will ensure that the opinions of the people from all segments of the state would form the bedrock of his

at the Amakohia country home of Nze Fidelis Ozichukwu Chukwu in Ihitte Uboma. At Aboh Mbaise, a chieftain of the party, Prof. P. G. C. Nworgu, moved the motion for the adoption of Ihedioha as consensus candidate and was seconded by a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Anamelechi Nicholas Agunwa, at a solidarity visit to the deputy speaker in his country home Mbutu, Aboh Mbaise council area.

ambition, much the same way, Onwuliri is well disposed to Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha’s governorship bid. As at the time of filing this report, the primaries for Oru West and Ihitte Uboma, which are evidently becoming problematic, were yet to produce any result, but Ihedioha and Ohakim’s men are hopeful of victory. Ahead of the December 8 governorship primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), statutory and ad hoc delegates of the

policies and programmes. He said leadership and governance demand creativity, deep understanding of the needs of the people and the humaneness of heart to address them to ensure judicious use of available resources in the development of the state. He said the development of Abia State must begin with the realisation of what Aba, the commercial hub, represents for the state and its people and how the government can transform the potential of the state into real development.

years ago, they met a dry depot, but resolved that they were going to reactivate the depot, a promise he said they have fulfilled. “When we came into office, Aba depot was not receiving products from Port Harcourt refinery close to seven years, because the 54-kilometre pipeline from Port Harcourt to Aba was vandalised. “We resolved to address the issue and set up a committee to tackle the problem and as I speak today, I’m happy to announce that Aba depot is now receiving products from Port Harcourt.” He promised that the out gone executive would always give support to the new one, when needed, to ensure sustenance of pumping of petroleum products to Aba depot.

Panel to probe Igbo-Eze North LG boss to begin sitting Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

he impeachment panel set up last Friday by the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice Innocent Umezulike, to probe allegations of misappropriation and embezzlement of over N1.7bn brought against the Chairman of Igbo-Eze North council, Mr. Bona Onuh, is billed to commence sitting today. Meanwhile, the embattled council boss made a U-turn at the weekend, when he joined the camp of Governor Sullivan

Chime, even as he is believed to be a close ally of Senator Ayogu Eze, currently fighting a factional war in the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the camp of the governor. Observers said he is doing that to save himself from the impending impeachment, following the setting up of the panel. Inaugurating the seven-man panel at the state high court, the chief judge urged the panelists to ensure that they show due respect to all manner of persons or groups that would appear before them.

Igbo community: We lost 200 members to insurgency Ahmed Miringa Maiduguri

socio-cultural group for Igbo resident in Borno State, Igbo Welfare Association (IWA), has said that over 200 members of the commu-

nity have lost their lives in the current insurgency in the state while property worth millions of naira had been destroyed in the crisis. President-General of the association, Chief Maclaw Nwaogu, stated this

while delivering a speech at the inauguration of new executives and the award ceremony of the association. Nwaogu appealed to Governor Kashim Shettima to look into the plight of widows and orphans

of Ndigbo and other nonindigenes involved in the crisis, some of whom he said have migrated, but are still suffering destitution as a result of the loss of their breadwinners to the Boko Haram insurgency.

News

VALEDICTION He came based on his ethnic background. He saw, and may be conquered Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

he outgoing Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Edo State, Professor Osayuki Godwin Oshodin, yesterday revealed his ordeals in office, stating that those opposed to change almost eliminated him. He said it was because of his determination to ensuring that right things were done to improve standard and de-

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

SOUTH-SOUTH

Oshodin: I uncovered 20 secret accounts in Uniben velopment at the university. Revealing some of the challenges he was confronted with, stated that some of the forces within the university operate more than 20 secret bank accounts some of which were not known to him. Speaking shortly after a thanksgiving service held at his residence for a successful tenure in office, Oshodin told newsmen that detractors fought to bring him down for constituting obstacles on their ways from

embezzling allocations to the University. He expressed gratitude to God for his assistance during his tenure as the VC of the school stating, that he ensured remained steadfast against those who were determined to frustrate his administration and kill him in the process. He said, “It has been really interesting. I believe I have done my best I had a mission and a vision and I had a strategic plan only known to me and I am

happy that I implemented all these strategic plans which were deficiencies before I took over as Vice Chancellor”. “I met resistance from the devils, and I stood my ground and they tried to eliminate me several times but they didn’t succeed. If you have God on your side, they will not succeed”. He explained, “People did not know why people were fighting me; they were fighting me because I blocked their ways of embezzling allocations sent

to the University of Benin. They were embezzling it, if they are properly looked into, money was missing”, Oshodin, said that with his doggedness, he was able to discover all the monies because the they were hidden in various accounts in banks. He advised the incoming Vice Chancellor to be cautious in his relationship with financial institutions advising that financial transactions should be limited to a reasonable number of banks.

L-R: Chairman, Opu Nembe Chiefs Council, Chief Eferebo Igoma; Bayelsa State Deputy, Gboribiogha John Jonah; Governor Seriake Dickson; Chief Degi Eremieyon and Commissioner of Special Duties, Bayelsa East, Chief Kuroekigha Ben-Wari, at the burial of the Amayanabo of Nembe (Bassambiri), King Ralph Iwowari in Bassambiri-Nembe… at the wekend

Ijaw youths chide Amaechi over Jonathan Joe Obende Warri

youth group under the umbrella of Ijaw Youths Congress (IYC), has taken a swipe at Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, over the allegation that President Goodluck Jonathan, is the sponsor of Boko Haram in the three North Eastern States of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe. The group’s reaction followed the governor’s allegation made at the Gover nment House,

Clement James CALABAR

ollowing the row brought about by the cancellation of the November 1 ward congress in the Cross River State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party has claimed that the incident has not affected the unity of the party in the state, the State

Gabriel Choba UGHELLI

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Delta State House of Assembly primary elections for Udu Constituency, was disrupted by some suspected thugs on Saturday, as the process failed to produce a winner. Following allegations that the process was characterized by irregularities, suspected party thugs invaded the venue to bring the voting process to an abrupt end. The primary election which was expected to hold at Ovwian Primary School but was later shifted to the Divisional Police Station, Ovwian/ Aladja, acoording to eyewitnesses did not begin until 7pm even with the presence of heavy security agents. It was learnt that despite the presence of security men, thugs suspected to be working for one of the PDP aspirants were still able to penetrate the venue of the election to thwart the process. They were said to have unleashed mayhem, as they chased away the party officials designated for the conduct of the primary election.

NEMA seeks assistance for victims of insurgency

Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital while addressing the press at the weekend which they condemned in strong terms. Describing the statement as “reckless and not befitting the holder of the office of a governor of a state” the group noted; “It is most disappointing that Governor Amaechi, could make such inflammatory statement at a time when the entire nation is mourning the tragic death of over 100 people at the Central Mosque, Kano.

“With such a statement coming at a time when Nigerians and especially political leaders are supposed to close ranks to confront the Boko Haram insurgency clearly shows that Governor Amaechi and his likes have taken politics over and above the life of the Nigerian people. “For Governor Amaechi who promised to form a parallel government in 2015 only two weeks ago to be playing politics with the Boko Haram insurgency that

Chairman of the party, Ntufam John Okon, has said. Okon, who stated this expressed joy over the peaceful primaries held for the House of Assembly at the weekend, stating that the fact that people came out to participate in the exercise was a testimony to the unity existing within the state chapter of the party. Reports said the prima-

Cross River PDP remains intact, says Chairman ries held at the weekend for the House of Assembly in the 18 local government areas by the party was peaceful in the state as no ugly incident was recorded. The party’s state chairman, who spoke at the end of the exercise, which dragged to late evening, explained that the party hierarchy had ensured

has claimed thousands of lives shows that he is no longer a fit and proper person to hold the office of a governor. “The office of governor goes with a sense of responsibility which Governor Amaechi has in recent times failed to uphold and discharge. We call on Governor Amaechi to moderate his extreme politics and stop his unguarded attacks on President Jonathan as the day of judgement would surely come for whatever he does while in office”.

Thugs disrupt PDP’s Delta Assembly primaries

that the five-man panel from the national office was given the needed cooperation and the result was satisfactory. “You can see that we have just held our primaries for the House of Assembly. It was peaceful and everything was without rancour. People thought there was a crack

Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), SouthSouth zone has appealed to Nigerians to offer assistance fellow citizens befallen by any kind of disaster. Zonal Coordinator of the agency, Benjamin Oghenah, who made the appeal while receiving items meant for the victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, stressed the need

but as you can see, the PDP family in the state remains intact. That is how it should be,” he said. The chairman appealed to the panel to release the results of the elections early so as not to create anxiety among party members. Speaking in the same vein, the PDP caucus leader in Calabar mu-

for other Nigerians to emulate the gesture. “I am overwhelmed. Its quite moving, because its not an everyday occurence to see somebody who is here in Port Harcourt feeling for those who are more than 2000 kilometres away. The donated items, including clothes, shoes, feeding bottles, mosquitoe nets among other items was brought to NEMA’s Port Harcourt office by a civil servant with the ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Alexander Aghedo.

nicipality, Sir William Archibong, described the primaries in the area as the most peaceful in the state, disclosing that they had earlier agreed on a consensus candidate which they all accepted through a zoning process and that he was at the venue to ensure that the proper thing was done.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

News 49

NORTH

Kano bombing affected my endorsement rally, says Ganduje DOOM The gory sight of Black Friday kept politics in the cooler Muhammad Kabir Kano

ano State Deputy Governor, Dr. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, who

is also eyeing the governorship seat in the 2015 general election, at the weekend, lamented the bomb explosion that occurred in Kano last Friday, saying the incident affected his endorsement rally. He said: “We do not have the moral courage to celebrate my much anticipated endorsement as a worthy successor to Governor

Rabiu Kwankwaso, because of the deadly bomb attack that killed scores of people last Friday.” Ganduje, who was anointed as successor to Kwankwaso during a stakeholders’ meeting in Kano told the gathering shortly after purchasing his governorship form that he lacks the moral scourge to celebrate his endorsement with many

people killed in the attack. He said what happened was really touching and regrettable as some faithful were about praying to their God, some heartless people decided to terminate their lives for no reason at all. The deputy governor said if not that Friday was the final day for the

purchase of the form; he would have delayed it till another day, because of the serious situation Kano has found itself. Speaking about his candidature, he said he could not purchase the form earlier on because they in Kwankwasiyya are loyal, principled and disciplined, and are waiting patiently for the directives of their boss

and the general stand of the party members before taking any decision. Ganduje, however, said politicking in Kano State will take a new dimension as his campaign will be devoid of character assassination, blackmail and that henceforth no one will be talking of trivial issues, while there will be no room for flimsy excuses of the past.

Ahmed gets all clear Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

wara State governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, yesterday scaled the screening of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest the 2015 governorship election in the state. Ahmed was screened by the party’s national committee for the North Central led by the former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, at the APC state secretariat, Ilorin. Speaking with reporters after receiving his certificate of clearance, Ahmed assured the people of the state that the tempo of governance would be enhanced when elected for a second term. He said: “We want to give assurance that we will be carrying out activities that will be premised on continuity of on-going projects, especially in infrastructure and on the strength of that, we will build new ones.” The governor also pledged to upscale his administration’s youth development agenda, especially in the areas of employment generation and entrepreneurial development initiatives.

National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) Screening Committee, Ambassador Abubakar Wurno (left), presenting a clearance certificate to Senator Danjuma Goje, to contest for Gombe Central senatorial district in Gombe …yesterday

Austerity measures hit Benue workers Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

ith less than six months to the exit of Governor Gabriel Suswam as governor of Benue State, civil servants in the state are threatening to invoke a “No pay, No work” policy to press home what they called a backlog of three to four months of salaries owed

Shown berates Jang Buhari Bello Jos

ear and uncertainty over imposition of candidates in the 2015 elections by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State has gripped the state even as members of the party have vowed to resist any move by Governor Jonah Jang to select his successor in the election. Elders and members of the party, who took their fight to the national headquarters in Abuja, also kicked against the governor’s selection of Senator Gyang Pwajok, describing

it as ‘unilateral.’ Speaking in an exclusive interview with New Telegraph in Jos at the weekend, one time Chairman of the PDP in the state, Prof. Dakum Shown, said they went to Abuja to register their complaints against the decision of the governor. “The national headquarters has been briefed on the dangers of the governor’s unilateral action,” adding that “it is capable of making PDP to lose Plateau State if not properly managed.” According to him, the party faithful will use all means to reject the governors ‘selfish and unilateral miscalculation of a single individual.’

them by the governor. The civil servants said they are no longer happy with the governor for allowing them wallow in penury for four months without salaries, because since the beginning of the year, Suswam has not embarked on any capital project that would affect the payment of their salaries. Some aggrieved work-

ers, who spoke with New Telegraph, appealed to the governor to expedite action towards clearing the backlog of salaries owed them to enable them feed their families and train children at school. “You jour nalists should help convey our plight to the governor. As you can see, it is four months now that I have not received any salary,

Tension over whereabouts of PDP election panel members Ibrahim Abdul Yola

here was tension in Adamawa State at the weekend when the whereabouts of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Assembly election panel could not be ascertained. Reports said there were strong indications that the panel members might have been hijacked by powerful forces in the party. The development led to the cancellation of the scheduled party pri-

maries as a visit round the various local government showed that no election took place and no one know the committee members’ whereabouts. Stern looking policemen were drafted to Muna Hotel, venue of the exercise to ensure that the exercise was given close monitoring and ensure its success. Reports, however, indicate that on arrival the members first paid a courtesy call on the state governor, Bala James Ngillari, before they were lodged at Muna.

others are being owed three months, others four months. Sometimes, I trek to work and if you don’t come to work, you will be given a query, so what is happening in Benue State is bad. “I have been borrowing from people all this while to sustain my family and you cannot be borrowing like that, only God knows what will happen to you

if you are not able to pay back back”, said another civil servant. But in a reaction, Governor Suswam attributed the development to the general economic crunch in the country, which he said is not peculiar to the state, adding that if the situation persists, he may be forced to shut down governance to avoid embarrassment.

Aliyu joins Niger guber race Dan Atori MINNA

s the 2015 general election draws nearer, the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial aspirant in Niger State, Alhaji Mustapha Aliyu, has urged residents who have the state at heart to support his aspiration to get them out of the bondage they have been subjected in the past. Aliyu made the call in his residence in Minna, while addressing his supporters at the weekend. Though, he has not declared to run for the

governorship seat formally, his aspiration has provoked mass defection of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition APC, including some local government party executives in the three senatorial districts of the state. The aspirant, who is a well-known businessman, philanthropist and politician, was said to have joined the race to salvage the state from total decay. Reports said on hearing about his ambition to contest, some PDP members have defected to the APC.

50 News

WORLD | News

Groups sue Jonathan over JTF

Ferguson officer who shot Michael Brown resigns

Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

rights group, Access to Justice and eight other Civil Society Organizations have dragged President Goodluck Jonathan before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, seeking an order of mandamus to compel investigation of allegation of war crimes committed by Joint Task Force troops.   Also joined as defendant is the Attorney General of the Federation. Other plaintiffs in the suit are One voice coalition, Women Ad-

vocates Research and Documentation centre, Human Rights Law Services, Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Network on Police Reform in Nigeria Foundation, Nigerian Automobile Technicians Association, Centre for Constitutional Governance and Centre for Constitutionalism and Militarization.  The groups, through a motion ex-parte, brought pursuant to Order 34 Rule 3(1) and (2) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2009 is seeking an order for leave to apply for an order of Mandamus

compelling the Respondents to exercise the legal duty to conduct a thorough, prompt, independent and impartial investigation into allegations or reports of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions made by Amnesty International, whose report issued with an accompanying video footage dated August 5th 2014, depicted horrendous acts of extrajudicial killings and torture of suspected members of the Boko Haram sect carried out by members of the Nigerian military and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).

FG: Investment in sugarcane hits N3.2bn Yusuf Shuaib Abuja

inister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga has said that Investment in sugarcane was $100 million before President Goodluck Jonathan came on board but today, it has hit N3.2 billion. The minister, who was speaking at a meeting in Abuja, explained that “In the sugar industry, the number of jobs in 2011 before President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration was 3,860

but today, we have about 180,000 jobs.” According to him, “manufacturing and trade contribute at least 27 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises account for 46 per cent of the GDP and industry accounts for 25.9 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP; to tell you exactly how the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment contributes significantly to the Nigerian economy,” He added: “In 2011, when we took over, there was no compre-

hensive and coordinated industrial policy for the country, and no strategy to diversify our economy and revenue base.’’ He said that contributions of the manufacturing sector to the GDP was very low; capacity utilisation was also low, while massive jobs loss were prevalent, and emphasis on value addition, noting that, for decades; the country specialised in exporting raw materials. “This is because we had weak industrial structures and depended on importation of most of our products” Aganga added.

Police arraign two engineers for pilfering N2m Akeem Nafiu

he Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police Force has arraigned two staff of a construction company, the Nigeria Development and Construction Company (NDCC), before Justice Mohammed Yunusa of a Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged pilfering of some items belonging to their employer which value was put at N2.1 million.   The accused, Nick Amusan Ikpa and Simeon Nwaemo were arraigned on a three

counts charge of conspiracy, forgery and stealing. According to the prosecuting counsel, Anthony Omaghomi, the two accused conspired sometimes in 2009 while in the employment of the company, to forge a letterheaded paper, which they used to steal 1000 pieces of 35mm Seismic Detonators and 480 pieces of 25mm Seismic Detonators, that were kept in the company by Shell Company.  The value of the said stolen items were put at N2,109, 686.86, by the police. The offences ac-

cording to Omaghomi, are punishable under section 516, 467 and 390 (6) of the Criminal Code Cap. C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.  The duo, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges and have since been admitted to bail by the judge.  Already, the prosecution had closed its case after calling three witnesses which includes Mr. Hartison, the Managing Director of the construction company; the Investigative Police Officer(IPO) and another employee of the company.

ARG: Jonathan’s visit belated Temitope Ogunbanke

he Afenifere Ren ew a l G ro u p (ARG) has said President Goodluck Jonathan’s attempt to woo Yoruba nation for the support of his reelection is already too late in the day. ARG in a statement issued yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Kunle Famoriyo, de-

scribed last Friday “Yoruba Progress Summit” which took place in Osun as an afterthought and a futile effort to sneak the President into Yoruba land through the backdoor. The group said nothing will please Yoruba nation other than a return to regional government through maximum devolution of powers and a return to parlia-

mentary democracy because “we reckon this is the best form of public governance that gives us the opportunity to develop at our own pace and contribute our quota to Nigeria’s development.” It said everything that happened at the summit is a fool’s paradise as already proven by the students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

erguson officials planned to address the resignation of a white police officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, a black resident of the St. Louis suburb whose parents yesterday prepared to attend a church service where civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton was scheduled to preach. Last Monday night, prosecutors announced that a grand jury declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson, stoking racial tensions that led to looting and violence in the predominantly black St. Louis suburb of 20,000 residents, while also leading to weeklong protests nationwide. Wilson, who had been on administrative leave since the August, 9 shoot-

Wilson

ing, resigned yesterday, effective immediately, according to his lawyer, Neil Bruntrager, who declined further comment. An attorney for Brown’s family didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment. Wilson, who had been with the Ferguson Police Department for less than three years, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

he decided to step down after the department told him it had received threats of violence if he remained on the force. “I’m not willing to let someone else get hurt because of me,” Wilson told the newspaper. Ferguson officials planned to make a statement on Wilson’s resignation yesterday, said Stephanie Karr, city attorney for Ferguson. Karr earlier this week said Wilson had been on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal police investigation. “We were not after Wilson’s job,” Sharpton, who planned to preach Sunday at the St. Louis church where Brown’s funeral was held, added later in a written statement.

Curtins Minter,right of Akron, Ohio, prays at the memorial to Michael Brown in the Canfield Apartment complex

French soldier dies in helicopter crash in Africa

French specialforces soldier has died in a helicopter crash during a nighttime training exercise in Burkina Faso. France’s Defense Ministry said yesterday that Warrant Officer Samir Bajja, who had previously served in Ivory Coast, Chad, Afghani-

stan and Mali, died a day earlier when the Caracal helicopter went down. The ministry did not specify where in the West African country the helicopter crashed. Bajja, 38, was the second French soldier to die in Africa’s Sahel since France launched a counterterrorism op-

eration in five countries spanning the arid region in August. Two other service members were injured, but their lives were not in danger. Operation Barkhane is an outgrowth of a French-led operation last year to oust al-Qaidalinked militants from an area in northern Mali that they had controlled.

Britain’s Osborne pledges pre-election healthcare funding boost

ritish finance minister George Osborne announced a 2 billion pound annual increase in healthcare spending yesterday, seeking to counter political attacks on his Conservative party’s handling of the health service six months before an election. The National Health Service (NHS), which provides free healthcare at the point of delivery, is highly valued by voters and an issue on which opinion polls show Prime Minister David

Cameron’s center-right Conservative party traditionally lag their main rivals, Labour. Osborne sought to address that yesterday by promising more funding for the service ahead of a budget update Wednesday, which is expected to form his pitch to voters to back his party’s plans for more austerity. “This is a down payment on the NHS’s own long-term plan, and it shows you can have a strong NHS if you have a strong economy,” Osborne told the BBC. The NHS in Eng-

land costs more than 100 billion pounds per year, or around a third of all annual spending by government departments, and is under increasing financial strain as the country’s population ages. When Osborne took office in 2010, as part of a two-party coalition with the Liberal Democrats, he sought to forestall criticism on the NHS from Labour by protecting the service’s budget from deep cuts to reduce an 11 percent budget deficit.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

Sports News

Musa, Ogu hit targets, Mikel benched again

Cricket hit by second tragedy

Sport

International Sport

Did you know? That Gary Lineker pooped his pants whilst playing against Ireland at the 1990 World Cup.

All Africa Games: Nigeria will overtake Egypt –Onaolapo

Ajibade Olusesan

able tennis sensation, Ojo Onaolapo, has said that Nigeria will overtake Egypt as the leading country in the game on the continent at next year’s All Africa Games. Egypt knocked the country off the summit of African table tennis

both at the last Africa championship and the last All Africa Games. And in an interview with our correspondent, the Italy-based player said that Nigeria would take its rightful place by dominating the event at the Brazzaville Games. He said that the strides made by Nigerian players in the past one year point to the fact that

the country was poised to take its rightful position in the game on the continent. “One of my targets for next year is to be part of that Nigerian team that will overtake Egypt as Africa’s best. Egypt has been dominating Africa, maybe because we relaxed but now we are back at our best and we are going to prove that at

the All Africa Games. It is unfortunate that we did not have Africa Championship this year as planned, but we are going to take over from them at the All Africa Games. “We have already started our dominance, as you can see Aruna Quadri is the highest ranked African player now and all of us are doing well too,” he said. Onaolapo

Eagles job: Keshi splits NFF Ifeanyi Ibeh

he Nigeria Football Federation may yet have the last laugh on the issue of a new contract for Stephen Keshi as New Telegraph has learnt that the majority of the board members are not favourably disposed towards the move and are seeking ways to get the coach’s benefactors to have a change of heart. On Friday, a member of the NFF board, Emeka Inyama, said that the out-of-contract coach would at some point in December, on the recommendations of the NFF’s Technical Committee, sign a new deal to remain in charge of the Super Eagles. New Telegraph however learnt that the issue is far

The Sport Team Adekunle Salami Deputy Editor, Sports

Emmanuel Tobi Assistant Editor, Sports

Ifeanyi Ibeh Sports Correspondent

Ajibade Olusesan Sports Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sports Correspondent

l Football body wants coach for 2017 qualifiers

from being resolved as some members of the football body feel they are being pressured into retaining the out of favour coach following ‘orders from above’. “They are saying it is the Technical Committee that wants him to stay but the truth is they (members of the board) are not happy with all these orders from above and are hoping those pushing for Keshi to remain in charge will understand why he needs to go because the team really needs a fresh start,” said a source, a staff of the NFF, who preferred anonymity. “They should go out there and ask the ordinary man on the street what he thinks about this situation instead of listening to the selfish words of a few who stand to gain from current scenario. We are grateful for what he (Keshi) did during the (2013) Nations Cup but we don’t want him anymore; we want a new coach who will come Keshi in with new ideas. “This is not my view alone as almost everyone here (in the NFF) feels the same but they are too afraid to speak out because of his connecThey should tions with Mr President and go out there some senators,” added our and ask the source. ordinary man Another bone of contention regarding the new conon the street tract Keshi is expected to what he sign in the coming weeks is thinks about his expected remunerations. this situation Keshi’s initial N5m monthly deal with the NFF expired at the end of Nigeria’s 2014

World Cup campaign but he remained on a rolling contract for the duration of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, which came to an end in November with the Super Eagles failing to qualify for the championship, which gets underway next month in Equatorial Guinea. At some point after the expiration of that contract, Keshi sought an improved N7m monthly deal that the NFF, then under the leader-

ship of Aminu Maigari, was not favourably disposed to. Failure to secure an AFCON ticket has however put paid to Keshi’s ‘ridiculous’ demands but, according to our source, his backers are mounting pressure on the NFF to retain the coach on his previous N5m monthly package. The deal would also see the NFF continue to foot Keshi’s accommodation and transportation bills, which runs into millions of naira. “That is another problem as we do not understand why we should even give him that much after all that just happened. It is absolutely ridiculous as we have a few developmental projects that require much more attention at the moment,” stated another source within the NFF. The source added: “We are still trying to come to terms with our failure to qualify for the Nations Cup and looking at ways to secure sponsorship deals and develop our football, which we can if we are free of all these interferences as I don’t think it would in any way encourage would-be sponsors.” Although details of the new deal have not been made public, New Telegraph also learnt that the deal being put in place would see Keshi remain in charge of the Super Eagles until the end of the qualifiers for the 2017 AFCON, with an option to extend the deal beyond the tournament, that is if the Super Eagles qualify.

SPORT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Of Eagles, the NOC and taekwondo

t all started as SPORTS SLAM in 2005. The inspiration for the name came courtesy of a friend and colleague, Obafemi Obadare. I was not ready because of my tight schedule but I was asked to translate my opinion on sports into a column in my organisation, Punch Newspapers. The column ran for seven years till my designation changed in 2012. Today, I still receive mails from my readers regularly on happenings in Nigerian sports. A year ago, I joined New Telegraph and was hoping to start the column in February when the newspaper will be one year in the market but my Managing Director, Mr. Eric Osagie, who has been reading my recent opinions and editorials on the state of sports advised that the column should start. We are also bringing more columnists on board to enrich the sports pages. Dear readers, I welcome you to the world of SPORTS SLAMING this time in another medium. I promise to discuss all the issues without any fear or favour and put all issues in correct perspective to the best of my knowledge and experience (25 years) in sports reportage.

SPORT SLAMING

ADEKUNLE SALAMI adekunles@yahoo.com

08050498539 (sms only)

n this first outing of the column, it is difficult to pick just one issue and so I will touch on about three or four key issues. The failure of the Super Eagles to qualify for the 2015 Nations Cup hurts. Many of us saw it coming. Leadership crisis in the Nigeria Football Federation was hot when Nigeria played the first match against Congo in Calabar and so the match was lost 3-2. Moreover, Head coach, Stephen Keshi, became too big to listen to advice and the players also became too arrogant to adhere to modern trends in the game. For me, 70 per cent of the blame goes to Keshi and the remaining 30 to the players. If Keshi had shown direction without sentiments, the players would have keyed in. Keshi fielded an unfit Kenneth Omeruo, who pleaded to be left out, in the last match of

the series against South Africa. This was because he did not have good reserves in the team. He should have moved Efe Ambrose to the middle and Solomon Kwambe to the right back. That error of judgement cost Nigeria the AFCON ticket. The players were also not disciplined. It was later confirmed that some of those who started the match against South Africa went clubbing the previous night. In this age, that was absurd. Where were the security officer and the coordinator of the team? Keshi himself should have been vigilant enough to ensure that the players rested well before the important match. That is history. Moving forward, I expected Keshi to have thrown in the towel but because he has some big politicians behind him, he is forcing himself on Nigerians. When Samson Siasia failed to make the Nations Cup, he was asked to go and so I wonder why Keshi’s case is different. The impact of politics on Nigerian sports

NTTF President Cup: Quadri,others battle for N1.8m prize Ajibade Olusesan

frica’s highest ranked player, Aruna Quadri, is expected to top the list of local and foreign-based players that will battle for honours at the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation President Cup. According to a press statement released by the federation, the tournament would involve the top 16 players both in the men and women categories, while the event will also be used to honour outstanding players and officials this year. The tournament will be held at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim

Balogun from December 10 to 11. “The matches will be played in a round robin format with the top two players progressing to the next stage of the championship. The top eight players will also be drawn into two groups of four each with the top two advancing to the semifinal stage. “Every player listed for the competition will be rewarded with cash while the star prize is N250, 000,” the statement read. The federation also said it would still make public the full list of players that would feature in the tournament.

Musa, Ogu hit target, Mikel overlooked again AJibade Olusesan

hmed Musa returned to scoring ways for his Russian side, CSKA Moscow, just like John Ogu who scored his first goal in Israel at the weekend. Musa, who came on in the 62nd for Cote d’Ivoire striker Seydou Doumbia scored in the 88th minute to give his team a convincing 5-0 win over UFA on Saturday. He has now scored six goals in the league this season. Ogu scored his first goal for his Israeli premier league team Hapoel Be’er Sheva in a 4-0 thrashing of Olanrewaju Kayode’s Maccabi Netanya on Saturday.

Ogu, who has been outstanding since joining Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the last summer transfer, scored his team’s third goal in the 58th minute. Another unknown Nigerian forward Victor Igbekoyi was among the goals as his team AZAL PFC Baku defeated Sumqayit 3-2 in an

Azerbaijan top-flight league game on Saturday. Meanwhile, Kenneth Omeruo, was reinstalled to Middleborough starting line up in their 1-1 home draw with Blackburn just as Elderson Echiejile played another 90 minutes of football in Monaco’s 2-0 loss at Rennes. Brown Ideye is still missing for West Brom as only Victor Anichebe played a part in Baggies 1-0 home loss to Arsenal. Mikel Obi was again overlooked by Coach Jose Mourinho in their goalless draw at Sunderland while Sone Aluko who came on in the 35th minute could not help Hull City from falling 3-0 against Manchester United.

is a story for another day. There is need to raise a new team. I am happy the NFF is already making moves to get more players to fortify the team. We need players who can fight for 90 minutes on the pitch and who are still eager to make name. The current players are well below average. There is no law that says home-based players cannot feature for the Eagles. Emem Eduok and Mfon Udoh did well in the domestic league and deserve to play a role in the Eagles. I am happy that the NFF is also bringing back academicals football that produced loads of players for the country in the time past. I listened to Amaju Pinnick on his vision for football and I am positive that with hard work, football will get better in the country. If Cameroun and Ghana could raise a new team within the past two years, Nigeria should be able to do the same and fast too. It is important to note that the Eagles are not making Nigerians happy despite all the money they collect while on national duty but the Super Falcons on the other hand receive so little, or even nothing, yet they remain consistently good.

n November 20, the Nigeria Olympic Committee elections were held in Asaba. Sani Ndanusa who did nothing in four years was defeated by Habu Gumel. It was very close

as Gumel won with two votes. Interestingly, it was Ndanusa who took over from Gumel. It is now a baton exchange between the two and who knows, Ndanusa may again take over in the future. The body has lost its vibrancy and it is important for Gumel to bring that back. As a civil servant, it is a tough call but as a technocrat in the executive board of 13 international sports bodies, he can do it. The NOC should go for its own sponsors and run its own programmes to show direction. If the body continues to rely on government for funds, then, we can as well continue to march on the same spot.

nly recently, a taekwondo team left the country for the world championship in Scotland. They won four gold, two silver and four bronze medals to record the country’s best performance at global stage in the sport. The team that included Chika Chukwumerije surpassed the three gold, one silver and one bronze medals the country recorded at the same event in 1987. This also goes to show that it is important for the Sports Ministry to help other sports achieve their potential. Kudos to the team and one hopes taekwondo and other sports will be further encouraged to do more for the country.

Till next week, keep slaming!

U-23 Eagles: Siasia blows hot! lSays I won’t beg any league player

Dolphins’ Emem Eduok (right) battling Enyimba’s Anyanwu Emmanuel

Emmanuel Tobi

-23 Eagles coach, Samson Siasia, has warned Nigeria Premier League players to brace up for the challenge of playing for the country, stating that any player who fails to report to the Abuja camp of the team between December 1 and 6 should forget it. There are insinuations that many of the league players have asked not be subjected to the general screening exercise but should be invited into the main squad. But Siasia through the team’s media officer, Timi Ebikagboro, maintained that the invited foreign based professional players expected from December 7 would also be subjected to the same screening. “We don’t have time on our

hands, the screening will continue till the December 12 when we will, hopefully, travel to Bauchi to play a friendly game. “We want to be very meticulous about the calibre of players who we will eventually settle for. I have used this method in the past and in the process discovered some players who were not known and today they are stars, we have over 50,000 youths eligible to play in this team, so inviting only a handful of League players to camp is shutting the doors on over 49, 000 other eligible players,” Siasia said. The team is expected to resume training on January 4 after going on break on December 20 ahead of the 2015 All-Africa Games qualifier against Gabon billed for Libreville towards the end of February and the return leg early March 2015 in Nigeria.

International Sport 53

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

Ancelotti praises ‘unselfish’ Ronaldo

eal Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti hailed Cristiano Ronaldo’s impact despite failing to score for the first time in the Spanish La Liga this season as the European champions registered a club record 16th consecutive victory in all competitions with a 2-1 win at Malaga. Ronaldo set up Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale either side of half-time to take his tally of assists to 10 alongside 26 goals in just 20 appearances

this season. “I liked his performance a lot. He was fantastic and the key in the game,” said the Italian. “It is strange because we are so used to him scoring, but he provided two assists and a great part of the merit for this victory is owed to him.” The former Chelsea boss also praised his players for a stunning run over the past eight weeks that has seen them overtake the 15 consecutive wins achieved by Miguel Mu-

ManCitythrash‘stubborn’Southampton

T Ronaldo

Cricket hit by another tragedy

cricket umpire has died in Israel after being struck by a ball, just two days after the death of Australia batsman Phillip Hughes. The victim is understood to be Hillel Oscar, a former captain of the Israel national side who was officiating in a domestic match in Ashdod. Local reports suggest the 55-year-old was hit in the jaw after the ball ricocheted off the wicket, having been hit by the batsman. “We’re simply in shock,” Israel

Cricket Association chief Naor Gudker told the AFP news agency. “He was an international umpire. He officiated in European Championships, he officiated in games in Israel; his future was ahead of him. “He was a player for the Israeli national team and he was captain of the national team. “The entire Israel Cricket Association and players bow their heads in his memory. He was a wonderful man, cricketer, and umpire.”

NSC,Ex-Internationals congratulate Lagos SWAN

he National Sports Commission has sent a goodwill message to the newly elected executive committee of the Lagos chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria. The Liaison Officer of the Lagos Zonal Liaison office, Francis Gbiri, while calling for a closer, more harmonious and mutual relationship with Lagos SWAN, described the reelection of Fred Edoreh as Chairman as well deserved. “Your victory, no doubt, is a reflection of your popularity as well as a testimony of your good work during your first tenure as chairman and while wishing you and your team a very successful tenure in office we also hope to have a harmonious and mutual relationship with you and your team in years to come,” the NSC official said. In the same vein, a body of Nigerian footballers and ex-internationals under the aegis of Concerned Football Stakeholders congratulated Fred Edoreh on his re-election and called for his continuing support for the reconcilation of the various conflicting bodies in Nigerian footballers. The statement signed jointly by its chairman, Clement Temile, and acting secretary, Matthias Enebeli, said the ex-players were particularly delighted at the re-election of Fred Edoreh as chairman.

en-man Manchester City defeated Southampton 3-0 at St Mary’s Stadium on Sunday to climb above their opponents into second place in the Premier League table with second-half strikes from Yaya Toure, Frank Lampard and Gael Clichy securing the win for the Citizens, who are now back within six points of leaders Chelsea. It was the Saints who made the brighter start to the second 45 minutes though, coming close through Dusan Tadic’s strike which had Joe Hart diving across his goal, yet the wait for the game’s first goal went on. Shortly after, the champions did make the breakthrough, though, with Yaya Toure’s effort from 20 yards out taking a slight deflection on its way through to give his side a valuable lead. Aguero was unable to double City’s advantage and

add to his own impressive goal tally for the season from close range with 20 minutes remaining, while Jesus Navas dragged a shot of his own wide of goal when played through. The missed chances looked to have come back to haunt Manuel Pellegrini’s charges when Eliaquim Mangala was shown his marching orders for a second yellow card 15 minutes from time, although far from sitting back on their slender lead the visiting side pushed on for more goals which came through Lampard and Clichy.

Ogu dedicates first goal to Hapoel fans Charles Ogundiya

uper Eagles midfielder, John Ogu, has dedicated his first goal of the season for his new club, Hapoel Beer Sheva, to the amazing fans of the club. While celebrating his goal in Hapoel 4-0 defeat of Maccabi Netanya, Ogu posted his appreciation on his official Instagram page, Ogu 30, thanking the club’s fans for their support. “Thank you Lord for the victory and my first goal for Hapoel Beer Sheva, I am grateful to my teammates and the fans who have been supporting me, I dedicate my first goal to the amazing fans of Hapoel, Yalla Hapoel. “I feel really good to finally get off the

mark for my new club. I have had loads of chances in other matches but I am just happy it went in this time around. “We hope to keep doing well and see how it goes at the end of the season because the ambition is to win the league,” he said. Ogu was on target in the 58th minute to help his team get back to winning ways after losing 3-2 to Maccabi Haifa last week. Shlomi Arbeitman got Hapoel on their way to victory with the opener in the 10th minute before William Soares put them 2-0 ahead six minutes later. The former Academical de Coimbra of Portugal player’s goal and a Maor Buzaglo penalty in the second half of the game ensured Hapoel took all the points at the Versamil Stadium.

COPA Lagos: Organisers release theme song Charles Ogundiya

s preparation for the 2014 edition of Copa Lagos heats up, Kinetic Sports, organisers of Copa Lagos have released the official theme song for the tournament titled: “Copa Lagos.” The new single is written and produced by one of Nigeria’s hottest talents, Lamboginny, and is set to bring rhythm and passion to one of the most populous cities in Africa. Commenting on the release, Lamboginny said that “The song is a great collaboration with Copa Lagos. This is the first time in the history of the

tournament that a theme song will herald the three-day fiesta. I urge all soccer fans to be part of the experience” Meanwhile the Nigeria Football Federation has promised to provide the needed technical support to Kinetic Sports for a hitch-free 2014 tournament.

noz’s side in 1960/61 and with Jose Mourinho in charge three seasons ago. He said: “I am very happy. It seems like a dream, but we are delighted and hope is it continues. I will get the merit for this record, but in reality I have the luck to coach a fantastic team, with fantastic players at a fantastic club. I have profound admiration for these players that are playing very well. We need to keep going though because the season is very long.”

RESULTS European Premier League

Southampton 2 – 0 Man City West Brom 0 – 1 Arsenal Burnley 1 – 1 Aston Villa Liverpool 1 – 0 Stoke Man United 3 – 0 Hull QPR 3 – 2 Leicester Swansea 1 – 1 C/Palace West Ham 1 – 0 Newcastle Sunderland 0 – 0 Chelsea

Bundesliga Augsburg 3 – 1 Hamburg Bremen 4 – 0 Paderborn Hertha 0 – 1 Bayern Leverkusen 5 – 1 Cologne Schalke 4 – 1 Mainz Hoffenheim 4 – 3 Hannover

La Liga Atl. Madrid 2 – 0 La Coruna Getafe 1 – 2 Ath. Bilbao Espanyol 2 – 1 Levante Toure

Malaga 1 – 2 Real Madrid Celta Vigo 0 – 1 Eibar

Serie A Sassuolo 2 – 1 Verona Chievo 0 – 0 Lazio

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Team P GD 1 Chelsea 13 19 2 Man City 13 14 3 Southampton 13 15 4 Man United 13 7 5 West Ham 13 5 6 Arsenal 13 6

Pts 33 27 26 22 21 20

7 Tottenham 8 Swansea 9 Newcastle 10 Everton 11 Liverpool 12 Stoke City 13 Sunderland 14 C/Palace 15 West Brom 16 Aston Villa 17 Hull City 18 QPR 19Burnley 20 Leicester

20 19 19 17 17 15 14 13 13 13 11 11 11 10

13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13

0 3 -2 2 -2 -3 -7 -4 -5 -11 -6

-11 -12 -8

New Zealand unveils U-20 World Cup Mascot he Official Mascot for the FIFA U-20 World and adults as he gambolled along the route T Cup New Zealand 2015 was launched on before mingling with the guests at Santa’s Sunday at Auckland’s Santa Parade – mark- post-parade party. ing six months until the biggest celebration of global football hits New Zealand. The mascot, a black sheep with attitude named Wooliam, proved a hit with kids

After his appearance in Auckland he was whisked down to Wellington where he performed with his hip-hop backing dancers during the half-time break in the Wellington.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

We need early preparations for 2016 Olympics –Chukwumerije What lessons did you take from the Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships? I got to appreciate even more the importance of having a thoroughly knowledgeable team diligently working together to achieve set objectives. The collective and professional actions of persons that passionately contributed to this historic victory was very telling - from the athletes, to the coaches, to the technical crew, to the medical crew, to the sports administrators. Basically, if we stick together, keep our focus, and follow a well-laid out funded plan, we will continue to get results like this. Being the first time Nigeria will be competing at the tournament, what does it mean competing against the best? My team mates and I are always eager and excited to meet and have a go at the “best” in the world, because it is an important and indispensable learning process for us. We learn from the experience and become even better at what we do. We are thrilled that, despite the short training

Beijing 2008 Olympics bronze medalist, Chika Chukwumerije, believes a lot still needs to be done to ensure that more Nigerians make it to the Rio 2016 Olympics in Brazil after the impressive outing of the Nigeria team at the just concluded Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships held in Scotland.

How do you think these athletes should be kept together for the All Africa Games? Really, it all boils down to the funding available. Ideally, if you keep them in one place and keep training them morning and evening from now till the AAG in 2015, and exposing them to more international competitions, then another history-making performance at the All Africa Games is guaranteed.

camp, our passion and desire to do well at our first ever commonwealth appearance combined with key tactical decisions made during the matches ensured we recorded our best international results in the history of Nigerian Taekwondo. What effect will the participation have on the team ahead of the Olympics? Representing Nigeria is always a thoroughly satisfying affair, and making history at a such an important event leaves the team in really high spirits for 2015, an important year that is critical for qualifying for Rio 2016. Our participation at the Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships ensured that my team mates and I have a greater belief in ourselves to perform well at the big stage, and there is an increase in the hunger to win more international

Every medal won, every ranking point gained, experience gotten, increase one’s confidence towards the big tournaments.

Chukwumerije

medals. As a nation, we need to properly harness the incredible passion of these history-making athletes by exposing them to more training facilities, methods and international competitions. This would increase the

possibility of success at subsequent major international tournaments, with focus on Rio 2016 Olympics. You won silver, how will this rub off on you ahead of Rio Olympics?

From what you witnessed in Scotland, do you think we stand a chance of having more athletes making it to Rio Olympics? The potential is definitely there, but a lot of work still needs to be done. The Francophone countries were not there, most of European countries were not there, Asia powerhouses like China and South Korea were not there, the USA was not there. Thus, I am very aware of how much more difficult the road to Rio 2016 is, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with steps like we have just taken.

Sanctity of Truth

On Marble

An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in his understanding of things.

World Record Douglas Engelbart: Invented the computer mouse (1964)

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Gator meat, Negroes and the stench of Ferguson

he decision by a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri not to indict police officer Daren Wilson for the murder of Michael Brown, a young black man, has caused quite a stir. It has not only sparked off a vicious cycle of violence in Ferguson itself coupled with protests all over America but it has also sparked off a heated debate about race relations and racial violence. Some of the assertions that have been made are interesting. Permit me to share a couple of examples with you. On November 23, during a heated debate on NBC with Professor Michael Dyson, Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York City said ‘’white police officers would not be there (black communities) if you were not killing one another’’. On November 25, during a discussion on CNN, he went further by saying ‘’93 per cent of blacks are shot by other blacks in America. Blacks kill blacks seven times more than whites kill whites. 75 per cent of murders in New York City are committed by blacks’’. Few would dispute the fact that these assertions are pertinent and relevant. I have no doubt that Giuliani is right when he expresses the view that the black community in America has far more to do when it comes to curbing crime in their own communities. He is also right when he says that it is perfectly justifiable for the police to put many more officers into black communities where violent crime is rife and high than in white ones where violent crime is relatively low? The question is whether the fact that Giuliani expresses these uncomfortable truths and bitter facts makes him a racist? I do not think so but whatever our thoughts about the former Mayor, may be one thing remains clear: the growing rage over what is perceived as the most insidious and profound manifestation of callousness, insensitivity, cruelty and racism by the American police is building up throughout America and indeed throughout the world. My sister Miss Toyin Fani-Kayode made a pertinent and instructive point when she made the following observation on her facebook wall on November 25. She wrote: “Nine of the 12 jurors, in a prominently black area, in a state where you need nine votes for something to happen, were white. Let that sink in. The statistics show that 0.01% of all grand juries fail to indict a cop. Firing six shots into an unarmed black teenager is apparently that 0.01%. But beyond Ferguson, we won’t know without better data why grand juries are so reluctant to indict police officers”. The fact that this sort of thing is still happening even whilst America has a black President, a black Attorney-General and a black Director of Homeland Security proves that something has gone drastically wrong. There is undoubtedly a Jekyll and Hyde aspect in the psyche and character of American culture and society that few can comprehend. On the one hand America is ‘’God’s own country’’ and ‘’the home of the brave and the free’’ whilst on the other she is a cesspool of institutional racism, racial injustice, double standards, dou-

Crossfire FEMI FANI-KAYODE

ffk2011@aol.com

The late Brown

blespeak, gun-violence, godless secularist and humanist philosophies and sheer hypocrisy. Like millions of others throughout the world I feel a deep sense of disgust and outrage about what happened to Michael Brown. This is especially so because we expect so much more and so much better from America. Yet the question is whether we ought to be surprised. American history is replete with the most horrendous examples of man’s inhumanity to man and the most graphic manifestations of racial injustice. If anyone doubts that they should consider the historical origins of ‘’Black Friday’’, which is a day that is celebrated in the United States after “Thanksgiving Day’’ and find out what it represents and stands for. The historical experiences of people of colour from all over the world (whether they be red, brown, yellow or black) in the white hands of the selfacclaimed ‘’masters of the earth’’ and the western colonial powers of both the old and new world has been very unpleasant. Permit me to share just one example in order to illustrate the point. 140 years ago black babies in the southern ‘’confederate’’ states of America were fed to alligators for sport and for bait. This is where the derogatory and insulting term ‘’gator bait’’, which is often used to describe black people in America, comes from. Today, 140 years later, young black men are shot to death by American police officers at will and for fun without any fear of sanctions. Clearly not much has changed. America remains the most violent nation on earth and it is a place where young black men are treated as objects for target practice and blood sports

by unstable, trigger-happy, paranoid, wicked, psychopathic, sociopathic, undisciplined and sadistic police officers who believe that they are still living in the ‘’wild wild west’’ of Colonel George Armstrong Custer and David ‘’Davy’’ Crockett. They believe that they are still living in the southern ‘’Dixie’’ plains of ‘’Gone With The Wind’’ and ‘’Uncle Tom’s Cabin’’. They secretly yearn for the days of the Ku Klux Klan, large southern mansions and plantations, cotton-picking negroes and summary lynchings. So much for God’s own country. Every man and woman of colour ought to feel a deep sense of outrage by the evil that took place in Ferguson and by the scurrilous attempt to cover it up and every white person ought to feel a deep sense of shame. Let the history of the ‘’masters of the earth’’ be told and, though we must forgive, like the Jews, we must NEVER forget. They wiped out the red man, they drugged the yellow man, they enslaved the black man, they castrated and humiliated the brown man, they conquered the world and today, in the United States of America, they kill our sons and brothers with impunity. Worse still when we complain they treat us with contempt and disdain. Yet let them hear this loud and clear: as long as there is no justice in the world there will be no peace. As long as the heartless killing and indefensible slaughter of young black men by the American police continues, that nation will not know peace and she will pay a heavy price for her insidious and deepseated racism and her inherently racist institutions. The latest example of this obscene and obsessive barbarity and it’s latest victim is a young 12 year old black boy by the name of Tamir Rice who was shot to death in Cleveland by two white policemen on November 26 simply for carrying a fake gun. Unluckily for the officers involved the whole thing was secretly filmed. Let us hope that the grand jury indicts them for murder and let us pray that in this case, unlike that of Ferguson, that justice is done. Permit me to end this contribution with an interesting perspective to the whole episode from Mr. Joe Thorn, a respected and distinguished Englishman that has lived in the southern state of Louisiana in the United States of America for many years. Joe is also an old school friend of mine, I have known him for almost 30 years and I have immense respect for him. On November 25, in a write-up titled ‘’From Louisiana 140 Years Later’’, he

made his own contribution to the heated debate on Ferguson by writing the following on my facebook page: ‘’Anyone using innocent babes to catch alligators would receive the death penalty. Everyone knows the best gator bait is a whole chicken. Store bought, free range, fresh or frozen, does not seem to matter. But it does matter that you have a license and a tag for that gator, or you will be in big trouble with the law. Today black men commit crimes and murder on other black men at record rates. Sometimes for sport and with complete disregard for the law or their fellow man. American urban black youth is an extremely dangerous demographic to be born into. Young black men treat each other as objects for target practice and bloodsports for other young black youth. Adopting a “gangsta” culture reminiscent of the early 20’s where life was cheap and a take what you can by force mentality prevailed. They have abandoned God and family, instead serving gold and gang: preying for the most part on their own community and peers. Occasionally this spills over into the general population. Just recently a man, suspected of a felony strong-armed robbery minutes before, commits a felony assault on a police officer and is shot. The stepfather was later filmed calling for his fellow community members to “burn their town to the ground” which they did, thereby ensuring the black on black slaughter and destruction may continue. America has indeed come a long way in 140 years. Through hard work and God’s blessing you may indeed prosper here regardless of colour or ethnicity. Some Fifty years ago Evers, King et al: rallied around “we shall overcome” but sadly many in the black urban youth have yet to take the first step. Overcoming your fellow man by killing them was not what they had in mind’’. Joe has painted a dismal yet truthful picture of the black American condition and it confirms the veracity of Cassius’s famous assertion in Shakespeare’s celebrated play ‘’Julius Caeasar’’ when he said ‘’the fault is not in our stars Brutus but in ourselves’’. I am still reeling from his words. He concluded his piece by making a distinction between the attitude of the African immigrant that has come to settle in America and that resides there as opposed to that of the black American. He wrote, ‘’All of the immigrant Africans that I have personally known embrace God, family, hard work and freedom. With those credentials in hand they have risen, been successful in providing for their families and become proud contributors to American society. Do not confuse them with a minority with no moral compass and that are intent on the destruction of their fellow man. We embrace the former and bemoan the latter, who despite the efforts of society seem unable to grow but rather spread pestilence’’. These are powerful words from my old friend. I guess that we all have much to learn from them. May the souls of Michael Brown and Tamir Rice rest in perfect peace.

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